Monday, January 25, 2010

Sources: NASA won̢۪t get $1 billion budget boost
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:00:23 GMT ]

The fate of the Ares I rocket, shown here during its Oct. 28, 2009 launch, came into question last year when a committee urged Obama to consider paying commercial firms to transport astronauts to the space station. NASA's budget, just over $18.7 billion this year, is still expected to rise again in 2011, though by much less than the $1 billion increase NASA and its contractors have been privately anticipating since mid-December


6 digital SLR cameras for under $1,000
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:23:14 GMT ]

These cameras continue to drop in price and now offer video, swivel screens and other extra features.


8 gadgets that will be huge in 2010
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:22:17 GMT ]

Yes, 2010 has only just started, but these devices are the ones we think everyone will be ga ga over this year and will rack up big sales by the next holiday season.


Cosmic Log: Daredevil plans one giant leap
[ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:17:06 GMT ]

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Skyjumper Felix Baumgartner says he's gearing up to break the 50-year-old record for the highest parachute jump this year. And he's not the only one.Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Skyjumper Felix Baumgartner says he's gearing up to break the 50-year-old record for the highest parachute jump this year. And he's not the only one.


18 most anticipated tech products of 2010
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:12:00 PST ]
What gadgets are going to be hot in 2010? Here's our list of the most high-profile products we're eager to get our hands on this year.

Analysts predict bold growth for Google Android
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:18:00 PST ]
Google Android is expected to be the fastest growing mobile smartphone operating system in the world over the next few years, according to an IDC report.

CNET News Daily Podcast: Bill Gates tackles world health with tech
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:53:08 PST ]
In an exclusive CNET interview, Bill Gates discusses the challenges his foundation faces in improving health and education in Africa and other developing countries.

Google Voice gets a Chrome boost
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:42:00 PST ]
The latest update to the Google Voice Notifier for Google Chrome makes it a must-have, assuming you've got Google Voice in the first place.

Report: Companies unprepared for cybercrime
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:49:58 PST ]
Hackers rated biggest threat by respondents, but nation-states and organized crime should not be disregarded, Deloitte study says.

Apple event countdown brings new rumors
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:59:00 PST ]
As the company's Wednesday press event draws nearer, speculation over what it will announce continues to mount.

Apple event preparations under way in SF (photos)
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:42:11 PST ]
Outside the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, preparations are under way for Apple's Wednesday event, where the company is expected to launch a new tablet device.

Report: Attackers sent Google workers IMs from 'friends'
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:50:00 PST ]
Attackers used social networks to research friends of employees with access to data and then posed as those friends, sending workers links to malware in instant messages, according to the Financial Times.

AMD gains as PC chip shipments hit record
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:55:00 PST ]
Processor shipments hit a record in the fourth quarter as Apple sales jump.

GM to build electric motors for next-gen hybrid
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:01:00 PST ]
Rather than rely on outsiders, GM says it will build more powerful, smaller electric motors for a hybrid powertrain due in 2013 because the technology, like batteries, is strategic in the long term.

Is it 'High Noon' for Google, China?
[ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:19:27 EST ]
Now that the big guns have waded into the Google vs. China standoff, who will be first to blink?

Should Blackberry owners power down?
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:18:49 EST ]
We've all seen them on the train or the bus. Chins glued to their chest, thumbs hovering and their eyes locked in a digitally-induced trance.

Better transit design through ... slime mold?
[ Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:12:42 GMT ]

The left image shows slime mold growing out from an initial food source to colonize other food sources (white dots) arranged like a map of Tokyo rail stations. After 26 hours of growth, the mold resolved itself into a network of tubes that efficiently connected the food sources.Since the best city planners around the world have not been able to end traffic jams, scientists are looking to a new group of experts: slime mold.


Bill Gates says innovation can leverage change
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:34:17 GMT ]

In this file photo, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates makes remarks at the National Conference of State Legislatures heldJuly 21, 2009 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that's not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world's largest charitable foundation.


Breeding made dogs' heads incredibly diverse
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:24:08 GMT ]

A cocker spaniel mix puppy. To assess the degree of diversity in domestic dogs, the investigators measured the positions of 50 recognizable points on the skulls of dogs and their relatives.To get a sense of the not-so-subtle ways humans have influenced the course evolution, one wouldn't need to look further than Fido.


In Haiti, cell phones and radios help save lives
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:55:57 GMT ]

A man rents mobile phone chargers by the hour in downtown Port-au-Prince January 17, 2010. Tim Large, editor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Emergency Information Service and of AlertNet, sent in this report from Port-au-Prince.


Facebook's FarmVille attracting millions
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:20:56 GMT ]

From Crasher Squirrel and Kanye West to Balloon Boy, these are the running gags that made the year's Internet life worth living. Even while calling Chicago home, Laura Hawkins Grimes is a country bumpkin. Her scenic rural spread has three dairy farms, two ponds and a log cabin, all skirted by a white picket fence as scarecrows stand sentry over her blackberries.


10 mind-bending dinosaur discoveries
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:54:50 GMT ]

Dinosaur discoveries aren't just about finding fossils, recent evidence has also revealed a ‘Mini Me’ version of the T. rex and links to dino-bird connection, among other surprises.


8 gadgets that will be huge in 2010
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:22:17 GMT ]

Yes, 2010 has only just started, but these devices are the ones we think everyone will be ga ga over this year and will rack up big sales by the bext holiday season.


Chinese human rights Web sites suffer attacks
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:07:00 PST ]
The attack brought down the Chinese Human Rights Defenders' site and targeted four others amid a time when China's Web censorship is a hot issue.

Better Place raises $350 million, first projects on track
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:16:00 PST ]
Start-up gets a giant round of funding to build its network of electric-car-charging and battery-swapping stations with Europe and Asia its preferred locations.

Chip equipment market set to rebound
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:48:00 PST ]
Global spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment will recover this year, rising 46.8 percent over 2009, iSuppli predicts.

StopBadware goes nonprofit with funding from Google, others
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:00:00 PST ]
Four-year-old anti-malware effort leaves Harvard's Berkman Center to become standalone nonprofit.

Ericsson to trim 1,500 jobs
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:32:57 PST ]
After huge drop in fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, Ericsson is slashing more jobs from the ranks of its 80,000 workers worldwide.

Sorry, Facebook friends: Our brains can't keep up
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:04:07 PST ]
A concept called Dunbar's Number contends that people can only manage relationships with 150 friends at a time. But does that also apply to social networks?

Harvest Power lands cash for compost, biogas
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:11:00 PST ]
Hauler Waste Management and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins boost investment in Harvest Power, which is pursuing different technologies around food and yard waste.

Google, Cisco top Fortune's best-employer list
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:49:00 PST ]
Among the tech firms showing up on the publisher's newly released list of 100 best companies to work for are also Microsoft, Adobe, and Intel.

Mozilla takes on YouTube video choice
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:50:23 PST ]
Google offers one Web-based video encoding technology, but Mozilla strongly prefers another. Could a third way cut the Gordian knot?

Motorola seeks BlackBerry ban in U.S.
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:57:09 PST ]
Company files a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging that Research In Motion is infringing on five Motorola patents.

Opinion: We lean too much on Twitter, Google
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:22:26 EST ]
Decades ago, when the Department of Defense was creating the predecessor to today's Internet, one of the main goals was to create a communications system that could endure catastrophic disasters.

Charities fight for $5M Facebook prize
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:15:16 EST ]
This week, 100 charities are battling for votes on Facebook to win $1 million.

Should Blackberry owners power down?
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:18:49 EST ]
We've all seen them on the train or the bus. Chins glued to their chest, thumbs hovering and their eyes locked in a digitally-induced trance.

Is the end nigh for soccer's Twitterati?
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:09:38 EST ]
Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo may be the latest high-profile star to sign up to Twitter but it seems the days of savvy, social-networking soccer players could soon be numbered.

Haitian radio station becomes post-quake lifeline
[ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:57:45 EST ]
In the aftermath of Haiti's devastating earthquake, a small radio station became an informational lifeline for people in Port-au-Prince and beyond.

Scientists debut tongue-controlled wheelchair
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:27:19 EST ]
Cruise Bogle, 18, was skimboarding with friends in Delray Beach, Florida, when he took a wave that whipped his board out from under him. Bogle was thrown backward, and his head hit the ocean floor. When friends saw him lying still in the surf, they knew something was wrong and rushed him to the hospital.

Opinion: U.S. enables Chinese hacks
[ Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:20:31 EST ]
Author says the U.S. government inadvertently aided the Chinese hackers who allegedly attacked Google.

Scanner may detect PTSD
[ Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:43:08 EST ]
Post-traumatic stress is estimated to afflict more than 300,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, but until now, it's been labeled a "soft disorder" -- one without an objective biological path to diagnosis.

Phone app helps save man in Haiti
[ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:15:32 EST ]
Alone in the darkness beneath layers of rubble following the earthquake in Haiti, Dan Woolley felt blood streaming from his head and leg. Then he remembered -- he had an app for that.

Apple fans drool over mystery product
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:19:56 EST ]
Some fanatics say they will buy any new product Apple puts out -- no matter what it is, or what it costs. The company inspires others to visit its headquarters.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Video: High anticipation over Apple's tablet
[ Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:16:10 GMT ]

Jan. 23: Msnbc's Alex Witt talks with CNET.com's Caroline McCarthy the buzz caused by Apple's new product.  (Other)Jan. 23: Msnbc's Alex Witt talks with CNET.com's Caroline McCarthy the buzz caused by Apple's new product. (Other)


Scientists model 'Frankenstorm' in Calif.
[ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:29:55 GMT ]

Mud blocks Big Tujunga Canyon Road in Los Angeles, Calif., last Tuesday. While the state saw heavy rains all last week, scientists hunkered down to work on a "Frankenstorm" scenario for the future.Scientists at the California Institute of Technology are working on a "Frankenstorm" scenario — a mother lode wintry blast that could potentially sock the Golden State.


Pope to priests: For God's sake, blog!
[ Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:27:05 GMT ]

Pope Benedict XVI looks on during his weekly Wednesday general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on January 20, 2010. For God's sake, blog! Pope Benedict told priests on Saturday, saying they must learn to use new forms of communication to spread the gospel message.


6 digital SLRS for under $1,000
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:23:14 GMT ]

These cameras continue to drop in price and now offer video, swivel screens and other extra features.


Cosmic Log: Darwin’s difficult ‘Creation’
[ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:20:50 GMT ]

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Charles Darwin's inner demons — and his inner angels — come to light in a film that traces the roots of his 150-year-old masterwork, "The Origin of Species."Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Charles Darwin's inner demons — and his inner angels — come to light in a film that traces the roots of his 150-year-old masterwork, "The Origin of Species."


China rejects claims of Internet hacking attacks
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:10:02 GMT ]
The Chinese government denied involvement in Internet attacks and defended its online censorship Monday after the United States urged Beijing to investigate complaints of cyber intrusions in a dispute that has added tension to bilateral relations.

Rare dino skeleton turned over to researchers
[ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:37:46 GMT ]
A rare and nearly complete dinosaur skeleton stolen from private property in Montana and stored in an evidence locker for more than two years has been turned over to researchers.