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."