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More Evidence For Steam Games On LinuxSheeEttin writes "Back in November 2008, Phoronix reported that Linux libraries appeared in the Left 4 Dead demo, and then in March, Valve announced that Steam and the Source engine were coming to Mac OS X. Now, Phoronix reports that launcher scripts included with the (closed beta) Mac version of Steam include explicit support for launching a Linux version."
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Source: Slashdot | 22 Apr 2010 | 4:17 am New firmware update: Sony readies PS3 for future 3D games
Sony, which just recently scrapped Linux as an alternate OS for the PS3 with firmware update v3.21., released v3.30 today. The mandatory update neither brings Linux back nor features anything substantial per se (it gives you new sorting options for trophies). But with it, Sony readies the console for future 3D games and other 3D content. As reported multiple times over the past months, virtually every major electronics maker on the planet, including Sony, bets high on 3D as the next big money maker. And for Sony, which offers everything from 3D TVs to 3D-capable sound systems, the PS3 is one of the main pillars. The company says:
Needless to say, these are dreams of the future for most of us, but the update is probably great news for those who can go out and get one of these expensive 3D BRAVIAs sooner than us – provided Sony is actually able to offer compelling 3D content for their console.
Source: CrunchGear | 22 Apr 2010 | 4:02 am Why $10 a Month For Hulu is Too Much. And Too Little [MediaMemo]
Perhaps both. The Web video site is getting ready to roll out its much-discussed subscription offering, for $9.95 a month, the Los Angeles Times reports. That jibes with chatter I was hearing earlier this week, though I’m not yet convinced this is a done deal. But for argument’s sake, let’s say the report is correct, and the joint venture between GE’s NBC (GE), Disney’s ABC (DIS) and News Corp.’s Fox (NWS) is about to test a premium plan. If they are doing it at a $9.95 a month, it’s possible they’ve ended up at a price that will make both consumers and network TV guys unhappy. How’s that? $9.95 a month — $120 a year — is an awful lot to pay for free TV. Industry sources expect the initial plans for “Hulu Plus” will focus on access to deep catalog from its broadcast TV owners. So instead of just getting the most 5 recent episodes of, say, “Family Guy” — those will still be available for free on regular Hulu — you’d be able to get an entire season or more. If you’re really, really into a couple shows that run on ABC, NBC or Fox, then perhaps a Hulu subscription will make more sense than buying the shows on DVD or iTunes. But if you’re really into “Mad Men” on AMC, or “Justified” on FX (which is great), or anything else on cable, Hulu Plus may not do much for you. And at the same time…. $9.95 a month doesn’t go that far once Hulu is done paying the bills. TV executives expect that Hulu will need to hand over something like $1 to $1.50, per subscriber, to each of its network owners. Because that’s the same price the broadcast networks are trying to extract from cable TV operators in “retransmission” fights (see: ABC v. Cablevision). And that money is worth a whole lot more to them than Hulu subscriptions. Which means the TV guys can’t undercut themselves on the Web. So Hulu will need to pay out something like $3 to $5.50 off the top for every $10 it brings in. And then it has to shoulder the streaming costs, billing costs, customer service costs, etc — figure a couple bucks a month more for that stuff. That gets you something like a 30 percent gross margin, which is nothing to brag about. And then what happens if Hulu wants to expand the service and add shows from other providers ? It will either have to cut into its thin margin to pay for the programming, or move its rate above $10 a month. Which is already a lot to pay for free TV. There are a few things Hulu and its owners can do a few things to make Hulu Plus more attractive. Like offering the service on more platforms, like Apple’s iPad (AAPL). And tinkering with “windows”, so that Hulu subscribers get to see stuff before the freeloaders. But moving windows is a good way to confuse/piss off most users, who don’t have any interest in digital/analog TV economics, and just want to watch shows. And access to Hulu on the iPad seems a bit less valuable given that Disney’s ABC — one of Hulu’s owners — is already giving away free access to its shows via a very popular app. Industry sources says Hulu CEO Jason Kilar tried desperately to get ABC not introduce its free app for this very reason. But while Disney is a minority owner in Hulu, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is the largest individual shareholder in Disney. If you want to connect the dots on that one, you’ll be doing the same thing everyone else in TVland is already doing. Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 4:00 am Nokia slashes prices, to delay new software (Reuters)Reuters - Nokia has slashed prices of its cellphones across its portfolio this week, with the deepest cuts of around 10 percent seen for some smartphone models, data seen by Reuters showed on Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 22 Apr 2010 | 3:47 am Sony to Stream Major League Baseball on PlayStation 3 (Update1) - San Francisco Chronicle
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 22 Apr 2010 | 3:42 am Multiple-Source News Service Newsy.com Releases iPad App
I particularly dig their iPhone app (iTunes link), which is perfect for quick and easy news consumption on the go. Since yesterday, you can also check out the fledgling media company’s custom-made iPad application, which suits the device format really well. People can use the iPad app to watch high-quality Newsy videos, which highlight the differences in how global media outlets report a story, an experience particularly compelling in landscape mode. Users can flip through videos in a nifty cover flow type fashion, which should be familiar to anyone that uses Apple’s iTunes interface. The app allows users to drag and drop videos and build customized playlists, easily share videos through email and social networks like Facebook and Twitter, read and post comments on the fly and drill down deeper into a news story by exploring the sources Newsy analyzed. Like the iPhone app, the iPad app is offered free of charge. A must-download.      
Source: TechCrunch | 22 Apr 2010 | 3:26 am Mac & the iPad, History Repeats Itself [Voices]By Bruce “Tog” Tognazzini, Principal, Nielsen Norman Group For those of us around Apple (AAPL) for the launch of the 1984 Mac, things are awfully familiar. In bringing that original Mac to market, Steve hit on a formula that worked for him. He keeps repeating it, and it seems to get better every time. It worked for the iPhone, and it worked for the iPad, too. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 3:12 am Few Answers After McAfee Antivirus Update Hits Intel, Others - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 22 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am Microsoft and Facebook team up - Inquirer
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 22 Apr 2010 | 3:00 am Red Hat Releases RHEL 6 Public Beta 1An anonymous reader writes "It was way back on 2006-09-07 when Red Hat released its first public beta of Enterprise Linux 5. Today, after more than three years, Red Hat finally releases its first public beta of its next-generation OS: RHEL 6 public beta 1. From the news release: 'We are excited to share with you news of our first public step toward our next major Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform release with today's Beta availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Beginning today, we are inviting our customers, partners, and members of the public to install, test, and provide feedback for what we expect will be one of our most ambitious and important operating platform releases to date. This blog is the first in a series of upcoming posts that will cover different aspects of the new platform.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:59 am Plagued by Lawsuits, McAfee Founder Hunts for Cures in Belize [Voices]By Jeff Wise, Contributor, Fast Company No road runs the length of Ambergris Caye, a 25-mile-long island off the Belizean coast, so to get to John McAfee’s house, I climb aboard a boat in the resort town of San Pedro, on the island’s southern tip, and motor north for half an hour, along a coast of white beaches set with resorts and private villas. At last, his pier comes into sight, and I step off and walk down the weathered boards, the blue-green water shimmering through the cracks, to find him emerging from the shrubbery beside the swimming pool, his smile blinding against the reddish brown of a fresh tan. Twenty-three years after he essentially invented the antivirus-software industry, McAfee, now 64, radiates the vitality of a rich man who thinks about more than money. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:55 am Why Apple Should Sue Gawker Over 'Lost' iPhone Story [Voices]By Jeff Bercovici, Media Columnist, Aol Daily Finance How hard must the finder of lost property try to return it to its owner before deciding it’s his to keep or sell? The answer to that question could determine whether Monday’s iPhone scoop results in millions of dollars in legal damages, or even criminal charges, for its purveyors. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:46 am Gizmodo's Apple iPhone 4G : Behind The Hardware - ITProPortal
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:46 am NTT Com to Acquire Major Stake in Emerio GlobeSoft Pte LtdTOKYO, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- NTT Communications (NTT Com) and Emerio GlobeSoft Pte Ltd (Emerio), a leading technology services and outsourcing company in Singapore, announced on April 22 that NTT Com will soon acquire a 70% stake in Emerio.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:38 am Der Furor: Studio Killing Hitler Video Parodies [Voices]By John Murrell, Blogger, Good Morning Silicon Valley If you’re at all in touch with the Internet meme scene, you’re likely familiar with the “Hitler reacts” parodies — the hundreds of viral videos created over the past several years by taking a four-minute bunker scene from the 2004 German-language film “Downfall” and swapping in new subtitles to have the dictator madly ranting about everything from new tech products to politicians. (If all this is totally foreign to you, here’s a sort of meta-example in which Hitler reacts to becoming a meme.) It is a measure of the concept’s power that among the many questions raised by the recent wayward iPhone prototype episode, one was, “How will Hitler react?” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:37 am Google Acquires Another Piece of the Tablet Puzzle [Voices]By Brad Stone And Ashlee Vance, Reporters, New York Times This week, Google (GOOG) took another step toward bringing its popular Web tools onto a myriad of nontraditional computing devices like tablet computers. It acquired a mysterious Silicon Valley start-up called Agnilux. PEHub first reported the acquisition on Tuesday; a price was not disclosed. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:19 am Autonomy Wins the United Kingdom's Prestigious Queen's Awards for Enterprise for a Second Year in a RowCAMBRIDGE, England and SAN FRANCISCO, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:05 am The Internet Continues to Empower ConsumersLEEDS, England, April 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- For many, the recession was a time to re-evaluate spending habits and change shopping behaviour.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am Intrinsic-ID CTO Dr. Pim Tuyls Wins Prestigious 2010 ICT Regie AwardEINDHOVEN, Netherlands, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Intrinsic-ID, an emerging semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and services provider, today announced that chief technology officer and founder, Dr. Pim Tuyls, is the recipient of the 2010 ICT Regie Award.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Apr 2010 | 2:00 am AU Optronics Corp. Reports 1Q2010 Financial ResultsHSINCHU, Taiwan, April 22 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- AU Optronics Corp. ("AUO" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) today announced its unaudited results for the first quarter of 2010(1).Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:57 am Photos from Jimmy Choo's shoe studio in the UK
Danny Choo has posted some photos from his dad Jimmy Choo's workshop in the UK.
Link Photos from Jimmy Choo's shoe studio in the UKDanny Choo has posted some photos from his dad Jimmy Choo's workshop in the UK. LinkSource: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:49 am Microsoft Clears MechWarrior4 Free LaunchVamman writes "If you've been following the drama surrounding the free release of MechWarrior4, then you're probably aware that the initial announcement, made last summer, was a bit premature. Now, nearly a year since that announcement was made, MekTek Studios has announced that Microsoft Legal has given clearance for the free release of Mechwarrior4. This move by Microsoft Games couldn't come at a better time for the community, as the owners of MechWarrior are attempting a reboot of the franchise."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:36 am Viral Video: Shatner and Web Singing Sensation Have a Total Eclipse of the Heart [BoomTown]
Here is yet another classic talk-sing video of actor William Shatner. He’s in a duet with Taiwanese singer Lin Yu Chun on the “Lopez Tonight” television show last night. Chun became well known after a video of his wowza performance on a Taiwanese talent show, singing “I Will Always Love You” in Whitney Houston style, garnered more than 12 million views on YouTube so far. The song Shatner and Chun share is the classic “Total Eclipse of the Heart, first made famous by Bonnie Tyler. Here’s that, as well Chun’s performance that got him noticed, much in the same way it happened for Britain’s Susan Boyle: Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:34 am Falungong message found on 1-yuan bill in China
Someone found a Falungong message on a 1RMB note in China: The writing alleges that the CCP has created fake self-immolation stories, killed Falungong members, stolen their internal organs, and calls upon heaven to destroy the party.[via Shanghaiist] Source: Boing Boing | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am Falungong message found on 1-yuan bill in ChinaSomeone found a Falungong message on a 1RMB note in China: The writing alleges that the CCP has created fake self-immolation stories, killed Falungong members, stolen their internal organs, and calls...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am One Approach to Growth: Build Your Own Cloud with vCenter in the MiddleToday, we got the chance to sit down with Aprimo, an on-demand marketing automation company that has built their software business around scaling their own cloud infrastructure with VMware vCenter. Aprimo...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am Privacy chiefs keep watch over Facebook - Reuters
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:18 am Hack: iPhone Now Runs Android (PC World)PC World - iPhone users and Android users can stop fighting--because now your iPhone can run Android (as if Steve Jobs didn't already have enough on his plate with the iPhone prototype leak). Yeah, you heard me right. iPhone Dev-team member Planetbeing (the same guy who ported the Linux 2.6 kernel to the iPhone in 2008) uploaded a video to YouTube Wednesday evening that shows him successfully running Android on an iPhone 2G. Video after the jump.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:12 am Privacy chiefs keep watch over Facebook (Reuters)Reuters - Over the past six years, social networking has been the Internet's stand-out phenomenon, linking up more than one billion people eager to exchange videos, pictures or last-minute birthday wishes.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:11 am Voluminous Tribal Hairtography - 'Hippie Yeah' in Vogue Germany Goes Big (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Hairstylist Luigi Murenu gets to flex his creative hair muscle for 'Hippie Yeah' in Vogue Germany. Long, big hair is in the spotlight for the editorial that appears in the Deutsch magazine's...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:02 am iFixit Attempts To Usher In A New Era Of User-Repaired Devices
Such a project is well-timed; the relationship between user and manufacturer is becoming more one-sided. It doesn’t trouble you that the devices we use every day are so poorly documented, or constructed in such obscure ways, that one has to be an Apple-qualified technician or Dell customer service person to fix a simple problem? I’ve actually had a long post gestating on this very topic, and now iFixit has gone and eaten my lunch.      
Source: TechCrunch | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am iFixit attempts to usher in a new age of user-repaired devices
But good for them. It’s Earth Day, after all (as of one minute ago, if this deuced scheduler has worked correctly), and the consumption rate of devices has given them the air of disposability. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course: with some very minor exceptions, gadgets like the one you’re reading this on and the one in your pocket are full of toxic materials and non-reusable bits, both of which end up (back) in the hands of destitute Chinese laborers. Even device recycling services have a pretty weak success rate due to the fast-changing nature of the business. Can’t use last year’s logic board or chassis with this year’s models, can we now? And many don’t trust used electronics. Better to make the gear we have last longer, assuming we can master our neophilic tendencies. The model iFixit is hoping to grow on is (naturally) a social one. After all, they are not in possession of every device ever, and wouldn’t have the time to do detailed teardowns even if they were. They’re relying on an existing community of users (and you, dear reader) to provide teardowns and some detailed instructions where necessarily, working along some basic guidelines. Guides will be editable, with a reputation system will promote helpful and accurate guides and contributors. They’ll be freely available online or as downloadable PDFs. I imagine the whole thing will be paid for by offering tools and replacement parts for popular devices. Or maybe they’ve got a goose somewhere that’s laying golden eggs. I think Palm had one of those for a while, but it may have recently quacked its last. Honked, whatever.
Currently they have repair manuals for every Apple device out there, covering a number of fixes, replacements, and troubleshooting tips. Their users have posted teardowns and manuals for a bunch of game consoles, cameras, mobile phones, and others — but of course, the devices of the world are like grains of sand on an infinite beach. And the beach is getting bigger every day. You think that’s a contradiction, but I say you just can’t handle this high-level stuff. Increase the quality of your understanding, lest your reputation score be affected. The point is that they’re going to need a lot of content creators.
I think this is an unmixed bonanza of good stuff. People commonly consider their devices black boxes only fixable by “experts,” and not just with stuff like iPhones and laptops. Faulty headphones, discolored HDTVs, clicky hard drives… even car stuff. If you’ve got motive and opportunity to take a screwdriver to ‘em, all you lack is method. With luck, this iFixit database will grow like crazy, and it’ll become a standard resource like Wikipedia or CrunchBase. Whether internet-goers at large will be capable of following the directions (or even motivated to try) is still an unknown. But I’m guessing as the “black box” fix-it bills begin to swell, people may attempt home repairs if only to save some cash. Warranty? I think we all know most problems occur right after it expires. If you’ve got expertise and a few obscure devices sitting around, think about contributing. It can be your Earth day contribution.
Source: CrunchGear | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:01 am eBooks: Target Gets The Amazon Kindle; Nook Ads On The Tube [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily Two interesting bits of news from the increasingly competitive eBook market.
Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: Discovery Edition
Benjamin Franklin gets a makeover
Source: CrunchGear | 22 Apr 2010 | 1:00 am Top 20 YouTube Videos (Apr 20) - From Gizmodo: This Is Apple's Next iPhone to GHOST CAUGHT ON CAMERA(TrendHunter.com) For the day of April 20th, these are the Top 20 YouTube Videos, which include "Gizmodo: This Is Apple's Next iPhone" by turnipsun, "[M/V] 2PM "Without U" from DON'T STOP CAN'T STOP"...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Apr 2010 | 12:32 am Mathematical Kitchenware - Fisica Applicata by Acquacalda Utilizes Physics (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Considering that math is the universal language, I'm not surprised that more than one designer has been inspired by it. Just take a look at the Fisica Applicata collection. Through...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Apr 2010 | 12:02 am Ultrathin Silk-Based Brain Implantshatboyzero writes "University of Pennsylvania engineers have designed silk-based electronics that can stick to the surface of the brain, allowing for better brain-computer interfaces. The researchers say the silk-based devices are thin and flexible enough to reach previously inaccessible areas of the brain."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:43 pm Green Kiddie Lit - These Green Story Books Let You Celebrate Earth Day With Your Kids (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) These green story books selected by the TreeHugger website is the perfect way to celebrate Earth Day. These books have an eco-friendly agenda that is fun to read and green concepts...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:32 pm [T] Poll: Electric Cars?Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:31 pm Conn. mayor donates kidney to Facebook friend (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:26 pm Marin Clean Energy Delivers Better PowerAs the battle over Proposition 16 wages in California, energy upstart may not be able to outspend utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric (PCG:NYSE), but it can deliver better electricity to its customers...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:22 pm Get Some Extra Life Out Of Those Old Non-Rechargeable BatteriesBy Chris Scott Barr With the sheer number of wireless devices in my house, rechargeable batteries are a godsend. Unfortunately, they’re also rather expensive. Wouldn’t it be great if you could...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:20 pm Jibblar: Part Chatroulette, Minus Nudity
Riding the wave of anonymous randomized chats, Jibblar is a text-only, communal version of Chatroulette. Taking a cue from the Russian phenom, Jibblar (authored by Peter Nicholls, an Australia-based developer) is a bare-bones site that does one thing well: it allows people in close proximity to anonymously contribute to a chat room. Jibblar grabs your location from the Firefox or iPhone browser and will only facilitate conversation with people in your immediate vicinity (according to Nicholls the range is 0.5 kilometers). The only identifier is your location tag (which you can either pick from the list of options or create a new one if it doesn’t exist) and a randomly assigned number that appears next to your chat. The site is thin on details (it’s literally one page with a title, chat stream and a sprinkling of text on the right hand side) but it does clarify that a “jib” is their term for chat room and it is most common in schools, universities and pubs. Don’t get me wrong, I love simplicity, but this brand of simplicity breeds confusion by dropping you into several streams of conversation. To quote their site, “WTF?” When I first tried to use it in downtown Palo Alto, there was one location tag in the chat stream: “LJ Hooker.” The chat itself was just jibberish, with random f-bombs and strange declaratives (“I’m retiring,” “need to get myself a new job,”). Theoretically, this could work well in a pub or at a university—- if you got a critical mass— but I imagine many chats will look like a car crash of phrases, expletives and general confusion. Then again, maybe that’s the point. For example this:
And this:
Nicholls was inspired by Chatroulette. After designing Jibblar, he went to a local pub and handed out pieces of paper with the link “Jibblar.com.” He says within an hour, 20 or 30 people in various states of intoxication were using the service, yielding amusing results. Nicholls admits the service is far from perfect. The iPhone version seems to work fine but there are several, major bugs on the Firefox version at the time of this post (namely, you can’t input text (!) and there are no randomly assigned numbers identifying the users, raising the degree of confusion). As for a grand plan, Nicholls doesn’t have one. He could see it catching on at schools or in the workplace, any place where gossip thrives, but he’s willing to let the users decide. “I just want to put it out there, give it to as many people as possible,” he says. There’s only one thing that he’s adamant about: its simplicity. “You’re never going to see a sign-up, you’ll always be able to just open it up and chat.” While I could be wrong, I don’t think Jibblar is going to reach Twitter or even Chatroulette proportions, but I have to give Nicholls credit for highlighting the importance of geo-based chat and trying (B+ for effort) to create something dead simple to use. Update: After our chat, Nicholls took down the Firefox function. He just won bonus points for being a fast adapter.      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:57 pm 420 2010: What we were doing at 4:20 on 4/20FROM GAMERTELL - It’s 4:20, do you know where your kids are? Or what they’re doing? (Or are you hiding from them?) Here’s what we’ll admit we were doing at that now infamous time on that infamous day… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:11 pm Earth Day: No more burning rivers, but new threatsPollution before the first Earth Day was not only visible, it was in your face: Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire. An oil spill fouled 30 miles of Southern California beaches. And...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Microsoft and ePals to Bring Next-Generation Digital Learning Technologies to the Global K-12 Education MarketSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Microsoft and ePals to Bring Next-Generation Digital Learning Technologies to the Global K-12 Education MarketREDMOND, Wash. and WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Flowering Plants Bloom Earlier With WarmingGot a window and some time on your hands? On this Earth Day, find out how you can help researchers document climate change in action.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Virtual Assistant and Remote Workforce Service Provider BPOVIA Won 2010 IAOP Rising Star AwardSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Virtual Assistant and Remote Workforce Service Provider BPOVIA Won 2010 IAOP Rising Star AwardCHICAGO, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading virtual assistant and remote workforce service provider BPOVIA today announced that it had been listed by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) on Global Outsourcing 100 sub-lists as one of the Best Ten Rising Stars in the areas of company growth, company recognition, customer reference, executive leadership, revenue growth, employee growth, industry focus and region served. The Global Outsourcing 100 and its sub-lists are essential references for companies that are seeking new and expanded relationships with the best companies in the industry.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm April 22, 1993: Mosaic Browser Lights Up Web With Color, CreativityAnd Mosaic begat Netscape Navigator, and Navigator begat Mozilla, and Mozilla begat Firefox. Read all about the granddaddy of web browsers.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:00 pm Supermassive Black Holes: Galactic Killers?Black holes get a bad rap, and often its deserved, especially when the supermassive behemoth at the center of your galaxy is blowing away all the star-forming fuel.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:49 pm Comparing the iPhone 4G and Droid Incredible (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - In the media frenzy surrounding the leak of the iPhone 4G, several voices have put forth the theory that Apple intentionally leaked the upcoming iPhone, months before it was scheduled to debut, in order to kill buzz about the recently announced Droid Incredible.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:21 pm Facebook VP Chris Cox On The Company’s Past, Future, And Recipe For Success
During his presentation, Cox recounted Facebook’s early days, when the site’s profile photos were often of keg stands, and there weren’t Events, Facebook Chat, or even Photos (though you could see if your friends were logging in from a campus dorm — remember that?). Cox detailed how the then-small group of around ten engineers would watch how users were abusing existing features — like creating a personal profile for a fraternity, or, later, a Group for an Event — and implemented new features accordingly. Through it all, he says Facebook’s recipe for success was the same:
Cox also discussed the future outlook of Facebook and the web. He described how Facebook’s social recommendations could be used to suggest TV shows your friends had recently watched (and your DVR had recorded automatically for you). He also described how the future of news could be more social, with stories presented not just with the editorial of newspapers, but the commentary of your peers. Cox finished his talk with a call to developers, urging them to help turn the web from a place where anonymity reigns to one of real identities. If you’d like to watch Cox’s talk for yourself, click here, then hit the ‘Keynote Recording’ tab on the right side of the widget, then click on ‘Closing Remarks’ (there doesn’t seem to be a way to embed it or post a direct link). Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:19 pm IM Interview: Waves of PlasticLast summer, Miriam Goldstein led a research cruise to the North Pacific Gyre to see how much plastic there was and whether it was making its way into the food chain. What she found astounded her.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:15 pm Rogue McAfee update paralyzes PCs worldwide (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:10 pm MainGear revamped eX-L 15 Gaming Notebook looks good but “most powerful?”FROM GAMERTELL - MainGear has what it’s billing as the most powerful gaming laptop on the market. Is it and would you be willing to justify the expense? Read on… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:02 pm Alcatel-Lucent Boosts Broadband Over Copper To 300Mbpsalphadogg writes "Alcatel-Lucent has come up with a way to move data at 300Mbps over copper lines. So far the results have only been reproduced in a lab environment — real products and services won't be available for at least a year. From the article: 'Researchers at the company's Bell Labs demonstrated the 300Mbps technology over a distance of 400 meters using VDSL2 (Very high bitrate Digital Subscriber Line), according to Stefaan Vanhastel, director of product marketing at Alcatel-Lucent Wireline Networks. The test showed that it can also do 100Mbps over a distance of 1,000 meters, he said. Currently, copper is the most common broadband medium. About 65 percent of subscribers have a broadband connection that's based on DSL, compared to 20 percent for cable and 12 percent for fiber, according to market research company Point Topic. Today, the average advertised DSL speeds for residential users vary between 9.2 Mbps and 1.9Mbps in various parts of the world, Point Topic said.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:51 pm On Earth Day's 40th anniversary, a different world - Los Angeles Times
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:47 pm HP to Overhaul Integrity Servers Next Week (PC World)PC World - Hewlett-Packard is gearing up for a major refresh of its Integrity server line, an important step for customers using those systems and also for the future of Intel's high-end Itanium processor.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:40 pm Dell leak outs a gaggle of smartphones
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:30 pm Dell leak outs Smoke, Thunder, Flash, and Lightning smartphones
Here we go: Lightning If this thing is real, it falls under the mystery third chassis category. Portrait slider? Sure, why not? To add to the skepticism, though, the listed specs do not have the mandated minimum of 8GB of onboard storage. Could just be a mistake, but in a presentation like this, to ignore one of the basic specs? Shameful. Flash, Thunder, and Smoke Here we have three Android-based smartphones. The Flash (left) looks pretty freaky, with “curved glass” sides and Photoshop errors on the top in that last slide – or reflections, its so hard to tell. Its main thing is going to be a huge screen and media editing on-phone. Good luck doing that with any precision using your big ol’ fingers. The Thunder (middle) is just a gigantic lozenge with an even bigger screen (4.1″) that will also be used for on-device editing and, perhaps, if you’re good, even a Hulu app. Also has that curved glass somewhere about it, though drat me if I can find it. Do you like tall phones? Like freaky tall? Then the Smoke (right) is for you. I guess they call it that because it has the same form factor as a cigarette. Seems like the weight of the screen would make it uncomfortable to thumb-type on. And if the screen is 2.8″, that means the whole thing is about 3.5″ diagonal total. Kind of small, I’d say. My fingers are getting cold, so I can’t get into any more detail. I don’t know, guys. These just seem a little too freaky, and the writing a little too rough, for them to be any kind of final product if you ask me. My personal vote is “not real,” but we’ll see how the cookie crumbles. Still, if Dell is even tossing these ideas around, they deserve a look, so we’re happy to share the info anyway. We’ll be sure to share any further information as it gets out.
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:29 pm McAfee update screwing up corporate XP computersSection: Computers, Security, Software / Applications
Unfortunately, this scenario has been playing out in many places today, and not because of an actual virus. The problem lies with the McAfee Anti-Virus corporate software, specifically the 5958 virus definition file (DAT). The problem is that the DAT is causing the software to delete the svchost.exe file, which is causing all the problems. “Infected” computers are only hose running Windows XP SP3 (though Engadget hears reports of some SP2 computer being affected). The DAT has since been removed, and will soon be replaced with a new version, so no more companies can be affected. The current fix going around the web involves manually fixing each individual computer, quite a task for larger companies. I have seen the update affect my college campus, though not every classroom desktop. Some machines have been receiving the error message, disrupting class presentations depending largely on PowerPoint. Others, however work just as they have any other day. The fallout from this should prove quite interesting, we’ll have to see how else McAfee and its corporate customers respond after they get back up and running again. Read [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:29 pm Herhold: The long view of Bill Gates - San Jose Mercury News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:28 pm Rumor: Apple Thinking About Buying ARM. iPhone Rivals To Sleep With The Fishes?
To be clear, London’s Evening Standard is only citing “gossips” within the city’s financial district. But those gossips aren’t the only ones convinced there is something to this talk: ARM’s shares went up 8.1 points today, with more than 5 million shares changing hands by midday, the paper reports. The deal, would apparently see Apple buying ARM for something in the neighborhood of 5.2 billion British pounds, or roughly $8 billion in U.S. dollars. Yesterday, during its earnings call, Apple revealed that it had $41.7 billion in cash in the bank — so this deal is certainly doable. And if they did this, it would mean that almost all of Apple’s main competitors would likely have to find new chips to power their devices. While ARM doesn’t make the chips itself, it licenses out its technology to others who make the chips that go into Nokia, Sony, Samsung, HTC, and many, many other phones. This includes the iPhone and even the iPad, whose custom A4 chip is still based on ARM architecture. This also, obviously, includes phones that run Google’s Android software. ARM architecture also is used in systems such as the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, which are also iPhone rivals of a different fashion: in gaming. Basically, if Apple did this, and cut off the ARM (funny, no?) supply, it would be a Michael Corleone-type maneuver to take out its rivals. Apple bought chipmaker PA Semi back in 2008. That acquisition led to the development of the A4 chip. But that acquisition also led to the departure of key team members from the PA Semi team, who left to form a new company, Agnilux, which Google just purchased. Yeah, this continues to get more and more interesting. Update: As Gary notes in the comments, according to the Wikipedia page, “The company [ARM] was founded as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple Computer and VLSI Technology (as Advanced RISC Machines).” [via MacRumors] Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:07 pm Modder turns original Game Boy into Game Boy AdvanceFROM GAMERTELL - CRTdrone has modified a Game Boy Advance SP, placing it inside of an original Game Boy shell. The result is a system with a rechargeable battery that’s capable of playing all Game Boy games. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:58 pm Video: Android running on the iPhone
Consider my mind blown. There have been a lot of (poorly) faked videos portraying Android running on the iPhone over the last few years. Lots and lots. Like a ridiculous amount. Well, this one’s real.
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:56 pm Video: Android running on the iPhoneConsider my mind blown. There have been a lot of (poorly) faked videos portraying Android running on the iPhone over the last few years. Lots and lots. Like a ridiculous amount. This one’s real. After a hiatus of just shy of a year, well-established iPhone hacker planetbeing has returned with his magnum opus: a mostly functioning build of Android running on an iPhone 2G. Is it perfect? Not yet. Planetbeing considers it alpha; while the touchscreen seems to function well enough and WiFi is in working order, there’s still plenty of work before it’s really practical to use. Well, if running on Android on an iPhone could ever really be practical. Just don’t use this to get porn on your iPhone. That would make Steve Jobs sad. [Via planetbeing on Twitter]
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:43 pm Facebook and Microsoft team up to create Docs for FacebookSection: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Websites, Google
Docs.com just went live today (April 21st) and provides you the same benefits as Google Docs with a Microsoft flavor and a Facebook twist. From the looks of it, it is just Microsoft Office 2010, on the internet, available to you from any computer with an internet connection. But just that doesn’t really give Google users a reason to switch to Docs; it is the addition of Facebook integration that gives people reasons to switch. Now, you can create documents and share them right through Facebook. So instead of just relying on your own spelling abilities (or FireFox’s and Chrome’s spell checkers) as you type into just a plain old text field for your poems or rants, you can rely on good ol’ Microsoft Office. Now, social media provides a big role in all of this. Not only can you publish your documents onto Facebook, you can use Docs.com to check out all your friend’s published material and do your Facebook thing and comment on them. Docs blog does state however, that because this is in beta, only a limited amount of users will be able to create documents at a time. Don’t be scared away by the Facebook side of this, Docs does have a professional side as well. You are in no way required to publish every document to Facebook. You can in fact use it just like Google Docs and just utilize it as an alternative to the desktop version. Check back later to see a full review of Docs.com. Read [Docs Blog] Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:13 pm Future Fibre Technologies Inc. and Unlimited Technology Inc. Announce a Major Perimeter Security Upgrade Program for 24 Pennsylvania-based Water Utility SitesSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:11 pm Future Fibre Technologies Inc. and Unlimited Technology Inc. Announce a Major Perimeter Security Upgrade Program for 24 Pennsylvania-based Water Utility SitesMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Fibre Technologies Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:11 pm On the Call: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings (AP)AP - Netflix's 3-year-old service for streaming video over the Internet is catching on as it links up with more Web-enabled gadgets that plug into flat-panel TVs.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:05 pm T-Mobile's HD2 Has Great Screen, Weak Software [Personal Technology]For all the buzz about tablet computers, the hottest category among small digital devices remains the super-smartphones, those pocket-size, touch-screen computers for running apps. Apple this week reported strong sales of its iPhone. New phones running Google’s Android software platform seem to appear almost monthly and reportedly sell briskly. As these phones have added capabilities, some have gained larger screens. While Apple has stuck with a screen that’s 3.5 inches diagonally, some Android phones sport 3.7-inch screens. Now there is a competitor with a truly huge screen—4.3 inches. It’s the HD2 from Taiwan-based HTC, and it is being sold by T-Mobile in the U.S. for $199 with a two-year contract. [ See post to watch video ] T-Mobile boasts that the HD2’s screen is the biggest on a U.S. smartphone. But how big is too big for a device that is meant to be toted in a pocket or purse? How valuable is a large screen compared with well-designed software? To find out, I’ve been testing the HD2. My verdict is that, despite the larger dimensions required by its giant screen, the HD2’s hardware is attractive and unlikely to put off people who have already crossed over to bigger devices, like the BlackBerry or iPhone. However, I found the HD2 to be significantly inferior overall to touch-screen rivals from Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), mainly because of its software, based on the aging mobile Windows platform from Microsoft (MSFT). While HTC has added its own software overlay to dress up the design, I still found using the HD2 to be too often a chore. It looks cluttered, a patchwork of different interfaces. And, in my tests, it was prone to error messages and even freezing. Also, despite a fast processor, the software responded sluggishly too much of the time. Another important downside for prospective HD2 buyers is that the Microsoft software version on which it is based can be viewed as a dead end. The software giant is producing an entirely new mobile-software platform, Windows Phone 7, due late this year.  The HD2 supersmartphone HTC says the HD2 won’t be upgradable to the new Microsoft platform, nor will it run the new generation of third-party apps Microsoft hopes to attract. The HD2 has access to only about 1,200 third-party apps, versus 185,000 for iPhone and over 30,000 for Android. The HD2 is both wider and taller than the iPhone and the flagship Android phone, Google’s Nexus One. But it is actually a tad thinner than either of those. The bigger difference is weight. While the iPhone and the Nexus One tip the scales at under 5 ounces, the HD2 weighs substantially more—5.54 ounces. Despite the larger footprint and weight, I didn’t find the HD2 clumsy to carry in a pocket or odd to hold up to my ear. The screen isn’t only large, but vivid and pleasing. Videos and photos look beautiful on it. T-Mobile has bundled some nice apps with the HD2 and placed them on the home screen. These include the Barnes & Noble e-book reader, the Blockbuster video download service, and a trial of the MobiTV live TV app. After some false tries and error messages, I was able to rent and watch a movie from Blockbuster (BBI), watch TV and buy a couple of books from Barnes & Noble (BKS). I also could sync photos, music and videos from my own PC and Mac. The camera, which takes photos and videos, has a 5-megapixel resolution and a flash, and took better pictures than my iPhone does. Phone calls were crisp and clear, the 3G-cellular connectivity was fast, and the built-in Wi-Fi worked fine. Memory is generous for the price, at 16 gigabytes on a removable card, plus another gigabyte internally. But my problem with the HD2 is mainly its software and user interface. Unlike on Android phones and the iPhone, there is only one home screen available for app icons, and much of it is taken up with a huge clock widget that can’t be removed. That leaves only nine icon slots to fill with your favorite apps or functions, compared with scores on competing phones. To help make up for this, there is a band of smaller icons along the bottom of the screen, which offers limited customization. But the combination was a confusing jumble, to my eye. In addition, I found the touch functionality was often sluggish and halting. It frequently took hard presses to activate icons on the screen. And twice, while simply dialing a phone call, the device froze on me. I have occasionally had similar bad experiences on rival phones, and T-Mobile says these problems aren’t typical. But the glitches occurred too often for my taste on the HD2. So, my bottom line is that the HD2 might be fine for folks who value the large screen above all. But, for everyone else, I’d look elsewhere. Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email mossberg@wsj.com. Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:03 pm Google Docs Just Picked A Bad Time To Fail (But There’s A Fix)
Over the course of the last hour, we’ve gotten many tips reporting Google Docs issues. I’m unable to create a spreadsheet. And Twitter search yields countless matches of people complaining about the outage. Google updated its Apps Status Dashboard an hour ago to say it was an aware of an issue with Google Docs List. They updated it again minutes ago. As it turns out, Lists isn’t what is being affected — it’s Spreadsheets, Drawings, and Documents. Fortunately, there’s a way to fix the issue: Google says the problem is only affecting users on the recently released preview version of Google Docs — switch it back to the old version using the option at the top of the screen and things should start working again. Here’s the latest status update:
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:54 pm Barbershop EwoksYou haven't lived until you've heard a barbershop quartet perform the Ewok celebration song! CRACKERJACK JUNCTION sings THE EWOK CELEBRATION SONG (Thanks, Cabralski!)
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:53 pm NASA Solar Satellite's First Sun Imagescoondoggie writes "NASA today showed off the amazing first pictures of the Sun taken from its 6,800lb Solar Dynamics Observatory flying at an orbit 22,300 miles above Earth. The first images show a variety of activity NASA says provide never-before-seen detail of material streaming outward and away from sunspots. Others show extreme close-ups of activity on the sun's surface. The spacecraft also has made the first high-resolution measurements of solar flares in a broad range of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:44 pm How I survived a week with only my iPhone (Essential Apps)FROM APPLETELL - These 3G friendly iPhone apps helped me feed my Internet addition for a week without having to pay the Walt Disney World $10/day WiFi fee. I call them “My Essential Apps.” Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:42 pm Wait a second, this cheapo MP3 watch actually looks great
There’s not much else to say. It’s a random Chinese gadget-watch. But it’s hot. I’m telling you, with the headphone plug on a chain? $44! [via 7Gadgets]
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm EBay profit rises 11 per cent but shares tumble on disappointing outlookSAN FRANCISCO - EBay Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 11 per cent as consumers spent more on its main website, but a disappointing forecast for the current quarter pushedSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:30 pm Citizen Scientists Trawl for Ocean PlasticImagine dumping a week's worth of trash into a bathtub full of water and then stirring it with a paddle. That's basically what's happening in parts of the ocean, only worse. To figure out exactly what we're facing, a program ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:27 pm Why it's possible to fly near Iceland's volcanoIt seems like a disconnect: Most of the media stories about flights grounded because of Iceland's volcanic eruption were accompanied by spectacular aerial photographs of the volcano. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:17 pm Microsoft Courier coming in 2011Section: Computers, Mobile Computers  Apparently the New York Times in a loop with Microsoft. In an article discussing the various products that will respond to the iPad, said the following:
Now whether or not this is credible is, of course, debatable. But the idea that the Courier will be around to take on the iPad is quite interesting. Based on what I can see from some of the demo videos that “leaked” out, this is a device for the creative individual on the run. The two screens allow for a notebook style setup where navigation can still occur without losing sight of a project. The real interesting technological achievement will be in the batteries. Having two screens operating at all times will no doubt be a power monger. But, according the the Times’ article, this is something that the engineers at Microsoft have been working on, and is one of the major reasons for such delayed release. With the astounding success of Apple’s new app-hungry device, Microsoft, as well as the rest of manufacturers are playing catch-up. What will make or break the Couriers entrance into the market is timing. If Microsoft can launch the Courier right when the iPad becomes old news, they might have a shot at taking the market by storm with this wild and whimsical device. Read [New York Times] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:03 pm I Think Facebook Just Seized Control Of The Internet
Erick already outlined Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s perspective on this from his keynote, but perhaps more interesting was some of what Platform Lead Bret Taylor had to say. The most interesting thing Taylor said was that Facebook’s stance is that social connections are going to be just as important going forward as hyperlinks have been for the web. Obviously, as the largest social network, Facebook to some degree has to believe (or at least say) that. But today, and really over the past several months of huge growth, Facebook has given us all a reason to believe that may be the case. And if that’s so, Google had better watch out. There may be a new sheriff in web town. Right off the bat, Zuckerberg rattled off some impressive numbers. While we all know that Facebook has over 400 million users (and it appears to be approaching 500 million rapidly), he also said that the service is growing at a faster rate than ever before. That’s fairly insane. He also noted that while it took the service 5 years to get to 100 million users, it took only 3 years to reach the same total in terms of mobile users. And in the past year, they seen that number grow 3x. Perhaps most impressive of all is that in just one year, Facebook got 100 million people using Facebook Connect. And that’s why everything they announced today has a real shot at completely transforming the web. Because everything they’ve announced (and specifically, Open Graph) seems to be like Facebook Connect on steroids. All of this may sound grandiose and a bit frightening, but that’s why it’s ingenious the way Facebook is using Taylor. As he explained on stage today, Taylor used to work on a “small social network called FriendFeed” (which, of course, Facebook acquired last year). While he’s now a key member of Facebook’s team leading this new strategy, he used some of his keynote today to talk about his experience working on a startup with Facebook Connect. He noted that at FriendFeed they found that the key to getting users to stick around and keep them using the site was that they had to connect with five friends. Unfortunately, when you’re a startup with not very many users, that’s extremely hard to do (yes, even just five). So FriendFeed implemented all types of logins and email contact lookups to try and help users find friends. The key to FriendFeed’s growth was Facebook Connect, as users were four times more likely to become engaged users if they signed up through that service, he said. In fact, if FriendFeed has continued on as an independent service, “we would have removed all those other signup buttons,” Taylor said. Yes, that includes Twitter and Google. And lest you think his experience with Connect was all peachy, Taylor went on to explain that FriendFeed was constantly frustrated with how difficult Facebook Connect was to implement into their site. This is something that many developers have echoed over the past year. But with the new social plugins announced today, that all changes, Taylor promised. “I didn’t think the platform needed to be this complex,” he said. And now, apparently, it isn’t. So that’s Taylor selling Facebook’s Open Graph to thousands of startups out there. And many are likely to bite. There’s no denying that social graphs are the key to a service being sticky, and there is no better social graph than Facebook’s.
Companies will have to choose whether to fight against this, and attempt to launch their own graph, or get in line. “When we connect our graphs together, the web is gonna get a whole lot better,” Zuckerberg promised. Facebook launched some of this social plugin and Open Graph integration with several (30) large partners today. Just clicking around the web earlier, I ran into the new “like” button on CNN. It’s excellent; much better than the current share buttons which are slow and clunky in comparison. In my opinion, Facebook still has a ways to go towards improving its actual site if it’s really going to be the long-term center of the web. (As in, the place you go to rather than Google.com.) But its claws for pulling in outside content are now razor-sharp. It’s going to be very hard for anyone to escape. Over the next several days and weeks, we’ll undoubtedly hear why that’s a bad thing. Maybe it is. But maybe, if Facebook plays its cards right, the web will be a bit better because it will be more connected. Of course, that’s a lot of power for a still-private company to have. Let’s hope they know what they’re doing, and aren’t evil. [photos: flickr/ingridtaylar and flickr/alan vernon]      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Kid-friendly programming app an unfortunate casualty of Apple’s new app policies
Because such a program obviously accesses, and in fact has its roots in, the foreign APIs and code that Apple finds so abhorrent, it was removed from the app store. Right. I’m not saying Apple shouldn’t apply its own rules on a case-by-case basis, but this is exactly the kind of constructive, rich app that people have been saying will be blocked by the 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 restrictions. I can’t muster any outrage, only share in Kay’s disappointment that a platform he envisioned and engendered decades ago will not be able to be used to its full extent. Kay is quoted as having said to Jobs, after the iPhone event, “Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.” Unfortunately, a world ruled by Jobs isn’t exactly what we all envisioned it to be a few years ago. [via Wired Gadget Lab]
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Portable Fire Starter Is a Spark of GeniusWhen you absolutely must make fire (or die tryin') a Survival Spark is what you want in hand.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Portable Fire Starter Is a Spark of GeniusWhen you absolutely must make fire (or die tryin') a Survival Spark is what you want in hand.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:00 pm Hitler `Downfall' parodies removed from YouTube (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:54 pm MPS Wins in Patent Dispute Against O2 Micro at ITCSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:54 pm MPS Wins in Patent Dispute Against O2 Micro at ITCSAN JOSE, Calif., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) (Nasdaq: MPWR), a leading fabless manufacturer of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, today announced that the Administrative Law Judge at the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:54 pm Hitler `Downfall' parodies removed from YouTubeAdolf Hitler, for years a vessel of frustration in a popular Internet meme, has been quieted. Since its release in 2004, the German film about Hitler's last days, "Downfall," has been...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:36 pm Speed cameras trap motorists from spaceHow do you feel about a satellite system that uses (ground based) cameras to read your car's license plate and detect how fast you are driving? Law enforcement in the UK likes the idea very much, as does PIPS Technology, who says its system provides "number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day." UPDATE: I incorrectly wrote that the cameras were satellite based, but the cameras are on the ground.Source: Boing Boing | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:35 pm Apple closes third financial quarter on a high - has ‘best non-holiday quarter ever’.FROM APPLETELL - March 27th, 2010 brought Apple’s best ever non-holiday quarter to a close, with the company selling a record number of iPhone’s in a single quarter to date. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:30 pm McAfee Glitch Reboots Computers, Again and Again [Voices]By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal PCs across the country rebooted continuously Wednesday, in a mass outbreak reminiscent of the widespread computer viruses from a decade ago. The cause this time wasn’t a virus, however, but a glitch on the part of a company that’s supposed to stop such malicious programs. Security company McAfee Wednesday morning issued a software update intended to give the computers that it’s contracted to protect a new list of malicious files to block and delete. Somehow a file that is part of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows operating system made it on to the list. And when McAfee’s software deleted this file, all hell broke loose. People all over the country reported that their computers stopped working. Among the victimized organization were a hospital in Rhode Island, police in Kentucky and the National Science Foundation, according to the AP. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:21 pm Two Bay Area Multimedia Speaking Events: 100 Firefighters, 1,000 Architects and Engineers Expose 9/11 Myths, Call for New InvestigationSAN FRANCISCO, April 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth: San Rafael: Friday, May 7, 2010 - 7:30 pm Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, CA - Showcase Theater San Leandro: Saturday, May 8, 2010 - 7:30 pm Bal Theater, San Leandro, CA Who: Erik Lawyer, founder of Firefighters for 9/11 Truth (firefightersfor911truth.org) and 14-year Seattle Fire fighter, and Richard Gage, AIA, Architect and founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:21 pm Group Calls For Google Antitrust ProbeCWmike writes "Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog called on the DOJ to launch a broad antitrust investigation into Google's search and advertising practices and consider a wide array of penalties, including possibly breaking the company up (PDF). The watchdog, along with a mobile entrepreneur and two lawyers representing Google rivals, called for an investigation focusing on a number of issues, including Google's marriage of search results to advertising and its book search service. '...We think all remedies should be on the table, including, we think, the possible breakup of the Internet giant,' said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. Adam Kovacevich, senior manager for global communications and public affairs at Google, discounted the criticisms, saying Consumer Watchdog has been 'relentlessly negative' about Google. The group recently questioned the reasons why Google stopped censoring search results in China, and criticized Google's privacy Dashboard as inadequate, Kovacevich said."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:21 pm Two Bay Area Multimedia Speaking Events: 100 Firefighters, 1,000 Architects and Engineers Expose 9/11 Myths, Call for New InvestigationSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:21 pm Qualcomm posts Q2 profit on revenue gains, but offers tepid short-term outlookSAN DIEGO - Qualcomm Inc., whose chips and other technologies are used in vast numbers of cellphones, raised its earnings estimate for 2010 on Wednesday on solid second-quarter results....Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:15 pm High-Tech Underwear for Adventurous Geeks<< previous image | next image >>
You might think that underwear, of all things, would be least susceptible to our tendency to gadgetize absolutely everything around us. Guess again: A few courageous entrepreneurs have come up with a gaggle of garments — call them undie upgrades — that combine tech and tighty whities. From coping with global warming to protecting against radiation to maintaining proper hygiene, these are some of our favorite geeky undergarments. What’s your verdict: Useful or ridiculous? Or do you have your own favorite geeky underwear concepts? Let us know in the comments! Above: While scientists and politicians bicker about climate change, responsible consumers have altered their habits to cut down on waste and greenhouse gases. But are they prepared to insert heated pads into their cups to ward off nippy conditions? Utility companies in Japan initiated a conservation effort during 2005, aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Thermostats were kept at 68 degrees and citizens asked to dress more warmly at home and work. Triumph International collaborated by introducing the Warm Biz Bra which contains two reheatable gelatinous pouches. The chili bangle adornment located between the two cups lights up when a comfortable temperature is achieved. Unfortunately, there are no statistics on how much electricity is used by microwaving bra pouches.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm The Key to Fixing Global Warming? ChinaEnergy secretary Steven Chu wants to change the way people think about global warming, but that means changing their view of China -- from a nation to fear to a partner to encourage.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm High-Tech Underwear for Adventurous GeeksNo garment is safe from our incessant need to gadgetize. Check out heated bra cups, smell-resistant undies, GPS-tracked lingerie and more geeky underwear concepts from around the world.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Fetish: Flip SlideHD Packs Touchscreen, Awesome MovesYou want to share your clip of lil' Joey riding without training wheels now, not later. Well, Flip's SlideHD, with a beefed-up, 3-inch screen, a cool virtual instrument panel and 16 gigs of memory, will have you showing off your offspring in no time.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Fetish: Flip SlideHD Packs Touchscreen, Awesome MovesYou want to share your clip of lil' Joey riding without training wheels now, not later. Well, Flip's SlideHD, with a beefed-up, 3-inch screen, a cool virtual instrument panel and 16 gigs of memory, will have you showing off your offspring in no time.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm High-Tech Underwear for Adventurous GeeksNo garment is safe from our incessant need to gadgetize. Check out heated bra cups, smell-resistant undies, GPS-tracked lingerie and more geeky underwear concepts from around the world.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:00 pm Tal.ki: The Easiest Way To Add A Forum To A Website
See a sample forum here.      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:53 pm Interview with human leg extension inventor Kim GrahamMeredith Yayanos of Coilhouse interviewed Kim Graham about her finely-tuned digitigrade, "reverse leg" extensions. Graham has started selling them at Weta for NZD$1,320 a pair. Please describe the Weta Legs. What sets your invention apart from other kinds of stilts or leg extensions?Inventor/Sculptor Kim Graham’s Weta Legs
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:50 pm Praising, cursing ACTA: reactions roll in - Ars Technica
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:50 pm Pictures: NASA Solar Observatory's First Shots - National Geographic
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:49 pm MSI’s newest GX640 gaming notebook is fast, affordable
The GX640 comes standard with the previously mentioned Core i5, an ATI Radeon HD5850 with 1GB of DDR5, and 4GB of system memory. It’s packing a 15.4 inch screen, so it’s relatively portable, and the 9-cell battery should help with battery life. The Gx640 is available now at Amazon.com with an MSRP of $1099. From the press release:
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:30 pm Did your HTC Hero turn red? This poor guy’s did
What the heck? A reader sends in this image of his HTC Hero. It apparently changed color as it began to heat up. Insanity.
Has anyone else seen this? The reader sent his in but HTC still hasn’t sent it back.
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:22 pm Study: Brain games don't make you smarter (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - It sounded like a win-win situation: Persuade growing kids or seniors at risk of dementia to play video games that would challenge their minds and boost their brainpower, in effect making them "smarter." This idea — backed by some kind of research, at least — led to the creation of the "brain game" genre, with titles like Nintendo's Brain Age series becoming bestsellers.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:18 pm UK University Researchers Must Make Data AvailableSara Chan writes "In a landmark ruling, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office has decided that researchers at a university must make all their data available to the public. The decision follows from a three-year battle by mathematician Douglas J. Keenan, who wants the data to do his own analysis on it. The university researchers have had the data for many years, and have published several papers using the data, but had refused to make the data available. The data in this case pertains to global warming, but the decision is believed to apply to any field: scientists at universities, which are all public in the UK, can now not claim data from publicly-funded research as their private property." There's more at the BBC, at Nature Climate Feedback, and at Keenan's site.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:14 pm Adobe Calls it Quits for Flash on iPhone - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:07 pm Air Travel More Environmentally Harmful than Volcanic AshThe greenhouse gas delivered by Iceland's erupting volcano does not compare to that spewed by Europe's grounded aircraft. According to Durham University, carbon dioxide emissions totaled 150,000 tons daily during the early period of the eruption.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:05 pm Benjamin Franklin gets a makeover
Okay, who am I kidding. It’s a rare day indeed when I even get to see a hundred at a distance, much less in my hand. But I know what one looks like at least, although soon even that knowledge will be outdated. Seeing as it’s a popular target for counterfeiting (how surprising!), the $100 bill has been outfitted with a number of high-tech security measures. Holographic liberty bells, a strip of microlenses that creates the illusion of movement in different directions… or something like that. The announcement was just made yesterday and I haven’t had a chance to stop by the Treasury, so I’m going to have to take MSN at its word. I’ve rather liked the redos for the other bills, personally, and I’m always impressed by how crazy foreign currency is when I go abroad. Bills different lengths so blind people can tell them apart? Hmm, what a good idea that was like fifty years ago. Yet every day in America, an average of 7000 blind persons are scammed by unscrupulous cashiers because all our bills have the same dimensions. This information brought to you by the letter $. [image: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images]
Source: CrunchGear | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:00 pm Of Plastics and Whales. And Other Marine Life.The stomach of a gray whale found near Seattle last week was chock full of garbage, including lots of plastic. Plastic is the most abundant form of trash in the region's waters, research has found, and it can be lethal ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:52 pm Rudy Coby at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles, April 26 - May 2Magician and maker Rudy Coby has been performing at recent Dr. Sketchy LA sessions, and his props and routines are amazing. He told me that he's going to be taking over the Magic Castle in Hollywood with a "Magic Vs Science" extravaganza. I'm looking forward to it!
Source: Boing Boing | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:52 pm Robot Dogs!
Photo: urban don. Landlord says no pets? End-run the rulebook with a robot. Isn't this fellow, hacked out of a child's toy by the awe-inspiring Don Pezzano, just adorable? But perhaps mutant Furbies are not to your taste. There are, of course, alternatives.
Think "robot dog," think Aibo, Sony's much-loved computerized canine. Discontinued in 2006, the various models could see, walk, recognize commands and even learn from their environment and other Aibos. Sony fought a copyright war with Aibo owners to prevent them hacking the machines using third-party software, but eventually relented and released their internal programmer's kit to the public. Your best bet nowadays is Ebay. Photo: Alden Chadwick.
Extra Ketchup's reincarnation of Doctor Who companion K-9 has advantages over the TV prop original: "my K-9 is a real, programmable, electronic robot ... made of metal, powered by a 12 volt lawn tractor battery, (with) an Intel Celeron processor for a brain."
Lark Toys, a toy museum in Kellogg, MN, has this Meccanno-style pup in its gift shop. Photo: Eda Cherry
WowWee Robotics' Robopet is based on designs by Mark Tilden, according to Wikipedia. It has 5 gearboxes, a 16 bit RISC processor, and the source code is 12k of assembly language created by mark in the 1980s. Photo: Sean Dreillinger.
This pup lives at the Sonoma County Human Society. Photo: Dogzen.
Most dogs come when called. This one plays go. (And he also goes to dinner) Photo: Torisan3500.
Photo: Robin Zebrowski's colorful robo-pup has a similarly cheerful master.
Genibo, one of the various successors left after Sony put Aibo out to pasture, searches for its master in this video posted by Aaron Nanto.
Gnesix took this shot for a college assignment; the lighting is provided by portable LEDs.
The title Phillip Torrone gave to this shot says it all: small, medium, meat. Source: Boing Boing | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:51 pm Violent Caveman Guts, by Coop
Coop has a post about this stunning art project collaboration with NagNagNag. He says, "I designed all the packaging, and collaborated with Shigeru-san on the colorway. The cutaway “guts” drawing is a tribute to classic Japanese kaiju cutaway art." Violent Caveman Guts
Cox Discontinues Usenet, Starting In JuneExistential Wombat was one of several readers to note that Cox Communcations customers have been put on notice that their Usenet access will soon dry up, unless they want to pay a monthly surcharge for it. From the note that subscribers received: "Effective June 30, 2010, Cox Communications will discontinue Usenet service to our subscribers. Declining newsgroup usage in recent years has highlighted the need to focus our resources on other priorities, such as increasing our Internet speeds and providing new services, including Cox Media Store and Share. We understand that our newsgroup subscribers may want to continue accessing Usenet. Therefore, we have worked with leading newsgroup service provider Giganews to offer special pricing for Cox subscribers." Gripes Existential Wombat: "$15++ a month for something Cox provided as a part of the service? Of course they will be reducing everyone's monthly tariff by the value of the service they no longer provide. Yeah, right."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:32 pm OpenCandy Raises $5 Million Series B For Bundled Software You Might Actually Want
OpenCandy founder Chester Ng says that the company spent last year shaping the company’s product and showing that its model could actually work — now, they’re looking to scale, developing into new markets and forging more partnerships (along with bolstering hiring efforts). As we’ve discussed in our previous coverage, OpenCandy offers a few key differences from standard bundled software. Developers who integrate it don’t actually embed a second tag-along application with their installer. Instead, OpenCandy’s platform uses some server-side intelligence to suggest applications that are relevant to the one you’re installing, and it only downloads the app after you’ve told it to. And instead of making it the default option to install a bundled OpenCandy app, users always have to elect to install it. Finally, OpenCandy says that they only allow high quality applications into their list of suggestions — not just anyone can join the program. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:25 pm A Look At The Future of Facebook Credits
One new feature is called App2user Credits. This is a set of promotions that allow users to earn Facebook Credits in ways that don’t involve paying with their credit card. Liu presented three examples. First, Liu said that users could earn credits through credit card reward programs (she said Chase was already involved in setting up a program). A second example involved Plastic Jungle, the service that lets you sell gift cards you don’t want. And users can earn credits as they shop using services like TrialPay. Liu said that Facebook wants to make this a platform that everyone can plug into, so it sounds like there will be many other ways to earn Credits. App2user Credits is slated to launch this June. Other future plans: Facebook will be seeding non-paying users with credits (to help get them in the habit of using them) and will also have a way to seed inactive users in the hopes of getting them to interact with apps again. There are also plans to offer bulk discounting on Credits, which will be paid for using some of the 30% fee that Facebook charges developers to use Credits. There will also be a feature for ‘auto top-up’, which can automatically refill a user’s account with 50 credits whenever they have fewer than five. When asked if Facebook will allow if alternative currencies like Social Gold will be able to exist alongside Facebook Credits, Liu dodged the question, saying that the platform was still in early days.      
Source: TechCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:06 pm Gadget Makers Need a Few Good EarsWired contributor Steven Leckart visits Plantronics, the company that created the headset that transmitted "One small step for man ..." from the moon in 1969. Now, they make ear molds to collect data for improving headsets.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:00 pm Gadget Makers Need a Few Good EarsWired contributor Steven Leckart visits Plantronics, the company that created the headset that transmitted "One small step for man ..." from the moon in 1969. Now, they make ear molds to collect data for improving headsets.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 3:00 pm Boing Boing special feature: Charting the Frozen Continent
Photo: Michelle
Maggie Koerth-Baker explores Antarctica, where the skies are clear, the valley deeps are studded with cerulean lakes, and where there is much fertile soil for science: Charting the Frozen Continent. Skyfire For Android Beta Leaked! Have some screenshots.
By the time I got wind that Skyfire was looking for Alpha testers, the sign-up sheet had already been filled to the brim. Bummer, right? Fear not! As luck may have (the “luck” here being for early adopters, if not necessarily Skyfire), a Beta copy just leaked out for all to enjoy. The bad news: it looks like Skyfire might be sending takedown requests to anyone distributing the Beta. We were able to get our hands on it before the first links started going down, but we’re not going to be able to host a download of it. Google the relevant keywords – you’ll find a download link in no time flat. I was hoping to do a full hands-on with the leaked Beta – but at this point, it wouldn’t really be fair. To sum up everything I would have said: Skyfire for Android needs work. There’s no multi-touch or double-tap-to-zoom support yet, so the only zooming mechanism is a little -/+ button in the bottom right (and boy, is it sloooow.) There also doesn’t seem to be any support for rich media like Flash and Silverlight yet, which, given that that’s Skyfire’s flagship feature, really lops the experience off at the knees. With that said, remember: this is early, early stuff. We’ll check back in with Skyfire for a proper hands on a bit further along in the development process. In the mean time, enjoy some screenshots of the current state of things:
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:50 pm SETI To Release Data To the Publiclog1385 writes "SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is releasing its collected data to the public. Jill Tarter, director of SETI, says, 'We hope that a global army of open source code developers, students, and other experts in digital signal processing, as well as citizen scientists willing to lend their intelligence to our exploration, will have access to the same technology and join our quest.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:48 pm Here Comes the Sun ... in Mind-Blowing Space-Telescope VideoUnprecedented images of the sun are streaming back from NASA's new Solar Dynamics Observatory space telescope. And boy, are they amazing.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:32 pm Toy tests your ability to endure electrical shock
The latest from Brando, the Hong Kong based manufacturers of odd electronic curiosities -- a $20 game to test your ability to endure an increasingly powerful jolt of electricity. - SHOCKING DUEL!The Strongest Shocking Duel Source: Boing Boing | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:15 pm Help a Team Reach the Electric Motorcycle Grand PrixThey're grassroots and DIY and they need your help getting on the grid. Help out and you could ride their bike.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:14 pm ACTA Backs Away From 3 StrikesA proposed international intellectual property accord no longer requires dozens of participating entities (including the United States, Japan, Canada and European Union) to terminate internet service of online copyright scofflaws.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:10 pm Upward Physical Movement Brings Back Happy MemoriesScientists find that the simple act of moving marbles upward causes people to be more likely to recall positive experiences.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 2:00 pm Students Sequence Genome of Unknown Bacteria GroupUnder the supervision of a Virginia Tech plant pathologist, a group of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students isolated and characterized a formerly unknown group of bacteria. The bacteria strain belongs to the plant pathogen species Pseudomonas syringae.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:50 pm Ultra-violet Light Can Purify WaterTel Aviv University demonstrates that UV light can zap unwanted "life" in drinking water and save taxpayer dollars Does your drinking water smell foul, or are you worried that chemicals might be damaging your family's health? Water treatment facilities currently use chlorine that produces carcinogenic by-products to keep your tapwater clean, but Tel Aviv University scientists have determined that ultra-violet (UV) light might be a better solution.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:50 pm How the Internet Fuels Cell Phone ScaresThere's little scientific evidence supporting a link between cell phones and cancer, yet hoaxes and media scares raise alarm with the public.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:48 pm Gene Therapy Cures Canine BlindnessPHILADELPHIA -- Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total color blindness.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:47 pm Breakthrough in Genetic Studies of Animal DomesticationA Virginia Tech animal scientist, who in 1957 began breeding lines of White Plymouth Rock chickens based on their juvenile body weight, has provided scientists around the world with a model for exploring the molecular basis of traits like growth and reproduction – traits that molded the red jungle fowl into a farm animal roughly 8,000 years ago.Paul Siegel, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Animal and Poultry Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, co-authored an article in the March 25 issue of the scientific journal Nature that uses data from his decades-long poultry selection project.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 1:34 pm Virginian Alfred R. Rives Credited for Civil War Engineering FeatBridge designer and builder denied recognition after joining ConfederacyCarved in stone on a Civil War-era bridge – a world-class feat of engineering that stands a couple miles northwest of Washington - are the names of builders and officials of the day.A key name, however, is missing.New research shows that Virginian Alfred R.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:59 pm Why Water Doesn't Freeze in the CloudsSupercooling, a state where liquids do not solidify even below their normal freezing point, still puzzles scientists today. A good example of this phenomenon is found everyday in meteorology: clouds in high altitude are an accumulation of supercooled droplets of water below their freezing point.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:55 pm Twitter-Enhanced Cuckoo Clock Chirps — and Tweets
We have seen twittering toasters, toilets and robots. Now an old-fashioned cuckoo clock gets a makeover so it can wirelessly connect to the internet and display status messages from Twitter. Haroon Baig, an interface and interaction designer, added a display on the front of a cuckoo clock so it can announce Twitter updates with the charm of a mechanical cuckoo popping out of the timepiece. Baig modified the innards of the clock, which has a touchscreen display with a controller board and a Wi-Fi dongle. It also uses Chumby, a hardware open source platform with a Linux operating system. A custom-built widget connects to the Twitter API and receives new tweets. The mechanics of the cuckoo is controlled by the Arduino Board. The clock can monitor any twitter stream or search. But it has been configured to react on self-referenced tweets. If any tweet mentions “TwitweeClock,” the tweet displays on the built-in screen and triggers the cuckoo mechanism. As Baig’s video shows, its a fun mod to do. The Twitter-enabled cuckoo clock’s tweet can be found at @twitweeclock. Twitwee Clock from Haroon Baig on Vimeo. A close-up of the innards of the cuckoo clock:
See Also:
[via Make] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:52 pm 11 Million Years Old Primate DiscoveredCatalan researchers have discovered in the rubbish dump of Can Mata in the Vallès-Penedès basin (Catalonia) a new species of Pliopithecus primate, considered an extinct family of primitive Catarrhini primates (or "Old World monkeys").Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:52 pm Twitter-Enhanced Cuckoo Clock Chirps -- and TweetsA modified cuckoo clock displays updates from Twitter on a panel in front of the clock -- and still has a cuckoo that pops out every hour.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:52 pm Global Warming is Changing Bird MigrationThe results of genetic studies on migratory birds substantiate the theory that in the case of a continued global warming, and within only a few generations, migratory birds will - subject to strong selection and microevolution - at first begin to fly shorter distances and at a later stage, stop migrating, and will thus become so-called "residents".Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:50 pm Are third-party cell phone battery manufacturers deceiving their customers?
The vast majority of consumers don’t have a clue as to what those little numbers on their cell phones battery mean. Like with processor clock speeds and television refresh rates, we all tend to just assume that bigger numbers = better product. So when Joe Consumer sees some third-party manufacturer touting their batteries with ratings double that of what the official battery offers, it seems like a killer deal. Alas, it appears that some of these third-party manufacturers might be pulling the oldest marketing trick in the world: flat-out lying.
Armed with a nothing but a fancy battery testing suite and a desire for honesty, a gent named Doug Simmons set out to put third-party battery ratings to the test. He asked his online cohorts to loan him their third-party wares, and the brawl began. His findings? While OEM batteries are clocking in at right around the promised rating, third-party batteries.. aren’t. Now, no one really expects the “official” batteries sold on eBay to be.. you know, official. And they most certainly aren’t. Pitched as being one-to-one matches with the real deal, some of these bootlegs are failing to perform even half as well as the original. That part’s obvious. You get what you pay for. But it goes beyond eBay: even amongst the (fairly pricey) batteries of some of the more well-known third parties (like Seido, or Mugen), Doug is seeing discrepancies left and right. Take Seido’s 1600mAh replacement for the Nexus One, for example. The battery is pitched as being about 14% stronger than the Nexus One’s original 1400mAh battery (which, by the way, tested at a very acceptable 1357mAh) — but in Doug’s tests, this “bigger” battery is actually clocking in at a lower capacity (1317mAh) than the original. Doug’s only tested around a dozen batteries so far, but the results are eye opening; while the OEM batteries are almost always reasonably accurate to their promised rating, the third-party batteries are consistently 20-30% weaker than advertised. Check out his results so far here — and if you’ve got a new-condition battery for him to take a crack at, be sure to get in touch.
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:43 pm Adobe Gives Up on Flash for iPhone, iPad
Adobe will no longer pursue its plans to bring Flash to Apple’s iPhone and the iPad. Adobe on Tuesday evening said it is ceasing investment in a software tool that enables Flash developers to port software into native iPhone and iPad apps, according to Mike Chambers, Adobe’s principal product manager for Flash developer relations. “The primary goal of Flash has always been to enable cross-browser, platform and device development,” Chambers wrote in a blog post. “This is the exact opposite of what Apple wants. They want to tie developers down to their platform, and restrict their options to make it difficult for developers to target other platforms.” Adobe is reacting to a new rule in the iPhone developer agreement, which stipulates that iPhone and iPad apps must be coded with Apple-approved programming languages, such as C++ or Objective C. If enforced, the rule would effectively ban any apps coded with Adobe’s Packager for iPhone, a tool enabling Flash-coded software to be easily converted into native iPhone apps, released last week with Adobe CS5. Faced with Apple’s new rule, Adobe pulled the plug on Packager for iPhone. That ends, for now, any hope that Flash apps (or apps that incorporate Flash) will ever be able to run on the iPad or iPhone. Apple’s new app policy has been met with furious debate. Critics say Apple is depriving consumers of choice, because Flash apps that could have been on the iPhone will never see the light of day. Supporters of Apple’s decision, including Steve Jobs, say the move was necessary to retain quality of apps in the App Store and nimbleness of updating the platform. Apple has been steadfast with its lack of support for Flash on the iPhone OS. Some customers have complained that without Flash, iPhone and iPad users are missing out on a big chunk of the internet. Jobs said during a staff meeting that Flash was not supported because it is “buggy” and frequently causes crashes on the Mac OS, according to a secondhand account first reported by Wired.com. Rather than supporting Flash, Apple has reportedly pushed website creators to use alternative web standards, including HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, which are all supported by the iPhone and iPad browser. Apple said Adobe was incorrect to accuse Apple of locking in developers by not supporting Flash. “Someone has it backwards — it is HTML5, CSS, JavaScript and H.264 (all supported by the iPhone and iPad) that are open and standard, while Adobe’s Flash is closed and proprietary,” an Apple representative said in a statement provided to CNET. However, as simple as it may sound for web developers to switch to different standards, Wired.com’s Webmonkey editor Mike Calore said the transition to HTML5 for video playback would be complex. He explained that there’s no agreed upon video format for HTML5, and support varies greatly from browser to browser. “Not to be overly critical of Apple — anyone pushing for open web standards deserves kudos — but the company seems more deeply concerned with digging Flash’s grave than it does with promoting semantic markup,” Calore wrote. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:43 pm Adobe Gives Up on Flash for iPhone, iPadAdobe has ceased investing in a tool that automatically ports Flash software into iPhone apps. Translation: "We give up, Apple."
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:43 pm Picture: Why Customer Service chat sucks
Can’t log in? Don’t worry. Just go ahead and log in. [Via Reddit]
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:42 pm Fossil-Fuel Subsidies Harm Global Security and EnvironmentAnalysis: Most fuel subsidies are complete waste of money, or worseA comprehensive assessment of global fossil-fuel subsidies has found that governments are spending $500 billion annually on policies that undermine energy security and worsen the environment.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 21 Apr 2010 | 12:39 pm Garminfone is the Nuvifone killerSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation
It sounds like a match made in Heaven: GPS device meets cell phone. Only now, even very inexpensive cell phones come with a GPS chip allowing mobile GPS navigation. So how does a GPS expert transform their brand into a cell phone? The answer is the new Garminfone. Nuvifone?Garmin took what seemed ages to bring Nuvifone to market. Groundbreaking when announced, the Nuvifone turned common while Garmin watched the iPhone gain GPS as well as countless other phones as part of the evolution of GPS navigation. Now, Garmin (along with their partner, Asus) have adopted Android as the OS and are launching the Garminfone with T-Mobile this spring. According to T-Mobile,
What you need to know:As you’d expect, the device features GPS-specific apps. Things like find your parked car, simple clicking on an address to navigate to it, navigate to geotagged images, nifty but not too far out of the ordinary. GPS navigation is taken right from top-of-the-line Garmin standalone devices. What is new is Garmin Studio. This nifty Android app allows users to record and share their own voice directions. “Look kids, over there is where I met your father.” I am not sure how important this feature is but it sounds fun. Before you start thinking the Garminfone has strayed too far from the Nuvifone, all the business-focussed compatibility is there with Exchange so it seems the target audience is still the same: business folk. Read release: [BusinessWire] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:55 am High-Tech $100 Bill UnveiledBenjamin Franklin's portrait is set to undergo a modern makeover in an attempt to keep counterfeiters at bay.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:10 am Nuance’s Dragon Dictation for E-Mail now available for BlackBerry
Typing is hard. I hardly ever type unless I have to. In fact, roughly 80% of MobileCrunch’s operating bills go towards paying a full staff of invisible underlings to write what I say and censor my vulgarity. Unfortunately for the livelihood of the aforementioned underlings, they’re now replaceable by a BlackBerry.
Following up on the launch of Dragon Dictation apps for the iPhone, Nuance has just launched their first venture into the world of BlackBerry. Unlike the iPhone releases (a Search app, and a sort of generic notepad meant for copying-and-pasting transcribed text to other apps), the focus here is e-mail. The image up top wraps it up pretty well: press a button, talk a bit, and it’ll make a valiant effort to transcribe everything you’ve said. Processing generally takes about 5 seconds, with accuracy ranging from spot-on to “Oh god, how did it think I said that?” depending on your accent and rate of speech. The Dragon Dictation for E-Mail app is available now on BlAppWorld for free. They say the “free” part is only for a limited time — but they said the same thing about the iPhone release, and thats been out for months now and is still free. Regardless, probably better to grab it up quick.
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 11:08 am T-Mobile, Garmin Announce New Android Phone
The Android phone called Garminfone will be available exclusively on T-Mobile but the two companies have not disclosed pricing or availability. The Garminfone is fairly ordinary in its technical specs. The device has a 3.5-inch multi-touch display, a 3 megapixel camera, music player, Wi-Fi and all the standard Google services such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps. But where the Garminfone hopes to shine is with its navigation centric design. The smartphone has voice and on-screen turn-by-turn directions for walking, driving or public transit. It also offers real-time traffic and weather information, nearby gas prices and allows users to to record custom voice directions from family and friends. There are some extras such as flight status and local search and the device comes with a charging dashboard and window mount. All of this would have been impressive had it not been for the fact that Google has built many of these features into the latest version of the Android operating system. Android 2.1 has turn-by-turn navigation and is now available on devices such as Motorola Droid and HTC Nexus One. To stand out, Garmin needs to offer a really zippy device that blows consumers away in either its technical prowess or ease of use. Or its latest phone might just meet the fate of its predecessor, the Nuvifone G60, a device that lacked charm and was difficult to use. See Also:
Photo: Garminfone/T-Mobile 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:43 am Gizmodo Dissects Unreleased Apple iPhone
We took apart the next iPhone.
Upon unscrewing the bottom two screws — just like with the 3GS — you can use a suction cup and pry off the back portion of the phone, not the front like on iFixit’s 3GS teardown. Once open, you’ll notice that the battery takes up around 50 percent of the phone, give or take. Very impressive.
Diving deeper becomes much trickier. There are a total of around 40 to 50 screws inside the phone, positioned at various angles that are almost frustratingly impossible to get to. Components can be removed and detached from other components. There are a handful of pieces like this, but you don’t know which ones are meant to detach, because you don’t have the manual. Once you get all the screws off and pry off the pieces that connect the micro-SIM, the camera, the on/off switch and volume buttons, you’re ready to access the brains.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:42 am webOS: Facebook 1.2 now available in the App CatalogSection: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  It looks like the latest version of Facebook (1.2) has gone live in the App Catalog. Those sporting a webOS device can head on over to the “Updates” app on their phone, which will allow you to download and install the update. As to what you can expect—notifications. Well, notifications and more. The notifications means that you will now receive your Facebook updates in the nice webOS style—easy to see and unobtrusive in nature. Other changes and additions in the latest version of Facebook for webOS include keyboard shortcuts, bug fixes, the ability to upload video from the app, ability to filter news, a mark all read option and more. In short, if you are using Facebook on a Pre or Pixi then this is most likely an update you will want. Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 21 Apr 2010 | 10:40 am Oil Rig Explosion Rocks Offshore PlatformAt least 11 workers are reported missing after the explosion sent a column of fire into the night sky.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:45 am Droid Incredible Arrives Early For A Lucky Few
There seems to have been a glitch in the Matrix that caused the phones to travel back in time 9 days. By “Matrix” I mean “Verizon’s phone ordering system” and by “travel back in time 9 days” I mean “get sent out immediately after the pre-order was placed”. Now, now, before you get too excited and run off to pre-order your Incredible in the hopes it will be sent out early, I have some bad news for you: the glitch has been fixed. [via Engadget]
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 9:16 am Brain Games Won't Boost I.Q.Although they may be entertaining, brain games probably won't make you smarter.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:55 am Story in Photos: Male Monkeys Hold Infants to Make FriendsPlease check out this week's Discovery News story on how male monkeys hold infants in order to make friends with other males. The basic finding is that male Barbary macaques purposefully hold infants in order to bond with other males. ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:41 am BlackBerry Clamshell Spied Wearing OS 6.0
Boy Genius Report tell us that the CDMA device will sport a QWERTY keypad, a 5 megapixel camera (Lo! Another BlackBerry first!), a 360×480 display on the inside, and a big (but apparently unmeasured) display on the outside. It will also have the now near-standard additions of WiFi, Bluetooth, MicroSD support, and a microUSB port. Of course, it will also have all the goodies associated with OS 6.0, including the new WebKit-based, tabbed browser, and the updated multimedia player. No doubt other new and exciting devices are planned for release with BlackBerry OS 6.0, and you can bet your best cow that we’ll be postin’ all the info we know as soon as it arises.
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:24 am Henge: A Slide-in Docking-Station for Your MacBook
Lining up all the MacBook Pro’s connectors along one side doesn’t just save Apple money at the factory. It also makes the Henge Dock possible. The Henge Dock is a short plastic sleeve/stand into which you slide your MacBook or MacBook Pro. As it comes to rest, the computer’s ports are gently filled by the male protuberances inside the dock, and these transfer the USB, audio, video and ethernet signals, along with power, to permanently attached cables. This lets you keep a neat and tidy desk setup, with speakers, peripherals and external monitor and just drop the Mac into the mix. I love this idea. I use an aluminum MacBook and I am forever plugging and unplugging cables whenever I decide to actually work at my desk. The Henge Dock is available for all MacBooks, from the plastic model up to the monster 17-incher. Each kit comes with a set of custom cables and you choose which ones you run through the dock to marry up with your MacBook’s ports. You will have to bring your own magsafe power adapter and display adapter to the party, though. Right now, the only docks that are ready to buy are for the 13-inch Aluminum Unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro ($60 and $65). Other models are available for pre-order. Henge Docks [Henge Docks via Core77] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 8:15 am Smart Faucet Saves Water, Teeth
If you’re anything like me, the sight of somebody turning on the faucet to wet their toothbrush and then just letting the water run and run while they scrub their stupid teeth will drive you crazy. You should just save up $40 and buy them the Smart Faucet, an add-on for any existing water-tap. The device is simple. It screws into the end of the faucet and blocks the water. To start the flow, you just push back in the lever. When you stop pushing, the weighted lever swings back shut, cutting off the stream. You can still flip it into an always on position for, say, filling the sink. A nice side benefit is that, as you always leave the taps turned on, you can set a preferred temperature ahead of time. The site claims that the Smart Faucet can save up to 5,000 gallons of water a year. That’s enough to fill, well, a lot of baths. It is also a much better way to stop your idiotic friend from wasting water whilst brushing than the obvious alternative: smashing out all his teeth. Available now. Smart Faucet [Gaiam via Dvice] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:25 am Adobe Drops Future Support For iPhone Development in Flash
However, I will let you know of the announcement today that Adobe have now dropped future support for iPhones as a development target for Flash CS5. While users will still be able to set the iPhone as a target in CS5, Adobe will invest nothing more into the feature. It is also likely that Apple will be removing the 100+ Flash CS5 developed applications from the App Store. It is interesting — though unsurprising — that Adobe have done this. It’s unsurprising because applications developed for the iPhone using Flash will have a strong chance of being rejected during the App Store screening process. Few developers would want to invest time and money on such a high-risk project, so there is no real business incentive for Adobe to offer the feature anymore. It is interesting because it may signal a trend fpr developers to move toward open platforms. Mike Chambers, the Principal Product Manager for developer relations for the Flash Platform at Adobe, stated today on his blog: The real juice, though, came when he added: This move isn’t because of a preference for developing in Flash (which is welcomed on the Android platform), but rather because Chambers is taking a stand against Apple’s “closed, locked down platform”. Clearly there would be a bit of bias from an employee of the company that was on the receiving end of the hurt stick, but Chambers is not the first major player to leave the iPhone space because of Apple’s draconian rules: in November last year, Joe Hewitt — the man behind the immensely popular Facebook app for iPhone — left the team developing the application because of Apple’s policies. Is this a taste of things to come? Who else in the future will defect to the open side? [image courtesy of Before It's News]
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 7:20 am Powerskin iPhone Battery is Supermodel-Slim
With the iPhone (actually, with all current Apple products), we have swapped the removable battery for the exo-battery, an add-on dongle or case that gives a power boost. The advantage is that these are bigger than a simple swap-in replacement and can hold more juice. The disadvantage is that they are bigger than the iPhone, causing unsightly pocket bulges. MiLi’s Powerskin fixes this, squeezing an extra battery into a case barely bigger than an iPhone case alone. The 1,200mAH lithium polymer battery will double battery life, and you can plug in to charge and/or dock the iPhone while it is still in the case. The kit also comes with MiLi’s PocketPal, a tiny plastic chunk of charger which is about the same size as the little iPhone USB charging brick, only it also has retractable prongs to save space. The kit, which comes in a candy-store of colors, will cost you $60, around the same as most other chargers of this type. Available now. Powerskin [MiLi. Thanks, Brad!] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:50 am Fisheye Tin Cam: 180º Lens in a Soda Can
If you can trust anyone to come up with a great camera hack, it’s a research engineer from SFX superstar Industrial Light and Magic. And luckily for us, that engineer, aka Bhautik Joshi, spends his spare moments putting together things like the Fisheye Tin Cam, a fisheye lens in a soda can. The whole project is dirt cheap, even with a few new parts on the shopping list. The lens is based around one of those super wide-angle security peep-holes found in doors ($6 new) coupled with a single-element film-projector lens ($3 at a yard sale) to corral the 180-degree fisheye image into a form acceptable to the camera. An adapter ($9 on Ebay) to actually mount the unit to the body is the only other photo-specialist item, and then the whole shebang is stuffed inside a soda can and held in place with hand-cut foam donuts. The result is ugly as hell, but the pictures it makes are just the opposite. Bhautik took his new creation out for a spin in San Francisco’s Mission District, and you can see the results on his Flickr page. The v1.0 Tin Cam has some room for adjustment (the projector lens has a thread for focussing), but the point of this is the weird colors, the distortion and the general lo-fi vibe you can’t get with even the fanciest digital effects. The irony of this, considering Bhautik’s job, doesn’t escape us. The fisheye tin cam [Cow Mooh via Photojojo] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 6:12 am Thieves Snatch iPad, Tear Off Victim’s Finger
The iPad is all about touch and fingers, fingers fingers. But when talking about Apple’s marvel-machine, you don’t expect to hear this description of a digit: “I saw just a bone, all the skin and tendons and everything were off.” Those are the words of Bill Jordan of Denver, Colorado, after he was the victim of a particularly nasty theft. Jordan had just left the Apple store with a new iPad, bought for a colleague in Canada. The bag containing the iPad was tied around his hand. Looking back at security footage, you can see two men move in behind him as soon as he leaves the store. One of them grabbed the bag and tried to yank it from Jordan’s grasp. “He was almost sitting on the ground he was pulling so hard and it was still tied around my fingers; and it wouldn’t come off and then finally he gave it one big jerk; and that’s when he stripped the skin off my pinky and it went right down to the bone,” Jordan told CBS News. Part of his finger will have to be amputated. The cops have footage and photos of the perps, and Jordan is understandably angry with them. In his final statement, though, he seems to have been soured on the innocent iPad, too. “I hope you understand what you’ve done to my life and my family’s life for a simple piece of apparatus that’ll be junk in a couple of years,” he said. Police Release Video Of iPad Thieves At Mall [CBS4Denver] Photo: Security camera image shows suspect 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 21 Apr 2010 | 5:21 am Amazon’s Audible.com releases BlackBerry app on App World
If that’s not enough to make you rush over there, the company is also including, for a limited time, a free download of David Baldacci’s bestselling thriller Divine Justice. With the Audible app, BlackBerry users in the U.S. and Canada can shop, download and listen to audio content from Audible.com, which boasts over 75,000 titles in its catalog. Key features: - Stream audio samples for all titles Audible for BlackBerry v1.4.2 is available for the BlackBerry Tour, Curve, Pearl and Bold series of smartphones. It should be downloadable right about … now. On a sidenote: Audible promises apps for iPhone / iPod touch and Android are on the way, too.
Source: MobileCrunch | 21 Apr 2010 | 4:47 am
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Despite the 
