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Salesforce Buys Business Directory Jigsaw For $142 Million In Cash Plus Earn-Out
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011, subject to customary closing conditions. The enterprise cloud computing company in a statement touts Jigsaw’s Wikipedia-style crowd-sourcing model, which it says delivers the world’s most complete, accurate and up-to-date business contact data. When the company launched back in 2006, Michael Arrington deemed it a really, really bad idea. Jigsaw has changed its model since then: people can now see if their personal information has been uploaded, and there is a process to have it removed, at least temporarily. And users are no longer paid cash to upload contacts. Instead they receive points that can be used to download contact other people’s contact information. Revenue is rumored to be around $30 million/ year. As for Arrington, he went from calling the company evil to simply amoral. Going back to the acquisition: Salesforce says the deal will allow the company to combine its suite of CRM applications and enterprise cloud platform with Jigsaw’s model for the automation of acquiring, completing and cleansing business contact data. Jigsaw’s data cloud platform, it adds, also creates an enormous opportunity for developers and independent software vendors to deliver new applications that leverage the business contact data found in Jigsaw. Looking ahead, Salesforce seeks the creation of new partnerships with information services companies like D&B, Hoover’s and LexisNexis. Jigsaw’s community is said to consist of more than 1.2 million members. Over the last six years, community members have built and maintained a contact database of more than 21 million professionals at nearly 4 million companies, according to the press release. Jigsaw currently has 800 corporate customers. Jigsaw had raised $18 million in venture capital to date.      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:05 am Adobe scraps work to bring Flash apps to iPhone - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:00 am Retailers Reach Out on Cellphones [Voices]By Geoffrey A. Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Thanks to Internet-equipped smartphones, shoppers are increasingly using software applications to check prices at other stores without leaving the mall. Now retailers are trying to use technology to fight back. A start-up called Shopkick Inc., for example, has signed up Best Buy Co. (BBY) and Macy’s Inc. (M) as launch partners for a new kind of app for iPhone and Android handsets that detects when shoppers are in or near stores and offers rewards targeted to them. Shopkick exploits the phones’ location-sensing abilities—and cameras that customers can use to scan bar codes on items—to offer product information, coupons or other marketing offers when shoppers are in a convenient position to buy. In a retail world that is typically divided between the “bricks” of physical stores and the “clicks” of online customers, Shopkick “is like bricks on steroids,” says Martine Reardon, Macy’s executive vice president of marketing and advertising. The app, she says, will help the department store find new ways to communicate with consumers while they are inside Macy’s and when they are nearby and might be lured into the store with just the right offer. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:59 am 54% Of Women More Likely To Date Men With iPhones, Says iPhone Retailer
Ok, I made that second part up, but then again the first part was completely made up, too. According to the survey, which was held by Phones 4u, an online retailer of iPhones (and other phones) and thus utterly neutral any way you look at it, 54% of women stated that they would be more likely to date a man if he owns an iPhone. Which model, remains unclear. One respondent, the company says, even suggested “if he has an iPhone then he’s obviously intelligent and well-off.” 37% of those quizzed said that owning an iPhone makes a man seem more reliable, to which nearly all went on to say that a second date would be likely. I have an iPhone 3GS, so clearly, I can verify roughly 98% of all positive claims about men who own an iPhone. (Also, sorry ladies, but I’m happily married). But let’s not let the statistics get in the way of a good story, and juicy quotes: “There’s just something about a man who’s good with computers that makes him more trustworthy,” said Lucy, a 23-year-old primary school teacher from London. “If he’s got the cash for an iPhone then he must be very good at his job, too.” Hear that, Michael Arrington? (Image via Hottrix, makers of iBeer, and headline blatantly stolen from @StuartDredge) Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:46 am Colorado Man's Finger Ripped off: Apple's iPad Proves to be the Cause of ... - TopNews United States
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:34 am Pulitzer winning cartoonist gets iPhone app reprieve (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:31 am Polaris Signs off the Year With 54 Intellect(TM) Wins; Records 42% Growth in Quarterly ProfitCHENNAI, India, April 21, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - Polaris Software, a leading Financial Technology company, today announced the fourth quarter and annual results for FY 2009-10. In a year that witnessed an uncertain environment in the financial services segment in developed markets, especially the USA and UK, the company delivered positive results led by the highest number of product wins, multiple large outsourcing engagements and penetration into new markets.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:17 am First Public Draft: Taking the Wraps off of OAuth 2.0The OAuth 2.0 draft specification is out there. The efforts the group working on the specification are paying off in the form of an IETF working group submission. One thing that is clear is that there...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:15 am Website Mass-Bans Users Who Mention AdBlockAn anonymous reader writes to recommend TechDirt's take on the dustup over at the Escapist, which recently tried on banning users from their forums for the mere mention of AdBlock. In the thread in which the trouble started, a user complained that an ad for Time Warner Cable was slowing down his computer. Users who responded to the poster by suggesting "get Firefox and AdBlock" found themselves banned from the forums. The banned parties didn't even need to admit they used AdBlock, they simply had to recommend it as a solution to a troublesome ad. The forum's recently amended posting guidelines do indeed confirm that the folks at the Escapist believe that giving browsing preference advice is a "non forgivable" offense. After a lot of user protest, the forum unbanned the transgressors but heaped on the guilt.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:03 am News Corp. Buys Social Software Studio Irata Labs (Yes, The #Spymaster Guys)
The company, which builds games and other apps for social networks, has confirmed the deal to us and on Twitter (check out these tweets from Irata Labs CEO Chris Abad and co-founder and designer D. Keith Robinson). The terms were not disclosed. The name Irata Labs doesn’t ring a bell, say you? Well, perhaps you’re familiar with their social game Spymaster, which started as a massive time-killer on Twitter and later expanded to the iPhone and Facebook. Spymaster lets you run your own virtual spy ring across social networks and from your iPhone. It gained notoriety for being one of the first games to really leverage the viral power of Twitter, but it also got a huge backlash from users when it started sending out direct messages en masse. Venturebeat’s Eric Eldon at the time joked that maybe they should rename the game “SpamMaster”. Irata Labs is also behind iList, a nifty social classifieds service, and the company was also working on Flyvly, a platform that aimed to one day enable rapid development of location-based social games. The LA Times reports that the company, which only has three full-time employees, will not be incorporated into either of News Corp.’s major online assets – MySpace or the game review site IGN. Instead, the developers are expected to work with those divisions whenever it makes sense, a person familiar with the matter told the paper. Still according to the LA Times article, Irata Labs received angel funding from Veoh founder Dmitry Shapiro, entrepreneur Alex Bard and VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, although it’s unclear exactly how much was raised.      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:01 am Aricent Wins ERE Award for Talent AcquisitionPALO ALTO, Calif., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Aricent®, a global innovation, technology and services company focused exclusively on communications, today announced the company's recognition for the 'Best Employee Referral Program' across all industries at the Annual Global ERE Recruiting Excellence Awards. The award was presented to Aricent for its iRefer program - a company-wide initiative that encourages employees to refer talented individuals to fill potential employment opportunities, thus fostering close-knit relationships among employees and resulting in tremendous synergy and team spirit. "We are extremely proud to be recognized by ERE as the recipient of this prestigious award, especially considering the strong competition from some of the biggest companies in the world," said Anita Gupta, vice president, HR & Management Services at Aricent.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am Why Doesn’t Facebook Look Like This?
As you may be aware, tomorrow, Facebook kicks off its big f8 developer conference in San Francisco. We’ll be there to cover what’s going on, but it looks like a lot of the information is already out there — Inside Facebook, All Facebook, and GigaOM have good write-ups of what we can likely expect. We’ve previously reported on a bunch of these possible announcements such as the Meebo Bar-clone, the “Like” button for the Internet, and auto-logins for Facebook Connect. Obviously, I’m interested in any location announcements the company may make tomorrow — but it’s not clear if Facebook will actually announce anything yet as their plans have been fluid, and possibly still aren’t solidified. I’m also pretty interested in the Open Graph stuff Facebook plans to talk about. When this was first vaguely previewed back in October, Facebook’s intention seemed pretty clear to me at the time: to make the entire web its tributary system. It’s likely to either be huge — or another huge privacy disaster for the network. These grandiose plans are great and all, but as I sit here the night before f8, I find myself wondering something very simple: why does using Facebook frustrate the hell out of me? As I noted earlier in my farewell to Facebook Lite, I think it’s just because I find the service too cluttered, and confusing. The various options menus are a nightmare. All the privacy settings are beyond confusing. And while the overall site navigation has improved greatly over the past year (goodbye weird bottom nav bar), I still find myself lost quite often. And then I see something like this. From 2006 to 2007, the design group, iA, was in touch with Facebook about doing a redesign. Facebook didn’t end up using their stuff, but iA recently decided to take what they had done and update it to work with the way Facebook is currently laid out. The results are excellent — much better than the way Facebook actually currently looks. Look at these mock-ups, but be sure to go to their site to see them in full resolution, to see how they would actually look in full size.
Sure, it’s a bit Outlook-inspired, but wow do I wish I could navigate Facebook this way. The stream? Nice and clean, most elements are the same size (like Twitter) because comments are shoved into a new column on the right (and collapsed to show only 2 by default). And that comment column looks much, much better because it’s not surrounded by those ugly blue square backgrounds that currently make a complete mess of the stream. And there are in-line replies. Ads are still there, they’re just in this third column. The search box has been moved from that odd no-mans-land middle off-center to the left column. And the nav makes it very clear which stream you’re currently viewing. As iA notes:
It just seems to make sense. More importantly, when you look at it, it seems to make sense.
Sure, it’s hard to argue with 400 million users — and most would undoubtedly hate such a massive change. But Facebook, perhaps more than any other web company, is good at knowing when to when to ignore user complaints and push forward, to improve the product. I think they should take another look at iA’s work. Or at the very least, use the ideas of those FriendFeed guys more. Also, where the hell is Facebook’s iPad app? Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:39 am TSMC Ships 600,000 0.25-Micron Automotive-Qualified Embedded Flash WafersSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:30 am Downfall Producer And Constantin Film Partner Loves Those Hitler Parodies
Except Constant Film, the German production company that owns the rights to the movie, is trying to kill it anyway by trying to take down the many YouTube videos showing der Führer getting furious about, well, something, anything really. These videos are being removed because of YouTube’s automated Content ID system, which allows copyright owners to disable any videos that contain its content, whether or not the videos may be legitimate because they contain other elements. Dumb? Yes. But also, hypocritical, it appears. Richard Huffman recently interviewed Bernd Eichinger, writer and producer of Der Untergang and also a large sharefolder of Constantin Film as well as chairman of its supervisory board, and asked him after his opinion of the Hitler parodies. In short: ironically, he is madly in love with them.
Tremendously amusing? Moviemaking heaven? We agree, but Mr. Eichinger, you might want to tell some folks over at Constantin that. Because this is how we feel about those takedown notices (courtesy of EFF board member Brad Templeton):
Update: looks like the director of Downfall, Oliver Hirschbiegel, also thinks the parodies are amusing. He told New York Magazine in January 2010:
So who’s behind these takedown notices? (A good analysis can be found here if you’re interested) Thanks to Richard for sending us a link to the interview! Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:21 am Nortel sells interest in Korean operation to LM EricssonTORONTO - Nortel Networks (OTCBB:NRTLQ) is selling its interest in a Korean operation to LM Ericsson as the troubled telecommunications company continues to restructure. Nortel says it...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:21 am Smartphone Domino MachineThe Smartphone Domino effect. Fab! Spotted on DailyMobile.se. I think it's from Vodafone IT.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:03 am Bohemian Body Paint - The Daisy Lowe FutureClaw Spring 2010 Shoot is a Trip (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Daisy Lowe FutureClaw Spring 2010 pictorial is popping with color and the youthful spirit of spring. Taking inspiration from the flower power era, Daisy Lowe dazzles in front of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:01 am Men With iPhones Are More Attractive to WomenSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am Appleâs Rivals Scramble to Match the iPad (PC World)PC World - Few people doubt that 2010 will go down as the year the tablet computer took off. On April 3, the first day of sales, Apple sold 300,000 iPad tablets to eager buyers. Weeks later, Apple announced that it would delay by one month the international launch of the iPad because it couldn't keep up with domestic deÂÂmand. Meanwhile, other tech companies are gearing up to ride the wave by prepping their own tablet PCs.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am Steve Jobs Responds to Gizmodo iPhone 4G / HD PhotosVia DailyMobile.se. Steve Jobs responds to Gizmodo's publishing of a teardown of the iPhone 4G, and photos. Steve is not happy.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:54 am UPDATE 1-Victoria completes drilling second Cameroon well* Data indicates more than 300 feet of gross pay at the siteSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:48 am XAuth – Rest of Industry v Facebook Angle [Voices]By Seth Sternberg, Co-Founder, Meebo Yesterday Meebo announced XAuth along with Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), MySpace, Yahoo! (YHOO), Disqus, Gigya and JanRain. The goal of XAuth is to make it easy to know which services a given user cares about and then to reduce the friction in connecting that user to those services. The media made a lot of hay over the fact that Facebook wasn’t part of the announcement. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:47 am Brain Games Don't Make You Smarter, Reduce Dementia Risk - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:41 am OMG! A Third of US Teens Send 100 Texts a Day - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:35 am Google, YouTube Received 10000 Government Requests for User Data - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:35 am Liquidation of Wall St-backed China dairy hits snag* Liquidators in talks with local govt, creditors - sourceSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:34 am 27 Mystical Mirrors - From Music-Making Mirrors to Informaitve Eco Mirrors (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Whether you just check your reflection occasionaly to see if you have any food on your face, or gaze thoughtfully at yourself for hours, everyone needs a good mirror, which is why I...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:31 am Publish or Perish: Can the iPad Topple the Kindle, and Save the Book Business? [Voices]By Ken Auletta, Columnist, New Yorker On the morning of January 27th—an aeon ago, in tech time—Steve Jobs was to appear at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in downtown San Francisco, to unveil Apple’s (AAPL) new device, the iPad. Although speculation about the device had been intense, few in the audience knew yet what it was called or exactly what it would do, and there was a feeling of expectation in the room worthy of the line outside the grotto at Lourdes. Hundreds of journalists and invited guests, including Al Gore, Yo-Yo Ma, and Robert Iger, the C.E.O. of Disney, milled around the theatre, waiting for Jobs to appear. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:31 am How Deep Is the Ocean, How High Is the Sky? Apple Stock's Wild Ride After Huge Quarterly Earnings Report [BoomTown]
After Apple turned in stellar second-quarter earnings yesterday, its shares surged above $260 in after-hours trading and then back down to where it had closed at $244.59. What’s next is anyone’s guess, including Wall Street’s. So, it will be interesting to see what the stock opens at today, especially as there seems to be more innovations to come from Apple (AAPL), such as the unscrupulously obtained news about a handsome new iPhone coming soon. In any case, the computer giant continues to flirt with the possibility of reaching the market cap of Microsoft (MSFT). Apple’s valuation is now at $222 billion, while Microsoft is at $275 billion. Until that happens or not, let’s enjoy a video of the incomparable Billie Holiday singing, “How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky)”: Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:24 am EA Launches Ultima-Based Browser GameOn Monday Electronic Arts launched Lord of Ultima, a free-to-play, browser-based strategy game that's based on the Ultima universe. Quoting VG247: "Set in the new world of Caledonia, players start the game as conquerors raising an empire, and then move from developing a village to evolving it into a highly customized capital. Players can be peaceful merchants by trading resources over land or sea and using diplomacy, or become their very own become feared conquerors using armies of knights and mages to crush their enemies one by one in maniacal glee."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:19 am UPDATE 1-Provexis falls as Dutch investor cuts stake* DSM Venturing cuts stake to 17.8 pct from 20.8 pct * Provexis says DSM Venturing remains strategic investorSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:15 am How the AP-GfK poll on cars was conducted (AP)AP - The Associated Press-GfK Poll on cars was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from March 3-8. It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,002 adults. Interviews were conducted with 702 respondents on landline telephones and 300 on cellular phones.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:07 am Acision to Deliver Advanced Messaging Solutions for VideotronSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am Autonomy Corporation plc Announces Results for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2010Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am Autonomy Corporation plc Announces Results for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2010CAMBRIDGE, England, April 21, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am Acision to Deliver Advanced Messaging Solutions for VideotronPLANO, Texas, April 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- - Mobile Data Leader to Support Expansion of Canadian Operator's Advanced Wireless Network Acision, a world leader in mobile data, today announced the deployment of the Acision Short Message Service Center (SMSC), Acision Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC) and Acision Open Internet Proxy for Videotron's advanced wireless network.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:06 am UPDATE 1-Elan swings to first-quarter operating profit* Tysabri sales up 25 pct q/q (Adds detail, CEO quote)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:04 am Has Gizmodo Broken the Law With its iPhone Story? [Voices]By Ian Betteridge, Blogger, Technovia I am not a lawyer. But I do play one on the weekends. More importantly, over the years I’ve become intimately familiar with the law as it affects journalists on both sides of the pond. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:04 am Major Labels Go Bragh? Irish Judge Allows 3 Strikes [Voices]By Nate Anderson, Senior Editor, Ars Technica The Irish High Court ruled on April 16 that cutting off the Internet access of suspected P2P pirates was fine, that no data privacy rules would be breached by doing so, and that such schemes are needed because “the mischievous side of the human personality, containing a repulsive aspect as well as an attractive and humorous one, has also come to the fore over the Internet.” When the major music labels in Ireland sued Eircom, one of the country’s largest ISPs, the case was eventually settled out of court. The labels wanted Eircom to take some responsibility for the file-sharing behavior of its subscribers, and the company agreed to implement a voluntary three strikes system that would result in Internet disconnection. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:02 am What Will the Browser Look Like in Five Years? [Voices]By Mac Slocum, Online Managing Editor, O’Reilly Radar The web browser was just another application five years ago. A useful app, no doubt, but it played second fiddle to operating systems and productivity software. That’s no longer the case. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am Haute Couture Villains - Mehmet Turgut Captures the Sinful Fashions of His Favorite Crook (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Turkish photographer Mehmet Turgut has knack for capturing fashionable evil. In this tribute to Heath Ledger's depiction of the legendary DC villain 'The Joker,' his lens captures the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am Survey Cites Who's Trustworthy on the Web [Voices]By Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Most consumer Web sites haven’t taken adequate measures to cut down on online fraud, according to a survey released Tuesday by an Internet advocacy group that promotes anti-fraud tools and standards. The survey conducted by the Online Trust Alliance said only eight percent of major Web sites surveyed made it onto the organization’s “honor roll” of sites taking stringent measures to reduce online fraud enabled by forged emails, phishing sites and malware. The survey, conducted between late March and early April, looked at 1,200 Web sites and 500 million emails purporting to be from those sites, all of which were either Fortune 500 companies, top Internet retailers and federal government Web sites. To make it onto the honor roll, the Web sites had to be free of malware – malicious code that can be used to steal personal data from Web surfers – or links to sites containing malware. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am SAP to Acquire TechniData AGSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am SAP to Acquire TechniData AGWALLDORF, Germany, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its focus on providing market-leading sustainability solutions to customers worldwide, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced its intent to acquire TechniData AG, the world's leading provider of product safety and environmental, health and safety (EHS) solutions.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am YC-Funded Mertado: Deal Hunting, Social Shopping For Facebook
Mertado offers both a Facebook application and a standalone website that uses Facebook Connect. Once you’ve signed up, the service will regularly suggest new deals to you, using information gleaned from your Facebook profile to identify exactly which deals will be most appealing (on any given day it might have ten deals, but it will only suggest the ones it thinks you’ll like). Mertado’s founders say that most deals are at least 50% off of the MSRP. Some deals will continue to drop in price as more people purchase them (and everyone who participates pays the lowest price), though there’s never a cutoff for a deal to become ‘activated’ the way there is on Groupon. The service’s viral features are based on suggestions: if you suggest a deal to your friend and they purchase the item, both you and your friend will get a reward in the form of ‘Mertado Cash’ (you’ll still get the reward even if you didn’t wind up buying the item yourself). Mertado Cash are a virtual currency that you can apply toward future deal purchases. The only catch is that for some deals, you’ll only be able to use Mertado Cash to cover a percentage of an item’s purchase price (say, 20%) and you’ll have to use real money to cover the rest, though some deals won’t have any restrictions. Founders Mehul Shah, Rajiv Bhat, and Vijay Chittoor say that the biggest differentiators of Mertado are its personalization and social targeting technology, which will learn what each customer likes over time so that Mertado can offer better deals. They also point out that Mertado is a standalone retailer, not just a deal aggregator, which means that Mertado handles credit card transactions, customer service, and returns themselves. Mertado’s success will hinge, at least in part, on how accurate it can get its recommendations, and how often it can get users to share deals with each other. Because Facebook recently stopped allowing third party applications to use its Notifications channel, Mertado is going to have to rely on email to notify its members about deals, and there are already a lot of sites that do that. But there’s an opportunity here for a deal service that doesn’t just throw out low prices, but actually leads users to feel like they’ve stumbled across something serendipitous — to the point that they want to show it off to their friends. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:49 am Hands-On With The $149 Kobo eReaderBy Andrew Liszewski While not as prevalent or in your face as 3D TVs were at CES this year, eBook readers, or eReaders for short, definitely had quite a presence at the show, with everyone and their uncle...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:42 am BlackBerry OS 6.0 Images, Details Surface - Techtree.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:36 am 24 Rental Innovations - From Celebrity Home Rentals to Renting People (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) I'm here to give your credit cards a rest by presenting to you these rental Innovations. After all, since it's the norm for commodities to achieve instance obsolescence in our society,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:31 am Readings: Risk, Long/Short Myths, China Oil, Pimco, etc.The story of America's greatest idea: risk. (Source) China oil demand up on double-digit growth (Source) Pimco Recommends Shift to Emerging Debt Away From U.S., Europe (Source) L'affaire...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:29 am Gothic Floral Wedding Gowns - The Carolina Herrera Bridal Spring 2011 Line is Edgy (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Carolina Herrera Bridal Spring 2011 line is almost as lovely as English garden, yet there is a touch of darkness that make the gowns edgy. Many of gowns are superbly made and are...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:01 am Anti-Cancer Agent Stops Metastasis In Its TracksAnomalyst writes "Mice were implanted with cancer. The control group died as tumors metastasized. The experimental group was treated with macroketone and survived a normal lifespan. While the cancer was not cured, metastasis was significantly (over 80%) inhibited. Even after metastasis had begun and additional cancers developed, macroketone inhibited subsequent metastasis. The original article is in Nature behind a paywall."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:53 pm Google in talks to buy ITA Software: report (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:32 pm New Plantronics Explorer 395 bluetooth headset cheap, cheerful
Despite the fact that this is a less expensive model for Plantronics, they still included some premium features. You’ll still get DSP (for reduced wind noise) and Plantronics classic design. MRSP is $49.95, and the Explorer 395 is currently available from the Plantronics website or from Best Buy until June. After that you’ll be able to pick it up at Amazon, or at Wal-Mart or Apple stores. From the press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:00 pm New Plantronics Explorer 395 bluetooth headset cheap, cheerful Plantronics announced the latest addition to their product line, the Explorer 395. Designed to be an entry level headset, the Explorer 395 is based off of Plantronics standard design for ease of use and compatibility, but still has the sound quality you'd expect.
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:00 pm Apple shares rocket after net income jumps 90 pct (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:10 pm Verizon Expands Specialized Financial Services Network to EuropeBASKING RIDGE, N.J., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial services firms in Europe can now benefit from a dedicated trading-business infrastructure, provided by Verizon, that is specifically designed to help the firms share market data and execute timely trades.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:02 pm Startup Takes on Aging Fleet VehiclesI used to dream of a time when turning vehicles into plug-ins would be as easy as going to get a tuneup. While conversion companies and kits have existed for years, the risk and expense hindered large-scale operations. Now an ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm HP launches updated business, new consumer desktop systemsHP announced their latest desktop systems today, including a new consumer level all-in-one system, and a new business desktop. They also released the latest specs on their TouchSmart line, which will now be available with the Intel Core i3 and i5 CPUs. All of HP’s new systems are made without BFR/PVC products in the plastic, and the All-in-One is the first desktop to be made this way.
HP also updated the TouchSmart line. It’s now available with either a Core i3 or Core i5 processor, 4GB of ram, and a 1TB hard drive. It still features that custom touch screen interface, but the new CPU should eliminate the lag that we saw before. HP also worked with Dr. Dre to improve the sound quality by adding Beats Audio to the TouchSmart 600. HP brought in Corel to create a new touch screen specific version of Paint It Studio for graphic editing. The TouchSmart 300 is currently available on HP’s website for $799, the TouchSmart 600 (with the Core i3 and i5 processors and the Beats Audio) will be available on April 28th with an MSRP starting at $1099.
Finally, HP announced the Compaq 6005 Pro series, their latest business desktop machine. The new line features AMD processors, ATI Radeon 4200 graphics, and is customizable based on customer need. The 6005 machines also use a highly efficient power supply, and are produced without the use of BFR or PVC chemicals. The Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra Slim starts at $599, and should be available on April 26th from HP.
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Verizon Transforms International Content-Delivery Model With Direct-Connection Option for Content Owners and AggregatorsBASKING RIDGE, N.J., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet the expected explosive growth in content consumption and generation, Verizon is expanding its successful Partner Port Program to content companies worldwide. Content owners and aggregators now have the option to connect directly with Verizon's global IP network at various key sites around the world. "Content owners worldwide can benefit from the hard-wired links between their servers and our global network," said Quintin Lew, senior vice president of marketing for Verizon Global Wholesale.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm April 21, 1987: Feds OK Patents for New Life FormsYou want a "humanzee," no way. You want an Oncomouse, OK. But the limits may be getting stricter.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm YouTube Kills Hitler Parodies: Death of a Web Meme? (PC World)PC World - YouTube has recently begun removing videos that feature content from Constantin Films' 2004 film, Der Untergang ("Downfall"), despite the fact that many of these videos are parodies and thus constitute fair use of the material.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:59 pm Google hackers duped system administrators to penetrate networks, experts say - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:52 pm Volcano FuturesNow that the volcanic ash cloud is easing off from Europe and airports are re-opening, it's time to look ahead a bit. The first question is, will the Eyjafjallajökull (.OGG) volcano's ash cloud visit the US? According to Discovery News, the answer is: not likely. This article also provides good current answers, as best scientists know, to other questions such as "How long will this volcano keep erupting?" (could be months), and "Will the ash cloud cause cooling in Europe?" (nope). New Scientist looks at the question of whether planes can fly safely through volcanic ash clouds — and concludes there's a lot we don't know. "Ever since a Boeing 747 temporarily lost all four engines in an ash cloud in 1982, the International Civil Aviation Organization has stipulated that skies must be closed as soon as ash concentration rises above zero. The ICAO's International Airways Volcano Watch uses weather forecasting to predict ash cloud movements, and if any projections intersect a flight path, the route is closed. But although it is certain that volcanic ash like that hanging over northern Europe can melt inside a jet engine and block airflow, nobody has the least idea about just how much is too much. After a week of losing millions every day, airlines are starting to ask why we can't do better."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:44 pm When Ali Partovi Just Couldn't Get You Out of MySpace: The Video Proof (and Spoof) [BoomTown]
In all the sturm and drang over the departure of well-known Web entrepreneurs and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi from MySpace today, it’s hard to find much to laugh about. Except this most excellent video that Ali made last fall, which he did for a company contest that required new employees to show “how MySpace is YOUR space.” Ali wins hands down, as you will see from this fine effort, in which he tried to find the right song for the News Corp. (NWS) social networking site. The Partovis, whose iLike social music service was bought by MySpace last year, announced their exit to staff today. Sad perhaps, but please enjoy the memories:
(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.) Source: All Things Digital | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:22 pm Countries Blast Google for Rolling Out Google Buzz With Poor Privacy Measures - eWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:19 pm Synaptics brings multitouch to Linux, including Chrome OSSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Netbooks
The SGSL will have support for the most popular Linux builds including Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Flag, SuSE, Xandros, Millos Linpus and even Chrome OS. The supported gestures will include the standard two finger-scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, two-finger rotation and three finger swiping. Less popular gestures in the suite includes “ChiralScroll,” which allows you to scroll through a page by starting a finger in one corner and forming a spiral on the trackpad. The gestures have been available for Windows laptops previuosly, but can now be used in Linux machines. It does seem a bit odd that Synaptics is pushing this out now, and not letting consumers with supported trackpads install it themselves. Although, some of these gestures have already been included in Ubuntu netbook distributions. I have used two-finger scrolling and three-finger press on my Asus 901 for quite some time now. The big news now, though is that is going to be given to manufacturers, so that functionality will be there automatically for those who don’t want to install their own Linux OS on a laptop/netbook. With any luck multitouch gestures will be included in the first Chrome OS netbooks we should see sometime this year. Read [Synaptics] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:59 pm “Universal Packaging System” concept misses the point
Items are placed in boxes for a reason. The extra space can be filled with packing material to cushion your item from shock, and boxes are square and uniform in size so they are easy to load into a vehicle. Patrick designed a flat sheet packaging system that uses pre-perforated pattern to allow you to wrap the item like a blanket, and then take the sheet closed. I like the idea that the packaging is more recyclable then using standard foam packing peanuts, I just don’t think this is something that will really catch on as a packing method. Neat idea though. [via Yanko Design]
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:30 pm Will Global Warming Make Iceland's Volcanoes Angry?Melting glaciers around the world could trigger a global uptick in eruptions by the end of the century.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:17 pm The iPhone 4G story: Mindless mistake or planted PR?FROM APPLETELL - Gizmodo made quite a commotion with their purchase of a stolen/lost iPhone 4G for a rumored 5K-10K, but there are plenty of layers to this story that can be debated. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:12 pm Chinese Online Games Shut Down for Quake Mourning Day (PC World)PC World - Online games, music services and parts of other Web sites in China were shut down on Wednesday for a day of mourning mandated by the government after a deadly earthquake last week.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:10 pm Blu-ray Format Adds Capacity, Functionality (PC World)PC World - The Blu-ray Disc format will soon be able to perform some nifty tricks--if manufacturers adopt new specifications that the Blu-ray Disc Association, the format's governing body, is likely to finalize soon.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:10 pm Verizon uploads HTC Droid Incredible product videoSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Web, Online Music/Video
The Verizon video, which can be found on YouTube certainly covers all aspects of the phone from its 1GHz processor to its virtual QWERTY keyboard. If you have kept up to speed on the HTC Droid Incredible, then the video will probably not surprise you (although I did find out for the first time it has an integrated FM radio), but it shows the sleek interface and the different functions. Interestingly enough, the video never refers to the phone as the HTC Droid Incredible, instead it is always called the HTC Incredible. Sure, Derrek - the Verizon guy, is probably a little biased towards the phone (okay a lot) but it’s definitely a nice, all encompassing video review. Watch [YouTube] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:45 pm EFF Assails YouTube For Removing "Downfall" ParodiesLocke2005 writes "In what promises to be one of the quickest threads to become Godwin'ed, YouTube has pulled scores of parodies of the 'Hitler Finds Out' scene from the movie The Downfall. Ironically, I had never heard of this movie before this — and now I want to watch it." Here is the EFF complaint. David Weinberger has posted some details on Google's Content Identification tool, which is being used in the shotgun takedowns.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:39 pm Social Gaming Execs Discuss Growth, Monetization, And The Future Of Facebook Games
The Panelists: Pleasants’ prediction came after an audience member asked if the social gaming companies would be able to sustain the growth they saw through much of last year. Zynga COO Vish Makhijani acknowledged that Zynga had seen some slowdown last quarter, but said that signs pointed to that trend changing. And the general consensus seemed to be that there was still lots of room for growth on Facebook, particularly internationally. The group also noted that there were opportunities abroad on social networks other than Facebook. Another question touched on multiplayer in social games — or, rather, the lack thereof. Look at most popular social games these days, and you’ll notice that most of the interaction between games happens asynchronously, which isn’t really ‘multiplayer’ in the traditional sense. Lolapps CEO Kavin Stewart says this is because there already is a market for synchronous gaming, with games like World of Warcraft and console games. Slide VP Keith Rabois echoed this sentiment, explaining that synchronous multiplayer games are generally time consuming, and that Slide’s research showed that most people use Facebook in quick, 5-10 minute sessions between classes or when their boss isn’t looking. Not everyone agreed that synchronous gaming was out of the picture though — Playdom’s John Pleasants said that we’d probably see synchronous gameplay as an extension of some asynchronous games (I think he’s right). One audience member asked about the recent report that Zynga was worth $5 billion. Makhijani declined to comment on the report, but CrowdStar’s Peter Relan concluded that it wasn’t off base. His logic? Relan says that casual games can scale to 10x the audience of more ‘hardcore’ games like World of Warcraft, and perhaps even more than that. The revenue models are different for these games (WoW uses recurring subscriptions while social games favor virtual currencies and virtual goods) but he says this huge audience make the valuation reasonable. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the panel was what wasn’t said, at least not directly. During a question on monetization — namely, Facebook’s Credits — there was a lot of talk about how a unified credits system can help developers because it allows for one-click purchases across all games. But there was also a sense that the developers didn’t want Facebook’s currency to become the only option for developers. Slide’s Keith Rabois noted that Facebook Credits are good for paying users, but there are other channels (like Offers) that address a broader audience. In other words, he doesn’t want to be chained to Facebook Credits, at least not yet. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t always matter what the developers want. When asked if Facebook listened to these game developers when it came to policy changes, most of the execs noted that while Facebook might solicit their input, when push comes to shove it does what it wants.      
Source: TechCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:27 pm HOWTO sneak Hitler onto YouTubeLooking to game Google's copyright enforcement bot? That's the system that was used to hunt down rogue Hitler videos that remixed the bunker scene from Downfall, and it's pretty thick:YouTube's automated copyright filter Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:21 pm Sprout watch: eco-friendly but probably won’t win any beauty contests
No, it’s kind of an ugly watch, I’m afraid — those wacky numerals and the bamboo next to the plastic really are kind of jarring. But in addition to the bamboo face, it’s got a corn resin case and bezel, an organic cotton strap, a mercury free battery, and a few other small concessions to Mother Earth. They claim 86% eco-friendly. Nice, but I’d rather step in front of a harpoon than strap this thing to my wrist. Talk to the designers again and get back to us, Armitron, you’re on the right track. [via Gizmag]
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm 7-Eleven entering used game sales marketFROM GAMERTELL - If you need to purchase a copy of Madden NFL 2009 and a Slurpee at 2 a.m., now you have a place to do just that… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:00 pm Microwave ovens: The early years"The 1947 Radarange was a whopping six feet tall, weighed nearly 750 pounds, and required its own 220 volt electrical line and a dedicated water line for the cooling tube. It sold for $2000, or nearly $22,000 today." Eat Me Daily looks at the natural history of microwave ovens, from radar technology, to recipes for gourmet steamed pudding, to Joan Collins in her Dynasty finest. (Via Nicola Twilley.) Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:38 pm Radio Shack to discontinue sales of the Palm Pre and Palm PixiSection: Communications, Smartphones
Palm, once the king of the smartphone world, has been struggling in recent years. Their long drawn out foot dragging when it came to updating their former PalmOS cost them dearly. Sales of the Pre have been good but it wasn’t the iPhone killer they’d hoped. The SVP of Software has announced he’s quitting and the company’s stock has been downgrade amid their apparent refusal to entertain buyout bids.Things are grim indeed. What phones would you like to see the two Palm devices replaced with? Or are you a Palm fan who’s sad to see them go? Talk to us! Read [Barrons] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:31 pm Space archaeologists!
You know SETI, the nice folks out in California who scan the stars for radio transmissions, hoping to find evidence of E.T. You are probably also aware that this strategy hasn't exactly panned out. Now, some physicists are starting to pipe up, suggesting that SETI's problem maybe isn't so much a lack of aliens, but an over-dedication to searching for one, narrowly defined artifact of intelligent life. SETI is space archaeology, they say. And current practice is the equivalent of studying ancient Earth-bound civilizations using nothing but flint spear points—there's a lot of cultures you'd completely miss, because their technology was more advanced.
What to look for, instead? Scientists interviewed by The Economist suggested everything from pollution (the fact that there are Earth-based telescopes capable of studying the atmospheric composition of planets outside our solar system is mind-blowing enough on its own), to evidence of intelligent tampering with the energy output or aging process of distant suns. The Centauri Dreams blog gets into those later, sci-fi inspired possibilities a bit more in-depth. It seems like the key to this new approach is looking ahead in our own development, rather than behind or alongside, for searchable signals of intelligent life. And that's fascinating, not just for its possibility in the field of alien hunting, but for the questions it forces us to ask about Earth-bound technologies. Things like: Is there a better way we could be doing some of our basic techie activities, and how soon would it be able to supplant current methods? What might we be capable of in 1000 years, and what impact could that technology leave on our planet and our solar system? At the very least, I fully expect this line of inquiry to lead to some great, new literature—and maybe some usable tech ideas, too. (Via Lee Billings) Image courtesy Flickr user pasukaru76, via CC
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm Steam UI update hits on Monday
Valve has been busy lately, what with Steam on the Mac, Portal 2, and now this. If you can’t wait until Monday, you can download the beta now, it’s probably safe to assume it’s pretty close to the release version at this point. You can check out the details along with all the information on the new features here. [via HardOCP]
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm Colorado man loses part of finger in iPad theft (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:27 pm Final Cut Server update contains a pair of fixes (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - An update to Final Cut Server released Tuesday offers up a pair of fixes for the asset management tool that integrates with its Final Cut Pro video editing application.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:24 pm Like BoomTown Said: Partovi Brothers Finally Leave MySpace (Here Are the Internal Memos) [BoomTown]
Well-known tech entrepreneurs and twin brothers, Ali and Hadi Partovi (pictured here, right to left) are leaving MySpace, in a high-profile departure for the struggling social networking company. Internal memos were sent around to staff this afternoon about the executive change, said sources, which you can see below. “Hey everybody, it’s been super tough staying quiet about this news at the request of our execs,” said Hadi Partovi, in an internal memo obtained by BoomTown. “I know some of you are very surprised about this, and I want to apologize for not having had the option to brief you personally in advance.” Hadi was SVP of Technology at the News Corp. (NWS) unit, while Ali was SVP of Business Development. Hadi will leave MySpace entirely, while Ali will have a special advisor role, said the memo from MySpace Co-President Michael Jones. In a blog post in March, titled “MySpace Musical Chairs: Will the Partovis Stay or Will They Go Now?,” I wrote: “In all likelihood, said sources, the Partovis will remain at MySpace for the next several months, although they are likely to move eventually to more senior advisory or special-project roles there in order to pursue longtime outside investing and entrepreneurial interests.” Now that has come to pass. The fate of well-known tech wunderkinds has been one of the more interesting guessing games of late at MySpace. MySpace managers have been keenly interested in avoiding the appearance that the company is in the grip of a talent drain, especially related to such well-known innovators. The Partovis arrived in the midst of turbulent change at MySpace last August, just after its original CEO and co-founder, Chris DeWolfe, was suddenly tossed out and replaced by CEO Owen Van Natta, as well as COO Jones and Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn. As part of its new strategy to become an entertainment hub, the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based MySpace bought the Partovis’ social music start-up, iLike, in a deal engineered by Van Natta. After it closed, Hadi was mostly working in MySpace’s Seattle office, and Ali was mostly based in San Francisco. (See this funny welcome video Ali Partovi did at the time.) But Van Natta suddenly got the boot in January, after clashing with News Corp. digital chief Jon Miller, as well as Hirschhorn and Jones, sending MySpace into yet another storm. Hirschhorn and Jones were then named co-presidents. While several sources said the Partovis are not unhappy with the pair or with the new MySpace media-centric strategy, the brothers sold the company with the idea of working with Van Natta. “That firing reset things,” said one source close to the situation in March. Nonetheless, there was some progress with iLike, including an integration of MySpace Music with Google (GOOG) and a MySpace Events offering. In addition, the pair have wide-ranging interests outside the company, including an active investment portfolio in such start-ups as Facebook, Dropbox, Opower, BlueKai and Flixster. They have also already scored big with investments in Tellme, which was sold to Microsoft (MSFT); Zappos, which was acquired by Amazon (AMZN); and IronPort, now owned by Cisco (CSCO). And though iLike was not the success they had hoped for, their entrepreneurial record is strong. Ali Partovi sold LinkExchange to Microsoft, and Hadi Partovi, who also worked at Microsoft, co-founded Tellme. Now, it seems, the Partovis are onto the next challenge. Here are the internal memos from Hadi Partovi to iLike staff and from MySpace’s Jones:
(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.) Source: All Things Digital | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:22 pm iLike Founders Ali And Hadi Partovi Step Down From MySpace Executive Team
Reached for comment, MySpace gave us this statement:
This obviously isn’t good news for MySpace. But the iLike deal has actually worked out quite well for the company. iLike is now integrated into Google Search, though a deal that was in the works before MySpace acquired the company. iLike is still the most popular music app on Facebook. And the iLike team also played an instrumental role in the resurrection of imeem’s playlists and MySpace’s recently upgraded events product. Still, this continues a string of other recent MySpace departures, including VP and General Manager of Mobile John Faith, SVP User Experience Katie Geminder, ousted CEO Owen Van Natta, and others. Slightshot Labs, a News Corp incubator that works with MySpace, also just saw the departures of President Josh Berman and EVP Strategy and Product Diego Berdakin. Here’s a video Ali Partovi shot soon after he joined the MySpace executive team last fall, when he showed why he was full of win.      
Source: TechCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm OCZ now offering 4GB DDR3 DIMMs
Generally the rule is to have several smaller DIMMs rather than one or two big ones. High density modules have a higher risk of errors and are slower in general, having longer latencies and forcing more data through the same interface. Big DIMMs are the leading cause of RAM bottlenecks. Or not, I don’t know. The new modules are 1333Hz but also have 9-9-9-20 timings, which is a bit slow. If you’re a RAM freak, these 4GB modules will be available soon, although no pricing information is available right now. As Tech Report points out, 2×2GB kits cost a little under $120 right now, so you’ll probably see it debut at somewhat more than that, though probably below $150.
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm You Got Served ... By Head's Fault-Free Tennis RacketHead's new YouTek Extreme Pro offers a potent package of power and precision in a nearly perfect package.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Handheld Sucker Blows Competition AwayDyson's vacs are the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever did suck. And we mean that in a good way. Meet the debris-gobbling DC31 wonder vacuum.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm You Got Served ... By Head's Fault-Free Tennis RacketHead's new YouTek Extreme Pro offers a potent package of power and precision in a nearly perfect package.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm 32 Products to Help You Shape Up, Clean Up and Toughen Up This SpringWarm weather is here, and that means it's time to burst into action. We've tested tech that will help you organize your life, clean your abode and strengthen your body this spring.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm 32 Products to Help You Shape Up, Clean Up and Toughen Up This SpringWarm weather is here, and that means it's time to burst into action. We've tested tech that will help you organize your life, clean your abode and strengthen your body this spring.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Handheld Sucker Blows Competition AwayDyson's vacs are the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever did suck. And we mean that in a good way. Meet the debris-gobbling DC31 wonder vacuum.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Multitasking Swiss Army Knife Cuts Sticks in Wilderness, Deals in BoardroomLooking for a gadget to deliver a PowerPoint presentation and to amputate your own arm? Look no further than the Presentation Master.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Multitasking Swiss Army Knife Cuts Sticks in Wilderness, Deals in BoardroomLooking for a gadget to deliver a PowerPoint presentation and to amputate your own arm? Look no further than the Presentation Master.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm A More Elegant Fail Whale Briefly Surfaces
Twitter’s Fail Whale is a thing of legend at this point. The beast, which appeared so often in years past, now rarely comes out of the water. But today, for a brief moment, the creature reappeared. And behold: he’s prettier than ever! It looks like at some point last year (hence the out-of-date 2009 copyright at the bottom), Twitter tried to give the Fail Whale error page a bit of a design overhaul (as it did to much of the rest of its site). While the whale itself is the same, the font and styling of the error page has been revamped, as you can see. This is certainly better than the other revamp. And better than ice cream cone man. But alas, this more elegant whale was not to be. A reload returns my old trusted Fail Whale. I’ve missed you, friend.
Update: Our developer Andy has another theory on the new Fail Whale: “the two different pages, I believe, are from two different types of response codes. a 503 used to return just the black text, the traditional fail whale was (I think) tied to a 408.“ Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:58 pm Gadgetell Review: Camangi WebStationSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Reviews, Features  What is being reviewed?  The specs
 In the boxThe box includes the WebStation as well as a protective cover, AC adapter, stand, screen cleaner and a set of headphones.  My thoughtsThe Camangi WebStation is a nice looking device, and one that feels really well made. I was immediately impressed when I opened the box and held it for the first time. Anxious to get started I hit the power button and after a pretty quick boot-up time (approx 30 seconds) I was off and running. Well, sort of… Once up and running you are greeted with a default lockscreen and wallpaper that is proudly displaying Android, not to mention the boot sequence has the word Android appear twice. That turned out to be a little disappointing for me, someone who happens to be a regular Android user. You see, the Camangi WebStation is running Android, in fact its running a customized version of Android 1.5 and that is where some trouble came for me. This customized version is not what you may expect if you are an Android user. The tablet boots into a desktop with pre-loaded apps. Initially good, there are a decent selection available such as Gallery (for images), GBook, Aldiki ebook reader, an Alarm Clock, Calendar, Task Manager, Calculator, Weather, Music, Email, Browser and more. The WebStation even access to the Market, though this is the Camangi Market and that currently has only about 80 available apps. Yup, this is not the Android Market, and you do not have access to that either. The Camangi Market does have a few goodies including Twidroid for Twitter, and you can install other non-Market apps, assuming you can find an APK file online. Overall, the app selection is limited but decent. The one major disappointment came in the fact that you cannot re-order the apps on the device. You cannot add or remove icons (either on the desktop or in the quick-launch at the bottom.) Annoying, but not necessarily a deal breaker. So yes, I had issues with the Camangi WebStation since I first started using it. But these were personal disappointments due to what I expected with Android. This tablet is running Android, however I would not describe it as an Android tablet. But more importantly, I then started using the device for what it was—a web tablet that offered limited ability to customize. And strange as this next statement may sound, from there I actually started to enjoy the device. I have been using it on a daily basis for a week and have gotten used to the quirks and feel comfortable with it. The device is nice overall, it is a good size (dimension wise & display) as well as weight. I will say that for the most part I have used the Gmail app which is really just a shortcut to the browser and a mobile version of Gmail and the ebook readers (with ePub support) and web browser. Though I have also added a few music files as well as podcasts to listen to. Listening to audio was fine, the built-in speakers were acceptable, but listening proved much nicer when done with headphones. The browser, again it is a mobile version and Android users will feel comfortable. It works well and the 7-inch size display was good to browse with. And given the built-in accelerometer it switched from portrait to landscape nicely, which made browsing the web and reading that much nicer. As for the display itself, lets just say that took some time to get used to. It works much better when using the stylus, but even then I find myself accidentally clicking items sometimes. Those accidental clicks came because the display is not very sensitive, and at times I was feeling the need to press a little harder to scroll around. Again, time worked this out and its now much better with use. One item that you would want or expect to do is watch video, in short, no. The video playback was kind of choppy and frustrating. And on top of that there is no Flash support, which means no YouTube either. However you can load your own videos including MPEG4 and 3GP files using the microSD card for storage. In addition to the positive email, web browsing and ebook experience I also really enjoyed the photo functionality. The tablet serves as a nice photo image display tool and can do the basics like slideshows. In terms of image support, expect JPG, GIF, PNG and BMP files. In the end, I would say I did feel limited by the device but still liked using it.  The bottom lineThe important part, the bottom line and big questions. Would I buy it, and would I recommend it? Yes, on both counts. I would buy one, though I would say I would feel much better about my purchase with a price of $199 instead of $275. As for recommending it, I would not really hesitate, though I would say a regular (non-geek) user would probably enjoy it a little more just because they would not go in with pre-conceived thoughts about the tablet running Android. Again the WebStation is running Android, but I would not describe it as an Android tablet. Once I realized that and just accepted the WebStation as a decent sized Internet tablet I became really glad to have it in hand. As to Camangi, you have a good device, though you may be better with a slightly lower price and having it marketed to the non-geek audience.  Product [Camangi] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:55 pm Battle Cry? Google Buys Stealth Company Founded By Guys That Spurned Apple
The two tech giant buddies are now clearly at odds with one another (coffee dates and all). The iPhone and Android are already at war. And soon, the two will be at war in ads (AdSense vs. iAds) and portable computing (iPads versus Chrome OS netbooks). And leading up to those wars, both have been making some interesting hires and acquisitions. The latest is Google, which at some point recently bought the stealth startup Agnilux, according to peHUB. What is Agnilux? No one knows for sure, but the New York Times thought enough of it to profile it a few times — and still wasn’t able to find out any more other than they may be doing something with servers. So why do they matter? Because of who is involved in the company. Agnilux was founded by a few ex-Apple employees. More specifically, it was founded by Apple employees who came over in the PA Semi acquisition. PA Semi was the chip company that Apple bought in 2008, and is now believed to be the key force behind the new A4 chip that powers the iPad (and perhaps the upcoming iPhone). But, as NYT reported back in February:
The story goes on:
In other words, Google’s acquisition of this company probably pisses off Apple. Who knows, maybe this move was a response to Apple snatching away RJ Pittman, Google’s director of product management. That followed the ending of a gentleman’s agreement between the two companies not to go after each others’ employees. That was when things were still peachy between the two tech giants — obviously, things have changed. Pittman was a key component of Google’s music project which integrated services like Lala into search results. Of course, Apple went on to buy Lala. And then there was Google’s acquisition of AdMob — a purchase made while Apple was trying to buy the company as well. This led Apple to buy competing platform, Quattro Wireless. Agnilux has other talent as well, including former Cisco and TiVo employees, but the PA Semi/Apple angle is too interesting to be ignored. The battle continues…      
Source: TechCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:40 pm Job Ad Hints At Microsoft Move To ARM ServersAn anonymous reader passes along a brief EE Times note on a suggestive Microsoft job ad. ARM is explicitly mentioned, as are solid-state disk drives as an area of experimentation in the quest to reduce power consumption; but Intel does not get a mention. Here is the ad. "Microsoft is looking for senior software development engineer to help with its Bing data centers, potentially running them on ARM hardware, according to an EE Times article. Whoever gets the job 'can own the decision on the hardware that we use,' the job description said, and added that power management is a key aspect of the job. ... Microsoft was reportedly experimenting with the Intel Atom microprocessor in February 2009 with a view to creating a green low-power data center. One issue discussed then was the Atom microprocessor lacked performance compared with other Intel processors and that therefore any power saving might be negated by the need for more processors to carry a given computational load."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:35 pm The Methuselah of elementsSamarium is a rare-earth element that can have a half-life of 106 billion years. You'll note that the entire freaking capital-U Universe, itself, is only around 14 billion years old. Thus, said long-lived isotope of samarium is one of the radioactive elements that gets pulled out when scientists want to date especially old chunks of rock—like ancient Martian meteorites. (Although, in that case, the samarium date is disputed.) Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:34 pm Review and giveaway: Lomo Diana F+ film camera with Instant Back
Lomo wants to give one away, too — details below.
Pros:
Cons:
Full review: I wrote last month that “The Polaroid saga is a long and strange one. And the last couple years have been especially strange. Bankrupt, reanimated, relaunched, sold out, bought up… I wouldn’t be surprised if Polaroid showed up on Dancing With The Stars.” All this drama is fun enough for a gadget reviewer who writes this stuff up, but what if you’re someone who legitimately just wants a fun instant camera to have at parties or out with friends? One can’t count on Polaroid any more, and although digital is great, it’s obviously not the same. I put myself in these shoes for a bit and, after noting that Lomography’s LC-A+ was getting an instant back, I contacted them about reviewing a camera somebody like you or me might want to pick up for plain instant film fun. They directed me to the Diana F+.
The Diana F+ is a remake of the classic Diana from the 60s, “updated” with rather cheap plastic construction but all in all a faithful reproduction of the famous manual camera. It should be said right away that this camera really does feel like a toy. And not a nice toy. It’s light as a feather and almost entirely plastic. It’s sturdy enough, but I wouldn’t trust it after a few drops. You just have to get past that, though — remember how rubbish film point-and-shoots used to be? This is no worse. The point of the Diana F+, however, isn’t to be a luxury item. At $90 it’s practically an impulse buy. Its charm is in the throwback factor: it shoots to a number of films (depending on whether you accessorize with different backs) but out of the box it shoots to 120. I’m not reviewing that portion of it, however. My thoughts on the camera’s functions and such apply just as much to using it without the instant back, but of course you have to go through the whole development process and all that. So let’s move on. The camera is fully manual, and in a way that makes you feel kind of goofy. It’s all so inexact and unpredictable that as denizens of a pixel-perfect digital age, most of our readers will find it extremely foreign if they have no experience with older film cameras. I happen to have grown up shooting black and white on a Canon SLR, but even that didn’t prepare me for the truly lo-fi process going on here.
Because it’s a rangefinder camera, focus is kind of a guessing game. There are three settings: 1-2m, 2-4m, and 4-∞m. Those of us used to imperial units may have some trouble, but after a roll or two it’ll seem second nature. The focus is pretty forgiving, and at any rate the inexact nature of shooting a camera like this makes it seem less important. Exposure is a little more important to think about, and it too has only a few settings, labeled only as suggestions: cloudy, partly cloudy, sunny, and pinhole. Again, picking the right one becomes second nature after a while, though you’ll have to be satisfied with some less-than-optimal shots before you get it right. Lastly, shutter speed is limited to two options: auto and manual. Auto is about a 60th of a second, suitable for slow-moving subjects, but it’s more just to have a known quantity to expose with. Otherwise you have to time it with your brain using the manual, or bulb, shutter mode, which simply exposes for as long as you hold down the switch. I got some great shots using this and the flash, but it’s not for everyone, and a knowledge of exposure values and such helps. Manual advance and exposure means you can do multiple exposures on the same piece of film. My experiments in this area were largely unsuccessful, mainly because i ran out of film, but you might have better luck. As I’ve noted, experimentation and unpredictable results are what make this camera a different kind of fun than a digital. There’s a removable flash with a great retro look for dark shots. It’s extremely bright, so you might consider putting a napkin or two in front of it, but once you get an idea of its power, you won’t overexpose too much.
The instant back is what makes this camera a worthy buy for fun-loving photogs with a little scratch to spare. It costs as much as the camera ($95) but if you buy them together you’ll save a little money. Installation is a snap — though the camera looks rather misshapen once you put it together. The back also throws off the balance, so you’ll need to consider that if you’re interested in pinhole exposures. It shoots Fujifilm’s Instax format, which costs about $12-$14 for a pack of two cartridges, each with 10 exposures each. That works out to about 65¢ per shot. Expensive to be sure, but remember that includes processing and printing. And of course, we all know the value of the instant photographic memento. It’s the reason I’m doing this review. Instax film is significantly smaller than Polaroids. Each shot is almost exactly the size of a credit card. Some people I talked to liked the little shots, some preferred Polaroid’s big ones. I prefer the big ones, sure, but the little guys are charming too, and Polaroid cartridges are scarce and expensive right now so the point is almost moot. There is some exposure difference between the 120 and Instax film (you have to set the camera to overexpose, essentially) but it didn’t seem to affect many of my little compositions. You can see some of them in the gallery below.    Those were with my first packet of film. I was already getting the hang of things, but framing is difficult as there are no frame guides. You get a feel for it, though. Taking the Lomo out to a birthday party at a local bar, I found myself besieged with questions. Everybody thought the little Diana F+ was adorable, and everybody fell in love with the little instant shots. Most also expressed disapproval at the build quality, but were pleasantly surprised by the price. If you’re a social photographer, this thing comes highly recommended. There are a number of other lenses and film backs you can apply to the Diana, but I didn’t get a chance to try any out. Just keep in mind that you’re not limited to the focal length it comes with, if you’re interested in spending a little more. Conclusion… and Contest! Obviously it’s a matter of taste whether or not a “novelty” camera like this is worth the $164 it will set you back. Personally, I think it’s a bargain. Instax film isn’t going anywhere, and 120 has been around for a century. It’s fun to shoot and the results are charming, though usually not what you expected. Fuji has its own Instax cameras out there, but they’re not nearly as fun and cost just as much. If photography is a hobby of yours and you miss the old days of film and instant, the Diana F+ is a great way to get back to them without much of a commitment. Now, the contest! It’s pretty simple, really. Lomography wants to give away a Diana F+. All you have to do is send an email to crunchgear at lomography dot com saying you want it. The catch? You’re going on their mailing list for sales and new products. Of course you can opt out via the normal means later, but you will be giving them your email address. We’ll pick a winner randomly on Friday, so get in there. Product page: Lomography Diana F+
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm Next iPhone teardown reveals very little
It’s to be expected, really — the magic of the iPhone is not in its guts, but in how it makes those guts into a cohesive user experience. The new screen and front-facing camera imply some serious changes to the UI and functionality, so we’ll just have to wait and find out about all that.
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:25 pm Scientists mine YouTube to study effects of Salvia divinorum
I can't say the thought ever occurred to me, but apparently enough people think it's a good idea to get high, film themselves and post the results to YouTube that psychologists at San Diego State University were able to use the crowd-created video archive to do one of the first studies of the drug's behavioral impacts. Why study how people act when they're high on Salvia? Despite carrying a lot of the same cultural trappings as pot, Salvia is actually pretty unique, from a chemical standpoint. In fact, that was part of why it was legal in so much of the U.S. for so long—the chemical structure wasn't close enough to any already-outlawed drugs to be automatically covered as an analog under the same bans. Not surprisingly, Salvia's effects on the human brain are also very different, and science doesn't know much about those effects, says Mind Hacks' Vaughan Bell.
Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:23 pm More Than a Half-Million Texas Households Now Receive Urgent Alerts From Blackboard ConnectWASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blackboard Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:10 pm Intelligent Community Forum Names Recipients of its Annual Founders AwardsNEW YORK, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York-based think tank that studies the impact of broadband and related information and communications technologies on the communities of the 21st Century, named the three recipients of its annual Founders Awards today.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:10 pm Free Sirius XM for a month? Sure, why not!
Free Sirius XM for a month, amigos! That is to say, free Opie & Anthony and Ron & Fez for 30 days. It’s the company’s latest promotional tactic to get you to pony up the $15 or whatever a month for the service. A test drive, if you will. Once you sign up for the free trial, Sirius XM sends you a radio and car kit, so you can listen to East Side Dave talk about the Smoke Zone, Opie tell Ashley Dupree to take a hike, and Fez have heat attacks every day. It’s top-notch radio, and I listen all day long. I’d have joined the circus long ago if it weren’t for those guys. But if you’re only interested in the free month, be sure to cancel before the 30 days are up, lest you find a nice little bill on your credit card statement.
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Sprint trumpeting 4G with HTC EVO eventSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile
It’s unclear what will be revealed at an event. The invite touts a relationship with Disney and the upcoming Prince of Persia and promises an advanced screening weeks before it is due in theaters. Is this just a chance to get more hands on time or does Sprint have something hidden up its sleeve? We’ll find out May 12. Read: [Android Guys] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:49 pm Escalating Gmail/Spamming AttacksWe've been getting submissions about an uptick in compromised Gmail accounts in the last few days, but nothing that could be substantiated. Robert McMillan did a bit of digging and now reports in PC World that "Google is investigating a growing number of reports that hackers are breaking into legitimate Gmail accounts and then using them to send spam messages. The problem started about a week ago but seems to have escalated over the past few days. ... [I]n forum posts, Gmail users note that the hackers appear to be sending spam via Gmail's mobile interface — which gives mobile-phone users a way to check their Gmail accounts — and wonder if there may be a bug in the mobile interface that is allowing criminals to send the spam. ... Google says there's no Gmail bug. ... 'Spammers may sometimes use a mobile interface to access accounts they have already compromised because it's simpler for bots to use this method at large scale.'" Here's how to tell if your Gmail account has been accessed by bad guys, and what to do about it.
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:44 pm Remember when you just held your thumb over the end of the hose?
[via 7Gadgets]
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:30 pm Coachella: 3 Days of Music, Mayhem and Amazing SpectacleJay-Z, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke and a boatload of other top musical acts turn Coachella into a rocking, raving and all-around wild weekend.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:20 pm Military Strives to Shrink Carbon 'Boot Print'The U.S. military has a history of giving the world transformational technology -- and they're at it again.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:01 pm Unisys Names Ron Frankenfield as President of Global Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services BusinessBLUE BELL, Pa., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) announced today that Ron Frankenfield has been named president of the Unisys Global Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services (GOIS) business.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:01 pm Oh no they didn’t: jumping added to Bionic Commando Rearmed 2Not too long ago I wrote that it was distressing how the “de-makes” of games are often funner than the games themselves. Bionic Commando, Mega Man, and Dark Void all seemed to be funner in their old-school side-scrolling homage forms than in the “real game” for current gen consoles. The team behind Bionic Commando: Rearmed just released an announcement trailer for their new game and… well, we’ll see. There’s a reason they didn’t have jump in the original.
Source: CrunchGear | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm Expect Facebook to Open Up at F8We look ahead at what could be coming from the social networking site during Wednesday's F8 conference for Facebook developers.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm Good, Portable "Virtual" Linux Distro?Prof. Nix writes "I have been given the opportunity to redesign the Linux course for the community college I work for. This course will be taking students from the 'What's Lee-nux?' stage to (hopefully) Linux+ Certifiable in about three to four months. However, one issue I haven't solved is finding a semi-stable, highly portable, and readily accessible platform the students may pound on, and have root access, independently of their peers. The powers-that-be have already vetoed any sort of server environment accessible from off campus. We've already tried live USB drives, but we ran into many issues with non-supported hardware on students' home computers. So I'm left with the idea of virtual machines run from flash drives. My ultimate goal is to have some sort of portable system that students can use with equal ease on lab systems and personal laptops — regardless of hardware. Preferably this system would be installable on a 4GB flash drive and run an Ubuntu- or Fedora-derived OS. So I ask the people who have been in the trenches a lot longer than I — what distros should I look at?"
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:56 pm Gizmodo vs. critics of iPhone scoop
Gizmodo did a good thing and a bad thing yesterday. The good thing was publishing the gadget-blogging scoop of the decade--this summer's iPhone!--an honor shared by Engadget and a blogger named TEDream, both of whom scored earlier photographic ur-scoops of the new model.The bad thing was the ludicrously dramatic outing of the Apple engineer who lost the prototype. This earned Giz a well-deserved backlash, but we shouldn't let it overshadow the value of the original scoop. Checkbook journalism has its uses, and journalism of any kind is gold dust in the PR-fed world of gadget writing. BBG fans may be pleased to see that Joel Johnson, now at Gizmodo, agrees that the engineer's outing was a bad idea. He also kills another rumor doing the rounds--this being that the whole thing was a controlled leak--and repeats the point that access journalism sucks. You shouldn't trust the tech press PR corps who are happy with it any more than you trust Gizmodo. It's impossible to argue that "access journalism" has anything but a deleterious effect on the objectivity of journalists. Almost everyone in tech writing is compromised, but in this instance, only Gizmodo, Engadget and a single anonymous blogger have anything to show for it. It's hardly fair to complain about gadget writers rewriting press releases, then complain about how they get to real news, too. There's just not that much on the beat that isn't spooned out by PR people; if it takes a drunken employee's mishap and a paid-off thief, that's what it takes. Also, those fantasizing in public about someone prosecuting Gizmodo should put it away. It's disgusting. If you find Giz intolerable now, imagine it getting to mythologize its victimhood as a crusading poster child for press freedoms. God help us if Apple sues it or if it is prosecuted over this! Finally, you know what that SIM slot means? I think it means we're stuck with AT&T for another gen. Damn. Apple Didn't Leak the iPhone--And Why That Matters [Gizmodo] Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:51 pm Characters from Black Hole comic brought to life
Readers of Charles Burns' creepy comic book series Black Hole will recognize these faithful recreations of the yearbook photos of the monstrous teenagers from the series. The project was a collaboration between photographer Max Oppenheim and prosthetic artist Bill Turpin. Theoperators.net has the full series of photos, but unfortunately its Flash interface makes using the website as fun as brushing up against a Teddybear Cholla Cactus. UPDATE: Bless Spencer Cross' heart for finding the non-Flash blog entry. (Via Fantagraphics) First Look: Pantech Link - quick messaging finally grows upSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile
Out of the box, the device reminds me (surely on purpose) of a BlackBerry Bold. The phone is gorgeous, fit and finish are first rate; this phone could easily be mistaken for a $200 smart phone. About the only difference physically: the Link is way thinner than most. The keyboard deserves a special mention here. Pantech has struggled, in my opinion, to build a really good QWERTY keyboard. From the Slate to the reveal, they just haven’t hit on thumb-friendly gold. Until the Link. This keyboard is near-perfect. The keys are bubbled nice and high, a solid-feeling click is felt and heard when pressed, but not clunky or cheap feeling/sounding. Width and arc of keys are perfect. Typing on the Link (one if not the primary functions) is a joy, way above it’s class. Good looking, thin, nice textured back for grip and keys you can bang on, what else does a $9.99 phone need to do? 3G, GPS, a camera with video (which can share live streaming video - neat huh?) round out the highlights. AT&T is quick to point out a $20 text plan (or combination of text and data) is required with the Link. We’ll have a full review up in the near future. Product page: [Pantech] via [AT&T]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:35 pm Leaked HP Slate Fails to Impress in Early Peek
But a Mexican site that played with an early version of the Slate is not impressed. The OS takes too long to load, which can be “annoying,” says Conecti.ca. Last month, HP released its first video introducing the HP Slate, a tablet that will run Windows 7. The Slate is likely to have a built-in camera, video-recording capability, USB port and a SD card reader — all features pointedly aimed at the iPad, which lacks all four — and will support Adobe Flash. The HP Slate will also include access to Skype, an iTunes-like music store, integration with Flickr and the Firefox browser. HP hasn’t confirmed pricing or availability for the product. But a leaked company document suggested the Slate could cost $550 or $600 for the 32 GB and 64 GB models, respectively. HP hasn’t demoed the Slate yet publicly but it has deliberately leaked a few highly edited videos of the device. Conecti.ca confirms most of the specs that have leaked out for the Slate, but says HP’s tablet is more of a competitor for netbooks than the Apple iPad. The site, which has posted a gallery of photos for the Slate, has one word for it: “meh.” See Also:
[via PC World] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:10 pm RCN P2P Settlement Is Not Even a Slap On the WristArs covers the settlement of the RCN P2P throttling class-action lawsuit, which lets the company walk away without admitting guilt, without paying affected users, and without any meaningful restraint on their network management practices. "[The] settlement is due to be finalized on June 4. ... The case has largely flown under the radar. Yesterday, a notice ... was issued that alerted RCN customers to the settlement, and one Ars reader was aghast at the terms. Those terms provide nothing for users affected by RCN's practices. Instead, they require the cable company to change its network management practices. These changes are in two parts. ... These cessation periods would be retroactive. ... A moment's math will tell you that, when the settlement is finally approved, one cessation period will already have ended and the other will be ending soon. Once both cessation periods are over, RCN is allowed to implement whatever throttling regime it wants. Given that a federal court has just removed the FCC's authority to regulate network management, RCN appears to have carte blanche to single out BitTorrent and other P2P traffic for special throttling attention after November 1, 2010."
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:06 pm Ford Brings Smartphone Apps to Your DashboardIf you've got a BlackBerry or Android phone, you'll be able to use Sync to access your apps. But iPhone users have to wait until next year.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:04 pm Cooking with Salt & Fat Salt & Fat is a lovely food blog maintained by two guys, Neven Mrgan and Jim Ray, who spend their days developing software and web products and every other moment, apparently, thinking about food, and the making and eating of it. The name tips you that this isn't going to be a one of those oppressively good-for-you food-blog experiences. It's also not one of those sites that paints cooks as a kind of priesthood and cooking itself as something rarified, distant and difficult. In fact, as Ray noted in an introductory post on the day he and Mrgan started the site three months ago,
...people think cooking is too hard. Or takes too much time. I'd say the biggest marketing message is that we're constantly being told we're too busy (not necessarily too stupid, but I suppose that's an implication in all mass marketing) to bother to cook a meal, here's a meal-in-a-box full of sodium, preservatives and saturated high fructose whatnot. Let's put a stop to that.Today's entry on the cast-iron skillet is a good example of what the site does so well -- deliver a large quantity of useful information in a way that's brisk and sensible. There's a food-lovers' maxim to the effect that if you want to judge a new restaurant you shouldn't order the most complicated thing on the menu, you should order the simplest, because a kitchen that can turn out perfect scrambled eggs probably has its house in order. That's the sense you get from reading Ray's post on the iron skillet, which is the scrambled eggs of food blog topics -- the sort of basic entry that underpins everything else. When Ray answers, once and for all, the question of how to clean your iron skillet (and debunks the "Grandma never cleaned hers, not once, and she lived to be two hundred" myth) you know you're in good hands. Full disclosure: I clean my skillet just as Ray advises. It's a huge, hulking, heavy thing I bought at Target, because there's another old maxim -- I've seen it attributed to Michael Ruhlman, but haven't been able to confirm that independently -- that anybody who pays more than 12 bucks for a skillet is a freakin' idiot. Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:52 pm Wise Up With The Apples in Stereo's 'Space and Time' Math-PopRobert Schneider and his band use sci-fi, Auto-Tune and a non-Pythagorean musical scale to create their new record, The Travellers in Space and Time.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:50 pm Apple sold 8.75 million iPhones last quarter, 51.15 million since launch
Aaaand the iPhone continues to print money. Fresh out of their earnings report, Apple has just announced that they managed to push roughly 8.75 million iPhones out the door in the second fiscal quarter of 2010 (January to March). In fewer words, it was the iPhone’s best quarter ever.
Combined with the 42.4 million they’d sold at the end of the last quarter, this brings the grand total up to right around 51.15 million. This bumps things up slightly beyond the 50 million number that Jobs revealed at the iPhone OS 4 announcement just weeks ago. For good ol’ comparisons sake: Apple sold 8.7 million iPhones in the previous quarter, with 3.79 million iPhones sold in the second quarter of last year. That works out to somewhere around 130% growth, in year-over-year unit sales. If I ever sell 51 million anything, I think I’ll go ahead and call it quits and head for the beach. Related News:
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:38 pm Second Banker Accused of Stealing High-Frequency Trading CodeA second banker is being prosecuted on allegations he stole the source code for his employer's high-frequency trading platform — software the government says enriches the banks.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:31 pm Ubisoft eliminating printed manuals for console gamesFROM GAMERTELL - Ubisoft will be getting rid of printed manuals for Xbox 360 and PS3 games starting Fall 2010 with Shaun White Snowboarding… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:29 pm iPhone OS 4 Beta 2 released to developers, packs a few new tricks
After Apple formally announces a new version of iPhone OS and gotten it into the hands of developers, they tend to follow up with minor releases every 2 weeks or so. With iPhone OS 4 having been announced 12 days ago, it seemed like a new Beta couldn’t be far off — and sure enough, iPhone OS 4 Beta 2 just shipped. So what’s new? We haven’t gotten wind of any exciting new user-facing features yet, but we’re hearing about a few new tricks it’s packing for all the developer folks to fiddle with. Amongst these is EventKit, an API which lets applications plug events into your Calendars (like Facebook automatically throwing in all of your friend’s birthdays), and Quick Look, which seems to provide apps with a means to allow for users to preview certain file types (iWork, Office docs, RTF, PDF, images, and CSV files) without launching into another app. The latter has to be plugged into apps manually, so don’t expect it to work universally right off the bat. We’ll let you know if we hear about anything else.
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:25 pm Living "paintings" Alexa Meade, 23, is a Washington, DC-based artist who paints on top of her subjects and puts them in real life settings. (No, you can't see the pixels. This is real.) From Meade's artist statement: Alexa Meade (Thanks to Hi-Fructose and all who pointed me to this) Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:19 pm Google Enumerates Government RequestsD H NG writes "In the aftermath of Google's exit from mainland China, it had sought to be more open about what it censors. Google has launched a new tool to track the number of government request targeted at Google and YouTube. These include both requests for data and requests to take down data. A quick look at the tool shows that Brazil is the top country in both categories (largely because Orkut is popular there), and information for China cannot be disclosed because 'Chinese officials consider censorship demands as state secrets.' As part of its four-part plan, Google hopes to change the behavior of repressive governments, establish guiding principles for dealing with issues of free expression, build support online to protest repression, and better provide resources and support for developing technology designed to combat and circumvent Internet censorship."
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:18 pm SugarSync gives iPad users document editing & syncingSection: Apple, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Web Apps, Websites  SugarSync has recently announced the second version of their iPad app, and this one brings document editing as well as syncing. And at the same time they did wonders to work around the fact that Apple does not offer access to the file system in terms of working with documents. Anyway, the SugarSync app was and remains a free download. The service on the other hand will vary in price depending on the plan you choose. They range from free for 2GB of storage space all the way up to 250GB of storage space for $24.99 a month. But getting back to this most recent update, the app will now allow iPad users to open up a document (with either Pages, Numbers or Keynote), then edit that document and re-save it to the cloud. As a fairly long time SugarSync user this change just becomes another reason that I remain a user. Of course, this also gives me a reason to purchase Pages and/or Numbers as well. Keep reading to see how it works and hit the read link below to check out SugarSync.
Read [SugarSync] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:15 pm MAKE Volume 22: Remote ControlMAKE Volume 22 is on newsstands now! Automate your world with remote control. From pet care to power outlets, from toys to telepresence, we'll show you how to add a joystick, push-button, twist-knob, or timer to just about anything. Remote control projects in MAKE Volume 22 include:
In addition, you'll learn how to:
Plus, filmmaker and YouTube sensation PES shows how he creates his amazing stop-motion animation; and 8 top hobbyists and industry leaders tell what's hot in Remote Control. What on earth are foamies, Frankensteining, and aqua modeling? Get MAKE Volume 22 and find out.
Don't forget - subscribers can always read the digital edition here. Source: Boing Boing | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:14 pm Apple Rejects Kid-Friendly Programming AppApple has removed the Scratch app from the App Store. Scratch is a platform based on Squeak, an educational programming language made by tech legend Alan Kay.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 2:09 pm The World Is No Longer Our OysterImage 1: Extensive oyster reefs still line Tomales Bay, but for how long? Credit: Annaliese HettingerImage 2: Bodega Marine Lab scientists muck about in Tomales Bay, collecting oysters for research. Credit: Annaliese HettingerImage 3: Oyster larvae, like the one pictured here, are reacting to more acidic seawater. Credit: Kirk SatoImage 4: Adult oysters soon to be separated for culturing for lab experiments. Credit: Kirk SatoSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 1:30 pm Hops Helps Reduce Ammonia Produced By CattleImage Caption: ARS microbiologist Michael Flythe has found that feeding hops to cattle can reduce the amount of ammonia they produce by inhibiting hyper-ammonia-producing bacteria (HABs). Here a hops flower is shown inhibiting HAB growth in an agar plate. Photo by Randy Dinkins.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 1:26 pm Gizmodo: Lost next-gen iPhone returned to Apple - USA Today
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Apr 2010 | 12:57 pm USGS Awards Stimulus Funding To Improve Detection Of Changes In The Earth’s CrustThe U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 12:57 pm Apple Rejects Kid-Friendly Programming App
About 40 years ago, tech legend Alan Kay invented the idea of a lightweight tablet computer that children could use to learn programming. Apple’s iPad delivers on the tablet part of that vision — but the company has blocked a kid-friendly programming language based on Kay’s work from getting onto the iPad. Apple removed an app called Scratch from its iPhone and iPad App Store last week. The Scratch app displayed stories, games and animations made by children using MIT’s Scratch platform, which was built on top of Kay’s programming language Squeak, according to MIT.
Though the Scratch app wasn’t made by Kay (pictured at right), he wasn’t pleased about the news when contacted by Wired.com. “Both children and the internet are bigger than Apple, and things that are good for children of the world need to be able to run everywhere,” Kay e-mailed Wired.com. Kay, a former Xerox PARC computer scientist, is credited for conceiving the idea of a portable computer in 1968, when computers still weighed over 100 pounds and ate punch cards. He called his concept the Dynabook. In his conception, it would be a very thin, highly dynamic device that weighed no more than 2 pounds, which would be an ideal tool for children to learn programming and science. Kay’s Dynabook was never made, but characteristics of his concept can be seen in the mobile computers we tote around today.
Jobs this month personally mailed an iPad to Kay, who praised Apple’s tablet as “fantastically good” for drawing, painting and typing. But Kay declined to give his full evaluation of the iPad to Wired.com until his question of whether Scratch or Etoys — another educational programming language Kay developed for kids — would be usable on the device. With the removal of Scratch from the App Store, for now the answer to Kay’s question would appear to be “No.”
McIntosh said he had sent e-mails to Jobs and Apple staff and received replies from them asking questions about Scratch. He awaits Apple’s decision on whether the app will reappear in the App Store. “If you follow the chain of where Scratch came from, yes it is a Dynabook app, sadly not an iPad app,” McIntosh wrote in Apple’s developer forums. McIntosh said that Apple removed the app because it allegedly violated a rule in the iPhone developer agreement — clause 3.3.2, which states iPhone apps may not contain code interpreters other than Apple’s. The clause reads:
Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber, who first reported the removal of Scratch, explained that Apple’s intention with the “no interpreters” rule is to block meta-platforms such as Adobe Flash. “Imagine a hypothetical arbitrary ‘Flash Player’ app from Adobe, that allowed you to download SWF files — such an app would stand as an alternative to the App Store,” he wrote. “What’s frustrating about Apple blocking Scratch is that Scratch doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that one could use to build software that’s even vaguely of the caliber of native iPhone apps. It’s really rudimentary stuff, focused on ease-of-programming. But what’s Apple to do? Change the rule to ‘no high-quality interpreters’?” Apple earlier this month instituted a new rule that also effectively blocks meta-platforms: clause 3.3.1, which stipulates that iPhone apps may only be made using Apple-approved programming languages. Many have speculated that the main target of the new rule was Adobe, whose CS5 software, released last week, includes a feature to easily convert Flash-coded software into native iPhone apps. Some critics expressed concern that beyond attacking Adobe, Apple’s policies would result in collateral damage potentially stifling innovation in the App Store. Scratch appears to be a victim despite its tie to Jobs’ old friend. Apple did not respond to Wired.com’s request for comment. “I think it’s terrible,” said Andrés Monroy-Hernández, a Ph.D. candidate at the MIT Media Lab and lead developer of the Scratch online community. “Even if the Scratch app was approved, I still think [clause 3.3.2] sends a really bad message for young creators in general. We have a forum where kids post comments, and they were really upset about this.’” Monroy-Hernández added that reinstating Scratch wouldn’t solve the bigger problem with the App Store. “Even if Apple approves it now, it sends the wrong message that you have to be backed by MIT, or be famous for a Pulitzer-winning cartoon, to be accepted as part of this digital democracy, and I feel that’s really, really bad,” he said. “More than accepting the app, I hope Apple will change their policies into something more open.” Photos: 1) Bryan Derballa/Wired.com See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 12:15 pm Greater transparency around government requestsArticle 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that "everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Written in 1948, the principle applies aptly to today's Internet -- one of the most important means of free expression in the world. Yet government censorship of the web is growing rapidly: from the outright blocking and filtering of sites, to court orders limiting access to information and legislation forcing companies to self-censor content.So it's no surprise that Google, like other technology and telecommunications companies, regularly receives demands from government agencies to remove content from our services. Of course many of these requests are entirely legitimate, such as requests for the removal of child pornography. We also regularly receive requests from law enforcement agencies to hand over private user data. Again, the vast majority of these requests are valid and the information needed is for legitimate criminal investigations. However, data about these activities historically has not been broadly available. We believe that greater transparency will lead to less censorship. We are today launching a new Government Requests tool to give people information about the requests for user data or content removal we receive from government agencies around the world. For this launch, we are using data from July-December, 2009, and we plan to update the data in 6-month increments. Read this post to learn more about our principles surrounding free expression and controversial content on the web. We already try to be as transparent as legally possible with respect to requests. Whenever we can, we notify users about requests that may affect them personally. If we remove content in search results, we display a message to users. The numbers we are sharing today take this transparency a step further and reflect the total number of requests we have received broken down by jurisdiction. We are also sharing the number of these content removal requests that we do not comply with, and while we cannot yet provide more detail about our compliance with user data requests in a useful way, we intend to do so in the future. As part of our commitment to the Global Network Initiative, we have already agreed to principles and practices that govern privacy and free expression. In the spirit of these principles, we hope this tool will shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests for censorship and data around the globe. We also hope that this is just the first step toward increased transparency about these actions across the technology and communications industries. Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer   
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 20 Apr 2010 | 12:04 pm Leaked: BlackBerry OS 6.0 screenshots and details
Man – has it been a good week for leaks, or what? It’s only Tuesday, and we’re already on to our second major info dump. This one might not be quite as big as yesterday’s leak seen around the world – but it’s still a doozy, especially if you’re a BlackBerry fan. After a few months of radio silence and not a whole lot to go off of beyond concept imagery, the first rock solid screenshots and details of BlackBerry OS 6.0 are here.
The details come by way of the BoyGenius, who finagled them through an “AT&T connect”. What you should know:
For all the minutia and a handful of other screenshots, head over to BGR.
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:56 am Fashion Accessories for the iPadUp-and-coming designer Missy Schwartz has fashioned a line of ultrastylish gear to help you take your iPad wherever you go. Wired got exclusive access to the photo shoot.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:45 am Human Beats 340-Pound Robot in Football Kick-off
San Francisco’s football team may have its share of detractors, but in a face-off against a robotic kicking machine, Niners placekicker Joe Nedney came out on top. Nedney was pitted against a 340-pound titanium robot called Ziggy. The event was billed as a man-vs.-machine battle in a leadup to Robogames, a robot competition event that will be held this weekend in San Mateo, California. Nedney kicked a football 45 yards while Ziggy, the robot, failed to clear the goalposts in two attempts at that distance. For a detailed rundown of the play, check out Wired Playbook’s coverage. Ziggy is no lightweight, though. A star in the robot world, it has a titanium-covered armor plate and has been a gold medal champion at Robogames for three years in a row. Ziggy’s heft and power have made it one of the most powerful amateur robots built. For instance, in one video, Ziggy tosses a washing machine around as if it were a ball. In practice sessions, Ziggy has been able to kick a ball over 60 yards. But that was on a concrete surface with no headwind. The football field’s grass surface meant that a major portion of the energy released by Ziggy’s pneumatic arm ended up driving the robot deeper into the ground rather than providing thrust to the ball, explains the BotJunkie.com website. But all that’s just excuses. For those keeping score, Nedney is the winner — and humans rule. For now, at least. See below for a video of the Nedney vs. Ziggy kick-off, plus a closer look at Ziggy.
Photos: (Evan Ackerman/BotJunkie.com) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:43 am Human Beats 340-Pound Robot in Football Kick-OffIn a man-against-machine duel, San Francisco 49ers' football team placekicker is pitted against a 340-pound robot called Ziggy. Guess who wins?
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:43 am Want Porn? Buy an Android Phone, Steve Jobs Says
The rules about what types of content can and can’t be in Apple’s App Store are still fuzzy, but one thing’s certain: Steve Jobs doesn’t want to sell porn. Despite yesterday’s iPhone debacle, Jobs was still in a chatty-enough mood to respond to a concerned customer’s e-mail questioning Apple’s role as “moral police” of its App Store. The customer, Matthew Browing, was referring to the App Store’s initial rejection of an app containing Mark Fiore’s Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoon, as well as the company’s recent porn ban. In his reply, Jobs admitted that rejecting Fiore’s app was a mistake, and he wasn’t shy about advertising his biggest competitor’s product as a phone for porn lovers:
TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, who originally reported the e-mail exchange, noted the “and” typo in Jobs’ response, but he said he verified the sender by checking the e-mail’s IP headers. Jobs’ purported e-mail response is believable, as it comes in line with a statement the CEO made during a question-and-answer session at Apple’s iPhone OS 4 event earlier this month. A journalist asked whether Apple would consider allowing customers to load apps through means other than the App Store, and Jobs again noted Android as an option for porn fans. “You know, there’s a porn store for Android,” Jobs said. “You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to go there.” Jobs’ opposition to porn is loud and clear, but Apple’s crackdown on sex-tinged apps can be described as a “semi-ban” at best. The Playboy app remains in the App Store, as does the Sports Illustrated app, because they come from “more reputable companies,” according to Apple’s vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller. See Also:
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:21 am Scientists Find 30-million-year-old Evidence of Bone-eating WormsAn international team of scientists led by the paleontologist Steffen Kiel at the University of Kiel, Germany, found the first fossil boreholes of the worm Osedax that consumes whale bones on the deep-sea floor. They conclude that "boneworms" are at least 30 Million years old.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:09 am SFR picks up the Palm Pixi Plus and Palm Pre Plus in France
Down, but not out. Continuing their European vacation that began on Germany on Vodafone and O2, the Palm Pixi and Pre Plus are on their way to le Gai Paree. This morning, French carrier SFR is announcing that they’ll be launching both handsets within the next month. Their online spot should have’m by April 27th, while their meatspace outlets will be stocking them up for a May 11th launch. Look for’em on the shelves between the berets, escargot, and other French stereotypes for €99 for the Pre Plus and €29 for the Pixi Plus. Viva la aging smartphones!
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am Chrome OS Netbooks For Under $400, Says Google
Netbooks that will run Google’s new Chromium operating system will be competitively priced in the range of $300-$400, says Google chief Eric Schmidt. The Chrome OS netbooks are expected to hit retail shelves by the end of this year or early next year. “Those prices are completely determined by the costs of the glass, the costs of the processor and things like that,” says Schmidt in this video dug up by Tech Radar, “but in our case Chrome OS and Android are free so there is no software tax associated with all of this.” Google introduced Chrome OS two months ago as a lightweight, browser-based operating system that would boot up in seven seconds or less. Google hasn’t revealed who will be manufacturing the Chrome OS netbooks, but already Acer has said it expects to offer about a million of these devices this year. Chrome OS netbooks could also be available on contract from phone service providers, says Schmidt. But it’s not clear how well that strategy will work. Other netbook makers have already tried that in the U.S. with limited success. For instance, Nokia offers its Booklet 3G netbook for $300 with a two-year AT&T contract that requires a monthly data service fee. But the device is also available without the plan at Best Buy for $600. The novelty factor of the Chrome OS operating system aside, the netbook market is extremely price sensitive. And if Google wants a share of that pie it will have to beat the price of the Windows-based devices. See Also:
Photo: (BlubrNL/Flickr) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 11:05 am George Washington Had Overdue BooksThe first president of the United States may not have been able to tell a lie, but he apparently had no problem dodging library fines. More than 220 years ago, George Washington walked out of the New York Society Library ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:23 am How Do Cobras Raise Their Hoods?Scientists measuring electrical activity in the muscles of a cobra have found the mechanism that triggers the frightening “hood flare” that the snake uses as a defensive display. The scientists found a precise group of muscles that the cobra uses to raise their hoods.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:10 am WebOS vulnerability found, patched by Palm in latest releaseWhat to make of this WebOS exploit? It was discovered by the Intrepidus Group security firm, and it has to do with the way the operating system handles SMS messages. Basically, WebOS doesn’t perform a common security check on incoming SMS messages, meaning that any craftily formed SMS can essentially take out the entire phone. There’s a video that explains what’s going on. That’s it up there, yes. It should be noted that this flaw only affects WebOS versions older than 1.4, so if you’re plugging along on an older revision of the operating—why?—be sure to upgrade ASAP. Shame, too, since WebOS is the nicest-looking of the modern phone operating systems (Android, iPhone OS, and BlackBerry). via Bit-Tech (love the new layout, guys!)
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 10:00 am Icelandic Volcano Ash Output DecreasingThe volcanic eruption in Iceland that has crippled European air travel for days is now beginning to produce molten lava, meaning that less ash should be produced and raising hopes that the existing cloud that has forced flights to be grounded could finally start dispersing.On April 19, commercial helicopter pilot Reynir Petursson told AFP reporter Sebastian Smith, "We saw the eruption changing from being explosions of ash… It's the first day we saw lava.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:38 am Volcanic Ash Cloud Won't Reach U.S.While a volcano eruption in Iceland has cast a cloud over Europe, North America will remain in the clear.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:05 am Pew Internet report reveals what everyone already knows: Teens like to text
According to the report, 88% of teenagers with cell phones are texters. “Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.” I usually send less than 100 texts per month, so these kids are really texting! Most of the report confirms my anecdotal observations, but there’s some interesting nuance in the findings. Girls text more than boys, and a quarter of teens have made or received a phone call during class. The most surprising item, to me, was that “Teens whose parents limit their texting are also less likely to report being passengers in cars where the driver texted behind the wheel or used the phone in a dangerous manner while driving.” It always amazes me to watch teens text. The back-and-forth aspect of texting makes certain kinds of conversation more fun (say, flirting); but it’s so inconvenient for any kind of meaningful dialog. I don’t understand why the kids are willing to string out a conversation across minutes and hours, and dozens of texts, when a simple phone call of the same content would last less then five minutes. I guess I’m getting old…
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:02 am Microsoft Germany goes live with Kin 1 and Kin 2 specs
Kin 1
Kin 2
Now all we need is the cost of the phone and which data plan Verizon is going to require. [via the unwired]
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 9:01 am Re-Examining Eyewitness IdentificationsScientists are trying to determine why errors in eyewitness identifications occur, and how to prevent these errorsInnocent people are sometimes convicted of crimes largely due to errors in eyewitness identifications. Scientists are trying to determine why this occurs, and how to prevent these errors. In studies funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Gary Wells, professor of psychology at Iowa State University, and an internationally recognized scholar in scientific psychology, has been exploring the relationship between memory and eyewitness misidentifications.Wells has found that when presented with a lineup of potential criminals, the witness tends to select a perpetrator, even if the witness is not 100 percent sure he or she can recall what the actual perpetrator looks like."The major mistake is that of making an identification attempt even when the primary psychological mechanism for eyewitness identification (recognition memory) has failed," said Wells. "Eyewitness identification should not be an inference process, a deduction process, a 'best guess,' process or a figure-out-who-the-bad-guy-is process. It only works if the eyewitness adheres strictly to using recognition memory processes."In other words, if witnesses are not sure they recognize the perpetrator from a lineup, it is better not to select a perpetrator at all. Ultimately, the effects can be devastating to innocent people who are accused of crimes they did not commit. Wells explained that "every DNA exoneration case is exactly like that--the lineups shown to the witnesses did not contain the actual perpetrator, leading the witnesses to pick someone else instead."Current researchCurrent NSF-funded research focuses on why witnesses who may not be able to immediately recall the identity of the perpetrator are still inclined to identify a perpetrator from a lineup. This immediate response is the "true recognition" "or the "'Aha!' moment of seeing the person in the lineup and realizing 'That is him!'" explained Wells.True recognition may fail for many reasons. According to Wells, this may "include poor acquisition of a memory (e.g. from a poor view at the time of witnessing), problems during the storage phase of memory (e.g. forgetting from the passage of time) or problems at a retrieval test (e.g., the perpetrator is not in the lineup)."Current experiments are "forcing" recognition to fail using different manipulations at acquisition, or the storage or retrieval memory phases."We are doing this so that we can study the psychological processes that witnesses go through that lead them to go ahead and identify someone (rather than making no identification) even though recognition failed," said Wells.A variety of techniques are used to study these processes, such as having the witnesses "think aloud" while completing tasks.Although it is still early in the data collection, the trend so far is that witnesses who experience a failure of recognition, often initiate secondary processes. Wells explained that these processes "tend to be based on deductions (e.g. 'if it is not number 1,2,4,5 or 6, it must be 3'), unwarranted inferences (e.g. 'I don't think that they would put the suspect in the first position, last position, or in the middle, so I think it is two or five') or very partial information (e.g. 'I remember the nose being more like the one in position three')."Essentially, Wells observed "that none of these secondary processes are sensitive to whether the actual perpetrator is in the lineup at all," leading back to previously asked questions, such as "why witnesses appear to be willing to make identifications when the actual perpetrator is not in the lineup."Past findingsThis current research builds from previous studies, many of them NSF-funded. One major finding is that when the actual perpetrator is absent from the lineup, the witness tends to choose the person who looks most like the actual perpetrator relative to the other members in the lineup.Wells calls this the relative-judgment problem and explained "this operates fairly well when the perpetrator is in the lineup, but when the perpetrator is not ... it is still the case that someone looks more like the perpetrator than do the others. That person is at great risk. Instructing eyewitnesses that the actual perpetrator might not be in the lineup helps, but it does not cure the problem."A second significant finding is that the type of feedback given to the witness upon choosing from the lineup affects the witnesses' level of confidence in who they selected as the supposed perpetrator. This post-identification feedback effect proves that giving "confirming feedback," for example such as the phrase "Good, you identified the suspect in the case," said Wells, leads witnesses who were actually mistaken in their identifications to recall that they had been confident in their selection all along.However, when the mistaken witnesses were not given any feedback, they were only 50 percent certain of their selection of the supposed perpetrator. This shows how the feedback made them more confident about their selection."Moreover, those who were given confirming feedback erroneously recalled that their viewing conditions were better than they really were, reported that they had paid closer attention during the witnessed event than they really did, recalled having made their identification from the lineup faster than they really did and numerous other distortions," said Wells.This type of feedback appears to have been given in every DNA exoneration case analyzed so far, "thereby helping to explain why these mistaken eyewitnesses were highly certain (positive) at trial, why the juries believed these witnesses, and, hence, why these innocent people were convicted," explained Wells.Preventing misidentificationsWells offers various suggestions on how to limit eyewitness misidentifications as much as possible.Composition of the lineup: In this design, the lineup must only contain one person of interest who fits the description of the perpetrator given by the witness. Everyone else in the lineup must be known-innocent "fillers," or innocent look-alikes who fit the initial eyewitness description, but are only used for the lineup. Statistically, the person of interest only has a 1/N chance (N=number of lineup members) of being the lineup member that the witnesses would select. As a result, this would help "spread errors away from innocent suspects and toward known-innocent fillers," explained Wells.Type of instruction: In pre-lineup instructions, the witness should be told that the real perpetrator might not be included in the lineup and that it is not required to choose someone if there is any uncertainty. Wells explained that this method "helps witnesses realize that the correct answer might be 'none of the above,' takes pressure off the witness and helps them understand that recognition failure should result in no identification rather than the engagement of some other process, such as an attempt to deduce the answer."Double-blind lineup: In a double-blind lineup procedure neither the administrator of the lineup nor the witness knows who the person of interest is and who the fillers are in the lineup. Often the administrator unintentionally influences the witness, when instead the witness should rely on his or her own memory. Consequently, the results are skewed. The double-blind procedure avoids external influence in a variety of ways.First, it prevents the administrator from inadvertently giving any "cues" to the witness or prompting the witness to choose a particular person. Once a person is chosen, it further prevents the administrator from giving verbal or non-verbal cues to support or discourage this decision. Instead, the administrator asks the witness whether he or she is certain of the decision and makes a record of the response "before any other factors come along to inflate the certainty of the witness," explained Wells.Bottom lineDespite the flaws in eyewitness identification, "we can't stop using eyewitnesses altogether. Eyewitnesses are sometimes the only evidence we have for catching perpetrators," said Wells, who noted that most of the time the "eyewitness has no motive to lie. The challenge is differentiating an honest memory failure versus an accurate account of what actually happened."By Ellen Ferrante, NSF---Image Caption: Wells has found that when presented with a lineup of potential criminals, the witness tends to select a perpetrator even if the witness is not 100 percent sure he or she can recall what the actual perpetrator looks like. Credit: © 2010 Jupiterimages CorporationSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:50 am Space shuttle glides into Florida - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:27 am First Look: Dorky Drinkclip Good for More than Coffee
After I mocked the Beltclip two weeks ago, Drinkclip, the maker of this belt-mounted cup-holder, issued a challenge. If I would contact them via Twitter, they’d send a sample which would “change the landscape of every writer at Wired magazine.” How could I resist? This morning the mailman casually tossed a package into the apartment lobby and buzzed me to come downstairs and fetch it. Inside I found the entire Drinkclip, a combination of the Beltclip and a sprung clamp which can be attached to pretty much anything (suggested use - bicycle). The full test will take place over the coming week, but I thought I’d let you all know that, despite still being skeptical that a hot cup of coffee should be hung anywhere near the baby-maker, I’m convinced that this clip is tough enough to last, however useful or useless it may prove to be. The clip comes folded, with the clamp tucked inside the cup holder. Flip it out, clamp the bracket onto your desk and you have a gimbaled receptacle that holds a beverage safely below the table’s surface, thwarting notebook-killing spills. As I never drink the coffee from a cup bigger than an espresso demitasse, I looked around for something else to fit in there. As you can see above, the Drinkclip isn’t just for drinks. That’s right. The Drinkclip makes a pretty good Flashclip, and because it has a minimal plastic skeleton to hold its contents, it works great with remote controlled flashes that need line-of-site back to the mothership to receive their instructions. And as it is big enough to hold even a bucket of Starbucks’ finest, it will swallow even the enormous Nikon SB900 (not in this shot, as I was using it to take the photo). The next test will be bike-related. Nerd-wear like this is somewhat mitigated when used on a two-wheels, and although I won’t be schlepping coffee, the included neoprene koozie means that the beer will stay cold whether hooked to the handlebars or direct to the waist. The challenge is afoot. Too Cold to Hold [Drinkclip challenges Gadget Lab] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:23 am Apple: iPad 3G Delivered April 30th
It’s official: Apple says that the 3G iPad will drop onto doormats country-wide on April 30th, just ten days from today. If you pre-ordered the cellular model for in-store pick-up, you get it the same day, although you’ll have to wait until 5PM until Apple will actually give it to you. We knew that the delivery date would be “late April”, and this is about as late as Apple could manage short of delivering on the stroke of midnight. That 5PM time-slot is rather odd, too. The Wi-Fi only iPad was available for pick-up as soon as stores opened, not at the end of the working day. In fact, doing anything newsworthy on a Friday evening is usually a way to silence media chatter for a full weekend. In this case, it might just be a way to help AT&T’s notoriously creaky network. You can be sure that pretty much every buyer of the new 3G iPad will be firing up the cellular access as soon as they get the machine. As this is done straight from the iPad with an as-yet untested new procedure, laying off the network until the end of the business day might give the telco the break it needs. iPad Wi-Fi + 3G Models Available in US on April 30 [Apple Press Release] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 8:15 am Sprint’s EVO 4G Plans a Party For May 12
Just like it’s jealous WinMo-powered older brother, HD2, EVO 4G has decided to go with a movie theme for its party: the peeps are invited to come watch the fun-loving Prince of Persia play in the Sands of Time ahead of the Prince’s Memorial Day release. EVO 4G’s proud uncle, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, will also be there. A fun time for the whole family. Sadly, there is still no word on when EVO 4G will be allowed out to play with the kids on the street, but you can sure as heck bet that as soon as we know, we’ll pass the message over to you toot-sweet. [via Android Central]
Source: MobileCrunch | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:54 am Conquering Conker CankerGenome of a bacterium that is threatening the UK's historic landscape and could spread to North AmericaScientists have decoded the genome of a bacterium that is threatening the UK's historic landscape.The horse chestnut has become an iconic sight in Britain since its introduction in the 1500s but in 2002 a new lethal disease appeared that now infects over 70 per cent of trees in some areas. Bleeding canker, caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pathovar aesculi (Pae), causes lesions which bleed like open sores and in severe cases can kill large mature trees within one to two seasons."Comparing the genomes of British strains of the bacterium has shown us they are very similar and probably originated from a single introduction into the UK within the last few years," said Dr David Studholme who led the analysis of the DNA sequences at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich."Detecting the origin of Pae is important from a biosecurity perspective," said Dr Sarah Green, a tree pathologist with Forest Research. "There has been an unprecedented rise in invasive plant diseases, possibly linked to the rise in international travel and in the global plant trade.""We now have the first clues to the evolutionary origin of the disease and to its ability to spread so fast. Pae might have been accidentally introduced to Europe through importation in the plant trade. We need to prevent it being introduced to new geographical areas such as North America," said Dr Green.Before the European epidemic, the only reported case of Pae was in India. A similar strain infects the Indian horse chestnut but causes only minor lesions in the leaves. The strains that emerged in Europe appear to be more aggressive and attack the woody trunk and branches."This pathogen spread quickly through Western Europe and Britain and the information from the sequencing will help us discover how it is dispersed," said Dr Rob Jackson from the University of Reading. "It may be that it can cause precipitation so it is swept into the atmosphere before being rained back down in new locations, or it may be carried by some kind of vector such as insects."The success of the pathogen may be helped by a cluster of genes that help it to acquire iron, an essential nutrient for virulent bacteria. Pae also has an unusual cluster of genes which may be involved in the degradation of compounds derived from woody tissues. A plant will normally produce nitric oxide as part of its defense mechanism, but Pae may have the ability to inhibit this response via two genes identified by the scientists.The differences between the Indian and British strains give the first clues to its virulence on European horse chestnut. The British strains contain additional genes that enable it to live off the sucrose found in the tree sap.The genome sequence will allow scientists to determine which genes might be necessary for infection of a tree host so they can be targeted to control the disease."Emerging human and animal diseases are routinely sequenced and this research shows the usefulness of doing the same for plant pathogens," says Professor Kamoun from the Sainsbury Laboratory."We can quickly generate large amounts of genetic information on emerging plant diseases that is valuable for combating current and future biosecurity threats." ---Image Caption: Ash tree canker, Lawthorn Wood, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Courtesy Roger Griffith/WikipediaSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 7:29 am Food vs. Fuel: Growing Grain For Food Is More Energy EfficientUsing productive farmland to grow crops for food instead of fuel is more energy efficient, Michigan State University scientists concluded, after analyzing 17 years' worth of data to help settle the food versus fuel debate."It's 36 percent more efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel," said Ilya Gelfand, an MSU postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:50 am 'Ten Most Wanted' Plants Could Yield Clues About Climate ChangeProject Budburst citizen scientists find that plants are blooming unusually earlyStudents, gardeners, retirees and other volunteers across the nation who are taking part in a nationwide initiative--Project BudBurst--are finding hints that certain plants are blooming unusually early, perhaps as a result of climate change.The citizen scientists are recording the timing of flowers and foliage, amassing thousands of observations from across the nation to give researchers a detailed picture of our changing climate.The project, which started as a pilot program in 2007, now focuses on a list of the "10 most wanted species"--flowers and trees such as the common lilac, red maple and Virginia bluebell.Such widely distributed plants can provide important early signs of the impact of warming temperatures on the environment, according to the scientists who designed the project."Project BudBurst empowers people living anywhere in the country to make a contribution that will lead to better understanding of our environment," said Project BudBurst director Sandra Henderson of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Office of Education and Outreach. "This is needed data to help scientists who are studying the impacts of climate change."Project BudBurst is operated by UCAR and the Chicago Botanic Garden, and is a partner in the USA National Phenology Network.Funding comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF), along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, National Ecological Observatory Network, NASA and the National Geographic Education Foundation."While these observations may reveal impacts of climate change in local areas, scientists need data from many more locations," said Elizabeth Blood, program director in NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences, which funds Project BudBurst. "Scientists also need more years of data to understand changes over larger regional scales, as well as distinguish the effects of long-term trends in climate from natural year-to-year variations."In Chicago, volunteers who have observed 15 kinds of plants since 2007 have found that seven of them are flowering earlier now than at any time in more than 50 years of observations by botanists."We will need volunteers to make observations for a number of years before we can fill in an accurate picture about the impact of climate change on our landscape," Henderson says.Volunteers say they enjoy making the observations."Where there are curious people, it doesn't take long to bring together a group to go scrutinizing particular plants and trees, discovering the earliest stages of cones or bud formation, for instance, then following the later development," said Sue Prindle, who lives in a retirement community in Silver Spring, Md. "It has been rewarding and fun."Overall, participants across the country have made more than 10,000 observations since 2007, establishing a baseline for the timing of key plant events."These findings are important as scientists analyze the impacts of global warming on our natural world," says Kayri Havens, a senior scientist with the Chicago Botanic Garden and co-manager of Project BudBurst.Each participant in Project BudBurst selects one or more plants to observe.The Project BudBurst Web site encourages volunteers to focus on the 10 most wanted species, but it also welcomes observations of other plants.Volunteers begin checking their plants at least a week prior to the average date of budburst--the point when the buds have opened and leaves are visible.After budburst, participants continue to observe the tree or flower for later events, such as seed dispersal and autumn leaf dropoff. Participants submit their records of these phenophases online.Anyone can view the results as maps of the phenophases across the United States.The science of phenology, or tracking cyclic behavior among plants and animals, has a distinguished history.For centuries farmers, naturalists, geographers and others have kept careful records of the phenology patterns of plants and animals.Farmers have long used their phenology knowledge to predict the best time for planting and harvesting crops, when to start expecting problems with insect pests, and other seasonal events.The effects of climate change on numerous plant and animal species throughout the world have been observed and reported in the scientific literature.Some plants respond to warmer temperatures by extending their growing seasons. Others shift their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations.At the same time, many insects breed and disperse based on regular cycles of sunlight rather than temperature.This can cause a mismatch between the behavior of pollinating insects, such as bees, and flowers that bloom earlier than the insects expect. Such asynchronous behavior has already been noted across many parts of the world.---Image 1: Volunteers are tracking spring blooming dates of trees and flowers like lilacs. Credit: USDAImage 2: The current distribution of lilacs is shown (in green); the trees' range may be changing. Credit: USDASource: RedOrbit News - Science | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:37 am Apple Will Replace Your Junky iPod Shuffle Headphones
If you have a third generation iPod Shuffle (and if you can still find it), you may be having some trouble with the earbuds. Like all Apple earbuds, those supplied with the tiny, almost-buttonless Shuffle are junk. Unlike the rest of the earbuds, though, Apple is admitting the problem, and will replace them for you up to two years from purchase. The symptoms:
The problem is especially annoying on the 3G Shuffle, as there is no way to control it other than through voice-control or the buttons on the inline remote, meaning that you need to buy yet another set of crappy Apple ‘buds when yours fail. To check if you are eligible for the recall, visit the support page and check your Shuffle’s serial number (from xx909xxxxxx to xx952xxxxxx to xx001xxxxxx to xx004xxxxxx) and send off the offending phones. Make sure you send the old ones back, though, or Apple will charge your credit card a “non-return fee”. Apple Headphones with Remote Replacement Program [Apple via MacRumors] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:06 am Introducing Google PlacesToday the Local Business Center is becoming Google Places. Why? Millions of people use Google every day to find places in the real world, and we want to better connect Place Pages — the way that businesses are being found today — with the tool that enables business owners to manage their presence on Google.We launched Place Pages last September for more than 50 million places around the world to help people make more informed decisions about where to go, from restaurants and hotels to dry cleaners and bike shops, as well as non-business places like museums, schools and parks. Place Pages connect people to information from the best sources across the web, displaying photos, reviews and essential facts, as well as real-time updates and offers from business owners. Four million businesses have already claimed their Place Page on Google through the Local Business Center, which enables them to verify and supplement their business information to include hours of operation, photos, videos, coupons, product offerings and more. It also lets them communicate with customers and get insights that help them make smart business decisions. Google Places will continue to offer these same tools, but the new name will simplify the connection with Place Pages. This reflects our ongoing commitment to providing business owners with powerful yet easy-to-use tools. We're also introducing several new features:
To keep track of how your business listing is performing on Google, we offer a personalized dashboard within Google Places that includes data about how many times people have found your business on Google, what keywords they used to find it and even what areas people traveled from to visit your business. With the dashboard, you can see how your use of any of these new features affects interest in your business and make more informed decisions about how to be found on Google and interact with your customers. One out of five searches on Google are related to location, and we want to make sure that businesses are able to be found and put their best foot forward. We’re excited to announce Google Places today, as it’s just the beginning of what’s to come from our efforts to make Google more local. If you want to learn more about Google Places, we’d like to invite you to an upcoming overview webinar, or you can visit our newly updated Help Center. We’ll also be posting on the Lat Long blog throughout the week to give a deeper dive into many of our newest features. To get started now, go to google.com/places. Posted by John Hanke, VP Google Maps, Earth and Local  
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 20 Apr 2010 | 6:00 am Shuttle Flies Across U.S. En Route to Florida LandingUPDATE: This time, the shuttle did land after a U.S. flyover, read "Shuttle Discovery Glides Home" for more details. ORIGINAL POST: Much of America will have a chance to witness space shuttle Discovery's dramatic homecoming this morning. After a trio ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:56 am Ancient Maya Buried Relatives, Artifacts Under HomesIlliterate Maya people buried items and even relatives under their homes as a way of recording their histories.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:53 am DuKJug: MacGyver’s Water Bottle
Pop quiz: What’s the most important tool in any toolbox? If you answered “duct-tape” or “gaffer-tape” you would be correct (if you said “gaffer’s” or “gaffers”, you’re still right, but need some practice when it comes to reading). But even gaffer-tape can’t help if you don’t have it with you, which is why the Infinity DuKJug looks so good (it even has an odd distribution of capital letters in the name, the word-equivalent of MacGyver’s mullet). The polypropylene water-bottle has a slim waist covered in a silicone grip. Peel this grip back and you’ll find space to wind two-meters (6.5-feet) of the magic tape, enough for most emergency uses. The bottle also has a sippy-lid, a cord retainer for the regular screw-top and weighs just five ounces. The bottle costs around $10, and you can choose from a delight of Bondi Blue iMac-era candy-colors. MacGyver would be so proud. DuKJug [Amazon via Digital Story] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:27 am Will Bison Roam Europe's Mountains?The new Wild West may actually be in Eastern Europe.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 5:00 am The End is Nigh: Commercial Bike Polo Mallet Heads
You know a sport is going mainstream when a market springs up to sell you gear that you don’t need. It happened with the skateboard (invented in 1955 by Marty McFly when he ripped the handlebar off a home-made scooter) and now it is happening with Hard Court Bike Polo. The gear in question is this mallet-head from Milwaukee-based bike peddlers Eighth-Inch. Bike polo mallets are made from old ski-poles joined onto heads made from water or gas pipes found in the street. Add a single bolt, wrap the top with an inner-tube for grip and you’re done. The Eighth-Inch polo mallet head is made from the same HDPE plastic as theose tough pipes, injection-molded into shape. The heads are 150mm long, with marked circles to guide any cutting-down to shorter lengths, and have a sleeve running through the center for the shaft to enter, adding strength. The best part, though, is the addition of end-caps, for more accurate shooting. These are notoriously hard to make and fit, or at least to make them strong enough not to break after a few whacks. Here I should probably rant about the selling out of bike-polo, the home-made culture and so on. But who cares? These mallet heads look pretty good, and those end caps alone are worth the price of $20 (replacement caps cost $8 a pair). Nobody is going to stop making their own mallets any time soon, and the variety of home-made designs I see every time I play is huge, and impossible to copy. And if you haven’t tried bike polo yet, do. It’s the best combination of dangerous sport and beer out there. Eighth-Inch Polo Mallet Head [Eighth-Inch via Corpus Fixie] See Also: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:59 am Water: Stirred (with a UV Stick), not ShakenBack in 2000, the community of Walkerton in Ontario, Canada suffered a horrific contamination of the water supply by E. coli bacteria. At least seven people died, and hundreds became sick. Industrial designer Olivia Blechschmidt took note, and started work ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 4:15 am Shuttle Discovery Glides HomeDiscovery took a rare path over America's heartland as it descended to a smooth landing in Florida.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 20 Apr 2010 | 3:42 am
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Straight from the bullshit department: a 
The Internet meme whereby people replace the subtitles of the memorable bunker scene where Hitler throws a tantrum in the movie Der Untergang (aka Downfall) with fake translations, is one that we said 
Synaptics, one of if not the leading touchpad maker, has made possible future Chrome OS users quite happy. The company has announced that it is bringing multitouch gestures to Linux. The new Synaptics Gesture Suite for Linux will be available for free to OEMs that offer Linux laptops.
In theory Patrick Sung’s new design concept sounds good. A sheet of cardboard, perforated in such a way to make it easy to wrap around an item, all the time protecting it from damage during shipment. But that’s where the good idea fails. Plus, I doubt the United Parcel Service will let him use their logo.
Even though many independent blogs have conducted their own initial reviews of the latest Verizon smartphone - the 
Today at the 
Mark Smitelli has poked around at the system, uploading copies of the copyrighted song "I Know What Boys Like," sonically altered in various ways: compressing or expanding the time, lowering or raising the pitch, adding noise, etc. Mark runs the complete results, but to roughly summarize: Altering parameters more than 5% often seems to fool the Identifier, and using less than 30 seconds also seems to let the clip slip through the rule-bound robot's shiny little nets. Playing clips in reverse confused the Identifier, but stripping out everything except the vocals did not.
Sprint has announced that Radio Shack will soon discontinue sales of the Palm Pre and Pixi. They’ll be replaced with two new devices. A Sprint spokesman says they are likely to be a BlackBerry and a messaging phone. The company isn’t worried-they say it’s all normal business procedure.
Last August, MySpace 
The world of memory timings, latency, and voltage is a strange one, but usually you can count on the fact that more RAM is better. OCZ, purveyor of fine system components (and 
The whole Apple/Google thing continues to get more interesting.
Gizmodo has continued its coverage of the 
Sprint began teasing us with the HTC EVO 4G back at CTIA and has decided to hold another event for the device that is expected this summer. CEO Dan Hesse will be hosting the event centered around the 
Pantech was kind enough to send over their latest AT&T device, the Link. The Link is part of AT&T’s 3G quick messaging line up and just became available days ago for $9.99 for new customers. Out of the box impression: Pantech nailed this.
The reverse trompe l'oeil series is Alexa Meade's spin on reality. Alexa has invented a painting technique that makes 3 dimensional space look flat, blurring the lines between illusion and reality.
John McIntosh, a software developer unaffiliated with MIT, made the Scratch app for iPhone on his own and 
Steve Jobs took a tour of Xerox PARC in 1979, and some might even say that his visit is still unfolding with the release of the iPad tablet, which resembles Kay’s description of the Dynabook (illustrated at right).
