A dense bed of light-sensitive bacteria has been developed as a unique kind of photographic film. Although it takes 4 hours to take a picture and only works in red light, it also delivers extremely high resolution.
The “living camera” uses light to switch on genes in a genetically modified bacterium that then cause an image-recording chemical to darken. The bacteria are tiny, allowing the sensor to deliver a resolution of 100 megapixels per square inch.

Living camera uses bacteria to capture image

A 122-year-old dairy equipment company has used embedded Linux in a robotic cow-milking system (the system is robotic, not the cows). The Voluntary Milking System (VMS) allows cows to decide when to be milked, and gives dairy farmers a more independent lifestyle, free from regular milkings, the company says.

Device Profile: DeLaval Voluntary Milking System

NEWSPAPERS editors were threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act last night if they published details of a conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush in which the President is alleged to have suggested bombing al-Jazeera, the Arab news network. Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General, informed newspapers editors including that of The Times that “publication of a document that has been unlawfully disclosed by a Crown servant could be in breach of Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act.”

The Blair Government has obtained court injunctions against newspapers before but it has never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents.
Under a front-page headline “Bush plot to bomb his ally” in the Daily Mirror yesterday, a secret minute of the conversation in April 2004 records the President allegedly suggesting that he would like to bomb the channel’s studios in Doha, capital of Qatar. Richard Wallace, the Editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night: “We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given ‘no comment’ officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under Section 5.”

Editors are threatened over TV station bombing claim...

For the third time in recent months, a federal judge has balked at allowing government investigators to track a citizen via cell phone in real time without agents showing probable cause.
Andrew J. Peck, a magistrate judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asked the Justice Department to clarify its arguments after learning that a Long Island magistrate judge initially denied a similar request in August.

Judges Reject Cell-Phone Tracking

If recent research at Vanderbilt University bears fruit, we might not need light bulbs anymore.
Vanderbilt chemists have discovered a way to create white light with extremely tiny crystals. They say those "nanocrystals" could be used with light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, the devices often used to illuminate your alarm clock's digital display, your cell phone or your car's brake lights with what's known as solid-state lighting.

Vanderbilt discovery could spark a revolution in lighting...

For this week’s Engadget Interview, veteran journalist J.D. Lasica bumped into Paul Griffin, CEO of Griffin Technology, at the Portable Media Expo and Podcasting Conference in Ontario, Calif., on Friday. The self-effacing Griffin discusses the panoply of products his company puts out for gadget lovers, Apple’s dominance in the portable music market, and what’s ahead for Griffin in the peripherals space.

Interview: Paul Griffin, CEO/founder of Griffin Technology

Although head-mounted displays have come a long way recently, even the sleekest models can still make you look pretty geeky. Well Japanese manufacturer Coccolo’s eyeglasses-mounted QVGA Vcam CVC-4 probably won’t win you any beauty contests either, but with a semi-unobtrusive profile (except for the thick dangling cable) and an expected price of $250, it could turn out to be a great deal. Unlike previous attempts that we’ve seen, the CVC-4 doesn’t make you look like that dude from Star Trek TNG, although we won’t get to see one up close anytime soon, as the scheduled April 2006 release is for Japan only. For a total geek-out, we’re gonna try to use one of these in conjunction with the DoubleVision Pro head-mounted surveillance cam, so we can enjoy instant replays of staring at a computer monitor 15 hours a day.

Coccolo’s $250 Vcam CVC-4 head-mounted display...

EchoStar Communications Corp., the second-largest U.S. satellite-television provider, said a 125- person town in Texas changed its name to DISH, the company's stock ticker, in exchange for free TV services.
Clark, Texas, legally changed its name to DISH yesterday at a city council meeting, Mayor Bill Merritt said at a press conference today. EchoStar in August made the offer of free programming for 10 years to a U.S. municipality willing to rename itself.

EchoStar Gets Town to Change Name to Its Ticker: DISH

Cingular Wireless stores today will start selling a small, brightly colored cell phone called the Firefly, becoming the first national carrier to offer a mobile phone tailor-made for children 12 years old and younger.

Cingular to Offer Phones For the 12-and-Under Set

When Blu-ray Disc debuts next Spring, long-time supporter HP may not be among the companies heralding the launch because the format ships without a technology the PC vendor wants included.
This week, the Blu-ray Ray Disc Association (BDA) said the next-generation optical disc format's copy-protection system would allow users to make personal copies to allow the content to be displayed on multiple machines connected on a home network.
That was arguably always part of the plan, since it's part of the AACS copy-protection system already adopted by the BDA - and, indeed, the DVD Forum for HD DVD.
According to a Reuters report HP told the BDA last month that this so-called 'mandatory managed copy' (MMC) must be in the BD-ROM specification if the format was to retain the PC vendor's backing. This despite the fact that HP itself told the world in September that MMC was part of Blu-ray. It made the comment in response to claims from Microsoft and Intel - both HD DVD backers - that Blu-ray lacked MMC.
HP is also supposed to have told the BDA it wants the format to support Microsoft's iHD interactivity technology, due to ship with Windows Vista. Supporting iHD will ensure full compatibility with all major operating systems, HP believes.

Blu-ray backer HP threatens to back HD DVD too