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New malware attack uses Google AdWordsSection: Computers, Security, Web, Downloads, Websites
When downloaded, the user does indeed receive a full copy of WinRAR, but with malware along for the ride. The installation also installs a program called explore.exe into the system32 folder. The program immediately performs a browser hijack by altering the hosts file so that popular homepage sites like Yahoo.com and Google.com instead point to a fake Microsoft Security Center site. It also displays a pop up message box once a minute with the message “interval hehehe!!!!!“. When the user attempts to do a search on the web to find out what’s going on, they are redirected to the fake Microsoft site which tells them they’ve been infected by a virus or spyware and directs the user to “Download AntiSpyware Now to Fix!“ The link leads to a slick looking site for AntiSpyware 2009. A fake scan runs and tells the user they’ve been infected by “‘intervalhehehe” and urges them to download AntiSpyware 2009 to fix their systems for a mere $39.99. The program does clean the infection-the infection the scammer put there to get your $39.99! This is a ransomware-like technique. True ransomware locks down the users computer until they pay up. This scheme simply annoys them until they do. The moral of the story? Be very very careful what you download! As of now the malicious links are still coming up on Google searches and there has been no comment from Google about the situation. Read[ZDNet] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 5:30 pm Palm Responds to Apple's Legal Posturing With More Posturing [Palm]You could see some of litigious intent in Tim Cook's recent statements regarding competition, but they weren't direct threats to Palm, or about the Pre. That didn't stop Palm from taking them that...Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:57 pm Whoa! A Tech Acquisition! [Voices]By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street JournalThe first high-profile tech acquisition in months took place Thursday, but don’t take that as a harbinger of more deals. Autonomy, a U.K. company that makes software that businesses use to track corporate information, acquired Interwoven, a San Jose, Calif., document-management company, for $775 million in cash. Autonomy will sell some stock and tap a new line of credit in order to finance the deal. The tech M&A world has been quiet for the last few months as companies adjust to the down economy. Many publicly traded tech companies have seen their market capitalizations cut in half over the last few months. Companies aren’t yet prepared to sell at such a discount, the conventional wisdom goes. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:44 pm CNN online traffic tops on Inauguration Day (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:40 pm RIAA Threatens Harvard Law Prof With SanctionsNewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Unhappy with Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson's motion to compel the deposition of the RIAA's head 'Enforcer', Matthew J. Oppenheim, in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum, the RIAA threatened the good professor with sanctions (PDF) if he declined to withdraw his motion. Then the next day they filed papers opposing the motion, and indeed asked the Court to award monetary sanctions under Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:18 pm Wreak Havoc In The Office With A DIY Trebuchet KitBy Luke Anderson I’m convinced that I would go completely mad if I had to work in a cubicle all day. The urge to knock down the barricades that wall me in would likely only be surpassed by the desire...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:13 pm Spore evolves and diversifies - Inquirer
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:13 pm Hatred of slavery drove Darwin ideas, book says - Reuters
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm Really for sure, no Apple netbooks - ZDNet
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:53 am NBC: Our Local Stations Are Killing Us [MediaMemo]
GE (GE)’s NBC Universal says its revenues dropped 3% and that its operating profits were down 6% for the last three months of 2008, primarily because of weakness at its local TV stations. Look out below: Meredith Corp., which owns a handful of local stations in major markets, says its ad sales are down 40% this quarter. The upside: Cable TV was strong, GE says — because cable systems operators have to pay cable networks like NBC U a fixed fee for each subscriber, regardless of the ad market. And the real upside: GE shareholders don’t really care that much about NBC’s performance — they’re much more concerned about the company’s huge finance business. The one exception here would be Vivendi, which has already said its going to be writing down its stake in NBC U. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:49 am WRAPUP 3-Qimonda, Samsung hit by chip market crash* Samsung posts first quarterly loss as chip, LCD sales hitSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:42 am Pope welcomes Facebook, but cautions (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:38 am Coming soon: Pope on YouTubeVATICAN CITY - The Vatican is launching its own YouTube channel to engage more with the digital generation and better control Pope Benedict XVI's online image. Officials from Vatican...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:37 am Coming soon: Pope on YouTube (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:35 am CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-Schlumberger posts lower quarterly profit* Sees activity weakening across the board (Corrects analysts' forecasts to show miss)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:35 am Trimble to Expand its VRS Now Coverage in Illinois and IowaSUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB) announced today that it has expanded its Trimble(R) VRS Now(TM) service coverage areaSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:30 am How Much Worse Can The Ad Market Get? Just Wait [MediaMemo]
We’ve already heard worrisome predictions about online ad sales at Yahoo (YHOO) and TIme Warner’s AOL (TWX). And those are going to be rosy compared to the people who sell offline. Bad harbinger: Brutal numbers from magazine publisher Meredith Corp (MDP). The Iowa-based company reported that its print ad revenue was down 20 percent for the last quarter, and that the handful tv stations it owns saw their sales drop about 5 percent. Meredith says magazine ads are down 15% so far for the current quarter, which sounds comparatively rosy (down 15% is the new up!). But it says TV ads have fallen off a cliff and are plummeting out of view: Sales for the current quarter are down 40%, led by auto ads, which have basically disappeared — down a staggering 70%. If those numbers are anything close to indicative of the rest of the market, you’re going to see the ripple effects throughout the media world. Today, for instance, Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente used the Meredith results to help explain why he was cutting his estimates for News Corp. (NWS), which owns this Web site. And things can get much worse, DiClemente notes. The national market for TV ads has still stayed relatively strong, but that’s in large part because advertisers locked in their buys last spring. But advertisers still have a window to bail out of those commitments in the near future. And even if they don’t, it’s hard to imagine they’ll re-up at the same levels when the networks pitch them this spring. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:24 am Another Mac Virus Alert. Real This Time? - Wired News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:22 am Paparazzi Fametography - 'Can You Digit?' Explores the Future of "15 Minutes of Fame" (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Photographer Terry Richardson pays homage to the iconic Andy Warhol and his famous 15 minutes of fame expression with a new photography project published in the February issue of Interview...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:19 am Google Puts The Squeeze On Free Apps
Google Apps is a suite of online applications like gmail, Google calendar, Google Docs, etc. that are packaged and tailored for business use. It’s growing fast - in a recent post where Google announced the opening of a reseller program, the company said that more than 1 million businesses and 10 million users use Google Apps today, and 3,000 new businesses sign up daily. The largest business user, Genentech, has 20,000 employees on Google Apps. When Google Apps first launched in August 2006 it was free and described as “a service available at no cost to organizations of all shapes and sizes.” Free for everyone lasted until February 2007, when Google announced a premier edition of the service with more storage and an uptime guarantee. The cost was (and is) $50 per user per year. When Google Apps first launched up to 200 user accounts could be created for each business under the free version. But that limit was quietly reduced to just 100 user accounts. And then when the reseller program was announced earlier this month, the limit was cut in half again, to just 50 accounts.
Google also changed the sign up page for Google Apps. The page used to show (screenshot) a comparison between the free and premium versions. Now it only shows the premium version and offers a free trial. To see the comparison chart you have to click the link “compare to standard edition” to see the free and premium versions compared. The goal is clear - to get more premium accounts that pay $50/user/year. Income growth has slowed considerably at Google and the company is looking for more ways to ramp revenue, particularly newer revenue streams, and control costs. And it’s more than fine that Google experiments with pricing on these products. But they have to remember that they’re not just competing with Microsoft and its expensive exchange server product; they also have cheaper competitors like Zoho and Yahoo’s Zimbra to deal with as well. They may not have as much pricing flexibility as they think. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:18 am Google Puts The Squeeze On Free AppsGoogle says the vast majority of the 1 million businesses that use Google Apps opt for the free advertising supported version. To make the free option less attractive they've been quietly lowering the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:18 am CORRECTED - CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-MEMC Q4 results beat Street; Q1 rev outlook w(Corrects exchange name in paragraph 6 to New York Stock Exchange, from Nasdaq)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:12 am FACTBOX-Largest M&A deals in pharma sectorJan 23 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc , the world's largest drugmaker by revenue, is in talks to acquire rival Wyeth in a deal that could be valued at more than $60 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:11 am Worst-ever threat to UK privacy: write your MP now!Glyn sez, "Hidden in the new Coroners and Justice Bill is one clause (cl.152) amending the Data Protection Act. It would allow ministers to make 'Information Sharing Orders', that can alter any Act of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:08 am Worst-ever threat to UK privacy: write your MP now!Glyn sez, "Hidden in the new Coroners and Justice Bill is one clause (cl.152) amending the Data Protection Act. It would allow ministers to make 'Information Sharing Orders', that can alter any Act of Parliament and cancel all rules of confidentiality in order to use information obtained for one purpose to be used for another.""This single clause is as grave a threat to privacy as the entire ID Scheme. Combine it with the index to your life formed by the planned National Identity Register and everything recorded about you anywhere could be accessible to any official body. If Information Sharing Orders come to pass, they could (for example) immediately be used to suck up material such as tax records or electoral registers to build an early version of the National Identity Register. But the powers apply to any information, not just official information. They would permit data trafficking between government agencies and private companies - your medical records are firmly in their sights - and even with foreign governments." We urge you to write to your MP straight away via http://www.WriteToThem.com - don't wait. The Bill is being rushed through Parliament, even as we write. It contains a number of controversial provisions, but to the casual reader appears mainly to be about reforming inquests and sentencing.+ A CONCEALED ASSAULT ON PRIVACY + (Thanks, Glyn!) Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:08 am Brazil Vale to invest in natural gas exploitationSAO PAULO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Mining giant Vale said late on Thursday it is in talks with Woodside Energia to purchase half of its stake in the BM-S-48 and BM-S-55 blocks to explore natural gas in Brazil's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:06 am Ubisoft confirms seven new games this year - bit-tech.net
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:01 am Palm to Apple: Bring It [Digital Daily]
Palm, whose new Pre handset, though built around a different paradigm than the iPhone, boasts some remarkably iPhone-like features. Palm, a company who’s reinvention is being stewarded by Jon Rubinstein, once Apple’s head of hardware engineering and a guy with an undoubtedly deep knowledge of Cupertino’s R&D process. Palm, a company now full of ex-Apple engineers. Well, if Palm was shaken by Cook’s remarks, it’s not letting on. Asked if such aggro rhetoric about Apple’s intellectual property and the grim legal fate of those who might pilfer it worried the company, Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox said not in the least. “Palm has a long history of innovation that is reflected in our products and robust patent portfolio (31 pages of patents in Google Patent Search), and we have long been recognized for our fundamental patents in the mobile space,” she told Digital Daily. “If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves.” So while Palm may not be preparing for a legal showdown with Apple, the idea that one might occur does seem to have at least crossed the company’s mind. And, clearly, it’s crossed Apple’s as well. Cook’s comment–though it may have seemed off the cuff–was obviously a calculated one. And the heat and emotion behind it suggest that Apple is not at all pleased with the iPhone’s newest rival and those who designed it. But Palm doesn’t seem to much care. So for now, it’s all posturing and hawkish rhetoric. Will it evolve into something more? That’s a question only Apple legal can answer. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:00 am Ventureforth, Inc. Wins Multi-million Dollar Contract for Mobile Field Service SolutionATLANTA, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventureforth, Inc. today announced that it has won a multi-million dollar contract to provide a new mobile field service solution to one of the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 11:00 am $2,695 Tee Shirts - Defy the Recession and Publicly Proclaim Im Still Rich(TrendHunter.com) Again with the recession thing. Times are tough. Blah. Blah. Blah. But for a certain percentage of the population, the recession means nothing. Sure, theyve lost money, but the money...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:59 am Monty Python's free web video increased DVD sales by 23,000 percentMashable reports on Monty Python's YouTube channel: Were letting you see absolutely everything for free. So there! But we want something in return. None of your driveling, mindless comments. Instead,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:54 am Monty Python's free web video increased DVD sales by 23,000 percentMashable reports on Monty Python's YouTube channel:Can Free Content Boost Your Sales? Yes, It Can (via Michael Geist) Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:54 am UPDATE 2-German chipmaker Qimonda insolvent* Qimonda says aims to keep major part of business runningSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:52 am 1,474 Megapixel Inauguration Panorama is a Treasure Trove of Candid Captures [Photography]We've all seen the iconic imagery of the day again and again: the nervous smile as the oath went haywire, the rapt crowds, Aretha's hat. But what about everything else? It's all in here. Containing...Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:52 am Beekeeper Couture - Mismatched Apiculture Fashion Fit for the Birds and the Bees (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) On several occasions, Trend Hunter has touched upon the subject of how the present economic crisis has affected the fashion industry; Takahiro Miyashitas outlandish Fall 2009 collection...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:39 am UPDATE 1-Satyam may name new head; iGate an interested buyer* Satyam board may name new leadership team later on FridaySource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:35 am Napkins Calendar Allows For Exactly One Spill Per DayBy Andrew Liszewski Using one of those ‘page-a-day’ printed calendars seems like a waste of 365 pieces of paper to me, unless it’s made from paper napkins like this calendar designed...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:31 am Kirstenlee's Acclaimed S16 Second Life Viewer -- Now For Mac and Linux *and* GPL Compliant (Updated)There was a lot of excitement when SL programming ninja Kirstenlee Cinquetti released her "S16" version of the Second Life viewer earlier this month, sometimes described as The Best SL Viewer Evar, but...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:22 am Presidential Mobile Phones - Barack Obama Keeps His Blackberry, With Security Enhancements (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) President Barack Obama has gotten a security enhanced super $3,000 Blackberry that he will be allowed to use as president. Obama used a Blackberry 8700 during the presidential campaign,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:19 am T-43 Security Robot Bags Intruders, Unsuspecting Coworkers via Cellphone [Robots]Aside from being the first known predecessor to the inevitable T-800, the Alacom/tmsuk T-34 security bot doesn't seem that formidable. But pay no mind to its Hoover-esque appearance—the T-34...Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:04 am West's trees dying faster as temperatures rise - Los Angeles Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 10:01 am China closes 1,250 sites in online porn crackdown (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 9:40 am UK Child Abuse Investigators Resent Being Charged For ISP Datank497 writes "In the UK, ISPs are charging a child protection agency for access to IP user details they need for their investigations into online-related abuse. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has paid out over £170,000 since 2006 on IP data requests related to child abuse cases, and expects to pay another £100,000 this year — enough to fund another two investigators. The CEOP's CEO said that any ISP which can't afford to give the police such help 'simply can't afford to do business.'" Surely it must cost the ISPs money to comply with such requests, no matter how official the quest.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 23 Jan 2009 | 9:22 am Superstar Team To Launch Flash MMOG Called Ohai
Susan Wu, the founder and CEO, is a former partner at Charles River Ventures and the former CMO of the Apache Software Foundation, and has experience with MMOGs. She’s also a self-confessed World Of Warcraft addict. Her team includes Blake Commagere (CTO), a cofounder of Mogad (acquired by iSkoot); Don Neufeld (VP Engineering), the former technical director at Sony Online Entertainment where he shipped Everquest II, Planetside and 13 other products; and Scott Harsman (VP Production), the former executive producer and creative director at Sony Online Entertainment where he led development of Everquest II, Everquest and other projects. Neufeld and Harsman both worked at Sony Online Entertainment and brought a team with them. Wu says via email “There are very few teams that have shipped multiple MMOs across different generations of products. We are very fortunate to have Scott, Don and the team they brought over from Sony. There is a significant amount of learning that comes from having gone through dozens of MMO launches that we are applying to our products. Also, while at Sony, our team was involved in the design and implementation of their virtual goods platform.” The company won’t yet give details on what type of game or platform they’re building, but they’ve convinced the venture capitalists that the idea and technology is sound. In the Fall of 2008 the company raised an undisclosed round of financing with August Capital and Rustic Canyon Partners, rumored to be in the $6 million range. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:47 am The Mac at 25: Storage (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - In the beginningâthat is, 1984âa Mac could store 400K on a painfully slow 3.5-inch floppy disk. Today, your MobileMe membership provides you with 20GB of combined e-mail and file storage spaceâthatâs 50,000 times as muchâup in âthe cloud,â swiftly accessible by Macs and PCs, iPhones, and iPod touches anywhere with a data connection.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:15 am MPAA vs RealDVD–Why You Care [Voices]By Dave Johnson, Founder and Principal Author, Seeing the ForestThe Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is suing to stop RealPlayer’s (RNWK) RealDVD from being sold to computer owners. RealDVD lets you make backup copies of your movie DVDs onto your computer. It doesn’t let you make new DVDs or share the files from your computer with others–it just lets you keep for yourself a backup. MPAA says this means computer users “steal” movies. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:05 am New Staff Find White House in Tech Dark Ages [Voices]By Anne E. Kornblut, Staff Writer, Washington PostIf the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past. Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts. What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:04 am Online TV Sites Battle for Viewers [Voices]By Douglas MacMillan, Reporter, BusinessWeekOn TV, content is king. But on the Web, community may reign supreme. Throughout television history, the way to lure most viewers was to air the best shows. It doesn’t necessarily work that way on the Web, where many shows can be seen on multiple sites. Take the recent announcement by CBS (CBS) that it would begin airing shows like Showtime’s Dexter and Sony Pictures Television’s (SNE) Bewitched on TV.com, CBS’s online site for full-length video. But none of the more than 1,000 new programs are exclusive to TV.com. And the episodes of Bewitched, the classic sit-com featuring the nose-wrinkling witch Samantha, are already on rival Hulu, the joint site of NBC Universal and News Corp. (NWS). “Every major studio right now is following a nonexclusive strategy” online, says Arash Amel, senior analyst with London-based media researcher Screen Digest. “The question for these sites is beginning to be, ‘how do you differentiate yourself beyond the content you have?’ “ Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:03 am Even Porn Can’t Keep a Playboy’s Pockets Lined [Voices]By Ken Fisher, Contributor, Ars TechnicaOne of the proverbial axioms of the “publishing world” is that sex sells. Pornography, in particular, is a massively popular business. Indeed, where porn goes, so goes technology. At least this is the oft-repeated claim. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:02 am Mobile phone market to shrink in 2009 (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:02 am Obama Is A “Miserable Failure” [Voices]By Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-chief, Search Engine LandI told you so. Or I told anyone who cared. I even tried to reach the Obama administration in four or five different ways. Do a search on Yahoo (YHOO) right now for miserable failure, and you’ll find President Barack Obama’s page ranking either in the top spot or the second spot. Given a redirect that Obama’s web team has put into place, he should solidify into that number one spot over time. Eventually, Microsoft’s Live Search should reflect that, as well. And over at Google (GOOG), Obama will likely gain a top page listing for a search on failure. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 8:01 am IMVU Investment Highlights Continued Strength in Social Networking - BusinessWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 7:56 am Obama’s Inaugural influence felt everywhere, even on Xbox LiveFROM GAMERTELL - Xbox Live owners were able to experience history along without fighting the cold and crowds… MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 7:34 am Scientists Grow Doll Out of Living Cells, Complex Organisms Next [Living Cells]Researchers at the University of Tokyo created a 5mm tall doll composed of living cells, in an experiment to create 3D living biological structures. It's cute and kinda gross at the same time. The...Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 7:30 am 6.5 million homes still unready for the DTV transition It seems every day I write about the digital television transition. According to a study by The Nielsen Company, 6.5 million homes are not ready for the digital transition if it happened today. The last time there was a study on this, 7.8 million homes were unprepared. That study was in December of 2008. The study is about readiness and not about awareness. There is also data on which markets are most and least prepared. Apparently the people of Albuquerque and Santa Fe are the most unready folks in the country with a whopping 12.24% completely unready. With all the hoopla about this about the digital transition, what would happen if people couldn’t watch TV? Would they freak out and attack one another? Will they just use Hulu? Maybe they will end up reading books and talking to other human beings. Read: [Nielsen Study Press Release] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 7:29 am Microsoft Cutbacks: The 1993 “Shrimp and Weenies” Memo [Digital Daily]
Novell recently announced (yet another) record quarter of revenue growth and profitability. The frosting on this cake was to lay off 4% of their 3,600 employees. Novell is serving weenies, not shrimp. Much of what we do is symbolic, yet this becomes the current upon which our corporate culture rides. Microsoft’s corporate culture is perpetuated by visible actions, not by a list of values printed on coffee mugs. It is true that we lead by example, and due to growth in headcount, many employees now watch these examples from distant binoculars — we no longer enjoy the small company luxury of rubbing shoulders with all employees on a daily basis. So it is important that some of these symbolic actions remain quite visible: we address each other on a first name basis; we have an informal dresscode; we fly coach class; we stay in reasonably priced hotels; we don’t ride in limos; we don’t have executive dining rooms; our office furniture is of good quality, but reasonably priced; when dining at company expense, we order weenies not shrimp. It’s important that our administrative assistants, event planners, and managers see it, hear it and get it: Given the choice, we prefer weenies over shrimp. (Lest we throw the baby out with the bath water, there are legitimate times for shrimp, but these are the exception, not the rule). With no guidance from management, the path of least resistance propels one to the “bigger is better” mindset. This is clearly evident today in the number of fancy catered lunches being served thoughout the company. The world’s preoccuptation with Microsoft’s success can confuse the issue. One of the reason’s we’re successful (and wealthy) is because we’ve been serving weenies (not shrimp) for the past 17 years! No need to change the menu. The line seems fairly clear: Each department in the company has an employee morale budget. For FY94 it is recommended that this budget be based on the number of people in the department multiplied by (no more than) $20/month. The resultant number becomes the department’s fiscal year employee morale budget. This budget should be used to recognize individual and group achievement, including product ship parties. T-shirts, sweatshirts, department parties, special one time bonuses, an expense paid weekend away for a deserving employee, etc. all come from this budget — and ONLY from this budget. If your group has an annual holiday party (separate from the company sponsored Holiday Party), then it too comes out of this budget. The local management team is empowered to determine best use of these funds. A well designed T-shirt can and should be a great team building device for a group and/or a reward for the achievement of a key goal (ie, shipping a product on time). On the other hand, we need to halt the growing practice of handing out random T-shirts and other goodies for simply attending a required business meeting. Large events, such as sales meetings, have separate budgets. T-shirts, trash and trinkets, etc. should be included in the overall budget for these events — they should not be in the employee morale budget. At the Exec Retreat (Feb 93) a recommendation was made that we carefully evaluate the effectiveness of our lowest performing employees. Microsoft managers are responsible for weeding out the non-performers, and HR is responsible for providing managers with the competence to know how to do this. We need to work in partnership with this. If you feel that you need specific training from HR, please contact your HR representative immediately. A current popular “trick” is to give an employee a 3.0 rating (when they truly deserve a 2.0 rating). The manager then gives the employee the private message that they should look for a new job in another group at MS. The manager is avoiding the painful task of getting the person out the door and thus “hands off” their problem to an unsuspecting group. This is crazy garbage. HR is committed to helping you build strong teams and to weed out the non-performers. If we identify our weak performers early on, we can move quickly to either a recovery strategy or an exit strategy. Source: All Things Digital | 23 Jan 2009 | 6:48 am Efficiency Gains Could Prove Proposed Plasma Ban Shortsightedhihopes writes "As the EU calls for a ban on plasma TVs, a leading Harvey Norman executive said that the issue should be left to vendors, who at the recent CES Show in the USA showed an array of low-powered TV display screens."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 23 Jan 2009 | 6:36 am Japanese Media Vehicle is Virtual Reality in a Capsule [Vr]This “media vehicle,” recently shown at an IT exhibition in Tokyo, looks like something out of Ghost in the Shell and is the coolest thing I've seen all day. Riders enter the vehicle by popping open...Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 6:30 am Want to record more shows? Get a DVR XpanderSection: Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray  One of the main complaints of DVR owners is that there never seems to be enough room to store all of their recordings. This is especially true in the case of high definition recordings that take up more room than standard recordings. Apricon has attempted to solve this dilemma by introducing the DVR Xpander, basically a hard drive in different packaging to hold more recordings. The DVR Xpander can add up to 843 hours of standard programming or 187 hours of high definition programming to your DVR. The drive will come in 500GB, 750GB, 1TB, and 1.5 TB versions depending on how much extra storage you want. The DVR Xpander will work with multiple types of DVR models and cable providers. To use the device, you will connect the DVR Xpander to the active eSATA or USB 2.0 port on the back of the DVR and format the drive using the prompts that appear during connection. After setup, the storage of your space will automatically be expanded. The models will range in price from $119 to $239. Product Page [Apricorn] Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 6:24 am PANiQ’s clothing line lets you control your toysSection: Audio, Accessories, Portable Audio  Even us geeks have to dress sharp. PANiQ has introduced its line of clothing that lets you create a personal area network. Their clothing puts a touchpad on fabric. Adding a dongle to an iPod or other device allows you to control it using the clothing’s built in touchpad. What other devices will you be able to control? Cell phones, iPhones, iPods, and PANiQ’s own walkie-talkie and AM/FM radio devices. The walkie-talkie and radio will be available in the spring. The Bluetooth controllers for phones cost $79.99. The iPod controller is only $19.99. The actual clothing is more expensive. A hoodie goes for $230-$240 and is available for preorder. Jackets cost $250 and are available now. Read: [Press Release]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 5:27 am Chinese Graduate Student Murdered at Virginia Tech [Virginia Tech]Just two weeks after arriving at Virginia Tech, a 22-year-old graduate student from China was murdered. The alleged killer, also Chinese, decapitated her with a kitchen knife at a local coffee shop....Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 5:15 am Google delivers good-looking 4Q in ugly recession (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 5:03 am NetApp tops 'Best Companies to Work For' list (CNET)CNET - Storage maker NetApp ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's list of the top 100 companies to work for, bumping Google from its perch, according to a report in the publication on Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:58 am Evolution teaching provision fails first test - San Antonio Express
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:55 am Today on Offworld
Today on Offworld, we saw Spore expanding with two new PC games as well as onto the Wii and again on the DS, saw Noby Noby Boy get a firm post-Valentine's date, and wondered if Digital Chocolate's excellent one-button mobile game Tower Bloxx might be moving to the iPhone.
On an artier front, we looked into the soul of an Atari 2600 and what we saw was very similar to late artist Jeremy Blake's digital art output, saw the most sinister(ly cute?) art-game to ever spring from Unreal Tournament, and saw fantastic pixel-chic fineries.
One More Go columnist Margaret Robertson also told us about how Nippon Ichi's strategy RPG Disgaea was "a quest for numerical orgasm," vinyl toy designer Touma turned Animal Crossing into razor-toothed evil, a new PC demo for Puzzle Quest sequel Galactrix sucked half our day away, and finally, Persuasive Games' brilliantly scathing TSA social parody game Airport Security moved to the iPhone and ended up even smarter for it. Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:36 am New cell phone technologies give more control to parentsSection: Communications, Cellphones
Many of the companies, including Guardian Angel Technology, use GPS technology to allow parents to better monitor their children. Using an online map, parents can log on and see the exact location of their child. If the teen is driving or in a car, the parent can see the exact speed that they are traveling at. Another cell phone program, DriveAssist from Aegis Mobility actually disables the cell phone when driving speeds are reached. Callers receive a message that the person is unavailable because they are driving. However, the drawback of this program is that the phone will be disabled even for passengers in a car. Read [International Herald Tribune] Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:21 am Apple’s thoughts on the Palm Pre, from Tim Cook himselfFROM APPLETELL - In Apple’s recent conference call with Wall Street, RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky mentioned the Palm Pre’s direct emulation of Apple’s patents. Acting CEO Tim Cook fired back, “We like competition, as long as they don’t rip off our IP.“ MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:12 am Giant Laser Cloud Takes Over Helsinki's Sky [Art]They are here. With their lasers. And their clouds. And their secret tunnels that go 413 feet into the ground to extract energy. No, not the aliens. I mean the hippies with their art installations....Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:00 am Android Cupcake OS Update Screenshots Show Virtual Keyboard, New Applications [Android]While Google's Android "Cupcake" updates may not be available just yet, detailed screenshots of the platform update show new applications in addition to the highly-anticipated virtual keyboard....Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 4:00 am Today on Offworld
Today on Offworld, we saw Spore expanding with two new PC games as well as onto the Wii and again on the DS, saw Noby Noby Boy get a firm post-Valentine's date, and wondered if Digital Chocolate's excellent one-button mobile game Tower Bloxx might be moving to the iPhone. On an artier front, we looked into the soul of an Atari 2600 and what we saw was very similar to late artist Jeremy Blake's digital art output, saw the most sinister(ly cute?) art-game to ever spring from Unreal Tournament, and saw fantastic pixel-chic fineries. One More Go columnist Margaret Robertson also told us about how Nippon Ichi's strategy RPG Disgaea was "a quest for numerical orgasm," vinyl toy designer Touma turned Animal Crossing into razor-toothed evil, a new PC demo for Puzzle Quest sequel Galactrix sucked half our day away, and finally, Persuasive Games' brilliantly scathing TSA social parody game Airport Security moved to the iPhone and ended up even smarter for it. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 23 Jan 2009 | 3:40 am Trojan Hides In Pirated Copies of Apple iWork '09CWmike writes "Pirated copies of Apple's new iWork '09 suite that are now available on file-sharing sites contain a Trojan horse that hijacks Macs and leaves them open to further attack, a security company said yesterday. The 'iServices.a' Trojan hitchhikes on iWork '09's installer, said Intego, which makes Mac security software. 'The installer for the Trojan horse is launched as soon as a user begins the installation of iWork, following the installer's request of an administrator password,' Intego said in a warning. Once installed, the Trojan "phones home" to a malicious server to notify the hacker that the Mac has been compromised, and to await instructions."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 23 Jan 2009 | 3:40 am Gadgetell Deal of the Day: Nokia N810 Internet Tablet on sale 44% offSection: Communications, Email / IM, Mobile, Computers, Wireless, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Web  While searching the web for some cool tech deals, I came across the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet on sale for 44% off the list price of $399.95, making it on sale for only $219. In case you’re not sure what exactly the N810 is, I’ll give a quick recap of some of the cool specs it has. First off, it comes with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, great for quick IMs and e-mails. In addition to full Internet connection via WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 technology, it also comes with GPS, and the ability to play music and videos. It also comes with a 4.1 inch touchscreen, with a 800 x 400 resolution, 2GB of onboard memory that is expandable to 10GB. No word on how long this deal is going to last for, so you might want to jump on it quickly. Oh and it comes with free shipping, if that helps make your decision. Nokia N810 Deal [Buy.com] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 3:38 am Star Wars Tilt-Shift Photos Convert Fanboys Into Their Beloved Action Figures [Star Wars]I find these Star Wars images fascinating. They are not special because of the technique: We have featured amazing tilt-shift photography before. What makes these special is the combination of...Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 3:30 am Dreading Taxes? Let Shoeboxed Do Some Of The Legwork
With tax season rapidly approaching, the prospect of digging through receipts for business expenses and tax deductions is looming large. Shoeboxed, a site that helps manage your purchases by scanning your receipts and posting them to the web, is looking to make the process a little easier. We last covered the site back in November 2007, when it experimented with a social shopping feature that the company abandoned after about a week. Now it’s concentrating on helping users mange their receipts online. To get started, users mail in their receipts which Shoeboxed then scans and enters into its web-based software (the company can handle multiple receipts at once, with an estimated wait time of 2-3 days to get a boxful online). The site also recently began accepting business cards. The service runs around $10/month, with more expensive plans for heavy users (over 50 receipts a month). Once the receipts are online, users can easily assign them into different catagories (for example, labeling which ones are company expenditures). Mint does something similar, but it only lists your transactions based on their location, and you can’t see an itemized list of what you’ve purchased. Of course, Shoeboxed is only useful if you’re diligent about sending in your receipts - if you’re the kind of person who loses them frequently, it won’t do you much good. The company has forged a deal with TaxACT, a popular online tax filing company that will be promoting Shoeboxed as an effective way to minimize sifting through paperwork. It also just announced a partnership with ScanDigital, a company that converts media like photos slides to digital formats (the two companies will cross-promote eachothers’ services). Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jan 2009 | 3:26 am Ray Flash Ring Converter [Cameras]This Ray Flash Ring attaches onto your camera's existing flash, and redirects the output into a ring for softer, less directional lighting. $200 is a bit steep for the honor, though. [OhGizmo]Source: Gizmodo | 23 Jan 2009 | 3:00 am Senate nears deal to delay digital TV transition - The Associated Press
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 2:50 am No thanks, I’ve got my own hotspotSection: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications, Wireless 
I don’t have an iPhone. I have an iPod touch and prefer to handle my corporate mail and surf the net from that rather than my Windows Mobile smartphone for many, many reasons. While Wi-Fi is in many places, I am constantly greeted with Wi-Fi vendors, like Boingo, who want to sell me bandwidth. Heck, I even try to hack into secure networks by guessing passwords (the library’s was “books” - duh). But no more. I am cheap. I believe the net should be as free as the air we breathe. I refuse to pay folks like Boingo. Now, I’ve got a new tool in my fight against pay-for-Wi-Fi: WMWiFiRouter. This application downloads a .cab file straight to your phone or desktop and turns your Wi-Fi enabled phone into a hotspot that you can then connect your iPod to. Freaking yeah! And it works. I had no issues setting up the software on the AT&T HTC Fuze and connected the iPod with ease. You can even set up a WEP, so everyone around you isn’t siphoning off your Wi-Fi. From what I understand, this not considered tethering, at least according to the Dutch company. The software is compatible with many devices, for a list go here. For Nokia owners, there is an advert supported version for you as well. Just head over to the site and follow the link. For those tied to WinMo phones and an affinity for Wi-Fi gadgets, this is just the ticket. Give it a try, there is a 7 day trial. Company site: [WMWiFiRouter] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 2:44 am Appletell reviews BeejiveIM instant messaging app for iPhoneFROM APPLETELL - BeejiveIM supports all of the standard IM services and brings some features that other clients don’t support, like file transfers and a notification system. But is all this and more worth $15.99? MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 23 Jan 2009 | 2:28 am Sweet retro-gamer tees -- Boing Boing OffworldOn Offworld, our Brandon's spotted some of the best damned retrogamer shirts I've ever seen. Woah:Imperial Junkie & Kiser: pixel fashionistas, Discuss this on Boing Boing Offworld Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 1:41 am 'Skate 2' a challenging skateboarding sequel - USA Today
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 23 Jan 2009 | 1:38 am Seagate releases an actual fix for freezing HDDs
They’ve now released a new fix, which should get things going again for those of you with faulty 1TB and 1.5TB drives. Anybody out there have the issue and want to report in on the fix’s efficacy? Source: CrunchGear | 23 Jan 2009 | 1:20 am Windows 7 Taskbar Not So Similar To OS X Dock After Allcremou brulee writes "Redmond's photocopiers have been unusually busy for the last couple of years, with the result that Windows 7 copies a lots of Mac OS X features. First and foremost among these is the Dock, which has been unceremoniously ripped off in Windows 7's new Taskbar. Or has it? Ars Technica has taken an in-depth look at the history and evolution of the Taskbar, and shows just how MS arrived at the Windows 7 'Superbar.' The differences between the Superbar and the Dock are analyzed in detail. The surprising conclusion? 'Ultimately, the new Taskbar is not Mac-like in any important way, and only the most facile of analyses would claim that it is.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 23 Jan 2009 | 1:19 am Microsoft to cut up to 5,000 jobs as earnings fall (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 1:09 am Wall Street Beat: Recession Whacks IT Earnings (PC World)PC World - Though Google, IBM and Apple offered scraps of good news this week, for the most part earnings reports from companies including Nokia, Sony, AMD and Ericsson were grim, illustrating the extent of the global economic downturn and its impact on technology sales.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:50 am The delightful Mardi Gras King Cake
(Click images for big) Daniel Carter, creative director of MAKE, says: A good old Cajun friend of mine, nicknamed Pecanhead, sent Angelica and me a "World Famous Mardi Gras King Cake" direct from New Orleans this week. It arrived today, and it is magnificently strange, delicious, colorful and bizarre. It tastes like a giant cinnamon roll with bavarian cream filling and sugary frosting and sprinkles on top. Apparently, you can order all sorts of fillings.. Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:47 am New Screenshot of Jolicloud Netbook Operating System
Netvibes founder Tariq Krim sent me a new screenshot of Jolicloud, the Linux-based Netbook-optimized operating system he’s building (we first covered Jolicloud last December). The screen shot, which is significantly evolved from what we saw in Paris, shows a set of featured applications that mixes desktop and cloud software - Facebook, Skype, Meebo and Youtube, among others, are shown with large icons that make it easier on Netbook users, who have to make do with smallish screens. Jolicloud will eventually support touchscreens, Krim told me. We’re trying to get a copy and install it on our CrunchPad prototype to see how it does, and share video. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:40 am Run AMD’s Fusion utility on any processor
Although we were a little underwhelmed at what Fusion actually turned out to be (it got a lot of hype), the good news is that it’s helpful anyway, and it’s not bound to hardware. AMD doesn’t want you to do this of course, and the usual caveats of “at your own risk, etc” apply, but there is a way to make Fusion work on your Intel or (I should think) even VIA processor. Follow the instructions here, but beware! It involves editing some very low-level code, as in hex values! If you have not done this before it is not recommended that you try (I’m not going to), but if you’re confident in your abilities, go ahead. What you’re essentially doing is just removing the code that limits the program to being run on AMD-based systems. Kind of shady, but it should work. Source: CrunchGear | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:40 am The Easybeats, "Sorry" (1966)Great garage mod punk from The Easybeats (1966). According to Frank at Save vs. Death, "George Young, the rhythm guitar player, is the older brother of Angus and Malcom Young and produced the first six AC/DC records. How's that for an awesome pedigree?" There's a family resemblance for sure! (If you like this kind of music, you should listen to Little Steven's Underground Garage on Sirius, which plays the greatest songs from the 60 years of rock and roll. Drew Carey has a DJ spot a couple of times a month, too! You can listen to the show from the website, too.) Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:21 am Tripwolf Raises Another $2.5 Million For Its Online Travel Guide
Tripwolf, an online travel guide that also offers some social features, has closed a $2.5 million funding round led by European travel publisher MairDumont Group along with investor Dieter von Holtzbrinck, a German entrepreneur who headed the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group for over 20 years. Tripwolf offers comprehensive travel guides comprised of a mix of professionally written material and user submissions (the site lets members keep travel blogs, upload photos, and leave reviews for individual attractions). Since launching in June 2008 the site has grown to 15,000 members; a modest number but one that will probably grow as the site’s repository of information does. Tripwolf is also planning to release an iPhone application soon that will include content from published guidebooks. Users will be able to chart out their interary online while still at home, and then can sync their customized travel guides to their phones so they don’t have to worry about data charges abroad. The site is also planning to release versions of the site in French, Spanish, and Italian over the next few months (it is currently available in English and German). I’m still a little skeptical about Tripwolf - there’s already a plethora of travel information available on the web. But the site’s collection of content from professional guidebooks along with its partnership with the MairDumont Group (which Tripwolf says is the biggest European publisher of travel guides) may give it a leg up on other sites that are primarily user-generated. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:19 am Auto Industry Woes? Not For Everyone: Zag Raised $32.4 Million
USAA has been an affinity partner of Zag’s since 2007 - 22,000 USAA members have purchased cars through the Zag service, the company says, saving them $115 million v. MSRP. Zag was founded by Scott Painter, a long time auto-industry guy. Painter also founded True Car, which launched at TechCrunch50 in 2008. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:18 am A very small record player
It probably didn't work worth a damn. (Via How to Disappear Completely) Source: Boing Boing | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:05 am EA announces further plans to milk Spore dry
We were such children. Wright’s magnum opus received decent reviews and followed through somewhat on its promises… but when history looks back on it, all it will remember is that it was the lever by which EA dumped a thousand crappy expansions, mini-games, and part libraries. It’s like they’re striving for the exact opposite of every sensation Spore was meant to evoke in those who play it. By announcing more and more garbage with the Spore name attached, EA is further diluting the already disappointingly thin Spore ecosystem. Is it worth it, EA? Huh? Is it? Source: CrunchGear | 23 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Survey Says C Dominated New '08 Open-Source Projectssvonkie writes "C overwhelmingly proved to be the most popular programming language for thousands of new open-source projects in 2008, reports The Register (UK). According to license tracker Black Duck Software, which monitors 180,000 projects on nearly 4,000 sites, almost half — 47 per cent — of new projects last year used C. 17,000 new open-source projects were created in total. Next in popularity after C came Java, with 28 per cent. In scripting, JavaScript came out on top with 20 per cent, followed by Perl with 18 per cent. PHP attracted just 11 per cent, and Ruby six per cent. The numbers are a surprise, as open-source PHP has proved popular as a web-site development language, while Ruby's been a hot topic for many."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:54 pm Jolicloud netbook OS interface looks really sweet
Keep an eye on the Jolicloud Flickr page for more. Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:37 pm Browser-Based File Manager Allows Create, Edit & Save Microsoft Office Files Directly To The Server IT Hit just launched the Beta version of their web-based file manager.
Certainly the ability to create, edit, and save Microsoft Office Documents on the server--without downloading the file or any plugins--is the most immediately useful feature.
Unfortuntely, the Microsoft Office integration requires Internet Explorer; however, I successfully used the IE-Tab Firefox extension to edit a Powerpoint deck within Firefox. Try it yourself at the demo site--no registration required.
Source: TechCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:33 pm Apple’s success formula: A simple product line
Apple has a history of finding niche markets and making products to fill that void. However, slowly after Steve-O took over, the product lines condensed into distinct segments geared for a different buyer. You want a basic Macintosh computer? Buy the Mini. The iMac is available for all-in-one solutions and the Mac Pro is truly for the professional. The same thing follows into the notebook and iPod realms showing vastly different strategy than other companies. Garmin makes 82 GPS units that can be mounted in a car or carried in your hand. 82!?! That’s a lot and includes 27 designed specifically for the car. If Apple made a GPS, there would be two models available - maybe only one. Apple would shove everything they could into this one GPS and sell it at a profit instead of making similar different models that feature slightly different specs. Take the Garmin nuvi 755T and nuvi 765T. There is a $100 price difference between those two models and the only difference is that the $499 755T lacks the Bluetooth capability of the $599 765T. Is Garmin saying the Bluetooth module costs $100?. This isn’t just pick-on-Garmin day, the same practice exists all around the consumer electronic landscape. Canon is selling 23 point-n-shoot cameras in four product lines; Nikon 17 in three. Monster Cable HDMI cables in ten distinct product lines and Motorola is showing 27 cell phones available on their website. Apple makes one cellphone and sold 88% more this year than the company did last. Consumers hate choices. They say they love them, but have you ever stood in front of a wall of plasmas and LCDs with a random person? I have and did for years at Circuit City. They get overwhelmed by the amount of options, but Apple has made it easy but producing top-notch products that are easily available. The iPhone at Wal-Mart makes sense as it doesn’t require a salesman to sell the hottest phone on the market. Listen, I wouldn’t label myself a fanboy nor do I work exclusively on a Mac. My only iPod is a first-gen Mini that came free with my iBook G4 and I have only played with the iPhone a few times. I do, however, respect Apple greatly for keeping the product line simple. Now, if only other companies would follow suit and trim their fat, the profits would probably follow. Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:20 pm Facebook Now Nearly Twice The Size Of MySpace Worldwide
In November 2008 Facebook drew 200 million unique worldwide visitors; more than 1 in 5 people who accessed the Internet that month visited the site. When sites are that big growth generally stagnates, but in Facebook’s case it’s still skyrocketing. In December, 222 million people visited the site says newly released Comscore stats, a 10.8% month over month growth rate. 22% of the total Internet audience went to Facebook in December. Facebook now has nearly 100 million more worldwide users than MySpace, which added 4 million new users in December to 125 million total. The page view difference is more dramatic - Facebook had 80 billion monthly page views in December v. 43 billion for MySpace. Just six months ago the sites were about the same size. Facebook, still a private company, is the world’s default social network. MySpace is still the king in the U.S., but trends suggest that 2009 is its last year on top. By January 2010, at current relative growth rates, Facebook will overtake MySpace as the largest U.S. social network as well. We reached out to MySpace for a comment on the growth trends. They say “We are laser focused on building a sustainable global business which we measure by profits and revenue - not just eyeballs. In a tough economic climate, our international revenue is up 30 percent year over year and we continue to focus on those markets with the strong monetization opportunities. Additionally, MySpace continues to dominate the U.S. market–where the bulk of online advertising revenues reside–both in terms of monetization and user engagement with more than 76 million unique users and a 40% spike in engagement year over year.” Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:16 pm National Film Board of Canada puts its archives online, freeAndrew sez, "The National film Board of Canada (NFB) has opened up its vault - more than 700 films, clips and trailers are now available on the film board's new website launched today. From entertaining shorts and cartoons, to deeply moving or disturbing documentaries - they're all there for free, with more being added every week." Hell yes. This is how public money should be spent. And yes, they have The Big Snit, my all-time favorite NFB short. Films : All - NFB (Thanks, Andrew!)
Source: Boing Boing | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:04 pm I'd like to read more personal blogs of people who make thingsProgrammers, musicians, artists, animators, engineers, crafters, graphic designers, gave developers, or even — worst-case — writers. One caveat: While I don't mind if they are writing on a corporate site, I'd prefer bloggers who have retained a human voice. My aim? I want to stop reading so much news that has already been digested and start reading more about the creation of the things that interest me. Do you have any suggestions? Examples: Cable.name; John K.; John Mayer (seriously! I like his blog); Some digital artist with a blog that is too cool for me to know about. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:02 pm The Day Before Tomorrow, 1/22Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:01 pm F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin demo now available
I had a private demo of this game late last year and it was quite fun. Alma is a total freak, though. If you’re interested I’ve included notes I had about the game. It might not make any sense but it’s been so long that I can’t decipher it either. Multiplayer: EPA (elite powered armor), capture the flag The game starts 30 minutes before the blast from the original game. Ghostly tree swing keeps coming up Visor shows HUD AI is improved, bots flip tables to make cover, if you’re a creeper then they’ll bomb you or flank you if you’re more hardcore (if they’re on fire they’ll stopdroproll or jump into water) Michael Beckett is important to Alma for some reason Sneak up on enemies and get slo-mo kill shots. Enemies are highlighted (lighting) EPA: two auto machine guns, rocket launchers, thermal vision. Can get damage when in the epa, recharges so if you can stay alive long you can get back in and fight in the epa. School (half way through): Blue birds, lady bugs, tree frogs. What do these mean? Remnant- shell of a human body, psychic powers: raises the dead. Red tendrils to control the dead like a puppet. Super creepy. Spectors: all rage, attack in groups, spirits Alma: changes shape through the game to be more attractive to you. Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:00 pm Despite Gates' Prediction, Spam Far From a Thing of the PastSlatterz writes "Bill Gates declared in 2004 at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that spam would be 'a thing of the past' within five years. However, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, has written in a blog post that 'with the prophecy's five-year anniversary approaching, spam continues to cause a headache for companies and home users.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 22 Jan 2009 | 11:00 pm Kevin Kelly: Access is better than ownershipI enjoyed this long essay by Kevin Kelly about how "all goods and services are candidates for rental, sharing, and the social commons." He raises a lot of interesting points. Here's one:Very likely, in the near future, I won't "own" any music, or books, or movies. Instead I will have immediate access to all music, all books, all movies using an always-on service, via a subscription fee or tax. I won't buy – as in make a decision to own -- any individual music or books because I can simply request to see or hear them on demand from the stream of ALL. I may pay for them in bulk but I won't own them. The request to enjoy a work is thus separated from the more complicated choice of whether I want to "own" it. I can consume a movie, music or book without having to decide or follow up on ownership.Better Than Owning, by Kevin Kelly Source: Boing Boing | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:59 pm Sparkplug bug -- Boing Boing Gadgets
Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, this fabulous bug-sculpture made from a sparkplug.
Spark plug bug,
Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets
Source: Boing Boing | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:50 pm CrunchDeals: 22-inch ViewSonic monitor for $140
Holy crap, look at this deal. CompUSA has the 22-inch ViewSonic VA2226w LCD monitor for $139.99 after $100 instant savings and a $50 mail-in rebate. Are you there, God? It’s me, Doug. Do you think you could make all the monitors start dropping in price like this? I’ve really got my eye on a gigantic one for the home office here and I could use a little help. I know you have a lot going on but, hey, look what you did with this deal here. Specs include a 1680×1080 resolution, VGA and DVI inputs, 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, and 5ms response time. The thing’s only 2.4 inches deep and 11 pounds, too. ViewSonic ViewSonic VA2226w [CompUSA.com via dealnews] Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:40 pm Video: Casio G-Shock gets violently disassembledApparently, the boys at DVICE like to channel their inner Gallagher. They decided to see if a Casio G-Shock would actually live up to it’s name. Now, they’ve been tested before with regular hammers, and been able to withstand it. These jokers decided to take a sledge hammer to it. Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:20 pm Vudu releases an iPhone app
Vudu’s iPhone app is now available from the App Store. You can now browse, purchase and rent movies from your iPhone so when you get home you won’t have to wait around. That is all. Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:11 pm How To Diagnose a Suddenly Slow Windows Computer?Ensign Taco writes "I'm sure nearly every one of us has had it happen. All of a sudden your Windows PC slows to a crawl for no apparent reason. Yeah, we all like Linux because it doesn't do annoying things like this, but the Windows desktop still reigns supreme in most managed LAN work environments. I'm running XP with 4G of RAM and a decent CPU, and everything was fine, until one day — it wasn't. I've run spybot, antivirus, and looked at proc explorer — no luck. There is no one offending, obvious process. It seems every process decides to spike at once at random intervals. So I'm wondering if there's a few wizards out there that know what to look at. Could this be a very clever virus that doesn't run as a process? Or could this just be some random application error that's causing bad behavior? I've encountered this a few times with Windows PCs, but the solution has always been to just add more hardware. Has anyone ever successfully diagnosed this kind of issue?" And whether such a problem is related to malware or not, what steps would you take next?Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:09 pm Bulb-Sound-Speaker puts your music in your… lamp
Now, I can see how some might think this is really dumb. But nuh-uh, you’re dumb. I think it’s great, although if you planned your house or apartment out right, there shouldn’t be any places where the sound can’t reach if you want it to. But for that study or reading chair where you’d prefer just to have a little tinny music of your own, and don’t want to wear headphones in your own house (right on!), this is a cool little gadget. [via NotCot] Source: CrunchGear | 22 Jan 2009 | 10:00 pm Here come the new Star Trek toys
USA Today has a small gallery of some of the new toys that will be part of the surely epic merchandising effort alongside the upcoming Star Trek reboot. [USA Today]
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 9:40 pm Obama Chia Pet
Dear America, There is now an Obama Chia Pet. Best regards,  Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 9:33 pm Boxee gets Lost
Boxee, the "social" media center software for Mac OS X, Ubuntu, and Apple TV (with Windows on the way) has added ABC shows to its streaming line-up "just in time for the Lost season premiere". It only works on OS X and Ubuntu at the moment — but it'll be added to the other versions soon enough.
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 9:32 pm LEGO Digital Box augmented reality machine shows completed 3D model
I can't wait to play with the upcoming LEGO Digital Box, an augmented reality machine that will display a fully assembled 3D model on the top of boxes full of LEGO. It's built by German company Metalo and will be installed in toy stores around the world. [NOTCOT] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 9:25 pm Ink Breakthrough Heralds Bendy PC ScreensAn anonymous reader writes "Researchers claim to have developed a type of soluble semiconductor ink which could help to make bendable computer screens a reality. Developed at Polyera and BASF Future Business, the ink carries an N-Type negative charge. Previously, semiconductor inks have only been able to carry a positive charge. The new ink can be printed onto any flexible material, including plastic and paper, using only a modified ink-jet printer."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 22 Jan 2009 | 9:19 pm Liveblog: Google Takes $1 Billion Charge To Write Down AOL And Clearwire Investments2008 Q4 Google Earnings Slides
View more presentations or upload your own.
Google just released fourth quarter earnings. Net Income was down a whopping 68 percent to $382 million (compared to $1.2 billion a year ago), primarily because of a $1 billion impairment charge related Google’s ownership stakes in AOL (for which it took a $726 million writedown) and Clearwire ($355 million writedown). We all know why the AOL stake is worth less than what Google paid for it (just look at Time Warner’s stock.) Instead of the $20 billion that Google’s five percent stake valued AOL at the time of its original investment, its new writedown now values AOL at $5.5 billion. The Clearwire writedown isn’t surprising either. That is the Wimax company that had disaster written all over it. Google is also allowing employees with underwater options to swap them for new ones. That is going to cost Google another estimated $460 million over the course of the new vesting period. Investors will likely ignore the $1 billion charge because they tend to see these sorts of things as one-time events (even when they occur on a regular basis). The charge does not effect Google’s cash flow or cash position. On a non-GAAP basis, Google beat Wall Street estimates, with non-GAAP earnings of $5.10 a share, compared to consensus estimates of $4.96. Total revenues (including what it pays out to AdSense publishers and other partners) came in at $5.7 billion for the quarter, up 18 percent. For the year, total revenues were $21.8 billion, up 31 percent. Operating income for the quarter (before the impairment charge) was $1.86 billion, up 29 percent. The company had $8.6 billion in cash at the end of the quarter I am waiting for the earnings call to start. My notes from the conference call (Sergey and Larry are not on the call). Eric Schmidt: We had strong search query growth year on year, kept lid on costs. 4th Q advertisers invetsted where ROI was the highest, online. took significant writedowns with AOL and Clearwire. Both deals made sense to us then and make sense to us now. Last Q we said we were in uncharted territory. We don’t know how long this period will last, certainly prepared to get through it no problem. At least 85% of employees have stock under water. A voluntary stock swap program. Total options expected to make up 3% of total shares outstanding. Employees who swap will discontinued products will low impact. We will continue to review that. [mentions Wiki search]. Will continue to focus on search and advertising. Wouldn’t it be nice if Google understood the meaning of your query? We are looking into things like that. Android, already billions of page impressions through G1 phone. [Talks about enterprise, resellers]. Patrick Pichette (CFO): We had another solid quarter, gross revenue up 18% to $5.7B Google.com up 22% to $3.8B UK soft because of currency, rest of EMEA did better, driven by Germany, France, Netherlands. Also relative good experience in Brazil TAC was $1.5B, 27% of advertising revenues Non-GAAP operating profit, $2.4B, 34.6% margin Approximately 20,000 full time employees in Q4. Impairment charges excluded from Non-GAAP results. Capex $386M Jonathan Rosenberg: We launched 330 search quality improvements, most significantly the size of our index. Worked hard on latency across the board. We tripled the number of queries that triggered Universal search across images, blogs, books. Adding more books and expanding our index are very important efforts. More people are searching from mobile phones. Our objective is to make search from a mobile phone as fast and easy as possible. Android phone has done very well. More phones in the works. On the ad side, this was one of our strongest quarters for ad quality improvement. We will continue to get smarter about which queries should have ads to show users. We are now only back to where were back in 2008 from a coverage perspective. beta launched keyword tool, helps advertisers find keywords on which they are not running ads. Most advertisers not maxing out daily budgets, so opportunity there. Launched Display Ad builder to create nice looking display ads straight from AdSense. YouTube emerging as a key component of display strategy. People browsing for videos hundreds of millions of times a day. Also launched 100 feature releases to Web-based apps, like chat in Gmail. Momentum is strong in apps, 1 million businesses, 10M users, 3M users in schools [Google apps stats]. Chrome has gotten great user momentum since launch. Q&A: Q: Why not more video ad Eric: We have introduced 2 to 3 new formats for video advertising. All having some traction, have not found anything that drives revenues wildly. Virtually all the new device manufacturers have the ability to display Internet and Youtube content. Jonathan: We have down quite a few experiments. Hard to match the right format with the right content. We have the in-video ads, also sponsored videos, contest platform, homepage sponsorship, click to buy. We have to come up with a standardized format. a significant constraint. Q (Imran Khan): If you look at partner revenue growth rate, significantly underperforming Google.com growth rate. Why? Patrick: On the mix issue, it is true the Adsense revenue was weaker. but Adsense for content had relatively strong quarter. In case of AdSense for search we did a lot of cleanup. Omid Kordestan: On network, we did a number of quality measures to clean up. in terms of CPC we don’t break those out, but impact from Euro and Pound exchange rates. growth rates in emerging markets that have lower prices so downward pressure. Jonathan: also consumers are doing more comparison shopping, so clicking through but not buying. or buying lower priced products. Q: Capex was down significantly for the quarter. Is this a normalized level? Looking at the cost structure of Google, can you give us a sense of how flexible it is? Patrick: I just want to reiterate we are investing. It just happens we are benefiting from economies of scale and greater efficiencies of our infrastructure. Moore’s law, better utilization. also big data centers are lumpy in the way they are invested. I’d be careful at looking at one quarter for purposes of forward modeling. We are a labor intensive business, so we have a lot of flexibility. Q (Mark Mahaney): How much more opportunity is there for cost control? On CPC, can you help us think how deflationary CPC trends might be in an environment where lots of businesses might be going out of business. Patrick: On the first Q, you ave to keep in mind the mindset of the company is to be a growth company. We are just managing responsibly given the environment. Omid: If recession caused fewer purchases that would hurt us, but I don’t think you’d see CPC rates come down. CPC is really driven by users, not the number of advertisers coming in and out at any given time. Q: Why is TAC down? Patrick: The reason for TAC down QoQ is due to mix reasons mostly. Q (Doug Anmuth): How has philosophy changed on distribution deals with Dell, etc. Why did you not continue to win those deals? And where is ad coverage going? Omid: On the distribution deals, we are engaged in all of these discussions. We have a number of opportunities, from PC manufacturers to software toolbars that bundle our products like Chrome. Jonathan: On coverage, we don’t know what the optimal mix is. depends on commercial versus noncommercial queries. We’d like to show fewer ads on queries that do not warrant them, and fewer, better ads on the ones that do. Q: about advertising environment Omid: Big customers especially are evaluating online marketing. they continue to take advantage of this, but maybe lower CPCs or size of campaign budgets. Jonathan: Small and medium advertisers tend to cut their ad budgets less than large advertisers. We think that large advertisers do more across the board cut. Most advertisers do not max out their budgets. Q: Can you give us an idea for strategy for display advertising (doubleclick, Youtube, etc)? Omid: we are doing very well with Doubelclick integration. We are getting more inventory because doing a good job integrating. We optimize with AdSense only if they can’t get the higher price, so that is working out well. We feel this is a fragmented market ready for better measurements. Getting more traction here.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 9:13 pm White House Exempts YouTube From Web Privacy RulesAn anonymous reader writes "The new White House website privacy policy promises that the site will not use long-term tracking cookies, complying with a decade old rule prohibiting such user tracking by federal agencies. However, Obama's legal team has quietly exempted YouTube from this rule. Visitors to the official White House blog will receive long-term tracking cookies whenever they surf to a web-page with an embedded YouTube video — even those users that do not click the "play" button. As CNET reports, no other company has been singled out and rewarded with such a waiver."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 22 Jan 2009 | 8:26 pm New Media Hard to Find In Old White House Starting a new job is always a challenge. You have to learn where your office is, where the coffee machine is, and the best route from each to the bathroom. Now imagine how complicated it must be when an entirely new administration starts working in the White House! In addition to the normal challenges, President Obama and his staff suffered through a number of surprising headaches.
Source: TechCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 8:04 pm Three Strange Fish, One SpeciesThree seemingly different fish are really one species that changes as it matures.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Jan 2009 | 8:04 pm Panasonic makes first portable Blu-Ray player
Panasonic has announced the production of the world's first portable Blu-Ray player, featuring an 8.9 inch LCD screen, as well as Internet connectivity for BD Live and other Internet services like Amazon Video-on-Demand, YouTube, Bloomberg, etc. T The New York Times Gadgetwise blog is going WTF: they argue rightfully that an 8.9 inch screen isn't going to be able to show off Blu-Ray's high-def advantages. That's true, but clearly, they are banking on the fact that Blu-Ray is going to be the de facto DVD standard from now on, and people will still want to watch Blu-Ray movies on the airplane. Expect to see more Blu-Ray portable players coming out over the next year, short of tehj format's complete implosion before the brunt of streaming video. Portable Blu-Ray [Gadget Wise] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 7:16 pm Heartland Scrambling to Resolve Massive Security BreachHeartland Payment Systems said on Wednesday that it has resolved a security breach that allowed cyber criminals to hack into the system used to process 100 million payment card transactions per month.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 6:55 pm New WineCrisp Apple Is Scab ResistantA new, late-ripening apple named WineCrisp™ which carries the Vf gene for scab resistance was developed over the past 20 plus years through classical breeding techniques, not genetic engineering.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 6:50 pm Bollywood Blockbuster Lifts India’s Growing Gaming IndustryIndia’s slow-growing animation and gaming industry could hit 1.3 billion this year with the help of the country’s first 3D videogame, inspired by a hit Bollywood thriller about a man with short-term amnesia.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 6:21 pm Go Daddy Launches Online MarketplaceInternet Domain registrar Go Daddy Group Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 6:15 pm WiMax Launches With No Help From NokiaClearwire Corp. has just turned on its long-awaited WiMax wireless data network in two cities, while Nokia Corp.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 6:00 pm Recessions Drops eBay’s Fourth-Quarter EarningsThe current recession seems to be affecting eBay's Internet auctions just as much as it has hurt traditional retail sales, as the company’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 31 percent.The poorly projected fourth-quarter along with analysts' expectations dropped eBay shares more than 6 percent in after-hours trading.The company announced on Wednesday it earned $367 million, or 29 cents per share, in the quarter—down from $531 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter just a year ago.The prediction of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters showed that excluding one-time items in the most recent period, eBay earned 41 cents per share—2 cents higher than analyst’s predications.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 5:50 pm Barack Obama, Gitmo, and the Casio Watch
An internet prankster and hacker known on LJ as tongodeon says, Here's his post about the affair, and here's a snip from his letter to President Barack Obama (OMG that feels awesome to blog for the first time): I've been volunteering for your campaign because of this watch, the Casio model F-91w. These watches cost $7.50 in quantity. They are cheap, waterproof, and reliable. They are common throughout the developing world. And they have been listed by the Department of Defense as a reason for the continued extrajudicial detention of the 28 Guantanamo detainees listed on the following page. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 5:44 pm California Asks Obama To Review Emissions RegulationsIt is likely that President Barack Obama's administration will let the state of California impose its own tough limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars by May, California's top climate change official predicted on Wednesday.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 5:40 pm BlackBerry Storm OS 4.7.0.90 leaks all over the place The BlackBerry Storm might have its faults, but I’ll give RIM one thing: they’re certainly cranking out these firmware updates at breakneck speed. Of course, no matter how fast they get the updates out, people will get impatient - which is why it’s always good news when a leak like this one occurs. Sometime last night, OS 4.7.0.90 for the BlackBerry 9500 and 9530 (the GSM and CDMA versions of the Storm) found its way out of the code-crankin’ labs and onto the internets. A number of folks have already put their Storms into the petri dish for the sake of science, returning with positive results; initial reports claim an overall snappier UI (faster transitions and accelerometer detection), and an option to enable a full QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode. Remember, however, that this is a leaked (and presumably beta) version of the OS, so it doesn’t come without a fault or two - a few bugs are purportedly still lingering, including one that makes the camera a bit finicky about saving photos properly.
(Mandatory Heads-up: Doing things you don’t understand with unofficial upgrades will break your stuff. Unless you read directions and do things properly, the BlackBerry Storm may insult your family, drink the last soda in the fridge, and more likely, turn into a paperweight. Know what you’re supposed to do before you do it.) Download Link for BlackBerry Storm 9530 (CDMA) [Via CrackBerry] Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 5:27 pm Boost launches $50 dollar Moto in time for their $50 unlimited plan
Right on time for today’s launch of their $50 Monthly Unlimited plan, Boost Mobile has announced that they’ll be carrying the ultra-basic Motorola i290. They’re going penny-for-penny with the new plan here, peddling the i290 at 50 bucks. So, what do you get in exchange for that greenbacked portrait of Ulysses S. Grant? Not a whole lot. Its flagship features are Push-to-Talk and GPS - after that point, they start boasting that it has a speakerphone and can hold 600 contacts in the phonebook. That said - it’s $50 bucks, and it’s a relatively good looking handset for the price. If you’re looking for rich media playback and accelerometer-based gaming, look elsewhere; if you’re on a budget and don’t mind keeping it simple, this’ll fit the bill. Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 5:09 pm HTC revamps the Touch Cruise, smoothing curves and adding geotagging We hadn’t heard anybody complaining that the HTC Touch Cruise (released at the beginning of 2008) had grown stale - but then again, we hadn’t heard anybody saying much of anything about it lately. Regardless, HTC has taken last years design and given it a polish job, shaving down the dimensions (102 x53.5 x14.5mm, down from 110mmx58mmx15.5mm) and about 21% off of its weight (103g, down from 130g). The whole body has been smoothed out, ditching harsh edges for curves closer to that of the Touch HD and Touch 3G. On the software end, HTC has tucked in another location based featured to this already GPS-tastic handset: geotagging. They’re calling it “Footprints” (is it time for people to move away from the word “Geotagging”? It’s nice to have a common term, but that one sucks.). Snap a picture, and Footprints will auto-tag it with your GPS coordinates, with the option to record a voice/text note.
And as a nice little bonus, the Touch Cruise comes packed with a GPS-focused car cradle. Plop it into the cradle, and the Cruise automagically morphs into a turn-by-turn GPS unit, adjusting the UI appropriately. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:46 pm Cobra Wire and Cable Announces New Chief Executive OfficerHATBORO, Pa., Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:36 pm Reducing Pollution Extends Life ExpectancyAmericans in cities with cleaned up air live longer, research finds.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:35 pm VoiceInterop and Twisted Pair Solutions Partner to Meet Rising Demand for Cost-effective Unified CommunicationsBOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VoiceInterop, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleartronic, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:27 pm Microbes Fuel Energy Debate“The future of biofuels looks very bright…the best is yet to come”, says an American scientistMicrobes may well be the answer to our global energy crisis.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:24 pm Sea Bed Gives Information About Present Climatic ChangeLately, every drought, flood or hurricane which happens on the planet is connected with climatic change, and therefore the interest of society and scientists is getting to know this phenomenon better.Climatic change is connected at present with the phenomenon of global warming.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:20 pm Elephant poaching: Long negative effectsA U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:17 pm Alien Plant Invasions In European Union MappedImage Caption: Giant Knotweed, an invasive species from the Far East Sakhalin Island, which threatens biodiversity of natural habitats in Europe. Image courtesy of Milan ChytrýSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:12 pm ARRIS Announces March 3-4, 2009 Analyst & Investor MeetingSUWANEE, Ga., Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:07 pm Demand Climbs for Wireless Voice, Multimedia and Internet Access in Twentynine Palms, CaliforniaVerizon Wireless adds a new 3G cell site to stay ahead of growth IRVINE, Calif., Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:00 pm IMVU Closes $10 Million Financing Led by Best Buy CapitalMenlo Ventures, Allegis Capital and Bridgescale Partners Continue Investment PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- IMVU Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Jan 2009 | 4:00 pm Saving Strangford's Horse Mussel ReefsQueen’s University Belfast is working on a three-year study to conserve and restore endangered horse mussel reefs in Strangford Lough.Marine biologists based at the University’s marine research and outreach centre in Portaferry in County Down, which is part of the School of Biological Sciences, will provide scientific and technological research to map and monitor the species and undertake trials to restore it.Horse mussel reefs are important to the marine environment because they are ‘biological engineers’ which improve water quality through filtering it when they feed and also because many other species depend on them for survival.Funded by the Department of Agriculture and the Rural Development and the Department of the Environment, the project follows a multi-agency report in 2004 which said that the beds were in serious decline.DARD, supported by DOE, imposed a temporary ban on fishing in the Lough with mobile gear, from December 2003, which still remains in place.As horse mussels were one of the features used in the conservation designation of Strangford Lough the UK government is obliged to protect them under European directives.Although the horse mussel reef communities in Strangford Lough were once very rich they have declined at an alarming rate in some areas.They are usually found in the central and northern part of the Lough, with their hard shells part buried in the soft mud sediment.Horse mussels are important because they provide a hard surface for other species to grow on, in otherwise soft muddy areas.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 3:54 pm Scientists Test Blast-Resistant ConcreteEngineers at the University of Liverpool have tested a new form of concrete designed to reduce the impact of bomb blasts in public areas.The fiber-reinforced concrete was found to absorb a thousand times more energy than plain concrete and could therefore be used for bomb-proof litter bins and protection barriers.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 3:48 pm Planting Trees Saves Cash, Research ConfirmsPlanting a tree near your home translates in energy savings, at least in Calif.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Jan 2009 | 3:35 pm New Fault Spells Quake Trouble for Ark.A newly found fault in eastern Ark. could trigger a major quake near a gas pipeline.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Jan 2009 | 3:35 pm Another extinction threat faces frogsAn Australian scientist says an international study suggests human consumption of frog legs is now threatening the amphibians' extinction. University of Adelaide Associate Professor Corey Bradshaw said the global pattern of harvesting and the decline of wild populations of frogs appears to be following the same path set by overexploitation of the seas and the subsequent chain reaction of fisheries collapsing around the world. Frogs legs are on the menu at school cafeterias in Europe, market stalls and dinner tables across Asia to high end restaurants throughout the world, said Bradshaw.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 3:16 pm Online support can help psoriasis patientsA U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Jan 2009 | 2:48 pm Huawei’s Android phone to be shown next month
Huawei via Phonescoop Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 2:36 pm 'Moon Bricks' Devised for Lunar IgloosA newly devised way to craft moon bricks could help astronauts build lunar homes.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Jan 2009 | 2:35 pm 'Flying Car' Goes to MarketA group of former NASA engineers invents an airplane that can drive itself to the airport.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Jan 2009 | 2:35 pm 1984 review of the original Mac: "A fever in Silicon Valley that’s hard not to catch."
Larry Magid's 1984 review of the 128k Apple Mac, published in the Los Angeles Times, speaks to the enduring mythology of Apple's products--the quality, the simplicity, the high-priced peripherals--and how it came to be. Apple’s Macintosh, officially introduced last Tuesday, has started a fever in Silicon Valley that’s hard not to catch. ... [it] is as innovative today as the Apple II was in 1977. It’s one of the few computers introduced in the last 18 months that makes no attempt to imitate the IBM PC. John Biggs at CrunchGear sums it up well: "You really come to understand why Apple got the reputation for being expensive and weird. The printer cost $495 when similar gear cost maybe $250 on a good day. But remember: this thing had a “mouse” and a “GUI” back when most of us were about ten years old." Larry Magid’s 1984 LA Times review of 128K Mac [PC Answer via CrunchGear] Photo: Tom Borowski Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 22 Jan 2009 | 2:33 pm Treo PRO now available from Sprint for $249
Palm and Sprint might have a pickle on their hands. Now that the Palm Pre is the hottest upcoming phone of 2009, how are they going to sell the Treo PRO when the Pre is rumored to launch next month? Sprint thankfully has priced the PRO well with to a $200 price cut and a $100 MIR which brings the MSRP down to a respectable $249. Still, Windows Mobile on the PRO or the sexy, new webOS powering the Pre? Eh? At least the Treo PRO’s aggressive pricing shows that Sprint is willing to cut Palm’s outrageous pricing down to a reasonable level cause the iPhone is $199 and the Pre/PRO are hardly iPhone’s; okay, the Pre is hot, but you get the point. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Jan 2009 | 1:24 pm
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Scammers are now using Google AdWords to distribute malware. The new campaign uses the service to spread a compromised copy of the popular WinRAR compression software, directing anyone who clicks their ad links to a fake version of Download.com where they are prompted to download the software. 
Google says the vast majority of the 1 million businesses that use 
Though Apple COO Tim Cook didn’t mention any companies by name in his recent warning to those who would take liberties with Apple’s (AAPL) intellectual property, it was clear to whom he was referring: Palm (PALM).
New startup 
Reading through Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s annual 
Several new products are being released that can help a parent control a teenager’s cell phone usage while driving. They have the ability to track a child’s whereabouts and turn off cell phone service while the child is at school. These tools are meant to give parents more control over how and where the child uses a cell phone. Other advantages include the ability to prevent teens from falling victim to accidents related to cell phone usage.
Santa Monica, California based 
Apple is doing something right because every other company, including 
