Technology Category
Independent news, views, opinions and reviews on the latest gadgets, games, science, technology and research from Apple and more. It’s about the technologies that change the way we live, work, love and behave.
Steve Jobs’ 7 Inch RIM Is Enough – And Other Headlines
HEADLINE of The Week – Steve Jobs’ Seven Inch RIM. The apple’s apple:
Spotter: Reddit
Posted: 21st, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Sex.Com Sold Again: Grows 1$ In 6 Years
CLOVER Holdings Ltd has, reportedly, agreed to buy the URL sex.com from Bankrupt Escom LLC for $13m.
In 2004, the site sold for $12m.
In 2006, the price was between $12m and $14m.
Is sex a good bet?
Posted: 20th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Dan Bull And The ACTA: Anti-Copyright Rap
DAN Bull raps “Death of ACTA”. We last saw him aiming a barb at Lily Allen.
ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a mooted international agreement governing international property right law.
Before his X Factor audition, he says:
“I wrote it after reading about the terrifying implications of ACTA. I want it to raise awareness and make people act directly, by joining lobby groups (eg EFF and ORG) and putting pressure on their political representatives. The video was made on a zero budget, filmed and edited with the voluntary help of friends and colleagues. Directed and produced by Russ Houghton, and filmed at the Golden Hinde in Southwark. I’m an unsigned, unsignable geek rapper and activist, determined to make a living out of my music whilst sharing it all for free. Not sure how that will work yet, but working it out is all part of the fun.”
Only rapper to be called a thief without stealing
Download an MP3 for free, these people hit the ceiling
I’m just a citizen that’s teaching you a lesson
for restricting my freedom of expression
How can ideas be possessions when they’re freely replicable?
Hence unapplicable property laws are reprehensible
Didn’t Jefferson express his opinion on the matter
when he said inventions shouldn’t be given a patent
What happened to that thinking, we’re stuck in a pattern
where the people with everything are keeping everything from us who haven’t
Spotter: Geekosystem
Posted: 20th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
The Gotthard Base Tunnel In Photos: World’s Longest Rail Tunnel Shames Chile
CHILE’S San Jose Tunnel for uphill bobsleigh fans is trumped by the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The Swiss tube is 35.4 miles long, and is the longest railroad tunnel in the world. The hole is there. The tunnel will be useable in 2017 beneath the Alps in Switzerland.
Look out for the Swiss premier placing bits of genuine tunnel rock in velvet-lined shoe boxes and offering them for $50 a pop…
Posted: 20th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
How To Create A Great Facebook Page – According To Facebook
I THOUGHT I knew pretty much everything about how Facebook works – I promote a couple of blogs off there and have probably spent months of my life on the site.. – but I’ve just been to a workshop about promoting sites and businesses at Facebook HQ London, and guess what, turns out I didn’t know everything.
Head of International Business Development, Christian Hernandez Gallando, took us through all the basics, but there was a bunch of more pro tips mixed in. I pasted the ones that surprised me below.
I’m skipping the basics, because I assume you all know how to set up a page. Here then are 10 tips on optimising how your use Facebook, from Facebook.
1) Like/Recommend button: and which one to choose
These work in exactly the same way but Facebook introduced “Recommend” as a variation on “Like” after feedback from news sites.. who found that readers didn’t want to “like” on stories about war or natural disaster, but would “recommend” them.
So – if you’re a news site, or publish serious/negative content, consider the “recommend” option.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 19th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
1000mph Bloodhound Supercar Hits Qatar Royal Family (Photos)
RICHARD Noble stood on The Strand and posed with the Bloodhound supersonic car – top speed 1000mph. It’s a provocative move that ups the stakes in the contest to see who has the most fantastic car in London. Like you, we’re looking forward to see what the Qatar royals racers come up with in response…
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Posted: 18th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Computer Thief Downloads Content And Sends Data On USB To Owner
THE unnamed professor who had his computer stolen from Sweden’s Umea University was delighted to see that the thief took the time and trouble to download his data and send it to him on a USB drive.
Says the prof of the loss of his computer, he;d left in backpack by a stairwell:
“It is my life. I have documented everything in it that has happened in the last 10 years and beyond.”
Back your stuff up, Prof.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 17th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Rabbits Eat Green Car Parts Made From Soy
RABBITS are eating car parts made from soy.
Some newer model car parts are made from soy-based compound, a kind of soy oil foam rubber that is less polluting than petroleum-based stuff.
Unless you count rabbits and rabbit poo as pollution.
Spotter: Tim Blair
Posted: 15th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
The big decision for the Chilean miners – Apple Vs Sony
Who’d be a Chilean miner? Well, the downside is that you get to spend 69 days trapped underground not knowing whether you”ll ever see the sunlight again.
But on the upside when you do get to the surface you get half of the world’s brands waiting to shower you with freebies.
Trouble is for the brands get your timing wrong and you end up looking like a bandwagon jumper. Take Apple, who very kindly this week sent the miners free iPod Touchs. Now not wishing to be ungrateful, but I kind of think that said iPod would have been rather more useful when you had nothing else to do than play I Spy with your work pals.
The fact that Sony sent the miners a load of PSPs as far back as August makes Apple’s move whiff a little of publicity stunt.
Incidentally the miners didn’t get to use their PSPs for long
The Washington Post reported that the psychologists looking after their mental health during the ordeal banned them from playing the games.
Even worse for the miners – they have apparently been offered tickets for a Man United game. Haven’t they suffered enough?
Posted: 15th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Best Of Greater Manchester Police Tweets: Woman Leaves Cannabis By Till
GREATER Manchester Police are tweeting their day. The first round-up of Bobbies On the Tweet is here.
Readers Karen writes:
I’m glad this is only for one day. I can’t stop reading them. The number of accidental 999 calls from mobiles or kids playing with phones is unbelievable – as is the number of silent calls. I’ve read one Tweet saying it was the 22nd 999 call from the same mobile number so I guess they can’t trace it unless they break the law by making a hoax call or threatening them.
Tonight there’s been loads of reports of kids throwing fireworks about so no wonder they hate shops selling them too early for bonfire night – it must be a nightmare to have to follow up all the calls.
A few more unusual ones:
call 1912 Call from confused man who said he had been drinking and just woken up. Patrol not needed. Salford #gmp24
call 1931 Verbal abuse from a woman about dogs, Wigan #gmp24
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 14th, October 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comment
Manchester Police Tweet Crimes: Man Dangles Dog-Faced Baby From Bridge
GREATER Manchester Police (GMP) are Tweeting their calls today. They’re having to use three different Twitter accounts because of the high volume of Tweets they’re sending. Twitter keep stopping them.
Readers Karen picks out the best of The Bobbies on The Tweet:
Call 686 man shouts ‘you’re gorgeous’ to woman #gmp24
6 minutes ago via web
Call 674 confused man reporting his tv not working #gmp24
about 3 hours ago via web
gmp24_1: Call 281 member of the public in Salford complains about being woken up #gmp24
And my very favourite so far:
gmp24_1: Call 384 report of man holding baby over bridge – police immediately attended and it was man carrying dog that doesn’t like bridges
Call 349 suspicious noises in loft in Salford #gmp24
Call 392 report of loose cows in Atherton #gmp24
Call 412 report of woman ringing police asking for help to sue benefits agency as she has no money #gmp24
Call 810 Man requesting information regarding motorway parking charges #gmp24
Call 814 Call from a man who hadn’t recieved his benefits #gmp24
call 1333 reports of dustbins being moved in Droylsden #gmp24
update re call 1165 human excrement smeared over police car handles #gmp24
call 1079 Woman reports her horse refuses to come back over bridge #gmp24
call 1169 report of someone putting rubbish in caller’s bin in Rochdale #gmp24
call 1566 report of a burglary in progress owner had lost key in Bowden #gmp24
call 1595 Theft of laptop by sister three weeks ago, Manchester #gmp24
call 1605 report of faulty phone in Sale #gmp24
call 1621 Advice on where caller’s 16-year-old daughter can stay while the caller is on holiday. #gmp24
Posted: 14th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Google’s Robot Car Video Is The Prius Driver’s Anti-Human Dream Made Real
GOOGLE has robot cars, computer-controlled vehicles that can drive about taking photos of you, the roads, your house, the hops, the people and pretty much everything.
The company’s chief executive officer, Eric Schmidt, says:
“Your car should drive itself. It just makes sense. It’s a bug that cars were invented before computers.”
Nothing cannot be improved without computers, says Google.
And what car is Google using as its robot car? Why, it’s the Toyota Prius – the perfect vehicle for people who hate driving but like to look progressive.
Can’t accuse Google of not doing its research.
Spotter: TechCrunch
Posted: 11th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Cambridgeshire Couple Mistake Potatoes For Apple iPhone
CRIME of The Day takes us to Huntingdon High Street, Cambridgeshire, where a couple buying an Apple iPhone and laptop from a man with a rucksack round the back of Domino’s pizza shop discover they have been sold potatoes – raw ones.
The man approached the couple and offered them the cheap goods. He showed them the iPhone and the laptop. He walked with them to Lloyds bank and saw them withdraw £650 in cash. He took the money and handed them the bag.
Says Pc Lorna Owen, from Huntingdon police station:
“I am appealing for anyone with information about who this man might be to contact police. I would also urge people to only purchase goods from genuine companies and make sure they know exactly who they’re buying from.”
Sage advice. It’s the kind of advice the police may not be able to hear as they fire apparently illegal Tasers into rubbish sacks round the back of the shops…
Posted: 6th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Jeff And Jason Ledellaytner Norton Commando Project Is Feel Good TV
JEFF and Jason Brothers Ledellaytner took their dad’s 1969 Norton Commando.
Dad thought the bike he loved had been stolen.
The brothers got it restored and gave it back to him for Christmas.
Posted: 2nd, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
4chan’s Operation Payback Is A Bitch For ACS:Law, BT And You
‘OPERATION Payback Is a Bitch’ is 4chan’s /b/ board targeting of ACS:Law. ACS: Law go after so-called web pirates downloading music, videos and games.
4chan members, who seem to know a lot about downloading stuff, launched a DDoS attack on ACS: Law’s website. And it went down.
You see, if you’re thought to have downloaded a film illegally, ACS: Law will send you a letter demanding payment or else.
One woman called Claire got a letter from ACS: Law demanding £495 for allegedly downloading Chubby Chasers.
On some websites you can buy such films for as little as $11 – which pound-for-pound is very reasonable, we’re told.
The fine is heavy. And if you’ve been accused of downloading illegal porn would you want to go to court?
So the 4chan users set about bringing down ACS:Law by gaining access to their servers and downloading lots of files – including the names, credit card details and addresses of over 5,000 Sky Broadband customers. Sky Broadband and all ISPs are bound by law to make such data available. In this case, Sky’s customers were accused of illegally downloading porn films.
ACS:Law “appears to compile lists of alleged infringers tracked by IP addresses, then appeals for a court order to the relevant internet service provider to hand over more information about the customer before taking the accused to court.”
Sky released a statement, having noticed that ACS:Law’s systems were not all that secure:
“Following recent events, we have suspended all co-operation with ACS:Law with immediate effect. This suspension will remain in place until ACS:Law demonstrates adequate measures to protect the security of personal information.”
ACS:Law’s boss is Andrew Crossley. The Register got him on the phone:
“It was only down for a few hours. I have far more concern over the fact of my train turning up 10 minutes late or having to queue for a coffee than them wasting my time with this sort of rubbish.”
4chan users were listening. This was an incentive to crank up the attack.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 29th, September 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comments (12)
The DTV Shredder Is The Skateboard Tank: Flying Segway On Hold
THE flying Segway might not ever make it to the open market, but the DTV Shredder will.
In a bid to attract surfers and skateboarders to the military, Ben Gulak and Ryan Fairhead present the DTV Shredder by Canadian technology firm BOG Werks.
For added grunt, why not strap on a machine-gun and zoom forward at speeds up to 30mph?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 29th, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Sky Broadband Customers Unable To Wait For TV Porn Download Sex Films
NO shock that the names of 8000 Sky Broadband customers are on a list of alleged internet porn enthusiasts have appeared online.
Waiting for the porn to begin on the telly can be a testing experience. The phone–wank rooms don’t start broadcasting until midnight.
And , then, you need to actually use the phone to book a subscription to the Adult Channel or Red Hot Amateur – and the requires speaking to an actual woman or man.
The other option is to order telly porn via the web but by the time your on the sex station’s website you’ve already been confronted with images of strumpets grinding the monitor and you’re thinking about saving the cash and downloading porn for free.
On the BBC, we hear from Claire, a woman accused of downloading Chubby 
Chasers, and who appears to be wearing no clothes (see image):
“The time that I was accused of downloading the film I was in bed. It was very early morning – on a Tuesday. My alarm wouldn’t have even gone off yet. My partner had been made redundant and I know damn well that he was in bed and hadn’t got up and started download pornography. I know we didn’t do it. There was no way we could have done it.”
Men agree. All turn to their lovers and partners and say that that is exactly what happened to them. Before adding that because the porn has been paid for they might as well watch it together. What d’yer say..?
Posted: 29th, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Facebook Is Down: Millions Unsure If They Are Married Or Single
FACEBOOK is down. Again. The Facebook server on which are housed all your mates and photos is down. Are you single or married? How can you know without the Facebook status to confirm? What gives?
Facebook says they’re working on it. Is this the new anti-stalker feature we’ve been reading about – to turn the whole thing off? It is simple. It works. But the business model might be flawed.
Or is it linked to the Facebook film, the “The Social Network,” a flick that looks at chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, teh 26-year-old worth $6.9bn?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 23rd, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Making Lights From Dog Poo: The Shite Light
READER Karen brings news of shite powered light. Before you dash out to harvest those bags of strange fruit that dangle from trees in the park, know the facts:. Let there be shite!
“Dog owners collect their dog waste in a special biodegradable bag and throw it into the digester –- an air-tight cylindrical container, where the dog feces are broken down by anaerobic bacteria. A byproduct from that process is methane, which can then be released through a valve and burnt as fuel. In this case it is being used to power an old-fashioned gas-burning lamppost in a park.”
Karen: It takes two of those big tanks to power one measly light? What a load of old shite!
Posted: 22nd, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
12-Year-Old Female Paedophile Stalks Girl On Facebook
HEAR the one about the 12-year-old girl who was a Facebook paedophile?
Paedos are now so ingrained in the social conscience that children pretend to be them to get other children upset.
And that’s what happened in Australia. When one mother feared her daughter, aged 12, was being attacked by a paedo she called the police. The Australian Federal Police investigated.
One message oozed:
“f—-ng give me your daughters they love me and i love them, you know you cant keep me away from them forever! i am going to be with them they are the mother of my children (sic)”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 17th, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Beautiful Photographs Of Soy Sauce And Other Small Things: A Gallery
SOY sauce has never looked more beautiful than it does in these pictures from the Nikon’s Small World photomicrography contest. These images are created by doctors, scientists, researchers, photographers and amateurs. They are spellbinding.
Posted: 8th, September 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comment (1)
Canadian Drivers Encouraged To Kill Schoolgirl In Sick Video Game
A 3D optical illusion of a girl chasing ball across a road is to feature in the street outside the École Pauline Johnson Elementary School in West Vancouver, Canada.
By the illusion is a sign declaring:
“You’re probably not expecting kids to run into the road.”
The aim is to make drivers drop their speed. The image appears when the approaching vehicle is 30 metres away. If travelling at 30km/h, the driver has plenty of time to stop. When within 30 meters of the image, the girl disappears.
Indeed, he might stop so fast that the car behind goes hurtling into the back of him, perhaps squashing a cyclist between the two vehicles
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 8th, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
StickyDrama, Teen Porn And Jonathan Hock’s Streamed Sexual Assault
JONATHAN Hock is the 22-year-old who live-streamed himself sexual assaulting his 20-year-old girlfriend. The video was then was posted on a site called Stickydrama, a gossipy website for teenagers where Jessie Slaughter rose to fame (read more here).
Stickydrama is associated with Sticky-n00dz, a porn site.
Hock has pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of voyeurism.
But what of the site that allowed this video to be posted? The site has provided police with a copy of the video. But it was online and viewable for some time.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 3rd, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (4)
Bugs Infest Google
ALL the anti-viral software in the world can’t save Google’s New York offices from these nasty bugs.
It would seem that the posh, gimmicky Manhattan digs of the internet search engine are suffering from the same infestation as so many other locations around town.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 3rd, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
In Photos: Elvis Presley’s Mercedes-Benz 600
FOR sale in photos: A Mercedes-Benz 600, once owned by Elvis Presley. You can buy the vehicle at a Bonhams auction on December 6th. Offers above and beyond £150,000 are considered. Whatever you can find in the glove box you can keep…
The autopsy goods have gone.
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The King:
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Posted: 2nd, September 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (2)
