Headlines from Wired Top Stories
ITunes Rumored (Again) to Be Going DRM-FreeSince the dawn of time, or so it seems, Steve Jobs and the major labels have been at war on two fronts: digital rights management and pricing. According to CNET, negotiations between Apple and the world's three largest record labels may finally have produced an agreement that would give each party its wish.
Liveblog: Macworld Expo 2009Join us Tuesday morning as we report live from Apple's final Macworld Expo keynote in San Francisco.
Ex-eBay CEO Whitman To Run for California GovernorFormer eBay chief executive Meg Whitman plans to run for governor of California, a person with knowledge of her political aspirations tells the AP.
Judge: Warrantless-Eavesdrop Case Can ContinueA federal judge is keeping alive a lawsuit testing the Bush administration's warrantless-surveillance program adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. President Bush is leaving office in three weeks, but the case tests the power of the nation's chief executive — whether the president can bypass Congress.
Jobs' Health Message Makes Little Sense, Experts SayScientists weigh in on Steve Jobs' recent statement that he has a hormonal imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. What little detail is in the statement is contradictory, they say, and could indicate anything from hyperthyroidism to multiple myeloma.
Jan. 6, 1912: Birth of the Supreme Tech Skeptic

1912: French social critic Jacques Ellul is born. He will become a thoughtful skeptic who worries about the negative impact of technology on the human condition.

Jacques Ellul wore many hats: sociologist, philosopher, humanist, theologian, law professor. He studied the work of Karl Marx and embraced a good deal of Marxist theory, which he did not consider in conflict with his religious beliefs. The son of an atheist father and Christian mother (.pdf), he was raised without religious training. He became a Christian at 22, and his strong faith — Ellul defined himself as a Christian universalist — underpinned all his work.

In his cosmopolitan family, Ellul grew up with a distrust of statism, which partially explains his attraction to Marx. His dislike of the state did not prevent him, however, from taking an active role in the French Resistance during World War II.

He was the rare French intellectual who remained a provincial all his life. He did not beeline it for Paris, as most of his contemporaries did, choosing instead to remain in the seaport town of Bordeaux, where he was born. He was a professor at the university there for most of his career.

Ellul's ambivalence toward technology was grounded in large part in his religious and social convictions. He believed that "technological tyranny," represented by the increasing encroachment of modern technology into our private lives, posed a threat to both human freedom and faith.

He wrote widely on the subject, including the 1964 book, The Technological Society, which is considered his most important work. Ellul was not critical of technology per se, but with the ways it is used by some to impose their will on others. He was especially critical of the mass media, which he believed is completely manipulated by powerful and generally antagonistic special interests.

He wrote:

One has to wonder what Ellul, who died in 1994, would have made of the internet's long reach.

Source: Various

Artifacts From the Future: Happy Meal 2013 — Vat-Grown Kobe Beef and Flintstones RitalinA Happy Meal lunch spread in 2013 is complete with a personal McFryer and assorted dipping sauces from Honey Mustard to BrainSpike and Endorphin Rush.
Air Traffic Control Towers Go From Bad to WorseMore than half of America's air traffic control centers have exceeded their useful lifespan and many have "obvious structural deficiencies and maintenance-related issues," the government says.
3 Cheap, Safe Ways to Destroy Deadly Explosives

Most wars last just a few years. But the unexploded mines, shells, and bombs they leave behind can last decades. Getting rid of these lurking killers can be painfully slow and prohibitively expensive. That's why Joe Trocino established the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation with the mission of helping locals dispose of ordnance using inexpensive, easy-to-find materials. Here are three of its ingenious techniques.

Sometimes explosives are close to people or buildings. That's where Mr. BIP comes in. Just place an inverted tire rim over the bomb, secure it with rebar stakes, surround with sandbags, drop in an explosive charge, and detonate.

Construct a steel box, fill with small-arms rounds, and seal shut. Apply heat to the container using a propane, coal, or wood fire. Rather than exploding, the gunpowder slowly "cooks off"—leaving only inert metals, which can be recycled.

Unexploded tank rounds and scrap metal pipe are common in conflict zones. Luckily, they can be a disarming combo: Drop the explosive round down the proper diameter pipe and the lip of the shell catches, separating the projectile from the explosive primer.

Illustrations: Nate Van Dyke, Photos: Swiss Foundation for Mine Action

Milky Way Now 50 Percent Larger, Astronomers DiscoverNew, more precise measurements of the Milky Way indicate that it's 50 percent more massive and spinning 100,000 miles an hour faster than previously thought. Scientists presented the discovery at the American Astronomical Society meeting.
Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2008Stem cells, nanotubes and Martian ice -- these are just a few of Wired Science choices for the top 2008 scientific breakthroughs.
TSA, JetBlue Paying $240,000 to Settle Discrimination SuitThe Transportation Security Administration and JetBlue Airways are paying $240,000 to a District of Columbia man who, as a condition of flying, was forced to cover his Arabic-language shirt. In both English and Arabic, the shirt said: "We Will Not Be Silent."
After an Agonizing Wait, Picasa for Mac Finally ArrivesGoogle has released a version of its popular free photo management application for Macintosh computers just ahead of the annual Macworld Expo. Picasa has been available for Windows and Linux for years, and the Mac version is eagerly awaited by those looking for an alternative to Apple's iPhoto.
Lotus Targets Tesla With EV of Its OwnThe company that helped Tesla Motors and Chrysler build their electric cars is working on a battery-electric that will work just like the Chevrolet Volt but be a whole lot sportier.
Pink Iguana That Darwin Missed Holds Evolutionary SurpriseA pink iguana overlooked by Charles Darwin turns up on the Galapagos Islands. The iguana's color isn't the only thing that distinguishes it from other iguana species: New research shows that it separated from the others genetically 5 million years ago, much earlier than most Galapagos species.
Top Internet Providers Cool to RIAA 3-Strikes PlanHas the Recording Industry Association of America reached any deals with leading U.S. internet service providers that would terminate service to online file sharers of copyrighted music? Not a single major ISP contacted by Wired.com admitted to going along. And Verizon, with 8.5 million internet subscribers, balked at the proposal.
Habitable Exoplanets Could Be Common in Our GalaxyAsteroids circling dead stars in the galaxy are made of the same stuff as Earth, raising the likelihood of more habitable, rocky planets. Astronomers used the Spitzer Space Telescope to study six dead "white dwarf" stars, and announced their findings at the American Astronomical Society meeting.
Apple's Jobs Cites Hormone Imbalance for Weight LossSteve Jobs breaks a deafening silence on his health to tell the "Apple Community" that it is not a recurrence of his pancreatic cancer but a treatable hormone imbalance that is the cause for his noticeable weight loss.
Britney, Obama Twitter Feeds Hijacked After Phishing AttackTwitter acknowledges that "a number of high-profile Twitter accounts were compromised" on Monday morning, and used for pranks and spam.
What's Inside Raid? Watch Out, Kitty!

Pyrethrin and Pyrethroids
These poisons cause the ion channels in nerve cells to remain open too long, which makes neurons fire repeatedly, resulting in paralysis and death. Pretty vicious given where they come from: Pyrethrin is obtained from flowers of the asteraceae family (including daisies and chrysanthemums); pyrethroids are just synthetic pyrethrin. While both are especially toxic to insects (alas, even bees) they are supposed to be among the least deadly pesticides to mammals. Still, keep Raid away from kitty: Cats' livers can't process pyrethrin fast enough to keep from, you know, dying.

Piperonyl Butoxide or N-Octyl Bicycloheptene Dicarboximide
Not poisons on their own, these so-called pesticide synergists block the enzyme that breaks down pyrethrin in insects. Basically, bugs don't have a chance.

Isoparaffinic Hydrocarbon Solvent
The patent recommends Exxsol D60, a proprietary goo concocted by ExxonMobil Chemical and described as an "aliphatic hydrocarbon"—a hydrocarbon without aromatic ring molecules. Here it serves as an oily poison delivery system that coats the insect's exoskeleton, helping to get the toxins into the pest's pores.

Fragrance
Unscented Raid smells like a kerosene spill in a nerve gas factory. Lemon Scent Raid smells like a kerosene spill in a nerve gas factory with a hint of lemon.

Sorbitan Monooleate
Older spray pesticides were up to 80 percent hydrocarbons, toxins that aren't the greatest chemicals to be spraying around your house. Raid's current formula cuts the amount of hydrocarbons in half, replacing it with water. Surfactants like sorbitan monooleate help the H2O and hydrocarbons stay mixed properly.

Sodium Nitrite or Sodium Benzoate
These substances (particularly sodium nitrite) can be toxic in high doses, but the amounts present here are only enough to prevent the metal can from corroding.

Liquefied Saturated Hydrocarbons
Raid uses a mix of propylene, butanes, and butylenes as propellant. These are flammable and can cause breathing difficulties; you might want to stub out that Marlboro Light before spraying indoors.

Top 10 Things Launched Into Space in 2008Among the best things launched into space in 2008 were a tourist, a heat-seeking missile an Indian moon probe and the first Chinese astronauts to do a space walk.
Jan. 5, 1972: Nixon OKs 'Low-Cost' Space Shuttle

1972: President Richard M. Nixon announces that NASA will develop a space shuttle system, touting its reliability, reusability and low cost.

The Mercury and Gemini programs had put Americans into Earth orbit. Apollo had been to the moon seven times — landing four times — and would return to land twice again later in 1972.

But NASA wanted a reusable rocket ship to explore Earth orbit and to supply and staff a space station. Nixon gave the go-ahead:

NASA director James Fletcher's remarks referred once again to the shuttle's "modest budget" and reduced complexity. The plan was to make 48 flights a year (.pdf) at about $50 million per launch ($250 million in today's money).

Starting in 1981, the shuttles have made 124 space flights in 28 years, averaging four or five missions a year. The years immediately following the Challenger and Columbia disasters saw no flights. 1985 had a record high nine missions, and 1990 to 1997 averaged eight flights a year.

University of Colorado researcher Roger Pielke Jr. calculated in early 2005 that the shuttle program to that point had cost $145 billion, or about $1.3 billion per flight. (Based on a 1995 midpoint, that's about $1.9 billion per flight in today's dollars.)

The Apollo program cost a total $19.4 billion from 1960 to 1973. That averages almost $2.2 billion for each of the nine lunar missions. (Based on a 1967 midpoint, that would be about $13 billion each today.)

So, space shuttle flights have certainly been less expensive than Apollo lunar missions. But even adjusting for inflation and despite their many achievements, shuttle launches cost seven or eight times what was promised.

Source:Various

Cheap Thrills: Gadget Makers Bet on Budget Gear in 2009CES 2009 is the largest American electronics tradeshow, and it opens this week in Las Vegas. On tap: the industry's latest crop of budget gadgets, which manufacturers hope will offset an otherwise bleak economy.
Wired.com's Top 10 Videos of 2008It was good year for movin' pictures. Here's the cream of the crop.
Toss Your Most Brilliant Product Ideas Into Ponoko.com's FishbowlLive out your DIY dreams at Ponoko.com, where designers whip up production-ready furniture and laser-cut tchotchkes from your ideas. Ponoko's new service lets creative types submit concepts and designers mock them up. You can sell your built-to-order product on the site, CafePress-style. We request a few items we wish were on the market.
Apple Says Farewell to Macworld, Hello to the Big TimeWith Macworld 2009 around the corner, we take a look back and a look forward at the state of Apple, a company that has moved beyond cult status to become a dominant player in computers, music and mobile phones.
10 Most Awesome iPhone Apps of 2008

The iPhone alone is an amazing device. But it's the phenomenal App Store that's made the iPhone truly revolutionary, by giving thousands of independent developers the ability extend and transform the device with their creativity.

Not even half a year old, the store has surpassed a milestone of 10,000 pieces of software available. Since the beginning, Wired.com has paid close attention to the gems that shine among the dross.

We've plucked out a list of 10 apps — from mapping software to musical instruments to games — that deserve applause for their quality, innovation and breakthrough achievements. Here they are — Jay Leno style — with our top pick at the very bottom.

10. Stanza
A book reader that grabs free titles from public domains, Stanza has soared in popularity — making the iPhone a worthy competitor to Amazon's Kindle. And if those free books aren't enough, Stanza recently expanded to incorporate a store to purchase commercial titles. The app did a good job pleasing Wired.com's Charlie Sorrel, who modified his Moleskine notebook so he could embed his iPod touch in it. (That way, he could read e-books at the cafe while exuding an aura of pretentious artiness, instead of pretentious geekiness.) Download Stanza (Free)

9. SayWhere
You get used to typing on the iPhone after some time, but punching in addresses to look up directions is by far the biggest drag. DialDirections was the first to introduce speech-recognition capabilities to the iPhone with SayWhere, which translates users' speech into queries for Google Maps, Yelp, Traffic or Yellow Pages. It's a nifty app, especially for keeping drivers' eyes on the road rather than the iPhone's virtual keyboard. Download SayWhere (Free)

8. Tweetie
Twitter, a new form of micro-blogging, became more legitimate when it broke the news of the deadly Mumbai attacks. And Tweetie is the best app we've found to follow your Twitter friends. The app neatly separates Twitter feeds into categories, and the interface resembles the bubbly iChat interface that most of us have come to love. It even lets you search Twitter and save those searches for later. A must-have for Twitterholics.  Download Tweetie ($3)   

7. NetShare
This app is so cool you can't have it anymore. Nullriver's NetShare, an application that turns your iPhone into a wireless modem, disappeared from the App Store shortly after its release. Later, we learned Apple banned the app because NetShare violated AT&T's terms of service agreement. So only a lucky few (including some Wired.com staff) got the benefits of unlimited iPhone tethering, which normally costs about $30 a month, for a one-time price of $10. Bummer!

6. Shazam
Everyone's familiar with this scenario: You hear a really catchy, unfamiliar song on the radio and you have no idea what it's called. You hum it to yourself repeatedly and attempt to memorize the lyrics, only to forget it after slamming a few shots at the bar. Shazam will never leave you struggling to recollect these thoughts again: Hold the iPhone up to a speaker playing the unknown tune and the app will identify it — album, artist and song title — just like that. Download Shazam (Free)

5. Ocarina
The hottest music app in the App Store, Ocarina thought beyond the iPhone's touchscreen and found a unique way to use the handset's microphone. Blowing into the mic simulates the experience of tooting into a flute; you play around with four virtual "holes" on the screen to change the note. Ocarina users around the world can even hear what you're playing in a globe mode. It takes a while to get a hang of it, but Ocarina gives away just how creative iPhone apps can get so long as developers have enough imagination. Download Ocarina ($1)

4. TapTapRevenge
You'd have to be living on a different planet (or a retirement home) if you haven't heard of Guitar Hero, the game that gets players to twitch their fingers compulsively along with the beat of their favorite songs. Developer Tapulous took the same idea to make an extremely addictive rhythm game called Tap Tap Revenge. Tapping blinking lights on a screen to catch tunes isn't exactly the same as rocking out on plastic guitars and drum pads, but it's still highly addictive. And Tap Tap Revenge is so popular it's even offering the option to download new tracks to tap to, similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band's music stores. Download TapTapRevenge (Free)

3. Trism
Trism is such an addictive and appealing game that it blessed its developer Steve Demeter with $250,000 in profit in just two months. And deservedly so, because the game's really well designed and plays something like a Bejeweled with an accelerometer to move around the puzzle pieces. It wouldn't be fair to call it one game, either: There are three different modes to keep you hooked. Download Trism ($3)

2. Pandora
Whoa whoa whoa — free downloaded music on a portable device? You don't say. Pandora's alternative music distribution made this happen, and the app is cool as hell on the iPhone. Add a station for an artist you like, and the app will play that artist's music as well as similar tunes you might like. What better way to find new music with the wealth of new bands out there? Download Pandora (Free)

1. Google Earth
When Steve Jobs called the iPhone "Your life in your pocket," he probably didn't expect Google to deliver the world in your pocket. Well, virtually. Displaying satellite imagery around the world in a 3-D globe, Google Earth is one of the most intense, mindblowing apps that truly shows off the powers of the iPhone. If you want to impress your grandmother with a demonstration of just how far technology has come since she was a girl, this ought to do the trick. Download Google Earth (Free)

2008's Sexiest Geeks, as Voted by Wired.com ReadersThe ballot box is definitely overheated: See who came out on top in our annual reader poll of the brainy and the beautiful.
Predicting the Top Gaming Stories of 2009In this video feature, Wired editors predict the trends and stories that will shape the videogame business in 2009.
LittleBigPlanet Creator Talks About His GameAlex Evans, the man behind LittleBigPlanet, discusses the creation of the groundbreaking, creative PlayStation 3 game in this exclusive Game|Life video.

Headlines from CNET News.com
Fake celeb LinkedIn profiles lead to malwareBeware the links that purport to offer nude shots of celebrities on LinkedIn; they lead to malware, security researchers say.
Truphone adds Skype, Twitter to iPhone clientStarting next week, the App Store download will incorporate functionality for Skype, Twitter, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger communications.
Live blog: Macworld 2009 keynoteWatch this space for live updates from Apple's keynote presentation Tuesday inside San Francisco's Moscone Center, starring Phil Schiller.
A new era for Macworld ExpoWithout Steve Jobs delivering his trademark keynote address, Macworld Expo won't likely make the same splash. But the show goes on, for now at least.
Tech layoffs: The scorecardFollow the companies that are shedding workers with this live layoff tracker, which we'll continue to update as more news surfaces.
TechSmith's screencast service Jing goes proTechSmith's Jing project graduates from its beta phase to a full paid product. $15 a year gets you enhanced video quality, no watermarks and exporting to YouTube.
Hackers hit MacRumors keynote coverageMischievous Internet forum 4Chan appears to have hacked into the popular Apple blog just as executive Phil Schiller took the stage at the Macworld Expo.
LiveJournal deletes 'about a dozen' jobsThe staff cuts hit its San Francisco and Moscow offices, the company confirms after a rumor on Gawker hinted at a much more significant layoff.
Daily Tidbits: Charles Schwab updates trading platformInvestment firm, Charles Schwab has updated its trading platform to make it easier for clients to find information and use that to their advantage.
HP offers money for old tech equipmentRecycling program in United States expands recycling program from a trade-in credit system to no-strings checks. Consumers must pay for shipments, though.
2009 will be a dull year for gamingIn contrast to 2008, headlined by a slew of great titles and increasing popularity of gaming in general, the year ahead isn't shaping up to offer much industry excitement.
Small Indian firms buying their first computersHolding "the key to growth in India," according to a market analyst, nearly 22 percent of small companies plan to pick up their first PCs in 2009.
Green news harvest: How to create clean-tech jobsDebate begins on the best policy for green-collar jobs, and Lotus says it may build an electric sports car to rival Tesla's.
Green-tech VC jumps nearly 40 percent in 2008Solar captures lion's share of green-tech investments worldwide, bolstered by massive funding of thin-film solar companies, according to Cleantech Group report.
Apple shows us how to compete with MicrosoftThe Mac maker has never pulled any punches in competing against Microsoft, even when it was dependent on the Windows giant.
Logitech to slash 15 percent of workforceManufacturer of PC peripherals, based in Switzerland, says the retail environment has "deteriorated significantly" and will "worsen in the upcoming months."
Best Buy offers refurbished iPhonesRetailer is selling slightly used models of the iPhone 3G at a $50 discount, Reuters reports. And it's just a week since Wal-Mart got into the iPhone business.
MobiTV adds CBS to lineupMobiTV has struck a new content deal with CBS to include popular shows from the network in its lineup of mobile TV channels.
Cisco's home-networking pushCompany sees big opportunities in the connected home as it prepares to launch its first media-centric products at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Chinese government to Web companies: No porn allowed China has intensified its campaign against sexually-explicit Internet material by instructing companies, including Google, to curb the availability of pornography.
Photos: Apollo 8's mission round the moonSeven months before the first astronauts landed on the moon, Apollo 8 made a key round-trip into lunar orbit.