An unsupportable test showed what we newsletter publishers already know: that AOL blocks almost all e-mail newsletters coming into the system. It would be a trivially easy thing to set up filters that would allow newsletters, but I guess AOL doesn't want content competition.
Inventor Elaine Futrell has created a gadget that forces drivers to jump through a series of reflex hoops before their car will start, based on the idea that drunk people wouldn't be able to do it. Called the DUI Gauntlet, the microprocessor-based "test" asks drivers to perform a series of tasks in the correct order immediately after entering their key (for example, they must push the brake pedal, then turn on and off the turn signal, followed by putting the car in reverse, etc.). If the driver can't complete the test in three tries, the car won't operate for four hours and the failed attempts are communicated to the person's probation officer.
Bloated Inventor Creates 'Skinner Box' that Rewards For Exercise
Inventor Alex Terrazas and Edmond Ducommun have created what they call the Wireless Walden system, which tracks how much exercise you do and gives you "points" which allow a certain amount of TV time. A basketball contains a sensor and a wireless chip that tracks dribbling. If you play basketball for 20 minutes, the ball tells the TV to allow you to watch for 30 minutes. If you want to watch more, you'll have to exercise more. A stair machine has a similar contraption. So far Terrazas has lost 40 pounds.
Remote-Control Lawn Mower Takes the 'Work' Out of 'Yard Work'
A new lawnmower from Evatech is an all-terrain, gas/electric hybrid remote-control toy for people who hate mowing the lawn. The mower, called the RCLM2004S, has a built-in gyroscope for better control. Herearefourvideos. Wheeee! (Watch out for the neighbor's dog!)
IRS Taxpayer Info Database Disaster: Late and Over Budget
The development of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Customer Account Data Engine system and the Integrated Financial System, which is designed to store taxpayer information and improve IRS efficiency, is a disaster, according to reports. The project is 30 months overdue and almost $37 million over budget, according to a General Accounting Office report. IRS Commissioner Mark Everson sent a letter yesterday to the contractor, California-based Computer Sciences Corporation, threatening to open the project up to other companies.
Oscar Night 'Goody Bag' to Include Motorola V600 Phone
Oscar winners and presenters are given "goody bags" full of expensive stuff, which always includes electronic gadgets. The first gadget to be goody bagged thus far is a Motorola V600camera phone.
Yale senior Matt Morello created Yale Record Exchange (YRX) to replace Kazaa. YRX lists members' songs, enabling people to swap music -- on CD. People with like tastes can meet in Real Life and swap songs they have burned onto CD. A student at Harvard says Yale's system is illegal.
Stuck In Automated Phone Hell? New Software Feels Your Pain
New automated-phone software created by Shrikanth Narayanan, professor in the Speech Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory at the University of Southern California, facilitates the whole process of "press one for sales, two for technical support, three for...," etc., and will actually transfer you directly to an operator if it hears you cussing like a sailor. It also detects the stress in your voice and will transfer you directly if it senses frustration.
Daniel Parisi, who purchased the domain whitehouse.com and turned it into a porn site in 1997 that is worried that his son's classmates might harrass the boy about his dad's business, and so plans to sell the domain. Millions of school children looking for the President's web site, whitehouse.gov, have discovered pornography for on Parisi's web site over the years.
The Molecular Expressions web site is reporting that these tiny "Marvin the Martian" cartoons were microscopically etched onto the Opportunity and Spirit digital camera CCDs by chip designer Mark Wadsworth.
Badmouthing people online is becoming increasingly central for both business and political strategists. Techno rocker Moby is advising Democrats that they should spread gossip online about President Bush in the run-up to the election, telling Sentator John Kerry supporters that it's cheap, easy and effective. Scott Erickson, associate professor of marketing at Ithaca College in New York, has conducted extensive research on "cybersmearing" and helps companies strategize on combating its effects.
While political figures and the media pretend to be shocked about Janet Jackson's breast-related publicity stunt at the Super Bowl halftime show -- and Jackson herself pretends to be sorry -- the public relations community stands in awe over the brilliance of it all. Though the stunt is fueling the flames of a decency-in-TV movement, PR people are impressed because she got the whole world talking about her "brand" and shattered Internet-search records. The flashing of Jackson's naked breast during prime time in front of 8 million children "raises the bar for all of us," said one PR executive. "It is the ultimate stunt. I don't see any downside for her. It fits perfectly with the new CD that's about sex," said another. One publicist said: "Boobs conquer everything from the networks to the media to corporate America."
Government Agency Exposes Private Info on Children
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services is investigating the public posting of detailed personal data -- including names, birthdays, and daily whereabouts -- of hundreds of upstate New York children. The error is being blamed on the outsourcing of software development for the database. The good news is that Michael Jackson doesn't have a computer right now.
In an apparent effort to stop losing government customers around the world to low-cost Linux, Microsoft has reportedly created an "entry-level," stripped down version of Windows XP for use by the Thai government and -- here's what's new -- plans to roll out similar programs in other countries. The Thai version will also be spicier than the normally bland Windows XP.
The Mac-Gray Corporation introduced a service for college students called LaundryView, which enables students to monitor the status of the washers and dryers in their campus laundry rooms from any web browser. In addition to presenting up-to-the-minute information about the laundry machines, it enables students to be notified of changes through alerts to their computers or cell phones. From their computers, students can minimize their porn sites and pause illegal music downloads to see if the laundry room is busy, and can ask to be notified when machines become available. Once a student has started a machine, they can ask LaundryView to remind them when the machine completes its cycle. The system is currently in operation at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.
Japanese researchers broke the world speed record of 311 kilometers per hour (by going 315 kph, which is nearly 196 mph). Formula One driver Ukyo Katayama drove the Eliica, which has eight wheels and lithium battery-powered motors, at a track in Kuroiso north of Tokyo. The car was developed by a research team led by Hiroshi Shimizu, engineering professor at the prestigious Keio University and funded by a bunch of companies.
Drudge is reporting that FCC Chairman Michael Powell considered "license revocation" hearing for Viacom, which is the parent company of CBS, of the Janet Jackson boobie-flash publicity stunt during the Super Bowl halftime.
Web Based GPS-Coded Picture Tech May Become Part of Windows
ExtremeTech is reporting that technology and functionality from Microsoft's World-Wide Media eXchange (WWMX) project, which enables people to take a picture and have it uploaded to a site accessible by clicking on the point on a map where the picture was taken, may be built into the next version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn." Why this is a good thing, I have no idea.
A few news sites are reporting on the existence of the "AK-MP3," a music player built into the ammunition clip of a Kalashnikov rifle. I first told you about this wacky gadget in November of 2002 in Mike's List 50. Subscribe to the FREE Mike's List newsletter, and you'll be first to hear about "killer" gadgets like this.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) -- the organization behind the Grammys -- is launching a TV and radio ad campaign against music piracy (a.k.a. downloading MP3 files from the Internet), starting tonight at the Grammys. The TV spot will try to get viewers to visit a web site ( here's a sneek peek: www.whatsthedownload.com ) featuring millionaire celebrities whining about how downloading songs can reduce their income and that fans should buy from an approved list of legal music sites. The site even features a message board.
Unanticipated Convergence: Mobile Phone Pen Reads and Writes
Siemens plans to roll out at CeBit this year a ball-point pen that's also a full-featured smart phone. The tri-band PenPhone can be used to write on paper, but it can also read what you write, digitizing your scribbles, which can then be sent as text messages.
AIBO robot dogs are being retrofitted with wheels and re-programmed in secret labs at Yale University to have a "social conscience," and also to sniff out dangerous checmicals, rove in packs and take pictures out of their butts. The computerized canines were designed by Yale engineering lecturer Natalie Jeremijenko in what she calls the "Feral Dog Project" to "sniff" out toxics at potentially dangerous sites. "These dogs are programmed into instruments for social activism. It's technological politics in another form," she told a reporter. Cameras mounted on the 12 dogs' backsides enable researchers to monitor interaction with human handlers -- and, presumably, take pictures of real dogs who may be sniffing around, sort of like those cameras they have at the ATM. They're also house trained.
Remote-Control Lawn Mower Takes the 'Work' Out of 'Yard Work'
The Molecular Expressions web site is reporting that these tiny "Marvin the Martian" cartoons were 
Electric Car Exceeds 195 Miles Per Hour
A few news 
AIBO robot dogs are being retrofitted with wheels and 
