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....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) wants
YouTube and parent company Google
to stop hosting videos he says are
produced by terrorist organizations. In a
letter to Google chairman Eric Schmidt,
Lieberman said, “Searches on YouTube
return dozens of videos branded with an
icon or logo identifying the videos as the
work of... Islamist terrorist organizations.
A great majority of these videos document
horrifi c attacks on American soldiers in
Iraq or Afghanistan.”
On its public policy blog, Google
responded that prescreening videos is
impossible given the number of clips the
site receives but that community policing
has been an effective means of ensuring
YouTube’s terms of service are notviolated. While YouTube agreed to remove
some of the videos Lieberman found
suspect, it left others online, explaining,
“While we respect and understand his
views, YouTube encourages free speech
and defends everyone’s right to express
unpopular points of view. We believe that
YouTube is a richer and more relevant
platform for users precisely because it
hosts a diverse range of views.”–T ESenator Takes War on Terror to YouTube
Lieberman sees video-sharing site as a haven for al-Qaeda recruitment
Senator Lieberman
wants to rid YouTube
of terrorist-spon-
sored videos. We’d
be happy if he purged
it of American Idol
wannabes.NANOTUBES CAUSE CANCER?
Researchers link exposure to mesothelioma
R
esearchers at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland,
have published fi ndings that suggest exposure to nanotubes—microscopic
tube-like carbon constructs increasingly found in consumer products—can
cause a reaction in the human body which is similar to that of asbestos.
The fi ndings are far from conclusive, however. Researchers found the pres-
ence of granulomas in mice that had been injected with nanotubes. Granulomas
are a precursor to mesothelioma, a type of cancer commonly associated with
asbestos exposure. However, because the nanotubes were injected into the mice,
not inhaled, it’s unclear how serious the risk actually is. Regardless, anyone
handling or manufacturing nanotubes should take all necessary precautions—
including wearing gloves and a mask to avoid potential exposure. Maximum PC
also recommends that you refrain from licking or gnawing on your nanotube-
laden tennis racket. -W SDespite cornering the high-def video
market, Blu-ray is experiencing
scant sales growth, according to the
NDP Group. Up until Toshiba ceased
pushing the competing HD DVD standard,
it was assumed sales were suffering from
the format war. But the lack of competition
is making very little difference for Blu-ray.
Instead, market watchers are seeing new growth in sales of upconverting DVD
players, which output standard DVD content to higher resolutions. – K SBlu-ray Blues
Tom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor
for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for
Microprocessor Report.I
ntel’s strategy for Atom processors and WiMAX
hinges partly on a new class of handheld comput-
ers called mobile Internet devices (MIDs). Larger
than cellphones but smaller than subnotebook PCs,
MIDs are supposed to make the Internet available
anytime, anywhere.
Actually, MIDs aren’t new. They’re the third major
attempt to establish the nebulous product category of
personal digital assistants (PDAs).
The fi rst wave of handheld computers broke in
the early 1990s. Most were underpowered, clunky
tablet-size prototypes that never made it to market.
The second wave crested later in the 1990s with
Apple’s Newton and Palm’s initially successful Pilot.
They failed to sustain their early popularity when
cellphones absorbed most of their functions while
adding the crucial ability to communicate.
Today, the few surviving descendants of PDAs
are smartphones, such as the RIM Blackberry, Palm
Treo/Centro, and especially Apple’s iPhone. They
emphasize telephony but also provide email, texting,
and web browsing. Generally, they substitute tiny
keyboards for the handwriting recognition once
considered vital for PDAs.
But smartphones have three problems: input,
output, and throughput. Although young people don’t
mind typing with their thumbs, it gets tiresome, and
the most sought-after affl uent consumers tend to be
Boomers whose eyesight and dexterity are waning.
Ditto for output: Smartphone screens are too tiny for
comfortable web browsing. And throughput is limited
by cellular networks, which need more bandwidth for
serious Internet usage.
The MID prototypes I’ve seen are somewhat
larger devices with bigger screens. They have touch
screens with better user interfaces, like the iPhone’s.
WiMAX can blanket wide areas with broadband
Internet service, especially when using reassigned
analog-TV frequencies.
Critics say that no mobile communications device
larger than a cellphone will ever become popular,
especially with men, who generally must carry such
devices in pockets or belt pouches. Women, of course,
have purses. But lately I see more men lugging purse
substitutes—briefcases, backpacks, messenger bags,
and man bags. If MIDs conveniently combine tele-
phony with universal Internet access, I think people
will fi nd a way to carry them. Not long ago, packing a
phone everywhere seemed equally impractical.FAST FORWARDMIDs: PDA 3.0? OMG!
TOM HALFHILLhttp://www.maximumpc.com|AUG 08 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| 09