michael favia

Bloggers: If you suddenly find Air Force officers leaving barbed comments after one of your posts, don't be surprised. They're just following orders.

Steve Jobs and three major labels come to terms on a deal to make music available on iTunes without DRM. Consumers can choose between three price levels instead of the "any song for 99 cents" model the store implemented on day one.

Astronomers have no explanation for a mysterious bright flash in space observed by several telescopes. Suggestions range from a collision between a white dwarf star and a black hole to an exotic star made out of hypothetical "mirror matter," but none fit the phenomenon, according to scientists at the American Astronomical Society meeting.

Macworld 2008 did not feature a speech by Steve Jobs, a single revolutionary bit of software, or any surprise product announcements. So really, what was the big deal? Wired explains.

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When Matt Smith stepped into Doctor Who's title role as the 11th Doctor this weekend, he went from British character actor to potential entertainment legend.

The 10 actors who preceded Smith during the sci-fi show's 45-year run are forever linked to the part of The Doctor; some even parlayed the BBC role into a lasting place in pop culture history. Each brought something unique to the role of a benevolent alien traveling through the universe in a stolen time machine, fighting for justice against myriad alien foes.

Smith, 26, will take over from current Doctor, David Tennant, who leaves the show at the end of 2009. Smith, pictured, will first play the Time Lord in the 2010 season.

Hop in the Tardis and take a trip through time with this gallery of Doctors.

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1) William Hartnell (1963 to 1966): Hartnell, a veteran character actor known primarily for playing gruff drill sergeants before becoming the first Doctor, went from hostile, mysterious alien to wise and heroic grandfather before stepping away for health reasons.

Distinguishing characteristic: His original anachronistic costume and hair set the tone for his descendants.

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2) Patrick Troughton (1966 to 1969): Troughton injected a more playful spirit into the second Doctor, and introduced the spirit of aggressive heroics known in the part today. The talented, quirky actor had a knack for shifting from gleeful mischief to steely resolve in a flash while remaining always compelling.

Distinguishing characteristic: His clownish, "cosmic hobo" outfit was supposedly inspired by Charlie Chaplin.

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3) Jon Pertwee (1969 to 1974): An established comedy actor when cast, Pertwee's Doctor might have been the most serious-minded as his exiled and stranded character battled multiple attempts to invade the Earth. The Master (played by Roger Delgado) arrived during this period to torment Pertwee's more active, action-inspired Doctor.

Distinguishing characteristic: Topping off his puffy shirt and smoking jacket, Pertwee's white hair helmet got higher as his tenure progressed.

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4) Tom Baker (1974 to 1981): The actor who played the part the longest was also the first Doctor exported to the United States. His performance became sillier as it progressed, but his early and middle seasons pulled down the highest ratings in the show's history, until the show's 21st-century return.

Distinguishing characteristic: Baker has the weird eyes, the beak and a benevolent voice that's kept him working for decades, but it's the 17-foot, multicolored scarf we remember.

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5) Peter Davison (1981 to 1984): The youngest actor to play the part until Smith came along, Davison was already a TV star from All Creatures Great and Small when he took the gig. More energetic and manic than Baker, Davison shared the Tardis with a series of younger companions as the show updated its look for the '80s.

Distinguishing characteristic: The fifth Doctor's Edwardian cricket player outfit belied Davison's high energy, and he reportedly hated the costume.

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6) Colin Baker (1984 to 1986): A strong actor, Colin Baker was cursed with a poorly re-imagined Doctor-as-arrogant-jerk. As a result, the show struggled and suffered through a hiatus period for the first time in more than two decades.

Distinguishing characteristic: Baker also hated his overdone, mismatched outfit — another symptom of his era's overwrought struggles.

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7) Sylvester McCoy (1987 to 1989, 1996): Charming but odd, McCoy packed a lot of authority into his little, gentle-hearted frame. He layered mystery into his performance, but his best efforts couldn't prevent the BBC from canceling Doctor Who after 26 years on the air.

Distinguishing characteristic: McCoy's rich Scottish delivery offered The Doctor's most distinctive voice since Tom Baker's.

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8) Paul McGann (1996): Offering a mix of childlike bemusement and heroic urgency, McGann only got to play the part once in an ill-fated American co-production on Fox. But McGann continued on in several audio productions for the BBC and Big Finish Productions.

Distinguishing characteristic: His costume was a mix of Hartnell and Baker, but McGann will always be remembered as the first "leading man" Doctor who got to plant one on the lips of his assistant (Daphne Ashbrook).

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9) Christopher Eccleston (2005): An established film and TV star (The Others, Elizabeth), it was Eccleston's job to reintroduce The Doctor to the 21st century. He did so with a tremendous burst of dark, yet heroic and humorous, energy. But Eccleston's stint as The Doctor lasted only one great season before he moved on to other roles in Heroes and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Distinguishing characteristic: Promising that his Doctor would not be a "tosser," Eccleston went with simple black and a leather jacket.

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10) David Tennant (2005 to 2009): Tennant, the first actor to play the part who grew up dreaming of being The Doctor, was long rumored for the part before taking over from Eccleston. He became the show's first romantic leading man as he clearly fell for his companion, Rose (Billie Piper), but Tennant's Doctor also seemed like the most wounded, haunted and lonely incarnation.

Distinguishing characteristic: Whether it was the suit or his carefully managed hair, Tennant's look was engineered to draw in the ladies.

Online video-sharing sites get a legal boost after a federal judge rules they are protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as long as certain criteria are met.

You can virtually fly through a supernova remnant in this video, courtesy of a new high-resolution data visualization from MIT astronomers who presented the research at the American Astronomical Society meeting.

A South African startup applies the cellphone business model to airline ticket pricing in a move that could undercut its competitors — if it flies.

Entomologists save the day as potato bugs crank up the fear in director David S. Goyer's upcoming horror flick. Demons cribbed from Jewish folklore help out some, too.

Since the dawn of time, or so it seems, Steve Jobs and the major labels have been at war on two fronts: digital rights management and pricing. According to CNET, negotiations between Apple and the world's three largest record labels may finally have produced an agreement that would give each party its wish.

Join us Tuesday morning as we report live from Apple's final Macworld Expo keynote in San Francisco.

Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman plans to run for governor of California, a person with knowledge of her political aspirations tells the AP.

A federal judge is keeping alive a lawsuit testing the Bush administration's warrantless-surveillance program adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. President Bush is leaving office in three weeks, but the case tests the power of the nation's chief executive — whether the president can bypass Congress.

Scientists weigh in on Steve Jobs' recent statement that he has a hormonal imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. What little detail is in the statement is contradictory, they say, and could indicate anything from hyperthyroidism to multiple myeloma.

1912: French social critic Jacques Ellul is born. He will become a thoughtful skeptic who worries about the negative impact of technology on the human condition.

Jacques Ellul wore many hats: sociologist, philosopher, humanist, theologian, law professor. He studied the work of Karl Marx and embraced a good deal of Marxist theory, which he did not consider in conflict with his religious beliefs. The son of an atheist father and Christian mother (.pdf), he was raised without religious training. He became a Christian at 22, and his strong faith — Ellul defined himself as a Christian universalist — underpinned all his work.

In his cosmopolitan family, Ellul grew up with a distrust of statism, which partially explains his attraction to Marx. His dislike of the state did not prevent him, however, from taking an active role in the French Resistance during World War II.

He was the rare French intellectual who remained a provincial all his life. He did not beeline it for Paris, as most of his contemporaries did, choosing instead to remain in the seaport town of Bordeaux, where he was born. He was a professor at the university there for most of his career.

Ellul's ambivalence toward technology was grounded in large part in his religious and social convictions. He believed that "technological tyranny," represented by the increasing encroachment of modern technology into our private lives, posed a threat to both human freedom and faith.

He wrote widely on the subject, including the 1964 book, The Technological Society, which is considered his most important work. Ellul was not critical of technology per se, but with the ways it is used by some to impose their will on others. He was especially critical of the mass media, which he believed is completely manipulated by powerful and generally antagonistic special interests.

He wrote:

It is the emergence of mass media which makes possible the use of propaganda techniques on a societal scale. The orchestration of press, radio and television to create a continuous, lasting and total environment renders the influence of propaganda virtually unnoticed, precisely because it creates a constant environment. Mass media provides the link between the individual and the demands of the technological society.

One has to wonder what Ellul, who died in 1994, would have made of the internet's long reach.

Source: Various

A Happy Meal lunch spread in 2013 is complete with a personal McFryer and assorted dipping sauces from Honey Mustard to BrainSpike and Endorphin Rush.

More than half of America's air traffic control centers have exceeded their useful lifespan and many have "obvious structural deficiencies and maintenance-related issues," the government says.

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Most wars last just a few years. But the unexploded mines, shells, and bombs they leave behind can last decades. Getting rid of these lurking killers can be painfully slow and prohibitively expensive. That's why Joe Trocino established the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation with the mission of helping locals dispose of ordnance using inexpensive, easy-to-find materials. Here are three of its ingenious techniques.

Mr. BIP (Blow in Place)
Cost: $20

Sometimes explosives are close to people or buildings. That's where Mr. BIP comes in. Just place an inverted tire rim over the bomb, secure it with rebar stakes, surround with sandbags, drop in an explosive charge, and detonate.

Bullet Barbecue
Cost: $245

Construct a steel box, fill with small-arms rounds, and seal shut. Apply heat to the container using a propane, coal, or wood fire. Rather than exploding, the gunpowder slowly "cooks off"—leaving only inert metals, which can be recycled.

Kinetic Extractor
Cost: $15 per pipe

Unexploded tank rounds and scrap metal pipe are common in conflict zones. Luckily, they can be a disarming combo: Drop the explosive round down the proper diameter pipe and the lip of the shell catches, separating the projectile from the explosive primer.

Illustrations: Nate Van Dyke, Photos: Swiss Foundation for Mine Action

New, more precise measurements of the Milky Way indicate that it's 50 percent more massive and spinning 100,000 miles an hour faster than previously thought. Scientists presented the discovery at the American Astronomical Society meeting.

Stem cells, nanotubes and Martian ice -- these are just a few of Wired Science choices for the top 2008 scientific breakthroughs.