self

Those nice, but slightly odd, people at Google must feel rather put upon this week. Everyone seems to be after their blood (although the evidence as to whether they have any is still incomplete).

So, in the spirit of searching for some good news for the Googlies, I managed to find something that will uplift their robotic spirits.

The state of Nevada has, so Forbes tells me, passed a bill that requires its Department of Transportation to create rules and regulations for driverless cars.

You will be aware, unless you have been in an Estonian prison for the last couple … Read more

On today's show, why horny Amish guys shouldn't sext while driving their horse and buggies and why somewhere in the world, Martin Short is currently clenching his butt cheeks. Yep, it's a Donald Bell show. Also, ISPs are adopting graduated responses to piracy and Apple gets a patent that may or may not be broad depending on how you define "N."

Best Self Extractor is actually JiJi Self Extractor, a portable freeware utility that converts compressed files into self-extracting executables, which is a fancy way of saying files that open when you click them instead of requiring you to extract them before you can open them. It supports 15 different types of compressed files, including ZIP, 7ZIP, JAR, RAR, TAR, ISO, CAB, and Z. It's useful for packaging files for sending via e-mail or posting online. You can also create self-executing packages that not only automatically decompress their contents but also activate them, which is particularly useful for bundling software … Read more

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

New rules in Europe prevent Internet advertisers from tracking people without permission

The next version of Apple's OS X operating system may have a do-not-track option in the built-in Safari browser

Toshiba has a new hard drive that will self destruct in the wrong hands

Google now allows you to set your own background image in Gmail

You can now control your Netflix queue with motion control in Microsot Kinect

The Nook Color is coming to Staples

The next Madden NFL game will launch August 30

I had a hard time in middle school. Other kids picked on me, girls ignored me, and many of the friends I'd had in elementary school abandoned me.

Perhaps reading "Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential Graphic Novel" would have helped--if only it had been available back then.

Based on the actual graphic novel of the same name, Be Confident in Who You Are for iPad reads like a nicely illustrated comic book and addresses a number of important tween/teen issues: bullying, body image, problems with friends, peer pressure, and so on.… Read more

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Opera launches a mobile browser-based app store

A new iPad magazine app called Zite arrives

Foursquare launches version 3.0 of its mobile app with more emphasis on rewards and recommendations

Mitsubishi has built an elevator that you can operate with voice commands

A new study shows that women who base their self-worth on their appearance share far more photos of themselves on Facebook

Depending on your coefficient of control freakiness, Google's self-driving car is either extremely exciting or a novel enactment of the Nightmare on Elm Street.

So for this week's TED conference in Long Beach, Calif., Google decided to prove not only that its own technology can send a frisson into the frigid, but can also make a Prius feel like, well, at least a Mini.

In video captured by Search Engine Land, the Googlized Prius is seen racing around a rooftop parking lot, as if it was being chased by a very annoyed Javier Bardem.… Read more

How do you feel about yourself? A little indifferent? A touch fed up with the creases on either side of your mouth? Drinking a little more than usual because the boy at the next work station got a raise and you didn't?

Please lie down here and let me make you feel better. Please pull out your iPhone. Now log on to Facebook.

There, feeling better already, huh?

This new method of curing the insecure was brought to me by the wise researchers at Cornell University. Jeffrey Hancock, associate professor of communication, and Amy Gonzales (Ph.D., 2010) decided … Read more

Not long ago I did a story about how e-book piracy was accelerating and that publishers should be concerned. But while piracy is certainly an issue, there's something else lurking out there that may be a bigger problem: e-book price erosion. Or put another way, the blogification of the book industry.

Now, I know what you're saying: that's great news. These publishers have been gouging us with ridiculous pricing for digital files that cost next to nothing to produce (in terms of material costs) and finally we're starting to see lots of deals out there. But … Read more