Leo Laporte

TUAW believes that the upcoming MacBooks will indeed be powered by NVIDIA chipsets and will be delivered on October 14th. A source tells us that Nvidia is showing off new MacBooks to their employees, and word is going around that the new versions will be released as soon as October 14th. Apple was first rumored in July to be incorporating alternative chipsets in future laptops. While Apple would still be using Intel CPUs to power their laptops, the support chips (including graphics) were said to be supplied by a company other than Intel. NVIDIA topped some lists as the most likely supplier. A subsequent report from MacSoda pointed specifically to the use of the MCP7A-U chipset in future MacBooks. - Leo Laporte

Over at the Linux Journal, Doc Searles is noting that today marks 17 years since Linus posted to Usenet, starting Linux (post). As a Linux user at work and at home I say, thanks Linus!" - Leo Laporte

WE GOT WORD that Intel is adivising mobo-makers and memory vendors alike about their new X58+Core i7 combo and to abide to a strict 1.65V limit on memory voltages, beyond which there is the risk of burning out the CPU. - Leo Laporte

Rubin’s message: Google won’t impose many of the restrictions Apple developers have been grumbling about. Unlike iPhone aficionados, developers using Android Market will, for example, be able to allow consumers to try their applications for free before they buy them. This may seem like a small thing, but developers name lack of free trial as one of the biggest reasons behind their lukewarm App Store sales. - Leo Laporte

Earlier in the day, Google unveiled that plan, which doesn't lack for chutzpah: Clean Energy 2030 aims to wean the United States from its dependence on fossil fuels within 22 years. Schmidt said the plan requires $4.5 trillion in spending to pull it off, but it'll pay for itself with $5.5 trillion in savings. "With this plan, it's cheaper to fix global warming than it is to ignore it," Schmidt said. - Leo Laporte

The company put up a notice on the main Apple developer Web page that, effective immediately, says developers are released from the NDA regarding iPhone software that has already been released. The NDA was one of the most frustrating aspects of iPhone development in its first three official months, forbidding developers from discussing their software and throwing into legal limbo the status of programs such as iPhone development classes. (As evidence of developers' frustration over the NDA, there's even a dedicated Web site whose boldly proclaimed F-bomb of a name leaves no room for doubt on their state of mind.) - Leo Laporte

The Copyright Royalty Board on Thursday froze the rate that digital-music stores such as iTunes and RealNetworks' Rhapsody must pay music publishers. The three-member board that sets statutory copyright licenses e-mailed the Digital Media Association (DiMA), the National Music Publishers' Association, Apple, and other download stores with its decision to keep the royalty rate at 9.1 cents a song. The board also set the same rate for CDs and established a 24-cent rate for ringtones. The decision is the first time the board has established royalty rates for digital downloads. The rates are set for the next five years. - Leo Laporte

After landing at the Atlanta airport for a security conference, Mitnick was detained for four hours for reasons still not fully explained. To make matters worse, while customs officials in Atlanta were busy inspecting his cell phone, laptop, and luggage, police in Bogota were ripping open a package he had mailed to his U.S. address on suspicion that it contained cocaine. The simultaneous incidents gave Mitnick deja vu of his days as a fugitive pursued by the FBI for breaking into computer networks, only this time, he hadn't broken any laws. - Leo Laporte

That option was supposed to go away early next year, as Microsoft was going to stop supplying Windows XP media after January 31. However, the company now says it will offer the discs through July 31, giving the option a six-month extension. (Update: PC makers will also be able to sell the factory downgraded machines online as well.) - Leo Laporte

Michael Calce, aka "Mafiaboy," has written a memoir about how he temporarily shut down a handful of major Web sites and led the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police on a manhunt when he was 15. Due out next week, "Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It's Still Broken," is a tell-all book and "cautionary tale" about how the teen (now 23) learned to hack from other "online rebels," according to The National Post. - Leo Laporte

Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Sarah Palin are both winners when it comes to spam. Does her name inspire you to download spyware? (Credit: State of Alaska) The amount of spam that mentioned Obama beat out that of his rival, Sen. John McCain, by a ratio of 6 to 1 during the month of September, according to a study released by Secure Computing. Likewise, Palin outranked her opponent, Sen. Joe Biden, by a ration of 6 to 1. The results were published Friday in a PCMagazine report. - Leo Laporte

In an elaborate robbery scheme that's one part The Thomas Crowne Affair and one part Pineapple Express, a crook robbed an armored truck outside a Bank of America branch in Monroe, Wash., by hiring decoys through Craigslist to deter authorities. - Leo Laporte

Many people are wondering what to do now that their bank has been acquired in the wake of the lending crisis. Well, whatever you do, don't click on links in e-mails purportedly sent by your bank. Security firm SonicWall said Thursday that it has been seeing e-mails that attempt to lure people to fake bank Web sites, where they are asked to re-verify their personal and bank information as part of a merger. In one example that targets people affected by the Chase acquisition of Washington Mutual, the e-mail asks recipients to click on a link and confirm their identity so Chase can "activate new security features for our new and old online banking customers." - Leo Laporte

DVD rental company Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it has reached a deal to provide about 2,500 titles from Starz Entertainment LLC's broadband subscription service to the Netflix's Web streaming service. Terms were not disclosed. The deal marks a major milestone for Netflix in its efforts to license newer content for its "Watch Instantly" streaming service, which offers viewing from a library of over 12,000 titles, most of which are older releases. - Leo Laporte

Barack Obama's campaign is reaching out to iPhone users through a new application that will make it easier for them to call their friends in battleground states and encourage them to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. - Leo Laporte

Congress has cleared the way for a potential agreement intended to save the emerging Internet radio market from a crippling hike in copyright royalty rates. The measure, which was sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., and now heads to the president, would green-light an anticipated deal between Webcasters and SoundExchange, a nonprofit that collects royalties for recording copyright owners from Internet radio stations and other digital radio services. - Leo Laporte

In a press event in New York City, Sony introduced a new model in its Reader line that it hopes will catch the attention of a public and electronics press that might be forgiven for thinking that Amazon's Kindle is the only game in the eBook town. The new device has a touch-sensitive screen and a gesture-driven interface that may help blur the line between a reader and devices such as cell phones. It also comes backed with a marketing campaign that takes a page straight out of Apple's playbook, but nothing approaching Amazon's wireless storefront. - Leo Laporte

Apple has denied a rumor posted on CNN's iReport page that Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack Friday morning. The unsubstantiated rumor, posted on the "citizen journalism" section of CNN called iReport, caused a sharp drop in Apple's stock price around 7 a.m. PDT before company representatives were able to deny the charge. Blogs such as Silicon Alley Insider initially published the rumor as written on CNN with the 21st century fig leaf--a question mark at the end of the headline--but updated its story after hearing from Apple representatives. CNN has since removed the post in question. - Leo Laporte

Nintendo's hit DS portable machine will come with a digital camera that will allow players to mix images, scribble on photos and create new faces, the Japanese game maker said Thursday. A model shows a Nintendo DSi, the revamped version of Nintendo's hit DS portable machine, during a... (Katsumi Kasahara/AP Photo) The Nintendo DSi will go on sale in Japan on Nov. 1 for 18,900 yen ($180), and will be available overseas next year. Dates and other details for overseas plans will be announced later, President Satoru Iwata said. - Leo Laporte

Nokia is the latest to threaten the iPhone's dominance with its just released touchsceen phone the 5800 Express Music phone, previously known as "Tube." - Leo Laporte

Nokia's new smartphone really looks good. Especially the technical features are very good. I am a bit concerned about the interface. It looks like it doesn't operate as smooth as the iphone and that would became very annoying after a while. I'm a happy nokia n95 8gb user btw. - Tobias Verhoog

The nice thing about the software is that it can be improved. But I'll wait for second generation Android or Nokia phones before I plunge into it. - Luka Marinko

After rumors surfaced on the Web a few months back that a new Kindle might be on the way, Amazon.com did its best to shoot them down, saying a new Kindle was not coming this year. Well, Boy Genius Report has gotten ahold of some photos that appear to be the Kindle 2, so we're curious what Amazon has to say now. - Leo Laporte

... She's a former TV personality, comes from a very political family, and is the first lady of a very visible governor. Had she been picked for the dem VP, I do believe I would have started pulling my hair out. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)

I sincerely don't understand how in the age of the internet and mass migration of cultures why the BLUE STATE elite would be so snobby about traveling to other cultures. It seems like cultures come to us as is. I talk every night to people all around the world and I don't leave my house. It seems rather quaint and snobby at the same time to demand airplane travel and petrol fuel to make one cosmopolitan - AnotherⓃⓄⒶⒽ

To all: I picked Shriver because she's someone who could be spun as a reasonable choice (i.e. family history in politics) just as Palin has but who would still, in my opinion, be completely ill-prepared as a choice for VP. I don't hate her at all, nor do I hate Palin. I agree that Shriver is smart and holds her own, and I do like her (except for the whole skeleton thing). Doesn't matter if I like her, though: she wouldn't be a good choice for VP. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)

September 4th 2008 marked Google’s tenth birthday. That means that during 2000 and 2001, when all the air was being let out of the dot-com bubble, Google was in its infancy. - Leo Laporte

I hope those seeds aren't genetically engineered. - todd

AppleTV update is breaking systems - Leo Laporte

Royalties paid to publishers and songwriters for the sale of digital downloads remained unchanged at 9.1 cents per download Thursday. Apple had threatened to pull the iTunes plug if the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board increased the fees paid to publishers and songwriters, who feared that the three-member panel might lower the royalties for a five-year period. They had requested an additional 6 cents while the labels wanted to recast the entire pay structure -- a proposal opposed by the songwriters and publishers who feared that plan could reduce their royalties. - Leo Laporte

I hope he does suspend his campaign again. And if that works, maybe he should just concede! - Dave "Maverick" Winer

Some job he's done so far. - Eric Geller

Please do. And this time make it permanent... take your ads off the air, pack up your lawn signs, and go live in Wasilla with your trophy running mate. - Michael Markman

"It's on the xiph.org and oddcast directories. I don't know if you can add an icecast stream to the Shoutcast directory. I'll check. I'm sure Flycast will add us to their directory, too. I'm just waiting for the twit.am domain to resolve." - Leo Laporte

"Oops. I was running podcasts from iTunes and it ran out of stuff. (Just for the test.) I've added more shows to the playlist. It's playing now." - Leo Laporte

"Funny you should ask. I just purchased a third dedicated server from Softlayer with a gigabit connection to the world and 4TB monthly bandwidth. That's enough for 2,000 listeners at 32kbps or 1000 at 64kbps. If more listen, I'll buy more bandwidth. I'm going to be setting up a Icecast server in the next few days. It should work fine on any device that can listen to an MP3 stream - which is, I believe, most devices. Stay tuned for details." - Leo Laporte

Earthquake scientists want to borrow your laptop or maybe a little space in your basement or garage. Researchers don't have enough high-tech monitoring stations to track every instance of ground shaking, so they are enlisting help from ordinary people to document quakes and pinpoint areas of possible damage. - Leo Laporte

I use BOINC and signed up for the project really simple too. Great idea and GUI for the project itself. - Ernie Foss via twhirl