Filed under: Audio/VideoWe love our technology around here, but most of it isn't going to change the world or save lives. Sure -- that USB Humping Dog is funny, but it isn't really gonna help you when you start having heart trouble. Today, though, we bring you word of a technological development with a bit more consequence for your health and well-being. The Brilliance CT scanner was unveiled yesterday after a month long trial run at the Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The new CT scanner takes more images of a wider selection of the body, in a shorter period of time, all while exposing patients to 80 percent less radiation than tradition scans.The Brilliance CT machine takes an image by passing X-Rays through the body at a rate of up to 256 pulses every 0.3 seconds. Thats fast enough to capture the incredibly detailed image of the hear tabove without the blurring cause by the heartbeat. The scanner creates incredibly high resolution 3D images that allows individual blood vessels to be seen, and the images can be manipulated in 3D. This affords doctors unprecedented views of the internal workings of the body to spot things such as minuscule tumors in the heart and lungs.From the Daily MailRelated links:Researchers Kill Viruses with LasersScientists Learn to Grow New Eyeballs In LabStudy Finds Link Between Wi-Fi and Autism Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Car Tech, Cell PhonesAnyone who has been to the gigantic Mall of America outside of Minneapolis, MN knows that the only thing bigger than the mall itself is the seemingly endless series of parking lots that enshroud it. After a few hours of frenzied exploration of two and a half million square feet of shopping nirvana spread across four floors, it's easy to understand why every day dozens of shoppers have a hard time remembering just where they left their cars. This holiday season, a text message service has been launched to help people find their way back to their autos.The service relies on a number of small kiosks scattered throughout the parking lots and garages that say "Try our cell phone valet." Parkers send a text message to a five-digit number, and then receive a message indicating just where they parked. It's kind of like writing down your parking location on a piece of paper but, well, who can be bothered to do that?The service is free, sponsored by Philips, who lately have been trying a number of interesting advertising techniques to raise its brand awareness. Previously, the company sponsored an entire hour of '60 Minutes' to run with minimal commercials. It then did the same for an issue of 'Gourmet' magazine. Just what sort of returnthey'll see on this investment compared to others is anyone's guess. All we know is we're sticking to online shopping for our gifts this holiday season. From textually.orgRelated Links: The Switched Holiday Gift Guide Is Here Where to Find Post-Thanksgiving Deals How to Choose a Home Theater This Holiday  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersLike many a person who found their way online in the '90s, Linda Katz is a Web entrepreneur. The thing is, she joined the ranks by accident. Back in 1994, Linda was teaching herself how to build a Web site. As a joke, she assembled the Prairie Tumbleweed Farm page. To Linda's surprise, people began ordering tumble weeds -- thats right, giant, dried-out dead bushes. The Prairie Tumbleweed Farm web page hasn't changed much since 1994, and it shows. But there is something charming about the extremely basic page that should have died more than 10 years ago as the joke of an HTML novice.$15 for a small tumbleweed, $20 for a medium, and $25 for a large have let the likes of Barney the Purple Dinosaur, Johnny Depp's 'Neverland,' and even NASA help this accidental business woman, as they have all needed her wares for props. Linda won't divulge how much she makes, but she says her site makes more than $40,000 a year.From People of the WebRelated links:Street Walker Goes Legit With Web Cam Site10 Most Bizarre Science ExperimentsLimeWire Music Site Goes Legit Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Cell Phones, Cameras, iPhone, Portable AudioApparently, a Netherlands-based GSM phone Web site got its hands on some photos or renderings of what looks to be the next Nokia N-series phone, the N96. With dual-sliders that reveal a QWERTY keyboard split in half by the screen, this prototype seems to promise a very user-friendly multimedia device. It also looks as if the N96 will sport a lens that projects out from the camera when in use. (Chances are this means a higher-than-five-megapixel (MP) camera, something like 3x optical zoom, and, judging by Nokia's previous N-series phones, the clarity of a Carl Zeiss lens.)Nokia is continuing to offer state-of-the-art alternatives to the iPhone, which has been a runaway success for Apple. Nokia's phones are amazing, but they're not as easy to use as an iPhone, and the plethora of features on N-Series Nokia models have proven to be more overwhelming than alluring for most U.S. consumers. That said, Nokia is a leader in the international space and these latest phones seem like a move to keep that lead, particularly since Apple has started launching its iPhone across Europe. Where Nokia has really set itself apart from the iPhone, as well as some other competitors, has been its focus upon excellent cameras which are not merely added as an extra but are rather a major component of the device. Hopefully we'll see the N96 in the wild soon.From MobileMentalismRelated Links:Switched Gift Guide: Nokia N95Nokia's Hot New iPhone KillersNokia's New $25,000 Ferrari Phone Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Advice, iPod, TV, YouTubeThe Apple TV, after garnering some initially positive press, has faded into obscurity. Apple won't even release sales numbers for the tiny device, and Steve Jobs recently dismissed it as a "hobby."So what happened? Apple usually has unprecedented success with its consumer electronics, and has a knack for creating a market where one didn't previously exist. But the Apple TV did not find much of an audience beyond die-hard Apple fanatics and the hacker/tinkerer crowd.The failure of the Apple TV can be attributed to a number of decisions by the boys in Cupertino: Poor MarketingIt's not that Apple didn't push the product, but more that they didn't explain it properly. The Apple TV is not a proper set-top box or a smaller Mac Mini. Essentially, it's a stationary video iPod with a hefty set of restrictions. Apple TV didn't come with cable to connect to your TV.It may seem like an odd complaint, but Apple is known for shipping products that work right out of the box. If you have to buy a $30 HDMI cable to make the thing work, it's betraying Apple's "it just works" ethos. Apple TV requires an HDTV. While HD is invading American homes at an incredible rate, Hi-Def sets are far from ubiquitous, limiting the device's appeal from the outset.Apple TV lacks media support.Sure, you can load up just about any audio file (other than Ogg or WMA) or photos of your choice, but the Apple TV's main selling point was its video capabilities -- where it undeniably fell short. The Apple TV is limited to lower-resolution MPEG 4 and H.264 video files such as those available through the iTunes store. These formats are nowhere near a high enough resolution to look passable on the fancy HDTV required to use the box. No DivX, no Xvid, no WMV. In fact, the Apple TV isn't even capable of handling the HD trailers hosted on the Apple Movie Trailers web site. Basically if you didn't buy shows and movies on iTunes and don't want to watch YouTube videos blown up to 1280x720, you probably have no reason to purchase the Apple TV.A small community of intrepid hackers managed to add support for more formats, add USB storage expansion (a must on the original 40 Gigabyte model), and force the diminutive box to run both OS X and Linux, but homebrew enthusiasts alone cannot float an entire market segment.Is there hope for the Apple TV? Probably not. At least not in its current iteration. Dropping the HD requirements would be a start, but simply building a more open and capable streamer is the only way to reinvigorate interest in the device. The Apple TV might be significantly cheaper, but we'd strongly recommend you drop the extra couple hundred bucks on a Mac Mini and an adapter for your TV -- you'll be much happier with the results.From DailyTechRelated links:Video Rentals Rumored for Apple TVYouTube Coming to Apple TVDoes the Media Love Apple Too Much? Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesCustomer support technicians at Samsung and AT&T have received a service advisory informing them of a faulty antenna design that's resulting in some BlackJack handsets dropping calls or just not getting any signal in the first place. However, it seems the companies haven't actually contacted the customers who paid for the things. Luckily, Engadget received a copy of the advisory and is making the details known for all to see. The under-the-table recall affects BlackJack phonesproduced between November of 2006 and February of 2007, which will include any phones bought by trend-setting early-adopters when the super-slim smart phone first came out. To check whether yours fits in this range, take a peek under the battery for a sticker with dates: If they match the aforementioned time frame, and if you've been receiving a poorer signal than you might expect, you might need to call customer support and get a little warranty repair action.This comes just a few weeks after glitches were reported in T-Mobile's new Sidekick Slide that forced the company to stop sales of the device. Just last week, T-Mobile extended an offer to affected customers of a free upgrade to a Sidekick LX.From EngadgetRelated Links: BlackJack II Unveiled -- a Serious iPhone Killer?Switched Holiday Gift Guide iPod Lights Man's Pants on Fire Security Flaw Affects Sony MicroVault Drives Another Dell Laptop Explodes  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersAl Gore's blog -- in which the former presidential candidate-turned-celebrity environmentalist posts updates on global warming and the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' -- has been hacked. But it's likely you'd never know it by looking at the thing.That's because most of the hack work is hidden. The hackers in this case gained access to the site through a security hole, then inserted hidden links into the blog posts. To see them, check out our gallery of screens below. Hidden in the source code of the site, we found link after link pointing to drugs like Xanax, Viagra, Tramadol, and just about any other drug you can think of. Not terribly riveting, we know, but we just wanted to offer you some proof.So what's the point of hidden links that you can't see? The answer lies in the results you get on search engines like Google. By hijacking a very popular site like Al Gore's, the hackers can get their own pages more prominently placed in search results on Google. That's because these links can be seen by Google's crawler, which runs through the hidden code of Web pages to figure out where to direct you should you search for something like, say, Xanax. Since these links appear in a very prominent page, in this case Gore's blog, Google's engine thinks they are important, so people who later search for Xanax in Google might very well be redirected to the hacker's Web site over another. Interestingly, the links point to another site that also seems to have been hacked, making this literal web of intrigue a bit thicker. Don't worry, it's nothing to fear on your end as far as security or viruses are concerened. It's also doubtful that the guilty party will ever be caught, but we're hoping that Al calls his system administrator in short order and gets those links removed. This kind of pollution, at least, is easily cleaned. Unfortunately, right now, some poor chump is probably buying Viagra from the company that employed these hackers to give them Google search prominence.%Gallery-10958%From PC WorldRelated Links: Did China Hack the Pentagon? Cyber Attacks in Eastern Europe Hackers Strike Starbucks Wi-Fi Hotspots  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesAccording the Inquirer, there will be a major announcement regarding the oft-rumored and much-needed 3G upgrade for T-Mobile in the United States. The announcement is supposedly set for December 6th, just over a week away. This would mean that T-Mobile users might one day finally be able to get the near-broadband speeds for Web surfing and music and video downloading on their phones that people with Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T accounts have had for months and even years.T-Mobile has been sitting on 3G capable spectrum since 2006, and even launched its first 3G capable phone, the Samsung T639, back in October, but still no mention of a network has been forthcoming.Don't get too excited, though. Even if T-Mobile does unveil its new high -peed data network next Thursday, it is likely going to be a long time before there is widespread availability. Networks take a while to build out and it is unlikely that a company as high profile as T-Mobile could build it up in complete secrecy.From The InquirerRelated Links:T-Mobile Launches First 3G PhoneNokia's Hot New iPhone KillersAT&T Boosts Data Speeds for iPhone? Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  We may normally think of Tasers as being non-lethal, but a rash of recent "taser"-ings in the United States and Canada have ended with a bit of death for the victim of the low voltage electric weapon. It's led to a slew of bad press, but now a committee at the UN is getting in on the Taser-bashing party by declaring the ubiquitous stun-gun a form potentially lethal form of torture.Three young men in their 20s died this week alone in North America after being shot with the stun weapons, though the company, Taser, continues to maintain that the deaths are attributable to other factors.The UN is even encouraging Portugal to pull the X26 stun gun, which it recently purchased for use by its police forces, saying that the use of the Taser violates the UN's conventions against torture.From EngadgetRelated Links:Self-Defense, Courtesy of New Semi-Automatic Pepper Spray GunRussians Build the Ultimate Squirt GunThe Taser for the Rest of Us Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Video Games, CelebritiesDo you remember The Romantics? The group had a hit in 1980 with "What I Like About You." Of course, now you remember. Is there anything else you remember this foursome for? No, we didn't think so. It turns out you can now also remember them as the one-hit-wonders that sued Activision because the cover version of "What I Like About You" included in the last version of 'Guitar Hero' was simply too good.Activision, Red Octane, Harmonix, and Wave Group Sound are named in a suit that alleges that the cover version included in the game is so good (read: realistic), fans can't tell the difference between the original and the cover.The most absurd part is that the Romantics aretrying to get the game pulled from store shelves, several months after its release!From USA TodayRelated Links:Texas School District Sues Blogger MomPrince Sues His No. 1 FansBlogger Sues For Negative Book Reviews Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Car TechWe've reported on a number of eco-friendly car concepts in the past, like Nissan's electric Mixim and that supposed Ford Escort plug-in hybrid that, unfortunately, turned out to be a bogus rumor. Neither of those two is a reality, but GM's latest concept is different. Company vice-chairman Bob Lutz says GM is ready to stop playing around and fully intends to release its electric car, called Volt, for sale in late 2010. However, that electric car moniker requires a bit of a caveat here, as the Volt will actually have a small gas-powered engine nestled inside. But, unlike hybrids which use complicated transmissions to enable both the gas and electric motors to drive the wheels, the Volt will act more like a WWII diesel submarine. The gas engine will simply be run as a generator, re-charging the batteries after they're depleted, something that's expected to happen roughly every 40 miles. The process is similar to how Honda's FCX Clarity will operate, but that car requires hydrogen which is available at only a handful of pumps across the nation. That said, Honda's car, set to debut in 2008 on a very limited release, will emit zero emissions thanks to its fuel cell technology. The Volt will still produce some carbon emissions thanks to its (albeit limited) use of gasoline. It's unknown at this point just how many miles the car will be able to travel with both full batteries and a full gas tank, and the critical question of cost is also still in the air. The styling is certainly better than most electric concepts if a bit fender-heavy and slab-sided. Regardless, we're happy to see an American auto maker challenge itself like this instead of blowing its budget on commercials to convince shoppers how "fuel efficient" their 20-something MPG cars are.From DailyTechRelated Links: Honda Testing Clean Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Nissan's All-Electric Concept Car Ford Developing 100MPG Escort Hybrid Lightning's New Electric GT Roadster  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell Phones, Cameras, $250 and UnderRemember Napster? They're still around, and the file sharing-gone-legit company has teamed up with AT&T to release a mobile phone that is optimized for downloading songs from its online catalog of more than 3 million songs. The SLM from Samsung comes with the basic things you expect, like 512 megabytes of storage, BlueTooth 2.0, and a 2-megapixel camera. The big deal, though? It's the SLM's high-peed data connection for the Napster subscription service with downloads averaging around ten seconds persong. The dual-band 3G clamshell has a brushed metal finish and a swivel-camera for taking pictures or video calls over the high-speed network.Napster To Go on the SLM will cost $7.49 for five tracks per month and additional tracks can be purchased for $1.99 each. The phone itself will set you back $150 after a $50 mail-in rebate. From Dailytech.comRelated Links:T-Mobile Selling $1,500 Unlocked iPhone in Germany New Japanese Phone Offers Earthquake Alerts 82% of Americans Own Cell Phones Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesWe're more than a little sick of Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" commercials, but a new report from Consumerist puts such an interesting spin on the company's tag-line that we can't help but report it. It seems Verizon is making an effort to ensure that criminals can hear 911 callers from anywhere within earshot. The company is equipping some of its phones with loud alarms that are triggered whenever 911 is dialed. Recently, a woman in Texas was forced to hang up after dialing 911, thanks to the unexpectedly shrill alarm. She had dialed after noticing her security chain was removed from her property, and was afraid that possible miscreants were still lurking about. Obviously, in this sort of situation, a loud noise pinpointing a 911 caller's location is not exactly ideal.Verizon claims the alarms are part of an FCC mandate that requires the provider to "offer service that is accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities." However, the FCC itself has said Verizon has misinterpreted the requirement, saying, quite clearly: "The Commission has not implemented any rules pursuant to Section 255 that would require the use of any tones concerning 911 calls."So, here's hoping these tones go the way of brick-sized handsets soon, even though we're betting Iowa 911 operators wish such an alarm were installed on that mystery phone that won't stop calling them.From ConsumeristRelated Links: Untraceable Cell Phone Terrorizes Iowa 911 Center NYC Hopes to Launch Subway Text Message Alert System Cell Phones in Subways: Not For 911  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersWe live in an era of safe sex (at least if you choose to practice it). We also live in an era of high-tech fixes for low-tech problems. Voice-recognizing GPS devices; guitars that tune themselves; a force feedback suit for boxing -- all interesting but not totally necessary. Now, a fancy spray-on replacement for the venerable condom is nearly ready for production.The condoms, invented by a German scientist, are applied with a special applicator. Men insert their assets, press a button, and an aerosol canister sprays on a fast-drying latex liquid. 25 seconds later, the condom is dry and ready for use. It is then rolled off and disposed afterward.The spray-on condoms entered development nearly a year ago but were more conceptual back then. It was initially expected that the latex would dry in a second, but subsequent tests on real-life penises have shown this figure to be unrealistic. However, considering the amount of time it takes the average man to actually get a condom on in the dark (especially after a few drinks), 25 seconds doesn't sound so bad.That said, while we're all for gadgets, we think this spray-on prophylactic has just too many shortcomings. The first is cost: The applicator will set you back around $35, with subsequent refills (providing 10-20 applications) costing about $10. Regular condoms cost about $6 for 12, or $25 for 100, so do the math. Then there's the size of the thing -- a rolled-up condom is about as portable as it gets, but the thermos-sized applicator will mean this thing is unlikely to venture out of the bedroom.From Daily MailRelated Links: The Gibson Robot Guitar "Force Feedback" Suit Teaches You to Box Street Walker Goes Legit With Web Cam Site  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments