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Hearst papers to ration free Web content - United Press International
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 1:40 pm “The Cloud Is The New Dotcom” (Video Highlights)On Friday, during our cloud computing event, Whose Cloud Is It Anyway?, Charles River Ventures partner George Zachary noted, “The cloud is the new dotcom.” He was one of the judges for the demo startups, and for good or for bad, he might be right. Cloud computing as a term is broad enough to encompass most internet startups and already is in danger of being latched onto as the next catch-all category. Yet there is also obviously something there. Amazon, Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, and even Facebook all want to become the cloud platform of choice for startups and developers to build their Web apps on. And we are already seeing some impressive cloud-based apps that would have been much more difficult to build without these platforms. During the demos, for instance, Veodia showed an app for recording video in the cloud straight from a laptop’s camera—no uploading required. FathomDB is putting a relational database in the cloud (on Amazon’s EC2), and Diomede Storage is offering its own cloud service with a twist: online storage where you can monitor the power consumption of each file and act accordingly. Below are four video highlights from the roundtable that followed the demos. In the first video, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff argues that “we are on the threshold of fundamentally a new paradigm of computing.” He defines cloud computing both as as software-as-a-service and as platform-as-a-service (and judging by how many cloud platforms were represented at the event, it seems like everyone wants to be the latter). In the second video, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels explains why Amazon is in the cloud computing business in the first place, and says that overall for cloud computing in general: “This is still Day One.” We talked a lot about how enterprise apps are starting to look more and more like consumer Web apps, partly because they are both being built on similar back-end cloud architectures. But in the third video, Google’s Vic Gundotra takes exception to the idea that enterprise apps mimicking consumer apps is anything new. And in the final video, Ning CEO Gina Bianchini talks about the importance of video in the cloud and FriendFeed co-founder Paul Buchheit talks about how consumers don’t care where all the data and applications are stored, but that applications on different cloud platforms nevertheless have to be able to seamlessly interact with each other. (As a side note, the reason I am on a video screen in some of these clips is because I joined the event remotely). To watch the video highlights, just click through the playlist below. For those interested in watching more, you can watch the entire three hours of the event here. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 1 Mar 2009 | 1:39 pm Cold winds continue today, Monday - Muncie Star Press
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 1:23 pm RIAA, Stop Suing Tech Investors!The RIAA isn't just suing tens of thousands of music consumers; they've also begun filing lawsuits naming the directors of and investors in tech companies that they believe contribute to copyright infringement. NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "ZDNet urges the big recording industries to stop suing tech investors, and cites the draft legislation that I posted, which would immunize from secondary copyright infringement liability any work done by a director in 'his or her capacity as a member of the board of directors or committee thereof,' and any conduct by an investor based solely upon his or her having 'invested in any such corporation, including any oversight, monitoring, or due diligence activities in connection therewith.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 1 Mar 2009 | 1:15 pm 35 LEGO History Lessons - Toy Sculptures Teach Social Awareness, Pop Culture and Architecture (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) The abundance of incredible LEGO historical builds covered at TrendHunter.com gives me the sneaking suspicion that these toys will soon take over the world. The selections below...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:39 pm UK watchdog urges caution on child medicinesLONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Britain's healthcare watchdog this weekend urged parents not to give many over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to children on the grounds that the risks outweigh the benefits...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:28 pm Coal Air Fresheners - Coen Brothers Parody Ad Proves "Clean Coal" is Anything But (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) The Coen Brothers, the duo behind one of my all-time favorite movies ("The Big Lebowski"), directed this Clean Coal faux air freshener ad for a This is Reality campaign. After spraying...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:19 pm SNAPSHOT - Financial Crisis - 1205 GMT- EU to commit to growth within EU single market rules.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:05 pm CeBit aims to entice cash-strapped consumersFRANKFURT (Reuters) - Europe's biggest technology fair CeBit aims to entice cash-conscious business customers with software aimed at coping with the recession while itself continuing to...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:03 pm CeBit aims to entice cash-strapped consumers (Reuters)Reuters - Europe's biggest technology fair CeBit aims to entice cash-conscious business customers with software aimed at coping with the recession while itself continuing to experience a hemorrhage of trade-exhibitors.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:03 pm Circle Oil says initial 1,450 bopd at Egypt opsLONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Oil and gas exploration company, Circle Oil Plc announced its first oil production in Egypt at the Al Amir Development Lease area in the North West Gemsa Permit.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:00 pm Pointless Political Standoffs - U.N. and Cypress At Odds Over Asparagus(TrendHunter.com) On the ethnically divided island of Cypress, U.N. peacekeepers are getting the bird flipped by nearby residents and harvesters who gather and sell locally-grown asparagus. The cause...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:59 am Announcing the $2.5 Million iPhone - MSNBC
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:58 am 30 Fabulous & Freaky Innovations in Food Presentation - From Cadaver Sushi to Edible Salad Bowls (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) A chef I used to work with used to always say that we eat with our eyes before we eat with our stomachs; its no wonder he and other top chefs around the world continually focus on improving...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:39 am Phishers Target Facebook - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:36 am Eco-Friendly Engine Plants - Ford Restarts Ecoboost Production in Cleveland (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Cleveland, Ohio will see a Ford Motor Co. manufacturing plant producing turbocharged, direct-injected Ecoboost gasoline engines very soon. The engine plant was running 2 shifts with...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:19 am Adi Dar Appointed General Manager of Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop, Replacing Haim Rousso, Appointed Elbit Systems Executive Vice President for Engineering and Technology ExcellenceHAIFA, Israel, March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT) today announced that, effective April 7, 2009, Adi Dar will become General Manager of Elbit...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:18 am Pi Day ice-cube traysMarylin sez, "Pi Day's coming up March 14 and here's an ice tray to impress your friends and colleagues at your Pi Day party." Pi Symbol Ice Cube Trays (Thanks, Marylin!)Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:13 am Pi Day ice-cube trays
Marylin sez, "Pi Day's coming up March 14 and here's an ice tray to impress your friends and colleagues at your Pi Day party."
Pi Symbol Ice Cube Trays
(Thanks, Marylin!)
Embedr Lets you Create And Share Good-Looking Video Playlists
It’s an elegant solution for those times you want to embed multiple videos in a blog post or on any web page without cluttering your site and forcing visitors to scroll down in order to watch all the clips you’re sharing. Creating widgets is ridicously simple, but we should note Embedr doesn’t host videos and can only pull videos from third-party services like YouTube, MySpace Video, DailyMotion, MetaCafe, Veoh, Vimeo, Blip.tv and more. The maximum number of videos you can add to one playlist is 100. YouTube, still the premier destination for online video, lets you build playlists as well, but doesn’t offer the possibility to embed the entire playlist into one widget you can spread around. Furthermore, since Embedr lets you create a playlist from multiple video sharing services, it is a far more convenient solution when the videos you want to aggregate are scattered around the web. You can see some example playlists here; I particularly enjoyed the “10 Reasons Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Rules” one. Yubby and iDesktop.tv do much of the same, but the video playlists only exist on their respective websites and can’t be embedded elsewhere as easily as with Embedr, plus the latter also offers a one-click push to networks like Facebook, MySpace and other services thanks to AddThis integration. Here’s an example widget which pulls together some randomly selected videos from our Elevator Pitches subsite: Good stuff. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:02 am Embedr Lets you Create And Share Good-Looking Video PlaylistsEmbedr is a relatively new free service that lets you build custom video playlists from a variety of online clip sources and gives you the opportunity to aggregate the entire playlist into a good-looking...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 11:02 am Inflatable Cosplay Outfits - Blow-Up Costumes for Cool Bodies and Hot Heads (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Cosplay usually involves loading up on lots of costume. Here are some inflatables that allow lots of skin to breathe and be exposed, if thats your thing. I cant imagine what it must...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 10:59 am China lunar probe mission ends with planned crashChina's lunar probe crashed into the moon Sunday in a controlled collision at the end of a 16-month mission, state media reported. Xinhua News Agency cited sources at the State...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 10:42 am DIY E-Shirts - StitchLits LED Sewing Kit Makes Electronic Apparel Effortless (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Im a huge fan of e-shirts and electronic apparel, so Kate Hartmans StitchLits LED Sewing Kit immediately caught my eye. Shes put together a kit for sale on Etsy that allows anyone to...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 10:39 am A New Way To Produce HydrogenIddo Genuth writes "Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and Virginia Commonwealth University are producing hydrogen by exposing clusters of aluminum atoms to water. Rather than relying on the electronic properties of the aluminum, this new process depends on the geometric distribution of atoms within the clusters. It requires the presence of 'Lewis acids' and 'Lewis bases' in those atoms (water can act as either). Unlike most hydrogen production processes, this method can be used at room temperature and doesn't require the application of heat or electricity to work. The researchers experimented with a variety of different aluminum cluster patterns, discovering three that result in hydrogen production."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 1 Mar 2009 | 10:20 am Faking Surreal Photography - Photoshop Tutorial Blends 3 Landscapes Into Single Image (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) In nine easy steps, Andrea will walk you through the process involved in creating your own Eden-esque landscape manipulations. Have you always wondered what one of your photographs...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 10:19 am TEXT-Retalix says received further offers at $8-$10/shr(The following was issued by Israel's Retalix Ltd ):Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 9:57 am 'Grand Theft' upgrade attacked - Louisville Courier-Journal
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 9:34 am Ratings agencies back AIG bailout revision- WSJWASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - Credit rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Services have endorsed terms of a deal revising American International Group Inc's bailout, The Wall...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 9:13 am Global warming could delay, weaken monsoons: studyGlobal warming could delay the start of the summer monsoon by five to 15 days within the next century and significantly reduce rainfall in much of South Asia, a recent study has found. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 8:04 am French President Busted For Copyright ViolationAn anonymous reader writes "ZeroPaid has an interesting take on the story of Nicolas Sarkozy being accused of copyright infringement. The irony, of course, is Sarkozy's pushing of a 3-strikes law — disconnecting from the Internet those accused of file sharing — in France and across the EU. The French president had apparently offered to settle the copyright infringement accusation for one Euro, but the band rejected the offer, calling it an insult. The article notes that each year since 2006, a high-profile anti-piracy entity has been on the wrong end of a copyright infringement notice. In 2008, Sony BMG was sued for software piracy. In 2007, anti-piracy outfit BASCAP received a cease and desist order related to pirated software. And in 2006, the MPAA was accused of pirating 'This Film is Not Yet Rated'."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 1 Mar 2009 | 7:23 am Amusement park offers surveillance footage of you as a souvenir Ehrich sez, "Alton Towers, the UK theme park and gardens (where, fun fact, my father was stationed during WWII), has an exciting offering for the whole family. They're offering to track you via RFID and sell you (what I'm assuming is) CCTV footage of your day at the park, both on and off rides. They do say 'We delete any unclaimed footage at the end of your visit so, if you don't buy your personalised DVD before you leave, the moment will be gone forever.' The program is voluntary, but it strikes me as strange that they'd ask you to pay for tracking your movements through the park. I understand that much of the footage you pay for is prerecorded. I'm not sure how much of 'you' one actually gets to see on the DVD." It's YourDay and you're the star (Thanks, Ehrich!) Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2009 | 7:21 am New Microsoft smart-phone system aims to please - Arizona Daily Star
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 7:10 am Weekend Update, 2.28.09 [Digital Daily]
After its official unveiling on February 9, the device started shipping on Monday, and actually managed to grab much–but not all–of the hype that’s surrounded Twitter of late. The device has been met with much acclaim, though it’s by no means unanimous. Jeff Bezos made an appearance on The Daily Show Monday night to make his pitch to an as-yet unimpressed Jon Stewart. His main sell? “We’d make it cheaper if we could.” Roy Blount, Jr., President of the Authors Guild, isn’t thrilled about the Kindle either, but his objection isn’t price–it’s that he believes the text to speech feature on the device threatens the audio book market. Rather than engaging in battle with the Guild, Amazon (AMZN) decided to modify the Kindle’s software to make text-to-speech optional. Meanwhile, the Hearst Corporation announced development of its own “Kindle Kopy” aimed at capturing the newspaper and magazine market. It’s only been shipping for a week, and it’s already gotten some of the print media industry looking over its shoulder. It remains to be seen though, whether it’ll earn the moniker of “iPod for books.” Walt Mossberg’s comprehensive review of the device this week provided a glimpse into its actual pros and cons, and some insight into the Kindle hubbub from a hands-on perspective. Elsewhere, much of the news this week was about reorganizations in the digital space. BoomTown covered the much-anticipated Yahoo (YHOO) reorg, which was sketched out by CEO Carol Bartz for employees first in a post to the company blog, then elaborated upon in not one, but two, internal memos. Even BoomTown’s attention began to wander there towards the end. Must’ve been something in the water this week, because AOL (TWX) kicked in a little reorganization of its own–CEO Randy Falco announced that Maneesh Dhir, head of AOL International, would be leaving the company and returning to his entrepreneurial roots, and Ad Head Greg Coleman announced a re-shuffling of his own group. Over at News Corp. (NWS), upon official announcement of President and COO Peter Chernin’s departure, CEO Rupert Murdoch alluded to a reorg sometime in the future, and an immediate commitment to “streamlining” the business. In Mossberg’s Mailbox this week, Walt answered questions about transferring data to an iPhone, giving Vista a dedicated graphics card, and using TrueSwitch to transfer email accounts when switching ISPs. And in the Mossberg Solution, Katie Boehret took a look at the ways different mobile companies back up your data and give you access to it. More next week. Source: All Things Digital | 1 Mar 2009 | 6:50 am British team trek to North Pole to measure sea iceThree British explorers have set out on a 90-day skiing expedition to the North Pole, measuring sea ice thickness the whole way to find out exactly how fast it is disappearing, according toSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 1 Mar 2009 | 6:19 am Paul Harvey (RIP)
Paul Harvey, the famed radio broadcaster, has died. He was 90. When I was in elementary school, my brother and I loved listening to Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" news segments. I only recently realized that his deadpan delivery of quirky, surprise-ending stories were an important early influence on me and my taste for the unusual.
Good day, Paul. Paul Harvey obit and recent profile from the Washington Post Source: Boing Boing | 1 Mar 2009 | 6:07 am “Kijiji” Isn’t Kutting It. How about eBay Classifieds?
eBay is having second thoughts about how easy it will be to spread the Kijiji brand in the U.S. The company is testing out the name “eBay Classifieds” in two cities, San Antonio and Pittsburgh. A letter sent out to Kijiji members states:
Maybe it also has something to do with the “j”s and “i”s blending together beyond recognition in “Kijiji.” It’s not just the name that needs work. The number of visitors to Kijiji sites worldwide was up only 7 percent in January to 23.2 million, while Craigslist grew six times faster and widened the gap. It ended January with 41.4 million unique visitors (comScore numbers). In the U.S., Kijiji is experiencing much stronger growth, but its 3.7 million unique visitors in January is only a tenth of that of Craigslist (which had 39.4 million U.S. unique visitors). A year ago, Kijiji vowed to become No. 1 in the U.S. It is still far from that goal. And Oodle, which just signed a deal to power Facebook’s classifieds (in addition to MySpace’s and AOL’s), is catching up from below. Kijiji is going to need more than a name change to challenge Craigslist.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 1 Mar 2009 | 5:13 am NASA To Seek The Familiar - Tampa Tribune
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 5:05 am Nokia flagship store pulls XpressMusic 5800
Source: CrunchGear | 1 Mar 2009 | 5:03 am Spectrum Fees May Preclude US Low-Cost Cellulartheodp writes "Not to apologize for an industry that charges $27,000 to catch a Chicago Bears game, but will the huge spectrum fees charged by the government block the emergence of low-cost cellular service? In the most recent FCC spectrum auction, carriers paid nearly $20 billion to grab a swath of the 700MHz spectrum. And now under President Obama's proposed budget, wireless carriers would be hit with huge annual fees — eventually reaching $550 million per carrier per year — for the right to hold a spectrum license. Critics say the carriers will simply pass these fees through to consumers."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 1 Mar 2009 | 4:29 am Apple fans denounce Wired article. Japanese still not buying many iPhones.Does Japan hate the iPhone as much as Wired thinks it does? No, say local experts Nobi Hayashi and Daiji Hirata, who were somewhat misquoted by Brian Chen in his article. Though the quotes were accurate, Chen lifted them from other items earlier published by Wired. Their decontextualized words may agree with the story's position, but it turns out that Hayashi and Jirata do not. This is why one has to be careful when refrying old quotes. If at first it seems like fair turnaround, however, don't hold your breath. Exciting in principle, Chen's offenses turn out to be unbelievably trivial. Neither source is important to the article: buried near the end, their quotes describe phone features that are popular in Japan. Wired's story turns out to be accurate enough, its sensationalist headline notwithstanding. Far more interesting is the rage of Apple fans, who pounced onto these ethereal misrepresentations to denounce the entire piece. Edible Apple imagines that the article is "largely based" on a quote in the twelfth paragraph. iPhone Asia calls it a "hit piece". One blogger takes an unseemly interest in racist remarks aimed at Chen. Best of all, though, is Apple Insider's epic deconstruction of the story. A masterpiece, it is fully five times as long as Chen's original. In the first paragraph, subject-verb pairs tumble over themselves like puppies scampering down a hillside: A report intending to portray the iPhone as "hated" in the Japanese market turns out to have been built upon fake quotations from industry writers and observers who were misrepresented by remarks attributed to them that they never made. Though I fear this illustrates why one should never write when angry, an overwhelming sense of kinship with author Prince McLean remains. McLean obviously feels exactly how I feel when people talk smack about Apple. Denounce the lies! But do it in measured, even steps! And so at the cost of reminding the world that we Apple fans are completely mad, we unravel the questionable provenance of two peripheral remarks, fished out of the archives to pad a story to the required 600 words. Meanwhile, the iPhone is still not a hit in Japan. Writers fuck up because of deadlines, not because they are party to schemes to destroy your favorite companies. The proper way to deflate our errors is with wit. Dig the knife deep and hard. In, out. You win. See how Hayashi himself did it: I have to thank Brian X. Chen for helping me diet. Boom! It's not even his first language. Apple Insider's response, in contrast, does not end until it has traversed a continent of systematic wrath: it's nearly 3,000 words long. That's almost as long as February's issue of Wired! It's laced with recriminations aimed at Chen and "media" who aim "fierce assaults" at Apple. This is my favorite: Hayashi's reply, sent within same day, didn't provide Chen with the facts he was hoping to use. Oof! That Apple Insider originally got Brian Chen's name wrong is an irony best left unmolested. Hayashi's own response was the best, laconic and effective, explaining why Japan seems to hate the iPhone and why, in fact, it likes it just fine. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 1 Mar 2009 | 4:09 am A truly practical TV remote mod
Anyway, considering how hard it is for someone who grew up around these things to get anything done (that’s yours truly), I don’t hold it against my Grandma when she can’t figure out how to get back to the TV from the DVD player interface. There’s probably a way of doing this “mod” that’s a little more tasteful, but the idea is totally sound. It’s nabbed from Designing Interactions, a new book from IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge. You can bet he’s got a few more pieces of good advice in there as well — I’m sure he’d take it ill if you just thought he came up with remote mods. I’ve totally had both those clickers, too. That’s kind of weird. [via Divine Caroline and Reddit] Source: CrunchGear | 1 Mar 2009 | 2:47 am Testing Lenovo's ThinkPad W700ds Dual-Screen NotebookMojoKid writes "Lenovo's ThinkPad W700 is a unique product, targeted squarely at mobile professionals who require the power, features, and performance of workstation-class product in a notebook. The machine has a few stand-out integrated features, like a Wacom Digitizer Tablet and X-Rite Color Calibrator. In addition, the ThinkPad W700ds version and adds a secondary, slide-out 10.6" WXGA+ display, which increases monitor real-estate by 39% spanning across its two panels. HotHardware's video demonstrates the machine's arsenal of toys for the graphics pro, in a somewhat portable desktop replacement notebook."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 1 Mar 2009 | 2:25 am Warm-up to follow March's cold, snowy start - Chicago Tribune
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 1 Mar 2009 | 2:15 am Is Climate Change Affecting Bushfires?TapeCutter writes "After the devastating firestorm in Australia, there has been a lot of speculation in the press about the role of climate change. For the 'pro' argument the BBC article points to research by the CSIRO. For the 'con' argument they quote David Packham of Monash university, who is not alone in thinking '...excluding prescribed burning and fuel management has led to the highest fuel concentrations we have ever had...' However, the DSE's 2008 annual report states; '[The DSE] achieved a planned burning program of more than 156,000 hectares, the best result for more than a decade. The planned burning of forest undergrowth is by far the most powerful management tool available...' I drove through Kilmore on the evening of the firestorm, and in my 50 years of living with fire I have never seen a smoke plume anything like it. It was reported to be 15 km high and creating its own lightning. There were also reports of car windscreens and engine blocks melting. So what was it that made such an unusual firestorm possible, and will it happen again?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 1 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Study: Sharks divide by sexEuropean scientists say the decline in shark populations might be the result of gender segregation among the predatory fish. Printed in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal, researchers said there is a striking level of sexual segregation among the mako shark in the South Pacific Ocean. The Australian Broadcasting Corp.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Feb 2009 | 11:16 pm Nice: Earl Weaver Baseball coming to iPhone
Anyone over the age of 30 may fondly remember Earl Weaver Baseball for Amiga, DOS, and the Apple II. I myself had an Apple IIc and split most of my time between Earl Weaver Baseball and Hardball! during my formative elementary school years. Now we’re hearing that one of Earl Weaver Baseball’s original designers, Eddie Dombrower, is porting the game to the iPhone. According to an interview with Dombrower on Game Stooge, the game will be called “EWB Baseball” — pronounced “yewb” since Earl Weaver still retains naming rights — and will contain the original game engine, which is owned by Dombrower. The game will be released with a relatively simplistic design at first and, assuming it makes enough money, will be followed by a more advanced version later. Says Dombrower:
Some beefed up graphics would be nice, yes, but it’ll only cost $4.99 and it oughta provide enough nostalgia for anyone who like the original game. Here’s a shot from the DOS version:
And, of course, the original box. Who could forget the box?
A Baseball Classic Hits iPhone [Game Stooge via Kotaku] Source: Gizmodo | 28 Feb 2009 | 11:00 pm Why a “Kindle touch” could be much more than a rumorSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Wireless, Gadgets / Other, Green, Lifestyle, Features, Originals  There’s a rumor floating around that Amazon will be coming out with a new Kindle within the year. That got me thinking back when I spoke to several Amazon representatives at the Kindle 2 unveiling. Amazon has already looked at touchscreensPeople think that the next Kindle will have a touchscreen. Is it possible? Definitely. One of the Amazon reps I spoke to discussed how Amazon did in fact look at having a touchscreen in its reader. The reason a touchscreen was rejected by Amazon was current touchscreens are too reflective. The Disappearing KindleJeff Bezos stated numerous times that he wanted the Kindle to not impact the reader’s experience with the text of the author. A reflective touchscreen would get tiresome quickly. After playing with Sony’s latest reader with a touchscreen, you can’t help but notice the reflection on the screen even if the text is easy on the eyes. Since Amazon did in fact look at touchscreens as an option, it’s not too far a leap to believe that when a less reflective touchscreen becomes available, it will be in a Kindle. Going back to the “disappearing Kindle” idea, a touchscreen would make plenty of sense. If all you had was the same Kindle with a much larger screen, the device itself would become less and less noticeable. A touchscreen lets the reader interact with the device in a much more natural way. Arizona State University has made some recent strides with the creation of flexible touchscreens. I’m sure Amazon is keeping an eye on this development. The Apple modelThere is no reason why there cannot be two models of the Kindle. A large touchscreen on one and another with a keypad. “Kindle touch” and “Kindle classic,” anyone? Several people have noticed how Apple-like Amazon is becoming. There was tons of coverage (including lots of live blogging) and secrecy for the Kindle 2. Amazon even foreshadowed the unveiling of the reader by having the announcement take place at a library. The Kindle 2 looks a bit like a giant Apple product with its white front and silver back. Two models would make sense since Amazon could diversify its product line while creating a stream of revenue by book sales via its different Kindles. It’s a lot like the iPod + iTunes model. We’ve all seen how successful that has been. Tearing a page out of the Apple playbook is definitely not a foolish move. Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 28 Feb 2009 | 10:49 pm Amazon Caves to Authors Guild: Text-to-Speech Now Optional Well done to the Authors Guild! Amazon revealed last night that the text-to-speech feature in the Kindle 2 will now be optional for publishers. The guild had been tenaciously fighting this feature, arguing that it had the potential to turn the Kindle 2 into a de-facto audiobook player. Right or wrong, Amazon has caved, and now publishers will be able to dictate whether or not the Kindle 2 is able to read aloud their books.
Source: TechCrunch | 28 Feb 2009 | 10:21 pm Contest For a Better Open-WRT Wireless Router GUIReader RoundSparrow sends word of a contest, with big cash prizes, being mounted by a commercial vender of open source Open-WRT routers. You have 10 months to come up with "the most impressive User Interface/Firmware for Ubiquiti's newly released open-source embedded wireless platform, the RouterStation." Entries are required to have open source licensing and will all be released. First prize is $160,000, with four runners-up receiving $10,000. RoundSparrow adds: "Could be built on top of existing X-WRT or LuCI OpenWRT web interfaces. OpenWRT Kamikaze 8.09 was just released. Now is perfect timing for OpenWRT to get some kick-ass interface and usability ideas. I'm not affiliated with the contest vendor."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Feb 2009 | 10:19 pm AMD unveils plans for 32nm processors - Neoseeker
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Feb 2009 | 10:12 pm Review: Westinghouse L1916HW 19″ LCD monitor
It advertises a 2ms response time, and I noticed nothing to contradict that, although I did have some serious trailing when dragging windows around on a black background. Sharpness was okay but nothing great, text was perfectly legible and details were just fine in high definition video. Color balance tended towards the warm side, but of course that’s adjustable. I found the viewing angle tolerance to be quite good, so you don’t have to worry about aligning this thing up perfectly with your head if it’s your second display. I have to do that with my little Dell, poor thing. What’s nice, though, is turning the thing on and off. At first I was groping along the side like a nervous virgin, but I shortly learned that nothing worked better than giving it a little slap on the side there on the lower right. It worked almost every time, and it was a quick, convenient, and satisfying way to shut down a secondary monitor. Shi-shi
A minor gripe: in the box there was only a VGA connector. Come on! All in all, it’s a solid little monitor. I personally needed something a little bigger, but if 19″ is your sweet spot, you could do a lot worse than this one. The high resolution is handy for a lot of things, obviously, and if you’re not doing any serious graphics work on it, you’re not going to notice the image quality shortcomings. If the styling and the idea of touch-sensitive buttons don’t offend you, give it a shot. Right now you can get it for $160 or possibly less. Source: Gizmodo | 28 Feb 2009 | 10:00 pm Full details on Asus’ P835 smartphone
We knew all this stuff months ago, but it’s good to check in: last-minute tweaks to the UI or, say, built-in storage can have a serious effect on price and availability. It looks like nothing has been changed this time, but if you don’t believe us, feel free to compare this Russian review with the official spec sheet or the phone’s page. Source: CrunchGear | 28 Feb 2009 | 9:45 pm Full details on Asus’ P835 smartphone
We knew all this stuff months ago, but it’s good to check in: last-minute tweaks to the UI or, say, built-in storage can have a serious effect on price and availability. It looks like nothing has been changed this time, but if you don’t believe us, feel free to compare this Russian review with the official spec sheet or the phone’s page. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: MobileCrunch | 28 Feb 2009 | 9:45 pm Scientists Build an Ark To Save Jungle AmphibiansPeace Corps Online writes "In the 1980s a deadly fungus called chytrid appeared in Central America and began moving through mountain streams, killing as many as 8 out of 10 frogs and extinguishing some species entirely. (The fungus has little effect on any other vertebrates.) Now a returned Peace Corps volunteer and her husband have opened the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in western Panama to house more than 600 frogs as chytrid cuts a lethal path through the region. Experts agree that the only hope of saving some of the more endangered, restricted-range species is to collect animals from remaining wild populations, establish captive breeding programs, and be prepared to conduct reintroduction projects in the future. But before reintroduction can even begin, scientists must find some way to overcome the chytrid in native habitats using vaccines, breeding for resistance, or genetic engineering of the fungus. Conservationists are budgeting for 25 years of captive breeding, long enough, they believe, to allow some response to chytrid to be found. 'There are more species in need of rescue than there are resources to rescue them,' says Amphibian Ark's program director. 'When you're talking about insidious threats like disease or climate change, threats that can't be mitigated in the wild, there's simply no alternative.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 28 Feb 2009 | 9:00 pm CrunchDeals: Wii keyboard $19.99 after rebate
If you’re not the patient type, Newegg’s got it in stock for $44.99 before rebate although shipping adds about eight bucks. Buy.com has it for $49.99 before rebate with free shipping, though, so that might be your best bet if you want it quickly. That $20 rebate (PDF link) is good on more than just the Wii keyboard, too. It works for a few of Logitech’s cordless mice, the MX Revolution and Wave keyboards, the X-540 speakers, and the Driving Force Wireless steering wheel. Wii Logitech Cordless Keyboard [Amazon.com] Source: CrunchGear | 28 Feb 2009 | 9:00 pm Psion defends ‘netbook’ trademark, saying it still sells ‘Netbook Pro’ computer
And here we go again. After Dell (and later Intel) petitioned to have Psion’s “netbook” trademark canceled, claiming it was a generic term and that Psion wasn’t even selling anything called a “netbook” any more, Psion responded by saying it’s been actively selling the “Netbook Pro” (above photo) even though the machine is no longer manufactured. jkOnTheRun received the following from Psion:
So this will be interesting to watch; can a product that’s not manufactured any more but is still sold have its trademarked name protected? Whatever the case, Psion has a pretty strong argument here if it can indeed secure its trademark for a while longer. Psion responds to Intel/ Dell trademark scuffle- we still sell the Netbook Pro, it’s not abandoned [jkOnTheRun] Source: CrunchGear | 28 Feb 2009 | 8:30 pm The CDA Is Dead, But States Are Trying To Revive Itoliphaunt writes "This week at The Legality, Tracy Frazier has an article discussing the damage that can be done by anonymous online comments. While regulars here are familiar with infamous bits of Net censorship like the Fishman Affidavit fiasco, and everyone has been an anonymous coward at least once or twice, some of you may not know about the conflict between Heide Iravani and AutoAdmit.com. Heide eventually filed a lawsuit because the first result for a Google search on her name brought up anonymous comments on AutoAdmit that accused her of carrying an STD and sleeping her way to the top of her class. The Communications Decency Act was supposed to prevent this kind of thing, but an injunction prevented it from ever being enforced and eventually the Supreme Court killed it. Should the law be changed?" The article links to a proposal from last summer in the New Jersey legislature that would institute a DMCA-like takedown regime for allegedly defamatory content posted on a Web site, and would allow aggrieved parties to demand the identity of anonymous posters without a subpoena. No indication of how that proposal fared. Also linked is a recent North Carolina proposal that would criminalize the act of defaming someone using an electronic medium. This proposal shields Web sites from liability and explicitly does not apply to anonymous speech.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 28 Feb 2009 | 8:00 pm Hearst Developing E-Reader For PeriodicalsMedia publishing giant Hearst Corp. has plans to enter its own electronic reader for periodicals as a competitor to Amazon’s wildly popular Kindle book reader.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Feb 2009 | 7:46 pm Activists Urge US Legislators To End Uranium MiningActivists, including a French scientist, a US actor, indigenous people from Africa, Australia and the US have gathered to issue a warning to US lawmakers against uranium mining."We want US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is currently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment," Bruno Chareyron of France's CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment, told AFP Friday."We want them to know that the information they are given by the mining companies is not wholly reliable," he said.Representatives from the Tuareg nomads of Niger, Native Americans and Australian Aborigines warned the US that uranium mining could have detrimental affects to their communities.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Feb 2009 | 7:42 pm Will Jimmy Fallon’s embracing of Internet culture translate into Late Night success?
We last wrote about the upcoming Jimmy Fallon show quite some time ago, noting that NBC would be using THE INTERNET to create “buzz” and a “following,” so that when the show launched—the first episode of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon airs this Monday night—there would already be some sort of audience. We’ll see how that turns out; NBC and Conan O’Brien look to be fairly confident he’ll succeed. There’s another reason why some of you guys may want to give the show a chance: one of the co-producers there, Gavin Purcell, is a huge nerd. In fact, he’s a former producer for Attack of the Show, which, well, I wouldn’t exactly advertise, Peter Ha’s amazing appearances notwithstanding. (It’s a strange, silly show, that appeals (?) to a different audience than one of which I’m a part, I mean to say.) With him pulling the strings, the show will leverage things like Twitter and Facebook to interact with the audience, and to make them a part of the show, so to speak. And owing to the show’s overall nerd-friendly spirit, expect guests other than celebrities hawking their latest movie. If it’s Kindle 2 week, why not talk to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos? A new Grand Theft Auto coming out—why not have Dan Houser or Lazlow on the couch next to Jimmy? Things like that. So, yeah, we’ll see how the show tries to stay relevant in this age of instant YouTube girl fights. Source: CrunchGear | 28 Feb 2009 | 7:30 pm Literal video version of White Wedding by Billy IdolI love these literal versions of 80s music videos. Here's one for Billy Idol's "White Wedding." UPDATE: I like the literal version of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Under the Bridge" even more. (Thanks, Antinous!) Source: Boing Boing | 28 Feb 2009 | 7:28 pm Visa Says No New Processor Breach After AllBuzz has been building for the last week about what might be a new data breach at a credit-card processor. No, not Heartland, a different one. Now Computerworld is reporting that Visa claims there was no new breach. Whom to believe? "In actuality, Visa said in a statement issued today, alerts that it recently sent to banks and credit unions warning them about a compromise at a payment processor were related to the ongoing investigation of a previously known breach. However, Visa still didn't disclose the identity of the breached company, nor did it say why it is continuing to keep the name under wraps."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Feb 2009 | 7:17 pm Bolivia pins hopes on lithium, electric vehicles
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Much ado about the Amazon Kindle 2.0 this week:
Touchy
Last we saw of this thing, it was also being called the Galaxy 7, but 
The Wii Cordless Keyboard from Logitech is eligible for a $20 mail-in rebate until March 7th. Amazon carries the keyboard for $39.99 before the rebate, although it’s currently out of stock. If you don’t mind waiting a bit, though, you can buy it now and Amazon will ship it to you when it’s back in stock.
The Ikea Hacker blog, which captures the joy of folks who love to “hack” Ikea furniture and accessories to make their own unique items, has an interesting on involving a simple end table and a PC. It seems the tables owner wanted a PC in their living room to use as a media center but didn’t want anything conspicious or taking up room so he built it into the end table! Here are the specs:
The people who run the Virgin Megastore chain have 
Photo gift service 
