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Sox fans ding carrier nets
 The Boston Red Sox took down The New York Yankees Wednesday night. Thursday afternoon, Sox fans took down landline and cell phone networks trying to land World Series tickets.
An extremely limited number of tickets went up for grabs by phone only at 3 p.m. yesterday. Call volume was so high, parts of the Verizon network were disrupted throughout Boston, and wireless carriers such as Cingular and AT&T Wireless said customers had trouble getting calls on the network.
During the game Wednesday night, cell customers in Boston and the Bronx had trouble getting a dial tone after key plays.
Via Boston.com
Posted: October 22, 2004
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Internet organ transplanted
 You hear a lot about bogus organ auctions on eBay, but for the first time a person has had a transplant in which the organ donation was negotiated over the Internet.
Tired of sitting on the national non-profit organ registry waiting list, Bob Hickey of Colorado signed up for the for-profit MatchingDonors.com, founded in January.
Hickey paid $295 per month for three months to be listed and matched with a donor. Hickey also will pay around $5,000 in transportation costs and other expenses incurred by the donor, Rob Smitty of Chattanooga, Tenn. According to USA Today, "Federal law prohibits the sale of organs, but it does allow payment for living donors' expenses, such as time lost from work or airfare to the hospital."
Countering charges that not everyone could afford such a monthly fee, MatchingDonors.com officials say they'll waive them for anyone who can't pay. They also say all profits go to maintaining its site. If so, why doesn't it just go non-profit?
Via USA Today
Posted: October 22, 2004
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Bush, Kerry share SIMs home
 What happens if you force SIMs George Bush and John Kerry to live in the same house?
Well, there's a small fire, some napping, a ticklefight and their neighbors - John Edwards, Cleaned Up Saddam Hussein, and In Disguise Osama Bin Laden - just for starters.
The screen caps are funny, odd and genuinely disturbing all at the same time.
Via Waxy.org
Posted: October 22, 2004
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Minty fresh MP3
 MP3 players are a dime a dozen, but MP3 players made out of an Altoids tin? Not so much.
You can have the coolest digital music player on your block with one used Altoids tin, $50 for hardware and software and enough gumption to follow directions and put the darn thing together.
Even cooler, the directions also show you how to add an FM transmitter, so you can pull in local stations, too.
Via Geek DIY
Posted: October 22, 2004
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Grand Theft Auto leaked to 'Net
 Video game developers are running into the same problem as their music and film counterparts - unauthorized early releases of their products on the Web.
The latest victim is Rockstar, developer of one of the most highly anticipated games of the fall, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The PlayStation 2 game is due to hit stores next Tuesday, but has already hit the 'Net, outraging officials.
Rockstar is pledging to "diligently and aggressively" pursue the source of the leak, which if anything like the violent Grand Theft Auto series, could lead to the perpetrator being beaten by a baseball bat while A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" plays in the background.
Last week, another eagerly anticipated game, Halo 2 (for Xbox) was also found on the Internet. Halo 2 is scheduled for release on Nov. 9, but Microsoft doesn't seem to worried, noting 1.5 million copies have already been preordered by gamers.
Via The Register
Posted: October 22, 2004
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Ballmer on security
 It's not our fault!, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer says. It. Is. Not. Our. Fault.
That's what Ballmer told the IT wonks in between trips on the Carousel of Progress at Disney World yesterday when addressing the issue of security holes at a Gartner forum.
See...the thing is...the hackers are getting smarter, he asserts.
"I think we've learned a lot more about security basically than anyone else in the world," he said. "That's kind of the good news and bad news, being the position we've been in with our kind of market share."
Ballmer's got that glass-half-full attitude goin' on.
Via My Way News
Posted: October 21, 2004
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Robot revolution
 Oh, man, here we go. The latest World Robotics Survey is out and says that the use of "domestic robots" will surge in coming years, with 4.1 million in service by the end of 2007.
By that time, many of us will have service bots cleaning our pools, vacuuming our floors, guarding our homes, washing our windows and the like, experts say. How long until there's a massive Roomba uprising and it all turns into a sci-fi horror flick? Not long, we fear.
"Falling or stable robot prices, increasing labor costs and continuously improving technology are major driving forces which speak for continued massive robot investment in industry," said study author Jan Karlsson. And, you know, the desire for a massive bot revolution.
Via Yahoo News
Posted: October 21, 2004
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Nasty keyboard fix
 Your keyboard's got more germs than a kindergarten classroom. One scary study says your desk has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat, with keyboards and mice sporting the highest concentrations. Ew.
Another study says "75% of U.S. adult computer users do not clean either their computer keyboard or computer accessories, such as a mouse or mouse pad, on a weekly basis." If you changed "weekly" to "annually", why do we think the number would be even higher?
Anyway, peripheral heavyweight Fellowes has teamed with the Microban Products Company to service the Howard Hughes set and produce a line of keyboards, mice and mousepads featuring antimicrobial protection.
Says Microban President Billy Henry: "Although not a substitute for normal cleaning, Microban technology provides an added level of protection between cleanings and in hard to reach places that lasts the lifetime of the product."
But the hard-to-reach places is where we store our muffin crumbs.
Posted: October 21, 2004
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Disposable DVD launch
 A small company is hoping to change the way movies are distributed and it all hinges on the disposable DVD.
According to The New York Post, The Convex Group has hatched the following plan. A low-profile movie called "Noel" will debut in 10 U.S. cities on Nov. 12. On the same day, the disposable "Noel" DVD - starring Chazz Palminteri, Penelope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams and Alan Arkin - can be bought for $4.99 through Amazon.com.
Two weeks later "Noel" will air once on the cable network TNT, a move that execs hope will spur greater ticket sales and higher revenues from the DVDs, which become unplayable 48 hours after their air-tight package is opened.
Via NY Post
Posted: October 21, 2004
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Public TV sets threatened
 Inventor Mitch Altman doesn't like TV, especially when he's in a public place, so he's concocted a tiny device that will shut off any set.
The $15 TV-B-Gone hooks onto your key ring and when pointed at a set, cycles through 200 infrared codes that control the power of nearly 1,000 televisions. Altman says most TVs will turn off within 17 seconds. Try this in a sports bar and 2 seconds later you'll have a hell of a fistfight on your hands.
The 47-year-old got the idea when he was at a restaurant with friends "and they found themselves all glued to the perched TV instead of talking to each other." Well, maybe it was the company, Mitch.
Since the TV-B-Gone was announced, it has been selling like hotcakes, which should lead to many interesting encounters in restaurants, airports and the like. This could be more annoying than the laser-pointer-mania of the '90s.
Via My Way News
Posted: October 20, 2004
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EBay's new ad campaign
 It's New Ad Month for all our favorite Internet behemoths, first AOL, now eBay.
USA Today reports that eBay's abandoning it's all-singing, all-dancing production numbers in favor of a campaign centered around the theme: "The Power of All of Us."
Cue the violins:
"The campaign is really a celebration of the trust that happens every day on eBay," says Kevin McSpadden, marketing director. "EBay is more than the trading of stuff. It's about a sense of community experienced one-to-one."
It's also about buying junk, bot bidding programs and feedback wars, but you won't see that reflected, we're pretty sure.
You also won't see our proposed slogan: "EBay - what a load of crap."
Via USA Today
Posted: October 20, 2004
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Stylish USB drives
 You know technology is truly taking off when people start worrying about how it looks as much as how it functions. You've got thousand-dollar designer iPod and cell phone cases, and now there's the leather-lined USB thumb drive (click to enlarge).
Japanese company Lucas apparently thinks if you're going to carry data around in your pocket, you might as well do it in style. Different models offer between 128M bytes and 2G bytes of storage.
Via Everything USB
Posted: October 20, 2004
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Google saves hostage
Is there anything Google can't do? Find your old college roommate? Check. Give you a roomy e-mail account? Check. Save a hostage captured by Iraqis? Check - amazingly enough.
Australian journalist John Martinkus was captured by Iraqis in Baghdad last weekend. His captors were convinced he worked for the CIA or was a U.S. contractor. Martinkus maintained he was a journalist, a fact confirmed when the kidnappers Googled his name, discovered he was telling the truth and let him go.
"They Googled him and then went onto a Web site - either his own or his book publisher's Web site, I don't know which one - and saw that he was who he was, and that was instrumental in letting him go, I think, or swinging their decision," Mike Carey, Martinkus' executive producer at SBS network, told AP news agency.
Via BBC News
Posted: October 20, 2004
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TV cries for help
 Some TVs seem like they can do it all. Just ask Chris van Rossmann, whose year-old Toshiba flat-screen was emitting an international distress signal, which earlier this month was picked up by satellite and routed to the Air Force Rescue Center at Langley Air Base in Virginia.
A group of local police, civil air patrol and search and rescue personnel followed the signal and were surprised to find a 20-year-old college student in his apartment, as opposed to a boat or small plane. The TV was emitting the signal in the 121.5-MHz frequency, used internationally for distress signals - or any television tuned to UPN or The WB.
Not only was Van Rossmann spared the $10,000 fine for "willingly broadcasting a false distress signal," but Toshiba also gave him a new TV.
Via CNN
Posted: October 19, 2004
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Nowhere to run
Motown legend Martha Reeves has filed a complaint against eBay with the Federal Trade Commission.
One of her 1975 performance contracts was put up for auction on the site, complete with a photo of the document. Anyone who clicked to enlarge the photo got the particulars of the contract, complete with Reeves' Social Security number.
"You feel completely exposed," the Motown star told The Detroit News on Sunday. "They've got my Social Security number and signature. That's all they need to steal my identity."
EBay says it can't police all of its 29 million auctions.
Via Yahoo News
Posted: October 19, 2004
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D&D turns 30
 The granddaddy of geek games has turned 30.
Dungeons & Dragons entered its third decade last weekend, prompting generations to pull out their 12-sided die and roll for more dexterity. In the age of souped-up video games and computer equipment beyond your childhood dreams, there's something quaint and comforting in the thought of a weekend-long pencil-and-paper game played in your parent's basement.
Game manufacturer Wizards of the Coast, which owns D&D, says the popularity of Harry Potter and "Lord of the Rings" is fueling new interest in the games from younger generations.
Via CNN
Posted: October 19, 2004
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Cool collaboration software
 We're not super interested in collaboration software; e-mail, IM and a Post-It Note is about all we need. However, if we were, we would be all over Groove's Enterprise Data Bridge integration middleware, which connects your back-end to your collaboration wares.
So if we couldn't care less about collaboration software, we do we love Enterprise Data Bridge? Enterprise. Data. Bridge. This explains why we don't have any purchasing power here at Network World and why we stink at picking winners at the track.
Posted: October 19, 2004
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New contest starts today
 Your mission, should you accept it, is quite possible. Tell us what's going on in this photo, and the best caption will win fabulous Fusion gear.
Send your winning words to layer8@nww.com by end of day Friday and win, win, win! Click the photo to enlarge.
Posted: October 19, 2004
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New contest winner
"GAAAAAATESSS!!!"
How awesome. A caption that succinctly combines our love for "Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan" and our dislike of Microsoft. Paul Bennett is the genius behind the caption this week, winning fabulous Fusion gear.
To check out the great runners-up, click the link below. Check back later today for the start of the next contest.
Go on, read the whole thing ...
Posted: October 18, 2004
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New Google tool yields privacy concerns
 Google's new Desktop Search is a handy tool, says a company rival. Handy if you enjoy privacy invasion.
The Register quotes David Burns, Copernic CEO: "If you lined people [up] and said, 'Stick your hand up if you want Google to know what pictures you have, and what MP3 files you have,' I don't think many would." He says the search giant is planning to mix public and private queries in the future to make more money via its ubiquitous contextual ads.
The Register says Google Desktop Search lets users opt out of sending detailed usage data back to the company, but it isn't possible to firewall it completely.
No word from Google on Burns' claims.
Via The Register
Posted: October 18, 2004
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Gates to steal TV industry?
Welcome to Crazy Bill Gates' Entertainment Emporium, where he'll make TV-viewing so convenient, you'll think he's gone craaaaaaaazy.
To do that Bill's gonna eliminate the middleman, in this case, the television networks. With the advent of digital video recorders, on-demand TV, digital cable, satellite TV - oh, and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - watching TV the old-fashioned way is going the way of the gramophone, he says. Gates thinks TV studios should just chuck everything up on the 'Net and let viewers watch when they want - via Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, of course.
Here's a sentence we didn't need to see: "Microsoft is working more closely than ever with studios and distributors, taking such steps as creating a Media/Entertainment and Technology Convergence Group."
We don't love Bill around our PC. We certainly don't want his evil clutches anywhere near our beloved idiot box.
Via CNN
Posted: October 18, 2004
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You get what you pay for
One would think that "Don't trust online medical advice" is a given, a statement you wouldn't have to make, like: "Don't blow dry your hair while taking a bath."
However, given that some people are still electrocuted while striving for perfect hair, here we are.
A University College London study shows that people with chronic ailments (such as diabetes and asthma) who pursue medical information online are more likely to find their conditions worsen. Researchers say those who surf may "educate" themselves and consider their doctor's recommendations too stringent or think they can alter their care themselves based on their new-found knowledge.
Via BBC News
Posted: October 18, 2004
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