The CRTC is refusing to identify three telemarketers accused of willingly violating the national do-not-call list, according to a report by the Toronto Star.

Firefox: Want to see what the net is saying about something you’re intrigued by in Google Reader? gReactions, a free Firefox add-on, gives you a glimpse at what’s being said on Twitter, FriendFeed, Digg, and other spots with one click.

It’s a fairly simple extension with no options, and only adds a single button to the bottom toolbar on Google Reader’s feed items. Hit “Show comments,” and you’ll see at a glance what folks are posting and discussing in relation to the main link from the RSS item. It doesn’t show these comments by default, which is a pretty great thing, and while it would be great to have a sorting option or two other than reverse chronological, gReactions delivers what it promises.

gReactions is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. While you’re adding to your own Reader’s abilities, check out our collection of custom Send To links.

3D TV hardware still has a ways to go, but Panasonic’s vision is starting to congeal: It will require glasses, and—at least for some content—it will be awesome. But wait, quick question! What will we watch?

I spent a few minutes planted in front of Panasonic’s latest 3D TV hardware, with a similar demo reel to the one Mark saw back at CES, displayed with the same massive technology—Panny's "3D Full HD” system, which imperceptibly flickers between left and right video data channels to maintain genuine 1080p content. Since then, their first 3D Blu-ray player has come out of its shell, albeit in a disguised preproduction form seen above.

I came away from the presentation with a different feeling than Mark did— there were times when the imagery was awkward, but it never felt like "work." It was still clear, though, that some types of content weren't a perfect fit for Panasonic's—and probably anyone else's—3D standard. Deep shots where absolutely everything is in perfect focus, for example, were a little disorienting, and hard to fix my eyes on. The preview for Up! was chock-full of artificial depth of field effects that, despite being programmed for 3D display, somehow felt a little off.

Live filmed events, be it basketball or the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, are where the system really shines. No doubt helped by the fact that the TV was the size of a upturned car, these shots actually feel immersive—the basketball bit honestly gives the feeling of a courtside view, which is completely stunning. This is an effect which it at least seems like moviemakers ought to be able to replicate, once they've gotten used to how to film for 3D.

Therein lies a huge, looming problem: as it stands, the 3D content starts and stops at feature films, and specifically, Blu-ray. That’s it. Pressed about the prospect of 3D TV content, Panasonic’s VP of Consumer Electronics Bob Perry, couldn’t come anywhere close to making promises: from here, it’s up to the content providers to decide if they want to give their customers 3D. According to Perry, they will, but the day when cable companies or now-fledgling IPTV firms jump onboard is firmly in the future. For now, the outlook is a lot like it was for full 1080p video back when it first hit the stage: the display tech is ready, but the content won’t be there for a while. Remember, there are still only a handful of ways to get real 1080p content on your TV now; 3D, at least for a few years, will be way more niche than a simple resolution bump ever was.

That said, there’s still time. Panasonic’s mum on release dates, since they haven’t even announced a specific product line yet, but the story’s going to go something like this: They’ll release their first wave of 3D sets next year, all plasma, and all at about 50 inches and up, with accompanying Blu-ray players. And there will be Blu-ray movies to watch on them, but anything beyond that is totally up in the air. One way to look at this is that 2010 will be the year that usable 3D hardware hits the mainstream; another, that 2010 is the year that the content-producing world either chooses to let 3D TVs live, or they don’t.

If you like to keep multiple Windows installations running for software testing or go-to backup purposes, you’ll be glad to know that Windows 7, like its Vista forbearer, can be run without an activation key for up to 120 days.

The command line code (slmgr -rearm) that could be entered at the end of three different 30-day periods to give Vista 120 days without activation works just the same in Windows 7, and Microsoft even confirms the work-around to PC World, calling it a “grace period” for new users.

In the meantime, those who aren’t quite comfortable grabbing Windows 7’s final RTM build from less-than-legal sources, or waiting until Oct. 22 for the official release, have about one hour left to download the Release Candidate.

Earlier this year Gmail allowed new users to import contacts and messages from old email accounts to make switching easier. Today they’ve added that feature for everyone, meaning if you’ve got old email you’d love to import to Gmail, now you can.

Assuming you’re already logged into your Gmail account, just point your browser to the Accounts and Import tab of your Gmail settings and click the Import mail and contacts button to get started. Then just follow along with the simple import wizard; enter your other email address, provide the password, and tell Gmail what you want to import, how you’d like it labeled, and whether or not you want to keep bringing in new mail for the next 30 days.

You’ve always been able to import other email into Gmail via POP fetching, but this simple wizard simplifies and streamlines the process.

Todd Bertuzzi has rejoined the Detroit Red Wings, agreeing Tuesday to a one-year deal with the NHL’s Western Conference champions.

The Army Corps of Engineers has broken ground on a serious construction project: a 150,000-gallon-per-second, $500m pumping station charged with keeping the city of New Orleans a little, uh, dryer than it has been in the last few years.

The pump is just a small part of a larger $14bn plan to seal up New Orleans’ levees and bolster the city’s disaster preparedness, but it’s without a doubt the most visually impressive. PopSci’s thrown together a couple of diagrams to give us a sense of scale, and trust me, they're necessary—see that little white thing next to the diesel engine? That's a full-sized human being. There aren’t a whole lot of companies that make combustion engines that cartoonishly huge, so my money’s on something from a company like Wartsila-Sulzer, which makes engines like this to spin the props on ultramassive cargo ships, and conceivably, pumps:

At any rate, the pump is expected to be operational—and NOLA slightly safer—by 2011. More at [PopSci]

No matter how many times I see this photo—of a squirrel crashing Melissa and Jackson Brandts' photo opportunity at Lake Minnewanka, in Canada's Banff National Park—it always makes me laugh. The fact that it's 100% real definitely helps:

Windows/Mac/Linux: The free Adobe Shortcut App gives fast access to look up keyboard shortcuts for the entire array of Adobe products from one simple place.

Once you’ve installed the Adobe AIR application, you can choose a program from the buttons on the top, and find a shortcut using the search box, browsing, or even adding them to a favorites list. You can switch between viewing Windows or Mac shortcuts, or even view the cheat sheet in PDF format. It’s a quick and easy way to look up the shortcuts without having to pull out the help file. Adobe Shortcut App is a free download for all platforms, requires Adobe AIR.

Looks like Microsoft’s working on a snazzy new glass lens Webcam capable of 720p video at 30fps (in full 1280×720 resolution). Other features are expected to include 4x digital zoom, and a built-in noise-cancelling microphone.

The camera is made from aluminum and has a stand designed to work with both desktops and laptops. Pocket-link goes on to say that:

The LifeCam Cinema is of course compatible with Windows Live Messenger, but also with Windows Live Movie Maker and Windows Live Photo Gallery. It’s also compatible with Windows 7 out of the box, as well as Windows Vista and Windows XP.

We’ve seen 720p Webcams before but the video specs on this one look quite promising. The Lifecam Cinema is expected to be $80 when it hits stores on September 9. [via Pocket-Lint]

Windows only: Good news for Chrome early adopters: Xmarks, the browser add-on that syncs bookmarks between Firefox, IE, and Safari, has now released an alpha version of the bookmark sync tool for the developer channel of Google Chrome on Windows.

To try it out, you’ll need to sign up for Xmarks beta testing and then click on the sign up button to test Xmarks for Chrome alpha. It’s a limited test, and our admittance is still listed as pending, so we’ll try to update with screenshots when we’re able to try it out. In the meantime, you may want to sign up yourself if you’re willing to test both the latest developer release of Chrome and Xmarks for Chrome alpha.

Xmarks for Chrome is a free download, currently invite only and Windows only.

Thanks Sam!

Filed under: Laptops

Jolicloud beta gets a thorough going over, Microsoft still not worried originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An increase in public awareness about aliens and UFO likely contributed to the record number of sightings reported to Britain’s Defence Ministry in 1996, according to Britain’s National Archives UFO consultant, David Clarke.

The Pocketables crew keep teasing us with more visuals of a purported unbranded Android MID, this time throwing up a good size comparison in the form of a Sony VAIO P lurking in the background. Very little can be said at this point without exploding the story into wild speculation — we’ll leave that part to you, dear readers — so we’ll stick to the seemingly self-evident stuff. The above screenshot indicates SD expansion and phone capabilities, and there are a few more after the break that show off an impressively svelte physique. Of course without a substantiated source and millions of skilled Photoshop artists out there, these pictures could still be fake — but aren’t they pretty?

[Via Slashgear]

Continue reading Mysterious Android MID gets more pictures, still no name

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Mysterious Android MID gets more pictures, still no name originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So you thought 100nm was about as narrow as lasers could get, huh? Well think again brother, because scientists at Norfolk State University have now demonstrated a 44nm ‘spaser’ that performs a laser’s functions by the alternative means of surface plasmons. By using such an unorthodox technique, the researchers have been able to overcome the minimum size limitation to lasers, and they even claim spasers could be made as small as 1nm in diameter. Peeking into the (not too near) future, this could improve magnetic data storage beyond its current physical limits, and even lead to the development of optical computers that “can operate at hundreds of terahertz” — and here you were, thinking that your brand spanking new Core i7 system with Blu-ray was future-proof.

Filed under: Science

World’s smallest laser cracks open the door to THz CPU race originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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