] here%u2019s a guide for making an antenna for your access
] point that beats the pringles can on a number of fronts.
] it%u2019s easier to assemble, requires no pigtail and no
] modification to your ap, and it is claimed to have better
] perfrmance characteristics.

a better wifi antenna - hack a day - www.hackaday.com

] Desperate for a canine high, dogs have been seen licking
] the backs of cane toads for a poison secreted from
] glands.

SBS - The World News

] A wife who installed spyware on her husband's computer to
] secretly record evidence of an extramarital affair
] violated state law, a Florida court ruled Friday.

Court: Wife broke law with spyware | CNET News.com

] With the advent of VoIP services, a whole-new realm of
] communication possibilites have become available to the
] average High-Speed Internet consumer. Most importantly,
] the ability to have unlimited long distance minutes from
] your home phone! So the question is... I've got a mobile
] phone, why can't I have unlimited mobile minutes just
] like my VoIP package?

I've been thinking along this space, but nothing this direct and clever. I am almost actually in the position to act on this, even, as I was going to get a new phone and could leave this one active.

Taking Advantage Of Technology - Unlimited Anytime Minutes

] The fear: After watching the early development of the
] iPod accessory ecosystem, Apple will crash the party and
] make it harder for little companies like Speck to make a
] go of it. Apple has a reputation for trying to control as
] much of the "user experience" as it can -- especially
] when big profits on accessories could ease Apple's recent
] move into low-cost hardware markets, where both prices
] and profits are lower.
]
] Fear not, iPod accessory makers. Rather than aggressively
] expanding into iPod accessories, Apple's plan appears to
] be: keep the party going for its many partners. Besides
] the iPod shuffle sports case, it has no plans for a
] broader product rollout, says Executive Vice-President
] Phil Schiller.

There are many markets that pop up and down on the whims of consumer branding. This is the start of an interesting case study, I think.

iPod Add-Ons: The Craze That Lasts

] Authentify|Register delivers a practical solution to a
] difficult business problem: verifying the identity of a
] Web user. Authentify's powerful solution enables
] organizations to perform real-time, two-factor user
] authentication during an Internet session via a standard
] Web browser and telephone line. By placing an automated,
] outbound telephone call to an end user during an Internet
] session, organizations are able to unlock the power of
] the Internet by leveraging the reach and trust of the
] world's most widely deployed infrastructure, the
] telephone network. Authentify will greatly reduce the
] risk of fraud in online transactions, without sacrificing
] the reach or immediacy of the Internet.

Heard about this in an RSA Conf roundup. Interesting concept -- linked back to the BBS days of the SysOp making an inbound call back. The idea is that for doing something "weird" in an ecommerce transaction, the system can verify the user's identity or at least produce an audit log.

Obvious questions of how well this handles synthesized voices (Sneakers) and particularly VoIP. But both of those attacks require a great deal more personal attention to perform a more sophisticated attack, and so this is probably a good service for mass-market ecommerce applications.

Authentify | Solutions

] The RipGuard technology would defeat the most popular of
] the ripping programs, Macrovision's Gervin said, by
] tinkering with the format of DVDs to make it impossible
] to extract data quickly from the discs. The technique
] confounds ripping programs without damaging computers,
] preventing the discs from playing or reducing picture
] quality, he said.

I have just read about 10 articles on the technology, and this is the only clue that seems to point to what it does.

What's funny is their claim about 97% of software that pirates presently use. And about increasing the complexity of ripping a disc beyond the casual user. It is a funny thing about software. If 97% of the ripping software becomes unusable, I expect nearly 97% of the software will be updated shortly to use the techniques of the 3%. And all those hoops? Automated and abstracted away. Because people want to copy DVDs at the push of a button. Already the process of copying a DVD is way too complex for the average user.

New Steps to Protect DVDs in Piracy War

] BBC News: One in 10 adult Americans - equivalent to 22
] million people - owns an MP3 player, according to the Pew
] Internet and American Life Project.
]
] [...] MP3 players are still the gadget of choice for
] younger adults. Almost one in five US citizens aged under
] 30 have one. [...] People are beginning to use them as
] instruments of social activity - sharing songs and taking
] part in podcasting - the [Pew] survey found.

Yet More Signs For Podcasting Growth

] There can't be any doubt about it - this represents the
] start-up phase of business podcasting, both in producing
] and delivering podcasts as well as being associated with
] podcasts as sponsors. There is at least one example of
] focused business podcasting - Christopher's company,
] Cerado, announced a week ago that it will start
] delivering podcasts to customers as part of the company's
] business offering, claiming to be the first to do so.
] Paul Chaney at Radiant Marketing is getting into
] podcasting. Then there was news last Friday that Volvo is
] sponsoring the first podcast from Autoblog.

NevOn: Business podcasting is taking off

] "We've looked hard at the nature of this problem, and
] made a decision that this anti-spyware capability will
] become something that's available at no additional charge
] for Windows users%u2014both the blocking capability, and
] the scanning and removal capabilities. Those are features
] we think should be available to protect every system,"
] Gates said

On the one hand -- yet another case of Microsoft being able to buy out and damage an industry by giving its stuff away.

On the other hand -- that there is such an industry is a result of Microsoft issues, and it doesn't seem out of line that they should be a responsible party to provide fixes. And it would be ethically more confused if they were making a profit with one product designed to reduce the flaws of another profitable product.

It is a bit like a car manufacturer's aftermarket parts division, except that you need to buy some of the parts to make your new car street legal.

Gates: Consumer Anti-Spyware Tool Will Be Free