Apple approves erectile dysfunction app

Can there be even one sports-loving American who isn't aware of the dangers of a four-hour erection?I ask this important question because the huge proliferation of ED ads that peppers every televised sporting event seems to have had an effect on Apple's app store.Perhaps stimulated by the success of such fine products as Viagra and Cialis, an ambitious developer called Health Code has released "Fire Up Your Sex Drive," an app that promises to revolutionize the way you interact with your Apple equipment.The promises made by "Fire Up Your Sex Drive" are enormous. In the app store, it declares that "after 20 days your sexuality will be enhanced by more than 85 percent."The effect, it says, is close to that of Viagra. And all you have to swallow is the developer's rationale. The app allegedly "makes a kind of high-frequency alpha wave to synchronize with your own brain wave."

(Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

If you already sufficiently excited that you are willing to commit $2.99 to this fine product (and, perhaps, to your current relationship), might I offer a few words of caution? One surely has to be very careful about words that app developers use. So the folks behind "Fire Up Your Sex Drive" offer these: "It could stimulate your brain to adjust endocrine system and produce some male sex hormone."Which might cause your own brain to be stimulated with these words: "It could stimulate your brain to a sudden craving for green tomatoes." Or perhaps: "It could stimulate your brain to wear turquoise underwear." Or even: "It could stimulate your brain to believe that your body is an oil well." Apple does warn in its store that this product may only be bought by people over the age of 17. It also suggests that it contains: "Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity."However, some men might be distraught that the makers require that they should spend a long time lending their ears to this audio every day. Yes, six minutes.Supposedly 580 men have already had the fire placed under them. And "the effective percentage is even more than 77 percent."One can only hope that those who trust their lives to data can let the rest of humanity know whether this is, indeed, one of the great scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Microsoft confirms Canvas, video tags for IE9

Microsoft's Ryan Gavin discusses the release of the third platform preview of Internet Explorer 9 Wednesday in San Francisco.(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET)

SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft released the third platform preview for Internet Explorer 9 Wednesday, officially confirming support for two important pieces of the HTML5 standards puzzle.Internet Explorer 9 will support the Canvas graphics technology and the video and audio tags specified as part of the still-developing HTML5 standard, said Ryan Gavin, senior director for Internet Explorer, at a media event in San Francisco. The company demonstrated the performance of the third platform preview as compared to other browsers, taking specific jabs at Firefox and Chrome as it made its demonstration.As part of its bid to overhaul Internet Explorer--which is still the world's leading Web browser but has been losing share and cachet--Microsoft has chosen a new strategy for rolling out code to developers and browser enthusiasts. It released the first "platform preview" of IE9 at the Mix conference in March, and has now released new versions every eight weeks, Gavin said.Rivals in the browser community--Google, Mozilla, Apple, and Opera--have long derided Microsoft for ignoring the HTML standards process, but Microsoft has changed its tune over the last several months, and embraced key parts of the standard with the third platform preview release."We are all in with HTML5 and modern Web standards," Gavin said in referring to the IE9 development process.The lack of Canvas support in the second preview release raised a few eyebrows, but Microsoft was happy to confirm Wednesday that it will support the technology in IE9. It also invited several hardware partners--Nvidia, AMD, Asus, and Dell--to talk about how IE9 will take advantage of hardware acceleration in PCs to improve the performance of Web applications.Microsoft also spent time tweaking its browser rivals after years of being on the receiving end of the joke, demonstrating how the new IE9 platform preview beats Firefox and Chrome in several speed tests, including one "Mr. Potato Gun" Web game apparently designed to be a spoof of Google's Chrome speed video featuring guns and potatoes.Gavin refused to provide greater clarity as to when a beta version of IE9 would be released, or whether Microsoft would release a fourth developer preview version before taking the step to beta. Interested Webheads can check out the preview at Microsoft's IE Test Drive site.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

eBay acquires RedLaser bar code scanning app

eBay announced Wednesday that it has purchased a start-up called RedLaser, an iPhone application that scans product bar codes for price comparison and product search purposes, as well as "related technologies" from RedLaser parent company Occipital. As part of the acquisition, the RedLaser app--which has been downloaded by more than 2 million iPhone users--has transitioned from paid to free in Apple's App Store.A price wasn't disclosed.Though RedLaser's app will remain intact, the technology behind it will be integrated into numerous eBay products so that a prospective buyer can scan a bar code and discover related product listings on eBay, and a seller in turn can use it to create listings more quickly by looking up product details via bar code. Among the applications that will be integrating RedLaser technology are the mobile editions of eBay's auction marketplace, ticket reselling service StubHub, and price comparison service Shopping.com.Additionally, eBay says that it will be expanding opportunities for developers with RedLaser's existing software development kit (SDK). As for the Boulder, Colo.-based Occipital, an alumnus of the TechStars incubator program, it'll continue to be an independent company--it's just sold the app and some other technology to eBay. Later this year, Occipital plans to launch a new application "based on a completely new computer vision engine."eBay's acquisition history has been spotty--the purchases of Skype and StumbleUpon were eventually spun back out--but this one makes sense. eBay has put a lot of emphasis on its mobile services lately: after launching its first iPhone application two years ago, it's seen 10 million downloads of its "core" app alone, and it launched an iPad app earlier this year. The company expects its revenues from mobile commerce to go up from $600 million last year to $1.5 billion in 2010.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Google defeats Viacom in landmark copyright case

Google CEO Eric Schmidt's side prevailed over Philippe Dauman's Viacom in this important copyright case.

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, overseeing the longtime copyright fight between Viacom and Google over YouTube, on Wednesday granted summary judgment for the search company. "The court has decided that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement," Google said on its site. "The decision follows established judicial consensus," Google continued, "that online services like YouTube are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them manage their rights online." Viacom, parent company of Paramount Pictures and MTV, indicated that it plans to continue to fight. "We believe that this ruling by the lower court is fundamentally flawed and contrary to the language of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)," Viacom said in a statement. "We intend to seek to have these issues before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as soon as possible." Viacom-Google summary judgement opinionWhile the case could continue to drag on in the appeals process, the summary judgment handed down in the Southern District of New York is a major victory for Google as well as for those who share content online and the technology sector at large. Legal scholars predicted the outcome of this landmark suit would determine who profited the most from content: the people who pay for its creation, or the people who help disseminate it over the Web.

"What this court seems to be saying is that it is not a game of perfect. There is some burden on rights holders to do the policing [for copyright infringing works]. It can't all fall on the shoulders of third party host services."

--Denise Howell, Silicon Valley lawyer

Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google in March 2007 and accused the company of encouraging its users to commit copyright infringement. Before YouTube and Google implemented a filtering system and other content protections, YouTube users commonly uploaded unauthorized clips of TV shows and movies. Google held that the DMCA's safe harbor provision protected it and other Internet service providers from being held responsible for copyright infringements committed by users. The judge agreed. Viacom alleged that infringing materials were so plentiful, it was ludicrous to suggest that YouTube didn't know they existed on the site. Stanton noted that YouTube removed copyright-infringing clips once notified by an owner and that was all that was required to qualify for DMCA protection. "If a service provider knows of specific instances of infringement, the provider must promptly remove the infringing material," Stanton wrote. "If not, the burden is on the owner to identify the infringement. General knowledge that infringement is 'ubiquitous' does not impose a duty on the service provider to monitor or search its service for infringements." This seems to indicate that YouTube and Google may not be required to employ filtering technologies. But Denise Howell, a Silicon Valley-based attorney, said it's unlikely Google will remove those or that unauthorized clips will once again be plentiful on the site. "What this court seems to be saying is that it is not a game of perfect," Howell said. "There is some burden on rights holders to do the policing [for copyright infringing works]. It can't all fall on the shoulders of third-party host services."

"[The court's decision] is wrong and will be overturned."

--Tom Sydnor, digital property expert

Tom Sydnor, a senior fellow who heads up studies digital property issues at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, said he expects Stanton's decision to be reversed. "It is wrong and will be overturned," said Sydnor, who compared Stanton's decision to those made by a district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the MGM v. Grokster case. "Those decisions were unanimously reversed by the U.S Supreme Court," Stanton said. "The same results will follow here."
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Flickr goes wider, gets faster with redesign

Flickr is unveiling a dramatic face lift on Wednesday that takes the Yahoo-owned photo-sharing site into the wide-screen era. Both photo pages and the site's home page have been stretched out to accommodate users with wider screens, as well as to put more of an emphasis on what users have uploaded. Photos now get 640 pixels of width, instead of the previous 500, which makes for a 30 percent increase in size. While seemingly a small boost when compared to the originals of photos (which can stretch to close to 10 times that size), that extra space ends up filling out the page in a more pleasing manner when viewed on a wide-screen display. The size change also ends up benefiting videos--many of which can now be presented in their native resolution.

Flickr's new look is wider, simpler, and keyboard shortcut friendly.(Credit: Screenshot and photo by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

The change is not just for looks though. Matthew Rothenberg, Flickr's head of product, this week told CNET that the overhaul has resulted in a page that's much smaller and faster to load--freeing up the site's servers for other tasks. "We did some tricky magic to make the photo smaller, despite being physically larger," Rothenberg said. That "magic" ends up making pages load 50 percent faster than before, on average. As a result, users can now click through photos with near instantaneous results, an activity that has been made easier with the inclusion of the same left and right keyboard shortcuts competitors like Facebook and Google have offered for years. "We've actually had keyboard shortcuts for a while now, but they've been hidden," Rothenberg said. "Now almost everything is prominent." Other design changes include on-screen back-and-forth buttons to cycle through photos, and a simplification of the many links that sit above a photo, which have now been organized into two drop-down menus. There's also a new mode called "light box" that presents a much larger version of the photo on a black background--something Rothenberg said should fulfill the desires of many who have wanted to look at photos on something other than Flickr's unchangeable white background. Light box also pulls double duty as a slideshow viewer, which can automatically advance through both photos and videos, just like Flickr's Adobe Flash-based slideshow tool--but without the Flash.Besides the cycling controls and the larger size of the photos, geotags--or the physical location of where a photo has been taken, are now something that's far more prominent; as is a reminder to add a photo to Flickr's world map if it does not already have a geotag. Rothenberg explained that the main reason for moving this piece of information higher up onto the photo pages was to give people a greater sense of story about the photo, as it now fits together with information on who took it, how popular it's been, and how many comments or favorite bookmarks it's picked up. The new look of these photo pages is available as part of a month-long opt-in program for all Flickr members. After this beta concludes, the company will be pushing out the design to all users, with no way of going back. For a more in-depth look at the new features, be sure to check out the slideshow below.

Flickr's new look (screenshots)

Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Lowe's buys in to home efficiency retrofitter Recurve

More than just building supplies, your local Lowe's hardware store may offer services to make your home more energy efficient. The home improvement giant on Wednesday said it has invested in San Francisco-based Recurve, which provides software and services for auditing and retrofitting homes to be more efficient. Lowe's was the lead investor in the series B $8 million round, which brought participation from existing investors Shasta Ventures and RockPort Capital Partners.

Lowe's invests in home energy retrofit company Recurve. Will you sign up for blower door test while shopping?(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)

Lowe's stores in the San Francisco Bay Area now have displays offering the home retrofit services of Recurve, formerly known as Sustainable Spaces, Recurve CEO Pratap Mukherjee told Dow Jones. The investment from Lowe's opens up the possibility of an expanded marketing campaign to contractors who shop at Lowe's, which also sells Akeena solar panel kits. Recurve specializes in energy audits and follow-on services to lower a home's energy consumption, such as sealing air ducts, adding insulation, or improving heating and cooling systems. Unlike the many other home performance companies, Recurve is also a software company, having developed an application which runs on table computers for speeding up the energy-auditing process. It plans to offer the hosted application to other energy audit companies. The funding will be used to expand and meet the growing demand for energy retrofit services, according to the company. The home performance industry, which right now is fractured among thousands of small providers, is in line to get a significant boost from pending Home Star bill, also known as Cash for Caulkers. The Home Star program would make thousands of dollars in rebates available to homeowners depending on the extent of efficiency work done and appliances purchased. The HomeStar Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 bill passed the House by a wide margin in May and has bipartisan support as it seeks to jump-start the home efficiency business, save consumers on their energy bills, and reduce pollution. But the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate because of political fighting and a crowded legislative agenda, according law firm Mintz Levin.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Software might know if you're depressed

The semantic field of depression as identified by the Pedesis system. Blog posts like "I feel so sad and I can't figure out why help" scored high on the depression scale. (Credit: Yair Neuman/Ben Gurion University of the Negev)

A software program under development in Israel can supposedly detect depression in online communication, and not just through obvious indicators like "I'm sitting here alone in the dark mulling how much my sorry life sucks." Instead, it purportedly can identify depressive meaning hidden in language that doesn't necessarily include glaring terms like "depression" or "suicide." Yair Neuman, an associate professor in the department of education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and leader of the interdisciplinary team that developed the software, suggests the program could be used to conduct initial screenings of text penned by people who may not even realize they have a problem, thereby raising self-awareness and hopefully leading to medical help.

(Credit: Ben Gurion University of the Negev)

The program spots words, phrases, and even metaphors, to detect possible signs of depression (anxiety, sadness, preoccupation with self and with death). For example, words like "black," combined with terms such as "sleep deprivation" or "loneliness," will be recognized by the software as "depressive" texts. To understand similarities in the way people describe the blues, the researchers conducted searches using Microsoft's Bing and extensively analyzed the word pattern "depression is like..." They then tested the program, called Pedesis, by scanning more than 350,000 English-language texts from 17,031 bloggers (with the permission of the writers), as well as 1,600 online queries addressed to mental health experts at sites like MentalHealth.net. Once the program identified texts as depressive, a panel of four clinical psychologists reviewed 200 examples from that category. The verdict of the computer program and the analysis of the human panel correlated 78 percent of the time, according to the researchers. "A psychologist knows how to spot various emotional states through intuition. Here, we have a program that does this methodically through the innovative use of 'Web intelligence,'" said Neuman, who specializes in semiotics and psychology and will present his team's work at the 2010 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agency Technology in Toronto later this summer. Despite the preliminary nature of the system, the idea is that it could eventually serve as an additional avenue for identifying individuals in need of treatment. It could, for example, be installed by Web sites focused on consumer mental health, with a pop-up tool indicating if user comments post indicate a depressive pattern. "No one can actually replace excellent human judgment," Neuman noted. "The problem is that most people are not aware of their situation and they will never get to an expert psychologist." The tool can also analyze online text for word patterns indicating love and vengeance, according to Neuman. But for now the focus remains on depression. Of course, it seems like the software could present a sizable potential for false positives. What if a blogger were to pen a sentence like, "My friends hate me because I can't stop talking about how much I'd die for the band The Black Sleep Deprivation of Loneliness"? Remember that sarcasm-detecting algorithm we told you about not too long ago? That might come in handy here.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Apple: White iPhone 4 coming 'second half of July'

Apple said Wednesday the white iPhone 4 won't be available until the second half of July.(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Citing manufacturing problems, Apple on Wednesday said the iPhone 4 in white should be available about a month from today. The iPhone maker released a very brief statement the day before the iPhone 4 is scheduled to be available to the general public. "White models of Apple's new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July," Apple said. Black versions of the iPhone 4 will arrive on schedule. The iPhone 4 will hit stores on Thursday for the first time, where there is expected to be huge demand for the new phones. Apple said last week it took preorders for 600,000 iPhones on the first day the company made that option available. In what appears to be a shipping snafu, some customers who preordered their iPhone 4 to be shipped to their home have already begun to receive their units. Some reported receiving them on Tuesday, and others are starting to receive them Wednesday.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Microsoft's Mehdi on Yahoo, Bing Cashback, and more

Microsoft used Hollywood as a backdrop on Tuesday to launch new entertainment features for Bing.(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--Although the focus of Bing's latest update is on entertainment, Microsoft insists it is more substance than fluff. "Entertainment has turned out to be a very high-volume, high-query scenario," Microsoft Senior Vice President Yusuf Mehdi said in an interview with CNET on Tuesday. "About 10 percent of all queries are entertainment-related, so that's a big opportunity." As part of the seasonal update, Bing is adding the ability to play tens of thousands of full-length TV episodes, more than 100 games, and more than 5 million full-length songs from directly within the search engine.

Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi presided over the Hollywood event marking the launch of a slew of new entertainment features for Bing.(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)

In the interview, Mehdi talked about the new features as well as the ongoing integration with Yahoo and other search industry topics. Q: Why the focus on entertainment?
Yusuf Mehdi: Entertainment has turned out to be a very high-volume, high query scenario. About 10 percent of all queries are entertainment-related, so that's a big opportunity. We saw a lot of problems in terms of how consumers were searching for things and not finding them. Then, frankly, we thought it was an opportunity to be able to differentiate, because of our bet on visual and complete experiences. I think we've spent more time in the industry. We've run a music service for a long time. I was working on music 10 years ago. There are a lot of people that can provide "hey, here's a link to this, here's a link to that." The people who can do the end-to-end killer experience, make it simple, make it easy, have it work. That's what can help you transcend. I think we saw an opportunity to maybe do that. One of the new features is the ability for users to play full-length songs once without buying them. Is your sense that you will be the only one with this single, full-play right or do you expect others to get this right?
Mehdi: I don't know. It took a lot of partnership with the record labels. They could maybe do it with someone else. I don't know how it will play out in other places. Where are things at in terms of the integration with Yahoo?
Mehdi: Doing the algorithmic work will be more straightforward. The advertising migration is certainly a much harder challenge. We're making great progress right now. We have these two integration teams, one on the Yahoo side, one on the Microsoft side that are working every single day and meet regularly. Right now we are on track to get it all launched before the end of this year. We're crossing our fingers. Obviously if we don't think we are ready and we want to take a little more time we will (push it out) so we don't disrupt the holiday period. For now things are looking really good. We saw Yahoo and, to a lesser extent, you guys get a bump by putting search queries in some new places--not where a user typed it into a search box. It strikes me that not all queries are the same. How do you think that will shake out?
Mehdi: We're all about trying to deliver for users the information they want the way they want it. We have experimented with doing some things like providing some slideshows of photos when people search or query for things. It turns out people love those and that's why they click. We don't try to go overboard on that.

Bing's Hollywood fling (photos)

I think we are very focused on good organic growth of the classic search business. Year-over-year we have grown four points overall. So that's been pretty solid. As we go forward, how do you measure those things. I personally look to the measurement bodies (like ComScore) to sort of decide how they want to categorize and measure. Are there any new distribution deals we should know about, or are more kicking in?
Mehdi: Things continue to ramp, but nothing new to announce at the moment. One of the nice things about the momentum we now have in the first year is a lot of people want to come work with us. We launched with Opera. Recently, we became an option in Apple. Other distribution providers have wanted to talk with us about going with them as well, so I would say watch this space. Do you guys spend a lot of time thinking about location on the desktop. Obviously that is a huge component of mobile search. Do you think the day is not far off where all results will take into account their understanding of where the user is?
Mehdi: I completely think so. The search engine we run and others run is completely geo-tagged. You know where this link is and that event is. I think that's a likely scenario in the future. On the shopping front, you guys recently pulled back on Bing Cashback. Clearly, that's a very high-value category for advertisers and search engines. You guys hinted in an e-mail to customers that you have another plan. What do you need to do?
Mehdi: Our commitment to do some fantastic and maybe even disruptive things in the area of search remains. Cashback was one of those big bets. As we've discussed, it didn't work out exactly the way we had hoped. We have a couple of other ideas that are in the works now that we are talking about, nothing imminent. You can tell me.
Mehdi: It's still early. End of the summer?
Mehdi: We may start to beta test some things by the end of the summer.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Apple's iOS 4 already hacked

That didn't take long. Just one day after iOS 4 was officially released from Apple, the iPhone Dev-Team has already released a hack to jailbreak and unlock iPhones using the software.

(Credit: Apple)

There are a few important caveats with the latest release. PwnageTool 4.01 will work fine with an iPhone 3GS as long as it was previously jailbroken with the old boot ROM and you didn't use the Spirit method. However, if your 3GS has the new boot ROM, you will not be able to use PwnageTool. A previously jailbroken iPhone 3G should be fine with the new PwnageTool, as well, if you didn't use Spirit. The new hacks only support the official iOS 4 release and not the developer release issued at WWDC. The Dev-Team said that currently the iPhone 2G, iPod Touch, and iPod Touch 3G are not supported by their software. They are working on ways to fix this for future releases. Baseband unlockers--the method that allows you to use an iPhone on carriers other than AT&T--are reportedly working for all basebands from 04.26.08 and up. The unlockers currently support the iPhone 3G and 3GS. If you plan to jailbreak or unlock your iPhone, you should read the instruction pages on the iPhone Dev-Team's Web site very carefully and be aware of what you are doing.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Motorola Droid X unveiled, 'made for video'

Attendees to Wednesday's New York press conference get a rundown of the new Droid X's features. (Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)

NEW YORK--Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a guest appearance at a press conference here Wednesday where Google, Motorola, and Verizon Wireless unveiled the new version of the popular Android Droid smartphone. Schmidt took the stage first and touted the importance of the smartphone category.

(Credit: Motorola)

"This is not a toy or app engine," he said. "It is a powerful kind of operating system. What is happening now is that people are thinking mobile first instead of desktop first." He cited the importance of a robust wireless network, as well as hardware with fast processors and big screens. But Schmidt said Wednesday's event is notable not just for the announcement of the new Droid, but for the emergence of the entire category of device.Indeed, the new Droid X epitomizes this. The newest version of the Google Android phone made by Motorola offers an HDMI output, a 4.3-inch display, and 720p video capture. The device also comes with faster processors that will offer faster Web browsing. And it has an 8-megapixel high-definition camera.John Stratton, executive vice president of Verizon Wireless, said the device is made for video. And there will be new apps designed to take advantage of these features, including a deal with Blockbuster to provide movies for purchase or rent.The Droid X will cost $199.99 after a $100 rebate and will go on sale starting July 15. Unlike AT&T, which has switched to tiered pricing for its iPhone, Verizon said it will keep its unlimited mobile data plan for smartphones, which costs $30 a month. The new Droid X also offers Wi-Fi hot spot capability, which allows users to connect up to five additional Wi-Fi devices to the Verizon 3G network. This feature will cost $20 extra a month for 2GB of data for the month. If users exceed the 2GB, they will pay 5 cents per megabyte.Verizon is altering its upgrade policy to sweeten the deal for current customers looking to upgrade to the Droid. It will allow any Verizon Wireless customer whose contract expires in 2010 to upgrade to the Droid when it comes out on July 15.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt joins executives from Adobe, Motorola, and Verizon Wireless onstage at the kickoff for the new Droid X. From left to right: Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe; Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Google; Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola; and John Stratton, executive vice president of Verizon Wireless. (Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET)

Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Scientists say they know you better than you do

Do you intend to be nice to your co-workers today? Do you intend to spend a little longer in the shower so that your personal crevices are spotless? Do you intend to write that friend request to Mark Zuckerberg and keep your list of friends private?Well, a group of scientists at UCLA would like to thank you for words, but prefers to scan your brains to prove to you what you really intend to do.If this all sounds a little macabre, then you clearly don't intend to follow science's inexorable path. According to Reuters, a team at UCLA led by Professor Matthew Lieberman is convinced that its brain-scanning methods are accessing the truth that dare not speak its name.Here's how they performed their research.They got 20 volunteers, young and of both sexes, hooked them up to a functional MRI scanner, and fed them messages about the safe use of sunscreen. They mixed in other messages, so that the researchees didn't know what this experiment involved.

What secret intentions might our brains hold? (Credit: CC Indi.ca/Flickr)

However, before the experiment started, the researchers said that "each participant indicated their sunscreen use over the prior week, their intentions to use sunscreen in the next week and their attitudes toward sunscreen."More questions were asked after the scanning and, as they were about to leave, the researchees were given a thank-you goody bag. One of the gifts was a sunscreen towelette. Crafty, those scientists.I have no intention of being skeptical, but if the volunteers were asked questions about their sunscreen use, might at least some of them have guessed what this experiment might have concerned?Still, the denouement was an exciting one for the academics.They surprised their volunteers with a phone call in order to discover how many had actually used sunscreen. Half of them seem to have known themselves so well that they predicted their own sunscreen use. However, the researchers went back to their fMRI findings and discovered that activity in a specific part of the medial prefrontal cortex seemed like a more accurate predictor than, well, people's own words."From this region of the brain, we can predict for about three-quarters of the people whether they will increase their use of sunscreen beyond what they say they will do," Lieberman told Reuters.He added: "It is the one region of the prefrontal cortex that we know is disproportionately larger in humans than in other primates. This region is associated with self-awareness, and seems to be critical for thinking about yourself and thinking about your preferences and values."The research, which is to be published in the Journal of Neuroscience, offers the suggestion that these findings might be used to help advertisers hone motivational messages. "No, you really DO want to buy Ritz crackers!! But them NOW!! You'll thank your brain later!!"However, there is something inherently fascinating about the idea that there might be something inside us that tells the truth far more accurately than our mouths do.Surely the findings from this research should immediately be applied to the political world. It should be compulsory for politicians to have their brains scanned every morning, with the results being published online, so that we might be fully aware of the inner workings of those to whom we give our precious votes. Please imagine all the world events we might be able to prevent if we knew in advance just what the powerful truly had in mind.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Apple expands patent infringement suit against HTC

(Credit: James Martin/CNET )

After accusing HTC of infringing on 20 of its iPhone patents in March, Apple has expanded its suit. This week Apple tacked on two more patents that it claims the Taiwanese handset manufacturer is in violation of using, according to a legal filing in U.S. District Court in Delaware. The newly added patents both concern the same type of technology, which Apple lists as a "system for real-time adaptation to changes in display configuration." In the original suit, Apple alleged that HTC is infringing on patents related to the iPhone's graphical user interface and the iPhone's underlying hardware and software design. The U.S. International Trade Commission is currently investigating. HTC has countersued Apple, claiming that the iPhone violates five of its patents.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Why Twitter still has to get its game on--fast

In March, Twitter CEO Evan Williams first unveiled @Anywhere, a new platform aimed at media outlets to knit Twitter more deeply into their own sites. After all, Twitter has become more or less synonymous with real-time, breaking news--so it seems like any publisher would want to work @Anywhere into its code to put the latest, freshest information front and center. Right?Unfortunately, Twitter has recently indicated that it still can't handle breaking news.On Wednesday, when the U.S. soccer team defeated Algeria 1-0, advancing the team to the next round of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Twitter's servers were soon completely hosed. Instability has become routine once again at Twitter, after several years of relative reliability that saw much of the service's wildfire growth and nearly eradicated its reputation for frequent outages. In the wake of the 11th-hour goal by Landon Donovan, Twitter was already on high alert: while the game was still going on, a message on Twitter's status blog read that it was experiencing "periodic high rates of error."To be fair, Twitter's team has been very upfront about the recent difficulties, and said that it would be "a rocky few weeks" as its engineering team worked to upgrade some critical infrastructure. Those "rocky few weeks" just happen to fall during one of the biggest international sports events of the decade.What the service has to worry about now is whether it's going to look amateurish once again at a time when the San Francisco-based company, once a tiny start-up, is trying to prove its professional credibility. Twitter has 190 million users around the world and has become quite the household name, meaning that it will take something much worse than server instability to put a dent in its influence and user growth. But this isn't good for the company's image as it attempts to build better relationships with publishers and digital-media outlets through its @Anywhere product (as well as, to a lesser extent, potentially advertisers using its "Promoted Tweets" product). No media company is going to want to have a front-page Twitter aggregator where the most recent tweets are an hour old due to Twitter server problems.Twitter's a product that the media industry respects, and in many cases idolizes, but the recent high-profile infrastructure problems in conjunction with something as newsworthy as the World Cup soccer extravaganza could mean that publishers may stall to integrate @Anywhere into their sites as soon as Twitter wants them to. This, in turn, could spell bad news for Twitter if a different product swoops in and intercepts the real-time news thunder.We all know, for example, that Facebook would like to be "anywhere," too.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Tech champion, watchdog heads to Google

Fred von Lohmann, likely the technology's sector most recognized legal advocate, has called it quits as senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Fred von Lohmann is Google's new senior copyright counsel. (Credit: Electronic Frontier Foundation)

One of Grokster's lead attorneys in the landmark MGM v. Grokster case, von Lohmann confirmed he is leaving EFF to take a job as Google's senior copyright counsel. In an e-mail Wednesday, von Lohmann declined to comment further. If you're a fan of unimpeded innovation, the free distribution of content over the Web, and Internet users' right to privacy then you should take your hat off to von Lohmann. The way his supporters see it, von Lohmann has toiled to prevent tech start-ups accused of copyright violations from being stomped into jelly by mammoth entertainment conglomerates. A supporter of the free flow of information, von Lohmann, 42, has spoken out on behalf of or offered legal advice to a score of companies, including YouTube, Veoh, TorrentSpy, Lime Wire, IsoHunt, Grokster, and RealNetworks. In a 2007 CNET story about the growing number of file-sharing services forced to close down, von Lohmann sized up how technologists viewed the copyright clash between them and content creators and the stakes involved. "Everybody forgets that when the VCR was first developed, most of the uses were infringing copyright," said von Lohmann, a past recipient of California's Lawyer of the Year award. "There was no Blockbuster [video rental stores] or legitimate way to rent movies back then." Later, the VCR would be the foundation for the multi-billion dollar home-video industry and it wouldn't have existed if the studios had succeeded in killing the VCR. "It's vital to leave room for innovation," von Lohmann said. "You have to give technology a chance to develop into something."

"Those that may have had interests implicated by EFF policies and positions may have had reason to fear him but not consider him a foe."

--Jonathan Zittrain, law professor

Of course, if you're a copyright owner who has seen your work illegally distributed on file-sharing networks for a decade, you might view von Lohmann as a piracy enabler. Moreover, he and EFF have appeared to tilt at windmills at times--most of the tech companies championed by EFF that have fought it out in court against the entertainment sector have lost and been driven out of business. Lime Wire is likely the next casualty. The largest file-sharing service, a company that von Lohmann advised, is expected by legal experts to be shut down in coming weeks by a federal court in Manhattan. But in his backing of cases that typically faced long odds, von Lohmann's competence as a lawyer and reasonable demeanor has stood out in a copyright debate that grows more mean spirited and acrimonious by the day. Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard law professor and co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, said von Lohmann reminds him of the fictional Dr. Seuss character, The Lorax, a defender of the environment. It's like "'I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees,'" Zittrain said. "To me Fred is somebody who has been in the trenches as a litigator and that means you must take views and stick with them to do battle. Yet, I don't know him as ideologically inflexible. "It's rare to see somebody in the trenches that long and adopt and stick by structured positions but who has some flexibility to say 'What is the right answer here?'" Zittrain continued. "That's why those that may have had interests implicated by EFF policies and positions may have had reason to fear him but not consider him a foe."
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Road Trip Pic of the Day, 6/23: What is this?

Do you know what this is? If so, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Update (Wednesday, 11:43 p.m. EST): The answer to today's challenge--which 66 people got--is mission control for the International Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Congratulations to the winner, and for everyone, please be sure to come back for tomorrow's challenge. This just looks like the epitome of geek heaven, doesn't it? Do you recognize it? I'd be surprised if you--or many others--can identify what's in this picture without doing some research. But I'm also quite sure a lot of you will be able to figure out what this is a picture of--and where it's located--pretty easily once you apply a little brainpower. That's your task in Wednesday's Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge. If you're right, you could win a prize. If you have those answers, please e-mail them to me no later than 6 p.m. Pacific time Wednesday (at daniel--dot--terdiman--at--cnet--dot--com, including "Picture of the Day" in the subject line). I'll choose a winner at random from among everyone who sends in both pieces of the correct answer. Please forgive me if you don't hear from me if you're not the winner. I get dozens of responses each day. Also, I've turned off comments because some people have been posting the correct answers there. I hate to shut down discussion, but I want you to figure out the answer on your own. One caveat: no individual can win more than two prizes. But at the end of the trip, I'll be drawing a name from among all the daily challenge winners and giving out something a little more substantial. On June 24, Geek Gestalt will kick off Road Trip 2010. After driving more than 18,000 miles in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last four years, I'll be looking for the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more throughout the American northeast. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. In the meantime, you can follow my preparations for the project on Twitter @GreeterDan and @RoadTrip and find the project on Facebook.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

A challenge for storage entrepreneurs

The storage-focused BD Event wrapped up last week in Boston after two and a half days of presentations and networking for the enterprise storage industry--executives meeting up with executives in a kind of industry-focused, back to old college days mixer. If you're an entrepreneur with designs on the enterprise storage market, this was the place to be. The event was bracketed by two provocative presentations: one delivered by Peter Bell of VC firm Highland Capital Partners to kick-off the event, and one by Peter Levine, senior vice president of Citrix, that concluded the formal presentation session the following day. Bell's perspective on the enterprise storage industry is always worth taking in. As a former EMC executive and later chief executive of Storage Networks, the highest-flying of the Internet V 1.0 storage service providers, he has an insider's perspective on some pivotal evolutions--from monolithic to modular array storage, and from storage utility to storage cloud. There were a set of mixed messages here. Yes, there are opportunities, but storage start-ups face a challenging fund-raising climate. Venture capital firms are placing increasing emphasis on capital efficiency and are looking to see product development and revenue milestones faster. The climate can be particularly difficult for start-ups whose products have a hardware component that require more capitalization than pure software plays. As a result, storage-focused entrepreneurs are increasingly seeking help from other funding sources including angel investors. The good news is that, overall, we are heading into an increasingly optimistic technology investment environment. The concluding session was delivered by Levine, who has an insider's view on virtual-desktop infrastructure (VDI)--currently one of IT's hottest topics. Levine had an answer for audience members who might have been left wondering, after Peter Bell's pitch, where the best opportunities are. Levine listed a set of requirements for centralized data center storage intended to support VDI environments. Currently he sees enterprises rolling out pilot VDI deployments of 2,000 or so desktops in organizations with the potential for 50,000 or more. He is concerned however that the high cost of tier-one storage arrays will become an inhibiting factor as data migrates from the desktop to the data center. As he sees it, because the cost of a gigabyte of storage on the desktop is much lower than the same gigabyte on a tier-one data center array, IT administrators will have increasing difficulty justifying larger VDI deployments that move data from application user-land into the embrace of centralized IT. Making the cost of data center storage roughly equal on a dollars per gigabyte basis to that of storage on the desktop removes a barrier. What's needed? Highly scalable, object or file-based storage that's also significantly cheaper than today's gold-standard, production disk arrays. Levine invited audience members to contact him after the session with ideas. While VDI may well be the way many IT organizations eventually spell "private cloud." VDI will challenge IT administrators in the early going to justify the initial expenditures. The gold-standard storage vendors will argue for a highly performance-oriented storage layer that has the ability to scale capacity quickly as virtual desktops are added by hundreds if not thousands of users in a single rollout cycle. The software that manages the VDI storage layer will also have to be integrated with other layers in the VDI support stack and support near instantaneous disaster recovery capabilities. Today that's premium stuff, to say the least. (One member of the audience observed that a leading vendor of premium storage didn't buy VMware on a mere whim.) The challenge and the opportunity for start-ups will be to develop storage infrastructure components that compete with the established vendors at a price for performance discount never before seen.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

AT&T gets approval to buy Verizon spectrum

AT&T has gotten the final "ok" from the government to buy spectrum licenses from Verizon Wireless, which Verizon was required to divest as part of its acquisition of Alltel.The Federal Communications Commission approved AT&T's $2.35 billion purchase of the wireless licenses from Verizon Wireless on Tuesday. The FCC said the deal did not raise competitive risks.Verizon is selling the licenses to AT&T as part of a deal it struck with the Justice Department. Verizon agreed to give up the licenses as a condition set by antitrust regulators in order to get approval for its acquisition of Alltel, a regional wireless carrier. Verizon bought Alltel for $28.1 billion in 2008. AT&T bid on the spectrum in May 2009.As part of the deal, AT&T will get wireless spectrum licenses, network assets, and 1.5 million subscribers in 79 service areas. AT&T has also agreed to honor Verizon's previous agreements with smaller carriers and it will honor previous roaming agreements that Verizon Wireless had with other carriers.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

In line for an iPhone 4? Share your pics, stories

People wait in an iPhone line in San Francisco in 2009.(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

We'll be on the scene on both sides of the U.S. covering the iPhone 4 launch at various retail outlets, but we can't be everywhere. That's where you come in. Will you be out braving the crowds (or maybe lack thereof in your neck of the woods) to get a shiny new iPhone? If so, we want to see any line photos and hear any stories (both good and bad) about your launch day adventure that you think CNET readers would enjoy. Send us your photos, anecdotes, or news tidbits from wherever you are to ReaderSubmissions@cbs.com, and we'll put the good stuff here. We'll also be keeping an eye on your comments and filtering the best ones to the top. In the meantime, bookmark this page and come back to it on Thursday morning for updates throughout the day.Update at 4:48 a.m. on June 24: A reader sends in this shot from South Park Mall in Charlotte, NC:

Update at 3:35 a.m. on June 24: Reader Gary Berman sends us this shot of the Apple store line at the Perimeter mall in Atlanta, GA, half an hour before the Apple store opens:

(Credit: Gary Berman/CNET)

And a view of the outside of that same mall is provided by Levent Cimkentli:

(Credit: Levent Cimkentli/CNET)

Update at 9:53 p.m. on June 23: A reader sends in this shot of the line growing outside the North Michigan Avenue Apple store in Chicago. She writes: "at around 10:30 p.m. [CDT] the line was at the M Burger restaurant" (which is around the corner).

The line outside the North Michigan Avenue store in Chicago.

Update at 3:57 p.m. on June 23: A reader sends in this photo update from the line formed on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The weather isn't cooperating with line-sitters' plans, but it appears Apple handed out large umbrellas to help keep them dry.

Update at 1:01 p.m. PDT on June 23: CNET reader Fabian Obispo has sent us this great line video from the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York:
More to come...Related: First iPhone 4 buyers already camping out in SF
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Smart grid security to become multibillion-dollar industry

Investment in security for smart electrical-grid systems will grow tremendously over the next five years, according to a report released Wednesday by Pike Research.

(Credit: CNET)

With the U.S. electrical grid--and other national grids worldwide--poised to become smart systems with integrated communications, the possible threat of sabotage has become an obvious concern. To that end, the U.S. government has set aside funding to develop security protocols. Others are following suit.Between 2010 and 2015, the report predicts, about 15 percent of all smart grid investments will be spent on cybersecurity. This will represent a total global investment of $21 billion over the next five years, according to the report.North America will spend the most with a predicted annual figure of $1.5 billion by 2015, followed by Asia Pacific at $1.2 billion and Europe at $784 million.The prediction is not especially surprising. Evidence collected in 2009 found that the U.S. electrical grid is vulnerable to sabotage and that it had been compromised by hacker spies testing the smart grid system's access. Since then, there has been a major push by government and industry experts to better secure smart grids."Despite the increased emphasis, the lack of interoperable cybersecurity standards continues to be a major issue," according to the report.The National Institute of Standards and Technology is being pushed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to develop standards that can be integrated with all the types of systems that make up the web of smart grid communications.As of 2010, the report said, there are five major areas that make up a smart grid system in which standard issues may arise: "transmission upgrades, substation automation, distribution automation, electric vehicle management systems, and advanced metering infrastructure."
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

The man behind the essential geek travel guide

I'm about to start Road Trip 2010, my fifth annual journey through a region of the United States in search of some of the most interesting places to write about and photograph. As in previous years, the trip will focus heavily on what interests me--and hopefully my readers--as a self-professed geek. After all, this blog is called Geek Gestalt. And that will take me to high-tech research labs, military bases, a motorcycle factory, NASA facilities, and much more.

"Geek Atlas" author John Graham-Cumming.(Credit: John Graham-Cumming)

Being a traveling geek reminded me of the great book "The Geek Atlas" by British author John Graham-Cumming. That book, as its title implies, is a compendium of some of the world's most fascinating geek-centric destinations. It's a must-have for any traveler who appreciates fields like science, computers, electronics, and such. That's why I decided that the final pre-Road Trip edition of 45 Minutes on IM needed to be with Graham-Cumming--especially since the publisher of "Geek Atlas," O'Reilly, generously agreed to provide me with 20 copies of the book to give away to readers during the trip. Last week, Graham-Cumming took 45 minutes out of his schedule to sit down and talk over instant message with me about the book, his approach to traveling as a geek, and why his shyness didn't stop him from getting the British government to apologize for its terrible treatment of the famous scientist Alan Turing. Q: Welcome to 45 Minutes on IM. How did you come up with the idea for the "Geek Atlas"?
John Graham-Cumming: I came up with the idea while working in Munich when I visited the Deutsches Museum. I had never heard of it, and I discovered it's a fantastic science museum that clearly rivals places like the Science Museum in London and the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. I thought to myself: someone must have written a travel book for nerds. A Lonely Planet for Scientists. I really wanted it because I was embarrassed that I didn't know about the Deutsches Museum. That evening I made a list of places I'd been around the world and came up with about 70. From that, the idea of the "Geek Atlas" was born. Often, publishers considering authors will say that it's not just that you have the idea, but that you're the right person to write a book. So what made you the right person to do the book?
Graham-Cumming: I had written a lot of articles in the past and I guess they figured that I could write it. And I had traveled an enormous amount. As well as working in Germany, I've lived in the U.S., the U.K., and France. And I seem to have spent a lot of my professional life up in the air. And on all those trips for business I've been sneaking off to see cool science places. How many of the 128 locations in the book have you visited yourself?
Graham-Cumming: Most but not all. The initial list of about 70 were all places I'd been. Then I drew up another list of places and started visiting them. There are still a few I haven't been to. I haven't trekked to the Magnetic North Pole (although it would be neat), and I haven't visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. How did you come up with the list?
Graham-Cumming: I did an enormous amount of research. Initially I thought that I would ask in my social network and they'd have good suggestions, but there were only a few (such as the Horn Antenna in Holmdel, N.J.). So I started calling tourist offices and researching records (such as the National Historic Places in the U.S.). Then I had a target list of people I wanted to mention. For example, I really thought Nikola Tesla was important and that mentioning how A.C. power works was important. So I researched the Tesla places. This must have been fun research?
Graham-Cumming: Yes, it was great fun. The best part was that the book consists of two parts to each place: the tourist information and the actual science. I was adamant that the book would have lots and lots of science in it, so I had to spend a lot of time learning about some topics and talking to people so I could explain in a very small space the science behind each place. You mentioned that there's a few places you haven't been. Do you intend to complete the circuit yourself?
Graham-Cumming: Yes, I absolutely do intend to see the remaining places. Let's talk traveling. How much do you travel and for what kinds of purposes (besides working on Geek Atlas)?
Graham-Cumming: I work in the computer industry and my job has taken me to lots of places because I tend to be one of those geeks who can talk to suits. That's a valuable skill and so all the companies I've worked for have liked to send me to their customers (and potential customers). I've traveled all over the U.S. and Europe and visited chunks of Asia and the South Pacific. An upcoming trip to India is for work: I'm going to Bangalore. I've never been there before and am really looking forward to it. At the moment I'm somewhere other than home about every three weeks. What's your favorite method of travel?
Graham-Cumming: It depends. I actually like flying a lot. I recently wrote a couple of articles, one called "Long Haul Heaven," about why I like taking really long flights, and a companion piece called "How to sleep on a long haul flight." But I've also loved some train journeys (The Eurostar from London to Paris is amazing, and I used to take the Acela from New York to Washington, D.C. a lot), and I usually commute to work on a London bus. Ooh! How do you sleep on a long flight? Or a short one, for that matter?
Graham-Cumming: Well, there are quite a few tips in my article, but basically you need to get into the sleeping state of mind. Essentially I get on the plane and I sleep. I don't eat, watch TV, or anything. My total purpose is sleep. This usually annoys colleagues who are flying with me. Let's talk airplanes. What's your favorite?
Graham-Cumming: I haven't flown on the Airbus A380 yet, so I want to do that. But it depends on the trip. I always enjoy going on the Boeing 747 because it's a gigantic, majestic beast and its interior makes me nostalgic for something I never saw: flying in the 1960s and 1970s. The Lockheed L-1011 is a bit like that also, but feels like a troop transporter. I also have a soft spot for the Boeing MD-80 which I've spent countless hours on in the U.S. Well, given that, how could you not have included Boeing's 747 factory in Everett, Wash., in the book?
Graham-Cumming: I didn't include it mainly because I had included Airbus because the A380 was making a splash at the time the book was coming out and Boeing's 787 Dreamliner wasn't really ready. It's definitely near the top of the list for a "Geek Atlas, Volume 2." I get the same questions about certain NASA sites. There are only so many you can put in one book, and people already think I included too many radio telescopes. It's a balancing act. And people who think I've made a mistake are welcome to got to geekatlas.com and make suggestions. I'm very open to learning about new places. Will there definitely be a second volume of the book?
Graham-Cumming: It's not decided yet. The publisher approached me about it. But a book the size and density of "The Geek Atlas" is a lot of work. I spent six months in front of a computer writing it. So, it's really for me to decide. If I get a good enough list of places then I'll do it. If you could travel to just one place, where would it be? And why?
Graham-Cumming: The International Space Station. If I had the money that's where I'd go. I suspect that seeing the Earth from above like that would be an incredibly moving experience. Let's say you're limited to terra firma.
Graham-Cumming: I'd like to go to some of the places in the Middle East where a lot of mathematics was worked on. Many of our words, such as algebra, have Arabic roots, and the mathematicians in Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries were doing amazing things, long, long ago. Of course, Yemen and similar countries are hard for a Westerner to visit, but I think it would be fascinating. Perhaps there's even a "Geek Atlas: The Ancient World" in it. What are some tips you'd have for geek travelers?
Graham-Cumming: I think the key thing about geek travel is that you need to incorporate the actual science behind the destination. For example, if you visit the Roentgen Museum in Germany then read up on how X-rays are generated (which is a totally fascinating topic) you'll get more out of your visit. Also, talk to people. Many places have really knowledgeable staff. For example, at Bletchley Park in the U.K. many of the people who do the tours actually worked there during the Second World War. Or at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., there are guides who worked on the gear you are seeing. Have you run into people "in the wild" carrying your book?
Graham-Cumming: Once. I ran into someone at the Natural History Museum in London who had my book. I didn't dare tell them I was the author. Why not? I'm sure that person would have loved to have met you.
Graham-Cumming: Who knows? I was shy and thought I might be showing off. I am British after all. Although I ended up being the center of attention with the Alan Turing petition. So who knows. What was that?
Graham-Cumming: Last year, I decided would campaign for an official apology for the prosecution and chemical castration of the British mathematician, code breaker, genius, etc. Alan Turing. I singlehandedly ran a campaign to petition the British government and I ended up succeeding. Prime Minister Gordon Brown officially apologized for the treatment of Turing last September. About 35,000 signed the petition. Last question. I love doing instant message interviews because it allows my interviewee to be thoughtful and articulate, and because I get a perfect transcript. But, it's also because it's good for multitasking. So, be frank with me. What else were you doing while we've been doing this interview?
Graham-Cumming: Good question. I actually wasn't doing much. I was just keeping an eye on the Roomba, which is gliding around vacuuming the floor. Well, thanks so much for doing this. I really appreciate it
Graham-Cumming: You're welcome. Starting tomorrow, Geek Gestalt will kick off Road Trip 2010. After driving more than 18,000 miles in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last four years, I'll be looking for the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more throughout the American Northeast. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. In the meantime, you can follow my preparations for the project on Twitter @GreeterDan and @RoadTrip and find the project on Facebook.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

And so (Road Trip 2010) begins

This is the result of rushing to catch an early flight to get Road Trip 2010 started: the negative footprint of ground coffee.(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

OAKLAND--When you must get up early to catch the plane that will fly you to several weeks of adventure, sometimes there are consequences. In my case, getting up before 5:00 a.m. in order to rush to Oakland's airport to hop a Southwest 737 to D.C., it meant fumbling through the normally simple process of making coffee. As the picture above indicates, I had a little bit of trouble with the ingredients. But spotting an opportunity, instead of quickly sweeping up the ground coffee that spilled on my foot, I snapped a photo. All joking aside, I'm sitting on a 737 waiting for the doors to close. This means that Road Trip 2010 will soon be under way. In several hours, I fly into the nation's capital, but I'll only be there for mere minutes. I will pick up the Porsche Panamera that I'll be driving throughout the trip and head off toward Wallops Island, Va., where I'll visit a NASA facility. Much, much more lies ahead. I hope you stay tuned. See you in the Eastern time zone. On Thursday, Geek Gestalt will officially kick off Road Trip 2010. After driving more than 18,000 miles in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last four years, I'll be looking for the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more throughout the American northeast. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. In the meantime, you can follow my preparations for the project on Twitter @GreeterDan and @RoadTrip and find the project on Facebook.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Tesla CEO to investors: We're like Google or Apple

Tesla's Motors' prospects for becoming a 21st-century auto powerhouse have as much to do with its Silicon Valley culture as with its technology, CEO Elon Musk told investors. During a video recording prepared in advance of Tesla's initial public offering, which could come as early as next week, Musk touted the combination of the company's auto industry and Silicon Valley roots as a key competitive advantage. "We're closer to an Apple or a Google than we are to a GM or a Ford," Musk said, adding that Tesla doesn't suffer from a slow, bureaucratic culture. "There will not be anybody that will bring technology to market faster than Tesla." The forthcoming Model S electric sedans will be as high-tech as they come, equipped with a 17-inch touch-screen computer and a design inspired by slick consumer electronics, he said. "The best way to add value to a product is to make it really good-looking and appealing."

Telsa CEO Musk shows prospective investors how the Model S will be a platform for other electric vehicles.(Credit: Screen capture by Martin LaMonica)

Telsa Motors plans to raise an estimated $178 million by going public, with a valuation of over $1.4 billion, according to reports. It's a sign of how electric transportation has shaken up the auto business and created an opportunity for young companies to crack into the auto industry with new technology. In describing the company's advantages, Musk said that Tesla--which he referred to at one point as a "technology velociraptor"--has leading electric-vehicle technology, including battery packs, power electronics, motors, and system software. Its business model is efficient and promises high margins because the company will sell and service its cars through its own retail operations and direct sales, rather than relying on the more costly franchise model, said Musk and CFO Deepak Ahuja, who joined Tesla two years ago from Ford. The Model S, which Tesla plans to start making in 2011 for delivery in 2012, will be a technology platform for other cars, including SUV crossover, van, and cabriolet designs. Its third-generation vehicles will be a "mass market" car, which can be produced at the large plant in Fremont, Calif., that Tesla purchased from Toyota. Of the many green-technology companies launched in the past several years, Tesla is certainly the best-known because of its high-performance Roadster sports car, which helped reshape the image of electric cars. Unlike other product categories in green tech such as the smart grid, electric vehicles have real cachet with consumers, which positions Tesla well for an enthusiastic reception with retail investors. As a business, though, Tesla does not have a lot of room for error. The company's revenues today come from low-volume sales of its $109,000 Roadster sports car (126 sold in the first quarter this year) and deals to supply electric powertrain agreements to other auto manufacturers. Over the next two years, it needs to transition to revenues from the Model S and other electric vehicles to become profitable. Musk said the company is confident it can execute on delivery of the Model S, which will have a base price of $49,900 before extras and government rebates for buying a cleaner car. Tesla will be using only about 20 percent of the Fremont facility but the facility and technology platform will allow the company to scale up rapidly, he said. "It gives us the foundation at a low capital cost to the high-volume vehicles down the road--our third-generation vehicles," he said.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Figuring Apple's App Store gross profit

Apple's iTunes App Store may be the biggest mobile application around, but it's not much of a revenue generator for the company. The company claims it runs the App Store at "a bit over break-even" and, according to an analysis by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, that is indeed the case. Extrapolating from metrics provided CEO Steve Jobs during his WWDC keynote earlier this month--$1 billion paid to developers for 5 billion free and paid app downloads--Munster figures the App Store has contributed only $189 million to Apple's total gross profit since it launched. That's about 1 percent of the company's $33.7 billion gross profit during the same period. "Using a pricing scheme similar to iTunes, with 70 percent ($1.04) to the developer, $0.20 plus 2 percent of the ASP ($0.23) to the credit card company, and 1 percent ($0.02) per app for processing (storage & delivery), Apple's App Store gross margin on revenue from paid apps ($428 million since launch) is about 44 percent, or $189 million in gross profit," Munster explains. "This does not factor in the roughly $81 million Apple has spent since launch to store and deliver the 4 billion free apps that have been downloaded." So while App Store sales are through the roof, Apple's certainly not making a killing from them. But that's never been the point, anyway. Like iTunes itself, the App Store's purpose is to drive hardware sales. It's a secondary business. Story Copyright (c) 2010 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Aussie ISPs to cut off unsafe Web users?

An Australian government report into cybercrime has recommended that Internet service providers force customers to use antivirus and firewall software or risk being disconnected. Belinda Neal, committee chair, said in her introduction to the 262-page report, titled "Hackers, Fraudsters and Botnets: Tackling the Problem of Cyber Crime," that due to the exponential growth of malware and other forms of cybercrime in recent years, "the expectation that end users should or can bear the sole responsibility for their own personal online security is no longer a tenable proposition." "We need to apply the same energy and commitment given to national security and the protection of critical infrastructure to the cybercrime threats that impact on society more generally," she said. Read more of "Make zombie code mandatory: govt report" by Josh Taylor at ZDNet Australia.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Adobe rides strong Creative Suite 5 sales

Adobe Systems, which is betting on a strong upgrade cycle for its Creative Suite, delivered solid second-quarter earnings and an upbeat outlook. The company added that sales of its latest Creative Suite should be strong through 2010 and into 2011 as large customers upgrade. The company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $148.6 million, or 28 cents a share, on revenue of $943 million, up 34 percent from $704.7 million a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 44 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of $905 million. In a statement, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen credited a "successful launch of Creative Suite 5? for the results. Indeed, Adobe's product revenue for the three months ended June 4 checked in at $795.3 million, up from $648 million in the year-ago quarter. Read more of "Adobe delivers solid quarter; CS 5 sales strong out of gate" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)

Preparing for iPhone 4 launch day (FAQ)

It's that time of year again when throngs of people line up, sometimes days in advance, for the latest and greatest version of the Apple iPhone.Thursday is the official release date for the iPhone 4. And from the looks of things, this year could be the biggest of all iPhone launches. AT&T says that demand for the iPhone 4 is 10 times what it was for the iPhone 3GS. And Apple says it took 600,000 preorders for the new phone through its sales channels.

The iPhone 4 goes on sale Thursday, though the white version won't be available at first. (Credit: James Martin/CNET )

If history is any indication of what to expect, initial sales of the iPhone 4 are likely be a doozy. Apple sold more than 1 million iPhone 3GS smartphones the first three days it was on sale. The original iPhone sold about 270,000 units during its first weekend in June 2007, while the iPhone 3G sold around 1 million when it launched in July 2008.Apple CEO Steve Jobs called the iPhone 4, which is the fourth generation of iPhone, the "biggest leap since the original iPhone" was launched in 2007. With a new homegrown processor like the one used in the iPad, a bigger battery, a 5-megapixel camera that can record video in high definition, and a new FaceTime video chat application, the iPhone 4 is expected to be a hotter device than all previous iPhones.Unfortunately, for customers waiting to get their hands on the new phone, there are already signs that supply may not keep up with demand. On Tuesday, AT&T announced that only preordered iPhone 4s will be in stock in its retail stores Thursday. Anyone looking to buy an iPhone 4 at an AT&T store without having preordered the device will have to wait until June 29.AT&T's preordering system also crashed over and over on June 15, the day the iPhone 4 was made available for preorder. Potential customers attempting to buy the phone saw error messages as they tried to process their orders. So what is an expectant iPhone 4 user to do? Check out this FAQ to get a better handle on what will be happening on launch day. For updated information from AT&T, the company suggests checking out its Facebook page.What happens if I preordered my device?
First of all, lucky you. If you were able to successfully preorder an iPhone 4 via Apple or AT&T then you should check your e-mail confirmation to find out when you can expect it to arrive. Depending on what you chose, the device will either be waiting for you at the store you picked, or it will be shipped directly to your house. AT&T said they are on track to deliver preordered devices. They are sending e-mails when the devices have shipped and for customers picking up their devices at the store, local store reps will be calling to let you know when it's available for pickup.Will I have to wait in the same long line as everyone who didn't preorder a phone?
No, if you've placed a preorder to be picked up in store, there will be a separate line for you to stand in--you won't have to wait behind people who haven't reserved one ahead of time.Why are some people receiving their iPhones before Thursday?
Some customers were unexpectedly shipped their iPhones on Tuesday. Meanwhile, there have been reports that some customers who preordered their iPhones will be receiving them a day earlier than Apple originally planned--on Wednesday instead of Thursday. Apple has not offered an explanation. It could be that FedEx is ahead of schedule, or that Apple is strategically trying to spread out the initial activations of the new phones. The activation process, when millions are trying to attempt it simultaneously, has in the past caused a major disruption to first-day iPhone sales.Can I go to a store to pick one up on the first day if I haven't preordered yet?
It depends. AT&T announced on Tuesday that only preordered iPhone 4s will be in stock at its retail locations on Thursday. Anyone looking to buy an iPhone 4 at an AT&T store without having preordered the device will have to wait until June 29.Apple did not return phone calls to confirm its policy, but store representatives in New York City and San Francisco said they expect to have iPhones available for sale even without preorder. That said, demand is high for the iPhone 4 and it's recommended that you arrive very early to ensure you'll get one. Apple stores are opening at 7 a.m. on Thursday and 8 a.m. on Friday.What are the chances that Apple or AT&T or any of these other stores run out of iPhones?
Apple took 600,000 preorders on the very first day the phone was available for preorder last week. But that doesn't mean you can't try to get a phone by walking into a store that day. Apple keeps a separate stock of phones for walk-in customers. The company is careful to say that supplies are limited and phones will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, but they have historically ordered enough to accommodate many people on the first day.If you're not able to make it on Thursday to a store, you can certainly try over the weekend, but it's highly likely that pickings will be slim. In previous years, Apple has run short on certain models of the phone. For example, last year it ran out of the white version of the 16GB iPhone 3GS.One Apple salesperson at the Upper West Side Apple Store in New York City said he expects the iPhone 4 to outsell the iPhone 3GS, which went on sale a year ago. Based on that assumption, he said that stores are likely to sell out the first day. Apple will continue getting shipments every day. But he said that the phones will likely go quickly and customers could face lines for up to two weeks for the device."It's going to be at least a couple of weeks before you can just walk in and buy one," he said. "But keep it in perspective. It's a phone. And if you want one, you'll be able to get one."Fueling the fear of a potential shortage is the fact that Apple has had a difficult time keeping up with demand for the iPad, which went on sale earlier this month.If I try to preorder right now, when would I get it?
AT&T is no longer accepting preorders. Apple.com says preordered iPhones ordered today will not arrive until July 14.Why is the only option to preorder a black 32GB or 16GB iPhone 4?
Neither Apple nor AT&T has answered questions about when the white version will be available. For now, Apple.com says it will arrive "later this summer."Are there any other retail options for buying the iPhone 4 if I don't want to deal with the Apple store or AT&T?
This year there are more options than ever for places to pick up an iPhone on launch day. Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Radio Shack will have the iPhone 4 starting Thursday. But be warned, it's almost assured that none of them will have nearly as many iPhone 4 units in stock as Apple or AT&T. A Best Buy representative said Wednesday the retailer took a lot of preorders and, depending on the store, some of them will only have units for customers who reserved in advance. Best Buy recommends checking with your local store for availability.This story was updated at 10:10 a.m. PDT with more information about Best Buy's iPhone 4 availability.

Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)