Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Sorry Everybody
Mini Review: Firefox Damien Barrett, a Mac support technician who writes the popular Mr Barrett blog, switched from Safari to Firefox, and couldn't be happier:

"It's not that Safari is a bad browser. Safari is quite a good browser and I'll keep it in my dock. But Firefox is faster, cleaner, more extensible, and user-friendly than Safari. Perhaps Safari v2.0 will win me back with its RSS feeds and other features, but that's not until Tiger, which is still a good six months away."
Nullsoft, 1997-2004 - AOL kills off the last maverick tech company. By Paul Boutin
SimpleTech SimpleShare 250GB NAS drive - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Friday, November 12, 2004

PRETTY GIRLS DON’T RIDE THE SUBWAY They’re not sure whether it was an inside job or the work of some hacker who experienced a little rejection while riding the rails, but somebody hacked into the New York subway computer system and switched one of the electronic signs at the W. 4th Street station to read “PRETTY GIRLS DON’T RIDE THE SUBWAY”. Apparently it was up there for a few hours, too, before MTA workers finally just unplugged the damn thing. Could someone please get Jenny Holzer on the phone?
Gizmodo : AllOfMP3 Took My Money (And I'm Cool With That)

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Gizmodo : Gmail Enables POP (For Some)
The Gmail Team is excited to announce that, over the next several weeks, we are introducing POP access to all of our users. To make sure the feature is fully stable, we're giving users access to POP in phases. Once POP access is available to you, a 'New Features!' link appears at the top of your account, along with a 'Forwarding and POP' tab on your 'Settings' page.

Our team is continually working to improve Gmail, and we look forward to offering you new features. Thank you for your patience.
Wired News: Halo 2 Rakes in $100 Million

Friday, October 29, 2004

SanDisk’s budget 2GB Secure Digital card Let’s ponder something for a minute here. When SanDisk rolled out their 1GB SD memory card at the beginning of the year, it was priced at a full $500. Now, not only are they introducing their new 2GB Ultra II SD card (which has faster than average read/write speeds) at the low cost of $240, they’re going to sell their regular speed 2GB SD memory card (which should be available next month) at the even cheaper price of just $200. And that $500 1GB SD card? You can now pick that up for around 65 bucks. Progress, etc.

Monday, October 25, 2004

Ecko Unltd.: Music: Rupee Rupee is one of the foremost artists in the intoxicating musical movement known as soca (soul + calypso) – the supercharged party music of the Caribbean. With his debut Atlantic album, “1 ON 1,” slated for release in the fall of 2004, Rupee is now poised to capture the global mainstream audience. Rupee’s soca sound is rhythmically complex yet instantly catchy, a non-stop blending of the flavorful, tuneful, and irresistibly danceable. With “1 ON 1,” he becomes a major force in the eruption of innovative urban-influenced Caribbean artists who are changing the face of music worldwide.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Bikes (Motorcycles) in the Fast Lane - A Motorcycle News Blog BMW Announce Motorcycle Helmet With BlueTooth
BMW’s System V Bluetooth motorcycle helmet BMW has themselves whipped up a Bluetooth motorcycle helmet called the System V. Though it’s a great dell less attractive than Moto-MOMO’s helmet (and its name is just a slight bit more intimidating than the freaking Fighter Helmet), it’s still pretty well equipped itself, with its fibre glass, carbon and Kevlar laminate shell, two array mics up near the forehead (not our first choice for location, but whatevs), a DSP to cut back on wind noise and interference, two speakers, integrated batteries, and, of course, the Bluetooth headset module.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Fast Company | Balance is Bunk! It's the central myth of the modern workplace: With a few compromises, you can have it all. But it's all wrong, and it's making us crazy. Here's how to have a life anyway.
Wired News: A MacGyver for the Third World Mechanical engineer Amy Smith, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology instructor, joined the MacArthur fellowship fold last week, receiving the so-called "genius award" and a colossal cash prize. Her award-winning feat? Using old technology in fresh ways to improve the lives of entire communities.
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Second presidential debate: Key quotes
BBC NEWS | Technology | Web blunder boosts Bush bashers

Friday, October 01, 2004

Wired News: ID Rule Exists, But Can't Be Seen Internet entrepreneur Gilmore first challenged the constitutionality of requiring airlines to ask passengers to show identification in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in July 2002, but the government refused to tell that court whether the rule existed.

Gilmore argued that the rule is vague, since no one knows what kind of identification is adequate and the penalties are unknown. He said he opposes Americans being subjected to a secret law. The rule impinges upon the right to travel and leaves people open to unreasonable searches, he added.
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Face of the future US scientists have already carried out face transplants on dead bodies donated for medical research. They are now awaiting approval to do the same on living people with disfigurements.
Gizmodo : Sidekick II Dissected

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Access Gmail: "Welcome to AccessGmail. The purpose of this site is to allow Gmail users to check their email account through different interfaces and browsers than the traditional Gmail interf"
Sony Cineza LCD projector - Engadget - www.engadget.com Equipped with a 3LCD panel, the new VPL-HS51 is making home theater buffs around the world re-think their media rooms. The little projector features a 6000:1 contrast ratio, which is quite an accomplishment for a front projector. It’s optimized for HD signals with a 1024 x 720 resolution - this means it can do 720p native on screens anywhere from 40- to 200-inches.
The tricked-out toilet - Engadget - www.engadget.com That’s it. We’re done. We have reached tech nirvana, and there is nothing left to be designed, built, or even thought up. This high-tech throne of eternal happiness, first brought to us by the guys at Trick Anything, features drink holders, lumbar support, and a multi-positioned adjustable bowl (after all, some people are bigger than others).
BBC NEWS | Technology | Barcelona clubbers get chipped BBC Science producer Simon Morton goes clubbing in Barcelona with a microchip implanted in his arm to pay for drinks.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Alpine KCA-420i iPod Interface - Engadget - www.engadget.com Alpine is releasing the $100 KCA-420i iPod Interface for car stereos. Like the new BMW stereos, the Alpine system allows you to connect your iPod to your car stereo at line level and control it from the stereo head unit. This is great news, as the Alpine systems can be installed in virtually any vehicle, and the head units start at $200. There are some interface and usability issues (playlists are called files and song are called folders), but the sound quality is reported as being excellent.
Nintendo DS wireless hub trick up its sleeve? - Engadget - www.engadget.com The DS could act as both a wireless 802.11 device and as a repeater hub. In other words, you won’t need a wireless router nearby to get online with these things - you’ll just need someone close enough to connect to, and he’ll be able to connect you to someone just as close to him even if that person isn’t so near you, and so on. Potentially-huge networks of gamers could appear organically and play against one another regardless of pre-installed routers or proximity. While we worry a bit about the lone boy in the forest (should people know he’s out there alone, and should his DS be announcing as much? Go home, boy, go home!), the possibility of a spontaneous wireless gaming network of multiple hubs is straight up amazing. Or is it downright creepy?
People ditching landlines causing problems for pollsters? - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "Nearly seventy years ago Literary Digest conducted a poll of millions of voters that predicted that Republican Alf Landon would trounce Franklin Roosevelt in the 1936 president"
Yahoo! News - Vancouver hookers run book club, wonder why people think that's strange

Monday, September 27, 2004

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 Roadmap: "New Releases

Additional required work has necessitated the insertion of a new release for Windows, Linux and MacOS X (0.10 - called '1.0 Preview Release') and extra for MacOS X (0.11 - coincides with '1.0 Final'). The decision has been made to hold the 1.0 release on MacOS X until after 0.11 has been completed, basically ensuring that we do not ship a product that is not up to spec for that platform."
Firefox on Mac OS X Annoyances (Jeremy Zawodny's blog) Found one piece of potentially very good news:
"Just FYI, I was looking at the Firefox Roadmap (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/roadmap.html) the other day, and I noticed the following "Anticipated further Release Candidates" (after it hits 1.0 on the PC):

1.0PR2 (MacOS X) - Aquafication release. Focus on outstanding UI issues particular to MacOS X, redevelop UI to support cross platform nature, etc.

1.0 (PC) is actually listed as 1.0 alpha 2 for the Mac."

so hopefully Mac commands will work with Firefox next release, and perhaps some extensions that don't work on Mac will follow.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Wired News: Mac Games: (Not) Big in Japan
Gear Eye: T-Mobile Sidekick II - Engadget - www.engadget.com In every school there was a guy who was almost a year older than the rest of the class. He didn’t get held back or anything, he was just born a few days too late for his parents to register him the year before. In grade school no one noticed, but in jr. high he hit puberty before everyone else. When he was gangly and awkward, everyone else in his class made fun of him, but by high school he was one of the cool kids. He started growing bigger than the rest of the guys in his class. He wasn’t stupid, just bigger, so he he used his size and age to his advantage. He was probably the first guy you knew who could buy you some beer with a fake ID. Girls all wanted to date him, guys all wanted to be his pal, but somehow he was never a popular kid — just the cool guy.

The Sidekick II (SK2), well, it’s exactly like that guy. The first Sidekick was a bit awkward and gangly, but the SK2 has matured into a smooth operator that just happens to be a bit bigger than his classmates. It’s really not fair to just judge the SK2 as a phone, when it does and has so much more than your average phone. It’s really more of a laptop in your pocket. Because of this, we’re going to make a few exceptions on our ratings, but we will make them consistent across smartphones—promise.

The Sidekick II will be available exclusively through T-Mobile for a while. If you don’t score one in Santa Monica today, you should be to get one at your local T-Mobile store in the next day or two. Our man Jacks got us one a few weeks early so we could give you something to drool over while all the Paris Hilton wannabes are down in Santa Monica gettin’ their new SK2s blinged out.
History of the Transformers - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Really modded monster trucks - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Thursday, September 09, 2004

USATODAY.com - BlackBerry makes lovely companion, or Sidekick if you will
Sony’s DSC-M1 digital camera I swore off sony, but they are tempting me with interesting new cameras like this one. If they'd just ditch the memory stick.

We think the design is sorta fresh just on its own, but what Sony really hopes will impress us about the Cyber-shot DSC-M1, their new 5.1 megapixel digital camera, is that it can also pull double duty as a mini-camcorder. We’d be all dismissive and everything, since tons of digital cameras can record video clips, but it’s not exactly just a marketing gimmick. Yeah, its 2.5-inch LCD can swivel around and rotate 270 degrees, but the DSC-M1 also has this unusual hybrid recording mode where it can automatically record five seconds of video before and three seconds after every time you take a pic, the idea being that this way you won’t accidentally miss any of those future precious memories. They use an MPEG-4 video codec to keep the file size down, but either way you’re still going to need a mighty Memory Stick to store all those extra clips you’ll be recording. Anyway, the DSC-M1 should be out in December with a retail price of $600. (Click to see some more pics.)

Friday, September 03, 2004

weather.com - Tropical Details Frances with maps
BMW-Motorrad
BMW Textile Clothing
T-Mobile - Sidekick II, Register for Email Announcement @ TMobile Thank You Page
Wired News: Bold New World for Bald Mice
STAAR permanent contact lenses to supplement Lasik - Engadget - www.engadget.com To hear the commercials tell it Lasik surgery can work for anyone. Guess you can’t trust advertising, since those with severe myopia are out of luck as far as getting their eyes cut up with lasers is concerned. Now, with the invention of STAAR, a permanent contact lens implant, they too can join the party. The lenses are made of a collagen/polyhema blend and are currently in the last stages of FDA approval. Oh, and if something goes wrong; the lenses can be removed or changed. (Good call on that one.) The process is expected to cost about 20% more than Lasik.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Element: strong like bull - Engadget - www.engadget.com It’s no Lady-Comp, but it does look a bit like a Cup-O-Noodles, (peel back cover, add ingredients and wait 10 minutes). Pria Diagnostics is producing the Element, a male fertility test, and you know you’re just a tad bit curious. Boxers or briefs—maybe this at home DIY experiment will finally convince you to ditch those tighty whities. We’re hoping Element parties will be next season’s big hit.
MSNBC - Florida told to expect storm worse than Andrew

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

The best iPod case. The iSkin eVo
Vice Magazine North America It’s got every DO & DON'T we ever ran, plus tons and tons and tons more. There’s all kinds of extra stuff too, including an interview with the author IN THE NUDE!!!
The Village Voice: Hot Girls, Frisky Delegates: RNC Diary of a Strip-Club Waitress
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Star Trek Scotty receives honour Actor James Doohan, famous for playing Scotty in the original Star Trek series, has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The 84-year-old's attendance at the ceremony was expected to be his final public appearance.

He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and also suffers from Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

Doohan has spent the past few days meeting fans to say farewell and thanking them for their support.

Star Trek co-stars at the Walk of Fame ceremony included George Takei, who played Sulu, Nichelle Nichols, who was Uhura, and Walter Koenig, who played Chekov.
BBC NEWS | Health | Familiar faces seem more friendly Far from opposites attracting, people tend to choose friends who look like them, research suggests.

However, psychologist Dr Lisa DeBruine found a facial resemblance is not a turn-on when we are looking for a partner.

She believes we may have evolved to prefer the company of people who remind us of family - but have a biological block to prevent incest.

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Caller ID Spoofing -- an intro at least
More on the new iMac G5 - Engadget - www.engadget.com Here’s the scoop: it comes in both 17-inch and 20-inch widescreen versions, and it’s an all-in-one with everything built-into the monitor.
HeadBlade Company, LLC Shave your head.
Wired 12.09: The Giants of Anime are Coming The three titans of Japanese animation are all about to unleash monster new films. Watch your back, Shrek.
Sidekick 2 vs. Sidekick - Engadget - www.engadget.com iPodlounge deviates slightly from its focus on you-know-what and has a gallery of photos of T-Mobile’s new Sidekick 2, including a few showing it side-by-side with the old one and a Motorola V600 cellphone.

Monday, August 30, 2004

BBC NEWS | Europe | Italian pensioner seeks adoption: "A widowed 80-year-old teacher in Italy has taken a novel step to stop being lonely - advertising for a family willing to adopt him as a grandfather."
Gizmodo : USB Christmas Tree
Gizmodo : Powerbook: 1, God: 0 It's a sad fact of life that God hates Mac users. If you needed any more proof, check out these pictures of this burnt and charred 12-inch Powerbook, caught in an apartment fire, which despite the damage and encrustations is reported to still work. What can we learn from this? In a kickboxing match between Jesus and Jobs, Steve would win.
Gizmodo : The Tube Lamp This Tube Lamp by Nik Willmore, which is a really dangerous thing since he lives and works right here in New York. At $225, though, it's almost cheap enough to just get and justify as a heirloom or something. Here's your inheritance, kids, and it glows!

Oh, and if you are worried about getting one just because the bulbs might burn out, apparently the 25-watt tubular bulbs can be gotten almost anywhere, even Home Depot. And of course, you can't forget the finishing touch - the control knob is a chromed replacement for a Fender Telecaster.
Catherine Zeta-Jones holds Motorola A630; T-Mobile release imminent? - Engadget - www.engadget.com
The Pac-Man rug - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "Could someone explain to us why it took over twenty years for someone to get around to weaving a Pac-Man floor rug?"
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Frustrated chimp takes up smoking: "Sexual frustration has driven a mild-mannered chimpanzee to take up smoking and spitting, according to China's Xinhua news agency."

Friday, August 27, 2004

Etymotic ER-6 Isolator - Headphones - CNET Reviews I think these are the headphones I want.
HP’s DJammer It’s still under development, but HP just showed of something called the DJammer at their Digital Experience webcast. Apparently it’s some kind of iPod add-on that’s specifically designed so that DJs can use the iPod to mix and cut like they can with digital turntables.
Actual pics of the new Treo Ace/Treo 650 - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Griffin EarJams - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Sunday, August 15, 2004

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Nasa to save Hubble telescope: "The US space agency has given the go-ahead for a robotic mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, Nasa officials have announced."

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

BBC NEWS | Business | Peru prepares for the gas age: "Something good is arriving. That is the slogan marking the launch of Camisea, the most ambitious energy project in Peruvian history."

Friday, August 06, 2004

BBC NEWS | Americas | Taxi driver: New York: "Taxi drivers know the streets of the world's great cities better than anyone. The BBC has spoken to five of them around the world about their work, their city and the problems they face.

Here, the BBC's Matt Wells takes a taxi with Narinder Diol, a member of New York's Asian community - a great number of whom are now employed driving the city's famous yellow cabs."
Gizmodo : Motorola MPx and MPx220 Rumors, Including Release Dates PhoneMag has a lot of information from a "trusted Asian carrier source" about Motorola's upcoming MPx and MPx220 smartphones, included (projected) release dates for September 27th for the MPx220, and November 30th for MPx, although the latter may be delayed until 2005. According to the source, Motorola is still working on the firmware and deciding how much ram should be in the model (initially they were talking about 32MB, which is almost preposterously low for a high-end model like this, but it's since been bumped to 48).
T-Mobile Action Sports Team and Hollywood's Elite Celebrated at an Exclusive Party to Debut the T-Mobile Sidekick II

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Danger Intellisync®: Users can now synchronize their Microsoft Outlook/Exchange Calendar, contacts and to do list with their hiptop2.
Integrated, higher resolution camera: The flash -enabled camera is a great addition to the device.
Photo Caller ID: A fun feature that will allow you to see a photo of who is calling you. This offers new choice in how users integrate the camera application into their experience with the product.
Support for vCards: The new hiptop2 device allows you to send and receive virtual contact cards (vCards). vCards are a great way to easily save and share contact information with friends and colleagues.
SMS enhancements: This popular application will have new features and the ability to save up to 130 SMS messages on the device.
Yahoo! Messenger: The popular Yahoo! Messenger has been added as a choice for instant messaging.
T-Mobile Sidekick II review roundup - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "T-Mobile Sidekick II review roundup"
T-Mobile Sidekick II Reviewed So, uhm, I guess the wait for the T-Mobile Sidekick II is about over since PC Magazine just put up a review. Way to start the hype machine, Danger! Maybe they decided not to really talk it up because it looks sort of, you know, bland. I mean, come on, VGA camera? Is the Sidekick destined to remain the sort-of-cool cellphone with the crappy camera? How about user-developed applications? When do we get those?

I guess I'll reserve final judgement until I can play around with the new unit, but for now it looks like a modest upgrade to a unit sorely in need of some juice in the first place. Also, I'm still a little bit bitter Danger got so fussy a few months back when we leaked the images of the Sidekick II. We only leaked because we cared!
AP Wire | 08/04/2004 | Tech Test: the Addictive Hiptop Improves

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

T-Mobile Sidekick II PC Mag Review with lots of pics. They say the camera sucks: "The new model integrates a VGA camera with flash and adds new buttons so you can take pictures with the screen closed. The camera was slow to start up, and our photos were somewhat blurry and full of halos and strange color effects." The old cameras sucked more though.
PigLatin Mat T's Blog
Om Malik on Broadband: Sidekick II: The Danger Evolution
MSNBC - T-Mobile's hiptop gets hipper There’s good news for current T-Mobile Sidekick customers: You will get a chance be one of the first to upgrade to the new device at a special price.

If you cherish the Sidekick II for its data capabilities there’s even better news. Intellisync has been approved to be released on the Sidekick platform. That means users will be able to pay a one-time fee, download the PIM-sync application onto their PC and synchronize with Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Contacts and To Do lists.
T-Mobile Sidekick II gets real - Engadget - www.engadget.com T-Mobile officially took the wraps off the next Sidekick mobile communicator today, which they’re calling the Sidekick II PV-100 (not sure what the extra “PV-100” means). More or less as we figured, it’s thinner than the old one, has a color LCD screen, better reception, a VGA quality digital camera, better battery life, built-in speakerphone, and will retail for $299.99 when it hits stores this fall.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Polystyrene homes planned for Afghans

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Send text messages to a landline - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Especially useful since now that making regular voice phone calls is totally out of fashion, BT is introducing a new service in the UK that let’s you send a text message to a regular landline phone. Since hardly any landline phones can receive text messages (believe it or not, there are actually a few out there), BT’s service uses text-to-speech software to convert the message into a voicemail, even translating that text shorthand favored by teens into something a bit more comprehensible. Or you could just call and leave a voicemail in the first place. Your choice.
Netgear’s new WGT634U Wireless Media Router Netgear’s new WGT634U Wireless Media Router has a little something extra that we expect will be standard on all of these things sooner or later: a USB 2.0 port for attaching an external hard drive that anyone on the network can access.
Panasonic R3 Review the Panasonic R3, a machine so well put-together that I actually considered buying one for my own personal use, and if it didn't cost twice that of my budget (importers are selling it for around $2800 for a fully-spec'd out unit), I probably would have. What makes the R3 the hands-down best sub-notebook I've ever used? Well, for starters, it actually usable.
Wired News: Porn Blogs Manipulate Google: "It's clever. You have to give them that. And it's another example of porn folk being sort of ahead of the curve when it comes to technology and marketing."

Monday, August 02, 2004

T-Mobile Sidekick 2 turns up - Engadget - www.engadget.com "A pic and a little blurb about T-Mobile’s new Sidekick 2 have turned up in the August 2nd issue of Newsweek in a piece about back-to-college technology, listing it as having a built-in VGA quality camera and a price of $229. We still don’t think this’ll be out until September."
MobileTracker: Upcoming US phones We’ve mentioned a ton of new phones for the US lately, so many that its hard to keep track of what’s coming when. Below we have an exclusive look at all the dirt on the phones you ask about.
Big news reported here: MPx delayed to 2005, SK2 around this week or next, A630 in September.

Sunday, August 01, 2004

Saturday, July 31, 2004

Weekend political stuff for your iPod - Engadget - www.engadget.com Free downloads for itunes of 1) the 9/11 Commission final Report, 2) The Democratic National convention days 1 & 2. (Republican to follow, once it happens.)

Friday, July 30, 2004

Wired News: Liberals Want Their Own Network: "A group of progressive media activists covering the Democratic National Convention in Boston plans to launch a new television network to counter the conservative news coverage"
Sidekick Vs. Treo 600: "I'm a fan of both the Sidekick and the Treo 600, so when Levi Wallach wrote to tell me about his in-depth comparison article featuring the two keyboarded messenger devices, I immediately did what any sane person would do and read it and then forgot to post about it. Fortunately for you, that was only like last week, and the information is no less pertinent. In fact, with the Sidekick II and the Treo Ace/610 just around the corner, bargain-minded shoppers would do well to pay extra attention to the two devices that are still plenty capable and about to get plenty cheap."
Briva: In-Sink Dishwasher from KitchenAid
New York City lampposts going wireless - Engadget - www.engadget.com
An evening with Motorola - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "The MPx, their new Pocket PC Phone which should be out ever-so-soon."
Tons of Motorola RAZR V3 pics - Engadget - www.engadget.com Ok, we had so many fresh pics of Motorola’s RAZR V3 that we thought it merited it’s own post. And yes, it is as jaw droppingly gorgeous as we’d hoped it would be.

Thursday, July 29, 2004

More Details About Alpine iPod Interface: "MacCentral has more details about Alpine's upcoming in-car iPod interface, including the single-greatest quote ever to slip past the lips of a VP of Marketing, 'Consumers love a knob more than anything.' I've been saying that for years."
Fat content of tahini: "Q. What is the fat content of tahini, a.k.a. tahina (ground sesame seeds), and how much of the fat is saturated? A. Tahini is a little more than half fat, but only 10% of the fat is saturated. So a 1-ounce serving, which is equivalent to about 30 grams, has 16 grams of fat, 2 of which are saturated."

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Tapatio Hot Sauce My hot sauce of choice.
Danger grows coffers as Sharp lends wireless weight - Computer Business Review Danger chairman and CEO Hank Nothhaft described the deal with Sharp, which already supplies LCD displays for the current Hiptop devices, as "an incredibly important agreement" for the company. He told ComputerWire that the Japanese electronics giant's first Danger-based design should be available by Christmas this year. Others, including voice- rather than data-centric models, should follow within twelve months, he said.

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Bottle Cap Tripod This Bottle Cap Tripod is a great solution, making it easy to throw together a jerry-rigged tripod whenever you need one. And if you live in New York, you can probably just pick up a bottle off the street. Not perfect, but not bad for 10 bucks.

Monday, July 19, 2004

Wired News: Downloading for Democracy While legislators in Washington work to outlaw peer-to-peer networks, one website is turning the peer-to-peer technology back on Washington to expose its inner, secretive workings.


But outragedmoderates.org isn't offering copyright music and videos for download. The site, launched two weeks ago, has aggregated more than 600 government and court documents to make them available for download through the Kazaa, LimeWire and Soulseek P2P networks in the interest of making government more transparent and accountable.
Wired News: Apple's Cheaper, Juicier IPod: "Greg Joswiak, vice president of hardware product marketing at Apple, said it expects 'a very strong growth' in the third quarter, helped by the upgrade. Traditionally the third quarter is stronger than the second quarter due to back-to-school sales, he said.


Joswiak shot down market rumors of 60-GB models in the pipeline. 'We have no plans in regard to announcing 60-GB models,' Joswiak said. 'We are trying to create a much more compelling lineup with two models for 20 and 40 GB at extremely compelling prices.'"
Wired News: New Foreskin Is Really a Stretch Forget therapy. Forget sex toys or role playing. Build thee a foreskin, young -- or old -- man. Men who have been circumcised, who account for about 63 percent of the U.S. male population (one of the highest rates in the world), have been stripped of some significant sensory ability, say some groups that oppose circumcision.

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Ok. So obviously I am OCD on what my next phone will be. It's gonna happen this year and I am trying to leave the hiptop for one of thos motorolas (preferably the mpx). I was blogging about it here, but I think that blog is going to retire now. So now you, poor reader, will decide along with me at Wudan.
Motorola A630 - Windows Mobile 2003 and a wide display!
Even more Motorola MPx rumors, hearsay, and gossip - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Motorola makes an honest handset out of the MPx - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Motorola Finally Shows Off the A630 - Engadget - www.engadget.com
MobileTracker: Motorola A630 announced Motorola today introduced the Motorola A630 at an exclusive party in New York City on the rooftop of Hotel Gansevoort (pictures from the party). It’s a camera phone that the company hopes will help boost the Motorola brand image, analyst are upbeat . The main feature of the A630 is a fold-out keyboard (the phone folds out in half, see photos). Other known features are:

Integrated VGA digital camera

Bluetooth

MP3 ringtones

Speakerphone

176 x 220 65,000 color display

Weighs just 3.5 ounces



The Motorola A630 is a Cingular Wireless exclusive at launch—expect to pay $200 to $300. We should see it this summer.
Is This The Next iPod?
How-To use AOL Instant Messenger to send a Text Message to a phone - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Next iPod in August? - Engadget - www.engadget.com We’d heard September, but now the word on the street is that the next generation iPods are going to be released in August. According to sources, it sounds like they’re going to be a crossbreed of the regular old iPod and the iPod mini, taking some features from each. Some of the rumored upgrades: a smaller form factor, similar to themMini in design (which probably means the new scroll wheel), a bigger hard drive and a bunch of color options, such as purple, orange and yellow (why do you taunt us Apple?).
The ultimate iPod mini - Engadget - www.engadget.com We’re not sure whether he was just trying to shut up all the haters on some Japanese message board complaining about all the features the iPod mini doesn’t have, or just trying to show off his Photoshop chops, but some dude in Japan designed the ultimate iPod mini with every single thing they were asking for, including:
Is Mac OS X 'Tiger' Rolling Over on Windows Support?: "If Apple has a cross-platform client strategy for Mac OS X, it is playing it close to its vest.

However, Derick Naef, chief operating officer of networking developer Group Logic Inc., of Arlington, Va., said that WWDC attendees received some useful information about the Tiger client later in the week.

"There wasn't anything groundbreaking, but there were incremental improvements," he said. "They are moving in right direction."
Wired News: Macworld Boston Opens Loudly: "But not everyone was pleased. "I'm disappointed it's not in New York," said William Castro, a product designer who flew up to attend a couple of Photoshop classes. "The show last year (in New York) had a lot more vendors and more people involved in Mac media. I know a lot of designers who wanted to come but wouldn't because it was in Boston."
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Jordan's female boxers go for glory

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

$800 Stokke Xplory Stroller Hits NYC: "I'm honored that Greg Allen of DaddyTypes.com wrote me an even longer, more explanatory description in email of the new $800 Stokke Xplory fashion stroller than he wrote on his own blog. And yes, I said $800 stroller. You know, for kids. To puke in. Anyway, I'll just quote his dandy email after the jump and we can all marvel at the apparently burgeoning market for big ballin' baby buggies."
Tanning Improves Mood The promise of darker skin lures people to tanning beds. But the relaxing effects of ultraviolet (UV) light keep them coming back, a new study shows.
BBC NEWS | Health | White bread could spoil your diet People who ate whole grain foods, such as brown bread, did not have the same gain in waist size, the scientists at Tufts University in Boston found.
How-To use AOL Instant Messenger to send a Text Message to a phone - Features - Engadget - features.engadget.com
Yahoo!, Hotmail and Excite Respond to Gmail

Yahoo! Mail has recently enhanced its standard and premium services in response to Google's upcoming Gmail launch. On June 15, Yahoo! Mail increased its storage space to 100 MB for standard users and 2 GB for Yahoo! Mail Plus users. The 2 GB for Plus users is double the storage of Gmail. Yahoo increased the maximum size message that users can send and receive, now up to 10 MB per message.

Yahoo! Mail improved its email search capability and will put more than 50 million email addresses back into distribution. They have also redesigned the web-based email user interface to increase usability.

Hotmail has announced July 2004 plans to upgrade its free email offering in a similar manner to Yahoo! by upgrading services and mail storage capacities. They plan to offer free subscribers 250 MB of storage, up from the current 2 MB limit. Hotmail also plans to offer its anti-virus service for free: it will clean any viruses identified in a subscriber's email. Until now, Hotmail has alerted subscribers of a virus, but not cleaned it or removed it from access.

Excite will soon be increasing storage space from 3 MB to 125 MB for its free email users. They will also increase the maximum size message that users can send and receive, similar to Yahoo! Mail, to 10 MB.

Monday, July 12, 2004

The inside scoop on the MPx, MPx220, and MPx100 :: Mobile Gadget News - (MPx200.org) :: News, Reviews, and Help for the MPX200, SCH-i600, and SmartPhone Community
Paid family leave takes effect in California - Blogging Baby - www.bloggingbaby.com File this one under “It’s about freaking time!”: On Thursday, paid family leave took effect in the state of California. While such family leave has long been a fact of life in such countries as Germany and France, California is the first state in the US to require employers to offer 6 weeks of paid leave each year for parents to either care for their newborn or ill child or adopt a child.
Blogging Baby - www.bloggingbaby.com Blogging Baby is a blog — an online magazine — about pregnancy, baby care and parenting. We aren't paid to mention specific products. We cover what we think is interesting as parents ourselves.
Phone Shopping Friday - Unlocked GSM Phones - Engadget - www.engadget.com Good advice on some of the nicer new phones.
Exclusive Sony U50 review - Engadget - www.engadget.com We reviewed the Sony U50 and we’re happy to report it just might be one of the best portables, while a lot of companies are showing prototypes, Sony actually brought an amazing device to market…The U50/70 is the smallest and lightest full-power PC on the market. The hardware really speaks for itself, we took a lot of photos and video make sure to check’em all out.
BMW Motorrad The new 4-cylinder engine in the K 1200 S is full of Formula 1 details – from the cam followers in the cylinder head to the dry sump lubrication system. Even the shape of the combustion chambers is inspired by the critical motor racing discipline.
Economist.com | Business in the Americas: "LONG accustomed to being just a hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, Miami recently awarded itself an upgrade. It now advertises itself as the “Gateway of the Americas”. But why should an ambitious Florida city stop there, when “Capital of the Americas” beckons? Or even “Centre of the New World”, as one of its glossy brochures has it? For that is what Miami is now pitching for: already it has launched a big campaign to host the headquarters of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)."

Sunday, July 11, 2004


BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Poor Moldovans lured into sex trade
"Moldova is Europe's poorest country. In the capital city, Chisinau, the average wage is about $2 a day. In the countryside, it is half that"...
Tight writing from the BBC.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

"I was amused to see Yahoo and Hotmail scramble to revise their e-mail services so that they didn't look quite so pathetic in comparison. Yahoo upped the storage limit for a free account from 4 megabytes to 100; in July, Hotmail will raise its own limit from 2 megs to 250. (Paid accounts get even bigger storage upgrades.)"

BBC NEWS | Europe | Italy's teen scooter riders grounded
Thousands of Italian teenagers have been banned from driving motor scooters by a new law that took effect on Thursday.

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

New iPod external battery pack - Engadget - www.engadget.com A new external battery pack out for the iPod that runs on AA batteries and will even charge up your iPod while it’s connected.
Motorola makes an honest handset out of the MPx - Engadget - www.engadget.com The specs are exactly as expected: a 2.8-inch LCD touchscreen, a 1.2 megapixel digital camera, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, and quad-band GSM, but there’s no official word on when it’ll be out. A Motorola rep we spoke to told us off the record that they were aiming for September, but that it could be a little later than that.
Wired News: Speedy, Tiny and Troublesome Popular in European racing circles for years, pocket bikes have recently exploded on the scene in California. From Wal-Mart and Kragen Auto Parts stores to eBay and bulletin board mecca craigslist, gas-powered and electric versions of the tiny bikes are being bought, sold and ridden all over the San Francisco Bay Area. Though the top pocket bikes can cost up to about $3,000 and are made by Italian companies like Polini and Pasini, low-end Chinese bikes start at under $200 -- affordable for many teens, like Walstra, who want a cheap feel of what it's like to ride a motorcycle.

Sunday, June 27, 2004


BBC NEWS | Europe | EU criticises Vatican's condom 'bigotry'
He condemned the Vatican's "lack of love for human beings" and "unwillingness to take their situation seriously".
Mr Nielsen said it forced people into "a terrible choice of abstinence or lose the blessing of the Church".

Friday, June 25, 2004


BBC NEWS | Europe | Pigeons find hidden Spain fresco
The fresco angels are seen again after more than 300 years


A Renaissance fresco hidden for 300 years has been rediscovered in Spain - thanks to nesting pigeons.

Art restorers working in Valencia's cathedral spotted the birds flying through a hole in what turned out to be a false ceiling and were intrigued.

They stuck a digital camera in the gap and shot pictures that showed a well-preserved 15th century Italian fresco.
Spymac :: News Spymac's free membership includes:
1 GB e-mail account, 350 MB combined storage, personal blog, forum, gallery, auctions and more

BBC NEWS | Technology | Hotmail counters Google e-mail
Hotmail is boosting the amount of storage space for users of both its free and paid e-mail service.

From July the basic Hotmail allowance will be boosted to 250MB and paying customers will get two gigabytes.

The move is widely seen as a response to Google's GMail service which gives all users a gigabyte of storage to keep all their messages.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Vietnam man hopes for hair record: "A Vietnamese man who has not had a hair cut in 31 years hopes to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest hair in the world."
Float Bed: "Suspended by four stainless steel cords, the Float bed by German mathematician Max Longin tries not to 'inhibit or obstruct the movements of lying or loving'"

Monday, June 14, 2004

Wired News: Virtual City of Smut Now Online Taking a page from multiplayer gaming, a porn site has created an interactive virtual world based on Amsterdam's famed red light district. Subscribers can check out local clubs or trade pick up lines with fellow members.

Sunday, June 13, 2004

The Peddie School - Alumni News Perez Picked by Tampa Bay in Draft

Fernando Perez ’01, former standout soccer and baseball player at Peddie, was selected by Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft, the 195th pick overall. He becomes the highest-ever draft pick in Columbia history.

Friday, June 11, 2004

NPR : Dog Prodigy Gives New Meaning to Language If you think your dog understands you, scientists say you may be right. New research shows that some dogs have a remarkable capacity to comprehend human speech.

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

HOW TO Tuesday: Make digital movies the easy way - Engadget - www.engadget.com According to some estimates there are about 60 million (if not more) of you out there with Digital Video Camcorders, just about all DV cameras have Firewire (IEEE 1394) output/input and there are hundreds of millions of DV tapes being shipped per year. The bad news is, we know exactly what happens — you record a lot of stuff to DV tape and never do anything with it. It’s a bit of a hassle to sit and edit for hours when all you want is a 2 minute clip from that birthday party or event. And the truth is, most of the stuff we all shoot is crap since we just aim and record everything. So in this week’s HOW TO Tuesday we show you how to make use of that footage to quickly and easily make movies and automatically add a soundtrack.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Eco glass cleans itself with Sun A revolutionary kind of glass that needs little cleaning could mean soap and chamois are binned for good.
The Pilkington Activ glass has a special nano-scale - extremely thin - coating of microcrystalline titanium oxide which reacts to daylight.
This reaction breaks down filth on the glass, with no need for detergent. When water hits it, a hydrophilic effect is created, so water and dirt slides off.

Monday, June 07, 2004

AirPort Express with AirTunes Apple just unveiled the Airport Express with AirTunes, a plug-mounted mini version of their popular Airport Extreme 802.11g base station that ups the digital hub ante with the simple addition of an eighth-inch stereo out that turns the Airport Express into a streaming music outlet that interfaces seamlessly with iTunes.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Venus set to dive in front of Sun: "The planet Venus is the focus of major interest on Tuesday as it passes across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth."
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Moore's 9/11 trailer goes online "I want to make sure if I do nothing else for the rest of this year that those who died in Iraq have not died in vain."
Fahrenheit 9/11 Trailer Buck Fush

BBC NEWS | Health | Genes may to blame for infidelity
: "Some people may be genetically programmed to be unfaithful to their partner, a scientist has claimed."

Saturday, June 05, 2004


BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Fossils hint at early complexity
The animals are less than a fifth of a millimetre long and have a two-sided body plan previously thought to have existed much later in Earth's history.

Friday, June 04, 2004

POE News: Rumsfeld Fighting Technique You may have defeated my Southern Hook Palm technique, but can you defeat the 1000 Fighting Styles of Rumsfeld?

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

BBC NEWS | In Depth | Shooting D-Day through a lens: "As a man who has spent a lifetime - and then some - as a press photographer, American Marty Lederhandler is in no doubt as to which event has had the most profound effect on his long and colourful life."
Wired 12.06: How Can I Sex Up This Blog Business? Hot gossip! Cool gadgets! Gawker & Gizmodo, Fleshbot & Wonkette! Inside Nick Denton's plan to become the nanopublishing media mogul.
Build your own gaming PC for under a $1,000 - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Pentax quitting the film camera business? - Engadget - www.engadget.com Imaging Resource reports on some news items which appeared on the website of Pentax’s Russian distributor that indicate that Pentax is quitting the film camera business (well, apart from medium format cameras) to focus entirely on digital cameras. It could be that the move is limited only to the Russian market, which is why it hasn’t been announced anywhere else, but c’mon, with sales of regular film cameras flat or falling, you know it’s only a matter of time until all of the big five (which besides Pentax also includes Canon, Konica Minolta, Nikon, and Olympus) kill their consumer film camera lines in favor of digital, leaving film the domain of the professional.
Hacking Canon’s Digital Rebel to make it into an EOS 10D Apart from few small differences in the software and body, the Digital Rebel, Canon’s entry-level digital SLR, and the EOS 10D, their professional digital SLR, are basically the same camera. It’s just that the EOS 10D costs five hundred bucks more. So are hacking the firmware on their Digital Rebels so that they can get access to all of the special features that are disabled on the camera that aren’t on the EOS 10D. Which has got to annoy Canon.

Monday, May 31, 2004

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

The Unofficial Apple Weblog - apple.weblogsinc.com
The Unofficial Google Weblog - google.weblogsinc.com
Speed reading CeBIT America - Engadget - www.engadget.com "Some snaps of Motorola’s MPx, which is more or less this year’s Treo 600 — aka the smartphone that’s supposed to make all your dreams come true. Dual-hinge thing works as well as we hoped it would, and we were pleased to see that they’ve improved the keyboard. They haven’t said anything official yet, but the Motorola rep said that they’re aiming to have this out by September."

Monday, May 24, 2004

gmail swap "Gmail Swap tells the people with Gmail about the people without."
eHomeUpgrade | Apple Video iPod Demystified - May 22, 2004: "Rumors have been circulating around for months now about a secret Video iPod that Apple has in the works."
PBS | I, Cringely . Archived Column: "In order to pay for new business adventures, parts of the company that are viewed as likely to die are starved of funds and milked of cash. Look for this to happen eventually for the Mac."

Monday, May 17, 2004

Impressive lady.
mozilla.org - home of mozilla, firefox, thunderbird, and camino Ok, I think Firefox with the google toolbar extension is the best browser available right now. Trying to figure out what the deal with Camino on Mac is. It's not that great right now...
Bloglines | Free, Web-Based News Aggregator: "Bloglines is a free service that makes it easy to keep up with your favorite blogs and newsfeeds. With Bloglines, you can subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs, and Bloglines will monitor updates to those sites. You can read the latest entries easily within Bloglines.

Unlike other aggregators which require you to download and install software, Bloglines runs on our servers and requires no installation. Because your Bloglines account is accessible through a web browser, you can access your account from any Internet-connected machine."

Saturday, May 15, 2004


BBC NEWS | Europe | Italian police to have supercar
: "Italian police to have supercar
Traffic police patrolling a motorway in southern Italy have a tough decision to take: who will get to drive the force's first Lamborghini Gallardo?"
E-Commerce News: Head-to-Head: Yahoo Answers Gmail Challenge with E-Mail Upgrade Users of Yahoo's updated e-mail service will get 100 megabytes of space for free. While the company did not specify how much storage paying users will receive, it hinted the amount will be on par with the gigabyte Google has promised to provide with Gmail, which is currently in beta.

Friday, May 14, 2004

Pic Patrol: "What is this site about? Basically, this site is a weblog of photographs taken in and around the New York City area by native Brooklynite Jack Szwergold. My motto is pretty simple: I"
Zaadz Knowledge - Philosophy - Buddha: "Buddha. Gotta love him. Here's a really quick look at one of my favorite teachers and some of his most powerful thoughts."
Wired News: Hybrid Mileage Comes Up Short: "Hybrid cars are hot, but not as hot as their owners, who complain that their gas mileage hasn't come close to well-advertised estimates."
Wired News: Gamers Spurning TV, Movies: "LOS ANGELES -- About half of the Americans who play video games say they are choosing to watch less television and go to fewer movies so they can spend more time enjoying games, accor"
Ornate Golden VW Beetle: "So would have thought there was another ornate VW Beetle out there, let alone one gilt with 24kt gold? The Vrbanus is ready to drive, detailed with the product of 2500 hours of handiwork, and is ready for weddings, promotions, collections, and coronation ceremonies for the world's most frugal monarchs."

Thursday, May 13, 2004

BBC NEWS | Health | Newlyweds advised to lower hopes: "The secret of a long and happy marriage appears to be not to expect too much from it. US researchers say that, unless you have superior relationship skills, your hopes of cosy couple"
Wrought-Iron Lace VW Bug

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

New Windows Mobile SE Handhelds Expected Soon :: Mobile Gadget News - (MPx200.org) :: News, Reviews, and Help for the MPX200, SCH-i600, and SmartPhone Community I am dying to replace my SideKick and I am geeky about gettig a new do-it-all phone.
colette : paris I don't know why I am posting this. Probably because my girlfriend would like it.
Wired News: Apple Wants to Open Song Vaults: "The programming director of the store is a former radio deejay who's constantly looking for places to find old and out-of-print music. His team of music programmers are experts in world music, hip-hop, rock and classical, to name a few genres. In addition to their own expertise, the iTunes staff regularly collects suggestions from Apple Computer employees, customers and anyone who's looking to fill a hole in his or her music collection."

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Welcome to Shareaza.com (English) As solid a file sharing app for windows as I could find in a recent search. No spyware (avoid Kazaa).
Google's man behind the curtain The Man Who (Really) Makes Google Tick - An anonymous reader writes "Like his friends Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Craig Silverstein abandoned his PhD studies at Stanford to become employee No.1 and technology director at Google. While building the search engine in a garage, never in his wildest dreams did he think Google would become what it is today. Not only is it the envy of software giant Microsoft, Google continues to redefine the technology market with its creativity and tenacity. In this in-depth interview, Silverstein discusses a wide range of issues including the backlash against Gmail among privacy advocates, the company's cultural changes and its shifting reliance on PageRank."
Preview: Google's Gmail Beta Gmail does rock. It's so good it makes me wonder if I need Outlook.

We finally had a chance to try Google's new e-mail service and we're happy to say that, for the most part, we love it! In this article, we'll give you an overview of what you can expect from Gmail, as well as what we liked and didn't like about it. We'll also tell you what we think needs to be added to make it even better.

Friday, May 07, 2004

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China couple split over dead dog: "A Chinese woman who hired four hit men to kill her husband's beloved pet wolfhound now faces divorce. "

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

PhotoMann Travel Photgraphy - Images of Japanese Vending Machines PhotoMann recently decided to 'collect' images of unique vending machines found in Japan. They are everywhere. Estimates suggest there are 5.6 million vending machines which works out to be one for every 20 people in Japan. Sales from vending machines in 2000 totaled $56 billion! The most common are drink and cigarette machines followed by machines with pornography. All of the images in this section are taken with a Nikon Coolpix 5000. Below is a sampling of the machines to be found.
The MPx on the radio - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

BBC NEWS | Europe | Fine for Spain stag night vandal: "The man, named as Rodrigo JL, broke the hand of the statue of classical goddess Cibeles during stag night celebrations in September 2002, a court was told. "

Monday, May 03, 2004

iTunes Improves as Russians Sell By The Pound
MSN Money - Panama is paradise for retirees - Retire in style Panama is one of the best places in the world for retirees today, combining a low cost of living, near-perfect weather and one of the world’s best discount programs for retirees, with up to 50% off everything from public transport to movies, mortgage rates, doctor’s visits, electricity, restaurants and airfares.

Sunday, April 25, 2004

Friday, April 16, 2004

HIV scare calls halt to porn shoots - SpecialsHealthScience - www.smh.com.au: "James, the first porn actor to test positive for the virus since 1999, had a 'stellar record' of tests - negative every three weeks for the past seven years, said Elizabeth Mitchell of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM) Foundation.
Dr Mitchell said James may have contracted the virus about four weeks ago while filming in Brazil on a 'non-condom' set."

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

9/11 Testimony of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice Viewers' Guide - Center for American Progress Clarke says that he sent a memo to Rice on Jan. 25, 2001, seeking a Cabinet-level meeting on terrorism, and attached plans developed in the Clinton administration to eliminate al-Qaida. Out of the hundred or so meetings of the principals or cabinet level officials in the Bush administration, only one was about terrorism. Instead, the White House said it would have Vice President Dick Cheney head up a task force to analyze the threat himself. The administration waited five months to create the task force, which then never met.

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

p l a y f a i r: "When Apple opened the iTunes Music Store, they incorporated a technology called 'FairPlay'. FairPlay is a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system that limits a users rights on a digital media file that they've purchased and presumably downloaded. In the case of Apple's iTunes Music Store, when a user downloads an audio track from iTMS, it is a 'Protected AAC Audio File'. When used as intended, these files can only be played through the iTunes program itself. Furthermore, a particular computer must first be 'authorized' to play the given file. FairPlay allows up to three computers and unlimited Apple iPods to be authorized to play the file. As DRM schemes go, FairPlay is only moderately offensive.
So what will playfair do for you? The playfair program is quite simple. It takes one of the iTMS Protected AAC Audio Files, decodes it using a key obtained from your iPod or Microsoft Windows system and then writes the new, decoded version to disk as a regular AAC Audio File. It then optionally copies the metadata tags that describe the song, including the cover art, to the new file."

Friday, April 02, 2004

Monday, March 29, 2004

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Bargain hunt's sting in the tail: "Thousands of Britons are cashing in on exchange rates by shopping in the US for expensive items like iPods, digital cameras, or designer clothes. But many who think they have found bargains are falling foul of the law which requires them to pay duty on any purchase over �145. "
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Sea 'dead zones' threaten fish: "Oxygen depletion: Set to have a big impact in the 21st century"

Monday, March 22, 2004

Telus Mobility to carry Worlds first Fastap mobile handset : Mobile Phones : MobileMag
BBC NEWS | Africa | Billy's journey: Crossing the Sahara: "Billy, 41, from Guinea, tells the extraordinary tale of how he crossed the Sahara Desert to reach Morocco, where he smuggled himself into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. He is now working in Italy, where he has been given a residence permit, and has just been back to see his family for the first time since he set out on his adventure more than four years ago."

Sunday, March 21, 2004

"Boycott Clear Channel and Get Howard Stern Back on the Air"

hosted on the web by our free online petition service, at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/fs030904/

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to reply to this message.

Your signature number for this petition is 5197.
Free Stern: "Play 'Free Stern Anthem' as featured on The Howard Stern Show
Lyrics and music by Barbara's Bush

Stern: Caught in a Booby Trap
by Chris Gordon

It doesn't take an Oliver Stone to figure out that Clear Channel's decision to take The Howard Stern Show off the air in six markets was the result of more fallout over Janet Jackson exposing herself on the boob tube. The same way President Bush used 9/11 to blindside Americans into going back to war in Iraq, the FCC is milking Janet's breast."
Save The Howard Stern Show!!! During the week of February 23rd, 2004, not only did Infinity Broadcasting send down a zero tolerance edict to it's stations that could virtually or actually result in Howard being fired from the air, but Clear Channel removed the Howard Stern Show from six of it's stations. And all because Janet Jackson showed PART of her breast during the Super Bowl. I don't blame Jackson for the resulting backlash. Part of the blame can be placed on the FCC and reactionary puritanical individuals or politicians of any party who go too far in towing some "indecency intolerance" position swaying whichever way the political winds blow to get votes inspite of rights and freedoms that are guaranteed by the constitution. Those people and also religious zealots are to blame for trying to dictate to the rest of the country what they can or cannot see or hear on radio or tv that was previously acceptable for years but now all of a sudden is not.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Low-tech 'hack' takes fizz out of Pepsi-iTunes promo | CNET News.com It doesn't take a code breaker or a math whiz to lift songs from Apple Computer's iTunes online music store--it just takes a good pair of eyes and a trip to the corner store.

Monday, March 15, 2004

Researchers: Stem Cells May Cure Baldness SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Research showing that bald mice can grow hair after being implanted with a type of stem cell could lead to a cure for baldness, a group of scientists says.

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

HeadlinedNews.com - Ipod Used In Domestic Homicide - Mar. 05, 2004: "A Memphis woman was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after she bludgeoned her boyfriend to death with an iPod."

Monday, March 08, 2004

APOD: 2004 February 29 - Julius Caesar and Leap Days: "February 29th is a leap day - a relatively rare occurrence. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar, pictured above in a self-decreed minted coin, created a calendar system that added one leap day every four years. Acting on advice by Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, Caesar did this to make up for the fact that the Earth's year is slightly more than 365 days. In modern terms, the time it takes for the Earth to circle the Sun is slightly more than the time it takes for the Earth to rotate 365 times (with respect to the Sun -- actually we now know this takes about 365.24219 rotations). So, if calendar years contained 365 days they would drift from the actual year by about 1 day every 4 years. Eventually July (named posthumously for Julius Caesar himself) would occur during the northern hemisphere winter! By adopting a leap year with an extra day every four years, the calendar year would drift much less. This Julian Calendar system was used until the year 1582 when Pope Gregory XIIIprovided further fine-tuning when he added that leap days should not occur in years ending in 'OO', unless divisible by 400. This Gregorian Calendar system is the one in common use today. "
BBC NEWS | Technology | More than just a pretty interface Dr Bull is one of the few academics, possibly the only one, to spend time researching what owners of iPods and other music players do with their gadgets, why they listen to them and what difference they make to their lives. He started investigating what people do with music players because he realised it was an area that had been neglected by other students of culture.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

4/3 - Matt M - Another MPx video! :: MTekk IT Services - Specialists in Server-Based Computing and Microsoft PDA Phones: "Another MPx video!


Matt M drools over a video showing every inch of the Motorola Pocket PC Phone ...


Thanks to our friends at Mobile Gadget News, we've been pointed to a new video of the Windows Mobile 2003 based MPx. The video, which appears to be that of a demo unit (much as you'd see in mobile phone stores, where the device itself doesn't operate, but the physical attributes are accurately reproduced), is provided by Mobile-dreams.net. It depicts more or less every aspect of the phone - other than the actual operation of Windows Mobile - and seeing it handled in person is even better (to me) than the previous previous videos, which looked like somewhat more 'marketing' focused."

Saturday, March 06, 2004

MOBILE-DREAMS - Motorola MPx le plus petit PDA /téléphone More Motorola MPx300
How Industry Won the Battle of Pollution Control at E.P.A.: "Just six weeks into the Bush administration, Haley Barbour, a former Republican party chairman who was a lobbyist for electric power companies, sent a memorandum to Vice President Dick Cheney laying down a challenge.

'The question is whether environmental policy still prevails over energy policy with Bush-Cheney, as it did with Clinton-Gore,' Mr. Barbour wrote, and called for measures to show that environmental concerns would no longer 'trump good energy policy"

BBC NEWS | Americas | Brazil's 'last playboy' bows out
: "The man regarded as Brazil's last playboy, famous for dating a string of film stars, has died at the age of 88."

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Danger to unveil prototype device | CNET News.com
The Register: "Danger's new Hiptop: even more impressive in real life

In short, the device is longer, thinner and a little more rectangular than the first generation Hiptop. It's much more usable as a phone, however, with dedicated call and hang-up buttons that with characteristic Danger ingenuity, nestle around a more discreet, redesigned wheel. Which also doubles up as the earpiece. Over on the left are the familiar Menu and Jump keys, but are joined by a new D-pad. "
Video of Motorola�s MPx300 Pocket PC Phone - engadget: Cell Phones - cellphones.engadget.com Over at Smartphony.org, some video clips of the MPx300, Motorola’s eminently buzzworthy new dual-hinged Pocket PC Phone with a built-in QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera, WiFi, and Bluetooth.
Not a Picture of the New Hiptop, a Picture FROM It - engadget.com - www.engadget.com: "Last week Danger showed off their new Hiptop by appointment only at 3GSM in Cannes. Journalists were allowed to write about the new device, but not allowed to take pictures of it. Here�s what we know: the device is thinner, and a bit longer. On the face, the new model has a couple of new buttons, a new speaker and mic, and we hear there�s a new screen that looks much better [Editor�s note - turns out this isn�t the case]. But the big news is that the camera is finally built in (with an LED flash), and apparently it�s VGA quality. One of the prominent member Hiptopper took a picture with his new baby and posted it to Hiptop Nation, then whoops, Danger asked him remove to the pic. He did, but that didn�t stop a loyal devotee from posting it to his own site. "

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Khoury Construction: "MEET THE TEAM" Priceless web content of Khoury Construction.
FlipStartpc.com Size and Performance
Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system gives you the performance and functionality of your favorite PC applications in the palm of your hand:
Full Windows XP Home/Professional operating system
1 GHz processor
256 MB system DRAM
30 GB hard drive
3D graphics with 8MB video DRAM
5.8" x 4.0" x 1.0" (148mm x 101mm x 26mm)
Weighs under 1.0 lb (450g)
USB 2.0 port

Monday, March 01, 2004

BBC NEWS | Americas | America: An empire built on sand? : "In the final episode of his six-part series entitled Age of Empire, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus examines the challenges which lie ahead for the world's greatest power."

Tuesday, February 24, 2004


BBC NEWS | Europe | Putin dismisses entire government
: "Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed his government in a live television broadcast."

Monday, February 23, 2004

BBC NEWS | Technology | Girl gamers strike at the boys : "The women challenging the stereotype that professional online gaming is the realm of geeky men alone."
The Archives of the Fed: "How do you like your eggs in the morning?

Un-fertilized, thank you."
BBC NEWS | Americas | Exporting the American dream In the penultimate episode of a six-part series entitled Age of Empire, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus examines how US culture is as crucial a weapon in the American arsenal as its military hardware.

Friday, February 20, 2004

BBC NEWS | Technology | Flexible displays on the horizon
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | FBI weighs into anti-piracy fight: "CDs, DVDs, and video games in the US are to get an FBI seal in an attempt to deter people from copying them.
The new labels warn consumers that criminal copyright infringement could land them with a $250,000 (�133,000) fine and five years in prison. "

Thursday, February 19, 2004

DJ Dangermouse - The Grey Album download: "DOWNHILL BATTLE -- DJ Danger Mouse's recent Grey Album, which remixes Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles White Album, has been hailed as a innovative hip-hop triumph. Despite that and the fact that only 3,000 copies of the album are in circulation, EMI sent cease and desist letters yesterday to Danger Mouse and the handful of stores that were selling the album, demanding that the album be destroyed.
'EMI isn't looking for compensation, they're trying to ban a work of art,' said Downhill Battle's Rebecca Laurie.
'Special interests, including the major labels, have turned copyright law into a weapon,' said Downhill Battle co-founder Holmes Wilson. 'If Danger Mouse had requested permission and offered to pay royalties, EMI still would have said no and the public would never have been able to enjoy this critically acclaimed work. Artists are being forced to break the law to innovate.'
The Grey Album has been widely shared on file sharing networks such as Kazaa and Soulseek, and has garnered critical acclaim in Rolling Stone (which called it 'the ultimate remix record' and 'an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time'), the Boston Globe (which called it the 'most creatively captivating' album of the year), and other major news outlets."
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | EMI blocks Beatles album remix: "A DJ who has remixed The Beatles' White Album and rapper Jay-Z's Black Album to make The Grey Album has been ordered by record label EMI to stop it being sold."

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

MacNETv2: "Apple will deflect this Palm bullet because they will soon introduce a new product that will do for the handheld market what the iPod has done for MP3 players. However, the timeline for the introduction of this product must be moved up, or at least Apple should announce that something is coming soon, rather than sit silent like they always do. For every Mac user (and PC user) that is PDA-dependent (and there are more than you might think) who want to upgrade their Computer this year just got a pretty good reason not to buy another Mac. I can hear some of them now; �If I buy that new Mac I won�t be able to use that new Palm-based Clie I�m waiting for!� (I'm Clie biased, I own several and think they are best Palm-based PDA you can buy)

The timeline for this product is an introduction by July 2004. Hopefully Apple will deliver it sooner now that Palm has gone public with its withdrawal of Mac support."
BBC NEWS | Africa | Gabon acts over school of shame Gabon president sacks teachers after sex-for-grades scandal.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Rascal hopes for world domination

Friday, February 13, 2004

BBC NEWS | Americas | Passion over for Barbie and Ken: "Valentine's Day is approaching, but the romance is over for Barbie and Ken."
Blain-er!!!

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

BBC NEWS | Business | Microsoft admits 'critical' flaw: "'This is one of the most serious Microsoft vulnerabilities ever released,' said Mr Maiffret.
'The breadth of systems affected is probably the largest ever.' "

Monday, February 09, 2004

seattleparent.org � Parent Advice, Recommendations, Resources andmore... This site is rumored to be built with moveable type.
A Movable Type Intranet
Performance Tuning Movable Type @ Technology & Business, Project Management & Marketing comments, review and links by Christoph C. Cemper, Project Manager
hiptop.com: News Mark/Space, Inc. is proud to announce Missing Sync for hiptop™. Missing Sync for hiptop enables Mac® users to connect and synchronize information between a Danger hiptop (e.g. T-Mobile SideKick, SunCom hiptop, Fido hiptop) and a Mac running Mac OS® X.

Missing Sync for hiptop will be available by the end of February 2004 for purchase in Electronic Software Download (ESD) format for $29.95.

More Details available at: http://www.markspace.com/missingsynchiptop.html
BBC NEWS | Americas | America's 'asymmetric' warfare: "In the third of a six-part series entitled Age of Empire, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus examines some of the issues confronting the US army in an age of the pre-emptive strike. "

Saturday, February 07, 2004

BBC NEWS | Technology | Blaming the dark side of gaming: "It is trite and irresponsible to accuse violent video games of promoting crime, argues Daniel Etherington of BBCi Collective in his weekly games column."