eWeek - Origami: Microsoft's 'OrPod' Alternative to the iPod?

eWeek - Origami: Microsoft's 'OrPod' Alternative to the iPod?:
"Microsoft has registered a Web site for something called 'The Origami Project.' From the rather cryptic video clip there, you can't tell much about what Origami is or what it will do. Guesses about Origami's origins have been all over the map."
LINKS: Origami Project

Techworld - IBM and Novell back open source project

Techworld - IBM and Novell back open source project:
"IBM and Novell have announced their support for an open-source project aimed at giving users more control over how information such as passwords and financial details are shared across multiple websites."
LINKS: Eclipse - Higgins Project
LINKS: Higgins - spwiki

informitv - Cyprus claims first for internet television service

informitv - Cyprus claims first for internet television service:
"Cyprus is claimed to be the first country in the world to have its own television channel on the internet, launched at a fraction of the cost of a conventional terrestrial or satellite television station."
LINKS: Cyprus ITV
LINKS: Narrowstep

BizReport - Ted Turner to leave Time Warner board

BizReport - Ted Turner to leave Time Warner board:
"Time Warner Inc. on Friday said Ted Turner will leave the board after its upcoming annual meeting, exiting a media empire he helped create, sometimes criticized and, more recently, played a diminished role in directing."

The Motleyt Fool - DirecTV's Video Vault

The Motley Fool - DirecTV's Video Vault:
"Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has put the video store no further away than your mailbox, but are digital video recorders about to bring the video store even closer, even faster? Perhaps so: DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) says that it plans a broadband video service that ups the ante in video content distribution."

RED HERRING - Googling the National Archives

RED HERRING - Googling the National Archives:
"Search giant Google’s efforts to become a major supplier of video content over the Internet got a big boost Friday when it announced a pilot program with the U.S. National Archives to make historic movies and documentaries available online for free."

International Herald Tribune - Dubai company gives Bush breathing room

International Herald Tribune - Dubai company gives Bush breathing room:
"The Dubai company at the center of a political furor over its plans to take over some terminal operations at six U.S. ports said that it planned to close the deal in the week ahead, but that it would 'not exercise control' over its new operations in the United States while the Bush administration tried to calm opposition in Congress."

Scotsman.com News - Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip

Scotsman.com News - Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip:
"An extraordinary 'hyperspace' engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government."
Via KurzweilAI.net

EducationGuardian.co.uk - Digging for data that can change our world

EducationGuardian.co.uk - Digging for data that can change our world:
"Scientific research is being added to at an alarming rate: the Human Genome Project alone is generating enough documentation to 'sink battleships'. So it's not surprising that academics seeking data to support a new hypothesis are getting swamped with information overload. As data banks build up worldwide, and access gets easier through technology, it has become easier to overlook vital facts and figures that could bring about groundbreaking discoveries."
Via KurzweilAI.net

BusinessWeek - Toward the Chips of Tomorrow

BusinessWeek - Toward the Chips of Tomorrow:
"It takes a ton of money and brainpower to keep the tech industry chugging along -- which explains a Jan. 12 announcement by heavyweights Sony (SNE ), Toshiba (TOSBF ), and IBM (IBM ) that they'll jointly develop the next generation of semiconductor technology."
Via KurzweilAI.net

Wired News - Spin Doctors Create Quantum Chip

Wired News - Spin Doctors Create Quantum Chip:
"University of Michigan scientists have created the first quantum microchip, which could be a giant stride in the race to produce a new generation of brawny, super-fast computers."
Via KurzweilAI.net

New York Times - Across the Megaverse

New York Times - Across the Megaverse:
"Physicists are not like ordinary people, and string theorists are not like ordinary physicists. Even compared with their peers, crafters of the arcane model of reality that is string theory think in terms of sweeping explanations of nature's design. Leonard Susskind, a founder of the theory and one of its leading practitioners, brazenly lays out this no-boundaries attitude on the first page of his new book. His research, he declares, 'touches not only on current paradigm shifts in physics and cosmology, but also on the profound cultural questions that are rocking our social and political landscape: can science explain the extraordinary fact that the universe appears to be uncannily, nay, spectacularly, well designed for our own existence?'"
Via KurzweilAI.net

KurzweilAI.net - Sandia Labs developing nanobattery implant

KurzweilAI.net - Sandia Labs developing nanobattery implant:
"Sandia National Laboratories researchers are developing a nano-size battery that one day could be implanted in the eye to power an artificial retina. The artificial retina and accompanying nanobattery will be used to correct certain types of macular degeneration."
LINKS: Sandia National Laboratories

Nanotechweb.org - Nanostructured gel muscles in on the action

Nanotechweb.org - Nanostructured gel muscles in on the action:
"Researchers from the University of Sheffield, UK, Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) Daresbury Laboratory, UK, and DUBBLE CRG, France, have created a nanostructured gel that can act as a synthetic muscle. The material reacts to chemical changes in its environment by expanding or contracting."
Via KurzweilAI.net

AngolaPress - China to build world`s first "artificial sun" experimental device

AngolaPress - China to build world`s first "artificial sun" experimental device:
"Experiments with the advanced new device will start in July or August. If the experiments prove successful, China will become the first country in the world to build a full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, nicknamed 'artificial sun', experts here said."
Via KurzweilAI.net

Wall Street Journal - A Cold Calculus Leads Cryonauts To Put Assets on Ice

Wall Street Journal - A Cold Calculus Leads Cryonauts To Put Assets on Ice:
"Like some 1,000 other members of the 'cryonics' movement, Mr. Pizer has made arrangements to have his body frozen in liquid nitrogen as soon as possible after he dies. In this way, Mr. Pizer, a heavy-set, philosophical man who is 64 years old, hopes to be revived sometime in the future when medicine has advanced far beyond where it stands today."
Via KurzweilAI.net

The Sydney Morning Herald - Doctors claim suspended animation success

The Sydney Morning Herald - Doctors claim suspended animation success:
"Researchers are testing potentially life-saving techniques for keeping humans in a state of suspended animation while surgeons repair their wounds."
Via KurzweilAI.net

KurzweilAI.net - Ubiquity Interviews Ray Kurzweil

KurzweilAI.net - Ubiquity Interviews Ray Kurzweil :
"'If it were up to the Luddites, human life expectancy would still be 37, and we'd still be dying from bacterial infections,' says Ray Kurzweil in this wide-ranging interview. The anti-technology movement 'is fundamentally misguided, because it fails to appreciate the profound benefits technology has brought.'"

Technology Review - The Impact of Emerging Technologies: Super-Repellent Plastic

Technology Review - The Impact of Emerging Technologies: Super-Repellent Plastic:
"If you've ever despaired over getting the last drop of ketchup or detergent out of a plastic bottle -- or happen to be a microfluidics researcher wondering how you'll ever mass-produce a cheap diagnostics chip -- scientists at GE may have a plastic for you."
Via Engadget

New York Times - San Francisco Gets Proposals for Free Citywide Wi-Fi Net

New York Times - San Francisco Gets Proposals for Free Citywide Wi-Fi Net:
"Google and EarthLink have teamed up to offer to build a free citywide wireless network here — one of six proposals by companies and nonprofit groups vying to become the municipality's access provider."

Discovery Channel - Early Humans Were Often Eaten

Discovery Channel - Early Humans Were Often Eaten:
"Short, peaceful and mostly fruit-eating early humans were preyed upon by predators that included wild dogs and cats, hyenas, eagles and crocodiles, according to a new book called Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators and Human Evolution."

Minding the Planet - Collective Intelligence 2.0

Minding the Planet - Collective Intelligence 2.0:
"This article proposes the creation of a new open, nonprofit service on the Web that will provide something akin to “collective self-awareness” back to the Web. This service is like a 'Google Zeitgeist' on steroids, but with a lot more real-time, interactive, participatory data, technology and features in it. The goal is to measure and visualize the state of the collective mind of humanity, and provide this back to humanity in as close to real-time as is possible, from as many data sources as we can handle -- as a web service."
Via KurzweilAI.net

Silicon - RFID-tagged driverless cars on roads by 2056

Silicon - RFID-tagged driverless cars on roads by 2056:
"The UK's transport infrastructure will be radically changed over the next 50 years by RFID tracking tags, embedded sensors and an artificial intelligence network that will reduce congestion and pollution, according to scientists from the government's Foresight think tank."
Via KurzweilAI.net

Wired News - Regeneration Sans Stem Cells

Wired News - Regeneration Sans Stem Cells:
"When a worm is chopped in two, the missing part often re-grows. Researchers at several biotech companies are challenging the assumption that humans can't perform a similar feat by developing drugs that encourage self-regeneration."
Via KurzweilAI.net
LINKS: Hydra Biosciences

I4U News - Samsung Miniket SDC-K50 DMB TV, PMP and Camera

I4U News - Samsung Miniket SDC-K50 DMB TV, PMP and Camera:
"This cool device is a DMB TV, 5MP digital camera with 3x optical zoom and portable media player. It features a 2.5 inch screen and has 512MB on-board. Recording video with 640x480px at 30fps is also supported on this miniket."

DefenseLINK News - England Discusses Port Security Issue on Capitol Hill

DefenseLINK News - England Discusses Port Security Issue on Capitol Hill:
"The Defense Department's No. 2 civilian today endorsed the United Arab Emirates as a valued ally of the United States that can be entrusted to manage shipping terminal operations at a group of major U.S. ports."

Wired News - New Microchips Shun Transistors

Wired News - New Microchips Shun Transistors:
"For the first time, researchers have created a working prototype of a radical new chip design based on magnetism instead of electrical transistors."
Via KurzweilAI.net

PC Magazine - Inside Windows Vista, Build 5308

PC Magazine - Inside Windows Vista, Build 5308:
"With today's release of the Windows Vista February CTP (Community Technology Preview), Microsoft has publicly passed a key milestone on the road to launching its new operating system. This release of Vista is 'feature-complete', the company says, meaning that all of the fundamental capabilities that Vista will eventually offer are now baked in. Development efforts aren't slowing—the user experience will continue to evolve, bugs will get fixed, performance and compatibility will improve—but the basic shape of the operating system has been solidified, and from here on out we expect to see mostly fine-tuning rather than wholesale changes."

gizmag - General Motors Advanced Design Group envisages “the mobile home”

gizmag - General Motors Advanced Design Group envisages “the mobile home”:

"General Motors Advanced Design's GMC PAD has won the California Design Challenge at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The GMC PAD is a futuristic-looking, diesel-electric powered urban loft with mobility, a creature comfort-filled concept for living in the ever-changing cultural landscape of Southern California or a modern alternative for those financially locked out of Southern California 's escalating housing market. It's a home ownership concept that enables cultural and geographic freedom for the modern city dweller and provides a new answer to the problem of urban sprawl."

GamesIndustry.biz - Asian markets could benefit from downloadable PS3 games

GamesIndustry.biz - Asian markets could benefit from downloadable PS3 games:
"Sony Computer Entertainment Asia's Tetsuhiko Yasuda has suggested that certain Asian markets would benefit from seeing PlayStation 3 games released simultaneously at retail and through downloadable channels - and that such a move would have the potential to help curb rampant piracy in the region."

Scientific American - Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes

Scientific American - Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes:
"A handful of genes that control the body's defenses during hard times can also dramatically improve health and prolong life in diverse organisms. Understanding how they work may reveal the keys to extending human life span while banishing diseases of old age"

Fast Company - Demographics: The Population Hourglass

Fast Company - Demographics: The Population Hourglass:
"It's the futurist's first rule: You can't understand the future without demographics. The composition of a society--whether its citizens are old or young, prosperous or declining, rural or urban--shapes every aspect of civic life, from politics, economics, and culture to the kinds of products, services, and businesses that are likely to succeed or fail. Demographics isn't destiny, but it's close. Our leaders, as a rule, completely miss the boat on demographics and how it informs their own organizations, customers, and constituencies. And it's not hard to see why: Most executives aren't trained to make sense of demographic forecasts (there are no courses on demographics at Harvard Business School or Wharton, for example), and the field itself does little to raise its own profile. Demographers frequently come across like accountants--without all that sex appeal."

BusinessWeek - Weight Loss: The Spirit Is Willing -- But Pills Work

BusinessWeek - Weight Loss: The Spirit Is Willing -- But Pills Work:
"For more than a decade, magazines, books, and innumerable diet gurus have nagged us to exercise more and eat less, to no avail. A third of U.S. adults are now obese, compared with 23% in 1994. Americans may set great store by a can-do spirit, but in this critical area, we can't. 'Overweight or obesity seems almost inevitable in adulthood,' laments an editorial in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (JAMA). We live in a society that does everything it can to encourage a ceaseless march toward the far side of the scale. As a result, a consensus is forming in the medical community: Putting pressure on obese patients to exercise and diet is all well and good, but pills are more likely to take off the pounds."
LINKS: Acomplia

LinuxDevices - Multimedia chip targets mobile phones with digital TV

LinuxDevices - Multimedia chip targets mobile phones with digital TV:
"Nvidia is shipping a graphics processor said to be capable of implementing 'high-quality' TV, video, audio, and 3D gaming on mobile phones. The GoForce 5500 handheld GPU (graphics processing unit) offers full-motion digital TV, high-fidelity surround-sound, rapid multi-shot photography, and 'console-class' 3D graphics, according to the company."

SFGate - Is Osama bin Laden winning the "war on terror"?

SFGate - Is Osama bin Laden winning the "war on terror"?:
"Even without the Bush administration's incomprehensible gift to a state-owned company in the United Arab Emirates of the go-ahead to take over six major U.S. ports, including New York's, some foreign observers have been wondering: So far, who is really winning the so-called war on terror? (The U.A.E.'s involvement in U.S. ports is controversial because Arab men from the Emirates took part in the September 11, 2001 attacks; could would-be terrorists find jobs with the state-owned company in the Persian Gulf that is poised to take control of major American shipping centers?) (Independent and AND Kronos International)"

CNET News - GNOME sliding Linux onto business desktops

CNET News - GNOME sliding Linux onto business desktops:
"GNOME 2.14, which is due for release on March 15, will include new administrator tools such as a profile manager and an editor to lock down PC functionality, developer Davyd Madeley wrote in an article posted on the GNOME project Web site last week."
LINKS: GNOME

New Scientist - Quantum teleporter creates laser beam clones

New - Scientist Quantum teleporter creates laser beam clones:
"Quantum physicists have moved beyond teleporting individual photons to imitating a classic science-fiction scenario – a teleportation machine that generates two near-identical copies of the original."

Publish - The Unbearable Mashup of Being 2.0

Publish - The Unbearable Mashup of Being 2.0:
"Have you seen the Web 2.0 logo map? It's an image of about 200 'Web 2.0' company and product logos created by a Flikr user named Stabilo Boss. It appeared on several prominent sites last week, galvanizing that type of fleeting linkfest attention on which the ADD-powered blogosphere thrives."
LINKS: Digg Watch Blog

PC Magazine - Will Apple Adopt Windows?

PC Magazine - Will Apple Adopt Windows?:
"The idea that Apple would ditch its own OS for Microsoft Windows came to me from Yakov Epstein, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University, who wrote to me convinced that the process had already begun. I was amused, but after mulling over various coincidences, I'm convinced he may be right. This would be the most phenomenal turnabout in the history of desktop computing."

informitv - Interactive Television Networks IPTV music network

informitv - Interactive Television Networks IPTV music network:
"Interactive Television Networks, a provider of internet protocol television services, has announced the launch of Pulse, which it claims is the first IPTV music video network."
LINKS: ITVN

BizReport - Amazon in talks on digital music service

BizReport - Amazon in talks on digital music service:
"Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. is in advanced talks with four major music companies on starting a digital music service as early as this summer to compete with Apple, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday."

BusinessWeek - Dr. Andrew Lo: Darwinian Investing

BusinessWeek - Dr. Andrew Lo: Darwinian Investing:
"Can brain science unlock the secrets of success on Wall Street? And if so, will it transform the field of personal finance? These matters fascinate Andrew W. Lo, a finance professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management and director of its Laboratory for Financial Engineering."

LinuxDevices - Intel's dual-core mobile-x86 goes embedded

LinuxDevices - Intel's dual-core mobile-x86 goes embedded:
"Intel is guaranteeing extended lifecycle availability of its dual-core mobile x86 processors, in hopes of winning embedded and communications customers. Core Duo processors are now available through the Intel Embedded Architecture (IEA) support program, and are already being used in embedded applications, the company says."

LinuxDevices - Mobile DTV reference design runs Linux

LinuxDevices - Mobile DTV reference design runs Linux:
"PC DVD player software and codec specialist InterVideo is demonstrating a hardware/software digital video player reference design targeting mobile devices, at 3GSM in Barcelona. The company's iMobi design runs embedded Linux, and includes technology that can bring live digital TV to mobile phones, PDAs, and media players with Texas Instruments DSPs, the company says."

LinuxDevices - PDA market sets new record -- without Linux

LinuxDevices - PDA market sets new record -- without Linux:
"The worldwide PDA market hit a new high in 2005, Gartner reports. Annual shipments were 14.9 million, up 19 percent over 2004, and surpassing the previous record of 13.2 million set in 2001. Additionally, Windows CE remained the top PDA operating system, accounting for nearly half of all PDA shipments, the market analyst firm said."

LinuxDevices - Heavyweights to lift mobile gaming to new heights

LinuxDevices - Heavyweights to lift mobile gaming to new heights:
"Over a dozen wireless and mobile gaming industry heavyweights are collaborating on an open gaming architecture in support of 'premium quality' native games on mobile phones based on TI's OMAP processors. The key objective is to provide a framework for platform-independent gaming software, according to TI (Texas Instruments)."

New York Times - Attention Avid Shoppers: A High-End Complex Opens Its Doors

New York Times - Attention Avid Shoppers: A High-End Complex Opens Its Doors:
"It is 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 11, the much anticipated opening day of Omotesando Hills, a sprawling, upscale Tokyo shopping development spanning the Harajuku and Aoyama neighborhoods and running along the historic tree-lined Omotesando Avenue, the Japanese equivalent of the Champs-Élysées."

BusinessWeek - Microsoft's Mobile Maneuver

BusinessWeek - Microsoft's Mobile Maneuver:
"Say this much for Microsoft: It never gives up. A decade after it started flogging a shrunken-down version of Windows for electronic devices other than PCs, the Redmond (Wash.)-based software titan is finally making a meaningful mark on the vibrant market for mobile phones."

ExtremeTech - PalmSource Unveils New Linux-Based Palm OS

ExtremeTech - PalmSource Unveils New Linux-Based Palm OS:
"PalmSource on Tuesday announced their long-awaited Linux-based handheld operating system, the Access Linux Platform (ALP), which will bring full Palm compatibility to handhelds with a Linux core."
LINKS: PalmSource
LINKS: ACCESS

contract Magazine - Racing Ahead in Louisville

contract Magazine - Racing Ahead in Louisville:
"Architecture buffs have another reason to soon flock to Louisville, Ky., as plans progress for Museum Plaza, a $380-million project designed by Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). Although construction has yet to being, OMA New York revealed the design plans this week."
LINKS: Museum Plaza

New York Times - Music System Taps Wires in Your Walls to Pipe the Sound

New York Times - Music System Taps Wires in Your Walls to Pipe the Sound:
"A big problem with having a central system that pipes music to different rooms is having to run yards of speaker wire through the house. The DAvED (Digital Audio via Electrical Distribution) music system from Marantz solves that problem by using electrical wires that are already in place."

Pocket-lint - 3GSM 2006: Nvidia launches new graphics chip for mobiles

Pocket-lint - 3GSM 2006: Nvidia launches new graphics chip for mobiles:
"In the past when you mentioned graphics chips you would only be talking about desktop computers, but Nvidia today unveiled the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 handheld graphics processing unit (GPU) for mobile phones at 3GSM in Barcelona, Spain."
LINKS: NVIDIA - GoForce 5500

KurzweilAI.net - Biocosm, The New Scientific Theory of Evolution

KurzweilAI.net - Biocosm, The New Scientific Theory of Evolution :
"Why is the universe life-friendly? Columbia physicist Brian Greene says it's the deepest question in all of science. Cosmologist Paul Davies agrees, calling it the biggest of the Big Questions."

The Cult of Mac Blog - If Apple's Working on a Tablet PC, Here's Video of What the Interface Should Look Like

The Cult of Mac Blog - If Apple's Working on a Tablet PC, Here's Video of What the Interface Should Look Like:
"There's talk over at ThinkSecret that the next video iPod may feature a big screen covering the entire front of the device. The screen will be touch-sensitive, allowing the iPod to be controlled by a virtual click wheel that will appear when a finger brushes the screen."

KurzweilAI.net - Nanofactories, Gang Wars, and 'Feelies'

KurzweilAI.net - Nanofactories, Gang Wars, and 'Feelies':
"In 30 years, a new intelligent species might share the planet with us and dirt-cheap molecular manufacturing may end poverty and strife. But there exists a risk that a world of lotus-eaters will degenerate into gang wars among those for whom life retains no discipline or meaning."

GamesIndustry.biz - Legendary Star Trek artist to consult on new MMO

GamesIndustry.biz - Legendary Star Trek artist to consult on new MMO:
"Perpetual Entertainment has announced the appointment of visionary Star Trek artist Andrew Probert as design consultant on the company's forthcoming massively multiplayer online game, Star Trek Online."

GamesIndustry.biz - James Cameron plans MMO movie tie-in

GamesIndustry.biz - James Cameron plans MMO movie tie-in:
"Academy award-winning film director James Cameron has announced plans to produce a massively multiplayer online game based on his forthcoming feature film, currently going under the name of Project 880."

GamesIndustry.biz - Sony announces plans to bundle UMDs with DVDs

GamesIndustry.biz - Sony announces plans to bundle UMDs with DVDs:
"Sony Pictures has unveiled plans to bundle UMDs with DVDs and announced pricing for the Blu-Ray format, with new movie releases set to carry a wholesale price of less than USD 25."

BizReport - Microsoft Rebrands MSN to Focus on Content

BizReport - Microsoft Rebrands MSN to Focus on Content:
"Microsoft Corp.'s plans to rebrand its free e-mail, instant messenger and Web search products under the name 'Live' could be interpreted as a sign that MSN _ the unit that previously housed those products _ is a sinking ship."

Wired News - Nano Coatings Paint Green Future

Wired News - Nano Coatings Paint Green Future:
"New spray-on, nanotech coatings could keep iPod screens from scratching, make paper products waterproof and perform other minor modern miracles."

ExtremeTech - IBM Fabs "mmWave" Chip To Challenge UWB

ExtremeTech - IBM Fabs "mmWave" Chip To Challenge UWB:
"IBM researchers said Monday that they have created a low-power chipset that will compete with ultrawideband technology, offering data rates at around 630 Mbits/s."

Mitsubishi Press Release - New concept for the future of small: "i"

Mitsubishi Press Release - New concept for the future of small: "i":
"Mitsubishi Motors Corporation today launched the new 'i' minicar model at Mitsubishi dealerships throughout Japan."Via treehugger

New York Times - I.B.M. Unveils Server Line That Uses Game Chips

New York Times - I.B.M. Unveils Server Line That Uses Game Chips:
"I.B.M. is betting on video game technology to bring supercomputer-caliber visualization tools to its mainstream corporate market and to reduce the computing costs of daunting tasks like hunting for oil, discovering new drugs and exploring the human body."

informitv - Mobile DTV Alliance to promote broadcast mobile TV

informitv - Mobile DTV Alliance to promote broadcast mobile TV:
"A group of leading companies, including Nokia and Motorola, has formed the Mobile DTV Alliance to promote the growth and evolution of the DVB-H standard for digital video broadcasting to handheld devices."
LINKS: Mobile DTV Alliance
LINKS: DVB-H

Reuters - DirecTV confirms EchoStar wireless net discussions

Reuters - DirecTV confirms EchoStar wireless net discussions:
"DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is in discussions EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to create a U.S. wireless high speed Internet service, DirecTV chief executive told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday."
RELATED: informitv - James Murdoch outlines broadband ambitions for Sky

SCIENCE@NASA - Lunar Olympics

SCIENCE@NASA - Lunar Olympics:
"The moon's dust-covered slopes are good places to ski. There's plenty of powder, moguls and, best of all, low-gravity. With only 1/6th g holding them down, skiers and snowboarders can do tricks they only dreamed of doing on Earth. How about an octuple-twisting quadruple backflip? Don't worry. Crashes happen in slow-motion, so it won't hurt so much to wipe out."

BizReport - Icahn Unveils Plan to Shake Up Time Warner

BizReport - Icahn Unveils Plan to Shake Up Time Warner:
"Carl Icahn, stepping up his battle against Time Warner Inc., on Tuesday unveiled details of his plan to shake up the media conglomerate, saying it should be split into four separate public companies."

TG Daily - CNET sells Computer Shopper to VC-funded startup

TG Daily - CNET sells Computer Shopper to VC-funded startup:
"A newly launched startup firm, SX2 Media Labs, becomes the magazine's fourth owner. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but Cnet's statement this morning makes clear the sale has already happened. Early indications are that this is news to people both in- and outside of the publication. The new owner's chairman, Barry Schwimmer, did make reference this morning to the publication's 'top-notch editorial staff,' although it is not known how long they may continue to reside on that notch."
Via BizReport - CNET sells Computer Shopper

BizReport - Google, Skype in Startup to Link Hotspots

BizReport - Google, Skype in Startup to Link Hotspots:
"Google Inc. and eBay Inc.'s Skype are investing in a startup that plans to help hotspot owners charge for Wi-Fi access, a plan that could face significant opposition from Internet service providers."
LINKS: FON

BizReport - Google puts instant message service inside e-mail

BizReport - Google puts instant message service inside e-mail:
"Google Inc. users will be able to conduct instant message chats from a Google Web browser window, alongside their e-mails, instead of requiring a separate application, the company said late Monday."

T3 Magazine - PS3 – download movies, music and record TV

T3 Magazine - PS3 – download movies, music and record TV:
"Sony’s next-gen giant is going all-guns for Xbox 360’s title as the ultimate online console. According to the allegedly leaked document we mentioned yesterday (see story), PS3’s upcoming online service will be called PlayStation Network. And word is that it’ll offer ranking and matchmaking lists (enabling you to compete fairly against your chums), as well as a shop selling downloadable movies and music."
RELATED: T3 Magazine - PlayStation 3 - the online powerhouse!

TWICE - Multichannel Surround Sound Music Downloads Available

TWICE - Multichannel Surround Sound Music Downloads Available:
"Instant Live has begun to offer Windows Media Audio (WMA) downloads of live concerts that it records and mixes in stereo-compatible SRS Circle Surround II, a 5.1-channel matrix technology that can be decoded by home and car stereo systems incorporating Circle Surround II matrix decoders or other-format matrix decoders, the company said. The songs, available on instantlive.com, play in 5.1 when burned to a CD or streamed directly from an MP3 portable connected to a home or car stereo system."

Economist - Canadian business icons

The Economist - Canadian business icons:
"NO INSTITUTION is more synonymous with the history of Canada than the Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson Bay, a charter company founded in 1670. The Hudson's Bay Company—“The Bay” to Canadians—mutated from British empire-builder into the country's largest non-food retailer. Yet when on January 26th its management agreed to a takeover by Jerry Zucker, an American investor, there was barely a whisper of protest. Even the Council of Canadians, which not too long ago would have delivered a rousing nationalistic rant on the evils of American ownership, was uncharacteristically silent."

Engadget - Microsoft said to issue specs for "ultramobile lifestyle PCs"

Engadget - Microsoft said to issue specs for "ultramobile lifestyle PCs":
"Word is trickling out that Microsoft has treated attendees at its Mobile Platform Division partner briefing to its vision of the next generation of 'ultraportable lifestyle PCs.' According to at least one report, Bill Mitchell, Corporate Vice President of the Mobile Platform Division, showed a slide that outlined specs for the new PC category, including that it be wearable, always on, no larger than 10-inches, connected through 3G networks, pen-based, and have a suggested retail price of $500 or less. Sounds like something of a cross between Windows Mobile smartphones and tablet PCs (sort of like the Ruby concept PC, pictured) -- or a rehash of the long-forgotten Windows CE-based 'Jupiter' laptop platform, which didn't exactly take the world by storm. One notable spec that could differentiate this one: Microsoft is apparently insisting that this run the full version of Windows. If the company really succeeds in that endeavor, this could be a hit; if not, we'll get one to keep in the basement, next to our Clio."

eWeek - Mozilla Reborn: SeaMonkey 1.0 Is Released

eWeek - Mozilla Reborn: SeaMonkey 1.0 Is Released:
"While Firefox and Thunderbird are the poster children of open-source Internet application success, the program suite they sprang from, Mozilla, was reborn Jan. 30 under a new name: SeaMonkey."
LINKS: SeaMonkey