By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

As an American, I have to say censorship is not high on my list. And when I read about Google censoring China’s access to information, I bristled and then stopped to think about it. “someone will find a hack,” I decided. And here we are.

Chinese web users can see full, uncensored results for their Google search by replacing “&meta;=” with “&meta;=cr%3DcountryBR” in the URL. Once the string is replaced, the censorship will not affect the results. Via: Diggdot.us

See An Example Here

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

I’ve never been a fan of iTunes because I can add. (spell, not so good!) Why pay .99 a song when you can download unlimited songs for $5 or so a month with Yahoo! Music? My computer is packed with great tunes I love, as well as music I am trying but would never ever buy, and if I really want to make a permanent copy, it’s only .79 a song to burn to a CD. That’s why I was pleased to see this deal announcement between Linksys and Yahoo! Music:

The $99.99 Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge works with Yahoo Music Engine, and Yahoo said it would offer a $20 rebate on the Wireless-G Music Bridge if consumers sign up for a one-year subscription to its music service. A software plug-in links Yahoo Music Engine to the Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge, allowing you to access your digital music. Source: DigitalTechNews

We Say: Turn it up!

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

In the past, if an eBay user has noticed knockoffs being sold, the company has refused to remove similar auctions from its site. You can see how much work this would be, and eBay has always taken the stance that it is a marketplace that links buyers and sellers. Thus, it says, it is not responsible for any fake items bought or sold through its site. This is being challenged by some users, and by a firm with more legal and financial abilities than normal eBay users: Tiffany & Company.

That very stance–the heart of eBay’s business model–is now being challenged by eBay users like Rogers who notify other unsuspecting buyers of fakes on the site. And it is being tested by a jewelry seller with far greater resources than Rogers: Tiffany & Company, which has sued eBay for facilitating the trade of counterfeit Tiffany items on the site. Source: New York Times

We Say: Read the entire story; it’s very interesting … and disconcerting as well. People like Jacqui Rogers and a group of people she teamed with have taken to reading listings on eBay to spot rings of conterfeiters. Despite sending tons of evidence to eBay, the listings remain. Although such users as she are prohibited from contacting other users about fraud by eBay policies, she apparently has been doing so anyway to prevent others from being cheated.

I realize the feedback policy is supposed to prevent abuse, but according to the article, the people selling knockoffs that have been spotted by Rogers and her group consistently have positive ratings. I recall the only time I was cheated on eBay, the seller had an excellent rating as well. For something like this, I really think eBay needs to take a look at policy changes to be able to reduce the number of counterfeit auctions. If Tiffany wins, they will most likely be forced into it.

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

Remember the old “I’ve got good news and bad news” way of telling a story, Well, let’t start with the good news. Acetone is a checmical found in paint thinner and when added to gasoline can boost your gas mileage through the roof. You don’t have to add much and the results are amazing. The catch is a risk of flamability if you store it improperly, and if you car has cheap plastic innards, the acetone will eat through everything. However, these are exceprts from a looonnnggggg piece that coveres everything, including a guy who soaked engine parts in pure acetone for months and found that it was safe despite the warnings. Interesting…

How it Works
Acetone (CH3COCH3) is a product that can be purchased inexpensively in most locations around the world, such as in the common hardware, auto parts, or drug store. Added to the fuel tank in tiny amounts, acetone aids in the vaporization of the gasoline or diesel, increasing fuel efficiency, engine longevity, and performance — as well as reducing hydrocarbon emissions.

Acetone drastically reduces the surface tension. Most fuel molecules are sluggish with respect to their natural frequency. Acetone has an inherent molecular vibration that “stirs up” the fuel molecules, to break the surface tension. This results in a more complete vaporization with other factors remaining the same. More complete vaporization means less wasted fuel, hence the increased gas mileage from the increased thermal efficiency.

Additional Benefits
In addition to increased mileage acetone added to fuel boasts other benefits such as increased power, engine life, and performance. Less unburned fuel going past the rings keeps the rings and engine oil in far better condition. More

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

The world seems obsessed with good and evil, so it’s no surprise that the Web is not far behind in finding a way to measure good and evil on Web pages. (Stats are soooo Web 1.o). Anyway. since it’s Sunday night and tomorrow we return to our usual gadget and tech coverage, take a break and see how good or evil your favorite websites are. And of course, we ran our own selves through the Gematriculator and came out more good than evil. Whew!

The Gematriculator is a service that uses the infallible methods of Gematria developed by Mr. Ivan Panin to determine how good or evil a web site or a text passage is. Basically, Gematria is searching for different patterns through the text, such as the amount of words beginning with a vowel. More

By David Johnston
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

It seems that rumors have started to spread that the online retail pioneer Amazon.com may soon be pioneering another front:  online movie delivery.  Ars Technica has learned that as soon as late April Amazon may start offering movies for download through some form or another.  Though it’s all speculation at this point, there are a few interesting theories as to how the delivery system may work.

The first theory mentioned is that Amazon is planning to let users preview a movie by streaming it to their computer before they decide whether or not to purchase it.  The streaming would be available for a “small fee”, but that price would then be credited toward payment for the movie if a customer decided to buy it.  I don’t think this is too terribly exciting because I generally don’t feel like sitting down to watch an entire movie before I decide to purchase it and it’s easy to find movie trailers for free.  I’m sure that for some people this may be a useful feature, but I think this would make much more sense for Amazon’s music sales.  The current system of offering short clips of songs is nice, but they’re very low quality and too short.  Frequently these cut-down clips that Amazon lets me listen to turn me off to the music more than make me want to hear more (yes, I’m a quality freak…all of my music is encoded in lossless format).  Anyway, on to the next, and in my opinion more exciting, theory.

More

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Since Alice travels a lot for work this might be something she’d like to consider. AirTroductions is a matchmaking service of sorts. What it does is give you a way to potentially avoid sitting next to that obnoxious passenger for a cross-country flight.

To use AirTroductions, travelers register online, listing personal details in a profile. When they post their traveling itineraries, the registry provides information on other people taking the same flights.

The registry is free until a user opts to contact a fellow traveler for a $5 fee. Typically, they meet in an airport, where they can arrange to sit together, (company founder Peter) Shankman said. Nearly 4,500 people have enrolled, although only about 60 have made matches since the registry kicked off last fall, he said. Source: Reuters

We Say: Current users have a variety of reasons for using the system, including nervous passengers who want to have a seatmate to distract them, and even those looking for dates. Me, I prefer to be alone in my thoughts … and gaming on my laptop, and yes, a seatmate who will leave you alone is also an option you can pick with AirTroductions.

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

Every now and then we like to throw the questioning open to our own readers. Today’s topic: Travel. I travel a lot for work, and enjoy reading travel horror stories, or great rants like the one we posted about the Greatest Complaint Letter Ever Written To An Airline (a must read!) Anyway, today I found an internal memo from American Airlines yelling at flight attendants over their bad attitudes.

So, here’s my question: I fly American all the time and have noticed almost all of the items detailed in the memo. My last flight from LA to San Francisco in fact had the attendant chatting with the row in front of me for most of the flight about how she only works for the benefits, and wine they pour is so awful, and so on. Everyone just looked embarassed. So my question: Is there a point where you cut so much from someone’s pay that you get what you pay for, or should the flight attendants suck it up and do their jobs? Disucss!

From the Internal Memo:

The following is a sampling of comments and feedback we’ve received from two of our bigger corporate accounts in the Northeast, one of which, came on board as a corporate account one year ago following a long relationship with United Airlines.

–Flight Attendants are not enthusiastic, friendly, or helpful.

–“Galley-talk” is distracting, annoying, and makes it difficult to sleep. As a customer, we do not want or need to hear AA’s dirty laundry. All companies have internal issues. However, it is inappropriate to discuss internal issues with your customers that have to do with minimum rest, crew meals and salary reductions.

–Salary cuts – all businesses have had them. Why do your F/A’s think it’s appropriate to discuss with customers?

–A response to a customer’s request is that we are unable to accommodate the customer due to cost cutting by AA. More