Thanks to Chad for putting this great round-up together! If you would like to contribute, please contact me.

Technology Round-Up

Mobile-related

The largest study to date shows that regular cell phone users are 50% more likely to develop brain tumors. Maybe the people wearing bluetooth headsets everywhere aren't as dumb as they look.

Scientists have hacked a cell phone to analyze blood and detect diseases.

Samsung held an event to set the Guinness World Record for fastest texting while skydiving. Will any other companies bother holding their own competitions?

Related to news in last week's round-up, a man buried with his cell phone still receives voicemails from his wife...three years later (yes, she's still paying the bill). What better way to move on from a loss?

T-mobile cares about phone privacy enough to block access to the device's location even when it has been stolen.

Rumors have it that a sequel to the T-mobile G1, the aptly named G2, is in the works and may be released January 26. And if rumored specifications are to be trusted, it will make G1 users very jealous and angry.

The Vatican has officially approved an iPhone application called iBrievary. No, this is not a joke.

Firefox users may soon be able to get their favorite browser on their cell phone.

Gizmodo has published a list of 2008's top 10 iPhone applications and top 10 Android (G1) applications. What are your picks?

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Computer-related

The internet has surpassed newspapers as the second-most cited source of news. Television still wins overall.

Australia may attempt to block BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks as they compete with China for the most extensive internet filtering.

The New York Times has been sued for linking using the headline and title sentence of articles.

Laptops have outshipped desktop computers for the first time. Of course, this doesn't factor in the number of people who build their own computers.

Microsoft Offers Windows Vista Answers Tech Help Forum. Still waiting for, "Why should I buy Vista rather than wait for Windows 7?"

A nine-year-old girl has become the youngest person ever to pass Microsoft's certified professional examination

Taiwan has drafted a $6.5 billion bailout for their computer memory manufacturers.

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Electronics-related

President-Elect Barack Obama has named his science and technology team. His transition team is examining Space solar power.

Retail sales dropped drastically this holiday season. Despite this trend, Nintendo sold 1.7 million Wii consoles in the week prior to Christmas, and Amazon posted their biggest holiday season ever.

A Beverly Hills liposuction doctor has been using his patients' excess fat to power biodiesel vehicles.

Have a co-worker you don't like? Put paper copies of their license on your car and drive by speed trap cameras. Yes, it actually works.

Police may soon be armed with non-lethal laser guns rather than Tasers. At the very least they'll look cooler wielding the weapons.

Did you get a new Wii for Christmas? Be careful with it. British doctors are reporting that they see 10 patients a week from Wiinjuries. Anyone hurt themselves other than strained wrists?

A Fry's Electronics executive has been caught in a $65 million fraud scheme to pay off his ridiculous gambling debts.

The Wii will have its own video distribution service in 2009. However, videos will still be limited by the system's maximum resolution of 480p.

People can now rapidly age wine using electric fields. Sideways fans and wine connoisseurs are not pleased.

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Game-related

Women who play MMORPGs (EverQuest II gamers in specific were surveyed) are more than five times as likely to be bisexual.

Here are the upcoming Rock Band tracks for the week. Wii owners have also been assured that DLC is coming "as fast as possible."

Though Guitar Hero: World Tour is taking a week off for DLC, details about their upcoming Nintendo DS game, Guitar Hero Modern Hits, and a trailer for Guitar Hero: Metallica are available.

An original Super Mario Bros manual has surfaced and the background story is far more interesting than many people remember.

Check out a gallery of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin screenshots.

Fans of The Sims can see a video of The Sims 3 create-a-sim process.

Burnout Paradise will feature a vehicle very similar to The DeLorean from the Back to the Future series.

World of Warcraft has reached 11.5 million subscribers. With subscription rates that range from $12.99 to $14.99 per month (not taking into account regional price differences), Blizzard is making somewhere between $149,385,000 and $172,385,000 per month from subscribers alone.

Everything on Steam is for sale from 10-75% off through January 2.

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Tips/Tricks

Here are six ways you can handle receiving a crappy tech gift. Anyone get noteworthy (good or bad) gadget gifts during the holidays?

Out of a job? Check out the "five best online job search sites."

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Contributed by: CyberInferno

Articles found via Arstechnica, Digg, Engadget, Lifehacker, HardOCP, Gizmodo, or Slashdot if not directly linked.

Thanks for checking out the technology roundup!

Please direct any comments or suggestions to cyberinferno@gmail.com (or post them in the replies).

Well put together! Lots of really cool stuff in here - and things I didn't even know about (and I try and keep up to date on tech stuff).

Great read!

i love this thing

Firefox on your phone? Hell yeah!


Related to news in last week's round-up, a man buried with his cell phone still receives voicemails from his wife...three years later (yes, she's still paying the bill). What better way to move on from a loss?

"Honey, I'm fucking the poolboy, I hope you understand, you know, considering you're dead."

That voicemail thing is trippy. And that's awesome of that nine-year-old girl.

LOL @ The Vatican.

Still need to get bioshock for $5

Originally Posted by Jason Tate

Well put together! Lots of really cool stuff in here - and things I didn't even know about (and I try and keep up to date on tech stuff).

Great read!

Thanks, Jason! Your comments are very much appreciated. And I'm glad I was able to sneak in some unseen news since I know you keep up with it

Originally Posted by circatbs

i love this thing

Thanks, mate. Hopefully this round-up can be something to look forward to on Saturdays

ibrievary! lol

I've smacked myself in the face once with a wii controller. Not fun.

This thing rules. Is this the first week, or have I missed it?

Is this a new weekly feature? I don't think I've ever seen this before. I love it though. Please continue this weekly

Originally Posted by LewistonSpecial

This thing rules. Is this the first week, or have I missed it?

Originally Posted by dave900

Is this a new weekly feature? I don't think I've ever seen this before. I love it though. Please continue this weekly

http://www.absolutepunk.net/tags/ind...ology-roundup/

This is the third week.

Originally Posted by LewistonSpecial

This thing rules. Is this the first week, or have I missed it?

Originally Posted by dave900

Is this a new weekly feature? I don't think I've ever seen this before. I love it though. Please continue this weekly

EDIT AGAIN: Jason beat me to it and already posted links