Wired Top Stories

Let Google's My Maps Be Your Geo Database

Adam DuVander — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Store geolocations inside a My Maps mashup and access the data anywhere on the web. The RSS feed produced by Google can be read by other services, or on your own site with the Google Maps API.

Make Your Site an iPhone App

Adam DuVander — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Use an open source development kit to easily transform your website into an iPhone App with JavaScript access to location and accelerometer.

Start Saving Now for Your Mini-E EV

Chuck Squatriglia — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:29:00 GMT

The all-electric Mini-E BMW unveiled Wednesday might very well be the perfect urban EV — if only the privilege didn't come attached with such a ridiculous price tag.

Honda's Still Pimping Hydrogen, This Time in a Cool Car

Chuck Squatriglia — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:15:00 GMT

Honda unveils a three-seater hydrogen vehicle at the L.A. Auto Show, betraying the automaker's resilient confidence that fuel cells are the energy source of the future.

U.S. Drug Czar Posts Roadmap to Buying Dope in San Francisco

Kevin Poulsen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:49:00 GMT

Trying to make a point of some kind, the government produces a Google map mashup marking the best places to buy medical marijuana in the City by the Bay.

Microsoft to Offer Free Virus Protection Software for Windows

Scott Gilbertson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Microsoft's new Windows antivirus package will furnish XP, Vista and 7 users free protection from viruses, spyware and other malware, starting in the second half of 2009. While it'll replace Microsoft's current paid service, we don't suggest throwing away any third-party solutions just yet.

Why Adobe Configurator Will Revolutionize How You Use Photoshop

Scott Gilbertson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:15:00 GMT

To help make Photoshop more flexible and bit easier to work with, Adobe releases Configurator — an add-on that makes it easy to customize Photoshop panels to suit your needs. The real power of Configurator lies in the ability to swap your creations and download tools from other Photoshop users.

Marijuana Could Be Good for Memory — But Not if You're High

Brandon Keim — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:40:00 GMT

A compound similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, improves memory in rats in low doses, and could help stave off Alzheimer's disease.

Nissan Brings Japanese Minicars to the U.S.

Chuck Squatriglia — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:14:00 GMT

The Nissan Cube, a 30-plus-mpg minimobile, looks like a marshmallow, and will bring Japan's love of small cars to the United States.

Judge Reveals Long Witness List in Lori Drew Trial

Kim Zetter — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:55:00 GMT

Witnesses in the so-called MySpace suicide trial include Ron and Tina Meier, the parents of the 13-year-old girl who committed suicide, and Ashley Grills, a former employee of Lori Drew's who helped set up the phony MySpace account that was allegedly used to harass Meier up to the day of her death.

Shout Out Your Whereabouts With Shizzow

Adam DuVander — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:45:00 GMT

Location-based social network Shizzow has launched in the tech-friendly Bay Area, following months of private beta testing in Portland. Like the location granddaddy Dodgeball, Shizzow focuses on connecting people in real life. Now you can easily let friends know which coffee shop's WiFi your laptop is soaking up today.

Grandfather of Microphotography Rediscovered

Alexis Madrigal — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:43:50 GMT

A set of long-lost photographs of microscopic images, among the first ever taken, has resurfaced at a museum in San Francisco. These beautiful microphotographs mark a turning point in 19th-century science from idealized illustrations to real images of individual specimens.

Phonecam Stunner Adds Web, GPS and Image Editing to Super Optics

Steven Leckart — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The Nokia N82 is still the best phonecam on the market. Fine optics and a good image-editing suite pal around with GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi and a music player to make this one well-rounded rig.

Nov. 19, 1981: Marcos Regime Puts the Kibosh on Games

Tony Long — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

1981: Citing their socially destructive effects, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos bans videogames in his country. Filipinos are given two weeks to hand over or destroy their game consoles.

Marcos was no stranger to imposing draconian solutions. The Philippines lived under martial law throughout the 1970s, Marcos' way of dealing with the increasingly radical elements — a restive university population and a resurgent Communist movement, mainly — that grew in opposition to his corrupt regime.

In this case, though, he was responding to pressure from parents and educators, who claimed that games such as Space Invaders and Asteroids were a "destructive social enemy, the electrical bandit" that was weakening the moral fiber of the young and turning them into a generation of obsessives.

While ample evidence exists — including testimonials from game players themselves — to support the argument that excessive videogaming can be both highly addictive and behavior altering, it's probably safe to characterize Marcos' reaction as a tad heavy-handed. It was not without its supporters, however, nor was the Philippines the only country to impose restrictions on videogames. Marcos' outright ban on all videogames, though, was unique at the time, at least in the so-called free world.

Just this year, Afghanistan's Islamic government proposed an absolute ban on videogames, while also considering the outlawing of dog- and bird-fighting, and billiards.

In the West, the violent content that is the central feature of so many games continues to prompt various restrictions. In the United States, for example, individual states have imposed sales restrictions on games deemed too violent or sexually explicit for younger gamers.

The videogame industry has been encouraged to be self-policing, and a ratings system exists, similar to what the movie industry uses. But enforcement is difficult, and the industry's policing efforts — in the face of such enormous profitability — have been half-hearted at best.

Source: Various

Datastream: Measuring Our World, From Decibels to Blood

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Datastream: Normal Blood Composition Per Microliter

Platelets: 200,000 - 500,000 >>>

White Blood Cells: 5,000 - 10,000 >>>

Lymphocytes: 1,000 - 4,000 >>>

Segmented Neutrophils: 2,500 - 6,000 >>>

Band Neutrophils: 0 - 500 >>>

Juvenile Neutrophils: 0 - 100 >>>

Eosinophils: 50-300 >>>

Basophils: 0 - 100 >>>

Monocytes: 200 - 800 >>>

Datastream: Decibel Levels

Rustling Leaves: 15 dB >>>

Ticking Watch: 20 dB >>>

Babbling Brook: 50 dB >>>

Vacuum Cleaner: 70 dB >>>

Noisy Factory: 85 dB >>>

Thunder: 120 dB >>>

Artillery Fire: 140 dB >>>

Saturn Rocket: 194 dB >>>

Datastream: Ph of Common Acids (concentration of 0.1 normality)

Boric: 5.3 >>>

Acetic: 2.9 >>>

Lactic: 2.4 >>>

Formic: 2.3 >>>

Citric: 2.1 >>>

Sulfuric: 1.2 >>>

Hydrochloric: 1.0 >>>

Nitric: 1.0 >>>

Watching the Watchmen: Geeky French '70s Timepieces Make a Comeback

Danny Dumas — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:00:00 GMT

: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Unless you're a deeply geeky watch aficionado, a frequent patron of Barney's or a protesting student during the French labor strikes of the mid-1970s, then you've probably never heard of Lip. Time to get educated. Thirty-five years ago the European watch manufacturer pioneered some of the geekiest tech and most innovative design ever found in a timepiece. But all was not to be well for Lip. A volatile political and labor climate in France shattered the 141-year-old company and led to it being closed for nearly 15 years.

After numerous false starts, Lip was jump-started back to existence in the 1990s. Since then the watchmaker has enjoyed a quiet resurgence by returning to its nerdy roots and hiring back many of the original designers of these timepieces. These reissued watches are both technically and physically identical to their DeGaulle-era counterparts. Here are a few of our favorites.

Left: Originally conceived in 1973 by Roger Tallon, designer of the TGV high-speed train, the Lip 200 "Dark Master" set the design standard that all Lip watches would follow for the next 30 years.

: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Another watch invented by Roger Tallon in 1975, the Lip Diode featured one of the first digital displays ever found on a timepiece.

: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A fairly radical departure from conventional design, the Baschmakoff Jump Hour was the 1972 brainchild of Prince Francois Baschmakoff, an illustrator and package designer hired by Lip. The jump hour displays concentric discs, and thin oblong cases have trickled into the design departments of many other watchmakers including Nixon, Diesel and Fossil.

: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Sure looks like it came straight outta the '70s, doesn't it? Wrong! The Lip Mythic is a new timepiece released in 2008. Don't worry though — it was inspired partially from another watch Tallon designed in 1972.

: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Also dreamt up by Tallon, the Fridge watch is designed to echo appliances (specifically refrigerators and iceboxes) that he grew up with in the 1930s.

: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Despite an ominous moniker, the Lip Mach 2000 "Mafia" was designed in 1973 as a more svelte counterpart to the Dark Master.

Supercomputers Break Petaflop Barrier, Transform Science

Betsy Mason — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:24:00 GMT

With two supercomputers reaching petaflop-per-second speeds, and a crop of other petascale rigs in the making, science will get a major boost.

Video: 'Bike Hero' Grinds Out a 'Guitar Hero' Tune With His Handlebars

Frank Rose — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:10:00 GMT

A supposedly fan-made YouTube clip shows a two-wheeled tribute to the rockin' videogame, set to the tune of a 1999 punk song.

Facebook's New App Verification Program Offers Protection — for a Price

Scott Gilbertson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Facebook's new application vetting program is designed to help you decide which Facebook apps to trust — but the program bears a striking resemblance to basic, mob-style extortion schemes and might leave you wondering why it's necessary.

Video Chat With Wired.com's David Kravets

David Kravets — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:39:00 GMT

Threat Level's David Kravets will be on justin.tv at 11 a.m. PST Wednesday discussing the Recording Industry Association of America's five-year litigation campaign. Kravets will discuss the conflicting judicial rulings about what level of proof is required for the RIAA to prevail in a file sharing case to alerting readers that damages are as high as $150,000 per copyrighted music track.

4 Things to Keep in Mind While Killing Zombies in 'Left 4 Dead'

Nate Ralph — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:13:00 GMT

This isn't your typical survivor horror videogame. These tips will keep you the blood bath going just a little bit longer.

Tennessee Adopts $9.5M University Piracy Measure Despite School Layoffs

David Kravets — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:19:00 GMT

The 222,000-student Tennessee public university system is bracing for layoffs and class reductions as part of a $43.7 billion budget shortfall, but Tennessee lawmakers have approved a $9.5 million measure requiring university internet filtering to prevent the sharing of copyrighted music and other works. The Recording Industry Association of America hailed the nation's first-of-its-kind measure.

Review: 'Wrath of the Lich King' Adds Finest 'Warcraft' Content Yet

Earnest Cavalli — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:18:00 GMT

Solid out of the box, the latest World of Warcraft expansion adds hours of glitch-free new content to the expansive fantasy world.

Despite Gloom, L.A. Auto Show Looks to the Future

Chuck Squatriglia — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:13:00 GMT

Even though GM and Chrysler are pulling out of the expo, the L.A. Auto Show promises a look at some new hybrids, electrics and muscle cars.

Defense Says Jury Pool Filled With 'Viciousness' Towards Lori Drew

Kim Zetter — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:15:00 GMT

Jury questionnaires show 80 percent of the potential jurors in the MySpace suicide trial have heard of the case, and half already hold "devastating opinions" of the defendant, says Drew's defense lawyer. Is a fair trial possible?

Jury Selection Begins in MySpace Suicide Trial

Kim Zetter — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of Lori Drew, a Missouri woman accused of making unauthorized use of MySpace to cause emotional harm to a 13-year-old girl, who committed suicide. Experts say the government's novel use of federal anti-hacking law to target Drew could have dark implications for the internet if it succeeds.

Twitterpillar Emerges as Fail Whale Becomes 'Endangered'

Lewis Wallace — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:50:00 GMT

When a colorful caterpillar and his wisecracking ice cream cone sidekick show up to inform Twitter users of a service disruption, a contest to name the new characters is born.

Nintendo's Newest Portable Is 10th-Level Awesome

Chris Kohler — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:00 GMT

The Nintendo DSi upgrades the company's popular dual-screen portable with two cameras, an SD card slot and the ability to download new games wirelessly — but it's only available in Japan, for now.

Navy Pursuing Dial-a-Blast Bomb

Nathan Hodge — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:50:00 GMT

The Navy wants a smarter bomb. Not just a bomb that can land within a few meters of the bull's eye -- but a bomb that can do so, with just the right amount of blast.

Seven (More) Gadgets Killed by the Cellphone

Charlie Sorrel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:04:00 GMT

Yesterday's list of Five Gadgets That Were Killed by the Cellphone proved rather popular. It also provoked a lot of response and some suggestions for yet more victims of the cellphone's relentless growth. Here are few of the things we didn't include, yet have certainly been clobbered by the gadget widow-maker that is the mobile phone.