Journalist shield law may not halt iPhone probe

"Under a California law dating back to 1872, any person who finds lost property and knows who the owner is likely to be--but 'appropriates such property to his own use'--is guilty of theft. There are no exceptions for journalists. In addition, a second state law says any person who knowingly receives property that has been obtained illegally can be imprisoned for up to one year."

This is the crux of the issue. I'm not sure the phone was actually "lost" either. It may have been lifted. When the identity of the "seller" comes out (police investigation, not from Gizmodo), it will be interesting to the history or background of that person.

No matter what else was done wrong, I do think that bashing in the door in the middle of the night was a bit of overkill. They could have knocked. It is not like the bloggers at Gizmodo are armed and dangerous.

If the charges are true and the receiver of the property is convicted, I think some serious community service time and probation, rather than jail, is warranted in this case.

Thoughts on Flash

The man from Apple himself, Steve Jobs, lays out why no flash will be coming to the iPhone or the iPad.

Considering how many security updates I have to do in a year and how often it crashes, I'd love to see Adobe Flash go. I didn't like it when it was Macromedia Flash. Of course, the first widespread use of it on the Web was for seemingly long loading and boring "splash screens".

Apple, with its large market share of mobile devices may just be able to force the Flash issue. Anyway, "Flash Wars" is sure fun to follow.

AMD 6-core barebones system for $500 after MIR

Wanna fabulous deal on the brand new six-core AMD Phenom II? You have until April 30th to get this launch deal:

This Bundle Includes

• Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H AM3 Motherboard
• AMD HDT55TFBRBOX Phenom II 1055T Six Core Processor with Fan
• Corsair Dominator 4GB PC10666 RAM
• Western Digital WD10EARS 1TB Caviar Green Hard Drive
• Ultra X-Blaster Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
• Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply

Add an OS and a graphics card, and you have one impressive box. The reviews, and especially the computing/dollar, are very good. Tiger Direct throws in $60 in mail-in rebates to bring the final cost to $500 + shipping. That's a good deal.

1.5 million stolen Facebook IDs up for sale

A hacker named Kirllos has a rare deal for anyone who wants to spam, steal or scam on Facebook: an unprecedented number of user accounts offered at rock-bottom prices

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 04-25-10

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 04-25-10. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

HP Pavilion p6380t Core 2 Quad 2.5GHz PC for $580 + free shipping
It features an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz quad-core processor, 6GB RAM, 640GB 7200 rpm hard drive, dual layer DVD burner with LightScribe, Gigabit Ethernet, 15-in-1 memory card reader, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
1.Click here and choose the top "Customize & Buy" button to start at $599.99
2.select "FREE Upgrade to 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive... (+$0)"
3.click "Review & buy" and add to your cart for $599.99
4.apply coupon code "DTAL89741" to cut the price to $579.99 with free shipping

Dell Small Business offers its Dell Vostro 230 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.93GHz Mini Tower Desktop PC bundled with the Samsung 2494LW 23.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor in Black for $489. With $8 for shipping, that's $307 off and the lowest total price we could find for a Vostro 230 mini tower / 24" LCD combo. Features include an Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive, DVD burner, integrated graphics, keyboard, optical mouse, Gigabit Ethernet, and Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit.

Refurb Apple iPhone 3G for AT&T for $49 + free shipping via overnight, more
With activation of a new account and a 2-year data plan, AT&T Wireless offers deals on refurbished Apple iPhones, as listed below. (To find them, click the size — 8GB, 16GB, 32GB — under the two refurb models.) With free shipping via overnight delivery and free activation, each is $50 under the cost of a similar package with a new, factory-sealed model. Sales tax is added where applicable. Each iPhone features compatibility with AT&T's 3G network, built-in GPS navigation with Google Maps, enhanced enterprise support, a 3.5" touch screen, at least 5 hours of talk time, and more. Offer ends April 26.

SuperBiiz has the Samsung EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $95 - $10 off with coupon code IWANT10 [Exp 4/25] = $85 with free shipping. Features an average seek time of 8.9ms, SATA 3.0Gb/s and a 32 MB cache. Less than 6 cdnts per Gigabyte.

ZipZoomFly has the Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $110 - $15 rebate [Exp 5/31] = $95 with free shipping. This drive uses the new generation SATA 6.0gbs interface that features increased transfer speeds as well as updated power efficiency and native command queuing

Eforcity has the Foldable USB Silicone Keyboard for $11 - $2 off with coupon code EFWS041937 [Exp 4/25] = $9 with free shipping. Fold-up QWERTY keyboard features five rows of full-size keys (including numbers). Can be cleaned with just soap and water

Newegg Mall has the Neiko Stainless Steel 6" Digital Caliper with Fraction Display for $19 + $0 shipping = $19 shipped. Has both metric and SAE markings on the body while the LCD can switch between SAE and metric at the touch of a button

ZipZoomFly has the Western Digital AV-GP WD20EVDS 2.0TB SATA Hard Drive for $160 - $15 rebate [Exp 4/30] = $145 with free shipping. This drive is supposed to be more durable in high heat and always-on conditions

SuperBiiz has the Super Talent 8GB SM Style USB Flash Drive for $17 - $5 off with coupon code DONUT4505 [Exp 4/25] + $2 shipping = $14 with free shipping. You never have to worry about losing your cap since this model comes with a steel swivel lid.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) With so many stories in the news about nuclear disarmament I was kind of googling around reading articles when this story came up about securing a potential Nuke during the earthquake in Chile, that story here http://news.yahoo.com. A spinoff from that article led me to the reason I’m using this as my green link. In the article they were talking about processing the weapon grade material into fuel for nuclear power, I thought why not warheads so I googled and found this article http://www.world-nuclear.org. As much as I am deep down disturbed by the whole nuclear thing, if we can recycle the stuff, it solves many problems.
2) It has been a while since I have put up anything on U.F.O.s so here we go. I have friend in California who went to the yearly reenactment of this event, he liked it a lot. Any way during the conversations back and forth I ran across this video. It is about the “Battle of Los Angles” in this video they use the old radio news casts, show old video of the shooting (big guns), also interviews. Very well done, if you never heard of the Battle of Los Angles, you should check it out. http://www.youtube.com
3) This is one of the more disturbing articles I have read lately, seems we are about to go off planet in a new way. Not so sure it is the military I want to replace NASA in advancing our space efforts. World is getting scary, I mean if we don’t they will, several other countries are on their way. It’s not like the “Outer Space Treaty of 1967” (worth a google) is going to stop anyone. http://www.dailymail.co.uk
4) Thought this might interest the phone group, referring to an article about app’s for the military. Interesting to hear them say their smart phones may soon be as important as their rifles. http://www.defensenews.com
5) Thought for geek I would use this article about Face Book it is interesting to consider just how this clash between freedom and privacy comes down. There are really endless possibilities thinking about the world getting smaller, but the information base getting so much larger. http://social.venturebeat.com