There’s a juicy tidbit emerging from annual tech conference Gnomedex: Adobe is scratching their collective chins and in deep thought considering a Yahoo acquisition. Tweets have popped up chit-chatting about the possible purchase, but has anyone in the know heard any relevant info? Stay tuned.

Nightlife photographer Patrick McMullan has announced the creation of PMc, a bimonthly glamorous fashion “magazine” configured exclusively for iPhones.The digital mag will feature photos from McMullan and articles by popular authors, including Nanny Diaries co-author Nicola Kraus. iPhone owners wanting to grab “an inside look into the glamorous world of Patrick McMullan and his peers” can download PMc on iTunes for 99 cents per issue. Great, now folks from Tulsa to Toledo can play make-believe New York social scene via their Apple gadgets.

If you weren’t having nightmares about the government yet, get the warm milk and Lunesta ready for tonight. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Maryland and the University of California, Irvine have teamed up to develop technology that could lead to mind reading computers backed with $4 million from the army. Such technology could greatly benefit victims of strokes or other brain injuries, but may also lead to more invasive interrogation tactics. The scientists, though, explain that the subject’s willingness to disclose information is key and that they are years from being able to “read” random thoughts. That must be why the Army is footing the bill, their insatiable scientific curiosity.

No, no, we’re not talking about a robot with creative tendencies, but a real robot controlled by a compilation of rat neurons. “Gordon” is controlled a brain stimulated by 60 electrodes. For example, the electrodes let his brain know when he approaches an obstacle in his path and his brain then instructs the robot as to how to move around the object. Scientists from the University of Reading in England hope to gain insight into brain-related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by studying how memories are created and how the brain controls the body. Just don’t distract it with a piece of cheese.

Star Wars meets the military in the newest prediction from Washington University that 30% of the US Army will be robotic by 2020. Although the figure does include automated trucks as well as the more traditional robots, quite a bit of work is being done in the area of self-automating machines. The army’s current policy is that humans remain at the head of the chain of command, but droids capable of their own decision-making are in the works in countries like South Korea. First invisibility, now this…what a week for the sci-fi fanatics.

Overwhelming and beautiful are just a few of the descriptions that pop to mind about the Olympic opener Friday night, but virtual may not make the list. A team of visual effects artists apparently worked for the last year to create the 55 second clip of footprints leading from Tiananmen Square to the Bird’s Nest, going so far as to consult with meteorologists to accurately capture the effect of the city’s smog. The fireworks did occur, but asking a helicopter to capture the show was simply too difficult. Not all Chinese audiences were thrilled with the show, though, calling it beautiful but “vacuous.” You can please some of the people some of the time…

It’s a banner week for Star Trek fans as articles on cloaking technology are set to be released later this week in the journals Nature and Science. Scientists from UC Berkeley have developed a cloak of metamaterial that creates a negative refraction of light rendering objects invisible, a technology with both military and medical potential. Now if they could get working on that teleportation device maybe we wouldn’t have to worry so much about gas prices…
(Photo Credit: alan_smithee/iStockphoto)

A display at the London Science Museum is showing just how far robots are coming on the road to lifelike animation. David McGoran’s Heart Robot will have you yearning for a little lovin’ with its fluttering eyes and varying heartbeat, meant to give comfort to those with medical conditions. The display also features the ic Hexapod from Micromagic Systems, which recognizes human features and follows people. Imagine the possibilities…of future restraining orders.

The Zune Tattoo Guy has heralded the end of Microsoft’s Zune by boldly going where few Zune zombies have gone before by defecting to Apple. An iPod Touch has become the new hotness for Steven Smith who bashed the Zune in an exclusive interview. Once you go Zune you’re bound to bail soon…or least seek to cover your multiple Zune-themed body art.

First the apple, now TV? In the era of “How can we make it greener?” University of Washington’s Anna Pyayt and Microsoft engineers may have found a way to make more environmentally-friendly televisions. The LCD screens currently used waste backlight, which could be more effectively harnessed using tiny mirrors arranged in a telescope design created by Isaac Newton. The new pixel design creates a sharper, brighter image and turns on and off more quickly. For the same amount of energy, one could get a brighter picture, or the same picture for less energy. Hopefully, the green movement encourages Americans to settle for the more energy-efficient version…yeah, right.

There’s a lot of talk about Obama being the candidate of a new generation and the new generation — and their candidate — do a lot of texting, word has it. Although the person on the street isn’t likely to get an immediate response from the candidate, campaign workers and celebrity supporters have been surprised how quickly they get responses. Scarlett Johansson sent Obama a quick congrats and commentary following the debates and was shocked to get an immediate response:”…how can he return these personal e-mails? But he does, and in his off-time I know he also calls people who have donated the minimum to thank them. Nobody sees it, nobody talks about it, but it’s incredible.”

The cable company we love to hate is now on the web hunting down ways to better your experience…and some are feeling a little creeped out. One blogger was shocked when a passing complaint quickly elicited an e-mail from Frank Eliason, digital care manager at Comcast. His job is part of five-month-old effort to drag Comcast out of the bottom rankings of customer satisfaction by opening the lines of communication, whether the customer was expecting it or not. “It’s one thing to spit vitriol about a company when they can’t hear you,” commented Lyza Gardner. “I immediately backed down and softened my tone when I knew I was talking to a real person.” Sounds like good old Frank might have a job waiting in Homeland Security.

The horrific history of resource exploitation in the Congo has been exacerbated in recent years by a metal necessary to the building of game consoles. The production of coltan — a metallic ore key to the production of electronics such as cell phones and video games — was running low in 2000 when the demand for Sony’s Playstation 2 was at its peak; the need for more machines caused a jump in the price of the ore, creating a mining stampede in the Congo. Oona King, former British Parliamentarian noted that, “Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms.” Sony claims to have stopped using Congolese ores, but experts say it is highly unlikely.

Many are asking why Google would jump into the world of content from the safe platform of the search; however, Google maintains that its new endeavor, the Knol, is all about expanding quality options for the search by bringing verifiable experts to the task of writing coherent articles on a single subject. The public will be able to add comments and suggestions, just like Wikipedia, but authors can build a body of work and be compensated via ad revenues depending on the number of hits their article receives. Google asserts that Knols will not necessarily receive preferential treatment in searches or even carry the Google logo; its purpose is to merely open the doors of “knol-edge” a little bit wider.

Apple ditched silver in favor of black and white with the much-hyped 3G iPhone, but could Steve Jobs be seeing red? People with their peepers peeled for all things iPhone say Apple could roll out iPhone Red just in time for the holiday season. Part of the Product (RED) campaign, the made-over gadget could appeal to those looking to chit-chat in style while benefiting the Global Fund or people looking to boast “LOOK! I have an iPhone; you can’t miss it! Haha!”

A little birdie has offered up some major dirt on Google’s rumored acquisition of Digg. Sources told TechCrunch that the internet giant and the user-led social content website are in final negotiations with an acquisition price of approximately $200 million.

“We are thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks.” The company took in $7.46 billion in revenue between April and June and a total profit of $1.07 billion.

Ever been sitting there, late at night, thinking, “Gee, I’d like to find a good Bible quote, but how do I know if it’s been accurately translated?” Well, you’re in luck! Portions of the Codex Sinaiticus, dating from 350 and thought to have been written by early Egyptian Christians, will be available on the internet courtesy of the Russian National Library, British Library and St. Catherine’s monastery in its entirety by July of next year. The oldest complete version of the New Testament, the original text may baffle those unfamiliar with ancient Greek, but translations in English and German will also be made available. “A manuscript is going onto the net which is like nothing else online to date…It’s also an enrichment of the virtual world — and a bit of a change from YouTube,” commented the director of the Leipzig University Library.

Come September Playboy and Juggs might no longer be the first magazine that catches mens’ eyes at the newsstand as Esquire will roll out the first glossies cover to feature E-ink technology. Developed by a Massachusetts company, E-ink uses the same core technology as Amazon’s Kindle. A small battery designed in China will power the cover, titled “The 21st Century Begins Now,” and should power the fancy display for 90 days. Esquire plans on refrigerating the mags while en route to preserve battery life. Don’t expect to see the technology on everything from Cosmo to Crocheting Weekly though, as Esquire has signed a deal with E-ink that gives the mag exclusive rights to the technology in print until 2009.

If you’ve spent hours poking at your MacBook screen hoping to get a little iPhone-like action, then put down those crazy pills because Apple’s oft-rumored MacBook Touch could hit stores by October. Touch away Apple lovers because the rumored tablet will reportedly feature multi-touch, gesture library, full Mac OS X, slot-loading SuperDrive, accelerometer and GPS. MacDailyNews claims their inside source is the same big-mouthed feller (or gal) who leaked wireless iTunes a week before the official announcement.

Just when you thought there weren’t enough cameras watching your every move, NEC Corp has come out with a “smart” billboard that changes its ad based on the viewer’s demographic information. The new device will be on display at Fuji Television’s annual festival in Tokyo this summer. In a world where consumers are caught in a barrage of advertising, the product’s manufacturers are hoping to give advertisers a leg up in determining how effective their marketing campaigns are. Viewers will be able to hold their cellphones up to screens to receive coupons and other product information, then the companies can track whether or not the items are later purchased or stores visited. Creepy…

The demise of the double-click may be on the horizon according to analysts, who are predicting that facial recognition software, gesturing and touch screens may soon take the place of the mouse. “The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it’s over,” stated Gartner analyst Steve Prentice. Technology that can even read one’s thoughts is scheduled to be released in September. Manufacturers of the mouse say the news is premature, though, since so much of the world has yet to come online, and they claim those users will still require the 40-year-old technology.

He sweats! He bleeds! He vomits! Anything else and they’d be taxing him. The University of Portsmouth has just released a new training dummy that allows medical students to hone their real world skills more effectively than ever before. Controlled remotely, the dummy can be programmed — among other things — to have a heart attack, suffer from internal bleeding or even have a lung collapse. Noted Phil Ashworth, a teacher at the university, “The students are very lucky to learn in this safe environment. When I was training all we had to practise on was ‘Resus Annie,’ a folded up mannequin in a suitcase.” I bet old Annie didn’t make bowel sounds unless the air was being let out of her.

Since the ho-hum introduction of the MacBook Air, Mac fans have buzzed about rumors of notebook updates and now a few little clues point to a possible laptop update announcement arriving soon. Apple reportedly upped its order of “notebook-use printed circuit boards” by 20% over this quarter and has warned electronics retailer Best Buy that limited MacBook shipments will go out over the next couple weeks. It seems Apple may integrate design features from the current iMac and MacBook Air and include some processor upgrades with rumored new notebooks.

For the first time, Microsoft is reportedly testing a new pilot program that will allow third party publishers to add Microsoft’s contextual ads next to their content in a self-serve format. Microsoft’s new product will likely resemble Google’s Adsense and Yahoo’s Publisher Network.