Techniques and Tips

Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)

2010-02-15T02:30:00.000-08:00

From the Manufacturer

The Optoma HD20 brings a new level of flexibility to your high-definition home theater/multi-media experience. With true 1080p resolution, the HD20 delivers excellent color saturation and subtle details for superior image quality. With its sleek design and weight of 6.4 lbs, the Optoma HD20 is perfect for sharing big-screen movies, sporting events and concerts or for taking your video gaming to the next level by connecting the HD20 to your favorite game console.

Product Features
* True High Def 1080p Resolution
* 1700 Lumens Brightness
* 4000:1 Contrast Ratio
* Up to 300-Inch Screen size
* HDI Component, Composite, Video, and VGA Connections

Technical Details
* Condition: New
* Projection Technology: DLP
* Projector Type: Business Projector
* Resolution: 1920 x 1080
* Native Resolution: 1080p (1920 x 1080)
* Brightness: 1700 ANSI Lumens
* Contrast Ratio: 4000:1
* No. of Colors: 16.7 million
* Native Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen
* Display Technology: DLP (0.65" DMD)
* Data Signals: XGA
* Data Signals: SVGA
* Data Signals: SXGA
* Data Signals: UXGA
* Data Signals: SXGA+
* Data Signals: HD
* Data Signals: VGA
* Data Signals: WXGA
* Video Signals: HDTV (720p, 1080i/p)
* Inputs: Composite

ViewSonic PJD5111 2500 Lumens Portable DLP Projector

2010-02-15T02:19:00.000-08:00

Product Description

ViewSonic's PJD5111 is a practical projector that offers outstanding value and performance. This SVGA resolution projector supports high definition signals and projects 2500 lumens for clear, bright images in most lighting conditions. At only 5.1 pounds, it is light and compact, making it ideal for the mobile presenter or to move from room to room in the office or on a campus. Texas Instruments¿ BrilliantColor¿ technology delivers brilliant, true-color and high contrast images for viewing presentations, charts, or video. With extensive connectivity, including two RGB inputs and one RGB output, the PJD5111 is an excellent multifunctional data/video projector. Eco-mode reduces fan noise for less distraction during important presentations and even extends the lamp life up to 4000 hours*. The PJD5111 is perfect for users looking for an easy to use, versatile and portable projector at a great price.

Product Features
* SVGA 800x600 resolution projector supports high definition signals
* 2500 lumens deliver clear, bright images in most lighting conditions
* Light and compact at just 5.1 pounds
* Extensive connectivity, including two RGB inputs and one RGB output
* Eco-mode reduces fan noise and even extends the lamp life up to 4000 hours*

Technical Details
* Brand Name: ViewSonic
* Model: PJD5111
* Hardware Platform: PC, Mac
* Display: DLP projector
* Minimum Image Size: 3 feet
* Maximum Image Size: 13 feet
* Minimum Screen Distance: 5 feet
* Maximum Screen Distance: 19.7 feet
* Display Resolution Maximum: 800 x 600
* Image Brightness: 2500 ANSI lumens
* Audio Output Type: Speaker(s)
* Width: 10.4 inches
* Depth: 8.9 inches
* Height: 3.8 inches
* Weight: 5.1 pounds

Zalman CNPS9500 AT 92mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan with Heatsink

2010-02-11T01:04:00.000-08:00

Product Features

* 1. Compatible with Intel's Dual Core Pentium, Pentium4, and Celeron D for Socket 775.
* 2. Low-noise 92mm PWM Control fan for automatic control of the fan's RPM according
to CPU temperature.
* 3. Optimized heatsink layout composed of pure copper for maximum heatsink efficiency.
* 4. Innovative, patented, and curved heatpipe design for a heat transfer capacity of up to
six heatpipes with just three.
* 5. 0.2mm ultra-slim fins for minimized weight and reduced airflow resistance

Technical Details

* Brand Name: Zalman
* Model: CNPS9500 AT

Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us

2010-02-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Product Description
Application for Notebook & Desktop. ¿hermaltake?convenient solution with extremely ¿obile?concept inside. Perfect accessory for NB & PC. Directly plug into USB port. Unnecessary additional power supply. VR knob : Adjust fan speed manually. One-touch retractable USB power cable box. Slim USB power cable, only 0.6 mm in depth. With ¿t?badge fan grille to avoid touching accidentally. Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features

* P/N - A1888
* Dimension - 80 x 80 x 25 mm
* Rated Voltage - 5V DC
* Started Voltage - 4V DC
* Operating Range - 3.5 V ~ 5.5 V DC

Technical Details
* Fan Type: USB
* Fan Speed: 3000 RPM
* Air Flow: 47.28 CFM
* Bearing Type: Sleeve
* Fan Dimensions: 80 x 80 x 25 mm

Cooler Master R4-LUS-07AR-GP MegaFlow 200mm LED Case Fan (Red)

2010-02-11T00:55:00.000-08:00

From the Manufacturer

With the constant development of hardware getting better and better, the energy consumption of your computer rises because you want to get the full performance. Due to this the heat increases and so the requirements of your fan rise as well. To integrate several fans is not the right solution because your computer will get very, very noisy. Bigger fans are the optimal solution for modern high-tech systems. The MegaFlow fan has a diameter of 200mm and so it has a displacement volume of 184 m3/h - twice the volume of 140mm fans.

* 700RPM 110 CFM High air flow for maximum cooling performance.
* Quiet operation with low RPM.
* RoHS compliance for protecting the environment.
* Compatible with 230mm HAF mounts for easy upgrades.

* Cosmos S
* HAF 932
* HAF 922
* ATCS 840
* CM Storm Sniper

Recommended as a replacement or additional fan for:
HAF 932, HAF 922*, COSMOS S, ATCS 840, CM Storm Sniper*
*Fan and LED will operate but full LED ON/OFF function will not be compatible

Rocketfish 5.1-Channel PCI Sound Card RF-51SDCD

2010-02-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

Product Description
This PCI sound card lets you give your computer's sound system a boost to help bring your audio to life. Software MIDI synthesizer, Provides general MIDI support, Windows 7 compatible For flexible use. Sound Type Supported EAX 3.0, Internal Interface Slot Type PCI; External Ports/Connectors: Line-in|Line-out/headphones-out|Optical S/PDIF out; Digital Output; Speaker Support 5.1; System Requirements Intel® Pentium® 4 1.6GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor or faster; Windows 2000, XP or Vista; Windows 7; 512MB RAM; 600MB free hard drive space; PCI 2.1-compatible PCI slot; CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

Product Features
* What's Included: * Rocketfish 5.1-Channel PCI Sound Card * Software CD-ROM
* Owner's manual
* 3D surround sound gaming with EAX support To bring your games to life.
* 24-bit multichannel performance/96kHz stereo For both playback and recording.
* Supports 2-, 4- and 5.1-channel output To best fit your system's needs.
* Optical out Supports stereo S/PDIF out and pass-through of multichannel DVD sound.

Technical Details
* Model: RF-51SDCD

M-Audio Audiophile 2496 MIDI Digital Recording Interface

2010-02-09T01:26:00.000-08:00

Product Description
The Audiophile 2496 embodies a quantum leap in computer audio fidelity and performance unequaled by other audio cards in its price range. This critically acclaimed PCI card features premium digital audio converters, elegant board design, and ultra-stable drivers just like the rest of the Delta line, but with a simpler I/O configuration. As a member of the Delta family, the Audiophile 2496 supports all computer platforms and major software programs, ensuring seamless integration and rock-solid performance. See why the Audiophile 2496 is one of the best-selling digital audio cards in the industry.

Product Features
* The Audiophile 2496 PCI Audio Card from MIDIMAN provides wide range of
applications for recording and playback, from stereo to home-theater
* 24-bit 96 kHz multitrack recording
* MIDI recording and playback
* Digital transfers and Digital mastering
* LP/cassette-to-CD transfers

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX Soundcard

2010-02-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

Product Description

Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX is the professional home studio solution that opens up a whole new world of unprecedented high-definition audio with the flexibility of an external drive. You'll experience incredible audio clarity with 24-bit, multi-channel, 5.1 sound and stunning 100dB SNR. The increased power of the Audigy chip enables EAX ADVANCED HD to deliver a host of innovative high definition audio effects with next-generation, interactive, 3D audio for gaming and sophisticated effects for music.The external Audigy drive has the most comprehensive connectors for analog or digital devices, including professional audio gear, home-stereo receivers, Optical DACs, MIDI devices, and DV Camcorders. You'll also have the advantage of high-capacity connectivity to SB1394 qualified devices like DV Camcorders, the future SB1394 NOMAD Jukebox, external hard drives, and high-speed CD-RWs.This Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX card is bundled with Audigy extension card, External Audigy Drive, CD with application, driver and utilities, InfraRed Remote Control and cables. The Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX ships with an external Audigy drive that you can place anywhere outside your PC.

Product Features
* Uses Creative's Audigy chip
* EAX Advanced HD offers 3-D audio performance
* Built-in Dolby Digital decoder for true 5.1 multi-channel playback
* External Audigy Drive offers accessible connectors
* Includes wireless remote control

Technical Details
* Model: Platinum eX

Thermaltake W0070RUC TR2 Series 430W Power Supply with 2 Fans

2010-02-08T01:48:00.000-08:00

Product Description
Support 6-pin PCI-Express connector PFC function, improved energy efficiency and reduced current load on AC delivery systems Dual 8cm fan, provide best air-flow to cool your PC system Intelligent Black Cable Sleeving, provide optimum air flow inside the case

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* Support 6-pin PCI-Express connector
* Dual 8cm fan provides best air-flow to cool your PC system
* Intelligent Black Cable Sleeving provides optimum air flow inside the case
* Protections against Over Power, Over Voltage, Short-Circuit, and Protection Reset
* Safety/EMI Approvals: FCC, UL, CUL, CSA, and CE certification

Technical Details
* Form Factor: ATX
* Wattage: 430-Watt
* Modular Cabling: No
* Fan: 80 mm
* Input Voltage: 115 ~ 230
* +3.3V: 20 A
* +5V: 30 A
* +12V 1: 18 A
* +12V 2: 15 A
* -12V: 0.5 A
* -5V: 0.8 A
* +5VSB: 2 A
* Dimensions: 6.3 x 5.9 x 3.3 inch
* 20+4-Pin Connector: 1
* Motherboard Connector: 20+4 Pin
* 4-Pin P4: 1
* Motherboard Power Connector: 4-Pin P4
* 6-Pin PCI-Express Connector: 1
* 4-Pin Floppy Connector: 2
* 4-Pin Peripheral Connector: 9

Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply compatible with Intel Core i7 and Core i5

2010-02-08T01:42:00.000-08:00

Product Description

The Corsair 750-Watt TX Series is perfect, whether you are looking to upgrade your video cards, processor, or just need more power.

The Corsair 750TX power supply is engineered using advanced technology and components typically needed for high end server systems, yet you can buy it here at Amazon at a great price!With design features such as a dedicated single +12V rail, the 750TX offers the maximum compatibility with the latest system components.

The 750TX has Energy efficient circuitry capable of delivering greater than 80% efficiency ratings across 20%, 50%, and 100% load conditions.

Why should you consider a new Power Supply?A Computer power supply is often overlooked when people look to upgrade their PC. A cheap and low wattage power supply can cause a number of headaches if you are planning on upgrading your PC. If your computer is not getting enough power, you can expect random system crashes.

Upgrading your power supply ensures that your system will be stable and will allow you to upgrade in the future as well. With a large 140mm diameter temperature-controlled fan that is ultra quiet, reliability and stability are no longer worries for the gamer, overclocker, or enthusiast.80 Plus Certified Any power supply that is 80 Plus Certified means that it can Efficiently supply power to your computer and doesn’t waste much energy.

When a power supply is not efficiently converting the energy from the wall socket, it turns the unused energy into heat. That’s important because Heat is never good for your computer and can shorten your computers life.What 80 Plus Certification means, is that this power supply converts more than 80% of the power from the wall socket into actual energy your computer can use, saving you on the electric bill and decreasing heat inside your PC.

This Corsair 750w shows an efficiency of more than 85% when it’s under 100% load by your computer making it perfect for your next upgrade or new system build.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* Box Contents - Corsair TX750W Power Supply; Cables included
- ATX 24 pin & 20 pin compatible
* Supports ATX12V v2.2 standard and older ATX12V 2.01 spec
* Ultra-quiet 140mm double ball-bearing fan delivers excellent airflow
* 80%+ energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load condition for less
heat generatio and lower energy bill
* 99% Active Power Factor Correction provides clean and reliable power to your system

Technical Details
* Brand Name: Corsair
* Model: CMPSU-750TX
* Item Height: 3.39 inches
* Item Length: 6.3 inches
* Item Width: 5.91 inches
* Item Weight: 4.41 pounds

Coolmax M-500B 500W Eps Power Supply with 5 Sata Connectors ATX12V and EPS12V

2010-02-08T01:37:00.000-08:00

Product Description
COOLMAX M-500B 500W EPS - POWER SUPPLY W/ 5 SATA CONNECTORS with 120mm fan design, long life, and fastest cooling time .powerful & high-efficiency performance, Smart cable management.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* 120mm fan design, long life, and fastest cooling time
* Powerful & high-efficiency performance
* Total silent solution
* Smart cable management
* Over/under voltage protection

Technical Details
* Brand Name: Coolmax
* Model: 14622
* Item Height: 5.9 inches
* Item Length: 3.4 inches
* Item Width: 5.5 inches
* Item Weight: 3.5 pounds

MSI 790FX-GD70 SocketAM3/140W CPU/AMD 790FX CrossFire/4DDR3-2133(OC)/ATI Quad/Triple CrossFireX/2GbE/R/A/1394/ATX Motherboard

2010-02-07T02:16:00.000-08:00

Product Description

MSI AM3 mainboard fully supports AMD latest 45nm Phenom II processor and DDR3 memory. Not only that, Gaming series mainboard even comes with OC Dial and MAX FSB advanced overclocking technologies, as well as M-Flash BIOS update mechanism protection. OC Dial and MAX FSB overclocking enable users to overclock easily and become an expert in a short period of time; M-Flash enables user to load the BIOS files from USB drive to boot up. In addition, this mainboard features full support for multimedia applications, Blu-ray high-definition hardware audio, and complete display output interface to provide full HD and high-performance 3D display capabilities. This mainboard is simply one of the best solutions for gamers and multimedia users.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* MSI 790GX-G65 Socket AM3 FSB 2600 CPU Support Phenom II, Triple Core, Quad Core
ATX
* Chipset AMD 790FX Crossfire SATA2 RAID PCI-E 16x 4 Gen.2 (16x+16x or Quad 8x)
PCI-E 1x - 1 slot PCI - 2 Slots
* 4 Slots DDR3 Memory Bus Dual/1800/200+ 24 GB Max HD Audio 8 Channel Dual GB LAN
* Dr. MOS, ATI Quad/Triple Cross-FireX, 1394, RAID 0,1,0+1, 5, SATA2, PCI-e
Gen.2,eSATA

Technical Details
* Hardware Platform: PC
* Processor Socket: Socket AM3
* Processor Maximum: 1
* Compatible Processors: Phenom II X3, Phenom II X4
* System Bus Speed: 2600
* Chipset Type: AMD 790FX
* Ram Memory Maximum Size: 16 GB
* Video Output: None
* Networking Feature: Network adapter
* Width: 12 inches
* Depth: 9.6 inches

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P Socket AM2+/ AMD 790X/ CrossFireX/ A and GbE/ ATX Motherboard

2010-02-07T02:11:00.000-08:00

Product Description

Based on AMD 790X chipset, the GA-MA790X-UD4P supports next generation of 45nm AMD Phenom II series processors, integrated DDR2 memory controller, HyperTransport 3.0 technology links and dual PCI Express 2.0 graphics interfaces (running at x8 and x8) for ATI CrossFireX support. With the innovative Gigabyte Easy Energy Saver technology, the MA790X-UD4P is able to provide user friendly computing, reach the maximum system performance easily while still able to save the power and environment in real life at the same time.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* Sold Individually

Technical Details
* Hardware Platform: PC
* Computer Cpu Type: AMD Athlon
* Processor Socket: Socket AM2+
* Processor Maximum: 1
* Computer Cpu Manufacturer: AMD
* Compatible Processors: Athlon, Sempron, Phenom II X3, Athlon 64 FX, Athlon 64 X2,
Athlon X2, Phenom X4, Phenom X3, Sempron X2, Phenom II X4, Athlon 64
* System Bus Speed: 2600
* Chipset Type: AMD 790X
* Ram Memory Maximum Size: 16 GB
* Video Output: None
* Networking Feature: Network adapter
* Width: 12 inches
* Depth: 9.2 inches

Asus M4A785TD-M EVO Socket AM3/AMD 785G/4DDR3-1800(OC)/ATI HD4200/128 MB DDR3 Sideport/ATI Hybrid CrossfireX/GbE/Raid/1394/HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard

2010-02-07T02:01:00.000-08:00

Product Description
Asus M4A785TD-M EVO Socket AM3/AMD 785G/4DDR3-1800(OC)/ATI HD4200/128 MB DDR3 Sideport/ATI Hybrid CrossfireX/GbE/Raid/1394/HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* With True Enhanced Performance.
* Latest Technical Development.

Technical Details
* Hardware Platform: PC
* Processor Socket: Socket AM3
* Processor Maximum: 1
* Compatible Processors: Sempron, Phenom II X3, Athlon II X2, Phenom II X2, Phenom II X4
* System Bus Speed: 2600
* Chipset Type: AMD 785G
* Ram Memory Maximum Size: 16 GB
* Video Output: Graphics adapter
* Graphics Ram: 128 MB
* Networking Feature: Network adapter
* Width: 9.6 inches
* Depth: 9.6 inches

LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive 301442U (Aluminum)

2010-02-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Quadruple Interface for Unmatched Performance and Compatibility
The LaCie 301442U d2 Quadra External Hard Drive features one eSATA 3 Gbit port, two FireWire 800 ports (9-pin), one FireWire 400 port (6-pin), and one hi-speed USB 2.0 port that is USB 1.1-compatible. (Cables for each connection are conveniently included with the drive.) This quadruple interface makes the d2 Quadra ideal for demanding multi-media applications that require extreme speed as well as universal connectivity. The eSATA interface offers a blazing transfer rate of up to 300 MB per second (3Gbits/sec), while FireWire allows you to connect directly to your DV camera.

The LaCie d2 is compatible with Windows, including Vista, and Mac OS X 10.2.8 and above (10.3 for eSATA). If you have Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, the d2 Quadra works with Time Machine, which automatically backs up your Mac's system files, applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, movies, and documents to an external hard drive and lets you easily go back in time to recover anything.

Product Features
* External hard disk offers 1 TB with triple connection interface
* Supports eSATA, FireWire 800/400, and USB 2.0 connections
* Stylish enclosure by Neil Poulton reduces heat for quiet, fanless operation
* Shortcut button on drive lets you launch any application
* Device measures 1.7 x 6.3 x 6.8 inches (WxHxD); backed by a 3-year warranty

Technical Details
* Brand Name: LaCie
* Model: 301442U
* Hard Disk Size: 1000 GB
* Warranty: 3 years warranty
* Hardware Platform: PC, Mac
* Hard Disk Description: External hard drive
* Form Factor: External
* Hard Disk Interface: Serial ATA
* Hard Disk Rotational Speed: 7200
* Buffer Size: 32 MB
* Width: 6.8 inches
* Depth: 6.3 inches
* Height: 1.7 inches
* Weight: 3.3 pounds

Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5C 4GB XMS2 PC2-6400 800Mhz 240-pin Dual Channel DDR2 Desktop Memory

2010-02-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Product Description
This TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX is a 4GB matched pair of DDR2 SDRAM DIMMs built using Corsair’s latest high performance heat sink technology. This part delivers outstanding performance in the latest generation of dual-channel DDR2-based motherboards like the nForce 780i chipset from NVIDIA. It has been tested extensively in multiple DDR2 motherboards to ensure compatibility and performance at its rated speed. This memory has been verified to operate at 800MHz at the low latencies of 5-5-5-18.Sporting Corsair’s signature fin memory heat sink and patented heat-removing printed circuit board design, the new XMS2 products feature mainstream performance while promoting increased stability. It has been tested extensively in multiple DDR2 motherboards to ensure compatibility and performance at its rated speed.

Corsair created a 24/7 online customer support site just for you at www.asktheramguy.com. Here, you can find other people like yourself that are “In the know” and can help answer questions you may have about installation or anything RAM related!
More importantly, Corsair stands behind every module with a Lifetime Warranty. We realize any manufacturer can put a product in a box and hope that it will work, however, at Corsair we guarantee it will work for a lifetime!

PNY OPTIMA 2GB (2x1GB) Dual Channel Kit DDR2 533 MHz PC2-4200 Desktop DIMM Memory Modules MD2048KD2-533

2010-02-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features

* Memory capacity upgrade provides improved system performance and responsiveness
* Deliver all the productivity your PC has to offer with PNY Memory
* Compatible with PC2-4200 (533 MHz) and PC2-3200 (400 MHz) systems
* Helps prepare your PC for running Windows Vista
* Easy installation, Free 24-hour Technical Support, and Lifetime Warranty!

Technical Details

* Memory Category: Desktop
* Memory Type: DDR2
* Memory Speed: PC4200
* Memory Speed MHz: 533MHz
* Memory Size: 2 x 1024MB
* Total Memory Size: 2GB
* Memory Modules: 2
* Memory Channels: Dual
* Memory Socket: DIMM

Kingston Technologies 1GB DDR SDRAM Desktop Memory (KVR400/1GR)

2010-02-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Product Description
Kingston's ValueRAM KVR400/1GR is a 128M x 64-bit (1GB) DDR400 CL3 SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) memory module. The components on the module include sixteen 64M x 8-bit (16M x 8-bit x 4 Bank) DDR333 SDRAM in TSOP packages. This 184-pin DIMM uses gold contact fingers and requires +2.6V. The product is shipped in retail packaging and includes installation instructions.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* Lifetime Warranty
* 100% Tested for Reliability
* Free Technical Support
* Easy to Follow Installation Instructions
* Designed to Meet or Exceed Industry Standards for Performance and Reliability

Technical Details
* Memory Category: Desktop
* Memory Type: DDR
* Memory Speed: PC3200
* Memory Speed MHz: 400MHz
* Memory Size: 1024MB
* Total Memory Size: 1GB
* Memory Modules: 1
* Memory Channels: Dual
* Memory Socket: DIMM
* Memory CAS Latency: 3

Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920

2010-02-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

From the Manufacturer
The Intel Core i7-920 processor combines the power of four 3.06 GHz computing cores into a single processor, guaranteeing enough processing power for the most demanding applications. With 8 MB of smart cache, the Core i7-920 processor ensures that you get maximum responsiveness from your system, even when several intensive programs run simultaneously. Compatible with motherboards based on the Intel X58 Express chipset, the Core i7-920 processor takes your computing and gaming experience to the next level. Powerful New Microarchitecture Eliminates Slowdown
The i7 family is Intel's flagship processor, and for good reason. With the i7 family, Intel engineers invented a revolutionary new style of microarchitecture. They replaced the front side bus -- a longtime staple of processor design -- with a new technology called QuickPath Interconnect (QPI). Using QPI, the i7-920 achieves unprecedented levels of bandwidth, and can use its four computing cores to their maximum potential.

To put it simply, users will enjoy faster and more streamlined processing than ever before. Your computer will handle multiple projects and applications without the slowdown you'd experience with a lesser processor.

Extremely intensive programs like high-definition media editors will run more smoothly and responsively. And you'll be able to experience next-generation games without frame-rate hiccups and slowdowns.

New Technologies Boost Performance
The Intel Core i7-920 processor also makes use of several other cutting-edge technologies:

* Turbo Boost Technology allows the processor to run up to 133 MHz faster when it's operating below power/thermal limits.
* Hyper-threading Technology enables more efficient use of processor resources, making the most of highly threaded software like media players and next-generation games.
* Smart Cache Memory increases available RAM resources, leading to less lag while multi-tasking.

Media Editing and Sharing Easier than Ever
Whether editing high-definition videos, touching up family photos, or splicing up music, the Intel Core i7-920 processor provides the processing power needed. The processor's four cores are optimized to keep up with the most advanced digital editing software. It also accelerates DVD encoding and compression, allowing you to easily share your HD home videos with everyone.Unparalleled Gaming Performance
With the advent of next-generation games, PC gaming is more immersive than ever. The latest games take advantage of multi-threaded programming, allowing for more realistic graphics, physics, and artificial intelligence (AI). But you'll need more than just a good graphics card with high GPU output to fully experience all these effects. Underlying the visual realism and advanced AI scripts are thousands of high-speed calculations that your CPU must process.

Fortunately, Intel Core i7-920 processor is specifically designed to handle these calculations. Using multi-thread architecture, it has the ability to process thousands of graphical characteristics at once, resulting in a smooth and lag-free experience. Intel worked closely with CryTek -- the developers of the advanced game engine behind such games as Crysis and Far Cry -- to guarantee that gamers have an immersive and lifelike experience.

The Intel Core i7-920 processor is backed by a three-year limited warranty.

Intel Core i5 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX

2010-02-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

From the Manufacturer
A budget-friendly alternative to Intel's i7 line, the Intel Core i5-750 processor provides robust performance for all your office, gaming, and multimedia needs. It combines the power of four 2.66 GHz computing cores into a single processor, guaranteeing enough processing power for the most demanding applications. With 8 MB of smart cache, the Core i5-750 processor ensures that you get maximum responsiveness from your system, even when several intensive programs run simultaneously. Compatible with motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, the Core i5-750 processor is the choice for mainstream users who want to maximize in-home PC performance. Powerful New Microarchitecture Eliminates Slowdown
The Intel Core i5-750 processor implements a radical new style of microarchitecture. Intel engineers replaced the front side bus -- a longtime staple of processor design -- with a new interconnect technology called Direct Media Interface (DMI). Using DMI, the i5-750 achieves superior levels of bandwidth, and can use its four computing cores to their maximum potential.

To put it simply, users will enjoy faster and more streamlined processing than ever before. Your computer will handle multiple projects and applications without the slowdown you'd experience with a lesser processor.

Extremely intensive programs like high-definition media editors will run more smoothly and responsively. And you'll be able to experience next-generation games without frame-rate hiccups and slowdowns.

New Technologies Boost Performance
The Intel Core i5-750 processor also makes use of some other cutting-edge technologies:

* Turbo Boost Technology allows the processor to run up to 133 MHz faster when it's operating below power/thermal limits.
* Smart Cache Memory increases available RAM resources, leading to less lag while multi-tasking.

Unlike the Intel Core i7 processor line, the Intel Core i5-750 processor does not feature Hyper-threading capability, so it will perform slightly worse when dealing with multi-threaded programs. Still, the Core i5-750 processor compares favorably with Core i7 processors in nearly all other respects.

Media Editing and Gaming Faster than Ever
Whether editing high-definition videos, touching up family photos, or splicing up music, the Intel Core i5-750 processor will provide the processing power needed. The processor's four cores are optimized to keep up with the most advanced digital editing software. Compared to the previous generation of Intel Core2 processors, the Intel Core i5-750 processor can process HD video almost twice as fast. It also accelerates DVD encoding and compression, allowing you to easily share your HD home videos with everyone.

The Intel Core i5-750 processor is also designed to handle the intense calculations and graphical rendering behind today's latest games. It has the ability to process thousands of graphical characteristics at once, resulting in a smooth and lag-free experience.

The Intel Core i5-750 processor is backed by a three-year limited warranty.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 3 GHz 1333MHz 6 MB LGA775 CPU BX80570E8400

2010-02-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Manufacturer Product Description

Manufacturer Product Description Built for mainstream users who might occasionally require some additional performance, Intel® Core™2 Duo processors featuring Intel's exclusive 45nm architecture are ideal for users interested in surfing the Web, checking email, shopping online, manipulating images, downloading, and watching videos—all at the same time. Robust multitasking capabilities ensure that a computing platform featuring the dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo processor won't slow down, even when running multiple software applications simultaneously.

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor Product Highlight
Combining Intel's highly efficient 45nm manufacturing technology and Intel® Core™ microarchitecture, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor delivers robust performance for both home and business software applications. With two complete computing "brains" on one physical processor, this dual-core processor delivers more performance with greater energy efficiency than older single-core processors. For PC users, this means doing more simultaneously with less slowdown and hesitation.

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Diamond ATI Radeon HD5870 PCIE 1024 MB GDDR5 Video Card 5870PE51G

2010-02-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Product Description

Prepare to experience a riveting high-definition gaming experience with ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series graphics processors.

Expand your visual real estate across up to three displays and get lost in the action with revolutionary ATI Eyefinity Technology.

Using ATI Stream technology, accelerate even the most demanding applications and do more than ever with your PC.

The first to deliver full support for Microsoft DirectX 11, these GPUs enable rich, realistic visuals and explosive HD gaming performance so you can dominate the competition. Product features include:

GPU: ATI Radeon 5870, Bus Type: PCI-Express X16 (PCI Express 2.0), Dynamic power management with ATI PowerPlay technology, 1 GB GDDR5 memory, ATI Eyefinity technology, ATI Avivo HD video and display technology, ATI Stream technology, API Support: DirectX 9.0 and 10.0, 10.1, 11.0 Open GL3.1, Display Formats: Two Dual Link DVI + HDMI + Display Port, ATI CrossfireX multi-GPU.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* GPU: ATI Radeon 5870
* Bus Type: PCI-Express X16 (PCI Express 2.0)
* Dynamic power management with ATI PowerPlay technology
* 1 GB GDDR5 memory
* API Support: DirectX 9.0 and 10.0, 10.1, 11.0 Open GL3.1

Technical Details
* Model: 5870PE51G

XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 PCIE Graphics Card HD577AZNFC

2010-02-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Product Description
The XFX HD5770 provides one of the best gaming experiences possible with some of the latest advances in GPU technology.

Technical Details

* 1GB DDR5 Memory
* Display Port
* Crossfire Ready
* ATI Eyefinity

EVGA 01G-P3-N945-LR GeForce 9400 GT 1GB DDR2 PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card

2010-02-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Product Description

The features of the 9400 GT 01G-P3-N945-LR include the GeForce 9400 GT(550MHz clock) chipset, 1GB of 128-bit DDR2 memory with a 400 MHz clock with an effective rate of 800 MHz, 1400MHz Shader Clock, 16 processing cores, PCI Express 2.0 compatibility, Dual DVI-I connectors, 12.8GB per second memory bandwidth, NVIDIA unified architecture, Full Microsoft DirectX 10 support, NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology, and OPEN GL 2.1 support. Built for Microsoft Windows Vista. This product comes with a one year warranty with one additional year free with registration. Product must be registered at www.evga.com within 30 days of purchase to get the free second year of warranty.

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features
* PCI Express 2.0 Support
* GeForce 9400 GT with 550MHz clock
* 1GB of 128 bit DDR2 memory
* 400 MHz clock with 800 MHz effective memory rate
* Full DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 support

Technical Details
* Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce
* GPU Series: NVIDIA GeForce 9
* Lifestyle: Mainstream
* GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT
* Maximum Resolution: 2560 x 1600 (Digital)
* Video Memory: 1GB
* Memory Type: DDR2
* Memory Interface: 128-bit
* Core Clock: 550 MHz
* Memory Clock: 800 MHz
* Interface Type: PCI Express 2.0
* Multiple Monitors Support: Yes
* Max. Monitors Supported: 2
* Overclocked: No
* APIs: DirectX 10
* Video Output: DVI
* Video Output: S-Video
* Low Profile: No
* Cooling Type: Fan

Blackberry Gemini 8520 Unlocked Phone with 2 MP Camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi--International Version with No Warranty (Black)

2010-01-31T19:37:00.000-08:00

Product Description

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone neatly fits in your hand. A full QWERTY keyboard makes typing and sending messages easy,and comfortable. The bright screen displays over 65,000 colors, providing a great viewing experience. Access what's important with trackpad navigation. Like a laptop, the trackpad lets you scroll through menus, icons and info by gliding your finger over it. Press and click to select an item and navigate to where you want to go. Control music and multimedia with dedicated media keys found atop the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone. Skip over songs, pause music to talk, or repeat your favorites over and over.. You can even mute phone calls with the easy-access mute button.

Product Features

* This unlocked cell phone is compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Not all carrier features may be supported. It will not work with CDMA carriers like Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Sprint.
* Unlocked Quad Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and GPRS capabilities
* 2.0MP Digital Camera, High-resolution display with 320 x 240 65.000 colors TFT and 2.46 inches, 35 key backlit QWERTY keyboard, Trackpad, Intuitive icons and menus, Bluetooth® enabled with Stereo Profile (A2DP), Wi-Fi® 802.11b/g enabled
* Video format support: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV3, Audio format support: AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, WMA9 (.wma/.asf), WMA9 PRO/WMA 10, AAC-LC with 3.5mm Headset Support
* Talk time up to 5 hours - Standby up to 17 days

Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer with 3.5-Inch Touchscreen, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Maemo Browser, 32 GB--U.S. Version with Full Warranty

2010-01-31T18:54:00.000-08:00

* Fast 3G connectivity with broadband-like speeds via 900/1700/2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA.
* Integrated assisted GPS (A-GPS) receiver for navigation using the Ovi Maps application as well as for geotagging photos and accessing location services used by popular social networking sites. Switch between rich 3D, satellite and hybrid map views.
* 3.5-inch touchscreen display with built-in accelerometer and 800 x 480-pixel resolution. (Learn more)
* Slide-out full QWERTY keyboard as well as virtual onscreen keyboard. Speed your typing up further with smart on-screen features and word completion.
* Maemo 5 software and user interface with direct touch logic, 3D accelerated graphics, and multi-window multitasking menu logic. (Learn more)
* 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus camera with dual LED flash and sliding lens cover for protection and camera activation. (Learn more)
* Capture WVGA 16:9 video in higher than DVD resolution.
* Digital audio and video playback with multi-format compatibilities plus TV output (cable included) and FM radio.
* Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity with stereo music streaming (A2DP) capabilities as well as hands-free headsets and car kits. (Learn more)
* Wi-Fi networking for accessing the Internet from home, corporate and hotspot networks (802.11b/g); includes WEP, WPA, WPA2 security protocols.
* 32 GB internal memory expandable up to 48 GB via optional microSD cards (up to 16 GB in size).
* Full messaging capabilities including SMS, mobile instant messaging (with presence-enhanced contacts), personal and corporate email (with support for Exchange and viewing attachments).
* Easily set up multiple email accounts with support for popular email providers.
* Keep multiple SMS & IM conversations going and move easily between them.
* Mozilla-powered full HTML browser with support for Adobe Flash player and ability to keep multiple web windows open.
* Organizer tools including calendar, clock, notes, calculator, sketch
* Full range of applications including Ovi Maps, PDF reader, and RSS reader
* Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off.

HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One Printer

2010-01-30T22:14:00.000-08:00

Technical Details
* Print, scan and copy from a single, energy-efficient device with 3.45-inch touchscreen for printing directly from Snapfish
* Connections include Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Ethernet networking, Bluetooth, USB, and PictBridge
* Rotate and crop, adjust brightness, or apply color effects before printing with TouchSmart control panel--no PC necessary
* Up to 33 ppm black and 32 ppm color print speeds; scans up to 4800 x 4800 dpi (8.5 x 11.7 inches)
* Borderless photo printing up to 8.5 x 11 inches; 125-sheet input tray and 20-sheet photo tray

SPECIFICATIONS

Print Speed
Up to 33 pages per minute black, up to 32 ppm color; 4" x 6" photo as fast as 16 seconds3

Scan
Resolution up to 4800-dpi optical; maximum scan size 8.5" x 11.7"

Copy
Reduce/enlarge 25%–400%

Paper Handling
3" x 5" to 8.5" x 14"; prints up to 2,500 pages per month; copier up to 1,250 pages per month

Wireless
Wireless 802.11n; Bluetooth® wireless technology

Dell Studio One 19 Charcoal Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)

2010-01-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features

* Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor E5300 (2.60GHz, 2MB cache, 800MHz FSB)
* 4GB Memory (800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM); 500GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM); Slot Load DVD+/-RW with double layer write capability;
* Media Card Reader; Integrated Gigabit Ethernet; 6 USB Ports; Connectors: 2 x headphone, 2 x mic, 2 x line-out, 2 x line-in,
* Color Trim Flat Panel Monitor (18.5" 16:9 WXSGA, CCFL-1366x 768 with Multi-Touch); Nvidia GeForce 9200 Integrated Graphics, Built-in Webcam
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); Integrated 2.1 Channel Audio/ Integrated Stereo Speakers; Wireless b/g card

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

* Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core
* RAM: 4 GB
* RAM Type: SDRAM

Hard Drive

* Size: 500 GB

Cases and Expandability

* Size (LWH): 3.48 inches, 22.08 inches, 15.6 inches
* Weight: 22.7 pounds

Warranty and Support

* Amazon.com Returns Policies: You may return any new computer purchased from Amazon.com that is "dead on arrival," arrives in damaged condition, or is still in unopened boxes, for a full refund within 30 days of purchase. Amazon.com reserves the right to test "dead on arrival" returns and impose a customer fee equal to 15 percent of the product sales price if the customer misrepresents the condition of the product. Any returned computer that is damaged through customer misuse, is missing parts, or is in unsellable condition due to customer tampering will result in the customer being charged a higher restocking fee based on the condition of the product. Amazon.com will not accept returns of any desktop or notebook computer more than 30 days after you receive the shipment.

HP Pavilion DV6-2150US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

2010-01-30T21:58:00.000-08:00

Product Features and Technical Details

* Intel Core i3-330M Processor (2.13 GHz, 3 MB L3 Cache)
* 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) (expandable to 8 GB)
* 320GB (7200RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, * Up to 4.25 Hours of Battery Life
* 15.6" Diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display (1366x768), Intel HD Graphics with up to 1696MB Total Available Graphics Memory

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

* Hardware Platform: PC
* Processor: 2.13 GHz Intel Core Duo
* Number of Processors: 2
* RAM: 4 MB
* RAM Type: SODIMM

Hard Drive

* Size: 320 GB
* Type: Serial ATA

Cases and Expandability

* Size (LWH): 14.9 inches, 10.15 inches, 1.33 inches
* Weight: 6.34 pounds

Warranty and Support

* Amazon.com Returns Policies: You may return any new computer purchased from Amazon.com that is "dead on arrival," arrives in damaged condition, or is still in unopened boxes, for a full refund within 30 days of purchase. Amazon.com reserves the right to test "dead on arrival" returns and impose a customer fee equal to 15 percent of the product sales price if the customer misrepresents the condition of the product. Any returned computer that is damaged through customer misuse, is missing parts, or is in unsellable condition due to customer tampering will result in the customer being charged a higher restocking fee based on the condition of the product. Amazon.com will not accept returns of any desktop or notebook computer more than 30 days after you receive the shipment.

Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless All-In-One office Printer

2010-01-23T01:02:00.000-08:00

Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless
All-In-One office Printer

Product Description

From the Manufacturer Get ready for the power you’ll need to bring your home office to the next level. This Wireless wonder lets you print from any room in your home and boasts incredible 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi with 1pl and a 5 individual ink tank system. A built-in, fully integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder means fast copying or scanning of your originals so you can tend to other tasks while the printer is at work. Its built-in Auto Duplex Printing prints 2-sided documents without having to manually flip the pages. Additionally, various security features like password protected PDF’s means you can feel safe about the creation and distribution of your most confidential files.A Super G3 High-speed Fax along with networkable Ethernet means every aspect of your business can run as efficiently as possible. Thanks to Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology your copies will maintain the integrity of the original while you produce remarkable scans with 4800 dpi. With computer-less printing capabilities via compatible memory cards, PictBridge and optional Bluetooth your images are easy to view with a 2.5 inch LCD. Its versatile feature set also makes for a top-of-the-line photo lab so all of your printing needs are met in one machine that can virtually fit anywhere whether you’re on a PC or Mac.

Extraordinary Resolution
Realize the power of 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi firing with 1pl. Benefit? Incredible quality and detail in both your business documents and photos.

Technical Details

* Fully-Integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder for rapid built-in two-sided document copying and scanning
* Super G3 High-speed fax with memory to store 100 coded speed dials and up to 250 incoming pages when receiving ITU-T No. 1 Chart
* Various security features including password protected PDFs

Acer AO532h-2730 10.1-Inch Garnet Red Netbook - Up to 8 Hours of Battery Life

2010-01-23T00:35:00.000-08:00

Acer AO532h-2730 10.1-Inch Garnet Red Netbook

Product Description

Aspire One AO532h: Go Anywhere Mobility
Browse the Web, check email, share photos, keep up with social networks, listen to music and enjoy a wide variety of entertainment with the Aspire One AO532h, which features a small compact design that you can take anywhere. Combining the power of the latest Intel Atom N450 processor and NM10 Express chipset with a 6-cell battery, this Aspire One AO532h model (AO532h-2730) in garnet red provides up to 8 hours of battery life on the go--enough for a full workday.

A great choice for students as well as business travelers who like to travel light, Acer makes it easy to stay productive while on the go with the 10.1-inch CrystalBrite LED-backlit screen as well as its excellent near full-size keyboard. You'll be able to easily video chat wherever you roam thanks to the Crystal Eye webcam integrated into the LCD's bezel, delivering smooth video streaming and high quality images even in low-light situations. Pinch, flick and swirl your fingers on the multi-gesture touchpad for an intuitive navigation to view web pages, photos, spreadsheets and more.

It comes pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Starter operating system, which combines the latest in reliability and responsiveness with the familiarity and compatibility of Windows. It includes new Windows 7 features like Jump Lists to help you to better find and manage files, and connecting to printers and peripherals is easier than eve

Product Features

* 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450 Processor
* 1GB DDR2 Memory
* 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM); 802.11 b/g/n Wireless Certified
* 10.1" WSVGA Acer CrystalBrite LED Display, Intel GMA 3150 Graphics
* Windows 7 Starter; Up to 8 Hours of Battery Life

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

* Hardware Platform: PC
* Processor: 1.66 GHz Intel Atom
* Number of Processors: 1
* RAM: 1000 MB
* RAM Type: SODIMM

Hard Drive

* Size: 160 GB
* Type: Serial ATA

Cases and Expandability

* Size (LWH): 7.28 inches, 10.17 inches, 0.99 inches
* Weight: 2.76 pounds

Power

* Rated Charge (normal use): 8.0 hours

Sony HDR-FX7 3-CMOS Sensor HDV High-Definition Handycam Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom

2010-01-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

Product Description:

Manufacturer Description It’s all in the details. And with the HDR-FX7 Handycam camcorder, you’ll capture every last one of them in high-definition. The first consumer level HDV 1080i recorder and player in the world turns all your memories into masterpieces. With a 20x optical zoom Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T Lens and 1.2-megapixel image capture to Memory Stick Duo media, your moments will never fade away. Additionally, when you record video in high-definition, you can dual-record still images at the same time. So no matter the occasion, the HDR-FX7 is the perfect camcorder.

Sony HDR-FX7 highlights
Sony HDR-FX7 Highlights

Three 1/4-inch ClearVID CMOS sensors Three 1/4-inch ClearVID CMOS Sensors with 1,120K (effective) pixels provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 1080 lines of resolution in HD) and still-image performance. The Megapixel technology enhances your digital videos and digital still (1037K - 16:9 mode) photography performance.

HDV recording format From the innovators in camcorder technology, Sony’s HDR-FX7 camcorder is the world’s first HDV1080i consumer level camcorder and player to include three CMOS Sensors (as of September 7, 2006). Now you can record all your memories in true high-definition video.

Switchable HDV/DV format recording The HDR-FX7 is capable of recording and playing back both high-definition and standard-definition video recorded on standard MiniDV cassettes.
Technical Details

* Record and play back HDV 1080i video; switchable recording in standard definition
* ClearVid CMOS sensor; 20x optical zoom
* Wide 3.5-inch Hybrid Touch Panel Clear Photo LCD Plus display
* Capture 1.2-megapixel stills to Memory Stick Duo
* Professional 62mm Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T lens

Product Details

* Item Weight: 7.6 pounds
* Shipping Weight: 8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
* Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
* ASIN: B000IBDWNS
* Item model number: HDR-FX7

Haiti hits by 7.0 earthquake

2010-01-12T19:10:00.001-08:00

Haiti was hit by 7.0 earthquake.

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake has hit Haiti. A tsunami warning has been issued for a number of nearby Carribean countries including Jamaica, the Bahamas and Cuba.

A major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

Several eyewitnesses reported heavy damage and bodies in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where concrete-block homes line steep hillsides. There was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening, but the U.S. State Department has been told to expect "serious loss of life," department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

The magnitude 7.0 quake struck shortly before 5 p.m., and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away, witnesses said. As darkness fell amid scenes of chaos and anguished cries from victims, residents desperately tried to dig out survivors or searched for missing relatives in debris-strewn streets.

The presidential palace was among buildings damaged, Haiti's ambassador to Washington, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN. "My country is facing a major catastrophe," he said.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has a history of destructive natural disasters. Some 9,000 U.N. police and troops are stationed there to maintain order.

Floyd Mayweather uses Xylocaine!! BANNED IN 49 STATES

2010-01-09T06:07:00.000-08:00

Floyd uses Xylocaine!! BANNED IN 49 STATES

Floyd Mayweather has used injectable pain killers such as Xylocaine in the past before fights. The irony being that this drug is illegal in nearly all states, with one notable exception, Nevada.

Perhaps the reason for Golden Boy and Mayweather not wanting to fight in Texas now becomes clear. Obviously if tested there, particularly with the extensive testing he was asking for, Mayweather would test positive for a banned substance. In Nevada, these drugs are legal, and presumably can be used for athletic competition without any legal or financial recourse.

After all the negotiating trouble and accusations about Manny Pacquiao and his supposed steroid use, it appears Mayweather is the one taking widely banned substances.

The reason for Floyd using these drugs is presumably due to the fact that his hands are rather brittle, and he has broken both several times in the past. With a numbing agent to stop his hands hurting he can throw punches more often and without fear of hurting himself as much.

Its been proven that Floyd is the only one that uses illegal drugs to numb his hands before a fight. The only state that Legalizes the drugs Floyd uses for his hands is in Nevada Las Vegas, hence why the Floyd camp didn't want it held in Texas stadium. 49 states have banned Xylocaine in boxing which he injects into his hands to numb any pain before the fight.

Floyd is using a drug to enhance his performance of his fist. He doesnt feel the pain of his punches so he can throw it harder.

This is the article link:
http://www.insideboxing.com/Columnist/f ... ril_21.htm

This is the thread with that statement above link:
http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showt ... 787&page=1

This is a video linking Floyd to Xylocaine:
http://www.floydmayweathervideos.com/fights/castillo/

Microsoft dumps upgrade pricing for Office 2010

2010-01-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

Microsoft today disclosed retail prices for Office 2010, and said it has no plans to offer "upgrade" editions -- the discounted versions for users who already have an earlier edition on their PCs. The move will effectively raise the price for many users who want to migrate from older editions of the popular suite.

Microsoft also spelled out prices for its new "key cards," single-license codes that will be sold at up to 30% off boxed copy prices, for upgrading the Office Starter 2010 mini-suite that many computer makers are expected to preinstall on new PCs.

Microsoft's trimmed the number of retail editions of Office 2010 for the general public to three, down from Office 2007's five.

The boxed version of Office 2010 Home and Student, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, comes with a price tag of $149, and lets a family install the suite on as many of three household PCs. A single-license key card will cost $119, 20% less than the boxed copy.

Office 2010 Home and Business, which adds the Outlook e-mail client to the four applications available in Home and Student, runs $249 and can be installed on up to two of the buyer's PCs. A one-license key card will be priced at $199, a 20% savings.

Adding Publisher and Access, the latter Microsoft's desktop database software, Office 2010 Professional will be priced at $499 and can be installed on a pair of PCs. The single-license key card, however, will run $349, a discount of 30%.

Read full story........

Apple Buys a Mobile Ad Company

2010-01-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

Apple encroached onto Google’s turf on Tuesday with its acquisition of Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising company.

The sale, which Quattro announced, is the latest sign that the mobile phone is the next battleground for technology companies, particularly for Apple and Google, which are increasingly in competition. Apple paid close to $300 million for Quattro, according to a person briefed on the deal.

While Apple, maker of the iPhone, branched into advertising on Tuesday, Google, which is predominantly an advertising company, began selling its first piece of hardware, the Nexus One cellphone.

“You can just see the tempers rising between the two companies,” said Gene Munster, the senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray covering Internet companies. “Two years ago it was a very friendly relationship. Now just every day it gets more competitive.”

In November, Google agreed to buy AdMob, a mobile advertising network that competed with Quattro, for $750 million. Apple had also been interested in AdMob, according to people with knowledge of that deal. With Quattro, Apple will also compete in the mobile ad market with Microsoft and Yahoo.

Apple is probably less interested in profiting from ads than in making the iPhone the most attractive device for developers to build applications, analysts said.

Eighty percent of the three billion downloads from Apple’s App Store are free, Mr. Munster said. By offering a way to sell ads, Apple will help these developers — as well as developers who might build applications for a future Apple tablet — make money.

“My hypothesis is this has more to do with ensuring their platform is as valuable to developers as any other platform,” said Julie A. Ask, a vice president and mobile analyst at Forrester, a research firm.

Quattro, based in Waltham, Mass., places ads for major companies including Ford, Procter & Gamble and Visa. It serves four billion ad impressions a month on iPhones, Google Android devices and other smartphones. The ads range from full-blown applications or videos to small brand ads on a group of Web sites including those of Time, CBS Interactive and Gawker Media.

The business of placing ads on smartphone screens is nascent but quickly growing. Advertisers spent just $416 million on mobile ads in 2009, compared with $22 billion on Web sites, according to eMarketer. Yet mobile ad spending is expected to grow to $1.6 billion by 2013, as smartphones and other small mobile computing devices become increasingly popular. Seventeen percent of adult cellphone subscribers in the United States have smartphones, up from 11 percent a year ago, according to Forrester.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/technology/companies/06apple.html?ref=technology

Skype to offer HD video calling on some new TVs

2010-01-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

Skype's voice and video calling technology will be embedded in upcoming high-definition televisions with Internet capabilities.

Skype said Tuesday that its Internet phone service will be included in Panasonic's 2010 VIERA CAST-enabled HD TVs and LG's new LCD and plasma HD TVs with NetCast Entertainment Access. The televisions are expected to be available in the middle of the year.

LG and Panasonic will sell webcams that support the 720p high-definition format and are meant for making video calls with the televisions.

Skype, which eBay Inc. sold to an investor group in November, offers free voice and video calls to other Skype users, and charges for calls to cell or landline phones.

Skype also said that consumers who use Skype on their personal computers will soon be able to make 720p high-definition video calls.

Those users must have a high-speed Internet connection, one of several soon-to-be-released webcams, a computer with a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor and Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows, the company said. Skype did not indicate if and when Mac support would be available.

Skype said upcoming webcams from faceVision and In Store Solutions, which are slated to be released in February and March, respectively, will support the video calls.

Source here...

Largest Tomb Ever Unearthed in Egypt

2010-01-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

Archaeologists in Egypt made a stunning discovery recently: two of the largest tombs ever found in Saqqara, the ancient burial ground near Memphis where the country once buried its rulers.

According to French news agency AFP, one of two tombs found consists of a vast chamber that branches off into many alcoves, one containing skeletons and pottery, another containing a 23-foot deep well.

"This is the largest tomb in Saqqara," Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the head of the mission, told the AFP. "It took me two hours to look round all of it."

Dr. Hawass said that the two newly discovered tombs were found at the Ras El Mudir area at Saqqara, near the entrance point of the archaeological site. He explained that both tombs are cut into the limestone rock of the hill and the first one is the largest yet found at Saqqara. It is composed of a large rock-hewn hall followed by a number of small rooms and corridors. Outside the tomb on its eastern side are two large walls, the first is made of limestone while the other is of mud brick.

During excavation the team found two rooms full of dust that lead to another hall where a number of coffins, skeletons and pots were found. This hall has a corridor that leads to a smaller room with a seven-meter deep burial shaft. At the tomb’s northern end the team found a room full of clay pots and fragments along with ancient coffins and mummies of eagles.

Early investigations revealed that the tomb dates to the 26th Dynasty and was reused several times during its history. It was likely robbed at the end of the Roman period.

As for the second tomb, the team found a number of clay pots and coffins scattered inside a sealed limestone room.

"This discovery... confirms that the Saqqara area still contains undiscovered secrets," Hawass said.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/05/largest-tomb-unearthed-egypt/

Digital TV for the small screen

2010-01-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

Now that most of us have our digital big-screens TVs, it's time to go the other direction: Mobile digital TV means small is beautiful, and maybe more importantly, ready to go when and where you do.

You may wind up watching it on a 7-inch dedicated screen, like the one LG Electronics will exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Or, you might do your viewing on a netbook, like the 10.1-inch screen Mini 10 netbook with a built-in mobile DTV receiver that Dell demonstrates Tuesday at CES, which should be available by the holiday season.

There's also a nifty device known as Tivit, already used in Japan and the size of a deck cards, that is as a wireless TV receiver for smartphones with Wi-Fi, such as the iPhone (as well as the iPod Touch) and certain models of BlackBerrys. It will cost around $120, and is due out this spring.

Read more....

Facebook blocks social network profile removal service

2010-01-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

Social network giant Facebook has blocked a website from accessing people's profiles in order to delete their online presence.

The site, Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, offers to remove users from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Myspace.

It does not delete their accounts but changes the passwords and removes "friend" connections.

Seppukoo.com, which offers a similar service, was issued with a "cease and desist" letter by Facebook in 2009.

Netherlands-based moddr, behind Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, says it believes that "everyone should have the right to disconnect".

However Facebook says that by collecting login credentials, the site violates its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (SRR).

"Facebook provides the ability for people who no longer want to use the site to either deactivate their account or delete it completely," the company said. "We're currently investigating and considering whether to take further action."

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine claims that it only stores the name, profile picture and "last words" of its clients, who can choose to watch their friend/follower connections disappear in real time as their profiles unlink from others.

"Seamless connectivity and rich social experience offered by web 2.0 companies are the very antithesis of human freedom," says a statement on its website. The machine operates on an adjusted Linux server which runs open source software Apache 2.

Seppukoo.com, which offers to remove people from Facebook, received a letter from the social network site's lawyers in December 2009.

Once they have deleted their friends Seppukoo clients can choose an image instead of their profile picture to remain as a "memorial" .

The site is run by a group called Les Liens Invisibles, and describes itself as an artistic project. The name Seppukoo is taken from a Japanese ritual form of suicide known as Seppuku.

In November 2009 the group orchestrated the "virtual suicide" of a group of fictitious Facebook profiles set up in the names of deceased well-known figures including Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Virginia Woolf.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8441080.stm

Google unveils Nexus One 'superphone'

2010-01-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Calling it their "superphone," Google unveiled the Nexus One on Tuesday, marking the online search giant's first leap into the smartphone market.

The phone, which goes head to head with Apple's darling of the market, the iPhone, is sold only through a Web store operated by Google and, unlike the iPhone and most other current smartphones, is available either with or without mobile service.

"We are very happy to be able to offer a choice," said Mario Queiroz, Google's vice president of product management.

T-Mobile is the initial service provider. Verizon in the United States and Vodafone in Europe will be coming on board later, and more operators are expected.

Already available Tuesday, the phone costs $180 with a contract or $530 unlocked, leaving the phone open to other carriers.

Among the Nexus One features Google announced at an invitation-only event at its California headquarters was text without typing. A voice-enabled keyboard allows users to send texts, e-mails or Facebook updates by speaking into the phone.

It is a global-system device with a 3.7-inch touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, an accelerometer and a compass, according to Google. Nexus One runs the latest version of the Android operating system, Android 2.1, which is also made by Google but runs on other phones as well.

"It pushes the limits of what's possible of a mobile phone today," said Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC, which designed the Nexus One.

Google recently released the phones for use by some of its employees, leading to the inevitable appearance of videos and unofficial reviews online.

The move has prompted online chatter about an "iPhone killer," a phrase bandied about before every major smartphone debut. But reviewers who saw the phone pre-release have more modest expectations.

"I don't think anything is an iPhone killer," said Kevin Burden, a mobile industry analyst with New York-based ABI Research. "Was the iPhone a Blackberry killer? It's never going to be that one device that was promised to us a decade ago."

Google spokesmen on Tuesday repeatedly stressed their phone's openness: allowing multiple service providers and applications from multiple developers, unlike Apple's one-stop shopping approach for the iPhone.

But they downplayed suggestions of becoming an "iPhone killer."

"I think the message isn't to the iPhone specifically," Google Vice President of engineering Andy Rubin said. "I think it's to consumers. I think choice to consumers is an important thing."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/05/google.nexus.announcement/index.html

iPhone Apps to Help Keep 10 New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-04T15:28:00.001-08:00

Every year you make them, and every year you break them. But with the help of your iphone, maybe you'll actually stick to your New Year's resolutions in 2010.

Will power can be hard to come by, but applications that help you lose weight, get fit, quit smoking and accomplish countless other goals are just a click away.

Here are 10 apps that might help you stay on track.

Lose weight

It's among the most often repeated – and most often abandoned – resolutions.

But losing weight can be made a little easier with a free iPhone app from the developers at FitNow, Inc.

Available in Apple's App Store, Lose It! is a calorie counter that helps you create a personalized calorie budget and track your progress.

Let's say you want to lose 20 pounds in time for a summer vacation, the app will calculate the daily calorie allowance that will get you there. The app also includes a comprehensive database with the caloric values for thousands of food items, including meals on fast food restaurant menus. Once you've set your weight loss goals, you enter your daily food intake and exercise to make sure you're not exceeding your daily limit.

Exercise More

So you can't afford a personal trainer? For $1.99, you can get one that fits in your pocket.

One of the most popular applications in the App Store, iFitness will suggest illustrated workout routines to keep you in shape.

Flabby arms? Touch "arms" on the menu and find the best exercises. Worried about your abs? The program will suggest a routine.

It will also keep you honest. You can keep a log of what you've done, get an idea of your progress and even generate graphs of your results to keep you motivated.

Quit Smoking

Nagging friends can't get you to do it, but maybe an iPhone app will.

My Quitline is a free application that links users to a the National Cancer Institute's quitline where you can speak to a live coach. The app also includes a live text feature to get advice on quiting.

Launched in April, it was developed by The George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) and the National Tobacco Cessation Collaborative (NTCC), with support from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

If you're a results-driven person, check out Quitter. The free application tracks how long you've been smoke free and calculates the amount of money you've saved as a result. Just type in the cost of a pack, the number you smoked each and the day you went cold turkey.

Read more......

Gadget makers focus on cost-effective temptations

2010-01-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

Electronics sales rebounded in the just-ended holiday season, but the industry's biggest event will still have the recession hanging over it. The International Consumer Electronics Show, which opens Wednesday, will be smaller than usual, with key products unveiled at prices that are far from extravagant.

Manufacturers will use the show in Las Vegas to trot out the devices they hope will keep consumers opening their wallets, despite high unemployment. TVs with 3-D displays, svelte laptops and e-book readers will be the hottest categories.

Gadget makers are in a much better mood than they were a year ago, when they were shocked by a 27 percent decline in holiday sales of electronics and appliances. In the month leading up to the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, exhibitors were canceling because they were concerned about the economy, said Jason Oxman, senior vice president at the Consumer Electronics Association, the trade association that organizes CES.

In contrast, in the just-ended shopping season, revenue from electronics sales in the U.S. between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 rose 5.9 percent from the same period of 2008, according to an estimate by MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, which tracks all forms of payment, including cash. The analysts don't give a dollar figure.

And this time CES exhibitors were adding themselves to the lineup in the week before the show, Oxman said.

"There's a great deal of enthusiasm leading into 2010 that just wasn't there in the 2009 show," he said.

The association expects 2,500 exhibitors and 110,000 attendees, roughly flat with last year but still down considerably from 2007, when 144,000 people came.

CES, which began in 1967, was originally focused on home entertainment gear. But with the demise of large computer trade shows in the U.S., CES is now the main venue not just for audio and video giants like Panasonic Corp., but also such pillars of the computing world as Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer will kick off the show with a keynote speech Wednesday night, an annual role he took over from Chairman Bill Gates last year.

Missing from the show, as usual, will be one of the biggest trendsetters in electronics: Apple Inc., which reveals its products at its own events.

For TV makers, CES is the opportunity to demonstrate sets that will hit stores by summer, and to preview technologies that will be available next holiday season.

The manufacturers have been fortunate that the U.S. is still in what is considered a TV upgrade cycle, with households replacing their old tube sets with flat panels. That trend hasn't even slowed in the recession. Research firm iSuppli estimates that 33.8 million flat-panel sets were shipped in the U.S. in 2009, up 17 percent from 2008.

A major reason is that prices keep declining — a 32-inch flat panel can now be had for just over $300, which is about what old tube TVs used to cost. But new technologies that yield better picture quality and thinner sets have also enticed buyers, according to iSuppli analyst Riddhi Patel.

The challenge for manufacturers is to keep flat panels hot. In 2010, technologies already available now are likely to be enough to drive sales, Patel believes. But to keep the excitement going, manufacturers will be rolling out 3-D TV sets later in the year, and that will be a major topic at CES.

Bulky rear-projection sets with 3-D capabilities have been available for a few years, but now flat panels will get the 3-D treatment, and there finally will be a way for consumers to bring 3-D movies into the home. In December, the industry group behind the Blu-ray disc format said it had united on a standard for a 3-D version of the disc, and players are expected to be available this year. (You would still need special glasses.)

In keeping with the times, 3-D TVs won't be much more expensive than today's high-end sets. The difference between 3-D sets and comparable 2-D TVs will likely be less than $200. A 3-D capable Blu-ray player, however, would then add a few hundred dollars to the setup.

"The reason this is a blockbuster for TV manufacturers is that for a relatively small incremental hardware cost, they're able to deliver a phenomenally unique and higher-quality experience," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, which has made several 3-D movies.

Laptops have also continued to sell well during the recession, though some of the most popular ones have been small "netbooks" that cost about $300. At CES, there will be plenty of slightly larger laptops featuring new, power-thrifty chips and higher prices. Computer makers hope that consumers who have gotten an appreciation for light laptops from netbooks will want to pay a few hundred dollars more for a bigger screen and keyboard, and better video-playing performance.

For the first time, e-book readers will have their own section of the show floor, with 23 exhibitors hoping to follow Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle to the cusp of the mainstream. Though a reading device like Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook costs $259, a lot more than a single book, it provides access to e-books that are cheaper than the printed versions, largely thanks to Amazon's aggressive pricing policies.

With a strong new product category like e-book readers and a gee-whiz feature like 3-D for the home, coupled with an economic recovery, the show promises to be brighter than last year, if not larger.

"Certainly, at this time last year nobody knew what to expect with the state of the economy and what would be happening," said Tim Alessi, director of product development at LG Electronics USA, which is one of the bigger CES exhibitors. "We're looking forward to going to the show with a lot less uncertainty."

Source here....

New HDTVs May Soon Be Obsolete? Thanks a Lot, 3D

2010-01-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

Just bought a new flat-panel HDTV for Christmas? Enjoying that new Blu-ray disc player? Guess what? They're already obsolete. Everything may be going 3D.

Later this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a slew of companies will be pushing what they hope will be the next big thing in TV: 3D movies and games — even new 3D HDTV broadcasts.

The only problem is that none of the equipment currently in stores and living rooms will be able to display, say, a 3D Blu-ray disc of "Avatar" or any of the forthcoming 3D broadcasts. Consequently, it will likely be several years before the technology becomes popular — if at all.

The push for 3D entertainment is currently focused on four areas: new Blu-ray discs, new television displays, games, and live broadcasts. Companies pushing 3D range from the likes of Panasonic and Sony to FujiFilm, Technicolor, Mitsubishi, LG Electronics, and reportedly DirecTV.

The first 3D products will likely come in the form of new Blu-ray disc players that conform to a new standard. The new players will spin discs at a higher speed and stream what are essentially two separate video feeds, one for each eye to create the 3D effect. The Blu-ray Disc Association claims each of the video streams will be at full 1080p HD resolution so that there will be no loss of sharpness or image detail compared to current Blu-ray movies.

"However, we're telling people they'll need to buy a new player," says Andy Parsons, a senior VP at Pioneer USA and spokesman for the Blu-ray Disc Association. According to the association, the good news is that Sony's PlayStation 3 can be upgraded via software to work with the new 3D discs. Everyone else will have to buy a new player, but they should all work with any 3D-capable HDTV, whether it's an LCD or plasma panel or a set based on DLP chips. Unfortunately, you'll still need to buy a new TV to get that 3D capability.

A 3D HDTV must display images at a rate of at least 240 Hz, for example. Some current sets can already do that, but they lack the circuitry to combine the separate video streams that are used to trick our eyes into seeing a three-dimensional picture.

Among the major set manufacturers, Panasonic seems furthest along in its 3D plans. The company has demonstrated the best-looking, most realistic 3D video yet on its plasma televisions. Panasonic plans to start selling the sets in 50-inch and larger sizes as early as this spring. The TVs display two separate HD video streams, rapidly flipping back and forth between the two. Switches between images from the two streams occur so quickly that viewers see it as one solid picture. However, in order for you to see the 3D picture, you'll also need a special pair of glasses.

The glasses aren't like the cardboard goggles that cost less than a dollar and are used in most theaters. That approach lowers the picture resolution of a home movie, and thus reduces the image sharpness. So Panasonic's technology (and similar technology used by Sony and others) uses glasses with timed LCD shutters that are electronically synchronized with the TV's display. Such glasses made by XpanD and others cost $50 or more, although a Panasonic spokesman pointed out that buyers would get at least one pair of glasses with the purchase of a new TV. (Large families may balk if they have to spend an additional $200 to enjoy family movie nights in 3D.)

While tech addicts will be able to buy new 3D disc players and TVs later this year, it was assumed by most industry analysts that live 3D football games or episodes of American Idol wouldn't be available for several years. There's no broadcast 3D standard, for example, and cable companies are already stretched to capacity trying to deliver HD channels; currently, 3D is beyond their abilities.

Satellite broadcasters appear to see 3D as a new opportunity to gain customers, however.

DirecTV launched a new DirecTV 12 satellite just before New Year's with the stated purpose of offering more HD channels to its subscribers. But several leaked reports claim that the company will announce plans to use the satellite to broadcast the first 3D HD channel in the U.S. as early as this March. Whether the rumors turn out to be true — and whether DirecTV can deliver on the promise — remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, the success of 3D movies like the record-breaking "Avatar" is encouraging consumer electronics companies and movie studios that the future is in 3D. So far, no company is saying how much more the new disc players or televisions will cost, but you can be sure that all of this new technology will cost you more.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/04/high-definition-television-goes-dimensional/?test=latestnews

Is 2010 the year of wireless congestion?

2010-01-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

For the last few years, wireless carriers and manufacturers have been pushing smartphones as the way to go. But now that a growing numbers of Americans are using them, the system seems like it's starting to choke.

New York and San Francisco are giant dead zones for many iPhone users. Research In Motion, maker of BlackBerrys, had two outages within a week recently, highly unusual for the reliable devices. Last January, some of the 2 million people attending the presidential inauguration couldn't get phone service because the area around the nation's capital was so congested with cell traffic.

Some say such congestion could be more common this year because of nearly 280 million Americans' growing reliance on cell phones, continuing consumer demand for data-intensive mobile programs like video and audio, fourth-generation cell networks that are not in place for most of the country and inadequate wireless spectrum to meet customer needs.

AT&T, the exclusive seller of Apple's iPhone in the United States, in particular, did not adequately anticipate the device's huge popularity, critics say, making the company a victim of its success, and its customers frustrated in the process. Users around the country have complained about sometimes-spotty coverage with the phone.

Read more...

Computer method 'spots art fakes'

2010-01-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

A simple method to distinguish artistic fakes and imitations has been demonstrated by researchers.

The approach, known as "sparse coding", builds a virtual library of an artist's works and breaks them down into the simplest possible visual elements.

Verifiable works by that artist can be rebuilt using varying proportions of those simple elements, while imitators' works cannot.

The work is reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The mathematical analysis of artworks is a relatively new discipline, which gained worldwide attention when it emerged in 1999 that Jackson Pollock's "drip paintings" could be cast in the mathematics of fractals - patterns that repeat at ever-smaller scales.

However, the claim that a fractal analysis could be used to identify Pollock-like paintings of unknown provenance remains a subject of some controversy.

Sparse richness

Since that time, a number of approaches to identify the origins of artworks have been attempted, yielding varying degrees of certainty in the results.

Now, Daniel Rockmore of Dartmouth College in the US and his colleagues have shown a straightforward method known as sparse coding that, so far, appears to be significantly more accurate than previous attempts.The method works by dividing digital versions of all of an artist's confirmed works into 144 squares - 12 columns of 12 rows each.

Then a set of "basis functions" is constructed - initially a set of random shapes and forms in black and white.

A computer then modifies them until, for any given cut-down piece of the artist's work, some subset of the basis functions can be combined in some proportion to recreate the piece.

The basis functions are refined further to ensure that the smallest possible number of them is required to generate any given piece - they are the "sparsest" set of functions that reproduces the artist's work.

The team tried the approach on the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a 16th century Flemish painter whose original works are well-known and who had a number of imitators.

Upon using the sparse coding approach on the artist's known works, the Dartmouth team showed that the optimised basis functions were unable to reproduce the imitations.

However, Professor Rockmore said that although authentication of works was an application that would appeal to many people, sparse coding could lend its analysis to a number of problems in the study of art.

"Our hope is that it becomes more of what people call technical art history," he told BBC News.

"Instead of asking 'was this painting done 40 years after these drawings?', one might instead ask 'how are these statistics evolving over time and what does that say about the working style?'.

"For many people those are more central questions, and probably more substantial questions."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8440142.stm

Is Google unveiling an 'iPhone killer?'

2010-01-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

Could it be the long-awaited "iPhone killer?"

Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET, Google will make some kind of announcement related to its Android smartphone operating system.

It's expected to be the launch of Google's Nexus One phone -- the company's first full-on leap into the smartphone fray and one that will put the online giant head-to-head with the darling of the market, the iPhone.

Google scheduled the announcement for the day before the annual Consumer Electronics Show -- the Super Bowl of the technology world. In doing so, the tech giant is taking a page from the Apple playbook, rolling out a big announcement in the relatively clean air right before news from CES floods the tech world for days.

While the Google-phone buzz has centered on whether Google can take down the Apple iPhone, analysts say unseating Apple probably is unrealistic.

"Is this going to be an iPhone killer? I don't think anything is an iPhone killer," said Kevin Burden, a mobile industry analyst with New York-based ABI Research. "Was the iPhone a Blackberry killer?

"It's never going to be that one device that was promised to us a decade ago."

The term "iPhone killer" has been bandied about virtually every time a new smartphone has been introduced in recent years. Each release has been followed with reviewers almost unanimously announcing, "Nope ... not this time."

Google recently released its to-be-announced phones for use by some of its employees, leading to the inevitable appearance of videos and unofficial reviews online.

Leaks suggest the Nexus One will be a global-system device with a 3.7-inch touch screen, five-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, an accelerometer and a compass, according to CNN.com partner, Wired magazine. It is expected to run the latest version of the Android operating system, Android 2.1, which is also made by Google but runs on other phones as well.

It's widely speculated that the phone will be "unlocked," meaning users won't have to sign up for long-term contracts with a particular mobile carrier to use the phones -- as is the case with most major phones now.

Unlocking would mean the price of the Nexus wouldn't be subsidized by a carrier, as is the case with iPhones and others. So the Google phone could carry a price tag of $500 or more. But analysts expect Google to address the cost difference through advertising on the phone, or by other means.

One possibility, Burden said, is that Google will be willing to sell the phones at or below cost as a way of ensuring Android, or some other future product, has a longstanding place in the market.

"Google could be thinking, whatever their endgame is, that [the phones] are really just part of the plan," he said. "I can't think it's really just about selling hardware.

"That goes back to the '70s and '80s. It's not a hardware business any more and Google's smart enough to realize that."

Tech blog Engadget reports that it got its hands on one of the phones. In a review, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Topolsky gives high marks to the Nexus One for design and performance.

But he, too, dismisses the "iPhone killer" speculation.

"Now, of course everyone seems to have one question about the device -- is this the be-all-end-all Android phone / iPhone eviscerator?" he wrote in the January 2 review. "In two words: not really."

He wrote that the Nexus One is not dramatically different than the Droid, Motorola's smartphone that runs the Android operating system. But Topolsky writes that the Google phone is "super fast" and "very smooth" in operation.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/04/google.nexus.phone/index.html

Old protocol, new problem

2010-01-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Behind the Internet are protocols, some of which today perform functions far beyond what they were originally designed to do. Perhaps the most well-known of the overextended protocols is the Domain Name System (DNS), which, as IOActive researcher Dan Kaminisky explained in 2008, could be vulnerable to various forms of attack, including DNS cache poisoning.

DNS converts a Website's common name (for example, www.pcworld.com) into its numerical server address (for example, 123.12.123.123). Cache poisoning means that the stored address for a common name could be incorrect, thus leading a user to a compromised site rather than to the intended site - the user had no way to know. Kaminsky managed to keep the flaw known to a limited group of companies for about six months, and then rolled out a coordinated series of patches that seemed to address many of the more serious vulnerabilities.

Similarly, researcher Marsh Ray of PhoneFactor discovered a hole within SSL/TLS, one that allows for man-in-the-middle attacks while authenticating the two parties. This wasn't a vendor-specific problem, but a protocol-level flaw. Ray, like Kaminsky, also set about coordinating a patch among affected vendors. However, a second researcher stumbled upon roughly the same thing, so Ray felt compelled to come forward with his vulnerability, even though some of the patches are still to come.

Disclosures such as these have hastened the move to newer standards, such as DNSSEC, which authenticates data in the DNS system, and a newer version of SSL/TLS. Look for the replacement of existing protocols to continue in the coming years.

Source here....

Organized viruses and organized crime

2010-01-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

After the Melissa virus struck in 1999, e-mail-borne viruses peaked the following year with ILOVEYOU, which clogged e-mail servers worldwide within 5 hours.

As e-mail spam filters improved to block bulk mailings, malicious coders looked elsewhere, turning to self-propagating worms like MSBlast, which exploited a flaw in Remote Procedure Call messages, and Sasser, which exploited a flaw in Internet Information Services (IIS). About this time, viruses and worms began using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to bypass e-mail filters so that the compromised machines could spew pharmaceutical spam to random addresses on the Net.

Shortly after Microsoft's Reward program netted Sven Jaschen, author of Netsky and Sasser, in 2004, the image of a single author creating viruses in a parents' basement fell out of favor, replaced by organized crime operations with financial ties to porn and bulk pharmaceutical companies. (In 2005, PCWorld wrote a series on the problem, "Web of Crime.") Groups such as the Russian Business Network (RBN) ran sophisticated spam campaigns, including pump-and-dump penny-stock spam.

Source here.....

MySpace, Facebook and Twitter attacks

2010-01-03T16:49:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of the decade, security experts at businesses had to struggle with employees' use of instant messaging from AOL, Webmail from Yahoo, and peer-to-peer networks. These applications poked holes in corporate firewalls, opening various ports that created new vectors for malware.

The battle initally focused on server port 80; but by the end of the decade, the top concerns were Facebook, Twitter, and other Web 2.0 applications.

In 2005, a teenager authored the Samy worm on MySpace, which highlighted a central problem of Web 2.0--that user-contributed content could contain malware. Even as Facebook endured a few privacy snafus, it also had its own worm, called Koobface.

In 2009, Twitter came of age, too, attracting its own malware and highlighting the dangers of shortened URLs - with them, you can't see what's waiting on the other side. Twitter also suffered from spam ... or did Guy Kawasaki really send you that porn link?

Source here.....

Malware makes strange bedfellows

2010-01-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

Viruses and worms have always been around, but in the summer of 2001 one aggressive worm threatened to shut down the official White House Website. Code Red, so named because the discoverer was drinking "Code Red" cola from Mountain Dew at the time, warranted an unprecedented joint press conference with the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, the U.S. CERT, the Federal Computer Incident Response Center (FedCIRC), the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), the SANS Institute, and Microsoft.

Two years later, Microsoft again teamed with the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and later Interpol to offer a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for SoBig, MSBlast, and other major viruses at the time.

Such public-private cooperation is rare, but it happened again in early 2009 when Conficker was poised to wreak havoc on the Internet at midnight on April 1. That didn't happen, thanks in part to a unique coalition of rival antivirus companies that collaborated with government agencies under the Conficker Working Group name. To this day, this group continues to monitor the worm. Organizations are stronger when they team up against a common enemy, and even security companies can put aside their differences for the common good.

Source here.....

Cyberwar

2010-01-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

What started out small ended up pretty big. Back in February 2000, a Canadian teenager named Mafiaboy used automated floods of incomplete Internet traffic to cause several sites - including Amazon, CNN, Dell, eBay, and Yahoo - to grind to a halt, in what is called a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.

Michael Calce, aka Mafiaboy, pleaded guilty to 55 of 66 counts of mischief and was sentenced to eight months detention. Calce later wrote a book about his experience, entitled "Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It's Still Broken." Some experts say that all security threats progress through a cycle that moves from fun to profit to politics, and DDoS attacks were no different: Opportunist criminals next started using DDoS to hold various gambling sites for ransom.

In May 2007, DDoS attacks turned political, with hundreds of online Russian sympathizers blocking Estonian government Websites, all because a World War II memorial had been relocated. The attacks continued through the summer until Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) from various nations mitigated them. The following year, Russian organized crime targeted the government of Georgia with a DDoS attack.

While some people think the United States might not be ready for the upcoming cyberwars, experts from CERT are now advising the U.S. government on how better to protect its infrastructure based on the attacks we've seen thus far.

Source here.....

Building a better bar-bot

2010-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a buzz on New Year's Eve, consider the automatic wireless drink mixer - a student-built contraption that is generating a fresh wave of buzz on the Internet.

The homebrew bartender-bot was built by Robby Connor, Richard Evan Cross and Zach Rasmor for an electrical engineering class at the University of Washington last spring. "We all got A's on it," Connor told me this week.

The guy who gave them the A's said they richly deserved the grade.

"They took all of the stuff that they had learned and brought it together in a nice way," James Peckol, senior lecturer in electrical engineering at UW. "And more than that, they had fun doing it. They invented some weird drinks. One of their drinks was a mix of Coke and cranberry juice, which actually tastes good. They called it a 'Cokenberry.'" (Alcoholic beverages weren't allowed in the lab.)

Peckol said the beauty of the bar-bot project was how the students combined a variety of technologies to come up with "something that, within all of our projects, no one has ever done before."

Although the students' video clip about the project has been up on YouTube for months, it's just now getting traction in the blogosphere - perhaps in part because this is the season of holiday cheer.

Up to four different beverages can be tanked up in large plastic bottles hanging over the bar-bot's electronic brain and plastic plumbing. Servo motors are attached to valves, set up to meter out the right mix of ingredients into a waiting cup. Pre-established drink recipes can be stored in the bot's memory chips, and patrons can also specify their own drink mix on a remote-control touch pad. Drink orders are transmitted wirelessly from the pad to the bot.

The cup receptacle includes an infrared sensor that makes sure a cup is actually present before a drink is poured. Cross programmed the sensor to compensate for ambient light, so that the machine can be just as spill-proof in a dark pub or a bright fern bar. The cups can also be equipped with RFID chips that basically tell the bot what you had during the last round of drinks.

The whole thing cost a few hundred dollars to put together, Rasmor said. "It was a lot of commercial, off-the-shelf stuff," he told me.

"We actually did think about patenting it," Connor said, "but it isn't at this stage good enough to do something like that. It's not commercializable yet. You can order a drink from afar, which is a cool thing, but you still have to actually walk up and get the drink."

That's not necessarily a bad thing. I can easily imagine a techno-tavern where you order your drink from one of several mixing stations at the bar - perhaps the station where the cute guys or gals are hovering, or where the robotics club is working on the latest plan for world domination. XCOR Aerospace's Mike Massee recalls a recent space conference where a remote-controlled drink mixer known as the "CosmoBot" was the hit of the party. (Click on the following links to see pictures of the 007-themed control panel and the CosmoBot itself, courtesy of Massee.)

Cross said the software coding might be the most innovative part of the University of Washington's bar-bot. "I would be very interested in getting it out there and seeing if there's a demand for it," he told me today. When I suggested going open source with the code, he said, "I'll certainly look into that."

On another, arguably more important level, the project was a smashing success: Not only did the three students get A's in the class, but they also got jobs after graduating. Connor works for W.L. Gore & Associates in the medical field; Rasmor works for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services in the defense field; and Cross is at Accenture Systems in Houston, helping design a new crude-oil trading system for Shell.

Will Cross be designing new drinks for the bar-bot as well? Since the class ended, the machine hasn't been put back into service - which means it's never been used for anything more intoxicating than a Cokenberry.

Right now, Cross has custody of the mixing apparatus, and if he wants to have it ready for a New Year's Eve party, he's running out of time. "I haven't had plans to do that yet - but it's a good idea, and it's not out of the realm of possibility," he said. "I need a power supply...."

Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/12/31/2163914.aspx

How to speak 'Avatar'

2010-01-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

Ayftozä lefpom ayngaru nìwotx!

That's "Happy Holidays to You All"

in Na'vi,

the language that was created for the sci-fi blockbuster "Avatar." The professor who made up that phrase as well as all the alien dialogue in the movie hopes Na'vi does as well as Klingon, another fictional alien tongue that has taken on a life of its own. But for now, that's out of his hands.

"I have an in-box that's amazingly full," linguist Paul Frommer, a professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, told me today. "They're all asking the same thing: 'Where can I learn this language?' I'm getting messages from all over the globe. The thing is, I don't own the rights to the language."

Frommer noted that snippets of Na'vi are finding their way onto the Internet - some correct, some incorrect. "What I would love to do is get something out to the people, but I can't do it on my own. I have to do it in conjunction with the movie people," he said.

Those people have been a little busy - which is understandable, considering that "Avatar" has been America's top-grossing movie for the past two weeks. But once the holidays are over and school is back in sesson, Frommer is planning to check in with Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind "Avatar," and with Lightstorm Entertainment, director James Cameron's production company.

Read more........

Yemen’s chaos aids evolution of al Qaeda cell

2010-01-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has rapidly evolved into an expanding and ambitious regional terrorist network thanks in part to a weakened, impoverished and distracted Yemeni government.

While Yemen has chased two homegrown rebellions, over the last year the Qaeda cell here has begun sharing resources across borders and has been spurred on to more ambitious attacks by a leadership strengthened by released Qaeda detainees and returning fighters from Iraq.

The priorities of the Yemeni government have been fighting a war in the north and combating secessionists across the south. In the interim, Al Qaeda has flourished in the large, lawless and rugged tribal territories of Yemen, creating training camps, attacking Western targets and receiving increasing popular sympathy.

Read more......

New internet piracy law comes into effect in France

2010-01-02T20:26:00.001-08:00

The first effects of France's new law against internet piracy will begin to be felt as the new year begins.

The law was passed after a long struggle in parliament, and in the teeth of bitter opposition from groups opposed to internet restrictions.

Illegal downloaders will be sent a warning e-mail, then a letter if they continue, and finally must appear before a judge if they offend again.

The judge can impose a fine, or suspend their access to the internet.

The Creation and Internet Bill set up a new state agency - the Higher Authority for the Distribution of Works and the Protection of Copyright on the Internet (Hadopi).

The law was backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy and the entertainment industry.

Many opponents

Its supporters say it is a model for other countries around the world that want to protect their creative industries and make clear to ordinary web-users that not everything is for free. Michel Thiolliere, a French senator and member of the Hadopi, says that if the law is explained properly, then people understand it.

"The internet is a fabulous world, but it needs rules, if you want to get cinema, music or video games in the future.

"What we think is that after the first message... about two-thirds of the people (will) stop their illegal usages of the internet.

"After the second message more than 95% will finish with that bad usage."

The law has many opponents, who say either that it is too draconian, or that it has already been overtaken by technology and that serious downloaders will simply sidestep it.

But for supporters, it is a long-overdue necessity.

For them, it is a way of reminding law-abiding citizens who have been tempted by an abundance of apparently free material available on the web, that it does come at a price.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8436745.stm

Somali pirates hijack fourth vessel in a week

2010-01-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

Pirates off Somalia have hijacked two more vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the European Union naval force said Saturday -- the third and fourth vessels they have captured this week.

The British-flagged Asian Glory was seized off Somalia late Friday, the naval force said. The nationality of the pirates was unclear, because the hijacking happened outside of the force's operations area, it said.

The British Foreign Office would not confirm the hijacking, but said no British nationals were aboard.

Also Friday, Somali pirates seized the Singaporean-flagged chemical tanker M/V Pramoni, also in the Gulf of Aden, the naval force said. The 20,000-ton chemical tanker was carrying a crew of 24 and was heading to Kandla, India, when attacked, the naval force said.

The crew consists of 17 Indonesians, five Chinese, one Nigerian and one Vietnamese, the naval force said. The ship's master reported all the crew were well after the hijacking, the naval force said.

The ship was heading toward Somalia after the hijacking, the naval force said.The Asian Glory is owned by London-based Zodiac Maritime Agencies, according to Lloyd's Register of Ships. Zodiac also owns another vessel that was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, the British-flagged chemical tanker St. James Park, according to the company's Web site.

The St. James Park has a crew of 26, consisting of Bulgarians, Filipinos, Georgians, Indians, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Turks and Ukrainians, the EU naval force said.

The vessel had arrived at the Somali port of Hobyo, a pirate stronghold, the naval force said Saturday.

Monday, pirates also hijacked the Greek-owned carrier Navios Apollon, the naval force said.

It had been heading for Thailand, but was on its way to the Somali coast after the hijacking, it said.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/01/02/somalia.hijacking/index.html

Digital piracy hits the e-book industry

2010-01-02T20:18:00.000-08:00

When Dan Brown's blockbuster novel "The Lost Symbol" hit stores in September, it may have offered a peek at the future of bookselling.

On Amazon.com, the book sold more digital copies for the Kindle e-reader in its first few days than hardback editions. This was seen as something of a paradigm shift in the publishing industry, but it also may have come at a cost.

Less than 24 hours after its release, pirated digital copies of the novel were found on file-sharing sites such as Rapidshare and BitTorrent. Within days, it had been downloaded for free more than 100,000 times.

Digital piracy, long confined to music and movies, is spreading to books. And as electronic reading devices such as Amazon's Kindle, the Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble's Nook, smartphones and Apple's much-anticipated "tablet" boost demand for e-books, experts say the problem may only get worse.

"It's fair to say that piracy of e-books is exploding," said Albert Greco, an industry expert and professor of marketing at Fordham University.

Sales for digital books in the second quarter of 2009 totaled almost $37 million. That's more than three times the total for the same three months in 2008, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

Statistics are hard to come by, and many publishers are reluctant to discuss the subject for fear of encouraging more illegal downloads. But digital theft may pose a big headache in 2010 for the slumping publishing industry, which relies increasingly on electronic reading devices and e-books to stimulate sales.

"Piracy is a serious issue for publishers," said Hachette Book Group in a statement. The company that publishes Stephenie Meyer's wildly popular "Twilight" teen-vampire series says it "considers copyright protection to be of paramount importance."

Authors are concerned as well.

"I'd be really worried if I were Stephen King or James Patterson or a really big bestseller that when their books become completely digitized, how easy it's going to be to pirate them," said novelist and poet Sherman Alexie on Stephen Colbert's show last month.

"With the open-source culture on the Internet, the idea of ownership -- of artistic ownership -- goes away," Alexie added. "It terrifies me."

And it's not just bestsellers that are targeted by thieves.

"Textbooks are frequently pirated, but so are many other categories," said Ed McCoyd, director of digital policy at AAP. "We see piracy of professional content, such as medical books and technical guides; we see a lot of general fiction and non-fiction. So it really runs the gamut."

Piracy of digital music, thanks to Napster and other file-sharing sites, has been a threat to recording companies for more than a decade. Over the years, the record companies tried different approaches to combat illegal downloading, from shutting down Web sites to encrypting songs with digital-rights management software to suing individual file-sharers.

Although illegal file-sharing of music persists, Apple's online iTunes store is now the world's biggest seller of music.

To some industry observers, this may be where the future of the book industry is heading as well. But talk to publishers and authors about what can be done to combat e-book piracy, and you'll get a wide range of opinions.

Some publishers may try to minimize theft by delaying releases of e-books for several weeks after physical copies go on sale. Simon & Schuster recently did just that with Stephen King's novel, "Under the Dome," although the publisher says the decision was made to prevent cheaper e-versions from cannibalizing hardcover sales.

Some authors have even gone as far as to shrug off e-book technology altogether. J.K Rowling has thus far refused to make any of her Harry Potter books available digitally because of piracy fears and a desire to see readers experience her books in print.

However, some evidence suggests that authors' and publishers' claims of damage from illegal piracy may be overstated.

Recent statistics have shown that consumers who purchase an e-reader buy more books than those who stick with traditional bound volumes. Amazon reports that Kindle owners buy, on average, 3.1 times as many books on the site as other customers.

Ana Maria Allessi, publisher for Harper Media at HarperCollins, told CNN, "we have to be vigilant in our punishment ... but much more attractive is to simply make the technology better, legally."

E-book technology offers so many positives for both the author and the consumer that any revenue lost to piracy may just be a necessary evil, she said.

"Consumers who invest in one of these dedicated e-book readers tend to load it up and read more," said Allessi. "And what's wrong with that?"

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/01/ebook.piracy/index.html

Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach Fired

2009-12-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

Who is Mike Leach?..

Want to know about the latest of Mike Leach?..

Mike Leach was fired on Wednesday, two days after he was suspended for allegedly mistreating one of his injured players.

"I'm very sad to say there's only one person to blame for this and it's Mike Leach," Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance told the AP.

Jerry Turner, vice chairman of the university system's board of regents, said "other things" came to light during an investigation of Leach's treatment of receiver Adam James. The sophomore alleged the coach twice confined him to a small, dark place after the player was diagnosed with a concussion. Leach was suspended Monday after he refused to agree to guidelines for dealing with players set forth by his bosses in a Dec. 23 letter.

Approached by a reporter, Leach said no comment before being asked a question. Asked how he felt Texas Tech treated him throughout the last two weeks, Leach responded, "I think that's apparent."

Texas Tech's official statement said Leach's recent actions made it impossible for him to remain coach of the Red Raiders.

"In a defiant act of insubordination, Coach Leach continually refused to cooperate in a meaningful way to help resolve the complaint. He also refused to obey a suspension order and instead sued Texas Tech University," the statement said.

Amazon is tops with online shoppers this year

2009-12-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com had the happiest customers this holiday season, according to a survey from ForeSee Results released Wednesday.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant scored the highest in a customer satisfaction report from online retail consulting firm ForeSee, followed by Netflix (NFLX) and QVC. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and outdoor-gear retailer Cabela's rounded out the top 5 in the survey, which polls 10,000 visitors to the top 40 U.S. retail sites by revenue each November and December. Big names like Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) dominate this year's list. "Even in this tough economic climate, e-retail continues to be the bright spot in a dark environment," said Larry Freed, chief executive of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based ForeSee.

"These are the biggest retailers on the Web, and they've got the ability to invest in the Web channel and even meet the price points that consumers are looking for in this economy. Smaller and midsized e-retailers may not be so lucky."

Netflix, Cabela's (CAB) and seven others of the 40 companies surveyed are listed as ForeSee's clients on its Web site.
0:00 /1:32Shoppers not shy this holiday season

Macys.com (M, Fortune 500) saw the biggest improvement in online customer satisfaction according to the survey, with its score climbing 13% from last year. Kent Anderson, president of the retailer's Web site told ForeSee that Macys.com has added improvements including buying guides, product reviews and videos among other things.

Five companies including Gap.com (GPS, Fortune 500), HSN.com, Overstock.com, SonyStyle.com and Costco.com (COST, Fortune 500) all saw their scores rise by 10%.

NeimanMarcus.com and CircuitCity.com posted the lowest customer-satisfaction scores. The 60-year-old electronics chain declared bankruptcy at the end of 2008, but was resurrected online.

Overall, online shoppers were more satisfied than ever this holiday season, according to the ForeSee survey.

The firm's e-retail satisfaction index climbed almost 7% to 79 on a 100-point scale, an all-time high for the five-year-old survey. For the past two years, the index measured at 74, down from 75 in 2006.

A separate report on holiday shopping released earlier this week from MasterCard Advisor's SpendingPulse data service showed that online retailers' sales spiked 18% between Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday, and Dec. 24 compared to last year.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/30/news/economy/e-retail_shopping_holiday_satisfaction/index.htm?cnn=yes

Google Nexus phone to debut Tuesday?

2009-12-30T19:24:00.001-08:00

Google's much-anticipated new phone, the HTC-designed Nexus One, could make its debut next week.

Google has scheduled a press event for Tuesday, January 5 at its Mountain View, California, headquarters. Though the company hasn't mentioned Nexus One, the invitation mentions Android, Google's mobile operating system for phones, and the company is widely expected to show the device that has had smartphone industry watchers buzzing for weeks.

The invitation-only event will be held two days before the Consumer Electronics Show begins in Las Vegas and just one day before many CES exhibitors have scheduled major press conferences.

It's a move straight out of the Apple playbook. In January, 2007, Apple famously upstaged CES when it unveiled the first iPhone at an event in San Francisco -- even as most technology journalists and executives were huddled in Las Vegas for the trade show.

Google hasn't commented about Nexus One. But recent online leaks suggest the Nexus One will be a GSM-device with a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, accelerometer and compass. It is expected to run the latest version of the Android operating system, Android 2.1.

Where Google could really innovate is how the phone is sold. The Nexus One is likely to be sold unlocked, which means consumers don't have to be tied into long-term contracts with telecom carriers.

T-Mobile, which offered the first Google phone, could provide "billing, coverage, features and rate plans," says TMONews, a blog that tracks T-Mobile.

The Nexus One could also go on sale the morning of Jan. 5, says the site, though there's no word yet on possible pricing.

Will Google offer expensive unlocked handsets in the United States -- a la Nokia -- or can it come up with a clever model to subsidize the device cost through mobile advertising or carrier support? Google's press conference next week should answer that question.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/30/google.nexus/index.html

The future of brain-controlled devices

2009-12-30T19:18:00.000-08:00

In the shimmering fantasy realm of the hit movie "Avatar," a paraplegic Marine leaves his wheelchair behind and finds his feet in a new virtual world thanks to "the link," a sophisticated chamber that connects his brain to a surrogate alien, via computer.

This type of interface is a classic tool in gee-whiz science fiction. But the hard science behind it is even more wow-inducing.

Researchers are already using brain-computer interfaces to aid the disabled, treat diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and provide therapy for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Work is under way on devices that may eventually let you communicate with friends telepathically, give you superhuman hearing and vision or even let you download data directly into your brain, a la "The Matrix."

Researchers are practically giddy over the prospects. "We don't know what the limits are yet," says Melody Moore Jackson, director of Georgia Tech University's BrainLab.

Adds Emory University neuroscience professor Michael Crutcher, "Anything can happen."

At the root of all this technology is the 3-pound generator we all carry in our head. It produces electricity at the microvolt level. But the signals are strong enough to move robots, wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs -- with the help of an external processor.

Harnessing that power "opens up a whole new paradigm for us as human beings," says neuroscientist Rajesh Rao of the University of Washington.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) come in two varieties. Noninvasive techniques use electrodes placed on the scalp to measure electrical activity. Invasive procedures implant electrodes directly into the brain. In both cases, the devices interact with a computer to produce a wide variety of applications, ranging from medical breakthroughs and military-tech advances to futuristic video games and toys.

Much of the research focuses on neuroprosthetics, which offer a way for the brain to compensate for injuries and illness. Jackson helped develop an intelligent wheelchair called the Aware Chair, which can be guided by neural activity.

She is also working on communication programs for people who have been paralyzed by strokes or spinal-cord injuries. Implanted electrodes allow "locked in" patients to spell out messages by manipulating a computer cursor with their thoughts alone.

Rao is tapping into that same concept to help paralyzed people manipulate robots to fetch items or move things around the house. With cameras to provide visual feedback, the patients and robots don't even need to be in the same room, or the same city. Rao says the technology "frees the mind from the constraints of the body."

Cochlear implants are the most common neuroprosthetic. They help the brain interpret sounds and are sometimes called "bionic ears" for the deaf. Other researchers are looking for similar ways to help blind people see. Neurobiologist Ed Boyden of MIT says miniature optical devices can be implanted to convert photoreceptors into workable cameras for the brain.

None of this comes cheap. Most research is funded by deep pockets such as the National Institutes of Health, the defense department and NASA.

But every breakthrough brings the most advanced BCI technologies closer to the mass market. Jackson says she foresees a day when people with disabilities can spend a few hundred dollars instead of $20,000 on a workable system.

Mainstreaming the technology raises some troubling issues for Crutcher, who teaches a course at Emory in neuro-ethics. He fears that expensive eye and ear implants could produce a computer-enhanced elite.

"If only the rich can afford it, it puts everyone else at a disadvantage," says Crutcher, who believes many aspects of BCI are ripe for abuse. Just the idea of mucking about with a person's brain "raises questions about safety and efficacy," he says.

One of the more controversial uses under development is telepathy. It would require at least two people to be implanted with electrodes that send and receive signals back and forth.

DARPA, the Pentagon's technology research division, is currently working on an initiative called "Silent Talk," which would let soldiers on secret missions communicate with their thoughts alone. This stealth component is attractive, but naysayers fear that such soldiers could become manipulated for evil means.

Telepathy implants won't replace Facebook and Twitter anytime soon, but that possibility is problematic as well.

"You can imagine communicating with your friends through the devices, and that opens up a lot of ethical issues," Rao says. Would you want your friends and family to know everything you are thinking? Would little white lies become obsolete?

These questions of morality and liability are not a huge factor for the toy makers and video game developers who are already bringing the most basic BCI technology to consumers.

Games like Mindflex and the Star Wars Force Trainer use headsets with simple electrodes to monitor levels of concentration and relaxation. The signals trigger a fan that can move a ball up or down, depending on how hard you're thinking. Jackson calls it a "fascinating application of a very sophisticated technology in a very cheap package."

The headsets used in both games were designed by the California company Neurosky. Its corporate partners are working on games that help Alzheimer's patients improve memory techniques, teach concentration skills to kids with ADHD and let stressed- out CEOs work on relaxing.

Software entrepreneurs and executives are streaming into Boyden's neuro-ventures class at MIT, looking for ways to capitalize on the array of potential uses for brain-computer interfaces.

Some ventures are already up and running. NeuroVigil in California is working on iBrain, designed, in part, to help provide instant feedback to drivers who start falling asleep at the wheel. Eos Neuroscience is developing light-sensitive protein-based sensors that can treat blindness.

Numerous companies are developing video games based on direct brain-computer interfacing. Neurosky sells a wireless headset that connects to any computer for a series of brain-training games. NeuroBoy lets you set targets on fire just by concentrating on them. Relax, and your character levitates. Another application lets you see a colorful visualization of your brain-wave activity.

Boyden expects to see many more such products hitting shelves sooner rather than later. He says the possibilities are endless if just a "fraction of the business leaders" taking his class start "bringing the technology into the world."

Jackson, of Georgia Tech, agrees: "Nothing is out of the realm of possibility."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/30/brain.controlled.computers/index.html

Online Shoppers Were More Satisfied This Season

2009-12-30T00:32:00.000-08:00

More people than ever shopped online this holiday season, and they were happier to do so.

Customers were more satisfied than ever with e-commerce sites while holiday shopping, according to ForeSee Results’ E-Retail Satisfaction Index, which uses methodology developed at the University of Michigan to study consumer satisfaction. Satisfaction rose 7 percent to 79 out of 100, the highest since the survey began in 2001.

Last year, only two sites, Amazon.com and Netflix, were given “excellent” ratings by those surveyed, according to ForeSee, a research and consulting firm. This year, those two still ranked at the top, but 11 sites were given excellent ratings, including consumer electronics online retailers Apple and Newegg.com.

The lowest performers were the Web sites of Circuit City and Neiman Marcus. Companies that do not satisfy shoppers with their Web sites risk chipping away at customer loyalty and missing out on new customers, according to ForeSee. Highly satisfied shoppers are 61 percent more likely to buy from the retailer again and 70 percent more likely to recommend the site to friends, the report found.

Not surprisingly, low prices were most important to online shoppers this year. But they also care about other things, like the supply of merchandise and how well the site functions.

As we have reported, shoppers leave e-commerce sites when they find better prices elsewhere but also if they have trouble checking out or simply because they get distracted and figure they can continue shopping later. Retailers run promotions like limited-time sales and buy software to test site functionality to avoid these problems.

According to ForeSee, these kinds of improvements are essential for e-commerce sites to make. “Simply cutting prices isn’t necessarily a business model for success, so prioritizing Web site improvements that customers value most is an absolute necessity,” said Kevin Ertell, vice president of retail strategy at ForeSee Results.

The sites that were most improved this year in the eyes of customers include those of Macy’s, Gap and HSN. This year, Gap expanded its online offerings, such as adding designer clothes to its online shoe site, Piperlime. Macy’s added merchandise, too. It also added buying guides and product reviews to help shoppers search the site and monitored shopper behavior to catch problems with the site, Kent Anderson, president of Macys.com, told ForeSee.

Souce: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/online-shoppers-were-more-satisfied-this-season/?ref=technology

Hacker pleads guilty in Mass. to fraud case

2009-12-30T00:22:00.000-08:00

A computer hacker who helped orchestrate the theft of tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers from major retailers in one of the largest such thefts in U.S. history pleaded guilty Tuesday in the last of three cases brought by federal prosecutors.

Albert Gonzalez, a one-time federal informant from Miami, faces a prison sentence of up to 25 years under the terms of separate plea agreements. He is tentatively scheduled for sentencing in March.

"This is a young kid who did some reckless things and he's going to pay a price for it," said Gonzalez's attorney, Martin Weinberg, after his 28-year-old client calmly answered guilty to charges of conspiracy and wire fraud.

Weinberg said Gonzalez was remorseful and that he would ask two federal judges hearing the cases to sentence Gonzalez to the lower end of the 17- to 25-year sentencing range spelled out in the plea agreements.

Tuesday's plea stemmed from a case that was originally brought by federal prosecutors in New Jersey, but later transferred to Boston. It charged Gonzalez with conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computer servers at Hannaford Brothers Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain; convenience store giant 7-Eleven Inc.; Heartland Payment Systems Inc., a New Jersey-based processor of credit and debit cards; and two unnamed companies.

Gonzalez pleaded guilty in September in two other cases that were combined in Boston. Those cases included charges that he hacked into the computers of prominent retailers such as TJX Cos., BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, BostonMarket, Barnes & Noble and Sports Authority.

Under questioning Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock, Gonzalez indicated that he had used alcohol and a number of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and LSD, prior to his arrest in May 2008.

Federal prosecutors have agreed to seek concurrent sentences in the cases, meaning that Gonzalez would serve no more than 25 years in prison. Weinberg, however, said he would argue for a lesser sentence based on factors including the prior drug abuse and a psychiatrist's report that Gonzalez exhibits behavior consistent with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

The defense-commissioned report by Dr. Barry Roth described Gonzalez as an Internet addict with an "idiot-Savant-like genius for computers and information technology," but socially awkward.

"His personal life has been characterized most of all by awkwardness, impairment, troubles connecting to people, with an overarching preference and predilection to machines and technology," Roth wrote.

Authorities said Gonzalez, who said he had worked as a computer security consultant, was the ringleader of a group that targeted large retailers.

In 2003, Gonzalez was arrested for hacking but was not charged because he became an informant, helping the Secret Service find other hackers. But authorities said he continued to use his talents for illegal activities.

Over the next five years, he hacked into the computer systems of retailers even while providing assistance to the government.

He lived lavishly during that time. Authorities said he amassed $2.8 million and bought a Miami condo and a BMW. Under the plea deals, Gonzalez must forfeit more than $2.7 million, plus his condo, car, a Tiffany ring he gave to his girlfriend and Rolex watches he gave to his father and friends.

Before accepting the plea Tuesday, Woodlock heard Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann outline the sophisticated hacking scheme, which also involved an individual identified only as "P.T." and two individuals identified in the indictment as Hacker 1 and Hacker 2. Heymann said they remain fugitives.

Gonzalez identified potential corporate victims by poring through lists of Fortune 500 companies and by going to retail stores to probe for potential vulnerabilities, Heymann said.

"It was foreseeable to defendant Gonzalez that the losses resulting from unauthorized access into the servers of the corporate victims identified in the indictment would exceed $20 million," Heymann said.

Source here........

AT&T: The most hated company in iPhone land

2009-12-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

Consumer outrage about AT&T's 3G service for iPhones is boiling over, but the dropped calls and spotty service reflect a greater lack of foresight in the wireless industry.

Analysts say AT&T's problems would have happened on any network that carried Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone because of the overwhelming amount of data downloaded by iPhone users. Over the past three years, AT&T's data traffic increased 5,000% because of the iPhone."The challenges that AT&T has are being faced by a lot of operators around the world: Very rapidly growing usage coupled with dense populations," said Daniel Hays, wireless expert and partner at consultancy PRTM. "Would it have been different on Verizon? Probably not."

AT&T accurately states that it has the nation's fastest 3G network but it "probably bit off more than it could chew," said Doug Helmreich, program director at consultancy CFI Group. "Now some of their customers are paying the price."

IPhone users in New York and San Francisco in particular have been up in arms about frequent service interruptions. Earlier this month, AT&T's head of mobility, Ralph de la Vega, admitted at an investors' conference that the company's service in those two cities was "below our standards."

It's not just New York and San Francisco iPhone users who are grumbling. An annual Consumer Reports study recently rated AT&T (T, Fortune 500) the worst in customer satisfaction in 19 cities across the country. (Rival Verizon Wireless rated No. 1 in the study.)

In nearly three-quarters of the surveyed areas, AT&T was rated lowest for availability of service, frequency of dropped calls and quality of voice service.
Verizon vs. AT&T

Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) has had a field day at AT&T's expense.

"There's a map for that" commercials have poked fun at AT&T's smaller 3G footprint. And that has helped Verizon take market share, according to Piper Jaffray.

But studies show that AT&T's network is actually faster than Verizon's, and Verizon's ad campaign may be a bit misleading.

Four recent independent studies from wireless industry analysis firms Global Wireless Solutions and Root Wireless, investment bank Piper Jaffray and tech blog Gizmodo all concluded that AT&T's 3G network was the fastest in the United States.

"We drove millions of miles across the country, and our data support AT&T's claim that it has the fastest 3G data network," said Global Wireless CEO Paul Carter.The map that Verizon shows in its ads is correct, but AT&T's 3G network still covers nearly 80% of the U.S. population, said Carter. And AT&T's non-3G coverage is also broader than its 3G network.

With that kind of pedigree, analysts say AT&T was likely the best-equipped network to handle the iPhone.

"For Verizon ... we still wonder if the network has the capacity and backhaul to support a device with an adoption curve of the iPhone," said Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen in a client note.
Perception vs. reality

AT&T admits that it has had problems keeping up with the data demands of iPhone users, which has prompted the company to accelerate scheduled improvements in its network.

"There's more work to be done and a sense of urgency to do it, but we feel like we're on the right track with our investments," said Fletcher Cook, spokesman for AT&T.

In the next few years, AT&T said it would double its network speed, and Cook said AT&T has already improved overall network quality by 25%. The company has also deployed more than 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the country, which it says may help alleviate stress on its 3G network.

PRTM's Hays applauded the Wi-Fi solution and AT&T's dedication to improving its network, calling them "critical levers in addressing AT&T's network performance issues." He expects AT&T to go even further, perhaps by integrating tiered data plans that would force iPhone users to pay for the data they download.

Still, perception has hurt AT&T.

AT&T's network is the No. 1 hangup for people who are in the market for an iPhone, according to a CFI Group study. The company's woes have even become the butt of jokes on late-night TV.

"It was reported this week that Google would soon launch its own cell phone as a challenge to the iPhone," said "Saturday Night Live's" Seth Meyers on Dec. 19. "Also a challenge to the iPhone? Making phone calls."

The building frustrations led some angry consumers to take matters into their own hands. "Operation Chokehold," which took place on Dec. 18, was an attempt to overload AT&T's network by running data-intensive apps to try and send a message that consumers "are sick of their substandard network." The ploy failed.

"Unfortunately for AT&T, when it comes to network quality, perception is reality and right now Verizon has a more positive public perception," said Larsen. "If AT&T can continue to show improvement in network throughput, it may blunt some of the impact."

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/29/technology/att/index.htm?cnn=yes

Online poster appears to be Christmas Day bomb suspect

2009-12-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

"Let me tell you a little about me."

"Farouk1986" introduced himself to a Muslim online community with these words in February 2005.

"My name is Umar but you can call me Farouk," the poster continues, detailing biographical information that appears to match the life of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian man accused of attempting to detonate an explosive on an international flight into Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day.

The failed terror plot put airports on high alert and refocused American attention on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the attempted attack.

Internet postings for Farouk1986 -- apparently a combination of his name and birth year -- reveal a young man who fought feelings of loneliness and struggled with balancing his life as a Muslim with the temptations of the secular world around him. He wrote about his desire to attend university, possibly in the United States, and his thoughts on love and marriage.

Officials have not confirmed that Internet postings by Farouk1986 were made by AbdulMutallab, but the many detailed biographical points made by the poster match what has been reported about AbdulMutallab's life.

"I will describe myself as very ambitious and determined, especially in the deen," Farouk1986 wrote in February 2005, referring to the Islamic way of life. The poster writes about being in boarding school, with possibilities of attending Stanford University or the University of California-Berkeley.

Eventually, AbdulMutallab studied mechanical engineering at University College London.

Besides being ambitious, Farouk1986 also described himself as lonely.

"First of all, I have no friend[s]," he wrote in another online post with informal, imperfect grammar. "Not because I do not socialise (sic), etc but because either people do not want to get too close to me as they go partying and stuff while I don't. or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things.

"i have no one to speak too, no one to consult, no one to support me and i feel depressed and lonely. i do not know what to do."

Somewhere along the way, AbdulMutallab turned toward Islamic extremism.

An FBI official said AbdulMutallab was included in the U.S. government's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or TIDE, after his father warned the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria of his son's hard-line beliefs and possible ties to militant Islamists. But his name was not pulled from that database and included on lists barring him from U.S.-bound aircraft.

Part of the explosive device that failed to take down last week's flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, was sewn into AbdulMutallab's underwear, authorities said. A preliminary FBI analysis found the device contained pentaerythritol tetranitrate, an explosive also known as PETN.

Investigators were having trouble determining what the accelerant AbdulMutallab allegedly tried to use to light the explosives because "the syringe was pretty much destroyed," a law enforcement source told CNN.

All 300 passengers and crew onboard the Christmas Day flight have been interviewed by authorities, the source said, adding that he expected no one else to be held or charged in connection with the incident.

Farouk1986's online posts show that as early as 2005, he had a serious view of his religion. One of his struggles, the poster wrote, was that the "loneliness leads me to other problems."

Farouk1986 said after fasting, "I felt a shield that prevented evil thoughts coming into my head. I felt closer to Allah."

Being lonely awakened sexual desires that he struggled to control, he said, sometimes "leading to minor sinful activities like not lowering the gaze." His religion instructed him to fast to avoid such temptation, but it didn't seem to be working, Farouk1986 said.

In another online post soon afterward, though, he took his comment back.

CNN's Alden Mahler Levine and CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/29/terror.suspect.online/index.html

6 hottest skills for 2010

2009-12-29T06:54:00.000-08:00

A slowly reviving economy will have organizations hiring in a few key areas, looking for IT pros with a mix of skills.

Computerworld - Pent-up demand for new projects. Veteran employees leaving the company. Who could complain about such pressures in the waning months of 2009, when the year was spent under a cloud of economic misery?

Certainly not Shane Kilgore, IT director at Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He was dismayed to see two talented software developers give notice recently. One had five years under his belt and the other had 10, but Kilgore took their departures as a sign that the economy is taking its first steps toward recovery. He plans to hire a few new developers this year, not only to replace the ones who left, but also to work on new products that will be in demand when -- as many economists predict -- the recovery gains headwind this year. (Read more about the outlook for IT compensation and hiring in Computerworld's Salary Survey.)

Read more........

New version of Mozilla by next year or early 2011

2009-12-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

The new version of Mozilla Firefox will not be releasing yet its new version . It will moved to late next year or early 2011......

Mozilla won't make a 2009 deadline for releasing Firefox 3.6 and is giving itself more time to complete a major update, version 4.0.

The organization behind the open-source Web browser had predicted a final release of Firefox 3.6 in December 2009, but the Mozilla Web site now includes "ship Firefox 3.6" as a goal for the first quarter of 2010.

In addition, Firefox 4.0, which had been due in 2010, now is "aimed at late 2010 or early 2011," with a beta due in the summer of 2010, according to Mozilla.

Read More......

EXCLUSIVE: Photos of the Northwest Airlines Bomb

2009-12-28T17:01:00.000-08:00

A singed pair of underwear with a packet of powder sewn into the crotch, seen in government photos obtained exclusively by ABC News, is all that remains of al Qaeda's attempt to down an American passenger plane over Detroit.

As seen in these photos, the alleged bomb consisted of a packet of powder sewn into the briefs of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian. Al Qaeda took credit Monday for the attempted bombing, boasted of its ability to overcome U.S. intelligence and airport security, and promised new attacks.

The first photo, to the left, shows the slightly charred and singed underpants with the bomb packet still in place. All photos include a ruler to provide scale.

In the second photo (below), the packet of actual explosive powder has been removed from the underpants and displayed separately.

UNDERWEAR AND EXPLOSIVE PACKET

It is a six-inch long packet of the high explosive chemical called PETN, less than a half cup in volume, weighing about 80 grams.

A government test with 50 grams of PETN blew a hole in the side of an airliner. That was the amount in the bombcarried by the so-called shoe bomber Richard Reid over Christmas 2001.

The underpants bomb would have been one and a half times as powerful.

Source:http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/northwest-airlines-bomb-photos/story?id=9436297

Volcano Spews Lava But Some Refuse to Leave

2009-12-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

At the Mayon volcano in the Philippines, collapsed lava sent ash plumes billowing into the air and the wind drifted the debris towards fleeing residents. "We went out of the house heading downhill," says Daisy Mina, 32. "We were running."

Risking her life to tend to her shop at home, the mother of two children keeps a packed bag close by for moments like this when she has to run.

"It was big," Mina said of the ash explosion, "so we were very afraid."

Still she won't evacuate, explaining that she can't afford to leave the plants that she sells to make her under-$100 weekly income. As the alert level lingers at the 2nd highest level for over a week now, volcanologists continue to warn residents to clear out.

"Mayon's eruptions usually have pyroclastic flows," resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta tells ABC News, describing the high-speed avalanche of hot ash and gas. "And if you will be within the strength of the pyroclastic flow, then definitely you will be killed." Randy Austria, 29, also sprinted away in his flip-flops when he saw the ash.

"We were born and raised here," Austria says, explaining his refusal to evacuate. "We have our source of living here. At the foot of the volcano, it's the place where we plant our vegetables."

"The top three reasons people return to their homes during the evacuation," Gov. Joey Salceda tells ABC News, "are for firewood, their animals and their farms."

"Women, children, mothers," Austria says, "they stay at the evacuation center while men and fathers return back home to tend the animals. We also need to watch over our property.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/volcano-spews-lava-mayon-residents-refuse-leave/story?id=9432693

Broadcasters Battling for Cable Fees

2009-12-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

The nearly billion-dollar battle between broadcasters and cable operators over programming fees has gone public.The News Corporation is threatening to remove its Fox stations from Time Warner Cable systems at the end of this week if the cable company does not agree to pay sizable subscriber fees, the same way it does for cable channels. In negotiations, the News Corporation is pushing for about $1 for each subscriber, potentially setting a precedent for broadcasters that are seeking a new revenue stream to offset advertising declines.

Time Warner Cable is playing hardball, running an advertising campaign to prepare viewers for the prospect of a January without college bowl games or “American Idol.” The company’s so-called retransmission agreements covering Fox’s stations in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando and other cities expire on Dec. 31.

Fights over retransmission affect every person who pays for television. Broadcasters’ demands for higher fees will “without a doubt translate to increasing costs for consumers that buy packages of programming,” said Melinda Witmer, the chief programming officer for Time Warner Cable. (The company announced annual rate increases for customers this month.)

The News Corporation is demanding the money on behalf of its 27 owned stations, but it is also pressuring about 150 affiliates for a share of their retransmission payments. The public posturing is the clearest sign yet that the owners of Fox, CBS and other over-the-air networks are demanding substantial amounts from the cable operators that carry their content into millions of homes.

For most of the last two decades, the owners of networks effectively gave away the retransmission rights for their stations in exchange for prime positions on cable systems. Now, however, beleaguered networks and their affiliates want direct payments for their programming. Cable channels like TNT and ESPN operate the same way; they make money both from advertising and from subscriber fees.

Some over-the-air stations started to wring fees out of smaller carriers several years ago. For stations, the fees normally amount to nickels, dimes and occasionally quarters for each subscriber each month. But Fox is asking for much more. People close to the Time Warner Cable negotiations said Fox’s owned and operated stations are demanding about $1 for every subscriber.

“It’s hard to argue that, when you look at the value of the programming on the network, that it isn’t worth what cable channels get,” said a Fox executive familiar with the negotiations. Like other people involved, the executive requested anonymity because the process is confidential.

The negotiations pit Glenn A. Britt, the chief executive of Time Warner Cable, against Chase Carey, the new president and chief operating officer of the News Corporation. Mr. Carey has experience on the other end of the table: he ran DirecTV, the satellite distributor, until last June. He has said publicly that Fox is worth $5 a month, given its sports programming and prime-time hits. That would make Fox even more valuable than ESPN, the most expensive cable channel, which earns about $4 for each subscriber.

“We realize this is going to be a tough challenge,” Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation, told investors two months ago, “but we’re determined to take a leadership position in creating an economic template for the future.”

In an assessment last week, the Miller Tabak analyst David C. Joyce said the negotiations were “precedent-setting” for Fox.

Satellite operators like the Dish Network and telecommunications companies like Verizon have generally been more willing than cable operators to compensate local stations, television executives say. But in the last year, CBS reached significant deals with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision.

“The world has acknowledged that networks deserve to get paid for their content like cable networks get paid,” said Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of the CBS Corporation, who has been the industry’s most vocal supporter of retransmission fees.

CBS reportedly receives up to 50 cents for each subscriber, although the deals vary. Because the negotiations are normally confidential, the company declined to comment on the amounts earned. But Mr. Moonves said he expected CBS’s owned stations would earn $200 million to $250 million in retransmission revenue by 2012. All the networks are talking about retransmission “in a much more pertinent manner right now,” Mr. Moonves said.

The fees paid by cable, satellite and telecommunications operators “has grown by double digits” for each of the last three years, said Justin Nielson, an analyst for the research firm SNL Kagan. He projects that stations will earn $933 million in retransmission fees next year, up from $739 million this year.

But the fees account for just 5 percent of station revenue, according to SNL Kagan — hardly a savior for broadcasters. Cable channels, meanwhile, are on track to earn almost $28 billion from fees next year.

Creating a new front in the fight, networks like CBS and Fox are insisting that their affiliates start sharing the retransmission fees they receive from carriers, too. They figure that because they provide marquee programming, they should share in the fees.

“There are certain affiliates that are totally on board and get it, and there are certain affiliates that object to it,” Mr. Moonves said. “It will come to a head as the deals with station groups come up,” a multiyear process.Between Fox and Time Warner Cable, the fight is not about whether Fox should be paid, but about how much. The cable company says that it is willing to pay for retransmission, and that it is only balking at Fox’s asking price. “There’s no question we’ve seen an increase in desperation on the broadcast side,” Ms. Witmer said.

Ahead of several renewal fights, including the one with Fox, the company introduced a campaign in late November called “Roll Over or Get Tough.” In TV commercials and print ads aimed at its customers, it claimed that networks like Fox were “demanding price increases as high as 300 percent,” and encouraged customers not to “roll over.” The TV commercials played like political ads, complete with ornaments falling off an animated Christmas tree.

Fox responded with a Web site, Keep Fox On, that said it was merely asking the carrier for “fair value compensation.” It says that TNT, a cable channel with a fraction of Fox’s budget, earns $1 per subscriber per month from some operators.

Ms. Witmer said there were crucial differences between Fox, which is available over the air, and TNT, which is a “cable product.” She said Time Warner Cable was concerned about the amount of programming that Fox puts on the Internet, undermining the cable business model. Unlike broadcasters, she added, cable channels provide carriers with advertising time.

Caught in the middle are TV viewers. Last week Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, called on both sides to strike a deal because, he said, “millions of football fans are depending on it.”

In a letter to Mr. Britt and Mr. Carey, he suggested that the stations remain available to cable customers if the two sides fail to reach a deal by Jan. 1. For how long? Mr. Kerry wrote, “Through the college bowl season.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/business/media/29cable.html?pagewanted=2&ref=technology

Code That Protects Most Cellphone Calls Is Divulged

2009-12-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

A German computer engineer said Monday that he had deciphered and published the secret code used to encrypt most of the world’s digital mobile phone calls, in what he called an attempt to expose weaknesses in the security of global wireless systems.

The action by the encryption expert, Karsten Nohl, aimed to question the effectiveness of the 21-year-old GSM algorithm, a code developed in 1988 and still used to protect the privacy of 80 percent of mobile calls worldwide.

“This shows that existing GSM security is inadequate,” Mr. Nohl, 28, told about 600 people attending the Chaos Communication Congress, a four-day computer hackers’ conference that runs through Wednesday in Berlin. “We are trying to push operators to adopt better security measures for mobile phone calls.”

The GSM Association, the industry group based in London that devised the algorithm and represents wireless operators, called Mr. Nohl’s efforts illegal and said they overstated the security threat to wireless calls.

“This is theoretically possible but practically unlikely,” said Claire Cranton, a GSM spokeswoman, noting that no one else had broken the code since its adoption. “What he is doing would be illegal in Britain and the United States. To do this while supposedly being concerned about privacy is beyond me.”

Some security experts disagreed. While the disclosure does not by itself threaten the security of voice data, one analyst said companies and governmental organizations should take the same steps to ensure the security of their wireless conversations as they do with antivirus software for computer files.

“Organizations must now take this threat seriously and assume that within six months their organizations will be at risk unless they have adequate measures in place to secure their mobile phone calls,” said Stan Schatt, a vice president for health care and security at the technology market researcher ABI Research in New York.

Mr. Nohl, who has a doctorate in computer engineering from the University of Virginia, is a widely consulted encryption expert who waged a similar campaign this year that prodded the DECT Forum, a standards group based in Bern, to upgrade the security algorithm for 800 million cordless home phones.

Mr. Nohl has now set his sights on GSM, whose second-generation digital technology is still the most widely used wireless-communications standard in the world. About 3.5 billion of the world’s 4.3 billion wireless connections use GSM; it is used by about 299 million consumers in North America.

In August, at a hackers’ forum in Amsterdam, Mr. Nohl challenged other computer hackers to help him crack the GSM code. He said about 24 people, some members of the Chaos Computer Club, which is based in Berlin, worked independently to generate the necessary volume of random combinations until they reproduced the GSM algorithm’s code book — a vast log of binary codes that could theoretically be used to decipher GSM phone calls.

The code book, Mr. Nohl said, contains the equivalent of about two terabytes, or 2,000 gigabytes, of digital information, the equivalent of 100 high-definition films.

During an interview, Mr. Nohl said he took precautions to remain within legal boundaries, emphasizing that his efforts to crack the GSM algorithm were purely academic, kept within the public domain, and that the information was not used to decipher a digital call.

“We are not recommending people use this information to break the law,” Mr. Nohl said. “What we are doing is trying to goad the world’s wireless operators to use better security.”

Mr. Nohl said the algorithm’s code book was available on the Internet through services like BitTorrent, which some people use to download vast quantities of data like films and music. He declined to provide a Web link to the code book, for fear of the legal implications, but said its location had spread by word of mouth through the hackers’ community.

The GSM algorithm, technically known as the A5/1 privacy algorithm, is a binary code — which is made exclusively of 0’s and 1’s — that has kept digital phone conversations private since the GSM standard was adopted in 1988.

But the A5/1 algorithm is a 64-bit binary code, the modern standard at the time it was developed, but simpler than the 128-bit codes used today to encrypt calls on third-generation networks. The new codes have twice as many 0’s and 1’s.

In 2007, the GSM developed a 128-bit successor to the A5/1, called the A5/3 encryption algorithm, but most network operators have not yet invested to make the security upgrade.

The disclosure of a GSM encryption key, in and of itself, does not enable surveillance of mobile calls, which must still be overheard and identified from the digital stream of thousands of calls transmitted through a single cellphone station.

The undertaking is highly complex because a digital call typically hops among up to 60 different broadcast frequencies during a single conversation, as the mobile network operator maximizes the use of its available bandwidth.

In a statement, the GSM Association said efforts to crack the algorithm were more complex than critics have asserted, and that operators, by simply modifying the existing algorithm, could thwart any unintended surveillance.

“We strongly suspect that the teams attempting to develop an intercept capability have underestimated its practical complexity,” GSM said in a statement. The association noted that hackers intent on illegal eavesdropping would need a radio receiver system and signal processing software to process raw radio data, much of which is copyrighted.

But Mr. Nohl, during a presentation Sunday to attendees at the Berlin conference, said the hardware and software needed for digital surveillance were available free as an open-source product in which the coding is available for individuals to tailor to their needs.

A security expert whose company sells software to governments, businesses and aid agencies that provides extra layers of security for wireless calls, said Mr. Nohl’s disclosures highlighted the need for better wireless security.

Simon Bransfield-Garth, the chief executive of Cellcrypt, based in London, said Mr. Nohl’s efforts could put sophisticated mobile interception technology — limited to governments and intelligence agencies — within the reach of “any reasonable well-funded criminal organization.”

“This will reduce the time to break a GSM call from weeks to hours,” Mr. Bransfield-Garth said during an interview. “We expect as this further develops it will be reduced to minutes.”

Mr. Bransfield-Garth said advances in surveillance technology have made it possible to buy commercial wireless surveillance systems in countries like India for as little as $1,500.

“Customers have told us they have lost multimillion-dollar deals because of information that has leaked out to competitors through phone intercepts,” Mr. Bransfield-Garth said. “Phone intercepts are considerably more common than people realize.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/technology/29hack.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Chinese Archaeologists Discover Legendary Tomb of Cao Cao

2009-12-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

BEIJING — Chinese archeologists have unearthed a large third-century tomb, which they say could be that of Cao Cao, the legendary politician and general famous throughout East Asia for his Machiavellian tactics.

The tomb, discovered in Xigaoxue village near the ancient Chinese city of Anyang, Henan Province, has an epitaph and inscription that appear to refer to Cao Cao, Central China Television said on Sunday.

A Chinese proverb, "speak of Cao Cao and he appears," is the equivalent of "speak of the devil" in English.

Cao Cao was the final chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, who went on to form his own state during the political turmoil of the Three Kingdoms period. He died in 220 AD in Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty, and was posthumously named Emperor of the Wei state that he founded.

In Chinese lore, a number of anecdotes tell of Cao Cao's ruthlessness, cunning, and military and political acumen.

The tomb contains the body of a man in his 60s, corresponding to Cao Cao's age at his death, and two women.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2009/12/28/chinese-archaeologists-discover-legendary-tomb/?test=latestnews

Bomber kills 25 at holy procession in Pakistan

2009-12-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

A suicide bombing targeting a Shiite Muslim procession in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi killed 25 people and wounded dozens more Monday, as Shiites across the country marked the key holy day of Ashoura.

Violence broke out in the aftermath of the bombing, with shots fired into the air and outraged Shiites hurling stones at security forces who had been guarding the march for their failure to prevent it.

The bombing was the latest in a wave of violence to hit Pakistan since the army started taking on Islamist militants allied with al-Qaida and the Taliban, with terrorist strikes killing 500 people since October. arachi has largely been spared the Taliban-linked violence that has struck much of the rest of the country. But the city has been the scene of frequent sectarian, ethnic and political violence.

Extremists from the majority Sunni community regard Shiites as heretical, and the two groups have long engaged in tit-for-tat killings in Pakistan.

After Monday's blast, protesters set fire to a market, two other buildings and several vehicles, smashing shops as others at the procession attempted to stop them. Police and paramilitary troops fired into the air to disperse the crowd.

Television footage showed police cars and ambulances damaged, with windows smashed and doors and hoods ripped open.

Karachi Mayor Mustafa Kamal appealed for calm.

"I want to appeal to the people, to my brothers, my elders to stay calm. I am hearing people are clashing with police and doctors. Please do not do that. That is what terrorists are aiming at. They want to see this city again on fire," he said.

At the nearby Civil Hospital, relatives cried and beat their chests as the wounded lay on stretchers and beds.

"So far, according to information, more than 25 people have been (killed) and more than 50 are wounded," Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34608468/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

Technology changes 'outstrip' netbooks

2009-12-28T08:25:00.001-08:00

Rising prices and better alternatives may mean curtains for netbooks.

The small portable computers were popular in 2009, but some industry watchers are convinced that their popularity is already waning.

"The days of the netbook are over," said Stuart Miles, founder and editor of technology blog Pocket Lint.

As prices edge upwards, net-using habits change and other gadgets take on their functions, netbooks will become far less popular, he thinks.

"Technology has advanced so much that it's outmanoeuvred itself," he said. "You wouldn't go for something so basic anymore."

His prediction stems from his belief that the netbooks of 2009 are losing touch with what made them so appealing.

Media heart

Asus kicked off the netbook trend in 2007 when it launched the Eee PC 700 and 701. The 700 sported a 2GB solid state hard drive, 512MB of Ram, a 900 Hz Intel Celeron processor and a seven-inch screen.

It was cheap, cheerful and a boon for those wanting to check e-mail and go online while out and about.

But, said Mr Miles, the success of the small, portable notebook has been its undoing because it has spawned so many imitators.Many contemporary netbook models run Windows XP or Windows 7 which has forced the specifications, and price, upwards. Many, he said, now cost at least £350, a figure close to that for a more capable full-size laptop.

What people are looking for now, he believes, is a machine that can keep up with the demands of contemporary web users - far more than the basic e-mail and web browsing that made the first models so appealing.

"As soon as you want to do anything else you hit the same problem, it ceases to work," he said. "It does not have the power."

Those changing habits of web users, he maintains, are too complex for those basic machines.

"It's the internet's fault for making us much more multimedia savvy," he said. Uploading and editing still or moving pictures and handling audio all require far more power than the basic netbook offers, he said.

This could explain, he said, why many laptop makers are now turning out very thin and light machines that have power but not the shoulder-wrenching bulk.

All change

Ian Drew, spokesman for chip designer Arm, also believes netbooks are in for a shake-up. Consumers, he said, were chafing against the restrictions that using a netbook imposed on them.

"We have failed the consumer because we have imposed constraints on them," he said.

Changing web habits and greater use of social media will mean consumers will be looking for gadgets that are tuned to specific purposes."It will be a lot of different machines for a lot of different people," he said. "This whole market will be exploding in the next couple of years."

Impetus for this change will come, he believes, from the phone world where many, many types of gadgets are already blooming.

"It's no surprise that your mobile has changed a lot in the last three years but your PC hasn't," he said.

Arm hopes that many more netbook makers will be using one of its designs as a core processor and turn to Linux as the operating system.

At the very least a crop of Arm-based netbooks might mean a big boost to battery life. Arm's mobile pedigree means it is designed to be parsimonious with power.

Dell already produces notebooks sporting Latitude ON technology that use both Arm and Intel chips so that they can boot into either Windows or Linux.

Editing tools

Battery life on Linux is in excess of 10 hours, for Windows rarely more than three.

Machines sporting Arm chips are also likely to be thinner as they will not need the heat sinks demanded by processors used in desktops.

Mr Drew said deals Arm has signed with Adobe will help ensure that future devices will be able to use the software maker's familiar video, audio and image editing tools.

What will also be worth watching, he said, is what happens when Google's Chrome OS is launched.

Many of the devices running that will be Arm-based as Chrome is broadly based on one of the Linux distributions. There are also unconfirmed rumours that either Windows 8 or 9 will run on Arm chips.Mr Drew also expects to see devices tailored to particular types of user.

E-book readers were an example of this, he said, and were evolving into devices capable of doing more than just handle text. Many can play MP3s or let owners browse the web.

Then there is the approaching wave of tablet computers.

Apple is rumoured to be working on one. Dell and Microsoft have shown off their own ideas of what one will look like and there are bound to be many more from established tablet makers such as Archos.

Mr Miles from Pocket Lint believes these are likely to take up the mantle from the netbook.

"I don't think people will expect it to do much more than you get from a netbook," he said, adding that they were perfect for those who needed a device that let them get online quickly to satisfy their curiosity.

They were more likely to succeed now more than ever, said Mr Miles, because of the greater experience people had with using such devices.

"It'll be helped by Apple which has educated people how to use multi-touch through the iPhone and iPod touch," he said.

Netbooks are also likely to come under pressure from smartphones as they get even smarter, said Christoper David, head of developers at SonyEricsson.

Phone makers, he said, have to position themselves to be more open and able to support the web habits of users no matter what they were or what they wanted to do.

"The web is the king," he said. Handset makers must work with those open web standards to ensure that the software on the phones they make is flexible enough to cope.

"Though," he added, "that is only the starting point of the journey."

What will not change, he believes, is the importance of the phone as a vessel for data about its owner.

"We're going to see phones coming along where the form factor will be less and less relevant in terms of what we carry about with us," he said.

Future devices will grab the best resources nearby whether that is a flat screen, projector or thin film display.

The ID credentials stored on what was our phone will handle all the logins and give access to all the sites and services we use.

The netbook, and its limitations, will be well and truly left behind.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8421491.stm
by Adam Markovitz

Christmas brings box office cheer

2009-12-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Another movie that makes good account to the viewers.....

Hollywood gave itself one heck of a Christmas present this year: the single best day in the history of the box office.

The weekend's slate of movies racked up a record-setting $278 million overall haul, with James Cameron's "Avatar" ($75 million) leading the charge. The sci-fi epic dipped an incredibly slim two percent in its second weekend, bringing its 10-day domestic total to an impressive $212.3 million.

Read more......

Cities embrace mobile apps, 'Gov 2.0'

2009-12-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and a customer-service guru, was riding on a public train in San Francisco, California, recently when something common but annoying occurred: The railcar filled with people and became uncomfortably hot.

If the inconvenience had happened a few years ago, Newmark said he would have just gone on with his day -- maybe complaining about the temperature to a friend.

But this was 2009, the age of mobile technology, so Newmark pulled out his iPhone, snapped a photo of the train car and, using an app called "SeeClickFix," zapped an on-the-go complaint, complete with GPS coordinates, straight to City Hall.

"A week or so later I got an e-mail back saying, 'Hey, we know about the problem and we're going to be taking some measures to address it,' " he said.

Welcome to a movement the tech crowd is calling "Gov 2.0" -- where mobile technology and GPS apps are helping give citizens like Newmark more of a say in how their local tax money is spent. It's public service for the digital age.

A host of larger U.S. cities from San Francisco to New York quietly have been releasing treasure troves of public data to Web and mobile application developers.

That may sound dull. But tech geeks transform banal local government spreadsheets about train schedules, complaint systems, potholes, street lamp repairs and city garbage into useful applications for mobile phones and the Web.

The aim is to let citizens report problems to their governments more easily and accurately; and to put public information, which otherwise may be buried in file cabinets and Excel files, at the fingertips of taxpayers.

By some accounts, the trend is turning the government-voter relationship on its head and could usher in a new era of grassroots democracy.

"I see [these applications] as the death of a passive relationship with government," said Clay Johnson, director of Sunlight Labs, a group promoting Gov 2.0 apps.

"Instead of people saying, 'Well, it's the government's job to fix that' ... people are taking ownership and saying, 'Hey, wait a minute. Government is us. We are government. So let's take a responsibility and start changing things ourselves.' "

Residents of Washington, for example, can use the DC 311 iPhone app to take photos of graffiti, potholes and other trouble spots.

The photos are paired with GPS locations and then uploaded straight from the street into a database that local officials can see.

The mobile phone app tells officials where the graffiti is. It also tells citizens which spray-paint murals, potholes, dying trees, broken parking meters and tipped-over street signs the city is aware of, which it plans to fix and which it may be ignoring.

Brian Purchia, spokesman for the San Francisco mayor's office, said reports like those from "SeeClickFix" and a city Twitter account make it easier for the city to prioritize spending by addressing problems its citizens care most about.

He cited an example in which a Twitter user named @bolinasgirl reported a broken streetlight on the micro-blogging site. The city responded to her on Twitter and sent a note within 24 hours saying the light had been fixed.

The complaints don't always results in fixes, of course, because cities have limited resources. But Purchia said some problems that the city wouldn't otherwise know about are being addressed because of mobile applications and its Twitter program.

Some of the apps are simply handy. Newmark, for example, checks an iPhone app called "Routesy" before going outside to look for city buses. The app tells him where the nearest bus is and what time it will arrive at his stop.

An app called "Stumble Safely" tells bar-goers in Washington the safest walking routes home from local pubs. "Are You Safe" uses a person's GPS location and municipal crime data to tell residents of Atlanta, Georgia, about the crime history in their immediate vicinity.

These sorts of apps tend to pop up only in places where the municipal government has released its data sets in a format that can be easily crunched. That public data is the fuel that makes these applications work.

So far, local government making the push for public data sets are usually large and fairly tech savvy: San Francisco, Washington, New York and the like.

San Francisco, for example, posted 100 data sets on the Web site DataSF.org in August. Within weeks, Purchia said, dozens of apps were being developed.

Once the data is out, cities wait for someone else to use it. Both Washington and San Francisco have held contests for local Web developers to turn their data into applications.

The idea is that tech communities are better able to make government data useful than the governments themselves, said Peter Corbett, CEO for iStrategyLabs and organizer of a contest called "Apps for Democracy" in Washington.

"I think the government realizes that they don't have all of the money to do things people want them to do," he said. "Government forgot that the biggest asset that they have are actual citizens."

The second "Apps for Democracy" contest in Washington awarded $20,000 in prizes for mobile phone developers. But many developers work free.

Alan Wells is the co-founder of Haku Wale, a San Francisco company that developed an a app called "EcoFinder," which helps residents find places to dispose of e-waste and other hazardous materials.

He said his company spent $20,000 developing the application, but hasn't charged the city or app users a dime. He was just happy the city's trash data was available.

"For us, as a company, we're really interested in the convergence of technology and sustainability and social impact," he said. "So it's just something we wanted to provide for the city of San Francisco."

Other cities may resist the transition, however.

Some people worry that these tech applications wouldn't take off in smaller municipalities, even if governments can afford to make the data available.

"For small governments ... it's really challenging to get data sources that are deep enough, that are robust enough to do something that's interesting," said Corbett.

Purchia said San Francisco incurred few costs when it put its first 100 data sets online. "A lot of this is just man hours," he said. "It's getting different departments to realize this is an important aspect of governing."

He said the city is working with others to develop a national standard for municipal government data sets and the programs that make them useful. That way, an app that tracks trash in San Francisco could be used by people in Bismarck, North Dakota, as long as the city's public data is posted online in the right format.

That could enable cities without big tech communities to benefit from the trend.

"For some cities and for some governments I could understand that transition can be a scary thing," Purchia said. "But we feel like it makes governments more accountable, and it makes them function better."

He added: "What I really see is a monumental change for how government works. This is just really the starting point."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/28/government.web.apps/index.html

High-tech vehicles pose trouble for some mechanics

2009-12-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

A sign inside the Humming Motors auto repair shop says, "We do the worrying so you don't have to."

These days, owner David Baur spends a lot of time worrying in his full-service garage near downtown Los Angeles.

As cars become vastly more complicated than models made just a few years ago, Baur is often turning down jobs and referring customers to auto dealer shops. Like many other independent mechanics, he does not have the thousands of dollars to purchase the online manuals and specialized tools needed to fix the computer-controlled machines.

Baur says the dilemma has left customers with fewer options for repair work and given automakers an unfair advantage.

"When I was younger, I kept going until I solved the problem," the weary mechanic said as he wiped grease from his hands while taking a break. "Lately I find myself backing out. I'm more reluctant to take complex jobs on."

Full story here.........

Search for answers, tighter security after attack

2009-12-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

The U.S. government tightened airline security as it searches for answers to how a 23-year-old Nigerian man eluded extensive systems intended to prevent attacks like his botched Christmas Day effort to blow up a Northwest flight from overseas.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who claimed ties to al-Qaida, was charged Saturday with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner, just a month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns about his son's religious beliefs.

Airports worldwide tightened security a day after the passenger tried to detonate a device that contained a high explosive on a flight into Detroit. After that attack, passengers have had to contend with extra pat-downs before boarding, staying in their seats without blankets or pillows for the last hour of the flight and more bomb-sniffing dogs.

Aides to President Barack Obama are pondering how terror watch-lists are used after the botched attack, according to officials who described the discussions Saturday on the condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt possible official announcements.

Full report here.......

10 obsolete technologies to kill in 2010

2009-12-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

Make the world a better place. Just say no to dumb tech.

Some old-and-busted technologies die gracefully of natural causes. Pagers, PDAs, floppy disks -- they're gone, and good riddance.

But other obsolete tech lingers on, even though better alternatives abound that are easier, cheaper, higher quality and much more efficient.

Here are 10 dumb technologies we should get rid of in 2010:

Read full article:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142656/Mike_Elgan_10_obsolete_technologies_to_kill_in_2010

Ford brings Wi-Fi to the highway

2009-12-26T15:38:00.001-08:00

Ford is making its cars into mobile Wi-Fi hot spots.

The next generation of the Sync in-car entertainment and information system will use a USB mobile broadband modem to establish a secure wireless connection capable of supporting several devices simultaneously.

The system will be available next year on selected models -- no word yet which ones -- and you won't need a subscription or hardware beyond the modem.

"While you're driving to grandma's house, your spouse can be finishing the holiday shopping and the kids can be chatting with friends and updating their Facebook profiles," said Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas. "And you're not paying for yet another mobile subscription or piece of hardware because Ford will let you use technology you already have."

Several automakers already offer in-car Internet access -- Japanese drivers have been using it since 1997 -- and many others are rushing to bring it to us. Ford's announcement follows General Motors' promise last week to make in-car connectivity available in seven models of trucks and SUVs. They're the latest automakers to bring the infobahn to the autobahn.

Mercedes recently announced it has successfully tested in-vehicle Internet applications -- including web browsing, vehicle software updates and VOIP -- on a prototype 4G network. It follows BMW's Internet-connected iDrive system and Chrysler's Uconnect Web in-vehicle mobile hotspot. With so many automakers getting in on the action, there's a push to introduce hardware standards.

Ford is taking a decidedly different approach, opting to allow consumers to plug in their own USB modem to get connected.

General Motors, on the other hand, offers a dealer-installed system called Chevrolet Wi-Fi by Autonet Mobile. It creates a Wi-Fi hot spot 300 feet in diameter around the vehicle, and GM claims the 3G network achieves speeds of up to 1.5 mbps. The hardware costs $199 after the $200 mail-in rebate, and the service costs $29 a month.

Given how connected we are, it makes sense for automakers to put the Internet in our cars. The number of iPhones and other mobile devices being used to connect to the Internet jumped 75 percent in the third quarter of this year, according to JiWire Mobile Audiences Insights Report.

Letting people log on from the road will be a big selling point among 20-something buyers, the so-called Millennials who have propelled much of Sync's success. Millennials will make up 28 percent of the driving population next year, a nine-point increase from 2004.

Kids aside, Ford says interest in in-car connectivity is high among the general public, with one-third of people surveyed by the Consumer Electronics Association expressing interest in being able to check e-mail or surf the Web from the car.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/26/wired.ford.wi.fi/index.html

Mitsubishi LT-46249

2009-12-26T06:33:00.000-08:00

Mitsubishi LT-46249

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Superior sound quality compared with other TVs; solid black-level performance; relatively accurate color; adjustable dejudder processing; Vudu on-demand video and Pandora streaming work well; numerous picture adjustments; includes three HDMI and three component-video inputs; extremely thin bezel results in nearly "all screen" look, except for the speaker.

The bad: Expensive; uneven screen uniformity; dark areas dinged bluer; clunky remote control and menu design; very little surround effect; subwoofer required for the best sound.

The bottom line: If you want the best sound available from a TV, the Mitsubishi LT-249 series will be worth the high price.

Read CNET's full review

Jabra Cruiser

2009-12-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Jabra Cruiser

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Jabra Cruiser is a sleek and easy-to-use unit with good quality for hands-free calls and the capability to stream audio using A2DP. Built-in FM transmission further expands the flexibility of the unit by adding the capability to use external speakers.

The bad: Audio quality for music isn't really good enough for extended listening. Voice-announced caller ID doesn't speak callers' names, only phone numbers.

The bottom line: The Jabra Cruiser is easily recommendable based on its call quality alone, but the addition of FM transmission and stereo audio streaming push it close to the top of our list.

Read CNET's full review

Canon PowerShot G11

2009-12-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

Canon PowerShot G11

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Optical viewfinder; articulated LCD; very good photo quality for its class.

The bad: Shot-to-shot performance still a little sluggish; no HD video.

The bottom line: Though it doesn't offer the whizziest new features like an interchangeable lens or a tiny size, the Canon PowerShot G11 still delivers a good shooting experience for photography enthusiasts. Plus it's the only model that includes an optical viewfinder.

Read CNET's full review

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 (AT&T)

2009-12-26T06:26:00.000-08:00

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 (AT&T)

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: The RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 features a sleeker design than its predecessor and adds a 3.5mm headphone jack, responsive optical trackpad, and an extra-sharp display. The smartphone is fast and offers the full range of wireless options and robust messaging capabilities.

The bad: The BlackBerry browser lags behind the competition in terms of usability and features. You can only download apps to the phone's main memory.

The bottom line: Though Web browsing is not its forte, the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 is one of the most powerful and best messaging smartphones in AT&T's lineup.

Read CNET's full review

Asus Eee PC 1005PE

2009-12-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

Asus Eee PC 1005PE

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: First Netbook with new Intel Atom N450 CPU; fantastic battery life.

The bad: Lacks modern Netbook upgrades such as HD display, extra RAM; only minor performance boost over previous versions.

The bottom line: As the first next-gen Intel Atom Netbook, Asus' Eee PC 1005PE offers amazing battery life, but otherwise feels like a last-gen system.

Read CNET's full review

Bloggers Crash Fashion’s Front Row

2009-12-26T05:45:00.000-08:00

NOT everyone thought it was adorable in September when a 13-year-old wunderkind blogger named Tavi was given a front-row seat at the fashion shows of Marc Jacobs, Rodarte and others..............

Read full story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/fashion/27BLOGGERS.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Star Trek was the 'most pirated movie' of 2009

2009-12-26T05:31:00.000-08:00

The latest Star Trek film was illegally downloaded more than 10 million times in 2009, according to an internet blog site that monitors file-sharing.

The figures suggest it is 2009's most pirated film, ahead of Transformers sequel Revenge of the Fallen.

Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla was the third most pirated movie, with The Hangover and Twilight completing the top five.

The TorrentFreak blog reports on peer-to-peer activity which uses BitTorrent file-sharing software.

BitTorrent is one of the most popular means of transferring large files over the internet.

Other films featured in the list of most illegally downloaded titles include sci-fi thriller District 9 and the sixth Harry Potter adventure.

But X-Men Origins: Wolverine ranks fairly low in the Top 10, despite an unfinished version of the film appearing online ahead of its release.

Directed by JJ Abrams, Star Trek charted the early days of James T Kirk, Mr Spock and other crew members of the Starship Enterprise.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8429559.stm

AI aims to solve in-game chatter

2009-12-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

"Chatbot" technology is being used in an attempt to solve one of "the last uncracked problems" in games design.

221b, released in the run-up to the new Sherlock Holmes movie, harnesses the software to allow conversations between players and in-game characters.

Gamers, who assume the character of either Sherlock Holmes or Dr Watson, must interrogate virtual witnesses and suspects to progress in the game.

Success depends upon getting the right answers from these characters.

"It's our role to predict what you might know at that point in the game and the questions you might ask," said Rollo Carpenter of Existor, which provided the technology.

"The ways that you might say things to them are almost unlimited."

'Drama manager'

Mr Carpenter is a two-time winner of the Loebner Prize, a competition that challenges computer scientists to build programmes capable of convincingly human conversations.

When a player interrogates a game character in 221b, Carpenter's technology is used to analyse the question and to provide a relevant response. Rather than attempting to create an exhaustive list of possible questions and the appropriate response, the characters in the game are capable of making a "fuzzy interpretation" of what is said to them.

Pattern matching is then used to identify the appropriate answer for any given input by a player.

The intention is to remove the frustration, familiar to any who played the old text-based adventure games, of having to guess the right way of asking a question or giving an instruction.

While the technology allows the system to cope with the many different ways a player might attempt to elicit information from a suspect - the responses are limited.

It is not the first game to have explored innovative approaches to language.

Alex Champandard, a programmer who has worked on artificial intelligence for Rockstar Games and Guerrilla Games, believes one of the most creative approaches was used in the interactive story Facade.

Players must interact with two characters, Grace and Trip, whose relationship is experiencing difficulties.

"Since the AI characters are completely interactive, each time you play the outcome depends on your actions, said Mr Champandard.

"Yet in the background there's a drama manager that makes sure the story keeps going."

Voice triggers

Dr Mike Reddy, who teaches games development and artificial intelligence at the University of Wales, highlights techniques used in the Nintendo DS puzzle game Scribblenauts.

"In this game, the player evokes objects and characters by typing or writing their name," he explained. For example, the player can write "helicopter" to summon the vehicle onscreen and use it to collect objects. Multiple objects can be "chained together" to solve problems.

"The clever semantic implementation is to know what would happen when a Dog meets a Lion," said Dr Reddy.

"The game has 22,000 plus words and has attempted to implement all the possible interactions. Put Death up against God, for example, and you get an interesting surprise."

For big budget games, creating hi-quality voice acting and animation "on the fly" is a significant technical challenge.

However, some games are attempting to move beyond rigidly scripted dialogue. Mr Champanard highlights the approach of the 2008 release Left4Dead

"Each of the characters has a set of voice samples which can trigger based on events, situations and other dialog lines", he said.

"This results in completely emergent short conversations depending on the situation."

Completely convincing language based interaction with non-player characters remains one of the "last uncracked problems", according to Dr Reddy. But, he said, the games industry is making progress.

"We have come a long way from 'All your base are belong to us' and 'TAKE AXE. THROW AXE AT DWARF'"

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8426523.stm

Twitter buys location tracker start-up Mixer Labs

2009-12-26T05:24:00.000-08:00

The micro-blogging website Twitter is buying the location tracking start-up Mixer Labs for an undisclosed sum.

Mixer Labs, founded by two former Google employees, makes an application for Twitter called GeoAPI.

Twitter chief executive Evan Williams said the deal would allow Twitter users to show people where they are when they post updates to the site.

The application will also allow users to search where an event is happening, the firm said.

On the company's blog, a statement said: "We want to know what's happening, and more precisely, where is it happening.

"As a dramatic example, twittering 'Earthquake!' alone is not as informative as 'Earthquake!' coupled with your current location".

Twitter is a social networking site in which users write messages of no more than 140 characters.

An estimated 58 million people use Twitter around the world.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8429397.stm

Amazon's Kindle has copyright protection hacked

2009-12-26T05:15:00.000-08:00

An Israeli hacker claims to have broken the copyright protection on Amazon's Kindle e-reader, reports say.

The hack will allow the ebooks stored on the reader to be transferred as pdf files to any other device.

The hacker, known as Labba, responded to a challenge posted on Israeli hacking forum, hacking.org.

It is the latest in a series of Digital Rights Management hacks, the most famous being the reverse engineering of iTunes.

The Kindle e-book reader has been very successful since it was launched in the US in 2007.

Amazon hopes to have sold a million devices by the end of the year.

It leaves it to individual publishers whether they want to apply DRM but books in its main proprietary format .azw, cannot be transferred to other devices.

It did not immediately respond to the news but it is likely it will attempt to patch its DRM software.

DRM has long divided opinion. While rights holders regard it as a crucial tool to protect copyright, consumers tend to hate it because it limits what can be done with content.

"DRM is not an effective way of preventing copying nor is it a good way of making sales. There isn't a customer out there saying 'what I need is an electronic book that does less," novelist and co-editor of the Boing Boing blog Cory Doctorow told the BBC when the Kindle was launched.

As soon as a new DRM system is active, hackers begin to try and break it.

Most famously Jon Lech Johansen, known as DVD Jon, cracked the copy protection on DVDs in 1999.

He went on to break the copyright protection on iTunes, leading Apple to offer DRM-free music.

DVD Jon now runs a company with an application to take the pain out of moving different types of content between devices.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8428126.stm

Brittany Murphy laid to rest in Christmas Eve service

2009-12-25T17:01:00.001-08:00

Friends and family of actress Brittany Murphy held a private funeral Thursday for the 32-year-old who died unexpectedly of what authorities said were natural causes.

The service at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Cemetery featured Christian and Jewish clergy. It included the hymn "Amazing Grace" and a reading from "The Little Prince," one of her favorite books.

"Today a wife, a daughter, a niece, a cousin, a family member and dear friend to thousands was laid to rest," the family said in a statement.

"Brittany was an incredibly loving and passionate person ... there are no words that can truly express the devastation felt by Brittany's husband, mother, and everyone who attended the intimate service."

Murphy was pronounced dead Sunday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Authorities have said she appeared to have died of natural causes. No sign of foul play or trauma was found.The often bubbly, free-spirited actress appeared in films such as "Clueless," "8 Mile," "Don't Say a Word" and "Girl, Interrupted." She also lent her voice to animated works, including the movie "Happy Feet" -- in which she also sang -- and a regular voice role on the animated TV series "King of the Hill."

Murphy was best-known for her work in a string of comedies earlier this decade, including playing lead roles in "Uptown Girls" alongside fellow Georgia native Dakota Fanning, and "Little Black Book" with Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates.

She is survived by her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, who also spoke at the service.

The family may have a larger public memorial early next year, but nothing is confirmed yet, spokesman Alex Ben Block said.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/25/brittany.murphy.funeral/index.html

Detective triumphs again in 'Sherlock Holmes'

2009-12-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

It's Sherlock Holmes, but not as we know him.

Right at home in the London criminal underworld, "Snatch" and "RocknRolla" director Guy Ritchie has injected his patented hustler humor and visual flash into Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Victorian era. He's also shaved at least 10 years off the great Baker Street sleuth and his faithful friend and chronicler, John Watson (played here by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law). The archetypal crime-busting duo never looked more dynamic.

Beginning with a hansom cab slamming through the cobbled streets of London, the movie sets off at a breakneck pace. Holmes' first piece of deductive reasoning is to calculate the likely course of hand-to-hand combat with a heavyset goon -- planning a combination of punches as if he were strategizing a game of chess. This proves to be a bit of a party piece, and it comes with the dubious bonus of an instant replay for every blow.

The books make mention of Holmes' prowess in the ring, but I don't recall any previous screen Sherlock stripping off for a bare-knuckle bout. Still, "Iron Man" Downey is in great shape, even after the dejected detective succumbs to squalid self-pity after putting Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) behind bars for a series of Jack the Ripper-like murders and failing to find another case worthy of his intellect. To add to Holmes' enervation, his Baker Street companion, the good doctor, has plans to be wed.

It's only after Blackwood escapes -- not from prison, but from the grave -- that Holmes perks up. The game's afoot and Watson, who signed the death warrant after His Lordship's execution, is back at Holmes' side.

Downey doesn't exactly look the part; he's probably a foot shorter than the Holmes depicted in the famous illustrations in Strand magazine. But he's got that cutting cleverness -- only a whisker from pure misanthropy -- that's the character's most essential attribute. And if we're quick to link Holmes' self-destructive impulses to the star's own checkered history, don't imagine the filmmakers haven't thought of that too.

Affecting an honorable upper-crust English accent, Downey angles for flip and steers on the right side of parody. He's needier than his most celebrated predecessors in the part, Jeremy Brett and Basil Rathbone, but also more physical, less cerebral.

I like to imagine he's doffing his cap in the direction of Robert Stephens, who did something similar in Billy Wilder's underrated (and far more sophisticated) 1970 film "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes."

Often more interesting in supporting parts, Jude Law makes for an agreeable comic foil, and Kelly Reilly makes the most of a fleeting role as Watson's feisty fiancée, Mary. Rachel McAdams is fine as Irene Adler, Holmes' favorite femme fatale, but the screenwriters (four of them) don't seem to know quite what to make of her -- just that the movie will play better if she's around.

If the mystery boils down to so much supernatural skullduggery, at least it chimes with Conan Doyle's own interest in spiritualism, and anyway, you could say the same about "The Hound of the Baskervilles."

Ritchie and company are predictably impatient with demonstrations of Holmes' superior sleuthing -- and perhaps forensics are best left to "CSI" these days -- but if it's a travesty of Conan Doyle on one level, it's certainly an affectionate one, and smartly attuned to today's taste for slam-bang action and adventure.

Best of all is the production design (most of it digitally created, presumably). There's a sterling sense of London as the boiler room of the Industrial Revolution. Tower Bridge is still under construction. A splendidly exorbitant fight sequence in a boatyard is like "Titanic" on fast-forward, and we can clearly see the Thames is the city's main thoroughfare. The "Old Smoke" probably hasn't looked this exciting for a century or more.

It's a movie of big, bold strokes and somewhat crass commercial calculation, but if Ritchie succeeds in resurrecting this long-standing 19th-century icon for the 21st century (and the ending practically pleads for a sequel), I suspect most fans will want to wish him many happy returns. It's hard to complain about having Holmes back on the case.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/24/review.sherlock.holmes/index.html

Training day for astronaut-mom Cady Coleman

2009-12-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

It takes two people to help dress Cady Coleman for work.

The spacesuit she must wear for training at the Johnson Space Center here weighs more than twice the body weight of the petite astronaut.

"Some people think you might have a custom spacesuit, and you don't," she says. "They're in a generic size."

Pads are added and adjustments are made to ensure a custom, comfortable fit for each astronaut. The suit Coleman is training in is similar to the one she will wear if she must do a spacewalk next year while aboard the international space station.

In November, if everything goes according to plan, Coleman will blast off on a Russian Soyuz rocket for the station, where she will live for the next six months.

Preparing for that trip has been a tricky balancing act for Coleman, who can spend one evening cooking dinner and picking up toys and the next preparing to orbit the Earth at 17,000 mph. Coleman splits her time between Houston, Texas and western Massachusetts, where she lives with her her husband and their 9-year-old son.

On Earth, gravity is not as kind to Coleman as it will be in space. Her spacesuit weighs 300 pounds.

Coleman sits on the floor as two NASA trainers help her wiggle into the bottom half of her spacesuit. Once the pants are on, she is helped onto a platform, which is attached to a crane, where she finishes dressing.

Next Coleman slides up into the top part of the spacesuit. Once her head pops out, Coleman's suit is clasped and locked into place. Then her helmet is placed on her head and Coleman is ready for the crane to lower her into a massive swimming pool.The pool is known as the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL in NASA-speak. The largest facility of its kind, it is 202 feet long and 102 feet wide and holds 6.2 million gallons of water. The water is such a clear blue that you can see the space station mock-ups sitting on the pool floor.

In the pool, whose underwater conditions can somewhat approximate the feeling of floating in space, Coleman will practice repairs and safety. The training session lasts six hours.

"There's a set of scenarios that we make sure we do so we can fix whatever we think are the most likely things to go wrong on the space station," Coleman says. Although she's wearing an oxygen tank, she jokingly pretends to hold her breath as she's lowered into the pool.

One training drill requires her to play an incapacitated crew member who must be rescued by another astronaut. In the exercise, Coleman must count on Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli to save her.

Coleman has known Nespoli for years, but Expedition 26 is the first mission on which they will be crewmates.

A European Space Agency Astronaut, Nespoli visited the international space station in 2006. Coleman was at Nespoli's launch to act as a liasion for the families of the crew.

Next year's mission will have an international flavor: The commander is Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev.

"I feel very comfortable working with people from different nations, from Europe, from the United States, Japan, from Canada," Kondratyev says.

This year, the three-person crew's training will take them all over the world to learn about each country's module that makes up the space station -- an orbiting collection of research components.

Astronauts train continuously even when they are not assigned to a mission. This is how Coleman met Kondratyev before they were assigned to Expedition 26.

"I knew Dima from robotics [training]," Coleman said. "We spent a lot of time together -- in fact two weeks in Canada together."

The training is more than just learning the technical aspect of the job. Coleman says this is a time when the astronauts develop crucial relationships with their crewmates, trainers and the people who work in mission control.

They have about a year to work on those relationships. As the date closes in, the crew is well aware that the training will intensify and their international travel will increase.

Nespoli says with a laugh, "I am just waiting for this training to finish so I can be in space and relax a little bit."

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/25/cady.astronaut.mom/index.html

The 10 best Google Chrome extensions for work and play

2009-12-25T01:29:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 8, Google finally released a repository of extensions for Google Chrome. Chrome extensions numbered at more than 300 on launch day.

As a beta project, extensions come with a few caveats from Google. For the moment, Google is only supporting extensions in its latest beta version of Chrome, so if you prefer the official, stable browser, you'll have to forgo add-on tools for now. Interestingly, the version of Chrome that supports extensions, dubbed "the Beta Channel" version, is only available on XP and Vista, not Windows 7, though Google has promised that extensions will soon be available for Google's new Mac version of Chrome, too.

In the meantime, Google Subnet blogger Julie Bort has scoured the extension library to come up with the ones that she thinks will boost your productivity at work. But she couldn't stop there. She added a few that are just plain fun, too.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142598/The_10_best_Google_Chrome_extensions_for_work_and_play_

Microsoft IIS vuln leaves users open to remote attack

2009-12-25T01:23:00.000-08:00

A researcher has identified a vulnerability in the most recent version of Microsoft's Internet Information Services that allows attackers to execute malicious code on machines running the popular webserver.

The bug stems from the way IIS parses file names with colons or semicolons in them, according to researcher Soroush Dalili. Many web applications are configured to reject uploads that contain executable files, such as active server pages, which often carry the extension ".asp." By appending ";.jpg" or other benign file extensions to a malicious file, attackers can bypass such filters and potentially trick a server into running the malware.

There appears to be some disagreement over the severity of the bug, which Dalili said affects all versions of IIS. While he rated it "highly critical," vulnerability tracker Secunia classified it as "less critical," which is only the second notch on its five-tier severity rating scale.

"Impact of this vulnerability is absolutely high as an attacker can bypass file extension protections by using a semicolon after an executable extension such as '.asp,' '.cer,' '.asa' and so on," Dalili wrote. "Many web applications are vulnerable against file uploading attacks because of this weakness of IIS."

In an email to El Reg, Dalili offered the following attack scenario:

"Assume a website which only accepts JPG files as the users’ avatars. And the users can upload their avatars on the server. Now an attacker tries to upload "Avatar.asp;.jpg" on the server. Web application considers this file as a JPG file. So, this file has the permission to be uploaded on the server. But when the attacker opens the uploaded file, IIS considers this file as an ASP file and tries to execute it by 'asp.dll.'

"So, the attacker can upload a web-shell on the server by using this method. Most of the uploaders only control the last part of the files as their extensions, and by using this method, their protection will be bypassed."

Secunia didn't explain how it arrived at its assessment, but it did confirm the bug on a machine running a fully patched version of Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 with Microsoft IIS version 6.

A Microsoft spokeswoman said company researchers are investigating the report. They are not aware of attacks targeting the reported vulnerability, she said.

In the absence of any official guidance, webmasters who want to workaround the potential problem should make sure that upload directories don't have execute permissions. And web developers should ensure their applications never accept the user's input as a file name.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/25/microsoft_iis_semicolon_bug/

Health industry inches toward digitization

2009-12-25T01:19:00.000-08:00

Next to the global economy, overhauling the U.S. health care system dominated headlines in 2009. We'll leave the debate over a public option for others to tackle and instead focus on one of the major ways in which an overhauled health care system would affect the tech industry: digitizing health records.

At the close of 2008, an in-depth survey published by the New England Journal of Medicine found that only 4 percent of physicians have a fully functional electronic records system. The health care industry's enormous paper trail is notoriously expensive, inefficient, and outdated.

So in early 2009, the stimulus package enacted by Congress pushed for medical records to go electronic. Among the stated goals: "utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014." By 2015, government reimbursements to physicians who are not participating in the federal e-record effort will begin to decline.

Today, organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, which by early 2009 had already taken its 450 nationwide locations mostly paperless, remain anomalies. The Obama stimulus package committed $59 billion to revamping the health care industry, earmarking $19 billion for hospital technology efforts alone, but even that is considered little more than a down payment on the total cost to modernize a system that is extremely convoluted, not to mention critical to secure.

Another stimulus goal is to establish a uniform policy for health IT. Bill Mitchin, co-chair of a health policy collaborative called the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration, said, "At our very first meeting, we started talking about HIE (health information exchange), and we spent two and a half hours trying to decide if HIE is a noun or a verb. The answer is both."

Of course, tech giants are lining up for stimulus dollars, but will any of them get it right? President Obama says he supports an open-source system, while MSN moved forward with My Health Info and IBM partnered with Google Health, which uses software built partially on open-source standards.

At the CTIA Wireless 2009 trade show in Las Vegas, many companies talked about jumping on the stimulus gravy train. Wireless companies also flooded a health care technology trade show in Chicago the following week, saying that the most useful electronic records will be those that access data directly from diagnostic and monitoring devices wirelessly, so medical professionals won't have to commit valuable (read: expensive) time to entering data.

Of course, as the industry struggles to go digital, 2009 proved to be a year of tremendous innovation as well. The world of health-related mobile phone apps continues to expand, from scanning bar codes for health ratings and finding the best medicine in a pharmacy, to tracking swing flu outbreaks and carrying the entire Merck Manual on your iPhone.

And 2009 brought plenty of optimistic health news, such as the development of fun body monitoring devices; scientists further finessing the increasingly intricate movements that amputees can perform with prosthetic hands and fingers; the introduction of a bra that, when taken off, could save your life; and new research, however flimsy, that porn may not be so bad for you after all.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/2702-27083_3-427.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1

NORAD Santa Tracker 2009: Where is Santa Now

2009-12-25T01:09:00.000-08:00

Air Force Has Tracked Santa Since Cold War; Tradition Continues"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house/Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...." So where is Santa Claus now? Since the Cold War the job of tracking him has fallen to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

Click here for the official NORAD Santa Tracker 2009.

It's one of those traditions that has just kept going since 1955, even though the Cold War is over, and -- oh, forgive us for bursting a bubble -- the NORAD Santa Tracker is now run by a civilian company, Analytical Graphics, Inc., of Exton, Pa. Your taxpayer dollars are not hard at work in this case; the project has corporate sponsors from GE to Google to Verizon. Analytical Graphics usually supplies visualization software for aerospace engineers -- for the military, NASA, private companies that build planes or spacecraft, and so forth. If you've seen computer animation of a military mission, it may well have come from them.

If you go to the site, you'll see them taking an engineer's literal approach to the St. Nick story. He comes down people's chimneys at midnight -- which means, if you look at the NORAD map, that you'll see him moving across the world's time zones from east to west, instead of coming down from the north pole.

This being the 21st century, there are the inevitable links to Santa Claus' Facebook and Twitter pages, and his location is projected on a Google map. A typical tweet: "Santa was just in Wulumuqi, China! It's 1,400 miles from any coastline -- no city in the world is farther from water."

But the Santa Claus story remains pretty much what it's been since Clement Clark Moore (or was it Henry Livingston Jr.?) published "A Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1823, and technology has not changed it much. So it's best to close as he did: "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/norad-santa-tracker-2009/story?id=9417679

Pocket cameras with big-time lenses

2009-12-24T21:36:00.000-08:00

These compact cameras offer much more versatility than the average point-and-shoot does, thanks to powerful lenses that reach from 8X to 12X optical zoom.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3S: It does the work for you

Optical zoom: 12X (25mm to 300mm)

The almost fully automated Lumix DMC-ZS3S doesn't offer much in the way of manual controls, but it's a very good pocket megazoom camera for casual photographers who would rather let the camera do the work instead of tinkering with the settings themselves.

For anyone seeking a powerful pocket camera that can also shoot HD video, the DMC-ZS3S is a top-notch, easy-to-use option.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34436905/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

HP camera 'can't see' black faces

2009-12-24T21:34:00.001-08:00

A YouTube video suggesting that face recognition cameras installed in HP laptops cannot detect black faces has had over one million views.

The short movie, uploaded earlier this month, features "Black Desi" and his colleague "White Wanda".

When Wanda, a white woman, is in front of the screen, the camera zooms to her face and moves as she moves.

But when Desi, a black man, does the same, the camera does not respond by tracking him.

The clip is light-hearted in tone but is titled "HP computers are racist".

"HP has been informed of a potential issue with the facial-tracking software included on some of its systems, which appears to occur when insufficient foreground lighting is available," an HP spokesman told BBC News.

"We take this seriously and are looking into it with our partners."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8429634.stm