The Texas attorney general filed a lawsuit against Internet telephone service
Vonage, saying the company fails to clearly tell consumers about the limits of
911 emergency calling over its service. The suit stems from a incident last
month in Houston where a husband and wife were shot by burglars while their
daughter tried to call 911 on a Vonage line and reached a recording. Independent
VOIP providers typically do not have access to the traditional 911 system which
carries calls to emergency dispatchers and transmits data about the caller's
location. As a work-around, Vonage tells customers they need to activate a 911
service, but that service directs calls to administrative telephone lines that
in some cases are unanswered.
MRI in a Pill
A South Korean semiconductor manufacturer has announced an image sensor for
pill-size cameras that doctors can use to obtain accurate information about a
patient's digestive tract. The image sensor can take up to 50,000 photographs in
an eight-hour tour of the patient's insides by taking two pictures a second.
Mass production will begin in the second half of 2005.
Mouse Adaptor for Shaky Hands
IBM has developed an adjustible mouse adapter that compensates for the shakes of
patients with hand tumors and other causes of uncontrollable shaking. According
to the International Essential Tremor Foundation, in the US alone nearly 10
million people are affected by essential tremor, the most common form of hand
tremors. This adapter will plug in between the mouse and computer and is
compatible with existing mice.
Cell Phone Helmets for Bikers
Motorcyclists are now able to talk and ride by using a mobile-phone headset for
crash helmets, demonstrated at the CeBit trade show. The headsets (full-face,
open-face and flip-up), have audio capabilities at speeds up to 62 miles per
hour.
Now You CAN Return Unwrapped Software
In the settlement of a California lawsuit Microsoft, Symantec, Adobe and others
have agreed to publish EULA agreements on their websites for their respective
products, while CompUSA, Best Buy, and Staples agreed to allow consumers to
return unwrapped software for full monetary refunds, even if the shrink-wrap has
been opened. Details of the settlement can be found at:
http://www.techfirm.com/AmendedComplaint-Filed.pdf
Great New Escape
Virtual reality, technology that gives users the feeling they are somewhere
else, can be of great value in treating people suffering from a variety of
physical or psychological conditions. Therapy based on the technology is being
used in a small number of U.S. clinics to treat burn victims and people with
phobias such as the fear of flying, spiders, and heights. Researchers say the
technology holds enormous promise for treating PTSD, addictions and for use as a
distraction technique in painful dental and medical procedures, including
chemotherapy and physical therapy.
Creative Commons Rewrites Copyright!
When Chuck D and the Fine Arts Militia released their latest single, "No Meaning
No," They encouraged everyone to view, copy, mix, remix, sample, imitate, parody
and even criticize it under a new licensing scheme called Creative Commons that
some say may be better suited to the electronic age than the controversial
copyright license. More than 10 million other creations -- ranging from the
movie "Outfoxed" and songs by the Beastie Boys to the BBC's news footage and the
tech support books -- have been distributed using Creative Commons licenses,
which allow artists to keep "some rights reserved" rather than "all rights
reserved". Online users can go to www.CreativeCommons.org and search its
archives.
WinFS to be included in WinXP Update
Microsoft has said it plans to add support for WinFS to Windows XP. The
operating system will support all three key Longhorn components WinFS, Avalon,
and Indigo. Win FS is built on top of the fundamentals, which would include
security features and technology to make sure applications and drivers don't
conflict. A first beta of Longhorn is set to ship by the end of June. Microsoft
plans to have a beta test version of WinFS available when Longhorn ships,
probably late next year, and add it as an update to WinXP later. Microsoft is
expected to handout a pre-beta preview release at the Microsoft Win HEC
Conference.
New Photoshop CS Details
Adobe is still finding its bearings after it unintentionally released details of
its next Photoshop upgrade. The company quickly pulled down the announcement,
but Google never forgets. Check out Publish.com's rundown of the new
features: (a href="http://ct.eletters.whatsnewnow.com/rd/cts?d=181-431-1-278-41858-19872-0-0-0-1">here.
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Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an
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