5:10 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26isi.html
Patent has been awarded that combines ultracapacitors and devices with off-the-shelf batteries in plug-in hybrids. This new technology may cut the number of batteries needed by half while increasing battery durability and performance, therefore increasing performance while decreasing the cost of plug-in hybrid vehicles by as much as 33%:
http://newsblaze.com/story/2010072605510200001.pnw/topstory.html
Room-temperature superconductivity has apparently been reported in India:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/07/indications-of-room-temperature.html
A lawyer for Facebook said that she was "unsure" whether or not Facebook's founder signed a contract that gives a New York programmer *84%* of the company! A copy of the document was produced in Federal Court today...how could Zuckerberg forget about whether or not he signed away 84% of the company in exchange for an early investment? Facebook claims that the man waited too long to file his lawsuit and that the contract was signed 9 months before the company was founded:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-20/facebook-lawyer-unsure-whether-founder-mark-zuckerberg-signed-contract.html
The Library of Congress has added new exceptions to the DMCA that allow people to jailbreak their iPhones and root their Android smartphones! They also apparently have modified the section pertaining to excerpting scenes from a DVD video to allow more than just educational use--now, documentary and *non-commercial* applications can excerpt DVD scenes...things just got safer for YouTube uses:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/26/library-of-congress-adds-dmca-exception-for-jailbreaking-or-root/
Article about how the new rules will allow iPhone owners to download apps that have not been approved by Apple. It also mentions the new exemption that will allow cell phone owners to break access controls on their phones to enable them to switch wireless carriers:
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=055&ACCT=0000100&ISSUE=1007&RELTYPE=IN&PRODCODE=00000&PRODLETT=DW&CommonCount=0
Analysts had worried that people would buy iPads instead of Macs, but it turns out that iPad sales have apparently had a halo effect on Macs and have led to an increase in Mac sales:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/desktop-computers/runaway-ipad-adoption-driving-mac-sales-692
New reports found that Apple has surpassed Oracle and Microsoft and now has the most software vulnerabilities. This supports the notion that high market share correlates with a high number of vulnerabilities:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-20011403-62.html
Motorola's co-CEO is convinced that the vast majority of mobile devices over the next 5 years will use Android. He thinks the same thing might happen to the iPhone that happened with the PC, where Apple was an early leader but a standard OS ended up with most of the market:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366966,00.asp
Candidate (R) running for Senate in Colorado was caught on tape being upset at Tea Party members who continue to ask him about Obama's birth certificate:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/07/ken-buck-calls-tea-party-birth.html