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Revealing Laptop Skins - The X-Ray Laptop Skin Will Creep You Out(TrendHunter.com) This X-Ray Laptop Skin will creep out those around you while you're studying for sure. Resembling a skeletal x-ray scan, the laptop skin is positioned in such a way where it looks like...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 2:40 am Australian Buyers Say They Were Told "No iPad Without Accessories"CuteSteveJobs writes "Australian iPad buyers have been forced to buy all manner of unnecessary add-ons including screen protectors, docking stations, covers, chargers and extended warranties due to a reported Official Apple policy. Shoppers reported sales assistants said it was 'company policy' or 'Apple policy' to sell the devices only with accessories, or not at all. A store manager for Authorised Apple Reseller JB Hi-Fi said it was 'a bad policy but it was Apple's policy and they couldn't sell one without it.' Other customers were told they must 'buy a Telstra SIM because the iPad is locked to Telstra,' even though it wasn't. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission and Consumer affairs are investigating the complaints."
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Source: Slashdot | 13 Jun 2010 | 2:37 am TechCrunch Gets A Birthday Gift From Jack Dorsey And SF Giants
A handful of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs (and one lucky blogger) enjoyed a San Francisco Giants baseball game this evening at AT&T Park. Twitter creator and Square co-founder Jack Dorsey had a surprise for us to celebrate TechCrunch’s fifth birthday – a big Happy Birthday message on the main scoreboard. Thanks Jack – it made our day.      
Source: TechCrunch | 13 Jun 2010 | 2:15 am Retro Hippie Fashions - The LF 'Evolving Summer' Lookbook is Hot for Summer (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The LF 'Evolving Summer' lookbook presents a creative collection of mix and match prints along with light, simple pieces. Bringing back the aviator sunglasses and oversized frocks and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 2:10 am Soft-Lit Sepia Shoots - The Dorothea Barth Jorgensen 'Contributor' Spread is Simply Sweet (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Dorothea Barth Jorgensen 'Contributor' spread brings out the softer side of the gorgeous model. These sepia-themed prints emit a soft glow as she poses casually with her neutral-colored...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 1:50 am Eco Gardening Pots - The Art Terre Sustainable Pots Make Gardening Even Greener (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Made of 100% recycled material, Art Terre Sustainable Pots are a great way to put an even more eco-friendly spin on your garden. These pots can be used both indoors and outdoors and...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 1:20 am Iran sends SMS warning to protestorsIran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has been sending threatening SMS text messages to people in Tehran and elsewhere in advance of anticipated anti-government demonstrations to mark the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 1:14 am Bedding-Inspired Skirts - The Cute Matthew Williamson Multi-Colour Weave Bubble Skirt (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Outfits can get super colorful with the Matthew Williamson Multi-Colour Weave Bubble Skirt. These patterned pieces make for a simplistic and cutesy summer outfit. With its short lengths...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 1:00 am Shipwreck-Inspired Lighting - The Anthropologie 'Washed Ashore' Lamp is a Hidden Treasure (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Those who like the thought of hidden treasures will definitely enjoy the Anthropologie 'Washed Ashore' Lamp. Made of reclaimed wood, this rustic piece of home decor gives off a vintage...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 13 Jun 2010 | 12:29 am Nerdy Pop-Up Books - The Hadron Collider Pop-Book is Perfect for Budding Physicists (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) The Hadron Collider pop-book has to be the nerdiest pop-book of all time. It is also one of the coolest, letting you construct your own Hadron Collider as you read the book. Voyage...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:59 pm Japanese Space Probe to Land in Australian Outback - ABC News
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:30 pm 31 Super Chic Fireplaces - Ways to Warm Up Your Rooms in Style (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) These chic fireplaces come in a vast of array of styles and capabilities. While some carry the benefit of being portable for those who like there fire on-the-go, others are wall-mounted...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:29 pm Japanese space probe to land in Australian outbackSYDNEY (Reuters) - A Japanese space probe which scientists hope will bring back a sample from an asteroid is due to return to Earth on schedule late on Sunday in the Australian outback, an...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:28 pm Backdoor Found In UnrealIRCd Source Archivel_bratch writes "A malicious backdoor was added to the UnrealIRCd source archive some time around November 2009. It was not noticed for several months, so many IRC servers are likely to be compromised. A Metasploit exploit already exists."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:28 pm Reflective Neon Sunglasses - The Vinyl Riot Mag Issue #3 Spread Presents Some Summer Fun (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Vinyl Riot Mag Issue #3 Spread features some unique reflective sunglasses that girls will drool over. Perfect for summer, these sunglasses are definitely an accessory to spice up...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:59 pm Professor William J. Mitchell, pioneer of urban computing, RIP
Professor William J. Mitchell, director of MIT's Design Laboratory and pioneering Smart Cities research group, died yesterday after a battle with cancer. Professor Mitchell was a brilliant and big thinker who wrote a series of seminal books, including Me++, City of Bits, and e-topia, about the intersection of humanity, networked intelligence, and the built environment. "Bill was a designer's designer and visionary about the impact of new media on human experience," says professor Ken Goldberg, director of UC Berkeley's Center for New Media, to which Mitchell was an advisor. "He was incredibly prolific and will leave a lasting impact on generations of designers and thinkers." CaringBridge: Bill Mitchell "Bill Mitchell, former dean of MIT's School of Architecture and Planning, dies at age 65"  Source: Boing Boing | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:14 pm In North Atlantic, researchers find a sea of garbageThe North Atlantic Ocean is looking more like a rubbish bin, with plastic and polystyrene flotsom spreading far and wide, according to four French explorers just back from eight months at...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:46 pm Japan's Asteroid Mission Set For Fiery Re-entry Over AustraliaOn Sunday, JAXA's Hayabusa mission will return to Earth after a dramatic seven years in space. But will it contain those precious asteroid particles?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:36 pm Meet the Makers: Q&A with Alan Oppenheimer of Open Door Networks (Appolicious)Appolicious - Location: Ashland, OregonSource: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:31 pm Scientists upbeat about global biodiversity panelMore than 90 countries have approved the creation of a scientific panel on biodiversity, the dream of many scientists around the world. The panel will peer-review scientific research on...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:29 pm Getting Paid Fairly When Job Responsibilities Spiral?greymond writes "I was originally hired as an Online Content Producer to write articles for a company website as well as start up the company's social media outlets on Facebook and Twitter. With budget cuts and layoffs I ended up also taking over the website facilitation for three of the company's websites (they let go of the current webmaster). During this time the company has been developing a new website and I was handed the role of pseudo project manager to make sure the developer stayed on course with the project's due date. Now that we're closer to launch the company has informed me that they don't have the budget or staff in place to set up the web server and have tasked me with setting up the LAMP and Zend App on an Amazon EC2 setup. While it's been years since I worked this much with Linux I'm picking it up and moving things along. Needless to say I want to ask for more money, as well as more resources (as well as a better title that fits my roles), but what is the best way to go about this? Of course my other thought is that I'd much rather go back to writing and working with marketing than getting back into IT."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:24 pm Protect Your iDevice from Theft. Sorta
     
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:19 pm Verizon Droid stocks low, help on the way - Fortune
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:05 pm Rumor: Google Voice desktop app may never come availableSection: Communications, Web, Google  Back in April it came to light that Google had begun internal testing of a desktop app for Google Voice and since then I have had my fingers crossed that it would come available soon. Well, according to a recent post on TechCrunch, that app is not going to “launch publicly any time soon.” Sad news, but what it has come down to is that Google may not want to be in the business of creating desktop software that works outside of the browser. Either way, and regardless of the reason its disappointing news to hear. Read [TechCrunch]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 6:19 pm M.I.A. steps from art underground to media spotlight (Reuters)Reuters - During "Space," the dreamy future-shock ballad that closes her upcoming third album, M.I.A. repeatedly coos, "My lines are down/You can't call me," over a gently percolating beat that sounds like a Sega Genesis practicing its pillow talk.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:51 pm Google Tells Congress It Disclosed Wi-Fi Sniffingtheodp writes "While conceding 'it is clear there should have been greater transparency about the collection of this [Wi-Fi] data,' Google asserted 'we have provided public descriptions of our location-based services' in its written response to Congress (PDF) about whether the public had been adequately informed of its data collection efforts. To prove its point, Google's how-many-times-do-we-have-to-tell-you answer included a link to a blog entry on My Location on the desktop, an odd choice considering that Google is still less-than-clear about exactly what's being captured by the service ('When My Location is active, Toolbar will automatically send local network information (including, but not limited to, visible WiFi access points)'). Congress might also want to evaluate the transparency of this cute Google video, which assured the public of Street View's privacy safeguards, but gave no hint of the controversial Wi-Fi collection."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:41 pm Apple vs. Android: Which OS Outpaces the Other? - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:40 pm Vuvuzelas stir online debate at World Cup (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:36 pm Itagaki's new game revealed: Devil's Third - Computerandvideogames.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:23 pm Tearing Apart a Hard-Sell Anti-Virus Adclimenole writes "I came across an email sent by a security vendor, reminding me, no urging me with the liver-transplant sort of urgency, to renew my subscription to their product, lest my pixels perish. I spent a minute or two staring at the email, thinking about all the poor souls out there who do not have the comfort of being a geek and who may actually take the advertisement seriously." That led to this insightful deconstruction of these over-the-top ads, the kind that make it hard to keep straight the malware makers and the anti-malware makers.
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 4:36 pm World's biggest radiotelescope launched in NetherlandsScientists in the Netherlands unveiled the largest radiotelescope in the world on Saturday, saying it was capable of detecting faint signals from almost as far back as the Big Bang. The...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 4:12 pm Protect your iDevice from theft. Sorta
Well first, the bad news; your iPad is gone. Not a whole lot you can do about that, except maybe hope you had the MobileMe stuff installed, and that’s a whole different subject. What you do know is when your precious was stolen. How do you know? You have a little application called PadLock installed. PadLock is the latest from software developer Kitchen Budapest, and tells you whenever your iPod, iPhone, or iPad is unplugged from your Mac. If at any time, these devices are unplugged from your computer, the PadLock software makes a loud noise, alerting you to the potential theft. How do you stop the alarm? Well, you can either plug your portable device back into your computer, or simply go into the software and disable the alarm. Luckily, this software is free, and open source. At any rate, you can download this program directly from Kitchen Budapest, and start feeling that warm safe sensation of absolutely no security provided by their software.
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jun 2010 | 4:00 pm HTC EVO 4G display gets scratch tested, comes out looking like a champSection: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile  One of the reasons why I love the Internet is because I can see and watch things that I would like to do, but would never imagine actually doing myself. You know, things like blending your gadgets, or taking them apart—or putting them through tests to see how durable they actually are. With that, we have a video of an HTC EVO 4G being scratch tested, well more specifically the display being scratch tested. Some of the tools used in the test included a penny, set of keys and even a razor blade. And not to give a total spoiler, but lets just say that the EVO 4G came out as a winner. Still, if you like to see people trying to damage expensive phones then the video is still worth a watch. Plus, its short at only 2:46. Watch [YouTube] Via [Android Central]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 3:58 pm Twitter Sells "Trending Topics" To Advertisersdestinyland writes "Twitter's 'Promoted Tweets' platform already allows advertisers to insert ads directly into its users' Twitter feeds. But advertisers will soon also be able to purchase spaces in the 'Trending Topics' area of Twitter. The space reserved for tracking topics seeing the most discussion will be sold for 'thousands of dollars a day,' according to advertisers who've been approached by Twitter, and while it could be a real cash cow for the service, some users argue that Twitter 'risks ruining the site if it lets the pursuit of profit interfere with the organic nature of the social network.'"
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 3:32 pm MOG’s Music Streaming iPhone App Is Caught In App Store Purgatory, Too
MOG has a lot riding on its mobile applications — it just closed a new $9.5 million funding round, some of which is going toward expanding its mobile platform. At SXSW it held a press event to preview its iPhone and Android applications, and what it showcased was pretty impressive. For $10 a month, users can stream any song or album they want, and they can locally download entire albums to their phone (which will work even when they lose connectivity) in one tap. It’s possible that Apple is concerned that MOG’s app is too good. If you listen (and pay for) a lot of music, MOG’s all-you-can-eat service can quickly pay for itself. And it makes tethering your iPhone to your PC every time you want to sync songs a thing of the past. Apple has long been been rumored to be working on its own cloud music service, especially since it acquired Lala last December, and may be worried about getting beaten to the punch. Thing is, Apple has already approved Rhapsody, which offers much of the same music streaming functionality (albeit without the full-album download button) and Spotify. On the other hand, Apple may just be overwhelmed — it has the release of the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 just around the corner, and now has to deal with developers who are upgrading their apps in time for the new OS launch. We’ll be keeping an eye on this to see how it develops. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jun 2010 | 3:27 pm Raccoon Disrupts Television News Weather SegmentWatch how news reporters react when a raccoon enters their studio during a live broadcast.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jun 2010 | 3:01 pm Airborne Wind Turbines Lift OffAlt energy enthusiasts have talked about harnessing powerful winds from the troposphere since the 1970s, but technological limits made it seem like a distant dream. Well, it's 2010 and the future has arrived. Airborne wind turbine prototypes are finally taking ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jun 2010 | 2:36 pm When Will the Automotive Internet Arrive?DeviceGuru writes "European researchers are developing a cooperative traffic system, known CVIS (Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Systems), comprised of vehicle-, roadside-, and central infrastructure-based communications hardware and software, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) wireless. Among other capabilities, cars communicate with each other and with 'smart traffic signals' to smooth the flow of traffic and avoid accidents, or with 'smart traffic signs' to avoid dangerous driving conditions. The CVIS project is in the midst of undergoing field trials in Europe, and Audi has recently deployed 15 test vehicles in a similar project. The ambitious vision of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) includes goals such as reduced traffic congestion and fuel consumption, enhanced safety, and improved driver and passenger comfort. Ultimately, the developers envision a sort of Automotive Internet."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 2:35 pm Week in Apple: WWDC 2010, iPhone 4, Safari 5, oh my! - Ars Technica
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 2:05 pm Microsoft previews controller-free games for Xbox 360 - Los Angeles Times
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 2:04 pm HTC Legend now available in Virgin Mobile CanadaSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  The HTC Legend was one of the more exciting Android phones to come out of Mobile World Congress this year and in a little bit of good news for those in Canada—its now available with Virgin Mobile. In terms of pricing, expect to pay $79.99 on a three-year agreement or $349.99 to go contract free. Feature wise, the Legend is touting Android 2.1 along with an AMOLED display, 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card slot and the complete range of Google goodies including Maps Navigation, Maps, Gmail, Google Talk and the Android Market. Product [Virgin Mobile]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 1:36 pm Doctors Reverse With Drugs Autism-Linked Fragile X Syndrome In MiceAn anonymous reader writes "New research by a team of Bangalore-based scientists has given hope to those with emotional problems caused by the inheritance of a fragile X chromosome. The researchers, for the first time in the world, mapped defective connections between nerve cells in the emotional hub of the brain of mice who had Fragile X Syndrome. The research has just been published in the online edition of the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." Besides the mapping of these nerves, though, "The NCBS team has shown that even the long-term ravages of the condition could be reversed with medication in mice." Fragile X syndrome is associated with autism, though the conditions do not map directly to each other.
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 1:33 pm Porn Sites More Infected Than Thoughtnk497 writes "Porn sites are five times as likely to host malware as previously thought, with 3.6% offering up a digital infection of some sort, according to a researchers who set up their very own adult sites for a new study. One reason for the high rate of malware is that the online porn industry makes use of affiliate programs, where one site will drive traffic to another in exchange for links, cash, or simply free pornographic material to use. Because such programs don't check who they're doing business with, and sites use disguised links and other clandestine methods to drive people to different pages, it's easy for criminals to abuse the system to spread malware. Researcher Gilbert Wondracek said, 'They inadvertently have created an ecosystem that can easily be abused on a large scale by cyber criminals, and that's worrying.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 12:34 pm Hot gaming news for the week of 6-06-2010Section:  No need to scour the interwebs for hot gaming news, Gamertell‘s already done that for you! Here’s a look at this week’s top stories…
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 12:22 pm Andreessen Horowitz To Win The Foursquare Investor Badge
The company has delayed committing to new venture capital as they considered buyout offers – negotiations went deep with both Yahoo and Facebook, and possibly Microsoft. The Yahoo discussions ended weeks ago, and Facebook passed on an acquisition earlier this week, we’ve heard. That means the company is raising that big new round of financing. And a slew of venture capitalists, including Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital and First Round Capital were all rumored to competing heavily for inclusion despite the $80 million or so valuation, say our sources. Andreessen Horowitz, despite rumors that they were pulling out of discussions with the company weeks ago over concerns that too much information was leaking to the press, is the last venture capitalist standing. The fact that founding partner Marc Andreessen is on the board of directors of Facebook, a key partner or competitor of Foursquare, may be the factor that put them over the top. Existing investors OATV and Union Square Ventures will also participate heavily in the new round, we’ve heard. In the meantime they’ve likely already loaned additional capital to the company. It’s not clear if the final terms of the round have been set, or who’s putting in how much money. We sat down with Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley two weeks ago at TechCrunch Disrupt to talk about his vision for the company. Watch that interview here.      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jun 2010 | 12:20 pm UPDATE 1-UK PM Cameron to visit Washington next monthLONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - David Cameron, who held telephone talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday, will make his first visit to the United States as British prime minister on July 20.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 12:16 pm Experts weigh in on iPhone 4 display quality (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Itâs not every week that Apple ignites a controversy. Okay, maybe thatâs not true, but itâs not every week that Apple ignites a controversy that pits physicists, astronomers and neuroscientists against one another. But thatâs what happened with the introduction of the iPhone 4 and its high-resolution Retina display.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:56 am Researchers Create Social Engineering IRC BotAn anonymous reader writes "Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology developed an IRC bot that acts as a 'man in the middle' between two unsuspecting users, modifies URLs passed between them, and also is capable of steering the conversation. Not only does this work surprisingly well on IRC — they found a 76.1% click rate for potentially malicious URLs — but four out of 10 people on Facebook Chat also clicked on links after the bot introduced complete strangers to each other. This would have worked even better if the bot were to clone existing friends' profiles and submit friend requests from those, say researchers."
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Source: Slashdot | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:39 am UK PM Cameron to visit Washington on July 20LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - David Cameron will make his first visit to the United States as British prime minister on July 20, his office said on Saturday.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:29 am Google explains why it shut down its background image experiment
Would the explanatory link have made a difference in user reaction? Probably. Most of the uproar was probably sparked because people didn’t understand what was going on, but I honestly don’t understand why it sparked such hostility and rage. I actually liked the images. Sure, some of them were a bit busy but there were plenty of image choices provided (even plain white!) to suit every taste. Besides, how many of us spend hours on the Google homepage? Seriously, if seeing a background image on the Google homepage enrages you, something’s wrong. Don’t sweat the small stuff! Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:15 am More Than 32,000 Advance With AV at InfoComm 2010LAS VEGAS, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- InfoComm International today announced that InfoComm 2010, the annual conference and exhibition for professional audiovisual buyers and sellers worldwide held June 9-11 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was the second largest commercial AV show ever held, with 32,002 AV professionals attending from more than 90 countries.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:14 am More Than 32,000 Advance With AV at InfoComm 2010Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:14 am Live radio interview with Mark this morning 6/12/2010 10:30am PT
I'm going to be interviewed about Made by Hand by Lyle Troxell on GeekSpeak on KUSP at 10:30am PT. Live stream here. Podcast here. Source: Boing Boing | 12 Jun 2010 | 11:04 am Google Wi-Fi Data Capture Unethical, But Not Illegal - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:31 am Google Wi-Fi Data Capture Unethical, But Not Illegal (PC World)PC World - Google is under global scrutiny for its "accidental" gathering of wi-fi data while driving about photographing the world with its Street View camera cars.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:30 am Report: Pentagon launches "manhunt" for Wikileaks founder. Founder: "Yoo-hoo, I'm in Vegas!" (UPDATED) [UPDATE, Saturday, June 12: Assange did not appear at the Las Vegas panel discussion last night. His whereabouts are not publicly known.] In the Daily Beast today, Philip Shenon reports the Pentagon has launched a "manhunt" for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has... just announced he'll be in Vegas tonight. Huh? The Defense Department is upset at Wikileaks and Assange for publishing a number of secret and sensitive documents, and the "Collateral Murder" video. The big fear now, according to reports, is that Assange has access to up to 260,000 classified State Department cables leaked by 22-year-old Army intelligence specialist Bradley Manning (now jailed in Kuwait after being outed by hacker Adrian Lamo). From The Daily Beast: The cables, which date back over several years, went out over interagency computer networks available to the Army and contained information related to American diplomatic and intelligence efforts in the war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, the diplomat said. American officials would not discuss the methods being used to find Assange, nor would they say if they had information to suggest where he is now. "We'd like to know where he is; we'd like his cooperation in this," one U.S. official said of Assange.Unless this tweet from Wikileaks (presumably Assange himself) is a diversion, if there is a manhunt... they won't have to look far.
Vegas, eh? Then again, maybe he'll be Skypeing in from overseas. The whole thing is feeling awfully Spy Vs. Spy. Like an '80s movie, Wargames-ish, with brilliant but dense hackers sniping at each other from behind DOS terminals and changing the world with shell scripts while the U.S. Military lumbers behind them, bellowing, "ASSSANNNNNNNNGE!" It should be said that at this time, I have no way of verifying the reported "Pentagon manhunt" for Assange, nor do we know where Assange is, nor do we know much about the reportedly-hotly-sought 260,000 "diplomatic cables." The "manhunt" could be one guy with a dot-gov email, not a vast, coordinated effort with all phasers set to kill. But again, we don't know. Yet. Related: Wired News reports more on the contents of the chat sessions between Manning and Lamo, who turned over Manning to the government.
Source: Boing Boing | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:22 am Jamiroquai: Where's he now? Pimpin' instant ramen in JapanWell, I suppose we all have to pay the rent. In the Japanese television commercial embedded above, Jamiroquai's Jay Kay sings an alternate version of the band's '90s funkyraver smash hit "Virtual Insanity" in which the lyrics have been changed to praise the noodly goodness of Cup Noodle instant ramen (known in the USA as "Cup Noodles"). In Japanese, he now croons, "I am hungry, I am hungry, I like Cup Noodle, I don't need another one." Virtual insanity, indeed! Here is the official Cup Noodle campaign site. (via watashi no tokyo, via Gavin Purcell)
Source: Boing Boing | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:03 am BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 6-06-2010Section:  We may not cover Apple 24x7… but we know someone who does! Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 10:01 am Linux Tablets, Where are You? (PC World)PC World - Apple has long had a history of being arrogant. But, more often than not, they've been able to back it up by the quality of their products.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 9:55 am The Icon iPhone charger is real
Our good buddy Wayne in Singapore just picked up the Icon iPhone charger at a PC fair and reports that it’s real, it works, and it’s pretty cool. He writes:
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jun 2010 | 9:09 am The Macalope Weekly: Wrong, wrong, wrong! (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Everyoneâs got it wrong this week! Fake Steve says the Mac is dead, Fortune gets burned trying to slam the iPhone 4, and an eWeek pundit turns a top ten list into a stupid pet trick. The Macalope knows weâre only days from graduation, but thatâs it! Youâre all repeating the third grade!Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 9:00 am Boxee Box coming to North America in NovemberSection: Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray 
Back when the Boxee Box was announced, there seemed to always be a summer 2010 launch window, Boxee itself said it wanted to ship the box in Q2. That would have been just about now. Unfortunately, it looks like that isn’t happening, as Boxee has said that a Q2 launch “proved overly ambitious.” It turns out that now the Boxee Box will be coming to the US and Canada in November, just in time for the holidays. The D-Link-made Box itself will stay the same as we saw back at CES, it looks as if the software could be the issue. It will include Flash 10.1 support, which was just announced, which could possibly lead to some of the delay. The goal to show everything local and remote at full 1080p is an ambitious enough goal itself. The November release date is depressing, but we’ve already been waiting months for the box. I’ve been anxious to try use the box more since playing with it at CES. Another five months isn’t too bad. This could leave more time for Boxee to get some more partners for their payment service, which would provide even more content. What the announcement doesn’t cover is when the separately sold Boxee Remote. That presumably wouldn’t run into so many issues, and could help keep some people happy. Or it could be used with a Mac mini or HTPC running Boxee so we can have our own Boxee Boxes before the official one is released. Of course, they won’t have the interesting design. Read [Boxee] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:51 am Living (or Not) With a Hot JupiterWhat would life on Earth be like if Jupiter had migrated very close to the sun? Would life have even evolved?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Jun 2010 | 8:41 am Hands-on with the Kapoosh Knife holder: Actually kind of coolI saw this a few weeks ago and was impressed. It’s basically a universal knife holder that allows you to slap in any knife in your collection without having to have special holes in the holder. In theory, it seems to work, although in practice there are some complaints. I didn’t actually get a chance to try it at home, but it may be interesting to look at. Has anyone seen it in the wild? Have one? Are they any good?
Source: CrunchGear | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:58 am SCO is done
A judge has refused to overturn a jury's verdict that SCO doesn't even own the Unix-related intellectual property it claimed ended up in Linux. This spells a final doom for its litigation against companies that use it. [Groklaw]Source: Boing Boing | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:53 am Motorola Droid X images appear, this time they are surprisingly crisp & clearSection: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile  A few more images of the Motorola Droid X have recently hit the web, and this time one thing is certain—Mr. Blurrycam was not responsible for these. To begin with there are more than a handful available to look at, however there are also some specs that came along with. First things first though, the Droid X was described as being “SOLID” in terms of build with a screen that is “awesome.” In terms of the specs, those look to be a 4.3 inch display, with HDMI out, Android 2.1 and a new version of MOTOBLUR. As for the processor powering the device, that is still unconfirmed however it was noted as being a 750MHz TI OMAP3630 processor. In addition there is a set of four hardware navigation keys, which some may find much nicer as compared to the capacitive soft keys typically found on Android phones. Anyway, while we wait for something official from Verizon, hit the ‘via’ link below to check out more of the images… Via [Gadget University]  Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:40 am Is Entrepreneurship Just About the Exit?
Ryan Sit, who runs a website called Picclick.com, feels the same way. His visual sales site attracts 300,000 unique visitors per month and generates millions in product sales for eBay and Etsy sellers—netting him a healthy six-figure income. He works from home and spends as much time as he wants to with his two small children and wife. Ryan cherishes the freedom to do anything he wants—like experimenting with new website ideas. The last thing he wants to do is to raise capital or merge with a bigger company. “You become a slave when you are funded, and having lots of employees is just a pain”, Ryan says. What business schools teach, and the conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley, is that a tech startup must have a clearly defined exit strategy and focus all of its energy on reaching this final goal. In other words, entrepreneurship is all about the exit—wealth needs to be built by taking the company public or selling it to a larger player. Before any Angel or VC invests in a business, he evaluates its exit strategies and cross-examines the entrepreneur to make sure that he/she isn’t even thinking of building a “lifestyle business” (the ultimate sin). VCs include terms like “demand registration rights” in their funding contracts. These terms give the right to force a company to go public, in case the founder succumbs to the temptation to live off the profits of the company rather than exit. So growth becomes more important than profit; the destination—an exit—becomes more important than the journey; and the employees are simply a means to an end. But must this be so? Technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant Sramana Mitra asks a great question: “What if the idea of exit was removed from the equation… what if the investor and entrepreneur agreed to a different model—the model of sharing dividends”? She says the mathematics is simple: if a $500,000 investment helped in building a $10 million-a-year company with 20% profit year after year—which is entirely possible—angel investors would collect several million dollars in dividends. And entrepreneurs would build companies that they can nurture over a longer period, and “enjoy”. This makes a lot of sense for many of the entrepreneurs that I know. Yes, some of my friends are highly ambitious and need to try to build a Google or a Zynga. But most will be happy to build a lifestyle business that pays the bills and lets them learn, grow, and “enjoy” the entrepreneurial journey. They would rather build wealth slowly and steadily than live in fear of investors’ forcing them to bring in another CEO, or to take the company down the wrong path. This revealing interview with Tony Hsieh of Zappos shows the pressure that even the most competent company founders face. Sramana has started a program called 1M/1M—which aims to help 1 million entrepreneurs reach 1 million dollars in revenue by teaching them the fundamentals of bootstrapping, customer validation, and positioning. This is done through a series of online strategy roundtables—a reality show of sorts, where she coaches five entrepreneurs per session, with up to a thousand others listening. And Sramana is trying to persuade Angel investors to look more closely at companies that can be profitable and produce dividends but will never scale to be the next Google Do all “enjoyable” business have to be small, like the ones that Sramana is nurturing? Certainly not. Take the example of Hannon Hill, which develops a web-content-management system called Cascade Server. David Cummings started the company as an undergrad at Duke in late 2000, and has grown it and the spin-offs to over six million dollars in revenue. It employs 51 people. He says his company has grown every year since inception; he has no co-founders, no investors, and no desire to exit. David is investing a major part of his profits in growth because he sees the potential to build a hundred-million-dollar business. And he gets to build a company with an “awesome corporate culture”, pay himself a “nice” salary, and work on fun projects. And then there is SAS Institute, of Cary, NC. Founded by Jim Goodnight and John Sall in 1976, the business-intelligence and customer-relationship-management software company has grown to be a highly profitable $2.3 billion-dollar business. When Jim showed me around his campus a few years ago, he took great pride in the rare artwork that his company had accumulated, as well as the benefits SAS provides its employees—like two on-site childcare centers; an employee-health-care center; wellness programs, which include a 58,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center; “eldercare” programs for parents of employees; and soda fountains and snacks in every break room. No wonder SAS is always rated as one of the best places to work in America. Jim doesn’t have to apologize to anyone for putting the needs and welfare of his employees ahead of profits. In turn, his employees reciprocate with hard work and dedication: SAS’s turnover rates are the lowest in the industry. I may be glorifying lifestyle businesses a little more than I should. It is never easy to build a profitable business, and there are many risks. Without input from shrewd investors who keep their ears to the ground, a company risks rapid obsolescence. Technology changes very fast, and you can go from boom to bust overnight. If David Park and Eric Bahn were to get a respectable purchase offer from rival GMAT test-prep companies like Kaplan or The Princeton Review, I would advise them to sell. With a few million dollars in the bank, they will have the luxury of starting a new business without fear of having their families suffer in case they fail. They can follow Jim Goodnight’s path when they have financial security. I also don’t want to discourage entrepreneurs from being ambitious. I say they should shoot for the moon. The point I want to make is that if you build a company with the right values, you are more likely to be successful and enjoy the journey than if you just focus on the exit—and that it is okay trade a little bit of ambition for happiness. Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa and find his research at www.wadhwa.com.      
Source: TechCrunch | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:33 am The power of human rights videoA year ago this weekend, Tehran erupted in protest at the disputed results of Iran’s tenth presidential election. In the severe government crackdown that followed, documented on cameras and uploaded by citizens to YouTube, no moment has been seen more than the death of Neda Agha Soltan, a young musician whose brutal killing by a sniper became the rallying cry for Iran’s opposition Green Movement. The anonymous videos of her death even won the prestigious George Polk prize for journalism last year.How has video become such an important part of human rights advocacy worldwide? In the past, we mainly saw these kinds of images in the nightly news or in documentaries - and even then only occasionally. But now that access to the Internet is much more widespread (even in many developing countries), and billions worldwide have access to ever more powerful cellphones and digital cameras, we encounter human rights images much more directly - on YouTube, in Google searches, in Facebook feeds, through links shared on Twitter. Today the YouTube blog begins a series of posts exploring the issues around human rights and video in partnership with WITNESS, an international human rights organization that supports people using video to document and expose human rights violations. We encourage you to learn more. Posted by Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics, YouTube    
 Source: The Official Google Blog | 12 Jun 2010 | 7:30 am Facebook’s “Like” feature being used by scammersSection: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking
If that wasn’t enough, scammers also user the the API to “clickjack” accounts. In that case clicking like sends the user to a malicious site that pushes malware to the their computer. Facebook hasn’t had any comment on either scam but it has been disabling the like button when it’s been reported to lead to a scammy site. Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 12 Jun 2010 | 6:38 am Veterinary Researchers Achieve Cloning FirstResearchers at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences have achieved another cloning first with the successful delivery of a foal using oocytes from a live mare, the first such clone in the world.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jun 2010 | 6:13 am RIM And Motorola Finally Come To An AgreementResearch In Motion Ltd (RIM) has reached a technology licensing agreement with ongoing cellphone rival Motorola, ending more than two years of litigation.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:48 am Google Says It Never Used Wi-Fi InformationAfter announcing that it accidentally collected data over non-encrypted Wi-Fi networks from more than 30 countries over several years, Google is now telling lawmakers that it never examined or made use of any of the information gathered.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:40 am FCC Says More Focus Needed On SecurityThe Federal Communications Commission says it plans to boost inquiries into online security and privacy issues after recent security breaches involving Apple’s iPad and Google’s Street View cars that collected private data.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:20 am Expect More Cold, Snowy Winters: ExpertNorth America, Europe and eastern Asia could see more cold, moist and snowy winters much like the one that just passed, according to one top scientist.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:10 am Help File: Forget about the mythical 'Verizon iPhone' already - Washington Post
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 12 Jun 2010 | 5:06 am New cyberattacks in SKorea; sites suffer no damage (AP)AP - Two South Korean government websites were struck by the second cyberattack in a week, but suffered no major damage, the government said Saturday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Jun 2010 | 3:02 am New cyberattacks in SKorea; sites suffer no damageTwo South Korean government websites were struck by the second cyberattack in a week, but suffered no major damage, the government said Saturday. Most of the computers trying to access...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Jun 2010 | 3:02 am
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So you’re at the coffee shop, and you’ve walked over to the counter to order another half-frap-double shot raspberry no fat mocha, and left your iPad (or iPod) plugged into your laptop. Suddenly, that skeevy looking fellow who was sitting two tables away makes a grab for your iPad, and runs for the door! You don’t see him because you were looking away, but you still know your kit has been boosted! How do you know? Well, you had the PadLock installed.
Yesterday we 
A months long fundraising process for 
Despite what many believe, Google says it didn’t shut down it’s homepage background experiment because of user complaints. According to Google Search VP Marissa Mayer, a software bug was to blame. 
David Park and Eric Bahn are earning more at their startup, called 
Facebook’s new like feature has already been taken advantage of by scammers who are using it to pump out like spam. Users who click like on their fake groups or sites such as “I am sad, please LIKE me to cheer me up” found themselves sent to portals with names like FBlike, Img-Mee, and LikePortal. These sites use Facebook’s like API for one reason only-to get people to click on ads. Some of them are misleading and trick people into signing up for expensive subscriptions. For example one ad pretends to be a quiz about iPads and at the end presents an “entry form” for a contest. One of the things it asks for is a cell phone number. Those who were foolish enough to hand it over got themselves signed up to a useless service called PrizeKing.com and charged anywhere from $7 to $20 a month. The scammers behind the site pocket a cool $10 affiliate fee for every person they trick into signing up. 