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reporter's notebook LAS VEGAS--Microsoft's Clint Rutkas was sent a rather intriguing e-mail a couple weeks back. Could he use a phone he'd never held to control a robot he hadn't built to send T-shirts into the crowd at the Mix10 conference.

Ever the adventurous type, Rutkas readily agreed. And sure enough, when Monday's keynote rolled around, Rutkas' Windows Phone T-Shirt Cannon was ready.

Rutkas said he didn't even get a prototype phone in his hands until a couple days into the project. Although he was 90 percent sure he could just do things remotely … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--Networking is a very big part of why thousands of people have come to the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival from near and far for five days of one of the most popular confabs in the country.

But as anyone knows who's been to packed conferences, especially ones with long days of sessions, meetings, and evening socializing, it can be cumbersome to keep track of all the business cards that pile over the course of the event. Even if you don't lose some of them, you might have trouble days or weeks later putting faces to … Read more

Microsoft said on Friday it is testing a patch to fix a new hole in Internet Explorer 6 and IE 7 following the release of exploit code on the Internet.

With the announcement it seems increasingly likely that the company will be issuing a patch for the hole before the next Patch Tuesday in about four weeks, if the testing of the patch goes quickly.

Microsoft warned about the hole, which it said was being targeted in attacks and could allow an attacker to take control of a computer, in an advisory on Tuesday. The next day, Israeli researcher Moshe … Read more

A Minnesota man convicted of drunk driving did not have the right to inspect the programming of a police breathalyzer, a state appeals court has ruled.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals last week rejected Michael Garberg's claim that he was entitled to obtain the source code to the Intoxilyzer 5000EN.

Garberg failed to convince the court that obtaining the source code "may relate to his guilt or innocence," wrote Judge Heidi Schellhas.

After Garberg was stopped for speeding one evening in October 2008, he was given an Intoxilyzer test that reported an alcohol concentration of .24, over … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The type of software corporations use to house source code that criminals targeted in the recent attacks on Google and others is generally weak in security protection, McAfee researchers said on Wednesday.

McAfee analyzed a commonly used software for housing intellectual property called Perforce and released its findings during a session at the RSA security conference here. The company helped in the discovery that a hole in Internet Explorer 6 was exploited in at least some of the recent attacks on U.S. firms and named the attacks "Operation Aurora" after the malware used.

Now the security … Read more

I don't know about you, but most of my product searches start with Google. And most of my online purchases end with me doing some last minute searching for coupon codes.

Billeo Offer Assistant is a Firefox extension that serves up deals and discounts right in your Bing, Google, and Yahoo search results. It's not perfect, but it can definitely save you time--and help you find deals you might otherwise have missed.

After installing the plug-in and restarting Firefox, just search for a product as you normally would. Then look for the Billeo icon next to any of … Read more

Apple last year found a number of workplace violations, including use of underage workers, among its suppliers, even as those companies are coming more in line with Apple's standards.

In 2009, according to its 2010 Progress Report (PDF), Apple's audits of suppliers turned up 17 core violations, those that it considers to be the most serious practices or situations that run counter to the central principles of the company's Supplier Code of Conduct.

Of those core violations, three involved the hiring of underage workers; three involved the use of noncertified vendors for the disposal of hazardous waste; … Read more

Sometimes small changes are the most important. TmoNews, a site that exhaustively reports everything T-Mobile, reported Monday that the carrier will make it easier for customers to unlock their T-Mobile phones. Instead of having to wait three months (90 days), post-paid customers can obtain an unlock code after just 40 days beginning January 21. Prepaid customers will see a shorter wait period as well, 60 days instead of 90 days, provided they have an account balance of at least $10 and have refilled their service within the last 30 days.

The news comes via an unidentified tipster, and T-Mobile has … Read more

Bar code apps are all the rage these days, and with good reason: with one quick pass of your iPhone's camera, you can get all kinds of information about a product.

Joining the ranks of RedLaser, Pic2shop, and SnapTell, the aptly named Barcode Reader helps you compare prices, which is great for those times when you're out shopping and want to know if you can score a better deal online.

Using Barcode Reader couldn't be simpler: just tap "scan," then point your iPhone at the bar code for nearly any product. In mere seconds, it … Read more