Twitter Hacked, Defaced By “Iranian Cyber Army” (Developing)

We’ve received multiple tips right around 10 pm that Twitter was hacked and defaced with the message below. The site was offline for a while.

We’re looking into this and awaiting on a response from Twitter.

The message read:

Update: – We have just found out that the same defacement is appearing at at least one other site, mawjcamp.org. We are not able to see what was at this domain before, but it is now displaying the same defacement that Twitter was only a few minutes ago.

Twitter does not have the best record with security issues. We have previously covered a number of incidents, and as recently as two months ago their web servers were misconfigured to reveal detailed internal network information. We also previously wrote about their admin interface having a password of ‘password’ on one account, and the well-known Twitter doc incident. It was hoped that with the hiring of a new COO, Dick Costolo, as well as a number of other high-level engineers, including security experts, that Twitter had grown out of the phase of being vulnerable to security incidents on such a large scale.

We do not know a lot about the group claiming responsibility for the attack as we haven’t heard their name before and they do not show up in any defacement mirrors or security sites. Similar Iranian groups were active during the election campaign in that country. We have emailed the group (they were kind enough to leave an address on the defacement) for a comment (also added them on Gchat – worth a shot).

Update 2.: Twitter.com is down, status.twitter.com is down. Some tweets are getting through at the moment because parts of the API are up. Search also seems to be working. The Firehose is up – Tweets are coming in from FriendFeed (all those tweets about ‘is twitter down’ are from third-party sites)

Update 3.: It is suggested that if you use the same password on your Twitter account with other accounts, now would be a good time to change your password on those other accounts.

Update 4.: There is a history between Iran and Twitter. It was well noted and covered in the media that Twitter was used as a tool during the Iranian election protests. The US government actually intervened to assure that Twitter was available to the protestors in Tehran and around the country. This attack may be an act of reprisal from groups who were not happy with the role that Twitter played during the protests.

Update 5.: There is speculation at the moment that this may be a DNS redirect, which means that the Twitter.com domain has been redirected to the defacement page. This doesn’t explain why some sub-domains are down, while others are currently still alive (such as search)

Update 6.: Twitter.com is back. The company updated its status blog saying: “Twitter’s DNS records were temporarily compromised but have now been fixed. We are looking into the underlying cause and will update with more information soon.”

Update 7.: Twitter’s Platform Lead engineer Alex Payne has a funnier update on the current status

Update 8.: Google was showing the below briefly when doing a search for Twitter (thanks Chris). The translation from Farsi/Persian reads:

“In the name of God, As an Iranian this is a reaction to Twitter’s interference sly which was U.S. authorities ordered in the internal affairs of my country…”

Update 9.: Biz Stone blogged:

As we tweeted a bit ago, Twitter’s DNS records were temporarily compromised tonight but have now been fixed. As some noticed, Twitter.com was redirected for a while but API and platform applications were working. We will update with more information and details once we’ve investigated more fully.

As will we.

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

Montage of magic "photo enhancement" in cop shows and movies

Darren sez, "A terrific montage of those 'can you clean that up a little' moments in film and TV. You know the trope: when back at the lab, some nerdy technician spouts technical gobbledygook and uses some fancy version of Photoshop to improbably improve the quality of some grainy security footage."

My favorite one of these -- I think it was in Enemy of the State? -- was two supercops looking at a satellite image of a terrorist standing on the roof of a building, and one says to the other, "can you rotate the picture so we can see his face?" I was waiting for the other guy to say something like, "sure, I'll just rewrite the fundamental laws of the universe so that cameras from overhead satellites can see around corners," but no, he did it. As the lady said of Meg Ryan, "I'll have what he's having."

Let's Enhance

Bug powder causes male bedbugs to stab each other to death with their penises

According to lead researcher Camilla Ryne, bedbugs are notoriously undiscerning about who they mount, and are accustomed to stab their penis straight into another male's abdomen...

Males with blocked glands were mounted as often as other males, but for longer and suffered more wounds.

"This is the first time I've seen an alarm pheromone used as a sexual one," New Scientist quoted Ryne as saying.

(Image: 98221_hires.jpg, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from liz.novack's photostream)

Installing Windows considered as a literary genre

I. Exordium. The narrator introduces himself, establishes his experience in computing (ethos) and exhorts the listeners to gather round.

II. Prolegomenon. Customarily, the hardware spec of the machine is outlined here.

III. Praeinstallatio. The narrator describes his initial attempt to install Windows.

IV. Contrainstallatio. The installation goes wrong.

V. Descendo. The narrator describes his increasingly desperate attempts to get things to go right.

VI. Depilatio. The narrator is reduced to despair and frustration.

VII. Inertio. The narrator sinks into a horrified stupor as his machine gurgles and clunks to itself for anything up to three days.

VIII. Peroratio. The narrator rises into fury as he describes how long and painful an experience the install was;

which may be followed by

IX. Aptenodytes forsteri, the narrator switches to Linux.

(Image: Frustration!, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from basykes' photostream)

How Europe's Mandated Browser Ballot Screen Works

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Association for Computing Machinery tries to undermine open access

The ACM has no legitimate needs or interests other than those of its members! How would U.S. voters react to a Senator claiming that a given piece of legislation (say, one reducing restrictions on campaign financing) "strikes a fundamental balance between the needs of the Senate and those of the United States of America"? ACM has lost its way, profoundly and tragically.

As much as Mr. Rous would like to think otherwise, ACM's publishing program is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. ACM arguing that an open repository of papers would be harmful because it "undermines the unique value" of ACM's closed repository is like the Salvation Army arguing that a food stamp program is harmful because it "undermines the unique value" of their soup kitchens.

US Gov Requests Feedback on Open Access - ACM Gets it Wrong (Again)

Remixed Danish tourist poster reflects the brutal new Copenhagen police-state

Copenhagen before and after (Thanks, Carsten)

How would you win this game show?

You are in a game show with nineteen other players. You don't know the other players, you can't see them, and you can't communicate with them. The game you are in is called 'Greed!', and is straightforward to explain. You are asked to write down a whole dollar amount in the range $1 - $1,000,000 on a piece of paper. You will be paid the amount you asked for if it is deemed to be 'non-greedy'. Whether your request is indeed 'non-greedy' will be decided once all twenty request have been received by the host of the show. Your requested amount will be labeled 'non-greedy' if no other player has asked for less, and at least one player has asked for more.

How do you play?

(Image: Money!, a Creative Commons Attribution photo from yomanimus' photostream)

Loopt Ventures Into Yelp’s Territory With New Local Reviews Site

Before there was Gowalla or Foursquare, there was location-based social network Loopt. Launched in 2006, Loopt was one of the pioneers of the location-based mobile social network. And Loopt has gained a huge number of users of its mobile apps; the social network currently has 3 million mobile users, 1 million of which are on the iPhone. Compared to Foursquare and Gowalla, which have 150,000 and 50,000 users respectively, Loopt has a pretty significant user base. More recently, Loopt upgraded its mobile offerings to offer a check-in where you can also review a place and help recommend things for your friends to do, called Pulse. The mobile feature aggregates data on all of these “check-in spots,” which include, bars, restaurants, and more. It’s kind of like a local search engine. And it appears that this data is expanding Loopt’s business.

Now Loopt is venturing into Yelp’s territory (even as rumors swirl about Yelp) by making these local reviews available on the web. Similar to Yelp, each business has a separate page, where you can see hours, location (via a Google Map), ratings, pictures and more. Loopt will aggregate all the ratings and reviews made by mobile users on the business’ page, and web users can also comment on the page, but have to limit their comments to 140 characters or less. And Loopt aggregates reviews from professional sources like Zagat, and more user-review focused sites like Citysearch to further its recommendations on the page (this is also available on its mobile app). All of this data has allowed Loopt to create what founder Sam Altman refers to as a “local search engine.” Two examples of pages can be found here and here. As of now, the pages have limited functionality but Loopt will be adding user generated content and other data shortly.

The key part of this venture is that Loopt’s web-based reviews are valuable because users can see which of their friends have visited a certain place or establishment. Loopt has all of this mobile data which shows what people like, and who they are connected to and this social data adds an extra compelling component to its local reviews site.

While Loopt is not yet advertising on the site (it does advertise on its mobile apps), I’d expect this to come soon. And the startup collects money from some advertisers who pay them on a per action basis, so Loopt currently will see some revenue from click throughs. Unfortunately, Loopt doesn’t allow business owners to create a page themselves, but this might be a feature added in the near future.

Loopt’s founder and CEO Sam Altman says that it is hoping to grab a part of the competitive landscape that houses Yelp, Citysearch and others. The whole idea of combining data on where and what users like to do with local listings for businesses is huge for local merchants and businesses, as not only can they get detailed information on their demographic, but they can also use the listings as a way to offer coupons and other incentives to visitors. Google even seems to be sniffing around this opportunity, too.

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

AT&T Investment Delivers Improved Wireless Network Experience in San Antonio

AT&T Investment Delivers Improved Wireless Network Experience in Brownsville

Dec. 18, 1878: Let There Be Electric Light, Before Edison

Researcher Cures Poisoned BlackBerry With Kisses (PC World)

The Simpsons turns 20 today

Twenty years ago today, the first full-length episode of The Simpsons -- known as The "Christmas Special" -- aired on television. This episode was originally intended to be show number 8, but ended up being first after a series of production glitches and switches. You can find streamable copies around the internets.

I've been traveling in rural, indigenous communities in Central America this week. I was reminded of the awesome happy-power and transcultural reach of the Simpsons in a conversation last night with an 8-year-old K'iche Maya kid. He lives in a highland village. His family is too poor to own a TV, but we got to talking, and he volunteered out of the blue his love for the show. He knows exactly who his favorite character is, too: "Omero" (Homer). He's a shy, quiet, serious boy, but lights right up when he's talking about the Simpsons. Pretty cool to think that a show could delight so many around the world, for so many years.

A special holiday shout-out to David Silverman, a personal friend who also happens to have been the director of that very first episode (and, of course, many others, and that movie). David, I hope you're having a more relaxed December than you did in 1989.

Suspected NKoreans hack war plan for SKorea

Source: Gizmodo | 17 Dec 2009 | 8:20 pm

BancTec Enters Polish Market in New Agreement With SkanSerwis

LONDON, Dec.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 8:00 pm

See a UFO? Might Want to Check Here First

Before announcing your next UFO sighting to the world, you might want to compare notes. An amateur astronomer has launched a website for sky-watchers to report "unexplained aerospace phenomena." It’s not little green men in warp-speed spaceships that astronomer Philippe ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:59 pm

Report: Obama to Ramp Up Human Space Program

Science magazine is reporting tonight that President Obama has made his decision about the future of the U.S. human space flight program, with a plan to turn over space taxi services to the International Space Station to commercial companies and ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:54 pm

Google In Discussions To Acquire Yelp For A Half Billion Dollars Or More

Google and Yelp are in advanced acquisition negotiations, we’ve confirmed from multiple sources. And while the deal isn’t done, we’ve heard that it’s very likely to close. The price is supposedly at least $500 million.

Yelp was founded in 2004 as a way to let users leave reviews on local businesses. Comscore puts worldwide traffic at nearly 9 million monthly unique visitors, and it has been growing fast – the company says it’s real numbers are more like 25 million monthly uniques.

Yelp has whispered that 2009 revenues will be around $30 million and are expecting $50 million or so in 2010.

Yelp last raised venture capital in early 2008 from DAG at a $200 million pre-money valuation, we’ve heard. They’ve raised a total of $31 million over four venture rounds.

On the odds of the deal happening – one source says its 80% likely. Not signed, sealed and delivered, but past the term sheet stage.

Google is building out their own directory of local businesses with its Place Pages, which can be accessed via Google Maps and local search. They are encouraging local businesses to put Google-branded stickers in store windows and recently added their own ratings summaries to business profiles. Yelp, of course, already has all of this data, along with a growing and active audience of consumers who are used to finding (and rating) businesses on Yelp.

For their part, Google is clearly on a shopping spree. They recently acquired AdMob for $750 million, and were in the running on the LaLa acquisition. Expect lots of deals to be announced by them over the next three months.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:52 pm

Bambuser’s Video Streaming iPhone App Hits The App Store, Qik Still MIA

Bambuser, a mobile streaming startup in the same space as Qik and Ustream, has announced that their live streaming iPhone application has been approved by Apple. The news comes only a few days after Ustream’s live video streaming app was approved, ending a 18 month long drought of broadcasting apps on the App Store. The Bambuser application lets anyone use their iPhone to broadcast live video directly to the web. You can get it on the App Store here. [iTunes link]

The release of these apps is a big deal — for a year and a half since the App Store’s launch, Apple consistently rejected any application that allowed users to broadcast video from their iPhones. The exact reason for this ban is uncertain, but has been attributed to (very valid) concerns over AT&T’s ability to handle their heavy bandwidth consumption.

Bambuser is directly competitive with Qik and Ustream (through Ustream also offers more robust streaming for events, too). We last covered Bambuser last December, when the site got a major overhaul. The service now supports live broadcasting from the iPhone, Symbian, Android, and Windows Mobile, spanning 200 devices. It also offers support for video streaming through desktop web browsers.

Now that Bambuser and Ustream have their live streaming apps available, it’s strange that Qik is still MIA. Qik was really the pioneer in mobile broadcasting, and they’ve definitely got a functional iPhone app (I’ve been using it on my iPhone for well over a year using an ad-hoc build). Presumably they’ve hit a snag in the Apple approval process.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:48 pm

Lake On Titan Winks From a Billion Kilometers Away

The Bad Astronomer writes "NASA's Cassini spacecraft took an image of Saturn's giant moon Titan earlier this year that serendipitously provides proof of liquid (probably methane) on its surface. The picture shows a glint of reflected sunlight off of a monster lake called Kraken Mare (larger than the Caspian Sea!). Scientists have been getting better and better evidence of liquid methane on Titan, but this is the first direct proof."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:48 pm

Google Starts Pushing Chrome To All Mac Users On Its Homepage

As we all know by now, Google Chrome for Mac and Linux are now here, and despite the Mac version missing a few features at the moment, both are earning rave reviews around the web. Meanwhile, a report a couple days ago from Net Applications suggested that the Mac and Linux builds helped push Chrome into the number three browser spot in terms of usage, past Apple’s own Safari. And it could be on the verge of jumping even higher thanks to Google now promoting it on its homepage to all Mac users.

Across all the major web browsers that work on the Mac (Firefox, Safari, Opera, Camino), Google is now placing an overlay on google.com which reads “A faster way to browse the web” and includes a Chrome logo and a button that you can click to be taken to the Chrome for Mac download page. This shows up regardless of if you’re signed into your Google account or not. The only requirement is that you not being using Chrome. Clicking on the “X” will make the overlay disappear.

Google has been doing this same promotion for the PC version of Chrome for a while, and while the browser hasn’t exploded in usage to even Firefox level, it has been steadily rising since its launch last year. Its overall market share is now around 4.4% according to the Net Applications data, but on the Mac alone, just since the beta launch, Chrome has already risen one full percentage point. And you can likely expect that to jump quite a bit higher next month once the browser has been out for a while and people feel more comfortable switching to it.

Google continues to heavily promote Chrome in the real world too. Just yesterday, a bunch of ads for it were spotted in newspapers in the Netherlands. They’re doing the same thing in the UK as well. Google famously doesn’t advertise on its homepage, but it does promotions like this more and more frequently to push its own products. And this will undoubtedly help them hit the stated goal of 10% market share for Chrome in two years. I’m sure Mozilla and Apple are thrilled about it.

[thanks Dejan]

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

Source: TechCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:46 pm

CrunchBase Funding Digest: JAGTAG, OneWire, SimpleGeo, Millennial Media

Every day I troll SEC Form D Filings to discover new startups, fundings and investments. I put everything I find into CrunchBase. For everyone else I give you the daily digest, a quick hit of the latest and greatest SEC Form D filings in the TechCrunch sphere:

Source: TechCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:46 pm

Carbon offsets at Google

As leaders from around the world meet in Copenhagen to address global climate change this month, we thought it was a good time to reflect on our own carbon footprint. In 2007, we committed to become a carbon neutral company. We know that it isn't possible to write a check and eliminate the environmental impact of our operations. So what does “carbon neutrality” mean to us?

First, we aggressively pursue reductions in our energy consumption through energy efficiency, innovative infrastructure design and operations and on-site renewable energy. Our Google designed data centers use half the energy of typical facilities. We're also working to accelerate the development of economic, clean renewable energy at scale through research and development, investment and policy outreach. At this time, however, such efforts don't cover our entire carbon footprint. Therefore, since 2007 we've gone a step further and made a voluntary commitment to buy carbon offsets to cover the portion of our footprint that we cannot yet eliminate — which is what we mean by "carbon neutrality."

So what exactly is a carbon offset? The idea behind an offset is that we pay someone to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a specific, measurable way, thus offseting an equal climate impact on our side. To determine our impact, we calculate our annual carbon footprint, which is then verified by an independent third party. We include direct energy consumption (like natural gas) and electricity use, employee commuting, company vehicle use, business travel and estimates of carbon emissions from building construction and from the manufacturing of servers used in our datacenters. We then buy an equivalent number of carbon offsets.

While carbon offsets seem simple in principle, in practice they are surprisingly complicated. In particular, it's often difficult to say whether or not the offset project results in emissions reductions that would have happened anyway. We find ourselves asking whether the project in fact goes beyond "business as usual." In the world of offsets, this concept is referred to as "additionality." Carbon offsets have a mixed reputation because some projects are not additional. Here at Google, we have set a very high bar to ensure that our investment makes an actual difference in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing offsets that are real, verifiable, permanent and additional.

To date, we have selected high quality carbon offsets from around the world that reduce greenhouse gas emissions — ranging from landfill gas projects in Caldwell County, NC, and Steuben County, NY, to animal-waste management systems in Mexico and Brazil. Our funding helps make it possible for equipment to be installed that captures and destroys the methane gas produced as the waste decomposes. Methane, the primary component in natural gas, is a significant contributor to global warming. We chose to focus on landfill and agricultural methane reduction projects because methane's impact on warming is very well understood, it's easy to measure how much methane is captured and the capture wouldn't happen without our financing (for the projects we're investing in, they couldn't make enough money selling the gas).

We need fundamental changes to global energy and transportation infrastructure to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions over the long term. In the meantime, the projects to which we contribute offer measurable emissions reductions and allow us to take responsibility for our carbon footprint. To that end, we're always looking for good emissions-reduction projects to support. If you have a landfill gas or agricultural methane carbon offset project you think we should consider, please visit this page for more information about how to participate in our latest carbon-offset procurement round.

Posted by Alice Ryan, Green Energy Project Manager

Source: The Official Google Blog | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:38 pm

When Polar Bears Attack ... Other Polar Bears

The town of Churchill, Manitoba is the undisputed polar bear capital of the world. Every year from mid-October to late November, the town's 800 permanent residents are joined by a total of 12,000 visitors and seasonal workers, who take advantage ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:33 pm

Update on the Frazetta heist: Notary says artist gave son permission to take paintings

Here's an update on the arrest of Frank Frazetta's son, who was charged with swiping at least $20 million of his father's paintings last week. The story has a few twists and turns, as you might imagine in a case in which an adult child has been accused of ripping off his own parent.

The details are fuzzy, but it sounds like Frazetta's adult children are fighting over the art created by their father, who is 81 years old and has dementia. Three of his children apparently want to sell the paintings (one painting recently went for $1 million, and it wasn't even one of Frazetta's most famous works) while Frank Jr. apparently doesn't want to sell them off, and that's why he broke into the family museum to take the paintings.

Heidi MacDonald of The Beat adds this important bit:

The REAL bombshell, however, comes from a notary who says that Frank Frazetta Sr. came to her nine days before the aborted heist and asked her to notarize a power of attorney removing control of the art from Bill, Heidi and Holly and giving it to Frank Jr! “He was in the right frame of mind,” said the notary.

Frazetta Heist update: Notary drops bombshell

Previously:

• Ellie Frazetta, R.I.P. Boing Boing
• Frazetta's son busted for trying to steal his father's art Boing Boing
• Frazetta Meatcard challenge results - Boing Boing
• Vintage Frazetta anti-smoking ad Boing Boing
• Frank Frazetta: Rough Work - Boing Boing
• Meatcard contest -- recreate Frazetta paintings using live people ...
• Sf story about Saddam's Frazetta-dealer - Boing Boing

Source: Boing Boing | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:27 pm

Take-Two posts larger 4Q loss on higher charges (AP)

AP - Charges and expenses outweighed higher sales and drove video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. to post a wider fourth-quarter loss on Thursday, as billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn reported taking a more than 11 percent stake in the company and said he may seek talks with management.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:16 pm

S&J Co., Ltd. Releases Ultra Portable Speaker 'Eggy'

SUWON, South Korea, Dec.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:16 pm

Twitter App for the Zune HD: It works, but it’s buggy and censors tweets (not any more)

Update: The app no longer censors tweets. Good, because that was the most ridiculous thing ever.

Oh now this is exciting. Microsoft released a Twitter application for the Zune HD a few moments ago, and I’ve been tasked with testing it out for your edification. Spoiler: it works, it’s buggy, and I can’t see the sense in using it.

Installation was not easy. Oh, sure, loading up the Zune software and navigating to the appropriate section was simple enough, and syncing the application was as expected, but my Zune HD wouldn’t connect to the Internet for whatever reason. An error message popped up saying “Disconnect your Zune HD from the computer before trying to connect to a wireless network.” To that effect, at least. (Strike one.)

Well, Mr. Zune software, I’m holding the device in one hand and the USB cable in another. The Zune, in fact, is disconnected from my PC. This is not how to get on my good side, especially as I was interrupted watching Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk I to test you out.

Moving on.

Once the Zune HD stopped freaking out, I was greeted by a simple username and password screen. You log in there.

Up top there’s four icons: a little man which gives you your timeline; an @ symbol that threw up the error “Oops, something went wrong. We can’t load this data due to an external error. Please try again shortly.” (Strike two.) It loads all the tweets that mention your name; a heart icon that I don’t know what it does because it says “Unfortunately, there is nothing to display here.” (Strike three.); and then a mail icon for all your DMs.

Along the bottom there’s icons for writing a tweet, searching tweets, and for fiddling with the application’s settings.

Let’s see what happens when I try to send a tweet.

Well, the tweet went out, but once again I ran into the “external error” happened. (Strike four.) (External to what, by the way?)

On twitter.com, all my tweets read “from Zune HD,” which links to zune.net.

Usability: limited. I can’t type for beans using the Zune HD’s onscreen display, but that could well be a function of me exclusively using the device as a music player and I’m not used to it. T9 tries to help you out but it can only help so much.

I don’t understand the point of the app either, other than to say, “See, we have a Twitter app!” But since the Zune HD only connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, how is it any more useful to use the clearly glitch Zune app to tweet when you can, I don’t know, use a real computer or one of those iPhone or BlackBerry or Android apps? It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Oh, and it censors tweets. (The tweet in the main photo up there is supposed to read: Bret Hart is coming back to WWE according to dave meltzer fuck yes!) No bad words to be found on the app, and there’s no setting to uncensor tweets. Why? How many little kids use Twitter (on a Zune HD, no less) that Microsoft had to go out of its way to censor tweets? Dumb.

In conclusion: it’s buggy and there are far more practical ways of accessing Twitter.

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:15 pm

Avatar online ticket sales taking over

So it’s sounding like Avatar is going to be breaking some records (shocking, I know). What record is pending you ask? Online ticket sales. Ok, maybe it’s not biggest movie ever, or most special effects, but it’s still pretty damn impressive.

The previous record holder is New Moon, of course. The good news is that 3D ticket sales and a largely male (instead of Twilight mom) audience is expected to push sales over the top. The numbers are huge; Movietickets.com is reporting 70 percent of their sales for this weekend are going to Avatar, and Fandango is reporting 87 percent.

Here’s a few more statistics to give you an idea of how much of a marketing beast Avatar is turning out to be:

75%-89% of all Avatar ticket sales are for 3-D or IMAX 3-D screenings

68%-78% of ticket buyers are male

76% consider themselves fans of James Cameron

Will Avatar dominate the weekend box office? I’m going to guess yes, since the James Cameron movie machine does kind of have that reputation.

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:00 pm

RIM 3Q profit up 59 pct on record BlackBerry sales (AP)

AP - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. surprised Wall Street on Thursday as it reported a 59 percent increase in third-quarter income, boosted by new subscribers and record sales of its smart phones.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:59 pm

Best Man Rigs Newlyweds' Bed To Tweet During Sex

When an UK man was asked to be the best man at a friend's wedding he agreed that he would not pull any pranks before or during the ceremony. Now the groom wishes he had extended the agreement to after the blessed occasion as well. The best man snuck into the newlyweds' house while they were away on their honeymoon and placed a pressure-sensitive device under their mattress. The device now automatically tweets when the couple have sex. The updates include the length of activity and how vigorous the act was on a scale of 1-10.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:40 pm

E-mail furor doesn't alter evidence for climate change - Washington Post

Treehugger

E-mail furor doesn't alter evidence for climate change Washington Post I cannot condone some things that colleagues of mine wrote or requested in the e-mails recently stolen from a climate research unit at a British university. But the messages do not undermine the scientific case that human-caused ... Global Warming as GroupthinkWall Street Journal Loving Electric Cars in Spite of the Climate Change DebateWired News 'CRU cherrypicked Russian climate data', says RussianRegister Knoxville News Sentinel -Cumberland Times-News -Investor's Business Daily all 141 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:34 pm

Identify this thing, win a $50 gift card

What is it? I thought a thorn or something at first, but now I’m thinking… bee leg? Well, one thing I can say for sure is that it’s a scan by that desktop SEM machine we mentioned a few weeks back. They’re running a contest to win a flash drive and an Amazon gift certificate; all you have to do is go over there and comment what you think is pictured above.

Not exactly a gadget, but I’ll be glad if a CG reader takes home the fitty.

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:30 pm

Icahn reports 11.3 pct stake in Take Two (Reuters)

Reuters - Activist investor Carl Icahn reported an 11.3 percent stake in U.S. video game publisher Take Two Interactive Software Inc , sending its shares up 3.5 percent.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:12 pm

Go thataway: Google Maps India learns to navigate like a local

Have you ever been lost? Perhaps you missed a turn because a street sign was poorly labeled, hard to see in the dark, or just not where it should have been? These are problems we've all faced, but they're especially complicated in India, where street names are not commonly known and the typical wayfinding strategy is to ask someone on the street. Without road names, it's difficult to produce a set of directions that makes sense. Just take a look at this screenshot of Google Maps directions in India in 2008 and you'll get the picture:


To solve this problem, this week we launched an improvement to Google Maps India that describes routes in terms of easy-to-follow landmarks and businesses that are visible along the way. We gathered feedback from users around the world to spark this improvement to our technology, and we thought we'd give you a glimpse at our thinking behind this launch.

We knew from previous studies in several countries that most people rely on landmarks — visual cues along the way — for successful navigation. But we needed to understand how people use those visual cues, and what makes a good landmark, in order to make our instructions more human and improve route descriptions. To get answers to these questions, we ran a user research study that focused specifically on how people give and get directions. We called businesses and asked how to get to their store; we recruited people to keep track of directions they gave or received and later interviewed them about their experiences; we asked people to draw us diagrams of routes to places unfamiliar to us; we even followed people around as they tried to find their way.

We found that using landmarks in directions helps for two simple reasons: they are easier to see than street signs and they are easier to remember than street names. Spotting a pink building on a corner or remembering to turn after a gas station is much easier than trying to recall an unfamiliar street name. Sometimes there are simply too many signs to look at, and the street sign drowns in the visual noise. A good landmark always stands out.

We also discovered that there are three situations in which people resort to landmarks.

The first is when people need to orient themselves — for instance, they just exited a subway station and are not sure which way to go. Google Maps would say: "Head southeast for 0.2 miles." A person would say: "Start walking away from the McDonald's."

The second situation is when people use a landmark to describe a turn: "Turn right after the Starbucks."

The third use, however, is the most interesting. We discovered that often people simply want to confirm that they are still on the right track and haven't missed their turn.

Giving people this sense of confidence while they explore an unfamiliar territory became one of the goals of our redesign. Over the course of several months, the team brainstormed various ways of presenting the information contained in Google Maps in a way that would be useful for people. We then settled on a design that added some landmarks to describe the turns and confirm the route.


The next step was to put this design to a test with drivers in Bangalore, India. The results were eye-opening. While we were on the right track with introducing landmarks, we still relied on street names too heavily. Drivers wanted more confirmation. They wanted to compare what they saw on Google Maps with what they saw from the driver's seat, every step of the way.

We added more landmarks along routes and reduced the visual prominence of street names, and the result was our final design:


Now Google Maps India gives you directions like a local would. Happy wayfinding!

Posted by Olga Khroustaleva, User Experience Researcher, Google Maps

Source: The Official Google Blog | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:05 pm

Review: Leatherman Skeletool CX

Short version: The Leatherman Skeletool is a lightweight, high quality multi-tool that combines striking industrial design with excellent functionality.

Full review:

I love multi-tools. I had an original Leatherman tool back in the day, and used to carry a Leatherman Wave will me all the time until it was stolen. I’ve carried other brands from time to time, but I also end up going back to a Leatherman. When Leatherman sent me the Skeletool, I was a little hesitant about it. Honestly, I wasn’t overly fond of the styling, as I usually prefer the ergonomics of the “old school” multi-tool. I will admit however, that I like the curved handle and carbon fiber feel of the Skeletool.

Putting the “multi” in multi-tool:
So what does the Skeletool include as far as accessories? Pliers, a knife blade that locks open, bottle opener, and two sizes of standard and Philips screwdrivers. The screwdriver bits are interchangeable, and the one that is not in use is stored in the handle. The Skeletool doesn’t come with a nylon sheath, but it does have a carabiner style clip to attach it to your gear. The carabiner clip doubles as a bottle opener for emergencies.

There are a few optional accessories available from Leatherman’s website – you can add a “Bit Kit” which contains 42 additonal bits, or a bit driver extension.

Final thoughts:
The Skeletool CX is a nice piece of kit. While I was somewhat dubious about the design, I’ve grown to appreciate the light weight and carbon fiber look. I do have a minor concern; with the Wave, the screwdriver parts were permanently attached to the tool. I’m worried about the possibility of losing the bits over the long term, or the possibility of wear on the slot that holds the additional bit causing said bit to fall out.

Leatherman’s latest multi-tool is available at most major retailers and their website. MSRP is about $100, but I was able to find them for almost half that by shopping around a bit.

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:00 pm

LaCie and Symwave announce new USB 3.0 4TB external HD

Section: Computers, Hardware, Gadgets / Other, Household

Yes, you read that right; this baby can be as large as 4TB’s. Now, how many people really need 4TB’s of external storage, I’m not sure. But if you do, it’s there. This new external is a new dual-drive 2Big USB 3.0 RAID drive developed by LaCie in partnership with Symwave.

And another thing, this drive has transfer speeds of up to 275MB/s because of the new USB 3.0 hardware, and the new dual SATA and RAID bridge controller developed by Symwave. Things are just getting faster and faster these days. 275MB a second… thats a GB about every four seconds. I hope this becomes pretty standard. As an American, I really dislike waiting on things that should be instant (at least in our heads they should be).

Sadly, no price or release date have been announced other then in 2010. But, they say that they will be showing this off at CES in January. Maybe we’ll learn how much we can’t afford this by then.

Read [Engadget]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:00 pm

Avatar's "Pandora" Could be a Reality

Artist's impression of a hypothetical gas giant exoplanet with an Earth-like exomoon similar to the moon Pandora in the movie Avatar (David A. Aguilar, CfA) As James Cameron's animated sci-fi movie Avatar goes on general release, astronomers point out that ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:58 pm

AT&T Investment Delivers Improved Wireless Network Experience in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:58 pm

IBM buys Lombardi Software (AP)

AP - IBM Corp. is buying business software maker Lombardi Software Inc. from a private equity group for an undisclosed sum.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:51 pm

Shut Down "Fake Steve Jobs" Not AT&T (PC World)

PC World - Suppose someone tried to shut down AT&T's wireless network tomorrow at Noon and nothing happened? Besides in New York and San Francisco, that is the likely outcome of Dan Lyons' urging his blog readers to use so much iPhone data that the carrier becomes blocked during midday tomorrow.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:41 pm

Bag Week: Timbuk2 Commute 2.0

Short Version: The Commute 2.0 is from Timbuk2’s new TSA friendly generation of messenger bags. Essentially this means that they’ve added some commuter friendly features to a standard messenger bag.

Features:

• Designed for commuters
• TSA friendly
• Waterproofed and rubberized to keep out the weather
• Grab strap and shoulder strap
• Internal organizer keeps stuff sorted

Pros:

• Easy to get your laptop through security
• Waterproofing is the best I’ve seen
• Great price

Cons:

• Space can be a little tight when you add a power supply
• Rubberized bottom has an odd texture
• Laptop storage could use a little more padding

Timbuk2 (originally known as Scumbags) was founded in San Fransisco in 1989 by a former bicycle messenger. The creator’s background really shows in the construction of the bag. The finish and stitching is of the highest quality, and there is a definite sense of purpose about this bag. It is designed for someone who travels, and needs to move quickly through TSA checkpoints.

The Commute 2.0 has several standard messenger bag features that you’ve come to expect. The organizer panel, the water bottle holder, keyfob – all there. Where it gets a little more interesting is the commuter and TSA friendly stuff. There’s a pass through for your luggage handle, a pocket for your airline tickets, and the laptop pocket folds out and lays flat, which allows you to send the whole bag through the xray machine without taking the laptop out of the bag. I for one, love that feature. One thing that was a big odd was the rubberized bottom of the bag. To be honest, I see the necessity of having it for weatherized, but the texture is a bit strange at first. I’m sure if I’d been using the bag for more then a few weeks I’d get used to it, but it was a bit awkward at first.

The bag also comes in multiple sizes, so you can get one that fits your laptop, versus the typical “one size fits all.” The small will hold a standard 14-inch system, the medium holds a 16-inch, and the large works with a laptop up to 17 inches. The one they sent to us to review was the large, and it held the 17 inch laptop in the pocket with relative ease. The problem came from the power brick. The laptop side of things seemed to be designed for systems with smaller peripherals. The laptop I put in the bag was quite large, and so the brick made the bag bulge in a rather uncomfortable way. The padding around the laptop was also a little bit thinner then I’d like. I’m sure it works, and I acknowledge the need to trade padding thickness for size, but it just seemed a little thin to me.

For my dollar, the Commute 2.0 is an ideal messenger bag. It’ll hold your documents, magazines, cell phones, keys, chargers, and laptop with no problems. And you can’t beat the price. The medium will set you back $100, the large is $120, and the small is not currently listed for sale on the Timbuk2 website.

Product page

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:40 pm

Sony, RealD in 3-D Equipment Partnership [Voices]

By Gabriel Kahn, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Sony Corp. (SNE) announced a partnership with RealD, as the Japanese electronics giant continues its push into the growing market for 3-D home entertainment.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sony will license some of RealD’s technology and equipment, such as 3-D eyewear, which can be used with Sony TV screens and other equipment intended to create a three-dimensional viewing experience similar to what is now offered in movie theaters. The equipment is expected to hit stores in 2010.

No other terms of the deal, announced Thursday, were disclosed. RealD’s agreement with Sony isn’t exclusive, which means the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company can also partner with other equipment makers for the same technology.

This year marked a massive roll-out of 3-D technology in movie theaters, as Hollywood released a string of films, such as DreamWorks Animation SKG’s “Monsters vs. Aliens,” and Twentieth Century Fox’s “Avatar,” which hits screens this weekend. News Corp. (NWS) owns Twentieth Century Fox as well as the The Wall Street Journal.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:36 pm

Robot Guitar Tunes Itself So You Don't Have To

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:30 pm

Robot Guitar Tunes Itself So You Don't Have To

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:30 pm

Acer Timeline: Olympic edition

Section: Computers, Laptops

Acer is one of the major sponsors of the 2010 Winter Olympics along with the 2012 Olympics as well. And to subtly show their support, they are selling the Acer Timeline 1810TZ with the Olympic-rings on the lid.

The 1810TZ is considered by Acer to be an ultraportable laptop. Sporting a 11.6-inch screen, 3GB of ram, and a full size keyboard all for $580. So not too bad when it comes to laptop if your comfortable with Acer’s. Other specs of this Olympic runner are a dual-core Intel CULV processor, 802.11b/g Draft-N, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, webcam, mic, Windows 7, and some pretty colors to go with it.

So if your looking for a laptop to watch the schedule of the next series of Olympics unfold, why not just buy this one. Plus, you can show it off to your friends too. All they have is a funky Q, or “HP.” Woo… You’ve got the Olympic rings. What now.

Read [Acer]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:16 pm

Are You Using SPF Records?

gravyface writes "I've been setting up proper Sender Policy Framework records for all my clients for past year or so, hoping to either maintain or improve their 'reputation' in the email universe. However, there's a lot of IT admins I speak with who either haven't heard of SPF records or haven't bothered setting them up. How many of you are using SPF records for your mail domains? Does it help? How many anti-spam vendors out there use SPF records as part of their 'scorecard'?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:09 pm

Dyslexia Defined: New Yale Study 'Uncouples' Reading And IQ Over Time

Contrary to popular belief, some very smart, accomplished people cannot read well.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:03 pm

Rust & Roll: Inside Trussart’s Steel Guitar Workshop

<< previous image | next image >>

LOS ANGELES – In a small workshop a pick’s throw from downtown L.A., a French luthier pays homage to the quintessential American electric guitar using a most unusual material.

From across the room, the Trussart Deluxe SteelCaster may look like a ’52 Fender Telecaster. But lay your hands on it and you immediately know this cool chunk of welded steel didn’t come out of the Fender Custom Shop.

James Trussart combines the vintage aesthetic of classic American guitars with a flair for the unusual to create beautiful instruments that sound as sweet as they look.

“What’s different about what I’m doing is I’m using steel,” Trussart said. “It reacts differently and affects the tone. At first people didn’t think it would work. But there was something I liked about the tone.”

He isn’t alone. The people playing Trussarts reads like a who’s-who of guitar geeks and gods.

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

ContourHD giveaway has a winner! – or does it? (yes, it does)

Hey, all! Thanks for entering the contest, but as they say: many will enter, few will win. In this case only one: James, who “Did my first backflip snowboarding off a 20 foot cliff, luckily it was all powder I landed in, because i landed pretty much on my head, and my friends had to dig me out of the three feet of powder. It was great.” Watch your email, James.

My random number generator actually put me on a non-extreme one so I rolled up and my mouse landed on this lucky guy. Thing is, he’s not responding to my emails. Consider this public warning, James! Get back to me or tomorrow I’ll have to pick another winner! I’d like this thing to be in someone’s hands by Christmas. Thanks for getting back to me, James! Congrats!

Be sure to keep an eye out for our other giveaways, there’s lots more stuff to be won this holiday season!

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

What's Inside Hugo Boss Cologne? Rat Valium, Mice Viagra

Hugo Boss cologne is a mixture of lilies, lemongrass and herbal woodiness — mmm. It's also a mixture of degreaser, potential biofuel and chemicals called terpenes — hmm.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock — Faithful or Flawed?

Sherlock Holmes experts dissect the surprisingly studly portrayal of the detective in Guy Ritchie's new action flick.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

Inside the Nursery That Supercharges Evolution

Bots and conveyor belts run round the clock as part of a project to engineer higher-yielding, apocalypse-proof crops.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

Rust & Roll: Inside Trussart's Steel Guitar Workshop

Rusted, weatherbeaten and delicately engraved, James Trussart's steel guitars have a rock-and-roll personality all their own. Wired takes a look inside his Los Angeles workshop.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

Rust & Roll: Inside Trussart's Steel Guitar Workshop

Rusted, weatherbeaten and delicately engraved, James Trussart's steel guitars have a rock-and-roll personality all their own. Wired takes a look inside his Los Angeles workshop.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm

Caltech Researchers Revise Long-Held Theory Of Fruit-Fly Development

Research shows that the influence of a key transcription factor is less widespread than thought, and varies over timeFor decades, science texts have told a simple and straightforward story about a particular protein—a transcription factor—that helps the embryo of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, pattern tissues in a manner that depends on the levels of this factor within individual cells."For 20 years, this system of patterning has been used in textbooks as a paradigm for patterning in embryos, controlled by transcription factors," says Angelike Stathopoulos, assistant professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).Now Stathopoulos and her Caltech colleagues, reporting in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), have called that paradigm into question, revealing a tale that is both more complicated and potentially more interesting than the one previously described.The football-shaped embryo of the fruit fly has a dorsal (back/top) side and a ventral (front/bottom) side.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 4:58 pm

Predicting Insurgent Attacks With A Mathematical Model

University of Miami scientists have developed a mathematical model to explore scenarios, assess risks and make predictions for present and future insurgent wars
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 4:30 pm

Christmas shopping at Amazon? Better finish up today

You know that Christmas is next week, right? That means you only have eight days left to finish your shopping. If you planned on using Amazon though, today is the last full day that the retailer will guarantee its free super saver shipping will get your product to you by December 25. So go, my friend, go order your girlfriend a cubic zirconia earring set. She’ll love it.

Source: CrunchGear | 17 Dec 2009 | 4:30 pm

Firefox Mobile Threatens Mobile App Stores, Says Mozilla

Barence writes "Mozilla claims that its new Firefox Mobile browser could be the beginning of the end for the hugely popular app stores created by Apple and its ilk. Mozilla claims Firefox Mobile will have the fastest Javascript engine of any mobile browser, and that will allow developers to write apps once for the web, instead of multiple versions for the different mobile platforms. 'As developers get more frustrated with quality assurance, the amount of handsets they have to buy, whether their security updates will get past the iPhone approval process ... I think they'll move to the web,' Mozilla's mobile VP, Jay Sullivan, told PC Pro. 'In the interim period, apps will be very successful. Over time, the web will win because it always does.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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

Photo: Shining Lake Confirms Presence of Liquid on Titan

The Cassini spacecraft captures an image of sunlight reflecting off a lake of liquid methane on the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 4:13 pm

Google Talks Transparency, But Hides Surveillance Stats

Google espouses free expression on the internet, but refuses to divulge how many times the government has subpoenaed data from its users.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 4:00 pm

Facebook Privacy Complaint Ignites War of Words - PC World

NEWS.com.au

Facebook Privacy Complaint Ignites War of Words PC World A high-profile electronic privacy group filed a federal complaint against Facebook on Thursday -- and now, Facebook is lashing back. "These changes violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook's own representations," EPIC's ... Facebook Hit With FTC ComplaintInformationWeek Want privacy on Facebook? Here is how to get someThe Associated Press Facebook: The Legal Rumblings Start...ZDNet (blog) Washington Post -The Money Times -CNET News all 682 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:56 pm

Review: Powerful 'Avatar' Stuns the Eye, Seduces the Heart

James Cameron's sci-fi adventure unspools an epic story of love and war, made all the stronger by 3-D effects that lend strength and believability to Pandora's exotic alien world.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:54 pm

Translate Google Sites with one click

Google brought translation features to many of our products in 2009, including Google Docs and Gmail and we're happy to add one more before the New Year. To make it easier for people around the globe to read the site you created with Google Sites, we've integrated with the Google Translate Element. Now, whenever someone visits a Google Site in another language, they will be given the option to translate the content into the language of their choice. All they have to do is click on the translate link at the bottom right-hand side of the page. Now, the content on your site can be translated into 51 languages, allowing you to reach a whole new audience. Check out this before and after for a Korean school's website below (or try it out for yourself).

Before

After

We hope this feature helps expand your Google site's reach to more people.

Posted by Michael Cheng, Software Engineer, Google Sites

Source: The Official Google Blog | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:51 pm

Nuance Launches Voice-powered Dragon Search App For iPhone

Hot on the heels of the launch of their Dragon Dictation app (and a short-lived and mostly overblown privacy scandal), Nuance has just launched a second iPhone application: Dragon Search.

Heralded by Nuance as the “fast, accurate, and smart way to search online content on your iPhone”, Dragon Search allows iPhone users to search across Google, Yahoo!, Bing, iTunes, Twitter, Wiki, or YouTube by speaking their search terms.

Dragon Search is powered by the Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine, just as with Nuance’s other offering. If you’re having good luck with Dragon Dictation, you should see similar results here.

The design of the application is rather clever; while you’re only shown one search engine’s results at a time, you can flip between them on a whim via the carousel at the top. You can search for Dr. Dre’s Wikipedia page, then flip over a few boxes on the carousel to check out Dre’s music videos videos on YouTube.

Like the Dragon Dictation app, Nuance is saying that the app is available for free for “a limited time”. We’re not sure when they’re planning to bump it up to for-pay, nor the price they’ll charge – but in the meanwhile, you can nab it here for the always-welcome price of free: App Store link.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:48 pm

26 Gigapixel Photo Sets New World Record

FrenchSilk writes "The largest gigapixel photograph ever created with a DSLR camera was made by A.F.B. Media GmbH in Dresden, Germany. 1655 images, each 21.6 megapixels in size, were taken with a Canon 5D Mark II and a 400 mm lens over a period of 176 minutes. The images were stitched on a 16 processor system with 48GB of main memory, taking 94 hours to create the final result. The interactive view can be found here."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:28 pm

Wayne Park Appointed CEO, LG Electronics North America

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics Inc. has named Wayne Park president and CEO of LG Electronics North America and James N. Shad president of its U.S. sales subsidiary, LG Electronics USA. Effective Feb.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:15 pm

Liveblogging RIM Earnings [Voices]

By WSJ Staff, Digits, The Wall Street Journal

Research In Motion (RIMM) reported a 59 percent increase in fiscal third-quarter earnings as it added 4.4 net new BlackBerry accounts.

The BlackBerry maker’s revenue climbed 11 percent to $3.92 billion, with 82 percent coming from device sales. It shipped some 10.1 million devices during the quarter.

RIM said it sees fourth quarter revenue of $4.2 billion to $4.4 billion, and it expects to add 4.4 million to 4.7 million net new subscribers.

Will the company comment on today’s outage, which affected many BlackBerry customers? Highlights from its conference call with analysts start at 5 p.m. ET.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:12 pm

Carnegie Mellon Researcher Says Privacy Concerns Could Limit Benefits From Real-Time Data Analysis

Society will be unable to take full advantage of real-time data analysis technologies that might improve health, reduce traffic congestion and give scientists new insights into human behavior until it resolves questions about how much of a person's life can be observed and by whom, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist contends in a commentary published Friday in the journal Science.In a "Perspectives" column, Tom M.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:10 pm

Missouri Firm Sues Microsoft Over "Bing" [Voices]

By Joan E. Solsman, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

A small computer-based design firm in Missouri is suing Microsoft (MSFT) for trademark infringement over the name Bing, the design company’s namesake and the title of the software giant’s new Web-search engine.

News of the suit comes a day after Microsoft finally shed the last lingering antitrust issues in Europe, ending a decade-long battle over its business practices there.

Bing Information Designs is alleging trademark and unfair competition against Microsoft in its suit filed Wednesday in a St. Louis circuit court, saying Microsoft’s use of the name dilutes the value of it and confuses the public about the companies’ relationship to each other. It said it has used the Bing name since 2000 and has pending applications to register the mark. Microsoft launched its revamped search engine with the Bing name over the summer.

The company is seeking “actual and punitive damages including having Microsoft pay for corrective advertising to remedy the confusion it caused.” The company’s law firm didn’t specify a dollar amount.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Source: All Things Digital | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:09 pm

Nonverbal Communication Of Race Bias On TV Influences Viewers' Own Bias

Tufts study finds white characters on popular shows elicit more positive responsesSubtle patterns of nonverbal behavior that appear on popular television programs influence racial bias among viewers, according to research from Tufts University to appear in the December 18, 2009, issue of the journal Science."Today, racial bias is often revealed via more subtle means than outright racial slurs," said first author Max Weisbuch, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the psychology department at the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:08 pm

Research Finds Happiest US States Match A Million Americans' Own Happiness States

New research by the UK's University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the US into the happiness levels of a million individual US citizens have revealed their personal happiness levels closely correlate with earlier research that ranked the quality of life available in the US's 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:05 pm

Gadgetell Review: MusicSkins 3M vinyl stickers for your gadgets

Section: Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous, Reviews, Features

What is being reviewed?

MusicSkins, which are 3M vinyl stickers for your gadgets and gear including MP3 players, cellphones, laptops and even portable gaming devices. They are available for over 100 devices and feature a wide variety of musical artists and even offer the ability to create custom skins. Price of course will vary depending on what you are looking to skin, but expect to pay around $15 for a phone or upwards of $30 for a laptop.

My thoughts

Take a quality made skin that can protect the gadgets and gizmos that I spend more money on than I should, and then combine that with pictures and logos from some of my favorite artists and bands. I love it. And in addition, they even supply wallpaper for your display so you can have your skin match your display. I choose to not use the wallpaper image because personally it seemed a little much for my taste, but I still think its a nice little addition.

The bottom line

Well, I have already recommended them to several friends, and will continue to do so in the future. Basically, if you are looking for a skin, and love music then MusicSkins is the way to go. They offer a large selection of designs, print on quality material and are fairly priced. Really, what more could you ask for.

Product [MusicSkins]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:01 pm

'Screaming Roadrunner' Ran Circles Around Dinos

This loudmouth bird must have kept dinosaurs on their toes during the Late Cretaceous.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Print Professional-Looking Photos

Print photos worthy of framing. You don't need professional equipment, just a decent printer and the right materials.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Print Professional-Looking Photos

Print photos worthy of framing. You don't need professional equipment, just a decent printer and the right materials.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Within A Cell, Actin Keeps Things Moving

University of Oregon-made technique is putting new light on machinery driving intracellular transportUsing new technology developed in his University of Oregon lab, chemist Andrew H. Marcus and his doctoral student Eric N.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:57 pm

Moog's New Guitar Is an Awkward Blind Date

The latest Moog Guitar is like going on a harsh blind date: a lot of awkward noise coupled with uncomfortable silences.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:45 pm

EPIC Files FTC Complaint Over Facebook's New Privacy Policy

An anonymous reader writes "The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) today filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the agency to investigate the recent changes made by Facebook to the privacy settings of Facebook users. The complaint discusses the sharing of user information with third-party developers and the new, widely-opposed 'Everyone' setting, which allows certain user information, such as name, profile picture, and friends lists, to be publicly available. EPIC also urges the FTC to compel Facebook to restore privacy safeguards. The complaint was signed by nine privacy and consumer organizations."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:40 pm

AT&T Investment Delivers Improved Wireless Network Experience in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:36 pm

3D Blu-Ray Specs Finalized, But What About Your Gear? - PC World

KLEW

3D Blu-Ray Specs Finalized, But What About Your Gear? PC World Today the Blu-Ray Disc Association announced that the codec for creating full 1080p 3D Blu-Ray content has been set, but will you need to upgrade your gear to experience the benefits? Not necessarily. The 3D specification will use Multiview Video ... 3D Blu-ray standard outlined, includes PS3CNET News 3D Blu-Ray tech confirmed for PS3GamePro.com Blu-ray 3D disc specification finalizedComputerworld TechNewsWorld -New York Times -Wired News all 483 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:33 pm

Rusty, Ragged Deluxe Steelcaster Is One Sexy Beast

Tough, rusted and rugged, the Trussart Deluxe Steelcaster delivers a tone that's as rough and gnarly as its looks.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:30 pm

Palm Disappoints [Digital Daily]

The second-quarter loss Palm reported Thursday afternoon was narrower than the one it reported last year, but still fell far short of what Wall Street had been expecting. The smartphone maker lost 37 cents a share for the period on sales of $302 million. Analysts had been expecting a net loss of 32 cents per share on revenue of $266.2 million.

Palm (PALM) did manage to ship a total of 783,000 smartphone units during the quarter, though, a five percent decrease from last quarter, but a year-over-year increase of 41 percent. That said, the company actually sold only 573,000 units, down 29 percent from the previous quarter and down four percent year-over-year. Seems the launch of the Pixi wasn’t quite as successful as Palm had hoped.

“We are continuing to execute strongly against our long-term strategy with the delivery of Palm Pixi, the new carrier launches completed this quarter, and the upcoming opening of Palm’s full developer program,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s chairman and chief executive officer.

“We’re still in the early stages of a long race,” Rubinstein added, “and we’re energized by the opportunity to compete in this exciting market. We remain confident that Palm’s innovative product design capabilities, integrated cloud services and the differentiated and delightful Palm webOS experience will provide the foundation for our sustained success.”

Once again, Palm did not break out unit sales of the Pre or Pixi in its earnings release, below. At $11.26, Palm shares are down 3.92 percent in after-hours trading.

Palm Reports Q2 FY 2010 Results

SUNNYVALE, Calif.– Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today reported that total revenues in the second quarter of fiscal year 2010, ended Nov. 27, 2009, were $78.1 million. Gross profit was $5.5 million, and gross margin was 7.0 percent. These results include the effects of subscription accounting applied to Palm(R) webOS(TM) products as required by GAAP.(1) In accordance with this methodology, revenues and direct cost of revenues for Palm webOS products (currently Palm Pre(TM) and Palm Pixi(TM) smartphones) are deferred and recognized over the products’ estimated economic lives.

To facilitate comparisons to Palm’s historical results, Palm has included non-GAAP adjusted measures, which exclude the impact of subscription accounting, stock-based compensation and other items detailed later in this release. The company believes this information will help investors better evaluate its current period performance and trends in its business.

Non-GAAP Adjusted Revenues in the second quarter totaled $302.0 million, non-GAAP Adjusted Gross Profit was $77.3 million and non-GAAP Adjusted Gross Margin was 25.6 percent.

“We are continuing to execute strongly against our long-term strategy with the delivery of Palm Pixi, the new carrier launches completed this quarter, and the upcoming opening of Palm’s full developer program,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We’re still in the early stages of a long race, and we’re energized by the opportunity to compete in this exciting market. We remain confident that Palm’s innovative product design capabilities, integrated cloud services and the differentiated and delightful Palm webOS experience will provide the foundation for our sustained success.”

The company shipped a total of 783,000 smartphone units during the quarter, representing a 5 percent decrease from the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 and a year-over-year increase of 41 percent compared to the second quarter of fiscal year 2009. Smartphone sell-through for the second quarter was 573,000 units, down 29 percent from the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 and down 4 percent year-over-year.

On a GAAP basis, net loss applicable to common stockholders for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $(85.4) million, or $(0.54) per diluted common share. This compares to a net loss applicable to common stockholders for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 of $(508.6) million or $(4.64) per diluted common share. The company’s second quarter of fiscal year 2009 results included a non-cash charge with a net impact of $396.7 million to the tax provision pertaining to the increase of the valuation allowance for the Company’s U.S. deferred tax assets.

The company’s net loss applicable to common stockholders on a GAAP basis reflects accounting guidance, effective in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, which requires the anti-dilutive provisions of Palm’s series C preferred shares and related warrants to be treated as derivatives for financial reporting purposes. The fair value of the derivatives were estimated as of the first day of fiscal year 2010 and are marked to market on a quarterly basis, with any change in value reflected in the company’s financial results for the period. The series C derivatives balance was $178.7 million at the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 compared to $235.0 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2010. This reduction in fair value resulted in a $56.3 million non-cash gain on series C derivatives and was reflected in the company’s second quarter GAAP financial results. With regard to the series C derivatives, any future increases in Palm’s stock price from period to period will be reflected as a non-cash loss on these derivatives in the company’s financial results, and any future decreases will be reflected as a non-cash gain in the company’s financial results.

Non-GAAP Net Loss for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $(59.6) million, or $(0.37) per diluted share. This compares to a non-GAAP Net Loss for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 of $(80.2) million, or $(0.73) per diluted share.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 totaled $(70.1) million. EBITDA, adjusted to exclude the impact of subscription accounting, stock-based compensation, net other income (expense), restructuring charges and a gain on series C derivatives, or Adjusted EBITDA, totaled $(48.3) million.

The company’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance was $590.0 million at the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2010. This includes net proceeds of approximately $360 million from the company’s public equity offering, which closed on Sept. 23, 2009. Cash from operations for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $16.7 million.

Palm may periodically provide new software features free of charge to customers of its Palm webOS products and currently recognizes Palm webOS product revenues and related standard cost of revenues on a subscription basis based on the applicable product’s estimated economic life, which is currently 24 months. The company records deferred revenues and deferred cost of revenues on its balance sheet, and amortizes them into earnings on a straight-line basis over the estimated economic product life.

Palm announced today that it expects to early adopt two recently released accounting standards related to revenue recognition, Accounting Standards Update (”ASU”) No. 2009-13 and ASU No. 2009-14, effective for its third quarter of fiscal year 2010. These accounting changes will result in a substantial portion of Palm webOS product revenues being recognized upon delivery. The remaining Palm webOS revenues, which are related to future services and deliverables, will be recorded as deferred revenues on the company’s balance sheet, and amortized into earnings on a straight-line basis over the estimated economic product life, which is currently 24 months. Under the new standards, all related cost of revenues will be recognized upon delivery. This change in accounting will reduce the amount of revenues that Palm will defer on its balance sheet but will have no impact on cash flows and does not change how Palm accounts for Palm OS(R) products, like the Centro(TM), or its Treo(TM) line. Consistent with the company’s past practice, Palm will continue to provide non-GAAP, adjusted measures that exclude the impact of deferred revenue accounting, stock-based compensation and other items as appropriate.

Source: All Things Digital | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:26 pm

What's next for social gaming on the iPhone? - CNET News

guardian.co.uk

What's next for social gaming on the iPhone? CNET News Until now, Apple has held an odd place in the gaming industry. Many of the hottest games for the PC have never sold as well on the Mac, due not only to a smaller market share, but also Apple offering only a handful of hardware ... Military Could Use iPhones to Track Friends, Enemies in WarWired News Is The End of iPhone App Store Rejections Coming?PC Magazine Raytheon demonstrates iPhone app for military useMacworld The Mac Observer -NetworkWorld.com -Philadelphia Metro all 388 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:26 pm

Kobo's Multiplatform E-Bookstore Puts Kindle to Shame - Wired News

PC World

Kobo's Multiplatform E-Bookstore Puts Kindle to Shame Wired News There is little doubt that electronic books have gone mainstream. The question now is, in just which direction will the market go? It's possible that the Kindle will do what Apple and the iPod did for music, essentially owning the ... Amazon Says Kindle for BlackBerry Coming SooneWeek Amazon's Kindle reader breaks monthly sales recordReuters Should e-Books Be Copy Protected?New York Times PC Magazine -The Tech Herald -ZDNet all 290 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:24 pm

Chameleon-Like Ax Co-Opts Sounds From Dozens of Great Guitars

The Line 6 Variax can adapt itself to sound like any one of over two dozen different guitars that you can't afford.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:15 pm

Negative Emotions Outweigh Intent To Exercise At Health Clubs

The paradox between recognizing importance of exercise for weight control and not exercisingTime and time again, it has been documented that regular exercise has many health benefits including lowering risks associated with the comorbidities of obesity.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:11 pm

Oracle Tops Estimates, Expects European Union to Clear Sun Deal in January [Digital Daily]

Oracle shares are gaining in after-hours trading after the company reported second-quarter results that beat expectations. Earnings for the period were 39 cents a share, excluding special items, on revenue of $5.9 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had estimated Oracle (ORCL) would post earnings, excluding special items, of 36 cents a share on $5.7 billion in revenue. “We delivered results which were substantially better than we expected on both the top and bottom line,” Oracle Chief Financial Officer Jeff Epstein said in a statement.

Remarking on the company’s proposed acquisition of Sun (JAVA) in an earnings release, Oracle President Safra Catz said, “We expect the European Commission to unconditionally clear the acquisition of Sun in January. I want to thank all of our customers for the overwhelming support they have given us during this process.”

Shares of Oracle rose more than 4 percent to $23.87 in after-hours trading, following the earnings announcement, before slipping back to $22.88. The company’s stock is up by about a third this year.

Below, Oracle’s earnings release:

Oracle Reports Q2 GAAP EPS of 29 Cents Up 15%, Non-GAAP EPS of 39 Cents Up 15%

Total Revenues Up, New Software License Sales Up, Operating Margin Up, Operating Cash Flow Up
December 17, 2009: 04:00 PM ET

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) today announced fiscal 2010 Q2 GAAP earnings per share of $0.29, up 15% compared to last year. Second quarter GAAP total revenues were up 4% to $5.9 billion, while quarterly GAAP net income was up 12% to $1.5 billion. GAAP new software license revenues were up 2% to $1.7 billion. GAAP software license updates and product support revenues were up 14% to $3.2 billion. GAAP operating income was up 10% to $2.2 billion and GAAP operating margin was up 200 basis points to 37%. GAAP operating cash flow on a trailing twelve-month basis was $8.7 billion, up 7%.

Second quarter non-GAAP earnings per share were up 15% to $0.39. Non-GAAP total revenues were up 3% to $5.9 billion, while non-GAAP net income was up 12% to $2.0 billion, compared to the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP operating income was up 9% to $2.9 billion and non-GAAP operating margin was up 280 basis points to 49%.

“We delivered results which were substantially better than we expected on both the top and bottom line, growing non-GAAP operating margins by 280 basis points to 49%, the highest Q2 non-GAAP operating margin in our history,” said Oracle CFO Jeff Epstein. “Our solid top line growth, coupled with disciplined expense management, was key in generating $8.4 billion of free cash flow over the last twelve months.”

“We expect the European Commission to unconditionally clear the acquisition of Sun in January,” said Oracle President Safra Catz. “I want to thank all of our customers for the overwhelming support they have given us during this process.”

“For the fourth consecutive quarter, Oracle took market share from SAP in every region around the world,” said Oracle President Charles Phillips. “In constant currency, our applications business grew 1% in the Americas and 2% in Asia Pacific versus a negative 35% and negative 34% respectively for SAP.”

“Sun’s new SPARC Solaris system and Sun’s new Exadata database machine both run the Oracle database faster than IBM’s fastest computer,” said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. “We expect Sun to rapidly improve both its market share and margins once this merger closes.”

In addition, Oracle’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.05 per share of outstanding common stock to be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on January 19, 2010, with a payment date of February 9, 2010. Future declarations of quarterly dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are subject to the final determination of Oracle’s Board of Directors.

Source: All Things Digital | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:08 pm

Hosting.com Makes Client-Driven Enhancements to Its Cloud Portfolio

DENVER, Dec.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:06 pm

Carbon-Fiber Clad Guitar Is Arena-Rock Ready

If your stage act involves a shiny silver suit, you'll love this space-age, carbon-fiber guitar.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:00 pm

Isis Temple Fragment Dates Back to Cleopatra Era

A sunken piece of Cleopatra's underwater city has been lifted from the depths of the sea.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:00 pm

FruitBasketReview.com Helps Over 750 Visitors a Day Find the Best Fruit Baskets Online

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Fruit Basket Review has just released a detailed photo comparison chart of the top eleven fruit basket providers in the United States.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 2:00 pm

Media Availability: Genetic Variant May Control Lung Function And Risk Of COPD

What: Researchers have discovered evidence that suggests a genetic variant may be associated with better preserved lung function among children with asthma and adults who smoke, according to a new study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 1:57 pm

Fertilizer Use Not Always Helpful In Revegetation Efforts

Plants in subarctic Quebec community don't always benefit from application of fertilizerCompanies and communities trying to restore vegetation on damaged northern landscapes should think twice about using fertilizer to stimulate growth according to new research published in the November issue of Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research.Not all plants benefit from the use of fertilizers.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 17 Dec 2009 | 1:54 pm

Xyratex is World's Largest Supplier of OEM Storage Systems

HAVANT, England, Dec.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 17 Dec 2009 | 1:53 pm

Feeling the heat -- from corn to cabernet

U.S. agriculture could begin feeling the heat of climate change during the next few decades. Growing seasons in major wine regions could become too hot, new research suggests, and winter seasons in cornfields could become too warm to curb the ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 1:12 pm

Military Could Use iPhones to Track Friends, Enemies in War

Military contractor Raytheon shows off an iPhone app that soldiers could use to keep track of friendlies and hostiles in a military engagement.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 1:00 pm

Military Could Use iPhones to Track Friends, Enemies in War

What if the iPhone could be used in war? True, it’s primarily a consumer product, but it’s versatile and always connected to the internet (assuming you have network reception) — so why not?

That’s the idea behind new iPhone apps being showcased by Raytheon, a military contractor, at the Intelligence Warfighting Summit in Tucson. One app called the One Force Tracker will provide live data tracking the location of friends and foes on real-time maps. The app will also be used to communicate with other units.

The image above depicts multiple personnel of a military force or first-response team on a map displayed in One Force Tracker.

“Among several objectives, Raytheon wants to enable superior situational awareness for war fighters or for police, fire and rescue teams, enabling them to quickly make more informed decisions,” a Raytheon spokesman told Wired.com.

Raytheon is also developing an air-traffic simulator similar to the popular iPhone game Flight Control. Raytheon’s app aims to enable air-traffic controllers to repetitively practice (in multilevel, gamelike fashion) aspects of their training regimen anytime, anywhere. The image below shows a simulation mode of the app, which is designed to allow controllers to practice “vectoring” multiple aircraft. The goal is to maintain safe air speed and distance between units, among other factors. (We’d imagine Raytheon’s air-traffic simulator is much more difficult than Flight Control.)

Neat stuff. What’s funny is the military usually gets all the cool tech before consumers do, but this is a rare case of the opposite. Raytheon isn’t the first to try out military apps for the iPhone, either. Previously, Wired.com reported on BulletFlight, a $30 iPhone app for military snipers to calculate ballistics. The app was designed to complement a gun mount for the iPod Touch.

Via New York Times

Photos courtesy of Raytheon

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 12:58 pm

Video: Apple’s “12 Apps Of Christmas” iPhone commercial

Apple just pushed out a new, Holiday-themed commercial. Playing on the classic “12 Days of Christmas” song, they rattle off a different type of application for each of 12 days. They make no mention of baby shaking applications, which isn’t too surprising – “baby shaking” has way too many syllables to fit the tune.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 12:44 pm

Nyko Accessory Amps Up Zoom on DSi Camera

Is it worth $20 to upgrade the camera on your Nintendo DSi? It is if you're the kind of nerd who carries a game system more regularly than a cellphone.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 12:30 pm

Rhino Befriends Warthog Family

My Christmas card this year from Johnny Rodrigues, chairman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, came with the below unexpected, pleasant surprise. The above photo shows Tatenda, a male black rhino, on the left. Tatenda's mother was gunned down by ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 12:23 pm

LG eXpo hits the shelves 10 days late, projector attachment still M.I.A

I’m not sure if there were anybody was waiting in lines outside of AT&T stores when the LG eXpo launched last week – but if they were, they left sorely disappointed. Without much notice or acknowledgement, the eXpo’s December 7th launch date came and went.

Just shy of two weeks later, the eXpo is now available on AT&T.com. Alas, the flagship feature — the optional, detachable projector — is nowhere to be seen. I guess for the time being, there really is “no such thing as an LG Phone and Projector“.

[Via WMExperts]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 12:11 pm

Racial Bias Broadcast from TV Character to Viewer

Characters on television shows can transmit subtle cues that perpetuate racial stereotypes among viewers.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 12:01 pm

Video: Popular Science Publisher Is Planning for Tablets, Too

Condé Nast was the first publisher to show off a concept video demonstrating a magazine digitally repurposed for a touchscreen tablet, using Wired as an example. Time Warner followed with a concept tablet edition of Sports Illustrated. And now Bonnier, the company that owns Popular Science, has produced a tablet concept video as well.

Codenamed Mag+, Bonnier’s video prototype (above) looks stunning. Rather than simply digitizing entire magazine pages, the concept software allows you to scroll up and down blocks of text. That gives more space and emphasis to artwork, which is true to the magazine experience.

Of course, this is all vaporware until we see a manufacturer deliver a successful tablet product (cough, Apple). For now, we can appreciate that magazines are thinking hard about the future of publishing, and these are some awesome ideas.

See Also:

• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• Apple’s Tablet Could Be Print Industry’s Lifeboat
• In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
• The Coolest iTablet Fake Yet Caught on Video

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 11:52 am

Transliteration goes global

Most of us use a keyboard to enter text; it's one of the most basic activities we perform on a computer. However even this simple activity can be cumbersome in many parts of the world. If you've ever tried to type in a non-Roman script using a Roman keyboard, you know that it can be difficult to do. Many of us at Google's Bangalore office experienced this problem firsthand. Roman keyboards are the norm in India, making it difficult to type in Indian languages. We decided to tackle this problem by making it very easy to type phonetically using Roman characters and we launched this service as Google Transliteration.

Using Google Transliteration you can convert Roman characters to their phonetic equivalent in your language. Note that this is not the same as translation — it's the sound of the words that are converted from one alphabet to the other. For example, typing "hamesha" transliterates into Hindi as: , typing "salaam" transliterates into Persian as: and typing "spasibo" transliterates into Russian as . Since our initial launch for a single Indian language, we've been hard at work on improving quality, adding more languages and new features.

Today we are pleased to introduce a new and improved version of Google Transliteration, available in Google Labs or at http://www.google.com/transliterate.

In this new version, you can select from one of seventeen supported languages: Arabic, Bengali, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. You can also compose richly formatted text and look up word definitions with our dictionary integration. If the default transliteration is not the word you wanted, you can highlight it to see a list of alternatives. For even finer-grained control, we provide a unicode character picker to allow character-by-character composition.

Google Transliteration is integrated into several Google properties and we have an API and bookmarklets to extend this capability to other websites. A solution we initially built to solve a problem we saw here in India is now being used in many other parts of the world as well - one small example of the scale and leverage that technology can bring in today's increasingly globalized environment. As with all labs products, we will continue to improve the technology and try out new features. We would love to hear from you, so do let us know what you think.

Posted by Nilesh Tathawadekar and Mohammed Aslam, Software Engineers

Source: The Official Google Blog | 17 Dec 2009 | 11:34 am

World Map Etched on a Tiny Silicon Chip

Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium have etched a tiny world map–on a scale of 1 trillion—on to a optical silicon chip. They reduced the earth’s 25,000-mile circumference at the equator down to 40 micrometers or about half the width of a human hair to fit it on the chip.

The map is put in a corner of a chip designed for a project at the University’s Photonics Research Group.

The idea is to successfully demonstrate scale reduction so complex optical functions can be included in a single chip. Such a chip could find applications in telecommunications, high-speed computing, biotechnology and health care.

The world map was defined on a silicon photonics test chip using 200mm processing. The smallest features resolved on the map are about 100 nanometer. The fabrication consisted of a 30-step process and involved creation of four different layers with differing thicknesses, each of which had to be created separately.

Photonics involves generation, modulation, transmission and processing of light. Silicon photonics technology is an emerging area of research that integrates optical circuits onto a small chip. Light can be manipulated on a submicrometer scale in tiny strips of silicon called photonic wires. These silicon photonic circuits can pack a million times more components when compared to the glass-based photonics available currently, say the researchers.

The circuits developed on this chip carrying the world map were used to demonstrate photonic wires with the lowest propagation losses.

Photo: The small world as seen through an optical microscope. The different colors are caused by interference effects in the different layer thicknesses of the silicon (Photonics Research Group at Ghent University)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 11:10 am

World Map Gets Etched on a Tiny Silicon Chip

Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium have fabricated the world map on a tiny silicon chip.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 17 Dec 2009 | 11:10 am

Pics: Motorola Motus is real, coming to AT&T as Backflip (or Enzo)

Remember that crazy lookin’ Motorola-made Android handset that leaked out a few days ago? The one that appeared to have a flip-out keyboard on a big ol’ hinge? It’s real – and it’s heading for AT&T.

The name is still up in the air, but it looks like it’ll be called either the “Backflip” or the “Enzo”.

Someone snuck a bunch of shots of the unique handset into Phandroid’s inbox, and there’s no doubt about which carrier this is on. As if the AT&T logo sitting smack dab on the keyboard didn’t seal the deal, AT&T-specific apps like AT&T Nav and AT&T Music are in plain sight. When closed, the keyboard acts as the back of the phone; when open, the backside of the keyboard acts as a trackpad for scrolling with minimal hand readjustment.

It’s a few years late on this train, but AT&T’s finally getting an Android phone. It’s just a bit wonky.

[Source: Phandroid]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 11:00 am

Twitter App for Zune HD Is Rated PG: No Swearing Allowed

If you thought Apple was conservative for prohibiting nudity from the iPhone’s App Store, take a look at the Zune HD’s Twitter app, which launched Wednesday. It censors tweets in your timeline, according to Engadget’s Nilay Patel. Tweet a swear word, and part of it’s replaced by asterisks. (See photo above.)

On top of that, Patel says the Zune HD Twitter app is laggy and unresponsive, and the constant refreshing freaks out the device’s Wi-Fi connection.

But nothing tops censoring your tweets. Holy effing crap.

Zune HD Twitter app now live [Engadget]

See Also:

• Microsoft Sets Up Zune HD for Failure — Again
• Confirmed: Zune HD Will Play Games
• Zune HD vs. iPod Nano Smackdown - Video - Wired
• Microsoft Zune HD 32GB

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 10:33 am

Hot Tub = Time Machine?

Everyone loves a good time travel fantasy, and the 1980s film Back to the Future is pretty much the cassic example of the genre. But Marty McFly stands to get some serious competition from John Cusack's comedic crew in Hot ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 17 Dec 2009 | 9:57 am

Breaking: North American BlackBerry users currently experiencing email delivery issues

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

Just like the logo above, it looks like RIM is currently experiencing some trouble. And it seems the trouble is coming where it will hit BlackBerry users the hardest—with their email. According to the reports, all North American BlackBerry users are experiencing delays in receiving email. In other words, they are not getting any. Otherwise, according to what we have heard so far, it looks like the other services such as web surfing and BlackBerry Messenger are still working as expected.

If you are a BlackBerry user, shout out in the comments and give us some more details.

Read [NYT]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 9:54 am

Final Fantasy XIV Online Beta Rolled Out - PC World

PC World

Final Fantasy XIV Online Beta Rolled Out PC World While I was up in the air yesterday crossing the pond, Square Enix launched its Final Fantasy XIV beta program, offering Final Fantasy buffs a shot at early access. If you already know all there is to know about the game, you can skip straight to the ... Final Fantasy Fans Fly to Japan, Bolster Sony's PS3Bloomberg Final Fantasy XIV Online beta applications beginGameSpot Final Fantasy XIII launches in JapanComputerworld CVG Online -IGN -guardian.co.uk all 233 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 9:53 am

Blackberry email down across most carriers

Oh noes! BIS is down for nearly everyone in the States and Canada. It’s really just the email service. Web browsing, SMS, BlackBerry messenger, and phone calls are seemingly fine. We’ll keep you updated, but it seems like a good time to give your thumbs a rest. You’ll have to get back to work soon enough. [CrackBerry via Gizmodo]

Update: RIM has confirmed the outage, but didn’t state when the service will be restored.

Update 2 @ 1:50 pm EST:It might be coming back…we’re getting a flood of emails now. Waiting for a confirmation from RIM.

Update: Got it. Everything should be all good again. Now get back to work.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 9:51 am

Google adds Google Earth and Maps integration to Audi A8

Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation

Ever since I saw the Transporter, I’ve wanted to own an Audi A8. My bank account doesn’t yet match my aspirations, but I’m going to have to remedy that quickly so I can take advantage of the new Google Latitude and Maps integration added into the Audi A8.

The Audi A8 dashboard now features Google Earth, meaning Audi drivers are the first to get 3D satellite imagery in their car. Google Earth, which has half-a-billion downloads on desktops, will also provide terrain information and layers of information like Panoramio images and Wikipedia articles. Imagine parking near a cape in Portugal and then seeing a Wikipedia article discuss the historic events that took place there or the famous establishments nearby. Pretty sweet.

Drivers can also take advantage of Google Maps services by sending business listings to the phone or performing live searches from the car. Users can search for a location on their desktop and then send the information to their car, which quickly reads the data and provides navigation to the address. Along the way, Google Maps can search for other points of interest.

An Audi A8 starts at $75,000, meaning I’m still a long way from being able to afford my favorite car and enjoy these Google services. However, I’m hoping that this is just the first stage of Google integration with more automobiles. I’d love to have this work in more affordable vehicles or sold as an installable dash unit.

-

Read [Google LatLong Blog]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 9:35 am

Japan’s smartphone market: The iPhone is huge, the BlackBerry and Android aren’t

It’s big in Korea, it’s probably big in China’s grey market, and the iPhone continues to be big in Japan. According to a report [JP] released by Tokyo-based research company Impress R&D, the iPhone has captured a whopping 46.1% of the domestic smartphone market.

For this year, Impress sees the 3G commanding 24.6% in this segment, while the 3GS contributes another 21.5%. The 3G was introduced in Japan in summer 2008 (the 3GS followed earlier this year). Sources in Japan say that the iPhone user base in Japan now stands at 3 million, which is an impressive 10% of the global userbase.

Three models from Willcom, a Japanese mobile phone carrier, are ranked 3 to 5. The HTC HT-03A (aka HTC Magic), the first Android phone in Japan, made it to No. 10 (2.3%). The BlackBerry Bold, which is offered by Japan’s No. 1 carrier Docomo, is one rank behind with 1.2%.

A major reason for this development is the hyper-aggressive marketing strategy SoftBank Mobile, the iPhone’s exclusive carrier, pursues in Japan: TV commercials virtually around the clock, print ads in major media, super-competitive pricing etc. do have an effect, it seems.

On the other hand, I’ve never seen any of this coming from Docomo for Android or BlackBerry, so it’s no wonder virtually no one in Japan (where I live) knows what these devices actually offer – apart from geeks, obviously.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 17 Dec 2009 | 9:03 am

Gamertell Review: Nyko’s Intercooler TS fan accessory for PS3

FROM GAMERTELL - Sony’s firmware seemingly brick your system? Maybe what your PS3 needs is a little extra fanning from Nyko’s Intercooler TS…
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 8:52 am

Canadian court rules neither Bell nor Rogers can make “most reliable network” claim

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

It’s a common practice for legal teams to scrutinize each advertisement or marketing campaign to avoid making statements that could lead to lawsuits. However, it’s difficult to recall a time when lawyers for phone companies in the United States and Canada have had such a heavy workload in the mobile phone wars.

In recent weeks, cellular companies in the U.S. and Canada have engaged in a round of back-and-fourths about network claims and “misleading” advertisements. The most recent battle was settled yesterday when a Canadian court ruled that Bell Mobility can no longer advertise itself as the country’s “Most reliable network.” Rival carrier Rogers filed the suit to block Bell’s claims because its new HSPA network is untested and relatively unused. Judges sided with Rogers and forced Bell to stop making the claim, meaning Canada no longer has a “most reliable network.”

The legal wrangling first started after TELUS sued Rogers for calling itself “Canada’s Most Reliable Network” with data speeds twice as fast as its domestic competitors. The only problem with those claims is that after TELUS and Bell joined together to form a 21Mbps HSPA network last month, Roger’s network is no longer providing Canada’s fastest speeds or as much coverage. TELUS sued Rogers to block all ads that make any reference to being more reliable or faster, and a British Columbia Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction. In turn, Rogers sued Bell to block it from making similar claims, and a judge once again ruled against the “most reliable network” of the moment.

Meanwhile, even TELUS considered legal action against Bell because of the reliability claims on the network that they share. It seems no one in Canada will be able to call themselves fast or reliable at this rate.

Read [Vancouver Sun]

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 8:29 am

Game company 2009 Christmas cards collection

FROM GAMERTELL - Games companies like to send a little holiday cheer to media each year. Gamertell’s gladly passing the visual cheer your way for an oogle or two (and check back for updates)...
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:49 am

You-Vision Video Glasses for the Hipster Voyeur

Photojojo’s new video-glasses let you shoot movies in glorious nerd-o-vision. The spectacles have a 320×240 pixel video camera in the bridge which is triggered by a switch on one of the arms, and the only real giveaway that these aren’t your usual hipster glasses is the rather hefty build of those arms.

Inside the video is piped at 25 fps to be stored on the built-in 2GB of flash memory, enough for five hours of footage. Happily, the rechargeable lithium battery also lasts for five hours on a charge, meaning you can just switch these on and forget about them.

If the heavy “1950s scientist” look isn’t for you, the clear lenses can be swapped out for shades. The You-Vision specs charge their battery and upload their video through a supplied USB cable. The price for this incessant observation? $150.

You-Vision Video Glasses [Photojojo]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:29 am

Add Continental to gadget-friendly airlines

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Laptops, Netbooks, Wireless, Gadgets / Other, Transportation

Continental has joined the elite ranks of Virgin America, American, United, even the illustrious AirTran and have made the decision to offer WiFi on itsflights.  The new service will begin rolling out before summer 2010.  Continental will use Gogo Inflight Internet as the WiFi provider.

Interestingly, Gogo offers different rates depending on the device you are using.  For example, laptop users will pay $4.95 for flights up to 1.5 hours, $9.95 for a single flight between 1.5 and 3 hours, and $12.95 for a single flight over 3 hours.  Mobile device users can opt for a $7.95 plan that covers a single flight, no time limit.  A 24 hour pass is available, as is a 30 day pass.

While usually misers, we don’t think these prices are ridiculous.  Inflight WiFi is finally here.  Hooray!

Read [Jaunted]

Photo credit: Jaunted

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:19 am

Watch iPhone Video Over 3G With EyeTV Web App

Elgato has managed to sneakily work its way around Apple’s restriction on streaming video to the iPhone over 3G. It does it using a web app. The native EyeTV iPhone application lets you stream live TV and recorded content from your computer at home over Wi-Fi, and only over Wi-Fi. The new web-app, Live3G, which runs inside the Safari browser, will work anywhere using your iPhone’s data connection.

Simply go to the (secure) URL, enter your username and password and enjoy the show, wherever you may be. The web app lacks many of the features of the native application, so you can’t schedule new recordings or browse the program guide. But because the video is playing inside Safari, there is one big advantage: video out. If you hook your iPhone up to a TV you will be able to watch your streamed video on the big screen — native apps still don’t have access to video-out. This will, of course, also work over Wi-Fi, so you could use your iPhone as a kind of Slingbox without burning your bandwidth.

A smart workaround, and even better, a free one. If you are an EyeTV user, check it out now at https://live3g.eyetv.com. You’ll also need to update the EyeTV software on your computer to the latest version.

EyeTV Web App vs. iPhone App [Elgato]

See Also:

• Hands On With Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 7:08 am

Elgato launches EyeTV Live3G web app to stream TV over 3G

FROM APPLETELL - With EyeTV v3.3, users will now be able to “stream live television over a 3G connection to an iPhone, and watch live TV and EyeTV recordings anywhere.”
MORE »

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

---

Source: Gadgetell | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:31 am

Video Interview with MacBook Bullet Girl

Lily Sussman, the 21 year-old whose MacBook was taken out the back by Israeli border guards and shot-through with three rifle rounds, has given a video interview to the Daily News Egypt. Apparently, she will be reimbursed for the laptop.

Sussman had spent some time in Cairo before crossing the border at Taba on her way to Jerusalem. Upon her crossing, guards found the MacBook suspicious and put three slugs through its tough little unibody. As you may remember, the hard-drive survived.

Sussman seems to be bewildered as to why the machine was “suspicious”: The border guards didn’t even want to check the contents. Bear in mind that traveling from Israel into Arab lands is usually trouble-free, but the reverse is usually much trickier. Now read this, from the Daily News Egypt article:

Amongst the items the guards found suspicious according to Sussman were an Arabic phrasebook, a guide to Palestine, stamps from various Arab countries and map of a bus station and hostel in Jerusalem in which she was to stay.

Also on her camera were pictures of a photo exhibit about the Israeli attack on Gaza last December.

In the video clip, Sussman also says that she snickered at the guard who was questioning her on her knowledge of Jewish faith (Sussman says she is part Jewish). Ignoring the religion part of this for a moment, it seems clear that if you visit somebody’s country, you play by their rules, and don’t laugh at their customs.

In other (fake) news, a US student attended a bullfight in Spain, painted her MacBook red and started waving it at the bull. The bull smashed the machine. Made-up reports say that she is “shocked and stunned” at the attitude of the Spanish authorities, who say it was “her own stupid fault”.

Video Interview With Us Tourist Whose Laptop Was Shot by Israeli Border Guards [Daily News Egypt]

See Also:

• Airport Security Puts Three Bullets Through MacBook, Hard Drive …

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 17 Dec 2009 | 6:29 am

Stargazers spy super-Earth waterworld - Register

NEWS.com.au

Stargazers spy super-Earth waterworld Register Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) say they've spotted a super-Earth waterworld orbiting a red type M star some 40 lightyears from Earth. The body - dubbed GJ1214b - is ... Water World discovered by Harvard astronomersTG Daily Most Earth-Like Extrasolar Planet Found Right Next DoorWired News A Sultry World Is Found Orbiting a Distant StarNew York Times Ars Technica -National Geographic -BBC News all 305 news articles »

Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 17 Dec 2009 | 3:35 am

Disclaimer | About

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

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

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

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