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Take into consideration - What if there was no "FREEDOM"?
Then you see this Blog and are reminded that you would be
missing out on so many important things...Enjoy your stay and recommend to your friends to come and taste the "FREEDOM" Geminimay

Shocking But True ~ This Is The Future Brought To YOU Today ...
19 March, 2008
Space Invader

First Pictures of Completed Dextre Giant Space Robot

After three space walks, Dextre—the robot that will now service the International Space Station—has been completed today, and is now ready for activation. I was watching it live on NASA TV and grabbed these shots (yes, I am that sad) of this fully-assembled gigantastic space spider. To get a sense of how big it is, check the images after the jump. Update: added new images released by NASA



 

According to astronaut Richard M. Linnehan, one of the astronauts who readied Dextre in this mission, it's like "working with a Star Wars prop, but it isn't sci-fi, its reality, and it's happening up here right now." Actually, with its 12-foot-tall body and 11-foot-long arms capable of sensing movement and force, the $209-million Dextre looks more like some kind of Japanese battleoid, but we share the amazement.

Despite its menacing appearance and being capable of withstanding extreme conditions, Dextre is as precise and delicate as it is strong: it can manipulate big, server-rack-sized objects (to a maximum of 1,323 pounds,) as well as laptop-sized ones; all with a positioning accuracy relative to the target of a quarter of an inch (the incremental accuracy is 1/12th of an inch, 2 millimeters) and a force accuracy of 2.2 newtons.

The 3,440-pound (1,560 kg.) robot would be extremely valuable for the activity of the space station, saving time and risky spacewalks to astronauts, who will be able to dedicate themselves to experiments rather than fixing the ISS. [NASA TV and Canadian Space Agency]

8:20 AM on Tue Mar 18 2008
By Jesus Diaz
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Information Technology - NEWS ABOUT WII - IS WII WINNING?
19 March, 2007

FEATURE

yahoo

Is Wii winning the console race?

Plus: Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto asks what Nintendo means to you -- exclusive to Yahoo!

16 Mar 2007

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Of all the pundits that tried to call the console race before Christmas, few predicted the Nintendo Wii, with its modest hardware and oddball control system, would still be lining up the punters in March. 436,000 Wiis sold in January, beating the Xbox 360 and PS3 handily, and there's no sign of the pace slackening. The handheld DS is doing nearly as well, tightening Nintendo's 18-year stranglehold on the portable market and capitalizing on its first-rate software selection. A total of 635,000 new Nintendo systems made their way home with eager U.S. purchasers in the supposedly quiet post-holiday period.

Even with that quantity of systems moving through the retail system, both the Wii and the DS remain hard to find in stores nationwide, while the other two consoles are lining the shelves. If you're unfortunate enough to still be looking, your best bet is to keep your eyes on online trackers like ours or resort to the usual auction sites.

Wii games are shifting well, too. Although Wii heavy-hitter The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess sold well in January, it was actually beaten to the top spot by quirky minigame-fest Warioware: Smooth Moves, despite the latter not actually coming out until the 15th. Rayman: Raving Rabbids came third, with under half of Zelda's sales. Unsurprisingly, Wii owners have vast appetites for games that take advantage of the machine's uniqueness.

Nintendo's fast pace of impressive releases continued in March with the surprise appearance of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the N64 smash hit that's remembered as one of the best Zelda games -- if not the best -- of all time. Coming up in the next few months, fans of classic Nintendo systems can expect to see Super Metroid, Excitebike, Mario Kart 64, and Duck Hunt hitting the service.

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Nintendo classics...

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...coming to the Wii

So even when the release calendar is quiet, as it was throughout February, Nintendo still provided Wii owners with a compelling collection of re-releases and old favorites. 12 of the 20 all-time best-selling video games are Nintendo products (and, incidentally, seven of them feature Mario in some form or other). With all these great titles to draw on, they can keep up this pace for years.

 

 

FEATURE

yahoo

Is Wii winning the console race?

Plus: Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto asks what Nintendo means to you -- exclusive to Yahoo!

16 Mar 2007

page 2 of 3

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No video game publisher, developer or hardware manufacturer commands the adulation of as many dedicated fans as Nintendo. Started in 1889 by a Japanese businessman, the company initially made its name by producing "hanafua" -- Japanese playing cards. It struggled through much of the 20th century, until the company's visionary third president Hiroshi Yamauchi (now the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners) hired a 25-year-old artist from Kyoto named Shigeru Miyamoto.

Miyamoto, along with Game and Watch designer Gunpei Yokoi, set about laying the foundations of Nintendo's current success with games like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Yokoi's story ends sadly: he resigned from Nintendo in 1996 after falling from grace (he was responsible for the failed Virtual Boy handheld) and died in a car accident a year later. Miyamoto's story, in contrast, mirrors Nintendo's: he was instrumental in the development of both the Zelda and Mario series, and ranks as one of the most recognized and successful game designers of all time. Miyamoto currently heads Nintendo's Tokyo development team.

Among its home console innovations Nintendo counts the first joypad, the first use of force feedback and the first analog stick -- and now the first fully featured motion control system in a major console. It's famously innovative in its strategy, too, dodging the race for more and more powerful hardware in favor of trying to expand its consoles' audiences beyond tech-heads, geeks, and video game addicts.

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And it seems to be working. The Wii has been a big hit in an Illinois retirement home, where the inmates are organizing Wii Bowling tournaments and showing up their grandkids. The Mayo Clinic and the International Sports Science Association are already studying the potential health benefits of Wii games. You can't buy that sort of word of mouth.

With the release of the Wii, Nintendo is adopting tactics we more often associate with its competitors, Microsoft and Sony. With the Channel updates that have rolled out in the last couple of months, the Wii is now the only full-size console with a usable web browser, an online news and weather service, and even its own email address. These are functions we would normally associate with those Internet set-top boxes that were all the rage back in 1997. Could the Wii, with its unique mouse-like pointer control system, be making a play for the "convergent device" Holy Grail, delivering multiple diverse functions straight to your TV?

Contrast that with the Wii's attitude to online gaming. Or perhaps that should be "lack of attitude." While Microsoft and Sony both invest much into their single-login, integrated systems that pack online functions into every game, Nintendo's content, for the time being, limits its gamers to one-console multiplayer. The phenomenal success of the system so far indicates, however, that either this just isn't an issue for most buyers or, and perhaps more convincingly, that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are already sating our appetite for online multiplayer entertainment.

 

FEATURE

yahoo

Is Wii winning the console race?

Plus: Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto asks what Nintendo means to you -- exclusive to Yahoo!

16 Mar 2007

page 3 of 3

ADVERTISEMENT

It's coming, though. June 25 is the scheduled release date for Pokemon Battle Revolution, which will use the console's Internet connection to enable head-to-head online battles between trainers. It'll also be the first to link the DS and Wii together, enabling players to transfer their Pokemon from handheld titles to the Wii, and use the DS as a Wii controller. Given the continued popularity of the Pokemon games, both among its intended demographic and older RPG fans, it's sure to be a big seller.

Nintendo's other guaranteed hit, Mario, isn't coming to the Wii until later this year, although his debut appearance in the Miyamoto-designed Super Mario Galaxy is looking to be yet another stunner. Another fan favorite, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is also expected before 2008, and for the first time includes a non-Nintendo character: Snake, from the Metal Gear series.

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Of course, none of that will console you if you're still hunting for your Wii. Nintendo tells us they're making continuous shipments to feed the "huge demand around the country." At some point they're sure to get ahead of the demand, but with the next few weeks seeing the release of anticipated Wii titles like Super Paper Mario, Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, and The Godfather: Black Hand Edition, we're not holding our breath.


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Posted by geminimay_no 06:13 | Information Technology | Comment(19) | Permalink
Information Technology - NEWS ABOUT BEST DEVICE IN THE MARKET
19 March, 2007

Keep It Private, Screen Your iPod

Posted Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:57PM EDT

Keep It Private, Screen Your iPodAre you slightly annoyed by people always looking over your shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of whatever is playing on your iPod video or smartphone? I am, and I think it was about time somebody brought privacy filters for mobile devices to the U.S.

Alltel's Chocolate Clamshells

Posted Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:45PM EDT

Alltel's Chocolate ClamshellsBack in November, I wrote about LG's clamshell Chocolate phone, the VX8600, packed with a 1.3-megapixel digital camera, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and V-Cast capability. I agree that calling this a Chocolate phone is just confusing, besides it looks nothing like its big brother. The original Chocolate phone (VX8500) has been offered in many colors, including pink, mint, and red, while the VX8600 had only been available in glossy black through Verizon Wireless.

Go Ahead, Complain About Your Boss

Posted Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:05PM EDT

Go Ahead, Complain About Your BossWait, what? Your Fridays are far from being laid back? Well your boss must be a demanding little micro-managing dweeb who probably monitors everything you do online and off. I bet he walks past your cubicle every half hour hoping to catch a glimpse of you web surfing just so he can call you out in front of your co-workers. Being the boss is not easy, but being managed by a terrible boss will certainly have you contemplating that job offer you got from a LinkedIn recruiter. I've had my fair share of bad bosses, and I would usually end up venting all my frustrations to my husband, or to other frustrated co-workers.

Fighting Game Addiction Subliminally

Posted Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:38PM EDT

Fighting Game Addiction SubliminallyWow, our tech-addicted brethren just can't seem to get out of the headlines lately. We've talked about the Internet addictsBlackberry addictsemail addicts, and now the focus is back on game addicts after a 26-year old gamer died following a online gaming marathon. 

What Type of Chair Do You Have?

Posted Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:33PM EDT

What Type of Chair Do You Have?I've been doing some research, looking for the most ergonomic set up for my body. I just purchased a new desk, an awesome Humanscale keyboard tray (I'll review this one soon), and a new mouse. But the most challenging task for me has been finding a good chair.

Bone Conduction Gear for Headbangers

Posted Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:35PM EDT

Bone Conduction Gear for HeadbangersI don't know many people who wear headbands—as a matter of fact, I've never even met one—but it appears headbands might still be a popular item at least in other parts of the world. Thanko is a Japanese store known to carry some strange gadgets, and a sure place to find the Vonia BT Sports bone conduction headband.

New Walkman Wants to Meet Your Social Needs

Posted Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:06PM EDT

New Walkman Wants to Meet Your Social NeedsToday's social Web 2.0 hipsters want their entertainment, and they want it fast. Looks like Sony Ericsson will not be ignoring their needs, but instead introducing a phone that's all about meeting social needs online and off.

USPS Celebrates Star Wars Anniversary, Droid Style

Posted Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:58AM EDT

USPS Celebrates Star Wars Anniversary, Droid StyleStar Wars will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this summer (May 24-May 28), and rumor has it the United States Postal Service (USPS) is revamping 300 of its old-school blue boxes by dressing them up in R2D2 graphics. While nothing is official yet, it's hard to argue with these pictures of R2D2 mailboxes in formations awaiting their marching orders.

Free vs. Paid Web Hosting

Posted Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:24AM EDT

Free vs. Paid Web HostingSimply put, a web hosting company is able to store your web site's contents on a server to make the web page accessible to others on the World Wide Web. Most web hosting companies want you to register your domain name first in order to set up your account, but if you haven't, they will offer to do it for you. So here's a tip: Never let anybody else register your domain name, no exceptions. Don't be tempted by the host's free registration offer; doing so will only create problems for you in the future.

ViewSonic's iPod Projector

Posted Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:56PM EDT

ViewSonic's iPod ProjectorSick of iPod accessories yet? The iPod accessory overload is far from being over, and Viewsonic's iPod projector is going to make a lot of iPod owners very happy. Remember when we thought how great it was to finally be able to download videos to the iPod? That feeling soon faded after watching hour-long TV shows on the tiny 2.5 inch screen. Then we spotted the ViewSonic ViewDock, and thought, "Aha! now we can watch those videos on a bigger screen." Unfortunately, that didn't work either because videos couldn't be played straight from the iPod; and yes, we're all still wondering what the whole point of an integrated iPod dock on an LCD screen was all about.

 

Find Cheap Gas on the Fly

Posted Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:41PM EDT

Find Cheap Gas on the FlyOne of the top headlines of the day is about rising gas prices throughout the nation. An AP report says that prices have gone up an average of 20 cents per gallon nationwide in the past two weeks. San Francisco has the highest average price of $3.10 per gallon, while Alaska has the lowest.

Watch and Learn: The Missing Short Clips

Posted Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:18PM EDT

Watch and Learn: The Missing Short ClipsOne reason instructional videos are so popular is because they teach us how to accomplish a task in very short period of time, as opposed to reading a whole book that covers far too many details. If you're a visual learner like me, then you might enjoy a British site called Video Jug full of short clips explaining how to do just about anything in three minutes or less.

Send Pictures Wirelessly with Sony's DSC-G1

Posted Fri Mar 9, 2007 7:03PM EST

Send Pictures Wirelessly with Sony's DSC-G1I started reading this article by NewsFactor on Yahoo! News regarding the new Sony DSC-G1 wireless digital camera, and I couldn't help but imagine the possibilities the future holds. First, let me tell you more about this digital camera. As a member of the Cyber-shot line, the DSC-G1 is slightly thicker than newer models, yet it does what no other Cybershot camera has been able to do. It can send photos wirelessly to a computer or up to four other digital cameras simultaneously as long as they are Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) capable. This 6-megapixel digital camera can store up to 7,500 VGA quality or 600 full-resolution photographs in its 2GB of built-in memory! That's insane.

Appear More Productive at Work

Posted Fri Mar 9, 2007 5:31AM EST

Appear More Productive at WorkWe're all guilty of spending a good chunk of company time sitting in our cubicle catching up on our blog reading, updating our social network profiles, or scanning the latest headlines on the RSS reader, among other things. This month alone has employers worried that hoops fans will be spending more time on ESPN.com than on the projects at hand due to March Madness. It can get really uncomfortable when the boss pops in to see how a project is coming along, and instead he finds you watching a basketball game on CBS Sports. Yikes! Talk about embarrassing.

A Huggable REi of Sunlight

Posted Fri Mar 9, 2007 3:45AM EST

A Huggable REi of SunlightI live in sunny California, but even I tend to get depressed when I'm too busy to go outside during the day. Some people even develop a disorder called S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder), which comes from the lack of exposure to natural sunlight. This disorder causes you sleep more, and/or turn to sweets when depression sets in. So until you head to the beach for spring break, let me introduce you a sunshiny alternative that will alter your mood year round.

How Do You Bottle Up a Generation?

Posted Thu Mar 8, 2007 9:07PM EST

How Do You Bottle Up a Generation?Ricky Montalvo, who coined the phrase technosexual a few years ago, says a "technosexual is a geek in need of style, and the stylish in need of geek." In other words, the edgy, chic-geeks of today who carry several designer gadgets in their messenger bags, and are all about the Web 2.0 lifestyle. The New York Times says yet another corporation is going after the web-savvy, technosexual crowd more interested in electronics, and less impressed with current fashion or celebrity fragrances. Calvin Klein wants to revive its once popular unisex fragrance by passing it off as the fragrance for thumb-texting technosexuals "whose romantic lives are defined in part by the casual hookup."

Spray and Wipe Keyboard Cleaner

Posted Thu Mar 8, 2007 7:26PM EST

Spray and Wipe Keyboard CleanerWe've all heard how most keyboards harbor more bacteria than a toilet, and the fact that we don't clean them as often has a lot do with it. Most Fridays are pretty slow at the office, and probably the best time to schedule in a quick keyboard cleaning. But before you put on your rubber gloves check out my tips on how to clean a keyboard. They're all pretty simple, unless you decide to do some deep cleaning.

Cooling Down Your Power-Hungry Home Network

Posted Thu Mar 8, 2007 5:36AM EST

Cooling Down Your Power-Hungry Home NetworkLifehacker always has some great tips, and thanks to their ingenious, resourceful blog, I was able to find a few tips that will help you conserve some energy year round and save money in the end. When I shared an office with my husband, we'd notice how hot the room would get compared to the rest of the house. This was because we both had dual monitors, desktops, laptops, a television, printers, and other electrical devices crammed into a small space with one window. I'd also like to mention that, in addition to running all those electronics in one room, we also lived in Texas where summers are unbearable.

Pooch Gadgets: Doggy Digital Camera

Posted Thu Mar 8, 2007 4:50AM EST

Pooch Gadgets: Doggy Digital CameraAs if getting your pooch his own iPod-ready pet carrier wasn't enough, the guys over at Takara Tomy think your Yorkie should also have his own digital camera, perhaps even his own Flickr stream. Oh stop it, that's just too cute! Not to mention possible with the Wonderful Shot Dog Camera (the name says it all) that attaches to the dog's collar to take photos at the press of a button.

It Pays To Be A Citizen Journalist

Posted Wed Mar 7, 2007 11:48PM EST

It Pays To Be A Citizen JournalistCitizen journalism is a powerful thing, and it's here to stay. Anyone with a camera, a blog, and a passion for reporting can eventually ditch the day job, and even become one of the most important people on the web. Just ask Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos (#23), Robert Scoble of Podtech.net (#25)or Michael Arrington of Tech Crunch (#30) all influential, full-time bloggers who beat out Tim O'Reilly and Kevin Rose on the list. That's pretty influential.

 

 

Do You Have Unclaimed Money Out There?

Posted Wed Mar 7, 2007 7:32AM EST

Do You Have Unclaimed Money Out There?We all dread tax season, so I thought I'd point you to an excellent resource that could help you search for any unclaimed assests you may not even know about. I recently came across MissingMoney.com, and was surprised to discover someone out there owes me a little bit of cash. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) launched a site a few years ago that's been helping people recover unclaimed or lost assets, which could include stocks, savings accounts, uncashed pay checks, royalty payments, utility deposits, and even money you may have inherited.

Dance Your Heart Out, Tiny Dancer

Posted Tue Mar 6, 2007 11:56PM EST

Dance Your Heart Out, Tiny DancerI hope you remember the FlashWear T-Equalizer Tom mentioned last month, because it's quickly becoming a fashion trend among young club-goers. Reminds me of that LED belt buckle idea we thought we'd never see outside the pages of the Web, until we witnessed geeksters actually wearing them with our own eyes. The sound-sensitive shirt that once had dancing bars lighting up across the chest, now features psychedelic Go-Go dancers shaking their thing to the beat of any music.   

How To Clean That Filthy Keyboard

Posted Tue Mar 6, 2007 10:23PM EST

How To Clean That Filthy KeyboardIt's one thing to clean your own peripherals, but I draw the line when it comes to cleaning the gunk out of someone else's keyboard. I've been handed some nasty keyboards on my first day on the job, which always lead to me request a new one. Knowing what I know, there's no way I'm going to clean out nostril hair, soda, food, and any other junk lurking inside a filthy keyboard. I'd rather bring my own before doing that.

iGo to Mac: You Complete Me

Posted Tue Mar 6, 2007 10:11PM EST

iGo to Mac: You Complete MeMy current L-shaped glass desk may look wonderful in my office, but it defies the rules of ergonomics. In my search for a new desk, I came across the futuristic iGo workstation. Again, this desk looks beautiful, but I'm not exactly what you would call a minimalist either. iGo definitely complements the simplistic, clean design of the Mac like no other desk I've seen. This is one of those pieces that would set the theme for any room, because you just want to decorate around it.

Your Trash is Another Person's Treasure

Posted Mon Mar 5, 2007 11:57PM EST

Your Trash is Another Person's TreasureHere are a few sites where you can give away unwanted items, as well as find a few free ones for yourself:

Buzzing Gizmos Keep Drivers Awake

Posted Mon Mar 5, 2007 10:55PM EST

Buzzing Gizmos Keep Drivers AwakeJapanese drivers worried about falling asleep at the wheel now have a couple of options to keep them awake. Dory mentioned the MyDo Bururu vibrating glasses, which come with a little motor that kicks in when the head drops below a certain angle. These vibrating spectacles may be ideal for students cramming the night before a big exam, but will the vibrations be powerful enough to keep a driver awake at night? I hope so. Then again, I agree with Dory, in that a good night sleep is probably a wiser choice.

Sony's Video Walkman Arrives

Posted Fri Mar 2, 2007 10:14PM EST

Sony's Video Walkman ArrivesI'd say Sony is a little behind on the video music player front these days, but still glad it's arrived. Sony's first digital video Walkman, the NW-A800, will soon be released in Europe in four colors: white, black, blue and pink. These players vary in capacity starting with an 8GB (NW-A808), 4GB (NW-A806) and 2GB (NW-A805) model, which appears to be the major difference between the players. They all have a 2-inch LCD screen that plays MPEG4 videos in landscape mode.

Pssst, Want Free Music?

Posted Fri Mar 2, 2007 7:41AM EST

Pssst, Want Free Music?We have seen what the Internet can do for musicians, such as Ok-Go who went on to perform at the VMA's, and won a Grammy shortly after their low-budget video captured the masses on YouTube. The future for independent artists is looking bright, thanks to these and other new services such as CD Baby and Amie St., both helping new artists promote their music on a broader level.

The Smelly Future of Tech

Posted Fri Mar 2, 2007 7:03AM EST

The Smelly Future of TechOn the stranger than fiction note, this panel of hi-tech experts also speculates that the soldiers of 2015 will be wearing bulletproof and waterproof fatigues that will camouflage to their surroundings. And by 2018, they think micro-bots will be able to swim through a person's bloodstream to find and heal health problems they encounter. Now that's a scary possibility since researchers in Japan have already developed a mini-robot that is able to perform surgery inside the body, as well as capture images and even tissue samples of the affected area. It's been tested on animals, so it's only a matter of time before it gets tested on humans too. Not looking forward to that.

Helio Turns Up "The Heat"

Posted Thu Mar 1, 2007 11:58PM EST

Helio Turns Up "The Heat"This young generation is really plugged into trends online and off. Helio first connected young trendsetters to MySpace, and is now adding a few more choices to the Helio WAP deck. Helio's new slider-phone, dubbed The Heat, promises to bring Boing Boing, Digg, Metroblogging, and Wikipedia to the phone's WAP deck for easy access. I personally think they should've added Yahoo! Tech into the mix, but maybe next time, right?

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Get The 5-1-1 on Carpooling

Posted Thu Mar 1, 2007 11:10PM EST

Get The 5-1-1 on CarpoolingWe've given you the 4-1-1 on free directory assistance, and now I want to give Bay Area residents the 5-1-1 on a program that rewards its residents for carpooling. The program is called Rideshare, and the objective is to connect drivers willing to share a ride a few times a week. The program launched last summer, and is resuming again this month. Not only does Rideshare find matches between people willing to carpool, but it also rewards new carpoolers with up to $100 in gift cards for gas or groceries as an incentive. California has some of the highest gas prices in the country, and carpoolers will appreciate being able to save some money each week.

How Shutterlag Ruined My Gene Simmons Photo

Posted Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:56PM EST

How Shutterlag Ruined My Gene Simmons PhotoMy camera's delayed flash tricks people into thinking that by the time the first flash goes off, their pictures have been taken. But in reality, it is until after the second flash that the picture is actually captured. Yes, it's as confusing as it sounds, which is why my impromptu shots are always ruined by awkward smiles, closed eyes, or blurry faces. In order to get a decent picture, I have to remind them to stay still until after the second flash. Frustrating.

Spring Cleaning is Near, FreeCycle Your Goods

Posted Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:55PM EST

Spring Cleaning is Near, FreeCycle Your GoodsEvery year is a good year to go be more eco-friendly, something most of us gadget hounds should practice when replacing those old gizmos. Spring cleaning is around the corner, so what will you be doing with those old electronics sitting in the basement? Give them away!

Play That Funky Music, Fluffy

Posted Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:11PM EST
Information Technology - NEWS ABOUT WII - THE BEST DEVICE IN THE MARKET
19 March, 2007

Wii Conspiracy Roundup

Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:13AM EDT

See Comments (55)

The Nintendo Wii was released on November 19, 2006, nearly four months ago. Got one yet? Of course you don't. And don't go looking for one, either. Unless you've got an insider at a gaming store or the tenacity to call one every day to inquire about their next shipment, you're not going to get one soon.

Yet the Wii is a gaming phenomenon and, unlike the Playstation 3, includes no technology of note that hasn't been around for many years.

So why aren't we soaking in Wiis? Nintendo said it would have 17 million of them released by the end of March! Have a look at some of the conspiracy theories on the Internet, strictly for your amusement:

First there's the obvious, that Nintendo is artificially keeping supply low in order to keep demand high throughout 2007. That would make sense if Nintendo was charging higher prices now. But it isn't, and so it's losing out on millions every week by failing to fulfill demand and possibly losing sales to other consoles.

Also popular: Big box retailers are hoarding them for big sale days. The idea is that if they advertise Wiis on the weekend, they'll get big traffic on those days and sell lots of paper towels and Pokemon junk (specifically mentioned are Target and Toys R Us). I can't speak to this, but it sounds plausible at least.

On the more absurd side: A variety of lawsuits have stopped Nintendo from producing more consoles. Ok, except it is still producing consoles, just not enough for everyone.

A game store employee offered this to one Yahoo! Tech shopper: "Nintendo is at the end of its fiscal year so they aren't sending them out." Well, he said "physical year," but we know what he meant. And unfortunately, that argument is inane. When companies get near the end of a fiscal year, they invariably try to sell more, not less, as it makes the numbers look better.

And of course, A-list NBA players have all the consoles. Even B-list players can't get them. 

And here's an interesting twist: Independent Wii developers can't even get hardware, as Wii publishers have taken all the consoles.

What's the truth? Well, it should be obvious, if you've ever bought a game console in the past: Gaming companies are notorious for mismanaging their launches by not having enough product on hand for release, and being unable to fulfill demand for months at a time. The Xbox 360 was tough to get for close to a year, if you'll recall, and like the Wii it doesn't feature any outrageously next-gen technology.

What can you do to get one? Be patient. Shop on eBay or Craigslist if you're desperate. And make friends with someone at a store that sells Wii hardware so you can get in line early the day they come in. Or just do what I do: Enjoy your PS2 and 360 for the time being. 

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Comments on Wii Conspiracy Roundup

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Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

1 Posted by edward.stamper@sbcglobal.net on Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:14AM EDT Report Abuse
I don't know about the knowing someone in the store part. What I did was check the local stores about once or twice a week. I had my usual rounds; Toys'r'Us, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal Mart. One day, Wal Mart had two in the display case, so I bought one. Persistance won the day.
2 Posted by mystdancer50 on Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:11AM EDT Report Abuse
I think the Wii is interesting though I won't buy one for myself, I wouldn't turn down a gift. The PS3 is the one I'm craving and am willing to wait until 2009 when the price is reasonable and there are more games available for the system. This is why I'm often behind the times when gaming exists because I always wait until the consoles are not 300+ dollars. My brother, actually, bought me my PS2...hmmm...I wonder...Cheers!
3 Posted by rogueist on Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:18PM EDT Report Abuse
Local Target and Toys R Us has shipments of them every week. And the timeframe from Nintendo was "mid-March to end of April" for the huge shipment. So expect it to happen sometime in the next few weeks.
4 Posted by ka7aok831 on Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:59PM EDT Report Abuse
arlier this week Sam's Club in Avondale, AZ had several pallets of Wii's. They were selling them for about $247.
5 Posted by cuplacaiazzas on Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:55PM EDT Report Abuse
I have another theory to think about. Instead of mismanagement and conspiracy's, I believe it is more about long term production. If Nintendo put in place all of the personnel, equipment, etc. to produce units for everyone who wanted a Wii, there would be a huge boom at the first, then a huge fall in sales afterward, forcing Nintendo to slack production to keep even with sales. This way they are staying at a constant production rate, saving money on equipment and the grief of firing employees after the boom ends. The rate they are at now should last them at least a year or two.
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Posted by geminimay_no 05:44 | Information Technology | Comment(8) | Permalink
Information Technology - NEWS ABOUT WII - THE BEST DEVICE IN THE MARKET
19 March, 2007

Nintendo Wii Outsells Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

Elizabeth Millard, newsfactor.com Fri Mar 16, 12:03 PM ET

A research firm has reported that Nintendo sold as many Wii game consoles in February as both of its rivals put together. The NPD Group's latest report found that Nintendo sold 355,000 units during the month, with Microsoft selling 228,000 of its

Xbox 360 units, and Sony coming in third place with just 127,000 of its PlayStation 3 consoles.

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But Nintendo is not the overall winner for next-generation consoles at this point; the report stated that Microsoft has sold 5.1 million of its consoles, while both Nintendo and Sony have not yet reached the two-million mark for either of their gaming machines.

It is likely that the trio will continue to duke it out for market dominance in the coming years, adding more games and services to capture larger pieces of the $13 billion U.S. video game market.

Building Buzz

Part of Nintendo's February success stems from a strong start in the early days of the recent console race, said Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson.

The company sold a significant number of consoles thanks to the strength of its games, and development houses have been quick to work on new titles for Nintendo since it is less expensive to create games for that platform than for Sony's PlayStation 3 or Microsoft's Xbox 360, Jackson noted.

"One of Nintendo's advantages is that it's slightly less expensive for development houses because the hardware is less powerful and a bit older," he said. "Nintendo is not in the arms race for the most advanced, most innovative hardware that is going on between the Xbox and the PS3."

Another reason that Nintendo has garnered attention, and subsequent consumer dollars, is the company's unique controller, called the Wiimote, which gets players off the couch and moving to emulate game characters in titles like bowling, tennis, and boxing.

"There's a very popular blog that chronicles a Wii exercise program," said Jackson. "It's a bit of a joke, but the fellow has lost some weight, and it's building buzz around the product."

Online Worlds

As consumers continue to decide between big game makers, the large game companies will keep adding services that appeal to broader audiences, noted Jackson.

Sony recently released details of its online meeting place, called PlayStation Home, where users can communicate, play online games, swap content, and outfit their personal digital living spaces.

Microsoft, meanwhile, just announced that it is extending its Live online service to PC users, extending its reach beyond the Xbox 360 and uniting console players with PC gamers for titles like the very popular "Halo 2."

Gamers can expect to see more efforts along these lines, Jackson said, particularly in tying console gaming to multiplayer, online worlds.

Posted by geminimay_no 05:41 | Information Technology | Comment(0) | Permalink
Technology Breaking News
21 November, 2006
Console Wars II : Does the Xbox 360 need to do an about-face?.
No longer sitting pretty as the only Next-gen gaming console, Microsoft has its work cut out to continue a strong market share in the cut-throat gaming arena.  Will its focus on integration of the online space be enough to keep Sony’s PS3, and the Nintendo Wii from encroaching?

Read more...
Tech Lifestyle
Console Wars II : Does the Xbox 360 need to do an about-face?.
By Mike Bantick   
No longer sitting pretty as the only Next-gen gaming console, Microsoft has its work cut out to continue a strong market share in the cut-throat gaming arena.  Will its focus on integration of the online space be enough to keep Sony’s PS3, and the Nintendo Wii from encroaching?

 
Second life virtual world attacked by virus or worm
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Grey goo infects the virtual world with golden rings that seem to have been inspired by the rings in the classic game ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’. With the virus causing a heavy load on the servers, Second Life needed to be shut down and cleansed before going online once more. Will this happen again?

 
Toshiba brings 8Gb high-speed, high capacity card to global market
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Flash memory SD cards are getting larger and larger capacities, with Toshiba beating competitors such as SanDisk and Lexar to market with the world’s first 'Class 4' 8Gb SDHC card.

 
Wii launches funky accessories from third party manufacturers for US launch
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Nintendo wants you to hold the motion sensing controller, lovingly dubbed the ‘Wii-mote’, in your hands to control your bat, racquet, club, steering wheel or more. But along with the launch of the Wii in the US has come a range of Wii-mote add-ons that are so cool and affordable, you’ll want them for the novelty value if nothing else.

 
Third world children to eventually get one laptop each
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Nicholas Negroponte’s project to outfit every third world child with his or her very own US $100 laptop moves one step closer to reality with the first 10 laptops shipped at a cost of US $150 each.

 
Console Wars II : What will Wii be doing?
By Mike Bantick   
Sony PS3 has the technology, Microsoft Xbox 360 has online experience and a year under its belt and the Nintendo Wii has true innovation in game-play.  But who can deliver the gaming experience that will loosen our wallets and garner our praise?  Here we will focus on the Wii and its surprising competitor in the new battle for the living room.
 
Guitar Hero II – Rock in your socks.
By Mike Bantick   
Hands up those that have dreamed of setting up a guitar and amp in the garage.  Okay, hands down.  Guitar hero, now in its second incarnation, let’s you live the dream without the screeching bad notes and subsequent law enforcement knocks on the door.

 
Reviewers love Core 2 Duo MacBook for most applications
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Apple’s new Core 2 Duo is receiving rave reviews, with the unit outperforming the older Core Duo models. But if you’re a serious gamer or want to run Vista at the same time, you’ll need the MacBook Pro.

 
At launch Wii will rock you
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
The initial shipment of Wii’s is selling out in stores across the US, despite plentiful supplies shipped to most stores, far exceeding the PS3s available at launch. With plenty more Wii’s on the way, it’s surprising to discover some people are getting US $600 for a Wii on eBay.

 
Nintendo Wii has peaceful, plentiful launch in US
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
The final new games console launch for 2006 has occurred, with the Wii and PS3 joining the Xbox 360 as consoles now launched in the US, the only territory where this has occurred so far.

 
BMW launches hydrogen car: why not electric? (Update 1)
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Update 1: BMW and other car manufacturers think hydrogen is the future, but is it? With hydrogen taking more energy to produce than it delivers, why the ridiculous distraction from creating clean electric cars with hundreds fewer parts than combustion engines? Forget about a hydrogen car, you’ll never be driving one.
 
Destroy all humans! 2 - There goes the neighbourhood man!
By Mike Bantick   
Destroy All Humans 2!
dah2_xbox_bx_rgb1_thumbnail Developer: Pandemic
Publisher: THQ
Rating: Teen
   
PS2, Xbox
Should you not have completed the destruction of mankind in the original PS2 / Xbox surprise hit, along comes a sequel to finish the job.  But even though the Anal probe returns, it is no bummer.
 
Hydrogen BMW a pointless waste of time
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
BMW and other car manufacturers think hydrogen is the future, but is it? With hydrogen taking more energy to produce than it delivers, why the ridiculous distraction from creating clean electric cars with hundreds fewer parts than combustion engines? Forget about a hydrogen car, you’ll never be driving one.

 
Windows Vista comes with 19,500 drivers on DVD – more on Windows Update
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Ever needed to find a driver for a product and wished Windows would either just have the driver in it, or that their Windows Update service could provide it? With Vista, it can – and new features and updates will be forthcoming too. It’s about time!

 
On launch day PS3 smashed into pieces in the US
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
As predicted and as expected, the people who created the SmashmyiPod site have purchased a PS3 and smashed it into pieces. Want to see the video?

 
Forget high-definition, the future is in high-def 3D
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
eGames Expo Melbourne Australia: I’ve seen the future, and it’s in 3D. This technology has threatened to sweep the world many times over the past few years. But new US technology, developed in Silicon Valley and exclusively launched worldwide at the eGames Expo in Melbourne prior to its global launch on January 1, 2007, blows all the misconceptions away and finally launches the true era of high-def 3D for movies, games, TV and more.

 
PS3 launches violent acts in US as console officially goes on sale
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt   
Perhaps US gamers have learnt too many lessons from violent console games as a shooting, theft, violence and police action mark the launch of the PS3 console in the US.

 
Posted by geminimay_no 19:37 | Information Technology | Comment(0) | Permalink
Google Has New News For Information & Technology
03 November, 2006

Googler insights into product and technology news and our culture.

Gmail mobile client is live



The new Gmail for mobile client launching today began life as a challenge: What if we could develop a Gmail application for cell phones that was as powerful and as easy to use as the desktop version? What if it ran on hundreds of different mobile devices -- and made it possible to compose, read, and respond to conversations with a bare minimum of clicking and scrolling? What if it enabled you to do things like search your inbox, view your attachments (including pictures and PDF files), and click to call your Gmail contacts? And what if the app were designed to make the whole experience as fast and as seamless as possible?

Team stalwarts Jimmy Shih, Joanne McKinley, Derek Phillips and others worked hard to answer these questions, and the result is Gmail for mobile devices. It's a small download, but one that might make you look at email on your phone in a different way -- maybe like Gmail did for email when that first appeared. Download it now and decide for yourself!

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Get your people talking in more languages



Somewhere in the neighborhood of three out of four people on Earth don't speak English, so to better serve more Earthlings, we aim to make our products available and useful in lots of native languages other than English. Recently I've been working with translators and other linguistic experts to support 17 new languages in Google Apps for Your Domain.

This product is our way of letting entire organizations give their users powerful communication and collaboration tools: private-label versions of Gmail for custom domains, Google Calendar and Google Talk. The service is free, there's no hardware or software required, and organizations can tailor the user interface with custom logos and colors. So now anyone with a domain can provide essential, customized apps to all of their users, without spending a cent. (Or as the case may be, without spending a rupee, a krone, a won, a Eurocent, a yen, a centavo or a kopek.)

Here's the full list of languages Google Apps for Your Domain now supports:
French, Italian, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, British English, Polish, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean and US English. (Your browser's language preference determines which version of the site you'll see.)

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What Joe said



We'd like to welcome Joe, Graham, and the rest of the JotSpot team to Google. They've truly pioneered do-it-yourself application publishing, enabling anyone from individuals to small businesses and large enterprises to use wikis for online collaboration. Since we're just getting started on a long and exciting road in online collaboration for both consumers and our enterprise customers, joining forces with the JotSpot team comes at a great time.

After all, information created by a single user becomes exponentially more valuable when it's shared and combined with information from other people or places. We've been tackling this step by step for awhile now, including enabling people to move their calendars, photos and documents onto the web -- unlocking them from one PC or one piece of paper to open up a wide range of possibilities for working, planning, socializing, organizing, and so on.

Please stay tuned, and we'll tell you more as soon as we can.

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Spot on



OK, I can finally blurt it out: JotSpot is now part of Google, and I couldn't be more excited.

Three years ago my friend Graham Spencer and I set out to start a new company. We'd both recently left Excite, which we co-founded, and we had spent a few years starting a nonprofit together. We brainstormed scores of ideas, debated late into the night and ultimately exchanged a mountain of email and documents. We realized we needed a tool to help us organize our thoughts or we'd quickly become overwhelmed. So Graham set up a wiki. I was hooked because it immediately changed the way we worked together. Everything was kept in one place, not locked in email threads or on different computers. We could both make changes to the same document, without having to know HTML (well, without me having to know HTML). After twenty minutes of using a wiki, I was convinced that they were like the Internet in 1993 -- useful, but trapped in the land of the nerds (which both Graham and I proudly inhabit). So we set out to start JotSpot as a way to bring the power of wikis to a much broader audience.

As we built the business over the past three years Google consistently attracted our attention. We watched them acquire Writely, and launch Google Groups, Google Spreadsheets and Google Apps for Your Domain. It was pretty apparent that Google shared our vision for how groups of people can create, manage and share information online. Then when we had conversations with people at Google we found ourselves completing each other's sentences. Joining Google allows us to plug into the resources that only a company of Google's scale can offer, like a huge audience, access to world-class data centers and a team of incredibly smart people.

Our first order of business is to move JotSpot to Google's software architecture. While we're doing so, we've turned off new registrations. But if you're interested, sign up for our waitlist and we'll keep you posted.

Finally, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the support, feedback, grumbles and praises of our users and customers. Thank you. That's the only way great products are built.

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The Domino Effect



A good viral video sets off a chain reaction that continues until nearly everyone has seen it, including your mom. The mad scientists known as EepyBird know a thing or two about chain reactions. They first rocketed into viral video fame by turning the explosive act of mixing Diet Coke and Mentos into an art form. Today they're back with a chain reaction like none other: 500 liters of Diet Coke and 1500+ Mentos, all triggered by the pull of one string.

Don't miss The Domino Effect -- a Google Video exclusive. In addition to being very fun, it demonstrates another interesting application of our Sponsored Video program -- this time with user-generated content. This helps producers like EepyBird earn revenue by pairing them up with our advertising partners.

We're excited to help compensate these independent producers for their creativity, and we can't wait to see who the next stars will be. If you have very compelling videos and are interested in this program, please get in touch.

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This year's CodeJam



What took 6 weeks, required sizzling brainpower, and drew a global audience of programmers? The fourth Google CodeJam, that's what. More than 21,000 coders from 100 countries registered in early September and have competed two rounds (they could code in Java, C++, C#, Python or VB.NET). Today was the grand finale, which just ended at our New York City office. The 100 finalists convened in New York to play this last round together. Screens glowed, fingers flew, and gears spun. Our top three winners are:
Petr Mitrichev, Russia - $10,000
Ying Wang, China - $,5000
Andrey Stankevich, Russia - $5,000
Additional cash prizes went to all the finalists, who represent 24 different countries. (Here's the full release.) This is the fourth annual Global Code Jam, which we produce in conjunction with TopCoder. Our best wishes, congratulations and thanks to everyone who celebrates the joys of coding.

Update: Ying Wang is studying in the U.S., but comes from China.

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About those outages on Blogger



You might have noticed some unexpected downtime on Blogger this week -- here's the story.

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On the alert for bloggers



So many interesting blogs and so little time! If you're anything like me, you like to pick and choose what posts you read on any given blog. You may only want to read a post about a topic of your interest, or perhaps you only want to read blog posts by a particular writer or two. Hence the new Blog Alert, which notifies you about new blog search results. We've also added a Comprehensive Alert, which can show results from multiple sources (including Google News, the web, and blogs) so you get fuller information whenever your favorite topics appear online. Here are a few examples to get you going:

-- You want to know when anyone blogs about global warming.

-- You like to track all Google mentions on Slashdot.

-- You're a bit obsessed with chocolate recipes on food blogs.

-- You need to know when RottenTomatoes covers Will Ferrell.

-- That well-known search pundit John Battelle seems to have a lot to say.

And now, it's your turn to make some of your own.

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Scary stories



“I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.” -- Edgar Allen Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart.
Some people dress up in wacky costumes (like us), others carve pumpkins or stay home to pass out treats (my personal favorite is the fun-sized Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate bars – yum). To help get you in the Halloween spirit, we’ve gathered some of the best classic spine-tingling tales you can find in Google Book Search. At google.com/scarystories, you can rediscover spooky classics like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as explore less well-known tales like Thomas Hardy’s Victorian ghost story, "The Withered Arm".

Whenever you see a "Download" button, you're free to download, save, and print a PDF version to read at your own pace. If you decide you want a bound copy, the "All editions" link will show you multiple editions, many of which are available to buy.

We hope exploring these classics helps make your Halloween special -- maybe even keeps you up for a night or two. Please note that some of these books may not be in the public domain everywhere in the world. Where copyright status is in question, we do not enable Full View access or downloading.

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Do you "Google?"



Q: What do zippers, baby oil, brassieres and trampolines have in common?

A: No, the answer isn't that they're all part of the setup for a highly inappropriate joke. In fact, the above list (along with thermos, cellophane, escalator, elevator, dry ice and many more) are all words that fell victim to those products' very success and, as they became more and more popular, slipped from trademarked status into common usage.

Will "Google" manage to avoid this fate? This year has brought a spate of news stories about the word's addition to the Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English dictionaries, an honor that's simultaneously highly flattering and faintly unsettling. Consider, for example, this passage from a New York Times story published last May:

"Jim sent a message introducing himself and asking, 'Do you want to make a movie?'" Mr. Fry recalled in a telephone interview from his home in Buda, Tex. 'So we Googled him, he passed the test, and T called him. That was in March 1996; we spent the summer coming up with the story, and we pitched it that fall.'"
Now, since Larry and Sergey didn't actually launch Google until 1998, Mr. Fry's usage of 'Google' is as distressing to our trademark lawyers as it is thrilling to our marketing folks. So, lest our name go the way of the elevators and escalators of yesteryear, we thought it was time we offered this quick semantic primer.

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device that identifies a particular company's products or services. Google is a trademark identifying Google Inc. and our search technology and services. While we're pleased that so many people think of us when they think of searching the web, let's face it, we do have a brand to protect, so we'd like to make clear that you should please only use "Google" when you’re actually referring to Google Inc. and our services.

Here are some hopefully helpful examples.

Usage: 'Google' as noun referring to, well, us.
Example: "I just love Google, they're soooo cute and cuddly and adorable and awesome!"
Our lawyers say: Good. Very, very good. There's no question here that you're referring to Google Inc. as a company. Use it widely, and hey, tell a friend.

Usage: 'Google' as verb referring to searching for information on, um, Google.
Example: "I googled him on the well-known website Google.com and he seems pretty interesting."
Our lawyers say: Well, we're happy at least that it's clear you mean searching on Google.com. As our friends at Merriam-Webster note, to "Google" means "to use the Google search engine to find information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web."

Usage: 'Google' as verb referring to searching for information via any conduit other than Google.
Example: "I googled him on Yahoo and he seems pretty interesting."
Our lawyers say: Bad. Very, very bad. You can only "Google" on the Google search engine. If you absolutely must use one of our competitors, please feel free to "search" on Yahoo or any other search engine.
Thanks for your attention, and we look forward to serving your search-related information needs again soon.

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Copyright © 2006 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
Posted by geminimay_no 18:38 | Information Technology | Comment(1) | Permalink
Google On The Roll with Another Aquisition (2)
18 October, 2006

Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion


< Prev | 1 | 2

Can't really fault the folks at YouTube for taking the money — most people would. But I think this deal will probably lead to YouTube becoming irrelevant. That is, it will mostly likely require a user fee that most people won't want to pay, or be covered in splashy ads. Either way, it will turn into just another corporate entity that pretends to be hip. The coolness of YouTube was that it was a maverick and was kind of "for the people," "by the people" without a lot of corporate nonsense. No more.

— Posted by LadyJane1976

That should change now, predicted Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. “This gives Google the video play they have been looking for and gives them a great opportunity to redefine how advertising is done,” she said.

Investors applauded the possible acquisition as Google Inc. shares climbed $8.50 to close at $429 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, then added another $3.11 in extended trading.

Several other suitors, including Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and News Corp., reportedly have discussed a possible YouTube purchase in recent weeks.

(MSNBC.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal News.)

“This deal looks pretty compelling for Google,” said Standard & Poor’s analyst Scott Kessler. “Google has been doing a lot of things right, but they are not sitting on their laurels.”

Google’s YouTube coup may intensify the pressure on Yahoo to make its own splash by buying Facebook.com, the Internet’s second most popular social-networking site. Yahoo has reportedly offered as much as $1 billion for Palo Alto-based Facebook during months of sporadic talks.

“Yahoo really needs to step up and do something,” said Roger Aguinaldo, an investment banker who also publishes a dealmaking newsletter called the M&A Advisor. “They are becoming less relevant and looking less innovative with each passing day.”

Selling to Mountain View-based Google will give YouTube more technological muscle and advertising know-how, as well as generate a staggering windfall for a company that was running on credit card debt just 20 months ago.

To conserve money as it subsisted on $11.5 million in venture capital, YouTube had been based in an austere office above a San Mateo pizzeria until recently moving to more spacious quarters in a neighboring city.

Since the company started in Hurley’s garage in February 2005, YouTube has blossomed into a cultural touchstone that shows more than 100 million video clips per day. The video library is eclectic, featuring everything from teenagers goofing off in their rooms to William Shatner singing “Rocket Man” during a 1970s TV show. Most clips are submitted by users.

YouTube’s worldwide audience was 72.1 million by August, up from 2.8 million a year earlier, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Li and Kessler expect even more media companies will be lining up to do business with YouTube now that Google owns it.

“It’s going to be like, ’You can either fight us or you can make money with us,”’ Li predicted.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted by geminimay_no 14:28 | Information Technology | Comment(0) | Permalink
Google On The Roll with Another Aquisition
18 October, 2006

Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion

Search giant’s purchase of video sharing service biggest in its history

NBC VIDEO
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion
Oct. 10: Google buys the online video sharing site YouTube for $1.65 billion in a deal expected to dramatically improve Google's video traffic. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Today show

CNBC VIDEO
Google buys YouTube
Oct. 9: Could this deal lead to a spate of media mergers and partnerships? "On the Money's" Julia Boorstin reports.

CNBC

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Can't really fault the folks at YouTube for taking the money — most people would. But I think this deal will probably lead to YouTube becoming irrelevant. That is, it will mostly likely require a user fee that most people won't want to pay, or be covered in splashy ads. Either way, it will turn into just another corporate entity that pretends to be hip. The coolness of YouTube was that it was a maverick and was kind of "for the people," "by the people" without a lot of corporate nonsense. No more.

— Posted by LadyJane1976

Updated: 10:47 a.m. ET Oct. 10, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - Internet search leader Google is snapping up YouTube for $1.65 billion, brushing aside copyright concerns to seize a starring role in the online video revolution.

The all-stock deal announced Monday unites one of the Internet’s marquee companies with one of its rapidly rising stars. It came just a few hours after YouTube unveiled three separate agreements with media companies to counter the threat of copyright-infringement lawsuits.

The price makes YouTube Inc., a still-unprofitable startup, by far the most expensive purchase made by Google during its eight-year history. Last year, Google spent $130.5 million buying a total of 15 small companies.

Although some cynics have questioned YouTube’s staying power, Google is betting that the popular video-sharing site will provide it an increasingly lucrative marketing hub as more viewers and advertisers migrate from television to the Internet.

“This is the next step in the evolution of the Internet,” Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said during a conference call Monday.

YouTube will continue to retain its brand, its new headquarters in San Bruno and all 67 employees, including co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. Meanwhile, Google will continue to run a less popular video service on its own site.

The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.

“I’m confident that with this partnership we’ll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide,” said Hurley, YouTube’s 29-year-old CEO.

Schmidt thinks so highly of Hurley and Chen, 27, that he compared them to Google’s now 33-year-old co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Brin sees the similarities too. “It’s hard to imagine a better fit with another company,” Brin said during Monday’s conference call. “This really reminds me of Google just a few short years ago.”

The two companies even share a common financial bond: Sequoia Capital, an early Google investor that owns a roughly 30 percent stake in YouTube. Menlo Park-based Sequoia remains a major Google shareholder and retains a seat on the company’s board — factors that might have helped the deal come together after just a week of negotiation.

YouTube has drawn less flattering comparisons to the original Napster, the once-popular music sharing service that was buried in an avalanche of copyright infringement lawsuits filed by incensed music companies and artists.

While most videos posted on YouTube are homemade, the site also features volumes of copyrighted material — a problem that has caused some critics to predict the startup eventually would be sued into oblivion.

But Hurley and Chen have spent months cozying up with major media executives in an effort to convince them that YouTube could help them make more money by helping them connect with the growing number of people who spend most of their free time on the Internet.

As its negotiations with Google appeared to be near fruition, YouTube on Monday announced new partnerships with Universal Music Group, CBS Corp. and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Those alliances followed a similar arrangement announced last month with Warner Music Group Inc.

The truce with Universal represented a particularly significant breakthrough because the world’s largest record company had threatened to sue YouTube for copyright infringement less than a month ago.

While Google has been hauling away huge profits from the booming search market, it hasn’t been able to become a major player in online video.

Posted by geminimay_no 14:25 | Information Technology | Comment(0) | Permalink
Blog with Google - Information in the Palm of Your Hands
14 September, 2006

Celebrate your freedom to read




What was your favorite book when you were in school? Did F. Scott Fitzgerald give you an inside look at a world of glamorous parties where the wealthy fell in love and went home with their feelings hurt? Did Holden Caulfield speak directly to your inner misanthrope? For decades, literary classics such as The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye have had a profound impact on millions of readers. Yet every year, there are hundreds of attempts to remove great books from schools and libraries nationwide. Fortunately, the American Library Association and many other organizations are fighting back with Banned Books Week, taking place this year Sept. 23-30.

For 25 years, libraries and bookstores nationwide have been celebrating the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, which is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Association of College Stores, and endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

Now Google has joined the party. At google.com/bannedbooks, you can use Google Book Search to explore some of the best novels of the 20th century which have been challenged or banned. And while libraries and bookstores around the country celebrate the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week with special readings, displays, and more, you just might end up with a visit to your local library or bookstore and an old favorite or a new banned book in hand.

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Co-op for health information


One of my goals in starting my blog has been to reliably provide useful health information and advice to a wider audience than just the people I see. As part of this effort, I have been labeling health-related websites that I think are good ones using Google Co-op, a beta product that premiered in May. Google Co-op is designed to improve results for searches. If you opt in to my Co-Op profile (and subscribe to it), you'll see my labels in your health-related search results.

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7 Days in September


A while ago, New York filmmaker Steve Rosenbaum produced 7 Days in September which tells the story of a week -- September 11-18, 2001 -- with the help of many filmmakers and a multitude of perspectives. As Rosenbaum notes, "Those seven days are full of fear, anger, pain, loss, and a deep sense of community," adding that 7 Days "isn't meant to be an answer, but rather a sounding board that may help people to ask deeply personal questions." We're honored to share it with you on Google Video.

Permalink | Links to this post |



History as it unfolds


As a teenager, history was the class in which I daydreamed -- the one that required memorization of long lists of kings, of battles, of arcane disputes that led to war. It was something I left behind when I graduated from high school and went on to the "real" things in life.

But history was not done with me. Many years later, I drifted from reading George Orwell's novels 1984 and Animal Farm and Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon to reading more about the Russian Revolution. The evolution of the Bolshevik Old Guard from scruffy revolutionaries fighting a stifling monarchy to becoming ruthless dictators for Stalin's killing machine was fascinating. History had drawn me into its web. History isn't a dry laundry list of the likes of "Ozymandias". It is what everyone in any era does, full of rich detail.

And now you can find those contemporary details (and more current ones as always) through a new archive search feature of Google News. This new feature can help you explore history through archives of news and other information sources. You can search for events, people and ideas, and see how they have been described over time. If you were to seek information on the 1969 moon landing, now you can find original coverage from that year, as well as analysis, news and commentary from the 37 years following.

Based on relevance, the archive results on Google News include freely available articles from sources such as TIME.com, The Guardian and many others, as well as snippets of articles available for a fee or via subscription. These may come from news organizations like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, and also from news aggregators like AccessMyLibrary.com, ThomsonGale, Factiva, HighBeam™ Research, LexisNexis and others.

In addition to finding the most relevant articles for your query, you can get an historical overview of the results by browsing an automatically created timeline. Articles related to a single story or theme within a given time period are grouped together to enable you to see a broad perspective on the events. The archive search results include articles about an incredibly wide variety of topics, people and events over the last 200 years or so. About kings and battles, yes, but also about athletes and games, political dramas, crimes, romances and much, much else.

History is often presented to us with a viewpoint many years after it happens -- and it's frequently smoothed over in many ways, and for many reasons. Here's hoping archive search in Google News can help you read about history as it has unfolded, and explore and understand the past for yourself.

Permalink | Links to this post |



And the Desktop Gadget winners are…


With all the great entries we received for the Google Desktop Gadget Contest, we've learned that there are some very talented developers out there. Amongst all the gadgets submitted, these three really stood out:
  • diGGGadget by Marius and Yannick Stucki – Stay on top of the latest stories from digg.com. Click on a few buttons and you'll know why we think it's so great. It also takes advantage of our advanced APIs to enable sharing news with friends plus personalization based on your interests.
  • Multiplayer Reversi Game by Turhan Aydin – Immerse yourself in the fun game Reversi with this visually rich gadget. Not only can you play against the computer, but this gadget takes advantage of our Google Talk API so that you can also play with your friends.
  • Day/Night World Clock by Beatrix Gottanka – We couldn't have designed a better world clock. Not only does this clock show you the local time, but there's also a map that indicates whether it's night or day at any given hour. And if you want options, this gadget has them.
For more on the winners and the honorable mentions, read the Google Desktop Blog, and don't forget to check out all the other great gadgets you can add to your desktop.

Permalink | Links to this post |



TED talks on Google Video


TED stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design. For more than 15 years TED has produced a conference notable for its eclectic and stimulating mix of thinkers, leaders and doers from many fields. Traditionally, about 1,000 TEDsters gather each February at an exclusive invitation-only program in Monterey, California. Until recently, most of us could only read about TED or these talks -- but now talks are available online via Google Video, as well as at the TED site.

The goal for making these talks public isn't to sell more seats (TED 2007 is already sold out); under TED Curator Chris Anderson, the idea is simply to find the widest possible audience for these provocative presentations. The first batch of eight include Al Gore's compelling story of climate crisis; Hans Rosling's inspired interpretation of global public health statistics; Sir Ken Robinson's vision for an education system that values creativity; MacArthur Foundation prize-winner Majora Carter's commitment to environmental justice; storyteller Julia Sweeney's quest for a sensible faith; architect Joshua Prince-Ramus' tour of the new Seattle Public Library; Tony Robbins' roadmap for human potential; and David Pogue's unforgettable technology-inspired show tunes.

And do check back for more: we'll continue to add talks to Google Video regularly, pulling primarily from TED 2006 and TEDGlobal, but we'll also feature a number from previous years.

The TED Talks video series was edited specifically for the micro-screen with closer shots and faster cuts. To ensure the widest possible audience, the talks are also released under a Creative Commons license so that non-commercial sites are free to re-post them in their entirety. However you partake of them, we hope you're as inspired by TED as we are.

Permalink | Links to this post |



55 Ways to Have Fun With Google


It's time for a little guest post from Germany -- thanks, Google, for inviting me over! I'm the author of a blog on Google (Google Blogoscoped), and this year I've written a book called 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google. In it, I present Google-related riddles, games, cartoons, search tips, stories, and miscellaneous insights (no programming skills needed -- and most of the time, you don't need to be close to a computer, either).

You'll learn about such things as the giant Japanese Google painting, the man who traveled the world looking for Googlewhacks, advanced tips for Google-searching, how Google News can screw up in funny ways, or the Google Image prediction trick. There's a great German word for this -- "Wunderkammer," a cabinet of curiosities.

The book is self-published with Lulu.com, an interesting service. Basically, Lulu allows you to upload your Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer file along with your cover, and then convert it to a print-on-demand book. If you pay a little extra, your book will also appear on Amazon. The process ain't free of headaches but I gotta say, it's worth it. Lulu will also make sure the book's findable through Google Book Search.

Self-publishing is already an interesting experiment on its own, but I chose to take an alternative route with copyright as well. 55 Ways can be copied, remixed and shared under a Creative Commons license, and the full text is available as a free download. People have already converted it to websites, and there's a group effort going on to translate the full book into Chinese! Some people told me making the book available for free will stop people from buying the "offline" version ... well, here's your chance to prove them wrong :)

Permalink | Links to this post |



Don't miss this chance to prove yourself


There are only 5 days left until registration closes for Google Code Jam 2006. So far, about 16,000 competitors have signed up to show off their programming skills -- and perhaps win an all-expenses paid trip to our New York City engineering office to compete in the finals on October 27. The winner gets $10,000 and global bragging rights: people have registered in huge numbers not only from the U.S., but from India, China, Canada, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Poland, Pakistan, Iran, Australia, the U.K., Germany, Singapore, Japan, Hungary -- you get the idea.

The top 100 finalists will be flown to NYC to show us what they've got. Have you got what it takes to Code Jam? Then by all means register here.

Permalink | Links to this post |



Download the classics


Starting today, you can go to Google Book Search and download full copies of out-of-copyright books to read at your own pace. You're free to choose from a diverse collection of public domain titles -- from well-known classics to obscure gems.

Before the rise of the public library -– a story chronicled in this 1897 edition of The Free Library – access to large collections of books was the privilege of a wealthy minority. Now, with the help of our wonderful library partners, we're able to offer you the ability to download and read PDF versions of out-of-copyright books from some of the world’s greatest collections.

Using Google Book Search, you can find The Free Library and many other extraordinary old books, such as:

* Ferriar's The Bibliomania
* A futurist from 1881's 1931: A Glance at the Twentieth Century
* Aesop's Fables
* Shakespeare's Hamlet
* Abbott's Flatland
* Hugo's Marion De Lorme
* Dunant's Eine Erinnerung an Solferino
* Bolívar's Proclamas
* Dante's Inferno

To find out-of-copyright books that you can download, simply select the "Full view" radio button when you search on books.google.com. (Please note that we do not enable downloading of any book currently under copyright. Unless we have the publisher’s permission to show more, we display only small snippets of text –- at most, two or three sentences surrounding your search term -– to help you determine if you’ve found what you’re looking for.)

Of course, this is just the beginning. As we digitize more of the world's books -- whether rare, common, popular or obscure -- people everywhere will be able to discover them on Google Book Search.

Permalink | Links to this post |



Get your people talking


Back in February, we blogged about an experiment called "Gmail for your domain" that enabled IT administrators to power their custom domain email with Gmail with 2GB of storage, powerful search tools, and other Gmail features to all of their users. Since then, we've been listening to feedback from thousands of small businesses, K-12 schools, non-profits, universities, even families with their own websites, and based on what they've suggested, we've added so many features that the original name just didn't describe the service accurately any longer.

So say hello to Google Apps for Your Domain, a service available at no cost to organizations of all shapes and sizes.

We think we may be on to something here: all the functionality of Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar wrapped up with tools to make them work for your organization, plus Google Page Creator for designing and publishing your website. There's no hardware or software required, and you can customize the user interfaces with your branding and color scheme, so they look and feel like your own.

Things have come a long way in the last six months, and we're still working on the service. If you're from a larger business or university with more advanced needs for communications and sharing, please get in touch regarding premium versions of the service, due out later this year.

Permalink | Links to this post |

 (More)
Posted by geminimay_no 12:09 | Information Technology | Comment(2) | Permalink
Shocking But True
10 September, 2006
San Francisco Chronicle

Phishing expedition at heart of AT&T hacking

David Lazarus

Friday, September 1, 2006

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When AT&T said in a press release this week that "unauthorized persons illegally hacked into a computer system and accessed personal data" from thousands of DSL customers, it wasn't telling the whole story.

Internal company documents show that the security breach was only the first step in a more elaborate scam that involved bogus e-mail being sent to AT&T customers that attempted to trick them into revealing additional info that could be used for widespread fraud or identity theft.

"We haven't seen anything like this before," acknowledged Walt Sharp, an AT&T spokesman.

The company says that individual customers were notified by e-mail -- real ones this time -- about the full scope of the scam. But myriad news accounts written off AT&T's press release failed to show how extensively the company's customers may have been duped.

The company said for public consumption that hackers had "accessed personal data, including credit card information, from several thousand customers who purchased DSL equipment through the company's online Web store."

It said the electronic break-in occurred last weekend and that AT&T technicians discovered the security breach "within hours." The company said its online DSL store was immediately shut down.

It also said AT&T quickly notified major credit card companies and is "working with law enforcement to investigate the incident and pursue the perpetrators."

What AT&T didn't say in its press release is that the stolen info for an unknown portion of about 19,000 customers was immediately put to use as part of an unusually deceptive phishing scam.

Phishing is an online con job in which a message is purportedly sent from a legitimate company -- PayPal, eBay and banks are common ruses. The message typically requests that the recipient click on a link and provide sensitive info as part of routine account maintenance or to process a transaction.

In reality, the message is a hoax, intended to fool unwary Internet users into handing over credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and other keys to the identity-theft kingdom.

An urgent memo was sent to AT&T insiders Tuesday around the same time the company's press release was issued. It's a good deal more forthcoming about the incident.

The memo (a copy of which has made its way to my hands) says the security breach occurred Saturday not within AT&T's own system but at "an AT&T vendor that operates an order processing computer" for the online DSL store.

"The information that was provided by customers who ordered DSL-related equipment included name, address, e-mail address, phone number, credit card number and credit card expiration," the memo says, adding that the hacked data didn't include Social Security numbers or birth dates.

But the hackers had a scheme to get this extra info. After accessing the customer data, they incorporated it into phishing messages that were promptly sent to AT&T's DSL customers.

The messages, ostensibly from "SBCdslstore.com," told recipients that "we recently tried to charge your credit card for your SBCdslstore.com order and it was rejected by the bank because it has no complete information."

Each message included a legitimate order number culled from the AT&T vendor's database to create an illusion of authenticity. Messages also included the recipient's home address and the last four digits of his or her credit card number.

"To update the credit card information details for your order, please select this link," the message instructed, directing people to a "spoof site" with an illegitimate sbcdslstore.org (not .com) Web address.

Once at the official-looking spoof site, message recipients were instructed to provide confidential data that the hackers hadn't found in the AT&T vendor's database, including Social Security numbers and birth dates.

"I did a double take on it," said Russ Irwin, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who recently purchased a wall adapter from AT&T's online store and was one of the thousands of people who were subsequently phished.

"I saw my order number and my credit card number, and I thought at first it must be real," he said. "Then I saw the dot-org address and I knew better."

Irwin, who invests in technology companies for a living, said he's seen his share of phishing e-mail over the years.

"Somebody did a pretty good job with this one," he said. "Having all that information gave it a lot of credibility."

AT&T's press release this week made no mention of the phishing aspect of the scam. But the company's internal memo warns employees to be on the lookout for phony e-mail.

"Impacted customers may receive an e-mail that appears to be from AT&T but is actually from the unauthorized person requesting additional personal information such as Social Security number, driver's license number, date of birth or other credit card information," it says.

AT&T's Sharp said individual customers were warned of the phishing threat in e-mail this week from AT&T.

"We don't know how many people received the phishing e-mails," he said. "We indicated (to customers) that there was an apparent phishing expedition going on that was linked to this incident and was not from AT&T."

Sharp said the company's press release omitted this aspect of the situation because "the focus was to let people know they need to get ahold of their credit card companies and that we're prepared to offer free credit monitoring."

He declined to comment on whether the security breach originated domestically or overseas (many such hack attacks have been traced to Eastern Europe). He also declined to comment on which law enforcement agencies are involved.

Sharp said there are no leads in the case at this time.

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.

Posted by geminimay_no 15:17 | Information Technology | Comment(0) | Permalink
Shocking But True
10 September, 2006
San Francisco Chronicle

AG sees 2 crimes in HP's phone record hunt

David Lazarus

Thursday, September 7, 2006

now part of stylesheet
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(09-07) 11:18 PDT -- California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said today that a crime was committed when private investigators hired by Palo Alto tech giant Hewlett-Packard surreptitiously obtained the personal phone records of board members.

"In this case, clearly a crime has been committed," he said in an interview. "The question is by whom. How far does the liability extend?"

The legality of the HP investigators' actions has been murky since news of the corporate spying came to light this week.

HP said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that "some form of 'pretexting' for phone record information" had been used to determine which board member had been leaking information to reporters.

Pretexting involves persuading your target that you're someone who you're not. This can be relatively benign, such as impersonating a survey taker. Or it can be more insidious.

HP's investigators are believed to have obtained at least the last four digits of board members' Social Security numbers -- a feat that security pros say isn't all that tough if you know where to look.

An investigator then allegedly contacted AT&T and, posing as a specific board member, convinced the phone company to send him that person's confidential phone records.

All this took, apparently, was knowledge of the board member's Social Security number and phone number, and a smooth delivery.

"Most private investigators do this quite a bit," said Scott Newby, an investigator with offices in San Jose and Merced.

Lockyer said today that the law appears to have been violated twice in the HP case.

First, he said a crime -- identity theft -- was committed when the investigators pretended to be the company's board members. Second, he said a crime was committed when the investigators gained access to AT&T's phone records.

"You've falsely impersonated someone else's identity to illegally get computer records," Lockyer said.

"Do I think a crime has been committed? Yes," he said. "But we have to prove who did it."

Lockyer said he's now focusing on whether HP's chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, is a party to the crime. The company's regulatory filing says she ordered the probe into the press leaks.

"At the very least, there's a potential conspiracy case," Lockyer said.

He said it's "likely" that criminal chargers will be filed in the case, but he said he still needs to investigate the matter further.

E-mail David Lazarus at dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.

 (More)
Posted by geminimay_no 15:05 | Information Technology | Comment(0) | Permalink
A Taste of GOOGLE
10 September, 2006

Googler insights into product and technology news and our culture.

History as it unfolds


As a teenager, history was the class in which I daydreamed -- the one that required memorization of long lists of kings, of battles, of arcane disputes that led to war. It was something I left behind when I graduated from high school and went on to the "real" things in life.

But history was not done with me. Many years later, I drifted from reading George Orwell's novels 1984 and Animal Farm and Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon to reading more about the Russian Revolution. The evolution of the Bolshevik Old Guard from scruffy revolutionaries fighting a stifling monarchy to becoming ruthless dictators for Stalin's killing machine was fascinating. History had drawn me into its web. History isn't a dry laundry list of the likes of "Ozymandias". It is what everyone in any era does, full of rich detail.

And now you can find those contemporary details (and more current ones as always) through a new archive search feature of Google News. This new feature can help you explore history through archives of news and other information sources. You can search for events, people and ideas, and see how they have been described over time. If you were to seek information on the 1969 moon landing, now you can find original coverage from that year, as well as analysis, news and commentary from the 37 years following.

Based on relevance, the archive results on Google News include freely available articles from sources such as TIME.com, The Guardian and many others, as well as snippets of articles available for a fee or via subscription. These may come from news organizations like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, and also from news aggregators like AccessMyLibrary.com, ThomsonGale, Factiva, HighBeam™ Research, LexisNexis and others.

In addition to finding the most relevant articles for your query, you can get an historical overview of the results by browsing an automatically created timeline. Articles related to a single story or theme within a given time period are grouped together to enable you to see a broad perspective on the events. The archive search results include articles about an incredibly wide variety of topics, people and events over the last 200 years or so. About kings and battles, yes, but also about athletes and games, political dramas, crimes, romances and much, much else.

History is often presented to us with a viewpoint many years after it happens -- and it's frequently smoothed over in many ways, and for many reasons. Here's hoping archive search in Google News can help you read about history as it has unfolded, and explore and understand the past for yourself.

Permalink | Links to this post |



And the Desktop Gadget winners are…


With all the great entries we received for the Google Desktop Gadget Contest, we've learned that there are some very talented developers out there. Amongst all the gadgets submitted, these three really stood out:
  • diGGGadget by Marius and Yannick Stucki – Stay on top of the latest stories from digg.com. Click on a few buttons and you'll know why we think it's so great. It also takes advantage of our advanced APIs to enable sharing news with friends plus personalization based on your interests.
  • Multiplayer Reversi Game by Turhan Aydin – Immerse yourself in the fun game Reversi with this visually rich gadget. Not only can you play against the computer, but this gadget takes advantage of our Google Talk API so that you can also play with your friends.
  • Day/Night World Clock by Beatrix Gottanka – We couldn't have designed a better world clock. Not only does this clock show you the local time, but there's also a map that indicates whether it's night or day at any given hour. And if you want options, this gadget has them.
For more on the winners and the honorable mentions, read the Google Desktop Blog, and don't forget to check out all the other great gadgets you can add to your desktop.

Permalink | Links to this post |



TED talks on Google Video


TED stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design. For more than 15 years TED has produced a conference notable for its eclectic and stimulating mix of thinkers, leaders and doers from many fields. Traditionally, about 1,000 TEDsters gather each February at an exclusive invitation-only program in Monterey, California. Until recently, most of us could only read about TED or these talks -- but now talks are available online via Google Video, as well as at the TED site.

The goal for making these talks public isn't to sell more seats (TED 2007 is already sold out); under TED Curator Chris Anderson, the idea is simply to find the widest possible audience for these provocative presentations. The first batch of eight include Al Gore's compelling story of climate crisis; Hans Rosling's inspired interpretation of global public health statistics; Sir Ken Robinson's vision for an education system that values creativity; MacArthur Foundation prize-winner Majora Carter's commitment to environmental justice; storyteller Julia Sweeney's quest for a sensible faith; architect Joshua Prince-Ramus' tour of the new Seattle Public Library; Tony Robbins' roadmap for human potential; and David Pogue's unforgettable technology-inspired show tunes.

And do check back for more: we'll continue to add talks to Google Video regularly, pulling primarily from TED 2006 and TEDGlobal, but we'll also feature a number from previous years.

The TED Talks video series was edited specifically for the micro-screen with closer shots and faster cuts. To ensure the widest possible audience, the talks are also released under a Creative Commons license so that non-commercial sites are free to re-post them in their entirety. However you partake of them, we hope you're as inspired by TED as we are.

Permalink | Links to this post |



55 Ways to Have Fun With Google


It's time for a little guest post from Germany -- thanks, Google, for inviting me over! I'm the author of a blog on Google (Google Blogoscoped), and this year I've written a book called 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google. In it, I present Google-related riddles, games, cartoons, search tips, stories, and miscellaneous insights (no programming skills needed -- and most of the time, you don't need to be close to a computer, either).

You'll learn about such things as the giant Japanese Google painting, the man who traveled the world looking for Googlewhacks, advanced tips for Google-searching, how Google News can screw up in funny ways, or the Google Image prediction trick. There's a great German word for this -- "Wunderkammer," a cabinet of curiosities.

The book is self-published with Lulu.com, an interesting service. Basically, Lulu allows you to upload your Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer file along with your cover, and then convert it to a print-on-demand book. If you pay a little extra, your book will also appear on Amazon. The process ain't free of headaches but I gotta say, it's worth it. Lulu will also make sure the book's findable through Google Book Search.

Self-publishing is already an interesting experiment on its own, but I chose to take an alternative route with copyright as well. 55 Ways can be copied, remixed and shared under a Creative Commons license, and the full text is available as a free download. People have already converted it to websites, and there's a group effort going on to translate the full book into Chinese! Some people told me making the book available for free will stop people from buying the "offline" version ... well, here's your chance to prove them wrong :)

Permalink | Links to this post |



Don't miss this chance to prove yourself


There are only 5 days left until registration closes for Google Code Jam 2006. So far, about 16,000 competitors have signed up to show off their programming skills -- and perhaps win an all-expenses paid trip to our New York City engineering office to compete in the finals on October 27. The winner gets $10,000 and global bragging rights: people have registered in huge numbers not only from the U.S., but from India, China, Canada, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Poland, Pakistan, Iran, Australia, the U.K., Germany, Singapore, Japan, Hungary -- you get the idea.

The top 100 finalists will be flown to NYC to show us what they've got. Have you got what it takes to Code Jam? Then by all means register here.

Permalink | Links to this post |



Download the classics


Starting today, you can go to Google Book Search and download full copies of out-of-copyright books to read at your own pace. You're free to choose from a diverse collection of public domain titles -- from well-known classics to obscure gems.

Before the rise of the public library -– a story chronicled in this 1897 edition of The Free Library – access to large collections of books was the privilege of a wealthy minority. Now, with the help of our wonderful library partners, we're able to offer you the ability to download and read PDF versions of out-of-copyright books from some of the world’s greatest collections.

Using Google Book Search, you can find The Free Library and many other extraordinary old books, such as:

* Ferriar's The Bibliomania
* A futurist from 1881's 1931: A Glance at the Twentieth Century
* Aesop's Fables
* Shakespeare's Hamlet
* Abbott's Flatland
* Hugo's Marion De Lorme
* Dunant's Eine Erinnerung an Solferino
* Bolívar's Proclamas
* Dante's Inferno

To find out-of-copyright books that you can download, simply select the "Full view" radio button when you search on books.google.com. (Please note that we do not enable downloading of any book currently under copyright. Unless we have the publisher’s permission to show more, we display only small snippets of text –- at most, two or three sentences surrounding your search term -– to help you determine if you’ve found what you’re looking for.)

Of course, this is just the beginning. As we digitize more of the world's books -- whether rare, common, popular or obscure -- people everywhere will be able to discover them on Google Book Search.

Permalink | Links to this post |



Get your people talking


Back in February, we blogged about an experiment called "Gmail for your domain" that enabled IT administrators to power their custom domain email with Gmail with 2GB of storage, powerful search tools, and other Gmail features to all of their users. Since then, we've been listening to feedback from thousands of small businesses, K-12 schools, non-profits, universities, even families with their own websites, and based on what they've suggested, we've added so many features that the original name just didn't describe the service accurately any longer.

So say hello to Google Apps for Your Domain, a service available at no cost to organizations of all shapes and sizes.

We think we may be on to something here: all the functionality of Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar wrapped up with tools to make them work for your organization, plus Google Page Creator for designing and publishing your website. There's no hardware or software required, and you can customize the user interfaces with your branding and color scheme, so they look and feel like your own.

Things have come a long way in the last six months, and we're still working on the service. If you're from a larger business or university with more advanced needs for communications and sharing, please get in touch regarding premium versions of the service, due out later this year.

Permalink | Links to this post |



We love you, webmasters


We always aim to offer our users relevant and helpful results, and webmasters provide the great content that we point to. Unfortunately -- though we've had the pleasure of chatting with many of you in a variety of forums, around the blogosphere, and at many conferences across the world -- we simply haven't been able to interact with every one of you. So we're excited to announce our new Google Webmaster Central, which enables us to have productive conversations with many more of you, all the time.

Recently, we've added:
Furthermore, Google Sitemaps has been renamed Google webmaster tools. It's more than a new coat of paint; we've added and improved lots of geeky goodies to help give you more info and control.

For those of you who've already established a Google sitemap, have no fear: the Sitemaps protocol remains unchanged and Sitemaps submission mechanisms and reporting is still available from the Sitemaps tab. If you haven't already added a Sitemap, you might want to learn more about it. (In short, putting a Sitemap file on your site enables you to tell us what pages your site has, which of them are most important, and how often they are typically updated.)

You've worked hard on your sites, and, not surprisingly, you want to make sure they're listed appropriately in Google, so of course you have lots of questions. You can find many answers simply by creating a Google webmaster tools account (if you have a Google Account, you're already set), adding your site URL to your account, and verifying that you own the site. A few of the many things you can do with webmaster tools:
We've also put together a comprehensive webmaster help center to answer more of your questions, such as:
With our webmaster tools and webmaster help center, we're able to tackle an increasing number of questions and make the answers available to all webmasters. But we're not planning to rest on our laurels. We're listening to your concerns (in person and all over the Net!) and working hard to expand the content and languages of our help center. We appreciate the webmaster community very much, and look forward to many great conversations to come. We couldn't do search without you.

Permalink | Links to this post |



Happy birthday, Google Talk!


A year ago today, we launched Google Talk. On the days leading up to launch, we spent long summer nights fueled by Reza's eclectic play list. Thankfully, Google Talk didn't have Music Trends back then. The team listened to everything from 2Pac to Ludacris to Biggie.

We want to thank all the users who have submitted product feedback. We'd also like to thank the millions of users who are using the Google Talk network – either through the Google Talk client, Gmail chat, or other supported clients. Our users love the chat integration within Gmail, and we're planning to make it easier to chat with your buddies through other Google services.

Want to send us a birthday message? Leave us a voicemail at talkbirthday@gmail.com.

MEEP.

Permalink | Links to this post |



Finding the wealth in your library (and everyone else's)


As a student and then as a researcher, I used to haunt libraries in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I spent time looking for the books I needed, but also happened to find gems by chance, as I scanned the shelves I walked by. Fun as it was to find an unexpected treasure, I always knew that much remained hidden. Large libraries are way too big to just walk around and browse, even for an enthusiastic teenager.

Today, we're launching the Library Catalog Search feature in Google Book Search, designed to help casual readers and bookworms everywhere find gems in the libraries around the world. Queries on Google Book Search will automatically include results from library catalogs when appropriate. Each result includes a "Find Libraries" link to help readers find libraries that hold the book -- ideally a library nearby, or if need be, a library far away. For example, after reading Martin Gardner's book Fads and Fallacies, I wanted to follow up on Immanuel Velikovsky's books about scientific explanations for biblical miracles. Clicking on the "Find Libraries" link for Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision, I found that a copy was available in the University of Sao Paulo library.

This is true of many types of books in countries all over the world -- my colleagues in Google's Zurich office tell me about being able to find Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets for their nephews and nieces. In many cases, it's even possible to click through to the local library and reserve the book.

For this feature, we have worked with more than 15 library union catalogs that have information about libraries from more than 30 countries, as well as with our colleagues working on Google Scholar (which includes a similar feature just for scholarly books).

We would like to acknowledge and fete our partners who have collected information about the wealth in world's libraries with amazing thoroughness and care. And we're looking to work with union catalogs in other parts of the world so it can be just as easy for library patrons elsewhere to learn what their libraries have waiting for them.

If you're a library patron and can't find the books you're looking for, ask your local library to participate in this program. If you are a librarian at a union catalog and would like to work with us to help users find books in your collections, please contact us.

Here's hoping readers worldwide will use this to discover and explore the wonderful collections in the world's libraries.

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San Francisco Gate (SFGate.Com) Tech Blogs Some Wonderful Eye Openning Information Technology
10 September, 2006
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Friday, September 08, 2006

Fridays with Foremski

A weekly round-up of news and gossip from Silicon Valley Watcher Tom Foremski.

Only the lonely . . .

Lots of lonely upset fans of Bree a 16 year old girl known to YouTubers as LonelyGirl15. Her video blog diary chronicled her home-schooled life under a strict parental regime.

It turns out the teenager is a fake, with story lines written by a production team and produced by professionals

I took a look and it and it looks obviously professionally produced.

Lots of people and press duped... Take a look at her quote to The Times newspaper in the UK Aug 19:

"I was usually stuck studying the Treaty of Versailles or Occam's razor — making videos was much more fun," Bree said when she was contacted by The Times this week. That should have tipped off the journalists..."

Audio books to go . . .

You don't need an iPod or any other MP3 player to play audio books because PlayAway offers books that play themselves. The PlayAway audio books run on one AAA battery and come with ear bud headphones plus a hefty price tag.

About $35 to $50 per title for best sellers such as John Grisham's "The Broker," Stephen King's "Cell" and "The Da Vinci Code." I'm not sure who would buy these ... buy two or three of these books and you could've bought yourself a decent MP3 player - downloaded book titles would be extra.

Gone phishing . . .

OpenDNS is a San Francisco company offering a free service that speeds up surfing by making just one small change in your Internet connection. And it protects you from phishing sites - web sites that masquerade as legitimate sites for purposes of identity theft and other nefarious activities.

DNS is Geek speak for an Internet address book that computers use to find the location of a web page, and the things on that page.

"Large Internet service providers often have DNS services that don't perform that well," says David Ulevitch, founder and CEO of OpenDNS and one of the top DNS experts in the world. "If you use our DNS we are a lot faster because that's our specialty."

Another advantage is that if you miss type a web site name the OpenDNS service will guess the correct one. If you try to access a known phishing site, OpenDNS blocks it.

Its revenues come from advertising networks served up on web pages that OpenDNS tells users that it cannot find the web site requested. When you handle billions of DNS requests, that can quickly add up to serious money.

Posted By: Tom Foremski (Email) | Sep 08 at 03:38 PM

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Facebook responds to backlash

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Responding to the flap over its new news feeds services, Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg apologized to users today and introduced new privacy controls.

The popular Palo Alto social networking site had launched a service this week that let its members see the latest updates on their friends, such as their newest friends and latest hook-ups. Thousands of users began protesting online, arguing that the news feeds were an invasion of privacy.

Zuckerberg said on his blog today: "We didn't build in the proper privacy controls right away. This was a big mistake on our part, and I'm sorry for it. But apologizing isn't enough. I wanted to make sure we did something about it, and quickly. So we have been coding nonstop for two days to get you better privacy controls. This new privacy page will allow you to choose which types of stories go into your Mini-Feed and your friends' News Feeds, and it also lists the type of actions Facebook will never let any other person know about. If you have more comments, please send them over."

So all seems happy in the Facebook world. The Students against Facebook News Feed responded in a post: "This group has decided it's not going to declare victory, because there was not a loser, nor was there a winner. Instead, there was mutual consensus between all parties and together, we made our voices heard and Facebook listened."

Posted By: Ellen Lee (Email) | Sep 08 at 10:56 AM

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Miami, L.A. Top Cell Users

TGIF. Here's the haps on the tech front.

MIAMI, L.A. TOP CELL USERS: People in Miami and Los Angeles make more cell phone calls than folks in any other city, with Miamians making and taking 298 calls a month on average to take the top spot in the country.

That works out to about 9 or 10 calls a day, with the Angelenos not far behind (260 calls a month, coming and going).

Reuters

"Oh, hey Mom... sure thing.. yeah, I'll be home in time for Jeopardy... hang on, I gotta another call."

The survey, done by Verizon, showed that people in 29 cities across the country averaged more than 200 calls a month.

Here in the Bay Area, San Jose ranked 12th in the country with residents getting on the horn 221 per month. The good news? San Francisco didn't make the top 29.

Of course, that's because you can't get reception anywhere.

AND IF YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS SCARY: In the I-hope-these-doohickeys-don't-give-you-cancer category of astonishment, another study shows that the human race now has 2.5 billion cellular connections around the world.

The GSM study, which you can find details of on Geekzone, shows that it took us 20 years to reach 1 billion, three years to hit 2 billion and we should be at 3 billion by next year.

China leads the pack, of course, with 5 million new connections per month. Take that, Miami poseurs.

NETFLIX V. BLOCKBUSTER: We all know Netflix is suing Blockbuster, saying the rental giant stole its patented business plan, right? (Yeah, I didn't recall that either, but... )

Well, Law.com has an interesting analyzer on the case, portraying it as a potentially important patent precedent kind of thing.

The story says, "Netflix argues that it has patents covering its many online features, including allowing subscribers to keep DVDs for as long as they want without incurring a late fee, obtaining new DVDs upon return of those already watched and prioritizing their own personal movie list. "

"But Blockbuster is countersuing, claiming that Netflix is trying to monopolize the online movie-rental industry and stifle competition."

Sounds like a risky move for both companies. One would think they'd be better off spending money dealing with the emergence of on-demand video, rather than scratching each other's eyes out.

MICROSOFT HIGH: This one's great. The first ever Microsoft "School of the Future" opened in Philadelphia Thursday, paid for by the city but designed by the great minds of Redmond, Wash.

Replete with "digital lockers" and "smart boards," the high school is supposed to help knuckleheaded U.S. students get their heads on straight so they compete in our brave new globalized world.

Seems like the kids caught on pretty quick. Mr. Kerfuffle's 10th grade biology class announced immediately that they would be late in turning in their homework this fall, citing bugs in their operating interface.

Over in Mrs. Krapoofnick's chemistry class, many students stopped working on their pop quiz shortly after it was handed out, opting instead to wait around until the smartest kid in the class finished so they could simply copy the results.

That's all folks. I'll be performing in the Champagne Room all week. Thank you, thank you.

"Remember kids, crime pays."

Posted By: Alan Saracevic (Email) | Sep 08 at 07:44 AM

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Thursday, September 07, 2006

Morning Edition

Howdy folks. It's a slow day in tech news this morning. But that doesn't mean we don't have something for you. Here goes.

HAWKING HIRING: Famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is looking for some help. Literally.

Explore Black Holes and airport security with Stephen Hawking!

British Council

Explore Black Holes and airport security with Stephen Hawking!

According to an ad posted on the University of Cambridge Web site, and unearthed by CNN.com, the best-selling author would like a graduate student to work with him for the next year or two, traveling the world, helping the best-selling author get around and helping him with research.

Alas, Hawking, who is nearly fully paralyzed because he suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, is only paying about $44,000 a year.

TIVO FANTASY: Just in time for the NFL season to kick-off this Sunday, Tivo launched a service Thursday that will let some fantasy football fanatics manage their teams and get information on their TV sets instead of online, according to the AP.

Before you get too excited, though, you'll only be able to do this if you're a Series 2 Tivo user and if you use CBSSportsline as your fantasy football league host.

Sounds like a good deal for Tivo, which is desperately looking for added services to stay ahead of rival DVR providers.

As for CBSSportsline, they're also offer that management feature over Blackberry's, in case that's your deal.

TROUBLE IN 2.0? In addition to the Facebook flap that has users of the popular site protesting by the thousand, it looks there's a little trouble on Digg.com, the famously famous Web 2.0 news site where the readers get to play editor and vote their favorite stories on and off the "front page."

Shouldn't that be in-diggnation?

Shouldn't that be in-diggnation?

A posting on Michael Arrington's Techcrunch blog Wednesday detailed the growing concern by some Diggers that stories were being gamed onto the front page.

Specifically, a political blogger complained that groups of users acting together were swaying the vote on certain stories one way or the other. In other words, organized campaigns were influencing a democratic system. And the complaint was from a political blogger. (In the spirit of Web 2.0: Insert your own head-slapping ironic snark here!)

The workings of democracy have apparently shocked so many Digg users that there's a good amount of backlash on the site's busy comment boards.

Digg founder Kevin Rose even responded to those asking him to reveal the site's ranking algorithm, saying they'll make changes to said algorithm that will make it harder for organized groups of voters with like-minded goals to promote their articles to the front of the line. Here's some of what he said:

It is our goal to create a platform in which you can share and promote news that is important to you. What is changing however is how we are handling story promotion. While we don't disclose exactly how story promotion works (to prevent gaming the system), I can say that a key update is coming soon. This algorithm update will look at the unique digging diversity of the individuals digging the story. Users that follow a gaming pattern will have less promotion weight. This doesn't mean that the story won't be promoted, it just means that a more diverse pool of individuals will be need to deem the story homepage-worthy.

Michael Arrington's a big proponent of social networking

JDLasica/Flickr

Michael Arrington's a big proponent of social networking

Rose's effort was met with mixed reactions. On one front, Digg's "top user" resigned in protest. The guy's going away rant is epic. Check it out here. (Sorry for the busted link. Mysteriously, said rant was taken down by Friday. Top Digger, have you reconsidered?)

For his part, Arrington applauded Rose's transparency, giving the Digg founder some advice on how best to manipulate the public's opinion while generally defending the premise of democratic editing. But that should be expected from a man heavily invested personally in those Web 2.0 ideals.

Much more interesting -- and telling -- was a brilliant comment/post attached to Arrington's piece put up under the name "Drama 2.0." I'll start you off with a bit and put the rest on the jump of this post, which is getting a bit long in the tooth:

The past several days and weeks have seen some interesting developments in the Web 2.0 space. Kiko folds. The Facebook backlash. Rojo sells for a paltry amount. Now problems at Digg. Is the bubble starting to deflate? Only time will tell, but I think the signs point to, at the very least, a growing recognition that Web 2.0 has its flaws and that the value and utility of some of these services has been overestimated.

It's becoming readily apparent that users are really in control and they're not as loyal to the popular Web 2.0 services as one might expect. The fact that Facebook, which is considered by many to have the most loyal following of any social network, has faced a backlash from hundreds of thousands of users and growing, many of whom are threatening to boycott the service or leave altogether, highlights the fact that these services, which are all free, are highly vulnerable to mishaps, changing tastes, etc.

Read More »

Posted By: Alan Saracevic (Email) | Sep 07 at 07:31 AM

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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Facebook backlash

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

A new service introduced by Facebook, the popular social networking site, has made some of its users &@#*! mad.

Facebook rolled out "news feeds" this week, letting users get updates on their friends' comings and goings on the site, from the groups they've joined and new friends they've made to their latest favorite song and posts.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that news feeds are meant to help users learn and understand what's going on with their friends and networks.

But one group formed to protest the new service said: "News Feed is just too creepy, too stalker-esque, and a feature that has to go."

Melanie Deitch, a spokeswoman for the site, said that users can adjust their privacy settings if they're uncomfortable with the news feeds. She added that the company is reviewing the feedback and might make some tweaks but does not have plans to remove the service.

Posted By: Ellen Lee (Email) | Sep 06 at 06:23 PM

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Open season on Silicon Valley

The news was already about as bad as it gets for insiders in the ever-widening probe into stock options backdating. Now lawmakers are going after outsiders.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said at today's hearing that he is targeting "all the actors" who allegedly played a role in the stock options backdating probe. In his sites: accountants, lawyers and compensation consultants who blessed backdating or board members who "looked the other way."

Grassley did not launch an official congressional probe but pledged to contact several major corporations to obtain board minutes and any advice these companies got from service providers.

Sen. Charles Grassle

Sen. Charles Grassle

Unlike lawmakers, federal prosecutors and regulators never used to "eat their own," as in other lawyers, and they rarely went after board members. "But we are in a different world," said Charles Elson, chairman of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

Federal authorities are taking a much harder line in the post Sarbanes-Oxley world. "I believe in the options backdating probe, we are going to see more attention on outside directors than ever before," said Clifford Hyatt, a former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer now a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in Los Angeles.

Folks in Silicon Valley are clearly nervous. But, said Elson, "it's all speculative at this point. It's unclear what outsiders did or didn't do."

Or what they knew or didn't know.

Posted By: Jessica Guynn (Email) | Sep 06 at 03:13 PM

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Video games are cool. Tell a friend. Earn some money!

Big Fish Games, one of the leading online casual game distributors, is tired of advertising on the Internet. They figure with the popularity of MySpace and other social networking sites, perhaps the way to go is just utilize its more than 3 million average users and pay them to help promote the service.

So that's what it's doing. The company has launched My Big Fish Games, a sort of MySpace for its users that allow them to create unique home pages, where they can recommend their favorite games and create networks of friends. Should one of your friends whom you've invited into the network decide to buy a game you've recommended to them, you get 25 percent of the purchase price, typically about $5 of a $20 game. And should one of your friend's friends also buy a game through Big Fish, you also get a 25 percent commission from your friend's earnings.

If you can get over the idea of making a little money off your friends a la Amway, you might actually be in for some extra income. Gamers can get credit for their referrals, a check in the mail or they can donate the money to one of five charities identified by Big Fish Games.

The move, a sort of multi-level marketing idea without the risks associated with those ventures, seems to play to people's already ingrained habit of talking up their favorite games. Big Fish says it surveyed its users and found 87 percent of them have recommended games to friends already. So why not reward them with a little extra cash as an incentive to keep doing the same, said Big Fish Games CEO Paul Thelen.

"Instead of paying Google, we're paying the people who are making the industry grow, the people who are playing our games," Thelen said.

Big Fish Games already pays a half million dollars a month to search engines to advertise based on keyword searches. But that type of marketing has only so much effectiveness, said Thelen. Eventually, you have to start looking for better ways to spend your money.

This way gamers have a vested interest in spreading the good news about their favorite titles. It could be what helps push casual games further into the mainstream. Already, casual games like Tetris and Bejeweled appeal to mostly female users over the age of 35. Many play just to kill time during their free time though the genre now includes many more engaging games than just simple puzzle titles.

Industry estimates suggest the casual online game market could grow from about $600 million annually in the U.S. to $2 billion by 2010.

Posted By: Ryan Kim (Email) | Sep 06 at 09:23 AM

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Morning Edition

G'day folks. Sure is nice to have some news back in the mix. Here's what we're seeing in the tech world so far this fine morning.

SO MUCH FOR THE HP WAY: Hewlett-Packard revealed today that it sought to obtain the phone records of its board members in order to find who leaked confidential company information to the press, according to an AP story.

Could be in a world of Hurd...

HP

Could be in a world of Hurd...

It was part of an investigation the company conducted after information discussed at board meetings kept showing up in print.

In a regulatory filing, the famed Valley firm said it had hired an outside counsel to look into whether their witchhunt passed legal muster. Bad news. The lawyers said they couldn't tell if it was legal or not.

So far, HP-gate has resulted in the resignation of one board member (Tom Perkins) and the imminent departure of another (George A. Keyworth II).

Wouldn't be surprised if this gets stickier for CEO Mark Hurd and Chairman Patricia Dunn. California's state AG is also sniffing around the case. Ruh-roh.

APPLE GOES INTEL TO THE CORE: Apple Computer said Wednesday that all its iMacs will now have Intel's Core Duo chips inside. Details here.

I'd be smiling, too...

I'd be smiling, too...

Apple also unveiled a new iMac in the process, featuring a 24-inch screen and a 2.16 GHz chip. Sounds bitchin'.

Anyhoo, the new machines ship today, containing the newer, faster chips. The good news is the prices didn't go up. Here's the bad news: If you bought a solo core iMac last month, you just got screwed by Steve Jobs.

Look at this way: Now you know how the music industry feels.

SONY TRIES GRINCH SUIT ON FOR SIZE: That's right Cindy-Lou, there might not be enough PS3s to go around Whoville this Christmas, according to the Grinchy executives running Sony.

But it's not really their fault ... unless you consider supply mismanagement an offense. The Japanese electronics giant said Wednesday they might not have enough PS3 machines to meet demand this Christmas due to component shortages.

According to a great story on this from IDG, "Sony is blaming the problems on a delay in mass production of blue laser diodes. The laser diodes are used in the optical disc drive inside the machine. Current consoles use red laser diodes, of which supply is plentiful, but the PlayStation 3 will have a Blu-ray Disc drive that requires the use of the new component."

Like you cared what the technical problem was. Bottom line: The launch of the machine has been delayed in countries around the world, Sony is scraping to have about half the machines they promised ready by Christmas, and it looks like a big-old trainwreck.

That's all for now. Stop back and see us later for more tech news.

Posted By: Alan Saracevic (Email) | Sep 06 at 07:17 AM

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Levis for your iPod

For technology fashionistas, Levi's is introducing a pair of "Made for iPod" jeans in stores this month.

The RedWire DLX jeans will cost $250 and will be found online and at Levi's stores.

It comes with a "custom iPod docking cradle" built into the jeans and hidden in a side pocket. It also has a place to store headphones and a white joystick controller attached to the watch pocket.

Of course, it's not the only piece of iPod clothing on the market. iPod owners can also pair the jeans with iPod jackets, iPod vests, iPod T-shirts...

Posted By: Ellen Lee (Email) | Sep 05 at 04:06 PM

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TiVo and CBS team up

Ray Liotta stars in

Ray Liotta stars in "Smith."

TiVo subscribers will get a sneak peak at CBS' new television shows this season.

The Alviso-based digital video recording company teamed up with CBS in an exclusive deal to let its subscribers record and watch previews of "The Class," "Jericho," "Shark" and "Smith" before they premiere on broadcast television.

Posted By: Ellen Lee (Email) | Sep 05 at 04:02 PM

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Shocking But True - HP Investigations Broke The Law
10 September, 2006
San Francisco Chronicle

HP's investigation broke state laws, attorney general says

David Lazarus

Friday, September 8, 2006

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Patricia Dunn. Associated Press file photo, 2005, by Paul... Bill Lockyer. Associated Press file photo, 2005, by Nick Ut

Crimes were committed after Hewlett-Packard hired private investigators to obtain the phone records of its own board members as part of a probe into press leaks. It's just not clear who committed those crimes.

So declares California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who said in an interview Thursday that he's now focusing on how high up the corporate food chain his investigation will lead him.

"In this case, clearly a crime has been committed," he said. "The question is by whom. How far does the liability extend?"

Once Lockyer determines that, he said, criminal charges are likely.

Ryan Donovan, an HP spokesman, declined to comment on the attorney general's remarks, except to say that the Palo Alto company hasn't received any subpoenas from Lockyer's office.

"We are of course cooperating fully with their investigation," he said.

A spokesman for the attorney general's office confirmed that no subpoenas have been issued.

Meanwhile, security pros say HP's spying should serve as a warning not just to corporate insiders in Silicon Valley and beyond, but also to ordinary citizens who might be unaware that the official-sounding voice at the other end of the phone may belong to a professional snoop.

"Most private investigators do this quite a bit," said Scott Newby, an investigator with offices in San Jose and Merced.

"Typically, I'll call someone and say I'm doing a survey on such and such," he said. "This allows me to get information that people might not otherwise give me."

In HP's case, the Palo Alto tech giant acknowledged in a regulatory filing Wednesday that "some form of 'pretexting' for phone record information" had been used to delve into the calling habits of its board members.

It can turn insidious

Pretexting is a fancy way of saying "lying." The art of pretexting lies in being slick enough to persuade your target that you're someone who you're not. This can be relatively benign, such as impersonating a survey taker. Or it can be more insidious.

HP's investigators are believed to have obtained at least the last four digits of board members' Social Security numbers -- a feat that security pros say isn't all that tough if you know where to look.

The investigators are believed to have obtained the numbers through data brokers, companies that sell people's personal information to qualified (or ostensibly qualified) buyers.

An investigator then allegedly contacted AT&T and, posing as a specific board member, persuaded the phone company to send him that person's confidential phone records.

All this took, apparently, was knowledge of the board member's Social Security number and phone number, and a smooth delivery.

Cnet, a San Francisco tech-news service, reported Thursday that phone records of one of its reporters also were accessed by HP's investigators.

Private investigators say they're not barred from pretexting -- as long as they don't do anything untoward with the information they receive. Lockyer doesn't quite see it that way.

"The law doesn't require injury or fraud," he insisted. "It's an invasion of privacy."

Lockyer acknowledged that some pretexting -- the bogus survey, say -- may not constitute a crime under certain circumstances. It depends on how the elicited information is used.

But he said all bets are off if the pretexter is impersonating someone to gain access to that person's data. This is what appears to have happened in the HP case, he said.

Lockyer said a crime -- identity theft -- was committed when the company's investigators pretended to be board members. He said a second crime was committed when the investigators gained access to AT&T's phone records.

"You've falsely impersonated someone else's identity to illegally get computer records," Lockyer said.

"Do I think a crime has been committed? Yes," he said. "But we have to prove who did it."

Lockyer said he's now focusing on whether HP's chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, is a party to the crime. The company's regulatory filing says she ordered the probe into the press leaks.

If Dunn explicitly instructed the investigators to gain access to the board members' phone records, Lockyer said, she is likely a party to the crime.

'Potential conspiracy'

If, on the other hand, Dunn told the investigators (or any go-betweens) that she wanted information about who the board members may have called but was vague about how such info should be obtained, Lockyer said, HP's leadership may not have direct liability.

But the company wouldn't be off the hook.

"At the very least, there's a potential conspiracy case," Lockyer said.

Chris Hoofnagle, a privacy expert and senior attorney at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, agreed that it appears the pretexting methods employed by HP's investigators violate the law.

"Pretexting like this is technically hacking," he said. "This is illegal under state and federal law."

Specifically, Lockyer said, the HP case runs afoul of California Penal Code Section 502, which prohibits "tampering, interference, damage, and unauthorized access to lawfully created computer data and computer systems."

He also said the case involves Penal Code Section 530.5, which bars use of people's personal info "for any unlawful purpose, including to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services or medical information in the name of the other person without the consent of that person."

"Pretexting is a serious problem," Lockyer said.

And in HP's case, he said, the company is guilty of breathtaking arrogance if nothing else.

"The idea of a corporate official spying on another official is outrageous," Lockyer said. "It's also incredibly stupid."

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.

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