Source: Gizmodo | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:40 pm

New MacBook first look

Here’s a quick look at the new MacBook. Look for a full review later this evening.

Special thanks to cameraman/editor DanielBru.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:39 pm

Mexico: 'net advocates protest internet tax with #internetnecesario

Over the past two days, Internet advocates in Mexico have been voicing outrage over a proposed 3% telecommunications tax in a number of ways -- including flooding Twitter with the hashtag "internetnecesario," shorthand for "the internet is a basic neccesity." Here's one English language blog post from one blogger who believes the tax would be terrible news, and here is another in Spanish. Background on the politics in this Reuters item. (image via trendsmap.com, thanks @wordwardness).


Source: Boing Boing | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:37 pm

Microsoft giving away Windows Server 2008

Well, they’re not just giving it away to everybody. Microsoft is giving away copies of the Server 2008 R2 standard edition as part of their DreamSpark program. DreamSpark is Microsoft’s initiative to give away some of their most powerful tools to students, allowing them to learn how to use the products for free (instead of just pirating a copy off the web).

All you’ll need to do is provide some information that proves your status as a student, and you’ll be able to download an IMG file and install a full working version of Server 2008. Sounds like a pretty good deal. There’s a bunch of other software in the DreamSpark program, so if you’re a student it’s definitely worth your time to check it out. And don’t forget, you can still get a discount on a copy of Windows 7 when it comes out.

[via DealNews]

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:20 pm

2010 Microbotics Challenge: is your microbot ready for the two-millimeter dash?

You may be familiar with the old DARPA Grand Challenge. Well, consider this the Petit Challenge. Roboticists whose favorite flavor of robot is micro are being challenged to bring it in the 2010 NIST Mobile Microbotics Challenge, or Microlympics (or RoboCup). All contestants must be no greater than 600 micrometers (or rather, their robots must be), and they will compete in three grueling events:

The two-millimeter dash: self-explanatory.

Microassembly: Inserting micro-pegs into micro-holes (this can be a team excercise).

Freestyle: let your robot show off its abilities by performing any task you like. Robo-gong show.

Sounds kind of awesome to me. It’s actually a slightly different version of the RoboCup and its fun little Nanosoccer setup. I’m looking forward to the results, although this is all just another step on the path toward a robot-dominated planet. That’s cool, I’m resigned to it.

[via PhysOrg]

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pm

HOWTO make a Glenn Beck Diaper Halloween Mask

Just how would one construct a Glenn Beck Halloween Mask using little more than an adult diaper and a printout from these very internets? Ethan Persoff of "Comics With Problems" fame would be happy to show you how. WARNING: site contains disturbing images of Glenn Beck's face, and a photo of a fellow (not Glenn Beck) lying on a couch wearing nothing but a Glenn Beck Diaper Mask over his visage and yet another Glenn Beck Diaper over his manparts. WHICH OF THESE IMAGES IS MORE UNSETTLING? Why don't you tell me in the comments. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Presenting the Glenn Beck Diaper Mask, Halloween 2009 (ep.tc)


Source: Boing Boing | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:57 pm

Pennsylvania postal worker accused of stealing 2,200 GameFly rentals

FROM GAMERTELL - GameFly reported the large number of missing discs to the Postal Service, who caught the suspect in a surveillance sting…
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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:46 pm

Not much to tweet about in Twitter CEO talk - CNET News

Telegraph.co.uk

Not much to tweet about in Twitter CEO talk CNET News SAN FRANCISCO--In anticipation of an onstage interview with Twitter CEO Evan Williams at the Web 2.0 Summit on Tuesday afternoon, conference organizer and Federated Media CEO John Battelle told the audience to expect "a surprise" ... Twitter CEO Evan Williams Vaguely Discusses Revenue Model at Web 2.0 SummiteWeek Twitter CEO: Opportunities Around Data Sharing 'Interesting'Wall Street Journal Twitter may eliminate 'suggested users' listThe Associated Press TechCrunch (blog) -Telegraph.co.uk -Bloomberg all 168 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:46 pm

The Verizon Droid Might Be Landing Sooner Than We Thought

Over the weekend Verizon unleashed its marketing campaign for its upcoming Motorola Droid smartphone, pointing out some of the iPhone’s biggest flaws on prime time television as well as on the website DroidDoes.com. The phone, which will be the first to run Android 2.0 and is sporting some heavy duty specs, may be a viable challenger to Apple’s iPhone dominance. Thing is, the Droid still isn’t officially announced yet, and we still don’t have a release date.

But we do have some hints: DroidDoes.com features a mysterious countdown timer that consists of a bunch of nonsensical symbols swirling by. Through some trickery (namely changing your computer clock or looking at the site’s config.xml file), it’s pretty easy to see what it’s counting down to. When the site launched on Saturday the countdown was going to October 30, 12:00 AM CST. Sometime today, that changed: the clock is now counting down to October 28, at 12:00 AM CST. Or 48 hours earlier than it used to be.

Of course, it’s possible that October 28 is the day Verizon is going to actually announce the phone, with the actual release coming a bit later (remember, the “Droid Does” ad ends by saying it comes out in November). Or maybe we’ll be holding this thing two days earlier than we thought.

Update: We’ve heard from a tipster who claims to have knowledge of the launch that Droid will be released either November 6 or 7. We’ve been hearing similar rumors before so this is certainly plausible.

Thanks to Christopher Daggett for working this out.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:35 pm

Bang & Olufsen takes VoIP into high style

Bang & Olufsen announced their new BeoCom 5 cordless phone today. I know, I know.. bear with me, it’s kinda cool. Despite the fact that many people don’t even use land lines any more, B&O knows their target audience, and apparently that audience still does.

The new BeoCom 5 is a two-line cordless phone, with a cordless speakerphone, VoIP support and a built-in phonebook and graphic display. Honestly, it’s a really cool looking phone, but you probably can’t afford it. B&O hasn’t released any availability or pricing information as of yet, but you can pre-order it from your local store if you are so inclined. While you’re there, don’t forget to pick up a Nagel.

From the press release:

A versatile and elegant phone for modern living

An individualised two-line handset for the household, BeoCom 5 supports IP telephony and includes a cordless speaker phone, built-in phonebook and full-graphic display.

BeoCom 5, the new cordless phone from Bang & Olufsen, is an invaluable and elegant companion that follows your lead when leisure time is in short supply. From its support of IP-telephony to its brilliant mobile speaker phone, BeoCom 5 includes the features you need, when and where you need them.

BeoCom 5 allows IP telephony, which allows you to send and receive telephone calls via your computer instead of an older landline connection. This gives you the data security and integration with other Internet services that characterizes IP-telephony. At the same time, BeoCom 5 is a two-line phone, making it possible for you to have dedicated home and office lines in the same phone system, which in turn can include up to eight handsets. This makes BeoCom 5 the ideal choice for modern homes.

The jet-black BeoCom 5 handset is stylish as well as easy to use, whether it’s lying on the table or mounted in its portable speaker phone. “BeoCom 5 combines utility, elegance and user-friendliness in a really unique way,” says Product Manager Rie Kold Pripsø. “The handset fits your hand extremely well, and with the full-graphic display and backlit keypad on the rear, facing away from you, the surface keeps its shine.”

With BeoCom 5, you can select colour patterns for display information to give each handset a unique appearance, perhaps matching the décor of each room. The handset can be placed in the speaker phone, but also in a charger you can place on a table or mount on a wall. A built-in magnet holds the handset in place.

In standby, the phone surface appears to be uniformly black and glasslike, but when BeoCom 5 is placed in the charger, the dimmed clock feature appears. The clock is visually captivating; you can choose between normal time indication with digits and a solution where the minute and the hour hands are replaced by circles which move gracefully, like planets orbiting each other. When you pick up or operate the handset, the backlight in the display and keypad activate smoothly, magically revealing the colour theme of the individual handset.

With the portable speaker phone – which doubles as a charger – you don’t need to stop in your tracks the moment you get a call. You simply take the speaker phone with you as you move from room to room. Continue the conversation – and include the rest of the family – without breaking your stride. “The real genius of BeoCom 5, the portable speaker phone, gives BeoCom 5 its unique identity in a world where so many people are walking around with phones seemingly glued to their heads,” states Rie Kold Pripsø.

BeoCom 5 brings user-friendliness to a new level, making the most of the 2-inch LCD display, 176 x 220 pixel resolution, and crystal-clear graphic rendition. This gives you as comprehensive an overview of call information as a mobile phone. In addition to the display, the aluminium navigation wheel makes browsing the phonebook, call lists and menus easier than ever. The wheel includes four push points at the edge and a selection button in the middle for activating the most frequently-used functions.

A DECT telephone, BeoCom 5 can be used with its dedicated two-line base, BeoLine 2, but can also be used as a one-line handset in existing BeoCom phone systems, such as BeoCom 6000. Up to 400 numbers can be stored in the Phonebook when BeoCom 5 is used with BeoLine 2.

[via SlashGear]

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm

Comparison Finds Considerable Differences On Estimates Of Future Physician Workforce Supply

Compared with a source of data often used regarding physician workforce supply and projected changes, data from the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:27 pm

News Brief: Using Relative Utility Curves For Risk Prediction

A relative utility curve is a simple method to evaluate risk prediction in a medical decision-making framework, according to a commentary published online October 20 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.Risk prediction models that are based on medical history or the results of tests are becoming common in the cancer literature and are used to provide additional information to those who are involved in making treatment decisions on the basis of estimated risk.In this commentary, Stuart G.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:23 pm

Apple updates the iMac

FROM APPLETELL - Along with several other updates, Apple gave some lovin’ to the all-in-one machine, the iMac, boosting its display up to 27-inches with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:05 pm

IBM's Answer To Windows 7 Is Ubuntu Linux

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like IBM isn't much of a friend of Microsoft's anymore. Today IBM announced an extension of its Microsoft-Free PC effort together with Canonical Ubuntu Linux. This is the same thing that was announced a few weeks back for Africa (a program that began a year ago), and now it's available in the US. The big push is that IBM claims it will cost up to $2,000 for a business to move to Windows 7. They argue that moving to Linux is cheaper."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:57 pm

New unibody MacBook gets tore up

Imagine if it were your job to race to the Apple store whenever anything came out, and then as soon as you step outside, to just hurl it against the wall and take pictures of the fragments. Well, that’s pretty much iFixit in a nutshell. Sure, they use screwdrivers and stuff, and take it apart all neat-like, and have nice cuticles, but basically they’re exploding the latest and greatest device for your entertainment.

Hey, it’s not like I have a problem with it. And their teardowns do reveal interesting things occasionally. In this case, with the new unibody MacBooks, they’ve determined the wattage of the battery, the replaceability of the hard drive, and a number of other things. Check out the full teardown hereabouts. It’s still in progress, so check back again later. I’m guessing they’ll be looking at a new iMac as well.

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:40 pm

Media Source Impacts Ag Biotech Communication

A recent study examines the ways that public officials obtain information about debatable scientific issues, including agricultural biotechnologyCommunication between the public and government is a necessary component of public trust.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:39 pm

Happy Flies Look For A Place Like Home

A happy youth can influence where a fruit fly chooses to live as an adult, according to new research in the American Naturalist.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:33 pm

More accessibility features in Android 1.6

From time to time, our own T.V. Raman shares his tips on how to use Google from his perspective as a technologist who cannot see — tips that sighted people, among others, may also find useful.

The most recent release of Android 1.6, a.k.a. Donut, introduces accessibility features designed to make Android apps more widely usable by blind and low-vision users. In brief, Android 1.6 includes a built-in screenreader and text-to-speech (TTS) engine which make it possible to use most Android applications, as well as all of Android's default UI, when not looking at the screen.

Android-powered devices with Android 1.6 and future software versions will include the following accessibility enhancements:

• Text-to-Speech (TTS) is now bundled with the Android platform. The platform comes with voices for English (U.S. and U.K.), French, Italian, Spanish and German.
• A standardized Text To Speech API is part of the Android SDK, and this enables developers to create high-quality talking applications.
• Starting with Android 1.6, the Android platform includes a set of easy to use accessibility APIs that make it possible to create accessibility aids such as screenreaders for the blind.
• Application authors can easily ensure that their applications remain usable by blind and visually impaired users by ensuring that all parts of the user interface are reachable via the trackball; and all image controls have associated textual metadata.
• Starting with Android 1.6, the Android platform comes with applications that provide spoken, auditory (non-speech sounds) and haptic (vibration) feedback. Named TalkBack, SoundBack and KickBack, these applications are available via the Settings > Accessibility menu.
• In addition, project Eyes-Free (which includes accessibility tools such as TalkBack) provides several UI enhancements for using touch-screen input. Many of these innovations are available via Android Market and are already being heavily used. We believe these eyes-free tools will serve our users with special needs as well.

You can turn on the accessibility features by going to Settings --> Accessibility and checking the box "Accessibility". While the web browser and browser-based applications do not yet "talk" using these enhancements, we're working on them for upcoming releases. Check out this Google Open Source Blog post for more details, and stay tuned to the eyes-free channel on YouTube for step-by-step demonstrations on configuring and using accessibility support on Android.

Source: The Official Google Blog | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm

Consumer Rebound? Not Yet. (At Least, Not In Texas.) [Voices]

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

There was a telling bit of news on the continued travails of the U.S. consumer today from a small Texas retail chain called Conn’s (CONN). (In general, I would say calling a retailer “Conn’s” is not something I would recommend. But I digress.)

Conn’s sells consumer electronics, home appliances, furniture, mattresses, computers and lawn and garden products in 75 stores in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. And according to a statement from the company this morning, this is not an ideal time to be in that particular line of business.

“Economic conditions in the company’s markets have deteriorated significantly during the current year,” the company warned, citing a rise in the Texas jobless rate to 8 percent in August 2009 from 5.6 percent in December and 5 percent in August 2008. “As a result, the Company’s sales and credit portfolio performance have been adversely impacted.”

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:19 pm

Chart: How the Nook stacks up in the e-reader race

The Nook, Barnes & Noble’s new ereader, has upped the ante. With a small, 3.5-inch LCD screen in the lower quadrant, the Nook adds touch capabilities that the Kindle definitely does not have.

So who will win the ereader race? While no one in particular has to “win” the race, it’s abundantly clear that Amazon has a head start. B&N was late with their readers, starting with a Kindle-like IREX and ending up with an odd duck that uses e-ink for text display but also adds a bit of UI richness with the color LCD. The specs promise an interesting experience and it’s especially nice to hear that the device will last for 10 days with wireless off, a bit longer than any of the Kindle family in practice although, in theory, any member can hit the 14 day mark.

The real value in these bookstore-backed ereaders is discovery and shopping. Sony’s offerings, for example, lost quite a bit of ground even though they were first to market. A vibrant and wide-ranging bookstore is key to an ereaders success which is what makes the Nook quite interesting.

Another interesting tidbit – the Nook, because it’s built on Android, should run Android apps natively, turning the Nook into more of a computing device than a standalone reader.

No one has to lose in this race. However, when it comes to standards and potential sales Amazon may have to change its attiutude towards sharing in order to beat the Nook’s “lending” functionality which allows users to “give” their books to other Nook users outside of their immediate circle.

I’m just glad to see a little competition. Amazon will be the better for it and B&N seems to know what people like.

Device	Kindle	Kindle DX	B&N Nook	Sony Reader Daily Edition	IREX DR800SG
Price	$299	$489	$259	$399	$399
Screen Size	6 inches	9.7 inches	3.5 inch LCD/6 inch epaper	7 inches	8.1 inches
Touch Screen	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rotating Screen	No	Yes	TK	Yes	Yes
Storage	2GB not expandable	4GB not expandable	2GB Expandable up to 16GB	2GB expandable via Memory Stick and SD	No on-board memory, comes with 2GB SD card
Wireless	Sprint	Sprint	AT&T 3G and Wi-Fi	AT&T	Verizon Gobi chipset for worldwide use
Bookstore	Amazon	Amazon	Barnes & Noble	Sony eBookstore	Barnes & Noble
Content Availability	350,000+ books newspaper, magazine, blog subscriptions	350,000+ books newspaper, magazine, blog subscriptions	750,000+ books “Users can purchase books, newspapers or magazines from a wide variety of sources”* *not available over 3G unless purchased through built-in bookstore	100,000+ books One million public domain books via Google* Participating local library rentals* *not available over 3G	750,000+ books “Users can purchase books, newspapers or magazines from a wide variety of sources”* *not available over 3G unless purchased through built-in bookstore
Natively Supported Formats	Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible, MP3, MOBI, PRC	Kindle (AZW), PDF, TXT, Audible, MP3, MOBI, PRC	ePub, “multiple DRM solutions,” PDF	ePub, PDF, JPEG, BBeB, RTF, TXT	ePub, “multiple DRM solutions”
Formats Supported via Conversion	PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP	HTML, DOC, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP	Word, more to come	DOC, HTML, “other text file formats”	Not sure yet, will update when more info is available
Web Browser	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Other Features (lists may be incomplete)	Bookmarks, annotations, dictionary, Wikipedia, search, audiobooks, iPhone sync	Bookmarks, annotations, dictionary, Wikipedia, search, audiobooks, iPhone sync	Dictionary	Highlighting, annotation, dictionary, handwritten notes with included stylus	Bookmarks, search, included stylus, “users will have the ability to download content to the device while traveling abroad next year”
Available	Now	Now	Nov 30 ‘09	December ‘09	October ‘09 (Europe in mid-2010)

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:18 pm

AT&T asking employees to oppose Net Neutrality

Section: Communications, Web

AT&T really isn’t letting up on the FCC’s proposed Net Neutrality rules.  The company has expressed its displeasure with the proposed rules and have even gone after Google Voice in what seemed like a blatant distraction.  Now, some advocacy groups are saying the telecom is going too far, as it has started asking “normal” people to write to the FCC and their elected members of congress opposing the proposed rules.

AT&T isn’t just asking those people, however.  The company sent out emails to employees asking them, their family and their friends to write in opposing the FCC.  The goal would be to convince the FCC that people outside of executives of ISPs oppose Net Neutrality.  The email, however, didn’t mention Net Neutrality outright, choosing to word it as the FCC regulating the Internet.

It can be said that the groups calling out AT&T for this practice also ask people to write to their congressional representatives, however those people are not employed by Free Press and Public Knowledge.  Net Neutrality is something that many people (myself included) care a lot about, so it makes sense that a lot of letters will be sent supporting the FCC’s proposed rules.  AT&T’s logic of trying to get more Americans writing in opposing the proposed rules is sound; this isn’t the way to do it, though.  There doesn’t seem to be any way to get the word out otherwise, though.  Running an ad campaign would just seem mean-spirited, or wouldn’t motivate anyone.  Perhaps AT&T could try saying why it doesn’t want the rules to pass, and what it’ll do if they don’t pass.

Read [CNet News]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:15 pm

Tinniest North American Dinosaur Lived Among Giants

One diminutive dinosaur found in Colorado comes close to being the world's smallest, but not quite.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:15 pm

MacBook Loses FireWire Again; Audio-Out Port Gone, Too

A large number of customers and technicians were peeved when Apple nixed the FireWire port in the first unibody MacBook. Perhaps learning a lesson, Apple revived FireWire in the second-generation unibody MacBook, which was renamed MacBook Pro. Now, only one white, unibody notebook bears the MacBook inscription, and it loses the FireWire port its predecessor had.

Why? The Unofficial Apple Weblog, which reported the observation, thinks it’s because Apple had to make space for the newly integrated battery. That doesn’t add up for us: The 13-inch MacBook Pro should have the same battery, and yet it still carries FireWire 800.

The omission of FireWire is bound to annoy potential MacBook customers with FireWire-compatible gadgets such as hard drives, camcorders and audio gear. And there’s no doubt IT techies, who rely on FireWire for troubleshooting Macs, are going to advise against this MacBook for business use.

TUAW also notes the MacBook loses an audio-out port (which you’d use for headphones and other output devices). Not entirely, however:  the audio-out port has been combined with the audio-in port. Still, this could be a drag for musicians who record while monitoring with headphones.

It’s unlikely we’ll learn the technical reason for the omission of these ports from the new MacBook until iFixit tears down the notebook and takes a look inside. We’ll keep you posted on that analysis.

See Also:

• Engineer: Killing FireWire on MacBooks Was Necessary
• IT Pros Find Lack of FireWire on MacBooks Disturbing
• Apple Quietly Kills FireWire 400
• Apple Unleashes New Macs, Multitouch Mouse

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:14 pm

Sequoia Voting Systems Source Code Released

Mokurai sends a heads-up about Sequoia Voting Systems, which seems to have inadvertently released the SQL code for its voting databases. The existence of such code appears to violate Federal voting law: "Sequoia blew it on a public records response. ... They appear... to have just vandalized the data as valid databases by stripping the MS-SQL header data off, assuming that would stop us cold. They were wrong. The Linux 'strings' command was able to peel it apart. Nedit was able to digest 800-MB text files. What was revealed was thousands of lines of MS-SQL source code that appears to control or at least influence the logical flow of the election, in violation of a bunch of clauses in the FEC voting system rulebook banning interpreted code, machine modified code and mandating hash checks of voting system code." The code is all available for study or download, "the first time the innards of a US voting system can be downloaded and discussed publicly with no NDAs or court-ordered secrecy," notes Jim March of the Election Defense Alliance. Dig in and analyze.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:06 pm

Widespread Use Of Teleradiology Services Could Be Declining

Researchers have found recent evidence that shows the growth of external, off-hours teleradiology services (EOTSs) has slowed in recent years, despite a significant increase in the number of radiology practices using those services between 2003 and 2007, according to a study in the November issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.The data collected showed that the number of radiology practices using EOTSs increased from 15 percent to 44 percent between 2003 and 2007.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:03 pm

Eee Keyboard gets touchscreen “updated” to resistive

Remember when everything had a capacitive touchscreen, and we decided we really hated those and we wanted resistive ones that required styluses? Me neither. That’s why I’m a little puzzled as to why the Eee Keyboard, which had a perfectly workable capacitive touchscreen when I gave it its first hands-on in January, has been changed to have a resistive screen and integrated stylus. It’s like they produced a concept car, and then when they put it into production, they gave it wooden wheels.

Watch the full video demo above, and see the madness that is the new design decision. Controlling a cursor on screen by using a stylus on a differently-shaped touchscreen… seems a bit of a terrible idea to me.

[Via Netbook News]

Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm

GSU Professor Develops New Method To Help Keep Fruit, Vegetables And Flowers Fresh

Did you know that millions of tons of fruits and vegetables in the United States end up in the trash can before being eaten, according to the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:45 pm

Scientists Develop Novel Method To Generate Functional Hepatocytes For Drug Testing

Scientists have for the first time produced liver cells from adult skin cells using the induced pluripotent stem cell technologyScientists have for the first time produced liver cells from adult skin cells using the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology.The study, led by the University of Edinburgh's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, paves the way for the creation of a stem cell library that can be used for in vitro hepatic disease models.Presently primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) are the 'gold standard' cell type used in predictive drug toxicology.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:37 pm

Rootkits on Sony/Beuna Vista rental DVDs

Section: Video, Content, Video Providers, Computers, Security

Although so many people get movies streamed right to them a host of different ways, occasionally, some do still venture forth into that old brick and mortar building called a video store.  So, there you are, it’s a Friday night and you go to your local Blockbuster, grab a movie, dreams of relaxing with some popcorn and the latest “must see” dancing in your head.  Run home, pop it in your laptop to watch, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.

“The Proposal” by Sony starts it all off

Well, at least it did for me this past weekend after renting the new release “The Proposal”, distributed by Buena Vista, a division of Sony.  When I first popped the DVD into my drive, it sounded like it was having a bit of a hard time reading the disk.  I initially thought that the disk might have been dirty or scratched, but after removing and checking it, I could see it was fine. 

After several more attempts to play the DVD, I was about to give up when all of a sudden, I got a pop-up from one of my anti-virus programs (Kaspersky) telling me that the disk was attempting to play as a document file.  What the heck?  Then, the video did start playing, sort of.  I could hear it, although the sound was going in slow motion, and there was no video playing.  I once again ejected the DVD, and that’s when I saw we’ve got problems.

The Rootkit begins to do its thing on my system

First, my computer locked up.  I did a hard boot, and when it logged back in, I didn’t hear that familiar little “Windows chime.”  Uh-oh.  I went to my desktop and immediately boxes were popping up like mad telling me all kinds of programs are failing to respond.  Everything from Firefox to Yahoo Messenger to explorer.exe.  It looked like some kind of “you’re really screwed” video game going off, where you had to figure out in seconds what to do with all the things flying at you before you see what happens next.

The system mess continues

What happened next wasn’t any prettier.  I could not access my control panel, my start button, and any of my anti-virus programs on the desktop just wouldn’t launch.  The only thing vaguely reassuring at that point, was that somehow, Kaspersky was still running, and I was able to click on it in my toolbar, and have it perform a scan. 

Although nothing came up in the system scan, when I had it check for vulnerabilities, it named everything and its brother that is on my system.  Then, it showed me where it all began.  Which drive, what time.  Yep,  the Buena Vista movie I attempted to play “The Proposal.”  It showed as containing several keyloggers and a rootkit.  Just great.  Now what?

Now, to add to the fun, my computer would not do anything in regular mode, so I went into safe mode to see what I could do.  Pretty much the same nothing.  I had never before come across any virus or malware that so thoroughly disabled and messed up my system.  Right then, I was good and ticked at both Blockbuster and Sony.  Heck, I was even mad at Sandra Bullock for starring in the stupid movie. 

Rootkit removal tools

After downloading a number of rootkit removal tools, I tried to access the files on my laptop.  Through a weird quirk, I was able to get into Microsoft Word and drag a copy of the removal tools to my desktop.  From the desktop, I was able to run the programs.  Even after running the rootkit removal tools, my system was still affected.  After a system restore and malware scans, it looked like smooth sailing except for the lack of internet connection. 

After a while, I realized that somehow, the stupid thing simply managed to turn off the wireless connection on my laptop.  This was probably the easiest fix I dealt with through the whole fiasco.  I just had to hit the reset button on my laptop for wireless internet connection.

Sidenote for Acer Aspire owners

I just had to hit the reset button on my laptop for wireless internet connection.  For anyone who runs into this problem and you don’t know where that is, it is usually a small button on the front of the laptop.  In my case, using an Acer Aspire, the reset button for wireless connection is at the top of your keyboard, under the on/off button.  You will see a row of keys.  The internet connection key is the one on the far left.

The Bottom Line

Be very, very careful what movies you are putting into your computer.  If it’s distributed by Sony/Buena Vista, I would strongly urge you to think twice before doing so.  Unless you consider hours of trying to bring your computer back to life more fun than the relaxing with a movie you were initially looking forward to that is.

Image Source: sevensheavens

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:29 pm

Super-Sized Memory Could Fit Into Tiny Chips

North Carolina State University engineers have created a new material that could allow a fingernail-sized chip to store the equivalent of 20 high-definition DVDs or 250 million pages of text — fifty times the capacity of current memory chips.

“Instead of making a chip that stores 20 gigabytes, we have a created a prototype that can [potentially] handle one terabyte,” says Jagdish Narayan, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State. That’s at least fifty times the capacity of the best current DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) systems.

The key to the breakthrough is selective doping, the process by which an impurity is added to a material to change its properties. The researchers added nickel, a metal, to magnesium oxide, a ceramic. The result has clusters of nickel atoms no bigger than 10 square nanometers that can store data. Assuming a 7-nanometer magnetic nanodot could store one bit of information, this technique would enable storage density of more than 10 trillion bits per square inch, says Narayan.

Expanding current memory systems is a hot topic of research. At the University of California Berkeley, Ting Xu, an assistant professor of materials science, has also developed a way to guide the self-assembly of nano-sized elements in precise patterns. Xu is trying to extend the technique to create paper-thin, printable solar cells and ultra-small electronic devices.

Other researchers have shown a way to develop a carbon nanotube-based technique for storing data that could potentially last more than a billion years, thereby improving on the lifespan on storage.

A big challenge for Narayan and his team, who have been working on the topic for more than five years, was the creation of nanodots that can be aligned precisely.

“We need to be able to control the orientation of each nano dot,” says Narayan, “because any information that you store in it has to be read quickly and exactly the same way.” Earlier, the researchers could make only one-layer structures and 3-D self assembly of nano-dots wasn’t possible. But using pulsed lasers they have been able to achieve greater control over the process.

Unlike many research breakthroughs, Narayan says, his teams’ work is ready to go into manufacturing in just about a year or two. And memory systems based on doped nano-dots won’t be significantly more expensive than current systems.

“We haven’t scaled up our prototype but we don’t think it should cost a lot more to do this commercially,” he says. “The key is to find someone to start on the large-scale manufacturing process.”

See Also:

• New Technique Promises Billion-Year Data Storage
• Wired 8.04: Instant Access Memory
• Graphene memory makes Flash looks huge and ungainly

Photo: RAM (redjar/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:25 pm

Time Warner Cable Exposes 65,000 Customer Routers to Remote Hacks

Time Warner Cable is pushing out an emergency patch to 65,000 broadband customers, after a tinkerer discovered the company-supplied Wi-Fi routers all have the same administrative password -- and the admin panels are exposed to the web.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pm

NVIDIA Driver Developer Discusses Linux Graphics

An anonymous reader writes "Andy Ritger, who leads the NVIDIA UNIX Graphics Team responsible for creating drivers on Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris, has answered many questions at Phoronix about the state of Linux graphics, gaming, and drivers. Ritger shares some interesting facts, such as: the Linux graphics driver download rate is 0.5% that of their Windows driver downloads at NVIDIA.com; how the Nouveau developers are doing an incredible job; creating an AMD-like open-source strategy at NVIDIA would be time intensive and unlikely; and development problems for the Linux platform. Also commented on are new features that may come to their Linux driver within the next twelve months." Like all stories at Phoronix, in common with most other hardware review sites, this one is arbitrarily and maddeningly spread across 8 pages.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:17 pm

0.2 Second Test For Explosive Liquids

Since a failed terrorist attack in 2006, plane passengers have not been able to carry bottles of liquid through security at airports, leaving some parched at the airport and others having expensive toiletries confiscated, but work by a group of physicists in Germany is paving the way to eliminate this necessary nuisance.Research published today, Tuesday, 20 October, in IOP Publishing's Superconductor Science and Technology explains how a new form of spectroscopy, a scientific method that uses electromagnetic radiation to identify materials, and a novel nanoelectronic device to detect signals, can identify explosive liquids, or liquid components for the fabrication of explosives, in usual plastic bottles almost instantly.Discussing the different molecular signatures, or atomic make-up, of simple liquids such as water, ethanol and acetone (a flammable liquid), the researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, an inter-disciplinary research centre situated between Aachen and Cologne in Germany, explain the need to extend the frequency range of spectral analysis to increase the reliability of liquid explosive detection.While the idea of using electromagnetic radiation to inspect the properties of liquids is already thought a viable route to detecting explosive liquids, previous devices, working at single fixed frequencies within a small frequency range, cannot unambiguously distinguish mixtures of different liquids containing dangerous components which can be used as an explosive.The researchers from Jülich have suggested a fast and reliable way to increase the range of frequencies that their spectrometer can analyse, thereby verifying the molecular signature of the liquid and creating a much more detailed 'thumbprint' that can be checked against the range of possibly dangerous liquids available to terrorists.The researchers' new method of spectrometry is called Hilbert spectroscopy.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pm

Cryptic Droid release date counter reveals October 28th announcement date

This one goes out to all the Da Vinci Code fans out there. You know who you are. The Droid is incoming, this we know, but the day and date have eluded us… until now. The little countdown on the Droid does site is made of little glyphs, but a simple substitution code isn’t going to hold off the internet for long. I could have applied my steel trap of a mind to it, but I’m busy with… you know, important stuff. Luckily, someone else took up the torch and made the requisite calculations.

If you apply the key, obtained by assuming a DDHHMMSS countdown format and using today’s date and the seconds to work out the symbols, you get midnight of October 27th/28th, probably coinciding with an official announcement and press conference in the morning — you know, when people are awake.

Of course, early November is when the phone will actually be available, but it seems that the real marketing push will be starting a week or so ahead of time. Hope it’s as good as people say, because brother, that thing is ugly.

[via Phandroid]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:01 pm

Looking For The Origins Of Music In The Brain

Music serves as a natural and non-invasive intervention for patients with severe neurological disorders to promote long-term memory, social interaction and communication.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:01 pm

Microsoft Posts Sidekick Recovery Tool - PC Magazine

ABC News

Microsoft Posts Sidekick Recovery Tool PC Magazine Sidekick users who have been angry at T-Mobile and Microsoft's Danger for losing their personal data have received a little solace: Microsoft is now offering a recovery tool on T-Mobile's Web site to help owners of the mobile device ... Microsoft Releases Data Recovery Tool For Sidekick CustomersChannelWeb Another day, another data lossCNET News Microsoft Offers Tool For Sidekick Users To Recover ContactsWall Street Journal DailyTech -The Associated Press -Register all 262 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pm

Shields Up!: Cyberbullying - It’s not just kids who do it

Section: Computers, Security, Features, Originals, Columns

Last week we started talking about online predators and how to protect yourself from them.  This week, I want to discuss the issue of cyberbullying a little more.  When most people hear the word bully they immediately think of schoolyards and big kids picking on smaller ones and stealing their lunch money.  While it’s true that cyberbullying is a big issue among kids, tweens and teens, it’s also something that happens to adults.  OvercomingBullying.org has an outstanding article about the subject from the point of view of a cyberbully that changed her ways then became the victim of cyberbullying herself.  It’s chilling and heartbreaking.

What exactly is cyberbullying?  Here’s an excellent definition:

“Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging (IM), defamatory personal Web sites, and defamatory online personal polling Web sites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.” – Bill Belsey, Cyberbullying Expert

I’ve experienced cyberbullying myself.  Years ago, when the web was young, 1997 or so, I fell victim to a group of them.  It all started when I made the acquaintance of an actor that had starred in a 70’s TV show we were all fans of.  I can only assume it was jealousy that caused this group of people I’d grown to consider close friends to become so vicious.  Day after day hateful things were posted about me on message boards and via email.  The one incident I remember the most is when one of them sent me an email saying I was a waste of oxygen and they were going to find me and shoot me in the head.  An hour later the police showed up at my house saying they had received a 911 call stating a woman with gunshot wounds was inside.  It was a horrifying experience.

Cyberbullies do what they do for various reasons.  Some are just sick people.  Others, like the reformed bullying in the article mentioned above, were experiencing a personal tragedy and taking it out on others online.  One of the cyberbullies that tormented me all those years ago was in a dysfunctional marriage and living with a controlling mother in law.  She had stated to me before the bullying began that she felt that her life was out of control.  Apparently becoming a cyberbully was her way of gaining something in her life she could control.  Some people just thrive on drama.  Cliques exist online too, although their members may be hundreds or thousands of miles apart, and often they are eager to turn on one of their own they feel no longer belongs.

If you ever find yourself the target of cyberbullying, you have my sympathies.  Please know that you didn’t do anything wrong.  Even if you did offend someone, such a response is never justified.  Here are some tips to cope:

Stay quiet.

Never respond to a cyberbully.  Although our natural instincts are to defend ourselves when we feel wronged, doing so in this instance will almost always make things worse.  It’s like adding lighter fluid to a fire, so resist that urge.

Save correspondence.

 
Save any email, blog posts, IMs or other correspondence sent by the bully.  This will help you in the event the bullying crosses over the line and becomes a problem in “real life.” 

Keep the faith.

 
As devastatingly traumatic and painful cyberbullying can be, there is hope.  Your real friends will still be there for you and the rest does not matter.  Know that time does heal.  No one deserves to be cyberbullied, lied about or have their friends turned against them.  Don’t be afraid to seek counseling to deal with the pain if you feel you need help.  If the situation becomes severe check with your local law enforcement agency as many states now have cyberbullying laws on the books.

Image Source: Cybershack.org

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:30 pm

AT&T Suggests To 300K Employees To Lobby the FCC

Several readers sent in the news that AT&T's top lobbyist sent a letter to all 300,000 employees urging them to give feedback to the FCC as it gears up for rulemaking on net neutrality. He even supplied talking points approved by the PR department. The lobbyist, Jim Cicconi, suggested that employees use their personal email accounts when they weigh in with the FCC. Pro-net-neutrality group Free Press has now likened Cicconi's letter to astroturfing: "Coming from one of the company’s most senior executives, it’s hard to imagine AT&T employees thinking the memo was merely a suggestion."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:26 pm

Barnes & Noble's Nook eBook Reader Is Willing to Share

The new Nook e-book reader sports a color touchscreen display and lets users share books for a limited time.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 3:25 pm

'Whiter Teeth' Products Stained by Dismal Advertising Practices

Over-the-counter dental whitening products are drawing scrutiny as rival vendors carpet bomb the web with graphic ads. Now fraud busters are zeroing in on at least one teeth-whitening vendor in what could be the first shot across the bow for an industry that’s spawned a web-wide advertising eyesore to rival the X10 wireless video cam, Viagra and penis enlargement products.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:58 pm

Margaret Atwood, Speculative Fiction's Apocalyptic Optimist

In her new novel, The Year of the Flood, the Canadian writer dreams up an environmental catastrophe that makes for compelling reading in these troubled times. Yet Atwood remains hopeful that science can save the world before it's too late.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:48 pm

AT&T enlists employees to oppose Net neutrality - CNET News

Washington Post

AT&T enlists employees to oppose Net neutrality CNET News Advocacy groups say AT&T has gone too far in its lobbying efforts to oppose the Federal Communications Commission's new proposed Net neutrality regulations. This week AT&T's top lobbyist Jim Cicconi sent a memo to managers urging ... AT&T, Interest Groups Lock Horns on Net NeutralityPC Magazine US Rep Barton Asks FCC To Stop Vote On Open Internet RuleWall Street Journal AT&T Accused of 'astroturfing' on Net NeutralityPC World San Jose Mercury News -eWeek -ChannelWeb all 474 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:46 pm

Mozilla Throws Its Weight Behind New Free Font Format

The next version of Firefox, due later this year, will support the use of Web Open Font Format files, Mozilla has announced. This opens up some new options for web authors, who are currently restricted to using a handful of well-worn fonts in their designs.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:45 pm

Carbon-Offsetting And Conservation Can Both Be Winners In Rainforest

Logged rainforests can support as much plant, animal and insect life as virgin forest within 15 years if properly managed, research at the University of Leeds has found.Because trees in tropical climates soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, restoring logged forest through planting new trees could also be used in carbon trading, according to Dr David Edwards, from University's Faculty of Biological Sciences.Dr Edwards is calling for the inclusion of biodiversity-friendly strategies in carbon trading schemes to ensure that carbon off-setting projects support, rather than undermine, rainforest conservation.Currently, large plantations of one type of tree, such as Eucalpytus, are popular as carbon off-setting or sequestration projects in the tropics because they also provide commercial benefits, but they do not support tropical biodiversity.But Dr Edwards has shown that managed restoration of logged forest – which can also be used for carbon off-setting – brings biodiversity virtually back to pre-logging levels within 15 years, much quicker than forest left to regenerate naturally."Our research shows that it is possible to have both carbon sequestration and biodiversity benefits within the same scheme," he said."This could act as a strong incentive to protect logged forests under threat of deforestation for oil palm and other such crops.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:43 pm

Palm catalogs webOS apps online for all to see

Being the new kid on the block is always tough, especially when the guys who have been around always seem to be a few steps ahead of you. Palm certainly knows how that feels: after launching the hardware equivalent of a Hail Mary pass in a market that’s already saturated with smartphones, the pressure has been on them since day one to keep up with the competition. Say what you will about the phone itself, ever since the iPhone strode into the picture, apps where platforms are made and broken.

As it stands, webOS hasn’t had a truly killer app yet, and that problem is at least partially due to the lack of visibility: you can’t view apps unless you own a Pre, and even if that killer app were to come along, not many outside of the Sunnyvale braintrust would know. That is, until now.

Palm, taking a page out of Apple’s and RIM’s book, have finally decided to post the entirety of their App Catalog online for you, me, and Uncle Cletus to see. There’s no doubt that it’s pretty bland right now — it’s a far cry from iTunes and App World’s more fleshed-out approach — but it’s a necessary next step for Palm. Maybe now that webOS apps have a chance of being recognized outside of a select audience, we’ll see an application renaissance that drives some real market share points for Palm.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:40 pm

Life Ingredients Found on Extrasolar Gas Giant

Water, carbon dioxide and methane have been found in the atmosphere of a second exoplanet, suggesting that the ingredients for life could be widespread in a variety of star systems.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:31 pm

Free phones, free service: Welcome to Google, the non-teleco

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

Google is a self-proclaimed advertising company.  They sell ads.  It is their bread and butter.  Now it seems, they might be using give-a-ways like phones and phone service as a way to create a new place to serve ads.

Android was all about this plan though, we’re still not sure how it helps Google other than, perhaps, a guinea pig testing ground until it perfects the Android OS.  Back years ago, Google honcho proclaimed, “phones should be free” and it rings in my head every time a new rumor spouts about a true Google phone. 

Today, TheStreet.com writer Scott Moritz says:

Google is working with a smartphone manufacturer to have a Google-branded phone available this year through retailers and not through telcos, according to Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar, who has talked to Google’s design partners about the plan.

Not through telecos

This will not be through telecos.  It will not be a Verizon phone, nor AT&T or any other.  This will be a freed phone, if you will.  Now, take with a grain, make that a whole bag, of salt as analysts tend to spout rubbish from time to time, but the idea is right.  The senario being painted is this: Google leases services (think MNVO) and provides users with a special Android OS phone that is unleashed.  Google foots the bill for service (perhaps within reason) while serving up ads.

The big question becomes what phone and how intrusive are the ads?  Would a rotating wallpaper serving ads be too far?  Would hijacking the browser upon opening to an advertisers page be too much?  Of course, that’s assuming this analyst actually knows what he claims to.  A big “if.”

Read [TheStreet]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:24 pm

How to Fight an Internet Flame War

The internet is filled with disagreeable trolls eager to spark a flame war. Armed with a few tips, you can hold your own in a flame war and stay on higher ground.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

U.S Cellular launches the Samsung Trill, Samsung Caliber

Further proving that they can blast out feature phones at a rate faster than any other manufacturer in the world, Samsung has just launched not one, but two new pieces for U.S. Cellular.

U.S Cellular isn’t exactly a maven of the cutting edge, so there’s nothing too exciting here. The Samsung Trill (SCH-R520) is your run-of-the-mill slider, while the Samsung Caliber (SCH-R850) is a touchscreen handset running on Samsung’s TouchWiz OS (read: Just TouchWiz – not TouchWiz on top of WinMo or another platform.) The Trill and Caliber will set you back $89.95 and $99.95 respectively, after 2-year contracts and $50 mail-in rebates.

Samsung Trill Specs:

Key features of the Samsung Trill include:

* Sound Technology by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower
* Music Player with One-Touch Music Access
* 1.3 Megapixel Camera with Camcorder
* Stereo Bluetooth® Enabled
* One-Touch Speakerphone
* U.S. Cellular’s easyedgeSM Service
* Expandable Memory up to 32GB
* 1GB of Phone Memory
* Dimensions: 1.96”x 3.97” x .57”
* 2.2” QCIF 262K TFT
* Retail price – $219.95

Samsung Caliber Specs:

* Advanced touchscreen with Samsung’s TouchWiz™ user interface
* Widget support for quick access to social networking applications, etc.
* U.S. Cellular’s easyedgeSM services: Downloadable Ringtones, Wallpapers, Games and Business Applications
* Full HTML Web browser
* Stereo Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
* Speakerphone

* 3.0 Megapixel Camera and Camcorder
* Built-In Video and Music Player

* Dimensions: 4.55” x 2.23” x .47”; 3.59 ounces
* Display: 262K, 240 x 400 pixels, 3.2”
* Standard rechargeable Lithium Ion battery: up to 5 hours talk time
* Retail price – $319.95

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:53 pm

WinMo 7 vs. WinMo 6.5, in screenshots

Though we certainly made an effort, we just don’t play well with Windows Mobile 6.5. With that said, we really do (honestly!) hope that Windows Mobile 7 comes and blows our minds.

Though we’re still almost completely in the dark when it comes to WinMo 7 details, WMExperts has managed to shed an inkling of light on the subject. Earlier today, they were leaked an image purportedly portraying what’s to come. In the top row, you’ll see the Windows Mobile 6.5 settings and calendar screens as they are today; in the bottom row are internal mockups of what the same screens should look like in Windows Mobile 7. We’ve gotta say, the fonts and general flow of those lower images look very Palm Pre/webOS-esque – and when it comes to UI/Software stuff, that’s definitely a good thing.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm

What Do Verizon's New Anti-iphone Ads Mean For AT&T? - Atlantic Online

MiamiHerald.com

What Do Verizon's New Anti-iphone Ads Mean For AT&T? Atlantic Online There's been a lot of press this week about Verizon's new anti-iphone ads. The most notable is made on behalf of smartphones utilizing Google's new Android operating system. Some find this and other anti-iphone ads bad, claiming they're ineffective. ... Verizon Droid Smartphone Could Give iPhone a 'Jab in the Ribs'eWeek Smartphone smackdown: Motorola Droid vs. iPhone 3GSSan Francisco Chronicle Motorola Calgary Android Phone Photos LeakI4U PC World -InformationWeek -CNET News all 770 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:01 pm

Nissan's Wild Land Glider EV May Yet Fly

The tiny two-seater, which leans into turns, could one day appear in showrooms and compete against — get this — motorcycles.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm

BLOG: Balloon Hoax Shines Light on Bad TV

Beyond the reckless hubris of "Balloon Boy's" dad, the event is an indictment of TV culture. 
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm

Manage your tasks with Google

People use all kinds of tools to help them get stuff done — paper to-do lists, messages with a certain label or stars in Gmail, notes in Google Calendar, a couple different iGoogle gadgets and so on. Late last year, we added a lightweight way to help you keep track of what you need to do in Gmail Labs — tasks.

Since then, it's graduated from Labs, and you can manage your tasks not only in Gmail, but also in Google Calendar, iGoogle and from your mobile phone (by going to gmail.com/tasks from your phone's browser). Your task list stays up to date no matter how you access it — so for example, if you create a task with a due date on your mobile device, the next time you consult your Google Calendar you'll see that task on your calendar for that day.



Starting today, there's a full-screen version of the Tasks gadget for iGoogle. Click on the icon in the top-right corner and you'll be able to see and organize all your tasks at once.

For those of you who are already familiar with tasks, here are some power tips to help make you more productive:

• When you have completed a task and no longer want it to appear on your list, click "Clear completed" in the actions menu. You can review your completed tasks later by clicking "View completed tasks." Clearing completed tasks is different from deleting them — if you delete a task, it's gone for good and you'll no longer see it anywhere in tasks.
• In the default "My order" view, press tab to indent a task you're editing, making it a sub-task of the one above. Press shift + tab to reverse this operation.
• Try ctrl + up/down (⌘ + up/down on a Mac) to move the task you're editing up and down the list. Move a task that has sub-tasks, and they'll come along with it.
• Ctrl + up/down also works in sort by date view, where it will alter the task's due date by one day. You can use this to quickly plan out your week's activities or postpone a task for another day.
• Press shift + enter to edit the details of a task, including its notes and due date. You can also use this view to move your task to another list.

We have more features in the pipeline, so if you're interested in hearing the latest on tasks, follow us on Twitter.

Posted by David Barrett-Kahn, Software Engineer, Tasks team
Source: The Official Google Blog | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:40 pm

CrunchDeals: AT&T BlackBerry Curve 8900 for a penny (or upgrade for $50)

New AT&T customers can grab the BlackBerry Curve 8900 from Amazon for just a penny when signing up for a two-year contract. Existing customers can get it for just $50 with a contract renewal. The same phone is going for $150 directly at AT&T’s site.

You’ll also get free activation between now and October 26th – a $36 value. The phone-for-a-penny deal will be good until November 4th.

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Phone, Black (AT&T) [Amazon]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:36 pm

Barnes & Noble Nook gets official - full specs and details

Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks

As confirmed by the earlier WSJ article, the Barnes & Noble ebook reader has been officially unveiled.  The reader has been dubbed the Nook and is selling for $259.  As of now the Nook is available as a pre-order, however it is not expected to begin shipping until the end of November.

That aside, if you can stand the wait, it would appear as if the Nook will be able to offer some competition for both the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader lineups.

Feature wise, the Nook has a 6-inch E Ink Vizplex electronic paper display along with a secondary 3.5-inch TFT color LCD.  You can expect to find 2GB of internal storage (that will hold up to 1,500 books) and a microSD card slot that can add up to an additional 16GB of storage.

Other features include;

• AT&T 3G connectivity along with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Free Wi-Fi in all Barnes & Noble retail locations
• Measures in at 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Weighs in at 11.2 ounces
• Charging via USB to computer or wall power adapter
• Charge time of 3.5 hours via wall power outlet
• Battery life of up to 10 days with the wireless turned off
• 3.5mm headphone jack and built-in mono speaker

In terms of support the Barnes & Noble Nook can read EPUB and eReader formats as well as the ability to view PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and play MP3 files.

As for the software features, the Barnes & Noble Nook will connect to the Barnes & Noble ebook store, which is where that color LCD will come in handy.  But that is not where it stops, users will also be able to sample books from anywhere, browse complete books while in a Barnes & Noble retail location, make notes and highlight passages and even lend books to friends with the “LendMe technology.”

Finally, users will also be able to take advantage of the “Reading Now” feature that will allow you to read on multiple devices, which is similar to the Kindle and Whispernet.  The “Reading Now” feature will work with the eReader app on the iPhone as well as select BlackBerry and Motorola smartphones.

Read [Barnes & Noble nook eBook Reader]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pm

Human Brain Can Control Single Celebrity-Recognizing Neurons

Your brain has a Marilyn Monroe neuron. A Kanye West brain cell, too. And a new study indicates that you can control these individual celebrity-recognizing cells independently.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pm

Almost every region gets a black Wii except for North America

FROM GAMERTELL - The black Wii Sports Resort console bundle will be available throughout Europe starting November 20, 2009. The black classic controller pro will also be released there on the same day.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:15 pm

Women, Girls Created Paleolithic Cave Art

Not all prehistoric artists were male, suggests a study that looked at cave art made by women.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:15 pm

BLOG: Pterosaur Windsurfed Across Prehistoric Seas

One species of pterosaur was not only an excellent flyer, but also a gifted sailor.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:15 pm

Motorola Calgary is like the Droid, but horribly ugly

Their seems to be two distinct camps when it comes to the Motorola Droid. One group looked at it and said, “Wow! That is a gorgeous phone!”; the other looked at it and said, “Wow! That is a horrendous phone!”.

I, personally, am in Camp 1 – I think the Droid is pretty stunning. The same can not be said for Motorola’s other Android phone for Verizon. BGR just got fed a handful of pictures of the Motorola Calgary, an as-of-yet unannounced but long-rumored Android handset. There are three touch sensitive keys on the face, and it’s packing a 3 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headset jack (Hurray!), GPS, magnetometer, microSD slot, WiFi, and a whole lot of ugly. A logo on the back of the handset confirms that it’ll run Moto’s custom Android frontend, BLUR.

Perhaps the pictures don’t do it justice – is anyone really feelin’ the design of this one?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:08 pm

Sweet Refurbished Deals: $850, $900 MacBooks

Here’s what defines me as an Apple customer and not an Apple fanboy: I eagerly anticipate new Apple gear not for the new products, but for the great deals that appear for previous-generation gadgets in the refurbished section.

Think of it this way: Just yesterday, that speedy aluminum MacBook Pro you’ve always wanted was way too pricey for you. But the day Apple releases upgrades, your Mac of desire instantly drops hundreds of dollars in the refurbished section.

That’s smart shopping to me. Granted, with refurbished gadgets you run the risk of getting a unit that was returned because it was a lemon. But on the other hand, there’s a chance you’re getting a Mac that was returned with zero problems (perhaps a person with bad credit). I’ve owned two refurbished MacBook Pros in the past four years, and neither of them had any problems requiring servicing. Plus, refurbished products are covered by one-year warranty. Refurb is the way to go!

With that said, here are two hot refurbished Mac deals that popped up after Apple released new Macs today:

• Refurbished white 2.13-GHz MacBook for $850 (originally $1,000)
• Refurbished unibody 2-GHz MacBook for $900 (originally $1,100)

Expect more to come over the next few weeks as Apple, as well as third-party Mac vendors, continue to clear out inventory of “older” Macs. See any other great refurb deals out there? Add your finds in the comments below.

See Also:

• Apple Unleashes New Macs, Multitouch Mouse
• Latest Rumors Point to New Macs on the Horizon

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:02 pm

Apollo-Era Crawler Carries Test Rocket to Launch Pad - Wired News

Times Online

Apollo-Era Crawler Carries Test Rocket to Launch Pad Wired News The first test flight for NASA's next-generation rocket rumbled closer when the Ares IX rocket took a ride to its launch spot aboard a massive Apollo-era crawler Tuesday morning. It reached Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center at ... Space Shuttle Successor Ready For Test FlightInformationWeek NASA rolls out new moon rocket for test flightReuters Ares IX hauled to launch pad for test flight October 27TopNews United States FOXNews -Florida Today -The Associated Press all 592 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:01 pm

Apple, Google Separated at Birth? Financial Results Suggest Yes

Despite a recent tiff and different product lines, Google and Apple have a lot in common -- and their financial results are eerily similar. Help Wired.com solve the mystery.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

Apple releases Magic Mouse, world’s first multi-touch mouse

FROM APPLETELL - Apple this morning announced the Magic Mouse, “the world’s first multi-touch mouse,” taking advantage of multi-touch technology to deliver much more control than is possible with buttons and a scroll wheel.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 11:59 am

27" iMac rules Apple's new gear

The highlights of today's announcements are the Magic Mouse, a 27" iMac, and a Mac Mini designed to be used as a server. There's also a new plastic MacBook, for people who are allergic to aluminium.

The new buttonless mouse is best summed up thusly: ZOMG. But this ZOMGness arises in large part by comparison to its dismal precedessors. Apple's mice have for at least a decade been its design blind spot--an ugly but usable Logitech is a common substitution in otherwise unsullied Mac setups--so this is a must-see item for anyone who cares about that sort of thing. Multitouch!

Apple's new iMacs offer a 16:9 aspect ratio, 4GB of RAM as standard, terabyte hard drives and SD card slots. The 27" model is today's best of show: despite being about the same price as a 30" cinema display (which has the same horizontal resolution and 140 more lines) you get a decent all-in-one computer with the option of a gaming-ish-caliber Radeon HD 4850 video card. Furthermore, it has video-in, meaning it'll still be useful as a display after the system within falls into obsolescence. If only it had Blu-Ray and a TV tuner!

The Mac Mini server drops the optical drive and gains dual 500GB hard drives: hello, redundant backups. Folks have quietly hankered for this for a long time, and its a popular hack. Now you can buy it off the shelf for $1,000, a good deal for the IT crowd considering the bundled OSX Server software, but way too steep for home users who just want a RAIDable storage box with real HTPC chops.

Also announced today were better-performing routers and Time Capsules (Joel Johnson reports that buying a router from Apple is the final point where you've basically given it all up to them) and new aluminum remotes.

As for the white MacBook, it has no SD card slot, no FireWire, and no budget price tag. Considering that its 13.3" metal sibling is the best mainstream laptop in existence, what's the point? Correct me, plastic fans.

Press release [Apple]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2009 | 11:45 am

Mozilla to release “an app” for the iPhone soon

Whenever anybody from the Mozilla, the overseers of Firefox, gets to talking about iPhone apps, the geek-blooded world gets themselves all in a tizzy. As the mobile port of Firefox, otherwise known as Fennec, ticks away through the beta paces on Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Linux, iPhone owners care about only one thing: When do they get it?

Over the weekend, GigaOm spoke with Mozilla CEO John Lilly. He had this to say on the matter:

“Mozilla will release an app to the iPhone App Store in the next few weeks,” Lilly said. “It’ll surprise people.”

“An app”? Seems a bit vague – and that’s undoubtedly intentional. While it could be that Mozilla’s not in a place to officially confirm that Fennec is coming to iPhone, it seems far more likely that it’s not a browser.

While Apple has been approving “alternative” browsers, they’ve all been WebKit-based; in other words, they’re all using the same core engine as Apple’s own Safari. Fennec, like it’s older browser-brother, Firefox, uses the Gecko engine. Without Gecko, it’s not Firefox – and with Gecko, it’s not likely to reach the App Store.

So if it’s not Fennec, what are they planning? GigaOm went on to ask Lilly and Mozilla VP of Mobile Jay Sullivan about Weave and the Awesome Bar, Firefox’s bookmark hosting/history perusing tools. These questions were dodged, leading the interviewer to believe that the new iPhone product involved them in some manner.

Might Mozilla’s secret project be as simple as a Firefox-to-iPhone bookmark syncing utility? What are your guesses?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 11:44 am

Acer announces ‘beTouch’ line and ‘neoTouch’ touch phone

Alright, so somehow this slipped under our radar for a few days, but no matter…here it is. Acer has announced a new touch screen-based phone lineup and device: beTouch and neoTouch.

It seems like Acer just can’t get enough touch these days, what with its recently announced Liquid smartie…and now this new line and phone. Both the beTouch line and the neoTouch phone have been “designed to cater for diversified targets and types of use,” and all include touch screens (ranging from 3.0″ to 3.8″).

Acer, like another handset manufacturer, has come to the realization that not all cell phone users are created equal. Some want expensive, more complex devices while others yearn for a simpler, less cluttered touch experience.

For the latter group, Acer is offering three new devices under the ‘beTouch’ name: E100, E101, and E200. All three phones are intended to bring “colour and warmth to the smartphone world” and are therefore “represented by the colour orange, chosen as it is as vibrant and joyous.” What? Anyways, all three phones run WinMo 6.5 and include a touch screen. The E200, i.e. the “fanciest” of the beTouch crew, also includes a slide-down alphanumeric keypad.

As for the new neoTouch, the phone also uses WinMo 6.5 and was designed for maximum “processing power, graphic capabilities and comprehensive connectivity.” Oh, and the neoTouch will apparently come in brown because Acer believes that “brown is a colour that evokes sophistication, taste, decisiveness and solidity.” Again, what? Apparently Acer never caught wind of all the brown Zune hate jokes.

For more, give Acer’s official product page a go.

[via MobileBurn]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 11:18 am

Gadgetell Review: BodyGuardz Scratch Proof Film

Section: Communications, Accessories, Reviews

What is it?

BodyGuardz is a producer of scratch resistant skins for electronic devices, including phones, Macbooks, iPods and gaming devices.  You can choose the type of product that you own on the website and BodyGuardz will send you the particular skin for the device.  I tested out the product using my LG Voyager.

What’s in the box?

The full body option includes two sets of full body protectors, three screen guards, application solution, squeegee card and instructions. 

The Good

BodyGuardz is ideal for someone looking to protect their device without having to use a bulky case.  It is relatively inexpensive with a MSRP of $24.95 and the set includes everything you need to install.  It is convenient having an extra set in case there is problem during application or the protectors peel away over time. 

The Bad

The application process can be very time consuming.  You need to have patience as you apply each of the small sections onto the body of your phone.  The edges are particularly tricky and can be a pain to keep down as the application solution dries. 

The Crux

The screen protector is easy to apply and definitely protects your device from scratches.  The full body protection could probably be skipped since it can be a pain to install and I could see it easily peeling off over time.  BodyGuardz does offer a screen film only set with two protectors for $14.95.

Site: [Bodyguardz]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2009 | 11:11 am

NASA Scientist Accused of Selling Secrets

A scientist who worked on moon exploration is accused of trying to sell secrets.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am

Apple Unleashes New Macs, Multitouch Mouse

Apple on Tuesday released a family of new Macs, including upgraded iMacs, a unibody white MacBook and Mac Minis. The newest addition to the Apple product line is a wireless, multitouch mouse.

The Magic Mouse (below), which ships with new iMacs released today, features a completely touch-sensitive top side. Multitouch gestures can trigger left- and right-click functions, as well as 360-degree scrolling.

The mouse also detects swiping gestures: Swiping left takes you back a page in Safari; swiping left and right in iPhoto browses the previous and next photos, respectively.

Apple added two screen sizes for the iMac, a 21.5-inch model and a 27-inch model. They feature new LED backlit displays with a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The 21.5-inch model starts at $1,200 and features a high-resolution 1920-by-1080-pixel display. The 27-inch iMac starts at $1,700 and features a 2560-by-1440-pixel display, which offers 60 percent more pixels than the previous 24-inch model, according to Apple.

Priced at $1,000, the solo MacBook (top) remains white, but it gains a unibody enclosure like the current aluminum MacBook Pros, except this one is plastic. That’s mostly a cosmetic difference, giving the MacBook cleaner lines. It sports a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 13.3-inch LED backlit glossy widescreen display and a multitouch trackpad.

The Mac Mini received minor updates. There are two configurations: A $600 model features a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of 1066-Mhz RAM and a 160-GB hard drive. An $800 model sports a 2.56-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 320-GB drive. Both feature NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphic chipsets. If you want to use Mac Minis as servers, the 2.53-GHz configuration has a $1,000 option that includes Mac OS X Server and two hard drives.

Lost in the flurry of releases, Apple’s remote control received a makeover, sporting the aluminum-and-black aesthetic to match the new iMacs and MacBook Pros. The remote can control not just Macs, but iPods and iPhones as well. It costs $19.

See Also:

• Latest Rumors Point to New Macs on the Horizon

Photo: Apple

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 10:46 am

Digital Open Winners: From pocket-sized Altoids tin hack, big dreams emerge

(Download MP4 video or Watch on YouTube, or view with subtitles on Dotsub).

Institute for the Future teamed up with Sun Microsystems and Boing Boing Video to co-host the Digital Open, an online tech expo for teens 17 and under around the world.

In this video, you'll meet awesome 16 year old Nick Brenn. His crafty Altoids tin hacks led to a winning "Electronikits" project for the Digital Open, which sells electronics kits for pocket-sized tin-mod flashlights and other DIY oddities.

I loved his answer to the "Who is this project for?" part of the Digital Open Questionnaire: "Anyone with a passion for being a DIY-er and a fiend for building cool projects. Who wouldn't want a sweet Altoids LED Flashlight? You could have the freshest flashlight on the block! Or an Altoids night-light! It is rare to find someone with such cool projects as you would have!"

Nick tells us more about how "Electronikits" came to be, below and after the jump:

It all started with instructions that I posted on Instructables.com, on how to build a "Super Awesome Altoids MINI Flashlight." Soon after winning a contest on Instructables, I was contacted by a sales associate at the science supply company Edmund Scientific. I was like, "WOW!", someone wants to buy kits from me that I don't even have! This was an opportunity too good to pass up.

I created my business known as NGB Enterprises. To sell to Edmunds, I needed a tax i.d, and since I was a minor, I created a "dba" (doing business as), under my mom's business. So in just months, I had established a business based on instructions I submitted that could be viewed by the whole world! So I then bought the necessary components for the kits that Edmunds wanted to buy, and I shipped them out to the company. I was paid, I had a profit and life was good! I wanted to keep this going, and I did not want this to be a one time thing. So in order to keep with "openness," I did not take down the instructions that I posted on the Instructables website, because I was confident that I did not have to worry about anyone trying to do something silly with my work, and I used those instructions for my kits.

Read more of Nick's story here, with links to features about his projects at HowStuffWorks and other science-y sites.

Read more about the youth competition in IFTF's press release announcing Digital Open winners.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2009 | 10:01 am

The BlackBerry Storm 2 makes an appearance on Verizon’s website

Besides the CEO touting the BlackBerry Storm 2 around for some impromptu demos, Verizon hasn’t exactly acknowledged the phone’s existence. There have been rumors that it’s because the Storm 2 still doesn’t live up to Verizon’s standards or it could simply be that Verizon doesn’t want to take the attention off of the Motorola Droid. Whatever the case maybe, the BlackBerry Storm 2 will probably be made official sometime real soon.

The Storm 2 is sort-of on VerizonWireless.com right now in fact. The phone doesn’t have a product page yet, but someone found the phone’s 3D demo page. So have it. Click over to VZW.com and give the phone a spin. You really don’t need to see a product page anyway, it’s not like you plan on buying the second incarnation of the worst phone ever made when the totally sick Motorola Droid will be available around the same time. At least I hope not.

[Verizon via BGR]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Oct 2009 | 9:48 am

Self-improving results now in the Google Search Appliance

The Google Search Appliance (GSA) is getting an update today, with a bunch of new features aimed at making enterprise search easier for everyone inside a company. One of our favorites, the Self-learning Scorer, learns from employees' searches to tune itself and improve over time. If employees repeatedly choose, say, the fourth result for a given query the GSA will learn that's probably the most relevant one and bring it up to the top the next time the query is searched for. Over time, the GSA auto-tunes, serving up better and better internal search results without any extra administrative work. You can read more about the Self-learning Scorer and check out the GSA's other new features in our post on the Google Enterprise Blog.

Posted by Sibabrata Ray and Liviu Panait, Engineers, Google Enterprise Search team
Source: The Official Google Blog | 20 Oct 2009 | 9:37 am

Sperm Whales Act as Carbon Sink

New estimates suggest sperm whales' feeding habits help take in carbon.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 9:20 am

NASA Readies Ares I for Test Launch

NASA's test vehicle is prepped to blast off as the future of the space program remains uncertain.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 9:10 am

XShot: A Rather Painful-Looking iPhone Tripod Case

Joby’s dedicated iPhone case/tripod has got a rival: The XShot. It’s $10 less than the Gorillapod combo, but for those thirty dollars you get nothing more than a case with a tripod socket — no tripod, no extra suction cups for other devices, nothing. Just a big, hip-bone bruising, pocket-hating hunk of metal on the side of a skeleton “case” that appears to offer little in the way of protection for the iPhone itself.

Available for pre-order now, we suggest not bothering and instead going with a more DIY option. Unless you want an iPhone accessory that can double as a hammer, we guess.

Product page [XShot]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 8:51 am

Amazing German Bike-Carrying Train

Bikes and trains are a great mix. A train can get you out into the coutryside for some downhill runs, or let you cycle at a destination too far to get to by bike in a day, saving a car trip. Our own velvet-voiced editor Dylan Tweney throws his taxi-yellow, easy to carry fixed-gear on the commuter train from time to time, and I would travel along with my non-biking friends in Berlin on the bike-friendly U-bahn.

But while San Francisco and Berlin both allow bikes (although I hear the new muni cars have less bike spaces than the old ones), neither is as impressive as the the Stuttgart to Degerloch Zahnradbahn in Germany. The open bike-car has taken bike-commuters along this short two kilometer (one and a quarter mile) stretch since 1983. Two kilometers? Are these people lazy?

Our German speaking readers will have noticed what is going on here: Zahnradbahn is a cog-driven railway, and this train climbs 200 meters (almost 2,200 yards) from station to station, a climb that is guaranteed to get you to work soaked with sweat. We can’t help thinking that the ride home must be a lot of fun, though.

Here in Barcelona, you can take your bikes on trains but unless you get lucky, you won’t find a goods-carriage to put them in (although the city’s trams do have parking inside). Do any of you readers from around the world have bike-friendly public transport where you live? Tell us about it in the comments.

Official page [City of Stuttgart via Cyclelicious]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 8:01 am

U.S. Pets Increasingly Pudgy

Forty-four percent of U.S. dogs and 57 percent of cats are obese, a study finds.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:20 am

Wii-Controlling Heckler and Koch Machine Gun

My experience with guns is limited to finger-banging: sticking out my forefinger and moving my thumb while making the sound of a gunshot with my mouth. If I’m feeling particularly frisky, I will blow imaginary gun-smoke from my finger after I shoot.

But I know enough about guns (from the movies) to know that this Wii-compatible Heckler & Koch MP5 inspired sub-machine gun is awesome. It has the newer, more accurate motion-plus sensors, a speaker and a rumble-pack, and works as both Wiimote and nunchuk.

The difference you see between the box-front illustration and the photo is the orange barrel-tip, a US safety measure designed to stop trigger-happy cops from shooting 14-year-olds dead. The photo was snapped at a Hong Kong trade-show by Pocket Lint, and has yet to find its way overseas. Fingers crossed (when you’re not using them to finger-bang, of course) for a swift release.

Wii gets custom-made Heckler and Koch MP5 controller [Pocket Lint]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 7:02 am

Barnes & Noble Unveils Kindle-Killing, Dual-Screen ‘Nook’ E-Reader (Updated)

If you just ordered a Kindle, stop reading now or you’re in for a giant dose of buyer’s remorse. Barnes and Noble unveiled a new e-book reader called ‘Nook’, and it is hot, both inside and out.

Nook looks a lot like Amazon’s white plastic e-book reader, only instead of the chiclet-keyboard there is a color multitouch screen, to be used as a keyboard or to browse books, cover-flow style. The machine runs Google’s Android OS and it will have wireless capability from AT&T.

The $260 Nook–same price as the Kindle 2-is expected to be on sale at the end of November.

The Nook has the regular black-and-white E Ink display and a 3.5-inch color touchscreen. The latter allows users to browse books. The Nook also comes with built-in WiFi, 2GB of internal storage, MP3 player and supports open formats such as EPUB. Nook users have features such as bookmarks, and the ability to share books with friends for up to a fortnight through other e-readers, smartphones or computers.

Barnes and Noble has said Nook customers will have access to its online bookstore that includes books, newspapers and magazines. The Nook itself can hold up to 1,500 e-books.

Gizmodo, first showed leaked images of the Nook last week. The blog said that B&N will be discounting titles heavily in their electronic format, which is as is should be (no paper, printing or shipping costs). The Nook will also be able to get books from the Google Books Project.

Earlier Tuesday, Wall Street Journal, had a peek at an at ad set to run in The New York Times this coming Sunday. The ad features the line “Lend eBooks to friends,” and this has the potential to destroy the Kindle model. One of the biggest problems with e-books is that you can’t lend or re-sell them. If B&N is selling e-books cheaper than the paper versions, then the resale issue is moot. And lending, even if your friends need a Nook, too, takes away the other big advantage of paper.

In fact, this loaning function could be the viral feature that makes the device spread. Who would buy a walled-garden machine like the Kindle when the Nook has the same titles, cheaper, and you can borrow? The Nook is already starting to look like the real internet to the Kindle’s AOL.

Exclusive: First Photos of Barnes & Noble’s Double Screen E-Reader [Gizmodo]
Barnes & Noble Reader Out Tuesday [All Things D/ WSJ]

See Also:

• Kindle Goes International — With a Little Help From AT&T
• Crippleware Alert! International Kindle Gets No Web Access Outside …
• International Kindle Now Shipping: The Good, the Bad and the …
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:19 am

Tsunami Threat Looms Over Pacific Northwest

A massive tsunami could devastate the Pacific Northwest if precautions aren't taken.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

Canon EOS 1D Mark 4: Night Vision, 1080p Video

Canon’s EOS 1D Mark 4 is now official, and it looks like yesterday’s rumor got things dead right. The 1.3x crop-frame camera has a top ISO of 102,400, a 16 megapixel sensor and shoots at ten frames per second. It also shots proper 1080p video.

And the video is the part Canon is pushing. Take a look at this short movie shot by photographer Vincent Laforet.

What you just watched was a movie shot at ISO 6400. Pretty clean, huh? The Mark 4 will capture 1080p at 24, 25 or 30fps and will grab video at 50 or 60fps in standard def or 720p. This is being compared all over the web to Nikon’s new D3s, which only shoots 720p and does it with crappy motion jpeg files. On the other hand, the D3s is a full-frame still-shooting DSLR, and the 1D Mark 4 is not.

Aside from the low-light and video, the new Canon gets a revamped auto-focus system, something Nikon has been better at these last few years. You get 45 AF-points, 39 of which are the more sensitive and accurate cross-type (working in two planes, not one). Compare this to the D3s’s 51 points, only 15 of which are cross-type. We’ll wait for the test here, but if the Canon beats out the Nikon then this is one serious camera — my D700, which uses the same AF as the D3, is uncanny when it comes to tracking moving subjects.

The camera does everything else you would expect of it, and comes in at a dollar under $5000. That’s the same price as the D3s, but if you are looking at cameras of this level, it’s likely the big bag of glass you own has already made the brand decision for you.

Product page [Canon]

Lights out, Camera, Action [Vincent Laforet’s Blog]

See Also:

• Canon 1D Mark IV Arriving Tomorrow?

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 5:32 am

NPR Radio Is An Actual Radio

These days, a proper computer is so cheap that we can’t help but wonder if dedicated internet appliances will soon die off. The NPR Radio (an actual physical radio that, yes, will play NPR Radio*) at least brings a few things to the party that a netbook still can’t: a speaker that will produce more than a tinny buzz, and a remote control, but otherwise this does no more than a piece of software.

Along with NPR stations (1,000 of ‘em) the Livio-made radio will tune in to any of 16,000 internet radio stations, or you can hook up another music player into the jack, and play them through its seven watt speaker. The search funcion doesn’t sound too quick, either:

In mere minutes, through a wireless of Ethernet connection, search by genre, location or keyword, and find NPR content and other world programming for free.

“Mere” minutes, in a world where google search times are measure in milliseconds. Still, it should pass the “granny test” in ease of use, and it looks like a friendly radio and not a scary, virus-catching computer. The price for the radio is $200, and profits go to NPR. Or you could buy a $200 iPod and do an App Store search for “radio”.

Product page [NPR]

*We know that The “Radio” in NPR Radio is redundant. If you’re going to point that out in a comment, don’t. Just go outside and try to make some friends instead.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2009 | 4:55 am