Tag: MAIN

One of the nice things about Gmail is that, even though the e-mail service generates ads by scouring messages for keywords, certain terms and phrases turn the paid content off. Therefore, breakup letters might promote dating sites, and angry notes might inspire anger management online courses, but e-mails about serious stuff typically produce nothing but blank space. Call it contextual ...

Illinois governor Pat Quinn signed into law this week a bill that bans all registered sex offenders in his state from engaging in online social networking. The bill defines a social networking site as one containing: "profile web pages of the members," "photographs placed on the profile web pages," and "any other personal or personally identifying information." Taking effect in January, the bill ...

Internet, blogs, Web journals, Facebook -- all of these things have given researchers, psychologists and online buddies an unprecedented glimpse into our personal lives. Suddenly, an influx of gadgets designed to communicate our every thought and move are prevalent, and behavior scientists are having a field day. The New York Times wrote on Wednesday about a paper that is being released by a ...

It started out as the cause of a small group of disgruntled nerds. But now, the push to rid the world of out-of-date versions of Internet Explorer has blossomed into a full-blown campaign. According to CNN, a new site called 'IE 6 No More,' along with activity on sites like Twitter and Digg, has helped bring the idea to the masses. Developers of the site claim that Internet Explorer 6, which ...

People are constantly incriminating themselves with poorly timed or damaging text messages, but one Iowa county is finally allowing people to get themselves out of trouble with their texting thumbs. According to the AP, the emergency call center located in the county jail in Waterloo, Iowa is the first in the nation to accept texts directed to 911. The responders can even reply to the emergency ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Those of us who are just now finally digesting 'Twitter' need to get ready for a new social-networking site (and verb) to hit the mainstream. Tumblr, a simple photo-blogging site, had over 255 million page-views in July alone. Next big thing, anyone? [From: Mashable] Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., announced yesterday that his ...

In the early '80s, amber was all the rage with scientists, who realized that the hardened tree sap could contain specimens and creatures with perfectly intact DNA. Extract the sample, clone the DNA. This was the premise that inspired Michael Crichton to write 'Jurassic Park.' Unfortunately, the cloning part was (and still is) a long way into the future, and the notion died. Partially died, that ...

Tech is the great equalizer. Crashes and memory dumps, Internet creeps and forgotten passwords don't care what sort of celebrity or genius they infect -- technology has equal opportunity bias. Poor Michael Ian Black talks to Switched about resisting new gadgetry and how sad he is that he hasn't an online celebrity death rumor. We feel for Bill Gates, who just shut down his Facebook after too ...

If you think stuff like 'Jackass' and the 'X Games' is extreme, you clearly haven't met Mr. Bob Maddox. Maddox, who makes his living as a cabinetmaker and artist in Medford, Oregon, has done plenty of skydiving in his day -- several thousand jumps, in fact. Now he intends to strap himself to a four-engine pulse jet rocket about 25,000 feet into the air, jump off at the peak, and parachute to ...

It's heartening to see the success of Public Radio Player 2.0, the official public radio iPhone app; it's reached nearly two million downloads. Produced in conjunction with the country's various public radio networks, the app offers up hundreds of stations and podcasts, and lets users search the massive collection for live and on-demand streams. There is, however, one major hurdle: Apple's total ...

The host of the British Emmy Award-winning television show 'Top Gear' is no stranger to building with strange materials. Besides tackling one of the longest-running car shows on the telly ('Top Gear' started in 1977.), James May also has his own program called 'Toy Stories,' which challenges kids and their families to experiment with classic toys. On that show, the energetic May sets out to build ...

Really, with all the talk about technology become sentient or gaining awareness, today's automated systems actually still have a long way to go. Even when gadgets seem to take on a life of their own, hilarity (not violence or horrific cloning) ensues. When a traffic light gets stuck on green for 29 years, we tend to chuckle (mostly because nobody got hurt). Or the Wienermobile truck 'violating' ...

If your Gmail inbox is turning into a ginormous vat of unanswered e-mails and confusing labels, Lifehacker has a good template you can use to get your to-do list back on track. Their method involves a clever mix of a couple Google Labs features, some informative labels, and even optional search bookmarklets for quick access to various e-mails. If you follow every step they have listed, your inbox ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... iPhone application feuds are getting absurd: iFart takes on PullMyFinger to claim bodily noise dominance in the app market, and PullMyFinger compares itself to Jackie Robinson. Seriously. [From: The Daily Show, via BuzzFeed] Washington-based Fox News producer Aaron Bruns was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for child pornography ...

Another detail is emerging in the vague case of a Chinese tech worker who reportedly committed suicide last Thursday over the loss of an iPhone prototype. The Hon Hai Group, the world's largest contract-manufacturer of electronics -- and the company behind Apple manufacturer Foxconn -- detained a security guard at the location in which Sun Tanyong worked. Hon Hai released this information, without ...