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20,568 articles from Sci-Tech Today

Free Broadband Plan Stirs Debate on Filtering

M2Z Networks' proposal to build a free wireless broadband network is not the only controversial part of its business plan. Just as contentious is its intention to filter the content delivered over that network to block any material deemed inappropriate for children. Free-speech advocates on the left and right have expressed alarm at M2Z's plans to build a family-friendly network that would weed...

Brands Struggle on Facebook

For some time, Procter & Gamble, the world's largest advertiser, has been dipping its big toes into the vast pool of Facebook, now the world's largest social network. I recently knocked on the doors of both companies to hear how the experiment was going. Neither was inclined to say much. Independent experts on Web advertising have been watching, however, and what they see is a myriad of...

Software To Replace the Secretary

Shouldn't your computer know a reasonable amount about your likes and dislikes? Wouldn't it be great if it could anticipate your needs and take action without you pressing a key? Booking travel and restaurant reservations, rearranging meeting schedules or even taking a first cut at reading e-mail messages are among the mundane tasks that have remained beyond the reach of our PCs for decades....


MONDAY 15. DECEMBER 2008


Apple Fixes Problems, Adds Features in Mac OS Update

Apple posted a free download of the Mac OS X 10.5.6 update Monday with significant fixes that "enhance the stability, compatibility and security" of its Mac computers. The update is for users of Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 to 10.5.5. With more than 30 fixes in this update, Apple warned Mac users to be careful if they have modified the operating system or moved Apple applications outside the default...

Google Says It Still Stands By Net Neutrality

Google Inc. denied that it had reversed its stance on the issue of "Net neutrality" and dismissed a story in Monday's edition of The Wall Street Journal on the subject as "confused." Citing undisclosed sources, the newspaper reported that Google had been in talks with major cable and phone companies about getting preferential treatment for traffic to and from its sites. That would conflict...

Internet Access Trumps TV and Sex for Many U. S. Adults

How important is the Internet to you every day in uncertain economic times? If you're like most U.S. adults, it ranks higher than many other activities, according to a report from Harris Interactive and Intel. Indeed, most U.S. adults find Internet access essential to daily life in today's economic climate. Some are choosing the Internet as a "must-have" over watching TV and having sex. A...

Delta Is Rolling Out Internet Surfing in the Sky

Delta Air Lines is taking Internet access to the skies this week with the launch of Gogo Inflight Internet service on board six of its planes. Delta is introducing the service with a free trial that lets consumers experience the technology. Monday's announcement highlights the first of more than 300 Delta domestic planes that will soon feature in-flight Internet, according to the company....

Car-Key Jammer Stops Phone Use While Driving

A startup in Utah has found a way to stop drivers from using cell phones to talk and text while driving. Key2safedriving has developed a jamming feature for the car key that stops a cell phone when the car is in drive mode. The key, which wirelessly connects to the cell phone with Bluetooth or RFID technology, goes into drive mode when placed in the ignition. Once the car stops and the key is...

FCC Cancels Vote on Free Broadband Wireless Plan

A much-publicized meeting by the Federal Communications Commission later this month has been canceled. The meeting's agenda included a vote on a plan that could have provided free broadband wireless service to underserved areas of the U.S. The FCC said the meeting for Dec. 18 was canceled following a request from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that the agency...

Microsoft Launches Mobile App -- for Apple's iPhone

Microsoft on Saturday officially launched its first application for Apple's iPhone. The app, called Seadragon Mobile, is free for users who want to browse ultra-large pages on the iPhone's 3.5-inch touchscreen. The goal of Seadragon is to change the way consumers use screens -- from wall-sized displays all the way down to cell phones -- so that graphics and photos are smoothly browsed,...

Palm Will Show New Operating System in January

There's a Nova in Palm's future. In January, the famed-but-faded mobile-device maker will unveil a new operating system with that code name at the Consumer Electronics Show. According to Business Week and others, Palm's hiring last year of ex-Apple engineer Jon Rubinstein has led to a new team that hopes to guide the company back to the ranks of mobile innovation. Falling Behind The...

Gene Mutation Helps Protect Heart from High-Fat Diet

The genetic mutation found in a small group of people helps protect their heart against the effects of high-fat diet, U.S. researchers reported Thursday. It may open the door to new therapies for cardiovascular disease. High blood levels of triglycerides, one of the most common types of fat in our food, have been linked to heart disease. A team of researchers from three U.S. universities...

Need Help With Math? YouTube Has Answer

When University of Central Florida junior Nicole Nissim got stumped in trigonometry, she checked out what was showing on YouTube. Nissim typically scours the video-sharing Web site for clips of bands and comedy skits. But this time she wasn't there to procrastinate on her homework. It turned out YouTube was also full of math videos. After watching a couple, the psychology major says, she...

From YouTube Hobby to Lucrative Online Gig

Making videos for YouTube -- for three years a pastime for millions of Web surfers -- is now a way to make a living. One year after YouTube, the online video powerhouse, invited members to become "partners" and added advertising to their videos, the most successful users are earning six-figure incomes from the Web site. For some, like Michael Buckley, the self-taught host of a celebrity chatter...

Elephants Live Longer in Wild Than in Zoos

Zoo elephants don't live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to stir debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos to those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Myanmar. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life spans twice those of...

OMG: Russian Entrepreneur Looks for $$$ from ;-)

How much would you pay for a ;-)? A Russian businessman has trademarked the emoticon -- or combination of punctuation marks -- used to convey a wink in text messages and e-mail. Oleg Teterin, president of the mobile ad company Superfone, said Thursday he doesn't plan on tracking down individual users following the decision by the federal patent agency. "I want to highlight that this is only...


FRIDAY 12. DECEMBER 2008


November Wii Sales Soar to Two Million Units

If Nintendo has a sales alarm at its headquarters for the Wii, it is ringing off the wall about November. According to a report from the NPD Group consumer-research firm, Nintendo sold more than two million Wiis last month, doubling its numbers from the same time last year. And the Wii's little brother, the DS handheld game unit, also had a boffo month, with more than 1.56 million units sold....

Sony BMG Fined $1 Million for Child Privacy Violations

Sony BMG Music Entertainment has agreed to pay $1 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the commission's implementing rule. COPPA prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in connection with the collection, use or disclosure of personally identifiable information from and about children under 13 on the...

FSF Slaps Cisco with Its First-Ever Licensing Suit

The Free Software Foundation filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit Thursday against Cisco Systems in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The FSF alleges Cisco violated its copyrights, including for GCC, binutils and the GNU C library, in various products distributed under the Linksys brand. In doing so, the FSF said, Cisco denied its users their right to share and modify...

Apple Tweaks App Store Interface After Complaints

Within days of a well-publicized open letter from a developer complaining about how the dominance of free and 99-cent applications in Apple's iPhone App Store was hurting software development, Apple has made some changes. The store has added the 20 top free and top paid lists in each category. Apps can be sorted by the user according to popularity, release date, or price. Previously, Apple...

Making YouTube Work for Your Business

It took John F. Kennedy less than 18 minutes at Rice University in September 1962 to inspire a generation to land a man on the moon. It took Barack Obama 17 minutes at the Democratic Convention in July 2004 to persuade millions of viewers that he had fresh ideas. It took San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom seven and a half hours to give his State of the City address in December 2008. Yes, you read...

White House Opposes FCC's Free Internet Plan

A debate between the Federal Communications Commission and the outgoing Bush administration centers on the FCC's plan to make broadband available for free at government-mandated speeds. In a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said providing free broadband services would be counterproductive, result in a congested and inefficient broadband, and be...

Google Chrome Emerges From Beta Test Phase

Google's Chrome 1.0 has emerged from beta testing. The change to a final release came just 100 days after testers began submitting feedback about bugs and other outstanding issues, noted Google Vice President Sundar Pichai. "Some of the areas where we've made great progress include better stability and performance of plug-ins," with video and audio glitches "among the most common bugs fixed...

Gift Guide: Fitness Gadgets To Revive Motivation

The training regimen -- if you can call it that -- for my first triathlon included nothing more high-tech than a $35 digital watch and a basic MP3 player. But now that winter is arriving, sapping my motivation to get off the couch, I've started looking at fitness gadgets that could help refresh my workouts. A swimmer, biker, runner or walker on your holiday list might like a high-tech nudge out...

Review: A Lot More Camera for the Holidays

Dear camera companies: It's time once again for the wintertime stunt I've been conducting since 2001 -- a research project I like to call, "How much digital camera can $300 buy you?" The main thing we care about is image quality, not bells and whistles. We want you to send us the best camera you have with a street price under $300. And may the best cam win! With only one exception, the cameras...