ArchAngel Partners Announces the Opening of Sister Company Poway Weapons & Gear

How Augmented Reality Browsers Stack Up For Navigating London

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Authorities Warn Iranians Not To Protest -- By SMS

ArchAngel Partners Announces the Opening of Sister Company Poway Weapons & Gear

New Attack Fells Internet Explorer (PC World)

Stolen e-mails reveal venomous feelings toward skeptics - Washington Post

New York Daily News

Stolen e-mails reveal venomous feelings toward skeptics Washington Post Electronic files that were stolen from a prominent climate research center and made public last week provide a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes battle to shape the public perception of global warming. While few US politicians ... A climate change dust-upLos Angeles Times Hacked Emails Show Climate Science Ridden with RancorWall Street Journal Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debateThe Associated Press TG Daily -New York Times -Wired News all 326 news articles »

South Koreans to get Apple's iPhone this week - The Associated Press

Washington Post

South Koreans to get Apple's iPhone this week The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — Apple Inc's iPhone is coming to South Korea this week, a local carrier announced Sunday, bringing the iconic communications device to one of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone markets. KT Corp. began accepting orders for ... IPhone to go on sale in South KoreaReuters Apple iPhone to hit South Korea markets November 28!TopNews United States KT Says It Will Begin Offering Apple iPhone in KoreaBloomberg Afterdawn.com -Unwired View -Telecoms Korea all 119 news articles »

South Koreans to get Apple's iPhone this week

South Koreans to get Apple's iPhone this week (AP)

AP - Apple Inc's iPhone is coming to South Korea this week, a local carrier announced Sunday, bringing the iconic communications device to one of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone markets.

China harnesses mountain wind power

Underwhelmed By Chrome OS? That's Kinda the Point (PC World)

UAVs Go Green With Fuel-Cell Powered "Ion Tiger"

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The Perfect Interview Test

Hulu Gets Ripped Out Of Rippol

We’ve seen in that past year that Hulu gets testy about their video content being used on other sites or platforms, with Boxee and TV.com both forced to remove Hulu content from their sites and applications. Now startup Rippol is facing the same fate.

Rippol just publicly launched their video discovery sites at yesterday’s Real-Time CrunchUp, which combines both complex algorithms with user suggestions to surface interesting video content.

Less than a few hours after Rippol launched, the startup’s co-founder Aaron Crayford received notice from Hulu that the video embeds on Rippol from Hulu were in violation of the terms of service which state that embeds are for personal, non-commercial use only. While Rippol says that they won’t place ads in the videos or around the videos, Hulu says that the single fact that Rippol plans to make money from the entire content service violates the TOS. Instead, Hulu offered Rippol the ability to us its site map, which is a feed that links back to Hulu for video playback. Don’t embed, says Hulu. Link instead. Here’s the email notice:

We saw that you launched today. We want to notify you that you are using our embeds in violation of our terms of service which state specifically that embeds are for personal, non-commercial use only. As such we will plan to block embedding from your site by 12/4. Typically we disable embedding immediately but given that you just launched, we want to give you some time to transition.

In the place of the embeds, we can offer you is a site map feed that links back to Hulu for video playback and includes several useful pieces of metadata in a feed. It includes video titles, descriptions, thumbnails, video type, duration info, season number, episode number, air date, expiration date, in addition to the video link on Hulu.com.

It is updated every few hours: http://www.hulu.com/video_sitemap.index.xml

When Rippol responded that they will never put ads in or around Hulu content, Hulu responded:

Ad placement would be more relevant to the “non-commercial” part of the TOS vs. the “personal” part. While you may not plan to place ads near our content, Rippol is a commercial business in the sense that you plan to make money from the content service you create. Thus our content on your site is being used for commercial purposes, even if it is indirect (i.e. you attract users with Hulu content but only monetize other content).

Note we are not singling out Rippol as we have transitioned other premium video aggregators to our site map feed.

Rippol looks at your video watching activity on the site, as well as that of your friends and people in your demographic. It also looks at meta data from video content ingested from sites like YouTube and Hulu, and uses machine learning to identify videos it thinks you’ll like. Naturally, some of the TV shows and movies that surface on Rippol are from Hulu.

Boxee encountered a similar issue in February. Boxee’s software package converts computers, Apple TVs and other popular products into media centers, and integrated Hulu content. But this ended abruptly in February when Hulu’s studio content partners demanded that Boxee take down all videos pulled from from Hulu. TV.com suffered a similar fate when Hulu pulled the plug on content earlier this year, although CBS Interactive, which owns TV.com, vehemently argued that they were within their rights to stream Hulu content.

The thing is that Rippol, and perhaps other video sites like Boxee, may be willing to enter into a distribution agreement with Hulu with regard to embedding content. In Hulu’s note to Rippol, the representative stated that “the only way for a company to legitimately embed our videos the way you do is to enter into a structured distribution relationship with us. However, we are currently entering into these very selectively.”

When Hulu axed the Boxee integration, CEO Jason Kilar wrote in a blog post:

Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes. While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence — bumps and all — we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners. Without their content, none of what Hulu does would be possible, including providing you content via Hulu.com and our many distribution partner websites.

Our mission to make media dramatically easier and more user-focused has not changed and will not change. We will not stop until we achieve it and we are sober in our assessment that we have such a long way to go.

The maddening part of writing this blog entry is that we realize that there is no immediate win here for users. Please know that we take very seriously our role of representing users such that we are able to provide more and more content in more and more ways over time. We embrace this activity in ways that respect content owners’ — and even the entire industry’s — challenges to create great content that users love. Yes, it’s a complex matter. A tough mission, and a never-ending one, but one we are passionately committed to.

Even before Hulu launched the site had announced partnerships to embed content with AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo. The site also has a partnership with Comcast’s Fancast . And the site also recently launched the ability to watch some video content its video content on its Facebook page.

It’s clear the Hulu is at the mercy of of studio content owners who are calling the shots on partnerships and who should be allowed to embed Hulu content. Kilar is correct in saying that Hulu’s strategy of limited partnerships is not a win for users. But the other party left out here are the developers and startups, like Rippol and Boxee, which are crating innovative and useful products that provide a creative way to watch their videos and even drive traffic to Hulu.

When Hulu was announced in 2007, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said that Hulu would aim to have “ubiquitous distribution.” The press release issued at the time said that Hulu “will actively seek agreements with a variety of additional distribution partners.” The release also stated that each “distribution partner will feature the site’s content in an embedded player customized with a look and feel consistent with each site, making the offering organic to each destination.”

Clearly, when Hulu was announced, the ambitions were to have many more partnerships to distribute the site’s content. But all signs have pointed to the fact that Hulu and its content partners are simply not open to startups and smaller sites who have new innovations to video consumption. Frankly, it’s disappointing for the developer community as well as consumers.

In the meantime, Rippol’s Crayford says that most of Hulu’s content is available on the content owners sites, which means Rippol will point crawlers to a lot of different domains instead of Hulu, which is tedious (TV.com does this).

When we asked Hulu about the Rippol situation, they responded:

Thanks for the heads up. I’ve been told our folks are in communication with Rippol on how to possibly work together.

The basic policy on our embeds is that we do not allow sites to host the entire Hulu content library without a formal distribution agreement. These agreements are evaluated on a case by case basis with the involvement of content owners. Alternatively, we provide a video site map to allow publishers to link to our videos.

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

Hulu Gets Ripped Out Of Rippol

Google Search Stories–Including Batman!–Or Are They Anti-Bing Commercials in Disguise? [BoomTown]

It’s well known that Google doesn’t do much in the way of marketing around its search service.

While you will catch advertising for the Chrome browser or for Android smartphones on the Web, given Google’s huge 70 percent market share in search, it hardly needs to attract users.

So, then, what is one to make of a series of new videos, which look suspiciously like commercials, that Google (GOOG) launched late last week on its blog and posted on a new channel on YouTube.

Called “Search Stories,” there are a half dozen of short videos, some more adorkable than others, which star the main search box.

One thing they all have in common is that they have the look and feel of a marketing campaign, with a tag line of “Search on.”

They also stress a variety of Google products, such as mapping, video, price comparisons, email and more.

One imagines what pre-Batman Bruce Wayne would look for, complete with ominous music, including search terms such as “coping with loss,” “flexible kevlar” and “gotham city crime statistics.”

Another called “Newbie” has a grandmother searching on “keeping in touch with grandkids” and–in a clever dig at the MySpace and Facebook social networking services–”what is myfacebook,” which gets corrected by Google to “what is facebook.”

Could it be that the $100 million marketing push that Microsoft (MSFT) launched for its Bing search service, which seems to be slowly gaining share, is starting to get on the nerves of those Spocks in Silicon Valley?

Not that Google would admit that, simply saying they were feeling all warm and fuzzy and so they said they decided to make some kids-let’s-put-on-a-show videos.

Wrote Robert Wong of Google Creative Lab in a blog post, in part:

Because while we’re proud of the innovations we’re making in search, we’re proudest of the things people use search to accomplish. In other words, the best search results don’t show up on a webpage–they show up in somebody’s life.

So in that spirit, we made a bunch of videos. There’s one about grandma dipping her toe into technology. One about friends taking a Kerouac inspired road trip. And yes, there’s even one about Bruce Wayne.

Judge for yourself–here they all are:

Parisian Love

Mad to Live

Batman

Newbie

Potholes

High School

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

Digest: After false alarm, astronauts finish spacewalk - Washington Post

New York Daily News

Digest: After false alarm, astronauts finish spacewalk Washington Post NASA astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday completed a spacewalk that had been delayed after a false alarm woke the crews of the station and the visiting space shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis crew members Michael Foreman and Randy ... Baby can wait as expectant dad finishes spacewalkThe Associated Press Baby Can Wait as Expectant Dad Finishes SpacewalkABC News Atlantis' ISS Mission Proceeding SmoothlyeWeek msnbc.com -KEYC -Computerworld all 1,328 news articles »

Reliance offering about $12 bln for Lyondell - sources

Can New Forms of Media Distribution Save Porn?

Porn is all about instant gratification. A business reliant on bringing its customers the goods fast, this industry has always had a history of being on the forefront of new technologies as they emerge for better products and faster distribution. Revolutionizing porn and how its enjoyed with the adoption of the VHS home video, the porn industry grew from a seedy underground sex scene into a $10 billion dollar a year business. Nowadays, the very same industry that once helped mainstream VHS win the battle against Betamax in the 70s and 80s, is facing the problem of staying relevant in today’s “I need it NOW” society. Porn, one of the earliest adopters of e-commerce and Internet broadcasting, is being threatened by the very instant gratification that has made it so profitable. Torrents and free video sites have seriously threatened the porn industry’s business model. Now anyone with a web cam and computer can be a porn star on the Internet. Are people willing to pay for porn anymore? What is the porn industry doing to set themselves apart from all the amateur porn makers out there? Looking towards future tech like mobile streaming, smart phone apps, and instant downloads to VOD systems, porn leaders are changing their business model in an attempt to stay relevant and profitable.

Sony’s Betamax video format was introduced in 1975, to be followed by JVC’s VHS a year later. Arguably a better video format, Betamax never took off much in part thanks to the porn industry’s involvement with the distribution and sale of VHS videotapes. It was said that porn was scarcely available on Betamax, possibly because of Sony’s stance against its production. On the other hand, porn was readily available on VHS because it was a cheaper medium for distribution, ultimately helping VHS win the battle over betamax in late 1980s. Offering consumers affordable movies to rent and movies to own, VHS helped build porn into a $10 billion dollar industry, and it made porn an at-home experience rather than forcing the consumer to visit a strip club, peep show, or adult movie theater. Enter the Internet and e-commerce in 1995, and the low-cost DVD in 2001, porn was becoming cheaper, more available, and easier to duplicate. File sharing became common place and the very technology that had made porn available to the masses both online and for rent threatened to take down the entire industry. Another threat that arose was the celebrity standard: the homemade sex tape. In a world where anyone can make a porno or be a porn star (re: Paris Hilton, Carrie Prejean, Pamela Anderson), how can porn as an industry compete? Porn producers have been forced to adopt higher production value and find new ways to reach their audience aside from the standard pay-per view or DVD model.

One new frontier in their quest for profitability is HD video. Consumers love seeing their favorite porn stars in HD because it makes them feel like they’re a part of the action more than ever before. Porn stars on the other hand? Not so much. Time to bust out the HD makeup. The same porn actresses that made seedy sexy, are being held to a higher Hollywood standard now that they’re in HD. Aside from new makeup, lighting, and post production techniques, porn directors like “Joone” are giving porn stars tips to stay HD ready, “I tell the girls to work out more, cut down on the carbs, hit the treadmill.” In an industry that made bleach blond, super tan, and “realistic” action from every angle the norm, could porn become more like a Hollywood film? Does this mean the end of hardcore as we know it with a movement towards over produced soft core style hardcore scenes in an attempt to set themselves apart from the amateur porn film makers? Aside from that – higher production costs also mean that porn is going to get pricey and no one wants to pay for pricey adult entertainment when you can get a fix for free online.

Aside from pursuing HD and better production value, porn makers are looking for new ways to monetize their product. One way they’re doing this is by jumping on the Video on Demand trend. Video on Demand is not new when it comes to porn, but it is becoming more athe norm when it comes to renting and viewing adult content movies online and on your TV. Creating online adult channels through VOD systems like Vudu, porn makers are breaking into VOD for instant distribution. Although, porn has not been fully integrated into the VOD scene. Companies like Sony aim to bar porn’s entry into VOD markets especially when it comes to Playstation 3. Aside from VOD, porn producers are looking to cash in on smartphones, iPhones, iPod Touch, and game consoles that can stream media or download media. Catering to the mobile phone industry are prepackaged micro SD cards that store porn to be viewed on any smart phone or computer. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have also revolutionized the conversation around porn. Once a dirty secret, Twitter users such as @AdultNewsWire aggregate porn news and spit it out to their list of followers to create an actual conversation around porn and its lovers. There are also the hard-to-find adult video games that always aim to titillate an adult gamer like Bonetown for instance, which featured a cameo by larger than life porn legend Ron Jeremy. Once an industry that had enough power to sway an entire nation towards VHS technology, the porn industry is now struggling to stay in front of new technological trends. Some may argue that technology has grown too big for the porn industry. But is the produced porn industry relevant when there is so much porn available online for free? The majority of us don’t really pay for porn anymore. If I wanna watch porn, I am probably going to go to a free site like RedTube or YouPorn for my fix. But then again I’m not too picky. However, the less technologically savvy or more old school consumer who are more willing to pay for their porn, will play a big part in keeping the porn industry alive. But between the new way and old way of getting your fix, as long as porn production companies stay ahead of the curve (no pun intended) with new distribution and sharing trends that keep these companies relevant in how entertainment is enjoyed, then porn as an industry will be just fine.


Guest columnist Lydia Leavitt writes about sex and, oddly enough, social media. For more information on the latest intimate technology, check out 69adget.com.

Large Hadron Collider progress delights researchers - BBC News

BBC News

Large Hadron Collider progress delights researchers BBC News Researchers working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) say they are delighted with the progress made since the machine restarted on Friday. One official said the collider had done more in a few hours than it did in five days of ... Restored Machine to Explore Mysteries of Big BangABC News Race to recreate Big Bang conditions reignitedReuters Proton Beams Are on Track at ColliderNew York Times CNN -The Associated Press -Bloomberg all 912 news articles »

Brazilian Breaks Secrecy of Brazil's E-Voting Machines With Van Eck Phreaking

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South Korea Hana Fin sees 2009 net above market forecast

Appletell reviews Zagat to Go ‘09 for iPhone, iPod touch

FROM APPLETELL - If I spent a lot of time traveling, I’d probably come to rely upon Zagat to give me an initial feel of the city, especially if I didn’t know any locals to clue me in.
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Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Baby can wait as expectant dad finishes spacewalk

Biophysics and Chemistry Research Honored at Nation's Premier High School Science Competition

Redhead 12-year-old assaulted over Facebook message citing South Park episode?

Fantastic faux-floor illusions

Fantastic faux-floor illusions

Biophysics and Chemistry Research Honored at Nation's Premier High School Science Competition

Ten Things Mobile Phones Will Make Obsolete

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Skype CEO Outlines Platform Ambitions, Hiring Plans

The Glenn Beck Party?

The Glenn Beck Party?

Best Practices For Infrastructure Upgrade?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Lazy Saturday long read: trying to vanish in the digital age

Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Because you’re not going anywhere for a while. Wired has a great article up right now that reminds me of Wired magazine content in their glory days in the early 2000s. The object of the piece is to examine the feasibility of disappearing completely in the digital age. They gave writer Evan Ratcliff a month’s head start to plan his means of vanishing, then set the entire internet on him once he’d executed his plan.

I’m only about halfway through it right now but it’s an easy recommendation if, like me, you’re lolling on the couch, sipping coffee and browsing the net. The conclusion is not too difficult to imagine; I haven’t read it yet, but I’m guessing that some circumstance or minor slip-up caused Ratcliff to reveal his location — an emergency cash withdrawal, a particular item delivered to a PO Box, or something like that. After that it was just a matter of time before those on his trail ferreted him out.

Of course, it’s one thing to track a person used to living and working online, with known habits and telltale tendrils extending all over both the real and virtual region. I suspect that if you took the measures he took (which you can read in the article), the trail would eventually fade; after a year of living on cash, under a fake name, and being paid under the table, it would be nearly impossible to locate someone without some serious inside information.

[photo: Joe Pugliese/Wired]

Astronauts finish another spacewalk, still no baby

Top 10 Gamertell posts for the week of November 15, 2009

FROM GAMERTELL - Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! Black Friday 2009: Meijer sale ad has been leaked“Meijer’s 2009 Black Friday ad is now online and it’s pretty good in terms of game deals. Specifically, there isn’t much,… MORE »

TechCrunch Interviews (The Very Happy) Skype CEO Josh Silverman

Skype CEO Josh Silverman can’t stop smiling in this video interview we recorded in Menlo Park this morning. And no wonder – despite serious legal and spinoff drama, Silverman has managed to close his multi-billion dollar spinoff of Skype from eBay. His legal troubles have evaporated. Skype is growing like a weed. And he’s managed to keep his job running the business. Life is good.

All he has to do now is manage board meetings with two of the more forceful personalities on the planet – new investor Marc Andreessen and cofounder/new investor Niklas Zennstrom.

Well, that and keep this train on the tracks. Skype has exploded to over half a billion users, and is adding 300,000 new ones every day, Silverman says in the interview. 1/3 of usage is video, despite the fact that video calls can only be 1-1. Voice calls are multi-party. And revenue is cruising along at $185 million/quarter with 24.2% margins. Up to 20 million people are using Skype at any one time.

We talk a little about Skype’s business in the interview. But most of the focus in 2010. “You’ll see Skype become a lot more ubiquitous in a lot more places, both mobile devices as well as embedded devices,” he says, adding “expect to see us on a lot more platforms.”

We also spoke about Skype as a developer platform. Extras is now long gone, but Silverman reiterated that soon Skype will push far more powerful developer tools that can turn Skype into a service. That means Skype can run outside of the Skype client. That doesn’t necessarily mean Skype in the browser, they still say Flash isn’t powerful enough to run Skype in browser. But perhaps we’ll see Skype code being build directly into browsers.

We also spoke briefly about Chrome OS. Google’s new operating system doesn’t let users install software, meaning Skype is out. Flash is the only third party plugin Google will say will be included. Things like Silverlight and Skype are in limbo unless and until Google decides to include them. Silverman ends the interview with “If the Google folks are interested in building Skype into Chrome we’d certainly be interested in having that conversation.”

I hope they do have that conversation, soon.

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

Google Calendar Starts Testing “Sneak Preview”

Google Calendar is testing out a new feature that should make scheduling events a tad easier than it used to be by allowing you to see at a glance if the event you’re creating will conflict with the schedules of the people you’re inviting. Dubbed “Sneak Preview”, the feature’s name is perhaps more exciting than its actual function, but it should prove to be quite useful. The feature is apparently in a limited rollout right now, so don’t be surprised if you don’t have access to it.

Once you’ve activated Sneak Preview (assuming you have access to it), whenever you create a new event you’ll see a new viewing mode that displays a calendar alongside your event details. This calendar will show the schedules of each of the people you’ve invited to the event (provided you’re a friend or coworker with access to that information), and the proposed time for your event will appear as a semi-transparent blue box so you can quickly see where you might have conflicts. You can click each guest’s name to show/hide them on the calendar if some are more important than others.

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

Bloosky Acquires Tracking202

Most TechCrunch readers have never heard of Tracking202. But affiliate advertisers love the service, which manages advertising campaigns on Facebook, MySpace and other platforms. In fact, Tracking202 was at the center of the Facebook click-fraud issue that we reported on earlier this year. Tracking202 users saw a certain number of clicks on ads via the Tracking202 interface, and far more on their Facebook admin pages.

The company is self funded and has a number of customers who pay for the premium hosted version of the service. Today they’ve announced they’re selling the business to Bloosky, an affiliate ad network. Here’s the email sent out to users this morning:

From: noreply.newsletter@tracking202.com
Date: Sat, Nov 21, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Subject: Tracking202 Has Been Acquired!
To:

We have some BIG news to announce today. As of a little over a week ago, Tracking202 has been acquired by Bloosky, another company within our space. We wanted to give you details about everything that has been going on that has lead up to this point as we’ve always been 100% transparent with our users and would want to remain so. We felt this acquisition was beneficial for everyone and there are a lot of things we wanted to disclose in this blog post to clarify why this deal makes a lot of sense for all of our users.

Tracking202 was founded a little over 2 years ago and have grown tremendously in the short time span we’ve been around. Many may not realize this but we’re still very much a bootstrapped startup operating out of our house! Literally we have desks in the living room, bedrooms, kitchen, etc… Its not what you would have probably have imagined for the growth we’ve seen and support shown from all of our users around the world. We appreciate everything and all the love you’ve given us. But as you may have realized, we were perhaps growing too fast.

As some of you may have noticed in recent months, its been getting harder and harder to answer support around the clock the way we use to in the early days. The number of users grow larger every day and unfortunately we didn’t have enough resources, staff, or funding to keep on doing support and everything else without infringing on time spent innovating on the technology everyone has grown to love. Above all else, we only have two full time programmers on board, one of them being Wes himself who’s pretty much coded 98% of everything we have today!

Having said that, we were limited on growth in several areas and with the launch of our new network, had a hard time keeping up with the sheer volume of affiliates that were getting on board with our software and network. Lately, its felt like we were in a catch-22 situation, working hard just to maintain things, even when we gave our best efforts its been difficult to continue to grow the company and help the community the way we have wanted to.

Several months back, we had the privledge of meeting with the founders of Bloosky. At the time, we were thinking of strategic ways the two companies could work together to help each other out. Wes and I were also debating about bringing outside funding to continue growing the company. Although we were affiliates early on and for the most part, have self funded Tracking202 with all the campaigns we’ve built in our early days, it got to a point very early on where we no longer had time to run any campaigns and went full steam into Tracking202. With that, the company grew based on what it was able to bring in itself for revenue in terms of software subscriptions, advertising, and of course now network revenues. However its difficult to scale when you have limited resources, time, staff, and funding to continue to grow.

After debating long and hard about bringing on venture capital (VC) to grow the company who probably wouldn’t understand our business, we decided we didn’t like that option. We felt it was in Tracking202’s best interest as well as the interest of our users and the community we created to keep VCs out of this. What started as just a discussion on a simple business partnership ended up becoming talks of a potential buyout. This made a lot of sense to us because Bloosky was already involved in the space and more than just funding, they had extensive knowledge and ideals that complemented Tracking202 VERY WELL. After long talks, the deal made a lot of sense.

Before I dive into why I think this partnership is great, I wanted to give you guys a background on what Bloosky does for those unfamiliar with the name. Many companies in the space know who they are but they don’t have such a strong presence among the affiliate community. The reason for this is because most affiliates don’t deal with Bloosky directly or run Bloosky’s offers. Over the last couple years they have focused on working with other types of publishers, emailers. The other thing they are known for is their advertising relationships and focus on providing advertiser services. They have call centers, creative services and a strong ad sales team. They pull in an average of 60-100 new offers per week!

Tracking202 on the other hand as many of you know, is a publisher focused company with a strong affiliate base and technology that control several traffic sources such as search, social, contextual, media buys, etc… basically other than email. Like two halves of the same coin, the combination of the two companies made perfect sense. So what does this mean to our users?

Wes and I are staying on board to continue our vision of what we believe Tracking202 should have been since day 1. This deal gives us an equity stake in Bloosky and allows us to gain valuable resources necessary to continue doing what we do best. Above all else, Bloosky shares the same passion, values, and vision we have, which is one of the key reasons we were excited to do this. We would never compromise our values or visions for anyone, hence why we didn’t want to go the VC route when we could of. With this deal moving forward, this allows us to put more emphasis on support where it is needed. We now have more resources and funding to accelerate on the growth of the technology side building faster and bringing more tools, and to help the community as a whole to help our affiliates better. We saw several positives in this and Bloosky have been very supportive of everything we’ve done and wants to see our goals achieved. We hope with this, you’re able to get a glimpse of things to come and see why this is so beneficial on so many levels. We hope to make Tracking202 an even greater company in the near future. Thanks for everything to every one of you guys out there! We couldn’t have done it without the support and love you guys have shown us. The ride had been wild and it’ll only get wilder from here on out =]

Kindly,

Steven and Wes

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

Video: Lady Gaga before she became famous

via Mat Honan's Twitter

Thus you shall go to the stars: Michæl Paukner

Sic itur ad astra = Latin for "thus you shall go to the stars". Yet another beautiful work from artist Michæl Paukner. "I used some scans of old astronomy maps from the 17th century," he says. You can buy prints of his work now! I want the Aztec Calendar print so bad. And Luna, too. I want every single one he's selling, but then I'll need to buy some more wall space, too.

Microsoft, Other Rivals Slam Google Chrome OS

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

2010: The Year Android Will Shake Its Money Maker

Editor’s note: More and more mobile app developers are deciding to make apps for Android, even though it still doesn’t have the same reach as the iPhone. In this guest post Kevin Nakao, the VP of Mobile for Whitepages, makes the argument for taking the Android plunge now (as he is preparing to with a new Whitepages Android app launching next week). Follow him on Twitter @knakao

Mobile games publisher Gameloft might have thrown in the towel on Android, but that is a mistake. I certainly understand why they gave up on Android. Since launching in February of this year, our own Whitepages Caller ID app has become a top ten grossing Android application, and yet we’ve seen less than $54,000 in revenue. While our iPhone app download counts are in the millions, our Android app downloads are a mere 17 percent of this volume.

Despite our meager return on investment this year, I believe that the real potential for Android app developers lies in the New Year. Here’s why:

End-To-End Goodness

In addition to being an open platform that facilitates device innovation, Android offers choice and progress when it comes to the marketplace where consumers discover and download applications. While iTunes and The Official App Store are the only places consumers can download apps for their iPhone, Android’s open platform allows merchants like MobiHand and HanDango to set up storefronts, ultimately providing more purchasing options for consumers. Google’s focus on improving its the user experience in its own Android market will also continue to boost revenues for app developers. For example, when the recent 1.6 OS (Cupcake) upgrade provided a much needed facelift for the market, we saw an immediate 18 percent lift in sales for our paid Caller ID application.

Billing Options Get Greener

While Google still has a long way to go in terms of reaching as many consumers as iTunes does, with the power of “what’s hot” and capabilities like in-app purchases, they have begun to enlist an armada of players—including carriers with deep experience in integrated billing—to create better markets for the merchandising and sale of applications. In early November, T-Mobile announced that they will launch their own Android market with integrated carrier billing, giving consumers the ability to charge applications to their phone bill. Also on the Google market roadmap is the ability for publishers to offer subscription purchases.

The low friction of bill-to-phone capabilities for consumers and the recurring revenue benefits of subscription services have the potential to drive significant revenue into the hands of developers. For example, we recently launched a service that allows consumers to text any number to 566587 (LOOKUP) to identify unknown callers and the bill-to-phone conversion rates have been two times what we have seen with the application market conversion rates. Thirty-four percent of our customers selected the unlimited subscription option over a single-use fee.

“Always With Me” Needs to be “Always On”

With the influx of more applications that require persistence—streaming music, Facebook, Skype, IM, & Caller ID—Android’s ability to run more than one application at a time is becoming more important. The “always with you, always on” benefits of mobile will be a key advertising opportunity especially for location-based offerings. Publishers will be able to use Android to generate more revenue by staying in front of users to produce more ad impressions. Advertisers also will be able to reach consumers closer to the point of sale, and take advantage of geo-triggered offers. Higher frequency of usage should also reduce churn for subscription-based services.

T-Mobile Got It Started Right, Verizon Will Unleash the Beast

T-Mobile launched the first Android phone in the U.S., and embraced the open platform. Any other U.S. carrier might have been tempted to meddle, but T-Mobile proved that an open platform would not be riddled with malware and abuse. With Verizon now going big on Android, we will start to see significant uptake. Verizon has 89 million customers with an average Data Revenue Per User of $15.69 to T-Mobile’s 33.5 million customers and $10 in Data Revenue Per User. Sprint has the highest data revenue per user of $19 and 48.3 million customers. In short, Verizon and Sprint will attract many more customers willing to spend more money on Android applications.

Android Needs To Be A Player, Not An iPhone Killer

For the same reason developers support multiple game platforms, browsers, and operating systems, Android just needs to achieve enough consumer scale to justify the investment. As long as Google stays focused on providing freedom in an open and competitive ecosystem, app developers will be rewarded. In just six months, we handily recouped our investment from launching an Android application and expect a significant return next year as Google leverages the reach and power of players like Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Motorola, HTC, Dell, and Samsung to grow its platform.

Think Different

Future app developers should approach Android with more than a simple port of an existing iPhone application. Our initial interest in Android was motivated by innovation and new product features that required integration with core device functionality offered by Android but firewalled on the iPhone. Android’s absence of an approval process facilitates rapid product development and the open platform provides the opportunity to innovate, giving every developer the freedom to compete and earn a place in the consumer’s pocket.

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

First images and video: 3G-equipped BlackBerry Pearl 9100

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Just recently a nice collection of images along with a hands on video of the upcoming BlackBerry Pearl 9100 were made available online. The Pearl 9100 is the successor to the current Pearl 8100, but more importantly it is the first in the Pearl lineup to have 3G support.

Also, in addition to the 3G, the 9100 is also sporting the optical trackpad that we saw on the Curve 8530. Unfortunately we do not yet have a full set of specs to give out, but given the images and video are online I am sure those will not be that far away.

In the meantime check out the video below and then hit the read links below for some more images.

Via [CrackBerry] and [CrackBerry]

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

Witch bottle from the 18th century

(The bottle) contained 12 bent iron nails (one of which pierced a small leather heart), eight brass pins, 10 adult fingernail pairings (sic) (not from a manual worker, but a person "of some social standing"), a quantity of hair and urine with traces of nicotine, indicating it had come from a smoker. There were also traces of sulphur, then known as brimstone, and what is thought to be navel fluff. The brimstone recalled the passage in Revelation where the beast and the false prophet were "cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone".

Hugo Chavez, cannibalism apologist

Facebook’s iPhone App Is Broken. Who Will Fix It?

10 days ago, Facebook developer Joe Hewitt rocked the iPhone development world when he announced that he would stop making iPhone apps because he was fed up with the way Apple is running the App Store. This is significant since Hewitt was pretty much solely responsible for one of the most popular (and best) iPhone apps out there: Facebook’s. And now, just a little over a week later, we may be seeing the downside of Hewitt’s decision.

The Facebook iPhone app is broken [updates below, it appears to be an API problem], and has been for a while now. Every single user profile page contains zero updates or posts. Instead, each loads a stream that reads “USER has no recent posts.” Judging from Twitter searches, tips coming in, and a Facebook thread, this has been the case since at least yesterday, and possibly before that.

To be clear, Facebook’s main News Feed is still being populated with updated items, but if you want to see elements from any individual user, you’re out of luck. And that’s bad when one key feature of the iPhone app is the ability to pin friends’ profiles to your main screen in order to more easily access such information. And it’s really bad when, again, this is one of the most popular apps that there is.

After Hewitt’s decision to stop iPhone development, Facebook’s VP of Communications Elliot Schrage left us a comment reaffirming Facebook’s commitment to Apple and, in particular, their iPhone app. He wrote that Facebook “has a great team of engineers taking over iPhone related development.”

So a full team has replaced Hewitt, but they can’t seem to keep the app from breaking. And I’m not sure they even realize it is broken. But plenty of users do.

Update: In an email, a member of Facebook’s communication team confirmed the issue and says they’ve alerted the engineering team. But I’m still wondering how Facebook’s new iPhone “team” could have either missed this issue or have let it go unresolved for a day or so now?

How many Facebook developers does it take to fix an app? We’ll find out, I guess. The answer should be one: Hewitt. But sadly, that’s not the case anymore.

Update 2: Facebook has responded again that “this is the result of a backend Platform API issue, not the iPhone app. We are pushing a fix shortly.” So it’s a API problem that only affected the iPhone app. That sounds like an iPhone app problem to me — especially considering that Facebook controls both.

Update 3: Joe Hewitt has written to say that, “The FB API has glitches from time to time which break not just the iPhone app, but every app that builds on it, from Blackberry to Seesmic.” So I’ll guess we’ll just chalk up all the iPhone-only complaints to the fact that it’s so popular.

[thanks Andy]

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

First Malicious iPhone Worm In the Wild

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Weekend Update 11.21.09–The House of Cards Edition [Digital Daily]

In tough economic times such as these, even the biggest businesses get the urge to restructure, reorg and reshuffle.

Kara began Monday with some of the hard facts from the pending AOL-TimeWarner (TWX) split. Stock issued for the post-spinoff AOL places the company’s total implied value at around $3 billion. Also on the list of stuff from 1994 that is being jettisoned from tech companies is the original instant messenger, ICQ. Kara reported that AOL seeks to shed the brand in an effort to keep the larger ship afloat. Over at Yahoo (YHOO), Kara opened the lid on CEO Carol Bartz shifting of top execs. In Silicon Valley’s house of cards, everyone watches out for a shuffle.

Over at Digital Daily, John brought some hard numbers to the stresses being felt by AT&T’s (ATT) 3G network thanks to a certain fruit-flavored smartphone. It seems that the iPhone is largely responsible for the 2,000 percent increase in data traffic in the Bay Area compared to a year ago. (Weekend Update doesn’t claim sole responsibility.) Keeping up with layoff news these days is almost a full time job. It’s a good thing Paczkowski is on the case. This week, Sony-Ericsson let roughly 2,000 employees go. The firm plans to shutter whole offices in both the United States and abroad. John finished strong with a whole slew of posts about the forthcoming Google (GOOG) Chrome OS, which was released in a developer’s beta this week. Next year the good kids may be getting their stockings filled of Chrome rather than Apples.

You can never tell what Media Memo will have up its sleeve in a given week, and this on is no exception. Peter came in early with reports that Wired magazine is another publication betting on a certain tablet. Wired may pave the way for other Condé Nast publication e-issues. From the department of “Hey, it looks like it worked for them,” a couple of music giants will release a Hulu-like service for music videos. No word yet on whether or not the Internet killed the video star. Peter closed it out this week with the fizzle that will be Oprah’s broadcast career. The talk show host-tuned deity will end her broadcast career in 2011, but may not be sorely missed by CBS, according to Media Memo. Everyone is pretty torn up about Gail leaving though.

Personal Technology went a little off the reservation this week and covered an intriguing specialty gadget with a very specific target audience. The reading aid for the visually impaired is unusual for many reasons, not the least of which is that its branded Intel (INTC) both on the inside and outside. The reader uses a downward-facing camera to read text and translate it directly to speech. Walt was pleased with the device on the whole, though he encountered some bugs and a somewhat steep learning curve that may be a function of the novel nature of the product. Over at the mailbox, the lead off question this week was about data loss. Once the geek shudders stopped, Walt let the reader know that there are many alternatives to Apple’s (AAPL) Time Capsule drives, and the integrated Time Machine option is one useful alternative. At the Mossberg Solution, Katie won a fight with a Pixi and brought us the blow-by-blow account. The cheap-and-cheerful version of the Palm (PALM) Pre features a stripped-down price. That savings came at too high a performance cost, said Katie. She praised Palms Web OS but came down on the side of spending a little more by getting the Pre.

Stay tuned and check back often. Weekend Update will be back next week as long as we can make it out for the Black Friday sales with all our fingers and toes.

UPDATE 1-Ciena takes Nortel unit auction to 2nd day -sources

UPDATE 1-Ciena takes Nortel unit auction to 2nd day -sources

Google To Shut Down GrandCentral Website

Google Voice was GrandCentral before Google acquired that company back in 2007. Like most Google acquisitions it took a long time to fully rebuild the service on Google’s infrastructure, and even today Google Voice is still in private beta.

But lots of changes are coming. Google Voice should roll out publicly shortly. Users may be able to port their existing phone numbers to Google if they choose. Google’s acquisition of Gizmo5 will give the service a client soft phone plus enhanced VoIP capabilities. And who knows what part Google Voice will play in in the upcoming Google Phone.

So a little housekeeping is in order. And the first item on the checklist is to shut down the GrandCentral website on December 31, 2009. Users were upgraded to Google Voice earlier this year, but old GrandCentral messages are still on the old site. So if you want to keep them, Google suggests you download them soon.

The email:

From: voice-noreply@grandcentral.com
Date: November 20, 2009 11:55:25 PM PST
To:
Subject: The GrandCentral website is shutting down – GrandCentral is now Google Voice.

Dear GrandCentral User:

We’re writing to let you know that we will be closing down the GrandCentral website as of December 31, 2009.

All GrandCentral accounts were upgraded to Google Voice earlier this year, but since that time, you’ve still been able to log-in to your GrandCentral account and listen to old messages there. You will no longer be able to log-in to your GrandCentral account after December 31. Because of this, we strongly suggest downloading any messages or contacts that you want to keep in the next 43 days.

We will send you another reminder before closing down the site, but we suggest you take action now to download any information you want to keep.

- The Google Voice Team

And since we love Google Voice so much, I think it’s ok if we say goodbye to GrandCentral by looking back at the many times over the years that we’ve poked fun at the service. A few of my favorite missteps made by the awesome service from the GrandCentral archives:

GrandCentral A Little Too “Beta” For Some

GrandCentral’s “One Number For Life” Not Really

GrandCentral Homeless Stunt Worked So Well It’s Time For An Encore

GrandCentral Offline: If You Wanna Be A Phone Company, You Can’t Go Dead

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

Source: Gizmodo | 21 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

Ciena takes Nortel unit auction to 2nd day: sources (Reuters)

Reuters - The auction for Nortel Network's optical networking and carrier ethernet business went into a second day on Saturday, after Ciena called for a break in the auction late on Friday, two sources said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Nov 2009 | 12:53 pm

Screening The News

Editor’s note: Today, being a news junkie requires not just the ability to keep up with hundreds of breaking stories a day, but the ability to redistribute those stories to your followers and news sites. To get some insight into the modern news junkie, we asked Mrinal Desai to share with us how he screens the news in the guest post below. Desai is the co-founder of CrossLoop, but some of you may recognize him more from Twitter or Techmeme, where he tips stories every day—580 of those tips have appeared as headlines since the beginning of this year. You can read his last guest post here.

Like many out there, I have been, am and always will be a news addict. For many news junkies, it is the fleeting, current fix of information about a breaking topic that interests them, only to be replaced by the next headline. They jump from headline to headline, forgetting the one they just read as they move on to the next one.

For me personally, news is not only timely information on the current state of affairs but also a way to take a deep dive, to connect analysis and information together and learn through application.  I am looking for insight.  It could be patterns, it could be knowledge about an industry or it could be an opportunity to become introspective and ask questions.

Keeping this in mind, here is a snapshot of my consumption and distribution of news both offline and online.  I’ll divide the way I screen the news by the screens on which it comes to me.

No Screen:

• I don’t start a day without reading The Wall Street Journal in print
• Currently, I get 4 magazines and I go through them on the weekend: The Economist, The Atlantic, Wired and Fortune. Before they stopped, I used to also get Business 2.0 and MIT’s Technology Review.

Screen 1 – MacBook Pro:

Apps: Twitter, Google Reader, Techmeme and a little bit of Facebook

Twitter: I’ve been a user since January 2007.  Its always on for me. I invest a significant amount of time in figuring out who/what to follow based on my interests.  Today this ‘list’ stands at 489. Building this list is a continuous process and it typically consists of people who can teach or inform me of something, news sources and people I respect and with whom I want to build a long term relationship with independent of business. Of this, I have a column/list/group called “Pigeons” (birdie, early days of communication—you get it, right?).  I read each and every tweet of this group. I have about 75 in this group. 15 of my personal favorites, apart from @techcrunch and all those who write for it @techcrunch/team, are:

@bxchen – Technology Reporter, Wired
@148apps – iPhone App Reviews
@msuster – General Partner, GRP Partners
@jennydeluxe – Technology Reporter, The New York Times
@scobleizer – everything social media
@Learmonth – Reporter at Adage
@jasonhiner – Executive Editor at TechRepublic (CBS Interactive)
@leplaporte – Technology Journalist and Broadcaster
@appadvice – Editor, Webware (CBS Interactive)
@taylorbuley – Technology Reporter, Forbes
@sarahintampa – Writer, ReadWriteWeb
@reckless – Nilay Patel, Engadget
@gizmodo – Everything gadgets blog
@dmac1 – Technology reporter, Business Week
@joshk – General Partner, First Round Capital

You can follow them all in one click on the Twitter List I created called “Fifteen”

Screen 2 – iPhone: I have played with a few iPhone news apps, both paid and free.  These include the mobile apps from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times , Byline, Fluent News, News Fuse, BBCReader, NPR News, ReadItLater, ZenNews, and News Pro. I also visit mobile news sites. Being a little glued to Techmeme, I was very excited to see its new mobile version for smartphones—the icon took a spot right away on my home screen:

After experimenting and trying them all out, though, my current favorite native iPhone app is Newsstand (iTunes Link) which stays on my dock. Its a $4.99 app but it does the following extremely well for me:

1. Synchs beautifully with Google Reader and is fast.  It allows me to organize my folders, move them up and down and importantly very easily “Mark all as Read”

Below is a snapshot of my Feeds and a folder creatively named ‘Top News” that I keep a close watch on every day.

2) Newsstand has a lot of social goodness to share through Twitter, Delicious, ReadItLater and Instapaper

What’s Missing:
—bit.ly so that I can track data on the links I share as I do on Tweetie 2 with my API key.
—Sharing on Facebook
—Ability to RT or @respond to my twitter stream that I subscribe to as an RSS feed from within Google Reader.

Before social media, I always shared news via email to specific people. Now I have replaced email with these easy tools:
—Twitthat bookmarklet. One click.
—Twitterbar a Firefox Add-on customized with a prefix. One click.

—Google Reader’s Share is connected to my Twitter account. One click.
—Facebook Share bookmarklet or if I want it all on one place, I recommend Shareaholic.

Screen 3 – TV. I do not get my news here since I watch very little TV.

Screen 4 – eReader
I have a Kindle that I use to read books and have not switched from print to this one yet for news. As you can imagine, I get enough news on my other screens all day and like some time away from it.

Below is a visual of how I personally share news and the tools I use. Everything goes through Twitterfeed as my central hub for news going in and out.  Note that lately I stand undecided between Seesmic and Tweetdeck. (Image courtesy: Zurb, click to enlarge).

I spend a significant amount of money on news—4 print magazines, 2 newspapers with one online and iPhone apps.

The only screen I care about:

• well written analysis
• Unique and timely content/information
• Thought provoking story telling
• “Connection” with the writer—literally or figuratively from a style perspective
• Delivery channel. Find me—the “paperboy route” has changed

How do you screen the news?

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

Source: TechCrunch | 21 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm

Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Microwave Lava

Parents, romantic partners and roommates of America: I am not encouraging your child, partner or person you share living space with to do this. At least, not in your good microwave. They should buy their own for this sort of thing. And for the love of Pete, they should wear protective eye covering.

I am so very serious about the protective eye coverings.

(Thanks, Greg Laden!)

Source: Boing Boing | 21 Nov 2009 | 12:41 pm

Berkeley Engineers Have Some Bad News About Air Cars

cheeks5965 writes "We've argued before over compressed air vehicles, a.k.a. air cars. Air cars are an enchanting idea, providing mobility with zero fuel consumption or environmental impacts. The NYTimes' Green Inc. blog reports that the reality is less rosy. New research from UC Berkeley and ICF International puts a period at the end of the discussion, showing that compressed air is a very poor fuel, storing less than 1% of the energy in gasoline; air cars won't get you far, with a range of just 29 miles in typical city driving; and despite appearing green the vehicles are worse for the environment, with twice the carbon footprint as gasoline vehicles, from producing the electricity used to compress the air. Given these barriers, manufacturer claims should definitely be taken with a grain of salt."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 Nov 2009 | 12:31 pm

Hot gaming news for the week of 11-15-2009

Section:

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

• Black Friday 2009: Meijer sale ad has been leaked
• Black Friday 2009: Walmart’s video game sale items revealed
• Black Friday 2009: Toys R Us video game sales
• Black Friday 2009 video game deals roundup (updated)
• Circuit City announces a pre-Black Friday online sale

Source: Gizmodo | 21 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

Steve Jobs: Born to Tweet? - PC World

CNET News

Steve Jobs: Born to Tweet? PC World The Apple CEO's infrequent e-mail to customers is typically brief and to the point -- well within 140 characters. ed to pen a heartfelt e-mail to Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself. iPodRip, in case you're unaware, is a nifty little Mac app that enables ... DJ from your iphone with touchdjCNET News catpaint iphone app adds cats to any photoMacworld TomTom app updated to support iPod touch, first-gen iPhoneApple Insider Times Online -1UP.com -Twice all 154 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:40 am

Saturday Giveaway: Kodak 5250 All-In-One Printer, Just For You

Good afternoon, readers! What does Santa have in his bag for you today? Interestingly enough, he was unable to bring his bag because this printer is far too big for it. We present, for your inspection, the Kodak 5250 all-in-one: a scanning, printing, faxing, photofinishing machine that can best the big boys in the printer race. Best of all, the 5250 has built-in WiFi so you can stick the printer on your network and print from any computer in the house. Take a look at Kodak's 5250 product page and then click through to figure out how to win.

Source: TechCrunch | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:31 am

Union Square Best Buy: Your Exclusive Keytar Dealer

So is everyone totally freakin’ stoked about the new Best Buy in New York City?! Yeah, I didn’t think so. But if you need a late night electronics fix and you’re around Union Square, the brand-new flagship store is open 24-hours a day. First one in the world, actually.

Did anyone else miss out on the fact that Best Buy sells musical instruments now? I had no idea, but apparently over 80 stores across the country now carry your standard rhythm section fare of drums, guitars, and basses, along with a full DJ gear section and live sound equipment. They seem to be working towards crafting the store into a venue as well. Past performers  at the Union Square position include 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, will.i.am, and Rihanna. But playing a show in a Best Buy? Is that’s what cool these days? Cool enough for pop music I guess. You can follow the store on Facebook for updates on whose playing.

But the best part about all this (yes there is a best part) is that this store has an exclusive deal with Roland to carry the Roland Ax-Synth. That’s right. Keytars are back in business baby!

Source: CrunchGear | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:30 am

Saturday giveaway: Kodak 5250 all-in-one printer, just for you

Good afternoon, readers! What does Santa have in his bag for you today? Interestingly enough, he was unable to bring his bag because this printer is far too big for it. We present, for your inspection, the Kodak 5250 all-in-one: a scanning, printing, faxing, photofinishing machine that can best the big boys in the printer race.

Best of all, the 5250 has built-in WiFi so you can stick the printer on your network and print from any computer in the house. Take a look at Kodak’s 5250 product page and then click through to figure out how to win.

Wireless printing in seconds—it’s simple!

With the KODAK ESP 5250 All-in-One Printer you can print vivid color documents and lab-quality photos at home for much less than what you’re paying now thanks to our low-cost, high-quality pigment ink cartridges. And with the convenience of Wi-Fi built-in, we’ve made printing as easy as it is affordable. Say goodbye to overpriced ink for good. Print, copy, scan, and save every day with Kodak.

To enter to win this delightful printer, simply comment below about what you intend to print with your new printer. Describe it in detail, because we don’t want this printer to fall into the hands of one of those people who buy a printer and then simply admire it. This is a workhorse and deserves to end up in a deserving home.

Good luck!

Source: CrunchGear | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:30 am

Has Sci-Fi Run Out of Steam?

Barence writes "Science fiction has long inspired real-world technology, but are the authors of sci-fi stories finally running out of steam? PC Pro has traced the history of sci-fi's influence on real-world technology, from Jules Verne to Snow Crash, but suggests that writers have run out of ideas when it comes to inspiring tomorrow's products. 'Since Snow Crash, no novel has had quite the same impact on the computing world, and you might argue that sci-fi and hi-tech are drifting further apart,' PC Pro claims. Author Charles Stross tells the magazine that he began writing a sci-fi novel in 2005 and 'made some predictions, thinking that in ten years they'd either be laughable or they'd have come true. The weird bit? Most of them came true already, by 2009.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:20 am

After Space Shuttle, Who’ll Have a Ticket to Ride?

The simmering debate over the future direction of our nation's human space flight program hit even more air turbulence over the past couple weeks. On the cusp of the Augustine Report on NASA's future space flight plans (that was delivered ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:10 am

Review: Nyko Wand Action Pak

Although only a few Wii games support the light gun concept, if you’re a heavy player you may want to look into getting the $39.99 Wand Action Pack if you’re planning on adding a controller to your line-up.

This kit includes Nyko’s Wand Wiimote – essentially an exact clone of Nintendo’s product – along with a sleeve and gun attachment for light gun games.

Nyko seems to have been forced to create a controller that is functionally identical to the Wiimote but cosmetically different. Purists will be off-put by the bright red and square A button and the odd placement of the home button over the plus and minus keys. The cross keypad is also a bit odd with strange corners sticking out between the three directional keys. However, considering the WiiMote costs $39.99 on a bad day and $35 on a good one, you’re getting a bit more for your money with this pack.

Bottom Line
I’ve had little trouble with Nyko devices and their chargers are first rate. The purists among you – you know who you are – will balk at the styling but the bargain hunters among you will realize it’s a pretty good deal, especially if you play gun games.

Product Page

Source: Gizmodo | 21 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

NIMF To Close Its Doors

eldavojohn writes "One of the driving forces behind the ESRB toughening its ratings is closing its doors on December 31st, 2009. The National Institute on Media and the Family was funded by Fairview Health Services, and simply could no longer justify the yearly $750,000 price tag given today's economic climate. NIMF's reign of nagging has been pretty consistent since 1996, and was often indirectly featured on Slashdot. Don't worry, president and founder Dr. David Walsh promises to keep writing and giving speeches ... and imploring us all to think of the children."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 21 Nov 2009 | 10:18 am

BlackBerry Curve 8530 now available with Verizon Wireless

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

As we expected, and right on schedule, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 is now available with Verizon Wireless. Those interested will can expect to pay $99.99, but that price does come with a two-year agreement and after a $100 online discount. That said, we do have to compliment Verizon for making that 100 bucks as an instant discount as opposed to by mail.

And for those that make the purchase, you will receive a 2.5-inch display, Wi-Fi, GPS, 2-megapixel camera, optical trackpad, Stereo Bluetooth and a 3.5mm headphone jack all in a package that is running OS 5.0 and sporting 256MB of internal flash memory. Additionally, the Curve 8530 also has a microSD card slot for additional storage.

Product [Verizon Wireless]

Source: Gizmodo | 21 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

Heroes and sociopaths: behavioral twins?

Behaviorally speaking, heroes and serial do-gooders have a lot in common with sociopaths, according to this paper on psychology and neuroethics: "their personality traits are very similar, with only a few features to distinguish them."


Source: Boing Boing | 21 Nov 2009 | 9:41 am

BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 11-15-2009

Section:

We may not cover Apple 24x7… but we know someone who does!  Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…

• Apple patents Ad technology that freezes device
• Appletell reviews FourSquare for iPhone, iPod touch
• Apple’s Black Friday to be surprisingly bright?
• Appletell reviews Shortcovers eBook reader for iPhone, iPod Touch
• Appletell reviews Konnet’s iCrado iDevice cradle

Source: Gizmodo | 21 Nov 2009 | 9:30 am

Spray Paint The Walls: The Story of Black Flag

[Click for larger image.] I was lucky enough to see Black Flag play live a number of times in the '80s, around the time Glen E. Friedman shot the photo that graces this book's cover. I was an underage teen sneaking into grownup punk clubs, high on moshpit fumes (and, truth be told, lots else). The band, and that subculture that surrounded them, changed my life.

Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag explores the history of one of the most important bands, if not the most important, in American punk history.

Snip from observations by writer Joe Carducci, who was long associated with SST Records (some links added):

"[The book is] very well reported and assembled by Brit music writer Stevie Chick, author of the better of the recent Sonic Youth books. Neither Greg Ginn nor Henry Rollins sat for interviews but their voices are included from earlier interviews, and more importantly Chuck Dukowski spoke to Chick - a first I believe. The story, laid out from the band's earliest practices in 1976 to its end ten years later, makes a far more dramatic book than the usual shelf-fillers with their stretch to make the empty stories of various chart-toppers sound exciting and crucial and against the odds. "

Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag (Amazon, book comes out later this month)

Here's a related post on photographer Glen E. Friedman's blog.

You may also be interested in some of Carducci's own writings on the subject of music and fandom.

After the jump: Glen E. Friedman shares an exclusive sneak peek at the back cover, with an '80s photo of Greg Ginn.

Source: Boing Boing | 21 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am

TechCrunch Readers: God is Your Co-Pilot, and Stuff that Piggy Bank

When pitching to VC’s, entrepreneurs hype the heck out of their ideas, years of experience and management teams. But I’ve never heard of anyone touting their luck or connection to God. After reading the posts on TechCrunch, one could easily get the impression that God doesn’t play much of role in Silicon Valley. But ask any successful entrepreneur in private what made them successful, and you might just hear a different story. In a research project my team just completed, the majority of 549 company founders told us that their most important success factor, after “experience” and “management team”, was “good fortune”.  Many respondents wrote in comments stressing the extreme importance of faith and God.

You didn’t think that successful entrepreneurs were this pious did you? Neither did I. After all, what did God have to do with Google aside from Jeff Jarvis stealing his book title from fans of Jesus and their much copied meme? Did God build the Internet? Did he build the microchip?  I’ve never been religious myself and have always believed that with hard work and determination, you can surmount just about any obstacles. But I also learned the hard way that you can do everything right and fail. Sometimes you do just about everything wrong and make it big. My belief: success is 51% luck and 49% execution. You need to execute with precision, but a little luck goes a long way. It is always good to have God on your side. So it was interesting and illuminating (pun intended) to see what other entrepreneurs thought about this.

To collect and collate precisely that type data, I and several colleagues (with the support of the Kauffman Foundation) researched the backgrounds, motivation and success factors of company founders in several high growth industries including aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, health care, and services. Our earlier paper titled Anatomy of an Entrepreneur revealed that these founders typically came from middle-class backgrounds, have parents who are less educated than they are, and tend to be married with children when they launch their first company. Most had always wanted to start their own companies. They were driven by a desire to build wealth, commercialize business idea they had and to stop working for others.

For a new paper, titled Making of a Successful Entrepreneur, we analyzed the factors which made these company founders successful. Nearly all (96%) said that prior work experience was an important factor in their success and 58% ranked this as extremely important. The vast majority (88%) said that previous success and failures were important. But lessons from failures were judged as extremely important by more respondents than lessons from success. That’s right, those that had experienced failure valued it more highly than their successes.

Management teams were ranked as important by 82%. The next highest ranked factor was good fortune, with 73% ranking this as important, and 22% ranking this as extremely important. When asked what other factors played a role in their success, many who responded stressed the extreme importance of faith and God. It wasn’t just those with names from one religion who said this. Rather, it seems that Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims alike share the same beliefs. Yes, these people were on a Mission from God – or, at the very least, they strongly felt that their faith fed the entrepreneurial drive and the intangibles required to succeed in the brutal endeavor of making something from nothing, of birthing a company.

Another surprising bit of wisdom we got from these entrepreneurs was this. The Lord may be their co-pilot but their most trusted banker was the same guy they saw in the mirror every morning. Anyone who follows TechCrunch probably assumes that the vast majority of successful technology startups receive some sort of outside capital and that, in fact, the outside capital plays a key role in allowing these startups to get off the ground. But our sample of entrepreneurs told us that personal savings was the primary source of funding.

And this was not by a small margin. Roughly 70% of our respondents used personal savings to fund their first businesses. Even the serial entrepreneurs who probably could have tapped venture capital preferred to keep control of their own funding sources by bootstrapping. In second, third or fourth startups, over half of all entrepreneurs relied on personal savings to underwrite their launch.

My academic colleagues don’t like to hear this, but company founders didn’t rank university education as highly as other factors. Yes, 70 percent said their university education was important and Ivy-League graduates valued this more, with 86 percent indicating this was important. But only 20 percent of all entrepreneurs and 18 percent of Ivy-League graduates ranked university education as extremely important, however.  And the alum networks which are supposed to be really valuable for business contacts, weren’t ranked that highly. Only 19% of the entrepreneurs believed that university or alumni networks were important for their business. Even the Ivy grads didn’t think that their legendary networks were so important: only 29% ranked their legendary networks ranked these as important, and of these only 10.5% said these were extremely or very important.

Hardly any of the company founders ranked state or local government assistance as important. But those from the Midwest and Southwest put a slightly higher premium on this assistance than others, with 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively, ranking it as important. Entrepreneurs from New England put the lowest premium on it, with only 1 percent ranking it as important, followed by the West and South, both with 4 percent.  That seems logical, since high-growth startup mechanisms are most developed and the communities to support them most mature in the West and Northeast.

All told, even a skeptic like me was extremely surprised at how much these entrepreneurs valued things that no amount of money could buy – thriftiness (personal savings), faith (belief in the supreme being and oneself), and self-selected networks (friends and weak social ties). The moral of all this, I guess, is luck may be critical but self is essential to the successful startup.

Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. Follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 21 Nov 2009 | 8:45 am

Another (Loud, Fuzzy) Peek at Wired's Tablet Edition [MediaMemo]

What will Conde Nast magazines look like once they show up on tablet computers  made by Apple (AAPL) , Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and others?

Conde has a demo video it has been showing to advertisers, employees, and plenty of other people, including me. It gives you a pretty good overview of what the publisher and Adobe (ADBE), who is building the software to produce and view the magazines, have in mind. But it’s turned down my request to show the clip to my readers.

That doesn’t mean you can’t see it, though. If you’re in New York City, you can troop down to the promotional “store” that Wired magazine sponsors each year, located this time in the Meatpacking District (keep an eye peeled for the Betaworks guys). The publisher is showing off at least part of the clip there, and you can see some of it in this YouTube clip below (thanks to Brian Chen for spotting):

Obviously, it’s a much better experience if you can watch the video directly, instead of through someone else’s video camera. Also, I think you’d prefer to see outside of the store, where you’re not subjected to slit-your-wrists techno music. So perhaps this will prompt the Conde folks to put the entire clip out in public.

In the meantime, here’s a gallery of Saturday Night Live cast members and other sort-of-famous people checking out the store.

Source: All Things Digital | 21 Nov 2009 | 8:16 am

Amazon lowers Nokia N900 price down to $480

Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers, Wireless

Though it is still not yet ready to ship, potential customers can at least take some pleasure in knowing that Amazon has lowered the price of the Nokia N900 down to $479.99. Granted I would still say this is a little on the pricey side, but its hard to argue that $480 sounds much better than the regular retail price of $649. Sadly though, this lower price does come with a little catch in the form of a mail-in-rebate.

Basically the final price is $479.99 but in order to see that you will have to pay $529.99 and then fill out and send in to get your rebate back, which happens to be $50.

Still, all things considered this is not all that bad looking of a device, especially if paired with a T-Mobile SIM for connectivity.

Product [Amazon] Via [Engadget]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am

The Macalope Weekly: Stupidium is an infinite resource (Macworld.com)

Macworld.com - It was a banner week for stupid opinion pieces about Apple. Indeed, the Macalope had a hard time narrowing the field. He did eventually pick two lucky winners, but he’d like to assure all the silly pundits who auditioned that they did horrible, horrible work and even though they didn’t get selected, they should still feel terrible about themselves. Before we wade into the muck, though, who wants to dance…with Microsoft?!
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

Android App Illuminates Power Consumption

A new application for the Android smartphone shows users and software developers how much power their applications are consuming.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Nov 2009 | 7:59 am

New Method To Measure Snow Benefits Farmers

A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected to benefit meteorologists, water resource managers, climate modelers and farmers.The researchers have developed a technique that uses interference patterns created when GPS signals that reflect off of the ground -- called "multipath" signals -- are combined with signals that arrive at the antenna directly from the satellite, said CU-Boulder aerospace engineering sciences Professor Kristine Larson, who is leading the study.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am

Expedition Investigates Climate Change, Alternative Fuels In Arctic

Image 1: NRL's Marine Biogeochemistry section organized and led an international research expedition aboard the USCG Polar Sea in the Beaufort Sea during Sept. 15-26, 2009. Credit: US Coast GuardImage 2: NRL Chief Scientist, Richard Coffin (Marine Biogeochemistry) and Co-Chief Scientists Warren Wood (NRL Geology and Geophysics) with Jens Greinert (The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) and Kelly Rose (Department of Energy-National Energy Technology Laboratory), led a team of 32 university and government scientists from the United States, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Other NRL scientists included Leila Hamdan and Joseph Smith, Allen Reed, Rebecca Plummer and Curt Millholland (Science Applications International Corp.). Credit: US Naval Research LaboratoryImage 3: Having the potential to provide a clean and abundant fuel alternative, deposits of methane hydrates -- frozen mixtures of hydrocarbon gas (mostly methane) and water -- occur over large areas of the ocean floor. Credit: US Geological Society
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am

Evolution Of Evolution: An NSF Webcast

Honoring 150 years of "On the Origin of Species;" Noor is recipient of Darwin-Wallace MedalPlease join the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Monday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m. ET for a live webcast featuring Darwin-Wallace Medal recipient Mohamed Noor of Duke University, who will answer media questions about current evidence for evolution and modern evolution theory. Among the topics:* Does modern genetic evidence favor the existence of a missing link?* What's the single most important evolution discovery in the last 50 years?* Is the current understanding of evolution about to undergo another big change?* Does the process of natural selection evolve?* What will be evolution's next big discovery?Noor was recognized by the Linnean Society of London with the prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in February 2009, the third time such awards were made in the last 150 years.The occasion also marks the launch of NSF's anniversary edition of its multimedia Web site Evolution of Evolution: 150 Years of Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species.' You may view the complete anniversary edition here at 8 a.m. on Nov. 23 to read essays and hear audio interviews from top evolution researchers in the fields of anthropology, astronomy, biology, geosciences, polar sciences and science history: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/darwin/.What: Live webcast with evolutionary biologist Muhamed Noor of Duke University.When: Nov. 23, 2009, 10 a.m. EDT.Where: Media can call 800-857-9718 to participate in the webcast by phone. The verbal passcode for callers is "Darwin." Media can take part in the webcast online by going to http://www.science360.gov/live. A video recording of the press conference will be posted on the NSF Web site after the webcast. Please note: A username and password will not be required to access this page on Nov. 23. All are encouraged to submit questions in advance at webcast@nsf.gov.Who: Mohamed Noor, Duke University, professor and associate chair of biology.---Image Caption: On Nov. 24, 1859, Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species." It became the most significant scientific work in the last two centuries, challenging and changing how the world views nature, the environment and mankind. Credit: Illustrations by Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation (background and center); © 2009 JupiterImages Corporation (top right); NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team (bottom).
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 7:03 am

Important Importables Review: DC-IE Import Enabler for Dreamcast

FROM GAMERTELL - The DC-IE Import Enabler for Dreamcast is an unofficial boot disk that does exactly what it claims. If you have a US Dreamcast and want to play Japanese or European games, then this boot disk is perfect for you.
MORE »

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Source: Gadgetell | 21 Nov 2009 | 6:54 am

Science Journalism Awards Announced

Winners of AAAS Kavli Awards include television and radio stories supported by NSFA television feature about growing diamonds in the lab, and a radio story that dramatizes some strange coincidences in a discussion of randomness and probability won recognition earlier this month in the 2009 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. Both programs were funded in part by the National Science Foundation."Diamond Factory" was produced by Julia Cort for WGBH's NOVA science NOW, and aired on public television stations in June. It features host Neil deGrasse Tyson showing how materials science offers the means to engineer diamonds with the strength and conductivity of the real thing. Along the way, Tyson variously adopts the persona of Indiana Jones and travels blindfolded to the diamond producers' top-secret location, where he learns that diamonds that can be customized in size and shape offer a valuable resource for future electronics, transportation and communications."Julia Cort is a master of expressing complicated ideas in a way that's easy to understand and compelling in following the story," said Paula Apsell, senior executive producer, NOVA, and director of the WGBH science unit. "The techniques she used are emblematic of the approach we take at NOVA scienceNOW, creating stories that are educational and entertaining and, critically, that appeal to families.""A Very Lucky Wind" was produced by Jad Abumrad, Soren Wheeler and Robert Krulwich at WNYC's Radio Lab and also aired in June. It begins with the story of a girl in England, Laura Buxton, who sends a balloon into the air--but not before attaching a label that said, "Please send back to Laura Buxton." The balloon winds up touching down 140 miles away in the yard of a girl with the same name, of the same age, and sharing many other traits. The producers use this as a departure point for a spirited discussion of randomness versus fate, incorporating the perspectives of University of California, Berkeley statistician Deborah Nolan and Jay Koehler, professor at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.Jad Abumrad said the show was inspired by questions about the true state of randomness."What is a miracle? What is the mathematical threshold for a miracle?" said Abumrad. "These were among our questions. And we learned that given enough time, strange things will happen."The 2009 awards are the first to be given under a new endowment by The Kavli Foundation. In recognition of that endowment, the awards--first given in 1945--are now called the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. The Foundation, based in Oxnard, California, is dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity.Independent panels of science journalists select the winners of the awards. The winners for each category will receive $3000 and a plaque at the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego in February.---Image 1: A polycrystalline diamond disc, made with chemical vapor deposition, is shown. Credit: WGBHImage 2: Neil deGrasse Tyson examines an unpolished man-made diamond, fresh out of the grower, while Apollo Diamond's Robert Linares looks on. As host of WGBH's NOVA scienceNOW, Tyson, astrophysicist, and director of the Hayden Planetarium, makes science both educational and entertaining. Credit: WGBH
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 6:42 am

Flax And Yellow Flowers Can Produce Bioethanol

Which is better: flax or Brassica?The studies developed by the researchers reveal that flax (which is richer in cellulose) can produce up to 0.3 kg of ethanol for every kg of dry biomass, compared with 0.25kg/kg of Brassica. However, when the whole production cycle is analyzed, the yellow-flowered plant offers a greater production of biomass per hectare and has a lesser environmental impact.The biofuel produced from these two plants is "second generation bioethanol", which is obtained from forest or agricultural residues, or from herbaceous crops, and does not enter into direct competition with agricultural crops intended for animal or human consumption.The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are promoting the development of these types of biofuels. Spain is the third largest producer of bioethanol in Europe, after France and Germany, although its use still only represents 0.4% of total energy consumption.References:S. González-García, L. Luo, M.T. Moreira, G. Feijoo y G. Huppes. "Life cycle assessment of flax shives derived second generation ethanol fuelled automobiles in Spain". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13(8): 1922-1933, octubre de 2009.S. González-García, C.M. Gasol, X. Gabarrell, J. Rieradevall, M.T. Moreira and G. Feijoo. "Environmental aspects of ethanol-based fuels from Brassica carinata: A case study of second generation ethanol". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13(9): 2613-2620, diciembre de 2009.---Image 1: These are the blooms of a flax plant. Credit: Johnathan J. Stegeman and Tom Hilton /SINC.Image 2: These are the flowers of a Brassica plant. Credit: Johnathan J. Stegeman and Tom Hilton/ SINC.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

ARM Predicts Market Explosion In 2010 For Smartphones

Things are looking good for the smartphone chip market with the area expected to grow next year at an even faster pace than this year, according to British microchip designer ARM.ARM's designs are in 90 percent of mobile phones, including Apple's iPhone and Nokia's new top-of-the-range N900.Financial director Tim Score said, "Smartphones grew this year, and we are going to probably see faster growth next year."Score said he expected smartphone market volume to grow to more than 500 million in five years from 200 million phones this year.Carmelo Papa, chief of STMicroelectronics' industrial division, says, "There is strong momentum in smartphones."Smartphones are capable of more than simply making and receiving calls; they often boast a web browser, an integrated music player, a camera and video recorder, and push email.Next year falling smartphone prices are set to boost market growth as Nokia and Google push their operating systems to cheaper phones where sales volumes are higher.Geoff Blaber, analyst at research firm CCS Insight, says, "2010 will see continued growth as manufacturers and operators seek to drive open platforms into the mass market.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

Cisco Debuts 24/7 Security App For iPhone

Cisco recently introduced a free iPhone app for those who want customized Internet security data on-the-go.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Nov 2009 | 5:44 am

Judge Sets February Hearing For Google Books Settlement

The judge overseeing the Google Books case has laid out the schedule for the second round of the final approval process, at the same time granting preliminary approval of the revised deal.Like before, opponents of Google's settlement with groups representing authors and publishers will have a comment period in which to file objections, and books rights holders who want to preserve their ability to sue Google for scanning their books will have an opt-out deadline.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Nov 2009 | 5:36 am

Galileo’s Lost Tooth And Fingers Found

The tooth, thumb and finger of the much celebrated Italian scientist Galileo Galilei have been discovered by an art collector, Italy’s History of Science Museum announced on Friday.Scientists and historians took these parts, along with another finger and a vertebrae, during a burial ceremony in 1642, nearly a century after his death, reported Reuters.For those 95 years after his death, church authorities refused to allow Galileo to be buried in consecrated ground because his findings contradicted the traditional teachings of the Catholic church.The science historian responsible for removing the parts, Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, wrote about the ceremony and “confessed he had found it hard to resist the temptation to take away the skull which had housed such extraordinary genius," the museum said.The relics resurfaced after being passed from one collector to another before finally being lost in 1905, while the other finger and the vertebrae have been kept mummified in museums in Florence and Padue since 1737."All the organic material extracted from the corpse has therefore now been identified and is conserved in responsible hands," the museum said in a statement."On the basis of considerable historical documentation, there are no doubts about the authenticity of the items," it added.The museum will be showcasing the newly-found parts in 2010, after the museum finishes renovation work and changes its name to the Galileo museum.Galileo was born in Pisa in 1564, and played a key role in the 17th century Scientific Revolution.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 5:20 am

Big Bang Collider Restarts After 14-Month Hiatus

The LArge Hadron Collider, which was shut down after its inauguration in September 2008 amid technical faults, restarted on Friday, a spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said.The CERN spokesman said they hope to have beams circulating by early Saturday in the huge tunnels beneath the French-Swiss border.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Nov 2009 | 4:50 am

Barnes & Noble E-Reader Already Sold Out

Analysts are saying that Amazon’s Kindle may get a leg up on competition with Barnes & Noble Inc.’s announcement on Friday that it had sold out of its newly debuted Nook electronic reader because of an unexpectedly high demand.Barnes & Noble shares had not changed much, while Amazon had increased by half of one percent, reported Reuters."Amazon can reap the benefit of Sony and Barnes & Noble's failures here," said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

Never Send a Machine to Do a Human's Job

Humans aren't suited for space, robots are. Does this mean we should sideline human space flight in favor of sending the equivalent of a digital camera to distant worlds? Greg Fish doesn't think so and neither do we.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Nov 2009 | 4:19 am

2nd Night of False Alarms on Space Station

Depressurization and smoke alarms woke the shuttle and station crews for a second consecutive night on Friday. Flight controllers quickly determined they were false alarms, but the station's ventilation system automatically shut down, prompting NASA to cancel spacewalk preparations inside ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Nov 2009 | 3:31 am

Vodafone seeks more time to reply to Indian tax claim (AFP)

AFP - British mobile phone giant Vodafone Group Plc has sought an extra two months to reply to a two-billion-dollar Indian tax claim over its purchase of India's third-largest mobile operator.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Nov 2009 | 2:50 am

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