3D-based Captchas become reality

I wrote a blog about a new way of creating Captchas by using 3D images that Taylor Hayward, a blogger, came up with and thought it would be really cool when implemented. Now, 3D Captchas seem to have become a reality--however, not from Hayward.

Incidentally, the folks at YUNiTi.com, a social Web site, have been working on the same idea for a few weeks and have implemented the method on their Web site.

The site announced Wednesday that it has created a 3D Captcha method that is unbreakable by current computer technology, yet much easier for humans to identify.
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Western Digital unveils 2TB My Book family

You may be familiar with Western Digital's My Book family of external hard drives. A popular example is the My Book Essential Edition that offers up to 1TB of storage.

The company announced Wednesday that it has expanded the My Book family of external hard drives to include a 2TB capacity, currently the largest capacity available in a single-drive storage device.

The updated My Book family is compatible with Macs and PCs and comes in four models: My Book Studio Edition, My Book Mac Edition, My Book Home Edition, and My Book Essential Edition.

All these models share the same 2TB capacity and the USB 2.0 connection available in the My Book Essential edition. However, the other models also offer FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and eSATA interfaces for faster data transfer rates. The My Book Home Edition is also equipped with continuous backup software for PC users who need an easy way to back up data.
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Face.com finds friends' mugs on Facebook (alpha invites!)

Start-up Face.com announced a Facebook application on Tuesday called Photo Finder that can identify your contacts' faces--and your own--on the social-networking site.

The software analyzes photos among your contacts, suggesting tags for faces it recognizes and monitoring new uploads for more. The software presents an array of your contacts' photos, letting you accept or reject suggested names for the people the application has identified.

In my not-so-extensive testing, I found that the face recognition technology really does make it easier to discover photos of people you know. It surfaced dozens of untagged pictures among my network of contacts, all with the correct name suggested.

We have 100 invitations for the application, which is in alpha testing. Click here if you want one--first come, first served.
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WSJ: China bans YouTube

The Chinese government has apparently moved to block YouTube once again.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the government began blocking the site slowly over the past 24 hours. Quoting a Google spokesman, the Journal reported that the company has not been given a reason for the ban.

A Chinese official was asked about the ban during a press conference and said the "Chinese government has taken up management of the network according to the laws," the Journal reported.
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Book: Microsoft promised Toshiba HD DVD support

Even after it was clear that Blu-ray would win the DVD format race, Microsoft continued to stand behind the rival HD-DVD.

The software maker may have had many reasons, including the fact that its technology was used by HD-DVD, but another reason was that Microsoft had promised HD-DVD format backer Toshiba that it would do so as part of its effort to win a patent cross-license deal with the Japanese electronics giant.

That's among the interesting tidbits tucked away in Marshall Phelps' new book, "Burning the Ships". Phelps, a top Microsoft lawyer, and co-author David Kline suggest that Microsoft had already decided to back HD-DVD, but that the company redoubled its support as part of its effort to woo Toshiba to become the first big Japanese firm to take a cross-license to Microsoft's patents.
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