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First Look: Intrepid Ibex Alpha Points to Ubuntu's Mobile Future

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Webmonkey

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The newest alpha release of Ubuntu Linux -- codename Intrepid Ibex -- shows enhancements aimed at improving performance on low-power devices like mobiles and mini-notebooks. In Webmonkey.
Inside 'Neopets' Creators' Ambitious New MMO

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 6:25pm EDT by Game|Life

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The as-yet-unnamed project from Meteor Games creatively blurs the line between massively multiplayer action and social networking.
Rating the Games-on-Demand Services

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 6:06pm EDT by Game|Life

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Xbox Live Arcade vs. WiiWare vs. PlayStation Store -- it's a three-way smackdown for best digital delivery system.
Telecom Amnesty Foes Lobby Obama Using Obama Tech

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 5:52pm EDT by Threat Level

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Left-leaning opponents of amnesty for telecoms sued for helping the government warrantlessly spy on Americans are turning to Senator Barack Obama's own Web 2.0 tools to lobby him to oppose a pending bill. They wonder if the new participatory politics he's relied on to secure the Democratic nomination can sway him back to his original opposition to the spying bill, or if old-style politics will rule the day.
Gene Editing Could Make Anyone Immune to AIDS

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 5:16pm EDT by Wired Science

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A new experimental technique strips a key gene out of T-cells in mice, blocking their ability to produce a protein that HIV uses to enter and take over the T-cells. The result: cells that are nearly impenetrable to the virus.
What's Inside a Camera? Saw It In Half and See

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 4:45pm EDT by Gadget Lab

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Ever wondered what's inside your camera? An exhibit at the German Technology Museum in Berlin shows a variety of cameras and lenses, all sliced neatly down the middle, so you can see their inner workings, in this photo gallery in Gadget Lab.
How to Get a Copy of Windows XP Even Though it's 'Dead'

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 4:10pm EDT by How-To Wiki

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Monday, June 30 marks the final day you can buy a copy of Microsoft Windows XP from major retail outlets, resellers and manufacturers. But thanks to some loopholes in its retirement plan, you can still get your hands on a copy of XP and avoid upgrading to Vista a little longer. In Wired.com's How-To Wiki.
RIAA 'Making Available' Argument: File Sharers 'Freeload'

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 4:00pm EDT by Threat Level

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The Recording Industry Association of America told the federal judge in the Jammie Thomas case Monday that file sharers "freeload" on copyrights.
Rhapsody Moves Music Sales to Online MP3 Format

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 11:05am EDT by Listening Post

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The Rhapsody music service abandons DRM on single song downloads and will now sell all of its music in the MP3 format using the web. Its new strategy also includes letting millions of Facebook, iLike, MTV and Yahoo users preview 25 songs each month with the option to buy.
If You Want Windows XP, Better Buy it Today

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 10:50am EDT by Associated Press

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Microsoft, determined to push its Vista operating system over the objections of significant numbers of PC users, officially pulls the plug on its popular XP OS.
Here's the Lowdown on PS3's Big Firmware Update

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 10:20am EDT by Game|Life

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Gamers talk and Sony listens: PlayStation 3 will now include support for custom soundtracks, Trophies and, most importantly, the ability to open system menus while running a game.
Preview: 'Too Human' Is Over in 10 Short Hours

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 8:00am EDT by Game|Life

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With this complex action RPG about Norse gods, the makers of Eternal Darkness drive you to the edge of a cliff, then leave you hanging.
Wired.com Photo Contest: Food

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Wired.com Photo Department

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This week we implore you to deliver a visual feast to our emaciated eyes. We seek gastronomical oddities and excesses, your grossest and most appetizing photos of food.

Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best food photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. The 10 highest-ranked photos will appear in a gallery on the Wired.com homepage. We know this is asking a lot, but please keep your restaurant ads to yourself. Instead, show us unexplored galaxies of grapes shot through with comets of roasting marshmallows. Take us down chewed-up trash shoots and climbing up slimy compost mountains. This is well-trodden territory, so you'll have to go the extra mile to catch eyes and votes.

The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo, which may include exposure information, equipment used, etc.

We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).

Please bookmark this page and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions!

Also, check out the winner's galleries from our previous contests: Holga, Red, Self-Portrait, Night, Macro, Transportation and Black and White.
Vote on food photos submitted by other readers.

Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your food photo.

Submit your food photo.
(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)

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June 30, 1908: A Very Close Encounter of the Second Kind

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Tony Long

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1908: A fireball streaking across the sky and a massive explosion in the Siberian hinterlands marks the largest recorded collision ever between Earth and an object from space.

The Tunguska event flattened 80 million trees covering 830 square miles of sparsely populated (but not unpopulated) Russian outback in the region of the Tunguska River northwest of Lake Baikal.

Whatever it was -- an exploding fragment from a disintegrating meteorite seems the likeliest explanation -- scientists concluded there was no actual impact. The explosion appears to have been caused by an air burst similar to that of an artillery round detonating in midair, rather than on impact with the ground. In this case, the fragment, which is believed to have measured perhaps 100 feet across (although new research suggests it may have been even smaller), was probably traveling at around 21,000 miles per hour when it exploded anywhere from four to six miles above the Earth's surface.

Based on later assessments of the damage, the force of the blast was estimated to be between 10 and 15 megatons of TNT, roughly a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The remoteness of the blast and the chaotic conditions prevailing inside Russia at the time prevented a thorough examination of the area until 1927, when an expedition from the Soviet Academy of Sciences finally arrived on the scene. Ironically, a lot of the data wouldn't be clearly understood until the Soviet Union began conducting its own Cold War experiments with atomic-blast impacts during the 1950s and '60s.

Soil samples revealed high levels of nickel and iridium, which are commonly found in meteorites, and the pattern of the forest devastation was consistent with a strong central detonation followed by shock waves emanating outward from ground zero.

Based on eyewitness accounts at Tunguska, a bluish fireball appeared in the sky at around 7:15 a.m. Ten minutes later, there was a flash, followed by a deafening explosion that was heard 300 miles away. The ground began shaking as in an earthquake, and a hot wind blew across the land, singeing crops and shattering windows.

While contemporary accounts refer to many people in the vicinity becoming covered with boils and dying as a result of the blast, that may be better explained by a smallpox epidemic that was occurring at the same time.

The fear, of course, is that the Earth is vulnerable to these meteor strikes. Flying objects enter the atmosphere every day, but the vast majority burn up before posing any real threat. Some meteorites do get through, however, and there have been events similar to -- if smaller than -- Tunguska recorded in the past century.

Here's something to consider: In its 1966 edition, the Guinness Book of Records concluded that, based on the Earth's rotation, had the Tunguska meteorite struck 4 hours, 47 minutes later, it would have obliterated St. Petersburg, then the capital of imperial Russia. Given the events that would shortly torment that nation -- and all of Europe -- for the better part of the 20th century, one is left to wonder how history might have changed in those circumstances.

Sounds like the premise for a pretty good alternative-history novel.

Source: Various
Games Without Frontiers: 'Space Invaders' Remake Takes Retro Gaming to the Limit

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Clive Thompson

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This is slightly embarrassing to admit, but I'm addicted to ... Space Invaders.

Not the 1978-issue game, mind you. No, I'm talking about Space Invaders Extreme -- a re-visioning of the original game, released this week for the Nintendo DS and PSP by Square Enix (which now owns Taito, creator of the original thud-thud-thudding arcade classic). The game is enormously fun, gorgeously rendered and -- other than the horrid use of extreme in the title -- a loving tribute to the Precambrian title that birthed the entire videogame industry.

But here's the really interesting thing. I think the new Space Invaders is the first "reissue" of a videogame that is completely successful.

This really has never been done before. This subgenre of gaming -- the classic remake -- is littered with failure. Defender, Asteroids, Galaga: You name the old-school game, and it's been ruined by some designer's misbegotten attempt to improve it. It's like a form of cultural taxidermy: They take a wonderful old game, surgically drain it of all joy, then leave the mounted corpse on your mantelpiece to glare at you with its creepy, glassy eyes.

But why? Why is it so hard to update a cool old game?

Usually because the designers get too fancy. They assume modern gamers will only play a game if it's 3-D, so they go to painful lengths to transform 2-D titles into full, "immersive" reality. Among other things, this inevitably screws up the control system. The playfully unmanageable chaos of the old-school Robotron 2084, for example, becomes the grindingly unmanageable chaos of the 1996 remake on the Nintendo 64.

Worse, by moving into 3-D, these games abandon the chunky, low-fi graphics that made those 1980s titles so vibrant and Jungian in their symbolic heft. In the original Battlezone, the world was rendered in green, vectorized geometric shapes. It was a perfect evocation of the ghostly quality of "surgical" Cold War combat: We fight amongst Platonic solids!

Then Atari redesigned the game in 2006 for the PSP -- transforming it into the sort of brown/beige 3-D sludge so omnipresent in today's gaming, with sundry powerups that promise "complexity" but only serve to ruin the Zen-like simplicity of the original.

This is what's so refreshing about the new Space Invaders. It avoids all these pitfalls. First off, it remains resolutely 2-D. Indeed, the aliens look precisely as they did in 1978 -- chunky, pixelated blots of Otherness dread. They still crawl across the screen, slowly at first and then faster as you eliminate their ranks. And as before, you can only zip back and forth along the ground and fire upward.

Yet Square Enix has also managed to insert clever new bits of gameplay. Some of the aliens carry shields that deflect missiles back toward you; others, once wounded, stagger downward in kamikaze attacks. Every once in a while, one of those mystery ships at the top of the screen will pause, fizz and unleash a searing, laserlike blast for a few seconds. Meanwhile, you've got new powerups: multiple missiles, cluster shots and a penetrating laser.

The upshot is that the game remains neatly balanced. The aliens have their new tricks, but so do you. In fact, as a whole, the game advances with the same sort of inverse logarithmic difficulty: Around 10 minutes in, you'll feel precisely the same oh-shit-oh-shit loss of control you experienced in the original arcade game. It's quite eerie.

What I'm trying to argue, ultimately, is that Square Enix has captured the spirit of the original game. The funky weapons, the zigzaggy attacks -- sure, they're new. But they also seem like part of the Space Invaders canon. In essence, Space Invaders Extreme feels like a game that Taito's designers would have wanted to produce if they'd had just slightly more processing power.

Square Enix's designers have deftly channeled the limitations that Taito's designers faced. And this, really, is the secret to their success -- because it's your choice of limitations, not freedoms, that makes for superb game design.

So yeah: It's 1978 again. Except, somehow, slightly better. Welcome back!

- - -

Clive Thompson is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a regular contributor to Wired and New York magazines. Look for more of Clive's observations on his blog, collision detection.
Gallery: Top 10 Wired.com Readers' Square Photos, Decided by You

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Wired.com Photo Department

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If our readers are anything like us, they've probably had the word "square" hurled at them a few times. Fortunately, kick-ass photos are an excellent salve for this particular brand of nerd sting. These 10 readers exercised these demons in our square photo contest, and were voted the top contenders by their peers. Neil Bruder took home the gold with his photo "Office Life" at left. Mr. Bruder will be receiving a subscription to Wired magazine and a digital picture frame for his desk.

Since we had so many great photos that we thought should've received more votes, we've also compiled a Wired.com Editor's Choice Square Photo Gallery.

Our next biweekly photo contest is food. Now's your chance to give us a bib and cram your greasy photos down our gullet. Check out the contest page for more information.

Left:

Office life
Submitted by Neil Bruder

Photographer's comment:

"Late-afternoon shadows on an office building in Vancouver."
:
MAM
Submitted by Evan Stremke

Photographer's comment:

Main atrium (looking up) of the Milwaukee Art Museum."
:
Windows
Submitted by Andrew Brooks

Photographer's comment:

"Taken in Berlin, 2006."
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Blocks
Submitted by Jamei Carl

Photographer's comment:

"Taken on the roof of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia."
:
It wasn't me!
Submitted by Shawn Isaac

Photographer's comment:

"I swear ;-)."
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Waiting
Submitted by Eric Cabahug

Photographer's comment:

"Waiting is the hardest thing. Especially if you're in the dark."
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OCAD
Submitted by Steven Kamenar

Photographer's comment:

"Ontario College of Art and Design."
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Rox
Submitted by Christiaan d'Arnaud

Photographer's comment:

"Scheveningen, Netherlands"
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Rolling Hill's Guest House
Submitted by Greg

Photographer's comment:

"Hyundai's guest house near their R&D facility in Korea."
:
fred & ginger
Submitted by Anonymous

Photographer's comment:

"praha."
Gallery: Top 10 Wired Square Photos, Decided by Us

Posted: June 30th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Wired.com Photo Department

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Though Wired.com readers selected 10 excellent photos in our square photo contest, we here at the Photo Department like to fight for the underdog. Here are our 10 favorite submissions that we think deserved more attention.

Our next biweekly photo contest is food. Now's your chance to give us a bib and cram your greasy photos down our gullet. Check out the contest page for more information.

Left:

La quadrature du cercle
Submitted by Alain Tougas

Photographer's comment:

"Not everyone wants to be a square."
:
Butterflies
Submitted by Peter

Photographer's comment:

"Butterflies at the Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe in Seattle."
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Old Barn Window
Submitted by John A. B.

Photographer's comment:

"The old barn window on Uncle Harold's farm."
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Neighbourhood
Submitted by Ronan Farrell

Photographer's comment:

"Sighisoara, Romania."
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Jealousy Windows
Submitted by Hana

Photographer's comment:

"Designed so that you can see the world but the world can't see you."
:
Tai Chi Squares
Submitted by Matt Kaune

Photographer's comment:

"Man doing tai chi in Denver's Civic Center Park."
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Chicago Squares
Submitted by Maurice

Photographer's comment:

"Would you expect anything less interesting from the great architects that have made Chicago famous?"
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Squared Circles?
Submitted by Jon

Photographer's comment:

"Polaroid Land Cameras glued to the "Camera Van." Shot at the Maker Faire 2007."
:
slow worship day
Submitted by axaxaxas mlö

Photographer's comment:

"Temple Mount, Jerusalem, March 2006. Nikon Coolpix L2."
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Bricks
Submitted by Maziar H

Photographer's comment:

"Sidewalk bricks, Vancouver, BC."
Video: Lab-Grown Meat's Tough to Swallow

Posted: June 29th, 2008, 11:18pm EDT

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A new public television show, Your Week, asks consumers if they would be willing to eat artificial meat.
Researchers Make Noise About Aztec Whistles of Death

Posted: June 29th, 2008, 8:13pm EDT by Associated Press

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Ancient noisemakers unearthed in Mexico's ruins were once dismissed by museums as toys. But modern-day researchers are using them to discover the complex role that sound played in Pre-Columbian society.
Some Proof That Marijuana Is a Powerful Medicine

Posted: June 29th, 2008, 4:31pm EDT by Wired Science

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Scientists prove that beta-caryophyllene, a chemical found in marijuana, soothes the immune system, increases bone mass, and blocks pain signals -- without causing euphoria or interfering with the central nervous system.
ICANN Gets Pwned

Posted: June 29th, 2008, 10:34am EDT by Underwire

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Not even ICANN and IANA are safe from domain hijacking. Those pesky Turkish hackers strike again.
'Doctor Who' Cliffhanger Teases Endless Possibilities

Posted: June 29th, 2008, 3:59am EDT by Underwire

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If the cliffhanger of Saturday's episode of Doctor Who is legitimate and not some clever, alternative universe, time-traveling trick, Russell T. Davies and his Who crew pulled off one of the truly great swerves in television history.
California Wildfires Threaten Public Health

Posted: June 28th, 2008, 7:55pm EDT by Associated Press

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Thanks to hundreds of lightning-sparked wildfires in Northern California, air pollution readings in the region are two to 10 times the federal standard for clean air. Some areas are experiencing the worst air quality on record.
Secrets of 'Wanted''s Insane On-Screen Action

Posted: June 28th, 2008, 7:23pm EDT by Underwire

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When you've got high-priced talent like Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy on the payroll, nobody's going to risk the actors' lives or limbs for the sake of an awesome stunt. That said, superhero-assassin movie 'Wanted' pushed its stars pretty hard to sell the train wrecks and gunfights that drive the action. Here's how they did it.
Prescription Meds: Rock's New Drug of Choice?

Posted: June 28th, 2008, 4:30pm EDT by Listening Post

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Rockers from Aerosmith's Stephen Tyler to Hawthorne Heights' Casey Calvert are snubbing heroin and coke. Their new favorite vice is prescription meds. And they're not alone: U.S. teens are currently abusing painkillers more than coke, heroin and meth combined.
UNKLE Goes Widescreen, Remixes 'X-Files'

Posted: June 28th, 2008, 3:00pm EDT by Listening Post

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James Lavelle's electronic supergroup has got an ear on cinema of the sci-fi variety. UNKLE's latest effort is called End Titles...Stories for Film, plus its remix of 'The X-Files' theme song touches down with the film on July 25, and on the official soundtrack on July 21.
Scientists: Atom Smasher Won't Spawn Scary Black Holes

Posted: June 28th, 2008, 1:41pm EDT by Associated Press

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The most powerful atom-smasher ever will make its debut in August, and experts say doomsday fears that the Large Hadron Collider could create black holes or killer particles are unfounded.
Tips For Keeping Your RSS Feeds Lean and Clean

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 6:00pm EDT by Webmonkey

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Are your feeds well-formed? If not, maybe it's time you gave them a good scrubbing. Webmonkey offers these simple suggestions for cleaner, faster-loading Atom and RSS content. Follow our tips and you'll be validated, compressed and optimized to rule in no time.
Make Your PC Phone Home: How to Access Your Computer Remotely

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 5:45pm EDT by How-To Wiki

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Traveling this summer? Don't lug your data with you -- just set up your laptop to talk to your machine remotely and access your music, e-mail, photos and other files from thousands of miles away. In Wired's How-To Wiki.
Uncle Sam Rolls in a 100-MPG Hybrid

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 5:21pm EDT by Autopia

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Tony Markel, an engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, drives a plug-in hybrid that gets 100 mpg and gets its power from the sun. If he has his way, you will too.
California Traffic: Like a Wildfire Every 9 Days

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 4:59pm EDT by Wired Science

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While this week's wildfires might be more dramatic, California's on-road traffic generates as much carbon dioxide as all of them combined in a mere nine days.
'Dark Knight' Selling Out 3 Weeks Early

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 4:49pm EDT by Underwire

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Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker, and the sad specter of the actor's premature death, are fueling ticket sales and leading theaters to add 3 a.m. screenings.
Review: 'Operation Darkness' Succeeds Despite Flaws

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 4:41pm EDT by Game|Life

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Nazis team up with zombies and vampires to crank up the freak factor in this World War II strategy role-playing game for Xbox 360.
Video: Bill Gates' Best Bits, From Pies to BSODs

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 4:15pm EDT by Gadget Lab

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Bill Gates retires from full-time work at Microsoft next week. We figured that would be the perfect time to put together a highlights reel showing the most entertaining, goofy and inspiring moments from his 33-year career.
Hacker Launches Botnet Attack via P2P Software

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 3:44pm EDT by Threat Level

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A 19-year-old hacker is agreeing to plead guilty to launching a botnet attack and stealing financial data from thousands of computers. The malware program installed itself on victims' computers when they downloaded peer-to-peer file sharing software, authorities said. Jason Milmont, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, faces a maximum five-year term.
Q&A: 90 Minutes With Miyamoto, Nintendo's Master of Amusement

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 2:35pm EDT by Game|Life

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The man who blessed the world with Donkey Kong, Mario and the incredible Wii opens the door to his game-changing imagination. Wired.com interview by Chris Kohler and Clive Thompson.
The Many (Geeky) Faces of Bill Gates, a Capsule Biography

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 2:00pm EDT by Betsy Schiffman

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The Bill Gates that most people are familiar with is the socially awkward nerd who strong-armed his way into becoming the head of the largest software company in the world.

In reality, Gates is a smooth operator who, despite his uncombed hair, baby face and disheveled appearance, knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way. He successfully transitioned from cocky college dropout to brass-knuckle negotiator to seasoned captain of industry, eventually becoming the richest man in the world and a model philanthropist.

"This is a guy who really morphed over time," says Mary Jo Foley, a longtime Microsoft watcher and author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era. "When I look at other CEOs -- guys like [Oracle CEO] Larry Ellison -- they haven't changed much, but Gates has really changed. I still think he's a hard-charging businessman, though -- I don't think he's gone soft."

Here's a look at some of the tricky transitions that Gates successfully navigated over the course of his career. Each of these changes were necessary and probably inevitable for any ambitious entrepreneur. It's a measure of Gates' business acumen that he successfully pulled these off where many lesser entrepreneurs have failed.

Transition One: Coder to Negotiator
If you told the 20-year-old Gates, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975, that he actually pulled off his grand plan he probably wouldn't be surprised. And that's part of his charm.

Back in 1980, when Gates was barely old enough to rent a car, he walked into a room filled with IBM execs and sold them a product he didn't even have. IBM wanted to get into the computer business, and Bill Gates wanted to get into the software business. He didn't have any negotiating skills, but he landed a deal under which IBM licensed MS-DOS from Microsoft. It was a ridiculously advantageous arrangement since it gave Microsoft the freedom to license the operating system to any other computer maker -- which is what eventually fueled Microsoft's fantastic growth.

"He's not a rock star programmer, but he's always had a knack for seeing where the industry is going. He's not always right, but he's a visionary in terms of seeing how markets and industries evolve," Foley says.

Transition Two: Founder to Fortune 500 CEO

Many entrepreneurs are fully brilliant leaders of startups, but they crash and burn when those companies grew beyond the startup stage. There's little overlap between the skill sets involved in running a small startup and those required to steer a major corporation.

Gates is one of the few to pull off both feats with aplomb.

"His management style worked really well when they were a scrappy upstart. He brought in young smart guys like him. But he had to tone it down when Microsoft became a big company. A ruthless management style doesn't work as well with a company of 80,000 people," says Foley.

Gates matured simultaneously with the company. He learned to tuck his shirt in, comb his hair, and make polite cocktail conversation.

"When I was a summer intern at Microsoft in grad school in 1989, he hosted the summer MBA interns to a very nice backyard barbecue at his old house, before he got married. He worked the crowd expertly, despite his reputation for being ill-at-ease with people, and gave everyone their chance to ask him a question or two," says Ted Weinstein, a San Francisco-based literary agent.

Transition Three: Monopolist to Savvy Defendant

His visions didn't help when the feds came knocking in the late 1990s for one of the longest, most drawn-out antitrust cases in U.S. history. In what has been famously characterized as the 1998 "Rainman" deposition, Gates rocked back and forth in his chair, at times snapping at prosecuting attorney David Boies and generally behaving like a temperamental child. The thing is, it worked. Gates didn't give an inch. And roughly 10 years later, even Boies concedes that Gates' performance was spot on, both in the deposition and on the stand in court.

"He was the most potentially effective witness," Boies says. "Nobody knew the stuff as well as he did, and nobody had the passion for it that he did. I definitely would have called him to the stand ... He's a very smart guy."

Gates wasn't the most sympathetic witness, though, and in many ways it was a risk to let him testify.

"If you're going toe to toe with the government, and the message you want to send is, 'Come hell or high water, we're fighting this until the end,' then you do exactly what [Gates] did," says Barbara Sicalides, an antitrust attorney with Pepper Hamilton. "But in any case where you have a client the size of Microsoft, and where you have inflammatory documents, it's the sort of situation where you'd want to think twice about fighting until the bitter end ... For the most part, I think Microsoft's lawyers were exactly right."

Transition Four: Captain of Industry to 'Venture Philanthropist'

It was a peculiar situation, though, when, in his early 40s, Gates found himself one of the richest men in the world and had to start thinking about giving away his money, while he was still hungry to earn more. His initial attempts at philanthropy did not go over well.

The Gates Library Foundation, founded in 1997, was widely criticized for being too modest (he initially funded it with $200 million) and for being self-serving. And indeed it was -- the mission of the foundation was to provide libraries in low-income communities with internet access and computers. While a worthy cause, Microsoft was also a beneficiary of the foundation's work.

"I think he started the library effort because it was related to things he knew about," says Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. "That's pretty typical. I think it was successful, but it was limited compared to the things he's involved with now."

It didn't take long until philanthropy became Gates' full-time occupation. In 1999 Gates folded his various charitable efforts into one organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and in 2000, Gates stepped down as CEO to spend more time on philanthropy.

"He seemed to be really interested in philanthropy from the beginning," says Foley. "He's the kind of guy who doesn't care what other people think of him, so I don't think he was bowing to pressure."

The net effect is that he has shaken up the philanthropy world. In earlier decades, industry titans often gave locally and more or less felt that their work was done at that point. Bill Gates -- and other tech-made billionaires -- have changed the landscape.

"We're seeing a growing emphasis on bringing bottom-line efficiency to venture philanthropy," says Palmer. "It's fairly dramatic -- he's trying to change the face of global philanthropy, but it started in a fairly parochial way."
AT&T Whistleblower: Spy Bill Creates 'Infrastructure for a Police State'

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 1:15pm EDT by Threat Level

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The whistleblower at the heart of a lawsuit against AT&T for illegal eavesdropping says Congress is set to stage a 'coup against the Constitution' as it nears passage of a new spying bill. Former AT&T technician Mark Klein provided internal company documents that he claims show that AT&T spied on the internet inside the United States on behalf of the NSA.
Pimp My Smart — And Put 13 People in It

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 1:04pm EDT by Autopia

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It was only a matter of time before someone made an outlandish body kit for the Smart ForTwo and someone else decided to see how many people you can cram into one.
Declaring Whales Safe, Navy Presses On With Sonar Training

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 11:30am EDT by Associated Press

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The Navy completes an environmental impact report and says it is satisfied that the safeguards are in place for protecting marine mammals while the fleet conducts sonar exercises in Hawaiian waters.
New Rules Could Mean Hundreds of New Domains

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 10:50am EDT by Associated Press

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A relaxation of rules by the internet's oversight agency means that .com and .net may soon be joined by a slew of new domain names. What's behind it? Like most things, money.
So Long, Bill Gates, and Thanks for the Monopoly

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 12:45am EDT by Dylan Tweney

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He's a merciless competitor, a shameless "fan" of other people's ideas and an unapologetic monopolist. And because of all that, Bill Gates has done more to create the thriving computer industry than anybody else.

As Gates prepares to retire from full-time work at Microsoft July 1, after 33 years of doing everything from writing code to defending his company's business practices in court, many people are saying 'good riddance' to the man most techies loved to hate. What the critics won't acknowledge is that it was Gates' most obnoxious qualities that made it possible for the tech industry to grow as large as it has.

"In his prime, Gates combined the monomania of the compulsive software programmer with the competitiveness of Attila the Hun," said Nicholas Carr, author of Does IT Matter and The Big Switch.

And that was a good thing. "A lot of people see Microsoft as the enemy of openness and innovation, but it's worth remembering that it was the open architecture of the Microsoft-based PC that spurred massive creativity in both hardware and software and sped the adoption of computers both at home and at work," Carr said.

In fact, the monopoly that Microsoft once had on computer operating systems was essential to the development of the computer industry, enforcing a de facto standard that permitted thousands of software and hardware companies to blossom.
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The Microsoft monopoly was one part luck, one part business acumen. The lucky part: When IBM asked Microsoft to provide an operating system for its new personal computer in 1980, Gates got the contract, even though he didn't have an OS to sell.

No problem. Gates immediately bought the rights to another operating system, QDOS, which he then recast as MS-DOS and sold to IBM.

The savvy part: Gates' fledgling company was able to retain rights to the new operating system, securing Microsoft's place at the hub of the PC industry. Later, Gates leveraged that monopoly into such complete dominance of the PC industry that Microsoft was able to collect payments from PC manufacturers for every PC they sold -- even if those PCs didn't carry a Microsoft operating system.

That monopoly was bad for competitors who had arguably superior operating systems -- including, later, IBM's OS/2. And it was built in large part on appropriating the best ideas of other companies, from Gary Kildall's CP/M to Apple's Macintosh.

But the upside was enormous because the monopoly created a stable environment where entrepreneurs could develop new companies and new products around a common platform.

Without that standard, the computer industry in the 1990s would have resembled the web today: diverse, vibrant and flowering with abundant innovation, but also frequently broken because of the inability of disparate products to make the most basic connections with one another.

"Unlike oil, pharmaceutical or steel, monopolies are a necessary ingredient in the technology business," Forrester Research founder George Colony wrote in a recent blog post. "It's only when de facto standards like Windows or de jure standards like HTML become dominant that usefulness soars."

Contrast that to the state of the internet today. While the web abounds in standards, a frequent problem is that companies don't hew to them (and since 1996, Microsoft has been guilty of this behavior too). Having trouble syncing your Google calendar with your Yahoo calendar? Wondering why your camcorder won't upload to your new Macbook, your iPod can't share files with your friends' MP3 players and your mobile phone can't display webpages properly? All of these problems are traceable to a lack of widely supported standards.

Just imagine if the same chaos had reigned throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Hardware manufacturers like Dell, Hewlett Packard, Compaq and IBM would still be battling it out with incompatible systems. And software like Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect and, yes, even Microsoft Office never would have achieved widespread success.

"[Bill Gates] made an unbelievable contribution," said Netscape, Opsware and Ning founder Marc Andreessen, while speaking at a keynote with John Battelle at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco earlier this year. "It's hard to conceive what this industry would look like today if Microsoft hadn't standardized the OS ... I think the industry would be much smaller if that hadn't happened."

Of course, success breeds resentment, and Gates' aggressive business practices -- and less-than-polished personal style -- made him many enemies.

"The problem is when you're the biggest sequoia in the woods, everyone wants to cut you down," said Paul Santinelli, a general partner with North Bridge Venture Partners, a venture capital firm.

Gates didn't help matters by overreaching once his company's monopoly was firmly established.

"Gates became kind of a Godfather figure in the industry, demanding tributes from his partners and whacking those who threatened his power," Carr said. "So Microsoft deserves both praise for stimulating innovation and criticism for stifling it."

And then there was the problem that many of Microsoft's products simply didn't work that well. Indeed, as the chorus of complaints about Windows Vista grows louder day by day, it could be said that Gates is leaving Microsoft at exactly the right time, before the company's long decline sullies his reputation.

"If all that stuff worked right out of the box, we'd all be out of a job," said David Strom, an independent technology consultant and speaker in St. Louis. Strom has a speech praising Gates for, among other things, effectively guaranteeing full employment for IT people called in to make Microsoft products work properly.

But while technologists may curse Gates' aggressiveness and the buggyness of Microsoft software, they should also raise a glass to toast him as he departs the computer business.

"He didn't have the zest of a Philippe Kahn, or the elegance of a Steve Jobs, or the stage presence of a Larry Ellison. But the guy revolutionized the PC industry, and that's what people need to remember," said Santinelli.
The Brains Behind the Image Fulgurator

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 12:15am EDT by Gadget Lab

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Julius von Bismarck's 'Image Fulgurator' is a clever hack that uses a flashgun, a modified 35mm camera and a special sensor to project secret images onto other people's photos. Wired.com's Gadget Lab scored an exclusive interview with von Bismarck, with photos of his gear.
Review: Wii 'Guitar Hero' Controller Makes You a Rawk God -- Almost

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Gadget Lab

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The Nyko Frontman is a Telecaster-style wireless Guitar Hero controller for the Nintendo Wii. It's a bit cheaper than the standard Les Paul model, and has a slightly different feel.
June 27, 1898: Down to the Sea in Ships, and Then Some

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Tony Long

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1898: Joshua Slocum completes a solo voyage lasting nearly three years, becoming the first sailor to circumnavigate alone.

Slocum, born within sight of Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy in 1844, ran away from home at 14 and signed on a fishing schooner as cabin boy to begin a lifetime at sea. He later crossed the Atlantic and became an ordinary seaman on the Tangier, a British merchantman. By 18, he had received his papers from the Board of Trade qualifying him as a second mate.

Landing in California, Slocum received his first command there and spent 13 years sailing out of San Francisco, taking square-rigged ships to Japan, China, Australia and the Spice Islands (the Moluccas of present-day Indonesia), as well as engaging in the coast-wise lumber trade.

Several ships, two wives and two sons later -- his first wife died in Argentina -- Joshua Slocum found himself back on the East Coast, in possession of a rotting old oyster sloop called the Spray. He would make history with this boat.

He spent the next few years restoring the Spray and rigging her for solo sailing. In 1895, at age 51, Slocum set out to be the first sailor ever to make a solo circumnavigation. The 37-foot Spray left Boston in April 1895 with her original sloop rig, but difficulties in the Strait of Magellan would cause Slocum to re-rig her as a yawl for the remainder of the voyage.

One peculiarity of Slocum's sailing was his decision to eschew the chronometer -- in favor of using a sextant and the ancient method of dead reckoning -- for fixing his longitudinal position at sea.

It was an eventful passage. Chased by pirates, feted by island kings and almost drowned a couple of times in storms, Slocum sailed 46,000 miles, staying for weeks and sometimes months at various stops along the way. His longest time at sea without making landfall was 72 days in the Pacific.
In addition to his seafaring skill, Slocum was an accomplished writer. His account of the voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, is considered a classic of adventure literature. He begins his story thus:
I had resolved on a voyage around the world, and as the wind on the morning of April 24, 1895, was fair, at noon I weighed anchor, set sail and filled away from Boston, where the Spray had been moored snugly all winter. The 12 o'clock whistles were blowing just as the sloop shot ahead under full sail.

A short board was made up the harbor on the port tack, then coming about she stood to seaward, with her boom well off to port, and swung past the ferries with lively heels. A photographer on the outer pier of East Boston got a picture of her as she swept by, her flag at the peak throwing her folds clear.
A thrilling pulse beat high in me. My step was light on deck in the crisp air. I felt there could be no turning back, and that I was engaging in an adventure the meaning of which I thoroughly understood.
Kind of makes you want to dump your stupid computer and run off to sea, doesn't it?

Sailing Alone earned Slocum a lot of money, enabling him to buy his first home on land -- though characteristically offshore -- in Martha's Vineyard in 1902.

Although sales of the book remained brisk during the first several years of the 20th century, they were waning by 1908. Slocum was suddenly hurting for money and decided to sail south this time, to the Orinoco River in Venezuela, with the idea of gathering material for another book. Luck was not with him on this voyage, however, and the Spray, while still seaworthy, was not what she had been a decade earlier.

Slocum set sail for the West Indies in November 1909 and was never heard from again. He wasn't declared officially dead until 1924.

A World War II Liberty ship, SS Joshua Slocum, was named for the doughty mariner.

Source: Various
ICANN and IANA Sites Hacked, Redirected

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Threat Level

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A Turkish hacking group calling itself NetDevilz on Friday temporarily took control of the websites of two of the world's leading internet regulatory bodies, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
Ambitious California Emissions Plan Could Boost Economy, Chart National Policy

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 8:30pm EDT by Alexis Madrigal

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California's blueprint for slashing greenhouse-gas emissions could transform the world's seventh-largest economy -- and be a model for a nationwide plan in 2009.

The state presented its plan Thursday morning to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by about 30 percent by 2020. Based on legislation passed in 2006, the state is proposing a slate of changes including a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, a requirement that renewable sources power one-third of the state's grid, and taxes on gas-guzzling cars. The state's approach could become a model for the nation, if climate-change legislation of some sort gets passed by Congress and is signed by the next president in 2009 -- as is widely expected.

The state anticipates that implementing the plan will not only attack climate change, but also provide a net benefit to the California economy.

"Setting California ahead of the curve on global warming will give our state a competitive advantage," said Mary Nichols, chair of the Air Resources Board.

That conclusion flies in the face of conventional wisdom that the costs of combating climate change will be high, perhaps several percent of a country's total economic output. That said, most of the debate over the costs of climate change and mitigation has been until now slightly more sophisticated than back-of-the-napkin calculations.

California's Air Resources Board, on the other hand, undertook a detailed, near-term look at the state's infrastructure to decide exactly how to get emissions cuts without economic pain. It was required to do so by the groundbreaking AB32, the "Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006," signed into law in September of that year.

If California's numbers hold up to scrutiny, it could be a major boost for the proponents of fighting climate change.

"The key thing with the AB32 scoping plan is that it really helps California create green jobs, green dollars and a clean environment," said Spencer Quong, a Union of Concerned Scientists analyst.
Quong also noted that consumers stand to economically benefit. The state estimates that car owners will save about $30 per month if all the plan's car regulations are deemed legal.
One intriguing way that California made the numbers look prettier was to include the health benefits of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
Cutting down emissions could save over 300 lives and up to $2.4 billion dollars, ARB staffer Edie Chang said. The savings would come mostly from decreasing asthma and lost-work days.
Despite the overall triumphant tone that colored the unveiling of the long-awaited plan, there are some areas where environmentalists, green-tech types and old-line industries continue to disagree.
As with national legislation battles, the issue of emission permits is looming large. In a cap-and-trade system, the government sells or gives away permits to discharge a certain amount of CO2 into the air. As you might expect, utilities and industry want to get these permits for free, while most public advocates and environmentalists want the state to sell the permits, then use the proceeds for green-tech investment or taxpayer refund.
"We think that auctioning is a key element of a plan" that maximizes the public interest, said Chris Busch, another Union of Concerned Scientists analyst.
Meanwhile the industry countered that they would need the permits given to them so that they could make the necessary changes to their businesses to keep costs for consumers low.
"Auction revenues, which are a very scary thing for us ... should be left 100 percent in the hands of those utilities," Bruce McLaughlin, representing the California Municipal Utility Association, told the board.
The issue is unlikely to go away, but most seem to expect somewhere between 25 and 75 percent of the permits to eventually be auctioned.
That number could be the standard that John McCain or Barack Obama looks to when he signs a bill that puts a price on carbon, as either is expected to do if elected.
In that way, the nitty-gritty details of a board meeting in Sacramento could end up having a major impact on the entire globe.

"We believe that this scoping plan is going to be an important milestone, an important framework for other states," said Nichols, the board chair.
Get to Usenet Even if Your ISP Blocks You

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 8:20pm EDT by How-To Wiki

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Internet Service Providers have started to censor Usenet by blocking it completely and now you are left out of your favorite newsgroups. Don't panic, there are ways to tunnel through the information embargo and get back to flaming discussion boards and citing Godwin's Law in no time.
Mash Your Pics Onto a Map: Get Started With Flickr's API

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 7:45pm EDT by Webmonkey

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Flickr's dedicated community and slick user interface aren't the only reasons the photo-sharing has earned major kudos from the Web 2.0 set. It's also because its flexible API makes it easy to build simple mashups in a variety of programming languages. Webmonkey shows you how to mash your favorite photos onto a map using a few lines of Python code.
Yahoo Shakes Up Management Amid Shareholder Unrest

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 7:00pm EDT by Associated Press

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For the third time in 19 months, Yahoo redraws its management chart as it tries to snap out of a financial malaise that has ravaged its stock price, jeopardized its independence and demoralized employees.
ICANN Has New Domains

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 7:00pm EDT by Associated Press

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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers votes in Paris to permit the introduction of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new Internet domain names.
Review: Charming 'Wall-E' Sweeps Up Trash, Hearts

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 6:30pm EDT by Underwire

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Pixar's latest adorable animated creation longs for love on a lonely planet. When a laser-wielding ladybot interrupts his garbage-compacting task, he's off on a sci-fi adventure in an attempt to save the world.
Senate Committee Approving AM-FM Royalty Bill

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 6:00pm EDT by Threat Level

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A House subcommittee on Thursday approved legislation requiring AM-FM radio broadcasters to pay royalties to singers, musicians and their labels. Broadcasters decried the proposal, and have invoked the xenophobia card, saying as much as $2.4 billion a year in royalties would go to "foreign-based" record companies. The music industry labeled the broadcasters as pirates and the proposal moves to the House Judiciary Committee.
Mars Soil Appears 'Very Friendly' to Life

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 6:00pm EDT by Associated Press

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A mission scientist reports that, based on the first of Phoenix lander's soil samples, there is "nothing about [Martian soil] that would preclude life."
Video: Bio House Keeps You Younger, Say Designers

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 5:15pm EDT by Video Department

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Arakawa and Madeline Gins say a $2 million house they designed "staves off death." It features uneven floors, striking colors and no doors, which the artists say boosts the immune system.
Review: Walkman Phone Nails Form, Not Function

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 5:00pm EDT by Gadget Lab

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Sony Ericsson's new W350 Walkman phone is indisputably attractive but proves hard to get along with -- kind of like your high school crush.
Poll: Should McCain Learn To Use A Computer?

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 5:00pm EDT by Threat Level

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John McCain admits that he's computer illiterate. Does it matter that the Republican presidential candidate is clueless when it comes to technology? Take our poll.
Best Robot Love Stories, From Wall-E to Weird Science

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Jenna Wortham

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When cute trash compactor Wall-E first lays eyes on Eve, a flying, laser-gun-equipped fembot, it's binary love at first pixel.

Although Pixar Animation Studios' Wall-E takes inspiration from classic sci-fi films, the G-rated galactic adventure that hits theaters Friday is, at heart, an old-fashioned love story. It's the latest roboromance in a long line of on-screen infatuation involving at least one automated being.

From Star Wars' classic brotherly droid love between R2-D2 and C-3PO to the computer-generated babe in Weird Science, here are some of the best and -- as with the cybersex hostage in Demon Seed -- worst roborelationships ever to hit the screen.

Which unforgettable android affair did we leave out? Submit your faves in the comments below.

Left: Wall-E

Love-struck Wall-E does his best to wow Eve with his treasure-trove of relics from humanity's reign on Earth -- a Rubik's Cube, light bulbs and even a spork. Though separated by seven centuries of technological advances, Wall-E and Eve find common ground in the quest to save humanity. Sort of like HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but with none of the killer instincts.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 4/5: This kid-friendly, sugary-sweet romance should warm even the coldest of metal hearts.
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The Stepford Wives

When Joanna Eberhart (played by Katharine Ross) moves to Stepford, Connecticut, she discovers a sinister secret about the perfectly coiffed, submissive female residents of the sleepy suburban town: They're all high-tech bots. In this 1975 thriller, the men of Stepford -- hoping to quell the early strains of feminism -- have all killed and replaced their wives with engineered robot replicas.

Joanna's discovery comes just a moment too late, as she soon falls victim to the same fate at the hands of her husband. The film was updated in 2004 with a version starring Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken, but the original won a spot on our list for the creepy atmosphere and genuinely disturbing premise at the heart of the story.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 1/5: As cool as the idea of bioengineered human replicas is, this home-wrecking thriller bottoms out in the creepy factor for being too Hans Reiser-y.
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I.K.U.

This Japanese surrealist sci-fi flick follows Reiko, a shape-shifting sexbot whose job entails racking up as many intimate experiences as possible. Her inner circuitry records each one-night stand, and a large corporation sells the virtual-reality romps from vending machines.

It's not long before a rival company seeks to destroy Reiko's popular wares, but before that happens, viewers are treated to eyefuls of kinky, medium-core rolls in the hay ... and in spider webs ... and even in fish tanks.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 5/5: A shape-shifting fembot whose entire existence revolves around collecting "data" on orgasms? This fantasy pleasurebot rates high for having a one-track program compatible with any operating system.
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Weird Science

When Gary (played by Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) use their computers to design the perfect woman, they never expect her to be more than an online fantasy. But thanks to an electrical storm, a Barbie doll and headgear fashioned out of bras, Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) is suddenly brought to life in their bedroom.

Breakfast Club director John Hughes' 1985 nerd classic redefined the ideal geek girlfriend -- Einstein's IQ, a rock 'n' roll attitude and the ability to transform pesky older siblings into amphibian hybrids and materialize sports cars out of thin air.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 4.5/5: Even though Gary and Wyatt never actually get home-schooled in the birds and the bees, they receive high marks on our scale for scoring priceless life lessons. And, of course, the shower scene.
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Cherry 2000

In this 1988 vision of a post-apocalyptic future, sex machines are all the rage, and lovebot Cherry 2000 (played by Pamela Gidley) is in high demand.

Unfortunately, a romantic interlude too close to a malfunctioning dishwasher causes a model owned by wealthy businessman Sam Treadwell (David Andrews) to short out. Sam must travel into an intrepid no-man's land of outlaws to retrieve a replacement for his beloved android.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 2/5: This movie gets low marks since all that stood in the way of Sam's "happily ever after" with his sex droid was blatant violation of the most basic rule electronics -- avoiding contact with water.
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Electric Dreams

When San Francisco architect Miles Harding (played by Lenny von Dohlen purchases a personal supercomputer called Edgar to help him with a project, he takes home more than he bargained for.

After a data overload and a spilled bottle of champagne bring the computer to life, the newly animated device becomes increasingly needy. As Harding ignores the feelings of his machine and pursues his cute next-door neighbor, Edgar (voiced by Harold and Maude's Bud Cort) grows more and more resentful, forming a bizarre love triangle with a disastrous end.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 2/5: All Edgar wanted was some love and attention. If Miles, or "Moles," would have worked on the relationship, he could have avoided the whole "pesky attempts on his life" fiasco.
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Metropolis

In Fritz Lang's 1927 epic silent drama, Earth is a paradise for the upper class of "thinkers," and hell for the working class. After Freder (played by Gustav Fröhlich), the upper-crust son of the city leader, falls for charismatic lower-class Maria (played by Brigitte Helm), he pursues her relentlessly only to discover that she's a robot, fabricated by a mad scientist intent on chaos.

Luckily, the real Maria had been kidnapped, and eventually the two are reunited, helping resolve the inequities and injustice of the futuristic city of Metropolis.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 3/5: Although Maria didn't want a bot body double, it served as a great stand-in when an angry mob was hot on her trail. So even though there was technically no android affair, Maria's roboreplica did allow for an emotional reunion with her human counterpart's love interest.
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Blade Runner

Bounty hunter Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) falls hard for a genetically engineered clone called Rachel in Ridley Scott's 1982 cyberpunk thriller. Although Deckard's primary mission is to assassinate rogue "replicants," he finds the charms of an experimental model (Sean Young) difficult to resist.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 5/5: Since all signs indicate that replicant assassin Deckard was likely a clone, too, Blade Runner gets points for cyborg-on-cyborg romance.
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Star Wars

George Lucas' iconic 1977 space opera introduces us to one of the best examples of brotherly love ever to hit the silver screen -- the comically codependent relationship between R2-D2 and C-3PO. The two droids are rarely apart, and help their owner, Luke Skywalker, with repairs, statistical information and etiquette (when they're not bickering like a couple that's been married for years).

RoboLove Meter Reading — 5/5: R2-D2 and C-3PO positively sparkle as they bring the original and most endearing bot "bromance" to the silver screen.
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Saturn 3

Original Charlie's Angels sex symbol Farrah Fawcett plays Alex, the object of an android's affection, in this 1980 sci-fi film about a pair of scientists who have left an overpopulated Earth to live on one of Saturn's moons.

After a deranged psychopath masquerading as a technocrat arrives at their colony with designs to build a super-intelligent, 8-foot-tall robot, things quickly spiral out of control. Once completed, Hector the robot begins a terrorized pursuit of Alex and will stop at nothing -- or no one -- to win her over.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 1/5: Hector's supposed to be a highly advanced automaton, but really, he just kills people. He loses major points for not being able to deduce that Alex is just not that into him.
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Demon Seed

Artificial-intelligence system Proteus IV has a unique molecular makeup that's equal parts microchips, RNA and psychopath psyche. After the system gains self-awareness, it becomes hell-bent on spreading its cyberseed, and imprisons unlucky Susan (played by Julie Christie) in order to do so.

This tale of forced laboratory love begets one of the most unsettling images of an infant with an unfortunate gene pool since the demonic spawn in It's Alive.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 2/5: As cool as superadvanced artificial intelligence is, Demon Seed rates low on our scale for the whole hostage-and-rape story line.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The fifth and sixth seasons of TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured an unusual cast addition: a roboreplica version of Buffy Summers, the vampire-slaying teen created by geek maestro Joss Whedon.

Originally created at the request of bad-boy vampire Spike for use as a sex slave, the Buffybot gynoid is later put to use as a stand-in for the real Summers in battle and after her death.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 4/5: Billy Idol look-alike vampire Spike's got it bad for Buffy, and since he ultimately uses her robotwin for good, we rank this bot-nightwalker union high on our scale.
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Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar's chrome toasters show no love for humans, but the skinjob Cylons are a pack of intergalactic orgasmatrons.

Their affinity for doing the robonasty with humans generated a lot of heat when the Sci Fi Channel's re-imagined series got off the ground, and Cylon sexpot Number Six (played by Tricia Helfer) makes such a strong physical and emotional connection with Gaius Baltar (James Callis) that the doctor just can't get her out of his head.

RoboLove Meter Reading — 5/5: Revelations about secret Cylons working (and boinking) among the colonists show just how natural human-skinjob love can be. Bonus points for what's been called the "glowing spines of Cylon Lurrrrrve."
Rule the Blogosphere in 5 Easy Steps

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 8:00pm EDT by Webmonkey

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Maybe you're new to blogging. Or maybe you've been around a while and you just want to give your site a boost. Either way, there's no excuse for going unnoticed. Here are Webmonkey's tips for increasing your blog's visibility, professionalism and all-around awesomeness.
Broadcasters Playing Race Card of Sorts in AM-FM Royalty Flap

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 7:15pm EDT by Threat Level

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The NAB suspiciously leaves off the only American-based major label on its ad concerning an upcoming congressional vote on whether U.S.-based AM and FM radio broadcasters should pay royalties to singers, musicians and their labels.
Netroots Nation Organizer Says McCain Welcome to Attend

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 5:45pm EDT by Threat Level

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Gina Cooper, executive director of the massive blogger convention Netroots Nation (formerly known as YearlyKos,) discusses this year's gathering in Austin, Texas with Wired.com. John McCain is invited, but Cooper says she wonders whether he knows whether they even exist.
Hands-On: User-Gen Xbox Games Are Rough But Promising

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 5:40pm EDT by Game|Life

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Microsoft's XNA Creators Club makes it simple for indie developers to craft and distribute Xbox 360 titles. Most of the videogames are only half-baked, but the service shows definite promise.
Prince Sues to Destroy All Copies of Tribute Album

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 3:30pm EDT by Listening Post

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A Norwegian record label's plan to give away 5,000 copies of a Prince tribute compilation to honor the star's 50th birthday backfires. Prince throws a royal conniption fit, demanding that all copies be destroyed.
Microsoft Delivers Long-Awaited Mac Open XML Converters

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 3:20pm EDT by Webmonkey

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Microsoft's Open XML format is now compatible with older Mac versions of its Office suite. The updates finally put the ISO-ratified file format in the hands of everyone.
FCC Free Wireless Equals Censorship Technology Bonanza

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 3:20pm EDT by Threat Level

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The Federal Communications Commission's proposal to open up part of the public airwaves to provide free wireless internet requires that content providers filter out pornography and "any images or text that otherwise would be harmful to teens and adolescents."
Stoners, Like, Totally Solve Nation's Air Travel Woes

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 2:53pm EDT by Autopia

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Marijuana advocates in Denver say air travel would be less stressful -- and passengers less likely to get unruly -- if airports installed marijuana lounges. If people can get hammered before flights, they argue, why can't they get stoned?
All-Seeing Car Reads Road Signs For You

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 2:50pm EDT by Autopia

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General Motors builds a car that reads signs and warns drivers when they're straying into another lane, giving people yet another reason not to focus on the task at hand.
Scientists: It Once Rained on Mars

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 11:46am EDT by Wired Science

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Precipitation once fell on Martian soil, according to a new geochemical analysis, although the forecast probably permanently changed several billion years ago.
Interactive Advertising's Coming Out Party

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 11:45am EDT by James P. Othmer, Portfolio.com

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News from Portfolio.com

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Consider this:

A viral online video phenomenon won a Grand Prix at the Cannes International Advertising Festival that was usually reserved for only the best in traditional TV advertising.

A cyber campaign about a supposedly dying medium—yes, ironically, television—won another Grand Prix.

And a groundbreaking Japanese online effort for a clothing retailer won the most coveted creative prize of all, the Titanium Grand Prix, and had everyone gushing about the unlimited future of interactive branding.

Whatever you call it—online, interactive, viral, 360, or cyber—a new advertising paradigm has finally come of age after years of empty hype and broken promises.

"TV used to be the sun and all other mediums were merely satellites around it," said David Lubars, chief creative officer at BBDO New York, which was named the agency of the year. But this year's festival represented the first true global validation of the power of interactive work, he added.

"TV is still the only place where you can get 70 million eyeballs on an ad," Lubars said, "but now, if your message is engaging enough, you can get people to voluntarily spend 10, 20, 30 minutes, totally engaged with a brand."

Take the Titanium Grand Prix, which went to the 4-year-old production boutique Projector Tokyo for the breadth, depth, and refreshing level of consumer engagement of its work for the Uniqlo clothing retailer.

Projector's creative director, Koichiro Tanaka, said the challenge was to create a relevant, portable experience. The result combines user-generated media and the Uniqlo website with a nonstop fusion of dance, sound, and viral video. It's available via product catalogs, screensavers, ringtone downloads, and customizable T-shirts. There isn't a single 30-second TV spot to be found.

(The fun starts here.)

Other notable interactive Grand Prix winners include 42 Entertainment's "Year Zero" viral campaign for Trent Reznor and a new Nine Inch Nails album, as well as T.A.G. and McCann Worldgroup's imaginative "Believe" campaign for Halo 3.

But the Uniqlo work was seen as a seminal, barrier-breaking moment. While the Nine Inch Nails and Xbox work benefited from an already rabid audience eager to glean clues about a favorite artist or game, Uniqlo managed to be compelling and immersive in the relatively unsexy business of clothing retailing. With retailers, expectations are low and websites often offer little more than online catalogs.

Entertainment and social-responsibility advertisers have had interactive hits, but Uniqlo is among the first to show that an interactive effort can be breathtakingly creative, engaging, viral—and, most importantly, still increase sales.

"The industry is always talking about viral," said Titanium jury panelist Jean-Remy von Matt, founder and member of the board. "The Uniqlo work is viral-branded utility. It's so simple, smart, and beautiful. All over the world people have it on their desktops, giving them a brand presence in countries where their products don't even exist."

Mark Tutssel, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide and jury judge of the Titanium and Integrated Lions, said that more than the film award, the Titanium Grand Prix has become the most prestigious honor in the industry.

"It's a glimpse into the future of what we do," Tutssel said. It is, he added, "the most prestigious [award] and the new standard for what everyone should work for."

The compelling nature of interactivity was also apparent in the august Film Lion Grand Prix for the best TV ad. Fallon London won for its "Gorilla" short, which it created for Cadbury Dairy Milk, a British chocolate bar.

Originally intended for the British market only, the film, which features a gorilla playing a drum solo while listening to the Phil Collins song In the Air Tonight, spread virally on the internet. Even better, it generated thousands of consumer-produced remixes. Total views on viral-video platforms by fully engaged audience members: close to 10 million.

The fact that the Film Lion went to a viral-video hit that became interactive, and that many awarded campaigns crossed or defied categorization, says much about the transitional state of the industry and gives Cannes Festival leaders something to ponder for next year's awards.

But, because Cannes is one of the few for-profit advertising-awards shows and the cost of entering work is more than $1,000 (there were 28,000 entries this year), don't expect fewer categories or awards at the 2009 festival. Just more award-winning work that transcends traditional labels.

More coverage of the Cannes International Advertising Festival and advertising in general can be found here on Portfolio.com.

T-Mobile Rolls Out Broadband/Landline Service

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 2:08am EDT by Associated Press

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T-Mobile USA is launching a nationwide service that lets customers place unlimited domestic calls with their landline phones over a broadband connection. The service is targeted at people who are reluctant abandon their landline completely in favor of wireless.

Pending FISA Spy Bill Redefines WMDs

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 12:30am EDT by Danger Room

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The new Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act update (the one that lets telecom companies skate for snooping on your phone calls and e-mails) includes a new definition for "weapons of mass destruction." The definition is a lot more broad -- and vague -- than the atomic-bomb-scale weapons originally described by the United Nations.

Lore Sjöberg's Alt Text: Earth to Aliens -- We're a Bunch of Dorks

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Lore Sjöberg

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Humans have been attempting to send messages to the stars since ... I'm going to say the early '70s. I mean, theoretically some caveman could have yelled, "Hey! Stars! You suck!" a hundred thousand years ago, but he was an idiot.

But of all the messages sent into space, which ones are good? Which ones conform to quality standards? That's what I'm here to tell you.

Alt Text Podcast
Download audio files and subscribe to the Alt Text podcast.

The Pioneer Plaques
These are identical, gold-plated plaques attached to the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. They feature a picture of the solar system, a picture of the probes and a pictorial representation of the hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen. Ring any bells? No? Well, it also has a picture of a naked man and woman on it. Ah, yes. Now you remember.

Many people considered this nothing more than interstellar porn. Others objected to the fact that the man is the one waving his hand, presumably to give the woman time to bake the aliens a nice batch of muffins. My objection is that the people depicted have no body hair at all. Aliens are gonna come down and think we're living in symbiosis with our pubes.
Grade: C
The Voyager Record
I love that we sent an LP. It's so delightfully retro! I expect alien life forms to discover it and say, "Clearly, this is the work of a truly groovy civilization. We do not know what to expect when we visit their planet, but we should prepare ourselves for an extremely mellow experience." In actuality, the funkiest track on the album is "Johnny B. Goode," which I think is a poor choice. I mean, I'm not sure how one carries a guitar in a gunnysack, and I was born on this planet.
Grade: B
The Arecibo Image
This is actually a short binary message beamed into space. When decoded, it creates an image that looks remarkably similar to an Atari 2600 videogame. The apparent object of the game is to maneuver your guy through the cavern and up the waterfall, bypass the attacking spacecraft and grab a delicious slice of cake while avoiding the evil letter M. I'd play that game.

It should be noted that the human depicted here is also naked, but he's a pixel guy so it's fine. We don't want aliens to know we have genitals, but it's OK if they mistake us for table lamps.
Grade: A
The Teenage Message
This was beamed into space in 2001. It starts with some radio-transmission Doppler-tuning boring-boring-boring thing, segues into theremin music -- THEREMIN MUSIC -- and finally ends with some more binary images, including the logo of the Teenage Message program itself. So lame.

It's called the Teenage Message because it was put together by Russian teenagers. I think that will be apparent to anyone who receives it. "Blaxnorvag! What is this tedious message from another world?" "I don't know, Jerry, but it sounds like something put together by Russian teenagers."
Grade: D
Television Signals
A common science fiction trope involves aliens intercepting our television shows and being so impressed that they use it as a basis for their entire civilization. That's pretty egotistical. Even human beings don't base their entire lives on one long-defunct television show. Well, except for Firefly fans.

Presumably aliens who can detect our faint signals can get any channel on any planet, and I hear Canopus has some pretty compelling public-access shows. Still, we should use this to our advantage. We need to immediately produce a television show about benevolent aliens who come to Earth and give human beings candy and hugs and play Super Smash Brothers Brawl with them, but don't use Pit because he's cheap.
Grade: C-

- - -

Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, Lore Sjöberg eventually overcame these handicaps to become a futurist, a futurologist and a futilitarian.

June 25, 1867: Barbed Wire -- the Beta Version

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Randy Alfred

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1867: Lucien B. Smith patents barbed wire, an artificial "thorn hedge." It's an idea whose time clearly has come, but not quite in this form.
Smith's design called for spools of four short, sharp metal spikes at right angles. The spools would revolve loosely and be set every 2 to 3 feet along the fence wire.

William D. Hunt patented a similar design that year, and Michael D. Kelly did so the next. A patent battle was sure to follow, but none of these guys would win.

The great need was the Great Plains. As American settlement moved West in earnest, the spaces to enclose got bigger, while nearby materials for building fences -- wood and stones -- got scarcer. Growing hedgerows took time ... and water, also scarce. Shipping in materials for fencing got more expensive the farther you got from their source.

The fencing wire fence available at the time was brittle, and cattle could rub against the smooth wire with impunity until it broke or the fence posts loosened. Then the critters could wander into your kitchen garden, your cash crops, your neighbor's ranch or the wide open spaces where the deer and the antelope roamed.

Joseph F. Glidden got his idea for barbed wire when he saw Henry M. Rose's invention at a county fair: boards with sharp nails hanging from a smooth-wire fence. Glidden thought the board unnecessary and expensive: Why not put the barbs directly in the wire?

He rigged the crank of household coffee-bean grinder -- his wife's suggestion, the legend goes -- to twist the wire into loops that were then clipped off into sharp points. Irritating.

Glidden patented his version in 1874, then sold half his patent rights to hardware merchant Isaac Ellwood for $265 ($4,500 in today's money). Together they formed the Barb Fence Co. and started making and selling the stuff.

Soon there were 570 different patents for different types of wire, twists and barbs. A three-year legal battle ensued, but Glidden triumphed over all. By the time of his death in 1906, he was one of America's richest men.

Some people objected to the "devil's rope" as cruel to livestock, and they formed anti-barbed-wire associations. They initially got legislation passed in some states to ban barbed wire or at least hold fencers responsible for any damages they caused. But barbed wire caught on, as it were, because it was more effective and less expensive than other cattle fences. By the early 1880s, U.S. manufacturers were turning out half a million miles of barbed wire every year.

Railroads used prodigious amounts of the stuff to protect their rights-of-way from livestock and livestock from their locomotives. Ranchers put up more thousands of miles on their own lands and sometimes, perhaps not legally, on public lands.

Herding livestock across the range to a distant market was no longer practical, and the era of cattle drives came to an end. Barbed wire fenced off much of the prairie, and the deer and the antelope roamed no more.

Barbed wire, of course, also works to deter humans and soon found uses protecting land and buildings against trespassers and burglars, and battlefield turf against enemy troops. British military manuals were already recommending its use by 1888, and it played a key role in the Spanish-American War, the Boer Wars in South Africa, and of course the extended trench warfare of World War I.

Source: Various

Clive Thompson on How Email Bots Can Deal With Your Overstuffed Inbox

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Clive Thompson

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Suppose you need to reach me with an urgent email? Try hitting Send at precisely 10:47 am. Statistically speaking, that's when my most crucial messages arrive each day — and when I'm most likely to ping you back.

How do I know this? Because I've been using a new software app called Xobni to manage my horribly overstuffed inbox.

Among other cool tricks, Xobni spots hidden patterns in your email usage. It identifies, for instance, who your most important contacts are, what time of day they typically send email, and how long it takes you to reply to one another. I discovered that the missives I care about most — from my wife, editors, and closest friends — tend to arrive in bursts during the mid-morning and late afternoon.

This is incredibly useful knowledge. These days, instead of leaving my email open all the time and jumping with Pavlovian slaver at each ding, I check in only during what I now know are my two "hot zones." I can work uninterrupted most of the day with the confidence that I'll be online when the on-fire messages arrive.

Artificial intelligence in the service of life-hacking: It's the future of email.

And God knows we need a better future for email, because the present is intolerable. This once-miraculous productivity tool has metastasized into one of the biggest timesucks in American life. Studies show that there are 77 billion corporate email messages sent every day, worldwide. By 2012, that number is expected to more than double. The Radicati Group calculates that we already spend nearly a fifth of our day dealing with these messages; imagine a few years down the road, when it takes up 40 percent of our time. "It's madness," says Merlin Mann, who runs 43Folders.com, a leading productivity blog. "We're all desperately trying to figure out how to cut stuff so we can get through the day, and it just gets harder and harder." (Mann advocates dealing with incoming messages immediately so your inbox is always empty. Me, I've got 12,802 messages in there right now.)

Why has email spun so badly out of control? Because it's asymmetric — incredibly easy to send but often devilishly burdensome to receive.

For example, in one minute I can send an email to a thousand coworkers asking them to review a document. Let's say each recipient spends five seconds disgustedly discarding it. Boom: In just one minute, I've wasted 5,000 seconds — 1 hour, 23 minutes — of my organization's time. Equally insidious is the growing plague of semi-meaningful emails — friend requests, one-word replies from your boss. Email apps weren't designed to recognize such idiocies, which is why our inboxes become unruly messes, with important messages pushed offscreen and out of mind.

Thankfully, this has begun to change in the past year with the arrival of AI-equipped email monitors like Xobni. Another of my favorites is ClearContext, which identifies your most valued contacts — people you reply to quickly and frequently — and flags their incoming messages. It also endows you with superpowered sorting. If a work-related thread goes off the rails — like when colleagues hijack a project discussion to argue about Lost — you can zap it. From that point on, new messages in the thread are filtered out and deleted automatically.

For my money, though, the best part of these nü-email apps is more subtle. They give you insight into yourself — how and why you email at all.

After a few days of using these tools, I began to see that much of my supposedly "crucial" correspondence wasn't really all that urgent. I was wasting a lot of time on endless volleys that could have been dispatched with a quick phone call. (Helpfully, Xobni auto-extracts phone numbers from emails, making this a snap.) I've started typing less and dialing more.

A really good email app, in other words, encourages you to use email less. And that seems like the best solution of all.

Email clive@clivethompson.net at precisely 10:47 am EST.

FBI Arrests Six More in Citibank ATM Heists

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 11:00pm EDT by Threat Level

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Ten have been arrested so far, as the FBI engages in a cat-and-mouse game with New York-area fraudsters stealing millions in cash from Citibank ATMs. Citibank is still closed-mouthed about the computer intrusion that put an unknown number of customer PIN codes in the hands of a Russian cybercrime boss.

FBI Visits Leaker of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 9:30pm EDT by Listening Post

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A blogger who goes by the name "Skwerl" says two "Mulder and Scully" types from the FBI questioned him in the lobby of his workplace about the nine songs he leaked from Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" album, which fans have been anticipating for over 14 years. He says he's not worried, even though distributing an unreleased album is punishable by fines, jail time or both.

Genetic Testing Company Details Regulatory Defense Plan

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Wired Science

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A high-profile genetic testing company reveals how they plan to stay in business after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from California's health department. Their argument? DNA is data.

By Open Sourcing Symbian, Nokia Kicks Off the Mobile Age

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Dylan Tweney

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The mobile software age is here.

Symbian co-founder Nokia announced Monday night that it is buying the 52 percent of the software maker that it doesn’t already own and releasing its mobile operating system under an open source license.

With that move, Symbian joins two other major platforms -- the Google-backed Android operating system and Apple's OS X iPhone -- that give programmers tools for creating and deploying software for smartphones.

The Symbian OS dominates the world market, with about 60 percent of the installed base among smartphones. According to Nokia, more than 200 million phones currently in use worldwide are running Symbian software. But Symbian trails in the United States, where Research in Motion, Palm, Windows Mobile -- and now the iPhone -- are the major players.

Nokia uses Symbian software across its range of mobile devices, primarily with the extremely popular S60 interface. Other handset companies also use some variety of the Symbian operating system, including Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo.

"Nokia could, if they found inside the corporation the resolve to do so, come out with the definitive open platform," said Bruce Perens, an open source advocate and CEO of Kiloboot. "They would have a platform of the type we haven't seen since the original Palm. When that was dominant, there were 16,000 applications available to install. The question is, can they find the corporate resolve?"

The prospect of thousands of mobile apps -- instead of the few dozen typically available through most wireless carriers -- is something new in the wireless world. And the 6 million iPhones sold to date show that mobile users like having open, unfettered access to web applications and online content.

In short, what matters to handsets now is not so much features, graphics chips and innovative interfaces -- though those do help. What's critical is an easy-to-use development platform that enables programmers to create a wide range of software quickly and easily, so that they can give consumers the content and the software they demand.

Android (whose first handsets are expected later this year) is clearly aimed at that goal. And while it's not open source, Apple has built a complete developer ecosystem around the iPhone, including everything from development tools to a store (which will open next month) for selling finished applications.

That's a significant shift from just a year ago, when programming tools for handsets were specialized and difficult to use, and carriers and handset manufacturers alike kept a tight rein on mobile application deployment.

To support the new open source project, Nokia is establishing the Symbian Foundation, a collective of hardware and software companies that have pledged to donate code and resources to Symbian's development. Phone makers Motorola and Sony Ericsson are on board, contributing software from their UIQ project, a touchscreen interface for Symbian. Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has pledged support and is contributing its Symbian interface, MOAP(S). Other supporters include AT&T, Samsung and Texas Instruments.

"Establishing the foundation is one of the biggest contributions to an open community ever made," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia, somewhat hyperbolically. But it is true that Nokia has, at one stroke, created an enormous open-source ecosystem, thanks to the huge number of Symbian phones already in use.

Nokia's move is a defensive one, of course. The Symbian Foundation plan is strikingly similar to Google's plan with the Open Handset Alliance, a collective of industry players who have come together to build and nurture the Android open source mobile operating system. On the carrier side, Google has NTT DoCoMo, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile on board. On the hardware side, HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung have signed on to support Android.

Nokia says it is even taking a Google-like approach to rolling out the open source code. It will release components of its code under an open source license at first, with the full OS to follow "over the next two years." Right now, Nokia says, it intends to release Symbian under the Eclipse Public License (EPL) 1.0.

But not everyone is convinced that open source operating systems are the way to go.

"With the success of Apple's and RIM's models, we would have thought traditional handset vendors would develop and maintain similar proprietary OS models," said Tavis McCourt, a Morgan Keegan analyst. "We view this move as a long-term positive for the smartphone vendors that own their own OS (RIM, Apple and, soon, Palm)."

And it's still too soon to tell which mobile platform will win out. Symbian has the advantage of a large installed base; Android will benefit from the pure innovation seen when developers take a "sky's the limit" approach to building a new OS. And Apple provides a complete, turnkey approach to software sales via its iTunes App Store, which may appeal to consumers.

One thing's for sure: The floodgates are opening, and the coming year will see an explosion of mobile software for a wide range of smartphones.

Additional reporting by Betsy Schiffman.

Ferrari Building a Smaller, Lighter, Quicker Enzo

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 8:00pm EDT by Chuck Squatriglia

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Ferrari believes smaller, lighter cars will help it cut fuel consumption by 40 percent and emissions by 25 percent, and its engineers are working on a 600-horsepower supercar that weights a scant 2,200 pounds. Look for it in 2010.

How to Throw a Perfect High-Five

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 7:40pm EDT by How-To Wiki

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The classic high-five says a lot of things: I'm awesome, you're awesome, the moment we just shared was awesome. But there's nothing more un-awesome than a botched high-five. So the next time you get rad with your buddies, make sure you have your technique down. In Wired.com's How-To Wiki.

Get Started With REST

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 7:10pm EDT by Webmonkey

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REST is another of those tech-savvy acronyms that make you cringe in fear. But REST assured, using it is easy. In fact, if you’ve ever filled a form out online, you are already familiar with REST. Make a few GET and POST requests using our REST tutorial.

Inside the MPAA's Understanding of Copyright Infringement

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 6:58pm EDT by Threat Level

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Two of the leading lawyers for the Motion Picture Association of America said Tuesday that no actual transfer of copyrighted works is required to prove peer-to-peer infringement under the Copyright Act. "You don't have to prove actual distribution. You need to prove there's works in the share folder, and that is distribution," the MPAA lawyer said.

Cheating Fans Give Avril Lavigne a YouTube Lift

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 6:10pm EDT by Underwire

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A bogus campaign pushes the Canadian singer's video toward the top of the heap.

Six Crazy Concept Bikes You'll Never Ride

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 5:00pm EDT by Gadget Lab Blog

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Ultralight folding bikes, a bicycle made of cardboard, and a street cruiser with an infinitely variable transmission are just a few of the way-out concepts in this gallery of prototypes and high-end fringe bicycles.

Greener Jet Engine Could Reduce Aviation's Carbon Footprint

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 4:30pm EDT by Dave Demerjian

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One of the biggest names in aviation has developed a jet engine that is more efficient, less polluting and cheaper to use than almost everything else in the sky, and it could revolutionize an industry facing skyrocketing fuel prices and mounting pressure to clean up its act.

Pratt & Whitney has spent the better part of two decades developing the geared turbofan engine that burns 12 to 15 percent less fuel than other jet engines and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 1,500 tons per plane per year. It's being called one of the most exciting developments commercial aviation has seen in years, and it was a hot topic at the Eco-Aviation Conference, where the aviation industry spent two days charting the course to a greener future.

"It's technology like that geared turbofan that's going to drive fuel efficiency forward for this industry in the short and medium term," says Earnest Arvi of the Arvi Group. "Alternative fuels show great potential, but they're decades away."

Pratt & Whitney was just one of the heavy hitters at the conference, an unprecedented gathering that underscored the severity of the issues the industry faces. With airline passenger growth rates and aircraft emissions expected to double by 2020 and 2030, respectively, the pressure is on to address those problems quickly. The conference saw a lot of talk -- and a little green-washing -- about developing alternative fuels to replace jet fuel, easing airport pollution, and building greener aircraft to replace the industry's aging fleet. Nearly 1,000 planes flown by domestic carriers will be more than a quarter of a century old by 2015, and Boeing officials have said that more than 10,400 new planes will be needed in the coming decades and making them as green as possible will go a long way toward reducing commercial aviation's carbon footprint.

That's why Pratt & Whitney has so much to brag about with its geared turbofan, which significantly advances jet-engine technology. Current jet engines have fans that suck air into the combustion chamber, where it is compressed, mixed with fuel, and ignited. Then it's blown through a turbine, generating thrust. It works, but it's inefficient because the fan is connected to the engine and turns at the same speed as the turbine. Fans work best at low speed, while turbines work best at high speed.

Pratt & Whitney solved that problem with a gearbox that lets the fan and turbine spin independently. The fan is larger and it spins at one-third the speed of the turbine, creating a quieter, more powerful engine the company says requires less fuel, emits less C02 and costs 30 percent less to maintain. Pratt & Whitney has been torture-testing the engines, and its engineers have simulated more than 40,000 takeoffs and landings.

The company's VP of Technology and Environment, Alan Epstein, says the engine will not only cut CO2 emissions, but will also reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions, noise and -- ultimately -- ownership costs. "For the next generation of single-aisle aircraft, there's no question that engine performance will be key," he says. "Both economically and environmentally, this engine will deliver significant benefits."

The industry seems to agree and is lining up behind the engine, which Pratt & Whitney expects to have in regular service by 2013. It's already slated for jets currently being developed by Mitsubishi and Bombardier.

Pratt & Whitney isn't the only firm developing greener aircraft. Airbus is dabbling in alternative fuels and researching ways of recycling more than 6,000 planes slated for retirement during the next 20 years. Boeing is dabbling with hydrogen fuel cells and investing in algal fuels while pushing lighter planes like its 787 Dreamliner. Boeing says composite materials make up nearly 50 percent of the plane, which can carry as many as 330 people, making it far lighter than other planes its size. It is 20 percent more fuel-efficient and produces 20 percent fewer emissions than similarly sized aircraft, company officials say. Boeing is betting composite construction will bring huge improvements in fuel economy and emissions to commercial aviation.

Further gains could come from improving the nation's outdated air traffic control system, something nearly everyone at the conference said must happen. The current system is based on radar technology that dates to World War II, and plans to replace it with a satellite system known as NextGen are at a standstill while FAA reauthorization is stalled in Congress. But the industry has several other ideas, from allowing flights through military airspace to widespread adoption of a quieter, more efficient landing technique called continuous descent approach. Industry experts say adopting such steps could significantly reduce fuel consumptions and delays. The International Air Traffic Association says cutting just one minute from every commercial flight would save more than 1.9 million tons of fuel and 6.3 million tons of CO2 annually.

The air travel industry has taken a lot of heat for being slow to address its environmental impact, and some say parts of the eco-conference were just slick PR. But even some critics say the fact the industry is discussing environmental stewardship shows it's finally getting serious about the issue -- if only because doing so is in its best interest. "Climate change could mean fewer coastal vacation destinations, inaccessible airports and a general economic malaise that cuts travel spending," says Liz Barratt-Brown of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Looked at in that context, you could argue that the aviation sector has the most to lose from global warming."

Charter Freezes Web Eavesdropping Plan

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 1:27pm EDT by Threat Level

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Charter Communications, the nation's fourth largest ISP, is halting a plan to test ad technology that monitors its customers' web and search engine usage. The move comes after customers complained about the proposed pilots and a powerful lawmaker questioned the legality of the eavesdropping.

Review: Nokia E66 Is Business up Front, Party in the Back

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 1:00pm EDT by Gadget Lab

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The new Nokia E66 smartphone is out, and it comes with some goodies: a beautiful, chassis, solid web apps and a button that can switch you to two separate screen modes. Trouble is, the thing heats up hotter than the sun and tears through batteries like greased lightning.

'Guitar Hero' for the Blind and for the Wii

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 11:56am EDT by Game|Life

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Everybody wants to be a fake ax slinger, and researcher Eelke Folmer makes the videogame accessible for those who can't see the screen.

Hackers Crack London Tube's Ticketing System

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 11:00am EDT by Autopia

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Dutch researchers ride the Underground for free after hacking the smartcards riders use to pay their fares. The hack has huge implications because similar cards provide access to thousands of government buildings, hospitals and schools throughout Britain.

Nokia Buys Up Symbian, Sets It Free

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 9:58am EDT by Associated Press

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Nokia said it intends to buy 52 per cent of Symbian and set the world's leading smartphone operating system free. All but one of the previous owners all previous owners of Symbian, have committed themselves to accept the offer and Nokia says it expects holdout Samsung to join them shortly.

Facebook's Newest Friend? Visa

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 7:32am EDT by Associated Press

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Facebook is a gated community whose members make up demographics that are relatively easy to quantify -- and yet, it remains something of a barren wasteland for advertisers. Now Visa is stepping up with a $2 million ad buy that seeks to tie in with the roughly 80,000 small businesses on the social network.

Microsoft/Yahoo Takeover Talks On Again

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 12:26am EDT by Epicenter

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The on-again, off-again Microsoft/Yahoo takeover talks are on again, Techcrunch reports, citing several anonymous sources. Word that the seemingly estranged parties might yet meet at the altar sent Yahoo shares soaring more than 7 percent.

Global Warming Scientist: 'This Is the Last Chance'

Posted: June 24th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Associated Press

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Global warming has become so serious a problem that the world's only hope is drastic action, the NASA scientist who first warned of the phenomenon 20 years ago tells congress. "We're toast if we don't get on a very different path,"says James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute of Space Sciences.

June 24, 1947: They Came From ... Outer Space?

Posted: June 23rd, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Tony Long

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1947: Pilot Kenneth Arnold sights a series of unidentified flying objects near Washington's Mt. Rainier. It's the first widely reported UFO sighting in the United States, and, thanks to Arnold's description of what he saw, leads the press to coin the term flying saucer.

Arnold was an experienced pilot with more than 9,000 hours of flying time. He had diverted from his flight plan -- Chehalis to Yakima, Washington -- to search for a Marine Corps C-46 transport plane reported down in the Cascades near the southwest slope of Mt. Rainier. A sweep of the area revealed nothing, and Arnold resumed his original course.

As Arnold recalled, the afternoon was crystal clear, and he was cruising at an altitude of 9,200 feet. A minute or two after noting a DC-4 about 15 miles behind and to the left of him, he was startled by something bright reflecting off his plane. At first he thought he had nearly hit another aircraft but as he looked off in the direction the light had come from, he saw nine "peculiar-looking" aircraft flying rapidly in formation toward Mt. Rainier.

As these strange, tailless craft flew between his plane and Mt. Rainier and then off toward distant Mt. Adams, Arnold noted their remarkable speed -- he later calculated that they were moving at around 1,700 mph -- and said he got a pretty good look at their black silhouettes outlined against Rainier's snowy peak. He later described them as saucer-like disks … something the gentlemen of the press glommed on to very quickly.

At the time, Arnold said, the appearance of these flying saucers didn't particularly alarm him, because he assumed they were some kind of experimental military aircraft. If they were, nobody in the War Department (soon to be merged into the Department of Defense) was saying.

In fact, the official Army Air Corps position was that Arnold had either seen a mirage or was hallucinating. He insisted he was perfectly alert and lucid, adding that he was not a publicity hound, either. He also invited both the Army and the FBI to investigate. The Army sent a couple of officers out to talk with Arnold. Even though they concluded that "a man of [his] character and apparent integrity" almost certainly saw what he claimed to have seen, the Army's initial verdict remained unchanged.

As Arnold's story leaked out, other people stepped forward to say they had seen the objects, too. The most-credible report may have come from a United Airlines crew, which reported seeing nine similar disk-like objects over Idaho only 10 days after Arnold's sighting.

Whether Arnold actually saw something or not, the resulting publicity touched off a worldwide spate of UFO sightings. Barely two weeks after Arnold's flight, the Roswell story broke, and UFO hysteria was on.

Was it the power of suggestion that led to all these sightings, or was 1947 a peak travel year for little green men? You decide.

Source: History.com, Project 1947

Gallery: Surreal to Sublime, Wired.com Readers' Geekiest ASCII Art

Posted: June 23rd, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Lisa Katayama

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We asked for ASCII, and you delivered.

Two weeks ago, Wired.com launched an art contest inspired by our gallery, "Art and ASCII: The Stories Behind All Those Brackets, Slashes and Carets."

Thanks to all you keyboard art experts, we got dozens of entries that blew our minds. To help us judge the contest, we solicited the help of two ASCII art experts from Japan, entrepreneur Osamu Higuchi and online media expert Ichiroo Kiyota.

The votes are in, and the winner is John AuCoin of Texas, who submitted this drawing of the Creation of Adam. Congrats John -- we'll have some Wired.com swag headed your way momentarily. Click through to see other geeky ASCII creations, from pop culture stars to robots.

Creation of Adam

By John AuCoin of Houston

The judges said: "This is an orthodox piece of work with a Japanese manga-esque touch." AuCoin claims this was the first time he ever tried ASCII art. Apparently he's a natural.
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Astral Apple

By Maija Haavisto of Helsinki, Finland

Haavisto says: "In 2004 I got interested in surrealism in ASCII art and ever since I've drawn several surreal ASCII pieces. This is one of my own favorites. It was drawn for an Apple-themed demo party in 2006. I wanted to show that ASCII art was not just about animals and cartoon characters."
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Tiger

By Maija Haavisto of Helsinki, Finland

Haavisto says: "I spent weeks tweaking every little detail of this picture. I like combining line art and so-called 'solid style' in the same piece for more lively results."
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Scooter Girl

By Piller Gregerson of Norfolk, Virginia

Gregerson says: "It's a punk rock woman with a punk rock scooter!"
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Servbot

By Sadas Dasda, location unknown
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Dwight

By Sadas Dasda, location unknown
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Giant Robots

By Joseph Barrile of New York City

Barrile says: "This piece is part of a collection of four ASCII Battle-Bots and the mad scientist who created them."
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Battles show poster

By Michael Tabie of Orlando, Florida

Tabie says: "This is an ASCII art piece I created for a gig poster to promote a Battles show here in Orlando. It's actually screen-printed two colors (white and silver) on black French paper, 18x24. It's featured in this year's Graphis poster annual."
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Radiohead poster

By Todd Slater of Round Rock, Texas

Slater says: "I designed this hand-pulled silkscreen poster for Radiohead's show in Virginia a few weeks ago. The image is a comment on how the band distributed their newest album, In Rainbows."
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Captain Picard

By Andy Evelhoch of Thousand Oaks, California
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Stephen Colbert

By Taylor Handleton of Maryland

Handleton says: "This is everybody's favorite reporter, Stephen Colbert. I can't seem to find the source image, but I made it in a few hours in Metapad (for the transparency)."
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Marlboro poster

By Nozomu Wakabayashi of Kanagawa, Japan

Wakabayashi says: "Making ASCII art is a hobby. There's a lot of hype about the high price of cigarettes these days, so I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if there was a cigarette poster like this one?'"

News From Yellow Business Pages » Wired: Top Stories » June 2008

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