AnonGirl writes "Big banks are launching mobile banks to 'keep customers and generate more payment revenue down the line.' Citibank is working on two pilots: one with Obopay, and the other for contact-less payments. AT&T phones will have Wachovia already installed in their phones by fourth quarter 2007. The downside: 'Even though banks are not charging for their service, carriers do charge for accessing data through their phone.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

With Attorney General Alberto Gonzales hopping from scandal to scandal within the administration, he seems to have decided that, rather than take on various important issues this country faces, to focus much of his spare time these days on making intellectual property laws stricter. The latest is that he gave a talk at an event about intellectual property where he went on and on about the importance of clamping down on "intellectual property theft." He does a fantastic job showing that he doesn't actually understand the topic, and simply repeats a very one-sided stance on the topic. He says that it's stealing, rather than infringement. Of course, the Supreme Court disagrees, but why would you expect the Attorney General to know that? He also talks about every infringed copy as if it's a lost sale. It's the standard corporate line and shows that he either doesn't understand the economics at hand or he just feels better ignoring it (or both). About the only good thing in the article is that it sounds like the folks in Congress are so disgusted with Gonzales that they have no intention of paying any attention to his proposed solutions at all.

MadJo writes "US Congress has just approved a bill that will make it illegal to spoof CallerID. From the bill: 'The amount of the forfeiture penalty (...) shall not exceed $10,000 for each violation, or 3 times that amount for each day of a continuing violation, except that the amount assessed for any continuing violation shall not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for any single act or failure to act.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

nytimesriver.com is updating again. Anything you can do to help build word of mouth would be much appreciated!

A Morning Coffee Notes podcast where I discuss where twittergram.com is at.

Scoble & Son are first in line at the Apple store in Palo Alto. Oh the humanity.

Scoble: "Drop by and make fun of me."

Nik Cubrilovic on iPhone as a platform.

My profile page on Pownce.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at University of Maryland have developed a prototype of what may be the next generation of personal computers. The new technology is based on parallel processing on a single chip and is 'capable of computing speeds up to 100 times faster than current desktops.' The prototype 'uses rich algorithmic theory to address the practical problem of building an easy-to-program multicore computer.' Readers can win $500 in cash and write their names in the history of computer science by naming the new technology."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

For years, we've discussed the difference between invention and innovation. Far too often, people assume they're the same thing -- but understanding the differences has a tremendous impact on certain policies. Invention is the creation of something new. Innovation is making something useful in the marketplace (and it doesn't even have to be something new). Against Monopoly points us to an interesting article from last month's New Yorker that explains the same basic concept in a different way. While I disagree with the terms used in the article (he uses "innovation" where we use "invention" and "usefulness" where we use "innovation" -- making it a bit confusing), he's basically talking about the same thing, and providing plenty of examples. The mere creation of a new product isn't particularly valuable. It's making products useful where society truly benefits. Perhaps the most interesting part of the article, though, is in recognizing that it's often a completely different and unintended use of a technology that first makes it really useful. So, how does this play into things like patent policy? Well, all too often, people assume that patents drive innovation (or "usefulness") when that's not the case at all. What the article demonstrates is that the real innovation and the real benefit to society is in making something useful. However, if patents lock up the initial technologies, making them more expensive to use (or impossible to use at all!) then that slows down the potential for those products to be made useful, harming society.

An anonymous reader writes "Apparently Microsoft still hasn't learned that counting vendor acknowledged vulnerabilities isn't a good way to establish the security of an OS. As an analysis of Microsoft's claims on Full Disclosure shows, we see that the methodology used was badly flawed. A bug in Firefox (not to mention emacs), counts as a flaw for Linux, while IE bugs get ignored on Vista's chart. Then we see that vulnerabilities aren't vulnerabilities when they're security-challenged features such as Vista's Teredo. Also, there's far too little consideration given to severity, given that it stoops to counting even extra access restrictions on a file in OSX to have something to show. In short, the original Microsoft analysis was good PR and poor research."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mark Frauenfelder:
The Drug Policy Alliance produced this funny fake TV commercial for a prescription called Incarcerex, meant for politicians who are fearful of losing their election. Link (Thanks, Mike!)

The endgame appears to be near in the Rupert Murdoch-Dow Jones drama. Yesterday, it was reported that the two sides have come to an agreement over what changes Murdoch would be allowed to make should he assume control of the company. At this point, it all comes down to whether or not the Bancroft family is ready to pull the trigger and actually cede ownership of the company. Assuming the deal does go through, it's natural to wonder what a Murdoch-led Dow Jones would look like. In an interview with Time Magazine (via Romenesko), Murdoch rehashes the standard rhetoric about how it would be foolish to destroy an asset (as many fear) that cost him $5 billion to acquire. Later in the interview, he tosses out the idea of spending $100 million to hire the top 200 business journalists in the world, while turning the Wall Street Journal into a free, online-only newspaper. This isn't the kind of plan that's likely to happen at any point in the near term, but it does reflect a willingness to think creatively. Of course, the idea still rests on the basic notion that the key to a successful media company is to be the owner of the best content. A paper like the Wall Street Journal can do better with this approach than most, because quality business journalism remains valuable. But over time, a strategy based on paying enormous sums to consolidate the world's best business journalism won't be able to overcome the ongoing deflation in the value of content.

Riding with Robots writes "After months of scoping out the terrain, the robotic geologist Opportunity is ready to drive down into Victoria Crater on the Meridiani Plains of Mars. Mission managers acknowledge the hardy rover may never come back out, but say they think the potential for discovery is worth it. 'The rover has operated more than 12 times longer than its originally intended 90 days. The scientific allure is the chance to examine and investigate the compositions and textures of exposed materials in the crater's depths for clues about ancient, wet environments. As the rover travels farther down the slope, it will be able to examine increasingly older rocks in the exposed walls of the crater. '"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Xeni Jardin:

Steve Jobs hosted a companywide town hall meeting for Apple employees earlier today, all about iPhone. Each and every Apple employee will receive one of the devices, which adds up to a total retail value of more than $12 million. Gizmodo: Link. Engadget's posts: one, two.

Apple will limit day-of-release purchases to two iPhones per person, max: Link.

How many mobile phone consumers will switch from their current carriers to AT&T because of iPhone? Link, and here's a "HOWTO dump your carrier" guide.

What about international markets? Snip from the relevant Apple press release:

iPhone will be available in (...) Europe in late 2007, and Asia in 2008.

Here are the 13 AT&T Store iPhone Objection-Response scripts: Link.

Apple published the AT&T rate plans earlier this week, here: Link.

One of the more commonly voiced skeptical points, pre-launch -- how usable can this thing be as a txting device without a conventional, opposable-thumbs-friendly keyboard? Apple posted what amounts to a response yesterday: Link to "iPhone Keyboard" video.

Macintouch has a good features FAQ here: Link. SFGate published a pretty comprehensive FAQ here: Link.

Reviews from people who have spent time with the iPhone: Pogue (NYT), Mossberg (WSJ), Levy (Newsweek), Ed Baig (USA Today). I found this clever scorecard helpful: Link.

This PC World article lists 11 bummer factors: Link.

On the Apple website, official word that accessories and products certified as iPhone-compliant will carry a "Works with iPhone" logo: Link. More on the accessories market here, and a critical take here.

iPhone and security: A big deal. Not a big deal. Big deal or not a big deal?

Some people are taking Brian (Gizmodo) Lam's "Jesusphone" thing too seriously: Link versus Link.

Here's a Google Maps mashup that combines the Maps API with locations of AT&T and Apple stores, as well as listings on Craigslist and eBay. Link for more info on how to use it. (Thanks, Mike)

(Xeni): I'll be joining CNN International anchor Kristie LuStout at 5:40pm PT/840PM ET today (Thu., June 28) to talk about the you-know-what for a few minutes.

Previously on BoingBoing:

Apple uses big-handed model to "shrink" iPhone

Dude in line for iPhone to raise money for AIDS drugs in Africa

Further ponderance of the iPhone's size

Eric Mueller video blogs from the NYC iPhone line

Nintendo Sixty Fouuuuuur versus iPhooooone (video)

Reader comment: Tom Stevens says,

Link to a news article in the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.

Apple's new iPhone is NOT available for sale in Vermont due to the fact that AT&T is the sole wireless provider for the phone and AT&T is not offered in the state.

Small Dog Electronics in Waitsfield is a Vermont Apple product dealer, and CEO Don Mayer said this week he is disappointed the iPhone will not be available here.

"I think it's very unfortunate that Apple has chosen to limit distribution of the iPhone," he said. "They've frozen out Vermont as the only state in the union without service. I understand why — that they will have their hands full with what they already have, but it leaves us and people in many other rural areas out in the cold."

Other areas affected in this area include parts of New Hampshire and Maine...

News.com reports that the immigration reform bill bouncing around in the Senate for the last few weeks has finally been defeated. The site speculates that, perhaps, one of the reasons it was finally defeated was a measure intended to expand the use of Real ID cards. If passed, the bill would have effectively turned the Real ID system into a National ID card. "The American Civil Liberties Union, another longtime foe of Real ID, said the Real ID requirements were a 'poison pill that derailed this bill, and any future legislation should be written knowing the American people won't swallow it.' Another section of the immigration bill would have given $1.5 billion to state officials to pay for Real ID compliance. Even if the immigration bill is goes nowhere, however, the Real ID Act is still in effect. It says, starting on May 11, 2008, Americans will need a federally-approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments or take advantage of nearly any government service." As we've discussed before, several states have rebelled against the implementation of Real ID.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Earlier this week, our post about Senator Feinstein's interest in bringing back the "fairness doctrine" stirred up quite a bit of controversy. It appears that other Senators are continuing that push, with Senator Dick Durbin now saying flat out that "it's time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine." Of course, this whole push seems to be based on a very, very confused understanding of the past. Durbin claims: "I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they're in a better position to make a decision." There are so many problems with this statement, it's hard to know where to start. First of all, most stories have a lot more than two sides -- and if you really think there are only two sides, then you're probably missing an important part of the story. Second, it's amazing that anyone would suggest that with the huge number of media options out there today compared to any time in the past, that there are somehow fewer ways to hear various opinions on any particular story. Putting restrictions on single media providers, forcing them to spew some particular political position is pointless and unconstitutional. At this point in time, we have more ability to get all sides of a story out to the public than at any time in our past. Forcing certain properties to put on opinions they don't agree with doesn't seem "fair." It just seems like a dangerous infringement of the First Amendment.

Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Stephen Lindholm says,

Good news for T-Mobile customers. In a class action brought against T-Mobile, this past week, the plaintiffs have successfully argued that T-Mobile cannot prevent its customers from filing a class action against it. The plaintiffs are suing over non-prorated early termination fees and the selling of SIM-locked handsets.

T-Mobile, as many other cell phone companies do these days, had written into its contract with customers that any disputes between T-Mobile and the customers had to be resolved by arbitration. Requiring customers to go to arbitration means that customers cannot sue, and more importantly it means that customers cannot file class actions. The result, if the contractual terms requiring arbitration were valid, would be that the most abusive cell phone company practices could not be limited by customers bringing lawsuits.

However, in the suit Gatton et al. v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., the plaintiffs convinced the trial court that the contractual provision requiring arbitration was unconscionable and therefore not enforceable. On June 22, 2007, the California appeals court affirmed the trial court's ruling. The class action is going forward.

Presumably, this means that customers of other cell phone companies will be able to sue their own cell phone companies as well. The particular grievances against T-Mobile in this class action are the imposition of non-prorated early termination fees and the selling of SIM-locked handsets. Both of these are common to other cellular carriers, although it's not clear from the appellate opinion whether T-Mobile is doing something extra-shady with the SIM-locking. (The appellate opinion states, "T-Mobile requires equipment vendors to alter the handsets they sell to T-Mobile by locking them with SIM locks and setting the SIM unlock code based on a secret algorithm provided by T-Mobile.") So if this suit is ultimately successful in California, it may not take long before non-prorated early termination fees and SIM-locked handsets die a long-awaited death.

PDF Link.

amigoro writes "Here's an interesting experiment: Copy Google results pages from four different e-commerce queries. Tell 32 test subjects who are going to evaluate the results that the results were from four different search engines: Google, MSN Live Search, Yahoo! and an in-house engine created for the study. Then see which once they rate as the best. As it turns out Google and Yahoo! win hands down, proving that even on the Internet it's all about branding."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mark Frauenfelder: My book, Rule the Web: How To Do Anything and Everything on the Internet -- Better, Faster, Easier, just cracked Amazon's top 100 best seller list, and it's #2 in the "Computers and Internet" category. Thanks so much to everyone who bought a copy. I appreciate it! Link

Cory Doctorow: Kellogg's Cereal Straws are straws lined with powdered sugar-cereal dust that kids can drink milk through. It makes the milk taste like the sludge left at the bottom of a cereal bowl. We feed kids gross things, but this reaches new levels of grotitude.

Upon perforating one o