Source: Gizmodo | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:20 pm

Naked burglar caught on video

This is a still from surveillance video of a fellow who robbed two Abington, Pennsylvania homes on Friday. From CBS News:

One witness said she saw a naked man fleeing from the (first) apartment just after it had been robbed.

Surveillance video also shows the suspect wearing dark colored shorts and a white sleeveless tank top, apparently before he decided to "dress down."

The same naked thief is wanted in a second burglary the same day, according to police. A homeowner told CBS 3 Philadelphia the suspect went through her 14-year-old daughter's undergarments. Women's clothing was reportedly stolen from the dresser drawers, and obscenities had been written on the mirrors.

"Caught on Tape: Naked Burglar"


Source: Boing Boing | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:17 pm

Today at Boing Boing Gadgets

Today at Boing Boing Gadgets, we had a special theme day on Augmented Reality. *Lisa wrote a feature about Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, the Japanese company that made the virtual maid desktop app that made waves on the Internet last fall; *Steven wrote about wearable computing, pondered future applications of augmented reality, and asked the question: What do pirates call augmented reality? *Rob reviewed the Dyson D22 Motorhead and Pledge's fabric sweeper.


Source: Boing Boing | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:08 pm

Microsoft will sponsor FC Barcelona to the tune of €2 million

Look who Microsoft is throwing money at [Spanish]! Yup, according to Catalunya Informació, by way of Sport, it looks like Microsoft is going to sponsor, in some capacity, the reigning European and Spanish football champions, FC Barcelona. It’s said to be worth some €2 million.

Does this mean Barça will soon be running around with MICROSOFT on its chest? Doubtful; we all know the team is in a multi-year agreement with Unicef whereby it (Barça) gives money to the United Nations organization.

Barça, as you’re probably already aware, is currently in Seattle for game two of its North American tour. The team plays the Seattle Sounders—also, coincidentally, sponsored by Microsoft—tomorrow night, viewable on ESPN2 at 10:30pm ET.

Apparently Laporta and Co. visited the Microsoft headquarters earlier today.

Some of you know what I’m talking about.

Source: CrunchGear | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:00 pm

HTC Hero for Sprint spied, kind of

Looks like EngMo has more or less confirmed the HTC Hero for Sprint. Unless, of course, the image above is a complete photoshop, which we doubt since Hesse has pretty much confirmed that the Hero is coming to Sprint. We’ll know more later, maybe tomorrow, if the Hero will launch on October 11.

EngMo

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:35 pm

As Promised, Here’s Yahoo’s 8-K to the SEC About the Microsoft Deal: The Full Document! [BoomTown]

As BoomTown promised earlier today, here’s the first of many filings related to the Yahoo-Microsoft online search and advertising deal announced last week.

The 8-K filing was made with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Yahoo.

Some highlights, although most of them are not that new:

* No termination fee.

* There is a $50 million annual payment to Yahoo (YHOO) by Microsoft (MSFT) for three years, for unspecified “transition and implementation costs” beyond the agreement.

(Personally, I think it’s for extra Advil needed for the headaches engendered organizing this circus.)

* At least 400 Yahoo employees will be hired by Microsoft, which will also provide funds for retention packages to keep 150 more Yahoos motivated during the transition.

* The “Definitive Agreement” between the Silicon Valley company and the Redmond, Wash., software giant needs to be sketched out by October 27, 2009.

But why don’t you read all the niggling details yourself, including about Google (GOOG), below (I stripped away only minor SEC legalese and fill-in-the-blank details):

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

Binding Letter Agreement–General Terms

On July 29, 2009, Yahoo! Inc., a Delaware corporation (”Yahoo!”), and Microsoft Corporation, a Washington corporation (”Microsoft”), entered into a binding letter agreement (the “Letter Agreement”), pursuant to which the parties will negotiate and execute a Search and Advertising Services and Sales Agreement and a License Agreement (the “Definitive Agreements”), each reflecting and supplementing the provisions of such Definitive Agreements as set forth in annexes to the Letter Agreement, the material provisions of which are summarized below.

Negotiation and Execution of the Definitive Agreements

Pursuant to the terms of the Letter Agreement, the parties will negotiate and execute the Definitive Agreements as soon as practicable but in any event by October 27, 2009 (the “Negotiation Period”). If the Definitive Agreements are not executed during the Negotiation Period, the parties will submit any disputes regarding the final terms of the Definitive Agreements to an arbitration panel. The arbitration panel will render its decision based upon the terms of the Letter Agreement, the nature of the commercial relationship to be created thereunder, and the submissions and presentations of the parties at a hearing conducted by the arbitration panel. The arbitration panel will render a decision by choosing the final proposed contractual language of either Microsoft or Yahoo! without modification, subject to a final review process to resolve any potential inconsistencies. The decision of the arbitration panel will be binding on the parties, and the parties agree to execute Definitive Agreements as determined by the arbitration panel within three (3) days of the receipt of the arbitration panel’s final decision.

Regulatory Review

Microsoft and Yahoo! agree to use their respective best efforts to cooperate in connection with all necessary regulatory filings. In addition, as soon as practicable after July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! will make all filings required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 as amended (the “HSR Act”) and by any applicable foreign antitrust laws. Microsoft further agrees to use its best efforts to obtain any consents, clearances or approvals required under or in connection with the HSR Act or any other applicable antitrust law, including offering, negotiating or committing to any restrictions on the activities of Microsoft and its subsidiaries in search and paid search and contesting and defending any threatened or pending litigation, investigation or proceeding under applicable antitrust laws.

Conditions to Commencement and Termination Prior to Commencement

The obligations of each party to commence performance of their obligations under the Definitive Agreements (the “Commencement Date”) are only subject to (a) termination or expiration of the HSR Act waiting period and receipt of certain required foreign antitrust approvals and (b) the accuracy of the party’s representations and warranties in the Letter Agreement as of the time immediately prior to the Commencement Date and performance by the other party of its obligations required to be performed by it in connection with the Letter Agreement and the Definitive Agreements at or prior to the Commencement Date, except where the failure of such representations and warranties to be true and accurate or the failure of such performance would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect with respect to such party.

Prior to the Commencement Date, the Letter Agreement and Definitive Agreements may be terminated only by (a) mutual consent, (b) if a breach renders a condition incapable of being satisfied by the Termination Date (as defined below), or (c) if the conditions to commencement have not been satisfied by July 29, 2010 (the “Termination Date”); provided that Yahoo!, in its sole discretion, has the right to extend the Termination Date by six (6) months if the required antitrust approvals have not yet been obtained.

Search and Advertising Services and Sales Agreement

Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, the parties have agreed to enter into a global Search and Advertising Services and Sales Agreement (“Search Agreement”), which will include, among other provisions, the terms summarized below.

General Services

For a period of ten (10) years beginning on the Commencement Date (the “Term”), Microsoft will be Yahoo!’s exclusive technology provider for algorithmic and paid search services and Microsoft will provide contextual advertising to Yahoo! on a non-exclusive basis. Yahoo! will be the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for Yahoo!’s and Microsoft’s premium search advertisers.

The services provided by Microsoft under the Search Agreement will be provided on all web sites, applications and other online digital properties owned or operated by or on behalf of (a) Yahoo!, Yahoo! subsidiaries and Yahoo! joint venture relationships, as well as on software applications developed or distributed by Yahoo! or Yahoo! subsidiaries that provide access to or enable algorithmic search services or paid search services (”Yahoo! Properties”) and (b) Yahoo! Syndication Partners (as defined below), as well as software applications developed or distributed by Yahoo!’s Syndication Partners that provide access to or enable algorithmic search services or paid search services from Yahoo! (”Syndication Properties”). “Syndication Partner” means a third party with whom Yahoo! has contracted to provide algorithmic search services or paid search services.

Subject to certain specified restrictions, Yahoo! will have full flexibility with respect to the user experience, content and look and feel on all of its web pages, and will also be entitled to use the paid search services and algorithmic search services for non-internet search queries with minimal restriction.

The scope of the services to be provided by Microsoft under the Search Agreement are limited to web sites, applications and other online digital properties designed for use and consumption on personal computers. In addition, Yahoo! may at its option elect to receive Microsoft’s mapping services and mobile search services. Yahoo! may implement each of the mapping services and the mobile search services on a non-exclusive or an exclusive basis. Yahoo! also has the option to work with Microsoft to implement the services on other platforms. If Yahoo! elects to receive services for other platforms, it must receive such services on an exclusive basis.

Revenue Share Payments and Other Payments

During the first five years of the Term, Yahoo! will be entitled to receive 88% of the net revenues generated from Microsoft’s services on Yahoo! Properties (the “Revenue Share Rate”). Yahoo! will also be entitled to receive its share (at the Revenue Share Rate) of the net revenues generated on Syndication Properties after the Syndication Partner’s share of net revenues is deducted. For new Syndication Properties during the Term, and for all Syndication Properties after the first five years of the Term, Yahoo! will receive its share (at the Revenue Share Rate) of the net revenues generated from Microsoft’s services on Syndication Properties after the Syndication Partner’s share of net revenues and certain Microsoft costs are deducted.

On the fifth anniversary of the Commencement Date, Microsoft will have the option to terminate Yahoo!’s sales exclusivity for premium search advertisers. If Microsoft exercises its option, the Revenue Share Rate will increase to 93% for the remainder of the Term, unless Yahoo! exercises its option to retain its sales exclusivity, in which case the Revenue Share Rate would be reduced to 83% for the remainder of the Term. If Microsoft does not exercise such option, the Revenue Share Rate will be 90% for the remainder of the Term.

Microsoft will also pay Yahoo! a payment of $50 million annually during the first three (3) years of the Search Agreement. Yahoo! may use these payments to partially cover transition and implementation costs not otherwise covered under the Search Agreement.

Microsoft will provide in each country an 18-month guarantee for the gross revenue per search (the “RPS”) for Yahoo! Properties. The guarantee will be based on the RPS average for the trailing 12-month period prior to the initial implementation of paid search services in such country.

Termination Provisions

In addition to the termination rights described in the Letter Agreement above, the Search Agreement may only be terminated as follows (each, a “Termination Event”): (a) either party may terminate upon repeated material breaches of material provisions of the Search Agreement such that it is unlikely that the breaching party is willing or able to continue to perform its obligations under the Search Agreement without continuing to materially breach it; (b) Yahoo! may terminate if Microsoft attempts to exit the business of algorithmic search or search monetization, either by ceasing to offer the services or by selling or attempting to sell all or substantially all of either its algorithmic search services business or paid search services business to an unaffiliated third party; (c) Yahoo! may terminate the Search Agreement if the trailing 12-month average of the RPS in the United States (the “U.S. RPS”) of Yahoo! and Microsoft’s combined queries falls below a specified percentage of Google Inc.’s (”Google”) estimated RPS measured on a comparable basis or if the combined Yahoo! and Microsoft query market share in the United States falls below a specified percentage; (d) on the fifth anniversary of the Search Agreement, and any time thereafter, Yahoo! has the right to terminate the Search Agreement if the trailing 12-month average of Yahoo!’s U.S. RPS is less than a specified percentage of Google’s estimated RPS; or (e) subject to exceptions, either party may terminate if a law, regulation or order would have a significant, adverse impact on a primary aspect of such party’s intended benefit of the Search Agreement.

If a Termination Event occurs in the United States, the entire Search Agreement may be terminated. If a Termination Event does not occur in the United States a party’s termination right is limited to the specific country or countries in which the event occurs.

If Microsoft proposes or attempts to sell all or substantially all of either its algorithmic search services business or paid search services business to an unaffiliated third party, Yahoo! will have a right of first refusal and right of last offer to purchase such businesses.

Service Level Agreements

The Search Agreement will provide (a) for service parity under which applicable application programming interfaces (”Microsoft API”) will be made available to Yahoo! at full parity with that which is made available to Microsoft’s internal teams; (b) for ranking and content parity under which Microsoft will provide the same algorithmic and paid search results in the same order as would be provided in response to the same inputs on web sites that are owned or operated by or for Microsoft, its subsidiaries and its joint venture relationships (”Microsoft O&O Properties”) in a particular country, including any content that is included in Microsoft’s algorithmic index; (c) for prioritization parity, under which Yahoo! will have full visibility into Microsoft product roadmap and parity with Microsoft’s internal teams in the product update prioritization process; and (d) for advertising parity under which neither party will allow advertisers to designate paid listings from Microsoft’s paid search or encourage advertisers to designate paid listings from Microsoft’s contextual advertising services to be displayed exclusively on Microsoft’s or Yahoo!’s respective results web pages. Furthermore, Microsoft will not treat Yahoo! or Yahoo!’s Syndication Partners less favorably than Microsoft and Microsoft’s partners in connection with its delivery and operation of the services.

Microsoft will optimize the delivery of paid listings by evaluating performance across all Microsoft O&O Properties and the Yahoo! Properties. The paid listings provided by Microsoft for Yahoo! will be optimized at parity with Microsoft’s optimization for Microsoft O&O Properties. Yahoo! may further optimize based on its own desired implementation.

Yahoo! may, at its option, elect to have Microsoft deliver the algorithmic search services and paid search services through a search results page hosted by Microsoft (the “White Label Solution”) on a country by country basis (if the United States is also a White Label Solution country), instead of through the Microsoft API. The White Label Solution will be in all material respects the same as Microsoft’s search results pages. Yahoo! may substitute Yahoo! applications or services for Microsoft applications or services within the White Label Solution.

Data Provisions

Microsoft will provide Yahoo! all data it collects as a result of its implementation of the services on Yahoo! Properties and Syndication Properties and, subject to Yahoo!’s privacy policies and applicable law, Yahoo! may use such data without contractual restriction in connection with its businesses. Microsoft will also use commercially reasonable efforts to enable Yahoo! and its Syndication Partners to obtain any other data that Yahoo! currently collects with respect to its own algorithmic search services and paid search services. Microsoft may obtain and use the data it collects as a result of its implementation of the services (including any derivative information that results from this data) only for the purpose of operating and enhancing the services and not for other Microsoft products and services.

Transition and Implementation Plan

As promptly as practicable, Yahoo! and Microsoft will agree on a detailed transition and implementation plan and schedule for implementing Microsoft’s algorithmic search services and paid search services on all Yahoo! Properties and Syndication Properties. The transition and implementation plan will be for a period of no longer than 24 months from the Commencement Date, subject to an extension for up to three additional months if the end of the 24-month period ends during the fourth quarter of a calendar year. The parties intend that the transition and implementation plan will be either set forth in a separate transition services agreement or as part of the Search Agreement.

Following the Commencement Date, Microsoft will hire not less than 400 Yahoo! employees (the “Transferred Employees”) and will offer the Transferred Employees market competitive compensation packages. In addition, Yahoo! and Microsoft will mutually agree on a retention plan to be paid for by Microsoft to assist in retaining the Transferred Employees and an additional 150 Yahoo! employees to be mutually agreed upon between Microsoft and Yahoo! to assist with providing the transition services.

License Agreement

Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, the parties have agreed to enter into a License Agreement (the “License Agreement”), which will include, among other provisions, the terms summarized below.

Exclusive Technology License

During the Term (as defined in the summary of the Search Agreement above), Yahoo! will grant to Microsoft a worldwide license (the “Technology License”) under copyrights and trade secrets relating to specified Yahoo! algorithmic and paid search technology for Microsoft to use in connection with providing specified algorithmic search, paid search and contextual advertising services (the “Field of Use”). The Technology License will be exclusive (even as to Yahoo!) as to certain algorithmic search and paid search services in the Field of Use. Upon termination or expiration of the Search Agreement, the Technology License will remain in effect but will become non-exclusive.

Limited Non-Exclusive Patent Cross License

During the Term, Yahoo! will grant to Microsoft a worldwide, non-exclusive limited patent license solely for Microsoft to provide services in the Field of Use to Yahoo!; and Microsoft will grant to Yahoo! a worldwide, non-exclusive limited patent license for Yahoo! to use and implement the services provided by Microsoft, as contemplated by the Search Agreement (the “Limited Patent Cross License”). The Limited Patent Cross License terminates upon the termination of the Search Agreement.

Patent License Option

Microsoft will also have an option to obtain from Yahoo! a worldwide, non-exclusive license under Yahoo!’s patents for Microsoft to provide online services in the Field of Use both with Microsoft’s owned and operated websites and to third parties (”Patent License”). The option will expire upon the earlier of July 29, 2011 and the date six (6) months following the Commencement Date. Should Microsoft exercise its option to obtain the Patent License, Microsoft will pay for such Patent License at a specified discount from fair market value. Such Patent License will also terminate upon termination of the Search Agreement.

Yahoo! may terminate the Patent License if Microsoft files an infringement action against Yahoo!, Yahoo! subsidiaries or Yahoo! joint venture relationships. Termination of the Patent License does not affect Microsoft’s obligations under the Search Agreement.

Assignment and Transfer

Microsoft may not assign the License Agreement without Yahoo!’s permission. Assignment or transfer of the licensed technology will be subject to the licenses. Neither party is prevented or restricted from licensing, selling or otherwise disposing of any of its patent assets, and Microsoft’s option to obtain the Patent License will not apply to any patents sold or otherwise disposed of by Yahoo! prior to the exercise of the option.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

YAHOO! INC. (Registrant)
By: /s/ Michael J. Callahan
Name: Michael J. Callahan
Title: Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Date: August 4, 2009

Source: All Things Digital | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:30 pm

Google Chrome Official Themes: Collect All 29, But Some Make Your Eyes Bleed

As we first reported the existence of a few days ago, Google’s Theme Gallery for Chrome has gone live. On the page, you can find 29 official themes that range from subtle (greyscale) to hideously ugly (legal pad).

Installing them couldn’t be simpler. Just pick the one you like and click on the “Apply theme” button. The theme will download and in the download manager at the bottom of the Chrome browser window, simply select “open.” After you have the new theme installed, you’ll see an option to return to the default theme. If you close that, you can revert in the Preferences area, under “Personal Stuff.”

These themes work on the latest developer builds of both the Windows and Mac versions of Chrome (I haven’t tried out Linux, but I imagine they will work there as well).

It’s nice to have the option to personalize and skin your browser, but most of these themes are way too distracting. And some, like the “Baseball” theme, make seeing tabs almost impossible. They also remind me of my beautiful work of art (pictured below) in creating a new custom theme for Gmail. Can’t wait for Chrome to give us access to make our own themes!

Update: Since some people seem confused, let me reiterate, “the latest developer builds” seem to be required for these themes to work correctly. This is not something Google is touting yet, the gallery site just went live with no fanfare, so use at your own risk.

[thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:18 pm

Research: DEET neurotoxic to bugs, animals

DEET, the active ingredient in many insect repellents, has been found to be neurotoxic in insects and mammals, French researchers reported Tuesday. Because of their finding, researchers are saying more investigations are needed quickly to either confirm or dismiss potential neurotoxicity to humans, the researchers said in a news release. We've found that DEET is not simply a behavior-modifying chemical but also inhibits the activity of a key central nervous system enzyme, acetycholinesterase, in both insects and mammals, said Vincent Corbel of the Institute de Recherche pour le Development in Montpellier, France, who co-led a team of researchers investigating the toxicity of DEET, or N,N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide. In a number of experiments, Corbel and his colleagues found DEET inhibits the acetylcholinesterase enzyme as did two other insecticide.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:11 pm

Computer worm's purpose baffles

The Conficker botnet, released as an April Fools' joke, seems to still be around, a U.S. computer security officer said. ABC News reported more than 5.5 million computers remain infected by the convincingly written rogue computer code that contained a vague threat April 1.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:57 pm

Alternative energy at Iraqi checkpoints

Coalition forces engineers say they're meeting electricity challenges in remote areas of Iraq by building alternative energy systems for border checkpoints. The engineers are partnering with the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:50 pm

Mac News Briefs: Real Software releases Visual Basic migration tool (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - Real Software hopes to make it easier for developers to move to its RealBasic cross-platform development application. On Tuesday, the company released VB Migration Assistant, which helps programs move applications from Visual Basic to RealBasic. Real Software says the migration tool lets developers port code more easily than copying and pasting.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:46 pm

Google Maps Fills Out With More Landmarks and Points Of Interest

Slowly but surely, Google Maps is filling up with more and more places. If you do a search in a major city, you are likely to find landmarks, museums, famous stores and restaurants labeled right on the map even if you did not specifically search for them.

If you pull up a map of midtown Manhattan, for example, you’ll see museums like MOMA and the American Folk Art Museum, as well as tourist attractions like the “Tree at Rockefeller Center.” But some of the famous buildings are also marked, like the Sony Building, the Trump Tower, and the CBS building.  Churches and chocolate stores show up as well.

High-end stores like Harry Winston and Takashimaya are also on the map, as are more common ones such as the Gap.  Some well-known restaurants are also highlighted.  La Cote Basque, an expensive French restaurant on 55th Street is on there, but so is Sapporo, a great Japanese noodle house on 49th.

When you click on a labeled building or landmark, an information window pops open with the exact address, phone number, description, and link to a Wikipedia article if available. And as you zoom in more places become visible. At some point the map could become pretty crowded, Google hopefully is looking at search history and click behavior to surface the most important places. Each place on the map becomes a visual search result. I like the direction this is going.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:44 pm

Nikon Unveils a Camera With Built-In Projector

All the gadget blogs are covering Nikon's new S1000pj digital camera with integrated projector. Reader Sabre Runner recommends Engadget's writeup, which goes like this: "The Nikon Coolpix S1000pj has gone from crazy rumor to seemingly-real to whoa-here's-the-press-release in record time — the compact cam with the integrated projector was just officially announced, along with the three other cams we saw leaked earlier today. Leaked specs for the S1000pj were dead-on: a 12.1 megapixel sensor with ISO 6400 sensitivity mounted behind a 5x wide-angle zoom lens with five-way VR stabilization, and that LED-powered projector that'll put up a 40-inch image for slideshows complete with music, effects, and transitions. We're a little less excited about the $430 list price this thing will carry when it hits in September, but on the whole it's a pretty terrific idea and we're completely intrigued — looks like we'll be saving our pennies this month."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:43 pm

Microsoft to hire at least 400 Yahoo workers (AP)

AP - Microsoft Corp. will hire at least 400 workers from Yahoo Inc. if government regulators approve the companies' proposed Internet search partnership, and Yahoo will receive $150 million to cover any unexpected costs during the switch to new technology.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:33 pm

Pranknet's Skype "phone assaults" detailed, head bully in charge lives with his mommy

The Smoking Gun today published the results of a seven-week investigative probe into Pranknet, an anonymous, web-organized group of meanies who pulled a bunch of particularly sadistic phone pranks on businesses and residents throughout the US.

A number of American television news networks have been breathlessly covering Pranknet's hijinks of late. These are the jerks who thought it was funny to call low-budget hotel rooms and convince occupants that they had to break open windows to escape imminent deadly gas leaks, or smash televisions to evade impending doom. As one Fark commenter put it, "I'm not sure who sucks more, the prank callers or the idiots that listen to them and destroy their hotel rooms."

Photo inset at left: 25-year old Tariq Malik, Pranknet's founding bully, pictured in a webcam still taken in his Windsor, Ontario bedroom. I think it's fair to debate whether or not calling Malik a "telephone terrorist" (as TSG does in the headline) is inflammatory and over the top, but I will say this: what he and his anonymous coward buds did was cruel, lame, and could have caused physical injury or loss of life, in addition to the substantial property damage reported.

You can hear a female victim panicking and crying on the recording below.

Malik and his fellow Pranknet anons refer to her as a "crazy bitch," then they whine about how many idle logins are in the chat room with only a few participating in the prank. Other recordings reflect the stronger sort of racist and homophobic language one might find in the dregs of chan. I hope Malik and the perps who helped him get the absolute maximum possible sentences, to be accompanied in prison by cellmates who lack a sense of humor.

But guess what? Like so many anonymous internet bullies, tough-guy Tariq "Dex" Malik lives with his mommy. Snip from TSG:

On July 22, a pair of TSG reporters approached "Dex"'s building at 1637 Assumption Street in Windsor, where he lives in the ground-floor 'B' apartment. Calling to his mother, who was standing near an open living room window, a reporter asked her to summon her son. The woman disappeared into "Dex"'s adjoining bedroom, where the pair could be heard whispering. Despite repeated requests to come out and speak with TSG, "Dex" hid with his mother in his bedroom, the windows of which were covered with plastic shopping bags, a towel, and one black trash bag.

As the sun set and his room darkened, "Dex" did not reach to turn on a light. The notorious Internet Tough Guy, who has gleefully used the telephone to cause all kinds of havoc, was now himself panicking. He had been found. And, as a result, was barricaded in Pranknet World Headquarters with his mom, while two reporters loitered outside his window and curious neighbors wondered what was up. That's when the online outlaw came up with a plan. Tariq Malik, the 25-year-old founder and leader of Pranknet, decided to call the police.

Telephone Terrorist: Outing An Online Outlaw (smokinggun.com)


Source: Boing Boing | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:17 pm

Bell Canada to start selling Palm Pre on August 27, now accepting pre-orders

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones

Up until now, it wasn’t known when Bell Canada would be selling the highly anticipated Palm Pre.  Today, Bell drafted a press release in which outlined the contract information, pricing, and of course, the release date.  On August 27, the Palm Pre will officially be sold, but between now and then, Canadians have the ability to place a pre-order.

The webOS running Palm Pre will be available with a few options.  Probably the most common will be to purchase the Palm Pre with a three year contract for 199.95 Canadian dollar, which converts to about $187.  In case the three year contract doesn’t sound attractive, customers have the ability to purchase the Pre without a contract for 599.95 CAD or $561, with a minimum 500MB data plan.  Within the contract, customers have the ability to choose voice, data, and SMS plans. 

It will be interesting to see how many Pres are available for purchase upon the August 27 launch and how the launch up north compares to the American launch.  Are any of our Canadian readers thinking about purchasing a Palm Pre?

Read [Bell Press Release] Image Via [FutureShop]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:12 pm

Drudge Driving More YouTube Hits Than WhiteHouse.gov [Voices]

By Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Add online video to the places where the battle over health care is playing out. The White House posted an online response to a video that’s been viewed hundreds of thousands of times since it was linked from the Drudge Report. The Drudge Report linked to a YouTube video posted by Naked Emperor News. Titled “Shock Uncovered: Obama in His Own Words Saying His Health Care Plan Will Eliminate Private Insurance,” it includes clips of comments President Barack Obama has made, such as “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health-care plan.”

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:12 pm

Pterosaur Features Defy Comparison

The pterosaur's wings, claws and hair are unlike any creature found on Earth today.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:01 pm

On the Call: EA CEO John Riccitiello (AP)

AP - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. posted better-than-expected results for its fiscal first quarter Tuesday, and reaffirmed its adjusted guidance for the full fiscal year.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:58 pm

Report: Firefox 3.5 Jumps To 4.5% Market Share In A Month, IE Hemorrhaging Slows

Net Applications has just released its latest report on browser usage, covering the months of June and July. The results show the impact of the launch of Firefox 3.5 on the browser market, as well as the steady decline of Internet Explorer 6 and 7 as they give way to IE8 and other browsers.

Firefox 3.5, which didn’t officially launch until June 30th, now claims 4.54% of the browser market, though most of these new users were likely previously on Firefox 3.0, which dropped from 20.03% in June to 16.21% in July. Internet Explorer 6 and 7 continue to see their user-bases fade (which is a decidedly good thing, especially in the case of IE6), and it seems that many (though not all) of these are heading to IE8. IE6 dropped from 30.15% in May to 27.21% in July, while IE7 saw a drop from 31.16% to 23.09% in the same time frame. IE8 has grown from 5.95% in May to 12.46% in July.

Adding all versions of Internet Explorer together, Microsoft’s market-share has remained fairly stable over the last few months — it dropped to 67.77% in April, then rose to 68.32% by June, and has since dipped back down to 67.68%. It’s certainly not going upwards, but it’s no longer hemorrhaging users the way it was last fall, when it dropped from 74.18% to 69.72% between September 2008 and January 2009 (other reports have shown major losses for IE more recently).

Likewise, Firefox is also holding fairly stable, dropping from 23.84% in April down to 22.75% and hovering around there since (for July it was at 22.47%). Any downturn in Firefox’s growth can likely be chalked up to the growth being seen by Safari and Chrome, both of which still represent relatively small but steadily growing user bases. Safari has risen from 3.53% to 4.07% between April and July, while Google Chrome has risen from 1.79% to 2.59% in the same time frame.

This report is also notable because it represents a change in the way NetMarketShare analyzes browser usage. Before now, Net Applications only reported its raw stats, without taking into account how disproportionally measured countries could skew results. Now the site has started to weight traffic data based on the number of Internet users in a given country (the impact of a user measured in China will be greater than one measured in the US, for example). Worth noting are some of the changes Net Applications has seen resulting from the weighting change. From the Net Applications site:

Baidu - Baidu goes to 9% of global search engine usage. Baidu is on a major growth curve, which is affecting the relative share of all other search engines.
Google - Because of Baidu’s growth, Google’s global share is actually going down. This is almost completely due to Baidu and does not reflect the rest of the world.
Apple - Since Mac share in the U.S. in significantly higher than the rest of the world, Mac and Safari share drop in the global reports.
Opera - Opera goes up to 2% in global reports. This reflects the significant share they have in Eastern Europe and Asia.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:53 pm

Alliance Distributors Holding Inc. Reports 2009 Second Quarter Financial Results

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliance Distributors Holding Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:52 pm

Study tracks lineage, origins of dogs

African village dogs' lineage can be traced to an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs, a Cornell University-led genetic analysis suggests. The study of hundreds of semi-feral dogs indicated most village dogs from most African regions were genetically different from non-native breeds and mixed-breed dogs, the university said Tuesday in a news release. The study, published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offered insight into the poorly understood history of dog domestication, researchers said. The genes of modern breeds all cluster together in one little group, but the African village dogs we sampled show much greater diversity genetically, said lead author Adam Boyko, the paper's senior author and a professor of biological statistics and computational biology. He said future work could explain the timing and locations of dog domestication and how dogs have adapted to the African environment, human settlements and dietary shifts. Boyko and his colleagues used a computer program to track genetic diversity in the samples, Cornell University said, finding African village dogs are a hodgepodge of indigenous dogs and non-native, mixed-breed dogs. An earlier study of village dog genetics confirmed domesticated dogs likely originated from Eurasian wolves, Cornell said.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:51 pm

Dear Tablet Naysayers: Stop Looking Back When We’re Thinking Ahead

The response we’re seeing to our feature “Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet” is disappointing, to say the least. Don’t get me wrong — we love starting dialogue here at Wired.com, and when people disagree, it only gets more fun. But in this particular case, the tablet naysayers don’t even appear to be responding to the points raised in our article.

We’re highlighting three posts: Jeremy Toeman’s “The Tablet That Nobody Really Wants“; John Biggs’ “Is 2010 the Year of the Tablet? Nah“; and Matthew Miller’s “Tablet Devices Suck, so Why Does Apple Want to Make One?”

Why, why, why, may I respectfully ask, are you all focusing on the past when we’re discussing the future? Our article rests on the premise that 1.) New technologies are improving touchscreen functionality, as depicted by the iPhone; 2.) New software including touchscreen support (e.g., Windows 7) is in the works, presumably delivering more tablet-friendly user interfaces than in the past; 3.) Several manufacturers, including Dell, Intel, HTC and Nokia are concentrating on efforts to construct new tablets with these new technologies, according to our sources.

Notice how many times the word “new” was used in the above paragraph. We’re focusing on new technologies revitalizing an old, generally unloved gadget. And all three naysayers are, oddly enough, looking backward and dismissing tablets based on their old applications running on old hardware — shortcomings we also touched on in our story.

“Tablet devices suck, so why does Apple want to make one?” asks ZDNet’s Miller. Why else would Apple wish to make one? Steve Jobs felt smartphones sucked as consumer devices, and then Apple delivered the iPhone. And look what happened with the entire smartphone category. Did anyone think a keyboard-less phone was going to appeal to the masses? (I know I didn’t.) Yet 40 million iPhones and iPod Touches have shipped worldwide. Don’t listen to Greg House: People do change.

Why is it inconceivable to theorize the same could potentially happen with tablets? We have more than enough publications citing anonymous sources claiming an Apple tablet is on its way soon. And already, without even possessing full knowledge as to what exactly this fabled Apple tablet is going to do, or even confirming what it looks like or how much it will cost, some people are dismissing the product. I can’t even begin to tell you how absurdly unproductive that is. At Wired our motto is “informed optimism,” and dismissing a not-yet-existing product based on the performance of older renditions is more like uninformed pessimism.

We’re not saying an Apple tablet is going to be successful; we aren’t fortunetellers, either. We’re dreaming up possibilities of what Apple could do with this product category. If Apple again swings a home run, and other companies go at bat, too (it appears they are, according to our sources and several reports), boy is 2010 going to be an interesting year in the technology world. We’re excited to see what happens, aren’t you?

See Also:

• Financial Times Confirms Apple Tablet for September
• Rumor: 10-Inch Apple Tablet Landing in Early 2010
• How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
• Analyst Predicts Apple Will Unleash Touchscreen Tablet Next Year …
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet

A mocked-up illustration of an Apple tablet: Photo Giddy/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:50 pm

Nikon Camera-Projector a Good Start; 7 More Tech Combos We'd Like ... - PC World

Digitimes

Nikon Camera-Projector a Good Start; 7 More Tech Combos We'd Like ... PC World Nikon's Coolpix S1000pj camera with a built-in projector sounds as good as peanut butter and chocolate. Why didn't they think of this years ago? Tuesday's announcement got us thinking: If a point-and-shoot camera can double as a video projector, ... Nikon's Digital Camera is the First with a ...PC Magazine Nikon Slaps Mini-Projector Onto New Pocket CamTechNewsWorld Nikon Announces Four New Coolpix ModelsNew York Times Washington Post -Slashdot -ChannelWeb all 196 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:49 pm

Goodbye Apple, Hello Music Production On Ubuntu

Adam Wrzeski notes a piece up at Create Digital Music by musician Kim Cascone (artist's bio) on switching from Apple to Linux for audio production: "The [Apple] computer functioned as both sound design studio and stage instrument. I worked this way for ten years, faithfully following the upgrade path set forth by Apple and the various developers of the software I used. Continually upgrading required a substantial financial commitment on my part. ... I loaded up my Dell with a selection of Linux audio applications and brought it with me on tour as an emergency backup to my tottering PowerBook. The Mini 9 could play back four tracks of 24-bit/96 kHz audio with effects — not bad for a netbook. The solution to my financial constraint became clear, and I bought a refurbished Dell Studio 15, installed Ubuntu on it, and set it up for sound production and business administration. The total cost was around $600 for the laptop plus a donation to a software developer — a far cry from the $3000 price tag and weeks of my time it would have cost me to stay locked-in to Apple. After a couple of months of solid use, I have had no problems with my laptop or Ubuntu. Both have performed flawlessly, remaining stable and reliable."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:46 pm

EA 1Q loss widens but results surpass expectations (AP)

AP - Changes in accounting for deferred revenue drove Electronic Arts Inc. to report a larger loss and lower sales for its fiscal first quarter amid a seasonal slump for the industry.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:39 pm

Gallery: Forget Cell Phones, Give Me Wearable Computing!

Experiencing augmented reality doesn't have to be as easy as holding up a cell phone. Through the years, researchers have dreamed up and constructed hardware that is either totally cool or utterly ridiculous (sometimes both, depending on whom you ask).

The above funglasses from Lumus Optical suggest you can view email, SMS and video games "inconspicuously during meetings."

Because no one would ever question why you're wearing huge black sunglasses indoors.

Needless to say, I'll give it up that there are practical applications for this hardware (exploring a city, viewing Google Maps, etc.). Plus, it's pretty clever:

Lumus' patented, revolutionary Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) [ed. note: 2-3mm thick] comprises a flat, transparent optical substrate that incorporates a set of embedded partially reflecting facets. The upper figure illustrates the LOE function. An optical image, generated by a microdisplay (e.g. LCD, LCoS or OLED), is coupled into the LOE substrate. Trapped by total internal reflection, the image components are guided along the LOE. The image is then expanded and coupled out by a set of partial reflectors for viewing by the user. The LOE provides the viewing experience of a large distant screen: an enlarged, distant image, with a large field-of-view (FoV).

After the jump, check out some other AR projects, old and new, which require you to look less like an iPhone fanboy and more like a cyborg...

[Lumus via MedGadget]

First developed in 2002, this pack was one of four created especially for a game of "Human Pacman", which played out in the streets of Singapore.

Pacman can collect the virtual cookies by walking through them, while Ghosts can "eat" the Pacmen by physically tapping the Pacmen's back. However, Pacmen can collect power-pills which are Bluetooth-embedded boxes hidden in the game area to become Super Pacmen for a short period of time to "eat" the Ghosts in the similar fashion.

We also introduced the role of Helper, who can participate the game through the Internet. The movements of the Pacmen and Ghosts are tracked using sensors and they are linked back to a wireless Local Area Network which is connected to the Internet. Hence, the 3D-graphical version of the game can be rendered in real-time. Helpers can thus watch the game "live" and guide the Pacmen or Ghosts to reach their goal by text communication.

Did I mention it was funded by the military?

Around the same time, students at Carnegie-Melon's ICES were experimenting with a Spot wearable computing device (left) and companion driver interface system, which was comprised of several cams and devices.

Whatever.

You still look like The Borg.

Speaking of which, how could I not mention Steve Mann, author of Cyborg? The dude's troubles boarding airlines are well documented on Boing Boing. But regardless of such petty setbacks, just look at the evolution of that hardware...

Not especially chic, but his look sure has come along way!

Back in 1999, this Wireless Immersive MultiMedia Information System (WIMMIS) was comprised of a Cybertrack head tracker for "orientarion [sic] determination," a Sony Glasstron TM display, a Xybernaut MA 4 computer, and a wireless video link.

All built into a vest that just screams: "I'm a walking Radio Shack!"

As of 2008, this head-mounted, retinal-scanning display weighed just 25 grams. Much lighter and stealthier than earlier incarnations from 2005 — "less than one thousandth of the previous prototype." Compliments of Japanese-based Brother Industries.

[via Gizmodo]

Why mess with glasses, goggles and thin-film displays when you can affix said display direct to your eyeball?

That's exactly what researchers at the University of Washington are wondering. And that's why they're developing a bionic contact lens that was unveiled last year. Already, they've tested the lenses on rabbits, which confirms that lab animals really do get to have all the fun.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:30 pm

John Quincy Adams Entries Get Digital Makeover

John Quincy Adams' Twitter-friendly journal entries are converted into Tweets.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:30 pm

International Game Technology Announces Quarterly Dividend

RENO, Nev., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of six cents ($0.06) per share, payable on October 9, 2009 to shareholders of record on September 8, 2009.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:26 pm

Plague Vaccine for Prairie Dogs Could Save Endangered Ferret

A vaccine hidden in a sweet potato treat could help save prairie dogs from the plague and help the extremely endangered black-footed ferret as well.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:19 pm

Playing With a More Sensitive Wii [The Mossberg Solution]

Nintendo’s Wii gaming system motivates first-graders, senior citizens and everyone in between to get off their couches and play video games by swinging a motion-sensing remote control. These motions are similar enough to those used in real-life games that people find the Wii less intimidating than other video games with confusing controls.

After almost three years of Wii success, Nintendo recently reported it sold in its first quarter less than half the Wii consoles it sold a year earlier. The Wii needs a shot in the arm, and Nintendo thinks it has just the solution: the Wii MotionPlus remote accessory.

This small piece plugs into the bottom of Wii remotes and costs $20 by itself or $50 when bundled with the Wii Sports Resort game, which includes 12 sports that take advantage of Wii MotionPlus. The Wii console costs $250 and comes with a remote and a Nunchuk. The Wii MotionPlus has a gyroscope that helps the remote detect slight twists or rotations made by one’s wrist and/or arm and reflects these movements on the screen. It adds more precision to games like bowling and golf, so you don’t feel like you accidentally made a good—or bad—shot. And it lets you add spin to a ball while swinging a golf club or ping-pong racket or while bowling.

I’ve been playing games with the Wii MotionPlus, and this small accessory adds a much more satisfying, realistic element to Wii games. In some cases, this meant that I played a game with less success than with the original Wii remote because the MotionPlus add-on is more responsive and sensitive. But I eventually got used to it and liked it more than the plain remote.

However enjoyable, the Wii MotionPlus is more of an evolutionary change than a revolutionary change. If you’ve never played video games on a Wii before, you wouldn’t know what you were missing if you used the remote without MotionPlus.

The real excitement in video gaming and general broadcast TV controlling will come when we don’t need any remote controls at all and cameras will sense our movements, reflecting them on-screen. In June, Microsoft (MSFT) announced its Project Natal, which would potentially work with all Xbox 360 consoles to directly sense movements and sounds, and to recognize faces. This would encourage users to swing, throw, run and jump in a completely natural way without the need to learn anything about how to hold a remote control or operate its buttons.

On a similar note, Sunnyvale-Calif.-based Canesta Inc. wants you to use your hands as remote controls for your TV. The idea with Canesta is that users could, for example, walk into a family room and wave at the TV to turn it on, move a hand in a rightward circle to turn up the volume and flip through channels using motions like those used to page through a large book. I tried Canesta in a demonstration and can testify that doing things like turning the channel with your hands is a powerful and somewhat magical experience. But of these, Nintendo currently has the only product on the market to use technology that echoes natural movements, albeit with a remote control. Project Natal is still just a research project that isn’t used in any products, and it won’t be coming out any time this year.

Canesta has a partnership with Hitachi (HIT) so that it will be used in the company’s TV sets, though Hitachi says these TVs won’t be available until 2010 at the earliest and would likely show up in Japan first. Canesta is also building other partnerships, or it could work as a standalone product for TVs, computers, set-top boxes or other devices.

Wii MotionPlus makes the remote smart enough not to require as much button pressing. For example, shooting basketballs in a three-point shootout only required holding the remote in my right hand so it followed my shooting motion. Bowling no longer requires letting go of a button just in time to release the ball, a former menace to Wii’s beginner bowlers. And I threw a Frisbee by moving the remote with the same motion as if I were tossing one in real life. At first, my friend and I found ourselves trying to make stiff motions that seemed more video-game-like, but when the on-screen instructions encouraged us to move naturally, we did so and had much more success.

Wii Sports Resort includes 12 different sports but omits some of the old favorites from the original Wii Sports. Tennis has been replaced with table tennis, boxing has been replaced by sword fighting, and though bowling and golf remain, baseball is gone. New sports include wakeboarding, Frisbee, archery, basketball, power cruising (jet skis), canoeing, cycling and air sports like parachuting.

I bowled and put a little extra spin on the ball by twisting my wrist just before letting go. The ball was surprisingly reactive, so much so that I had to tone down my spin before I got the hang of it. Wakeboarding works by holding the remote horizontally like it’s the cross bar you hold onto and use for steering in the water. The Wii MotionPlus works with the Nunchuk attachment, and my friend and I attached this piece to the remote to compete against one another in several rounds of archery (he won by seven points). With the Nunchuk attached to the remote, we held the remote like it was the bow and slowly pulled the Nunchuk attachment back as if it were the arrow—stretching sound-effects and all.

The MotionPlus can stay attached to the remote while playing games that aren’t made specifically for its use; those games won’t be affected. However, a regular remote can’t be used with games made for the MotionPlus. Along with Wii Sports Resort, three other games are made to use the Wii MotionPlus: Sega’s Virtua Tennis 2009, EA Sports’ (ERTS) Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10.

If you’re hoping to give your tired Wii a boost, you’ll like what the relatively inexpensive Wii MotionPlus accessory brings to your game—though you’ll also need to buy new games that work with it. Generally speaking, it’s exciting to know that technology is almost advanced enough that we could very soon stop letting our remotes have all the control and take some of it back with just the wave of a hand.

Email mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Source: All Things Digital | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:18 pm

Sony to Introduce $200 E-reader

Amazon watch out as Sony is set to launch an all-out offensive against the Kindle.  Sony plans to introduce two new e-readers priced at $200 and $300, according to a release from Sony.

The two new models—PRS-300 branded as Sony Reader Pocket and PRS-600 called Sony Reader Touch–will be available at the end of the month.

The  aggressive pricing on the new devices puts Sony ahead of its rivals. Amazon’s Kindle 2 retails for $300, while the large screen Kindle DX costs $490.  Even the cheapest of e-book readers today such as the Cool-er cost $250.

Specifications of the two Sony e-reader devices had leaked late last week.  The $200 Pocket will have a 5-inch display and will be available in colors including blue, rose and silver. The device can store about 350 standard eBooks. The $300 Touch will have a 6-inch touch screen display. Users can take handwritten notes with the stylus pen or type with the virtual keyboard. All notes can be exported and printed. But unlike the Kindle, both models do not have wireless connectivity.

Sony is also likely to cut prices of e-books in its store to match that of Amazon and the newly launched Barnes & Noble e-book store. New releases and bestseller titles in the eBook Store will be available for $10, said Sony.

See Also:

• Amazon.com Kindle 2 review
  
• Amazon.com Kindle DX review
  
• Kindle 2’s Fuzzy Fonts Have Users Seeing Red
• Kindle Readers Ignite Protest Over E-Book Prices

Photo: Sony PRS-700 Reader (Eirik Newth/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:16 pm

Research bursts myths on engineering

Engineering, contrary to popular thinking, doesn't have a higher dropout rate than other majors, and women do just as well as men, U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:09 pm

Mass. warns of toxins in baby bottles

Massachusetts told parents of babies to avoid plastic milk bottles reinforced with bisphenol A, a controversial chemical tied to developmental problems. The warning follows an exhaustive yearlong review of the organic compound, commonly abbreviated as BPA, found in products ranging from baby bottles to canned food linings. Studies in laboratory animals suggest BPA -- suspected of being hazardous to humans since the 1930s -- might increase the risk of developmental problems in some fetuses and young children. Children and adults can ingest tiny amounts of the chemical when they drink from cups or eat from containers made with BPA, researchers say. Unlike neighboring Connecticut, Massachusetts did not ban the chemical from infant formula, The Boston Globe reported. Connecticut also banned it from baby food cans and jars and reusable food and beverage containers. A half-dozen states and local governments -- including Minnesota, Chicago and New York's Suffolk County -- have taken steps to protect the public from BPA in the absence of decisive federal action, the newspaper said. The U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:06 pm

Stream Global Services Announces June 30, 2009 Second Quarter Results

BOSTON, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stream Global Services, Inc., (Amex: OOO), premium provider of customer care and business process outsourcing (BPO) services for Fortune 1000 companies, ("Stream"), today reported consolidated financial results for its 2009 second quarter.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:01 pm

Broadcom to Present at Upcoming Conferences

IRVINE, Calif., Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:00 pm

Can We Abandon Confidentiality For Google Apps?

An anonymous reader writes "I provide IT services for medium-sized medical and law practices. Lately I have been getting a lot of feedback from doctors and lawyers who use gmail at home and believe that they can run a significant portion of their practice IT on Google Apps. From a support standpoint, I'd be happy to chuck mail/calendar service management into the bin and let them run with gmail, but for these businesses, there is significant legal liability associated with the confidentiality of their communications and records (e.g., HIPAA). For those with high-profile celebrity clients, simply telling them 'Google employees can read your stuff' will usually end the conversation right there. But for smaller practices, I often get a lot of push-back in the form of 'What's wrong with trusting Google?' and 'Google's not interested in our email/calendar.' Weighing what they see as a tiny legal risk against the promise of Free IT Stuff(TM) becomes increasingly lopsided given the clear functionality / usability / ubiquity that they experience when using Google at home. So my question to the Slashdot community is: Are they right? Is it time for me to remove the Tin Foil Hat on the subject of confidentiality and stop resisting the juggernaut that is Google? If not, what is the best way to clarify the confidentiality issues for these clients?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:53 pm

Sex linked to racial cancer survival gap

Social and cultural characteristics of U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:36 pm

LivePerson Second Quarter 2009 Wrap-Up Available on YouTube

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LivePerson, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:34 pm

Attractive, Innovative Olympus E-P1 Makes a Fine Point

The Olympus E-P1 is not your ordinary micro four-thirds camera. It's a throwback to a time when collars were huge, gold chains nestled in luxurious pelts of chest hair and mustaches were not ironic. Yes it's a modern camera wrapped in a chassis from the '70s. And it's set to change the way cameras of every ilk are designed.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

Attractive, Innovative Olympus E-P1 Makes a Fine Point

The Olympus E-P1 is not your ordinary micro four-thirds camera. It's a throwback to a time when collars were huge, gold chains nestled in luxurious pelts of chest hair and mustaches were not ironic. Yes it's a modern camera wrapped in a chassis from the '70s. And it's set to change the way cameras of every ilk are designed.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

NL Industries, Inc. Announces Cash Quarterly Dividend

DALLAS, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE: NL) announced today that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend of twelve and one-half cents ($0.125) per share on its common stock to be paid in cash.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

Mastech Holdings, Inc. Reschedules Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mastech Holdings, Inc. (NYSE Amex: MHH) ("Mastech"), a national provider of Information Technology Staffing services, has rescheduled its second quarter conference call to Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm

RadioShack's 'The Shack' Shift: 3 Things to Consider - PC World

dBTechno

RadioShack's 'The Shack' Shift: 3 Things to Consider PC World RadioShack is joining the growing list of companies trying to refresh an old image by taking on a new name. RadioShack will begin referring to itself as "The Shack," the retailer has announced. But it's not as simple as changing the signs. ... RadioShack rebrands as “The Shack”Bizjournals.com RadioShack Plans ReinventionBusinessWeek RadioShack Touches Up Gray Hairs With Rebranding HooplaTechNewsWorld Ethiopian Review -Christian Science Monitor -Elmira Star-Gazette all 194 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:29 pm

R.H. Donnelley Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results

CARY, N.C., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- R.H.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:28 pm

Forestry Industry Hard Hit By Housing Slump

The forestry industry in Europe, the former Soviet Union and North America experienced its largest decline in wood demand since the 1970s, driven mainly by the weak housing market, the United Nations said on Tuesday.However, as the industry shuts down sawmills and restructures, it can look forward to a healthy new market for environmentally friendly wood-based energy, such as biofuels and pellets, said the U.N.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:10 pm

High-tech called key to healthcare savings

Dozens of U.S. entrepreneurs see new technologies as a way of transforming healthcare -- and saving money at the same time, The Wall Street Journal reports. Triage Wireless Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:02 pm

Hacking the DefCon 17 Badges

Wired.com's photo essay of the DefCon badge hacking contest includes pictures of a modified badge containing a Geiger counter-based random number generator with a wireless link that detects surrounding radiation.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:02 pm

Shields Up!: Using ATMs in some Las Vegas hotels may be a real gamble

Section: Computers, Security, Features, Originals

Guests at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas may have had their financial information stolen by ATMs infected with malware.  The possible breach was first discovered by a conference presenter at the Defcon hacker conference. 

He used one of the hotel’s ATMs to make an attempted withdrawal of $200.  The machine accepted his card and his bank promptly deducted the amount from his balance, but the machine did not present him with any cash.  Further investigation revealed that several other guests had the same thing happen to them when using the hotel’s ATMs, including a man who had tried to withdraw $1000.

At first, the hotel did little about the complaints.  When notified, they refused to shut down the machines, but did put “Out of Order” signs on them.  Chris Paget, the Defcon attendee who happens to have expertise in credit card and hardware security, refused to accept the hotel’s lame response to the issue and as a result both the Las Vegas Metro PD and the U.S. Secret Service are investigating.

Usually if an ATM fails to deliver the requested cash it is simply empty and needs to be refilled (a common occurrence, especially in casinos) or has malfunctioned.  However a completely fake ATM was discovered at the nearby Riviera hotel earlier in the week, making the situation at the Rio suspicious.  Las Vegas would be a very desirable place for hackers to compromise ATMs as large withdrawals would be very commonplace.

Paget contacted the company that owns the ATMs, Global Cash Access and found that despite the fact the money was taken from his account, they had no record of the transaction, further deepening the suspicion that malware is to blame.

Since there were no outward signs of a skimmer (a device that records the information in a credit or debit card’s magnetic stripe) the machines may have been infected with a Trojan called Trojan.Skimmer.A.  It is a virtual skimmer that does the same thing as the old mechanical devices.

The matter is still under investigation, but stay tuned to Gadgetell and Shields Up! for the latest developments.  In the meantime how can you protect yourself?  Here are a few tips.

1. Avoid using generic or unfamiliar ATMs.  Stick to ones branded with with the name of your bank or other well known financial institutions whenever possible.
2. Take the time to give the machine a quick once over before using it.  If anything looks suspicious don’t use it and notify the financial institution it belongs to.
3. If you don’t already do so get in the habit of checking your bank and credit card accounts often so you will catch any fraudulent charges quickly.  If you spot any inconsistencies notify your bank or credit card company as soon as possible.
4. If you use an ATM and it doesn’t give you any cash, notify your bank and the ATM owner right away.
5. Be careful when using an ATM when there are other people around.  Those in line behind you should be several steps back as a courtesy.  If anyone is standing close to you and refuses to move back when asked politely, don’t use the ATM as they could be waiting to read your PIN over your shoulder (hardware skimmers don’t capture them).  Leave the area and call the police.

That’s all for this week.  If you’ve experienced fraudulent charges due to a compromised ATM please leave a comment and share your experience!

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

S1 Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results

NORCROSS, Ga., Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Major New Function Discovered For the Spleen

circletimessquare writes "The spleen doesn't get much respect — as one researcher put it, 'the spleen lacks the gravitas of neighboring organs.' Those undergoing a splenectomy seem to be able to carry on without any consequences. However, some studies have suggested an enhanced risk of early death for those who have undergone splenectomies. Now researchers have discovered why: the spleen apparently serves as a vast reservoir for monocytes, the largest of the white blood cells, the wrecking crew of the immune system. After major trauma, such as a heart attack, the monocytes are disgorged into the blood stream and immediately get to work repairing the damage. '"The parallel in military terms is a standing army," said Matthias Nahrendorf, an author of the report. "You don't want to have to recruit an entire fighting force from the ground up every time you need it."'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:57 pm

TomTom GPS Car Kit for iPhone Could Cost $200

GPS devices maker TomTom offered a tantalizing preview of its iPhone application and car kit at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference this year.  But that demo came without pricing or availability information.

Now a U.K. retailer Handtec  has started taking pre-orders for the app and the kit combo on its web site for£113.85 ($164). The pricing indicates the TomTom iPhone car  kit could be available in the U.S. for $200 soon.

In June, TomTom said that it would make an iPhone app that would offer turn-by-turn GPS navigation for users. What made TomTom’s announcement interesting was that the company said it will also create a car dock-connector for the iPhone. Just as with a standalone GPS device, the TomTom for the iPhone dock would stick inside the car and act as a charging cradle for the iPhone. It would also enhance the GPS capability of the phone.

At $200, the TomTom iPhone car kit would probably be the same price as a dedicated GPS device.  If customers don’t have to pay monthly subscription fees for the app and just pay $200, we think it could be a pretty good deal.

[via NaviGadget]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:54 pm

Netflix on iPhone Will Work, but Only With Offline Mode

It's looking more likely that NetFlix will release an app that lets people watch movies on their iPhones. If AT&T forces Apple to ban the app from its cellular network, the way it did with the Sling app, NetFlix should get smart and add an offline viewing feature.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:28 pm

Are Americans Really Isolated?

 A widely publicized analysis of social network size, which reported dramatically increasing social isolation when it was published in 2006, has sparked an academic debate in the August issue of the American Sociological Review (ASR), the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association.The 2006 report by sociologists Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and Matthew E.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:15 pm

KDE 4.3 Released

Jos Poortvliet writes "After another 6 months of hard work by over 700 people, after fixing over 10,000 bugs and granting 2,000 wishes, KDE 4.3, or 'Caizen,' is here (the release takes its nickname from the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement). The KDE Desktop Workspace introduces, besides the usual stability and speed improvements, new widgets, the ability to 'peek' in a folder with folderview, and activities tied to virtual desktops. The KDE Application Suites feature improvements in the utilities like a more formats supported in Ark and the return of the Linux Infrared Remote Control system. Instant messenger Kopete introduces an improved contact list and KOrganizer can sync with Google Calendar. Kmail supports inserting inline images into email and the Alarm notifier has gained export functionality, drag and drop, and has an improved configuration. The KDE Application Development platform has seen work on integrating the Social Desktop and the new system tray protocol from Freedesktop.org. You can watch a screencast of the Desktop Workspace here."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:03 pm

Enter This Contest and Race to the Moon

The lunar surface is made of Legos, not cheese. Build your lunar lander out of Legos, perform a landing and carry out some simulated missions. A win, win, win.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:00 pm

It's The End of the Non-Augmented World As We Know It...

As with the Internet itself, some of the coolest tech trickles down from the military. Case in point: years after non-commercial aircraft started using HUDs to overlay flight data in front of pilots, video games followed suit. And, for the last five years, the hype and promise for augmented reality — a hybrid of virtual and actual reality — to spread into virtually every aspect of our daily lives has only grown.

From consumer HUDs, clunky wearable computer packs, hilarious helmets and goofy goggles now to small web cams, portable gaming devices, integrated GPS, and near-free cell phone apps (this is the big one), are we finally on the cusp of the breakthrough that's been buzzed about?

Above is a demo of TwittARound, an iPhone app that was unveiled recently. The AR app displays live tweets, allowing the viewer to see from where the 140-character message originated. Kinda fun, but also potentially useful: After a natural disaster, rescue workers could hypothetically locate any persons trapped inside buildings or under rubble.

That's why AR has so much potential to become ubiquitous: 1) the applications for it fall everywhere and anywhere on the spectrum between totally useful and just plain silly (thus, it targets anyone and everyone). 2) the tools required to partake are getting cheaper, smaller, and easier to use.

After the jump, see where you can expect to see a lot more augmented reality, and why:

Healthcare:

In 2005, the Journal of the American Medical Association pointed to the fences with an editorial that said eventually surgeons would be operating on patients with pre-op and real-time image data such as ultrasonographs overlaid onto the patient.

Why?: Computer Assisted or Image-Guided Surgery could prove useful in situations where tissue obscures the surgeon's view and makes it difficult to determine spatial relativity — "just as the modern pilot can take off, land and fly through bad weather using radar and infra-red picture substitution."

By 2007, the notion of actually building this kind of system had become even more "feasible" due to "advances in miniaturization and reduced hardware costs," according to an article in the journal Information Technology in Biomedicine. Still aways away, but not as far away as it was when Interventional Video Tomography (IVT) was being proposed over a decade ago.

Even sooner, as the NYT reports, we'll likely see X-rays and ultrasounds projected directly on a patients body during consultations.

Why?: 1) Anatomy can be hard to envision for the layperson. 2) If seeing a scan of your rotting lung transposed onto your own body doesn't convince you to quit smoking, then nothing will.

Top pic via "3 Medical VR: the main application areas and what has been done" by
Professor John Waterworth

Toys and Collectibles

Why?: Michael Eisner's company Tornante and other investors bought Topps for $385 million. You don't spend that kind of money unless you see huge growth potential.

Topps changed hands not long after the cardboard card manufacturer started exploring augmented reality with tech from Total Immersion, whose i-TAG also powers Mattel's action figures for the upcoming James Cameron film Avatar...

Education:

Canon is sponsoring an exhibit which just opened a few weeks ago at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. Visitors get a dose of "Mixed Reality," so in addition to ogling bones and full skeletons of prehistoric creatures, they're using a "hand-scope" to view 3D renderings of huge dinos. [more info here, via Not Just Reality]

Why?: Getting kids' attention is tough. Dazzling them with flashy, immersive, interactive tech could engage more kids (and adults) for longer periods of time.

Even adult-specific education and training will likely see more and more AR training. Check out BMW's vision for aiding and guiding its mechanics:

Marketing: (like, a lot)

Maybe you're familiar with the forthcoming film District 9?

But have you played the Multi-National United Training Simulation game online?

Developed by Trigger, an LA- and Shanghai-based company that builds big Flash-y sites for Hollywood blockbusters, the MNU game is simple enough. As with that GE Smart Grid interactive AR, you begin by printing a 2D image on a piece of paper. From there, though, you can click a few actions. Nothing mind-blowing, really, but certainly light years ahead of film sites from even 3 years ago.

Why?: Anything to capture peoples' attentions. Duh.

Forget simply checking on the number of plays your preview gets on YouTube. Studios want to gauge attention even deeper, at a micro-level. Trigger can provide companies like Sony with hard user data. Its "Replay" dashboard collects and displays any number of game-metrics, including total # of players, number of game plays, time spent playing, etc.

Should MNU get insanely popular — which is not out of the question considering it has ARG elements — expect Sony (and every other studio's) next sci-fi or action release to follow suit.

Transportation/Travel:

In the last year, we've seen an array of apps, including Wikitude (above), a G1 app which presents historic info, distances and other data based on whatever landmarks are in the viewfinder.

Fun and useful for tourists, but even better imho, are the apps from acrossair which proposes to mashup real-time transit data so you can see where/when municipal buses and trains are coming/going.

Why?: This is perhaps the most practical, easiest-to-use day-to-day application of augmented reality we've seen thus far. From 2008 to 2009 alone, the sale of smarthones jumped 34%. Even with the economy in the crapper, the sale of GPS-enabled phones is predicted to keep increasing.

So there you have it. The future's bright. With ubiquitous AR, every object in reality will become a direct point of entry for more information. That much seems obvious. What's less obvious, to some, is whether all of this a good thing?

Is there something inherently weird or wrong with seeing the world with Terminator Eyes?

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 1:58 pm

Apple and Google: Collusion or Sleeping With the Enemy? - PC World

Telegraph.co.uk

Apple and Google: Collusion or Sleeping With the Enemy? PC World The Federal Trade Commission began a probe earlier this year to explore the links between the Apple and Google boards of directors. While there are a variety of relationships between the two boards there is no implication of wrongdoing at this point. ... The iPhone Gets Easier to DislikeWashington Post The Google vs. Apple War BeginsPC Magazine Apple, Google still share board of directors linkApple Insider BusinessWeek -Register -Mediapost.com all 1,182 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 4 Aug 2009 | 1:41 pm

LG GM750 “Layla” gets Wi-Fi certified, details leak

It’s becoming a standard process at this point: First, BigPhoneCompany submits their new handset to the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi Alliance approves it, and throws it into their big list of Certified Products. Eagle eyed mobile mavens prowl the newly granted certification for a model number, and then turn to BigPhoneCompany’s own records for more information.

The latest gem uncovered through this oddly revealing process is the LG GM750, which is apparently otherwise known as “Layla”. No pictures just yet, but we know a few things. For one, the model number indicates that it’s a follow up to the still young GM730, which just hit the shelves back in June. From a XML file lurking around on LG’s servers, we know a bit of the specs:

• Windows Mobile 6.5
• 400×240 display
• GPS
• Wi-Fi
• 5 megapixel camera

Here’s what we’re wondering: If the GM730’s commercials had puppets, what are they going to use for the GM750? Marionettes? Ooooh! Let it be marionettes.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 1:28 pm

11.6" Netbooks Face Off

Dr. Damage writes "Netbooks have grown from tiny curiosities with 7" screens into surprisingly well-rounded little computers. The latest step is 11.6" displays with 1366x768 resolution and near-full-sized keyboards. Two such systems are available now for under $400 at US retailers: the Aspire One at Walmart and the Gateway LT3103 at Best Buy. The Gateway packs an Athlon 64 processor and Radeon graphics. The Tech Report bought them both and has compared them head to head in some depth, choosing a clear winner between the two." Like most such in-depth reviews, this one is spread across 10 pages.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 4 Aug 2009 | 1:06 pm

Meet the Twitter Phone

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile

Ugh, I am not a big fan of the easy marketing labels going about today, but here it is or rather here they are, the Twitter Phones.  In an effort to one-up their Facebook phone, this phone aims to keep Twitter users connected non-stop.

What is different about these phones is the Twitter app is always on.  This means tweets can get to you without you going out and seeking them.  Surely someone must want this feature, though that many tweets would become bothersome to me in short order.  The app follows the always-on feature from their Facebook and Skype apps.  Handy features, but at the expense of battery life?

INQ, the handset maker, says the 3G phones will cost less than Apple and Nokia’s entries as well as competing models that lack 3G.  From Forbes: “CEO Frank Meehan says the Mini should hit store shelves in September, while the Chat—which features a BlackBerry-esque QWERTY keyboard—will be out before Christmas. The phones will be launched first in Britain, Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, Ireland and Austria; Meehan says more countries will be announced later.”

INQ claims to have sold 700,000 since launching in 2008.  Their first phones, the Facebook Phone and the Skype phone each received a lot of attention.  Seems the public loves phones that clearly provide some tangible benefit.  Easy to sell, easy to love.  So why are we all smitten with smartphones who aim to do everything?

Read [Forbes]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 1:04 pm

Leave the math to us: Advertisers increase their profits using Conversion Optimizer

This post is the latest in an ongoing series on The Power of Measurement. Previous topics have covered ways to make your website as successful as possible through tools such as Analytics and Website Optimizer. – Ed.

If you're an old-school AdWords advertiser, you may remember that you originally set bids based on ad impressions (cost-per-impression, or CPM). Later, AdWords transitioned to a new model where bids were set based on ad clicks (cost-per-click, or CPC). Now, as technology has become even more advanced, we’re seeing the next phase of search engine advertising.

What if we told you that you could bid for ads simply based on conversions? (A conversion is a goal set by an advertiser, such as a website visitor purchasing a product or filling out a form.) With Conversion Optimizer, Google does all the heavy lifting and complicated analysis, letting you bid simply based on how much a conversion is worth to your business (cost-per-acquisition, or CPA). By using Conversion Optimizer, advertisers are not only seeing an increase in profits but have more time to devote to the rest of their business.

We’re excited to announce that this AdWords transformation is well underway: advertisers are already using the Conversion Optimizer to manage approximately $1 billion in spend annually.* This new shift benefits two areas Google cares deeply about: showing our users the most relevant ads and helping our advertisers increase their profits.

So how does it work? Each and every time someone types in a search query, AdWords runs a new keyword auction. Advertisers who are still bidding on a cost-per-click basis will be using the same bid in many different auctions, so sometimes their bid may be too high or too low. However, for advertisers using Conversion Optimizer, we'll automatically adjust the bid for each of these auctions so that it can hit the sweet spot more often, helping the advertiser to make more money.

For example, suppose you're advertising an online shoe store and you purchase ads using the keyword "shoes." Because your clicks come from many different types of people who have different intentions, Conversion Optimizer takes many factors into account to optimize your ad performance. If you don't ship internationally, Conversion Optimizer will learn that clicks from international users don't convert and will eliminate traffic from outside the United States. It might also learn that when customers include the word "cheap" in their query, they are particularly likely to convert because your prices are very competitive. Essentially, Google does the detective work — you tell us how much a conversion is worth and our algorithms make it happen.

As more advertisers transition to Conversion Optimizer, we look forward to showing more relevant ads and, in doing so, helping our advertisers achieve better results. Learn more about Conversion Optimizer and get started using it with your AdWords campaigns.

* Annualized figures based on Q2 sales

Posted by Andrew Silverman, Product Manager, Conversion Optimizer
Source: The Official Google Blog | 4 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pm

Bangkok's tallest building will add "pixels" to the cityscape

Construction on Bangkok's tallest high-rise begins this fall, with completion slated for 2012. As you can see in the mock-up above, the building will have "pixels" &mdash imperfections in its otherwise glossy facade that are actually staggered windows and terraces belonging to the Ritz Carlton Residences and other fancy occupants of the 77-story, 1,017-foot tall building.

[via OMA]

Images: Office of Metropolitan Architecture

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:23 pm

TeleNav coming to the Sidekick LX, as well

Jeez, TeleNav. Leave some for the rest of the GPS-making-folk. We barely just got the chance to mention that TeleNav was bound for the T-Mobile myTouch, and now they’re announcing a TeleNav Navigator port for the Sidekick LX ‘09.

Same deal here as with the G1: 3D maps, Turn-by-turn voice directions, automatic rerouting, and speech recognition, all for $10 bucks a month. We fully expected TeleNav to keep their focus drilled on the iPhones and Androids of the world, so good on’em for showing some love to this not-quite-a-smartphone.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:20 pm

Satellite Data Could Overturn Plankton Bloom Hypothesis

New satellite data shows that plankton counterintuitively blooms in the winter, not in the spring as was believed. The discovery has implications for ocean productivity as the globe warms and could change the way we model climate.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:01 pm

Quick Look: T-Mobile BlackBerry 8520

Me: A normal guy, no issues, really into BlackBerry Curves. You: A BlackBerry Curve with a similar build quality as the 8900 with a lot of class and great UI. Let’s meet for drinks, dinner, movie? Be prepared to spend time in my pocket.

When I ran that personals ad on Craigslist I didn’t quite expect the 8520 to answer. This inexpensive phone will cost $48 at Wal-Mart (!!) and about $130 on T-Mobile proper and comes in black and light blue. I’m going to put it through its paces for a few days and report back but from what I can tell they worked pretty darn hard to get this phone under $50. First, they took off the scroll ball and replaced it with a touch sensitive pad - sort of like a track pad - and definitely took some liberties with the backlighting and fit and finish.

The hot-swappable mini-SD card - a 1GB unit is included - is nice but I’m really worried about the lasting value of a phone that will retail for a recession-friendly $50 at a big box store. Let me take a closer look and get back to you.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:57 am

Toshiba Claims New 64 GB SDXC Card is Largest and Fastest

Toshiba announced Tuesday that it will offer a 64 GB SDXC memory card that it claims can beat its rivals in terms of speed of data transfer for reading and writing to the card.

The new cards can offer a maximum write speed of 35 MB per second and read speed of 60 MB per second.

The combination of large storage capacities and increased data transfer rates should help meet the needs of consumer electronics devices such as digital cameras and camcorders that require high bandwidth data communication, said Toshiba.

For example, digital SLR cameras will be able to shoot longer continuous bursts in the highest quality RAW format, with the new cards, said the company and it will also be possible to download a 2.4 GB video in 70 seconds.

At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, the SD association announced the SDXC or the Secure Digital Extended Capacity format. The new standard applies to cards with capacities more than 32 GB and up to 2 TB, compared to the SDHC standard, which applies to cards with capacities greater than 2 GB and up to 32 GB. The maximum data transfer rate for SDHC cards is 104 MB/s, with plans to increase it to 300 MB/s.

No word yet on pricing for these cards. Samples of the card will be able in November and it is likely to reach consumers early next year.

Specifications of the 64 GB SDXC card [Toshiba]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:37 am

TeleNav GPS Navigator hitting the T-Mobile myTouch tomorrow

If you’re surprised by this, you haven’t been paying much attention. TeleNav is the first GPS house to really get messy with mobile (well, except for Garmin, who is just doing it entirely wrong), having already launched full-fledged Turn-by-turn apps on both the iPhone and the G1. With their Android port already up and navigating, you can bet that they’re itching to get on every carrier-supported Android handset they can.

Such is the case with the T-Mobile myTouch. The myTouch officially launches tomorrow for anyone who didn’t get in on the pre-orders, and TeleNav will be right there in the App Market, waiting to co-pilot for anyone willing to plunk down the $10 bucks a month. It may seem a bit steep, but considering that it’s a damned decent alternative to a full fledged GPS, it’s worth looking into.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:27 am

TeleNav GPS Navigator coming to the T-Mobile myTouch 3G on August 5

Section:

TeleNav has officially announced the upcoming availability of their GPS solution for the myTouch 3G from T-Mobile.  That does not come as much of a surprise considering the app is already available for the G1, but that said, the app, which is simply called GPS Navigator will be available for download beginning August 5, 2009.  New users can download the TeleNav GPS Navigator app for free and try it out for 30-days, however if you plan to keep using it expect to pay a $10-a-month.

In short, the TeleNav GPS Navigator is a full-featured GPS solution for your mobile phone.  As far as what you can expect, users will have turn-by-turn directions, a directory with over 10 million businesses, the ability to speak your destination address or a business name, proactive traffic alerts with intelligent re-routing as well as the ability to pre-plan your trips online and more.

Basically, if you are looking for a GPS solution that does not require an upfront payment (and you have a myTouch 3G) then the TeleNav offering should be worth checking out.

Read [TeleNav.com]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:04 am

Video: Homage to iChat, Marfa Lights Shot W/RED One

The band YACHT just released a new video for their song "Psychic City (Voodoo City)." Apart from the fun religious/occult imagery, the video features a soundbite that might sound familiar: a blip not unlike the iChat alert (first one at 00:39).

Also awesome: Inspired by the Marfa Mystery Lights, the video was shot using a RED One. It's worth noting, too, YACHT is the creator of FlickrBlockrs.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:00 am

Review: 15 minutes with Pledge's Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair

Pledge's $5 hair box is a plastic gadget equipped with rollers. Designed to squeeze up pet hair regardless of which direction it's rolled, it's more expensive than adhesive rollers--but claims to be better. I picked one up at Target and put it to the dog bed. Thoughts:

• It works as well as a roller, but not better.
• Definitely not as gross as roller sheets.
• It's ridiculously designed to make it impossible to empty.
• But it works just fine if you empty and re-use it.

Pledge's decision to to mold the cover permanently to the base is a cheap attempt at screwing customers, but it's a neat gadget all the same--and nothing an Xacto knife can't fix.

Update: Reader I Am At Work offers a useful Instructable on re-using them.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:45 am

Rumor: BlackBerry Storm 2 to hit VZW in November

Remember last year when everyone was stoked about the new touchscreen BlackBerry called the Storm? Oh man, the hype was huge. There was iPhone-ish lines, media coverage, the works. But then the first reviews came out and we all realized the truth: the phone sucked. It’s now a lot better thank to firmware updates, but the upcoming BlackBerry Storm 2 will hopefully recapture some of the original anticipation.

The BlackBerry Zone is reporting that Verizon will launch the BlackBerry Storm 2 around Black Friday in November. Also, Vodafone in the UK will release it in October which hopefully means if there are any issues, RIM will quickly work them out before launching the phone in here. WiFi and OS 5.0 is expected to be featured in the second Storm, and yes, the SurePress screen will be there too. (I like the clicky screen btw) Now, the only question left is what price point the phone will launch at: $99 or $199.

[via CrackBerry]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:30 am

Love fraggin’ dudes and checking out graphs? Treyarch’s COD: World At War app is for you

If you’re constantly getting into intense debates with your closest compadres over who has the most headshots or the best Kill-to-Death ratio in Call Of Duty: World At War (and really, who isn’t? I mean, besides normal people), Treyarch’s got a little surprise for you.

This morning, the folks behind CoD: World At War (otherwise known as the first WWII shooter that anybody played for more than a day) released an iPhone companion app, free of charge. No, it won’t let you cap zombie nazis on the go. But you can check out all your stats, and have them graphed out all pretty-like. It’s got CoD news, all of the stats of you and your friends, and — just in case I forgot how terrible I am at this game — instant access to the worldwide leaderboards.

Check it out here.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:21 am

Review: A week with Dyson's DC22 Motorhead

Dyson's DC22's is a compact and powerful canister vac that looks like a cyberpunk chain gun. Though it's extremely good at its job, the $800 price tag highlights its few flaws and places it out of the price range of many shoppers.

The edition tested is the "Motorhead," pitched to those with pets. It differs from the standard model mostly in the attachment, which whips up hair using motorized bristles just like an upright vac. Like the standard model, which is $100 cheaper, it comes with a telescoping standard attachment and heads for use on stairs, hard and carpeted floors. The DC22 weighs 18 pounds, is 16 inches long, and uses the same cyclonic technology as other models from Dyson. A 1/3 gallon bin clips off for easy emptying, and the cord is just over 16 feet long.

The high-tech head made fast work of open rooms, but was also pokey enough to get into tight places: the best of both worlds. It's designed to be easily stored, too, but not every head has a place to "click in" on the vac's body.

In testing, it had to be emptied twice to vacuum a mostly-carpeted 2300 sq ft house inhabited by two hairy mutts. Expect about 800 square feet of coverage per load, unless you're a slob or a yeti breeder.

Pros
- Great suction
- Motorized attachment makes it a match for uprights
- Small size good for stairs, car seats and storage
- 5 year warranty

Cons
- Short power cord
- Low capacity.
- Complex internals don't look terribly sturdy
- $800

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:16 am

Geisha: The Japanese company that turned a virtual French maid into a hit product

Aris folds her tiny hands across her aproned lap and smiles. "If you need me, please poke me to get my attention!" she says in a peppy, high-pitched voice. "Just don't poke me in a weird place! "

As if to deliberately defy her request, Taisei Tanaka, who is sitting next to me in a soccer jersey and jeans, lifts up Aris' poofy skirt with a stick, revealing the ends of her black thigh-high socks and a glimpse of her blue panties. Aris screams at the top of her lungs. "Please stop! This kind of thing is not good!"

Tanaka has every right to lift up Aris' skirt. He is her creator, after all. Besides, Aris is not a real person; she doesn't even really exist. She is an optical illusion, a three-dimensional projection of a brown-haired girl in a maid outfit who lives inside of a cube that looks like an oversized die. The cube has QR codes pasted on each of its sides that uses image recognition, motion-tracking, and other computer-generated data to project images into space when recorded with a webcam.

I'm at the office of Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, the company that makes and sells the popular Augmented Reality Figure Aris. At first glance, it's a cookie cutter Japanese workspace with long fluorescent ceiling lights and walls painted a sterile white. But the normalness ends there. The whiteboard by the entrance is covered with a 20-frame manga featuring egg-shaped characters in a comedy routine; a rack holding half a dozen guitars sits in the back corner of the room. Wigs and figurines line the rows of desks crammed into the 800 square foot or so space. As I look around the office upon arrival, one of the employees, a tall guy in a bandanna, waves at me with a didgeridoo in one hand and two stuffed Pokemon in the other.

Three years ago, Tanaka, a lawyer-turned-engineer-turned-entrepreneur, quit his career as a game designer and gathered an all-star team of multi-talented people with Tokyo University pedigrees to start an outfit that would take "high-tech entertainment" to a whole new level. "When visitors come to Japan, they buy electronics, sing karaoke, watch anime, and play video games," he says. "I'm trying to bring high-tech into that entertainment subculture."

The company's first product was a flop &mdash it was a kooky cell phone game that sent players on missions to take photos of good-looking people on the street. The app used face recognition software to determine whether the subjects were really attractive or not. "It was pretty well known among media art circles, but we didn't make that much money from it," Tanaka tells me. Then, in March 2008, Tanaka saw a rerun of an anime called Dennō Coil on TV, and something clicked. "When the kids in the anime put on augmented reality glasses and see things that aren't really there, I thought, I want to make those glasses." When he talked to his colleagues at Geisha about this, they decided to take it one step further &mdash they would make a humanoid augmented reality pet. The technology was already out there &mdash university researchers had tested similar prototypes more conventional pets like dogs and cats. "We wanted to do something that would market augmented reality in a way that's... meaningful. We were like, wouldn't it be awesome if you could look up her skirt, or take off her clothes?" By April, the guys at Geisha had a prototype of Aris, and when the product hit stores in the fall, the first 3,000 units sold out within three days.

At Geisha's headquarters, Aris lives inside a computer screen in a makeshift living room in the corner of the office. Boxes of gadgets and books are stacked atop a tatami mat floor; there's a sitting area with blankets and an exercise ball in front of a flat-screen TV and an old school A/C unit. Tanaka puts the augmented reality cube on the table, powers up the webcam, and clicks on a few links on his PC. I stare expectantly at the screen. All of a sudden, Aris tumbles out of the box, jumps to her feet, and starts chatting away. "Hi, I'm Aris!" she squeals. "I'm a genuine maid! Master, I am at your service!" Of course, Aris didn't really tumble out of the box &mdash it just appears that way on the monitor. The Aris kit, which sells for about $100 online and at electronics stores throughout Japan, includes a special stick and cards, also with QR codes on them, that allow users to poke Aris, change her outfit, or give her gifts.

Aris, the virtual maid, combines the fetishism of maid cafe culture with augmented reality technology and the futuristic storyline typical of modern anime. According to the backstory invented by Tanaka and his team, she is the daughter of a geisha and an inventor from the year 2025 &mdash due to the declining birthrate, the Japanese government has adopted a new policy that allows children to be created virtually and raised by humans. Once she appears via the webcam, Aris is the ideal sweet and subservient desktop companion &mdash she sweeps up virtual dust from your keyboard, pays you compliments, starts dancing like a cheerleader if you give her virtual pompoms, and whines flirtatiously when you flip up her virtual skirt or take off her virtual apron. "Everything about Aris is made according to my tastes," Tanaka says. "I designed a character that I thought was cute &mdash her voice, her actions, everything." Tanaka is currently trying to figure out how to incorporate haptic technology &mdash vibrations and motors that simulate the sense of touch &mdash into the next generation of Aris, so users could actually feel something on the tip of their fingers when they poke her.

Geisha is a cool company &mdash it has the feel of a startup, or maybe a college dorm. Because of the small size, everyone here has multiple jobs, each one catered to his or her unique talents. When Tanaka knocks on a tiny soundproof door hidden behind a row of desks, a man in overalls and an afro steps out and chirps: "What are you doing??" in a perfect sassy old lady voice. Tanaka later tells me that he's the voice actor and sound engineer for Geisha's new comedic anime series called SakuranBoy DT, which is about a random, no-name provincial town in Yamagata Prefecture. The soundtrack and illustrations for the anime are also done in-house by employees who ordinarily keep books or fix servers. While Tanaka is showing me a clip from SakuranBoy on his computer, a man and woman both dressed as the blue-haired vocaloid Hatsune Miku come tumbling out of the elevator. They've just spent the whole day pole-dancing in a nearby park for a promo video for their newest product, an iPhone app that lets you play the imaginary character's imaginary instrument in real life. When I smile at them in greeting, the man takes off his wig, bows slightly with his matted hair, white-caked face, and red lipstick, and then shuffles away to his desk. "He's one of our designers," Tanaka says, laughing. "Today, he's a cosplayer."

Geisha has sold over 10,000 Aris figures and continues to make kooky, surprising products that don't really fit into any existing category of entertainment. And while they make it seem like everything is just for fun, their ambitions are serious and grandiose. "We work in the spirit of prepping for an annual school festival," Tanaka says, "But we plan on surpassing Nintendo in 20 years."

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:15 am

Review: BlackBerry Tour 9630 (Sprint)

Short Version: Unless you’re shopping specifically for the Palm Pre, this is the smartphone to buy for Sprint customers. The weight is right, the speed is right, the OS is at the perfect point in its evolution.

Review:

I have no issues with recommending this phone to anyone. It’s the perfect fusion of everything that makes a BlackBerry device what it is. The screen is extremely sharp, the camera does well in almost every situation, and despite what Peter said, the keyboard is perfect. Yes, Peter is wrong, I found absolutely no problems with the keyboard on the Tour.

Voice quality is significantly improved over the other BlackBerry devices I’ve used or tested, and calls are clear and sharp, with minimal background noise. Of course, this is to be expected from Sprint’s network, and during the testing period, I experienced no dropped calls. They’ve even added a “lock” button on the top of the phone. This is something that I always look for, and usually end up reprogramming one of the other buttons on the phone (typically the camera) to do this very function. Good idea, RIM!

This phone also supports overseas networks, so you will be just fine leaving the country with it. Again, watch those data overages that companies love to gouge you for, especially if you leave the US.

The software package that comes with the phone is acceptable, and if you are a sports fan, Sprint also includes the option to install their MLB Premium, NFL Mobile, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile software. The phone also has Sprint TV installed, and it streams quite nicely. While waiting for my wife at the doctor’s office, I was able to sit and watch a full episode of one of my favorite shows with no problems.

The web browser is still junk, no question there. A commenter on Peter’s review recommended installing an alternative browser, however I didn’t get a chance to do this. It might be an option if you absolutely hate the default one, but for my purposes it did fine. Just keep in mind that it’s a mobile browser, through and through. You won’t come close to replicating the desktop browsing experience like you would on, say, the iPhone or Android.

If there is one thing I didn’t like about the Tour, it’s the lack of a Wi-Fi antenna. I don’t understand why this is not a standard feature on more phones? It makes perfect sense to me to have it so you can use your Wi-Fi connection when you are at home, instead of running up your data bill. Or maybe that is the point.

Conclusion

Despite the lack of a Wi-Fi option and the so-so web browser, the BlackBerry Tour is a great phone. If you want a BlackBerry OS smartphone, this is the best you can buy. The Tour is currently available to Sprint subscribers for $199.99

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:05 am

Netflix and Amazon advance streaming movie efforts

Section: Video, Content, Video Providers

Instant streaming movies really seem to be the way everything is going. Blu-ray isn’t exactly the hottest selling format and an increasing number of players are also including streaming services for those who want to watch something right that moment rather than going to get the disc, or waiting for it to arrive.  While many set top boxes currently have Netflix, Amazon is making agreements to expand its Video on Demand service.  Netflix isn’t standing still, however, and is making its own agreements to get big name deals.

For Amazon, the announcement has come that it’s Video on Demand service is coming to all VIERA CAST Panasonic Blu-ray players.  This not only includes the normal players that you attach to an HDTV, but also Panasonic’s portable player, the B15.  The upgrade that includes Amazon Video on Demand is free for all users.  Now all they’ll need is an Internet connection to access all of Amazon’s streaming content.  VIERA CAST can also access YouTube, Picasa Web Albums, Bloomberg News, and weather, which means the addition of Amazon Video on Demand means more people will actually use it.

Not to be outdone in terms of big name deals, Netflix today announced a deal with ABC.  The deal will put many of ABC’s TV shows on Netflix’s Watch Instantly service.  The deal includes seasons four and five of “Desperate Housewives,” season five of “Grey’s Anatomy,” and seasons one and two of “Legend of the Seeker.”  The biggest part of the deal is it also includes the first five seasons of “Lost.”  With three of the most popular shows on TV in recent memory (sorry “Legend of the Seeker”), this is huge for Netflix.  Now anyone with the one of the myriad Netflix-enabled devices can actually catch up on Lost if they’ve never watched it, or revisit their favorite episodes.

Read [htguys]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 9:04 am

SLIDE SHOW: Supercomputer Models Supernova

A new visualization technique allows scientists to see 3D images of supernovae.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 8:45 am

WATCH: Shark Relative with a Human Face

The guitarfish's human-like face has led fishermen to believe it is an "alien."
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 8:45 am

Recently on Offworld: word play, Deadmau5 meets Zelda, Langdell v. Mobigame

Recently on Offworld we played with words in two ways: first, by downloading our latest iPhone obsession, NewToy's Friends With Words, as svelte and streamlined as an online-multiplayer Scrabble-alike we've played, and as perfect (read: dangerously addictive) as the original Scrabulous proved when it first dominated Facebook.

We then saw Flashbang co-founder Matthew Wegner solve PopCap's fellow iPhone word-smither Bookworm with science, with a fully automated OCR word-finder that just might be expanded to a web service soon.

Elsewhere, we saw Spore, Fathom and more indie all-star devs joining August's rapid-proto Experimental Gameplay competition, electro star Deadmau5 taking on Zelda, learned what Disneyland can teach devs about game design, and saw "worlds first computer programmer" Ada Lovelace coming to LittleBigPlanet with other historical friends.

Finally, we found a wicked Mario 64 optical illusion papercraft, looked inside Italy's Art of Games gallery exhibit, read the latest, fantastically well researched update on the Tim Langdell v. Mobigame trademark battle, and our 'one shot's: Parappa and Umjammer Lammy play in "My First Rockband", and gorgeously abstract picture-postcards from Wipeout HD (above).

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 8:41 am

What Do Pirates Call Augmented Reality?

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 8:30 am

Odd Walking Bat Has Ancient Heritage

A walking and climbing bat developed its unique skills earlier than thought.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 8:15 am

‘ReMake It: Home’, a Book of Household Hacks

Remake It is a book on a subject dear to us at Gadget Lab: hacking. Not the computer kind, though, but the make-do-and-mend kind we do every day. The book, written by design-geek and Wallpaper editor Henrietta Thompson, gives illustrated, step-by-step instructions on turning old CD spindles into bagel-holders, old Macs into aquariums and garden hoses into, well, you’ll find out.

If some of those sound familiar, that’s because they are. Henrietta is an old friend and hit me up for some suggestions. Apparently there’s a project to do with old inner-tubes in there, my signature material. Even the book itself can be transformed into something else. Henrietta says that “You could buy it. We hope you will like it. But even if you don’t you can always repurpose it as a trivet.”

I’m looking forward to seeing it when it comes out in November, and it’s nice to see this kind of home-style hacking going mainstream with some decent design instead of the usual blurry photos. The most ironic thing is that this new repurposing craze is exactly the kind of thing your grandparents would have done when they were young, every single day. $20.

Product page [Amazon. Thanks, Henrietta!]
Product page UK [Amazon]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 8:13 am

Nikon Crams Projector Into Compact Camera

Nikon announces the S1000pj, and along with a nice, big 2.7” screen, a 12.1 megapixel sensor, there’s a VGA projector inside.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:49 am

RadioShack Rebrands as ‘The Shack’

“Our friends call us The Shack”. So claims the newly rebranded RadioShack in an attempt to be down with the kids. It’s almost embarrassing, like seeing your grandfather listening to an iPod and riding a single speed track bike. Wait, that actually would be cool.

The rebranding is part of a big Netogether promo (giant laptops and webcams. Sounds like fun) for the company and strikes us as being on a level with the recent Pizza Hut scheme, which renamed itself as The Hut (eat there and you’ll end up looking like Jabba). Sure, the store probably doesn’t sell as many radios as it did back in 1921, but a name is more than a description of a company, right?

Back at the beginning, brothers Theodore and Milton Deutschmann chose the name for their first downtown Boston store because it referred to the big wooden boxes that contained a ship’s radio kit, and that’s what they were selling. If the retailer was that honest today, perhaps the chain should be called JunkShack?

Still, it’s better than the fate of Tandy, the UK version of RadioShack. The stores disappeared and even the url redirects to some shabby-looking online shop called “UK Stores”. What a way to go.

The Shack Summer Netogether [RadioShack]

Photo: Caveman 92223/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:37 am

USB forum to host grudge match: Palm Pre vs. Apple iPhone

Section: Apple, Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

If you’ve never heard of the USB Forum, don’t feel bad.  Palm has filed a complaint with the forum that alleges Apple is restraining trade.  It is an odd place for Palm to launch this kind of attack.

The USB Forum began in 1985 as a way to build support for similar connections.  Apple is a member of the Forum.  Palm aims to point out that Apple is misusing the standard of interoperability created by iTunes not allowing connection via USB to other devices, such as the Palm Pre.

It is an interesting move with no real precedent.  Apple altered iTunes to prevent the Pre from syncing with Apple’s product.  In response, Palm updated the Pre’s software to allow the Pre to pretend to be made by Apple (at least, that is what iTunes sees) and access was again granted.  Palm is looking to end this cat and mouse chase.

Palm is clearly saying iTunes syncing is important.  Palm strategy has been to convert iPhone owners and these owners carry their music organized by iTunes.  Connecting with that software is important to Palm and doing so in an easy-as-possible manner is critical.

The Forum, whose excitement is usually centered on releasing new USB standards, like 3.0 (woo hoo!), refuses to comment on the filing.  Some see the filing itself as a breach in the Forum’s intent while everyone else might like a shot at being connected to iTunes.  From the New York Times, Mike Abramsky, an analyst with the investment firm RBC Capital Markets.

“There isn’t much precedent for this case,” he said. “It’s breaking new ground. In my mind, ultimately the users are the arbiters in the outcome of these situations.”

This fight is just beginning.  Just wait until Apple lays down some patents!  This fight is going to go the distance.

Read: [New York Times]  Image courtesy of [iphoneblog.com]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:09 am

Danger: Handlebar Mounted Cup-Holders

This might look like a joke product, but designer Paul Kweton has actually built and used the Ring-O-Star (ho ho) bike cup holder. The silicon ring attaches to a bar-end via an aluminum expanding bolt, and then the cup of hot joe is placed inside ring and transformed into a dangerous weapon.

This is obviously a bad idea, but if used for a bottle of water or a soft drink (in a can, of course) it could be a handy addition to a bottle cage. Actually, let’s be honest. It’s a terrible idea. I would buy one, though, and load it with an empty cup and use both for handy storage and to baffle pedestrians.

Update: Our New York Bureau Chief, John C Abell, put me on the trail of a real, gyroscopically controlled cup holders, meant for use in boats or clamping to fishing rods. The $15 device swings on two axes to keep things steady, and comes with a insulating foam insert. You can even get it with a “Rail Mount Adapter”, which should clamp nicely to a handlebar. You’ll find it here. All it needs is some garish coloring and it could be marketed to the fixie-fashion crowd.

Coffee Cup Holder for Bikes by Paulbaut [Design Boom]

See Also:

• Coffee-Cup Power Inverter for In-Car Charging
• Cup Holder Blows Hot and Cold

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 7:04 am

Nikon Crams Projector Into Compact Camera

Remember the odd rumor from yesterday regarding a new Nikon pocket camera with a built-in projector? It turns out that it was spot on. Today Nikon has announced the S1000pj, and along with a nice, big 2.7” screen, a 12.1 megapixel sensor, there’s a VGA projector inside.

The camera looks to be a solid picture-taker, with a top ISO setting of 6400 (at three megapixels), a 5x zoom and both optical and electronic image stabilization, but the projector is the real story here, the first that we know of in a consumer camera. It’ll throw images of up to 40-inches onto a wall up to two meters away, and comes with a remote control and stand to help. Useful for impromptu slideshows, and quite excellent for playing back movies of, say, requests for intergalactic help. $430.

Don’t say “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, You’re my only hope.”

Product page [Nikon]

See Also:

• Hybrid Camera and Projector Planned by Nikon?

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:32 am

BLOG: Meteorite Found on Mars

NASA's robotic Mars geologist stumbles upon a meteorite on the Red Planet.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:30 am

Pulse Bike Glows in The Dark

The Pulse concept-o-cycle from Teague is a cross between a fixed-gear bike, a cafe-racer motorcycle and a bag of fireflies. The ultra-simple bike design includes glowing tubes, bar-ends and even pedal, which will both keep you safe at night and, due to being built-in, resist the attempts of thieves.

The bike exists nowhere except inside a CAD application, and the pictures generated therefrom, which explains some of the rather odd details (take a look at those toe-straps, for example), but the idea and the styling is sound. The bar-tips contain LED turn-signals, operated by twist-grip switches. Pointless in the day, but dead handy at night. The tail-light is in the seat-post, and the whole frame glows in the dark (although the designer doesn’t bother to tell us how. Maybe it is fireflies).

One neat touch is in the pedals, which are weighted to always stay right-side-up for easy toe entry. We’re not sure how well that would work in practice, but we’d like to give it a try.

Product page [Page Gangster via Core77]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:11 am

Seagulls Menace Endangered Salmon

Rising seagull populations have wreaked havoc on salmon along the Pacific coast.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 4 Aug 2009 | 6:10 am

App it Up: iMEvil

FROM APPLETELL - iMEvil is a soundboard of creepy and often humorous one-liners recited by veteran voice actor David Sobolov. The phrases are often quite comical, but that’s mainly due to David’s involvement.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:49 am

Audio care packages for service members with Google Voice

(From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest and are pleased to have Sergeant Dale Sweetnam join us here. SGT Sweetnam is working with Google's communications team this year through the U.S. Army's "Training with Industry" Program. -Ed.)

It's not easy to stay in touch with friends and family when you're fighting in a country thousands of miles from home. I spent 13 months in Iraq as an Army journalist where I flew in Black Hawks over Balad and Baghdad working to generate news coverage about my fellow soldiers. The whole experience was physically and emotionally draining, but it was especially difficult when I called home at the end of the day and nobody was there to answer.

For servicemen and women who are constantly on the move, having a single number and an easy way to retrieve messages from loved ones can be invaluable. To help our service members communicate with their loved ones and show our support to those serving our country, Google is launching a new program. Starting today, any active U.S. service member with a .mil email address can sign up for a Google Voice account at www.google.com/militaryinvite and start using the free service within a day.

When you deploy, your life is put on hold. While you live and work in a different world, everyone else moves on with life back home. Your family and friends keep moving, and this sometimes means it's just not possible for them to stay awake until 2 a.m. to receive a phone call. Calling Iraq or Afghanistan is seldom an option.

Google Voice provides a solution to some of these problems. Service members can set up an account before they deploy. Or if they're already deployed, families can now set up an account for their service member. Loved ones can call to leave messages throughout the day, and then when that service member visits an Internet trailer, all the messages are right there. It's like a care package in audio form.

I signed up for an account when I came to Google, and it's already making communications much easier here in the States. I know when I return to combat, Google Voice will help make life a little more manageable.

Posted by U.S. Army SGT Dale Sweetnam, Army Fellow
Source: The Official Google Blog | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:00 am

Sony Reader PRS-300, PRS-600 full specs revealed

Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous

Just last week we saw the user manuals for two yet-to-be-released Sony Readers hit the web, and now the complete specs have been revealed courtesy of J&R.  Of course, J&R was also quick to remove those specs, however that did not stop an eagle eye blogger over at Sony Insider from getting a good look and passing on the details.

Assuming these are accurate, then Amazon will still have one thing going for itself with the Kindle—wireless connectivity.  Otherwise, these new Readers, which are the PRS-300 and PRS-600 seem like they will be respectable additions to the Sony Reader lineup.

In terms of features, here is what we can expect (according to the leak);

Sony PRS-300-RC Reader Pocket Edition - $199

• Screen Size: Vizplex 5 inches
• Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels
• Gray Scale: 8-levels gray scale
• Battery Type: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion (battery: DC 3.7 V)
• AC Power: DC 5.2 V
• Battery Life (Approx): 7,500 (BBeB Book)
• USB 2.0 data/power
• 512MB of onboard memory
• Supplied Accessories: USB Cable, Sleeve, Quick Start Flyers
• Unit Dimensions: 6.2″ L x. 4.2″ W x 2″ D, Weight: 7.76 oz.
• Media Formats Supported: Unsecured Text: EPUB File (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protected), BBeB Book (Non DRM/ PRS DRM protected), PDF file (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protected) DRM Text: Text file, RTF file, Word file (unsecured)

Sony PRS-600-SC Reader Touch Edition - $299

• Screen Size: Vizplex 6 inches
• Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels
• Gray Scale: 8-levels gray scale
• Battery Type: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion (battery: DC 3.7 V)
• AC Power: DC 5.2 V
• Battery Life (Approx): 7,500 (BBeB Book)
• 512MB of onboard memory
• Supplied Accessories: USB Cable
• Unit Dimensions: 6.9″ L x 4.8″ W x 4″ D, Weight: 10.1 oz.
• Media Formats Supported: Unsecured Text: EPUB File (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protected), BBeB Book (Non DRM/ PRS DRM protected), PDF file (Non DRM/ Adobe DRM protected) DRM Text: Text file, RTF file, Word file (unsecured), Unsecured Audio: MP3 (Non encrypted), AAC (Non encrypted) Image: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP

Read [Sony Insider]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:54 am