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Hackers Finally Unlock iPhone 3Gnandemoari quotes a story at Infopackets: "2009 has gotten off to a great start for a team of iPhone enthusiasts with little regard for Apple's licensing requirements. They've finally figured out a way to get the phone to work with any cell phone carrier (and not just AT&T). The iPhone Dev Team is best known for their work on 'jailbreaking;' the technique of altering an iPhone so that you can run any applications on it, not just those approved by Apple. Given the company's questionable vetting policy for entry to the official App store, it's not surprising many users approve of jailbreaking."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jan 2009 | 1:18 pm Move Over Kindle - E-Books Hit Cell Phones - E-Commerce Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:06 pm 15 Eccentric Fashions by Gareth Pugh (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) The eccentric fashion designer Gareth Pugh likes pushing the proverbial envelope with his outlandish creations. Indeed, this innovative designers catwalks are always rife with weird...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:39 am JournalSpace Drama: All Data Lost Without Backup, Company DeadpooledBlogging platform JournalSpace (which I'd never heard of to date) has ceased to be, following a wipe-out of the main database for which there was no back-up in place. According to the JournalSpace blog,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:29 am JournalSpace Drama: All Data Lost Without Backup, Company Deadpooled
More information is available here. The company set up a Twitter account which it used for updates, and reading the messages in reverse chronological order is telling enough. If your blog was hosted on JournalSpace, you can visit this helpful blog post with instructions on how to save most of your content and comments using Google Cache. JournalSpace had apparently been around for 6 years, and will now be releasing its source code to the open source community, and possibly sell off the domain name and trademarks. By the way, when’s the last time you backed up all the data on your computer? (Via Slashdot) Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:29 am Google Treasure Hunts - Savvy Searcher Spots $3 Billion in Booty From Computer (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Nathan Smith is my kind of treasure hunter. Rather than traipse all over the countryside following some map, he just sat in front of Google Earth and carefully and methodically found...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:19 am Italy watchdog fines 9 power firms 1.275 mln eurosROME, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said on Saturday it had imposed fines totalling 1.275 million euros ($1.77 million) on nine gas and electricity companies for misleading consumers about...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:06 am EMC Acquires SourceLabs, And With It Open Source Documentation Project SWiK
The company sells subscriptions for enterprise support, maintenance, and upgrades for open source software, including SASH, offers a proprietary Open Source Management System and is also behind the wiki website SWiK, a community project that documents open source software. The acquisition fee remains undisclosed, and like Matt Asay over at CNET, we’re not really sure what the reason behind EMC’s decision was. He also mentions that SourceLabs had been shopping collaboration project SWiK separately for a couple of weeks to no avail, so it’s highly unlikely EMC bought SourceLabs for the community site rather than the people, know-how and client list. It also seems EMC used its brand new subsidiary Decho, formed from two previous acquired companies Mozy and Pi Corp, for this acquisition. SourceLabs raised $7 million in venture funding in October 2006 from Madrona Venture Group, which led the round, Ignition Partners and Index Ventures. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:01 am EMC Acquires SourceLabs, And With It Open Source Documentation Project SWiKLooks like software giant EMC has acquired SourceLabs, provider of a set of tools and services used to support open source software like Linux, at least according to TechFlash. The company sells subscriptions...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:01 am Girl-On-Girl Supermodel Ads - Longchamp Campaign Evokes Lesbianism (UPDATE) (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The leather goods house Longchamps has released three more images from its risque Spring/Summer 2009 campaign showcasing Kate Moss and the dazzling Russian model Sasha Pivovarova. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:59 am Russia-Ukraine talks unable to resume for now - GazpromPRAGUE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Negotiations over disputed gas contracts are unable to resume because there has been no relevant response from the Ukraine side, Russian group Gazprom's export head Alexander...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:58 am Killer Vampire Photography - Royal Blood by Erwin Olaf (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) With the phenomenal success of Robert Pattinson and Twilight, everything vampire is in vogue, and that includes photography. Weve already featured vampire children and vampire nuns...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:52 am FDA-Approved Lashtastic Drugs - Grow Longer Eyelashes with Latisse(TrendHunter.com) What we have here is a medical marvel. This isnt a modern day cure-all, but rather a drug with a very specific purpose--to grow eyelashes. The FDA has approved Latisse, a drug being...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:39 am Stef Kardos' iPhone SketchesDisney artist Stef Kardos aims to dispel any myths that the iPhone isnt a legitimate art tool with this digital collection of iPhone Sketches. Using only the Brushes iPhone app, Kardos has created...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:29 am Don’t Count JPG Magazine Out Just Yet, Sale May Close Next Week
In a blog post, the company said they unsuccessfully sought out buyers and investors to keep the company alive. But the attention the site received after the announced shutdown changed things, it seems, and a number of buyers have now approached the company to buy it and keep it alive (SmugMug is one of them, it seems). JPG Magazine was an attempt to create a photography magazine that relied on its readers for its content and included them in the editing process. Nearly 200,000 photographers have submitted photographs for consideration to JPG, many of them via Flickr. The site itself was able to attract about 300,000 unique U.S. viewers a month (Quantcast), but its business model relied on selling print ads. According to two sources we’ve talked to, the company is in the process of taking bids from interested buyers now, and there are already firm offers on the table which are attractive to the company’s current stockholders, including founding investor Minor Ventures. A deadline for offers has been set for early next week, with a very quick close immediately afterward to preserve as much brand value as possible (not to mention the fact that employees have now been laid off, so any rehires need to be done quickly). Can new management make JPG a success? The dead tree publishing business is a bit suicidal in my opinion, but JPG Magazine may still be an exception. As I wrote in 2006, JPG Magazine had very low content costs, a vibrant online community of photographers, and a beautiful product that deserves a place on people’s coffee tables. When print media eventually moves completely to the Internet, hopefully a few publications like JPG Magazine will still be around. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:22 am Dont Count JPG Magazine Out Just Yet, Sale May Close Next WeekWhen 8020 Media, the publisher of JPG Magazine, announced its shutdown on January 1, CEO Mitchell Fox told friends via email that they just couldn't turn the corner on revenue in the down economy, despite...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:22 am iPhone Camera Lenses - Professional Peripherals for Mobile Phones(TrendHunter.com) If you have been suckered into buying an iPhone like myself, you can confirm the camera is beyond bad. Never fear, however: USB Fever now carries detachable magnetic lenses in fish-eye,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:19 am Test For Prostate Cancer Gene Soon To Be AvailableTiger4 writes "CNN reports on a simple test to determine the presence of genes linked to Prostate Cancer. These five genes, if present, can increase the risk of prostate cancer up to nine times. 'More than 25,000 American men will die from prostate cancer this year. But prostate cancer can be treated successfully if the disease is caught early. A blood test that can detect whether a man is at high risk for developing prostate cancer is on the horizon. The study was published in the February 28, 2008, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.' It turns out the company actually wants to test saliva, making the test significantly easier and more convenient. Compare this to the tests available for BRCA, the so called Breast Cancer genes. Finding you have the gene can be devastating, but knowing well in advance of developing cancer allows many more options to be considered."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jan 2009 | 10:13 am The iPhone 3G Unlock Chart: Will Your Carrier Work? - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jan 2009 | 9:35 am Report: Control pollution, help crabs - Bethany Beach Wave
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jan 2009 | 9:33 am The iPhone 3G Unlock Chart: Will Your Carrier Work? (PC World)PC World - Online forums have been filling up with the cries of iPhone 3G users worldwide.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jan 2009 | 9:31 am India Sleepwalks Into a Surveillance SocietyAn anonymous reader writes "ZeroPaid has a fascinating roundup of news stories surrounding the latest surveillance laws passed in India, including a first-hand account of someone writing from inside India. The legislation in question is the Information Technology Act's amendment bill 2006, which was recently passed in the Indian parliament. Things you can't do with the new legislation include surfing for news in Bollywood and looking up porn on the internet. The legislation also allows all transmissions over the internet to be monitored for any form of lawbreaking and permits a sub-inspector to break into your house to make sure you aren't browsing porn on your computer."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jan 2009 | 7:11 am Big Bopper's casket to be auctionedThe Big Bopper's casket is to be auction on eBay in the next few weeks. The Big Bopper spent the last 50 years in the casket but was transferred to a new one last year. The metal casket is apparently in decent condition with just a bit of rust and water damage. It's currently on display at the Texas Musicians Museum. From the Beaumont Enterprise:Jay Richardson, the Bopper's son, plans to sell the empty casket on eBay to raise money for a musical show about his father and to keep the Bopper's memory alive. Born three months after the crash, Jay, who lives in Katy (Texas), never met his father in life - but saw him for the first time at his exhumation.Big Bopper's casket a macabre marketable on e-bay Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jan 2009 | 6:04 am Global Warming Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg - Washington Post
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jan 2009 | 5:11 am Warhol, Spielberg, Bianca Jagger on a hotel bed...My friend Siege blogged this YouTube find and explained it like this: On a hotel bed, Steven Spielberg talks to Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger about TV static ghosts, picking up radio stations on his teeth, and swallowing the future.Spielberg confesses *swallowing* a transistor after his father presented it to him, and said "son, this is the future" -- it was the young boy's first hands-on experience with technology. Or, perhaps better stated, his first technology-in-gullet experience. My Friends Andy, Steve and Bianca Just Hanging Out Update: BB commenter DHC says, "It's worth noting that his is an outtake from a 10-part TV show that Warhol developed and aired on Manhattan cable. You can get more of the story here." And still more about the video here. Anyone know if other clips or episodes are available online anywhere? Please post links in the comments, these are fascinating. Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jan 2009 | 4:47 am Why Do Gamers Opt For PlayStation? - PSX Extreme
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jan 2009 | 4:29 am Gates and Jobs ride into the sunset: what to expect from the new boys at CES and MacWorldNext week, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs hand over their New Year's speaking gigs to new blood. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Gates' stage will be manned by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Sony chairman Howard Stringer. Over at Macworld, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller will run the show for the first time. All three are entertaining presenters. But unlike Gates and Jobs, they all have something to prove. Ballmer's reign at Microsoft sees huge revenues from its core business, but chronic marketing woes at the periphery. A sequence of incompatible DRM platforms helped secure Apple's dominance of digital music. Billions were spent losing console wars with Sony and Nintendo. Windows Vista, years late and mostly hated when it finally arrived, is Ballmer's crowning achievement to date. Many believe he'll announce a Zune-phone next week. More certain is a standard yawnfest of corporate mythologizing and stuff we already know about, like Windows 7 and Home Server. It'll be obvious when Ballmer, a naturally enthusiastic fellow, doesn't care about something: viva Games for Windows! Surprises to watch for: New haircut. Zunephone. Us staying to the end if there's no Zunephone. As captain of an ungainly ship that employs some 180,000 people, even after layoffs, Stringer's got to make a convincing case that Sony does more than just make one of everything. Trying economic circumstances recently put him back at square one after some successes. He unified a tech-zaibatsu that should be a dozen different companies, hired Spiderman to print money, and polished off maniacal rival Ken Kutaragi. However, Sony's products are still pricey marvels ill-suited to hard times, and the company is still grossly over-manned. He's been slow to unravel its engineering culture and instinct for self-destructive propriety. Vultures circle over the PlayStation 3 after dismal holiday sales. Stringer won't opt for a mere gadget show. He must articulate an all-encompassing vision of how we'll all be using technology in years to come. He'll pitch Sony's gear as nodes of a cradle-to-grave entertainment ecosystem built around Home. Surprises to watch for: OLED everything. Blu-Ray passed over in relative silence. PS3 Hail Mary strategy. At Apple, Schiller's a potent salesman, and he's used to being Jobs' on-stage sidekick. But he lacks his boss's legendary charisma, and can be made a fool of: at one recent event, aides had to rescue him when a reporter started asking unscripted questions. That said, the world knows he's there to shift product, not to speak broadly of his company's future from the perspective of an industry leader. This makes his job easier. All he has to do is announce nice new toys and fans will be happy: a new Mac Mini is all but expected. Surprise to watch for: Steve Jobs Finally, spare a thought for the third keynote speaker at CES: Ford's Alan Mulally. He'll have to address his industry's dire situation without allowing his contribution to descend into self-justification. Mulally's good at putting on a brave face, but could forget that tech-heads aren't the only ones watching. If he sticks to the script and announces hybrids for 2011, in-car internet and docking systems, he'll impress us at the risk of seeming irredeemable to the rest of the corps. Talk of austerity and work ethic will help him keep the wolves at bay for a few more weeks. Boing Boing Gadgets heads to CES next Tuesday. Source: Gizmodo | 3 Jan 2009 | 4:11 am IPv4 Address Use In 2008An anonymous reader writes "The world used 197 million new IPv4 addresses in 2008, leaving 926 million addresses still available. The US remains the biggest user of new addresses, but China is catching up quickly. Quoting Ars Technica: 'A possible explanation could be that the big player(s) in some countries are executing a "run on the bank" and trying to get IPv4 addresses while the getting is good, while those in other countries are working on more NAT (Network Address Translation) and other address conservation techniques in anticipation of the depletion of the IPv4 address reserves a few years from now. In both cases, adding some IPv6 to the mix would be helpful. Even though last year the number of IPv6 addresses given out increased by almost a factor eight over 2007, the total amount of IPv6 address space in use is just 0.027 percent.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jan 2009 | 4:04 am Elevator Pitch Friday: Toksta’s Browser-Based IM (With Free Puppies)Today’s featured Elevator Pitch comes from Toksta, a browser-based instant message/chat client that can be integrated into most websites with only a few snippets of code. The service supports text, voice, and video (Flash is required for the latter two), and is free. The site generates revenue by placing ads in the browser-based chat windows, and allows site owners to participate in a revenue sharing agreement (you can also pay for a premium, ad-free whitelabel version). The site is up against a few other services (like meebo’s recently launched Community IM), but its voice and video offerings may help set it apart. You can try the chat out for yourself on MyHappyPlanet, where you’ll need to register an account first. In practice it seems to work pretty well, though the ads (which can include audio) can be a bit jarring. Oh yeah, according to the pitch the first 10 people to sign up will apparently get a free puppy, sent “via mail” (I sincerely hope that he is joking). If you’d like a puppy though, you can get one for free here (you won’t regret it). Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 3 Jan 2009 | 3:41 am So Hot Right Now: Top 10 Gadgetell posts for the week of December 28, 2008Section: Haven’t caught all of the Gadgetell news this week? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!
Source: Gizmodo | 3 Jan 2009 | 3:40 am Warmer light from OLEDsUniversity of Florida researchers say they're getting closer to creating LED-type room lighting that is as warm as an incandescent bulb. Lead investigator Franky So, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, said his team has achieved a record for efficiency of blue organic light-emitting diodes, called OLEDs.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jan 2009 | 3:36 am FDA recalls OVD deviceThe U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jan 2009 | 3:15 am U.S. Government No Likey: HP Sells Printers in Iran
HP recently announced a cool photo printing app for the iPhone, but if a recent report is correct, the company could be worrying over an international trade transgression over the next week instead of celebrating its innovations at CES.. According to the Boston Globe, the company is in trouble for selling their printers in Iran through a third party distributor. HP is accused of signing a deal with the Dubai-based Redington Gulf company in 1997 in light of U.S. trading sanctions, and that because of the deal, HP printers have enjoyed great popularity in the region. An estimated 41% of all printers sold in Iran were said to be HPs. .
An HP spokesman said that the company "has a policy of complete compliance with all U.S. export laws." Only two weeks ago, HP announced its upcoming iPrint Photo application, which allows an iPhone user to send wireless commands to its printers to create 4 x 6-inch prints of iPhone photos. Despite the embargoes, many American consumer items eventually end up in Iran. Among the most boisterous Iran techy fans are those of the iPhone (where mostly unlocked and overpriced versions can be found) and they'll probably figure out a way to use HP's new app with their printers. HP and the U.S. Gov't, on the other hand, will probably not want those transactions to be advertised. See also: Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP 
Source: Gizmodo | 3 Jan 2009 | 3:00 am Two execs out in Dell reshuffle - VNUNet.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jan 2009 | 2:27 am VIZIO, America's HDTV Company, Vows Support for 'CUT FATT' Effort to Reduce Excessive DTV Patent Licensing Fees- Coalition to Terminate Financial Abuses of the Television Transmission (CUT FATT) asks FCC to hold parties accountable for more than $1 Billion in excess charges taken from American...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 2:24 am Bacteria could limit dengue spreadAn Australian study suggests bacteria could successfully be used to help fight the spread of dengue fever, researchers said. Laboratory-bred mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria lived half as long as other mosquitoes, the BBC reported.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jan 2009 | 2:16 am Testing From PR NewswireNEW YORK, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a test from PR Newswire. This is a test from PR Newswire. This is a test from PR Newswire. This is a test from PR Newswire. This is a test...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 2:15 am Do the SSL Watchmen Watch Themselves?StrongestLink writes "In an intriguing twist on the recent Comodo CA vulnerability discussed here last week, security researcher Mike Zusman today revealed that three days prior to StartCom's disclosure of a flaw in a Comodo reseller's registration process, he discovered and disclosed an authentication bypass flaw to StartCom in their own registration process that allowed an attacker to submit an authorized request for any domain. During a month which was marked by the continuing paradigm shift to SSL-verified holiday shopping, the Chain of Trust continues to run off the gears, and Bruce Schneier is even commenting publicly that SSL's site validation mission isn't even relevant. What lies ahead for the billion-dollar CA industry?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jan 2009 | 2:02 am Cephalerotica Our friend Brookelynn, who btw is a terrific crafter and all-around amazing human being, says she's made up a new word, cephalerotica. She writes:
"It describes the amazing art that combines the erotic with the octopus. I have been collecting images for a few years now, and have a Flickr set of them." Most of the images in the set are NSFW, and a couple of them actually make me feel downright Victorian in my sensibilities. At the same time, it's a fascinating collection of old and new representations of an obscure variant in human sexuality, which seems to be popular here on Boing Boing. --Shawn Previously: (Shawn Connally and Bruce Stewart are guest bloggers) Source: Gizmodo | 3 Jan 2009 | 2:00 am CatholicGoogle: Your Search Engine For All Things Catholic
CatholicGoogle, a new site based on Google’s custom search, is “striving to provide an easy to use resource to anyone wanting to learn more about Catholicism and provide a safer way for good Catholics to surf the web.” The site uses a permanently-on Google SafeSearch to filter out profanity and pornography, along with a filter for specific topics that floats Catholic-related sites to the top. For example, a search for “birth control” serves up pages on why birth control is viewed as a sin in the Catholic Church as its first results. The search engine might appeal to some devout Catholics if it actually worked. However, it seems that when it comes to filtering topics beyond the standard “offensive” categories (swear words and sex) , CatholicGoogle only serves to make queries potentially more offensive. A search for “drunk” yields a video of “Drunk Catholic Kids”. Perhaps even more bizarre: a search for “sex” offers an article bashing the Church’s stance on sexuality (they may have included this in the results for a balanced alternative perspective, but I doubt it). It’s as if the site just appends the word “Catholic” to whatever you’re searching for and crosses its fingers. If this is your sort of thing, you might also be interested in GodTube, the YouTube for Christians or Gospelr (you guessed it - the Twitter for Christians). Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 3 Jan 2009 | 1:28 am Solar-powered Toyotas in the works
Toyota could use a boost, as in the face of poor world market conditions they are doing as poorly as others, especially in the US. Solar power is hot here (and popular as well - wocka wocka), and a vehicle like what they describe would be almost certain to sell. I seriously doubt it’s anywhere near the production stage, but it doesn’t hurt to get the word out early. As an aside, is anyone else as mesmerized by pictures of the sun as I am? Source: Gizmodo | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:45 am Linux In 2009 — Recession Vs. GNURealityThreek sends this excerpt from an article at IT Management:"Pundits and business executives alike are predicting gloomy economic times for 2009. But when the talk turns to free and open source software (FOSS), suddenly the mood brightens. Whether their concern is the business opportunities in open source or the promotion of free software idealism, experts see FOSS as starting from a strong base and actually benefiting from the hard times expected next year. ... [Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation] sees Linux and the FOSS ecosystem surrounding it as having insurmountable advantages in any market over its main competitor Windows — advantages that an economic downturn only intensifies. At a time when a search for the lowest possible price point is happening in such areas as notebooks, FOSS is available at no cost. It is easy to rebrand and customize in a way that Windows Isn't, and is also technically more efficient."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:42 am This Is A Test From PR NewswireWe tell your story to the world NEW YORK, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a test from PR Newswire. This is a test from PR Newswire. This is a test from PR Newswire....Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:35 am 'Curse of silence' smartphone flaw disclosed (CNET)CNET - A denial-of-service attack that limits the number of SMS messages that can be received by Nokia smartphones has been disclosed and demonstrated.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:33 am Tech Pundits Put Their 2009 Predictions On the Line
The beginning of any year seems to be the best time to make any predictions. At first glance, it seems like there's no harm in putting out a little list among the glut of year-ends and year-to-come lists. If you make a prediction that seems unlikely, you can easily attribute it to enthusiastic wish-fulfillment or to copious amounts of holiday egg nog you consumed. If a prediction turns out right, you'll be commended and your family members will throw a parade in your honor. Plus, taking one's informed analysis and extrapolating it to appealingly logical conclusions is a good thought exercise that can be shared (and expounded on) by readers. But what if the pundits (including us) are completely, wacked-out-of-the-jambalaya wrong? If so, readers usually make sure no one ever forgets about it. PC World recently compiled a small list of some of these predictions and they made us cringe. The list shows that high levels of brainpower and deep insider status do not prevent certain people from making terrible guesses. Indeed, we find that those who have a stake in the outcome of some technologies can be as blind as anyone. For example, in 1946, 20th Century Fox movie exec Darryl Zanuck foolishly declared that the young medium of television was nothing but a passing fad: "Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." Mr. Zanuck was a successful producer for years and (maybe quite sensibly) believed that transferring the power of a giant screen into a smaller one would be impossible. But he refused to understand that other entertainment options would rise in its stead and drive the tech forward. In 1995, ethernet pioneer Robert Metcalfe had a similarly embarassing quip: "I predict the Internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse." Years later, Mr. Metcalfe ended up blending up a copy of his statement with liquid and had to eat his own words. Literally. Which brings us to the punditry of 2009. Who will eat tech crow in the next year? We looked for some interesting predictions in the interwebs and placed them below. We have some of our own ideas about these predictions, but we want to first gauge your thoughts about them. Let us know in the comments about which ones you think are more likely to come true or not, and then we'll reply next week with some brief thoughts on each. If you find more interesting predictions from other pundits, please send them our way. ----- "Having thousands of friends becomes 'so 2008' and defriending becomes the hot new trend, driven by overwhelming rivers of newsfeeds." - Charlene Li, Altimeter Group
"Android Will Have Less than 20% the Sales of iPhone in 2009." Louis Gray, louisgray.com "iTunes will go completely DRM-free." - MG Siegler, VentureBeat "A Nano version of the iPhone: the iPhone has been extremely successful. It’s only logical that Apple capitalize and create a cutesier version." - MrGadget.com "Blu-Ray becomes the de facto standard as prices of players drop as low as $70 and Blu-Ray Media prices drop to $15 by years end." - GeekTonic
"Apple TV will evolve into an actual TV." - Jason Schwarz, seekingalpha.com "Venture capital funding will drop sharply." Anthony Ha - The Industry Standard "Windows 7 Will Get A Better Reception Than Vista." -- CRN "The thing we think of as a netbook should really be something else—a flat-panel, touch-screen tablet that can do photos, music, movies, e-mail, games, and full-function Web browsing . . . I'll be surprised if we don't see a great Web tablet in 2009." - Farhad Manjoo, Slate.com
Lead photo: bitterjug/Flickr
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:30 am Another Biofuel Airplane Just 8 months after Virgin Atlantic flew a 747 from London to Amsterdam on coconut and babassu nut biofuel, Air New Zealand has done it also. Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell modified the engines on a 747-400 to run on half Jet A1 fuel and half jatropha oil. The jatropha plant is pretty remarkable. This common plant from India produces nuts that contain 30 to 40 percent oil that can be converted into biofuel. It has been used previously to power cars, but this is the first time it has been used for an airplane. What would be more impressive though is an airplane powered by a real Mr. Fusion from Back to the Future. You’d just need to stop be a landfill to refuel. Source: CrunchGear | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:20 am Much Ado about Zune's New-Year's Bug (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Microsoft posted a quick fix on New Year's Day for the glitch that made some of its Zune digital music players freeze up the day before, thanks apparently to a leap-year problem encountered by the Zune's internal clock. Since 2008 had an extra day, including February 29th, the calendar/clock on some Zunes got confused about when the new year was about to start.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:20 am And the Bragging Rights Go to Internet Retailers [Voices]By Christopher Lawton, Consumer Technology Reporter, The Wall Street JournalNo retail category had a great Christmas, but e-commerce players have some reason to gloat over their brick-and-mortar counterparts: In certain key holiday categories, online sales outperformed offline retail sales, according to market research firm comScore (SCOR). ComScore compared results from its research to data from MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, which is often used as an indicator of national retail sales. ComScore found that in categories such as apparel and consumer electronics, online sales fared better than offline. Online sales of apparel and related accessories grew four percent for the first 24 days of December versus the corresponding shopping days last year, for instance. Source: All Things Digital | 3 Jan 2009 | 12:07 am Appletell reviews WordsWorth for iPhone, iPod touchFROM APPLETELL - You may think you have a large vocabulary, and you probably do, but tapping it while staring at a jumbled mess of letters isn’t always so easy. MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:51 pm How Do You Stay Upbeat Amidst the Idiocy?Techdirt has a wonderful summary of how hard it is sometimes to stay upbeat when faced with some of the complete idiocy that intelligent, tech-savvy readers often have to deal with in their day-to-day lives. While the frustration will probably never go away, nor will the news calling attention to it, it does seem that opening people's eyes to problems helps things move in the right direction, so keep it up. "Yes, we're in the midst of a brutal financial mess — but that won't stop innovation. Yes, incumbent forces, with short-sighted plans and a desire to hold back the tides are annoying and disruptive (not in a good way) in the short run. But even they are finding they can't hold back progress. Robert Friedel has a wonderful book called A Culture of Improvement that details how we, as a society, are constantly looking to improve on what we already have. We add ideas and ingenuity to old concepts and build something better — not because of the desire to grab some "intellectual property," but because of the desire to improve our own lot, to build a better tool that we want to use. Incumbent short-sighted players have been able to hinder and harm progress, but they can't keep it down completely. That culture of improvement can't be stopped entirely."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:31 pm BluCobra EZ3000 Blu-ray player should drop with a low price
The player is set to drop in March 2009 and features technology that was considered almost outdated last year. The player doesn’t support all the goodies in Profile 2.0 nor does come equipped with an Ethernet port. It’s really sad that manufacturers are trying to pimp old tech on consumers looking for a low cost entry model. Hopefully by the time that this player is available, comparable models from Sony or Samsung will be back to their post-Christmas price points. Even still, sans the Profile 2.0, the BluCobra EZ3000 does have HDMI 1.3 and analog/digital 7.1 outputs along with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master audio processing. You have to give credit where credit is due, but there is no way in hell I would buy any player without the latest Blu-ray profile - including this one. Source: CrunchGear | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:25 pm Opening titles of B-movies
Mr. Bali Hai has compiled a fair-sized gallery of B-movie opening titles. I've seen a few of these movies, and it's probably safe to say that the titles are the best parts. Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:14 pm The breakup of the United States
Kevin Kelly discusses the possibility of an "unthinkable" breakup of the USA. After all, notes Juan Enriquez, "no US president has ever died under the same flag that he was born under."
The most recent breakup scenario was noted today in the Wall Street Journal in a piece about Russian professor Igor Panarin, who predicts the breakup of the US in the year 2010. He has been predicting the same for the past decade but is now getting an audience. The logic of his scenario goes like this:Breakup of the USAHe predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.With his Soviet KGB background it may be no surprise that in Panarin's scenario the breakaway "countries" all succumb to foreign influence and are not really independent. In contrast American scenarios of breakup envision the resultant countries -- like the Pacifica coast -- as vibrant independent influences themselves. Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:06 pm Wikipedia exceeds $6m donation goal - Register
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:06 pm China jails top Microsoft software counterfeiters - Ars Technica
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:02 pm Internet Explorer bleeding market share
Preliminary statistics from Net Application show that Internet Explorer is losing more ground in the internet browser battle. It’s not really surprising as Firefox, Safari and Chrome are all gaining popularity. Internet Explorer usage dropped from 71.27 percent in October to 68.15 percent in December. Firefox went up to 21.34 percent, up 1.37 percent from 19.97 percent in October. Safari market share moved from 6.57 to 7.93 percent and Google Chrome from 0.74 to 1.04 percent. Opera did not move though, staying at 0.71 percent. Net Applications does warn that the results may be skewed by the decrease in workplace use of computers. Still, there was a definite drop in IE market share. One thing that might have fueled this drop is an increase in Mac OS X and iPhone usage, both of which spark increases in Safari usage. Also, with Google discouraging use of IE market share will only continue to go down, as it has for years. [via PCWorld] Source: Gizmodo | 2 Jan 2009 | 11:00 pm iPhone, MySpace, Facebook Race To Micropayments In 2009
These application platforms may even become a significant platform for more mainstream PC usage. Android is now being hacked to work on netbooks, and we believe Apple has plans to release a large form factor iPod Touch running their App Store platform. It’s not inconceivable that Microsoft would build this type of software distribution mechanism directly into Windows in the future. But there’s a big gaping hole in all existing platforms. None have a direct payments platform to let applications collect micropayments from users. Today app developers on Facebook and MySpace can create revenue by showing advertisements at very low CPMs. On the iPhone/iPod, developers can also charge for applications at the time of sale. Both of these are great ways to make some money on software. But the third leg of the stool, micropayments for things like virtual gifts and other things, has been largely ignored to date. There are Facebook applications that have found a way around the problem by using third party payment services. Spare Change (powered by PayPal), Social Gold, Zong and other services let users move cash into the system, and applications like Mob Wars have gathered as much as $1 million per month from micropayments. All three services have promised that direct micropayments are coming. Facebook promised the product would be released by September, but it never came and it is clearly on the back burner for now. MySpace announced their product in November 2008, but won’t way when its coming. My guess is neither MySpace nor Facebook will launch a direct payments platform. There’s just too many headaches to deal with - fraud, chargebacks and security issues bring real costs and real liability. Duplicating PayPal’s infrastructure just isn’t cost effective. Both will likely partner with a third party or parties to bring an approved service. They do this with other services (both Facebook and MySpace outsource classifieds to Oodle, for example). They don’t have to bother with building anything, and they can try to get a cut of the fees generated. Apple, though, will almost certainly do it themselves. They’ve already built out the basic payments platform through iTunes. Adding in payments for services won’t be that much additional work. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:55 pm Long crowing roostersHate your neighbor? Buy a long-crowing rooster. According to poultry expert Gail Damerow, writing in the current issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine, long crowers probably have their origins in Japan and have spread throughout the world through deliberate selection. Here's a play list for your listening pleasure, consisting of a Turkish long crowing breed, the Denizli, followed by a Koeyoshi (good crower in Japanese) and the Tomaru (black crower).Homegrown Evolution: 2009 Waking up on New Year's Day with the world of long crowing roosters Source: Gizmodo | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:45 pm Oh, One More Thing…C’mon Out Steve [Digital Daily]
Beyond that, there are rumors of an Apple tablet circulating once again. And there’s been some chatter about an iPhone Nano, but analysts are skeptical that we’ll see such devices uncrated Tuesday. “Frankly, we would be a little surprised if there is a major announcement,” Shaw Wu, Kaufman Bros. senior research analyst, wrote in a note to investors last week. “However, there is always the likelihood that Apple may surprise and send a message that Apple is a much broader and deeper company than one person, even if he/she is a living legend.” Of course, there’s also the possibility that the living legend himself may be the big announcement. Given all the morbid speculation these past few months, the best “one more thing” of all could be Jobs himself making a cameo appearance–with, or without, a new product. “The beauty of this scenario is its simplicity,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes at Apple 2.0. “There are only two possibilities: Either Jobs shows up or he doesn’t. If he does, and looks no worse than he did at the Spotlight on Notebooks special event in October, the audience will erupt with applause, investors will be reassured, and Apple’s share price will soar.” And if he doesn’t show? Well, that’s another matter entirely and one that may begin to tell us whether or not concerns about Jobs’s eventual departure from the company–whenever that may be and whatever form it may take–have finally been baked into Apple’s share price. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:43 pm New Schools Join the Top 20 in U.S. Cellular's $1 Million Calling All Communities CampaignTwo weeks remain for customers to choose which 10 schools receive $100,000 CHICAGO, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- A surge in customer voting during the past week has put newSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:41 pm More small quakes rattle Yellowstone National Park - The Associated Press
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:40 pm Overzealous AirTran Boots 9 Passengers OffAnonymous Coward writes "On Friday the wonderfully customer centric AirTran decided to remove a family of 9 US born Muslims after a comment between two family members regarding how close to the Jet engine they had been seated. The wonderful part is that after the FBI cleared the family 2 hours later, AirTran refused to fly the family, and refused to rebook them on their way from Washington to Orlando, Florida. The family purchased additional tickets on US Airways later that day, after AirTran requested that the irate father be escorted from their booking podiums by security. This whole story highlights the pathetic customer service we are getting from the Airlines these days — they actually treat us like criminals first and ask questions later. Just don't get me started on Delta." It's nice to see that stupidity still knows no bounds.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:40 pm Devastating comet hit North America 13,000 years ago?Microscopic diamonds found a few feet underground are evidence that a big destructive comet hit North America 13,000 years ago, scientists say. The LA Times reports:According to the theory -- which has its critics -- as the comet broke apart, it rained fire over the entire continent, igniting the plains and the forests and creating choking clouds of smoke.(PDF article about the Clovis Comet) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:38 pm Homemade motorcycle ad on CraigslistFunny ad for a homemade motorcycle on Craigslist.(via grow-a-brain) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:28 pm Good Morning America on hyperreal baby dolls and their "moms"
Good Morning America introduces us to women who treat their Reborn baby dolls like real infants. "Women living with fake baby dolls treat them like real children" (jezebel.com, thanks Tara McGinley!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:20 pm UPDATE 2-Recycled Paper Greetings files Chapter 11LOS ANGELES, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Recycled Paper Greetings Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday as part of its proposed sale to American Greetings Corp , while its investors charged that the suitor...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:20 pm Home Security's security checkpoint measure "mal-intent" characteristicsTech Fragments reports on Homeland Security's Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), which will screen people for "mal-intent" as they walk past checkpoints.
Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:17 pm Facebook Defends Its Turf, Sues Power.com
The Power.com service lets users view activities on all of their social networks at once. It also marks up pages to include additional functionality in a way that Greasemonkey users are familiar with. Facebook clearly doesn’t like it, even though users must explicitly sign up for the service and access it via the Power.com website. In the complaint Facebook alleges that Power.com violates its terms of use, copyright and trademarks. Specifically they object to the storage of user credentials on the Power.com servers, the scraping of “proprietary data” from Facebook (user data), and other issues. In some ways this is similar to the actions Facebook took to block Google Friend Connect from accessing Facebook accounts last May. When third parties access Facebook, they want it done the way they want it done - via the API and Facebook Connect. Other methods, even if approved by the users themselves, are going to be aggressively countered. For now Power.com has removed Facebook access from the site. If the Google Friend Connect situation is anything to go by, don’t expect to see it back any time soon. Or ever.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:15 pm Nokia Aims To Thrive Through Hard TimesNokia’s Chief Executive announced on Friday that the handset maker intends to thrive above its competitors during 2009, which is expected to be bleak for the mobile phone market.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:15 pm Gadgetell Resolution: Lose Weight
HundredPushUps- This site offers a six week training program consisting of nothing but push-ups. It provides weekly workouts, a workout log, testimonials, a store, even a badge you can display on your site once you’ve completed the program! PEERTrainer- This site provides a complete weight loss and exercise resource, with weight loss coaching, a training program, support groups, health information, diet tips, meal plans and more. eDiets- This site offers over 22 different diet plans as well as a variety of exercise programs, support groups, and more. Weight Loss For Life- this site is run by the National Institutes for Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It provides health and weight loss information, downloadable factsheets and other helpful publications, a BMI chart, and more. Project Weight Loss- this is another complete weight loss community with diet plans, workout programs, forums, blogs, even a magazine. It offers programs for those who need to lose weight and those who just want to keep fit. Remember, before you start any diet or workout program, be sure and talk to your doctor first, and be careful when considering any that require any kind of medication, “supplement” or fees to be paid. All you want to lose is weight, not your money-or your health. Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:00 pm Ballmer’s CES Keynote Promises To Be A Snoozer (Non-Announcements Revealed!)
The annual Consumer Electronics Show is going to be so boring this year that even Bill Gates is not showing up. He gave his farewell keynote (and his 13th) last year. This year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will try to rouse the crowd.
Ballmer is a high-energy guy who can be entertaining to watch, but Microsoft just doesn't have anything exciting to announce this year. (Who does, right?). When Ballmer takes the stage at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Wednesday night it is going to be hard for the audience to stay awake no matter how much he yells at them.
Here's what Ballmer will "announce" at CES:
Source: Gizmodo | 2 Jan 2009 | 10:00 pm Ballmer’s CES Keynote Promises To Be A Snoozer (Non-Announcements Revealed!)
The annual Consumer Electronics Show is going to be so boring this year that even Bill Gates is not showing up. He gave his farewell keynote (and his 13th) last year. This year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will try to rouse the crowd. Ballmer is a high-energy guy who can be entertaining to watch, but Microsoft just doesn’t have anything exciting to announce this year. (Who does, right?). When Ballmer takes the stage at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Wednesday night it is going to be hard for the audience to stay awake no matter how much he yells at them. Here’s what Ballmer will “announce” at CES:
This is what Microsoft is briefing reporters on as news. Under embargo, no less. (We don’t do embargoes anymore, and didn’t get briefed in this case). Maybe Ballmer will surprise us with a Zune phone or something. (Blue screen of death on your mobile, anyone?). But don’t count on it. Wake me up when CES is over. (Photo by obbino). Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:57 pm $50 for a lifetime of anonymous internet access: too good to be true?
A private VPN with unlimited bandwidth will probably run you at least $20 per month. Torrentfreak asked one VPN provider and found that the reason for that is simply that passing all that traffic requires purchasing a certain amount of dedicated bandwidth. For a decent speed line, that’ll run from $10 to $20 a month. So how is VPN4Life planning on providing unlimited anonymized data service for a flat one-time fee? No matter how many people sign up, their investment in the service is eaten up by cost in a matter of months. And unfortunately, it’s likely that the people who are most likely to want a VPN service are also the most likely to check into it, as it’s hardly a product for your average Joe Six-Packet. Is it possible they know something we don’t about the sustainability of their business? Given the simple fact of the cost of their service and their pricing model, it would have to be a pretty big secret. Of course, if you get in on the ground floor, you might just get your money’s worth, especially if you take advantage of the $29 limited offer that’s good for the next 50 people or so. You may be party to a new generation of internet fraud, but I’m guessing it won’t be the first time. Source: CrunchGear | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:50 pm VPN4Life: scam, scheme, or foolishness?
VPN4Life is a new site that is promising a lifetime of private and anonymous access to the internet through their servers for a one-time fee of $50. Their mission statement is to "free the world from ISP monitoring, government restrictions, and capitalism’s growing influence on the Internet." Pretty bold words there, but how else are you supposed to sell the lowest tier of what appears to be a pyramid scheme?
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:50 pm Interesting Computer Science Jobs?mattskent writes "I'm currently a junior in college working towards my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. As such, I'm starting to look pretty seriously at jobs in the IT/Computer Science field. I've spent plenty of time working entry-level IT jobs doing various kinds of help desk type work, and so most of the exposure I've had to the field is related to support of other people's computers. I enjoy helping other people out, but I'd rather not be plugging things in and restarting computers the rest of my life. Although the possibility is growing on me, I don't think I would particularly love to write code all day for a living either. What are some interesting jobs that you've had or heard of that I could look into fresh out of college with a Computer Science degree?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:47 pm I haz success: YellowSn0w update works a treat
Anyone else get things to work? Source: CrunchGear | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:45 pm Semiconductor industry hit by economic downturn
Semiconductor sales dropped in October, but the decline worsened in November. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), sales for November fell to $20.8 billion, a 9.8% decrease from the $23.1 billion recorded in November 2007. Chip sales were hit the hardest in the U.S., dropping 19.5% between November 2007 and November 2008. We’ve seen some of the effects of this in layoffs by major players like AMD and Lenovo, among many others. One more industry that’s suffering in these difficult times. Source: CrunchGear | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:44 pm Twitstat Study: BlackBerry Users Are Totally Addicted To Twitter
Twitstat, an analytics site for Twitter, has just put together a dynamic listing of the most popular Twitter clients based on the number of Tweets sent per user - in other words, it lets us see which client has the most addicted Twitter users. Looking at the the top 10 clients (which are less likely to have data skewed by a few heavy users), the top spot with an average of 3.68 tweets per user goes to TwitterBerry, the Twitter client for BlackBerry phones (not surprising, given how notoriously addictive BlackBerries are). FriendFeed comes in at a close second with 3.55 tweets per user, followed by TweetDeck. Note: These figures will change over time, as the list is dynamically updated. While the data is worth looking at, it is hardly applicable to the general population: according to the site, the dataset used is still fairly small (only around 900 users at the time this post was written), and only takes into account those users who are being followed by @twitstat. Because those users following @twitstat are likely to be “hardcore” users (given that they care about things like retweet counts), it’s a heavily biased sample. The site also offers a listing of the most popular Twitter clients that doesn’t take the number of Tweets sent into account here (those this is prone to the same selection bias). For a more comprehensive run down, check out the study conducted by ReadWriteWeb last year). Twitstat was created by Michiel Berger, co-founder of Nedstat, a European web analytics company. Update: Just after this post went live Tweetdeck pulled ahead of TwitterBerry by a small margin. Stay tuned for more on this neck and neck race. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: Gizmodo | 2 Jan 2009 | 9:00 pm Windows 7 Leaked To Pirates By Microsoft?nandemoari writes "The beta version of Windows 7 has been widely distributed through torrents and other file sharing systems. But now some commentators claim Microsoft deliberately allowed the package to get into the hands of pirates. 'I'm not being critical here, as some Microsoft Watch commenters will surely claim. It's rather smart marketing. Microsoft fills a big news void with something bloggers and journalists will write about. The suspense of stealth downloads from torrents and races to post the best screenshots first make the Windows 7 leak buzz all the more exciting. For other people, there is delight in seeing Microsoft squirm because Seven leaked early. Not that I see much squirming going on.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:55 pm Wikipedia meets $6 million fundraising goal (AP)AP - The nonprofit foundation that runs Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia of user-contributed articles, said Friday it has met its $6 million fundraising goal for fiscal 2008.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:53 pm Sony Ericsson C510 finally captured in focus The Sony Ericsson C510 is the friggin’ Big Foot of the mobile world. Put this thing in front of a camera, and said camera suddenly becomes incapable of taking proper photos. It’s like it magically generates blur. Fortunately, PhatTrance of DailyMobile got his hands on the C510, and was fortunate enough to have his anti-blur-generator charm on. Months after we first got wind of the C510 (previously known as “Kate”), we finally have reasonable pics of it. Check after the jump for more.
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:48 pm Digital TV subsidy program running out of money (AP)AP - The Feb. 17 transition from analog to digital television broadcasts looms and as many as 8 million households are still unprepared, but the government program that subsidizes crucial TV converter boxes is about to run out of money.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:40 pm Apple: Jobs Isn’t Sick, Says Argus Research [Voices]By Tiernan Ray, Blogger, Barron's, Tech Trader DailyPretty much nobody is picking up the phone at equity research firm Argus Research this morning, so take this as unverified: The firm’s analyst on Apple (AAPL), Wendy Abramowitz, this morning lowered her price target on Apple to $145 from $155, while affirming that she does not believe Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s health is deteriorating, as had been the speculation of a post on gadget site Gizmodo on Tuesday. Abramowitz lowered her earnings estimate for Apple for the December-ended fiscal Q1, from $10.1 billion and $1.54 in EPS to $9.7 billion and $1.52, which appears to have mainly to do with the fact that December’s margins will be lower than the December quarter of 2007 when the company was riding the release of the Leopard operating system. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:36 pm Latest Mac Mini rumor: multiple display outputs
My goodness. If the Mac Mini doesn’t recieve an update next week at Macworld, there will be some disappointed MacHeads. We’ve heard dual core CPUs, NVIDIA GPU power, SATA optical drive interface, and a new chassis. But wait! There is more! The latest Mac Mini rumor states that the smallest Mac in the lineup will sport both DisplayPort and a Mini DVI outputs. This addition, along with the aforementioned specs, would make the Mini a formidable player in the budget computing realm. It certainly would shrink the gap between the Mini and the high-end Mac Pro. Only a few more days until Macworld until we find out what Jobs & Co. have in store for the new year. Source: CrunchGear | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:25 pm OnlyWire 2.0 Adds 20,000 Users to Their Bookmarking Aggregation Tool in Its First MonthALISO VIEJO, Calif., Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:22 pm Appletell reviews The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for iPhone, iPod touchFROM APPLETELL - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for iPhone is missing some basic index and text features, but it’s only 99 cents, which makes it very easy to overlook any shortcomings. MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:20 pm KEMET Announces Noncompliance With NYSE Market Capitalization StandardGREENVILLE, S.C., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM) announced today that on December 31, 2008, the Company was notified by the NYSE Regulation, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:20 pm Rogers Communications to Participate at Citi EMT ConferenceTORONTO, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Rogers Communications Inc. will be participating in the Citi Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference being held in Phoenix, Arizona January 6 to 8, 2009.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:15 pm Tech deals galore, but...... it's not just because it's the post-Christmas sales. It's pre-CES inventory clearance. If it was expensive in 2008 and just became very cheap, it's liable to be imminently murdered by a replacement. Instead of being lured into another contract, wait another few weeks and the same thing might well be available unlocked at similar remainder-bin prices. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:11 pm Yatinoo, Inc. Shares Resume TradingMALAGA, Spain, and BOSTON, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Yatinoo, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: YTNO) reported that on January 2, 2009, the Company's common stock resumed trading.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:11 pm Sonic Solutions Updates Financial GuidanceNOVATO, Calif., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonic Solutions(R) (Nasdaq: SNIC) today announced updated financial guidance for its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2008.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:05 pm Turn your laser pointer into a private communicator
If you have a laser pointer you’re not using, how would you like to turn it into a pseudo-spy gadget? With a few more parts from RadioShack, you can set up your own laser communication system to talk covertly just like these bowtie-wearing spy wannabes. How it works: The audio signal from a microphone varies the power feeding the laser, so that its brightness changes, following the shape of the original sound wave. At the receving end, a solar cell or photo-resistor converts the oscillating light signal back into the original sound. Sound cool? Make your own with step-by-step instructions here. Source: CrunchGear | 2 Jan 2009 | 8:00 pm Ex-staffer: Jobs wandered Apple's halls with "flame thrower" after MobileMe fiasco Britain's Guardian has a "Life inside Apple" article from a former staffer, Chuq von Rospach, whose experiences of the secretive firm were mostly positive. It's got some funny moments, too, such as the atmosphere following the release of Apple's half-baked replacement for .Mac.
When Apple released it, it simply wasn't ready. ... To people who wondered how what the atmosphere would be like inside 1 Infinite Loop, I said: "Just imagine Steve Jobs wandering the hall with a flame thrower in hand, asking random people 'do you work on MobileMe?'" He left for new challenges. Enjoying the show, avoiding the flamethrower [Grauniad] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:47 pm iPhone 3G unlocking software updated; should work now (hopefully)
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:45 pm Facebook’s Record Christmas and High-Traffic New Year [MediaMemo]
Turns out that many of them were doing the same thing–the Facebook part, that is. Web traffic-watcher Hitwise says Mark Zuckerberg’s site accounted for 1.93 percent of all U.S. Internet visits on New Year’s Eve. That’s up 75 percent from a year ago, when 1.11 percent of you checked in at the site at some point in the day. But New Year’s wasn’t Facebook’s busiest day last month. That distinction belongs to Christmas Eve, when it set a site record of 2.18 percent of U.S. Internet visits, up from 1.42 percent in 2007. You can draw your own conclusions about what those stats mean, or read Hitwise analyst Heather Hopkins’s theories here–she thinks snowstorms in the Northeast kept people trapped in their homes with nothing to do but post on their pals’ walls. But I think the best explanation here is the simplest one: Contrary to predictions that Facebook would burn out as its core college audience grew tired of it, the site has continued to grow–it now claims 140 million active users worldwide. So you’re going to see records like this broken a few times a year. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:41 pm Aquaculture's Growth Seen As ContinuingImproved management techniques can reduce environmental effects of the practiceAquaculture production of seafood will probably remain the most rapidly increasing food production system worldwide through 2025, according to an assessment published in the January 2009 issue of BioScience.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:40 pm Stock ManAAPLation? [Updated] [Digital Daily]
As I noted that day, the timing of the rumor seemed a bit suspicious. With little in the way of news during the holiday week, Jobs’s decision to bail on the Macworld keynote issue still fresh in our minds and his health an obvious shareholder concern, it seemed a bit like an AAPL manipulator’s perfect storm. Apparently, there may be a bit more to that armchair theory than I thought. Over at Traderhood, writers with far more stock analysis acumen than I, suggest that Apple shares were poised for a huge breakout in price the afternoon of Dec. 30, bolstered by a general upward trend in the market and their own ascending triangle (click on chart below) when they very suspiciously had the wind knocked out of them. “Amazingly at the very point where AAPL’s spike at the tip of the ascending triangle should happen, rumor was introduced and killed the setup completely,” Traderhood blogger Conschmillo explains. “I mean you can have things to happen unexpectedly. It happens all the time, it is a stock market, but to have them placed this [precisely] when everything else is taking off, AAPL included, makes me believe, there is more than meets the eye to why AAPL price is down. If this rumor was not introduced, AAPL would be somewhere around $93.”
So, a favorable technical set-up was thwarted at the moment the odds favored the opposite happening. Coincidence? UPDATE: Apparently, it was a coincidence. Brian Lam, Editorial Director of Gizmodo, which published the rumor, tells me the site was tipped off well before Dec. 30. [Image credit: Tin foil hat courtesy Patrick Daley] (Thanks Barry ) Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:38 pm Rumor: T-Mobile to go green with Moto Renew
That’s about all we know about this hypothetical, Earth-conscious mobile at the moment. [via MobileBurn] Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:30 pm Mac OS X Advances as Microsoft's Windows Drops (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Apple secured a larger piece of the operating-system pie in December. Mac OS X, which hasn't been a threat to Microsoft's Windows operating systems in the past, is gaining traction.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:24 pm Gadgetell Resolution: Get heard with a blogSection: Originals, Web, Web 2.0, Websites, Google
Tired of being a consumer of content? Maybe this year you want to produce content. How do you want to get your voice heard? This could be your time to start blogging. There are lots of options out there, so here’s an overview of some of the easiest ways to start. Start small: TwitterTwitter asks “What are you doing?“ but people use the service to mention whatever they want. Using Twitter is very simple. After you sign up you’ve got 140 characters to get your point across. If you want to write a long-form dissertation, Twitter may not be your cup of tea. Unfortunately, Twitter does not support video, image, or audio embedding. You can always place a link to that kind of stuff if you want.
Facebook and MySpaceYou can blog all you want on Facebook or MySpace. You can keep these blogs private depending on your settings. This could be nice if you just want to reach a few people. Obviously, if you have a public account, anyone can access your blog. Facebook has so many other things going that you can sort of lose your blog amongst the applications and other junk. MySpace has a similar problem.
TumblrTumblr doesn’t have any character limits and you can embed videos, upload one mp3 file per day (or stream from another source), posts links, images, or just plain old text. Tumblr is actually a pretty powerful blogging solution and is extremely easy to use. If you spend some time, you can even customize the theme using some CSS.
The big guysWordpress is an incredibly powerful blogging engine that can do lots of things. First and foremost, it was built to blog. There are a lot of plug ins and, if you want, you can customize Wordpress extensively. If you want to run a podcast or vidcast, Wordpress can do that, too. We’ll cover setting up your own show in another post. Google’s Blogger is also very powerful and customizable. Blogger also has had a bad reputation for taking its sweet time adding new features like tagging posts. If you just want to write your ideas down, Blogger is a fine choice.
Keep some things in mindBlogging can be whatever you want it to be. Posting links, commentary on whatever you like, jokes—most importantly, it should be your voice. Of course, you may want to temper your attitude if you’re looking to get employed or something since you will probably get Googled. Remember that your work can be very public. Get a blog: Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:13 pm Despite Weak Season, Online Spending Trends Outperform Brick-and-Mortar Across Several Key Retail CategoriesRESTON, Va., Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:13 pm Intel’s PC.com Site Steps Into Vegas Spotlight [Voices]By Don Clark, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, DigitsIntel (INTC) has never been much associated with glitz. The chipmaker, after all, essentially sells high-tech widgets that few people think much about these days. But nearly everybody at times has a question or a complaint about PCs–the inspiration for an Intel-sponsored Web site that plans to add to the star power in Las Vegas next week. The PC.com site, which posts articles and other resources to help computer owners and prospective buyers, was launched with very little promotion last year. Though it doesn’t go out of its way to hide the affiliation with Intel, it doesn’t exactly advertise it either–preferring to keep a bit of editorial distance from its deep-pocketed parent. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 7:01 pm T-Mobile Dash goes black, turns to the Dark Side
It’s been over two years since HTC first launched the Excalibur, better known as the T-Mobile Dash here in the States. Originally released with a metal-like finish (perhaps paying homage to its Arthurian roots), this affordable smartphone (currently $99 after MIR) is finally receiving a makeover, albeit a minor one, just in time for the new year. The Dash is now available in Darth Vader’s favorite color - black. Unfortunately, not much else has changed. The device still lacks 3G support, working only on GPRS/EDGE and WiFi, and it runs WinMo 6.0, not the latest 6.1 release. Otherwise this Dash features a QWERTY keyboard, 1.3MP still/video camera and MicroSD slot similar, if not identical, to the previous model. Before running out to grab your new black Dash, just keep in mind - You don’t know the power of the Dark Side! Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Jan 2009 | 6:47 pm Great Barrier Reef Growth SlowingScientists said on Thursday that coral growth in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has fallen to its lowest rate for 400 years, in a troubling sign for the world's oceans.Glen De'ath and colleagues at the Australian Institute of Marine Science believe the slow growth could threaten a variety of marine ecosystems that rely on the reef and signal similar problems for other similar organisms worldwide.The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral bed in the world, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Jan 2009 | 6:35 pm Beatles to zombies, videogamers set for varied 2009 (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Jan 2009 | 6:32 pm Gene Krupa, Lionell Hampton, Chico Hamilton vs “Papa” Jo Jones [Digital Daily]Via YouTube Doubler Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 6:07 pm Improving Nanotechnology In Digital CamerasScottish researchers are trying to improve digital camera images with over half a million in grant money.Scientists at the University of Glasgow were given over $700,000 to develop small nanostructures that would be used on light detecting image sensors.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 6:00 pm Firefox, Safari Cut Into Internet Explorer's Market Share (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - The latest data from Net Applications indicates that Internet Explorer lost market share in December to browsers from Mozilla and Apple.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Jan 2009 | 5:48 pm Review: A day with Griffin's TuneBuds Mobile Griffin's $40 TuneBuds Mobile is a decent set with a useful value-add: a tiny noise-canceling microphone close to where the cord splits.
They work only with the iPhone, iPod classic, second-generation iPod Touch, and 4th-gen iPod Nano, but owners of Apple gear have the choice of Griffin's own iTalk software, or that from other companies. The buds themselves feel solid, though the rubber plugs make an odd squelching noise on insertion and isolate very well: it sounds almost as if your ears are wet. The cord is wrapped in a fabric sheath that gives them a pleasant feel and helps prevent them knotting. Three sets of plugs and a small carrying case are included. Audio quality was good. Tough bass-heavy and lacking the overall quality of top models, it's still much better than what you get for free with your iPod. If you'd prefer to keep your current set, the little microphone unit is also sold separately, as the $20 SmartTalk, Tunebuds [Griffin] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Jan 2009 | 5:16 pm A YouTube Time-Waster for the Long Weekend: Make Your Own Mashup [MediaMemo]
So. You need some time-wasters. Here’s one that’s distracted me for several minutes: YouTube Doubler, which allows you to play two clips on Google’s (GOOG) video site at the same time. Why would you want to do that? My first thought was that it would make the “Is it true that ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ syncs up perfectly with ‘The Wizard of Oz’?” question easier to answer. But someone’s already tackled that one. (Of course. Also, it appears the answer is “no.”) Second thought: I bet you can do some good stuff with Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Balllmer’s famous dance video. So here’s my attempt. Note that you may need to bring the volume up on the left hand clip while bringing it down on the Ballmer clip; also, the Ballmer clip won’t autoplay itself. What do you want? It’s in beta.
Can you do better? Probably. I’m particularly fond of this creation: Hank Paulson Vs. Milking Cow, via the YouTube Doubler favorites page. If you’ve got a mashup you want to share with the rest of us, leave the URL in comments below, or email me: peter@allthingsd.com. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 5:10 pm Review: A week with the G50v
Asus's G50V is a reassuringly ugly gaming notebook. Well-specced but not extravagant, it offers decent performance at an affordable price: depending on the specs you want, expect to sink $1,500-$2,000 into one of these. Echoes of the same design language seen in the minuscule Eee PC lineup make for a strange first impression, but this machine is not a cheap manpurse occasional. It's 15 inches wide, weighs about 8 pounds, and has glowing blue LED strips and a pulsating "Republic of Gamers" logo on its lid. Most striking about it is the metallic orange trim, which signs it out of the workplace and firmly into the LAN party. There are 7 stickers on it. The lid is black. A glossy scratch-resistant clearcoat attracts fingerprints. Close inspection reveals countless tiny sparklies beneath it, shimmering like one of Siegfried and Roy's capes.
As reviewed, the G50V has a Core 2 Duo T9400, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, Nvidia 9700M GT graphics, Vista Home Premium 64-bit, gigabit ethernet, WiFi-n, a 2-megapixel webcam, and that 1650x1050 15.4" display. Two 250GB hard disks are partitioned into a total of 4 drives. It scored 5685 in 3DMark06 at default settings: you'll be pushing it playing the latest games at high settings, but you won't have to dial it back too far. On the left side is a VGA port, USB port, firewire, E-SATA, Expresscard, HDMI out, and a card reader. On the back is another USB port, ethernet, dial-up modem, power socket and Kensington lock. On the right is an optical drive, two more USB ports, headphones, mic and SPDIF. On the front is a switch to turn off WiFi, and an infra-red beeper. Two neat features: first, the inclusion of a numeric keypad on a mid-size laptop. Second, SplashTop, the linux-based instant-on environment, which offers browsing and other useful extras. Alas, Vista doesn't load in the "background" while it's on. There's a glowing row of special keys between the keyboard and the screen, and a miniature LCD display that shows battery life while in-game. A giant speaker is mercifully hidden underneath. Battery life is dismal, unimportant as that may be for a gaming model. Its 6-cell block might get you two hours with settings down, but I got less than 90 minutes when gaming. Asus's G50 is a fine choice for a mid-range gaming laptop for those wanting a good deal, but who want a more ostentatious look than Gateway's otherwise similar gray slabs. If you like it but don't want to compromise on performance, look to the pricier G70 series. The Asus G50V is available at Amazon and elsewhere. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Jan 2009 | 4:30 pm IE Market Share: Down Nearly 15 Percent in Two Years [Digital Daily]
Now, Net Applications cautions that the December holiday season strongly favored residential over business usage, which increases the relative usage share of Mac, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. So perhaps the IE’s lower usage during the month was a bit more pronounced than it might otherwise have been. But that doesn’t change the fact that its reign is clearly in decline. In January of 2007, IE held nearly 80 percent market share; now it holds 68.15. Still, the lion’s share of the market, but a share that has slipped nearly 15 percent in just two years, (click on chart below) and given recent news, seems certain to slip further in the months ahead. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 4:30 pm RIM: Orange to Pull BlackBerry Bold? Guardian Alleges Software Glitches. [Voices]By Tiernan Ray, Blogger, Barron's, Tech Trader DailyU.K. paper The Guardian this morning reports that Orange, the mobile phone operator owned by France Telecom, is considering yanking Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry Bold from its handset lineup–presumably in the U.K. market–because of what the paper calls persistent software errors. The curious fact of the article is that it cites no one–it is “understood,” in the passive voice, that the device will be discontinued by Orange. And the article is actually more about the BlackBerry Storm than the Bold. Source: All Things Digital | 2 Jan 2009 | 4:17 pm Canada's forests not helping environmentCanada's 1.2 million square miles of forests have turned from being carbon-absorbing aids to the environment to carbon-emitting liabilities, scientists say. Since 1999, and especially in the last five years, the forests have shifted from being a carbon sink to a carbon source, Werner Kurz, senior research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service in Vancouver, told a Chicago Tribune correspondent. Rising global temperatures are drying out forests making them more susceptible to fires, which release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, the report said. Adding to the problem is an infestation of pine beetles, which have killed off thousands of acres of evergreen forests in British Columbia and Alberta.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Jan 2009 | 2:19 pm Game Makers To Break New Ground In 2009For publishers of videogames, the new year begins a transition in which releases of new titles are no longer tied to the holiday shopping months, but instead distributed throughout the entire year.Historically, 50 percent of the annual sales of videogames took place in November and December. However, last year Take 2 Interactive broke this trend with the April release of "Grand Theft Auto IV". The game sold well throughout the remainder of the year.In 2009, the first Nintendo DS installment of the best-selling game franchise, "Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars," will launch in March, while some of the year's most anticipated games will launch even sooner.Japanese game maker Capcom Co Ltd will introduce the classic brawler sequel "Street Fighter IV" in February, at the same time as Guerilla Games' PlayStation 3’s "Killzone 2" sci-fi game becomes available."This time around we're taking the war to the enemy," Hermen Hulst, managing director of Guerilla Games, told Reuters.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 1:10 pm Copper Conferencing Announces One-Minute Skill Builder Webinar Series and Online Learning CenterBROOMFIELD, Colo., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Copper Conferencing is proud to announce its new Online Learning Center and One-Minute Skill Builder Webinar Series. Copper Conferencing is making online learning even easier.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Jan 2009 | 1:08 pm New Solution To Mosquito ProblemOld mosquitoes are normally a catalyst in the spread of disease, so scientists from Australia have found a way to kill mosquitoes naturally by breeding them to carry an insect parasite that causes earlier death.Until now, scientists had been searching for a way to genetically engineer mosquitoes to become resistant to illnesses like dengue fever and malaria.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Jan 2009 | 12:35 pm
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Blogging platform 
Looks like software giant EMC has acquired 
When 8020 Media, the publisher of JPG Magazine, 
With just days to go before the 25th Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco kicks off Tuesday morning, speculation about what Apple (AAPL) may or may not unveil during senior vice president Philip Schiller’s keynote address is mounting. Among the rumored possibilities:
I have a homemade bike me and my brother built many years ago. Runs and drives but the back tire kind of rides sideways. The seat blew out a few years ago and I made do with a sofa cushion, duct tape and a couple of 2x 4's ( the ultimate fix! ). It runs like a champ but does smoke alot especially if you are hard on the gas. Uses about a quart of oil for each gas fillup. I usually just put the oil directly in the gas as it is going to burn it anyway and that way it is easy. Can't drive over 12 miles or so at a time as the motor gets red hot and starts loosing power so probably a good bike for someone who drives locally. Does backfire and squeel pretty loud occasionally so I usually wear earplugs of some kind. DOES NOT pass emmissions so would need to be registered in a county without emmisions check. Great first bike otherwise! 
The system uses cameras to detect slight alterations in pupil sizes, blink rate and even direction of gaze. A laser radar called BioLIDAR measures heart rate and changes between heartbeats. The BioLIDAR can even monitor a persons respiration and track movements in the face, neck, and cheeks. Stressed out? A thermal camera will pick up on this too by gauging changes in the skin temperature.
Newly launched 
The holidays are behind us once again and it’s time to start those resolutions you made. If one of them is to lose weight,(it’s one of the most common resolutions people make-and one of the ones most don’t stick to) here are a few websites to help you stay on track:
On Dec. 30, with just a couple of hours left in the penultimate trading session of the year, Apple’s (AAPL) shares hit $87.99 and seemed to be well on their way back to $90. But before they could break $88, claims that Steve Jobs’s declining health is the real reason the Apple CEO won’t deliver the keynote at Macworld 2009 cut the legs out from under them. The rumor was quickly dismissed, but not before 
You’re looking at a supposed image of Motorola’s yet to be officially announced green candybar handset, the W233 Renew. The Moto Renew (as listed on the 
