[H]ardNews - Blair's Tech Ed.

Sound Gives Sight:

For decades, scientists have tried to find a way to let the blind see, such as implanting artificial retinas in the eyes, with poor results. Part of the problem with these techniques is that surgery on the eye is necessary. Now an odd approach, seeing with sound but not by sonar, looks as if it may actually work. Sort of, anyway, which if you are blind is a lot better than nothing. Called the vOICe (the middle vowels stand for "Oh, I see"). The idea is that the user wears a camera on his head, which is connected to a computer, which is connected to stereo headphones.

Class Action For iPods?

Another growing source of complaints surrounds Apple's wildly-popular iPod line of digital music players, which many enthusiasts believe will get an upgrade at Macworld with the introduction of smaller, less-expensive models and a range of case colors. In California, a lawsuit seeking class-action status is expected to be filed January against the company over the claim that Apple's warranty does not run long enough to cover problems with the player's battery.

Earth Spin Changes:

In a phenomenon that has scientists puzzled, the Earth is right on schedule for a fifth straight year. Experts agree that the rate at which the Earth travels through space has slowed ever so slightly for millennia. To make the world's official time agree with where the Earth actually is in space, scientists in 1972 started adding an extra "leap second" on the last day of the year.

Radio Spam:

Big radio companies like Clear Channel Communications and Infinity Broadcasting are equipping some stations with technology that broadcasts not just commercials but text messages that appear on car radio displays. And advertisers like First Charter Bank in Charlotte, N.C., which will use the approach in a campaign beginning in late January, are signing on to see whether extra text can give their spots extra heft. The technology - called R.D.S., for radio data system - has long been common in Europe and available in the United States, where it is gaining as cars increasingly come ready for the technology and radio stations compete more fiercely for ad revenue against satellite radio and other media.

Comet Catcher In Position:

After a five-year journey that racked up about 2 billion miles, a robotic science scout is about to corner its quarry on the far side of the sun for an unprecedented mission to retrieve samples of materials believed to be left over from the creation of our solar system. Since its launch on Feb. 7, 1999, and throughout its orbits around Earth to pick up speed and its spin around the sun, the Stardust space probe has been driven with this singular goal in mind: to be in position at 2:20 p.m. ET on Friday when a comet comes soaring by.