• New idea: YouTube direct opens. You’ll love this story.
• US and China to do a space joint venture.
• Dell goes green with bamboo. Where does this bamboo come from?
• We are entering the age of cyberwar? Oh no!
• China scams Microsoft over intellectual property. Huh?
• Wal-Mart dumping all sorts of things in a massive sale.
• HP goes thin-client.

• Google acquires Admob and Gizmo5.
• Nokia charger dangerous and being recalled.
• Firefox is five. I think it is bogus.
• Nook is in heavy demand.
• Droid phone having crappy battery life.
• iPhone worm floating around.
• Chipmakers doing well as predicted.
• Radio Shack to sell the iPhone.
• EU on the Oracle-Sun case.

I’m thinking about taking another shot at replacing my old Palm 700p cellphone and am looking for something that is at least as good as what I bought 5 years ago. As many of you know, I tried the HTC Touch Pro2 and ended up returning it because it was so dysfunctional. I went to a Verizon store and was somewhat impressed. The thing actually seems to work. I didn’t see any kind of stylus with it which may be a good thing. Perhaps you don’t need one.

So – should I buy this phone or is there yet a better one about to come out? Should I wait for the Droid 2?

I have a few questions.

1) Since it’s a Linux box – is there a Bash command line?

2) Need an SSH client.

3) Would like to be able to turn it into a hotspot like I could do with the Windows phone I took back. Can that be done?

4) Youtube video was pretty grainy. I’m wondering why?

5) Where are good sites to get apps for this platform.

What else should I know or consider before buying this phone? Is it mature? There are no honest reviews out there for any phone and unlike most reviewers I am interested in how well it makes phone calls. One thing I almost never see in a review is the phone app. I’m also interested in the email app. If an email has an attached WAV file, can I play it?

Thoughts?

This app demeans us both

Phone Application Translates Babies’ Howls – Wired

The Cry Translator listens to a whining child and analyzes the pitch, volume, tone and inflection of his nerve-jangling noise. Ten seconds later, it provides you with one of five “translations”: hungry, sleepy, stressed, annoyed or bored.

The idea of this $30 iPhone application, apart from preying on the anxieties of new parents, is to help teach you the meanings of the distinctive sounds and to help out babysitters who might otherwise try to feed your three-month old (hunger) instead of just switching over to the Family Guy from American Idol (bored). The application even gives advice on what to do, depending on the translation.

According to the seller, Biloop Technologic, clinical tests have proven the app to be accurate 96% of the time, and it will “continue to translate crying regardless of the age of the child”.

Can’t be bothered trying to understand your baby? There’s an app for that. Seriously, I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s tried it.

(PhysOrg.com) – A new breed of rechargeable zinc-air batteries is soon to be available, and may replace lithium-ion batteries in cell phones, laptops and other consumer items. Lithium-ion batteries store only a third of the energy and cost around twice as much as the new batteries.

The Swiss company ReVolt, from Staefa, plans to release the new batteries next year, initially as small batteries for use in hearing aids, and later for cell phones. Eventually much larger batteries are planned for electric vehicles.
[...]
Zinc-air batteries need oxygen from the air to generate the current. They are safer than lithium-ion batteries because they do not contain volatile materials, and therefore do not catch fire. Non-rechargeable zinc-air batteries have been available for some time, but rechargeable versions have proved more difficult to develop.

“Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of well-known computer security company Kaspersky Labs, is calling for an end to the anonymity of the Internet, and for the creation of mandatory ‘Internet passports’ for anyone who wishes to browse the Web. Says Kaspersky, ‘Everyone should and must have an identification, or internet passport … the internet was designed not for public use, but for American scientists and the US military. Then it was introduced to the public, and it was wrong … to introduce it in the same way.’ He calls anonymity ‘the Internet’s biggest security vulnerability’ and thinks any country that doesn’t follow this regime should be ‘cut off.’ The EFF objects, and it’s likely that they won’t be the only ones.”

“New Canadian anti-spam and anti-spyware legislation is scheduled for a key vote on Monday. Michael Geist reports that the copyright lobby has been pushing to remove parts of the bill that would take away exceptions which currently allow spyware to be installed without authorization. ‘The copyright lobby is deeply concerned that this change will block attempts to track possible infringement through electronic means.’ There have also been proposals to extend the exemptions granted to telecom providers to include the installation of programs without the user’s express consent, which Geist says will ‘leave the door open to private, surreptitious surveillance.’”