• Banned Books Week and "most challenged titles" of 2008! - Boing Boing
• Library celebrates Banned Books Week with window-display featuring ...
• Celebrate Banned Books Week! - Boing Boing
• Google Books promotes banned books for Banned Books Week - Boing Boing

NYC pop culture show draws TV and sports celebs

Source: Gizmodo | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

Obama's Tech Chief Reaffirms Net-Neutrality Support - Washington Post

InternetNews.com

Obama's Tech Chief Reaffirms Net-Neutrality Support Washington Post The nation's chief technology officer on Friday reaffirmed the White House's support for rules that would prevent Internet providers from acting as gatekeepers over Web content, wading into an increasingly contentious debate over ... Some Democrats, Minority Groups Question Net NeutralityPC World Democrats Urge Caution on Net Neutrality, TooPC Magazine Net neutrality?: FCC mulling a flawed proposalTulsa World Wall Street Journal -BetaNews -Broadcasting & Cable all 128 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Oct 2009 | 8:47 pm

Canada to push 'balance' in Copenhagen

Canada aims to reestablish itself as an environmental defender at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen by calling on all major emitters to cut carbon emissions, but distrust lingers as its...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Oct 2009 | 8:42 pm

Shepard Fairey Responds To The AP: Yes, I Lied. But It Was Still Fair Use.

We reached out to Shepard Fairey about the AP’s release this evening claiming that he had admitted lying about which image he used as the source image for his iconic Hope poster. He sent us a response (reproduced below), which effectively confirms what the AP says.

Tonight’s admission focuses on the photo that Fairey originally claimed to use during his creation of the ‘Hope’ poster — he claimed to use an image other than the one the AP claims to own, and then lied and deleted evidence when he realized he was wrong. Both were taken at the same press event. The one Fairey originally said he used showed Obama next to George Clooney, the one he really used was a close-up. The AP has succeeded in character assassination (perhaps rightfully so given Fairey’s actions), but Fairey may still have a case arguing that his image is protected under fair use. Regardless of which photo he used, by painting the image and turning it into a national icon he may have transformed it enough to render the AP’s claims invalid.

STATEMENT BY SHEPARD FAIREY ON ASSOCIATED PRESS FAIR USE CASE
OCTOBER 16, 2009
In an effort to keep everyone up to date on my legal battle to uphold the principle of fair use in copyright laws, I wanted to notify you of a recent development in my case against The Associated Press (AP). On October 9, 2009, my lawyers sent a letter to the AP and to the photographer Mannie Garcia, through their lawyers, notifying them that I intend to amend my court pleadings. Throughout the case, there has been a question as to which Mannie Garcia photo I used as a reference to design the HOPE image. The AP claimed it was one photo, and I claimed it was another. The new filings state for the record that the AP is correct about which photo I used as a reference and that I was mistaken. While I initially believed that the photo I referenced was a different one, I discovered early on in the case that I was wrong. In an attempt to conceal my mistake I submitted false images and deleted other images. I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment and I take full responsibility for my actions which were mine alone. I am taking every step to correct the information and I regret I did not come forward sooner.

I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family who have supported me in this difficult case and trying time in my life. I am also sorry because my actions may distract from what should be the real focus of my case – the right to fair use so that all artists can create freely. Regardless of which of the two images was used, the fair use issue should be the same.

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

Source: Gizmodo | 16 Oct 2009 | 8:15 pm

Scientists Write Memories Directly Into Fly Brains

TheClockworkSoul writes "Researchers at the University of Oxford have devised a way to write memories onto the brains of flies, revealing which brain cells are involved in making bad memories. The researchers said that in flies, just 12 brain cells were responsible for what is known as 'associative learning.' They modified these neurons by adding receptors for ATP, so that the cells activate in the presence of the chemical, but since ATP isn't usually found floating around a fly's brain, the flies generally behave just like any other fly. Most interestingly, however, is that the scientists then injected ATP into the flies' brains, in a form that was locked inside a light-sensitive chemical cage. When they shined a laser on the fly brains, the ATP was released, and the 'associative learning' cells were activated. The laser flash was paired with an odor, effectively giving the fly a memory of a bad experience with the odor that it never actually had, such that it then avoided the odor in later experiments. The researchers describe their findings in the journal Cell."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 8:08 pm

AP Claims Shepard Fairey Admits To Lying And Trying To Destroy Evidence; His Counsel Quits

The AP has just released a statement declaring that Shepard Fairey, the artist being accused of copyright infringement for his iconic ‘Hope’ poster that became ubiquitous during the Obama campaign, has “admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions.”.

According to the statement, Fairey has also admitted to using a close-up of Presdient Obama that was taken by the AP as the model for his image, not a different photo that he claimed to use that also included George Clooney, which he later cropped. The statement also says that Fairey’s legal counsel “now admitted that Fairey tried to destroy documents that would have revealed which image he actually used” and that “he created fake documents as part of his effort to conceal which photo was the source image, including hard copy printouts of an altered version of the Clooney Photo and fake stencil patterns of the Hope and Progress posters.” Finally, the AP notes that Shepard Fairey’s lawyers are withdrawing from the case.

It’s worth pointing out that tonight’s release was issued by the AP, Fairey’s rival in this case — we’ll reach out to Fairey and be keeping an eye out for his response. Even if the claims are true, that wouldn’t necessarily mean that Fairey’s case is dead in the water, as he still has the fair use defense. He may not have taken George Clooney out of the photo, but he may well have transformed it when he painted the photograph and turned it into an icon. We’ll see what the court decides.

Also worth noting: who actually owns the photo to begin with is still being disputed. The photographer, Mannie Garcia, has asserted that he owns the image because he was serving as a temporary fill-in when it was taken, without signing a contract with the AP. For more details, see our post here. The AP has confirmed that ownership of the image is still disputed, claiming that it owns the copyright and that Garcia was indeed a salaried employee.

Update: Fairey has given us his own statement that confirms what the AP has said, though the case will continue as Fairey cites Fair Use as his defense.

Here’s the full AP release:

Statement from Srinandan R. Kasi, VP and General Counsel, The Associated Press

Striking at the heart of his fair use case against the AP, Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used to make the Hope and Progress posters. Mr. Fairey has also now admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions.

In his Feb. 9, 2009 complaint for a declaratory judgment against the AP, Fairey falsely claimed to have used an AP photograph of George Clooney sitting next to then-Sen. Barack Obama as the source of the artist’s Hope and Progress posters. However, as the AP correctly alleged in its March 11, 2009 response, Fairey had instead used a close-up photograph of Obama from the same press event, which is an exact match for Fairey’s posters. In its response, the AP also correctly surmised that Fairey had attempted to hide the true identity of the source photo in order to help his case by arguing that he had to make more changes to the source photo than he actually did, i.e., that he at least had to crop it.

After filing the complaint, Fairey went on to make several public statements in which he insisted that the photo with George Clooney was the source image and that “The AP is showing the wrong photo.” It appears that these statements were also false, as were statements that Fairey made describing how he cropped Clooney out of the photo and made other changes to create the posters.

Fairey’s lies about which photo was the source image were discovered after the AP had spent months asking Fairey’s counsel for documents regarding the creation of the posters, including copies of any source images that Fairey used. Fairey’s counsel has now admitted that Fairey tried to destroy documents that would have revealed which image he actually used. Fairey’s counsel has also admitted that he created fake documents as part of his effort to conceal which photo was the source image, including hard copy printouts of an altered version of the Clooney Photo and fake stencil patterns of the Hope and Progress posters. Most recently, on Oct. 15, Fairey’s counsel informed the AP that they intended to seek the Court’s permission to withdraw as counsel for Fairey and his related entities.

The AP intends to vigorously pursue its countersuit alleging that Fairey willfully infringed the AP’s copyright in the close-up photo of then-Sen. Obama by using it without permission to create the Hope and Progress posters and related products, including T-shirts and sweatshirts that have led to substantial revenue. According to the AP’s in-house counsel, Laura Malone, “Fairey has licensed AP photos in the past for similar uses and should have done so in this case. As a not-for-profit news organization, the AP depends on licensing revenue to stay in business.” Proceeds received for past use of the photo will be contributed by the AP to The AP Emergency Relief Fund, which assists staffers and their families around the world who are victims of natural disasters and conflicts.

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

Source: Gizmodo | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:40 pm

They Shoot Porn Stars, Don't They? Susannah Breslin on recession and adult biz.

(NSFW: sites linked in this post contain sexually explicit material).

Required weekend reading: "They Shoot Porn Stars, Don't They?," Susannah Breslin's bold and ambitious photo-essay on the recession's impact in "porn valley," the epicenter of the adult entertainment biz.

"Originally, I wrote it for a publication, but subsequently pulled it," says Breslin. "When no other publication expressed an interest in publishing it, I decided to self-publish."

The story and images unfold over ten online sections. Here is a snip from the part devoted to shock auteur Jim Powers:

Fascinating, horrifying, and amusing--oftentimes all of those things at the same time--Powers' celluloid world is one populated by midgets, bald chicks, and crazed men outfitted with monster-sized papier-mâché phalluses which spew torrents of goo onto the naked bodies of supine women, movies in which everyone has sex all of the time, and in which, most of the time, no one appears to win.

Take, for example, "The Bride of Dong," in which two young, unsuspecting women "inadvertently unleash the power and massive cock of an ancient fertility god when they decide to house sit for the summer," the result of which is the "call[ing] forth an ancient being from another time and world who bridges the cosmos to shove his massive tool up their asses," and the true star of which is neither the decidedly comely Gia Paloma or Julie Night but a six-foot prosthetic penis that belongs to an onerous, fanged beast that emerges upon a full moon. (An online reviewer noted dutifully: "It's hard to possibly make anything of this, other than to say that it's vintage Jim Powers," adding, "I haven't seen a prosthetic dong this big since 'Boogie Nights.'")

To decry Powers-helmed series--like "Gag Factor," in which women, not infrequently, hang upside down and perform oral sex on male costars to the point of gagging and sometimes vomiting; "White Trash Whore," in which seemingly innocent Caucasian women are gangbanged by roving packs of African-American men, and for which the box cover copy reads, "Mom, Dad ... I hate you this much!"; and "Young and Anal," again, the title here is self-revelatory--as "misogynist" is almost beside the point.

Read it all: theyshootstars.com (Note: site designed by Chris Bishop of "Obama Rides a Unicorn" fame). Photo: a man preparing for a bukkake shoot, shot by Susannah Breslin.

Source: Gizmodo | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pm

This Side of Jordan - Violent jazz age novel by Charles M Schulz's son Monte

Monte Schulz's This Side of Jordan is the first volume of a jazz-age trilogy that was twelve years in the writing, produced in tribute to Schulz's father, the cartoonist Charles M Schulz. It is beautifully written and thoroughly researched, a veritable time-machine that whirled me through time to the dirty back roads of the American midwest in the year before the Depression.

This Side of Jordan is the story of Alvin Pendergast, a selfish, ignorant, bitter consumptive farm-boy who lights out across America with Chester Burke, a vicious gangster and serial killer. On their first job, they pick up Rascal, a mad dwarf who's been imprisoned by his aunt who hopes to steal his inheritance. The three set out on a series of violent, picaresque adventures as Chester drags them from one act of bloody, senseless criminality to the next.

Did I mention how good the writing is? The writing is excellent. The characters -- the unlikable, passive Alvin; the unlikable, psychotic Chester; the unlikable, compulsive liar Rascal -- are extremely well drawn. The setting is so vivid I felt like I could fall into the book and lose myself there, landing on some dusty road in a tourist camp where the hicks waited to be fleeced or killed by Chester.

In case you missed it, though, I should reiterate that I didn't like any of these characters. The most active character was a sociopath. The secondmost active character was a hopeless, compulsive liar. The point of view character never does a thing off his own bat, and is, instead, led through the action by the people around him.

But I kept reading. I couldn't stop. This book is a masterpiece of setting and storytelling, even if most of the dramatic tension came from waiting for someone who wasn't an utter fool or villain to do something, anything, to change the situation.

This Side of Jordan

Source: Gizmodo | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm

Hyper-Active-GO-GO-GO Quick Look: Kingston MobileLite G2

Kingston just released a second generation of their super-compact memory card reader line. Being that there isn’t all that much to say about it, I decided to give it a quick run-through on video. Let me know if you dig it – I love doing video stuff, but just don’t know whether or not people enjoy it.

Also: Don’t do drugs, kids.

What we like:

• Seems more durable than the first generation, which had its issues.
• It’ll fit anywhere. Anywhere. Not really, but it’s about as small as things things get.
• It’s dirt cheap, online. $11-$13 bucks around the vast Internet.
• It can hook to your keychain!

What we don’t:

• Nothing, yet.

It doesn’t do CF cards, which is a bummer for the folks who need that – but seeing as a CF card is bigger than this thing in two out of three dimensions, we see why. If you need a microSD card reader and your laptop doesn’t have one, I’d recommend this one no problem.

Product Page

[Disclosure: Dearest FTC - Kingston threw this at me during a press event, thus, I did not pay for it.]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:32 pm

Open Source Effort To Codify America's "Operating System" Online

Rubinstien writes "O'Reilly Radar is reporting on an effort to produce Law.gov, 'America's Operating System, Open Source.' The group Public.Resource.Org seeks to 'create a solid business plan, technical specs, and enabling legislation for the federal government to create Law.gov. [They] envision Law.gov as a distributed, open source, authenticated registry and repository of all primary legal materials in the United States.' According to its new website, 'Law.gov would be similar to Data.gov, providing bulk data and feeds to commercial, non-commercial, and governmental organizations wishing to build web sites, operate legal information services, or otherwise use the raw materials of our democracy.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:11 pm

PSP Ranked as one of Washington's Fastest Growing Private Companies by Puget Sound Business Journal

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. (PSP, Inc.) one of the Northwest's leading business Web and Hosting providers is proud to announce
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:11 pm

UPDATE 2-Canada's Toromont proposes acquisition of Enerflex

* Offer represent 34 pct premium vs Friday closing price
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:07 pm

UPDATE 2-Canada's Toromont proposes acquisition of Enerflex

* Offer represent 34 pct premium vs Friday closing price
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:07 pm

Modest Mouse: "The Whale Song" (dir. Nando Costa/Bent Image Lab)

A lovely new video for Modest Mouse, by Bent Image Lab's Nando Costa. The video incorporates stop motion, visual effects, and motion graphics techniques, and tells the tale of an artist who enters his personal sanctuary and is "presented with a hand-crafted drawing tool that assists him in materializing his mental impressions."

Through drawing circular patterns, the machine discharges an endless web of yarn that guides him through his visual representations of his memories. The story progresses to reveal that he is divided between two worlds, one of dull reality and the second of warped memories. In the process of finding a way out of his consciousness, he is trapped between the two competing spaces, which eventually inflict lethal damage, acting as metaphors to self-destruction.

Super neat. More about the making of the video here. Stills from production here and here. "The Whale Song" appears on Modest Mouse's new EP No One's First, And You're Next." (Amazon)


Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm

MySpace Close To Spinning Off Photobucket

News Corp., via MySpace, acquired photo/video sharing site Photobucket back in 2007 for $250 million, plus a $50 million earnout. We’ve now learned through a source with knowledge of the deal that MySpace is in the process of selling at least a majority interest in Photobucket. The likely buyer? Disney-backed Ontela, a Washington state startup.

Photobucket has grown steadily since the acquisition, and currently brings in 54 million worldwide users each month (Comscore). But MySpace never integrated with Photobucket, keeping their own separate photo and video platforms.

It’s been little more than a side show ever since the acquisition, and the founders have left to do other projects. With News Corp. scrambling to fix up its digital division, it’s no wonder Photobucket has been on the chopping block.

Best of all, the deal will bring in new cash to News Corp.

It’s not clear that the final terms have been worked out. But our source tells us that News Corp. will sell a majority stake in Photobucket, retaining some equity. If Ontela is the buyer, the merged company will take a new round of financing, with most of the cash going to News Corp., and part of it going into the new company.

Presumably this deal won’t look much different from eBay’s spinoff of StumbleUpon earlier this year, except on a larger scale. News Corp. gets a cash injection and retains a portion of Photobucket. And the service, combined with Ontela or another buyer, gets a new start.

Ontela didn’t return a request for comment. MySpace isn’t answering their phones or email. Everyone is being very quiet about the deal in general, in fact. We’ll update as we learn more.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm

Web zen: grab bag (including THE YES DANCE)

the yes dance
symmetry explorer
i do believe i came with a hat
gawker (timelapse)
there i fixed it
vikings

Permalink for this edition. Web Zen is created and curated by Frank Davis, and re-posted here on Boing Boing with his kind permission. Web Zen Home and Archives, Store, Twitter.


Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:56 pm

U.S. International Trade Commission Confirms Ruling in Favor of Nokia

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nokia announced today that the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has reviewed the Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) Initial Determination in favor of Nokia, in the action brought by InterDigital.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:48 pm

InsightSoftware.com Announces an Extreme Makeover for Your Oracle E-Business Suite FSG Reporting

DENVER, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightSoftware.com launches two new solutions for Oracle EBS: Insight2FSG Import Tool and Insight2FSG Integrity Checker.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:47 pm

Dead guy on balcony 4 days, neighbors mistook for "Halloween dummy"

The body of a 75-year-old LA area man who died Monday sat decomposing on his balcony for four days because his neighbors figured the corpse was part of a Halloween display. He died of a single gunshot wound to the eye.

Neighbors on the 13900 block of Bora Bora Way told Raishbrook that they noticed the body Monday "but didn't bother calling authorities because it looked like a Halloween dummy," he said. "The body was in plain view of the entire apartment complex [and] they all didn't do anything," Raishbrook said. "It's very strange. It did look unreal, to be honest."

Dead man slumped on balcony mistaken for Halloween decoration (LA Times)


Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:36 pm

WATCH: Freemason Symbols and Secrets

Are Freemasons as mysterious as some popular culture depictions would have us believe?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:35 pm

Pocket-Sized Workout Pal Is Data Geek's Dream

Don't let the size fool you, the Fitbit packs some big-time exercise- and fitness-data capabilities into its teensy-weensy interior.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm

Google Wave (Huh! Good God, Y'all!) What is it good for? Absolutely something! (say it again).

What is Google Wave good for? I don't know! I haven't used it. Above, two Google Wave demo-tainment videos you must watch. YouTube hacker/artist Joe "copyrighthater" Sabia has done it again. Two Google Wave experimental films, Pulp WAVE Fiction, and Good WAVE Hunting.

And, more soberly now: in an extensive feature-by-feature blog post, Daniel Tenner breaks down what purpose Google Wave serves, and why early detractors may be missing the point.

I believe this is partly Google's fault: they released Wave to geeks and hackers and social media folks first. But Wave is not a geek/hacker tool, or a social media tool, it's a corporate tool that solves work problems (more on that later). On the other hand, they never claimed it would be a Facebook replacement or a Twitter killer. Google calls wave an "online tool for real-time communication and collaboration". The way Google should have advertised Wave is: "it solves the problems with email".

What problems does Google Wave solve? A matter of perspective. (danieltenner.com, via @carr2n)


Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:28 pm

LHC Successfully Cools To 1.9K In Lead-Up To Restart

Smelly Jeffrey writes "The BBC is reporting that the LHC has had all eight of its sectors cooled to 1.9 Kelvin. Their tagline is that it is now 'colder than deep space,' referring to the CMB. LHC engineers have spent nearly $40,000,000 USD on a new system to prevent the 'quench' condition that caused the LHC to be down for warming, repairs, and re-cooling over the last year. The LHC is now cold enough to begin colliding particles in search of the Higgs Boson. High power collisions won't be started until late December, or perhaps early January. However, a low-power beam through parts of the collider could be tested as early as next week!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:22 pm

This week in search 10/16/09

This is part of a regular series of posts on search experience updates that runs on Fridays. Look for the label "This week in search" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

This week, we made a few improvements to help webmasters better understand how their pages interact with Google search. Here's an overview:

Fetch as Googlebot
As a webmaster, have you ever wondered what Google "sees" when we visit your site? Our understanding of your web page affects which searches your page is returned for and its relevance rank. New this week, we're providing a tool as part of our Webmaster Tools Lab that lets you to see what Googlebot sees in the hope that this will help site owners better understand why we think your pages are relevant, and to what. We think this can help webmasters design pages that are easier for Googlebot to understand, and more importantly, easier for users to understand.

Malware details
You may occasionally see on Google a notice that says "This site may harm your computer." We place this warning in search result snippets when we see signals that a particular web page may be spreading malware. Webmasters occasionally will see this warning on one of their pages that wasn't intended to be malicious. This is because sometimes your site could be distributing malware — and you might not even know it or be able to easily find it. Malware details is designed to help webmasters track down what on their site is triggering this label and clear the problem — thus, making their page (and the web) safer for users.

Hope you enjoyed this week's features. Stay tuned for what's next!

Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience

Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pm

Pack Up Your Data and Leave Whenever You Want, It's the New Rule of the Cloud

Google's Brian Fitzpatrick leads the company's Data Liberation Front, a new internal initiative to ensure every Google product makes it easy for users to get their data out and take their business elsewhere. Brian tells Wired why this means good business for Google and highlights a new bulk-export feature for Google Docs.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm

Marvell Semiconductor in Santa Clara to Host Visit by Senior Chinese Government Officials

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marvell® (Nasdaq: MRVL), a world leader in storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions, has announced that on October 18, 2009, it will host a delegation from the People's Republic of China led by Dr.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:43 pm

Obama Calls on Americans to Help With Cybersecurity (PC World)

PC World - U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Americans to help guard against cyberattacks in a first-of-its-kind video published on the White House Web site.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:40 pm

T-Mobile Sidekick Outage Raises Questions On Cloud Security - ChannelWeb

Boston Globe

T-Mobile Sidekick Outage Raises Questions On Cloud Security ChannelWeb By Stefanie Hoffman, channelweb Both Microsoft and T-Mobile are slowly but surely recovering from a massive outage last week that erased copious amounts of personal data from customers' Sidekick smartphones. However, the incident leaves users ... What the T-Mobile outage means for consumersCNET News Analyst: Don't Blame the Sidekick Mess on the CloudTechNewsWorld T-Mobile halts Sidekick sales after data lossTMCnet PC World -ABC News -Computerworld all 548 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:38 pm

Apple's on a roll, but iPhone sales pivotal (Reuters)

Reuters - Apple Inc is once again expected to top Wall Street's estimates when it unveils quarterly earnings next week, but it may have to beat by a lot to drive an already lofty share price higher.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:36 pm

Samsung Plans LCD Joint Venture in China [Voices]

By Jung-Ah Lee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Samsung Electronics Co. said it will set up a joint venture to build a 7.5-generation liquid crystal display panel plant in Suzhou, China, that will cost about 2.6 trillion won ($2.25 billion).

Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest supplier of liquid crystal display panels, also said in a regulatory filing it will spend 925.2 billion won on the joint venture, without elaborating.

The electronics giant has decided to set up the plant in China in order to exploit demand there for flat-screen televisions above 40 inches in size, said company spokesman James Chung.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pm

IBM, Intel Execs Arrested Over Insider Trading

An anonymous reader writes to share a report from The Register stating that executives from IBM and Intel have been arrested as a part of insider trading allegations. "According to a report from the Associated Press, six people were arrested today as part of an insider trading case, including Bob Moffat, senior vice president and general manager of IBM's Systems and Technology Group; Rajiv Goel, director of strategic investments at Intel Capital; Anil Kumar, a director at management consultancy McKinsey & Co; and Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the $7bn Galleon Group hedge fund."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pm

Review: Logitech G500 gaming mouse

Short version: A nearly faultless wired mouse, more than suitable for everyday tasks or gaming. Fans of the distinctive MX series shape won’t be disappointed.

Although I’ve been taking my time getting used to this mouse, this is a pretty straightforward review. Reason being that Logitech is an established and reliable brand for mice so we can skip the foreplay. You know as well as I do that this mouse is well-built and has excellent support. The shape of the mouse, while it’s been smoothed out over the years, is similar to my old wireless MX700 and several other popular mice in the Logitech line; if you haven’t held one in your hand, you’ve missed out on one of the better mouse form factors out there.

The changes in the G500 aren’t really breathtaking: new style, updated sensor… that’s pretty much it. To be honest, there wasn’t too much to improve on, but they did what they could and this is an extremely polished piece of hardware. As you no doubt have heard, it goes up to 5700DPI, DPI being the yardstick for measuring mouse performance these days. Really, that’s not as important in a mouse as the feel of the unit, and Logitech nails that as well.

Layout and feel

It boasts 10 programmable buttons, but like most mice you’ll have a few of those tied up right away in your usual mouse functions and sensitivity control. The three thumb buttons are placed somewhat questionably — I mean, they’re under your thumb, but your thumb moves naturally up and down along the mouse, not back and forth, so I’m always confused when mouse makers put the buttons in a from from back to front. The Microsoft Sidewinder series got this right but few others do.

The scroll wheel, as I’ve often said in the case of other Logitech mice, is excellent. The scrolling is nearly frictionless and can be lightning quick — if the program or game can handle it. There are a few quirks to learn, like how you have to configure things differently if you’re using the “notched” wheel setting or the “free” one — and also, you will forget that it’s spinning occasionally and move your mouse to something else, causing that window or dial to rocket in whatever direction you were scrolling. It rocks right and left, which gives it a wobbly feel I don’t like, however; I much prefer the extremely solid feel of the wheel on Razer mice.

The sensitivity up and down buttons looked to me like they’d get in the way, but I’ve never hit either on accident. Switching mouse sensitivities is easy and instantaneous.

The mouse itself is attractive and of course the shape is beyond reproach, having been pretty much perfected over the years. It now has a pleasantly rough surface where you grip it, which also seems to resist the grime and sweat that inevitably end up there. Or maybe I’ve just been washing my hands more, I don’t know. Whether I actually prefer it over the also-proven Mamba/Death Adder shape is hard to say. These are the premier mice in the world, and it’s really not an easy call — so I’m just not going to make it. It comes down to personal preference.

It also has weight cartridges, which seem to be all the rage these days. I don’t find much utility in changing the drag coefficient on my mice, but if you like changing out weights, it’s very easy on the G500.

Performance

The mouse performs wonderfully. After my Mamba got its issues settled I thought I’d find other mice less comfortable, but the G500 has been surprisingly easy to get used to. I actually like the placement of the sensor better; Razer tends to put theirs dead center on the mouse, but the G500 has it directly underneath the scroll wheel, producing more natural movement in my opinion.

While having five sensitivity states is nice, it’s still not quite the level of customization made available by Razer’s on-the-fly sensitivity, which essentially has 20 states within easy reach. You can work that issue out with game profiles and stuff, but I try to keep it simple. The config utility gets the job done, though it’s not much for looks:

I never had any trouble with the cursor skipping, though it would occasionally pick up table and floor vibrations as jitter when the mouse was stationary, resulting in *gasp* the controls coming on screen during a movie. Not really a big deal.

This is a bit of a nitpick, but the “double-click” you can assign to a button is pretty sluggish. What’s the point of assigning double-click to a button if I can double-click faster than the macro? It’s led to quite a few accidental moving of files and that sort of confusion.

Conclusion

What we’ve got here is an absolutely excellent mouse. If you want a wireless mouse, I still recommend the Mamba, but the G500 can stand up to Razer’s flagship any day. It’s comfortable, feels like it’ll last for a long time, and it works like a charm. What more do you want? If you’re not sure whether it’s the right shape, I recommend as always going to your local Best Buy and giving the mice there a feel.

You can find a G500 for under $70, which I think is a great deal. If you were thinking of coming back to the Logitech stable from Sidewinder or Razer, this is a good time.

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:27 pm

A new home for accessibility at Google

Information access is at the core of Google’s mission, which is why we work to make the world's content available to people with disabilities, such as blindness, visual impairment, color deficiency, deafness, hearing loss and limited dexterity. Building accessible products isn't only the right thing to do, it also opens up Google services to very significant populations of people. According to the United Nations, 650 million people live with a disability, which makes them the world's largest minority.

We regularly develop and launch accessibility features and improvements. Sometimes these are snazzy new applications like the a new talking RSS reader for Android devices. Other times the changes aren't flashy, but they're still important, such as our recent incremental improvements to WAI-ARIA support in Google Chrome (adding support for ARIA roles and labels). We also work on more foundational research to improve customization and access for our users, such as AxsJax (an Open Source framework for injecting usability enhancements into Web 2.0 applications).

We've written frequently about accessibility on our various blogs and help forums, but this information has never been easily accessible (pun intended) in one simple place. This week we've launched a handy new website for Accessibility at Google to pull all our existing resources together in one place: www.google.com/accessiblity. Here you can follow the latest accessibility updates from our blogs, find resources from our help center, participate in a discussion group or send us your feedback and feature requests. At Google, we often like to say, "launch early and iterate" — meaning, get something out the door, get feedback and then improve it. In that tradition, our accessibility website is pretty simple and we expect this site to be the first of many iterations. We're excited about the possibilities.

The thing we're most excited about is getting your feedback about Google products and services so we can make them better for the future. Take a look and let us know what you think.

Posted by Jonas Klink, Accessibility Product Manager

Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:23 pm

In-App Feature Could Keep More Apps on iPhone - PC World

Telegraph.co.uk

In-App Feature Could Keep More Apps on iPhone PC World While Apple's new in-app purchase feature for iPhones is being widely touted as an antipiracy measure, Apple's more overarching motive seems to be that of keeping the iPhone at the development forefront for the coolest new apps for mobile users. ... Apple Expands In App Purchasing To Fight PiracyInformationWeek In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing?Wired News Major iPhone devs make apps free, add in-game purchasesGamePro.com Register -PC Magazine -International Business Times all 1,164 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:19 pm

In-App Feature Could Keep More Apps on iPhone (PC World)

PC World - While Apple's new in-app purchase feature for iPhones is being widely touted as an antipiracy measure, Apple's more overarching motive seems to be that of keeping the iPhone at the development forefront for the coolest new apps for mobile users.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:19 pm

Critics: Failed Indiana-IBM deal can warn others (AP)

AP - Indiana said it was going to get outsourcing right when it turned welfare eligibility services over to a private contractor in 2007. Now critics say the failed move is the latest warning that states should not allow for-profit companies to run social services.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:13 pm

BLOG: Blue Shark Nursery Found Near Brazil

Small, juvenile blue sharks were discovered in the Southwest Atlantic near Brazil.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:10 pm

New iPhone 3GS Bootrom NOT Jailbreak-Proof! With One Catch… (PC World)

PC World - When Apple released the new iPhone 3GS with an updated bootrom, many reports claimed it rendered the handset “unhackable” or “jailbreak-proof.” I maintained such reports were overdramatic and it was only a matter of time before a new exploit was discovered.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:03 pm

Jackson "This Is It" album to sell at iTunes (AFP)

AFP - Apple on Friday confirmed that Michael Jackson's "This Is It" music compilation will be available at online shop iTunes a day before the release of the compact disc version.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:53 pm

Apple's Grand Central Dispatch Ported To FreeBSD

bonch writes "Apple's Grand Central Dispatch, which was recently open sourced, has been ported to FreeBSD and is planned to be included by default in FreeBSD 8.1. Also known as libdispatch, the API allows the use of function-based callbacks but will also support blocks if built using FreeBSD's clang compiler package. There's already discussion of modifying BSD's system tools to use the new technology." The port was originally unveiled last month at the 2009 Developer Summit in Cambridge. Slides from that presentation are available via the Dev Summit wiki.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:47 pm

'Simpsons' Still Haunts After 2 Decades of 'Treehouse of Horror'

As the annual Halloween special looms, a lifelong fan looks back on the ground-breaking animated series.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:46 pm

Solvport Announces Upcoming Release of Solview 2.0(TM) ATM Management Application

PORTLAND, Ore., Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pm

PC World Podcast 49: Google Donut, BlackBerry Storm 2, and Wi-Fi Direct (PC World)

PC World - Hold on to your balloons! This week on the PC World Podcast, editors Robert Strohmeyer, Ginny Mies, Tim Moynihan, and Mark Sullivan try to cover as much of the week's tech news as possible in 20 minutes.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:43 pm

Did PC Makers Overbuild in Anticipation of Windows 7? [Voices]

By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily

Comments by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) yesterday apparently have triggered worries on the Street that the PC manufacturers, in their zealous optimism about the prospects for Microsoft Windows 7 (MSFT), may have built too many PCs.

As I noted last night, AMD said on its post-earnings conference call with the Street that it expects a less-than-seasonal sequential increase in Q4 revenues, due in part to the “the big build we’ve seen of PCs in anticipation of the Win 7 launch.”

That has triggered concerns that the PC industry has built too much inventory–and that it could result in both reduced component consumption in Q4 and beyond, and lower pricing for memory, which has benefited in recent weeks from higher NAND and DRAM prices.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:42 pm

iPhone Supply Issues Dulling Apple's Shine? [Digital Daily]

Overwhelming demand for the iPhone has made it hard for Apple to keep the device in stock globally, so much so that some observers wonder if the company’s fourth-quarter earnings might be a slight disappointment.

In a note to investors today, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner warned that supply-chain issues may have prevented Apple (AAPL) from selling the seven million iPhones consensus estimates have been predicting. “During the iPod event on Sept. 9…Apple implied that ~3.5M phones had been sold with only 21 days left in the quarter,” Reiner wrote. “Subsequent checks showed the iPhone 3GS sold out in many markets. Something was clearly preventing Apple from shipping to demand.”

Apple was able to resolve those issues, but they lasted long enough that Reiner fears consensus estimates implying that the company sold an additional 3.5 million iPhones in the final weeks of the quarter may be a bit too aggressive.

That said, it’s worth noting that Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster pointed out the same supply issues in a research note of his own earlier this week and came to a very different conclusion. Munster is calling for iPhone sales of about 7.5 million units in the Sept. quarter.

Who’s right? We’ll find out Monday, when Apple reports earnings.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:40 pm

12 Phones Strong, Android Army Mobilizes for Explosive Growth

If you’ve thought about picking up an Android-powered phone but found yourself turned off by the hardware choices (ahem, G1), you may soon wish to reconsider.

“Android adoption is about to explode,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, in an earnings conference call Thursday. “You have all the necessary conditions.”

Schmidt’s forecast may prove accurate with 12 Android-powered devices available in 26 countries on 32 carriers. Recent Android rumors, announcements and releases further fuel the rumble in the mobile community.

By handing out Android as an open source platform, Google aims to help manufacturers focus more time, money and energy on their hardware and specific usability for each device. Using the Android OS, there is no need to re-invent the wheel when it comes to the mobile software. Developmental resources can instead be allocated to innovation and quicker adaptation of emerging technology. This direction in mobile development does seem to create the “necessary conditions” for Android to appeal to an extremely broad range of users.

When the first Android phone, the HTC G1, was released in September 2008, some developers questioned how Google would address making the Android OS and third-party apps work smoothly with various types of hardware. Screen resolution was a primary concern among developers polled by Wired.com: How could an app designed to work with the G1’s resolution, for example, work with another Android phone sporting a different resolution?

Fortunately, the Android team at Google is working to ensure their platform is compatible with every mobile phone, specifically when it comes to screen resolution. The Android 1.6 SDK, the developer’s kit, allows a manufacturer or developer to add code in their application to conform to different handset’s resolutions. (For example, “Do this when the phone has a resolution of 320×480; do that when the resolution is larger.”) They have created three categories of resolution sizes that any given device will fall into, ensuring a single third-party app will work across all phones. There is also a “compatibility mode” developers can incorporate into their applications built prior to 1.6, aka Donut.

Excited by the Android mobile-nova? We’ve created a list of the 12 Android-powered smartphones so you can begin researching and deciding which one is best for you:

• Motorola Cliq (T-Mobile / Available October 19)
• Motorola Sholes (Verizon / Available October 30)
• Samsung Behold II (T-Mobile / Holidays 2009)
• Samsung Moment (Sprint / November 1)
• Huawei Pulse (T-Mobile UK / Available)
• HTC Hero (Sprint / Available)
• HTC Tattoo (Vodafone UK / Available)
• HTC Magic /myTouch 3G (T-Mobile / Available)
• HTC Dream/G1 (T-Mobile / Available)
• Dell Mini i13 (China Mobile / Confirmed, Release Date TBA)
• Acer Liquid (Unknown / Confirmed, Release Date TBA)
• LG GW620 (Unknown / Confirmed, Q4 2009)

See Also:

• Google Muscles Android Developer, Offers Olive Branch
• Google, Openness Triumph as Verizon Adds Android Phones …
• Google’s Open Source Android OS Will Free the Wireless Web

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:35 pm

SLIDE SHOW: The Week's Top Stories

Take a look at the past week's top news in the Flashback Slide Show.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:35 pm

12 Phones Strong, Android Army Mobilizes for Explosive Growth

Android-powered phones -- about 12 of them -- will be on 32 carriers soon. This list of phones should help you decide which one is best for you.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:35 pm

First Microsoft store looks set to open (Reuters)

Reuters - Microsoft Corp's first store looks ready to open in an upscale Phoenix valley city in the next few days, as the software maker takes its first step in trying to match rival Apple Inc's successful venture into retail.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:20 pm

E-books gain a foothold at Frankfurt Book Fair (AP)

AP - While paper books still outnumber texts that can be read online or on dedicated readers like the Kindle or eBook, use of the electronic versions is growing.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:19 pm

Lijit Networks Unveils Blog and Social Content Search Gadget for Blogger(TM)

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Lijit Networks, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm

Turiss Announces Management Changes: Mellinger Assumes CEO Role

RESTON, Va., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Turiss, LLC, an industry leader in proactive cyber-fraud intelligence and anti-financial fraud software, announced today that Phil Mellinger has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:05 pm

President Obama Calls on all Americans to Share Responsibility for Cybersecurity

WASHINGTON, Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:02 pm

Google Street View Wants You to Direct New Tricycle Imager

An anonymous reader writes "Google is taking suggestions for where you'd like to see the new Street View Trike go. Your favorite park, hiking trail, zoo, school campus hangout or outdoor mall could be going online thanks to Google Street View's new 250 pound tricycle, complete with camera and GPS. According to the press release: 'The Street View trike began as a 20% project by Daniel Ratner, a Senior Mechanical Engineer on the Street View team. "I began thinking about building a bicycle-based Street View system after realizing how many interesting places around the world — ranging from historic landmarks to beautiful trails to shopping districts — aren't accessible by car," says Dan. "When I'm riding the trike, so many people come up to me and ask where it's off to next or how they can get imagery of their favorite spot, so I can't wait to see what our users come up with."'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:01 pm

Interview: We talk to The Rentals’ Matt Sharp about Songs About Time (Hint: Read if you like fantastic photographs and/or quality music)

I remember these streets, I remember these faces, no one here ever ages/
angels from machines, crowding the streets/
there must be some kind of factory where the angels are made to just be replaced/
I’ve written enough, enough for today

Generally speaking I’m a hip-hop guy, but even I can get behind something like “there must be some kind of factory where the angels are made to just be replaced.” It’s a line from a verse of the song “Song of Remembering” by The Rentals. Why am I brining up this seemingly random song, and one that doesn’t appear to have anything to do with “our core mission” of technology writing? Because it does have something to do with technology, friends. Because it does.

I spoke to Matt Sharp, founder and frontman of The Rentals, a few weeks back as a result of my weird fascination with film photography. (Incidentally, I have Louis CK, who you can now see on Parks and Recreation every week on NBC, to thank for my initial interest in film.) Current fans of the band know that it’s been working on a yearlong project known as Songs About Time. Rather than going through the standard rigamarole of recording an album in a secluded studio, then touring to support it (not to mention dealing with the apparently crazy record labels), Sharp and Co. came up with a different idea: how about, instead of one big album, which is so start-stop, we sprinkle a few EPs throughout the year, and document our days together for our fans in the form of short movies and frequent photographs?

Or, in Matt’s own words:

The project is one year in photography, film, and music that’s all coming, in real time, on our Web site. There’s not a better word for it than a multimedia project, but we have one element of the site that deals with photography, one part that deals with film, and one part that deals with music. At times they intersect and feed off each other, and have a cyclical, creative rhythm.

That is, calling Songs About Time a multimedia project (which sounds like something you’d do in 6th grade) somewhat misses the point; it doesn’t describe the spirit of its intentions. It’s about using different forms of media to better involve fans with the creative process. It sure beats the old, “here’s out album, now buy it and a t-shirt and we’ll see you guys in three years” mentality.

You should probably spend a few minutes now on the site, therentals.com, just to get a better idea of what the project is all about.

Below is one video that you’ll find on the site:

As you can see, this isn’t some hastily thrown together YouTube nonsense that was only made “just because.” It’s not done to placate some number-crunching road manager who thinks YouTube is the future. No, sir! The band works with an editor who’s on their case every week: “Where’s this week’s video, folks? I need something in my hands by the end of the day tomorrow.” (Those aren’t exact quotes, of course. Hopefully you could already figure that out.)

So remember, that’s one proper video per week for an entire year. I’m sure you can appreciate the work that goes into that, and maybe, maybe feel a little more connected to the band.

So that’s the video portion of the project. What about the photography? Matt explained that he shoots a roll of Fuji 1600 film every day, in addition to one digital photo per day. Now, I know that many of you have never even seen a roll of film in your life, but the standard roll of film comes with 36 exposures. Imagine having an SD card that only held 36 photos, and you can understand what type of restrictions that places on you. You’re not going to be taking photos all wily nilly like you would if you had 4GB of space to play with. This restriction creates a tension that you’re constantly dealing with as a photographer. Is the lighting OK? Have I composed the photo as well as possible? And so on. You think about these things while shooting digital, of course, but if you mess up with digital you can just shoot 80 more photos, or constantly delete and re-shoot; it encourages laziness, and it sort of takes away from the fun.

(Not that I’m calling myself a photographer—Oh, good God no!—but I can appreciate it as an art. Just because I’m not a professional footballer doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how good FC Barcelona is, or how awesome the New England Patriots were two years ago. Well, except for that last game.)

And what happens to the roll of film? Matt shoots his photos, then stores the roll away till the end of the year, when the limited deluxe edition of Songs About Time comes out. Included in this edition (which will cost $275, and will include a coffee table book with photos from throughout the project, four vinyl LPs, a high-def DVD of all the videos, backstage passes to a Rentals live show of your choosing, and a whole heck of a lot more genuinely impressive goodies) will be a roll of undeveloped film, totally labeled and ready for you to do what you want with it. Want to develop it, to see what The Rentals were up to that day? Go right ahead. Or would you rather just hold onto the undeveloped film as a memento? Your choice.

Let me just say that there is not a single bad photo on The Renals’ Web site. It’s like being in a photography museum.

I don’t think a band has ever done anything like this before.

So as we approach the end of the project, we return to the idea of, well, what’s the point, and did we accomplish anything in the process?

The most superficial response to that could be that The Rentals thought it would be a nice change of pace from the usual way of doing things. Record an album then drop it on your fans from high above, swooping down only occasionally to meet and greet them at live event? I don’t think I need to tell you that the music industry needs a bit of a shake-up to get things right again. More importantly, Songs About Time fostered creativity. Let’s say that every day for a whole year you have to come up with something to give to the fans. You’re constantly thinking, “Are these photos worth it? Would our fans appreciate them, or think they’re rubbish? Oh, man, and we still have to come up with a concept for our video this week! Quick, guys, we need some ideas.” That constant on-your-toes thinking necessarily leads the creative thinking, which begets good music.

We shot it on Sunday, then we edited it on Monday, then we released it on Tuesday. So we’re writing a piece of music, recording it, filming it, and sharing it with everybody two days after it was done. That can be so exciting. The day before you’re like, “Are we good? Is it good enough?” And before you know it it’s just out there. You don’t feel that kind of immediacy with the traditional way of making a record.

If there was ever a band I’d say to support simply for what they’re trying to accomplish, then it’d be these guys. It doesn’t hurt that they’re actually pretty damn good, and I look forward to the new EP which is due out in a few days.

Many thanks to Matt Sharp for talking to me for an entire hour. That was inconceivably generous of him. And thanks to Fuji’s PR team, which put us in contact with each other in the first place. They also dealt well with my various insanities.

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:00 pm

Cheetah, Gecko and Spiders Inspire Robotic Designs

A cheetah can run faster than any other animal. A gecko’s feet can stick to almost any surface without using liquids or surface tension. And some roaches scurry at nearly 50 times their body length in one second, which, scaled up to human levels, can be around 200 miles an hour.

The wonders of the animal kingdom are not just for fans of National Geographic. Robotic designer Sangbae Kim, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is trying to understand how he can take some of the mechanisms animals use and replicate them in robots.

The animal kingdom provides the best ideas for creating mobile robots, says Kim. Locomotion and movement are the core parts of an animal’s life. “Animals have to find food, shelter; move towards water or away from a predator,” he says.

“Moving is one of their biggest functions, and they do it very well. That’s why ideas from nature are very important for a robotic designer like me.”

Mechanical design derived from biological models is something Kim has been working on for years, first at Stanford University and now at MIT. The simplification and adaptation of the fundamental design principles seen in animals has led to the creation of his bio-inspired robots.

Among the robots Kim and his team have designed are the Stickybot, a robot that has foot pads based on a gecko’s feet, and iSprawl, a robot whose motion is inspired from cockroaches.

Kim’s latest project is a robot inspired by the cheetah. The idea is build a prototype robot from a lightweight carbon-fiber-foam composite that can run at the cheetah’s speed of 35 miles per hour.

It’s an ambitious project. Current wheeled robots are efficient, but slow. For instance, iRobot’s PackBot, which is used by the U.S. military, can only travel at speeds of up to 5.8 miles per hour.

“Most wheeled robots today can do very well on flat surfaces, but they are slow,” says Kim. That’s why he’s looking to the cheetah for ideas. The cheetah has an extremely flexible backbone that gives extra speed or force to its running motion.

Over the next 18 months, Kim and four MIT graduate students will start building and testing prototypes. The first step will be to create a computer model to calculate the optimal limb length, weight, gait and torque of the hip and knee joints.

The biggest challenge in this project won’t be the structure, but getting enough power from a motor to get to the desired speed quickly, says Kim.

Before the robotic cheetah came Stickybot, a mechanical lizard-like robot that takes its inspiration from the gecko. Geckos can climb walls at almost the same speed — of about 1 meter per second — at which they run on the ground. This remarkable ability makes it the perfect animal to draw upon to create a climbing robot, says Kim.

The secret to the gecko’s agility is that it uses a phenomenon called directional adhesion, or stickiness in just one direction, to adhere to walls.

“The gecko’s feet can detach very easily as it moves forward,” says Kim. “If you take normal sticky tape and press it to the wall, you will find it is tough to detach it quickly. Directional adhesion solves that problem.”

The pads of a gecko’s feet are covered with tiny hairs called setae and spatulae that can be up to one-thousandth the width of a human hair. The hairs cling to surfaces using molecular interactions known as the Van der Waals force. The force helps support the gecko’s weight as it scrambles up vertical surfaces.

Kim has tried to recreate that idea for the Stickybot. The Stickybot’s feet is covered with hairs made of rubber silicone. The rubber is thicker than those on a gecko’s paw, however, which limits the robot’s abilities. It can only climb extremely smooth surfaces such as glass, acrylic or a whiteboard.

Kim says his team is working on refining the Stickybot so that it can adapt to climbing on walls with uneven textures.

If the Stickybot can be improved, there are plenty of applications for it, such as repairing of underwater oil pipelines or even window washing.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:54 pm

Cheetah, Gecko and Spiders Inspire Robotic Designs

Robotic designer and MIT professor Sangbae Kim designs robots inspired by the animal kingdom. He's currently building a robot using the cheetah as a model.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:54 pm

Miyamoto: New 'Mario' Tests Your Hard-Core Gaming Chops

Nintendo's master gamemaker defends the challenging gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and explains why you can't play as Princess Peach.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:48 pm

Typhoon Lupit's March Toward The Northern Philippines

Image 1: The MODIS instrument captured an image of Typhoon Lupit heading west toward Luzon, at 12:45 a.m. EDT October 16, 2009. Lupit was in the open waters of the Philippine Sea. Credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response TeamImage 2: Aqua's AIRS instrument captured Lupit's (purple and blue) high thunderstorm cloud temperatures at 12:41 a.m. EDT on October 16. The Philippines are visible to the west (left) of Lupit. Credit: NASA/JPLImage 3: Microwave images are created when data from NASA's Aqua satellite AIRS and AMSU instruments are combined. The cold areas in this image of Lupit from October 16 (yellow-green) indicate where there is precipitation or ice in the cloud tops. Credit: NASA/JPL
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:31 pm

Hamburger keeps your mousing hand warm

As far as combining your love for keeping your mousing hand warm with your love for hamburgers is concerned, it looks like there are really only two options right now. One: you could buy this “Hamburger Warming Mouse Pad” for $15. Two: you could cook up a gigantic hamburger and stick your hand inside it. Keep in mind that you’d also have to stick your mouse inside it, so make sure to check with your workplace regulations to make sure that’s okay.

I love hamburgers, don’t get me wrong. But they’re made for eating. So I would personally opt for this USB hamburger warming pad for use during the cold winter mornings and then cooking an actual hamburger for eating in the cold winter afternoons.

The warming pad is “made of high quality wool and cotton” and – oh, good – it’s compatible with both Windows and Mac platforms. Because, you know, sometimes USB hand warmers can be very particular about which operating systems they work with.

The Hamburger Warming Mouse Pad features a maximum warmth of 140° F, which is insane. Although on the plus side, you could probably cook an actual hamburger in there at lunchtime.

Hamburger Warming Mouse Pad [USB Geek]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm

'Known Software Bug' Disrupts Brain-Tumor Zapping

The maker of a life-saving radiation-therapy device patches a software bug that could mean the system's emergency Stop button could fail to stop. This after medical staff at a Cleveland hospital had to physically pull a patient from the maw of the machine.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm

Shapeshifting Robot Peeps from Under the Door

Remember B.O.B, the shape-shifting blob from Monsters vs. Aliens? B.O.B may soon have a real-life counterpart.

Robotics company iRobot has developed a soft robot that can roll around and change its shape so it can move through small spaces, such as holes and under the doors, as easily as it can on flat ground.

The robot called chembot or chemical robot was shown last week at a conference on intelligent robots and systems.

iRobot is no stranger to creating practical yet interesting automatons. iRobot has sold more than 5 million robotic vacuum cleaners and mops, known as the Roomba and the Scooba. The company also supplies robots to the U.S. military.

Chembot seems to be a machine designed for military use. At first glance, the chembot looks like a rather ugly balloon. The robot’s skin is made of off-the-shelf silicone, says IEEE Spectrum. The flexible skin encloses air and loosely packed particles. When air is removed, the particles shift to fill the void left and this results in a slightly different shape. By controlling the inflation and deflation, the robot can be made to roll around.

It’s a neat idea and researchers are now reportedly working to include sensors and even connect different blobs together. DARPA, which is funding the project, is expected to use the robot for surveillance.

See Also:

• Real Science Sets Up Surrogates’ Futuristic Robot Action …
• Humanoid Robot Plays Soccer
• Company Denies its Robots Feed on the Dead

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:16 pm

Sneaky Microsoft Add-On Put Firefox Users At Risk

CWmike writes to mention that the "Windows Presentation Foundation" plugin that Microsoft slipped into Firefox last February apparently left the popular browser open to attack. This was among the many things recently addressed in the massive Tuesday patch. "What was particularly galling to users was that once installed, the .NET add-on was virtually impossible to remove from Firefox. The usual 'Disable' and 'Uninstall' buttons in Firefox's add-on list were grayed out on all versions of Windows except Windows 7, leaving most users no alternative other than to root through the Windows registry, a potentially dangerous chore, since a misstep could cripple the PC. Several sites posted complicated directions on how to scrub the .NET add-on from Firefox, including Annoyances.org."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:14 pm

Review: 'Where the Wild Things Are' Is Woolly but Not Wild Enough

While Spike Jonze's cinematic adaptation of the classic children's book proves visually engaging, its fuzzy, grumpy beasties never quite conjure movie magic.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 2:02 pm

An Update on Mint, Formerly the Anti-Quicken [Voices]

By Mary Pilon, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

It’s been just over a month since news broke that Intuit (INTU), makers of Quicken budgeting software and Turbo Tax, would buy Mint.com for $170 million.

Some of Mint’s 1.5 million customers took to blogs and Twitter to complain about the deal and threaten to close their accounts.

About 1,500 to 2,000 customers did jump ship, said Aaron Patzer, Mint’s CEO, most within two days of the acquisition announcement. The site also, however, added 45,000 members the same week, for a total of 1.7 million users today. (The site typically adds some 30,000 users a week.) The relaunched Mint iPhone application has been downloaded 350,000 times in the last month.

“In general, there’s been more positive than negative,” he said.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 1:58 pm

Biofuel Development Requires Sophisticated Approach: UN

Governments should adopt a more sophisticated approach to developing biofuels, and should incorporate them into wider strategies for energy, climate, land-use, water and agricultural if their deployment is to be of maximum benefit to society, said the U.N.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 1:33 pm

Life-size MP5 submachine gun Wii controller

 

See that right there? That’s a Wii peripheral. If not for the blaze orange tip, one might mistake it for an MP5 submachine gun. Spotted at a Hong Kong trade show by Pocket-lint, it’s “a 1:1 scale Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun for the Wii.”

The plan is to eventually sell this in the U.S., although a price hasn’t been set. You can bet it’s going to be a pretty penny, though, as the gun features a built-in Wiimote, Nunchuck, MotionPlus sensor, rechargeable battery (via USB), speaker, and rumble support.

Part of me thinks that this newest crop of Wii peripherals (like the bike from yesterday) is just a test to see how much consumers are willing to spend on elaborate game controllers. I can’t wait for the first peripheral to come out that costs more than that Wii itself. That’ll be a sad and wonderful day. Probably mostly sad.

Wii gets custom-made Heckler and Koch MP5 controller [Pocket-lint via OhGizmo!]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 1:30 pm

FDIC Orders Online Bank Auction of Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment from First Priority Bank, Freedom Bank

BRADENTON, Fla., Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pm

Yerkes Researchers Present At 39th Annual Society For Neuroscience Conference

Rodent and nonhuman primate studies are integral part of improving human healthNeuroscience researchers from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, will present a wide range of research topics at the Society for Neuroscience's 39th annual meeting in Chicago, Oct. 17-21, 2009. The information below is a representation of the neuroscience research Yerkes scientists will be discussing. To learn more about ongoing research and scientific resources available at the Yerkes Research Center and the other seven national primate research centers, please visit exhibit booth 2153.Stuart Zola, PhD, Director, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and one of the nation's leading neuroscientists, will moderate the Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society series Saturday, Oct. 17, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. This series offers thought-provoking perspective on issues of interest and/or concern to neuroscientists by engaging with leaders from other fields of study.Todd Preuss, PhD, researches the evolutionary specializations of the human brain by comparing humans to chimpanzees and to other nonhuman primates. The goal is to understand the extent to which evolutionary expansion of the human brain was accompanied by the addition of new areas or by the enlargement and internal reorganization of existing areas. Preuss will participate in a news conference entitled "Evolution of Brain and Behavior" Sunday, Oct. 18 at 12:30 p.m. Preuss will also present a poster presentation Tuesday, Oct. 20, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.The Yerkes Research Center is sponsoring the Meet the Expert session on imaging that will feature John Gabrielli of MIT, one of Yerkes' Scientific Advisory Board members. This session is Saturday, October 17, 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative DiseasesLary Walker, PhD, studies Alzheimer's disease, stroke and trauma, the aging process and prion diseases. Walker's current research focuses on the protein structure and chemistry of Alzheimer's disease as well as the disease pathogenesis. He is also studying amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's affected brains and evaluating the efficacy and side effects of therapeutic immunizations. Walker lab poster presentation: Rebecca Rosen, PhD, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.Stella Papa, PhD, researches the areas of pathophysiology and therapeutics of neurodegenerative disorders focusing on Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. Papa lab poster presentation: S. Uthayathas, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.Yoland Smith, PhD, researches the neurochemical changes that mediate cell death and abnormal motor behaviors in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's chorea. Smith will present a poster Tuesday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. – noon.Thomas Wichmann, MD, who collaborates with Smith, researches the pathophysiology of movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. His research focuses on evaluating the role of abnormal nerve cell activity in the basal ganglia in the development of Parkinsonian motor signs. The goal of his work is to gain a better understanding of the chemical and electrophysiologic changes that cause Parkinson's that can then be translated into new and more effective therapies. Smith and Wichmann lab poster presentations are scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21: J.G. Masilamoni, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.; Abraham Mathai, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.; Jean-Francois Pare, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.; Kalynda Gonzales, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.; and Rosa Villalba PhD, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.MemoryYerkes Director Dr. Zola researches the brain structures important for memory and seeks to determine how these structures separately and in combination contribute to memory function. His lab also studies emotional behavior and its link to memory function in humans and animals. Zola will present a poster Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.Jocelyne Bachevalier, PhD, studies infantile amnesia, the inability to remember virtually anything from infancy. The primary goal of her research program is to determine the structural or functional immaturity responsible for infantile amnesia. Her lab also studies the nature of the memory decline in monkeys, which accompanies normal aging, to help explain aging-related memory disorders. Bachevalier lab poster presentations: Jessica Raper, Saturday, Oct. 17, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.; Alyson Zeamer, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.; Shala Blue, Saturday, Oct. 17, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.; and Laetitia Cirilli, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. – noon.Elizabeth A. Buffalo, PhD, researches the neuronal mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of memory. Through her research, she records neural activity in monkeys that have been trained to perform various types of memory tasks and investigates how changes in neuronal activity correlate with each monkey's ability to learn and remember in order to better understand how medial temporal lobe circuits support memory formation. Such understanding has the potential to make way for new therapies aimed at reducing or preventing memory loss that results from medial temporal lobe disease. Buffalo lab poster presentation: Megan Tompkins, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.AddictionMichael J. Kuhar, PhD, chair of Yerkes' Division of Neuroscience, studies drug addiction and the role of CART peptides in the abuse of cocaine and other psycho-stimulate drugs. Kuhar's ongoing research includes examining the biochemical and physiological mechanisms involved in drug abuse in order to develop potential medications and treatments for drug abusers. Kuhar lab poster presentations: G. Desbordes, Saturday, Oct. 17, 3 p.m. – 4pm.; George Rogge, Sunday, Oct. 18, 3 p.m. – 4pm.; Doug Jones, PhD, Sunday, Oct. 18, 4 p.m. – 5pm.; Yiming Lin, PhD, Monday, Oct. 19, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.; and George Hubert, PhD, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.Fear, Anxiety and StressMichael Davis, PhD, researches the physiological bases of learning and memory and brain areas involved in fear, anxiety and stress. Davis lab poster presentations are scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21: Leigh Miles, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.; Ryan Parsons, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.; D.L. Walker, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.; and Kelly Sink, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.E. Christopher Muly, MD, PhD, researches how various forms of experience alter the structural organization of nerve cell communication to understand how experience and drugs mediate alterations in brain functioning relevant to a wide variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including post traumatic stress disorder, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. Muly lab poster presentation: S.V. Kusnoor, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. – noon.Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, studies the biological mechanisms that cause fear. Ressler focuses on post traumatic stress disorder, a condition that causes chronic anxiety and traumatic flashbacks, and the genetic and neurobiological keys to preventing and treating the disease. Ressler lab poster presentations are scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 18: Aaron Jasnow, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.; Georgette Gafford, 11 a.m. – noon; Kimberly Maguschak, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.; and Scott Heldt, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.Mar Sanchez, PhD, studies neurobiological systems that control stress physiology and emotion regulation in nonhuman primates, particularly the developmental effects of early adverse experiences on stress neuroendocrine systems, emotion regulation and related neurobiological substrates of primates. Sanchez will present a poster Monday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Sanchez lab poster presentation: Brittany Powell, Sunday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.Sex and the BrainLarry Young, PhD, researches the molecular-, cellular- and systems-level mechanisms underlying social behaviors, specifically monogamy and partner bonding. Young's research focuses on the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in a variety of social behaviors in order to better understand the relationship between genes, the brain and behavior. Young lab poster presentations: Sara Freeman, Monday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.; and Todd Ahern, Monday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.Imaging
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 1:09 pm

MicroStrategy Offers Half-day Business Intelligence Course for Business Users

MCLEAN, Va., Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm

Science Study: Teacher Participation In Columbia Program Improves Student Achievement In Science

Pioneering teacher-training program at Columbia University Medical Center yields marked improvement by students on critical New York state examThe notion that training teachers in the rigors of hands-on science will directly improve their students' academic performance now has real data behind it: Research assembled over the last decade – now published in the Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:59 pm

Microsoft Announces Upcoming Events for the Financial Community

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced participation in the following upcoming events with the financial community.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:54 pm

Researchers Discover How Barnacles Attach To Other Objects

Researchers have solved the mystery of how barnacles attach themselves to other objects, showing that barnacle glue binds together exactly the same way as human blood does when it clots, BBC News reported.Barnacles are crustaceans that live in shallow ocean environments.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:50 pm

GSM-flavored Motorola Droid passes through the FCC

Last night, a bunch of strange tips slammed our inbox, all talking about the Motorola Sholes (otherwise known as the Tao, or more recently, the Verizon Motorola Droid.) "Motorola just tried to sneak the Sholes through the FCC!" they read, highlighting the fact that in this recent report, Motorola only mentions Sholes by name once - and it's about as subtle of a mention as can be. But that, in itself, isn't what seemed strange. What was strange was that the Motorola Sholes already cleared the FCC last month, in Verizon-ready CDMA form. So we looked a bit closer, and sure enough, there they were: GSM frequencies.

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:49 pm

DanceJam Finds A Buyer

DanceJam, a dance video startup founded by MC Hammer, Geoffrey Arone and Anthony Young in April 2007, will soon be acquired by Purevideo Networks, we’ve heard from multiple sources. Note: I am a small stockholder in DanceJam, although the company won’t comment to me about this at all.

We don’t know the purchase price or other terms of the deal. Both companies are privately funded.

Earlier this year Purevideo Networks also acquired Sportnet, a site that controls a number of popular topical video sites.

DanceJam launched in November 2007 and has raised $4.5 million in venture capital.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:49 pm

'66 GTO Goes Green for Route 66

Two Alabama gearheads convert a Goat to run on natural gas so they can hit the historic highway in eco-style.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:47 pm

How Humans Taste Fizz

Scientists have found out how people can taste the bubbly sensation from carbonated beverages.The answer appears to lie in an enzyme on the surface of sour-sensing cells in taste buds, researchers reported in the journal Science.Researchers at National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and colleagues from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) used mice in their study.Mice have a similar sense of taste to that of humans.Researchers found that the enzyme, known as carbonic anhydrase 4, is responsible for the taste of carbonation in drinks.The enzyme activates the sour cells in the taste buds, which sends a sensory message to the brain."Of course, this raises the question of why carbonation doesn't just taste sour," said senior author Nicholas Ryba, from NIDCR."We know that carbon dioxide also stimulates the mouth's somatosensory system.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:40 pm

Where The Monetizable Clicks Are: Digg’s New Ads

Last week, we wrote about Digg testing a new kind of ad that allowed sponsors to find previously submitted Digg content and and wrap it in their own ad unit. The first such ad just went live for everyone this morning. And it seems like a really great idea.

Since I wasn’t able to see the ads before, I wondered if the actual Digg content portion of the ad would link back to the sponsor or to the actual story. Not only does it link back to the story’s permalink page, but it routes it through a DoubleClick referral. So yes, Digg is keeping track of all of these clicks (though I’m told that right now the ads are on a CPM basis), while users are being sent to content that quite likely do actually want to go to. Win-win.

As you can see in the first such ad, for the new Warner Brothers film Where The Wild Things Are, the movie studio picked three previously popular stories on Digg about the movie. Each already had several hundred diggs before the studio wrapped it in the ad unit. One of Digg’s weaknesses is that once a story is off the main homepage, the likelihood that anyone is ever going to see it again goes way, way down. But this is a way for Digg to surface older content, while giving them a huge incentive to do so: Advertiser money.

Naturally, the ad unit also features a big graphic for the film as well. Clicking on this area goes to the movie’s website, just as you’d expect from a normal online ad.

While Google has made billions off of its contextual text link ads, overall advertising on the Internet remains a tough nut for many sites to crack. The simple fact is that some of the Google search result sponsored links aside, many users probably don’t really want to click on advertisements, and only do either by accident, or when they’re tricked (into thinking it’s content, or a game, or that they can win something free, or whatever). That Digg has figured out a way to get paid for what its users already click on, is very interesting.

To be clear, these ads are not the same as the sponsored Digg Ads that appear in the stream of stories. Those feature content that sponsors place for users to vote on. These new ads feature content that has already been submitted to the site by other users, not the sponsor.

The next question is, what happens if Digg strikes some deals to place these types of ads on other sites? Would users click on them, recognizing the Digg branding and realizing that they might actually like to see that content? Would advertisers still pay for that on a massive scale? That could be a billion dollar question.

Update: We were just told that for right now these ads are on a CPM basis, while the other Digg ads are CPC. Still, with Digg (by way of DoubleClick) keeping track of these clicks, they could very easily flip the switch and do CPC, assuming the advertisers played along with it, of course.

CrunchBase Information

Digg

Information provided by CrunchBase

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

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:38 pm

GSM-Flavored Motorola Droid passes through the FCC

Last night, a bunch of strange tips slammed our inbox, all talking about the Motorola Sholes (otherwise known as the Tao, or more recently, the Verizon Motorola Droid.) “Motorola just tried to sneak the Sholes through the FCC!” they read, highlighting the fact that in this recent report, Motorola only mentions Sholes by name once – and it’s about as subtle of a mention as can be. But that, in itself, isn’t what seemed strange. What was strange was that the Motorola Sholes already cleared the FCC last month, in Verizon-ready CDMA form.

So we looked a bit closer, and sure enough, there they were: GSM frequencies. The first time the Sholes headed through the FCC’s torture chambers, it was rockin’ CDMA bands for Verizon’s network. This time around, it’s packed to the brim with GSM radio.

The important snippet:

This equipment is a GSM portable transceiver, which operates in the 850, 900,1800 and 1900 MHz PCS band. It also operates in WCDMA 900 and 2100 MHz and contains GPRS Class 12 and a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth function (Part 15.247). The unit may also be connected to a computer via a USB connection (Part 15 Class B Computing Device Peripheral).

Alas, the lack of AT&T or T-Mobile 3G bands seems to indicate that this is a European device, tested in the FCC only for the sake of keepin’ things legal while traveling.

[Clarification Update: We originally thought this was sporting AT&T 3G bands - but it looks like we just got a bit too excited and misread. GSM, yes. AT&T 3G, no.]

FCC Link

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:36 pm

Acer Liquid specs and images leak out…

It feels like just yesterday (er, two days ago) when we first caught wind of Acer’s new, Android-powered smartphone, Liquid. Unfortunately, at that point in time, we were left hankering for the new ‘droid’s specs (and pics). Fast forward some 48 hours and voila, the Liquid’s specs have leaked (god, I love bad puns) all over the Intermess!

Thanks to our friends across the blogosphere, we are now happy to present you, our dear readers, with the highly anticipated specifications for the Acer Liquid (A1) smartie:

* 3.5″ WVGA (800 × 480) Capacitive touch screen display
* Processor: Qualcomm QSD 8250 1GHz (we will see who is actually to 768 Mhz)
* 256 MB SDRAM
* 512 MB FLASH ROM
* 115 × 64 x 12.43 mm
* Weight: 135g (including battery)
* HSDPA Category 8/ HSUPA Category 5 /UMTS ( 2100/1900/900 Mhz) for EU
* HSDPA Category 8/ HSUPA Category 5 /UMTS ( 2100/1900/850 Mhz) for US
* GSM: Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
* GPRS/EDGE: Class B, multi-slot class 10
* Messaging: MMS, SMS
* WLAN: 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED network connection
* Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
* Built-in AGPS Support
* 5M pixels camera with Auto-Focus
* Accelerometer
* Light sensor
* 3.5mm jack
* Capacitive button: Home, Search, Back, Menu
* Hardware buttons: Volume Up, Volume Down, Camera, Power / Standby
* Battery: Lithium Polymer rechargeable with 1.350 mAh capacity
* Talk time: Up to 5 hours for WCDMA / Up to 6 hours for GSM

And for those of you who are more akin to visual stimulation/learning, here are a few pics (above / below) courtesy of CNET UK:

[via IntoMobile]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:28 pm

Exit Stage Right: Accel, Benchmark, NEA, And Foundation Saw The Most Exits In Q3

For more TechCrunch Analysis, check out the Q3 09 Trends Report here. Which venture capitalists had the most exist last quarter? A peek at Crunchbase data shows that Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, Foundation Capital and New Enterprise Asosciates all recorded at least three exits by acquisition in Q3 2009. The four firms were all also among the ten most active investors in CrunchBase in the quarter. Benchmark and Accel were led by partners who had career weeks, Peter Fenton and Jim Breyer. NEA might have posted the best returns, with two huge deals. Foundation, meanwhile, exited two investments that began in the seed/angel rounds.

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:21 pm

Intel, After Email Miscues, Accuses AMD of the Same [Voices]

By Don Clark, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Intel (INTC) has admitted to some major gaffes in handling documents in an antitrust suit filed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which is moving toward a trial next March. Now the chip giant says the shoe is on AMD’s foot.

Intel this week filed a motion seeking sanctions against AMD, alleging that its smaller rival failed to adequately retain and produce documents in the case and tried to hide its lapses. AMD rejects the allegations, characterizing them as an attempt to create a diversion from Intel’s own document-handling miscues.

The two companies believe the case–which AMD filed in June 2005, alleging that Intel abused its dominant market position–will generate more documents than any piece of civil litigation in U.S. history.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:21 pm

YouTube's Bandwidth Bill Is Zero. Welcome to the New Net

Many speculate that YouTube bleeds money paying for bandwidth, but a new report suggests that Google isn't paying anyone a single cent to serve billions of videos. Welcome to the new internet architecture.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:20 pm

Samsung’s Flexible OLED Screen Goes Under the Hammer

Samsung has been working to deliver flexible displays for cellphones that will be significantly thinner than current LCD screens and allow for new form factors. But a big question for electronics makers will be how sturdy are these flexible displays? There’s only one way to answer that question and that’s with a hammer.

A video clips shows what happens when you pound a flexible, 2.8-inch display that is about 20 micrometers thick. And the answer is nothing. There’s not a scratch on the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display. In comparison, an LCD screen shatters when it is hit.

It’s an interesting demonstration of the technology’s potential. Flexible displays are a hot area of research. Arizona State University’s Flexible Display Center is working with the U.S. Army to create flexible displays that are so thin and light that they can be rolled up and stuffed into pockets or backpacks. Those displays could be available in limited field trials in about two to three years.

Samsung hasn’t disclosed when it plans to bring its flexible displays to market. But it is likely, the the first commercial products with flexible displays will debut around the same time.

[via OLED-Info]

See Also:

• Flexible Displays Get Touch Friendly
• Flexible Wrist-Mounted OLED Display Excites Dick Tracys Everywhere …
• Researchers Create Paper-Like Flat, Flexible Speakers
• Flexible Displays Closer to Reality, Thanks to U.S. Army
• Samsung Shows Flexible Display For Cellphones

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:07 pm

Panasonic’s assist cart robot for use in hospitals

First the dish washing robot, then an assist cart robot: It was a big day for Panasonic’s robot division. This cart robo, a one-seater, is specifically designed for use in hospitals and nursing homes where it’s supposed to move medical equipment and things like wheelchairs.

Panasonic claims the robo vehicle will even help staff move around hospital beds, as it can carry equipment weighing 200kg. Japan has the oldest society in the world (over 20% of the population are older than 65), and the company said it plans to invest more resources into the health and welfare robot sector in the next years.

The assist cart robo for hospitals is to be commercialized as early as spring next year. Panasonic plans to sell a version for use in other places for about $1,000 in or after 2012.

Via Kaden Watch [JP]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:03 pm

Postal worker helps himself to $86,000 worth of Gamefly games

 

Whoops. Philadelphia-area Gamefly members who have been wondering why in the hell they never got their rented copies of Cooking Mama finally have some answers. The culprit, 34 year old Reginald Johnson of Germantown, PA, stole some 2,200 Gamefly games while working as a mail-processing clerk between April and September of 2008.

The total value of the stolen games is $86,000. Johnson apparently traded many of the games in to GameStop for store credit, as authorities found several consoles and GameStop receipts in his SUV. Oh speaking of his SUV, he sped off in it when federal agents initially tried to arrest him. He eventually crashed the vehicle and took off running before being caught.

He had a duffel bag with him containing 81 Gamefly games and a search of his car turned up 79 additional games along with a bunch of stuff from GameStop. Johnson is facing 12 to 18 months in prison with sentencing to take place on January 13th.

Ex-mail handler admits theft of video games in envelopes [Philly.com via Kotaku]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Great Science Hoaxes

Take a look at some of the greatest scientific hoaxes in history.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Ten-person boat features built-in grill

 

Summer, much like Karma Chameleon, comes and goes. It comes and goes. And I’ll be damned if this past summer came and went with few (if any) of us wiling away the hours in a circular boat with a built-in grill.

The iRev, as it’s called, is “a new recreational vessel which functions as a unique revenue source for our potential purchasers. The iREV is a 360 degree floating vessel, seating up to ten (10) people with customizable options ranging from a low smoke grill to interactive media panels.” And what’s this? Apparently the iREV “can be used 365 days a year on water or land.”

That seems like a bit of a stretch, although the idea of sledding down a mountain slope at breakneck speeds while munching on a bratwurst and chatting with nine other friends about last night’s episode of Popular Reality Show sounds like a nice way to spend a Saturday.

As far as price is concerned, looks like it starts at around $24,000. That may sound expensive, but you’re basically getting a boat and a kitchen. And since it’s a “revenue source” it would probably be in your best interest to make the boat your job as well. You’d definitely be first to market in the floating hot dog stand industry.

iRev [MOTOTHORITY via Gizmodo]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:30 am

Is The Earth Entering A Cooling Cycle?

On the scientific research front, most news headlines tend to be aimed at showing how global temperatures are on a steady upward climb, but one report published last week appears to reveal that those upward trends may not be entirely accurate.In an October 9 BBC News story, climate correspondent Paul Hudson noted that the warmest year on record was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.The story goes on to state that no climate increase has been measured over the past 11 years, although emissions of carbon dioxide continue to rise.The BBC story cited experts who claim that although the world has gone through decades of rapid warmth during the 20th Century, the earth operates on natural climate cycles, which man has no control over.Additionally, experts have long debated whether the spikes in warming have been attributed to an increase in the Sun’s energy and that warming causes a rise in carbon dioxide levels, rather than the other way around.For some scientists, there is the lingering possibility that the earth could be entering a period of global cooling, rather than the widely sensationalized warming trend.BBC News cited a study published two years ago by the Royal Society.In the study, scientists observed solar output and cosmic ray intensity over the past 30-40 years in order to contrast them against global average surface temperature."Warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity," concluded Dr Piers Forster, a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).But the BBC story goes on to cite contradicting information from solar scientist Piers Corbyn, who works with long-range weather forecasting firm Weatheraction.Corbyn uses Solar Weather Technique, which he touts to be “the most advanced and reliable long-range forecasting system in the world.”His method uses predictable aspects of solar activity, primarily particle and magnetic effects from the Sun, to make long-range weather forecasts.Using his method of research, Corbyn has concluded that solar charged particles are actually responsible for shifts in global temperatures.And then there’s the story being told by the earth’s oceans.BBC News cited information from Professor Don Easterbrook from Western Washington University last November.Easterbrook’s research showed that the earth’s oceans are on a cyclic periods of warming and cooling.He says the Pacific decadal oscillation was on a warming cycle during the 1980s and 1990s, which can be correlated with warmer global temperatures.However, the PDO has begun to cool down in recent years, says Easterbrook."The PDO cool mode has replaced the warm mode in the Pacific Ocean, virtually assuring us of about 30 years of global cooling," said Easterbrook.So which story can the world rely on in terms of global warming or cooling?Scientists at the Met Office claim that there will always be periods of slower warming and temporary cooling.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:30 am

Nokia Reorg Actually "Job Rotation" [Digital Daily]

Nokia describes the management overhaul it’s undertaking as a common “job rotation,” but coming as it does after its lousy third-quarter financial performance and a worrisome decline in smart-phone market share, it seems perhaps just a little bit more.

This morning the Finnish mobile phone giant tapped Rick Simonson, currently its chief financial officer, as head of its handset division. And the company named Timo Ihamuotila, currently global head of sales, CFO.

While Simonson’s move from CFO to head of Nokia’s mobile phone business might seem a bit odd, analysts say it could be just what the company needs. “Simonson has been in the business for years,” Swedbank Securities analyst Jan Ihrfelt told Forbes. “He knows the company quite well, has the financial skills and the skills of a good communicator to make people in the company excited about new goals.”

And that’s clearly something Nokia (NOK) needs. For while the company is holding its ground in the broader mobile phone business, it’s losing it in smart phones, the fastest-growing segment of the market. As I noted yesterday, Nokia’s share of the smart-phone market slipped to 35 percent from 41 percent in its latest quarter, a grim reminder of just how poorly the company’s flagship smart phones are faring in their battle with iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIMM).

Said Ihrfelt: “Nokia hasn’t been as quick as others in catching up with trends in the market and in bringing phones to consumers. One would expect a player the size of Nokia to have a product that competes with the iPhone, but that hasn’t been the case.”

Not yet, anyway. But that may soon change. A few weeks back, Nokia hired John Martin, former vice president of iPhone and Mac Internet Services at Apple to oversee development of new devices based on its Maemo platform.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:27 am

Why Does Soda Taste So Good?

Sour-sensing taste buds interact with carbon dioxide to give soda its flavor.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:25 am

Android 2.0 gets torn apart, screenshot by screenshot

With Google having placed a canoe-sized Eclair on their lawn a few days ago, we know that the next update for Android (codenamed “Eclair”, version number 2.0) can’t be too far off. Google has kept their code surprisingly close to their chest, this time around; where as bits and pieces of each update generally show up in their code repositories to be explored months ahead of release, Eclair has gone mostly unseen.

Whether that’s because they wanted to keep things mum until the launch of the first 2.0 phone or what, we’ll never know – but either way, the cat’s out of the bag now. The Boy Genius Report got their hands on a Moto Sholes running 2.0, and gave it a fairly rigorous visual runthrough.

A lot of major components have seen major overhauls. Here’s the quick list:

• The OS now has native support for Facebook, including contact syncing
• Native Exchange support
• There’s a new unified inbox that brings all of your emails to one place – except Gmail emails. Those are still handled through the Gmail app.
• The maps application has been overhauled to support “layers”, which lets you toggle overlays such as Wikipedia entries, Latitude buddies, etc. There does appear to be multitouch support in the app, but you can not pinch to zoom.
• The browser has been kicked up a notch in the speed department, along with an overall UI polish.
• New Widgets, including an on-the-spot Youtube record/upload widget.
• We’re not sure if this is part of 2.0 or something that the handset manufacturer added, but this build includes something called “Car Home”. Car Home allows you quick voice-based access to a bunch of functionality, limited to the scope of stuff you’d need while driving. You can, for example, launch a Google Maps search for nearby coffee.
• The contacts screen has been dramatically cleaned up, removing much of the screen-to-screen clutter that has been dragging it down. Tap a name, and available contact methods pop out of a little speech bubble. Fun!

Check out the full runthrough here.

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Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:23 am

2009 State Of The Blogosphere: The Full BlogWorld Presentation

Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra, fresh off a new funding and site relaunch, is showing some of the highlights from their annual State of the Blogosphere report today at BlogWorld in Las Vegas.

We’ll have a video of his full video presentation shortly. In the meantime, we’re embedding the power point presentation below.

Key points Jalichandra brought up – What’s the no. 1 success metric for a professional blogger? What do successful bloggers have in common? The data was taken from a survey of 2,900 bloggers, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland.

72% of bloggers are hobbyists, says Jalichandra, and blog for fun. They don’t make any income from blogging, and only half hope to someday. They blog simply to express themselves. Of professional bloggers, only 10% blog 40 or more hours per week.

2/3 of professional bloggers are male, and 60% are between 18 – 44 years old. 75% have college degrees, and 40% have graduate degrees. Half have household incomes of $75,000 or more. 17% of them say blogging is their primary source of income. A whopping 74% of bloggers use Twitter, v. 14% of the general population. Their no. 1 use of Twitter is to promote their blogs.

Lots more detail in the full presentation, below. You can see the audience reaction on Twitter here.

Technorati SOTB 2009 –

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Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:18 am

Barking Dogs Explained

Is a barking dog driving you nuts? There are reasons behind the noise, researchers find.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 11:10 am

Dear FTC: Is This the Kind of Thing You Want Me to Disclose? [MediaMemo]

I go back and forth on the new blogger disclosure rules the Federal Trade Commission rolled out last week. Part of me thinks the agency is trying to boil the ocean, and without any good reason–even if a blogger runs a post at the behest of a sleazy marketers, who really cares? On the other hand, there really are some sleazy marketers out there, so many that letters like this one, which popped into my inbox this morning, don’t even raise an eyebrow:

Hi Peter,

My name is [Redacted] and I’m working with the ad:tech team on the social media outreach and promotion for ad:tech New York. ad:tech recognizes that you are a key influencer in the digital marketing community, and as such, I’d like to see if you are interested in a promotion exchange.

ad:tech will provide:

• Twitter announcement of your involvement with ad:tech New York to our 6,800+ followers.
• Your choice of: a free pass to the exhibit hall (valued at $35) or 35% off a full conference pass.

*If you are already registered or can’t make it to the event, you can offer it as a prize to your network, give it to a friend or client….It is completely transferrable.

We ask you provide:

• No less than 3 posts about ad:tech New York on Twitter, Facebook or your blog. Suggested postings: a session you’re interested in, why you like ad:tech, the exhibitors that you want to see or technologies that you are interested in learning about. What you share is up to you–it just needs to be posted by November 1.

Interested in writing a blog post and would like additional information on ad:tech? Quotes, photos, interviews, ideas, etc. will happily be offered with request.

To redeem the offer:
Share 3 posts about ad:tech, then email me, [X]@ad-tech.com, with links/screenshots by November 1.

• Tell me how you’d like ad:tech to promote your involvement with the event at the show.
• Let me know if you’d like the free expo pass or the 35% discount on the conference.

Please let me know if this is something that you are interested in or if you have any questions?

Thank you for your continued support of ad:tech. I hope to meet you in New York!

[Redacted]
Social Media Outreach
ad:tech

Well. Flattery is always a nice approach, so I’m pleased to hear about my influencer status. Also, it’s nice that the ad:tech team is willing to provide “ideas” for me upon request.

Alas, even if I wanted to take ad:tech up on its offer, the Dow Jones Code of Conduct would prevent me from doing so.

But this letter does generate two questions for me:

• Is my work nearly worthless? Or pretty valuable? Three posts is a little less than a day’s work for me. Ad:tech says that’s worth either $35 (a free expo pass) or up to $558 (35 percent of the highest price for an ad:tech conference pass). That’s a big swing!
• I know there are a lot of “social media experts” out there, because there are a lot of them following me on Twitter. But I don’t really know what they do. Is this it? That can’t be right. Can it?

Anyway, this kind of thing always makes we want to pull up a “Glengarry Glen Ross” clip. There isn’t a direct connection, mind you. Just a vibe.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 10:58 am

Mobile Digital TV Standard Adopted in the U.S.A.

Late last night, around midnight if you really must know, the ATSC (aka the Advanced Television Systems Committee) ratified the A/153 ATSC Mobile DTV Standard which “defines the technical specifications necessary for broadcasters to provide new services to mobile and handheld devices using their digital television (DTV) transmissions.”

In other words, digital TV will soon be playing on mobile handsets all across the U.S. of A.

More specifically:

The new services for mobile and handheld devices are carried along with current DTV services without any adverse impact on legacy receiving equipment. ATSC Mobile DTV was developed to support a variety of services including free (advertiser-supported) television and interactive services delivered in real-time, subscription-based TV, and file-based content download for playback at a later time. The standard can also be used for transmission of new data broadcasting services.

This is sort of a bittersweet moment for me. TV watching has heretofore always been a specific location-based activity, i.e. your family room, a sports pub, a friend’s house, etc. Thus, if you wanted to watch the boob tube, you simply found your way to one of these spots. If you weren’t in the mood for some tele, you could just go for a walk in the park, take a drive around the town, or curl up with a book in a different room.

However, now that the new mobile digital TV standard will “enable broadcasters to provide new compelling services to consumers utilizing a wide array of wireless receiving devices including mobile phones, small handheld DTVs, laptop computers and in-vehicle entertainment systems” there really won’t be anywhere left to hide, er avoid watching TV.

But I guess it’s not all bad news. There are plenty of times when firing up a “mobile TV” will be wonderfully convenient, such as watching live sports with the sound muted during a terrible business presentation or during your kid’s elementary school musical, for example. Not to mention, the new mobile DTV also features “enhanced” content:

In addition to live television, the new ATSC Mobile DTV standard provides a flexible application framework to enable new receiver capabilities. Receivers that make use of an optional Internet connection will enable new interactive television services, ranging from audience measurement and simple viewer voting to the integration of Internet-based applications and transactions with television content.

In the end, with more and more large screen mobile devices hitting the market (come on, HTC Dragon!), along with the announced support from the Open Mobile Video Coalition, a voluntary association of more than 800 broadcast stations across the country, access to mobile DTV could actually be pretty sweet…under the right circumstances.

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Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 10:51 am

Gawker CTO Launches SuperGlued iPhone App For Gawking At Rock Clubs

Next week, 1200 indie (and not-so-indie) rock bands will descend upon New York City for the annual CMJ Music Marathon. Keeping up with all the bands playing at bars and clubs across the city, and who is going to which shows, can be a daunting task even for the most dedicated hipsters. But not to fear, SuperGlued just launched a free iPhone app (iTunes link) with all the CMJ music show listings (and more) that lets you see Tweets about each show, Tweet out your own messages, and share pictures you take via the app.

The launch is timed for CMJ, but it works anywhere. The app pulls in show listings from Last.fm, Livenation, local show listings, and those added by members. The app lets you indicate that you are going to a particular show.

It also lets you gawk at other people at shows, by snapping pictures and sharing them through the app, or checking out Tweets about that show. It acts as a Twitter client as well, letting you Tweet to your friends whether or not a show is worth coming out to, or just to show your appreciation for a particularly rocking song. (The rock-show Tweet is the digital equivalent of holding up a lighter, I guess). Each Tweet is accompanied with a short link to that show’s listing page on SuperGlued (like this one) , which also shows who else is going.

SuperGlued was founded by Rush Doshi, an ex-AOL product developer, and Tom Plunkett, who’s day job appropriately enough is as the CTO of Gawker. Perhaps that’s where the virtual voyeurism comes from.

On the one hand, it’s seems pretty silly to be looking down at your iPhone when you are at alive show instead of enjoying the band (unless the band sucks). On the other hand, it’s probably easier to have a conversation through Twitter than shouting over the amps.

The app works great for finding shows and seems to capture a pretty comprehensive set of listings. But the one thing it needs is better filters. For instance, it doesn’t let you see which shows near you have the most people going to them. Doshi says that is a feature they plan on adding in the future.

I like apps like SuperGlued because they try to do one thing well. You could just look at your normal Twitter stream for shows your friends are going to, but you’d probably only catch a few. SuperGlued shows you Tweets from everyone about a particular show or band. It’s an interest stream instead of a friend stream.

As realtime streams get more and more noisy, one way to cut down the noise is to use Twitter apps like SuperGlued that focus on a single topic or purpose. And it just so happens that SuperGlued is focused on finding you the right noise to enjoy, so to speak.

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Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing?

Apple on Thursday made a subtle-yet-major revision to its App Store policy, enabling extra content to be sold through free iPhone apps. It’s a move that immediately impacts the publishing industry, and it could pay even bigger dividends if the Cupertino, California, company indeed delivers its highly anticipated touchscreen tablet.

While the most obvious beneficiaries would be app developers, a market segment that can also benefit from the new in-app commerce model are people and companies that create content and need to set up shop in a way that doesn’t, in effect, charge someone for just walking in — like media publishers.

Newspapers and magazines are reportedly in talks with Apple about repurposing their content onto a “new device,” presumably the rumored touchscreen tablet Apple will deliver in early 2010. Numerous reports suggest an Apple tablet would have a strong focus on redefining print media. Enabling in-app commerce through free apps was a crucial move to help make this goal a reality.

Apple’s earlier in-app sales model wasn’t ideal for publishers. Previously, in-app commerce was a feature exclusive to paid apps; free apps were not permitted to sell content. Newspapers and magazines already struggle to sway readers to pay for content to begin with, and charging for apps cuts off potential customers. By allowing commerce within free apps, Apple creates the opportunity for a free media app to serve as a gateway for readers to get hooked on a newspaper’s or magazine’s content, which could help lure them into paying for exclusive premium content.

CNN is an exception: Its recently-released iPhone app costs $2. The Wall Street Journal will later this month begin charging for most of the content it delivers through its free app, and the Financial Times has an app that only offers up to 10 free stories a month without a subscription to the newspaper. But for the most part, publishers have loathed charging for an app, even if it then enabled them to try to charge for content within that point of sale. Reducing the cost barrier of that business model to zero changes things considerably. At least one small publisher, Scarab Magazine, has already taken advantage of the change.

Picture a free magazine app that offers one sample issue and the ability to purchase future issues afterward. Or a newspaper app that only displays text articles with pictures, but paying a fee within the app unlocks an entire new digital experience packed with music and video. This is an example of the “freemium” model that Wired magazine’s Chris Anderson explains in his book Free. It’s a model that some publishers, including Wired’s parent company Condé Nast, are already experimenting with on their websites. (Our sister publication Ars Technica, for example, offers its general content for free, as well as a “Premier” subscription option for readers to access exclusive content.)

If Apple does indeed deliver a tablet, the key for publishers is to create a convenient experience that readers will pay for, as opposed to the content itself. A free app would be the first step toward offering that experience. (And then the publisher will have to figure out what to do about ads, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.)

It’s plausible to imagine that a freemium strategy would be much more effective through a tablet app than a website. If the tablet is indeed designed like a 10-inch iPod Touch or iPhone, as insiders have described it, then publishers developing apps will be able to take advantage of features such as the accelerometer, GPS, live video streaming and multitouch to innovate the way they engage with their audience — and, ultimately, persuade them to pay.

Only now is the relevance of a touchscreen tablet becoming more clear. Scores of tablet devices have come and gone in years past, and many analysts and tech enthusiasts wondered why Apple would enter what is considered a failed product category. Clearly, Apple sees a gaping hole — the publishing industry’s lack of vision for a working digital model — and a touchscreen tablet, combined with the App Store and this new in-app sales model, would seek to fill it.

What’s in it for Apple? Primarily, squashing Amazon’s Kindle. Who would wish to read a digital newspaper or magazine on the Kindle’s drab e-ink screen if Apple delivers a multimedia-centric tablet? Wired’s Steven Levy shares my view in his assessment of the Kindle’s newspaper experience: “[The Kindle DX's] plodding menu-based interface still made navigating newspapers difficult, and the rich graphic quality that makes magazines such an indulgence is totally missing. Even the flashiest print publication looks like The New England Journal of Medicine.”

Can Apple redefine print media to save the publishing industry? It probably has a higher chance than any other tech company out there. Apple is a market-shaper, and that’s the kind of a company the publishing industry needs to resuscitate it as the traditional advertising model continues to collapse. Daily Beast editor Tina Brown believes that, thanks to the powers of the internet and technology, we’re entering the “golden age” of journalism in the next three years. Perhaps Apple’s tablet will be a crucial part of it.

See Also:

• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• Apple’s Tablet Could Be Print Industry’s Lifeboat
• Rumor: Back at Work, Jobs Cracks the Whip on Tablet Designers
  
• How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
• Wall Street Journal Takes Paywall Fight to Mobiles
• Financial Times iPhone App Worse Than Trialware
• CNN’s iPhone News App Is Informative and Empowering

Illustration of an Apple tablet: Photo Giddy/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:35 am

Amazon's New Same-Day Delivery Puts The Squeeze On The Little Guys - ChannelWeb

BigNews.biz (press release)

Amazon's New Same-Day Delivery Puts The Squeeze On The Little Guys ChannelWeb It's hard enough for independent bookstores to stay afloat among their big box rivals, but now Amazon is upping the hurt with news that it will offer same-day delivery of books. The online retailer Friday said it is ... Amazon Rolls Out Same-Day ShippingPC World Amazon Adds Same-Day DeliveryABC News Amazon starts same day shipping in seven citiesAfterdawn.com V3.co.uk -AHN -CNET News all 133 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:27 am

Climate Change Threatens Rice Production

Once-in-a-lifetime floods in the Philippines, India’s delayed monsoon, and extensive drought in Australia are taking their toll on this year’s rice crops, demonstrating the vulnerability of rice to extreme weather.Rice Today’s October-December 2009 edition focuses on climate change and its potential impact on rice.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:27 am

RateMyProfessors Preps for Fall Semester [Voices]

By Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

It’s early in the school year, but according to RateMyProfessors.com, students are already weighing in on the brains (and beauty) of their teachers.

The site lets college students rate their professors on such traits as easiness, helpfulness, clarity and “hotness,” and its popularity has prompted a slew of news articles quoting teachers maligned or flattered by their anonymous reviews. Last month, the New York Times’s (NYT) Ethicist column addressed an unnamed instructor who asked whether it’s appropriate to suggest that satisfied students post a rating to improve his profile.

“Universities have always done professor evaluations, but that information was kept private,” said Carlo DiMarco, vice president of university relations at MTV Networks, whose MTVu division bought RateMyProfessors in 2007. The site helps students “seek the wisdom of a much larger group,” he said, when figuring out which classes they should be taking, a process that used to happen via word-of-mouth with a handful of classmates.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:24 am

Energy Development And Sage-Grouse Habitat In The Intermountain West

A study released October 14th in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE will shed new light on oil and gas development potential in the Intermountain West. Maps accompanying the study show the impacts to greater sage-grouse populations in relation to potential energy development.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:23 am

What Are Coral Reef Services Worth?

Economists, assigning values to 'ecosystem services,' report staggering totals and rates of return on investmentExperts concluding the global DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference today in Cape Town described preliminary research revealing jaw-dropping dollar values of the “ecosystem services” of biomes like forests and coral reefs – including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation.Undertaken to help societies make better-informed choices, the economic research shows a single hectare of coral reef, for example, provides annual services to humans valued at US $130,000 on average, rising to as much as $1.2 million.The work provides insights into the worth of ecosystems in human economic terms, says economist Pavan Sukhdev of UNEP, head of a Cambridge, England-based project called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).Based on analysis of more than 80 coral reef valuation studies, the worth of services per hectare of coral reef breaks down as follows:* Food, raw materials, ornamental resources: average $1,100 (up to $6,000);* Climate regulation, moderation of extreme events, waste treatment / water purification, biological control: average $26,000 (up to $35,000);* Cultural services (eg.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:20 am

Ribbon of Particles Seen at Solar System's Edge

New all-sky maps reveal an odd ribbon between our solar system and interstellar space.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 9:10 am

Tinychat Gets A New Look, Adds Facebook Connect, Sees Early Traction

Tinychat, which started out as a simple IRC-style chatroom app to complement the quick-and-dirty conversations on platforms like Twitter, has been steadily building a solid browser-based communication platform that rivals some of the tools built by large corporations or venture-backed startups out there.

After adding essential features like video chat and screensharing options to the application back in May, Tinychat has recently leveraged P2P technology to enhance the service (see p2p.tinychat.com) and added embed capabilities that basically enable anyone with a website to integrate a robust, 100% peer-to-peer enabled video chat system by simply embedding some code and fiddling with some of the variables. (Skype, you listening?)

Tinychat has just been given a new lick of paint, with new controls and a slicker design that’s much more inviting. Also, you can now enter chatrooms and start conversations with multiple people – whether using text, video, audio or a combination thereof – by connecting to your Facebook or Twitter account, eliminating the need to register.

I think this service is awesome, and I consider it to be closest to being the “Skype for the web” (which someday, Skype will introduce, let there be no doubt) than anything else I’ve tried in the past. You go to the Tinychat website, pick a name for your conversation room at hand and bang, you get an instantly shareable, dedicated web-based chat location where you can initiate video or audio chats with decent quality, share your desktop view with others and soon also a way to exchange files from computer to computer.

I’m seemingly not the only one who digs it either. Here’s a quick and dirty comparison based on Compete traffic estimates for TokBox, which developed a similar application with $14 million in VC funding behind them, and Tinychat.com. Alexa shows even more growth for the bootstrapped initiative.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 8:54 am

French health agency: Try to limit your exposure to mobile phones if only because we don’t have enough data to say otherwise

A group of researchers in France just recommended that we all limit our exposure to wireless devices, including mobile phones, Wi-Fi, and microwaves, because we really don’t understand how prolonged exposure to them can affect us. That’s particularly true with mobile phones, since they’ve really only been around for, what, 10 years? (Obviously there were available for longer than that, but Joe Public didn’t buy his first phone till a little bit later.) You can’t categorically say, based on 10 years of sometimes spotty data, that “phones are bad!” or “phones are good!” We simply don’t know.

So what are you supposed to do, exactly? Well, “exactly,” who knows? You can do the obvious, like not put a Wi-Fi router underneath your baby’s crib, or sleep with your iPhone under your pillow. It may well be that, yeah, no harm will come from that, but nobody knows what’s going on here. It’s like in the Age of Exploration: yeah, we think there might be land that way, but for all we know we’ll fall right off the surface of the Earth.

The French team, part of the French Health and Security Agency, looked at more than 1,000 studies, and most of them didn’t say anything like, “We’re doomed!” Still, some did say, “Eh, maybe? We need more data.”

Basically, we have no idea what the heck is going on, which is fantastic.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Oct 2009 | 8:52 am

Sony's 250-GB PS3 Can Be Preordered Ahead Of Next Month's Release - ChannelWeb

PC World

Sony's 250-GB PS3 Can Be Preordered Ahead Of Next Month's Release ChannelWeb Gamers were psyched after Sony Friday said it is releasing its new PS3 on Nov. 3. But if they're worried that stores will be picked clean before the holidays, they can preorder it online. The highly anticipated PS3 has ... Sony playstation 3 250GB (PS3 ...PC Magazine 250GB PS3 Slim coming in November for $350CNET News Sony Launches 250GB playstation 3 for $350PC World USA Today -DailyTech -Los Angeles Times all 351 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:56 am

iTunes Michael Jackson Policy: Want the Song? Buy the Album. [MediaMemo]

Want to get Michael Jackson’s new single? You will be able to get it on iTunes this month, contrary to earlier reports. But there’s a catch: You’re going to have to buy some of the late singer’s other songs, too.

That’s the pact that Apple (AAPL) and Sony (SNE) have reached this week over the upcoming release of the Jackson’s newest stuff: Anyone who wants to buy a copy of “This Is It,” the song, via iTunes will also have to buy some extended-play version of “This Is It,” the album

Here’s the official word from Apple, following a couple days’ worth of erroneous and confusing reports (one of which I wrote):

We look forward to offering the new Michael Jackson album, as well as a digital-only EP with six previously unreleased tracks, providing fans a great way to get all of the new songs. The iTunes Store will offer the album-only single “This Is It” on both the album and EP starting October 26.

To spell that out: Apple will not be selling the single by itself.

That’s an unusual arrangement for Apple, which generally insists that labels sell their music on a track-by-track basis. If the labels had their way, they would consistently force customers to buy an entire album for $10 or more. No word on pricing yet, but it’s a fair bet to assume that even the six-song EP will sell for more than $1.29, Apple’s highest price for an individual song.

Apple does make an occasional exception here and there. For instance, many of the songs on iTunes soundtracks are only available as part of an album. But while “This Is It” does accompany a movie by the same name, it’s not technically a soundtrack, so that’s not what’s going on here.

Sony has sold a staggering amount of Jackson’s stuff since his death last summer, so it’s possible that Apple is simply trying to take advantage of what appears to be insatiable demand. But that doesn’t sound right to me: Even a huge hit on iTunes does very little for Apple’s books.

My guess: Apple maintains a vise-grip on the digital sales, but every now and then likes to throw the labels a bone. For instance, it used to insist that all of the labels sell all of their songs for 99 cents, but earlier this year, Apple changed its policy and now offers three different price points.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:45 am

AMD Loss Not Nearly as Awful as Expected [Digital Daily]

Looks like AMD has benefited from the same favorable PC updraft that’s lifting Intel. On Thursday, the chip maker reported a narrower third-quarter loss than projected, thanks to “strong demand” for its microprocessors and graphics chips.

Analysts had expected AMD to lose 42 cents a share on revenue of $1.26 billion, according to a consensus survey by Thomson Reuters. Instead, the company lost 18 cents a share on revenue of $1.4 billion, which was down from $1.8 billion for the same quarter last year.

Not the sort of blow-out quarter we saw from Intel (INTC) earlier this week, but encouraging news nonetheless. Certainly, AMD’s leadership believes the company is poised for a turnaround. During a conference call to discuss AMD’s (AMD) third-quarter results, CEO Dirk Meyer offered an upbeat outlook for the remainder of 2009 despite the current loss.

“Third quarter consumer PC demand continued to improve from prior periods, with particular strength in notebooks and in China and continued recovery in Europe and in North America,” Meyer said. “And it appears the commercial IT markets are positioned to improve next year….Going forward, we believe we are well positioned to succeed.”

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:36 am

Tripod Mounted Laptop Stand For Photographers and Mobile Workers

The Laptop Deck from Tallyn’s is an oversized tripod head and flat panel onto which you can fix a laptop, or a really, really big camera.

It has a ball-and socket head and is adjustable to fit computers of up to 17” in size, and at $85 is dirt cheap in comparison to most photographic kit. The idea is that photographers shooting tethered to their laptops will have somewhere safe to put the computer. You’ll still have to buy a tripod, or use one you have lying around, but even that is probably cheaper than buying a new computer because you tripped on the USB cord and sent it flying to the ground.

And I can see one more use, too. An instant, stand-up office. You might laugh, but standing up to work burns extra calories and helps with your posture. Forget about fancy adjustable desks and diets — grab one of these instead and enjoy an extra lunchtime burrito.

Product page [Tallyn’s via Crave]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:15 am

Hurricane History Recorded in Earth's Noise

Seismic noise could shed light on whether warming has caused an uptick in hurricanes.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:10 am

Street View: We can trike wherever you like

With Street View on Google Maps, you can take a virtual drive over the Golden Gate Bridge or see the bustle of Times Square from the comfort of your own home. But some of the country's most interesting and fun places aren't accessible with our Street View car. What if you want to tour the campuses of prospective universities, scout a new running trial, or plan the most efficient route to your favorite roller coasters in a theme park?

I first started thinking about this question around two years ago. My day job is working as a mechanical engineer on the Street View team, but I do a lot of mountain biking in my spare time. One day, while exploring some roads less traveled, I realized that I could combine these two pursuits and build a bicycle-based camera system for Street View. The result? The Street View trike:



I've already had a chance to take the Street View trike out to photograph some hard-to-reach places for Google Maps, like the Arastradero Open Preserve and LEGOLAND California. When I'm out riding — and once people understand what exactly I'm up to — I'm often asked if we can come to their alma mater, local bike trail or favorite beach boardwalk. Now, we're giving everyone a chance to tell us exactly where in the U.S. they'd like the trike to go next.

At www.google.com/trike, you can suggest interesting and unique spots in six categories:

• Parks & Trails
• University Campuses
• Pedestrian Malls (e.g., outdoor shopping areas, boardwalks)
• Theme Parks & Zoos
• Landmarks 
• Sports Venues (e.g., golf courses, racing tracks, stadium grounds)

Nominations will be open until October 28. We'll then comb through all of the suggestions and let all of you cast your final votes on a winner from each category for the Street View trike to visit. For any privately-owned or operated location, like a campus or theme park, we'll work directly with the relevant organization prior to collecting the imagery.

When we unveiled the Street View trike in the U.K., we received more than 10,000 nominations and 35,000 votes; Stonehenge and Warwick Castle were two of the top vote-getters. We can't wait to see what you'll come up with in the U.S. — head to www.google.com/trike to submit your most inspired ideas.



Posted by Dan Ratner, Senior Mechanical Engineer

Source: The Official Google Blog | 16 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

Fingers-On With Wacom’s Multi-Touch Tablet

Wacom’s latest consumer graphics tablet, the Pen and Touch, is probably the best entry level pen tablet the company has yet made. The multi-touch functions, though, are way behind. I’ve been putting the tablet through rigorous paces for the past week. Here’s how it fared.

Wacom is the undisputed king of tablets and I have been using them for years, partly to combat wrist trouble (a pen is just more comfortable) and partly because they work nicely for digital drawing and photo editing. The latest Bamboos are sub-$100 models which improve on the last Bamboos and the previous Graphires in almost every way. The Pen and Touch model also mimics the multi-touch trackpad of the most recent MacBooks, with somewhat limited success.

First, the basics. In the box you get a tablet with an integrated USB cable (the previous models had a mini-USB socket so the cable could be removed) and a pen. The pen is more comfortable to hold than the old one, and you can now use the rocker-switch on the side without deforming your fingers into a rictus-claw. The “eraser” end is now a flat-ended cylinder instead of a rounded bump. This makes it feel better in use, but doesn’t change the functionality.

The touch-wheel and four touch buttons along the top of the previous generation Bamboo have been replaced by four buttons on the side (you can flip it to left or right-handed orientation). The buttons can all be assigned in the driver software, just as before. Finally for the pen, the surface is slightly smoother than the last gen, and feels a lot like paper. As I said, the pen tablet is Wacom’s best consumer model yet.

But the multi-touch isn’t quite there. You get most of the gestures you do with the MacBook pad, and the preference pane for configuration even has small animations to demo them, just like the Apple pane. You can scroll with two fingers, pinch to zoom and twist to rotate, but you don’t get to use any more than two fingers. There is one interesting extra, though. When using a finger to move the cursor, if you put another finger (or thumb) down next to it, it acts like you pressed the click button and the first finger than drags anything that it was over. In practice, it is just like clicking Apple’s full-pad buttons.

But the feel is slightly off. The larger sized pad is welcome, but somehow it always feels slightly wrong. It’s hard to describe, but it feels like the pad isn’t quite reading your fingers. Add to this the acceleration curve as your movement is translated (very different from the native trackpad) and it all feels a little jittery.

But this could easily be down to the software. I have had to reinstall the driver twice this week. A couple of days ago, clicking stopped working. Both the button assigned to left-click and tap-to-click with a finger were broken, although the pen worked fine. And a few minutes ago the cursor for the pen was stuck in the top-left of the screen, and even the picture in the preference window reflected this. Both times a reinstall corrected this, but it’s a little flaky.

Should you buy it? Sure. At $100 for a pen tablet, its a bargain. Add in the good-enough multi-touch pad and its a steal. It’s also one of the best ways to keep your wrists and shoulders injury free, the reason I bought this one even though I had the previous gen on the desk already. You can also buy touch-only and pen-only models for $70 each, or the double-sized Bamboo Fun for $200.

Product page [Wacom]

See Also:

• Wacom Tablets Get Multi-Touch, Gestures
• New Wacom Intuos Official, Feels Like Pen and Paper
• Wacom Bamboo Replaces Graphire

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 6:38 am

Scarab: A Roomba For The Mean City Streets

Could street-cleaners someday be replaced by robots? Olga Kalugina thinks so, and has designed the Scarab, an oversized, outdoor Roomba, to do it.

The Scarab would first be deployed in shopping malls where it could easily cruise, clean and polish the smooth floors, but we see a day when robots scour the sidewalks for trash and keep our streets sparkling clean.

Looking like a giant vacuum cleaner, the Scarab uses a pair of webcams to seek out mess and then brushes the trash into an internal tank, which it can empty by itself. It also has a grabber-arm to pick up larger items — discarded Slurpee cups, for example, and runs on electricity instead of an engine like many manually operated street-sweepers.

The big problem, though, is that while a Roomba is safe inside your house, Kalugina’s concept design would be out amongst ranks of terrifying teenagers, bent on teasing the poor machine or even just kicking its face in. Stick this out into the real mean city streets and you’d lose the entire fleet in days, stolen and repurposed or just sold. No, a real street-smart robot would need some kind of defense. A taser, perhaps, or at the very least an electrified shell.

And there you have it. The perfect street cleaning robot would in fact be R2D2. We welcome the future.

Product page [Coroflot via Treehugger]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 5:04 am

Rich Boy’s Toys: $24,000 Donut-Shaped Party Boat

Looking startlingly like a flying saucer, the Interactive Recreational Entertainment Vessel (iREV) is in fact a luxury party-boat, in the shape of a donut.

The bobbing boat seats ten people and has a charcoal grill in the center and optional 500 Watt music system with satellite radio. To putt-putt out to the center of the lake you have an electric outboard motor which will run for around 8-10 hours, and a giant umbrella stops you from getting sunburned.

How much? $24,000. I’d rather shift the party a few yards to the side, onto the shore, and save roughly $23,900 of that, but then I’m cheap. Or rather, not dumb enough to waste my money on such an obvious rich-boy showoff toy. Those of you who disagree can try to hunt down the product on the company site, which spends most of its time talking up the credentials of the business partners and mentions nothing about the iREV itself. ([cough] vaporware [cough]).

Product page [Motthority via Uncrate]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 4:40 am

Video: Swift, Indestructible Cockroach-Robots. The End Is Nigh

DASH is a cheap, featherweight robot based on a cockroach. And like the cockroach, it is both quick and almost indestructible.

Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod (we’re sure the name was made to fit the acronym) is made from cardboard laminated with flexible polymer using a 3D printer. Because it weighs just 16 grams, it can survive falls of indefinite distance, and a single DC motor inside the rectangular body is cleverly hooked up to the six legs so that they spin together like the oars of a boat. Thus the row-bot skitters across the floor in a spookily insectoid manner at 1.5 meters per second, or 15 times it’s own body length. That’s like me crawling along at more than 90 feet per second.

The DASH, a design by the Biomimetic Millisystems Laboratory at the University of California, will perhaps morph into a stiffer, more powerful carbon-fiber version. All we know is that the end of days is nigh. Equip a swarm of these with lasers and it’s all over for mankind. For best effect, listen to the chillingly HAL 9000-like voice of the video’s narrator along with Brian Eno’s 2001 album Drawn From Life. Shiver.

DASH: Resilient High-Speed 16-gram Hexapedal Robot [YouTube via the Giz]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2009 | 3:51 am

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