Adography Offers A Way To Cash In On Your Amateur Photos

Everyone knows there are lots of amateur and hobbyist photographers out there, and collectively they produce a massive amount of material stored on online photo sharing sites and desktops around the globe which might just contain that one image an advertiser was looking to use to communicate a message.

Adography is a relatively new service that offers a way to monetize your own amateur photos if you think there are some who might make for great advertisement material.

Adography is essentially a marketplace where people can put their amateur photos up for sale, while businesses can put out requests for photos by creating so-called ‘want-ads’. You can find an example of a listing here, which includes the image specifications, asking price, and more. The service is free for people who upload their photos, but we should note the FAQ mentions that Adography is automatically granted an exclusive worldwide license for twelve months for every uploaded picture.

It’s obviously not a novel idea, as there are plenty of web services out there with a similar proposition. Even Yahoo’s Flickr was once considering launching its own marketplace dubbed Flickr Stock. The problem with most of these is, evidently, marketing the service and getting the scale needed to attract enough advertisers and photographers to make it compelling enough for both target groups to come back for more.

Adography faces the same problems, and personally I think the user experience is a bit below par for the moment. That said, the name has a nice ring to it and no clear leader has emerged yet in this space (meaning non stock photography marketplaces) so who knows if this one will fly. Then again, I’m not so sure the advertisers Adography cites as examples (e.g. Coca-Cola) will be interested in low-resolution amateur images for their official branding campaigns. Seems to me small businesses would be more interested in the service, but how do you reach them?

Update: as a commentor notes, iStockPhoto is probably the most familiar name in this space, but it’s not really the best place for true amateur photos.

On a sidenote: I love this type of story. Someone has an idea, which lingers in his or her mind until one day this person wakes up and decides to incorporate and try to turn the idea into a business, not even considering anything but bootstrapping to get it started. In this particular case, the founder is documenting this road less traveled by blogging about it, which is a welcome aside for aspiring entrepreneurs who haven’t made the jump yet and want to read someone else’s experiences first.

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Do Video Games Cost Too Much?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Adobe Flaw Heightens Risk of Encountering Malicious PDFs

Source: Gizmodo | 20 Feb 2009 | 10:05 am

Dear Dad: You Lost the Election Because the GOP FailWhaled on the Web [BoomTown]

Almost-First Daughter Meghan McCain (pictured here) gave the Republican Party the analog equivalent of an unhappy emoticon yesterday in a column in the Daily Beast, predicting the political party will lose power quicker than a faulty iPhone if it does not get more Web-savvy pronto.

BoomTown always liked the sassy spawn of GOP Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, who had a pretty good blog–deliciously called McCain Blogette.com: Musings on Politics From a Pop CultureGirl–during the campaign and was always coming out with some little nugget that I am sure made her PR handlers cringe.

Well, there she goes again!

In a post titled, “Why Republicans Don’t Get the Internet,” Meghan McCain noted flatly:

The Republican party isn’t exactly Internet savvy. That’s no secret…This has been a source of personal frustration for me for a very long time. Unless the GOP evolves as the party that can successfully utilize the Web, we’ll continue to lose influence.”

Thankfully, it gets worse!

Writes Meghan:

I know this aggravates the old school political operatives to no end, but it’s true. The Obama administration understands that my generation spends most of its day on a laptop or a BlackBerry, and that using the web is easy way to communicate their ideas to their constituents. Making a website, Facebook group, or YouTube video entertaining and enticing is where grassroots campaigning begins. President Obama currently has around five-and-a-half million supporters on Facebook; my father has around five-hundred thousand.”

Sorry, Dad!

But apparently not all that much, because she ended her piece with a zinger about the GOP’s new Web effort, the Rebuild the Party site, essentially declaring the party a wizened Luddite with no hopes of ever beating the BlackBerry-loving Obama.

…The website is about as provocative as a blue suit, white shirt, and red tie. At the time that I write this, the video on the homepage features various individuals, most of them I would guess between the ages of fifty and sixty, explaining why they consider themselves Republicans. Had I still been an independent, there is nothing about this website or video that would sway me as a twenty-four year old woman to join the GOP…Until the Republican party joins the twenty-first century and learns how to use the Internet, its members will keep getting older and the youth of America will just keep logging on to the other side.”

Meghan McCain is definitely right about the unusually sleepy video–which only pops when they focus on dead Republican former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt:

YouTube Annotations Get Social, Add A Much-Needed ‘Off’ Button

YouTube has just launched an expansion to its Annotations feature that gives users the ability to invite their friends to help spruce up their videos using text boxes, labels, and interactive buttons. In the past I’ve been somewhat critical of these annotations, primarily because they can be really annoying in the wrong hands. But tonight YouTube has also introduced a oft-requested feature that will turn off all annotations entirely, allowing users to peruse videos in their unadulterated form if they wish to. You can find the option under your account’s ‘Playback Settings’ menu.

YouTube originally launched annotations last June, and introduced a new interface in January that made the process more intuitive. Tonight’s new sharing feature presents video uploaders with a link that they can share with friends to invite them to help annotate their video. Anyone who accesses the video through the special link will be able to use the same annotation interface, though the original video owner will retain final control over what appears (they can also reset the link should it become too widespread).

For tight circles of friends this will probably be a welcome addition and could lead to some fun interaction, though if the sharable link got posted to a message board or public chat room I can imagine a video getting cluttered up pretty quickly (though you can always delete these later). In any case, it’s nice to see that YouTube isn’t resting on its laurels as it continues to expand its feature set, and is willing to implement user requests like that ‘off’ button.

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Irish cops finally "catch" Prawo Jazdy

"Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence," read a letter from June 2007 from an officer working within the Garda's traffic division.

"Having noticed this, I decided to check and see how many times officers have made this mistake.

"It is quite embarrassing to see that the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities."

The officer added that the "mistake" needed to be rectified immediately and asked that a memo be circulated throughout the force.

Spaceplane Concept Receives Euro Funding

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tata Interactive's 3D Animation Film on Learning Disabilities Wins the FICCI BAF Award 2009

Has MySpace Lost Its Cool? [Voices]

I’m not entirely sure that Chis DeWolfe enjoyed our encounter at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The affable American, co-founder and chief executive of MySpace, was jet-lagged, having stepped off a flight from Los Angeles that morning into a punishing schedule of interviews and the launch of a new mobile offering. Then I arrived to interview him for radio - and to point a video camera at him for this blog:

Read the rest of this post

Not All Information Wants to Be Free [Voices]

The idea that people won’t pay for content online has become such a part of the Web orthodoxy that New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller risked getting lynched earlier this month for merely musing about paid models for the online editions of his paper. Not helping Keller’s cogitation was a contemporaneous “secret memo” from Steve Brill and a Time article by Walter Isaacson, both which advocated variations on the micropayment model. Neither advances the topic much beyond what most Web entrepreneurs understood long ago.

Paid content’s failures are well-documented. Slate gave up on the subscriber model in early 1999. The New York Times folded its TimesSelect product of columnists and archives in 2007, concluding a two-year run, even though it was taking in $10 million a year. The latimes.com set free its CalendarLive section of arts, reviews, and listings in May 2005 after a 21-month paid experiment. To name another ambitious venture among the many, the 2000 startup Inside.com, which charged several hundred dollars a year, failed to attract its 30,000 desired subscribers and expired.

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Twitter Gets Half the Press Coverage of Facebook, but a Fraction of its Traffic [Voices]

Ever heard the phrase “why is everyone always talking about Twitter?” Well, here’s the reason, maybe. The micro-messaging service is getting half of social network Facebook’s press coverage, according to Google Trends stats for both companies in the U.S. — even though searches for Facebook dwarf searches for Twitter. Why are there more searches for Facebook than for Twitter in the U.S.? Because Facebook has more than 46 million monthly active users here while Twitter gets an undisclosed, but certainly lesser amount of twaffic, I mean traffic.

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Wikileaks Gets Taste of Own Medicine With Leaked Donor List [Voices]

Over the past several years, Wikileaks has made a name for itself by poking its electronic fingers in the eyes of the powers that be while shining a light on the confidential documents of said powers. Now, it appears that the spotlight has been turned inward. Due to a bit of careless e-mail etiquette, a list of past Wikileaks donors has fallen into the hands of an individual that, in turn, posted the list to Wikileaks. True to its principles, the organization has placed the list online.

It’s hard to have followed the news of the past several years and not heard of Wikileaks—even if your taste in news stories doesn’t tend towards confidential government documents—as the organization has found itself at the center of legal cases that raised questions about the basics of sharing information on the Internet. After confidential bank documents appeared on the site, a judge ordered its DNS record erased, which attracted the attention of some major civil liberties groups. Meanwhile, other documents hosted there have drawn the ire of the Mormons and Scientologists, who object to having their practices revealed to the public.

Rest of this post

Being There [Voices]

In 2007, a college student explained to me that he preferred Facebook to MySpace because MySpace (in his view) was for emo kids who liked Death Cab for Cutie and Facebook was for clever kids who liked words. “The Facebook interface is minimalist and not stupid or smeared with fingerpaint like MySpace,” he said, if I remember right. “It leaves room for wit.”

I, too, had been put off by the fingerpaint factor on MySpace and was eager for another kind of network, so I tried Facebook, which by then was open to nonstudents. The interface was indeed more restrained, but I didn’t see much wit until I came upon the site’s status updates. Status updates are part of a Twitter-like feature that induces­ members to publish their answers to the question “What are you doing right now?” Responses, which are confined to 160 characters, then show up on the Facebook home pages of the updater’s friends. My Facebook page went from a solemn chronicle — a record of who had changed their profile photos or listed a new hometown — to a collaborative epic in the style of Frank O’Hara:

Micheline is off in search of sneakers. Kristin is getting that pedicure, but they didn’t have I’m Not Really a Waitress. Had to go with In the Mood. Sean 1:20 and stumbling home. Thanks 2 all that came, especially those that contributed jager or tequila. Jenny is keeping Beelzebub at the stave’s end.

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Daily Crunch: Zap Pow Edition

Nintendo DSi priced and dated for Europe
“Still Alive,” bedroom electropop style
Video: Nintendo DSi trailer for the US
Vuzix iWear AV310 Widescreen is now shipping
DIY “Bristlebot” hijacked without credit by toymaker
New gangsterish Wii accessories from Nyko

Corning to Highlight Leadership in Data Centre Applications at the 2009 Data Centre World Exhibition

Second-person in fiction compels you

In these experiments, volunteers read sentences describing everyday actions. The statements were expressed in either first- ("I am..."), second- ("You are...") or third-person ("He is..."). Volunteers then looked at pictures and had to indicate whether the images matched the sentences they had read. The pictures were presented in either an internal (i.e. as though the volunteer was performing the event him/herself) or external (i.e. as though the volunteer was observing the event) perspective. Yours, mine, ours: When you and I share perspectives (via Futurismic)

Source: Boing Boing | 20 Feb 2009 | 7:38 am

Skinless skin-tight cycling outfit

Tomek Pietek created this anatomical cycling gear -- not sure if it ever went into production or just existed as a portfolio piece, but it's sure striking. Finally, a good use for elasticated athletic wear!

Muscle - Skin suit (via Street Anatomy)

Previously:

• Detailed anatomical t-shirts - Boing Boing
• Patchwork anatomy t-shirt - Boing Boing

Source: Boing Boing | 20 Feb 2009 | 7:35 am

Gamertell Review: Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 on DVD

FROM GAMERTELL - This half season may be one of the best complete halves of the series with hardly a weak episode, plenty of suspense and several surprising plot turnabouts… MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Feb 2009 | 7:30 am

Miniscrapbook bound in husk of SD card -- Boing Boing Gadgets

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our Rob's found these delightful mini-scrapbooks bound in the husks of old SD cards:

"I discovered some old smart media memory cards from an ancient digital camera," writes Sheila at Cheeky Magpie. "You know, the kind that was as big as an air conditioner and took photos about as well? The memory cards have little memory and even less usefulness these days so I was going to pitch them. But I hate just throwing things away."

So she made this from the contents: a permanent hard copy of the thoughts therein. Upgraded them to SD format, too!

Handmade SD card-size memory books

Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets

Source: Gizmodo | 20 Feb 2009 | 7:30 am

BB Video: WATCHMEN movie CG tech with Zack Snyder (director), Des Jardin (VFX)

Flash video embed above, click "full" icon inside the player to view it large. You can download the MP4 here. Our YouTube channel is here, you can subscribe to our daily video podcast on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are the archives for Boing Boing Video.

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In today's episode of Boing Boing Video, director Zack Snyder and visual effects supervisor John "DJ" Des Jardin give us a preview of the forthcoming movie "Watchmen" (Wikipedia, IMDB, trailer). On March 6, the hallowed graphic novel deemed "unfilmable" will hit theaters.

Will the long-awaited adaptation of writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons' dark eighties comic soar, or stink? The more intense the fandom around a classic, the more intense the fear that a filmmaker will screw it up, and few titles are as revered as this one. From what we saw during this preview with fans at the Apple store in Santa Monica, I am inclined to be very optimistic.

Both Snyder and Des Jardin spoke with us about the challenges of bringing "Watchmen" from novel to CG-driven feature form. In today's episode we explore that challenge through the making of one character: Dr. Manhattan. The filmmakers contended with interesting creative and technical obstacles, which involved the fact that Manhattan is (a) pretty much nude, and (b) luminous. Actor Billy Crudup plays the stoic, white-eyed protagonist, and they used a sort of LED bodysuit to create the melded "real"/CG persona we see on screen. Blue superhero man-junk was a subject of serious discussion.

Snyder revealed that a 3 hour and ten minute long director's cut of "Watchmen" will come out in July. A DVD will follow in the fall, which he described as the "Crazy Ultimate Freaky Edition" to include extras such as "Tales of the Black Freighter," the death of Hollis Mason, extra scenes with Dr. Manhattan on Mars, and more. MTV News has an item with details.

The event at which this Boing Boing Video episode was taped was a part of Apple's ongoing "Meet The Filmmaker" series hosted at Apple Stores throughout the US. The series is free, and this one was packed with trufans clutching copies of the comic, or wearing "Watchmen" smileyface shirts. It was fun to see fans get a chance to ask questions directly. There will be another event with members of the cast at the Apple Store SoHo on March 5.

Apple also has some cool "Watchmen" content offered through iTunes (trailers, cast video journals, a cool iPhone/iPod touch application available in the App Store, and so on.) And you can search for "Meet the Filmmaker" in the iTunes store for a podcast series which includes the raw audio feed from this event (I think it's about 2 hours long?) as well as podcasts from other "Watchmen" events.

As an aside: Des Jardin was the associate visual effects supervisor on Matrix 2 and 3, with John Gaeta, who has appeared in previous original video episodes on Boing Boing (parts 1, part 2).

Special thanks to all the Boing Boing friends on Twitter who submitted questions for Snyder and Des Jardin. Many of these made it into the episode!

And one more goodie: lots of photos at the Official Watchmen flickr stream.

Update: Wil Wheaton says the movie is "awesome," and here's his review, sans spoilers.

Source: Boing Boing | 20 Feb 2009 | 7:28 am

Charles Darwin/Fairey/Obama "CHANGE" graphics

Love Mikero's Charles Darwin/Shepard Fairey/Barack Obama mashup graphics -- collect the whole set!

Sample Darwin graphics (via Thoughts from Kansas)

Source: Boing Boing | 20 Feb 2009 | 7:26 am

LittleBigPlanet Sacks the Competition and Wins 8 Awards at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Inducts Bruce Shelley Into The Hall of Fame

Source: Gizmodo | 20 Feb 2009 | 6:15 am

Google remembers Windows Mobile, releases Google Mobile app

Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Web Apps, Google

With all the announcements out of Google the last few days, including offline Gmail access for iPhone and Android, many Windows Mobile users have expressed concern over the future of Google innovation on their platform of choice.  With the release of Google Mobile App for Windows Mobile, you can almost hear a collected sigh of relief from WM fanboys everywhere. Wednesday, Google, via the Official Google Mobile Blog, made known the immediate availability of the new app which aims to speed up mobile searching for Google power users.

The new application can be mapped either to a hardware key or the Start menu, and includes a handy homescreen plugin.  This application mirrors functionality seen in a Google search homescreen plugin that was released in March of last year, but does make significant improvements in some areas.  The new app saves your recent search history for quick access, and provides links to popular Google web apps; such as Google Maps and Gmail. 

While most Windows Mobile users would probably prefer to use the dedicated Mail or Google Maps applications rather than web apps, the improved search speed could definitely make this a worthwhile application.  In Google’s, self-admittedly, very unscientific tests, Google Mobile App team members were able to complete searches approximately 50 percent faster than they would have by navigating to the browser and then launching Google.com. 

The application is currently available for all devices that run Windows Mobile, and are located in the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, or Germany.  To download it directly on your device simply point your browser to http://m.google.com/search.  You can check out the link below for video of the application in action.

Read [Official Google Mobile Blog]

Full Story » | Written by Vince Pane for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Feb 2009 | 6:04 am

Space Based Solar Power Within a Decade?

Nancy Atkinson writes "A new company Space Energy, Inc. says they have developed what they call a "rock-solid business platform" and they should be able to provide commercially available space based solar power within a decade. "Although it's a very grandiose vision, it makes total sense," Space Energy's Peter Sage told Universe Today. 'We're focused on the fact that this is an inevitable technology and someone is going to do it. Right now we're the best shot. We're also focused on the fact that, according to every scenario we've analyzed, the world needs space based solar power, and it needs it soon, as well as the up-scaling of just about every other source of renewable energy that we can get our hands on.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Feb 2009 | 6:02 am

NetDimensions Delivers Platform for ImageRight's Extended Enterprise Training Program

HONG KONG, Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Feb 2009 | 6:00 am

Quicken Online Can’t Believe Mint Is Doing So Well; Sends Threatening Letter

Intuit, the company behind the well-known Quicken suite of money management software that includes Quicken Online, can’t believe how well its competitor Mint is doing. In fact, they were so bewildered by Mint’s claims of gaining 3,000 new users a day and jumping from 600,000 to 850,000 users in a matter of months that they decided to send a threatening letter demanding an explanation for this apparently inconceivable feat.

We’ve obtained copies of both Intuit’s letter and Mint’s reply, which we’ve embedded below. From Intuit’s letter:

“While we do not wish to suggest that Mint.com is engaging in false advertising, the substantial difference in claimed user numbers over a short period time [from 600,000 to 800,000] is of some concern. As a result, we’re requesting that you provide us with the Substantiation and evidence that you rely upon to support the above reference claims… before February 6, 2009.”

Note that the letter says that Intuit doesn’t “wish to suggest that Mint is engaging in false advertising”, despite the fact that that was the entire purpose of the letter. Nice.

Aside from Mint’s remarkable growth rate, Intuit’s concerns focus on the startup’s definition of “users”. Mint’s reply states that the company considers anyone who has filled in an Email address, Zip code, and password to be a “user”, regardless of whether they’ve ever actually linked their bank account to their Mint user name. This figure obviously overstates the number of people who actually use Mint on a day-to-day basis, but it’s also a fairly standard way to define “users” for most web services. As an outside check, Comscore counts 416,000 monthly unique visitors worldwide, and growing rapidly (see chart below).

That said, Mint’s definition of “user” raised some concerns for me - I suspected that after entering their Email information and getting counted as a new member, many of them would jump ship when they realized they’d need to enter their bank account information. But CEO Aaron Patzer says that as of today around 680,000 of 934,000 registered users (over 70%) have linked at least one bank account to Mint, with most of them linking between 5-6 of their financial accounts. Frankly this number is far higher than I was expecting, and indicates that most people visit Mint with the full intention of entering their account information. Patzer also notes that while those users who haven’t linked their bank accounts to Mint will have access to less functionality, they still receive regular offers from Mint’s partners.

Could Mint have been more transparent with its user numbers? Probably, but their methodology for measuring user stats is par for the course here - certainly nothing worthy of Quicken’s demanding letter. The bottom line here is that Mint is growing so quickly (it will soon pass one million users—no doubt spurred by the bad economy and tax season), that its competitors literally can’t believe it. And for any startup, that’s not such a bad thing.

Here are the two letters:

mintpdf1 - Free Legal Forms

mintpdf2 - Free Legal Forms

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Source: Gizmodo | 20 Feb 2009 | 5:04 am

Feb. 20, 1792: U.S. Goes Postal, but It's All Good

Feb. 20: With the stroke of a pen — or is it a quill? — George Washington signs the Postal Service Act, creating a national postal service.

The U.S. Post Office Department born from the Act charged six cents (about $1.40 in today's coin) for letters delivered within a 30-mile radius, and 12.5 cents ($2.90) for letters traveling up to 150 miles.

(That's pretty steep, considering that a first-class stamp today costs only 42 cents, and you can ship Priority Mail anywhere in the country for $4.95.)

The practical effect of the Postal Service Act, however, was to transform the existing colonial postal service, streamlined by Benjamin Franklin during his stint as postmaster general, into a federal agency. Its main provision granted Congress the power to establish official mail routes throughout the young nation.

This piggybacked on work Franklin had already done when he surveyed and laid out postal routes from Maine to Florida — the old Post Road that basically evolved into U.S. Route 1.

Other provisions made it illegal for postal officials to open private mail and made it possible for newspapers to be included in mail delivery.

In 1792, the country had a population of 4 million. They were served by 75 regional post offices and 2,400 miles of postal roads.

This was a definite upgrade from mail delivery in the pre-revolutionary colonies, which, when it existed at all, was based on the British model. More often than not, individuals hired private couriers to get letters where they wanted them to go.

The Continental Congress, acting on Franklin's recommendation, created a competing postal service on the eve of hostilities with England. It proved a wise move: Gen. Washington relied heavily on this service to pass messages from the Army to the Congress throughout the war.

An interesting little sidebar: Franklin served as colonial postmaster general from 1753 to 1774, when he got sacked for opening and publishing the private correspondence of Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts. Always stirring things up, our rebellious Ben was.

Source: Various

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Feb 2009 | 5:00 am

Show Us Your Best iPhone Art

Today we profile artist David Lasnier for his charming paintings made with the Brushes app on his iPod Touch.

Now we want to see our readers' touchscreen masterpieces using either Brushes, Colors or any comparable app from the iTunes app store.

Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best iPhone artwork and to vote for your favorite among the other submissions. If we like your submission, we'll include it in a gallery on Wired.com.

If you submit an image, it must be your own or in Creative Commons, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo, so that other readers know what they're looking at.

We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. Using an online photo service that requires that you log in will not work. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it again, and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).

Please bookmark this page, send it to your friends and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions!

Vote on iPhone art submitted by other readers.

Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your iPhone art.

Submit your iPhone art.

(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)

Back to top

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Feb 2009 | 5:00 am

Show Us Your Best iPhone Art

Today we profile artist David Lasnier for his charming paintings made with the Brushes app on his iPod Touch.

Now we want to see our readers' touchscreen masterpieces using either Brushes, Colors or any comparable app from the iTunes app store.

Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best iPhone artwork and to vote for your favorite among the other submissions. If we like your submission, we'll include it in a gallery on Wired.com.

If you submit an image, it must be your own or in Creative Commons, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo, so that other readers know what they're looking at.

We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. Using an online photo service that requires that you log in will not work. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it again, and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).

Please bookmark this page, send it to your friends and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions!

Vote on iPhone art submitted by other readers.

Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your iPhone art.

Submit your iPhone art.

(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)

Back to top

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Feb 2009 | 5:00 am

Gallery: Confessions of an iPod Touch Artist

: Image: David Lasnier

Mobile devices are no longer just for communication, entertainment and business: They can make art, too. Several different iTunes apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch allow users to edit photos, record music and now paint.

Last month, French artist and videographer David Lasnier began composing paintings with the Brushes app on his iPod Touch and uploading the artwork to Flickr. The paintings quickly garnered praise and links from commenters and bloggers.

"The small screen and the limited types of brushes limit the possibilities," says Lasnier, "But this generally boosts my creativity."

The Brushes app has its own Flickr group with a growing number of regular contributors, many of whom create elaborate, professional illustrations with the relatively simple program. A competing app called Colors has similar features, and the debate over which is the superior program rages on in each app's review section.

Click through the gallery to see more of Lasnier's paintings and find out why his iPod has made him pick up his acrylics for the first time in 10 years. Also be sure to submit your own iPhone art for a chance to be featured in a gallery on Wired.com.

: Image: David Lasnier

David Lasnier: I graduated from Villa Arson art school, Nice, France, in 2000. Since then, I've been working mainly as a video artist. I've always been drawing, but I normally don't draw from life. I doodle and make conceptual drawings and word games.

My favorite medium for drawing is a regular black pen. I also painted a lot when I was younger. I used acrylics, oil painting, all kinds of mixed media and found materials.

(Left) It was such fun to vertically frame this ferocious, useless tool.

: Image: David Lasnier

Lasnier: Brushes is more like producing images with a computer — it has a great color picker, you can undo, you can keep versions in case you want to test options. It's like painting with Photoshop, but I never painted with Photoshop because it's too distracting — you can resize the workspace if the frame is not good, you can translate the layer, apply filters, etc.

Too much freedom radically hampers my creativity. If I want to produce a series, I must give myself rules, limits, even if I later try to break them. For this series on the iPod Touch with Brushes, I decided to use this very constrained medium and do my best.

(Left) A 10-minute painting of a kiwi fruit.

: Image: David Lasnier

Wired.com: How long did it take you to make a Brushes image you were happy with?

Lasnier: Almost instantly — I doodled one or two things from imagination, but the first image I made from life was satisfying. It's an air-conditioner remote control; you can see it on Flickr. In fact I was more excited by anticipation of what I knew I would do than by that particular image.

(Left) This is the second image I made with Brushes. It's the tape ruler I use at the office.

: Image: David Lasnier

Wired.com: On average, how long does it take you to make these images?

Lasnier: About one hour; for me, it's hard to spend more time on it. The screen size, the limited accuracy of the touchscreen quickly turn into an urge to consider the image finished. I also try not to modify the image after I stop.

Wired.com What artists have inspired you? Who or what else do you draw influence or inspiration from?

Lasnier: I did a lot of painting when I was younger, and I was greedy and very productive in many directions. So I have a very wide range of influences. I could mention a dozen of classical painter like Caravaggio, Chardin ... but I don't think that's the point of your question. I'm really into avant-garde. I think the fight against academic art is not over. I think Marcel Duchamp, Dada and Fluxus opened interesting possibilities. My videos, my drawings and projects definitely evolve inside these critical systems.

(Left) This is an Ekeko. It's a small prosperity idol my friends Boris and Maritza brought me from Peru. In this case I had to catch as many bits as possible of the subject because nobody knows Ekekos.

: Image: David Lasnier

Wired.com: Would you consider your Brushes images impressionistic? What period do these images belong in?

Lasnier: In a formal point of view, I don't consider my images impressionistic. Some people who use Brushes, do that wonderfully — cleverly use few strokes to catch the light. My approach is way more idiotic. It's a paint of good will. I just do my best, trying to only paint what I see. Maybe this work could be classified as naive or bad painting. I don't mind being the dum-dum boy.

(Left) This is a small inkwell I use for drawing sometimes. I like the highlights on it, and I really wanted to catch the way the little ridge on the corner distorted the reflections.

: Image: David Lasnier

Lasnier: I think impressionists transposed today would have painted rave parties and jet planes. The idea then was to get out of the workshop, bring some colors and catch an "impression" of the world as it is. I'd like to mention François Boisrond for his series of street paintings, which I think are more impressionistic than the totality of the contemporary bucolic "impressionist" paintings.

In the old academic system, the beauty was determined by the nature of the thing you painted. A still life couldn't, in any way, surpass an historic painting. Those were different genres with intrinsic beauty that couldn't compare. Impressionists and avant-gardes destroyed that system. The beauty in the new system was relative to the image, not to the subject. I choose objects just because of how I think they will catch the light, not because of their inherent nobility or aura as an contemporary icon.

(Left) The lamp lit by itself, reflecting itself ...

: Image: David Lasnier

Wired.com: Would you ever want to print these images out or re-create them on a canvas? Are they less meaningful because they exist digitally?

Lasnier: The idea of printed versions of these images has been an option, but it has been abandoned for technical reasons.

When I was younger I was a painter, but I did not paint for 10 years. Having fun with the iPod and Brushes made me take the acrylics out of the box. I'm working on a series of small paintings ... sometimes looking for the undo command!

I have a big problem with artworks, mainly because of the speculation around it and the very elitist potential market. I think an artistic proposition should be theoretically elitist but addressed to the wider public. The digital nature of the Brushes images makes them hard to consider as having an exchange value, and it makes them really easy to share.

(Left) OK, I'm gonna paint some paint. It's red. Then I'm gonna use ... red! This is one of the acrylics that finally reached the light after many years of sleep.

: Image: David Lasnier

Lasnier: This is a cheap set of Allen keys. Metallic parts are really cool to make. Remember those armors from Caravaggio?

: Image: David Lasnier

Lasnier: This teapot is really nice. I knew framing it would be fun.

: Image: David Lasnier

Lasnier: This is the corner of my spiral notebook. I thought it would be funny to frame it this way. On such a small device, if you paint this entire object you end up with just a white rectangle.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Feb 2009 | 5:00 am

Business Card Etiquette In Japan

Danny Choo is a guestblogger on Boing Boing. Danny resides in Tokyo, and blogs about life in Japan and Japanese subculture - he also works part time for the empire.

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So, you've been getting along well with your new Japanese business client but suddenly get told that they are not interested in doing business with you after meeting them on your arrival in Japan.

Well it could have been due to many a reason. One of the reasons could be that you started to eye up your clients lover secretary. It could also have been because you stepped in poo and didn't wipe off before leaving steaming skid marks all over your clients office carpet. Another reason could be because you slipped and stabbed a pencil in your clients left knee.

The most likely reason however is because you didn't hand over your business card properly and to do business in the land of the rising sun, you just need to know how this is done. Luckily, there is being a tutorial floating around the Tubes which you can see below.

Do also remember that you need to learn how to bow properly too - this flash tutorial (click on the thumbs at the bottom) will help you - I've seen people bow down to 90 degrees but 45 degrees for gratitude and apologies is acceptable. The photo is a collection of some business cards collected during my work in Japan - see more designs of Japanese business cards in my previous "Meishi" article.

dannychoo, japan

Source: Gizmodo | 20 Feb 2009 | 4:46 am

UnPirate: No more Norton AntiVirus

Section: Web, Web Apps, Features, Originals

The Pirated: Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus

One of the popular applications being pirated today is Norton AntiVirus.  It looks like everyone knows the importance of having anti-virus protection on your computer.  If you aren’t protected, you can expect to get viruses, spyware, malware and more attacking your network.  Norton AntiVirus from Symantec is a popular choice, but can prove costly if you pay the annual $35.00-$80.00 subscription fee.  Let’s UnPirate Norton AntiVirus.

AVG Free

AVG has provided free anti-virus protection to millions of users worldwide without the requirement of signing up for a subscription.  Although you can pay to upgrade for identity theft protection, the basic version protects against both viruses and spyware.  Recently, the company added new features like Safe Surf.  This element prevents you from going to potentially dangerous websites while browsing the internet.  The only downside of the application is that the company does not offer technical support for the free version.

Avira AntiVir

Avira AnitVir does provide phishing protection, but the free version does not protect against adware or spyware.  However, it does have some good extras that many free programs don’t have, like protection against hidden rootkits and expensive dialers.  Although AVG only has an English language version, AntiVir comes in German and French as well.

PC Tools

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition has probably the most comprehensive free antivirus coverage for basic network users.  The software not only scans your computer, but also your email for potential threats.  You can also schedule virus scans, so that you can be away from your computer while the application is working.  It also has an automatic update system to make sure that you are protected against the most current threats.

Sites:
[AVG Free]
[Avira AntiVir]
[PC Tools]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Feb 2009 | 4:22 am

Paid apps for Android start rolling in

It looks like paid apps are finally showing up in the Android Market. Our resident G1 owners aren't seeing anything just yet, so it seems that the rollout may be happening in steps.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 4:15 am

Paid Android apps start showing up

Our resident G1 owners are AFK, so we’re going based on what others have posted. It looks like paid apps are finally showing up in the Android Market. Since I don’t have a G1, I can’t confirm which paid apps have showed up. Is there anyone in the audience who can help us out?

Update: Devin here. I’m looking at my G1 and there are no pay apps at all. I’m thinking it’s being rolled out as we type this. Considering how long it took me to get RC33, I may be in for a bit of a wait.

via BGR and Phandroid

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Feb 2009 | 4:13 am

Hundreds of Buyers Head to Palm Desert Condo Auction With Only Two Weeks Until Bid Deadline

The bid deadline for this auction is March 5, 2009. Online bidding has already begun on the former model and over the next two weeks serious buyers will step forward to place their bid to purchase a condo at a price they determine. Interested buyers are strongly encouraged to register on the website www.FRE.com, review all property documents and disclosures, visit the properties and secure financing.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Feb 2009 | 4:00 am

Video: Nintendo DSi trailer for the US

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 3:56 am

Paid Android apps now available

From Phandroid's Rob Jackson:

I got an email tip that Paid Android Apps were hitting the Android Market about 30 minutes ago. With my G1 in front of me I looked for myself… nothing. But it seemed blogs around the interwebz were reporting the same thing from readers writing in but the bloggers themselves? Nothing.

I was lucky enough to have a tipster who also sent in a picture (Thanks Ryan!)

Boy Genius also has a shot.

Paid Apps Hitting Android Market? [Phandroid]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Feb 2009 | 3:22 am

C O R R E C T I O N - GFI Group Inc.

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GFI Group Inc. (Nasdaq: GFIG), The financial tables attached to a press release issued earlier today by GFI Group entitled: "GFI Group Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Feb 2009 | 3:13 am

Dell Accuses Psion of "Fraud" Over Netbook

Barence writes "Dell has issued court papers in the US, accusing Psion of fraudulently laying claim to the term netbook. Psion sent out warning letters late last year to PC manufacturers, retailers and bloggers alike, asking them to stop using the term netbook, which the company registered as a trademark in the late 1990s. But in a Petition for Cancellation of Psion's trademark, the PC manufacturer accuses Psion of abandoning the term and fraudulently claiming it was still in use. "Psion is not currently offering laptop computers under the Netbook trademark," Dell's petition claims. The petition also claims that Psion made false statements about its use of the term Netbook in a sworn declaration to the US Trademark Office."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Feb 2009 | 3:07 am

New gangsterish Wii accessories from Nyko

Nyko has some new accessory packs for their Wand 3rd-Party Wiimote. First is the Wand Action Pak. The second is called the Wand Core Pak.

The Wand Action Pak includes one Wand and Pistol Grip. This new pistol grip boasts a digital connection to the remote instead of the usual mechanical connection to a button. They call it Trans-Port and say that this will reduce wear and tear from use. There is also a switch on the bottom of the grip that can flip the A and B buttons for use in different games. That Wand Action pack will be available for $49.99 in June.

The Wand Core Pak includes a Wand and a wired Kama, Nyko’s own version of the Nunchuck. The Kama features vibration and connects to the Wand with a 4 foot cord. It actually looks a little more comfortable than Nintendo’s own Nunchuck. The Wand Core Pack should be available again in June for $49.99. You will also be able to purchase the Wand by itself for $34.99.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:45 am

Facebook Gets Into The Widget Business With New Comments Box

Facebook has just launched its first widget for Facebook Connect, its recently-introduced platform that allows users to authenticate themselves using their Facebook logins. Dubbed ‘Comments Box’, the new widget allows site owners to integrate a comments section into their webpage. But unlike normal commenting systems, comments left in Comments Box will be relayed back to the users’ Facebook profiles, where the conversation can continue (users can also choose to receive notifications through Facebook whenever someone responds to their comments on other websites).

Until now only developers have been able to take advantage of Facebook Connect. This new widget represents the first time anyone, using a small snippet of code, can include some of the functionality afforded by the new platform. They’ll still need to create an account (as demonstrated in the video below), but compared to the effort required to fully implement Facebook Connect, this should be much easier.

Also important to note is the fact that Comment Box retains the Facebook ’style’, which for the first time will begin creeping beyond the borders of the social network. It’s also the first substantial widget created by Facebook, and the first in what will likely be a suite of similar widgets that could begin to encroach on the likes of JS-Kit, IntenseDebate (recently acquired by Automattic) and Disqus (some of which have already enabled Facebook Connect into their commenting widgets).

At this point it’s unclear how much blog owners with other commenting systems already installed will benefit from the new widget. According to Facebook’s blog post, “via [Facebook] APIs, you can access related comments made on Facebook as well to bring the conversation together”, which could help drive more comments. But in the end all of this content is going to be going to Facebook, which established blog owners and publishers are not going to like. It’s also bringing Facebook one step closer to becoming the universal standard for social content across the web - an idea that may alarm advocates for open standards like OpenID.

How To: Create a Comments Box with Facebook Connect in 5 Minutes from Pete Bratach on Vimeo.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:43 am

Has App Store mentality led to cheaper click wheel iPod games?

FROM APPLETELL - The App Store pricing system is a broken mess.  The iPod Games pricing system is not.  What do you say we fix the one that’s broken rather than break the one that’s fixed? MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:33 am

iPhone turn-by-turn directions already available with G-Map

With everyone complaining and wishing for turn-by-turn GPS directions on the iPhone, it looks like one app flew under the radar. Called G-Map, this application originally got bad ratings with most users saying that it didn’t work. Well they fixed it and released a 1.2 version that now gets 3 to 5 stars. 

G-Map isn’t perfect, though. There are two versions: one for the Western United States and one for the Eastern. Each weighs in around 800-900MB since the maps are stored locally. They are also quite expensive, at 20 bucks a pop. And since Apple doesn’t allow real time guidance in apps, G-Map doesn’t have voice guidance.

If you need turn by turn directions, I’d say hold out for now or just buy a GPS.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:30 am

San Francisco mayor blogs about city’s new EV chargers

It was reasonable to guess that change like this would find its start in that heaven for both car lovers and hippies, California. Specifically San Francisco, because I don’t think LA has any plans to go electric any time soon. SF mayor Gavin Newsom wrote a blog post at Gas 2.0 describing the first (hopefully of many) electric vehicle charge points, which seem to be called both ChargePoints (naturally) and Smartlets.

The set of charging stations is “on loan” and installed in front of city hall. They’ll probably want to pick somewhat more convenient spots for subsequent locations, but it sure made it a short walk for Mr. Newsom. The mayor laments the loss of GM’s EV1 and says quite a bit on the necessity of moving to a new form of power for our transportation. It’s nothing new, exactly, but it’s good to see it in such a public forum.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:00 am

The Top 21 Twitter Clients (According To TwitStat)

Some readers took issue with our list of Top 21 Twitter Applications (According To Compete), wherein we tried to gauge which Twitter Web apps were gaining the most benefit in the form of trickle -down traffic from Twitter. Most Twitter apps don’t even register on the majority of site measurement services. We chose Compete because at least they had stats on a good many of them. We figured even if the absolute numbers are wrong, at least we’d get an interesting ranking.

What Compete does not measure very well is Twitter traffic from desktop and mobile clients. One service that tries to measure that is Twitstat. So take your pick, clients versus Web apps. Which is the stronger list (meaning which list has the most companies likely to amount to something)?

Below are the top 21 Twitter clients from its bigger list of 99, ranked by percentage of users who opt for that method of Tweeting. The Web ranks No. 1 with 32 percent (presumably that is Twitter.com itself), followed by Tweetdeck and Twhirl (there, are you happy Loic?), with 16 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Twitstat also counts services such as Ping.fm (no. 12) and FreindFeed (no. 14) as Twitter clients, although they do a lot more than just support Twitter. But then again, the majority of activity on those services is Twitter, so you could argue it either way.

Rank		Client	% of users	Tweets/user
1	(1)	web	31.99 %	3.93
2	(2)	TweetDeck	16.07 %	5.14
3	(4)	twhirl	6.85 %	3.73
4	(3)	twitterfeed	6.09 %	2.81
5	(5)	Tweetie	3.66 %	2.38
6	(13)	TwitterBerry	3.50 %	2.20
7	(8)	txt	2.89 %	1.63
8	(6)	twitterrific	2.59 %	1.79
9	(11)	TwitterFox	2.51 %	2.79
10	(10)	TwitPic	1.98 %	1.42
11	(7)	mobile web	1.90 %	2.04
12	(12)	Ping.fm	1.68 %	1.27
13	(9)	TwitterFon	1.68 %	5.45
14	(14)	FriendFeed	1.68 %	3.59
15	(15)	Power Twitter	1.52 %	2.55
16	(16)	Brightkite	1.14 %	2.07
17	(22)	HootSuite	0.53 %	2.00
18	(26)	twitthat	0.46 %	1.17
19	(30)	DestroyTwitter	0.46 %	2.83
20	(24)	Twittelator	0.38 %	3.80
21	(21)	m.slandr.net	0.38 %	2.60

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

Source: TechCrunch | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:55 am

Vuzix iWear AV310 Widescreen is now shipping

We’ve known the Vuzix AV310 has been coming for a while now, but the wait is over. The iWear AV310 featuring a full 16:9 widescreen display is now shipping for $249.95, as expected.

It replicates a 52-inch screen (in glorious 428×240) as viewed from 9 feet away and will run for five hours on a single AA battery. The AV310 is compatible with all iPod models, portable media players, cell phones with a video output, gaming consoles, digital cameras, and DVD players. Head to Vuzix’s site to order one for yourself, or for your spoiled child (pictured). I love the concept and features, but looking like Cyclops is not really my style. Maybe you feel differently.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:46 am

The Top 21 Twitter Applications (According to Compete)

We’ve accumulated a list of the twenty most popular Twitter applications, based on monthly unique visitor data from Compete.

Twitpic, an app that lets users share photos on Twitter, took the top spot with 1,236,828 unique visitors in January. Tweetdeck, which came in second with 285,864 monthly visits, is a Twitter app that streamlines notifications and tweets. Third place went to Digsby (with 233,472 monthly visitors), an application that centralizes e-mail, IM and social networking accounts into one desktop program. With 149,812 visits, the fourth most popular app, Twitterfeed, offers to automatically tweet posts published on a user’s blog using RSS. A Twitter user ranking site, Twitterholic, is the fifth most popular application, with 147,164 people visiting monthly.

Interestingly, two of the top twenty apps - Digsby and Hellotxt, an application that allows users to update their status across social networks - are not exclusively focused on Twitter. We recently wrote a detailed post on why we cover Twitter-related news so often, and we think the fact that there are so many applications developed as an offshoot of the microblogging system is another testament to the fact that Twitter is not just another startup. This is our attempt to figure out which ones are gaining the most traction.

While we think this is a pretty comprehensive list based on the chosen proxy for popularity, it’s but a first pass at a list we hope will become more authoritative over time. Keep in mind that this methodology is only one measurement of engagement; many people use Twitter iPhone apps and other clients without ever visiting these services’ websites. Derivative site traffic is only a proxy for usage but the most easily measurable one.

We also ran these sites though Quantcast and Google Trends, but chose to measure by Compete because it had the most comprehensive set of data, especially for the smaller sites. So the absolute numbers are unquestionably higher for some of these Twitter apps. If you know additional Twitter apps that should be listed here, or if you have better ideas on how to compile this list, please leave a message in the comments.

It should also be noted that there is a plethora of Twitter application databases out there. Here are a few that we looked at particularly closely: Twitter Fan Wiki, Twitdom, Twapps, Twitstat, and TwitTown.

Update: As many people are pointing out in the comments, Twhirl is not included in this list. That’s because the list is based on Compete data, and Compete measures Twhirl at under 13,000 visitors per month. As we said above, this is just the first pass at creating a list and we certainly realize Compete traffic is not a perfect way to gauge the popularity of applications.

Update 2: So it looks like we owe a “mea culpa” on Twhirl, since we looked up the wrong address on Compete originally (it’s at .org not .com). Twhirl.org actually has 143,000 visitors, putting it at the #6 spot.

Update 3: By popular demand, here is a list of the Top 21 Twitter Clients (According To TwitStat).

Twitter Applications	Monthly unique visits (Compete)
1. Twitpic	1,236,828
2. Tweetdeck	285,864
3. Digsby	233,472
4. Twitterfeed	149,812
5. Twitterholic	147,164
6. Twhirl	143,333
7. Twitturly	88,793
8. Twtpoll	74,154
9. Retweetist	60,051
10. Tweepler	51,304
11. Hellotxt	45,754
12. Twitdom	45,411
13. Tweetscan	44,463
14. Tweetburner	41,754
15. Tweetvisor	31,621
16. Twittervision	30,708
17. Twitterfall	29,592
18. Monitter	25,433
19. Twibs	17,168
20. Twistori	16,229
21. Twitbin	14,986

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

Source: TechCrunch | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:45 am

French battleship found in Mediterranean

A French battleship sunk in 1917 by a German submarine has been discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, officials said. The BBC reported Thursday that the Danton was sitting uprights and many of its gun turrets are still intact despite sitting in more than 3,200 feet of water. The Danton, which sank with 296 sailors aboard, was located southwest of the island of Sardinia.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:44 am

Human Eye Could Detect Spooky Action At a Distance

KentuckyFC writes "The human eye is a good photon detector--it's sensitive enough to spot photons in handfuls. So what if you swapped a standard photon detector with a human eye in the ongoing experiments to measure spooky-action-at-a-distance? (That's the ability of entangled photons to influence each other, no matter how far apart they might be.) A team of physicists in Switzerland have worked out the details and say that in principle there is no reason why human eyes couldn't do this kind of experiment. That would be cool because it would ensure that the two human observers involved in the test would become entangled, albeit for a short period time. The team, lead by Nic Gisin., a world leader on entanglement, says it is actively pursuing this goal (abstract) so we could have the first humans to experience entanglement within months."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:37 am

Free Fred Wilson

Fred Wilson finds himself on two sides of the fundamental issue of our time: the user’s right to access data the way he or she wants to. On one side, that of the user, Wilson is an investor and board member of Boxee, a startup that translates web pages into a form more easily consumable on a TV screen. One site in particular, Hulu, just shut Boxee down at the insistence of the content providers for material on the NBC and Fox-owned site.

Boxee’s popular because it leverages Hulu’s free access to mainstream content in an on-demand solution. It’s the long-awaited rollup of TV or the computer, where on demand entertainment can be watched on the big screen under computer control. The studios don’t want us getting used to that methodology, especially not when it breaks out of the tightly controlled box where you can watch for free (ad-supported) or pay (DVD and Pay per view on demand) but not free on demand on the big screen.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:35 am

One plug to rule them all

Section: Communications, Accessories

The Mobile World Congress was abuzz this week when GSMA announced the possibility of having one standard charger for all mobile types.  Instead of having a specific charger for each type of mobile phone, manufacturers can create one type that will charge all devices.  This should not be too difficult to achieve since most cellular phones are 5 volt devices.

Benefits of having a universal charger is that it will be very convenient for consumers as well as create less waste for the environment.  The organization Green Plug feels that this goal is not only attainable with mobile phones, but other electronic devices as well.  The company has proposed a universal plug that will power not only mobile phones, but other devices like notebook PCs, printers, game controllers, power tools, portable DVD players, wireless routers that run off of different voltage.  Their device converts the power source and communicates with the device in order to provide function without wasting energy.

Although this solution sounds ideal, a universal power source is most likely a long way off.  For instance, all electronics or cell phone manufactures would need to be convinced to produce a universal connector that could be plugged into their device.

Read: [Green Plug]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:33 am

Pixel Qi Readies Battery-saving Laptop Screens (PC World)

PC World - One Laptop Per Child spin-off Pixel Qi on Thursday said it will soon start shipping low-power screens that could increase laptop battery life by up to 50 percent.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:30 am

Group Spots Giant Hacks by Combing Small Newspapers

A volunteer group of security researchers and ex-hackers track diverse sources for info on consumer data spills. Logging more than 394 million records lost or compromised in 1,700 incidents, they sometimes spot major breaches before the company at fault warns the public.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:26 am

Calibrate your HDTV on the cheap

Seriously, calibrate your HDTV. It only takes a few minutes and most Pixar DVDs/Blu-ray discs have the tools you need built-in. Robert Heron takes you through the basics and how to do it cheaply on this weeks Systm. I’m telling yah, even if you don’t have high-end equipment like the pros, calibrate your HDTV with these inexpensive techniques. Episode after the break.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:20 am

Angel Acquisition Corp. Announces Shareholder Update

CARSON CITY, Nev., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Angel Acquisition Corp., (OTC Bulletin Board: AGEL) announces shareholder update.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:00 am

Still No Direct Translation of “Safe Harbor” into Italian [Digital Daily]

Interesting turn of events in the trial of four Google (GOOG) executives charged with defamation and breach of privacy in Italy. The family of the disabled teenager at the center of the case has withdrawn its complaint against the executives, who are facing jail time over the publication of a cell-phone video showing the teenager being harassed by classmates. Seems the family feels that Google has made amends for the publication of the video–either that, or it’s finally developed an appreciation for Safe Harbor. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the Italian court in which the case is being heard. It’s allowing the case to proceed without the family’s involvement. A Down Syndrome association and the Milan city council will act as new plaintiffs.

Source: All Things Digital | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:57 am

Radware Enters into Agreement to Acquire Nortel's Layer 4-7 Application Delivery Business

MAHWAH, N.J., Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:41 am

Defiant Co-Founder on Witness Stand Defends Pirate Bay

On the witness stand Thursday in Stockholm, Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg fiercely defends the BitTorrent tracking site. He and three other co-founders are on trial for facilitating copyright infringement in a closely watched case. Wired.com reports from the courtroom.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:29 am

The cuddliest Box Brownie ever

Blythe Church is a Canadian artist working out of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She makes incredibly cute things. Including robots.

Cameras [Sewn By Blythe]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:22 am

Security Researcher Kaminsky Pushes DNS Patching

BobB-nw writes "Dan Kaminsky, who for years was ambivalent about securing DNS, has become an ardent supporter of DNS Security Extensions. Speaking at the Black Hat DC 2009 conference Thursday, the prominent security researcher told the audience that the lack of DNS security not only makes the Internet vulnerable, but is also crippling the scalability of important security technologies. "DNS is pretty much our only way to scale systems across organizational boundaries, and because it is insecure it's infecting everything else that uses" DNS, the fundamental Internet protocol that provides an IP address for a given domain name, said Kaminsky, director of penetration testing at IOActive. 'The only group that has actually avoided DNS because it's insecure are security technologies, and therefore those technologies aren't scaling.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:14 am

Facebook has removed 5,500 sex offenders since May (AP)

AP - Facebook has removed more than 5,500 convicted sex offenders from its social networking Web site since May, Connecticut's attorney general said Thursday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:12 am

Video: Re-Creating the Comic Book World of 'Watchmen'

From making Rorschach's mask to building the Owl Ship, behind-the-scenes clips detail the enormous effort put into bringing Zack Snyder's faithful adaptation to the movie screen.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:03 am

Dell announces preorder availability of the Mini 10 netbook

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Netbooks

Dell has recently announced via their Direct2Dell blog that customers can begin placing orders for the Dell Mini 10 netbook.  But, instead of heading over to the Dell website if you are looking to place an order you need to visit QVC. 

Initially the Dell Mini 10 will only be available through QVC, I guess they wanted to try and get the attention of the average person.  Of course, they do plan on adding it to the regular Dell website, which as of now is scheduled for February 26.  Finally, those that preorder the Mini 10 can expect the netbook to begin shipping out “next month.“  As of now, the Mini 10 will be available only to those in the US market, however it was noted that it will be available worldwide “in the future.“

Here’s what you can expect with the Mini 10:  It will be priced from $399 and available in your choice of black, apline white, promise pink, cherry red, ice blue or jade green.  The Mini 10 will ship with a 3-cell battery and offer a choice of either an Atom Z520 or Atom Z530 processor. 

Other features of the Mini 10 include 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, Wi-Fi 802.11g, 1.3 megapixel webcam, HDMI out, three USB ports, an Ethernet jack, a four-in-one card reader as well as one line out and one mic-in port.  The Mini 10 has a 10-inch display with the initial models offering a resolution of 1024 x 576.  They are also planning to offer a 720p display in the future.  Currently the operating system will be Windows XP, although a future option will allow the user to choose Ubuntu Linux.

Sadly, this seems to be coming in a little on the high side compared to some other recent introductions such as the Eee PC 1000HE.  The Mini 10 begins at $399 and does not include items such as Bluetooth, not to mention, the battery is only a 3-cell.  That 1000HE has Bluetooth and ships with a nice 6-cell battery and is priced about $25 less.  Of course, Dell does have the name, which means it may appeal to a less Internet savvy crowd.

Read [Direct2Dell]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am

Level 3 Announces Board of Directors Appointments

Former Vice Chairman, R. Douglas Bradbury and Current Vice Chairman, Charles C. Miller III, Return to the Level 3 Board of Directors BROOMFIELD, Colo., Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am

Cerelink(R) Digital Media Group Clarifying Information Regarding Partnership With DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.

RIO RANCHO, N.M., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- This information seeks to clarify and outline details regarding the partnership between Cerelink Digital Media Group, the New Mexico Computing Applications Center (NMCAC) and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Feb 2009 | 11:29 pm

Mobile World Congress is a “mob scene”

Section: Communications, Mobile

Good news for the mobile industry: the Mobile World Congress has garnered much media attention with the newest and greatest wireless products have been showcased.  The conference kicked off with the ShowStopppers event, which previews many of the top mobile company’s new releases.  Attendees described the event as a “mob scene” with hundreds of reporters, bloggers, and analysts reviewing the new products from top mobile companies.

Exhibitors included Novotel, which created a lot of buzz by introducing MiFi, a device that runs off of a SIM card and turns a smartphone into a wireless hot spot.  Meanwhile, Alcatel-Lucent showcased new 3-D content that mobile users can download onto their phone for a broader media experience.  Other top mobile companies that presented at ShowStopppers included: Phoenix Technologies, Cellusys, Openmind, iSkin and Sentry Wireless.

Take a look at our coverage of the Mobile World Congress to keep updated on the best of the best.

Site: [ShowStoppers]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 19 Feb 2009 | 11:20 pm

Found In Space (On Flickr)

Jamie stumbled upon a writeup for all you astronomy and photography buffs out there (Perhaps my Dad or Uncle Jim are reading ;). From the writeup "The "blind astrometry server" is a program which monitors the Astrometry group on Flickr, looking for new photos of the night sky. It then analyzes each photo, and from the unique star positions shown it figures out what part of the sky was photographed and what interesting planets, galaxies or nebulae are contained within. Not only does the photographer get a high-quality description of what's in their photo, but the main Astrometry.net project gets a new image to add to its storehouse of knowledge." Check out the Astrometry.net site for many cool pictures.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 19 Feb 2009 | 11:16 pm

T-Mobile Aims To Keep Subscribers with a $50 Plan (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - A price war is erupting as the nation's major wireless carriers struggle to attract new customers and keep the ones they have. Just last month, Boost Mobile (a subdivision of Sprint) announced it would offer an unlimited calling plan for a flat $50 fee.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Feb 2009 | 11:09 pm

Hesse confirms Android coming to Sprint, Pre is humming right along

In an interview with BI, Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse confirmed that the number three carrier in the US was in talks with Google about an Android phone. Hesse wouldn’t divulge any other details like a launch date or handset manufacturer, but stated that it would not be tied into Clearwire. Is WiMAX still around?

When asked about the Pre, Hesse said that Sprint has “high expectations” for the most badass phone of 2009 and that it’s still on track to launch in the first half of the year. But he said that it wouldn’t launch until it’s ready. Let’s hope that when it does launch it blows away everyone.

via Business Insider

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Feb 2009 | 11:04 pm

Behold! The new Mac Mini's butt

Either Apple's lairs are floored in $0.79 per sq/ft vinyl laminate from Ikea, or someone figured out how to cut and paste images of ports.

Photo of next-gen Apple Mac Mini [Apple Insider] and Leaked phot of the next-generation Mac Mini [Mac Rumors]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:56 pm

BB Video: WATCHMEN preview. Xeni intvu w/ Zack Snyder (Dir.) and "DJ" Des Jardin (VFX)

Flash video embed above, click "full" icon inside the player to view it large. You can download the MP4 here. Our YouTube channel is here, you can subscribe to our daily video podcast on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are the archives for Boing Boing Video.

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In today's episode of Boing Boing Video, director Zack Snyder and visual effects supervisor John "DJ" Des Jardin give us a preview of the forthcoming movie WATCHMEN (Wikipedia, IMDB, trailer). On March 6, the hallowed graphic novel deemed "unfilmable" will hit theaters.

Will the long-awaited adaptation of writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons' dark eighties comic soar, or suck? The more intense the fandom around a classic, the more intense the fear that a filmmaker will fck it up, and few titles are as revered as this one. From what we saw during this preview with fans at the Apple store in Santa Monica, I am inclined to be very optimistic.

Both Snyder and Des Jardin spoke with us about the challenges of bringing "Watchmen" from novel to CG-driven feature form. In today's episode we explore that challenge through the making of one character: Dr. Manhattan. The filmmakers contended with interesting creative and technical obstacles, which involved the fact that Manhattan is (a) pretty much nude, and (b) luminous. Actor Billy Crudup plays the stoic, white-eyed protagonist, and they used a sort of LED bodysuit to create the melded "real"/CG persona we see on screen. Superhero schlongs, appropriate weenie size-age, and "understated genitals" were a subject of very serious discussion.

Snyder revealed that a 3 hour and ten minute long director's cut of "Watchmen" will come out in July. A DVD will follow in the fall, which he described as the "Crazy Ultimate Freaky Edition" to include extras such as "Tales of the Black Freighter," the death of Hollis Mason, extra scenes with Dr. Manhattan on Mars, and more. MTV News has an item with details.

The event at which this Boing Boing Video episode was taped was a part of Apple's ongoing "Meet The Filmmaker" series hosted at Apple Stores throughout the US. The series is free, and this one was packed with trufans clutching copies of the comic, or wearing "Watchmen" smileyface shirts. It was fun to see fans get a chance to ask questions directly. There will be another WATCHMEN event with members of the cast at the Apple Store SoHo on March 5.

Apple also has some cool "Watchmen" content offered through iTunes (trailers, cast video journals, a cool iPhone/iPod touch application available in the App Store, and so on.) And you can search for "Meet the Filmmaker" in the iTunes store for a podcast series which includes the raw audio feed from this WATCHMEN event (I think it's about 2 hours long?) as well as podcasts from other "Watchmen" events.

As an aside: Des Jardin was the associate visual effects supervisor on Matrix 2 and 3, with John Gaeta, who has appeared in previous original video episodes on Boing Boing (parts 1, part 2).

Special thanks to all the Boing Boing friends on Twitter who submitted questions for Snyder and Des Jardin. Many of these made it into the episode!

And one more goodie: lots of photos at the Official Watchmen flickr stream.

Update: Wil Wheaton says the movie is "fucking awesome," and here's his review, sans spoilers.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:54 pm

How Apple can make the App Store a better place for all of us

FROM APPLETELL - Apple’s App Store still has its flaws that could be fixed by Apple to make it even that much better. MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:40 pm

Obama Anti-Trust Chief on Google the Monopoly Threat

CWmike writes "The blogosphere regularly excoriates Microsoft for being a monopoly, but Google may be in the cross-hairs of the nation's next anti-trust chief for monopolistic behavior, writes Preston Gralla. Last June, Christine A. Varney, President Obama's nominee to be the next antitrust chief, warned that Google already had a monopoly in online advertising. 'For me, Microsoft is so last century. They are not the problem,' Varney said at a June 19 panel discussion sponsored by the American Antitrust Institute, according to a Bloomberg report. The US economy will 'continually see a problem — potentially with Google' because it already 'has acquired a monopoly in Internet online advertising.' Varney has yet to be confirmed as antitrust chief, and she said all this before she was nominated. Still, it spells potentially bad news for Google. It may be time for the company to start adding to its legal staff."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:33 pm

IFPI Site Hacked to Protest Pirate Bay Trial

Hackers protesting the Pirate Bay trial in Stockholm break into the Swedish website of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's website to show their displeasure.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:30 pm

Norwegian Websites Declare War on Internet Explorer 6

Several prominent websites in Norway are refusing to support the antiquated IE6 browser any longer, and have posted messages to IE6 users urging them to upgrade. The campaign has caught on, and is beginning to spread to other countries.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:19 pm

Asus to Kill Its 8.9-Inch Netbooks

Asus, which kickstarted the netbook market with its Eee PCs this year, is taking some tough decisions. The company will stop production of the 8.9-inch models this year, says Digitimes and instead of slightly larger devices.

The move should come as no surprise as buyers want greater ease of use than what really tiny screens and cramped keyboards can offer.

About 95 percent of its Eee PC shipments this year will be the 10-inch screen size version, while the rest will be 7-inch netbooks for telecom services, according to Benson Lin, president of Asus Asia-Pacific. Users seem to prefer the 10-inch screen, says Lin.

Netbooks are among the fastest growing category of PCs as customers crave for small yet inexpensive mobile devices. About 15 million netbooks were sold last year and sales are expected to more than double this year, says ABI Research.

But netbooks growth will depend on how comfortable users feel with the smaller machines. And as Asus' latest decision shows there's such a thing as too small for PCs.

So as screen sizes for netbooks get bigger will the netbooks category just blend into ultra-portable notebooks?

Photo: (Axel Buhrmann/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:17 pm

Skepticism arises over rural broadband stimulus (AP)

AP - With the first concerted federal program to subsidize high-speed Internet services in rural areas, the new economic stimulus package will create some jobs and could get hundreds of thousands of households online.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:13 pm

Intel Eyes Cloud Computing With New Hardware, Software (PC World)

PC World - Intel is making a push into cloud computing with forthcoming changes in its Nehalem server line aimed at large data-center deployments.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:10 pm

Prosecution Baffled by Pirate Bay's Anarchic Structure

On the fourth day of the Pirate Bay trial, Swedish prosecutors were perplexed at the lack of formal working conditions for Pirate Bay workers. Defendant Fredrik Neij said several people have rights to the servers and that nobody was really in charge.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:52 pm

Sprint loses $1.6B but investors see rays of hope (AP)

AP - Sprint Nextel Corp., the nation's third-largest wireless carrier, said Thursday it continued to lose customers and money in the fourth quarter and wrote down the remaining value of Sprint's 2005 purchase of Nextel Communications Inc.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:50 pm

Sprint to be exclusive Pre provider in 2009

Sprint may have lost $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter, but things are looking up, if only briefly. CNBC is reporting that Sprint has the exclusive rights to the Pre in the US for all of 2009.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:45 pm

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Biofuels boom could destroy rainforests STANFORD, Calif., Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:44 pm

Vista Capable Suit Downgraded to “Home Basic” from “Class Action Ultimate” [Digital Daily]

In sum, Microsoft engaged in bait and switch–assuring consumers they were purchasing ‘Vista Capable’ machines when, in fact, they could obtain only a stripped-down operating system lacking the functionality and features that Microsoft advertised as ‘Vista.’”

– Excerpt from the Vista Capable lawsuit

Looks like the three-hour deposition Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave in the so-called “Vista Capable” class action suit was for naught. A judge Wednesday ruled that the lawsuit, which has troubled Microsoft for nearly two years now, cannot go forward as a class action. Instead, plaintiffs who claim Microsoft labeled PCs “Windows Vista Capable” even though the computers were capable of running only the stripped down “Home Basic” version of the OS, must pursue their cases individually. Seems the plaintiffs were unable to convincingly demonstrate that the “Windows Vista Capable” marketing program resulted in increased sales for Microsoft, an argument essential to supporting their class action claim.

A lucky turn of events for Microsoft (MSFT) and one that could potentially save the company millions of dollars in compensatory damages and, by some accounts, up to $8.52 billion-worth of memory and graphics cards if it should lose the case–assuming any of the plaintiffs have the courage to go up against Microsoft on their own.

Source: All Things Digital | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:30 pm

Sprint removes data tethering from Palm Pre feature list?

Perhaps we shouldn’t read too far into this, but here’s what happened. The technical specifications on Sprint.com for the Palm Pre used to list “Phone as modem” with Bluetooth and USB tethering as a feature. Now, however, that feature is gone. You’ll recall that earlier this week, Sprint announced its Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband for $150 per month.

Read the rest of this entry >>

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:25 pm

New Clues for Anti-Aging Therapy

Researchers are uncovering why low levels of stress, such as calorie restriction, increase cellular life spans and reduce the ravages of aging. They're teasing out the molecular pathways involved, making the development of anti-aging drugs more feasible.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:00 pm

Cloud Seeding Generates Heavy Snow In Beijing

A carpet of heavy snow blanketed Beijing Wednesday night, induced by China’s artificial seeding of clouds with chemicals to mitigate the most severe drought to grip the northern part of the nation in nearly 40 years.Officials in Beijing have been firing chemicals into the clouds to create northern China’s first precipitation in more than 100 days.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:55 pm

Brightest-Ever Gamma Ray Burst Spotted

An explosion in the Carina constellation is the biggest gamma ray burst ever seen, say scientists.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:45 pm

Study: Forensics rely on flawed science

Innocent people are sent to prison because forensics used in police stations and courtrooms rely on faulty science, the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:35 pm

HD camcorders? Pffft.

Photo: Miss Paperclip

Revolution of 1968 [DeviantArt via Ffffound]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:27 pm

Concept Speakers Double As Bookshelf

For the Ikea set that likes its Ektorp couch and the Billy bookcase, these concept speakers would be a great choice. Two Polish designers, Witek Stefaniak and Anielka Zdanowicz, conjured up speakers that can double up as a bookshelf as part of a competition organized by Designboom. 

Traditional speakers have to be put away in the corner of a room or hidden in the wall. Instead they could be granted additional functionality to make them a proud part of the living room or study, say the designers. The speakers are handy to stack up a few DVDs or books. No word though on how their shape will affect sound quality.

The idea though in concept stage is not entirely new. Pottery Barn has had a speaker bookshelf, says Technabob, though its nowhere as cute as this design.

[via Forever Geek]

Photo: Design Boom

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:25 pm

Ancient Black Sea Flood: Nuisance or Calamity?

Was the flooding of the Black Sea 9,500 years ago of biblical proportions?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:16 pm

When media pirates are dicks

Printing stickers that say "Available Online For Free" and then pasting them to real-world merchandise that will have to be removed by retail workers convinces no one of an argument they already know. This is not how you usher in a new age of sharing. It's just being a prick.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:06 pm

Handmade SD card-size memory books

"I discovered some old smart media memory cards from an ancient digital camera," writes Sheila at Cheeky Magpie. "You know, the kind that was as big as an air conditioner and took photos about as well? The memory cards have little memory and even less usefulness these days so I was going to pitch them. But I hate just throwing things away."

So she made this from the contents: a permanent hard copy of the thoughts therein. Upgraded them to SD format, too!

Memory Card memories [Cheeky Magpie via Make]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 8:04 pm

Review: Verizon Hub breathes life into home phone (AP)

AP - Some companies are still trying to reinvent the basic home telephone.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:51 pm

How Psion let the netBook slip away: a former staffer remembers

Former Psion staffer David Hughes remembers testing its netBook in the late 1990s. He criticizes its trademark claims and laments Psion's journey from innovator to intellectual proprietor. It has only itself to blame, too: it considered releasing a linux-based update while Asus was developing the massively successful Eee PC, but chickened out.

The netBook was another triumph of industrial design.

As with the Series 3 and 5 PDAs that preceded it the netBook had a clever hinge that made the device seem to grow as you opened it revealing a keyboard that seemed larger than it should be. The hinge itself was wrapped in leather so it felt like carrying a leather book or Filofax. As well as an almost full size keyboard the netBook had a touch screen and solid state internals. Writing this now I realise that the Psion netBook really was ahead of it’s time.

A few years ago I bumped into an old colleague who showed me a netBook running Linux pre-dating the Eee PC and co. by some years. Sadly Psion didn’t release this version in yet another moment of corporate short-sightedness and cowardice.

Everyone and their kitten's making a netbook now.

Psion creates amazing things and then watches them fly, fly away: the PDA and the Symbian operating system both sprang from its loins

Psion and the Netbook trademark [David Hughes via Save the Netbooks!]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:46 pm

Sprint Could Become Palm Pre's Achilles Heel

Sprint said Thursday it lost 1.3 million subscribers and $1.6 billion during the fourth quarter. As the company bleeds money and customers, it is unlikely people could be willing to switch over from another carrier to go with Sprint, even if the carrier has one of the year's most-hyped phones.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:43 pm

Sprint Could Become Palm Pre's Achilles Heel

Palm may have gotten the design, operating system and marketing right with its much-anticipated new phone, the Palm Pre. But its decision to launch the Pre on Sprint's network could prove to be the weak link in the chain.

Sprint said Thursday it lost 1.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter and posted a loss of $1.62 billion. As the company bleeds money and users, the question is whether people will be willing to switch over from another carrier to go with Sprint, even if the carrier has one of the year's most-hyped phones.

"They (Sprint) are the third place carrier, not doing well and losing customers left and right," says Jack Gold, president and principal analyst at consulting firm J. Gold Associates. "I don't see a rush of people ditching Verizon and AT&T to go to them."  Users' unwillingness to pay hefty cancellation fees to go to Sprint could also take a toll on Pre sales, he says.

For handset makers, the telecom service provider can be a powerful partner — or a heavy burden. Take Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm touchscreen phone. The device launched in November on Verizon Wireless' network and met with some very harsh reviews. But two months later, Verizon announced it sold more than one million units of the phone. Verizon's position as the largest cellphone service provider in the United States, its strong promotion of the phone and the loyal BlackBerry fan base, contributed to the Storm's success despite the many negative reviews of the device, said analysts.

Palm could do with that kind of muscle for the Pre. But it may not have had much of a choice but to partner with Sprint. Over the years, Palm and Sprint have built a symbiotic relationship; the $100 Palm Centro has had a successful run on Sprint. And now Sprint needs the Pre to lure customers.

It won't be easy. The weak economy could rain on Palm and Sprint's plans. "It's the biggest problem in the short term for them," says Gold. "Are people going to pay the cancellation fee to go to Sprint?"

Sprint's best hope for a switch is likely to be from current Palm users, such as Jim Egly. Egly, who works as a sales executives with a computer support firm, is a Centro user on Verizon. But he says he will consider a switch to Sprint just to get his hands on the Pre.

"Pre looks like such a sweet piece of technology," says Egly. "And I have a loyalty to Palm."

Also see:
6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is Special
Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre
Video: Hands-On With the Palm Pre
New WebOS Is Palm's Secret Sauce
Up Close and Personal With the Palm Pre

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:43 pm

How Volvox Got Its Groove

Single-celled algae took the leap to multicellularity 200 million years agoSome algae have been hanging together rather than going it alone much longer than previously thought, according to new research.Ancestors of Volvox algae made the transition from being a single-celled organism to becoming a multicellular colony at least 200 million years ago, during the Triassic Period.At that time, Earth was a hot-house world whose inhabitants included tree ferns, dinosaurs and early mammals. Previous estimates had suggested Volvox's ancestors arose only 50 million years ago.The algae switched to a communal lifestyle in only 35 million years -- "a geological eyeblink," said lead researcher Matthew D. Herron of The University of Arizona in Tucson.Figuring out how algae made the leap can provide clues to how multicellular organisms such as plants and animals evolved from single cells. Cooperating successfully is the key, Herron said."All the macroscopic organisms we see around us trace back to unicellular ancestors," said Herron, a doctoral candidate in the UA's department of ecology and evolutionary biology. "Each of those groups had to go through a transition like this one."We think the early changes in this process were related to cooperation among cells and conflicts among cells -- and finally to the resolution of those conflicts," he said.The researchers used DNA sequences from about 45 different species of Volvox and related species to reconstruct the group's family tree and determine how long ago the first colonial ancestor arose.The team's article "Triassic origin and early radiation of multicellular volvocine algae," is in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Herron's co-authors Jeremiah D. Hackett and Richard E. Michod are members of the UA's department of ecology and evolutionary biology. Co-author Frank O. Aylward was at the UA when the research was conducted and is now at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The Society of Systematic Biologists and Sigma Xi helped fund the research.Volvox and its relatives live in freshwater ponds all over the world. Some of the species are unicellular, while others live in colonies of up to 50,000 cells.Many of the colonial algae species are visible to the eye and appear to be little green spheres rolling through the water. The most complex species have a division of labor -- some cells do the swimming, others do the reproducing.Although an earlier estimate suggested the algae's ancestors banded together 50 million years ago, Herron wanted to check the estimate using 21st-century genetic and molecular techniques.In addition to constructing the Volvox family tree, the team determined how long ago the group's oldest common ancestor lived by comparing the amount of genetic differences between species.One of the earliest traits to evolve is the clear jelly-like substance visible between the cells of the spherical Volvox colonies, Herron said. "We think that stuff is what held the earliest multicellular colonies together."Banding together in a larger mass can provide protection from predators, he said. "Some things can't eat you if you're bigger."But producing the goo, called extracellular matrix, takes resources and is one of the costs of cooperation."So now there's a temptation to cheat," Herron said. "Let's say I'm in a four-cell colony. I'm going to let the other three guys make the extracellular matrix, and I'm going to focus on growing and reproducing. That's the conflict."Overcoming that conflict is essential to becoming a multicellular organism, he said. The benefits of cheating have to be reduced for the cells to cooperate successfully.Some traits the team studied are genetic traits that mediate conflict.Genetic control of cell number is one of those, he said. "If my number of offspring is fixed at four, now there's no reason for me to cheat. I can't have eight offspring when everyone else is having only four."Herron is now studying whether the size of the colony affects the degree to which there are different types of cells within the colony. Mari N. Jensen, UA---Image 1: The colonial alga Volvox tertius has about 2,000 cells and a complete division of labor: cells either swim or reproduce, but not both. The few large cells within these colonies are the reproductive cells, while the many tiny cells do the swimming. Credit: Copyright 2009 Matthew Herron.Image 2:  Pleodorina starrii has an incomplete division of labor. Although the 12 small cells near the top of this colony only swim, the 20 larger cells both swim and reproduce. Credit: Copyright 2008 Matthew Herron.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:40 pm

Red X-Boxes on the way

Joystiq collects available info on the forthcoming Red XBox 360.

The unannounced product has stumbled into the public eye much in the same way that many of Microsoft's secrets do -- first a rumor, then a retailer inventory listing and then an innocent mention in a New Zealand-bound press release.

Alright, maybe that last one doesn't quite adhere to the formula, but according to Kotaku, an MS New Zealand promotion for the upcoming release of Halo Wars -- buy a 360, get a free copy of the game! -- explicitly excluded "the Red Xbox 360 Elite console which is exclusive to EB games.

Red Xbox 360 Elite Mentioned in MS Press Release

Photo: Hermida

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:33 pm

Runway deicers may harm aquatic life

The U.S. Geological Survey says it has determined chemicals used to remove ice from airport runways may do more environmental harm than previously realized. The USGS says 67 percent of U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:27 pm

South Korean Biotech Company To Mate Cloned Wolves

A South Korean cloning expert has announced that one of the world's first cloned wolves will mate with another clone to test their reproductive ability in an unprecedented experiment, the American Free Press reported.Seoul National University researcher Lee Byeong-Chun said Snuwolffy, born in October 2005, will pair with Minguk, a male clone born in August 2006.Lee said the experiment is aimed at verifying the cloned wolves' reproductive ability.In 2005, Lee and his team were credited with creating the world's first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:15 pm

Economic Demands Threaten Amazon

Image Caption: Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest threatens many species of tree frogs, which are very sensitive to environmental changes (pictured: Giant leaf frog). Courtesy Wikipedia
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:10 pm

Early info about the Verizon-bound BlackBerry 8230 Niagara

You didn’t think Verizon was going to let the craptacular BlackBerry Storm stay around as VZW’s top BlackBerry, did ya? Hells no. The upcoming 8230 Niagara should take that spot when it drops in May according to our and BGR’s source. It seems that the 8230 is going to be a cross between the Bold and Curve 8900 with the physical size coming in between as well. If the rumored specs are true, this BlackBerry will be killer.

We’ve got:

• 480×360 screen resolution
• EV-DO Rev A
• aGPS
• 3.2MP camera (with flash?)
• Qualcomm MSM7600 624 MHz CPU
• 4.7 Operating system

As soon as a firm release date and price drops in our tips box, we’ll pass it along.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:09 pm

Video: Smart Pen Records Every Movement, Sound

The Pulse Pen is a note taker's dream. This smart pen remembers every movement and sound it hears.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 7:00 pm

Ryanair offers first in-flight mobile phone services in UK

Ryanair, the low-budget (i.e you get to ride alongside cargo boxes and livestock) Irish carrier, has become the first airline in the United Kingdom to provide in-flight mobile phone service.

To start, the cellular technology (see above) has been installed on 20 planes and is readily available for passengers flying between Dublin and the London-area airports at Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. Until Ryanair upgrades its entire fleet, the service will be available on “select” (read: random) other routes depending on “fleet distribution.”

Oh, and there are a few notable (and fairly significant) restrictions. According to the BBC:

Calls will cost between £1.50 and £3 per minute, e-mails from £1 to £2 and texts about 40p. A maximum of six people will be allowed to make calls at a time, although this is likely to increase, with charges depending on the network operator. People on the Vodafone and O2 networks are currently able to use the service, while Ryanair is negotiating with other operators.

In other words (at least at the beginning), the service doesn’t come cheap, can’t handle much volume, and is limited to 2 (albeit large) mobile carriers - yeah, we’ll pass.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Feb 2009 | 6:40 pm

New Antarctic Research Center Welcomes World Scientists

Sunday marked the official opening of Antarctica’s new Belgian-operated "Princess Elisabeth" scientific research center, where dozens of scientists and researchers around the world are coming to learn more about how the great white continent affects the rest of the world, the American Free Press reported.The new station is being praised for its cutting-edge zero emissions technology and is even being called the “greenest” research station on the continent.The state-of-the-art flying saucer-like building is mostly powered by the wind and sun and everything on board is recycled.Scientists and journalists visiting the station have access to Internet connections and receive regular fresh meals.Kazuyuki Shiraishi, a 60-year-old veteran researcher from Japan, has been involved with 14 Antarctic missions and has witnessed how science and technology has evolved along with the continent."At the start we still used morse code to communicate," he said.Hugo Decleir, a veteran of the earlier "King Baudouin" Belgian base which was abandoned in 1967, returned for the opening of the new base, built near mount Utsteinen some 100 miles from the icy continent's eastern flank.He found a food parcel left by Belgian geologists 40 years ago."Back then we didn't think too much about the environment," Decleir said.As the economic downturn gets worse, commercial interest in the natural resources on the South Pole is beginning to increase.Annick Wilmotte, a moss and lichen expert spending 17 days at Utsteinen, is concerned about how that might effect the protected continent.“I take exception to the way the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries hope to make commercial gains from the scientific research,” she said.Cyrille D'Haese, a young biologist from the Natural History Museum in Paris, is examining mites and other acarians on a piece of granite.He said millions of years ago the Antarctic had a tropical climate and now he hopes to find out more about these microscopic survivors.“Have they stayed here adapting or were they brought here by birds? By studying their genes we should soon know,” he said.Another researcher is studying how the ice on Antarctica evolves."If we can understand that...
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 6:40 pm

Black Gold Found Amidst Overlooked Data

Image 1: A close up from the MODIS sun glint image reveals dozens of natural crude oil seeps from the deep seafloor in the central Gulf of Mexico. Credit: NASA Earth ObservatoryImage 2: This wide-area view of the Gulf of Mexico was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on May 13, 2006. The bright swath (center and right) indicates where sunlight is reflected and scattered off of the ocean surface. The streaks in the inset are oil slicks. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Feb 2009 | 6:34 pm

Liberate Television

These televisions were placed around Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to celebrate the return of analog television frequencies to the ether.

To commemorate this event we are inviting the public to come witness the beginning of the Television Drops, a series of public television events as part of the New Stations Network.

Using televisions reclaimed from the street corners where they are
left as trash, we will tune them in to our own local broadcast.
Powered by the city itself, the TV will present the first episode of a
new public television show, This World.

A single character struggles to build a relationship between himself
and those watching. He is simultaneously in command of the program and
trapped within it. He is both holding television hostage and himself a
prisoner. Forced to be the full cast he builds an anti-narrative with
an arsenal of costumes serving as a multiple personality cure to his
own loneliness.

~New Stations

My own inclination is to crush television. [Thanks, David!]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 6:27 pm

Milky Way 'Ringing' Caused by Galaxy Crash

Our galaxy still rings after colliding with another galaxy two billion years ago.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 5:45 pm

iPhone Features Everywhere in Rivals' New Phones

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Copying a few pages from the playbook of Apple's iPhone strategy, which brings many of the powers of the Internet to mobile phones, is no way to beat the computer interloper at its game.

But that's exactly what many of the world's biggest handsets makers are trying to do with new copycat phones and services that ape key features of the iPhone.

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the world's biggest annual trade show for the wireless industry, Apple is everywhere and nowhere. The company avoids such events, preferring to unveil products at its own venues.

The handset business will produce more than a billion phones this year, but is suffering a crisis of confidence brought on by sharply changing business models that has only been exaggerated by the global economic slump.

"Imagination is expensive in a year such as this," said Richard Windsor, a technology analyst at the conference who is with Nomura Securities in London.

The giants of the phone industry -- Nokia, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, LG Electronics Inc, Sony Ericsson and HTC Corp -- are humbling themselves to copy a company whose phones account for only 1 percent of handsets.

A year ago, phone makers with quick-acting design teams came out with the first touchscreen iPhone look-alikes. This year, they are going further by seeking to duplicate the iPhone's user interface software.

Privately, an executive with a major European telecommunications operator complains: "Everybody is trying to catch the iPhone. They are pushing things out to market that just aren't ready for prime-time."

Analysts say the clones often perform slowly and are less intuitive for users than the iPhone.

Case in point: South Korean phone maker LG Electronics introduced an entry-level smartphone using Microsoft Corp's Windows Mobile operating system and a new iPhone-like look called "3D S-Class User Interface."

The most obvious difference with the iPhone is that LG's GM730 gives users three-dimensional views of its features and applications, which appear like cubes rather than pages, as they do on the iPhone.

But a demonstration of the iPhone wannabe reveals a characteristic flaw familiar to personal computer users. LG's logo and then the Windows brand hang on the screen as 5, 10, 15, eventually 30 seconds pass. The phone is booting up, just like a computer, but unlike many of the faster phones.

iCLONES

Apple has sought to scare away competitors by threatening legal action to defend the hundreds of patented ideas it has rolled into the iPhone. How rivals can work around such patents remains a big question.

The proliferation of "me-too" products is a trap because products must take shortcuts or sacrifice profit margins to undercut Apple on price. That digs equipment makers into a deeper hole because smartphones have been faster growing and more profitable than other handsets.

And Apple isn't sitting still. Some Wall Street analysts say the Silicon Valley-based company is gearing up to offer a slimmed down $99 iPhone for consumers -- or $299 without carrier subsidies -- by June.

A lower-price iPhone would likely run on slower networks, contain less memory and have lower touchscreen and camera resolution, one RBC Capital analyst predicts.

Apple, which enjoys estimated margins of 55 percent that are nearly twice the industry average on their current line-up of phones, will need to accept margins around 40 percent if it markets a $99 phone. But that's still well above the 30 percent industry average.

The phone industry is envious of Apple's AppStore, which lets iPhone users download thousands of small software programs

to personalize the way they play games, listen to music or find directions.

Letting users decide what software they add to phones marks an upending of long-standing industry practices of tightly controlling device features, based on what handset makers and their key customers, the operators, thought best.

The roll-call of companies announcing their own software stores this week include Nokia, Microsoft, LG and France Telecom SA's Orange mobile network. Samsung and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd had previously announced stores of their own.

Orange said its own store will feature only Orange-approved products when it opens in May. Selected outside software developers will be invited "in the future," it promised.

Comfortable old habits of control die hard.

-- At the time of publication Eric Auchard did not own any direct investments in securities mentioned in this article. He may be an owner indirectly as an investor in a fund.

-- Eric Auchard is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own --

(Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 19 Feb 2009 | 3:54 pm

Earth's Cracks May Contribute to Global Warming

Cracks in the Earth may emit enough gases to play a role in global warming.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 3:25 pm

Modern Antarctica Has All the Amenities

A century after Amundsen, today's Antarctica has Internet and gourmet meals.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 3:25 pm

Hibernating Animals Face Less Extinction Risk

Mammals that know how to hide out appear less likely to become endangered.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 2:34 pm

Pill Could Help Blunt Bad Memories

A drug used to treat heart disease may prevent the brain from reliving bad memories.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Feb 2009 | 2:26 pm

Nikon Tethering Application for Mac

Nikon Control is a small simple application that does one thing, and does it well. Actually, it does two things.

The application is a result of necessity and curiosity. The author, Stefan Hafeneger, wanted to try out the Nikon SDK (software development kit) which lets programmers control Nikon's cameras. Unfortunately, the sample project for the Mac was rather crappy so he did just what any decent hacker would do -- he rolled his own program.

A few nights later and the result is Nikon Control. It works with most Nikon DSLRs and, when you connect the camera it will detect it and open a window. From here you can press a button and shoot, and the picture is saved on your computer and displayed in the app.

The second trick is bracketing, a pain at the best of times when done in-camera. To bracket you just choose the minimum and maximum shutter speeds you want, press the button and the app grabs all the shots you want and squirrels them away to your hard drive.

It's smart, it's simple and it's free. And if you don't like the name, suggest a new one. Stefan is looking for something a little more catchy. He's also planning to add an auto function for making high dynamic range pictures -- perfect for all you surreal HDR junkies out there.

Product page [Stefan Hafeneger via Nikon Rumors]

See Also:

• Video Recording with the Nikon D700

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Feb 2009 | 1:55 pm

Ricoh's New CMOS Compact Has Some Crazy-Neat Features

We've been banging on forever that camera makers would have to get creative once the megapixel game was up. And we were right. The latest camera to add some fancy new features is Ricoh's CX1, a great looking slimline body with a CMOS sensor of "just" 9MP.

CMOS sensors are usually found in higher-end DSLRs, and the decision to keep the pixel count low shows a commitment to image quality over marketing numbers. The back of the camera gets a hi-res screen of 920,000 dots, similar again to those found in cameras like the Nikon D700.

The camera has a few of tricks up its sleeve. The first is a rather gimmicky fast shot mode, which can burn away at a ridiculous 120 frames per second. It is limited to a resolution of just 640x480, though, so it's really just a fancy, low-res high-speed movie mode.

Much more interesting is Dynamic Range Double Shot Mode, a feature whose name wholly describes its function. The CX1 grabs two images, one after the other, both at different exposures. It then combines them in-camera to get a single picture with a huge dynamic range -- 12EV (or 12 stops). This means you can get detail in both highlights and shadows in the same shot.

It gets even better. The CX1 will also quickly grab up to seven shots, each one focused in a different place. Later you can choose just what it was that you wanted to have sharp. And using Photoshop, you could even combine them and have everything in focus, Speed Racer style.

Last is the white balance. The camera can segment the picture and apply different white balance settings for each part. This is pretty incredible if it works. The alternative with mixed light-source shots is either some color casts or some intense Photoshop work afterward.

The price will be £300. A direct conversion gives $430, but we expect it'll be cheaper in the US as these things always are. In stores from March 13th.

Press release [DP Review]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Feb 2009 | 1:33 pm

Top Secret HTC Touch Diamond With Windows 6.5 On It Gets Stolen

A prototype of an upcoming HTC Touch Diamond device, powered by the yet-to-be-released Windows Mobile 6.5, was stolen from a Telstra executive after the company’s CEO Sol Trujillo demoed the phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Apparently, the device was loaded with secret product information, sparking Sky News to claim there’s a major security scare going on at Microsoft. We’re not entirely sure if it was a random pick-pocket, but we’re pretty sure it wasn’t these guys.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Feb 2009 | 12:33 pm

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