Friday, November 16, 2007
Three Words: "Sexy," "Washing" and "Machine"
iPhone Malware Demo Freaking Me Out, Man [Apple]
PopoutMaybe it's the eyes. Don't be too alarmed, but this video shows the iPhone being accessed by terminal using a program installed by a webpage. Since the program, like all unofficial apps, runs as root, they've got access to data stores for mail, call lists, contacts, and voicemail, which are served up via terminal. And no, that guy isn't hacking your ghost with those piercing eyes. I think.
This is why a managed SDK with sandboxed apps like the one Jobs proposes for February is going to be a lot better than opening up the device outright, like it or not. Since this is a hack done via a website, it's likely the 1.1.1 TIFF exploit that can be patched by a) installing Apple's 1.1.2 patch or hacking your 1.1.1 iPhone using the Jailbreakme.com installer website. The guy runs all this on a LAN, knowing IPs, but it wouldn't be hard to have malware ping home, either. Nothing to scoff at, but also not surprising given the unofficial nature of the apps developed so far, and maybe nothing to freak out over. [FC via CrunchHickey]
Take Walmart's $199 PC Operating System for a Test Drive
The $8 billion story/scam
In case you had any doubt that human beings are irrational creatures, driven by stories, consider the case of the gift card.
Christmas has become a holiday about shopping, not about giving. Case in point: the $100 gift card, now available from banks, from stores, even in a rack at the supermarket.
Last year, more than $8,000,000,000 was wasted on these cards. Not in the value spent, but in fees and breakage. When you give a card, if it doesn't get used, someone ends up keeping your money, and it's not the recipient. People spent more than eight billion dollars for nothing... buying a product that isn't as good as cash.
Along the way, we bought the story that giving someone a hundred dollar bill as a gift ("go buy what you want") is callous, insensitive, a crass shortcut. Buying them a $100 Best Buy card, on the other hand, is thoughtful. Even if they spend $92 and have to waste the rest.
The interesting thing about stories is that the inconsistent ones don't always hold up to scrutiny. Consumer Reports and others are trying to spread a different story. One that sounds like this:
Gift cards are for chumps.
If enough people talk about this new story, people will be embarrassed to give a gift card. It's a waste. It's a scam. It's a trap for the recipient.
The irony is that the gift card companies could easily spend, say, half the profits and create a wonderful, better story... where every $100 gift card also generates two or three dollars for a worthy cause. That would resonate with a lot of people... But I think it's unlikely.
If I were a creative non-profit, I'd start marketing alternative gift cards. They would consist of PDF files you could print out and hand over to people when you give them cash. It could say,
"Merry Christmas. Here's your present, go spend it on what you really want. AND, just to make sure we're in the right holiday spirit, I made a donation in your name to Aworthycause."
Stories come and go. It's up to marketers to spread the good ones.
Andy Dick Look-alike Develops Device to Supercool Beer in Seconds [Boozetech]
The inventor, Kent Hodgson, describes the science behind the device thusly:
"You have plastic cooling cells which are pressed down into the dock which houses the liquid carbon dioxide. The liquid CO2 expands and is pressurized into dry ice in the base of the cooling cells ... in a moment."
After that, it is a simple matter of dropping Huski into your drink, consuming the beverage, and waking up hours later in a dumpster with nothing but your boots on —just like any other Saturday. Hodgson also explained that one canister can fill thirty 330 ml bottles at a cost of 7 cents each. He plans on patenting the Huski and selling them for around $50. Not a bad deal if you hate lugging around ice and a gigantic cooler to the beach. [nzherald via InventorSpot]
Wind Dam Design for Russian Lake is Spooky, Awesome [Wind Dam]
The dam consists of a spinnaker sail, similar to the mainsail of a yacht, which captures the wind, funneling it through a turbine and generating energy. Measuring 75 meters wide and 25 meters high, the dam may be joined by a second one in a gorge further up the valley.
Mr Chetwood, the dam's creator, thinks that the sail looks like a bird dipping its beak into the water. "It will be much less of a blot on this beautiful and unblemished landscape," he claims, adding that the sail will be more effective than other methods of harvesting energy. "It replicates the work of a dam and doesn't let the wind escape in the way it does using traditional propellers." [Building Design via Dezeen]
Nanosolar PowerSheets Promise Cheap Solar Power Everywhere, Unlimited Gadget Energy
Duracell PowerSource: Impressive Portable Power For All Your Gadgets
Seiko High-Res Super-Thin EBook Reader [E-Ink]
* Terminal measures 180x120mm (B6 size) * Thickness: 3mm * Weight: 57g * Contrast ratio: 8:1 * Reflectivity: 43% * Redrawing time: 0.7s * Battery: one CR1220 button cell battery (1'400 screen redraws)
ONFi 2.0 sets the stage for 133MB/sec NAND performance
Flash memory just keeps getting bigger, faster and more irresistible -- and that's just the way we like it. Now, the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFi) working group is announcing the availability of the 0.9 draft of the ONFi 2.0 specification to member companies, which is a tell-tale sign that the updated spec will be officially loosed in just two months. What's important here is the newly defined NAND interface, which promises to deliver up to 133MB/second compared to the 50MB/second that the legacy NAND interface is limited to. As if that weren't enough to get you all jazzed up, ONFi 2.0 will also be backwards compatible, and infrastructure is reportedly in place to "reach 400MB/second in the third-generation." And just think, soon you'll be chuckling at yourself for asserting that 133MB/sec was "quick" -- onwards and upwards, we say.Read |
Samsung's 8 megapixel CMOS sensor for phones -- another world's first
Read
Engadget founder Peter Rojas's new digital music site RCRD LBL launches
miShare enables iPod file swapping, Apple is so pleased
from Engadget by 
There's virtually zero information on the company behind this, or about the actual workings of the device itself, but if this miShare thing could be pretty hot if its creators can get it to market -- and the word is that it's in production in China as we speak. The concept is straight forward enough, involving the little $100 miShare unit with dock connectors on each end, allowing for speedy file transfers from iPod to iPod. We've seen similar devices for traditional USB drives, but the iPod compatibility makes this a whole new ballgame. How exactly you select what gets transferred and what doesn't remains to be seen, but we know one thing for sure: Apple's not going to be happy about this, given its insistence on limiting your iPod to one library at a time. We can only hope that this spurs the company to get song sharing going on the iPhone and iPod touch sooner rather than later, but in the meantime it looks like we can have some fun swapping tracks in a physical fashion whenever this thing becomes available.
Update: We chatted up miShare's Nathaniel Wice who clarified the product a little bit. The unit is actually running a lightweight Linux installation and is using open source tools to access the iPod as a mass storage device and open up the database files. You can set the miShare to transfer music, video and pictures, and when in music mode it'll automatically transfer the most recently played song, or if you hold the button it'll transfer everything marked in your On-the-Go playlist.
[Via Vanity Fair]
PhotoVu's 17-inch RSS-enabled digital photo frame, the 1765W
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays, Peripherals
Textual ads destined to hit shopping cart handles
from Engadget by 
As marketers continue to search for (and exploit) places in which you'd never think to find an ad, it makes sense to scroll a few plugs through an item that the vast majority of us spend at least a few hours per week touching. That item, dear friends, is the handle of the tried and true shopping cart, and apparently, Modstream is hoping to install bars with scrolling displays onto buggies and allow companies to beam in messages wirelessly. The system works by allowing outfits to access a web-based profile, enter in a given message, and transmit the ad to participating stores. As an added bonus, the setup enables said companies to change up their messages on a whim and keeps us shoppers guessing as to what clever line is coming next. Now, who's down with hacking this thing to scroll through our favorite RSS feeds?
[Via Textually]
E-Ten's Glofiish M800 with VGA, HSDPA, WiFi, and GPS -- now official
[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]
Read -- Expansys
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Faster, Cheaper Mobile Browsing with Opera Mini 4 [Featured Mobile Download]
Java-enabled phones: Opera Mini 4, a mobile browser that brings full web pages to your phone screen, is out of beta. New features (at least new to non-beta users) include the Opera Link bookmark synchronization function, a two-click switch to "landscape" views, and a virtual mouse for easier scrolling. And like its predecessors, this version of Opera compresses content before it reaches your phone, saving the pay-by-the-kilobyte crowd a few bucks. Opera Mini 4 is a free download and requires a Java-enabled phone. Photo by Kai Hendry
Opera Mini 4 [via OSNews]
Wired offers a primer on portable apps, but ...
Wired offers a primer on portable apps, but if you're serious about living the portable life, check out our guide to your life on a thumb drive or to running a PC-on-a-stick, Windows or Linux versions.
Lock Up Your Passwords with MyPasswordSafe [Featured Linux Download]
MyPasswordSafe [via PhoroLinux.com]
De-Pixelize Your Images with VectorMagic [Image Editing]
Web site VectorMagic turns virtually any image into vector art that can be resized as much as you want without any nasty pixelation—perfect for creating your scanned signature, for example. The site is free and simple to use, but for a bit more detail check out their howto introductory video. Whether you are trying to perfect your scanned signature or you've got a logo or design you want to be able to resize indefinitely, VectorMagic will do the trick. VectorMagic can be used on photographs to interesting effect, but count on losing some detail . Thanks Torley!
Add Movies to Your Netflix Queue from IMDB or Amazon with Movie Dude [Featured Greasemonkey User Script]
Firefox with Greasemonkey: The Movie Dude Greasemonkey script links popular movie sites to one another so that—for example—you can quickly add a movie to your Netflix queue after you've read about it on the popular movie web site IMDB, or after you came this close to buying it on Amazon. Likewise, say you're thinking about adding a movie to your Netflix queue but you want to read some reviews on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes first—just click through with The Movie Dude. While the link list is a little large and a bit on the ugly side, the interlinking of all of these sites is actually very handy.
The Movie Dude [AdamV via BrentEvans ]
Use PicURLs to Find Buzzworthy Photos [Photography]
Picurls [via ReadWriteWeb]
Listen to Music On-Demand with Songza [Music]
Search and play a wide variety of popular music for free with web site Songza. In a nutshell Songza is a search engine for music—most of which is live—that can stream songs as soon as you click on them and create and organize playlists on-the-fly. Beyond that you can share songs via email, with a simple link, or embedded on a web site (as I've done above). Songza isn't the first site aiming to fill the YouTube-of-audio shoes (see Hype Machine, which is incredible), but if you've got limited options for listening to music at work and recommendation sites like Pandora aren't really your thing, Songza is worth a look.
Teen Steals Over $5K in Virtual Furniture, Gets Busted By Very Real Cops [So Real]
Like in many virtual worlds, Habbo Hotel lets you buy furniture to deck out your pad. The kids apparently perpetrated the theft through a phishing scam: by creating websites that mimic the Habbo login, they could trick the victims into unknowingly surrender login IDs and passwords. The crooks could presumably just swing by their room and transfer whatever they wanted to their own accounts. Says a spokesman for Sulake, Habbo Hotel's operator:
"It is a theft because the furniture is paid for with real money. But the only way to be a thief in Habbo is to get people's usernames and passwords and then log in and take the furniture."Of course, you know what we're thinking: anyone gullible enough to spend thousands on virtual furniture might be a prime target for trickery. I mean, not to get off on a rant, but when you think about it, who stole whose money in the first place? [BBC News]
Sandy's Your Personal Assistant via Email
For example, a message to your sister that cc:'s Sandy and reads:
Remind us to call Mom on her birthday on 9/16/07 @yearly @birthday
Will set up yearly email birthday reminders for Mom from Sandy. Here are a few more ways Sandy can remember important items you want to get off your mind.
All your lists and reminders are available on Sandy's web site as well as via email, and you can set up SMS and Twitter access to Sandy, too. Formatting messages Sandy understands is very easy; you'll see from this cheat sheet the language is natural, as if you were talking to an actual human.
Those of us already getting more email each day than we can handle should configure Sandy to send just the messages we want. Opt in or out of replies to every Sandy command, specific item reminders, and a daily digest of appointments and to-do's. The best part about Sandy is the messages you get back from "her"—helpful and fun, the tone truly makes you feel like you have an assistant backing you up.
Sandy's yet another example of how the command line's making a comeback—except the "command line" is a new email message, not a terminal window, and the commands and responses are in readable, natural language. Overall, Sandy's one of the most evolved reminder systems and remote command line apps available today.
Microbes Churn Out Hydrogen at Record Rate
FiReaNGeL writes to mention that Penn State Researchers have improved on their original microbial electrolysis cell design bringing the resulting system up to better than 80 percent efficiency when considering all energy inputs and outputs. "By tweaking their design, improving conditions for the bacteria, and adding a small jolt of electricity, they increased the hydrogen yield to a new record for this type of system. 'We achieved the highest hydrogen yields ever obtained with this approach from different sources of organic matter, such as yields of 91 percent using vinegar (acetic acid) and 68 percent using cellulose,' said Logan. In certain configurations, nearly all of the hydrogen contained in the molecules of source material converted to usable hydrogen gas, an efficiency that could eventually open the door to bacterial hydrogen production on a larger scale."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Open Source Video Player Miro Hits 1.0 [Video]
Windows/Mac/Linux: Cross-platform, open source video application Miro is now available in a full-featured, bug-fixed 1.0 version. The program formerly known as Democracy Player plays almost any kind of video file, but its real value lies in its content fetching and organizing features. Miro can subscribe to video podcasts, grab from YouTube channel feeds or BitTorrents (letting you make your own season pass) and keep video libraries organized, amongst other features. Miro is a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Extreme Hi-Tech Log Cabin Would Make Al Gore Cry (Gallery)
...a Meridian sound system with Vidikron Vision 90 DLP projector and a 130-inch screen for the home, I mean cabin, theater. And what about two kitchens, one for you and one for your guests? After all, you're not a caveman. Speaking of caves, it might pay to replace some of the natural rocks around the property for high-end speakers that just look like rocks, am I right?
So how much for this 10,000-square-foot relax-o-dome located (I believe) near Fort Collins, CO? You know the drill: If you have to ask, you'll never know. For more shots of decadence, hit EH's article. [Electronic House]Thumbplay On The Block: $500M For Ringtones?
We hear that Thumbplay, the NY-based ringtone startup that's been growing at a supercharged rate, has hired Morgan Stanley to quietly shop itself around.We gather this is more of a market-testing exercise than a full-blown sales pitch; apparently Thumbplay's investors (Bain Capital Ventures, SoftBank Capital, i-Hatch Ventures, Redwood Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Meritech) are more interested in raising some additional capital and eventually taking the company public.
But if Thumbplay did want to put itself on the block, it might be able to get a substantial price: We hear that the company is doing more than $100 million/year in sales, and that a conservative multiple would be 2x - 3x and an optimistic one might be as high as 5x. The latter would make the two-year-old company worth more than $500 million.
One potential hitch: Some data we've seen suggests that the ringtone market is flattening. Perhaps this is why Thumbplay is eager to move into other markets such as full-blown music sales.
IBM's BlueGene/L: world's fastest supercomputer, 3 years running
Intel said to be planning 45nm Diamondville CPU for low-cost PCs
It looks like Intel's not done with its 45nm processors just yet, as Reg Hardware is now reporting that the company is set to release yet another model, dubbed "Diamondville", that is apparently intended specifically for low-cost desktop PCs. That processor will apparently be part of the so-called "Shelton" platofrm which, among other things, will be able to operate without a fan, meaning the systems based on it should definitely be on the small side. The folks at Reg Hardware go one step further than that, however, speculating that the Diamondville/Shelton combo could in fact be the basis for Asus' forthcoming desktop Eee PC -- a possibility given a bit more credence given that Shelton is designed to work with 2 to 4GB of flash storage. Either way, we should be hearing plenty more about it soon enough, as the platform is supposedly set for a 2008 release.
SanDisk's Vaulter Disk: flash-based drive module for laptops
Update: We've got more details! It'll come in 8GB and 16GB sizes, and is intended to host the laptop's operating system and select user data, leaving apps, media, and everything else to the platter drives. So calling it an SSD intermediary is pretty accurate. It'll be available to OEMs early next year.
LG uncovers 47-inch 47LG75 LCD TV: LED-backlit and oh-so-thin
Polaroid and Zink develop Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Monday, November 12, 2007
Free Rice -- How many grains did YOU donate?
http://www.freerice.com
more importantly how many hours did you spend? :-)
The moment of truth
I decided for health reasons I was definitely getting the haricots verts (fancy french for green beans). Then moments later when it was my turn to name 5 ingredients to go into my salad and was rushed by the salad-tosser-guy i just rattled off avocado, corn, alfalfa, artichokes, and tomatoes. After I got back to my desk and started eating, I noticed I had no green beans. I realized I had gone with "my usual" or what was familiar and safe.
So, in marketing, even if the marketing were so successful to have gotten a product in my consideration set and I had already decided to buy it, even then at the moment of purchase some other distractions may come into play that ultimately defeats the intended purchase.
How does marketing impact the moment of purchase and make one product "win" over another?
Alienware's Area-51 ALX CF the first to use 45nm processors
ndroid UI Screenshots [Android Screenshots]
Dealzmodo: $20% off at Kmart Means PS3 For $319, Xbox 360 Premium For $279 [Deals]
The folks over at the Blu-ray.com forums found a great Kmart coupon that gives you 20% off on any one item. Being Blu-ray fans, they naturally threw their cash at the PS3, which will be $319 after said 20% discount. Not interested in the PS3? You can print out the coupon and try your hand at the Xbox 360 Premium ($279) as well, or even stuff like HD DVD or Blu-ray standalone players! Coupon works in store only. [Blu-ray - Thanks Dom!]
T-Mobile's $18 Phone Upgrade Fee is Confusing, Stupid [Cellphones]
you can't get any more Darwinian than this - Circuit City vs Best Buy
this is on Fifth Avenue between 43rd and 44th streets in New York City.
In thinking about retail ... this helps illustrate the tremendous challenges they face.
- online switching costs are pretty much zero -- just type another URL; these two stores are physically touching -- just walk next door
- they carry much of the same inventory from plasma TVs to computers to home stereo equipment to software, CDs, DVDs, etc.
- they both sell Apple iPods; consumers have already decided to buy an iPod for Christmas (for some reason), which store do they walk into? what differentiates the store with the blue awning from the one with silver letters? they both have "black friday" discounts but the price ended up to be about $1 from each other; both have geeks on staff, one called Geek Squad and the other Fire Dog
- and then there's Amazon.com which is tax free and offers free 2nd day shipping so you can shop from the comfort of home or in pajamas if you choose.
hmmm ... since I live on 38th and Fifth Ave and I can walk north to reach these stores, do I walk into the Circuit City because I reach it first and it's front door is about 100 steps closer than the Best Buy?
THIS is a challenging marketing problem for retailers such as the ones pictured!
AFP Hack Gives Read/Write Access to iPhone, iPod Touch [Apple]
To install by hand, use sftp to copy the tar file into /opt/iphone. Extract the archive on your iPhone or touch--the tar archive program is part of the BSD program; use tar xvf name-of-archive.tar--and run /opt/iphone/afp/startserver.sh &. The ampersand lets the program run in the background. (You will need to restart it after reboots.)To get cracking, hit the link to download the necessary file. Be sure to opt for the newer package, named afpd.with.registered.users.tgz. If you are not willing to get messing all up inside your iPhone or touch, wait a little while longer, as this awesomeness is bound to appear in Installer.app in the not too distant future. If you do give it a try, be sure to let us know how you get on. [Wickedpsyched via TUAW]Once installed and running, go to Finder. Choose Go > Connect To Server, and enter the afp address for your iPhone, in my case afp://192.168.0.111. Just use the afp:// prefix with the local IP address of your iPhone. Enter your user id (root) and password (alpine) and your iPhone or iPod appears in the sources list for your Finder windows... To add new applications, just drop them into the Applications folder. To back-up your personal data, just copy /var/root/Library
Tree-inspired PC wins Dyson design award
One of the main arguments that Windows users offer during those habitual debates with Macheads is that PC boxes are much easier to upgrade; instead of buying a new machine every year, you can simply swap out components ad hoc. Well a graduate of Ireland's National College of Art and Design imagines taking this convenience a step further, with a tree-shaped rig -- known as Cultivate - the Sustainable Living Computer -- whose CPU, RAM, hard drive, and other swappable parts extend from the motherboard-packing "trunk" inside removable "branches." Designer Laura Caulwell won a cool €2,000 $2,929) for her concept, and also earned the right to compete for January's annual International James Dyson Award in Australia, which offers up £15,000 ($31,476) in prizes.[Via The Register, photo courtesy of Electric News]
Know Your Rights: Does T-Mobile really own magenta?
Filed under: Cellphones, Features
Know Your Rights is Engadget's new technology law series, written by our own totally punk copyright attorney Nilay Patel. In it we'll try to answer some fundamental tech-law questions to help you stay out of trouble in this brave new world. Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant as legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.
Hey, does T-Mobile really own magenta? I was just about to redesign my blog, and that was going to be the main color. Really? Maybe T-Mo should sue you.
Come on, I've been hearing this everywhere. 1265 Diggs can't be wrong.
Well, they're not wrong, they're just less than right. T-Mobile's disclaimers certainly do say that "the magenta color" is a T-Mobile trademark.
So there you go! That's so stupid! The system is broken! Everyone is corrupt! How can a corporation own a color?! I've already skipped down and begun flaming!
Chill out, Sparky. T-Mobile doesn't "own" anything here, least of all a color. That's the part everyone seems to have missed. T-Mobile has what appears to be a German trademark on that specific magenta color (RAL 4010, specifically) as it relates to their branding, but that doesn't really affect the average consumer.
Besides, this isn't some radical new development. Lot of other companies have registered color trademarks -- Owens-Corning has a trademark on the use of pink for insulation, Tiffany & Co. has a trademark on that certain blue color it uses for jewelry boxes, and UPS has a trademark on brown. Interesting you haven't seen UPS suing Microsoft over that itty-bitty Zune thing, no?
Continue reading Know Your Rights: Does T-Mobile really own magenta?
New helmet allows fighter pilots to peer through the jet
Filed under: Wearables
Motorola prepping Palm OS-based Q2 for Sprint?
HTC's Touch Cruise with GPS gets official
Update: We're still digging but HTC was a bit unkind by not providing specific country launch information or supported radio bands. At the moment, this looks like Europe-only.
