Layar: Layar is a mobile augmented reality browser, developed by the Amsterdam-based company SPRXmobile. It displays real time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of your the mobile phone. Layar was first released on June 17th 2009 in the Netherlands for Android phones. A version for the iPhone 3GS will be released end of summer; any other mobile phone with a GPS and compass will be considered. Via...

I’m sick of all the attention the media is giving Michael Jackson, too, but I promise you this is absolutely brilliant: Studio Brussel, a publicly funded radio station in Belgium also known at StuBru, has created a very unique website as a tribute to Michael Jackson. The site is called Eternal Moonwalk and is a video slideshow of people, animals and inanimate objects doing Michael Jackson’s signature...

Larry J. Sabato: Tweets of the Week A new Crystal Ball feature, Tweets of the Week, will showcase some highlights from the past week in politics. This commentary is just a sampling of the analysis (and, yes, sometimes humor) of University of Virginia Center for Politics Director, and Crystal Ball founder, Larry Sabato who can be found on Twitter by clicking here. July 8: With Madigan gone, Gov. Pat Quinn (D)...

Sri Lankan journalist Nalaka Gunawardene notes in his blog how the twin technologies of satellite television and the Internet transformed far-away Michael Jackson into a local icon across Asia. He also mentions about a 2001 documentary named Michael Jackson Comes to Manikganj that probed how far and wide satellite television was influencing and impacting culture, society and even politics of South Asia. See...

It’s a few days late, but I don’t recall seeing much comment on this milestone: CompuServe has been shut down by AOL, the current owner of the name and whatever was left of the company. To enlighten those younger than their forties, CompuServe was one of the first online services, back in the dark ages before the Internet (which was indeed capitalized in the early days…) and the World Wide...

So much is being written about Bing I can hardly keep up. Virtually all of it grudgingly good. Take, for example, David Pogue’s rave in the NYTimes today. He kicks it off with this: For the last 15 years, Microsoft’s master business plan seems to have been, “Wait until somebody else has a hit. Then copy it.” I know that sounds mean, but come on — the list of commercial hits/Microsoft knockoffs...

After President Obama’s visit to Russia, it would appear that East Europeans are resting just a little bit easier. For Poland’s Rceczpospolita, columnist Jerzy Haszczynski writes in part: “We still don’t know whether plans to build components of an anti-missile shield in our country will remain plans and nothing more. But we know, pressure from Russia notwithstanding, that the project is...

While Michael Arrington revels in I told you so, deservedly, his colleague, MG Siegler, rockets to the top of the techmeme heights with his post, Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft. And It’s Made of Chrome: Wow. So you know all those whispers about a Google desktop operating system that never seem to go away? You thought they might with the launch of Android, Google’s mobile OS. But they persisted....

For those of us who love our Blackberry devices (my Blackberry Storm has made me too organized) and love blogging, Wordpress has given us another reason to love our Blackberries even more: WORDPRESS FOR BLACKBERRY! Yes it is public beta mode right now, still in development, and has some bugs but I have to say one word: COOL! Yeah yeah… I’m displaying my inner geek (well protected in the body of...

Just imagine. Even more omnipresent than the camera phone. Underexposed: Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a fabric made of a mesh of light-sensitive fibers that collectively act like a rudimentary camera. The fibers, which each can detect two frequencies of light, produced signals that when amplified and processed by a computer reproduced an image of a smiley face near...

It’s an American product that most people consider as pure as rain and as wholesome as apple pie. Is it possible to criticize Disneyland as a ‘gigantic world encompassing brain-washing facility’? After attacking the insidious way that Disney stories have soft-peddled destructive Western man to the globe’s children, this article from Mexico’s La Jornada criticizes a new Mexican...

With time to prepare, video sites and social networks appear to have kept running smoothly during the Michael Jackson memorial service and tribute: “Overall, the Internet is holding up great,” said Jennifer Donovan, a spokeswoman for Akamai, a company that handles Internet traffic for a variety of large clients. “We have not heard of any sites being down during this event.” Traffic to news sites supported...

One may hate Michael Jackson, or love him madly, or remain totally indifferent to him, but one just can’t ignore this musical phenomenon and his mass appeal. Jackson’s memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is expected to be an even bigger global internet video-viewing event than the inauguration of US President Barack Obama, reports ANI. A Michael Jackson page at Facebook has already...

In Renaissance Europe, and in the ancient and medieval Hindu and Mughal societies, the young courtesans were much in news and played a vital role. Even in this computer age the tradition continues as exemplified by a Romanian teenager who auctioned off her virginity for $20,000. Alina Percea, 18, has spoken for the first time about her night with the highest bidder, reports LiveNews. Percea (photo above) auctioned...

The big three lighting companies — General Electric, Sylvania and Philips — are all working on energy efficient incandescent bulbs, as is Auer Lighting of Germany and Toshiba of Japan. The NYTimes: Indeed, the incandescent bulb is turning into a case study of the way government mandates can spur innovation. “There’s a massive misperception that incandescents are going away quickly,” said Chris Calwell,...

CNet on the Twitter-inspired rise of URL-shortening services: URL-shortening services are abundant and becoming more so. They’re usually designed with a priority on minimum character length, not easy reading: Is.gd, Bit.ly, Twurl.nl, Tr.im, Sn.im”, Cligs, and TinyURL. If you want to see dozens more, Mashable has a long list. And the traffic they handle is large. On a typical day right now, Bit.ly...

Britain’s top judge has expressed concern about the use of pilot-less drones as weapons of war. His comments come at a time when there is a growing international concern about the danger these pose to the civilians. Drones have become an important weapon against the Taliban in the remote mountainous borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, reports The Independent. “Last month the US admitted to...

I suggest you watch full screen… Web Site Story is a beautifully shot & acted, wonderfully witty parody of West Side Story that’s burning up the internets. It was written and directed by Sam Reich for CollegeHumor. On his blog Sam says it’s a tribute to his three big loves — film, theater, and the internet: Jeff Rubin, king of puns, thought of the title. The opening Google Maps shots...

I did not say yesterday that I believed there would be paid content on the web. I do. As does Fred Wilson, a VC who puts his money where his mouth is. Says Fred: [L]et’s talk about freeconomics. I don’t believe everything will be free on the Internet. There will be plenty of paid business models. For example, if you want to watch Major League Baseball games live over the Internet, you’ll pay...

Wired: A federal judge on Thursday overturned guilty verdicts against Lori Drew, issuing a directed acquittal on three misdemeanor charges. Drew, 50, was accused of participating in a cyberbullying scheme against 13-year-old Megan Meier who later committed suicide. The case against Drew hinged on the government’s novel argument that violating MySpace’s terms of service was the legal equivalent of computer...