MIT geniuses have created software that recognizes simple hand-drawn sketches as what the artists intended, then applies physics and motion to the drawing.
Hewlett-Packard, long known mainly as a provider of business systems, but with a random smattering of consumer stuff like home printers, PCs and handheld calculators, is emerging as a top player in the consumer electronics space, competing head-to-head with Japanese consumer giants like Sony.
The new Nokia 3200 phone lets you design and print your own custom faceplate. The phone also sports a camera, 128x128 high-resolution color screen and MMS capability. It also has built-in flashlight and FM radio. The phone will be available in Asia, Europe and even in the Americas. The phone should be almost as popular with teenagers as it will be with printer manufacturers.
Cruel and Unusual: Hacker Ordered to Live With Parents
A 22-year-old California man charged with hacking into the New York Times network was granted bail as long as he lives with his parents. Alleged hacker Adrian Lamo is accused of gaining access to the personal information of contributors to the newspapers famous OP/ED page. He is also accused of cracking networks at Microsoft, Cingular and Yahoo.
Scientists Create Underwater Cell Phone 'Cone of Silence'
Researchers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau have invented a practical every day communications appliance: An underwater sensory deprivation cell phone. Called the Isophone, the strange contraption blocks out all sensory input so the floater, er, caller can concentrate on calls.
A new gadget from Iceberg Systems called Safe Haven combines hardware transmitters with control software loaded into a camera phone handsets to jam the camera phone when it is brought into a secure area.
A device called the Camefo Advance uses a cartridge with an internal camera and a headset with earphone and microphone to facilitate videoconferencing. It requires two similarly equipped GameBoys hooked into telephone jacks. The Camefo Advance should cost about $110.
Apple Records is sueing Apple because it's using the brand "Apple" in association with music, which it claims is a breach of the contract that allows Apple to use the brand "Apple."
If you love going to the dentist, but just can't visit every day, now you can watch a live camera of Dr. Arthur Zuckerman's dentist's chair, on his New York City DentCam.
Newsflash: You're rich! Enter your salary into the box on the Global Rich List web site, and it will tell you how your income compares with salaries around the world. You won't believe how well off you are.
When people -- especially Americans -- fret about "outsourcing" jobs, the assumption is that those jobs flow from one's own country to India, where skills are high and wages low. And, in fact, India is the number-one destination for outsourcing. Some 13 percent of respondents to a survey conducted by ITtoolbox outsource abroad. But the U.S. was the second most popular outsourcing destination, followed in order by Germany, Australia, the UK, China and Mexico.
Sharp plans to start selling next month a $2,989 laptop, called the Mebius PC-RD3D, which sports a 3-D display that does not require special glasses. The display creates the illusion of 3-D by sending slightly different images to each eye by bending each image and sending them at slightly different angles. Users can toggle between 3-D and standard modes with the press of a button. The laptop goes on sale Oct. 27 in Japan and should be released later this year in the U.S. Sharp hasn't announced plans for European sales.
Dutch chilled food and beverage enthusiast Matthijs Mourits has posted step-by-step instructions for how to convert that old $175,000 SGI Challenge DM Server into something useful: a refridgerator.
Study: Young People Feel Less Guilt Over 'Digital Shoplifting'
Young Japanese people with camera phones feel less guilty about "digital shoplifting" -- taking pictures of copyrighted material like magazines on the newsstand -- than older people, according to a survey published by Nepro Japan Co, Ltd. But 60% of the respondents say they think it's "immoral."
College Dropout Baggage Handler Invents Ultimate In-Flight Entertainment System
Alaska Airlines baggage handler Bill Boyer is making waves at the World Airline Entertainment Association's meeting in Seattle where he is displaying a prototype in-flight entertainment system. Called the digEplayer 5500, the gadget weighs 2.4-pounds, can pack up to 30 full-length movies, hours of digital music, maps, cartoons, sitcoms, language courses and travel promotions.
Hitachi Generator Makes Electricity From the 'Tiny Vibrations of Buildings'
Hitachi Ltd has invented a generator that can convert the normal, tiny vibrations of buildings caused by wind, air conditioning equipment and elevators into useful electricity. The company announced the new technology in Seoul at the International Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design (ISLPED). Prototype generators were able to produce 0.12 microwatts of electricity from vibrations of a few micrometers of amplitude. Hitachi plans to add sensors and wireless transceivers to future generators and put it all on a chip for sale to companies that can use it to power embedded computers and other devices.
Newsflash: Bad Wireless Service Drives Customers Into Arms of Competitors
Mobile phone users who are dissatisfied with their carriers' lousy service are almost four times as likely to switch carriers. About one third who said they waited on hold for 20 minutes or more when calling for customer service say they will definitely or probably switch providers. Wireless support is generally terrible, despite the fact that it costs between $400 and $425 for the carriers to acquire each new customer.
Gartner: Linux On Desktop Not Cost-Effective Alternative to Windows
A new Gartner report says Linux is not a cost-effective alternative for most enterprieses because it may end up having a higher total cost of ownership (TCO). The difference in TCO between Windows and Linux depends on which version of Windows is being considered, according to the report.
Professor Derek Lovley and postdoctoral researcher Swades Chaudhuri, both based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, plan to publish a paper in Nature Biotechnology showing that cell phones could be powered by sugar cubes. I told you more than three years ago about similar research being conducted by University of Hong Kong chemical engineer Chan Kwong-yue ("Isn't That Sweet?" Mike's List 3).
Plusdeck is a cassette tape deck for your PC. I'm not kidding. You can use it to record PC sounds to tape, including MP3 files. Honestly, I didn't see this one coming.
Peter Hill, founder of the robotic software firm Kadence, has created a way to program robots based on gender stereotypes and "female" attributes like cooperation and multitasking. He has built three "female" robots with bimbo names -- Michelle, Romy and Goldie. He hopes to one day kill all the women in a small town and replace them with replicants.
"I'm sure that Apple would deny this request," he wrote in an e-mail granting permission for computer technician Vince Briel to build and sell $200 Apple I replicas.
The new Nokia 3200 phone lets you 
Researchers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau have invented a practical every day communications appliance: An 
A device called the 
Sharp plans to start selling next month a $2,989 laptop, called the Mebius PC-RD3D, which sports a 3-D display that 
Alaska Airlines baggage handler Bill Boyer is making waves at the World Airline Entertainment Association's meeting in Seattle where he is displaying a prototype in-flight entertainment system. Called the 
