The return of The Screen Savers

They're back - the first of (hopefully) many new episodes of the new The Return of The Screen Savers is available from Leo Laporte's website. It's a podcast recorded in 56kbps MP3Pro format. Use this direct link to download the podcast to listen to it. Here's a description from the mind of Leo Laporte himself - "Join Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, Robert Heron, and me for 34 minutes of Skyping fun as we discuss driving in the dust, cell phones, Kevin’s new webcast, systm, and the demise of TechTV. We plan to do this weekly with a rotating cast of characters." Here's hoping this continues to run for a very long time!!

Now this is some serious Buck Rogers sh*t right here...

Researchers at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have successfully placed mice into a state of near suspended animation, research that could lead to the kind of deep hibernation used for long space voyages in many sci-fi stories and movies. I heard the story NPR's All Things Considered did yesterday (here's a link you can use to listen to it yourself) and the lead investigator of the study, Dr. Mark Roth, also noted that the research might ultimately lead to new ways of treating cancer, and preventing injury and death from insufficient blood supply to organs and tissues. So, who knows? Sometime soon, maybe Fry will finally get to the year 3000 after all!

New Google feature - My Search History

This is cool - Google has released a new feature called My Search History. Currently it's in beta testing so you have to have a Google account to login to it (if you have Gmail, you've got a Google account). Once you're logged in, go to the Google homepage and you'll have a My Search History link at the top. Kinda fun, isn't it?

[EvilGeniusLaugh]Mwah HA HA!!![/EvilGeniusLaugh]

Ever have the desire to, you know, destroy the EARTH?!?!? Read here for info on how to do just that...(tongue firmly in cheek, of course)

Wireless hotspot - or car?

How about both? Tor Amundson came up with a way to create a mobile WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) by incorporating Verizon Broadband Access (a wireless internet service) and a Linux computer to make your own access point that you can put in your car. More info and the do-it-yourself instructions are here.

Nintendo's next-gen console to be kept under wraps

Nintendo's next generation gaming console (codenamed Revolution) may not be shown at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) this year. Apparently Nintendo believes that rivals might try to steal some of the "revolutionary" new ideas incorporated into the console. An interesting move, seeing as both the PlayStation 3 (PS 3) and Xbox 360 will be shown at E3.

Arrested Development - Why aren't you watching?

The best comedy on television, the outstanding Arrested Development, is in danger of being cancelled, but FOX decides to pick up That 70's Show for another season? And as further proof FOX has no idea what it's doing, they recently resurrected the terrible Tru Calling. Read this article for more info, including deserved high praise for the show and it's terrific cast.

Fake blog sites infecting people's computers

Well, this is just a crappy thing to do - bogus web log (blog) sites being used as traps to infect visitor's computers. The firm Websense noted in a recent study that it has found hundreds of blogs created for this purpose, and warned that the viruses/malicious software found on some of them could get past traditional security measures such as anti-virus scanners and anti-spyware programs. The article notes that the perpetrators would creating a legitimate looking weblog, loading it with keylogging software or viral code, and then sending out the address of it through instant messenger or spam e-mail. So, as Websense's research Director Dan Hubbard is quoted as saying, "These aren't the kind of blog websites that someone would stumble upon and infect their machine accidentally - The success of these attacks relies upon a certain level of social engineering to persuade the individual to click on the link." There is some comfort in that, and in the fact that best estimate is currently 200 bogus blogs out of the estimated 8 million blog sites out there. As a blogger myself, I think it's a really horrible thing to do (of course) - but how do you stop it? Getting a blog started these days is incredibly easy, you get decent amounts of storage space to host whatever you will be putting on your blog through a good number of hosting companies, and you can remain anonymous very easily. So it would be really hard to police this the way things are currently. Could it lead to more stringent policies at the blog host - like collecting and verifying information from someone before they can start a blog on the service? Or does that start to hit up against First Amendment rights? Maybe it's just as simple as personal responsibility for now, since these sites are reached via spam email. So, in other words, if I'm savvy enough to not open unsolicited spam and click on a link in it, I'll be fine. Let's just hope the jerks behind this don't get smarter and find even craftier ways to do this.

Firefox website visits on the rise

I thought this article had some interesting statistics about visits to the Firefox website. Site visits have increased in the 9 months that they've been tracked by Nielson/NetRatings, up 237% within that period. Male visitors accounted for 71% of the site visits, and women 29%. Good to see that more people are visiting the site and getting more info about Firefox, maybe this will lead to even more people dumping Internet Explorer!

Time to fire up Windows Update

All you Windows users out there - it's time to browse over to Windows Update once again. The latest batch of security patches are available, check this Microsoft Security Bulletin for more info.

Solar Death Ray!!

Ah, the things you can do if you've got enough time on your hands... Check out the Solar Death Ray site, the Target Gallery is full of pictures of objects put in the destructive path of the mighty Solar Death Ray - including a AOL CD! I personally cannot think of a single better use for AOL software than this, the inventor of the Solar Death Ray deserves a medal!

A dubious distinction : Spammer sentenced to 9 years in jail

A Virginia judge sentenced "e-mail marketing businessman" Jeremy Jaynes to 9 years in prison on Friday. That make him the nation's first felony prosecution for sending junk e-mail. The case is under appeal (of course), so the sentence is currently postponed pending the result of the appeal. He was prosecuted under Virginia's anti-spam law (which had taken effect two weeks before the trial), states sending unsolicited bulk e-mail itself is not a crime unless the sender masks his identity. Jaynes sent out at least 10 million e-mails a day with the help of 16 high-speed internet connections, and used the alias "Gaven Stubberfield" to send out most of his mail. At the sentencing, Jaynes told the judge regardless of how the appeal turns out, "I can guarantee the court I will not be involved in the e-mail marketing business again." Oh good - I totally believe him, don't you? Regardless, that's one spammer down and 97 million left to send us offers for Viagra and penis enlargement and all that other junk.

Let the PSP hacking begin!!

The first PSP hacks have begun to be widely circulated around the web, including one dreamed up and realized within 24 hours. Robert Balousek needed just a day to get IRC (Internet Relay Chat) working on his PSP, more info and how-to at his site PSPIRC. Other hacks include a hack to transfer TV shows recorded on TiVO to your PSP, an eBook reader, and a viewer you can use on your PSP to read comics downloaded from the internet. The hacks use the browser feature of the game Wipeout Pure, so you'll need a copy of that to try these out.
In other PSP news, Sony has announced that it sold 500,000 units in the first two days of the North American release. Not bad!

Gmail storage space increased

If you have a Gmail account, you probably already know this - it was no joke, Google really did increase their user's storage space from 1 GB to 2 GB. It's kinda cool watching the counter on the Gmail page counting up all day yesterday and today. Currently it's at 2051.585 and rising! The official word from Google is "Our plan is to continue growing your storage beyond 2 GB's by giving you more space as we are able...we want Gmail to keep up with our users and their needs. From Gmail, you can expect more." Nice!!! Now - what do I do with those 50 Gmail invites I've got??

Run Linux on your Nintendo DS

You read that right - run Linux on a Nintendo DS. The DS Linux development group is nearing an alpha release that will do just that. To run Linux (or other software) on the DS will require use of a passthrough device - a device that basically bypasses the DS operating system and runs programs off of a modifyed GBA cart. The development community came up with a device, called PassMe that fills the bill. Also, another development project is trying to bring Linux to the Sony PSP - PSP-Linux.org. Looks like they are looking for developers. See what happens if you give geeks a new toy to play with? They band together to come up with something really cool!

April Fools!!

Lots of websites do fun things on April Fools, like change the page layout, play tricks on their readers, invert colors, make fake announcements, or do other funny things. But this is just too good - the ladies who write The Fug Blog have decided to go in a new direction, The Hug Blog. Very funny!!

The history of Mozilla Firefox

Ever wonder how the current Mozilla Firefox we know and love came to be? Read this article for the whole story. (The site was posted on Slashdot, so it's getting hammered right now - might want to try it later.) And remember, if you haven't done it already - Get Firefox!

Problems with the Sony PSP?

It seems that there is a potential problem with Sony's new (in America) PSP - dead pixels in the display. Contrary to rumors floating around the Sony message boards Sony will replace defective units, but you have to send it to Sony Computer Entertainment - America (SCEA) and they'll send you a replacement. So you'd be without it for a week or so. Pretty annoying - but it doesn't change the fact that I want one.
In other PSP related news, here's an article that will show what the PSP looks like opened up. Needless to say, try this at your own risk - you'll void your warranty if you open your PSP. Then where will you be if you start having trouble with dead pixels?

It's time for the Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards

The time has come to vote for your favorite Star Wars Fan Film - you can watch them all and then cast your vote (if you are a member of Atom Films.com or don't mind signing up). I watched a couple of them so far, and I thought Sith Apprentice was pretty funny, and Anakin Dynamite was also amusing.

Now this is just silly

As part of their Plays For Sure campaign, Microsoft has launched a webpage to help you pick the 'correct' MP3 player for you. It advises that "a player that uses flash memory to store music has distinct advantages over a player that uses a hard disk. Simply put, flash memory players have no moving parts, meaning that you can take them jogging and your music won't skip" and "Don't get locked into one online store...You might have to shop at more than one store before you find the song you're looking for." Unsurprisingly, it's 6 tips would exclude the iPod as a good choice for consumers. Now, I've had troubles with iPod, but my wife and I both use one at the gym without even experiencing a skip, and I've never had problems finding music on the iTunes Music Store. So I can tell you from personal experience that those claims are false. Not that I'd ever really trust Microsoft anyway...