The protocol for the $11 disposable digital camera previously mentioned on Slashdot has been reverse engineered. You can build a $7 USB cable and add Mac, Linux, or Windows software, and you'll have a 1.2 megapixel camera you don't have to worry about. Picture quality isn't that great, but it's cheap enough to experiment with. It turns out that the camera's interface is similar to others supported by gphoto2, except that a simple hash function enables data transfers. No encryption was used.

U of Alberta professors Larry Kostiuk and Daniel Kwok have developed a prototype electrokinetic microchannel battery that converts hydrostatic pressure directly into electrical current. It uses just water under pressure -- no chemical reactions. Unlike turbines, there are no moving parts. The prototype combined sub-nanoamp electrical output from 500,000 microfluidic channels to generate microamps of power. The prototype yielded 3.8 microwatts/cm3. Canada.com article and research journal paper (reg. required)

GrepLaw is reporting an amazing security hole when Belarc Advisor is run improperly. The software is designed to give a complete profile of your system (including usernames, mounted directories, hardware and software installed - keys included!) ... if it leaks onto the web, google might index it for all to see. So far, though, it looks like most of these pages are people showing off their rigs. It is kindof neat that U of texas has an ALVA braille display to go with their flat-screen monitor.

(flat screen... bumpy screen... get it?)

According to the inquirer, the new high definition 1080p Terminator 2 DVD encoded with Microsoft's WMV 9 Pro goes beyond normal DVD region-coding: "it checks if you are in the USA or Canada, possibly by using IP addresses, and if you're not, you're terminated." Among WMV 9's extensive security features is the ability to "enable integration into existing business models" - can anyone confirm they've integrated into the DVDCCA's existing business model?

I saw this link on politechbot - wow, AOL kills little tiny puppies!! All just because they don't allow links in email signatures. You'd think they wouldn't care about the content of emails (yes, a sig line is content - you could just as easily add it in your self and it's indistinguisable from the body), and if they wanted to enforce this policy, they could just pare links out of the sig lines. But what if your email reader sees a url-looking thing that isn't a link and automatically makes a link for you? is tat.to now forbidden (it goes to a web page)?

To avert a panic over SARS, Hong Kong governnment officials have spammed 6 million phones with an SMS message saying Hong Kong isn't an infected area. The city of 6.8 million residents has had 16 deaths, more than 700 sick, and hundreds placed under quarantine. The spam was allegedly in response to a hoax website, not in response news reports of the mysterious killer.

* 2003-04-03 19:19:56 Hong Kong gov spams 6M phones to avert SARS panic (articles,spam) (rejected)

* 2003-04-03 22:57:44 Gasdynamic Laser an April 2nd joke (articles,slashback) (rejected)

Wired reporter Noah Shachtman calls BS on the gasdynamic laser rifle. They sell bongo drums. They sell mach 10 nuclear-powered bombers deveopled at this office. and more...

EETimes is reporting that Benetton will be embedding a Philips RFID chip into the label of every new garment bearing the name of Benetton's core clothing brand, Sisley. The 15 million chips expected sold in 2003 will allow monitoring of garments from production to shipping, shelves and dressing rooms. The I.CODE chip (tech info) used in Benetton's labels includes 1,024 bits of EEPROM, and operates at a distance of up to 1.5 meters. RFIDs look like they would be extremely uncomfortable in some Sisley clothes.

The above story made slashdot's front page, but it was listed as a 'rejected' story, so you won't see it in my stats...

Wired reported Noah Shachtman gives a first-hand account of his entry into a high-security area at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Yes, there are pictures. It seems that the birthplace of the atom bomb is being gaurded by string, backed up by guards with empty holsters. There's a little more info on Noah's Defense Tech website.

Steve, the Dell dude was arrested for marijuana possession and, if convicted, can face up to 3 months in jail (Reuters story) (AP story). Ellen, don't turn to the darkside!

RIAA: warning labels not necessary because most kids steal music.

In a New York Times article on proposed more descriptive "parental advisory" warnings, Hilary Rosen (CEO of the RIAA) stated that a new warning system was unnecessary because a large number of adolescents and teenagers no longer bought their music in stores. The article says that kids simply go to the Internet and download it, and that Hillary said most parents do not know how to access these sites. "There is no labeling on the Internet," Ms. Rosen said. "If anyone is going to express concern that's what it should be about."

So, if parents learn to use the internet, then they'll start labelling music better? Or, is she saying that you should trust 'music pirates' with your kids upbringing instead of the music publishers? Clever tactic - making music labelling a piracy issue.

The Washington Post is reporting that a new HIV-positive character will be introduced on Takalani Sesame, the South African version of Sesame Street. How HIV was contracted is still under discussion, but it likely involved either a cross-species blood transfusion, or transmission through childbirth (meaning that the new character is a Muppet-human hybrid). The show will have no discussion of unsafe Human/Muppet sexual practices or intravenous drug use, the two foremost means of transmission.

Commsdesign is reporting that Sirius Satellite Radio is petitioning the FCC for stricter emission requirements, which could cause serious problems with license-exempt services in the 2.45GHz band such as 802.11b and Bluetooth. Even though Sirius knew what the acceptable levels of pollution were in its band (2.320-2.345 GHz), they now want these lowered. Motorola's response indicates that vehicle ignition systems may be the biggest contributor of noise. Intersil (a maker of 802.11b chipsets) had an even more scathing response, blasting Sirius for a poor design (link margin only 6.7dB) and even claims that the new restrictions would be below the thermal noise floor. See also this netsumbler post and this 802.11b weblog.

EETimes is reporting that the licensing of MPEG-4 patents will be substantially different than the existing MPEG-2 licenses. The per-player fee will be substantially cheaper ($0.25 instead of $2.50), but a new "use fee" component of $0.02/hour will be charged to service providers. More on MPEG-4 in general at MacWeek; The MPEG-4 Industry Forum and MPEG LA are handling the licenses.

Submitted story:

A new Boeing 767-300ER was refitted to become China's presidental aircraft. What goes into a plane like this? Besides the bedroom, sitting room, bath with a shower, there a 48-inch television set, satellite communications, anti-missile defense systems and advanced avionics. And oh yeah, numerous high-tech listening devices. Wonder how those got in. The article at washingtonpost.com