New Halo 3 Maps available through XBox Live

As of yesterday there is plenty more to love about Halo 3! According to this Wired Blog post, "For $10, Xbox Live members can download three brand-new areas called Standoff, Rat's Nest and Foundry." If $10 is too much to spend on a couple of extra maps, and you have the patience of a saint, then you might consider waiting for the next map pack to be released as Microsoft says this map pack will become free when the next one is released sometime in the spring. If you'd like to see what your $10 will buy you... Red vs. Blue has put together an interesting tour of the maps, highlighting the new features and offering a few chuckles along the way.

Rogers inserting it's own messages into pages you are viewing

Canadian cable giant and ISP (Internet Service Provider), Rogers, is testing a system that enables it to inject messages to Rogers subscribers regarding their bandwidth usage. The company offers a tiered service with different bandwidth limits, the messages are meant to inform subscribers when they are nearing their limit. The move is setting off alarm bells with net neutrality advocates as the potential for using such technology for other purposes is very real. According to ArsTechnica, a Rogers spokesperson says "This is a trial to make it easier for our customers to keep track of usage. There is no deep package inspection and there is no privacy issue."

Japanese cellphone maker targets kids & parents with alarm and phone home features

Japanese cellphone maker NTT DoCoMo has developed a cellphone that features an alarm and location identification that will alert a parent, or whomever, that a child is in trouble and will forward the location of the phone via messaging. According to the CBC "The FOMA F801i produces two types of alternating noises when its alarm function is switched on, as well as emitting a bright light that is visible to nearby onlookers. The phone can be set to notify loved ones when the alarm is set off, as well as provide the handset's location, DoCoMo said Monday." It appears as though there are mixed feelings about such a device in Japan... one reviewer asks "Are you seriously thinking of the well-being of our kids, like my daughter, with this kind of product, or are you just trying hard to generate more money..."

NASA delays Atlantis launch until at least Jan. 2

A flight that was to begin on Thursday, for the crew of Atlantis, and then postponed until Sunday has now been pushed back until January 2nd and perhaps later. According to the New York Times, "one of four critical sensors in the liquid hydrogen section of the external tank malfunctioned during early morning fueling." The folks at Kennedy Space Center will attempt to make repairs on the launch pad but if it becomes necessary to roll Atlantis off the pad the delay could extend to later in January.

While I'm sure this is disappointing news for the mission crew, it opens up a whole new opportunity for my family during our vacation. We are arriving in Orlando on New Years Eve and plan on spending a week at Disney. The one thing that I've maintained would get me off of the resort is a shuttle launch! Perhaps we'll have a chance to experience the Atlantis launch in person, talk about your geek dream vacation!

eBay Exposes America's Pop Culture Obsessions in 2007

eBay has compiled a list of items that it says gauges where America's interest lays in 2007! With sales numbers to back it up, the online auction site is offering it's insight into where America's attention was over the past year. In the hard to get tech category eBay says:

"Despite the iPhone frenzy that swept the nation this year, Apple's iPod remained the number-one gadget on eBay, with 2,781,243 iPod-related items sold. There were 532,390 Nintendo Wii-related items sold, followed by 272,852 Sony PlayStation 3-related items and 158,132 Apple iPhone-related items. Additionally, 96,508 Guitar Hero-related items were sold, 63,851 Microsoft Xbox 360-related items were sold and 50,182 Halo 3-related items were sold."

Here's the complete list in eBay's press release.

Ontario issues new drivers licenses, hope is that they will be accepted at the border

The Ontario government has begun issuing new drivers licenses with high tech features that they hope will cut down on identity theft and be accepted for entry into the US in lieu of a passport. According to the Globe and Mail, "Some of the new security features include a second photo on the front of the card, raised lettering of the number on the licence, signature and date of birth, a fine-line background, a barcode, and ultraviolet features." and "The card conforms with new standards developed by the American Association of Motor Transport Administrators." Transportation Minister Jim Bradley says that New York State, Washington, Michigan, Vermont, Manitoba and British Columbia are all interested in introducing similar licences.

From the wtf department!!!

I really like this... but wtf Microsoft?


Thanks to TechCrunch for this one.

Another failed X-Wing launch

Wired brings us yet another failed attempt to launch an X-Wing fighter! It would seem that crazed Star Wars fans have nothing better to do with their money, as this is not the first attempt we've seen on YouTube. "Amateur rocketeer Andy Woerner led the 2,500-hour, $7,000 effort to get the thing airborne. His 40-person crew of doctors, mail carriers, construction workers, and other Star Wars obsessives labored without a blueprint, guided mainly by memories of George Lucas' magnum opus, scaled-up measurements taken from a 15-inch model, and their own high midichlorian counts. The biggest challenges: figuring out how to make the hinged wings lock into attack position and ensuring that all four class-M rocket engines would fire at the same time." In the video, they say they are doing it for the kids but I'm not so sure...

Military Labs fall victim to hackers

An InfoWorld news article describes a couple of "sophisticated" hacker attacks on computer networks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The article says "it appears that intruders accessed a database of visitors to the Tennessee lab between 1990 and 2004, which included their social security numbers and dates of birth." There is further speculation that the personal data could be a bit of a smoke screen for a more serious intrusion by "a rival government". Of course we've heard a lot this fall about apparent intrusions by Chinese sponsored hackers, doesn't appear as though anyone is throwing another volley in that direction just yet but it will be interesting to see how this develops. Seems to me if the labs were compromised by "several waves of phishing e-mails with malicious attachments" then there is a serious lack of education at these sites... my kids know not to open attachments or provide sensitive info via e-mail!

In-flight e-mail and IM coming at last

JetBlue Airways Corp. is poised to start offering e-mail and Instant Messenger access to travelers, starting with one flight next week. The service will be free of charge and will be limited but it's a step that has been a long time coming. According to the Globe and Mail "General Web surfing and e-mail attachments won't be permitted because of bandwidth constraints, and services on laptops and handhelds with Wi-Fi wireless access will be limited to e-mail and messaging from Yahoo Inc." No surprise here but Research In Motion has gotten in on the action, "Passengers can check other personal and work e-mail — but only on two BlackBerry models that have Wi-Fi wireless capabilities"

Other US carriers are said to be getting their own services ready and plan to offer broader capabilities in fee based offerings.