Slashdot Mirror

An anonymous reader writes " Engadget is reporting that 'Lexmark, makers of printers and scanners, has been caught monitoring users' printer, scanning, and ink cartridge usage.'" Newsgroup comp.periphs.printers readers noticed the software; the Engadget report says that "Lexmark say they're just tracking printer and cartridge usage, but the registration information and packets being sent say otherwise."

prostoalex writes "In a recent Slashdot story on Skype CEO interview some comments expressed displeasure with the fact that you have to be tied up to your computer to make those VOIP calls via Skype. Not anymore - this adapter from Siemens plugs into the USB port of the computer and allows Siemens Gigaset S645, Gigaset S440/445 or Gigaset C340/345 phone models to use the Skype connection instead of landline. News.com has the story."

Pirogoeth writes "The fine folks over at Engadget have figured out how to get your new iPod Photo to play movies. According to the article, you use Quicktime Pro to export the movie as thousands of individual frames which you export to the iPod, send the soundtrack to the iPod as well, then, if you haven't guessed by now, while playing the soundtrack, put the iPod into slideshow mode and use the scroll wheel to manually keep the frames in synch with the sound. Sound impossible? Here's a video (in mov or wmv) of the Episode III trailer in action..."

Pirogoeth writes "The fine folks over at Engadget have figured out how to get your new iPod Photo to play movies. According to the article, you use Quicktime Pro to export the movie as thousands of individual frames which you export to the iPod, send the soundtrack to the iPod as well, then, if you haven't guessed by now, while playing the soundtrack, put the iPod into slideshow mode and use the scroll wheel to manually keep the frames in synch with the sound. Sound impossible? Here's a video (in mov or wmv) of the Episode III trailer in action..."

Pirogoeth writes "The fine folks over at Engadget have figured out how to get your new iPod Photo to play movies. According to the article, you use Quicktime Pro to export the movie as thousands of individual frames which you export to the iPod, send the soundtrack to the iPod as well, then, if you haven't guessed by now, while playing the soundtrack, put the iPod into slideshow mode and use the scroll wheel to manually keep the frames in synch with the sound. Sound impossible? Here's a video (in mov or wmv) of the Episode III trailer in action..."

prostoalex writes "Niklas Zennström, the ever-elusive CEO of Skype, is interviewed by Engadget. Turns out Skype currently has more than 13 mln users in 200+ countries. The interview also discusses the future of Skype and VOIP applications in general."

ptorrone writes "Never did we think we'd need to do a How-To on something which should be part of the basic functionality of a portable music player, but once you put your tunes on an iPod unfortunately it's a one-way sync unless you know the tricks for getting them off. Here's how to get your stuff off for free on a Mac or PC and how to re-enable a useful tool with a Hex editor." Cory Doctorow has been writing about this on boingboing recently; he discusses Apple's message to iPod owners.

ptorrone writes "Never did we think we'd need to do a How-To on something which should be part of the basic functionality of a portable music player, but once you put your tunes on an iPod unfortunately it's a one-way sync unless you know the tricks for getting them off. Here's how to get your stuff off for free on a Mac or PC and how to re-enable a useful tool with a Hex editor." Cory Doctorow has been writing about this on boingboing recently; he discusses Apple's message to iPod owners.

A whole slew of people sent us in links regarding the Treo 650. There's the official release from palmOne, with a new entry on their website. TreoCentral also has launch coverage, including a sample video and first impressions. Engadget also has coverage of the launch as well. Details are that the Treo 650 is an evolutionary upgrade to the Treo 600. palmOne made few external changes, but redid much of the internals. As with the 600 there will be a dualband CDMA 1xRTT and a quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE version. The most notable new features are an improved 312 Mhz Intel PXA270 processor, a new 320x320 High resolution TFT screen, built in Bluetooth, non-volatile flash memory, a removable battery, and a new connector. Carriers, pricing, and availability are to be announced soon. Another reader notes that this ups the bar for mobile internet - and the last wonders if RIM has any good responses

g00set writes "Reuters is reporting 'XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc next week is expected to unveil a "wearable" device, marking the satellite radio industry leader's latest effort to woo audiences to the nascent format, analysts said.' In adddition, 'A radio industry executive said the device was believed to be a satellite-radio receiver with headphones that also had a hard drive enabling users to download XM content.'" There have been other rumors of this as well.

r-blo writes "We've got an interview of Mike Ramsay, CEO of TiVo, by Engadget correspondent J.D. Lasica. He's rather candid in his thoughts on Hollywood, Netflix, the FCC, the INDUCE act, their competition, and their latest technology, TiVo ToGo, which lets you take your TiVo-recorded shows with you on your laptop (or PC, as it were)."

r-blo writes "We've got an interview of Mike Ramsay, CEO of TiVo, by Engadget correspondent J.D. Lasica. He's rather candid in his thoughts on Hollywood, Netflix, the FCC, the INDUCE act, their competition, and their latest technology, TiVo ToGo, which lets you take your TiVo-recorded shows with you on your laptop (or PC, as it were)."

ptorrone writes "Engadget shows how to get Podcasts on your iPod and for the DIY Radio enthusiast, how to make your own Podcasts using mostly free tools. What's a Podcast? To put it simply, a Podcast is an audio file, a MP3, most likely, in talk show format, along with a way to subscribe to the show and have it automatically delivered to your iPod or other music device."

ptorrone writes "Engadget shows how to get Podcasts on your iPod and for the DIY Radio enthusiast, how to make your own Podcasts using mostly free tools. What's a Podcast? To put it simply, a Podcast is an audio file, a MP3, most likely, in talk show format, along with a way to subscribe to the show and have it automatically delivered to your iPod or other music device."

ptorrone writes "Engadget has glimpse in to the future, a future where your dog has a cell phone, webcam and electronic tag, and maybe even talks to you. Maybe. Some of this dog-tech isn't available yet, and some of it is (in Japan, of course). The overview includes some interesting iterations of pet technology, and they even made their own version of a dog webcam along with the first ever canine photographer's photo gallery." I'd rather see more of these things applied to infants.

ptorrone writes "Engadget has glimpse in to the future, a future where your dog has a cell phone, webcam and electronic tag, and maybe even talks to you. Maybe. Some of this dog-tech isn't available yet, and some of it is (in Japan, of course). The overview includes some interesting iterations of pet technology, and they even made their own version of a dog webcam along with the first ever canine photographer's photo gallery." I'd rather see more of these things applied to infants.

Kamalot writes "It looks like Nintendo is preparing a wireless peer-to-peer network of Nintendo DS ' to allow a new way of playing games online. Each Nintendo DS could includes a repeater hub to extend and share an 802.11 signal. A thread on GameCubicle unveils more, including a service called MarioNette and some disturbing marketing pieces with hidden images and messages." As with everything involving the new handhelds, take this one with a grain of salt.

ptorrone writes "If you have an old digital camera laying around and pick up a $1.50 Timer Chip from RadioShack or DigiKey you can turn it in to a great aerial photography camera, this how-to from Engadget shows how they did it along with some other projects with the modded camera." We also linked to part 1.

ptorrone writes "As part of a camera mod project to make a low-cost aerial photography device we started finding other uses for the camera hack. This first part of this series is tagging photos with GPS coordinates by automating a camera and GPS unit, it's a DIY Black Box for now with interesting applications and other uses. Ideally, this may encourage the next EXIF data schema to support GPS and other information."

ptorrone writes "As part of a camera mod project to make a low-cost aerial photography device we started finding other uses for the camera hack. This first part of this series is tagging photos with GPS coordinates by automating a camera and GPS unit, it's a DIY Black Box for now with interesting applications and other uses. Ideally, this may encourage the next EXIF data schema to support GPS and other information."

carbolic writes "The Firefox browser is ramping up as fast as Internet Explorer is ramping down. According to these stats posted from the Engadget logfiles, IE has dropped to 57% of all browsers used to visit the site, while Firefox is up to an amazing 18%! The Engadget stats reflect an early-adopter consumer crowd and backing those up, this chart from w3schools shows the same trend. I guess CERT's recommendation and a mature product are finally paying off for the Mozilla project. Less than 2 years ago, IE had a 95% lock on the market. Anyone else see a trend here?"

An anonymous reader writes "Two new images of what are reported to be Xbox 2 concept designs and logos , have recently been found on the internet. The designs are said to have been released by an anonymous tipster who claims to be part of a focus group for the Xbox 2. The anonymous member reports that he has more concept designs ready to release in the near future." Doesn't look to me like there's much credibility here, but they still look pretty.

r-blo writes "Know that new T-Mobile Sidekick II that Paris Hilton and Derek Jeter have been totin' around town? Yeah, that one. Well, Engadget has an interview with Danger's (the company that makes the Sidekick) CEO, Hank Nothhaft, talking about all manner of things regarding the mobile-internet device, including its closed development environment. They even ask him what phone he'd buy if it wasn't a Sidekick II, gotta love that!"

morcheeba writes "It appears that Walmart's pre-paid gift cards have been hacked. Customers are buying cards and finding that criminals have already emptied them of value. It seems someone has access to Walmart's database and/or registration data, and can create clones of recently activated cards. (via engadget)"

ptorrone writes "The Portable Media Center is officially shipping today, along with announcements of more TV Tuner and recording hardware. The NYTimes covers some of this and Engadget has an in-depth review with photos, screenshots, videos and how to convert DVDs to play on these devices."

djdoubles writes "Apparently Verizon Wireless has put firmware with crippled Bluetooth features in the new Motorola v710 phone. A lot of people have been anticipating a Bluetooth phone from Verizon, only to be disappointed by lack of OBEX. Verizon says they have no plan to add OBEX because it doesn't fit their business model--greedy bastards. PC Magazine doesn't have very nice things to say either. More discussion here."

thecounterfeit writes "Engadget has an interview with Jack Valenti, the outgoing president of the MPAA and the object of hatred for many hacker after he took he on DVD Jon, who is retiring tomorrow after more than three decades on the job. Engadget could have been a little harder on him when he says stuff like, "When you go to your department store and you buy 10 Cognac glasses and two weeks later you break two of them, the store doesn't give you two backup copies," but it is at least slightly encouraging to hear that he owns a TiVo."

aws910 writes "Many sites are reporting on the upcoming PalmOne Treo 650. According to MobileMag, 'The 650 will have a 1.3MP digital camera, bluetooth, higher resolution screen, backlight keyboard and voice recording. The processor will be a speedy 312MHz with 32MB of RAM, and of course an SD memory slot for expandable storage. No timeframe or price is known.' Some of the forums at other sites are reporting around 2 months as the timeframe for release. A good summary of the new device can be found here. More gossip can be found on the forum here." Gizmodo and Endgadget have pictures as well.

ptorrone writes "Engadget shows how they made "The Search Engine Belt Buckle" a PDA-based device which shows 24 hours of all the bizarre and banal things people are looking for on the web. Art project or pointless hack? That's for you to decide, people are searching for some pretty freaky stuff out there, so why not put in a belt buckle and get on the scene like a sex machine?"

ptorrone writes "Engadget shows how they made "The Search Engine Belt Buckle" a PDA-based device which shows 24 hours of all the bizarre and banal things people are looking for on the web. Art project or pointless hack? That's for you to decide, people are searching for some pretty freaky stuff out there, so why not put in a belt buckle and get on the scene like a sex machine?"

ptorrone writes "Engadget has a little write-up of what is supposed to be the world's first Internet-enabled thermostat from Proliphix, which has an Ethernet port and a built-in web server and can be controlled from virtually any standard browser. So how long until everything in the home has its own IP address and script kiddies decide to get their kicks messing with your air conditioning during a heat wave?"

ptorrone writes "Engadget has a little write-up of what is supposed to be the world's first Internet-enabled thermostat from Proliphix, which has an Ethernet port and a built-in web server and can be controlled from virtually any standard browser. So how long until everything in the home has its own IP address and script kiddies decide to get their kicks messing with your air conditioning during a heat wave?"

modpod writes "According to Engadget, who reference an MSNBC article, a movie theater in Logan, Utah recently hooked up a few Xbox consoles to theater projectors, and is now regularly hosting Halo tournaments in the movie theater, after they 'took four video projectors and set one up in each of four theaters'." Theater co-owner Calvin Timothy said: "According to the gal at the licensing company, we're the first theater ever to license Xbox with them for a theater... It took an act of Congress and a blessing of God (to get the license)." We've previously discussed IMAX screens being used for gaming.

r-blo writes "Hot off his in-depth comparison of TiVo vs. Microsoft Media Center, Engadget has Thomas Hawk following up with ten things each that TiVo and Microsoft need to do to win the War for the Living Room. It won't be easy (like TiVo offering their OS as software for the PC. Not going to happen.) but I've got a feeling they might be better off listening up. Especially TiVo, since we're all rooting for them anyway."

r-blo writes "Hot off his in-depth comparison of TiVo vs. Microsoft Media Center, Engadget has Thomas Hawk following up with ten things each that TiVo and Microsoft need to do to win the War for the Living Room. It won't be easy (like TiVo offering their OS as software for the PC. Not going to happen.) but I've got a feeling they might be better off listening up. Especially TiVo, since we're all rooting for them anyway."

carbolic writes "Gizmodo interviews John Hering, one of the Bluedriving crew (of which I was one: picture) and creator of the Bluesniper rifle. Get the backstory on the recent 1.08 mile cellphone Bluesnarf attack and find out his motivation for building the rifle and trying a snarf to a cellphone you can't even see."

ptorrone writes "Engadget has interviewed Helen Greiner, Chairman and CoFounder of iRobot. She talks about the future of home robotics, the new self-docking Roomba Robot Vacuum as well as their other line of robots, the PackBots. iRobot's PackBot unmanned reconnaissance and bomb disposal units (the interview includes a photo of a blown-up PackBot from Iraq). Plus, for the curious, the Packbot is running a Linux OS with iRobot's Aware robot control software."

ptorrone writes "Engadget has interviewed Helen Greiner, Chairman and CoFounder of iRobot. She talks about the future of home robotics, the new self-docking Roomba Robot Vacuum as well as their other line of robots, the PackBots. iRobot's PackBot unmanned reconnaissance and bomb disposal units (the interview includes a photo of a blown-up PackBot from Iraq). Plus, for the curious, the Packbot is running a Linux OS with iRobot's Aware robot control software."

no_demons writes "Some clever souls over at engadget.com have posted an excellent tutorial in turning your iPod into a IR remote control. You also need a Pocket PC, an IR gadget from Griffin and a bit of patience, but hey, it's still a cool hack."

no_demons writes "Some clever souls over at engadget.com have posted an excellent tutorial in turning your iPod into a IR remote control. You also need a Pocket PC, an IR gadget from Griffin and a bit of patience, but hey, it's still a cool hack."

carbolic writes "WiFi-Toys.com and Engadget have posted a link to X-ray images of the GPS Coke can that has security people all up in arms. The GPS Coke can looks a little bit like an IED (improvised explosive device). The PDF file posted on security company Blackwater USA's site shows several views of the can and compares it to an IED. And for thoroughness, the PDF shows a regular can of Coke X-rayed, too."

s4xton writes "Some new photos of the upcoming Sidekick II from T-Mobile have been leaked on hiptopinfo.org. In addition to already being one of the best portable GPRS units with SSH2, Web Browsing, AIM and Mail, the new unit, slated for an August release features a built in camera, speakerphone and a number of other features. Thread on Hiptop Forums about it here. Here's some older photos and an owners manual and a previous Slashdot story about the original Color Sidekick."

Photo_Designer writes "Engadget has an article about these cool BookMachines that spit out on-demand books in just a few minutes. Sounds cool. Forget eBooks.. get the real thing!" The company website has some more information, though it's a bit suspiciously skimpy on hard specifications.

whoda writes "When you think of a bicycle, you most likely think of 2 tires, a chain, some gearing of some sort, and other assorted mechanical bits. However, when Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, and over 180 other riders get together to compete at the Tour de France every year, there is a lot of technology that comes along for the ride too. From Lance's Sunglass'/MP3 Player to the advanced use of composites seen on Tyler Hamilton's time trial bike, there are many examples of high technology making the racers faster through better training, materials and aerodynamics."

thecounterfeit writes "Engadget has a story on Pocketster Pro, a new application that lets you add WiFi to the iPod. The catch? You have to connect it to a Pocket PC with both USB Host capability and WiFi first, but once it's up and running you can wirelessly swap tunes with any other similarly equipped iPods."

StJefferson writes "Ever want to silence the urban assault vehicle beside you at the stop light, pounding out gangster angst at orthodontia-rattling volumes? Now you can, and here's how, courtesy Engadget."

Slashback tonight with story updates on wireless networking on the highway, on the bounce, and among friends, as well as a more pessimistic report on Nigerian scammers, a good reason your car's mileage might not match the EPA's estimate, and a strange response from Macrovision about the copy protection it's employing in European-market CDs. Read on for the details.

It's not a feature, it's a bug. A representative from Macrovision writes "This statement is being issued to address some concerns that were recently aired on Slashdot with regards to the copy protection of some music CDs, the new Beastie Boys CD in Europe in particular.

Macrovision does NOT install any spyware, shareware, malware or any self-replicating code of any kind onto a user's PC.

When playing a (Macrovision CDS-200) copy-protected CD for the first time, playback software components may be installed, if needed. This software is used to enable the on-disc music player to load an on-screen user interface and to play back the audio. For further information, please contact: cds-info@macrovision.com."

Seems to me that a CD which that requires any software installed for it to be played by a standard CD drive is by definition at least "brokenware," or perhaps "meddleware." What if it's being used in a computer without an operating system supported by these "playback software components"?

Definitional evasion aside, so far CD "copy protection" is mostly about as effective as critics proclaim it to be: ptorrone writes "There has been a lot of talk about the copy protection on the new CD 'Contraband' from Velvet Revolver, but for us we didn't have any problems making MP3s for all our devices despite their efforts to stop us it seems. Here's our story..."

MSN Search pales next to Google, so far. An anonymous reader writes "Reported earlier today here on Slashdot, MSN is preparing a new search engine which is set to knock Google's socks off. However, early results show that not only is the new algorithm lacking enough smarts to knock Google as king, it doesn't even compete with the current MSN algorithm."

Open wide and say "ARRL!" dos4who writes "Well, the ARRL Field Day 2004 results are in, and posted on The The American Radio Relay League website. In the Single Operator High-Power class, congratulations to W5ZN for logging a score well over 600,000!

I had the opportunity to witness the Abbotsford, British Columbia club in action, and it was an awesome experience. Just the sight of all those massive antennae clustered on one field invoked visions of E.T. popping in for a visit."

And william_lorenz writes "Our own group from Ohio made contacts all over the United States and had a great time doing it, camping out in tents and running multiple battery-operated radios and make-shift antennas throughout the day and night. We even played with some Slow Scan TV! What are your stories?"

Seems unlikely it's the only country not to have done so ... bluethundr writes "On the flipside of a story from yesterday the Register reports today: 'Malam Nuhu Ribadu says Nigeria is the only country in the world that has failed to apply special laws or establish dedicated "front offices" to combat the crimes.'"

Are you pumping what you think you're pumping? couch_warrior writes "It was noted in a recent /. inquiry that EPA estimates of mileage vary from real-life experience. While there are several factors that can affect this, one major but often overlooked factor is that the amount of gasoline contained in a supposed 'gallon' varies by up to 10% due to gas pump fraud. Two illustrative stories show localized evidence of this scam, but few states regulate gas pumps effectively. The laws are on the books, but enforcement is typically lax. Cynics might speculate that this is because both the State and the Fed are getting a cut of the illegal proceeds. It is a way for them to increase the tax revenue on fuel, without taking the political hit for raising taxes. A challenge for /. readers -- go buy some gasoline in graduated containers, and check for yourself [avoid 1,5, and 10 gallon sizes; many states use these for testing purposes and the computers inside the pumps 'catch up' temporarily at these intervals]. Persons of conscience might feel motivated to flood their local state weights and measures bureau with complaints (if test results warranted :-)"

Never beam your secrets in a cornfield. bgumm writes "Hot on the heels of the Texas DOT's WiFi stories, here comes one from the corn state, Iowa. The Iowa DOT and an Iowan wireless network company, I-Spot Access, have partnered to offer WiFi at six highway rest stops across the state. USA Today picked up the story, as did the Des Moines Register..."

And for those in a state too backward to have rest-stop WiFi just yet, Porsupah writes "WirelessWeek is reporting that Ricochet has been sold on again; this time, to YDI Wireless. Bay Area readers may fondly remember the company as bringing flat-rate 28.8k wireless connectivity to all of the area several years ago for $30/mo, before expanding aggressively to cover several other major US metropolitan areas, financed by MCI, with a nominal 128kbps service at $75/mo. After bankruptcy, Aerie Networks bought some of the remnants, relaunched in San Diego and Denver, and then.. nothing. What next?"

XopherMV cuts-and-pastes from Wired: "In an article from Wired, 'Consider the progress of just the past 15 years. There are now robots that can get around on two legs, participate in simple conversations, and manipulate objects in rudimentary ways. Of course, we don't yet have a bot that can navigate downtown Manhattan, tie its shoelaces, or even tell a chair from a desk. MIT's Cynthia Breazeal holds out hope that within five years, robots will cross a critical threshold, becoming partners rather than tools - in other words, we'll have friends, not appliances.'" Reader ptorrone adds: "In Los Angeles, CA at the Century Plaza Hotel for the 4Site conference, our favorite robot vacuum/military supplier, iRobot, showed off the tactical mobile robot! The 'Tactical mobile Robot' has its own brochure and site: www.packbot.com. The rad thing about this platform is its skateboard design, where it appears to support various plug-in modules. Here are some photos of the packbot!"

ptorrone writes "As the summer approaches, we crawl out of our protective wired covered lairs to sometimes partake in outdoor activity. Last weekend, we went kayaking around Lake Union in Seattle, WA and of course, we couldn't help but bring along a lot of equipment and decided we'd hunt for open wireless spots, this friends- was "War Kayaking" we found a ton, charted it with GPS, Wifi finders and we'll show you how we did it for this week's HOW-TO Tuesday. We also shot a video in the kayak, be sure to check that out too."

Takuryu writes "Casio, working with Japanese credit card company, JCB, has developed a combination credit card wristwatch. Workers at the main JCB office wear the RFID tagged watches and use them for security access at the office, as well as for paying for lunch in the cafeteria. I wonder what percentage of employees they have tagged?"