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Armadillo-Like Armor for Scooters
Equip your scooter with Marc Graells Ballvé’s anti-theft armor and you’ll give a thief two-things to steal: your scooter and its armadillo-like cover. I kid. Called Protect 486, Ballvé’s device is indeed inspired by the armadillo’s shell. The overlapping plates offer weather-protection and also stop thieves from getting physical access to the scooter within. Ballvé says that this is better than the usual padlock or alarm as thieves already know how to get around those, although I imagine that if every scooter were so equipped then there’d soon be a way to defeat this, too. It is rather cool-looking, if a little awkward to carry on the bike all the time, and you certainly wouldn’t lose your ride in a busy parking lot. We also have to assume that Ballvé knows what he’s talking about. He’s from Barcelona, which as we have seen before is a great place to get your bike stolen. Protect 486 [Themarcswork (Flash) via Oh Gizmo] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 28 May 2010 | 4:04 am iPad mania as thousands queue for global roll-out (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 May 2010 | 3:59 am Brits Queue Round The Block As The iPad Goes On Sale In London
The UK has been gripped by the launch of the iPad if the Twitpics are to be believed. As you can see from the below ( thanks jasonlan and joanikin) there was a large crowd queuing outside Apple's flagship London store on Regent's Street, in a line which literally snaked around the corner into Hanover Square. Believe me, that is a long line.
Some estimates have put the crowd at around 500 people outside, waiting to grab the iPad.
Source: TechCrunch | 28 May 2010 | 3:52 am Apple iPad tablet gathers crowds for UK launch - BBC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 May 2010 | 3:46 am Apple strikes again: Lines form for the new iPad (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 May 2010 | 3:40 am Don't count on a Verizon iPhone - CNNMoney
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 May 2010 | 3:34 am UK Home Office Set To Scrap National ID Cardsmjwx writes "In what would seem to be a sudden outbreak of common sense for the UK, the Home Office has put forward a plan to scrap the national ID card system put into place by the previous government. From the BBC: 'The Home Office is to reveal later how it will abolish the national identity card programme for UK citizens. The bill, a Queen's Speech pledge, includes scrapping the National Identity Register and the next generation of biometric passports.' The national ID card system, meant to tackle fraud and illegal immigration, has drawn widespread criticism for infringing on privacy and civil rights. However, the main driver for the change in this policy seems to be the 800-million-pound cost. Also in the article, indications of a larger bill aimed at reforms to the DNA database, tighter regulation of CCTV, and a review of libel laws."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 May 2010 | 3:11 am The Windows Era Is Over [Voices]By Joe Wilcox, Chronicler of Technology, Culture and Stupidity About five years ago, when blogging as an analyst, I asserted that computing and informational relevance had started shifting from the Windows desktop to cloud services delivered anytime, anywhere and on anything. The day of Windows’ reckoning is come: 2010 will mark dramatic shifts away from Microsoft’s (MSFT) monopoly to something else. Change is inevitable, and like IBM in the 1980s, Microsoft can’t hold back its destiny during this decade. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 May 2010 | 2:40 am Insectified Caravans - The Vanipiller is the Greatest Van Known to Humanity (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Vanipiller is an art project that aims at giving the viewer a chance to crawl inside its warm "belly" to be safe from the stares of other gallery attendees. Formally known as...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 2:40 am Does the World Really Need Yahoo Anymore? [Voices]By Michael Comeau, Contributor, Seeking Alpha Yahoo (YHOO) has had an interesting week as far as weeks for Yahoo! go. CEO Carol Bartz dropped in for a disastrous interview at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference on Tuesday before rebounding back to par in a relatively tame analyst day on Wednesday. Let me start off by saying that I think Carol Bartz is the right person to manage Yahoo!. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 May 2010 | 2:29 am Steve Jobs Reinvents the CEO With E-Mail Campaign [Voices]By Brian X. Chen, Writer, Gadget Lab, Wired.com Most Fortune 500 CEOs are about as accessible as Kim Jong Il, but Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs has been breaking the mold. He’s sent terse e-mail replies to more than a dozen customer inquiries — and one journalist — in the past few months. It’s not that he’s become unusually friendly. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 May 2010 | 2:22 am Ardi wasn't human ancestor, says team - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 May 2010 | 2:21 am Hipsterrific Button-Downs - The Visvim JUNEAU WELD Shirt Makes a Man's Summer Worth Living(TrendHunter.com) The visvim JUNEAU WELD shirts for the Spring/Summer 2010 season have dropped, and as usual, they are easy on the eyes and probably soft on the skin. This year's offering consists of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 2:20 am Lynn Hirschberg's Response to M.I.A. Tweet: 'Fairly Unethical' and 'Infuriating' [Voices]By John Koblin, Writer, Media Mob, New York Observer This morning, M.I.A. tweeted out writer Lynn Hirschberg’s phone number in response to a piece in this weekend’s Times Magazine. The tweet seemed to suggest that M.I.A. wasn’t much of a fan of the piece. What was Ms. Hirschberg’s reaction? Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 May 2010 | 2:06 am Opera browser user growth boosted by iPhone access (Reuters)Reuters - Opera Software said its Internet browser for Apple's iPhone was downloaded more than 2.6 million times in April after the Norwegian company got access to iPhone as the first rival browser.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 May 2010 | 2:02 am Money-Saving Garden Tools - The 'Save a Drop' Hose Nozzle Helps You Conserve Water (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The 'Save a Drop' hose nozzle allows you to monitor you water usage, which means that you will be saving money and the planet at the same time. Simply attach the Save a Drop hose nozzle...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 2:00 am Slap for Apple [Voices]By Claire Atkinson, Writer, New York Post Adobe’s (ADBE) Flash video software has become a flashpoint in negotiations between Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs and Big Media. On a day when Apple execs probably cheered the fact the company had surpassed Microsoft as the world’s most valuable tech company, Jobs was grappling with resistance from Tinseltown over Apple’s ongoing fight with Adobe. Sources said several large media companies, including Time Warner and NBC Universal, told Apple they won’t retool their extensive video libraries to accommodate the iPad, arguing that such a reformatting would be expensive and not worth it because Flash dominates the Web. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 May 2010 | 1:57 am Nokia top model N900 sales below 100,000: GartnerLONDON (Reuters) - Nokia sold less than 100,000 top-of-the-range N900 smartphones in its first five months on the market, researcher Gartner said, indicating it has yet to mount a serious...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:47 am Sailor Switchblades - The Scrimshaw Knife is a Classy Way to Defend Yourself (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Scrimshaw knife is an up-market take on the utility knife. But this one does not have the hideous (or boring, depending on which one you get) exterior so often associated with instruments...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:40 am iPhone Security Flaw: Using a PIN Won't Help You (PC World)PC World - Using a four-digit PIN to lock your iPhone doesn't really protect your data, security and IT blogger Bernd Marienfeldt has discovered. In an article describing the iPhone's business security framework, Marienfeldt has found a "data protection vulnerability" in Apple's iPhone 3GS.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 May 2010 | 1:30 am Blizzard Boss Says Restrictive DRM Is a Waste of TimeStoobalou writes "Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce reckons that fighting piracy with DRM is a losing battle. His company — which is responsible for one of the biggest video games of all time, the worryingly-addictive online fantasy role player World of Warcraft — is to release StarCraft 2 on July 27th, and Pearce has told Videogamer that the title won't be hobbled with the kind of crazy copy protection schemes which have made Ubisoft very unpopular in gaming circles of late. StarCraft 2 will require a single online activation using the company's Battle.net servers, after which players will be allowed to play the single-player game to their hearts' content, without being forced to have a persistent Internet connection."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 May 2010 | 1:24 am Thirty Million Americans In Shock Over Mobile Costs (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Thirty million Americans -- that's one in six mobile users -- have experienced so-called "bill shock." So says a Federal Communications Commission survey, which defines bill shock as a sudden increase in a monthly mobile bill that's not caused by a change in the service plan.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 May 2010 | 1:20 am Romantic Punk Boots - JW Anderson Fall/Winter 2010-11 Realizes the Potential of Florals (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Capturing the essence of a collection which fuses discontent with romance, the romantic punk boots in the JW Anderson Fall/Winter 2010-11 collection are bedecked with Sam Browne studs,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:20 am 4 of 10 iPhones Sold to Enterprise UsersThe idea is pretty much dead that the iPhone is just for your personal life. But to see that 40 percent of iPhone sales are for the enterprise is a bit of shocker. But according to Larry Dignan of ZDNet,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:19 am Oops. Beware The Accidental Post To Twitter Contemplating An Acquisition
Cleaning it up a little, it reads:
I haven’t been able to verify the messages, which were sent in via a tipster, as accurate and they were quickly taken down (I have contacted the company, no response yet).. It seems reasonable to remove the identifying information. But oh, the angst. The interests of founders and investors so often diverge when a company starts to get acquisition offers – offers that don’t interest venture capitalists looking for billion dollar exits but that give founders enough money to change their lives forever. That’s why you see a lot of venture deals where founders and key employees take some money off the table, relieving their pressure to sell early. My guess is [company named removed] may want to consider that sometime soon.      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 May 2010 | 1:17 am TABLE-Indian Oil Corp March qtr net falls 16 pct(Versus the same period a year earlier, in billion rupees unless stated)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:13 am Violent video games touted as learning tool (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 May 2010 | 1:11 am Palm UI VP defects to Google - BusinessWeek
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 28 May 2010 | 1:04 am Social Connect Welcomes Yahoo Personals Users to Facebook AppSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:01 am Australians Line Up (With Kangaroo Pouches) for iPads [Voices]By Neil Sands, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal IPad fever flared up around the world Friday, as the Apple (AAPL) device went on sale in the United Kingdom, Japan (where one fanboy has been camped outside a Tokyo Apple store since Wednesday) and seven other countries. Australia was no exception. In Melbourne, photographer Matt Irwin avoided the lines and had two pre-ordered iPads delivered Friday morning. “I’ve got them in my hot little hands now and can’t wait to have a play with them,” he said. Mr. Irwin, who specializes in large-format prints, said the iPad’s screen made it a useful tool for a visual artist. “As a photographer, it’s great as a mobile presentation platform,” he said. “I’m planning on integrating them quite heavily into my business.” Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 28 May 2010 | 1:00 am Nippon Seiro -6-month parent forecastPARENT-ONLY EARNINGS ESTIMATES (in billions of yen unless specified)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:00 am Daily Crunch: Keytar High Edition
New Rock Band to feature the keytar – because as we all know, everyone loves keytars
Source: CrunchGear | 28 May 2010 | 1:00 am Canine Castles - 'Best Friend's Home' Makes Glamourous Dog Mansions (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) 'Best Friend's Home' is a Germany-based company that aims to give you and your pet the ultimate in comfort and style. With four different types of luxury homes for your pooch -- plus...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 1:00 am Adam Savage on Pool and Problem SolvingGood talk by Mythbuster Adam Savage on problem-solving.Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:58 am UPDATE 1-Shell buys East Resources for $4.7 billion* Closing subject to regulatory approvals (Adds detail)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:54 am TABLE-RXT 3-month resultsMay 28 (Reuters) - 3 months to March 31 2010: Reservoir Exploration Technology ASA Group (Millions of USD unless otherwise stated)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:46 am All-in-One Media Hubs - The Acer Revo Promises to Organize Your Multimedia Nightmare(TrendHunter.com) The Acer Revo has just been dropped and it is a part of the Acer clear.fi lineup of awesome computer goodness. First up is the Acer Revo all-in-one multimedia center: This bad boy...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:45 am UPDATE 1-BP "top kill" continues, spill costs hit $930 mln* Financial cost of spill response rises to $930 million (Adds details, background)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:38 am Opera says 2.6 million browser downloads on iPhoneLONDON (Reuters) - Opera Software said its Internet browser for Apple's iPhone was downloaded more than 2.6 million times last month after the Norwegian firm got access to iPhone as the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:35 am Opera says 2.6 mln browser downloads on iPhoneLONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Opera Software said its Internet browser for Apple's iPhone was downloaded more than 2.6 million times last month after the Norwegian firm got access to iPhone as the first...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:32 am UPDATE 1-AstraZeneca won't file Recentin for colon cancer* Does not intend to submit for first-line colorectal cancer * Horizon II study shows no improvement in overall survivalSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:29 am Rustic Portuguese Retreats - Casa Monte na Comporta is Perfect for Getting Away (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Casa Monte na Comporta in Portugal is an awesome experiment in architectural mastery while maintaining the integrity of the surrounding environment. Nestled right in amongst hills...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 May 2010 | 12:25 am What the Hell Is Going on in Indonesia?
Having matured from its early 2000s Internet obsession with Friendster, it seems Indonesia has become something of a Web force, embracing everything from Facebook to Foursquare catching people off guard with some uncommon swarms. We wrote about an obscure Indonesian awards show taking over Twitter back in March, and on May 6, Indonesians flocking to see Iron Man 2 won their first Super Swarm badge on FourSquare—something US Web addicts usually only earn at large events like SXSW. I’d like to say I hunted down some impressive Internet entrepreneurs during my current trip to Indonesia to ask them exactly what was going on here, but really they found me. (Just another sign of their Web savvy.) I had dinner with some of them in Jakarta last week, and they’re photographed above. They include (from left to right) Leontinus Alpha Edison of Tokopedia, an ecommerce platform; Eduardus Christmas of still-in-progress Evolitera; Rama Mamuaya, creator of the local blog DailySocial; Selina Limman of Urbanesia.com, a local review site; Satya Witoelar of Koprol.com, a location-based social network just acquired by Yahoo and Andrew Darwis of Kaskus, a forum and classifieds portal. I grilled them on some basic questions to bring you a Web-in-Indonesia primer. But before we get to those, here’s what impressed me the most about this small-but-tightly-knit community: It’s incredibly collegial. Plenty of research has shown that the biggest reason Silicon Valley beat Boston as a venture capital and startup hot spot was because culturally it was open, trading employees, funding, mentorship and ideas among competitors. It’s not uncommon to see Web competitors in the Valley having dinner together and generally discussing business challenges, before they go back to the office for some late night coding to bury one another in the market. This is something many emerging markets struggle with as they put up walls, try to enforce NDAs and are generally cagey about their ideas. But the Indonesian crew is so small that they’ve found each other—mostly via Twitter—and banded together, openly discussing challenges posed by uncertain waters of raising money and offers to get acquired. Since Indonesia has had little hype, the community seems to have grown organically—like the early days of the Valley and very unlike Web communities in Israel, India and China. Friday night I had dinner with two leading companies Kaskus and Tokopedia—both essentially community sites that have elements of eBay and Craigslist. Edison of Tokopedia was talking about how many ideas they get from reading the forums on Kaskus. “Wait, do you guys consider yourselves direct competitors?” I asked. Both laughed and said yes, sort of, but Darwis explained, “The market is so small, we’re better off helping each other.” This seems obvious if you’re in the Valley, but I can’t tell you how uncommon it is in most places I’ve been in the last few years. Well done, Jakarta. Don’t lose that—as Boston learned the hard way, it’s a formidable advantage. Now, some answers to that title question, mostly courtesy of the entrepreneurs photographed above. How Many Web Users Are in Indonesia? Reports vary from 38 million users to 8% of the Why Is the Indonesian Web Swarmy? Part of this is answered above—it’s a huge market that few players are explicitly targeting, even larger when you factor in the mobile Web. That means that as many people may be logging onto your site from Indonesia as from India or Brazil, but you have probably heard so much about Brazil and India being big emerging markets that the swell doesn’t catch you off guard. Few people know anything about Indonesia—let alone that it has 240 million people, almost as much as the US. So the swells can be surprising. How Many Web Entrepreneurs Are in Indonesia? This crew estimated between 300 and 1,000 in Jakarta. Mamuaya has personally written about more than 300, and upwards of 1,000 have attended different founder events. Unlike the Valley, most of the “startup people” are founders—most of these companies are still pretty small. (More on entrepreneurs outside Jakarta in a future post.) Does Anyone Make Money on the Indonesian Web? Most of them do not. There are two problems, they tell me. Indonesians do not want to pay for the Web, so founders are loathe to follow the Chinese model of amassing a large number of micro-payments to build a big company. “There is a big difference between one penny and free here,” Edison of Tokopedia says. So most are following the Valley playbook of build-and-monetize later. That may be a risky strategy: Encouraging the idea that the Web is free, rather than setting expectations from the beginning. But the reticence is also practical: Few people have credit cards and banks don’t have a universal payment system that ecommerce can exploit. Advertising can actually be lucrative, even at this nascent stage. Part of that is because a lot of big brands are waking up to the Indonesia’s large, untapped market and there aren’t a lot of mass media platforms to advertise over. Kaskus makes $50,000 (US) a month in advertising, more than double what it takes to run the business every month. Are There Traditional, Early-Stage VCs in Indonesia? As far as I can tell, there is exactly one and it’s not a traditional firm. East Ventures—a Singapore-based angel fund set up by Batara Eto, the founder of mixi.jp, the Japanese social networking site and others. They’re not based here, but have spent time in Jakarta scouting deals and have recently funded Tokopedia and Urbanesia. (Mamuaya reports here that a few more firms are coming or at least considering the move.) Is Anyone in the West Trying to Buy These Companies? Again, as far as I can tell, there is exactly one suitor, although this one is more traditional: Yahoo. This insight was a lot newsier when I first drafted this post a few days ago. But Koprol aside, Yahoo has approached half-a-dozen small, up-and-coming Indonesian Web startups, this crew said. So far no other deals have been reached. But Yahoo clearly sees something here and likely isn’t done. What is the Biggest Challenge Indonesian Web Entrepreneurs Face? Surprisingly, no one I asked said capital or exits. The relative lack of big, lucrative coding jobs from the multinationals like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft and the lack of venture capital have kept developer wages and costs of building a startup incredibly low. No one seems to feel a real pain for venture capital, because none of these companies are started with an expectation of it. This makes Indonesia absolutely unique among the 11 or so countries I’ve visited in the last two years. Instead, the pain point is finding developers. In Indonesia, developers are considered an entry level position, not a lucrative career path. Most companies have to invest six months or so in training the talent they need, making scaling up a challenge.      
Source: TechCrunch | 28 May 2010 | 12:05 am New Zealand Joins Aussie Bid For Vast Radio Telescope Arrayschliz writes "A radio telescope in New Zealand has joined five in Australia to challenge Southern Africa to host the international Square Kilometer Array (SKA) in 2012. The newly connected telescope in Warkworth, New Zealand (PDF), is connected to an Australian data processing facility via a 1 Gbps network. Each telescope reportedly produces up to 1 Tb of data per hour of observation. IBM expects the whole of the SKA to produce an exabyte of data per day."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 May 2010 | 12:01 am The Oil Spill Shows Its Silver LiningThursday's news from Washington DC and the Gulf may yet show that this catastrophe will do some good in the long term.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 11:00 pm You Can Try Picplz Soon, But Only On Android
New online photo and location service Picplz, being developed by imeem execs Dalton Caldwell and Bryan Berg, is still far from being fully baked. But people who are determined to get an early look at the new service will soon have a way to do so – if they have an Android phone. Think of picplz as a photo-based foursquare. You can use it as a simple publishing tool for a photo stream – think Twitpic or Posterous – but it really shines when you access the service via a mobile device. Picplz is integrated tightly with Foursquare to assign a location to your photo and then check in. Your photos are then published on the Picplz site and, optionally, Twitter. Facebook publishing is also coming soon. The company has built an unpublished Android application as its first mobile app, which I tested earlier today. The app will be added to the Android marketplace sometime soon, and once it is anyone can download it and test the service. It will be the only way to actually create an active account on the service for now, but once you have an account you can use the picplz website as well. It fills a huge hole in the Foursquare product, which doesn’t allow photo uploads. The website has evolved significantly since we first wrote about picplz in April. One feature I like is the “infinite page” – which continues to load photos as you scroll down the page. There’s no concept of a “next” button, and you can scroll forever, or so I assume, when viewing the global feed of pictures.
The official launch of the company will be via an iPhone application later this year. The company is waiting for iPhone 4, says Caldwell. But until then, Android users welcome. The company has a ridiculous amount of attention on it given the imeem background of the founders, and Caldwell is clearly trying to balance the need for people to test the service with the inevitable criticism that not-fully-baked services tend to receive. If you are a super early adopter type, understand that alpha software tends to have lots of bugs, and want to provide feature and interface feedback, you’ll want to try this out when it hits the Android Marketplace. The skeptics should wait a few months for the general release. We’ll let you know as soon as the app is available. (posted at 30,000 feet on Virgin America)      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 10:52 pm 3 men charged in $100m scareware scam - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 May 2010 | 10:51 pm IBM Forecast Predicts Retail Electronics and Appliance Sector GrowthARMONK, N.Y., May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Retailers of electronics and appliances in the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 10:10 pm Thinking About Quitting Your Social Network? Read This First - Six Tips Every User Should KnowMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT/WHY: Facebook has been under fire for the changes made to its privacy model last month, yet despite the latest privacy and control settings announced this week by Mark Zuckerberg, some groups are rallying users to boycott or even delete their profiles on Facebook on May 31 and June 6 in protest.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 10:01 pm May 28, 1959: Inventing a New Language for BusinessA conference at the Pentagon leads to the the development of COBOL. Say Grace.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 10:00 pm Adobe Reader, WordPress and more Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)Appolicious - It’s hard to top the releases that were rolled out during last week’s Google I/O conference, but the growing popularity of the Android Market means more apps from big names.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 May 2010 | 9:14 pm Intel Considers Hardware Acceleration For Google's WebM FormatCWmike writes "Intel is considering hardware-based acceleration for Google's new WebM video file format in its Atom-based TV chips if the format gains popularity, an Intel executive said on Thursday. Announced last Wednesday at Google I/O, WebM files will include video streams compressed with the open-source VP8 video codec, which was acquired by Google when it bought On2 Technologies in February. 'Just like we did with other codecs like MPEG2, H.264 and VC1, if VP8 establishes itself in the Smart TV space, we will add it to our [hardware] decoders,' said Wilfred Martis, a general manager at Intel's Digital Home Group."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 8:54 pm Hillard Heintze Awarded GSA Schedule ContractsCHICAGO, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Hillard Heintze - one of the leading strategic security advisory and management firms in the United States and an Inc. 500 company - announced that it has been awarded two five-year contracts by the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 8:43 pm Man single-handedly building a metro rail "Russian hero" Leonid Murlyanchik has been building his own metro rail system, single-handedly, since 1984, using materials he buys with his pension. The Most Unusual Metro In The World
 Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 8:29 pm Pulitzer-winning fanfic: a non-exhaustive listA non-exhaustive list of books that would be considered fanfic except for the fact that they won the Pulitzer Prize (provided as a service to writers who believe that fanfic is "immoral, illegal, plagiarism, cheating, for people who are too stupid/lazy/unimaginative to write stories of their own" and who feel "personally traumatized by the idea that someone else could look at your characters and decide that you did it wrong and they need to fix it/add original characters to your universe/send your characters to the moon/Japan/their hometown.")I'm done explaining to people why fanfic is okay. (via Making Light)
Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 8:28 pm The Case of the Displaced Black HoleA close examination of the center of M87 with the Hubble Space Telescope shows that the supermassive black hole is just a bit off.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 7:29 pm CERT Releases Basic Fuzzing FrameworkinfoLaw passes along this excerpt from Threatpost: "Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team has released a new fuzzing framework to help identify and eliminate security vulnerabilities from software products. The Basic Fuzzing Framework (BFF) is described as a simplified version of automated dumb fuzzing. It includes a Linux virtual machine that has been optimized for fuzz testing and a set of scripts to implement a software test."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 6:53 pm UK national ID program scrapped entirelyI’m not familiar with the vagaries of UK politics, specifically the new “coalition” government and the implications of the latest election, but this is a good move no matter what party you’re in. The national ID cards, a grievously flawed part of a crippled program, are to be completely abolished within 100 days. For a state that has invested so heavily in surveillance, this about-face comes as rather a surprise — though a pleasant one, to be sure. Rejoice, UK cousins! The lady in the video has the most inscrutably satisfied tone towards the end, there. Cracks me up.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 6:50 pm Hon Hai Considers Raises [Voices]By Ting-I Tsai, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. is weighing the possibility of increasing wages for its factory workers in China but the manufacturing giant said the potential raise isn’t related to a recent spate of employee suicides. A Hon Hai spokesman said the wage change discussion, which predates a wave of suicides at its giant Longhau factory in Shenzhen, flowed from concerns about a tight supply of workers in the southern industrial city where Hon Hai employs more than 400,000 staffers. “It is not related to the suicides,” he said. Another Hon Hai worker tried to kill himself Thursday, becoming the 13th person to commit suicide or attempt to do so this year at the Longhau complex. Police said the 25-year-old man survived after cutting himself in his dormitory room at the factory, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The Hon Hai spokesman denied Thursday reports in two Taiwanese newspapers and at least one newspaper in China that Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou said Wednesday the company would increase its minimum wage levels by 20 percent. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 27 May 2010 | 6:30 pm QAD fiscal 1Q loss narrows (AP)AP - Business software maker QAD Inc. said Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter loss narrowed, despite a drop in revenue, as expenses dipped.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 May 2010 | 6:30 pm OLPC tablet to have dual-mode screen, run Android, be at CES 2011
The tablet will show at CES 2011, but it won’t be final, said Negroponte: the main difficulty is getting the construction to be all-plastic, and by the start of 2011 they will likely still have to rely on a glass screen. He said it would use an ARM processor and run Android at first, although the final product will probably feature their own custom OS. The first prototypes we’ll see will be more Moby-like and less XO-like, so don’t get your hopes up about those renders.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 6:20 pm The horrible, beautiful world of Bad Postcards A friend of mine is about to go on a 10-day car trip through the Mountain States, and yesterday, at the end of a phone conversation, I asked him to send me a postcard from the road. I have no idea what dusty, atavistic part of my brain spawned this request, which is clearly ridiculous: What I was asking him to do was find and buy a postcard, secure stamps, write on the postcard, address the postcard, stamp the postcard, and find a place to mail it while traveling through unfamiliar surroundings. All this went through my head in less than second, after which I laughed sheepishly and asked him: "Do people even send postcards anymore?" Answer: No. Of course not. What am I, a hundred? And yet, I miss them. I miss their janky composition, their gut-wrenching typography, their eye-stabbing color palette. Postcards represented a genial kind of fraud -- a moment posed trying to pass for a moment captured. They were a window into an alternate universe that was sort of like our own, but way more awkward and weird. Bad postcards? This Tumblr site is almost redundant. Which is exactly what makes it great. Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 6:04 pm Infecting a Snail: Life Cycle of the Grossest ParasiteThe flatworm Leucochloridium paradoxum lives in birds' rectums and doesn't mess around when it infects a grazing snail ...
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Alt Text: The Nice Guy's Guide to Realizing You're Not That NiceDo nice guys finish last? First find out if you're really a nice guy. If you're claiming you can't get a date because you're "too nice," it's like saying you can't get seated at an L.A. restaurant because you're too famous.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Recycling a Cellphone: Responsible E-Waste TransformationThe United States generates about 2 million tons of electronic waste each year — so where does it go? WeRecycle in New York fills us in.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 May 2010 | 6:00 pm 5 Alleged Money Mules Indicted in Bank TheftFive alleged money mules are indicted in a bank-theft case involving about $450,000.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Recycling a Cellphone: Responsible E-Waste TransformationThe United States generates about 2 million tons of electronic waste each year — so where does it go? WeRecycle in New York fills us in.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 6:00 pm Black Kindle Spotted And (Barely) Pictured
An anonymous tipster has confirmed the long-whispered rumors that Amazon will offer a Kindle that isn't white. A mystery unit, described by our tipster as "exactly like a Kindle DX but black," was being photographed at a Seattle coffee shop (with a 5D mk II, he or she notes) and Mr/Mrs Tipster had the presence of mind to snap a picture before they put it away.
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 5:52 pm Google unwilling to share data with German regulatorsGoogle inadvertently collected personal data from open WiFi hotspots. Then it inadvertently stored it. Now it's inadvertently refusing to surrender it to regulators. Privacy laws, it suggests, make it illegal to hand over data on those whose privacy it breached--if nothing else, this would seem an admission that the data was specific and personal enough to fall under the relevant statutes."As granting access to payload data creates legal challenges in Germany, which we need to review, we are continuing to discuss the appropriate legal and logistical process for making the data available," Peter Barron, a Google spokesman in London, said, in a statement. "We hope, given more time, to be able to resolve this difficult issue."It's never the dump, it's always the evasive maneuvers that follow it. I wonder if corporate crisis management's biggest failure is that it values liability over reputation: lawyers red-penning the PR people, that sort of thing. Consider, for example, British Petroleum. One suspects that a clever PR operation from the first moment something went wrong could have made them into heroes when they cap this thing. But there's not even the chance of that, now: everything it's said and done since the disaster is so conniving and alienating that no-one could ever be fooled. Whatever they say, it sounds a bit like "We will do anything at all to minimize our legal exposure now, even at the ruin of our credibility forever." Google Balks at Turning Over Data to Regulators [NYT] Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 5:51 pm Is This Really the Future of Magazines?MBCook writes "Interfacelab has put up a review of Wired's new iPad app, and declared, 'The only real differentiation between the Wired application and a [1990s] multimedia CD-ROM is the delivery mechanism.' While providing little interactivity other than a fancy page-flip, the application is made of XML and images, including two for the text of each page in portrait and landscape mode. This seems to be why the application is 500MB. The article suggests this was done to get the app out quickly after Flash was officially vetoed by Steve Jobs."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 5:51 pm Acer LumiRead announced, will feature Wi-Fi, QWERTY keyboard and Barnes & Noble eBookstore supportSection: Gadgets / Other, ebooks  Acer has recently unveiled their LumiRead ebook reader, and it seems to be an interesting device. In terms of features the LumiRead has a 6-inch monochrome eInk display, QWERTY keyboard, 2GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. According to Acer, that 2GB of internal storage is enough to hold roughly 1,500 ebooks. Additionally, you will find Wi-Fi and 3G as well as an ISBN scanner, which according to the press release will allow users “to scan ISBN codes” and create a wish list as well as search for those titles. As for content, that looks like it will be available by way of Barnes & Noble here in the US as well as Libri.de in Germany and China. As of now a price has not been announced, however the LumiRead is scheduled to arrive sometime in Q3 2010. Via [SlashGear] Keep reading to check out the full press release…
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 5:47 pm Scramjet-Powered USAF Aircraft Hits Mach 6 - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 May 2010 | 5:45 pm New Rock Band to feature the keytar – because as we all know, everyone loves keytars
I’m not really sure it’s the best way to go. I mean, the keytar didn’t really work out so well for… anybody. Or itself. It was an oddity in its own time, and is a subject of near-universal mockery. Be aware that the instrument in the following is not a keytar: This is a keytar: See where I’m coming from here? [image from Synthtopia]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 5:42 pm Congress, Obama Suddenly Interested in Synthetic BiologyBoth the executive and legislative branches of government want to get in on synthetic biology in the wake of Craig Venter's announcement that he's implanted a manmade genome into a bacterial cell.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 5:40 pm What to Expect From Apple’s iPhone-centric WWDC 2010
News outlets may have spoiled the big surprise for Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference by publishing early photos and details of the next-generation iPhone. Nonetheless, in a recent e-mail, Steve Jobs promised a customer that “You won’t be disappointed” by the announcements to come. What else might Apple have in store for the event, which happens June 7 to 11 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center? Before last year’s WWDC, Wired.com accurately predicted the introduction of new iPhones and MacBooks, as well as the release date of the Snow Leopard operating system. So with this year’s WWDC keynote scheduled for June 7, we thought it’d be fun to step up and place our bets once again. In addition to the obvious new iPhone, we’re predicting something big happening with relation to streaming video. Also, we dismiss recent rumors about Microsoft making an appearance to announce iPhone OS developer tools, and once again we file the possibility of a Verizon iPhone under “unlikely.” The Next iPhoneGizmodo and a Vietnamese blog appear to have spilled all the beans about the next-gen iPhone: an aluminum chassis, a thinner case, a front-facing camera, a higher-resolution screen and a camera flash. It’s important to note that Apple legal confirmed in an unsealed affidavit that Gizmodo’s prototype represented the fourth-generation iPhone, so there’s no longer need to speculate about whether this really is Apple’s next smartphone: It is. However, both Gizmodo and the Vietnamese blog were unable to demonstrate their prototypes actually doing anything, so plenty of questions still remain. We think the highlight feature of the 4G iPhone will be the front-facing video camera. How will video conferencing with a front-facing camera work in terms of bandwidth? AT&T has acknowledged its 3G network is overloaded by traffic coming from smartphones (especially iPhones), and plenty of people have issues just making phone calls or surfing the web. Also, think beyond 4G iPhone owners video-conferencing with other 4G iPhone owners. We predict 4G iPhone owners will be able to video chat with iChat users with webcams on their Macs. Corroborating our theory, already there are clues in developer releases of iPhone OS 4.0 that there will be iChat support in the next iPhone.
Meanwhile, it’s quite possible that Apple will have something to say about one-way video streaming. Perhaps Apple will finally put to use its massive data center, which could provide the bandwidth required for ubiquitous video feeds of movies, short video clips and more. We speculated in December that streaming video may eventually play a key role in Apple’s future of personal media. After all, Apple’s acquisition of Lala suggests the company is interested in turning iTunes into a streaming music service, and adding live video would turn iTunes into a personal media hub. One big question remaining is the back of the iPhone. Neither Gizmodo nor the Vietnamese blog were able to confirm the exact material, but they described it as a glasslike plastic. Here’s the kicker: An analyst said in January that he’d heard Apple’s next iPhone would feature a touch-sensitive housing similar to that seen on Apple’s multitouch Magic Mouse. We’re willing to guess the next iPhone’s back will detect multitouch gestures so you can control core features such as the music player while the device is still inside your pocket. We would expect the next iPhone to ship sometime in June. (Apple announced its iPhone 3GS during WWDC on June 8, 2009 and began shipping it 11 days later.) A likely name? Engadget has heard iPhone HD, and we’re into it. iPhone OS 4Apple already previewed iPhone OS 4 in March, but only a few key features — multitasking, universal e-mail and the ability to create folders, among others — were highlighted. Expect the full story at WWDC. The latest beta releases have already revealed clues about unannounced features, such as a new widget interface for the iPhone’s music player, tethering for AT&T customers, and file sharing with your PC. In addition to getting the full details on iPhone OS 4, expect a release date — possibly as soon as the day of the keynote. Apple has said iPhone OS 4 is due for release in the summer for iPhones and iPod Touch devices, and in the fall for the iPad. (Do note if you own an original iPhone or first-generation iPod Touch, you’re out of luck: iPhone OS 4 will only be compatible with the second- and third-generation models of each device — and presumably the next-gen iPhone, too, of course.) No Steve Ballmer or SilverlightDevelopers and analysts are buzzing about a rumor that Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer will take the stage at WWDC to announce its own third-party developer tools (possibly Silverlight) for making iPhone and iPad apps. That sentence already sounds ludicrous considering that Jobs, in an open letter explaining why Flash isn’t allowed on the iPhone OS, made it crystal clear he didn’t want meta platforms participating because they would result in sub-par apps. Wired.com phoned the analyst who made that prediction, Trip Chowdry, and he told us that he based his prediction on speculation from mobile developers, not hard evidence. Indeed, Microsoft announced on Twitter that Ballmer was not making an appearance at WWDC, so consider the “rumor” debunked. No Verizon iPhoneAlong with angry AT&T customers, Verizon subscribers aching for an iPhone have been hopeful that Apple will share its next iPhone with Verizon. Don’t bet on it happening at WWDC. The most credible rumor report, published by The Wall Street Journal, claims a CDMA iPhone is scheduled for mass production in September. Expect a Verizon iPhone no sooner than then, though we would lean toward the conservative side in guessing that such a device won’t see the light of day until 2011. Updated to correct an error about iPhone OS 4 compatibility. See Also:
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 5:30 pm What to Expect From Apple's iPhone-centric WWDC 2010With Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference around the corner, Wired.com steps up to bat with predictions of what to expect.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 May 2010 | 5:30 pm What to Expect From Apple's iPhone-centric WWDC 2010With Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference around the corner, Wired.com steps up to bat with predictions of what to expect.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 5:30 pm A Genetically Engineered Fly That Can Smell LightAn anonymous reader writes "It sounds like a cool — if somewhat pointless — super-powered insect: a fly that can smell light! Researchers added a light-sensitive protein to a fruit fly's olfactory neurons, which caused the neurons to fire when the fly was exposed to a certain wavelength of blue light. Adding the protein specifically to neurons that respond to good smells, like bananas, makes for a light-seeking fly."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 5:23 pm Exclusive: Twitter’s Director Of Search Is Out As Product Is Restructured
When reached for comment, Twitter confirmed the departure, but would not give a reason for the split. We had also heard that the reason Cook is out is that the search team is being split into at least two different groups now. Twitter’s comment on the matter seems to confirm that:
Twitter would not say if there will be a new Director of Search, but we hear the role may simply not exist anymore with this new multi-team approach. Search is one of the most important aspects of Twitter these days. It’s not only useful, it’s tied directly into Twitter’s first big plan to make money: Sponsored Tweets. It also is the key to hashtag relevance and a number of other things Twitter is working on — undoubtedly things like analytics. Search on Twitter began when Twitter bought Summize in the Summer of 2008. That service morphed into Twitter Search, a service that resided at search.twitter.com. By March of 2009, the product was so useful that we wrote it was time to start thinking of Twitter as a search engine. By April of that year, they rolled search into the main Twitter product, and it has been a core feature since. This is one of the first fairly major shakeups at Twitter (aside from when Ev Williams took the CEO title from creator Jack Dorsey in 2008). This news follows the promotion of Greg Pass (a co-founder of Summize) to be Twitter’s first CTO, as we broke in April. That move was made to make room for Michael Abbott, Palm’s former head of software and services, to take over as VP of Engineering. Cook came to Twitter from Yahoo, where was a VP of engineering. He took over the search responsibilities from Twitter Chief Scientist Abdur Chowdhury, another Summize co-founder. Cook also runs the wine search engine Able Grape. His LinkedIn profile lists this as his only current job. Recent tweets suggest his next move may be vacationing. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 5:21 pm Cyber Attackers are Using IPv6 to Tunnel into NetworksDENVER, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Speaking at the Rocky Mountain 2010 IPv6 Summit, Command Information's Cybersecurity CTO, Ron Hulen told the audience, "As IPv6 deployment and adoption continues to increase, both implementers and security personnel must be aware of the security risks present in IPv6.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 5:15 pm Black Kindle spotted and (barely) pictured
New colors don’t necessarily mean new features, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Darth Kindle sported an updated screen, and perhaps more internal memory. A refresh like this (visual and performance-wise) would be a good holdover for people already invested in the Kindle ecosystem.
Update: Here’s a comparison with some (really) bad image manipulation to show the DX at a similar orientation. As you can see, the spacing of the buttons seems right, and the shape as well. I think it’s legit. Amazon shooting this in the middle of the day at a coffee shop in Seattle seems to be asking for it, though. They were probably hoping for a little buzz. If it’s fake or just a skin, well, it’s the usual CrunchGear punishment for me: forty lashes with a wet noodle.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 5:07 pm Traffic Light Stops CarsIBM has a patent on a traffic light system that would send wireless signals to idling cars, turning them off until the light turns green.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 5:04 pm "Innocent Infringement" Defense May Reach Supreme CourtNewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Several years ago a federal court in Texas ordered the RIAA, in an 'innocent infringement' case against a teenager, to either accept $200 per infringed work, or to go to trial over the innocent infringement issue, in Maverick Recording Co v. Harper. Recently, an appeals court reversed, saying that the defendant could not avail herself of the innocent infringement defense since there were CDs, bearing copyright notices, available in stores, even though the copies she had made were from MP3 files which bore no such notice. Now, a petition for certiorari has been filed on the defendant's behalf, arguing that the 5th Circuit's ruling would make it impossible for anyone to interpose an innocent infringement case, even where they had never seen a copyright notice. The lawyers filing the petition on defendant's behalf are the same firm that represented Jammie Thomas in her second trial, and the motion which resulted in her verdict being reduced from $1.92 million to $54,000."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 5:02 pm Privacy groups assail Facebook changes - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 May 2010 | 5:01 pm Micrel, Inc. Announces John E. Bourgoin to Join the Company's Board of DirectorsSAN JOSE, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micrel, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRL), an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications and Ethernet IC solutions, today announced that John E.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 5:01 pm Florida Coast: Hot Spot for Shark AttacksShark attacks are incredibly high along a particular 47-mile long stretch of the Florida coast. Researchers found out why.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 4:59 pm Man shoots AT&T employee, is killed by off-duty cop
The shooter, Abraham Dicken, had held a grudge against the store’s employees for months, even threatening them with a gun once before. His hit-list contained the names of six employees.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 4:44 pm NOAA: Look Out for Big Hurricane SeasonOfficial predicitons for the upcoming hurricane season suggest we could be in for a doozy.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 4:40 pm Q&A: What do you do when GPS or online maps are wrong? (Christopher Null)Christopher Null - Reader Paul Stokes writes: "I read with interest your article 'Massive GPS upgrade under way.' I am in a brand-new subdivision and cannot be found on any of the map sites such as Google Maps. While it would seem that this could be a good thing, it turns out that it isn’t. When I want any work done at my house or deliveries made, I have to give directions over the phone. I have contacted Google about this but no response yet. Who can I contact to get my house added to GPS systems and to show up in online maps? At least the U.S. Post Office now recognizes my address."Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 May 2010 | 4:39 pm Scientists Detect Huge Carbon 'Burp' That Helped End Last Ice AgeScientists have found the possible source of a huge carbon dioxide 'burp' that happened some 18,000 years ago and which helped to end the last ice age.The results provide the first concrete evidence that carbon dioxide (CO2) was more efficiently locked away in the deep ocean during the last ice age, turning the deep sea into a more 'stagnant' carbon repository – something scientists have long suspected but lacked data to support.Working on a marine sediment core recovered from the Southern Ocean floor between Antarctica and South Africa, the international team led by Dr Luke Skinner of the University of Cambridge radiocarbon dated shells left behind by tiny marine creatures called foraminifera (forams for short).By measuring how much carbon-14 (14C) was in the bottom-dwelling forams' shells, and comparing this with the amount of 14C in the atmosphere at the time, they were able to work out how long the CO2 had been locked in the ocean.By linking their marine core to the Antarctic ice-cores using the temperature signal recorded in both archives, the team were also able compare their results directly with the ice-core record of past atmospheric CO2 variability.According to Dr Skinner: "Our results show that during the last ice age, around 20,000 years ago, carbon dioxide dissolved in the deep water circulating around Antarctica was locked away for much longer than today.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 4:37 pm New Weapon Against Highly Resistant Microbes Within GraspResearchers shed light on the mode of action; promising approach for new antibioticsAn active compound from fungi and lower animals may well be suitable as an effective weapon against dangerous bacteria.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 4:33 pm Top 10 new speciesFrom a bombardier slug, to a carnivorous plant named after David Attenborough—the best new species discovered in 2009 are pretty freaking cool. Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 4:31 pm MeeGo 1.0 for netbooks now available for download We have seen news of MeeGo in the past, but the good news here is that MeeGo version 1.0 is now available for public download. Those interested can download, install and begin using MeeGo 1.0 as of now—the image file can be found at meego.com.
Read [MeeGo] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 4:31 pm Robotic Assisted Vasectomy Reversal Offers Greater Chance Of FatherhoodNorthwestern Memorial first Midwest center to reverse a vasectomy using the surgical robotIn 1989 a 29-year-old Michael Schrader had it all: steady job, a wife, and two wonderful children—daughter Courtney and son Cameron.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 4:31 pm Racial Bias Clouds Ability To Feel Others' PainWhen people witness or imagine the pain of another person, their nervous system responds in essentially the same way it would if they were feeling that pain themselves.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 4:28 pm Artificial Sweeteners, Without The Aftertaste: Scientists Find Bitter-Blocking IngredientResearchers have discovered a chemical that specifically blocks people's ability to detect the bitter aftertaste that comes with artificial sweeteners such as saccharin.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 4:26 pm "Space Jam" and Mayan mythologyThe Popol Vuh is the creation story of the ancient Maya. One of the main plot threads involves hero twins who are summoned to the underworld to take on the gods in a high-stakes ball game. In a 2001 paper, linguist Michal Brody points out some surprising similarities between the Popol Vuh and ... yes ... the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny team-up, Space Jam. I'd not made that connection before, but Brody makes a pretty good case for the Mayan influence on Warner Brothers. Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 4:17 pm The Man At Microsoft Charged With Destroying IE6Barence writes "The man in charge of Internet Explorer has told PC Pro that he's been tasked with destroying IE6. Internet Explorer 6 continues to be the most used browser version in the world at the ripe old age of nine. IE6's position as the default browser in Windows XP means many companies still cling to the browser. 'Part of my job is to get IE6 share down to zero as soon as possible,' said Ryan Gavin, head of the Internet Explorer business group. Microsoft has also been giving further previews of Internet Explorer 9, with demonstrations showing two 720p HD videos running simultaneously on a netbook, thanks to IE9's GPU-accelerated graphics."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 4:17 pm Tweet Off!: What TechCrunch Disrupt Looked Like On Twitter
After three full days, our first TechCrunch Disrupt conference is now over. By all metrics it was a big success — and that includes on Twitter. The #tcdisrupt hashtag was a Trending Topic in New York City (where the conference was) basically the entire time it was going on. And many of the individual startups that launched appeared on the list too at points. The Twitter and Facebook analytic company RowFeeder ran some numbers about the show — they’re pretty interesting. Below, find some of their data. To get this info, they looked at both the hashtag “#TCdisrupt,” and the phrase “Techcrunch Disrupt.” The first chart below shows huge spikes during certain parts of the show. Obviously, Carol Bartz’s fireside swearing session got a lot of play, but so did the “Lean vs. Fat Startup” debate between VCs Fred Wilson and Ben Horowitz. The startup battlefields each day did well, as did the final competition. As you might expect, the tweets dropped off after-hours, until late night after the parties ended when people may or may not have been drunk tweeting.
The second chart shows the tweet share among the five finalists for the TechCrunch Disrupt Cup. Interestingly, Soluto was also the winner in tweets, while runner-up UJAM was second in tweets. Certainly some of this is skewed by the fact that they were the winner and runner-up, but it would seem that according to Twitter, the top two were the ones that most interested the audience. The total Disrupt related tweets according to Row Feeder? 21,054. Very impressive. Of course, that doesn’t count misspellings — and I know that a few times, even I wrote “#tcdistrupt” or something similar as I was rushing to be first to tweet about something.
Also interesting is where the tweets were coming from. Obviously, a huge percentage were in New York (again, where the conference was held), with the Bay Area coming in second, but Los Angeles and Boston had strong showings as well. The fact that so many people watched the live stream (more on that soon) of the event seems undoubtedly was the reason for the surges in these other cities.
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 4:14 pm Why A Tablet, OLPC? Laptop Is Better For Education - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 May 2010 | 4:04 pm Mavenlink Now Available on Google Apps MarketplaceIRVINE, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Mavenlink LLC, creators of Mavenlink.com, an on-line interactive workplace where people can work together and conduct business, announced its web based applications have been added to the Google Apps Marketplace(TM), Google's online storefront for Google Apps(TM) products and services.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 4:02 pm Ninetowns Reports Second Half and Full Year 2009 Financial ResultsBEIJING, May 27 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (Nasdaq: NINE) ("Ninetowns" or the "Company"), one of China's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today reports its financial results for the six-month period and full year ended December 31, 2009. Second Half 2009 Financial Highlights -- Total net revenues were RMB51.1 million (US$7.5 million), representing a 7% decrease, as compared to RMB54.7 million (US$8.0 million) for the second half of 2008. -- Net income was RMB 48,287 (US$7,074), as compared to a net loss of RMB140.9 million (US$20.6 million) for the second half of 2008. -- Both basic and diluted net income per ADS (each ADS represents one ordinary share) were nil, compared to a basic and diluted net loss per ADS of RMB4.02 (US$0.59) for the second half of 2008. Full Year 2009 Financial Highlights -- Total net revenues were RMB93.8 million (US$13.7 million), representing a 10% decrease, as compared to RMB104.5 million (US$15.3 million) for 2008. -- Net income was RMB3.0 million (US$0.4 million), as compared to net loss of RMB169.6 million (US$24.9 million) for 2008. -- Both basic and diluted net income per ADS was RMB0.09 (US$0.01), compared to basic and diluted net loss per ADS of RMB4.85 (US$0.71) for 2008. Second Half and Full Year 2009 Business Highlights Enterprise software: Ninetowns continued to derive a large portion of its total net revenues from the sales and servicing of iDeclare packages, Ninetowns' flagship import/export enterprise software solution.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 4:00 pm Compulsive Behavior In Mice Cured By Bone Marrow TransplantScientists earlier found that mice missing one of a group of core developmental genes known as the Hox genes developed an odd and rather unexpected pathology: the mutant animals groomed themselves compulsively to the point that they were removing their own hair and leaving self-inflicted open sores on their skin.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 3:55 pm NDE Methods For Evaluating Ancient Coins Could Be Worth Their Weight In GoldDemonstrating that chemistry sometimes can inform history, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Colorado College and Mount Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md., have shown that sensitive nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques can be used to determine the elemental composition of ancient coins, even coins that generally have been considered too corroded for such methods*.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 3:49 pm Will Steve Ballmer appear for Apple keynote? (Update: Nope, says Microsoft) (Ben Patterson)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 May 2010 | 3:48 pm Video Shows Mobile Phone, Portable Media Tech of 1922Your browser does not support iframes. From the newsreel archives of British Pathe comes this clip of two women walking down the street and using a “wireless phone” — in 1922. It’s not exactly high technology. Before they can use the phone, one of the women has to wind a wire around a fire hydrant (to ground it, perhaps?). Then she unfurls an umbrella, around which an antenna wire has been looped. Once she’s connected, the camera shows an operator cueing up a record on the Victrola. That means that this gadget is, as the Pathe archivist who wrote the descriptive copy exclaims, “An early mobile phone crossed with an early Sony walkman! Excellent!” Eve’s Wireless newsreel, via Metro.co.uk (Thanks, Cavan!) 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 3:43 pm A Dicty Mystery SolvedRice researchers find first to starve in slime mold thrive at others' expenseRice University evolutionary biologists reported in a paper published this week that the first cells to starve in a slime mold seem to have an advantage that not only helps them survive to reproduce, but also pushes those that keep on eating into sacrificing themselves for the common good.The paper by Rice graduate student Jennie Kuzdzal-Fick and her mentors, David Queller and Joan Strassmann, Rice's Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professors of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, appears in the online edition of the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. The paper's full title is "An Invitation to Die: Initiators of Sociality in a Social Amoeba Become Selfish Spores."It helps to understand what Dictyostelium discoideum are, and how they behave. The single-cell organisms collectively known as slime mold live independently and feed on bacteria – until the food runs out. When that happens, adjacent cells aggregate into a single slug and move as a slime-coated unit toward heat and light, which indicate the presence of a good place to form a fruiting body. At their destination, amoebas at the front sacrifice themselves, dying to form a cellulose stalk. Others in the colony climb aboard and become spores that sit on top, where small organisms disperse them to nutrient-rich places.Common wisdom dictates that the first cells to starve would be the first to die. "Because they initiate aggregation into the social stage, we were interested in finding out what their reproductive fate was," Kuzdzal-Fick said. "For a lot of reasons, it would make more sense if the first cells to starve altruistically formed the stalk."But that's not how it happens, and it took her months of detective work to track down the clues. Kuzdzal-Fick employed a complex sequence of raising, selectively starving and recombining clones of D. discoideum so that pre-starved cells could be tracked.When the organisms were allowed to form fruiting bodies of stalks and spores, fluorescent tags revealed that pre-starved cells made up a much higher percentage of the spores than expected."They ought to be weaker than the other cells," Queller said. "They're starving first. But when they're under development, they turn on whole sets of genes that do all the things they need to do in development, and among those genes are probably ones for offense and defense. They're deploying the tools to obtain their preferred outcome -- which is to be in the spores -- before the other guys are doing it.""You could view them like an army, where one side is still polishing its weapons, but the other side has seen them and is putting bullets in their guns," Strassmann said. "Even though they may be hungry and have worse weapons, they see the enemy and they're turning on those weapons."Strassmann said Kuzdzal-Fick has a way with single-cell beings. "This experiment turned out to be technically very difficult, and anyone else would have had a hard time completing this study. She's just a wizard at getting these things to behave," Strassmann said of her graduate student, who also worked in the Strassmann-Queller lab as an undergraduate at Rice. Kuzdzal-Fick expects to defend her thesis in the fall."Our best students really pay attention to their cells," Strassmann said. "They listen to their organisms. They know if their cells are happy, they know if they're not."If you have a sick lion or zebra, or even a sick mouse or wasp or fly, they look droopy and you can see it. You have to develop that exact same sense for a single-celled organism you can see only through the microscope."---On the Net:Rice UniversityBiology LettersSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 3:42 pm Are We Ready For a True Data Disaster?snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister questions how long we can go before a truly catastrophic data disaster strikes. 'The lure of potential profits in the information economy, combined with the apparent ease with which data can be gathered and a lack of regulation, creates a climate of recklessness in which a "data spill" of the scale of the Deepwater Horizon incident seems not just likely, but inevitable.' Witness Google mistakenly emailing potentially sensitive business data to customers of its Local Business Center service, or the 1.5 million Facebook accounts and passwords recently offered up on an underground hacking forum. 'These incidents seem relatively minor, but as companies gather ever more individually identifiable data and cross-reference these databases in new and more innovative ways, the potential for a major catastrophe grows.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 May 2010 | 3:32 pm VIZIO Wins Favorable Federal Circuit Appeal RulingIRVINE, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- VIZIO, America's HDTV and Consumer Electronics Company, today announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 3:31 pm TRX Clients Meet to Discuss Industry Trends, Best Practices and Product Innovations at TRX World 2010 Global User ConferenceATLANTA, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TRX, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 3:30 pm Drill, baby, drill: Oil execs sexed regulators
Yesterday, the MMS offshore drilling chief resigned. Today MMS head Liz Birnbaum, quit. Here's the Mineral Management Service website, which at the time of this blog post still displays a funny photo of Birnbaum that's begging for an alternate caption. Don't miss the "ethics" section. Hubba hubba. 4 ways to Nudge Yourself
Photo by chatirygirl / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. A few months ago, I did an experiment in which I tried to be totally and completely rational for a month. To eliminate all of my brain's mental quirks and Paleolithic biases. Of course, I failed. My irrational monkey mind has a powerful hold on me, and won't let go so easily. But I made some baby steps. Plus, the experiment introduced me to the idea of nudging myself. The recent (okay, 10-day-old) New York Times article on Cass Sunstein reminded me of this notion. (Full disclosure: Cass is my cousin, which is how I first heard about nudging and behavioral economics in the first place). The article is about Cass's idea of taking advantage of our brain quirks to produce better behavior. As the Times puts it: Nudgers want "school cafeterias put the fruit before the fried chicken, because students are more likely to grab the first food they see. They support a change in Illinois law that asks drivers renewing their licenses to choose whether they want to be organ donors. The simple act of having to choose meant that more people signed up. Ideas like these, taking human idiosyncrasies into account, might revive an old technocratic hope: that society could be understood so perfectly that it might be improved." But in addition to the government or institutions nudging us, we can nudge ourselves. Here's some of the homespun, unofficial strategies I've come up with. They seem to work for me - though I realize it could be the placebo effect. On the other hand, the placebo effect is kind of a nudge as well. So we shouldn't underestimate placebos. 1. A mirror on my desk
2. Watchful eyes People unconsciously think they're being watched and judged. So I've snipped out dozens of eyes from magazines - Sela Ward's eyes from a clothing ad, John Malkovich's from an interview -- and taped them around my home office. I put a stern-looking set of eyes (Lynne Cheney's) on the cabinet where the fruit snacks are kept. I taped some eyes in my kids' room. I realize it kind of makes my house look like it was decorated by DeNiro's character in Cape Fear. But I kind of like it. Plus, my son seems to throw slightly fewer tantrums. An anecdotal finding no doubt, but nobody's offered to fund a rigorous study. 3. Light Bulb
If you see a light bulb, it brings to mind the idea of creativity. And, in one experiment at least, the sight of a light bulb made people more creative: they solved logic problems better. I'm behind deadline, so I need all the creativity I can get. 4. Memento Mori
Target listing leaks MLB 10: The Show PS3 slim bundleFROM GAMERTELL - Target’s website has a product listing for a new 250gb PS3 slim MLB 10: The Show bundle. It doesn’t mention a price or release date. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 3:20 pm Veracity Payment Solutions Announced Winner of Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the Better Business Bureau of Metro AtlantaATLANTA, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Veracity Payment Solutions is the proud winner of the 2010 Better Business Bureau of Metro Atlanta's Torch Award in the category of Marketplace Ethics, Category II.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 May 2010 | 3:19 pm Gulf Power Plants Keep Close Watch on Oil SpillAs oil from the massive Deepwater Horizon slick in the Gulf of Mexico laps at Louisiana’s shores and tar balls wash up on beaches in the Florida Keys, saltwater-dependent power plants on the Gulf Coast prepare for the worst.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 3:16 pm Of smartphone owners, iPhone users are the most satisfied - Computerworld
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 May 2010 | 3:14 pm Ultrasound Could Boost Tissue Implant SuccessNew research published in SAGE-Hindawi open-access Journal of Tissue EngineeringWhen we think of ultrasound, it's usually imaging the inside of the body that springs to mind.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 3:10 pm Ultrasound Could Boost Tissue Implant SuccessNew research published in SAGE-Hindawi open-access Journal of Tissue EngineeringWhen we think of ultrasound, it's usually imaging the inside of the body that springs to mind.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 May 2010 | 3:10 pm Over Six Months Later, Google Finally Closes AdMob Acquisition
Over six months after announcing its plans to acquire leading mobile ad network AdMob, Google has finally closed the deal. The news comes a week after the FTC unanimously approved the deal, after holding it up for months as it decided whether or not to block it on antitrust grounds.
When it finally reached a decision, the FTC pointed to Apple's recent entry into the mobile ad market with iAds as evidence that there would still be plenty of competition in the nascent mobile advertising space (an argument that we made before, as did many others). The FTC may have also been swayed by blog posts from developers questioned during the FTC inquiry who felt that the deal should go through. Some developers also wrote that they felt like the FTC had an agenda and that they were being pressured to say things that would hurt Google's cause.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 3:04 pm Farewell 'FlashForward': 5 Reasons It Should Have Stayed on AirThe time-warped FlashForward soap opera crashes and burns Thursday with a series finale that brings the curtain down on the mysterious conspiracy that triggered a short global blackout enabling people to see six months into the future.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 3:00 pm Google's AdMob Acquisition a Done Deal [Digital Daily]
“We believe that mobile advertising can play a significant role in every single marketing campaign. We’re passionate about the unlimited possibilities in this space,” Susan Wojcicki, Google vice president of product management, said in a celebratory blog post. “Today, with AdMob, our work to make them a reality begins.” And what a circuitous route it was to get there. Google (GOOG) announced plans to buy AdMob last fall, but the acquisition was quickly hamstrung by a grueling regulatory review. Source: All Things Digital | 27 May 2010 | 2:50 pm ChallengePost Becomes A Government Contractor
Can we get better government through game mechanics? We are about to find out. Today, ChallengePost was named the official online “challenge platform” of the U.S. federal government. Any government agency that wants to run a challenge to get ideas from citizens can use ChallengePost as a way to gather ideas and even offer cash prizes for the best ideas. ChallengePost ran the NYC Big Apps contest and Michelle Obama’s Apps for Healthy Kids challenge. Many of these challenges revolve around tapping into government data in creative ways or creating software with some sort of civic benefit. ChallengePost will be creating a new central hub for government agency challenges. It will launch in July. Putting all the challenges in one place will make them easier to find. However, agencies are not required to use ChallengePost. They can use other platforms, if they prefer. For instance, NASA uses InnoCentive because a lot of scientists and engineers hang out there. But ChallengePost is the official one that has been vetted and approved. The government challenges will also appear on ChallengePost.com. It is not every day that a startup lands the federal government as a customer, but this is one of those “no-cost” contracts. “The platform is completely free,” says Bev Godwin, Director of the Center for New Media and Citizen Engagement at the U.S. General Services Administration. In other words, ChallengePost won’t be making a dime off it directly. But it is a great promotional reference for ChallengePost, and the company can charge for extra services, such as consulting around how to define a challenge “There will be additional services that have a price,” confirms CEO Brandon Kessler. He won’t go into details of what those services will be, however, nor what he plans to charge taxpayers for them. Ah, transparent government in action! Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 2:48 pm Japan's iPad Frenzy Signals a Sea Change [Voices]By Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal The debut of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPad tablet computer in Japan is generating a level of hype and excitement rarely seen these days for a new electronics product in this gadget-loving nation, underscoring the paucity of buzz-worthy, homegrown devices. The steady decline of Japan’s electronics industry, once considered the birthplace for must-have gadgets, has accelerated in recent years as consumer electronics newcomers such as Apple, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Vizio Inc. have moved in on the turf with more innovative or cheaper versions of products first developed in Japan. All the while, Japanese electronics firms have been beaten at their own game by deep-pocketed South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics Co. Hindered by weakened finances and averse to risk-taking, Japanese companies have relied on impressive but largely incremental improvements–thinner, brighter, smaller–to existing products. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 27 May 2010 | 2:45 pm Man arrested for shooting at car of iPhone thievesRoger Witter, 48, was in an Oregon AT&T store when he saw two young men stealing iPhones. He chased them outside, pistol in hand, and fired shots at the car as it sped off.Witter told police he was trying to shoot out the car's tires. He was arrested and charged with "unlawful use of a weapon, reckless endangerment disorderly conduct. and unlawful discharge of a firearm. His handgun and concealed weapons permit were seized."
Witness to iPhone theft shoots at suspects, faces own arrest (Thanks, Alan!) Source: Boing Boing | 27 May 2010 | 2:39 pm Over Six Months Later, Google Finally Closes AdMob Acquisition
When it finally reached a decision, the FTC pointed to Apple’s recent entry into the mobile ad market with iAds as evidence that there would still be plenty of competition in the nascent mobile advertising space (an argument that we made before, as did many others). The FTC may have also been swayed by blog posts from developers questioned during the FTC inquiry who felt that the deal should go through. Some developers also wrote that they felt like the FTC had an agenda and that they were being pressured to say things that would hurt Google’s cause.      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 2:31 pm RFID collar keeps dog away from chicken's feed
In the comments section of my post about my honey harvest, Alan Graham mentioned that he put an RFID chip in his dog's collar. Now, he says, "if the dog tries to go into the chicken coop (she loves their feed) the door closes on her." It's a canine version of the story of Tantalus! Apple, Dell and HP join forces in suicide investigationSection: Business News, Apple
Apple says it will be in charge of the investigation and will receive assistance from HP and Dell. Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 2:16 pm Willow Garage Holds a ‘Graduation Party’ for Its Robots
In an event that made many robot enthusiasts and tech nerds tear up, 11 robots carried flags and waved their arms as they rolled down an aisle as part of their “graduation.” The 11 model PR2 robots are from Menlo Park, California, robotics company Willow Garage. Over the last few months, the robots have been trained for their new life in research labs worldwide where they will be used to create applications and solve problems. The robots, each of which cost $400,000, will be working with 11 research teams whose proposals were chosen in a contest that Willow Garage organized in January. “Robots can do great things for our economy,” Scott Hassan, founder of Willow Garage, told attendees at the event. “They can change our lives in a big way and these robots are capable of doing it in my lifetime.” Among the tasks that the robots will be put to are folding towels and doing laundry, learning how drawers and refrigerators open, picking up items scattered on a floor, and developing 3-D perception to perform tasks such as setting a table and emptying a dishwasher. “Robotics will have a big impact on our products in the future,” says Jan Becker, principal engineer at Bosch Research and Technology Center in Palo Alto. Bosch, which makes automotive parts and home appliances, is one of the places where a newly graduated PR2 robot will go to work. Additional sensors will be added to the PR2 robot, testing its ability to feel the environment it is in. “Many of our products are going to have autonomy, and PR2 will help us test some of our ideas,” says Becker. Willow Garage was founded in 2006 with the idea of creating an open-source robotics software platform. The hardware isn’t open but the company has created open source programming to drive the machine. Willow Garage’s Robot Operating System (ROS) originated at Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. ROS is based on Linux and can work with both Windows and Mac PCs. Each PR2 robot has two stereo camera pairs in its head. The four 5-megapixel cameras also include a tilting laser range finder. Each of the robot’s forearms has an ethernet-based wide-angle camera, while the grippers at the tip have three-axis accelerometers and pressure-sensor arrays on the fingertips. At the base of the robot is another laser range finder. The PR2 is powered by two eight-core i7 Xeon system servers on-board, 48 GB of memory and a battery system equivalent to 16 laptop batteries. Yet, that translates into just about two hours of battery life. “The robot is dumb as a rock by human standards,” says Keenan Wyrobek, co-director of the personal robotics program at Willow Garage. “But it is very advanced and capable for the tasks it can perform.” Researchers will get to keep their PR2 robot for two years in order to develop its capabilities. For example, for the last few months, researchers from the University of California Berkeley have been working with a PR2 robot, teaching it to pick up a towel from a pile of laundry, fold it and stack it. The idea is to demonstrate the machine’s ability to perceive and manipulate “deformable objects.” Other robotics researchers from institutions such as the University of Southern California hope to expand the PR2’s motor skills so it can learn how to pour different kinds of liquid into a cup. Another plan for one of the robots includes teaching it to work in a collaborative environment with people and other robots. (Let’s hope the robots don’t get into fights.) It looks like much of the PR2’s training can be done by parents rather than researchers. Now that they’ve graduated from the factory, maybe it’s time to send these robots to daycare? Check out more photos of the PR2 below.
PR2 says hello to the world. Eric Berger, co-director of the personal robotics program at Willow Garage introduced the robot at a media event.
One of the 11 PR2 robots moves down the aisle as part of its graduation ceremony.
Each arm of the PR2 has seven degrees of freedom, giving it almost-human like flexibility. The arms can carry up to 3.9 pounds (1.8 Kg). The flexibility with the wrists lets the PR2 wave, grip objects and rotate its arm at the elbow. Photos: Priya Ganapati / Wired.com See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 2:12 pm Willow Garage Holds a 'Graduation Party' for its RobotsEleven trained robots from Willow Garage head to research institutions worldwide to work on new tasks. Some of the applications envisioned are practical ones, like folding towels and doing laundry, picking up items from the floor and loading a dishwasher.
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 May 2010 | 2:12 pm Darpa's Beady-Eyed Camera Spots the 'Non-Cooperative'People who mean to do harm can't stump Darpa's latest high-tech security cameras just by keeping their head down. Designed as miniature drone sensors to work in dark places, the Panoptes cameras can hunt down -- and scan -- a suspect's eyeballs.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 2:12 pm Willow Garage Holds a 'Graduation Party' for its RobotsEleven trained robots from Willow Garage head to research institutions worldwide to work on new tasks. Some of the applications envisioned are practical ones, like folding towels and doing laundry, picking up items from the floor and loading a dishwasher.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 2:12 pm We’ve officially acquired AdMob!Last Friday, we said that mobile advertising was moving fast. So are we! Today, we closed our acquisition of AdMob. Omar Hamoui has built a great team and great products at AdMob and we’re thrilled to officially welcome them to Google.We’ll now begin the process of bringing our products and teams together in the best way, and building new products and features together. We’re working to make this integration happen as fast and as seamlessly as possible. We’ll actively keep our clients up-to-date as we bring our businesses together — stay tuned! It’s clear that mobile advertising is becoming a much larger part of our clients’ and partners’ strategies and with this acquisition, it’s now a central part of our own business. In continuing to invest in this highly competitive area, we’ll be bringing together our technology, resources and expertise in search advertising with AdMob’s innovative solutions for advertising on mobile websites and in mobile applications. Mobile search is central One of the key ways that people find and access information on their mobile devices, just like on the desktop, is through search. As smart phones have proliferated, we’ve seen dramatic increases in mobile search volume. Over the past two years, Google's mobile search volumes have grown more than fivefold, at an accelerated pace. In the first three months of 2010, people with smartphones with “full” WebKit browsers (such as the iPhones, Android devices and Palm Pre) searched 62 percent more than they did in the previous three months. Increasingly, people aren’t just typing search queries into their mobile devices. They speak them, they take photos of them and they even translate them from different languages. In addition to traditional search ads on mobile devices, we’ve worked to develop entirely new search ad formats. “Click-to-call” search ads, for example, have been really popular. They enable advertisers to include a local business or national phone number directly in their ad text that you can click to reach the business directly via phone. This is a really great way for you to easily get information from a relevant business (say, a local restaurant), and a highly effective way for advertisers to connect with interested customers. With many more advances to come, search advertising will remain the central way that many businesses connect with consumers on mobile devices. Mobile websites and apps In addition to search, another key way that people access information is through mobile websites (accessed through a browser) and mobile apps (available through Apple’s App Store, the Android Marketplace and more). Mobile display and text ads make it easy for publishers and developers to make money from their mobile websites and apps, and enable advertisers to extend the reach of their campaigns to relevant mobile content. In this area, AdMob has been a real pioneer and has innovated at a tremendous pace, building a successful business and working with thousands of advertisers, publishers and developers. AdMob was one of the first companies to serve ads inside mobile applications on the Android and iPhone platforms. They’ve developed a host of engaging and creative ad units for Android and iPhone apps—for example, interactive video ad units and expandable rich media ads. Google has also been developing new features for in-app ads. For example, last week, we announced that we’ll be making “click-to-call” ad formats available to developers who run AdSense in their mobile apps. With Google and AdMob starting to work together, there’s lots more innovation to come in this area. The future It’s clear that mobile advertising is growing incredibly fast with lots of businesses innovating at great speed. Every day, more marketers are looking to take advantage of the mobile-specific capabilities, extended reach, great returns and value that mobile advertising provides. Advertisers are now starting to see mobile as an essential part of their overall campaigns, not just a silo-ed experiment on the side. We want to unleash agencies’ and advertisers’ creativity on all mobile devices and deliver them better results from their campaigns, drive better returns and more choice for publishers and developers, and help people get better ads and more free mobile content. We believe that mobile advertising can play a significant role in every single marketing campaign. We’re passionate about the unlimited possibilities in this space. Today, with AdMob, our work to make them a reality begins. Posted by Susan Wojcicki, Vice President of Product Management Stock Repurchase As previously announced, Google intends to repurchase in the open market a number of shares equal to the number of shares issued in the transaction and issuable upon exercise of outstanding options to purchase common stock issued by AdMob. The repurchase program is expected to commence shortly after the completion of the acquisition. The repurchases will be funded from available working capital.    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 27 May 2010 | 2:04 pm Four Out of Ten iPhones Sold to Business Users [Digital Daily]
Because the device clearly does appeal to business. In fact, quite a few of the iPhones sold today are purchased by business users, according to Ron Spears, chief of AT&T’s (T) Business Solutions unit. “Four out of 10 sales of the iPhone are made to enterprise users,” Spears said at an investor conference Thursday. “When the iPhone came out, what most people heard in the first year from ’07 to ’08 was ‘oh my God, it’s not BlackBerry secure. This is not going to work on the enterprise space.’ At the end of the day, it’s just software. That’s all it is.” Elaborating on the history of adoption of the iPhone by business users, Spears notes, “And by the time the 3G came out in ’08 [Apple] had solved about 80 percent of the security issues. By the time the 3GS came out last summer, most CIOs will tell you today they have very few issues around the security that they need provided as they have come to know that RIM can do it because of the way RIM provides their solution. So enterprises today view the iPhone as a mobile computer.” Evidently, Apple (AAPL) has succeeded in overcoming enterprise’s early misgivings about the iPhone’s security and business-readiness. Recall that last fall, the device scored highest in both the consumer and business categories of JD Power’s Smartphone Satisfaction Study. The iPhone scored 803 points out of a possible 1,000. That’s 79 points more than Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry, which took second place with a score of 724 points, the industry average. Source: All Things Digital | 27 May 2010 | 2:01 pm Blizzard: DRM is a waste of everyone’s time
“We need our development teams focused on content and cool features, not anti-piracy technology.” Thank you, finally! See, Blizzard gets it. The company’s co-founder, Frank Pearce, recently told the good folks at Video Gamer that he thinks the fight against DRM is misguided. Not that he supports end-users going around torrenting his games till the end of time, but that the way to “beat” piracy is to embrace gamers and treat them like complete jerks. Part of the process is the new Battle.net, which launches with StarCraft II. Its DRM is rather simple: a one-time online activation. After that, you can play online or off without having to worry about Blizzard’s mommy-state servers keeping tabs on your authentication status. No, Blizzard isn’t the only company whose DRM works like that, but it does highlight the idea that, “Oh, well, all the top publishers see piracy as a huge, catastrophic issue, so clearly we need to implement ridiculous DRM policies.” Pearce also called DRM a “losing battle.” By that he means what we’ve been saying forever: no matter how robust your DRM is, it will be cracked. It is a complete waste of resources (time, money, sandwiches, etc.) developing trying to outfox crackers. (These crackers, most of the time, aren’t even interested in pirating the game, but merely seeing if they’re “hacking” skills are as sharp as possible. That people can then pirate these games is but a nasty side effect.) There’s too many of them out there to develop a truly hack-proof system. So, spend those resources making sure your game isn’t a pile of dross! Maybe then it’ll sell? Sigh, if only other PC publishers would follow Blizzard’s lead here… via Tom’s Hardware
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 1:30 pm Scientists need a Norton Scan
How? You might ask. Essentially the doc implanted an RFID chip into his hand. RFID chips are usually used for tagging animals for research and are able to send information to and from computers, but in this case, Dr. Gasson has corrupted the code and put the chip in his hand. By doing this, he was able to get rid of his keycard to the research building he goes to everyday because the chip grants him access. The same goes for his cell phone, where he has locked down use of it for only himself. You can watch an interview with Dr. Gasson here regarding the new technology: I can only imagine what a skilled hacker could do with this technology. Read [Mashable] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 1:02 pm Fight! Fight! 'The Great Debate' Reborn as Supernova Spat?As two groups of astronomers debate the origin of a possible new type of supernova, Jennifer Ouellette looks back at 'The Great Debate' between Heber D Curtis and Harlow Shapley in 1920.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 1:02 pm Facebook Launches Android SDK
According to the post on Facebook’s Developer blog, the SDK also uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication and the ability to publish stories to Facebook using Feed forms. I spoke with Facebook’s Steven Soneff about the SDK at Google I/O last week, where Facebook was offering a developer preview. Soneff said that there have been ways to integrate Facebook into Android applications before now, but that these have really been hacked together from the iPhone SDK, and weren’t officially supported by Facebook. Hopefully this is a sign that Facebook is taking Android a bit more seriously. Facebook’s iPhone SDK launched over a year ago. And the official Facebook application for Android has always felt inferior to the iPhone version — it has been improving, but it still has a ways to go.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 12:43 pm Facebook Launches Android SDK
According to the post on Facebook’s Developer blog, the SDK also uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication and the ability to publish stories to Facebook using Feed forms. I spoke with Facebook’s Steven Soneff about the SDK at Google I/O last week, where Facebook was offering a developer preview. Soneff said that there have been ways to integrate Facebook into Android applications before now, but that these have really been hacked together from the iPhone SDK, and weren’t officially supported by Facebook. Hopefully this is a sign that Facebook is taking Android a bit more seriously. Facebook’s iPhone SDK launched over a year ago. And the official Facebook application for Android has always felt inferior to the iPhone version — it has been improving, but it still has a ways to go.      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 12:37 pm Microsoft: Steve Ballmer will not be speaking at WWDC.
Early this morning, the rumormill went a bit bonkers. A hole to a parallel universe apparently ripped open outside of an analyst’s office. Through this hole, the analyst saw a world where Steve Ballmer presented something at Apple’s WWDC 2010 keynote. Alas, the analyst didn’t realize that this was a parallel universe, instead interpreting it as a glance into the future. “Steve Ballmer will be presenting at WWDC! Steve Ballmer will be presenting at WWDC!”, he shouted. People were skeptical, and rightly so. It’s all a bunch of nonsense, says Microsoft.
In a brief statement issued over Twitter (what else?) this afternoon, Microsoft straightened things out:
Good. Between starring as the next Bond villain and training for the Olympics, we figured that Ballmer’s schedule was already getting stretched a bit too thin. While Microsoft could very well make an appearance during WWDC keynote as a partner, it probably won’t be Ballmer’s mug staring back at the audience.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 12:18 pm Why haven’t our clichés been updated to better reflect today’s technology?
Our clichés need updating. “Axe to grind”? How many people still regularly use axes, axes that need grinding? Why not something like “hard drive to defrag”? “Best thing since sliced bread”? Why not “best thing since the iPad“? We are surrounded by technology, but our language still reflects life on the farm. Let’s do this! First off, yes, this topic is completely ripped off from Fez Ron and Fez. If you going to rip off, you might as well rip off from the best. It’s an interesting idea. So many idioms and clichés and whatnot are based in language that has no relevance to us here in the year 2010. Some examples: • “Straw that broke the camel’s back.” Means nothing to the average person. Why not “baseclock frequency that causes the processor to overheat and continually crash”? • “When pigs fly.” What? Try “when Spotify comes to America.” • “Free as a bird.” Lame. I much prefer “free as Firefox.” • “Money makes the world go ’round.” Sorry but as we all know “SEO makes the world go ’round.” And so on. If we’re not going to ban clichés outight, then we might as well update ‘em. I don’t know how to grind an axe, but I do know how to defrag a hard drive.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 12:15 pm Gulf Oil Spill: Natural, International DisasterThe good news about the BP Deep Horizon oil well is that, as of last report, the latest "top kill" method to stem the flow of oil has worked. For the time being anyway, the leak has slowed or stopped. ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 12:01 pm FCC finds most unhappy with mobile billingSection: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile
The FCC thinks that carriers need to be more proactive and contact customers when a spike in usage occurs or when they get close to exceeding their minutes or text allotment. I’m not sure I agree. It’s the customer’s responsibility to keep an eye on their billing and usage and carriers should not be expected to babysit them. I would like to see something done about ETFs. I fully understand their purpose and what phone subsidies are, but the outrageous $350 one being charged by Verizon and the equally outrageous $325 one soon to be charged by AT&T exceed the subsidy amount of the phones they offer. The companies say they have the right to charge such steep amounts to make up for lost revenue, but I don’t agree. I think the charges are being jacked up so high to force people to stay with them even if they are unhappy with the service. What do you think? Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 11:58 am Fring for Android gets video callingJust in time for the launch of the EVO 4G (and its front-facing camera) next week, Fring has tossed 2-way video calling support into their free Android app. It’ll work on Android devices regardless of whether or not they have a front-facing camera — if yours doesn’t, you’ll be doing a lot of flipping back and forth if you want anyone to be able to see that sweet, sweet face.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 11:52 am Palm loses their lead webOS designer to the Google Android team, others may follow
In what may very well be considered the geekiest sort of fandom possible, I consider myself a fan of Matias Duarte. As I’ve written before: “Wherever this guy goes, awesome user interfaces follow.” He and his team at Danger built a tremendously usable interface for the Sidekick, his work at Helio (especially the stuff that went to waste at the end, never to be seen by the public eye) was incredible, and then.. then there was webOS. Say what you will about the Palm Pre and Pixi from a hardware standpoint, but the software that runs on’em is pure user interface gold. That’s largely because of the work of Matias and his team. Alas, Palm just lost Matias to the lil’ green robot that could: Android. Google has confirmed to AllThingsD that Matias is joining them as the Android team’s User Experience Director. Score one for Google.
This talent acquisition could be incredibly important for the folks in Mountain View. Android has a lot of fantastic selling points, but its user interface has never, ever been one of those. Since day 1, users (and nay-sayers) have been vehemently complaining about the interface. It is — and I say this as a pretty huge fan of the platform — rather ugly, and far from intuitive. (Every time I speak to someone who just got their Android phone within the last few days, its the same story: showing them how to reveal the (very important) notification bar results in wide eyes and gaping maws, as if I’d revealed the key to time travel. That’s not good.) And what does this mean for Palm? Given their recent buyout by HP, it’s probably a bit of a mixed bag. HP has their own team of designers — failing that, they’ve got the money to hire replacements. No matter how talented said replacements may be, though, it’s an uphill battle. webOS has very finely tuned design messages; throw a new cook in the kitchen, and half of their work will be learning the old cook’s recipes. Making things worse, Matias doesn’t generally roam from company to company alone. When he left Danger for Helio, he brought members of his team. When he left Helio for Palm, he brought members of his team. When he leaves, a good chunk of his team tends to go with. Neither Palm nor Google has confirmed any shifts beyond Matias; with that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Palm lost 2-3 more designers to Google in the coming weeks, if they haven’t already.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 11:23 am Republican Party discovers the scourge of Internet trolls on new Web site: ‘Stop teaching about heliocentric universe, it contradicts the Bible’
There’s just no hope anymore. The GOP, one of the two great political parties in the United States, recently requested people submit ideas to be incorporated into the party’s platform this fall. A Web site was created. And then, predictably, people starting trolling the site. “A ‘teacher’ told my child in class that dolphins were mammals and not fish! And the same thing about whales! We need TRADITIONAL VALUES in all areas of education. If it swims in the water, it is a FISH. Period! End of Story.” Well, I’m assuming that’s a troll. You never can tell anymore. The Web site censored obscenities, but didn’t make any attempt to filter out nonsensical ideas. How about this gem: “End Child Labor Laws. We coddle children too much. They need to spend their youth in the factories.” Or maybe this: “Don’t let the illegals run out of Arizona and hide… I think that we should do something to identify them in case they try to come back over. Like maybe tattoo a big scarlet ‘I’ on their chests — for ‘illegal’!!!” These are trolls, right? Surely no one is suggesting we end child labor laws? My favorite part of the story is that congressmen are pointing to their number of Facebook friends as some sort of indicator of being “connected.” There’s nothing wrong with using Facebook or Twitter to keep in touch with your continuants, but please don’t think that makes you some sort of technology expert. I don’t expect Tom Brady to know how to play shortstop, and I don’t expect my congressman to know the difference between an @ and a d on Twitter.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 11:15 am AMOLED screen shortage hurts Droid Incredible salesSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
Phone manufacturers all over the place are using the Samsung AMOLED screens on their phones, which is most likely the cause of the shortage. And with demand increasing daily, there is a likely chance that these screens will not be fully available for some time. Read [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 10:44 am New Japanese cell phone behemoth NEC Casio Mobile to go America soon
We reported last year that NEC, Hitachi and Casio were in negotiations to merge their cell phone operations to become Japan’s second biggest manufacturer, following Sharp. And the new company, which is called NEC Casio Mobile Communications and was established on May 1, just yesterday announced ambitious expansion plans.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 May 2010 | 10:21 am Friends Around Me iPhone/iPad app lets you interact with friends or strangers, just like they were really there
The service joins together your Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook networks, allowing you to check in to venues and update your Twitter/Facebook status from one place. Best of all, the service doesn’t require yet another social network registration: you can sign in using Facebook Connect or the Twitter API. One cool thing about the service (that will probably freak out the privacy paranoid) is that there are no restrictions on whose profile you can view, or who you can chat to. Plus, you get to see and respond to everyone who has viewed your profile, making it a great tool to meet new people. Of course, there are options to hide yourself from strangers, but where’s the fun in that? Once you have met people, you can add them to a “Friends” list (soon the list will be able to be imported from Twitter or Facebook), where you can see each other’s statuses (doing so requires permission from the user) or a “Favorites” list, where you don’t get to see their statuses, but acts as a sort of person bookmark (permission isn’t required to add someone to your favorites list, but the person can block you if you get all creepy). The group chat feature provides an easy way to broadcast messages out to friends, and have all the replies in one place for everyone to see. This can make things like But no location-based service would be complete without a scoring system. In Friends Around Me you earn points for activities such as using the app daily, sharing status updates out to other social networks, or receiving mad props on your photos. You can then cash in these points (they call them FAMES) for virtual gifts, so you can send that cute girl you see on the bus a virtual rose or whatever. Like that’s not creepy or anything. For a quick run down of some of the features, I’ve included some videos below. We should also note they paid for a booth at TC Disrupt. I wasn’t at the event, however, and I took a gander at this from a neutral standpoint.
Friends Around Me – Chat Feature from Carmen Leander on Vimeo.
Friends Around Me – Dashboard Feature from Carmen Leander on Vimeo. Friends Around Me is available now from the App Store. It has already been downloaded 150,000 times, so chances are you can find at least one person who wants to talk to you.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 10:04 am New Japanese cell phone behemoth NEC Casio Mobile to go America soon
We reported last year that NEC, Hitachi and Casio were in negotiations to merge their cell phone operations to become Japan’s second biggest manufacturer, following Sharp. And the new company, which is called NEC Casio Mobile Communications and was established on May 1, just yesterday announced ambitious expansion plans. According to reports in various Japanese media, NEC Casio Mobile plans to ship a total of 12 million cell phones in fiscal 2012, up a whopping 60% of all handsets NEC, Hitachi and Casio together shipped in 2009 (the companies will merge their cell phone operations on June 1). All of Japan’s eight (soon six) major cell phone makers are going through a slump currently, mainly due to a shrinking domestic market and rising development costs for advanced cell phones. In Japan, the new company wants to cooperate with all three national carriers (Docomo, KDDI au, and SoftBank Mobile). In the US, NEC Casio Mobile is said to currently look into building business ties with Verizon and AT&T, according to reports. The company expects 4 million of those 12 million cell phones it plans to ship in 2012 to go to markets outside Japan.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 10:01 am Gay Fetish Site Recon.com launches iPhone app
The free app uses your GPS to show photos of guys nearby, allowing you to chat with them and… well… I’m sure you can figure out the rest.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 9:48 am Hi Lux Pico Projector phone for $174? OK, I’ll bite
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 9:47 am Presenting...The American Black BearNaturalist Mark Fraser presents a video that introduces us to the American black bear.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 9:44 am 'Ardi' Questioned as Human AncestorSome scientists are raising doubts over whether the fossil skeleton named "Ardi" actually belongs to the human branch of evolution.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 May 2010 | 9:43 am Zynga and Yahoo Partner UpSection: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Websites
Earlier this month Zynga was threatening to leave Facebook over its extreme displeasure with Facebook’s demand for 30% of its profits. The two have since hashed out a new 5 year deal that both sides are happy with. Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 9:38 am Negroponte Promises $75 OLPC Slate by December
The OLPC slate may actually get made after all. Nicholas Negroponte of the One Laptop Per Child foundation has promised to get his XO-3 tablet computer into prototype form by December this year for a showing at CES in January 2011. The super-slim all-touch tablet will have a 9-inch screen and sell for just $75. The problem is, we’ve been here before. Just last year, Nick was promising essentially the same thing. There have been a few changes, though. Speaking at MIT’s Media Lab Tuesday he said that the price point should be no problem because the whole device, screen and all, will be made from plastic. The prototypes, however, will stick with heavy, fragile glass, presumably because the technology to extrude a whole computer (Negroponte’s plan) from a machine is not yet here. The XO-3 doesn’t seem quite as ridiculous as it once did, though. Apple has managed to deliver the iPad for just $500, and the simple tablet form with no moving parts seems ideal for the rugged outdoors that is the intended home of the OLPC slate. In fact, there’s something the computer will have that I wish were in the iPad. The XO-3 will have the same dual-mode screen as the original XO, which will be backlit indoors but use the light of the sun when outside so it can be read in bright light. Outdoor use is one place where the iPad fails. Whether the final result is like the machine shown in the mockup pictures or not, we’re pretty sure to see something similar, even if it does take a few more year. The original OLPC had a long and difficult gestation, but Nick Negroponte is stubborn enough to pull it off. OLPC’s Negroponte Says XO-3 Prototype Tablet Coming in 2010 [PC World] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 9:06 am Study reveals iPad cutting into Netbook salesSection: Apple, Computers, Netbooks
Back in March I had the choice between an iPad and a netbook and after much research and thought got a Toshiba 11’ ultraportable. As much as I personally like the iPad (I adore my iPod Touch!) it simply doesn’t do all I need a portable device to do. I needed to be able to use Firefox and Google Toolbar, and as a freelance writer and blogger, I need real keyboard. The on screen kind just doesn’t cut it for long writing sessions. I also needed multi-tasking as I frequently have my browser, email and MS Word going all at the same time. I love the Toshiba, it fits the bill perdectly. Tell us how you feel! Netbook or iPad, and why? Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 8:22 am Acer Give Sneak-Peek of New Kindle-Shaped 7-Inch Tablet
Acer is planning to have an Android tablet in our hands in the fourth quarter of this year. The specs are still secret, but the prototype is most definitely real. Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci pulled one out of his pocket during a presentation in Beijing today. So what does this 7-inch, touch-screened, probably-3G tablet look like? Like a color-screened Kindle. Acer has decided to differentiate itself from the trend of touch-only devices in favor of an almost square screen and a tiny chiclet keyboard. In shape, then, it is just like a Kindle, although a lot sleeker. But the Android part is what has us interested. At the rate Google is going, Android will likely have gotten several updates by the fall, and is already shaping up to make a compelling tablet OS. Combine that with Acer’s huge European popularity and low prices and this could be a big hit. One thing though, Acer. In the next half a year that you’re still working on this thing, lose the keyboard already, ‘kay? Acer CEO shows off 7-inch Android tablet [Shufflegazine via Engadget] Image: Shufflegazine used with permission. Thanks, Magnus! 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 8:01 am May 27th means LG’s Ally is now rocketing across the US, Iron Man stylee
Just think: somewhere out there, keen LG/Iron Man 2/Android fans are braving the harsh Spring conditions, waiting for their favourite Verizon stores to open. The less adventurous of the devout would have just pre-ordered it, but where’s the honour in that? You can grab the Ally for $99.99 after a not-at-all-annoying $100 mail-in rebate on a two-year contract from Verizon. Rocket boots not included.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 May 2010 | 8:00 am Fingers-On With The MicroSIM Card Adapter
It’s pretty easy to trim a miniSIM card down to fit into an iPad (or, presumably, the upcoming iPhone 4G). You just need to trim away the excess plastic from around the chip until it fits inside the iPad’s SIM-tray. If I can do it, anyone can. But what if you want to go the other way? Perhaps you want to use your iPad data plan in a cellphone, or – like me – you chopped up the card from your MiFi to fit the iPad but want to put it back into the wireless router to share your internet. Sure, you could take the plastic from an old credit-card and carve it to fit, using a hole-punch to get started. Or you could spend €6 (around $7) on a pre-made adapter. The German microSIM adapter is a tough piece of plastic cut to hold your tiny SIM and let you load it back into a regular miniSIM slot. It does one thing, and it does it well. Push your microSIM home and it clicks firmly into place. I tried it both with the AT&T microSIM that came with the iPad and my custom-cut Vodafone SIM that I trimmed myself. The adapter held both nice and snug and I was able to slip the Vodafone card back into the MiFi. It connected in seconds without trouble. Apart from laziness, the only real advantage of buying this adapter over making your own is that this one, as I said, holds the card in place thanks to some tiny triangular “shelves” in the corners of the cutout. These stop the card from pushing all the way through. A piece of tape across the back of a home-made card would do the same, though. You choose whether you need this or not. If you are the kind of person who has already trimmed his own, it seems a little odd that you wouldn’t make the adapter. After all, you can’t break anything if it goes wrong — you just start over. MicroSIM Adapter [MicroSIM Shop. Thanks, Eliot!] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 7:41 am Rumor: Natal will cost $149FROM GAMERTELL - Rumors abound with the pricng of Project natal… Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 May 2010 | 7:14 am USB Cufflinks Are Surprisingly Classy
Sometimes a dumb gimmick can actually be a great idea, too. Let’s test that theory. When I say to you “USB flash-drive cufflinks,” what do your think of? Novelty nonsense? That guy in your office who insists on wearing the Donald Duck tie? If you’re like me, you are cringing right now, imagining some dime-store monstrosity. But a look at the photo shows a pair of pretty classy cufflinks, two squared-off metal boxes which would look very handsome on the sleeves of your Italian hand-tailored shirt. The extra utility is only revealed when you pop off the lids and the tiny 2GB drives within are revealed, giving 4GB total. There’s something a little bit James Bond about these, and the usefulness of always having some storage to hand (literally) is clear. But then, given the fact that none of my cufflinks are pairs anymore but a collection of lonely singles, it might not be quite so secure. If you set them up as a mirrored RAID-array, though, you could lose an arm and still keep all your data, making you a kind of a cross between James Bond and Bruce Schneier. Available now for a shocking $195 per pair. 2GB USB Flash Drive Cufflinks [Cufflinks.com (awesome domain name, by the way) via Uncrate] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 6:07 am Bluetooth Headset is Controlled by iPhone App
Sound ID describes its new 510 Bluetooth headset thus: “The world’s first Bluetooth headset with its own iPhone App.” That about sums up an incredibly neat and inexplicably new idea. Earpiece sits stuck to the side of your face making you look as dorky as any other BT-headset, and you can answer calls and change volume using the button and touch-strip on the device. But there is also a companion iPhone application which adds more features. The A2DP headset talks to the EarPrint app and lets you monitor battery level, call people back and activate a Find-Me mode to help you track down which sofa cushion it is lost under. You can also fine tune the sound while in a call simply by dragging your finger in two dimensions on-screen to tweak the signal processing applied to the three microphones. This is, clearly, how all Bluetooth devices should work. The app is free and available now (Sound ID smartly got the App Store approval process out of the way first) and the headset will be ready to buy in early June, for $130. Sound ID 510 [Sound ID via Oh Gizmo!] EarPrint [Sound ID] 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 5:38 am Barnes and Noble E-Reader Now on iPad
Barnes & Noble has released its e-reader software for the iPad, adding yet another way to buy and read e-books. It’s as slick as we’ve come to expect, but suffers from several minor flaws and one fatal problem: Unlike iBooks, where you can buy easily and seamlessly from with the application, the B&N reader boots you out to a website, just like Amazon’s Kindle App. The app is available only in the US App Store, but as it is free you can create a US iTunes account and grab it anyway. That way you can try out sample books and also download free e-books (credit required, although not for samples), of which there are surprisingly many (mostly romance and Star Wars novels). Once you have completed the transaction in your browser, you step back to the app and hit refresh. The books are quickly downloaded to the iPad. I briefly tried out the reading interface, and it is adequate. There is a good range of fonts, you can highlight and make notes on text, although you can’t search your notes, and you can define words in the built-in dictionary as well as Google and Wikipedia (you’ll be asked if you want to launch the search in Safari first). The page turns are slick, and thankfully they leave out the page-turn animations that are so distracting in iBooks. The problem is when you flip to landscape format to read. Instead of splitting the text across two pages to take advantage of the big screen, the app just goes wide. There appears to be no way to fix this, so upright reading is recommended. BN eReader for iPad (it’s full, ugly name) is a competent reader, and it’s free. If you already own a Nook, I’d recommend it. Otherwise, there doesn’t seem much point. BN eReader for iPad [Barnes and Noble. Thanks, Brittany!] See Also: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 27 May 2010 | 4:01 am
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A certain founder of a certain hot startup made the mistake this evening of posting two messages to Twitter that he clearly didn’t intend to. They were sent via text message – and my guess is they were meant for a friend, not public consumption.
* Jane Smiley's novel A Thousand Acres, a modernized AU (Alternate Universe) retelling of King Lear and winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. King Lear is itself a hybrid of multiple folk and fairy tales
In July of last year, Twitter Search usage was exploding. As such, Twitter hired a new high-profile engineer, 
A 79-year-old man from Utica, NY entered an AT&T store with a hit list of names and a 357 Magnum. He opened fire, hitting one employee, before an off-duty police officer who was shopping at the store pulled his own gun and shot the attacker dead.
"Government officials handling billions of dollars in oil royalties engaged in illicit sex with employees of energy companies they were dealing with and received numerous gifts from them, federal investigators said...." 
Federal regulators on Friday approved Google’s $750 million 
"It is important to remember that no matter how frustrated one may be with crime and the criminal justice system, it is not permissible to use deadly force in this type of situation," Gresham Sgt. Rick Wilson said in announcing Witter's arrest. "Those two rounds could've gone anywhere. In fact, we're still not sure where they went. They could've struck an innocent bystander or damaged property." 
Apple, Dell and HP have announced they are joining forces to investigate working conditions at Foxconn. The Chinese manufacturer makes many gadgets for the three companies including the iPhone. On Tuesday an Foxconn employee leaped out a window to his death. His was the 11th suicide attempt at the plant this year and the 9th that was successful. The company claims that by providing on site counseling and support from Buddhist monks it has prevented 30 other suicide attempts. What is not known is the cause for the suicide epidemic. Many suspect the company may have inhumane working conditions, and the rash of suicides has led some labor groups in Asia to call for a boycott of the iPhone. The company denies all responsibility for the suicides. 
Who was it, again, who said Apple’s iPhone “doesn’t appeal to business because it doesn’t have a keyboard”?
A mad scientist has officially successfully infected himself with a computer virus. The mad scientist, who goes by the name of Dr. Mark Gasson, did this mostly as a proof of concept but has managed to stun most of the medical and technological world.
Today, Facebook is releasing its first official SDK for Android, offering developers on Google’s mobile OS an easy way to tie their Android native apps to Facebook Platform. As 
A new study from the FCC has found that most people are unhappy with their cellular provider’s billing. The agency surveyed over 3,000 people and discovered that most of them had received a shockingly high bill and didn’t understand ETFs at all. It also found that 83% of all Americans now have a cell phone. 
If you are wanting to pick up a shiny new Droid Incredible, you might be out of luck. For weeks now Verizon has been suffering from a shortage of the devices and it is now confirmed that a screen shortage is the cause.
While the big Steve said that you would have to go to Android for your porn fix, I guess he didn’t mean you would have to go there for help hooking up with like-minded leather fans.
Zynga and Yahoo! have announced a partnership that will bring Zynga’s wildly popular social games to Yahoo’s millions of users. The details were not announced but users can expect to see the games start appearing on Yahoo sometime in the fall. It’s not known which games will be seen, but unless Facebook has some kind of exclusivity deal, and there is no evidence that it does, expect to see the company’s red hot games Farmville and Mafia Wars among them.
A new study by Retrevo claims that Apple’s wildly popular iPad is hurting netbook sales. The study polled over 1,000 consumers and found that the majority chose an iPad over a netbook or cheap laptop, with 78% on the side of the iPad. That said, the iPad is really not a laptop replacement. Its lack of a keyboard makes word processing and working with spreadsheets difficult and the lack of flash support and multi-tasking makes it useless for many power users. Yes, there is a dock available with a physical keyboard but that makes the tablet less portable and convenient. Avid readers have discovered that it fails as an e-reader due to both the glossy screen, which makes it impossible to use in sunlight, and the weight of the device. The steep price makes it hard to justify for many as well. As an entertainment device it’s fantastic. As a business device, maybe not so much. 
