How Russia Stopped One Fifth Of the World's Spam

There are official 20% fewer penis enlargement emails hitting your spam folder, thanks to the efforts of the Russian government. How'd they do it? By making an effort.

Russian authorities this week cracked down on one Igor A. Gusev, "suspected spam kingpin:"

Moscow police authorities said Mr. Gusev, 31, was a central figure in the operations of SpamIt.com, which paid spammers to promote online pharmacies, sometimes quite lewdly. SpamIt.com suddenly stopped operating on Sept. 27. With less financial incentive to send their junk mail, spammers curtailed their activity by an estimated 50 billion messages a day.

Gusev and SpamIt.com had both been operating openly in Moscow for several years until Russia decided to step up its enforcement. And sure, there are still 200 billion unwanted emails blasting off every day. But paring them down by a fifth is a more than decent start.

Concept Butter Package Packs A Butter Knife In The Lid

Single servings of butter are almost always a pain to use. This concept packaging would revolutionize single s

erving butter because you don't need a butter knife. The lid of the package is the butter knife.

The idea is really simple theoretically could be extended to anything that's served in single packaging.

There's a USB Stick In The Brick Wall

Across New York, there are USB drives embedded in walls, buildings and curbs. The idea is to create an anonymous, offline file-sharing network in public space. The drives are completely public and anyone can plug in to drop and download files.

It's part of an art project called "Dead Drops" by Aram Bartholl and I have to say, it's pretty awesomely creative. I mean, if I saw a USB stick stick out of a random wall, I'd be dying to know what's in there. I'd have to plug in. It'd also be interesting to see what people would anonymously share on the public drive, well, until some jackass decides to upload a virus to screw up everybody's computer.

Limited Edition HDJ-1000 Headphones Get Fine-Tuned and Painted Gold by Pioneer

Big, brash and gold—Supposedly they've also fine-tuned the audio formula, with better low-bass frequencies and even clearer playback in the midrange too.

They'll go on sale in December for a spot over $200, but if you don't like the gold there's also a rare black model to be had too.

Antoine Dodson's Sex Offender iPhone App Uses Augmented Reality to Find the Creeps

"Are you still hiding yo wives, hiding yo kids and hiding yo husbands?" asks Antoine Dodsonof bed intruder fame, oblivious to the fact he's using his sister's misfortune to shill this $2 sex offender augmented reality app.

It may sound like a joke, but the app is real and actually works. Well, I assume it works—I haven't downloaded it myself—but developer BeenVerified.com has used its background checker database as the basis for the augmented reality app, which displays red dots when in the proximity of known sex offenders' locations.

5 per cent of the sales are being donated to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), and the app's available for both iPhone and Android. You'd have to be pretty paranoid to download it, but I guess for some it's a valuable tool to add to their apps-toolbox if they're concerned about some neighbours.

Hands on the Nexus Two by Samsung

The Nexus Two is real. It's made by Samsung, and a friend of ours got to play with it. It's not going rock your face like the Nexus One did. But it will record it with a front-facing camera.

It's black and shiny, built with glossy plastic. Up close, though, it's "got this curve to it." While the screen, which our source thinks is the same 4-inch AMOLED affair from the Galaxy series, is flat, the front is "sort of concave" with hard edges. And the back is curved. The tapering makes it feel thinner than Galaxy S, though it might be about the same thickness. "It feels really similar to the Galaxy S in a lot ways."

At first blush, it's a little disappointing that Google possibly isn't pushing things forward in the same way they did with the Nexus One, since it seems like the Nexus Two is a refreshed Galaxy phone. On the other hand, it says a lot that the Android ecosystem is so stocked with high-powered phones, from the Evo to the Droid X, that even Google won't radically jump ahead of its partners with a new flagship. Hopefully their plan for selling it is a little better.

Girls' Generation Hoot MusicVideo

Oakley's 3D Glasses Arriving Just in Time For Tron Legacy

Personally, I'm hoping all this 3D business will just go away if I ignore it long enough, but if you're riding the wave, you might want a decent pair of 3D spectacles. Oakley's new Tron-branded pair should be suitably futuristic.

The Tron:Legacy Oakleys, the first in their line of passive polarized 3D shades, will have some neon Tronesque doodads on the side but will also purportedly offer greater peripheral viewing and a better 3D alignment than most glasses.

You'll have to pay $150 for that fidelity when the Oakleys are available later this year, so if you're prone to losing your glasses, as I am, investing in one of those neck lanyards might not be a bad idea.

Sennheiser's New Gaming Headsets Will Make Your PC Games Sing

Sennheiser's expanding its gaming headset lineup with four new sets o' cans—the flagship Sennheiser PC 360, the surround sound PC 333D and PC 163D, and the PC 330 G4ME. Hey, if they're good enough for your music...

Then they probably will make your games sound pretty great too. The flagship PC 360s have been available overseas for awhile, but now they're making their way stateside for $299. They use Sennheiser Open-Aire speaker tech, have a volume control on the right ear cup, and their mic can be muted simply by lifting it up. Easy.

BlackBerry Bold 9780 Runs OS 6.0 and Has A Better Camera

Not much has changed between the 9700 and 9780, save for the jump from 3.2MP to 5MP camera, and the latest OS version it's running, which is the multitasker OS 6.0

There's a tad more RAM too, going from 256MB to 512MB. It's on sale globally from November, and while it's not that different to the previous Bold (which it itself wasn't much different from the 9000), it'll be a nice jump-up for BlackBerry users wanting an upgrade but who are not quite ready for the scary future of touchscreens just yet.

White iPhone 4: Delayed, Canceled, or Both

According to Reuters, the white iPhone 4 has been put off until next Spring. According to Boy Genius Report, it's been canned altogether. Who should we believe? Honestly, it doesn't really matter at this point.

One thing both sources agree on is that we're not going to hear another peep about thewhite iPhone 4 until next March. That's when Apple will either finally sell it, or push back the release date again until summer and quietly let it die. But with Apple releasing a new iPhone like clockwork every June/July, even if the iPhone 4 does hit the shelves it'll be old news—though appealingly discounted—in a matter of months.

Who would buy one then instead of just sticking it out for iPhone 5? And what incentive is there for Apple to crank on a lame duck device?

So for all the rumors about why and when and how the white iPhone 4 might or might not come out, the calendar's been pushed so far back that by now the point's pretty much moot.

Military Tactical iPad App Looks Like a Real Life Starcraft II

This is the SoldierEyes map, a tactical application for iPad that shows friends and foes' real time positions in the battlefield. It isn't a game, even while it looks like an RTS, similar toRaytheon's Advanced Tactical System (RATS).

Like RATS, the encrypted SoldierEyes network uses smartphones or iPod touch units to gather the information and distribute it. Soldiers can even use an augmented reality app to capture terrain and enemy data to share automatically with other units. All that information is displayed automatically on the iPad and relayed to commanders anywhere in the world.

Sounds like a neat game to play, until you realize the system requirements include actual bullets and mortar fire.

Casio G'zOne Ravine: The Phone that Survives It All

The rugged Casio G'zOne Ravine phone has undergone rigorous military testing, so the stresses and strains of life—like your everyday, run-of-the-mill immersion, blowing rain, shock, sand/dust, vibration, salt fog, humidity, solar radiation, low pressure, high & low temps—won't phase it at all.

Phone/Display

Don't drop everything just because you have to make a call—open and talk on the Casio G'zOne Ravine with one touch. And with noise cancellation, you won't miss a word of your conversation on the job site or in the jungle. The 2.20", 240×320, 65K, TFT LCD screen makes it easy for you to see who's calling in, say, a dense salt fog.

Messaging, Data, and Camera

Threaded texts keeps your SMS, EMS and MMS messages organized for easy access. Enjoy V CAST Video and music—you can store up to 322 GB of media files. The 3.2 megapixel camera has an LED flash and video capabilities.

Fun Stuff

The Casio G'zOne Ravine has a triple sensor for G'zGear that acts as a pedometer, compass, and thermometer to keep you informed of your level of ruggedness at all times. The VZ Navigator capability provides audible maps, turn-by-turn directions, and the ability to share location information for more than 14 million points of interest. Truly a phone for the adventurers among us. Price: $199.99 on Verizon.

Laser Pointer Prank Lands Teen in Federal Prison

19-year-old Nathan Ramon Wells last year saw a California police helicopter and decided to aim a laser pointer at it, causing the pilot to suddenly change course during a burglary investigation. Now he's going to federal prison for 15 months.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in June 2009 Wells was in his car in Cathedral City, California aiming the green laser pointer at the cops and, after diverting the crew from the investigation, the pilot spotted him. He was arrested when police found the laser pointer in his car. What an idiot. He could have at least thrown it out the window when he noticed the police helicopter tailing him. Or maybe he didn't notice the chopper tailing him or the patrol cars called in for backup. Either way, now he's going to federal prison for 15 months, and will be on supervised release for three years afterward. That's harsh, bro.

Here's video of a British police helicopter being viciously targeted by a laser pointer from the crowd at a music festival. You can clearly see that it's dangerous, but 15 months in federal lockup seems like overkill.

Holy Cheap! Get a Froyo Phone For 30 Bones

Look, I'm not saying the LG Optimus T is the fanciest phone in the world. But it's hard to argue with a $30 entry point to the latest and greatest version of Android.

The T-Mobile offering requires a two-year contract and use of a $50 mail-in discount to hit the $30 mark, and the phone itself is a pretty standard decent-not-great 3.2-inch capacitive touch job. The HVGA resolution and 3MP camera are middling if you put them up against the top Android offerings out there, but those'll run you six times as much. The Optimus T also comes pre-loaded with Swype, for you speed-texters out there.

The phone and deal are available November 3rd.

This is the Droid You Were Looking For. For Halloween, At Least

It's the age-old conundrum. To go as something sexy, or something full-on nerdy and embarrassing. I go as the latter everytime (this is the woman who dressed as Bill Gates once), but I think this swimsuit solves the problem nicely.

What do you think, guys? Best Halloween costume yet? It's around $80 USD. Just be careful with nearby lightsabers

There Is No Escape From Cows

This is a message to all vegetarians and vegans out there. From rubber to adhesives to anti-aging creams to medicines to shampoo to instrument strings to plastic to charcoal to wallpaper to air filters: You can't run from beef!

PSP2 Will Be Bigger, Out Fall 2011, Currently Overheating

Around the time of the Tokyo Game Show, Sony held a private meeting at its offices in Tokyo's Aoyama. The purpose was to show off the PSP2.

Several sources have confirmed to Kotaku that the PSP2 does have a previously rumoredtouch panel on the back of the hardware. The touch panel was described as looking like a big mouse trackpad. When Sony showed the PSP2, it did not provide concrete details regarding how the trackpad will be implemented in games and instead is leaving that to the discretion of game developers.

The screen itself is not only sharper than the current PSP's, but about an inch larger. The larger screen means that the PSP2 will be larger as well. In the private meetings, Sony is touting the screen as "HD".

A larger PSP should not be that big of an issue for Sony — especially in a mobile environment with large tablets like the iPad. It also shows that Sony realizes it is no longer simply competing with Nintendo, but also Apple.

It is unclear whether this is the same handheld described by the Wall Street Journal. According to the the paper, Sony is working on a device that mixes a game player, an e-book reader and a netbook computer. In late September, there were also reports that the PSP2 hardware was in the hands of "numerous" developers.

Currently, the PSP2's hardware is not finalized, and Sony is having problems balancing battery, power and heat. There are apparently overheating issues, but Sony is, of course, aiming to have those issues corrected by the time the hardware is publicly shown.

Sony set the PSP2's goals, but is still tinkering with the portable's innards. The PSP2's tech specs are expected to change. Sources tell Kotaku that the PSP2's release window is fall 2011. Sony is not yet talking openly about the PSP2.

Sony did not offer a comment in time for publication.

Brand Logos, Simplified

The images in the picture may just look like circles and dots but they're really simplified logos of famous brands. It's amazing how the strongest brands can be seen even through basic shapes. How many brands do you recognize?

Google, Target, and NBC are pretty easy. Dunkin Donuts and Subway too. If you want to test yourself, you can find all of the simplified logos at Unevolved Brands.

How To Unlock All The Stages In Angry Birds Android & iPhone Game

In the Android version of Angry Birds, you can unlock the different worlds of the game without having to beat each level. And since some of those pigs are impossible to smash, you'll probably end up doing this.

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to a World Select Screen
2. Center a locked world on your screen
3. Hit the back button on your Android phone until you exit Angry Birds
4. Load Angry Birds back up
5. When you see the 'Play' button, tap the button repeatedly
6. You're now inside a locked world

You still need to beat each level to advance in the world but with this method you can start new worlds without finishing the old ones. Howeva be warned! You might not feel the same accomplishment the rest of us honest, hard working folks feel.