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Panasonic may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think about digital cameras, but people in-the-know can often be seen carrying the company’s point-and-shoot models. Even at $399 (not an insignificant amount for a digital camera) the LUMIX  DMC-ZS3 is impressive. It’s one of the few models, like Canon’s PowerShot G10, [...]

From sheet music to bestselling novels, Scribd.com is much more than just a 'YouTube for documents'Shortly after its 2006 launch, Scribd.com stumbled across an easy way to explain what it did: it called itself 'for documents'. The phrase sounded snappy enough, and even if was a little confusing, at least it had the virtue of being easy to use in elevator pitches.These days, however, Trip Adler - the company's fresh-faced chief executive - seems a little ashamed by the idea.'In a startup, in the early days, it can be hard to explain what you do,' he says, trying to excuse youthful transgressions. 'It worked in the first few weeks. We got a lot of buzz ... people didn't know our name, but they knew that's what we were.'Since YouTube is one of the world's most popular sites, such a bashful attitude could seem misplaced. But the reason for Adler's embarrassment is straightforward: three years after those early fumblings, Scribd is getting enough traction to stand on its own two feet.Docume

SpuriousLogic writes 'A detailed, functional artificial human brain can be built within the next 10 years, a leading scientist has claimed. Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project, has already built elements of a rat brain. He told the TED global conference in Oxford that a synthetic human brain would be of particular use finding treatments for mental illnesses. Around two billion people are thought to suffer some kind of brain impairment, he said. 'It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years,' he said.' of this story at Slashdot.

When Robotic Technology, Inc., and Cyclone Power Technologies announced earlier this month they had completed the first phase of their project to build a robotic vehicle that could scavenge sticks, grass, leaves and other biomass to fuel itself, the companies had no idea that their proposed machine would set off one of humanity's worst fears: the dawn of an artificially intelligent race of self-sufficient mechanical devices with a hunger for organic meals (including people). The companies quelled last week's clamor that their Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) was being developed as a carnivore by pointing out that it will, in fact, be a vegetarian. [More] Sponsored Topics: Robot - Biomass - Robotics - Companies - Artificial intelligence

The popularity of Facebook and other popular social networking sites has given hackers new ways to steal both money and information, the security company Sophos said in a report released on Wednesday.

Following in the footsteps of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle, another e-book reader is set to get a wireless connection from a cellular carrier, letting it access books anywhere there's a signal.

...the room anyway, and it's not as if they're wheeling in heavy equipment. Most people use BlackBerries or PDAs, and it's commonplace to take pictures after the baby's born with either a cell phone camera or a ...

Microsoft has announced plans to shut down Soapbox, its online-video competitor to YouTube, by the end of August. Despite Soapboxs presence, microsoft had only 2 percent of the online video market, placing it fifth behind Yahoo, Hulu, Fox Interactive Media and Google. As it readjusts its corporate strategy amidst a severe global downturn, Microsoft has killed a number of legacy programs, including Popfly, Encarta and Money Plus. - Microsoft will shut down Soapbox, its online-video competitor to YouTube, by the end of August. The decision follows weeks of publicly acknowledged debate over whether to continue operating the portal, which delivered Microsoft a paltry share of the online-video market. As reported by Ars...

The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the celestial spectacle.

Quarter of businesses have been hit by spam, phishing or malware attacks via Twitter or social networking sites, says security company Sophos