Source: Gizmodo | 14 May 2009 | 2:40 am

Texas Makes Zombie Fire Ants

eldavojohn writes "What do you do when a foreign species has been introduced to your land from another continent? Bring over the natural predator from the other continent. Scientists in Texas have introduced four kinds of phorid flies from South America to fight fire ants. These USDA approved flies dive bomb ants and lay an egg inside the ant. The maggot hatches and eats away juicy tender delicious ant brain until the ant is nothing more than a zombie that wanders around for two weeks before the head falls off and the ant dies. A couple of these flies will cause the ants to modify their behavior and this will be a very slow acting solution to curb the $1 billion in damage these ants do to Texas cattle ranches and--oddly enough--electrical equipment like circuit breakers. You may remember zombifying parasites hitting insects like cockroaches."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 May 2009 | 2:20 am

PlayStation 3 firmware v2.76 update coming soon

Flickr

It’s not even worth posting, but Sony is pushing out firmware v2.76 for the PlayStation 3 sometime in the next week or so. Just wanted you to know.

Hello, I just wanted to provide everyone with a head’s up that the next PLAYSTATION 3 system software update (v.2.76) will be coming soon. This is a minor update that improves the playback quality of some PS3 format software.

Source: CrunchGear | 14 May 2009 | 2:15 am

Motorola Signs Frame Agreement With China Mobile

Cooperation will boost China Mobile's network capability and performance to enable rich communications experiences BEIJING, May 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 May 2009 | 2:00 am

Google beefs up Web services, search - Ars Technica

Telegraph.co.uk

Google beefs up Web services, search Ars Technica Google has announced numerous new features that will add to the overall search experience, including ways for users to get facts without clicking through to various Web pages, ways to discover related content, and ways for webmasters to offer more ... Google wants to know if you're sick CNET News Will Google Squared make GOOG a better research tool? ZDNet BusinessWeek - bit-tech.net - Inquirer - San Francisco Chronicle all 551 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 May 2009 | 1:57 am

HDMI Version 1.4 Unveiled (PC Magazine)

PC Magazine - The latest HDMI spec adds new networking and audio features as well as a new cable or three.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 May 2009 | 1:50 am

Verizon Wireless officially announces the HP Mini 1151NR netbook, available May 17

Well, the rumors are true, Verizon Wireless will begin offering the HP Mini 1151NR on May 17 for $199.99 after a $50 MIR with a 2-year mobile broadband contract. Verizon also announced new mobile broadband pricing that’s still going to hit your checkbook pretty hard. For $40 a month you get 250MB of data per month, but if you go over you’ll end up paying 10 cents per MB over your 250MB allotment. So, you’re obviously going to get the $60 plan that allots 5GB a month of data and if you end up going over that you’ll only be paying 5 cents per MB.

You can even take your HP Mini overseas thanks to the embedded Gobi chipset. For a whopping $130, the GlobalAccess Monthly Plan offers 100MB of data, but it also gets you 5GB of data in the US and Canada. If you go over while overseas you’ll have to fork over $0.005 cents per KB and 25 cents per MB in the US/Canada. The Global Access Pay Per Use plan s $60/month and the following rates apply for Canada, Mexico and over 175 other countries: $0.002/KB, $0.005/KB and $0.02/KB.

The following are specs and pre-installed programs for the HP Mini 1151NR.

Key Specifications

· Mobile Broadband – EV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) Embedded

· GlobalAccess – Qualcomm Gobi chipset (quad-band GPRS/EDGE/GSM and tri-band HSPA/UMTS)

· 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth®

· Wired Ethernet RJ-45

· Display – 10.1” Flush Glass (1024 x 576) diagonal LED BrightView Infinity display

· Weight – 2.4 Pounds

· Dimensions – 1” x 10.3” x 6.6”

· Power – three-cell battery, 30W AC Adapter

· Processor – Intel Atom N270

· Processor Speed – 1.6 GHz

· System Memory – 1 GB RAM

· Storage Hard Drive – 80 GB hard disk drive

· Operating System – Windows XP Home Edition; Service Pack 3

· USB Ports – Two USB 2.0 ports

· Video – VGA out (requires optional accessory); built-in Webcam 640 x 480, 30 fps

· Audio – Stereo speakers, integrated microphone, combo headphone/microphone jack

· Removable memory – combo SD/MMC card slot

· Limited Warranty – one-year

Key Pre-Installed Applications

More than 30 applications come pre-installed on the HP Mini 1151NR Netbook including:

· VZ Access Manager

· Internet Explorer 7®

· Adobe® Reader® and Flash® Player

· Microsoft® Works (share and edit Works Word Processor and Spreadsheet files with Microsoft® Office Word and

· Windows Media Player 11™

· HP Wireless Assistant

· Symantec® Norton Internet Security 2009 (including 60-days of complimentary live updates)

· AOL® AIM®

· Microsoft® Office Excel and vice versa)

Source: CrunchGear | 14 May 2009 | 1:47 am

Google’s Last MySpace Payment: $75 Million On June 20, 2010

The landmark search advertising deal between Google and News Corp. is set to expire on June 30, 2010, just a little more than a year from now. The $900 million deal, announced in August 2006, has little chance of being renegotiated on similar terms, say sources close to the company. That means MySpace, which accounts for most of the revenue generated from the deal has just a year left figure out its go forward revenue strategy.

Until now the details of the contract have been kept confidential. But we’ve recently reviewed a copy of both the original agreement (a binding term sheet) as well as the amendment signed in 2007 - in fact I’m reading it right now. The guaranteed payment clauses, which lay out the dates and sizes of the payments due to News Corp., call for $300 million to be paid by Google over the final year of the agreement. Here are the revenue guarantees:

January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2007: $50 million, paid quarterly pro rata
July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008: $250 million, paid quarterly pro rata
July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009: $300 million, paid quarterly pro rata
July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010: $300 million, paid quarterly pro rata

All MySpace has to do to get the guaranteed payments is make certain search page view requirements. They’ve made those page view requirements easily, says our source, mostly by destroying the user experience. Any search on MySpace by default returns Google web results, which is rarely what the user wants to see. But MySpace has a history of monetizing their site to death, damn the user experience. That may explain part of the rise of Facebook at their expense.

For their part, Google is said to be unhappy with the results. Perhaps it’s because MySpace is tricking users into doing Web queries, but click through on ads is rumored to be abysmal, and conversion on those click throughs is even worse. In other words, Google, Google advertisers and users are unhappy, but MySpace is just fine, thank you.

One part of the deal which is reportedly doing well is display advertising, which is separate from the guaranteed revenue payments. Google is able to offer display advertisers deep reach into MySpace’s tens of millions of users, our source says. But it’s not clear MySpace, which has its own sales team and self service ad product, is all that interested in Google display ads going forward.

At this point Google probably feels like it’s paying off a mortgage on a house worth half of what it paid for originally. They may be glad to just be able to walk away from it all as soon as possible.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 14 May 2009 | 1:43 am

Craigslist to drop 'erotic services' classifieds (AP)

AP - A month after the killing of a masseuse who advertised on Craigslist, the classified ad site announced plans Wednesday to eliminate its "erotic services" category and screen all submissions to a new "adult services" section before they are posted.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 May 2009 | 1:33 am

Jobs' Woodside mansion plan moves forward - San Jose Mercury News

San Francisco Chronicle

Jobs' Woodside mansion plan moves forward San Jose Mercury News AP WOODSIDE, Calif.—Apple CEO Steve Jobs' plans to tear down his historic home in Woodside has finally gotten the green light from the city council despite opposition from preservationists. Woodside moves forward on Jobs' demo permit CNET News Steve Jobs allowed to tear down his home Bizjournals.com ZDNet - Cult of Mac - CNNMoney.com - TECH.BLORGE.com all 49 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 May 2009 | 1:27 am

FriendFeed Enables People/Group Tracking

While Twitter is busy removing features, or half removing them, or whatever — FriendFeed continues its relentless pace at adding new ones. The latest one today is small, but potentially very, very useful. Basically, you can now get emails/IMs/pop-up notifications from any group or individual user on FriendFeed.

While it may not be so obvious at first, this is useful because you can custom tailor FriendFeed to use even when you’re not on the site. The way I’ve been using it for several months now is to create groups for people/things I’m particularly interested in. But that would still require that I go to FriendFeed to check those groups. Now I can just get pinged over IM every time something I’m looking for comes up.

My colleague Steve Gillmor should love this, because this allows you to basically track something without being actively engaged in the service. It doesn’t yet work for saved searches on FriendFeed — which would allow you to track any keyword, but you can imagine that will come soon as well. Track is a feature that Twitter used to have to ping people when a keyword was said. It had to discontinue the service when Twitter kept crashing last year as it grew it size. It’s still supposedly coming back one day, but it would seem FriendFeed, once again, may beat them to it.

And while tracking keywords is interesting, I’m actually more interested in people track — which is what this is. And since FriendFeed of course imports Twitter messages, this basically is a track of people on Twitter too. And if you really want to get fancy, you can just track when a user likes something on FriendFeed and have it ping you, or a number of other options.

And this doesn’t have to just be over IM. You can get these notifications over email or using FriendFeed’s AIR-based popup notifier. Slick.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 14 May 2009 | 1:24 am

Verizon Now Sells Subsidized Netbook With Cell Service [Personal Technology]

As laptops have shrunk in size and price, and cellphones have expanded in size and capability, the two are increasingly overlapping in function. Now, their pricing and sales models are blurring, too.

For a while, some wireless carriers in Europe and in Asia have been selling tiny laptops, called netbooks, equipped with built-in cellular modems, at low, subsidized prices, just as they do with mobile phones. And, just as with a subsidized phone or a plug-in laptop data card, there’s a catch: To get the low upfront price, the customer must agree to a contract and pay a monthly data fee.

Starting May 17, Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, will try the same thing on these shores, selling a netbook model made by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) at $200, after a $50 mail-in rebate — less than half its usual price of $520. To get this price, the customer must sign a two-year contract and pay either $40 or $60 a month, depending on the amount of data to be consumed.

I’ve been testing this netbook, the H-P Mini 1151NR, a version of H-P’s Mini 1000 series with a cellular modem built-in. This model sports a 10.1-inch screen, and yet is very compact and easy to tote. It weighs just 2.45 pounds, is about an inch thick, and is only about 10 inches long and 6.5 inches deep. It has an Intel (INTC) Atom processor, common in netbooks; runs Windows XP; and includes one gigabyte of memory, a built-in Webcam and an 80-gigabyte hard disk. Like most netbooks, it includes Wi-Fi, but lacks a DVD drive.

My verdict: This netbook is an adequate light-duty computer, and $200 is a low price for a PC with a hard disk running Windows XP. But Verizon’s charge for Internet service is high if you intend to rely on that service as your main online connection, because the data levels covered by the carrier’s plans aren’t unlimited, and cost extra after you exceed a certain amount. It makes much more sense if you travel a lot, stay within the data limits each month, and want to avoid hotel and airport Wi-Fi fees.

But the Verizon (VZ) service is slower than many Wi-Fi connections, and it can be obtained for almost any laptop by buying a plug-in card that carries the same monthly fees. In my tests, at a typical Marriott (MAR) hotel, the Verizon cellular service achieved download speeds of around 1.6 megabits per second, while the Wi-Fi modem in the same PC got over five mbps.

Also, even for a netbook, the computer itself is underequipped. Its 80-gigabyte hard disk is cramped by today’s netbook standards, and it has only a small three-cell battery that doesn’t last long. In my tough battery test, where I left the cellular Internet connection on, disabled all power-saving features, and played music continuously, the H-P Mini 1151NR lasted a pathetic one hour and 55 minutes. That suggests that, in normal use, you might get around 2.5 hours of use.

A bigger six-cell battery is available for $130 from Verizon, but that’s a huge price premium on a $200 PC, plus it makes the netbook 75% thicker and 30% heavier. Verizon doesn’t offer a larger internal hard disk.

By comparison, you can buy an Acer One Windows XP netbook with the same size screen as the Verizon netbook, and twice the hard disk and battery capacity, for $340. The Acer lacks the built-in cellular modem, but you can buy that from Verizon in plug-in form for $30, with the same monthly fees. Total upfront price: $370, versus $330 for the Verizon model with the bigger battery.

You could also pay much less at a RadioShack (RSH) store, which is selling a subsidized netbook with a built-in cellular modem and required contract (with AT&T) (T) at $60 a month. This model, also an Acer running XP, has a smaller 8.9-inch screen, but most other specs are similar to those on the Verizon model. Yet there’s one enormous difference: It costs only $50, plus a $36 activation fee.

In my tests, the Verizon/H-P netbook handled all common tasks well, if not at blazing speeds. It lacks Microsoft Office, but includes the lesser Microsoft Works productivity suite. I was able to download and run common third-party programs like Firefox and iTunes. The built-in Verizon software for managing the cellular and Wi-Fi connections worked very well, and can be upgraded to a new version with added features.

The hardware has some notable downsides. The keyboard feels too flexible, and some symbols on the function keys are hard to read. The mouse buttons are awkwardly arrayed on the sides of the touch pad, not below it. And the speaker, while loud, is tinny. Also, the machine has a bunch of craplets, mostly links to H-P Web sites or to companies like eBay (EBAY) and Pandora.

Still, if you travel a lot and like using a cellular modem, the machine’s $200 price is compelling, so long as you can handle the wimpy battery and small hard disk.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Source: All Things Digital | 14 May 2009 | 1:12 am

Sony unveils possible plans to bring third-party advertising to the Reader

Section: Gadgets / Other

It looks like third-party advertising may be coming to the Sony Reader.  As of now, the details are pretty limited as to where or when we, as users can expect to begin seeing any ads.  Not to mention, the Reader does not support third party advertising at this time.  Of course, that could change.  According to Steve Haber, the president of Sony Electronics’ digital reading business division;

“There are so many avenues for the [e-reader] industry to grow, including advertising; this is truly the beginning.”

He also went on to mention that “advertising is not part of the business model at the moment.”  Based on theory, these ads could provide a new revenue source for publishers at a time when traditional media advertising has seen a decline.

I would venture a guess that he is not referring to books on the Reader, but instead speaking in relation to newspaper and magazine style content.  Personally, I am not sure how well this would work because there are plenty of people (myself included) that feel if you are paying for something than it should be ad free.  Of course, that does differ from paying for a traditional newspaper that is filled to the brim with advertisements.

Read [NewMediaAge]  Via [electronista]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 14 May 2009 | 1:09 am

U.S. court bars DirecTV from airing "false" ads (Reuters)

Reuters - A federal court has barred top U.S. satellite television provider DirecTV Group from releasing ads that could give customers the impression that bankrupt Charter Communications Inc is liquidating or might stop offering cable TV service.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 May 2009 | 12:50 am

Better Place demonstrates its technology in Japan - Bizjournals.com

Brisbane Times

Better Place demonstrates its technology in Japan Bizjournals.com Better Place, an electric vehicle services provider that will bring electric cars to Hawaii, demonstrated its first automated battery switch technology and electric car charging spots at an exhibit in Japan on Wednesday. PHOTOS: Better Place's Battery Swap Station Reuters Electric car dead? Battery shop-shops the answer Motoring EcoGeek - KTVN - International Business Times - SustainableBusiness.com all 123 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 May 2009 | 12:25 am

Dean Kamen Awarded Patent For Robot Competition Rules

An anonymous reader writes "Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and the founder of the FIRST Robotics Competition has been granted Patent 7,507,169, that describes one of the previous competitions. The main invention is a ranking system that ranks teams not only on their score, but their opponents' score, so teams are rewarded for helping their opponents score more. It is claimed that this ranking system promotes the made up phrases 'coopertition' and 'gracious professionalism.' It had three rejections, and even more appeals, before finally being accepted six years after the first application. While a majority of his 130 patents are for things related to his inventions, which are as diverse as medical equipment, unique uses for Stirling engines, and transportation, this one seems a little dubious. Dean opposes the Patent Reform Act of 2009, which would make it easier to overturn patents after they are granted."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 May 2009 | 12:16 am

Stuck On Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Or AOL? Gmail Just Made It Incredibly Easy To Switch

Since launching back in 2004, Gmail has set the gold standard for webmail clients, offering a large amount of storage and a highly usable interface, free of charge. But for many people it has remained out of reach - no matter how appealing Gmail might be, they’ve racked up thousands of messages on other services that they simply can’t give up. Today, that changes. Gmail just released a new feature that allows users to import their Email archives and contacts into their Gmail accounts effortlessly.

The new feature, which is being powered by TrueSwitch, supports importing from all of the usual suspects, including AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, and dozens of others (you can find a whole list here). To start with it is only enabled on new accounts, with support for existing accounts being added over time (Google warns that this roll-out will be considerably slower than normal). You can also optionally choose to import messages sent to your old account for up to thirty days.

Now, there have been ways to import your mail archive into Gmail through other routes, but for the average computer user these were both too confusing and time consuming to be considered viable options. Now things are as easy as entering your other mail service’s password and letting Gmail go to work over the next 24-48 hours, importing all of your Email and contacts. It’s making a once frustrating process nearly painless, and it’s going to attract new users in droves.

Of course, users will still be switching to a new Email address. This shouldn’t be a problem for users with providers that support POP3 or mail forwarding (which would allow you to have Emails sent to your old mailbox forwarded to your new Gmail inbox), but not all webmail providers support these features.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 14 May 2009 | 12:09 am

Contenture Wants To Fail Whale Your Ad Network

The web is increasingly filling up with ads. Many sites, including this one, have a bunch of them all around with the hopes that you’ll find one relevant to you, and click on it. Of course, most of you don’t. And if you do, it may be by accident. As you can tell, I’m not exactly bullish on the model. But the problem is that there are few alternatives. Contenture is trying to offer one.

The service has been getting some buzz over the past few months, but mostly because no one seemed to know what the hell it was all about. An email today finally revealed their model. Contenture wants to be the “anti-ad network.” What it means by that is that it wants sites to adopt their monthly-fee based network to offer visitors the option to do things like turn off ads. Yes, this would basically turn your site to the subscription-based model.

But there’s a somewhat interesting twist. Contenture wants to sign up a bunch of sites to this model and have users pay one flat monthly fee to have access to all of these sites. That money would then be distributed to all of these sites. These sites could determine what Contenture subscribers get as a part of their subscription. Some may lose the ads, some may have special commenting ability, etc.

A similar model has been tried by the likes of TipJoy and others, but grouping sites together and offering users a place to pay one-fee for multiple sites is interesting if nothing else. Plus the site has a comic homepage that features a drunk Twitter Fail Whale and makes fun of its competitors. That’s pretty cool in our book.

The service is still in private beta testing, but apparently it’s getting ready to launch on May 21.

Disclosure: This morning for four hours Contenture sponsored our CrunchCam.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 14 May 2009 | 12:00 am

No iPhone at WWDC? Really? [Digital Daily]

This morning we learned that Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference does not herald the return of CEO Steve Jobs. Now comes word that it may not herald the announcement of the company’s next-generation iPhone either. In a note to clients today, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said that when Phil Schiller and friends deliver the keynote address at WWDC next month they will discuss software only–iPhone 3.0 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Apple (AAPL), says Munster, will save the next-generation iPhone for a later event scheduled after Jobs returns to the company.

“…We believe Apple will focus on the new version of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard at WWDC,” Munster writes. “While some investors may be expecting Apple to launch redesigned iPhones at WWDC, we do not anticipate the launch in early June. Rather, we expect Apple to host a special event in late June or early July to launch a family of iPhones. We continue to expect multiple models, possibly a high-end iPhone with improved specs from the current version and a low-end version with lower capacity and fewer features along with a reduced pricing plan. Such a model could also be used in Apple’s launch of the iPhone into China as soon as the end of summer ’09.”

Munster’s is an … ahem … interesting theory. But remember, now that it has withdrawn from Macworld, WWDC is Apple’s biggest event of the year. Surely it wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to debut the latest iPhone there–especially when Palm (PALM) is expected to announce its new Pre handset on June 5, just three days before the WWDC keynote. And if the latest update of the device is as modest as some reports claim, there’s no need for Jobs to be on hand to announce it. It’s not a milestone product, and Schiller could easily handle it. Then the company could plan the late June/early July event to which Munster refers around that media tablet Apple’s rumored to be developing–with Jobs presiding, of course.

UPDATE: Over at Daring Fireball, John Gruber notes that if the next generation iPhone includes updated hardware, Apple will almost certainly announce it at WWDC. Why? Says Gruber, “…If there are any new hardware features — like say a video camera or magnetometer — that means new APIs, and if Apple wants to have WWDC sessions for the new hardware-specific APIs, they have to announce the hardware first.”

Source: All Things Digital | 13 May 2009 | 11:33 pm

Score a Drobo or a Sony HDTV if you’ve got Boxee app writing skills

Section: Computers, Software / Applications

The folks behind Boxee, the well known media center software available for Linux and Mac with a Widows version for a few invitees, is holding a contest.  The latest edition of the Boxee software has an app store called “App Box.”  To make sure that the App Box doesn’t end up empty, Boxee is holding a Dev Challenge.

All you’ve got to do is write an application for Boxee.  If the app is a People’s Choice winner, then you get a Drobo.  If it wins the Judge’s Choice award, have yourself a Sony Bravia XBR 46-inch television.  Those are some nice prizes.

Maybe you’re a developer and don’t have ideas.  I use Boxee, so let me suggest a couple of things.  How about a DVR plugin to make Boxee a more complete media center solution?  Perhaps an app that interfaces with your TiVo so you can watch recorded television over your network (Plex has a plugin like this already)?

Maybe an RSS ticker app that allows you to run your own customized RSS ticker on the bottom of any video you may be watching?  Perhaps you want to build an app that seeks out all media over your network and organizes it in one place and could play anything.

The deadline for submitting apps is 11:59PM PT, June 14, 2009.  Good luck everyone. 

Read: [Boxee Blog]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 11:02 pm

Upgrading to Windows 7 From Vista [Mossberg's Mailbox]

Here are a few questions I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability.

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I have a PC with Windows XP, which I bought because my computer guru said to stay away from Vista. I read your column saying upgrading from XP to the new Windows 7 will be much more cumbersome than doing so from Windows Vista. So, what should I do now? Upgrade to Vista for a while so I can then move more smoothly to 7? Or wait, buy a separate Windows 7 computer in the fall, and just transfer my files and applications from the XP computer?

Putting budget considerations aside, I think the latter course would make more sense. The new machine with Windows 7 preloaded will probably give you smoother performance than one you upgraded twice to new operating systems in a matter of months. But, bear in mind that you will have to reinstall all your applications on the new Windows 7 computer, and that, depending on the terms of the applications’ licenses, you might even have to buy new copies. On the other hand, if you do the chain of upgrades, and don’t buy a new machine, you may be able to avoid this application problem, or at least much of it.

I appreciated your review of the Clickfree automatic backup drive. Does the backup it creates include the various folders and subfolders for data such as photos, or does it just create a huge single list?

The Clickfree software is primarily designed to back up, display and restore your files by their types — photos, music, text, email, spreadsheets, etc. Once it has performed a backup it lets you view and restore your files by these types. However, it will display the tree of all your folders and allow you to specify where it should search for these files. It also allows you to back up and restore entire folders, such as your My Documents folder, regardless of their contents. Detailed information, including a downloadable user manual, is available in the Support section of clickfree.com.

I am planning to buy one of the products you recently reviewed — a Western Digital My Book — and attach it directly to a port on my Internet router. Can I install antispyware and antivirus programs on the drive? If not, how will the data on this drive be protected?

Nothing is perfectly secure. The bad guys are clever, and you never say never. However, since this product isn’t an actual PC running Windows, viruses and spyware programs can’t likely run directly on it. Still, if one of your computers contains malicious software, and it can see the contents of the network drive, then the data on the drive could be endangered. I know of no way to install or run security programs on the drive. But the security software on your PC may protect the drive, if it is able to handle external drives across a network. Also, the firewall built into your network router will help. The product has some security measures built in, such as encrypting files when you use the optional feature that allows you to access the drive’s contents across the Internet.

• You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Source: All Things Digital | 13 May 2009 | 10:56 pm

Illusion Cloak Makes One Object Look Like Another

KentuckyFC writes "Metamaterials are synthetic substances that can steer light in any way imaginable. Their most famous incarnation is in invisibility cloaks which work by steering light around a region of space making any object inside that region invisible. But invisibility is just the start. A team of physicists in Hong Kong (the same guys who recently worked out how to cloak objects at a distance) have worked out how to create a cloak that makes one object look like another. Instead of steering light to make a region of space look empty, the illusion cloak manipulates light in a way that makes a region of space look as if it contains a specific object. So any object within that region of space, a mouse say, takes on the appearance of an elephant."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 13 May 2009 | 10:52 pm

FCC Tightens Consumer Protections For Number Portability, VoIP - InformationWeek

FCC Tightens Consumer Protections For Number Portability, VoIP InformationWeek Currently carriers have four business days to transfer consumers' existing phone numbers to new providers. By W. David Gardner A hobbled Federal Communications Commission approved two consumer-oriented measures at its meeting Wednesday. FCC: Sudden sunrocket Shutdown Won't Repeat PC Magazine FCC Shortens Phone Number 'Porting' Interval to One Day Wall Street Journal Twice - The Associated Press - Wireless Week - Health Data Management all 189 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 13 May 2009 | 10:48 pm

CBSNews.com Goes From Cluttered With Information To Cluttered With Pictures

CBSNews.com is undergoing a major overhaul and redesign of its sites to make them easier to navigate, more visually compelling, faster and more focused on driving users to content.

The new home page features a rotating list of top stories on the left, next to the list of the latest and most important headlines. CBS News programs, as well as the latest videos, photo galleries and blogs, are all highlighted on the page. CBS News also plugs its program sites, including Evening News, Face the Nation, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and Sunday Morning, on its homepage. CBS says that the company applied technology from its sister site, CNET.com, to deliver pages from its servers to users’ screens more rapidly. Dan Farber, CNET’s editor-in-chief, oversaw the redesign.

Here’s what CBSNews.com used to look circa 2000 (left) and currently (right):

As you can see from the screenshot of the new design at the top of the post, this is a big improvement. The additional of images definitely make the site more aesthetically pleasing and easier to scroll through. But it seems that the new site is now a little too cluttered with pictures. Farber says the news site has undergone two major redesigns over the past ten years. A small percentage of random visitors to CBSNews.com will see the new look for pages on the site. CBS Says the site is still a work in progress and is undergoing changes and upgrades frequently.

This new redesign may be part of an effort to catch up to ABCnews.com and MSNBC.com (NBC’s news site). CBSNews.com only drew 3.2 million unique visitors in U.S. in April compared to 4.4 million for ABCnews.com and 30.7 million for MSNBC.com, according to ComScore.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 10:46 pm

Amazon Lets Bloggers Publish to the Kindle

Amazon has decided to allow all bloggers to publish their blogs to the Kindle and charge users for reading their content on the popular e-book reader.

Kindle delivers not just books and newspapers but also blogs. So far, Amazon has offered a limited selection of blogs on the device. But now it is democratizing the platform.

Any blogger can sign up for the company’s ‘Kindle Publishing for Blogs‘ beta program and set up an account to participate. Bloggers just have to made their feed available to Amazon’s website and the company will translate it into a Kindle friendly format.

Amazon hasn’t made clear how much bloggers can charge for their blogs but it will split revenue from the subscriptions with the individual publishers. Currently most blogs on the Kindle charge $2 for subscription. Amazon has said individual publishers will get 30 percent of the revenue, with 70 percent going to the company.

Unless Amazon can drop the price of blogs subscription to a few cents, it is not clear why users would pay to read individual blogs on the Kindle that they can otherwise access for free through their computers or smartphones. Would you pay to read a blog on the Kindle? Tell us in the comments.

See also:
Kindle DX Leads to Buyer’s Remorse for some Kindle 2 Users
Kindle 2’s Fuzzy Fonts Have Users Seeing Red
Wired Review of Amazon Kindle 2
Kindle Readers Ignite Protest Over E-Book Prices

Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 May 2009 | 10:44 pm

Survey: N. America hurts environment most

Canadians rank almost at the bottom -- just above Americans, who are the worst -- in hurting the environment, a National Geographic Society survey says. By contrast, Brazilians and Indians tied as most green, the society's annual Greendex tracking survey said. The survey, conducted by Canadian research company GlobeScan International, examined consumer behaviors in 14 countries that represent more than half of the world's population and use about 75 percent of its energy.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 10:43 pm

Review: Motorola Stature i9

Nextel phones are notoriously ugly. The company has never worried much about appearances since they were mainly intended for the construction site. They were instead more concerned about a phone that was almost mil-spec in its toughness. The good news (at least for Nextel subscribers) is that they are starting to move away from this brick phone style design, and more towards a sleeker, sexier look.

The Stature really isn’t anything terribly new. Motorola took the design of their incredibly popular RAZR2, and added the necessary electronics to use the i9 network. So while the Stature is by no means a small phone, it is thin enough to fit conveniently in your jeans pocket.

The phone feels like a quality device. The back is rubberized and resists fingerprints, but still provides a firm surface to hold onto. It opens smoothly and feels very solid when you hold it up to your ear.

The left side of the phone is a little busy, with the GC/DC mute button, the volume control, and the PTT button all being at the top. The bottom has the micro-USB port for charging and data transfers, however I was unable to get the phone to charge via a micro-USB cable. Instead, I had to use the standard wall charger. While this wasn’t a major issue, it could be a problem in some situations. One thing this phone does lack is a standard 1/8 inch plug. If you’re planning on using the phone as an MP3 player, you’ll have to get a USB adapter or a Bluetooth device to do so.

The right side has a menu button, and a sliding lock switch which locks all the buttons on the outside of the phone. The menu button brings up one of the phone’s more interesting features, the front screen menu. The front bezel of the Stature has several touch buttons surrounding the screen. These buttons light up depending on what function you are using at a given time. The phone provides a slight vibration when you push a button, providing a slight feedback which is actually pretty nice. The front screen is quite versatile, and provides a clear display regardless of whether you are listening to music, taking pictures, or just scrolling through your contact list to call someone.

Battery life is weak, frankly. Standby time is roughly 24-36 hours, and talktime is listed on the Sprint site as around 3 hours. This means you’ll have to charge the phone regularly.

One of my favorite features of the phone is the sound quality. The sound on this phone is, in a word, incredible. I’ve used many phones, and this phone has the clearest sound of any phone I’ve ever heard. If you’re concerned about sound quality, that alone is a reason to buy this phone.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks with this phone. In addition to the obvious issues with battery life, because this is a Nextel phone, the network is really slow. Like painfully, agonizingly slow. Most Nextel users aren’t all about the internet browsing on their phone anyway, so you’ll have to decide for yourself how critical this issue is for you.

As far as cost goes, you’re looking at $399 from Sprint without a contract, $199 with a contract, and $299 if you want to buy it from Boost Mobile.

Bottom line, if you’re a Nextel user looking for a new phone, I’d say buy this one. The sound quality, style, and size more than make up for the poor battery life.

Source: CrunchGear | 13 May 2009 | 10:30 pm

VTech moves from cordless phones to cordless music

In the me-too world of wireless music streaming, it’s unusual to find a device that does something a little different. And while the latest offering from VTech doesn’t manage to add too many features to make itself stand out from the crowd, its $199 price tag ought to distance it somewhat.

The confoundingly-named “IS9181 WiFi Internet Radio” is the first streaming audio device from VTech, a company more commonly known for its cordless phone products. The IS9181 has two forward facing 3-watt speakers and one 10-watt subwoofer all contained in the product. The unit works with any MP3 device via the standard 3.5mm jack connector.

Here are a few more features from the press release:

# Best-in-class 802.11 digital Wi-Fi technology, providing superior range and streaming rates
# Internet radio streaming from 11,000 stations; ability to search for any stations that stream online
# Internet radio station search from VTech’s site or on the device itself
# Ability to preset favorites on the product or online
# PC or Mac-stored MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, Real music file playing
# Ability to connect an MP3 player or any audio device with a 3.5mm headset jack using the provided cord
# Ability to connect the IS9181 (via RCA connections) to other audio systems for streaming access
# Internal 2.1 speakers
# Convenient remote to browse, select and control music from across the room
# AC Power Adapter
# Battery-operated option (requires six AA batteries, not included)
# MSRP: $199.95
# One-year limited warranty

Pretty standard fare for a wireless music streamer, although the ability to add presets online is certainly a nice feature and VTech does promise “better sound quality than other similarly priced offerings,” so if you’re down with dropping a couple hundred dollars on a streaming audio box it might be worth a closer look.

VTech IS9181 WiFi Internet Radio [VTech.com]

Source: CrunchGear | 13 May 2009 | 10:30 pm

Self-publish your blog on the Kindle and make some money

Section: Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Web, Websites

Up until now, the Kindle has only had a few blogs amongst other content for sale.  Now, Amazon has a new beta program called “Kindle Publishing for Blogs Beta” that lets anyone publish their blog in the Kindle Store. 

We’ve got a photo gallery to show you a walk through of setting up your own blog for publication on the Kindle.  You’ve got to sign up for a new account (your Amazon account will not work here).  Input your name, password, answer some security questions, and set up a way to receive payment.  You can’t use PayPal, but you can use your checking account.  Grab one of your checks and type away those routing and account numbers. 

Once you’ve gotten that far, you can go ahead and publish your blog.  Put in your RSS feed information, your blog title, a tagline, description, author, screenshot, masthead, website address, language, keywords for search, and set categories.

As you can see, that’s a lot of information to give to Amazon, but it makes it easier to get your blog on there and findable. 

This seems like a great idea since the Kindle can use as much content as possible.  Maybe people won’t belly ache so much when they find out blogs cost money on the Kindle when they find out they can make money this way, too. 

Set up your own [Kindle Publishing]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 10:27 pm

Review: Verizon MiFi 2200 Mini Hotspot

Short version: We've loved the MiFi mobile router since we first laid eyes on it back at CES. After a few days of playing with the Verizon MiFi 2200, we still love it just as much - but with one hangup: the nasty monthly bill. After a trivial hiccup with the activation, we had 4 computers up and running in minutes. Speeds in our area are about average for the local EVDO Rev-A network, and we've had absolutely no connectivity drops in our 2 days of testing.

Source: TechCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 10:08 pm

Kindle Publishing Now Open To All Blogs

One of the neat little sub-features of Amazon’s Kindle is being able to subscribe to blogs on it. You have to pay for the privilege, but for heavy Kindle users, it makes sense as you can get the content delivered to you wirelessly for your favorite blogs. You know, like TechCrunch.

But the biggest limiting factor of this so far is that only the big blogs have been included in the blog directory. Starting today, anyone can make their blogs available via the new Kindle Publishing for Blogs Beta program.

All you have to do is make your blog’s feed available to the Kindle Store, and Amazon will do the rest, formatting your content for the device. According to the email from Amazon, after a few easy steps, your blog should be up and ready to go in the Kindle Store after about 12 to 48 hours of processing. Not bad.

As with blogs currently in the program, these new blogs will get 30% of the monthly blog subscription price for every subscriber Amazon signs up. In a world where mobile app developers traditionally keep 70% or more of the revenues, 30% seems awfully low.

And exactly how much Amazon will charge for each blog isn’t totally clear, other than Amazon says it will “define the price based on what we deem is a fair value for customers.” Most blogs currently go for $1.99 a month. Unfortunately, even if you want to, you can’t give your blog away for free on the device. Amazon has that WhisperNet to maintain, after all.

As a Kindle owner, I currently subscribe to a few of my favorite blogs, but for most of the rest I use Instapaper to bookmark articles and sync them over email to my device (which does cost a ridiculous $0.15 an email unfortunately — but Instapaper sends only one digest a day). The bottom line is that with 30% of the subscription price going to publishers, this isn’t likely to be a big source of income for most sites. There are simply too many blogs and the Kindle market is simply not that big. And the people who will pay for blogs on it is even less.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 10:04 pm

Measuring the User For CPU Frequency Scaling

An anonymous reader writes "The Empathic Systems Project a Northwestern University demonstrate up to 50% power savings by controlling CPU frequency scaling based upon the end user. They measure the user with eye trackers, galvanic skin response, and force sensors to find a CPU frequency that the user is satisfied with. They are currently studying user activity and system performance on mobile architectures, specifically the Android G1 phone."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 13 May 2009 | 9:50 pm

Review: Verizon MiFi 2200 - We love everything but the bill

Short version: We’ve loved the MiFi mobile router since we first laid eyes on it back at CES. After a few days of playing with the Verizon MiFi 2200, we still love it just as much - but with one hangup: the nasty monthly bill. After a trivial hiccup with the activation, we had 4 computers up and running in minutes. Speeds in our area are about average for the local EVDO Rev-A network, and we’ve had absolutely no connectivity drops in our 2 days of testing.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Source: CrunchGear | 13 May 2009 | 9:49 pm

Review: Verizon MiFi 2200 - We love everything but the bill

Short version: We’ve loved the MiFi mobile router since we first laid eyes on it back at CES. After a few days of playing with the Verizon MiFi 2200, we still love it just as much - but with one hangup: the nasty monthly bill. After a trivial hiccup with the activation, we had 4 computers up and running in minutes. Speeds in our area are about average for the local EVDO Rev-A network, and we’ve had absolutely no connectivity drops in our 2 days of testing.

Long version:

As a blogger by trade, I find myself in a situation where I require mobile broadband on a weekly basis. Be it liveblogging some Apple event or just scrambling to write up a story that broke while I was out to lunch, it’s a regular thing - and I’ve always hated it. Dongles go on the fritz, carriers refuse to make drivers for my platform of choice (OS X); I’ve tried a half dozen different solutions, and these things just never, ever work for me. Until the MiFi, that is.

The MiFi seemed like an incredible idea from the very beginning. No more dongles, no more mandatory branded connection software. Just flip the switch, and bam - wireless connectivity for up to 5 people, provided by whichever carrier graced the top of the unit. Sounds great, right?

As great as it sounds in theory, it’s even better in practice. It works, consistently and dependably.

You do need to use Verizon’s provided software - but only one time, to activate the unit. The software is compatible with both Windows and OS X. The manual implies that you don’t actually need the software to activate on OS X as long as you’ve got the latest updates, but we couldn’t figure it out. Activation ended up being the only snag we’ve had with the unit thus far, as the manual wasn’t very clear on the process. Once we’d installed the software, rebooted, and attempted to connect the device, everything sorted itself out. All in all, it was about 10 minutes of set up with activation. Once activation is complete, however, setup is nearly instantaneous. You just turn it on, wait 10-20 seconds for the device to initialize, then connect to it as you would any WiFi point. You can remove the software package, and other computers that connect to the unit never need to see the software at all unless you wish to connect to the network via the microUSB port rather than WiFi.

Connectivity wise, the MiFi 2200 was averaging around 1500 kilobits per second down, 500 kilobits per second up. That barely scratches the speeds we were seeing with the 7.2Mbps HSDPA Telefónica MiFi models we saw back at MWC - but this is EVDO Rev-A we’re talking about. This is about average for Rev-A connectivity in our little notch of Central California. Speeds were about the same throughout the city, and whilst skipping down the freeway at 70 mph or so. The MiFi didn’t miss a beat.

Our only qualm with the product isn’t with the device itself, but with Verizon’s insane pricing scheme. The up-front cost of $99 bucks after $50 dollar mail in rebate isn’t too bad; we’d pay that without batting an eye. But, as with all mobile broadband plans, the monthly bill is ridiculous. You have two options: $40 per month for 250 MB of data, or $60 per month for 5 GB (5120 megabytes) of data. In other words, you have the choice of paying 16 cents per megabyte or a bit over a cent (0.011718 dollars) per megabyte. Now, that last option may sound reasonable - so much more so than the first option, in fact, that we’re going to just ignore the first one all together. A penny a meg! What a bargain! Go ahead, monitor your bandwidth for a day. On today’s video hungry, image-centric internet, you could blow through 5 gigs in a few days with moderate usage. Plug 3 or 4 guys onto the router (remember, it supports up to 5), and you’re out of data before you’ve even been rickroll’d once. Once it’s gone, you’ll be paying 5 cents a megabyte. (On an odd site note, the fee for data overages on the 250MB plan is 10 cents a megabyte - which is actually less than what you’re paying for each non-overage megabyte)

Crazy as that seems, the pricing is actually slightly better than Verizon’s standard mobile broadband pricing, wherein $40 bucks gets you 50 MB rather than 250.

Oh well - if you’re going to get mobile broadband, you essentially have to deal with the absurd monthly costs. With that in mind, we whole heartedly recommend the MiFi to anyone looking for a mobile broadband solution. It does everything right, and is the simplest and most rock solid solution we’ve seen so far.

What we like:

• Once you get the thing activated, setup couldn’t be easier.
• Speeds were consistent with, if not better than, what we generally get in our area
• Battery powered, light weight, portable
• Stays usable while charging
• No clunky proprietary software required after activation

What we don’t:

• $60 bucks a month for 5 gigabytes of data

Would be nice:

• Proper LED status indicators. The MiFi 2200 LED’s show whether it’s on and if it has signal - but not how much battery is left, nor the quality of the signal. That first one is a big thing for us, considering that the main purpose of this guy is on-the-go use.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 9:43 pm

Study: Bacteria might stop malaria spread

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 9:36 pm

Scientists Create RNA From Primordial Soup

Kristina at Science News writes "The RNA world hypothesis proposed 40 years ago suggested that life on Earth started not with DNA but with RNA. Now a team of scientists bolsters this hypothesis, having assembled RNA in the lab from a mixture that resembles what was likely the primordial soup. 'Until now,' Science News reports, 'scientists couldn't figure out the chemical reactions that created the earliest RNA molecules.' The new work started the RNA assembly chemistry from a different angle than what earlier work had tried."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 13 May 2009 | 9:21 pm

Coral Triangle Faces Destruction Without Emissions Cuts

Coral reefs could disappear entirely from the Coral Triangle region of the Pacific Ocean by the end of the century unless significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are achieved, the environmental group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned on Wednesday.Destruction of the world’s richest ocean wilderness would threaten the food supply and livelihoods for about 100 million people, according to the WWF report entitled, “The Coral Triangle and Climate Change: Ecosystems, People and Societies at Risk.”Averting such a disaster will depend on quick and effective global action on climate change coupled with the implementation of regional solutions to problems of over-fishing and pollution, according to the WWF-commissioned study presented at the World Oceans Conference in Manado, Indonesia on Wednesday.The Coral Triangle is comprised of the coasts, reefs and seas of the countries of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 9:20 pm

Beware the Twitter porn names scam

Section: Communications, Email / IM, Web, Web 2.0, Websites

The current top trending topic on Twitter is the “pornnamesgame.”  It seems silly and harmless enough.  You take the name of your first pet and add the name of the street you grew up on or your mother’s maiden name and the resulting name is your “porn name.”  For example if your first pet’s name was Spunky and you grew up on Wisteria Lane your “porn name” would be Spunky Wisteria Lane.  Funny, right?  Actually it’s a phisher’s dream.  How so?  Think about it.

Have an online banking account?  Pay your credit card bill on the issuer’s website?  Have an eBay account?  Paypal?  Or even just a simple email account?  Chances are when you signed up for any of those accounts you were asked to create at least one “security question.”  These questions are presented when you forget your password and/or just want to change it or other account info.  The sites usually provide questions for you to answer-and what are the most common ones?

“What is the name of your first pet?”

“What is your mother’s maiden name?”

“What is the name of the street you grew up on?”

Yep, that’s right.  That silly, harmless sounding game actually tricks people into revealing the answers to several common security questions - and since email addresses are usually quite easy to find, a phisher has everything they need to compromise someone’s accounts.  They could take over your email account to send spam, use your eBay account to put up fake auctions and rip people off, or worse.

Yet people are freely posting this info in their tweets, thinking they are playing a harmless game.  If you’ve done so, change your passwords and all your security questions ASAP!

Read[PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 9:18 pm

New laser power meter is developed

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 9:18 pm

Arctic Ice Cap Could Completely Melt In A Decade

A professor from the University of Cambridge believes that the once-permanent ice found in the Arctic may now be so thin that it could be eliminated during the summer seasons in about a decade.Professor Peter Wadhams told BBC News that ice in the Arctic is headed toward being only visible during the winter."By 2013 we will see a much smaller area in summertime than now, and certainly by about 2020, I can imagine that only one area will remain in summer."Scientists have previously projected that sea ice would be a mainstay even during the summers until near the end of the century.Wadhams used data collected by Royal Navy submarines since 1971 to draw his striking conclusions.He told BBC News there is “almost a breakdown” in Arctic ice-cover.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 9:10 pm

Oracle Will Add Virtual Iron To Virtualization Array (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - Oracle said Wednesday it will buy Virtual Iron Software of Lowell, Mass., whose virtualization software supports Intel VT and AMD-V hardware virtualization. Virtual Iron is privately held and Oracle did not disclose the financial details.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 May 2009 | 9:07 pm

Atlantis Links Up To Hubble For Repairs

An anonymous reader writes "Space Shuttle Atlantis has finally caught up with the Hubble Space Telescope after following it for several hours. The 'link up' between the Space Shuttle and Hubble was a very delicate one as the two were flying through space at 17,200 MPH, 300 miles above the Earth's surface. The robotic arm of the shuttle grappled the telescope at 1:14 PM EDT today. The telescope will be latched to a high-tech Lazy Susan device known as the Flight Support System for the duration of the servicing work."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 13 May 2009 | 8:57 pm

Goodbye, Good Riddance to Antiquated Action Hero Duke Nukem

A bruiser with bulging biceps and not much going on upstairs, Duke is an anachronism. Delivering Duke Nukem Forever in 2009 would be a fate worse than death for the old-school hero.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 May 2009 | 8:54 pm

Congenital anemia gene is identified

Canadian medical scientists say they have discovered a new gene that's responsible for congenital sideroblastic anemia. The researchers, led by Dr.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 8:29 pm

The Science Behind "Angels and Demons" - No Laughing Antimatter

Particle physicists to brief media and public on real science at CERN; May 19, 1 pm ESTOn May 15, 2009, Sony Pictures will release "Angels and Demons," and bring the world's largest particle physics laboratory to the silver screen.Based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel, this major motion picture, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, focuses on a plot to destroy the Vatican using a small amount of antimatter.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 8:19 pm

Analyst: No New iPhone at WWDC 2009

An analyst is naysaying popular speculation that Apple will announce a new iPhone at its World Wide Developer Conference next month.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Wednesday issued a statement saying he does not expect an iPhone to be announced at the WWDC keynote scheduled for June 8. Rather, he expects Apple will devote a separate event for launching a family of new iPhones.

“We do not anticipate the launch in early June,” Munster said. “We continue to expect multiple models, possibly a high-end iPhone with improved specs from the current version and a low-end version with lower capacity and fewer features along with a reduced pricing plan. Such a model could also be used in Apple’s launch of the iPhone into China as soon as the end of summer ‘09.”

If Munster is correct, all that means is we’ll have to wait only two weeks longer to hear about Apple’s next iPhone. Munster’s speculation is based on what Apple stated in a press release, which says the event will focus on Mac OS X Snow Leopard and the iPhone 3.0 operating system, with no mention of a new handset. However, it’s worth noting Apple launched the iPhone 3G at WWDC 2008, and the press release for that event also did not hint at a hardware announcement.

Uh Oh: No New iPhone Or Steve Jobs At Apple’s WWDC [BusinessInsider]

See Also:

• Apple Bestows Cut-and-Paste, MMS on iPhone Users
• Steve Jobs’ Best Quotes Ever
• Apple CEO Steve Jobs Goes on Medical Leave
• Steve Jobs Cites Treatable Hormone Imbalance For Weight Loss
  
• Steve Jobs Probably Won’t Come Back to Apple
• Macworld Expo May Disappear, But Steve Jobs’ Keynotes Won’t
  
• Where Is Steve Jobs?
• WWDC Keynote: Steve Jobs Announces a $200, 3G iPhone

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 May 2009 | 8:07 pm

Craigslist Kills Erotic Services Ads, Will Launch Adult Section

CWmike writes "Submitting to mounting legal pressure, Craigslist has announced that it will remove the Erotic Services category from its classified advertising Web site within seven days. The move comes just two and a half weeks after Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist, told Computerworld that the company had no intention of removing the category. While it's taking down the category, it will be launching a new category called Adult Services, for which each posting will be manually reviewed before it appears. 'Unsurprisingly, but completely contrary to some of the sensationalistic journalism we've seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of Craigslist classifieds is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds, let alone rates of violent crime pertaining to American society as a whole,' said Buckmaster in a blog post today. 'We are optimistic that the new balance struck today will be an acceptable compromise from the perspective of the constituencies, and for the diverse US communities that value and rely upon Craigslist.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 13 May 2009 | 8:01 pm

Optometrists create custom contact lenses

Researchers at the University of Houston's College of Optometry say they have created custom-made contact lenses for people with highly aberrated vision. While the majority of patients with common vision problems can find glasses or contact lenses fairly easily, the researchers said others who suffer from eye diseases that affect the focus of light have more limited options and might have to learn to live with poor vision. The lenses we make are made for (the specific patient), Assistant Professor Jason Marsack said.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 7:59 pm

New genetic risk found for kidney disease

A team of U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 7:52 pm

General: We Just Might Nuke Those Cyber Attackers

How would the American military respond to an attack on its networks? If we take the commander of U.S. strategic forces at his word, they'd nuke those hackers, if need be.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 May 2009 | 7:51 pm

ACLU: Human Gene Patents Infringe Speech

The American Civil Liberties Union claims two patents on cancer-detecting genes violate the First Amendment -- it's possibly the first federal lawsuit of its kind. The group says the patents are so restrictive they preclude competition in gene research to develop early detection for breast and ovarian cancer.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 May 2009 | 7:37 pm

Hulu: So popular it’s killing itself?

Section: Video, Video Providers, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Downloads, Web 2.0, Web Apps, Websites, Online Music/Video

I’m sure you’ve used Hulu, or at least are familiar with the site.  Launched about two years ago by NBC and Fox, Hulu has become wildly popular with many as a favorite online TV service.  This success, however, may turn out to be their Achilles’ heel.

Hulu has seen their name in the news plenty of the past five months or so especially.  Back in January, the decision was made to pull most of the episodes of the very popular show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” from their lineup.  This obviously did not go over well with viewers.  People complained (loudly!) on Hulu’s “Sunny in Philly” forum.  We heard “Hulu blows” and the obvious “Off to the torrent sites.”

As of two weeks ago, Hulu still seems to be going strong according to comScore’s report showing that Hulu zipped into the top three spot streaming video sites.  Then we heard the news that Disney (corporate parent for ESPN and ABC) was hopping aboard the Hulu train.  Seemed as though it’s Always Sunny in Hulu-delphia at least, right?  Maybe not so much.

The thing is, the pull of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” came due to the network’s request.  It wasn’t as though Hulu didn’t want to run it anymore.  Then right after that comes the Boxee shut off.  Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said “Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes.” in a blog post regarding the move. 

It’s pretty clear that certain powers-that-be aren’t quite as thrilled with Hulu’s success as say…Hulu is.  Companies like Comcast and Time Warner have to pay cable networks to carry their shows, and the fact that people can watch them on the ‘net for free isn’t exactly an idea that makes them jump up and down.  Add to that the potential loss of DVD sales related to cable TV, and it makes certain folks even less happy.

The reality is that audiences want to be able to watch whatever they want at any time.  This is the age of instant gratification, and the Internet has taught us much in being able to get that.  And this is scaring the pants of Hollywood studios and TV networks.  They are faced with charts of ad sales showing an arrow going down-down-down….DVD sales plummeting, and thus the fear ensues.  A distribution chief at Turner (a network that refuses to make popular shows available, and only keeps a couple episodes on its own site) says that, “We have to find ways to advance the business rather than cannibalize it.”

Well, you might want it to stay the same Turner boys…but I don’t think that is the reality.  People will watch the shows online.  You can choose whether it is going to be Hulu…where people have to at least watch all of those little ads….or those less than legal sites. 

via: wired

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 7:34 pm

Brazilian invader found in Ill. ponds

Biologists in northeastern Illinois are concerned about an invasive water plant from Brazil, one they found growing under a layer of ice. Brazilian elodea, often used as a decorative plant in aquariums, has become a major pest in the southern United States.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 13 May 2009 | 7:01 pm

Video Review: Movaic iZel Smartphone Stand

Short Version: It does everything we’d expect of a cell phone stand, and it does it well. It snaps into two different positions for holding your smartphone in landscape or portrait mode, grips the desk well, and the viewing angle can be adjusted quite easily. Plus it could totally double for a Batarang in a pinch. $25 bucks seems a bit pricey to us, though.

Long Version:

I’ve shown the iZel to a handful of people, gauging their reactions each time. Based off this scientific polling of 5 people, I can determine that the population of the entire world is divided between two camps:

• One camp looks at a product like the iZel and says, “Wow! I can sit any smartphone in that in either landscape or portrait mode and tilt it at a variety of angles! How handy!”
• The other camp looks at it, cocks their collective heads, and says, “Why the hell would I want my smartphone to stand up like that?”

Fortunately for the sake of this review, I’m part of that first camp. I want my iPhone to rest upon my desk like a divorcé in a pool chair, casually sipping on a cocktail of the latest Office episodes. This is especially true on airplanes, where I often spend the first 20 minutes of the flight tearing apart the SkyMall magazine to MacGuyver up a freaky origami stand so that I can catch up on my soaps without having to hold the thing up by hand for 6 hours straight.

Never again will SkyMall cower in fear as I take my seat, as the iZel is a perfect substitute to my impromptu paper suspensions. It folds down into a laptop case friendly 1/4″ sheet, and then back into either landscape or portrait mode in less than 5 seconds. The slide-out kickstand on the back allows you to tweak the viewing angle to your liking, and the design of the arms ensures it plays friendly with pretty much any smartphone you throw at it.

That said, it’s a fine stand even if you never intend for it to leave your desk. All edges are covered in a grippy elastomer, ensuring that the iZel (and your phone) won’t be sliding around your desk all day. The black/silver color scheme should mesh well with most desk setups, assuming that you don’t work in Toon Town.

What we like:

• Ultra easy to assemble and disassemble, making it perfect for portable use.
• Lightweight and incredibly durable
• Adjustable for just about any smartphone, with viewing angle support from around 45° to about 80°.

What we don’t:

• $25 bucks seems like a lot for a cellphone stand. However, if you plan to lug this thing around with you, the durability and portability justify the pricetag.
• The viewing angle kickstand likes to pop out. It’s easy to put back in place, but it seems like it’d be quite easy to lose

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 6:38 pm

Imeem About To Expand iPhone Music Storage By Way Of The Cloud

Easily my favorite app on the Android platform is Imeem. It's simple, fast and powerful, allowing you to listen to a huge range of music for free. And now it's coming to the iPhone, we've learned. The Imeem app has already been submitted for App Store approval and could be released any day, we're hearing from a reliable source. In terms of what it will offer, you can probably expect it to be about the same as the Android version. That means access to Imeem's library of music and perhaps more importantly, access to your own collection of songs from the cloud, if you use Imeem's MyMusic service to put your music on their servers.

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 6:37 pm

Oldest Sculpture Is Busty Clue to Brain Boom

A tiny, but well-endowed sculpture is the oldest yet discovered and provides hints at the leap in mental ability that allowed for figurative art.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 May 2009 | 6:30 pm

E.U. Fines Intel $1.5 Billion; Could Google Be Next?

European regulators slap Intel with a record $1.45 billion fine for unfairly competing with AMD. With all the talk of U.S. regulators looking at Google, can the E.U.'s heavy finers be far behind?

Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 May 2009 | 6:21 pm

Sling Media, Apple, and AT&T: A confederacy of douches

AT&T and Apple's arbitrary decision to forbid the streaming media iPhone app SlingPlayer to be allowed to operate over 3G, for fear of saturating AT&T's network, was—if I may adopt the tenor of a business analyst here—super douchey. Eliot Van Buskirk sums up the situation tidily.

But considering that Sling Media offered weak excuses about why its older models did not fully support the $30 application—did I mention it's a $30 iPhone application?—it doesn't sound like it's much of a loss. The planned obsolescence would be more forgivable if the iPhone app were free.

I actually understand AT&T's hesitancy to approve this use of their fragile 3G network, as horribly short-sighted as it may be, but the hoops they jump through to try to justify it are typically gymnastic:

"Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service," stated AT&T. "We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs."

However, this policy is obviously inconsistent. Owners of the Samsung Blackjack, Motorola Q, Blackberry, and other smartphones are able to stream Slingbox content over AT&T's 3G network. Only Sling's iPhone app is crippled in this way.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 6:19 pm

Goggles schmoggles

[via Make]

[via CreativePro]

[via Smartdogs]

[via Make]

[ditto Make]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 6:16 pm

Astronauts Grab Hubble Space Telescope

Astronauts set the stage for five days of treacherous spacewalking repairs.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 May 2009 | 6:00 pm

Twitt jr

Alex Grant got this IBM PCjr to talk to Twitter, pulling down three recent posts with its 4.77MHz processor and displaying them on its sexy 16-color display. [via Hackaday]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 5:54 pm

Why Ford's side airbags can't be set off by an errant shopping cart

Ben Wojdyla:

Ford decided to start using pressure wave detection. In this method, the sensor is placed inside the door on the outer skin of the car, it monitors the ambient air pressure in the door cavity and sends a signal to the crash computer. The crash computer interprets the data every few miliseconds, confirming it with what the other sensors scattered around the car tell it. What's the advantage? Fidelity. The signal coming from the pressure sensor has a much higher resolution than an accelerometer, which means it can tell the difference between a car hitting your door and say a shopping cart loaded with 110 lbs, hitting the door at 10 MPH. But before it can do that, engineers have to calibrate it to be able to tell the difference. This is where the shopping cart test comes in.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 5:39 pm

I don't know why Vtech is making the IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio

I'm a bit baffled by this one: Vtech, known best for their top-notch electronic toys for kids, have released the "IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio", a desktop radio straight out of 2004 with a name that conjures all the joy and fun of an international standards committee.

It does what you'd expect—streaming radio, plays MP3 files shared over the network, pass through audio from aux in—but...huh. It doesn't look bad, just really behind the curve. There's not a single thing the $200 IS9181 can do that an iPod Touch in a dock can't do better.

I wouldn't have posted it at all except that I typically like Vtech's products, which only compounded my confusion. Vtech isn't typically at the cusp of innovation, I know, but it's one thing to make a bunch of cordless phones because they're still solid sellers and another to take a stab at a market that is already cooling.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 5:38 pm

Improved Diode Lights Offer Bright Future

Scientists make organic light-emitting diode lights more energy-efficient.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 May 2009 | 5:35 pm

Craigslist to ban erotic services section

Section: Web, Websites

The hugely popular free classified site Craigslist has finally caved after being pressured for months by various agencies to remove their erotic services section.  Craigslist has been accused by lawmakers of being an outlet for prostitution.  Most recently, it has been at the heart of the Craigslist killer case that involved med student Philip Markhoff allegedly finding victims from the erotic services section.

In a blog post on Craigslist the following was reported, “Unsurprisingly, but completely contrary to some of the sensationalistic journalism we’ve seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of craigslist classifieds is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds.  However, with respect to this new paid category for advertising by legal businesses, we will experiment with some of the methods traditionally employed in paid print classifieds.”

In lieu of erotic services, an adult services section will be put in its place.  However, each ad placed will go through a manual approval process and the user will be charged a $10 listing fee.  Starting today, erotic services will not accept new ads and current ads will expire after seven days. 

Read: [LA Times]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 5:17 pm

Wig Purifier uses ozone power to clean your hair piece

The Wig Purifier is an airtight tube that you can stick your wig in at the end of the day for automatic sterilization and deodorization. Apparently it uses ozone air to work its magic--ten minutes in the faux-suede Purifier will give you a fresh head. It's $367. Check out the cheesy promo video below. [Product page via Born Rich]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 5:08 pm

Can’t wait for iHulu? NBC mobile has got you (partially) covered

I don’t know about you, but the novelty of watching random YouTube crap videos on my iDevice wore off pretty quickly. And with iHulu (a.k.a. an official Hulu app) nowhere to be found, there aren’t too many other quality alternatives for viewing free content on your iPhone or iPod touch…until now.

CNET points out that NBC’s mobile site - m.nbc.com - provides access to full episodes of many of the network’s most popular shows, including Heroes and The Office.

The catch - the episodes are broken up into 7+ minute segments, each with a commercial intro. However, on the bright side, once the show begins to buffer you can manually fast forward past the commercial to the good stuff.

The shows load very quickly over WiFi (and relatively so via 3G) and the image/sound quality seems comparable (er, close enough) to a locally stored copy. Sure beats paying.

As for the other major networks, both ABC (abc.go.com/iphone) and CBS (iphone.cbs.com) offer mobile video for the iDevices, but the content is limited to recaps and short clips. As for FOX, it doesn’t seem to have any mobile video on its wap.fox.com site.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 5:03 pm

Sprint releases the MiFi portable mobile hotspot

We at CrunchGear love us some MiFi. From its first appearance at CES this year to the Verizon launch, we’ve been all like “I love you MiFi.”

Now you can love the MiFi even more because it’s available on Sprint. Here’s the important stuff:

Sprint plans to launch the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 intelligent mobile hotspot device for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year service agreement (excluding taxes). The MiFi 2200, available in the first week of June on www.sprint.com, in Sprint retail stores and other select channels, will allow users to connect to the Internet by bridging WiFi-enabled devices like laptops, MP3 players and gaming devices to America’s most dependable 3G network* – the EVDO Rev A Sprint Mobile Broadband Network.

* $59.99 per month mobile broadband only plan (excluding taxes and surcharges)**

or

* $149.99 per month Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband (phone plus device connectivity — excluding taxes and surcharges)**

Both plans include up to 5 GB per month and 5 cents per megabyte overage for the MiFi 2200.

At your home office, on the road or at the beach, Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot connects any WiFi-enabled device to the Sprint Now Network
The Sprint Simply Everything Plan(R) + Mobile Broadband = $599 savings annually vs. comparable Verizon plan

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May. 13, 2009– Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced plans to bring a WiFi hotspot to customers virtually anywhere and everywhere — and whenever they need it — on any WiFi-enabled device.

Sprint plans to launch the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 intelligent mobile hotspot device for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year service agreement (excluding taxes). The MiFi 2200, available in the first week of June on www.sprint.com, in Sprint retail stores and other select channels, will allow users to connect to the Internet by bridging WiFi-enabled devices like laptops, MP3 players and gaming devices to America’s most dependable 3G network* – the EVDO Rev A Sprint Mobile Broadband Network. Sprint will launch the service under the Sprint Mobile Hotspot name, and it will be the first in the U.S. to support MiFi’s GPS capabilities, allowing users to take advantage of select location and mapping applications.

“You can hold the MiFi 2200 in the palm of your hand, slip it in your pocket, even place it on a beach towel if you’re lying under the sun and wirelessly connect your laptop, MP3 player and gaming device to the Internet all at once,” said Steve Elfman, president of network, wholesale and product, Sprint. “Now customers will be able to use one mobile broadband device – the MiFi 2200 – to connect multiple personal devices or multiple users. If I have a WiFi-enabled device, I don’t need to find a WiFi hotspot. The MiFi 2200 creates one for me.”

Save money and cut the cord

Business and consumer customers may choose from the following service plans for the MiFi 2200:

* $59.99 per month mobile broadband only plan (excluding taxes and surcharges)**

or

* $149.99 per month Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband (phone plus device connectivity — excluding taxes and surcharges)**

Both plans include up to 5 GB per month and 5 cents per megabyte overage for the MiFi 2200.

The Simply Everything Plan + Mobile Broadband, unique in the industry, was introduced this February to give customers the benefits of the Now Network on their phone and laptop for one price. The plan includes unlimited text, picture and video messaging, GPS navigation, email and Web surfing on their phone, plus 5 GB of blazing Internet access on their mobile broadband device – all for just $149.99 per month, a savings of $599 per year vs. comparable Verizon plans.1 Now, for that same price, customers can use the MiFi 2200 and connect to more devices at once.

Sprint continues to innovate and deliver value

The Sprint Mobile Hotspot service with the MiFi 2200 is part of Sprint’s game-changing open approach to rolling out new types of wireless services and delivering the significant value and capabilities of the Now Network to its customers. The MiFi 2200, a portable, secure and truly wireless mobile broadband access device, is the first of its kind to be added to Sprint’s portfolio – and one of several innovative mobile broadband devices that Sprint will announce this year. Sprint plans to offer a portfolio of 3G, 4G and dual-mode devices that will take advantage of the Now Network.

How MiFi works

MiFi creates a personal cloud of high-speed Internet connectivity that can be easily shared among up to five users and a variety of WiFi-enabled devices through its connection to America’s most dependable 3G network,* the EVDO Rev A Sprint Mobile Broadband Network. For example:

* College student: a college student tucks her MiFi 2200 in her backpack to study with friends at the park and uses it to listen to streaming radio on her MP3 player while she connects to the school’s Intranet on her laptop to get details on a class assignment. She takes a break to take pictures of her pals with her Wi-Fi enabled digital camera, and the camera uses the MiFi’s signal to upload the photos to Facebook while she emails her completed report to her professor, then uses the device’s GPS capability to find a nearby pizza place for lunch.
* Business travelers: Two business travelers share a cab to the airport, then wait for their flight. Sharing the signal of one MiFi 2200 device that is safely tucked away in a briefcase, they download emails and surf the Internet on their notebooks and stream music to their MP3 players.
* Portable retail: Five vendors at a local art fair have kiosks in close proximity. Accessing one MiFi 2200 device’s signal, they each run a credit card point-of-sale device over WiFi and have secure backhaul.

Key Features of the Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot

* Easily fits in the palm of your hand — dimensions: 3.50”x 2.32” x 0.35” and weight: 2.05 oz.
* Brushed aluminum finish
* Provides mobile broadband Rev A Internet access wirelessly
* Supports up to five WiFi-enabled devices
* Simple to connect with Hands-Free Activation (OMA-DM). No software installation required
* Universal Wi-Fi compatibility
* Advanced security through WPA2-PSK, WEP and SPI Firewall
* MiFi GPS capabilities to take advantage of select location and mapping applications, such as getting driving or walking directions or finding the best restaurant nearby
* Battery provides four hours of user time, 40 hours standby on single charge

The MiFi 2200 is ideal for businesses looking to extend the speed and anywhere convenience of America’s most dependable 3G network*. Soon after its retail launch, Sprint Wholesale will also be offering a version of the Novatel MiFi 2200 to wholesale wireless partners.

“Supporting more than one WiFi-enabled device, businesses can enable their employees to cost-effectively share a connection when mobile with other employees, vendors or customers,” Elfman noted. “Now business professionals like claims adjusters, mobile professionals, retail employees and field service technicians can easily perform multiple functions using various WiFi devices, all over one connection.”

“There are an abundance of consumer devices with integrated WiFi that lose their functionality when WiFi isn’t available,” said Michael Gartnerberg, vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret. “The ability to seamlessly add WAN capabilities to this multitude of devices will empower consumers to use their devices the way they want to use them and wherever they want to use them.”

The availability of the MiFi 2200 will further deliver on Sprint’s promise to offer businesses and consumers a faster and more robust Internet experience in cities across the nation than any other wireless service from a national carrier. Sprint recently made history by launching 4G in 2008 in Baltimore and is the first national carrier to offer wireless access to both 3G and 4G networks on one device – the 3G/4G USB Modem U300. Sprint has new 4G devices planned for 2009 and 2010, including a single-mode 4G data card, embedded laptops and a small-office-home-office broadband modem.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 5:01 pm

Busty Figurine Likened to 'Paleolithic Playboy'

The first known female figurine is surprisingly sexy, say its discoverers.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 May 2009 | 5:00 pm

MSI X340 X-Thin laptop reviewed (Verdict: Merely okay)

The MSI X340 is a netbook in the body of a MacBook Air. Joanna Stern, a woman who has single-handedly made Laptop magazine the center of the netbook universe, passes judgement on a not-quite-production model:

For $899, the MSI X340 delivers on the promise of an affordable ultraportable as thin and light as the MacBook Air. However, while it provides better performance than netbooks, it doesn't provide the same build quality and graphics oomph. But that may not matter to those who like that the X340 costs half as much as the base model Air, and has more ports and much better battery life, to boot.

Th X340 doesn't actually use the same Intel Atom processors as most netbooks, but instead the Intel ULV-series chips, which are slightly faster.

Joanna also mentions that the plastic chassis makes the X340 feel flimsy compared to the MacBook Air.

The X340 has a suggested price of $900—refurbished aluminum MacBook Air units can be bought from Apple for $1,000. Even if you aren't an unabashed OS X fan like me, that's a tough sell for MSI. (The X340 will go down in price pretty quickly, however, while the Air will not.)

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 4:55 pm

Ergo ninja-toe sandals

The Dopie is a $30 split-toe sandal made by Terra Plana, a company best known for the Kevlar-soled Vivo Barefoot. Their motto says it all: "Naked shoes for naked people."

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 4:52 pm

ViewSonic to use Taiwanese/Chinese OEMs, launch handsets in Q3?

It was only yesterday that Viewsonic announced that they’d be dabbling in handset sales, and the rumors have already started. Cell phone gossip is becoming like celebrity gossip sans the sex tapes.

According to Digitimes’ always vague “industry sources” (whether that means someone close to the matter or some dude who bought a cellphone once, we’ll likely never know), ViewSonic is looking to OEM manufacturers in Taiwan or China to make their handsets. ViewSonic would still have a part in the development and their name would still grace the product at the end, but it’s looking a little less likely that the whole ordeal will be 100% in house.

The source also indicates a Q3 launch in China, with Europe and North America to follow.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 4:48 pm

Bra counts down to marriage, plays wedding march

Japanese lingerie company Triumph just announced their new "getting-ready-for-marriage" bra. It's a huge wedding dress-themed contraption with a ticking counter and a slot to put an engagement ring in. If you don't have marriage plans by the time the counter reaches zero, then you get to feel an immense amount of shame--and you're stuck with a stupid bra. It also has slits in the sides for a pen for when you need to sign marriage papers.

Triumph doesn't plan to ever actually sell this thing, which is probably a good thing.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 4:26 pm

Plasma sticking around for a while, says plasma HDTV makers

HD Guru asked the LG, Panasonic, and Samsung if they were phasing out plasma. Their answer? Not yet.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 4:16 pm

Roman Ruins Survive Thanks to Volcanic Ash

Ancient ruins reveal a trademark secret of Roman architects: volcanic ash.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 May 2009 | 3:39 pm

CULV-based MSI Wind U200 ultraportable specs leaked

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Netbooks

Details for the upcoming CULV-based MSI Wind have recently been leaked.  The model is the MSI Wind U200 and it would appear as if this will be an ultraportable notebook worth checking out—that is assuming these specs are accurate and it is priced well.

So far, the pricing details have not been stated, although it has been suggested that it will be somewhere in the $700 range.  Otherwise, in terms of features the U200 will have a 12-inch LED-backlit display with a 1366 x 768 resolution, a 1.20GHz Intel Celeron M ULV 723 processor, 2GB of RAM along with a 250GB hard drive.  Other specs include Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and a 3-cell battery.

An official announcement is expected to come shortly, it should be interesting to see what the official price is set at.

Via [Engadget]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 3:16 pm

iLike launches custom iPhone apps, syndication platform to help artists connect with fans

iLike, the popular music discovery site with a huge presence on social networks, is launching a set of new syndication services for musicians. Beginning tonight, iLike now offers extensive integration with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, allowing artists to distribute content to each of their online presences from a single control panel. In addition to these, the company is also launching a new self-serve platform for building customized iPhone applications for artists, allowing them to establish themselves on the App Store with a minimum amount of effort and resources. While most readers probably associate iLike with music playlists and streaming, the service is also home to 300,000 artists who use its services to help manage and distrbute their content. Before today's annoucement, the service offered more limited syndication options, allowing them send data through the iLike Facebook application, its iGoogle widget, and an iTunes plugin. But the new options go much further.

Source: MobileCrunch | 13 May 2009 | 3:03 pm

Anonymous source leaks next gen iPhone details

FROM APPLETELL - If anonymous sources are to be trusted, the next gen iPhone won’t be quite the upgrade that we wanted to see. Rather, you can expect a minor bump upwards to all interesting components.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 13 May 2009 | 2:25 pm

Penguins' Secret Ocean Food Stash Found

In spring, some penguins leave home for months. Now, we know where they go.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 May 2009 | 1:29 pm

DIY Oscilloscope is Awesomely Affordable

The problem with oscilloscopes is that they cost a lot of money. Even on Ebay you’re looking at $400-plus, which is a shame as these things are essential for real electronics hacking, and fun to play with at all times.

The “Digital Storage Oscilloscope” could change this. The tiny instrument is little more than a circuit board with a screen, and looks like nothing as much as a Game’n’Watch. The headline feature is the price — at $50 this is as affordable as a decent multimeter. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a full-sized ‘scope, but it does most of what you need, and it fits in your pocket.

Best of all, it’s open source, and the firmware can be downloaded and tinkered with. Actually, that’s not the best part. The real best part is that you can buy the whole lot in kit form and it together yourself. Take this option and the price drops to just $33. Electronic nerdery just got a whole lot easier.

Product page [Seed Studio via Retro Thing]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 May 2009 | 12:58 pm

Snap! Apple Hits Back at Microsoft Ads

Apple has taken the bait and replied to Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter” ads. The Latest Get a Mac spot, called “Elimination”, spoofs the MS campaign which searches out cheap PCs which superficially look like they have the same specs as a particular Mac. As ever, the Apple ad  comes down to viruses, and — as ever — John Hodgman’s PC is hilarious.

The claims of both sides’ advertisements are bending the truth somewhat, but that’s really not the point here. For the observer, watching the two sides virtually bitch-slapping each other is tremendous entertainment. It’s like watching an old, married couple fighting in a restaurant, minus the embarrassment.

Video page [Apple]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 May 2009 | 12:11 pm

Shaky-Cam: DIY Bike Tripod

This DIY project combines bikes and cameras, a sure-fire way to make it into the pages of Gadget Lab. Better, it’s a super-simple and rather ingenious hack, straight from the cunning mind of cyclist and photographer Brian Green.

Brian wanted to mount his camera on the handlebars for on-the-road shooting. Above you see the solution — a bike reflector mount coupled to a tripod-sized machine-screw. The reflector mount clamps down on the tubing, just as it is designed to do, and the screw holds the camera in place.

Not that we recommend taking a camera and bolting it to a rigid, shaking, vibrating metal bar. What we like about Brian’s hack is that it could be used anywhere. The addition of a wing-nut would make this an instant camera-clamp for steady shots, and small and light enough to fit in your pocket. Like we said — ingenious.

Home-made Camera Tripods [Brian’s Blog via DIY Photography]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 May 2009 | 11:44 am

Ingenious Folding Bike from Strida Designer

Some people don’t like to leave their bikes chained in the street. It may get stolen. A dog might piss on it. If you’re in England, it’s even quite likely that some passing idiot will kick in the wheels, just for fun. These people need a folding bike.

The IF-Mode (Integrate Folding) is a folding bike from Strida designer Mark Sanders. The main difference between this and the hundreds of Brompton clones is that it has proper, full-sized wheels, making it a lot easier to ride in pothole strewn streets. The chain is hidden, the brakes are disks sitting at the centers of the wheels and the gear-shift is done with the heel, so there is not much left sticking out.

The folding itself is ingenious. Take a look at the video and see if you can work out how its done. You’ll probably need to watch a few times.

Slick stuff, but pricy. At $2,250, you’ll want to bring the IF-Mode inside every night.

Product page [Areaware via Core77]

See Also:

Review: Triangulate Your Commute With the Folding Strida 5 Bike

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 13 May 2009 | 11:20 am

Physical Buttons Pop Up, Then Disappear on Experimental Computer Touchscreen

Graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University create a touchscreen display that includes physical buttons that can appear or disappear, depending on what's on the screen.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 13 May 2009 | 11:00 am