Racetrack Playa
Death Valley, California—Self-propelled rocks

The Mystery: In the vast, flat desert of Death Valley, a series of colossal boulders, weighing up to 700 pounds each, appear to move on their own. There are no traces of bulldozers, footprints, or tire tracks. Not only that, these sliding rocks leave behind deep "scars" that disappear in less than seven years. Gravity was once thought to be the culprit, until researchers discovered that many of these massive stones were skittering uphill.

The Reality: One recent study using differential GPS and rock-trail analysis suggests that a potent combination of blasting winds, whirling dust devils, and the slick playa surface causes the rocks to inch ever so slowly along the desert floor.

Photo Portfolio: Uta Kögelsberger

Racetrack Playa is a flat lake bed located between the Cottonwood Mountains and Last Chance Range. This trail sign at Teakettle Junction in Death Valley points toward the playa.

Racetrack Playa is a very remote place. To find it, you have to travel almost 60 miles past the Death Valley Visitor Center, then go 30 more miles down a rough dirt road, and hike half a mile from the parking lot. Uta says it was very peculiar to come across dozens of photographers in this vast, stark landscape kneeling with their cameras to shoot photos of the rocks.

Adding to the strangeness was the noise of jets from Edwards Air Force Base breaking the sound barrier above their heads. "Being in the middle of nowhere with a military exercise going on above my head was spooky," says Uta.
Photo: Uwe Zirpner

The rocks trails aren't permanent. A rainstorm can wash away the paths of smaller rocks, and none last more than six to seven years.

Lake Toplitz
Austria—Sunken Nazi treasure

The Mystery: A seemingly serene lake nestled in the mountains about 50 miles southeast of Salzburg is believed to hold some of the Nazis' darkest secrets—and the promise of sunken treasure. Hitler used the 350-foot-deep lake to test underwater missiles for use on submarines. But as the war ended, the SS allegedly dumped millions of dollars' worth of looted goods in wooden cases.

The Reality: In summer 2000, 60 Minutes II enlisted the assistance of Oceaneering Technologies, the high tech salvage crew that worked on the space shuttle Challenger and TWA Flight 800 crashes. Over the course of four weeks, they uncovered piles of bogus British pound notes—but nothing else.

Photo Portfolio: Uta Kögelsberger

Uta sets up her next shot in waist-deep snow. After Uta and assistant Lynne Marsh (also a photographer) arrived in Austria, it snowed for the next three days. "You can't drive through the snow, so you have walk in it up to your belly to scout locations," Uta says, laughing.
Photo: Lynne Marsh

Snow falls in Lake Toplitz. Uta says the night shoots were particularly difficult: "Snow isn't good for camera equipment."

Reachable only by a dead-end road, the isolated mile-long lake features gorgeous scenery and one small restaurant called the Fisherman's Hut. The owner admitted to Uta that building up the mystery of the lake certainly helped his business.

Marfa
Texas—Hovering orbs of light in the night sky

The Mystery: Each evening, along a certain stretch of US Route 90, the Marfa Lights cast a delicate glow along the Texas horizon. Appearing one or two at a time, each sphere appears to hover at eye level and sparkle like a disco ball. Since these elusive beams were first documented in the late 19th century, theories abound—there are at least 75 local folktales suggesting the lights are everything from little volcanoes to St. Elmo's fire.

The Reality: In 2005, a team of physics students at the University of Texas at Dallas found that "all the lights reliably observed during the experiment were car headlights." A logical assertion today, but what about their first appearance in 1883?

Photo Portfolio: Uta Kögelsberger

Uta says she took this photo from the Marfa Lights viewing platform with a digital camera set at a six-minute exposure. Uta says the lights were at least a mile away and that "they were probably car headlights." Regardless, she did meet locals who said they've seen them, including a bartender who told Uta a disturbing story of being "followed by the lights." True story or just a tall tale to enhance the local folklore?

US Route 90 on the way to photograph Marfa Lights in Marfa, Texas.

Plaque in the Marfa Lights View Shelter in Marfa, Texas.

Marfa Lights view shelter.

Area 51
Groom Lake, Nevada—Government-run alien crash pad

The Mystery: For conspiracy theorists, Area 51 has been ground zero for the nation's secret military projects since U-2 spy planes were tested there in the 1950s. But as any sci-fi fan knows, it's also a hot zone for the extraterrestrials recovered from an unidentified space vehicle rumored to have crash-landed in nearby Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Over the past few years, several former Area 51 workers have tried to sue the government for exposure to toxic materials (presumably not from Mars), but they've been thwarted by presidential exemptions allowing the Air Force to keep its operations hush-hush.

The Reality: Aliens make for great TV but are otherwise pure fiction. Really.

Photo Portfolio: Uta Kögelsberger

Uta and Uwe checked online maps to see how close they could get to Area 51. They learned their best bet for getting insider information was at the Little A’Le’Inn motel in Rachel, Nevada.

Little A’Le’Inn hotel gift shop.

Staying at the motel provided them with no shortage of rumors, including one of listening devices placed throughout the area to track potential intruders. Also, the boundary markers are placed so that they are very hard to recognize, yet, says Uta, "if you aren't careful, you can easily cross the barrier. And if you cross, the guards are allowed to shoot to kill."

Groom Road, a dirt road on the way to Groom Lake/Area 51. "The implied danger is quite strongly felt. You get a sense that the folklore has built a much stronger fence than would be physically possible to construct," Uta says.

The sky above Area 51 at night.

Groom Road on the way to Groom Lake/Area 51.

Watch a video montage of Uta Kögelsberger's photos and video taken during her month-long photoshoot of mystery spots.

The Future of the Past and Present

Stephen Worth says:

When people of the past envisioned what the inhabitants of other planets might be like, they conceived of gods and spirits who lived lives like those of the heroes and villains found in fables and ancient myths. Around the turn of the 20th century, mankind's conception of the world underwent a huge shift. Advances in technology were occurring at an unprecedented rate. These changes affected the way people lived their lives and the way they thought about their place in the universe. People began to think there might be no limit to the number of amazing changes technology was going to bring to them in the next hundred years.

They were right.

Today at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, I posted an article on how visionary animators like Ward Kimball and Walt Disney were responsible for putting a man on the moon. Yes, we have Walt to thank for our space program! The post contains a complete illustrated article by the father of modern space art, Chesley Bonestell, and clips from Disney's landmark TV program, "Mars and Beyond." Enjoy!

YouTube lets users see what friends are watching

Source: Gizmodo | 24 Apr 2009 | 2:37 am

NASA Moon Launch May Be Delayed After 2020

krou writes "The Guardian is reporting that NASA is quietly revising its internal estimates of a 2018 launch for its Ares V rocket. Although publicly the date given for the launch was 2020, the internal launch date was set for 2018. The shift in dates seems to be linked to 'growing budget woes,' and 'engineers say that means the public 2020 date to send humans back to the moon is in deepening trouble.' NASA administrator Mike Griffin blamed the White House, and the previous Bush administration, saying funding for Ares V and other projects fell from $4bn through 2015 to just $500m. 'This was to be allocated to early work on the Ares V heavy-lifter, and the Altair lunar lander. With only a half-billion dollars now available, this work cannot be done.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 24 Apr 2009 | 2:22 am

Macintosh botnet on the march (Yahoo! Tech)

Yahoo! Tech -

A common refrain when I post about Windows security vulnerabilities like Conficker is "Get a Mac!" thanks to their long history of being comparatively secure next to Windows PCs.

Those days may be about to change. Already this year a
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 24 Apr 2009 | 2:11 am

Google Continues To Center On Location. Adds It To Its Toolbar.

Location-based services haven’t yet caught fire, but location itself is increasingly finding its way to web services as a complimentary feature. The latest to use it is the Google Toolbar. If you have it installed, and open Google Maps, it will now auto-center on your location.

That’s a small, but useful feature, but the ramifications of this move are potentially much large. This adds location capabilities to the millions of people who have Google Toolbar installed. You may be thinking that a lot of those users with the latest version of Firefox already had it — but this feature is for Internet Explorer only right now. That, combined with Mozilla’s use of its Geode location plug-in (which again, is built into the latest version of Firefox), puts location on a good percentage of browsers in the world.

And while it doesn’t mention it, that’s important for Google’s own larger purposes. Its recently launched Latitude location-based network is only useful if it can automatically update your location, or make it really easy to do. Up until now, it has been a pain on a computer.

But there are other big things Google could do with location information — such as serve you location-based ads. There are other companies working in that field, but you can bet Google wants to get out in front of them and lead the charge. And with its own toolbar to get your location, it could potentially do that. It also promises the ability to serve up location-based search results with feature.

Google has been been working on location for a little while in the mobile space, but most users are still experiencing the web first and foremost through regular computer browsers. Google’s toolbar pulls location data from both IP addresses and nearby Wi-Fi access points — since most computers don’t have GPS built-in.

Much like it does with Gmail, Google added a “Labs” area to Google Toolbar today, to test this new feature. It also has a new, simple Chinese version of the Toolbar in this Labs area. Both are IE-only for right now, as I mentioned.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 24 Apr 2009 | 1:33 am

Google adds labs to Google Toolbar

Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google

Lots of Google properties have their own labs, like Gmail.  Now, the Google Toolbar is getting its own set of labs.  Right now, there are two labs.  The toolbar is location aware.  Google Maps will automatically fill in your current location via Wi-Fi access points.  The “My Location” lab only works in the U.S.

A more international lab is available in the “Google Simplified Chinese Toolbar.”  The UI has been changed so there is a better use of space. 

The labs only work in Internet Explorer 6.0+ so everyone else can just enjoy a toolbar-free existence. 

Read: [Official Google Blog]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 24 Apr 2009 | 1:31 am

Liveblogging the Microsoft Earnings Call: Glum Chris at the Recessiondome [BoomTown]

Well, despite the news being as bad at Microsoft as it was at Yahoo (YHOO) earlier this week, the conference call after the software giant released its third-quarter earnings was 100 percent less naughty and 200 percent more glum.

In other words, while there were no F-bombs dropped, there were lots of E-bombs–as in econalypse.

Microsoft’s earnings and revenues took a big hit in its third quarter, with profits down 32 percent from a year ago, on a six percent sales decline.

It was the company’s first-ever year-over-year quarterly sales drop.

There were also more than $700 million in charges from layoffs and investment declines, both a result of the weak economy. The culprit for most of the bad news was the decline in consumer and business spending on computers.

And Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell did not even bother to act as if there was any hope, painting a semi-apocalyptic picture of the business landscape that he predicted was not going to get better anytime soon.

Here’s BoomTown’s liveblogging of the call:

2:34 pm PST: The call starts after some very stern marshal music was playing. This turns out to be the perfect mood-setter.

First up, the investor relations guy who talks about all the rules, like those folks that come on after, say, a Viagra commercial and quickly list the scary side effects.

But scary was what Lidell was serving up from the get-go, as he pretty much spent the entire conference call talking about just how bad the economy has been, is and will be.

What’s most disconcerting perhaps is the fact that he was delivering the bad news in a cute-as-a-kiwi New Zealand accent.

Nonetheless, Liddell said the company had had to “adapt to a new reality” and that Microsoft was “more cautious than most about the state of the world economy” and–let’s not forget–the “economic pressures are both broad and deep.”

Liddell also noted the recovery will not happen quickly, but be “slow and gradual.”

Perhaps this is not the right time to mention that both Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) essentially killed in their recent earnings reports.

2:38 pm PST: Microsoft’s investor relations head Bill Koefoed–without any jaunty inflection whatsoever–delivered the numbers in that droning way that all financial types who deliver numbers on calls like this do.

My assistant, Ed, actually fell into a temporary coma from across the room.

Basic message of numbers: Bad.

2:54 pm: Back to Liddell for some forward-looking stuff.

Also not good, with consumer sentiment and spending weak, he said, there would be “significant pressure until market conditions improve.”

“In summary, it was a tough quarter,” reiterated Liddell, restating what he already stated and stated again. And then restated.

2:59 pm: Now to questions! Maybe things will look up here.

But…nope!

Thus, more worries about Microsoft’s growth, a weakness in sales and even some clucking over renewal rates of its operating system software licenses.

Then someone noted that it seemed as if Microsoft at least had its “arms around” the problems.

Would Lidell show any glimmer of hope?

“I guess we are all learning…how do I feel about the shape of the quarter [to come]?,” he pondered.

Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it. Said Liddell, the sad-sack CFO: “I do not see anything that gives me any encouragement.”

Big, big sigh.

3:16 pm: Someone asked about one remark Liddell made about some “countercyclical” products, which might be bright spots in the Microsoft empire.

Indeed, new versions of the Windows operating system, Office, Exchange and its search offering are all set to come out in the next year.

Will they be gamechangers? Liddell was not saying, of course.

Finally, at the end, after a question about stock repurchases, there was finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

No matter what, Microsoft is still a cash-spewing engine.

“One of the great positives,” said Liddell was the company’s free cash flow of $20 billion, at an annual rate.

In other words, there is nothing like money stuffed under the mattress in times like these.

Source: All Things Digital | 24 Apr 2009 | 1:02 am

Czech Cloud Startup Good Data Raises Funding From Marc Andreessen And Others

Good Data, a startup founded in the Czech Republic and with headquarters in San Francisco, has closed a second round of financing - $2.5 million from Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, OATV and General Catalyst. The company has now raised a total of around $4.5 million in capital.

You don’t see a lot of startups coming out of Eastern Europe, and even fewer who receive Silicon Valley capital. But founder Roman Stanek is an exception and a highly fundable individual. He sold his first startup, NetBeans, to Sun for $10 million and his second, Systinet, to Mercury Interactive/HP for $105 million. And like his previous startups, Stanek has perfected the running of a tech company with operations in both the U.S. and Prague.

Good Data is disrupting a highly lucrative multi-billion dollar market - data analytics. This is a sector dominated by huge software companies like IBM (via their Cognos acquisition), SAP (via Business Objects) and Oracle (via Hyperion). Companies pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the software, plus large yearly maintenance fees. And now Good Data is offering a cloud based solution. For free.

Well, not free forever. It’s in open beta currently and there’s no charge at all for the dozen or so companies and hundreds of individuals testing the service. Eventually they’ll start charging a usage fee - they say they’re still finalizing how and what they’ll charge - but it will be far, far lower than the current solutions.

The company is entirely run on Amazon web services and boasts that they don’t own or lease a single server. That keeps their fixed costs down to a minimum, with zero capital expenditures and less need to worry about scaling. Too see more about the service check out the demo videos here.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:44 am

Review: A Day with the Strida Folding Bike [Verdict: Wear a Cup]

After eying the Strida for a good two years, I finally had the chance to ride and manhandle one this week, when I demo'd the folding bike at Pop-Up Magazine. The short of it: The Strida excels at being one of the quickest, easiest folders I've broken down and put back together -- but it is also one of the most testicle-threatening little bikes I've ridden.

Details after the jump, but for now enjoy this Strida commercial from Japan (awesome, despite the fact I have no idea what they're saying).

I'm no stranger to the range of decent to not-so-decent folding bikes from makers like Dahon, Brompton, Breezer and Birdy. Not one of them is perfect for every ride or rider. Dahon offers excellent sporty components (for a price). Brompton makes a luxurious city cruiser (a bit on the heavy side). Point being: if you want to be George Jetson, you've got to be comfortable with some trade-offs.

The Good: Instead of a greasy chain, the Strida features a Kevlar belt drive (great if you're commuting to work in decent pants). The ergonomic grips provide excellent padding for your palms and the seat is equally comfy. After about an hour in total, I was able to get the folding and unfolding down to about 15 seconds give or take. Intelligent design: magnets on each of the wheels hold the two wheels together when folded (some of Dahon's bikes do this, too). The disc break brakes are solid, which leads me to the...

Not-So-Good: Slamming the breaks, especially on a downwhill, will forcefully thrust your junk into the frame. There is no way to avoid this. Believe me. The triangular design is unique and smart, but creates a roadblock your manstuff will simply not appreciate. On the plus side, if you learn to break slowly, incrementally and carefully over time, the frame-smacking can be avoided.

Good-to-Know, also: This ride wasn't designed for hills, at all. It's a single-speed with tiny wheels and a seat that doesn't necessarily offer the longest of strides a particularly tall rider would want (not an issue for me, just saying).

Overall, for $800, you can sit atop a user-friendly, smooth-riding folder that's great for mostly-flat commuting. But again, that's only provided you ride safely. And by safely, I mean: break brake like a surgeon or wear a jockstrap and cup. Or maybe both.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:33 am

Yahoo to close GeoCities, other services in revamp (AP)

AP - Yahoo Inc. said Thursday it plans to close GeoCities, a Web site publishing and hosting service it bought in May 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom for around $3 billion in stock.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:19 am

T-Mobile announces 1 million G1s sold

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones

A quiet celebration took place in T-Mobile headquarters?  What is there to celebrate today with the economy in mind, you ask?  Not much, but T-Mobile’s G1 reached it’s one millionth sale and it is the most popular 3G phone on their network. 

For Google Android and T-Mobile fans, you must be happy that the G1 has reached one million sales, but the fact remains that the iPhone is a lot more popular than the G1.  Take, for instance, the iPhone 3G was sold 1.6 million times in the last quarter and it took T-Mobile from October-April to sell the G1 one million times.  Ironically enough, T-Mobile announced this feat on the same day Apple announced that one billion apps were downloaded from their App Store.  Any way you look at it, the iPhone has always sold strong and will probably remain selling well.  T-Mobile can’t celebrate just yet until they can really fight the iPhone, whether it be with the G1, the G2, or any other future smartphone. 

Unfortunately for T-Mobile, they are still fourth most popular cell phone carrier in America, and recent profit sales and user subscriptions have declined over time.  It will still take some work, new phones, and original thinking to put T-Mobile back in the race and make them a real threat to Verizon and AT&T. 

Read [Electronista]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:13 am

2,000 Food Bloggers Flock to Foodbuzz Fueling 1000% Annual Growth and Creating the Third Largest Online Food Property

SAN FRANCISCO, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Foodbuzz announced today that is has surpassed 2,000 food bloggers in its online food community.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:08 am

Zero Remains A Popular App Download Number Among Non-iPhone Owners

Apps on the iPhone are huge. We know that. As if we needed more proof, Apple moved its billionth app earlier this afternoon. But some recent data from Compete suggests that smartphone owners who don’t have an iPhone, apparently don’t love apps. Or at least, don’t download them.

If you look at the graph below, you’ll see that iPhone owners are very diversified in the number of apps they download. Some have only 1-5, some 6-10, some over 31 (that’s me — several times over), etc. But look at the other phones surveyed. A lot of them haven’t downloaded any apps. And those that don’t have zero, seem to prefer downloading only 1-5.

Now you see why all of the other smartphone manufacturers are rushing to get their own app store solutions. Of the phones in this list, only BlackBerry has a real rival app store right now — and it just launched. It’s worth noting that Google’s Android platform was not included in the quarterly survey of 1,000 smartphone owners. Its app store, Android Market, has seen the second most amount of activity in terms of downloads behind the iPhone. But it is far behind the iPhone.

The other question asked in the survey is also somewhat interesting. While iPhone users love apps, they’re apparently not as willing to pay as much for them as much as other smartphone owners are. For exmple, 16% of Motorola smartphone owners said they would spend over $50 on an app. Only 1% of iPhone owners would pay that price. Of course, iPhone owners are spoiled with a ton of apps priced much less than that. Motorola users, forced to live in a barren wasteland of basically no apps, will gladly pay for something, anything, apparently.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:04 am

Naked man tasered at Coachella for refusing to wear wizard's robe

A naked man at the Coachella festival didn't want to put on his clothes, so the police wrestled him to the ground and tasered him multiple times. The crowd, who didn't seem to mind the naked wizard, booed the police, and called them names. Thanks to Tracy Anderson for videotaping the event. (Video shows nudity.)


Source: Boing Boing | 24 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am

Boing Boing Video Nominated for Multiple Webby Awards. Hey, Vote for Us!

Boing Boing Video (formerly Boing Boing TV) has been selected as a nominee for the 13th Annual Webby Awards in three categories, and has been selected as an Official Honoree in a fourth category.

Huge, heartfelt, and humble thanks to everyone who made this possible, all contributors, cast, crew, and partners, past and present.

In this blog post (above, below, and after the jump) we've embedded the highlights reels we submitted to the Webby Award judges for consideration.

Above, TECHNOLOGY (Download MP4 here), and below, VARIETY (Download MP4 here).

After the jump, WEIRD/EXPERIMENTAL (Download MP4 here), and BEST HOST ( Download MP4 here).

The Webby Award recipients are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, but the online public chooses the Webby People's Voice Award. Online voting for that award is under way, and ends April 30.

If you dig the work we've done over the past couple of years in original video content, I hope you'll consider voting for Boing Boing Video here.

RSS feed for new episodes here, YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video.

BOING BOING WOULD LIKE TO THANK all the Boing Boing Video / Boing Boing TV cast, crew, production team members, contributors, and partners, past and present. We would also like to express gratitude to everyone at DECA who helped us launch Boing Boing TV; to the team at Federated Media; to delivery and distribution partners including Episodic, YouTube, Apple iTunes, Virgin America, and Castfire. And very special thanks and respect to Dr. M.X. Quetzalkanbalam.

Above: Boing Boing Video's highlights reel for "Best Reality/Variety Host"

Above: Boing Boing Video's highlights reel for "Weird and Experimental."

Source: Boing Boing | 23 Apr 2009 | 11:56 pm

Yahoo Pulls the Plug On GeoCities

Mike writes "It's official: Yahoo is pulling the plug, and GeoCities is dead. GeoCities had suffered a long and drawn-out battle with its health over the past decade. An antiquated service model and outdated technology are widely blamed for the struggle. An official cause of death, however, has yet to be determined. Awful, eye-punishing graphics, lack of relevancy, and 'lowest-common-denominator design' are believed to have contributed to its demise. GeoCities was 15 years old." There is doubtless a lot of funny and informative stuff on there that's worth saving (not just Jesux, which pudge has now migrated). If some of it belongs to you, perhaps you should move it sometime in the next few months.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Apr 2009 | 11:40 pm

Southwest Mississippi Unveils Regional Economic Development Plan

Summit of Local, State Officials, Economic Developers and Business Leaders Aims To Boost Area Growth, Jobs BUDE, Miss., April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Mississippi is poised to attract a major new employer to the region in the next 12 to 14 months, it was announced Thursday. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090319/CG86339) Leaders of the Southwest Mississippi Partnership, a 10-county consortium of economic developers, business executives and local and state officials, unveiled a new economic development plan for the region that targets three industry areas -- biomass and bio fuel production from forest product residues, distribution centers, and food products and processing -- for future growth and job expansion. The plan, developed by a 20-member task force comprised of representatives from Momentum Mississippi, the Mississippi Development Authority, local and state government and business leaders, Entergy Mississippi and the Electric Power Associations of Mississippi, concludes that the source most likely to create new jobs by 2010 will come from the region's massive timber resources. Details of the plan were revealed at a Southwest Economic Development conference attended by 150 local state and elected officials, economic developers and business leaders on Wednesday at Okhissa Lake.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Apr 2009 | 11:15 pm

Awesome collection of historical Apple items up for sale

FROM APPLETELL - Blair Saldanah is selling off his collection of historical Apple memorabilia, including an Apple Macintosh Portable Computer, a PowerBook Duo 210, and all manner of buttons, brochures, manuals, T-shirts and more.
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 23 Apr 2009 | 11:11 pm

Meebo Brings Real-Time Chat To myYearbook

Meebo’s Community IM is getting its biggest vote of confidence yet tonight, when it is deployed on popular social network myYearbook. Community IM is Meebo’s answer to Facebook Chat, offering publishers and social networks a way to introduce a persistent chat bar at the bottom of their sites without having to develop one on their own. And while Meebo had deployed the product to 25 partner sites before now, myYearbook is the largest by a substantial margin, with over nine million monthly unique visitors.

We’ve known this was coming for a long time - in fact, we reported on it when Meebo’s Community IM product was first announced last July. But Meebo took its time to actually roll out the product, having only launched it on three partner sites by the end of January 2009. Since then, things have been moving much more quickly, with Community IM now live on 25 sites. Meebo also has over 65 total partners signed.

Meebo is really nailing it with Community IM, offering publishers a way to increase engagement while at the same time giving them another source of revenue (it’s bringing its highly performing interactive ad platform to partners next month). Add that to the fact that real-time community toolbars seem to be quickly becoming the norm (even YouTube is testing its own), and it looks like Meebo won’t have any shortage of partners to deploy Community IM to.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 11:02 pm

Van Natta in at MySpace: Appointment to Be Announced Tomorrow [BoomTown]

Former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta will be named CEO of MySpace, as early as tomorrow, said sources close to the situation.

He will replace CEO and Co-Founder Chris DeWolfe, who stepped down from the job yesterday. DeWolfe will remain a strategic adviser at MySpace.

News Corp. declined comment.

No other top execs at the huge social networking site will be named yet, as some have reported.

Instead, it will be up to Van Natta, who will work closely with new News Corp. digital head Jon Miller, to energize the current staff and also recruit new talent to MySpace, which has seen its buzz and momentum wane in the face of the juggernaut growth of Facebook.

Nonetheless, MySpace is still the largest social network in the U.S., although Facebook is close to surpassing its size.

All Things Digital broke the news yesterday that Van Natta was the top choice of News Corp., which owns MySpace.

(News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

In his new job, Van Natta has a lot of challenges, including: reinvigorating the MySpace brand; upgrading its technology; adding more innovation to its feature set; continuing to grow its nascent advertising business; and also dealing with the expected end to its lucrative online ad deal with Google (GOOG).

He also must play deft diplomat at MySpace, where many remain loyal to DeWolfe and also Co-Founder Tom Anderson. Anderson was in talks to step down as president yesterday, for an unspecified new role in the company. He currently remains president.

Van Natta knows from tense company politics. He left Facebook last year, after serving as its COO and also chief revenue officer, after his relationship with Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg foundered.

But, before that, he was key to striking its lucrative search and advertising deal with Microsoft (MSFT), as well as negotiating the $240 million investment by the software giant that valued Facebook at an eye-popping $15 billion.

Van Natta has most recently been running Project Playlist, a controversial music-sharing site.

A purchase of the start-up is not part of this deal, sources said, as it had been in previous talks Van Natta has had with News Corp. about other digital jobs.

Previous to Facebook, Van Natta worked at Amazon (AMZN) in a number of capacities.

Source: All Things Digital | 23 Apr 2009 | 10:54 pm

Opting Out Increases Spam?

J. L. Tympanum writes "I used to ignore spam but recently I have been using the opt-out feature. Now I get more spam than ever, especially of the Nigerian scam (and related) types. The latter has gone from almost none to several a day. Was I a fool for opting out? Is my email address being harvested when I opt out? Has anybody had similar experience?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Apr 2009 | 10:35 pm

Latest Twitter Bug: “Misdelivery of Direct Messages”

For better or for worse, we’ve sort of gotten used to the occasional downtime, lost profile images, and other quirky phenomena that strike Twitter as it goes through its never-ending growing pains. But this crosses the line.

This morning Twitter made a post to its official status blog stating that it was, among other things, having problems with phone settings, profile photos, and misdelivery of direct messages. You know, the ones that are supposed to be private. Twitter is blaming the problem on an “underlying data inconsistency in our service”. An update to the blog post at 5:55 AM this morning stated that the issue had been fixed, and that Twitter was in the process of “putting everything back in its right place”, which is apparently still ongoing.

It’s one thing for Direct Messages to suck from a functionality standpoint (Twitter’s DM feature is really basic). But it’s another thing entirely for these messages to start going to the wrong people. Imagine if Gmail or Facebook started accidentally sending your messages to the wrong person - it’s a breach of user trust. Twitter did the right thing by reporting it on its blog (though we’ve gotten a few tips from confused users who are getting messages from strangers), but this sort of thing just can’t happen.

Thanks to Pierre Fontenelle for the tip.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 10:28 pm

Stolen laptops cost dearly

Section: Computers, Laptops, Security

Intel’s study of notebook security has revealed that lost and stolen laptops cost companies an average of nearly $50,000.  This is because the value of the computer includes the data it held as well as the device itself.

A senior executive’s notebook is valued at $28,449 while a director or manager’s is worth around $60,000.  Thousands of laptops are left behind in taxis and planes and are stolen from airports and transit hubs each year.

Poison Pill

While the most obvious way to cut down on laptop loss is for owners to simply be more careful, data encryption can prevent confidential info from falling into the wrong hands.
Intel has developed technology that plants a “poison pill” on a laptop which can be triggered by a remote server if the laptop is lost or stolen.  It locks the computer, making it useless.

“I’m right here!” says misplaced notebook

Another interesting anti-theft technology is LoJack.  Used for years in cars, there is also a version for laptops and it works in much the same way.  Once installed and activated, if the laptop is stolen, the owner calls in and notifies LoJack.  As soon as the thief goes online, LoJack can trace their location and recover the laptop.  They can also wipe the hard drive at the owner’s request.

Have you ever lost your laptop or had it stolen? Tell us about it!

Read [CNet]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 23 Apr 2009 | 10:21 pm

Paid Online News Venture Fails To Get Subscribers

Ian Lamont writes "The idea of migrating people from free online news content to paid subscriptions has been dealt a blow. A venture meant to fill the void left by the print Rocky Mountain Times has attracted 3,000 subscribers — just 6% of its original goal of reaching 50,000 paid subscribers by Thursday. InDenverTimes.com is currently free, but the plan was to have gated premium content starting next month for a $5/month subscription. The project has entrepreneurial backing and articles from journalists who used to work for the print-focused Rocky Mountain News, which closed last month. However, a lack of paying subscribers and low online ad rates means that the venture might have to scale back its ambitions."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:49 pm

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Scientists sequence the bovine genome CHAMPAIGN, Ill., April 23 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international consortium of scientists says it has sequenced the bovine genome, showing the genetic features that separate cattle from humans. The six-year effort has produced the first full genome sequence of any ruminant species, officials said, consisting of at least 22,000-protein coding genes and more similar to that of humans than to the genomes of mice or rats. University of Illinois Professor Harris Lewin said the cattle genome appears to have been significantly reorganized since its lineage diverged from those of other mammals. Among the mammals, cattle have one of the more highly rearranged genomes, Lewin said.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:48 pm

Rumor: Best Buy reducing select games to $9.99 on April 26, 2009

FROM GAMERTELL - Reportedly, a huge Best Buy video game sale will begin April 26, 2009. If the ad is real, games will be reduced to $9.99 for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2 and DS.
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:45 pm

More Bad News: The Curtains Close On Lycos Cinema

It’s been a bad day for the Internet’s old guard. This morning we reported that Yahoo was pulling the plug on Geocities. Now we’ve learned that Lycos Cinema, one of the social media projects created by the once-massively popular web portal, is closing its doors. Granted, Lycos has been under new ownership for years and has been trying to get a foothold in markets unrelated to the web portal/search engine that made its famous, but it’s still a name many of us associate with the late 90’s, when it was among the most trafficked sites in the world.

Lycos Cinema launched over two years ago, with the promise of letting friends watch videos from different computers at the same time using ’simulstream’ technology, which was supposed to mimic the social experience of watching a movie in a movie theatre or over at a friend’s house. The site got a big upgrade last May, when it launched a new chat client and a revamped interface.

Unfortunately, it looks like Lycos Cinema never got over its biggest obstacle: a lack of content. We wrote last year that the site hadn’t signed any of the major studios, and by the looks of the current library this never changed. The only studio listed is ‘National Lampoon’, and I can honestly say that I haven’t heard of 90% of the movies featured on the site’s homepage. That may have flown a few years ago, but with sites like Hulu and TV.com offering recent movies and TV shows, there just wasn’t much of a reason to head to Lycos Cinema.

According to the notice at the top of the site, Lycos Cinema will close on April 29th.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:40 pm

Afghanistan opens its first national park

The Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency says it has established that country's first internationally recognized national park. The United States Agency for International Development provided key funding for the park's creation, while the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York conducted preliminary wildlife surveys and helped identify and delineate the park's boundaries. Known as Band-e-Amir, the park will protect one of Afghanistan's best-known natural areas -- a series of six deep blue lakes separated by natural dams made of travertine, a mineral deposit.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:39 pm

Scientists identify 39 bacterial pathogens

German scientists say they have identified 39 bacterial pathogens that use toxins to manipulate human host cells to create infections. The researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry and the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine said several bacterial pathogens use toxins to manipulate human host cells, but until now scientists have been able to identify only a few of the proteins that interact with bacterial toxins.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:35 pm

Boing Boing apartment in Comcast Town

Comcast (a BB sponsor) is holding a contest in which you design your own virtual apartment in "Comcast Town." They invited Boing Boing to judge but, even more fun, they asked us to suggest some Boing Boing furniture that people could use to decorate their pads! Above is the living room I designed. (I'm obviously not eligible to win. Sniff, sniff.) Notice the steampunk computer, carnivorous plant, and Flying Spaghetti Monster statue. I think the illustrator did a terrific job. In fact, I wish it was my real living room! The grand prize winning design gets a real-world room remodel, 40-inch HDTV, a new laptop, and a digital phone. I'm just helping select the ten finalists -- then it's up to The People. Comcast Town (Flash site)


Source: Boing Boing | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:34 pm

Molecule predicted by theory discovered

German-led scientists say they have observed for the first time a rare molecule, the existence of which has until now only been predicted by theory. The researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the University of Oklahoma told the BBC the so-called Rydberg molecule was theorized to form when one of its two atoms has an electron orbiting at an extreme distance from the atom's nucleus. First predicted by physicist Chris Greene of the University of Colorado, the existence of the Rydberg molecule is consistent with quantum theories proposed in 1934 by Nobel prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, the researchers said. The scientists said they observed a Rydberg molecule by super-cooling rubidium molecules to a temperature near absolute zero -- minus 273 degrees Celsius. We use an ultracold cloud of rubidium -- as you cool it, the atoms in the gas move closer together, Professor Vera Bendkowsky, who led the study at the University of Stuttgart, told the BBC.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:33 pm

Plants absorb more carbon under hazy skies

British scientists say they've found plants absorb carbon dioxide more efficiently under Earth's polluted skies than they would in cleaner settings. Surprisingly, the effects of atmospheric pollution seem to have enhanced global plant productivity by as much as a quarter from 1960 to 1999, said lead author Lina Mercado of the Center for Ecology & Hydrology.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:29 pm

Review: An evening with Black Diamond's Orbit lantern

I live in a quiet, hilly neighborhood in San Francisco near two parks with great running trails and killer views of the bay. Neither park has street lights, though, so it's a good idea to head out with a flashlight. Black Diamond Equipment makes a compact, 1-watt LED lantern called the Orbit. It emits this smooth, circular ambient light about six feet in diameter that makes everything from pavement cracks to poop smears surprisingly visible even when it's pitch dark out. It also stands upright, which is great if you're just hanging out in one spot, and the light is consistent and smooth, unlike the flickery yellow of most flashlights and candles. The Orbit is actually designed for outdoorsy stuff like camping and backpacking, so it has little hooks that attach to tents and trees and is super lightweight (3oz). I like that you can adjust the brightness with the on/off button and pull the base of the lantern out to extend it from 4 to 5.5 inches in length. It runs on four AAAs or an optional rechargeable battery.

At $30, it's one of the neatest-looking, practical flashlight alternatives out there.

Product page [Black Diamond Equipment]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:21 pm

Anti-malaria parasite chemical developed

British scientists say they have created chemical compounds that kill the most deadly malaria parasites, including those resistant to existing drugs. The University of Leeds researchers said the compounds work by preventing the enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, which is essential to the growth of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, from working. Without this enzyme, Plasmodium falciparum is unable to grow and therefore it dies, said lead researcher Glenn McConkey.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:18 pm

More Palm Pre in the wild photos

So, Laurence Toney or @lo_toney as he likes to be called on Twitter decided to flaunt the Pre he presumably has in his possession on Twitpic. I don’t know who he is and why he has a Pre but he’s a “busy Internet exec” and is some VP of Product and Marketing at Cake Financial. Anyway, he took some craptacular photos on his iPhone of the YouTube client and what appears to be the e-mail composition screen. Both are too blurry to note any significant details, but it’s out there and it’s just a bunch of random folk with the device.

Wild Pre

via Everything Pre

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:11 pm

Chinese Hackers Targeting NYPD Computers

Mike writes "A network of hackers, most based in China, have been making up to 70,000 attempts a day to break into the NYPD's computer system, the city's Commissioner, Raymond Kelly, revealed Wednesday. Kelly suggested that 'perhaps it is because of the NYPD's reach into the international arena' that they are being targeted for computer hacking 'in much the way the Pentagon has been.' The hackers are apparently using a botnet to make up to 5,000 attempts a day at various unsecured portals into the NYPD's files. China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang denied involvement in computer espionage. 'Some people outside of China are bent on fabricating lies of so-called Chinese computer spies,' he said last month. The obvious question is, why are the Chinese so interested in the NYPD computer network?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:05 pm

YouTube gets more social with RealTime

Section: Web, Web 2.0, Websites, Online Music/Video

YouTube is launching a new feature called “YouTube RealTime” to only 100 invited users.  Here’s how it will work.  There will be a new toolbar on the bottom right of the page.  You’ll be able to see who’s online and who’s not, what they’re watching, and some info on their recent history on YouTube.  From the sounds of it, it should be similar to the toolbar that shows up when you hit Facebook.

To be included in that 100, you had to be one of the first 100 to comment to YouTube’s blog post.  This seems like an interesting experiment by YouTube to get some buzz going.  People already waste hours on YouTube.  By seeing what your friends are doing online and what they’re watching, you’ve got the ability to lose days. 

At last count there were over 100 comments.  Did you get in to the beta?  What do you think?

Read: [YouTube Blog]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 23 Apr 2009 | 9:01 pm

Auto-Tune the news - everything sounds better

Jim Leftwich says: "Musical remixing of the news by brothers Michael and Andrew Gregory. The Katie Couric part (at about 1:20, above) is pretty awesome."

Here's another episode of Auto-Tune the News.

Can't see the video? Click here

Source: Boing Boing | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:59 pm

Review: 2XL’s Supercross for the iPhone

Quick Version: Very few developers have pushed out games for the iPhone that are AAA titles, but even fewer developers have produced AAA iPhone titles their first time around. 2XL happens to be one of them and it’s no surprise that Supercross is one of the best selling titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch. They’ve managed to translate their console and PC experience that dates back to 1994 over to the iPhone platform without overdoing it like others have, and just keeping things simple.

Extended Version:The first thing you see when firing up Supercross is the backside of a very sweet and charming UFC-like ringside girl while the intro video loads, which consists of video from events and credits of who did what. There are 13 tracks total, including a practice course with jumps, bumps and everything you’d expect from a supercross course. Three of the 12 racetracks are unlocked with the nine remaining courses waiting in the wings.

You can pick from 15 different bikes of various colors that are grouped into the 450cc, 250cc and 125cc class. You’ve got five colors each within those groups, but they don’t seem to perform differently. You can also pick your rider to match the color of your bike.

From there you’ll pick between a time trial, practice or race as well as one difficulty mode ranging from easy to hard. Once you’ve gotten all of that done, you’ll be sent to the starting gate. You can pick from four different camera angles like any other racer game and game control is simple, but effective. On the lower right corner you have a red and green icon for braking and accelerating. On the opposite corner you have a spring icon for preloading. Or you can customize the controls in one of four different setups for left- and right-handed users. Sensitivity can also be adjusted in case the default setting is too finicky for you.

Maneuvering around the track takes a slight tilt of the iPhone/iPod Touch to the left or right and tilting forward or backward will shift weight to the front or rear of the bike. Depending on which setup you’ve selected, of course. Think of it as ExciteBike but on steroids. It works perfectly with the built-in accelerometer. I suck so I’m still practicing after a couple weeks and probably have no chance of unlocking the other tracks, but I’m sure going to try my hardest.

Conclusion: The only knock I have on Supercross is the price as it’s a bit steep at $7.99. But it’s worth the price considering the amount of craptacular games at the $4.99 and $7.99 price point. It’s also worth noting that the lead track designer Stephane Roncada is a former Supercross champ. The rest of the crew at 2XL are cut from the same jib, so they get the offroad lifestyle and know what works and what doesn’t. I would have also liked to have seen some more of those ringside models trotting around. Heh. This is a must-have title for any motorbike enthusiast with an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.

iTunes

2XL Supercross

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:47 pm

Apple’s App Store: 1 Billion Served

Well, it finally happened. Apple just delivered its 1 Billionth application download from the App Store, which currently features over 25,000 apps (35,000 by one estimate) built by thousands of developers. The significance of the milestone (besides just the 1 billion mark) is that it's taken only nine months from when the App Store launched on iTunes to hit 1 billion paid and unpaid downloads. Last summer, Apple sold one million 3G iPhones worldwide across 21 countries in the first 3 days on sale. During that same time, iPhone users made 10 million app downloads from the then newly launched iTunes App Store. The count was at 200 million in early December, and the App Store hit 500 million downloads by January 19th. It took Apple six months to reach the first 500 million downloads. It would take Apple only 95 days to get another 500 billion downloads. By March, 2009, it was at 800 million. We started keeping track via Apple's billion-app countdown at around 928,077,779. Apple also offered us a fleeting glimpse of the most popular apps ever, something the company only did once before.

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:46 pm

Florrie Fisher in "The Trip Back" (part 1)

I didn't know there was a real life inspiration for the Amy Sedaris's character Jerri Blank in Strangers with Candy. Here's Florrie Fisher talking to high school students about drug addiction. (via Save vs. Death)


Source: Boing Boing | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:37 pm

Gadgetell Giveaways: Pantech Matrix Pro and the Hava Gold

Section: Features, Contests

Hey, folks.  Just a reminder that we are giving away the Pantech Matrix Pro dual slider cell phone and a Hava Gold.  You have til the end of today to enter for the Pantech Matrix Pro.  The Hava Gold contest is open until the end of the month.

How can you enter?

• Enter the Pantech Matrix Pro giveaway
• Enter the Hava Gold giveaway (it placeshifts your TV)

Related Reviews:

• Pantech Matrix Pro
• Hava Titanium HD

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:25 pm

Waterboard torture memo set to music

(Via Andrew Sullivan)

Can't see the video? Click here

Source: Boing Boing | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:19 pm

Scientists Complete Cow Genome Sequence

Scientists from the University of Maryland have published a new version of the genome of the domestic cow, known as Bos Taurus, which considerably improves previous assemblies in terms of accuracy and totality.The new cattle sequence took six years to complete, annotate and analyze and has involved over 300 scientists from 25 countries.Sequencing of the bovine genome provides new information about mammalian evolution as well as cattle-specific biology, and points the way to research that could result in more sustainable food production in a world challenged by global population growth, said a consortium of researchers led by the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center in two reports that appear today in the journal Science.The researchers, led by Steven Salzberg, developed customized software to assemble 35 million DNA sequence fragments into the 30 chromosomes that make up the Bos taurus genome.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:15 pm

AMD Overclocks New Phenom II X4 To 7 GHz

CWmike writes "Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday introduced the latest member of its Phenom II X4 family of high-performance quad-core CPUs, which the No. 2 chip maker said it had run as fast as 7 GHz in extreme overclocking tests. Out of the box, the new X4 955 Black Edition, which is aimed at gamers and hobbyists, runs at 3.2 GHz, giving it similar performance to Intel's fastest desktop chips at lower cost, AMD says. The company was able to more than double the CPU's speed during its tests using extreme cooling technology that is not safe at home, said Brent Barry, an AMD product manager. The Web site Ripping.org notes that hobbyists with early access to the X4 955 chip have been able to clock it at up to 6.7 GHz. AMD said the chip was safe with fan cooling at up to 3.8 GHz."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Apr 2009 | 8:03 pm

Study finds worm is actually two species

Swedish scientists say animals that seem identical may belong to utterly different species, meaning there may be more species on Earth than thought. University of Gothenburg researchers led by Professor Christer Erseus and doctoral student Daniel Gustavsson used DNA analysis to discover one of the Earth's most common segmented worms is actually two types of worm. We could be talking about a large number of species that have existed undiscovered because they resemble other known species, said Erseus.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Apr 2009 | 7:58 pm

George Will: Steve Jobs is an infantile poser

The excellent conservative writer George Will has an amusing, if very old-mannish rant up about denim, which to him is an emblem of America's disordered national psyche. There's a great bit in the middle, echoing a line from a Daniel Akst piece from the WSJ:

Long ago, when James Dean and Marlon Brando wore it, denim was, Akst says, "a symbol of youthful defiance." Today, Silicon Valley billionaires are rebels without causes beyond poses, wearing jeans when introducing new products. Akst's summa contra denim is grand as far as it goes, but it only scratches the surface of this blight on Americans' surfaces. Denim is the infantile uniform of a nation in which entertainment frequently features childlike adults...

There's a good response from Bleat.

Yes, it's really Akst's thought with the dial up to 11. But there is no picture of Akst in a bow tie that you just know is being worn with a matching elastic belt.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 23 Apr 2009 | 7:53 pm

Cow's Genetic Code Cracked

The genome of the domestic cow is decoded, revealing a similarity to human chromosomes.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Apr 2009 | 7:50 pm

The Pirate Google Bay raises its flags

Section: Computers, Networking, Web, Downloads, Web Browsers, Websites, Online Music/Video, Google

When, oh when, are they gonna learn it is pretty much senseless to even attempt to hunt down the pirates?  Right or wrong, P2P file sharing happens.  And suing the creators of the popular Pirate Bay isn’t gonna stop it.  And now, in a rather obvious attempt to support that fact, someone went out and created a The Pirate Google Bay.  And you have to appreciate how bright and colorful they made their ship!

The Pirate Google Bay is a custom Google search made to find torrent files.  They say right on their home page that:

“Please Note: This site is not affiliated with Google, it simply makes use of Google Custom Search to restrict your searches to Torrent files. You can do this with any regular Google search by appending your query with filetype:torrent.”

But slapping the “Google” name right on there sure makes it sound all official like, eh?  Ahhhh….I can see a lawsuit against Google brewing anyway.  That one should be entertaining.  I mean, even a recent article in Forbes magazine said that Google itself is an incredibly efficient torrent tracker.  That’s not any big secret.

You could already find any torrents you wanted on Google, but this site just made it a tad easier for you.  And when the torrent police come to this site and run helter-skelter trying to shut down every directory they find containing them new ones are going to just keep popping up.

So, what does this teach us?  They are going after the ones they thought they could get obviously.  Google is also an “information trawler”, whereas Pirate Bay is pretty much a clear cut “administered aggregate.”  Well, that and Google has zillions of dollars to fight back, and Pirate Bay is just four guys in their twenties. 

I wonder how long the creator will be able to keep this site up with that name before Google has a canary.  Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

via: gizmodo

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 23 Apr 2009 | 7:37 pm

How Tor Helps Both Dissidents and the Police

Al writes "Technology Review has a in-depth article about the anonymous networking software Tor and how it is helping dissidents spread information in oppressive regimes such as Syria, Zimbabwe and Mauritania, and opening up the unfiltered web for users in many more countries. In China, for instance, the computers found in some web cafes are configured to use Tor automatically. Interestingly, some police agencies even use the software to hide their activity from suspects. As filtering becomes ever more common in democratic countries such as the US, perhaps Tor (and similar tools such as I2P), will become even more valuable."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Apr 2009 | 7:18 pm

Pirate Bay Judge Exposed as Member of Pro-Copyright Groups

The Pirate Bay's lawyers are seeking a new trial after Swedish National Radio discovered that judge Thomas Norström is a member of some of the same pro-copyright groups as the entertainment industry representatives who appeared in his courtroom.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Apr 2009 | 7:00 pm

Skyfire for BlackBerry Alpha gets exhaustively leaked

We’re big fans of the Skyfire browser around these parts, largely due to its ability to chew up and spit out Flash video on Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets. When we heard that Skyfire was coming to BlackBerry a few months ago, we got all kinds of giddy. With this latest leak, we’re even more excited.

While it’s not quite ready for the masses yet, CrackBerry managed to scrounge up an alpha copy of the BlackBerry port. While they say it’s looking good so far, they do mention that it “still has a ways to go.”

The rundown:

• The social features (Twitter, Facebook, and RSS feeds on the homescreen) introduced in v0.9 have all made their way over
• Flash works, complete with a break-out fullscreen mode for optimal viewing and mutable audio
• Hulu and Youtube were both tested and work, though Youtube “seems a little jumbled up”

We can’t wait. Alas, the vibe we’re getting from Skyfire is that it’ll still be a good while before we see this thing open up to the public. In the mean time, pop over to CrackBerry for more details and a plethora of pics.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 23 Apr 2009 | 6:48 pm

Dell Goes in for Plastic Surgery

Dell has been long been the Ugly Betty of the PC industry--functional, smart but severely lacking in the looks department.

But over the last two years, the company's consumer-targeted PCs have gotten a design makeover that would make Tyra Banks proud. Dell's latest machines offers sleek designs; unusual materials such as fabric, bamboo and leather; and striking covers designed by graffiti artists. 

"You are seeing the switch from total utilitarian, speed-and-specs kind of thinking to something that will fit the personality of consumer," says Ed Boyd, vice president of consumer products at Dell. "It’s the same transformation you saw in cellphone and the automotive industry."

The former global creative director for Nike, Boyd has helped build Dell's consumer division into a design powerhouse, churning out products that the company hopes will put it ahead of rivals and bring in consumers who want both style and value in their PCs.

The commitment to better design comes at a challenging time for Dell. Dell's personal computer shipments fell 16.7 percent worldwide in the first quarter from a year ago. In the United States alone, Dell shipments fell 16.2 percent, according to research firm IDC.  Meanwhile, Dell's rival Hewlett Packard increased U.S. shipments 2.9 percent worldwide and 12.2 percent. Dell now ranks second to HP in terms of overall market share in the United States.

In focusing on design, Dell is making a risky bet. Better design could help rejuvenate consumer interest in the company's products -- or it could add to costs and make its products pricey at a time when consumers are rushing in droves to buy inexpensive netbooks.

Meanwhile, driven by Apple's focus on design, customers are increasingly looking for products that are stylish yet offer value, says Craig Vogel, associate dean and professor of design studies at University of Cincinnati.

"The design of the iPod and the iPhone has driven sales to Apple's computers, which is something that other companies have noticed," says Vogel. "Design is not an option anymore, the marketplace is demanding it."

It took the clout of Dell founder Michael Dell to get the frumpy, utilitarian PC maker more focused on style. Two years ago, Michael Dell stepped back into the CEO seat to take over a company that seemed to be in danger of losing its luster. Dell's much-admired efficient supply chain process no longer seemed enough to put the company ahead of its competitors. Dell's customers were beginning to balk at the company’s bulky machines.

"Nineteen months ago, Michael told me the horse that we rode so far wasn't going to take us to the next level," Boyd says. "Design was going to have to play a much bigger role at Dell."

As the first step, Michael Dell brought on Ron Garriques, the former Motorola executive credited with the success of the RAZR phone, as the president of Dell's consumer products.

Garriques, in turn, has attracted star designers like Boyd and helped put together a design team that is growing fast. Five years ago, Dell had just about half a dozen designers on its team. Today the company has 130 members on the team. They include a behavioral and cognitive psychologists, usability experts, former designer from companies such as furniture maker Herman Miller and auto maker GM.

Second Skins 
Dell has embraced a variety of new materials for covering its PCs.

Bamboo: The Studio One Hybrid PC comes with a bamboo case.
Fabric: The Studio One 19 touchscreen desktop offers optional fabric panels to frame the display.
Leather: The Studio XPS 13 laptop has a leather panel that runs through the back of the display.
Designs: Dell offers artsy decals for its laptops and a Product Red portfolio from various African artists.

There have also been changes to how Dell has organized its design teams. "Earlier, design reported to engineering and marketing," says Michael Smith, who has been part of Dell's design team since 2003. "But now it is becoming its own entity with equal footing."

The moves have helped Dell get more fashionable, fast. Most conspicuously, the company is experimenting with different materials and finishes. The company's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops use leather trims. The Studio hybrid desktop offers an optional bamboo casing, and the Studio One 19 PC -- aka the 'kitchen PC' -- can come with a fabric panel that fits around the display.

Many of the design improvements have to do with the outermost surface of the Dell's computers, and that doesn't go deep enough for at least one industrial designer.

"Dell needs to treat design as something that is not superficial," says Max Burton, executive creative director for Frog Design in San Francisco. "What they have right now is more of applique design -- [it's] more about finishes than real change to the materials and process."

But Dell execs say that their focus on design means more than just looks. For example, a Dell Studio hybrid desktop launched in the last year uses 70 percent less material and power than older desktop models, says Boyd.

Design improvements do not have to come out of the consumers' pockets, says Boyd. It's about making the right tradeoffs. "We can take out the non-value-adding functionality, such as too many connectors, and put value where people find it," he says.

For instance, designers removed an external button for turning Wi-Fi on and off in the Dell XPS 1330 laptop. Now users have to go through the software program to do it. "That's money I save," says Boyd, "and give it back to the customer in the form of lower prices or better finish."

"When we do put more money into the finishes and industrial design, we don't do that arbitrarily," says Boyd. "In those products we see a spike in sales, as in the redesign of the Studio XPS line."

Boyd has also helped the team improve on such things as packaging and accessories, says Smith. Adamo, for instance, comes in a clear package and offers optional accessories such as tote bags from Tumi.

All that may not be enough. Design experts such as Vogel and Burton say Dell needs to take a chapter out of Apple's playbook. For instance, Apple's latest Macbook, introduced last year, has a body whose main part is machined from a solid piece of aluminum. It allows for lightweight, yet sturdy, machines and better design.

"The innovation with the aluminum is a big step ahead in terms of process and design especially when Dell is still using injection-molded plastic in many of its machines," says Burton.

That kind of fundamental change in how Dell approaches design could take much longer. For now Dell is walking a tightrope -- trying to please its flock that is price-sensitive, even as it tries to court the fashionistas. It's a feat not many designers have been able to pull off.

See also:
Dell's New Notebooks Take Design Seriously
Bamboo-zled: Eco Veneers Storm the Design World

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Apr 2009 | 6:43 pm

MPAA-RealDVD Trial Portends Legality of DVD Copying

OQO Cancels Pre-Orders in Battle for Survival

Mobile Internet Device maker OQO's tiny notebooks were undoubtedly beautiful. But looks alone don't seem to be enough to save the company.

OQO has reportedly canceled all pre-orders for its latest device, the Model 2+. The company had announced the product at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and priced a basic version at $1,000.

The Model 2+ offered a breathtakingly vibrant 5-inch OLED touchscreen display, 1.86GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB RAM and support for 3G connectivity. The company had planned to launch it in the first half of the year.

But for the last few weeks OQO has been struggling to survive. It recently lost its CEO and a top product manager even as resellers stopped taking pre-orders. OQO did not respond Thursday to our request for comment.

For a detailed analysis of what went wrong at OQO, read the story at Wired blog Epicenter: OQO's Brutal Lesson: Innovate and Die.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Pharmacy Takes Blame for Polo Horse Deaths

UnPirate: No more Nero needed for CD and DVD burning

Section: Web, Downloads, Web Apps, Features, Originals

The Pirated: Nero

When you look on Pirate Bay for top downloaded apps, you will consistently find Nero near the top of the list.  Nero allows you to easily copy, rip, burn and share your different media files on CD and DVD.  Instead of paying for this app, you can try out these alternatives.

All in one CDBurnerXP

CDBurnerXP is a very popular free CD and DVD burning software program.  It has very few restrictions on the types of discs that you can burn and allows you to control the files in order to ensure that you avoid gaps between tracks or scenes.  CDBurnerXP is available for Windows 2000 and higher.  Site: [CDBurnerXP]

Print options and more with Burn4Free

Burn4 Free has print features in addition to the burn options offered by CDBurnerXP.  You can select the layout and colors to design your own CD and DVD.  Multiple blank discs are supported: CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW/DVD+RW/DVD-RAM drives.  You can also choose and arrange files by using the easy drag and drop window.  Site: [Burn4Free]

Ad supported advanced burning options on Burn World

Burn World has two CD and DVD burning options: free and ad supported or $14.97 without any ads.  Key features include backup and copy unencrypted CD/DVD media in 1:1 mode.  You can also extract video and audio tracks from CD/DVD media to individual files on your hard disk.  One of the major perks of this program is the test mode that you can use before actually burning a disc.  Site: [Burn World]

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

AI Cracks 4,000-Year-Old Mystery

Tighten Up Those Apps Or Android 1.5 “Cupcake” May Break Them

BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, now with more Alltel

Research In Motion, as the name implies, is always on the move. In today’s breaking BlackBerry news, Alltel Wireless will begin selling a CDMA flavor of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 for a recession-proof $79.99 (after $70 MIR) come May.

However, this reasonable price is not sans strings.

According to Alltel’s press release:

This discounted price is available to new and existing eligible customers who sign-up for a two-year service agreement on a qualifying Smart Choice Pack. Smart Choice Packs start as low as $69.99 per month and include unlimited data, email and Web access.

Anyways, the BB Pearl Flip, as we all know by know, is RIM’s first clamshell design smartphone. To refresh everyone’s memory, it includes a 240×320 (internal, duh) display, a “large” SureType® QWERTY keyboard, trackball navigation, built-in GPS, a 2 MP camera w/ video (requires a MicroSD card), along with “full HTML” browsing, a media player that can sync music from iTunes® or Windows Media Player (aka BlackBerry Media Sync), an expandable memory card slot (microSD/SDHC up to 16GB), and stereo Bluetooth® support.

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

'Lucky Escape' for Great Barrier Reef

Google Product Search now plays friendly with iPhone and Android

Oh Froogle, how far you’ve come.

As they’ve been doing with products throughout their services suite, Google announced this morning that they’ve revamped the Google Product Search page for iPhone and Android.

If you’re familiar with Google Product Search from within a standard browser, you’ll feel right at home. Search for products by name or type, sort by various criteria (low to high, high to low, rating, etc), and view product details or reviews. Outside of the aesthetics, there wasn’t much that needed changing for the jump to mobile - so not much changed.

An increasingly common practice in the smartphone space is the idea of price comparison and product research by camera-based barcode scanning, something which Google has yet to really build upon in Product Search. Having begun to play up the convenience of Product Search when on the go, might they be considering adding a Product Search-powered barcode scanner to the Google iPhone App or the Android platform?

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

Apple Removes Baby-Killing iPhone App Amid Outrage

Apple has pulled an iPhone game that involved shaking a baby to death in response to widespread outrage from parents.

The premise of Baby Shaker was to quiet a baby by shaking the iPhone. But the animation suggested a player was silencing the baby by murdering it: A successful shake caused two large red Xs to appear on the baby's eyes.

"As the father of a three-year-old who was shaken by her baby nurse when she was only five days old, breaking three ribs, both collarbones and causing a severe brain injury, words cannot describe my reaction," said Patrick Donohue, founder of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, a New York-based group that educates the community on pediatric brain injuries, in a letter to Steve Jobs and other Apple executives.

Baby Shaker launched in the App Store on Monday. Apple pulled the game Wednesday after it gained attention from various media outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times. Krapps, a "different and funny iPhone app review site," was the first to report on Baby Shaker.

Albeit short-lived, the approval of Baby Shaker brings into question Apple's App Store approval process. When Jobs introduced the App Store, he laid out the rules of what wouldn't be approved — and the list did not include offensive apps like Baby Shaker.

"There are going to be some apps that we're not going to distribute," Jobs said. "Porn, malicious apps, apps that invade your privacy."

Though the approval of Baby Shaker appears to be a slip, Apple has approved other peculiar apps as well. For example, the app Spank snaps a photo of a person and then displays a talk bubble above his or her head that says "Spank." Then, when you shake the iPhone you hear the sound of a spank followed by a man yelping.

"As the grandmother/adopted mother of a 'shaken baby' I can't even start to explain the anger and rage at this game that someone was trying to promote," Wired.com reader Debbie Dunlap said in an e-mail. "My son is now 6 and was very fortunate ... but is faced with many problems now and more to come.... How could any one with a brain think a game like this would be OK?"

See a video of Baby Shaker below the jump.

See Also:

• iPhone App Store Approaches 1 Billion Downloads
• iPhone Developer E-Mails Jobs About App Store's Flaws
• Opinion: App Store Turns iPhone Users Into Guinea Pigs
• Apple Imposes NDA For App Store Rejections
• Rejected: 'Pull My Finger' iPhone App
• Android Welcomes App Store's Rejects With Arms Wide Open
• Joy of Tech: How Apple Decides Which Apps Make It Into the App ...

Android Catches Up To Palm In Mobile Ad Market Share. IPhone Still Blows It Away.

Review: Spinal Tap Ditches Wigs, Cranks Up Comedy

Ozone Layer Faces Bumpy Return to Health

Vaja case for Vaio P

Vaja, maker of stunning cases for MacBooks and Sony Vaios, added the Vaio P to its offerings. I'm tempted, but it's $120! On the other hand, I did pay $700 for a netbook. After the jump, the latest hardcover edition.

Product Page [Vaja via jkk via giz]

Electronic Mogwai

It features "motion and singing," and you can feed it after midnight. $23 from ThinkGeek.

Singing Gizmo Gremlins Plush [ThinkGeek]

Space Shuttle's Future Facing Deadline

The cutting edge of East German electronics, circa 1990

Karlheinz Jardner visited the east immediately after the wall came down. [Spiegel.de]

Microbe-Powered 'Fart' Machine Stores Energy

Windows 7 Starter Edition: The Final Insult

Cult of Mac's Pete Mortensen is the latest to explain why "Windows 7 Starter Edition" is going to make cheap PCs suck.

I never feel like Apple is needlessly squeezing pennies out of me by charging more for the features that make it worthwhile to upgrade. ... Starter is intended to make people want to buy the nicer versions of Windows 7. I think it's net effect is more likely to be that people seriously consider alternatives.

On the contrary, Windows 7 Starter Edition reveals why the alternatives can't beat Microsoft: because consumers just don't care. This disinterest is so profound that Microsoft can not only design an intentionally bad product, but market it as such. It knows that most people will pay extra to stay rather than switch, regardless of whether the proposed alternative is better or cheaper.

Windows 7 Starter: A Comically Bad Idea [Cult of Mac]

Canon Firmware Update Fixes 50D Noise Problems

All except the 50D. If you have one of these you'll want to run the update -- it fixes some banding issues, specifically the little-known "vertical banding noise phenomenon". Canon is characteristically quiet on the precise details but, you know, noisy banding is bad and fixes are good.

50D [Canon]
450D [Canon]

1000D [Canon]

See Also:

• Panasonic and Canon Issue Firmware Updates
• Nikon D700 Firmware Update Reveals and Fixes Black Dot Bug ...
• Nikon Updates D3 Firmware

Hands-On with MSI's Monstrous Nine-Cell Netbook Battery

One of the major complaints about netbooks, especially the early ones, concerns the battery life. A three cell battery gives barely an hour and a half on the MSI wind, for example (although this can be improved by not installing Mac OS X on it).

The second wave of netbooks usually sport six-cell batteries, giving a life much closer to that of the regular-sized notebooks we use. And then there is the freak-show: nine-cellers so big in both physical dimensions and battery life that the market is distinctly specialist. Who on earth would buy one of these monstrosities? Me, of course.

After over a month of waiting, I finally got the call from the computer store this week. I ordered the nine-cell after concluding that my hackintosh was almost useless as it was. Even leaving it in sleep mode would kill the battery in a day or two, meaning that I was constantly tethered to a wall wart. And if I’m not taking it on the road, why the hell would I use this tiny cramped device instead of my spacious MacBook?

The battery was expensive, coming in at almost a third of the price of the machine. It cost €114.84, or around $150. I could have ordered online but I figured I’d rather order from the store in case things go wrong. An exploding battery isn’t something that’s fun to deal with.

You do, though, get your money’s worth. Look at the size of that thing! The guy in the store laughed when he saw it, although when the machine booted into OS X he shut up a little. Oddly, the extra inch of height makes the netbook easier to use, if not to slip in a bag. The wedge-angle brings the keyboard up to a similar angle you get using a laptop stand, and the extra air underneath means the fan spins ip less often and further improves battery life.

And what life! The unit came 75% full and showed that it had five hours of remaining charge. Macs are dynamic in determining how much time you have left — it goes up and down depending on how hard you are using the machine. But in normal use I’m getting a good six hours. Normal use here means streaming Spotify music to an Airport Express and reading web pages. Watching movies would shrink that time, but — watching the number — not by much.

Talking of numbers, here are the specs. The battery is a nine-cell model from MSI itself, named MS-N011. According to my system profiler (and the excellent application Coconut Battery), the capacity is 6600 mAh, or rather it was. The maximum has already shrunken to 6482 mAh.

You may have noticed one other oddity -- the color. After waiting a month, I wasn't going to complain that it didn't match, and I'm hoping that by wearing black pants and putting it on my lap, the monstrous carbuncle will disappear. That won't help with carrying it, though. The weight isn't bad, but the Wind is now L-shaped when closed, which doesn't make it easy to slip into a man purse. Stlil despite these problems, I love it. I still need a 3G USB dongle to make it truly useful outside (blogging from the beach, for instance), but as a photo-shoot companion it's a winner.

There is one final irony, though. At 3.2 pounds, it weighs almost as much as my MacBook, at 4.5 pounds.

See Also:

• Wind Nine Cell Battery Tested: Same Life As 1995 Cellphone ...
• Nine Cell Netbook Batteries Showing Up in the Wild
• MSI's Second Wind: Hybrid Drive, Low-Powered CPU
• Hybrid Wind Runs for More Than a Day on a Single Charge
• 10-Cell Netbook Battery Almost as Big as Computer Itself

Amazon deletes reviews that expose other reviews as paid-for

If you claim, in a review at Amazon, that its third-party sellers attempted to bribe you to get a good write-up, what will happen? Amazon will delete your review, of course! [Consumerist]

Yearbook Photo Smiles Predict Marriage Success

Samsung Trance announced by Verizon

Announced minutes ago was the Trance from Samsung that hits Verizon stores tomorrow for a $50 after a $50 MIR. The most exciting feature about this phone is the Bang & Olufsen ICEpower amp, which means audio quality should be decent. Along with that are 1GB of internal storage, a 1.3-megapixel camera with NightShot (what’s that?), stereo Bluetooth, voice commands, and that’s about it. Oh, you can make playlists which is pretty cool, I guess.

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