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Official Rules

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Sweepstakes Rules

1. To enter the Sweepstakes, click on the "Enter Sweepstakes" button and fill out the form.
2. Only one entry per person. Persons determined to have entered multiple times will be disqualified.
3. Entrants must be legal residents of the United States.
4. Winner of each prize will be randomly selected on the date specified on the Entry Page. All entries must be received by 12:01 pm PT on August 31, 2004 in order to qualify. The odds of winning a prize depends on the...

Ever since the original Napster.com galvanized people on the issues of illegally sharing copyrighted music over the internet, new companies have sprouted up to solve this problem.

Digital Rights Management

Since 1999, millions of copyrighted songs have been shared illegally on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. In response, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has tried suing the networks out of existence.

Today, the RIAA filed copyright infringement lawsuits against more than 700 illegal file sharers, including individuals at 26 universities. The legal action by the major record companies also named 32 individuals at the schools for using their college networks to distribute illegally copyrighted recordings on unauthorized peer-to-peer services.

The RIAA was successful against Napster, the mother of all P2P networks, which was shut down in 2001. However, the industry has not been successful against the likes of KaZaA and Morpheus, because unlike Napster these networks have no central server, and as a result, these companies have no control over the actions of their users.

Unable to remove these networks through direct litigation, the entertainment industry has taken the controversial tactic of suing the users of the network.

Many of the users of these P2P networks are college students, and for good reason. College students have a ravenous taste for music, new and old, and only a small proportion of students actually have the funds to pay for the music that...

Googling just got better for Pizza Fans

It was only a decade ago that mobile phones were a luxury item, necessary only to doctors and important corporate executives. Nowadays, mobile phones have become completely ubiquitous.

Like email, another modern staple of modern life, mobile phones have become essential for business and even everyday
interaction between family and friends. Unlike email, mobile phones have also become an important fashion accessory.

Cell phones have become much more sophisticated in the past decade. in 1994, cell phones were large and garish, today many mobile phones are designed for the style minded. It is not uncommon to see sleek pink phones, or even rhinestone-studded mobile phones. Mobile phones are also equipped with digital cameras, access to the internet, and a variety of other useful tools.

Of course, Asia, particularly Tokyo and Seoul, lead the world in both mobile technology and fashion. As an example, camera phones started appearing in Japan in 2001, while it took until 2003 for the first mass market camera phones to appear in the USA.

What's in store for next year of mobile phone technology? Japanese handset manufacturers have announced widespread plans to incorporate digital TV tuner cards into mobile phones. Japanese mobile phone users will be able to watch full-speed live television on their handsets as early as summer of 2005.

Further improvements include high resolution cameras and mini-hard drives. These hard drives, made popular...

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Postcards from Space

Aboard the Station, the Expedition 10 crew, Commander and NASA Station Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, are beginning a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station that will include two spacewalks and preparations for the return of Space Shuttle flights. Expedition 10 is scheduled to return to Earth on April 25, 2005.

Chiao and Sharipov will have light duty for the next three days as they rest after completing a busy handover period. For the past week, they have been learning about Station operations from Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke, the two men who called the ship home since April. Padalka and Fincke briefed Chiao and Sharipov on day-to-day operations and gave them hands-on opportunities at Station maintenance: Sharipov joined Padalka in completing repairs to the Elektron oxygen-generating system, and Chiao helped Fincke with the maintenance on the U.S. spacesuits. During his time aboard, Shargin completed a program of scientific experiments.

Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke returned to Earth today, after traveling more than 78 million miles aboard the International Space Station.

Returning with them was Russian Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, who had spent eight days aboard the orbiting complex conducting research.

After a flawless descent by the ISS Soyuz 8 spacecraft, Padalka, Fincke and...

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Space Blog

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov picked up the pace of scientific, maintenance and familiarization activities aboard the International Space Station this week.

A highlight of the weeks scientific activities was work with an advanced diagnostic method that could be important to medical care of future crewmembers on long spaceflights. It also could improve medical care in remote areas and emergency medical care on Earth.

On Tuesday, Election Day, Chiao talked with reporters from Fox News and Associated Press. The conversations focused on Chiao having become the first person in space to vote in a U.S. presidential election when he cast his ballot by e-mail Oct. 31.

Next Monday Chiao and Sharipov will carry out proficiency training in operating the Space Station robotic arm, Canadarm2. To practice their work with the arm, the crew will maneuver the arm to provide camera views of an area of interest on the U.S. Lab module's exterior debris shielding. The area may be a shadow or possibly a dent in the shielding. The area has been observed in previous imagery taken during a Space Shuttle flight several years ago. On Friday the crew will operate the arm again to position its cameras in a prime viewing location for the relocation of the Soyuz by the crew later this month.

Information on the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future launch dates, as well as Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on...