The Ramblings of a Human's Brain

ATTENTION - IMPORTANT!

2009-08-03T16:18:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted here in a while because I've invested all my time into a new blog, TechWorthy. Please check it out and feel free to browse around. Thanks for being loyal!

Hi All!

2009-06-01T17:34:00.002-04:00

I have about 4 more days of school left, so I will be able to post much more on the blog and my Twitter soon! Thanks for visiting!

Hi All!

2009-05-26T20:51:00.001-04:00

Hi all! I'm sorry that I haven't posted any posts lately: I have been feeling sick and drowsy. As soon as I feel better, I will post again!

Lenovo U350 Is Pretty Thin, Pretty Light, and Pretty Cheap

2009-05-25T10:29:00.000-04:00

Just last week Intel was all "Hey! Thin, light and cheap laptops are the next big thing, TRUST US!" The Lenovo IdeaPad U350, a $650, 13.3-inch ultrathin notebook, is exactly what they were talking about.

Intel and Lenovo's concept makes enough sense: take those ultrathing, ultra-expensive notebooks like the MacBook Air, Dell Adamo or VooDoo Envy and sacrifice a little performance, a little weight and a little thinness to bring the price down. After all, they're already sluggish, so why not? What makes it genius, though, is how this compromise manifests itself. It turns out, these mild design and performances compromises knock a tremendous sum off the price.

The U350 is a sub-1-inch-thick, 3.5lb 13.3-inch notebook which, aside from its thin profile and conspicuous lack of an optical drive, is a fairly standard piece of notebook hardware. You can get just about anything you want in one of these guys—Core 2 Solo, Pentium ULV or Celeron processors; up to 8GB of RAM and up to 500GB of storage—but after a while you'll start to lose the price advantage that makes it attractive in the first place. It'll be around that $700-$800 pricepoint that the U350 shines. Available from July, full press release and spec sheet below. [Lenovo]

IdeaPad U350 Laptop
Display: 16:9 aspect ratio, 13.3 inch LED, HD 1366 X 768
Processor: Intel ultra low voltage CPUs and small form factor chipsets: Intel® Core 2 Solo SU3500 (1.4G, 800 MHz, 3 MB), Intel® Pentium® SU2700 (1.3G, 800 MHz, 2 MB), and Intel® Celeron 723 (1.2G, 800 MHz, 1MB) processors. Mobile Intel® GS40 and GS45 Express Chipset.
Graphics: Mobile Intel® GMA 4500M and Mobile Intel® GMA 4500MHDMemory
Memory: Up to 8 GB DDR3 800/1066 MHz DRAM
Hard Drive: Up to 500 GB 5400 rpm
Battery Life: 10 hours with 8 cell, 5 hours with 4 cell
Weight: 1.6kg
Dimensions:328mmX228mmX17-24.9mm
Connectivity: Ethernet 10/100/1000m/Intel WiFi Link 5150 1 X 2 AGN, Intel WiFi Link 5100 1 X 2 AGN, non-Intel wireless b/g/Bluetooth
Other: 1.3 megapixel camera, ambient light sensor technology, multi-touch touchpad, Dolby Sound Room/two 1.5 watt speakers, Active Protection System, Ambient Light Sensor, VGA ports, 4-in-1 multicard reader, Dolby Headphone, VeriFace 3.5, Quick Start
Software: VeriFace 3.5, Vista Home Basic/Home Premium, OneKey Rescue System

IdeaPad U350 Laptop
Lenovo is pushing the envelope on design to bring consumers ultra-thin, ultra-light and ultra-loaded PC technology. Encased in a sophisticated sleek silver shell, the IdeaPad U350 laptop starts at 3.5 pounds and measures less than one inch thick1. While thin and light to the touch on the outside, Lenovo loaded the PC inside with the latest entertainment and computing features to enhance and simply users' digital worlds. A 16:9 aspect ratio high definition 13.3 inch LED panel and an HDMI connector allow users to fully enjoy watching movies or other multimedia in high definition.

The IdeaPad U350 laptop also packs in several unexpected features, such as Ambient Light Sensor technology, borrowed from the IdeaCentre desktop line. This technology automatically adjusts the screen's brightness when in different lighting environments for the best picture quality. Also, Dolby Sound Room complements the video experience by providing a high quality surround-sound audio experience. And with VeriFace facial recognition technology, they can make their face their password for easy log in. A camera also comes in handy for video messaging or making Skype calls using the laptop's WiFi connectivity2.

The laptop's entertainment features are powered by a backbone of computing technologies, including choices of Intel Core2Solo and Pentium ultra low voltage processors, up to 8 GB high speed DDR3 memory and up to 500 GB of hard drive storage. The technologies help users to do more, faster, such as burning DVDs, compressing and opening documents and enjoying smoother, more realistic gaming. For high reliability important to individual business users whether on the clock or off, Lenovo borrowed a component of ThinkPad laptop design with the Active Protection System. This helps protect data by temporarily stopping the hard drive if the laptop should fall. The IdeaPad U350 laptop also comes with OneKey™ Rescue System to help recover data if it becomes corrupted in just a few simple steps.

Susan Boyle Sings "Memory" on Britain’s Got Talent

2009-05-25T10:18:00.003-04:00

Here it is, hot off the interwebs: the second song from Internet craze Susan Boyle on the UK TV show Britain’s Got Talent. Boyle chose to sing “Memory” from the musical Cats.

So long has passed since Boyle did the US TV circuit - from Oprah to Good Morning America and everything in between - that its possible audiences may tire of her.

Susan successfully got through to the finals after tonight’s semi-final performance, but as we learned with Adam Lambert on American Idol, huge internet buzz doesn’t always mean you’ll be the contest’s eventual winner.

It forces us to consider, too, that despite social media’s many admirable achievements in extending democracy and its threat to autocratic regimes, not all of its uses are quite as high minded.

How Two Roommates Saved a Dog’s Life Using Twitter

2009-05-25T10:01:00.000-04:00

Twitter is capable of helping you do everything from landing a job to serving customers. Recently, however, Twitter has found an incredible and heartwarming use: raising money to save a dog’s life.

According to the Examiner, two roommates from Texas, Jamie Whitt (@WeblogofWeeds) and Connie Donnellan (@cdonnellan), found an injured pitbull on the side of the road in need of immediate care. The problem: it would cost $400 for the amputations necessary to keep the dog, Caesar, from being euthanized.

So the girls put their Twitter accounts to work. They tweeted and tweeted, asking followers to spread the news about Caesar’s plight. They collected donations via Paypal. Within a few days, they had nearly $500, enough to cover Caesar’s surgery and some extra for food until a family can permanently adopt him.

It’s not the first time social media has proven its value to society. Twitter has helped keep people from being unjustly incarcerated and has been an incredible tool for charities. This is just more proof that social media can be an enabler for positive change.

A TV news report, embedded below, tells the heart-warming tale (apologies for the imperfect quality: KBTX does not allow embeds directly from its site).

Palm Pre Warning: Other Micro-USB Chargers Won’t Work

2009-05-25T09:52:00.002-04:00

According to Palm’s little accessory guide here, non-Palm micro-USB charging solutions won’t work. What the hell? I can’t just plug it into my computer? That Touchstone dock is cool, but I don’t want to have to carry it everywhere I go. Besides, weren’t we supposed to all be moving towards a unified charging solution? I guess like with all highly-anticipated products (like Android, or the President), we have to be ready for some letdowns along the way.

Let’s hope it’s just a fib to sell more of Touchstones. There’s more Palm accessory stuff here, and plan info etc, so if you’re curious and the grill is still warming up, go do your thing.

Turn a MacBook into a Tablet Computer

2009-05-25T09:42:00.002-04:00

If you're craving an ultra-sensitive tablet computer, but you're not willing to wait for the rumored Apple tablet to materialize, you could always build your own version.

Lifehacker reader Wei was coveting the pricey touch-screen drawing tablets produced by Wacom. He could have spent $2,000 on one of their tablets, but ultimately it would just be an ultra-sensitive touch screen. Wei could have bought a tablet PC, but the sensitivity on them is lacking for graphic design work. Faced with the option of either blowing a couple grand on just the interface, or settling for an inferior interface plus a computer, he decided it was time to flex some DIY muscle and built something better than both options.

His build is advanced, not particularly cheap, and definitely a multi-weekend project not to be undertaken lightly, but the DIY-fu is so strong, and the end result so polished, we couldn't resist featuring it. The video below demonstrates basic functionality:

The iTab was constructed by fusing together a Macbook with an Intuos Tablet—Wacom's mid-level tablet offering—and a repurposed LCD screen. Check out his full build log at the link below to see pictures of the project and finished product. If you're contemplating building one of your own, make sure to check out the resources he used, including the build log of another DIY tablet builder and his accompanying discussion forum. Great work Wei!

What Would You Do with a $40 Computer?

2009-05-25T09:14:00.000-04:00

A handful of companies are making tiny computers, complete with USB and Ethernet jacks not much bigger than a hefty electrical plug. I'm dying to hear how you'd put such a tiny computer to use.

What are these tiny computers we speak of? The chief executive of Marvell Technology Group, one of the companies manufacturing these tiny power-plug sized computers, told the New York Times.

What's in the plug? It's a tiny plastic box that you plug into an electric outlet. There's no display. But there is an Ethernet jack to connect to a home network and a USB socket for attaching a hard drive, camera or other device. Inside is a 1.2 gigahertz Marvell chip, called an application processor, running a version of the Linux operating system.

They envision a future of tiny ubiquitous computers that do everything from serve files to control home appliances. The plugs currently run $99, but they project prices will fall to $40 within the next two years. We're dying to hear what projects you'd cook up with access to cheap $40 wall wart sized computers.

North Korea Conducts 3 Powerful Nuclear Bomb Tests, Causing a 4.7 Magnitude Artificial Earthquake

2009-05-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

MSNBC

North Korea carried out a powerful underground nuclear test Monday — much larger than one conducted in 2006 — in a major provocation in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programs.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea also test-fired a total of three short-range missiles after announcing the atomic test. The first liftoff, widely believed to be a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology, drew censure from the U.N. Security Council.

Pyongyang announced the test, and Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion at 9:54 a.m. (0054 GMT) in northeastern North Korea, estimating the blast's yield at 10 to 20 kilotons — comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

North Korea, incensed by the condemnation of the April 5 rocket launch, had warned last month that it would restart it rogue nuclear program, conduct an atomic test and carry out long-range missile tests.

On Monday, the country's official Korean Central News Agency said the regime "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."

The regime also test-fired a short-range, ground-to-air missile Monday from the same northeastern site where it launched a rocket last month, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources.

Hours later, it test-fired two more short-range missiles, according to the South Korean news agency.

Yonhap did not provide further details and did not name its source.

South Korea's military declined to confirm the reports, saying it does not comment on intelligence matters.

'Blatant defiance'
U.S. President Barack Obama said a nuclear test would constitute an act of "blatant defiance" of the U.N. Security Council and a violation of international law, and would only further isolate North Korea.

North Korea's claims "are a matter of grave concern to all nations," he said, calling for international action in a statement from Washington. "North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security."

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said the U.N. Security Council will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday in New York (2030 GMT).

"If North Korea carried out a nuclear test, it would clearly violate U.N. Security Council resolutions," chief government spokesman Takeo Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo. "We will definitely not tolerate it."

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called the test "a provocation that can never be tolerated," his spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.

"The nuclear test is a serious threat to peace and security on the Korean peninsula, in Northeast Asia and in the world," the presidential office said in a statement.

South Korea, meanwhile, was grappling with the suicide two days earlier of Lee's liberal predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, whose death prompted condolences from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Kim held a 2007 summit in Pyongyang with Roh, who championed reconciliation with North Korea.

Atomic site
Monday's atomic test was conducted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the northern city of Kilju, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said, speaking on state-run Rossiya television.

Kilju, in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, is where North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006 in a surprise move that angered even traditional ally China and drew wide-ranging sanctions from the Security Council.

An emergency siren sounded in the Chinese border city of Yanji, 130 miles (200 kilometers) to the northwest. A receptionist at Yanji's International Hotel said she and several hotel guests felt the ground tremble.

North Korea boasted that Monday's test was conducted "on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control" than in 2006.

Ten to 20 kilotons would be many times more than North Korea managed in 2006. U.S. intelligence officials said the 2006 test measured less than a kiloton; one kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT.

Russia checks radiation levels
Radiation levels in Russia's Primorye region, which shares a short border with North Korea, were normal several hours after the blast, the state meteorological office said.

In Vladivostok, a city of 500,000 about 85 miles (140 kilometers) from the Russian-North Korean border, translator Alexei Sergeyev said he wasn't concerned about the test and doesn't fear North Korea.

"Their nuclear program does not have military aims — their only aim is to frighten the U.S. and receive more humanitarian aid as a result," said Sergeyev, 24.

The reported test-fire of the short-range missile took place at the Musudan-ri launchpad on North Korea's northeast coast, Yonhap said. Sources described it as a ground-to-air missile with a range of 80 miles (130 kilometers).

Japan's coast guard had said Friday that North Korea warned ships to steer clear of waters off the coast near the launch site, suggesting Pyongyang was preparing for a missile test. Yonhap also had reported brisk activity along the northeast coast last week.

South Korean troops were on high alert but there was no sign North Korean soldiers were massing along the heavily fortified border dividing the two nations, according to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing agency policy.

Two Koreas technically at war
The two Koreas technically remain at war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. Tensions have been high since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul in February 2008 saying Pyongyang must fulfill its promises to dismantle its nuclear program before it can expect aid.

North Korea is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half-dozen atomic bombs. However, experts say scientists have not yet mastered the miniaturization needed to mount a nuclear device onto a long-range missile.

The 2006 test prompted North Korea's neighbors and the U.S. to push for a pact that would give Pyongyang 1 million tons of fuel oil in exchange for disabling its nuclear facilities.

North Korea signed the accord in February 2007 and began disabling its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon that November. Pyongyang destroyed the Yongbyon cooling tower in June 2008 in dramatic show of its commitment to the process, but then abruptly halted the process weeks later over a dispute with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page list of past atomic activities.

Talks hosted by Beijing in December failed to resolve the impasse, and North Korea abandoned the six-nation negotiations last month in anger over the U.N. condemnation of its rocket launch.

North Korea claims it launched the rocket to send a satellite into space; South Korea, Japan and other nations saw it as a way to test the technology used to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, one capable of reaching the U.S.

The Security Council called the launch a violation of 2006 resolutions barring the regime from ballistic missile-related activity.

CNN

North Korea delivered on its threat Monday, conducting a second nuclear test that angered governments around the globe.

This screen grab from North Korean television on April 9 shows leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.

The North had threatened to do so unless the U.N. Security Council apologized for imposing sanctions on it following a rocket test on April 5.

The secretive communist state also apparently test-fired a short-range missile on Monday, the White House said.

Japan called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. One is expected Monday, said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.

The White House -- which less than three weeks ago announced a new diplomatic effort to restart stalled talks with North Korea about its nuclear program -- said the test was in "blatant defiance" of the Security Council. Watch how the test may have taken world by surprise »

"North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," the White House said. "The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community."

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN's "American Morning" that the test did not come as a surprise.

"As you know, they also recently ... unsuccessfully launched potentially an intercontinental ballistic missile."

Mullen said it would take a couple of days to verify Monday's reported test, but he added, "there's no indication that it wasn't as they say."

He said the reported test showed Pyongyang was becoming "increasingly belligerent." Watch more analysis on test »

Even China -- North Korea's strongest ally -- said it opposed the test.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana also condemned the test.

"These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm response by the international community. The European Union will be in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures," he said in a written statement.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I condemn North Korea's nuclear test in the strongest terms. This act will undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and will do nothing for North Korea's security. The international community will treat North Korea as a partner if it behaves responsibly. If it does not then it can expect only renewed isolation."

North Korea announced its underground nuclear test a little more than an hour after the U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.7 seismic disturbance at the site of North Korea's first nuclear test.

There was no immediate information on the yield of the weapon used in Monday's test. The Russian Defense Ministry said the explosion was between 10 to 20 kilotons. The U.S. State Department said it was analyzing the data.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency would say only that the latest test was safely conducted "on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control."

U.S. intelligence estimated that the first North Korean test -- in October 2006 -- produced an explosion equal to less than 1,000 tons of TNT. The low yield was a fraction of the size of the bombs the United States dropped on Japan at the end of World War II.

Intelligence analysts had predicted North Korea would conduct a second rocket or nuclear test. Watch how Pyongyang has used nuclear tests to gain concessions »

The North threatened to do so after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to condemn its April launch as a violation of a 2006 resolution that bans North Korea's ballistic missile activity.

North Korea insisted the rocket was a communications satellite. It retaliated by threatening to walk away from the six-party talks aimed at disarming the country of nuclear weapons.

The talks -- involving China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- have been aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear program.

The North also expelled international inspectors from its nuclear sites, announced plans to restart the reactor that produces plutonium for its nuclear weapons, and threatened to launch more rockets and another nuclear device.

Monday's test was conducted "as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way," the North Korean news agency said.

"They think this will enhance and embolden their diplomatic capability to deal with the other countries," said Han Sung Joo, former South Korean ambassador to the United States. "Of course, it may be working the other way. But from their point of view, this is their lifeline, which they want to maintain." Watch South Korea's reaction to the nuclear test »

North Korea's latest move could clear the way for the United States and the other members of the six-party talks, minus North Korea, to impose new punitive measures against a country desperate for food and energy assistance.

For now, however, the North's nuclear arms program is not a major security threat, analysts say. The country has yet to build an effective bomb or develop an effective delivery system to a target country.

Last year, North Korea acknowledged producing roughly 88 pounds (40 kilograms) of enriched plutonium -- enough for about seven nuclear bombs.

Analysts say North Korea is years from having a weapon it can put atop a long-range missile like those in the U.S., Chinese or Russian arsenals.

"I know a lot of people may think, 'Oh no, a nuclear test. Does that mean war, conflict in the Korean Peninsula?'" said Jim Walsh, an international security analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"The answer is 'no.'"

Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands Safely at Edwards Air Force Base

2009-05-24T22:02:00.001-04:00

Space shuttle Atlantis landed Sunday at Edwards Air Force Base after rainy weather in Florida precluded a landing at Kennedy Space Center.

The space shuttle Atlantis touches down at Edwards AFB on Sunday.

The shuttle touched down at 8:39 a.m. PT at Edwards, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, California.

Within seven to 10 days, the shuttle will be transported from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet, NASA said in a statement. Atlantis' next flight is scheduled for November.

Rainy weather postponed the shuttle landing both Friday and Saturday. NASA had said that Atlantis conceivably could have remained in space until Monday, but wanted to land the shuttle Sunday.

Weather conditions in Florida were better Sunday than Saturday, NASA officials said, but atmospheric conditions were still too unstable for a landing at Kennedy.

It was the 53rd time the shuttle has landed at Edwards, NASA officials said. In the early days of the space shuttle program, Edwards was its primary landing site. Shuttles have landed 70 times at Kennedy Space Center, NASA said, and once at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Atlantis launched May 11 for NASA's final repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope. Shuttle astronauts conducted five spacewalks during the mission to perform routine repairs and replace key instruments, in what has been called one of the most ambitious space repair efforts ever attempted.

Hubble was released back into orbit Tuesday morning.

The telescope was rejuvenated with instruments designed to improve its capabilities by as much as 70 times, while extending its lifetime through at least 2014, according to the NASA statement.

"This is not the end of the story but the beginning of another chapter of discovery by Hubble," Ed Weiler, associate administrator for science at NASA headquarters, said in the statement. "Hubble will be more powerful than ever, continue to surprise, enlighten and inspire us all, and pave the way for the next generation of observatories."

Hubble, which has been in space for nearly two decades, can capture clear images that telescopes on Earth cannot, partly because it does not have to gaze through murky atmospheres.

Palm Pre: The Definitive Guide and FAQ

2009-05-24T15:38:00.002-04:00

Simply put, the Palm Pre is the most hyped phone since the original iPhone. It's coming out in two weeks, on June 6. Here's everything we know—we'll update this as more info comes in.

PALM PRE LAUNCH

When and where can I buy It?
June 6, and you can buy it at Sprint Stores, Best Buy or Radio Shack. Sprint Premier customers—if you don't know what that is, you're not one of 'em—will be able to hit up a special launch party in select cities on June 5.

How much is it gonna cost me, really?
Sprint's touting $199. That's with a two-year agreement and $100 mail-in rebate (which we think is pretty irritating). However, if you buy it at Best Buy or Radio Shack, the rebate is instant, so it'll be $199 out the gate at either of those fine establishments. If you don't want to deal with an icky contract, most signs point to $549, though Sprint hasn't confirmed that.
It will require an Everything Data or Business Essentials With Messaging and Data plan, both of which start at $70.

Will I have to camp outside?
Good question! Mostly 'cause we're not exactly sure, for a couple of reasons.
For one, we don't know how many are gonna be available at launch. Sprint's CEO talking up just how badly they wont' be able to meet demand doesn't make us feel any better, even if he's just trying to add to the hype. And there were some scary numbers floating around, like 30-40,000 total, with 3-4,000 allocated to Best Buy.
But we've got more solid info that Radio Shack is getting 11,000 units, so 30,000 total seems a bit low, since it seems like Best Buy would get at least as many as Radio Shack—if not more—and Sprint's definitely going to keep the bulk of the phones for themselves.
From what we've heard, not every Best Buy or Radio Shack will have one. On the Best Buy front, we're told the allocation is going to depend on how well they've sold other high-profile phones, as well as general Sprint stores. Some won't get any at all, at least at first. Supposedly, the stock will get more plentiful in July/August. We're not sure how Radio Shack is divvying up their stock, just that not every Radio Shack will get one.
Demand is the other part of the equation. Will it match the hype? Hard to say!

Do I Really Have to Go With Sprint to Get Some Pre Action?
If you're in the US of A, it looks that way, at least for 2009. But that doesn't mean you have to go Sprint to get a phone with the Pre's WebOS. Palm's confirmed there's more than one WebOS phone in the pipeline, and the Centro of the family—the Palm Eos—has already leaked out. Rumor has it this little WebOS phone will hit AT&T this fall, maybe as cheaply as $99 (after contract and rebate voodoo).

****** SPECIFICATIONS
• Linux-based Palm-built WebOS operating system and UI
• 3.1-inch, 320x480 capacitive LCD multitouch screen
• Vertical slider form factor with full QWERTY keyboard
• 8GB flash storage
• Multitouch gesture area
• 3G EV-DO rev. A and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR w/ A2DP stereo support and GPS
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 3-Megapixel camera
• LED flash
• Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 CPU (ARM-based, likely at 600MHz)
• Micro USB connection with mass storage support
• Supported formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV; MPEG-4, H.263, H.264; GIF, JPEG, PNG BMP
• Wireless induction charger
• 4.8 Ounces

****** HARDWARE

Innovative Design
Palm's Pre smartphone is unusual in that it slides vertically to reveal the QWERTY keyboard. It uses the same curved sliding action found on phones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. The vertical keyboard was used partially to stand out from other phones, and partially to adhere to the philosophy of easy one-handed use. The phone has a multitouch screen and, when the keyboard is hidden, just three physical controls: A top button, a side volume rocker, clickable button at the bottom. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack, 3MP camera on the back (w/LED flash) all in a 4.8-ounce package. It's smaller than the iPhone in surface area, but it's noticeably thicker—even thicker than the BB Bold.

Gesture Area
The gesture area is the black space that extends below the screen of the Pre. Like the screen itself, that area is fully multitouch-capable, and allows you to perform various gesture-based actions within WebOS. Palm said they implemented the gesture area because they feel one-handed control directly on the touchscreen itself can be difficult at times. They say the gesture area will make it easier to move through WebOS without the need for a second hand.
One touted use for the gesture area is the wave dock, which appears whenever you drag your finger up from the gesture area to the screen. Up pops the dock—viewable in the homescreen but otherwise invisible when you're doing stuff—for a quick change of activity. (This is a bit reminiscent of the Mac OSX Dock.)

TI OMAP Chip
The TI 3430 OMAP chip is the great wizard running the show in Pre's Emerald City. It's an ARM-based CPU likely clocked at 600MHz with built-in graphics acceleration that's high-powered enough to handle multiple apps running (15-20). Let's just hope that performance doesn't cost too much in battery life.
Touchstone Wireless Charger
Touchstone is a wireless charging base for the Palm Pre, one of the first magnetic induction chargers to make its way out of the bathroom. (Sonicare and Oral-B toothbrushes power up using a similar system.) It's referred to as "The Puck," and you just click the back of the Pre onto its flat surface and the juice starts to flow. It'll be $70.

****** SOFTWARE

Cards

Cards, whose flick-friendly interface promises to make smartphone multitasking simple, are arguably the biggest revolution in the WebOS interface. Each app is represented by a panel or "card" with all its relevant info. To the side of each card are similar cards for other running apps. You can flick your way from one to the next, and do things like pause a song, or launch a new email. If you tap the card, you can enter the full app and really get to work. WebOS is designed to handle many apps running at once, and the Palm Pre has the power to support that. (Image via Palm Goon.)

Synergy
Despite its lame 1990s corporate-culture name, Synergy is a very cool feature that integrates contact info, calendars, messaging clients and search capabilities into a seamless menu system.
Synergy takes contact info from sites like Gmail and Facebook (plus any other site that takes advantage of the SDK), and presents all that info for any contact on a single screen, then shows all the ways you can contact that person electronically. Most of this is done automatically, but if WebOS can't detect multiple online accounts for the same contact, you can manually link contacts together.
Even better, whether you're texting, emailing, or IMing, all those conversations are placed into one chat style screen, so you can see all the conversations you've had with a person over a given period of time.

Universal Search
The entire contents of your phone are searchable. Whether it's contacts, old conversations, appointments, media file, etc., you can easily find what you need on your phone with all the results provided in a single screen. But if what you're looking for isn't on the phone locally, you can take that same search to the internet with a tap or two of the screen, where it will be run through sites like Google and Wikipedia.

Notifications
Palm tried to master that all-too-fickle smartphone feature: background notifications. The problem is, notifications tend to be either too distracting or not distracting enough. Palm's notification system pops up on the bottom half of the screen, but the app UI adjusts so you can still carry out whatever you're doing. Obviously, you'll have to acknowledge the message (or cancel it) eventually, but this feature will definitely save you some frustration.

Multitouch Browser
WebOS's browser is the first since Mobile Safari to support multitouch gestures. And like the iPhone's Mobile Safari and Android's browser on the G1, it's built on top of WebKit, which means you can expect the same speedy, responsive performance found on those phones. (Image via Palm Goon.)

****** FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
(Many of our answers were pulled from our interview with Palm during our Pre hands-on.)

Will there be a GSM Palm Pre?
Yes, but it will be a UTMS, Europe-only phone available later this year. No announcement for a US GSM phone has been made as of yet.

What kind of internet connectivity does the Palm Pre have?
The Pre has an EVDO rev. A mobile broadband chip (for average connectivity upwards of 1Mbps) in addition to Wi-Fi (b/g).

How long will the battery last between charges?
Palm hasn't officially revealed any info on this yet, but Pre Central, based on photos of the battery, have made a highly educated guess that the battery is identical to that found in the Centro (1150mAh-1350mAh).
As John Herrman points out in his post, the Treo Pro has a 1500mAh battery that goes about two days between charges; the iPhone has a 1400mAh battery that's okay but sometimes runs out too fast; and the G1 has an 1150mAh, considered woefully inadequate in the eyes of many.
A Palm PR rep told PalmInfoCentral to expect the battery to have a 1200mAh life, though how long that lasts in real time depends on the processor and the demands of the OS.

Is the battery removable?
Yes.

What does the top button do?
The dedicated button found on top of the phone not only slides between silent and normal modes, but you can also press it to turn airplane mode on or off.

Does the Pre's screen auto-rotate between portrait and landscape mode?
Yes, like most other high-end smartphones, the Pre has built-in accelerometers that are quite responsive.

Does the Pre have a standard headphone jack?
Yes, the Pre uses the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, located on top of the phone, that works with all mainstream portable headphones.

Does the Palm Pre have expandable storage?
Nope. The 8GB that comes with the phone is what you're stuck with.

Did Palm discuss the availability of a 16GB or 32GB Pre?
No.

Will apps from the older Palm OS (aka Garnet) work on WebOS?
This was a total surprise, but yes. The Pre's got an ~~built-in~~ emulator coming to run classic Palm apps. Don't expect everything to work 100 percent amazingly, though.

Does WebOS have an on-screen keyboard?
No specific mention has been made, but from what we have seen so far, it does not. This could be a specific omission, since the Pre already has a physical keyboard. It would be hard to believe that WebOS does not have provisions for a software keyboard in future phones.

Is HTC involved with the design or manufacturing of the Palm Pre?
No. The Palm Pre and WebOS were designed entirely in house, using only Palm employees. Some worked on the original Palm OS, while others were new to the project this time around. As for manufacturing, Palm hasn't revealed who is assembling the phones, but it has been confirmed that it isn't HTC.

Does the Pre record video?
Palm said the Pre will not have video recording capability when it first launches, but it is something they are looking into for future updates.

Is there visual voicemail?
No.

Whaaat? What about MMS?
Yep.

Is there Flash support on the Pre/WebOS
Probably not at launch, but it's definitely coming.

Do apps really run in the background?
Yes. Any app will be allowed to function in the background. They won't close out or go dormant when you switch to another app or return to the home screen. This is different from the iPhone, which can only run Apple-created apps in the background at this time.

How many can run at once?
No official number has been given, but Palm thinks it's reasonable to assume the Pre will be able to run 15 to 20 apps simultaneously.

I CAN HAZ COPY AND PASTE?
Yes, the Pre has copy and paste (now enough with the LOLspeak, dammit).

How will I get apps? How much will they cost?
There will be a central apps store that will serve as the only method of distribution for the Palm Pre and future WebOS phones. As of now, pricing models have not been released, but we assume there will be free and cheap apps.

Will you be able to sync apps via computer?
No. The app store will function entirely within WebOS.

Is there an app approval process? Will it be as strict as Apple's?
Yes, there will be an app approval process for WebOS apps. However, according to Palm, they're less concerned with what the apps do, and more focused on making sure there aren't any security exploits or stability glitches. (Here's how it stacks up with every other mobile OS store.)

Will the SDK be open to everyone?
Yes, Palm will make the SDK available to anyone who wants to develop apps.

Will apps be as good as those on iPhone or Android?
That's a question still up for discussion. Palm's SDK, as we understand it so far, will allow developers to create apps that lie somewhere between web apps and native apps in complexity. While apps will be installable directly to the phone, developers will not have the same level of hardware access that iPhone and Android developers have.
What does this mean? The average Yelp/Mint/Pandora type app will probably work, look, and act the same on WebOS as it would any other mobile platform. But when it comes to those trying to code resource-heavy apps—video and gaming apps for example, that require optimization and special hardware access— they will probably run into development issues using the SDK alone. Palm says they'll work with selected developers to give them more access to the intricacies of the phone, such as Telenav on the GPS app, for example.

Where can I get a closer look at some apps?
Palm Goon has some suspiciously good—like a little too good—screencaps and walkthroughs of Google Maps, the web browser, Tasks and Memos apps. We got some hands-on time with Google Maps and Pandora.

Will the Pre sync to PCs via Outlook or some other desktop program?
There's no special client application that we know of. You can connect the Pre as a mass-storage device and drag-and-drop media (music, video, photos) into preexisting folders made for those files, allowing them to appear in the media player. As for other types of syncing, such as Outlook, we're not quite sure how that will work yet. We've heard and seen things about it having online backup and remote wipe through a "Palm profile."

Does WebOS have a thin and beautiful figure?
Well Palm doesn't like to talk about its own software, but they did manage to imply that Mobile OS X is an obese, Crisco-guzzling lard ass.

****** CES ORIGINAL HANDS-ON IMPRESSIONS
Neither the Pre hardware or WebOS software are anywhere near final, so it's tough to draw too many conclusions from our brief exposure, but I can say that Palm is rivaling Apple in the user experience department with this new phone.
The screen is responsive and accurately detects the position of your finger. I didn't feel like I had to pay special attention to what I was touching or how I went about it. The multitasking cards for app management are really intuitive, letting you zoom in and out, add and remove, and cycle through cards with a mere flick of a finger. And having the WebOS desktop sit as a sort of frame around the cards prevents you from feeling too overwhelmed by the amount of data you might be flipping through (sort of like Xbox 360's newly revised "blades").
The gesture area below the screen interacts really well with the onscreen UI. I never had a problem launching the wave dock from that area, for instance.
The hardware feels like it's a quality build. It's plasticky, but it doesn't feel too light or cheap, and the phone's size works well for one-handed control. The hinge design is smooth, though it would have been nicer to have a spring-loaded design—it does not. The buttons are reminiscent of those found on the Treo Pro, that is, not spectacular but good enough not to be a nuisance. The phone's design is a little too pebbly and roundish in shape for me personally, but as far as usability goes, that's hardly a problem.

****** Media Gallery

****** Historical Background
Palm has come a long way since their days making PDAs for the business crowd, and as the saying goes, to truly understand where Palm is going with the Pre, you've got to understand where they've been. So here's a brief recap of software, devices and events leading up to the Pre/WebOS announcement.

Palm OS/Treo
Palm OS, the first major platform for the company was first designed for the Pilot line of PDAs back in 1996. The early Palm OS (1.x-4.x) releases had forward-thinking features such as stylus touch control, handwriting recognition, a grid-based app home screen (adopted by most handset UI designers in the following years), eventually adding mobile internet support, mobile web clippings, email and USB support.
Handspring's first Palm-based phone—the Treo—came out in 2002. It caught on among the smartphone crowd, with mainstream features such as high-res color displays, threaded text messaging, multimedia playback, homebrew apps such as NES emulators and arguably the worst mobile browser ever, Blazer.
In 2003, Palm bought Handspring and launched the first Palm-branded Treo, the 600. Palm continued to build phones with QWERTY keyboard on the front, SD card slots, and cameras. (Fun fact: Palm CEO Ed Colligan left the company, which he helped establish, in order to create Handspring; he returned to Palm only when they bought Handspring in 2003.) The Palm Centro, launched in 2007, was the last Palm device to run the Garnet OS (v5.4.9). But by then the software—as well as the hardware—had begun to show signs of aging, prompting calls for a new OS and industrial design.

Palm OS II Announcement
In May 2007, Palm announced they were working on a completely new, Linux-based operating system for their future phones, tentatively calling it Palm OS II. No other details were given at the time.
Between Summer 2007 and Fall 2008, Palm OS II was constantly pushed backed, delayed and ignored as Palm's stock tumbled. Many believed the company would disintegrate beyond repair before the OS would reach market.

Nova
In the fall of 2008, Palm OS II rumors resurfaced, this time mentioning the platform carried the codename "Nova." Later news confirmed it would be revealed at CES 2008. Still, many remained skeptical as to how much of Nova Palm would show, if anything at all.
Shortly before CES, rumors started popping up about a Palm phone which would accompany the Nova OS. The phone was said to be a squarish, touchscreen device with a slide-out keyboard.

CES Unveiling
On January 8, 2009, Palm announced the Pre smartphone and WebOS platform at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas to much fanfare. Multitouch functionality and seamless web integration were the two big points of emphasis for their new product.
___________________________________________________________________________________

ALL credit goes to Gizmodo

New Wave of Facebook Scams: DO NOT Visit These Sites - WARNING

2009-05-24T14:43:00.004-04:00

WARNING

It seems there’s no end to the Facebook spam and phishing attacks. Today many peoples' Facebook inboxes shows there’s another attack underway that’s suckering even some of the most tech savvy users: They're receiving Facebook mails with links to “.be” sites which are obviously nefarious. The subject line of the mails is “Look at This”.

If you receive such a mail, DO NOT click links to the following sites:

goldbase.be
greenbuddy.be
silvertag.be
picoband.be

As we saw with Twitter’s Mikeyy attacks, these scams are particularly effective at weekends because the websites have less staff on hand to deal with them.

What To Do

If you receive one of these Facebook mails, simply delete it - one of your friends is infected but not you. If you find, however, that your account is sending the mails:

1. As a precaution, go to your browser settings and clear your cookies.

2. Change your Facebook password

3. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date and run a full system scan

WARNING

6 Ways To Sync Music To Your iPhone Without iTunes

2009-05-24T14:31:00.003-04:00

By default, iTunes is the only media player that you can use to sync your iPhone and iPod Touch with your computer. However, iTunes is only supported in Mac and Windows, which means Linux users with iPhones will have to find an alternative way to sync their iPhones, or at least get their music into the mobile device. In addition, there may be a large group of Windows users who are using other media players (such as Winamp) to manage their music library and loathe the idea of migrating the whole library to iTunes just because they bought an iPhone.

In this article, I will point out 6 other ways that you can transfer music to your iPhone without iTunes.

(Note: When I refer to “iPhone” in the article, it includes the iPod Touch as well)

1. Media Monkey (Windows)

MediaMonkey is a heavy-duty, fully-featured media player for Windows. It is just like iTunes in Mac, allowing you to manage your music, video, podcast, rip CD, organize album art etc. In their latest version 3 release, they implemented iPhone/iPod Touch support and you can now transfer/sync your music easily.

In order to use Media Monkey to manage your iPhone music, you have to first install iTunes (version 8.1.0.52 and before). That could be ironical since the purpose of it all is to do without iTunes completely. However, iTunes comes with the device driver for iPhone/iPod Touch that is required by many third-party media players to detect and access the database of the iPhone. As soon as you install iTunes, you will be able to use Media Monkey to sync your music.

For those who don’t want to install iTunes, there is a hack:

Download the iTunes.exe file
Rename the .exe to .zip
Open up the zipped file and extract AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi and QuickTime.msi
Install these two files.

You can then sync your iPhone with Media Monkey without iTunes.

2) Winamp and the ml_ipod plugin (Windows)

For those who have been using Winamp since the first day it was launched, there is no need to migrate all your music library to iTunes just because you bought a iPhone. With the ml_ipod plugin, you will be able to sync your music.

Firstly, you have to install iTunes (ml_ipod was tested with iTunes 7.4.2 and 8.0.2. If you are using a later version of iTunes, might not work), or use the above hack to install the driver without installing iTunes.

Secondly, install Winamp (recommended version 5 and above), follow by ml_ipod (version 3.08 or later). Plug in your iPhone and start Winamp. You should be able to see the device appear on the left side of the panel (see above screenshot).

One good thing about using this combination is, unlike iTunes, this is a bidirectional sync - you can download the songs back to your computer.

3) SharePod (Windows)

If you are looking for a simple and lightweight software to get the synchronization done quickly and easily, then Sharepod would be a good choice.

Sharepod is nothing more than a software for you to sync your iPod and iPhone. While you can play music directly from your iPhone within Sharepod, the music player is only minimal and does not offer much options.

SharePod also offers bidirectional synchronization between your iPhone and computer. Did I also mention that there is no installation required for Sharepod? It just works!

Just like the above two softwares, you’ll need to install iTunes (or perform the hack) for SharePod to recognize your iPhone.

4) CopyTransManager (Windows)

If you are still using firmware 1.x on your iPhone, CopyTrans Manager will work out of the box to sync your iPhone. However, if you are using firmware 2.x, it will prompt you to apply a fix to downgrade the iPhone database so that it can be read by the software. If you are not comfortable with it modifying the internal structure of your iPhone, this software might not be for you.

Editor’s note: Downgrading your iPhone firmware may render your iPhone incapable of using newer applications which require firmwares 2.2 and higher.

Unlike all other software listed above, you don’t need to install iTunes to use CopyTrans Manager. It claims to be the alternative to iTunes. Perhaps in the field of syncing your music library, it can be a good alternative. Other than that, it is clearly lacking in features and does not offer as many features as iTunes.

5) PwnPlayer (any platform)

Pwnplayer is an iPhone music player app that acts as an alternative to the default ipod.app in your iPhone. Its user interface is almost similar to the iPod.app, allowing you to view your songs in Artists, Albums, Songs, Genre list etc. It also supports album art display.

To use Pwnplayer, you have to first jailbreak your iPhone, then install the PwnPlayer application from Cydia. Once you have jailbroken your iPhone, you can then transfer your songs (over SSH) to any folder in your iPhone (for more information about transferring files over to the iPhone, refer to my older article: 6 Ways To Use iPhone As An External Hard Drive). Pwnplayer will scan the whole iPhone hard disk and add the songs to its library. You don’t have to worry about any compatibility with OS platform since it works regardless which OS you are using. As long as you can perform SSH in your computer, you can get Pwnplayer to work.

6) GtkPod (Linux)

Gtkpod seems to be the only solution to sync music to your iPhone in Linux (The older version of Amarok will work too, but Amarok 2.x doesn’t support iPhone syncing yet), but getting it to work is not as easy.

Image source: Gtkpod screenshot page

For those who are geeky and advantageous enough, here are the full instructions to hack your iPhone to get it to sync in Linux with gtkpod.

Enjoyed this article? Maybe you’ll be interested to know that you may also sync any MP3 player with iTunes. Also, find out how you can easily make ringtones for your iPhone.

What other ways do you use to sync your music to iPhone without iTunes? Let us know in the comments.

Safari 4 Beta Is a Fat Hog That Spies on You

2009-05-24T14:20:00.004-04:00

Apple’s Safari 4 browser is a pig. It’s a resource hog that doesn’t clean up after itself — and it remembers every site you visit, even in “porn mode.”

Safari records every site you visit, even if you turn on the “Private Browsing” feature or clear the browser history. And the files it generates can consume gigabytes of disk space.

“This is a huge privacy concern,” writes designer and musician C. Harwick, from Chapel Hill, NC, who did some snooping in Safari’s hidden system folders. “With no good way of getting rid of them except manually (clearing the history doesn’t do it, and I don’t think resetting Safari does either), these hidden files are strewn all over the user’s hard drive unbeknownst to him waiting for snooping relatives (or more pertinently, law enforcement) to dig them up. I really like Safari, but I’m going to have to seriously consider using Firefox now (ack).”

Harwick discovered that the browser — which is in beta — appeared to remember every site he visited in the History folder, regardless of what he put in preferences. In a few months, this folder had grown to 100MB. Likewise, the Top Sites folder had also grown to about 100MB, and appeared to have remember all the sites he visited since he started using the software.

But the worst offender was the Quicklook folder, a Finder feature that gives a sneak peek of unopened files. Safari’s Quicklook folder included thumbnails of all the sites Hardwick had ever visited with the browser — and had grown to a whopping 2GB.

“Safari does not delete the webpage previews it generates for Quicklook. Ever. 2.03 GB of webpage previews (2 per website - a full resolution and a thumbnail), all generated since downloading the Safari 4 beta — hidden away in an obscure folder,” Harwick wrote.

According to MacOSXTips.com, to disable the “Top Sites” feature, fire up Terminal, and type the following command:

defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSafari4IncludeTopSites -bool FALSE

Wolfram|Alpha: A Bit Racist?

2009-05-24T14:01:00.001-04:00

What goes on under the hood at Wolfram Alpha is a mystery to my mind, but after seeing the results of this search, I hope whatever it is gets an overhaul quickly.
You see, I found this image on the web, browsing for random images (lol).
I then did a search of my own to dismiss any Photoshopping concerns. The results were the same in each case: Racist synonym trees that associated the word dumb with black.
What the heck, Wolfram?

[Wolfram Alpha - "dumb" Search]

Locate a Sprint Store that will Stock the Palm Pre with this Handy Tip

2009-05-23T22:45:00.000-04:00

Now that we know that the Pre will be in very short supply at Best Buy, you may want to try a Sprint store. But, in Sprint’s and Palm’s infinite wisdom, not every store will stock them right away. At least you can use the Store Locator tool on Sprint’s website to figure out which stores will stock the phone on June 6th.
Simply put in your info and look for the locations that list special store hours. That’s it, friends. Those stores will have the Palm Pre on June 6th. How many? Who knows. Probably 3.5 each (read this to understand the "joke"). {Sprint}

NASA Readies for a Return to the Moon

2009-05-23T21:54:00.000-04:00

NASA is preparing to return humans to the moon.

The space agency yesterday afternoon announced that two lunar satellites are on track to be launched next month. Both the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will be focused on sending information back to Earth to help NASA scientists determine safe landing sites and resources for a human return to the moon.

"These two missions will provide exciting new information about the moon, our nearest neighbor," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. "Imaging will show dramatic landscapes and areas of interest down to one-meter resolution. The data also will provide information about potential new uses of the moon. These teams have done a tremendous job designing and building these two spacecraft."

The two NASA satellites are expected to give scientists more information about the moon than they've ever had before.

NASA is hoping not only to return astronauts to the moon but also to build a lunar outpost by 2020. The plan includes the use of next generation robots and machines to help prepare the spacecraft and the surface of the moon for such missions.

In February, a NASA-sponsored study revealed that robots the size of riding lawn mowers could be used to start building a lunar outpost before humans make their next trip to the moon. "We're just starting to scratch the surface of these concepts," Carl Walz, director of advanced capabilities at NASA, said in an earlier interview. "It'll be absolutely critical. What we're trying to do is figure out how best to incorporate human exploration and robots. I think the nature of exploration will be different [because of robots]."

The two new satellites discussed in Thursday's NASA press conference are scheduled to be launched together on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on June 17.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has seven onboard instruments designed to create high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of the moon's surface, and to identify resources, like water and ice suspected to be in the moon's polar regions. The orbiter, which will orbit 50-kilometers above the moon, is also expected to study how the moon's radiation would affect humans.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite is also designed to help scientists search for evidence of water on the moon, as well as study the mineral makeup of remote polar craters that sunlight never reaches.

Whether NASA goes ahead with a human mission to the moon largely depends on the agency's budget.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama called for an independent review of NASA's human space flight activities. Looking at possible alternatives to programs already in the pipeline, the review is geared toward making sure the country's human space flight program remains "safe, innovative and affordable" after the space shuttle is retired, NASA says.

U.S. Army Equipping all Windows PCs with Vista by End of 2009

2009-05-23T21:27:00.006-04:00

While a good number of its machines are already running the OS -- about 13 percent at this point -- the United States Army has mandated that before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, 2009 that all of its Windows-powered computers must switch from XP to Vista, presumably and hopefully with Service Pack 2. Additionally, all Office 2003 users will have to upgrade to the 2007 variant, but thankfully, someone with a little Vista experience made sure to omit standalone weapons systems from the mandate -- you know, because there's not really time to click through eight confirmation boxes when launching a time-sensitive homing missile. All jesting aside, we're flummoxed that the Army didn't just wait for Windows 7 to roll out in a few months before making this decision, but hey, what's a few more billion in upgrade costs next year, right?

{U.S. Army Press Release}

Windows 7, anyone?

Paul McCartney is No Fan of Google Street View

2009-05-23T20:24:00.000-04:00

I’m of the opinion that if you write a song like “Yesterday” you can do whatever you want. That’s why (well, partially why) I’m not upset at Sir Paul McCartney, who is having a bit of a hissy fit vis-à-vis Google Street View. McCartney recently asked this his house be removed from Street View because, as a spokesman put it, he felt “unsettled” that people could look at his house 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The house, which is in North London, cost a measly £40,000 pounds when he bought it in 1965. My guess is that its value has increased just a little bit since then.

Google, perhaps used to receiving complaints about Street View, can now remove buildings from it with the click of a button.

Again, it’s hard to get mad at McCartney, even though, on the surface it really does seem like a snooty thing to do (“I don’t want those people looking at my house!”): you’d imagine he’d be a little bit skittish with his personal safety given what happened to John Lenon.

Susan Boyle is Back: Proceeds to Semi-Finals (with Video)

2009-05-23T20:07:00.002-04:00

YouTube sensation Susan Boyle is back: tonight she proceeded to the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent, putting the unlikely Scottish internet phenomenon one step closer to performing in front of Her Majesty the Queen. The video embedded below shows the moment she learned of her success, and celebrations after. Oh, and if you’ve already heard enough about Susan Boyle, you might wanna just stay off the Internet for a few weeks.

Susan Boyle Sings with Adam Lambert (Parody)

2009-05-23T20:05:00.003-04:00

Oh, social media: we had such high hopes for you! From helping non-profits to saving newspapers to getting us back into employment. Alas, your paradigm shift turned out to be a revolutionary new way to gossip about reality TV shows.

Despite our woefully incorrect prediction that he’d win American Idol, Adam Lambert still dominates Kris Allen in web search (go figure, we couldn’t) and YouTube star Susan Boyle is back in the headlines tonight after proceeding to the Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals.

Feeling the inevitable urge to put these two on a stage together, Current TV, creator of the hilarious Celebrity Twitter clip, has struck gold yet again with a cartoonish creation that puts Lambert and Boyle in an unlikely duet. The tweet-worthy result is embedded below.

Adam Lambert and Susan Boyle: Behind the Scenes

As a special bonus, Current TV also created this “behind the scenes” clip of the animators working on the parody video.

100 Posts!

2009-05-23T20:04:00.001-04:00

100 Posts! W00T! (lol) Thanks to all for helping me get this far!

Geek Chart Graphs Turns Web Activity into a Pie Chart

2009-05-23T19:53:00.002-04:00

If you're looking for a novel way to represent and visualize your online persona, Geek Chart takes your activity on popular sites and turns it into an interactive pie chart.

Geek Chart surveys your activity on the services and social networks—specifically, that's Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, any blog with an RSS feed, Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and Last.fm. Creating the chart is as easy as plugging in your user name for each of the above services that you use. Geek Chart gets to work, generating a pie chart based on your activity over the last 30 days. Each section of the chart displays the name of the service when the mouse cursor is placed over it, and if you click the section it redirects you to your publicly available presence on that service.

Making a chart is free; embedding the chart in your website requires a sign-up for an account. If you're proud of your geek chart, link it in the comments below.

[Geek Chart]

Moore’s Law for Storage to Level Out Soon?

2009-05-23T19:47:00.001-04:00

Although engineers continually devise new ways to conquer obstacles previously thought insurmountable, in the case of solid state storage, we may actually be approaching a point where the current theory just doesn’t work any more. The size of cells in memory arrays is getting so small that each one now holds just 100 electrons. That means that an array based on current theory can only get 100 times bigger before it hits its absolute maximum — one electron per cell — and even that is ridiculous.

There is a band-aid solution, one that is in reality already being applied: multi-layer cell arrays. You just stack one one array on top of the other and boom, double the size. Trouble is you end up with a lot of heat being trapped in there. And even stacking the arrays has its limits. So what’s next? Don’t ask me. Just don’t expect to keep being able to store twice as much stuff in your laptop every year from now till eternity. And the next time you see a hard drive or memory architecture engineer, give them a big hug from me.