Forces from the Dark Side have illegally taped a marketing presentation featuring a two and a half minute segment of Start Wars Episode III, which included light-saber fights between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and posted it on the net. I can feel its presence.
Cell Phone Towers Confusing Pigeon Navigation, Officials Propose They Use GPS
Auntie reports that pigeons are increasingly confused by cell phones. But who isn't these days? In particular, radiation spewing forth from the growing numbers of mobile phone towers is playing havoc with their bird-brain navigation systems. Officials from the Royal Pigeon Racing Association (folks, I'm not making this up -- there really is a Royal Pigeon Racing Association in the UK) suggest that lashing GPS devices to the birds could help researchers study the problem. Perhaps the European Union will investigate this blatently anticompetitive move by cell phone companies, which clearly seek to unfairly reduce competition from the message-by-carrier pigeon industry.
A Japanese company is selling a mini-vacuum for keyboards that plugs into, and gets its power from, your PC's USB port. Your computer practically cleans itself!
The Register says Google will soon unveil its "Friendster clone" site, called Orkut. The social networking site will help geeks (who don't have a life because they spend all their time surfing the web on Google) meet people without having to actually meet them. The Silicon Valley Circle of Life is complete.
Microsoft Evangelist Appears At LinuxWorld Wearing Flak Jacket
Microsoft spokesman Martin Taylor conducted a Q&A session at LinuxWorld wearing a flak jacket as a joke. After being heckled, he removed it and answered questions, according to Microsoft Watch.
Nigeria to Tackle E-Mail that Made the Country Famous
Greetings! My name is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria. I have been told by a confidential source that you can help me free $25 Million (US) dollars held in a secured bank account controlled by rebel forces. Just kidding. It's me: Mike. Tired of being teased and taunted at international gatherings -- and by flip American technology humorists -- Nigeria is trying to crack down on "Nigerian e-mail scams."
TV Wristwatch Looks Like, Well, a TV Lashed to Your Wrist
NHJ Ltd introduced a hot gadget for couch potatoes on the go -- a wristwatch-type, liquid-crystal television. It's not just a tiny TV. It's also a GIANT WATCH. Like all good things, the NHJ TV Watch will be released in Japan only in April. Oddly, the TV is color, but the watch is black-and-white. You can watch just two hours of TV before the battery dies.
The elegantly named Korean D Cube NHD-150D isn't anything like the Apple iPod. No, sir. Nothing at all. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. "What?" said a company spokesman with a questioning shrug when asked about ridiculous accusations of trademark and design theft.
NEC says it has licensed TransDimension's USB On-The-Go wireless technology in order to build working USB 2.0 jacks into NEC mobile phones. The On-The-Go technology is designed to enable you to plug USB peripherals like your new USB-powered humidifier into your cell phone -- or to plug in two USB devices -- say, a duck-shaped USB memory device and Santa Clause mouse -- to drag-and-drop phone numbers into storage, all without a PC. Imagine!
A new gadget called Person-to-Person Household Telephone Manager lets you screen, track, route, silence or block up to four landline home phones. A "parental control" feature enables dictatorial dads and micromanaging moms to schedule times when calls won't go to junior's phone. Calls can be routed to specific phones on the fly. A "silent mode" sends all calls quietly to the answering machine.
* Some 60% of respondents to a Responsys survey of "marketing decision-makers" say spam, e-mail filters and inbox clutter are the biggest challenges they face in their e-mail marketing efforts. eMarketer article
* Online retail sales will reach $65 billion in 2004, a 24% increase over 2003, predicts Jupiter research. Jupiter press release
The successor to the amazing Treo 600 PalmOS PDA phone may ship March 1 according to reports. The phone will be exactly like the Treo 600, with the addition of built-in Bluetooth support, a higher resolution screen and more RAM. The 610 should ship March 1.
New 1.3 Megapixel Camera Phone for U.S. Market Runs Microsoft Smartphone
ICT Technologies, Inc. and EurophoneUSA, Inc., announced the EG 4000 1.3-mega-pixel camera phone, which has a built-in flash. The phone runs the Microsoft Smartphone operating system.
Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Gator
...But were afraid to click "Yes." My friends over at PC Pitstop have put together a concise informational guide that tells you how to deal with the "drive-by downloads" committed by the company formerly known as Gator and now called Claria (the software tracks your web surfing and launches pop-up ads based on what site you're at). The site was so truthful, clear and useful that Gator sued PC Pitstop, though that lawsuit has now been resolved. The site includes the results of a user survey conducted by PC Pitstop about how aware victims, er, users of Gator are about how the software was installed on their computers; free or low-cost alternatives to Gator applications; step-by-step instructions for removing Gator; info on how to recognize Gator's software and confusing ads; a link for complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission; and other Gator survival tools.
Digital Paper Acheives Same Contrast, 1,000 Times the Price of Real Paper
The geniuses at Fujitsu Laboratories have created technology for electronic paper that they say equals the quality of real paper. They're hoping to have products on the market based on the techology by 2006.
A 26-year-old virus writer named Dan Dumitru Ciobanu, who is accused of creating the MSBlast worm last year, faces a possible sentence of 15 years in a Romanian jail if convicted this week.
Microsoft In Domain Name Battle With Canadian Teenager
The Mighty Microsoft Corporation is fighting Canadian teenager Mike Rowe over the registration of his domain name MikeRoweSoft.com. The company has demanded that Mike turn his domain name over to Microsoft. He's offered to do so for $10,000.
Scenes From Star Wars III Leaked On Net
PC Not Slow Enough? Use Your PDA as a Desktop
NHJ Ltd introduced a hot gadget for couch potatoes on the go -- a wristwatch-type, liquid-crystal television. It's not just a tiny TV. It's also a 
Sweet Cell Phone In Time for Valentine's Day
ICT Technologies, Inc. and EurophoneUSA, Inc., announced the EG 4000 
The geniuses at Fujitsu Laboratories have created technology for 
