December 2010
He Sees You When You're Tweeting, He Knows When... →
Would blocking Santa on Twitter automatically put me on the “naughty” list? How about filing a restraining order against that creepy old man? [Chistes] More »
Comic for December 19, 2010 →
A Letter to Google's David Girouard: 100% Web is... →
Dear Mr. David Girouard, I decided to write you a quick note after reading your post about 2011 as the year there will be nothing but the Web. I am not so sure that is a great idea. I’ll…
CodeSOD: Thorough Letter Checking →
“I’m a network admin by day and a PHP freelancer by night,” Jarod writes. “It works pretty well. My clients (all two of them) assign me low-priority, get-it-done-whenever type projects, and I do my…
December 10, 2010 →
Bam! The amazing Chris Jones drew this incredible wallpaper.
If you would like it, please paypal any amount of money over a dollar.
Hotmail on Reddit: some brutally honest feedback →
We spotted a tweet today about a Hotmail “Ask Me Anything” session today hosted on Reddit.com, and while we weren’t able to attend, it looks like our friends from Hotmail got quite a bit of…
Mozilla in 2011: Focus on Performance, Video,... →
Yesterday, we also had a chance to interview Mozilla’s chairperson Mitchell Baker at LeWeb in Paris. During this discussion, we talked about Mozilla’s plans for the coming year, which…
Skim Milk: YKH House in Japan by ISSHO Architects →
If I wanted to, I could spend an entire year writing about minimalism relating only to designs originating from Japan. Minimalism has practically been forced upon Japanese design due to a…
Global Domination: CNN iReport Has Now Published... →
It’s no Pambazuka News, but CNN’s four-year-old citizen journalism site iReport, does have a fairly high profile. Attached as it is to the pioneer in 24 hour cable news channels with a…
The Noun Project and Metro, a match made in icon... →
A new and upcoming graphics design initiative called “The Noun Project” is going to make a lot of Windows Phone 7 designers and developers very happy.
The project’s mission is to…
4 (More) Tools for Teaching Kids to Code →
This week is National Computer Education Week, aimed at recognizing the crucial role of computing in today’s world and at supporting efforts to boost computer science education at all levels….
Microsoft's IE9 Gets "Tracking Protection" for... →
On the heels of an FTC report on consumer privacy and its recommendations for developing an online “Do Not Track” option, Microsoft has announced that IE9 will soon offer consumers “Tracking…
FEAR NOT, CHROME OS HAS CAPS LOCK →
There’s a fun report making the rounds that the Chrome OS notebook, specifically the Cr-48, doesn’t have the ability for caps lock, the cornerstone of many intellectually provocative…
U.S. Celebrates Wikileaks Arrest By Announcing... →
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange is arrested on suspicion of rape; today U.S. State Department drops this gem: “The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO’s…
The Reaction of Governments to Wikileaks Should... →
Wikileaks is a flawed endeavor represented publicly by a smug egotist. But it deserves the respect and support of anyone who prioritizes the privacy of individuals over that of…
Is This What Google +1 Is Going To Look Like?... →
Techcrunch has gotten their hands on confidential images of what we once knew as Google’s “Facebook killer”. Now called Google +1, it looks like it’ll be a sharing service-type…
Why Are Some Scientists Attacking NASA's New Life... →
Some scientists are aggressively attacking NASA’s new life discovery—GFAJ-1, the microbe capable of using arsenic instead of phosphorous to build itself. The reason, according to…
Quote Hook →
Blend Design has created a new coatrack called the Quote Hook that takes the form of a motivational phrase. As the first thing you see when you come home or the last before you leave for…
Yahoo! Can't Tell the Difference Between Yoko Ono... →
“John Lennon’s family and friends today”: What do they look like? According to Yahoo! (taking a page from the Washington Post) they look like a World of Warcraft orc or monster…
Study: Daily Aspirin Can Reduce Your Chances of... →
Researchers have found a drug that’s unexpectedly effective at reducing one’s chances of dying from many common forms of cancer, in some cases lessening fatalities up to 60%. It’s a…
Can You Figure Out WTF RIM's CEO Is Talking About?... →
RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis was just on stage at the Dive Into Mobile conference, babbling on about who knows what. It seems he’s trying to justify his reasons for wanting to stick…
Wikileaks' Julian Assange Has Been Arrested... →
He’s not been arrested for anything related to Wikileaks, however. Instead, British police arrested Julian Assange “on behalf of the Swedish authorities on suspicion of rape.”…
AT&T Fingered as Worst Carrier By Consumer... →
iPhone owners have long had their frustrations with AT&T. So when over half of the AT&T respondents to a Consumer Reports wireless carrier satisfaction survey were iPhone owners,…
Wikileaks' Assange May be TIME's Person of the... →
Wanted by the law across multiple countries, threatened with military action by US hawks, shut out by internet vendors from Amazon to PayPal, Wikileaks leader Julian Assange may still be named…
Every Homeowner Should Install A Pneumatic Sliding... →
I’m not a Trekkie, but even I can appreciate the wonders of a Star Trek style pneumatic sliding door—especially the fact that it’s a biometric security system away from being…
Why Did NASA Create a Material Ten Times Blacker... →
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientists have created a new material that is ten times blacker than the blackest black paint in the world. It’s made of carbon nanotubes grown on…
Hacker Poll: Is Vertical Experience Important for... →
Last week RedMonk’s James Governor asked on Twitter: “Software Developers: do you think vertical industry expertise is important to your career?” The responses were interesting. Most…
Google Wave Will Live On As Apache Wave →
It looks like December 31, 2010 will not mark the end of Google Wave after all. The Apache Software Foundation, the non-profit organization responsible for supporting Apache open source projects,…
The Weakest Link: What Wikileaks Has Taught Us... →
“The first serious infowar is now engaged,” EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow tweeted on Friday. “The field of battle is WikiLeaks. You are the troops.” And here we are. In the week since the
Android 3.0 aka 'Honeycomb' Makes a Surprise... →
Google is showing off an early build of their Android 3.0 software, which appears to be heavily optimized for tablets (including the Motorola prototype it’s running on) and has…
WikiLeaks Releases Secret List of Critical... →
A secret memo listing critical infrastructure facilities around the world was published by WikiLeaks on Sunday, prompting criticism that the publication could serve as a target-list…
Top 10 Enterprise Products of 2010 →
This year enterprise 2.0 went from being a fringe idea to being mainstream as CIOs started asking “how?” instead of “why?” Big name vendors entered the marketplace with new products and…
On the Heels of Recent Domain Seizures, ICANN... →
Following the recent government seizure of over 80 websites, there was a certain amount of finger-pointing aimed at ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - the…
Nexus S Revealed: This is the Android Phone You've... →
The rumored “Nexus S,” also once referred to as the “Nexus 2,” has now been officially confirmed by Google. This flagship Android device is the successor to the original “Nexus One,” the…
How Blocking WikiLeaks Actually Hurts the... →
Last week, the Library of Congress confirmed it’s blocking WikiLeaks. Censorship principles aside, the ban has one clear consequence: the Congressional Research Service,…
Google Wave Saved: Now Known as Apache Wave... →
Looks like the people behind the “Save Google Wave” site have succeeded. Google’s given it to the Apache Software Foundation, where it’ll be known as Apache Wave. High fives…
A Single Pirated Software License Was Used 775,000... →
Just how big a deal is software piracy? When security company Avast noticed that one of its paid-for licenses was being distributed illicitly online, they decided to track it. A…
Gingerbread Released, Here's What's New →
Today Google launched its newest flagship phone, the Nexus S, and with it, the next version of the Android operating system, code-named Gingerbread (Android 2.3). The new platform introduces a…
Foursquare Could Take Down Even Batman [Image... →
I’m convinced that social networking services are more powerful than any supervillain. After all, they can take down any superhero who doesn’t think twice about every single…
This Avenger Truck Is Loaded With Missiles, Chain... →
Back in 1980, US troops got something called the Avenger, an air defense system with eight Stinger missiles mounted on a Humvee. This new version—mounted on a Oshkosh all terrain…
Wikileaks Releases Diplomatic Cables: This Week in... →
Wikileaks releases 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables. The whistle-blower site’s previous release of Afghani and Iraqi war documents inspired a lot of criticism, much of which was…
Questions to Ask When Developing Netbook Apps →
The process for creating apps for netbook apps is very similar to creating apps for any other platform. You need to ask yourself who your audience is, how to hold their attention and what…
The Life and Times of a Colombian Cocaine... →
Gustavo Alonso was the captain of a cocaine submarine based in Colombia, until he was arrested at sea with 3.5 tons of coke on board. He soon realized that solitary confinement in…
Why Google Maps Doesn't Make You Want to Tear Your... →
If you’ve never been able to put your finger on why Google Maps seems so much easier to read than other mapping services, here’s why. More »
Prosecutors Dismiss Xbox-Modding Case Mid-Trial... →
Federal authorities in the first-of-its-kind game-console–modding criminal trial abruptly dropped their prosecution here Thursday, “based on fairness and justice.” What happened? More »
See How You Have Been Tracked Online [Privacy] →
Online tracking is a murky business. That’s why the Open Data Partnership is attempting to demystify how Netizens have been tracked. Will it actually change anything? More »
Feds Propose Backup Camera Mandate By 2014 [Nanny... →
The U.S. government proposed a new mandate today requiring backup cameras on all new vehicles by 2014. It’s the latest front in Ray LaHood’s war to protect us from ourselves. You…
PayPal Announces It Will No Longer Handle... →
In the latest in a series of blows to Wikileaks, PayPal says it will no longer support money transfers to the whistleblower site. PayPal has posted a (late-night) statement to its website,…
SMBs Engage in Insecure Computing Habits, Says... →
As the most recent WikiLeaks data dump continues to dominate headlines, one of the most striking aspects of the whole affair is how a low-level government operative was able to get their hands…
Is the Internet Sustainable When Everyone On Earth... →
As the internet gets more data intensive—the cloud, streaming media, etc.—how much data will we use in the future? A computer scientist crunched the numbers and came up with 3…