Australian researchers have patented a search method that they claim could revolutionise existing search engines, complementing searches conducted on services such as Google, Yahoo or MSN
The BBC has released the first TV clips from its archive onto the internet for people to rip, mix and share
. Almost 100 clips, from shows such as Walking With Beasts and Tomorrow’s World, are for the UK public to use for free in their own creative works. The BBC hopes to foster innovation by letting anyone re-use its material for personal and educational purposes under the Creative Archive Licence. BBC Radio 1 launched the scheme with a competition to produce a music video — via BoingBoing
In a move that could mark a big strategy shift for the online auction company, eBay is in talks to acquire Skype for between $2 billion and $3 billion
The comment spammers have a new trick.
I checked out trackback spam on The Pagan Prattle before killing it off and found a clean looking, well designed site that appeared to be about the cars it claimed to be in the ping. I didn’t get a chance to see if the links were real because the cursed thing launched a trojan at me. Fortunately, NOD32 caught it.
Beware bait sites bearing trojans
iPod nano killed the iPod mini-star. It’s smaller, has a colour screen and comes in black! Finally! I can only hope that this means a black iPod is on the way so us black lovin’ folk don’t have to resort to buying the U2 iPod for that reason*. Robot Johnny wishes for black pods too: iPod, uPod, we all pod for iPod
Potter Pod. This is kinda cute, I’m sure some hard core fans can get their pods in the colours of their fav Hogwarts house somewhere.
All those years of mac rumour sites speculating about an Apple phone got a step closer with iTunes mobile. No special Apple branded hardware, it’s a Motorola thing with an iTunes interface.
I also like The iTunes 5 Announcement From the Perspective of an Anthropomorphized Brushed Metal User Interface Theme
*I like U2, but I’d like more storage and black for money.
Apple have released the iPod nano, which is an iPod photo-esque replacement for the iPod mini. It comes in 2GB and 4GB flavours, is half the thickness of the mini and is available in black or white. A new iTunes was released as well, which has some dull cosmetic changes and seems even slower than its predecessor
Yahoo has been accused of supplying information to China which led to the jailing of a journalist for divulging state secrets
. Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo’s Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao’s e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information. The media watchdog accused Yahoo of becoming a police informant
in order to further its business ambitions — via Warren Ellis
Derrick Hixson has submitted an amazing entry to the MacMod Mod Competition, a Millennium Falcon: complete with Mac mini and iSight. It even includes front USB ports. His modguide contains complete build instructions, and plenty of pictures
Samsung will next year release a DVD player capable of playing both Blu-ray and HD DVD if backers of the rival standards fail to agree on a unified format
The Australian record industry celebrated a win against online music-swapping service Kazaa. Future versions of Kazaa will need to include filters to prevent the trading of copyrighted music works, the federal court ruled. Kazaa’s owners would have to apply maximum pressure
on existing users to upgrade their software to the new, filtered version. Sharman Networks has announced it will appeal the ruling
Massachusetts has cited legal concerns over Microsoft’s software as a factor behind its decision to only use document formats based on open standards
There is a new plugin available for IE that can make Internet Explorer resemble Firefox by adding tabbed browsing capabilities and an integrated search box. Moreover, the plugin improves IE’s privacy and security by integrating a firewall designed to block out Internet exploits, phishing sites, spammers, spyware and worms, with a special HTTP filter that removes private data, and an anti-spyware tool that can identify and remove all pests in less then 10 seconds
3700 Creative Zen Neeons
shipped with a virus. The virus in question was the W32.Wullik.B@mm worm. Creative released a statement today to help consumers pinpoint the possibly effected devices
Some US libraries are using Microsoft Media DRM to automatically return audiobooks checked out of their catalogue. A patron with a valid library card visits a library Web site to borrow a title for, say, three weeks. When the audiobook is due, the patron must renew it or find it automatically returned
in a virtual sense: The file still sits on the patron’s computer, but encryption makes it unplayable beyond the borrowing period
Jan Erik Vangen’s Bender casemod is a life-sized version of the robot from Futurama. His eyes glow and he says Bite my shiny metal ass
on demand. He also has a terabyte of storage, WiFi, and a DVD burner — via BoingBoing
Roborior, a house-sitting robot armed with a digital camera, infrared sensors, and a videophone is on sale in select Japanese department stores. The house-sitting robot can detect break-ins with its infrared sensors and then call the owners cell phone and stream video to the tiny screen. At US$2600 each the Roborior is not cheap. For those that require something a little more substantial, Tmsuk, the manufacturer of Roborior, has produced a four legged version called Banryu. This one is the size of a large dog and sells for around US$18,000. It’s not supposed to shed hair or sleep on the furniture which could make it quite popular — via Slashdot
iiNet has revealed that it may expand its DSL network to at least 260 exchanges as part of a $34.5 million upgrade program next year. iiNet, Australia’s third largest internet provider, expects to have DSL equipment installed in 211 exchanges by January when it completes the third stage of its roll-out. The internet provider’s managing director Michael Malone said iiNet was planning a fourth stage which would involve a further 50 to 100 exchanges.
PWNtcha is a package that breaks various on-line captcha algorithms. The site provides numerous examples of easy (Paypal, and an older version of Slashdot make the list) and hard Captcha. It also links various sources explaining why Captcha is a bad idea
Last year, the US Air Force dropped US$25k on a Teleportation Physics Study to examine whether it might be possible to beam people and objects from one place to another. The report [pdf] was written by Eric W Davis who holds a PhD in astrophysics. Not mentioned in the article is that Davis apparently has also been affiliated with the National Institute for Discovery Science, a private research organisation that studies aerial phenomena, animal mutilations, and other related anomalous phenomena
— via BoingBoing
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