] "The objective of this technology is to bring an ID
] system to a global level that will destroy the need to
] carry ID documents and credit cards," Chase said.
]
] During a recent American radio interview, Chase said the
] CEO of VeriChip, Dr. Keith Bolton, had told him that the
] company's goal was to market the VeriChip as a global
] implantable identification system.

This doesn't appear to be a hoax.

Don't these people understand how easy it is to break the security of this?

[ Dude, no way, it's totally secure. Just like the touchscreen voting machines. Your concerns are completely unwarranted... it's all under control. Why do you have to be such a fear-monger, huh? You wouldn't happen to hate America, would you?

Yeah, implants will be totally secure... no one will ever find a way to extract one. Also, lets tie, say, *everything* to that one chip, and link up all the databases, Credit, Medical, etc. because secrecy is for terrorists... -k]

WorldNetDaily: Paying for drinks with wave of the hand

] To use the music recognition service, users dial a
] three-digit code, then must hold their mobile phone for
] about 15 seconds near a speaker playing the tune that
] they want to identify. Moments later, the service sends a
] text message to the users' mobile phone indicating the
] title of the song and the name of the recording artist.

Interesting. But how extensive could the database be? And is this really worth $.99?

[ Very interesting. You may all know that the Neuros audio player (an mp3/etc. player with some pretty advanced features) had a similar function, which would record a snippet of audio like that, and then, later, when connected to your computer and a network, ID the audio over the web and tell you what it was.

This seems to cut to the chase, though it seems pricey... 25 cent might be more realistic. Also, I think it's gonna become less relevant as satelite radio increases in popularity... which I think will occur.

Maybe though... I'm sure if i had it, i'd use it from time to time. Of course, usually I don't know i need an ID until after the song is over and the jackass DJ fails to inform me of anything he just played. -k]

Yahoo! News - AT&T Wireless Launches Music Service

"The days of dull, grey concrete could be about to end. A Hungarian architect has combined the world’s most popular building material with optical fiber from Schott to create a new type of concrete that transmits light."

[ That's fricking awesome. -k]

It's like X-ray specs.....but not

] Microsoft is expected to unveil copy-protection software
] this summer that will for the first time give portable
] digital music players access to tunes rented via
] all-you-can-eat subscription services--a development that
] some industry executives believe will shake up the online
] music business.

[ I continue to not understand the desire to rent music. I know it's really no different from renting movies -- saying "I want to experience this, but not own it forever." I find it impossible to put my mind into that mode as pertains to music, but it's becoming ever more obvious that a huge number of people do feel that way. They simply want access to whatever's popular right now, and whatever's going to be popular six months from now, when the current flavor is old and tired. It's only a problem for me because the majority generally wins when it comes to business models, and the subscription model is what the music industry prefers... They want ongoing, sustained revenue without having to concern themselves with the variability of product quality. And of course, they want to make sure that you can experience their product only in a few prescribed ways.

Certainly I fear that Microsoft's dominance of the OS market will allow it to decimate the competition, which i don't think helps anyone. Well, I take that back... it helps Microsoft, and the big labels.

Also, does anyone else find it sorta creepy that the software is called Janus? -k]

Microsoft's iPod killer? | CNET News.com

] When ATMs go bad by Carla Geisser

CMU students managed to crash an ATM on campus to the XP desktop. Fantastic.

[ Yes, ATM's should run on the world's least secure platform. Good call. -k]

photo sharing system

] Google has been testing a new look with a small percent
] of visitors. I wrote a bookmarklet that lets you make
] Google show you the new look:

[ The look is ok. Nothing revolutionary, but it's cleaner. I'm interested to know if there are backend improvements to go along with the new look.

I'm not gonna be satisfied until the computer knows what i want to look at based on correlating its semantic map with whatever i'm working on. If I happen to be reading a document about global warming affecting coastal sea bird populations, i want the computer to know that and be looking for related information before i ask it, so when i do ask for more, it's right there, sorted by subtopics at multiple levels, coded for relevance and preferably with a prefetched version of the resources already stored locally. -k]

Jesse Ruderman: Experience Google's new look

] A robot for "printing" houses is to be trialled by the
] construction industry. It takes instructions directly
] from an architect's computerised drawings and then
] squirts successive layers of concrete on top of one other
] to build up vertical walls and domed roofs.

[ science is cool. i wonder if this is a boon for the art of architecture though... i guess it could make certain complex objects easier to produce, which is probably good. -k]

New Scientist -- Robot Builder could 'print' houses

No, officers, we're computer scientists and engineers.

Be sure to check out the photos and video.

Robot Race Is Giant Step for Unmanned Kind

] The latest anti-piracy move will prevent you from making
] high-quality copies of broadcast TV programs. And the new
] "broadcast flag" technology enables all manner of other
] restrictions.

[ MIT|Technology Review goes into depth on the evil broadcast flag. Honestly, i'm about this close to cancelling my cable anyway. I'd miss Good Eats, and Scrubs, and i guess i'd have to go to ESPN Zone more during football season, but TV's getting to be not worth the expense. That being said, Simson's cautions are reasonable -- it's hard to forsee the eventual effects of seemingly little things. -k]

Losing Control of Your TV

[ I still have a problem with hydrogen because there's still no efficient way to make it. Solar panels are nice, but have a high energy cost as well, wind is cool if you live in the plains, but not much use elsewhere, and plugging your hydrogen generator into the wall is not at all efficient either, last i checked. Until we can get hydrogen from a catalytic reaction that doesn't require a shitload of added energy, it's just not that great an idea.

(i put the quote below in here just because it's funny...) -k]

] If you choose to store the Hydrogen as a compressed
] gas, you'll need HUGE tanks, and many of them, since
] Hydrogen isn't very dense, so a tank really can't hold
] all that much. In addition, you'll be driving a giant
] bomb. In a collision, expect to die in a huge
] fireball/explosion.

Hydrogen Fuel Systems