But who started the profile? Well, it happened to be Ashley Grills – a former employee and confidant of Drew; who also happened to be granted immunity from the charges if she testified for the government. Testifying that she was the one who opened the account (which makes her the one who read the Terms of Service), she also testified that it was her idea in the first place to befriend Meier.

Grills also said to the court that she did not read the terms of service – which people actually don’t read, but you should since you may not want to break it. She also mentioned that they decided to make the fake person, named “Josh”, be mean to her was that she would leave him alone so they could get rid of the page.

She then testified that Meier responded to “Josh”: “You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over” – a fact that she did not share with the police, the FBI, a grand jury and viewers of Good Morning America, until last week when she told prosecutors. The reason – she just didn’t remember it until last week.

Drew’s defense attorney, H. Dean Steward, has asked for the case to be moved for an immediate dismissal based on Grills’ testimony; but the judge, U.S. District Judge George Wu, asked both sides to file written briefs on the issue before Monday.

A New Orleans man is being reported to have been saved by his Motorola RAZR when a .45 calibre bullet hit him on the chest last Saturday, when he was mowing the lawn. While it did not kill him, the RAZR was destroyed, and it is being reported that the bullet may have come from the woods near his own home.

The man, Ronald Richard, usually clips his phone to his hip pocket of his overalls, but he hooked to his chest of the overalls just over his heart – hence protecting him from the bullet.

Source: Times-Picayne

Several e-tailers confirmed that Intel’s wholesale partner Ingram Micro would ship the new processors to retail on November 12.

The Core i7 processor, based on the 45 nanometer process and originally code-named Nehalem, offers a tempting new option for high-end users.

There are three processors initially on offer. Key specs for the 920 include speeds 2.66Ghz, 8mb of cache and 4.8 gigatransfers per second of QPI (QuickPath Interconnect, Intel’s successor to the abandoned Front-Side Bus). The 940 offering much the same specs at 2.93Ghz, and the 965 Extreme is boosted to 3.2Ghz and ups the QPI to 6.4 GT.

Online technology retailers are offering the 920 from anywhere between $600 and $1100, the 940 at between $1100-$1250 and the 965 at around $2500-$2900.

Intel’s new family of processors will be an expensive upgrade however, as they are not compatible with older motherboards. City Software is selling the 920, 940 and 965 processors with MSI’s DX58 Platinum Motherboard for $1350, $1870 and $3700 respectively.

The consensus among reviewers is that users demanding high computing performance will benefit most from Intel’s new line of processors.

Hardware review site Anandtech noted that the CPU’s design was intended to address “Intel’s shortcomings in the server space”, but lamented that the processor didn’t provide any significant advances in terms of mobility or power use.

According to a presentation made by Director of the Unix Technology Group over at Apple, Jordan Hubbard, at the Large Installation System Administration (LISA) conference, Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) is expected to be released in Q1 of 2009. While we don’t know the exact date for its release, we at least get something to look forward for – unless it is proven to be wrong…

Remember, when Snow Leopard was announced at the WWDC 2008 conference, they said it would ship it “in about a year” from the announcement. And if this happens to be true, could we see a demo at Macworld?

Source: Engadget, MacRumours

Read the Presentation (PDF File)

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have released a game for Thanksgiving – parodying Cooking Mama in the only way they can: making it gory so you feel bad for eating turkey for dinner on Thanksgiving dinner. Titled “Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals”, it basically imitates the moves from the popular Cooking Mama series on the Nintendo DS and Wii.

The game can be played online, or can be downloaded for the PC and Mac. As well, it is asking you to join a letter-writing campaign against the publisher Majesco to release a vegetarian-themed version of the Cooking Mama series.

Under financial pressure because of the economic crisis – plus having that Google ad deal terminated; co-founder Jerry Yang is reported to have step down as the chief executive officer for the company after the company appoints a successor for the CEO role. However, Yang will not leave the company and will still keep his title as “Chief Yahoo” and will still be part of the Board of Directors.

"Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues," chairman Roy Bostock said in a press release.

"Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo! as a key executive and member of the Board."

Yang took over the CEO position (on the board’s behest, according to the press release) in June 2007. His short tenure as CEO saw the stock price dropped, rejecting a generous offer from Microsoft to buy the company, and a deal with Google that fell through due to an investigation with the Department of Justice.

TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington has written that the latest person to take over the company’s CEO position should be an outsider, not someone from the company:

Whoever ends up with the job, let’s just hope it’s an outsider. Yahoo is being clear that they are considering internal candidates. President Sue Decker is likely being considered. But ex-execs we’ve spoken with say she was a big part of the problem at Yahoo, and if she takes over as CEO it will likely be more of the same.

The full press release can be read below.

Image: Flickr/Yahoo/Yodel Anecdotal

Yahoo! Conducting Search for New CEO

Co-Founder Jerry Yang to Step Down Following Appointment of New CEO and Return to Former Role as Chief Yahoo! and Board Member

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) —

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Jerry Yang, co-Founder of Yahoo!, has decided to return to his former role as Chief Yahoo! upon the appointment of his successor as CEO, and he will also continue to serve on the Board. Yang, 40, assumed the CEO role at the Board’s request in June 2007, and he has led Yahoo! through a strategic repositioning and transformation of its platform.

Chairman Roy Bostock, working with the independent directors and in consultation with Jerry Yang, is leading the process of assessing potential candidates and determining finalists for consideration. The search will encompass both internal and external candidates, and the Board has retained Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international executive search firm, to assist in the process.

"Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues," said Roy Bostock. "Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo! as a key executive and member of the Board."

"From founding this company to guiding its growth into a trusted global brand that is indispensible to millions of people, I have always sought to do what is best for our franchise," said Jerry Yang. "When the Board asked me to become CEO and lead the transformation of the Company, I did so because it was important to re-envision the business for a different era to drive more effective growth. Having set Yahoo! on a new, more open path, the time is right for me to transition the CEO role and our global talent to a new leader. I will continue to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo! realize its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product excellence and innovation."

Source: Gizmodo

“SiPort has never had a general layoff at the company and in fact, the company added to its staff in 2008. SiPort started shipping their HD Radio chips earlier this year and the customers seem to really like it. We were not laying people off,” the spokesperson told GigaOM.

Founder Aiman Kabakiko has taken over as the CEO, after the previous one, Sid Agrawal, was shot and killed by Wu.

A guy has managed to turn a dead 13” inch MacBook into a the “Mac Book Ultra Mini”. After receiving the dead MacBook – after its owner poured water over it – he then took it apart, re-soldered some connections and put it all in an external hard drive case to make it look like the Mac Pro Ultra – the high end Mac product.

Turns out it also acts like a decent multimedia machine. Who needs Windows Media Center when you have this!

Source: Wolphbite (via Hack-a-Day)

Who said that bacon is just for eating? You can now have a bacon iPhone sleeve for just 25 Euros, including VAT, but without the shipping charges. Design by Antje, she claims that each sleeve is not the same, and everyone will have a different bacon motif. I should also tell you that it is not really bacon, but felt – but you should already know that.

Buy Now >

Wu had been missing since he shot three people at the offices of where he previously worked, SiPort – a company that developed digital radio semiconductors. The victims were CEO Sid Agrawal, vice president of operations Brian Pugh and the head of human resources Marilyn Lewis. The police said that the reason for the shooting was that Wu was let go from his job at the company.

The New York Times is reporting that Israeli Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu has made a near-exact copy of President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign website for his own campaign to win the seat of Prime Minister in Israel. The campaign for Netayahu also took some lessons from Obama by establishing profiles on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.

Netayahu’s Russian site, on the other hand, is “Not Ready Yet…”, but it does feature Barack Obama with him.

Direct inquiries can be made to gaby@gawker.com. Maybe Gawker needs to find itself a sugardaddy, just like rival Weblogs Inc. being bought by AOL.

Source: The Consumerist

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.
From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,
You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

Yes please.

Regards, David.
From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane, Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.

Regards, David.
From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th. David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95. Please make this payment as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me. I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

Regards, David.
From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.

Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding. We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definately make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.

Regards, David.
From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

Email Conversation thanks to news.ninemsn.com.au 27bslash6.com.

One of the teachers was found listed “teaching chitlins in the ghetto of Charlotte” as one of her activities, one posting “I’m feeling p—ed of because I hate my students!” in a Facebook ‘mood box’, and a reporter showed the school district officials photos of teachers in sexually suggestive poses.

“When you’re in a professional position, especially one where you’re interacting with children and parents, you need to be above reproach,” Carr said to the press.

The school in question, Thomasboro Elementary, has most of its students from minorities in low-income homes.

3 Australia will be releasing another phone to Australia that will integrate Skype, but will also include integration with popular IM Windows Live Messenger and social network Facebook in attempt to create a more social-friendly phone. Called the INQ1 – pronounced as “ink one”, the phone is expected to be around by Christmas.

The phone is, according to The Guardian, based around an open platform, meaning that any site wishes to have their social network on the phone, they will be able to do so. The phone will also support Flash Lite, something that the more-powerful Apple iPhone does not have. At the time of writing, the phone has one-touch access to Facebook and Last.FM – with Skype and Windows Live Messenger as IM clients. YouTube and eBay, however, can be accessed via 3’s mobile portal.

The phone features MP3 support, a 2.2-inch QVGA screen with 262K TFT colour, HSDPA support, Bluetooth and a 3.2 megapixel camera. The phone will come in either silver or black, and will have an internal memory capacity of 50MB, but that is expandable to 4GB on an unspecified storage card. According to 3, the battery life for the phone is up to 327 hours standby and 324 minutes of talktime.

The phone will be available under contract from 3 for only $39 per month. Under this, customers get a $310 cap value, 1GB of data, 4,000 minutes of Skype-to-Skype minutes and 10,000 Skype chats – among other things. The phone is also protected by a 2-year warranty. However, if you don’t like contracts; the phone will also be available under Prepaid, costing $179 when you purchase one of the new Prepaid Cap recharge vouchers – which start off at $29.

Showing that he is more tech-savvy than the other Prime Ministers, Kevin Rudd has signed up to Twitter, the popular micro-blogging tool that allows people to “follow” your tweets in real time. But, according to The Age, his profile managed to crash the site after more that 670 people wanted to follow the PM.

Also part of the new Web 2.0 campaign is a brand new site called “Kevin PM”, following the successful campaign on the web by Presidential-elect Barack Obama. “It’s a discussion, it’s a dialogue, it’s hearing back from you about what you think we’re doing right and what you think what we’re doing wrong, or at least what we can do better,” Rudd says in a video about the new site.

The site is, according to Rudd, a successor to Kevin 07 – which also used the internet to campaign during the 2007 Election. Rudd PM will still used the established profiles on Facebook and MySpace, while adding Flickr, Twitter and YouTube to the list.

However, he is not the only government figure to be on Twitter. Malcolm Turnbull launched a profile on Twitter in mid-October, communicating with the public on issues that were asked by those who have a profile on Twitter. You can follow him at @TurnbillMalcolm, while you can follow Rudd at @KevinRuddPM. Also, if you have a Twitter account, make sure you add me at @terencehuynh, or if you want the latest TECHGEEK.com.au news – just follow @techgeek_rss.

Now, if only Rudd axes the internet filter – then we may vote you in again for office.

This bug is found in the Default.png file of applications, which is used to display an app when when it is being loaded on the iPhone. While this is limited to a static version, Apple’s own applications are able to be more “dynamic” as they show items like the date or a preview. According to the group, developers could easily fool the phone to think that it should allow third-party apps to have access to a dynamic Default.png file.

It should be noted that this has not been proved yet, and the next version of the firmware (firmware 2.2) is rumoured to be released on the 21st of November. So don’t get scared yet.

While we were gone, we started seeing these comments (like the one’s above), and we thought it was strange, but not suspicious – but when I keep getting notifications on G-Mail and Outlook about these comments, I decided something was wrong, and there is … it is a new type of the blogger’s worst enemy - comment spam.

And it seems that TECHGEEK.com.au is not alone. Many blogs are getting spammed by this new type of message spam. While we think it is limited to WordPress-powered, we still are finding out if it is also happening to other blogs as well. And don’t bother with using Akismet, since it is so new that it doesn’t recognise it as spam.

Apparently, as one blog found out, all the IP addresses are coming from one place – the Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam. If you want to block them, WordPress has a very neat tool that can “blacklist” comment from its IP address or its contents. You can find this under Settings > Discussion. Make sure you block the following IP addresses

• 94.102.60.150
• 94.102.60.151
• 94.102.60.152
• 94.102.60.153

That should stop those little nasty creepers from attacking you.

Gawker Media previously axed 19 jobs in early October, including three staffers from Valleywag, but added new contributors to Gawker, Gizmodo, Jezebel and Kotaku. However, the axing may not stop there; with Nick Denton, the CEO of Gawker Media, hinting that The Consumerist may be on the chopping block as well.