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Car Tech Live 221: Is the honeymoon over for hybrids? Ford puts Sync apps in more cars. New Volvos may brake for animals. And we drive the Kia Optima Hybrid. (podcast)

• CNET drives the Kia Optima Hybrid

• Volvo technology will brake for animals

• The worst cities for keeping your car are mostly in California

• In-car TV stumbles again

• CNET's LOLcars gallery!

Sometimes, revenge is bitter.

The reason for this is that sometimes you get your revenge and then you get, well, caught.

Please consider the feelings of Walter Powell, a 52-year-old IT manager at Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems. Actually, he became a former IT manager there. Which, perhaps stimulated a desire for a little revenge.

I am grateful to The Baltimore Sun for offering this story which begins with revenge, has porn in the middle, and whose denouement is played out in court.

Powell, you see, was reportedly fired in 2009. He wasn't very happy about this, so began to … Read more

To IBM, buildings are just another source of data its computers can crunch and make sense of.

The computing giant today at an event in New York is unveiling its Intelligent Building Management software, which collects and analyzes information to improve energy efficiency and maintenance. It's part of IBM's smarter planet initiative to use technology and its business consulting group to tackle big social problems.

Many commercial buildings are already have building management systems that use sensors to communicate information with a central computer. For example, heating and cooling equipment and offices can monitor temperature, humidity, light levels, … Read more

SAN MATEO, Calif.--"They're putting Josh in the cage!"

It was early this afternoon, and a group of school kids were excitedly screaming those words over and over. And it was true. A kid called Josh was being put inside a cage that was part of a performance by a group called Arc Attack. Soon, the cage would be bombarded with electricity from two of Arc Attack's signing Tesla coils. No Joshes would be harmed in this experiment. But an awful lot of grinning would be done.

This is Maker Faire. Well, almost. The famous DIY festival begins in earnest tomorrow morning, and over the course of the weekend, in excess of 100,000 people may well get themselves to the San Mateo County Event Center here to see countless examples of do-it-yourself robotics; 3D printing; steampunk kinetic sculptures; and much, much more.

But today was setup day, the day the thousands of so-called "makers" arrive, drop their gear, and start building the projects they'll show the tens of thousands of visitors over the next two days. Being at Maker Faire on setup day is both a treat--it's always great to see the process behind something as cool as Maker Faire, and it's nice not to have to compete with 50,000 people to see something--and a curse: Only about half the projects are finished.

One thing that's definitely cool about being on hand for setup day is that each and every time you return to a specific spot, there's more there than there was the last time you went by. Even if that was just 30 minutes ago. A steady stream of trucks, vans, cars, and other conveyances arrive, and with them, the festival comes to life.

Maker Faire started here in 2006, and is now a worldwide phenomenon. From 20,000 visitors that first year to 80,000-plus last year, attendance figures are now expected to hit six figures. At the same time, the festival has planted its flag in other cities, such as Austin and New York. … Read more

CNET ran a story yesterday about BeamItDown Software, the start-up behind the iFlow Reader app for iOS, offering harsh words for Apple as it felt forced to shut down. In a note to customers, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said its demise was due to Apple's "mid-game rule changes that make it impossible for anyone but Apple to sell e-books at a profit on iOS."

I was struck by the candidness of the remarks and decided to track down BeamItDown's co-founder Dennis Morin for a follow-up interview. Morin has been an entrepreneur for a number of … Read more

Nero Kwik Media is a light and free media manager with which you can organize, edit, and share your music, photos, videos, and data. Imagine iTunes and iPhoto rolled into one, then trimmed in half. While this download is technically "free," there is one caveat: you'll have to purchase some of its functionality in the form of "apps" listed in Nero's built-in store. Sure, most of these add-ons aren't too expensive, but it's a shame that a few of them (like Nero Kwik Play, a video decoder) don't come with the … Read more

A significant number of IT professionals say they'd take a salary cut for the chance to work from home full time, according to a survey from techie job site Dice.

Thirty-five percent of 937 IT pros surveyed in mid-March said they would accept up to a 10 percent pay cut to telecommute in light of soaring gas prices,

A 10 percent slice in the average technology professional's salary would translate into $7,800 less earned per year, according to Dice.

Thirty-six percent responded no, insisting on the same pay for the same work. Another 9 percent said they … Read more

WALTHAM, Mass.--There's loads of technology available to make commercial buildings smarter and more efficient, but getting beyond a small niche of trophy green buildings requires big changes to current real estate practices, not just a technology make-over.

Every year, many buildings are built or retrofitted to improve water and energy efficiency and offer a good interior space for occupants. But often owners and occupants don't take full advantage of advanced technologies, creating a situation where buildings don't perform up to the level they were designed for, industry experts say.

"What about Gus the janitor? The … Read more

Tintri this week is coming out of stealth mode with a new storage system designed to solve the unique storage problems of virtual machines (VMs). Founded by the former head of VMware R&D, the company is also announcing it raised $17 million from venture firms NEA and Lightspeed Partners.

Storage has long been a lucrative market, heavily dominated by just a few players. The introduction of a virtualization-oriented solution brings new blood and a new approach to a rather stagnant industry. And, considering the enormous growth of virtualization, an approach that IT staff should certainly be interested in. … Read more