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Internet Overflow Approaching
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Science, Storage,
International Data Corporation’s John Gantz has recently done a study on data amassed by corporate computer systems and consumers. He included e-mail, spreadsheets, even security and cell phone cameras. The result was that about 161 exabytes (161 billion GBs) were generated in 2006. His conclusion was that there may not be enough space to store data this year.
Today, extra storage only costs about $1.00 per GB as opposed to the $20,000 price tag in 1990. To give you an idea of the enormity of the that 161 EB, IDC figures that it is the equivalent of 36 billion digital movies, 43 trillion song tracks, and 1 million copies of every book in the Library of Congress. Excuse us while we quietly go clean our cache of our last vacation photos.
Read More 
| USA Today
Gallery: Internet Overflow Approaching
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Download To Cell Phone Without Internet Connection
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, Movies, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
We have just discovered ShoZu, a free service that allows you to send and receive audio and video without the aid of a computer. Subscribe to the Zucasts you like, i.e. music videos, pod casts, or celebrity photos, push a button, and there it is. No endless menus or Internet connection needed. Currently there are 24 cell phone companies compatible with ShoZu and they claim more models are being added daily. Although the service is free, you will have to check with your network provider to see if you can get a flat rate fee, since this has the potential of being quite pricey.
Read More | ShoZu
Gallery: Download To Cell Phone Without Internet Connection
It would seem that Massachusetts patrolman Brian Johnson has seen the wanted poster on MySpace and carried the idea one step further. After studying a surveillance video with two men using possibly stolen credit cards, he posted a clip of it on YouTube. He then sent it to about 300 organizations and people to see if they had seen the alleged suspects.
“You don’t have to be a technology wizard to figure out how to watch a video on YouTube,” Johnson said.
Other police departments have also used the service, thinking that Internet users may identify suspects and aid in their capture, although it is too early to tell if this will have the positive results that other media sources such as “America’s Most Wanted” have. Johnson’s criminal was eventually caught, although he attributes the score to good old-fashioned police work.
Read More | Mercury News
Gallery: Cop Seeks Robbers ID With YouTube
Researcher Develops Mouseless Computing
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech, Science,
A Stanford researcher has found a mouse alternative while working on the Gaze-enhanced User Interface Design (GUIDe) project. With EyePoint, a user merely looks at a computer screen and touches a key on the keyboard, and she/he can highlight text, scroll, and click links without the use of a cursor. The eye-tracking hardware consists of a specialized screen with a high-def camera and infra-red lights.
“Eye-tracking technology was developed for disabled users,” Manu Kumar says, “but the work that we’re doing here is trying to get it to a point where it becomes more useful for able-bodied users.”
Great idea, but we want to know if this will work with coke-bottle glasses wearers.
Read More | GUIDe via Technology Review
Gallery: Researcher Develops Mouseless Computing
Do you know this man? Police Sergeant Jarrad Copeland posted this profile of a bank robber on MySpace in order to help catch him. The man, wearing only an FBI-lettered jacket, baseball cap, and sunglasses as a disguise, appears to be about 60 years old. Copeland created the entry as a way to draw attention to his possible capture. Oddly enough, the posting already claims over almost 800 friends. With the man having been sighted in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, we don’t know that this will actually aid in the capture of the alleged criminal, but it sure beats a milk carton.
Read More | MySpace
Gallery: Police Post Robber’s Profile on MySpace
I know i have complained a bit about Yahoo in the past and today I noticed their latest trick. This is what I found at the bottom of the inside of an e-mail:
“Don’t pick lemons.
See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.
http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html”
It’s not enough that I have to put up with garish banners, gratuitous credit reports and complimentary Cingular Phones that aren’t really free, and constant reminders that I can upgrade to Email Plus for $19.99 a year or a personal address for $35.00 a year. Now they want me to select my next car through them. Hey Yahoo, please lighten up. At the rate you are spamming me, I will have to put up my SpamGuard Plus to block you or abandon my puny 1GB memory in search of a kinder e-mail.
Gallery: Back Off, Yahoo
Security System Detects Violence by Listening
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech, Science,
Dutch engineers at Sound Intelligence believe that 90% of violence is started by heated conversation, so they have developed the SIgard System. The microphones, when placed and monitored by computer, will sound an alarm if it appears that a physical outbreak is about to erupt. The SI devices have been successfully installed in Holland, and London is considering them for the 2012 Olympics. There have also been inquiries from Washington, D.C. and New York. Soon Big Brother will not just be watching, he will be listening as well.
Read More | Sound Intelligence
Gallery: Security System Detects Violence by Listening
iFixit Mac and iPod Parts & Upgrades
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Mods / Hacks, Portable Audio / Video,
The following is a ReviewMe Sponsored Post:
I am sure many of us have experienced the horror (or heartache, if you want to look at it that way) of a dropped, smashed, or otherwise broken gadget. The folks at iFixit aim to soften the blow somewhat, at least if your destroyed gadget is an iPod or Mac computer. They sell just about every part imaginable for almost all iPods that have ever been released, from the 1st generation model all the way up to the newest iPod 5th generation. In fact, the only iPod parts they don’t sell are for the second generation iPod shuffle. We expect that will change soon enough.
Click to continue reading iFixit Mac and iPod Parts & Upgrades
Gallery: iFixit Mac and iPod Parts & Upgrades
Virtual Game “Second Life” Gets a New Voice
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Software, Video Games,
The virtual 3-D game “Second Life” is about to become an audio one. Linden Lab, the company that produced it, says it will be incorporating voice-over Internet software so that its over 4 million gamers can communicate to each other via mics and speakers. The process used to create this is Spacial Audio, which is dependent upon the separation of players in the virtual environment, according to tech exec Joe Miller.
“A group close together will be able to chat normally, but once a certain distance is reached, not even shouting will be enough,” says Miller.
Players will also be able to choose those that they wish to chat with and block those that they do not. Testing will begin next week, with a debut date sometime next month. We are gussying up our avatars just for the occasion.
Read More | Second Life Virtual Game via USA Today
Gallery: Virtual Game “Second Life” Gets a New Voice
iPhone Says Hello During Academy Awards
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Apple, Smartphones, GPS, Internet, Misc. Tech, Portable Audio / Video,
iPhone’s first commercial was released during Sunday’s Academy Awards, featuring the likes of Lucille Ball, Clark Gable, Robert Redford, Betty Rubble, and Bogey. Apple has cleverly managed to reveal absolutely nothing about their product in an entertaining kind of way. When we first saw it, we were hoping that they might release the iPhone with ringtones of one of our fave actors. Think what those around you would do if your iPhone chimed out Eastwood’s, “Make my day, Punk” or DeNiro’s “You talking to me?” in the middle of a crowded room. The iPhone is expected to make its debut this June.
Read More | Apple
