MYTESTFEED

XKCD's "Choices" -- now an audio drama (Boing Boing)

NYC cops harass club owner whose CCTV footage overturned drug conviction — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:56:04+0100

Paul sez, "'Choices', from Randall Munroe's xkcd comic has been turned into a short audio drama (under four minutes) available under a Creative Commons license from Brokensea Audio Productions." Link (Thanks, Paul!)
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Where the Linear Crosses the Exponential: Kevin Kelly (Boing Boing)

Barlow's Forth of July message — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:46:00+0100

Snip from an essay published by Kevin Kelly today over on his Technium blog: All extropic systems -- economy, nature and technology -- are governed by self-accelerating feedback cycles. Like compounding interest, or virtuous circles, they are powered by increasing returns. Success breeds success. There is a long tail of incremental build up and then as they keep doubling every cycle, they explode out of invisibility into significance. Extropic systems can also collapse in the same self-accelerating way, one subtraction triggering many other subtractions, so in a vicious cycle the whole system implodes. Our view of the future is warped and blinded by these exponential curves.

But while progress runs on exponential curves, our individual lives proceed in a linear fashion. We live day by day by day. While we might think time flies as we age, it really trickles out steadily. Today will always be more valuable than some day in the future, in large part because we have no guarantee we'll get that extra day. Ditto for civilizations. In linear time, the future is a loss. But because human minds and societies can improve things over time, and compound that improvement in virtuous circles, the future in this dimension is a gain. Therefore long-term thinking entails the confluence of the linear and the exponential. The linear march of our time intersects the cascading rise and fall of numerous self-amplifying exponential forces. Generations, too, proceed in a linear sequence. They advance steadily one after another while pushed by the compounding cycles of exponential change.

Balancing that point where the linear crosses the exponential is what long-term thinking should be about. Where the Linear Crosses the Exponential [Kevin Kelly]
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Video: documentary on Showbiz animatronic band (Boing Boing)

Serialization of The Deal, Chapter 5 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:49:20+0100

For eleven years, the Rock-afire Explosion was the animatronic house band for Showbiz Pizza Place restaurants. The musicians' story is a touching tale of technical expertise, marketing muscle, and, er, "concept unification." (See the Wikipedia page for more on that.) Chris Thrash Window Pictures (director Brett Whitcomb / writer Brad Thomason) are making a full-length documentary on the Rock-afire Explosion, and the new preview trailer is itself a must-see. Rock-afire Explosion trailer (YouTube, thanks COOP and Rodney Ascher!)

UPDATE: Rodney just found a video of Rock-afire Explosion, programmed by Chris Thrash, playing Usher's "Love In This Club." YouTube

UPDATE: The film is actually about Chris Thrash. More info at the movie's MySpace page.
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Terrible new Brazilian Internet law proposal will criminalize brazillions of people (Boing Boing)

Ninja scare results in school lockdowns — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:31:22+0100

Pedro sez, "Brazil is about to pass possibly the strictest legislation ever regulating the internet. The bill will be voted in the next few days by the Brazilian Senate. Please see below the translation of the article published today by Folha de Sao Paulo, the largest newspaper in the country:" According to Ronaldo Lemos, by referring to "computer networks", "communication devices" and "information systems", the draft law covers not only computers, but also MP3 players, cell phones, DVD players, software systems and even digital TV set-top boxes, not to mention websites. Following this line of reasoning, the bill would cover even the act of unblocking a cell phone.

The professors claim that no country criminalizes access to information on the Internet in such broad fashion. "The closest legislation to what is being proposed here is the one passed in the USA, which criminalizes the act of circumventing technological protection measures. But no law has criminalized access itself," mentions the brief.

Article 285-B qualifies as a crime ? also punished with 1 to 3 years of imprisonment and a fine ? "to obtain or transfer data or information" without prior authorization of the legitimate owner.

The professors propose the exclusion or amendment of the text of two articles of the draft law. They suggest that the access and transference of information on the Internet be considered a crime only if fraud or "unlawful advantages" are involved. Link (Thanks, Pedro!)
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Tattooed living zombie (Boing Boing)

New eBoy Peecol figures — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:25:04+0100

Bizarre magazine interviews a Montreal gentleman named Rick who is tattooing his entire body to look like the living dead. From the interview (photo by Neville Elder): What look are you trying to achieve with your tattoos?
They?re about the human body as a decomposing corpse ? the art of a rotting cadaver. It?s also a tribute to horror movies, which I love.

What influenced your tattoos? When I was a kid I was a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I wanted to be a ninja turtle and live in the sewers. But as I got older I fell in love with zombies and wanted to become one. Oh, and I love George A Romero?s Living Dead movies.

Anyway, the closest thing I could get to becoming a zombie was to get tattooed like one.
Zombie tattooed man (Bizarre)
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Stross's new novel: Saturn's Children, a late Heinlein homage (Boing Boing)

Anatomic model puzzles of surpassing loveliness — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:45:12+0100

Charlie Stross's new novel, Saturn's Children, is out -- this is Charlie's Heinlein tribute, and unlike everyone else who does classic, adventure -story Heinlein tributes, Charlie's written a novel in the style of the late, indulgent, sex-saturated Heinlein, from the period before a cutting-edge surgery fixed a problem with the blood-supply to his brain (seriously). Orbit, the book's UK publisher, has also put an excerpt online. Today is the two hundredth anniversary of the final extinction of my One True Love, as close as I can date it. I am drunk on battery acid and wearing my best party frock, sitting on a balcony beneath a pleasure palace afloat in the stratosphere of Venus. My feet dangle over a slippery-slick rain gutter as I peek over the edge: Thirty kilometers below my heels, the metal-snowed foothills of Maxwell Montes glow red-hot. I am thinking about jumping. At least I?ll make a pretty corpse, I tell myselves. Until I melt.

And then ?
Link, Link to excerpt, Link to Saturn's Children on Amazon
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Some douche steals Ian Curtis' (of Joy Division) headstone (Boing Boing)

Iran: death penalty for ?corrupt weblogs? — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:53:51+0100

The headstone marking the final resting place of deceased Joy Division singer Ian Curtis is suddenly missing.

Whoever stole it is a total douche, and deserves a special place in hell where screaming emo demons torture them with burns from a thousand clove cigarettes, poke them with a million blunt eyeliner applicators, and blind their eyes with painfully asymmetrical hair extensions for all eternity.

The grave marker, wherever it is now, reads: "Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80" and the words "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Here is a story in the Times UK, and above is a music video by Jonathan Beamish for the earliest recorded version of "Love Will Tear us Apart," produced as a John Peel Session for the BBC in 1979 (jesus! 30 years ago, wow).
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Serialization of The Deal, Chapter 5 (Boing Boing)

America loves drugs — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:04:38+0100

My friend Joe Hutsko contacted with the intriguing offer to serialize his novel, The Deal, on Boing Boing. I jumped at the chance. I read The Deal when it first came out in 1999 and loved the thrilling story about a Apple-like company's undertaking to create an iPhone-like device.

Here's a link to Chapter 05 as a PDF. (Here's chapter 1 and an introduction to the book, and here are the previous chapters)

To buy a paperback copy of the book, visit JOEyGADGET or purchase directly from Amazon.
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Recently on Boing Boing Gadgets (Boing Boing)

Government nosy parkers use passport database to spy on celebs — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:50:52+0100

Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets, we debunked the robot Diggbot; wondered if Apple should redesign the MacBook Pro; marveled at an amazing modular musical instrument for kids; and chuckled at the Comicon Star Trike of 1982.

John spotted the world's tiniest RC choppers and Roku's open-source Netflix player; Tokyo Watch did the unthinkable; and Jackson Pollock painted his hi-fi, sort of. There was a fancy USB hub; a consumer wind turbine; a robot bartender; a portable moisture condenser for your pied-�-sietch; a polystyrene statute; and a Sci-fi USB tube speaker.

Finally, we saw a cool Apple patent for gesture-touch, and learned the truth behind the Gatling gun.
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Ninja scare results in school lockdowns (Boing Boing)

Distressed steampunk keyboard — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:45:36+0100

Barnegat, NJ schools were put into "lockdown" because someone saw a "ninja" (turned out to be a camp counselor in a karate uniform going to a costume party). Lesson learned by students: security alerts are bogus, grownups are idiots. Public schools in Barnegat were locked down briefly after someone reported seeing a ninja running through the woods behind an elementary school.

Turns out the ninja was actually a camp counselor dressed in black karate garb and carrying a plastic sword. Link (via Schneier)
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New eBoy Peecol figures (Boing Boing)

Captain America, Fuck Yeah! — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:01:54+0100

Our friends at eBoy, creators of BB's mascots including the lovely and talented Jackhammer Jill, released their latest in the Peecol line of toy figures. My favorite is Rilla, the diaper-wearing gorilla! They're $9.95 each from Kidrobot. eBoy Peecol (Kidrobot)
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NYC cops harass club owner whose CCTV footage overturned drug conviction (Boing Boing)

Interview with Charlie Angus, Canadian MP who's fighting the Canadian DMCA — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:58:13+0100

Law enforcement LOVES surveillance cameras -- except when those cameras are used to surveil dodgy busts and get them overturned: Last year, New York police officers were seen dancing in the streets just before arresting four men in a city nightclub on charges of selling $100 worth of cocaine. It took six months and the men's life savings, but their names were finally cleared when prosecutors took the unusual step of announcing in court that the men had committed no crime.

That's because club surveillance video shows that the undercover cops had no contact with the accused men in the two hours they were in the club.

Now, club owner Eduardo Espinoza says the police are retaliating against him. Link (Thanks, Marilyn!)
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Lost scenes from Metropolis found (Boing Boing)

Tattooed living zombie — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:17:52+0100

The original version of Fritz Lang's fantastic science fiction film Metropolis was first seen in Berlin in 1927. Shortly after, Paramount recut the film to (over)simplify the plot. From then on, it was thought that at least 1/4 of the whole film ended up on the editing room floor where it was swept into the dustbin of history. Recently though, much of the lost footage was rediscovered. According to ZEITmagazin, several of the rediscovered scenes are essential to the film's plot. The magazine has the story about how the missing reels ended up in the private collection of a film critic in the late 1920s or so, and eventually came to light again. From ZEITmagazin (poster image from Wikipedia): Among the footage that has now been discovered, according to the unanimous opinion of the three experts that ZEITmagazin asked to appraise the pictures, there are several scenes which are essential in order to understand the film: The role played by the actor Fritz Rasp in the film for instance, can finally be understood. Other scenes, such as for instance the saving of the children from the worker?s underworld, are considerably more dramatic...

The rediscovered material is in need of restoration after 80 years; the pictures are scratched, but clearly recognizable. Martin Koerber, the restorer of the hitherto longest known version of ?Metropolis?, who also examined the footage, said to ZEITmagazin: ?No matter how bad the condition of the material may be, the original intention of the film, including all of its minor characters and subplots, is now once again tangible for the normal viewer. The rhythm of the film has been restored.?
Lang's Metropolis rediscovered (ZEITmagazine, thanks COOP!)
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Iran: death penalty for ?corrupt weblogs? (Boing Boing)

Jesse Helms leaves the planet. — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:14:54+0100

New legislation has been proposed in Iran that could make blogging a crime punishable by death. Cyrus Farivar has a story on today's edition of the PRI radio show The World: Iran considers harsh penalty for some bloggers (3:30).

Over at Global Voices, Hamid Tehrani writes: On Wednesday, Iranian members of parliament voted to discuss a draft bill that seeks to ?toughen punishment for disturbing mental security in society.? The text of the bill would add, ?establishing websites and weblogs promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy,? to the list of crimes punishable by death.

In recent years, some Iranian bloggers have been sent to jail and many have had their sites filtered. If the Iranian parliament approves this draft bill, bloggers fear they could be legally executed as criminals. No one has defined what it means to ?disturb mental security in society?.

Such discussion concerning blogs has not been unique to Iran. It shows that many authorities do not only wish to filter blogs, but also to eliminate bloggers!

A translated English copy of the proposed legislation is here. [International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran]

Image: "Women In Black," by Matthew Winterburn, who has some really neat photos of Iran in his Flickr stream.
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Interview with Charlie Angus, Canadian MP who's fighting the Canadian DMCA (Boing Boing)

Video: documentary on Showbiz animatronic band — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:12:54+0100

Adam Reimer secured an interview with Charlie Angus, the ex-punk-musician turned Canadian Member of Parliament who'se leading the charge against the Canadian DMCA. Adam solicited interview questions from the web and got a great interview with a thoughtful, intelligent, and honorable politician. Link, Link to mirror (Thanks, Adam!)
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Grimly hilarious cartoon about telecom immunity and warrantless wiretapping with Snuggly the ...

XKCD's "Choices" -- now an audio drama — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:53:51+0100

Hugh from the Electronic Frontier Foundation sez, "SF Gate cartoonist Mark Fiore has an awesome new cartoon on the telecom immunity debate. Snuggly, the Security Bear is back, and he has a few words to say about 'compromise.'" Link (Thanks, Hugh!)
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Government nosy parkers use passport database to spy on celebs (Boing Boing)

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:51:12+0100

David sez, "From the nobody's suprised file:" Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization inside the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity's records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people...

When the scandal erupted earlier this year, State Department officials suggested that the department maintained a list of "flagged files" to ensure that records of high-profile individuals were not breached. But investigators found that only 38 people were on the watch list, and there was no system or specific methodology for putting them there.

The watch list has since been expanded to more than 1,000 people, including all members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, senior administration officials, and entertainers, media personalities and sports figures. What's the easiest way to prevent your huge database of highly sensitive personal information from leaking? Don't generate huge databases of highly sensitive information in the first place. Link (Thanks, David!)
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EUROPEANS! You have until MONDAY to contact your MEP and save the EU from a three-strikes ...

Body armor developer shoots himself (video) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:18:07+0100

Back-room dealings in the European Parliament have resulted in a "three strikes" rule being included in a new telecoms bill -- the rule would force ISPs to kick people who've been thrice accused of copyright infringement off the Internet.

If this bill passes, then Europeans' access to the network that delivers freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, access to medicine, family, civic engagement, banking, government services, and the whole sweep of human online endeavor would last only so long as they avoided three unsubstantiated accusations of downloading music or video or software without permission.

Worse still, the bill is set to be voted upon on July 7 -- that's this Monday.

The Open Rights Group has instructions for contacting your MEP. If you live in the EU and you care about your future as a citizen of the information society, call right away and make sure your MEP knows that this matters to you. ?One week before a key vote in the reform of European law on electronic communications (?Telecom Package?), La Quadrature du Net (Squaring the Net) denounces a series of amendments aimed at closing the open architecture of the Internet for more control and surveillance of users..

?this set of amendments creates the unprecedented mechanism known as graduated response in European law; judicial authority and law courts are vacated in favour of private actors and ?technical measures? of surveillance and filtering. According to rules set forth by administrative authorities and rights holders, intermediaries will be forced to cooperate in monitoring and filtering their subscribers, or they will be exposed to administrative sanctions? Link

See also: Three false copyright accusations and we'll cut off your Internet access
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Distressed steampunk keyboard (Boing Boing)

Recently on Boing Boing Gadgets — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:47:59+0100

Jake van Slatt sez, "During a recent book signing in Seattle William Gibson was asked about the Steampunk modding craze. I think it was really cool that he was aware of us! In addition he commented: 'My one complaint is, they make these things look all shiny and new...I think they should look...distressed.' Well, Kevin just sent me some pictures of his Steampunk Keyboard and I think he's managed just that!" Link (Thanks, Jake!)
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California construction codes liberated -- now free for download (Boing Boing)

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:40:42+0100

Rogue archivist Carl Malamud sez, "Our public.resource.org gift to all the makers out there this 4th of July is the full text of the California building, electric, mechanical, plumbing, energy, and fire codes, known technically as 'California Code of Regulations Title 24' and perhaps better known in the real world as '$890 MSRP.' It's not just a good idea to copy this data, it's the law." Link (Thanks, Carl!)

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Bugs have creepy faces (Boing Boing)

Lost scenes from Metropolis found — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:06:08+0100

Dark Roasted Blend posted a fun gallery of "Ugly Bug Faces." The images above are from the Oklahoma Microscopic Society. The National Geographic Society also published a hardcover book titled Bug Faces.
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Body armor developer shoots himself (video) (Boing Boing)

As price of fuel soars, so does a dirigible renaissance? — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:44:09+0100

This video is not new, but a friend just pointed it to me. It is noteworthy because it shows a dude shooting himself in the chest and not dying. Also, because it includes mock-pizza-boxes crafted for a robbery enactment on television. The mock pizzas appear to be made of palm thatch. How do they do that?

Richard Davis, former U.S. Marine and onetime pizza delivery guy in Detroit, survived a gun shootout (he killed three armed robbers when they attacked him during a delivery). He went on to develop new forms of concealable body armor using kevlar. Those products are now widely used by military and law enforcement personnel, and private sector folks who have reason to believe they will be shot. This video tells a bit of his life story.

Richard Davis: video
[ YouTube, via, thanks, Susannah Breslin ]
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Barlow's Forth of July message (Boing Boing)

Stross's new novel: Saturn's Children, a late Heinlein homage — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:01:03+0100

Vinay sez, "John Perry Barlow is in Iceland for the Icelandic Foundation for Digital Freedoms' conference. We shot this Fourth of July talk with him at Thingvellir, the ancient site of Iceland's historic parliamentary republic, B. 930 AD, D. about 3 centuries later." Link (Thanks, Vinay!)
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As price of fuel soars, so does a dirigible renaissance? (Boing Boing)

Boing Boing — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:03:08+0100

Snip from an article in today's New York Times about a slew of designers and firms developing new models of airships. These passenger-carrying aircraft float on the wind, rather than being propelled solely by fuel (more precise explanation here). And, ah, hopefully they don't blow up in the sky or whatever. As the cost of fuel soars and the pressure mounts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, several schemes for a new generation of airship are being considered by governments and private companies. ?It?s a romantic project,? said Mr. Massaud, 45, sitting amid furniture designs in his Paris studio, ?but then look at Jules Verne.?

It has been more than 70 years since the giant Hindenburg zeppelin exploded in a spectacular fireball over Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 crew members and passengers, abruptly ending an earlier age of airships. But because of new materials and sophisticated means of propulsion, a diverse cast of entrepreneurs is taking another look at the behemoths of the air.

Mr. Massaud, a designer of hotels in California and a stadium in Mexico, has not ironed out the technical details, nor has he found financiers or corporate backers for his project ? to create a 690-foot zeppelin shaped like a whale, with a luxury hotel attached, that he has named Manned Cloud. And, heh, my favorite quote here: ?A dirigible is something magical,? said J�r�me Giacomoni, who was 25 when he founded Aerophile with a friend. ?But most of the ideas are crazy.? Why Fly When You Can Float? [NYT]
Image: Jean-Marie Massaud.
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Anatomic model puzzles of surpassing loveliness (Boing Boing)

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:08:04+0100

I just stumbled on Kikkerland's "Anatomic 3-D Puzzles" in a shop and was absolutely enthralled. These are snap-together models (calling them "puzzles" is a little weird, actually) showing the anatomy of various critters, from humans to cows, mammoths, and my favorites, beetles and snails. They're made out of plastic that feels just like the plastic they use for the anatomical models you had in senior biology class, with the same color schemes, but the sculpting is absolutely gorgeous, making them into stylish knick-knacks as well as interesting scientific instructional materials.

Kikkerland's online shop carries the whole line, albeit at about 10 percent higher prices than other webstores that carry one or two. My advice is to check out the items here, find the ones you want and google for a cheaper one at another store. Link
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YouTube user data must be turned over to Viacom, judge rules (Boing Boing)

California construction codes liberated -- now free for download — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:34:43+0100

A federal judge this week ordered Google to provide Viacom with records of which users watched which videos on YouTube. The ruling raises fears that the video viewing histories of tens of millions of people could be exposed. The sheer amount of data we're talking about here is massive -- for each and every YouTube video ever watched since YouTube launched in 2005, Google now has to to turn over to Viacom the login name of every user who had watched every video, and their the IP addresses.

Snip from NYT story by Miguel Helft: Google and Viacom said they were hoping to come up with a way to protect the anonymity of the site?s visitors. Viacom also said that the information would be safeguarded by a protective order restricting access to the data to outside lawyers, who will use it solely to press Viacom?s $1 billion copyright suit against Google.

Still, the judge?s order, which was made public late Wednesday, renewed concerns among privacy advocates that Internet companies like Google are collecting unprecedented amounts of private information that could be misused or fall unexpectedly into the hands of third parties.

?These very large databases of transactional information become honey pots for law enforcement or for litigants,? said Chris Hoofnagle, a senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. Google Told to Turn Over User Data of YouTube [New York Times]

Update: Here's a related statement from the EFF.
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The Revolutionary iHam (Boing Boing)

YouTube user data must be turned over to Viacom, judge rules — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:02:49+0100

From the PR/Marketing firm Shackleton in Spain, a super funny riff on Apple products (which has been circulating in the Spanish blogosphere for months). The introductory video will make you burp bacon, it's so funny. Lulz deconstruction, for non-Spanish readers: the "j" would sound like "h" in Spanish if you said the word "iJam." Anyway, somehow the guy's Castellano accent makes it even funnier, because the "th" sounds are all so fancy to my mexican-spanish-trained ear.

iHam 5Js.

Below: More recently, some guys tried to return their iHam at the Apple store, and were rebuffed. Wikreate's response to Shackleton's iJam.

[Thanks, Ari Kuschnir]
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Jesse Helms leaves the planet. (Boing Boing)

Where the Linear Crosses the Exponential: Kevin Kelly — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:40:29+0100

US Senator Jesse Helms died today. Here were his words in 1956, responding to criticism that a fictional black character in his newspaper column was racist: To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing. Jesse Helms quotes on life and politics [AP]
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Captain America, Fuck Yeah! (Boing Boing)

Some douche steals Ian Curtis' (of Joy Division) headstone — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:45:09+0100

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. Blow some shit up!

Captain America Fuck Yeah
[YouTube; the song in this unauthorized and infringalicious fan video was lifted from the great Matt Stone and Trey Parker epic, Team America: World Police, referenced in these BB posts of yore: 1, 2.]
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America loves drugs (Boing Boing)

Bugs have creepy faces — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:54:27+0100

According to a new international study, the United States has the highest rates of pot and coke use, followed by New Zealand. The other 15 countries surveyed by the World Health Organization didn't even come close. Approximately 42.4 percent of those surveyed in the US say they've used marijuana, with 20.2 percent admitting to having tried the drug by age 15. From Alternet: The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy tried to dismiss the study, Bloomberg News reported:

Trying to find a link between drug use and drug enforcement doesn't make sense, said Tom Riley, spokesman for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington. "The U.S. has high crime rates but we spend a lot on law enforcement and prison,'' Riley said yesterday in a telephone interview. "Should we spend less? We're just a different kind of country. We have higher drug use rates, a higher crime rate, many things that go with a highly free and mobile society."

Funny, ONDCP takes precisely the opposite line whenever a state considers liberalizing its marijuana laws. In a March press release, deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns railed against a New Hampshire proposal to decriminalize marijuana, saying such a move "sends the wrong message to New Hampshire's youth, students, parents, public health officials and the law enforcement community," and would lead to "more drugs, drug users and drug dealers on their streets and communities." WHO drug use survey (Alternet, via Dose Nation)
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iPhone 3G?s screws may indicate 'User-Replaceable Battery' (Digg / Technology)

Digg / Technology — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:00:04+0100

Two small screws on the bottom of the device on either side of the standard docking connector is a stark design change from a company that is known for hiding screws from sight on their handheld devices. Some have speculated that the screws may be removed for replacement of the battery and other components.

iPhone 3G line camping begins... now! (Digg / Technology)

BitTorrent Tracker Hosting Illegal Says Dutch Court — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:10:10+0100

It's going to be a long week. Anyone seen Greg Packer?

Yamaha YSP-3050: Single-speaker surround with improved HDMI support ( CNET News. ...

Blockbuster abandons Circuit City bid — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:04:00+0100

The Yamaha YSP-3050 boasts a small--but important--upgrade to the YSP-3000

(Credit: Yamaaha)

When CNET reviewed the Yamaha YSP-3000 Digital Sound Projector, we singled out its "limited video capabilities" as one of the main shortfalls of the virtual surround speaker system.

Yamaha must have listened, because the company has just unveiled an upgraded version that addresses that very issue. The YSP-3050 adds to the mix the conversion of analog to digital video, but it's essentially otherwise identical to its predecessor. That's not a bad thing, either: we've found that the Yamaha YSP line remains the best choice for delivering convincing virtual surround-effects from a single speaker, and its all-in-one design precludes the need to purchase a separate AV receiver.

According to the specs page on Yamaha's site, the YSP-3050 has a component and composite video input, in addition to its two HDMI ins.

...

Week in review: Microhoogle intrigue (CNET News.com)

VeriSign names interim CEO — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:00:00+0100

Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google are facing probes, proxies, and accusations of backroom politicking as their various attempts to link up come under scrutiny. Also: searching for content within Flash is becoming easier.

Viacom's Statement on YouTube User Data Controversy (Digg / Technology)

How Ironical.. The Pirate Bay Sues Anti Piracy Agencies — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:30:20+0100

"It is unfortunate that we have been compelled to go to court ...YouTube and Google have put us in this position by continuing to defend their illegal and irresponsible conduct and profiting from copyright infringement, when they could be implementing the safe and legal user generated content experience they promise."

Vancouver Sun: Don't buy the iPhone (Digg / Technology)

Thank you, Adobe Reader 9! — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:55:28+0100

If you don't like the price of an iPhone, don't buy it. One side-effect of the year-long wait for iPhones in Canada is that other gadgets, such as the much-talked about Samsung Instinct, are providing new competition.If Rogers finds it has priced itself out of the market, it won't take a petition to ring in lower prices.

Ubuntu 8.04.1 has been released! (Digg / Technology)

Global TV Speaks the Truth About Rogers iPhone 3G Price Plan — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:20:04+0100

The first Long Term Support updated image for Ubuntu 8.04 has been released. This release contains all the security and bug fixes in the two months since it was released, including Firefox 3 final. If you tried 8.04 and had an issue with a bug, you may want to give it another try.

The iPhone's cross-border price clash (Digg / Technology)

Survey: 10,000 Laptops Lost or Stolen at Airports Per Week — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:30:04+0100

"The summer launch of the iPhone in Canada was supposed to be a time for Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. to celebrate. Instead, the company with exclusive rights to the hottest new tech gadget finds itself on the defensive, stung by public criticism over pricing."

The Miraculous Machine that Can Reproduce Itself (Digg / Technology)

At Yahoo, a Threat from Within — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:00:04+0100

The RepRap is a printer of three-dimensional objects. It's like the desktop printer you might have at home, but instead of printing on paper, the RepRap makes hard copy in three dimensions out of plastic from models designed on a computer. It's an extremely powerful technology that could give people the ability to create virtually anything.

The Coolest iPhone Timeline you will see Today (Digg / Technology)

Flash 10-beta2 Linux — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:00:02+0100

iPhone timelines are not usually cool but this one is. Take a look at it and see.

Thank you, Adobe Reader 9! (Digg / Technology)

iPhone 3G?s screws may indicate 'User-Replaceable Battery' — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:40:02+0100

Recently I wrote a blog entry about bloated software, and how much better Foxit PDF reader was than Adobe Reader. But I was using Adobe Reader 8. Little did I know how much superior version 9 would be.

Survey: 10,000 Laptops Lost or Stolen at Airports Per Week (Digg / Technology)

The Miraculous Machine that Can Reproduce Itself — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:50:08+0100

More than 10,000 laptops are lost or stolen each week at U.S. airports, says security industry executive Richard Stiennon in a blog for NetworkWorld.com. He cites a survey conducted by The Ponemon Institute, a monitor of privacy and security issues.

Sony's Stan Glasgow talks TVs, Blu-ray ( CNET News. ...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:00:00+0100

After navigating some rough seas, Sony's Electronics division has been starting to right the ship.

Over the past year, the company has been forced to rethink its product lineup and catch up to competitors in some cases, but now the Japanese electronics giant's U.S. division is looking ...

Sony unleashes three new ES receivers ( CNET News. ...

Princeton University to publish Kindle textbooks — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:31:00+0100

Sony STR-DA4400ES: the flagship receiver in the company's 2008 lineup.

(Credit: Sony)

Sony has unveiled three new AV receivers in its flagship ES ("elevated standard") lineup. While the company's announcement is light on specifics, it looks as if some or all of the models will offer the lossless audio decoding for Blu-ray movies, graphical user interfaces, Sirius and XM satellite radio compatibility, automatic speaker calibration, and upscaling of analog video sources to 1080p HDMI output. Model-by-model details include:

...

Samsung Instinct Just Only Looks Like an iPhone (Digg / Technology)

Vancouver Sun: Don't buy the iPhone — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:50:25+0100

Sprint Nextel's Samsung Instinct bears a resemblance to Apple's iPhone. But the Instinct doesn't come with features to rival those of the iPhone. Nor does its price, $229.99 before a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract, offer a big discount over of Apple's creation.

Rogers Is Confusing the Canadian Public Even More Now (Digg / Technology)

Jobs & Co. Sued Again — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:50:03+0100

Wow, what value!...Rogers' spokeswoman Liz Hamilton said consumers can decide what's best for them.Hamilton said consumers can pay $30 a month for a lower-use data plan to $100 for six gigabytes, which she noted is for heavy use such things as streaming video."They don't have to take the value.

Princeton University to publish Kindle textbooks ( CNET News. ...

Daily Debrief: What to expect with the new iPhone release — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:10:00+0100

Another prestigious school is embracing Amazon's Kindle e-reader.

Princeton University has announced that it will start printing Kindle-edition textbooks this fall, according to a story in The Christian Science Monitor.

Princeton follows Yale, Oxford, and UC Berkeley in creating textbooks for the Kindle. In the United States, there are ...

PlayStation 3 gets firmware upgrade ( CNET News. ...

Former HP printing exec indicted — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:48:00+0100

Update: Sony has suspended the 2.40 upgrade, following reports that it has fouled up some PS3 systems (see Joystiq for more). While the two PS3s we have here at CNET were able to install the update with no adverse effects, it appears that some users were considerable less fortunate....

Photos: Up close with the Blue Angels (CNET News.com)

Photos: Cracking Open the Apple Macintosh Classic — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:00:00+0100

News.com reporter Daniel Terdiman visits Florida's Naval Air Station Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels.

Photos: Top 10 reviews of the week (CNET News.com)

Photos: Army designates year's best inventions — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:45:00+0100

CNET Reviews rates the Garmin Nuvi 880 car GPS gadget, a Panasonic Viera flat-screen TV, the Asus Eee PC 901 laptop, and more.

Photos: Cracking Open the Apple Macintosh Classic (CNET News.com)

Week in review: Microhoogle intrigue — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:00:00+0100

TechRepublic examines just what went into one of the most famous personal computers ever manufactured--and what tech was like in 1991.

Photos: Army designates year's best inventions (CNET News.com)

Google's new privacy link — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:00:00+0100

Every year, the U.S. Army designates a set of top inventions. This year's list includes a GPS-guided artillery shell and a new method for saving severely injured soldiers.

Optimize Ubuntu 8.04 for Speed (Digg / Technology)

The iPhone's cross-border price clash — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:20:06+0100

So what if Ubuntu is a fast operating system?... There is always room for some more tweaking...

OpenMoko FreeRunner Linux phone to launch on July 4 (Digg / Technology)

1.8GHz SSD MacBook Air Drops $500 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:50:02+0100

OpenMoko has announced plans to launch the Linux-based FreeRunner mobile phone on July 4. The highly-anticipated open source handset will be distributed through OpenMoko's web-based store and will begin shipping on July 7. The FreeRunner will also be available from several vendors in Europe and India.

New Apple touch patents, body part sensing, fingernail input (Digg / Technology)

Court order on YouTube user data fans privacy fears — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:40:10+0100

"...In what's considered the definitive overview of Apple's attempts to patent its multi-touch interface..." MacHappens

NVIDIA - "significant quantities" of laptop GPUs defective (Digg / Technology)

The Coolest iPhone Timeline you will see Today — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:50:02+0100

informed investors that "significant quantities" of previous-generation graphics chips have been failing at "higher than normal rates," and that it's lowering its Q2 estimates due to pricing pressure.

LifeHacker's Five Best Windows Maintenance Tools (Digg / Technology)

Dashboard widget: Organized brings the productivity pain — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:00:02+0100

You download, create, delete, and move around countless files and endless piles of data on your PC every day. While your PC would ideally handle all of this data for you, it doesn't take long before you end up with a disorganized, cluttered PC.

Laptop heralds Intel Centrino 2 mobile gaming ( CNET News. ...

Yamaha YSP-3050: Single-speaker surround with improved HDMI support — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:45:00+0100

Germany-based Cizmo is offering an Intel Centrino 2-based gaming laptop that shows what's in store for mobile gamers this summer.

Intel's newest crop of Centrino 2 Montevina mobile processors are slated for a July 14 rollout and will include the Extreme X9100 processor: the first Penryn-class mobile processor to break the 3.0GHz barrier.

Cizmo CX1730M packs an Extreme X9100 mobile processor

(Credit: Cizmo)

The Cizmo 17-inch CX1730M can be configured with an Intel X9100 Extreme processor running at 3.06GHz. A key feature of Intel X-class mobile processors is that they are designed to be overclocked.

The CX1730M can also take an Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX graphics chip.

Memory based on the new DDR3 standard is also offered. DDR3 SDRAM can be hooked up to Intel's faster 1066MHz front-side bus. Currently, Intel's front-side bus--which carries data between the processor and other silicon--runs at 800MHz.

Other specifications for the CX1730M include Intel's newest PM45 chipset. Intel stated last month that initially only the PM chipset--for discrete (standalone) graphics chips--would be available. The GM version with Intel integrated graphics will arrive in August.

...

Jobs 2.0 (Digg / Technology)

iPhone 3G line camping begins... now! — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:50:04+0100

Apple is quietly grooming talent. Pity whoever has to follow Steve Jobs at Apple. Not every great company stumbles into oblivion after the departure of a visionary founder. The problem: Jobs has left once before, and until he came back, it looked like Apple would be one of those companies.

Jobs & Co. Sued Again (Digg / Technology)

Viacom's Statement on YouTube User Data Controversy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:00:09+0100

Some of Apple's top executives, including Steve Jobs, have once again been accused of bad faith in backdating company shares. Simultaneously, Mac web share is nearing eight percent in one report, K-12 educational material has reached iTunes U, and Microsoft has shipped the second edition of Remote Desktop Connection for Mac.

It's not the Gates, it's the bars (Digg / Technology)

LifeHacker's Five Best Windows Maintenance Tools — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:40:03+0100

To pay so much attention to Bill Gates' retirement is missing the point. What really matters is not Gates, nor Microsoft, but the unethical system of restrictions that Microsoft, like many other software companies, imposes on its customers.

Indiana Gregg to The Pirate Bay: The Internet Police Are Com (Digg / Technology)

New Apple touch patents, body part sensing, fingernail input — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:50:28+0100

A little while ago we wrote about the exchange of emails between artist Indiana Gregg and The Pirate Bay. Indiana wanted The Pirate Bay to remove torrents linking to her work, which they refused to do. Now Indiana has a response for The Pirate Bay and file-sharers in general. It doesn?t pull many punches.

How To Get Started Programming With Django (Digg / Technology)

OpenMoko FreeRunner Linux phone to launch on July 4 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:20:02+0100

Django is a web framework designed to help you build complex web applications simply and quickly. It's written in the Python programming language. Django can do some very complex things with less code and a simpler execution than you'd expect. This tutorial breaks down how to start working with Django.

How Ironical.. The Pirate Bay Sues Anti Piracy Agencies (Digg / Technology)

Optimize Ubuntu 8.04 for Speed — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:00:05+0100

The Pirate Bay, the world's largest bit-torrent tracker allegedly claims damages against anti-piracy agencies. i mean, how weird can things get?

Hello: Macs Are About to Get Interesting Again (Digg / Technology)

Garmin Nav devices run Gnome Linux — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:40:05+0100

On the future of macs, starting with all new technologies in 10.6, new GPUs that help with general purpose processing, iPhone/iPod halo effect etc. Looking forward to what the future will bring.

Google Changes Home Page, Adding Link to Privacy Policy (Digg / Technology)

Samsung Instinct Just Only Looks Like an iPhone — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:58:18+0100

The word ?privacy? now appears on Google?s home page, with a link to the company?s privacy policy.

Global TV Speaks the Truth About Rogers iPhone 3G Price Plan (Digg / Technology)

Jobs 2.0 — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:30:13+0100

Global TV in BC's segment about Rogers pricing vs AT&T. One of the best segments revealing how Rogers is profiting off Canadians.

Garmin Nav devices run Gnome Linux (Digg / Technology)

Don't buy Nvidia's GTX 200 cards now! Price cut on the way! — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:40:07+0100

Garmin has posted Linux source code for its Nuvi 8xx and Nuvi 5xxx-series GPS navigation devices. The Nuvi 8xx offers a 4.3-inch, 480x272 display, and appears to be based on a Marvell PXA-3xx processor, Gnome Mobile Linux, and GeoClue location technology.

Former HP printing exec indicted ( CNET News. ...

'Netflix box' to carry more than just Netflix — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:21:00+0100

A former vice president of Hewlett-Packard's printing division has been indicted by federal prosecutors for allegedly sharing with HP confidential information from his previous employer.

First reported by Wired, the indictment was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. As director of sales and business ...

Flash 10-beta2 Linux (Digg / Technology)

Hello: Macs Are About to Get Interesting Again — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:20:02+0100

Flash Player 10 beta 2 was released on 7/2/2008 and includes new features and bug fixes.

Firefox Users Most Secure on Internet, Study Reveals (Digg / Technology)

22-foot tall robot crafted entirely from excess styrofoam — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:00:03+0100

Mozilla Firefox fans might rest a little easier these days after a study released Tuesday revealed that its users are most secure on the Internet.

Don't buy Nvidia's GTX 200 cards now! Price cut on the way! (Digg / Technology)

Apple orders 50 million 8 GB NAND flash chips — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:50:59+0100

It's getting better and better. Loosk like ATI's Radeon 4800 is much better than Nvidia expected.

Dashboard widget: Organized brings the productivity pain (Digg / Technology)

NVIDIA - "significant quantities" of laptop GPUs defective — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:10:03+0100

OS X and its technologies offer a dizzying amount of ways to get productive. Organized is a new Dashboard widget that combines a world clock with Leopard's events, to-dos, and notes in a handy little package.

Daily Debrief: What to expect with the new iPhone release ( CNET News. ...

Laptop heralds Intel Centrino 2 mobile gaming — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:15:00+0100

In Friday's edition of the Daily Debrief, CNET News.com's Tom Krazit and I talk about the July 11 release of the iPhone 3G. Apple has been notoriously tight-lipped about the details, but Tom says there are a few known factors. For one, every customer will have to ...

Court order on YouTube user data fans privacy fears (Digg / Technology)

Rogers Is Confusing the Canadian Public Even More Now — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:40:07+0100

A U.S. judge's order to Google Inc to turn over YouTube user data to Viacom Inc sparked an outcry on Thursday from privacy advocates in the midst of a legal showdown over video piracy.

Blockbuster abandons Circuit City bid ( CNET News. ...

PlayStation 3 gets firmware upgrade — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:10:00+0100

Movie-rental chain Blockbuster announced Tuesday that it has withdrawn its $1 billion bid for consumer electronics chain Circuit City.

Chief Executive James Keyes blamed "market conditions" for the demise of the proposed deal, valued at one time at more than $1.3 billion.

"Based on market conditions and the completion

...

BitTorrent Tracker Hosting Illegal Says Dutch Court (Digg / Technology)

10 Gadgety Reasons To Love America — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:46:33+0100

Leaseweb, the former ISP of BitTorrent trackers such as Demonoid, What.cd and Waffles.fm lost the appeal against the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN. The Amsterdam court concluded that Leaseweb has to permanently shut down the BitTorrent tracker everlasting.nu, and hand over the admin?s personal information.

Bandwidth caps could lead to ISPs benefiting from piracy (Digg / Technology)

Apple Manila Case - Dell to Ship All Computers — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:14:05+0100

As Time Warner begins experimenting with bandwidth caps, which are commonplace in other countries, the possibility now exists that ISPs will benefit financially from their customers burning through their monthly limits to keep grabbing P2P content.

At Yahoo, a Threat from Within (Digg / Technology)

Ubuntu 8.04.1 has been released! — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:10:09+0100

The central complaint revolves around slow decision-making, a long-standing issue. New services still must run a gauntlet of meetings and approvals that can delay them for months. "It was difficult to get things done," says Greg Yardley, a product manager who left earlier this year.

Apple orders 50 million 8 GB NAND flash chips (Digg / Technology)

Indiana Gregg to The Pirate Bay: The Internet Police Are Com — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:45:57+0100

In a move that is believed to help Apple to secure low NAND flash memory prices as well as create artificial shortages for competitors, Apple has ordered 50 million flash memory chips for its iPhones and iPods from Samsung Electronics. Apple huge order is in place to support an increase in iPhone production.

Apple Manila Case - Dell to Ship All Computers (Digg / Technology)

Firefox Users Most Secure on Internet, Study Reveals — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:01:02+0100

Surprising everyone but industry guru Gene Munster, Dell has announced a partnership with Apple Inc. that will see the former licensing the latter's exclusive Manila Case technology to ship all their computer products and accessories, like their Dell Rubber Chickens and Dell Texas-Style BBQ Ribs. "It was bound to happen,"

22-foot tall robot crafted entirely from excess styrofoam (Digg / Technology)

Google Changes Home Page, Adding Link to Privacy Policy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:56:53+0100

The creature you see standing before you is a 22-foot tall Styrobot constructed entirely from spare polystyrene packing materials, and no, each piece didn't just show up that way. Michael Salter managed to whittle away on this beast until its completion

10 Gadgety Reasons To Love America (Digg / Technology)

Bandwidth caps could lead to ISPs benefiting from piracy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:10:06+0100

And if you are still not convinced, just remember?you could be living in Canada.

1.8GHz SSD MacBook Air Drops $500 (Digg / Technology)

It's not the Gates, it's the bars — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:10:28+0100

Apple has quietly dropped the price of the high end MacBook Air by $500. The high end MacBook Air comes equipped with a 1.8GHz upgrade (from 1.6GHz) and a 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD). The total price for the high end laptop is $2598. Compare this to the original price of the 1.8GHz/SSD MacBook...

'Netflix box' to carry more than just Netflix ( CNET News. ...

Sony's Stan Glasgow talks TVs, Blu-ray — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:58:00+0100

Turns out, the so-called Netflix box could be even cooler than initially thought.

The tiny black device from Roku was introduced to the world in May as the first box that could stream Netflix's "Watch it Now" option directly to a television.

But the company is saying there could ...

Video: Latest in Viacom-Google lawsuit raises questions (CNET News.com)

EA debuts new family, sports games for Wii, PlayStation — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:48:00+0100

News.com's Dan Farber tells what's at stake for users' privacy as a result of a federal judge's ruling that Google must turn data over to Viacom.

VeriSign names interim CEO (CNET News.com)

1 euro eBay baby goes home — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:02:00+0100

Company's founder takes the place of the CEO and president, who resigned abruptly earlier this week.

Researcher faults Apple iPhone on security updates (CNET News.com)

Video: Latest in Viacom-Google lawsuit raises questions — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:22:00+0100

He says iPhone, still at version 1.1.4, is at least four months behind desktop OS in patching many known Mac OS X security vulnerabilities.

News.com Daily Podcast: Should YouTube users worry about privacy? (CNET News.com)

Daily Debrief: Celebrating America's independence, questioning our own online — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:40:00+0100

How engineering is helping revive post-Katrina New Orleans; Google and Viacom battle over user privacy; and what Microsoft has to do with the Facebook and ConnectU legal battle.

Mozilla and Opera fix security flaws (CNET News.com)

Hundreds of Lithuanian Web sites defaced — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:59:00+0100

Opera updates its most recent release, while Mozilla continues to support an older version of Firefox with updates.

Japanese Shell subsidiary plans solar-panel plant (CNET News.com)

At home with the Blue Angels — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:13:00+0100

Oil company turns to the sun, with plans to build a factory manufacturing thin-film solar panels with a cumulative yearly power generation capacity of 1 gigawatt.

Hundreds of Lithuanian Web sites defaced (CNET News.com)

News.com Daily Podcast: Should YouTube users worry about privacy? — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:35:00+0100

Loosely affiliated supporters mount an online protest over new laws in Lithuania banning the display of Soviet symbols.

Google's new privacy link (CNET News.com)

CNET News.com — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:55:00+0100

Company adds a link to its home page that leads to its privacy center, but it's unclear thus far how consumer advocates will react.

Google RatProxy looks for cross-site flaws (CNET News.com)

Researcher faults Apple iPhone on security updates — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:51:00+0100

Free tool helps Web developers analyze their site for a variety of cross-site vulnerabilities.

Four security bulletins expected on Patch Tuesday (CNET News.com)

EIC Squared: Indexing Flash; Powerset; and Viacom vs. Google — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:23:00+0100

The four, which will be released next week, are considered important, not critical, says Microsoft.

EIC Squared: Indexing Flash; Powerset; and Viacom vs. Google (CNET News.com)

Mozilla and Opera fix security flaws — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:34:00+0100

On this week's EIC Squared podcast, CNET News.com's Dan Farber and ZDNet's Larry Dignan discuss the week's big stories.

EA debuts new family, sports games for Wii, PlayStation (CNET News.com)

Japanese Shell subsidiary plans solar-panel plant — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:32:00+0100

After its pairing with board game maker Hasbro, EA shows off its new family-oriented games and an "All-Play" series for Wii.

Daily Debrief: Celebrating America's independence, questioning our own online (CNET News.com)

Google RatProxy looks for cross-site flaws — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:44:00+0100

On Thursday's edition of the Daily Debrief, CNET News.com's Kara Tsuboi and Dan Farber discuss the latest development in the Google-Viacom lawsuit.

At home with the Blue Angels (CNET News.com)

Photos: Up close with the Blue Angels — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:00:00+0100

During a visit to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., CNET News.com's Daniel Terdiman gets to see the high-performance pilots up close.

Ask.com closes Dictionary.com deal (CNET News.com)

Photos: Top 10 reviews of the week — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:52:00+0100

Fourth-ranked search engine completes its acquisition of the parent company of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com.

1 euro eBay baby goes home (CNET News.com)

Ask.com closes Dictionary.com deal — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:37:00+0100

Parents had put their baby boy up for sale on eBay--apparently as a joke--but German authorities didn't find it particularly amusing.