- Your rechargeable batteries may come with a free Trojan horse virus.
The battery maker said it does not know how the Trojan got into the software. 'Energizer has discontinued sale of this product and has removed the site to download the software,' the statement said.
- Turns out that Microsoft has a secret phone waiting for use with Verizon's network.
The phone is dubbed as 'Project Pink' (but may just end up being called 'Pink') and runs the brand new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. Verizon is most likely the exclusive carrier.
- Facebook's recently awarded news-feed patent could spell trouble for other social sites.
Twitter is effectively one giant news feed, to the extent that it clearly has influenced some of the changes that Facebook made to its own feed technology. That reaction could be alarmist. And yet prominent figures elsewhere in the social-media world don't seem thrilled.
- Apple holding countdown contest for ten billionth iTunes song download.
The winner of the countdown--the person that downloads the 10 billionth song--will win a $10,000 gift card. You can download any song from iTunes and be eligible for the prize, the company said.
- PETA calls for replacement of Punxsutawney Phil in favor of animatronic version.
According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter weather will follow. If he doesn't, expect an early spring. But PETA has had enough of the tradition that dates back to 1886, and believes robotic technology could be the solution.
- FAA would like to make sure that next generation 747 is hack-proof.
Essentially, the FAA seemed worried that the 747-8 will be vulnerable to outside access and that the 'applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features,' mandating the issuing of the special conditions.
- Facebook to team up with McAfee for beefed up security operations.
Become a fan of McAfee on Facebook and get ten percent off your next anti-virus subscription. To qualify you'll need to purchase McAfee's Internet Security Anti-virus Privacy System Protection Suite. Enjoy.
- Verizon would like you to know they think slate computers will be all the rage in 2010.
Gee, this wouldn't have anything to do with a certain company coming out with a certain product that may or may not be tablet-related does it? Maybe this is a clue that Verizon will have something to do with the impending iSlate? Maybe it's just wishful thinking.
- Google reveals URL shortening service for some of their products.
Google said that it may eventually roll out the service as a standalone site, but that for now it's being built into Google products. Such a feature would likely allow third party sites to build Goo.gl link shortening into their own products.
- CNET profiles the most annoying things the Interwebs brought us this decade.
Dancing babies, blinking text, annoying ads, cheesy fan fiction, rickrolling - these are just a few the annoyances covered in this post. Play them off, keyboard cat.
- Hubble manages to capture images of some of the oldest galaxies ever seen.
NASA said that not only are those the oldest galaxies ever seen, but the data that can be extracted from the image will provide 'insights into how galaxies grew in their formative years early in the universe's history.'
- Always wondered just how heavy the entire Internet would actually be?
The answer? About 498,438,559,990kgs according to CNET's UK site which would be about 1,098,868,920,000 pounds or roughly 549,434,460 short tons. That's heavy stuff, Doc.
- AOL trying out new look now that split from Time Warner is official.
Say goodbye to the that blue triangle you've grown so familiar with over the years. Say hello to various works of clipart instead... with the letters A O L (and don't forget the period) draped over them.
- Turns out that Verizon's CEO is not a big fan of net neutrality.
He argued that imposing stricter regulations would pit network providers against application providers in a way that would ruin the Internet's potential for economic growth and societal change.
- Twitter would like you to know that over five billion tweets have been served.
It's sort of fitting that Twitter's 5 billionth tweet came not from one of the celebrities or marketers who have flooded the service in recent months, but from one of the quirky Bay Area dot-com nerds who formed its first loyal pack of users.
- New study shows that Windows 7 doesn't boot up faster than Vista.
...a three-month-old machine can take up to a minute longer to boot, or 2 minutes and 34 seconds. Windows 7 did outperform Vista at the three-month and six-month marks but it generally 'trailed the older version significantly' in its boot-up tests.
- Five Zune HD features that Apple should appropriate in the near future.
CNET makes some great observations on a few key features that the new Zune actually does pretty well. It would be nice to have wireless syncing for my beloved Apple-branded devices.
- You may notice some additional links on results when searching Google now.
A neat little Google addition for Monday morning. So far it seems limited to a couple of subjects (example in this case is a search for nuclear fission). If you're a developer you can add code to identify the sections you want linked up.
- Twitter may not be able to trademark the term 'tweet'.
Turns out that there are already three companies with pending applications for that particular term, all filed before Twitter's formal application. Oh noes.
- CNET would like you to know why consumers won't be buying tablet computers.
While a tablet may be great for browsing the Web and viewing media, it's too big to replace a phone and too limited to carry around as a work computer. People will need their keyboarded Netbooks and notebooks for real work.













































































































