Wired: Top Stories

Tumor-Targeting Nanoparticles Stop Cancer From Spreading

Scientists have been able to stop cancers in mice from spreading, using nanoparticles infused with cancer-fighting drugs. The technique allows for much smaller doses of the drug, which carries heavy side effects.

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07.07.2008 22:00:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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Lawyers Claim Hans Reiser Is Competent, Incompetent

Is Hans Reiser competent or incompetent? Reiser, the developer of the ReiserFS filesystem, was convicted in April of killing his wife, Nina Reiser. Some of his lawyers think he's competent and others don't. The difference could mean the being sentenced to prison or a mental institution.

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07.07.2008 21:05:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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'Futurama' Gets Medieval in 'Bender's Game'

A thoroughly modern plague -- high fuel prices -- sends the Planet Express crew back in time. Catch a sneak peek at the third direct-to-DVD space adventure.

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07.07.2008 19:25:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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Google's Long Reach Muddles Boardroom Picture

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Last month, Google C.E.O. Eric Schmidt, who sits on Apple's board of directors, revealed that he's been compelled to leave Apple board meetings on more than one occasion because Google's mobile-device platform, Android, poses a direct challenge to Apple's iPhone. If Google were to adopt a similar practice of asking its directors with conflicts of interest to step outside, its board meetings might start getting pretty small.

The first to get the heave-ho would be John Doerr, who finds himself on the other side of the Android-iPhone fault line: In March, Doerr launched the $100 million iFund to invest in companies writing applications for the iPhone. If Google's board went on to discuss App Engine, Google's cloud computing initiative, Doerr would again have to excuse himself since he sits on the board of Amazon, whose fast-growing Web-services business competes directly with App Engine.

Should the conversation turn to Google's vigorous efforts to optimize its services for the iPhone, Doerr could return to the meeting. But if talk veered toward Google's plans to acquire wireless spectrum, John Hennessy, who sits on Cisco's board, might have to recuse himself, since Cisco has scrapped publicly with Google over who deserves to get the biggest slice of the new wireless broadband spectrum being auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission.

Google's venture-capital investments? Sergey Brin should take a walk—after all, his new bride, Ann Wojcicki, is a founder of bio-info startup 23andMe. After Brin returns, perhaps the board would like to address tactics in the pitched battle between Google's Checkout payment service and eBay's PayPal. Might director Ann Mather, who served as a board member for Shopping.com before eBay acquired it for $634 million in 2005, care to head to the cafeteria for a coffee?

Of course, Google isn't deliberately stacking its board with representatives from its competitors. It's just that, as anyone whose business Google has targeted with its ever-expanding arsenal of services knows, there's no escaping the Googleplex. One suggestion: Rather than asking its directors to run hither and thither, Google could have its engineers build a boardroom version of the Cone of Silence from this summer's film version of Get Smart.

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07.07.2008 17:10:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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'Force Unleashed': Destroying TIE Fighters With My Brain

The Star Wars galaxy comes alive in an upcoming battery of games. Each version is artfully tweaked so the gameplay makes the most of the platform.

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07.07.2008 17:00:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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Microsoft to Yahoo: Ditch the Board and Let's Dance

Microsoft adds insult to injury by telling Yahoo it won't deal at all with the current board -- but that anything is possible if the Carl Icahn slate is installed at the Aug. 1 shareholder meeting.

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07.07.2008 16:35:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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NBC To Use Olympics as a 'Billion Dollar Research Lab'

NBC is using the Beijing Olympics as a "billion-dollar research lab" to get a sense of how people are using such platforms as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones. The company will use about 10 methods for measuring audience beyond the broadcast.

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07.07.2008 14:52:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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Ride the World's Best Motorcycle Roads

Anyone who's spent any time on a motorcycle has a favorite road. Here are some of ours. Tell us some of yours.

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07.07.2008 06:07:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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Top 10 Hottest Digital Music Websites

Change is the only constant in the music business, and that goes double for the digital music business. So, for the moment at least, we've assembled a list of the 10 hottest digital music websites ... in the world!

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07.07.2008 06:00:00 - Wired: Top Stories

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Mr. Know-It-All: Retrieving Your Porn-Filled Laptop From Your Friend's Kid

I recently gave my old laptop to a friend's 9-year-old daughter. Later, I remembered that I had left some risqu� material hidden in an obscure folder. Should I ask for the laptop back or just hope the kid doesn't discover my stash?

Never bet against the inquisitiveness of a child. It might be next month, it might be next year, but eventually the girl will stumble upon your copy of Fondling Sarah Marshall. And when she does, her father may come looking for you with a tire iron. You needn't debase yourself in order to avoid such unpleasantness. "I think it's quite OK to say, 'Gosh, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I really need the computer back for a day— I left some important files on there,'" says Syndi Seid, founder of Advanced Etiquette, a San Francisco-based training company. Chances are your pal won't press the matter and ask about the nature of those files. If he does, just say they're "work related." He may see through the fib, but he'll likely let it slide — why embarrass the guy who graciously provided his daughter with a free (and soon-to-be porn-free) computer?

Next time, though, do a full hard-drive wipe and OS reinstall before donating your laptop. It's so easy to forget that Grinding Nemo is lurking somewhere in the Drivers folder.

I own a restaurant that just got panned on Yelp. The reviewer called my food "worse than off-brand gruel." I suspect it's a longtime foe with an ax to grind. What should I do about such a fraudulent slam?

Hell hath no fury like a restaurateur scorned, so your inclination is probably to demand that Yelp kill the review. But before you up the ante against your nemesis, consider the consequences of giving in to anger. Because, as Yoda taught us, anger ultimately leads to suffering—or, in your case, to more bad publicity.

No one enjoys being raked over the coals by a pseudonymous commentator, especially when the attacker is motivated by hostility rather than honest dissatisfaction or disagreement. But don't credit your detractor with too much influence. You need to trust in the sophistication of online-savvy consumers—specifically, their ability to see the big picture and factor out aberrant comments. "A single review won't make or break your business," says Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's cofounder. And that's doubly true, he adds, if the offending one-star viewpoint is offset by a slew of four- and five-star raves. That "off-brand gruel" wisecrack, though nasty, is unlikely to cause your eatery any real harm—unless you are serving off-brand gruel.

Not sufficient comfort? You may still want the review deleted on principle. Yelp, like many other sites with user-generated content, has an appeals process designed to weed out truly malicious postings. If you succeed in expunging the slam, however, your enemy will know he got your goat. And when a bully finds a weakness, he exploits it. Another mean-spirited takedown will surely follow, and then another, and another.

Now's the time to nip that vicious cycle in the bud. Mr. Know-It-All recalls an ancient adage about turning the other cheek. Was that also Yoda? Smart guy.

Illustration: Christoph Niemann

Is it OK to Photoshop my wedding pictures before I post them on Flickr? I just want to do something about my crow's-feet.

As long as you don't go overboard with the improvements, tweaking your soon-to-be-Flickr'd pics is perfectly copacetic.

Professional wedding photographers, after all, regularly blot out blemishes. "I touch up photos so people look as good in their photographs as they did in real life," says Scott Kelby, editor of Photoshop User magazine, who has shot dozens of weddings. And while such modifications might be verboten in the ethics-constrained world of photojournalism, your nuptials aren't exactly front-page news—no matter what your mother says.

Need help navigating life in the 21st century? Email us at mrknowitall@wiredmag.com.

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07.07.2008 06:00:00 - Wired: Top Stories

Tumor-Targeting Nanoparticles Stop Cancer From Spreading

Lawyers Claim Hans Reiser Is Competent, Incompetent

'Futurama' Gets Medieval in 'Bender's Game'

Google's Long Reach Muddles Boardroom Picture

'Force Unleashed': Destroying TIE Fighters With My Brain

Microsoft to Yahoo: Ditch the Board and Let's Dance

NBC To Use Olympics as a 'Billion Dollar Research Lab'

Ride the World's Best Motorcycle Roads

Top 10 Hottest Digital Music Websites

Mr. Know-It-All: Retrieving Your Porn-Filled Laptop From Your Friend's Kid

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