|
|
|
|
Tron Legacy trailer hits the web in high quality
We’ve shown you the new Tron trailer 48 hours ago in bootleg quality, but you can forget that one now and rather watch this high-quality version. Judging from these 2.30 minutes, we’re in for something cool. The new Tron movie is scheduled for release in the US on December 21 this year. The cast is pretty good, including Jeff Bridges, John Hurt and Michael Sheen. Here’s the official website. And here’s the new trailer:
Source: CrunchGear | 9 Mar 2010 | 3:04 am Foursquare’s New Site Design Starts To Roll Live As Gossip Girl Pays Homage
While it looks like the update is still in the process of rolling out to all the pages, Foursquare.com now clearly has new system-wide toolbars, a brand new sign-up page, as well as some new settings. You might also notice a new, name-only logo. While it’s been clear for a while that Foursquare has been working on a site redesign, only in the past few days have signs started to show that it was coming. For example, a completely revamped History area showed up a few days ago, one allowing for venues to have categories as well as show which friends you checked-in with at places. The biggest part of the changes currently rolling out is to the sign-up page. The new step-by-step process looks highly influenced by Twitter’s sign-up page (which they too tweaked a few times over the years). The process now allows you to sign up, easily find friends already using Foursquare via Twitter or Facebook Connect, as well as link up to those aforementioned networks. After you do that, there’s a one-page rundown of what you can do with Foursquare (such as download one of the mobile apps, earn badges, and explore cities). These sign-up pages are important for convincing new users to not only sign up, but also showing them what to do. With Foursquare signing mainstream deals left and right, they’re going to need this.
Something else that appears to be new: an option in the setting page for letting local businesses see that you have checked-in at their venue. When you click the link to learn more, it says:
Sadly, with the redesign, there is still no way to check-in from the site itself. You have to use one of the app, the mobile web, or text messaging to do that. Speaking of mobile apps, Foursquare is about to launch a completely redesigned iPhone app as well. All of these moves are necessary if Foursquare is going to keep up with its better-designed rival, Gowalla (which also just revamped its website). Something else interesting from tonight: apparently the concept of “checking-in” made its onscreen debut on the popular TV show Gossip Girl. Co-founder Dennis Crowley noted the move and tweeted out a picture of it captured from the show. While there is no specific mention of Foursquare, it’s pretty obvious what they’re paying homage to. And Foursquare actually has paid homage the other way, with its “Gossip Girl” badge. The move towards the mainstream continues.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Mar 2010 | 2:46 am Akoha Launches iPhone App To Help Users Socialize Missions
Today, Akoha is launching an free iPhone app and a redesign of its site. Akoha’s iPhone app. With the new app, Akoha has increased the number of missions that can be played. A now Akoha is rewarding players for completed missions with badges, similar to Foursquare’s badge model. Akoha is also allowing users to socialize missions by integrating with Twitter to allow users to broadcast completed tasks. Akoha was founded by Austin Hill and Alex Eberts, who together co-founded Zero-Knowledge Systems (now Rdadialpoint) in 1997. In 2008, the startup received $1.9 million in funding from David Chamandy (co-founder, Lavalife), Ron Dembo (founder, Zerofootprint.net), film producer Jake Eberts (Chariots of Fire, Ghandi), and seed fund Montreal Start Up. Information provided by CrunchBase      
If you want to watch or download the trailer, mosey on over here. Just nine months and eight days! [First Showing via Den Of Geek]  Source: Gizmodo | 9 Mar 2010 | 2:20 am Cyber-bullying cases put heat on Google, Facebook (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Mar 2010 | 2:15 am Foursquare + Google Maps = FourWhere
With the SXSW conference approaching in Austin, we are seeing a lot of geo-location launching this year. A lot of startups are taking advantage of Foursquare’s APIs in particular to get their geo apps quickly out of the gate. Take FourWhere. It is a pretty basic mashup of Foursquare comments and venues overlayed on Google Maps. You can search by city and neighborhood, and see all the recent tips from people who have checked into various nearby restaurants, bars, stores, and offices. The site forces you to right-click to see comments or venues instead of just having a menu in the side, but it does the job. I’m kind of surprised Foursquare doesn’t offer the exact same functionality, but that’s what APIs are for. Sometimes startups need other startups to show them what they should be doing. FourWhere was created a demo app for SXSW by social media analytics firm Sysomos. It plans to add more data from services like Yelp, Twitter, and Gowalla in the future, which brings up the issue of whether it picked the best name.      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:50 am Web's Buildout Boosting Server Chip DemandMost mid-sized web companies like them are beginning to see the demands on their infrastructure increase, especially as they start to cater to more and more web visitors. Expect a bump in the sales of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:45 am Excellent TV News Segment on Fanny Starr's Holocaust Survivor Testimony in Second LifeHere's an excellent local Denver news story on Fanny Starr, the Holocaust survivor who regularly visits Second Life to relate her first-hand account of enduring the Shoah as many of her loved ones were...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:41 am Google Tests TV Search Service - Wall Street Journal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:37 am British Team Constructs Coffee-Powered CarBy Chris Scott Barr For the coffee drinkers out there, how many cups does it take you to get through a typical workday? For many, loading up on coffee is about the equivalent of putting gas in a car. The...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:34 am How Pandora Slipped Past the Junkyard [Voices]By Claire Cain Miller, Staff Writer, New York Times Tim Westergren recently sat in a Las Vegas penthouse suite, a glass of red wine in one hand and a truffle-infused Kobe beef burger in the other, courtesy of the investment bankers who were throwing a party to court him. It was a surreal moment for Mr. Westergren, who founded Pandora, the Internet radio station. For most of its 10 years, it has been on the verge of death, struggling to find investors and battling record labels over royalties. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:30 am Book Giveaways Correlate to Higher Print Sales [Voices]By Eliot Van Buskirk, Contributor, Epicenter, Wired.com Giving away an e-book seems to lead to at least a spike in sales of the print version, Researchers at Brigham Young University have found, especially for fiction. In research that monitored the sales of 41 print books in the eight weeks before and after a free version was released, study authors John Hilton III and David Wiley said they found “a moderate correlation between free digital books being made permanently available and short-term print sales increases.” All 41 books in the study (via Boing Boing) were made available as complete PDF downloads (as well as other formats in some cases), including two by former Wired.com managing editor Leander Kahney that he distributed for free via bit torrent. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:29 am The Future of Windows [Voices]By twenty-eight Windows watchers, Technologizer In 1985, almost all PCs sat on desktops, the Internet was a Defense Department research project, and the cell phone revolution had barely gotten underway. It was also the year that Microsoft (MSFT) launched a DOS front-end called Windows 1.0. Over the past quarter century, Windows has evolved many times, and it will change again in light of Microsoft’s investments in cloud services, mobile platforms, and other new technologies. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:28 am Don't Blame Your Community: Ad Blocking is Not Killing Any Sites [Voices]By Mike Masnick, Editor, Techdirt Every so often we hear about a random blog or website that freaks out and claims that ad blockers are “stealing” or somehow damaging websites. But it’s quite a surprise to see a similar argument from a site like Ars Technica — one of the top techie sites out there, which is now owned by Conde Nast. Over the weekend, Ars wrote an odd post claiming that ad blocking “is devastating to the sites you love.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:27 am Time to Start Taking the Internet Seriously [Voices]By David Gelernter, Contributor, Edge.org Edge was in Munich in January for DLD 2010 and an Edge/DLD event entitled “Informavore” — a discussion featuring Frank Schirrmacher, Editor of the Feuilleton and Co-Publisher of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Andrian Kreye, Feuilleton Editor of Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich; and Yale computer science visionary David Gelernter, who, in his 1991 book Mirror Worlds presented what’s now called “cloud computing.” The intent of the panel was to discuss — for the benefit of a German audience — the import of the recent Frank Schirrmacher interview on Edge entitled “The Age of the Informavore.” David Gelernter, who predicted the Web, and who first presented the idea of “the cloud”, was the scientist on the panel along with Schirrmacher and Kreye, Feuilleton editors of the two leading German national newspapers, both distinguished intellectuals. As a result of the panel, Schirrmacher has commissioned Gelernter to write a regular column for FAZ, which was inaugurated with this essay, published by FAZ in a German translation on March 1st (“Der Mann, der das ‘World Wide Web’ erst möglich gemacht hat.”) Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:26 am IBM makes Earth-friendly plastic from plants (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:18 am Viral Video: New "Iron Man 2″ Trailer (With 57 Percent More Whiplash) [BoomTown]
The upcoming sequel to the highly successful and wildly techtastic “Iron Man” movie series is slated for a May 7 release and, from viewing the second trailer just released, it looks like it will do double the damage. That’s because there will be two robotic heros–Iron Man and War Machine versus Whiplash, who uses–well–electric whips. Here’s the new trailer video, as well as the first released late last year. Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:14 am Lil Wayne begins 1-year jail term in NYC gun case (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:09 am Apple's iTunes LP 6 Months Later: LP What?If Apple's iTunes LP format was supposed to give music fans a new reason to buy albums instead of individual songs, its impact on record sales has been a major disappointment. Six months after its introduction,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am Fake Intel Chips Disappoint Newegg Customers [Voices]By Don Clark, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Some people hoping to get a boost in PC performance recently got a rude surprise: the microprocessors they bought were not only not genuine Intel products–they weren’t even chips at all. Intel (INTC) confirms that online retailer Newegg passed along some pretty crude facsimiles of the chip maker’s Core i7 920 microprocessors. According to reports and video links supplied by news sites such as HardOCP, the customers received a box (with some misspelled text) that contained a fake cooling fan, blank paper stapled together as a “manual” and a piece of plastic that looked vaguely like a chip. “Intel is getting samples to inspect and until then we can say that everything in the package appears fake,” says Daniel Snyder, an Intel spokesman. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: Unboxing Dots Edition
Why software costs so much: It’s the packaging!
Source: CrunchGear | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:00 am CauseWorld’s Checkin For Charity Gets More Citi Money
CauseWorld app users earn “karma points” when they walk into stores and check in with their cell phone. No purchase is required at any store, and karma points can be redeemed nine predefined good causes. Big brands like Kraft Foods and Citi (both are on board) then turn the karmas into real dollar donations to those causes. Food for poor families, water in Sudan, trees in the Amazon, etc. are examples of the causes. The company has now donated about half of the original $500,000 donated by Kraft and Citi for the test period. And these brands seem to be happy. CauseWorld has been downloaded more than 300,000 times, probably putting it on par with location based check in networks like FourSquare. Last week Proctor and Gamble said it will give users karma points for scanning the bar codes of 27 products, like toothpaste or face cream. And now Citi will announce that it is expanding it’s support of CauseWorld. It’s total contribution is now at $700,000. The charity angle on CauseWorld is brilliant and gives users an added incentive to check in at retail stores. But ultimately what Shopkick, the company behind CauseWorld, is aiming for is a bridge between the mobile world and the physical retail space. CauseWorld. Shopkick has much bigger plans, they say, that’s all very hush-hush. Sometime later this year we’ll see their new product. The company, founded by Cyriac Roeding, has attracted some of the most high profile investors in Silicon Valley: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Reid Hoffman. The press release is below: CITI INCREASES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEW ‘CAUSEWORLD’ APP FROM SHOPKICK, INC. Citi also announced that the CauseWorld application would add two microfinance organizations – BRAC and ACCION USA – to its cadre of causes to which shoppers with the app may now donate. “Already, the CauseWorld app is having a strong impact. It speaks volumes about the potential power of location-based mobile services. Citi continues to explore ways to bring new value, including convenience and smarter ways to use money, to customers and potential customers by working with leading companies, VCs, and startups like shopkick,” said Jeff Semenchuk, head of Citi’s Growth Ventures unit. “Citi is committed to meeting our customers’ emerging mobile, retail and payment needs,” he said. “The CauseWorld app is proving to be a very effective way for Citi to support leading social impact-focused nonprofit institutions. The fact that shoppers are making the decisions makes it all the more interesting. We’re pleased that the CauseWorld app will also now include two of the leading microfinance organizations, BRAC and ACCION USA,” said Robert Annibale, Global Director of Citi Microfinance and Community Relations. ACCION USA brings affordable microfinance solutions to small business owners. It funds microcredit loans and financial education programs that help American small business owners grow and thrive. BRAC is a development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty by empowering the poor to bring about changes in their own lives. Shopper-generated “karma” will help provide microcredit loans to give poor women in Africa the tools they need to generate income for themselves and their families. CauseWorld users will be able to donate to BRAC and ACCION USA immediately. Since its December 23 launch, Citi has helped support a number of important causes through CauseWorld, including providing clean water for people in developing countries such as Sudan, providing meals to families in the US, planting trees as well as donating books. CauseWorld users are also benefiting Haitian and Chilean earthquake relief efforts. “Citi saw the potential in CauseWorld before the app was even built,” said shopkick CEO Cyriac Roeding. “It’s every entrepreneur’s dream to work with people who ‘get’ the idea, even before it becomes reality. Citi’s new microfinance causes and additional financial contribution underscore their focus on creating sustainable impact.” shopkick is backed by Kleiner Perkins and Reid Hoffman. The CauseWorld application, available for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, was released in December. The CauseWorld app works by allowing iPhone and Android users to collect “karmas” by opening the app and “checking-in” when they come close to, or enter, retail stores. Karmas are then funded by Citi and Kraft Foods so that the user can spend collected karmas on real world charitable actions like planting trees, feeding families in America or providing clean water to people in Sudan. Once the chosen action has been carried out by the charity partner, users can publish their good deeds to their Facebook feed, so all of their friends can see their pride and join in supporting good causes. A list of participating retail stores is included in the CauseWorld app and no purchase is necessary at the stores to earn karmas. With the addition of BRAC and ACCION USA, eleven charities have partnered with the CauseWorld App including: American Red Cross, Feeding America, American Forests, GlobalGiving, DonorsChoose.org, Prevent Child Abuse America, Carbonfund.org, American Humane Association and Room to Read. How it works: The CauseWorld App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone or at www.causeworld.com/iphone. About Citi About shopkick About ACCION USA BRAC      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:58 am UPDATE 1-Weir beats forecasts, upgrades 2010 outlookLONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - British engineer Weir Group posted full year pretax profit ahead of market expectations, as strong performances in its minerals and power units offset weakness in its oil and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:44 am Google Tests TV Search Service [Voices]By Jessica E. Vascellaro, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Google Inc. (GOOG) is testing a new television-programming search service with DISH Network Corp. (DISH), according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV. The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google’s YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said. With the test, Google moves deeper into a crowded field of companies, large and small, that have been trying for years to marry the Web and TV and their business models–from rivals Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) to the manufacturers of televisions and set-top boxes. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:36 am Tweetshare: Fuze Box’s Take On Branded Twitter Channels
A social alternative to static landing pages, Tweetshare aims to be a Twitterfied-Facebook Fan Page. Twitter users can post relevant content, such as presentations, images, videos and PDFs, and can also Tweet from the platform. Any comments made on a Tweetshare page or similarly, made on Twitter in response to posted content is also threaded on the page. A free application, Tweetshare also provides measurement and analytics tools, including polling functionality and the ability for users to become a fan of a brand’s Tweetshare Fan Page. And similar to YouTube channels and Facebook pages, Tweetshare Fan Pages can be branded and customized. The site is missing Facebook connect, but Fuze Box says this will be rolled out soon. Of course, Mixx offers branded Twitter channels through TweetMixx, which offer some of the functionality of Tweetshare. And Tweetmeme also offers a similar product. Its unclear if there is any monetization that can be made from the Tweetshare, but the application seems that it could be useful. Fuze Box has a pretty unique history as far as startups go. CallWave was founded in 1998 and went public in 2004, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CALL. After reaching a peak soon thereafter of over $15 per share, the stock dropped steadily, dipping as low as 50 cents early this year. Deciding to cut its losses, the company delisted itself from NASDAQ on Monday after buying back shares from public shareholders at a 44% premium over the current market value and paying out a total of $10 million. Last summer, the company rebranded itself as Fuze Box and launched Fuze Meeting, which it’s pitting as a sleeker, lighter, and cheaper alternative to services like WebEx. Although the company has experienced some tough times over the past few years, it appears to be in a better place now. And the startup is obviously broadening its product base. However, while a little late to the Twitter frenzy, Fuze Box is moving in the right direction.
Information provided by CrunchBase .      
Source: TechCrunch | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:30 am NSA Still Ahead In Crypto, But Not By MuchHugh Pickens writes "Network World summarizes an RSA Conference panel discussion in which former NSA technical director Brian Snow said that cryptographers for the NSA have been losing ground to their counterparts in universities and commercial security vendors for 20 years, but still maintain the upper hand in the sophistication of their crypto schemes and in their ability to decrypt. 'I do believe NSA is still ahead, but not by much — a handful of years,' says Snow. 'I think we've got the edge still.' Snow added that that in the 1980s there was a huge gap between what the NSA could do and what commercial encryption technology was capable of. 'Now we are very close together and moving very slowly forward in a mature field.' The NSA has one key advantage (besides their deep staff of Ph.D. mathematicians and other cryptographic experts who work on securing traffic and breaking codes): 'We cheat. We get to read what [academics] publish. We do not publish what we research,' he said. Snow's claim of NSA superiority seemed to rankle some members on the panel. Adi Shamir, the "S" in the RSA encryption algorithm. said that when the titles of papers in NSA technical journals were declassified up to 1983, none of them included public key encryption; 'That demonstrates that NSA was behind,' said Shamir. Snow replied that when technologies are developed separately in parallel, the developers don't necessarily use the same terms for them."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:22 am iPhone developer EULA turns programmers into serfsThe Electronic Frontier Foundation has published the Apple iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, a secretive document that requires its signatories to agree to a gag order on the terms of the deal...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:09 am iPhone developer EULA turns programmers into serfsThe Electronic Frontier Foundation has published the Apple iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, a secretive document that requires its signatories to agree to a gag order on the terms of the deal. EFF got the agreement by submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to NASA, who had signed onto it in order to release its app. EFF Senior IP Attorney Fred von Lohmann has some pithy analysis of just how awful this agreement is for the programmers who gets sucked into it:It's amazing all the ways that the iPhone manages to screw the people that love it: saddling iPhone owners with crappy contracts with abusive mobile companies, limiting their access to programs and forcing them into one-sided EULAs, then screwing the developers with equally abusive agreements. I guess that's one way to think different. All Your Apps Are Belong to Apple: The iPhone Developer Program License Agreement
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 9 Mar 2010 | 12:09 am Weekly Poll: Is There A Place For Open-Source in the Data Center?This week's poll is inspired our friends at CloudAve. Krishnan Subramanian wrote a post today about open-sourcing data center design. It's about time, isn't it? Subramanian best point comes down to what...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:57 pm Tweetie Two For Mac Approaches (Picture)
Brichter sent out a series of teasing tweets today indicating that Tweetie Two is coming soon for the Mac. One, from his atebits account, reads:
While clearly he’s about to say “News about Tweetie Two,” that in and of itself isn’t very useful. The more useful tweet comes from his personal Twitter account, where he links to a “leaked” screenshot, “Shhh, @atebits doesn’t know I’m leaking screenshots.” To which he replies to himself, “Damn you @lorenb!” Cute. Better is the screenshot itself (below). While it doesn’t show much of anything beyond what seems to be a frame for Tweetie Two (which he humorously calls “Tweetie Too”) — or just an awful-looking joke — the fact that work is far enough along to for him to feel comfortable talking about it at all is a good sign. Brichter released Tweetie for Mac last April, following the success of Tweetie (the first one) for the iPhone. It costs you $20 for the ad-free version, but it is well worth it if you’re addicted to Twitter want want a native, non-AIR app (though Echofon has a nice one as well). So what else do we know about Tweetie Two for the Mac? Brichter actually set up a Formspring.me account where he has answered some questions himself. Notably, the pricing for Tweetie Two will be the same as the first one. Brichter basically spends all his time on the project. And he even designs it himself. Also, “The interface is going to be substantially different,” he writes. Finally, when asked if he plans to develop for the upcoming iPad, Brichter has just two words, “Hell yeah.” Tweetie for iPad, anyone?
Update: Brichter emailed us to say that the tweets were “Just having some fun (have been so busy that I haven’t had much time to tweet recently). He also notes that there’s some interesting news involving Tweetie tomorrow at MacHeist. Judging from the page, it looks like Tweetie 2 could be added to the nanoBundle 2, a collection of excellent Mac apps for just $19.95.      
Source: TechCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:49 pm Never Ending Goldrush: Doodle Jump for iPhone Smashes Through 3 Million Sales
Doodle Jump for the iPhone is something like a developer’s fairy tale: two brothers set out to make a game using only the talents they’ve got at hand, and end up striking gold. They keep pushing out minor updates, and the game just keeps selling. Tomorrow morning, Lima Sky will be announcing that Doodle Jump has just surpassed 3 million sales — a feat they claim is a first for any Indie development house. If it seems like we were just writing about Doodle Jump surpassing the 1 million download mark, it’s because we were; that last landmark only just came in mid-December of last year. Less than 3 months later, Lima Sky has managed to triple an already impressive haul. Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>      
Source: TechCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:47 pm Never Ending Goldrush: Doodle Jump for iPhone Smashes Through 3 Million Sales
Doodle Jump for the iPhone is something like a developer’s fairy tale: two brothers set out to make a game using only the talents they’ve got at hand, and end up striking gold. They keep pushing out minor updates, and the game just keeps selling. Tomorrow morning, Lima Sky will be announcing that Doodle Jump has just surpassed 3 million sales — a feat, they claim, is a first for any Indie development house. If it seems like we were just writing about Doodle Jump surpassing the 1 million download mark, it’s because we were; that last landmark only just came in mid-December of last year. Less than 3 months later, Lima Sky has managed to triple an already impressive haul. At 99 cents a pop, this game has pulled in at least $2.97 million in revenue since it launched in March of 2009. Given that Apple takes 30% of all sales revenue, that works out to about $891,000 for the folks in Cupertino, and $2.08 million for the two brothers behind Lima Sky. A million bucks per year (per person) from a single iPhone game? Not too bad, guys.
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:40 pm Beyond breaking firewalls: how to fight net-censorshipEthan Zuckerman's new piece on Worldchanging, "Internet Freedom: Beyond Circumvention," looks at the technical and social limitations of circumvention of censoring firewalls that we love so much as a...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:34 pm Beyond breaking firewalls: how to fight net-censorshipEthan Zuckerman's new piece on Worldchanging, "Internet Freedom: Beyond Circumvention," looks at the technical and social limitations of circumvention of censoring firewalls that we love so much as a tool for helping people in repressive regimes liberate themselves. It's an excellent and thought-provoking piece that raises more questions than it answers, but it points to some very meaty research problems that people who care about technology and freedom need to attend to.Internet Freedom: Beyond Circumvention (Image: Great Firewall of China, a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike image from chidorian's photostream)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:34 pm Medipal Holdings -2009/10 group forecastCONSOLIDATED EARNINGS ESTIMATES (in billions of yen unless specified)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:30 pm Just Because: 8-Bit Style Map Of New York City
Why? Who cares. I love it. Creator Brett Camper says “I created 8-Bit NYC, mixing the lo-fi overhead world maps of 1980s role-playing and adventure games with the kind of geographical data that drives today’s web maps and GPS navigation. It’s interactive (like Google Maps), letting you zoom from a view of the whole city, down to an individual street — any address, anywhere in the city. Here are a few highlights: Central Park, Greenwich Village, World Trade Center.” And he’s not done. Camper is asking for donation to help him build out fifteen more 8-bit city maps. The funds will be used for web hosting and the Amazon EC2 computing time needed for drawing the maps. Eight of the cities he has already selected, the other seven will be selected by donors. More information is here.      
Source: TechCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:23 pm Smart auto-sorting bolt/screw/nut boxWulf from Craftster built this uber-clever workshop-bits sorting box after getting sick of manually sorting out the buckets of loose bits of metal that built up around his shop: "At the shop where I...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:20 pm Smart auto-sorting bolt/screw/nut box Wulf from Craftster built this uber-clever workshop-bits sorting box after getting sick of manually sorting out the buckets of loose bits of metal that built up around his shop: "At the shop where I work we just toss loose screws, bolts, nails and other bits and pieces of hardware from the workbenches and the floor into a bucket and, every couple of years when the bucket gets too full, somebody has to dump the whole mess out and sort everything back to where it belongs. When that job fell to me this Spring, I decided there had to be a better solution. So I designed a bin that would help to at least divide things by type to make the final sorting easier. Though built for an industrial situation, it would work equally well in the home craft room for jewellery findings, sewing notions, etc." Self-sorting (sorta) bin (via Dinosaurs and Robots)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:20 pm The Secret Lives Of Objects: StickyBits Turn Barcodes Into Personal Message Boards
Every place and object in the world has a secret past: who lived there, who passed by, who touched it. The secret lives of objects are filled with such details. If only you could make them talk. But what if you could give any physical object a story simply by sticking a barcode on it and appending a message to that barcode? The message could be a photo, a text message, a video, or a voice note. All anyone would need to unlock the message is a phone with a special barcode scanning app. Stickybits is that app. Founded by Billy Chasen (the original programmer behind Chartbeat) and Seth Goldstein (chairman and founder of SocialMedia), the startup just closed a $300,000 seed round from Polaris Venture Partners and Mitch Kapor. Officially launching this week at Austin’s SXSW festival, stickybits is a new mobile app for both the iPhone and Android. It lets you scan any barcode and attach a message to that physical object. The barcode in a greeting card , for instance, could trigger a video message from the sender. One on a box of medical supplies could inventory what is inside. A business card with a code on it could link to a resume or LinkedIn profile. Museums and theme parks could use them for audio tours and maps. Local merchants could use the barcodes to track deliveries or place them in their storefront windows to distribute digital coupons and offers to passersby. The possibilities are endless.
The app is free, but stickybits sells packs of 20 vinyl barcode stickers for $10. You also can download and print your own barcodes for free, or scan an existing one on a physical product like a can of Coke. (Future business model: charge brands to claim their barcodes and place their own messages first). Each barcode is programmable by the first person who scans it and and leaves a photo, video, audio, or text message. The next time somebody scans that barcode, the previous message will appear on their phone. Anyone can add a new message to the same code, resulting in a stream of messages connected to whatever object or place the barcode is stuck on. Each scan, and related message, is geo-tagged so you can see as an object moves around how its story evolves. The app lets you follow people and see their object stream, or get notified whenever one of your objects is scanned, moved, or new bits are attached to them. You can toggle between stream and map views. It supports Facebook Connect for login and any scan can be broadcast out to Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare. With Foursquare, it actually gives you the option to check into the place where you are by scanning the barcode.
If stickybits sounds like science fiction that may be because they share some attributes with author Bruce Sterling’s concept of “Spimes” (later fleshed out in his book Shaping Things):
Sterling predicted Spimes will eventually be designed into all objects, and contain their histories, raw materials, ingredients, ownership history and other data. Perhaps stickybits are first steps in that direction.
     
Source: TechCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:11 pm Clock made from a whirling, strobing hard-driveThis Strobeshnik clock is made from an old hard drive: "The digits are etched in the original platter and they're strobed from behind with leds. The HDD motor is driven by a custom circuit without feedback,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:02 pm Clock made from a whirling, strobing hard-driveThis Strobeshnik clock is made from an old hard drive: "The digits are etched in the original platter and they're strobed from behind with leds. The HDD motor is driven by a custom circuit without feedback, hence poor startup performance and awful noise. Rotational feedback is provided by an IR LED/phototransistor pair near the place where the head arm formerly was." The result is a whirling, grinding, eye-catching, unreadable kinetic sculpture. Now that's a timepiece! Strobeshnik (final) (via JWZ!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:02 pm Stomach-churning details of CIA waterboarding crimesSalon's Mark Benjamin went spelunking in the recently released CIA torture memos and comes back with a stomach-churning account of the waterboarding practiced at Gitmo. This fine-tuned torture process...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:58 pm Stomach-churning details of CIA waterboarding crimesSalon's Mark Benjamin went spelunking in the recently released CIA torture memos and comes back with a stomach-churning account of the waterboarding practiced at Gitmo. This fine-tuned torture process repeatedly took its victims to the brink of death (one victim was waterboarded 180+ times) until many of them simply gave up on breathing and tried to allow themselves to drown, only to be revived by unethical medical personnel who collaborated with the war criminals conducting the torture.Waterboarding for dummies Source: Boing Boing | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:58 pm Strength In Numbers: Canadian Entrepreneurs Flock To The C100
The C100 is the brainchild of Anthony Lee (Altos Ventures) and Chris Albinson (Panorama Capital). There are 250,000 Canadians living in Northern California, Albinson told me earlier today, many of whom are in tech (he and Lee are among them). And they need an organization like TiE, which was originally founded for south Asians, to help them help each other. The organization will also help Canadian startups and entrepreneurs get a foot in the door in Silicon Valley. Canadian incubators Bootup Labs, FounderFuel and Xtreme Labs are all sponsors of The C100 and will bring Canadians down to Silicon Valley for various networking events. The C100 has successful charter members who pay $800 to be part of the organization. But general members who are the type of people who will want to get to know the charter members, can join for free, here.      
Source: TechCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:52 pm Newegg probes shipments of fake Intel chips - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:52 pm Fafblog on the Iraq electionsFafblog, one of my favorite satirical sites, has a scorching and unfortunately accurate take on the Iraq election:Freedom On The Lurch
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:51 pm Rhizome's 7 on 7: 7 geeks, 7 artists co-create in NYCFred sez,Seven on Seven - Rhizome (Thanks, Fred!) Source: Boing Boing | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:47 pm Singapore Refining Co to shut gasoline unit in Q2(For refinery outages in the new Reuters Oil Fundamentals Database see http://bond.views.session.rservices.com/CE/ or go to <OFD/INFO>)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:45 pm Sony to Begin Worldwide 3D TV Launch in June (PC World)PC World - Sony will begin selling 3D TVs in Japan on June 10 and worldwide at about the same time, it said Tuesday. A firmware upgrade to its PlayStation 3 console that adds 3D support and other 3D-compatible home electronics products will also be available to coincide with the television launch.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:40 pm iPad to hit stores April 3SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc said the first iPads will be in U.S. stores on April 3 and hit nine international markets later in the month, easing concerns that manufacturingSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:30 pm iPad to hit stores April 3 (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:30 pm Square Enix launches its epic Final Fantasy XIII with an epic party - VentureBeat
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:20 pm UPDATE 2-Sony to start selling 3D TVs in June* Panasonic, Samsung and other rivals also launching 3D TVsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:12 pm IBM, Stanford cite advance in plastic recycling (AP)AP - When you recycle a plastic bottle, it doesn't necessarily become another plastic bottle.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:02 pm CrunchCool: Russian Typhoon class submarine
Here’s something old, but definitely cool and worth showing you. Livejournal user Igor113 posted some pictures from his trip to… somewhere in Russia. He loves to travel and take pictures, and these are some extremely cool photographs of some rusted and cool equipment. Igor did apologize for the quality of his camera though, and requests that you don’t kick his legs.
The submarine pictures aren’t the only cool things on Igor’s site, he’s apparently traveled all over the EU and taken many many pictures of defunct Russian military vehicles and aircraft. I’d definitely recommend checking out some of his other posts as well.
That's the big unanswered question right now, though we'll know soon enough; they go on sale today in the US. If the pricing is in line with the V13, though, these could be worth a closer look. The Vostro 3300, 3400, 3500, and 3700 range from 13-inches to 17-inches, and all offer Core i3 and Core i5 processor options. For true juiceheads, the 17-inch Vostro 3700 even includes a Core i7 Quad Core option. Even better: a discrete graphics option. You can add an Nvidia Geforce 310M 512MB graphics card to the 3300-3500, while the 3700 has an optional Nvidia Geforce GT 330M 1GB card. You even get an optical drive, a rarity these days on an SMB laptop, but something that I'm sure at least some people will be happy to see. You can also order the 3300 without, if you'd prefer to save yourself the extra quarter of a pound that the optical drive adds. Other specs—including up to a 9 cell battery, 500GB hard drive, and 6GB memory—are in line with the Vostro's competitors. We'll just have to wait and see if the pricing is as well.
Source: Gizmodo | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:01 pm MoreMagic Solutions Offers International Recharge for Mobile Phones in MexicoSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:01 pm March 9, 1454: This Man Is a Continent ... or TwoAmerigo Vespucci is remembered in the names of two continents, not because he was first to visit them, but because he was first to realize that they were something new to Europeans.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:00 pm Analysts point to politics over Obama's NASA conference - Houston Chronicle
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:51 pm UPDATE 6-Lyondell restructuring plan includes Apollo role* Says Reliance offer not worth enough to drop reorg planSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:43 pm Jobs Says No Tethering iPad To iPhonetugfoigel writes "Anyone who currently owns an iPhone and was hoping they would be able to use it as a mobile Web access point for a Wi-Fi iPad just got some bad news. Reportedly, Steve Jobs has said this will not happen. Swedish blog Slashat.se claims they e-mailed Job directly to ask him whether or not you'd be able to tether your iPad and iPhone and received a terse 'No' in reply. According to the report, the email headers made it plausible that the reply had come from Jobs's iPhone."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:31 pm DIY: Control your Hexapod robot with your iPhoneCheck out this custom made iPhone app that robotics student Robert Stephenson created. Robert wrote this app to control his Hexapod robot using the the user inputs on the iPhone.
Roberst control method includes the touchscreen and accelerometers to manipulate the forward and reverse controls. Robert has done several videos about his project, it’s definitely worth looking at it you are into robotics and iPhone apps.
#broken, #whitenoise, #tips, #lifechanger, #whateveryouwant. You'll see plenty of these tags in the comments. Each of them links to a corresponding tagpage which is like a forum of sorts. You can contribute to one of those pages by using the box right next to the Gizmodo logo. Just enter whatever tag you want to use, be it #tips or some silly secret tagpage you decide to create and tada! You've just made a whole new tagpage linked to your tag. If you ever want to view what's on a certain tag's page, just head to gizmodo.com/tag/TYPEATAGHERE. How can this all be fun though? Well, I asked some of the commenters in #whitenoise to share their favorite tags and what they're for. Here's what they came up with:
I'm sure there are plenty of tags that I've yet to discover—or maybe some secret ones that small groups of commenters are keeping to themselves—and that's half the fun. The tagpages are your way to have a corner of Gizmodo to call your own. Heck, you can make a tag for #yourusername if you want. Source: Gizmodo | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:27 pm Analyst: PlayStation 3 to Smoke Xbox 360 and Wii (PC World)PC World - Begging trouble, Strategy Analytics forecasts Sony's PlayStation 3 will outsell both the Xbox 360 and Wii by the time things are winding down for all three. That's not all: In a report titled "Taming the Waves: Games Console Life Cycles and Platform Competition," the company offers specific figures, predicting everything from transitional timeframes to life unit sales.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:06 pm MoreMagic Solutions Offers International Recharge for Mobile Phones in MexicoNEWTON, Mass.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:01 pm Weird: slow-motion plant race to the deathI hear you asking: what is it good for? Unlike war, it’s actually pretty useful. I mean, useful if you really care about growing plants systematically… and you liked Gladiator. My only objection to this setup is that it’s a pretty obvious way of culling humans once the Robocalypse comes. If the robots are able to feel pleasure, they’ll feel it when they employ on us the same device we once employed on lesser species. Hope you have tall genes.
Source: CrunchGear | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:00 pm Beautiful collision of two colored smoke ringsA red smoke ring and a blue smoke ring collide, with spectacular results. (Via Forgetomori) Globe and Mail's Russell Smith wrote a piece entitled "A Lament for the Bookshelf," and in it he contemplates how it appears that books are slowly taking a similar path to the one CDs once took—from racks of plastic discs to libraries full of digital files. More and more people are reaching for ebook readers and sending books through email, IRC, torrents, or gifting them in the form of links. Does this mean that old-fashioned bookworms like me a dying breed? Was it weird to head to Amazon and place an order of essential books to be shipped to my fellow book lover's doorstep? Should I have sent ebooks instead? [Globe and Mail via NYT] Source: Gizmodo | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:47 pm Former Morgan Stanley exec to join Carlyle-sourceNEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Former Morgan Stanley executive Mitch Petrick is joining Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] to head the private equity firm's leveraged finance and mezzanine business for the United...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:41 pm Nokia files patent for kinetically-charging mobile phone battery
[via Unwired View, Symbian Freaks, Slashgear]
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:33 pm For the programmer who has everything: Android pillows
[via Technabob]
Source: CrunchGear | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:30 pm Taiwan's Compal sees higher China personnel costsTAIPEI, March 9 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Compal Electronics , the world's No.2 contract laptop PC maker, expects its personnel costs in China to increase 8-10 percent this year amid labour shortages on the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:18 pm Review: Case-mate Hug Wireless Charging Pad and Case for iPhone 3G/3GS
Short Version: A bit of a twist on traditional induction chargers, Case-mate’s “Hug Wireless Charging Pad and Case” attempts to offset its $100 price tag by adhering to the Wireless Power Consortium’s universal charging standard, which promises interoperability with other charging pads and devices that are developed using the same technology.
Full Review: One of the larger barriers to adopting new technology is the relatively high price tag pitted against the uncertainty of whether or not that technology will become widespread enough to spawn future devices. What’s the sense in dropping $100 on an induction charger for your iPhone if there’s a possibility you’ll switch to a different phone in the future? Case-mate makes the plunge a bit less frightening by basing its “Hug” system upon an open wireless charging standard, the Wireless Power Consortium’s eCoupled technology (the same technology used in Palm’s “Touchstone” chargers for the Pre and Pixi lines). This theoretically means that you’d be able to charge your phone on any wireless charging surface based on the same standard—Case-mate offers a bedside table, Starbuck’s coffee table, and airplanes as examples. We’ll have to see how this eventually plays out in real life, but you get the idea. It also means that you’ll be able to use the included charging pad to juice up any other devices that use the same standard—a different model phone with an eCoupled-enabled case, for instance. So while $100 may seem a bit steep, you’re investing in what the WPC and Case-mate hopes becomes a widespread standard. You may have to buy different cases and/or battery covers for different devices in the future, but that charging pad should be the last one you ever need to purchase (in theory).
As a charging solution, the Hug system is surprisingly nimble. I was able to take my iPhone 3GS from near zero percent battery to 100% in two hours. That’s pretty good considering early induction charging systems have operated at a much slower trickle. The first one I reviewed, almost a year ago now, took overnight. That system was for Wii remotes, too, which aren’t quite as important as having an adequately charged cell phone.
The system is comprised of the charging pad and a protective iPhone case, which Case-mate describes as “slim.” We can go back and forth all day about using slim as an adjective but I can tell you that the case added some noticeable bulk to my phone. It doesn’t feel like it’d be super protective, either. It’s made of two plastic pieces that snap together; the backing of the larger main piece feels somewhat solid but the sides of both pieces are pretty bendy. I definitely wouldn’t want to drop my phone, and let’s remember that there’s induction technology built into the case that probably shouldn’t be bumped around too violently.
The fattest part of the case measures about 0.8 inches thick, versus an unprotected iPhone at less than half an inch thick. It’s still pocketable, though it definitely feels lumpier.
Charging time, as I said earlier, is a respectable two hours for full recuperation of an iPhone 3GS battery. I noticed a very faint, quickly repeating ticking sound as my phone was recharging and every time I’d put the case down on the pad my battery indicator would spike a few percentage points for some reason. Not a big deal either way, but it’s there. Conclusion: So would I carry my phone around in this case all day long? Maybe not presently, but I’d definitely do it if all these magic charging surfaces start popping up everywhere. Absolutely. It beats lugging around cables or spare emergency batteries for sure. If the WPC really wants this standard to take off, it should give the charging pads away for next to nothing for a while. For $5 to $10 apiece, I’d put them all over my house and in my car. For now, it’s still a bit too early to tell. The Hug is a nice example of how well the technology actually works, though, and if it reaches more widespread adoption, you may find yourself pricing out induction cases and covers for all your commonly-used gadgets. If you’re intrigued by induction charging and you’re ready to take the plunge, the Hug ought to be a safe bet provided you don’t mind the $100 price tag and the bit of extra bulk it adds.
Hug – Wireless Charging Pad & Case [Case-mate.com]
Source: CrunchGear | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:00 pm Review: Case-mate Hug Wireless Charging Pad and Case for iPhone 3G/3GS Short Version: A bit of a twist on traditional induction chargers, Case-mate’s “Hug Wireless Charging Pad and Case” attempts to offset its $100 price tag by adhering to the Wireless Power Consortium’s universal charging standard, which promises interoperability with other charging pads and devices that are developed using the same technology.
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:00 pm Toyota disputes critic who blames electronics (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:55 pm Sony to start selling 3D TVs in Japan from June 10TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp said on Tuesday it will launch 3D televisions in Japan on June 10.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:47 pm New TV Show Perpetuates Anorexia MythsA new VH1 show called “The Price of Beauty,” hosted by Jessica Simpson, will premiere soon. The theme of the show is the extreme measures that some women will endure to look beautiful. It’s a worthy subject, but unfortunately the ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:46 pm Corduroy: not just on your trousers any more
How come we don’t have corduroy phones, or mice? This world doesn’t make sense to me any more!
The pillows measure twelve by twelve inches, are handcrafted, and can be purchased for twenty bucks a piece. [Etsy via Technabob] Source: Gizmodo | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:40 pm Why Microsoft Can't Afford To Let Novell Diegeek4 sends in an analysis indicating that Microsoft may have the most to lose if hedge-fund operator Elliott buys Novell. (The eWeekEurope piece is based on a longer and geekier writeup by Andy Updegrove on how the mechanics of an unsolicited tender offers can play out in the tech world.) To avoid meltdown or asset-stripping, Novell can try and find a preferred bidder — a company with some interest in running Novell as a business, and preferrably a tech company. Or another company may make a move independently. But who might that be? A couple of analysts have suggested IBM, Oracle, or SAP. These all have problems... Microsoft is in a similar category, with one added problem. ... Microsoft has staked any open source credibility that it has on Novell's SUSE distribution. If Novell falls to bits, then Microsoft's efforts to gain open source cred pretty much disappear with it. It's something that would have been impossible to imagine a few years back, but if we're looking for someone to prop Novell up, Microsoft would now be a prime candidate."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:37 pm Well, the blue bottle was my blues – and the red bottle was what I made my bottle slide out of
SlidePlayer has more info for your reading pleasure.
The crystals themselves aren't new; they've been around for over a decade in computer chips, solar cells, and LEDs, according to CBC News. This particular application, though, is unprecedented:
The breakthrough came after two years of research, when the team was able to get the right concentration of manganese combined with the germanium matrix of the quantum dot. Makes perfect sense! But however high-level the science, the end result is clear: a new breed of semiconductor could be on the way, bringing with it speed, efficiency, and storage increases bordering on the exponential. The only question now is how long? [CBC News] Source: Gizmodo | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:00 pm Flash cartridge for SNES lets you get your ROM on
This cartridge does the same job but fits into your SNES, allowing you to load it up with as many ROMs as you can fit on there. You add ‘em on there via USB (the cart has 256MB of space, which will probably fit about 100 games) and then use the on-screen menu to navigate. It doesn’t seem to offer any of the advanced features of some flash carts — freeze states, rewind and fast-forward, that sort of thing. It also won’t support some games that had added hardware, like the SuperFX chip in StarFox and Stunt Race FX. It costs $169, which sounds expensive until you think that there are probably only a thousand people in the world who want one of these.
I personally have no use for this thing; I have all the cartridges I need, which is to say Super Mario Kart, Zelda, and Street Fighter II Turbo.
Pivot allows you to create and access data collections made from massive amounts of web information in a visual way. It keeps the same interface independently of the content of the collection, allowing you to dive in the data with ease, zoom out, reorder the collection in any way you want, filter data with one click, and establish relationships between different data sets with ease. To do this, it uses meta-information within an open XML structure to make those collections—which vary in complexity. Then it allows the user to manipulate the data view using Seadragon, a display technology specifically designed to move around titanic amounts of data and graphics in real time. Like Windows Phone 7 or Natal, Pivot shows that Microsoft is using those research doublons in creating truly amazing stuff these days. Download and try it in your PC now. Unfortunately, there's no Mac OS X version yet. [Microsoft Pivot] Source: Gizmodo | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:13 pm Most Dangerous Object in the Office: Shocknife SK-2There's no sharp point or edge, but the electrodes in the polycarbonate Shocknife deliver a stabbing 7,500 volts. Ouch. Kilo-ouch.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 pm Turn an FM Transmitter Into a Micro Pirate RadioSeize the airwaves to fight corporate radio's preprogrammed junk. It all starts with a soldering iron and a cheapo FM transmitter.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 pm 10 Perfect 'Snowicane' Cars, Picked by YouA few of them are completely impractical, and two of them don't actually exist, but damned if you didn't come up with a good list.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 pm Turn an FM Transmitter Into a Micro Pirate RadioSeize the airwaves to fight corporate radio's preprogrammed junk. It all starts with a soldering iron and a cheapo FM transmitter.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 pm Most Dangerous Object in the Office: Shocknife SK-2There's no sharp point or edge, but the electrodes in the polycarbonate Shocknife deliver a stabbing 7,500 volts. Ouch. Kilo-ouch.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:00 pm Xeni in Amoeba Records "What's In My Bag?" video feature
• The incredible Alan Lomax in Haiti box-set (we'll be blogging more about this one on BB soon!) Amoeba Records: What's in My Bag? / Xeni Jardin The complete "What's in My Bag" archives are here, with many interesting past guests. (thanks, Rachael McGovern. Disclosure: I wasn't paid to appear in this video, but the nice folks at Amoeba gave me a $75 store credit which I plan to use on Radiohead vinyl and old Almodóvar movies!) A Closer Look at Sony's New Skin for Android PhonesSony's new user interface is designed as a skin that will go on top of the Android operating system and aggregate social networking feeds. Take a closer look at it how it compares to Motorola's MotoBlur and the HTC Sense.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:45 pm A Closer Look at Sony's New Skin for Android PhonesSony's new user interface is designed as a skin that will go on top of the Android operating system and aggregate social networking feeds. Take a closer look at it how it compares to Motorola's MotoBlur and the HTC Sense.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:45 pm Verizon LTE: A Wireless Broadband FAQ - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:42 pm AIDS Virus Can Hide In Bone Marrowsuraj.sun writes "The virus that causes AIDS can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research that could point the way toward better treatments for the disease. Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues report in this week's edition of the journal Nature Medicine that the HIV virus can infect long-lived bone marrow cells that eventually convert into blood cells. The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells, she said, but when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells, said. In recent years, drugs have reduced AIDS deaths sharply, but patients need to keep taking the medicines for life or the infection comes back, Dr. Collins said."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:42 pm Texas Instruments
Newegg is currently conducting a thorough investigation surrounding recent shipments of questionable Intel Core i7-920 CPUs purchased from Newegg.com. Initial information we received from our supplier, IPEX, stated that they had mistakenly shipped us "demo units." We have since come to discover the CPUs were counterfeit and are terminating our relationship with this supplier. Contrary to any speculation, D&H Distributing is not the vendor that supplied us with the Intel Core i7-920 CPUs in question. Newegg's top priority is to proactively reach out to all customers who may have been affected to ensure their absolute satisfaction. We have already sent out a number of replacement units and are doing everything in our power to resolve the matter promptly and with the least amount of inconvenience to our customers. We have always taken pride in providing an exceptional experience for each customer, and we apologize for any inconvenience to our valued customers. We take matters like this extremely seriously, and are working in close cooperation with Intel and the appropriate law enforcement authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident. Don't forget to schedule your mammogram. Valve games, Steam headed to Macs - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:30 pm HTC May End Up Bringing Knife to Apple Gun Fight [Digital Daily]
A Deutsche Bank analysis of yearly patent filings by Apple (AAPL), HTC and Google (GOOG) reveals that Apple is by far the leader and HTC the laggard. Over the past few years, Apple has amassed some 3,000 patents, HTC just 58. “HTC has had comparatively few patent filings leading up to the introduction of the original iPhone in June 2007,” Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore explained in a note to clients this past weekend. “Specifically, HTC filed zero patents with the US Patent office between 2004 and 2007 while Apple filed 507 and Google filed 67 over the same period.” Now, Deutsche Bank’s analysis doesn’t categorize any of these patents, so it’s impossible to say which apply to Apple’s suit against HTC. But the paucity of patents held by the latter certainly suggests it could find itself at a severe disadvantage in this battle. UPDATE: Here’s a bit of additional perspective on this from Engadget’s resident patent expert Nilay Patel:
Source: All Things Digital | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:08 pm Microsoft Giving Rival Browsers a Liftgollum123 tips an article at the NY Times on the progress of the European Windows browser choice screen that we have been discussing recently. "Rivals of Microsoft's market-leading Web browser have attracted a flurry of interest since the company, fulfilling a regulatory requirement, started making it easier for European users of its Windows operating system to switch. Mozilla, whose Firefox browser is the strongest competitor to Microsoft's Internet Explorer worldwide, said that more than 50,000 people had downloaded Firefox via a 'choice screen' that has been popping up on Windows-equipped computers in Europe since the end of last month. ... Opera Software, based in Oslo, said downloads of its browser in Belgium, France, Britain, Poland, and Spain had tripled since the screen began to appear. Microsoft said it was too early to tell whether the choice screen might prompt significant numbers of users to change. The digital ballot is being delivered over the Internet with software updates, and it is expected to take until mid-May to complete the process. The browser choice will also be presented to buyers of new Windows computers across the European Union for five years."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:01 pm Meet the Winners of Webmonkey's Google I/O GiveawayWe're sending two talented monkeys to the Google I/O developer conference in May. We asked our readers to submit their web creations, and we picked the winners from the best of the submissions.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:00 pm Microsoft Declares Quarterly DividendREDMOND, Wash., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share. The dividend is payable June 10, 2010 to shareholders of record on May 20, 2010.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:56 pm WikiLoan's Card Program Moving ForwardDELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WikiLoan, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:41 pm WordPress Guns for Web Content Management Duties (PC World)PC World - Long popular with bloggers, the open-source WordPress blogging software is also starting to find a niche as a low-cost corporate CMS (content management system), at least for managing relatively simple Web sites.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:40 pm Digital-Ad Spending May Eclipse Print This YearSpending on digital advertising is poised to surpass print for the first time in 2010, according to a new study prepared even before the announcement of Apple’s iPad, with all of that hardware's game-changing potential. But another view is: So what? It’s bound to happen soon if not this year.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:40 pm Feds Move to Break Voting-Machine MonopolyThe Justice Department is moving to break up an alleged electronic voting-machine monopoly. The authorities say Election Systems & Software has a 70 percent market share of voting equipment in the United States.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:34 pm Appletell giveaway: Saddleback Leather laptop caseFROM APPLETELL - A few months ago, the fine people at Saddleback Leather provided us with a medium laptop case for review. Now they’re extending that generosity to you by allowing us to give it away to one of our readers. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:24 pm South American Cities Moved in Chile QuakeWith disasters striking Haiti, Chile and most recently Turkey, it seems like there is no end in sight for the earthquake-weary. New evidence released from Ohio State University (OSU) shows that the 8.8-magnitude mega-quake that struck off the coast of ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:24 pm A Closer Look at Sony’s New Skin for Android Phones
Sony Ericsson’s new Android-based phone interface, like those from other cellphone manufacturers, integrates Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and other social networking services into one unified portal on your portable. The difference is that Sony Ericsson’s interface — UXP, formerly known as Rachael — actually looks useful. The company plans to launch a slew of new Android-based phones this year. Top of the list is the Xperia X10 — which confusingly carries the same codename that UXP used to have: Rachael. It’s a device with a 4-inch touchscreen, a 1-GHz Snapdragon processor and 8.1 megapixel camera that will be available this quarter. The company will also introduce the Mini, a compact phone with a 2.6-inch display that will be available in a touchscreen-only version as well as one with a slide-out keyboard. But it’s UXP that forms the heart of these phones’ experience. Sony Ericsson has been working on the UXP interface for more than two years, the company says. “We have done extensive skinning of the Android platform. because we really wanted to make it a bespoke experience,” says George Arriola, head of user experience for Sony Ericcson. Sony’s UXP interface attempts to do the same thing as rivals like Motorola’s MotoBLUR: namely, aggregate social networking feeds such as Facebook and Twitter into one stream, integrate that data with your phone address book and contacts, and personalize the multimedia experience. “We took a very sophisticated PlayStation middleware and shrunk it to fit the Android OS,” says Arriola. Palm was the first of the smartphone makers to kick off the trend of integrating social media updates and contacts with the launch of the Palm Pre, though the Pre was based on Palm’s own operating system webOS, not Android. But the Android phones launched since then have tried to follow the path blazed by Palm. Motorola has the MotoBlur interface that’s now a part of most of its phones, including the Cliq, Backflip and Devour. HTC has introduced Sense, its custom UI that’s available on phones such as the HTC Hero and upcoming phones including Legend and Desire. But Sony’s UXP interface is the most visually attractive implementation that I have seen so far.
At the heart of Sony’s experience is a widget called Timescape. Timescape collects social networking feeds and presents them in a card-like view. A bar at the bottom of the screen has little icons that lets users filter the information stream by network such as Facebook, Twitter or Flickr. The phone also updates the address book with a contact’s latest social networking update. That means if you click on a name in your address book, you can see their last social-feed post and use it as a reference point while making the call. What makes this experience slick is the way the cards rain down on the screen, offering an almost 3-D–like effect as they scroll past. Clicking on one of the cards pulls up the contact and their status update. Rather than contribute to info clutter, Sony’s attempt to jazz it up by using better visual effects actually does make it easier to handle the information stream. The UXP interface also introduces a concept called “infinite pivot” — an infinity-shaped icon that helps you drill deeper and pull up related views.
Sony is also trying to offer a better experience for music, video and photos. The widget that controls this is called Mediascape. Click on the Mediscape icon and you get three options: My Music, My Videos and My Photos. Music and videos are divided into recently played, recently added and favorites. There’s also access to PlayNow, Sony Ericsson’s music-downloads service. A recommendation engine can suggest other artists or songs based on the music preferences of a user. Clicking on the infinite-pivot icon next to an artist’s name in music and videos offers suggestions and even searches the web. And in a bid to keep the custom look throughout the phone, Sony redesigned the interface to services such as the phone dialer, calendar and alarm, says Arriola. Overall, Sony Ericsson’s UXP skin for Android is not as confusing as the MotoBlur interface and more polished than the HTC Sense UI. Instead, UXP is a snappy, sophisticated treat. It works, though, only if you buy into the premise that instead of checking your Facebook and Twitter when you want to (as in the iPhone), you would like these services streamed and updated constantly to your phone. Now if only they could get U.S. wireless carriers to offer Sony Ericsson phones on contract — and at prices slim enough to match the hardware. Check out the candid photos of the Sony UXP interface on the Xperia X10 phone below. 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:23 pm Motorola Backflip on AT&T: Not the Full Android Experience - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:21 pm Major ISPs Help Fund BitTorrent User Tracking ResearchAn anonymous reader writes "I was scanning conference proceedings to come up with ideas for a reading group I run at my workplace, and I noticed an interesting paper from the new IEEE WIFS forensics conference. Researchers from the University of Colorado have published a technique for tracking BitTorrent users (PDF) by joining and actively probing torrent swarms using low-cost cloud computing services. They claim their methods allowed them to monitor the entire Pirate Bay torrent set for as little as $13/mo using EC2. But that's not even the interesting part. Their work appears to have been 'funded in part through gifts from PolyCipher' — a broadband ISP consortium. That's right; three major national ISPs funded this round of BitTorrent tracking research, not the MPAA/RIAA. Could this be evidence of ISP support for ACTA and a global three-strikes law?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:15 pm Rumor: Some iPhone Apps Scrapped From iPad by Steve Jobs
In his blog post today, Gruber responds to a question I posed last week about iPhone apps that appear to be missing from the iPad. Apple’s iPad press materials suggest the device will ship with 12 built-in apps, and noticeably missing are a few wares that came with the iPhone: Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos. So what exactly is going to happen to them when the iPad launches in April? Gruber, who’s accurately leaked some Apple rumors in the past, cites anonymous sources who say Steve Jobs scrapped the apps in question because they didn’t look or feel right when refitted for the iPad’s bigger screen. “Ends up that just blowing up iPhone apps to fill the iPad screen looks and feels weird, even if you use higher-resolution graphics so that nothing looks pixelated,” Gruber wrote. “It wasn’t a technical problem, it was a design problem.” I made a quick guess last week that Apple would stick the missing iPhone apps in the App Store for a free download. Part of my reasoning was that Apple is already allowing the App Store’s 140,000 third-party iPhone apps to run on the iPad, so Apple could technically do the same with its own non-tabletized iPhone apps. But Gruber’s sources suggest we won’t see them at all. That’s believable, because it’s quite Jobs-esque to choose to hold Apple’s apps to a higher standard. With that said, the missing apps won’t be much of a loss, because there are plenty of third-party apps in the App Store that we can choose from as substitutes. (Personally I’m glad I won’t have to see that Stocks app anymore, because I never, ever used it.) Gruber also shoots down blogger Kevin Fox’s speculation that Apple would introduce a “Dashboard” mode to run these missing apps in the background. That’s too bad: I thought that would’ve been a neat solution for multitasking. See Also:
Image courtesy of Apple 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:14 pm Oh no you didn’t: woman stabs man after looking at his call log Crazy woman No word on exactly what calls she was upset about, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the ones he made to the local Pizza Hut. Word of advice people: clear your damn call log, or don’t leave your phone out where your ex-wife can find it. Or, you know, don’t be shady. [via Cellular-news]
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:02 pm TiVo Tops Guidance [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s TiVo (TIVO) this afternoon reported revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31 of $45.3 million, ahead of guidance at $43 million to $45 million, although below the Street at $47.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $3.2 million, beating guidance of a loss of $5 million to $7 million. The company lost 9 cents a share; the Street had expected a loss of 12 cents. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:00 pm Grab 1,000+ MP3s From SXSW BitTorrent, Free and LegalFire up that bit torrent client to download more than 5 gigabytes of free MP3s from bands playing the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas, next week and catch up on the latest in music with just a couple of clicks.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:00 pm All of Life's Ingredients Found in Orion NebulaThe Herschel Telescope identifies all the ingredients needed for life as we know it, 1,300 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:44 pm Google To Steal Office Web Apps' Thunder?Barence writes "Google has stepped up its assault on Microsoft's productivity software with the acquisition of a start-up company that allows Office users to edit and share their documents on the Web. The search giant has acquired DocVerse for an undisclosed sum. Product manager Jonathan Rochelle said DocVerse software makes it easier for users and businesses to move their existing PC documents to the cloud, and that Google 'fell in love with what they were doing to make that transition easier.' Microsoft said in an emailed statement that Google's acquisition of DocVerse acknowledges that customers want to use and collaborate with Office documents. 'Furthermore, it reinforces that customers are embracing Microsoft's long-stated strategy of software plus services, which combines rich client software with cloud services.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:32 pm Panasonic 3D TVs Arriving This Wednesday - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:31 pm Video: HTC Supersonic briefly caught on cameraWe started drooling about the HTC Supersonic as soon as we heard the words “Android” and “WiMax” in the same sentence. Once “4.3 inch display” got thrown into the mix, our salivary glands just couldn’t be stopped. While HTC hasn’t made even the smallest of official peeps about this thing yet, it looks like someone out there has gotten their hands all over it – and just as anyone with early access to a new, unannounced cell phone should do, they took some video. Given that this thing is packing WiMax and a mysterious HTC device recently showed up in their inventory, all signs are indicating that its headed for Sprint. You can read our round-up of all the HTC Supersonic info we’ve got here. [Thanks Andrew!]
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:24 pm Drinking Alcohol Could Help Women Stay SlimA glass a day could keep excessive weight gain at bay.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:20 pm Gadgetell Demo: Playing with the Palm Pre Plus Mobile Hotspot appSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Broadband Cards, Mobile, Computers, Wireless, Reviews, Features  I have been playing with the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for a little while now and I have to say that one of my favorite features is the Mobile Hotspot app. This app comes pre-installed on both the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus and allows the user to create a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five other devices so you can connect your notebook, netbook or other Wi-Fi enabled device to the Internet. I should also point out that the use of this app requires an additional add-on service that will cost $40 per month. So in the end you are paying for the calling plan, any message plan you choose and also the regular $29.99 a month smartphone access. So yes, you are paying a bit more money, however for someone like myself who has used and liked having a MiFi this $40 add on may be a better option. This Mobile Hotspot app is also the reason that I will likely pick up a Palm Pre Plus of my own after this review period is over. For me it comes down to the fact that the MiFi requires a two year commitment and costs $59.99 a month. The Mobile Hotspot add-on for the Palm Pre Plus costs $40 a month and comes as a service without a contract. In other words you can add it and remove it as needed. I would say that is a big plus for someone who likes the MiFi but does not need it all the time. That alone can be a money saver. But at least for me the decision came down to this, I already have a Verizon Wireless family account, so adding the Palm Pre Plus was an extra $9.99 a month for minutes and messages, then the regular data and Mobile Hotspot data. Bottom line, I would have paid $59.99 a month for a MiFi, and now I will pay $79.99 a month for the Pre Plus with the Mobile Hotspot. And yes, I realize that $79.99 is more than $59.99. Its $20 more to be specific, but that $20 more a month gives me a complete other phone to use as well as the mobile data. Its also cheaper than having another 3G data phone and a separate MiFi. Plus I can always add or remove that Mobile Hotspot add-on as needed and save a few extra bucks here and there as opposed to always paying $59.99 a month. Because remember those months when I drop the Mobile Hotspot service my price (minus tax) goes down to $39.99 a month. And to add one other little bit of info, once you have the Mobile Hotspot app active and in use, any data that is sent or received by any connected devices as well as your Palm Pre Plus will be counted towards the 5GB limit that you have with your Mobile Hotspot service. That means if you are playing Slacker on your Palm Pre Plus and activate the Mobile Hotspot any data you use will count towards the 5GB limit on the Mobile Hotspot and not the 5GB limit for the phones data plan. So this kind-of sort-of means that you are increasing your monthly limit to 10GB. Anyway, I think you can tell from this post that I like the Palm Pre Plus and its Mobile Hotspot service. And with that, here is a video demonstrating just how easy it is to set up a Mobile Hotspot network with the Palm Pre Plus. Finally, the service without speed would be worthless. So here is a speed test that I did using the Chrome browser on my Eee PC 1000H netbook running Jolicloud.  More information [Verizon Wireless] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:19 pm 'Smart' Nanoparticles Identify, Target and Kill Cancer CellsITHACA, N.Y.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:15 pm TechTeam Global to Announce Fourth Quarter 2009 Financial Results on March 15, 2010SOUTHFIELD, Mich., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TechTeam Global, Inc., (Nasdaq: TEAM), a worldwide provider of information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing services, has scheduled the release of its fourth quarter 2009 financial results for approximately 4:05 p.m.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:15 pm Intelius Leads in Development of Consumer-Focused Internet Marketing Standards Working GroupBELLEVUE, Wash., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Intelius, a leading internet information commerce retailer, today announced that they are joining, as a founding member, an independent working group, led by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), to develop best practices for internet retailers when offering additional subscription products and services.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:59 pm Swype for Android rolls into semi-public Beta
Swype for Android’s finger-dragging input method goodness has been available to some extent through other means for a while now — some legit, some not quite as legit. Legitimate means or otherwise, Swype has still only been made available to pretty small group of people. Well, things are about to open up — if only just a bit. Be sure to get your application in quick to increase your odds of getting in – and if you do get in, be sure to let us know! [Via Phonescoop]
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:53 pm Gas Wants To Kill the WindRABarnes writes "Scientific American has posted an article about the political efforts of natural gas and electric utilities to limit the growth of wind-generated electricity. Although several of the points raised by the utilities and carbon-based generators are valid, the basic driver behind their efforts is that wind-generation has now successfully penetrated the wholesale electricity market. Wind was okay until it became a meaningful competitor to the carbon dioxide-producing entities. Among the valid points raised by the carbon-based generators are concerns about how the cost of electricity transmission are allocated and how power quality can be improved (wind generation — from individual sites — is hopelessly variable). But there are fixes for all of the concerns raised by the carbon-based entities and in almost all cases they have been on the other side of the question in the past."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:48 pm HP's Windows 7 Slate Strikes at the iPad - Wired News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:43 pm Henry Bros. Electronics, Inc. to Report Fourth Quarter & Year-End 2009 ResultsFAIR LAWN, N.J., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Henry Bros. Electronics, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:43 pm HP’s Windows 7 Slate Strikes at the iPad
The Apple iPad’s Oscar debut on millions of TVs may have been the talk of the town Monday morning, but not for long. Rival PC maker HP has launched a sneak attack on the iPad. HP released a video introducing its tablet called the Slate that will run Windows 7 operating system and support Flash — a jab at the iPad, which will not display Flash-based sites or videos. “With this slate product, you’re getting a full web browsing experience in the palm of your hand,” posted Phil McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer for HP’s personal system group on the company’s blog. “No watered-down internet, no sacrifices.” HP did not reveal pricing or availability for the device, though it has indicated the Slate will be available this year. Since the announcement of Apple’s iPad in January, PC makers are rushing to offer tablet devices that can position themselves between the 4-inch touchscreen smartphone and the 12-inch netbook or laptop. They say tablets could be ideal for web surfing, checking e-mail, reading e-books and viewing personal media while sitting on a couch. Dell has said that it will launch a family of tablets, the first of which will be a PlayStation Portable-sized device with a 5-inch screen codenamed Dell Mini 5. Dell hasn’t disclosed pricing or availability for its product yet. Apple’s iPad starting at $500 will go on sale April 3. Though HP has not released the specs yet, the company’s video shows a device that’s closer to the 9.7-inch display iPad in its design and size. HP’s slate seems to offer a full capacitive touchscreen and the familiar pinch-to-zoom gesture. Overall, the design resemblance to the iPad is startling, so the Slate could clearly be a tablet for those who want an iPad-like device on the Windows ecosystem. The Slate has icons that lets users quickly access the browser and apps such as Pandora and the music player. And like the iPad, it will also display digitized versions of magazines and newspapers. HP’s video also shows the Slate running a video from MTV, a web-based game designed in Flash, photo-editing tools and a digital version of The New York Times. As for pricing, McKinney says HP could have released a slate two years ago, but it would have cost around $1,500. “Since then, chip and screen advancements have given us the ability to create a product that can hit a size, weight, battery life and price point that will make this product a mainstream offering,” he wrote. Photo/Video: HP Slate (HP) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:42 pm HP's Windows 7 Slate Strikes at the iPadHP is set to launch a new tablet that will strike back at Apple's iPad. The new HP slate is a sleek design, startling in its resemblance to the iPad but will offer Flash support.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:42 pm And the searches go to...The Oscars®: glitz, glamor, gossip, gold statuettes, much fanfare — and for many fans, Google search is increasingly a part of watching this live TV experience. Before and during the Academy Awards® broadcast in the U.S., we saw related queries on Google dominating the hot searches list on Google Trends. People searched for the TV schedule, printable ballots for voting on favorites, streaming video sites, nominee and film information, celebrity chatter and whatever else caught your attention. Here's a snapshot:Fashion Everyone knows the red carpet is all about the gowns. So which actresses made the best (or worst!) dressed list in search? Zoe Saldana's purple Givenchy haute couture gown won the day in searches, with just a few more queries than runner up Miley Cyrus, who walked down the carpet in one of Jenny Packham's finest. Both beat searches for Sandra Bullock's dress (Marchesa) by large margins. Sarah Jessica Parker, always the fashionista, ranked a distant fourth in Chanel. Certain designers were also popular in search, thanks to the stars who wore (and name-dropped) them. Elie Saab (worn by Anna Kendrick), Armani Prive (Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Lopez) and Marchesa (Sandra Bullock, Vera Farmiga) were all rising trends. Winners Throughout the night Oscar®-related searches rose and fell as nominations were introduced and winners announced. Avatar had the most searches before the ceremony, but as The Hurt Locker received more awards, searches for that film exceeded all others and peaked when it won Best Picture. Precious also had a good run throughout the night. Its peak matched that of "Avatar" during the ceremony:  The awards for best actor, best actress and best director are some of the most-anticipated in the program. There was a considerable amount of buzz about Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and Kathryn Bigelow before last night, and considerable spikes in search volume when they each won. Here's a look at a few of the star searches last night:  Finally, the evening wasn't all about big wins. The awards help expose more obscure films — shorts, documentaries and foreign-language — to a much larger audience. Searches for these titles typically went up tenfold during the evening, and if they took home a gold statue, search volume spiked as much as 100 times higher. Music by Prudence, Logorama, Food, Inc., The Cove and The Secrets in their Eyes all experienced an exponential explosion of queries. Gossip and memorable moments People are always eager for more information about the Hollywood stars — personal stats like age, height, family and dating status. During this year’s Oscar® ceremonies, Kathryn Bigelow's height and Miley Cyrus's mother's tattoos were hot topics. Whose girlfriend was most searched for? Easy. George Clooney's (Elisabetta Canalis). So what were the most memorable moments of the broadcast? When George Clooney wandered off the red carpet to greet the crowd, queries on [clooney] shot through the roof. Ben Stiller’s appearance as a Na'vi was another draw, and queries on him were high during his spoof. Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick’s John Hughes tribute triggered a flood of nostalgia; Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Home Alone all saw huge query spikes as well. During the memorial portion of the show, queries surged for those in the industry who passed away in the last year, including Ron Silver, Natasha Richardson, Patrick Swayze and Brittany Murphy. On a lighter note, Sandra Bullock set off a frenetic amount of searches when she mentioned a Meryl Streep kiss in her acceptance speech. As we've seen in presidential debates, unusual words also generate great interest. The Oscars led to spikes in searches for [catharsis] (from Robert Downey Jr.'s presentation with Tina Fey) and [spooning] (Colin Farrell talking about Jeremy Renner). We hope you enjoyed the evening, and want to thank everyone for turning to Google search to see the latest. And our parents deserve huge thanks, and our agent... oh, they're telling me to wrap it up...! Posted by Qing Wu, Senior Economics Analyst   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:41 pm 8-Core Intel Nehalem-EX To Launch This MonthMojoKid writes "What could you do with 8 physical cores of CPU processing power? Intel's upcoming 8-core Nehalem-EX is launching later this month, according to Intel Xeon Platform Director Shannon Poulin. The announcement puts to rest rumors that the 8-core part might be delayed, and makes good on a promise Intel made last year when the chip maker said it would release the chip in the first half of 2010. To quickly recap, Nehalem-EX boasts an extensive feature-set, including up to 8 cores per processor, up to 16 threads per processor with Intel Hyper-threading, scalability up to eight sockets via Intel's serial Quick Path Interconnect and more with third-party node controllers, and 24MB of shared cache."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:29 pm Sausage iPhone stylus shipping to US You may have seen the “Sausage Finger” iPhone photos making the rounds early last month. I could have sworn we posted it but I can’t seem to find it. Anyhoo, it was a photo of two guys on a South Korean subway car using little sausages to manipulate their iPhones while wearing gloves. Everyone had a chuckle and then we all moved on—UNTIL NOW!
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:27 pm Bairdwarner.com Offers Exclusive Online Search Engine for Investors & Prospective Buyers of Area Foreclosed PropertiesCHICAGO, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Real estate brokerage firm, Baird & Warner, has launched a new interactive search tool that enhances the online experience of those looking for foreclosed property or houses.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:22 pm Appletell reviews the Moshi Voice Control Alarm ClockFROM APPLETELL - Are you used to doing everything by voice? Making phone calls or selecting songs on your iPod? You can now carry that simplicity over to setting your alarm at night and waking up in the morning. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:19 pm MSPtv Delivers Progressive, Streaming Video Webcasts for IT ProfessionalsWARRENDALE, Pa., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- "MSPtv," the interactive, online educational resource aimed at managed service providers, announces it is enhancing its schedule of web-based presentations.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:09 pm Valve Confirms Mac Versions of Steam, Valve GamesAn anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Gamasutra: "Valve will release a version of its Steam digital distribution service for Mac next month, along with Mac-native versions of its own games, the company confirmed today after days of hints — and owners of Valve games will have access to both platform versions. The Source engine, which Valve uses to develop all its internal titles and also licenses to third-party developers, will incorporate OpenGL in addition to DirectX, to allow Mac support for all Source developers. ... 'We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform, so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360,' said Cook. 'Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:06 pm Savvis Appoints Jim Ousley as Chief Executive OfficerST. LOUIS, March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SAVVIS, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVVS), a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, today announced that board chair and interim CEO James E. Ousley will serve as its chief executive officer.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Mar 2010 | 2:00 pm Navy Scientists Support Haiti Relief OperationsImage Caption: Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center discuss Haiti geospatial information data hosted on the Geospatial Information Database. Credit: Naval Research LaboratorySource: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:43 pm Climate Change To Blame For Musk Ox DeclineImage 1: Musk Ox (Ovibos moschatus). Credit: Tim Bowman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceImage 2: The photo depicts an ancient musk ox skull located at the Ice Age Museum in the Taymyr Peninsula of Siberia. The researchers used ancient musk ox bones, like the one in the photo, to test for human impacts on musk ox populations. Credit: Tom Gilbert, University of CopenhagenSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:35 pm iPad Ad Shows Possible E-Book Prices, Document Storage
The debut of the iPad television commercial was a surprise during last night’s Oscars, and so were some of the clues revealed inside the ad. Specifically, one shot (above) showed the possible price range of iPad e-books, and another (below) revealed where documents will be stored in Apple’s software. The iPad commercial showed the True Compass: A Memoir novel for $14.99, the novel I, Alex Cross for $12.99, and Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time for $7.99. By way of comparison, those same titles cost $19.25, $9.99 and $7.19, respectively, for the Amazon Kindle. As for documents, the ad shows that the iPad keeps documents inside a folder marked “My Documents” inside the iWork app — the same folder name for the documents folder on a Mac. That’s nothing mindblowing, but we weren’t aware of the nomenclature prior to the ad. We’ve put in a query to Apple’s public relations to ask whether the details shown in the ad are accurate. We’d assume they are, because the numbers look realistic. (And if they turn out not to be true, we can expect some fussy consumers to file a complaint with the FTC.) A hat tip to 9 to 5 Mac’s Seth Weintraub for being the first to spot these clues.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:22 pm Carbon Emissions 'Outsourced' To Developing CountriesImage Caption: China is by far the largest "exporter" of carbon dioxide emissions, as seen in this map of the net flow of emissions embodied in trade among the major exporting and importing countries. Arrows indicate direction and magnitude of flow; numbers are megatons (millions of tons). Credit: Steven Davis/Carnegie Institution for ScienceSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:19 pm Herpes Virus Can Integrate its DNA into Human ChromosomesVirologists surprised to discover that a common herpesvirus hidden in chromosomes of some people can be reactivated to infectious formTampa, FL -- Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infects nearly 100 percent of humans in early childhood, and the infection then lasts for the rest of a person's life.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:05 pm Molecules May Have Helped Give Birth To Genetic Material Of LifeOne of the biggest questions facing scientists today is how life began.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:05 pm Gadgetell how to: Get your bike ready for spring ridingSection: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Transportation, Features, How To
TiresFor the past few months, state and town works have been dumping sand, salt and God knows what else on the streets to keep the slipper conditions at bay. All that stuff coagulates at the roads side, right where you have to ride through. This can lead to difficult, if not unsafe bicycle handling conditions. The solution? New tires. Tires, like these beauties from Fyxation, are just the thing. Looking sharp in their dual compound, the new Fyxation tires have wall to wall knobs for added traction, just like the old 20” BMX tires I used to ride. Big groves in the tire provide good grip while the dual compound puts a durable section of rubber where you need it most, while still looking sharp. At 120 TPI, the tire has the stuff to keep flats at bay. Designed as tires for hip fixies (fixed gear bicycles), these tires were intended for urban assault riding. Perfect for the urban landscape, these tires were made to handle skidding (to an extent), track stands and all the rough love of the urban world. That also makes them great for dealing with the springtime slosh of deep sand, road junk and even slush coagulating on the roads shoulder. I’ve been riding these for a few weeks and have been duly impressed. They hold tight while moving through big piles of sand and even pointed off road, they did pretty well. Their wider 700x28 size will fit many frames and their color options just look fantastic. New tires, like these Fyxations, are the #1 was to improve performance on your bike. $49.95, Fyxation ChainChances are good your chain needs love. I cringe when I hear a dry chain just squeeking for some live pedal by. But lubing the chain is only half of it; the other half of the story is chain stretch and it can eat your chain rings and rear cogs (the gears). As a former shop owner, I’ve seen (and profited from) neglected chains eat away at chain rings and rear cogs, a costly replacement. The solution for most of us is simply replace the chain each year. As the chain stretches, it begins to reshape the teeth it engages. Once this sets in, a new chain will no longer solve it, in fact, a new chain will skip around for no apparent reason. To avoid this, change your chain a regular intervals. Bike shops have a chain gauge that can measure the stretch so you can avert trouble. Chains are an easy replacement. Simply use a chain tool to drive a pin out (or find the quick link and remove it) and use the old chain to size the new one. CablesWater, salt from the road and even sweat can corrode cables that control your brake and shifting cables. Corroded cables can cause shifting problems as well as delayed braking action. Keeping these lubed can go a long way to keeping things sliding freely. Simply create some slack in the cable and pull and push it through the housing (the plastic bits that cover the cables at bends). If it moves freely, drop in some lube and you are good to go; if not, time to replace cable and housing. Cable sizing requires a good pair of cable cutters and more housing then you need or take the old housing to a bike shop to be matched with new. If you don’t have a set of cutters, or just want to leave the rest of the tuning to a pro, visit your local bike shop. Find a bicycle shop near you: [NBDA bike shop finder]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:03 pm Chameleons Possess Weatherproof, Ballistic TonguesUnderstanding the mechanics of this reptile's tongue could lead to advancement in prosthetic devices, sports equipment and more.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 1:01 pm Geraniums May Be Japanese Beetle's KryptoniteGeraniums may hold the key to controlling the devastating Japanese beetle, which feeds on nearly 300 plant species and costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million in damage each year, according to scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:56 pm Study Examines Autism's Impact on Older SiblingsControlled study finds a possible early warning signs for autism spectrum disorders within familiesA new study suggests a trend toward developing hyperactivity among typically developing elementary-school-aged siblings of autistic preschoolers and supports the notion that mothers of young, autistic children experience more depression and stress than mothers with typically developing children.While the impact on older siblings was not statistically significant, the trend may indicate the presence of symptoms associated with broader observable autism characteristics seen in previous studies, says Laura Lee McIntyre, a professor and director of the University of Oregon's school psychology program.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:55 pm Obama to Host Space Summit in FloridaSay what you like about President Obama, but at least he’s no coward. Otherwise, the last place he’d want to show his face is central Florida, ground zero for the next tsunami of job layoffs following the retirement of the ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:46 pm Tiny Gribble Provides Hope For Biofuel FutureFor centuries, seafarers were plagued by wood-eating gribble that destroyed their ships, and these creatures continue to wreak damage on wooden piers and docks in coastal communities.But new research by scientists at the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre at the Universities of York and Portsmouth is uncovering how the tiny marine isopod digests the apparently indigestible.By examining genes that are expressed in the guts of gribble, the researchers have demonstrated that its digestive system contains enzymes which could hold the key to converting wood and straw into liquid biofuels.In research published today, a team headed by Professor Simon McQueen-Mason and Professor Neil Bruce at York, and Dr Simon Cragg at Portsmouth reveal that the gribble digestive tract is dominated by enzymes that attack the polymers that make up wood.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:45 pm How Far Did South American Cities Move During Chile Quake?The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, and shifted other parts of South America as far apart as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil.These preliminary measurements, produced from data gathered by researchers from four universities and several agencies, including geophysicists on the ground in Chile, paint a much clearer picture of the power behind this temblor, believed to be the fifth-most-powerful since instruments have been available to measure seismic shifts.Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and across the continent from the quake’s epicenter, moved about 1 inch to the west. And Chile’s capital, Santiago, moved about 11 inches to the west-southwest. The cities of Valparaiso and Mendoza, Argentina, northeast of Concepcion, also moved significantly.The quake’s epicenter was in a region of South America that’s part of the so-called “ring of fire,” an area of major seismic stresses which encircles the Pacific Ocean. All along this line, the tectonic plates on which the continents move press against each other at fault zones.The February Chilean quake occurred where the Nazca tectonic plate was squeezed under, or “subducted,” below the adjacent South American plate. Quakes routinely relieve pent-up geologic pressures in these convergence zones.The research team deduced the cities’ movement by comparing precise GPS (global positioning satellite) locations known prior to the major quake to those almost 10 days later. The US Geological Survey reported that there have been dozens of aftershocks, many exceeding magnitude 6.0 or greater, since the initial event February 27.Mike Bevis, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, has led a project since 1993 that has been measuring crustal motion and deformation in the Central and Southern Andes. The effort, called the Central and Southern Andes GPS Project, or CAP, hopes to perhaps triple its current network of 25 GPS stations spread across the region."By reoccupying the existing GPS stations, CAP can determine the displacements, or 'jumps', that occurred during the earthquake," Bevis said. “By building new stations, the project can monitor the postseismic deformations that are expected to occur for many years, giving us new insights into the physics of the earthquake process.”Ben Brooks, an associate researcher with the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii and co-principal investigator on the project, said that the event, tragic as it was, offers a unique opportunity to better understand the seismic processes that control earthquakes.“The Maule earthquake will arguably become one of the, if not the most important great earthquake yet studied.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:14 pm Google to release a “business version” of Chrome OS in 2011?Section: Computers, Netbooks, Software / Applications, Web, Google
Read [Network World] Via [Chromium Netbooks] and [Engadget]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:02 pm Oldest Rottweilers Inspire 'The Old Grey Muzzle Tour'Do you have a really old Rottweiler? If so, you might wish to roll out your welcome mat for Dr. David J. Waters, who is launching "The Old Grey Muzzle Tour" this week. During the 23-day tour, Waters, who is ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:02 pm Stuck in the iPhone mindset, AT&T locks down apps on their first Android phone
Our full review of the Motorola Backflip should be up in a few days, but a few words of wisdom in the mean time: Don’t buy it. Between its crazy form-factor and the hidden trackpad tucked on the back of the display, everything we took as merits at face value have devolved into novelties. Worst of all, it seems AT&T has taken a page from their time with the iPhone that no one wanted them to take. Like the iPhone — but unlike any other Android handset we’ve seen — the Motorola Backflip can’t install applications from any sources beyond the official, on-handset application store.
By default, all Android handsets are soft-limited to installing applications solely from Google’s Android Market. If a user tries to install an app through the browser with a brand new handset, they’ll get an error message telling them that they’ll need to flip a switch in the configuration screen before they can download from “Unknown Sources”. Alas, this switch is no where to be found on the Backflip. What do you think? Knowing that AT&T is trying their damnedest to play gatekeeper on Android, would you still buy a Backflip? [Thanks John R.!]
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 12:01 pm An update on Google.org and philanthropy @ Google(Cross-posted from the Google.org Blog) While they are all part of the wide-ranging work of Google.org over the last year, they also show what our technical teams can accomplish in critical areas that don't always get the attention they need and deserve. A year ago we outlined our goals for the next chapter for Google.org. We talked about our vision to use strengths of Google in information and technology to build products and advocate for critical policies that address global challenges. Ideas for projects continue to pour in from Googlers and partners around the globe, and we're incubating several new projects in the areas of economic development, clean energy and access to technology. This past year, we:
Overall, our philanthropic mission at Google includes our Google.org projects and a range of other initiatives — from grants, scholarships and other charitable giving programs to in-kind product support for non-profits. Our founders have set a goal of devoting approximately 1% of Google's equity and yearly profits to philanthropy. In 2009, we devoted around $100 million plus in-kind giving to a broad range of philanthropic efforts. Here are some highlights:
In addition, our Google for Non-Profits site provides information and links to free tools to help charitable groups promote their cause, raise money, collaborate with others and operate more efficiently. Google Grants, for example, offers in-kind AdWords advertising to non-profit organizations. Since the program began, we've donated over $625 million worth of AdWords advertising to all kinds of charitable organizations. To keep up with our activities, check out the Google.org blog. Posted by Megan Smith, VP and General Manager, Google.org  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:56 am Can CERN Prove The Existence Of Dark Matter?Big-bang experiments conducted at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) might be able to prove the existence of dark matter, claims the research center's director general.Speaking at a March 8 press conference, Rolf-Dieter Heuer said that experiments utilizing CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will attempt to recreate the conditions believed to have led to the "Big Bang" more than 13 billion years ago -- and in the process, could shed some light on the mysteries of dark matter.The LHC, which is the world's largest and most powerful atom smasher on the planet, "could be the first machine to give us insight into the dark universe," Heuer said.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:40 am Xachi Pets fuse iPhones and Stuffed Animals into one Cute and Cuddly iToy
It’s pretty a simple concept, but it’s the first time I’ve seen someone pull it off. The closest thing to an iPhone-enabled toy on the market is a helicopter with your iPhone as a remote control, and that’s not exactly cute and cuddly.
The Xachi Pet is produced by Taptic Toys, and is not yet in production. They expect it to cost $40 or less. It’s got an 8-bit speaker, an accelerometer, robotic legs that can dance, and a LED screen for animation. Similar to a Tomagachi, you track and maintain its hunger, thirst, health, and happiness from your iPod/iPhone – you can feed it, give it water and play with it to keep it happy.
Three of Taptic Toys’ four founders met at Battle Bots, a brutal competition where teams create robots that try to massacre each other in an enclosed arena. Yes, this is the same Battle Bots you watched with glee on Comedy Central 10 years ago. Is there a market full of kids with iPod Touches? According to Admob’s report, over 65% of iPod Touch owners are 17 and under — so there just might be. I don’t know jack about what kids like to do these days, but my inclination is that Xachi Pets has a lot going for it. It looks like a Furby, feels like a stuffed animal, and has the added cool factor of being iPod Touch-friendly. It’ll be interesting to see how kids take to it, but for now, let us know what you think in the comments section.
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 11:05 am CTIA to “wow” us with new super-smartphone: Palm Elan?Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Broadband Cards, Mobile
According to PreCentral, an AT&T employee posted that the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus had finished testing at the company and now testing had begun on a device named Elan. Could Elan be the touchscreen-only webOS device we’ve been hoping for? Can we expect to see a big splash at CTIA announcing the first soft-keyboard only webOS device? Maybe. It seems the Elan name was used before and identified the Pixi device. There are two sites up that currently name the Pixi Elan and list accessories for them with an image of the Pixi. Some suggest AT&T changes the name of the device for their network, like most of HTC’s devices. The Palm Centro however, made it onto AT&T with no name change. The supposed AT&T employee also said the device will launch in Europe first, which would be a new route for Palm’s webOS devices. Of interest, Elan was the name of a company that sued Apple and means “tree” in Hebrew. Rumors don’t get any more iffy than this. Read: [Pre Central] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:55 am Magnitude 5.9 Quake Hits Turkey. Doomsday Upon Us???Covering earthquakes is getting to be a tiring, depressing business lately. From the horrific ongoing tragedy in Haiti that started with a magnitude 7.0 tremor in January to strong quakes in Japan, Taiwan, Chile, and just this morning, a magnitude ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:45 am SPIDERSS For Android: Browser, RSS Reader And Social Network Update Aggregator In One Tokyo-based jig.jp has been developing mobile browsers since 2003, claiming its "jig browser (which was downloaded over 4 million times so far) is the world’s first Java-based browser that made it possible to view PC sites on cell phones. And now the company has released an ambitious Android app called SPIDERSS, which combines a browser with an RSS reader and an aggregator for social network updates.
Available in English and Japanese, the free app's main selling point is that all elements are accessible from a single screen: You can either choose to directly type in a URL or search term in the top bar (to then open a full browser window), check your Facebook newsfeed and Twitter timeline in the "Application Deck" under that or scroll through your RSS feeds in the bottom part. All feeds and web pages can be easily shared by SMS, Email, Twitter or Facebook with the push of a button.
Read the rest on TechCrunch.
Source: MobileCrunch | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:33 am All AT&T phones free with Wirefly through midnight tonightSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  Wirefly is currently offering a pretty nice deal on AT&T phones—they are all free. Of course, there does seem to be one exception to that statement, the iPhone. Otherwise, any AT&T phone that Wirefly carries is now free on-contract until midnight tonight (for reference, today is Monday March 8, 2010). Bottom line, visit Wirefly, find the phone you want to get and sign up for free. Of course, you do have that two-year agreement, but those are pretty standard. Some phones such as the Samsung Mythic, LG Arena and LG Xenon even give you a $40 bill credit. Plus you also get free shipping via Fed-Ex. You can even get the recently released Motorola Backflip, which would set you back $99.99 (after mail-in-rebate) with AT&T directly. But remember this offer ends tonight at midnight. Read [Wirefly] Via [PhoneNews] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 10:02 am Sharks and Rays Gather in Fish Cleaning StationsThe animated film Shark Tale from a few years ago featured a "car wash" for dirty marine dwellers. Now a new study in the journal Marine & Freshwater Research documents something very similar: fish cleaning stations for sharks and manta ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:44 am Buy Office 2007, get Office 2010 for free details postedSection: Computers, Software / Applications
Anyway, it seems that those who are planning to pick up a copy of Office 2007 can go ahead and do so safely knowing that they will be able to get upgraded to Office 2010 for free when it comes available in June. The details of the offer are simple, buy a “qualifying” copy of Office 2007 sometime between March 5, 2010 and September 20, 2010 and get a free upgrade to Office 2010. Its nice knowing you can buy an expensive software program and be confident that it will not be outdated by a new release in just a few months. Read [Microsoft] and [Digital Inspiration] Via [Lifehacker] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:43 am Statistics for a changing world: Google Public Data Explorer in LabsLast year, we released a public data search feature that enables people to quickly find useful statistics in search. More recently, we expanded this service to include information from the World Bank, such as population data for every region in the world. More and more public agencies, non-profits and other organizations are looking for ways to open up their data and expand global access to this kind of information. We want to help keep that momentum going, so today we're sharing a snapshot of some of the most popular public data search topics on Google. We're also launching the Google Public Data Explorer, an experimental visualization tool in Google Labs.Popular public data topics on Google We know people want to be able to find reliable data and statistics on a variety of subjects. But what kind of statistics are they looking for most? To help us better prioritize which data sets to include in our public data search feature, we've analyzed anonymous search logs to find patterns in the kinds of searches people are doing, similar to the patterns you can find on Google Trends and Insights for Search. Some public data providers have asked us to share what we've learned, so we decided to put together an approximate list of the 80 most popular data and statistics search topics. You can read the complete list at this link (PDF), but here's the top 20 to get you started:
You'll notice some interesting entries in the list. For example, we were surprised by how many people search for data about popular first and last names. Perhaps people are trying to decide what to name a new baby boy or girl? As it turns out, people are interested in a wide range of statistical information. To build the list, we looked at the aggregation of billions of queries people typed into Google search, using data from multiple sources, including Insights for Search, Google Trends and internal data tools — similar to what we do for our annual Zeitgeist. We combined search terms into groups, filtering out spam and repeats, to prepare a list reflecting the most popular public data topics. As a statistician, it's important for me to note that the data only covers one week's worth of searches in the U.S., so there could be seasonal and other confounding factors (perhaps there was an election that week). In addition, preparing a study like this requires a fair amount of manual grouping of similar queries into topics, which is fairly subjective and prone to human error. While imperfect, we still think the list is helpful to consider. The Public Data Explorer As you can see, people are interested in a wide variety of data and statistics, but this information is only useful if it's easy to access, understand and communicate. That's why today we're also releasing the Google Public Data Explorer in Labs, a new experimental product designed to help people comprehend data and statistics through rich visualizations. With the Data Explorer, you can mash up data using line graphs, bar graphs, maps and bubble charts. The visualizations are dynamic, so you can watch them move over time, change topics, highlight different entries and change the scale. Once you have a chart ready, you can easily share it with friends or even embed it on your own website or blog. We've embedded the following chart using the new feature as an example: This chart compares life expectancy and the number of births per woman over the last 47 years for most economies of the world. The bubble sizes show population, and colors represent different geographic regions. Press the play button to see the dramatic changes over time. Click "explore data" to dig deeper. Animated charts can bring data to life. Click the play button in the chart to watch life expectancy increase while fertility rates fall around the world. The bubble colors make it quick and easy to see clusters of countries along these variables (e.g., in 1960 the European and Central Asian countries were in the lower right and Sub-Saharan Africa in the upper left). The bubble sizes help you follow the most populous countries, such as India and China. These charts are based on the Trendalyzer technology we acquired from the Gapminder Foundation, which we've previously made available in the Motion Chart in Google Spreadsheets and the Visualization API. With a handful of data providers, there are already billions of possible charts to explore. We currently provide data from the same three providers currently available in our search feature: the World Bank, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, we've added five new data providers: the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the California Department of Education, Eurostat, the U.S. Center for Disease Control, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. We're excited that all around the world new data providers are deciding to make their information freely available on the Internet, enabling innovators to create interesting applications, mash up the data in new ways and discover profound meaning behind the numbers. We hope our list and new tool help demonstrate both the public demand for more data and the potential for new applications to enlighten it. We want to hear from you, so please share your feedback in our discussion forum. If you're a data provider interested in becoming a part of the Public Data Explorer, contact us. Posted by Jürgen Schwärzler, Statistician, Public Data team  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 8 Mar 2010 | 9:25 am LG X300 netbook to be available this month, just not in the USSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops  So LG has this super skinny, super nice looking netbook, its the X300 and it is going to be available beginning later this month. Unfortunately this is one of those times that we here in the US are going to be a little disappointed because the LG X300 netbook is not headed here, at least not at first. Instead LG has chosen to release it in Asia and then the Middle East and South America. Feature wise, to begin with the skinny part comes in regards to the 0.69-inch thickness. Otherwise the LG X300 netbook comes sporting an 11.6-inch display, 2.0GHz Intel Menlow processor, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and is running Windows 7 Home Premium. Other perks of the LG X300 include built-in 3G connectivity and that it can handle up to 2GB of RAM, up to a 128GB SSD and ships with a spare 2-cell battery. Yes, spare 2-cell battery. Finally, it weighs in at 2.14-pounds and will be available in either shiny white or light brown. No word yet on pricing, of course March is not all that far away to wait, assuming you live in one of the areas that LG is planning to make the X300 available. Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:30 am Mini Helicopters Create Flying DisplayThis has got to be one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a while: Miniature helicopters with LED lights flying in a pattern that creates a display in the air. Think of each helicopter acting as a pixel on ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 8:26 am Hands-On With Lensbaby Fisheye and Soft-Focus Optics
For the last month, I have been testing out Lensbaby’s new fisheye and soft-focus optics, two glass cores which are drop-in replacements for the optic which comes inside the Lensbaby composer. The Lensbaby composer itself is a lens with a ball-and-socket arrangement which allows the front section to be twisted in any direction and place the focus “sweet spot” anywhere in the frame. This is combined with an optic which is heavily blurred away from this spot, leading to some dreamy, tilt-shift-like photos.  Standard Lensbaby Composer on Panasonic GF1 with sharpening and auto-levels applied. The new fisheye and soft-focus optics replace this blurry-edged glass for some new effects. The fisheye is a 12mm ƒ4 lens with a massive 360-degree angle of view, enough to catch both your feet and the brim of your hat in the same shot. Trying it out on a Panasonic GF1 (via adapter, although there is a proper M4/3 mount version), it gives a mild distortion, and a very low contrast image. You can twist and turn the Lensbaby, but as the Micro Four Thirds sensor only see the center portion of the image from the lens, it doesn’t make much difference.
It also fooled the camera into underexposure when indoors. As the lens is all manual, for both focusing and aperture (in fact, you have to use a magnetic “pen” to drop in and retrieve separate aperture rings), this isn’t a surprise. Just watch out, is all. Put the same rig directly onto a full-frame D700 and the world turns inside out. Even in a tiny room, you get nearly all of it in the picture, and the entire image is contained inside a dark circle. Swapping in apertures up to ƒ22 will increase depth-of-field, but there’s little point: With a lens this wide, it’s almost impossible to get anything out of focus.  Fisheye on Nikon D700, sharpened for screen on output. Notice the edge of my finger, actually just under the lens. On this camera, twiddling the front end moves the circle around and you can obscure half the image this way. It’s better to leave it in the middle. Image quality isn’t amazing, but as you can see, it’s sharp and contrasty out of camera, and the effect is great fun. The soft-focus optic is a little less interesting. The lens still focuses sharply, but gives the effect of shooting through a pair of white pantyhose (actually an old movie technique to soften an actress’ skin). Included are aperture disks which have many pinholes punched in them instead of a single central hole. These have a great effect on any highlights in your shot:  Soft-focus, multihole aperture on Panasonic GF1, sharpened on export for screen. A few notes on the operation of the system. As I mentioned, it is all manual, although a modern camera will still expose properly in aperture-priority mode. Focusing is easy enough: DSLRs usually have some form of manual-assist in the viewfinder, and the Micro Four Thirds cameras (mine, at least) lets you zoom in on the image to check focus. Actually swapping out the optics is a knack gained after a few tries. When you insert the removal tool (cleverly the lid of the plastic storage case), the focus ring of the main unit twists with it and therefore drops the part you are trying to unscrew out of reach. You’ll need to grab the fixed silver bands surrounding the focus ring and be bold with a good hard twist. The build quality is very good, and the optics are reassuringly solid and heavy. The lenses are a photography nerd’s delight, but should you buy them? If you want a fisheye, and already have a Composer, $150 is a steal, and I’d buy one right away. The soft-focus unit is a little harder to recommend, despite being just $90, especially as much of the value is in the neat aperture disks (which can be dropped into the other optics, too). If you want it, you probably know it. I’d stick with the fisheye. Fisheye [Lensbaby] Soft Focus [Lensbaby] Photos Charlie Sorrel: See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:27 am Hands-On With Lensbaby Fisheye and Soft-Focus OpticsOur hands-on impressions of Lensbaby's new fish-eye and soft-focus optics.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:27 am Appletell reviews HyperMac External Battery for Apple MacBook MBP-060FROM APPLETELL - What’s worse than seeing your MacBook’s battery dip below 10%? Seeing it hit zero? If this happens to you often, you need a solution. HyperMac has an entire line of batteries just for this purpose. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:22 am Officials cloud status of Google-China talks - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 8 Mar 2010 | 7:01 am How to Reboot Your CorpseThousands of bodies are already cryonically frozen, waiting for faster computers and medical advances that will undo their cause of death.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:46 am Video: iPad Debuts at the OscarsIf anyone doubted that Apple doesn’t care about the geek market for the iPad, and is shooting direct for the mainstream, last night’s Oscar ceremony confirms it.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Mar 2010 | 6:41 am Revivelite II: iPod Charger, Nightlight and Mouth in One
Scosche’s new ReviveLite II is barely bigger than any other iPod charging brick, and manages to pack in a flip-down iPod holder along with a glowing night-light. It is also $10 cheaper than v1.0, which had the additional handicap of being big, ugly and covering up not one, but two power outlets thanks to its side-saddle design. The design is ingenious and simple. Plug it in and flip down the maw to reveal a shelf with a single projecting tooth: the dock connector. The nightlight is a glowing white LED which is housed inside the lip of this mechanical mouth, and can thankfully be switched on or off at the press of a button. Scosche also thought to include a USB port on the side (cheek?) for charging most anything else, and if you do overload things. the lamp will flash in warning. The ReviveLite II is small enough to almost disappear behind an iPod Nano, but also big enough to accommodate an iPhone. And best of all, at $25, it’s cheaper than Apple’s own charger, which has none of the extras, and still requires an annoying cable. ReviveLite II [Scosche. Thanks, Mark!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:38 am Video: iPad Debuts at the OscarsIf anyone doubted that Apple doesn’t care about the geek market for the iPad, and is shooting direct for the mainstream, last night’s Oscar ceremony confirms it. No, Apple didn’t win a statuette for the iPad (although Steve Jobs was in the house for Pixar). The most important event came in the commercial break, when Apple showed its first iPad ad: This ad makes it look damn exciting, and also makes it pretty clear how Apple is positioning the iPad: as a true laptop, made to be used when sitting on a couch or, as you see in the commercial, with your feet disrespectfully strewn across a table. Like the iPhone ads, which are all based on seeing the iPhone in the palm of a hand, we predict that all iPad ads will have this top down, point-of-view angle. We don’t really see anything new. Mostly the quick-cut sequence shows off the easy touch-control and the eye-candy of the photo and e-book applications, and we get a glimpse at the “liner-notes” for the Star Trek movie. Interestingly, there is a clip of Pages in action, showing the neat live-reflowing text, along with some typing and editing of emails. The message is clear: this is a computer for people who don’t want a computer, who just want to do the things you need a computer to do. As I Tweeted the day the iPad was announced, I predict the tech press will hate it, and Apple will sell a gazillion. iPad Ad [Apple] OMG It’s Steve Jobs! I’m the Only One Yelling at Him! [WSJ] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 5:03 am Pixel Qi Offers DIY Swap-In Screens for Notebooks
Pixel Qi is on the cusp of shipping its triple-mode LCD screens as straight, swap-in replacements for your existing laptop screen. The Pixel Qi display works three ways, saving power and making it readable in any light. Transmissive mode is the one you are likely looking at now, a backlit LED panel which uses power for both the light and the pixels blocking and coloring that light. Next up is the reflective mode, which switches off the backlight and flips the colored pixels to grayscale. This looks a lot like hi-res e-ink displays, but it still uses some power to refresh the screen. It does drain the battery slower than the transmissive mode, though. Lastly is the hybrid transflective mode, which keeps the full color display, but let the mirror at the back of the screen use sunlight as the backlight. This means you can work outdoors but still see a pretty good image. Which is fine, but you probably wouldn’t buy a Pixel Qi notebook except for niche cases. With the DIY kits, though, you’ll be able to fit one of these magical screens to your own laptop. Better, it’s easy. Mary-Lou Jepson of Pixel Qi:
This is the kind of mod that could make netbooks useful at last. Or maybe I’m being too optimistic. The kits will be out in the second quarter of this year, just in time for some fun when you get bored of your iPad. DIY Pixel Qi Kits [Pixel Qi blog] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:27 am Foot-Operated Extension Cord, Not for the Twitchy
Unfortunately, it sports a rather nasty “comedy” illustration of a foot on the switch itself. On the other - um - hand, it only costs $21, and has the added advantage of lacking the blinkenlights that so often blight anything with a power-plug. I’d suggest you don’t plug your actual desktop computer into this device, especially if you are one of those obsessive, foot-tapping types (actually, maybe you should hook up your delicate machine to this hair-trigger power-breaker as punishment for your annoying habit). For the kind of junk that you should switch off, but leave powered up because you are too lazy to reach under the desk, this looks like a great solution. Woods [Coleman Cable] Woods Ind 6 Outlet Power Strip With Foot Switch [Amazon via Lifehacker] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 4:02 am Panasonic G2 Adds Touch-To-Shoot Screen, 1080p Video
Panasonic continues to tear a hole through the high-end camera market with an update to its original Micro Four Thirds camera, the G1. In fact, there are two new bodies and one new lens. Both the G2 and G10 share the same body and 12.1 MP sensor with the G1. The G2 is the high-end model, and adds AVCHD-Lite video recording (1080p) and a camera-controlling, flip-out touch-screen. The G10 has 1080p motion JPEG, loses the touch and flip functions of the G2, and gets a lower-resolution electronic viewfinder. The G2 is the camera you should buy (although prices and launch dates are still unannounced, the spec differences are enough to say the the G10 is a rather crippled version of the G2). The viewfinder alone is probably worth it, at 1,440,000-dots. This is half as many dots again as the LCD panels found on today’s best DSLRS, and it is in a tiny viewfinder. I imagine it is rather good. By comparison the G10 has just 202,000-dots, just like the truly awful add-on electronic finder for the GF1 compact. Video, too, is crippled in the G10. Sure, it’s 1080p, but it uses the space-hungry Motion JPEG format. If you remember that the processors inside both these cameras is the same, and that the GF1 can do both Motion JPEG and AVCHD, then you’ll see that this is intentionally switched off to separate the models. At least they both have the same 460,000 dot LCD screen, and the touch and flip of the G2’s LCD is a very nice addition. The touch can be used to focus on subjects, navigate the controls and even release the shutter. The camera will even lock onto an eye and keep it in focus. You can also stick to the old manual controls if you like (the control dial has been moved to the back of the body). The G2 is a solid, if incremental, upgrade: good news for owners of the original, who can safely stick with what they have for another year (unless they are desperate for video). The G10 marks a new, entry-level model, which we expect to see at a fairly low price. Both come with the new kit lens, the 14-42mm ƒ3.5-5.6 ASPH with image stabilization. That’s a touch shorter than the original 14-45mm kit lens, replaces the metal mount with plastic and loses the image stabilization on/off switch on the barrel. The price and launch dates are still unknown. If you don’t already have a GX and are in the market for one — hold off. Of you have one already, enjoy your camera for another year until the G3 is inevitably announced. Lumix Digital Interchangeable Lens Cameras [Panasonic] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 8 Mar 2010 | 3:26 am
|
Since its 
You may remember 
It’s a little surprising to see a Twitter application coming out of 
Last October, developer Loren Brichter set the App Store 
The documents also lay out, in chilling detail, exactly what should occur in each two-hour waterboarding "session." Interrogators were instructed to start pouring water right after a detainee exhaled, to ensure he inhaled water, not air, in his next breath. They could use their hands to "dam the runoff" and prevent water from spilling out of a detainee's mouth. They were allowed six separate 40-second "applications" of liquid in each two-hour session - and could dump water over a detainee's nose and mouth for a total of 12 minutes a day. Finally, to keep detainees alive even if they inhaled their own vomit during a session - a not-uncommon side effect of waterboarding - the prisoners were kept on a liquid diet. The agency recommended Ensure Plus.
It’s a rare day that I find the opportunity to write about entrepreneurism and Canada in a single post. It’s rarer still that I’m able to do it twice in one day. But apparently today is that day. Earlier today I wrote about 
VICTOREEEEEEEEE! After nineteen years of bombs and wars and torture and bombs and torture and ethnic cleansing and torture, America's mission in Iraq has finally been re-reaccomplished through the miracle of symbolic purple-fingered brown people! Oh sure, all the cynics and the critics and the nattering nabobs of payingattentionism will say "Oh but Giblets haven't we had five or six of these already, what makes these purple fingers different from previous purple fingers" and the answer to that is shut up. These purple fingers are the most purplest-fingeriest purple fingers to ever have been symbolically purpled! They stand as unique and compelling evidence of our nation's sincere generational commitment to transform a brutal impoverished dictatorship into a brutal, more impoverished dictatorship by freeing Iraq from the deadly menace of Iraqis.
If you're in NYC on April 17th, definitely consider attending Rhizome.org's new conference, 
Need a DIY gift for the phone programmer who has everything? Consider getting him or her some 
When 
As warmer weather starts to creep back in to the northern reaches of the US, it’s time to start thinking about getting back on the roads and trails with your bicycle. If you’re like me, the bike has sat idle while skiis and snowboards got their fill. Here are some easy things you can do to get back in riding form.
Many know, and many are waiting for Google to release Chrome OS, which is expected to be available towards the end of the year. But now it seems as if that version of Google’s Chrome OS is not the only one in the pipeline. According to Will Drewry, who is a Google software security engineer they are planning to also release a business version sometime in 2011 that will feature “more management muscle.” Sadly though, aside from the brief mention little else is known about this second version of Chrome OS. Of course, I am sure that just like everything else Google, the rumor mill will eventually churn up and details will come to light.
CTIA is coming up later this month, March 23-25 and is the US wireless biggest event that focuses on mobile carriers and devices. If you were a smartphone maker looking to make an impact in the US, you’d look to CTIA to do so. That appears what Palm may be doing.
Earlier this month we saw 
This week’s first power-strip comes from Woods Ind., supplier of cable-based products to, well, anyone. The six-outlet strip is rated to 1625-Watts and offers a ground-pin for each plug. This is, of course, not reason enough to get onto Gadget Lab. What the strip does have is a big foot-operated power-switch so you can stamp down under your desk and kill everything simultaneously.