Somewhere a rumor began that Windows Mobile customers may be able to return purchased apps that they decide that they don’t want. Here’s how it supposedly works. Users may purchase the app, but must do so directly through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The user then has twenty-four hours within which to decide if the app is worth keeping or returning. Essentially, the “return policy” allows customers to try the app free for a while, the only downside being you have to pay if you keep trying it for more than a day. Pretty innocuous. However, like any return policy, users will probably find a way to abuse it.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile should start on opening day with 600 apps. Most users will probably never use 600 apps in their life, but compared to Apple’s staggering tens of thousands of available apps, and even Android’s offering of thousands, 600 feels small.

Windows Mobile began a viral marketing campaign to solicit apps for Windows Marketplace for Mobile. They are inviting developers to “bring your best ideas…use familiar development tools and technologies to create global market opportunities.” The interface seems streamlined, organized, and comprehensive with a three-step develop, test, and distribute pattern that may be effective in luring enterprising developers.

Microsoft Natal is a technology that looks to cash-in on the motion sensoring craze that has driven many sales for the Nintendo Wii. Instead of relying on a device like the Wii remote, Natal relies on a camera based technology. The Natal scans a room and is able to pick up a person, there is also facial recognition that is tied into your Xbox 360 profile.

With the camera based technology, Natal is able to recognize the entire body of a person. As movements are made in real life, they are shown off on screen. They utilized a few programs to show off Natal at E3, and it really looks impressive. There’s one game that plays a bit like Breakout, and was shown during Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Show. Below is the video.

As you can see, the Natal is responsive and has amazing potential. The hype that has surrounded Natal will probably gurantee a large amount of purchases. I’m a still a bit iffy on some aspects of Natal, specifically the ‘mime’ type feel I get from watching the videos. Second, it is going to have a hard time penetrating the market that Nintendo seems to have already with the Nintendo Wii.

Whether it’s a financial success or not, one thing is for certain — Microsoft Natal is definitely pushing the boundaries of gaming. Which is a great enough feat in and of itself.

The reason that phytoplankton is so important, is that’s easily the most important resource found in the ocean. Besides water of course (don’t get sassy). A large portion of the ocean’s wildlife depends on the health, and abundance of phytoplankton for food. Now, NASA has developed a new method to better monitor the health of phytoplankton in the ocean.

Before this method, chlorophyll was used as a means to track phytoplankton in the ocean. This worked as a means to show ‘how much’ phytoplankton there was, but didn’t do a great job of showing how healthy it was. Either the phytoplankton was there, or it wasn’t. Now, NASA scientists have discovered that phytoplankton emits red fluorescent light. It’s able to shine this light because during photosynthesis, there’s excess light that is emitted through heat, and also the red lighting.

NASA’s new satellite can detect this glow, and with it has a much more efficient tool for tracking phytoplankton health. If you look at one of the new charts, you can see where areas have abundant phytoplankton life and where its presence is waning. Being able to detect trends in phytoplankton life will greatly help researchers detect problems and devise solutions.

[via: NASA]

If you haven’t heard, Craigslist has folded to the pressure put on them by numerous law enforcement agencies across the country. According to these agencies the erotic section of Craigslist was becoming a rampant forum for illegal soliciting of prostitution to occur. Law enforcement had been pleading with Craigslist to get rid of that section, or do something to put a stop to the activity.

The initial idea was that Craiglist would start requiring a credit card input to be able to post on the erotic services. All was well, and not much was made of it…until…a murder and two robberies happened in Boston, due to ads posted on Craigslist.

That brings us to the present, and yet more pressure has been applied by law enforcement. Craigslist has yet responded, this time their answer to the probme is a — wait for it — name change. That’s right, in a week or so the erotic services will be called adult services. Apparently calling the same thing by a different name is going to make a difference (hence my original Ghostbusters comparison).

To be fair, Craigslist is doing a bit more to quell the prostitution problem. First, every post put up on the adult section will be reviewed before going public. Also, new posts in the section will cost $10 and reposts will be $5. These measures I can see making a difference…

The name change just seems kind of unneccesary. Oh well, you all can still have adult fun. Just make sure it doesn’t get to erotic I guess.

When the deal goes through, IBM would become the supplier of the Unix servers the company is famous for. This could drastically change the landscape. Neither company has made an official statement, but NYT cites reliable resources for their information.

Some other properties that Sun owns that will find a new home is, MySQL and Java. All things aren’t sunny however, as IBM could be facing anti-trust issues. When the deal goes through, they’ll have a dominant hold on the mainframe market.

Both stock prices are rising at the moment, which is an indicator the deal will be going through soon.

The biggest stat that jumps out is that 17 million people stopped buying CD’s last year. If you’re a fan of the compact disc this is bad news. Of course if you’re ready to see digital take over then you should be glad to hear that digital purchases increased by 8 million dollars. On top of that social network music listening rose from 15-19 percent.

If you’re looking for the demographic who’s making this transition, then you’ll want to thank (or blame) teenagers, and those over 50. While I’m not surprised at the teenagers, it’s odd to think that AARP members are part of the CD decline. Those around or over 50 control most of the wealth in the country, and you’d think they’re the least tech savvy.

As the transition continues, it’s going to be very interesting to see how the recording industry responds. These past few years, most have caught on even if they don’t want to. They’re hesitant to get into digital because of the individual selling of songs and not albums. Which of course hurts revenue.

The software the BBC used controlled 22,000 computers, causing them to send out spam to two email accounts set up specifically for the demonstration. It also used the botnet to launch a DDoS attack against a site owned by security vendor Prevx, with the site owner’s consent.

The question is, did the BBC break the law? They don’t think so. In fact, their response to the blogosphere discussions http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/13/bbc_botnet_analysis/comments about the televised experiment focused on how they believed they had managed to educate Internet users on the benefits of PC security. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/BBC-Responds-to-Botnet-Controversy

Struan Robertson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons, and editor of OUT-LAW.COM, thinks otherwise.

“The BBC appears to have broken the Computer Misuse Act by causing 22,000 computers to send spam. It does not matter that the emails were sent to the BBC’s own accounts and criminal intent is not necessary to establish an offence of unauthorized access to a computer,” he said, reports OUT-LAW.COM. http://www.out-law.com//default.aspx?page=9863

“The Act requires that a computer has been made to perform a function with intent to secure access to any program or data on the computer. Using the botnet to send an email is likely to satisfy that requirement. It also requires that the access is unauthorized – which the BBC appears to acknowledge. It does not matter that the BBC’s intent was not criminal or that someone else created the botnet in the first place.”

Machines can be compromised simply by visiting an infected website or opening an email containing a virus as an attachment and, according to TRACE, a quarter of all machines are part of a botnet. Protecting a machine with anti-virus software is the first line of defense however Prevx CEO Mel Morris believes that the security industry isn’t doing enough in this field. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.96800#1504549

Here’s a video with some more information:

Tabula Rasa, in a way wrapped up its story. Unfortunately, the game’s latest turn of events was forced due to financial strain. Tabula Rasa never a user based like NCSoft had hoped for. In the turbulent economic climate, this lead to the decision of shutting the game down.

NCSoft could have easily just shut down the servers, and packed it up. Instead they treated their gamers to one final hoo-rah. The game came to an end, with a massive onslaught of Bane (the game’s bad guys). The setup for the event started a couple of weeks ago, with this announcement:

“To All AFS Personnel;

Good luck and godspeed
AFS High Command”

Then, NCSoft provided gamers with some highly sought after weaponry. All in preparation for the game’s final event. They passed out a stone that leveled up characters at a high rate. Then, the final day of the game came. The event would start into motion. The Bane would overwhelm the characters, and then the servers shut down.

Here’s to Tabula Rasa, may the game rest in peace.

The Onion has looked deeper into the problem, and found the root source of the spam we get through email. The small, unknown nation of Koy4Goff has an economic structure built solely on the idea of spam. Quite an informative piece indeed.

HA, gotta love The Onion.

Spam Crackdown Threatens Koy4Goff’s Penis Enlarger, Free iPod Industry