Verizon collects 35,000 phones for domestic violence program

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers

Verizon released collection numbers for its HopeLine program for 2008 and the figure was an astounding 35,000.  HopeLine is a mobile phone collection program that Verizon launched as a way to provide victims of domestic violence access to a phone with wireless service.  Victims can also dial #HOPE from their phones and get instantly connected to a local domestic violence agency.

HopeLine not only collects old cell phones, but also accepts batteries and accessories from all wireless providers.  Through the collection, Verizon was able to give out 737 cell phones with 2 million service minutes.  The phones were distributed through women’s shelters as well as domestic violence agencies.  Verizon also provided a cash grant of over $91,000 to various domestic violence agencies in the Washington area.

HopeLine is a countrywide program and you can help in several ways.  You can either drop off your old phone, batteries or accessories at any Verizon Wireless Store.  Otherwise, you can log on the Verizon website and print out a prepaid label to mail your phone into their headquarters.

Site:  [Verizon HopeLine]

Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

NTT DoCoMo to End 2G Cellular Service in 2012 (PC World)

UK Proposes Broadband Expansion, Plus a Music and Film Tax

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Excellent old chart of frequencies and their applications

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what UHF, VHF, UV, LFO, gamma rays, cosmic rays and so on are and what exactly it is they do, this awesome old chart should do you right. Among other things, it has frequencies of quartz transparancy, FCC-allocated RF bands, the range of the human eye (distressingly small, top right), absorption rates by air, water, aluminum, copper, and lead, and about a billion other awesome things.

The amount of knowledge summarized by this chart is staggering to me. It’s like an entire electromagnetic almanac in a single illustration. These types of charts are common (XKCD parodied one) but this is particularly impressive. Commenters at Reddit pointed out a more complete, but less picturesque chart and a very utilitarian but informative allocations chart.

Very cool! Now you won’t have to make something up when your kid asks you why you can’t see microwaves.

Warning: Dependence on Facebook, Twitter Could Be Hazardous to Your Business [Voices]

By Mark Glaser, Host and Editor, MediaShift, PBS.org

You’ve probably heard how much the micro-blogging service Twitter can help your business, or that being on social networking site Facebook can boost your company’s profile. But what you might not have considered is the potential danger in over-relying on these startups that could go out of business, get bought out, or close your account if you aren’t familiar with their Terms of Service.

In terms of growth, both Twitter and Facebook are booming, with Twitter growing by 600 percent and Facebook nearly tripling in users in the past year. Both companies rely on venture funding to survive. Facebook has been bringing in revenues from advertising; Twitter hasn’t yet clarified how it will bring in money.

The brand value of both companies is rising, as you could see on TV during the inauguration when stations such as CNN were touting Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. But as more newbies pour their time and attention into these online services, can they be certain that the services will survive in the long haul?

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The Eye of the (BlackBerry) Storm [Voices]

By Arik Hesseldahl, Technology Writer, BusinessWeek.com

As the battle for the smartphone market heats up, comparisons abound between Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Storm, released in November, and Apple’s iPhone.

For starters, both devices boast a touchscreen, forgoing the buttons found on more conventional phones. But the more important comparison, from the bottom-line perspective, lies in which device carries a fatter margin. And on a cost-per-unit basis, the advantage for the moment appears to belong to Apple (AAPL). A new analysis of the BlackBerry Storm by market research firm iSuppli indicates the cost of components and manufacturing for RIM (RIMM) is slightly less than $203. By comparison, those costs for Apple’s iPhone 3G, the second iteration of the device, are less than $175.

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Older ‘Net Users Giving Youngsters a Run For Their Money [Voices]

By Jacqui Cheng, Associate Editor, Ars Technica

Generation Y enjoys the widespread stereotype as being the official Internet Generation, but it turns out those stinking kids don’t own everything online. Generation Xers, Baby Boomers, and even “G.I.” folks dominate their own niches when it comes to the online world, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Gen Y (also known as Millennials) make up the largest single group in the Internet-using population—30 percent—and more than half of the adult Internet population is between the ages of 18 and 44. However, Pew notes that surveys taken in 2006 and 2008 indicate that other groups are growing rapidly, with the largest increase in Internet use coming from the 70 to 75-year-old age group.

This G.I. generation plus the one just below it, ages 64 to 72, are helping drive the continued popularity of e-mail. Pew says that 74 percent of Internet users over 64 send and receive e-mail primarily, while e-mail is rapidly losing its teenage audience to newer communication methods like social networking and blogging.

In fact, “older” folks (those over age 32) do a lot of things online more than the young ‘uns do.

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Lawyer Sues Citibank For Not Stopping Him From Losing Money In Nigerian Scam [Voices]

By Mike Masnick, Blogger, Techdirt

A lawyer in Houston is suing Citibank after he got scammed in a variation on the classic Nigerian email scam. There are a few interesting tidbits here that are worth discussing. First, the details: the lawyer, who does collections work, was contacted via email by a company that claimed to be a Japanese company that was trying to collect money from four clients in the US–offering a contingency fee to the lawyer for help in getting the customers to pay up. Soon after that, the “Japanese company” claimed that one client had agreed to pay some of what it owed–and it sent the law firm a check for $367,500. Citibank said the check cleared, and the law firm wired $182,500 to the company. Of course, it later turned out that the check was fraudulent, and the law firm was out the $182,500.

This is a variation on a popular version of the Nigerian email scam. The way it usually works is that the scammer buys something that’s for sale… and then sends a check that’s for significantly more than the purchase price using some sort of excuse. Once the check “clears,” the seller is asked to wire back the excess money.

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Daily Crunch: Hatch Edition

Popular Mechanics magazine shows the “Lost” love
A twee cuckoo clock watch
Cool detachable motor home concept
Tenga’s “Egg”: discrete male marital aid
DIY: Cute Papertoys

Circuit City liquidation sales surpass expectations

Section: Tech News

It seems as though you have to go out of business these days to make any money.  The companies hired to liquidate Circuit City’s remaining stock announced today that sales have reached an astounding $450 million over the past two weeks.  They expect that the liquidation sales will end sooner than expected due to the astounding number of shoppers that have turned up to snatch up their discounted electronics.

The court mandated that sales must end by March 31, but the remainder of the store’s $1.8 billion inventory should be gone before that time.  Even though stock continues to fly off shelves, deeper discounts were applied starting today.  Most stores are now offering 25 percent off all plasma TVs, 20 percent off certain LCD sets, 40 percent off car audio products, and various discounts on all other store merchandise, including computers, cameras, camcorders, video games, MP3 players, DVDs and CDs.

In other Circuit City news, the company plans to help employees with job placement in the Richmond, Virginia area.  They have arranged a two day job fair where former employees can meet with area recruiters. 

Read [Twice]

DRM Shuts Down PC Version of Gears of War

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Misys - Interim Results Interview With CEO

Stimulus Details

Earlier today I wondered what the actual text is of H.R.1, the bill to authorize an $819 billion "stimulus package." Newspapers don't generally go into this kind of detail, perhaps fearing that it would bore their readers, so I visited the very usefulOpen Congress site to find out. As I read the bill, two things caught my eye.

The first should have been obvious: The money will be mostly distributed among existing federal agencies. To spend huge sums of money, the government simply has to channel it through the system that already exists to allocate and track it. Unfortunately, some of these agencies are not widely known for timely and efficient behavior.

The second lesson is a corollary of the first and could be described as "no agency left behind." Naturally when you suddenly have more than $800 billion floating around, everyone wants a piece of it. Thus we find that very substantial sums are being allocated for purposes such as assisting local law enforcement (the war on drugs, no doubt), housing soldiers, and (of course) increasing homeland security.

Here are some random items that I copied and pasted. For more details, check the link above.

Law Enforcement
$3 billion for state and local law enforcement assistance.
$1 billion for community policing services.

Department of Defense
$4.5 billion to modernize and repair Army barracks and other defense facilities.

General Services Administration
$6 billion for construction and repair of federal buildings.
$1 billion for immigration facilities at ports of entry.

Homeland Security
$250 million for salaries and construction at ports of entry.
$500 million for purchase and installation of explosive detection systems.
$150 million for alteration or removal of obstructive bridges.

The last item is amusing in a grim way. I thought this bill was largely intended to restore "crumbling infrastructure" but apparently $150 million will be spent partly on tearing it down.

Cox introduces new bandwidth management policy

Section: Communications, Web

Cox Communications is introducing a new bandwidth management policy that is sure to have many of its users up in arms.  The cable and internet provider says it will begin ranking the importance of different kinds of internet use and then limit the bandwidth to those activities they consider low priority whenever they feel their network is too congested.

Cox’s list of low priority traffic includes FTP, peer to peer networking, software updates (including those regular Microsoft updates), and Usenet.  Users doing any of those things will experience noticeably slower connections when Cox decides their network needs “congestion management.”

The new policy will begin a test run in Kansas and Arkansas starting next month and then will begin in other markets later in the year.  It’s not yet clear how this policy will differ from the one that got Comcast in trouble with the FCC last summer.  What do you think of these sorts of policies?  Leave us a comment with your thoughts!

Read: [PC World]

Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

EFF to judge: Let's webcast the RIAA's lawsuit

EFF filed a really well-done brief today in support of Professor Nesson and Harvard's Berkman Center and their quest to provide a live webcast of the defense they providing to students against the RIAA.

Public.Resource.Org and the Internet Archive have offered to host the video. We've previous worked with the provider here, Courtroom View Network, to put the Nifong disbarment trial on-line (link). All that video is hi-res with no restrictions on re-use.

Media Access Project, Free Press, and the California First Amendment Coalition, and even attorney Ben Sheffner have joined this call to open up the court proceedings.

EFF does such great work ... we're really proud to support their excellent brief.

EFF Leads Call of Support for Live Webcast of RIAA Hearing (Thanks, Carl!

Previously:

• Legendary Harvard law prof fights constitutionality of RIAA ...
• Law prof wants to webcast RIAA lawsuit - Boing Boing

Source: Gizmodo | 30 Jan 2009 | 6:00 am

Black Swan author's rules for living

Avi sez, "Nassim Nicholas Taleb, gadfly author of The Black Swan, gives his 10 rules for surviving an unpredictable world with dignity."

1 Scepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be sceptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.

2 Go to parties. You can’t even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.

3 It’s not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.

4 Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act — if you can’t control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behaviour. You will always have the last word.

5 Don’t disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don’t understand their logic. Don’t pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific ‘evidence’.

6 Learn to fail with pride — and do so fast and cleanly. Maximise trial and error — by mastering the error part.

7 Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words ‘impossible’, ‘never’, ‘too difficult’ too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take ‘no’ for an answer (conversely, take most ‘yeses’ as ‘most probably’).

8 Don’t read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.

9 Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.

10 Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom (Thanks, Avi!)

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:56 am

Instant corner shop, just add shipping container

British science fiction writer Paul McAuley spotted this instant corner shop created by plunking a storage container down on a tiny bit of front garden and flinging wide the doors. Instant architecture indeed -- a sign of the times, and more to come no doubt.

Instant Architecture (via Futurismic)

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:51 am

Bruce Sterling on our global psychosis, ca. 2009

Bruce Sterling's lead editorial in SEED Magazine's feature on the 21st century enumerates the disastrous contradictions and changes in the shifting global mindset, and scathingly demands that we fix them. This is inflaming, heady stuff:

7. Science. To be a creationist president is not a problem. A suicide cult is the most effective political actor in the world today. Clearly the millions of people embracing fundamentalism like to make up their own facts.

Standards of scientific proof and evidence no longer compel political and social allegiance. This is not a return to the bedrock of faith — it's an algorithm for ontological anarchy. By attacking empiricism, the world is discarding all of the good reasons to believe that anything is real.

If science is discredited, why should mere politics have any intellectual rigor? Just cobble together a crazy-quilt mix-and-match ideology, like Venezuelan Bolivarism or Russia's peculiar mix of spies, oil, and Orthodoxy. Go from the gut — all tactics, no strategy — making up the state of the world as you go along! Stampede wildly from one panic crisis to the next. Believe whatever is whispered. Hide and conceal whatever you can. Spy on the phone calls, emails, and web browsing of those who might actually know something.

If that leads you to a miserable end-state, huddling with the children in a fall-out shelter clutching silver bullion, then you can congratulate yourself as the vanguard of civilization.

2009 Will Be a Year of Panic

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:47 am

Digital Britain report proposes to save Britain's future by destroying the Internet

Glyn sez, "The UK Government today published it Digital Britain interim report and not surprisingly, are proving controversial. The Open Rights Group have already stated:

We are looking at the report in detail, but we are extremely concerned that the voice of consumers and citizens is being marginalised.

We are concerned that there is no suggestion that consumers and citizens should be represented on the proposed copyright 'Rights Agency'. Without our voices, such an agency could easily be dominated by industry's concerns at the expense of civil rights. Consumer would be very likely to get a bad deal.

"We are concerned at the government's proposals for technical 'solutions' for rights enforcement - technical 'solutions' to social issues tend to be expensive and fail."

"One by one digital music providers like iTunes and Amazon are moving away from DRM, and trusting their customers. This is a much better example for industry and government to follow."

"We also intend to look closely at proposals for recording and reporting alleged rights infringers. While we welcome the proposal to ask the courts before taking action, we are concerned at the potential for further erosion of privacy online."

"Part of the Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham speech showed a clear lack of understanding that alleged behaviour does not equals unlawful:

"We will only maintain our creative strength if we find new ways of paying for and sustaining creative content in the online age. We therefore explore the potential for a new rights agency to be established and following a consultation on how to tackle unlawful file sharing we propose to legislate to require internet service providers to notify alleged significant infringers that their conduct is unlawful."

"The main recommendations that Boing Boing readers will be interested in are:

ACTION 11 By the time the final Digital Britain report is published the Government will have explored with interested parties the potential for a Rights Agency to bring industry together to agree how to provide incentives for legal use of copyright material; work together to prevent unlawful use by consumers which infringes civil copyright law; and enable technical copyright-support solutions that work for both consumers and content creators. The Government also welcomes other suggestions on how these objectives should be achieved.

ACTION 12 Before the full Digital Britain Report is published we will explore with both distributors and rights-holders their willingness to fund, through a modest and proportionate contribution, such a new approach to civil enforcement of copyright within the legal frameworks applying to electronic commerce, copyright, data protection and privacy to facilitate and co-ordinate an industry response to this challenge. It will be important to ensure that this approach covers the need for innovative legitimate services to meet consumer demand, and education and information activity to educate consumers in fair and appropriate uses of copyrighted material as well as enforcement and prevention work.

ACTION 13 Our response to the consultation on peer-to-peer file sharing sets out our intention to legislate, requiring ISPs to notify alleged infringers of rights (subject to reasonable levels of proof from rights- holders) that their conduct is unlawful. We also intend to require ISPs to collect anonymised information on serious repeat infringers (derived from their notification activities), to be made available to rights-holders together with personal details on receipt of a court order. We intend to consult on this approach shortly, setting out our proposals in detail.

digital britain - interim report (Thanks, Glyn!)

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:42 am

Re-Rumor: Dell dippin’ their toes in the smartphone game

DUDE, YOU’RE GETTING A DELL SMARTPHONE! Maybe. If they’re real. And, you know, any good.

It’s definitely not the first time we’ve heard this one before, but word around Rumormill Way is again indicating that Dell’s dabbling with the idea of getting into the battle for smartphone supreme. According to the WSJ’s sources, they’re tinkering with more than one concept - a little bit of Android here, a bit of WinMo there, and maybe a pinch of touchscreen thrown in for taste. None of the involved parties are admitting anything, of course. Dell’s past attempts at branching out of the computer building biz haven’t been mindbogglingly successful, and with next month’s Mobile World Congress looking to be packed to the brim with Android (thereby crowding up the smartphone market for 2009) don’t be too shocked if these mobile experiments don’t make it out of the lab.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Source: MobileCrunch | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:38 am

Chain-less bikes invade

Section: Gadgets / Other, Transportation

Following a trend we reported on some time ago, more and more chain-less bikes are being introduced into different segments in the bicycle industry.  From big companies like Trek Bicycles to small ones like this latest introduction: Abio, companies are hoping the benefits will outweigh the “unique pedal feel” that a belt delivers.

Aibo introduced commuter-specific models to take advantage of the belt-drive bicycles reduced maintenance and greasy chain that keeps many of us from considering bicycles as legitimate alternative transportation.  Belt-driven bicycles withstand the rigors of mountain biking so there is every reason to believe city streets won’t give the system any problems.

“Chainless bicycles are a great thing, especially for those who don’t want to fuss with maintenance and lubrication,“ says Abio Bikes Founder and Co-Owner Teck Chu. “With this system owners can now spend less time tinkering and more time on the road.“

Is a chain-less bicycle for you?  From reviews of owners of the belt drive system I’ve seen, the reviews have all been positive.  Though, they do all seem to nod at the odd feeling delivered through the pedals.  Since the transmission is super-quiet, some riders find that unnerving.  Much like a silent electric car.

The new models released by Abio feature a lightweight bicycle at 30lbs, internally geared hub to give you some options on how hard you want to pedal, easy folding (just 15 seconds flat according to the company) and a relatively low price of $790 for such a light bicycle.

Maybe this whole bicycle thing will catch on.

Product page: [Abio]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:10 am

More Websites Offending Thai Monarchy Blocked

An anonymous reader writes "Thailand is ramping up their media wide censorship of anything that remotely offends Thai royalty. In the last three weeks, another 2,300 websites have been blocked. Another ~4,000 are soon expected. And not just websites, but books as well as the Economist have been blocked. And anyone caught publishing such material, including foreigners, will get 3 to 15 years in a Thai prison. You don't want to be in a Thai prison!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:01 am

Thwarting Disaster: Bridges That Can Withstand Anything

President Obama has promised the largest investment in infrastructure since the creation of the Interstate Highway System. For America's bridges, it's about damn time: Nature, age, and faulty designs are beginning to take a toll (see above: Minneapolis, 2007). Luckily for commuters and trolls, engineers around the world are figuring out how to build smarter spans that can shrug off disaster. Here are three new approaches.

Challenge: Extreme temps

St. Anthony Falls Bridge, Minneapolis

The new I-35W span has its own nervous system, with 323 sensors. Through harsh winters and steamy summers, gauges will track the expansion and contraction of joints and supports. When temps drop below 32°F, sprayers will automatically coat the road with deicer.

In addition to the sensors embedded in the bridge's roadway, cameras placed both along the road and inside the bridge's hollow concrete box girders track traffic flow and speed and monitor security. All of the data collected is analyzed by engineers from Minnesota’s Department of Transportation and researchers at University of Minnesota’s Traffic Observatory.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Tesla's Plan For an EV Factory in San Jose Fizzles

Tesla Motors' plan of building an automobile assembly plant in San Jose appears doomed, done in by a faltering economy and little chance of federal funding for the project.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Do Humanlike Machines Deserve Human Rights?

During the 20 months that Fisher-Price spent developing the innards and software of its latest animatronic Elmo, engineers gave the project the code name Elmo Live. And sure enough, they made him more animate than ever: He moves his mouth in time with the stories he tells, shivers when he gets scared, and has a fit when he sneezes.

When they were finally able to test the doll on children, they were struck by how immediately the kids blocked out all other stimuli in the room and began interacting with Elmo. "It was as if Elmo were part of their family," says Gina Sirard, Fisher-Price VP of marketing. "To a child, he really is alive."

So the code name stuck, and over the past few months legions of $60 Elmo Live dolls have joined families everywhere. Some are certainly doomed to join previous Elmos in a new pastime: robotic-toy torture. YouTube is full of videos of idiots dousing Elmo with gas, setting him on fire, and laughing as his red fur turns to charcoal and he writhes in a painful dance.

I've seen videos of the incineration of T.M.X. Elmo (short for Tickle Me Extreme); they made me feel vaguely uncomfortable. Part of me wanted to laugh—Elmo giggled absurdly through the whole ordeal—but I also felt sick about what was going on. Why? I hardly shed a tear when the printer in Office Space got smashed to bits. Slamming my refrigerator door never leaves me feeling guilty. Yet give something a couple of eyes and the hint of lifelike abilities and suddenly some ancient region of my brain starts firing off empathy signals. And I don't even like Elmo. How are kids who grow up with robots as companions going to handle this?

This question is starting to get debated by robot designers and toymakers. With advanced robotics becoming cheaper and more commonplace, the challenge isn't how we learn to accept robots—but whether we should care when they're mistreated. And if we start caring about robot ethics, might we then go one insane step further and grant them rights?

First, the science: The brain is hardwired to assign humanlike qualities to anything that somewhat resembles us. A 2003 study found that 12-month-olds would check to see what a football-shaped item was "looking at," even though the object lacked eyes. All the researcher had to do was move the item as if it were an animal and the infants would follow its "gaze." Adults? Same reaction.

The perennial concern about the rise of robots has been how to keep them from, well, killing us. Isaac Asimov came down from the mountaintop with his Three Laws of Robotics (to summarize: Robots shouldn't disobey or hurt humans or themselves). But what are the rules for the humans in this relationship? As technology develops animal-like sophistication, finding the thin metallic line between what's safe to treat as an object and what's not will be tricky. "It's going to be a tougher and tougher argument to say that technology doesn't deserve the same protection as animals," says Clifford Nass, a Stanford professor who directs a program called the Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab. "One could say life is special—whatever that means. And so, either we get tougher on technology abuse or it undermines laws about abuse of animals."

It's already being considered overseas. In 2007, a South Korean politician declared that his country would be the first to draw up legal guidelines on how to treat robots; the UK has also looked into the area (though nothing substantial has come of it anywhere). "As our products become more aware, there are things you probably shouldn't do to them," says John Sosoka, CTO of Ugobe, which makes the eerily lifelike robot dinosaur Pleo (also tortured on Web video). "The point isn't whether it's an issue for the creature. It's what does it do to us."

We live in an age of anxiety—about the economy, the environment, terrorism. And now even about our toys, which are forcing us to question the boundaries of humanity and compassion. Back on Sesame Street, Elmo Live's creators have an answer: Keep soul-searching to a minimum and recognize that you're buying a product, pure and simple. "This is a toy," Fisher-Price's Sirard says. "There shouldn't be any laws about how you use your toys." Happy grilling, Elmo!

Senior writer Daniel Roth (daniel_roth@wired.com) profiles Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in this issue of Wired.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Jan. 30, 1975: Rubik Applies for Patent on Magic Cube

1975: Erno Rubik files for a patent on his twisty toy cubes. He'll get the patent and, later, fame and fortune.

Rubik, who'd been schooled in sculpture and architecture, taught interior design at an art college in Budapest, Hungary. His initial interest in building the cube was structural: to see how he could let the little cubes (called "cubies" or cubelets") move without the big cube falling apart.

Holding the cubies together with rubber bands didn't work, so in the spring of 1974 he carved them to interlock with each other. He also applied different-colored paper to each of the big cube's six sides. Bingo! Well, actually, a lot more complex than Bingo.

As Rubik started twisting his bright little bauble, the designer in him noticed how pleasing it was to watch the shifting colors. But when he tried to put the colors back in order, he found it wasn't all that easy. Random twisting, he figured, would take him a lifetime.

(Spoiler alert: Partial solution ahead.)

Rubik hit on the rubric of starting by aligning the corner cubes. It still took him a few weeks to solve the puzzle.

He applied for a Hungarian patent in January 1975 and arranged for a small Budapest co-op to produce the toy. The patent wasn't granted until March 1977.

William Gustafson had received a U.S. patent for a similar "manipulatable toy" in 1963, Larry Nichols won a U.S. patent for a 2x2x2 cube called Twizzle in 1972, Frank Fox got a British patent for a spherical 3x3x3 puzzle in 1974, and Terutoshi Ishige received a Japanese patent for a 3x3x3 in 1976. But the laurels were to be Rubik's.

Eventually.

Hungarian businessman Tibor Laczi showed the game at the Nuremberg toy fair, and it spread across Europe. Ideal Toy bought exclusive rights to the "Magic Cube" in 1979. Because Rubik hadn't applied for an international patent within a year of his Hungarian patent, Ideal changed the name to "Rubik's Cube" to give themselves some trademark protection.

Omni magazine wrote about the game in its games column in late 1980, and a slew of publicity followed in the spring of 1981. Rubik's Cube became the mega-fad of the early '80s. More than 300 million cubes have been sold.

That's nothing, of course, compared to the 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different possible permutations of the classic cube — enough to cover the planet with 273 layers of cubes, each with a unique arrangement of colors.

Speaking of large numbers, Erno Rubik became the first self-made millionaire from the Communist bloc, or in this case, block.

Source: About.com Inventors, Domain of the Cube

Source: Wired Top Stories | 30 Jan 2009 | 5:00 am

Philips’ 21:9 aspect ratio TV on video

What is it with TVs these days? Billion-to-one contrast ratios. 600Hz refresh rates. And now: begun, the aspect ratio wars have. 21:9 may be more familiar to you as something like 2.35:1 or Anamorphic widescreen. The widest of the common aspect ratios, the size has been around for a long time and many films will now be viewable without letterboxing on this 56-inch TV. But is it worth it?

While having a screen this wide is a boon for those people who use their TV only for movies, but what about all the other content? Home videos are shot at 4:3 or 16:9. HDTV broadcast standard is approaching 16:9. 50 years of TV programming are in 4:3. How will the TV handle them? Unfortunately, by stretching the image, a technique I consider incompatible with reason.

Their plan for stretching 16:9 to 21:9 involves “only stretching the edges of the image” with some sort of reverse Anamorphic process. This can’t possibly look right; even Anamorphic, a mature technology that’s been around for many decades, produces a very specific distortion that once you see, you can’t un-see. 4:3 images will be stretched to 16:9, apparently because Philips thinks we’re too inattentive to notice that everyone’s head looks like Stewie’s.

Why stretch it at all? Why not letterbox it, or windowbox it, or do whatever it takes to preserve the original content? Cinematographers will shoot themselves en masse when they see their carefully composed shots as if in a funhouse mirror.

If you must have one of these TVs (they cost a huge amount, around $7000 if I remember correctly), then please only watch movies meant for it. Keep a 16:9 display around or do what you can to minimize the amount of stretching your media gets. And consider that a 16:9 display that’s not too much bigger (maybe 65 inches?) will give you the same size image, probably at a lower price and with no compatibility price to pay.

Source: CrunchGear | 30 Jan 2009 | 4:56 am

Today on Offworld

Today on Offworld, we didn't see much better than this: 2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo maker Kyle Gabler (right) channeling... Tyra Banks? and giving his top 7 tips for indie devs about to make their first rapidly developed game, in his keynote for the inaugural Global Game Jam. Elsewhere, we heard about a new version of EA and Steven Spielberg's Wii title Boom Blox and prepared for the release of an updated version of iPhone tower defense hit Fieldrunners, and dug through the huge number of winners of JayIsGames' best of 2008 games list. We also danced to all of the things that Left 4 Dead's Francis hates (most of all, Ayn Rand), saw BAFTA announced an award for Pong/Atari head Nolan Bushnell, and saw Ico creator Fumito Ueda look back at the development of PS2 cult classic Shadow of the Colossus. Finally, we saw a brilliant looking new PSP game that will give players 30 seconds at a time to fulfill their RPG quests, and, because I could, watched a fantastic new retro-pixel music video for Offworld favorite band Deerhoof.

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 4:45 am

Today on Offworld

Today on Offworld, we didn't see much better than this: 2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo maker Kyle Gabler (right) channeling... Tyra Banks? and giving his top 7 tips for indie devs about to make their first rapidly developed game, in his keynote for the inaugural Global Game Jam.

Elsewhere, we heard about a new version of EA and Steven Spielberg's Wii title Boom Blox and prepared for the release of an updated version of iPhone tower defense hit Fieldrunners, and dug through the huge number of winners of JayIsGames' best of 2008 games list.

We also danced to all of the things that Left 4 Dead's Francis hates (most of all, Ayn Rand), saw BAFTA announced an award for Pong/Atari head Nolan Bushnell, and saw Ico creator Fumito Ueda look back at the development of PS2 cult classic Shadow of the Colossus.

Finally, we saw a brilliant looking new PSP game that will give players 30 seconds at a time to fulfill their RPG quests, and, because I could, watched a fantastic new retro-pixel music video for Offworld favorite band Deerhoof.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 30 Jan 2009 | 4:34 am

Nokia announces three new classic phones

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Nokia announced three new phones, the 2700 classic , 6303 classic, and 6700 classic.  All sport simple designs and each of these phones offer a plethora of features that could probably give you a hard time choosing which one to get.  The good thing is you only to have worry about choosing based on features since all three phones will be easy on your wallet.

First off is the simplest of the lot, the Nokia 2700.  This phone boasts a 2.0 megapixel camera, 2GB storage through a memory card slot, an integrated music player, support for Nokia’s Share on Ovi service, and the other usual features you expect of a Nokia basic to mid-range phone.  Price-wise, the Nokia 2700 is relatively cheap at around $85 less taxes and subsidies.

Next we have the Nokia 6303 classic phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera, 2.2-inch screen, 3.5-mm audio jack, and a music player.  The phone is also preloaded with Nokia Maps.  According to Nokia, the 6303’s battery performance is something else.  It’s affordable with its $177 price tag.

Finally we have the Nokia 6700 classic, a follow-up to the popular Nokia 6300.  The Nokia 6700 features a better design than the 6300 and is made from better materials as well.  Its body sports a smooth surface and a full metal “keymat” which give the phone a clean look.  It features a whopping 5 megapixel camera, high-speed data access, and GPS navigation through Nokia Maps.  Expectedly, the Nokia 6700 is more expensive with its estimated price of $309 less taxes and subsidies.

If you have already chosen one, you will have to wait until the second quarter of this year when Nokia releases these phones.

Read [Nokia PR]

Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 30 Jan 2009 | 4:18 am

VisualPin Will Plot Your Videos On The Map

Australian start-up VisualPin allows users to “geocode” their videos by adding a Google Map to each different location in a video, with the map appearing to the side of the video. Here’s one of the best examples on the site.

To be honest, I find the map somewhat distracting from watching the video but I think it could be useful when it comes to documenting travel, news or current events. The technology creates a virtual-location table of contents, allowing the user to click on a marked location to find the corresponding video content.

This appears to be a variation of existing technology that embeds YouTube videos in Google Maps listings. Also Google Maps mashups became particularly useful for news media sites during the inauguration; CNN, Oprah.com and WashingtonPost.com all featured geocoded mashup videos from inaugural events in Washington D.C.

Perhaps NBC’s Today show could use this technology for its next Where in the World is Matt Lauer series.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 30 Jan 2009 | 4:10 am

DIY: Cute Papertoys

Need some toys to spruce up your desk? What better way to kill a little time on the weekend, show off your nerddom, and fancy things up a bit than papercraft?

These DIY print-and-assemble toys from graphic designer Alexander Marshall all derive their themes from his childhood memories and are quite simple to make. My personal favorite is “Nolan” the pong machine.

Here is his site. Make sure to check out his Flickr page for fan-made designs.

[veoVerdé via NOTCOT]

Source: CrunchGear | 30 Jan 2009 | 3:31 am

More doom and gloom from Panasonic and Best Buy

Section: Tech News

The global economic crisis continues to cause job loss throughout the world.  Panasonic announced it will cut 560 jobs in Asia, and Best Buy will layoff an undisclosed number of workers at its corporate office.  The announcements come on the tail of massive cuts on Monday by Texas Instruments and other tech giants.

Panasonic’s cuts come from two factories in Asia.  The company will close and electronics parts plant in Malacca, Malaysia, leaving 500 without jobs.  The other 60 will come from cuts at a battery factory in the Philippines.  The company also announced it will merge two plants in Selangor, Malaysia in September.  The merger will cause further job cuts, though Panasonic declined to speculate on the number.  Further cuts may come as Panasonic completes its takeover of Sanyo Electric Co.

Best Buy’s layoffs come on the heels of 500 voluntary layoffs that happened in early January.  Those involuntarily laid off will work for 30 days.  The voluntary layoffs take effect February 12.  The involuntary group will receive a “less generous” severance package according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

Best Buy’s layoffs show how bad the economy has affected the consumer electronics market as two of their largest competitors, Circuit City and Tweeter, have already closed.  Best Buy should have seen an increase in sales from those customers coming over, but sales were down in September and October, and December sales, while strong, were down from 2007.

Read [a href=”http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/6233922.html”>Panasonic Layoffs]
Read [a href=”http://www.cepro.com/article/report_best_buy_to_lay_off_workers_at_corporate_headquarters/”>Best Buy Layoffs]

Full Story » | Written by Chris Shore for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 30 Jan 2009 | 3:25 am

Quick Hit Signs NFL Star, Raises $8 Million For Rich Flash-Based Football Game

Play Hard Sports has spent the last 9 months developing a rich new Flash-based football game that puts generic Flash games to shame, featuring detailed graphics, intricate gameplay, and persistent stats. Today the company announced that it has signed Bill Cowher, a famed NFL coach best known for coaching the Steelers to a Super Bowl win, to provide color commentary for the game. To mark the occasion, the company has also decided to swap names (probably a wise decision) and will henceforth be known as “Quick Hit“.

While the game has yet to launch to the public, it is apparently impressing investors: earlier this month the company closed an $8 million Series B funding round, and has raised $13 million to date. In terms of quality, the game seems comparable to World Golf Tour, another rich Flash game that goes far beyond the basic casual games that get discarded after a few minutes.

Quick Hit is being designed to attract gamers and sports fans alike, and will offer persistent gameplay that tracks player stats and records between sessions. The game will also feature an online social community and an RPG-like leveling system allowing you to improve your team over time. Unfortunately we’ll still have to wait a while to see if the game plays as well as it looks: Quick Hit has plans to open up a public beta in June (a private beta may be launched before then), with its full release in August in time for the start of the NFL season.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 30 Jan 2009 | 2:57 am

Wooo-branded 3D mobile looks like the business

I suppose it was only a matter of time. This handset, which will almost certainly never see our fair shores, sports a 3.1-inch 3D screen — 3D capable, to be precise, since I doubt there’s any 3D content ready to go, even in Japan (and certainly not Captain EO).

The rest of the Ketai H001 is more prosaic, but it’s a cool-looking thing if you like tankphones. The screen swivels to a sort of mobile internet device placement like other TV phones, and it’s got a 5-megapixel autofocus camera. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

I like the little embedded display on the top shell. The “prism” styling actually is to my liking, although if they’re going to make a phone that big, why not go full QWERTY? I will tell you. Because in Japan they can type faster on those pads than we can on full keyboards. Japanese schoolgirls for the win!

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Source: MobileCrunch | 30 Jan 2009 | 2:50 am

Wooo-branded 3D mobile looks like the business

I suppose it was only a matter of time. This handset, which will almost certainly never see our fair shores, sports a 3.1-inch 3D screen — 3D capable, to be precise, since I doubt there’s any 3D content ready to go, even in Japan (and certainly not Captain EO). Not sure whether you need glasses for it; I’d assume so.

The rest of the Ketai H001 is more prosaic, but it’s a cool-looking thing if you like tankphones. The screen swivels to a sort of mobile internet device placement like other TV phones, and it’s got a 5-megapixel autofocus camera. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

I like the little embedded display on the top shell. The “prism” styling actually is to my liking, although if they’re going to make a phone that big, why not go full QWERTY? I will tell you. Because in Japan they can type faster on those pads than we can on full keyboards. Japanese schoolgirls for the win!

Source: CrunchGear | 30 Jan 2009 | 2:50 am

Have colorful portable music with the Music Balloon

Section: Audio, Accessories, Speakers

Do you have a friend that wants a portable speaker and is afraid of clowns?  Then don’t buy them this speaker.  For all your friends not suffering from coulrophobia, Geek Stuff 4 U has a news portable speaker that looks like a big, colorful ball—the Music Balloon.  Why is it named the Music Balloon?  Did you even look at the picture?

The speaker plugs into any standard 1/8 inch (3.55 mm) headphone jack.  The unit charges via USB, and you should get about two hours of play from a full charge. It comes in five colors—pink, yellow, red, blue, and black—and should entertain visually as well as musically.  As of press time, the Geek Stuff 4 U website was down from a DoS attack but should be up soon.

From [Electronic House]

Full Story » | Written by Chris Shore for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 30 Jan 2009 | 2:36 am

Surfrider's "Catch of the Day"

Ed Note: Boingboing's current guest blogger Gareth Branwyn writes on technology, pop and fringe culture. He is currently a Contributing Editor at Maker Media. Recent projects have included co-creating The Maker's Notebook and editing The Best of MAKE and The Best of Instructables collections.

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Annie from Provisions Learning Project writes:

In their continuing efforts to battle the ever growing mounds of garbage polluting our oceans and coastlines, Surfrider Foundation joined forces with Saatchi & Saatchi LA to sponsor the aptly titled Catch of the Day guerrilla ad campaign. Trash was collected from beaches across the US, then sorted, packaged like seafood, and strategically placed around local farmers’ markets. Directly targeting seafood consumers, this creative campaign draws attention to the gross debris littering our oceans and highlights how this pollution affects the consumer directly through the food they eat. Even if you’re not partial to seafood, its hard to miss the message!

It's eco-guilt meets the Barbie Liberation Organization! [Full Disclosure: I am on the Board of Directors of Provisions Learning Project]

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:59 am

Stanford's Quantum Hologram Sets Storage Record

eldavojohn writes "It's often assumed that representing data reaches a limit when you get to the point that an atom represents one bit in some form or fashion. But Stanford University researchers have used a quantum hologram model to store the characters 'S' and 'U' by encoding the data at a rate of 35 bits per electron."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:56 am

Hong Kong Filmmakers To Use 3D Technology in Porn Movie

Over the years, filmmaking auteurs from Hong Kong have changed the landscape of action movies, from the early Wuxia-style of martial arts to the hanging-by-a-wire Kung Fu fantasies of the last 15 years. So it's not surprising that they're ready to change the landscape once again with the use of technology. What's surprising is that they're using 3D tech to create the most realistic sex movie ever.

The movie is called 3D Sex And Zen, and will come in at a budget of $4 million, which is supposedly quite high for a movie of this genre. About one-third of the movie will include sex scenes, and it's likely that only those scenes will be the ones in 3D, in the same way that many current action movies save the 3D effect for the climactic, plot-driving scenes. 

Stephen Shiu Jr., a spokesman for the film, told the Sunday Morning Post that, "there will be many close-ups," and it will feel as if the performers will only be "a few centimetres from the audience."

We've previously noted that 3D films from all genres are growing in popularity, and as a result, many movie companies are now more willing to invest in them. The 3D Journey to the Centre of the Earth last year grossed $216 million worldwide, and more than half of that came from the 3D version of the movie.

According to the announcement, the same company that worked on the 3D version of The Nightmare Before Christmas will be the one working on this one.

There's no word on which type of depth perception 3D trick will be used, or if the movie will also incorporate elements of wire-Fu into the story.

Photo: LiveNews.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:50 am

iTunes Plus lets users upgrade individual songs (CNET)

CNET - File this under: now you tell me.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:39 am

Netbooks: An Accountant's Best Friend?

Inexpensive netbooks are quickly maturing to suit business users, and already a certain type of professional is showing interest in the puny devices — accountants.

Accounting Web compiled a list of notebooks best suited for accountants. Two netbooks made it to the list: Asus's Eee PC S101 and Samsung's NC10 — for their spacious keyboards and larger hard drives. The NC10 also got kudos for sporting a battery that reportedly lasts seven hours.

Not bad for a relatively young product category that was just a year ago considered a dumbed-down, novelty device made for goofing off.

The top 10 laptops [Accounting Web via Liliputing]

See Also:

• The Next Netbook Trend: Cellphone-Like Contract Deals
• Apple Still Oblivious to Netbook Opportunity
• Tiny Notes Net Big Gains: The Netbook Revolution

Photo: Lady Madonna/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:36 am

EMCORE Corporation to Report Fiscal 2009 First Quarter Results on Monday, February 9, 2009

- Conference call scheduled for Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:00 am ET ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:31 am

Meebo Community IM (Finally) Prepares To Open The Floodgates

Meebo’s Community IM, which effectively offers websites a Facebook Chat-like messaging platform “in a box”, looks like it’s finally ready for the masses. The product was first unveiled last July, and has announced partnerships with over a dozen sites including Sugar Publishing, AddictingGames, and myYearbook. But until now it has been rolled out slowly, and is currently live on only three sites: Flixster, Wadja, and Zorpia. While some of the wait can be attributed to the partner sites themselves, Meebo has also been taking its time to ensure that its service could handle the traffic load.

Now it sounds like Meebo is ready to swing into full gear. Today the product went live on Piczo, a social site with a large following among teenagers. And beginning next month, the company will roll out on 5-6 more partner sites and plans to continue that pace for the following months (Meebo won’t comment on which sites will be launching, but we can expect the largest ones to drag their feet the longest).

But even with the limited rollout, the three partner sites that had deployed Community IM before today have seen impressive results: Meebo reported 2.5 million unique users on Community IM in December, and expects to beat that figure in January. That number still pales in comparison to the 45 million users seen across Meebo’s entire network, but if the site sees similar turnout from each of its new partners it could double or triple within the month. In light of the platform’s success, Meebo is also planning to roll out advertising sooner than expected (Community IM is currently ad-free).

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:06 am

SanDisk Changes Strategy On Digital Music Players

As SanDisk tries to find more ways to be profitable, the company could kill its older flash-memory based Sansa line of music players and instead focus on storage cards and newer players to support it, says a source.

Instead of the iPod competitors that it has had, SanDisk could be looking to build out its slotMusic cards business. SlotMusic Cards are microSD memory cards that come pre-loaded with music albums. SanDisk's recent music players have been designed to promote the storage cards.

A company spokeswoman downplayed the change. "Sandisk is committed to its digital music players and we have the Sansa Fuze and Clip on retail shelves," she says. "We are just looking at a shift in strategy that goes to the core of the company's focus on flash memory."

SanDisk entered the digital music player in 2005 with the Sansa music player. The inexpensive flash-based players became an iPod alternative for extremely budget conscious buyers.

Yet SanDisk has barely managed to make a dent in iPod's hegemony. Earlier this month, Apple said it sold 22.7 million iPods worldwide in the previous quarter, a three percent growth from the year before.

Recently, SanDisk started promoting its slotMusic cards product extensively. At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, the company introduced a new player called slotRadio and a line of companion music cards.

It's a significant evolution for the Sansa players that was first introduced in 2005 with the e100 series. The devices were initially available in the 512 MB and 1 GB versions and featured an SD card slot to add more storage. The flash-based players supported formats such as MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) and storage was expandable using microSD cards.

Now SanDisk wants to make the microSD cards the centerpiece of its digital music business. In October 2008 the company launched the Sansa slotMusic player. The $20 slotMusic players were created to play slotMusic cards or user-loaded microSD cards.

The idea hasn't been met with great enthusiasm from bloggers. So is SanDisk making the right bet or should it be concede the ring to the iPod and get out of the music player business entirely?

Photo: Sansa Clip (germanium/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 30 Jan 2009 | 1:04 am

Today at Boing Boing Gadgets

Today at Boing Boing Gadgets, our friend Renzo created this wonderful Reutersvärd-inspired heart. Love is an illusion!

Rob presented The Gadget Tribes of Technology.

John found 3D Star Wars Kites; roasted Gadget Lab's Charlie Sorrel, who has four gadgets to help you quit smoking; beheld The Triceratopter; and found a Wallet made of Tyvek. There were Russian keyboard stones and server log hints of new iPhone firmware.

Joel introduced Outlander, this year's best movie about Vikings led by a space messiah to kill an alien dragon; drank before Chalkboard beer taps; and had sex with a Tenga Egg.

⚙

Photoshop competition winners: "What will this liquidated Circuit City become?"

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 12:52 am

Japanese Have a Better Lifestyle PC Than Americans

Sony's hottest new netbook appears to be showing more love to Japan than the states.

In the United States, Sony launched the VAIO Series P Lifestyle PC — an 8 inch notebook that weighs 1.5 pounds — at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. At the convention, Sony said the Lifestyle would be shipping with a 1.33GHz Atom processor.

However, Engadget spotted specifications in Sony's Japanese site that list two options for faster processor speeds for the Lifestyle — 1.6GHz and 1.83GHz.

What gives? Are we getting those options here, too? Sony provided the following e-mail statement:

We do not comment on future product roadmaps.... The P Series is the ideal companion PC, allowing users to take it with them anywhere and everywhere for the ultimate computing on-the-go experience. We wanted to make sure the balance between price and performance was fair and after rigorous testing the Intel 1.33Ghz processor seemed to be the ideal candidate.

That's an odd response that conflicts with what Sony told me at CES, where a spokesman said the Lifestyle was powered with a 1.33GHz Atom to address heating issues.

Then again, considering this is a puny 8-inch netbook, I can't imagine customers would care that much about whether they're getting a 1.83GHz or 1.33 GHz CPU. Still, options are always nice, right?

Hey Sony, where's the 1.86GHz VAIO P for America? [Engadget]

See Also:

• Just Why Isn't the Sony Vaio P a Netbook?
• Sony Launches 'World's Lightest' 8-Inch Notebook (Not a Netbook)

Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 30 Jan 2009 | 12:47 am

Homage to Arizona: 5

(Charles Platt is a guest blogger)

Undeveloped land is still cheaply available in Northern Arizona, for anyone willing to live off the grid. This piece which I own, consisting of nearly 20 acres on top of a knoll, is just 15 minutes from the nearest town yet has unobstructed views extending at least 30 miles in every direction. The picture above was taken looking east; the picture below, slightly later on the same evening, looks west. Northern Arizona often enjoys dramatic sunsets during the monsoon season in late July through early September, when thunderstorms roll in.

Despite the seemingly remote location, I get 4 bars on my cell phone when I'm standing at the top of the knoll, since a cell tower is located within line-of-sight, 10 miles away. I love to visit the undeveloped land but after I finish enjoying the view and the solitude, I find myself faced with a question that is difficult to answer:

“Now what shall I do?”

Maybe I’ll advertise it on eBay.

Source: Boing Boing | 30 Jan 2009 | 12:47 am

Not Funny: MyToons Implodes Amidst Serious Drama

Some companies go out with a whisper, others with a bang. In the case of online animation community MyToons, we’d call it the latter.

Not only do we know the startup has laid off its entire staff except for the founders (which equals 20 to 27 people depending on who you ask) because the lead investor refused to pony up more cash, but we’re also hearing stories from multiple sources who claim that the company’s management has all but thrown VC money out the windows, leading to the current unfortunate situation.

Among the allegations put forward by former employees who wish to remain anonymous: grave mismanagement, a complete disinterest from the company’s co-founders to turn MyToons into a revenue-generating business along with more serious accusations that the executives have been misrepresenting the company’s financial and operational status to their investors and moreover wasting VC money on personal purchases like trips to Hawaii, fancy dinners with relatives, home electronics for personal use and so on. We realize this could be simply a case of disgruntled ex-employees looking to discredit their former employers, but we currently consider the tips to be as reliable as they are detailed.

We tried calling the MyToons office for more information but nobody is answering the phone, apparently because the receptionist has been let go and there’s simply no one to handle inbound calls at the moment. We have e-mails in with all 3 co-founders of MyToons to get their side of the story.

The San Antonio Express-News has also picked up the news and apparently already got in touch with MyToons CEO Dan Kraus today. He blames the economy for the startup’s ill fate but says the company is still operational and planning new service features. Kraus reportedly claimed that any allegations about mismanagement and disrespectful behavior towards employees and investors are completely unfounded, deeming the information that was received by the newspaper unreliable because it comes from—wait for it—disgruntled ex-employees.

Either way, we’re putting MyToons in the deadpool, and along with the millions of venture capital it raised from investors like The Texas Emerging Technology Fund, Barshop Ventures and Syncom Venture Partners.

How much money went into the company was never disclosed, but our sources say $6 million went down the drain.

Update: MyToons CEO Dan Kraus responds:

Given the current economic climate, MyToons, like many other companies, has reduced its staffing and is re-structuring its operations. MyToons continues to be in business, remains committed to the platform it has built and intends to pursue all opportunities for growth.

As to the other allegations of misuse of VC funds for personal purchases and trips to Hawaii, the allegations of money missing from bank accounts, and the lack of a working business model, he says, “Not true.”

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Source: TechCrunch | 30 Jan 2009 | 12:10 am

Greystripe Hits 140 Million Mobile “AdverGame” Downloads

Mobile game ad network Greystripe has hit 140 million ad-supported game downloads thanks to iPhone users. In the fourth quarter of 2008 alone, it supported 30 million downloads. All of these ad-supported and Greystripe says that over 50 percent of ad impressions are from iPhone games. The ads themselves have game-like characteristics designed to increase the chances of consumers clicking on them and playing with them, hence “advergames.”

Last summer, TechCrunch reported that Greystripe turned its attention to the iPhone, and is subsequently seeing an increase in downloads and ad impressions. In fact, Greystripe’s Top 10 Total Games (by ad impression) are all iPhone games. In December, the company created its own version of Adobe Flash for the iPhone, which Apple currently prohibits on the iPhone, that would allow advertisers to use rich media flash ads. The company is making the iPhone market a “priority for the foreseeable future,” finding that the device is a much more successful ad platform for gaming than Java devices.

Greystripe is not the first ad network to see potential in the iPhone-other mobile ad networks have followed suite. TechCrunch reported last November that ad network Videoegg extended its ads to the iPhone. Other iPhone ad networks include : AdMob, Medialets, and PinchMedia.

Some of Greystripes top games on the iPhone include 21 Pro, Blackjack, Cookie Bonus Solitaire, Origami Rose, and Powerboat Racing. None of these are top game apps in the iTunes Store, however.

Greystripe also distributes ad-supported free games and applications through its consumer site GameJump, as well as through the iPhone App Store in iTunes. The company inserts ads into more than 900 game titles from 100 publishers that can be downloaded onto mobile phones. Advertisers on Greystripe’s iPhone and Java games including New Line Cinema, Burger King, Jeep, Speedy Oil Change, Dunlop, Xbox, Leap Frog and Axe.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:52 pm

When To Consider Taking Shares In an IT Company ?

pgpark writes "I've been working as a key resource for a small IT consulting firm in the US. While the job has been interesting and the company's growth quite impressive over the last few years, it's been almost half a dozen years now and being ready for something new, I was ready to quit for consulting. It looks like the CEO would prefer to see me stay, as she is offering me ten percent of shares in the company in exchange for five additional years of my services. So the big question for me now is 'should I stay or should I go now?' Have you guys on Slashdot ever been dealing with such a situation? What points would you consider in order to make your choice?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:50 pm

Amazon stock soars on strong profit and outlook (AP)

AP - Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 9 percent and easily surpassed analysts' forecasts. Those results, plus an optimistic forecast, sent its shares soaring 13 percent in extended trading.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:48 pm

Son Charged With Collecting Double-Agent Dad's Debts

The son of an imprisoned CIA spy was indicted Thursday on charges of assisting his disgraced father collect tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid debts the Russians owned him. The son traveled throughout the world, using coded e-mail messages to plot his next meeting with the Russian Federation, the authorities said.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:40 pm

CrunchBoard Jobs: TechCrunch Remote Intern, Director of Marketing, VP Mobile Ad Sales, CTO

Update: TechCrunch is looking for 4 remote interns–5+ hours per week.

While this week saw fewer new jobs on CrunchBoard, companies are still adding jobs in New York, Silicon Valley, Boston, Philadelphia, and telecommute.

(Here at TechCrunch, we’re looking for a Rails Developer.)

New jobs on CrunchBoard:

• Software Engineer
  Yelp - San Francisco, CA

• Vice President Online & Mobile Ad Sales
  MocoSpace - Boston, MA

• Director of Product Management
  Stealth Project - San Francisco, CA

• Director of Marketing
  Xpree - Redwood City, CA

• CTO/Lead Developer
  NowHound - New York City or Telecommute

International readers can check out our British and French job boards as well.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:18 pm

Charter Launches 60 Mbps Service

ndogg writes "While other companies are throttling their services, and capping bandwidth, Charter Communications, the cable company, is launching a 60/5 Internet service, starting in St. Louis, MO. It's certainly not cheap, starting at 129.99 per month (add another 10 if it's not being bundled with television or phone.) Currently, it's the fastest down stream speed available, and being a cable company, they potentially have greater reach than FiOS." However, there may be a risk to putting too much money down on this service; Charter Communications as a company faces some serious financial problems right now. As reader Afforess writes, "rumors abound that Paul Allen may just cut his losses and run," by selling the company. (Allen is the majority stockholder.)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:01 pm

Nokia releases “Curse of Silence” removal application

Image by Katie Tegtmeyer

As many of us were still sleeping off our New Years celebrations back in early January, a team of security experts found a nasty little bug tucked away into S60 handsets. Dubbed the “Curse of Silence”, SMS capabilities on a wide array of Nokia devices could be disabled by sending a series of specially formatted texts.

Were you unlucky enough to be stricken silent by the exploit? Probably not - Nokia and most of the carriers were pretty quick to put up their defenses, blocking these malicious messages at the pass. Still, Nokia has prepped a “Curse of Silence” clean-up application - you know, just in case. If you just happen to have a SMS-less S60 sitting around somewhere, just install the application and give it a run - it’ll handle the rest.

[Via AllAboutSymbian]

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:57 pm

Record Label Pressure Crashes Spotify’s Party

Music streaming startup Spotify is getting lots of plaudits from users lately for its ease of use and vast catalogue. But it seems the record labels don’t like it that way. In a blog post the startup outlines how it will be removing a number of songs from its catalogue and adding country restrictions to some tracks, which may make them unplayable for many users. The changes are being made because record labels have slapped restrictions on Spotify’s service.

The issue is to do with the publishing rights associated with compilations. A user in one country might be able to listen to a track on one compilation in their country jurisdiction, but to share that track on a playlist with a user in another country could affect the publishing rights. It’s a bizarre situation to think that in 2009, then the out-dated DRM walls are already crumbling, that music streaming remains hobbled in this way. As the Sweden-based startups says: “…our hope is that one day restrictions like this will disappear for good”. See after the jump for their post.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:56 pm

Video Review: FyreTV

FyreTV is a set top box that streams on-demand video (perhaps not the kind of video you’re thinking of) for $9.95 per month. The box itself is free and the monthly fee gets you 100 credits good for between 50 and 100 minutes of video (the kind of video only grown-ups should watch).

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:54 pm

Seismic Slip And Tremor Linked, With Subduction Zone Implications

In the last decade, scientists have recorded regular episodes of tectonic plates slowly, quietly slipping past each other in western Washington and British Columbia over periods of two weeks or more, releasing as much energy as a magnitude 6 earthquake.The slip events coincide with regular occurrences of what scientists call nonvolcanic tremor, which showed up clearly on seismometers but for which the origins were uncertain.Now researchers from Italy and the University of Washington have concluded that both phenomena are signs of the same processes taking place about 25 miles deep at what is believed to be the interface between the Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates."We are now more confident that the tremor and the slip are both products of the same slip process," said Kenneth Creager, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences and a co-author of a paper describing the research being published Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:30 pm

Stem cell transplant reverses early MS

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:30 pm

Nicholas Negroponte Talks Up Second Gen OLPC Laptop

The One Laptop Per Child project has taken a beating in the last few months with problems around scale of production, price and staff cuts.

The first laptop from the project, the XO-1, has mostly been sold through the 'Give One, Get One' program. Now a second generation version is on its way.

The XO-2 will be a $75 dual-screen device that can be held up vertically to resemble a book and turned around to use as a notebook.

The interesting thing here is that the hardware development will be open source in a bid to spur greater adoption, says Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT's Media Lab and champion of the OLPC project in an interview with The Guardian.

One important thing about the XO-2 is that we're going to do it as an open source hardware programme. The XO-1 was really designed as if we were Apple. The XO-2 will be designed as if we were Google - we'll want people to copy it. We'll make the constituent parts available. We'll try and get it out there using the exact opposite approach that we did with the XO-1.

Dual display aside, it will be touch-sensitive and have a haptic keyboard available, says Negroponte. Here's a leaked photo of what this dual display device could look like.

With its $75 price point there's also the hope that the XO-2 could potentially be used as a e-book reader in more developed markets. Maybe the OLPC project will be second-time lucky.

Photo: XO-1 (Jeff Kubina/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:29 pm

Suntan Drug Greenlighted for Testing

A pill that tans your pasty flesh has been approved for testing, but you'll still have to drag yourself to the beach for the time being.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:25 pm

Deforestation Brings Humans and Wild Animals Together

The rapid pace of deforestation has triggered a series of so-called human-animal conflicts in Indonesia.The latest attack occurred on Tuesday, when two women were trampled to death by a pair of elephants on the northern tip of Sumatra island in Aceh province. Another six villagers narrowly escaped with their lives during the attack, which happened after the elephants entered an illegally cleared field from nearby jungle.Just days earlier, two Sumatran tigers killed a rubber-tapper in Jambi as he urinated outside his hut, according to an AFP report.Human-animal conflicts are on the rise in Indonesia, a nation with a growing population of 234 million and some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.As more people move into previously untouched forests, large animals such as elephants, tigers and orangutans are being deprived of the large habitats required to sustain their populations, according to Arnold Sitompul, head of Elephant Forum."The main reason (for conflicts) is habitat loss.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:15 pm

Scientists "Teleport" Quantum Information One Meter

the4thdimension writes "While we may not be beaming up to the Enterprise anytime soon, a team of scientists from the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan have managed to teleport information between two atoms up to a meter apart. Until this point, only very tiny distances were able to be traveled. However, using a complicated system of photons, ions, lasers, and electromagnetics, scientists have managed to 'teleport' information contained on one atom to another atom that is in a separate sealed container. This can lead to a wide range of developments in computing and communications." Update: 01/29 22:29 GMT by T : Sorry, it's a dupe, but today's article in Time is better reading than the abstract anyhow.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:12 pm

AUDIO from Medialink and Jackson Hewitt: Have You Received Your W-2s?

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- If you haven't seen it yet ... you will soon. The most anticipated document by taxpayers this time of the year is the W-2 form. February 1st is the deadline for employers to send out these earnings statements.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:06 pm

SP2 for Vista, Server 2008 Reportedly Sent to Testers (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - With Windows Vista hanging in the balance between a coming-to-life Windows 7 and a refusing-to-die Windows XP, a second service pack for Vista and Windows Server 2008 has reportedly been sent to testers. The reports say a release candidate escrow build has been sent for feedback, with other versions to be available in the next few months.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:02 pm

Australian Heat Wave To Last Six Days, Signaling Global Warming

Residents of Southeast Australia experienced record high temperatures during an intense heat wave on Thursday, which could have giant implications for oncoming global warming, researchers said.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:58 pm

Adding YouTube Annotations Just Got Easy. I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This…

For better or for worse, YouTube has just made it easier to add annotations to your videos. Annotations, which were introduced to the site last June, consist of little grey popups that can include standard text boxes or speech bubbles, or offer interactive links to other clips. They’re useful when they’re used sparingly, but can also be more than a little annoying.

To insert the annotations, users previously had to use an editor tucked under the ‘edit video’ menu. Starting this week, you’ll be able to add annotations directly using a targeting crosshair that appears whenever you view a video that you’ve uploaded. Clicking on the video will bring up a menu asking which annotation you’d like to insert, and you can use a sliding bar on the video’s timeline to determine how long each one appears. A pair of arrows appear at the bottom of the video, allowing you to jump between each annotation so you don’t have to manually watch through the video to find them all.

Aside from the (possibly alarming) fact that this makes adding annotations easier, the addition is notable for what looks like one of the first implementations of Omnisio’s technology on YouTube. Omnisio, a company that allowed users to enhance their videos by creating mashups, adding comments, and interacting with other users, launched last spring and was acquired by YouTube only a few months later in July 2008.

Note: If you don’t like the annotations, you can always turn them off.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: TechCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:55 pm

Apple's Next iPhone Will Rule at Gaming

The next upgrade to Apple's iPhone will have a strong focus on gaming, analysts and developers agree.

That's because the gaming market is an increasingly juicy segment of the mobile multimedia space — and it's one that Apple's phenomenally successful iPhone is well-positioned to dominate.

"The iPhone and iPod Touch are becoming a major new handheld gaming platform, and if you look at the App Store and look at what's doing well, that's reflecting," said Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous, developer of the popular Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game. "I would look forward to improvements in the device as a gaming platform both for the phone and iPod Touch."

Apple made clear its plans to seize the gaming market in November 2008 when Apple marketing executive Greg Joswiak called the iPhone and iPod Touch "the future of gameplay," posing a serious threat to dedicated gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. The reasons? A few things: The quick, electronic distribution method of games and apps via the iPhone's App Store; the accelerometer and multitouch display, which are introducing new approaches to gameplay; and the iPhone's lighter, more portable form factor compared to its rivals.

Numbers say the iPhone is indeed in a position to assault the gaming market. Analysts predict Apple is on track to sell 40 million iPhones or more per year. By way of comparison, Nintendo sold 42 million DS consoles from January 2007 to June 2008.

Add to that the fact that the iPhone App Store has already got the DS and PSP beat in terms of game titles available: When the App Store was just three months old, it had 1,500 games; the PSP and DS had about 600 and 300 titles, respectively.

There are just a few weaknesses the iPhone needs to address before it's truly acknowledged as a serious game device, said Steve Demeter, developer of the Trism iPhone game: Processing limitations, graphic capabilities and memory management. For example, the PSP's advantage as a dedicated gaming device is that its application programming interface (API) is geared toward loading complex textures — a task the iPhone falls short on.

If Apple is serious about making the iPhone a gaming platform, it's a good bet that the next upgrade to the iPhone will address those limitations.

Tero Kuittinen, a Global Crown Capital analyst, agrees that the next iPhone will have enhanced graphics and more powerful processing capabilities. And those improvements will likely be incorporated in a new ARM chip that Apple is developing in-house. In April 2008, Apple acquired semiconductor company PA Semi to manufacture ARM chips for future iPhones.

Other than introducing graphical improvements it's unlikely the iPhone will see dramatic changes. Kuittinen noted that Apple enjoys keeping its interfaces consistent to ensure software is backward-compatible — so forget about a slide-out keyboard or a screen that's either much smaller or much larger than the current iPhone. Developers Decrem and Demeter agreed that Apple will likely be conservative with changes so as not to require software coders to rewrite applications to be compatible with the next iPhone.

One minor change Apple will likely introduce in the third-generation iPhone is an improved web camera with video-recording capability and a flash. Kuittinen said the camera will have to sport at least a 3.5-megapixel resolution in order to compete with Research In Motion, Samsung, HTC and LG, which are already selling handsets with superior cameras to the iPhone.

When can we expect the next iPhone? Considering the first iPhone launched June 2007 and the second iPhone shipped July 2008, the third-generation iPhone should land no later than summer 2009.

Let's hope this one has copy and paste.

See Also:

• iPhone Firmware Reveals Next Gen-Model Is in Testing
• Onyx Turns iPhone Into Web 2.0-Savvy Gaming Device
• iPhone Teases With Game Possibilities
• Why iPhone Games Will Rule
• Gamers Eye the iPhone, as SDK Approaches

Photo: Erik Veland/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:53 pm

Apple's Next iPhone Will Rule at Gaming

Apple will beef up its next iPhone into a serious gaming console, say developers and analysts.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:53 pm

Apple's Next iPhone Will Rule at Gaming

Apple will beef up its next iPhone into a serious gaming console, say developers and analysts.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:53 pm

Palm Pre hiding two neat little features: Drag to unlock, Spacebar triggered shutter

CES 2009 is long since over, but details of the Palm Pre are still trickling out. Take this latest video from MobileDivide, for example - it’s largely a recap of stuff we’ve known for a while, but it packs in two little morsels that had previously gone unnoticed:

• Drag-to-unlock: Similar to the iPhone’s “Slide to unlock” mechanism, except optimized for one-handed, ambidextrous unlocking. Simply drag the unlock object out of the circle, and the Pre wakes up.
• Spacebar triggered camera shutter: Rather than forcing you to capture that once-in-a-lifetime shot with a easily missed touchscreen button or making you reach for a dedicated Camera button, the spacebar is repurposed as the photo snap button when in camera mode.

Every detail that comes out about the Pre indicates that they’ve put a fairly absurd amount of thought into every granule of the user experience. We can’t wait.

[via Precentral]

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:38 pm

AUDIO from Medialink and McAfee: Recession Has Cybercriminals Targeting Valuable New Currency - Intellectual Property

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Worldwide economic woes may have devalued currencies like the U.S. dollar.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:36 pm

ISP Agrees to Ban Copyright Scofflaws

An Irish internet service provider agrees to discontinue service to file sharing copyright scofflaws. The move comes a month after the Recording Industry Association of America said it was seeking the same cooperation from U.S. ISPs. Providers in other nations are considering a three-strikes rule, too.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:30 pm

GoliathJobs, Inc Announces the Launch of the JobsOver50.com Portal for 50+ Job Seekers

Free web-based employment service for Baby Boomers & Retirees backed by the powerful GoliathJobs network. STAMFORD, Conn., Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:20 pm

As Economy Sours, Gamers Turn To Free Online Alternatives

American video game players seeking solace during a rough economy are increasingly turning toward free, ad-supported online games.The number of such players grew to 86 million in 2008, a 27 percent increase from the previous year, according to figures released on Wednesday by comScore. Furthermore, the amount of time players spent with the online games surged by 42 percent, bringing to 4.9 percent the total amount of all Internet activities related to online games."It appears that online, ad-supported gaming is one of the activities that has benefited during this economic downturn," comScore director of gaming solutions Edward Hunter told AFP."Not only have consumers turned to outlets such as gaming to take their minds off the economy, but as they curtail their discretionary gaming-related purchases they are turning to free alternatives."Yahoo! Games was the most visited Web site in the category, with 19.5 million visits by U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:15 pm

Federal Regulations Will Kill Handmade Toy Sales

Makers of handmade, "artisan" toys are worried that new federal regulations will put them out of business. The regulations require expensive testing for lead and dyes in all toys intended for children 12 and under.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:10 pm

Sierra Wireless Announces Expense Reduction Program

VANCOUVER, Jan. 29, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sierra Wireless, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:08 pm

Regal Beloit Corporation to Hold Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2008 Earnings Conference Call on Thursday, February 5, 2009

BELOIT, Wis., Jan.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:06 pm

California Micro Devices Reports December Quarter Financial Results

MILPITAS, Calif., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- California Micro Devices (Nasdaq: CAMD) today announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, which ended December 31, 2008.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:59 pm

Microsoft Files a Patent for a Desktop Dock to Hold Smartphones

Microsoft has filed for a patent around a docking system for a smartphone that will come with a output for an external display, an ethernet jack and a USB hub to connect a keyboard or a mouse, among other things.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:50 pm

Calif. weighs tough TV energy standards (AP)

AP - Visit any electronics store and it's clear that flat-screen TVs are among their best sellers — and that they hope consumers continue a years-long tradition of upgrading their home entertainment systems for the Super Bowl.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:50 pm

Unrippable, paper-thin wallet made out of Tyvek

This "sustainable wallet" is made of Tyvek, which is the same thing FedEx and Priority Mail make their nigh-unrippable packages out of. Sure, it's just an envelope repackaged as a wallet, but I like the pitch.

[via Treehugger]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:46 pm

Chalkboard + Beer Tap == Tap Boards

Tap Boards are brilliant little chalkboards inside wooden taphandles, making it simple to mark what beneficent liquid will flow from the spout below. They were made with the homebrewer (and pro-am homedrinker) in mind, designed as they were by the fellow who runs Kegerators.com*, but they'd be great for any busy bar that changes its selection often.

There's a whole site for the Tapboards, but if you want to actually just buy them, they're currently at an introductory price of $22 a pop plus shipping.

* Remind me to start hitting him up for review units.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:42 pm

Seed Bank Funding Threatened By Financial Crisis

The doom of the global financial crisis is now threatening an important seed bank attempting to collect every type of plant in the world, Reuter’s reported on Thursday.Director Paul Smith of the Millennium Seed Bank Project said their aim is to archive 300,000 different plant species known to exist in order to ensure future biodiversity and protect a vital source of food and medicines.He said the project is on track to collect 10 percent of the total by 2010, but the financial crisis is drying up funding and casting serious doubts on future collections.The National Lottery funds about half of the project, with the rest coming from corporate donations.But now with the economic downturn and preparation for the 2012 London Olympics using up lottery money, the funds for the project are looking grim.Government money and international groups will likely have to step up to fit the nearly $14 million per year needed to keep the bank going.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:40 pm

Serotonin Drives Locusts To Swarm

Role of brain chemical on locust swarming revealed in ScienceResearchers have linked the radical transformation of desert locusts – from harmless, solitary creatures to gregarious, swarm-forming insects – to the common brain chemical serotonin. This discovery illuminates a mechanism within these desert locusts that initiates their switch from aversion to attraction, and may open the door to new methods of pest control.This report will be published by the journal Science on Friday, 30 January. Science is the journal of AAAS, the nonprofit science society.With desert locusts, the expression of this swarming characteristic generally means serious trouble for any nearby farmers caught in the path of the swarm. Locusts are known to sometimes swarm by the billions, and they often devastate crop yields. Dr. Stephen Rogers, an author of the Science paper from the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the UK, said in a phone interview that the desert locusts they studied are "probably the worst kind. About twenty percent of the world is affected by this particular species."Another author of the paper, Dr. Malcolm Burrows from the University of Cambridge, went on to say that, "This is a current problem. In the last few years, there have been major, devastating swarms in China, Africa, and Australia."Although researchers had previously identified the sensory stimuli that trigger swarming behavior in locusts, this new finding reveals a neurochemical mechanism linking interactions among individuals to large-scale changes in population structure and the beginning of mass migration.Although the discovery does not provide an immediate pest control solution, Paul Anthony Stevenson writes in a Perspective that these new insights "harbor considerable potential" for dealing with these harmful insects, if scientists can find viable ways to chemically convert swarming locusts back to their solitary phase.Dr. Michael Anstey from the University of Oxford and colleagues including Dr. Swidbert Ott from the University of Cambridge and Dr. Rogers monitored the levels of serotonin in desert locusts while they triggered both solitary and gregarious behavior in the creatures. Their results show that locusts behaving the most gregariously (in swarm-mode) had approximately three times more serotonin in their systems than the calm, solitary locusts. This raises the prospect that individual neurons that drive this swarming behavior could be identified and targeted. This kind of "switch" in desert locusts represents an extreme example of phenotypic plasticity, in which the expression of multiple observable characteristics can be generated from a single genetic characteristic. This plasticity, or adaptability, of desert locusts is evolutionarily important, and could help the insects prepare for increased competition for resources or signal necessary dispersal and migration cues.Dwindling food sources seem to be one of those cues. Dr. Rogers says, "As their desert environment dries up, they look for food, which eventually brings them all closer together. They are looking for anything to eat, and when they run out of options, a swarm is basically inevitable."Physically, desert locusts can be stimulated into swarming, gregarious behavior by either stimulation of the hind legs as they crawl over and jostle each other or by the combined sight and smell of other locusts. After enough of this "crowding," the locusts stop trying to avoid each other and begin coming together in a swarm.Once Anstey and the team of researchers observed elevated levels of serotonin in swarming desert locusts, they tested whether or not both of these physical sensory pathways to swarming caused an influx of serotonin, and found that they both did. They also demonstrated that serotonin-inhibiting agents could allow locusts to remain calm and solitary despite the physical stimulation of crowding. On the other hand, injecting serotonin promoters into the locusts could induce swarming behavior even without that physical stimulation.Serotonin is present in every multi-cellular organism on the planet, and serotonin receptors are often targeted by antidepressant drugs in humans to increase its availability. Dr. Ott says that, "many of the chemical agents that we used in this study to manipulate serotonin were at one time or another tested or used in clinical applications, such as the treatment of depression.""It's really interesting," says Dr. Burrows. "Here we have a solitary and lonely creature, the desert locust. But just give them a little serotonin, and they go and join a gang!"Locust Facts:Locusts are grasshoppers that swarm. Of the 8,000 known species of grasshoppers throughout the world only about 12 are swarm-forming locusts.An adult Desert Locust is 2-2.5 inches long and weighs 0.05-0.07 oz.A Desert Locust adult can consume roughly its own weight in fresh food per day.They are prodigious fliers, covering 60 miles in 5-8 hours.The two phases are so different in appearance and behavior that they were thought to be separate species until 1921.---Image 1: This is a portrait shot of an adult solitarious phase locust. Credit: Image copyright Tom FayleImage 2: This flow diagram summarizes the major findings of the paper. Credit: Image copyright Steve RogersImage 3: Pictured are side views of late-stage larvae (nymphs) of locusts showing typical Gregarious phase (left) and Solitarious (right) coloration. Credit: Image copyright Tom Fayle
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:19 pm

Entangled Particles Face Sudden Death

Why do entwined particles suddenly become free of their matched partner?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:18 pm

You can have sex with the Muji Tenga Egg

Muji, the austere Japanese lifestyles retailer, something like Ikea meets American Apparel, purportedly sells trays of six Egg Masturbation Aids. Unwrap the Cadbury-like foil, douse the ridged inside with the included lubricant, and scramble. Update: Oops. Turns out it's not Muji, but Tenga. Too bad!

I'd have chalked them up to a clever photoshop were it not for this video [embedded below] of one being prepared for use. (It's safe for work, but weird.)

Fascinating. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the shells were compostable? And perhaps I'm strange, but I would feel far less creepy putting my waist whisk into one of these than into a Fleshlight.

Muji also sells socks.

[via The Frisky!]

Previously:

• Dumping a sex doll is still littering - Boing Boing Gadgets
• Robot slideshow goes from from mopping floors to missionary ...
• Top X: Gadgets that go inside you - Boing Boing Gadgets
• Lovely Vibrator Design Leaves One Full of Delight - Boing Boing ...
• We-Vibe sex toy is rechargeable, "easily accommodates" other ...
• Philips to release the Sonicare of non-penetrative vibrators ...
• Real Touch: Interactive sex device syncs porn with belt-driven USB ...
• Marital Aid Test Kitchen reviews the SaSi vibrator (Verdict ...
• "Auto Suck" Road Head Simulator Reviewed (Verdict: "AAA") - Boing ...

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:06 pm

Reed Warblers Use Mobbing To Fend Off Invaders

Image Caption: Reed Warbler feeding a Common Cuckoo chick in a nest. Photo: Per H. Olsen (Wikipedia)
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:00 pm

Scientists discover honey bees can count

Australian and German scientists say they have discovered honey bees can tell the difference between different numbers at a glance. The researchers, led by Professor Shaowu Zhang of the Australian National University and Professors Hans Gross and Juergen Tautz of Wurzburg University in Germany, showed bees can discriminate between patterns containing two and three dots.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:31 pm

Reutersvärd Heärt

It's not yet Valentine's Day, but our friend Renzo just created this Oscar Reutersvärd-inspired heart and we thought it might be good to share it with you now, the better for you to incorporate it into the pulsing center of your homemade card or cake. If you use it to make something clever for your sweetheart, let me know!

Some suggested companion phrases to seed your imagination: "My love knows no bounds"; "Our love is infinite"; "Intertwined forever".

Alternately: "Our love is an illusion"; "My love for you is impossible in reality"; "This is how you make my cremasters feel".

(Thanks, Renzo; Thanks, Kokogiak!)

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:25 pm

Alaska Volcano Could Erupt At Any Time

Alaska’s Mount Redoubt volcano is expected to erupt at any time now and scientists are keeping a watchful eye on the volcano’s hour-to-hour activity.The Alaska Volcano Observatory told CNN news that Redoubt’s seismic activity level of has increased markedly in recent days at the 10,197-foot peak located about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, the state's most populous city.Peter Cervelli, a research geophysicist with the observatory, is keeping a watchful eye on the volcano.“We don't have a crystal ball but we expect, based on the past behavior of this volcano, that this activity is going to culminate in an eruption,” Cervelli said.“As of now, the activity has consisted of a combination of discrete, relatively small earthquakes and periods of more continuous volcanic tremor,” he added.The volcano’s alert status was raised to a "watch" level on Sunday, based on seismic activity detected January 23.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:10 pm

Shy Fish Inspire Boldness in Mates

How do you make a shy fish come out of hiding? Pair it up.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:52 pm

Alaska Volcano Appears Close to Eruption

Mount Redoubt in Alaska is simmering and geologists warn an eruption may be imminent.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:52 pm

StarPlayr: You’ll soon be able to listen to Sirius XM on your iPhone

Fancy listening to Backspin on your iPhone? Or maybe you’d like to hear the comedy stylings of Christian Jimmy on The Virus? Soon, friends. Soon. Supposedly. On the way to the App Store, the uSirius StarPlayr, an iPhone app that lets you listen to Sirius XM on your iPhone. Fancy that.

The application has been in development for some time, and the word over at Orbitcast is that it will be submitted to Apple for approval by January 31. Considering there’s no “boobs and booty” here, I can’t see the approval process lasting too long. It’s up to Apple.

So now CBS Radio and Pandora will have a little competition. The question now becomes, how long will radio, as a business, be around? (Three months.)

Yes, we’re a little late on this new; I blame the economy, which is a convenient escapegoat for all of life’s problems.

Photo: That guy Chris Pirillo’s Web site

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:43 pm

Unboxing: Virgin Mobile Helio Ocean 2

After months of rumors and undercover imagery, the Virgin Mobile Helio Ocean 2 is finally just weeks away from hitting the shelves. Don’t want to wait to experience the rush of cracking open the box? Fear not, my friends - we’ve got what you’re looking for. We’ve peeled it apart, piece by piece, and snapped images all along the way. Ready for the unboxing of the Helio Ocean 2? Click on for the gallery.

Ocean 2 Unboxing

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Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:30 pm

Helio Ocean 2 coming February 12th

After word got out that Britney Spears’ next tour would be sponsored by Virgin Mobile and the Helio Ocean 2, the estimated Ocean 2 launch date finally found it’s first deadline: March 3rd, the first day of the tour. We can now confirm that the Helio Ocean 2 will be coming over 3 weeks earlier, launching on Helio.com on February 12.

The Specs:

• 2.6″ QVGA Screen
• Optical Sensor for touchpad-like navigation
• Dual slider (One QWERTY, one number pad), a la the original ocean
• 5 hours of talk time, 10 days of standby
• 2GB internal storage, microSD support
• 2MP Camera w/ video support, night shot, and geotagging
• Full HTML browser with tabbed browsing
• Upgraded Ultimate Inbox: Threaded text messages, Google Talk
• Access to all the Helio services: Connect, Buddy Beacon, WHERE, HelioUP

Contrary to what we’ve seen in previously leaked images, the Ocean 2 will be launching in the “red limited edition” color scheme you see above, with other colors said to be coming “later in the year”.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:30 pm

Vivid Mental Simulations Built From Narratives

Brain processes stories as though they were real-life situationsA new brain-imaging study is shedding light on what it means to "get lost" in a good book — suggesting that readers create vivid mental simulations of the sounds, sights, tastes and movements described in a textual narrative while simultaneously activating brain regions used to process similar experiences in real life."Psychologists and neuroscientists are increasingly coming to the conclusion that when we read a story and really understand it, we create a mental simulation of the events described by the story," says Jeffrey M. Zacks, study co-author and director of the Dynamic Cognition Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis. The study, forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science, is one of a series in which Zacks and colleagues use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track real-time brain activity as study participants read and process individual words and short stories.Nicole Speer, lead author of this study, says findings demonstrate that reading is by no means a passive exercise. Rather, readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative. Details about actions and sensation are captured from the text and integrated with personal knowledge from past experiences. These data are then run through mental simulations using brain regions that closely mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities."These results suggest that readers use perceptual and motor representations in the process of comprehending narrated activity, and these representations are dynamically updated at points where relevant aspects of the situation are changing," says Speer, now a research associate with The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program in Boulder, Colo. "Readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change."In addition to Zacks, an associate professor of psychology in Arts and Sciences and of radiology in the School of Medicine at WUSTL, other co-authors for this study are Jeremy R. Reynolds, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Denver in Denver, Colo.; and Khena M. Swallow, a post-doctoral associate in psychology at the University of Minnesota. Reynolds, Swallow and Speer all graduated from the psychology doctoral program at WUSTL in the last several years.Reading, one of the most important skills human beings can acquire, has been difficult to study using fMRI because researchers seldom have access to expensive scanning equipment for long periods of time. Reading long passages of text also poses challenges because participants must remain very still for the scans to be effective. In an effort to minimize eye movements, participants are immobilized within the brain-scanning device and presented with text one-word-at-a-time on an adjacent computer screen.Previous research has shown that when people read isolated words or phrases involving vivid visual or motor contents, brain activity in sensory and motor brain regions specifically related to those contents increased. But this result might not be typical of normal reading — in the previous studies there was no story to try to understand, and participants sometimes had to make an explicit judgment about each word or phrase. In this study, Speer and colleagues used fMRI to look for evidence of mental simulation during the reading of extended stories. Each participant read four stories of less than 1500 words excerpted from a simple, 1940s-era book about the daily activities of a young boy. Participants were shown text passages on a computer screen that displayed one word at a time; reading all four stories took most participants about 40 minutes.The researchers had carefully coded the stories so that they knew when important features of the story were changing. The features had been chosen based on previous studies of narrative reading, and were known to be important for comprehension. The researchers hypothesized that some brain regions would increase at several different feature changes, but that other brain regions would be selectively activated by only one feature change. This is what was found.For example, changes in the objects a character interacted with (e.g., "pulled a light cord") were associated with increases in a region in the frontal lobes known to be important for controlling grasping motions. Changes in characters' locations (e.g., "went through the front door into the kitchen") were associated with increases in regions in the temporal lobes that are selectively activate when people view pictures of spatial scenes.Overall, the data supported the view that readers construct mental simulations of events when reading stories.The Speer et al. paper extends results reported by this group previously in Psychological Science. In the previous study, the researchers asked readers to divide the stories into meaningful events after reading them in the MRI scanner. The researchers then asked which parts of the brain increased in activity at event boundaries. The mental simulation results reported here line up strikingly with those regions. This suggests that readers construct a mental simulation as they read, and then divide that simulation into meaningful events when important features change. ---Image Caption: Color-coded chart describing changes in brain activation during the reading of a brief narrative.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:22 pm

Virgin Mobile to launch Ocean 2 on March 3?

I was content with letting this press release slip into my trashcan but thought to give it a quick glance and I’m glad I did. Not because it has anything to do with Britney Spears, but the fact that Virgin Mobile dropped launch details surrounding Helio’s unreleased Ocean 2.

VM is sponsoring Britney’s “Circus” tour which starts on March 3 with a private dress rehearsal on March 2 in New Orleans. A group of fans will be able to chronicle their time with an Ocean 2, says VM. The launch date isn’t set in stone according to the press release, but I’m going out on a limb and calling it now.

As part of the sponsorship, some lucky fans will have the chance to catch a sneak peek at one of the most highly anticipated tours of the year, by attending Britney’s final private dress rehearsal in New Orleans on March 2.

In conjunction with sponsorship of the “Circus” tour, Virgin Mobile USA plans to launch its new Ocean 2 multimedia device. Select fans at the private show will be given an Ocean 2 to chronicle the event. This “Ocean 2 Camera Crew” can blog, IM, email, post to social networking sites and send photos from this one mobile phone to share with friends and fans.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:35 pm

Surprise! BlackBerry Storm costs more to build than the iPhone 3G

It’s no secret that I loathe the BlackBerry Storm and for good reason. For my own sanity and to keep Marc M. at bay we won’t get into why, but as a lover of BlackBerrys I’m giving the Storm another shot, but I doubt my initial impressions will change regardless of the firmware upgrades. The touch-screen just hurts my thumbs. A clickable screen? Come on. I know you can do better than that, RIM.

The numbers speak for themselves. Verizon was banking on the Storm and they obviously came up short with roughly half a million units sold in the first month. It’s a respectable number for sure, but compared to what Apple and AT&T did with the iPhone and iPhone 3G is astounding.

Adding a bit more salt to the wound is iSuppli’s breakdown of components for the Storm. Their estimate puts the Bill of Materials (BOM) for the Storm at just under $203. The BOM for the iPhone 3G was estimated at $173. Those numbers are important because AT&T sells the 8GB iPhone 3G for $199 while Verizon offers the Storm for $249 with a $50 MIR to bring the cost down to $199.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that RIM loses $3 for every phone they sell but it does mean that the company knew it wouldn’t do many unsubsidized sales of this piece. What will RIM and Verizon do? For those who already own the Storm we hope can only hope for more firmware upgrades in a timely manner. I hope RIM comes up with a different touch-screen device for the next iteration.

via Business Week

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:32 pm

Head Lice Have Extreme Genes

Genetic research reveals the head louse is indeed a superbug.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:52 pm

Can Gadgets Help You Quit Smoking?

When you're a smoker, quitting is tough. Can high-tech gadgetry make it any easier?

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:11 pm

Climate Change Could Drain Great Lakes

Climate change once cut off flow between the Great lakes, suggesting it could happen again.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:08 pm

Bird Find Shows China's Ecological Potential

A new species of bird is discovered in China's network of unexplored caves.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:50 pm

Microsoft patents ‘periperhal management system’ for smartphones

Microsoft has a patent floating around for “a universal smart interface and peripheral management system for portable devices such as mobile phones.” You’d dock your phone into this thing, which would connect to a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and just about anything else that could be plugged into it – even your TV.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: MobileCrunch | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:30 pm

Hurricanes' Climate Footprint Felt for Months

The atmosphere "remembers" a hurricane for months before it recovers.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:00 pm

Climbing Catfish Hikes Remote Venezuela

A newly found species of catfish climbs by grasping with its mouth and its pelvic fin.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:00 pm

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