Con Kolivas Returns, With a Desktop-Oriented Linux Scheduler

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

As Other Real-Time Search Engines Fizzle, OneRiot Gets Some Early Traction

While there have been many real-time search engine launches over the past few months (Scoopler, Topsy, Collecta, CrowdEye), most of them so far have fizzled (see Google Website Trends chart above). After an initial burst of curiosity, interest tends to dive. One exception, however, is OneRiot, which appears to be gaining some early traction in the real-time search race.

This race has just begun, of course, and other real-time search startups are chasing hard. But OneRiot is already serving up results for more than one million search queries a day (see chart below). This would be a rounding error for any major search engine, but at least it is going in the right direction. Its investors think so. They ponied up another $7 million in a new round at the end of last month

OneRiot started to be noticed when it added link search from Twitter last May. But its search volume didn’t really take off until it launched its API, allowing other sites to tap into its real-time search and add it as a feature to their own Web app or site. OneRiot has 40 API partners, including Microsoft (sometimes bundled with IE)., browser add-ons Yoono and Shareaholic, and desktop apps like Nambu and EventBox.

All of these API partnerships add up. In fact, about 80 percent of OneRiot’s searches are coming through its APIs rather than directly on its site. OneRiot is building up market share by offering real-time search to others. (Rival Collecta is preparing to do the same thing by offering its own APIs soon). Search is a volume game, where the more search queries you can process, the better your results become. So OneRiot wants to power as many real-time searches as possible.

To the extent that OneRiot can familiarize people with the concept of real-time search in as many places as possible, that’s a good thing. But ultimately it needs to drive people back to OneRiot.com where it can control the entire experience (and the cash).

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

As Other Real-Time Search Engines Fizzle, OneRiot Gets Some Early Traction

UPDATE 1-Kuwait to keep Merrill, Citi stakes for now-paper

Google Japan To Help Victims of Street View Abuse

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Shark scare closes beaches - Cape Cod Times

Boston Herald

Shark scare closes beaches Cape Cod Times CHATHAM — Swimming has been prohibited at all Chatham oceanside beaches for the remainder of Labor Day weekend because of several great white sharks spotted off Monomoy Island, Harbor Master Stuart Smith said yesterday. ... Massachusetts officials tracking 2 great white sharks with tagsFort Worth Star Telegram Officials tag great whiteBoston Herald Cape Cod beach town vexed by shark sightingsCNN Examiner.com -NECN -Boston Globe all 526 news articles »

Ex-Google China chief to fund Chinese tech start-ups (Reuters)

Vietnam frees blogger ahead of Australia visit

Why the Mt. Wilson Observatory was worth saving

Why the Mt. Wilson Observatory was worth saving

Joshua Bearman of the LA Weekly re-posted a story about his trip to the famous Mt. Wilson Observatory in Los Angles, which came close to being destroyed by the fire. Many thanks to the firefighters who worked so hard and risked their lives to save it!

With the fire threat to Mt. Wilson seemingly abated, I have taken enough of a deep breath to go back and look at one of my favorite early LA Weekly stories, about an awesome trip I took up to the Mt. Wilson observatory and inside the massive, revolving dome of the 100-inch Hooker telescope, the largest in the world for the first half of the twentieth century. (And still a functioning, important facility.) Did you know that the Hooker's 9,000-pound optic was blown at a bottleworks in France, remains the largest such piece of glass, and was carried up the mountain by donkey in 1915? True! And it was there, as you surely know, that Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding, and by extension, the Big Bang. But did you also know that a few years earlier, it was also Hubble who first discovered that there are galaxies at all? True! Before 1922, it was believed the Milky Way was the whole kit and kaboodle. Hubble sat up there above Altadena night after night and said "Eureka!" Even Einstein had to rethink things and came up for a visit.

Ex-Google China chief to fund Chinese tech start-ups

Ex-Google China chief to fund Chinese tech start-ups

NASA has eyes on the moon, money problems on ground - MiamiHerald.com

Washington Post

NASA has eyes on the moon, money problems on ground MiamiHerald.com Facing an ever-decreasing budget, NASA is struggling to reach its space exploration goals, including returning astronauts to the moon by 2020. BY ROBERT S. BOYD WASHINGTON -- NASA is facing a series of money woes that could thwart its hopes of once ... Ares may look dead but keeps kickingOrlando Sentinel Space Community Waits on Key Report on NASA's FutureWashington Post Our space poll allows opinions to lift offFlorida Today El Lider -Ethiopian Review -Space.com all 68 news articles »

Spacemen are transmitting silent little floaty vlogs at planet Earth (also: laptops in orbit!)

This is not the first video of daily highlights from a NASA mission, but it just struck me now, watching today's silent vlog from STS-128, that this video really is amazing. It is amazing because it is equal parts banal and mindblowing. And all I can think is: just as our grandparents were wowed by silent black and white film, our grandchildren will one day find these little YouTubes from space quaint. May I suggest watching these while listening to Boards of Canada? Good, because I just did.

Below, a still from this video which shows a neat laptop array. What an awesome workstation. I think I'll rearrange my desk like this after Labor Day. OH WAIT. Gravity, right.

STS 128 HD Flight Day 7 Highlights (Periods With No Sound) (YouTube/NASA)

Source: Boing Boing | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:06 pm

Spacemen are transmitting silent little floaty vlogs at planet Earth (also: laptops in orbit!)

Astronauts complete 3rd and last spacewalk

Spacewalkers outfit station for final node - Reuters

guardian.co.uk

Spacewalkers outfit station for final node Reuters CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A pair of spacewalking astronauts from the US shuttle Discovery worked outside the International Space Station on Saturday to lay power cables for the orbital outpost's last connecting node. ... Discovery astronauts do repair work in final spacewalkThe Money Times Astronauts tackle job in spacewalkPhiladelphia Inquirer Astronauts take mission's 3rd and final spacewalkThe Associated Press BBC News -FOXNews -Space.com all 2,385 news articles »

What is Google's "unexplained phenomenon"? - Computerworld

Telegraph.co.uk

What is Google's "unexplained phenomenon"? Computerworld Today Google's search page logo has a UFO sucking up one of the O's with a tractor beam. The link points to a search for the terms "unexplained phenomenon". What does it mean? A few people on the web are postulating that itis a reference to the new ... Google statement on its unexplained phenomenon doodleTelegraph.co.uk Google UFO logo mystery deepensiTWire Unexplained Phenomenon UFO in news from nowhereKhabrein.info Examiner.com -World News -Little About all 62 news articles »

Nokia strikes back against 'smart' rivals (AFP)

AFP - Faced with increased competition from up-and-coming rivals, Finnish telecom giant Nokia plans to launch a slew of new products this year but analysts say it faces a tough battle to hold on to its position as the world's number one mobile phone manufacturer.

Apple's iPhone launch in China no easy task: experts (AFP)

AFP - Apple's iPhone will soon officially go on sale in China, more than two years after its US debut, but it may not make much of a splash, with smuggled units and similar devices available, analysts say.

Food dropped for hikers lures wolves

Where's Waldo (the Submarine)?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Discovery astronauts conduct final spacewalk

In which we see a young lady holding the Philips Sensual Massager at IFA

The thing that got the biggest titters at IFA were Philips improved “sensual massagers,” the his and hers HF8400. Interestingly, Philips is straight up saying this is a sex toy and it was on display next to a bed in the Philips booth. Good on them. I haven’t tried it but this young lady sincerely enjoyed modeling it.

The male massager is specially shaped to stimulate and please him. Notice how the curves of the male massager are shaped for his most intimate contours, enhancing erotic pleasure. The cupped area feels particularly good on the male intimate area, as well as many other spots of the body.

The female massager is specially shaped to stimulate and please her. It is also designed to encourage physical contact and intimacy between you and your partner while using it by allowing your hand to caress your partner’s body at all times. The tip is the area of the massager that vibrates, allowing you to stimulate her erogenous zones, as well as many other body areas.

Jeremy Gutsche's EXPLOITING CHAOS on PR Week

A Different Perspective On Snow Leopard's Exchange Support

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

WITN?: Brazil nuts, American idiots and whoever else I have to upset around here to keep my job

WITN?: Brazil nuts, American idiots and whoever else I have to upset around here to keep my job

Glancing at TechCrunch late on Thursday evening, I immediately realised there was trouble afoot.

A few hours earlier, Sarah Lacy had published a post about the difficulties she’d had receiving her visa to Brazil to research her book and report on start-ups for TechCrunch. I’d read the post and sympathized with Sarah’s frustration. The problem, apparently, had been caused by an ‘upgrade’ of Brazilian embassy computer systems and the resulting havoc had affected everyone from journalists to business people to the coach of a national football - sorry, ’soccer’ - team.

As Sarah wrote, it also meant that she would now not be able to meet any of the scores of startups who had hoped to speak to a visiting TechCrunch reporter. If I were one of those startups, I’d be pissed. I’d be pissed at my government for not getting their technology together, and I’d be pissed generally that I’d missed an opportunity to showcase my business on a foreign stage. I might even post a comment saying as much.

Glancing at TechCrunch on Thursday evening, then, I half-expected to see maybe a couple of dozen comments on the post. But no. There were hundreds. Almost 500 in fact, and just about every one of them was attacking Sarah specifically, and American visa policy, generally.

How dare you insult Brazil!” they cried, “You stupid Americans demand that Brazilians have visas to visit your country; why shouldn’t we do the same?” Some of them used words like “reciprocity” and “pay back”. One even called Sarah a ‘gringa’, which was cute and in no way played to a stereotype. Many – who clearly knew all about the months of planning Sarah had done for her trip - angrily suggested that she should have started applying from the visa earlier. A vocal minority was additionally livid that the post was illustrated by a mashup - culled from Google images - of the Brazilian flag and the ‘EPIC FAIL’ meme. Some demanded criminal penalties for the outrage. It was whatever the Portuguese is for a train wreck.

Puzzled, I read the post again. Clearly I’d missed something on my first reading. Obviously Sarah – who, let’s remember, has been TC’s most vocal advocate for relaxing US visa laws for foreign entrepreneurs - had called for Brazil to be bombed back to the stone age, or suggested its womenfolk were unclean. But no, she really had just complained that a computer upgrade had inconvenienced her and thousands of other travelers who already had been approved for visas but who hadn’t been delivered them on the day they were promised.

As a foreigner on these shores, the subject is one close to my heart, which is why I’d read - and sympathised with - the post in the first place. Not long ago, I went through the visa process to relocate to the US from the UK. I had a far smoother experience than many of my European friends who are still flailing around in H1B or O1 hell, but I still had to struggle through a dull process of bureaucracy, money, police checks, paperwork, money, waiting, interviews, money and bullshit. And money.

In fact, the only truly smooth aspect came right at the end, once I’d been approved for the visa and was told my passport would be returned three days later. With that, I booked my flight and, sure enough, at exactly 9am on the third day, a courier arrived on my doorstep clutching my newly visa-d passport. Had there been an unexpected delay after being told I could make travel plans, I’d have been furious: there’s no excuse for missing deadlines when you’ve promised they’ll be met. Reciprocity and forward planning have nothing to do with it; it’s just bureaucratic sloppiness. On that front, the Brazilian embassy had failed. Epically.

And what about this flag business? I mean, seriously. If I understand you correctly, Brazilians, Photoshopping your national symbol with a joke meme is an unforgivable affront to your nationhood, and yet painting it across your girlfriend’s breasts at a soccer game or screen-printing it on a tiny g-string is a wonderful celebration of national identity? Maybe we Brits are just under-sensitive, but frankly you could Photoshop a defaced picture of the queen onto our flag and you wouldn’t hear a peep of complaint. Except perhaps that you stole our idea.

So if it wasn’t the visa issue, or the flag, really the only justification I could find for the Brazilian commenters’ rage was Sarah’s remark that her husband was worried about her traveling to the country due its reputation for violence.

This is of course typical American paranoia of all points foreign. “The natives are savages! We won’t be able to walk the streets in safety!” they whine, in a hideously unfair characterisation of a gentle, welcoming people. No wonder some Brazilians were upset with Sarah, to the point where they posted comments threatening to spit in her face and rape her.

And that’s where I realized that something was terribly awry. Sarah writes a story about bureaucratic ineptitude and broken promises, illustrated by a mildly clichéd Photoshop, and her safety is threatened by a mob of lunatic Brazilians. Arrington disses a few start-ups over the years and a mental German spits in his face at DLD. Erick writes a controversial headline about a multinational music service and the threats get so serious that TechCrunch has to call in the cops to protect its staff.

And that’s just the foreigners. The Americans are just as bad: last week Vivek Wadhwa received hundreds upon hundreds of furiously xenophobic responses to his guest post - many suggesting that the Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Executive in Residence at Duke University was unwelcome on American soil. His crime? Suggesting that it should be easier for skilled foreign workers to get H1B visas. A suggestion, by the way, which was later linked to and supported by Newt Fucking Gingrich.

I don’t get it. Where am I going so wrong?

I was hired by TechCrunch specifically to be the controversial one. Unlike the rest of the writers here, who have actual reporting credentials, my whole shtick is saying inflammatory things and inciting furious debate among morons. To that end, in my very first column I declared war on anonymous commenters, making it absolutely clear how much I hate every last one of them, and even threatening to bludgeon the little basement-dwellers to death with their own Wil Wheaton action figures.

But nothing.

Since then I’ve tried to up my game. I’ve promoted scientifically dubious fad cleanses, I’ve called out lying company spokespeople and threatened to name and shame them, I’ve applauded Google for its anti-trust activities and suggested that Microsoft would commit genocide if it was commercially expedient. I’ve written an entire column attacking Drudge-reading Republican ditto heads who object to Obama’s attempts to control the Internet. Hell, I’ve even admitted to once being a magician.

But still nothing.

How is it possible I’ve attacked Republicans and not received my own death threats? What’s the point in them deliberately misinterpreting the spirit of the Second Amendment if they’re not going to use the handguns strapped to their thighs to intimidate a foreigner? Where are my globules of Teutonic sputum or my sickening threats of violence? What does a man have to do around here to get threatened with rape by a Brazilian?

Frankly, I’m starting to get worried for my job. Every week Arrington gets off on threatening to fire me - but so far I’ve clung on to the gig, mainly because I keep convincing him that I’ll be a source of controversy and excitement. And yet week in, week out I’m getting my ass handed to me by just about everyone else on TechCrunch. And they’re not even trying.

Clearly I have to up my game. Over the coming weeks the gloves are going to have to come off. I’m going to have to go all-out with deliberately provocative headlines and racist ledes in the hope of prompting a mob of moronically illiterate textually-violent misogynist dickweeds to abuse me. Only then will my controversy crown be restored and my survival here assured.

From next week then, you can look forward to column titles like…

“Did the state of Israel just pass data to the RIAA?”

“CBS’s acquisition of Last.fm: smartest American deal with a German since Werner von Braun?”

“US education hasn’t produced a decent one since Oklahoma: so why is it so hard for foreign bombers to get H1B visas?”

“The Fanboys from Brazil: why Latin American Mac users are even more insufferably smug than those in the rest of the world”

“The French are Lazy, Americans are fat, Brits have bad teeth, Palestinians are all terrorists and the Swiss got rich on Nazi gold - and it’s all the fault of AT&T”

“Fuck you, Belgium”

…and probably something about South Africans being boorish and ignorant. They’re always good for a fight.

And then, after I write those, I’m imploring the comment idiots amongst you to do your worst. Once you’ve finished skimming my words, misinterpreting my every premise and forming your knee-jerk, nationalistic response - please, please be sure to hack it out in the comments. Don’t worry about accuracy, grammar or even basic literacy: it’s a numbers game and you freaks are my last hope at keeping this gig.

After all, where will I be without my job as Controversialist in Residence at TechCrunch? Destitute, that’s where. A poor, jobless, bitter loser with a strange accent, forced to beg for money from my neighbors to survive.

Oh, God, I’ll be Welsh.

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

Tooble.tv: 5 High School Students Stick It to the Man with Online Video Downloader

Hands-on with the Panasonic GF-1 M4/3 camera

I’ve been excited about four-thirds cameras for a while now. They seem like a great idea - DSLR power in a point-and-shoot package. However, after the Olympus E-P1 I’m worried that manufacturers are treating these cameras as beta hardware and the real models won’t be stable for a few years. That said, I’m still interested in the format and I’ll be impressed once Canon and Nikon get in on the act.

This model was fairly standard. There’s no viewfinder - a big minus - but it has a 12-megapixel sensor and seems to take some nice shots. The size is just right and it has plenty of standard functions like scene modes and full manual control if you need it. I’m anxious to get my hands on one of these and give it a good drubbing.

Also I just noticed what was on the screen on one of these shots. Unintentional, I assure you.

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pm

Wordpress.org Warns of Active Worm Hacking Blogs

Erik writes "Wordpress, the popular open-source Content Management System (CMS) for many thousands of bloggers worldwide, is under attack from a 'clever' worm that automatically compromises unpatched versions of the Wordpress system. The particularly nasty bug crawls the web for vulnerable Wordpress installations, installing malware, deleting content, and generally wreaking havoc wherever it can. Today, Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg eloquently implored Wordpress bloggers to update more frequently. Originally, updating the Wordpress system was a rather laborious process; however, newer versions offer fast and simple one-click upgrades. The two most recent versions of Wordpress (2.8.3 and 2.8.4) cannot be attacked by the worm discovered this week, and blogs hosted at Wordpress.com are also apparently immune."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:53 pm

Christian couples staying faithful online

There was no affair, only chatting through e-mail, yet it felt like cheating just the same. A few years later, a reformed Maggiacomo has an in-house check on his impulses. He and his...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:38 pm

Christian couples staying faithful online (AP)

AP - Lance Maggiacomo was out of work, bored and lonely when he started hiding his online relationships from his wife.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:38 pm

Here’s a conundrum: does an upside-down smile shutter become a frown shutter?

Saturday afternoon experiment, readers! A friend of mine brought up an interesting question last night. If you turn a camera with a “smile shutter” upside-down, will it only take pictures when everyone in the picture is frowning? And if so, have we just stumbled on a new photography technique for emo kids?

It’s a serious question, and I wish I had a smile shutter camera with which to answer it. But I tend to avoid those as if they’re covered in poison ivy. My theory is that it won’t work because the face recognition won’t work — I think the pattern they use to recognize faces won’t function when all the faces are upside-down. But maybe you could make it work somehow.

If your camera has a smile shutter, give it a shot and report back.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:36 pm

27 Creative Cufflinks - From Tech-Friendly iPhone Cufflinks to Righteous Wrist-Rockers (CLUSTER)

(TrendHunter.com) Special occasions often call for a certain type of mancessory, and cufflinks are the best way for a man to put his wrist at the forefront of his fashion statement. From ballin' boot...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:30 pm

Sega sez: Natal and PS3 motion controller games in “early 2010″

When a company says they’d like to think they might make an announcement about some games four or five months from now, you know you’re in trouble. We were all hoping (against all rational thought) that we might at least get an idea of what’s coming for these new motion controllers by Christmas, but no. I guess that although Sega is one of the first to announce that they’ll be making an announcement, it doesn’t mean they’ll be the first with games out. So there’s still hope…

It’s no secret, however, that the first games to come out for these things are going to be pretty bad. It’ll be amazing to even play bad games with these things, of course, but the subtleties of the hardware probably won’t get figured out for a while. As the Sega guy said, it’s “the land of bunsen burners and test tubes.” And we all know how fun those are!

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:00 pm

Weekend Update: 9.5.2009–One for the Kids [Digital Daily]

The week that took us from August to September was one for the books over at BoomTown, especially if you’re 12.

Kara spent Monday morning at Activision Blizzard (ATVI) where they are pushing forward with the entire Guitar Hero line, even as the game industry faces nearly 50 percent decline in U.S. sales this year. Kara got to play hero to several of the forthcoming releases, including previewing the much-anticipated DJ Hero console.

The youth movement continued with the fancy bar graph from Forrester Research’s annual “State of Consumers and Technology” that drove home an important fact of life for media outlets. All the money being spent on new media expansion is a fight for the young; older consumers are sticking to more reliable fare.

BoomTown wasn’t just about the kids though, as 23andMe co-founder Linda Avery announced her exit from the gene-juicing business to focus on a foundation related to Alzheimer’s research. Avery co-founded 23andMe with Anne Wojcicki in 2006 with early money from Genentech (DNA), Google (GOOG) and New Enterprise Associates, as well as Wojcicki’s husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

While BoomTown was keepin’ it real with the kids, Digital Daily was abuzz with a spate of iPhone news. John started Monday off on the topic of the Sept. 9 iPod event with confirmation that music, indeed, will be center stage. In the Apple world that means iPods and iTunes, though Beatles fans are keeping their fingers crossed.

Readers got a compare-and-contrast of Apple’s (AAPL) foreign and domestic policy when John covered a potential two-carrier system in China and the long-awaited stateside activation of MMS features in the iPhone OS3. Meeaning, while China may get the iPhone carrier flexibility so far absent in the U.S. Market, American consumers are just about to get a new feature that’s been standard on every smartphone for a year or more.

MediaMemo covered a fluid week in the world of media giants and Top Chefs. Disney (DIS) went off to the mines, and instead of seven dwarfs it found Marvel and the rights to its 5,000 character portfolio. Disney CEO Bob Iger didn’t think $4 billion was too much to pay to bring Iron Man and friends to the happiest media empire on earth, and is sure the company will benefit from such “rich intellectual property.”

If the Disney vault got 5,000 new friends this week, eBay said goodbye to one long-time partner. Peter reported that the long, difficult breakup between eBay and Skype was finalized when eBay sold its 65 percent stake in the VOIP juggernaut to the internationally mixed bag of Silver Lake, Index ventures, Andreessen Horowitz fund, and the nation of Canada.

Peter rounded out the week of motion with lots of changes in Google’s (GOOG) ranks. The search giant shuffled the chairs with David Fischer moving out of the self-serve ad business with no sign yet of a replacement. Google China saw the big chair turn upside-down when Kai-Fu Lee announced that he’d leave the company this month to begin his own venture. Lee will be replaced by the tag team of Boon-Lock Yeo and John Liu, who will oversee engineering and business, respectively.

Not all Google’s shifts were outbound though. “Charlie’s Café” at the main campus got its Top Chef back today after Preeti Mistry didn’t make the cut on the Las Vegas iteration of the popular TV show. Regular fans of the show weren’t surprised at her dismissal, but at least Google can put one in the plus column this week.

Over at The Mossberg Solution, Katie took aim at a possible answer to a question plaguing all image-conscious technophiles: yea or nay to the omnipresent Bluetooth earpiece. Plantronics (PLT) and Aliph (maker of the Jawbone) each say yea, and are upping the ante on the recently reviled symbol of cell phone userdom. Katie reviewed the fashion-forward Discovery 975 and Jawbone Prime, each designed to separate its user from $130. In exchange you’ll get redesigned outsides and some new features that might even put one back in Brad Pitt’s ear.

Source: All Things Digital | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:47 pm

Meet Uzbl — a Web Browser With the Unix Philosophy

DigDuality writes "Dieter@be over at Arch Linux forums, a release engineer for Arch Linux, got inspired by this post. The idea? To create a browser based on the Unix philosophy: 'Write programs that do one thing and do it well, programs that work well together, programs to handle text streams because that is a universal interface,' among other points. The result? A fast, low-resource browser named Uzbl, based on WebKit, which passes the Acid3 Test with a perfect score. The browser is controlled (by default) by vim-like keybindings, not too dissimilar to vimperator for Firefox. Things like URL changing, loading/saving of bookmarks, saving history, and downloads are handled through external scripts that you write (though the Uzbl software does come with some nice scripts for you to use). It fits great in a tiling window manager and plays extremely well with dmenu. The learning curve is a bit steep, but once you get used to it, it's smooth sailing. Not bad for alpha software. Though built for Arch, it has been reported to work on Ubuntu."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:45 pm

Hanspree sells bigger, more whimsical TVs to kids

I’ve always loved Hanspree’s whimsical TVs for kids. I’ve never really seen then in the US but these new models should head over. The apple, the camel, and even the less-whimsical standard models look great and might be fun in an eight-year-old’s room.

Interestingly, they’re actually making standard HD TVs as well but my favorites are the kids gear.

hanspree

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:41 pm

Baby chimp adapting at Oklahoma City Zoo

Oklahoma City Zoo officials say a baby chimp will go on display soon, nearly a year after its mother died giving birth to her. Dr.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:15 pm

Multivid for iPhone: wi-fi synchronized video playback

This handy-looking little app is straightforward, but could be very useful for some. Using a wi-fi access point, it transfers video files to several iPhones or iPod Touches, then lets you control playback of the video using your Mac or via one of the devices (a computer is still needed to add media). That’s pretty much all there is to it. I can see several uses for this, but one that pops to mind (to my shame) is tour groups. Synchronized playback while visiting a monument or historical area would be handy; you could have a whole troupe of people being guided around an exhibit with nary a tour guide in sight. I’m sure you guys can come up with more dignified uses for it.

It’s being reviewed by Apple as we speak, and it’ll be free when it comes out.

[via Creative Applications; thanks, luckydave]

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

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:00 pm

Cibeko: Features and functions of Air Keyboard

Cideko is a wireless video sharing system. You connect one box to your computer and another to your TV and you can control the computer from a mini-keyboard. Considering that the potential for this device - and ease of set-up - I’m surprisingly impressed.

Sadly, the device isn’t available in the US yet and probably won’t be unless it gets picked up by a local CE manufacturer and rebadged. I’d totally pay for something like this, however, provided it was a little smaller and better looking.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:49 pm

Astronauts take mission's 3rd and final spacewalk

Two astronauts are spacewalking again outside the international space station _ for the last time. Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang ventured out late Saturday afternoon on the third...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:47 pm

Recovery Tool Includes Leak of Palm's WebOS 1.2

El Royo writes "Today, Palm leaked version 1.2 of the webOS operating system that powers the Palm Pre. According to PreCentral, the new version was inadvertently included in a recovery tool Palm makes available. New features include support for the forthcoming App Catalog changes, copy and paste from Web sites, improved e-mail search and faster boot times."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:00 pm

Microsoft Attacks Linux With Retail-Training Talking Points

DesiVideoGamer writes "Over at Overclock.net, a user has posted screen-shots from Microsoft's 'ExpertZone' training course entitled 'Linux vs. Windows 7.' This course is available to BestBuy employees and will make them eligible for a $10 copy of Windows 7 upon completion." The screenshots linked show at least some creative interpretations of the state of Linux vs. Windows on a wide range of things, from media playback and video conferencing to ease of updates to (of all things) keeping your PCs "safer." Most of the claims, though, aren't concrete enough to be perfectly refuted. Writes DesiVideoGamer, "I think I now know why, when I enter BestBuy, the employees say the odd lies that they do."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:26 pm

Maps Wars: How Google, Microsoft And Yahoo Deal With Bridge Closure

Residents of San Francisco are a bit put off by the temporary closure of the Bay Bridge this holiday weekend. For the next 2+ days, the short bridge commute between the city and the East bay is closed, forcing people to take 30 mile detours through Marin County to get to Oakland, Berkeley and beyond.

This is a perfect opportunity to test the map products on the major Internet portals. Who noted the temporary closure and helped users figure out the next best route?

The short answer - Google wins. Yahoo a close second, and Microsoft Bing fails in this particular test.

Google Maps notes the closure, telling users “The Bay Bridge is closed from September 4 to September 8. Try dragging your route to a different path.”

Yahoo also seems to know about the closure, but doesn’t mention it to users. Instead, it routes you 35 miles through Marin county and over two other bridges to get to your destination. This is useful, but without pointing out that the Bay Bridge is closed, most people will likely think it’s a glitch and simply try the easier route (and be disappointed).

Microsoft Bing fails this test completely. Oblivious to the current road conditions, it blithely tells users to use the Bay Bridge to zip on over to Oakland.

Thanks to Noah Veltman for the tip, and the stunning image of the Bay Bridge above was taken by Thomas Hawk.

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

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:00 pm

Video: The Samsung Audience Measurement System

This is an experimental Samsung system for ad targeting. You walk up to a sign and it can tell if you’re a man or a woman and, potentially, replace the ad on the sign with something you’d be interested in. It will also keep track of people walking through your mall who stop at the sign. The system can also figure out how many of each sex are in the herd and act accordingly.

While it seems like a great way to target advertising, I find it really creepy. You?

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:56 pm

ELF Knocks Down AM Towers To Save Earth, Intercoms

ScentCone writes "The ELF (Earth Liberation Front) has claimed responsibility for destroying the primary AM towers used by radio station KRKO in Washington state. From their statement: 'AM radio waves cause adverse health effects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines.' The poor intercom performance must have been the last straw."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:27 pm

Yup, they’re developing a telepathy chip all right

How did I miss this?! Apparently the Brits are developing some sort of telepathy chip that will give the user the ability to do crazy X-Men stuff, like turn lights on and off with the power of thought. (It actually just dawned on me that, had CrunchGear been around in the 1800s, we would have been floored at the idea of electric light, and called blasphemers for bringing up telepathy.)

What would happen is that a tiny chip would be placed on your brain. Of course, right? The chip would be powered by the electrical activity of all your nerve cells, and would then wirelessly send signals to some sort of receiver on your skull. From there you’d be able to send the signal to light bulbs (kitted out with the proper equipment), TVs, you name it.

The chip was developed by one Dr. Jon Spratley, of Birmingham University. He’s 28 years old. When I’m 28, provided I get there, I’ll still probably just be leveling toons in WoW.

This type of research—telepathy, “mind control,” etc.—is big here in the U.S., but have relied on wired transmission of signal. That leads to infections, something we don’t want.

I’d love to be able to “think” these posts, then have them magically written by some signal-receiving keyboard. That’d be swell!

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 pm

Best Buy Will Make Purchasing the HTC Hero Easier than Sprint Does - Brighthand

Coolest Gadget Reviews

Best Buy Will Make Purchasing the HTC Hero Easier than Sprint Does Brighthand The HTC Hero will be is Sprint stores on October 11. Best Buy will begin offering this device on that same day, but this retailer will save its customers some hassle. Whether this Android-based smartphone is purchased directly through Sprint or at a ... How the Hero tops the mytouchCNET News HTC shares climb to 1-mth high on Sprint Nextel dealReuters Sprint Gives Android a Hero's WelcomeTechNewsWorld BusinessWeek -eWeek -Register all 401 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:25 am

Kernel 2.6.31 To Speed Up Linux Desktop

Dan Jones writes "As the Linux community looks forward to another kernel release, the kernel hackers have been working on improving the memory management so that the X desktop responsiveness is doubled under high memory pressure. The result is an improved desktop experience. Benchmarks on memory-tight desktops show clock time and major faults reduced by 50 per cent, and pswpin numbers (memory reads from disk) are reduced to about one-third. Another improvement coming with 2.6.31 is kernel mode-setting support for ATI Radeon graphics cards, enabling faster user switching and a more seamless startup experience. Peripheral developments that will also improve the Linux desktop experience include support for the new USB 3.0 specification and a new Firewire stack. Even minor Linux releases have heaps of new features these days!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:24 am

DNA Barcodes Of Bushmeat Published

A new tool proved for tracking the global trade in wildlifeLeather handbags and chunks of red meat: when wildlife specialists find these items in shipping containers, luggage, or local markets, they can now use newly published genetic sequences known as "DNA barcodes" to pinpoint the species of origin. Experts hope that this simple technique will track the harvesting of bushmeat (or wildlife hunted largely in Asia, South and Central America, and Africa) and will ultimately crack down on the widespread and growing international trade in bushmeat, a market estimated to be worth as much as $15 billion in 2008. According to a paper published in the early online edition of Conservation Genetics (DOI 10.1007/s10592-009-9967-0), barcodes can ably and quickly distinguish among a large number of commercially traded species, so that a handbag is identified as caiman or Nile crocodile, and the meat as duiker or mangabey."The species in our study are among the most commercially harvested species in South America and Africa. They are often partially prepared by the time they get to urban markets, which can make the species identification impossible," says one of the authors, Mitchell Eaton, who led the research as part of his doctoral research at the University of Colorado. "In this study, we tested the usefulness of molecular barcodes for monitoring bushmeat harvest and trafficking in wildlife products. We have shown that the method effectively and unambiguously identifies a large number of species."A genetic barcode is a relatively short region of a gene in the mitochondrion, a structure present outside of the nucleus in cells of all multicellular animals. Over the years, scientists have searched for an appropriate region of the genome that mutates quickly enough to distinguish closely related species but also slowly enough so that individuals within a species have similar barcodes. A 645 base pair region of the COX1 gene (cyotochrome c oxidase subunit 1) has been agreed-upon by researchers as appropriate for barcoding, given that it is both highly variable and very specific. Barcoding has been used to distinguish shark species, to check the labeling of caviar and red snapper, and to identify the presence of endangered whales in Asian markets."There is consensus on using the same fragment of DNA, COX1, to construct a library of life," says co-author George Amato, Director of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History. "This is an example of where new genetic technology can be transformative to society, by using barcodes to catalog the diversity of ecosystems, to monitor invasive species, to search for pathogens in the food supply, and to observe wildlife trafficking for the pet trade and other commercial markets."In the current study, Eaton, Amato, and colleagues sequenced the barcode region in 204 samples that represent as many as 25 commonly traded mammals and reptiles. Samples came from blood and tissue collected in Central Africa, museum specimens, and leather products confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Although not all are currently endangered, many are embargoed from international trade. These species, which include duikers, spiral-horned antelope, red river hogs, old world monkeys, alligators and crocodiles, represent a large swath of some of the more commonly traded animals in tropical Africa and America. Sequences generated from this study will be added to the Barcode of Life Data Systems, an online, open-access database of barcodes.As expected, the barcode region accurately identified each species; the variability of the genetic region was low within species but differed by an average of 9.8% among closely related species. The findings, however, point to the need for additional genetic research. African Nile crocodile sequences confirmed previous suggestions of an eastern and western species, and this study determined that the species divide lies between sampling sites in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Peter's duiker, a cryptic forest antelope, revealed a large amount of hidden genetic diversity within what is now considered a single species; more genetic analysis could refine the taxonomy. Finally, generating barcodes from leather products proved challenging due to the degradation of DNA in these processed skins. The authors of this study hope to develop methods to sequence shorter DNA barcode fragments to focus on identification of older and highly processed material."We hope biologists all over the world could—in addition to the work they are already doing—generate barcodes for the species they are working on," says Amato. "This would help the huge international endeavor to develop an encyclopedia of barcodes for all species."In addition to Eaton and Amato, authors include Greta Meyers of Barnard College; Andrew Martin of the University of Colorado; and Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis and Matthew Leslie of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at AMNH. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation supported this research. Additional support for field work in Central Africa came from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Congo and Gabon programs, the National Geographic Society, the Rufford Foundation, the Lincoln Park Zoo's Asia & Africa Fund, and the MacArthur Program of the University of Minnesota. The National Science Foundation and the AMNH's Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program supported a portion of the lab work. ---Image 1: These are leather products on display in a craft market in Brazzaville, Congo. Credit: Mitchell EatonImage 2: This is bush meat observed at a Wildlife Conservation Society project in the Congo that is commonly shipped out of the area via logging trucks. Credit: Sarah ElkanImage 3: Mitch Eaton measures a dwarf crocodile in a bushmeat market in Port Gentil, Gabon. Credit: John Thorbjarnarson
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:20 am

Perennial Vegetation An Indicator Of Desertification In Spain

A team of scientists has analyzed 29 esparto fields from Guadalajara to Murcia and has concluded that perennial vegetation cover is an efficient early warning system against desertification in these ecosystems.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:16 am

Ultra-Flat Loudspeakers Give Powerful Sound Reproduction

Bigger speakers, bigger sound – this is the music lover’s creed. Flat panel loudspeakers offer an alternative to those who would rather not or cannot clutter up their homes with speakers. These speakers can be integrated inconspicuously on walls or in furniture.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:13 am

War Against Wildlife Ends In Southern Europe

Image 1: This is a wild hasty Gineta. Credit: Photo: Center of Recovery of Wild Fauna ' La Granja of El Saler '/ SINCImage 2: This is an electrocuted bird. Credit: Photo: Juan Antonio Gómez/ Center of Recovery of Wild Fauna ' La Granja of El Saler '/ SINC
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:09 am

Wow, people sure don’t believe AT&T’s Seth the Blogger Guy

So what do you guys think of Seth the Blogger Guy? He's AT&T, well, blogger guy, talking to people like Greg, Biggs, MG, and myself whenever AT&T deems it necessary, usually to put out some sort of fire. (See: The initial confusion surrounding the price of the iPhone 3G S.) He's a nice man, of course, even though I so rarely reply to his e-mails (but that's just because I rarely reply to e-mail as it is). But the Internet, YouTube commenters specifically, have no problem punching a man who wears glasses.

Source: CrunchGear | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:00 am

Software May Collect, Sell Data About Kids Chat Habits

Parents who install software sold under the Sentry and FamilySafe brands to monitor their kids' online activities may be unknowingly permitting the developer to collect and sell marketing data about their children, according to an Associated Press report on Friday.The software brands in question, developed by Syosset, NY-based EchoMetrix Inc., can read private chats conducted through Yahoo, MSN, AOL and other services.  This information can then be sent back to the company and offered to advertisers seeking ways to target marketing messages to children."This scares me more than anything I have seen using monitoring technology," child-safety advocate Parry Aftab told the Associated Press.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:00 am

Amazon Giving Away $30 To Ex-Orwell Book Owners

Amazon has decided to offer free books or $30 to Kindle customers that had copies of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" novels, which were deleted from their electronic reading devices back in July.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 Sep 2009 | 10:55 am

Hot gaming news for the week of 8-30-2009

Section:

No need to scour the interwebs for hot gaming news, Gamertell‘s already done that for you!  Here’s a look at this week’s top stories…

• Opinion: EA’s Madden NFL 10 downloadable content is out of bounds
• New details about Kindgom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for PSP
• Media Mashup: Microsoft lowers Xbox 360 Elite price by $100, the web’s achatter
• Best Buy offering buy one 360 game, get one half off
• New York University rocks out with Guitar Hero-themed course

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 5 Sep 2009 | 10:42 am

Wow, people sure don’t believe AT&T’s Seth the Blogger Guy

So what do you guys think of Seth the Blogger Guy? He’s AT&T, well, blogger guy, talking to people like Greg, Biggs, MG, and myself whenever AT&T deems it necessary, usually to put out some sort of fire. (See: The initial confusion surrounding the price of the iPhone 3G S.) He’s a nice man, of course, even though I so rarely reply to his e-mails (but that’s just because I rarely reply to e-mail as it is). But the Internet, YouTube commenters specifically, have no problem punching a man who wears glasses.

A video was uploaded yesterday wherein Seth tries to explain why AT&T has been rather rubbish lately. In essence, it’s because there’s so many iPhones out there chewing up network capacity that AT&T has a hard time keeping up. Whether that’s AT&T’s fault or iPhone users’ fault is an issue for another day.

Here’s just a sampling of what the good people on YouTube are saying:

Not buying it. AT&T is still overpriced and still sucks.

…

Seth Just a thought for you & AT&T instead of posting this video now that you are ready(finally) to roll out MMS messaging for those of us already paying for it…maybe it might have been a good idea to post this video way back when we were all seeking answers to the question “why” and instead of receiving answers we were just blown off with “its coming in August” or worse, no explanation at all…if you really “heard us” an acknowledgement would have been nice. then, not now… Just a thought!

…

You haven’t enabled the smartphone revolution, Apple did. AT&T is nothing without Apple. Remember this. Once another carrier gets the iPhone, there will be an mass exodus.

…

How come he didn’t show our text messages piggybacking harmlessly on the cell phone calls?

Why didn’t he explain that it costs them NOTHING to send text messages yet they bend over their customers and make their buttholes bleed with sms fees?

…

It’s unacceptable AT&T to take you this long. MMS is a standard on even older phones. Tethering is available in other countries, but not the US. My signal is getting worse and worse because you can’t handle the amount of data that we pay you hundreds of dollars a month to handle. Not to mention the fact that we had to sign in blood and we’re stuck for 2 years.

Unacceptable.

…

Welcome to Norway in 2001. We’ve had excellent 3G coverage and speeds for almost a decade now.

Sorry AT&T, but you can’t excuse yourselves like this. You built a sub-standard network in the first place, just say it like it is.

…

So basically you’re saying that you can’t support all the people you have on your data network, yet are forcing people with smartphones to get a data plan starting this month. That makes no sense that if you can’t support the current level of customers you would FORCE and increase when you just admitted you can’t handle it. This is why I hate ATT because as a company they are full of shit.*

…

If your network wasn’t built out of twigs and fishing line you could handle a technology that has been around since 2002. Just say your network is archaic and you’re focusing on 4G and you’d have a better result than these excuses.

There’s currently 374 comments, and let’s just say that they’re really not all that positive. Fair or not, that’s the way it reads right now.

I have a solution for AT&T: just drop the iPhone! All your network problems will go away!

*I read something the other day about how AT&T is forcing all of its customers to get a data plan now in order to provide them a better service, etc. (But if they’re already having problems with too much data consumption, then why force more people onto the data network?) It’s basically a point-by-point evisceration of the AT&T press release. It really is great, and is totally worth the read.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Sep 2009 | 10:15 am

HTC Touch Pro 2 heads to Verizon Wireless on September 11 for $199 (after rebates, contracts, etc.)

T-Mobile, Sprint, and now Verizon Wireless. Yup, the HTC Touch Pro 2 should be ready and waiting for you at your local VZW store on September 11. In what may be the first example of VZW customers getting a deal (compared to the other carriers), the phone is only $199 after $100 rebate and two-year contract.

Source: Gizmodo | 5 Sep 2009 | 10:00 am

Damien Hirst installation owner charges teen art-rival with theft of £500,000 for removing box of pencils from installation

A teenaged artist who was forced to stop selling his collages when Damien Hirst sent threats to his gallery (the collages incorporated ironic images of Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull sculpture) is now facing a possible jail sentence because he took a box of pencils from a Hirst installation as a prank and offered to return them only if Hirst would let him go back to displaying and selling his art. Hirst claims the box of pencils -- Faber Castell Mongol 482s from 1990 -- is worth GBP500,000, making this one of the gravest modern art thefts in British history.

Taking revenge, Cartrain took the box of pencils that were part of Hirst's sculpture, Pharmacy, which was being shown as part of its Classified exhibition that closed at the end of last month.

He then created a "wanted"-style poster that read: "For the safe return of Damien Hirst's pencils I would like my artworks back that DACS and Hirst took off me in November. It's not a large demand... Hirst has until the end of this month to resolve this or on 31 July the pencils will be sharpened. He has been warned."

Yesterday, Cartrain told The Independent: "I went to the Tate Britain and by chance had a golden opportunity to borrow a packet of pencils from the Pharmacy exhibit. That same day I made up a fake police appeal poster advertising that the pencils had been removed from the Tate and that if anyone had any information they should contact the police on the phone number advertised.

"A few weeks later I went out and I returned home to find out the art and antiques squad from New Scotland Yard had called round with a warrant for my arrest..."

But that is not the end of it. Police also arrested Cartrain's 49-year-old father, who they suspected of harbouring the pencils. "Initially, we arrested his dad but it soon became clear that it was his son who was responsible," said a police source. "We arranged to arrest him by appointment. The act of theft was clearly a stunt to gain publicity."

Damien Hirst in vicious feud with teenage artist over a box of pencils (via We Make Money Not Art)


Source: Boing Boing | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:52 am

HTC Touch Pro 2 heads to Verizon Wireless on September 11 for $199 (after rebates, contracts, etc.)

T-Mobile, Sprint, and now Verizon Wireless. Yup, the HTC Touch Pro 2 should be ready and waiting for you at your local VZW store on September 11. In what may be the first example of VZW customers getting a deal (compared to the other carriers), the phone is only $199 after $100 rebate and two-year contract.

It’s the same WinMo 6.1 phone as found on the other carriers, but those guys will have to pay, in total, $350. Let’s see… $350 vs. $100. Yeah, easy choice.

That’s it!

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:14 am

Sprint HTC Hero available at Best Buy Mobile rebate-less, pre-orders available

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones

Starting October 11, the HTC Hero on Sprint will be available in all Best Buy stores for purchase.  Normally, it sells for $179.99 plus a $100 rebate, however, Best Buy Mobile will be selling the phone for just $179.99 on a two year contract, taking care of the $100 rebate themselves.  A nice thing about purchasing cell phones from Best Buy Mobile is the fact that they take care of the rebates for you.  Companies probably make a decent amount of money from customers forgetting to take advantage of the offered rebates. 

Also, it was just announced that Best Buy Mobile will be taking pre-orders starting on September 13 for a $50 down payment.  Assuming the phone will be a hot seller, it may be wise to take down a pre-order as soon as Best Buy makes it available.  In case you are not familiar with the HTC Hero, it features a 3.2-inch touch screen, runs on Google Android, sports Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, 5.0MP camera, and supports microSD memory expansion. 

The HTC Hero looks to be a good Android phone on the Sprint network, so it will be interesting to see how well Best Buy Mobile does with sales, as they seem to be pushing HTC Hero promotions. 

Read [BGR]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:13 am

US, Germany Engaged In Pricing War For Solar Panels

The US and Germany could be soon engaged in a pricing war over the booming industry of renewable energy products like solar cells.According to Reuters on Friday, German solar firms Conergy and Solarworld, as well as US solar entities, are becoming more concerned about China’s efforts to grab a larger share of the renewable market by cutting costs in order to compete on the global market.Reuters cited a USB report that found Chinese firms have slashed prices on solar panels, which has undercut German solar cells by about 20 percent.Germany’s Conergy, which is the nation’s second-largest provider of solar panels, is reportedly urging the European Union to investigate price structures of Chinese solar panel firms."It cannot be the aim of our environmental and economic policy to lose to the Far East our pioneering role with regard to the last great future technology, which was raised here with great efforts," Dieter Ammer, CEO at Conergy, told Reuters.Popularity of solar cells has resulted in overproduction, which has caused retail costs to plummet, and now China intends to cut prices even more, which has led to much speculation among industry leaders in the US and Germany.According to Reuters, a solar system below 10kw would cost about 3,400 euros in Germany, and more than $70,000 in the US.Now the US faces the tough task of trying to encourage consumers not to purchase more affordable solar energy products from China."Solar is a very special product.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Sep 2009 | 8:55 am

iPhone 3G Slim Case Showdown - second edition

FROM APPLETELL - When it comes to the iPhone, there are two types of cases: actually, that’s not at all true. There’s a ridiculous number of types of cases. Here, we’re looking solely at thin cases for the iPhone 3G. . .
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 5 Sep 2009 | 8:49 am

Report: China Tightens Rules for Online Music Providers (PC World)

PC World - China's Ministry of Culture has implemented a new set of rules governing the online sale and distribution of foreign songs in the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 Sep 2009 | 8:10 am

Giant panda cub born in China

A giant panda who delivered a male cub last year has given birth to a female cub at a breeding center in northwest China, officials said. Nine-year-old Zhuzhu, whose name means pearl, gave birth to her newest cub Friday at the Shaanxi Rare Wild Animals Rescue and Breeding Research Center in Xi'an, China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported Saturday. Zhuzhu was artificially inseminated, as was 6-year-old Lousheng, who gave birth three weeks ago to a male and a female cub. The recent baby boom indicates we have made some progress in pandas' semen collection and freezing as well as prenatal care, center spokesman Jin Xuelin said. The center now has 21 pandas with another 180 being cared for in zoos throughout the world, Xinhua reported.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 5 Sep 2009 | 7:56 am

Glitch Sends NASA's Mars Orbiter Into Safe Mode - FOXNews

Telegraph.co.uk

Glitch Sends NASA's Mars Orbiter Into Safe Mode FOXNews This image is an artist's concept of a view looking down on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be kept in its safe mode — suspending its science observations of the red planet for several weeks — while engineers ... Photos: Mars orbiter's abstract impressionsCNET News UA showers scientists with pictures of MarsArizona Daily Star Has Jesus Christ been spotted on Mars?Telegraph.co.uk CNN -Jet Propulsion Laboratory -TG Daily all 50 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 7:23 am

Car Crash Video Attracts Attention On YouTube

An explicit British police video about the perils of texting while driving has become a huge hit on YouTube.The four-minute video of a shocking car crash has been viewed millions of times on the site.It fictitiously portrays a 17-year-old girl named Cassie Cowan who is responsible for an accident because she was texting while driving.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 5 Sep 2009 | 7:20 am

Amazon makes amends to Kindle owners for Orwell debacle

Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous

Back in July, Amazon caused quite an uproar when owners of its popular Kindle e-reader discovered that their copies of the George Orwell classics “Nineteen Eighty Four” and Animal Farm had disappeared.  Amazon’s explanation was that they had discovered that the publisher offering the books for sale had no right to do so, meaning the copies already bought were illegal.  The company panicked and deleted them from the Kindles they were stored on.  The irony of such a thing happening to “Nineteen Eighty Four” was not lost on anyone as the net filled with posts from irate users.  Amazon got the message loud and clear and posted this apology:

“This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our solution to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.”

Amazon also announced that those who had the book deleted from their Kindles will have the choice of either having the book redelivered free of charge, an $30 Amazon gift certificate or a check for the same amount.

Read [PCWorld]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 5 Sep 2009 | 7:13 am

AT&T and Apple's iPhone Need an Open Marriage (PC World)

PC World - AT&T is throwing iPhone users a bone by offering MMS as of September 25, but is that enough to quiet a growing chorus of angry customers upset by what they see as shoddy service?
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:00 am

Security Threat: WordPress Under Attack

We’re hearing of numerous reports that older versions of WordPress are exposed to security threats. WordPress is one of the largest blogging engines with over 5,317,360 - and counting - downloads for their latest version, 2.8. Many large blogs, including TechCrunch, rely on WordPress to get the news out and post content online.

Writes Lorelle on her WordPress-centric blog:

There are two clues that your WordPress site has been attacked:

First, there are strange additions to permalinks, such as example.com/category/post-title/%&(%7B$%7Beval(base64_decode($_SERVER%5BHTTP_REFERER%5D))%7D%7D|.+)&%/. The keywords are “eval” and “base64_decode.”

The second clue is that a “back door” was created by a “hidden” Administrator. Check your site users for “Administrator (2)” or a name you do not recognize.

To prevent this attack, if you have not done so already, update your WordPress install immediately to the latest version. Change all your passwords to a strong password (cough), including WordPress blog access for all users, database, FTP, control panels, etc. These are all highly recommended procedures.

Automattic, WordPress’ parent company, hasn’t commented on this issue, but we’ll keep everyone updated. In the meantime, we urge you to update your WordPress blog immediately.

Update: We’ve reached out to Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, and he mentioned the following. Automattic is not the parent company of WordPress. Automattic contributes to WordPress.org like many other companies do. Mullenweg published a blog post mentioning what steps people should take to ensure their WordPress blog is safe.

(Image via Developer Tutorials)

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

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:01 am

Google, Twitter, Aliens, And Internet Memes: The Truth Is Out There.

When Google officially joined Twitter back in February, its first message was sent in code. Earlier tonight, Google reverted to using a coded message on Twitter, with a cryptic tweet stating the following, “1.12.12 25.15.21.18 15 1.18.5 2.5.12.15.14.7 20.15 21.19″.

So what does it mean? It’s fairly straight-forward, actually, assuming you know your Internet memes. The code itself is a simple pattern, A=1, B=2, C=3 and so forth. Plugging it in, this translates to: “All your o are belong to us”.

That is in reference to the meme from the early 2000s, “All your base are belong to us,” a humorous saying that was popularized from a poor translation of a Japanese video game (video below). So where does the “o” come in? Attached to Google’s tweet is a TwitPic of its logo doodle today, which is an alien spaceship beaming up the second “o” in “Google.”

It’s not really clear why that is Google’s logo today; the logo just links to the Google result for “unexplained phenomenon,” which returns results mainly talking about Google’s odd logo today, and general alien conspiracies. Maybe someone at Google is just bored and wanted to play a game, or maybe they just saw District 9. The truth is out there.

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

TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Source: TechCrunch | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:45 am

Disclaimer | About

World : News Archives | Business | Entertainment | Sports | Technology | Science | Marketplace Audio

India : News | Business | Entertainment | Sports | Telugu |

Blogs : Humor pages | Norkay's Blog | Kids Stories | Indian Recipes | Database Tech Blog

Sundries : World Video Clips | Songs Clips | Indian Video Clips |