Actor Corey Haim, 38, died this morning of an apparent overdose of prescription medications. The Canadian actor reportedly collapsed in a bathroom and was... »
Technology
Another Home Run For Apple
Enter the iPad! It’s only half an inch thick, weighs 1/2 pounds, and with its aluminum back, it even feels great. Turn it on and you have an incredibly vivid 9.7-inch display protected by a glass touch-screen ready for the ultimate in user-friendly selections of books, newspapers, Web sites and videos. If it resembles its... »
iTablet Second Quarter Launch Predicted
Sources in Taiwan indicate that shipments for touchscreen panels and orders for cases point to a second quarter availability of the much touted Apple tablet. “Production of the cases will begin in February, so everything points to a second-quarter launch right now,” one of the sources told Reuters. “It doesn’t take that long for the... »
Nexus One Announcement Today?
Speculation is running high over whether Google will unveil its highly anticipated Nexus One smartphone today. Although the pending announcement is creating excitement amongst gadget lovers around the world, Wall Street is taking a wait-and-see view on Google’s first effort to sell a hardware product directly to consumers. Reuters reported that many of the details of... »
Browser Choice Optional In EU
Microsoft will allow rival Internet browsers on its systems in the European Union (EU) by mid-March. This is the result of a compromise with EU regulators thus ending a long antitrust dispute with the U.S. software maker. Reuters reported that the decision averted another penalty for Microsoft which has been fined 1.68 billion euros ($2.44... »
New Sodium-Ion Battery Promises Cheap Energy Storage
A new battery development could provide a cost effective solution for storing power from wind and solar farms. According to Technology Review, a new design using sodium ions would be considerable less expensive that lithium-ion batteries currently in use. Jay Whitacre, a professor of materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, heads the... »
Warning! Warning! Christmas Scams Are Out There
To highlight the increased crime during the holidays, security company McAfee has come up with the “12 Scams of Christmas” ranging from bogus electronic greeting cards that deliver malware instead of cheer to fake charities that steal your money and your identity. Cnet has captured these in a blog by Larry Magid. It’s especially important... »
A Mobile Supercomputer In Your Hand
Google CEO Eric Schmidt described the future sought by Google and other tech companies: 100-megabit broadband and a supercomputer in every pocket. Information Week covered Schmidt’s remarks made before 900 technology executives at the Utah Technology Council’s Hall of Fame event in Salt Lake City: “A billion people on the planet are carrying supercomputers in their... »
Google Adds Free GPS To Android
Google has enjoyed a double-barreled media score today. Of the two major announcements, it is difficult to discern which is the most far reaching. Of monumental importance with global overtones was the announcement of the decision made by the Los Angeles City Council today that it will outsource its e-mail system to Google Inc. According to... »
The Droids Are Coming (VIDEO)
The Droids are coming! – disguised as futuristic, multifunctional cellphones. These are advanced communicators that Spock and Kirk would have died for. Some say evolutionary, others say revolutionary. Regardless, the pre-launch hype is underway at Verizon. Is Droid the anticipated iPhone killer? It is obvious that Verizon is positioning it to be a direct threat to the... »
iTablet Prognostications
In his story in the October 26 issue of NEWSWEEK magazine, Daniel Lyons piques the interests of all tech-dom as he speculates on what is sure to be Apple’s forthcoming success, the “iTablet”. Although his story begins with a description of the future Apple version of a tablet computer, interlaced within the article is a... »
Did You Know?
Fantastic video on the progression of information technology, researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Brenman. View video below: »
Smart Grid Is Coming To Your Neighborhood
If asked to define the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century, most would say the automobile. In 2000, America’s National Academy of Engineering gave a different answer: “the vast networks of electrification”. This, the academy concluded, made the vast majority of the century’s other advances possible. In a detailed article in the Economist, there is... »
iPhone MMS Update September 25, 2009
The long-awaited iPhone MMS feature is finally available through an upgrade by AT&T. A patch can be downloaded from iTunes, allowing AT&T 3G phone users to send pictures and videos. Walkthrough instructions for downloading the MMS update can be found at TheiPhoneBlog. With virtually every other phone on the market having MMS capability, the issue has... »
Conficker Invasion
The digital world has been invaded by a rogue software program that was launched onto the Internet last November. According to The New York Times, the program, known as Conficker, uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. It has managed... »
Video Ads To Appear In Paper Magazines
Something is unusual in the magazine you just received in the mail. One of the pages is thicker than the rest – about a tenth of an inch. Thinking that it is another ad insert, you prepare to remove and toss it as a nuisance. When you open to this page, suddenly a moving image... »
The Demand For Medical Image Storage Soars
An article in InformationWeek details an impending crises facing hospitals; the lack of available image storage capacity. As medical imaging technology improves and more clinicians demand access to patients’ diagnostic-quality images, healthcare providers are finding that storage requirements are soaring. Previously, radiology and cardiology departments were the primary users of medical imaging systems, but recently medical... »
Google, Facebook and Twitter Targeted By Hackers
The BBC reports that on Thursday, several high-profile websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter were targeted by hackers in what is described as a “massively co-ordinated attack”. The popular sites were subject to a so-called denial-of-service (DOS) attacks, the companies believe. DOS attacks take various forms but often involve a company’s servers being flooded with... »
Bright Spot On Venus Puzzles Experts
Experts are puzzled by a bright spot on Venus. No, not Venus de Milo, the famous and quite beautiful Greek statue, it’s the planet Venus. According to the BBC, the spot was first identified on July 19, by US amateur astronomer Frank Melillo, from Holtsville, New York. His discovery was later confirmed by the European... »
“Cannabis” – New iPhone App
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” This has been sound healthy advice since the 19th century. A new ditty may well become more popular; “An Apple app today will bring medicinal marijuana your way.” You just knew it had to happen. PC World describes a new app, aptly named “Cannabis,” that for a $2.99 download... »
Cuil Reborn
One year ago, the search engine Cuil all but disentegrated on the launchpad. Like a David going against a Goliath, Cuil was originally over-promoted as a “Google-killer.” In reality, this time, a little David stumbled under the weight of its meager weapons against those of the reigning giant. It fell amongst its crashed servers with dying gasps of... »
North Korea Cyber Attack
North Korea was indeed behind the cyberattacks that targeted dozens of Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea over the past week, a U.S. defense official told Fox News Wednesday afternoon. According to the Washington Post, at least 35 government and commercial Web sites in South Korea and the United States came under major... »
Google Chrome Operating System
Google is working on a new operating system based on the company’s nine-month-old Web browser, Chrome. The new Chrome operating system is expected to begin running computers in the second half of 2010. Google is designing the operating system primarily for “netbooks,” lower-cost laptops used mainly for surfing the web. Google says that Chrome will be... »
Codex Sinaiticus Goes Digital
After four years of intensive work and serious global diplomacy, one of the most important books in the world has been restored and now released as a digital document. Due to the efforts of the Codex Sinaiticus Project and their successful international collaboration, it was possible to assemble and restore this invaluable treasure for... »
Michael Jackson’s Death = Spam and Malware Attacks
Major internet security companies are warning that we can expect a spam deluge following Michael Jackson’s death. The death of a popular star always brings the crooks out of the woodwork. An article in Computerworld confirms within hours after news broke about Jackson, England-based Sophos, started tracking the first wave of Jackson spam, which used... »
Googling a Twitter
Bing, Twitter, Google, Blog, Yahoo! What has happened to old fashioned brand names? Sure, we have had Clogs, Walkmans, etc., but at least a clog is suggestive of foot activity, likewise the Walkman. Remember when a product had a proud logo like Sony, Amazon, Lexus, Accenture, Tempur-Pedic, Microsoft, IBM, etc.? What do these new megaproduct,... »
Intervention Justified?
A Case for Government Intervention? According to a report from McAfee, over 60 trillion unsolicited e-mails (SPAM) were sent in 2008, using 33 terawatt hours of electricity (A terawatt is equal to one trillion watts.) 1.5 million American homes or 3.1 million cars consume this amount of power in one year. If this were generated... »
