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by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 19th 2008 at 3:19AM
What’s better than having a nice leather or cloth ipod sleeve to show off to your friends? If you’re thinking one made of imitation meat — you’re dead right! Apparently, a company in Japan is under the impression that you want to wrap your music player in a grade A lookalike, undoubtedly to the thrill of your vegetarian friends and family. Of course, don’t just get one for the shock value — this thing oozes pure, sophisticated style. If you’ve got ¥6,800 (or about $66) and dignity to spare, it can be all yours.

[Via DVICE]

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

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The Transportation Security Administration on Friday have announced that it will begin a run of pilot tests of millimeter wave scanning technology at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). These millimeter wave scanners enable TSA personnel to see concealed weapons and other items that may be hidden beneath clothes, a thought that will come across as uncomfortable to some folk. The first pilot test began in October at Phoenix Sky-Harbor International Airport last year, and TSA Administrator Kip Hawley has given reassurances that the agency’s main goal is to protect passenger privacy without storing any potentially revealing body scans. It’s their word that ordinary folk like you and I have to trust, so I guess it is time to hit the treadmill unless TSA employees want to throw up their lunch after seeing my six pack rolled into one.

Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s technology and liberty program, has issued a warning that the “strikingly graphic images of passengers’ bodies” were an assault on personal dignity and expressed doubt about TSA’s ability to safeguard the images - a very real fear that most people have. After all, banks themselves as well as credit card companies haven’t exactly done a stellar job when it comes to protecting their clients’ information to date with occasional news of leaks. TSA’s counter argument claims that 90% of passengers subject to secondary screening prefer to opt for a millimeter wave scan over a pat down. The agency further went on that these scans will be viewed by officers remotely, so that they won’t be able to recognize the passengers and yet have the ability to trigger an alarm as and when required.

Time to shape up, eh? I still think that leaks will happen as we’re all human, but if its for the greater good of mankind against the looming threat of global terrorism, I think going stark naked before a flight through such a machine isn’t such a big deal, right? Correct me if I am wrong.

Source: Information Week

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Here’s a nice light-hearted story that could inspire us all and reminds us that there are still a few remaining good samaritans out there. What makes this story more interesting is that the individuals involved are actually techie’s like us.

Scott Hacker lost his phone and realized it was lost only after receiving the following note on his Twitter account:

Hi. i found this phone. could you tell me how to find the owner…

After a few messages from his Twitter friends who also read Twitter message, Hacker met the good samaritan, Silje Rygland who found Hacker’s phone lying on the lawn of UC Berkeley. To make a long good story short, Scott Hacker got his phone back and wrote about the experience in his, yes you guess it right, blog. Incidentally aside from running his personal tech blog, Hacker is also the founder and administrator of ”The Archives of Misheard Lyrics”, a popular site that maintains a database of misheard lyrics to pop songs.

Lesson of the story? If you’re not in Twitter yet, better sign up now, for who knows you might lose your phone too and Twitter might help you find it.

Via [sarahintampa]

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It looks like we may have all misinterpreted PayPal’s announcement that it will block users who are using old browsers when doing online transactions at PayPal. Some reports have included Apple’s Safari browser as among those that will be blocked by PayPal.

PayPal has denied this report by saying that it has no intention of blocking current versions of any browsers that include the Safari browser from accessing it’s site. And to clarify, it will only block customers from logging into the PayPal when using obsolete browsers on outdated or unsupported operating systems, such as IE4 running on Windows 98.

Actually, the confusion may have started when reports cited that the Safari browser does not support Extended Validation SSL Certificates.

So there, the confusion is cleared and clarified. Safari users can still access PayPal’s site using their trusty browser. End of story.

Via [Mac Daily News]

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Let’s face it, Microsoft Office is one mighty expensive software package. Costing hundreds of dollars for each Office iteration, it makes upgrading to the latest MS Office a difficult and sometimes impossible task. Not everyone can afford paying hundreds of dollars every few years. Fortunately, Microsoft is attempting to make it easier for users to migrate to the latest and future versions of its highly popular productivity suite. Currently in private beta testing, Microsoft’s “Albany” program is a subscription based model of Office. Specifically, Albany bundles Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (containing Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote), Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live OneCare (online virus and firewall service), Windows Live Mail, Messenger, and Photo Gallery all into one package with one single installer.

Unfortunately, details regarding the program are sparse; whether the subscription model will be monthly or annual remains unknown. Pricing is also unknown. Microsoft is quick to point out that the subscription-based model is not the “next” version of Office. Instead, its a new way of experiencing and purchasing Office. Interestingly, the company has announced that each subscription is valid for up to three computers, allowing families with multiple computers to share one single subscription.

“We’re breaking new ground by delivering Microsoft Office in combination with security and communication tools, plus ensuring our customers are on the cutting edge with the very latest versions. We found from our research that when you bring these categories together and keep them automatically updated, a subscription model makes a lot of sense.

At the same time, we are definitely not straying from our traditional software sales model. There will always be a significant number of users for whom purchasing a perpetual license to the latest version of Office is still the best choice. “Albany” just gives customers more choice and addresses the needs of those customers who value having the latest and greatest version of Microsoft Office.”

Read [Microsoft]

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Remember back to late Dec 07 when we announced the launch of text-to-web service, kwiry, which gives you a great way to add items (kwirys) to your Remember or To Do lists.

Well, kwiry is currently running a promotion at least until Jun 28, 2008 where you stand a chance of winning one of your kwirys assuming it’s a movie, book or music album. They’re giving away 1 per week each up to a value of US$25.

All you need to do is to kwiry like you normally do and just include the keyword ‘music’, ‘book’ or ‘movie’ along with the full title of the item. So if you wanted to kwiry “Spiderman 3″ b/c you wanted to remember to buy it, then tack on the keyword ‘movie’ to make it “spiderman 3 movie” or “movie spiderman 3″, and you’re golden.

BTW, if you haven’t tried kwiry, give it a whirl. It’ll take you 5 minutes to get set up and run a few tests. Honest.

Posted in Networking & Internet

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It doesn’t look like the participants in the McAfee S.P.A.M. Experiment have received grand jury summonses in their inboxes yet, but it’s something they can look out for. According to the FBI’s press release about the email,

“At first glance, the e-mail appears authentic. It contains a court case number, federal code, name and address of a California federal court, court room number, issuing officers’ names, and the court’s seal. The spammer directs recipients to click the link provided in the e-mail in order to download and print associated information for their records. If the recipient clicks the link, a malicious code is downloaded onto their computer.
The e-mail also contains language threatening recipients with contempt of court charges if they fail to appear. Recipients are told the subpoena will remain in effect until the court grants a release. As with most spam, the content contains multiple spelling errors.”

Sure enough, if you look at the sample email on Snopes.com, there are typos such as “thas,” “offcers,” “wich,” and “oresent.” The FBI press release also says those who receive this fake subpoena should report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).  The spammer wants people to think the feds are after them, well the feds should go after the spammer instead!

Read [Snopes.com]

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Head-worn camera for special eventsApr 20, 2008
Recording our lives has become wide-spread all over the world. But the technologies are being perfected all the time. Microsoft is working out in order to supply our society with wearable camera technology that will have a lot of features.

Actually, now it is just a concept. But there is a gadget that is worth its price, is advanced and is a really great high-resolution head-worn camera. Let’s see what functions it has and if they are useful for you.

The newest UKP300 (US5) head-worn device is already used by UK police. It is very handy for operations that need supervision. The gadget is qualitative and records all the necessary details. The 450 TVL resolution kit might also record even such entertainment events and trips like skiing, paragliding, mountain biking, paint balling, motorcycling, rock climbing and much more.

The device is fastened onto the ears, is connected via wires the back of the head and, of course, has a built-in microphone for audio recording. Moreover, it features a 4.3 mm lens that gives an 80 viewing angle.

It is important to mention that when the gadget is connected to a portable recorder, it makes very nice recordings of different occurrences.
You will be able to get the whole set of power and cables. With the help of all these accessories your recordings can be watched via a lot of gadgets. Some extra connections let you use it with any recorder that has video and audio phono inputs.

Finally, I’d like to add that the camera can be charged directly from a standard square battery, but sometimes the recorder can power the camera directly, and it means that extra connections won’t be necessary.

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