Source: Gizmodo | 2 Nov 2009 | 8:20 pm

And now Creative is jumping into e-book readers and tablets and funcookers and such

We’re withholding judgment on the Zii platform until somebody really gets a chance to use it in a final form (you can see video of it running Android here), but little did we know that Creative has more planned for the vaguely-defined media platform than PMPs. They’ve just announced that we can expect a sort of media player/e-book reader with the Zii branding sometime… sometime in the next couple years I’d say. They actually showed a unit, boasting about its color touchscreen, but apparently nobody thought to take pictures. So we’re all left wondering — but whatever you’re picturing in your head right now is probably about right.

Except you there, with the freckles. What you’re thinking is wrong. So, so wrong.

Like so many other functiondrogenous tablet-shaped devices, you can expect to watch some media, access some services like Facebook and Twitter, and probably a few other things. Beyond that, it’s pretty much anybody’s guess.

Source: CrunchGear | 2 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pm

Rihanna says domestic violence could happen to anyone

Source: Gizmodo | 2 Nov 2009 | 7:40 pm

Man-eating lions chewed on fewer humans than thought, say UCSC scientists - San Jose Mercury News

Straits Times

Man-eating lions chewed on fewer humans than thought, say UCSC scientists San Jose Mercury News The man-eating lions from Tsavo likely only ate 35 people, not the 135 popular lore claims. The pair are on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. SANTA CRUZ — The mystery had all the makings of a Hollywood ... One of Tsavo's lions ate most human preyReuters India Lions Of Tsavo Ate Far Less Men Than ReportedCBS2 Chicago Tsavo lions ate 35 people, not 135Mongabay.com Chicago Tribune -Chicago Sun-Times -St. Louis Post-Dispatch all 155 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 7:33 pm

DIY: build a medium format film camera from scratch

It’s amusing to me how sometimes how I’ll be considering a particular subject and then randomly find a DIY project related to that subject. For example, I’m been considering getting a medium format film camera, just for the experience of shooting in that format. Apparently I’m not the only one, because Peter J at the Medium Format Camera Project has been building his very own camera.

Peter J’s project is about 80% completed, but its looking really sharp so far. Amazingly, it’s assembled from cardboard, glue, some ground glass, and Legos. It looks like he used a purchased lens, but the rest of it was assembled by hand. I hope he’s able to finish the project, I look forward to seeing the results (and maybe building one for myself).

[via Hack a Day]

Source: CrunchGear | 2 Nov 2009 | 7:30 pm

Kingston makes deal with Paramount to distribute movies on flash memory

Section: Video, Portable Video

We’ve heard it all before, that the DVD is dying, and that the Blu-Ray might not even matter for movies, that the industry is going towards digital download.  While that may be true, there is a chance that we might be seeing another physical way of distributing movies before we move to all download and streaming.  The good news is that’s it won’t be yet another optical disc to worry about.

The “new” method comes from a deal between Kingston and Paramount that would see movies distributed via flash memory.  More specifically, movies will be available on USB flash drives and SD cards.  The new method would see movies sold not only individually, but as part of bundles possibly on the same drives/cards or as part of a series, it’s not particularly clear.  The deal itself isn’t too clear at the moment, with no release date scheduled, but the partnership and plans seem to be there.

Distributing movies on flash memory seems like a smart idea.  Assuming the files are in some sort of standard format without DRM, they should be able to work on just about any computer or netbook.  These would work especially well on netbooks or laptops, where users don’t want to carry around DVDs, but may not have the storage to fit a large collection of movies, or no Internet connection that can stream movies.  It would be nice if the drives/cards contained both HD and SD versions for a netbook and laptop version.  What’s more likely, however, is just SD films so they can be put on the cheapest cards available with a small amount of storage space.  Either way, when the partnership does see some real product emerge, it will be interesting to see how well it takes off/fails miserably.

Read [Electronista]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 7:15 pm

EU Wants To Redefine "Closed" As "Nearly Open"

Glyn Moody writes "A leaked copy (PDF) of Version 2 of the European Interoperability Framework replaces a requirement in Version 1 for carefully-defined open standards by one for a more general 'openness': 'the willingness of persons, organizations or other members of a community of interest to share knowledge and to stimulate debate within that community of interest.' It also defines an 'openness continuum' that includes 'non-documented, proprietary specifications, proprietary software and the reluctance or resistance to reuse solutions, i.e. the "not invented here" syndrome.' Looks like 'closed' is the new 'open' in the EU."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:41 pm

Darth Droid Meets iPhonie-Wan [Voices]

By Nitrozac and Snaggy

Source: All Things Digital | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:26 pm

Sorenson’s Squeeze 6: A connected media encoding and distribution platform

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine came to me with a problem. The British distribution company handling his music video was shockingly backwards in its formatting, and was asking for a Real Media encode of the video. They didn’t specify bitrate, resolution, where it would be shown, or anything like that. Quicktime was being a bother, and we needed to use my PC to do a few encodes at this or that specification. We ended up running it through in Vegas, and going to grab a coffee while it churned out the frames.

Now, the point is not that you need a PC to encode heinous old formats, but rather that digital distribution is a weird, complex process that could use a bit of simplification. Sorenson’s Squeeze 6 appears to go to some lengths to make this happen. It’s far from the only encoding platform out there, but I think they’re moving the right direction with this version, which not only integrates tightly with your Mac, but also with SMS, Twitter, and other popular services. After all, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be working in the same office, or even the same country, as people who need to be informed every step of the way.

Imagine this: You set Squeeze up to watch a folder where master edited files are placed after they’ve been rendered out by FCP. Squeeze grabs the 1.5GB file, re-encodes it for YouTube, DVD, iPhone, and HQ H.264. When it’s done, it places them in a DropBox folder, emails the parties involved, and sends a text to your phone, telling you it’s finished. I may be against connectivity where I feel it’s not useful to me, but damn, if I was a video professional I’d be all over this thing.

The inputs and outputs look pretty comprehensive (though, it is true, Real is not on the list so it would have been useless the other day) — Sorenson is no newcomer to the encoding game, of course — but it’s the fundamentally collaborative nature of the program that makes it interesting to me. I’m not a media pro so I don’t know what tools are already in place for this kind of thing, but I know that the post-production and distribution phase can be a trying time, and this looks like it could streamline and improve the process greatly. Besides, I can see the crop, aspect ratio, and other frequently-adjusted controls right there in the interface, which says to me “user-friendly.”

If you’re in a collaborative video environment (like, I don’t know, College Humor or something), this might be a revelation. Then again, you’re probably also working in an office next to the person who’d be getting your “encode complete” text. At any rate, I think that service integration like this is a great step for a media company to make. It’s for Mac and Windows, but it looks like Macs have the superior version. Since it’s a pro app, however, it comes with the pro price: $500. My budget restricts me to freeware, but maybe yours doesn’t. There’s more info at Sorenson’s site.

Source: CrunchGear | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

Sorenson’s Squeeze 6: A Connected Media Encoding And Distribution Platform

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine came to me with a problem. The British distribution company handling his music video was shockingly backwards in its formatting, and was asking for a Real Media encode of the video. They didn't specify bitrate, resolution, where it would be shown, or anything like that. Quicktime was being a bother, and we needed to use my PC to do a few encodes at this or that specification. We ended up running it through in Vegas, and going to grab a coffee while it churned out the frames. Now, the point is not that you need a PC to encode heinous old formats, but rather that digital distribution is a weird, complex process that could use a bit of simplification. Sorenson's Squeeze 6 appears to go to some lengths to make this happen. It's far from the only encoding platform out there, but I think they're moving the right direction with this version, which not only integrates tightly with your Mac, but also with SMS, Twitter, and other popular services. After all, there's no guarantee that you're going to be working in the same office, or even the same country, as people who need to be informed every step of the way. (link fixed)
Source: TechCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

Wherein tenuous links are made between BioShock and two new Ayn Rand biographies

Working under the assumption that many of you have played BioShock, I point you in the direction of this week’s issue of The New Yorker, which has a quick review of two Ayn Rand biographies (here and here) that may interest you. It’s pretty funny because while the game’s story, which is unreservedly great, is in part inspired by the Rand novel “Atlas Shrugged,” the New Yorker review doesn’t miss a beat in calling the author, well, a hack.

Keeping in mind that I’ve never read the novel, and have zero plans to (I’m more of a non-fiction guy when it comes to reading), my basic understanding is that it’s all about how man is best served by being an individual, and is only hampered when he has to deal with icky other people, especially icky other people in the government keeping him down. How can man be expected to excel when he has to worry about society getting in his way?

Which brings us to the game. All throughout, you’re told that Rapture is (well, was) a place where man can be great, where he can rise as far as his talents will allow him without having to worry about the big bad government getting in the way.

Then again, you spend the game shooting icicles at large robots, so maybe that whole Utopia business was ill advised. Darn good shooter, though.

Source: CrunchGear | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

Apple Pitching $30-Per-Month iTunes TV Service: Report - ChannelWeb

Mashable (blog)

Apple Pitching $30-Per-Month iTunes TV Service: Report ChannelWeb Apple is pitching TV networks about a new service that delivers TV programs via its iTunes software and store across a wide range of hardware via a $30-per-month subscription service. The networks are both intrigued by ... Apple iTunes TV Pitch: Another Nail in Cable's CoffinPC World Apple's $30-Per-Month TV service would fit tabletComputerworld Apple's iTunes pitch: TV for $30 a monthCNET News Yahoo! Tech -New York Post -TopNews United States all 82 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

Judge OKs Challenge to Human-Gene Patents

A federal judge says the American Civil Liberties Union's claim that two human-gene patents breach the First Amendment was "plausible," and allowed the first-of-its-kind case to move forward.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

C++ Smackdown: Competitive Coding Champ Emerges

A 14-year-old mathlete from Belarus has become the youngest winner in the 20-year history of the International Olympiad in Informatics.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

Found Photoshop Contest: The Future of Pet Accessories

Imagine the future of pet accessories. In the 2004 film Envy, Jack Black invents a handy product called "VaPOOrize." You can probably guess its function. What products, gadgets and toys will improve the lives of pets or pet owners in the future?

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

Found: Game Show From the Future

In the early 21st century, adults square off against precocious fifth-graders. Skip forward to 2030 and the competition gets even fiercer. Are You Smarter Than the Monolith? pits human against humanoid robot against omniscient cuboid.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

Yahoo donates Traffic Server to Apache (InfoWorld)

InfoWorld - Yahoo is debuting on Monday an open source version of its Traffic Server software, which serves as a high-performance application server for cloud computing services.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:21 pm

Lizards, rodent, frog added to endangered list - The Associated Press

Aljazeera.net

Lizards, rodent, frog added to endangered list The Associated Press GENEVA — A rare tree frog found only in central Panama could soon croak its last, as deforestation and infection push the species toward extinction, an environmental group said Tuesday. The Rabb's fringe-limbed tree frog, which only became known to ... Species' extinction threat growsBBC News Over one-third of world species face extinctionPress Trust of India Flying frog and mountain mouse among new species in danger of going extinctTelegraph.co.uk Bloomberg -Aljazeera.net -United Press International all 145 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:13 pm

Intel Chipset Causing IPhone Sync Problem (PC World)

PC World - Some Windows 7 users are complaining on an Apple discussion forum that they can't synch their iPhones to their new PCs.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:10 pm

Toilet-as-computer comic

This old, yellowed, photocopy hangs near the bathroom at my favorite burger joint in San Francisco, Joe's Cable Car. I can just see back in time to the late 1980s or so when it was probably a popular faxed gag in corporate America. For some reason, the whole thing, especially imagining it tacked up in break rooms around the nation, really craps me up.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:03 pm

Sprint offering broadband enabled netbook in some markets

Section: Communications, Broadband Cards, Mobile, Computers, Netbooks

Sprint has announced it will begin offering a mobile broadband equipped Dell Inspiron Mini 10 in select markets across the country.  The netbook is similar to those already offered by Verizon and AT&T and comes with a built in EVDO Rev.A wireless service. It weighs just over 2.5lbs, offers a bright 10 inch screen, 160GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, and in addition to the built in broadband, includes Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11g connectivity.

“Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is a fun way to easily access the speeds of Sprint’s network to catch-up on email, surf the Web and more,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president – Product Development, Sprint. “We are excited to add this great Dell product to our industry-leading portfolio of devices available from Sprint that work on America’s most dependable 3G network. It offers an affordable way to stay in touch and stay connected.”

Sprint is offering the netbook for $199 after a $100 mail in rebate and requires you sign up for their $59.99 a month data plan as well, which comes with a 5GB cap.  Since Dell sells the Mini for $299 on their website it may not be the best deal for your buck.  A data card will give you the freedom to use it with any device you want rather than being locked into a single one, and Sprint’s Mi-Fi portable access point allows up to 5 devices to share the connection.

Still, if you’re in the market for a netbook and mobile broadband anyway and don’t mind being locked to once device, it’s worth checking out.  Sprint’s data service is among the best in the business.  For now, Sprint is only offering the Dell Mini in Baltimore, Phoenix, Indianapolis, the Twin Cities and the Bay Area, but it wouldn’t be unrealistic to see it become available nationwide as the holiday season unfolds.

Read [Business Wire]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 pm

Triple-Boot Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux on your Mac

Can't decide which operating system to run on your new Intel Mac? How about three different ones? Here's a guide to hosting Windows XP, Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS X all on the same computer.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 pm

Gaming Laptop Blows Away Benchmarks, Gags With Garishness

One of the heaviest laptops we've ever tested, the BFG is also one of the fastest — and at nearly $5,000, one of the most expensive.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 pm

Review: 'V' Remake's Hypnotic Alien Leader Demands Submission

Sci-fi vet Morena Baccarin takes Earth by storm as leader of a supposedly benevolent extraterrestrial invasion force. Her commanding performance in the pilot episode of V bodes well for ABC's reboot of the '80s TV series.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:53 pm

$1.9 Billion in Capex? What's Apple Planning? [Digital Daily]

Here’s an interesting data point from Apple’s recent 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: The company has budgeted $1.9 billion in capital expenditures for fiscal 2010. That’s 70 percent more than the $1.1 billion it spent in 2009. What does Apple (AAPL) plan to do with those additional funds?

According to its 10-K, the company “anticipates utilizing approximately $1.9 billion for capital asset purchases during 2010, including approximately $400 million for Retail facilities and approximately $1.5 billion for corporate facilities, infrastructure, and product tooling and manufacturing process equipment.”

That’s a wide range of potential applications–wider, in fact, than it has been in years past, as Caris & Company analyst Robert Cihra notes. “Interestingly…this year’s 10K added wording for purchases of ‘product tooling and manufacturing process equipment’ which could imply Apple reversing course to actually build certain products/components in-house,” Cihra said in a note to clients today. “Beyond that are signals of Apple investing in massive new data center capacity (e.g., North Carolina) that could support anything from iTunes/iPhone Apps through new ‘cloud computing.’”

Sounds plausible. After all, there’s a lot a company like Apple could do with an additional $1.9 billion in capital expenditures. Certainly, an iTunes TV subscription service would require some investment. A tablet/slate device might as well. Whether that’s where this money is headed–if it’s headed anywhere at all–remains to be seen.

Source: All Things Digital | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:49 pm

Mac OS X 10.6.2 Will Block Atom Processors

Archeopteryx writes "According to Wired's 'Gadget Lab' blog, Snow Leopard's next update, OS X 10.6.2, will block the Atom processor and will disable many 'Hackintosh' netbooks. It is indeed true that OS X will run just fine on some netbooks if you install the right drivers and ktexts, but Apple's EULA has always specified that the license was applicable only to Apple hardware. There have always been processor types specified in OS X and that have to be worked around now for those who want to use an Atom or similar non-Apple-adopted processor, so this is likely no more than a hiccup on the road for the OSX86 crowd. But, it raises the question: is it time for Apple to sell a license for non-Apple hardware — priced accordingly of course — for those people who want OS X on platform types Apple has not yet adopted, like the netbook? The only reason OS X is not on my Eee is that I want to comply with the licensing terms. I could just pay for a license to use it."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:49 pm

Patton SmartNode(TM) Claims Seventh Major Award in Five Years - the 2009 INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) Excellence Award

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:44 pm

Broadcom to Present at Upcoming Conferences

IRVINE, Calif., Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:26 pm

5 iPhone Accessories We’re Still Waiting For

Way back in March, Apple announced that the latest and greatest build of the iPhone OS would open up a whole new world to third parties: richly featured accessories, complete with tie-in software. No longer would accessory makers be limited to headphones, cases, and FM transmitters with hardware controls – now they could make glucose meters, guitar amp controllers, and FM transmitters with onscreen controls! The possibilities were endless.

8 months later, what is there to show for it? There’s a $120 car cradle that boosts the GPS accuracy of the iPhone, some fancy running shoes, and.. er.. well, that’s about it. Maybe we’re just expecting too much; maybe the design/review/approval process is even more of a chore for the hardware guys than it is for app store developers. At this rate, though, we’ll be seeing a fourth generation iPhone before we see any more accessories.

Partly for the sake of inspiring would be hardware-makers and partly because we just like to think about this sort of stuff, we’ve come up with a list of 5 (plus) iPhone accessories we’re not-so-patiently waiting for. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

A Detachable Physical Keyboard

After spending two years blasting away at the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, I thought I’d grown past my desire for a physical one. Then I spent a week with the Droid and fell in love again. That’s not to say the Droid’s keyboard is all that great — in fact, it’s kinda crummy — but for those of us that prefer to touch something real, there’s just nothing that compares with mashing down on an actual button.

It’s almost ridiculous that this one hasn’t been made yet – and that even when it is, support will likely be so limited that it’ll suck something fierce. That is, of course, unless Apple lends a hand. If a third party does it alone, app devs will need to manually add support for the keyboard, one-by-one; if Apple provides the character input API as an alternative to their virtual keyboard view, compatibility would be nearly universal.

I don’t care it makes my iPhone so thick it makes it look like I’m smuggling bricks in my pants – I just want to be able to type an e-mail longer than 10 sentences without getting thumb cramps.

Gamepad:

The iPhone platform has already proven itself to be an incredible stage for on-the-go gaming. Graphics? Check. Tons (and tons and tons) of games? Check! Awesome controls? Che .. er, wait, nope.

No one wants Apple to bulk up the iPhone by adding more game-friendly buttons – but for gaming sessions longer than 5-10 minutes, having an alternative, physical gamepad of some sort would be a godsend. There are already at least two projects striving for this – namely, the GameBone Pro and the iControlPad. Unfortunately, both of these have seen a bunch of delays and have gone more or less silent in the past two months.

Bonus Accessory: Console-to-iPhone converters for old-school controllers. Would I look silly as hell plugging an SNES controller into an iPhone? Sure. But I’d gladly do it. Come on, X-Arcade, whip something up.

Universal Remote:

You know what shouldn’t need to exist anymore? The remote control. It’s a wonderful idea – but it’s one that hasn’t really changed all that much since it went wireless in 1939. Apple could destroy the entire high-end remote (think Logitech Harmony) market by simply strapping the iPod Touch with an RF/IR transmitter.

Apple’s not about to do that – but in the mean time, a third party could get the ball rolling. Build a transmitter into a dongle or a case, throw together a user-customizable remote application for sharing control layouts and codes, and bam! You’ve got a remote for every controllable device in the world, in your pocket at all times.

Dog Training Tools:

As the owner of what I’m quite confident is the world’s most stubborn dog, I’m always on the lookout for new training tools. It always blows my mind at how clunky the solutions are.

Along the same lines of the Universal Remote dongle above – why not one for the dog-lovers out there? In fact, it could just be an alternative model of that dongle; let the RF transmitter communicate with whatever training tools might be in place (such as a citronella spray collar, for example), but slap in a high frequency loudspeaker to emulate a dog whistle whenever the collars are back at home.

Credit Card Payments:

Mobile payments haven’t taken off in the US the way they have in other countries, so most of our handsets aren’t equipped for such things. There’s no reason the iPhone couldn’t do it, however.

Here’s how we see it: many credit card companies already have RFID chip readers in place wherever they’ve got a credit-card reader, which allows for that tap-rather-than-slide payment system (that no one really seems to use) to work. Why not make use of that?

American Express or Mastercard could make a case (or a dongle) that has an RFID built in, just like your credit card – but with the benefit of software tie-ins, the RFID could be erased/locked on the fly. Just swiping the case wouldn’t work – but once you’ve hopped into the Pay app and punched in your pin, your case acts as a credit card for 30 seconds.

Those are our ideas, for better or worse. With that, we turn the reigns over to you, dearest reader: what accessories are you hoping come out sooner than later?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:21 pm

ZFS Gets Built-In Deduplication

elREG writes to mention that Sun's ZFS now has built-in deduplication utilizing a master hash function to map duplicate blocks of data to a single block instead of storing multiples. "File-level deduplication has the lowest processing overhead but is the least efficient method. Block-level dedupe requires more processing power, and is said to be good for virtual machine images. Byte-range dedupe uses the most processing power and is ideal for small pieces of data that may be replicated and are not block-aligned, such as e-mail attachments. Sun reckons such deduplication is best done at the application level since an app would know about the data. ZFS provides block-level deduplication, using SHA256 hashing, and it maps naturally to ZFS's 256-bit block checksums. The deduplication is done inline, with ZFS assuming it's running with a multi-threaded operating system and on a server with lots of processing power. A multi-core server, in other words."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:21 pm

Bend Your Browser: Customize Firefox 3.6

The latest Firefox public beta has a few quirks and new features that, in your view, may need improving. Start customizing the browser by following our guide. Add your own tips, too.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pm

New Out-of-the-Box Integration Between pdfDocs and Autonomy iManage 8.5 Enhances Workflow and Efficiency

SYDNEY, Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pm

Kilimanjaro's Snows Gone by 2022? - National Geographic

Times Online

Kilimanjaro's Snows Gone by 2022? National Geographic Ernest Hemingway must be reaching for a bottle of grappa in his grave. The snows of Kilimanjaro—inspirations for a Hemingway story of the same name—could be gone by 2022, a new study confirms. The ice atop Kilimanjaro "continues to diminish right on ... Kilimanjaro's famous icy peaks are thawing fastUSA Today Snow cap disappearing from Mount KilimanjaroThe Associated Press Snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro- an end?The Money Times U.S. News & World Report -Telegraph.co.uk -CNN International all 184 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:08 pm

Microsoft Links Malware Rates To Pirated Windows

CWmike writes "Microsoft said today that computers in countries with high rates of software piracy are more likely to be infected because users are leery of applying security patches. 'There is a direct correlation between piracy and the malware infection rate,' said Jeff Williams, head manager of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center. Highlighting research that showed worms to be the most prevalent computer security problem today, Williams said the link between PC infection rates and piracy is due to the hesitancy of users of pirated software to use Windows Update. China's piracy rate is more than four times that of the US, but the use of Windows Update in China is significantly below that in this country. Same for Brazil and France. But Microsoft's own data doesn't always support William's contention that piracy, and the hesitancy to use Windows Update, leads to more infected PCs. China, for example, boasted a malware infection rate — as defined by the number of computers cleaned for each 1,000 executions of the MSRT — of just 6.7 per thousand, significantly below the global average of 8.7 or the US's rate of 8.2. France's infection rate of 7.9 in the first half of 2009 was also below the worldwide average."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pm

Global Organizations Choose Microsoft Cloud Applications

REDMOND, Wash., Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm

Video: Stop Airing Your 'Dirty Laundry' Online with the New WISK-IT(TM) Application

WILTON, Conn., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- What you did in Vegas last weekend will stay in Vegas, right? Not necessarily. Think no one will ever be able to dig up that yearbook photo from the '80s? Think again.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm

MSFT, GOOG and AAPL: The Stock Market Three-Step [BoomTown]

Of all the tech stocks to watch, perhaps none have been more interesting to follow than those of Microsoft, Google and Apple in recent days.

With so much news emanating from this trio of tech icons, their shares have been gyrating and twisting on each and every piece of information, including:

Microsoft (MSFT) and its many new products, from Windows 7 to the Bing search service.

Google (GOOG), which has never met a launch it did not tout in a blog post, from Google Wave to its Android efforts in the smart-phone market.

Apple (AAPL), of course, which gets a mass of coverage every time the company clears its throat. The noise everyone is listening for now, as you might have guessed, is any shred of news about the new tablet, whose name–a BoomTown educated guess only–is going to be iSlate.

So, here are some things of note about the stocks:

Like Silicon Valley Bobbsey Twins, Apple and Google are neck and neck with regard to their market valuation, each hovering in the $169 billion to $170 billion range. (Microsoft’s stock is still much bigger at $247.6 billion.)

Apple’s shares have been tamped down over the last month, up only 2.4 percent, compared with a 10.2 percent rise for Google and an 11.7 percent rise for Microsoft. That said, Apple fared a lot better than Yahoo (YHOO), which was down 5.9 percent for the month.

But, year-to-date, Apple’s stock performance still reigns supreme, up 121.8 percent, compared with Google (73.6 percent) and Microsoft (43.4 percent).

For the week, though, they are all down–Apple is off 6.5 percent over the last five days, while Google is down 3.6 percent and Microsoft declined slightly less, 2.8 percent.

Here’s a chart of the three stocks below, over the last month (click on it to make the image larger):

Source: All Things Digital | 2 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pm

Europe Launches Flood-Predicting Satellite and Test Probe

MikeChino writes to mention that the European Space Agency has launched a pair of satellites, one that will pinpoint accurately the future location and intensity of floods and droughts, and the other aimed at testing new tech. Launched on a Russian rocket launcher from the Plesestk cosmodrome, the SMOS probe will measure soil moisture, plant growth, and ocean salt levels across the globe. The measurements gathered by the SMOS probe can be used to track ocean circulation patterns and soil moisture — data that can be used to predict quickly drought and flood risk in certain areas, as well as the intricacies of the planet's climate cycle. The other satellite, a smaller demonstration probe dubbed Proba 2, will test 17 new technologies ranging from a new wide-angle view camera to a xenon-fed resistojet thruster.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 3:40 pm

Consumer Reports: Ratings Newcomer Vanns.com Among Top-Rated Electronics E-Tailers

Annual Electronics Issue Finds the Best Retailers Are Online; Six Tips For Saving Money On Electronics This Holiday Season YONKERS, N.Y., Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 3:31 pm

Investing in innovation at Google

Eric said during our third quarter earnings call that "innovation is the technological pre-condition for growth." He was talking about the kind of innovation that's only possible when you can attract and retain the world's finest minds. Some come to Google through acquisition, like the people who created Google Earth (formerly Keyhole), or the folks at Android Inc. — but most innovation coming out of Google is homegrown.

A good example is Google Chrome, which in only a year, has more than 30 million active users. Larry and Sergey recently gave the Chrome team a Founders Award, a multimillion-dollar stock bonus shared by the Googlers who worked across functions and regions to create and launch that product. As its name suggests, this award is presented by our founders to celebrate the kind of large-scale, game-changing achievements that Google stands for. The Chrome team joined a long list of teams — including Gmail, AdSense for Content, Google Maps and parts of our sales and marketing units — who have won this award (and could win again!).

We want to continue to create products that rethink industry standards, challenge the status quo and make people's lives easier — and we know that there are great minds out there with the same goal. Recently, we announced that we're starting to ramp up hiring for positions across the company, continuing our investment in the future as we imagine it. That future is shaped by small teams of creative people who want to make a difference. We're on the hunt for these kind of people — let us know if you think you're one of them.

Posted by Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President, Engineering & Research
Source: The Official Google Blog | 2 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pm

Collexis Announces SEC Filing

COLUMBIA, S.C., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Collexis Holdings, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pm

Web Open Font Format Gets Backing From Mozilla

A new format specification has reached consensus among web and type designers and is being backed by Mozilla. Dubbed Web Open Font Format (WOFF), it is an effort to bring advanced typography to the Web in a much better way. Support for the new spec will be included as a part of Firefox 3.6 which just recently hit beta. "WOFF combines the work Leming and Blokland had done on embedding a variety of useful font metadata with the font resource compression that Kew had developed. The end result is a format that includes optimized compression that reduces the download time needed to load font resources while incorporating information about the font's origin and licensing. The format doesn't include any encryption or DRM, so it should be universally accepted by browser vendors — this should also qualify it for adoption by the W3C."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:58 pm

TechTeam Global to Announce Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results on November 9, 2009

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:56 pm

Windows 7 Market Share On The Rise - InformationWeek

Techtree.com

Windows 7 Market Share On The Rise InformationWeek By Paul mcdougall Though it's been available to consumers for just over a week, the software's share of the operating system market has jumped from 1.89% on Oct. 22nd, the day of its release, to 3.67% as of Tuesday, according to data from Net ... Windows 7 launch could give economy boostBoston Globe Windows 7 Early Adoption Already Outpacing Vista'sNetworkWorld.com Early Projections Suggest Smooth Sailing for Windows 7TechNewsWorld CNET News -PC Magazine -PC World all 231 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:41 pm

Google Voice has 1.419 million users, but only 570,000 are regularly using the service

Section: Communications, Web, Google

I have been a Google Voice user since before it was Google Voice. That was before Google had purchased the service, which was once called Grand Central. Of course, I did not really begin using and taking full advantage of the service until after Google began allowing us to change our phone numbers. That move did cost me ten bucks, but it gave me a pretty sweet number and my love with Google Voice truly began.

That said, while I really love the service, there was once a time when I was constantly bugged by people looking for an invitation. And now that I have a few available I have not been able to give them away.

Based on that, I cannot help but wonder just how many people were using Google Voice, because at least in my little bubble of tech, the shinyness that was once Google Voice seems to have faded.

Now thanks to some documents that were discovered by Business Week I have that answer. According to these documents, Google Voice currently has 1.419 million users, but only 570,000 are regularly using the service. And to clarify, their definition of use was based on people who use it everyday.

All things considered, the number of people that have an account is pretty high, but at the same time the active users seems a bit low. Of course, given the definition of “use it seven days a week” I am not sure I even qualify as an active user. So maybe that is squed just a little. Either way, I still love Google Voice.

Read [Business Week]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:35 pm

The New Must-Have Accessory [Voices]

By Vanessa O’Connell and Elva Ramirez, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal

A self-described iPhone freak, designer Norma Kamali spends each morning reading the day’s headlines on her gadget’s current-events application. To unwind, she plays Scrabble on a game app. When her miniature dachshund Zeke acts up, Ms. Kamali looks up her iPhone’s encyclopedia on canine ailments.

Last month, Ms. Kamali entered the iPhone app business herself, launching a free application to sell looks from her three collections. From their phones, users can purchase 15 new looks from Ms. Kamali’s lines at eBay (EBAY) and Wal-Mart (WMT) as well as her high-end designer line. “In the fashion business, you see the runway collection, and then it’s a few months later that you actually get it, in stores,” Ms. Kamali says. “But we know that everybody is taking pictures during the shows and downloading them on YouTube—and what’s the big secret?” She adds: ” ‘We want it now!’ That’s the kind of attitude we’re at.”

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pm

InferX Corporation Completes Merger with The Irus Group

STERLING, Va., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InferX Corporation (Pink Sheets: NFRX) today announced that it has completed its merger transaction with business intelligence consulting and services firm The Irus Group, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pm

NASA Trying To Reinvent Their Approach

coondoggie writes to tell us that NASA has started down the road to reinvention with the addition of four new committees to the external advisory group that drives the agency's direction. "The four new committees include Commercial Space, Education and Public Outreach, Information Technology Infrastructure, and Technology Innovation. The council's members provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator about agency programs, policies, plans, financial controls and other matters pertinent to NASA's responsibilities. In the realm of commercial space, NASA has been pushed by outside experts to leave low Earth orbit flights to other aerospace firms. The Review of United States Human Space Flight Plan Committee report recently took that a step further in recommending: A new competition with adequate incentives to perform this service should be open to all US aerospace companies. This would let NASA focus on more challenging roles, including human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit based on the continued development of the current or modified NASA Orion spacecraft."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:14 pm

28,275 PSPgos sold on the November 1, 2009 launch date in Japan

FROM GAMERTELL - A story from Famitsu states that Enterbrain is reporting only 28,275 PSPgos were sold on the November 1, 2009 launch day in Japan. In comparison, 141,270 PSP-3000s were sold in the first four days after it launched.
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pm

Facebook Backer Greylock Partners Closes $575 Million Fund - Wall Street Journal

Forbes

Facebook Backer Greylock Partners Closes $575 Million Fund Wall Street Journal Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Greylock Partners said Monday it has closed a $575 million fund, despite the lingering recession and general downturn in venture investing. Greylock, which has backed Internet firms including Facebook ... Greylock raises $575M fund, adds LinkedIn's Hoffman as partnerSan Jose Mercury News Despite Slump, Venture Firm Sets Up $575 Million FundNew York Times Add a personal message:(80 character limit)Boston Globe Digital Media Wire -VC Circle -GigaOm (blog) all 50 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:57 pm

Gamma-Ray Mystery Traced to Star-Birth Frenzy

Astronomers find a new source of gamma-ray bursts, which could help reveal their origin.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:55 pm

Next steps in cyber security awareness

(Cross-posted from the Public Policy blog)

Last week I joined several industry experts to speak at a cyber security panel on Capitol Hill organized by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and sponsored by the Committee on Homeland Security. The conversation focused on things everyday Internet users can do to help protect their computers and stay safe online. Given that we just wrapped up our observation of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, I thought I'd share some of the key recommendations from the panel:

What are the most important things we all need to do to protect our computers and mobile devices?
You should have the same expectations when using the Internet as you would when exploring a city: you don't give your credit card to the person selling watches on the street just because you recognize the brand, you don't let your kids wander around by themselves and you don't give personal information unless you know who's getting it. If an offer is "urgent" or seems too good to be true, take a step back and research the offer. Add a password to your mobile phone, and browse cautiously on open WiFi networks as you would when using a computer.

What are the most common misconceptions about cyber security?
Many dangerous websites are not designed to be dangerous. In fact, most of the sites that serve malware (malicious software) are innocent sites that have been compromised in one way or another. Your computer isn't necessarily safe just because you're avoiding sites that contain adult content or pirated software. Use reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, and keep your computer operating system and applications updated with the latest software versions.

How do I know if my computer or network has been compromised?
First, disconnect it from the Internet. Take note of any slowness, and if you're not sure how to proceed, get someone with technical expertise to check your network logs for high traffic appearing during times when you're not using the computer. When in doubt, contact a computer support expert.

As President Obama recently stated, cyber security is a shared responsibility. At Google, we recognize how important awareness and education are because many online security threats can only be avoided if we work together.

We spent the month of October exploring cyber security and talking about how to use Google products in a more secure manner. If you haven't seen them already, take a look at the posts we've released over the last month:

• Kick-off and YouTube Cyber Security Awareness Channel
• Choosing smart passwords
• How the website malware review process works
• Blogging security tips
• New malware snippets feature for webmasters
• Protecting users and ads from malware
• Best practices for verifying and cleaning up a malware-infected site
• Gmail account security tips
• Online commerce security
• Updating your web browser
• Taking charge of document sharing with Google Docs
• Web browser security and Google Chrome security messages

Be sure to share the tips you find most helpful with others, and remember to stay safe online.

Posted by Eric Davis, Head of Anti-Malvertising
Source: The Official Google Blog | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:43 pm

New Clues To The Mystery Of Falklands Wolf

Ever since the Falklands wolf was described by Darwin himself, the origin of this now-extinct canid found only on the Falkland Islands far off the east coast of Argentina has remained a mystery.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:32 pm

Pirate Bay Closure Sparked P2P Explosion

Barence writes to share that the closure of The Pirate Bay seems to have done nothing to stem the flow of potentially copyrighted materials. In fact, there has been an estimated 300% increase in the number of sites providing access to copyright files, according to McAfee. "In August, Swedish courts ordered that all traffic be blocked from Pirate Bay, but any hope of scotching the piracy of music, software and films over the web vanished as copycat sites sprung up and the content took on a life of its own. 'This was a true "cloud computing" effort,' the company said in its Threats Report for the third quarter. 'The masses stepped up to make this database of torrents available to others.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:22 pm

T Rex's Terrible Teens

NIU scientists: Young tyrannosaurs did serious battle against each otherWe all know adolescents get testy from time to time.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pm

Data Points To Some Improvements In China's Environment

Official efforts to protect China's environment have had some success, although severe problems remain and some are still worseningThe rapid growth of China's forests over the past 20 years makes them the fastest growing forest resources in the world, according to an assessment published in the November issue of BioScience.The study, by Haigen Xu of the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences and nine colleagues, examined an array of indicators of biodiversity in China as part of an effort to assess China's progress toward the goals of the Convention of Biological Diversity.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:18 pm

Motorola CLIQ now available to all

You know what? We’ll be honest. The fact that the T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ is now available to anyone who wants one (rather than only existing T-mo customers, as its been for a week or two now) is only a small part of the reason we wrote this post.

We primarily wrote this because we wanted to be able to use the “298 minutes away from cake” graphic one more time. It’s just too damn intriguing. Are they saying its just short of 5 hours until their birthday, or are they en route to their unfortunately named friend, Cake McCool? It truly is one of life’s great mysteries.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

New app turns your iphone into a public-radio DVR - CNET News

Telegraph.co.uk

New app turns your iphone into a public-radio DVR CNET News iphones may not have FM tuners built in, but they can do a damn fine impression of a radio. In fact, where public radio is concerned, an iphone is even better than the real thing. Apps like NPR News and Public Radio Player 2.0, ... Report: iphone E-Book Popularity Will Challenge Amazon, B&NChannelWeb Chorus Delivers Customized App Recommendations To Your iPhoneTechCrunch (blog) An app that 007 would approve ofCape Cod Times eWeek -TopNews United States -Houston Chronicle all 209 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:57 pm

Lions Had a Taste for Human Flesh

In 1898, two man-eating lions terrorized railway workers, claiming 35 lives.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm

Robotic exoskeleton arms

Panasonic-owned firm Activelink Co. built this robotic exoskeleton called a Dual Arm Power Amplification Robot. The Activelink slogan is delightedly science fiction-esque: "Creating a New Human Machine Age." According to the company, "Using Robotic Technology equipment anybody can become a superman. We are bringing this dream one step closer to reality." They should hire Sigourney Weaver as the Activelink spokesperson. More details and video after the jump.

From The Telegraph:

A team of six engineers, under Go Shirogauchi, has been working on the project since 2003 and aims to have the device, which is made of an aluminium alloy, ready to go into practical use by 2015.


"The prime use for the arm will be in disaster zones, where wheeled vehicles are unable to operate but heavy weights need to be moved," Shirogauchi said.


When completed, the arm will serve as a common platform that will have a wide range of interchangeable parts that can easily be installed. Other potential applications include in warehouses and on construction sites.

"Japanese scientists create 'Alien' bionic arm"

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:42 pm

New Ice Cores Could Be Longest Taken From The Andes

Researchers spent two months this summer high in the Peruvian Andes and brought back two cores, the longest ever drilled from ice fields in the tropics.Ohio State glaciologist Lonnie Thompson said that this latest expedition focused on a yet-to-be-named ice field 5,364 meters (17,598 feet) above sea level in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range.The researchers hiked to a col, or saddle, between two adjacent peaks – Hualcán and Copa – set up camp and used a ground sensing radar to map the ice depths across the glacier .  They then drilled two cores through the thickest part of the ancient ice to bedrock, capturing the entire climate record at this site.One of the cores measured 196 meters (643 feet) while the other totaled 189 meters (620 feet).  Thompson said that the initial visual inspection of the cores showed that they contained a number of insects and plant materials that may have blown up onto the glacier from the Amazon Basin.“I’ve never seen so many of what appear to be plants and insects in any of the ice cores we’ve previously drilled,” he said.  “We should be able to identify them and use carbon-14 to date them.“This will help us determine the age of the ice in the core.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pm

You didn’t listen: Conficker worm now infects 7 million computers - one year later

Section: Computers, Networking, Security, Features

Back in November 2008, security experts became aware of Conficker, a worm that adds as many computers to its botnet as possible. Then in April of 2009 fear spread that April Fools Day, 4/1/09 would be dooms day, but it never came.  Instead, the worm has built a ring of 7 million machines around the world that only wait instructions on what to do next.  The only thing is, those instructions haven’t come.

Although Conficker is probably the computer worm most known about, PCs continue to get infected by it, said Andre DiMino, co-founder of The Shadowserver Foundation. “The trend is definitely increasing and breaking 7 million is pretty much of a landmark event,” he said.

But why no instructions?

Researchers have a couple of theories.  One is who ever built this thing is scared to do anything with it.  The clever code is adept at re-infecting systems even after it was removed.  Companies have spent time and money dealing with this potential threat and if caught the developer could be looking at a lot of time with the boys in blue.

The fear is with a botnet of 7 million and growing, the army could weaponize and have affect on a great many of us.  To be clear, it doesn’t seem this is the case today, but it is always a possibility.  The most common symptom of Conficker is a machine that cannot be logged onto.  The worm will attempt to gain access to other machines on the network by guessing passwords and in doing so will get locked out.

Do you have it?  Get tested

A simple test, called an Eye Chart is found at the Conficker Working Group that was set up to deal and track these issues.  It is a simple load and see if your machine loads images.  If so, you are clean if not, you can find which variant of the the worm you’ve got and how to expel it.

Read: [NetworkWorld]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:16 pm

Woot Buzz for iPhone ensures you don’t miss the next Bag Of Crap

It’s probably a bit less apparent on this side of the fence than it is over at CrunchGear, but we loves us some Woot around these parts. Where else can you buy a “Bag of Crap” that you’d actually be excited to receive?

Thing is, it gets a bit tough to keep up with Woot when you’ve got other, less entertaining tasks to do. Gotta drop the kids off at karate? Meh. Visit Grandma? What if Woot offers up a titanium bread box? You’ve been waiting for a titanium bread box for like 3 months.

Now you can do all that boring stuff and keep an eye out for that bread box.

Paul Katzoff’s new $2 iPhone app Woot Buzz [Note: iTunes Link] does one thing, and one thing only: it watches Woot for you. You punch in your criteria, your phone number, and then identify which sections of Woot you want to monitor. Once it hits a match, Woot Buzz will shoot you an SMS informing you about the deal.

“HOLD ON GRANDMA, GOTTA GO BUY MY BREADBOX!”

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:06 pm

Another Tropical Cyclone May Impact the Philippines

Image 1: NASA's Aqua satellite captured this visible image of 97W, or "Tino" early this morning, November 2 at 12:23 a.m. EDT (1:23 p.m. local time) and showed 97W's clouds are already spreading over the northern Philippines. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen Image 2: NASA's Aqua satellite AIRS instrument caught a new tropical depression that just formed in the Philippine Sea on November 2 at 0523 UTC (1:23 p.m. local time, Manila) and already on the fringe of the Philippines. The infrared imagery is showing some high thunderstorms (purple) indicating some heavy rainfall and strong convection. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pm

What’s to be done about texting and driving?

New Yorkers now have to live with the threat of a $150 fine for texting and driving. (Incidentally, I know a fool-proof way to avoid paying the fine: put your stupid phone away while behind the wheel.) But in the UK? They don’t mess around with their punishments. The New York Times has a story today about a young woman who’s now serving 21 months in prison for her role in car accident that left someone dead. What was her role? That’s right, texting while driving.

You might as well read the full story to understand the nuances of what happened, but the long and short of it is is that a 22-year-old woman, Phillipa Curtis, had been writing text messages to her friends while driving on the A40. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Victoria McBryde was on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck.

And then Curtis slammed into McBryde’s car, killing her instantly.

Twenty-one months. That’s how long Curtis has to spend in prison, with the authorities there taking into account that texting had been largely responsible for the accident. Is that too harsh a sentence? I’d say no, because 21 months in prison doesn’t even compare to the hardship that McBryde’s family now has to endure. But that’s an emotional reaction. What we should be looking at is, what type of punishment is appropriate for situations like this? No one tolerates drinking and driving, and yet somehow texting and driving doesn’t have that same stigma attached to it.

What should probably happen is that once kids hit middle school (sixth grade or so), they should be taught in health class, or wherever, the dangers of texting and driving. I mean, what are the odds that the average kid is gonna stumble upon dust or rush or crank in his everyday life versus one day stepping behind the wheel and texting his friends? What’s more likely to make an impact on his health?

I’m interested in what y’all think: should we introduce harsh prison sentences—remember, New Yorkers only face a $150 fine for texting and driving, and it’s only a secondary law to enforce—, focus on education, or continue on with our heads in the sand as we pretend texting and driving isn’t an issue?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

Chrome and others nibble away IE usage - CNET News

The Tech Herald

Chrome and others nibble away IE usage CNET News Google's Chrome is still the fourth-place browser in terms of usage, but it gained more than others in October when it comes to stealing usage away from the dominant Internet Explorer. Next was Mozilla's Firefox, which rose from ... Firefox, Chrome, Safari Erode Internet Explorer UsageInformationWeek Google's Chrome browser share growth trumps Firefox'sComputerworld Mozilla Makes Firefox 3.6 Beta Available For DownloadChannelWeb Atlantic Online -TG Daily -BetaNews all 114 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 2 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

Mirinae Floods Philippines, Makes Landfall In Vietnam With Strong Thunderstorms

NASA's Aqua saw Mirinae approach VietnamMirinae (Santi) caused 12 hours of flooding rains in the Philippines when it crossed the northern Luzon region over the weekend. On October 31 at 5 a.m. Local (Asia/Manila) Time (October 30 at 2100 UTC) Typhoon Mirinae weakened dramatically after it moved inland over central Luzon, the Philippines. By October 31 at 5 p.m. Local time, Mirinae had already reemerged into the South China Sea as a tropical storm and was headed for Vietnam, but it left behind floods, destruction and death. Mirinae made landfall in Vietnam early this morning, Eastern Time.NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Mirinae as it tracked through the South China Sea yesterday, November 1 and had maximum sustained winds near 57 mph. The storm still maintained good formation, and Aqua's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument still showed some high thunderstorms implying moderate to heavy rainfall, within. The infrared imagery also showed an eye in the storm, where the clouds were lower and warmer. The surrounding clouds had temperatures colder than -63F than those in the "eye."By November 2 at 10 a.m. EDT or 7 p.m. local (Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh) time in Vietnam, Tropical Storm Mirinae had already crossed the South China Seas and made landfall in Vietnam. It made landfall around 1 a.m. EDT this morning, November 2. By 10 a.m. EDT today, it was located 155 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, near 12.7 North and 108.5 East. Mirinae had maximum sustained winds near 52 mph, and was moving west near 14 mph.Mirinae is now dissipating over Vietnam and western Cambodia. The storm's remnants could move into the Gulf of Thailand, but Mirinae isn't expected to regenerate.When Mirinae, or Santi as it was called in the Philippines, tracked over northern Luzon, it dropped copious amounts of rainfall causing serious flooding, power outages and landslides taking at least 10 lives. More than 10,000 people in 54 villages were reported affected.When Mirinae left Luzon and entered the South China Sea late on October 31, its maximum sustained winds were down to 63 mph (55 knots) and it was a tropical storm. Early this morning it made its final landfall in Vietnam.Today brings a day of clean up in Luzon, but an awareness of yet another tropical threat. 320 miles northeast of Manila in the Philippine Sea, another tropical depression has formed and it may track over the northern Philippines in the next several days. ---Image Caption: NASA's Aqua satellite AIRS instrument captured Tropical Storm Mirinae Nov. 1 while it was tracking toward Vietnam for a final landfall. The infrared imagery still showed some high thunderstorms (purple), despite a weakening storm. Look closely to see the eye. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 11:58 am

Iron Controls Patterns Of Nitrogen Fixation In The Atlantic

Nitrogen fixation in the AtlanticScientists including researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and the University of Essex have discovered that interactions between iron supply, transported through the atmosphere from deserts, and large-scale oceanic circulation control the availability of a crucial nutrient, nitrogen, in the Atlantic. Their findings have potentially important implications for understanding global climate, both past and future.Nitrogen is an essential element for life, but in its gaseous form (N2) cannot be used by most organisms. To be useful, nitrogen has to be 'fixed' by combining it with other chemicals to form compounds such as ammonium. 'Diazotrophic' microbes such as the blue-green bacterium Trichodesmium are equipped with the enzymes needed to perform these energy-demanding transformations.Nevertheless, over most of the ocean, a relative shortage of fixed nitrogen limits the growth of phytoplankton – microscopic marine plants – and their uptake of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Fixed nitrogen is ultimately removed by denitrification, whereby it is converted back to N2. The rate at which it is replaced depends on many factors including the availability of other crucial nutrients such as iron and phosphate needed by nitrogen-fixing microbes for growth.Work over the last decade or so has hinted at iron availability being a significant control on oceanic nitrogen fixation, primarily because the enzyme responsible contains a lot of this element. However, other recent research had reinforced the long held view that phosphorus is the more important controlling factor. The new findings reaffirm the view that an adequate supply of iron is crucial, which, although frequently quoted, had previously been supported by little clear evidence."Our new data provides some of the first really conclusive evidence that iron availability is playing a significant roll in controlling the input of fixed nitrogen, at least to the Atlantic Ocean," said lead author Dr Mark Moore of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science based at the National Oceanography Centre.Detailed measurements of nutrients and microbiology were made by an international team aboard the Royal Research Ship RRS Discovery during a 10,000-kilometre cruise along a meridional transect between 37N - 35S in the Atlantic Ocean in 2005.Iron-rich dust blown over the North Atlantic from the Sahara desert allows the growth of diazotrophic Trichodesmium species, which fix large amounts of nitrogen and use up excess phosphate. In contrast, diazotrophs in the South Atlantic appear more severely limited by iron availability.These observations, backed up by a large-scale physical analysis of the Atlantic circulation, also indicated that the North Atlantic is a net source of fixed nitrogen to the world's oceans.In addition to highlighting the importance of iron in controlling global patterns of nitrogen fixation, the potential for interaction with the overturning circulation leads to novel conclusions concerning the global nitrogen cycle.Specifically, it appears that nitrogen fixation in the north Atlantic basin, immediately upstream of the formation region for half the global deep waters, will have a much greater influence on ocean-atmosphere partitioning of carbon dioxide than recently proposed hotspots of nitrogen fixation around the edges of denitrification zones."Any interactions between large-scale overturning circulation and nitrogen fixation may potentially have important consequences for understanding how the nitrogen cycle reacted to past climate change, and also how it might react in the future," says Dr Moore.He acknowledges, however, that there is still a lot of work to be done and that many of the details concerning the supply of nutrients for nitrogen fixation remain to be worked out: "We still need to identify the sources of iron which are presumably required to support nitrogen fixation in other regions, alongside making further improvements to our understanding of how oceanic circulation supplies the required excess phosphorus."But what is clear from the study is that past and future climate changes in both atmospheric dust transport and ocean circulation may impact the fixed nitrogen inventory and consequently have a global-scale influence on the ability of the ocean to sequester carbon dioxide.The work was supported by the European Union Carboocean integrated project, the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the Atlantic Meridional Transect consortium.The researchers are: C. Mark Moore (SOES/NOCS and University of Essex), Matthew Mills (Stanford University), Eric P. Achterberg (SOES/NOCS), Richard Geider (University of Essex), Julie La Roche (Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Kiel), Mike Lucas (University of Cape Town), Elaine L. McDonagh (NOCS), Xi Pan (NOCS), Alex Poulton (NOCS), Micha Rijkenberg (NOCS), David Suggett (University of Essex), Simon Ussher (University of Plymouth), and E. Malcolm S. Woodward (Plymouth Marine Laboratory).Publication: Moore, C. M., et al. Large-scale distribution of Atlantic nitrogen fixation controlled by iron supply. Nature Geoscience (Published online November 1, 2009; http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/Ngeo667). ---Image Caption: This is the experimental set-up on the Royal Research Ship Discovery. Credit: Dr Mark Moore (NOCS)
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 11:40 am

T. Rex Teens Fought, Disfigured Each Other

A battle that happened during the Late Cretaceous reveals just how fierce T. rex was.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 11:35 am

BIG PIC: Ship Built of WTC Steel Sails Home

The USS New York, forged with steel from the towers destroyed on 9/11, sailed to NYC.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 11:35 am

China Seeds Rain Clouds, Causes Early Snowfall

China’s Beijing Weather Modification Office caused an early snowfall Sunday after seeding rain clouds in order to ease droughts in the region.Scientists reported spraying clouds with 186 doses of silver iodide in hopes of causing rainfall for wheat crops suffering from a drought.However,
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 11:15 am

Thank you for reading MobileCrunch, folks.

We don’t get a chance to do this very often, but I wanted to start this lovely Monday morning off with something I’ve wanted to say for a while: Thanks for reading us, everyone.

MobileCrunch launched in September of 2006. Around mid-2008, we changed things up a bit – and we’ve seen monumental growth ever since. MobileCrunch has gone nowhere but up across the board. Pageviews and unique visitor counts have sky-rocketed, our dedicated readership has exploded, and we’re getting the opportunity to break more stories each and every month. October was our best month ever, on every metric we can gauge.

It’s all thanks to you, dear readers. You stop by for your daily dose of mobile news, maybe share a story or two with friends on Twitter – and MobileCrunch flourishes into a better site as a result. For that, we can’t thank you enough. We’ll keep the coverage coming, and we’ll try to squeeze in a few awesome contests this month as a thanks to you guys – but in the mean time, keep tuning in. You guys and gals are amazing.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 11:09 am

Probe to Track Warming's Effects on Water

A new satellite will track Earth's water cycle and how it's changed by global warming.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:45 am

Understanding Plant Reactions To Environment

One might say plants don't have a leg to stand on, but that may actually give them a leg up on the animal kingdom when it comes to environmental adaptability."Plants are rooted in the ground. They can't move away when it gets too hot, too dry or too wet," said Dr.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:36 am

Advertorial: The Next Evolution In Downloads

Section: Gadgets / Other

Experience what it’s like to download at unlimited speeds from a massive collection of over 800 Terabytes of user uploads. You’ll max out your Internet connection downloading a file in minutes that would take hours using other technologies.

Binverse utilizes 256-bit SSL encryption (the same encryption used by banks) to protect your privacy and security.  Easy-to-use downloading software with a powerful built in search engine makes Binverse so easy that even a novice internet user can harness the awesome power of Usenet. Just try it once and you’ll be begging for more.

Limited Time Offer

Try Binverse Now and Download 150 GB FREE!

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am

Cucumber Genome Published

Guide to pumpkin, melon and plant vascular systemThe genome of the cucumber has been sequenced by an international consortium lead by Chinese and U.S. institutions. The annotated genome is published online Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

Apps of the Month: Best iPhone Apps of October 2009

100,000. That’s the number of iPhone apps that have been approved to be sold on Apple’s App Store. So how the hell do you decide which ones to buy? Well, you could surf through the App Store’s featured list, but that means you’re only buying the ones Apple wants you to buy. Or, you could scour through the App Store’s Genius recommendations – which are still not perfect in my opinion. To help you with this problem, we’re going to create a “best of” list of the iPhone apps we enjoyed the most each month.

The first edition is for October 2009. Admittedly, this one doesn’t have as many indie apps as we would like, so we’re going to provide every developer with a way to get on the list. To submit an app for our “Apps of the Month” list, send details of your app (and, preferably, a review code) to gaganATcrunchgearDOTcom, and I’ll check them out. To be fair to you, I promise to download and test every app I get. In the meantime, hit the jump to check out this month’s list:

Fifa 10

iTunes Link: $9.99

This is my iPhone Game of the Month. There just isn’t a better full-fledged sports game (not including racing games) on the App Store. Fifa 10 takes one of the great EA Sports franchises and executes it on the iPhone extremely well. The gameplay is what differentiates this from Gameloft’s Real Soccer 2010 [iTunes link], a popular soccer series on the App Store. I was addicted to Fifa from the moment I picked it up and loved the way the game flows. From spin moves around defenders to lob shots over the goal-keeper’s head, EA does a great job of providing users with an arsenal of moves that helps Fifa 10 maintain longevity. The game is also easy enough to pick up and play, and has a large set of features such as Manager and “Be a Pro” mode that make it worth the $10 price tag.

Downsides include the disappointingly average graphics and somewhat sticky control pad. Furthermore, the game doesn’t have online play – it only has local multi-player. Would’ve been great to go head-to-head with other Fifa players on the internet. Finally, there are some bugs that irritated me. In Manager mode, for example, my lineup changes didn’t save for the entire season so I had to keep changing my starters before every game. Regardless, this game is a definite winner and tops our list of apps of the month.

Tweetie 2

iTunes Link: $2.99

I finally got sick of TweetDeck for the iPhone’s constant crashing and decided to switch to atebits’s Tweetie 2 after reading our MG Siegler’s post earlier this month. No complaints here. It’s got everything you could want from a Twitter client – easy re-tweeting, up-to-date tweets, and follow/un-following isn’t overly complicated. Furthermore, it doesn’t crash or freeze. I don’t tweet as often as others, but I love Twitter’s ability to provide me with up-to-date news and information. Tweetie delivers on that front, too, with a great in-app browser interface that makes it easy to bookmark, retweet or e-mail links. The real-time search is another great feature. Definitely my new iPhone Twitter client of choice.
You can follow me, @gaganbiyani, here. Follow the rest of the Crunch Family here.

2XL ATV Offroad

iTunes Link: $7.99

From the guys who brought you 2XL Supercross, 2XL ATV Offroad offers a great 4×4 ATV racing game for the iPhone. The graphics are superb, with sharp environments and detailed vehicles. Furthermore, the X-games-style blend of in-air tricks and ATV racing is an awesome combination. Not only do you get a racing game, but you also get an addictive and challenging freestyle mode where you can jump, flip, and spin your way to a high score. I couldn’t stop until I got gold in every single level. That said, the price is a bit high at $8, and it still doesn’t have the realism of other racing games on the iPhone.

Sniper vs. Sniper

iTunes Link: $4.99

Com2Us first got on my radar with the best online multiplayer game I’ve played on the iPhone, Homerun Battle 3D [iTunes link]. It was also featured on our David Diaz’s list of Best New iPhone games. Sniper vs. Sniper follows the same concept: it’s a multiplayer sniper game in which you take on opponents in a series of different environments. It isn’t quite as good as Homerun Battle 3D, but it is a very impressive online multiplayer iPhone game. The controls are simple: you tap to shoot and use the accelerometer to aim. The only gripe I have is that the accelerometer can be hard to calibrate, so sometimes I was literally moving tilting the iPhone towards the ceiling in order to hit a target.

iMobile Care

iTunes link: $1.99

Robin Wauters said it best when he introduced this app on TechCrunch: “This is one mobile application I think everyone should have installed. And be recommended by them to all of their friends and relatives to boot.” Basically, iMobile Care is an app that may save your life. I think it’s unlikely, but why wouldn’t you save a slot on your iPhone and spend 2 bucks to provide yourself with a small insurance policy? Essentially, iMobile Care provides you with self-help information for a slew of potential life-threatening (and other emergency and non-emergency) situations. The app from Visionsync Inc provides advice for when a person is in a car accident, having a heart attack, back injuries, choking, drug overdose, and more. I’ll concur with Robin Wauters and say it’s an iPhone must-have.


BNO News

iTunes link: $1.99

I already follow Breaking News Online on Twitter to get notifications about important news items such as major earthquakes, political news and other international and national updates. So when BNO News first launched its iPhone app, I wasn’t that impressed. This update, however, sold me because of one simple addition: push notifications. Honestly, I don’t care for push notifications on most apps. Other than Boxcar’s Twitter/Facebook notifications and IM message notices, I’ve turned push off on all my apps. BNO News might just be the 3rd use for me to utilize push notifications.

Tap Tap Revenge 3

iTunes link: $0.99

Tapulous has made a killing off its Tap Tap Revenge series, and TTR3 comes in with a new look and feel, as well as in-app purchase. This version is just as good as the others, if not better. Tapulous has put together another App Store hit, and it’s currently #6 on the top paid list. Of course, the song list is stellar (it has been getting better and better since the first TTR), with artists like Dashboard Confessional, Fallout Boy and AFI. I also love the new skin and, of course, being able to buy additional songs within the game is great, because it means that TTR 3 is going to continue to roll out new songs.


Rock Band

iTunes Link: $6.99

Who doesn’t love Rock Band? It was a drastic improvement over the already-amazing Guitar Hero, and quickly became one of the best-selling video games of recent times. So when we broke the news that Rock Band was coming to the iPhone, it was basically a given that it would make our best-of-the-month list. And it did. Made by EA, the gameplay isn’t quite as good as Tap Tap Revenge, which is the heavyweight music game on the iPhone. Honestly, though, it didn’t matter if the game mechanic was great or not – as long as it worked. What mattered was that Rock Band for the iPhone came with an awesome playlist, including Foo Fighters, Blink-182 and Smashing Pumpkins. Enough said.
It is lower on the list than Tap Tap Revenge 3 due to price; $7 is a bit much.

That’s our list for this month. Tune in next month for the best of November 2009, and don’t forget to e-mail us with submissions. Oh, and feel free to rave (or rant) about my choices in the comments.

As a bonus, here are some great games from September:
- Madden NFL 2010 by EA Sports and NFL 2010 by Gameloft
- iBlast Moki by Godzilab [iTunes link]
- Dungeon Hunter by Gameloft [iTunes link]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am

Tag Heuer releases luxury Lamborghini mobile phone

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Tag Heuer has teamed up with Automobili Lamborghini to create a new luxury limited edition phone, known as the MERIDIIST Automobili Lamborghini.  In a tribute to the year Lamborghini was launched, only 1963 phones will be available for sale. 

The phone is crafted from titanium and crystals with a top coat of stainless steel.  The keyboard features the bull logo for Lamborghini while the back of the device is engraved with the phone’s limited edition number.  Features include 28 hours of standby time, 7 hours talk time, 2 megapixel camera sensor, music playback, 2GB, USB compatible, 2 LCD screens, web browser and built in modem.

The MERIDIIST Automobili Lamborghini will be available starting this month through select authorized retailers.  You can find a listing of these retailers on the phone’s official website.  Although no official pricing was announced in the press release today, expect to pay upwards of $8000 to own one of these phones.

Read [Tag Heuer Lamborghini]

Image Source: GQ Magazine

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:06 am

Sony VAIO P heading to Verizon for $300 with contract?

This is still a rumor at this point, but Phone Arena is reporting that Verizon may soon be offering Sony’s 8-inch “not-a-netbook” VAIO P for $300 with a two-year data contract.

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

Google Search by voice travels the world, finds Nokia, learns Chinese

(Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog)

Google Search by voice has grown up quickly. Some might say that search by voice has matured from a toddler to a tween. It's certainly been traveling across the English-speaking world and getting better at understanding a range of accents, from the US, U.K., India and Australia. Today it's taking another big step — we're happy to announce that Google search by voice is available for Nokia S60 phones, and now understands Mandarin Chinese.

Nokia S60 phones are popular around the world. If you have an Nseries or Eseries phone such as the N95 or E71, you're using S60. Many of these phones have 12-digit keypads — good for making calls, but not so easy when you need to type a few words. Many of you have asked if we could build our search by voice feature for these phones, and we've been working on this feature for a while.

The new version of Google Mobile App places a shortcut to Google search on your Nokia phone's home screen, allowing you to search using your voice or by typing. You can search for anything — from "movie times", to "fish 'n chips", to "masala dosa." It doesn't matter if you're in London or Bangalore: we'll use your location to give you nearby results. And Google Mobile App shows search results in the application, so you don't have to wait for a web browser to launch to get an answer.

We always use Google products ourselves before we share them with users. We like to think of this process as "eating our own dogfood" and you can see a video of some early testing here.



Up until now voice search has only been available in English, but the new version of Google Mobile App for Nokia S60 devices works for Mandarin speakers, too. We're really proud of the work we've done with Mandarin speech recognition, both because it's the most spoken language in the world, and because of the engineering challenge. To get Mandarin speech recognition to work, we had to learn a lot about this fascinating language — the differences between traditional and simplified Chinese, its tonal characteristics, automatic segmentation of text into words, pinyin representations of Chinese characters, sandhi rules, the different accents and languages in China, unicode representations of Chinese character sets...the list goes on and on.

Mandarin speakers can now search by voice for complex queries like 清华大学附近的水煮鱼 (which translates to "water-boiled fish near Tsinghua University"). Although this only works on the Nokia S60 at the moment, we're working on adding support for Mandarin speech recognition to our products on other mobile platforms, such as Android and iPhone. And bear in mind that this is a first version of our system in Mandarin, and it might not be as polished as our English version. For example, if you have a strong southern Chinese accent, it might not work as well as for people with a Beijing accent. However, our system will improve over time, so please give it a try!


Google Mobile App in Mandarin Chinese

Note that the application is for version 3 of Nokia S60 — more recent phones running version 5 (touch screen) are not yet supported.

To download the new version of Google Mobile App on your Nokia S60 phone, visit m.google.com from your phone's browser.

Posted by Elke Michlmayr, Software Engineer

Source: The Official Google Blog | 2 Nov 2009 | 9:23 am

Domestic Pig DNA Decoded

The decoding of pig DNA could help in the search for a new swine flu vaccine for pigs.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am

Sirius XM SkyDock: The satellite radio that uses your iPhone’s interface

Satellite radio fans! The Sirius XM SkyDock, first revealed a few months ago, is now available at wherever you buy your equipment. It’s a fully functional radio, but one that uses your iPhone (or iPod touch) as the interface. That is to say you’re iPhone isn’t the radio, but rather the interface for the SkyDock itself.

I haven’t used it, of course, but Orbitcast did, and Mr. Orbitcast himself seemed to like it, saying that “If you are one of the millions who own an iPhone or iPod Touch and prefer a clean install, this is the radio for you.”

High praise, yes.

The SkyDock, which retails for $119, works with every model of the iPhone and iPod touch, provided you’re running OS 3.0 or higher.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Civilization Collapsed After Cutting Key Trees

When the Nazca people cleared forests to grow crops, their fields washed away.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am

SpiderPro Camera Holster Is the Belt Peter Parker Would Use

The SpiderPro camera holster system we brought you last week has moved from teaser status into the world of real, ready to buy gadgets. For those who weren’t paying attention, the SpiderPro consists of a belt onto which you mount a clip with a lockable slot. The “SpiderPlate” then screws into the bottom of your camera and then into that are affixed one or two “Spider Pins”. And if you still haven’t worked out the reasoning behind the lame headline of this post, there is truly no hope for you.

The hip-mounting system comes in at $110 for the full one-camera kit, and all parts are available separately to let you customize the setup. We’re very interested to check this out, not least because the hip is one of the most comfortable place to hang heavy gear (sadly, it is also the most dorky).

And now the SpiderFolks have released their creature into the wild, they are already planning more accessories. All of them let you hook the holster up to a variety of other special belts, or just the belt you are wearing now. Our favorite is the rather inevitably-named SpiderWeb.

Product page [SpiderHolster]

See Also:

• Spider Holster, A Belt-Mounted Camera-Hitch

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Nov 2009 | 8:34 am

And now Verizon pushed Bing Mobile onto BlackBerry Storms

Alright, Verizon, you’re doing it wrong. Stop pushing apps onto my BlackBerry Storm. Within the last few months, YouTube, a Verizon-linked verizon of Slacker Radio, VZW Tones, and a V Cast Video app have been pushed to my phone. I thought that’s what App World is for; you know, apps. But now a terrible mobile version of Bing was pushed onto my Storm. Seriously, stop it.

I’m sure somewhere in the fine print of my contract allows Verizon to push whatever the hell they want to my phone. The contract probably says that they can listen to my phone calls and read my text messages. I don’t care about that stuff; let ‘em. I lead a boring life and couldn’t care less if anyone listens in on my calls. But I don’t want any more stupid apps pushed to my phone just because Verizon is probably getting a nice financial kickback.

That’s why BlackBerrys have an app store now. If I wanted Bing Mobile, I could find it in App World and download it myself. That’s what I did with Slacker Radio. What I don’t need is more bloatware on my already slow and buggy BlackBerry Storm. The damn app doesn’t even run well on the Storm. It’s slow, unresponsive and thinks I’m in NYC. (I’m a thousand miles away, actually)

The Storm, and other Verizon BlackBerrys, didn’t come loaded with all the Verizon-branded apps that the carrier is noterious for loading on its handsets. Instead VZW is randomly pushing apps on to phones, which isn’t much better. Once again, Verizon, you’re doing it wrong. Leave our phones alone.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am

World’s first AMOLED screen with slide-out keyboard Android phone released by Sprint

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

The Samsung Moment, the world’s first AMOLED screen with slide-out keyboard phone featuring Android is now available from Sprint at $179 after rebates and another 2-year commitment to the carrier.  The phone definitely has some muscle under the hood but does it make up for having Android 1.5?  Read on to find out.

The Moment features a 800MHz processor that drives the phone faster.  Faster than, say, the Motorola Cliq - Engadget found the boot times to be 41 seconds for the Moment and 1:22 for the Cliq, ouch.  A lot of that has to do with the processor and the lack of a skin on the Moment.  The Cliq features a skin on top of the OS called Blur that will add some time to load in.  In other tasks, the faster processor was noticeable making transitions faster and movement through menus faster

The AMOLED or active matrix organic light emitting diode, is inherently rugged, very thin and lightweight and is intended to have lower power consumption rates.  These all add up to a win in the mobile phone market.  In the smartphone wars, every battery-saving advance is a big plus.

Should you buy the Moment?

Sprint recently began selling two Android phones, the Moment which is launching today and the HTC Hero, launched a couple of weeks ago.  The Hero is a physical keyboardless phone running HTC UI skin over the top to give a very specific user experience.  The Hero runs Android 1.5 and it is not clear if an upgrade to 2.0 will be supported (though, we believe it will).

The Moment runs Android 1.5 and again the same upgrade questions abound.  If you need a qwerty keyboard that will fit big hands, the Moment might just be up your alley.  Be warned though, they keyboard is a little on the awkward side: the “z” key extends past the “a” key instead of the other way around.  A nice feature is a row of dedicated number keys.  Keyboard action is good with positive clicks keeping the action familiar.

With just the Cupcake update to the Android system, users will miss out on the updated Android Market, Google Navigation and the goodness that built into 2.0.  Sprint ought to be upfront with potential buyers on the upgrade possibility for this phone.  The phone is capable of over-the-air updates, so upgrading is a real possibility.

My call: hold off until either Sprint makes it clear on upgrades or you get some time on the new Verizon Droid (a 2.0 device) so you can decide if you need the latest.  Nobody likes walking out of a store with last years software and at $179 and two years commitment, you shouldn’t have to.

Product Page: [Sprint]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 8:09 am

Mechanical computer uses matchboxes and beans to learn Tic-Tac-Toe

James sez, "I just completed a working build of Donald Michie's MENACE (Matchbox Educable Noughts And Crosses Engine), an early (1960) example of machine learning. MENACE uses 304 matchboxes to play Noughts and Crosses (or Tic Tac Toe in the US) - and learns over time to play it better. I built it for a talk at the UK games conference Playful, about Awesomeness and Miracles, particularly focussing on the work of Charles Babbage - and culminating in a surprisingly large version for playing Go..."

MENACE is a machine that plays noughts and crosses, built out of 304 matchboxes. Each matchbox corresponds to one of the 304 board layouts that the opening player might face (there are actually 19,683 possible board layouts, but we only need to calculate the opening player's first four moves, and many are rotationally or reflectively identical). In turn, each matchbox contains a number of glass beads corresponding to each possible next move. When it is MENACE's turn to play, the operator simply selects the matchbox corresponding to the current state of play, shakes it, and opens it to see which move has been chosen. Each matchbox contains a small nook into which one bead falls--and MENACE plays in the square corresponding to that bead.

But what's really clever is that MENACE learns. Every time it wins a game, an additional bead is added to each matchbox played, corresponding to each winning move. Likewise, every time it loses, a bead corresponding to each losing move is removed. As a result, over time, MENACE becomes more likely to play moves that have previously resulted in wins and less likely to play moves that have resulted in losses.

A New THEORY of
AWESOMENESS and MIRACLES
Being NOTES and SLIDES on a talk given at PLAYFUL 09,
concerning CHARLES BABBAGE, HEATH ROBINSON,
MENACE and MAGE

MENACE Flickr set

Previously:

• Using light to "read minds" - Boing Boing
• Boing Boing: A predictive day-timer for Alzheimer's patients
• Boing Boing: Keysniffing by analyzing keyboard sounds
• Device tells you if you're boring - Boing Boing

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am

Snow Leopard Update Blocks Intel Atom, Kills Hackintoshes

Mac OS X Leopard 10.6.2 will break your hackintosh. The forthcoming OS update will not run on the Intel Atom processor, a rather petty move from Apple which, if true, will break many netbooks which have been hacked to run as more than passable Macs.

This news comes from Stellarola, the hacker who helped us out extensively with the original (and still the best) Gadget Lab hackintosh. Here’s what he has to say:

In the current developer build of 10.6.2, Apple appears to have changed around a lot of CPU related information. One of the effects of this is Apple killing off Intel’s Atom chip.

The important word there is “current”. The latest seed could change before being released as an actual update. But Stella knows what he’s talking about (he’s one of the guys behind the OSx86 method for easily installing the Mac OS on non-Apple machines), and recommends keeping your frankenmacs loaded with 10.6.1 for now.

This wouldn’t surprise us, especially as Apple seems to have gotten a taste for locking out unauthorized hardware with the Palm Pre cat and mouse game.

10.6.2 kills Atom and other news [Stellarola via OS X Daily ]

See Also:

• Apple Blocks Palm Pre iTunes Syncing Again
• It Lives! Gadget Lab's Netbook Running OS X Leopard

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Nov 2009 | 7:13 am

BlackBerry admitting it is losing the browsing war?

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

I am loathe to use job posting info on what a company is thinking but it is worth mentioning that RIM is looking for a webkit developer presumably to help out with Blackberry’s browser.  In addition to their recent Torch Mobile purchase it seems clear RIM is owning up to the fact that their browser needs some love.  Somebody wise once said, “knowing is half the battle” though that could have been G.I.Joe. 

From CNET on the BlackBerry Storm 2 browser:

“We thought that the BlackBerry browser was slightly faster and easier to navigate than previous versions, but it still needs a lot of work to catch up to the browsers on the iPhone, the Palm Pre, and the HTC Hero. “

Yesterday, Robert Scoble wrote a post on which mobile phone OS developers though was best.  He asked Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora on download numbers for the top three OS for the wildly popular Pandora app.  The results might not surprise you, but Roberts comments caught me off guard.  While the iPhone claimed top honors, BlackBerry was in the #2 slot and Android was #3.  What caught me off guard were comments about which two OS developers were looking at to develop for:

Westergren told me if he were starting development today he’d build for the above three platforms and is seeing more growth in Android than the others, so he’d bias to iPhone and Android, if he had to make a choice of only two platforms to develop on. This is also what I’m hearing from many other developers.

So if developers are looking elsewhere, the browser isn’t a game winner, is the Storm relegated to just an option for BB owners?  Essentially RIM has spent a lot of money on R&D to simply fracture their customers.

Not a good scenario all the way around.

Read [careerbeacon] via [Engadget ]

 

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:36 am

Smart Switch Design Incorporates Power-Breaker

In the past, I have laughed rather snidely at the paranoia my fellow countrymen exhibit regarding electricity. From grounded plugs on everything, to wall sockets with breaker switches, to public service commercials telling you to unplug everything at night in case you burn down the house, the Brits are an easy target.

But as my bedroom becomes home to more and more blinkenlight-equipped gadgets, the ability to just switch it all off is a tempting one. Yong-jin Kim’s solution is a Europlug-friendly design with the cute twist of looking like the universal power symbol. As you push in the plug, you depress the central line of the symbol. When this switch is all the way in, you can then twist the plug 45-degrees to the right, letting the sweet life-giving electrical juice flow into your gadget’s circuits. And of course, twisting back to the right cuts the power.

It’s a lot more compact and efficient than the UK’s standard socket, with its rectangular switch at the side of each outlet, and deserves to become a real product and not remain the CGI concept it is right now.

Product page [Yanko]

See Also:

• Gallery Of The World's Power Sockets
• Cable Madness: Crazy Connectors We Can Do Without
• Five Dollar Wall Warts Add Individual Power Switches

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:28 am

Review: A bouncy, anti-gravity workout with the new AlterG treadmill

When I finished my first half-marathon last month, I experienced what it felt like to run on the ground for two hours. But what is it like to run in a gravity-reduced vacuum? When AlterG offered me the chance to demo their new "anti-gravity" treadmill, I couldn't resist. I jumped in my car and headed over to the gym at UCSF, down in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco.

A physical therapist named Chris gave me a rubber tube to wear over my running clothes. It looked like a cross between a wetsuit, a tire, and a tutu, and it had a giant zipper going across the top. He told me to step up onto the ramp and then zipped me into the giant rubber veil that covered what otherwise looked like a pretty ordinary treadmill.

The AlterG is no ordinary treadmill, though. It is a super fancy, super-expensive treadmill that isolates the lower body in a vacuum and literally takes off percentages of your body weight using technology developed by NASA. It's meant to help disabled, overweight, and injured people get a solid cardio workout without putting a strain on their limbs, but at this particular gym anybody can sign up to buy time on the machine in 30-minute increments. The AlterG uses air pressure to create the sensation of lost weight — the machine can reduce your body weight by up to 80%, making you feel like you're floating, flying, or bouncing on clouds.

By pushing arrow buttons on the treadmill screen, I was able to change my body weight percentage — air would blow into the vacuum that surrounded my legs, and the tutu-wetsuit became tighter, essentially lifting my body off the ground and making my legs float backwards into a naturally wider gait. It gave me a wedgie, and I could feel my thighs sweating from the tight seal, but none of that mattered. This was so much more fun than normal running! I ran on the AlterG for about fifteen minutes, happily romping through the clouds at a 7.5 min/mile, a near-impossible feat for the ordinary me. I felt like a gazelle.

I didn't realize just how much fun I was having in 20% gravity until my time was up. Chris deflated the air around my legs, unzipped me from the machine, and asked me to step down. As I lugged my now-impossibly heavy legs down from the treadmill ramp, I realized just how heavy I really was. My legs felt like elephants, and my spirits sunk so low that I wondered if I was suffering from a temporary depression.

So why can't all of us work out like this all the time if it's better for our bodies and more fun than real running? Maybe because the thing costs $24,500. And before the new version, the M300, was introduced last Monday, its predecessor cost $75,000. The New York Knicks and J-Lo have been known to work out on the AlterG, but it's unlikely to end up in my fitness room (what fitness room?) anytime soon. Let's not forget, our basic Bowflex costs about a grand, and we can all run for free outdoors.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

Air Pressure Changes Trigger Landslides

Regular changes in air pressure -- minute disturbances -- can trigger landslides.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

Selle Italia Relaunches Cult Classic Turbomatic Saddle

Italian seat-master Selle Italia has reintroduced its cult saddle, the Selle Turbomatic. It has existed in various incarnations but for the past 10 years has been unavailable anywhere except Ebay, where demand has led to some ridiculous prices. For instance, this titanium and leather model is going for $250.

Selle’s take was not to just remake the old-style seat, but to copy the shape and suspension of the original and add some modern touches. Carbon lightens things up, and there is now an option for a seat with a hole to protect your precious baby-maker (this is surrounded by gel for further generational guarantees), and features self-shaping padding to fit it to your individual curves.

The Pro weighs 220 grams, and the Gel Flow 230 grams. This compares the the overpriced vintage titanium model linked above which weighed 290g (and that was one of the lightest). They still won’t be cheap, though, coming in at around $160, a price which makes Brooks saddles look reasonable. Available soon, in black and/or white.

Product page [Selle Italia vie Bike Hugger]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:56 am

People Ignore Critics: Trek Lime Wins Design Award

Trek’s Lime commuter bike, aimed at non-cyclists, has won a People’s Choice award at the 2009 National Design Awards. Proving that the critics and writers either know nothing or are uniformly ignored, this happened despite almost uniform bad reviews.

The comfy bike with fat saddle, laid-back riding position and hub-dynamo powered three speed automatic gears got the accolade from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in Manhattan last week. Here’s what Trek has to say about the machine:

At the center of Lime’s design is the reminder that riding a bike should be as enjoyable today as it was when you were a child. With its comfortable, upright riding position, automatic transmission and pedal brakes, Lime is designed to ride the way we did as kids — spontaneously, socially, and to experience the sheer joy of motion.

We can’t argue with any of that, but we would say that you don’t need a Trek Lime to enjoy spontaneous, enjoyable riding. In fact, I’d recommend buying an old beater that you can lock up around the city without worrying, rather than a heavy and conspicuous new bike. At the same time, we realize that the act of buying new gear is an essential part of beginning a new fitness regime (which explains the piles of unused dumbbells in my apartment), and getting people on bikes is the important thing here.

There is one big irony, too. The People’s Choice award was voted for in the least fit and active way possible: via the internet.

Press release [PPOL News via Core77]

Product page [Trek]

See Also:

• Trek Lime. An automatic bike for non-cyclists
• Automatic-shifting Bikes Coast Towards Simple Fun

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Nov 2009 | 5:06 am

Vision of the Future: Custom Corneas

The same tech used in the Hubble telescope could offer LASIK patients better sight.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

Playable Neckties Made From Old Audio Tape

These Sonic Fabric neckties from Supermarket are plastic fantastic. Woven from boring old cotton mixed 50:50 with awesome old cassette tape (used), they lend the wearer the same delicious contrast as eating hot apple pie and cold ice cream together.

But, whatever, right? Who really cares about a corporate leash, even if it is made from old geekwear? Well, these suckers are playable, if you are willing to rip apart an old Walkman (and you should be, as it is otherwise useless). It’s a pretty easy project: you free the playhead from the player and then rub it over the fabric, creating some rather garbled, underwater-sounding sonic susurrations (the video is embedded below).

The ties cost $90 each, but for that you get the tape portion of the fabric hand recorded before weaving. This particular batch contains the designer’s own music, a soundscape of samples grabbed from the NYC metro system.

Product page [Supermarket]

See Also:

• Cassette Tape Measure: Punniest Retro-Tool Ever?
• Cassette Tape Belt Buckles
• Bye-Bye Cassette Tape: UK Chain Kills Romantic Format
• Lamps Made From Old Cassettes Exude Warm Retro Glow

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:09 am

New York officially bans texting while driving

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, Transportation

New York State has just added a new law that further bans the use of cell phones while driving. Effective immediately, drivers can no longer text while driving and if they are caught doing so they face a fine of up to $150.

While a great law, for me this always goes back to common sense. Personally, I do not mind seeing laws like this but at the same time hate seeing laws that are passed that should just be common sense. Bottom line, it is not safe to text and drive.

Of course, this like many other offenses this is considered a secondary violation. Which technically means that you cannot be pulled over for texting and driving alone. The officer would also need another reason, that said, it seems safe to believe that they could most likely find something. After all, no driver is perfect.

Anyway, the real strange part here is that this texting and driving ban comes a long time after, in fact it comes years after they banned talking while driving. I guess we can just say, better late than never.

Read [Poughkeepsie Journal]  Via [MobileCrunch]

 

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 2 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am

Disclaimer | About

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

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

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

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