4:32 PM
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/pentagon-fights-bombs-with-social-science/
The US Army is developing a helmet-mounted radar that can see through fog, smoke, dust, and even works in pitch darkness. They are also working on getting the helmet radar to be able to see through walls:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/army-develops-helmet-mounted-radar-to-watch-soldiers-backs/
About 80% of Australians live in coastal areas, and rising sea levels threatens many of those homes. A new report recommends new laws banning further development in coastal regions:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8327224.stm
Google released the SDK for Android 2.0, their significantly upgraded Android operating system. It is unclear if current Android 1.5 phones can be upgraded to 2.0, and Motorola's Cliq smartphone that won't even go on sale until next month will come with 1.5:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source/google-delivers-android-20-sdk-821?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2009-10-28
One *really* nice feature of Android 2.0 is that it provides an upgraded version of Google Maps that provides turn-by-turn navigation for FREE! The makers of GPS Navigation systems cannot be happy with the fact that Google is giving away turn-by-turn navigation with Android 2.0 devices:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/google-debuts-free-navigation-app/2009-10-28?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
The first Android 2.0 device is the Motrola Droid phone that was unveiled today, which is also Verizon's first Android-based device. Rumors are that Verizon will get another Android 2.0 device soon, the HTC Droid Eris:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-launches-first-android-phone-motorola-droid/2009-10-28?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
Google is quite happy that the LA City Council approved a $7.25 million deal to adopt Gmail and other Google Apps, the first major success for their push to provide Google Apps for government agencies. I'm sure that they are extremely happy that $1.5 million of that money actually is coming from Microsoft (they are paying LA for a class action lawsuit settlement):
http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/google-apps-scores-725m-deal-assist-microsoft-864?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2009-10-28
Toronto set a breast feeding record when 190 moms breast fed 191 kids at the same time. They also had 182 moms and their kids joined in online, so they had a total of 372 moms feeding 373 kids during their event:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Good_News/2009/10/23/11498206-sun.html