Wired News
October 15, 2008
17:00
A recent usability study conducted by Yahoo suggests that OpenID is too confusing for mainstream adoption. A group of nine female internet users were left perplexed when asked to log in to a non-Yahoo website using their Yahoo-issued OpenID.
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16:06
Discovery Channel's new science show challenges a team of geeks to harness technology to solve a problem in a unique way. First up: using mind-control headsets to sideline angry drivers.
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15:15
The Recording Industry Association of America is appealing the Jammie Thomas file sharing trial, in which a judge last month overturned a $222,000 judgment a federal jury ordered a Minnesota woman to pay for making 24 songs available on her Kazaa file sharing folder.
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14:31
Combining Japanese-style role-playing craziness with board-game-inspired action, the new videogame strikes a fantastic balance for group gameplay. (The single-player mode is totally entertaining, too.)
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14:00
Are your pages invisible? They may not be to you, but they could be to search engines if you haven't published a proper sitemap. A sitemap is a simple document that tells search engines where to find your content, which of your pages are more important than others, and how often to check back for new content. They're easy to create using free tools, so get started today.
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13:40
By connecting a single neuron to an external machine, scientists help a temporarily paralyzed monkey regain partial use of its hand. The machine bypasses the area that was blocking brain signals and connects the brain directly to the arm muscles.
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13:25
The DMCA, which John McCain supported, doesn't let YouTube consider fair-use rights before taking down a campaign video with potentially infringing content, the site's top lawyer tells the McCain campaign.
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13:00
The first beta release of the next Firefox browser has several improvements over its predecessor, including faster JavaScript performance, better searches within the "awesome bar" and support for bleeding-edge web standards. But it's not quite fully baked just yet.
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10:50
The FCC is pushing a major overhaul of the fee structure used by phone companies when connecting each others calls, raising fears that the telcos will pass additional costs along to customers, causing a jump in their monthly bills.
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07:31
There's been a spate of netbooks hacked lately to run OS X but none have been quite as stately as the Lenovo S10. Our recent top pick in the netbook category has been hacked to run our favorite OS. Looks like we don't have to wait around until Steve Jobs sees the light and makes a a sub-$500 lappie.
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06:00
At long last, we will be freed from the bondage of gridlock to zip effortlessly along a rail in the sky.
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00:00
Poverty isn't a problem you can solve overnight. There are solutions to help fight the causes of poverty and provide help to those suffering from it. All you need is a web connection and a healthy dose of good will.
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00:00
It's no secret that Apple's computers cost more than PCs with similar specs. But Apple's disclosure of its sales figures and estimated market share at a press event Tuesday raises new questions about exactly how much money the company is making off each new Mac purchase.
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00:00
Wild Horses The definition of supercar varies widely, but three elements remain constant: speed in the neighborhood of 200 mph, cornering like the light cycles in Tron, and the ability to attract a parade of local law enforcement. You should buy a couple.
1 // Ferrari F430
$186,925, ferrariusa.com
While there really is no such thing as an entry-level car from the famed scuderia, Ferrari's bottom-of-the-line F430 is a great choice for hedge-fund jockeys itching to blow their first bonus. Its remarkable balance makes even nervous novices feel like experienced racers, but if you should accelerate beyond your pay grade and find yourself sideways, the F430 snaps back into line when you blip the throttle.
Wired: One of the best-handling cars ever made. Slick-shifting clutchless automated manual transmission (optional) saves you from stalling out in front of your date. Sweet exhaust note will quickly become your favorite song but isn't loud enough to necessitate cockpit yelling.
Tired: A measly 4 mph shy of joining the 200 club.
Tricked-Out Treats
Time to cut the begging and go 21st century on your confection-acquisition with some performance-enhancing Halloween gear.—Rick Broida
ATN Night Scout Night-vision specs will help you find the Smarties at the bottom of your stash—and complete your Rainbow Six costume.
$649, atncorp.com
Skorpion Multi Terrain Skates Strap these on and glide effortlessly over...
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00:00
Put down that money order and step away from the Internet, sir. You could blow your kid's college fund on computer security doodads: biometric password protectors, remotely erasable hard drives, GPS tracking — every day, there's some new and irresistible offering for the paranoid. But what do you really need to protect your computer? Less than you think.
The gospel is familiar: An antivirus program paired with anti-spyware/malware measures will shield your PC from just about anything. In fact, the marketing of those products is so good that security apps are about the only software people still expect to pay for. But the best stuff doesn't cost a dime. Programs like AVG and Ad-Aware are free, and they won't hit you up for upgrades like the big security suites.
Those guardians are fine for Grandma's Gateway, but the truly savvy eschew them altogether. Even the most well-meaning program bogs down your box. And it's not hard to dodge infection; just abide by the basic tenets of Internet common sense: Don't click on mysterious email attachments, don't bother with the free pr0n, Ch3@p Vi@gr@, and Nigerian millions, and never open .exe files. Email is still one of the biggest infection vectors, so be cautious and use a good webmail service like Gmail, which automatically scans your messages. Don't leave your computer online when you're not on it. Beware of anything that immediately asks for personal information. Don't reuse passwords.
On the meatspace side, secure...
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October 14, 2008
21:00
1900: Boston's Symphony Hall, an acoustical marvel in its day and still regarded as one of the world's great concert halls, opens with an inaugural concert by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Unlike most American concert halls, which tend to favor a wider, fan-shaped configuration, Symphony Hall was built along European lines — deep, narrow and high. The architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White modeled the Boston hall after Leipzig's Gewandhaus (which was destroyed during World War II).
But the architects also did something unprecedented: They hired Wallace Clement Sabine, a young assistant physics professor from nearby Harvard, to act as acoustical consultant. For the first time ever, scientifically proven acoustical principles were applied to concert-hall design. On the basis of Sabine's work, the hall was built using brick, steel and plaster, with wooden flooring the only soft material used.
The side balconies are narrow to avoid trapping sound, and — to help focus it — the stage walls are banked inward. The architects also carved niches into the walls and topped the hall with a coffered ceiling, which, in acoustical terms, guarantees nearly every seat the optimum aural experience.
One interesting quirk: While the proscenium arch is ringed with a number of plaques, only one is inscribed. The intention was to inscribe each plaque with the name of a great composer, but in the end only Beethoven was deemed worthy enough by the directors to be so...
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19:12
President Bush signs legislation Monday creating a copyright czar, a cabinet-level position on par with the U.S. drug czar. Here's your chance to nominate who you think should assume the newly created post.
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18:45
The first beta release of the Firefox 3.1 browser was made available to testers and early adopters on Tuesday. This release includes substantial performance improvements and better web standards support. The final browser is due early 2009.
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17:34
Gotham Chopra's new imprint mines an ancient Sanskrit text, re-imagining the Ramayana for a colorful comic that could become a 21st-century movie.
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17:30
We feel the need ... the need for speed. Your internet may be chugging along fine, but armed with a few networking shortcuts, your browser can roar. It doesn't matter what network connection you're using, there are a few tweaks you can use to streamline your uploads and downloads. Soon enough, you'll be leaving tire tracks on the information superhighway.
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