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From: Infinite Loop
Apple COO Tim Cook's warning from early 2009 wasn't the only one that handset makers received before Apple sicced the lawyers on HTC last week. According to a research note from Oppenheimer analyst Yal Reiner, Apple began warning top executives at companies such as HTC and Motorola in January that it wasn't too happy about seeing allegedly iPhone-related IP showing up in proposed new products.
According to "industry checks," Cook's comments last January during the quarterly analyst call—that Apple "will not stand for having our IP ripped off, and we'll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal"—were taken seriously by the likes of LG, Samsung, and even Nokia. Though the Palm Pre openly flaunted multitouch capabilities (what most handset makers believed were at the heart of Cook's warning), its sales numbers haven't proven to be much of a concern for Apple so far.
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Apparently the iTunes LP format was a concession from the iTunes DRM/price negotiations and not Apple's idea. This is why you're failing, music labels!
Read More: GigaOM, - Ars Technica
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The EFF has published the iPhone developer agreement. Many of the stipulations are not new to most of us, but the EFF offers a number of criticisms on the agreement's limitations.
Read More: EFF
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Apple subsidiary FileMaker has released version 11 of its flagship FileMaker Pro database. The updated software purports to make building and maintaining databases even easier, while acknowledging that many users are accustomed to using spreadsheets for database purposes by including pivot table-like reporting and Excel-like charting features. FileMaker Pro Server has also been updated, dropping the simultaneous client access limit for the Advanced version.
FileMaker Pro already laid claim to being one of the easiest cross-platform database tools available, but the company added additional features designed to enhance that ease of use. The Quick Start screen has been improved, offering clear ways to begin a new database. You can start from scratch; import existing data in tab or comma-separated files, Excel spreadsheets, or Bento databases; or choose from a number of Starter Solution templates. A new invoicing template has been added in version 11 to make that common business task practically a plug-and-chug operation; customer data can later be linked for other purposes.
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It's not official yet, but an insider claims that Tekken is coming to the iPhone OS. Time to re-live the '90s!
Read More: PocketGamer
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Valve has stopped with the teasing and has officially announced that its online gaming service Steam is coming to the Mac. As a bonus, the company also plans to make the Mac a "tier-1" platform, promising simultaneous release of games on Mac OS X, Windows, and Xbox 360.
Valve has developed a Mac-native version of its Source engine, using the cross-platform OpenGL. "We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation," John Cook, Director of Steam Development, said in a statement. "The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward."
Beginning in April, Mac users will be able to access games via Steam, including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series. The Mac Steam client is based on the latest version for Windows that is currently in beta, which is where the first hints of Mac OS X compatibility were discovered.
That version includes a new Steam Play API that will allow users to access and play games from either a Windows PC or a Mac. Progress on one platform is automatically updated and synced when using the other, meaning all the fragging you do on your work PC (on your lunch break, of course) will be reflected when you log in from your Mac at home. Playing games on either platform won't cost extra.
The Mac compatibility extends beyond Steam Play, however. All future games, beginning with Portal 2, will be available for the Mac the same day as the Windows version. "We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360," Cook said. Players on all platforms will be able to play each other in online multiplayer setups, as well. "We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients."
These announcements are surely music to Mac gamers' ears. Besides Steam and Valve's own titles, making Source cross-platform also means other developers using Valve's engine can easily create Mac-compatible versions of games without much additional effort.
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Two weeks ago, we reported that Internet search giant Google had acquired third-party iPhone mail application reMail. At the time, Google rehired reMail CEO and programmer Gabor Cselle to work as a product manager on the Gmail team. reMail was then pulled from the App Store and Google decided to discontinue the app, only offering support through the end of March. However, Google recently contacted Ars to say that it had decided to make the code available as open source on Google Code under the Apache 2.0 License.
The Apache 2.0 License states that the code is free to use, alter, and redistribute as the user sees fit. Further, users can charge for any aspect of the software they choose, including the application itself or support. That means people can use portions of code to add functionality in their own applications or create totally new ones without having to release them under an open source license. Google usually favors the Apache license over alternatives and uses it for Android.
This may still mean the end of reMail, but it's good news for anyone looking to incorporate more advanced e-mail functionality into their own applications. As Cselle pointed out in his blog post, he has already dealt with many of the obstacles associated with developing an e-mail client, including communication with IMAP and parsing MIME messages. In other words, there's no need to reinvent the wheel if you don't have to.
If you're interested in poking around, the code can be found on Google Code, where there has already been a fair amount of action since the announcement on Friday.
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"The best camera is the one you have with you" is an old photography adage, and Apple may be looking to extend that principle to its iPhone. And it's not about the iPhone as a camera, either—if you always have it with you, an iPhone could serve as a remote control device for any number of uses, including as a wireless electronic key.
Using the iPhone as an electronic key is part of a recently published patent application titled "Motion Based Input Selection." It's important to remember that the patent application itself merely describes a unique way of using motion detection to generate an input, such as turning a virtual combination lock-style dial. Still, it's the suggested uses of a unique numerical sequence or other combination of input that is generating excitement.
The Telegraph says that the patent is already being referred to as the "iKey" patent, based on the suggestion that a "device" such as an iPhone could use the motion-based input method to generate a combination which is then "transmitted to an external device to unlock the external device." Such an external device could be anything, including an "electronic lock that may be used to access a door, car, house, or other physical area."
The patent in particular describes methods in which the input could be selecting combinations of numbers, letters, colors, or images, or even a combination. In fact, if the external device is suitably capable, it can send an application the necessary configuration of input needed to unlock it. The possible inputs can also be randomized, and the transmission between the mobile device and the external device could encrypted for greater security.
Since the iPhone is the kind of device you tend to always have with you, it could be a great all-in-one control device. For instance, Apple also recently filed a patent application for using the iPhone as a sort of advanced universal remote—one that can dim the lights, adjust the surround sound, switch the TV to "cinema mode," all in preparation for watching a movie at night. The company already offers an app that can control iTunes or an Apple TV remotely, and other apps exist to control home automation systems or a DSLR tethered to a WiFi-equipped computer. Car security firm Viper also offers an app to lock, unlock, and remotely start a vehicle that has the company's SmartStart electronics installed.
Though many remote applications already exist for the iPhone—including one that locks and unlocks a car—perhaps Apple could leverage the patent's motion sensing to build an app with a consistent interface that is designed to communicate with a wide variety of lock devices, making the iPhone an out-of-the-box electronic key.
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The first TV ad for the iPad aired during the Oscars on Sunday night and is now posted on Apple's website.
Read More: Apple
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Apple's lawsuit against HTC may have been the talk of the Internet for most of the week, but Valve's teasers for Steam coming to the Mac took the prize for most exciting news. MacHeist also released a new software bundle and the rumor mill gossipped about HDMI on the next Mac mini. Need to catch up?
Valve creates fake Apple ads, teases Steam on OS X: Valve has begun sending images to gaming sites showing its properties tarted up in Mac colors and images. Is Steam coming to OS X? We should know very soon.
Apple vs HTC: proxy fight over Android could last years: Apple's lawsuits against HTC could be the start of a multi-year legal battle, or the start of a proxy fight against Google's Android. Either way, it may become the poster child for the ills of the US patent system.
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From: MacNN | The Macintosh News Network
HP on Wednesday has released a MediaSmart Expander for TiVo application that will give TiVo DVRs the ability to transfer recorded TV content to and from HP MediaSmart Servers, freeing up storage capacity on the DVR. The free application will also let users manage the recordings stored on the server and stream the content to any connected compatible devices, including PCs, Macs and gaming consoles....
Pioneer hoped to move the technology of DJ mixers forward today by launching a new addition to the DJM line. The DJM-2000 is the first mixer with a multi-touch display and uses the 5.8-inch LCD to provide control over the sound that would be difficult with buttons. At a basic level, it lets musicians put up a set of custom interfaces for controlling a Mac or PC's music software through MIDI. Gestures also work to create "sidechain" mixing, and on-screen sliders can fine-tune the frequency....
At least two major game developers are now considering Mac ports in the wake of Valve's move to offer support. Among these is Gas Powered Games, known for titles like Dungeon Siege and most recently Supreme Commander 2. "We, as a developer, will include a Mac platform option in all of our proposals moving forward," says company founder Chris Taylor. "We're in 100 percent support of it, absolutely."...
A leak of marketing material for Dell's Mini 5 on Wednesday has revealed a heavy focus on Amazon services. The tablet will have a special content deal and should not only carry Android's existing access to Amazon MP3 but a Kindle e-reader app and a viewer for Amazon's video services. The flyer found by Engadget implies Video On Demand, which so far would be new to Android....
Google this morning added biking directions to Google Maps. The heavily requested feature navigates using not only bike trails but marks and uses roads that are known to be bike-friendly, including both those with bike lanes or those simply recommended for cyclists. Maps goes so far as to factor in hills and to avoid heavy car traffic....From: Wired Top Stories
Why, really, did the 3D movie trend start? Does anybody remember, before the trend began, thinking 'You know the problem with movies? They?re too two-dimensional?' Anyway, some work, and some don't and some would be bad ideas. Here are 10 that should never be attempted.
Google's announcement that it intends to build and test super fast fiber-optic broadband networks in a few communities around the US has a few communities in the US pulling out all the stops to be selected with some attention-getting stunts that scream to the search giant "Pick me! Pick ME!"
With a click of a mouse, cyclists can get the quickest, and flattest, route between Point A and Point B.
The Nasdaq begins its spectacular collapse, signaling the end of the dot-com boom.
The recently unveiled secret agreement that Apple makes iPhone developers sign supports what many have suspected all along: Apple is trying to control the universe.
Taking public transit wouldn't just decrease our carbon footprint — it'd also end all that fiddling with the phone while driving, an insanely dangerous problem.
Huge projects that would store wind energy by compressing air in abandoned mines and porous sandstone are gaining steam in the Midwest.
The Nasdaq peaked at 5,049 on March 10, 2000, then it promptly nosedived and hasn't come near that level since. Here?s a look at the era that launched — and crushed — a million dreams.
Through interviews with a brainy crop of musicians and scientists, a new documentary probes the connection between body, mind and music.
You're carrying around a video camera in your pocket (it's that thing attached to your mobile phone) so be prepared and learn how to start streaming video to the web at a moment's notice.
From: MacInTouch
Amazon has the best price on MacBook Air: just $1699. Or save $55-$105 off Apple's latest iMacs, or $150-$380 off the Mac Pro Quad and new Quad-Core models. Amazon discounts iPods and a huge selection of digital cameras and HDTV's, too. Save on AppleCare, ".Mac", "Leopard", iLife, iWork, Aperture 2, VMware, Photoshop Elements 6 and Office 2008, as well. And the Kindle wireless book/reader is now in stock at $359. While you're saving yourself money, you're also providing critical MacInTouch support just by clicking through our links to purchase!
[Updated 14:30] a 10.5.3 problem affects web browsers; other 10.5.3 issues, compatibility notes and more
From: CNET News.com
Across all of 2009, Dell managed to stay ahead of Acer by a hair's-breadth, but the year-end trend wasn't going Dell's way.
The site's new co-presidents are overseeing revival plans to keep MySpace from sinking further.
Water-saving device uses the length of your first shower as a benchmark, indicating via a series of gently flashing "traffic lights" when you need to get out of the shower already!
Solar start-up 1366 Technologies is working on a technology that promises to dramatically cut the cost of solar cell manufacturing.
Intel Labs is showing off technology that would allow consumers to collect and analyze environmental data and then share it over the Internet.
When simple games like Farmville snag 83 million users, designers who are used to working for years on a project have little choice but to embrace the era of Facebook titles.
roundup This week's Game Developers Conference brings together designers, programmers, publishers, and others for the latest from the world of video play.
Exactly 10 years ago, during the height of the dot-com mania, the Nasdaq reached its all-time high of 5,408.62 on March 10, 2000. It has never recovered.
The competition will be particularly fierce at the annual digital-culture bash between Foursquare and Gowalla, rival social-media services that want to own the location-based networking market.
Steve Jobs personally threatened to sue Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz says. Sun warded off that and a Microsoft threat with its own patent portfolio.
Cyclists will be able to use Google Maps to plot directions around 150 U.S. cities when bike directions go live on Google later on Tuesday.
The troubled actress is suing E-Trade, claiming that it mocked her in one of its cute baby ads. She is asking for $100 million.
From: Gear & Gadgets
TiVo owners feeling cramped on storage can now dump shows onto an HP MediaSmart server.
Read More: PC World
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One of the most striking images from The Terminator was the weapon he carried and used in his first attempt on Sarah Connor's life: the .45 Longslide, with laser sighting. Who can forget the scene in the gun shop? The gun was likewise such a striking presence on screen it was used on the film's poster. There are T-shirts dedicated to the gun.
Terminator was released in 1984, and while laser sights on weapons are common now, when the film was first shown the red laser was able to communicate something subtle and powerful to the audience: this is a machine, deadly accurate and futuristic. It made the Terminator seem other-worldly and terrifying. At a party during CES, Deputy Editor Jon Stokes and I bumped into some representatives from SureFire, a company that specializes in tactical flashlights. We talked about some of our favorite moments with technology in cinema, and The Terminator came up.
"We created that laser!" I was told. They told me the gentleman who built the prop was named Ed Reynolds, and he was still with the company. More than a little jazzed about bumping into a fun part of film history, we knew we had to get the full story behind the Terminator's gun.
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Apple COO Tim Cook's warning from early 2009 wasn't the only one that handset makers received before Apple sicced the lawyers on HTC last week. According to a research note from Oppenheimer analyst Yal Reiner, Apple began warning top executives at companies such as HTC and Motorola in January that it wasn't too happy about seeing allegedly iPhone-related IP showing up in proposed new products.
According to "industry checks," Cook's comments last January during the quarterly analyst call—that Apple "will not stand for having our IP ripped off, and we'll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal"—were taken seriously by the likes of LG, Samsung, and even Nokia. Though the Palm Pre openly flaunted multitouch capabilities (what most handset makers believed were at the heart of Cook's warning), its sales numbers haven't proven to be much of a concern for Apple so far.
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Both Samsung and Panasonic will begin selling 3D TVs this week.
Read More: AP
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An inventive Instructables contributor transformed an old file server into a hookah. Perfect for hotboxing the server room.
Read More: Instructables
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TiVo announced a loss of $10.2 million for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year.
Read More: The Hollywood Reporter
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Verizon Wireless says that its most recent testing of LTE have produced faster-than-expected speeds.
Read More: Network World
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In an announcement published last week, Nokia's Valtteri Halla revealed that Intel and Nokia are planning to launch the public MeeGo source code repository by the end of the month.
The MeeGo project began to take shape last month when Intel and Nokia announced plans to merge their respective Linux-based mobile computing platforms into a single open source software project. The unified software platform, which consists of technology from Maemo and Moblin, will be designed for use on a wide range of device form factors and will support both ARM and x86 architectures.
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Intel is looking into how some NewEgg customers got fake Core i7 CPUs last week.
Read More: InfoWorld
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Microsoft has unveiled some important elements for the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform. Most importantly, the software giant has confirmed what we've been expecting the company to announce for a while now. "For Microsoft, the cost of going from good to great is a clean break from the past," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "For example, previous Windows Phone content will not run on Windows Phone 7 Series."
Charlie Kindel, Microsoft Partner Group Program Manager for the Windows Phone Application Platform & Developer Experience, went into a little bit more detail on his blog, Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone Development. "To enable the fantastic user experiences you've seen in the Windows Phone 7 Series demos so far we've had to break from the past," Kindel writes. "To deliver what developers expect in the developer platform we've had to change how phone apps were written. One result of this is previous Windows mobile applications will not run on Windows Phone 7 Series. To be clear, we will continue to work with our partners to deliver new devices based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and will support those products for many years to come, so it's not as though one line ends as soon as the other begins."
Specifically, Microsoft is going to draw on two technologies for software development on Windows Mobile 7.0 that are closely tied to .NET Framework and that aren't available in Windows Mobile 6.x. Silverlight will be used for apps, allowing developers and designers to work separately on design and code, not to mention the option to easily port them to the desktop and other mobile operating systems. XNA will be used for developers that want to expand their portfolio to include 2D and 3D games, and again possibly port them to other platforms such as the PC and the Xbox. In this way, Microsoft is ensuring that .NET developers, Silverlight developers, and XNA developers can all use their skills and much of their code to Microsoft's upcoming mobile platform. While it is a clean slate, developers won't have to completely start from scratch. Klein is promising "a cohesive, well designed API set with super productive tools."
Klein says the reason for these developer changes comes directly from feedback Microsoft obtained from face-to-face conversations with hundreds of developers over the last year about what the company should do with Windows Phone 7 Series. The company learned they want three things: to create truly compelling apps and games users will love, to get more done with better tool productivity and platform capabilities, and greater opportunity—not just on the phone but across the PC, Web, and TV/game console. Microsoft choosing Silverlight and XNA, cross platform technologies since day one, is no coincidence.Microsoft is planning to reveal more developer details at the MIX10 conference (March 15 to March 17 in Las Vegas), through keynotes and at least 12 technical sessions. Ars will be there to report on the latest news about not only Windows Phone 7 Series, but Internet Explorer 9 as well.
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From: Wired Top Stories
Google's announcement that it intends to build and test super fast fiber-optic broadband networks in a few communities around the US has a few communities in the US pulling out all the stops to be selected with some attention-getting stunts that scream to the search giant "Pick me! Pick ME!"
With a click of a mouse, cyclists can get the quickest, and flattest, route between Point A and Point B.
The Nasdaq begins its spectacular collapse, signaling the end of the dot-com boom.
The recently unveiled secret agreement that Apple makes iPhone developers sign supports what many have suspected all along: Apple is trying to control the universe.
Taking public transit wouldn't just decrease our carbon footprint — it'd also end all that fiddling with the phone while driving, an insanely dangerous problem.
Huge projects that would store wind energy by compressing air in abandoned mines and porous sandstone are gaining steam in the Midwest.
The Nasdaq peaked at 5,049 on March 10, 2000, then it promptly nosedived and hasn't come near that level since. Here?s a look at the era that launched — and crushed — a million dreams.
Through interviews with a brainy crop of musicians and scientists, a new documentary probes the connection between body, mind and music.
You're carrying around a video camera in your pocket (it's that thing attached to your mobile phone) so be prepared and learn how to start streaming video to the web at a moment's notice.
It's from 1934, and it doesn't look like a car, and it doesn't look like it would fly.
From: Gizmodo
First law of gadget recessionomics: Take something you make, which is great, make it ever so less great, and sell it for ever so less money. That's how you end up with products like Microsoft's SideWinder X4 keyboard.
The Price
$60 MSRP, $46 retail.
The Verdict
The SideWinder X6 was a marvelous fresh start for Microsoft's rejuvenated gaming hardware division, designed with a brooding Death Star aesthetic, shit hot jog wheels, and a hot-swappable detachable keyboard that can be hooked up to the left or right side. It's just $20 pricier MSRP (but retail, $12) than the X6, and I'll tell you straight up, a better deal.
The SideWinder X4 is virtually identical at the core—same basic keyboard layout (including the too-long spacebar), chaos-red backlighting, and laptop-esque throw distance for the keys—but it ditches the most lovable aspects of the X6: the jog wheels and the detachable keyboard. Instead, it touts anti-ghosting, so you can mash 26 keys at once and have them all register. Also, it's got fewer macros total (though really, it still has plenty enough). And a smaller wrist rest.
The core features are solid. It held up to the Twister-style keyboard gymnastics you occasionally have to perform in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and the snap of the keys is on point: Crisp and squishy, like a croissant.
But! The fact remains, its older, more capable brother costs a few nickels more and is well worth the extra scratch. So if you can find the X4 for $20 in a bargain bin in a couple months and need a basic gaming, then it'd be a solid buy. In the meantime, if your'e gonna get a gaming keyboard, step up to the X6. (Personally, I'm waiting for the inevitable X10.)
We're still suckers for the whole brimstone and fire in space aesthetic (for now)
A solid "basics" gaming keyboard, but why go for basics when it comes to gaming gear?
Software for keyboard is kinda eh compared to Logitech, SteelSeries and Razer
Too many features stripped for such a small price reduction
[Microsoft
Google added bike lanes and bicycle directions to Google Maps today, allowing you to find routes that aren't too hilly or congested. It's pretty awesome!
Bike functionality is available for over 150 American cities at the moment, but it's safe to assume that, like everything Google does, it will eventually expand to cover most of the planet. [Google Maps via Physorg]
It's confirmed: Space is bubbling with the potential for life. The Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared—on board the Herschel Space Observatory—has sent a high resolution analysis of the Orion Nebula's chemistry. It has scientists very excited.
It is astonishing to see how well HIFI works. We obtained this spectrum in a few hours and it already beats any other spectrum, at any other wavelength, ever taken of Orion. Organics are everywhere in this spectrum, even at the lowest levels, which hints at the fidelity of HIFI. The development of HIFI took eight years but it was really worth waiting for.
That's Frank Helmich, HIFI principal investigator of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, getting his pants wet over his new toy. The Orion spectrum—capture back in January—contains all the molecules needed for the creation of life, "water, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, methanol, dimethyl ether, hydrogen cyanide, sulphur oxide, sulphur dioxide and their isotope analogues."
I just hope those molecules are just not sitting around, twiddling around, without actually recombining to create five-eyed aliens with purple tentacles. [ESA via Wired]
This daily calendar mixes analog, digital, nature, and poetry all in one: Every autumn day, each of its pages will fall off automatically, teared by a clever mechanism at its top. As this video shows, it works great. But why?
Because in autumn, leaf falls, that's why. And because it was commissioned as a promotional tool for clients by leaf blower manufacturer Stihl. [Direct Daily]
With stories abounding of identity theft aided by information lifted from discarded storage devices, you want devices you no longer plan to use to have no usable information when they head out the door. Here's how to wipe them clean.
Why Erasing Files Is Not Enough
Sure, you could erase the contents of the drive, but keep this in mind: the act of erasing a file does not remove it from a storage device.
When you erase/delete a file from your computer, it's not really gone until the areas of the disk it used are overwritten by new information. If you use the normal Windows delete function, the "deleted" file is sent to the Recycle Bin until the space it uses is required by other files. If you use Shift-Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin, the space occupied by the file is marked as available for other files. However, the file could be recovered days or even weeks later with third-party data recovery software. As long as the operating system does not reuse the space occupied by a file with another file, the "deleted" file can be recovered.
With SSDs, the erased file situation is even more complex. SSDs store data in blocks rather than in sectors as with magnetic storage. Overwriting a block was previously used involves copying the contents of the block to cache, wiping the block's contents, delete the block to be overwritten from cache, writing the new data to cache, and rewriting the block with the new data. As an SSD is used with files that are deleted or changed frequently, the performance can drop unless the drive (and operating system) support a technology called TRIM that wipes out deleted data blocks as soon as the file using the blocks is deleted. TRIM is supported by Windows 7 and by some late model SSDs, but not by older Windows versions. So, disk wiping can be both a security feature and a performance improvement strategy.
Data Wiping Versus File Erasure
While erasing files simply marks file space as available for reuse, data wiping overwrites all data space on a storage device, replacing useful data with garbage data. Depending upon the method used, the overwrite data could be zeros (also known as "zero-fill") or could be various random patterns.
Products that can be used for wiping hard disks might not be suitable for wiping other types of drives. In this article, we will look at methods for securely wiping hard disks, USB flash memory devices, flash memory cards, and SSDs.
Zero-Fill a Hard Disk
Time Needed: several hours (varies with size and speed of drive)
Software: Hard disk utility software from your drive vendor
Media: blank CD or floppy disk
Although writing zeroes across the entire hard disk surface (aka "zero-filling") is not sufficient to meet government data sanitation (disk wiping) standards such as DoD 5220.22-M or the more comprehensive Standards and Technologies (NIST) Special Publication 800-88, overwriting the entire hard disk prevents most types of data recovery from being successful.
Here's where to get zero-fill software from hard disk vendors:
Hitachi
Drive Fitness Test (see website for specific models supported)
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
Select the Erase Drive feature to zero-fill your hard disk
Samsung
HUtil (see website for specific models supported)
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_HUTIL.html
Use Tool, Erase HDD to zero-fill your hard disk
Seagate (including Maxtor)
SeaTools for DOS (see website for specific models supported)
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools
Use Full Erase to zero-fill your hard disk
Western Digital
Data Lifeguard Diagnostics (select drive model for specific version recommended)
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en
Use Write Zeros to drive to zero-fill your hard disk
1. Determine the brand and model of hard disk you want to overwrite.
2. Download a CD ISO image or a floppy disk image (depending upon your equipment) and use the image to create bootable media. The floppy disk image is self-contained: run it, insert a blank floppy disk when prompted, and the image is created on the disk. You will need to use a CD burning program that works with ISO images to convert the ISO image into a bootable CD.
3. Restart your computer with the bootable media you created in Step 2.
4. Select the hard disk to zero-fill when prompted.
5. Choose the option to zero-fill the hard disk.
6. When the program is finished, follow the on-screen instructions to shut down or restart your computer.
7. Remove the wiped hard disk; you can now reuse or recycle the hard disk.
Secure Wiping a Hard Disk
Secure wiping goes beyond zero-fill operations, and provides an extra level of security. Most secure wiping programs are designed to meet DoD 5220 standards, which require three passes of overwriting with a special numeric pattern and verification. More information about this and other secure standards are available from the DataErasure website.
(Note that the 2007 revision of the Defense Security Service, Updated DSS Clearing and Sanitization Matrix (June 28, 2007) (PDF) now recommends degaussing or drive destruction for maximum protection.
Stanford University's Disk and Data Sanitization Policy and Guidelines, a must-read for understanding data wiping issues, recommends Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) for secure hard disk wiping.
Secure Wiping a Hard Disk with DBAN
Time Needed: several hours (varies with size and speed of drive)
Software: Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN); available from http://www.dban.org/
Media: blank CD (all versions) or floppy disk (version 1.0.7 and older versions)
1. Download the DBAN boot image ZIP file (we used version 1.0.7 and beta version 2.0 for this article); we downloaded the ISO image for CD burning, but a floppy disk builder is also available
2. Extract the contents of the compressed file.
3. Burn the ISO image file extracted in Step 2 to CD; see our article on how to do this, or use the built-in ISO CD image burning support in Windows 7. If you downloaded the floppy image builder, run the program to create a bootable floppy disk.
4. Restart the computer using the CD or floppy disk created in Step 3.
5. Press Enter to run DBAN in interactive mode.
6. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight the drive to wipe.
7. Press the space bar to select the drive.
8. Press M to select the wiping method.
9. Press F10 to begin the wipe process.
10. At the end of the process, shut down the system. You can reuse or recycle the wiped hard disk.
Note: if DBAN is unable to recognize your SATA hard disks, configure your system BIOS to use IDE mode rather than AHCI mode.
Wiping Flash Memory Cards and USB Drives
Programs such as DBAN or vendor-supplied hard disk utilities are limited in the devices they support: they are designed to work with internal ATA/IDE or SATA hard disks only. Programs that work with flash memory cards and USB flash drives often support hard disks as well, enabling you to use a single program for all disk wiping processes. Roadkil's DataWipe can be used with any hard disk, floppy disk, or flash drive that has a drive letter.
Wiping Flash Memory Cards with Roadkil's DiskWipe
Time Needed: Varies; from a few minutes to several hours, depending upon size and speed of drive and computer
Software: Roadkil's DiskWipe, available from http://www.roadkil.net/
Media: Can be run from Windows desktop
1. Download Roadkil's DiskWipe.
2. Extract the contents of the compressed file.
3. Open DiskWipe. If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, right-click the program icon and select Run as Administrator.
4. Select the drive to wipe.
5. Select the type of wipe to perform; DiskWipe can zero-fill the disk or write random data.
6. Enter the number of passes.
7. Click Erase to start the process.
8. At the end of the process, close the program. You can reuse the wiped disk.
Wiping SSDs
To solve write performance problems on drives that don't support TRIM (check with your drive vendor for firmware upgrades) is to use wiper.exe (included with some SSDs) or to run the Secure Erase feature supported in most recent ATA/IDE and SATA drives. The Secure Erase feature can be activated on many systems by running Secure Erase 4.0 (HDDerase.exe), available from http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml. Version 4.0 works with most recent ATA/IDE and SATA hard disks and SSDs, but if you use an Intel X-25M, X-25E, or X-18M SSD, follow this link to download Secure Erase 3.3 http://www.iishacks.com/index.php/2009/06/30/how-to-secure-erase-reset-an-intel-solid-state-drive-ssd/. Note that it is no longer being developed, and we were unable to use it on a system running an AMD 690 chipset.
Wiping Drives and Free Space with SDelete
SDelete is a free program from Microsoft's TechNet Sysinternals collection. It runs from the command line, and can be used to wipe drives, wipe files, or wipe free space.
Time Needed: Varies; from a few minutes to several hours, depending upon size and speed of drive and computer
Software: TechNet Sysinternal's SDelete, available from http://technet.microsoft.com
Media: Can be run from Windows desktop
1. Download SDelete.
2. Extract the contents of the compressed file.
3. Copy sdelete.exe to c:\windows\system32\ (this will enable you to run it from any location)
4. Open a command prompt session with Administrator rights.
5. To wipe all files on drive X: and its subdirectories and to wipe free space, enter Sdelete -p 2 ?s -z X:\*.* (to see all command-line switches, enter Sdelete with no options)
6. Wait; the program displays status messages as it runs. When the program is finished, you can reuse or dispose of the drive.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Disk Wiping Programs
We used demo versions of two popular data recovery programs to evaluate some of the disk wiping programs discussed in this article. To determine whether a typical data recovery program could recover files on a SD card wipe with Roadkil's DiskWipe, we first of all formatted the card using a card reader. Ontrack's EasyRecovery Data Recovery (available from http://www.ontrack.com) had no difficulty finding folders and files to retrieve.
However, when we used DiskWipe to wipe the drive using a one-pass blank disk (zero fill) operation, EasyRecovery DataRecovery was unable to find the file system, let alone any files or folders.
After reformatting the card, taking a few photos, and deleting the photos, EasyRecovery Data Recovery was able to find the new photos, but the contents of the card before running WipeDisk were unrecoverable.
To evaluate SDelete, we used SDelete to wipe all of the files on a hard disk, but omitted the ?z switch; when ?z is not used, SDelete deletes files and renames them, but does not clear free space. To determine what might be visible, we used a demo version of Disk Doctors NTFS Data Recovery software, available from http://www.diskdoctors.net.
Disk Doctors were able to locate the deleted folder and Outlook Express message folders, but SDelete had renamed them from their original names and DBX extensions (Outlook Express message folders). If you use SDelete, it's very important that you take time to use the ?z switch to clear free space on the disk (once a file is deleted, the space it occupies is free space).
We also used Disk Doctors to evaluate the effectiveness of a freeware program called Eraser, which can delete and overwrite files and folders from the right-click menu. We created a documents folder with a subfolder called Figures and used Eraser to overwrite the folder and subfolder using its default settings.
Disk Doctors was able to locate the folders, but the contents are files with garbage names and are zero bytes in size ? except for leftover word processing temporary files (files that begin with $). These filenames were not changed, which could enable a snooper to figure out the names of the files in the folder ? although the files themselves were destroyed. By using more overwrites or different methods available with Eraser, a more thorough wiping may be possible.
Conclusion
We've highlighted a variety of free ways to protect data on castoff drives from being retrieved. As you can see, your best bet is to overwrite data directly, but you also might want to consider using a program such as SDelete to scramble filenames first and then use a disk wiper such as Eraser or WipeDisk to finish the job.
Use demo versions of data recovery programs such as Ontrack Easy Recovery Data Recovery, Disk Doctors Data Recovery (various editions for NTFS, FAT, and flash media), and others to evaluate the effectiveness of your data wiping procedures. Remember, the full versions of these and other data recovery programs can save your data if you accidentally format or partition a disk because, until the data is overwritten, it's still there.
Maximum PC brings you the latest in PC news, reviews, and how-tos.
From: Wash Post Technology
Dana Moore sells rain. He sells a lot of it, for about a buck per reusable storm.
Several major cable companies and a public interest group asked the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday to intervene in disputes over transmission fees to prevent broadcasters from withholding signals from subscribers.
TEHRAN -- The bearded blogger stood before an effigy of an Islamic warrior towering over the letters "WWW."
On a windy morning in downtown Washington, a hundred Georgetown Law students gathered in a hall for David Cole's lecture on democracy and coercion. The desks were cluttered with books, Thermoses and half-eaten muffins.
Montgomery County school officials have not yet closed gaps in their computer system that allowed students at a high-performing Potomac high school to change dozens of grades using a device that can be bought from Amazon.com for $69. And other school systems, including Fairfax County, remain just...
From: Ars Technica
Jeff O'Connell is the lead producer of the new True Crime game, and he's showing off the game's hand-to-hand fighting. The part of the game we saw was low on gunplay, but it looked great, with some cinematic-looking moves and kills. The game takes place in Hong Kong, and we're told the art team took 27,000 reference photos of the city. They wanted a bright, saturated look that showed the difference between night and day; a stark contrast in the city.
There were very few guns, and a good amount of slicing with meat cleavers. We asked O'Connell about this strange aspect of the game.
"Hong Kong is not as much an action movie as you'd think, to even possess a single bullet will put you in jail. The triads rely on fists and feet and chopping weapons. In the real Hong Kong these Muay Thai gyms are triad owned and operated. They teach their guys how to do Muay Thai because it's an extremely effective street-fighting mechanic. It's really brutal—it's knees and elbows and things that will brutalize you and put you down." That's why they focused on martial arts, with brutal stomps to knees and vicious kicks and punches... not to mention those slicing weapons.
"The cleaver aspect... guns are hard to come by. There's even a line in the cut scene where a character says 'he brought guns into this,' there's an escalation into guns, it doesn't start in a world where there are guns."
Being sliced up is simply a part of organized crime in Hong Kong. "They call it being 'chopped' by the triads," he explains. "They target you, mutilate you, and often leave you alive. He talks about a recent story of a radio personality who said the wrong thing about a man with triad connections, and he was hacked up with cleavers. The game will feature many chopping weapons; there is not an emphasis on firearms. The hand-to-hand fighting mechanics are impressive, with environmental kills and a free-flowing action movie aspect to the game.
When I told people I was going to see the new True Crime, they had one question: will there be a fight against a dragon? The last game featured a somewhat infamous section where you fought a dragon, and gamers do not remember it fondly.
O'Connell places both hands in the air, as if taking a solemn oath. "You will not, at any point in the game, fight any type of mystical beast, including a dragon." We're sold. True Crime is coming fall of this year, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
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At the Campfire One event last night, Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace and demonstrated how external Web applications from other vendors can be integrated into Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other services that are part of the search giant's Web-based productivity suite.
In the quest for data liberation, Google's hosted Web services have long offered a wide range of APIs for third-party developers. With the launch of the new marketplace, however, Google Apps for domains is opening up even further and enabling external software to expose its own functionality directly through Google's Web-based applications. This will make it possible for third-party software in the cloud to offer broad interoperability with Google Apps and very tight integration.
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President Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971 and, since then, the National Cancer Institute (part of the NIH) has funded research on prevention, surveillance, and treatments. But, despite the effort, progress has been elusive, leading to press reports in Newsweek, Fortune, and The New York Times suggesting that, at best, cancer is fighting us to a draw. But a new analysis of death rates, performed by staff at the American Cancer Society, indicates that cancer death rates peaked around 1990, and have been declining broadly since. As a result, they're now below where they started in 1970.
The dynamics in many specific populations are quite distinct. Relative to women, men started out with a higher age-standardized death rate, saw a more rapid increase, peaked a year earlier, and then have seen a far more dramatic decline. Various ethnic groups also had different trajectories, but all have shown declines in recent years. The trends have been more dramatic in younger populations as well.
The changes also vary based on cancer types. "The 2006 death rates for Hodgkin lymphoma in men, cervical cancer in women, and stomach cancer in both men and women were less than one-third of the 1970 rates," the authors conclude. In contrast, liver cancer death rates are increasing, as are pancreatic cancers in women, and melanoma and esophageal cancer in women. But, for 15 of the 19 cancers studied, rates have dropped.
The biggest factor in the change, according to the authors, is prevention: people are smoking less, and we should see continued improvements in this regard due to the decreased rates of smoking in adolescents. Mammograms, the Pap smear, and increased colonoscopy rates all account for drops in their relevant cancers, indicating that detection is also playing a role, while new treatments had impacts in lymphomas, leukemias, and testicular cancer.
There are a couple of take-home messages here. For one, we tend to expect success in the war on cancer to come in terms of treatments, but prevention and early detection are having a far more significant effect. But they take much longer; the oldest generations are missing out on the drop in smoking because the time-lags are so long. Finally, there's some indication that the rise in a few cancers may be tied to increased obesity, however, so there's no guarantee of continued success.
PLoS One, 2010. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009584 (About DOIs).
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The CodePlex Foundation has announced the arrival of several new board members, including Jim Jagielski, the Chief Open Source Officer of SpringSource. Jagielski, who was one of the original cofounders of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), brings a lot of credibility and leadership experience to the CodePlex Foundation.
When the CodePlex Foundation was established by Microsoft last year, an interim board of directors was assembled to help get the organization off the ground while permanent board members were being chosen. A number of the interim board members, including Novell's Mono project leader Miguel de Icaza, will be turning their seats over to new representatives. Former Microsoft open source evangelist Sam Ramji, currently VP of strategy at Sonoa, will be remaining on the board, along with Microsoft .NET Framework program manager Davies Boesch.
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One of the most striking images from The Terminator was the weapon he carried and used in his first attempt on Sarah Connor's life: the .45 Longslide, with laser sighting. Who can forget the scene in the gun shop? The gun was likewise such a striking presence on screen it was used on the film's poster. There are T-shirts dedicated to the gun.
Terminator was released in 1984, and while laser sights on weapons are common now, when the film was first shown the red laser was able to communicate something subtle and powerful to the audience: this is a machine, deadly accurate and futuristic. It made the Terminator seem other-worldly and terrifying. At a party during CES, Deputy Editor Jon Stokes and I bumped into some representatives from SureFire, a company that specializes in tactical flashlights. We talked about some of our favorite moments with technology in cinema, and The Terminator came up.
"We created that laser!" I was told. They told me the gentleman who built the prop was named Ed Reynolds, and he was still with the company. More than a little jazzed about bumping into a fun part of film history, we knew we had to get the full story behind the Terminator's gun.
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From: NYT > Technology
From: Autoblog
Filed under: Truck, Work, Nissan, Misc. Auto Shows
Historically, America's commercial vehicle marketplace has been dominated by domestic automakers. Besides a small percentage of Sprinter sales from Dodge while under Daimler ownership, the fullsize van market has really only been occupied by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Nissan is ready to change all that, and its opening salvo in the commercial vehicle marketplace is its NV series of vans.
Nissan's NV series - "NV" rather unimaginatively stands for Nissan Van, for what it's worth - relies on three different designations, NV1500, 2500 HD and 3500 HD, and two different roof heights (the High Roof is only available on the NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD models) to provide a platform for every conceivable need. Opting for the tall version will provide enough room for most people to stand up inside with no need to duck.
Interestingly, Nissan's research indicates that commercial van owners are the least satisfied of any vehicle segment, and as such, the automaker says that the NV design is
No matter which engine or roof style is chosen, the NV will come with a user-definable interior layout that can accept standard-size drywall or plywood or any number of aftermarket cargo solutions. Up front, there are a number of storage pockets and compartments to hold whatever is needed, while High Roof models offer an overhead console for additional storage options.
Pricing is not yet available, but Nissan promises the NV series will hit authorized commercial U.S. dealerships before the end of the year. Want to know more? Be sure to check out our gallery of high-res images below and click past the break for the official press release.
[Source: Nissan]
Continue reading Nissan unveils NV commercial van, available in three different flavors
Nissan unveils NV commercial van, available in three different flavors originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Coupe, Performance, Auctions
The DeTomaso Guarà was the last project of company founder and namesake, Alejandro de Tomaso. First shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1993, the Guarà could be had as a closed-roof coupe or open-top barchetta. A more practical canvas-roof Spider was eventually added as well, but only five were ever made. The Guarà was based on the 1991 Maserati Barchetta Stradale concept and was built from 1993 through 2004, when the struggling Italian automaker went into liquidation.
During its production run, 10 to 12 Barchettas and about 50 Coupés were built, along with the handful of Spiders. The early cars, including all of the Spiders, were powered by a BMW 4.0-liter V8 putting out a modest 272 horsepower. Later cars, and all, um, two of the cars that have somehow found their way into America are powered by a 320-hp version of the Ford 4.6-liter V8 from the Mustang Cobra. The Guarà was made of fiberglass, Kevlar and other composites on an aluminum backbone, making it fairly light. Performance was decent with a 0-60 dash of about five seconds flat and a top speed quoted between 168 and 171 miles per hour for this 2,500-pound mid-engined sportscar.
The car's racecar-like pushrod suspension made it a bit of a handful to drive on city streets, but its handling limits were pretty high by all accounts. This particular car is in Woodland Hills, California, and is painted a perfect Modenese yellow. It has just 10,000 miles on the clock and is being offered at the princely sum of $100,000. That might seem like a lot of coin for a fairly anonymous exotic with a Mustang engine, but considering its rarity and its association with the name DeTomaso, it could be a fun addition to someone's collection. Are you listening Jay?
[Source: eBay Motors]
eBay Find of the Day: 1996 DeTomaso Guarà is a rare treat originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Truck, Recalls, Safety, Toyota
Last November, the Toyota Tundra recall to address premature rusting frames was expanded to include trucks from the 2000-2003 model years. That recall, though, only applied to 20 states and Washington, D.C. - those areas where cold weather and road treatments could cause expedited corrosion.
Today, however, The Associated Press reports that the recall has been further expanded to include Tundras from those model years in all 50 states. Toyota apparently hasn't said how many trucks that means it is recalling, but if you have one of those Tundras, you might wish to give your dealer a call.
[Source: The Associated Press via Google]
Report: Toyota Tundra frame rust recall to go nationwide originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Car Buying, Government/Legal
In what might turn out to be one of the biggest games of "he said, she said," in the history of the world, Maritz Research, an automotive market research company, is claiming that the government's Cash for Clunkers program actually boosted auto sales by much more than previously thought. Maritz is crediting the program with 765,000 new vehicle sales, higher than the 677,000 claimed by the government, and much, much higher than the 125,000 sales that Edmunds.com famously quoted. In fact, it's more than double the Department of Transportation's own estimate of 346,000 sales.
Maritz surveyed 36,000 new car and truck buyers who bought their vehicles during the time Cash for Clunkers was in effect, between July and August of 2009. The company figures a full 542,000 sales came from people who hadn't planned on buying a car otherwise, spurred by the government program. Maritz also includes 223,000 people who came to dealerships after hearing of the program, and even after they discovered that they didn't qualify, bought anyway.
Perhaps even more interesting were the findings on how the program affected future sales. It was believed by many that Cash for Clunkers might have just sped up sales in the short term, advancing sales that would have naturally occurred in future months or years. "The results provide strong empirical evidence that CARS did not impede future sales," said Maritz vice-president David Fish, "Vehicles were sold to people who don't normally buy them."
According to Maritz's findings, Cash for Clunkers buyers tended to be long-term car owners. Maritz says that nearly 80 percent of trade-ins had more than 100,000 miles on them and that 50 percent were more than 10 years old. Better than 60 percent of buyers told the pollsters that they plan on keeping their new cars as long as possible, meaning that many of the people who took advantage of the program came from non-regular customer pools.
The Maritz report could be used to support additional incentive programs like Cash for Clunkers in the future, but there are already detractors. For its part, Edmunds.com is already saying that there is a big difference between the analysis of sales figures it performed in its own study and Maritz's conducting of a survey that could contain flawed or leading questions. The issue is certainly not settled yet.
[Source: CNN Money | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]
Cash for Clunkers more than twice as effective as first thought? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Hybrid, Recalls, Hatchback, Toyota
Not one day after a high-profile incident involving a Prius taking off on its owner in Southern California, we're hearing reports that another one of Toyota's popular hybrids has suffered unintended acceleration in New York. This time, instead of the car eventually succumbing to the will of its braking system, it crashed into a stone wall. Fortunately the owner was reportedly just pulling out of her driveway in Harrison, NY and the car only accelerated across the street, though the collision allegedly sent "some pretty big boulders" flying, said one police chief.
The 56-year-old driver reportedly suffered non-life threatening injuries, and like the incident in Southern California a day earlier, a floor mat trapping the accelerator pedal has been ruled out as a cause. The 2005 model year Prius' driver side floor mat was reportedly tied to the seat base with plastic ties.
The 2004-2009 Prius is included in an earlier Toyota recall for floor mats that may entrap the accelerator pedal, but the Japanese automaker does not have a fix ready for the cars, which may include reshaping their pedals, replacing floor mats and altering the shape of the floor. These cars are not, however, included in Toyota's other major recall involving drive-by-wire accelerator pedal assemblies that could stick due to wear and other environmental conditions. That leaves no obvious explanation as to why these two Prius models took off on their owners. Toyota has stated it will join California and the U.S. government in investigating the first vehicle, though hasn't commented on whether it will investigate the vehicle in New York yet.
[Source: The Detroit Free Press]
Report: Another Prius accelerates unintentionally in New York and crashes originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFrom: WSJ.com: Today's Free Features
If McCain wins the election, it may be thanks to Michigan -- a prize the Republicans think they can claim for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Millions of voters have moved out of the political party system. The decline of loyalty has made politics less stable and predictable -- and has resulted in close elections, writes Alan Brinkley.
A group of young economists are using statistical techniques to examine how television affects society, and their research shows it's not all bad.
The biggest project that Palin undertook as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, was an indoor sports complex. But what was to be her legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.
A graphical look at how different investments, from REIT shares to crude oil, fared last week.
Indian dazzler "Slumdog Millionaire" and French film "I Loved You So Long" were highlights at this year's Telluride Film Festival.
Researchers have found tantalizing hints that our voting practices can be traced to a political psyche shaped by genetic traits.
For the past two years, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has run the most powerful sports league in the world. As new season opens, he discusses discipline issues, labor strife, overseas expansion and boosting revenue.
The chronic disease epidemic is upon us. The biggest challenge in primary-care medicine is dealing with the complications of obesity, diabetes and hypertension.
From: WSJ.com: What's News US
The Anglo-Dutch oil major said it is no longer selling gasoline to Iran, the latest company to make such a move during threats of tougher sanctions against the Islamic republic.
China Mobile said it agreed to buy a 20% stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank for $5.83 billion as the mobile operator seeks to expand into mobile payment services.
Beleaguered music company EMI said the chief executive of its recorded-music division, Elio Leoni-Sceti, is leaving the firm after less than two years.
From: WSJ.com: What's News Technology
China Mobile said it agreed to buy a 20% stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank for $5.83 billion as the mobile operator seeks to expand into mobile payment services.
A group of Chinese consumers claim that Hewlett-Packard discriminated against them in its handling of faulty graphics components in some PCs.
The electronics giant will shift to "attack" mode by ramping up unit production and attempting to shore up market share, despite trailing rivals planning earlier 3-D models.
From: WSJ.com: Personal Technology
The Motorola Backflip smart phone has a unique design: Its QWERTY keyboard is on the back of the device, so the screen appears to be doing a "back flip" when it opens up for use.
Intel's Wi-Di and MediaMall's PlayOn offer ways to watch your computer videos on your TV, but they are expensive solutions that have downsides.
Walter S. Mossberg answers readers' questions about Quicken for Mac and large laptop screens.
From:
From: National Geographic News
At least one channel thought to have been carved by water was actually built by lava flows, according to a new study of Martian surface features.
For 4,500 years in what is now Mexico, decomposing bodies were pulled apart and reburied, according to what may be the first evidence for ritual "double burials."
It turns out evidence for water on the moon was right under our noses all along, according to new studies of rocks retrieved by Apollo astronauts.
See exclusive views of tsunami-tossed boats, a collapsed bridge, and a crumbled cliff?scenes of the devastating toll of the February 27 Chile earthquake.
With its 2010 Oscar win for best documentary, the movie The Cove has reignited debate over annual dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan.
From: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition
The Large Hadron Collider must be shut down for a year starting in late 2011 to address design flaws, the BBC has learned.
Deforestation has revealed what could be a giant impact crater in Central Africa, according to Italian scientists.
The eggshells of long-dead and extinct species are a particularly good source to find preserved DNA, researchers say.
The science spokesmen of the three main political parties cross swords on the issue of UK research funding.
Research shows some EU countries "import" about a third of their carbon emissions from developing countries.
From: New Scientist - Latest Headlines
While other uncrewed planes fly high to stay safe, this autonomous chopper can plan its way around obstacles close to the ground
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Researchers have used evolution to create immune cells able to destroy HIV far more effectively than the regular cells our body produces
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Lots of expecting mums now say they avoid even light drinking, but the latest study indicates that this may be an unnecessary precaution (full text available to subscribers)
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Racial barriers have toppled as two anonymous men have become the first non-white, non-celebrities to have their full genomes sequenced
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The amount of land available for future animal and plant sanctuaries may be less than thought because the scale of existing models is too large
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From: New Scientist - Online News
The meat-eating marsupials are threatened by a deadly transmissible cancer ? but the discovery of what makes some animals resistant could save them
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Robots are coming out of their industrial cages and into our lives, prompting engineers to search out new kinds of safety features
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Female students with a genetically diverse immune system said they had sex with more people than their peers did
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The Union of Concerned Scientists says the Obama administration is 'moving too slowly' to remove political interference from science
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DNA from a 19,000-year-old emu eggshell has been isolated – the first time such a feat has been pulled off
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From: Discovery News - Top Stories
I saw the movie, Hurt Locker, and wondered how that bomb suit could protect someone from death. Dvice has a great piece up that explains just that. The so-called explosive ordinance disposal suit has two layers, one rigid, one soft ...
Just in time for Spring training. This electronic shirt analyzes a baseball pitcher's throw. That could keep the athletes in good form and reduce injuries, which cost the MLB organization $54 million a year in salary losses. The shirt was ...
Grocery stores and consumers may want to rethink how they store their produce.
Suicide is not just a human behavior -- and it can help us understand human suicide.
The epic start-up drama surrounding the world's most powerful particle accelerator just took another painful twist.
From: SPACE.com
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Tuesday for the world premiere of the Hubble 3D IMAX film.
The U.S. Air Force is gearing up for the first of four planned test flights of a hypersonic aircraft designed to operate for much longer durations and cover far greater distances than previous platforms of its type.
Harmless interstellar hydrogen becomes deadly ionized radiation that would fry the crew and electronics of starships traveling near light speed, according to a physicist.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) aborted the Falcon 9 rocket's first static fire test March 9.
Saturn will be in opposition on Monday March 22 and visible all night.
From: Wired: Culture
Google's announcement that it intends to build and test super fast fiber-optic broadband networks in a few communities around the US has a few communities in the US pulling out all the stops to be selected with some attention-getting stunts that scream to the search giant "Pick me! Pick ME!"
Take Your Child to Work Day is fast approaching, and chances are your place of employment is already making plans to host and entertain more than the usual number of immature people who show up for work every day. But there are jobs that just don't fit. Here are GeekDad?s Top Ten.
With a little strategic planning and some extraordinary dream-time measures, the overnight hours can become certifiably productive.
With scalpel and software, artist Macoto Murayama creates botanical illustrations that look like something that blossomed in outer space.
Gadget nerds: Prepare to lose the rest of your day to awesomeness. PopSci, the web-wing of Popular Science magazine, has scanned its entire 137-year archive and put it online for you to read, absolutely free.
From: Reuters: Top News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the House of Representatives -- a persuasive arm-twister and deal maker -- faces her toughest challenge yet in the coming weeks: getting 216 votes to pass final legislation revamping the U.S. healthcare system.
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday he believed Britain would maintain its coveted top credit rating and announced a pay freeze for senior civil servants and military officers to help tame a record deficit.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden publicly scolded Israel Wednesday over a Jewish settlement plan, saying it was undermining peace efforts after Palestinians agreed to U.S.-mediated talks.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Preliminary results of Iraq's parliamentary election, a vote seen as a litmus test of its young democracy, are likely to be released by Thursday, a United Nations official said Wednesday.
JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Sporadic shooting rang out overnight in the central Nigerian city of Jos and witnesses said at least one person was killed by soldiers enforcing a curfew days after attacks on three nearby Christian villages.
From: SCI FI Wire
The big frakkin' robots appear to have won out over the woolly mammoths after all. Updated studio estimates released today show that Paramount's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was No. 1 in the photo-finish race for box-office supremacy this weekend, topping the domestic pack with $42.4 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
We reported yesterday that Transformers and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs were tied for the top spot when preliminary box-office estimates for the July 4 weekend were released.
The cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will wear white ribbons on their wrists at the film's world premiere in Leicester Square Tuesday as a mark of respect to murdered actor Rob Knox, BBC News reported.
Knox, 18, who portrays Marcus Belby in the film, was stabbed in southeast London last May while defending his brother from an attack by Karl Bishop, who received four life terms in March.
Somewhere between watching the first half-hour of the new Star Trek film and, five days later, the season finale of Lost, something happened.
You know how it is when you have that second piece of dessert? It tastes great at the time. The sensory delights linger through the after-dinner drinks and through the evening ... right up to the moment when you step on the scale the next morning.
It can happen with stories, too. There are themes and high concepts you love, then you have one more than the standard adult requirement.
Matrix producer Joel Silver changed the rules of the game and made Hollywood stunt history when he traveled to China to beg reluctant action director Yuen Wo-Ping to choreograph the fighting for the film, according to an informal poll by author Kevin Conley.
Megan Fox, the hottest thing in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is even hotter as the demon-possessed high school cheerleader of Jennifer's Body—especially when she sticks her tongue in the flame of a cigarette lighter in the new "red-band trailer" released earlier today at ShockTillYouDrop.com. (Red-band trailers can be screened in theaters only when they accompany R-rated films, since the trailers themselves may contain strong language or sexual situations.)
The teen horror flick, written by Diablo Cody, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Juno, won't hit theaters until Sept. 18, 2009, but you can view the new trailer after the jump.
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