Thanks to Chad for putting this together:

Technology Round-Up

Poll

Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Do you think he deserves these honors, and, if not, who do you think does?

Apple

New iMacs and iMac Pros may be on the way in the first half of 2011.

One analyst expects only 2.5 million new iPhone customers next year. Most iPhone sales will come from people switching from AT&T to Verizon.

It looks like an untethered iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak will be released on Christmas Eve.

Jailbroken iOS devices can now be made more secure than stock devices.

Cydia might be coming to OS X.

PatriotApp allows iOS users can now report suspicious activity to federal agencies.

Google Voice is now available for iPod Touches and iPads.

If anyone actually uses Ping, the service now offers social playlists.

Internet

The U.S. Government now needs to acquire a warrant to read people's e-mail.

As you'll notice if you visit any of these links to sites owned by Gawker Media, the site was hacked and personal information including passwords was stolen. Any of these people whose accounts were compromised have had their LinkedIn passwords (if they had an account) reset automatically as a precaution. McDonalds' websites were also recently hacked, and their customers' personal information was stolen as well.

With a lighter look at the Gawker Media customer privacy breach, take a look at the top 50 passwords.

WikiLeaks.org is back online in the USA. Meanwhile, Bank of America is now refusing to process payments to WikiLeaks. Is this a violation of liberties or is Bank of America doing the right thing?

Due to the WikiLeaks crisis, the U.S. Airforce is blocking access to the New York Times and 23 other news sites.

Yahoo had a glitch where seemingly innocent image searches returned pornographic thumbnails.

Facebook is adding facial recognition software to identify people even when they are not explicitly tagged.

Google will not select its test city for the 1 gbps fiber optic connection until 2011.

One of the key innovators and designers at Mozilla is leaving to start a company designed to help obese people.

One eBay-er outsmarted a buyer who refused to pay after winning an auction. Very interesting story.

See a 90-second summary of the top 10 YouTube videos of the year.

Google

A Japanese woman is suing Google for posting a Street View image of her in her underwear.

Google is being accused of unfairly prioritizing its own content.

See what using Chrome OS exclusively is like. Despite this positive feedback, see why the GNU founder and Gmail creator do not like Chrome OS. In fact, the Gmail creator has gone so far as to say that the OS is "as good as dead."

Gmail users can now grant e-mail access (but not account settings access) to specific people.

Google Contacts now have a 30-day backup/restore capability in case you delete any important contacts.

Google Docs Spreadsheets now features a revision history.

Electronics

Engadget has released their annual Best Gadgets of 2010 list.

Imaging specialists believe that TSA's invasive body scanners can actually miss underwear bombs. If the TSA body scanners bother you, these boxer shorts will conceal your nether regions.

Erotica novels are no longer available on Kindles.

Check out a review of the Barnes & Noble Nook Color which will get Froyo (Android 2.2) with limited access to regular Android applications.

Sony claims its e-readers are selling out around the world. Your round-up author is very skeptical. Has anyone actually seen someone using a Sony e-reader in public that wasn't on display at a store?

After a man received a UPS package that had no laptop inside, he used a car alarm to figure out that UPS opens packages for no reason.

Sirius XM has reached 20 million subscribers.

Check out a review of the OnLive Gaming System.

People who are paranoid about catching diseases from door handles will love the Choi Bomi self-sterilizing door handle.

Fossil has a new Connected watch that displays information from iPhones, Android phones, and Blackberries.

Mobile

The U.S. Army would like all soldiers to carry iPhones or Android phones.

People who are against touchscreen phones had best get used to them; touchscreen phones will dominate the market by 2015.

Drivers of commercial vehicles may be banned from using cell phones.

T-Mobile is attempting to push 3G technology to 4G speeds in areas where the technology will not be available in the near future.

MetroPCS has added New York and Boston to its list of 4G-compatible regions.

Canadian readers who are interested in a Windows Phone 7 device should check out Telus's deal: free Xbox 360 with every Windows Phone 7 activation.

Check out a review of the dual-core, 1080p-video-recording, 4-inch LG Optimus 2X.

The Google Nexus S has already been rooted.

Check out a review of Gingerbread (Android 2.3). Sounds like the mobile OS is headed in the right direction.

Are apps sharing your personal data?

Google Voice Search for Android can now customize its results to you specifically.

Word Lens is a new app which allows instant translation of signs and words in the world around you.

The incredibly popular iOS game, Words with Friends, is coming to Android. The app will allow competition against iOS users.

Google Maps 5.0 features 3D maps, a compass mode, and offline mode.

Maxthon, best known for the the IE-based (latest stable version) browser for Windows, has released a browser for Android.

The new update of Facebook for Android features chat capabilities.

Computer

See the "Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2010."

Check out a Holiday Guide to Tablets (yes, there are alternatives to the iPad) as well as the Holiday Gift Guide to Digital Cameras.

Intel's new Sandy Bridge processor has a remote kill switch in the event that the laptop is stolen. This switch can be activated even if the computer is not connected to the internet.

Opera 11 has been released and was downloaded 6.7 million times on its first day of release.

Microsoft has released an H.264 plugin for Firefox.

Chrome will get the popular Adblock Plus extension.

Check out reviews of the AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950.

Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 has been released.

Dropbox has reached version 1.0.

Tips/Tricks

Take your iTunes music to the cloud with mSpot

iPhone users with Android envy should check out the HTC Sense Theme for iPhone 4.

TinyUmbrella allows people to restore iOS devices without using iTunes.

Stream movies from a jailbroken iOS device to a Mac computer with AirPlayer.

Use PwnageTool to jailbreak Apple TV 2G with iOS 4.2.1.

Check out the Most Popular Free Mac Downloads of 2010.

If Windows users want an application store, check out AllMyApps.

Quickly launch Google Chrome apps with AppJump Launcher.

Windows users can now easily transfer documents to/from FTP sites, Google Docs, and lots of cloud-based services with Cyberduck.

Android users who don't want to password-protect their phones and don't like the standard lockscreen can disable the slide gesture with No Lock.

Launch Android apps quickly with QuickDesk.

Learn how to prevent Firefox from entering "work offline" mode.

Miscellaneous

In huge medical news, a man has been cured of HIV.

After 30 years in space, the Voyager 1 will leave our solar system and head into the great beyond.

The Earth's core's magnetic field strength has been measured.

The Periodic Table of Elements is getting an update.

Trading company secrets at Apple and Dell can be a very lucrative business.

Yahoo recently laid off 600 employees.

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Contributors: CyberInferno

Musclenerd removed that tweet about 4.2.1 on Xmas eve. Hoping it'll still happen though.

ahhh, that UPS shit is....shit

Quote:

In huge medical news, a man has been cured of HIV.

this is amazing

Ridiculous that Wikileaks is having money blocked. And about the commercial vehicle drivers being banned from using a phone while driving, does that mean it's legal to use a mobile phone without handsfree in America?

I lost interest in Ping like 2 weeks after it came out. Never check it anymore.

Quote:

Erotica novels are no longer available on Kindles.

Well what's the point now?

Originally Posted by Chrisj182

Ridiculous that Wikileaks is having money blocked. And about the commercial vehicle drivers being banned from using a phone while driving, does that mean it's legal to use a mobile phone without handsfree in America?

There is no national ban in the U.S. on cell phone use while driving. Certain cities and states have enacted laws banning cell phone use without a handsfree device though.

The irony is that handsfree devices don't actually prevent accidents.

Quote:

In huge medical news, a man has been cured of HIV.

A step towards a potential cure. Glad to see this on here.

Originally Posted by CyberInferno

There is no national ban in the U.S. on cell phone use while driving. Certain cities and states have enacted laws banning cell phone use without a handsfree device though.

The irony is that handsfree devices don't actually prevent accidents.

I knew that handfree doesn't prevent accidents, it's still distracting to talk while on a phone, even if it is handsfree.

Originally Posted by Chrisj182

I knew that handfree doesn't prevent accidents, it's still distracting to talk while on a phone, even if it is handsfree.

Exactly! It's a shame governments don't understand that concept...

Think that's supposed to say MacBook Pros.

Hahaha that eBay story is awesome

Also notion ink has a demo video of their dual core Nvidia 2 tablet Adam showing of their "Eden" UI.