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Robot coach helps errant dieters

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 29 Apr 2010

Robot coach helps errant dieters

A Hong Kong-based start-up is preparing to release Autom, a robot diet mentor with a deceptively pleasant demeanour, says CNet.

Users can talk with the 15-inch-tall Autom and, by using its LCD touch-screen, indicate what they've had to eat and how long they've exercised on a given day.

The machine, which is linked to the Internet, is designed to automatically keep track of calories and weight loss progress. It also tries to look cute by batting its eyelashes.

Online anonymity fuelled Estonia attacks

According to a report by three academics, the attacks that paralysed Estonian Internet traffic for three days in 2007 were fuelled by online anonymity and a phenomenon known as contagion, reports The Register.

The paper, titled Storming the Servers: A Social Psychological Analysis of the First Internet War, is among the first to study the social and psychological forces that contributed to the massive distributed denial-of-service attacks on Estonia. They are likely to play out in future online conflicts, the authors warn.

Chief among the contributors was the anonymity of online interactions, which the authors said created a disregard for established social mores.

Google diplomatic on Net neutrality

In a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing, earlier this week, Google reiterated its support for Net neutrality regulation, but didn't take sides in the ongoing debate over whether the FCC should reclassify broadband services to help ensure the agency has the authority to enforce that regulation, writes CNet.

The FCC's authority was challenged earlier this month when a federal appeals court sided with Comcast, ruling that the FCC had no legal basis for censuring the company for violating its Net neutrality principles.

Net neutrality proponents, including the Open Internet Coalition - a group that Google helped found to promote open access to the Internet - has asked the FCC to reclassify broadband Internet services as a telecom service instead of an information service, to make certain the agency has the legal teeth to enforce new regulations concerning broadband.

Nokia releases first open source phone

The first handset to use the Symbian operating system since it became open source has been announced by Nokia, reveals the BBC.

The N8 phone has a 12MP camera and allows people to record and edit high-definition video clips, as well as watch Web TV services.

Analysts said the phone was a "pivotal device" in efforts "to make Nokia's high-end phones credible again".

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