states

Eek! Remote-controlled cyborg cockroaches are real

If Borg ships have vermin on them, they look exactly like a project researchers at North Carolina State University are working on.

These intrepid scientists have taken a lightweight chip with a wireless receiver and transmitter and attached it to a cockroach like a little backpack. For the record, large Madagascar hissing cockroaches are the roach of choice. … Read more

Get a 128GB Crucial solid-state drive for $79.99

It's weird to get excited about a 128GB Crucial CT128M4SSD2 solid-state drive for $79.99 shipped when you can also buy a 1TB portable USB 3.0 hard drive for the same price. (See what I did there? I snuck in an extra bonus deal.)

Yet, it is exciting, because that same SSD sells for at least $100 everywhere else (including Newegg, where it's $109.99). So for well under $100, you can outfit your desktop or laptop with a blazing-fast drive that has enough space to actually be practical.

The CT128M4SSD2 is a 2.5-inch drive that … Read more

WD unveils sleek My Passport Edge portable drives

WD today made the good old portable hard drive concept something totally new again.

The storage vendor announced a new family of portable external hard drives for Macs and Windows PCs, called My Passport Edge, that's ultrasleek and ultraslim.

There are minor differences between the Mac version and the Windows version of the new drive.… Read more

Top five external drives for hard-core users

Generally, the term "hard-core" and external hard drives don't go together. This is because external, portable hard drives are probably the most popular and casual type of consumer storage.

But some of them can get really serious, too.

These are external storage devices that are not just fast or rugged, but also are likely to make you think before purchasing due to their cost. In other words, they are not for everyone, but only those who have the need for them and can appreciate their value.

If you are one of these people, the following five drives are totally worth the investment.… Read more

State Department revokes $16.5M Kindle contract offer

What once seemed like a dream scenario for Amazon has officially become nonexistent.

Two months ago, the U.S. State Department asked the company to negotiate a no-bid contract that would essentially earn Amazon up to $16.5 million to pass out Kindle Touches to the country's embassies overseas.

Today, the government announced that plan has officially been canceled.

Here's what the State Department posted on its Web site today:

U.S. Department of State solicitation (Request for Proposals) SAQMMA12R0272 for Amazon e-Readers, Content Management, and Logistics is cancelled and the Justification and Approval (J&A) to … Read more

New Zealand court says FBI must disclose MegaUpload evidence

The lawyers for Kim DotCom and MegaUpload continue to rack up court victories in New Zealand.

One of the country's courts has ordered the United States to turn over evidence it says it has that proves DotCom committed criminal acts of piracy. The U.S. Attorney's office has accused DotCom, founder of the cloud-storage service, of operating MegaUpload as a criminal enterprise.

U.S. officials say that MegaUpload made over $175 million by enabling users to store pirated digital media, including movies, music, and software on the company's servers. They accuse him of encouraging the looting and … Read more

Step aside, steampunks. 'Steam nerds' run real locomotives

JAMESTOWN, Calif.--Stephanie Tadlock is a steam nerd.

For years, Tadlock has been a volunteer at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park here in California's Gold Country, the country's longest continuously-operating steam locomotive repair and maintenance facility.

Now, as a hostler at Railtown -- someone responsible for keeping the locomotives ready, as well as bringing them up to steam and moving them around a rail yard -- she has an engine to get started.

I've come to Railtown as part of CNET Road Trip 2012, eager to see how these classic machines have been operated since well before … Read more

FCC: ISPs 'better' on meeting advertised broadband speeds

The Federal Communications Commission's annual "state of the union" on ISP and broadband performance shows most Internet providers are offering speeds as advertised -- while others are offering Internet access at speeds that exceed consumer expectation.

On the whole, ISPs are reaching 96 percent of advertised speeds during peak hours, up by 9 percent on a year ago. Older technologies, such as DSL, are being outshone by more reliable cable and fiber service -- to the extent that fiber customers in particular are getting more than they actually pay for.

DSL remains high at the bottom of … Read more

OWC announces SSD uprades for MacBook Air

It's generally easy to upgrade your computer to a standard solid-state drive (SSD) as long as your computer supports the standard 2.5-inch hard-drive design. The MacBook Air, however, doesn't, so most people are stuck with the machine's relatively limited stock storage.

OWC announced today the OWC Mercury Aura Pro SSD, which is designed specifically for 2012 MacBook Airs. Instead of the standard design, the new SSD comes in the same design as those used inside the supported Air; it's shaped more like a stick of system memory than a hard drive.

OWC says the Mercury … Read more