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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
 Tim asks: "Does ANYONE understand this offer? I showed it to several college-educated people, and not one of them had any idea what item had to be purchased, or what the customer could expect to receive." Link
Previously on Boing Boing:
? Poorly thought-out label: Hershey's (non) chocolate milk
? Silly shipping label for wine
? Bad info-graphic: Ikea shopping hours chart
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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Filed under: Laptops
A Polish security researcher calling himself porkythepig is apparently gunning hard for HP this month, first exposing a slew of vulnerabilities that affected 83 different HP and Compaq models ten days ago, and today releasing an exploit that allows an attacker to brick any HP or Compaq laptop. The 'sploit takes advantage of a vulnerable ActiveX control in HP's Software Update, allowing a hacker to easily corrupt Windows kernel files, or even take control of the machine with a little more effort. Porkythepig says the bug affects HP and Compaq laptops running Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista, and that simply disabling the Software Update mechanism may not prevent attackers from taking advantage of the vulnerability. Even still, those of you out there running HP / Compaq machines may want take a second to shut down Software Update until HP issues a patch.
Update: Wow, we didn't realize how seriously everyone took their slang. For what it's worth, the definition of "bricked" has caused some amusingly serious discussion amongst Engadget editors today, and most agree that it should mean "dead beyond all repair" -- except for Nilay, who keeps stubbornly saying that people "un-brick" devices all the time. We'll stick to the most common definition for now, so no, this exploit didn't "brick" anything.
[Via Slashdot] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
DrO says: "A team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia, Norwich, has discovered the existence of 'grandparent' helpers in the Seychelles warbler -- the first time this behavior, which rarely occurs except in humans, has been observed in birds."
The study found that dominant females can be deposed from their breeding position by younger relatives. While some deposed females may then leave to live out a solitary life, a large proportion will stay to help these related females (often daughters) to reproduce.
"Because the subordinate females are helping to raise offspring they are related to, they are helping to produce more birds and increasing the spread of their genes," said Dr Richardson.
"For those birds prevented from breeding because of a lack of suitable habitat, this is an effective strategy. They are helping their daughters to raise their grandchildren by helping to protect and provision these offspring. This has never been seen in birds."
Dr Richardson added: "It is important because it provides a case that may reflect what happens in humans and gives us a way of looking at what pressures are creating these 'grandparent' helpers.
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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Filed under: Wearables
Yeah, we've got three Phosphor watches to giveaway this week, and today we're putting the last one up for grabs. No longer do you need to be an executive at E Ink Corp to get an electrophoretic display in your classy analog timepiece -- you just need to enter our contests (or pony up $250 of your own cash to guarantee it). Sexy hands-on shots below (which, ironically, do not really depict the watch on or even near our unworthy hands).
Oh, and don't forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.)
- Leave a comment below. How about you tell us what your current timepiece is? There's no wrong answer.
- You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) But you CAN try your luck at the other two watches, just know that you can't win twice.
- If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
- Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. One winner per giveaway (as if that wasn't obvious). Each will receive a Phosphor watch ($250 US).
- Entries can be submitted until Thursday, December 27th, 11:59PM EDT. Good luck!
- Full rules can be found here.
Just in case you missed Monday's or yesterday's contest, here you go.
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment  Apparently, DirecTV isn't looking to pay its lawyers any overtime over the holiday break, as it has been settling outstanding lawsuits recently like it's going out of style. Just over a week after it put aside its differences with Cox, the satellite provider has decided to make amends with Comcast over a suit filed in May. If you'll recall, DirecTV was quite flustered by Comcast's "survey," which allegedly found that two-thirds of respondents preferred Comcast's HD picture over that offered up by DISH Network / DirecTV. Notably, the actual terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but spokespeople from both outfits affirmed that they were satisfied with the outcome -- which, by the way, does allow Comcast to continue to cite the survey. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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Filed under: Wireless 
Wisair's been in the wireless USB game for some time already, and it now looks set to expand its offerings even further, with a new WUSB module of it's now making its debut at the FCC. As the device's manual helpfully informs, this one will let you set up an ad hoc wireless network between two computers without the need for a router or any network infrastructure, or between a PC and a USB-equipped peripheral like a printer or an external drive. Naturally, there's no word on a price or release date just yet, although it seems likely that the final product will come from another company and not Wisair itself, at least if the company's past track record is any indication. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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