G-Spout: Silly Silicon Spout for Shaky Chefs

They don’t ever seem to learn. Sending a pointless, uni-tasking kitchen widget into the Gadget Lab for our consideration is like putting a “kick me” sign on your own back. Let us begin:

Today’s waste of money is the g-Spout, which sounds like a misspelling in a sex manual or a new file-sharing service from Google. It is neither. Instead the g-Spout is a clip-on silicon spout which lets you pour liquids, both hot and cold, from a bowl or pan not already equipped with a pouring spout. Handy? Perhaps, if you are an inveterate alcoholic who can’t keep his hands steady.

Take a look at the promotional video, which is typical informercial junk. The same people who pour effortlessly with the g-Spout are seen just seconds earlier shaking like a junkie doing cold turkey. They couldn’t make more of a mess on the countertop if they tried. And of course, they are trying.

If you do want one of these straining spouts, it’ll cost $13. And some people obviously like them. Taking time off from an obviously busy schedule to write to the g-Spout company, “Mary in Kentucky” says: “We love using our gSpout to fill up our sugar holder…”

What could that mysterious ellipsis mean?

Product page [g-Spout. Thanks, Gail!]

Are Operating Systems a Dying Breed? [Voices]

By Richard Muirhead, CEO, Tideway Systems

The perception is that operating systems are dying. In truth, they are evolving.
For years we’ve witnessed wars waged among major operating system vendors, with computer purchases hanging in the balance. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows was a household name for people who didn’t know what an operating system was, its popularity growing from the use of well-known, everyday applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint that other operating systems didn’t have.

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DIY Fall Foliage Fun - DesignSponge Shows How to Make Farmer's Market Ar (GALLERY)

Amazon same day delivery squarely aimed at brick-and-mortar rivals - ZDNet

Reuters

Amazon same day delivery squarely aimed at brick-and-mortar rivals ZDNet Amazon is using its distribution, information technology and shipping prowess to try and gain sales from brick-and-mortar retailers all the way up to Christmas. As Amazon continues to grow its rivals won't be Google and eBay as much as your local ... Amazon Rolls Out Same-Day ShippingPC World Amazon Adds Same-Day Shipping OptionPC Magazine UPDATE 2-Amazon launching same-day us delivery serviceReuters Register -New York Times -Los Angeles Times all 91 news articles »

News Corp Lawyer: Aggregators Steal From Us! News Corp: Hey Check Out Our Aggregator! [Voices]

By Michael Masnick, Editor, Techdirt

We’ve already covered how Rupert Murdoch has flip flopped his position on free online news, but his recent foray into blaming search engines and aggregators is really reaching the height of hypocrisy. We’ve already looked into the issue of aggregators and found there’s no problem there at all. Most aggregators either direct traffic to the original sites or are too small to matter.

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Science of Scams: Derren Brown and Kat the Scientist debunk the paranormal industry

It's Just Fancy Talk [Voices]

By Farhad Manjoo, Technology Columnist, Slate.com

Here’s a little story to show just how thoroughly Google’s (GOOG) long-awaited chatting tool, called Google Wave, can kill your mood to chat: The other day, I was “waving” with Zach Frechette, the editor of GOOD magazine. Naturally, we were talking about the new site’s merits and flaws. As we went back and forth, I had a tiny epiphany.

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Could Apple's Rumored Tablet Save Newspapers? [Voices]

By J.R. Raphael, Contributor, PC World

If the iPhone is the “Jesus phone,” it now appears as if the still-sheathed Apple (APPL) tablet may become the “Jesus reader.”
The oft-discussed (but never confirmed) tablet, you see, is poised to save us — the humble scribes of print media — from an unseemly demise. At least, that’s what the latest and greatest Apple rumor predicts. And, as we know, those rumors are never wrong.

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Brit ISP TalkTalk shows why cutting people off because a record exec says they're file-sharers is dumb

Brit ISP TalkTalk shows why cutting people off because a record exec says they're file-sharers is dumb

The British ISP TalkTalk has produced a compelling case against the government's plans to disconnect whole households from the Internet if the copyright industry accuses them -- without proving anything in court -- of three acts of infringement. TalkTalk picked a random street in North London and showed that 23 of the households in that road were using WEP security to stop strangers from accessing their networks. WEP has been thoroughly broken for years, but many older games consoles, phones and other devices are only capable of using WEP to connect to WiFi networks. TalkTalk argues that householders who have done everything they can to secure their networks from people who want to use them for cover during illegal file-sharing are still vulnerable to being disconnected by record- and film-company execs.

Households that are subjected to this form of collective punishment -- "someone around here broke the law, so you'll all suffer" -- lose access to the net, and with it, connectivity related to their employment, education, family connections, health, and government. All on the unsubstantiated say-so of the same entertainment companies that have previously accused a laser-printer of illegally downloading an Indiana Jones movie, not to mention the small legion of dead people; ancient, non-computer-owning grannies; and other innocents who've been legally threatened by the music industry for alleged copyright infringement.

A rep from the record industry insists that he has bought some magic beans "robust" evidence-gathering software that will never, ever cut someone off from the Internet on false pretences, so we don't need judges or evidence or trials or any of that messy business. But, of course, if someone is hacking your WiFi without your knowledge, he's prepared to cut you off from the Internet, because "the responsibility for ensuring that an internet account shared throughout a household is not being used for illegal filesharing clearly lies with the account holder."

ISP in file-sharing wi-fi hack

Ellison: Oracle Won't Be Seventh in Services [Voices]

By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Many big tech hardware makers are expanding into services. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) last year bought Electronic Data Systems; Dell (DELL) agreed last month to buy Perot Systems; and Xerox (XRX) cut a deal for Affiliated Computer Services, also last month.

Software giant Oracle (ORCL), however, is expanding into hardware, and has no interest in buying a services company, said Chief Executive Larry Ellison at an event for financial analysts on Thursday.

“We are really brilliant or we’re idiots,” Ellison said of his company’s $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA), a deal that is currently being held up by European antitrust regulators.

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New World Newsfeed: Philip Rosedale Ends Full-Time Linden Role To Start New SL-Centric Company (I Have 2 Theories)

Board Game Clue gets text messaging

Use Your iPhone To Start Your Car

Give blood via text messaging with the Red Cross

Daily Crunch: Attic Hideout Edition

How to hide that subwoofer in the corner of the room
DIY: This cabinet conceals a dark secret
Luxury wine vending machine
Observe these delicious ravioli sponges
Breaking: A six-year-old is trapped in a homemade helium balloon over Denver [UPDATE]
Amber Alert GPS device keeps kids close

MACH Today Announced the Launch of its Optimised Business Solutions

UrbanSpoon app uses augmented reality to find a decent bite

Air conditioner disguised as cartoony TV

Love this air-conditioner cover ("Tape & painted cardboard on window AC unit cover, Bushwick, Brooklyn NY") snapped by Flickr user Dbilly.

Televox (via Neatorama)


Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:50 am

Huge fanged mouth hoodies

The Discovery store has these amazing wild animal hoodies (cobra, raptor, whale, shark) whose sleeves turn into huge fanged mouths when you cross your arms. I wish they didn't just have a boy modelling these -- they are definitely unisex.

Raptor Hoodie Shirt (via Geisha Asobi)

Update: The shirts come from Mouthman, and they're modelled by boys and girls on the site! Thanks to the anonymous commenter who alerted us to this!



Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:33 am

New Executive Director at EU 'Cyber Security' Agency ENISA: Helmbrecht at the Helm

Computer-Based System To Crack Down On Casino Card Counters

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Changes in Roles of Nokia Management Team Members: Rick Simonson to Head Mobile Phones Business, Timo Ihamuotila Appointed as CFO

Impressionist Cake

Flickr user Megpi made this beautiful "impressionist cake." ZOMG.

impressionist cake (via Craft)

Le Web 2009 Is Just Around The Corner. And Yes, I’m Going.

It’s that time of year again, when the brash culture of Silicon Valley crashes into the two hour lunch European startup crowd at the Le Web conference in Paris on December 9-10. It’s chaotic and sometimes combative, but it’s also one of the best startup events in the world. And this year TechCrunch Europe is partnering with Le Web to put on a 20-company startup competition.

Yes, I’ll be attending this year, despite the fact that the audience last year voted not to invite me back after my post criticizing European startup culture. Time heals all wounds, or something.

Organizers Geraldine and Loic Le Meur talk about the conference in the never ending video below. Get your tickets here. This event always sells out, so make your plans now.

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Vampire killing kits from the 19th Century

Deanna of Collector's Quest wrote about 19th Century vampire killing kits.

These are expensive kits, made for the wealthy; not some cheap and cheesy plastic novelty items. Such luxury concedes a seriousness -- a deadly seriousness. These items were made to address deep, dark, primal fears. And then, like our fears often are, they were not thrown away but stored in equally dark and out of the way places... Antique wooden killing kits in the attics of old houses, just waiting for the day when the creatures creep from the attics of our minds.

Fascinated, I spoke with Dwight Stevens, of Stevens Auction Company, on the phone yesterday about the antique piece of vampire history.

"I don't believe in vampires -- I've never met one. But somebody believed in them, something drove people to believe... From New Orleans to Vicksburg, these old boxes remain." Stevens has sold four vampire killing kits in his 27 years as an auctioneer, most recently selling one a year ago, in Natchez, Mississippi, for $1485.

Makers 6x6 tile game

Tor has updated the tile game that accompanies the ongoing serial of my forthcoming novel Makers, which comes out at the end of the month (and boy am I excited! Publishers Weekly called it "Brilliant" and a "Tour de force" and Library Journal called it "Enthusiastically recommended").

Each installment in the serial has been accompanied by a CC-licensed image from Idiots' Books, and the images tile, lining up with one another on all four sides. Tor is tossing these images into a Flash-toy that allows you to arrange and rotate these to your heart's content.

The serial is up to 44 parts now, and the first 36 illos have been combined into a new, expanded, 6X6 version of the tile game (we'll do the 7x7 soon, then the 8x8 and finish up with a 9x9 incorporating all 81!).

Makers Tile Game 6x6

Index of Makers installments

Repository of Read-Along Adventure book-and-records

The mission of the Read-Along Adventures site is to assemble the audio and scanned pages from every Read-Along book ever created -- these were the short picture books that came with a 45RPM record that narrated them, with cues to turn the page as necessary. Where possible, the curator has recreated the Read-Alongs as Flash apps. There's even audio for the Haunted Mansion record. How lovely!

Read-Along Adventures (Thanks, TimK!)


Source: Boing Boing | 15 Oct 2009 | 11:39 pm

Best microscopic photos of the past 35 years

Wired Science rounds up the winners of the past 35 years' worth of Nikon prizes for excellence in microscopic photography. These are just stunning. Shown here: 2001: Fresh water rotifer feeding among debris (200x), Darkfield. / Harold TaylorKensworth, UK.

35 Years of the World's Best Microscope Photography (Thanks, @timoreilly!)

Toyota marketing stalks and terrorizes woman, claims she consented by doing an online personality test

Toyota marketing created some kind of ill-conceived alternate reality game whose premise was that you were being stalked by an unhinged criminal who sent you threatening emails saying that he was coming to your house, backstopped by things like MySpace profiles and even angry bills from hotels he trashed on the way, having given your name as the payment contact. A woman didn't realize that these were a marketing prank and thought she was being stalked, got scared, lived her life in fear, and then sued.

Toyota's defense? The woman had taken some online survey in which the fine print gave them permission to send her "marketing and other communications."

Duick's attorney said the marketing company went so far as to send Duick a bill for damages the fictitious man supposedly made to a hotel room...

The alleged harassment lasted five days, according to the suit, and frightened Duick so much she contacted neighbors, friends and family, and the occupant of her former home about the man she feared was coming to visit. Her attorney declined to comment as to whether or not she called the police. She even made her longtime boyfriend sleep with a club and mace next to the bed for protection...

It turns out the prank was actually part of a marketing effort executed by the Los Angeles division of global marketing agency Saatchi & Saatchi, which created the campaign to promote the Toyota Matrix, a new model launched in 2008...

Tepper, Duick's attorney, said he discussed the campaign with Toyota's attorneys earlier this year, and they said the "opting in" Harp referred to was done when Duick's friend e-mailed her a "personality test" that contained a link to an "indecipherable" written statement that Toyota used as a form of consent from Duick.

Tepper, said that during those legal negotiations, Toyota's lawyers claimed Duick signed the written legal agreement, which they said amounts to "informed written consent."

Woman Sues Toyota Over 'Terrifying' Prank (via /.)


Source: Boing Boing | 15 Oct 2009 | 11:32 pm

Wal-Mart offers new books for $10

Source: Gizmodo | 15 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm

Central Bank of India Debuts Gift and Virtual Cards To Ease Holiday Gifting

Twitter launches Japanese mobile site

Source: Gizmodo | 15 Oct 2009 | 10:20 pm

Digg Acquires Kevin Rose Side Project WeFollow

Digg founder Kevin Rose launched a side project called WeFollow, a Twitter directory, earlier this year. Twitter users can go to the site and add themselves under a specific category. Without much in the way of marketing, the site has grown to 654,000 Twitter users, all of which went to the site and added themselves. And now, someone with knowledge of the deal tells us, Rose has transferred WeFollow ownership to Digg.

This wasn’t exactly an acquisition, though, because Digg didn’t pay anything for the site. “The data became very useful for Digg,” says our source, and it was awkward keeping it outside of the company.

Digg has long been planning to launch a more real time version of the site, and we’ve speculated that Digg will soon surface new top stories based at least partially on stuff becoming popular on Twitter and other similar services. WeFollow gives Digg data on who the top Twitter users are for various categories.

WeFollow Relaunch:

WeFollow is also changing the way it ranks users. Currently it’s based only on total follower counts on Twitter. In the next day or so, though, WeFollow will change its algorithm and give more weight to users who tag themselves properly, and then have followers who have also tagged themselves similarly. For examply, if TechCrunch is tagged “startups” and a lot of people following TechCrunch have also tagged themselves startups, that gives a lot more weight to our account in that category. This goal is to reduce spam and give better data.

Below are screenshots of the new, yet to be launched service. The top shows the SEO tag by number of followers, the current way WeFollow ranks users. The bottom shows ranking by influence. Matt Cutts jumps to the top of the list, even though he’s only no. 8 in overall followers.

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

IBM sees better profit despite tech sales slump (AP)

AP - IBM Corp. is a rare example of a company that has kept boosting profit and jacking up its guidance even as the recession has sapped its sales.

Google ready to open wallet again after stellar 3Q

Source: Gizmodo | 15 Oct 2009 | 9:20 pm

Australian Student Balloon Rises 100,000 Feet, With a Digital Camera

hype7 writes "An Australian student at Deakin University had a fascinating idea for a final project — to send a balloon up 100,000ft (~30,000 metres) into the stratosphere with a digital camera attached. The university was supportive, and the project took shape. Although there were some serious hitches along the way, the project was successful, and he managed to retrieve the balloon — with the pictures. What's really amazing is that the total cost was so low; the most expensive part was buying the helium gas for approximately AUD$250 (~USD$200)."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Gizmodo | 15 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

When In Doubt Throw A Party, And Turn PR Up To 11

Something is up at MySpace. Everything was quiet for a long while as they went through executive turnover and mass layoffs. But suddenly they are back seeking the limelight.

CEO Owen Van Natta is making his first public interview next week at the Web 2.0 Summit. The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by the same parent company as MySpace (News Corp.) wrote a glowing if somewhat vague turnaround story on MySpace today titled “MySpace Tries to Recover Its Cool.” And, of course, MySpace is throwing a party. Van Natta sent an email to Silicon Valley tech and entertainment press inviting them to a “secret show” concert next week right after he’s interviewed, with the exact venue and band to be announced the day before.

Parties to cover bad (or vague) news aren’t a new thing for MySpace – they threw one earlier this year in Europe right as European operations were being decimated.

The odd WSJ article, which disclosed the sister-company conflict of interest nine paragraphs into the article, seems to be saying that MySpace will focus on social networking around content as a way to win. In a sentence that appears to be directly from a press release, the article says: “In a strategy shift, MySpace is striving to become an online hangout for people to connect with friends over entertainment content, whether it’s the new Pearl Jam album, blogs from celebrities like British pop singer Lily Allen or a karaoke contest for the Fox musical comedy “Glee.”" The article also quotes Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn: “This is not an all-things-for-everybody portal…This is a social entertainment experience.”

And those page view declines? The WSJ article notes that U.S. unique visitors are down 15% year over year. But the article doesn’t note the much more serious decline in page views. U.S. page views were nearly cut in half, from 40 billion to 22 billion per month from September 2008 to September 2009 (Comscore). Worldwide, page views dropped from 44 billion to 27 billion per month during that same period, a 39% drop. MySpace has lost 13 million unique monthly visitors since April alone, when Van Natta began his tenure.

And while the article says MySpace revenue will likely fall this year, they don’t mention the revenue cliff the company faces next June, when $300 million/year in Google welfare money dries up. At that point, there’s no way MySpace will continue to be profitable unless even more serious layoffs are made. I wonder if Van Natta will talk about that on stage next week. I’m guessing not.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:39 pm

The Churchill Club: A Conversation With Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg

I’m here at the Palo Alto Research Center, where the Churchill Club is hosting an interview with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer. Altimeter Group Founder Charlene Li is moderating the discussion. Below, I’ll be taking liveblogging my notes throughout the interview.

Q: What does Facebook mean to you personally? What are your favorite things to do? How much do you use it?
A: I use it a lot. Have used it since before I joined Facebook. Back in college I had a ‘little sis’ though a mentorship program (she was in elementary school). I couldn’t find her later on when I tried to find her. But earlier this year I got a message from a girl asking “Are you the Sheryl Sandberg”. And it was her. I’m on Facebook several times a day. It’s open all day. I stay in touch with the girls I grew up with, and the people I know now, through work and outside of work.

Q: Any favorite apps?
A: I’ve tried sowing a farm. It didn’t work for me… I got lazy and bought the stuff for $5. But there’s a lot of things that I’ve used. I’m pretty active on causes.

Q: Any feature you’ve really liked?
A: One of the things that’s helped me the most is the friend list, being able to segment your friends into lists is very helpful.

Q: What would you like to see personally that would make your experience better?
A: More applications that would integrate the things that I do every day.

Q: What do you see as new ways that people use Facebook?
A: There were two girls in Australia who got caught in a storm drain. They updated their Facebook status, and they got rescued. We are not emergency services.. I suggest you call 911. We see lots of use cases. People have found bone marrow transplants for their children. People have found long lost relatives. There’s lots of recruiting. We are trying to be a platform. We don’t pretend we should prescribe what people should share. We want to help people connect with who they want to connect with, and share with whomever they want to share.

Q: I’m getting so many invitations. What about Facebook burnout
A: it can get overwhelming. We offer lots of tools. I think people are uncomfortable with hitting ‘ignore’. I think it’s ok to hit Yes/No for things, to tell an application to stop sending you messages. My homepage on Facebook is now a very small group of my friends (segmented using friends lists).

Q: How do you see businesses using things like Facebook Pages?
A: Pages are for businesses the same way Profiles are for people. They are exploding. 10 million people fan pages every day. Starbucks has the number one fan page. 4.5 million today. Sprinkles, the cupcake store does a word of the day (get a free cupcake if you know it). People use pages to update, do special permissions. More of what you see is authentic communication. Papa John’s pizza — Papa John himself posts. He came to Facebook, took a picture with Mark. We’re seeing increasingly authentic engagement from people who run businesses.

Q: Lets talk about engagement in posting vs. dialog. Seems like companies just push, don’t talk back.
A: It’s a tool. Some people use better than others. The best use cases are companies that post frequently enough that there’s new info on the page, but not so that it’s too much. And they watch their page to see what people say. Virgin America asking people what their route should be.

Q: Do you think most of the advertisers get this.
A: I think some do. Some are coming along. They get it more than they used to. We were meeting with a CMO of a very important company that does lots of advertising. They asked about best practices. We said you should post frequently — you don’t just spend lots of time upfront. With us, spend half an hour a day, and do it frequently. He said, if we have a 12 day approval process to get something up online, is that a problem. We said it was. When I first took the job I was meting with a head of a movie studio. He said that it used to be, if you have a bad movie, you had that weekend with people seeing it — it wasn’t til the second weekend that they stopped. Now they find out it’s bad the same day, they don’t go to the second showing. I think their processes are changing. We’re working with almost all the top 100 advertisers in the country, and increasingly in the world.

Q: How on Earth do you measure this, to help them figure out what they’re getting?
A: We just announced a partnership with Nielsen — Polls. One example with Sony,a movie they were releasing.. We did studies of people who had seen the ad. If they had seen the ad they were 87% more likely to see the movie. It’s important that Nielsen is well respected and a third party.

Q: Are there some basic mistakes you see?
A: Businesses sometimes try too much. This is about very authentic communication. More and more, people are saying they want comments, so they we know about them and can address them. On the Internet, brands can’t perfetly control themselves, they have to work to create an authentic community.

Q: Is the real value the broad reach or the engagement?
A: I think it’s both. I think it’s unusual in the second category. There are other places you can get reach (Yahoo). We have engagement. We are by far the top place people spend the most amount of time on the web. The engagement is two way. When you buy ads on most parts of the web, it’s the same old communication style. Our ads are entirely different. You can engage with our ads. When the Internet came out, everyone thought it was going to change marketing. What happened is that people kept the one way communication (tv ad-> banner). Now you can do interactive ads.

Q: Give me an example? Lots of them operatite just like banner ads.
A: If you look at our homepage ads, you can leave comment, fan a page. When you take any of those actions, a lot of other ads are taking on those properties.

Q: Let’s talk about targeting. There’s so much data on Facebook. In terms of privacy how do you balance, avoid big brother feeling.
A: Privacy is never about balance. It’s an absolute. If you ask why is our usage exploding compared to everything else. We think it’s because we made it really safe. One of the things Mark said when I first met him. He told me how many people put their cell phone numbers on Facebook. Facebook is that safe. We take user privacy as the most important thing we do. We let advertisers target in a non-personally identifiable way.

Q: implications of revenue coming in. You just announced you’re cash-flow positive. You really sped things up. What happened?
A: We’re growing our users, and our ad products have improved tremendously. Our homepage ads with those engagement features are new and really working. Our adspace ads, the targeting is getting better, and people are using them more as they learn how to use them. We are trying to offer new kind of advertising in this market. And in this economy advertisers are looking for the most value.

Q: Social networks in general have reputation of ads not being that good. What was it about your ads that are so effective?
A: We think it’s interactivity and the ability to target. I don’t think people dislike ads, I think they dislike untargeted irrelevant ads.

Q:Want to talk about a new product Facebook Lite.
A: The Lite site is something I think says a lot about our approach to building products. Facebook is feature heavy. Can take a while to load we want to make it faster. If you are in a country with slow bandwidth, it is tough to use. We said we see ourselves as hacker culture — took a small team 4-5 people. Rather than take features out, we’ll rebuild it and only put features in. We made a whole new site. It’s not broadly used in the US. We’re seeing how this works. Adding features in as they get fast enough. Gives all of us a bar for how quickly things should load.

Q: Let’s talk about the culture. Describe the culture. How did you find yourself coming into this?
A: I think that’s Facebook’s strength. We’re a product driven company driven by extraordinary tech visionary. Mark has a very clear vision of what connectivity is, what a platform means, how a product should evolve to enable people to share. We say we want to be a great place for engineers to work, and sales, and biz dev. But we think that starts with being great place for engineers to work. We start from the product.

Q: What’s it like running a company full of engineers?
A: I sit in the middle of the engineering pit, with Mark. I think the fundamental thing you understand is that you don’t manage these people. Mark and I don’t run Facebook. We lead. But it’s run by the people who work there. We’re all aligned the culture of shipping products, getting them into the ecosystem.

Q: You talk a little bit about shocking people. You do things (news feed, other big new things) and get away with it. How do you check yourself if you’ve gone to far.
A: Mark would say the risk is we don’t do enough. The risk is that you have one big innovation, become risk averse and stop evolving. Our product looks very different than what it used to look like. With each opening up, because that’s what you see (college, open to the world, news feed, open to platform, opening to websites w/ Connect) all of these make it more open, all of these come with difficulties. What we’re trying to avoid getting scared and stopping putting out a better product. We know we watch usage. People protested news feed, but they used it more. We know we’re not doing the right thing when users/engagement stop growing.

Q: Talk about you say Facebook is trying to be as open as possible. Some criticisms are that it is a closed platform. Doesn’t have open standards, pretty locked down.
A: We want to make it open for everyone to share their information with who they want to share it with. We believe people own their data. We are a closed ecosystem — we don’t let people export their data, or let third parties do it. We do let users spread their data. You can share data with external app. We have to be tight in how we control the system to protect the privacy of our users.

Q: You say it’s for the users. People outside, everyone else. Says we’re all working together on open standards. And there’s Facebook over there. You say it’s privacy, but still, do you see these coming togehter.
A: We are making it more and more open. Facebook Connect lets you use your friends on other sites, it’s more open. Can go to ABC and take your Facebook identity with you. We have 15k Connect partners. When you talk about that competitve landscape, we are the only company among (Twitter, Microsoft google) that has privacy info to protect (my note: huh?).

Q: Talk about Google’s stealth social network. They have OpenID. define relationships through contact list, Google Talk list. Google calendar. I use Google Voice. They have sidewiki, that extends those features to any page. Different connect in that you have to get publisher to do it with that. Google can’t do a frontal assault on you, but they can come from the side.
A: Our fundamental view of the world is that the web is evolving. Goes from an anonymous identity on the web to your real identity. We think we’ve led that, but no surprise that other people are doing it, imitation highest form of flattery. We think it’s good taht there are other people evolving the social web. We believe that if we continue to iterate on the products, and stay ahead technologically, we can provide most value to users. Google has lots of different products you use that are only teid together through your Google login. We have a unified product and we’re spreading. In terms of what is the social web, we think we have the deepest understanding of it, and our product evolution shows that.

Q: Let’s talk about the future of the social web. In the future everything is much more social. We’re going to look back 5-10 years ago, and think remember when we had to go to Facebook to be social. What does it look like in the future.
A: I agree. We think people will increasingly be comfortable using their real identify. Experiences will be more personal and much faster. Think you’ll interact with Facebook rom a kiosk in the store, share it on Facebook from there. Can share from wherever you are.

Q: Twitter. Constant comparision. Do you use twitter?
A: I’ve tried it. I don’t use it very frequently. 2-3 tweets up ever. For me, I use it because I’m not trying to broadcast to the world. We think Twitter is important, a great product. We think world is moving towards realtime. Long time ago when we launched status updates people wondered why you would tell what you were doing. Now obvious. We think there will be many more products like this out there. We watch engagement. 40 million status updates a day on Facebook. We want that to continue to grow.

Q: Is twitter complimentary or competitive?
A: There are products out there by both companies that integrate. What I believe is that Twitter is part of the same movement we are part of. They have a different approach. Fundamentally based on anonymity and broadcasting. Ours is identity and sharing.

Q: Some people would say Facebook is chasing Twitter. (Public –> Private)
A: We watch how people use products on the web. Twitter did show there are people who want more open privacy settings. Was something we were working on, they showed people used it. Fundamentally we think there are going to be 3 other things like it. Like us, like it. Letting people share more information with each other.

Q: People haven’t been able to log in for a week and a half. Saying Facebook’s communication has been inadequate.
A: 150k accounts had an issue. Resolved in a week and a half> I think it was too slow. We’d like to do beter. The data was fully recovered, got them back up and running.

A: What google ads are. they’re direct response marketing. ou take people from awareness of your product down through purchase. What google does very well is the bottom part of the funnel where you know what you want, help you find it. It’s not demand generation, it’s demand fulfillment. Everyone needs to get customers. that’s why 90% of marketing is demand generation. We’re playing in that demand generation area. Top 90% of the funnel.

Q:Any secrets for helping expose brand to users on fb? I’m finding myself suggesting an ad buy to get people.
A: I think most people do start with something to push the product make people aware you’re there. You either have to get individuals to push to friends. Or do an ad buy. We see both work.

Q:I’m amazing by FB’s use in international world. There’s talk about next billion users being cell phones, bandwidth. Lots of people with only voice calls and SMS. Are these things you are looking at? What you have is not just a website, it’s social media. There’s other ways to express that.
A: We want everyone to use Facebook. We’re well aware there are ~1billion people without access to websites. We have increasing number of users who have only accessed fb from mobile phone.

Q: We’ve seen lots of people try to convert customers through wallets. Can you talk about FB wallet?
A: We believe in the platform we have. We don’t start with making money on the platform, we wanted power of having world develop for us. 250 apps with > 1 million users. Common question is how do you make money from this. People develop into our pages, we put ads on those pages. We aren’t in the wallet businesses.

Q: You have no future plans for payments?
A: We do have a credit system where you can use Facebook credits. we’re testing that with some devs. Something we’re interested in exploring, but it’s not why we did Platform.

Q: Seems like enterprise is a big market. Where are you in thinking about all these bad IT apps. FB would be a much better central piece.
A: Great question. Companies are doing this now that aren’t failing.

Q: Question about communication, skype.
A: We launched chat. Haven’t done calling or video. How we’ll prioritize is something we’ll do looking forward, no plan right now. We’re interested in communication that is many to many. When I publish something into the stream, the wall, sharing with many so less social. We could make more social by including more people. Not high on priority list, but we’d love to do it.

Q: What are challenges as COO with product so iterative?
A: One of challenges we face is that we’re moving fast. Was meeting with company we were thinking about deal with. Finally CEO of that company and I realized their team has 12 month roadmap/product cycle, we can’t tell you what our product will look like in six months.

Q: You want us to spend more time, but we really have finite amount of tiem to spend.
A: Time spent isn’t a core metric we’re focused on. We’re focused number of users, and engagement — how many people back once a day. We’re at 300 million users, 50% come back every day. Usually it’s early adopters who are most active. Now our newcomers are too. Also important metric is number of shares. We’re at 2 billion things shared per week.

Q: We’re FB devs. My question is authentic identity.. what do you do to authenticate not only identity but intent?
A: We authenticate you based on usage with your friends. We don’t look at what you post. If someone complains we do. Facebook only works if you are yourself. People ask how doy ou prevent against people who are fake on Facebook. I can go on. But then what, who am I going to connect with? Who is not going to hit ignore. Site is not useful if you’re not yourself.

Q: How does acquisition of FriendFeed factored in? Any future plans of acquisitions? How is founded team of FF integrated?
A: We’ve done two integration. Blake Ross’s company and FriendFeed. They’re small, they’re incredibly talented group of engineers. We are a culture of builders. This was a company in our ecosystem iterating the fastest. They were attracted for the same reason. They want to impact hundreds of millions people. People stood up and applauded as they walked around.

Q: I want to talk a little bit about leadership. What has been secret to your success of being a leader?
A: I think I’m lucky. I’ve been lucky to have these opportunities. Fundamentally people who can be great leaders have some qualities: one is a real sense of humility, you don’t lead people by thinking you’re better than them. That sincerity can’t be faked. Mark has that. He has a deep sense of where he thinks the world is going, what he thinks we can add. The other thing that really matters is ability and willingness to communicate authentically. Kids say it like it is. They will learn not to do that, but there’s something endearing about it. I don’t subscribe to honesty for honesty’s sake. Find a way to communicate authentically. Be ok with saying I dont have the answer…

Q: Talk about Mark. What’s it like working with him?
A: You go work for someone who is quite young. Need a close partnership. We were explicit about how to do that, we spent a lot of time together before I joined. We agreed we were going to sit together. We do first meeting monday morning, and a meeting friday. Give feedback every week. More and more we can finish each other’s sentences. He’s someone I really learn from. He is good at asking, “why not?” Worst thing about working with him is he accidentally reminds me how old I am. I was saying I am going to my business school reunion, I was asking when his reunion would be.. He asked me when mid-life crises happen?

Q: How do you balance having two young kids, work/life challenge?
A: You’re very active too, you’re posting a lot and have kids. I think this is hugely important, I think we need to keep more people in the workforce. Most of the women from our class aren’t working. 15% of C level execs in the country are women. 10 years ago it was 7%. It’s not fast enough. I think not enough women are staying in the workforce. I’m passionate about telling women you can do both. I don’t say you can have it all. But I’m glad I get to work, and I’m glad I’m raising kids. I think we’ve made more progress in workplace than in the home. Women still working a lot in the home when husband/wife are both working. So it’s like they have two jobs.I think most important thing we can do is change the home, and that is really hard. We need to applaud men for taking care of kids and we don’t do that. We need to make it more part of women’s identity to work, and less for men.

Q: You used to have a big focus on apps. Now more on FB connect, FB Fund/FB Rev. Coming year how you will deal with third parties.
A: We’re very focused on everyone. We have platform where you can build, put apps on Facebook.com, or you can have your own website. We recognize there are people building for Facebook who don’t have website.

Q: You talk about the evolution of Twitter/Facebook. What is your view on traditional media in the next five years?
A: They provide editorially verified news. My fear about local news going out of business. Who is going to cover the school board? I’m a big believer in this. We have challenge of getting quality of information out of WSJ and provide to citizens. The ways in which it is monetized and written is going to be different.

Q: What kind of impact, 10-20 years, Facebook and all the people in this room will have. How will it be better? What do need to do?
A: I have a sense of gratitude that I get to work in Tech. I can write like 3 lines of code. I feel lucky to be sitting in this room, where there is so much history. My son thinks the world has Tivo, that it’s on demand everywhere. We’ve made his world that much more driven by him. The things we haven’t invented today, my kids aren’t going to understand the world without. They’re going to make it harder for the moral atrocities that go on today to continue.

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

Source: Gizmodo | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:10 pm

Oracle envisions rosy life with Sun (Reuters)

Reuters - Oracle Corp CEO Larry Ellison talked up his company's prospects after a planned purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc, saying he hopes the deal will help more than double revenue within five years.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:08 pm

Yup, the Acer Aspire One AOD250 dual boots Windows XP and Android, all right

Oh, netbooks. Doug loves ‘em, but I’m still not convinced of their vitalness. Is it neat to see a tiny little computer zip around the Internet? Sure, yeah. Can I go about my business without ever having owned one? So far, so good! I bring this up because yesterday I was able to goof around—in truth, that’s probably the most accurate phrase to describe it, no matter how silly it sounds—with Acer’s newest netbook, the Aspire One AOD250 ($350, available now, rumored for the past 700 years). It’s a netbook; it doesn’t look too different from netbooks you’ve already seen, but for one difference: see that little switch right there? That’s where you tell the netbook to boot into Android or Windows XP.

That’s right: this netbook is able to dual-boot, and pretty easily, too. (Though I’m sure it’s just a matter of putting a couple of ISOs on a flash drive to configure any netbook to dual-boot, but I somehow doubt Joe Sixpack has any interest in doing such a thing.) It’s not hard to figure out why Acer would do this: netbooks, for better or worse, are where consumers’ money is going these days, and despite the fact that margins there are still pretty tight—really, how much profit can you expect when you’re selling these things for $300?—Acer has to follow the crowd. Can’t let other companies hog all the fun, right?

So throw XP and Android on it. That way, you’ve got an operating system that was designed from the ground-up to be gentle on devices with very little horsepower, and another operating system where people can “surf the Internet,” that is, fire up Internet Explorer and buy movie tickets from that one Web site. You know, because no other browser, let alone operating system, can work in the Internet. (Is is just me, or do you still know people who, despite the fact that computers have been pretty accessible since the mid-1990s, are still like, “What’s a URL? Oh, you mean the words I type to read my Hotmail?”)

In having both XP and Android on the netbook, Acer can say, “Hey there, person who’s money we’d like! Did you know that with our notebook you can use an OS that excels on netbooks, and have your Windows, too? And all you have to do is press this button, et voilà!”

Presumably Acer has a marketing team that’s a little more clever than that.

How does the AOD250 feel? Frankly, like every other netbook out there. That may be fine if you have small hands, or are comfortable with working in small spaces, but if you’re a Big Guy, it’s not exactly ideal to smash your wrists together trying to poke out an e-mail or tweet. Another weird point: we’re pretty used to seeing Android on touchscreen devices, and interacting with it as such. This Acer netbook, though, doesn’t have a touchscreen. Now, I’m cool with that—the Zune HD is my very first touchscreen device, and I’m still getting used to it, several weeks after having given the nice man at Wal-Mart my money—but I can almost hear some of you yelling “Lame!!!” Calm down, sirs, it really isn’t a big deal.

Specs? Again, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse here, but you read about one netbook… It’s got a 10.1-inch screen, 160GB hard drive (not a flash drive, just to clear that up), 1GB of memory, built-in 802.11b/g and Bluetooth, three USB ports, and a multi-touch touchpad. An Intel Atom N80 powers the whole thing. That should be enough to run Windows XP, right? I mean, XP is an 8-year-old OS at this point!

So, netbookers, I ask you this: yea or nay? I feel as thought I’ve completely skipped out on the netbook fun, and don’t really have as personal reaction to this as I normally like.

Source: Gizmodo | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:40 pm

How to hide that subwoofer in the corner of the room

Keeping your home theater (or “living room” as my wife calls it,) clean and uncluttered can be a real pain if you have a decent sound system. Sure, there’s the obvious “run the wires under the floor” trick, but what do you do with the elephant subwoofer in the corner? It’s big, it’s ugly, and it’s absolutely necessary for a decent system.

So here’s a few ideas on how to set things up so it won’t be quite so obtrusive. To some custom installers, this will be old hat but to mere mortals like myself. The suggestions actually come from Sound And Vision magazine, and they sound (if you’ll pardon the pun) quite reasonable.

They suggest either downsizing the woofer (since technology makes it not quite so necessary to have a 20inch woofer in your house anymore), or installing it in the floor, ceiling, or under the couch. There’s also the option of custom cabinetry, if you are feeling really ambitious. Someone needing a really large bass system may decide to go with the ‘false wall’ method, which involves using fabric to conceal the subwoofer at the front of the room. If you’re at that point, though, you’re probably a bit more hardcore than someone who’d be turning to a magazine for DIY tips.

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:30 pm

DIY: This cabinet conceals a dark secret

Well, maybe not a dark secret. It’s actually pretty cool. Carpenter Brian Grabski needed a place to hide… something… and built an exceptional concealment method into this custom bookcase.

To open the compartment, you first open all the drawers at once, and a pin pops out of a concealed location. You then turn the pin, which activates the mechanism, and opens the secret compartment. Now personally, I went with the briefcase stuffed under the bed to hide my porn. It was portable, and more or less secure for the casual snoop. This is way more serious than I ever was about it. And really, much cooler.

[Via Make]

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:15 pm

A barcode scanner and a 4-wheeler dirt racing game: iPhone apps of the week - CNET News

Ars Technica

A barcode scanner and a 4-wheeler dirt racing game: iPhone apps of the week CNET News Do you have a "Jailbroken" iPhone? Ever since the iPhone first came on the scene, there has been a large group of users who believe Apple tries too hard to control what works and what doesn't on the iPhone. ... The In-App Purchase Shakeup Begins: Boxcar Goes Free!Washington Post Apple Allows In-App Purchases in Free iPhone AppsWired News Adding FM to iPhone/iPod touch an easy bone to throw usersArs Technica Gamasutra -USA Today -Computerworld all 1,053 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pm

Maybe, maybe not: New doubts on Blu-ray being part of the next iMac revision

I’m not about to knock myself out for noting the 800th iMac rumor of the past few weeks, so here’s the deal: people “close” to Apple now aren’t sure whether or not Blu-ray will wind up on the next iMac revision. Blu-ray may be on Mac Pros, and maybe then only as a build-to-order option, but that’s enough “maybes” to bore a slug.

Oh, also: maybe Apple will use Intel’s new Core i7 (Clarksfield) quad-core CPUs? I can’t name too many non-power user applications that even tap into a dual-core CPU, let alone a quad-core.

And now we wait for a new rumor tomorrow that will totally and completely contradict today’s. Sigh.

Oh, I’m also contractually obligated to use the phrase “bag of hurt” when doing an Apple+Blu-ray story. This complete my obligation.

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pm

The In-App Purchase Shakeup Begins: Boxcar Goes Free!

Boxcar is easily my favorite Push Notification app on the iPhone. It’s 1.0 version was great, and it’s recently approved 2.0 version is even better. Unfortunately, some users complained because it was $2.99 to buy, but used Apple in-app purchasing system to extend its features, charging $0.99 for additional ones. So developer Jonathan George is trying something new.

Following the announcement today that Apple would now allow in-app purchases for free apps (the feature was previously only available for paid apps), George has decided to make Boxcar completely free. With this free version, you will still get 1 free service (Twitter Stream Push Notifications, Twitter Search Push Notifications, Facebook Notifications, etc), and you will be saving the $3 that you can then use towards buying other services, which will now be $1.99 per service.

George has already made the change in iTunes, and the new free price just rolled live. It will be very interesting to see how this new pricing dynamic helps or hurts developers. From a piracy perspective, this seems like a good move. And certainly, there were no shortage of developers that wished they could charge nothing for the app up front, but then charge for features or upgrades later.

Of course, there’s always the fear of “bait & switch” scams when that happens, but I would bet Apple will be watching for those closely — as if the App Store approvers needed more to worry about.

Find Boxcar in the App Store here. Yes, for free.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:59 pm

NES guitar: Now you’re playing with power, indeed

If only there were some way to hook this up to D-Pad Hero, then the circle would be complete. As it is though, it’s merely a fully functional electric guitar made from a Nintendo Entertainment System. Wait a second, that’s totally awesome.

Actually, what really needs to happen is the guitarist from The Advantage needs to rock this thing. I think I would die from a nerd overload if I saw him jam out the Castlevania theme on this thing. I met those guys at a show in Tokyo, incidentally, and they’re cool as hell.

The project is actually an updated version of an much older NES guitar, updated with Mario, Luigi, and Donkey Kong knobs and a cartridge for the headstock.

[via TecheBlog, Craziest Gadgets, and Gearfuse]

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:20 pm

Cisco, Motorola, and Other Companies Take Aim At Net Neutrality Rules

angry tapir writes "FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced last month that he would seek to develop formal rules prohibiting Internet service providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web content and applications. However, 44 companies — including Cisco Systems, Alcatel-Lucent, Corning, Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia — have sent a letter to the FCC saying new regulations could hinder the development of the Internet. A group of 18 Republican US senators have also sent a letter to Genachowski raising concerns about net neutrality regulations."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:08 pm

Cable skips iTunes synchronization foreplay and gets straight to the charging

 

Believe it or not, sometimes people just want to plug an Apple i-Device into a USB port to charge the thing without waking the sleeping giant that is iTunes. As much as I love hearing my desktop fan start up like a jet engine while iTunes slowly stumbles its way to life only to tell me that the version I downloaded yesterday now needs to be updated again via an 80+ megabyte download, it’d be nice to just charge my i-Whatsit in peace.

Yes, you can turn off the iTunes auto-open feature but what if, as OhGizmo! suggests, you’re looking to charge your iPhone on a friend’s computer real quick? Actually, if you’re at your friend’s house and it’s gotten so bad that you need to commandeer their computer just to charge your iPhone, then it’d be highly unlikely that you’d have this cable with you.

You know what? This post has already gotten out of hand. We could sit here and talk in circles all day, endlessly running scenario after scenario but the end result would be that an iPod cable with a small switch that allows you to choose between synching or simply charging your device will be of interest to some but not to others.

Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I present to you the $13 Sync Blocker Cable.

Sync Blocker USB to Dock connector cable for iPhone/iPod [USBfever.com via OhGizmo!]

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm

Ciena wins court approval for Nortel unit bid (AP)

AP - Ciena Corp. won court approval Thursday to start bidding on Nortel Network Corp.'s optical and Ethernet division with an offer valued at more than $532 million.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:56 pm

Advertisers Call for a Do-Over on FTC Blogger Rules [Voices]

By Amy Schatz, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Online advertisers joined the blogger backlash against the Federal Trade Commission’s new guidelines that require bloggers, Twitterers and others to disclose any cash or freebies they’ve received to hawk stuff online.

Noting the new guidelines have created a “firestorm of controversy within the ad-supported interactive-media industry,” Interactive Advertising Bureau President Randall Rothenberg suggested the FTC rescind the new guidelines.

“These revisions are punitive to the online world and unfairly distinguish between the same speech, based on the medium in which it is delivered,” he wrote in an open letter to the FTC on Thursday. The online-advertising trade group suggested the FTC try a do-over, after opening up the issue for discussion with bloggers and online advertisers…

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:45 pm

You know Street Fighter, but do you know… Fighting Street?

Look back on your gaming history. 90% of you will remember Street Fighter II as one of the primary games of your youth. Great game, yes? Then why did you not play the first one? Everyone asked the question, and I don’t know about you, but I never really got a decent answer. I was perusing Magweasel and I ran across this gem. How come I never heard about this? Fighting Street?!

It’s actually just the PC Engine (Turbo GraphX 16 here in the US) version of the game, but I’m shocked that I haven’t run into it in a good two decades of gaming. It’s pretty rough compared with SFII Turbo (which I still consider the gold standard for fighters, along with the first Soul Calibur), and the portraits look like they were done by the Double Dragon guy, but it’s pretty much all there. Check out this playthrough; if you haven’t seen this before, it’s a really strange feeling, a bit like watching Doki Doki Panic or a similar precursor-type game.

Man, that music is pretty hot.

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm

In-App Purchase In Free Apps: A Shot Across The Bow of iPhone Piracy?

Just hours ago, Apple made an announcement that has developers everywhere dancing down their collective, metaphorical street: In-App Purchase is now good to go in free applications. This, of course, comes just months after Apple essentially told a room full of journalists that such ideas were nonsense – that free apps should always remain absolutely free.

Still – hindsight is always 50/50, or whatever that saying is. There were really just too many advantages to allowing it to let it pass by any longer. Freemium applications! Upselling! It made In-App Purchases seem less tacky to the user! Hurray. But there’s one major factor that isn’t quite so obvious; one issue that this, to some limited extent, solves: piracy.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch >>

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

Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:23 pm

On The Call: IBM CFO on business spending (AP)

AP - IBM Corp.'s latest quarterly results pull in two directions at once. Sales were down 7 percent as corporate technology spending remained weak, but net income was up 14 percent, mostly the result of IBM's ability to wring more profit from its services and software divisions.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:21 pm

In-App Purchase In Free Apps: A Shot Across The Bow of iPhone Piracy?

Just hours ago, Apple made an announcement that has developers everywhere dancing down their collective, metaphorical street: In-App Purchase is now good to go in free applications. This, of course, comes just months after Apple essentially told a room full of journalists that such ideas were nonsense – that free apps should always remain absolutely free.

Still – hindsight is always 50/50, or whatever that saying is. There were really just too many advantages to allowing it to let it pass by any longer. Freemium applications! Upselling! It made In-App Purchases seem less tacky to the user! Hurray. But there’s one major factor that isn’t quite so obvious; one issue that this, to some limited extent, solves: piracy.

Now, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: none of us here, nor the vast majority of people reading this, are e-saints. When piracy becomes as convenient as it is today, damned near everyone pirates. Even as a developer who was raised around developers and hangs out primarily with developers, I don’t see piracy as a primary issue damning us all to a life of bread lines and soup kitchens.

That said, the statistics are quite depressing. In a post a few days ago, I mentioned that Beejive, a popular IM client for the iPhone, was seeing piracy rates as high as 80% amongst their user base. Many of the comments on that post suggested that if BeeJive was cheaper (It’s currently $9.99, but has gone for as much as $16.99 since launch), less people would pirate it. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case: we’ve talked to developers of applications pinned all across the pricing spectrum, and they’re all reporting the same 70-80% piracy rate.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on where you stand), there has been no easy way to combat this. You can code your app to check for certain key indicators that the user is running a cracked version, but that leads to false positives, angry users, and is generally just incredibly flaky. You can try to encrypt/decrypt everything on the fly after positively confirming that the user is a valid one , but that destroys performance, drains battery life, and is.. well, it’s just absurdly friggin’ ugly. Oh, and both of these methods can still be cracked, with enough effort.

So where does In-App Purchase come into all of this? Here’s the trick: while you can crack an iPhone application and throw it up for all to download in a matter of seconds, you can’t fake an In-App purchase receipt. A pretty notable chunk of the In-App purchase process is actually handled on the developer’s server, in addition to Apple’s – so unlike the initial purchase (which devs actually get to know very, very little about), developers know pretty damn well exactly which iPhones should be running which In-App Purchase. Developers have a specific receipt for each in-app purchase, which resides on their server. Faking this would be like tricking Amazon into shipping you a TV that you didn’t pay for.

By utilizing this receipt, network-centric applications like IM applications can knock piracy rates down to trivial numbers by simply shifting their model: don’t sell the user the application, sell them the service. Give them a very, very basic version of the application out of the box for free – but if they want more functionality (in this example, that would be the full version of the IM app), they need to drop a few bucks before the server will allow them access that functionality. Once the logic for who does and does not get access is all moved server side, pirating an application becomes monumentally more difficult – you’ve either gotta figure out a way to exploit the server, or reverse engineer its workings, rebuild it, and point the client that way, instead.

With all that said, there’s a flaw in this idea: once you require server-side authentication, you’re requiring network connectivity. That’s not an issue for those apps that already require connectivity to be useful, such as IM clients and a number of other genres – but for single player games, it’s just not okay to demand the user to be online every time they play. Do that, and you’re bound to upset the very, very vocal anti-DRM crowd.

Oh well – at the very least, it’s a start. Your thoughts?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:18 pm

Microsoft recovered “most” Sidekick users’ data

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers

It looks like we’re finally at the end of the great Sidekick disaster.  Well, we thought we were already at the end when T-Mobile said that the data was lost and offered users gift cards and free data for a month.  Now it looks like we’ll be able to put a bit of a happier note to the end of this tale for those users who may have lost all of their data.

Microsoft is claiming that it was able to recover “most” of the data that was lost in the recent server problems.  The data that we all assumed was lost should now be able to return to users or should sometime soon at least.  The data, including contacts, calendar entries, to dos and photos are included in all that data.  The data isn’t all available right now, but Microsoft hopes to push it all out “as soon as possible.”  Of course, this might exclude some users, as only “most” of the data was recovered.  Hopefully, those people whose data was truly lost never turned off their phone, or let it run out of battery so the RAM retained it all.

It is great news that most of the data has been recovered, especially considering the fact that T-Mobile announced it was all pretty much gone forever.  The whole deal should teach us all a valuable lesson, as well.  Even data on the cloud should be backed up locally if possible.  That way, if something unforeseeable, like say a giant corporation accidentally losing all of the information, happens, the files you need are still there for you.  It’s doubtful that many of us backup their phone data to a computer despite the option to, which we should maybe start doing.

Read [Reuters]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:12 pm

Alliance for Digital Equality to FCC: Consider Network Neutrality Regulation Effects on Minority, Low-Income Communities

New regulations could increase broadband prices, lower adoption rates ATLANTA, Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:12 pm

Apple allows in-app purchasing for free App Store apps (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - Apple has changed the rules regarding in-app purchases for App Store developers. Previously, in-app purchases were restricted to paid apps, but now developers of free applications can take advantage of in-app purchases as well. This is a welcome change, not just for developers, but for consumers as well.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:11 pm

Affordably Aggregating ISP Connections?

An anonymous reader writes "Has anyone setup a system to aggregate multiple ISP connections to form a high bandwidth site-to-site link? Load Sharing SCTP looked interesting, but it doesn't look like it has been widely adopted. Multi-Link PPP appears to be more widely supported for clients, but I can't find any good guides for setting up both sides of the connection for a site-to-site link. The hardware solutions I've found are expensive for a small business. Does anyone have experience using hardware solutions from Mushroom Networks (Virtual Leased Line, p2 of this document), Ecessa (site-to-Site Channel Bonding), or others?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pm

Here’s some info about Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony multiplayer

Not that any of you noticed, but I’ve been AFK for the past few days, so I’ve totally missed out on all the Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony videos and screenshots that have hit my inbox. I’m fixing that right now.

As the very first trailer alluded to, you’ll be able to use parachutes in multi-player. (Thank God it’s not weather balloons!) Other multi-player highlights include:

• The use of tanks and helicopters

• A bunch of new weapons with which to kill-streak your friends until they log off in utter frustration

Given that I played GTA IV’s multi-player for all of 10 minutes (not because it was bad, but I’m just more of a single-player gamer; I even prefer to solo in WoW!) I really can’t speak to these additions. Maybe if I were more social?

Moving on, this here’s another video that highlights the game’s whole nightclub/nightlife/celebrity atmosphere. That, for the record, is why I wasn’t so keen on the first GTA IV expansion. Motorcycles and whatnot just aren’t my scene, whereas I have no problem with listening to “Pjanoo” and other, similar songs over and over again.

That’s about it for Ballad news. In other Rockstar news, however, they just put a bunch of their older games in the PSN Store for all of you PSP Go owners. Games to be newly found there include Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition and Manhunt 2.

I think that ties up all the loose ends. The lesson is, never leave the house again.

Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm

Volpi and Index Smack Back at Skype Founders With Motion to Dismiss (Plus Filings!) [BoomTown]

The legal hijinks in the contentious battle over the fate of Skype got worse this afternoon, as former Joost CEO Michelangelo Volpi and Index Ventures filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the founders of Skype–Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, via Joost and Joltid–against them.

It’s yet another chess move among a group of well-known tech players, who used to work together closely and are now at odds.

In a filing in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, Volpi and the London-based Index–where Volpi now works–noted, referring to a bid Zennström and Friis made to regain control of Skype, which they sold to eBay (EBAY) years ago:

“Instead of accepting the fact that their bid failed in the marketplace, Friis and Zennström are now using inflammatory and highly-charged litigation–through companies that have no relationship to the Skype purchase–to try to achieve their personal business goals.”

Index was a small player within a group that won Skype, putting in $75 million, in a $2 billion deal that is set to close in the next few weeks.

The motion to dismiss the filing is not surprising given Joost and Joltid filed a motion for preliminary injunction against Volpi and Index yesterday.

They are asking that he not use knowledge or confidential information he got at the video start-up in current dealings with Skype.

To complicate things further, the innovative and entrepreneurial pair also own a company called Joltid, which has licensed key technology for Skype to eBay.

Joltid and eBay have already been fighting in court over that agreement, bickering back and forth about whether eBay violated the terms of that deal or not.

Via Joltid, Zennström and Friis also filed suit again against Skype and its owner, eBay, for copyright violations in the U.S.

For good measure, they added the winning buyout group, including Index, Silver Lake Partners, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

And both Joltid and Joost have also sued Volpi personally, as well as Index, making serious allegations about his behavior as Joost CEO.

Here are several key legal filings to peruse, for all you “Law & Order” types:

Motion to Dismiss _00302105_ –

Opposition to Motion For Expedition _00302104_ –

Volpi Opening Brief 10.15.09 _00302101_ –

Source: All Things Digital | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:49 pm

Announcement of Results of Cash Tender Offers and Election to Have an Early Settlement for Variable Term Voting Preferred Stock Issued by Pitney Bowes International Holdings, Inc.

STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Pitney Bowes International Holdings, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:45 pm

Twitter Expands Lists Beta Testing. A Great New Feature.

Twitter has rolled out its new Lists feature to a larger portion of its user base right now. The feature allows you to group users you follow together and then lets you share those for others to also follow.

Setting up a list is simple. Currently, the homepage features a Lists banner that allows you to start simply by clicking on the “Create a new list” button. Once you do this, an overlay appears and you just type in the list name (which Twitter then converts into a permalink along the lines of twitter.com/USERNAME/LISTNAME), and set the list to be public or private. This is obviously an important distinction as the public one, others will be able to see, while the private one will be for your eyes only.

On the right hand column of you Twitter.com homepage, you will see a new “lists” area under you bio. Clicking on this will take you to your list overview page where you can manage your own lists, as well as see other user’s public lists that you are a part of. Also, on user profile pages you will see that the users’ lists are now listed under the “Favorites” area in the right hand toolbar.

Clicking on any of these lists will take you to a stream of just the users followed by that list. Basically, this is a filter, if used the right way. This is something Twitter proper has long needed (though plenty of third party services like Brizzly have stepped in to offer it).

Unfortunately, adding people to your list is not as easy as it should be. The reason for this is that there is no user search functionality. Instead, you have to either go to your “following” page, or to that person’s profile to manually add them.

A number of third-party sites and services were granted early access to the Lists feature, and have been working with its API to integrate the functionality into their services.

Much has been made about Twitter’s Suggest User List (Disclosure: We’re on it) and how it wasn’t a fair method of user discovery. These lists will undoubtedly help alleviate a lot of that strain.

Update: Initially, I suggested this was a massive roll out, it is not. As project lead Nick Kallen says, it seems that just a lot of people I happen to know were added. My bad, sorry to excite everyone. The feature is very cool though.

Update 2: We’ve made a TechCrunch Team List if you want to follow that — which you should.

Update 3: Twitter also has a team list, which is following 108 people. That would seem to suggest that they may be over 100 employees already, which is more than they’ve stated recently. Actually, strike that, that list include non-employee contractors, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams has just informed us.

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Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:39 pm

Cyberbike’s exercise bike the most unlikely Wii peripheral ever

FROM GAMERTELL - And the award for Wii peripheral we never expected to see goes to Cyberbike and its nearly full-sized exercise bike! In January 2010, Europeans will be able to buy this biking game for their Wiis.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pm

Schmidt: “Android Adoption Is About To Explode”

During Google's third quarter earnings conference call today, one message came out loud and clear: Google's mobile strategy is starting to pay off. "Android adoption is about to explode," declared CEO Eric Schmidt, explaining that all the "necessary conditions" are set for growth: There are now 12 Android phones out there (most recently the Motorola Cliq) across 32 carriers in 26 countries. The whole Android strategy, of course, is to offer an low-cost, fully-featured, open-source OS and hand that to the cell phone manufacturers so that they can concentrate more on designing desirable hardware. And what does Google get out of all that? More mobile searches, which could be one of its biggest sources of growth in the coming years.

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:26 pm

Job Creation Definition

NEW YORK, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- There will be a pop quiz on this subject every morning throughout the rest of your life.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:22 pm

Schmidt: “Android Adoption Is About To Explode”

During Google’s third quarter earnings conference call today, one message came out loud and clear: Google’s mobile strategy is starting to pay off. “Android adoption is about to explode,” declared CEO Eric Schmidt, explaining that all the “necessary conditions” are set for growth: There are now 12 Android phones out there (most recently the Motorola Cliq) across 32 carriers in 26 countries.

The whole Android strategy, of course, is to offer an low-cost, fully-featured, open-source OS and hand that to the cell phone manufacturers so that they can concentrate more on designing desirable hardware. And what does Google get out of all that? More mobile searches, which could be one of its biggest sources of growth in the coming years.

Already, Google is teasing at what may be in store. During the call, Google executive mentioned at least three times that mobile searches on Google were up 30 percent from the second quarter. Of course, they wouldn’t say how many total mobile searches there were or what percentage of all searches they represent (probably still a very small subset), but they are very bullish about the company’s mobile prospects.

In response to a question about how material mobile searches are to Google, CFO Patrick Pichette replied:

Again, we don’t give the detail numbers. On a quarter over quarter basis, mobile searches grew 30% on Google. It tells you something about the mobile space, the smartphones, and how they are transformative. They are basically transforming how people live on a mobile basis. If we move forward the adoption of these mobile phones by lowering the cost because it is open source, think of how many searches [that will produce].

The way he put it, by making Android open source, Google is hoping to accelerate the adoption of Web-capable smartphones and get everyone searching on them. Given that most analysts expect more than 70 percent of mobile advertising to be search, you can see why Google’s CFO can’t wait to get as many search-friendly Android phones into consumers hands as possible.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:21 pm

Scientists Discover How DNA Is Folded Within the Nucleus

mikael writes "Sciencedaily.com is reporting that scientists have discovered how DNA is folded within the nucleus of a cell such that active genes remain accessible without becoming tangled. The first observation is that genes are actually stored in two locations. The first location acts as a cache where all active genes are kept. The second location is a denser storage area where inactive genes are kept. The second observation is that all genes are stored as fractal globules, which allows genes that are used together to be adjacent to each other when folded, even though they may be far apart when unfolded."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:10 pm

Apple Allows In-App Purchases in Free iPhone Apps

iPhone owners can now purchase extra content through free iPhone apps, whereas before in-app purchasing was only available in apps that cost money.

Apple on Thursday sent e-mails to developers stating in-app purchases are now permitted in free apps.

“In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps,” Apple wrote in the letter. “Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.”

Some examples of what this means: You can download a free game, and after you complete the levels, you can decide to buy more levels within the app. Or you could download a free news content app, and if you liked what you read, you can opt to pay for some exclusive premium content.

We’re surprised in-app purchases weren’t allowed in free apps in the first place. In September, Wired.com reported on a digital literary magazine called Scarab. The app cost $1, and then users are required to pay $3 per magazine issue. The problem? After paying the initial $1 for the app, it came with zero content; customers must shell out $3 for an issue without even getting to do anything with the app.

We felt Scarab should have been a free app so iPhone users could try out the interface and then decide whether they wished to purchase an issue. However, Apple did not allow in-app purchases through free apps, so the developers had to charge $1 for the app (even though they admitted to Wired.com they didn’t want to).

Apple’s change Thursday should come as good news for app developers. Offering apps for free should prove an effective marketing method to lure people into paying for more content eventually. This is the the “freemium” model, as Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson would describe it: The general idea is you get customers used to the service provided for free, so they’ll keep wanting more and eventually pay for the goods.

Will the App Store see a lot of paid apps that were offering in-app purchases convert into free apps? We’re willing to bet that’s going to happen.

See Also:

• Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
• Wired Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson on the Future of Free …
• iPhone Rhythm Game Tap Tap Revenge 3 Strutting Into App Store Soon …

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pm

Managing your reputation through search results

(Cross-posted on the Webmaster Central Blog)

A few years ago I couldn't wait to get married. Because I was in love, yeah, but more importantly, so that I could take my husband's name and people would stop getting that ridiculous picture from college as a top result when they searched for me on Google.

After a few years of working here, though, I've learned that you don't have to change your name just because it brings up some embarrassing search results. Below are some tips for "reputation management": influencing how you're perceived online, and what information is available relating to you.

Think twice

The first step in reputation management is preemptive: Think twice before putting your personal information online. Remember that although something might be appropriate for the context in which you're publishing it, search engines can make it very easy to find that information later, out of context, including by people who don't normally visit the site where you originally posted it. Translation: don't assume that just because your mom doesn't read your blog, she'll never see that post about the new tattoo you're hiding from her.

Tackle it at the source

If something you dislike has already been published, the next step is to try to remove it from the site where it's appearing. Rather than immediately contacting Google, it's important to first remove it from the site where it's being published. Google doesn't own the Internet; our search results simply reflect what's already out there on the web. Whether or not the content appears in Google's search results, people are still going to be able to access it — on the original site, through other search engines, through social networking sites, etc. — if you don't remove it from the original site. You need to tackle this at the source.

• If the content in question is on a site you own, easy — just remove it. It will naturally drop out of search results after we recrawl the page and discover the change. 
• It's also often easy to remove content from sites you don't own if you put it there, such as photos you've uploaded, or content on your profile page.
• If you can't remove something yourself, you can contact the site's webmaster and ask them to remove the content or the page in question.

After you or the site's webmaster has removed or edited the page, you can expedite the removal of that content from Google using our URL removal tool.

Proactively publish information

Sometimes, however, you may not be able to get in touch with a site's webmaster, or they may refuse to take down the content in question. For example, if someone posts a negative review of your business on a restaurant review or consumer complaint site, that site might not be willing to remove the review. If you can't get the content removed from the original site, you probably won't be able to completely remove it from Google's search results, either. Instead, you can try to reduce its visibility in the search results by proactively publishing useful, positive information about yourself or your business. If you can get stuff that you want people to see to outperform the stuff you don't want them to see, you'll be able to reduce the amount of harm that that negative or embarrassing content can do to your reputation.

You can publish or encourage positive content in a variety of ways:

• Create a Google profile. When people search for your name, Google can display a link to your Google profile in our search results and people can click through to see whatever information you choose to publish in your profile.
• If a customer writes a negative review of your business, you could ask some of your other customers who are happy with your company to give a fuller picture of your business.
• If a blogger is publishing unflattering photos of you, take some pictures you prefer and publish them in a blog post or two.
• If a newspaper wrote an article about a court case that put you in a negative light, but which was subsequently ruled in your favor, you can ask them to update the article or publish a follow-up article about your exoneration. (This last one may seem far-fetched, but believe it or not, we've gotten multiple requests from people in this situation.)

Hope these tips have been helpful! Feel free to stop by our Web Search Forum and share your own advice or stories about how you manage your reputation online.

Posted by Susan Moskwa, Webmaster Trends Analyst

Source: The Official Google Blog | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:03 pm

Ford's Social Media Guru Scott Monty: "Social Media Is the Cocaine of the Communications Industry" [BoomTown]

Today, BoomTown got the best quote ever from Scott Monty, when I asked him over lunch about his comparison of social media tools to an illicit drug.

“Social media is the cocaine of the communications industry,” said Monty, who has been global digital and multimedia communications manager for Ford Motor Company (F) since mid-2008.

Riding that Twitter train, high on Facebook cocaine?

I got him to repeat it, during a keynote interview with him at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas.

While we had some sound problems–par for the course at conferences–Monty got the attention of the crowd with the metaphor, especially after he launched into a spot-on impression of comic Bill Cosby doing a famous bit about cocaine.

All joking aside, Monty did make what was a very good point about the sometimes explosive impact of social networking media compared to the traditional kind.

Monty channeled Cosby for me again for a video interview here, in which we talk about that and also about how big companies are dealing with social media.

Here’s the video:

[ See post to watch video ]

Source: All Things Digital | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:53 pm

RIM's Vastly Improved BlackBerry Storm - BusinessWeek

Inquirer

RIM's Vastly Improved BlackBerry Storm BusinessWeek New touchscreen sensors on the Storm 2 make a huge difference in usability. Still, Apple needn't worry By Stephen H. Wildstrom Over the past few weeks, I have used about a dozen smartphones. The experience has convinced me that touchscreens will soon ... RIM Intros BlackBerry Storm 2InformationWeek BlackBerry Storm2 Announced: Five Ways It's BetterPC Magazine Blackberry Storm 2, Motorola Cliq: The Critics Weigh InPC World Fone Arena -Wall Street Journal -ITBusiness.ca all 576 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:42 pm

UPDATE: National Safe Place Launches New Safety Program 'Txt 4 Help' to Get Immediate Help to Youth in Crisis

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- National Safe Place (NSP) is launching the "Txt 4 Help" program, a 24-hour text-for-support service for youth in crisis. The "Txt 4 Help" program, announced today at a news conference in Washington D.C.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:42 pm

Sonar Software Detects Laptop User Presence

Steve Tarzia writes "A research group at Northwestern University and University of Michigan has released open-source display power-management software that uses a new user presence detection technique. The goal is to shut off the display immediately when the user leaves the computer rather than using slow and error-prone mouse/keyboard activity timeouts. Surprisingly, the mic and speakers of many laptop computers are sensitive to ultrasonic frequencies. Those frequencies can be used to silently probe the laptop's physical environment. This software is based on research published at the UbiComp2009 conference. A Windows binary and source code for Windows and Linux are available for download."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:22 pm

In-App Purchase is coming to free iPhone apps!

Yes! Previously limited to premium apps, in-app content purchase is now open to free iPhone applications. The Freemium model is now feasible on the iPhone! The following email just went out to developers:

In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.
You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.
Visit the App Store Resource Center for more details about how you can add In App Purchases to your free apps.

This is an absolutely tremendous day for iPhone developers. This is a reversal of policy for Apple; when the In-App purchase system was initially launched, Apple openly said that they wanted free apps to always be completely free. This dashed the hopes and dreams of many developers, who were banking on the idea of selling expansion packs and additional content after hooking the player with free content.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:17 pm

You have the right to broadband - in Finland

Section: Communications, Web

Finland, the land of reindeer and hockey, will soon be the land of broadband for all as well.  The Finnish government has made broadband internet action a right, not a privilege or a luxury, and says every citizen will be legally entitled to such a connection by July 2010. 

Initially, the connection will be 1 Mb but will be ramped up to 100 Mb by 2015.  This will make Finland the first country in the world to make broadband access a legal right for its citizens.  The move will hopefully move other countries to make similar laws.  France has gone so far as to declare internet action a basic human right but so far has not made it a law.

Hopefully, the U.S. will follow in Finland’s footsteps, but concerns about infrastructure and net neutrality have slowed down progress.  Granted, Finland is a tiny country, smaller than New York City, so it’s not nearly as complicated an undertaking.  Still, here in the U.S. it needs to happen.  The net is no longer a scholarly playground or a luxury.  It has infiltrated our lives and become a vital part of them. Our kids use the net to do their homework, companies rely on it, and millions of us use it to get the latest news, pay our bills, and stay in touch.  President Obama relied on it to run his campaign.  It’s become a necessity and hopefully soon, it will be a legal right for us as well. 

Read [PCWorld]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:15 pm

Balloon Thought to Carry Boy Could Have Floated Longer

Helium balloons can float for days, moving up and down, according to the temperature of the gas.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:15 pm

Rumor: Six-Core Mac Pro Lands 2010

Rumor has it that Apple’s next-generation Mac Pro will feature Intel’s elite desktop chip codenamed Gulftown, according to a blog.

Recently demonstrated by Intel, Gulftown is a six-core, dual-socket processor with 12 threads. (In normal human speak, it’s essentially a processor with six brains, capable of efficiently distributing power to execute 12 concurrent tasks.) Apple blog Hardmac claims receiving a tip that the Gulftown-equipped Mac Pro could arrive early 2010.

A highly threadable processor such as Gulftown would be most useful for prosumer applications, such as video editing and encoding. Apple’s latest operating system Snow Leopard was specially designed for efficient multithread processing.

Therefore, for regular consumers who don’t use their Macs for very processor-heavy tasks, this rumor about Gulftown won’t sound all that exciting. But inevitable price cuts for current Mac Pros, which carry quad-core processors, might be something to look forward to.

See Also:

• Apple Slows Down Mac Upgrades, in Sync With Economy
• Apple Pre-Announces Updated Mac Pro Ahead of MacWorld
• My $29889.53, 8-Core Mac Pro
• Apple Announces Tower of Power: 45nm Mac Pro
• Mac Pro Mini Puts the Mac Mini to Shame

Photo: nathangibbs/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 3:07 pm

Jailbreak-proof? Not so much

I was going to use this graphic on the original story, in which Apple modified the bootrom in new 3GSes to make them resistant to current exploits, but Greg had already written it up. But now, as Wired clarifies what was pretty much clear from the start (it only protects against the current exploit), it has found a new place to shine.

This is the great circle of mods, people. I can’t think of a single device that has been definitively protected from hacking. Although we give Apple an “B” for effort (Sony gets the “A” for its relentless PSP updates), the Sisyphean task of protecting a popular device from hackers is hardly worth pursuing any more.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 2:57 pm

CWA Calls On FCC To Include Web Cos In Internet Rule - Wall Street Journal

Ars Technica

CWA Calls On FCC To Include Web Cos In Internet Rule Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Communications Workers of America is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to include Web companies like Google Inc. (GOOG) in new Internet rules, signaling increasing ... Google Voice Stifles Nuns, AT&T ChargesPC Magazine Google vs. AT&T: Gaming the SystemBusinessWeek AT&T: Google is an evil empire that must be stoppedBetaNews CNET News -Wired News -Ars Technica all 203 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Oct 2009 | 2:55 pm

Toyota Claims Woman "Opted In" To Faux Email Stalking

An anonymous reader writes "ABC News is reporting that a California woman is suing Toyota for $10 million for sending her email that appeared to be from a criminal stalker. The woman claims the emails terrified her to the point that she suffered sleeplessness, poor work performance, etc. Toyota says the ruse was part of a marketing campaign for the Toyota Matrix. A Toyota spokesman says they are not liable for the woman's distress, because 'The person who made this claim specifically opted in, granting her permission to receive campaign emails and other communications from Toyota.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 2:37 pm

Arctic Summer Ice Could Disappear

A team of researchers report that the Arctic ice cap could be non-existent during the summer months 20 to 30 years from now.Pen Hadow led the Catlin Arctic Survey team that explored the Arctic ice cap for 73 days.The team took more than 6,000 measurements during March and May in order to reach their conclusions on the condition of the Arctic ice cap.They traveled 290 miles, beginning in northern Canada, documenting ice thickness, density and depth.Based on their observations, the team reported that the Arctic ice will become an open sea within 10 years and summer ice will disappear completely in the next 20 to 30 years."An average thickness of 1.8 meters is typical of first year ice, which is more vulnerable in the summer.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 2:15 pm

iTunes vs. doubleTwist

FROM APPLETELL - iTunes’ dominance may soon be coming to an end, and doubleTwist just may be the spark that is needed for that to happen.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 2:02 pm

Tiny Test Tube Experiment Shows Reaction Of Melting Materials At The Nano Scale

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have conducted a basic chemistry experiment in what is perhaps the world's smallest test tube, measuring a thousandth the diameter of a human hair.The nano-scale test tube is so small that a high-power electron microscope was required to see the experiment.Made from a thin shell of carbon, the test tube was stuffed with a thread-like crystal (a nanowire) of germanium with a tiny particle of gold at its tip.The researchers heated the test tube and watched as the gold melted at the end of the nanowire, much like any solid crystal heated above its melting temperature in a glass test tube."The experiment is relatively simple," said chemical engineer Brian Korgel, whose laboratory conducted it.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:58 pm

Scientists Discover Protein Receptor For Carbonation Taste

In 1767, chemist Joseph Priestley stood in his laboratory one day with an idea to help English mariners stay healthy on long ocean voyages. He infused water with carbon dioxide to create an effervescent liquid that mimicked the finest mineral waters consumed at European health spas.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:49 pm

Scientists Visualize Assembly Line Gears In Ribosomes, Cell's Protein Factory

Even as research on the ribosome, one of the cell's most basic machines, is recognized with a Nobel Prize, scientists continue to achieve new insights on the way ribosomes work.Ribosomes are factories inside cells where messages coming from genes are decoded and new proteins pieced together on an assembly line.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:41 pm

China Strangles Tor Ahead of National Day

TechReviewAl writes "Technology Review reports that the Chinese government has for the first time targeted the Tor anonymity network. In the run-up to China's National Day celebrations, the government started targeting the sites used to distribute Tor addresses and the number of users inside China dropped from tens of thousands to near zero. The move is part of a broader trend that involves governments launching censorship crackdowns around key dates. The good news is that many Tor users quickly found a way around the attack, distributing 'bridge' addresses via IM and Twitter."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:41 pm

Wi-Fi Direct is gearing up to give Bluetooth a major run for its money

Section: Audio, Video, Content, Communications, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications, Wireless, Gaming, Imaging

Rumors of the coming Wi-Fi Direct are out and I’m sure it’s got the Bluetooth makers shaking in their boots.  With Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth may no longer be top dog.

Just announced at a consortium, some of the biggest players in the tech field are coming together to form an alliance to bring Wi-Fi connectivity to the public without all the hassle so often encountered now.  Intel, Apple, Cisco Systems and over 300 other tech companies are all joining up to develop and distribute technology that will turn just about any gadget into an access point that can connect with any other Wi-Fi enabled gadget within around 300 feet. 

Just think—phones, computers, gaming systems, TVs - all able to communicate together.  If you happen to own an existing Wi-Fi enabled device, you will still be able to make use of the new Direct technology by simply downloading some software.

This is what is probably going to make the Bluetooth folks a little nervous.  Now they finally have some competition and while Wi-Fi can go through your battery life more quickly than Bluetooth tends to, it has its upside in speed and a richer multimedia content.

Beyond the obvious use on cellphones, TVs implementing it are probably going to become commonplace.  Chipmaker Marvell is already in pow-wows with TV makers.  Although not many offer this technology currently, several are now thinking about adding the feature so that users can do things like transferring video and photos right onto their TV screens from cameras, camcorders and laptops.

What is also cool when you think about this technology is the fact there are so many ways it is going to be able to be used.  We hear that the technology is supposed to be able to connect both one-on-one and in a group and will come with built in WPA2 technology to keep those nasties at bay. 

Set to launch sometime mid-2010, this is something I’m definitely looking forward to seeing come to play.

Read: [businessweek]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:31 pm

The Food-Energy Cellular Connection Revealed

Metabolic master switch sets the biological clock in body tissuesOur body's activity levels fall and rise to the beat of our internal drums—the 24-hour cycles that govern fundamental physiological functions, from sleeping and feeding patterns to the energy available to our cells.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:30 pm

ID3 Provides Career Counseling For Blood Progenitors, Driving The Creation Of Gamma-Delta T Cells

Fox Chase researchers uncover process that determines the fate of white blood cellsLike an unusually forceful career counselor, the Id3 protein decides the fate of a given white blood cell precursor, according to researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pm

Scientists Give Flies False Memories

By directly manipulating the activity of individual neurons, scientists have given flies memories of a bad experience they never really had, according to a report in the October 16th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication."Flies have the ability to learn, but the circuits that instruct memory formation were unknown," said Gero Miesenböck of the University of Oxford.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm

Space Probe Hints at Moon Water Source

Findings from India's space probe bolster a theory of how water arrived on the moon.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm

MS Says All Sidekick Data Recovered, But Damage Done

nandemoari writes "T-Mobile is taking a huge financial hit in the fallout over the Sidekick data loss. But Microsoft, which bears at least part of the responsibility for the mistake, is paying the price with its reputation. As reported earlier this week, the phone network had to admit that some users' data had been permanently lost due to a problem with a server run by Microsoft-owned company Danger. The handset works by storing data such as contacts and appointments on a remote computer rather than on the phone itself. BBC news reports today that Microsoft has in fact recovered all data, but a minority are still affected (out of 1 million subscribers). Amidst this, Microsoft appears not to have suffered any financial damage. However, it seems certain that its relationship with T-Mobile will have taken a major knock. The software giant is also the target of some very bad publicity as critics question how on earth it failed to put in place adequate back-ups of the data. That could seriously damage the potential success of the firm's other 'cloud computing' plans, such as web-only editions of Office."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:58 pm

Powerhouses In The Cell Dismantled

Flemish technology at VIB: Ghent University creates revolution in protein researchAll of life is founded on the interactions of millions of proteins. These are the building blocks for cells and form the molecular mechanisms of life.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:56 pm

HTC submits trademark application for new catchphrase: Quietly Brilliant

HTC, formerly known as High Tech Computer Corporation, has become quite a household name over the past couple years, what with all its high profile WinMo and Android-powered phones saturating the global mobilesphere.

It comes as no surprise, then, that HTC has decided to update its company catchphrase from the old ‘ HTC Innovation’ to a new, better representation of its quick rise to the top: HTC Quietly Brilliant. That’s right folks. HTC. Quietly. Brilliant. Bam.

HTC has already put the new logo/phrase on its website (in green!) and has submitted a trademark application to the USPTO to make things legit.

[via WMPoweruser]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:51 pm

It’s finally coming: The long-awaited social networking on XBox 360

Section: Audio, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Gaming, Console, Miscellaneous, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Online Music/Video

Well, we had gotten the early scoop quite a while ago, that Facebook was coming to an XBox 360 near you.  Unfortunately, it didn’t happen when Microsoft was first hinting that it would…way back in August.  It’s the “Big 3” apps scheduled to make their debut soon - Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm.  The apps are now supposed to hit in “a Fall release,” with the company saying sometime in November.  Although even when pressed, they wouldn’t commit to a firm date.

If you are among the select group of beta tester users, you can try it out ahead of time (sign up here).  What they’ve got going so far is cool, though not as extensive as the desktop versions.  This was kind of expected in some ways though, when you consider that they have to plug three rather major web apps into a system that doesn’t have a web browser, let alone a mouse or a keyboard. Instead, users have either the on-screen keyboard or the attached USB keyboard, and the 360 controller.  You can also opt to buy the Chat Pad for around $30 if you like.

Obviously the lack of a browser affects the use of the apps.  I mean, when you go onto Facebook, or Twitter, you tend to click on stuff right?  Can’t do it here.  No browser equals no links. 

So what does each app on the 360 consist of?  What can you do? 

Facebook

Well, let’s start with Facebook.  One thing XBox 360 users are probably going to use this for is to connect with other gaming friends to give status updates bragging on their scores or levels they just beat.  It does that well through Facebook Connect.

Another area is allowing you to see friends’ photos quickly and easily.  You are able to check out friends’ photos in a full-screen slideshow that has some serious speed getting you the photos, just about the same as getting the shots off of a card reader.  Well, this is of course dependent on your internet connection.  Nice.  However, at this point at least, you are not able to take your own shots from a memory card and upload them to Facebook through the app.  Not so nice.

Another fun thing is the ability to find buddies who are on either Facebook or XBox Live easily with just one click.  When you are logged into the app, you have the option of adding someone in two different ways: Facebook Friends on XBox Live or vice versa.  It sounds fast and simple.  However, right now you have a limit of 100 people with whom you may be friends.  Microsoft has been hinting around though, that they just may up that limit.

Also still missing—that I hope show up eventually—are chat and videos.  It’s doubtful Microsoft is going to add chat (wanting users to keep using Windows Live Messenger), but the video portion might not be asking too much.  Ron Pessner, Microsoft general manager of XBox Live says that “We’re obviously interested in what folks have to say about the desirability of personal videos,” he said. “We’re going to be evaluating that going forward.”  Let’s hope it happens, it would be a nice touch.

Twitter

Moving on the Twitter, what can you do with this part?  Well, it looks pretty.  It is big and bright and blue.  It’s also kind of limited.  You can look at the last 50 tweets from the people you follow.  You can reply, retweet and favorite tweets.  It does also offer search and trending topics on the main page.  User themes don’t cross over though, everyone is blue.

However, again, you can’t click on any links.  And when people are only tweeting 140 characters or less, they usually include links to whatever they are talking about.  It would be nice if you could actually check them out.  While it can be a pain in the butt using a vrtual keyboard, chances are you won’t be trying to bang out War and Peace anyway in a bunch of tweets.  So, you can handle it for the brief shout-outs you will probably be using it for.  But you do want to take note of the fact that it doesn’t give you any kind of warning when you are approaching the 140 character limit, and it lets you keep typing.  Maybe they are just checking your Rainman skills.  A final part that is rather cool is that you can switch back and forth between more than one Twitter accounts from the same Live user profile, since the app isn’t tied to your XBox Live account. 

Last.fm

Moving on the music with Last.fm, lots of people seem to like it as a way to find new music.  The strange thing about the app, though, is that it doesn’t hook in with the music you have already ripped to your 360.  Once you start using the app, you are starting at square one of telling your favorite bands, although you can link to an existing Last.fm account you may already have and sync up with that.  There is also a set of “music for gamers” that Microsoft and Last.fm have created.  It has stuff like game-inspired music and game music soundtracks.

Now the not so nice, it can only run when it is the only thing running.  If you want to listen to it while you are gaming?  Ummm…no.  It also takes a tad to load, about 10-15 seconds, compared to Facebook and Twitter loading pretty much immediately.

What else?

Guess who Microsoft chose to use for their video marketplace app?  Zune.  Yep, Zune.  Pessner says they went this route rather than with the XBox Live brand because it’s “part of Microsoft’s move to put Zune across as the music and video brand.”
 

And actually, it seems to work quite well.  The video streaming is better than what is being used now for their streaming service and due to the Zune’s adaptive streaming technology, you can stream pretty much instantly.  Now, even with the older 20GB 360, you can watch HD movies without having to download them first.  You can also stream content you bought to somewhere else, like your Zune, so you don’t have to use up your hard drive space. 

So who gets to use it?

The Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm apps are only going to be available to those users with an XBox Live gold account.  Silver won’t cut it.  This is another way Microsoft is going to try to get the free members to cough up the money for an upgrade.

So, if you aren’t a gold member, would these apps make you rethink the cost to upgrade?  Are they things that make it worth it to you?  Or just some more not needed apps in your opinion?  Tell us what you think.

Read: [CNET]
Image Source: CNET

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:48 pm

New Research By UM Law Professor Analyzes Efficacy Of The FCC's Current Rules

University of Miami Law Professor Lili Levi has recently authored a research paper titled "A 'Pay or Play' Experiment to Improve Children's Educational Television."Levi's article addresses both the constitutionality and the efficacy of the FCC's current rules that effectively require broadcasters to air three hours per week of what the Commission defines as "core" children's educational programming.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:47 pm

New Essay By University Of Miami Law Professor Analyzes The Story Of A Haitian Immigrant

University of Miami Law Professor Anthony V. Alfieri has recently authored an essay titled, "Discovering Identity in Civil Procedure" that explores the story of Floride Norelus, an undocumented Haitian immigrant. The backdrop for Norelus's story comes out of Ariela J.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:43 pm

Google Translator Toolkit and minority languages

Today, we've added 285 new languages to Google Translator Toolkit, bringing the total number of languages supported by this product to 345 — and making it possible to translate between 10,664 language pairs. Google Translator Toolkit is a language translation service for professional and amateur translators that builds on Google Translate and makes translation faster and easier.

In addition, we've made the Translator Toolkit interface available in 35 languages, so that more people can access the service in their own language.

At Google, we're focusing on how Translator Toolkit can help preserve and revitalize small and minority languages. Minority languages, also called regional, indigenous, heritage or threatened languages, are languages spoken by the minority people in one locale in a sovereign state or country. Were these endangered languages to become extinct, it would mean an immeasurable loss of knowledge, culture and way of life to minority people worldwide.

For this project we worked with Dr. Te Taka Keegan, a Māori language activist and senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Waikato who spent much of his career on how technology can assist in minority language revitalization. At Google, Dr. Keegan researched how computer-aided translation tools can help preserve minority languages.

To support his research, we released an alpha version of the Translator Toolkit to various members of Māori translation community in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Māori, an Eastern Polynesian language spoken predominately in Aotearoa (New Zealand), is a good starting point because it is one world's 7,000 languages under threat of extinction. According to the 2006 census, 132,000 people can hold a conversation in Māori. That's roughly 24% of Māori or 4% of New Zealanders.

Dr. Keegan found that tools such as Translator Toolkit can help minority languages in several ways:

• Translation memories and glossaries, when shared across members of a language community, can help unify the language’s written form, increasing translation speed and quality of documents published in that language and preserving the language in the long run.
• Because computer-aided translation can improve translation speed and quality, translators become more productive. When automatic translation is available, as it is for 87 of Google Translator Toolkit's 345 languages, it increases speed further by producing instant translations that people can use as a starting point for their work. And at Google, we use these human translations to improve the translation algorithm of Google Translate over time, creating a virtuous cycle that benefits both human translators and machine translation.
• Online presence of small languages keeps languages relevant in the age of the Internet and globalization, encouraging minority language use by children, who are ultimately responsible for bringing the language to future generations.

Languages provide identity, pride, a sense of belonging and spiritual guidance to minority language communities. We hope that by giving both majority and minority language speakers around the world the tools to make online content accessible in their language, we will enable more people to share their culture and knowledge with others worldwide.

Ko te reo te hā te mauri o te Māoritanga
Language is the very life-breath of being Māori. 

(Māori)

Mak-muwekma mak-noono ya roote 'innutka, mak-'uyyaki_,
Nuhu, mak pekre ne tuuxi,
'At mak roote 'innutka hu_i_tak.
Our culture and our language are the way to our past,
From it we embrace the present,
And follow the road to the future.
(Muwekma Ohlone Indian tribe, original residents of San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties, California, the home of Google)

Posted by Michael Galvez, Product Manager, and Sanjay Bhansali, Engineering Manager

Source: The Official Google Blog | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:16 pm

Appletell reviews Scosche’s tapSTICK for iPod shuffle

FROM APPLETELL - Scosche’s tapSTICK for the iPod shuffle attempts to fix the biggest problem with Apple’s super miniature MP3 player: the controls/headphones.
MORE »

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:09 pm

Sidekick Outages Could Have Cost Microsoft Over $700,000 Per Day

Since the Great Sidekick Disaster of 2009, there’s been a nearly endless torrent of tips on the matter barraging our inbox. Some weren’t so much “tips” as they were “mindless rants”, while others were obviously just angry customers looking to make stuff up.

Recently, however, a source which has proven itself reliable in the past has come forward with some incredible new details. It seems like Microsoft had a big, big reason to get the servers in shipshape as soon as possible – and it wasn’t because they wanted to satisfy T-Mobile customers.

According to our source, Danger, makers of the Sidekick and the keepers of the keys when it comes to the Sidekick servers, has a contract with the carriers and other service partners stipulating that the Sidekick services must maintain a 99.5% up rate. The lingering 0.5% was allotted to allow downtime during Over-the-Air updates and minor glitches. When the numbers start dipping below this point, the penalties would begin racking up. When Microsoft snatched up Danger in 2008, they also took on the contractual obligations of the company.

While our source couldn’t give specific numbers for the recent outage, they could shed a light on some relative counts: during a 2005 outage, Danger was forced to shell out around $700,000 per day when the active Sidekick userbase was around 800,000 subscribers; this number, says our source, grows in relation to the number of users inconvenienced by the outage. With the Sidekick subscription base having more than doubled since, the penalties have likely grown accordingly.

It’s important to note that, as far as I’ve been told, these fees only apply when the service is “down” – that is, mostly unreachable. Now that the service has returned sans much of the data it once held, it’s unclear what (if any) penalties are accumulating.

Our source also shared a plethora of details on the perils of the Sidekick line – from management being spooked away from making changes due to these contract stipulations to server elements that were “built on spit and glue” – but that’s another post for another day.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:08 pm

False Alarm: New iPhone 3GS Not Jailbreak-Proof

Apple has reportedly begun shipping iPhone 3GS units with a new bootrom, which might help combat hacks enabling installation of unauthorized software. However, iPhone hackers say Apple’s new firmware only causes a temporary inconvenience for jailbroken devices, and the handset is still hackable.

“It’s not going to be impossible to jailbreak even if the exploit we used is gone,” said Eric McDonald, a member of the iPhone Dev-Team, which publishes tools to jailbreak the iPhone, in a phone interview with Wired.com.

McDonald explained that current tools will still work with the latest batch of iPhone 3GS units. The “24kpwn” exploit used to help jailbreak previous iPhones and iPod Touch devices only made it easier to boot up the hacked devices.

The newly shipping iPhone 3GS’s bootrom interferes with 24kpwn, but that will only make the handset difficult to start up after it shuts down. Booting up will require being “tethered” to a computer. That means if you shut down a jailbroken iPhone 3GS, or if it runs out of power, you can only turn it back on by plugging it into a computer.

In short, changing the bootrom makes owning a jailbroken iPhone even more of a hassle than it already is. However, McDonald said the Dev-Team will just have to find a new exploit to enable untethered booting once again.

Several publications on Wednesday reported Apple’s latest iPhone 3GS units came with presumably jailbreak-proof firmware. The reports were half correct: The phones do indeed ship with different firmware with a new bootrom, but they are still hackable.

McDonald compared this situation with the newest iPhone 3GS devices to the second-generation iPod Touch. Apple shipped this iPod Touch with a different bootrom from the previous version, and for a while, owners who jailbroke the device needed to tether their devices in order to boot up. Later, the iPhone Dev-Team released another exploit to enable untethered booting.

The iPhone jailbreak community emerged soon after the original iPhone launched in June 2007. Hackers discovered methods to install unauthorized third-party software on the device, as well as unlock the iPhone to work with carriers that otherwise did not serve the iPhone.

Apple wasn’t pleased. At the launch of the British iPhone in September 2007, Steve Jobs said Apple would work to suppress unlock hacks.

Apple has even suggested to the U.S. Copyright Office that jailbreaking is illegal — to no avail, as the Dev-Team has been careful to only provide patches hacking the iPhone, as opposed to copying the software, according to McDonald.

“It’s a cat-and-mouse game,” Jobs said in September 2007. “We try to stay ahead. People will try to break in, and it’s our job to stop them breaking in.”

With the latest upgrade, it appears Apple has not stopped the Dev-Team from breaking in. But for the time being, the company has made hacking new iPhones very inconvenient and perhaps impractical.

See Also:

• 6 Reasons to Jailbreak Your iPhone
• Rejected By Apple, iPhone Developers Go Underground
• iPhone Jailbreaking Could Crash Cellphone Towers, Apple Claims …
• Apple Says iPhone Jailbreaking Is Illegal

Photo: Slickmeister/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:05 pm

False Alarm: New iPhone 3GS Not Jailbreak-Proof

Several publications reported Wednesday that Apple's latest batch of iPhone 3GS units includes firmware making the device immune to jailbreaks (i.e., hacking). But iPhone hackers say that's not the case.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:05 pm

Rumor: Nokia working on a keyboard-less N920?

Don’t let today’s news of Nokia’s financial failures troubles fool you. Just because the mobile powerhouse isn’t raking in profits at the moment, doesn’t mean the Finnish giant has stopped working on future devices…at least according to Pocketables.

Unlike its soon-to-be-released sibling, the N900, the rumored N920 will supposedly be keyboard-less, but will make up for its loss with the addition of a 4.13″ capacitive touch screen display. The lack of a physical keyboard should also pave the way for a slimmer device, which is expected to share much of the rest of its components with keyboard-packin’ N900.

Does this thing really exist? Will it sport Maemo 5 or the mythical Maemo 6? At this point, your guesses are as good as ours.

[via jkOnTheRun]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:03 pm

Exclusive: Michael Jackson's Posthumous Album Will Be Sold in iTunes After All

An Apple spokesman confirms to Wired.com that iTunes will in fact sell the Michael Jackson album This Is It, settling confusion about whether Sony's insistence that the album be sold as a bundle conflicted with iTunes' general practice of selling songs as individual downloads.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:01 pm

Research In Motion Announces BlackBerry Storm 2

Research In Motion has announced an updated version of its touchscreen phone, the Storm 2. The latest BlackBerry handset promises a better display and wireless connectivity. And like its predecessor, the Storm 2 will be available on the Verizon network.

RIM launched the first Storm phone in November last year. The device met with some very harsh reviews from critics who derided the phone’s poor touchscreen, glitchy software and lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. Yet the Storm sold more than one million devices in just about two months after the launch.

With Storm 2, RIM seems to have taken note some of the criticism. Here are two things that it has improved on in the device.

• Touchscreen: The biggest criticism against the first generation Storm phone was its touchscreen. RIM claimed that the screen would offer the ‘click’  feedback of a physical keyboard but most users found the touchscreen difficult to use.  A Wall Street Journal review of the Storm 2 says the new touchscreens are better. The device now “allows for faster, smoother typing,” says the review.
• Wireless connectivity:  In a rather puzzling move, the original Storm phone didn’t support Wi-Fi. And since the Storm was billed as a smartphone, it seriously crippled the device. RIM seems to have fixed that with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity in the Storm 2.

RIM hasn’t disclosed pricing or availability for the phone. But it is likely to launch it in the U.S. next month for under $200 with a two-year contract. The Storm 2 will be available on the Vodafone network in Europe.

See Also:

• BlackBerry Storm Gets a Price Cut
• Reviled by Reviewers, BlackBerry’s Storm Rages On
• Teardown of BlackBerry Storm Reveals Device Cost
• BlackBerry Ready With a Sequel to Storm?
• RIM BlackBerry Storm

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Introducing this year's CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalists as iGoogle artists!

We're always delighted to introduce new design flair to our user experience, especially through the personal expression of iGoogle themes. As a canvas for artists to express themselves and reach Google users around the world, we've shared more than 125 iGoogle Artist themes since May 2008. Today, I'm excited to announce ten new artist themes, all from talented up-and-coming fashion designers you may not have already heard of.

Each year, Vogue and CFDA sponsor a fashion fund, created to support emerging designers. Through inspiration drawn from Google, our colors and our products, this year's ten finalists have created both incredible fashions and corresponding iGoogle themes. From the high-tech and contemporary designs of Wayne to the Google Maps-inspired work of Sophie Theallet, each of these ten new themes is a unique way to refresh your homepage's fall wardrobe.

Artist themes are one of many ways we invite talented artists and innovators to share their designs, whether world-renowned or emerging. So check out the latest Artist themes and pick one that appeals to you.


Finally, we'd like to offer our congratulations to this year's Fashion Fund finalists. We're proud to be showcasing them in our iGoogle artist themes. Based on their iGoogle themes and design entries, their talents are obvious and we're happy to see them recognized!

Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience, and Michaela Prescott, Senior Product Marketing Manager

Source: The Official Google Blog | 15 Oct 2009 | 11:40 am

Wires Inserted Into Human Brain Reveal Speech Surprise

By studying patients with epilepsy undergoing a procedure that involves running wires directly into the brain, scientists discovered that the brain's speech center is able to handle two tasks at once. If this capacity exists beyond the speech area, it introduces a staggering level of complexity into our understanding of how the brain works.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 11:15 am

Spoken teams with Microsoft to offer transcribed text voicemail service

Section: Communications, Accessories, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications

The company Spoken has announced its plans to team with Microsoft in order to offer audio to text transcriptions of voicemails.  This service will be offered to enterprise customers and will come as an enhanced option on the new Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

The service is called GotVoice and will automatically convert your audio voicemails to text.  Any type of third party voicemail service will be compatible with the program.  Options to receive the text transcriptions will include email attachments, text messages sent to your mobile or in the inbox of your GotVoice account.  The voicemails will be password protected in order to secure your privacy.  You will have the ability to adjust your settings through a secure server on the GotVoice website.

The GotVoice program is being marketed as a cheaper and more technologically advanced form of voicemail transcription.  Many programs have a live person transcribe voicemails into text.  Spoken’s GotVoice will instead use software as well as a live person for troubleshooting.  You don’t need Microsoft Exchange Server to use the service.  Business and individual accounts can be opened directly through the site.

Site: [GotVoice]

Image Source: Tech Crunch

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 11:05 am

Dell: Yes, Our Android Smartphone is Coming Stateside

Rumors have been swirling about a Dell smartphone for what feels like an eternity. Sure, the Round Rock crew managed to launch a smartie over in China at the end of the summer, but until last week, a US-bound device was still more vaporware than fact…until now.

According to TechPulse 360, two nights ago, Mr. Michael Dell himself confirmed that the heretofore custom computer manufacturer does indeed have plans to launch an Android-powered smartphone here in the United States in 2010.

As for concrete details regarding features, hardware specs, pricing, or availability (besides Android and a touch screen)…yea, there was none of that. But, at least now we’ve got confirmation straight from the horse’s boss’ mouth.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 10:13 am

BLOG: This Winter: Warmer North, Cooler South

Forecasters predict a wetter and cooler south and a drier and warmer north this winter.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 10:10 am

Arctic Ice Cap to Vanish During Summers

North Pole summers will be ice-free within 20 to 30 years, a polar research team says.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 9:50 am

Google offers updated Google Voice BlackBerry app, now at version 0.1.5.1

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

Google has recently released an updated Google Voice app for the Blackberry, which brings the app up to version 0.1.5.1 . Due to how people are really into Google Voice, this sounds like good news, but the catch here is that Google has not offered any sort of changelog along with this update.  That means it is hard to say just what if anything was added in terms of features or fixes.

That said, this is just a point release update, so I would not expect to see anything major.  Personally I updated the app on the BlackBerry Bold that we have in my house, but given that I have not used it regularly in the past, I cannot comment on any differences.

Of course, from what I was able to dig up online, it looks like version 0.1.5.1 now offers the ability to preload voicemails and that the call log and inbox seem to have a faster loading time.  There were also several reports of an improved compatibility with OS 5.0.

Unfortunately this version has not brought the one thing that most people are hoping for—better integration which will allow for better notifications of text messages, calls and voicemails.

Bottom line, this update does not seem to have given users anything major, but it still seems like a worthwhile update to apply.

Via [CrackBerry]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 9:49 am

Google Targets E-Readers With Web-Based 'Editions'

Google plans to launch an online store to deliver electronic books to any device with a Web browser, threatening to upset a burgeoning market for dedicated e-readers dominated by Amazon’s Kindle.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 9:26 am

BLOG: Google Wave by Invitation Only

Google Wave is a new communications tool that's just for the cool kids.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 9:25 am

All weather Satsports GPS aims to be the GPS for all sports, also introduces WinMo and Android apps

Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Lifestyle

These days if you’re introducing a GPS, you’ve got to have a hook.  Satsports is bringing its Satsports GPS to North America and wants it to be the GPS for all sports.  It runs Windows CE 5.0, has an internal speaker, some built in memory with 256MB or storage, Micro SD slot for real storage, weighs 125g, and has a 2.7-inch QVGA screen (320 x 240).  This GPS also has apps made for golfers, runners, street nav, and skiing. 

What do these apps do?  “Pocket Caddy” lets you see golf courses in a fly over mode so you can see the hole before you hit the ball.  It will even tell you yardages so you can figure out how hard to swing.  You can also record data like what kind of club you used so you can learn from your mistakes.

“Satski” gives you ski maps, real time data on speed, and rescue services data.  “Satsports Log” will probably have the most wide appeal as it it is for cyclers, runners, and hikers.  You can find out altitude, distance, and speed.  Data for both Satsports Log and Satski are sycnable to your computer. 

The Satsports GPS will cost $490.  If you have a Windows Mobile phone you can get all the apps for $8.00.  If you have an Android device, you can go through the Android Market to grab some apps. 

Company Site: [SatsportsGPS]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:54 am

Video: iPhone Exposé Hack

This iPhone Exposé hack is a little pointless now that the iPhone has a Spotlight search for quickly launching applications, but it is undeniably fun in a heavy-on-the-eye-candy way. It is also a little slow and jerky, but that could be because the hack is in its alpha stage right now.

Yes, an alpha hack for the jailbroken iPhone. It’s hard to live more on the edge than that when it comes to gadgets. The developer, Steve Troughton-Smith, will likely include this in his much more polished iPhone app, Stacks, which brings OS X Dock-style pop-up stacks to the iPhone’s measly four-icon dock.

iPhone 3GS gets Exposé hack [Slashgear]

Product page [Stacks]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:51 am

Body Part Mummified With Ancient Egyptian Recipe

Researchers mummify a body part using an Ancient Egyptian salt drying process.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:25 am

Snow Shorts: A Wearable Sled for Kids

Snow Shorts are over-shorts for kids. They have a ridged plastic butt-plate, and while wearing them you can slide down any snowy slope and never have to drag a sled uphill again.

When I was a kid we used tea-trays or plastic garbage bags to slide, as we never had a real sledge. And just a few years ago I discovered that a drunken flatmate can function as a perfectly good ride (not that kind) as long as they lay on their belly and keep their chin up. The bonus here is that double-weight means a faster run.

Still, kids shouldn’t get drunk and throw themselves down snowy slopes at 2AM, so these $35 shorts should do the trick. Wondering if you can squeeze your own lard-ass into these? You can. There is an adult sized pair, fitting humans with waists of up to 42 inches.

Product page [Orvis via Coolest Gadgets]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:23 am

Human Genetic 'Switchboard' Mapped

A map of the switches governing the operation of the human genome is plotted.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 8:20 am

5 Tips for Parenting with Google Wave

Google Wave may or may not be a giant leap for enterprise collaboration but for parental units and their kids it could actually be the next great thing.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:51 am

Nokia posts first quarterly loss in a decade and why it matters

Nokia’s shares are down 6.02 percent today on news that Nokia suffered an $834 million loss due to falling handset sales. In this environment it’s easy to wave this away as a crisis blip but there may be something more afoot.

Nokia blamed the loss on component shortages, a valid concern. Apple has been buying up all the flash it can eat and companies like LG and Samsung are blowing out feature phones to directly compete with Nokia’s lower-end models faster than anyone thought possible.

Here’s what could be happening. Bear with me. First, we posit that Nokia is selling very little in America and much more in Europe and developing countries. Mobile is a young person’s game in Europe and Nokia is a young person’s phone. With youth unemployment at 29% in some countries (BusinessWeek did a piece on this. I embedded a video below.) you’re dealing with a consumer who is severely constrained in terms of disposable income. Nokia phones last for years and you can get by with one Nokia without upgrading, provided you’re only texting and making calls. So Nokia’s own quality bit them in the hindquarters this time.
Nokia is not a line for early adopters. Their phones, while exciting on some fronts, are vanilla on the aggregate. They still have the number one spot in terms of sales, but I worry that Nokia won’t be able to turn around if it dips below one of the Korean manufacturers.

I’m obviously being very bearish here but Nokia’s line-up has been solid for years and these days “solid” isn’t good enough with a more plugged-in audience. I love Nokia’s products and culture and so, like a mother, I worry.

Thoughts? Europeans want to chime in?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:35 am

Mossberg and Vodafone spill all the beans on the BlackBerry Storm 2

The BlackBerry 9520 Storm 2 has probably the best pre-release coverage of any cell phone in history. We’ve seen previews and videos and pictures and more videos of the upcoming cell phone for months. RIM and Verizon haven’t released a thing about the phone yet though so some key details hadn’t been revealed. That is, of course, until Walt Mossberg posted his Storm 2 review last night alongside the Motorola CLIQ review and Vodafone went live with its Storm 2 launch details this morning that happened to include all the phone’s specs for good measure. God bless the Internet.

Uncle Walt,

Overall, I found the Storm2 worked well in my tests. Battery life was decent, with 5.5 hours of claimed talk time, and typing was much improved, though I doubt it will satisfy lovers of physical keyboards.

The browser is still inferior to Apple’s, Google’s and Palm’s. And the traditional BlackBerry interface cries out for a major overhaul in a touch device like this, especially when you add a lot of apps. RIM’s menu and folder metaphor seems tired on this device.

Verizon hasn’t set a launch date or price for the Storm2, but it’s likely to appear in November at around $200.

The Vodafone press release reveals the phone’s entire spec list. Thankfully RIM updated a few key areas like doubling the amount of Flash memory to 256 MB and equipping the phone with 2 GB of onboard memory. Also, the mechanically clicky screen has been replaced with one that gives electronic, tactile feedback. It also confirms that the phone is powered by BlackBerry OS 5 that hopefully *fingers crossed* along with the extra Flash memory will mean the phone will hang less and be oh-so-much-more responsive.

Vodaphone UK will be offering the phone free with pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up and will be available on October 26 in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. The rest of the Vodaphone world should see the phone before Christmas. Now all we need is for Verizon to let us in on how much it plans on charging for the Storm 2. A release date would be cool too.

Update: RIM just launched a Storm vs Storm 2 interactive comparison chart. Have at it.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:29 am

Carl Sagan Goes Techno Trance with Cosmos Video

A popular new YouTube video is turning Carl Sagan into a funky hipster — even in his traditional professorial corduroy jacket and anachronistic mop-top.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 7:08 am

Spooklight: Accelerometer Brake Light for Bikes

The Spooklight brings iPhone-style accelerometers to your bike, along with turn-signals for those too lazy to lift an arm. And the lithium-polymer battery-powered setup has a special surprise inside.

The kit consists of two parts: a lamp unit which goes at the back and a handlebar-mounted control unit, used to activate the turn-signals wirelessly. But it’s when you slow down that the magic happens. The accelerometers detect when you slow down and switch on the red light, just like when you brake in a car. And because the lights are all LEDs, they are bright and last for 60 hours (the control panel manages ten).

And here’s the surprise gift. The Spooklight charges via USB (it is detachable from the bike) so you can hook it up to a computer whilst working, but it also lets you charge gadgets while you are out and about, juicing an iPhone to use some GPS software perhaps. Very handy indeed, and alone almost worth the price: £55 ($88).

In fact, the only thing we don’t like about the Spooklight is that indicators are kind of pointless on a bike: As we mentioned above, you can just stick out an arm. And as for a brake-light, motorists just aren’t used to seeing them on bikes.

Product page [50 Cycles via Bicycle Design]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:35 am

A green tour of the Google campus

We care about a clean energy future and that's a commitment that starts at home. In honor of Blog Action Day 2009 and this year's climate change theme, we wanted to walk you through some of the green features of our global headquarters here in sunny Mountain View, California.

• Getting to work: We've got a shuttle service that brings employees from around the Bay Area to the Googleplex every day. These shuttles are outfitted with wi-fi and fueled by B20 biodiesel. And employees who bike, walk, skip, hop or otherwise self-power to work can earn points that translate into a donation from Google to their charity of choice.

• Turning on the lights: The rooftops at our headquarters are covered in 9,212 photovoltaic solar panels that produce 1.6 MW of electricity — enough energy to power about 1,000 California homes.

• Healthy buildings: The facilities at our main campus use sustainable building materials that are environmentally friendly and healthier, such as "cradle-to-cradle" certified products designed to never end up in landfills, fresh air ventilation, daylighting, and whenever possible, PVC- and formaldehyde-free materials.

• No, we're not kidding: We've been known to use goats instead of lawn mowers to graze the fields surrounding our campus.

• Getting around town: We have a fleet of 8 plug-in vehicles that Google employees can use free of charge to run errands during the day. (In the summer of 2008 our Google.org RechargeIT initiative launched a controlled driving experiment, and our plug-in hybrids achieved more than 90 MPG!) Shared bicycles are also scattered among our buildings for Googlers to use for short trips around campus, reducing the need for cars during the work day.

• Waste not, want not: Waste from our Mountain View cafes is separated and the organic component is composted. As a result, we've reduced waste sent to landfills, reduced greenhouse gases and recycled nutrients leading to improved soil quality without chemicals. And any disposable plateware and cutlery we continue to use in the cafés is now compostable.

Check out this website to learn more about Google's green initiatives, and thank you to Blog Action Day for orchestrating the " largest-ever social change event on the web" yet again.

Posted by Anthony Ravitz, Real Estate & Workplace Services

Source: The Official Google Blog | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

Artificial Retina Can Restore Sight to the Blind

Scientists have developed a retinal implant that send images directly to optical nerves.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

Samsung Blue Earth Phone Made From Old Plastic Bottles

Samsung’s Blue Earth cellphone, announced but not detailed back at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, has been launched. The handset is made from old water bottles, and the packaging is paper printed with soy ink (something I never knew existed). The Earth-friendliness even extends to the charger which sips a mere 0.03 Watts when in standby. And standby is likely where it will spend much of its time, due to the most obvious feature of the phone: a big solar-panel on the back.

Otherwise, the Blue Earth is less hippy than you might think, and instead of being wholemeal and puritan, it has all the mod-cons you’d expect of a cellphone today: a 3.2 MP camera, touch screen, music and video players, FM radio, Bluetooth, 3G and a microSDHC slot.

Actually, there are a few tree-hugging features that made it in. The pedometer, for one:

The “Eco Walk” function allows users to count their steps with a built in pedometer and calculate the reduction in CO2 emission realized by walking as opposed to using a motor vehicle.

Pretty smug, right? I imagine we’ll be seeing these in the hands of Prius owners as they distractedly drive while talking and mow down eco-friendly cyclists. And Samsung certainly wants to look green on this one: Search the press release for the word “eco” and you get 23 hits. The phone will launch in Sweden this month and across Europa and Asia thereafter. Rumors of a gas-powered model for the US market are unconfirmed.

Press release [Samsung]

See Also:

• Blue Earth: Samsung's Solar Phone Made from Water Bottles

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:54 am

10 Year Anniversary: Man Trapped in Elevator 41 Hours

Ten years ago today, Nicholas White was trapped in an elevator in New York City's McGraw-Hill building for 41 hours. This New Yorker video takes a condensed look at his ordeal, as captured by the building's security cameras.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am

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