Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements. "No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."

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The 3D revolution, whether you like it or not, is gathering steam. LG has just announced the world's first mass produced Full HD 3D-capable monitor, which spans 23 inches diagonally and looks to sport a pleasingly minimal bezel.

Fledgling tech companies are smaller, more numerous and a bit crazier if you ask top executives and investors gathered at the Supernova 2009 technology conference in San Francisco this week. The venture capital community is undergoing a huge shift to an environment where the big early investments are not only unneeded but also unwanted.

Giving your WiFi network a funny or clever name is a great way to freak out your annoying neighbors without hiding in their bushes or peeping in their windows late at night.

Malware authors are impersonating the CDC in a new scheme to propagate a trojan horse. Fraudulent e-mails sent by a botnet claim that the recipient must register for a fake state vaccination program but really link to a malware-infested phishing website.

Hatta writes with a snippet from from MaxConsole: "Nintendo has today lost a major court case against the Divineo group in the main court of Paris. Nintendo originally took the group to court over DS flash carts, however the judge today has ruled against Nintendo and suggested that they are purposely locking out developers from their consoles and things should be more like Windows where ANYONE can develop any application if they wish to."

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For a truly connected and immersive experience, desktops reign supreme. Here are four things you should consider while looking for a Gaming PC

Bizarro-World judge calls it

It's a Bizarro-World indeed when Microsoft is held up by a judge in Europe as a paragon of openness, but that's apparently what happened in a law suit brought by Nintendo.…

BoxRec writes with this excerpt from The Daily Mail: "A mother trying to identify a blackmailer who posted 'sensitive' details about her child on Wikipedia has won the right to find out who edited her entry. In the first case of its kind, a High Court judge has ordered the online encyclopedia's parent company to disclose the IP address of one of its registered users."

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Eventually, the name NBC, short for the National Broadcasting Company, could go the way of history. Given both companies' emphasis on cable channels, a name like Comcast Entertainment may make more sense in the long term.

The writing is on the wall for old school circuit-switched phone networks, and the world is going all-IP. Now, the FCC is gathering data to guide the next major transition of the country's communications network.

TopSpin writes "BMW's limited roll out of the electric version of its Mini has met with complaints from early adopters including less than advertised range, cold weather charging problems, bulky batteries and connection issues. Richard Steinburg, BMW's manager of electric vehicle operations, assures everyone that the manufacturer is 'learning quite a bit as we go.' Drivers are paying $850/month for the privilege of helping BMW learn how to build EVs, while also helping BMW meet alternative fuel mandates so that other models can continue to be sold in select markets."

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This is for all you web designers out there who have suffered as I have suffered.

One of the greatest success stories of our time just found failure in a big new market.

eldavojohn writes "A UK study of three thousand children aged nine to sixteen suggests something that may not come as a shock to geeks: using technology increases a child's core literary skills. As Researcher Obvious put it, 'The more forms of communications children use the stronger their core literary skills.' And for those of us worried about a world of 'tl;dr' and 'Y U H8n?' the research claims that 'text speech' does not damage literacy. The biggest shortcoming of this research is that it appears the children graded their own writing in that their methodology was an online survey designed to ask the children which technology they use and then follow up with asking them how well they write to determine which children have better literacy skills."

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Ever wanted to have a robot to do your research for you? If you are a scientist, you have almost certainly had this dream. Now it’s a real option: Eureqa, a program that distills scientific laws from raw data, is freely available to researchers.

If you’re looking to break into the web dev industry, start your own development and design business, or learn a few new skills to remain a competitive force in your field, you don’t necessarily have to go back to school and pay for an expensive degree.

An anonymous reader writes "A family member recently asked me to pick up more ink for her Epson Photo RX 595. Unfortunately, replacing the black and color ink cartridges costs $81.92 + tax at the local store! That so bad that I got a replacement printer that's just as good and spare ink for less. But now I have a useless piece of e-waste that I can't even give away. What can you do with a printer like that? I hate to just throw it away."

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Ah, the Holidays are here, and with it comes the Spirit of Giving. While you are going through your list, finding the perfect gift for those you love (and otherwise), it might be good to note that some tech gifts are better served by not giving.

Google has created a new DNS resolver system to speed up Web browsing.

Pictures forbidden, no more

Apple's App Store police have again exhibited a brush with common sense, and allowed another iPhone app to display previously forbidden images of Cupertino hardware.…

The dark side of .NET improvements

Review  Microsoft's Silverlight 4 shows remarkable progress since version 3, released in July. The pace of development shows Microsoft is serious about making this work - but is it delivering something developers can use?…

Agram writes "Take a netbook, Wiimotes, Nunchuks, and hemispherical speakers (which were once IKEA salad bowls), toss it up with some Ubuntu goodness and what you get is Virginia Tech's L2Ork, the world's first Linux-based laptop orchestra. With its affordable design and support from the Linux community, L2Ork hopes to bring laptop orchestras to K-12 education and beyond. So, regardless whether you wish to hear how L2Ork might sound or to learn how to build your own Linux-based *Ork infrastructure, perhaps this is a good opportunity to reopen the age-old debate: is Linux finally ready for some serious audio work?"

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Employees at a growing number of businesses are starting and ending their days by pressing a hand or finger to a scanner that logs the precise time of their arrival & departure - information that is reflected in payroll records. The new systems have raised complaints, however, from workers who see the efforts to track their movements as excessive.