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Buzz Out Loud 782: Two-steppin' robot cows

You can lead a cow to the dance-hall, but you can't make him two-step. Unless, that is, you've got a dollop of artificial intelligence and some wraparound earphones. In technology news of the day, universities fight back against the RIAA, a cut-and-paste application appears for iPhone (and it's really, really hard), and robots learn to move themselves.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 782

Episode 782

11 charged in theft of 41 million card numbers http://news.cnet.com/11-charged-in-theft-of-41-million-card-numbers/2100-7348_3-6244876.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0

Tufts tells judge, we can’t tie IP addresses to MAC … Read more

App Store price fluctuation angering some iPhone users

When Konami's Frogger popped up in the iPhone App Store early Wednesday, the $9.99 price tag immediately set off a firestorm of angry user reviews. Apple's review system has doubled as a forum for users who find bugs, or otherwise feel the need to vent about the shortcomings of various developer-built applications.

The rather exorbitant price tag for a 26-year-old software title has been met with overwhelmingly negative reaction from potential customers, even though it's been rewritten to include iPhone-hardware-specific controls using the accelerometer and touch screen. Similar offerings that have started out at the same price point have succumbed to outspoken users and have issued price drops.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's something very different going on with developers who have offered their applications for free. They've found a fairly simple way to work Apple's own ranking system to their advantage. Since developers are able to change their price point at any time, some have offered early versions of their applications free of charge then switched the price over once it reaches a critical mass.… Read more

Coder links Yahoo search, Google App Engine

The goliaths of the Internet are dangling an ever-larger supply of bootstraps for folks who want to try new ideas for the Web.

The first case in point is Google App Engine, an infrastructure that lets people run their Web applications on Google's servers, for free up until certain limits are set. Second is Yahoo's BOSS (build your own search service) that lets people extract Yahoo search results, reorder them, and mix them with other content--also without constraint within certain limits.

On Monday, Yahoo programmer Vik Singh, who has been involved in the BOSS project, released software that … Read more

Fitsync tracks, organizes workouts on your iPhone

If you're too cheap to pay for a personal trainer after dropping two or three hundred bucks on a new iPhone or iPod Touch, Fitsync might be just what you're looking for. This Web application will track and organize exercises, help you put together a solid workout, and log results with a tap or two.

Included are a slew of exercises you can browse through and stack together. There are also recommended workouts you can borrow from others. The application makes use of the iPhone's video-playing capabilities to provide demos of each exercise so you'll know … Read more

First Look video: YouNote for iPhone, iPod Touch

Earlier this week I compared Evernote and YouNote, two solid note-taking applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. With the thousands of Apple-approved iPhone apps springing up in the iTunes AppStore, finding the right program is becoming a test of patience.

In an effort to help slash your guesswork a bit, we took a closer look at one of those note-takers, YouNote. In this First Look video, we demonstrate the features that caught our eye and discuss what we'd like to see in YouNote's future versions.

Also check out other First Look videos on popular and must-have apps … Read more

Featured Freeware: AppCleaner

Correcting a long-standing oversight by Apple, AppCleaner completely removes unwanted programs from your Mac OS. Dragging applications to the Trash just isn't enough because almost every app installs various support files in several different places all over your computer.

AppCleaner is one of the best utilities around to help you track down and delete these files. It provides a slick, 3D interface and two options for deletion: you can either drag and drop applications onto AppCleaner's main window, or you can have AppCleaner list potential applications--and even widgets, plugins, and screensavers--to uninstall. The program will then show you … Read more

One Palringo to rule iPhone IM?

The new iPhone app from Palringo brings an official multi-instant messaging client to the Apple device. It supports eight chat protocols and includes some useful iPhone-specific features, but also suffers from several irritating limitations.

Palringo can handle Apple iChat, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber, and Windows Live Messenger. Assuming you've got no problems with the iPhone keyboard, creating a profile for one of these accounts is as simple as selecting the proper icon and typing in your username and password. First, though, you must set up a Palringo account. Not to worry: when you open … Read more

Dynolicious revs auto performance meter for iPhone, iPod

Dynolicious appears to be the first automotive performance meter available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app utilizes the iPhone's built-in accelerometer to measure the performance characteristics of any vehicle it's placed into.

Simply toss your iPhone into the nearest cupholder or cradle and Dynolicious will record your quarter-mile, 0-60 time, lateral Gs, horsepower, and a host of other statistics. The developers state accuracy within a tenth of a second and 1.5 mph.

Dynolicious is available in the iTunes Store for $12.99.

This launcher kick-starts Windows Mobile apps

There are two ways to get to your most-wanted applications on a Windows Mobile phone. If you're lucky, your program of choice is among the icons of six recently-opened applications strung along the top bar of the Windows Mobile interface. Otherwise, you'll be picking or clicking through the randomly-arranged icons in the application explorer, the platform's inert portal to your collection of programs.

Until the Windows Mobile interface gives people more options for starting programs fast, there's Elecont Launcher, a much more direct solution for quick-launching applications. This small, simple, and handy install takes out some … Read more