TECHBiTE with David Schellenberg

The latest in tech news every weekday morning at 7:10.....

Tuesday, July 27

Unlocking iPhones

The US decided that it is not illegal for iPhone owners to unlock their phones.  This would allow them to change providers and add apps that Apple hasn't approved.

iPhone in Canada

Everyone is waiting to see the final iPhone plans for Friday.  We have seen a couple of different prices and stories abound on the fact that it will be sold unlocked in Canada.

Hackers in Vegas

The annual Black Hat and Defcon conferences are ready to start.  These events bring together hackers from across the US to show off their abilities.

Ask.com gets Q&A

The ancient search engine is trying its luck with letting the Internet answer tough questions.

Monday, July 26

Samsung Wave

Another option next to the Blackberry, iPhone and Andriod devices is this smartphone that uses Bada.  This operating system has been around years and Samsung has a plan to roll it out in more consumer products.  The phone itself is fine, but not as good as the more established phones out there.  A good product, but take a pass on it.

Friday, July 23

Internet Almost Full

Several Internet experts say that the Internet will run out of IP addresses in the next year.  The new scheme to add more has started but could be moving quicker.  Is this Y2K II?

Windows Phone 7 Makers

Microsoft says that Asus, HTC, Samsung, LG and Dell will all be making phones using their new operating system by the end of the year.

Global Forest Map

Scientists use three NASA satellites to generate 250 million laser pulses collected over 7 years to create a map that shows the height of the forest around the world.

$35 Computer

India has created a super cheap tablet running Linux that it is planning to give to students.

Wednesday, July 21

Google Updates its Image Search

The search leader now has a 'dense tiled layout' when looking through its library of more than 10 billion photos.

Space Gas Station

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates has a scheme to send up a satellite that would be able to to refuel and even do basic fixes on excisting satellites.

Should I Watch?

A great tool for those that record sports and watch them later.  This website lets you know if your website is worth watching.

Android Video Calls

Adobe releases a demo showing an Android making video calls.  They say that they won't directly release a product that makes it work - but they will give the code away to anyone that wants it.

Tuesday, July 20

Blue Ant S4 Speakerphone

Great quality for a device to bring handsfree capabilities to your car.  Too bad that many of the extra features simply don't work.

Hourglass Syndrome

Canadian students are getting stressed by slow computers.

Microneedles

New technology that could deliver items like the flu shot through a kind of a patch.  The patch contains tons of tiny needles that disolve in your skin.  It wouldn't hurt and can easily be thrown away when done.

Hyped Phones Gone

Google gets rid of the Nexus One.  Microsoft gets rid of the Kin.

Monday, July 19

Change Camp

An event at City Hall over the weekend is helping to push towards more Open Data.  Some great examples of developers taking city data and turning it into cool stuff includes www.representme.ca and www.ottawatrash.ca

Antennagate

Blackberry, HTC and Nokia all respond to the press conference from Steve Jobs.

Friday, July 16

They Knew!

Turns out that Apple knew about the reception problems in the iPhone 4 all along.  But they didn't want to change the design because it would wreck the look of the phone.  Plus - they didn't let the cell phone carriers have much testing time.

Online Gambling

The government of British Columbia brings blackjack, roulette and craps online.  It is the first legal Internet gambling in North America.  You have to be 19 and in BC to play.

1 vs 100 Cancelled

Microsoft has cancelled their live online game.  No clear reason on why it is gone but hopefully something similar is coming soon.

Ubuntu

Have an old PC that you want to bring back to life.  Ubuntu is an operating system that works great for basic web browsing and more. 

Thursday, July 15

iPhone 4 Press Conference

Apple will finally address the problems with the newest iPhone - tomorrow.

iOS 4.1

An update to the iPhone operating is supposed to fix some of the problems.  Hopefully it does more than just make the signal bars look bigger.

Apple's Vista

The Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft takes a shot at Apple's problems.

Router Security Problems?

A presentation at the upcomming Black Hat security conference is called "How to Hack Millions of Routers".  The hack uses a flaw in DNS.

TV on the Computer

Survey shows that most US networks are putting their shows online - but they remove them after a couple of weeks. 

PS3 and 3DTV

Sony says that almost 36 million PS3's have now been updated for 3D content.  That gives a huge base for 3D movies getting into our homes.

Wednesday, July 14

iPhone 4 Recall?

Calls for Apple to do a major fix for the newest iPhone are growing.  The simple fix would be to issue some kind of a new case but that would not be the permanent fix that many owners want to see.  The whole issue could delay the launch of the iPhone in Canada.

New iPad?

Reports say that the next version of the iPad could be out by the end of 2010.  Rumours say that Apple has placed huge orders for some new OLED screens.

Windows Phone Live Details

Expect a splashy launch when Microsoft releases its new phone in a couple of months.  They have announced that phone users will get access to a special website to view their calendar, pictures and more.

Mars Tour

NASA needed years to crunch all of their Mars photographs into one stunning package.  It has now all been released using Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope software.

Monday, July 12

Time to move on...

This is the week that Microsoft stops issuing security fixes for computers with Windows XP and Service Pack 2.  Service Pack 3 security fixes will keep going until 2014.

Facebook Panic Button

Younger users on Facebook will soon see a button that gives them direct access to help when they are feeling pressured online.  Help will come from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Google Games

Zynga - the creators of Farmville and Mafia Wars - have received a $100+ Million investment from Google.  Speculation is that this is all for a new service that Google will launch later this year.

NASA's Curiosity

The US space agency is getting their next Mars rover ready to go.  This one will have 6 wheels and each wheel will have its own motor.  The rover will laund using a parachute in late 2011.

Friday, July 9

Pirate Bay Hacked

An Argentinian hacker finds the user names, e-mail and IP addresses for more than 4 million Pirate Bay users.  A bounty that would be loved by any entertainment group that wants to prosecute online file-sharing.

iPod Touch Rumours Start

Predictions have a front-facing camera, FaceTime video chat and a gyroscope all in the next version of the Touch.

Gift Shop Closed

The ability to send useless gifts for $1 on Facebook is closing on August 1.  They made money from the service, but they want to close it to concentrate on the rest of the site.

Leanback

YouTube launches a service to make watching their videos more like watching TV.

Thursday, July 8

ISPs Not Broadcasters

The Federal Court of Appeal says that Internet Service Providers in Canada do not have to pay into a fund to create Canadian new media.

Our Dismal Do-Not-Call List

Not only does Canada's do-not-call list not work - turns out that they can't even punish the violaters.

HDBaseT

Several big tech companies are on a push to replace those expensive HDMI cables with good old ethernet.

YouTube Mobile

The mega video website launches a new mobile version.  One that they like even more than YouTube apps.  Check it out at m.youtube.com

Wednesday, July 7

YouTube Experiment

July 24, 2010 is going to be turned into a full length feature film.  YouTube (actually Google) wants everyone to record bits of their day and send in the video.  The final product will appear at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

iTunes Fraud

Apple has kicked out a devloper for what seems to be a ploy to steal credit card numbers.

Finding Free Apps

A report points out that the Android app store has a lot more free apps than iPhone.  Also - the most expensive apps are in Blackberry App World.

Cloud Music

Both Apple and Google are set to launch a new type of music store by Christmas.  This one will have all the music stored in the Cloud.

Tuesday, July 6

LG's Tablet Plan

Another company is going with Android over Windows 7 for its tablet.  LG is planning an Android 2.2 tablet that will be out by the end of the year.

Frash

A developer figures out how to put Flash on jail-broken iPads.

Flying Car Closer

Logi Aerospace has developed a vehicle that 'anyone can literally drive into the air'.

Biometric ATM

Bank machines that work with a swipe of your finger are already in use around the world.  A bank in Poland is now launching the machines.  Seems that they are everywhere but North America.

Tuesday, June 29

Windows 8

Some internal planning documents from Microsoft are leaked online.  One thing is clear - they have noticed how popular Apple has become.

Windows Live Messenger

A beta version of the newest version of Messenger (many know it as MSN) is out.  Microsoft has added a ton of social networking tools.

Project Canvas

Broadcasters in the UK are working on a box that sits on your TV set, connects to the Internet and brings TV on demand to your home.

Solar Camera Strap

Neat idea to charge the batteries in your camera - put some solar cells in the strap! 

Monday, June 28

iPhone 4 Jailbreak

It didn't take long for programmers to use a hole in the iOS to take control of the iPhone. 

iPhone 4 in Canada?

Steve Jobs responds to an e-mail and indicates that there will be no delay for us getting our hands on the new device.

Gmail in HTML5

Google figures they can make Gmail run faster and add services by eventually migrating it to HTML5.

Encrypted Search

Want to keep your Google searches secret?  Use https://encrypted.google.com

Flash in Chrome

Google puts Flash to the front of its web browser.  They must be doing something write, it has now past Safari for overall use on the Internet.

Google Me 

Rumours say that Google is going to try again to launch its own version of Facebook.

Fast Random

Chinese researchers as using lasers and protons to generate random numbers faster than anyone else.  

Thursday, June 24

iPhone 4 Day

Apple's latest toy has gone on sale in several countries around the world.  The launch has not been without problems - pre-orders getting lost, yellow blocks on the fancy screen, scratches on the back and issues with the antenna are all building up.  Still too early to tell if these are major issues or not.

Droid X

Motorola introduces their latest toy.  Early reviews are saying this smartphone could finally match the technology in the iPhone.

YouTube Win

A federal judge has decided that media giant Viacom isn't going to get $1 billion from Google. 

Electronic Spectacles

A new generation of glasses will replace traditional bifocals.   

Monday, June 21

Update your iThings

Today is the day that Apple releases OS4 for most iPhone and  iTouch devices.  The upgrade is free and worth the effort to get the new features.

PDF Built In

Google says that the next version of Chrome will contain the ability to show PDF's without an external viewer.  The plan is to have the PDF pages appear just as any other web page.

Phishing Stats

3.7 billion phishing e-mails have been sent over the past year.  Most scams are fake bank e-mails.  A quarter of Brits admit to falling for the scams.

Bright Idea

The solar LED lightbulb has been developed to bring some light to the developing world.  A day of sunlight will result in a couple of hours of light.

Friday, June 18

Free Electronic Recycling

Find your old electronics and bring them to 349 Terry Fox Drive on Saturday between 9 AM and 2 PM.

App World 2.0

Blackberry users will get an update to App World this summer.  The update will mean that purchases can now appear on your cell phone bill instead of having to create a Pay Pall account.

iPhone 4

Apple sells 600,000 in US pre-sales.  Apple announces that it will be available unlocked in Canada.  Plus - wild specultation online after Apple changes their Canadian website from 'Coming in July' to 'Coming Soon'

Predictive Analysis

School in Chicago has created a course to teach students how to use tons of data to predict the future.

Logitech Revue

The first Google TV product is getting closer to reality.

Thursday, June 17

Canada's Digital Strategy

The Senate wakes up and releases a study that contains recommendations on a digital strategy.  Their ideas include creating a Minister of Digital Policy, allowing more open access to networks, paperless cabinet meetings and more.

Music Service in the Cloud

Google appears to be getting ready to launch a competitor to iTunes.  The new service would bring a music store to Android devices.  Plus, it looks like users can store their tunes in the Cloud.

Video Game Service in the Cloud

A streaming video game service has launched in the US.  They have deals with EA, Ubisoft and more.  OnLive lets you play video games without having to install them on your computer.  It will be interesting to see how well it works.

Cell Phone Disclosures

San Francisco passes a law that would require all cell phone retailers to display how much radiation is emitted.

Water on the Moon

NASA says that there is a ton of water on the moon.  More water than the entire Great Lakes here on earth.

Wednesday, June 16

Mario in 3D

Nintendo announces details of the 3DS.  It will have a 3D screen that doesn't need glasses and have three cameras so you can take your own 3D pictures.

PlayStation Move

Sony comes out with a couple more details on their latest add-on for the PS3.  They promise their new controller will be far more accurate than other ones on the market.  Plus, they will be 3D in a couple of months.

3D Laptop

Toshiba releases details on an upcomming laptop with a Blu-ray player that includes 3D glasses. 

Hotmail Update

Microsoft is updating the look of Hotmail and adding new features.  This is the first major update in 4 years.  New features include the ability to send documents up to 10 GB in size.

Camp Quality

Hey Graphic Designers - want to help out some great kids this summer?  Camp Quality needs somebody to put together a book of memories.  Will be a great way to spend some time outdoors.

Tuesday, June 15

Shiny New Xbox 360

Microsoft is releasing a new, slimmer and quieter video game system.  It will have a larger hard drive and finally will include WiFi.

Michael Jackson Game

Ubisoft announces that they are creating a game that allows players to step into the shoes of Michael Jackson and re-live his most iconic performances.

EA's Ton of Announcements

Need for Speed, Active 2, Medal of Honor, Bulletstorm, Sims 3 and more....

RIM Tests a Tablet and new Blackberry

They need to do something to keep from loosing any more ground to new competitors.  Research in Motion is planning to bring out their own tablet by the end of the year.  Also in the works is a touchscreen Blackberry with a slide out keyboard.  And - the whole thing will come with a new Blackberry Operating System featuring an updated web browser.

Office 2010

Microsoft has released their newest version of Office.  Look for big updates in Outlook and PowerPoint.  Expect the complaints to start soon - those old office workers really don't like change. 

Monday, June 14

Goodbye Nutal, Hello Kinect

Microsoft has released some details for their new Xbox 360 handsfree controller.  Expect it to be released in November - just in time for Christmas.

3-D without Glasses

Researchers deep within Microsoft are working on special TV set that tracks the eyeballs of viewers.  This allows the TV to send individual images to each eye creating 3D!

Internet Traffic

The World Cup passed Obama's inaugaration to become the busiest ever news day on the Internet.

iPad Apps

There are now 10,000 apps out for the iPad - makes it the fastest growing app store ever.  And, 78% of them are paid apps.

Friday, June 11

Gearing Up

E3 starts on Monday.  This is the huge video game conference where all the manufacturers show off their latest toys.  Watch for big announcements from Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA and everyone else.

No Pilots?

The FAA has started a research projet to figure out if the US can safely allow unmanned commercial flights.

Comet McNaught

Look towards the northeastern sky just before sunrise and you may see something new.  Next week will be the best time to see Comet McNaught.

Hayabusa comes Home

The Japanese launched a probe seven years ago to try to get a sample of an asteroid.  That probe is set to crash land in the Australian outback on Sunday. Nobody is too sure if it contains samples or not.  It will be retreived on Monday.

Watching Movies

A great programs that will play pretty much every media file.... www.videolan.org

Tuesday, June 6

Car Maps

Ford announces that new versions of Sync will connect to Google Maps.  You will be able to plot your route and then feed it into your car.

Apple Announcements

• Safari 5 promises faster performamce with a new feature called Safari Reader
• An iPad is sold every three seconds
• Apple has paid out over $1 billion to app developers
• iPhone 4 has a new processor, bigger battery and a gyroscope
• Facetime will hopefully allow video conferencing between any type of smartphone
• Canada will get iPhone 4 in July, no details on an exact date yet

Monday, June 5

Apple Announcements

We are all waiting to see what will happen this afternoon.  New iPhone, Mac Mini, Safari 5?  Stay tuned.

Smartphone Virus

Hackers put malicious software into a couple of games for Windows Smartphones.  The games will automatically dial premium-rate telephone services in Somalia, Italy and other countries.

Yahoo and Facebook

Expect to see a a new service called Yahoo Pulse that will mix several online services and look alot like Facebook.

SharePod

A great free program that will let you take music and pictures out of your iPod or iTouch and into a computer.

 Friday, June 4

Jupiter Hit

Late on Thursday, Jupiter was impacted by an unknown object.

Fake Trip

6 suckers have locked themselves in a room for 520 days to simulate a return trip to Mars.  The last time this experiment was tried it ended in sexual harassement and fist fights.

Fonts with Feelings

Microsoft gets a patent on fonts that can alter their appearance and make noises.

Smart Clothes

Concordia in Montreal helps to develop garments that can monitor the emotional state of the wearer then provide sound and images to help deal with stress.

Free Mac AntiVirus

Earlier this week was a couple of stories on spyware that has made it out on the Mac.  A couple of free antiviruses to check out include ClamXav and iAntiVirus.

Thursday, June 3

Balanced Copyright?

The Federal Government is introducing Bill C-32 to make some changes to our Copyright Act.  No real surprises so far - the pro and con sides are still getting organised.  Check out the full text at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=4580265&file=4

Free Windows Apps

Microsoft is giving Windows 7 a bit of buzz later this year by releasing a series of new Live apps.  There will be updates to Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Mail and Sync.

Smartphone Rootkits?

Researchers are getting ready to make a presentation at Defcon showing how a rootkit could be used to take control of an Android device. 

3D TV on June 11

DirecTV in the United States is getting ready to launch several 3D channels.  Hopefully more will come to Canada soon.

Wednesday, June 2

New Copyright Act

This afternoon the Federal Government will release Amendments to the Copyright Act.  The complaints will likely roll in right afterwards.

Mac Security Problem

A program that looks like a collection of 30 screensavers is actually spyware that installs a back door then steals information on Macintosh computers.

Universal E-Book Format

Amazon and Apple are the big suppliers of e-books right now - problem is that they are not compatible with each other.  The industry knows that a format war is looming.  Will they be able to stop it?

PirateDate.com

The Pirate Bay launches an online dating site.  Parrots not included.

Windows Mobile to Gmail Sync

From an 'Ask Dave' this morning.  A link to a tool from Google that allows contacts on a Windows Mobile phone to be snyc'd with the Google cloud.

Monday, May 31

Another Tablet?

ASUS announces that they are releasing two tablets running Windows soon.  Unfortunatly, they are also known for making announcements and then never releasing the product.

Tag

Microsoft removes the 'beta' sign from their barcode scanning service.  Will you soon find barcodes on everything?

Online Privacy

A new survey shows that younger adults are more likely to take steps to keep their data private.  The number drops dramatically as we get older.

Quit Facebook Day

A couple of Toronto guys declared that today is the day to protest against Facebook by quitting.  So far, nobody really is going to quit.  Still, it is a good conversation to be having.

Keeping Kids Safe

Cybertip.ca is a great Canadian resource for finding help in protecting kids from the Internet.

Friday, May 28

iPad on Sale

Apple's magical device has now cast its spell on the rest of the world.  An iPad here will cost you a rather unmagical $550 to $879.

iPad Push Back

Time Warner and NBC Universal have both made it clear that they are not going to spend time and money to ensure that their Flash heavy websites work on the iPad.

$100 Tablet

The One Laptop Per Child people are working on their next product.  This time it will be a tablet with video cameras, wifi, multi-touch screens and likely running Android.

New GPS Begins

The first of a new generation of Global Positional System satellites has been launched.  This will be a part of a long project to replace the entire system with new technology that will be far more accurate.

Robot Moon Base

Japan is planning to spend more than $2 billion on construction of an unmanned base near the south pole of the moon.

Thursday, May 27

Free AMBER Alerts

The RCMP, OPP and agencies across the country have launched a new system that sends AMBER alert messaegs straight to your cell phone.  Sign up online or by texting the keyword AMBER to 26237 (AMBER).

Internet Speed Test Results

Speedtest.net is making the results of billions of Internet speed tests available to everyone.  Turns out that Ottawa and Canada are pretty slow compared to the rest of the world - who knew?

FarmVille and Mafia Wars Expanding

The popular/ annoying games from Facebook are expanding to Yahoo! soon. 

Wednesday, May 26

Anti-Spam Legislation

The government introduces a new bill to prevent spamming.  They propose to create a spam-reporting centre, plus fine offenders up to $1-million or $10-million for businesses.

Smartphone Room-key

A couple of hotels in Chicago are testing a system that would allow guests to skip the hotel front desk and go directly to their hotel room.  An app installed on their smartphone would be all they need to get into the room.

Chrome 5

Google releases the latest full version of their webbrowser.  The new version is faster and has flash builtin.  It is out for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Tuesday, May 25

Look Up, Look Waaay Up

Kevin Fetter was cleaning the floors at the PetroCanada in Brockville when he accidentally located a secret US space plane.

iPhone Ads

Rumours are going around about commercials being shot for the new generation phone.

Flash on Froyo

Google has released an Android update for the Nexus One.  This update includes Flash, but early reviews show that Flash runs very slowly.

Google Doodle

When Google changed their logo to that playable version of Pac Man tthe world lost over $120 million in productivity.

Towel Day

May 25 is the day we remember Douglas Adams by conspiciously caring a towel.

Friday, May 21

Google TV

Sony, Intel, Logitech, Adobe, Best Buy and Dish Network all join Google's latest project.  This time they have targetted TV.  The plan is to connect streaming video and online databases to your TV.  Devices from this will be on sale by Christmas.

Google Lawsuit

A couple in Oregan have accused Gogole of violating privacy and data acquisition laws after the Street View vehicle accidentally collected a ton of WiFi data.

Copyright in Canada

Next week the Conservative Government will try for the third time to bring in a new set of copyright laws.

iPad Likes and Dislikes

A survey has been released that shows iPad owners are satisfied with the device.  The biggest complaint is the lack of Flash.

Thursday, May 20

Chrome Web Store

Google seems to be working on an App store for your computer.  This would be a place where you can find tons of little programs.  Only catch is that you would have to be using Chrome to find it.

Google Wave Opens Up

The confusing Google Wave is now available for all.  The beta program moves into a new phase with promises that the system is faster, easier and  better to use.  Still seems to be somewhat of a useless system.

Do you want Facial Recognition?

Turns out that Google has developed a face recognition technology that they could use to find people in online photos.  Problem is that privacy advocates worry that it could be used as an ideal tool for stalkers and fraudsters. 

WebOS Based Printers

Now that HP owns Palm, they also own Palm's really cool operating system from the Pre known as WebOS.  This is a nifty little touchscreen based OS that could be used in other HP devices - such as their printers.

Secret Service Cell Problems

The ability to remotly erase everything on the iPhone, Blackberry and other devices is causing some problems for the Secret Service.  Criminals could erase everything on their device before anyone has a chance to look at it.  Plan now is to instantly take out the battery and put the phone in a shielded bag.

Wednesday, May 19

WebM

Google seems set to launch a new method for online video.

Shazam hits 1 Billion

The popular app announces they have 75 million users in 200 countries around the world.  The app can now indentify over a billion songs.

Cell Phone Radiation

Tawkon is an app for the Blackberry that shows you how much radiation your cell phone is giving off.

iPhone OS 4.0 Beta 4

Apple releases the latest version of the upcoming iPhone operating system.  This version adds a couple more features.

Tuesday, May 18

OneAPI

A new system that would allow developers access to the cell phone infrastructure.

The 343

If you get a new phone, you may now be assigned the new Ottawa area code.

Hotmail Enhancements

Microsoft is trying to move Hotmail from being that 'extra' e-mail account we all have into one that is used more often.  Enchancements include the ability to view Office documents, work with large files, conversation threading and security.

24 Million iPhone 4

Reports say that Apple has ordered millions of the iPhone 4.  Expectations are to sell 4.5 milliion when it goes on sale in June and another 19.5 by the end of the year.

Google I/O

Lots of announcements expected from Google at their developers conference this week.  Flash on the Android, Google TV and finally a use for Wave.

Monday, May 17

Cell phone = Brain Cancer?

Inconclusive, according to a 10 year study of 13,000 people.

Car Hacking

Researchers worry that the latest round of hacking could be on our cars.  They have learned how to do nasty things like turning off the brakes, changing the speedometer, blast hot air, change the radio or lock passengers in the car.

WiFi for Africa

JoinAfrica aims to bring free wireless Internet to Africa.  The man behind the project believes that having access to the net can revolutionise that continent.

Google Store Closed

The Nexus One will no longer be sold by Google through its online store.  Instead they will work with partners to see the device through retail outlets.

Encrypted Search

Google plans keep your searches private in an announcement expected later this week.

Friday, May 14

Last Atlantis Mission

The Space Shuttle fleet continues its retirement run.  The last time that Atlantis will go up is scheduled for this afternoon at 2:20 PM.

Eclipse Labs

A partnership with Google has resulted in a new Labs website for Eclipse.  This is a great way to get new projects up and running.

Android Rumours

Talk has started on the next version of Android - codenamed Froyo.  The new one will be faster and may even allow users to create a wifi hotspot.

iTunes in the Clouds

Rumours suggest that Apple will release a cloud based version of iTunes in early June.  This means that users would no longer download songs into a computer or iPod - instead, the music would play from the cloud.

Thursday, May 13

Open Data Approved

Ottawa city council is supporting the idea of making all municipal data available to the public in accessible formats.  Hopefully this means a variety of apps and websites that find creative ways to use the data are out soon.

End of LimeWire?

A New York judge has found LimeWire liable of copyright infringement.  This will likely result in a fine so large that the company will be devestated.

Wireless Passwords Required

Germany's top court has ruled that all Internet users need to secure their private wireless connections or face a fine up to 100 Euros.

GM Android Car?

Rumours say that GM is working on a way to connect Android devices to their OnStar service.

Biggest Science Experiment Ever

NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency) are getting ready to launch three spacecraft to test Einstein's theory of relativity.

Wednesday, May 12

Another Lost iPhone 4

This time, the roaming iPhone has turned up in Vietnam.  That raises speculations that it is the actual, final version of the iPhone.

Office 2010

Microsoft today will release the latest version of its iconic Office software.  A couple of new features are in the box but the buzz is all about their free online version.  The free version will let you run Office from a web browser and save your documents in the cloud.

Google Docs

The online version of Office is a direct competitor to Google Docs.  The search engine giant is fighting back by suggesting that all you need is an old version of Office and their online Docs.

Zombiesat Attacks

Galaxy 15, the disabled satellite that is spinning while still sending out signals, could take out some cable TV channels.

Sharepod

A good program that lets you move music from your iPod back to a computer. 

Tuesday, May 11

Smartphone Sales

Android sales accounted to 28% of smartphone sales last quarter.  That puts it ahead of the iPhone and getting closer to RIM.  Android is still tiny compared to overall phones in use, but they are the only type that is showing significant growth.

Omni Focus Video Camera

The University of Toronto has developed a camera that can focus in multiple places at once.  This could be a huge innovation for movies, security, defense and medical applications.

New WiFi

A new generation of WiFi can send far more data over short distances.  This could be used in your home entertainment system in the next couple of years to do things like connecting your blu-ray player to your TV without wires.

Natal Release Date

Microsoft confirms that Natal will be out in October.  They say that more details including a new name will be revealed at E3 in June.

Monday, May 10

Rural Broadband

The Canadian government anounces a plan to spend $76.6 million to bring high speed Internet to 50 communities across the country.

Mobilicity

Another cell phone company is set to launch in Canada.  Watch for Mobilicity in Toronto this spring and in Ottawa later in the year.

Crowdsource a Song

Wired has an interesting project to record a song from instruments around the world.

iPhone Laser

It's more than just an app, a German company has created peripherals that plug into the headphone jack on the iPhone.  The items include a flashlight, thermometer, heart monitor, infrared remote, microphone and stethoscope.

Friday, May 7

Online History

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the first countries to have domain names using Arabic scripts.  This means we will soon be seeing domain names ending in مصر, . السعودية, امارات    Also - they are read from right to left.  Egypt: مصر   Saudi Arabia: السعودية   United Arab Emirates: امارات

Zombiesat

The Galaxy 15 commercial satellite is spinning out of control and may start interfering with other satellites because its communications package is stuck on.

Noisy Electric Cars

The European Commission is set to introduce warning sounds on electric vehicles.  The noises are needed so that people with sight problems are aware of the cars. Also - turns out that drivers find it really strange to have a car that doesn't make noise.

iPhone Hartbeat

Apple has a patent on a system that would allow your iPhone to use your heartbeat for security.  Instead of a passcode, the smartphone would identify you from the beat in the palm of your hand.

Thursday, May 6

Google Version 8

Creating the new look for Google took thousands of hours of research.

Controlling the Weather

Shooting lasers into the sky can build a rain cloud.

Personal Navigation

A free upgrade for owners of Nokia devices with navigation can now use their own voice.  The app gets you to record 53 commands including 'you have arrived at your destination' for your handset.

BlackPad

Research in Motion seems to be working on their own tablet.  Expect it to run the Blackberry operating system and be out in early 2011.

Tuesday, May 4

Apple's Billions

Not only has Apple sold 1 million iPads, they are also on track to make $1 Billion in iPad revenue for the first quarter.

IE Down

Internet Explorer's share of webpages has dropped beneath 60%.  Steady growth from Firefox and Chrome are causing the decline.

Slangwho

The latest search engine to take over the world is set to launch on May 14.  The creators of this one say their's is superior because its results are determined by users.

Face.com

The cool tool that automatically tags faces in Facebook is now available for other sites.

Gmail on Blackberry

Some people are reporting that fully sync'd Gmail has finally come to the Blackberry.  Is it working for you?

Monday, May 3

Guilty!

David Kernell was found guilty on Friday of obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor computer intrusion in connection wtih his hacking of Sarah Palin's email account.

iPad 3G

Moments after the next version of the iPad went on sale, the world had already taken it apart to see what is inside.  Contents include the 3G chip, SIM card board and a whole bunch of antenna's.

Bad Office Building

A study shows that buildings are not evolving as quickly as they should.  Modern knowledge of the use of sunlight and air quality are not being reflected.

App for your TV?

Rumours say that details on Google TV will be annouced at the Google I/O conference being held in San Francisco later this month.  Speculation has Sony, Intel and Logitech all working with Google to change TV. 

Nobex Radio Companion

Check out this app foryour Blackberry.  It just happens to carry LiVE 88.5.

Friday, April 30

HP ends Slate

The tablet computer running Windows 7 that HP was been working on has been cancelled - for now at least.  Seems that HP isn't satisfied with the ability for Windows 7 to run as a tablet.  Or - it could be that HP is looking for more uses with the Palm WebOS that they just purchased.

Microsoft ends Courier

The product was never official, but the very cool looking double-screened portable PC that Microsoft was supposidly developing has been cancelled.  It could be that this was just an R&D product, or perhaps the iPad has set a really high standard.

iPhone 4 Leak Story Continues

We now know the name of the guy that found the iPhone prototype in a California German beer bar.  Brian J Hogan is the guy that recevied $5,000 for handing the phone to Gizmodo.

Sueing Sony

PS3 owners could be getting some money from Sony.  A class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States over Sony removing the 'Install Other OS' option.  Is it legal for Sony to remove a feature?

Robot Diet Coach

For $400, you can get a helper to keep track of your calories and weight loss.  It is a little robot that gives you a smile whenever you have done well.  The idea is that you need that positive reinforcement to keep on track.

Pee Battery

A portable battery that recharges with salt water.  In a pinch, it can even get enough power from urine.

Thursday, April 29

First Annual Canadian Clean Tech Summit

Ottawa is hosting a conference to showcase some great Canadian innovations.

HP buys Palm

After months of speculations, HP drops $1.2 billion to buy Palm.  They get a very innovative company that has some great products.  This purchase will put HP back into the smartphone game and could give them their own operating system to build a tablet.

Germany is Horrified 

As Google drives around Germany building Street-View, they also have been collecting information on WiFi networks.  Nobody seems to sure why Google is building that datbase, but it does have some people worried.

WWDC 2010

Apple announces some details for the Worldwide Developers Conference.  It will run June 7 to 11 in San Francisco.  This is traditionally where they announce the next version of the iPhone.  Will be interesting to see what happens this year.

Wednesday, April 28

Café Scientifique

A place to  have a drink and learn about the latest ideas and issues in science and technology in an informal setting.

100 Million Served

The CEO of Research in Motion has plans to dramatically increase the number of Blackberry users.  All he needs to do is get a better OS with a better browser.

Flash on Android

One of the lead Android engineers makes it clear that the next version of the Android OS wil run Flash.  Android won't be the only one - Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, Symbian and Palm will also all run Flash.  Everybody but the iPhone and iPad.

New Night Vision

DARPA funded research at the University of Florida has adapted technology to create nigh vision that needs less power than the current version.  This could bring night vision to your car's windshield or a digital camera in the next couple of years.

Tuesday, April 27

RIM Announcements

The annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium is off and running in Orland, Florida.  Expect a ton of Blackberry announcements over the next couple of days.  A new Bold, Pearl and ways to connect to your office phone system have already been announced.  Expect a new Operating System to come out later this year.  The RIM CEO does a speach on Tuesday - there could be some surprises.

Cell Phone Cancer?

A mammoth study is starting in Europe to investigate if cell phones actually do cause cancer.  The study will run for 20-30 years and follow 250,000 mobile phone users.

Commons Health Committee

Hearings on the Hill will hear from witnesses that say that existing exposure limits to microwaves are too high.

Free Tax Software

Studio Tax 2009 - good for the basics

MyTax Express - clunky 

Monday, April 26

Fraud E-Mail Virus

Canada Post sends out a warning.  If you get an email suggesting that Canada Post is attempting to deliver a package and requests that you open the email attachment in order to affect delivery, the email is fraudulent, likely contains a virus, and the package does not exist.  Don't open the attachment.

Personal Data for Sale

A hacker is selling thousands of Facebook accounts.  Asking price is $25 for 1,000 accounts with less than 10 friends or $45 for those with 11 or more.

Open Data Ottawa Hackfest

A group of 100 gathered at City Hall on Saturday to show off what can be done with data.  Apps to help you figure out which trash to put out, the condition of the canal, which restaurants have passed health inspection and more.

Income Tax Software

UFile Standard Edition - cheapest of the bunch but very bare bones.

H&R Block Deluxe 2009 - exactly the same as UFile.  Well - uFile is red and this one is green.

Quicktax - most expensive but the only one that is easy to use.

Friday, April 23

McAfee is Sorry

The security firm is blaming changes to their quality control system for their major problems this week.  On Wednesday they sent out a security update that decided a regular part of Windows was a virus.  This caused computers around the world to get stuck in a reboot cycle.

Spaceplane

The US Military launches a new type of unpiloted vehicle last night.  The exact objectives and cost of the X-37B are secret, but we do know that it can go into orbit for up to 270 days and then automatically land itself.

SpeedSpike

The UK is trying out a new method to track speeders.  The system photographs the license plates of cars and calculates their average speed over long distances.

Thursday, April 22

Facebook Taking Over

Mark Zuckberg puts on a hoodie to host a news conferece where he announces the extension of Facebook on to other websites.  His vision has Facebook connecting to news sites, music sites and more.

docs.com

Facebook and Microsoft team up to create an online document sharing service.  The sites let users share Micorosft Office documents with their Facebook friends.

Chinese Workers?

Microsoft joins the list of companies that are being accused of using workers that are having their human rights violated to make their products.

Green Gadgets for Earth Day.....

Voltaic Generator Solar-Energy Laptop Bag
Packing up to 15 watts in its included battery pack, the $499 Voltaic Generator can juice a laptop for roughly 5 hours. Plus, it's made almost entirely of recycled soda bottles. Samsonite plans to release its own line of solar products this summer.

Solar-Powered Camcorder
720p, 10X-optical-zoom camcorder fitted with two solar panels. Not a bad deal for $250, It's a no-name brand, and the product has no customer reviews on the site.

Coffee-Ground Printer Concept
Jeon Hwan Ju's RITI Printer, which uses old coffee grounds or tea leaves instead of ink, is one of those gadget concepts that really ought to be actual products.

Water-Powered Alarm Clock
It doesn't offer a fancy radio or iPod integration, but the $20 water-powered alarm clock should wake you up and wash away a bit of guilt. Just dump in some H2O, and you're good to go for three months, as the evaporation process powers the clock.

Bits Limited Smart Strip
Some gadgets quietly draw energy even in standby mode, but who can be bothered to unplug everything or to trigger-flip the surge protector just to save a few watts? Bits Limited's Smart Strips, starting at $30, automatically shut off several devices, like Blu-ray players or game consoles, when you turn off a master device, such as a television.

nPower Kinetic Gadget Charger
The nPower Personal Energy Generator builds up charge as you move--just throw it in a bag or hold it in your hand. It's compatible with plenty of gadgets, including iPhones and BlackBerry handsets.

PowerPlus Leopard Solar Remote
Its small solar charger can even absorb ambient light, so you needn't place it in direct sunlight to juice up. The price is roughly $15.

EcoCube Cardboard Speakers
You won't find a fancy power source for the $15 EcoCube speakers--they actually draw charge from whatever device you connect to them--but they are made entirely of recycled materials. Best of all, they fold completely flat for maximum portability.

NovoThink Surge Solar iPhone Case
It seems as if every iPhone owner has a case to protect their precious device, but NovoThink Surge cases actually put the extra layer to use, gathering charge with a solar panel. You even get an app that lets you plan your solar needs. 

Wednesday, April 21

Google Buzz Privacy Concerns

Canada leads a group of countries that want to remind Google that the search giant needs to be careful with privacy issues in tools like Buzz or Street View.

Data Requests

Google creates a website that provides a country-by-country breakdown of which governments are forcing Google to turn over private details of its users.

Want Porn?

Steve Jobs responds to an e-mail from a customer that was questioning Apple's role as a 'moral police' on the iPhone.  He says that folks who want porn can just go Android.

Apple Sales Record

Record iPhone sales in Asia and the Pacific region have given Apple a huge quarter.  They say they sold 8.75 million iPhones so far this year.  Their financial statements also reveal that Mac desktops are outselling notebooks.

Bluetooth v4.0

The next version promises lower power consumption with faster transmission speeds.  This could help bring in a new generation of watches, remote controls and medical devices.

Hacking Palin

David Kernell hacked into Sarah Palin's e-mail account by answering a series of personal security questions.  Starting today he goes on trial with four felony charges.  Convictions on all of them would send him to jail for 50 years.

Tuesday, April 20

iPhone 4

Gizmodo gets their hands on an early prototype of Apple's next iPhone - check out these highlights:

• Gizmodo coverage of what the phone is
• Gizmodo tells the story of Gray Powell, the guy that left the phone in a bar
• The letter from Apple wanting the phone back
• The hope from Giz that Gray doesn't loose his job

Ireland Censoring the Web?

Several countries around the world are already blocking access to parts of the Internet.  Turns out that the government in Ireland is discussing filtering parts of the Internet that include filesharing and terrorism.

Monday, April 19

Cloud Printing

Google is trying to find extra advantages for the tablet that they are developing.  Google Cloud Print could give Chrome OS that edge.  It would allow users to send documents from any device to their own local printer. 

Portable Flash

It looks like Android, Blackberry and Palm devices will all have flash in the second half of this year.  Flash for Android is expected to be out in a public beta soon.

Flying Car

The US Department of Defense has budgeted millions of dollars to put towards building a new type of vehicle.  It needs to be able to fly without a runway plus traverse rough road conditions on the ground.

Sold Your Soul?

It started as an April Fools Day joke, but so far 7,500 shoppers have agreed to surrender their immortal soul.  The agreement was inside the terms of service for the British firm GameNation.  Proving again that nobody bothers to read the terms and conditions.

Friday, April 16

New Research Centre

IBM and the University of Ottawa have launched a $4.8 million initiative to develop systems that will allow businesses to find the gold in all their data. 

Canadian Video Game Awards

Assassin's Creed 2 leads the nominations for the first ever recognition of Canadian-made video games.  Also getting big nominations are Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Dragon Age: Origins and FIFA 10.

Trip to Mars

Obama gives a speech at NASA to set out the future direction of the space agency.  He says there is no need to go to the moon since they have already been there.  Instead, its all about Mars.  But no specifics on when it will happen.

Robonaut

NASA and GM have created a semi-humanoid robot that will be sent up to the Space Station on the last flight of Discovery.  Known as the R2, it will complement other robots already up there such as the Canada's Dextre. 

Porn Virus

A new virus going around the Internet will publish your entire web browsing history to the world unless you pay their ransom.

Thursday, April 15

iPad in Canada

Apple won't say when it will go on sale here, but they have said that the release is delayed because of very strong demand in the United States.  Also - Rogers announces that they will be offering special pricing plans when it comes out.

Opera iPhone

The new webbrowser has over 1,000,000 downloads on its first day and it is currently the #1 download around the world.

Online Comments

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ordered The Coast to release information on people that posted comments on story about racism within the Halifax fire service.

Obama in Space

The President of the United States is heading to Florida today to formally announce the direction from the White House to NASA.  He is expected to add money to the space agency budget by creating a new vehicle. 

Wednesday, April 14

Gaming Curfew

South Korea is trying to fight gaming addiction with a couple of new laws.  The first will block online gaming access in the middle of the night and the other will slow down the Internet connection after long periods of time.

Webby Awards

The New York Times, BBC, CollegeHumor and The Onion are all websites that received a ton of nominations this year.  The awards will be given out on June 14.

Adobe vs Apple

Many are predicting a lawsuit from Adobe against Apple.  The issue is over Apple not allowing Flash on devices like the iPhone and iPad. 

iPhone Browser

Skyfire has let the world know that they also want to create a web browser for the iPhone.  Now that Opera has been approved, there could be a bunch more on the way.

Tuesday, April 13

Kin

Microsoft launches two new phones.  What makes these phones interesting is their simplicity.  Gone is the push for an app store and endless gaming.  Instead it is almost a single purpose phone aimed at social network junkies.  They go on sale in the US in May, no word yet on Canada.

Docs Update

The new version of Office is due out in the next couple of months, that could have something to do with many of the updates that Google has done to Docs.  The word processing tools new add real-time collaboration for up to 50 users.  The spreadsheet adds speed and autofill.  Plus, a whole new drawing tool is now online.  Some of the updates may take a couple of days to appear.

Google Tablet

Many think that Google is about to announce their own tablet based on their Android operating system.  Like the iPad, it would have access to the web plus special books and magazines.  The advantage it would have is its connection to the Google cloud.  Gmail, Reader, Docs, Voice, Books and all that other Google stuff would be a big part.

3-D to Go

Apple has created a patent on a type of glasses that would let you watch 3D movies anywhere. The glasses would let each eye see a different image and block out the rest of the world.  Worried that someone might be trying to get your attention?  Not to worry, there is a camera in the glasses that is motion activated.

Opera on the iPhone

For the first time, Apple has allowed an app that duplicates some of the core functionality in the iPhone.  Opera successfully forced Microsoft to make changes to the way that Internet Explorer is distributed in Europe.  Apple may figure that they wouldn't do to well in a similar legal battle.  The Opera browser is a free download in the App Store. 

Monday, April 12

Palm Purchase

Who will buy Palm this week.  Guesses are HTC, Lenovo or even Nintendo.

RIM buys QNX

The Ottawa based QNX could be a big part of the future of RIM.  Could Blackberry be making a big push into cars? 

Pink Day

Microsoft is set to reveal two new cell phones today.  The Turtle and the Pure are expected to be inexpensive devices designed to appeal to a younger, heavily social networked crowd.

Unvarnished

A new website has launched that lets you post anonymous comments about your boss and co-workers.  They can't remove the posts - but they can post their side of the story.

Friday, April 9

iPhone OS 4.0

Steve Jobs announced a ton of upgrades.  Some of the better articles from around the net:

• What Apple's Game Center Means to IPhone Gamers
• Apple's iAd Not Game-Changing, but Will Move Market
• Apple's iPhone OS 4.0 No Threat to Android
• iPhone OS 4 scorecard: How Apple fared

IE8 Crashes?

Microsoft says that 70% of all Internet Explorer crashes are because of the add-ons like toolbars.  If they are studying why it crashes - hopefully that means that IE9 will fix the problem.

No Camera Bold

RIM seems to be working on a version of the Blackberry Bold that doesn't have a camera.  This would be important for many secure organisations that don't allow any cameras in their facilities.

Thursday, April 8

Two-Faced Google?

A Senator in Australia points out that Google is quick to condemn the Chinese Government for interfearing wtih the rights of online users - but Google will also share private information with the US government.

Font Money Saver

The website printer.com finds that you can save a significant amount of money on toner just by changing your default font. Century Gothic is the best one to use as it uses 20% less ink than Arial.  The top five look like this: CenturyGothic, Times New Roman, Calibri, Verdana and Arial.

Canadian Citizenship App

An audio version of the federal citizenship guide can now be downloaded as an app on the iPhone.

iPad Cost

iSuppli takes apart another device.  This time they have learned that the iPad costs $259.60 to make.  The most expensive part is the screen, followed by the touch-screen part, then the memory and the battery.

Wednesday, April 7

Android Growth

Google's operating system is the fastest growing type of smartphone.  Latest smartphone research shows that 42% are some kind of a RIM Blackberry, 25% for iPhone, 15% Microsoft device, 9% Andriod and 5% for RIM.

Android TV

A Swedish company is the first to sell an internet-connected, Adroid-based, TV set.

Facebook Scams

The social networking giant knows that there is a ton of scams on their site that promise a free gift card.  They are taking steps to get rid of them - but it can be hard to know which ones are legit.

New Record

Asteriods holds the longest standing record in gaming history.  It was set in 1982 and lasted for 27 years.  Over the weekend, John McAllister played Asteroids for three days to become the master.

Tuesday, April 6

iPhone 4

Apple will release the details of the next iPhone on Thursday afternoon.  Multitasking?  New interface?  Its all guesses until Steve Jobs puts on his sweater.

iPad Problems

Users are reporting weak wi-fi connections and strange USB problems.  Will Apple come to the rescue?

Pink Phones

Microsoft will announce the details of their new generation of phones on Monday.  Expect it to go on sale in a couple of weeks.

Slate Details

HP is making sure we all know that their new tablet will have everything that is missing in the iPad.  Camera, regular USB, Flash and Windows 7 will all be included.

Bionic Eye

A group in Australia has created a system to give a blind person some vision.  They expect human trials to start in 2013.

Monday, April 5

Illegal Internet Links

The Supreme Court  has agreed to hear a case that could change the Internet for Canadians.  Is it defamation to post a link to another website?

Consultating Canadians

The federal government is going to ask Canadians for ideas on the best way to stay on top of the latest in technology.

Buzz Reset

Google is going to try to fix the privacy concerns in Buzz by getting all users to confirm their settings.

iPad is out

A roundup of some articles from south of the border....

• 10 Surprising Things about the iPad
• Problems with iPad's iPhone upscaling
• Hyundai to include an iPad in new car

Thursday, April 1

iPad Reviews

Early reviews of the iPad are overwhelmingly positive.  They all like the long battery life, impressive speed and touchscreen.  Some complain about the awkardness to create things like e-mail and the lack of multitasking.

iPad Killers

There are a flock of tablet computers coming out over the next couple of months.  Dell, HP and more are getting them ready to go.

Civilization App

The Canadian Museum of Civilization has released an app for the Blackberry.  The app lets you plan your visit and then becomes your tour guide as you explore a couple of the galleries.

Finger Vein Vending

A machine using technology from Hitachi known as "finger vein authentication" has hit the streets.  It lets you pay for your drink using your finger.

Masters 3D

Portions of the mega golf tournament will be broadcast in 3D.  Looks like the only place to see it in Canada will be on Shaw cable in the western provinces.

Wednesday, March 31

Canadian Content Online

The Commons Heritage Committee has been getting some advice on how Canadian content should work on the Internet.  Google is one of the speakers arguing that the traditional Canadian content rules should not carry on to the Internet.

Digital Due Process

The US has a variety of privacy laws that can get very confusing.  For example, their law requires the police to get a warrant to access e-mail that is less than 180 days old, but older e-mail has no protection.

Adobe in Chrome

Google announces that the newer versions of their web browser will come bundled with Flash.

More Ontario Recycling

Ontarians can now send 44 items such as MP3 players, cameras, telephones and radios to more than 500 approved electronic recycling sites across the province.

iPad Numbers

Countdown continues to the 'magical and revolutionary' device.

Tuesday, March 30

Large Hadron Collider

THe $10 billion research tool successfully collided proton beams this morning.  In other news - the world is still here.

China Blocks Google

They have done it again.  Any search for on Google from within China appears to be blocked.

New iPhones

It's hard to know what the big article in the Wall Street Journal is all about.  The bottom line seems to be a new version in the United States that will run on Verizon instead of only on AT&T.

Eye-Controlled Videogames

Students at Imperial College in London have created a computer program that syncs a player's eyes to the classic game of Pong.  You can play without needing a controller.

Chrome bundles Flash

Rumours say that Google will announce the next version of their Chrome webbrowser will come with Flash.

Monday, March 29

iPad Countdown

Steve Jobs is promising a revolutionary new product and it is already sold out.  Does it have a hope of meeting all the hype?

iPad Apps

A large collection of iPad apps are ready to go with games being pretty dominate.

iPad Hacked

The guy that created blackra1n says that his newest hack will work on the iPad.  

Nikon Coolpix P100

New camera from Nikon has a great collection of features.  The basics include a huge zoom lens with a wide angle, 1080p movie recording, 10 MP and high-speed photos.  But the feature with the most fun is an automatic detector that will have the camera snap a pic when it sees a smile.

Friday, March 26

Workplace Risk

A study of security professionals identifies the iPhone as a large mobile device threat. They claim that enterprise-class security is missing from the device.

Suspicious Gmail Use

Google adds a warning system for Gmail that will tell you if your account is being used suspiciously.

Boot CD

AVG launches a free software package that can allow a PC to be booted if badly infected by a virus.

Networked Mini Cars

The Electric Networked Vehicle is a mini electric concept car from GM that can help drivers get around crowded streets and find parking spaces.

Thursday, March 25

Pwn2Own

iPhone, Safari, IE8 and Firefox all hacked during the first day of the annual hacking contest.  All the software is running the latest version with all patches installed.  Chrome is the only one that wasn't hacked.

Magazines on the iPad

Time, Wired, Sports Illustrated, Men's Health, Esquire and the Wall Street Journal are all preparing iPad versions for April.  Some are charging hundreds of thousands of dollars to advertisers for a technology that few have seen and touched.

TV on the iPad

It is well reported that the iPad will not support Flash.  Most websites, including big ones like YouTube, primarly use Flash for video.  It looks like CBS is experimenting with HTML5 to bring their site to the new device.

Commodore 64 Returns

A new company is revamping the Commodore 64 for a new generation.  It will still be an all-in-one device - but this time will have a 500 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM, DVD and more.

Wednesday, March 24

World Cup Scam

A message going around the world that looks like a Canadian lottery connected to World Cup 2010 is after your cash.

Internet Explorer Attack

Criminals are making more attacks against IE6 and IE7.  Microsoft will fix it eventually.  In the meantime - why is anyone still using IE6 or IE7?  At least upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer.

Firefox Fix

Mozilla releases Firefox 3.6.2.  It is important to install this latest version because it fixes a major flaw.

Motolingo's Motoriety

A neat tool that connects to the diagnostic port that is in any car built after 1996.  It will then communicate with your smartphone to provide details like speed, engine performance and more.

Skype Mobile

A new version of Skype is coming to Blackberry and Andriod users in the United States.  This could allow you to drop the voice part of your cell phone expenses and run entirely with just the data connection.

Tuesday, March 23

Canadians Online

A new survey shows that Canadians spend 18 hours a week online and 17 hours a week watching TV.

3D DS

Nintendo will show off the 3DS at E3 in Los Angeles in June.  Expect to be able to buy it come March 2011.

CanSecWest

The huge security conference in Vancouver is this week.  Expect a large presentation that shows 20 major flaws in Mac OSX.  Also - looks like the iPhone could be the first item hacked in Pwn2Own this year.

Firefox Problems

A new problem in Firefox will be fixed with an update by the end of the month.  But, in the meantime, there are warnings from groups like the German Government to stay away from this browser.

Violent Games Banned

Switzerland passes a ban on any title that "requires cruel acts of violence against humans and humanlike creatures for in-game success"

Monday, March 22

iPad Development

Even though you probably haven't touched an iPad - this could be the time to get your app built and submitted.  Apple is accepting apps for their new device that will launch on April 3 in the US.  The main reason to get it done is to beat the rush when all the other developers start creating.

Crowdsource Smartphone

Nokia launches a tool to let us create the perfect smartphone.  The big question - will they actualy make it?

Palm Death Watch

They did everything right with the Pre.  A great device with very effective marketing.  Problem is that there are just too many options for smartphones right now.

Wii Shortage

Did you notice that you can't buy a Wii or a PS3 right now?  Both Nintendo and Sony are rushing to build more consoles.  Looks like more people have been buying than expected. 

Solar Powered Augmented Reality Contact Lenses

Have your life closed captioned or surf the Internet anywhere you happen to be.  The University of Washington has created a contact lense full of tiny LEDs.

Strong Passwords

Twitter is now preventing new users from using the 20 most popular passwords.  This is a smart move that more companies need to do.

Friday, March 19

iGroups

Apple seems to be building its own social networking app.  iPhone users will never have to feel lonely again.

3D Web

Google is supporting ANGLE, short for Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine.  This would make it easier for web pages to be built in 3D.

Windshield Display

GM has been working for 22 years on heads-up displays.  The goal is to have important information - but not inundate the driver.  They have developed systems that could show the edge of the road or remind the driver when they are speeding.

Earths are Common

A NASA scientist writes a new book that suggests there is a high chance of life out there somewhere.  Only real catch is that the closest life is about 40 trillion kilometres away.

Thursday, March 18

Virus Targets Facebook

If you happen to get an e-mail with the subject 'Facebook password reset confirmation customer support' - don't click on the link.  The link urges you to install something that promises to fix your Facebook password problem.  What gets installed will actually steal your password.

Universal 3D Glasses

XpanD is working on glasses that should work with all the types of 3D TV's that are coming to the stores soon.  This should fix a potentially large compatability problem that could hold back large support of 3D TV.

New Domains Coming 

Canon has announced that they will be the first to spend $185,000 to get their own top level domain.  By the end of 2011 their website won't be at canon.com - it will just be at canon.  This will bring in a whole new landrush for domains.

Calibrate LCD TV's

A great tool that you can use to properly setup your LCD TV can be found on many DVD's that have the THX logo.

Visual Memory Enhancer

Spanish researchers may have found a substance that can stimulate the part of the brain responsilble for visual memory.  One day you could take a pill that would allow you to remember a map for up to two months.

Stars in Bing

Microsoft adds a new stargazing feature in Bing Maps.  You can be on a street corner and then look up and see the stars.

Wednesday, March 17

Montreal Movie Pirate

Geremi Adam has been sent to prision for two-and-a-half-months and given 100 hours of community service for distributing copied films on the Internet.

Nexus One News

Google announced that the Nexus One can now be shipped to Canada.  The phone costs $529 (US) and there is no deals for signing with an cell phone provider.  The phone is unlocked which means (in theory at least) it would work on a variety of providers. 

An interesting report points out that it took the iPhone 74 days to sell 1 million units.  The Driod sold 1.05 million in 74 days.  Nexus One sold 135,000 after 74 days.  This has some people saying that the Nexus One is a failure.  But there has been no splashy advertising campaign plus it is a new way to buy a cell phone.

Largest Infrastructure Project Ever

China has started working on a massive railway that will stretch from London to Beijing.  Trains will run at 320 kilometers per hour and the whole thing could be done in 10 years.  Chian is already in negotiations with 17 countries to build it.  In many cases, countries will pay for their portion by trading natural resources.

Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft releases an eary trial version of their next web browser.  IE9 will support HTML5, has a new JavaScript engine and will not run on Windows XP.

Tuesday, March 16

Windows Phone 7 Apps

Microsoft makes a bunch of announcements at the annual MIX conference in Las Vegas.  Apps in Mobile 7 will all be built in Silverlight which should give them a huge advantage in development speed.  Development tools will be free and can be downloaded already.  And - the phone won't really support multitasking, but it looks like it will be available for some key apps.

Canada Andriod Paid Apps

Starting today some paid apps are starting to appear in the Android Market in Canada.  Google has had a tough time figuring out how to collect money but they seem to have solved it on some providers.

Internet for Everyone

The FCC in the United States has proposed a $20 billion plan to bring high speed Internet across the nation.

Monday, March 15

120,000 iPads

Apple sells $75 million in iPad pre-orders.  Very impressive considering that almost nobody has seen or touched it yet.

Motorola Milestone

This Android phone is the best one on the market so far.  It does a pretty good job of being fast and having all the features that are expected in this type of device.  Not quite the iPhone just yet, but getting very close.

Dot.com Anniversary

25 years ago today the very first dot com domain name was registered.  Nobody was in a rush to get a domain, in all of 1985 there was only 5 registered.  Now there are 668,000 dot com domains registered every month.

MIX Conference

Several announcements are expected from Microsoft over the next couple of days.  Watch for Silverlight to come out for Symbian phones and for Xbox games to appear on iPhones.

Friday, March 12

iPhone 4 Rumours

Apple needs to give us something cool in the next generation of the iPhone.  Rumours are saying that it will be multitasking.

iPad Pre-Order

Yup - you can now buy an iPad.  Apple has started pre-orders in the United States.  The device will be shipped on April 3.  Trick for us is that they will only ship to US addresses.

3D Cameras

Sony joins Panasonic and FujiFilm with development on a camera that lets you take your own 3D pictures.

3D Voice Chat

Dolby is adding a technology to the chat inside of video games that will put the sound of other players around you or even behind walls. 

Tracking Employees

A new technology uses phones to tell what you are doing.  The example is that a phone on the waist of a clearning work can tell when they are scrubbing, walking, sweebing or even emptying a garbage can.

Internet Speed Test

The FCC in the US launches a tool to help consumers test the speed of their Internet connection.

Thursday, March 11

PlayStation Move

Sony thanks Nintendo for introducing motion gaming to the masses - and then shows off their new controller.  It will sell for about $100 and come out this fall.

Dell Streak

Rumours say that Dell is getting ready to launch their own tablet. It will be running on Google's Android and come bundled with quick access to music, movies and books from Amazon. 

dowhatyoucan.ca

Now that the City has stopped collecting e-waste - they have launched a website to help you figure out how to get rid of it.

Jet Pack for Sale

After years of work - a New Zealand company has launched the first commercially-available jetback.  It costs $86,000 and will get you 30 minutes of flight using gasoline.

Harper on YouTube

Stephen Harper will become the second world leader to do a YouTube town hall. 

 Wednesday, March 10

Microsoft Canada Lawsuit?

A BC judge is allowing a class-action lawsuit accusing Microsoft of over charging to go ahead.

Faster Router

Cisco releases a product that can move data so fast that they claim it could deliever every movie ever made in four minutes.

Google Announcement RoundUp

• Google Public Data Explorer creates charts and graphs from data
• Bike Routes in Google Maps is supposed to provide the best way to bike - doesn't work for Ottawa yet.
• Set-Top Box is in the works that would be based around Android

Dotcom Bubble Bust

It was 10 years ago today that NASDAQ started going down.  Turns out the 'new economy' didn't work.

Tuesday, March 9

3D TV on Sale

Sony, Panasonic and Samsung are all either selling or about to start selling 3D TV's.  They will be expensive - the list price for the 46-inch Sony is $3,875 - that is 52% higher than a regular TV.  One of the emerging problems is that every TV manufacturer will require a different type of glasses.

Solar Stormwatch

Scientists need your help to watch the Sun.  They have built a website that provides pictures for anlysis.  If you spot the beginnings of a solar storm, you can alert the scientists.

Fiverr

What would you do for $5?  This website is a marketplace of small jobs that are all priced at $5.  Some great little ideas that need to be done.  From setting up a business card to recording a voicemail message in a funny voice - its all there.

Monday, March 8

iPad Hype

Apple ran the first iPad TV ad during the Oscars on ABC.  It wasn't anything special, just someone looking at pictures and reading books.

Booting Out Apps

Apple continues to clean up the App Store.  The latest round to be punted are Apps that are just cookie cutters.

Computer the Reads Minds

A system uses a skull cap and wireless technology to transform brain waves into letters.

Ubisoft DRM

Anyone trying to play the PC version of Assassin's Creed II this weekend was SOL.

Friday, March 5

PlayStation Phone?

In a world full of cool smart phones, Sony needs to do something to stay in the loop.  The PlayStation brand is huge around the world and could give them the push needed to break through. 

YouTube Captions

About 28,800 hours of video a day are uploaded into YouTube.  Now they will all have captions added.  Producers of videos will be able to review the text and fix it too.

New 3D TV

You just bought a big new HDTV?  Well, if you want it in 3D you are going to have to buy another big new TV.

Skinput

Experimental technology listens to the vibrations in your body.  This means that you could tap on different parts of your arm and be able to control devices like an MP3 player.

Popular Science Online

The entire 137-year archive of the magazine Popular Science has been scanned and posted online.  Even the ads are still there.  Go back in time and see how often they predicted 'jet packs'. 

Thursday, March 4

Throne Speech

There was a couple of digital bits in the Speech from the Throne.  The government is thinking about trying again to make changes to copyright, opening the telecom industry to more foreign investment and give the police more cyber-powers.

Mariposa Botnet 

Ottawa based Defence Intelligence discovered a huge botnet that had infected computers around the world including government, banks and more.  With the help of police around the world they where able to shut down the hackers.

Mini-Hydroelectric Plant

It weighs 30 pounds and just needs a stream deeper than 4 feet to generate up to 500 watts of power.  This could be the solution to survive after the self destruction of civilization.

Real Time Google

Proposed changes to the mega search engine could mean that websites it indexes appear in the search results right away.

Wednesday, March 3

Apple vs HTC

Lawsuits between tech companies is starting to become a weekly announcement.  Already Kodak, Nokia, RIM, Motorola and more are all suing each other for various patent problems.  Apple going after HTC does have the potential to be a bigger issue because they are being really aggressive.

iPad Rumours

Still waiting for details on the iPad in Canada - but it looks like the US will get in line to buy one on March 26.

Nose Scanning

Researchers think that noses could be a great source of identification.  They are just as unique as fingerprints, plus they are easy to see.

Storm3?

The first images of the Blackberry Slider have appeared online.  Could it be the next version of the Storm?

Tuesday, March 2

PS3 Bug Fixed

Sony says that older PS3 consoles thought that 2010 was a leap year.  They have fixed the problem.

XP Bug Found

Microsoft says that websites that tell XP users to press the F1 key are bad.

Translating Telephone

A new Microsoft Research project can translate on the fly.

End of free Wi-Fi?

The UK is pondering a new law that would make free Wi-Fi found in coffee shops illegal. 

If I Can Dream

The creator of "American Idol" is trying to bring the same type of over-hype to his new Internet project.

Monday, March 1

Playstation Network Problems

Sony seems to be having some problems with the Playstation Network.  Looks like it will take a firmware update to fix it all.

Underage Workers for Apple

Apple has released a report that shows a number of problems with their factories around the world.  It appears that some places hired underage workers, worked people too long and didn't pay the minimum wage.  Great that Apple is releasing this stuff.  These factories around the world are used by many other manufacturers - hopefully others will take similar steps.

Green Gadget Getters

A study shows that many consumers don't really care if the new gadget they buy is green or not.  Seems that the push to get the coolest item is what drives many purchases.

DBAN

Darik's Boot and Nuke is a great free tool to use to erase everything on your hard drive.

Andriod Upgrade

Looks like Google will be pushing out an update to Android 2.1 for all the current phones.  They seem to realise that having multiple phones on different versions of the operating system is a huge problem that needs to be fixed.

User-Generated Street View

A new tool allows users to upload additional pictures into Street View.  This is a great way to add more details to sites around the world.

Friday, February 26

Radiation

Blackberry is #1 - when it comes to smart phones that emit the highest levels of radiation.

Cheap Smartphones

Several companies in Taiwan are working on low cost phones running Android.

Predicting You

A study shows that by tracking your cell phone usage your location can be predicted with a 93% accuracy.

Palm Pre Problems

Despite a product with good reviews and a huge marketing campaign - nobody is buying a Palm.

Thursday, February 25

10 Billion

Apple announces another milestone for iTunes.  They haven't revealed yet who or what was the 10 Billionth song downloaded, but they did release the top 25 most downloaded songs of all time.

Surprise Energy Hogs

A non-profit group puts out a report on household items that consumer power.  A surprise in the report is the amount of energy used by digital picture frames.

Vacation on Enceladus?

A probe that flew past one of the moon's around Saturn reveals much more water than expected.

Gmail Features

Google adds some new standard features and gets rid of some of the experiments in the Labs.

Wednesday, February 24

Google Legal

The EU has opened an antitrust inquiry into some complaints about the way they rank some sites.

Google Guilty

Executives in Italy found guilty for violating a youth's privacy on a Google website.

Typeface

Software to create a typeface from your face type.

Tuesday, February 23

Boob Apps

Apple removes thousands of apps because of complaints about adult content.  Yet - they leave behind other apps.

Universal Controller

Sony files a patent application for a gaming controller that would work with all the consoles.

Levitating Chair

Inspired by air hockey, inventors come up with a new system that could help the elderly.

Monday, February 22

Fake Expert

Investigation by ZDNet/CNet finds a big problem with 'expert' Craig Barth from Devil Mountain Software.  The guy doesn't exsist.  He was invented by InfoWorld columnist Randall C. Kennedy.

More School Spies

Turns out that the school district has admitted activating the webcams on students laptops 42 times over 14-months.

SimulCam

Dartfish has invented technology being used in the Olympics that can mix two athletes, competing at different times, into one shot.

Browser Ballot

Microsoft has figured out how to make the EU happy by giving users a choice of web browsers.

Friday, February 19

School Spies

Students with laptops issued by their schools are learning that they can be watched.  The school can look at their computer desktop or even turn on their webcam.

Microhoo

Microsoft and Yahoo get permission to work together on a search engine.

Lock-Screen Gesture

One way to lock your Andriod phone may not be as secure as it should.

sex.com

The legendary domain name that has never really been used will be auctioned off on March 18.

Wednesday, February 17

New Blackberry Browser

RIM is finally doing something to update their web browser.  By the end of the year there will be a new one based on the commonly used Webkit browser.

New Blackberry Server Software

RIM is also finally doing something to lower the cost of connecting a Blackberry with the office.  They announced Blackberry Enterprise Server Express which they are giving away for free!

Motorola Milestone

The international version of the Driod has gone on sale in Canada.

Translating Photos

Google releases a tool for Android that will translate the text in pictures.  The demo included using the camera to translate a German restaurant menu in to English.

Tuesday, February 16

Windows Mobile 7

Microsoft launches a new version of its crappy mobile software.  This version looks a lot better than the last one.

Blue Line Power Monitor

It promises to show you how much electrical power your home is using.  But in our tests we couldn't get it to work as advertised.

Google Apologises

Buzz has been altered yet again as Google tries to respond to all the criticism.  One change of note - they have replaced 'auto-follow' with 'auto-suggest'.  Probably the way it should have been since the beginning.

Friday, February 12

Buzz Changes

Google has altered their new service a bit after tons of criticism over privacy issues.

Opera on the iPhone?

The push is starting for web browser options on the iPhone.  Opera thinks they have built a better browser but it is unclear if Apple will allow it in the App Store.

New OpenOffice

A small update to OpenOffice is released that promises faster startup and better support for Microsoft Office documents.

Bulletproof Blackberry

A gun accidentally goes off but luckily a Blackberry blocks the bullet.

Thursday, February 11

Buzz Problems

Many are angry that Google is sharing too much personal information without giving enough notice on Buzz.

iPad Cost

Looks like it will cost Apple about $230 to make the $500 iPad.  But since nobody has an iPad yet it is hard to know how accurate it is.

Canadian Fibre

Bell is adding fibre to the home in parts of Ontario and Quebec.

US Fibre

Google is adding fibre to the home in some communities in the US.

Wednesday, February 10

Google Buzz

The latest product from the Internet giant hits the world.

Street View in Canada Expands

Google adds more than 150 cities and towns plus a ton of Canadian highways to Street View

Smallest Solar Sensor

It is 1,000 times smaller than standard systems, and, could last forever.

Log in with your Face

An extra layer of security that uses your web cam to determine if you are actually the one using your computer.

Tuesday, February 9

Google Social Networking

A press conference is scheduled for today where Google will announce changes to two of their products.  One change is expected to be adding social networking into Gmail.  Stay tuned for the details.

Windows Phone 7

Microsoft is announcing the next version of their smartphone platform on Monday.  The new version is expected to have a brand new look but not including multi-tasking.

Laptop Battery Life

A new feature in Windows 7 includes a warning on when a laptop battery may need replacing. 

GPS on Street View

Pranksters in Berlin started posting the location of the Google Street View car online over the weekend.

Monday, February 8

Final Shuttle Flight

Endeavour has made its final night launch.

iTablet Announced

Since iPad name was taken, the UK company X2 announces that they will release the iTablet.

Facebook E-Mail

Rumours say that Facebook is close to launching their own free e-mail service.  It would be accessed through the web or even in POP/IMAP.  Your e-mail address would be the same as your Facebook Vanity URL.

Gmail on Blackberry

RIM is about to launch an update for their Blackberry Internet Service.  Part of it seems to include a better default connection into Gmail.

Friday, February 5

Key Impressioner

A sensor that looks inside a lock at the tumblers and then builds a key to fit.

World War II Images

Google adds classic aerial photographs into Earth.  One set of images shows Warsaw in 1935, 1943 and present day.

Google Store Views

They seem to be working on a new tool that would push Google Street view inside of buildings.

The Sound Map

Why just look at pictures from around the world?  You can also hear the sounds.

Shuttle on Sunday

Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to be launched this Sunday at 4:39 AM.

Thursday, February 4

Internet in Rural Canada

The CRTC is thinking about making Canada's communications companies provide high speed Internet to more parts of the country.

Monster buys HotJobs

Yahoo! has sold off HotJobs as they continue to work on making the company more profitiable.  Yahoo! had purchased HotJobs for $436 million in 2002 - now they sold it to Monster for $225 million.

Wall Crawlers

Cornell has created a palm-sized device that could one day allow humans to crawl up the side of a wall.

Beef Tasting

Japanese researchers have developed an infrared camera system that can tell which cuts of beef will taste the best.

Wednesday, February 3

Mobilicity

More details on the new Canadian cell phone companies continue to come out.  DAVE Wireless has announced their new name and a few details.

Cyberthieves are Hiring

In a presentation at the annual Black Hat conference, a security analyst reveals how cyberthieves are finding new help.

Iran Launches Space Rocket

The Kavoshgar-3 contained a mouse, turtles and worms.

New PSPgo?

Rumours say that Sony is going to come out with a new version of the PSP in March.  Seems that consumers haven't been to wild about the PSPgo.

Body Part Sound

A new type of hearing aid can broadcast sound through teeth.

Tuesday, February 2

iPad Camera?

A couple of guys take a close look at the iPad parts and find that it is all ready to have a camera added.

iPad Version 2?

Rumours say that Apple is working on a larger version that will run OSX.  Could this be the one we really want?

Smart Dust

Digital sensors from around the globe could eventually feed information to a central computer.

Moon Chopped

The Obama administration wants to get rid of NASA's plan to go to the moon.

Monday, February 1

Steve Job's Q&A

In a town hall with employees, Steve Jobs says that Google's mantra is 'Bullshit' and Adobe is lazy.

Steady Employment

Building an iPad app could be your job.  The 'Apple App' economy generated $250 million in December.  This could be a great way to secure your future.

Yanking IE6 Support

Google Docs will stop working in IE starting on March 1.  This is the latest push to encourage users to upgrade to a newer web browser.  Even Microsoft wants you to upgrade.

Tickling Touchscreen

New technologies are making touchscreens pressure sensitive.

Friday, January 29

iPad Problems

The reviews from around the world are pretty much the same - wait for version 2.

Nexus Two

Motorola confirms they are working with Google on a phone that will be sold direct.  Hopefully it will be better than Nexus One.

Zune Phone

The endless rumours continue to point to Microsoft launching a phone in February.

Global Sun Block

A Canadian scientist says it is time for the world to use geoengineering by sending particles into the atmosphere to block some of the sun's rays and reduce global warming.

NASA Budget

Obama will release a budget next week that will contain some major changes to the way that NASA works.

3D TV on Sunday

Sky in the UK will televise the world's first live 3D TV broadcast with a Premier League Soccer match between Aresnal and Manchester United.

Thursday, January 28

Social in Search

Google is adding results from people you know to your searches.

India in Space

They will spend $2.76 billion to become the fourth country to send a person to space in 2016.

First of Five

There are only five Space Shuttle missions left.  NASA plans to send them next one up on February 7 at 4:39 AM.  This will be the last planned night launch of a Shuttle.

iPad

Steve Jobs put on his black turtleneck and jeans to announce the latest product from Apple.  Looks pretty good for a first generation - but is missing a lot of key features.  Can't wait for version 2.

Wednesday, January 27

PS3 Hack Released

Have some time to kill this weekend?  Why not hack your PS3 and write some new apps?

Spirit is Stuck

NASA announces that one of their Mars rovers is parked for good. 

Apple Announcements

The official presenation starts at 1 PM Eastern time.  Until then - it is all just guesses.

Tuesday, January 26

Mass Effect 2

A big game developed in Edmonton hits the stores today.  Early reviews say the game is already a classic.  Watch the sales this week to see how it does.

Finding 911 Callers

Calgary announces a new system that allows 911 operators to spot the location of a cell phone call to within a few metres of their actual location.

MusicDNA

A new type of music file has been released.  It is based on MP3 but adds extra content including lyrics, videos, news updates and album artwork.  This isn't the only type of file with these features - Apple launched a similar one a while ago.

New Chrome

Google officially moves Chrome into version 4.  The latest update adds extensions, tweaks to the bookmarks as well as added speed.

Monday, January 25

Easy Passwords

Hackers don't have to try very hard.  A new study reveals that many people have passwords that are so simple that it only takes a couple of tries to get in.

Outsourcing NASA

The White House has decided to use private companies for some of the basic tasks done by NASA.  This would free up the space agency to worry about long term projects.

LED Data

Researchers have figured out how to transmit data at 500Mbps using LED light.  This could be very valuable in places where RF is a problem such as hospitals.

Garmin Voice Studio

Change the voice in your GPS will this free tool.  Check the fine print before you download - it only works with certain models. 

Easier Test

A new way for diabetics to test their glucose levels.  No need to test blood anymore - this test can use breath.

Friday, January 22

Google Money

The big G reports a fourth-quarter profit of nearly $2 billion.

Online Recipies

Bing adds a new way to find the perfect meal.

Return of Rickets

Too much time indoors and a poor diet are a big problem for many kids.

Free Antivirus

From an 'Ask Dave' this morning - a good one to use right now is Microsoft Security Essentials.

Acoustic Levitation

The way that astronuats could dust a space station is with audio.

NFB 3D

The National Film Board posts some 3D movies on their website and gives away free glasses.

Firefox 3.6

The webbrowser adds new features and runs faster than ever before. 

Thursday, January 21

Apple Tablet

Wall Street Journal has a big story that reveals a bunch of details.

Live YouTube Sports

A plan to televise the Indian Cricket League around the world for free.

YouTube Video Rentals

Rent movies online from the mega video site.

Navigation App

Nokia adds free tools to their phones.

Touchless Wall of Touch

HP builds an interactive touch screen wall so large that some people won't be able to reach the corners.

Wednesday, January 20

IE Patch Coming

Microsoft announces a quick fix to address the latest round of problems with Internet Explorer.  This story is evolving as more details of an attack on Google and 30 other companies from China start to emerge.

TransferJet

Sony is ready to sell a laptop and a couple of digital cameras with a new technology.  TransferJet will automatically copy files from one device to another.  All you have to do is bring the camera within 3 cm of the laptop and the pictures will automatically be transferred.

Christmas Shopping List

Sony delays the launch of their motion controller until later in the year.  They want to make sure that there is a bunch of games ready when it is released. 

Bing from iPhone 

Apple is talking to Microsoft about making Bing the default search tool on the iPhone instead of Google.  Seems that Apple isn't happy about Google's big push into cell phones.

Tuesday, January 19

Privacy Hearings

Canada's Privacy commissioner wants to know what you think about how your personal data is used in social networking sites.

Space Cannon

A cheaper way to get satellites into space - shoot them up from the ocean.

Alo Presidente

Venezulean President Hugo Chavez calls videogames 'poison'.

Tablet Confirmed

FOX News says they know for sure that the rumoured tablet will come out on January 27.

Monday, January 18

Electric Car Test

Hydro Quebec and Mitsubishi are testing 50 all-electric vehicles in Boucherville this fall.

Cell Phone Gestures?

Rumours say that Microsoft will release Windows Mobile 7 in February.  And - it will have a killer new feature - the ability to make gestures to your phone.

Alarming Network Glitch

A strange problem where a webpage got sent to the wrong device.  Could be a major problem if it isn't fixed.

SarcMark

A company comes up wtih a new punctuation mark - this one denotes scarcasm!

Germ Free Remotes

A biodegradable bag that can cover remote controls found in hotel rooms.

Friday, January 15

Haiti Donation Scam

The bad guys are using the crisis in Haiti as a way to steal your money.  Be very careful if you decide to donate.  A safe and Canadian site to use to donate money to help is www.humanitariancoalition.ca

New Satellite Images of Port-Au-Prince

Google has updated its image banks with pictures that show the hardest-hit areas.

New Type of TV's

Plasma, LCD, LED or OLED?  Add another one to the mix: LPD.  Laser Phosphor Display promises to be cheaper, brighter and needs less power.  Still years away from getting to the stores.

Big Video Games

The numbers are in - December 2009 was the biggest month ever for video game sales.  'Modern Warfare 2' was the top selling game in 2009.

Thursday, January 14

Silence Cellphones

Help for anyone that has stumbled to silence a ringing cellphone. Give the phone a whack to send the call to voicemail or mute it.

Ask Dave - 3D TV Purchase?

E-mail from Bill Corbert asks if there is a certain type of TV to buy today that will be compatible with 3DTV when it is launched later this year.  When 3DTV is launched you will need to buy a whole new television to be able to see it.

Gmail Encryption

Google adds security to their e-mail.  Hopefully all the other ones will add it soon.

Protector Family Safety Program

Taser International launches a new tool for parents to use to monitor their kids.  Parents can allow, deny, listen or record their kids phone calls.

Wednesday, January 13

Astroid Miss

The world could have ended at 7:47 AM this morning - but the asteriod missed earth.

Google in China

The mega search engine has to decide if they want to keep doing business in China.

Nexus One Complaints

Turns out Google doesn't know much about customer support for phones.

Wet Computer

Project from the EU working on a biologically inspired computer.

Tuesday, January 12

Street View Ads?

Google has figured out how to change the posters, signs and billboards in Street View to new ads.

Real Record in Virtual Space

Erick Novak spends $300,000 US to buy a virtual space station in an online game.  He will likely make money off his purchase by earning real royalties.

Right to Forget?

France is pondering a law that would protect privacy by forcing the deletion of old data.

Airnergy

New product from RCA that can pull electrical power from Wi-Fi signals.

WiFi Lawsuit

Man sues his neighbour for not turning off WiFi and cell phone claiming that they trigger a severe illness.

Friday, January 8

CES Crazy 2.  They just keep coming

• Send Twitter messages from your Ford
• At least 6 e-readers now at CES
• More tablet computers at CES too
• Yahoo bringing widgets to TV
• Yurtopia, FLO, Ergomotion and more
• Touchscreen Laser Projection, 2D to 3D Conversion

Thursday, January 7

CES Crazy.  A ton of announcements from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas...

• No Microsoft tablet - but some other products are coming
• HP brings out touchscreen netbooks
• 3D TV's from Sony
• A mini Sony table called the Dash
• Finally, SD cards in Sony devices
• Panasonic has the worlds first 3D camcorder
• Dell smartphone in the US
• Lenovo smartphone called 'LePhone'
• The LightSpeaker from Klipsch

Wednesday, January 6

Nexus One Launched

Google releases their phone to the world - well, some parts of the world.  Not Canada.

ESPN and Discovery 3D

Two 3D channels are announced.  ESPN 3D will sign on with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup Match on June 11.

Video Calling

Skype does a deal with LG and Panasonic to put its phone service into some TV's.

USB Plug

A home wall power outlet that has the two regular power plugs plus two USB plugs.

USB 3.0

HP has launched new laptops that include USB plugs that move data up to 10x faster.

Microsoft Tablet?

Rumours say that Steve Ballmer will reveal the Microsft tablet during a big speech at CES.

Tuesday, January 5

Waiting for Android

Google announces the details at 1 PM Eastern.  CNET is one of the sites offering live blogging from the event.  Rumours say this will not be an iPhone killer.  But watch for the media to overhype it anyway.

Growing Android Popularity

Survey's are showing that more and more consumers are looking at an Android device.  Android is now ahead of BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Palm.  iPhone is still in the lead, but its lead is shrinking.

Android Everywhere

A new module allows Android to run appliances around the house including your washer-dryer or microwave.

CES 2010

The big tech show launches tonight with a special press conference.  Expect some cool new products to be announced over the next couple of days.

Monday, January 4

3D TV Channel

DirectTV is set to use their fancy new satellite to add a channel that has all 3D shows.  Later this week, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will showcase a ton of 3D television sets.

Suing over Calling Cards

The attorney general for Washington DC has filed a lawsuite against AT&T to recover unused balances on prepaid calling cards.

Chrome Browser #3

Google's web browser has sneaked past Safari to become the third most used web browser.

Thursday, December 31

Fee-for-Carriage in the US

Fox may go dark at midnight tonight for Time Warner Cable customers in the US.  The broadcaster wants $1 a month from the cable company.

Wimpy Internet Service Provider

The Internet provider that hosts websites created by pranksters "Yes Men" removed their website, and 4500 others, after a request from the Canadian government.

Endless Apple Tablet Rumours

We think that Apple is planning to release the tablet on January 26th.  New rumours have Apple predicting that they will ship 10 million of the tablets in the first year.

Wednesday, December 30

GSM Hacked

Group publishes a way to listen to cell phone conversations to prove that the existing security is inadequate.

Nexus One

Google announces an Android event on January 5.  Speculation is the will announce the sale of their cell phone called the Nexus One.  The cost for an unlocked phone purchased directly from Google is rumuored to be $530.

Windows Mobile and Windows Live

A job ad placed by Microsoft appears to show that they are extending Live from the Xbox to mobile phones.

Trilingual Translation

Toshiba comes up with a system that translates between Japanese, Chinese and English.  You talk into the phone - it detects the language and translates in real time.

NASA Future?

The US space agency needs billions of extra dollars for big projects like landings on Mars or the Moon.  Will Obama give them the cash?

Friday, December 18

Iranian Cyber Army

Twitter is taken offline for an hour after their DNS is hacked.

Blu-Ray 3D

A standard on how to bring HD movies in 3D to the home is reached.

Google Netbook

Ok - this is getting a bit silly.  Does Google have to do it all?

iPhone Games

EA gets ready to launch some large games on the iPhone.

Thursday, December 17

Wind Mobile

The new company launches with a promise of no fine print.  Check out the fine print of the charges if you make a call outside of the Wind Mobile areas.

Samsung Galaxy

Canada gets another Android device - this time on the new Bell network.  Not a bad phone - but still not as good as some others out there.  The colour on the screen is amazing.  Too bad it isn't a little faster.

Car Apps

Ford is set to announce a new version of SYNC.  The latest version will allow apps in your car.

Audi Upgrade

Google announces that new versions of the Audi A8 will come with Google Earth.

Wednesday, December 16

Wind Mobile

Today is the day that Canadians can get a cell phone from a brand new company.  They are only in Toronto and Calgary right now.  Will probably come to Ottawa early in the new year.

Family Fitness

Study says that the Wii Fit is has little effect on family fitness.  Turns out that kids loose interest in the game after a couple of weeks.

YouTube 2009

Most watched video was Susan Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream".  Next was "David after Dentist" followed by "JK Wedding Entrance Dance".

Nexus One Bits

These Are The Droids has ripped apart the new Google phone.  Specs reveal a processor that is twice as fast as any other Android device and some cool features like an FM radio.

Tuesday, December 15

Filtering the Internet

Australia has been testing a system that will block some websites for the entire country.  They are set to introduce the filter laws in Parliament in August 2010 and implment them a year later.

4G is On

TeliaSonera in Sweden becomes the first company in the world to implement 4G.  The speed is anywhere from 7 to 22 times faster than 3G.

Autonet Mobile

7 GM car models will create a Wi-Fi hot spot up to 150 feet around the car.  The system uses a 3G connection to get everyone online.

Plug-In Prius

Toyota is promising a new generation of affordable cars in 2011.

Nissan Leaf

First zero-emissions vehicle is announced in Vancouver.

Monday, December 14

Wind Mobile

After approval last week - expect a new cell phone company to launch in Canada very quickly.  They will start in Toronto and Calgary first then expand to other cities including Ottawa in the new year.

Google Phone

The phone is real.  Thousands of Google employees are now roaming the streets.  Plan seems to be that Google will sell the phone directly without a cell phone company as a partner.  Customers would then go and find their own deal.

Bar Codes on Places

Some businesses are now sticking bar codes on their storefront windows.  Customers can use their smartphone to scan the barcode and then get information such as reviews, details of opening times, contact information, prices, links to their website and more.

Video Game Sales

The November numbers are in.  Nintendo DS is the top selling device and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the 360 is the top selling game.

Friday, December 11

More Tablets?

Rumours have Dell building an Android based tablet.  Best guess is that the full announcement will be at CES in Las Vegas.  2010 is really looking like the year of the tablet.

Need a job?

IBM has over 2,500 job postings for analytics-related jobs.  New jobs are about being able to look at a ton of data, find trends and analyze the data.

Sky-Mapping Mission

NASA is blasting off a new telescope that will look at stars too dim and cold to see in ordinary light.

Big Dipper Star

Turns out that the star at the bend of the 'handle' of the Big Dipper is actually a co-star.

Meteor Shower

From Sunday night through Monday morning is the peak of the Geminid shower.  But it probably will be cloudy in Ottawa that night - keep an eye on the sky all weekend.

Thursday, December 10

Apple Tablet

Rumours return on when it will hit the streets.

American Diet

Study shows that they consume 34 GB of content and 100,000 words of information in a single day.

Wireless HD Video

The Wireless Home Digital Interface Consortium announces a new spec.

Wednesday, December 9

More E-Readers

Five of the largest US newspaper and magazine publishers are creating their own e-book reader.

Chrome on a Mac

Google releases their web browser for more platforms.

Faster WiFi

A new standard is in the works - but won't be out until 2012.

Tuesday, December 8

Google Goggles

Visual search comes to Android devices.

Real-time Search

Google tweaks the results to include instant posts from sources like Twitter and Facebook.

Add-on-Con 09

A bunch of announcements are expected including adding extensions to Chrome.

BOLT Browser

A new web browser has been released for Blackberries and other devices.

Twiiter Rumours

A look back at the Twitter rumours of 2009.

Monday, December 7

Work Faster

Yet another study says that you can get work done faster (and hopefully better) if you shut off your e-mail.

Lala

Apple buys the streaming media service.  Probably trying to keep on the edge of the music game.

Games on Demand

Microsoft announces digital delivery of games will start on December 15th.

Space Based Electricity

California will start adding electricity to their grid from space solar panels in June 2016.

Space Beer

Sapporo is about to start selling beer made from Barley that was on the International Space Station.

Friday, December 4

Google Public DNS

Still waiting for Google to turn evil? 

3D LCD

LG announces they wil start mass production of a full 3D monitor.

3D World Cup

Sony will record up to 25 World Cup games in HD.

Netbook Apps

Intel launches plans to create a new type of app store.

Thursday, December 3

H1N1 Worm

Latest spam campaign going around the world poses as a message from the Centers for Disease Control.

Black Screen of Death

Turns out that there really isn't a big problem with the BLSOD.

New Bing

Mcrosoft adds a ton of new features to the maps section of Bing.

Chrome OS

Acer is determined to be the first manufacturer to sell a Chrome OS device.

Wednesday, December 2  -  For some reason, its Google day...

Google Zeitgeist

Top searches by Canadians on Google in 2009 include: yahoo, hotmail, facebook and google.

Bye Gears

Google moving away from Gears in favour of HTML5.

Free News

Google plans some changes to the workings of Google News.

Tuesday, December 1

Yahoo! Buzz

Its that time of year when all the year end lists coming out.  Yahoo! has released their buzz list of 2009.

BlackBerry Storm 2

Yup - its a real BlackBerry - even if it doesn't have a keyboard.  The device is fast, has good battery life and all the other parts of a BlackBerry that we love.  But - the touchscreen is maddening.  It just doesn't work well to try to type on it.

Cyberdisinhibition

Turns out that people complain more online than offline.  In other non news - the sky is blue and grass is green.

New iPhone

A developer has spotted the newest iPhone in the streets of San Francisco.  And - Apple looks like they are getting ready to remove Google Maps from the iPhone.

Monday, November 30

Windows 7 vs Mac OS X

A gander at a bunch of online stats shows that Windows 7 has already overtaken all versions of Mac OS X on the Internet.  This is only one stat at the moment - but interesting how fast it is growing.

AppRejections

A website is urging developers that had their App rejected by Apple to post the app, the rejection note and extra comments.

MiKandi

Porn is coming to Android.  They can't do it on the iPhone, so a company has built a portal to help bring porn to other devices.

Rogers On Demand Online

Today is launch day for a new website aimed at Rogers customers that want to watch TV shows on their computer.

Monday, November 23

ISP Watching Customers

The government is set to announce a new bill that would require Canadian ISP's to notify police if they find child porn.

PS3 Catching Pedophiles

The US goverment has found it is cheaper to use Playstations to crack passwords than computers.

HP TouchSmart 600 Review

HP has released the latest version of their all-in-one PC.  The new model features Windows 7 along with a big touchscreen and an internal TV tuner.  The whole thing works well together.  Strange how little use there really is for the touchscreen.  It is so much easier to use the mouse than lifting your hand to the monitor that the touchscreen is rarely used.  A good piece of hardware - but not sure exactly how it would be used.

More Serious iPhone Worm

Another worm for the iPhone that won't affect you is out.  This one only targets broken iPhones in the Netherlands that are doing banking with ING Direct - so you don't have to worry.  Still - interesting that another iPhone worm is out.

Bing Buying News?

Rumours say that Microsoft is about to pay Rupert Murdoch to block his websites to Google and make them excusive to Bing. 

Friday, November 20

Chrome OS

Google releases some details on their operating system.  One detail of note... it won't be available for a year.

Apple Tablet is Dead

Latest rumours say that Apple has pushed back their tablet to second half of 2010.

Reliable Laptops

Waranty firm SquareTrade has analyzed the failure rate of 30,000 laptops.  Asus and Toshiba laptops are the most reliable.  Sony and Apple are in the middle.  The worst are Acer, Gateway and HP.

YouTube Closed Captions

A new technology allows closed captions to be added automatically on YouTube videos.  It will appear first on some channels, but expect them to appear on more over time.

Xbox Based Alerts

New York is testing a system that will allow them to broadcast warnings over Xbox Live.

Thursday, November 19

Going Green

California starts the push to make big screen TV's more energy efficient.

Dude, Its Bamboo

Dell finds a new, environmentally friendly packing material for its netbooks.

Cat Smart

IBM builds a computer to simulate a cats brain.  It took 147,456 processors, 143 TB of RAM and an acre of floor space.

Cat Pic

An app to put cats in your pictures.

Blow App

An app that turns the speaker in the iPhone into a blower.

Finding Land Mines

Scientists have created a strain of bacteria that flows green in the presence of explosives.

Wednesday, November 18

Google News

A ton of Google updates today....

• Google is about to give us more details on their operating system called Chrome this week
• Google Phone is real - next Android device is due out soon
• Google Translate adds pronunciation
• Google Image Swirl is a funky new way to find pictures

Body Power

It may soon be possible to power gadgets using body fat.

Tuesday, November 17

Kindle in Canada

The e-book reader is now available to Canadian addresses.  They also added a couple of Canadian newspapers!

e-Reader High School

Blyth Academy is the first high school in the world to use Sony Readers in place of printed textbooks.

Xbox Update

The fall update is out for the 360.  Facebook and Twitter should now be there.

PS3 Update

Sony makes it official - you can connect to Facebook from the PS3 too.

Assassin's Creed II

The next big video game is out today.  This one was made in Montreal.

DNA Dating

A couple of websites think they can help you find love by using your DNA.

Monday, November 16

Sand Trap on Mars

Today NASA will make an attempt to get the rover Spirit moving again.  It has been stuck in the Maritan sand since April 23.

Tweetup

More NASA news - they have brought 100 Tweeters to the Johnson Space Centre to watch the space shuttle launch this afternoon.

Random Hacks of Kindness

A conference was held over the weekend to find better ways of helping emergency workers in a crisis.

App Store Problems

The developer of the much-loved Facebook App has announced that he will not make any more apps because of the Apple Approval process.

Friday, November 13

Game Sales

Call of Duty 2 sets a record - but overall game sales are down a bit.

Booting Pirates

Xbox Live bans 360s that have been hacked.

Cheap 360s

Banned Xboxs flood Craigslist and Ebay

New Stuff

Facebook appears on the 360 on Tuesday.  The PS3 isn't far behind.

3D Laptop

Acer is about to release a laptop that comes with 3D glasses.

Thursday, November 12

Project Natal Details

Rumours say that it will launch in November 2010 and sell for about $80.

Bing Updates

The search engine adds a couple of features - including results from Wolfram Alpha.

SafeSearch

New settings from Google that helps parents keep inappropriate websites away from their kids.

Movies on a Card

Blockbuster is experimenting with a machine that would put movies on to an SD card.

Wednesday, November 11

Hijacking Facebook
Online activists claim to have seized control of nearly 300 Facebook groups using a security flaw.

Google News of the Week ... Caffeine promises to make Google searches faster and more accurate ...  Go promises a new faster and easier programming languages

Blackberry Announcements
A developers conference is full of new products that are coming soon to the Blackberry.

Canada Remembers
Veterans Affairs Canada has both a YouTube channel and a Facebook group.
http://www.youtube.com/user/VeteransAffairsCa
http://www.facebook.com/CanadaRemembers

Tuesday, November 10

NASA in 2012

The US Space Agency does a rare campaign to insist that the world will not end in 2012.  Is this the truth?  Or part of a government coverup.

3D Week

Channel 4 in the UK launches a week of 3D TV!

Free Wi-Fi

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Lexus and more are offering free wi-fi to promote their services.

Elf Yourself

The website returns for year 4.  Last year, 315 million Elf Yourself cards were sent.  Since it launched in 2006 there have been 284 million visits to the site.

Monday, November 9

iPhone Worm

It probably won't affect you - but if your iPhone wallpaper is suddenly Rick Astley then something has gone wrong.

Law Enforcement Tool Leaked

Microsoft wrote some special software to help with computer foresics for the sole use of law enforcement agencies around the world.  Over the weekend - the Internet got its hands on the tool.

SSL Flaw

Hopefully it gets fixed before used in the wild.

Translator

The Cry Translator listenens to a whining baby - in 10 seconds it provides one of five translations: hungry, sleepy, stressed, annoyed or bored.

Friday, November 6

Droid Day

The latest Blackberry/iPhone killer goes on sale in the US.  Reviews sum it up as 'the second best phone out there'.

Copyright Police

Rumours say that Canada is in secret negotiations over a new copyright scheme that could bar you from the Internet if you break the rules.

Microsoft Courier Tablet

Some details of the device that doesn't officially exist are leaked.

Better Accelerometer

HP says it has been working on a more accurate accelerometer for 25 years.

Lose/Lose

A video game that explores what it means to kill in a video game.  Everytime you kill an alien, a random file on your hard drive is deleted.

Thursday, November 5

Google Dashboard

Everything that Google knows about you in one convenient, and slightly scary, location.

Crapware

New webbrowsers and antivirus are the best prevention tools to keep crap off your computer.  What is the best tool to get rid of it?   Adware - http://www.lavasoft.com/      

Build a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Free software that uses an unfinished feature in Windows 7 to share the Internet.

App Store Milestone

More than 100,000 Apps now available, but most are never used.

Wednesday, November 4

New Network

Today Bell turns on its billion dollar network - TELUS is expected tomorrow.

Digital Movies

Best Buy in the US is moving away from physical DVD's and towards digital downloads.

Apple TV?

A $30 a month service to get access to the US networks could be in the works.

New MSN

Microsoft gives the website a makeover today.

Tuesday, November 3

Microsoft Security Report

Biggest problem is rogue security software - but worms are the fastest rising.

Web Open Font

A new way to build better web pages is coming.

Download Milestone

More than 100 million people have downloaded OpenOffice3

New Flower

Toyota creates a new species to offset the CO2 created by the manufacturing process of the Prius.

Monday, November 2

Wii has stalled

President of Nintendo blames a lack of good games for the sluggish sales.

N-Gage is closing

Nokia is closing their gaming service that nobody used.

Creative E-Book Reader

This one has a touchscreen, colour - seems you just aren't cool unless you are making an e-reader.

Hot E-Books

Book related apps have overtaken game apps in the iPhone App Store.

Ask Dave (thanks Mike Murray)

RIM fixes a bug that prevented the Blackberry 8350i Mike phone from sending text messages.  Download the new version of their operating system - https://www.blackberry.com/SoftwareDownload/index.jsp?client=dB5bZddMq

Smart GPS

MIT develops a Nav that knows where you want to go before you do.

Friday, October 30

Globalive?

CRTC decides that one of the new cell phone companies isn't Canadian enough.

Bloatware

Turns out that bloatware is making new computers slower than we thought.

Examiner in Ottawa

A news website written by amateur journalists opens an Ottawa version.

Thursday, October 29

Lordy Lordy

The Internet turns 40.

Motorola Droid

Not an iPhone killer.  But getting closer.

Google Nav

New app that combines Map and Street View with traffic information and voice commands.

Babelshot

iPhone app that turns the camera into a translator.

Ubuntu Linux

Latest version features quicker boot times, cloud integration and disk encryption.

Wednesday, October 28

TELUS Wireless Charges

The string of announcements from TELUS continues - today's announcement is getting rid of extra monthly fees but increasing the basic monthly cost.

BlackBerry Spyware App

PhoneSnoop is a proof of concept app that shows how spyware could listen to your phone conversations.

More Smartphones

New study shows that 32% of Canadians now carry a smartphone.

Electric Ink

Xerox Research Toronto invents a kind of ink that can conduct electricity.

Helmet-Mounted Radar

The US Army wants to equip soliders with personal radar.

Tuesday, October 27

TELUS iPhone Details

The next Canadian iPhone carrier starts on November 5.  We are still waiting for Bell details.

Big Spenders

Shoppers have already used the E-Bay iPhone App to spend $400 milllion.

New Domain Names

The Internet is getting ready to allow domain names in more languages.

Meteor Hoax

Latvian experts say that it looks like the crater was dug out with shovels.

Memorializing

Facebook announces a way to pay tribute to deceased users.

Monday, October 26

Ontario Cell Phone Ban Begins

Ignore the grace period crap - don't use any device while driving.

Logitech Squeezebox Internet Radio

A radio that you could put in the kitchen or by the bed.  Works great as long as it can find the Internet.  Even has a built in clock radio.

BitTorrent Live

Swarmplayer is used to stream a live concert around the world.

Standard Cell Phone Charger

A UN group approves of an energy-efficient one-charger for all.

Nigeria Actually Arrests an Online Scammer

In an attempt to approve its reputation, Nigeria says they have shut down a thousand websites and arrested 18.

Friday, October 23

How many?

Facebook now accounts for 25% of all pageviews in the United States.

MySpace Changes Direction

The classic social network site wants to concentrate on music.

Fuel-Cell Charger

Toshiba is launching the Dynario in Japan.

Phone on TV

Rogers Digital TV and Home Phone customers can now see who is calling on their TV.

Thursday, October 22

Traffic Shaping

The CRTC decides that Internet providers can manipulate their networks.

Internet Billing

The CRTC needs more study for billing based on downloads.

Windows 7 is Out

Not worth upgrading from Windows XP or Vista.  But a very good operating system that should be embraced on new computers.

Meteor Shower

Look towards Orion for the next couple of nights.

Wednesday, October 21

Disney Ditching DVD?

A technology code-named Keychest could change ownership to access rights - not physical possession.

Twitter in Bing?

Sources say that Microsoft is close to striking a deal to integrate tweets in their search engine.

Magic Mouse

Apple's new multitouch mouse is a winner.

Google Audio?

They already have it in China - could soon be coming to the rest of the world.

Tuesday, October 20

New NASA Rocket

For the first time in 30 Years - a new rocket is rolled out from NASA.

3D Display

Sony is about to show off a prototype 360-degree 3D display.

New on Xbox Live

Early reviews of Facebook and Twitter on Live are ok.

Authorised Only

An upcoming update for the Xbox will block access to unauthorised memory units.

Monday, October 19

Firefox vs Microsoft

Microsoft creates a security problem in Firefox.

Logitech Performance Mouse

This new wireless mouse works on any surface - including glass.  Fits a hand very nicely.  A bit expensive at $120, but you should get a couple of computers out of it.

Microsoft's Anitvirus

Security Essentials was downloaded 1.5 million times in the first week.

AVG Free 9

The latest version of the popular free anitvirus is released.

Mobile TV

New standard adopted that will allow TV stations to broadcast to mobile devices.

Friday, October 16

Ransomware

Program that looks like an antivirus will actually hold your computer for ransom.

Chrome OS

Google kicks out the media.  What are they up too?

Apple Advertising

The launch of Windows 7 is an opportunity to sell some Macs.

Air Canada Blackberry

An app that lets you book, check-in, select seats and board flights is now avaiable for both the iPhone and Blackberry.

Thursday, October 15

Storm2

Research In Motion confirms the Storm2 is coming out soon.

Solar Cellphones

Phone Samsung and LG have started selling solar powered cellphones.

Volt Production

GM invests $230 Million in four factories.

No Netbooks

Michael Dell says that a laptop owner would become dissatisfied with a netbook within 36 hours.

Wednesday, October 14

Radio.app

Apple discovers FM radio in the iPhone.

iMovie

A new video format from Apple.

Space Race

Bing puts its name on a new satellite.

Astronomers vs US Air Force

Observatories want to make it easier to shine lasers into space.

Frankencamera

A camera that is nothing but apps.

Mapathon

This weekend volunteers are heading across Atlanta to map every detail.

Got the wrong Bob?

Gmail service detects potential mistakes in group e-mails.

Tuesday, October 13

Windows Update

Microsoft releases the biggest ever security update.

Sidekick Problems

Many US owners of this cell phone have found all their contacts, calendar and everything else is gone.

Snow Leopard Bug

If you upgraded your Mac - using the guest account may cause your primary account to loose data.

Facebook Problems

150,000 users loose their data.

Avatars at Work

Predictions have avatars attending a lot of meeings by 2013.

Blackberry Storm 2

New Blackberry out by the end of the week?

Friday, October 9

Google Flu Trends

A site that monitors words being searched launches a Canadian version.

Office Starter 2010

Microsoft announces the end of Works.  Will be replaced by a free program with ads.

Multitouch Mouse?

Apple seems to be ready to release a brand new type of mouse with new iMacs that are due to ship soon.

More EBooks

Barnes & Noble ready with their own version of the Kindle.

One Drop

Tonight at 8 PM is the Guy Laliberte show from space.

Thursday, October 8

Google Street View Highlights

Van on Fire in Toronto

Tamil Protest on Parliament Hill

Kindle Goes Global

But not in Canada.

Earth Attacks

NASA is sending a rocket into the moon tomorrow morning.

360 Features

Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox by the end of October.

Bye GeoCities

Yahoo! paid $2.9 billion for it in 1999, on October 29 they will shut it off for good.

Tuesday, October 6

Hackers Hit

Huge phishing scam gets over 20,000 usernames and passwords from Hotmail, Gmail and more.

Bell and TELUS get the iPhone?

Speculation is high that Rogers will get some competition.

Windows Mobile 6.5

Microsoft releases the latest version and promises more than 30 new phones by the end of the year.

AVG 9

Updated antivirus is out.  The free version is expected soon.

PhotoSketch

Draw an outline - it creates a picture.  (Site is often overloaded.)

Monday, October 5

Windows Marketplace for Mobile

Microsoft becomes the latest to promise an app for that.

Flash on Smartphones

Adobe releases a new version that promises more content on more devices.

Generate Power

A backpack is developed that generates electricty as you walk.

E-Books Napsterized

The big Christmas gift this year could be e-books.  Lost of places to get free books online too.

Friday, October 2

PSP Go Launches

Newest portable game device goes on sale - and its expensive.

Google Chrome OS Sooner?

A Chinese manufacturer drops hints that a Chrome OS netbook could be out in October.

Micello

A free app that maps the inside of buildings.

25 Years in Space

Canada first sent an astronaut up on October 5, 2009

Thursday, October 1

Ontario Ban on Cell Phones While Driving

October 26 is the day that the law starts, but there will be a three month educational period that ends on February 1, 2010.

Fuel Cell Cell Phones

Researchers build a recharger that could let you plug in your cell phone anywhere.

Apple Maps

How long till Google Maps is kicked off the iPhone?

Will Globalive Survive?

The CRTC is looking for more details on the ownership of this new Canadian cell phone company.

Wednesday, September 30

Variety Show in Space

On October 9, Guy Laliberte will host a two hour show from the International Space Station.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Seems to be ok - small download, low system resources.  Is it actually doing anything?

iPhone Security Problem?

Developers of iPhone apps can get your cell phone number.

Wave Hello

Google sends out 100,000 invites today for its new service.

Tuesday, September 29

Wireless Laptops

Dell launches a new laptop that can recharge without wires - they call it the first part of the "wireless eco-system."

Light Peak

Apple and Intel are working on a new connector that will replace all the other ones.

Free Wi-Fi Cancelled

The first citywide free Internet service in the United States is closed.

US Secret Service and Facebook

Everyone that participated in an online poll is now being investigated.

Palm WebOS 1.2

A great update for both of the Palm Pre owners.

Free Antivirus

Microsoft Security Essentials launches today.

Monday, September 28

E-Mail Blamed for Suicides

France Telecom under public scrutiny after 22 suicides, 13 attempts since the start of 2008.

School Rolling out 240,000 Netbooks

Australian school supplying computers to students with a unique way of keeping control of them.

Backup Goes Peer-to-Peer

Symform creates a way to store backups on the computers of other users.

Mercury Closeup

NASA sends a spacecraft 143 miles over the puny planet today.

 Friday, September 25

Tokyo Game Show

Not really getting the big announcements - but some small chunks of goodness coming from the show.

Ice on Mars

More water being discovered than expected.

Ordered to Deactivate

Google forced to close a gmail account because a bank made an error.

Microsoft Screwed Up

Steve Ballmer admits that Windows Mobile 7 is as late as hell and needs a lot of work.

Thursday, September 24

Twitter Phishing

Yet another reminder of how careful we all need to be when giving a username and password online.

Wii Price Drop

On Sunday, September 27 the price of the Wii drop $60 to $219.95.

PS3 Shortage?

Price drops are making everyone buy video game consoles.  Could there be a shortage by Christmas?

New Life

Austria researchers think that life doesn't need water.

Water on the Moon

NASA announces that they have found water on the moon.

Wednesday, September 23

Microsoft Tablet

Could the Courier be better than the long waited Apple Tablet?

Free Security Software?

Look for Microsoft to release Morro in the next couple of days.

Moblin

Intel has been working on their own operating system.

Picasa 3.5

Google adds face recognition and easier geotagging.

Push Gmail on the iPhone

Cool - but when is push Gmail coming to the Blackberry?

 Tuesday, September 22

Motion-Activated Headphones

Put them in, music starts.  To pause, take out one.  To stop, take out both.

Remote Diagnoses

New technology helps techs fix a computer problem without having to load an operating system.

Dell Fail

The New York Attorney General's Office says Dell's next-day, in-home service is neither next-day nor in-home.

Project Pink

Rumours are that Microsoft is working on a cell phone and a tablet PC.

USB 3.0 Devices

Really really fast USB is coming.  Could be in stores by the end of the year.

 Monday, September 21

Google vs Apple

The battle between the two over Google Voice gets bigger every day.

iPhone Battery Problems

Many are reporting battery problems after upgrading to iPhone 3.1.  Apple releases a tool to help find the issue.

Toy Story Mania

Crappy game from Disney for the Wii.

Wii Price Drop?

Rumours say that the Wii will get $50 cheaper on September 27.

 Friday, September 18

Phone Bill Rebates?

THe Supreme Court will release their decision on what to do with money from overbilled home phone customers.

Office Web Apps

Microsoft release a technical preview of their new online applications.

DreamScreen

HP creates a new device that is always connected to the Internet.  Will anyone pay $280 for it?

Printing Keys

Take a picture of a key - and then print it.  Cool - and somewhat scary.

Thursday, September 17

Catching Spam

Websense Security Labs say that 95% of comments in blogs, chat rooms and message boards are malicious.

Overwhelming Spam

New trick to get through the spam filters - spend out a big burst quickly.

China Warning

The US government recommends weighing your laptop before and after a visit to China - and more...

FocusBoosterLive

A time management technique to get more done.

EBook First

Dan Brown's latest novel "The Lost Symbol" is selling more of the electronic version than the hardcover at Amazon.

Wednesday, September 16

Blockbuster Closing up to 960 Stores

Turns out that 18% of their stires are unprofitable.

Facebook Milestones

The huge site passes 300 million members and actually has a positive cash flow.

Data Liberation Front

A team with a plan to make it easier to move your data.

Chrome 3

Google releases the next version of its browser.

Opera Mini 5 Beta

A test version of their browser for mobile devices is released.

 Tuesday, September 15

New Zune

Microsoft releases the latest version of its MP3 player - no word yet on when it will be in Canada.

Fast Flip

Google Labs has a new way to look at news stories online.

Smartphone Webbrowsers

They need to get better - but which is the best so far?

Jupiter Grabs a Moon

From 1949 to 1961 the biggest planet had an extra moon.

Monday, September 14

Rogue Ad

The New York Times accidentally sends out a virus.

Black Market

How much would a cybercriminal pay for your identity.

Distracted Driving

Looks like Ontario is ready for the new law - are you?

It's Official

802.11n products have been around for years - but the standard just became a standard.

IBM Goes Open Office

Big Blue kicks out Microsoft Office from their desktops.

Cheap Pics

MIT students take a pic of earth from space for under $150.

Friday, September 11

Facebook Lite

Finally, a way to get rid of those dumb apps.

Playstation Porn?

Vivid video thinks they have a shot at getting adult content on the PS3.

Cell Phone Radiation

Interesting study of over 1000 cell phones showing which devices emit the highest levels of radiation.

Microsoft Event

Looks like Bing 2.0 and the latest thinnest laptop are on the way.

Thursday, September 10

Apple Announcements

New version of iTunes, camera and FM radio in iPods - but, is Apple becoming a portable gaming company?

Hubble Pics

NASA releases some amazing new pictures of space.

Open LR

TomTom introduces an open source, royalty free standard for the navigation and mapping industry. 

Life Recorders

How long until we are wearing a little device that tracks our every move.

Wednesday, September 9

TELUS buys Blacks

The cell phone business in this country is getting more and more interesting.

Monopoly City Streets

Big new online game that is free for four months.

Energy from Hair

An 18 year old in Nepal has found a way to make solar panels cheaper.

Apple Time

The announcements start at 1 PM Eastern time.  Stay tuned for more.

Tuesday, September 8

Palm Pre

Good - but not great.  The phone has done many things right such as the touchscreen and multitasking.  However, the entire device is slow.  Hopefully version 2 will be better - and then version 3 will be amazing.

Ask Dave

Evelyne Cardinal is looking for free antivirus.  A good one to try is AVG from Grisoft at www.grisoft.com

Cheap Digital Book Reader

ASUS announces plans to release a reader that will be lower priced and in full colour. 

Wednesday, September 2

Gmail Outage

World ends - then comes back.

Space Solar Project

Japan is looking at a $21 billion project to build a huge solar generator in space.

President Closes the Internets?

A new bill going through the US Senate could give the President the power to shut down the net in a crisis.

40th Birthday

A big birthday for the Internet. 

Tuesday, September 1

EBay Sells Skype

The auction company says that the two have 'limited synergies'

Oy!

Google Translate adds nine new languages including Yiddish

Fired for Fonts

Financial Officer caused disharmony in the workplace by using block capitals.

Opera 10

Faster downloads, new design and thumbnails.

Monday, August 31

Facebook Security

Turns out that many social networkers aren't using the privacy tools that they already have.

India to the Moon

Their inaugural moon mission has been cancelled.

Snow Leopard is out

Reasons to switch to it right away.

Big reason not to switch - some programs don't run.

Burning Man

The madness begins.

Friday, August 28

Carleton is Ready

The University unveils a new warning system to be used in the event of a campus emergency.

Facebook Privacy

The social network giant announces some changes after complaints from Canada.

Google Italy Problems

Their antitrust watchdog has inspected Google's office on charges of discrimination to newspapers.

WhiteFi

A way to extend wireless networks up to 1 km is under development.

Wednesday, August 26

Sony E-Reader

Looks like they may have built a better reader than the Kindle from Amazon.

Wikipedia Cleanup

The mega site makes it harder to edit certain entries.

Mars Trip

NASA invites Russia to be a part of a trip to Mars.

Growing Dinosaurs

A Montreal researcher says he has a way to grow dinosaurs.

Tuesday, August 25

Better Blackberry Browser

RIM buys the company behind many of the smartphone web browsers.

Better Yahoo!

Watch for their products to offer more social connections.

Better Space Program

The US appears to be ready to outsource the entire space program.

Better Switzerland

A Swiss official is demanding that Google remove all "Street View" images of Switzerland.

Worse Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay is looking for a new ISP after they got kicked off their current one.

Monday, August 24

digitalagenda.ca

A website to help understand and influence Canada's proposed copywrite laws.

Open Book Alliance

Microsoft, Yahoo! and Amazon vs Google

Suancle

Oracle is getting closer to buying Sun.

Price Drops?

Rumours have the cost of the Xbox 360 Elite dropping by $100 soon.

Friday, August 21

Steve "The Woz" Wozniak - www.woz.org

 Thursday, August 20

Unmasking Bloggers

A New York judge has forced Google to reveal the identity of a blogger that posted derogatory photos and comments.

3rd Satellite Service

FreeHD Canada wants to offer another option for satellite TV in Canada.

Rogue Facebook Apps

Trend Micro warns that a handful of apps can steal your personal information.

Windows Live Music Maker

Microsoft releases a new version of its simple tool to make movies.

Wednesday, August 19

Cheaper PlayStation

Sony gets ready for Christmas by cutting $100 and introducing a new model.

iTunes Gets Bigger

Report in the US says iTunes purchased songs now account for 25% of the overall music market.

Solar Powered Bus Stops with Wi-Fi

San Francisco announces a plan to build 360 new bus stops by 2013.

09/09/09

Apple is planning an event - what will be the big news?

Windows 7

Last chance to try out the free release candidate for the new version of Windows.

Tuesday, August 18

Facebook and Canada

The social network giant has submitted something to the Privacy Commissioner - we are waiting to see what it actually says.

Wikipedia Milestone

The English verison of the huge website hits three million articles.

E-Mails from the Dead

A messaging service to send e-mails from beyond the grave.

Dell Phone

China Mobile shows off the Dell mini3i.

 Monday, August 17

Green Dam Gone

China changes its plan to install monitoring software on every computer sold.

Snow Leopard Date?

Rumours predict that August 28 will be the release date for the OS update.

Beating Malware

A study sponsored by Microsoft finds that IE 8 is the best browser to keep surfers safe.

CentMail

Yahoo! thinks that we will pay a penny to send an e-mail to prevent spam.

Facebook in Canada

Today is the day that the social-networking site is to close its privacy gaps.

Friday, August 7

Twitter Outage?

Turns out to have been an attack against one person.

Nortel on the Hill

The House of Commons Industry committee is learning about Nortel today.

Changing the results

Has Microsoft been altering the Bing results to be pro-Microsoft?

Money Money Money

Has Microsoft been accepting advertising dollars from fraudulent pharamaceuticals?

Magic

Get rid of ads in Gmail by adding this line to your signature: "I enjoy the massacre of ads.  This sentence will slaughter ads without a messy bloodbath."

Thursday, August 6

DAVE Wireless

One of the new cell phone companies plans to be up and running in early 2010.

Projector-Cam

A camera with a built in projector.  Watch for more integrated projectors to come along.

Party-Shot

Sony creates a device that spins around, automatically finds faces and takes a pic.

Texting 911

Waterloo, Iowa becomes the first 911 call centre to accept txt messages.

Wednesday, August 5

Palm Pre in Canada

Bell announces that the Pre will go on sale here on August 27.

Sin Bin

England is putting video cameras in homes to monitor children.

Smart Cane

Students develop a new tool to help the blind.

New Satellites

The Canadian Space Agency may launch two more satellites.

 Wednesday, July 29

Not MicroHoo

Microsoft and Yahoo! reach a 10 year deal.  Not the big takeover that has been speculated.

Page Hunt

A little time waster that cleverly fine-tunes search results.

Microsoft Stores

A billion people use their products - now you will be able to bitch in person.

Bill and his Three Monitors 

Interesting insight into how Bill Gates works.

Tuesday, July 28

WTF with Nortel?

Federal government has suddenly decided that they may or may not want to become involved or un-involved in the sale of Nortel.

Globalive vs TELUS

How Canadian do you have to be to own a cell phone company in this country?

Risky Texting

New study shows that texting while driving causes your risk of collision by 23 times.

Space Elevator

Canadian company wants to build a cheaper way to get to space.

Friday, July 24

Artist in Space

Guy Laliberte is ready to head to the space station.

Now with Layers

Google updates their maps app for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.

SpeakOutOnCopyright.ca

Learn more about the proposed changes to our copyright legislation.

Touchy

Synaptics announce touch screens that react to more than 2 fingers.

Smile Meter

Employees in Japan have a computer to test their smiles.

Thursday, July 23

My Space E-Mail

They want to be known as an Entertainment Portal and think that having their own e-mail service will help.

GDrive?

Is Google getting closer to launching the mythical GDrive?

Lenses that Dispense

Cotnact lenses that release meds have been developed.

Wednesday, July 22

Globalive Back on Track

Looks like this new cell phone company will launch by the end of the year.

Microsoft gives and takes away:

• Portable Xbox is coming
• Xbox Games on Demand launch on August 11
• Popfly gets pulled
• Soapbox closes

People the Problem

The weakest link in cybersecurity is the people.

 Tuesday, July 21

RIM and Nortel

Great idea - but a bit late.

Blackberry Desktop on the Mac

Apple users are finally going to get some Blackberry software.

New Yahoo?

The Internet pioneer is planning to show off a new version of their home page today.

Monday, July 20

OS 5.0

Blackberry is working on the next version of their operating system.  The highlights?  A clock that sets itself automatically and a web browser with tabs!  How geeky.

Amazon Deletes 1984

Digital editions of some books disappear.  This never used to happen with paper books.

Wardriving Cops

Police in Queensland are driving around the city looking for unsecured networks.

Has something hit Jupiter?

It could be a meteor slamming or bad weather.

Thursday, July 16

Twittergate

More proof to never use simple passwords.

Apple vs Palm

It didn't take Apple long to cut off the abiltiy for Palm Pre's to pretend they are iPods.

Canadian Karaoke

Montreal based Stingray Digital builds a huge new channel on YouTube.

 Friday, July 10

Canadian's in Space

NASA tries again tomorrow to launch Endeavour with Canadian astronaut Julie Payette

Deep Packet Inspection

Eric the Red and Dan Murray 'Ask Dave' - what is Deep Packet Inspection?  Normally routers on the Internet only look at the the header to figure out where information needs to go.  Think of it as your mailman just reading the address on a letter.  With Deep Packet Inspection, the router reads everything.  Almost as if the mailman opened up your letter, read the whole thing and then decided what to do with the letter.

Grazing Robots

The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot - EATR - can eat as it goes.

Photo Clothes

Fabric has been created that can detect light wavelength and direction.  Could your clothes one day be a camera?

 Thursday, July 9

Alberta Virus

Personal details on 11,582 people in the Edmonton area may have been stolen from Alberta Health.

Cyberattack

It started on July 4th and has been growing.  First was just a bunch of US government websites, now more sites are being affected.

More Google OS

Some more details about their new operating system are released.

VLC 1

Finally - after many years - VideoLAN releases version #1!

 Wednesday, July 8

Google Chome OS

They are pomising an operating system that focuses on 'speed, simplicity and secuity'.

The Internet Survives

MJ's online memorial pushes the Internet to its limits, but Obama inauguration was still bigger.

Free Hotspots

Vex Corp plans to launch free wireless hotspots across Canada.

 Monday, July 6

Traffic Cops

The CRTC starts hearings today to determine if they should get involved in shaping the flow of Internet traffic.

Pirate Party of Canada

They have made some huge jumps in Sweden and Germany - anyone in Canada interested?

Bluetooth Big Brother

University of Ghent in Belgium uses bluetooth to track the movements of thousands of people at a music festival.

 Monday, June 29

iPhone 3GS

A great device.  The new version is very fast with a long battery life.  The voice control and the ability to search the entire phone are key features.  It still misses a message waiting light and the ability to multitask.

Playstation Phone?

Sony is already partners in a cell phone company.  Why don't they build a device to compete against the iPhone?

Ditching DVDs

Rumours are that Microsoft is looking at distributing Windows 7 on USB keys.  Problem is that many netbooks don't have a DVD drive.

Ulysses going dark

NASA and the ESA are going to shut off the Ulysses space probe tomorrow.  After 19 years - it has earned some rest.

Thursday, June 25

New Eclipse

The Ottawa based Eclipse Foundation releases the latest version of their programming tool.

Underground Experiments

A lab that is 4,850 feet under the earth's surface explores dark matter.

Firmware Lockout

An update for Panasonic cameras prevents the use of third-party batteries.

Ads in Apps

Google starts a project to put ads in iPhone and Android apps.

Wednesday, June 24

Hohm

Microsoft is getting into the power management system game.

Xiant

The Outlook add-on to give features that should be built into Outlook.

MSFast

MySpace releases a free tool to help tune webpage performance.

Speed

Oddly - Google also has some advice on how to make websites faster.

 Tuesday, June 23

Image Search

Google uses 40 million photos to identify 50,000 world landmarks.

Printing without a Computer

HP announces a printer that can connect directly to the Internet.

Royalties

ASCAP takes AT&T to court arguing that a musical ringtones count as a public performance.

Want anything?

An app to figure out the office order when someone is making a donut run.

 Monday, June 22

Activision vs PS3

Is it worthwhile for some video game companies to make video games for the PS3?

Embedded Virtualization

LG creates a monitor that allows for as many as 11 users to share a single PC.

Iran Images

Google has added some brand new satellite photos of Tehran.

Google Voice Launch?

They have 1 million phone numbers ready to go.  Hit the refresh button all day today.

Friday, June 19

iPhone 3

New iPhone goes on sale today.  If you already have one, make sure you do the upgrade.

Newspaper Crowdsources

A UK paper needs some help going through 700,000 documents of MP's expenses.

Spaceport America

They broke ground today on the first commercial location for trips to space.

Free Security

Microsoft announces that the beta version of their free security software will launch on Tuesday.

Thursday, June 18

Fastest Computer in Canada

The University of Toronto turns on its $50-million supercomputer.

Binging

The new search engine from Microsoft is making gains on Google and Yahoo.

Web Access in Africa

Weather balloons are being used to bring the Internet to distant parts of the world.

Big Moony Shot

NASA is planning to launch the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite today.

Wednesday, June 17

Dude - you are getting a Smartphone

Rumours continue to build that Dell is working on some kind of a new phone.

Samsung goes Android

The Galaxy is set to launch in some part of the world this month.  Hopefully we get it before Christmas.

Hey Palm - its Apple Calling

Turns out that Palm Pre owners may not be able to sync their iPods to their smartphone for long.

Burning Money

The latest guesses on how much Google looses on YouTube.

Smart Car?

BMW working on a technology that will detect if the driver has a medical emergency.  The car will automatically stop and turn on its flashers.

Tuesday, June 16

Game Changer?

The alpha version of Opera 10 is out. 

Got Yours?

More that 5.75 million people get their Facebook username in two days. 

Need answers?

Hunch.com is a crowd-sourced site that helps you make decisions.

Sneaky Viruses

Many large websites are dealing with ads that contain links to malware.

Monday, June 15

EnStream

Canada's cell phone companies create a way for you to buy things using your cell phone.

Filtering Bing

One of the best ways so far to keep porn out - if you want that sort of thing.

Portable Blu-Ray Player

Have a ton of blu-ray movies but no way to take them on the road?  Panasonic launches the first portable blu-ray player.  It plays disks on its built in LCD screen.  Not a bad player with good battery life and tons of extra's such players for DIVX, MP3's and more.  Too bad the screen wasn't visible from greater angles.  Biggest beef is the price - it is almost $1,000.

Touch of Colour

Samsung launches a new line of desktop monitors that are designed to be green with a unique aesthetic design.  They have really gone the distance to create a green monitor.  This is so green that using it instead of another monitor saves power equial to the planting of four new trees a year.  It looks amazing too, the stand gives the illusion that the screen is floating.  However, the stand needs a lot more height - it all looses its aesthic appeal when it is sitting on a bunch of old phone books.

Friday, June 12

Mac Attacks

Two new threats appear for Macs - yup - more worms and trojans for the Mac.

France Pushes Forward

Who cares about the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man - this is about preventing MP3's from being downloaded!

How to deal with a lawsuit

After paying a 1.7 billion euro fine for including a web browser in previous versions of Windows - Microsoft announces that Windows 7 in Europe will have no web browser of any kind in it.

Space Party

Canadian astronaut Julie Payette blasts off in the Space Shuttle Saturday morning at 7:17 AM. 

Go Vain

At 12:01 AM on Saturday you will be able to register a Facebook Vanity URL.

Thursday, June 11

Three Strikes Policy Setback

An attempt in France to derail illegal downloads gets derailed.

No More Money

Microsoft announces they will stop selling Money at the end of the month.  Nobody will notice.

Free Anti-Virus

Microsoft announces a free anti-virus program.  Everyone looks up.

Social Network for Cell Phones

HP is working on Friendlee - a system that will analyse your cell phone use to determine which of your contacts you actually contact.

DTV Switch

The US switches to digital TV tomorrow.  Seniors are ready to go.

Wednesday, June 10

$1B for Nortel?

Some formal Nortel execs want a billion dollars from the federal government to build the New Nortel.

Windows Update Attacks

The latest security updates from Microsoft will get rid of some fake antivirus products.

Cheaper Outlook Use

Google Apps comes out with a plug-in that lets Outlook users sync their e-mail, calendar and contacts.

Bar Codes Gone Wild

Bar codes on your fruits and veggies, electronic coupons and expiry dates.  Bar codes are evolving and we never even noticed.

Tuesday, June 9

Apple Announcements

Price drop for the current iPhone, new faster iPhone - and thats about it.

 GPS on iPhone

TomTom announces an iPhone app to turn an iPhone into a full GPS.

Gone on Vacation

Perhaps announcing your trip details on Twitter is not a good idea.

Microwave at your Desk

The Beanzawave allows you to create a warm snack or a hot drink by simply plugging in to your USB slot.

Monday, June 8

T-Mobile Hacked?

Hackers claim to have stolen all of T-Mobile's US data. 

HTC Dream

A great device at a good price.  One of the better new products in a long time.

Blind Search

Search without being influenced by the brand of search engine.  The site includes Bing, Yahoo and Google.

Pirate Party

The political wing of the Pirate Bay wins a seat in the European Parliament.

Friday, June 5

Artists Weep - Everyone else cheers

The CRTC decides that online media is not an immediate threat to traditional broadcasting - so it won't worry about Canadian content rules.

Palm Pre

Summer of Smartphone rolls on - latest device is from Palm.

Apple Rumours

The big Apple development conference is on next week.  Rumours are flying on possible announcements.

You in Movies

Yoostar lets you put yourself into the movies.

Wednesday, June 3

Controller Wars

Microsoft has the Natal, Sony has the Motion Controller and Wii adds the MotionPlus

PSP Go

Sony announces a smaller and more fun PSP.

Wiiiiiiiiiii

Nintendo has more games and a sensor to help you get healthier.

Set your Calenders

Microsoft announces that the next version of Windows will go on sale on October 22.

Tuesday, June 2

E3 Announcements

• Xbox 360 delivering movies, radio stations, Facebook and Twitter
• A human body video game controller
• Electronic Arts and Ubisoft like sports games and sequels

More Smartphones

The first Android powered 'Google Phones' go on sale in Canada.

Monday, June 1

Saving the World

Microsoft has blocked access to Messenger from Cuba to comply with a US ban.

E3 Week

Big announcements all week on the latest and greatest in games.

Vanity Landrush

Facebook is planning to allow vanity URL's later this week.

Bing

Don't use bing.ca - bing.com has more features.

Friday, May 29

Wave Hello

Google announces the latest and greatest tool yet.  Luckily they are giving us months to build up the hype.

Banned!

Wikipedia blocks all IP addresses from the Church of Scientology

More TV

Xbox 360 owners in the UK will be able to watch 20 live channels of TV through their console.

Water Fumes

Mazda keeps working on a car powered by hyrdogen.

Thursday, May 28

Google I/O

A couple of announcements coming from a big Google conference:

• Google Web Elements is a tool for webmasters to add content to their site
• Android Developer Challenge will award $250,000 to a developer that makes the best app
• 18 Google Phones coming out before the end of the year

Feeling Watched?

Toshiba has developed a computer that watches you while you watch the road.

Touching your Screen

Windows 7 will have an optional group of software with the cryptic name of the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7.

Wednesday, May 27

New Zune

Microsoft says their new MP3 player will have an OLED touchscreen and HD radio.

Sueing Facebook

Theodore Karantsalis wanted $70.50 for being hacked by a virus.

Destroying life on Mars

Some think that NASA's rovers are burning off signs of life.

Spam Spam Spam

Symantec says there is a 5.1% increase in spam this month.

 Tuesday, May 26

Binging

Looks like Microsoft is going to call their new snazzy search engine Bing.  Also looks like they will spend somewhere between $80 to $100 million to advertise it.

Twitter TV

Some stories going around about a Twitter TV show - Twitter says there are lots of Twitter TV shows already.

Watching License Plates

Britian is building a national network of cameras and computers to fight crime.

OPhone?

China Mobile creates something called the Open Mobile System for smartphones.

 Monday, May 25

Porn Day

The guys at 4chan.org coordinate an attack on YouTube by uploading a ton of porn.

Summer of Code

Google puts some cash towards young developers working on open source projects.

Bigger Flexible OLED

NHK in Japan develops a screen that could be used for lightweigh, portable TV.

Apple App Standards

Finally - you can read the Kuma Sutra on your iPhone.

Friday, May 22

Chrome 2.0

Not much for new features - but the new version is even faster!

Apple Rumours

One rumour predicts that Apple is working on a tablet.  Another rumour has them working on a digital camera.

RunPee

Need to know there is a good break in a movie to run for a pee?

Playlists from Moods

Sony Ericsson gets a patent on creating playlists based on your facial expression.

Thursday, May 21

Toronto Turns on Smart Meters

In June, our big noisy neighbour will start charging electricity rates based on the time of day.  Google has created a tool that somehow connects into the meters to give you handy charts and graphs of your power usage.

Fancy Bus Stops

Florence, Italy are installing fancy bus stops that will provide real time bus movement in a chic environment.

New Way to Search?

Rumours are that Microsoft will show off its new search engine next week.

Protecting your Privacy

Google Street View automatically blurs faces to protect privacy - including Colonel Sanders at every KFC.

 Wednesday, May 20

Summer of Smartphone....

• Palm Pre will be out on June 6 in the US.  Will sell for $299 and then offer a $100 mail-in rebate.  Bell says the will have the Pre sometime between now and Christmas.
• iPhone 3.0 is expect will be out on June 8.
• Storm 2 from Blackberry is rumoured to be out by the end of June.  The new version gets rid of the SurePress touch screen and adds Wi-Fi.

E-Mail Translation

Google adds a translation feature to Gmail.  Change your e-mail into 41 different languages.

Virtual Wi-Fi

New feature in Windows 7 will allow wireless network cards to appear as more than one device.

Fewer Search Results

Yahoo! spends two-years studying what we really want in our search results.

Friday, May 15

Google Says Sorry

Now the third major disruption this year from Google.  This time, all Google traffic took an extra trip through Asia.

Thanks for the $210,000

Dispite the problems - Google makes a ton of cash.  Each employee brings in a profit of more than $200,000.

Hackers Hit Facebook

Phishing attack on Facebook users out trolling for passwords.

GPS Fail?

Unless those GPS satellites get replaced soon, the accuracy of your GPS device will go down.

Moon Spiders

Italian group hoping to win $20 million by sending a bunch of robots to the lunar surface.

Thursday, May 14

New Canadian Astronauts

Welcome Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques to the spotlight!

Erotic ads on Craigslist

Craigslist ditches "Erotic Services" - creates "Adult Service Providers"

Reducing Online Fraud

Visa is testing a new credit card that adds an additional layer of security with a special four figure code that is generated by the card.

Keeping Healthy

Google wants to know why you are searching for particular items.  Could it be because you are sick?

 Wednesday, May 13

Google Adds Features

A couple of new bits added to Google that let you look at results based on file type or time.

Waste some time

Take YouTube videos and mess with your mind.

Three Strikes and You Are Unplugged

French lawmakers pass a bill that attempts to reduce piracy by disconnecting downloaders from the Internet.

Falling Flat Screens

Kids are getting hurt and killed by big flat screen tv's that aren't mounted properly.

 Tuesday, May 12

Five Arrested for Pirating DVD's

After a six-month RCMP investigation aided by the York Police - five have now been charged.  If convicted they could be fined up to $1 million and spend a time in jail.

Want to help the Pirate Bay?

After being found guilty in a Swedish court, the found of the Pirate Bay said they didn't need any assistance.  Now - he suggests that you can help out by paying the fine - in really really small increments.

Google Street View Halted

Greece has stopped Google from roaming their streets until some questions about security are answered.

Website that Thinks

Under development for years - this new tool can compute the answers to queries.  It officially launches later this week at www.wolframalpha.com

Monday, May 11

Botnet Bluescreens 100,000 PCs

Zeus self-destructed recently - but nobody is too sure why.

Killing Mosquitos

Thomas Kollars spent 11 years figuring out a better way to kill mosquitos.

Hubble Mission

Space Shuttle is set to blast off at 2 PM today.

Friday, May 8

Car Safety for Pedestrians

Researchers are working on a system to detect where a pedestrians head would hit a car in an accident.

Photosynth in Virtual Earth

Microsoft brings synth's to more services. 

Problems Powering Probe's

The fuel needed for NASA's deep space exploration isn't being made anymore.

Star Trek Viewscreens

Just how big is the viewscreen on the Enterprise?

Thursday, May 7

Data on old Hard Drives

A study that bought used hard drives from computer fairs and EBay found that 34% of them held sensitive data.

Need to get rid of an old hard drive?  Use this program to wipe it clean - Darik's Boot and Nuke

Cellphones for Everyone

New study shows that more and more households are getting rid of landlines and going cell phone only.

Why are text messages so short?

Blame postcards, Telex and not needing any more space anyway.

Facebook Censoring E-Mail?

Seems that Facebook is preventing e-mail's between members about torrents and the Pirate Bay.  Oddly, conversations about drugs and underage drinking are ok.

Never Trust Wikipedia

An undergrad student invents a quote from a deceased composer - quote gets picked up by the media.  Silly media.

Tuesday, May 5

Tons of announcements from a big Research in Motion conference

• Blackberry Curve is the best selling smartphone in the US.  The iPhone is #2 - followed by the Blackberry Storm, the Blackberry Curve and then the Android based G1
• A Blackberry Storm 2 is in the works.  Hopefully better than the current version.
• They are opening up their "push" technology to developers with the hope that they will make some cool new apps
• HP announces a way to print from your Blackberry to the nearest printer
• Google Apps announce a way to connect Gmail to the native Blackberry e-mail client
• Xboni hints that they are coming up with a Blackberry version

Smelling Cancer

NASA develops an electronic nose that is so sensitive that it can smell cancer.

Windows 7

Mighty Microsoft releases the Release Candidate of Windows 7.  Download it now - use it for a year.

Monday, May 4

HP TouchSmart Tablet

A very powerful laptop with a funky touchscreen.  Kind of a strange keyboard but still a good device.

Netbook from Palm

Palm looks at releasing their cancelled Foleo as a netbook running their new webOS.

Satellites Sailiing Home

It takes 100 years before satellites naturally fall from the sky.  Some scientists look at adding sails to satellites to get dead ones out of the sky quicker.

Google Goat

The mega tech company hires goats to mow the lawn.

 Friday, May 1

Ultra Secure XP

Microsoft has created an ultra secure version of Windows XP for the Air Force.  No word on if the rest of us will be able to get it.

Crazy-Fast Camera

UCLA scientists create a camera that can take 6.1 million frames in a second.

Pirate Party

The political wing of the Pirate Bay is gaining support ni Sweeden.  They could win a seat in elections later this year.

 Wife goes into labour early

 Hubby needs some help - he Googles how to deliver a baby and finds some YouTube videos.

Thursday, April 30

Trend Micro buys Third Brigade

Ottawa security company becomes the Canadian Headquarters for a huge security company.

Antivirus from the Cloud

Panda has spent three years developing a new type of antivirus.

Freesat

Bell proposes a service that would give everyone 5 free channels on satellite.

Googling the Swine Flu

People searching for flu-related search terms would have given an early warning.

Wednesday, April 29

Phishers Catch Swine Flu

A couple of e-mail scams are going around the Internet using the Swine Flu as an excuse to grab  your name, e-mail, address and more.

Breakthrough in Digital Storage

The secret?  Holograms.

Emergency Social Networking

Microsoft releases a beta version of Vine.  

Palm Pre?

A release date for the Palm Pre as the Smartphone Summer unfolds.

Tuesday, April 28

Facebook Status Update

The social networking giant announces that they are going to adopt Activity Streams and OpenID.  Coool.

Paper Speakers

They look like posters - but will soon be able to plug in a digital music player or connect to it with Bluetooth to these funky speakers.

Eco-friendly Monitors

New line of LCD screens go to sleep if nobody is around, adjust the brightness based on the room and have a full power off switch.

Kumo Countdown

Microsoft's latest big push at a search engine could be 40 days away.

 Monday, April 27

Canadian Anti-Spam Law

The government has introduced legislation that brings in million dollar fines for individuals or companies that spam.

Windows 7 Features

Stream media from your home between Internet connected PC's running Windows 7.

New TomTom GPS

Nice device, sweet new way of mounting it to your windshield.  The IQ Routes didn't make any difference in Ottawa - but it is still a good buy.

What is Facebook up too?

Announcement coming later today from Facebook to developers.

 Friday, April 24

Goodbye Geocities

Yahoo! closes underperforming services including Geocities, Yahoo Briefcase, Farechase, Yahoo Pets, Yahoo Live and Kickstart.  Geocities is still around?

April, 1999

Yahoo! bought Geocities for $3 billion in stock in 1999.  Do you remember what was hot in 1999?

Soybean Printing

A system that creates a toner product from soybean oil could change everything.  It is cheaper, more stable and greener than current toner.

Obama's Blackberry

The National Security Agency in the US is busy modifying a BlackBerry 8830 World Edition for Obama and his inner circle.

One Billion Apps

Apple has sold its one billionth iPhone App.

 Thursday, April 23

Ontario Driving Distractions

Queens Park has passed a new law that bans using hand-held devices while you are driving - no plans to ban smoking or eating while driving.

Latest Big Botnet

1.9 million computers controlled by 6 people that you can use to do your bidding.

CanTags

Launching on May 1 is a new way to figure out what is going on in your city.

YouTube RealTime

The big viral site gets even more viral.

Tuesday, April 21

Jet Fighter Plans Hacked

Computer spies break into the Pentagon's $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project.

iPod's in Battle

The US military now issues iPod's to soldiers.

Pirate Bay Update

The guys behind TPB don't want your money - they just want you to download more.

Mobile DTV

A new technology that lets you watch over-the-air TV broadcasts on mobile devices is set to launch this year.

Monday, April 20

Adobe Pushing to TV's

An announcement coming today from the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas that will put Flash on more devices.

Ratings from TiVO

The DVR company is selling second-by-second information on the shows that people watch.

Nintendo DSi

Cool device - but no need to throw away your current DS.

 Friday, April 17

Guilty!

Pirate Bay co-founders get a year in jail and pay a huge fine for "accessory to breaching copyright laws"

Thwarting Auto Thefts

Engineering students at the University of Saskatchewan develop a theft deterent system.  You can text-message your car to tell it that it has been stolen.

Another Social Network

Looks like Google is making another shot at building a better Facebook.

Single Women like Gadgets

A new study shows that single women rival single men as tech device owners.

Thursday, April 16

iBotnet

Symantec finds a trojan for Macs hiding in pirated versions of iWork 09 and Photoshop CS4

Warning from Police

A woman dies in a car accident because she was hit in the head by a laptop.  The RCMP in Surrey, BC warn us all to make sure that objects are secured in moving vehicles.

National IP Registry?

The CRTC is pondering the need for a location determination platform.  This would create a database that would allow 911 operators to determine the physical location of VoIP calls.

Gabble

New service from HP designed to help families privatly share their videos.

Wednesday, April 15

Summer of the Smartphone

The new Palm Pre, iPhone 3.0, new Blackberry and Andriod phones are all on their way this summer.

FamilyMap

Service by AT&T in the United States lets you track members of your family though their cell phones.

Google Latitude Stalking

Women uses Google Latitude to get her purse back from a theif.

Exchange Server 2010

Microsoft releases details on the new versions of Office and Exchange today.

Tuesday, April 14

Password Stealers

download.com used to offer up a free program that does nothing but steals passwords for instant messengers.  Once this story hit they removed the program.

Value of Stolen Data

A couple of studies from Symantec and Gartner reveal how much the black market pays for credit card numbers.

Zune - the next generation

A couple of details leak out on what Microsoft is working on for the next Zune.

Pushing IE8

Don't be surprised if one day your computer gets a new web browser.

Monday, April 13

Changes to YouTube in Korea

The Cyber Defamation Law came into effect on April 1 in Korea.  It requires that users provide their real name and national ID card number.  In response - Google disables uploads and comments from Korea.

Twitter Worm

A 17 year old in Brooklyn admits that he made the worm.  Seems he was bored one day.

New Web Address Endings

Big change coming with new top level domain names.  Soon you can register whatever you want - you just have to find the money to do it.

NASA's new node

US astronaut Sunita Williams will appear on The Colbert Report tomorrow to announce the name of the newest node for the International Space Station.

Thursday, April 9

Social Networking comes to Yahoo!

Somebody at Yahoo! realised that if they interconnect all of their odds n ends - they would have the basis of a huge social networking website

Pretty Colours

Google image search adds a filter that lets you search by the predominant colour.

200 Million

Facebook's users double in 8 months.

Dual View

The 2010 Range Rover will have a infotainment system that lets the driver and the passanger see different images.

Wednesday, April 8

US Electric Grid Penetrated by Spies

Interesting story in the Wall Street Journal that quotes officials in the US saying that cyberspies have installed software programs that could be used to disrupt the system.

New way to watch Movies?

YouTube and Sony are in talks to bring movies to the streaming video website.

The Netbook of the car world

GM and Segway show off a new two-wheeled electric vehicle.

Smart Car Doors

A car door that senses dangers.

Tuesday, April 7

Wolverine is #1

The leaked X-Men movie is the most popular BitTorrent.  The movie has now been downloaded over a million times.

New iTunes Prices

There are now three price points on iTunes.  Most of the songs are supposed to stay the same price.  But expect to pay more for the newest and most popular tracks.

Flat Flexible Speakers

The University of Warwick develops a new way of producing sound.

Facebook Elections

All 175 million members get to vote on the updated terms of use.

Monday, April 6

IBM Drops Bid for Sun

$7 Billion offer disappears when IBM finds out that Sun wants to look at other buyers.

3D Digital Camera

Fuji develops something called Real 3D.  You could be shooting 3D pics at home by the end of the year.

PS3 outsells Wii

A batch of great games for the PS3 in March allowed it to outsell the Wii in Japan.  Just a blip?

Tracking you Online

As of today, all Internet providers in the European Union start storing details such as e-mails, website visits and net phone calls for 12 months.

Friday, April 3

In Car Internet

More details from Ford on something called "Ford Work Solutions" that is set to be launched later this year.

The Virus Battery

MIT develops genetically modified viruses to create batteries made of bacteria.

ping.fm

A website that lets you do all your 'status updates' at once.

Twiggle

Will Google buy Twitter?

Thursday, April 2

End of Conficker?

Nothing happens with the big worm.  Just luck?  Or did we actually work together to prevent an attacker?

Australia Internet Censoring

The Australian Communications and Media Authority appears to be changing its mind on if it will impose ISP-based filtering of the Internet.

PS3 Firmware Update

Adds a couple of features.  Impressive one is an Instant Messenger that runs in the background so you can change games while you keep on chatting.

Get rid of Electronics

Finally - a way to safely get rid of old electronics in Ontario.  Check out www.dowhatyoucan.ca

Wednesday, April 1

Blackberry App World Launches

Tons of apps for your bb

Microsoft Mobile Marketplace in the works.

Me too!  Me too!

Android on Netbooks

HP confirms that they are exploring shipping netbooks with Android instead of other operating systems like Windows.

Mars in Moscow

Volunteers lock themselves up in a small metal capsule to see what happens.

Tuesday, March 31

High School Jams Cellphones

Principal of a BC high school buys a cell phone jammer from China to block calls at his school.  Someone should have taught him that jammers are illegal in Canada.

Gmail Labs

After 5 years of Gmail - Google opens up the labs to the rest of the world.

End of Encarta

Microsoft cuts some of their products that aren't making money.

Rockfree

A free online game similar to Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

Monday, March 30

GhostNet

Canadian researchers find a huge electronic spying operation that has infiltrated computers and stolen documents around the world.

Blackberry App World

This is the week that Blackberry will turn on their app store.  Unfortunatly you must have a PayPal account to make it work.

Skype Mobile

Watch for an announcement later this week that Skype is coming out for iPhone, Blackberry and more.

Video games sharpen eyesight

Turns out that games like Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 can give you better eyesight.

Thursday, March 26

Worm Invasion

Is your computer protected?  It should be - but a worm is set to attack on April Fools Day next week that could give some problems.

Anonymous Posting?

An Ontario Superior Court Judge has ordered Free Dominion to reveal information about eight people that made anonymous posts on the website.

Nintendo's Secrets

The President of Nintendo gave a great speech at the Game Development Conference.  He revealed some of the techniques they use to come up with new games.

Video Game Awards

LittleBigPlanet on the Playstation 3, Fallout 3 and Prince of Persia from Ubisoft in Montreal are all big winners at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

Wednesday, March 25

Tapping your Blackberry

A big part of the international success of the Blackberry is that it is secure.  Criminals have started to use that security - and now the cops want a way in.

Netbook that kills Germs

Samsung has announced a 10-inch Netbook that kills germs.  The keyboard is covered with a special finish that makes it almost impossible for baceria to live and breed.

Transfer big files

New website called JetBytes lets you send large files between a couple of computers using the Internet.

Obama Online

Ask questions of the US President on Thursday through the White House website.

Tuesday, March 24

China Blocks YouTube

The Foreign Minister for China says that the Internet for 100 million Chinese is open, but needs to be regulated.  His comments came on the same day that they appear to block YouTube.

New way to buy video games

Could this be the end of video game consoles?  A new company called OnLive has a pretty cool technology they want to use to get video games into your hands.

A bigger Wayback Machine

The Internet Archive is upgrading the Wayback Machine.  Check out web pages, software, movies, books and audio clips going back to 1996.

IM in MySpace

MySpace is beta-testing an in-browser instant messaging client.  See if it becomes as annoying as the IM in Facebook.

Monday, March 23

BBC finds credit card data from Symantec customers

As a part of an investigation the BBC was able to buy names, addresses and credit card numbers that appear to have come from e4e India - a call centre for Symantec.

.tel launches on Tuesday

This new top level domain promises to become the phone book of the Internet.  Do we want a phone book for the Internet?

Fed Garage Sale

Public Works is developing an aution website modeled after E-Bay to help them get the best price as they sell off surplus equipment.

WineAlign

A new service to help you pick the right bottle on your trip to the LCBO

Friday, March 20

Another day - another credit card breach

An Australian discovers 22,000 credit card numbers - complete with expiry dates, names and addresses - deep inside Google's cache.

SpiralFrog Croaks

The site launched in August 2006 promising free music that was paid for by ads on the website.  But the limited song selection and DRM heavy technology provided to be too much for us.

More uses for Red Light Cameras

Chicago could bring in $200 million a year by using its citywide network of cameras to find uninsured drivers.

Space Station gets Bigger

Today is the day that the new $300 million solar panels get unfurled.

Thursday, March 19

New Browser Day

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8 to the world.  It is an optional download at the moment, but expect it to start showing up as an automatic update in a month or so.  The new browser is schedule to appear at noon Eastern.

Hacking Browsers

The annual CanSecWest conference in Vancouver gives hackers a chance to show their stuff.  This year - the first browser to be hacked was.... Safari on a Mac!  Followed by Internet Explorer 7 and then Firefox.

Fined $11,000 a day for a Hyperlink

The Australian Communications and Media Authority threatened to fine an online discussion forum $11,000 a day over a link to a blacklisted website - the website was an anti-abortion site. 

500,000 more E-Books

Google and Sony link up to provide a ton of books for the Sony Reader. 

Wednesday, March 18

IBM Buying Sun?

Reports are that IBM is set to spend $6.5 billion to buy SUN.  Wow

Sun in the Cloud

Sun is releasing a whole new set of tools to the cloud aimed at developers, students and start-ups.  Wow - two Sun stories in one day!

iPhone 3.0

Apple announced over 100 new features - including cut and paste!

MyFax Free

A cool tool that lets you send faxes to 41 countries for free!

Tuesday, March 17

iPhone 3.0

Apple will make some announcements this afternoon around 1 PM Eastern.  What will it be?  Cut-and-paste?  An iPhone tablet?  Ohhhhh - exciting

Laptops for All

Maine has a goal to provide a laptop to every public high school student in grades 7-12 by thte fall.

Super-Fast game download launch

It won't be long till you buy and download all your videogames.  A British company has developed a tool that lets you start playing the game while it is downloading.

End of an Era

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has printed its last newspaper.  The apetite for news is strong - but not from a huge daily paper.

Monday, March 16

How dirty is your cell phone?

Som researchers find that cell phones are the major carriers of superbugs in hospitals. 

Friends on Fire

Yahoo! counters Google Latitude with a Facebook application that lets people share their location with each other.

Air-Powered Car

The latest air car is the AirPod.  A couple of airlines are going to try out this new vehicle at airports in Europe this year.

Live from Mars

Well - maybe not live - but pretty close.  A new layer on Google Mars shows images that are just a couple of days, and sometimes only hours, old.

Friday, March 13

BBC goes Hacking

To show the dangers of the Internet, the BBC went lurking around some Internet chat rooms and bought a botnet that gave them access to 22,000 computers. 

Google Map Maker

Do you know of a problem with Google Maps and its directions.  You can donate your time help this huge money making organisation make its products better!

Scratch Free Cars

The University of Southern Mississippi uses a substance found in the shells of crabs and shrimp to produce a ploymer that can make scratches disappear.

New iPhone OS?

Apple has announced that they will be revealing the next version of the iPhone operating system on March 17.  Will we finally get cut and paste?

Thursday, March 12

Google Turns Voicemail into E-Mail

The latest quest for world domination from Google.  Now they want to take over phones with this free service that gives you one number for home, work and cell.  Hopefully it all comes to Canada.

Battery that charges Instantly

Engineers figure out a way to make lithium batteries smaller, stronger - and that charge in 10 to 20 seconds!  All they are doing is tinkering with exsisting materials, which means that this could actually be on the streets in a couple of yeras.

Talking iPod

Apple releases a new tiny iPod.  It tells you the names of your songs and moves all the buttons to the headphones.

Get your online news fix

Meehive will create an online newspaper just for you.

Wednesday, March 11

TV Shows on Playstation

Sony does a deal with NBC in the United States that lets you watch TV shows like "The Office" and "Heroes" on your PS3.  Pretty cool stuff and continues to change the way that we think of gaming consoles.  Hopefully it comes up to Canada soon.

3D TV Service Could Start this Year

Sky TV over in the UK announces plans to have a 3D tv station by the end of 2009.  They are already making shows!  One more step to getting 3D TV in our homes.

Shape Shifting Devices

Intel's Pitsburgh lab is working with Carnegie Mellon University to develop materials that can change their shapes.  The secret?  Transparent silicon dioxide hemisphers.

From Astronaut Diapers to Underwear

The Space Shuttle is scheduled to blast off at 9:20 tonight.  On board is a Japanese astronaut that will stay up there for 6 months.  One of the experiments he is doing is with underwear that can be worn for 3 days.  The secret?  The threads contain antibackterial material.

Tuesday, March 10

Rumours of an Apple Netbook are back

The Internet is pondering this rumour.  Could Apple be putting together a netbook just in time for Back to School?

Finding the Music

Check out Muziik.  A free program created by a 15 year old that searches YouTube for music.  You type in what you want - it finds it for you.

YouTube vs UK

Problems with licensing all that music in YouTube for Britain.  Seems that the people that actually make the music want more money.

What do you do online?

Chances are high that you are spending a lot of time with Facebook.

Monday, March 9

Norway playing with BitTorrent

Norwegian Broadcasting has set up its very own BitTorrent to distribute their very own TV shows.  Plan is to send out DRM-free files to the world

Cable Companies Targetting Ads

A huge project in New York that is targetting advertising on television.   Cable subscribers see ads based on income, ethnicity, gender plus whether or not there are pets or kids in the house.

Sidewinder X8 Mouse

A cool new mouse for gamers.  Great technology - too bad the mouse isn't a bit more ergonomic.

Shuttle Launch on Wednesday

Some of the last pieces to complete the Space Station.  Hopefuly there are no problems that would interfear with Canadian Robert Thursk's trip to the station in a couple of months. 

Friday, March 6

Spooky PDF Flaw

We have known about a problem with hackers embedding PDF documents with viruses for a while.  But, a new problem today that allows hackers to exploit this flaw without you even clicking on the document. 

A Free, Ad Supported Microsoft Office

Turns out Microsoft looses more money from pirated versions of Office than it does from many competitors.  Their solution?  Make a free version of Office 

How many megapixels do you have?

Digital camera makers have long sold their cameras based on who has the most megapixels.  Olympus wants to end the megapixel race.  They think that 12 megapixels is enough for most digital cameras.  They want to concentrate now on making the rest of the camera better. 

Are we Alone?

NASA is launching a new space telescope tonight.  The goal of this one is to look for earth like planets around the universe.

Thursday, March 5

Blackberry App World

Finally Research in Motion is getting close to launching an app store.  How long before the first fart app is released? 

Billions and Billions Served

Comscore announces that more than 100 million US viewers watched more tha 14.8 billion videos in the month of January 

Hearing through your Skin

Ryerson University develops a device that helps the deaf to hear.

Bionic Eye gives sight to the Blind

A camera mounted in sunglasses that sends images to the brain.  Just light and dark right now, but amazing. 

Wednesday, March 4

Is your boss listening?

Weird story with RIM.  Turns out that they record all of their employee's phone calls.  Everyone that works there knows that the calls are being recorded.  The bosses just figure that it is the best way to protect their intellectual property. 

Some changes to the lineup of Mac Computers

More power, same price.  Should they have cut the cost or just keep a steady hand on the wheel?

KUMO

Microsoft is building some hype for the launch of their newest search engine.  Soooo - we have gone from MSN to Live to KUMO?  Will anyone notice?