where

Swivel adds maps to data repertoire

Today, Swivel is adding a new geography view to its data-sharing service. Users will now be able to view data containing city or country information in a variety of different ways, using integrated Google Maps.

Geographic data is represented as a heat map, which will display data as darkened and lightened areas--like you'd see on a weather map. You can also turn your own data set into a one of these maps.

Like other data sets on the service, users will still be able to compare multiple sets of data at the same time, as long as the data … Read more

WHERE: widgets for your phone

With the release of Apple's iPhone just a few months away, we're already seeing phone companies scramble to to keep customers by adding value to their phones and services. WHERE, from start-up uLocate, is no different, providing a bevy of GPS-enabled widgets for mobile phones while managing to use a drag-and-drop Web interface. Subscription to and use of the widgets requires a monthly fee of $2.99. For now, the service works with only six of Sprint's handsets, though about a dozen more are being added next Monday.

The widgets range from weather information providers to locators … Read more

'Where's Waldo' for techies

Here's something fun for you to waste time exploring.

SpaceRef.com noticed, from this photo, that European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter has an iPod and Belkin external battery pack on board with him at the International Space Station.

Upon closer look, CNET noticed a few more brands in use. (A hi-res version of the image is available on NASA's Web site.)

We've shown you a close-up of the iPod. See if you can also find the Nikon digital SLR cameras, an IBM Lenovo ThinkPad, a Bogen Superclamp holding the armature with the Fujinon camera, a … Read more

USB gadget revives those dusty LPs

Those of us who hammered out high school papers on this doodad called a typewriter used to listen to these shiny black things called records. Sometimes we'd even have to hike 10 miles in the snow just to hear a little Joni Mitchell! Times were tough.

Thankfully, our sister site CNET Asia has alerted us to a little gadget that makes it surprisingly easy to transfer those dusty LPs straight to a digital music collection. Just plug the 12-pound Ion USB Turntable into a USB port, fire up the Audacity software for Mac or PC, and start porting in … Read more

iPod Shuffle slated for early November arrival

Just a couple of days ago, I was wondering if I was ever going to get my iPod Shuffle, which is supposed to ship sometime in October. Turns out Apple was ever so slightly delayed in getting the tiny LCD-less wearable out to the masses--most Shuffle jones-ers will get their fix the first week of November. I preordered mine and got a notice that my Shuffle would arrive by the end of the week. It seems others will get theirs even sooner, and some stores will have them in stock in the next few days. By the way, the San … Read more

Just how good is that Warhol piece?

Can you measure the quality of a piece of art? According to a post over at We Make Money Not Art, Marcelo Coelho at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology thinks so. He's created a contraption called the "Art-o-Meter," which claims to measure the quality of a piece of art by using a motion detector to gauge how much time people stand around staring at it. That clock is then compared to the total length of the exhibition in question, and voila!--you have a definitive answer to the question, "Is there such thing as bad art?&… Read more