News about what is happening in technology today!

Danny Sullivan of the site Search Engine Watch went to Google last week to log in to his account and check up on his site’s stats. While trying to log in through Google Analytics, he was greeted with a message saying that new accounts weren’t being offered. Danny writes:

I didn’t need a new account. I needed access to my existing one, which appeared to have gone away along with my data. After further investigation today, it’s a symptom of a bigger problem, that of the Google Accounts system overall being in a mess.

Danny’s commentary on his blog post investigates the problem of Google failing to consolidate user data across the various accounts for all of their services. The way it’s supposed to work is: a user logs in to Google using one login, and then has access to all of Google’s services — Gmail, Analytics, AdWords, and so on. But that’s far from the case.

Whether you’re cruising the cafes or just commuting to work, there’s no excuse for not cruising in style. To that effect, Aprilia has just launched its new 2006 line, including the new model of the Aprilia 500 Scarabeo we recommended in the Wired News Ultimate Geek Gift Guide. The 2006 Scarabeo 500 is a scoot for those who prefer a little comfort and grace to go with their vroom. Its 500cc four-stroke engine delivers 39hp at 7,200 rpms, which is pretty hardcore for a scooter, and it can hit speeds in excess of 100mph. More importantly, it can bring you back safely from those high speeds with its standard servo-assisted ABS brakes. And with relatively large 16-inch wheels, the Scarabeo grips the road more like a motorcycle than a scooter. The 2006 Scarabeo 500 will set you back $7,399 MSRP, which is only about two grand more than a Vespa Grantourismo with half the power.

Flawless skin. Perfect hair. Ready to work anywhere and everywhere anytime you want. Meet 5 top contestants vying for the title of most beautiful virtual woman in the world.

Kaya is ravishing. She has full lips, long lashes, and a slightly upturned nose. Her expression radiates confidence and power, and her smooth skin is well scrubbed and dotted with freckles. But she doesn’t have much of a body. At all. In fact, she exists only from the neck up. Kaya is a CG model, a 48,200-polygon beauty created by an artist in São Paulo, Brazil. And she’s sure to be a finalist in the Miss Digital World beauty pageant.

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Sun Microsystems Inc. Tuesday announced a move into the database world with the release of Java DB, a distribution of the Apache Derby open-source database technology.

During a keynote at the Apache Software Foundation’s ApacheCon in San Diego, Tim Bray, director of Web Technologies at Sun and XML specification co-editor, said Sun was incorporating the open-source Java DB into the Sun Java Enterprise System and providing additional support for the database with the NetBeans IDE (integrated development environment) 5.0 plug-in.

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