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'Biggest drawing' just a big hoax

A Swedish art student who claimed to have created the "biggest drawing in the world" using a GPS device and an international package delivery service has admitted that the drawing is a hoax.

Erik Nordenankar had claimed that he placed a GPS device in a briefcase on March 17 and then sent the case on a 55-day trip around the world with DHL. He originally stated on his Web site that he had given DHL specific travel instructions on the route that the briefcase should take to yield the drawing. After the package allegedly traveled over 6 continents … Read more

Self-portrait with GPS

Update, 5/27, 5 p.m. PDT: The student has admitted that his tale is a hoax. Read the follow-up here.

A Swedish art student has posted online what he calls the "biggest drawing in the world," though the picture would seem to be more accurately described as a drawing on a rather modest scale that came into being through a round-the-world technique.

Perhaps that's why a sort of subtitle on Erik Nordenankar's Web site, just above the image, is this: "GPS Generated Self Portrait."

The technique is described this way: "My pen … Read more

CNET Live - Episode 54

Brian Brushwood from Revision 3's Scam School shows us some life hackery magic tricks to get free drinks at the bar.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

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Make iPhone a disposable cell phone

Two ways to remote control iTunes. One from TUAW and one from Lifehacker.

I'm hitting myself in the head for not remembering PC Mover for transferring your applications, settings and files from one … Read more

Imagining the tech world in 2050

At a kickoff event for collaboration between IBM and the University of Southern California to explore the intersection of creative arts and science and technology, five IBM scientists offered their best guesses on how life would be different in 2050.

In keeping with the Hollywood theme, the moderator of the panel, Bill Pulleyblank, noted that the Mini Cooper automobile has more computing power than Apollo 13--the space capsule that "almost got Tom Hanks killed," he said, referring to the 1995 movie of that name.

Pulleybank led the development of IBM's Blue Gene systems, which account for 4 … Read more

N.Y. court upholds school cell phone ban

New York City's controversial prohibition of cell phones on school grounds can continue, a state appellate court has unanimously ruled.

The city's school system instituted the possession ban in September 2005 as part of its efforts to maintain school security and discipline, contending the mobile gadgets can promote cheating and harassment, and began confiscating them from students the next year. But parent advocates had challenged the rules as overly broad and irrational, arguing that cell phones were a "lifeline" for families trying to reach their students, particularly during their commutes and after-school activities.

In an opinion released Tuesday, … Read more

Where it's the fiiiiinnnnaaalll countdown

EPISODE 79

Brian Brushwood stops by to ruin our lunches. He did some crazy crazy tricks like sticking a 4-and-a-half-inch nail in his nose, sticking a smaller nail in his eye, and basically taking over the show and making it awesome. The boys of the 404 might talk about iPod Touches, but who are we kidding? Magic! Listen in, or even better, watch the video later today on this post or on CNET TV's YouTube channel. We promise you WILL NOT want to miss this episode.

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Where we're still recovering from our special time with Julia Allison and Meghan Asha

EPISODE 75

Today's show is just like taking candy from a baby...a chocolate one. Got an STD? Well Cracked has found a dating site just for you. Plus, Earthworm Jim might be making a comeback! All this and special guest Brian Brushwood from Revision3's Scam School on today's 404!

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School fundraisers a la eBay

It's as much a part of the school experience as homework, cliques, and senioritis: the fund-raiser. In the Internet era, however, things aren't what they used to be: the quest for funds to supplement the never-quite-enough out of state and city coffers is no longer limited to car washes and bake sales. Nowadays, booster groups and administrators are turning to online auctions--$275 for a private pole-dancing lesson, anyone?--with the potential to rake in more than ever before and to avoid too-blatant competition among neighbors.

Read more at The Boston Globe: "Boosters turning to online auctions&… Read more

High school students stand up for privacy, refuse to take military test

Teens may have a better understanding of privacy issues than the adults around them. Unfortunately, when you are a high school student, your personal judgment can still be challenged by an unsympathetic principal.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports that at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough North Carolina, more than 300 juniors were given the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The military provides and administers the tests without charge, and in return the scores and students' contact information are sent to military branch recruiters and the school.

Cedar Ridge Principal Gary Thornburg was willing to sign on to this deal to get access to what he views as a valuable career assessment tool. There is supposed to be an opt-out procedure, but three students who refused to take the test were sent to the in-school suspension room to take it--not as discipline, according to Thornburg, but because the in-school suspension teacher was available to supervise them while other students were taking the test. Sounds like a blatantly disingenuous answer to me. In my experience as a student and teacher, when you send students to in-school suspension, it is going to feel like a punishment and be perceived that way by others. Surely their well-equipped media center could have handled three students for independent study.… Read more

Integrated Fingerprint Reader

In our increasing world of personal security, there is a consistent need to protect our identity. Passwords are created for a multitude of reasons everything from computer logins to online accounts, the number of passwords one uses to protect themselves is endless.

When contemplating the features you want in a laptop for school, consider an integrated fingerprint reader. A fingerprint reader will simplify your life, secures your identity (a fingerprint can not be shared), and more importantly, the reader protects you from prying parents.

Several manufacturers offer integrated fingerprint readers on select models: Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony, HP, Dell and Fujitsu.… Read more