Shaolin Monks Use Internet, Cell Phones, IM

China's Shaolin monks, counter to their reputation as secluded ascetics who deny themselves the comforts and trappings of modern life, surf the Internet, yak away on cell phones and sit around CHATTING WITH THEIR BUDDIES ON IM. Theoretically, they could even use their internet connections to watch COOL AMERICAN TV CLASSICS. (props to textually.org)

Lego Robot Climbs Stairs

The Lego people must be stopped! Their latest creation is an elaborate robot thing that can actually climb stairs. Here comes the VIDEO!! (props to Tech Blog)

Worst USB Gadget Yet: Water-Based Air Purifier

Here's another way to abuse your USB port: Brando is selling a USB water-based AIR PURIFIER that sucks in air and processes it through the water in its tiny tank.

Robotic Shoes Let You Walk Through Minefields

Scientists at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have invented a robotic shoe that lets you WALK THROUGH MINEFIELDS without detonating any of the mines. The shoe has six legs that you walk on, each of which contains a metal detector. If one of the legs detects metal under ground, it holds itself up in the air and lets the other five legs support the wearer.

Bionic Arm In the Works. We Have the Technology.

Scientists working on the University of Utah's "Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009" are creating a BIONIC ARM -- a prosthetic arm that moves, grabs, points and flips the bird, controlled only by the wearer's thoughts like a REAL ARM. The core technology under development is a "peripheral nerve interface," which is an implant that would pick up nerve signals and transmit them to a computer worn on a belt. The computer interprets the nerve signals and sends commands to the arm in real-time. A prototype should be ready within four years. The research, of course, is funded by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a.k.a. DARPA. Here's the incredible part: Current funding is about $55 million, which by 2010 (the year the prototype should be ready) would be about six million dollars in 1974 (the year "The Six Million Dollar Man" TV series launched) adjusted for inflation.

Motorola Patents Feng Shui Cell Phone

Motorola has been granted a patent for a cell phone that can rate a room for how well it sticks to the principles of FENG SHUI, the ancient Chinese art of interior decoration and city planning. Motorola's Feng Shui phone will feature "a direction sensor, digital camera (with software to analyze colors, order and balance of the environment), GPS to determine location of the space, an AM/FM radio (to make sure the space is far enough away from radio towers), and a table of 'chi values.' The phone would also use the microphone for gauging undesirable noise levels." (props to The Web. To Go. and Engadget Mobile)

iPods to Replace Turntables For DJs

Some Japanese DJs are building a mixer out of two iPods lashed to a couple of controllers that will enable not only cutting, mixing, and fading, but also SCRATCHING -- a system they plan to use for their real DJ party gigs. It's still a work in progress, and something they plan to build only for their personal use. And, ultimately, it's unnecessary, as one company has already built a $250 COMMERCIAL VERSION. In any event, here comes the VIDEO!

Finally: A Milk Frother Powered By Sunlight

Why settle for an ordinary milk frother that uses electricity from a wall outlet when you can use the SoLait 100 - Solar Milk Frother? It's the perfect thing for hikers and campers ADDICTED TO CAPPUCCINOS who don't want to carry something unnecessary (such as batteries for their milk frother). (props to Unplugged Living)

Japan's AIBO Is Dead; Koreans Unleash New Dogs

Sony's awesome AIBO robot dog was put to sleep last year, but Japan's exit from the robot pet market hasn't stopped Korea. A Korean company called Dasatech has UNLEASHED TWO PET ROBOT DOGS. Called "Genibo," the dogs understand about the same number of words as your real pet dog, including "come here," "sit," "wag your tail," and "do a headstand." Like AIBO, when you pet a Genibo, it gets all happy. It can also navigate around objects and can receive commands from a PC via Bluetooth.

Untraceable, No-Software VoIP Hits

VoIP TalkFree announced a new new, $250 service called the Web Dialer that enables phone calls over the internet that CANNOT BE TRACED. It also doesn't require any software installed on the PC, other than Java. You access it with a simple URL. China, Iran, Cuba: This is your new international phone company!

Breakthrough: 'Shrug Detector' Invented

Computer vision eggheads at the University of Illinois have invented a "REAL-TIME SHRUG DETECTOR" that they hope will soon be complimented with real-time blink, hand-motion and facial expression detectors. They see this technology as the foundation of HAL-like communication between humans and computers.

'Apple' Folds Out Into iPod Speakers

A red APPLE GADGET folds out into a $16 speaker system and cradle for an iPod. Available from Hong Kong's Brando store. UPDATE: Now available in green as well.

BBC Editorial To Be Influenced By Gamer Culture

The crusty old BBC has admitted its failure to attract younger readers, so director general Mark Thompson says they need to "LEARN FROM THE WORLD OF VIDEO GAMES."

Portable 'Ghost Radar' Now On Sale

Nobody believed me when I reported on APRIL FOOL'S DAY that SolidAlliance's "GHOSTRADAR" concept was going mobile -- i.e., smaller and designed to dangle from a cell phone. That post was about the company's partnership with Strapya and its intent to sell the mini-GhostRadar, and it was accompanied by a Photoshop mockup. Today the company said the devices are now on sale, and they've posted real photos. GhostRadar "works" by detecting changes in surrounding magnetic waves, indicating the presence of ghosts. Or magnets. Or electronics. Spooky!

Audi Concept Car Features Built-In Starbucks!

A new concept car from Audi called the ROADJET (sounds more like a mobile printer) features the ultimate luxury: a BUILT-IN ESPRESSO MACHINE! Push a button, and the armrest between driver and front-passenger seats rises up to reveal the coffee maker, which includes a built-in reservoir for holding the water. (props to TechDigest)

Broadcast Live Video From Your Cell Phone

New software and a service from ComVu lets you broadcast live, streaming video to thousands of people, all FROM YOUR CELL PHONE. The service rolls out in a few cities this year, and up to 30 cities next year. Props to the plusmo blog and WindowsForDevices.com)

Finally: A Bucket To Hold Your Gadgets

A stylish European BUCKET performs four jobs with style. A tray on top holds everything you carry in your pockets, including your gadgets. Under the tray are outlets for plugging in the devices, and the bucket holds all the cabling. Oh, and it's an LED lamp. (props to Personal Tech Pipeline and The Red Ferret Journal)

Cheap Virus 'Smart Bomb' Kit Hits IE, Firefox

A cheap, hack-it-yourself kit called Web-Attacker IE604 and sold by a Russian Web site sniffs for seven unpatched vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Firefox, then ATTACKS the easiest-to-exploit weakness.

Russian Bombers Enter U.S. Airspace Undetected

Fully armed Russian long-range strategic bombers flew UNDETECTED into U.S. airspace during a training exercise over the Arctic Ocean recently. The U.S. military is now investigating why it was unable to see them on radar.

NYC Manholes Turned Into Coffee For Ads

Ad creep: A Gurerilla marketing campaign by the ad company Saatchi & Saatchi for Folgers has turned some New York City manholes into STEAMING CUPS OF COFFEE! (props to Coloribus Blog and Le Blog du Marketing Alternatif)

New Sun-Maid Raisin Girl Is All CGI, Does Yoga

The Sun-Maid Raisin Girl, which has adorned branding of Sun-Maid Raisin boxes for 90 YEARS, has been updated -- and even animated -- with all CGI. The original Sun Maid was some Fresno girl discovered by company executives drying her hair in the California sunshine in 1915, and hand-painted by an artist for the original logo. The new computer-generated maid does yoga on the beach wearing spandex and a turn-of-the-20th-century red bonnet. In any event, here comes the VIDEO!

42% of All Teen Girls Have Been 'Cyber Bullied'

An Australian teen magazine called "Girlfriend" surveyed their readership and found that a whopping 42 percent of the 13,300 teens surveyed had been HARASSED OR BULLIED by other teens via on-line chat rooms, IM, bulletin boards, e-mail, SMS, personal web sites or blogs.

Silent Hill Costumes, Props Selling On eBay

More proof you can buy anything online. The video-game-based movie Silent Hill opened yesterday, and already you can buy BLOODY COSTUMES AND PROPS used in the making of the film.

Google Calendar Source Code Reveals Task List

A curious fellow named Garett Rogers poked around in the Google Calendar source code and discovered apparent evidence that a TASK LIST or to-do list will be added. I want one. (props to Googling Google)

The Ultimate Chair For Gamers, Geeks Hits

An $800 plush swiveling chair from Hammacher Schlemmer features Air Force simulator technology for producing lifelike sounds and vibrations from any PC, video game console or TV that you plug into it. Loud 50-watt speakers in the headset, 300-watt amp in the chair base and a transducer that converts sound into vibration let you really FEEL THE NOISE. I want one. (props to coolest-gadgets.com)

Google Maps Error Connects Wrong Roads

An ERROR on Google Maps connects a Nebraska lane moving in one direction with the one moving in the opposite direction. Irrelevant, but cool! (props to Google Sightseeing)

8-Year-Old GTA Player Steals Teacher's Car

An 8-year-old kid in Modesto, California, swiped his teacher's keys and DROVE HER MINIVAN HOME from school. The lad's mom says he loves playing GRAND THEFT AUTO. (The teacher is lucky he didn't find the HOT COFFEE MOD...)

Purse Doesn't Let Women Forget Keys, Phone

A team of six women researchers at Canada's Simon Fraser University have invented a purse called the Ladybag that doesn't let you forget your keys, cell phone, wallet or husband. RFID tags are inserted into your "stuff," and a reader at the bottom of the purse makes sure they're all there before you leave the house. If something is missing, a pattern associated with that item LIGHTS UP on the outside of the bag.

Fake Sony Memory Sticks Hit U.S., Canada

Fake Sony Memory Sticks manufactured -- where else? -- in China have made it to the U.S. and Canada and are for sale on eBay, reportedly in large numbers. PHONY MEMORY STICKS are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing to the untrained eye, but may be difficult to insert, perform unreliably and functionally have unpredictable capacities.

Now THAT'S What I Call a Mobile Office

British designer James Mower has designed a MOBILE OFFICE that is basically a futuristic, glass-enclosed office on wheels with a trailer hitch. The office has built-in GPS, so you can tell clients where your office is -- today -- a bathroom, an elevator, broadband wireless internet connectivity and more. The whole rig telescopes down from two stories to one for travel. I want one.

Famous Blogger Busted Faking Reader Comments

Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. Times columnist MICHAEL HILTZIK was caught posing as a reader, defending his own column and attacking his own critics under a pseudonym. The Times SUSPENDED HIS BLOG.

P2P Software Leaks Japanese Prince's Itinerary

A Japanese peer-to-peer (PTP) file sharing program called WINNY installed on the PC of security contractor entrusted with protecting the Japanese royal family and others LEAKED the routes, schedules and other information about visits to Osaka by Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako. Winny has previously been blamed for other info leaks, including from the Japanese police and military.

Chinese Company Sells $146 Linux PC

A Chinese company called YellowSheepRiver has unveiled a tiny, $146 LINUX PC called the Municator, complete with a 400 mhz/800mhz Godson 2C processor, a 40-gigabyte hard drive, and 256 MB of RAM and running a Linux variant called the Thinix OS. (The whole system, with operating system, costs significantly less than a single copy of Microsoft Windows XP Pro.) The system doesn't include a monitor, but it does plug into both standard monitors and even TVs. Here comes the VIDEO!

A Hoax to End All Hoaxes

(This column appeared in today's issue of the Personal Tech Pipeline newsletter, written by Yours Truly)

I'm repeatedly amazed that I still get e-mail hoaxes, always sent earnestly by relatives who have been suckered in. Give-away hoaxes ("Bill Gates"), sympathy hoaxes ("Little Girl Dying of Leukemia"), warning hoaxes ("Stay Out of the Mall on Halloween!"), chain letters ("Hawaiian Good Luck Totem"), urban myth e-mails ("Flesh Eating Bananas") -- I'm sure you've gotten your share.

An e-mail hoax is a social engineering virus. A "regular" virus uses software code to distribute itself as widely as possible. An e-mail hoax uses YOU to do the same thing.

As awareness about e-mail hoaxes grows, their sophistication has also grown. In the beginning, e-mail hoaxes were outlandish fabrications, such as the "Bill Gates Hoax" in which you were asked to believe Microsoft's chairman was going to send you $1,000. That sort of thing doesn't work anymore, so most hoaxes contain a grain of truth or link to real web sites. Others are neither true nor untrue, but simple entreaties to some kind of action ("Boycott Major Gas Companies").

The point is not to deceive, inform or cause action, but to spread the e-mail as far and wide as possible. The people who write these things want to make their illicit mark on the world, just like virus writers and graffiti artists.

I received yet another e-mail hoax yesterday, and thought: There has to be some way to educate the public. Millions have been educated about hoax e-mails -- you almost never see technical people, for example, passing these around. The victims tend to be less computer savvy.

So how do you reach these people?

Then it hit me: E-mail chain letters! Why not write an "e-mail hoax to end all e-mail hoaxes"?

So here it is: I've written the hoax e-mail chain letter below (in the style of an e-mail chain letter -- many of the lines were copied verbatim from existing letters) as my effort to educate the public about e-mail chain letters and hoaxes. If you'd like to contribute to my effort, copy everything between the dotted lines and e-mail it to everyone you know. PASS IT ON!!! : )
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _





Subject: E-mail Alert
Importance: High

Please be aware. And pass it on if you think this will help
someone. This was passed on to me by a friend.

This is an URGENT warning for all internet users -- there is
a dangerous e-mail virus propagating across the internet.

If anyone receives an e-mail hoax, chain letter or urban myth
e-mail, please delete it WITHOUT FORWARDING IT!! If you do
forward it, the people who get it might themselves forward it,
going on and on and WASTING EVERYBODY'S TIME!!

How do you spot this malicious social engineering virus?
It's EASY!

* If you get an e-mail and you don't PERSONALLY know who wrote it; and
* The e-mail wants you to forward it to everyone you know; and
* The e-mail has lots of words in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS; and
* The e-mail contains multiple exclamation marks!!!; and
* Says "this is not a hoax"; and
* Claims the e-mail is URGENT; then...

It's an e-mail hoax or chain letter. DELETE IT!!! DON'T
FORWARD IT!!!

If you're still not sure, check out one of these web
sites:

Hoaxbusters
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

Computer Virus Myths
http://www.vmyths.com

Don't Spread That Hoax!
http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax

Common Internet And E-mail Hoaxes
http://www.3oddballz.com/hoaxes

About.com: Urban Legends and Folklore
http://urbanlegends.about.com

Hoax-Slayer
http://hoax-slayer.com

Pass this along to EVERYONE in your address book so that this
may be stopped!!

This is NOT A HOAX !!!!!!!!!




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New York Ambulances, Fire Trucks To Get GPS

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that all city fire trucks and ambulances will get GPS DEVICES by the end of the summer. Unfortunately, GPS devices tend not to receive signals near tall buildings. There aren't any tall buildings in New York, are there? Maybe they should wait until THIS TECHNOLOGY hits.

Worst USB Gadget Yet: Mouse With Thermometer

A store called Brando is selling a USB optical mouse that has CONVERGED with two other unlikely technologies. The first is a room thermometer, which is a bad idea because 1) you can't see it when you're using the mouse; and 2) your body heat will skew the reading. The second is a laser pointer, which is a bizarre thing to build into a mouse. On the plus side, it costs only $18. (props to I4U News)

Robot to Break Record, Swim Across Atlantic

A temperature- and salinity-monitoring robot will BREAK THE ROBOT SWIMMING DISTANCE RECORD if it successfully completes its 2,484 nautical mile voyage from Greenland to Spain. The robot, called Spray, is a joint project of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. Another Scripps project will have small ROBOT AIRPLANES flying in formation over the Indian Ocean to measure pollution that has drifted there from over South Asia.

Worst USB Gadget Yet: Beverage Heater, Cooler

The wheels of innovation never stop turning in Japan. A new USB gadget from a Japanese company and for sale at the Rare Mono Shop will HEAT OR COOL a beverage at the flick of a switch.