Lovely iPod Nano Cases Carved From Old Tapes

Mother! Bring me my Dremel. Hurry woman, and put down that gin. I have to make me one of these wonderful iPod Nano cases, toot-sweet.

I, dear reader, am of course a Victorian master inventor. You, modern weakling that you are, might prefer to buy a retro case to cosset your fourth generation Nano device, for a mere $50 Canadian in today’s money. The tapes come from thrift stores and are “gutted, routered and rebuilt” in Vancouver until they are the perfect fit for the little Nano. They are named the 45 Nano (45 in this case is half the length of a D90 tape in minutes, not the speed of a vinyl “single” pressing).

What I love the most, from my expert, imperial engineering point-of-view is the stark contrast here. The shiny, bon-bon colored iPod against the old, rattly, dull plastic tapes. Wonderful. Now, mother, bring me that gin. And cover up the table legs: I’m feeling giddy.

Product page [Contexture via BBG]

PC maker Lenovo reports loss amid weak demand (AP)

AP - Lenovo Group, the world's fourth-largest personal computer maker, reported a $16 million quarterly loss Thursday and said it faces pressure from weak global demand and intense competition.

UPDATE 3-UK cannabis medicine maker GW lures U.S. investor

UPDATE 1-Tube maker Avon Rubber reborn as defence company

UPDATE 1-Canadian Natural Q2 adjusted profit falls

REFILE-UPDATE 2-GW says others likely to follow Great Point

WRAPUP 1-European publishers see no market improvement

Noble-led group ups natgas supply to Israel Electric

London, Not SF, Is The Capital Of Twitter, Says Co-Founder @ev

London, Not SF, Is The Capital Of Twitter, Says Co-Founder @ev

Twitter was featured on the BBC’s Newsnight programme last night. There weren’t any great revelations about the service, however the confirmation from the CEO that London remains the top Twitter-using city in the world is pretty interesting. This was indicated last year, but it is surprising that, a year on, London has retained this top slot, which just goes to show how popular it is in the UK overall.

Prior to a pre-recorded interview with Ev Williams, CEO and co-founder of Twitter, they ran a report in which the editor of Wired UK said he didn’t know what the business model of Twitter was. He obviously hasn’t been reading TechCrunch.

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

REFILE-UPDATE 2-GW says others likely to follow Great Point

OMG Windows 7 release date canceled! (Not.) - Computerworld

Gizmo News

OMG Windows 7 release date canceled! (Not.) Computerworld Despite what some bloggers are saying, the Windows 7 release date hasn't been canceled by Microsoft. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers get spun up about (gasp) a bug in Windows 7 RTM code. By Richi Jennings. July 6, 2009. Your humble blogwatcher has selected ... Windows 7 bug likely not a 'showstopper'CNET News Windows 7 RTM Glitch Unlikely To Be A "Showstopper"ITProPortal Microsoft Removes Windows 7 Hurdle with Windows XP ModePC World ChannelWeb -BetaNews -Register all 86 news articles »

UPDATE 1-Hungary's Egis lifts key export sales forecasts

WRAPUP 1-Broadcasters ITV and ProSieben show glimmers of hope

Novo Nordisk awaits FDA approval of Victoza -CFO

San Diego Zoo panda gives birth to 5th cub - WZTV

SDNN: San Diego News Network

San Diego Zoo panda gives birth to 5th cub WZTV SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Zoo's prized panda has given birth to her fifth cub. The baby panda becomes only the 14th panda in the United States, five of which are in San Diego. A veterinarian has pronounced the cub healthy. ... Giant panda gives birth to fifth cub at the San Diego ZooCNN San Diego Zoo panda gives birth to 5th cubThe Associated Press San Diego Zoo panda gives birth to 5thDenver Post Los Angeles Times -CBS 2 -ABC30.com all 413 news articles »

What’s The Google Brand Worth These Days? $100 Billion.

WPP subsidiary Millward Brown Optimor has released its highly regarded annual brand ranking BrandZ Top 100 (PDF), which identifies the world’s most valuable global brands as measured by their dollar value.

Topping the list are Internet giant Google, whose brand was valued at a whopping $100 billion, and rival Microsoft which comes in second with a $76.2 billion valuation. The report shows Google’s brand value is up from $86 billion last year (an increase of 16% in value), while Microsoft’s rose only 8% in value over the past year.

Note that this is the value of the brand and not the company, and we mustn’t forget Google tends to put its name in all its products so would conceivably get more exposure as Microsoft, which markets far more brands than just one (Windows, Bing, etc.). Then again, Microsoft has been around a heck of a lot longer than Google, as has Coca-Cola which came in third with a brand valuation of $67.6 billion.

Just for reference, I took a look at both tech companies’ stock listings to see how they relate to the brand value pegged by Millward Brown’s ranking. Google today has a market cap of $142.82 billion, while Microsoft’s amounts to $212.16 billion, or an approximate 1.5 ratio in Redmond’s favor.

Other valuable top brands in technology, according to Millward Brown’s fresh ranking, include IBM ($66.6 B), Apple ($66.1 B), Vodafone ($53.7 B), Nokia ($35.1 B), Blackberry ($27.4 B), HP ($26.7 B), SAP ($23.6 B), Intel ($22.8 B) and Oracle ($21.4 B). Just outside the top 25, we find Amazon at the number 26 spot, but the company can pride itself in having the most ‘brand momentum’ - a measurement predicting short-term growth prospects - this year.

For the full lists and report, click here (again, it’s a PDF file).

The report also breaks down brand valuations in categories, so allow me to publish the top 3 for those categories you’re likely most interested in:

GAMING CONSOLES

1 Nintendo DS - $9.65 billion
2 Nintendo Wii - $8.25 billion
3 Microsoft Xbox 360 - $4.68 billion

MOBILE OPERATORS

1 China Mobile - $61.28 billion
2 Vodafone - $53.72 billion
3 AT&T - $20.05 billion

BEER

1 Bud Light - $6.65 billion
2 Budweiser - $6.63 billion
3 Heineken - $5.06 billion

CARS

1 Toyota - $29.9 billion
2 BMW - $23.94 billion
3 Porsche - $17.46 billion

(Image via Renato Mitra’s blog)

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

What's The Google Brand Worth These Days? $100 Billion.

Apple rolls out Mac OS X 10.5.8 Update - Techtree.com

CNET News

Apple rolls out Mac OS X 10.5.8 Update Techtree.com Apple has released yet another upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system. New Mac OS X 10.5.8 update brings minor tweaks, bug fixes and other improvements over the OS X 10.5.7 update dubbed Juno. Apple offers the Mac OS X 10.5.8 as individual ... Apple fixes hole with Mac OS X image viewingCNET News Apple patches 18 Mac vulnerabilities, ships OS X 10.5.8Computerworld Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.8PC World ChannelWeb -PC Magazine -Ars Technica all 79 news articles »

YC-Funded Directed Edge Sees A Post-Search Web Where Recommendations Rule

YC-Funded Directed Edge Sees A Post-Search Web Where Recommendations Rule

“Whoever manages to change the nature of content display on the Web from a search problem to a recommender problem will reap tremendous rewards.”

That quote, by Greg Linden, the man behind Amazon’s recommendation system, is the dogma of Directed Edge, a new Y Combinator-backed startup in the recommendation space. Amazon, of course does product comparisons, but there’s no reason recommendations shouldn’t be a part of news consumption, music consumption, social networking, basically everything we do on the web. And while there are no shortage of companies out there that focus on some of these different fields specifically, Directed Edge has developed a system that can be plugged into all kinds of different sites.

And for sites that implement its system, it does the recommendations in real-time. “We can take data sets with millions and millions of data points and figure out what’s related to a given item in a few milliseconds. Most recommendations engines pre-compute stuff rather than generating the recommendations in real-time like we do,” Directed Edge co-founder Scott Wheeler tells us.

Wheeler claims they can do this because of the graph database they created in-house after they realized the off-the-shelf options just weren’t good enough for what they wanted to do. And much like Linden’s quote, Directed Edge truly believes that we’re about to see a shift on the web away from search and towards recommendations. And real-time is crucial to that. While we’re starting to see that trend take off in the social space right now, Wheeler believes it will spread to the rest of the web shortly. “Fundamentally we believe that shift is coming, and we want to be a big part of it,” Wheeler says.

Despite the recommendation system being fairly complex, they claim that a person running a site can get Directed Edge’s service up and running in just 15 minutes. And obviously, to be useful such a system would have to work with the data you already have, and that’s exactly what Directed Edge does thanks to its binding system that recognizes a wide range of web languages.

It may be hard to imagine a web where search isn’t the utterly dominant way we interact with everything, but it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that something like recommendations could become a big part of it. We’re seeing large sites like Digg also putting a lot of focus on recommendations. And then obviously there’s the Netflix Challenge, which just ended. That’s the web Directed Edge wants to see.

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

British broadcaster ITV sells Friends Reunited (AFP)

AFP - ITV on Thursday said it had agreed to sell social networking website Friends Reunited after Britain's biggest commercial television broadcaster posted a first-half pretax loss of 105 million pounds.

Tower Semiconductor Announces Second Quarter 2009 Financial Results Conference Call

Virgin Media loses customers, raises average spend (Reuters)

After Links To Cybercrime, Latvian ISP Cut Off

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Some NFL teams clamp down on tweets (AP)

AP - The only tweets during the Miami Dolphins scrimmage Saturday will come from the officials' whistles.

Phoenix Technologies President and CEO Woody Hobbs Featured in Wall Street Reporter Interview

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. Announces Monthly Net Revenues

MouseBlister - That's Right, Cover Your Mouse In Rubber Blisters

ChefStack Automatic Pancake Machine - Hear That High School Guidance Counselor? Dreams Really Do Come True!

Smart Measure Takes The Measuring Cup Into The 21st Century

Bad Apple? [Voices]

By Jon Fortt, Blogger, Big Tech, Fortune

Apple’s control issues have been a key ingredient in its success. CEO Steve Jobs is fond of pointing out that Apple’s hands-on approach to crafting both hardware and software has led to such breakthrough products as the Mac, the iPod and the iPhone – and it’s fair to say the attention to detail hasn’t hurt Apple’s marketing, either.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Cisco CEO John Chambers’s Big Management Experiment [Voices]

By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Cisco Systems has overhauled its management structure in order to support 26 new businesses that the company says could soon reach $1 billion each and account for more than 25 percent of Cisco’s revenue.

Now executives work on committees–dubbed councils and boards in Cisco-ese–and the company makes 70 percent of its decisions collaboratively, up from 10 percent just two years ago.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Scamraiders Goes to Bat for Members

How Netflix Gets Your Movies to Your Mailbox so Fast [Voices]

By Christopher Borrelli, Reporter, Chicago Tribune

The Netflix warehouse in Carol Stream does not appear on any map. Your odds of finding it are slightly better than your odds of stumbling upon a rare insect in a field of weeds. One could drive to Carol Stream, stop in a random office park, climb from one’s car and scream, “Reveal thyself, Netflix!” This is not advisable. But the temptation remains.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Hot Story to Has-Been: Tracking News via Cyberspace [Voices]

By Patricia Cohen, Reporter, New York Times

Like a lot of new ideas, Media Cloud started with a long-running argument among friends. Ethan Zuckerman and a handful of his colleagues at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School found themselves in endless disputes about the mainstream media and newer digital variations. Who sets the agenda? How is public debate shaped? What topics are covered or ignored?

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Yahoo Needs A New New Homepage [Voices]

By Nicholas Carlson, Blogger, Silicon Alley Insider

Now that Yahoo’s search deal is done, the company can finally focus on making itself a better Yahoo. The first step: Build a better homepage.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

The Edge of Reason? [Voices]

By Simon Parkin, Contributing Writer, Eurogamer

Eight months ago David Papazian was on top of the world. His company, Mobigame, had just released its first videogame for the iPhone. In the space of just a few weeks it had won two prestigious awards. The past two years of early mornings, late nights and tireless endeavour were set to pay off; the sacrifices had been worth it, the indie developer dream was coming true. Today, he sits dejected and worn.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Kinpo Puts Via Nano in New 3G/WiMax Netbook (PC World)

Prosten Technology Announces FY2009/2010 First Quarter Results

Inmarsat plc Reports 2009 Interim Results

Stolt Tankers Selects Stratos for Fleetwide Satellite Communications Network

Will Anyone Pay for Anything?

Sony’s new point-and-shoots may actually be different from the rest

When I saw the press release advertising a revolutionary new “back-illuminated” sensor, my BS sensor went to red alert. First, the term is nonsense — misleading at best. Second, what could they possibly do to increase low light performance by a huge amount that nobody’s thought of already? As it turns out, camera companies are dumber than I thought (that or Sony’s BSing skill is better than I thought), because this new sensor configuration appears to be genuinely better. The main tradeoff appears to be cost, though — these cameras are expensive as hell.

Here’s the deal: sensors aren’t just magic planes of photosensitive material. They’ve got circuits on all sides, wires and transistors all over the place, and incredibly, some of it is between the lens and the sensor. I didn’t know that, but I believe it, and if it sounds a little too crazy to you, consider that your eye is organized in much the same way. There’s a bunch of junk between the iris and the light-sensitive part of the retina — so if mother nature made it upside-down, what hope did a bunch of engineers have?

So what Sony’s done, apparently, is cleared out the junk between the lens and the sensor. While I applaud them for their ingenuity (if that’s what it is), I question the benefit of it, since you’d think companies with more experience in lens and sensor design (Nikon, Canon, and Kodak, for instance) would have done something like this if it had the benefits stated. But I digress. Sony says the low-light performance is better, and they’ve actually done something to make it so, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until we get some real testing done.

On to the cameras. Surprisingly, the more expensive TX1 isn’t entirely better than the WX1, just a little more futuristic. Both cameras have 10.2 megapixels, the new “Exmor R” sensor, 10FPS burst capability, built-in burst panorama (thank you), 720p mpeg-4 recording, and all the silly camera modes we’ve come to expect in consumer cameras. Pet mode, really?

Sony TX1

The sexy future-camera. 10.2 megapixels, 3″ touchscreen, optical image stabilization. Close focus down to 0.4″, which is great. 4x Zeiss zoom, no 35mm equivalent given, but it seems as if it doesn’t go quite as wide as the TX1 because its panoramas can’t be as wide. Very thin. Costs $380.

Sony WX1

The more traditional camera with similarly updated guts. 10.2 megapixels, 2.7″ LCD (not touchable), 5x zoom (24-120mm) at f/2.4, which is quite good for such a small lens. Kind of thin. $350.

So?

Both cameras will be available in September. As for which I’d get… it’s actually kind of a tough call. I’m not too familiar with Sony’s touchscreen interface but I wouldn’t assume it’s a positive. I think in the end, the WX1 is more of a sure bet even though it’s not nearly as thin as the TX1. It’s cheaper, you’ve got a really solid lens on there, and you’re not missing any features other than the touchscreen. I’m actually pleased with Sony in this case (aside from releasing their cameras in the middle of the night like everyone else and pricing them out of my range); they may actually have a superior camera technology here. But like I said before, we can’t know until some testing’s done, and I wouldn’t buy until then.

ShoeMoney Reaches Settlement With Google Employee Over AdWords Violations

Over the last few months we’ve been tracking a lawsuit between online marketing guru Jeremy Schoemaker and a Google employee named Keyen Farrell. This week comes news that Schoemaker has settled the case with Farrell, though details are scant. Money changed hands (in Schoemaker’s favor), but Schoemaker signed a confidentially agreement as part of the settlement that forbids him from discussing the matter further. You can see his full statement below.

It’s been a long road to get here. Schoemaker originally filed suit against Farrell last April, when Farrell used Schoemaker’s trademarked term “Shoemoney” in his ad copy — a breach of Google’s terms of service. The case was interesting not just because of Schoemaker’s notoriety, but because Farrell is an employee working out of Google’s New York office. Given his position, it was feasible that Farrell had used his access at Google to somehow bypass the system’s trademark filters (among other things), though Google denied this and attributed the fault to human error.

Farrell subsequently filed an affadavit stating he didn’t know that the term was trademarked and blamed a failure of Google’s text filters. In June, Farrell then went on to counter-sue Schoemaker for defamation. Farrell dropped half of the counter-suit a month ago, and soon thereafter approached Schoemaker about a settlement.

Yesterday, Schoemaker posted the following to his blog:

For those that have been following my lawsuit against the Farrells, there have been several developments. A few weeks ago, after originally withdrawing half of their defamation lawsuit against me, the Farrells withdrew the other half and completely abandoned their counter-suit against me. I was then approached about the possibility of accepting a settlement offer in exchange for me dismissing my trademark infringement case against the Farrells. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to write about the nature of the settlement talks or the amount of money that was offered because the settlement offers that were made required confidentiality.
I can say that my lawsuit against the Farrells was settled. This has been a real educational experience for me. I was looking forward to getting my day in court, but I can also say that I am very happy with the final result. There is not a whole lot more I am allowed to discuss.

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

HTML 5 Canvas Experiment Hints At Things To Come

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

RFID Market Rides High on Government Support, Finds Frost & Sullivan

Shooter's online rants were like trees in forest

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:05 pm

Savings.com Makes Coupons More Social; Jason Calacanis Joins Board

Coupon site Savings.com just got a redesign and a new board member: Mahalo CEO (and TechCrunch50 co-host) Jason Calacanis. “They’ve broken $10 million in revenue after just a couple of years,” says Calacanis, “and are crushing it in the deals space. Obviously this is a great place to be in a recession.”

The redesign is aimed at making the site more social for those virtual coupon clippers (hey, don’t laugh, we should all be trying to save more money these days) who want to just live to tell everyone they know about the great deals they found.

The site offers coupons from about 2,000 merchants, including the Gap, Restoration Hardware, and even the San Diego Zoo. The site is basically a coupon search engine, organized by brands, stores, and shopping categories. The new design is much more social—as far as a coupon site can be social. Each deal can be voted up, commenetd on, or shared (via Twitter, Facebook, Digg, reddit, delicious, or email). And members can submit their own deals.

Hardcore members and get reputation points based on how many coupons they vote on, how many they add, and whether or not the ones they add become popular.

There are tons of coupon sites out there, such as RetailMeNot and CouponChief. CEO Loren Bendele says he is trying to stand out from the crowd by creating a good user experience so that peopel stick around and want to come back instead of just keeping up bad deals or expired coupons which draw SEO traffic but little else.

Bendele expects to pull in more than $10 million in revenues this year and drive more than $200 million in sales for participating merchants. That is not a bad little business. (The company has raised $6 million in ventiure capital, most recently in October, 2008 from US Venture Partners.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:04 pm

Sony Drops E-Book Prices - Washington Post

Sydney Morning Herald

Sony Drops E-Book Prices Washington Post One of the first big-name companies to take a stab at selling electronic books in this decade--no, not Amazon--renewed its efforts this morning. Sony announced lower prices on new and best-selling e-books and unveiled two new models of its Reader ... As eBook Readers Heat Up, Standardization Will Be CriticalPC World Sony Hunting Amazon (and Apple?) With E-ReaderAtlantic Online Sony Takes On Kindle With Two New E-ReadersInformationWeek BetaNews -DailyTech -Los Angeles Times all 522 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:04 pm

AT&T Continues New Hampshire Network Expansion

NASHUA, N.H., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To address the growing demand for advanced wireless data products and services in the Granite State, AT&T* today announced that a new cell site has been activated in Sunapee.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:01 pm

Aug. 6, 1997: Apple Rescued -- by Microsoft

The deal doesn't sit well with Apple devotees, but Steve Jobs knows that it gives him the maneuvering room he needs to stage the Big Comeback.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pm

Jargon Watch: Virus Battery, Kettling, Caloplaca Obamae

Virus battery n. A rechargeable power cell that uses bacteriophages as electrodes. The phages — viruses that infect only bacteria — are genetically engineered to self-assemble and conduct electricity. The nontoxic tech could be scaled for applications from cell phones to cars.

Kettling v. Forcibly detaining demonstrators in cordoned-off areas to prevent protests from boiling over. The practice, used by police at the G-20 summit in London, sparked an outcry over civil liberties.

Third-hand smoke n. Toxic residue left on furniture, clothing, and hair by cigarette smoke. Anti-tobacco activists decry third-hand smoke as a public health menace, but some doctors say recent research is being distorted for political purposes.

Caloplaca obamae n. A lichen found in California's Channel Islands, it's the first species named for Barack Obama. Bush and Cheney have also been commemorated taxonomically — in the scientific names for slime-mold beetles.

Caloplaca obamae

— Jonathon Keats (jargon@wired.com)

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:30 pm

Digeo is giving away two Moxi HD DVRs and Moxi Mates

Listen, the Moxi HD DVR has problems in my eyes, but if you’re still stuck with a cable DVR, you better click through and enter this contest. The Moxi HD DVR is years past anything you can get from a cable provider. In this contest you have a chance to win a 500GB Moxi HD DVR and the new Moxi Mate, which allows for 2nd room viewing. This is a $1,000 value, boys and girls. All you need to do is surf on over to this site and fill out the form. Good luck!

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:05 pm

Lava Lamp returns as Mathmos Fireflow

An interesting balance between retro and reinvent, these new lava lamps are out this fall in the U.K. [Mathmos via Technabob]

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:00 pm

New Radiohead song honors World War I veteran (Reuters)

Reuters - Radiohead fans got their first taste of new studio material Wednesday, when the group made available "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" for download via its online store.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:59 pm

iPod Nano cases made of old cassette tapes

These CAD$49 cases are "gutted, routered and rebuilt" to fit fourth-gen Ipod Nanos. [Contexture Design]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:57 pm

Zune HD looks like a winner

Wired's Dylan Tweney got to play with Microsoft's inexorably excellent Zune HD.

It's compact, lightweight, good-looking and has a very slick interface. Microsoft's newest media player has a bright, crisp OLED display that the dark lighting of the nightclub showed off to very good effect. It's fast and responsive: Video looked great on it. Its 480 x 272 pixels are a far cry from HD, but they present a 16:9 aspect ration and they're bright and contrasty, with deep, rich blacks, so you won't mind much. Also, we could zoom and swipe between photos with great speed...

Read the rest at Gadget Lab.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:54 pm

$30 USB Retro Wooden Speaker Cube

It plays MP3 files via SD card, too.

Product Page [USB Geek via Crunchgear]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:52 pm

The ugliest mouse ever

Vaguely reminiscent of oil crash concept cars--and about as easy to move places. [Engadget]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:50 pm

Bing Has Succeeded… In Finding The Worst Jingle Ever

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the contest Microsoft’s new search engine Bing was holding to find a catchy jingle for the product. Today, they have announced the winner. “Catchy” is one word for it. Another is “awful.”

Sure, the song will get stuck in your head, but so does the sound of seals barking, or cows dying, if you listen to them for long enough.

But as bad as the jingle is, the video is much, much worse. It’s some guy in pajama pants doing really bad interpretive dance nonsense with awful effects and a Bing backdrop. The entire time I’m watching this, I’m thinking: So this is what hell looks/sounds like.

I cannot believe the guy won $500 for this. And I also cannot believe our interns didn’t enter.

Bing, as a product, is pretty solid. This jingle, is not. Hopefully whoever voted on it was just messing around with Microsoft.

“Enjoy” it below.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:46 pm

Murdoch Says, "We'll Charge For All Our Sites"

Oracle Goddess writes "In what appears to be a carefully planned suicide, Rupert Murdoch announced that his media giant News Corporation Ltd intends to charge for all its news websites in a bid to lift revenues, as the transition towards online media permanently changes the advertising landscape. 'The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive methods of distribution, but it has not made content free. Accordingly we intend to charge for all our news websites,' Murdoch said."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:30 pm

Hitachi’s 2TB 7200RPM HDD is world’s first

Having the world’s only 7200RPM 2TB hard drive is a sweet position to be in. For a couple weeks, Hitachi will monopolize sales among people who need both space and speed — like me! I’ll actually be waiting a bit before making the jump, since “world first” hardware on the bleeding edge of manufacturing technology tends to have flaws.

For those of you not sure what the big deal is, it’s simply that this drive spins faster than the others on the market now, which means lower latency and better read/write times. Most drives are 7200RPM, but these new large-capacity ones have been limited to 5400 or 5900 until now.

The 7K2000 is just shipping out today, so you can expect to see it on the listings here within a few days or a week. And, of course, it means lower prices for all those other sizes, so maybe next week is the time to upgrade after all.

[via Dvice]

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:17 pm

Top 10 Reader iPhone Annoyances (And How to Fix Them)

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:30 pm

Review: Loopbags Vanguard 15-inch Backpack

If there is one thing I learned while testing this bag it was that there are better bags out there than a $60 Targus for sale at the airport electronic boutique. I’m pleased to introduce the Loopbag Vanguard 15-inch Backpack in brown.

In my humble opinion this bag is immeasurably better than a heavy, cheap messenger bag style laptop carrier but it does have pros and cons. First the Pros.

Visually this bag is nice. Its sales material states that it has a semi-rigid frame so it maintains its good looks full or empty. This is definitely true, from the outside you can hardly tell whether it’s stuffed or completely empty.

loopbag

The bag I tested was deep brown. I was impressed with how clean the bag stayed looking after two weeks of everyday use. This was helped by the fact that the bag is water resistant, a fact I unwillingly tested when caught in an unexpected rain. Impressively, when I arrived home my laptop and everything else in the bag were totally dry. Its Nylon top feels like it is rubber coated, and all the external zippers are covered.

This bag also features a very simple security feature that is brilliant in its simplicity. The zippers to the main compartment can (but don’t necessarily have to) zip to behind your back. That is to say, you can put the zippers where you have to take off the bag to get at them. On a crowded subway, or other urban environment, this is a easy, convenient way to avoid potential theft. I have actually wondered what would stop someone from reaching in my bag on the subway when I have my headphones in and am being jostled by a crowd. This bag addresses that issue is a non-complicated way that you are likely to use every day.
Internally this bag is as well constructed as the outside. It has a nice padded laptop sleeve, and several other pockets. However this is where I have some cons with the bag.

The biggest problem I encountered was that this bag is small. Of course you can tell that from the outside, but it seems like it doesn’t store very much even for its size. There is enough room for a laptop, one large textbook, and a variety of pencils and small tools. There isn’t even a very good spot for my laptops power block. There is absolutely no accommodation for a water bottle, I carry one almost all the time, and it was a constant source of frustration to try to jam it in behind the laptop sleeve.

My only other complaint was that the bag is slightly hot to wear. Because of its waterproof rubbery texture, it feels like you are wearing a trash bag against your back at times. This was not a major problem, and I more than forgave the bag after it saved my electronics from the rain. It is simply a trade-off for the ease of mind waterproofing gives you.

Bottom Line
Overall I would suggest this bag, It distributes the weight of a laptop much better than a messenger bag, looks more stylish, and is both water-resistant and secure. However, I would not advise getting this to haul all your books and supplies. It is not a true backpack because of its limited storage. It is just a laptop bag. If that is what you need, then this is a good choice.

Product Page

By Berkeley Beyers

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:03 pm

New Netbook Offers Long Battery Life and Room to Type [Personal Technology]

The brightest spot for Windows PC makers in this awful economy has been the relatively new category of small, light, minimalist and cheap laptops called netbooks.

But there are some significant compromises for consumers who rely on netbooks, which typically sell for between $300 and $500, have screens of 8” or 10,” and weigh under three pounds.

Because their screens are not only small, but also tend to offer low resolution, they can’t show as much of a Web page, or document, as a normal laptop screen, so a lot of scrolling is required. Many have cramped, flimsy-feeling keyboards, and undersized touchpads with small, stiff buttons. And many have lousy battery life.

I’ve been testing a new netbook from Toshiba, the last major Windows brand to join the category in the U.S., but a company with long experience in making diminutive, albeit far costlier, laptops. And this new $400 Toshiba, inelegantly called the NB205-N310, stands out for solving some of these common netbook problems, including offering the best netbook keyboard I’ve tested.

The Toshiba shares most of the characteristics of competing netbooks. It has a 10” screen; uses the low-power Intel (INTC) Atom processor; sports a 160-gigabyte hard disk; and has a built-in Webcam. Like almost all netbooks, it runs the aging but familiar Windows XP Home operating system. Its one gigabyte of memory is sub-par for a standard laptop, but generous for a netbook. It has a decent complement of ports and connectors, including three USB ports, one of which can charge accessories like cellphones even while the PC is in sleep mode.

While not the smallest or lightest competitor on the shelf, the new Toshiba’s overall dimensions qualify it as a true netbook: it weighs 2.9 pounds, and is 10.4 inches wide, 7.6 inches deep, and an inch thick at its thinnest point. It fits nicely on the tray in a coach plane seat, and comes in a variety of colors.

But this machine breaks from the pack in several areas. First, it has by far the best keyboard I’ve seen in a netbook. The keyboard design resembles that on Apple’s (AAPL) MacBook Pro laptops —big, raised keys with lots of room in between, and good vertical movement. The space bar, and the “Enter” and “Backspace” keys are wide, and there are even dedicated “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys.

My only major gripe with this keyboard was a baffling decision to shrink the Tab key, which is heavily used to navigate forms on Web pages, to less than half the size of a normal letter key. It is so small I kept hitting the adjacent “Q” key until I got used to it. But, otherwise, this is a great netbook keyboard.

The company offers a model of the NB205 with a flat keyboard for $50 less, but I think the extra $50 is worth it.

The Toshiba’s second big plus is its touchpad and buttons. The pad itself is much roomier and easier to use than on any other netbook I’ve tested, a crucial benefit given that its typical low-resolution netbook screen, while bright and crisp, forces you to scroll a lot. (There’s a button that can zoom out, but I found it clumsy to use.) And the twin buttons, in stark contrast to those on many netbooks, are large and very responsive.

The Toshiba NB205-N310

The third big plus on this new netbook is battery life, which I found to be outstanding. This model comes standard with one of those protruding, six-cell batteries, though it doesn’t stick out as far as some I’ve seen. Toshiba claims you can get up to an impressive nine hours and five minutes of life between charges. (There’s a $330 model with a battery Toshiba claims lasts just 3.5 hours.)

In my standard battery test, where I turn off all power-saving features, crank up the screen to full brightness, leave on the Wi-Fi, and play music continuously, the Toshiba NB205-N310 lasted a whopping six hours and 32 minutes. That means you would likely top eight hours, and maybe approach Toshiba’s claim, in a more normal usage pattern.

The machine properly handled a variety of common programs I tested, including Microsoft Office (MSFT), Firefox, iTunes, Picasa and the TweetDeck program for using Twitter.

But there were some drawbacks. One was performance. Streaming of Web videos stuttered a bit more often than I would have liked. Wi-Fi speed was noticeably less than what I get on a standard Windows laptop.

Startup and reboot speeds were very slow. With one Word document open, two Web sites open in Firefox and iTunes playing a song, it took the Toshiba over two minutes to reboot, compared to about a minute and a half on my last-generation Acer Aspire One netbook running the same things. Starting up cold also took about 30 seconds longer than on the Acer.

This may be because Toshiba has loaded the machine with software many people won’t use, including the Skype communications program and a networking utility that duplicates some of Windows’ built-in functions. Also, the speakers are feeble, even for a netbook.

Still, Toshiba has advanced the netbook category in key respects.

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

Source: All Things Digital | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:02 pm

Creative’s Zii devices to be semi-Opera-powered?

Creative’s uber-device, the Zii, is looking to be a firecracker. With dual cameras, lots of space inside, and Android compatibility as well as Creative’s Plaszma OS, it looks like it may out-Touch the Touch. Not only this, but it’s been revealed that the Zii also will be the first to run a specialized version of Opera. I trust Opera to go all in with a mobile browser like this; I have fond memories of the Ocean’s Opera Mini browser, and this should be ten times better.

Do you think the versatile Zii will be able to take advantage of any of the cool Opera Unite tools that were revealed a while ago? I’m not a fan of cloud stuff on desktops and other stationary devices, but on a device that is naturally mobile, it’s a good fit.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:00 pm

Headed To College? Design Your Dorm Lets You Build Your Pad In 3D

It’s something of a rite of passage for college freshmen. You arrive at your new dorm room and, after a few moments of excitement, come to the unsettling conclusion that you have either A) brought so much junk that your room will soon resemble a rummage sale or B) brought so little that even Steve Jobs would be uncomfortable in your spartan abode. Not exactly the best way to kick off your college career.

A new startup called DesignYourDorm might just hold the answer. The site has built 3D virtual models of common dorm room layouts, allowing new students to figure out what they’ll have room for long before they ever set foot in their dorms. To help figure out the exact room configuration, DesignYourDorm currently has a few hundred 3D models of various common dorm room items, including electronics like TV sets, furniture like beds and desks, and storage containers that you can freely drag and drop into the room. There’s also a selection of bedding, posters, and plenty of things that you might find at Bed Bath & Beyond. And because most people wind up rooming with someone, the site has a collaboration feature that lets two roommates edit their room at the same time.

Of course, virtual decorating is one thing, but that still leaves students with the task of actually going out and buying each item they place. But DesignYourDorm has that figured out too: each of the items you can place in your room is a real product taken from Amazon.com, and the site builds a virtual shopping cart as you go. When you’re done, you can have everything shipped to your university so it’s there the day you arrive. DesignYourDorm generates revenue through Amazon’s affiliate program, but it eventually hopes to work with big-box stores instead.

But the system comes with a few snags. While the site does a good job with its generic floor plans, they only get you so far — you still won’t know how large each cabinet and desk will be, the height of the beds, placement of any windows, and so on.

Fortunately, the startup is hoping to team up with universities across the country to get detailed floor plans for every single room at a given school. It’s currently running a pilot test with the University of Pennsylvania, where it has taken measurements for all room layouts in one of the school’s housing buildings. As part of the partnership, Penn will be promoting the site to incoming students as they get their room assignments, and will in turn get a small cut of the revenue generated by any sales. Interesting sidenote: the startup has a mirrored domain at CollegeRoomCreator.com for its university partnerships, because schools apparently don’t like referring to their housing facilities as “dorms”. Seriously.

All in all, the site seems to have a solid idea and a large market. That said, it still needs to work on its execution. The site’s UI is clunky at times, and sometimes the 3D objects don’t behave as you’d expect (I’m allowed to place a small storage container on top of a bed but not beneath it, even though it explicitly says that it’s meant to fit underneath beds). Likewise, many of the site’s products don’t yet have 3D models, which means you can buy them but can’t place them into the room at all. Co-founder Taylor Robinson says that the company is working on fixing all of these issues (it recently hired a new developer), and that we can expect improvements soon.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:49 pm

Nearly 7 million Nintendo DSis have been sold, let’s just call it a hit

The Nintendo DSi launched in Japan on November 1st, 2008 and the first 170,000 were sold out within two days. 435,000 were sold during the first week here in the States, and UK gamers snatched up 92,000 units during the first weekend. But in all, Nintendo has sold nearly 7 million DSis and over 100 million DSs. That’s a lot.

Right now the number is at 6.68 million units but with the pre-holiday shopping spree almost here, that number is likely to skyrocket. It seems that simply adding a camera and installing new software actually does spur sales. Apple is probably banking on this concept with its upcoming camera-sporting iPods, natch.

GameIndustry.biz via GoNintendo

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:30 pm

Elvis impersonators, patriot jets salute MyTouch arrival - CNET News

IntoMobile

Elvis impersonators, patriot jets salute MyTouch arrival CNET News Celebrity impersonators including Elvis, Liza, and Tina celebrate T-Mobile's MyTouch 3G at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO--Wearing an all-white Elvis suit, a parachuter blazed down into Justin Herman Plaza here as ... The T-Mobile mytouch Goes On Sale Today?What You Need To KnowWashington Post To launch new phone, T-Mobile takes to skiesSan Francisco Chronicle Review: T-Mobile's myTouch Android phone is a good iPhone competitorVentureBeat eWeek -MarketWatch -FierceWireless all 75 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:04 pm

Salesforce.com Dips Its Toe Into Electronic Medical Records [Voices]

By Jacob Goldstein, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

The tech industry’s push into health care continues today, with word that Salesforce.com (CRM) is investing in Practice Fusion, a closely held company in the electronic medical records business. It’s a small deal: Practice Fusion CEO Ryan Howard told us the investment is less than $10 million, and Salesforce will get a minority stake in an outfit with revenues of about $1 million a year. Still, it’s worth noting for a few reasons.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:00 pm

OS X bugfix release 10.5.8 weighs in at a hefty 274MB

What’s the story with OS X updates? Seriously, it’s beyond comprehension. This one (10.5.8) only resolves around a dozen bugs and security issues (this or that not displayed right, general stability improvements in specific programs) yet tips the scales at a mammoth 274MB. And this isn’t the first one like that! What could possibly be taking up all that space?

I guarantee it’s not replacing 274MB of code, or even a tenth of that. Is it maybe that OS X is so sewn up into modules that minor issues have to be addressed by replacing the entire library? It’s a bit like curing a cough by removing the head. At any rate, the update has some fixes for bugs that may be bothering you, so get downloading. Or maybe it already is downloading the background, as I have found my Mac does even when I tell it to stop. Creepy, really.

You can get the other updates (server and such) over here.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:00 pm

Review: an afternoon with the Sony Ericsson W518a

In Brief: The W518a is a decent clamshell phone with uncommonly svelte design and a nice Facebook app. At $50 after a rebate, it's also priced right. But the Walkman features are trapped behind a proprietary headphone jack, and it doesn't shine in other respects.

Sony Ericsson's W518a is a clamshell phone offered by AT&T for $100 with a 2-year contract. A $50 mail-in rebate halves that price. It has a 3G radio, 320 x 240 display, GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and external music controls for use as an MP3 player.

On the Walkman front, it can access Napster and other streaming services, has an FM radio, and can be controlled by shaking it just so: clever! The W518a also has a full set of basic info management apps, instant messaging, a sound recorder, and so on.

Its flagship feature, however, is a custom Facebook app that aims to make this decidedly dumb phone a lot faster and smarter when it comes to integration with the social networking site.

The best part of it is a carousel of recent status updates that remains on the home screen, automatically updating itself. As a result, whenever you open it up, your timeline is right there, jumping from item to item every few seconds. It's also easy to upload photos and make status updates from the App proper, but you can't control the home screen carousel manually. It also relies on the website for more advanced Facebookery.

Apart from this well-tailored but limited app, the W518a's best feature is solid Sony-style design. In other respects, it's tough to like.

Thoughts:

• There's a bunch of other apps, mostly media-oriented: JuiceCaster, mobile banking, a ringtone maker, MobiTV, WikiMobile, XM Radio, Yellowpages, etc.

• Closed up, it's small and attractive compared to other low-end clamshells, with a no-nonsense black exterior, external audio controls, and a glowy monochrome display. It's as classy as plastic can be.

• The keypad is brushed metal, with recessed keys. Though a sane world would not include convex keyboards of any kind, it's not that bad.

• Menus are a bit slow, but not annoying so. Video uploads only to MySpace or Snapfish.

• AT&T also has "Share," a new Facebook application that it's pitching hard with this handset: it looks like some sort of viral marketing thing for the media you can download with it. Not my cup of tea, really.

• The big annoyance: it's a Walkman with no headphone jack and no free headphones. With this basic clamshell phone, the same up-front price as an iPhone 3G, one must pay extra for proprietary accessories just so you can listen to it properly. Every time one of Sony's appendages releases a Walkman that doesn't have a real headphone jack, a fairy dies and becomes an ulcer in Sir Howard Stringer's stomach.

Complaints like this aside, it's a good choice if you want a small, cheap phone that doesn't look like a toy.

Product Page [AT&T]

Detailed specifications [Sony Ericsson]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:58 pm

Van Halen had good reason to ban brown M&Ms in their concert rider.

Spotted via Andrew Baron's tweetstream, this fascinating -- no, really! -- snopes article on why Van Halen had that line in their concert rider about ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN M&Ms EVER.

Punch line: the true reason behind this had to do with technology, engineering, and safety issues. But I can kind of hear David Lee Roth delivering the lines in his over-the-top screamy-voice when I read his quotes. Actually, I can hear David Lee Roth's voice when I read the rider.

Snopes.com: Van Halen Brown M&Ms. The actual 1982 rider was first published online at smokinggun.com in 2008.

Video below: "Jamie's Cryin," from David Lee Roth's bluegrass cover album of VH hits, remixed by a fan in a homebrew video with (why not?) a Popeye cartoon. You can buy the record here if you are so inclined: Strummin' With The Devil: Bluegrass Tribute to Van Halen.

Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:49 pm

Mac News Briefs: Sound Studio update supports more Core Audio formats (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - Sound Studio 3.6 is now available from Freeverse. It's an update to the audio editing and sound creation app developed by Felt Tip Software, and is a free update for registered 3.x owners.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:40 pm

NASA's LCROSS Spacecraft Discovers Life On Earth

Matt_dk writes "On Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, the LCROSS spacecraft successfully completed its first Earth-look calibration of its science payload. 'The Earth-look was very successful' said Tony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist. 'The instruments are all healthy and the science teams was able to collect additional data that will help refine our calibrations of the instruments.' During the Earth observations, the spacecraft's spectrometers were able to detect the signatures of the Earth's water, ozone, methane, oxygen, carbon dioxide and possibly vegetation."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:39 pm

Alaska: Geeks dwell here, too, it's not all Palin and mush-dog races.

Pat Race of Alaska Robotics, whose "Buy Back Alaska" video was featured here a couple years ago, has created a new video about crushing absurdity of national economics. It's embedded above, and I think it's sweet and funny in a homey, dorky, "I made this!" way.

From the land of Sarah Palin, meth shacks, and aerial elk-massacres, he emails Boing Boing:

Alaska Robotics is Pat Race, Aaron Suring, Lou Logan, Sarah Asper-Smith, and whoever else falls into our cast of friends and family. We live in Juneau where we make short films, draw comics, and eat halibut. We organize screenings of locally made short films twice a year and also work to bring filmmakers, animators and writers north to teach workshops.

If you're interested, there are a bunch of other films on our site, I like these ones: Socks, The Big Joke, Butterfly Kisses, Town vs. Valley, Nipple Fire, High Five.

Previously:

• Boing Boing: Proposal to buy back corrupt Alaskan legislators

Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:33 pm

Crytek will abandon ship if Germany bans action games

Completely aside from the implications it would have on a company that created action games, I think it’s a good policy to leave behind any country that feels it necessary to impose such a ban. Honestly, that sort of censorship is an insult to the civilized world. I’m sure I could go on for pages about how it’s completely unjustified, individual rights trump etc etc, but you guys already know all that.

Crytek knows it too, and considering Crysis is one of the poster children for action games, they have stated that the ban would be an attack on their continued success as a business… so they’d just leave.

Not that they need to be in Germany to do a good job, and not that they’re so big that half of Germany will be unemployed if they do leave, but I think it’s an indicator of how serious this issue is. It’s not a thing where people can say, oh we can work around that — no, it’s hardcore censorship and it has serious implications. Crytek’s president Cevat Yerli says:

A ban on action games in Germany is concerning us because it is essentially like banning the German artists that create them.If the German creative community can’t effectively participate in one of the most important cultural mediums of our future, we will be forced to relocate to other countries.

The current political discussion will deprive German talent of its place on the global game development stage, and deprive German consumers of entertainment that is considered safe and fun around the world.

Well said. I hope the German government comes to its senses, but if it doesn’t, I think Crytek is doing the right thing.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:30 pm

Marine Corps bans social networking sites

Section: Web, Web 2.0, Websites

The U.S. Marine Corps have officially banned social networking from military networks.  This means no Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, among others.  The ban has actually been in place for sometime, but has only just now become official.  Marines who want to access such sites on their personal computers and devices on their own time are still free to do so.  The Marines site security concerns as the reason.

“These Internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries,” the directive noted. “The very nature of [social networking sites] creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage ...”

One can hardly blame the Marines as sites like Twitter have proven to be extremely attractive to hackers.  National security has to be protected.  However the sites themselves are only partially responsible.  The people who use them also hold responsibility. 

A few months ago a game called “Porn Name” swept through Twitter.  The gist of it was you take the name of the street you grew up with and add it to your mother’s maiden name and the name of your first pet to get your “Porn Name.”  You then were supposed to post it as a tweet (with appropriate hash tag) and encourage others to do the same.  The problem?  Think about the information the “game” asked for.  They are all common security questions asked by websites when you want to change your password.  That game was a hacker’s dream. 

Also not long ago the wife of the head of MI6, which is Britain’s version of the CIA, set up a Facebook page for herself.  She filled it with family photos, information about her kids and husband and their vacation plans, status updates about where they were and what they were doing—the normal things you find on Facebook pages, right?  Yes, but the problem was she never bothered to put any privacy controls in place so anyone who did a search for her husband’s name on Facebook or Google found her page with all that info.  That’s a really bad idea when your husband is the chief intelligence officer for your country!

The bottom line here is that yes, there are hackers and spammers on all the social networks spreading malware, spam, and phishing attacks.  However the sites do offer very good privacy controls (especially Facebook and MySpace) and it is up to you to use them.  Common sense is also important.  Don’t click on links in spam.  Don’t accept every friend request you get-check them out first.  Don’t auto-follow people that follow you on Twitter, check them out too.  Be careful about what applications you use on Facebook.  Many are fun and absolutely harmless but all of them access your info in various ways in order to function. 

This means that scammers have put some nasty ones out there.  Some are outright malicious, some try and trick you into giving your personal info to a phishing site, and some will spam everyone on your friends list.  So check out apps before you use them, even if you got a “gift” or “request” from a friend.  And absolutely never ever provide your usernames and passwords to anyone or any site that asks for them!  Just recently a site called TwitViewer claimed it could show you the last 200 people that visited your Twitter profile.  All you had to do was give them your username and password.  Those that did had TwitViewer spam everyone they were following and found themselves auto-following a list of complete strangers.  Yes, it was a total scam.  No site can tell you who visited your Twitter profile.  It’s not technologically possible.  Remember, common sense is a cybercriminal’s worst enemy!

It should be noted that the military isn’t anti-social networking at all.  The U.S. Central Command has a Facebook page, the Army is on MySpace and there is a U.S, Forces Afghanistan page on Facebook as well.  They just prefer to use them in a way that lets them have as much control as possible over what content is posted on such sites.

Read [PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:19 pm

OS X 10.5.8 Kills Bugs Dead [Digital Daily]

Apple (AAPL) on Wednesday released OS X 10.5.8, the latest point release to Mac OS X Leopard, even as Amazon (AMZN) takes pre-orders for its next iteration, Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6).

10.5.8 is largely a maintenance update, though it does patch a number of security vulnerabilities (18 to be exact), some of them fairly old.

Among 10.5.8’s improvements:

• Upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2
• Improves the accuracy of full history search in Safari 4
• Resolves an issue in which certain resolutions might not appear in the Display pane in System Preferences.
• Dragging an Aperture image into Automator now invokes an Aperture action instead of incorrectly invoking an iPhoto action.
• Resolves an issue that could prevent importing of large photo and movie files from digital cameras.
• Improves overall Bluetooth reliability with external devices, USB webcams and printers.
• Addresses an issue that could cause extended startup times.
• Improves iCal reliability with MobileMe Sync and CalDav.
• Addresses data reliability issues with iDisk and MobileMe.
• Improves overall reliability with AFP.
• Improves overall reliability with Managed Client.
• Improves compatibility and reliability for joining AirPort networks.
• Improves Sync Service reliability.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several third-party cameras.
• Improves compatibility with some external USB hard drives.
• Includes latest security fixes.

Source: All Things Digital | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:17 pm

Yes, you would like to listen to obscure Finnish techno music performed on hacked synthesizers.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:15 pm

Radiohead Song in memory of Harry Patch, WWI survivor and pacifist.

War is a calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings"--Harry Patch

Richard Metzger writes,

Beautiful, somber new Radiohead single available for download on their website.

Titled Harry Patch (In Memory Of), the song is a tribute to the oldest surviving Tommy who fought in World War I. Harry Patch was 111 years old when he died on July 25th, 2009. He fought in one of the grimmest battles of the war, the Battle of Passchendaele, where over 325,000 Allied casualties occurred and over, 260,000 Germans. The 99 day battle from July 31st 1917 to November 6th 1917, saw an average of 3,000 British troops killed, wounded, or captured daily. (By contrast, in Iraq, 3,650 US troops have died and approximately 26,000 have been wounded).

More over at Metzger's blog, including a statement by Thom Yorke. Beautiful.

Above, embedded, one of the last (if not the last) interviews with Mr. Patch before he died last month. All proceeds from the track will be donated to the Royal British Legion.


Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:12 pm

Time for obscure Finnish acid house performed with hacked synths!

Matti Laakso tells Boing Boing,

The Acid Symphony Orchestra just published their first video on Vimeo. In a nutshell: 10 early 80's synths (Roland TB-303s - the defining sound of early techno and acid) played manually by Finlands top techno performers, orchestrated by the granddaddy of Nordic techno scene, Jori Hulkkonen.

The hardware required some serious hacking (this is pre-MIDI gear), courtesy of the Society for Experimental Electronics - a Finnish hacker/maker group.

Their first performance was at UMF (Uuden Musiikin Festivaali, or Festival for New Music) in Turku, Finland in 2007, and they toured Europe over the next two years. A festival documentary is on YouTube (in 3 parts).

Video here.

Previously:

• Game-themed Finnish Music Video: "Return of the Ninja Droids," by ...
• Finnish MP proposes week-long "love vacation" law
• A lone Finnish coder (not Linus Torvalds)
• Finnish folk band find a rude airport welcome
• Old people in Finland sure know how to Tisko Tansi
• Crazy art from guys in Finland: Mieskuoro Huutaja
• Finland's first doctor of trolls

Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:09 pm

Prison Cell Jamming Bill Close to Senate Passage

Prisons are a bit closer to installing cell phone jammers after a Senate committee passes the legislation to the full body Wednesday.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:04 pm

Apple Anger: Our 5 Biggest iPhone Beefs (PC World)

PC World - Well, Apple's done it again. The company has censored yet another app from its precious App Store, this time because it contained "objectionable" words. The app in question: a dictionary.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:04 pm

Video: A touchable hologram

The Star Trek Enterprise’s holideck is now one tiny step closer to becoming a reality. Check out the video above to see an interactive holigram that can provide quasi-tactical feedback using ultrasonic waves. Now it’s just a matter of time now before we’re playing cowboys and indians with Data and Geordi La Forge.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:00 pm

Chapter 11 Trustee Appointed For SCO

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The judge overseeing the SCO Chapter 11 bankruptcy case has issued an order appointing a chapter 11 trustee to oversee SCO's operations. However, the judge's reasoning is far from clear. While the judge believes that SCO has 'abandoned rehabilitation' to bet its future on litigation, he doesn't think it appropriate to convert their case to Chapter 7 liquidation. So SCO's management hasn't been fired yet, but they're no longer fully in charge either. It's not clear why the bankruptcy judge opted for this solution, when even the US Trustee was pushing to fire SCO's management and convert the case to Chapter 7. In short, SCO is still only mostly dead, rather than all dead, and in desperate search of a miracle worker."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:46 pm

Digital Open tech innovation expo for global youth: 10 more days to submit projects!

Boing Boing and Boing Boing Video are partnering with Institute for the Future and Sun to support the Digital Open, in which youth around the world are invited to submit technology projects "that will change the world--or even just make life a little easier or more fun."

The final deadline for submissions is August 15, 2009, but projects posted before the deadline will benefit significantly from feedback from the Digital Open community. We are giving away more than $15,000 worth of very cool prizes including laptops, video cameras, recycled billboard backpacks, solar-powered gear and more. We've already received 49 projects from eight countries: Argentina, Canada, India, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, the UK and the US!

More online: digitalopen.org


Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:45 pm

Remixing Nancy comics

The artist Gary Lee-Nova likes to recombine newspaper comic book strips. "Uncanny Old Gags" is an anagram for "Nancy and Sluggo."

Uncanny Old Gags Series - Gary Lee-Nova


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

Special Effects: A few fanciful game industry predictions

FROM GAMERTELL - What will Nintendo’s handheld look like in ten to 15 years? Might Apple release it’s own handheld system?  What the @#$%! is MaddenLand!?
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:38 pm

1930s home undergoes energy upgrade

An energy-inefficient house built to 1930s specifications is going green, becoming what British researchers say they hope will be a zero-carbon structure. The University of Nottingham team said Wednesday in a release it plans to undertake three energy efficiency upgrades to bring the 1930s-style house, built last year, in line with the British government's 2016 carbon dioxide targets for all new housing. Mark Gillott, who is leading the research, said the house provides a unique test facility to measure the exact cost benefit, energy efficiency and carbon reduction figures achieved through the various upgrade measures we are implementing ...
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:37 pm

iPod Nano sleeves made from cassette tapes

Recycling cassettes seems to be a trend these days. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. After all, who among us doesn’t have a Fine Young Cannibals single that would be better suited to lamp or wallet duty? Or how about these great little Nano cases — a bit pricey, but they’re Canadian so you can pay with syrup if you have it.

I don’t think it’d be too hard to make one of these on your own with a kit of modeling tools… actually, I guarantee it wouldn’t be as good the first few tries, and you’d have to cannibalize more tapes than you wish. Yeah, you don’t really listen to the Eagles any more, especially on tape, but can you bring yourself to destroy it? Or would you rather pay 49 Maple dollars?

[via The Daily What and HolyCool]

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:30 pm

Q2 Takeaways: Search Revenue Down, Display Down, But Google And Amazon Gained Share

Most of the public Internet companies have reported their second quarter earnings by now. In a research note sent out to clients today, J.P. Morgan provides a few takeaways from the quarter. We already know that the recession continues in overall online advertising (see our chart at right), but even normally-strong search revenue was down. And display advertising shows “no signs of recovery.” Travel, finance, and entertainment remain especially weak advertising sectors.

But even in a down market there can be winners. Both Google and Amazon gained share in search and e-commerce revenues, respectively. Google now commands 72.3 percent of all search revenues, according to J.P. Morgan. Online travel sites are also benefiting from the weak economy, with hotels giving them more inventory.

Here are some key takeaways from the note:

• Search revenue was down Y/Y for the first time. We estimate that domestic search rev was down ~2% Y/Y during 2Q as we believe Google’s and Microsoft’s gross search revenues were roughly flat, while we estimate Yahoo!’s gross search revenue was down ~10%.
• Google continues to gain search dollar market share. Despite the launch of Bing, search dollar market share shifts in favor of Google have continued. We estimate that the 2Q’09 gross dollar market share of Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft came in at 72.3%, 20.9%, and 6.8% vs. 2Q’08 levels of 70.6%, 22.7%, and 6.6%.
• Display advertising is showing no signs of recovery. Yahoo’s display revenue was down 14% Y/Y in the quarter on top of 1Q’s 13% decline. The declines at Microsoft and AOL were significant
• Online travel agents are likely benefiting from increased inventory. Industry sources point to hotel suppliers both domestic and abroad giving more inventory to online travel agents in an effort to increase volume. This quarter, Expedia showed a 26% Y/Y lift in room nights sold, a significant increase from 1Q’s 13% growth.
  
• Amazon still gaining market share. 2Q saw Amazon (North America rev. +13% Y/Y) continue to take share from eBay (US non-vehicles GMV -8%), though the ~2,150 bps difference in growth rates was down from ~3,240 bps in 1Q.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:23 pm

Seaweed on beaches in France produce deadly fumes

Because of farm fertilizer runoff, the seaweed in coastal waters in Brittany is growing like a monster. Scientists warn that as the seaweed rots, it forms white crust that traps hydrogen sulphide gas. When the crust breaks, it can poison people.

Alain Menesguen, director of research at the French Institute for Sea Research and Exploitation, said: “This is a very toxic gas, which smells like rotten eggs. It attacks the respiratory system and can kill a man or an animal in minutes.” Some scientists believe that a build-up of hydrogen sulphide in the atmosphere wiped out the dinosaurs 300 million years ago.

Fumes from rotting seaweed on France's northern beaches could kill

Previously:

• DIY biohacking in the Boston Globe - Boing Boing
• Japan's "suicide forest" - Boing Boing
• TED 2008 update and TED Prize live broadcast tomorrow - Boing Boing
• Arctic sea "foaming" with methane? - Boing Boing
• Karl Schroeder: Climate change will outrun the Singularity - Boing ...

Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:22 pm

Developers Hack out New Apps at IPhoneDevCamp - PC World

GulfNews

Developers Hack out New Apps at IPhoneDevCamp PC World For iPhone app developers, the year's biggest event is undoubtedly Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, but it's not the only one focusing on creating apps for Apple's handheld devices. This past weekend nearly 600 people gathered at the Yahoo ... Apple censors a dictionaryCNET News Google gives 'Voice' to military personnelEthiopian Review Apple dumps app developer and his 900+ apps from App StoreArs Technica eWeek -TG Daily -PC World all 740 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:15 pm

Minute DNA change could lead to evolution

One tiny change in DNA could lead to the evolution of a new species, an English researcher reported. A team lead by a University of Cambridge scientist explored this possibility when they studied two closely related flycatcher populations in the Solomon Islands, reporting their results in the American Naturalists. The scientists said they studied two sub-species with the same body shape, but different colored bellies and distinct songs.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:54 pm

Apple Balks, Finally Relents, At Possible User Queries of Dictionary App

Geoffrey.landis writes with a snippet from CNET reporting another example of offputting treatment at Apple's App Store: "'In this case, it's a dictionary app called Ninjawords (so called because ninjas are 'smart, accurate, and really fast') that was rejected three times over the course of two months, mostly because 'objectionable' words could be looked up and found in the dictionary's search function, Gruber reported.' PCWorld also reports the story." Note that the app was eventually approved, but only after a few go-rounds and changes.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:53 pm

Google Reader Speeds Up Sharing With PubSubHubbub

At our Real-Time Stream CrunchUp event last month, one of the most interesting things that was demoed was PubSubHubbub, a new protocol made by a few Googlers in their spare time to improve the speed at which Atom and RSS items travel around the web. As expected, they have a big player on their side now: Google Reader.

The Reader team notes today that it has begun the adoption of PubSubHubbub, starting with the publishing of Shared Items. As you can see in the demo video below, with PubSubHubbub support, when you share an item in Google Reader, it instantaneously shows up on services like FriendFeed (which pull in Reader Shared Items).

While this is just for Shared Items right now, you can imagine that Google Reader will add further support as well in time. It really needs to in order to keep up with the speed at which information is traveling around the web on sites like Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed.

And while this is a side project by some Google employees (PubSubHubbub) working on a Google application (Google Reader) and shown off on a service started by a bunch of ex-Googlers (FriendFeed), the main idea behind PubSubHubbub goes far beyond that. They want the fully open protocol to be used by all services/sites that work with feed items to make them more real-time. As one of the creators, Brad Fitzpatrick said during our event, “Nothing in the protocol hardcodes Google as the center of the world, I hate that sort of crap too.”

See the FriendFeed demo as well as the CrunchUp demo below.

CrunchBase Information

Pubsubhubbub

Google Reader

Information provided by CrunchBase

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

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:31 pm

News Corp. Swings to Loss on “Impairment”–and, by “Impairment,” I Mean “MySpace” [Digital Daily]

Looks like News Corp. was a little too optimistic when the company told investors in May that it expected a decline of around 30 percent in fiscal-year-adjusted operating income.

Reporting earnings this afternoon, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and this Web site instead posted a decline of 32.5 percent.

And, to think, News Corp. lowered that forecast twice last fall.

Anyway, the company lost $203 million, or eight cents a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue fell 10.5 percent to $7.67 billion, dragged down by a decrease in ad revenue and $403 million in impairment charges and $228 million in restructuring costs, both largely attributable to, ahem, “red-hot social networking site” MySpace.

For the quarter, News Corp. swung from $1.1 billion in net income a year ago to a net loss of $203 million. Gruesome. Excluding items, however, it earned 19 cents a share, which beat consensus estimates by a penny. So there’s that.

“I think the worst may be behind us,” News Corp. Chief Rupert Murdoch said during a conference call with analysts. “But there are no clear signs yet of a fast economic recovery.”

Which is pretty much what he said last quarter as well. “I am not an economist…but it is increasingly clear that the worst is over,” Murdoch said back in May. “As you know, I have been uncharacteristically pessimistic in recent calls, though I would argue that it was a well-founded concern. But there are emerging signs in some of our businesses that the days of precipitous decline are done and that revenues are beginning to look healthier.”

Source: All Things Digital | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:27 pm

Facebook’s Open Stream API Grows Stronger

This afternoon Facebook’s Open Stream API, which launched in late April, will be getting a few new additions that make the API significantly more robust and easier for developers to integrate.

One feature that will be familiar to Twitter and FriendFeed users is a new ‘via’ attribution, pointing out to your friends how you submitted your latest update. This can add to the virality of applications like Seesmic and web services like Yelp — if you start seeing that many of your friends are using a certain app, you’re probably more likely to check it out for yourself. Before now Facebook had shown the icon of whatever application or site was posting to your profile, but it didn’t actually name it.

Another major addition to the API is enhanced functionality for Facebook Pages. Page administrators will now be able to post updates to their Page from third party applications that support the Open Stream API. Before now there were some loopholes that allowed developers to integrate support for Pages, but the API didn’t officially support it. Now, these features are fully baked in.

Finally there’s a new JavaScript version of Facebook’s stream.publish function. Many sites have already been using Facebook’s ‘Share’ feature for some time, which allows you to post a given webpage to your Facebook feed (it’s also extremely easy to integrate). But using Share, developers haven’t been able to specify what those posted stories should actually display — Facebook just scrapes the page for its title and a brief description. Using stream.publish, developers can customize these shared items as they’d like, including messages like “Jason just wrote this comment on TechCrunch” or “Michael just purchased tickets to Hawaii on Orbitz”. Stream.publish has been around since the API launched in April, but now that it’s available as a JavaScript function it will be very easy for developers to implement.

For more, check out the Facebook blog.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:25 pm

Steering wheel for iPhone — yes, iPhone

In what may be considered an enormous oversight on Apple’s part, tilt-to-steer racing games require weak technology lovers to hold their arms up in the air for tens of minutes. Tens! No iPhone owner possibly has that kind of upper body strength. A company called CTA Digital knows this and has thankfully developed a racing wheel accessory.

There are two versions: one has a base with a suction cup mount that allows you to attach it to a tabletop or other flat surface, while the other version is just the wheel. That one defeats the purpose, as you’d have to hold it in the air. With the weight of your iPhone and the added weight of the steering wheel, you’d run the risk of breaking both your arms.

Here’s a video, just in case you’re not convinced yet:

Looks like it works pretty well, as evidenced by the kid in this video running into just about every siderail in Need for Speed.

No word on pricing yet, although CNET seems to think it’ll cost about $20. I’d guess $20 for the standalone wheel and $25-$30 for the wheel with the suction-cup base. Now you all know how Wii owners feel. Picture this times a hundred.

Steering Wheel for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch [CTA Digital via CNET]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:13 pm

Development-fertility link explored

As wealth increases in developing nations, fertility declines until a high level of economic development is reached, U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:12 pm

Google purchases On2 Technologies, looks to improve video quality

Section: Business News, Video, Content, Web, Websites, Online Music/Video, Google

Google and YouTube has long been under fire due to low video quality, however, they have recently taken measures to improve video quality.  In recent years, many new video websites have emerged such as Vimeo and SmugMug, both of these sites offer high quality video resolution such as 720p and 1080p.  Google purchased On2 Technologies for $106.5 million, however, but they are keeping mum about what they plan to do with that acquisition.

Both YouTube and probably Google Video should receive video upgrades with the help of On2 Technologies.  Back in 2007, YouTube attempted to improve video quality by making sure all videos were encoded in H.264, which served two purposes.  One to improve video quality and to please the iPhone community, which has native support for H.264.  With other video sites proving to be fierce competition such as Hulu, Vimeo, Metacafe, it’s about time YouTube looked to start improving general video quality.  If they want to add full length movies and HD videos the overall quality of YouTube has to go up, and Google will probably address this issue shortly.

The union between Google and On2 Technologies is set to be officially approved in the Fall.  Hopefully we can expect YouTube and Google Video quality alike to be much improved come the Fall and Winter. 

Via [Electronista]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:11 pm

Android Handset Rumor Roundup

The Android world was a simple place for quite some time. You had the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream), the T-Mobile myTouch (HTC Magic).. and that’s about it.

But in the span of just a few weeks, everything has managed to go all crazy. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have all (purportedly) jumped up alongside T-Mobile on the bandwagon, each prepping to launch at least one Droid powered handset by years end. A dozen or so leaked handsets later, it gets tough to keep track of it all.

Fortunately, the nice folks over at AndroidAndMe have gone through and wrapped it all into one big post. They’re only covering the handsets that hearsay has tied to a specific carrier, so don’t expect to see the likes of the Sony Ericsson Rachel or other unbranded beauties. That said, it’s still a good way to catch up on what you may have missed.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:11 pm

The Fighting Irish: a Google Apps Education success story

We love hearing from schools using Google Apps Education Edition, especially when it's helped them save money, gain back time or make students happy. University of Notre Dame is a perfect example (PDF) of one school that's seen great results by "going Google" to help make on-campus communication and collaboration easier.

When this Indiana university migrated its 15,000 students and 150,000 alumni to Google Apps Education Edition about a year ago, they were hoping to improve their outdated email system. What they actually got was better than they expected: Not only were they able to improve student satisfaction by 36% according to a poll conducted on campus, but making the switch to Apps also enabled them to save over $1.5 million that they have since been able to reallocate to new IT services for students and faculty.

Sure, it's all good to hear this from us, but you'd probably like to hear it from them, right? Well now you can. We're hosting a free webinar with Notre Dame on Thursday, August 13th at 10 a.m. PDT where you can learn about their experience deploying Google Apps and find out if this solution might be right for you. Whether you go to school, went to school or run a school, we encourage you to consider life in the cloud. Who knows what results you might see?

Posted by Miriam Schneider, Google Apps for Education Team

Source: The Official Google Blog | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:09 pm

StarCraft II Delayed Until 2010

Blizzard has just announced that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty won't be released this year. From their announcement: "Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game. The upgraded Battle.net is an integral part of the StarCraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward. This extra development time will be critical to help us realize our vision for the service. ... As we work to make Battle.net the premier online gaming destination, we'll also continue to polish and refine StarCraft II, and we look forward to delivering a real-time strategy gaming experience worthy of the series' legacy in the first half of 2010."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:08 pm

Your Mom's Facebook Status: I'm Crunching Climate Data!

A new Intel application for Facebook allows users to donate their spare computing power to scientific research on climate, cancer and malaria.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:07 pm

Revamped Delicious Turns to Twitter for Real-Time Search

The front page of the bookmark-sharing site Delicious has been redesigned to list popular links on Twitter, a sign the older site is eager to stay relevant among a bevvy of real-time link-sharing services.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

'Cash for Clunkers' Barely Makes a Dent

Climate experts aren't impressed by the effect of "cash for clunkers" on emissions.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pm

Bike seat sports a beard of bees

Mister Jalopy says: "Not a great picture, but I was leery of getting any closer. A swarm of bees have decided to create a hive under one of the bicycles in the long line of faded champions at Coco's Variety."

What can he do about this?

UPDATE: Amy Seidenwurm came and got 'em. Thanks, Amy!


Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:57 pm

Galaxies of yore smaller, research shows

Galaxies of today are bigger and denser than the most massive galaxies of the universe in its early days, U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:54 pm

Mars's methane hard to explain

Variations in methane gas patterns observed on Mars are hard to explain using existing atmospheric chemistry or physics, French researchers said Wednesday. Recent observations suggest variations in methane levels and locations on Mars, despite the gas's photochemical life of several centuries and expected uniform distribution pattern, Franck Lefevre of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris said in a news release.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:25 pm

Preview the Office 2007 Ribbon-Like UI Floated For OpenOffice.Org

recoiledsnake writes "OpenOffice.org has prototyped a new UI that radically changes the current OO.o interface into something very similar to the new ribbon style menus that Office 2007 introduced and which have been extensively used throughout Windows 7. The blog shows a screenshot of the prototype in Impress (the equivalent of PowerPoint), but this UI is proposed to be used across all OO.o applications. Some commenters on the Sun blog are not happy about OO.o blindly aping Office 2007, and feel that the ribbon UI may be out of place in non-Windows operating systems."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:22 pm

Permafrost Could Be Climate's Ticking Time Bomb

Researchers conduct fieldwork to track permafrost melting in Alaska and gain insight about the release of carbon into the atmosphereThe terrain of the North Slope of Alaska is not steep, but Andrew Jacobson still has difficulty as he hikes along the spongy tundra, which is riddled with rocks and masks multitudes of mosquitoes.Jacobson, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Northwestern University, extracts soil and water samples in search of clues to one of global warming's biggest ticking time bombs: the melting of permafrost.Permafrost, or frozen ground, covers approximately 20 to 25 percent of the land-surface area in the northern hemisphere, and is estimated to contain up to 1,600 gigatons of carbon, primarily in the form of organic matter.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:20 pm

U.S. Students Win Big at the International Linguistics Olympiad

High school students from across the U.S. won individual and team honors last week at the seventh annual International Olympiad in Linguistics held in Wroclaw, Poland. The results reflect U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:15 pm

Infrared Telescope Warms Up to Star Forming Cloud

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is back in action after running out of coolant and warming up. The telescope will still be able to take fabulous images such as this one of a beautiful star-forming cloud.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:02 pm

Richest Nations See Baby Boom

Leading economic nations are experiencing modest baby booms.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:00 pm

Yes, the N97 Mini exists. No, we have no idea why.

Hey! Have you read our review of the Nokia N97? Do you remember that part where we said “Man! If only they would rerelease this phone slightly smaller a year later, it’d be perfect!”. If you don’t remember that, or if you didn’t read the review, we’ll save you some time: We didn’t say that, because that would be dumb as hell.

Nokia disagrees, apparently. When the picture above originally leaked, we chalked it off as a canned product or a prototype. Since then, Eldar Murtazin of Russia’s well-respected Mobile-review claims that the N97 Mini is as real as can be, and will be announced at Nokia World next month. For the most part, the changes are all visible upfront: it’s (slightly) smaller, they’ve ditched the D-pad, taken the display down to 2.9″ (from 3.5″), and lopped the lens cover off the camera. For the sacrifice, you’ll purportedly save 100 EUR ($143) off the cost of ownership.

Best of all, the same source indicates that the leak was intentional; Nokia got wind that a competitor was planning a “Mini” version of something, so some of the engineers let this one slip to try to spook them off. Erm, okay.

For Nokia’s sake, we’re really hoping that this isn’t the only thing they’ve got in store for Nokia World.
[View UnwiredView]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:54 pm

Lawsuit: Twitter Method Infringes Patents

A Texas technology company claims Twitter's tweeting method breaches its patented "mass notification" methods in a federal lawsuit demanding damages and royalties from the popular San Francisco-based microblogging service.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:49 pm

What does Google see in On2's video tech? - CNET News

New Zealand Herald

What does Google see in On2's video tech? CNET News The search giant isn't saying. The planned $106.5 million transaction isn't going to make too much of a dent in Google's coffers, but the transaction comes during a hot debate about which future technologies will power Web video. ... THE TECH CHRONICLES Google snaps up compression firmSan Francisco Chronicle Google Acquires On2 TechnologiesInformationWeek Google To Buy Video Firm On2 For $106.5MWall Street Journal PC World -eWeek -Computerworld all 364 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:47 pm

Comcast the Latest ISP To Try DNS Hijacking

A semi-anonymous reader writes "In the latest blow to DNS neutrality, Comcast is starting to redirect users to an ad-laden holding page when they try to connect to nonexistent domains. I have just received an email from them to that effect, tried it, and lo and behold, indeed there is the ugly DNS hijack page. The good news is that the opt-out is a more sensible registration based on cable modem MAC, rather than the deplorable 'cookie method' we just saw from Bell Canada. All you Comcast customers and friends of Comcast customers who want to get out of this, go here to opt out. Is there anything that can be done to stop (and reverse) this DNS breakage trend that the ISPs seem to be latching onto lately? Maybe the latest net neutrality bill will help." Update: 08/05 20:03 GMT by T : Here's a page from Comcast with (scant) details on the web-jacking program, which says that yesterday marked the national rollout.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:33 pm

Research Sheds Light On Freak Wave Hot Spots

Stories of ships mysteriously sent to watery graves by sudden, giant waves have long puzzled scientists and sailors.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm

How H2O Helps Tectonic Plates Slide In New Zealand

New Zealand is the site of one of the world's youngest subduction zones, where the Pacific Plate of Earth's crust dives beneath the Australian Plate.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:24 pm

Garmin Nuvifone coming in Q4, just in time for people to still not care

In January of 2008, Garmin announced the Nuvifone. They were a bit light on details at the time (Who would offer it? How much would it cost?) but promised that it would be on the shelves by the third quarter of the same year.

Well, that quarter passed. Then the next one. Jump forward a few more, and we’re in the third quarter of the next year - but the phone still isn’t available. Well, not outside of Taiwan, at least. As of today, it has been 1 year, 6 months, and 6 days since Garmin announced their phone. During today’s conference call, Garmin announced that the nuvifone will be available stateside in the fourth quarter (though they still wont disclose which carriers are involved). Even if they get it out by the first day of Q4 (September 1st), that’s 580 days from announcement to launch. Does anyone care anymore?

To put things into perspective here, here are just a handful of things that have happened since the Nuvifone was announced:

• Apple announced and released the iPhone 3G. Then they developed, announced, and released the iPhone 3GS.
• Samsung has released the T119, Memoir, Trance, T349, T239, A657, A167, Propel Pro, Pixon, Magnet, Jack, Instinct S30, Impression, Exclaim, Alias 2, Solstice, Highlight, Gravity 2, and Comeback.
• Two CTIA conferences, Two Mobile World Congresses, Two E3s, and CES 2009.
• Competitor TeleNav has released software-based GPS solutions for the iPhone, Android OS, and Sidekick LX.

We’ve been saying all along: This is the wrong way for Garmin to be taking on the mobile market. The Nuvifone seemed slightly old hat when it was announced; a year and a half later, the entire mobile landscape has changed and shows no signs of settling any time soon. Just stop, Garmin. Don’t try again. Don’t bother with an Android handset, as rumored. Get out of hardware while you can.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:16 pm

Clues To Evolutionary And Neurological Disease

Rather than sticking to a single DNA script, human brain cells harbor astonishing genomic variability, according to scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The findings, to be published in the Aug.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:15 pm

Google Chrome add some Bing

Section: Web, Web Browsers, Google

Google released a new beta of their Chrome browser today posting a claimed 30% gain in speed as well as some new feature improvements.  One of the big additions is themes allowing the browser to more like Microsoft’s Bing search engine that has been moving up the search charts.  Bing styles its page with pretty pictures and now Google has put some of that feel into Chrome.

The main update areas focus improvements like a customizable “new tabs” page allowing you to move around the quick open tabs that were previously your most popular stuff.  Now you can control what you (and perhaps others) see when opening a new tab.

Also tweaked is the Omnibox.  Chrome’s combo of an address box and a search box gets updated with a drop down list with context icons so you’ll know the suggestions are to a website, wiki, shopping site, or other.  That is a handy change plus it just looks “more gadgety”.

Chrome now has a whole gallery of themes for users to select from, not unlike Gmail, but they look much cooler.  Users can match their theme to their mood or compliment their outfits I suppose.  Also, some HTML5 features squeeze into this build for video tags and web workers.

To try out this beta, users can simply download the latest beta and have a go at it.  Only one version of Chrome can be installed, so it is all or nothing.  Google does warn you that the beta’s are a little rough around the edges, but for tech-foward folks like you, I am sure you trade off some rough edges for being on the edge.

Download page: [Google]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:03 pm

BIG PIC: Lightning Over Discovery's Launch Pad

Storms slow space shuttle Discovery's launch pad arrival Tuesday evening.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pm

DIY CPU Thermal Grease, Using Diamond Dust

tygerstripes writes "The dysfunctor has spotted an impressive project over on InventGeek.com; an innovative chap has developed his own thermal compound for improved CPU cooling, using diamond dust — the best available material for thermal conduction — as the key ingredient. In spite of the quick-&-dirty DIY nature of the project, the gains in cooling performance are remarkable, especially considering the material cost was only $33. Given the price many enthusiasts will pay for a top-end cooler, it's easy to imagine this product coming to market quite soon."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:47 pm

Hands-On With the Zune HD

The upcoming Zune HD was the talk of the GDGT launch event in San Francisco last night, and we got a look at the device. First impressions: It’s compact, lightweight, good-looking and has a very slick interface.

Microsoft’s newest media player has a bright, crisp OLED display that the dark lighting of the nightclub showed off to very good effect. It’s fast and responsive: Video looked great on it. Its 480 x 272 pixels are a far cry from HD, but they present a 16:9 aspect ration and they’re bright and contrasty, with deep, rich blacks, so you won’t mind much. Also, we could zoom and swipe between photos with great speed; the screen never stuttered or paused no matter how quickly we zipped and zoomed the images around. The source of that visual oomph? The Nvidia Tegra chip inside. (”I know it’s not the Microsoft software,” quipped one bystander.)

The Zune team has given a lot of thought to the multitouch interface. Swiping gestures made it easy and even a bit fun to zip through menus of music or pictures, and there’s the familiar (and possibly patented) pinch gesture for zooming in and out of photos.

There’s also a dock, which includes an HDMI-out port (and a remote) so you can plug it into an HD television and watch HD videos at 720p. It appeared to be working just fine. The dock/remote combo will be sold as a separate accessory.

Why would you want to plug your Zune into a TV? The best the Microsoft rep could offer was this: Suppose you’re in a hotel room and you want to watch your movies or look at your photos on the big screen. Hm: What kind of movies and photos would that be?

Microsoft was not saying anything about what the Zune HD will cost or when it will be available. They also wouldn’t let us photograph the interface, apart from the HD radio screen shown above, stating that it was still a “work in progress.”

Photo: Dylan Tweney / Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:19 pm

Toaster, Toilet Lead Appliance Invasion of Twitter

Pimpy3wash just finished doing a round of laundry. Hacklab.toilet just flushed and mattsoffice tweeted that the temperature is 83.3° F.

It might seem like just another day in the Twitterverse, where prosaic, personal updates stream throughout the day. Except @Pimpy3wash, @hacklab.toilet and @mattsoffice are not real people: They are a washing machine, a toilet and an array of home light and temperature sensors. Each of them, with help from some microcontrollers, wires and Arduino boards, have been rigged to answer Twitter’s basic question: “What are you doing?”

“It started as a joke,” says Seth Hardy, a researcher for an anti-virus company who modified his toilet to tweet. “I don’t like Twitter much and think everyone puts up very mundane stuff on Twitter. I thought, ‘Why not have my toilet in there, too?’ Now it’s turned into a fun way to test out the Arduino boards.” His twittering toilet, @hacklab.toilet, now has more than 580 followers.

As Twitter’s use has exploded, the service has seen a twittering cat (the British kitty, Sockington, is fast approaching a million followers), a duck, an R2D2 and even a kegerator that tweets from Wired.com’s office. But unlike these profiles, where humans are merely pretending to be the cat or robot on whose behalf they post, tweets from appliances are the real thing.

Hooking up home appliances is part geek bravado, part insider joke and part open-source hardware experiment. And it illustrates the larger trend of home automation that is catching on among do-it-yourselfers.

“Tweeting appliances speaks to this whole ‘internet of things’ idea,” says Hans Scharler, a tech consultant who also writes comedy material. “If your appliances were outputting information, it can always go to a database. But we love to share information. So why not find a way to do that?” Scharler found online fame for his twittering toaster, whose tweets alternate between “toasting” and “toast is done.” @mytoaster has about 200 twitter followers.

Do It Yourself

Want to make your toaster tweet? Wired’s How-To Wiki has instructions on getting started with microcontrollers and Twitter. It’s a wiki, so if you’ve got extra advice or links, log in and contribute!

Among the first kits to help DIYers get their appliances tweeting was the Tweet-a-watt. The $90 open source hardware kit from Adafruit Industries let users post the daily energy consumption of their refrigerator or TV set to a Twitter account. The Tweet-a-watt also lets receivers log and graph the power consumption information.

“We feel there is a social imperative and joy in publishing one’s own daily KWH (kilowatts per hour),” says the company on its blog. “By sharing these numbers on a service like Twitter, users can compete for the lowest numbers and also see how they’re doing compared to their friends and followers.”

But to go beyond that, DIYers have devised their own homebrew solution. And driving their interest are modules available for hobbyists from companies such as Adafruit and ioBridge.

Scharler says the off-the-shelf IO-204 monitor and control module allowed him to bring his toaster online without having to run a home server. All it took was a few hours on Thanksgiving Day to get his BagelMaster tweeting. Scharler glued a switch to the toaster’s exterior that is triggered by the slider’s movement. The switch hooks up to the control module’s digital input.

“Using a terminal board, a pull-up resistor (1k), and some alligator clips, I hooked up the resistor from the digital input to the +5v source from the module, and clipped my clips on the resistor and the ground,” Scharler explains on his blog.

The real gem in this hack is the control module from ioBridge, which is available for $88. It can bring most devices online and you don’t need to be a programming or electronics whiz to hook it up, says the company.

“There was all this excitement around twitter last year,” says Scharler. “But at the same time I had been playing with the ioBridge controller so I decided to get them both together.”

Scharler posted a guide to creating the twittering toaster on Instructables, a website with lots of instructions on how to complete various DIY projects. “It’s not very difficult for someone with no programming experience to do. That’s the whole purpose of the ioBridge module. You don’t have to touch a line of code, you don’t need too many resistors or any weird things like that.”

The twittering toaster went on to inspire Matthew Morey, an engineer at Texas Instruments, to create his own twittering appliances. In less than a month, Morey found a way to get the temperature and lighting of his single-family home in Houston on Twitter. A typical post from those sensors reads: Temperature = 82.5°F / Ambient Light = 901. Morey can also send commands to his appliances via Twitter. Doing that is as easy as sending a reply with words such ‘@MattsOffice light on’ or ‘@MattsOffice light off’ to turn on or off the light at his desk.

“I can adjust the air conditioning or the wireless security camera to take a picture of a particular spot in the backyard through Twitter,” he says.

The output from the light and temperature sensors could have well gone into a e-mail alert or even a database, says Morey, but tweeting is a lot more fun.

Though Morey doesn’t have a step-by-step guide on how you can do this yourself, he says he hopes to publish that on his site soon. Right now, his website offers the code that he is using to auto-update the Twitter account.

But keeping your followers on twitter is no easy task, as Hardy’s toilet discovered. A broken switch in the middle of the night led to a malfunction that had the toilet twittering more updates about flushing than its followers could handle. The toilet lost a few hundred followers the next day.

See also:

• Wired.com wiki on how to make your gadgets twitter
• Scratch Lowers Resistance to Programming

Photo: Twittering toilet/Seth Hardy

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:18 pm

Toaster, Toilet Lead Appliance Invasion of Twitter

With help from some microcontrollers and wires, DIYers have rigged up their toaster, toilet, washing machine and home lights to automatically post updates on twitter.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:18 pm

Toaster, Toilet Lead Appliance Invasion of Twitter

With help from some microcontrollers and wires, DIYers have rigged up their toaster, toilet, washing machine and home lights to automatically post updates on twitter.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:18 pm

Teach a Gadget to Tweet, It'll Tweet Forever

What do you mean your blender only blends things? It's not on Twitter? Get with the times and teach it to tweet whenever you whip up a fresh batch of banana daiquiris. In Wired's How-to Wiki.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:15 pm

Teach a Gadget to Tweet, It'll Tweet Forever

What do you mean your blender only blends things? It's not on Twitter? Get with the times and teach it to tweet whenever you whip up a fresh batch of banana daiquiris. In Wired's How-to Wiki.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:15 pm

Video: iPhone App ‘Postman’ Saves Trees

Personally I hate sending postcards when visiting foreign countries: They never arrive in the recipient’s mailbox until after I return anyway, at which point I’ve already spilled all the juicy deets of my trip. That’s why I dig this slick new iPhone app Postman, a digital postcard creator and sender.

Developed by Freeverse, the app sends digital postcards over an internet connection for immediate gratification. You can add a personal touch by choosing a touristy photo you snapped with your iPhone. After paying just $2 for the app, you’ve saved the money you would’ve thrown away on postage and those rip-off postcards at the museum. Plus, you’re not killing trees — always something to feel good about. On top of all that, the app’s user interface just looks awesome and beautiful. Check out our video above to see what I mean.

This video podcast was shot and produced by Annaliza Savage, with editing by Michael Lennon.

Download Link [iTunes]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:04 pm

Video: 'Buffy' Creator on the Next Big Bad In 'Dollhouse'

Buffy creator Joss Whedon and star Eliza Dushku talk about the next season of Dollhouse.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 pm

Rogers hints at 8GB iPhone 3GS

Will Apple release an 8GB iPhone 3GS? If we’re to believe this photo, sent to BGR from an operative deep inside Canada’s Rogers, then yes. Yes it will.

Word on the street is that Apple will want $99 for the little guy, the same it wants for the old school 8GB iPhone 3G. Maybe Apple is waiting to deplete supplies of the 3G?

Yes, August is a slow day for news.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 pm

Michelangelo's The Torment of St. Anthony

Michelangelo's first known painting is The Torment of St. Anthony, which is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through September 7, 2009.

He was 12 or 13 years old when he painted it, which goes to show you that the kinds of things that intrigue 12 year old boys haven't changed much in the last 500 years.

NY Times slide show with details of Michelangelo's The Torment of St. Anthony


Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 11:50 am

What is the meaning of this unusual tombstone?

Boing Boing reader Travis emailed me this photo, along with the following:

I found this odd tombstone in Walla Walla, Washington. I liked getting high and strolling through the graveyard cuz there were a lot of really old masonic tombs. But this is just....the weirdest one I've ever seen. Maybe I missed something and someone on boingboing might have a clue?

UPDATE: More photos here. There are inscriptions on the back and on top of the tombstone.


Source: Boing Boing | 5 Aug 2009 | 11:32 am

Qik for Android gets video editing, “Speed sharing”

Just over a month back, an Alpha version of Qik found its way into the Android Market. As the Alpha tag implies, it was a bit of a rough cut; it lacked a number of features found on other ports, and plenty of bugs were abound. Still, it was an important release. As the first live streaming app to make it to the Android platform, it was bound to get some attention.

And it did! Early this morning, Google pushed Qik into its “Featured” list, a spot which thus far only 33 other applications have earned.

To celebrate the highlight, Qik has pushed out an update. Besides all of the standard bug fixing and performance enhancements, this release carries two notable new features:

• Speed Sharing: Want to tell Auntie Lou to tune into your Qik asap? Plug her e-mail address or phone number into a “Speed Sharing” icon, and its a tap away. You can also click to share to Facebook or Twitter.
• On-device Editing: Sometimes you’ve got a video sitting on your handset that is just almost perfect. Let’s say you’re out on Fisherman’s Warf, watching street performers. Some dude lights a hula hoop on fire, and has his dog backflip through it. Incredible! And you got it on video! Unfortunately, some crazy dude hopped in frame at the tail end and started babbling about his cats. Fear not - just pop into the editor, trim out the fat, and upload away.

It’s good for Google to play this up as a strength of Android, seeing as it’s something sorely missed on the iPhone. Though Qik has long had an iPhone app ready (and available to jailbreakers), Apple’s not letting any live streaming apps into the App Store.

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Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 11:23 am

Sony makes the PRS-300 Pocket Edition, PRS-600 Touch Edition Readers official

Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous

Sony has come out and officially unveiled those recently rumored Readers.  The new Readers will be officially known as the PRS-300 Pocket Edition and the PRS-600 Touch Edition and will retail for $199 and $299 respectively.

Feature wise both the PRS-300 and PRS-600 are pretty solid, but sadly they are still missing the one item that I now require in my portable reading device—wireless connectivity to the store (aka Kindle Store and Whispernet).  That said, and despite missing wireless connectivity these should still be worthy of checking out, especially the Pocket Edition, which is nicely priced at $199.

Sony Reader PRS-300 Pocket Edition

• 5-inch E Ink Vizplex electronic paper display
• Internal battery that can offer up to “two weeks of reading enjoyment”
• Ability to store “about 350 standard eBooks”
• Available in navy blue, rose and silver

Sony Reader PRS-600 Touch Edition

• 6-inch E Ink Vizplex electronic paper display
• Touch screen display that can be used with the virtual keyboard, stylus or your finger.
• Internal battery that can offer up to “two weeks of reading enjoyment”
• Ability to store “about 350 standard eBooks”
• Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD card slots for additional storage
• Available in red, black or silver

Additionally, both models will ship with a protective case and a USB cable.

In terms of availability, you will be able to find both models in a variety of locations to include SonyStyle, Best Buy, Borders, Costco, Stapes, Target, Wal-Mart and more at the end of August.

Image courtesy CNET
Keep reading to check out the full press release…

SONY ANNOUNCES TWO NEW ADDITIONS TO THE READER FAMILY; DROPS eBOOK PRICING

Affordable Pricing for Devices and eBooks to Open Digital Reading to Mass Audience

SAN DIEGO, August 5, 2009 ¾ Sony is today delivering on its promise of making digital readers and eBooks accessible and affordable for consumers with the introduction of two new Readers. Part of a new Reader line, the Reader Pocket Edition™ puts a library in your hands for as little as $199. Both the Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition™ will be available at the end of August, at SonyStyle.com, SonyStyle stores and select retail partners. Also, new releases and New York Times bestseller titles in the eBook Store from Sony will now be available for $9.99.

“We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “Our goal is to expand the market and provide greater access to what consumers want to read when they want to read it — whether they buy, borrow or get it for free.”

The Reader Pocket Edition sports a five-inch electronic paper display packaged in a stylish chassis and is available in a variety of colors, including navy blue, rose and silver. The Reader Pocket Edition is easy to navigate with one hand, and fits into a purse or jacket pocket. The diminutive device can store about 350 standard eBooks and provides up to two weeks of reading enjoyment on a single battery charge. It will be available for the ground-breaking price of $199, making it the most affordable dedicated reading device on the market.

The Reader Touch Edition features a responsive, menu-driven six-inch touch screen panel that enables quick, intuitive navigation, page turning, highlighting and note taking with the swipe of a finger or by using the included stylus pen. Users can take handwritten notes with the stylus pen or type with the virtual keyboard. All notes can be exported and printed out for easy reference. The Reader Touch Edition includes an onboard Oxford American English Dictionary that allows you to look up a word by simply tapping on it. The Touch Edition also offers five adjustable font sizes, as well as expansion slots for both Memory Stick® PRO Duo™ and SD card, making your portable library virtually limitless. It comes in red, black or silver and will retail for about $299.

Both models feature Sony’s award-winning industrial design and an E Ink® Vizplex™ electronic paper display that mimics the look of ink on paper. They will ship with an attractive protective sleeve and USB cable. Sony’s eBook Library software 3.0, which now includes support for many Apple® Macintosh® computers as well as PCs, makes it easy to transfer and read any Adobe® PDF (with reflow capability), Microsoft® Word®, BBeB® files, or other text file formats on the Reader.

Through The eBook Store from Sony (ebookstore.sony.com), users can also access more than one million free public domain books from Google. These titles, which Google has digitized as part of its Google Books project, are available in EPUB format and are optimized for current models of the Sony Reader. From Sony’s eBook Store, Reader owners with a U.S. location can download and transfer any of these titles to their Reader, while new, U.S. located eBook Store users can access available titles after setting up an account and downloading Sony’s free eBook Library software.

Sony is also committed to working with local libraries throughout the country as they make the move to digital books. Sony Readers are compatible with the industry-standard formats that libraries use for their digital collections, so consumers can easily download perennial favorites and new releases from their local libraries and enjoy them for free.

The Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition, as well as available accessories such as AC adaptors, cases and covers with reading lights, will be available at the end of August at SonyStyle.com and SonyStyle stores. Book lovers interested in trying out a Reader in person will also be able to find them for sale at Best Buy, Borders, Costco, Staples, Target, Wal-Mart and other authorized retailers nationwide.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 11:01 am

App it Up: Pocket First Aid & CPR

FROM APPLETELL - Pocket First Aid & CPR is health class on your iPhone, but with up-to-date information instead of 15-year-old text books.  Review procedures, manage a checklist, store your medical information, and more.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:35 am

Recently on Offworld: lusty zombies galore, new game from Braid dev, AI controlled Mario

Recently on Offworld, Valve announced another infected incidence with Crash Course (above), a new downloadable campaign for the original Left 4 Dead due in September that will bridge the No Mercy and Death Toll episodes with an entirely new location, and PopCap continued to perfect their chesty/lusty zombie parody with a new set of Evony-busting banner ads.

We also saw Braid creator Jon Blow tease his next game, The Witness -- described as "an exploration-puzzle game on an uninhabited island" -- by dropping a Tao Te Ching quote, as Braid itself is confirmed to come to the PlayStation 3, and we found new details of the Wii/Xbox 360/PS3 remake of cult hex-strategy game Military Madness/Nectaris.

Elsewhere, AI specialists announced a competition that will use science to build a better Mario, Taito teased Puzzle Bobble for the iPhone, Sega fanatics released the long-fabled 32-bit Virtua Hamster (!), and we looked at an 8-bit iPhone NES synthesizer. Our 'one shot's for the day: Keita 'Katamari' Takahashi, shoeless and amused, and Super Mario Lilliput.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:29 am

Orangutans Invent Deceptive 'Kiss Squeak'

Orangutans use a "kiss squeak" sound to deter potential predators.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 10:00 am

Apple censors iPhone dictionary app

In another fascinating move by the App Store acceptance team (Motto: Lunch is tasty! Is that a butterfly? We like cake.) the Ninjawords pocket dictionary, a $2 app, has been given an 17+ rating after being censored by Apple. This ensures that tittering schoolboys won’t scroll through the app and discover bad words like “tits,” “micturition,” and “enough with this wanton disregard for your customer’s intelligence, Apple. Do you only hire barely literate, rule-cleaving sub-morons with no judgement skills to police your damned App Store?”

John “Tiny” Gruber interviewed the folks who made the app and writes:

But Ninjawords for iPhone suffers one humiliating flaw: it omits all the words deemed “objectionable” by Apple’s App Store reviewers, despite the fact that Ninjawords carries a 17+ rating.

Apple censored an English dictionary.

A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms.

In fact, as this image attests, the OS X dictionary actually contains bad words including, but not limited to the f-bomb, the c-bomb, and the q-bomb.

In order to prevent accidental disclosure of bad words, the programming team was nice enough to require users to type in entire bad words in order to see them (”fuck” not “fuc”) - ensuring you can’t just flick through and find them - but that’s not nearly enough for Apple. No, the dictionary must be scoured of scurrilous talk.

After being rejected a first time, the programmers removed most of the bad words, missed one, and got rejected again. Finally, they took out all the words including ass, snatch, pussy, cock, and screw. Finally, after a long wait they got into the app store but on double-secret probation with a 17+ rating and warnings of potential objectionable content. As Gruber notes:

Apple requires you to be 17 years or older to purchase a censored dictionary that omits half the words Steve Jobs uses every day.

I’m so angry I’m going to call someone using the iPhone Google Voice app… oh wait.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:51 am

Sprint shows off 4G to Wi-Fi Routers

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

By now most of us know that Sprint is the first US carrier to roll out any sort of 4G network through WiMAX.  Even if you didn’t know, just seeing any Sprint ad will remind you of the fact.  It’s all a great idea if you live in the select cities that already have it, or were chosen the next location for the WiMAX roll out.  The connection is a bit useless, however, if you have no devices capable to connecting to the network.

To remedy this situation, Sprint is putting out two WiMAX to Wi-Fi routers.  They come in two varieties, a large router that’s unlikely to leave the house, and a small pocket-sized version.  The house version is called the Cradlepoint MBR1000, and will be able to take any Sprint wireless card or modem, and output that signal into either an 802.11g or 802.11n Wi-Fi signal.  The Cradlepoint can support up to 32 devices on just one router.  The smaller version, the PHS300S Personal Hotspot, is more like a MIFI device.  It fits in your pocket, and created a wireless g network from any USB modem.

These devices are nice, though for most of the country they are useless at the moment.  As Sprint rolls out WiMAX in more and more cities it will be more useful, if you really want to connect a computer of other Wi-Fi only device to the network.  I can see these working well for those with netbooks or iPod touches that have only Wi-Fi and no network cards.  The network, which can give up to 3 Mbps connections might not be the sort of thing you want to use to substitute any other connection for.  It’s a great choice for cell phones, but attaching a lot of personal devices to the network just seems like it could be frustrating.

Read [Electronista]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:42 am

A speedier, spiffier beta for Google Chrome

Since our last major update of Google Chrome in May, we've been hard at work improving some of its most used and loved features. Today, we're releasing a new beta for you to try. Not only is it speedier than ever, but we've also given the browser a little bit of design whimsy that we hope will bring some color and delight to your day.

This new beta is fitted with a customizable New Tab page, an improved Omnibox and a few basic themes that allow you to deck out your browser with colors, patterns and images. We've also built HTML5 capabilities into this release, as well as a few other nifty technical improvements that will help Google Chrome make the most of your network connection.


You can learn more on the Google Chrome Blog, or download the beta version of Google Chrome to give these new features a whirl. Being on the beta channel gives you a sneak preview of things to come with occasional rough edges, but it's a great way for us to quickly churn out new features and get your feedback.

Posted by Brian Rakowski, Product Manager, and Min Li Chan, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google Chrome team

Source: The Official Google Blog | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:42 am

SLIDE SHOW: Five Techs Inspired by Sharks

Plenty of technology is inspired by the shark, from its skin to its speed.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:24 am

IPod Touch + MyFi= iPhone (Almost)

I got the MiFi, the personal, battery powered Wi-Fi router, in for testing a while ago. Today, the SIM card turned up, and after a little jiggery-pokery, it’s up and running. And you know what? The combo of iPod Touch and MiFi might just be better than the iPhone.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 9:21 am

BLOG: Artificial Leaf Uses Transpiration

An artificial leaf made from a glass wafer uses transpiration to generate energy.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:54 am

A weekend with Cakewalk's Sonar V-Studio 100

A digital music dilattente, I'm hardly qualified to evaluate the quality of Sonar's VS-100 compared to rival equipment. So I won't. Instead, I'll just tell you why I like this pricey $700 box, and look forward to the day I'm good enough at music to make it a worthwhile buy.

The key point is that it's a unique box, combining MIDI controller, portable multi-track recorder, and mixer, all in case the size of a Harry Potter hardback. It even comes with a free DAW, Sonar VS, and a bunch of audio plug-ins--all you need are some instruments and mics to stick into it, and you have a complete music-making rig that'll serve both in the home studio and on stage.

've been playing with it for days, but have barely scratched the surface of what it can do.

Thoughts:

• Hooked up via USB to a computer, it's a 24-bit interface with eight inputs, six outputs, and controls including transport, pan/volume knobs, and a 10cm fader. Phantom power is optionally supplied to two mic inputs; Hi-Z input allows guitar work without an amp; and a wee LCD display keeps track of what's going on.

• It works with any DAW when set to work as a Mackie Control, but the one that comes free, Sonar VS, only works on Windows. The free plug-ins, however, work in OSX as well.

• At first it was frustrating, not least because of the complicated installation and MIDI setup. Realizing that it becomes an intergral part of your computer's setup, rather than just something you just plug into it, got me on the right track.

• When not plugged into a computer, it can record WAV files directly to SD card slot from the mix. This "screw software" mode gives it an aura of awesomeness: where there is power and an SD card, this thing will help people make music.

• It's compact, metal and blocky. The controls are sturdy: it feels like a touch piece of work.

• It has built-in reverb, a compressor and three-band equalizer that can be applied to inputs.

The VS-100 isn't something to just buy on a whim and toy around with, as I've been doing, and as one might a pad or a keyboard. Nor does it seem the right first step for the beginner. As much as it invites me to stop messing around with Reason and make some real music, I can't honestly say I'm ready to make the $700 investment.

But those who have a case for owning it--bulky equivalents or serious plans to combine real instruments with digital music-making--shouldn't ignore this weird little box's triple play of powerful features.

Check out some video.

Product Page [Sonar V-Studio]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:30 am

Direct Order: No Facebook, No Twitter For Marines - ChannelWeb

Techtree.com

Direct Order: No Facebook, No Twitter For Marines ChannelWeb Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, let the world know through his Twitter feed that he will continue to Tweet, despite any bans that might be being put in place by other branches of the military. The Pentagon Tuesday also began ... What's on the Pentagon's mind? FacebookLos Angeles Times US Marine Corps Bans Social Networking SitesBusinessWeek Marines Cut Off From Social NetworksTechNewsWorld Central Valley Business Times -PC World -Bizjournals.com all 956 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:23 am

Gravity Cues Geckos When to Use Sticky Feet

Geckos turn on their sticky feet when they encounter an incline of at least 10 degrees.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:25 am

Concrete and Glass Tumblers For Tough-Guy Cocktails

There’s not much to say about these wonderful glasses other than holy-moly. Is a glass tumbler a gadget? Perhaps. Is a tumbler of glass and concrete, two materials that fuelled modernist architecture and the high-rise slum alike, worthy of the pages of the Gadget Lab? When they look as good as the Cityrain, the answer is “yes”. Yes, they are.

The process of making them goes some way towards justifying the $40-a-pair price-tag. Every one is hand-crafted and takes up to a week to finish. The concrete has to be cast and then stay wet for long enough to get the glass in there. We dig the delicacy of the glass next to the tough and raw concrete. The makers, 25togo Design say it evokes wet steel and glass windows. Whatever, it looks fantastic, and we shall be drinking our afternoon martinis out of a pair if an office whip-round raises enough cash.

Product page [25togo]

Store [Charles and Marie via Uncrate]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:24 am

myTouch 3G now available in T-Mobile stores

If you’re ready to ditch that G1 and upgrade to a phone that’s actually good looking (kidding), you better head down to the local T-Mobile establishment. Today is the day that the myTouch 3G finally hits the shelves. Peter found it to be a totally worthy successor to the G1. Of course if you’re still under blood oath to Tmo, you’re going to have to pay a hefty premium, but the two-year on-contract price is only $199 which isn’t bad at all.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:08 am

MyFi Plus iPod Touch (Almost) Equals iPhone

I got the MiFi, the personal, battery powered Wi-Fi router, in for testing a while ago. Today, the SIM card turned up, and after a little jiggery-pokery, it’s up and running. And you know what? The combo of iPod Touch and MiFi might just be better than the iPhone.

The MiFi was recently announced for the Spanish market, and is carried on the same terrible network as the iPhone: Movistar, the mobile wing of Telefónica. In fact, as Movistar is also getting the Palm Pre, you could argue that it has all the worthwhile gadgets to itself.

The iPhone price situation has improved here since the 3GS showed up, and you can now combine any data plan with any voice plan. The variable is the price you pay for the handset. But even the new “tarifa plana iphone premium” offers just 3GB per month of data before the speed drops, and still costs €40 ($57) per month, plus voice.

The same company’s best internet plan for computers, though, is the same price for 10GB, after which you can still get service at a lower speed. This is actually a better deal than in the US.

Still, this part is Spain-centric. The real point is that if you have a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot in your pocket, it is going to be cheaper than an iPhone contract pretty much anywhere, and can not only enable your iPod Touch to have an always on connection, but let you make Skype calls and stream music without having to worry about the usual iPhone size limits, as you’re on Wi-Fi. You can also share the connection with five machines in total, including a netbook for true on the go video calls and (gasp) Spotify.

Setup

Setting up was a little tricky. The included software (actually on the 2GB microSD card inside the MiFi) let me use the unit as a USB modem, but it wouldn’t connect via HSPA (this is the GSM version of the box). I jiggered around in my Mac’s network settings and found that I needed to add a nonce password to the MiFi to get things moving. After that all is sweet. Switch on and lights start to flash. You connect via Wi-Fi like you would anywhere, and the machine automatically connects to the internet, A glowing purple light tells you you have a 3G connection. It will also fall back on EDGE or even GPRS, for which there are different colored lights.

You’ll also want to change the security settings. This MiFi shipped with no protection on the wireless connection, and one of my many neighbors had actually hopped on before I could even type 192.168.1.1 into my browser to configure things.

In Use

It’s only been a half a day, but I have given most things a quick stress test. It’s fast. The connection, using Speedtest.net, is 1.77 Mbps down, and a surprising 1.11 Mbps up. Compared to my home connection - 2.55 Mbps down and a pathetic 0.26 Mbps up, and it looks pretty fast.

I tested the MiFi with Skype (works fine), Spotify (blisteringly fast, instant playing for tracks, although the local cacheing helps) on a netbook running OS X, and with Google Maps on an iPod Touch (Street View and core location both work great). Skype also works well, but as yet another pair of Apple headphones (with mic) have died on me I couldn’t test call quality.

This quick test is, as I said, the result of a few hours use, but it already looks like the combo of MiFi and iPod in a pocket could be all the mobile power I need. I’ll be stress testing this over the coming weeks (beach, moving vehicles, out-of-city trips) to see if it holds up, but as it looks now, I might actually consider buying one when this one goes back. Stay tuned.

Product page [Movistar]

See Also:

• Verizon Mifi: Personal Wi-Fi Coming this Month
• Mifi-hunter
• MiFi: Pocket Mobile Hotspot to Arrive Next Year

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:01 am

Zune HD gets felt up.  Verdict: almost as good as iPod

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video

The fabled Zune HD portable music player was subject to a hands on by some lucky Zune-loving folks.  The player, destined for some consumers hands this fall, is the latest breakthrough in a line of players that strive to be slightly different.  The verdict: really good…for a Zune.

Donald Bell of CNET got to play with the Zune HD’s for a bit and learned a bunch about them.  The biggest surprises were XBOX rented content viewing on the Zune, a lightning fast but unbranded browser, high-end build feel, beautiful OLED screen, 720p output for HDTVs, and a new feature that pulls in data about the artist no matter where the music was purchased.  That is some exciting stuff for Zune fans.

There wasn’t much that was mentioned on the negative side.  One was the Zune HD despite having that HD moniker and 720p output, only natively supports 480p video.  Nothing has been said about the Zune battery, a significant issue for earlier Zunes.

Bell admits the Zune HD “won’t crush the iPod touch” but does deliver one of the richest portable music experiences.  That along ought to garner a new legion of converts.

Source: [CNET]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:52 am

Famous Joy Division LP Cover Visualized

Ever wondered what it'd be like to see the wave on Peter Saville's iconic cover for Unknown Pleasures actually SOUNDS like come alive?

Well, here ya go.

Better yet: The code's available here, if you want to play with it yourself.

[veer via knick/knack via Jay Parkinson]

Previously:

• Jah Division - Boing Boing
• Some douche steals Ian Curtis' (of Joy Division) headstone - Boing ...
• New biopic on Joy Division, Ian Curtis: Control - Boing Boing
• Hey, it's another Joy Division movie! - Boing Boing
• Rumor says new iTunes visualizer will be gorgeous Magnetosphere ...

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:30 am

Gorillas Perform Hand Clapping Ritual

Female gorillas have a clapping ritual that holds meaning for other gorillas.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:25 am

Innovation in video on the web

Today, video is an important part of many people's everyday activities on the Internet and a big part of many Google products.

Because we spend a lot of time working to make the overall web experience better for users, we think that video compression technology should be a part of the web platform. To that end, we're happy to announce today that we've signed a deal to acquire On2 Technologies, a leading creator of high-quality video compression technology.

The deal is still subject to approval by On2 Technologies' stockholders and review by relevant regulatory authorities, including the SEC, but we expect it to close in Q4.

Although we're not in a position to discuss specific product plans until after the deal closes, we are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2 Technologies' team and technology will help us further that goal.

We'll update everybody when we're able to share more information. In the meantime, nothing will change for On2 Technologies' current and prospective customers.

Posted by Jeremy Doig, Engineering Director - Video, and Mike Jazayeri, Group Product Manager

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This document includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the expected timing of the acquisition, Google’s and On2’s ability to close the acquisition, Google’s ability to integrate On2’s technology and employees, and the expected benefits of the acquisition, including that the acquisition will further Google’s goal to enhance the web experience with video. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of managements of Google Inc. and On2 Technologies, Inc., and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to (1) changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, (2) failure to receive the required stockholder and regulatory approval for the acquisition, (3) failure to compete successfully in this highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, (4) failure to retain key employees, and (5) other factors affecting the operation of the respective businesses of Google and On2. More detailed information about these and other factors that may affect current expectations may be found in filings by Google or On2, as applicable, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including their respective most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Google and On2 are under no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any such obligation to, update or alter their respective forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Additional Information and Where to Find It
Google plans to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Registration Statement on Form S-4 in connection with the transaction, which will include a Proxy Statement of On2 that also constitutes a Prospectus of Google. On2 will mail the Proxy Statement/Prospectus to its stockholders in connection with the transaction. The Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus will contain important information about Google, On2, the transaction and related matters. Investors and security holders are urged to read the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus carefully when they are available. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by Google and On2 through the web site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov and by contacting Google Investor Relations at 650-253-7663 or On2 Investor Relations at 518-881-4299. In addition, investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC on Google’s website at investor.google.com and on On2’s website at www.on2.com.

Participants in the Solicitation
Google, On2 and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding Google’s executive officers and directors is included in Google’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the SEC on March 24, 2009, and information regarding On2’s executive officers and directors is included in On2’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the SEC on April 7, 2009. The Proxy Statement / Prospectus for the proposed transaction will provide more information about participants in the solicitation of proxies from On2 stockholders, which participants may have interests different from On2 stockholders generally. You can obtain free copies of these documents from Google or On2 using the contact information above.

Source: The Official Google Blog | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:02 am

Darth Vader Clock Radio

Oh, man. This post writes itself. The Darth Vader Alarm Clock Radio booms orders to wake yourself in the voice of James Earl Jones and displays the time with menacing red LEDs shining from the Dark Lord’s eyes. But obviously that doesn’t matter. This is the head of a decapitated Sith Lord on your nightstand, and you can be sure it will find your lack of wakefulness disturbing.

Of course, the maker, Sakar, shouldn’t be too proud of this technological terror it’s constructed. The ability to wake a person is insignificant next to the power of the Force. And wake him it will. Along with Vader’s baritones are a radio and a jack for an MP3 player to tempt you back from the Dark Side. This would, in fact, be the perfect Christmas gift. Speaking of which, I have a question for you: How did Darth Vader know what Luke had gotten for Christmas? He’d felt his presents (Rimshot).

Product page [Sakar. Thanks, Erika!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:41 am

Paranoia Inducing Security Lamp Brightens Homes, Cells

Back in the neon-hued 1980s, table and desk lamps that mimicked the photographer’s light were all the rage, complete with adjustable height, barn-doors and a hot, flesh-searing metal surface. Could these Spoticam lamps be the equivalent in this more paranoid and troubled decade?

The lamp, as ever with these things, is a mere concept design, and comes from the Antrepo Design Industry in Istambul. It looks great, and would be the perfect way to make my house guests feel uncomfortable as I shine a bright, harsh beam directly into their eyes and quiz them as to who left the toilet seat up. Who was it? TELL ME!

Product page [A2591 via Oh Gizmo!]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:21 am

Active US Military to get priority (24 hour) Google Voice activation

Section: Communications, Web, Web Apps, Google

Google has stepped up an began offering priority access to Google Voice for active duty members of the US military.  To begin with, it seems (aside from the good mojo that Google is sure to get for this offer) that Google has actually put some though into this offer.  According to their posting, they seem to realize that;

“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.”

Basically, the deal is simple, those in the US Military (or a family member who can do it for them) can visit www.google.com/militaryinvite and sign up.  The sign up process appears to be simple, with the only real requirement is that you use an email address ending in .mil.  Other than entering your email address, the only other bit required is your name.

Then, after the request has been made, Google is promising that the new Google Voice account will be set up “within a day.”

Sounds like a nice offer, now those in the military will have a little more flexibility in checking and listening to messages, but perhaps a little more important is that family members back home will have a reliable (and local) number to call and leave messages.

Read [The Official Google Blog]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:53 am

Only in Japan: USB stick lets users watch digital TV on their iPhones

In Japan, it’s hard to find a cell phone that doesn’t come with a digital TV tuner nowadays. Some of them even have two (so you can watch one program and record another on your phone’s microSD). And some people in this country actually do use these tuners, which means the iPhone is at a disadvantage when compared to domestic phones.

Japanese customers could buy an iPhone-exclusive add-on, which turned their iPhones into portable TV tuners last year, but that device is now sold out. Now I-O Data takes another shot at the problem by releasing the SEG Clip [JP], a USB 2.0 stick that makes it possible to watch digital TV on your iPhone.

The stick supports 1Seg, a digital TV standard in use in Japan, Peru and Brazil only, and is supposed to be plugged into your computer’s USB port. Users can then stream digital TV data from their computer (Windows XP/Vista only) to their iPhones via Wi-Fi. It’s also possible to save TV programs on the iPhone and watch them on the go later (an app called TVPlayer is available for free in the Japanese AppStore).

The SEG Clip can be used with the iPhone 3G/3GS and the iPod touch. It will be released in Japan at the end of this month (price: $70).

Via AV Watch [JP]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:48 am

Video: Running Toyota Robot Wobbles But It Won’t Fall Over

Remember the Big Dog, the creepy four-legged robot that ran along like two zombie-people chopped off above the waist, with a disturbing, dancing gait that couldn’t be perturbed even by beefy soldiers booting it as hard as they could?

Well, if you liked that, you’re going to love this. Toyota has souped up its lamely-named Partner Robot to run at 7kmh. Not a spectacular speed, but enough to mean it has both feet off the ground at the same time. And, like the Big Dog, a shove won’t send it to the floor. It’s not as scary or unsettling as the Big Dog, but the humanoid form is certainly uncanny. Kneel and beg before your new masters, puny fleshling!

Toyota’s running humanoid robot [Smart Machines via Cnet]

See Also:

• Creepy Dog Robot Planned for the US Military
• Science Creates Creepy Headless Donkey Machine
• New Video: Robotic Pack Mule Leaps Into Action

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:45 am

‘Contortionist’: A Folding Bike Cool Enough for Batman

I see a lot of folding bikes in Barcelona. Small-ish apartments, a lack of elevators in many apartment buildings and a generally high risk of theft means plegable bikes are pretty popular. I used to have one, but it was so small that motorists would laugh at me in the street (I’m over 6’2”) so I swapped to a less embarrassing pink girls’ bike. And there seem to be almost as many designs as there are riders.

Dominic Hargreaves, a 24 year old designer, has come up with yet another one, called the Contortionist. And when you see how fast and easily it folds up, you’ll know why. It’s almost impossible to explain, so head to the (non-embeddable) video page to see in in action. And watch your fingers — some of those hinged joints look like they could chop a pinkie off at the knuckle.

You’re back? Good. You’ll have noticed that, apart from folding up to a size smaller than its own wheels (on which it can still be rolled in its collapsed state) there are few other oddities. First, the wheels are each attached by one arm, not two. This helps the folding, but has to be made nice and strong. It also puts the wheels off-axis instead of in the usual straight line.

Next, where’s the chain? There isn’t one. Actually, check the video again and you’ll see that Hargreaves doesn’t even pedal, but a production version will use pipes and hydraulic fluid to transfer power from leg to wheel. Yes, production. Hargreaves is in talks with three car manufacturers to actually make this bike. It shouldn’t be too hard to guess which they are: they’re all German.

The best thing, though, is that the bike looks so damn cool when unfolded. Most folders have charm, but even the beloved Brompton is a bit on the dork/utility side of things. The Contortionist, though, looks like it could be Batman’s bike.

Product page [Eye to Hand via The Grauniad]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:32 am

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