Will Robots Sue?

U.K. Government Study: Freedom for Robots? Raphael G. Satter, The Associated Press. USA Today.com December 20, 2006.
A new study relesased by the Brisith government warns that a "monumental shift" would occur if robots are eventually able to think and demand their rights. The government would be obligated to provide housing and full healthcare coverage.

Book Scanning Update

Google Book-Scanning Efforts Spark Debate. Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press. USA Today.com. December 20, 2006.
This short article provides an overview of the book-scanning efforts of Google and the competing Open Content Alliance with which Yahoo and Microsoft are involved.

Google to Make NASA Information Available

NASA and Google Form Cosmic Union. BBC News. December 19, 2006.
The search giant has agreed to make available "the most useful of Nasa's information on the internet". This could include 3D maps of the Moon and Mars as well as real-time weather data.

Google Patent Search

Google has released Google Patent Search, an offshoot of their book search service, that searches the full text of U.S. patent documents. Google Patent Search provides an advanced search page that allows narrowing searches by inventor, patent number, assignee, classification, and issue and filing dates. As stated in Google Blog, saving and printing features are still being worked on.

Blogging Growth Expected to Slow

Gartner: Blogging to peak in 2007. Brian Bergstein. AP (via Yahoo! News). December 13, 2006.
One of Gartner Inc.'s top 10 predictions for 2007 is that the popularity of blogging will level off. There will still be a lot of blogs, though, about 100 million worldwide.

Yahoo Reorganizing

A Revamped Yahoo Turning to Users. Elinor Mills. CNET News.com. December 6, 2006.
Yahoo announced a corporate restructuring this week whereby the company will emphasize user-created content and advertiser relationships. Current product groups will be merged into two, Audience and Advertisers & Publishers.

Live Search Books

Microsoft Starts Online Library in Challenge to Google Books. Glenn Chapman. AFP (via Yahoo! News). December 7, 2006.
Microsoft is releasing the beta version of Live Search Books, a digitized collection of thousands of books, often yellowed and crumbly, which are no longer protected by copyright. Access is provided through simple keyword searching, with results sorted by relevance. [Live Search Books Beta]

A 2,000-Year-Old Computer

In Search of Lost Time. Jo Marchant. Nature. November 29, 2006.
The Antikythera Mechanism, retrieved from a 2000-year-old Roman shipwreck, has been newly examined with the aid of modern imaging technology. A gear-driven device believed to have been built by Hipparchus or his successors on the isle of Rhodes, it represented the motions of the sun, moon and five known planets. This is a fascinating news feature about an important archaeological discovery.

"Google Answers" Folds

Google to Abandon Answer Service. Michael Liedtke. Associated Press (via USATODAY.com). November 29, 2006.
Google is abandoning its research service, Google Answers, after 4 years. It has been less successful than Yahoo’s free Yahoo Answers, where volunteers offer responses to such burning questions as "What can I do to make my nostrils smaller?" and "I need some ideas for dressing up as an octopus."