FCC Set to Release Ambitious Internet 10-Year Expansion Plan Tuesday
March 13, 2010
(ChattahBox) – The Federal Communications Commission is set to propose an ambitious a 10-year plan that would make high-speed Internet the top communication network in the country. The plan would displace telephone and broadcast television as the country’s premier communication systems and will reportedly include efforts to subsidize high-speed access for rural areas and an auction of broadcast spectrum for wireless devices. About one-third of Americans have no access to high-speed internet service because of isolation, cost or preference, the NY Times reported.
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IBM and Stanford University Unveil Plant Based Environmentally Sustainable Plastics
March 10, 2010
(ChattahBox) – Researchers at IBMs Almaden Research Center and Stanford University have developed a potentially revolutionary method of producing environmentally-friendly plastic from plants. The new line of organic catalysts they say could revolutionize the green plastics industry by giving it a set of tools to build up — and break down — plastics in a more environmentally friendly and energy efficient way. The “green chemistry” breakthrough results in plastics that could be repeatedly recycled, instead of only once as is the case with petroleum-based plastic made using metal oxide catalysts, which ultimately wind up in a landfill.
“This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts could lead to well-defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible way,” IBM said in a release.
This type of bio-degradable plastics or plant plastics could also be made ‘biocompatible’ to form a part of drugs for cancer cells. IBM is working with scientists at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia to put the discovery to work in the recycling of plastics used in food and beverage containers.
The find will be detailed in a paper ‘Organocatalysis: Opportunities and Challenges for Polymer Synthesis’, to be published in the American Chemical Society journal Macromolecules.
Porn Domain Plan May Be Back In The Works
March 9, 2010
(ChattahBox) – The plan to create a new domain name specifically for adult sites has been revived after a review found that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ decision to turn over the original ruling was ‘unfair’.
Is Your Touchscreen Too Small? No Problem, Just Use Your Arm
March 7, 2010
(ChattahBox)—Love them or hate them, touchscreens are here to stay. And as soon as you become an iPhone virtuoso, you lament the small and inefficient screens. But with a new technology called Skinput, we may one day just simply expand our touchscreeens onto our bodies, beaming a scrolling, interactive menu right on our arms or hands. The future is here, grabbed right from the pages of a science fiction novel, and it’s brought to us by Microsoft and a the third year Ph.D. student from Carnegie Mellon. Read more
Facebook Post Leads To Canceled Israeli Military Raid
March 5, 2010
Israel (ChattahBox) – A military operation by the Israeli army was canceled this week after a soldier posted the details on his Facebook.
New App Can Remove Those Pesky Sex Texts
March 2, 2010
(ChattahBox) – A new application to be released for the Blackberry or other Android-software phones will erase trails of ‘embarrassing’ text messages.
Google Chrome browser adds website language translation feature
March 2, 2010
(ChattahBox) – Google has launched a new beta version (4.1.249.1021), of its web browser, Chrome, featuring automatic translation and enhanced privacy controls. The new version, which can be downloaded from the Google Chrome Beta channel website, will allow users to specify that they want every web page they visit to appear in a certain language, and also offer the opportunity to set privacy controls that are specific to individual websites.
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Whistleblower Site Cryptome to Microsoft: Make Your Spying Guide Public
February 26, 2010
(ChattahBox)— Forget about the Olympics and the healthcare showdown between Republicans and Democrats; the big event in the geek-o-sphere this week has been the entertaining battle between tech giant Microsoft and the little-known whistleblower site Cryptome. After Cryptome posted an internal law enforcement document revealing Microsoft’s how-to manual on ways to subpoena online user data, Microsoft demanded that the document be removed under the shield of copyright law. And all of the entertaining back-and-forth email exchanges between Microsoft, Cryptome and Network Solutions, the site’s server, have been posted online.
Of course, Microsoft’s heavy-handed legal brouhaha resulted in drawing even greater attention to its spying document, when Network Solutions responded by taking the whole site offline. And finally on Friday, Microsoft withdrew its complaint and the site was back up, but not before Cryptome’s founder John Young made his point, referring to Microsoft as law enforcement ass kissers, among other things. Young ended his rant against Microsoft, as well as Yahoo, with the words: “Quote me.” Read more
Yelp Accused of User Review Extortion Racket
February 25, 2010
(ChattahBox)—Apparently the consumer online review site Yelp is taking a page out of the book of Tony Soprano. The San Francisco-based site is being accused in a lawsuit of running an online extortion racket, by publishing fake negative reviews about a business and then pressuring that business to ante up for a paid $300 a month subscription, in exchange for removing the negative reviews. A Long Beach veterinary hospital named Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital, didn’t play ball and cried foul, when the owner became subjected to high-pressure sales tactics after two suspect negative reviews appeared on the Yelp site. The veterinarian filed a federal class action lawsuit against Yelp for extortion. Read more
UN Warns of Environmentally Toxic E-Waste Mountains
February 24, 2010
(ChattahBox)—The United Nations is sounding the alarm on global e-waste of cell phones, computers and other electronic devices that is quickly clogging up our planet with toxic pollution. A report by the UN’s Environmental Program found that global e-waste is growing by 40 million tons a year. And the international agency is calling for new green global standards of recycling e-waste to minimize the serious environmental hazards. The UNEP warns that unless something is done to effectively deal with electronic waste, many developing countries face a public health and environmental nightmare from hazardous e-waste mountains filled with discarded cell phones. Read more