Hot Stuff
Play the Aim Game - High-tech urinal games
Hot Click: Play the Aim Game
Students at MIT devised the You're In Control system. Sensors inside a urinal detect the motion of a stream of urine, so you can play games such as an offshoot of Whack-A-Mole. See it on "Tech Live."

Symantec security

Hot Topic: Symantec Spam Scam
A new trend in software piracy has law enforcement officials and at least one company particularly concerned. Tonight on "Tech Live," find out why ordering software from email deals could cause problems you never imagined.



More Stuff

Rocket Hobbyists Under Fire
So you want to build a model rocket? Sounds like a fun hobby. But US lawmakers are worried that amateur rockets could be turned into weapons. Rocket junkies say strict new federal government-imposed rules are ridiculous. Related links:



SpamBlocker to the Rescue!
John Ridenour is a Lutheran minister who doesn't particularly care for the dirty spam that fills his inbox. He's also a new EarthLink subscriber, and the ISP is promoting its new spamBlocker tool. Does it work? Find out tonight on "Tech Live."

Tzero car
Silicon valley entrepreneur Ken Adelman owns one of three prototypes of the tzero, an electric car that hits 60 mph in about four seconds.

Plasma Display Nirvana
We evaluated three, high-end 50-inch plasmas displays and chose our favorite based on picture and motion quality, color, input/output options, and price. The winner? Watch "Tech Live" and find out.

'Potter' Fan Fiction
While waiting for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" to hit store shelves, many fans have been playing out their Potter fantasies online, creating very enterprising fan fiction based on the original stories. Sites including Sugar Quill host stories as long as 250 pages. Find out more on "Tech Live."


Security Alert

Don't Be a Spam Zombie
According to McAfee, a new virus called BackDoor-AVF turns your computer into a spam zombie. The virus installs a program that hijacks a victim's CPU cycles and bandwidth to spam people with offers for baldness creams, low mortgage rates, and penis enlargement potions. By using another person's IP address (the unique numeric identifier for your computer while online), spammers can hide their true identity.

BackDoor-AVF spreads through email, peer-to-peer networks, and IRC. Update your virus definitions to protect yourself. If you fear you may already be a victim, check for the presence of "SYS64.EXE" in your Windows System32 folder or run a spyware scanner such as Spybot.


More News

  • Citing a Washington state law, Microsoft filed 15 lawsuit against junk email senders Tuesday. At the same time, the company is lobbying against a proposed California bill that would require companies to get email users' permission before sending them unsolicited email.

  • United Air Lines announces it will offer two-way email on all flights by the end of the year.

  • Japanese researchers have reportedly found a gene that causes baldness, as well as a plant extract that appears to block the gene from doing its dirty work. Unfortunately, they don't know when the cure might be available for use.



Out There

  • Space Adventures is set to offer the first commercial space flight aboard a craft flown by a Russian cosmonaut. Your destination: the International Space Station. The price: $20 million.
  • Researchers say they've developed a genetically engineered coffee bean that produces about 70 percent less caffeine than normal beans.
  • St. Louis surgeons are proud to have helped Amy Hancock receive a new kind of larynx transplant, in which a skin fragment is turned into a makeshift vocal cord. Because of the operation, Hancock can now speak again after losing the ability due to throat cancer.



Cool Stuff

  • This robot could help people travel to faraway places without actually going there. Or it could let people attend meetings without actually going to meetings.

  • At the International Robots & Vision Show conference, participant bots had a blast showing themselves off.



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