The Daily Loper – December 30, 2006

Privacy? What Privacy? Edition

Todays links of interest:

• FBI is inside every recent cellphone
  The agency reportedly has the ability to keep a phone’s microphone powered on even when the phone is turned off. Not to worry though. The FBI can only access this feature with a court order . . . wait a minute, haven’t we heard this one before?
• Galactica Direct-To-Video Movie Set To Launch
  The guess is that it will be a prequel to the existing series, perhaps a bridge from it back to the proposed "Caprica" series. Let’s hope that they handle the retcon better than "Enterprise," which pretty much wiped out entire decades of previous Trekverse history.
• Apple inquiry clears CEO Jobs of wrongdoing on stock options / Wall Street relieved, shares rise — but until federal authorities weigh in, uncertainty remains
  Still, Apple did some seriously dodgy things: for example, giving Jobs 7.5M of options at a board meeting that never actually place. You should always be wary when one of the smartest guys around claims ignorance. Just ask Barry Bonds.
• Microsoft Says No Favorable Coverage Expected In Laptop Giveaway
  MS gave away free Vista-loaded laptops to various tech bloggers, but claim no quid pro quo in terms of rave reviews. We’ll give everybody the benefit of the doubt but hope that none of those bloggers were people who reacted to vehemently to the recent Zune artice we posted. And besides, at times these things backfire: ask Kirk about all of the free P-Furs albums sometime.
• Firefox man loses faith in Google
  One of the guys behind Firefox is crying "foul" because Google is adding tips that link to its own calendaring, blog & photo-sharing services when you search on phrases that include those terms. So we tried it, and it seems more like an ad than a natural search result. So no foul, though natural search results on google seem to get lower and lower on the page every day. Oh, and Google Calendar comes up awful high on the natural search results for "calendar" . . .
• AllofMP3 Plans to Stay Open in 2007, Lower Prices Over New Year’s
  We love a good sale.
• eMusic’s Best Albums of 2006
  Yet another list of best albums. What sets this one apart is that you can legally download the DRM-free mp3s from eMusic.
• Hussein executed, Iraqi TV stations report
  Finally!! Victory in the War on Terror!! Mission Accomplished!! September 11th is Avenged!!