Read (forbes.com)
“People like to say, don’t touch things that work,” says Linnar Viik, who lectures at Tallinn Technical University. “But Estonians like to look behind the thing and wonder whether there’s anything we can change about it. In Estonia you might say, if it works, you can break it.”
Since independence in 1991, Estonia has used a knack for technology and a ravenous appetite for change to make itself a largely wired e-republic.
The two astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been asked to curb their calories because of a food shortage, NASA officials said.
Supplies of food and water on the station have fallen so low that if a Russian cargo vessel scheduled to arrive on Dec. 25 has a mishap or is significantly delayed, the astronauts, one American and one Russian, will have to abandon the station and return home months ahead of schedule.
It’s a chore that can quickly chill the warmth of the holiday season: Trudging outside each winter night to unplug the lights, deflate the blowup snowman and shut off the rest of the outdoor extravaganza.
I’ve used X10 modules and remotes to control the Christmas lights for years. The kids love using the remotes to turn the Christmas lights on and off.
Just as people currently use newsreaders to read syndicated text from blogs and news sites, a few hackers are creating applications that let users view syndicated video feeds. Think of it as TiVocasting. By Daniel Terdiman.
Originally from Wired News
The U.S. government’s weather data is now available in a more friendly XML format, so everyone can make use of it. By Daniel Terdiman.
Originally from Wired News
Dotted around the globe are shadowy, short-range transmitters beaming strange radio messages across the planet. The messages are indecipherable, and often unlistenable. Nonetheless, they have their fans. By Jason Walsh.
In 1985-1986, my job would often require me to spend part of my days and/or nights finding and intercepting numbers broadcasts that had 5-character words. The 4-character word broadcasts were ignored.
Originally from Wired News
Big Brother In Your Car (charlotte.creativeloafing.com)
The National Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Plan: A Ten-Year Vision Document was created in 2002 by the US Division of Transportation. It’s a chilling tale of big business
and big government tracking your every move in your vehicle by 2012. Officials say that the system will be used to track traffic patterns and allow cars to talk to the infrastructure in major metro-areas.
Originally posted by Walter J Keegan Jr. from Autoblog Home
Read The Article (nytimes.com)
Congress has cut the budget for the National Science Foundation, an engine for research in science and technology, just two years after endorsing a plan to double the amount given to the agency.
Originally from memeorandum
Truckstop.net has halted operations, filed suit against Sprint Communications: A press release arrived out of the blue from highway-side Wi-Fi operator Truckstop.net that they had suspended operations due to equipment problems that the company alleges are the responsibility of Sprint Communications. Further, Truckstop.net has filed a suit against Sprint seeking $75,000,000. Full press release follows:…
Originally posted by Glennf from Wi-Fi Networking News
Dumbing Down a Smartwatch (wired.com)
Researchers are developing an RFID-enabled watch system to help the memory-challenged find their stuff. But making sure it doesn’t track too much is a big privacy concern. By Michael Bradbury.
The team behind the Beagle 2 mission has unveiled its design for a successor to the British Mars lander.
Originally from BBC News
FCC Crackdown Could Spread (wired.com)
Look out Howard Stern, satellite radio might not remain the safe haven that it currently is, because the FCC might try to expand its jurisdiction into cable TV, satellite radio, and the internet. It would appear that no method of transmission is safe. When is Michael Powell going to take a cue from his father and resign?
TiVo to add banner ads to service when fast forwarding (pvrblog.com)
Coming soon to the standalone TiVo OS: when you hit fast forward to skip past commercials, small banner ads will show up on your screen. Luckily I don’t have a standalone TiVo. I have a DirecTivo, and I don’t use fast forward to skip through commercials. I use the 30-second skip Easter egg.
Top 10 Ways to Steal a Car And How to Defend Against Them (edmunds.com)
Edmunds has a list of some of the ways thieves steal cars and what you can do to try to prevent your car from being stolen.
via Autoblog.
Under the Hood, with Big Brother (autoweek.com)
While AutoWeek was testing a Chevy Malibu Maxx, the car “thought” it was going to crash so it made a call to OnStar. OnStar called the vehicle’s cell phone to see if the driver was hurt, and AutoWeek had to tell OnStar that they did not have an accident. The only thing they were doing was running a slalom.
If you have a newer car, it has a silver box that is spying on you, and you can’t shut it off or manipulate it. It records data every 5 seconds while your car is running. If it it thinks is a crash is imminent, it will save the data for up to 250 ignition cycles and probably make a call to your service provider.
Can this data be used against you by the police or your insurance company if you have an accident? There’s currently not a clear answer. It’s not even clear who owns the data – you or your service provider.
via Autoblog.