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Canon’s newest all-in-one office machinesSection: Computers, Peripherals, Printers / Scanners  With more and more people working from home, the demand for better home office printers is on the rise. Canon, the camera and photo conglomerate, has released a new set of all-in-one printers for the home office. The Canon PIXMA MX330 and PIXMA MX860 both have an impressive list of features that include Auto Duplexing which allows for printing double-sided documents automatically, wireless LAN, Ethernet, Auto Scan which automatically detects the type of media being scanned, and Super G3 fax. Both are Energy-Star compliant as well. The PIXMA MX330 prints at color resolutions up-to 4800 x 2400 dpi and scans at up-to 1200 dpi. It also comes with a 4 cartridge ink setup and a 1.8 inch color screen. Printing speeds range from 4.5 to 7.5 images per minute for color versus black-and-white. It is the more affordable of the two. If you are looking for a little more printing power, the PIXMA MX860 prints at color resolutions up-to 9600 x 2400 dpi and scans at up-to 2400 dpi. It comes equipped with a large 2.5 inch screen and a 5 ink tank-style system. Printing speeds range from 506 to 8.4 images per minute for color versus black-and-white. Canon’s new line of PIXMA printers are nice looking and both printers are small for sitting on a desktop and as someone with a small office, I find this to be as important as the capabilities of the printer. Unfortunately, no information on ink usage could be found for these specific printers but the systems they both use are designed to use less ink that traditional two or three cartridge systems. Source: [Press Release] Full Story » | Written by Eric Brown for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:11 pm Google Latitude to come to iPhone, provides location and people trackingFROM APPLETELL - Latitude will allow users to see where friends and family are via requests and GPS. Communication with these contacts and more is provided on the Google end of things, and Latitude will easily allow users to know where their contacts are. MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:26 pm Weekend Survey/Open Forum: Recession and Second LifeOnline Surveys & Market ResearchReview your activity over the last few months, choose an answer above, and discuss in Comments!Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:50 pm OpenDNS To Block and Monitor Conficker WormLinker3000 writes "According to The Register, OpenDNS plans to introduce an new service that will prevent PCs infected with the Conficker (aka Downadup) malware from contacting its control servers, and will also make it easy for admins to know if even a single machine under their control has been infected by Conficker: 'Starting Monday, any networks with PCs that try to connect to the Conficker addresses will be flagged on an admin's private statistics page. The service is available for free to both businesses and home users.' With the amount of trouble this worm has caused, perhaps this is a good time to take a look at OpenDNS if you haven't done so already."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:22 pm On Darwin's 200th, a theory still in controversy - The Associated Press
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:00 pm Find a New Nanny in 30 Seconds?The 'Sandra Taylor Agency' of Beverly Hills claims to have a proprietary computer program which does just that. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:00 pm 57 Bizarre and Beautiful Pieces of Bathroom Decor (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) A bathroom is one of the most important rooms in a home, but it doesnt always get the style attention it deserves. These bathroom decor options range from bizarre to beautiful and everything...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:59 pm The Nation's Weather - The Associated Press
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:40 pm Socialites as Suburban Housewives - Paris Hilton Plays Mommy for Tony Duran (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Paris Hilton stuffing a turkey and watching over the kids while they take a bath is that a fantasy or a nightmare? It is the theme of this photoshoot by famed photographer Tony Duran...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm 36 Creative Currency Creations (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Whether we like to admit it or not, ours is a money and currency-obsessed society. Whether our obsession is manifested through consumption and credit debt or artistic protests against...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:20 pm Nvidia Is Trying To Make an x86 ChipSlatterz writes with a story from PC Authority which says that "Word has reached us that Nvidia is definitely working on an x86 chip and the firm is heavily recruiting x86 engineers all over Silicon Valley. The history behind this can be summarised by saying they bought an x86 team, and don't have a licence to make the parts. Given that the firm burned about every bridge imaginable with the two companies who can give them licences, Nvidia has about a zero chance of getting one."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:12 pm Collider restart decision expected soonScientists in Switzerland are expected to make a decision soon on when to restart the Large Hadron Collider.The Big Bang machine suffered a catastrophic malfunction after being started last September, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.The newspaper said officials from the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, which built the device, have been in talks this week about when to restart the atomic collider.A final decision on a start-date is expected following a meeting Monday.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 pm Virtual Bedposts - BedPosted.com Lets Die-Hard Stat Rats Track Their Sex Life Online (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) If youve ever wondered how many times you do the horizontal mambo in a given period of time, Bedpost is an application that lets you track your sex life online. The information is...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 pm Pioneer To End Flat Panel TV ProductionJapanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp may be pulling out of the flat TV market as a part of a new restructuring plan, Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:50 am TABLE-Israel foreign direct investment $584 mln in DecFeb 8 (Reuters) - Foreigners injected $584 million of direct investment into Israel through local banks in December, after pumping in $348 million in November and $444 million in October, the Bank of Israel...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:43 am Sustainable Toys for Tots - LoooLo Textiles' Play Food is Beautiful and Biodegradable (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) This sustainably-produced woven set of play food from LoooLo Textiles is an adorable alternative to the standard plastic fake food I grew up playing with. LoooLo Textiles makes all...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:40 am This Week On BotJunkieBy Evan Ackerman This week turned out to be steam power week on BotJunkie… We began with a robot called EATR that is able to scrounge for food to power itself with a steam driven bioreactor, then...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:36 am Inner Workings Of Plants Uncovered For First TimeImage 2: The laser light source used in this study was developed in the Physics Department at Imperial College and the technology transferred to RAL. It is capable of producing ultra-short pulses of light of very high intensity which are made up of a broad range of colorsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:35 am people matter. objects don't.[Cartoon inspired by this old blog post....]...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:27 am Board Game Revivals - Classic Games Make a Comeback to Relieve Recession Boredom (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) During these times of economic hardship, old-fashioned board games are at the top of the list for many who find that its cheaper and easier to stay in for entertainment. One side benefit...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:20 am Wrist-Worn Anti-Snoring Devices - The SnorePro Silences Your Wood-Sawing Slumber(TrendHunter.com) Statistics have shown that those who share a bed with someone who snores lose an average of an hours sleep a night. If youre one of those people, HBI, a leading producer of biomedical...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:00 am Toxic French ship set to arrive in England for dismantlingThe asbestos-contaminated French aircraft carrier Clemenceau was set to arrive at a "ghost fleet" shipyard in the English port town of Hartlepool Sunday to be broken up. The ship, once aSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:47 am Annual Great Backyard Bird Count set to begin this week - Lake County News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:14 am Typographic conventions in comic-book letteringBlambot's Nate Piekos has written a fascinating and informative article on the typographic conventions in comic-book lettering. Lots of interesting quirks in the form that I hadn't picked up on ('An "I" with the crossbars on top and bottom is virtually only used for the personal pronoun, "I." The only other allowable use of the "crossbar I" is in abbreviations. Any other instance of the letter should just be the vertical stroke version.').Comic Fonts and Lettering (via Making Light) Source: Boing Boing | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:12 am Beautiful steampunk lamps I just ordered one of Dr Roberts's magnificent and functional steampunk lamps -- I wanted to make sure I got my order in before I blogged it and he sold out, because goddamn these things are fantabulously wondrous and made of purest awesomesauce. Dr Glenn Roberts is a horticulturalist at the University of Guelph, but if he ever wants to quit his day job, I think he's got a fine second career here. Curious Inventions of Dr. Roberts
Update: All sold out! Here's what you missed Source: Boing Boing | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:47 am Confirmed: TotalMusic Is Dead
Earlier today we detailed the chaotic history and recent trouble at TotalMusic, an experimental music initiative created by Sony BMG and Universal Music Group designed to rethink the way music was streamed on the web. After a round of layoffs and the shutdown of Ruckus, a streaming music service acquired by TotalMusic last year, the company looked like it was in bad shape. In what will likely be the most official statement we’ll get, Jason Herskowitz, the company’s VP of Product Management, has confirmed in a blog post that the music labels have indeed pulled the plug on TotalMusic:
Herskowitz’s post is worth reading, if for no other reason to affirm that there are at least some people in the music industry who know that things need to change for online music streaming to become a viable business. And where does he think the labels should turn for innovation? Startups.
Herskowitz has also thrown together a few music mashups (some of which are likely of questionable legality), which are worth checking out. Among them is Friendp3, which offers a list of songs that have recently been listened to by his friends on Last.fm (note that this only shows songs that were played by his friends). In a way it’s disappointing that TotalMusic has run its course - the music industry is desperately in need of innovation, and it sounds like the initiative was making some progress, even if it wasn’t quite tangible yet. Of course, while TotalMusic may be gone in its current form (whatever that was meant to be), don’t be surprised if the record companies band together again once the economy settles down. After all, TotalMusic has come back from the dead before. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:29 am Space: We've trashed it with high-speed debris - Orlando Sentinel
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:03 am Who Owns Application Delivery Meta-Data In the Cloud?Random Feature writes "The Cloud Computing Interoperability Forum (CCIF) is currently discussing cloud portability specifications. It seems crazy to define a standard before we even know who owns what in the cloud because you can only port what you own. For example, if you created a security or acceleration policy for your cloud computing-based app, is the policy yours or the provider's? Who owns meta-data in the cloud?" True portability between clouds seems to hang on the answer.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:00 am Some Love Facebook '25 Random Things' Fad, Some Hate It - ABC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:29 am Facebook and Twitter: There’s blood everywhere, but no one is dying - VentureBeat
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:16 am Drought-hit China to divert waters from two longest rivers: reportChina will divert water from its two longest rivers to help farmers hit by the country's worst drought in decades, state media said Sunday. Water from the Yangtze River, the country's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:54 am Piramal Health says Glaxo, Sanofi acquisition reports unfoundedMUMBAI, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Indian drug maker Piramal Healthcare Ltd said reports about a potential sale of the company to GlaxoSmithKline Plc or Sanofi Aventis SA were 'unfounded.'Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:12 am Tool Shows the Arguments Behind Wikipedia EntriesAl writes "A team of researchers at the Palo Alto Research Center have created a tool that shows how much argument has gone into crafting an entry. Ed Chi, a senior research scientist for augmented social cognition at PARC, obtained access to Wikipedia edit data and used it to build a tool that shows whether users have fought over the accuracy of a page by rapidly re-editing each other's changes. Experiments suggest that the method provides a better measure of 'controversy' than simply having Wikipedia editors add a warning to a suspect page. Their software, called Wikidashboard, serves up a Wikipedia entry, but adds an info-graphic revealing who has been editing it and how often it has been reedited. Of course, this doesn't reveal whether a Wikipedia entry is truly accurate, but it might at least highlight an underlying bias or vested interest."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 8 Feb 2009 | 3:00 am Why Sustainable Power Is UnsustainableUrchin writes "Although scientists are agreed that we must cut carbon emissions from transport and electricity generation to prevent the globe's climate becoming hotter, the most advanced 'renewable' technologies are too often based upon non-renewable resources including indium and platinum — resources that could dry up in 10-15 years if they were widely used in the renewable energy market."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Feb 2009 | 2:44 am Recession-O-Rama Deals for the Weekend 2.7.09Section: Audio, Headphones, Home Audio, Portable Audio, Speakers, Video, HDTV, Computers, Desktops, Hardware, Gaming, Accessories, Peripherals, Storage, Features, Originals  Recession got you down? In the mood to buy some electronics and save money? Hopefully the deals I found today can save you some money and bring some joy in your life. We have deals ranging from, a 1TB external hard drive, a 50 inch Plasma HDTV, some gaming headphones, and a floor speaker system.  1TB Hard driveSince Internet has become a lot faster in recent years, it is easy to amass a large music and video collection. A popular computer peripheral these days are external hard drives. If you are looking to purchase one, Buy.com has a Fantom Micronet GF1000EU G-Force 1TB Hard Drive for $100, and the original price is $120. In addition, the hard drive will ship for free. The G-Force Hard Drive runs at 7200 RPM, 8.5 access time, 16MB cache, an eSATA transfer rate of 300MB/s, and a USB transfer rate of 60MB/s.  50 inch Plasma HDTVNext up, we have a 50 inch Plasma HDTV courtesy of 6th Avenue Electronics. They are selling the Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850U 50 inch 1080p Plasma HDTV for $1,692. In fact, you are already saving $1,000, and then using coupon code AFLPAN1692, you save an additional $307. Quite a bargain. It also comes with free shipping. The Panasonic HDTV comes with a resolution of 1920x1080, a 50 inch screen, 4 HDMI outputs, and a HD tuner. The coupon code expires on February 18.  Gaming In-Ear HeadphonesIf you are looking for normal headphones that are coupled with a microphone, so you can talk to your opponents, Buy.com has just the headphones for you. They are selling the SteelSeries 10070 Siberia In-Ear Gaming Earbuds for $22. The headphones are quite expensive, because they sell for $99.99, otherwise. These in-ear headphones are great for MP3 players, laptops, IP-telephony, Sony PSP, and other gaming consoles. They are only available in white and come with free shipping.  Floor Speaker SystemThe last deal we have for today is the Polk Audio Monitor 50 Two-way Floorstanding Loudspeaker, from Newegg.com. They sell for $80 in a Maple color and the Black color of the same speaker system sells for $120, so this is quite a bargain. Like all the other deals, it comes with free shipping. Hopefully, you will be able to save a good amount of money on these deals. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s deals as well. Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Feb 2009 | 2:00 am How the iPhone can change telecommunications foreverFROM APPLETELL - I envision a world where there are no more traditional POTS (plain old telephone service) and PSTN (public switched telephone network) lines, and I see the iPhone dominating the mobile market. MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:48 am Homemade Soviet-era Russian subColin sez, "40-year-old Mikhail Puchkov decided to design and build a personal submarine during the stifling era of Leonid Brezhnev's regime when he was barely twenty years old. He built it secretly in an attic in Ryazan, about 120 miles southeast of Moscow."Smallest Russian Submarine: Officially Registered as Boat (Thanks, Colin!) Source: Boing Boing | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:33 am Weekend Update, 02.07.09 [Digital Daily]
BoomTown provided continuing coverage of the Yahoo (YHOO) merry-go-round. This time, PR head Jill Nash announced her departure. As the company’s chief communications officer, she’s had a challenging two-year run. New CEO Carol Bartz definitely has some PR ideas of her own, including offering cash prizes to employees who provide info on their colleagues who leak information to the press. Not a huge deterrent yet, apparently–it didn’t take long for BoomTown to get info on both Nash’s farewell memo and Bartz’s bounty system. Next New Networks, the publisher behind BarelyPolitical and its hugely viral Obama Girl videos, has widened its purview to include the tech sector with BarelyDigital, which the online network has envisioned to include regular shows, tech news remixes and the like. Obama Girl is rumored to make a cameo appearance or two. If the first two features are any indication, the future looks pretty funny. In another round of executive musical chairs, AOL (TWX) ad head Lynda Clarizio will be leaving the online service, to be replaced by former Yahoo ad exec Greg Coleman. Microsoft is launching a slick new celebrity site on MSN (MSFT) called Wonderwall, and created, designed and produced by BermanBraun Interactive, a Hollywood company run by former Yahoo media chief Lloyd Braun. And speaking of musical chairs, MSN is clearly upping its content ante–earlier this week, it hired Yahoo’s recent media head Scott Moore, who used to work at Microsoft. MediaMemo asked: What happens when one of the world’s richest men lets loose a swarm (a small swarm) of mosquitoes at a high-end conference? Nothing too exciting, really, but when you consider that the stunt is the publicity-generating part of Bill Gates’s talk at TED, which was a discussion of malaria and some of the problems the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing head-on, it gets pretty compelling. Kindle 2.0, the new generation of the device dubbed the “iPod of the book world” will be unveiled Monday at a New York press event, but how many of the devices have been sold thus far? Amazon’s (AMZN) not telling, but Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney estimates the number at 500,000–and believes that the Kindle will be a $1.2 billion business next year. Obviously, a lot will depend on Monday and the new device’s reception. MediaMemo also took some time out this week to wish Facebook a happy 5th birthday, and to stack its track record up next to Google’s at the same age, with interesting results. Even the pros are getting hit hard these days–in its quarterly earnings report this week, News Corp. (NWS) missed its estimates, recorded an $8.4 billion write-off and lowered its guidance. Rupert Murdoch admitted the downturn is worse than he thought. He also admitted that he spent $2.8 billion too much for Dow Jones. (NewsCorp. is the owner of Dow Jones and this Web site.) Digital Daily followed the trial of four Google (GOOG) executives this week on criminal charges of defamation and breach of privacy after a much-publicized two-year investigation. Google insists the charges are unwarranted and “akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent in the post.” Clearly, the ultimate outcome will have a huge impact on the future of a free, open Internet. MySpace said this week that it has identified and ousted 90,000 registered sex offenders–and those are just the ones brilliant enough to use their real names. There’s no way of knowing how many are actually using the service, or how to prevent them from re-registering once they’re deleted. A free an open Internet, indeed. DD also pondered the future (or lack thereof) of the Motorola (MOT) handset division. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha says the company is committed to making the business work, but its products are looking boring and outdated, and a turnaround would be prohibitively expensive to execute. In the words of one analyst, the company’s problems are “gruesome.” On the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft continues to vehemently deny reports that it’ll be producing its own smartphone. In a report this week, analysts from Broadpoint.AmTech speculated that the device could be uncrated later this month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Meanwhile, it’s been up in the air for two years whether or not iPhones will ever be uncrated in historic Georgetown. Apple (AAPL) has been around the table a few times now with preservationists wary of the architectural impact of an Apple store, no matter how much the business traffic is needed in the neighborhood. Looks like perseverance may have finally paid off, though–Georgetown’s Apple store could open later this year. In Personal Technology this week, Walt Mossberg took a look at a program called Foxmarks, which sets out to synchronize bookmarks among all of your browsers and all of your machines. Sound a little too handy to actually work well? Walt found it does a pretty good job, with a few caveats. In Mossberg’s Mailbox, Walt responds to readers who want to know more about doing “techie” maintenance on their PCs to keep them running well, whether or not to buy a 15 inch MacBook Pro, and options for email within Windows 7, which won’t ship with a built-in email program. In the Mossberg Solution, Katherine Boehret tests Google Latitude, an opt-in program which lets users track each others’ movements on their smartphones using GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell towers. Kind of like Gawker Stalker, only with permission and without Lindsay Lohan (unless you happen to be Lindsay Lohan). Last but not least, Silicon Valley lost one of its own this week. The widely admired and much-loved Mike Homer, whose rare, severe illness was a rallying point for many over the past months, passed away last weekend and was laid to rest on Thursday. More next week. Source: All Things Digital | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:24 am Fun with Google Earth Walt Disney World 3DSection: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google  Spend long enough on Google Earth and it can quickly get addicting, particularly if you’re the type who loves travel. Google Earth offers a whole new world (quite literally) of fun and adventure. One of the most enlightening features of Google Earth is the Walt Disney World 3D layer. This layer allows users to view the many attractions of the magical Orlando, Florida-based resort in three dimensions. Users can take a virtual walk down Main Street in Magic Kingdom, gaze in fear at the new Expedition Everest ride in Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, or explore any one of 22 themed Disney resorts in 3D. Other fun Google Earth virtual adventures at await the user at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. How to Use Google Earth Walt Disney World 3DFor your fun virtual trip to Disney World using Google Earth, follow these instructions:
To view other Disney parks including Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios, zoom out and follow the colored Mickey Mouse icons. Or, click the yellow Walt Disney World in 3D Mickey Mouse icon to display the Disney 3D main window. If you want to take a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida but can’t afford the cost right now, a virtual trip using Google Earth Walt Disney World 3D is your next best thing.
Full Story » | Written by Daniel J. Gansle for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:19 am The Record Industry’s TotalMusic Experiment Is Sinking Fast
TotalMusic, the digital music distribution initiative created by Sony BMG and Universal Music Group, appears to be on life support - or worse. In the last few months the company has seen the two music executives who spearheaded the initiative jump ship, followed by a round of layoffs that included senior personnel. Yesterday Ruckus, a music streaming company acquired by TotalMusic last year, abruptly shut down. Repeated attempts to contact Michael Bebel, Ruckus’ CEO, have gone unanswered. It may be too soon to definitively put TotalMusic into the Deadpool, but things are not looking good for the company. The history of TotalMusic is dramatic, filled with failed deals, major strategy changes, and an antitrust lawsuit. Since forming, the company has proposed two new revenue models for music: the first was to offer end-users a large library of music for ‘free’, by building the cost of the music service into their music devices. That plan didn’t exactly work out - in early 2008 the Department of Justice launched an anti-trust probe which derailed the idea. Then, last summer, the company came back from the dead. The second new model was meant to serve as a departure from the way music has traditionally been licensed on the web. Historically, the major record labels have charged sites per-song fees for streaming, badgering everyone into submission with threats of lawsuits and steep penalties. Major sites like MySpace and imeem are held under this kind of agreement, as are many smaller sites which are having trouble sustaining themselves because of the high fees (even Pandora, a streaming music site that had the most popular iPhone application of 2008, has worried about having to shut down). In contrast to these per-song fees, TotalMusic was supposed to offer free streaming to sites in return for user data and all associated advertising revenue. In particular, the initiative was built from the start with Facebook in mind, offering the social network a chance to implement a music service for free while all of its competitors were paying hefty fees. But Facebook didn’t bite. The exact reason why is hazy - UMG and Sony were able to bring EMI on board, but were unable to get Warner, the last major label, to agree. We’ve also heard that Facebook was unwilling to hand over user data and ad revenues. Since the Facebook deal fell apart, the company has taken a turn for the worse. When we investigated the company last summer, we noted that four TotalMusic software engineers listed on LinkedIn had previously worked on MusicNow, another streaming music service that ultimately became the ‘legit’ Napster (presumably they had been brought in to apply their expertise to the new service). In the last month, two of the four employees have changed their profiles to indicate that they no longer work with TotalMusic. We’ve also heard that one of the company’s lead engineers was laid off in the last few days, prompting the sudden shutdown of Ruckus. Ruckus was quietly acquired last year by TotalMusic, and was meant to act as the foundation for the service’s backend. The operation closed down so quickly that some of the service’s participating universities weren’t even notified of the upcoming change (many campuses have been actively promoting Ruckus for years to try to curb piracy). But there has been some progress. Last month TotalMusic soft-launched a new site called TunePost, which apparently offers streaming music through widgets. The service is in a private beta, but the company’s VP of Product Management, Jason Herskowitz, has been embedding widgets into his personal blog.
This may be a sign that TotalMusic still has a pulse, but we’ve also heard that the company’s remaining employees are shopping around its technology to outside buyers - the embeds may simply be a way to show off the technology they’ve built. In any case, it’s hard to believe that in the current economy the music labels will continue to funnel money into what boils down to a music widget that has yet to launch to the public. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:18 am Attack of the 50-Foot Baby blocks turn your toddler into a vengeful goddess 
Attack of the 50-Foot Baby is a set of nesting, stacking cardboard boxes for your toddler to stack up and smash like a vengeful, pudgy, be-diapered goddess. The blocks are covered in dense comic art that reminds me of the Sergio Argones marginalia in MAD Magazine -- a million zillion sight gags on the theme of "Oh God the baby is coming to destroy us all!"
Attack of the 50-Foot Baby on Uncommon Goods Source: Gizmodo | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Name and Shame Spam Senders With OpenBSDPeter N. M. Hansteen writes "Once you've identified spam senders, OpenBSD provides all the tools you need to take one step further: exporting their addresses and publishing the evidence. You can even trap them yourself using known bad addresses. It's easy, fun and good netizenship."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Feb 2009 | 11:40 pm Neil Gaiman on the humble buttonIn this odd and eminently enjoyable little video, Neil Gaiman waxes rhapsodic about buttons. It's all in aid of tying in with his new movie Coraline, which opened last night. Source: Boing Boing | 7 Feb 2009 | 11:38 pm Hands on with Apple's MobileMe 1.1 - Computerworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Feb 2009 | 11:33 pm Sharp sees redSection: Tech News
Due to the recession, the company must take steps in order to ensure its survival. They plan to make operational adjustments in order to save $2.2 billion as well as cut the jobs of 1,500 workers that don’t hold permanent positions with the company. Financial forecasts predict that the losses suffered by Sharp can prove even more significant in 2009. Other causes of Sharp’s poor earnings include value losses on security holdings and also being subjected to a $120 million fine for taking part in price fixing on LCD televisions. In order to help fix TV sales, the company plans to build a plant to produce LCD televisions at a reduced cost. Read: [NY Times] Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 11:15 pm Why Facebook Isn’t Poised to Steal Twitter’s Thunder
Last night, Facebook announced a set of changes to its platform that make it easier for third-party applications to exchange data about users’ status messages, notes, shared links, and videos. The more open Facebook’s platform gets, the more powerful it becomes for developers to build fun and useful applications with Facebook’s data, either onsite or off. However, several pundits have already jumped to the conclusion that greater openness with concern to status updates in particular spells trouble for Twitter, the bourgeoning microblog service that Facebook itself recently courted without success. No one knows just where Facebook is heading with its platform or whether it’s serious about crushing novel new social networking services like Twitter or FriendFeed. It’s easy for bloggers to speculate that every incremental change to its platform or feature set is a devious plan to do just this. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, especially when there’s a lot to suggest that Facebook has a long way to go before putting any kind of dent in Twitter’s growing popularity. Mike Butcher over at TechCrunch UK has outlined four particular ways in which he thinks Facebook “won’t kill Twitter”. First off, Facebook has a fundamentally different relationship model than Twitter. On Facebook, you create a simple two-way friendship with someone. On Twitter, you can choose to follow someone and you can be followed, but the following relationship doesn’t have to be bidirectional. Butcher also suggests that Facebook is more interested in preserving ownership over its social graph than Twitter is over its own. And he points out that the replies Twitter users make to each other are usually public. These are all fine points to make, and the technical differences he spells out certainly make it more difficult for Facebook to recreate the appeal of Twitter. But when it comes down to it, Facebook fails to challenge Twitter with this new platform upgrade because the two companies ultimately serve substantially different behavioral paradigms. While Twitter and Facebook prompt users with eerily similar questions — Twitter asks “What are you doing?” and Facebook asks “What are you doing right now?” — their users don’t answer in the same way. By and large, Facebook users answer the question more faithfully than Twitter users. They actually provide information about what they’re currently doing, perhaps because they are prompted with a field that starts with something like “Mark is”. And the news feed lists their entries as action items (”Mark is having a bike ride” or at least “Mike likes biking outside”) under a tab called Status Updates. Meanwhile, Twitter users have (by and large) decided to ignore the questioned posed for them. Instead of using the service to post real status updates — i.e. descriptions of what they’re currently doing — they use it as a public broadcasting system of sorts. It’s an efficient way for them to send out thought trinkets to an often ambiguous crowd of friends and strangers. And with @replies, Twitter morphs into a conversational medium, a big cocktail party where everybody is constantly eavesdropping on everybody else’s impromptu conversations. There are, of course, exceptions to these generalizations. Facebook users do enter random thoughts in lieu of real status updates, and Twitter users do actually say what they’re currently doing. But the overlap is rather small, and it’s this smallness that undermines any attempt (real or imaginary) on Facebook’s part to steal Twitter’s thunder. Something behavioral about Facebook’s users would have to change, and it’s unlikely that these users — who are largely mainstream — are inclined to pick up the tweeting habits of a crowd that consists mostly of early adopters. [Image courtesy of Doug Geivett's blog] Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 7 Feb 2009 | 10:50 pm Keeping in Contact With Family, From Afghanistan?LiNKz writes "Within a short while I will be heading to Afghanistan and in the interest of keeping in communication with my wife and family I've been looking at different means of it, from VoIP to cellular services. I'm not sure how well connected or how stable of a connection the base I'm deploying to has, which means VoIP might simply not be an option. I have, however, noticed in my searches that Afghanistan has recently boomed with cellular coverage though that too seems to be difficult to ascertain. I'm curious if the Slashdot community has any information or experience regarding international cellular services offered in this country and the means of obtaining it."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 10:30 pm Hopstop Jumps Onto iPhone App Bandwagon That Is Driven By Google Maps
Transit planner HopStop launched its free iPhone application last week to rival the mobile version of Google Map’s Transit option. The application, with support from iPhone’s GPS functionality, offers all the same services as the website. This includes trip customization, maps marked with nearby subways and bus stops, a taxi mode that estimates time and cost of travel and contact information for taxi companies, and the ability to re-route a transit plan that is provided. In the past, Hopstop was ahead of competitor Google Transit in terms of providing transit info for a widespread amount of metropolitan areas but Google has caught up (and maybe surpassed) with its Maps-based transit planner. And Google Maps is integrated with iPhone 3G’s GPS, making Google Transit a free native application that doesn’t have to be downloaded. The first reviews posted on the iPhones apps store were fairly positive. Let us know what you think of the HopStop app in comments. Is it better than Google Transit on the iPhone?  Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 7 Feb 2009 | 10:24 pm Hard times at THQ lead to 100 layoffs in mobile divisionFROM GAMERTELL - THQ’s mobile entertainment division is the latest victim of the horrible economy with a restructured and refocused mobile division… MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 7 Feb 2009 | 10:20 pm Kindle 3
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Feb 2009 | 10:14 pm No progress made on Magnolia data recovery
Magnolia founder Larry Halff explained in a post found on the homepage of the site that he is working with a data recovery company in hopes of getting a working version of the database up and running. Halff is unsure at this point of the outlook and hopes to have a status update by next week. In the meantime, Magnolia has set up a recovery tools page that lists resources that can help users get all or a portion of their bookmarks back. Also, for users that set up a premium subscription with Magnolia, they will be sent refunds for their purchase over the next couple of weeks. Site: [Magnolia] Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 9:45 pm Houston Courts Shut Down By MalwareConficker is still at it: dstates writes "The municipal courts of Houston were shut down yesterday after a computer virus spread through the courts' computer systems. The shutdown canceled hearings and suspended arrests for minor offenses and is expected to extend through Monday. The disruption affected many city departments, the Houston Emergency Center was briefly disconnected and police temporarily stopped making some arrests for minor offenses. The infection appears to be contained to 475 of the city's more than 16,000 computers, but officials are still investigating. Gray Hat Research, a technology security company, has been brought in on an emergency contract to eradicate the infection. In 2006, the City spent $10M to install a new computer system and bring the Courts online, but the system has been beset by multiple problems. After threatening litigation, the city reached a $5 million settlement with the original vendor, Maximus, and may seek another vendor."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Feb 2009 | 9:30 pm Honolulu bans for texting, gaming while drivingFROM GAMERTELL - On Wednesday Honolulu’s City Council passed a bill by a margin of 7-1 to ban texting and gaming while people are driving… MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 7 Feb 2009 | 9:20 pm The mySQL boys leaving Sun need not be a big deal - ZDNet
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Feb 2009 | 9:07 pm Christian Bale takes David to the Dentist (video mashup)YouTube Link (thanks, Keith Carunida) Previously on Boing Boing: Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 9:00 pm Music from the Hearts of 'Space [HTRK photo by Emma Pop]
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.
I love making serendipitous musical discoveries via MySpace. It's amazing how many unique, talented, unsigned bands there are on the site. Okay, they are somewhat overwhelmed by the Tbits of less-than-unique-and-talented bands, but that makes the accidental discoveries all the happier. Musical taste is clearly and utterly subjective, so YMMV, but here are a few of my recent MySpace finds.
Lunabee & Swan I love how bands categorize themselves on MySpace. Belgium/UK duo Lunabee and Joanna Swan describes their music as "Melodramatic Popular Song/Trip Hop/Electronica" and that's pretty accurate. The two artists, Lunabee the musician, Swan the singer, actually met on MySpace. Swan bumped into Lunabee's page (again with the serendipity) and sent her a message saying she wanted to collaborate. A week later, an album's worth of music showed up in Swan's inbox and Lunabee & Swan were born. Their song "Smoke Rings" blew my wig off the first time I heard it... and the 20th time (I gotta get stronger toupee tape!). It's like Annie Lennox on the lower register, Shirley Bassey in the middle, and Prince wailing away up on top. I have to sit up and listen to any band that lists Poulenc, Ella Fitzgerald, and Tod Browning's Freaks as influences!
ZAZA My pal, Pete Kennedy, of the most-excellent psychedelic folk duo The Kennedys, turned me on to these 21st century shoegazers, another duo, this one from Brooklyn. Pete says they've only done a handful of gigs, but they're already generating a buzz, on both coasts. Echoey, ethereal singing over smeared-out gothy soundscapes. The male singer sounds a little like Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips (never a bad thing in my book). One reviewer described their sound as "like drowning with a smile on your face." Yeah. It's like that.
HTRK My favorite "MySpace band" of the moment is HTRK, pronounced "Hate Rock." This trio of young ones from Melbourne, Australia makes a primitive, minimalist form of noise rock (vocalist Jonnine Standish's percussion instrument is a single maraca and a floor tom). They also do some poppier fare, like "Fascinator," the first song to prick my ear. When I started listening to their MySpace jukebox a few weeks ago, Fascinator had 80,000 listens. It's now shot up to over a quarter million. At least some of those are not me. HTRK just released a three-song MP3 bundle "Ha-Panties," which includes the tracks "Ha," "Panties," and "Fascinator." It's tasty, GBP2.97, and deliciously DRM-free.
Source: Boing Boing | 7 Feb 2009 | 8:37 pm Is Apple's Multi-Touch Patent Valid?An anonymous reader writes "There is evidence that Apple's multi-touch patent application may have failed to list some prior art that showed gestures in multi-touch interfaces as early as the mid 1980s. Some of these examples even appear in the bibliography of Wayne Westerman's doctoral dissertation, and he's one of the inventors on the application's list. If true, that could leave them wide open for legal attack, should they try suing someone like Palm for patent infringement. Also, Apple may be infringing some key multi-touch patents owned by the University of Delaware — and co-developed by Westerman while getting his doctorate."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 8:15 pm Cloning Pioneer Dead At 49China-born stem cell scientist Xiangzhong "Jerry" Yang, best known for successfully creating the first cloned farm animal in the United States, has died after a battle with cancer, the University of Connecticut said Friday. He was 49.Yang was first diagnosed with salivary gland cancer in 1996. He died Thursday at the Brigham Young Women's Center hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, University of Connecticut spokesman David Bauman told AFP."He excelled as an embryologist at Cornell University and was hired by the University of Connecticut at Storrs in 1996," the university said in a statement.A tireless advocate for human embryonic stem cell research, Yang cloned a calf named Amy in 1999, the first farm animal cloned in the United States. The work came three years after the world’s first cloned animal, Dolly the sheep, was created in Scotland.After Amy, Yang conducted research on the cloning of human embryos, which experts hoped would create stem cells that might one day replace organs, repair tissue damage and reverse degenerative diseases, the University of Connecticut said in a statement on its Web site. He died before achieving his dream of cloning of a human embryo for these potentially lifesaving stem cells.His research helped determine that cloned farm animals were safe for human consumption, and also revealed how old cells can become young again when fused into eggs or embryos stripped of DNA, the university said."Jerry was one of the greatest scientists and cloning pioneers of our time," Dr.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Feb 2009 | 8:12 pm BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 2-01-2009Section:  We may not cover Apple 24x7… but we know someone who does! Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…
Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 7:30 pm A Trip Down Distro Memory LaneM-Saunders writes "What did the Linux world look like back in 2000? TuxRadar has republished a distro roundup from Linux Format issue 1, May 2000. Many distros such as SUSE, Mandrake and Red Hat are still around in various incarnations, but a few such as Corel and Definite have fallen by the wayside."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 7 Feb 2009 | 6:00 pm Salesforce.com president Cakebread departs (CNET)CNET - Salesforce.com this week disclosed that Steve Cakebread, its president and chief strategy officer, has left the company.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Feb 2009 | 5:06 pm Genetic Adaptations Help Microbes Survive In Deep OceanDiscovery provides clues to how life thrives in extreme environmentsThe genome of a marine bacterium living 2,500 meters below the ocean's surface is providing clues to how life adapts in extreme environments, according to a paper published Feb. 6, 2009, in the journal PLoS Genetics.The research focused on the bacterium Nautilia profundicola, a microbe that survives near deep-sea hydrothermal vents. It was found in a fleece-like lining on the backs of Pompeii worms, a type of tubeworm that lives at hydrothermal vents, and in bacterial mats on the surfaces of the vents' chimney structures.One gene, called rgy, allows the bacterium to manufacture a protein called reverse gyrase when it encounters extremely hot fluids from the Earth's interior released from the sea floor."The discovery of reverse gyrase in Nautilia profundicola suggests that it plays a key role in this microbe's ability to thrive near deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where conditions are thought to resemble those found on early Earth," said Matt Kane, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research. "Knowledge of microbes living near vents may aid our understanding of how life evolved."The study involved scientists at the University of Delaware, the University of California, the Universities of Louisville, Ky., and Waikato, New Zealand, and the J. Craig Venter Institute.They combined genome analysis with physiological and ecological observations to investigate the importance of one gene, rgy, in N. profundicola's ability to adapt to the extreme changes it's exposed to in the deep sea."Previous studies found the gene only in microorganisms growing in temperatures greater than 80 degrees Celsius, but Nautilia profundicola thrives best at much lower temperatures," said Barbara Campbell, a marine scientist at the University of Delaware."The gene's presence in Nautilia profundicola suggests that it might play a role in the bacterium's ability to survive rapid and frequent temperature fluctuations in its environment."Photosynthesis doesn't occur in this dark environment, where hot, toxic fluids oozing from below the seafloor combine with cold seawater at very high pressures.Microorganisms that thrive at hydrothermal vents must adapt to fluctuations in temperature and oxygen levels, ranging from the hot, sulfide- and heavy metal-laden plume at the vents' outlets to cold seawater in the surrounding region.The researchers uncovered further adaptations to the vent environment in Nautilia profundicola, including genes necessary for growth and for sensing environmental conditions. They also proposed a new route for bacterial nitrate assimilation related to how other bacteria use ammonia as an energy source.Nautilia profundicola contains all the genes necessary for life in conditions widely believed to mimic those in our planet's early biosphere."It will be an important model system," said Campbell, "for understanding early microbial life on Earth."---Image Caption: The Pompeii worm, the most heat-tolerant animal on Earth, lives in the deep ocean at super-heated hydrothermal vents. Covering this deep-sea worm's back is a fleece of bacteria. These microbes contain all the genes necessary for life in extreme environments. Credit: University of DelawareSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Feb 2009 | 4:49 pm Is This the New Amazon Kindle? [MediaMemo]When Amazon first introduced its Kindle e-book reader in 2007, the gadget was almost universally derided for its looks (my take: It had a “sort of late 1970s Battlestar Galactica/Pong/digital watch aesthetic”). But the fugly device appears to have been a big hit for the electronic retailer. So what do you make of these pictures, which come from MobileRead.com and are purportedly leaked images of the new device Amazon (AMZN) is set to unveil on Monday?
My uninformed opinion: I like it. One of the more practical critiques of the Kindle wasn’t that it looked bad, but that it wasn’t designed that well–in particular, an oversized tab on the side of the gadget made it too easy to accidentally turn pages. So this would-be design seems to have addressed that problem. As a reminder, here’s Kindle 1.0:
Again, no way of telling if this is the real deal or not–you’ll have to wait about 48 hours for that. And even if it is correct, no sense of what this means for the machine’s features. I’m particularly interested in the Kindle 2.0’s Web browser, which Amazon buried within the operating system and described as an “experimental” feature. But to me it was a pretty big deal, and I’m surprised that few Kindle users ever discussed it. For what it’s worth: MobileRead also asserts that this new machine will retail for $359–the same price as the last Kindle. We’ll see. Source: All Things Digital | 7 Feb 2009 | 4:35 pm New Lead Regulations Affecting Libraries, Toy MakersLibrarians will not have to purge their older books and novels after all on Tuesday, after a new product safety law comes into play.The new requirement, passed in August, hugely reduces the amount of lead and other chemicals permitted in kids' products.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Feb 2009 | 4:03 pm Report: Google determines that "Netbook" is a Psion trademark, bans ads JK On The Run writes that Google will no longer accept ads that use the term "netbook." Psion asserts its trademark on the term, adopted by Intel and others to refer generically to the latest generation of cheap subnotebooks.
Psion let us know that Google has investigated the trademark claim and determined that “netbook” is indeed a protected trademark. Google does these investigations as they are impacted when they run ads on their network. The determination by Google that the term “netbook” is duly registered and protected has prompted them to inform their ad customers that the term can no longer be used in Google ads. It's easy to assume that the term, already in wide currency by people who never even heard of the Psion Netbook, is already doomed to genericide. But unlike patent trolls and other IP scum, Prion did make a netbook called The Netbook and still sells parts for it. It put money (and manufacturing) where its mouth was. You'll notice how all along, many netbook makers never called their netbook a netbook. Dell never calls the Mini 9 a netbook. AMD calls them "mini-notebooks," and an exec there told me that it expects most analysts will do likewise. Asus folks will refer to Eee PCs as netbooks, but only casually, in person: it even has a defined strategy of trying to make "Eee PC" a popular term for netbooks in general. So every cent Intel spent marketing "netbooks" might soon have been spent marketing someone else's netbook... assuming Psion-Teklogic is ready to actually release an update ... to its 5 year old Netbook! Google to Psion- “netbook” is indeed a protected trademark [JK] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Feb 2009 | 3:52 pm UPDATE 3-Nigerian militants attack Shell gas plant in delta(Adds Shell comment, paragraph 3, background on strike threat)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Feb 2009 | 3:37 pm Apple Rejects Obama Trampoline iPhone App, Leaves Us Puzzled
That was it. Now can make an educated guess as to why Apple decided to reject the application, because there are precedents. About a month ago, Tim Burks saw his cartoon being rejected as an iPhone app for likely the same reason the Obama Trampoline was denied:
But does the Obama Trampoline app actually ridicule public figures? It’s not obscene or pornographic of nature, so why was it deemed either offensive or defamatory? Judge for yourself: Not so bad, right? Either way, the app goes in the … not the deadpool, but Mac developer Peter Hosey’s iPhone Applications Graveyard.
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 7 Feb 2009 | 3:31 pm Eye-Fi, Kindle win Very Nice Awards from Good Housekeeping Forget the mainstream: a cutting-edge gadget only truly wins when your grandmother owns one. Eye-fi, the WiFi-enabled, photo-uploadin' SD card, just won Good Housekeeping's "Very Innovative Products" award. Other victors include the Kindle, Wii Fit, and portobello mushrooms.
"Now when relatives ask you to e-mail photos, you have no excuse. With Eye-Fi’s Share memory card, each photo you take can be wirelessly transmitted to your PC or Mac and uploaded to an online photo site like kodakgallery.com or snapfish.com. Just change your current SD card with this Wi-Fi-enabled one, and goodbye, cables" I love my eye-fi, but they should make them work with single wi-fi equipped computers, instead of requiring a router and an internet connection. Roll on the "Quite Innovative Products" award and the editor-infuriating "Very Very Innovative Products" award.
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Feb 2009 | 3:29 pm New Applications In Packaging Thanks To Accidental DiscoveryCase Western Reserve University polymer research may help keep food and drugs safer and other materials fresher longerA recent discovery at Case Western Reserve University may help keep food and drugs safer and fresher longer and electronic equipment dryer and more secure than ever before – all at a lower cost.The finding involves a nanotechnology-based technique to block the transport of damaging gases through a polymer, making it stronger while using less material.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:26 pm Scientists Explain The Mystery Of GlassScientists can easily explain the structural order that makes steel and aluminum out of molten metal. And they have discovered the molecular changes that take place as water turns to ice.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:14 pm Leak: Amazon Kindle 2 Pictures and Pricing - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:13 pm West African nations team up to fight caterpillarsFour West African nations have joined forces to do battle against a species of caterpillars laying waste to crops in the region, a statement said Saturday. The agriculture ministers fromSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:10 pm Reports: Kindle 2 will be $360
Forum thread [Mobile read] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:05 pm Leak: Amazon Kindle 2 Pictures and Pricing (PC World)PC World - Official-looking pictures and pricing of Amazon's Kindle 2 e-book reader have been leaked on the Internet. The information surfaced on a forum late last night and reveals a thinner Kindle but without the speculated price increase. Amazon is expected to officially announce the Kindle 2 during a press conference on Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:03 pm Black Mac
Photo: Thomas Williams Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:01 pm Amazon Kindle 2 Images and Price Leaked
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 7 Feb 2009 | 1:31 pm US to lead on climate change: BidenVice President Joe Biden said Saturday that the United States is prepared to lead by example and act aggressively on climate change. "We are prepared to once again lead by example....Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Feb 2009 | 12:51 pm 'Lucy' Gets ScannedDigital X-rays of Lucy, the skeletal remains of a human who lived 3.2 million years ago, could provide answers about how our ancestors began walking, said scientists at the University of Texas in Austin on Friday.Lucy, discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia, is the best-preserved example of the pre-human species Australopithecus. Scientists hope that examining a "virtual" Lucy might provide clues about her lifestyle.The researchers, who collaborated with the Ethiopian government, obtained the first-ever high-resolution computed tomography, or CT, scan of Lucy."These scans we've completed at the University of Texas permit us to look at the internal architecture -- how her bones are built," anthropology professor John Kappelman, told Reuters.Kappelman helped lead the efforts, scanning all 80 pieces of the 3-foot-tall skeleton, which is roughly 40 percent complete."It opens it up to people who, instead of having to travel to some distant museum to see the original, can actually call it up on the desktop," Kappelman told Reuters.The scans could the way in which Lucy's bones fit together, revealing whether she climbed trees in addition to walking."We're quite certain this set of studies we're going to be conducting here with the CT data are going to go some distance to resolving this long-standing question," Kappelman added.Lucy's fossil is in the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Feb 2009 | 12:35 pm CEA Warns Of Shortage Of DTV Converter BoxesThe Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) warned regulators this week of a possible shortage of federally subsidized converter boxes that some consumers with older TVs would need to receive over-the-air digital television signals. The trade association estimates that U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Feb 2009 | 12:30 pm
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WHISPERING:
Traditionally, whispered dialogue is indicated by a balloon with a dashed stroke. More recently accepted options are a balloon and dialogue in a muted tone (grayed-out), or with a lowercase font in conjunction with small dialogue/big balloon. Italics are a possibility as well.
What spreads faster than economic gloom and doom, and is more infectious than professional anxiety? That phenomenon known as “25 Things.” Just in time for Facebook’s 5th birthday, the record-breaking waste of time may have reached critical mass this week. It’s certainly been the topic of much conversation, including on 
In the first time in their company’s financial history, Sharp Corporation has suffered an annual profit loss. The announcement came after the company found itself in the red after their third quarter, contributing the financial downfall to price drops in flat panel television sets and a firmer yen. The company has warned of an operating loss of $30 billion yen for the year when its fourth quarter ends March 31.
Last week, the social bookmarking site Magnolia had a file system corruption that caused the site’s server to go down. The company relied on only a single backup server to house the data stored on the site. Unfortunately, the backup server was corrupted as well and the company’s founder fears that the data may be permanently lost.
Video game developer 
