Mike

According to BotObjects' product copy, this previously unknown hardware and software company has a revolutionary product on its hands in its new ProDesk3D 3D printer. Among other highlights, which my colleague Michelle Starr wrote about earlier this week for CNET Australia, the ability to print objects in a full range of colors from common PLA plastic would instantly put the ProDesk3D at the top of the consumer-grade printer market.

Follow along the reader comments on the various posts covering BotObjects announcement though, and you'll find a common refrain of skepticism.

"So we have computer-generated images of the printer. … Read more

Update: The Senate late today passed the bill, sending it to the House.

The U.S. Senate is planning to vote Monday to levy new taxes on mobile app developers, cloud computing services, music and movie downloads, and even people selling collections of WordPress themes.

Senators who are backing the legislation known as S.743 describe it as a way to force out-of-state retailers to collect taxes on physical shipments. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., claims his bill will "put local and Main Street retailers on a level playing field with their out-of-state and online counterparts."

What Enzi and … Read more

The next Google Glass owner who winks at you may actually be taking your picture.

New code cooked up by Google Glass developer Mike DiGiovanni enables the wink gesture in the high-tech specs.

Dubbed Winky, the feature can even be used to snap a photo when the screen is turned off. As a result, Winky eliminates the need to issue a voice command or tap a button to take a picture.

Google Glass users who want to try out a few winks will need some development skills of their own.

DiGiovanni has released Winky as pure Android source code, according … Read more

Consumers unhappy about the prospect of paying more to shop online aren't alone.

Online retailers are objecting to a proposed federal law to levy sales taxes on Internet shoppers, saying it's unreasonable to expect small businesses to comply with the detailed -- and sometimes conflicting -- regulations of nearly 10,000 government tax collectors.

The U.S. Senate began debate on the tax measure, S.743, Monday afternoon, capping years of lobbying by the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent big box stores including including Walmart, Target, AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax, … Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a controversial data-sharing bill that would authorize e-mail and Internet providers to share confidential information with the federal government.

By a 288-127 vote today, the House adopted the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, better known as CISPA, which supporters say is necessary to protect American networks from electronic attacks and intrusions. The vote signals more support for the bill than it enjoyed last year, when it cleared the House by a narrower margin but died in the Senate. (See CNET's CISPA FAQ.)

CISPA is "so important to our … Read more

Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other Internet companies and e-mail providers will be prohibited from making legally binding promises to protect your privacy, thanks to a vote this afternoon in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By a 5-8 vote, the House Rules committee rejected a bipartisan fix to the CISPA data-sharing bill that would have ensured companies' privacy promises -- including their terms of use and privacy policies -- remained valid and legally enforceable in the future.

The vote came after Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican who's the committee's influential chairman, urged his colleagues to vote against … Read more

The White House today delivered a formal veto threat against a controversial data-sharing bill called CISPA that would allow intelligence agencies to collect personal information about Americans from private companies.

In a statement this afternoon, President Obama's aides said they "would recommend that he veto the bill," which is scheduled for a House of Representatives floor vote this week.

A House committee approved CISPA last week without four key privacy amendments. Sought by CISPA opponents, the amendments would have curbed the National Security Agency's ability to collect confidential data. (See CNET's CISPA FAQ.)

The White … Read more

New York graphic designer Mike Doyle is best known in Lego MOC circles for his crumbling Victorian houses, but the city of K'al Yne on the alien world of Odan might just be his most ambitious project yet.

Crafted out of more than 200,000 Lego pieces and taking over 600 hours to build, the sculpture, designed entirely by Doyle, depicts a wondrous alien civilization. There's something Gothic about his soaring spires, bridges, buttresses, and villages clustered about the city's base. … Read more

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly today to endorse levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers, despite warnings from a handful of senators that the proposal is antibusiness, harmful to taxpayers, and will be a "bureaucratic nightmare."

By a vote of 75 to 24, senators adopted an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to eventually usher in the first national Internet sales tax.

The vote follows a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent … Read more