Technology leads victims to criminals

A Georgetown University student who was attacked and beaten because of his sexual orientation, took matters into his own hands and searched Facebook in an attempt to identify his attacker. CNN reports that "When he found a profile of someone who looked like his attacker, police investigated, then created a photo spread of possible suspects. The victim picked Cooney's photo from the photo spread and Washington police worked with Georgetown University Public Safety officers to arrest him." This is the second such incident of technology being used by victims of crime to catch the criminals, that I've heard of this week. The other incident is a little more humorous, a Vancouver company that was robbed of several computers found pictures of a shirtless man on it's flickr site. It seems that one of the machines that had been stolen had software installed on it that would automatically upload any photos taken by the computer's built-in camera to it's Flickr.com account. They were careful to say that the man in the picture did not necessarily steal the computer but was obviously in possession of it! Score a couple for the good guys!

Toyota successfully tests next gen fuel-cell vehicle

Toyota took two fuel-cell powered vehicles for on a road trip from Osaka to Tokyo on Friday. The vehicles arrived in Tokyo with about 30% of it's fuel remaining after the 560 km trip, this represents a total capacity of about 770 km between fill-ups, and about 25% more efficiency than current models. The CBC's report says "Fuel-cell cars are widely viewed as the most promising pollution-free vehicles for the future because they are powered by electricity generated through the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen and emit only water as a byproduct." I am a big believer in the move towards greener devices, but living in a northern climate, I wonder how well these vehicles perform in cold weather?

Apple update bricks iPhones

The BBC is reporting that a planned software update issued by Apple, with a warning earlier this week, has indeed caused hacked iPhones to go silent. On Monday Apple said the software would "likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed". The BBC says that there are also reports of unmodified iPhones being negatively affected by the update. I'm a little intrigued by how much this has been discussed and yet owners of the modified devices are installing the updates? Just saying, if it were my $600 phone I don't think I'd take the risk...

Microsoft bows to preasure, extends availability of Windows XP

According to this Microsoft Press Pass posting, Microsoft is planning to sell Windows XP for 5 months longer than originally planned. "In an effort to respond to feedback the company is hearing from its customers and partners, Microsoft is extending availability of Windows XP editions among original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and retail channels for an additional five months to June 30, 2008.", the release says. Also, "...there are some customers who need a little more time to make the switch to Windows Vista." It's a bit of a back peddle on Microsoft's part, as their official policy is to sell a Windows product through their retail and direct OEM partners for four years after they ship.

"and now for something completely different"

TechCrunch is reporting that actor / comedian, John Cleese, has signed on to do a video podcast with The Podcast Network. The Podcast Network CEO Cameron Reilly said that “having a living legend like John Cleese joining The Podcast Network’s growing roster of talent is a coup for the business and a personal thrill.” Can't wait!

"Dawn has risen, and the spacecraft is healthy,"

Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) received telemetry at 9:44 a.m. yesterday, indicating that the Dawn spacecraft had achieved proper orientation in space and its massive solar array was generating power from the sun. Dawn has begun it's 3-billion-mile odyssey that will include the exploration of asteroid Vesta in 2011 and the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015. Dawn Principal Investigator Christopher Russell, University of California, Los Angeles said "This is a moment the space science community has been waiting for since interplanetary spaceflight became possible." NASA press release here.

iRobot unleashes two new robots

iRobot has added a couple of new home robots to it's line up of helpful little discs. The Looj, a remote controlled crawler, that was rumoured earlier this year, has been created to help clear your gutters of debris. More interesting though, is the ConnectR, a mobile VOIP speaker phone that you can control remotely over the web. iRobot's site says this about the ConnectR, "Combining the latest in Internet communications and robot technology, ConnectR lets you virtually visit with loved ones, relatives and pets anytime you wish – seeing, hearing and interacting with them in their home as if you were there in person." The Looj sells for $99.99 - $169.99 while ConnectR is not publicly available yet, but is expected to be in the $500.00 range and available late '07 or early '08. If you're interested in participating in a pilot program with ConnectR, iRobot is taking applications here. I signed up ;)

Famous Yeti footprint photo sold at Christie's auction

boingboing is reporting that a famous photo of an alleged Yeti footprint was sold at auction in London for £3,500. The photo reportedly taken by Eric Earle Shipton in the Himalayas in 1951, shows a print above an ice axe that was positioned for scale / comparison. Link to the Christie's lot here.

Canada's taxman gets win in court, e-bay to provide member sales data

The Globe and Mail is reporting that The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has won a court case seeking information about people who qualified for eBay's PowerSeller program in 2004 and 2005. According to the court filing e-bay members qualify for the PowerSeller program if they sell $1000 a month or more. There are 5 levels to the program with Titanium members selling in access of $150,000 a month and benefits include prioritized customer service, special promotions and sales tips. “The CRA is seeking to verify compliance with the obligations and duties under the Income Tax Act of certain Canadian taxpayers selling goods in an online marketplace,” said an affidavit filed in court by the CRA.

The last Business 2.0

It usually is a great day when I find a Business 2.0 stuffed in the mail! Today was not a great day...

With any luck Fortune magazine will pick up the slack, but somehow I doubt it.

RIP Business 2.0!