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Apple mulls $99 8GB iPhone 3GS to combat Motorola Droid

Rumor has it that Apple is planning to release a $99 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS to combat the well-reviewed Motorola Droid
Submitted by Yoni Heisler on Sun, 11/08/09 - 7:37pm.

The iPhone for the past 2 years has enjoyed preeminent spot as the top smartphone on the market.  But since its release a little more than 2 years ago, competitors have increasingly been upping the ante and churning out more impressive devices.  First came the Storm from RIM, which by all accounts did nothing to threaten the iPhone's standing.  Next came the Palm Pre, which despite a ton of hype and generally decent reviews hasn't posed much of a threat to Apple either.  But the recently released Motorola Droid now out on the market, it seems that Apple has finally met i

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FAA streamlines experimental space flight access

FAA sets baseline for environmental impact of reusable rockets
Submitted by Layer 8 on Fri, 11/06/09 - 2:24pm.

The Federal Aviation Administration today said it would streamline the environmental review part of permit applications for the launch and/or reentry of reusable suborbital rockets to help bolster a fledgling commercial space market. 

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Microsoft Is Perfect Example Why Executive Pay Is Broken

Microsoft lays off more employees while executives still rake in the dough.
Submitted by Mitchell Ashley on Fri, 11/06/09 - 8:34am.

Text message this morning from CNN: Unemployment hit 10.2% in October. Microsoft announced earlier this week another 800 employee layoffs to the 5,000 previously announced employee layoffs. If you look at Microsoft's financials you see why, a 14% revenue and 18% net income drop for the last reported quarter, on top of disappointing prior quarters.

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Observe IPv6 Traffic Encapsulated Within IPv4 Packets

Understanding your network means understanding IPv6 tunneled packets
Submitted by Scott Hogg on Thu, 11/05/09 - 8:09pm.

In the past few weeks several organizations have asked me about these "funny" packets they see leaving their networks destined for the Internet. These packets turned out to be IPv6 packets encapsulated within an IPv4 header (IP protocol 41). IPv6 packets that are encapsulated in IPv4 packets may be created unintentionally or they may be malicious activity that is trying to avoid detection. To understand this potential security issue you need tools to help you inspect this type of traffic.

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Air Force: US decades behind on satellite protection

Can satellites really be protected from flying space junk?
Submitted by Layer 8 on Thu, 11/05/09 - 4:53pm.

Too little is known about what potential foes have placed into space and how much space debris is threatening to damage American orbiters. And the US needs to deploy more space sensors, satellites and satellite protection and quickly: "We are decades behind where we should be, in my view." 

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Airborne lasers make high-speed military network zip

Free space optical laser-based system will support high-speed video, data transmissions
Submitted by Layer 8 on Thu, 11/05/09 - 11:18am.

Ultra-high bandwidth lasers in manned or unmanned aircraft could soon be blasting military voice, video and data across the skies and to the ground if a hybrid optical laser system currently undergoing test pans out. 

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iPhone App Store library reaches 100,000 apps and why competitors will have a tough time ever catching up.

The iPhone may soon be getting stiffer competition from upcoming products like the Motorola Droid, but one area where Apple's commanding lead seems untouchable is its mobile app store. Apple today announced in a press release that developers have now created over 100,000 applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Submitted by Yoni Heisler on Thu, 11/05/09 - 2:29am.

The iPhone may soon be getting stiffer competition from upcoming products like the Motorola Droid, but one area where Apple's commanding lead seems untouchable is its mobile app store. Apple today announced in a press release that developers have now created over 100,000 applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Phill Schiller stated in the press release:

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Contrary to earlier reports, latest build of OS X 10.6.2 does not kill support for Intel's Atom processor

Reports that the latest build of Snow Leopard killed support for Intel's Atom processor have proven to be untfounded
Submitted by Yoni Heisler on Wed, 11/04/09 - 9:30pm.

A few days ago, word spread that the latest (at the time) developer build of Snow Leopard all but killed support for the Intel Atom processor.  The atom processor, of course, is often found in the netbooks that happen to be popular amongst those seeking to create hackintosh machines.  When news began to trickle down throughout the Apple blogosphere, it seemed that Apple was finally taking some concrete steps to thwart an arguably growing and thriving hackintosh community.

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Cisco computer game lets you play CEO

myPlanNet lets you choose, buy and run your own Internet
Submitted by Layer 8 on Wed, 11/04/09 - 2:38pm.

If you want to be a CEO but not have any of the real responsibilities of one, you could try to play a new online game being offered by Cisco.  The company this week posted myPlanNet, a computer game that lets anyone be a broadband executive making network deployment decisions. 

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FCC and DOT team-up, want high-tech cure for distracted driving

iPods, Blackberry, Smartphones, video games and GPS systems all under the gun for distracting too many drivers
Submitted by Layer 8 on Wed, 11/04/09 - 11:28am.

The Federal Communications Commission and the US Department of Transportation are teaming up to develop what they called high-tech solutions to the growing problem of distracted or inattentive drivers

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RIM Still Hasn't Recovered From The Blackberry Storm

It's now a two horse race between the iPhone and Droid.
Submitted by Mitchell Ashley on Wed, 11/04/09 - 8:54am.

The Blackberry Bold is getting good attention but the mobile SmartPhone world has become a two horse race between the Apple iPhone and the Motorola/Google Droid. Even with the new Blackberry Storm 2 model, the Storm missed its window to be a serious contender against the iPhone (despite all my ill advised  pro-Storm predictions).

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Proactive Strategies for Pandemia

More on assuring network access resilience
Submitted by Jim Frey on Tue, 11/03/09 - 4:55pm.

It seems my last post was timely regarding network access during and through a pandemic. Gartner Group came out the next day with their list of concerns, which were quite similar to mine. They also mentioned a strategy which I had talked about with my colleague but forgot to include in my post -- the use of WAN optimization technologies as a hedge against Internet congestion. My thought there was “well, that sounds great, but how much would that cost??”

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How to build a cyborg astrobiologist

Artificial intelligence system looks for signs of life in dead places
Submitted by Layer 8 on Tue, 11/03/09 - 3:16pm.

Researchers have built an artificial intelligence-based wearable computer with digital eyes that could help future robots or astronauts "see' and discover signs of life in the desert-like conditions found on

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Citel Portico TVA Bridges VoIP Transition

Gateway bridges worlds of Digital and IP Telephony
Submitted by Matthew Nickasch on Tue, 11/03/09 - 11:10am.

There are few products on the VoIP marketplace that aim to solve a major problem: Completing the difficult transition from TDM (or legacy) telephony to Voice Over IP. After spending a few months with the Portico TVA from Citel, I'm convinced that the TVA is one of those essential products.

With the continued economic uncertainty, companies and organizations need cost effective methods to continue their transition from TDM to VoIP. Now, with the Portico TVA, organizations can utilize their existing digital handsets to connect to SIP-based soft switches or IP centrex systems.

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NASA: 2 companies win $1.65M moon lander prize

X Prize managed Challenge that simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon
Submitted by Layer 8 on Tue, 11/03/09 - 10:18am.

NASA said it will this week award $1.65 million in prize money to a pair of aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again. 

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X Prize gets $5.5M of economic stimulus money for 100MPG car

X Prize offering for $10M, 100MPG green car award
Submitted by Layer 8 on Mon, 11/02/09 - 4:01pm.

The Department of Energy today said it would give $5.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support the X Prize Foundation's competition to build mass-production-capable cars that can get at least 100 MPG. 

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High-tech camera, algorithms fuse for better sleep apnea test

Computer scientist and doctor team for high-tech answer to snoring problem
Submitted by Layer 8 on Mon, 11/02/09 - 1:31pm.

What do you get when you combine the smarts of a computer scientist and a doctor of sleep medicine? A cool, less invasive way to figure out if  patients have sleep apnea, a common problem that causes a  snoring a person to momentarily stop breathing while sleeping. 

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NASA begins to reshape future

NASA to look at commercial space, IT issues
Submitted by Layer 8 on Mon, 11/02/09 - 9:46am.

NASA began the long process of redefining some of its missions today as it added four new committees to the external advisory group that helps guide the space agency's directions. 

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User Support Is The Key To New Microsoft Store

Support, not shelves filled with products, will bring customers into Microsoft stores.
Submitted by Mitchell Ashley on Mon, 11/02/09 - 9:38am.

Now that Microsoft's first Apple-like store is open in Scottsdale Arizona, Microsoft has finally entered the world of direct consumer retail sales. Since I don't live in that part of the country I have to rely on the reports from others, and so far the feedback is that the store is a lot like Apple's, has a little less cool-vibe to it, and shows off some of the price differences between hardware running Windows compared to Apple hardware (no surprise there).

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FTC delays identity theft protection rules till June 2010

Delayed for 4th time Red Flags identity protection will have to wait
Submitted by Layer 8 on Sun, 11/01/09 - 10:55pm.

Well, maybe the fourth time will be the charm.  This time the Federal Trade Commission said it delayed the enforcement of its Red Flags identity protection rules until June 1, 2010 at the request of Congressional members. 

At the request of Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the "Red Flags" Rule until June 1, 2010, for financial institutions and creditors subject to enforcement by the FTC. 

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