December 29, 2005

Just shut up

"As intrusive noises go, the car alarm is one of the worst offenders. But there are plenty of others, too, most of them tied to gadgetry designed to make our lives more convenient. Well, convenient they may be, but irritating ... they certainly are."

Drug Cocktail, No Hangover

"...thanks to a new online service that lets patients see how various drugs interact with one another, as well as with several gene variations that profoundly affect how drugs are processed in the liver. "

Your Right to Be an Idiot

"Having access to the internet is a little like handing a kid a loaded gun. In the wrong hands it can be intellectually lethal. In terms of being a reliable source, the web is a minefield to be navigated very carefully. There is plenty of useful information to be had, but the place is a nest of vipers, too."

Worst Tech Moments 2005

Hackers Rebel Against Spy Cams

"And, just for fun, the group created an anonymous surveillance system that uses face-recognition software to place a black stripe over the eyes of people whose images are recorded."

Engineer proves speed camera error in court

"I need the verdict to say that this was not dropped through lack of evidence -- it was dropped because it was a false prosecution," he told a local reporter."

Great Hacks and Pranks Of Our Time

"In Cambridge, Massachusetts, at least, student pranks have become an establishment activity."

December 28, 2005

Criminals target viruses for cash

"Security experts say this explosion in variants is partly driven by a desire to overwhelm anti-virus firms. With defences spread thinly, hackers believe they will have more time for their particular creation to infect machines."

December 22, 2005

Digital Content Security Act

"... the measure will outlaw the manufacture or sale of electronic devices that convert analog video signals into digital video signals, effective one year from its enactment. PC-based tuners and digital video recorders are listed among the devices.' "

Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey

Because that info could never be abused, right?

December 15, 2005

Wikipedia survives research test

"The free online resource Wikipedia is about as accurate on science as the Encyclopedia Britannica, a study shows. "

December 13, 2005

DirectTV to Pay $5.4M in Privacy Fines

For violating the Do Not Call registry. Yes!

December 09, 2005

50% of HDTV Owners Don't Use HD

"apparently half of all High Definition Television (HDTV) owners don't actually use the HD capabilities of their set, and nearly a quarter think they are watching high definition video when they actually haven't set it up correctly. "

Song sites face legal crackdown

What's next, getting arrested for humming a song to yourself?

December 06, 2005

Google: Ten Golden Rules

"Getting the most out of knowledge workers will be the key to business success for the next quarter century. Here's how we do it at google. "

December 01, 2005

MYPCE: The Ultimate Computer Set Up

Just in time for Christmas!

SpotBot: Our First Steps Toward A Maintenance Droid

"When our robotic overlords begin their revolution shortly, at least they won't have to worry about the blood stains in the carpets after it's all said and done."

November 30, 2005

U.S. Border Guards Check Blog, Deny Entry

Driving Away Teens With High Frequency Noise

"Apparently most older people can not hear the sounds, but teens can not stand it."

FCC Report Supports a la Carte TV Pricing

"The FCC may soon allow cable/sat companies to sell individually customized TV channel packages." Lots of good discussion in the comments section as well.

November 29, 2005

HD Radio Content Protection Act aims to limit digital radio recording

"It would require device makers to implement ?functionality? to automatically delete your recordings after a certain amount of time, just like back in the good old days."

MIT researchers working on super-fast robotic muscles

So just how hack-proof is the 360?

Microsoft goes to great lengths to ensure that you can't modify the new XBox, because that would be doing what you want with something you own, and that's not a good thing.

November 18, 2005

Weird Acronyms & Tech Term Oddities

Webopedia rocks, and this page is pretty interesting.

November 08, 2005

Italian Police Asked to Investigate Sony DRM Code

"Also, Computer Associates brands Sony code 'spyware.'"

November 02, 2005

More on Sony's "DRM Rootkit"

Play a music CD, and Sony gets access to your computer. Go Sony!

October 26, 2005

October 25, 2005

New sustainable building materials

"By using recycled, vegetable-based and biodegradable resources, these materials offer consumers a choice that may begin to alleviate the long-term burden of building. "

White Light, No Heat

"Its visible spectrum is similar to a typical incandescent bulb, but it puts out fifty times the light-per-watt, and lasts sixty times longer."

Gadget shuts of the TV when you slack

Let's get that heart rate up! The commercials are over!

BitTorrent user guilty of piracy

"A Hong Kong man has been convicted of movie internet piracy in what is believed to be the first case involving BitTorrent file-sharing software."

Gamer buys virtual property with lots of real cash

"A virtual space resort being built in the online role-playing game, Project Entropia, has been snapped up for $100,000. "

October 24, 2005

iPod Nano litigation

"Apple is facing legal action from an aggrieved American consumer over alleged problems with the iPod Nano."

Ten RSS Hacks

"10 RSS power user tips that you can use to enhance your life."

October 18, 2005

Power boosts for future gadgets

"Power generation is one of the big challenges facing not only the consumer electronics industry, as people do more with their devices..."

October 17, 2005

Microsoft Invents A 'Play-Once Only' DVD

And the rest of the world gets ready to completely ignore it.

The exhaustion of IPv4 address space

"It predicts that the IPv4 address space will be exhausted in 2 - 10 years and suggests that it isn't worth trying to reclaim old allocations."

October 13, 2005

Dark Underbelly of Technology

"I'm not, strictly speaking, anti-technology. I just don't treat it like a freaking religion."

October 12, 2005

I.B.M. to Put Genetic Data of Workers Off Limits

"I.B.M., the world's largest technology company by revenue, is promising not to use genetic information in hiring or in determining eligibility for its health care or benefits plans. "

video iPod

Video iPod hits the market

Machine Makes Dishes on Demand

"MIT Media Lab's Counter Intelligence Group, which develops innovative kitchen designs, has created a machine that makes dishes on demand and recycles them after diners have finished a meal."

Here comes Flock

"Flock hopes to turn the browser into a dashboard for collaborating, blogging, sharing photos, reveling in a raft of other group activities that have recently caught fire online.... "

my iPod = myPod

"Other technologies are conveniences, but with my entire personal musical history -- 22 gigabytes of music organized into 100 playlists -- my iPod is no longer just a product. It's an extension of myself. It's myPod."

Driverless VW Wins $2 Million Robot Race

October 10, 2005

new software knows when you are lying

Microsoft Plots the End of Drivers

"Microsoft has received a U.S. patent for a system for PCs to get information about a peripheral device directly from the device..."

October 04, 2005

RIAA Countersued For Racketeering Again...

SmartDeck cassette adapter provides iPod control

New school media on your old school home/car stereo

The Sonic Impact T-Amp

Supergear alert!

LeakFrog Water Alarm

$13 device lets you know when there's a water leak somewhere.

Dell redefines “free” delivery

"They’ll continue offering free delivery, it’s just that beginning October 10th you’ll have to pony up some extra cash if you’d like that budget Dimension desktop delivered all the way to your door."

Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near"

"By "Singularity", Kurzweil refers not to a collapsed supernova, but instead to an extraordinarily bright future in which technological progress has leapt by such exponentially large bounds that it will be... well, for lack of a better word: 'utopian'."

September 29, 2005

Sub-$100 laptop design unveiled

"The laptop will be tough and foldable in different ways, with a hand crank for when there is no power supply. "

September 28, 2005

Apple admits iPod Nano problem

"Apple has admitted there are problems with its new iPod Nano portable music player, but the technology giant insists the number of units affected by the flaws are minimal."

Boom times for hi-tech fraudsters

"One area turning out to be a hotbed of hi-tech crime is Eastern Europe. Enormously successful tech savvy gangs have been traced to Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. "

September 27, 2005

Company to release rock-climbing simulator

And it has earthquakes built in.

My IPod for a Random Playlist

"But no sooner did converts load their libraries onto the shiny new devices than they discovered a new deficiency: The randomization feature seemed anything but, well, random."

Class Action Lawsuit Against Sneaky Adware Firm Moves Forward

Yumemi Koubou (Dream Workshop)

Control the subject of your dreams for $25.

Space elevator robot reaches 1000 feet

Toyotas to monitor vitals, indicate driver’s mood

Robot uncovers $10 billion treasure

Okay, who wants to help me build a robot?

Games Teaching the Basics of Programming

Firefox Exploit Adds Fuel to Browser Security Feud

"'This is not your run-of-the-mill proof of concept exploit code.'"

U.S. Deploys Orbital Communications Jammer

"'You can't go to war and win without space.''"

Playing CDs a Privilege Not A Right

Ya, right.

September 23, 2005

Deadly plague hits Warcraft world

"A deadly virtual plague has broken out in the online game World of Warcraft."

September 21, 2005

From ape to 'Homo digitas'?

Intelligence in the Internet age

"It's a question older than the Parthenon: Do innovations and new technologies make us more intelligent?"

September 20, 2005

VW Goes USB

"The center armrest is not just for stashing jewel cases and weapons any longer: Volkswagen is putting a USB port in there too. The car stereo will recognize the memory device once you plug it in, and display up to six music folders."

Google to provide entire universe with WiFi

Computer Security Still Totally Inadequate

"In a sense we are fortunate that most attackers want to control and use systems they attack rather than destroy them."

Simon of Space

An excellent science fiction novel, presented via blog.

September 19, 2005

A moral virus?

"A new Trojan horse program circulating around the Internet this week appears to be on a moral mission to stamp out adult Web sites..."

Top Ten Things You Should Know Before You Buy the iPod Nano

Eptascape to Debut Privacy-Enabled Video Camera

"... the camera protects personal data by hiding people's identities, while maintaining the surveillance factor in the resulting video. Should an incident occur, authorized personnel who possess the proper decryption key can play back video recorded from the camera revealing people's identities."

The Telecrapper 2000

"...the TC2K identifies incoming telemarketer calls and using caller ID (or more specifically, their lack thereof), and is programmed to ensnare the caller in a software-driven conversation in order to keep them on the line as long as possible..."

The H2N-Gen cuts fuel costs in half while saving the planet

Artist Suggesting Ways Around Copy Protection

"Switchfoot's new album Nothing Is Sound shipped from Sony with copy protection software on the CD, much to the dismay of thousands of iPod-wielding fans. The band posted a response on their official forum apologizing for the protection and detailing ways to circumvent the protection and rip their songs to PC."

Windows Vista To Have Seven Editions

As if people aren't confused enough...

20 Things They Don't Want You to Know

"We reveal some of what vendors are keeping mum, such as: You never have to pay full price, extended warranties rarely pay for themselves, and the big sites do have customer service numbers."

September 16, 2005

Google unveils blog search site

Broadband to rule the TV waves

"TV delivered into living rooms over broadband connections will completely change TV as well as the internet as we know it, concludes a major report. "

September 13, 2005

'Second Life' membership now free

"Linden Lab, maker of the popular virtual world "Second Life," is making membership to its metaverse free."

First Look: Apple's Dazzling iPod Nano

"New flash-based player offers a color screen and the beloved click wheel." Another report I read had the reporters trying to break it by dropping it; they had to run over it with a car more than once to get it to stop working.

Hacking fears bog down online banking growth

"The number of people who turn to the Internet for personal banking isn't growing--but those who are already hooked on such services are using them more often, a new survey has shown."

September 06, 2005

Logitech Mouse Does More Than Point and Click

"Cordless mouse alerts you when you have incoming e-mail or instant messages."

Symantec Patches Antivirus App

"Flaw found in corporate software could allow unauthorized access to a company's servers."

CoolText: Logo and Button Generator

"... an online graphics generator for web pages and anywhere else you might need an impressive logo without a lot of work. We provide real-time generation of graphics customized exactly the way you want them."

September 02, 2005

Blog Faces Lawsuit Over Reader Comments

EFF layperson's guide to DRM in music services

"Imagine if Tower Records sold you a CD, but then, a few months later, knocked on your door and replaced the CD with one that you can't play in your car. Would you still feel like you "owned" the CD? Not so much, eh? "

The Black Viper Services Config Helper

Save some computer horsepower by shutting down services you don't need.

August 31, 2005

Let your fingers do the gossiping

"Blogs are so trendy that the controversial one-sweep Internet phone directory, ZabaSearch, is offering them for free. Think of this as a giant public phone book that you can scribble on."

MIT concocts fogless glass

"How do you prevent glasses from fogging up? Coat them in water, says a group of researchers at MIT."

August 30, 2005

Web of Crime: Internet Sieges Costs Businesses a Bundle

"When attackers strike, the balance sheet always takes a hit."

August 29, 2005

Warner Music readies CD-free 'e-label'

"Warner Music Group is creating a new music-distribution mechanism that will rely on digital downloads instead of compact discs."

Ok, just don’t use your cellphone while driving

Michigan county using black boxes to rehabilitate drivers

"A judge in Oakland County, Michigan is making use of black box technology to track driver’s who’ve been convicted of moving violations."

GM will launch self-driving car in 2008

China Says Three Hours Of Games Is Enough

"After three hours, players' characters will start to lose abilities, and after five hours, they'll be "severely limited". After a five-hour break, gamers can start up again."

With technology, it's easy to break the law

But most of the time you're not, or at least shouldn't be deemed as doing so.

Meet Leo Laporte - Host of 'Call For Help'

Leo's back!

Windows 2K/XP Commands

For coomand line super action fun time.

In Future, Lighting May Boost Health, Bandwidth

"Scientists have been taking a closer look at the lighting in our homes, offices and vehicles, and they're seeing potential for a way to improve health and a new means of electronic communication."

Open Office 2.0 Kicks MS Office Around the Block

And did we mention Open Office is free?

August 26, 2005

BBC Views Content Piracy As Wake-Up Call

"They are forming plans to simulcast the television channels BBC1 and BBC2 on the web, as well as allowing users (only in the UK to start with, unfortunately) access to shows for a week after the broadcast date."

China imposes online gaming curbs

"The government in Beijing is reported to be introducing the controls to deter people from playing for longer than three consecutive hours. The measures are designed to combat addiction to online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft and Lineage II."

ID theft ring escapes shutdown

"An ID theft ring that has hit thousands of people is proving hard to shut down. "

Squirrel helps with mobile calls

"Specifically, an animatronic desktop squirrel which deals with your calls for you. The squirrel answers phone calls, works out if you are busy or asleep, evaluates how important the incoming call is and takes messages."

August 25, 2005

Another Major Spammer Busted

72,000 idiots are now sad.

August 24, 2005

Bye, Bye, Library

Sign 3,792 of the impending heat death of the universe: university libraries without books.

New 'Pentop' Computer To Help Children Learn

This sounds pretty cool, but one hopes that it comes with a headphone jack so one can use it during tests.

August 23, 2005

Bitman Video Bulb

A video prank -- plug this in to a TV, and little dancing dudes will take over the TV.

Reinventing Television

"Wake up, television executives of America: Jon Stewart - the wiseacre host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show - knows more about your business than you do."

Kid Energy

Finally it can be used for good isntead of evil.

Drug Reverses Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Finally, Mountain Dew in a convenient pill form.

ID theft spyware scam uncovered

"Thousands of computer users have been caught out by a huge ID theft ring. "

August 22, 2005

Google tool watches as you work

"Google's desktop search software is being overhauled to become a digital helper that reacts to what users do."

August 17, 2005

OpenTV Like TiVo on Steroids

"Specifically, they have created a PVR that allows users to not only choose from 4 - 8 video angles, but even more importantly consumers can choose what audio feed they would prefer."

Anti-Phishers Pose as Phishers to Make Point

Edible Meat Can be Grown in a Lab on Industrial Scale

New patented lens made of liquid paves way for slimmer digital cameras

"Named Fluidlens, this lens is made of liquid and is no bigger than a contact lens, but can achieve an optical zoom of up to 10 times..."

August 16, 2005

Worm strikes down Windows 2000/some XP systems

Thin skin will help robots 'feel'

"Japanese researchers have developed a flexible artificial skin that could give robots a humanlike sense of touch." Welcome to our new robot overlords!

August 15, 2005

Hotels Dumbing Down Alarm Clocks

And making the elevators too complex to use (last link).

You Don't Have To Answer Your Mobile Phone

Or any phone, for that matter.

Auto door

"This new design entails strips equipped with infrared sensors that open to the approximate shape of the person or object passing through, minimizing entry of dust, pollen, and bugs while keeping precious air-conditioning in. "

Traffic Hackers Hit Red Light

"The Safe Intersections Act, part of the transit bill signed Wednesday by President Bush, makes it a misdemeanor for unauthorized users to wield a "traffic signal pre-emption transmitter," a special remote control used by police, firefighters and ambulance drivers to change traffic lights to green as they approach an intersection."

The Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

Dell Dimension XPS 600 reviewed

"This latest model comes loaded with a 1TB hard drive (yes, that’s a T), a 3.8-GHz P4 670 processor, two nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards in an SLI config, and 1GB RAM, not to mention a 24-inch widescreen LCD."

Hackers slam 'Everquest II' economy

"Sony claims that a group of hackers illegally created a huge amount of "Everquest II" currency over the weekend, and says the players caused the game's economy to suffer 20 percent inflation in just 24 hours before being caught."

Kutztown 13 Face Felony Charges

"They're being called the Kutztown 13 -- a group of high schoolers charged with felonies for bypassing security with school-issued laptops, downloading forbidden internet goodies and using monitoring software to spy on district administrators."

Bored on the phone? Beware the Jerk-O-Meter

"Ever wonder if that spouse, friend or co-worker on the other end of the phone is really paying attention? The "Jerk-O-Meter" may hold the answer."

Home PC face security onslaught

"If your house was burgled only 12 minutes after you moved in, you would probably think about selling up and moving on pretty quickly."

The rise of the digital thugs

"Early last year, the corporate stalker made his move. He sent more than a dozen menacing e-mail messages to Daniel I. Videtto, the president of MicroPatent, a patent and trademarking firm, threatening to derail its operations unless he was paid $17 million. "

Anarchism Triumphant

"The spread of the Linux operating system kernel has directed attention at the free software movement. This paper shows why free software, far from being a marginal participant in the commercial software market, is the vital first step in the withering away of the intellectual property system."

August 11, 2005

NASA World Wind

"World Wind lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, World Wind lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were really there."

Microsoft to Reissue Windows 2000 SP4 Update

"Older OS, still widely used, has some conflicts in latest Service Pack Rollup Update."

August 10, 2005

Google News Adds RSS Feeds

"Users will be able to have targeted news content delivered directly to them."

The Case of the Stolen Wi-Fi

"Whether you're unwittingly sharing your wireless LAN or poaching, be aware of the risks."

Jinxed Computer Users

Are some people cursed with bad that makes them bad with technology?

Plug-In Card Promises System Restore

"RecoverPC tracks system changes in case of software disaster."

Understanding Bluetooth Technology

"Many electronic devices are now incorporating Bluetooth technology to allow wireless communication with other Bluetooth devices. Before using Bluetooth, it is important to understand what it is, what security risks it presents, and how to protect yourself. "

IE flaw opens door to infection on sight

"Microsoft plugs six holes, including an IE bug that could expose a PC user to attack just for looking at a picture."

Microsoft in $7m spam settlement

"US software giant Microsoft has won a $7million court settlement from a businessman considered to be one of the world's biggest senders of spam e-mail. "

August 09, 2005

August 08, 2005

Google Gets Snippy With Reporters

""Google representatives have instituted a policy of not talking with CNET News.com reporters until July 2006 in response to privacy issues raised by a previous story." The story in question? How you can use Google to find out personal information on people, even Google executives.

Wikipedia To Tighten Editorial Control

Do Companies Using Copy Protection Think Buyers Are Idiots?

More on the Princeton textbook thingy.

Cellphone carriers can listen in through your phone?

Not just when you're making a call, either. All. The. Time.

Princeton to launch DRM’d textbook program

DRM: Making Technological Advances Far Less Attractive, All Of The Time

Robot catcher grabs high speed projectiles

186 mph? No problem for this device.

New for back-to-school: 'clickers'

"Students used the handheld gadgets, which look and work a lot like TV remote controls, to respond to classroom polls and quizzes without ever raising their hands or voices."

Spammer sues college to force them to let spam through; gets smack-down

A credible plan to take down the Internet

"Once a working exploit for the Cisco IOS Shellcode is available on the Internet, it'll be only a matter of days before someone finds a way to craft it into a network worm."

Another way past Windows antipiracy found

"Yet another way emerges to bypass Microsoft's validation tool meant to stop people with the pirated OS from getting downloads."

Tweaks and Fixes for Windows XP

A gigantic list of registry hacks to fix this and that.

August 05, 2005

Big Brother Brand Car Insurance Appears To Be Working

"... car insurance that offers discounts if the insurance company can monitor your driving habits ..."

Who Will Benefit from Vista? Monitor Makers, For One

You may need to buy a new monitor to run the next version of Windows, merely to comply with its DRM/copy protection demands. I think it costs $0 to switch to Linux.

August 04, 2005

EMC’s new Symmetrix DMX-3 petabyte storage

1,050,000 gigs -- finally, enough space for my MP3 collection.

CradleVue laptop mount for cars

"...a laptop harness that safely and securely straps any laptop between the two front seats, in a perfect viewing position for kids in the back. And it’s just $24.99..."

HP settles hidden partition suit

"If you’re the owner of an HP PC purchased over the past few years, you may just be in line for a free Windows XP recovery CD, based on the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought against HP over, of all things, hidden recovery partitions and missing Windows XP directories."

Microsoft "Genuine Advantage" cracked in 24 hours

Running Windows With No Services

"So how many of the almost 4 dozen default-enabled services does Windows XP really need in order to preserve basic functioning, like web surfing and running applications? Zero, as it turns out."

Crushing the Web's dark forces

How 5 security experts battle evil-doers.

E-commerce Sites Edit Customer Reviews

Although disappointing, this is not suprising.

'Car Whisperer' Puts Hackers in the Driver's Seat

"Software connects car Bluetooth systems with a remote PC so hackers can eavesdrop."

August 03, 2005

ISPs versus the zombies

"Internet service providers face mounting pressure to keep their networks free of pests--not only for the benefit of their customers, but also for the good of the Internet in general."

Copyright Crackdown

"New technology on music CDs limits the number of copies you can make--and gets in the way of putting tunes on an IPod."

August 02, 2005

Next Explorer to fail standards test

Gosh, who would have guessed? (Wait! Firefox fails as well.)

August 01, 2005

Cisco struggles to plug net leak

"Efforts to stop information spreading about flaws in the hardware that keeps the net running appear to be failing."

July 29, 2005

Net addresses come down to Earth

"Sites such as Yahoo, MSN, Google and 192.com have started pushing local search services that link what you are looking for to shops and services near where you are in the real world. "

Cisco curbs security researcher

"A security expert has agreed never to repeat what he knows about flaws in software from networking giant Cisco. "

July 28, 2005

Top 10 Web fads

"Internet phenomena. Memes. Grist for the e-mail forwarding mill. Whatever you call them, Web fads are entertaining, unintended consequences of life on the World Wide Web. "

July 27, 2005

First views of Windows Vista

Because how it looks is most important.

July 25, 2005

LCD Specs: Not So Swift

"How low does LCD response time go? Different ways of reporting the spec obscure the hard numbers."

Lack of Standards Spark Inkjet Photo Fade Debate

"How long inkjet-printed photos last depends on who you ask, experts say."

Windows Vista is officially official

"Longhorn = Windows Vista"

G-RAID 1000 brings TB RAID to the desktop

Bootable computer-on-a-stick -- USB flash drive

Late with a payment? No wonder the car won't start

"A new device reminds drivers when a car payment is due. And if they don't pay up, they're not going anywhere."

Driven to distraction by technology

"The typical office worker is interrupted every three minutes by a phone call, e-mail, instant message or other distraction."

When Cell Phones Become Oracles

"Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict what you're going to do next."

This is Your Brain on Email

"'...a study on 'info-mania' that suggests that too-frequent checking of e-mail and voice mail can lower your IQ up to ten points ...' "

July 21, 2005

Bendable Concrete

"Flexible concrete might sound like a gimmick, but most concrete fails because it is brittle, so cracks develop over time, and eventually become catastrophic."

Mind May Affect Machines

"Using random event generators -- computers that spew random output -- they have participants focus their intent on controlling the machines' output."

Web Publishers Eye Your Wallet

"'In 1955, TV was free,' Kenealy said, 'and two generations later most people pay for it. There was a built-in reluctance to pay for TV until it got so much better than broadcast. That's what I think will happen with the internet.' " Ummm, hasn't this *already* happened with the internet? I pay about as much to get internet (cable broadband) into my house as I do for cable TV.

Plenty Of People Still Buying From Spam... Plenty Scammed By Spam Too

Why, people , why?!

Carjacking And Killing Are Fine, But Consensual S*x In A Game? Ban It!

"Aren't there more important issues for the federal government to be focused on right now?"

Fake Credit Report Sites Just As Scammy As The Real Ones

"Is it really any wonder that people don't trust the credit agencies?"

Surfing (The Internet) On Vacation

"... companies give their employees plenty of vacation time, but the employees are afraid of the consequences of actually disconnecting for that amount of time."

Web surfing costing businesses nearly $200 billion?

Or "How To Sell Software By Creating A Study In Which You Just Pull Numbers Out Of Your Hat".

July 20, 2005

Lastminute Auction

"... an incredible eBay SDK app that searches the 'Bay for stuff priced less than $1 with less than 1 hour to go."

BMW goes night vision

"BMW is adding a night-vision display in new 7-series models for evening driving."

VNS shock implant approved for depression

"... the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an implantable VNS therapy (Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy System) device for patients with severe depression."

Longhorn to Require Monitor-Based DRM

"...if Longhorn detects that your monitor is not 'secure' enough, then your premium video content won't play on it until you buy one that is."

The Changing Face of Computer Science in the US

"... significantly fewer students at the college level -- 60 percent fewer -- wanted to study computer science in 2004 as opposed to the year 2000. "

July 19, 2005

Googling for CIA Agents

"Google also allowed me to study a high-resolution satellite photo of Plame's house. I could see that the property appears to be in a quiet residential community and looks approachable from all sides."

Death Star Subwoofer

Currently for sale on eBay.

UN at odds over internet's future

"A UN group charged with deciding how the net should be run has failed to reach a decision. "

July 15, 2005

School ditches texts for laptops

"An Arizona high school is set to become one of the first ebook-only schools, as it preps to hand out laptops to 350 students this fall. "

New study says headsets don’t make cellphone-driving safer

Hansa’s temperature sensitive faucets

July 14, 2005

July 13, 2005

Universe 'too queer' to grasp

"Scientist Professor Richard Dawkins has opened a global conference of big thinkers warning that our Universe may be just 'too queer' to understand. "

Want to complain about Dell? Forget it

"Too late - the Customer Support Forums, operational until last Friday, have been shut down, apparently to try to quell bad publicity there about Dell products and especially after-care service. "

July 12, 2005

Cell phones 'quadruple crash danger'

"Using a mobile phone when driving quadruples crash risk, and hands-free devices are no safer, say experts."

July 08, 2005

Well, Fine, We'll Just Take Our Own Internet And Go Home

"With continuing questions and complaints about who gets to govern the internet, it looks like some are trying to build another internet that won't be mostly controlled by the US."

Google Invests in Power-Line Broadband

FAQ: Wi-Fi mooching and the law

"The recent arrest of a Florida man on charges of unauthorized use of a wireless network could set legal ground rules for open Wi-Fi access. "

Microsoft takes disk-based backup for a spin

Which is cool; there's very little positive to say about tapes any more, IMHO.

July 07, 2005

Fingernails store personal information

"Japanese researchers are using femtosecond laser pulses to write data into human fingernails."

Windows AntiSpyware Downgrades Claria Detections

Users change habits to avoid spyware

"Nine out of 10 Internet users say they have changed their online habits to avoid spyware..."

July 06, 2005

New Laws

"Alert: How New Michigan & Utah Email Laws Affect You (Perhaps More Than You Think)"

New Trojan Knocks Out Symbian Phones

"If not removed within one hour, malware can cause complete loss of data."

Real-World Warnings Keep You Safe Online

"Many of the warning phrases you probably heard from your parents and teachers are also applicable to using computers and the internet. "

Radical Thinking

"Identity Theft has reached an extreme; proposed solutions should do the same"

Fresh DVDs, No Waiting

"... this new kind of distribution -- with films and TV shows instantly available on multiple platforms -- is designed to appeal to today's rapidly evolving consumer. "

July 05, 2005

Historic BBC Programs Rescued From Those Evil Home Copies

MUSA the Kendo-bot’s gonna school you shinai-style

Ah, good. Robots that know martial arts. Nothing bad could come of that.

The True Lies service will help you manage your lies

TV 'may stunt toddlers' learning'

"Parents who sit their toddlers in front of the TV could be damaging their child's future learning abilities, US researchers fear. "

Wi-Fi cloaks a new breed of intruder

"Though wireless mooching is preventable, it often goes undetected."

July 01, 2005

The 12-minute Windows Heist

"...there's a 50 percent chance unprotected Windows PCs will be compromised within 12 minutes of going online"

Net Pioneer Wants New Internet

"David Clark, who led the development of the internet in the 1970s, is working with the National Science Foundation on a plan for a whole new infrastructure to replace today's global network. "

June 30, 2005

Microsoft Tests Security Tool For PC Classrooms

"The Shared Computer Toolkit would let administrators erase stored passwords and lists of recently used files, restore deleted files, wipe away downloaded software, and turn on accessibility features using simpler controls. "

Next-Gen Console CPUs Not Up to Hype

With good discussion about the way games have changed (discussion on Slashdot).

Sun Announces Its First Laptop

June 29, 2005

ID Theft: What You Need to Know

Also covers card theft, which is a slightly different beastie. (and also this: make front and back copies of everything in your wallet/purse, twice a year, so you know exactly what you've lost of your wallet/purse gets stolen or lost)

June 28, 2005

Online digital photo printing and sharing

"Fortunately, there are many Web sites that allow you to upload your photos to online albums and other sharing tools and to order prints of them to be mailed to your home."

Court: File-sharing services can be liable for music theft

June 27, 2005

Transparent Screens

"someone got the idea to take a picture of their desk without their computer monitor, then with some adjusting, set that image as their background image. Then, they took another picture of the desk, this time with the monitor showing the previous image. The result? A "transparent" monitor."

GreenDisk Technotrash Pack-IT

"The GreenDisk Techotrash Pack-IT Service is designed to meet the recycling needs of individuals and organizations that accumulate small amounts of technotrash. Concerns about data security and environmental responsibility are met by our well-defined recycling procedures and comprehensive audit trail."

How Savvy Are You About Your Online Security?

"U.S. residents are "dangerously ignorant" of the data that Web site owners collect on them, a study shows."

USB Memory Drive Projects

How to make a DOS/Linux bootable USB drive

Seagate Preps Hard-disk Encryption Technology

"Your laptop's data would be automatically encrypted as it was written to the disk."

Ninety Degrees South for your next Antarctic research trip

Now that's a snowmobile! And with an advanced scout as well.

June 24, 2005

Enlisting robots for day care

"Rubi is capable of tracking heads, detecting faces and interpreting basic expressions."

Government Illegally Collected Personal Data On Airline Passengers

"The federal agency in charge of aviation security collected extensive personal information about airline passengers even though Congress forbade it and officials said they wouldn't do it..."

MPAA Explains Its Bad Math: It Was Future Non-Existent Piracy

Inventor of Proxy Firewall Blames Hackers

"They're the ones who are annoying an entire planet. "

Indian Call Centre Worker Sells Customer Details

"He claimed could sell over 200,000 account details every month. "

Aussie Spammer Faces Millions in Fines

June 23, 2005

Microsoft Says: Our Way Or The Spam Folder

Ad Man: Ad Blockers Will Kill The Internet

Applied Minds Think Remarkably

"It's as if Willy Wonka's chocolate factory just yawned wide to welcome us. Only here, all the candy plugs in. "

Another World Is Here: Biomass Chemistry

"A Newly Electric Green – Sustainable Energy, Resources and Design "

June 21, 2005

Shut Down For Pirating Your Own Content?

"... they sent a cease and desist letter to a website owner, claiming he was guilty of copyright infringement for hosting torrents of his own films"

Who Owns Your Wedding Photographs?

"... photo printing studios are refusing to make reprints of photos they think might be professional photographs for fear of breaking someone's copyright."

Security Researcher Fined Again

"Between the two cases, it looks like he's going to have to pay over 15,000 euros for pointing out that this particular software had serious security vulnerabilities."

Toyota Airbag Improvements

Citizen’s paper-thin digital clock

New report says wireless tech means more work

"...those gadgets are actually making you work longer hours than you would if you were just sitting in the office all day."

DivX 6.0 is Out

DOJ Wants ISPs to Retain All Customer Records

"CNET reports that the Department of Justice is 'quietly shopping around' the idea of requiring ISP's to retain all data of their customer's online activities for at least several months."

The Insecurity of Security Software

"BusinessWeek is reporting that, despite a number of software products meant to safeguard Windows PCs from harm, a rising number of them endanger their hosts because of poor design and flaws."

How To Balance Life And Technology For Kids?

"I hear stories from coworkers how some of their kids/grandkids hating going outside because it is boring and they'd rather stay indoors."

Lost Credit Data Improperly Kept, Company Admits

"Last week, Mastercard announced that up to 40,000,000 credit card numbers may have been compromised by one of their processing companies. Today, the New York Times (registration, along with first born child, required) is reporting that the company in question, CardSystems Solutions, should not have been retaining that data to begin with."

June 20, 2005

Up to 40m credit cards 'hacked'

"A computer hacker may have broken into more than 40 million credit card accounts, US company officials say. "

June 17, 2005

New model 'permits time travel'

"If you went back in time and met your teenage parents, you could not split them up and prevent your birth - even if you wanted to, a new quantum model has stated. "

Hydrogen-Powered Motorcycles Just Around the Corner

June 15, 2005

Philips’ Smart Companion is your strange new friend

"It can supposedly recognize facial expressions and body language and respond accordingly..."

Robot revolt at San Francisco hospital!

The Rise and Fall of Blogs

"When was the last time your favorite blogger talked sense? Have blogs reached a saturation point?"

Half Of Businesses Still Use Windows 2000

"Microsoft will officially stop supporting Windows 2000 by the end of this month, offering one last update rollup later this year. "

June 13, 2005

Best Buy Not Always Best Buy

"The web browsers from within the store show many prices that are $20-$50 higher than the same web page when accessed from outside of the store (like in your house). "

NEC’s tasting robot gives culinary advice

Keyboards are Good; Mouses are Dumb

"... it seems the more I use the mouse, the less output I am making. The keyboard does seem to make much more of a mind-meld than the imprecise mouse."

Microsoft's Security Response Center: How Little Patches Are Made

"...officials ... are using the Tech Ed conference here to provide a rare glimpse at the step-by-step process used to create, test and roll out security patches."

Hard drives for 'terabyte lives'

Virus flood threatens home users

June 08, 2005

Will Next-Gen Consoles Kill Off PC Gaming?

"Will there still be a market for PC games, or are the graphics of the next generation of consoles going to make PC games unnecessary?"

Final Windows 2000 Update

"The Update Rollup comes just one month before mainstream support for Windows 2000 client and server releases expires on June 30."

Double Your Fun with DoubleSight

"If you are looking for another reason to throw out that old CRT and upgrade to LCDs here it is."

NPR Talks Skyhooks

"... plans to develop an elevator that would lift people to an object orbiting in outer space."

3.9 Million Citigroup Customers' Data Lost

""CNN.com is reporting that United Parcel Service has lost backup tapes containing the identies of 3.9 million Citigroup customers."

Message Storm Knocks NYSE Offline

""The New York Stock Exchange is re-examining its network after it was forced to close four minutes early at 3:56pm on Wednesday (1 June) because of a communications glitch."

Attack Trends: More Complex Worms

June 06, 2005

Closed Source -> Charges Dismissed?

"According to the Tampa Tribune, judges in the central Florida county of Seminole are dismissing DUI charges when the defendant asks for information on how the breath test works."

Man Bites Phish

The best way to stop phishing scams is to drown the phish.

Apple Switches to Intel Processors

Writing down passwords

"... a reader recently asked me whether it was better to have a complex password that you repeated often or to have several different passwords."

June 02, 2005

Electric Cars as Fast as Ferraris

"The motor is revolutionary in that it contains no bulky permanent magnets."

'Geek speak' confuses net users

RootkitRevealer

"RootkitRevealer is an advanced patent-pending root kit detection utility."

Israeli Police Uncover Massive, Trojan Horse-Based Industrial Spy Ring

"Spyware aided theft of "tens of thousands" of major business documents from Israeli companies."

June 01, 2005

Weird Acronyms & Tech Term Oddities

Institute for Backup Trauma

John Cleese stars in this humorous web ad for a new backup solution.

Stealth virus warning sounded again

"Virus authors are choosing not to create global epidemics--such as Melissa or Blaster--because that distracts them from their core business of creating and selling botnets, according to antivirus experts."

Can You Trust Your Spyware Protection?

"Why Your spyware scanner may not catch some adware programs."

Developing nations losing spam battle

"Developing countries are being overwhelmed with spam--a situation that threatens to widen the global digital divide, according to a new report."

Is your laptop a pain in the neck?

Ergo issues abound if you use a laptop exclusively.

Self-wiring supercomputer is cool and compact

"An experimental supercomputer made from hardware that can reconfigure itself to tackle different software problems is being built by researchers in Scotland."

May 27, 2005

Immersion to bring force feedback to LCDs

"Lack of tactile feedback has long been a usability issue with tablet PCs, ATMs and other touchscreen devices."

Digital TV switchover date: December 31, 2008

"That legislation is now drafted, and sets a December 31, 2008 date by which broadcasters who’re still hogging those analog airwaves have got to give it up. "

A Coffeeshop's Weekends Without Wi-Fi

"In an experiment, the cafe started shutting down its Wi-Fi network on Saturdays and Sundays after watching their culture erode: the shop became full (and was turning away customers) with six-to-eight hour Wi-Fi squatters, many of whom didn't even purchase anything."

Vigilante Hackers use Old West Tactics for Justice

"Angered by the growing number of Internet scams, online 'vigilantes' have started to take justice into their own hands by hacking into suspected fraud sites and defacing them."

May 25, 2005

Database Hackers Reveal Tactics

"Three young hackers under investigation for unlawfully accessing personal information on thousands of people in a LexisNexis database have characterized their act as a cyberjoyride that got out of hand. "

Because Only Criminals Use Encryption

"... just having the PGP utility on your computer suggests you may be guilty of a crime, because, you know, if you had nothing to hide, why would you encrypt it?"

TV Network Execs Defend Broadcast Flag In The Name Of Inconvenience

Herman Miller Babble: Conversation Masker

"Among other bits in IDFuel’s office privacy round-up is this device called ‘Babble’ from Herman Miller, designed to add masking human noise to hide the contents of your conversations from nosey office mates. "

Roomba gets a sidekick: Scooba makes mopping obsolete

Slashdot | Samsung Announces Flash-Based Disk Drive

16 gigs of not-really-a-disk-drive by year's end.

Plugin For Winamp Allows Downloading From iPod

Iomega Patents 850GB DVD Nano-Technology

Electricity Outage Puts Routing to a Tough Test

"Today at about 11:30 MSD (GMT+4) a major electricity outage in Moscow, Russia brought new meanings to words like "uninterruptible", "redundant" and "uptime" for network administrators..."

May 24, 2005

Miscreants encrypt files, hold them for ransom

"In a new type of online attack, extortionists remotely encrypt user files and then demand money for the key to decode the information. "

May 23, 2005

Google's New Tools: Proceed With Caution

"Before you embrace all of Google's new technologies, consider the privacy implications. Google's stuff is great, Fred Langa says, but don't get carried away with the novelty of it all. "

Hacker infiltrated government computers

"U.S. military installations, laboratories, and NASA hit last year"

Microsoft Beefs Up Wi-Fi Security

"Software giant adds the WPA2 Wi-Fi security specification to Windows XP"

FCC requires VoIP to clean up its 911 act

Counterfeiting for fun and profit

"Counterfeit reality is essentially virtual reality with fraud thrown in. "

No Wrong Answer: Click It

"Faculty at hundreds of colleges and universities are using small electronic devices similar to television remote controls as part of their in-class instruction. Commonly referred to as "clickers," the devices allow students to respond to instructor questions by choosing one of several options or, in some cases, by entering a numeric answer. "

Super Water Kills Bugs Dead

"A California company has figured out how to use two simple materials -- water and salt -- to create a solution that wipes out single-celled organisms, and which appears to speed healing of burns, wounds and diabetic ulcers. "

Fuel-Cell Tanks Buck Convention

"Just as the semiconductor revolution became possible when wafers of silicon were doped with other elements, the hydrogen revolution could be realized with the help of tiny balls or tubes of carbon decorated with periodic defects in their structure. "

The Beeb Shall Inherit the Earth

"America's entertainment industry is committing slow, spectacular suicide, while one of Europe's biggest broadcasters -- the BBC -- is rushing headlong to the future, embracing innovation rather than fighting it. "

Japanese Games Go Wild

"First-person shooters, racing and sports games pack the exhibit halls, more and more of them every year. But hidden among the queues of me-too clones are a few games that travel far off the beaten path, most of them made in Japan."

How To Hack Into Government Computer Systems: Pretend You're A Sheriff

The Noise Shirt

The Noise Shirt is a machine washable, wirelessly rechargeable garment that measures ambient sound via an LED equalizer bar on the chest.

Technojewelry: phones on your fingers and GPS on your toes

TDK announces 100GB Blu-ray DVD

Apple recalls batteries on Powerbooks, iBooks

"If you bought an Apple portable between October 2004 and May 2005, check your serial number — that laptop could be hot, and not in a good way."

New Shoe Designed to Kick-Start Couch Potatoes

Give Your DVD Player the Finger

"Researchers in Los Angeles are developing a new form of piracy protection for DVDs that could make common practices like loaning a movie to a friend impossible. "

Microsoft Developing Windows for Low-End Machines

"According to the Washington Post, Microsoft is developing a version of Windows to run on old machines that currently run 95 or 98. It would be very similar to XP, but run faster on the older hardware. "

Chase Deploying "Touchless" Credit Cards

RFID in credit cards that you carry with you everywhere? What could possibly go wrong?

Critical Shortage of IT Workers in Coming Years

Television Reloaded

What's in store for the near-future of society's technoteat.

May 18, 2005

Online stores come under attack

"Cyber criminals are turning their attention to the programs that run many online shops, say experts. "

May 16, 2005

The New Multiple Personality Disorder

"Multiple versions of us exist in the datasphere, so many that we hardly recognize ourselves. "

Dashboard Leaves Macs Vulnerable

"A security hole in Dashboard could expose users of Apple Computer's new Tiger operating system to attack, and may put personal information like passwords and credit card data at risk."

Flaw Found in VPN Security

Free Credit Reports Actually Free People From Their Money

"Just when you thought credit agencies couldn't get any shadier or greedier, along comes the story of how they are duping customers into subscriptions that masquerade as free credit reports."

Blood-powered fuel cell for implanted prostheses

"A Japanese research team has developed a fuel cell that runs on blood without using toxic substances, opening the way for use in artificial hearts and other organs. "

May 13, 2005

Fujitsu Vein Reader

"Palm veins are unique amongst individuals, and with the exception of size, don’t change at all over one’s lifetime. "

Hyperthreading Considered Harmful

"This flaw permits local information disclosure, including allowing an unprivileged user to steal an RSA private key being used on the same machine."

Nuclear Battery That Runs 10 Years

"A battery with a lifespan measured in decades is in development at the University of Rochester, as scientists demonstrate a new fabrication method that in its roughest form is already 10 times more efficient than current nuclear batteries -- and has the potential to be nearly 200 times more efficient. "

Developers to play with BBC wares

"The BBC is giving web developers and designers outside of the organisation access to its content so that they can 'create cool new things'. "

May 12, 2005

Self-replicating robots: the end is near

"Please bookmark this link for reference in the year 2029."

Cracking the Google Code

""Google's sweeping changes confirm the search giant has launched a full out assault against artificial link inflation & declared war against search engine spam in a continuing effort to provide the best search service in the world... "

Yahoo Introduces Competitor for iTunes

""After a year in development, Yahoo has launched its competitor to Apple's iTunes and Napster To Go, a subscription and download music service priced at only $4.99 per month."

May 10, 2005

College freshmen less interested in tech

"Incoming college students seem to have developed an allergy to computer science during the past four years--with women particularly being uninterested in the field. "

Tiger Lives Up to the Hype

"Excellent new search tool and numerous additions make Apple's update largely a no-brainer."

Google eyes better news searches

"A patent filed in the US will allow stories to be ranked according to their quality, rather than just by relevance."

Bagle Worm Is Evidence Of Underground Class Of Professional Criminal Programmers

Motorola Debuts Nano-Emissive Flat Screen

"The display appears to promise lower costs for a full 40" HDTV screen bringing the price down to $400."

Critical flaws found in Firefox

May 09, 2005

'Info-mania' dents IQ more than marijuana

"The relentless influx of emails, cellphone calls and instant messages received by modern workers can reduce their IQ by more than smoking marijuana, suggests UK research."

Your Money Under More Scrutiny

"Pressured by anti-terror laws, banks will be spending billions of dollars over the next few years on software to counter money laundering. The software will automatically track suspicious financial transactions, but it will also monitor millions of innocuous ones, and may make it harder to cheat on your taxes."

Cracking the Real Estate Code

"Is your agent really working for the enemy? A user's guide to home economics (and how to beat the expert industry)."

Court Nixes 'Broadcast Flag'

"In a blow to the entertainment industry, a federal appeals court on Friday found that federal regulators overstepped their authority by requiring consumer-electronics manufacturers to help restrict digital home recording."

Time Travelers Welcome at MIT

GPS Child Security Device

'...the device features an emergency GPS locator with indoor tracking capability — an important distinction since conventional devices require a clear line of sight to orbiting satellites. It also provides a “geo-fencing” service..."

Symantec Launches Anti-Spyware Beta

Security Fears Over Google Accelerator

Not to mention bandwidth fears... this thing works, in part, by "pre-visiting" all the links on a page, so when you follow a link, it's already in your cache... how much extra load is that placing on the network?!

U.S. National Identity Cards All But Law

"News.com is running a story about the RealID Card legislation that's been attached to emergency military spending bills to ensure its passage."

Store's Floor Model Computer Loaded With Woman's Personal Info

"Imagine receiving a phone call from a stranger who knew your most private thoughts, knew what you looked like, knew your Social Security number, and even knew how much you make and where you work. That happened to a Colorado woman after she took her computer to a major electronics store."

How Lightsabers Work

Microphones to catch noisy neighbours

"Noisy neighbours have become a scourge of modern life, resulting in stress, sleepless nights and even violence. "

Smell cannon targets virtual reality users

"A new device can track an individual, shoot an aroma directly at their nose, and leave the person next to them completely unaffected."

May 05, 2005

Nike and Bausch & Lomb’s MaxSight performance-enhancing lenses

Dartmouth nears completion of campus network

"The campus-wide net will include 24,000 wired ports and 1,400 wireless access points, and merges voice, data and cable TV."

May 04, 2005

Taking on an Online Extortionist

"When an online exortionist comes a knocking, threatining a DDoS, do you pay or fight?"

Florida signs law to track sex offenders via GPS for life

"... Florida’s new law makes them the first to require mandatory lifetime tracking via GPS for those convicted of sex crimes against children 11 and younger."

Cars that Can't Crash?

"Microsoft is working with Ford Motor Co towards car that can't crash." [insert your own joke about Windows crashes here]

May 02, 2005

Take me to your robot leader / Welcome, Skynet!

"Ottawa-based Frontline Robotics have developed robots that use distributed intelligence to make decisions as groups."

VR headset can detect brain injuries

"a new VR headset ... can tell you whether you have a concussion after a head injury in just seven minutes."

Serenity hits the big screen

If you like science fiction, you might like "Serenity", the big-screen sequel to the grossly-mismanaged-then-cancelled-by-Fox television series "Firefly". Here's more information:
Trailer for the new movie
The series DVDs
About the show and characters (warning: spoilers)

Washing maching makes sure it’s your turn

"A Spanish designer has created a new washing machine called the “Your Turn” that addresses the chore imbalance in certain households by making it impossible for the same person to operate the machine twice in a row."

Sony’s Qrio robot attending nursery school in California

"“The children think of Qrio as a feeble younger brother,” researcher Fumihide Tanaka said."

April 26, 2005

Five Linux Security Myths You Can Live Without

Windows Server 2003 SP1 Breaks 14 Apps

Including some from Microsoft itself. Nice.

Microsoft to add 'black box' to Windows

Gates demos 'more secure' Windows

Star Wars to become new TV series

"Two Star Wars TV series will follow the latest movie in the hit film franchise, director George Lucas has said. "

April 25, 2005

Web server attacks 'growing fast'

"More than 2,500 web servers every day are being hacked, reveals a report."

AOL Actually Drops Prices

Shuffler: automated file loading without iTunes

"An automated audio file shuffler for MSC-compliant digital audio players (DAP) like the iPod Shuffle, Rio Carbon, and other players."

NETI@home Data Analyzed

"It's a rough world out there."

Dubai hotel is a traveling geek's gilded dream

"The unique aspects of the Emirates Palace are hidden inside its ductwork: nearly a thousand miles of blue, red and green fiber-optic and broadcast cable, and enough other advancements to have convinced the staff that this is the world's most high-tech hotel."

April 22, 2005

Hybrid Could Fill Humvee's Boots

Customer Support Emails Way Too Easy To Ignore

"Over the past year study after study has shown that companies are incredibly bad at replying to customer support emails -- even when they're super fast at replying to sales inquiries."

Limiting Free Weather Service? Forecast Bad For Protected Businesses

"... a pending Senate bill ... would strip the federally funded National Weather Service of its weather forecasting."

Judge holds teen’s Playstation during probation

" Manitoba 14-year-old convicted of two counts of assault and theft under $5,000 is receiving an unusual punishment: on top of the more routine counselling he’ll receive, his PlayStation is being held hostage by the judge."

Human Hibernation on the Horizon?

Scientists design 'bionic eye' that could someday help the visually disabled

April 20, 2005

Making Others Read YOUR Fine Print -- Turning EULAs Around

"With so many annoying end user license agreements (EULAs) out there with impossible fine print that almost no one reads, it appears that some users are 'fighting back.'"

Oh, Wait, Those E-Tax-Filers Should Be Worried About Security

Share A Song Or Movie Before It's Released... Go To Jail

ChoicePoint Will Now Inform You When They Tell People You're A Crook

Target Upgrades the Pill Bottle

"The bottle is ergonomically designed and even has a nice colored ring, one for each member of the family."

You’re not really any good at Dance Dance Revolution until you can play while juggling

Associated Press to Charge Members to Post Content Online

"The Associated Press has announced that, effective Jan. 1 2006, it 'will begin charging newspapers and broadcasters to post its stories, photos and other content online."

Ameritrade says account data missing

"As many as 200,000 current and former customers' personal information is unaccounted for."

April 19, 2005

Security Holes Bite Firefox

Mozilla Foundation patches eight flaws, six of which also affect Mozilla suite.

Canadian Recording Industry Trying To Kill Online Music Stores

The Beam in Your Eye - If steroids are cheating, why isn't LASIK?

"A month ago, Mark McGwire was hauled before a congressional hearing and lambasted as a cheater for using a legal, performance-enhancing steroid precursor when he broke baseball's single-season home run record. A week ago, Tiger Woods was celebrated for winning golf's biggest tournament, the Masters, with the help of superior vision he acquired through laser surgery."

April 18, 2005

Making Music More Enjoyable? Not Allowed!

"Among the many clueless things the recording industry has done over the past few years is freak out over people daring to (oh my!) put lyrics online. "

SkyPort Fiber Optic Skylight System

"... light-collecting panels which you install on your roof, allowing them to feed a remote part of your house with the purest of natural light. "

Flying Cars Ready To Take Off

U.S. Military's Elite Hacker Crew

"The U.S. military has assembled the world's most formidable hacker posse: a super-secret, multimillion-dollar weapons program that may be ready to launch bloodless cyberwar against enemy networks -- from electric grids to telephone nets. "

April 15, 2005

Does Security Run In Your Veins?

"Fujitsu's system uses palm vein patterns to identify bank customers in Japan."

Online criminals challenge police

"The net has not just changed the way that businesses work, it has done the same for organised crime too, a leading E-crime police officer has said. "

TweakNow RegCleaner - free

"This excellent, free utility makes the potentially daunting prospect of cleaning your PC's registry safe and simple. "

IBM to police speeders in United Arab Emirates

"If you ingnore the warning, the smart box will wirelessly trasmit the car’s speed, identity and location to the police who will promptly slam you with a ticket."

Yahoo offers free hosting to small businesses

Europe's new supercomputer booted up

"Europe's fastest supercomputer, which can make 40 trillion calculations per second, booted up for the first time at a research center in Barcelona."

Vatican on lookout for eavesdroppers

"From bugs to lasers to cell phones, the Vatican is on guard for high-tech eavesdropping ahead of Monday's opening of the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church."

FAQ: Wi-Fi alphabet soup

"Sorting out the alphabet soup can be as frustrating as untangling the ball of wires behind your PC that the standards are supposed to help replace. "

Mobile safety at your fingertips

"Some of the viruses will stop a phone working if they are installed, others try to spread from one phone to another via the Bluetooth short-range radio service. "

April 14, 2005

CNET Bandwidth Meter Speed Test

"The CNET Bandwidth Meter speed test will check the bandwidth of your Internet connection against top DSL, cable modem, and other broadband services. The bandwidth test is as easy as 1, 2, 3."

Allowing pop-ups from specific sites

"One of Windows XP SP2's many quirks is that some Web sites may not function properly if they use subsidiary windows. Find out how you can configure Internet Explorer to allow pop-ups from specific sites. "

Net security bug prompts warnings

"Microsoft has issued patches for five critical bugs in its software. "

Surveillance Works Both Ways

"In an attempt to establish equity in the world of surveillance, participants at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference in Seattle this week took to the streets to ferret out surveillance cameras and turn the tables on offensive eyes taking their picture."

Spammer's Sentence Misguided, Sends Wrong Message

LexisNexis Suddenly Notices Massive Data Security Breaches Everywhere They Look

When Everything Is Computerized... Everything Needs Tech Support

How Dare You Share The Public Domain! You're Fired!

"It appears that, once again, the entertainment industry's efforts to educate everyone on their distorted view of intellectual property law is causing some problems. "

Laptops Are A Pain In The Neck... And Back... And Shoulders

"With more and more people ditching desktop computers for laptops, people are beginning to realize the ergonomic disaster of laptop computers."

New Cochlear Implants Encourage Nerve Growth

GPS-ified school blazers let parents track kids

"In addition to letting parents track their kids, the terminals also have a panic button that children can push in an emergency, immediately summoning a security agent to their exact location."

Randomly Generated Paper Accepted to Conference

"Some students at MIT wrote a program called SCIgen - An Automatic CS Paper Generator."

Tracking Your Taxes

"Apparently Intuit (TurboTax) thinks it's okay to share information about taxes with third paries."

April 13, 2005

North Dakota makes vehicle black box data owner property

"Last month we reported on how automakers are outfitting new vehicles with black boxes without notifying consumers. In a rare case of having something positive to report in the political realm, the North Dakota legislature is the first to set a precedent by making the black box data sole property of the vehicle owner."

Report: Sharper Image purifiers actually make air worse

Keyboards are Havens for Super Bugs

"This is particularly interesting this time because this research noted that there is a lot of computer use in hospitals and they're finding it really difficult to sterilize them."

Major Aussie ISP Disconnecting Trojaned PCs

""Australia's largest ISP, Telstra BigPond, has started disconnecting customers that it suspects have excess traffic-causing trojans installed on their PCs."

Copyright Reform to Free Orphans?

"... so-called "orphan works" -- items still locked up under copyright but where the owners are unknown or impossible to locate -- are leading the U.S. Copyright Office to try to fix the problem. "

Surprises Lurk in Satellite Snaps

"Notable surprises include a just-erupted volcano, violent scenes from Iraq (a bomb going off in Baghdad and a firefight in Najaf) and even a 747 landing in Tokyo, something difficult to capture given that the satellite is moving at 17,000 mph."

April 12, 2005

LexisNexis Breach Worse Than Believed

"... the results of an internal review showed that in fact the damage was nearly ten times worse than previously thought."

April 11, 2005

The "Top Ten" most inexcusable failures of technology

"Inexcusable failures are the ones where we continue to pay a severe penalty in productivity for everyday tasks while the end game (how it should work) is obvious but the path to it is obstructed for reasons that have nothing to do with science."

What Search Sites Know About You

"You should think about what you put in that search box, because it may not be as anonymous as you think..."

Second Life Teaches Life Lessons

"As a massively multiplayer online game, many people think of Second Life as little more than a virtual playground. But an increasing number of people and organizations are employing the game in applications that are useful for far more than entertainment. "

Judge Knocks EULAs Back A Bit

"Copyfight has noticed that a recent legal ruling may push back on the power of the EULA, as the judge has made it clear that, despite claims to the contrary in the EULA, buyers of software have certain rights as owners."

ChoicePoint Top Big Brother Pick

"Two major data brokers, a California elementary school and Google's Gmail service are leading contenders for the Big Brother Awards -- a dubious prize spotlighting organizations with egregious privacy practices. "

Collar Cultivates Canine Cliques

"If you've ever longed for a way to monitor your dog's social life, map out its buddy network and sense who its true friends really are, you might have been waiting for SNIF. "

Spoofed Web Greeting Cards Pose Real Threat to Users

"PC World reports that some messages appearing to originate from legitimate sources and asking recipients to click on a link to retrieve a virtual greeting card actually send users to Web sites that install malicious Trojan horse software on their computers."

Spammer Sentenced to 9 Years in Jail

Commercial Exoskeletons

""For those of you with superhuman aspirations, your dream may be a step closer..."

People are More Accepting of Spam

Although this may be a case of incorrectly interpreting statistics: many people have stopped using email beacuse of spam (probably the ones that were bothered by it the most).

Robot jockeys to ride Gulf camels

"The United Arab Emirates says it will use robots as jockeys for camel races from next season. "

April 08, 2005

Wireless USB Demo

"Add to this the fact that existing USB 2.0 products can be converted to Wireless USB products with adapters, and you’re almost ready for obsolete technology."

Connecticut Supreme Court hits car rental company for GPS spying

Inkjets may soon repair fractured arms

"Scientists at the University of Manchester in England think they’ll soon be able to repair fractured arms and help other medical conditions by using inkjet nozzles that spray live human cells onto the patient."

The Egg handles last-minute scheduling changes

"When you (inevitably) need to give yourself a bit of extra time, you turn our egg upside down and shake it to add more light and, consequently, more time. "

Detroit hospital rolls out robotic “doctors”

Japanese developers create magnetic CPU cooler

"The system will apparently use a hollow magnet and magnetic nanoparticles mixed with oil to draw heat away from the CPU without requiring a pump."

DNS Cache Poisoning Spreads Malware

"The infected DNS servers are re-directing users from popular sites such as Google or American Express to malware infecting advertising sites."

Sony Patents Matrix-Like Game Technology

"Reuters is reporting that Sony has been granted 2 patents, both describing 'Method and system for generating sensory data onto the human neural cortex'."

Teachers leave grading up to the computer

"A computer program developed at the University of Missouri may take some of the tedium out of teaching--it grades papers and offers students writing advice. "

Linux Distro turns PCs into Night-time Clusters

"Dubbed CHAOS, the distro is able to remotely boot a computer and run it on Linux without affecting the local hard disk."

April 06, 2005

Windmills in the Sky

"Australian engineer Bryan Roberts wants to build a power station in the sky -- a cluster of flying windmills soaring 15,000 feet in the air..."

Hitachi goes perpendicular, promises 1TB PC drives

Hikers who carry cellphones take extra risks

"The Honolulu Star-Bulletin has a news story about how hikers in Hawaii are subconsciously taking needless risks and hiking trails they’re not ready for..."

Comcast and TiVo want to insert new ads into old TV shows

Firm builds internet motor home

"An internet entrepreneur with a taste for the open road is having a hi-tech motor home built for him in north Wales. "

'Geek speak' confuses net users

"The average home computer user is bamboozled by technology jargon which is used to warn people about the most serious security threats online. "

April 05, 2005

The Feds can own your WLAN too

Watch as some FBI d00ds crack a 128-bit WEP network in under 3 minutes.

UL Image Quiz: 'Real or Fake?'

"Test your ability to tell hoax photos from the real thing by taking the UL Image Quiz."

Aided by the Net, hacked-off consumers make their feelings known

But if you get your "information" by email, you'd better do some research first.

April 04, 2005

San Francisco Attempts to Regulate Blogging

"Forget about theocratic Iran or Communist China; today's report of a political entity trying to regulate blogging comes not from The People's Republic of China, but rather The People's Republic of San Francisco."

"Body Talk" Could Control Gadgets

"The BBC reports that we could soon be controlling our gadgets using small movements of the body, such as a nod of the head."

April 01, 2005

Google Doubles Gmail Storage

"E-mail service now offers 2GB of storage, and the company says that will increase."

Brain chip reads man's thoughts

"A paralysed man in the US has become the first person to benefit from a brain chip that reads his mind. "

Frenzy Begins Over Cookie Alternative

"An existing technology offering cookie-like functionality is gaining attention from publishers, marketers and others as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous, but potentially endangered, text files. The technology, based on Macromedia's Flash, is getting attention as awareness spreads of an apparent increase in user deletion of cookies."

What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits

"By its own count, Wal-Mart has 460 terabytes of data stored ... at its Bentonville headquarters. To put that in perspective, the Internet has less than half as much data, according to experts."

Illinois Speed Cameras Will Take Your License Away

""If you ever happen to drive through Illinois, but skipped any of the Techdirt items about how inaccurate speed cameras can be -- you better go back and read up. "

RFID Implantee Graafstra Interviewed

"Remember the guy who had an RFID implanted in his hand? "

Hitachi Deskstar 7K500: First 500GB Hard Drive

Scientists develop metallic glass

"The new material is said to be three times stronger than the best industrial steel and ten times springier."

The downside to using a biometric car lock

"Turns out there is a very unfortunate downside to using a biometric fingerprint scanner to lock and unlock your car doors: when thieves want to steal your car they’ll simply cut off the necessary digit and go to town." [some finger readers and other biometric devices account for this, and will check for blood supply as part of the evaluation; I'll be making sure that my next car has this feature, and has a big sticker saying so. - jeff]

PC Sharing Box (2 users for 1 PC)

Cool hardware of the day

March 31, 2005

Google Prefetching for Mozilla Browsers

"Google has enabled results prefetching for Mozilla based browsers, which means that the top results of queries are being loaded in the background and pages will load faster. "

Google Prefetching for Mozilla Browsers

"Google has enabled results prefetching for Mozilla based browsers, which means that the top results of queries are being loaded in the background and pages will load faster. "

March 29, 2005

Danger Areas in Business Travel

"Here are three of the most severe danger zones lurking under the radar of most business travelers today."

TiVo Starts Testing "Pop-up" Ads

Note to self: don't buy a TiVo.

Why don't we pay attention anymore?

"It may be the greatest irony of the information age. All of that data flying at you by e-mail, instant message, cell phone, voice mail and BlackBerry--it could actually be making you dumber."

3D Animated Ads

No mention in the article about how to make sure this never goes live, but I guess the old standby of pulling out your eyeballs with a spoon will have to do.

Beware phony ATM facades

"Apparently thieves are building fake front-ends for ATMs, complete with card readers, keypads, and mini-cameras, in order to capture your ATM card and PIN (most ATMs are so janky that it’s hard to tell when you’ve got a fake one on your hands)."

Toshiba’s new battery gets charged in 60 seconds

"... Toshiba’s just introduced a new Lithium-Ion battery that can be recharged (up to 80% capacity) in a mere 60 seconds..."

Net fingerprints combat attacks

"Eighty large net service firms have switched on software to spot and stop net attacks automatically."

March 28, 2005

U.S. Bows to Europe as New Spam King

"The United States has lost its position as the leading source of spam in the world, with Europe taking over the dubious lead. "

Ever need to phone 7,000 people at once?

"The service is mostly for those moments when other forms of communication may not work, said CEO Sanford Cohen. One customer, for instance, recently used it to ping board members who were on their way to the airport. They were headed for a meeting in Florida--but so was a hurricane. They canceled their flight. "

Ever need to phone 7,000 people at once?

"The service is mostly for those moments when other forms of communication may not work, said CEO Sanford Cohen. One customer, for instance, recently used it to ping board members who were on their way to the airport. They were headed for a meeting in Florida--but so was a hurricane. They canceled their flight. "

Mobile pizza trucks deliver fast food

"In fact, before your order is even completed your pie could already be rolling its way to your door, thanks to the wonders of wireless and a small fleet of Chrysler Sprinter vans outfitted with kitchen equipment. "

Student Suspended For Posting Photo Of Principal Breaking The Law

Sony Loses Patent Battle -- Told To Stop Selling PlayStations In The US