6.0-magnitude quake hits Indonesia

A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 6.0-magnitude quake hit at 12:54 p.m. local time (0454 GMT) in the Gulf of Tomini, according to the U.S. monitoring agency.

The epicenter was off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, about 90 miles (144 km) northeast of the town of Palu, the monitoring agency said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Read more!

Kidnapped boy found safe in Las Vegas

A 6-year-old boy abducted Wednesday in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been found safe, the Las Vegas police department announced early Sunday.

"Cole (Puffinburger) has been found, he is safe and in our custody," Capt. Vince Cannito told reporters in an early morning news conference.

Cannito said that while detectives were canvassing Las Vegas neighborhoods Saturday night with flyers about the boy's abduction, they got a report that a young boy who matched Cole's description was seen walking alone on a sidewalk on the city's east side.

"Detectives rushed there, found the boy and confirmed it was Cole," Cannito said.

"It's just a blessing that this child has been found and he's in extremely good condition," the captain added.

Cole's father, Robert Puffinburger, said the emotion he felt after being informed that his son was safe was "indescribable."

"I'm just glad he's safe," Puffinburger said at the news conference, his voice breaking. "I can't wait to see him!"

Cole was snatched Wednesday in what police are calling a drug-related kidnapping. Three armed men tied up his mother and her fiance and ransacked the home, taking the boy when no money was found, police said.

A nationwide Amber Alert was canceled because police believed it had "run its course," Cannito said Saturday.

Police say Cole's grandfather, Clemons F. Tinnemeyer, 51, had been involved in "significant drug dealing" and may have taken millions of dollars from drug dealers. Authorities say the kidnapping may have been in retaliation for the theft.

Tinnemeyer was arrested Friday in Riverside, California, where he was being held as a material witness. He has been interviewed, along with an unidentified second person, in connection with the case.

Cannito asked for the public's help in finding Jesus Gastelum, a third person of interest.

Read more!

Obama raises record $150 million in September

Barack Obama's campaign announced Sunday the Democratic presidential candidate raised $150 million in donations in September, setting a new high-water mark in campaign fundraising.

In a campaign video, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said a record 632,000 new donors gave to the campaign, with the average contribution under $100. More than 3 million donors have given so far.

The Obama campaign raised $65 million in August.

Regardless of the stunning haul, Plouffe told supporters the campaign still needed more money because of "the slime that we're getting from the McCain campaign." Plouffe cited recent attack ads and automated phone calls in battleground states and said the campaign needed to have every resource to "fight back."

"Their campaign is going to descend even more into the gutter," he said.

Plouffe also said the campaign was expanding its reach to compete "aggressively" in West Virginia.
Tightening polls in Georgia and North Dakota meant more money and resources could be sent to those two states in the remaining days, he said.

"We can't afford to make any cuts. We have to execute everything we think is required to win," Plouffe said of their battleground strategy. "None of us can look back on the night of November 4 or the morning of November 5 and wished we had done something extra."

Read more!

Migrant numbers 'must be reduced'

The number of migrants allowed into the UK under the points system may have to be reduced because of the economic crisis, an immigration minister says.

Phil Woolas told the Times immigration became an "extremely thorny" subject when people were losing their jobs.

"It's been too easy to get into this country in the past and it's going to get harder," he said.

The Home Office said the current points-based system provided "a powerful and flexible set of controls".

The government has recently introduced the points-based system to attract migrants from outside the EU judged to be most valuable to the economy.
But Mr Woolas said: "If people are being made unemployed, the question of immigration becomes extremely thorny."

"This government isn't going to allow the population to go up to 70 million," he continued.

"There has to be a balance between the number of people coming in and the number of people leaving."

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the population grew by nearly two million to 60,975,000 people between 2001 and 2007.

Ministers have previously resisted calls for an overall limit on immigration.

BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said it was significant Mr Woolas had quoted 70 million as the upper limit for the UK population.

The government had, before now, fought shy of setting a "population policy" because it was difficult for ministers to explain how it would be managed, he said.

Our correspondent explained this was because immigration from inside the EU could not be controlled, neither could a limit be placed on genuine claims for asylum.

This meant there would be "all sorts of questions raised" about how the government was going to achieve its aim, he added.

'Turning point'

Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch, which argues for balanced migration, told BBC Five Live Mr Woolas's remarks showed a significant development in the immigration debate.

"I think this could be a significant turning point. I think the economic crisis has shown up the weakness of uncontrolled immigration.

"This is the very first time that a government minister has recognised the link between immigration and population. The government have been in denial about that for years."

But the chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Keith Vaz, told the Times he would be "astonished" at a Labour immigration minister "in effect changing the policy".

The Labour MP added: "His predecessor and the home secretary have made it very clear they do not support a quota."

Habib Rahman, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, also told the paper: "This could drive a coach and horses through any notion of managed migration through the government's new points-based system... on which it held long and detailed consultations before unveiling it as the answer to the country's economic needs."

Immigration controls

A Home Office spokesman said the government's points-based system provided "a powerful and flexible set of controls".

These allow the government "to raise or lower the bar according to the needs of business and the country as a whole".

He added: "Our tough new Australian points system, plus our plans for newcomers to earn their citizenship, will reduce overall numbers of economic migrants coming to Britain, and the numbers awarded permanent settlement.

"Crucially the points system means only the migrants with the skills Britain needs can come - and no more.

"Had the points-based system been in place last year there would have been 12% fewer people coming in to work through the equivalent work permit route."

Read more!

Illuminated Keyboard is Comfortable

The Logitech Illuminated Keyboard is about as simple as it gets, so you get no built-in USB ports, scroll dials, or any of the other features in more expensive devices such as the Logitech G15.

Instead, for $80 it offers a sexy, quiet keyboard with a very minimalist design that looks just as good as it performs. If you're a night owl gamer or just want an attractive, comfortable input device, the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard is an outstanding choice.

The keyboard has a very subtle, professional appearance; aside from the extremely thin 9.3mm profile, the entire keyboard is black with a small clear plastic border that doesn't serve a purpose other than to highlight the flat surface of the keys.

A built-in wrist rest fixed beneath the keys is covered in a soft rubber material to prevent your hands from slipping while you type. After using the keyboard for a few days, the natural oil on our hands made small prints on the wrist rest, creating blotches that marred the otherwise clean design.

Underneath the keyboard, you'll find two small plastic feet that extend from the base, letting you slightly angle the keyboard forward. Finally, as the title says, the keyboard comes with embedded microlens reflectors under each individual key that produce a light-blue backlit effect. You can adjust the intensity of the light to three predetermined settings; you can also turn it off, if you so choose.

The keyboard is plug-and-play, so you don't have to install drivers, but if you want to specify macros or customize any of the 12 shortcut keys, you need to install Logitech's SetPoint 4.6KB software.

The included CD lets you designate each key to perform a variety of functions including opening a Web page, showing a custom menu, opening a specified file, or launching a program. The SetPoint desktop software also includes a help center that contains tips on how to get the most comfortable experience out of the Logitech keyboard.

Similar to Logitech's higher-end diNovo Edge, the Illuminated Keyboard features Logitech's PerfectStroke key design. PerfectStroke allows for 3.2mm of space between each key and uniform tactile feedback across the entire flat key surface.

In practice, the key response is similar to that of an IBM Thinkpad laptop. If you're used to typing on a regular keyboard with concave keys, the Illuminated Keyboard will be an acquired taste. Your accuracy might suffer in the interim, but we found ourselves typing significantly faster after less than a week of using it.

Although it is undoubtedly attractive and works well, the Logitech can use some improvement in the hardware design. First, the keyboard lacks the extra USB ports that we typically see on keyboards at this price. We complained about the Logitech G15's outdated USB 1.1 ports, so we have to ding Logitech again for not even including one port into this design.

Granted, the keyboard's slim profile doesn't allow for much room for hardware extensions, but we'd sacrifice a slightly thicker housing for the increased functionality. We're also disappointed to see that the keyboard uses USB 2.0 instead a wireless RFID transmitter for connectivity.

The clean aesthetic of the keyboard is almost spoiled by the unsightly gray wire protruding from the top, but if you're a closet gamer you'll appreciate the accuracy you get in a wired set up.

For your consideration, the Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard is another illuminated keyboard that came out two years ago for $70. Its price is now down to $45; the Logitech is almost double the price, and we're quick to complain about its lack of features, but we think the higher price is justified by its elevated comfort and modern style

Read more!

OutCast offers top-notch wireless sound

Soundcast Systems focuses its efforts on a very limited line of wireless audio products and it shows: the company consistently earns praise for its top-notch wireless sound quality.

Competitive pricing, however, is not Soundcast's strong suit, and the OutCast is no exception.

This $700 weatherproof, wireless speaker setup is definitely not your average iPod speaker, but that's a good thing. It's innovative, extremely easy to use, and offers great sound quality.

It could use some help in the looks department, though.

The Soundcast OutCast includes two main parts: the speaker unit and an iCast, which contains the wireless transmitter and acts as a base station for your iPod or other audio source.

The iCast is a rather compact and nondescript-looking device that's shaped like a crescent moon lying face down and colored in computer white, muted gray, and a bit of neon green. A cradle that fits any dock-connecting iPod is built into the top, while a port for attaching other audio sources is housed in the back.

Soundcast includes both an RCA-to-minijack cable and a minijack-to-minijack cable for connecting various devices. There's also a power input and a channel switch, which allows the iCast to transmit to one of three possible receivers. One of these is the included speaker, but Soundcast also makes a couple standalone receivers that can be purchased separately.

The OutCast speaker unit is patently not compact, nor is it the most stylish piece of audio equipment we've come across. That's not to say it's ugly, per se; rather, it has a nondescript look that will probably blend into most patio or garage settings nicely. However, it showed dirt and scuff marks very easily after just one jaunt outside (black would have been a better color option). And we'd be remiss if we failed to mention that several observers at our test site asked if it was a diaper genie.

Namely, the OutCast is huge (it measures about 25-inches tall and 10-inches in diameter) and cylindrical, and it weighs 40 pounds. Thus, despite the fact that it's battery operated, it's not precisely portable; in other words, you can move it from place to place if needed, but you probably won't want to do it often.

The good: The Soundcast OutCast speaker system is extremely innovative, featuring a weatherproof and completely wireless design that's a snap to set up.

The included base station offers an iPod dock as well as multiple other audio-connection options; the transmitter works on a proprietary 2.4GHz frequency and can send a signal several hundred feet away; the speaker unit has a rechargeable, user-replaceable battery; wired and wireless audio quality is impressive.

The bad: The Soundcast OutCast is expensive and the speaker unit is large and heavy, which limits portability; the design is nondescript to the point of lacking any style.

The bottom line: The Soundcast OutCast speaker system is an excellent--though expensive--choice for those who want all the benefits of great-sounding, outdoor wireless audio without the hassles of tricky setup and weather-damaged equipment.

Specs: Type of speaker: indoor / outdoor; Amplification type: Active

All this heft bodes well for durability, and also suggests that the OutCast is of the quality that the price tag implies. Of course, the niftiest aspect of the OutCast's design is its ability to be completely wireless and weatherproof. Once you charge up the battery (rated for 10 hours) and close the port flaps, the speaker can withstand a healthy dose of wet while receiving wireless audio from the iCast, which can be up to 350 feet away, inside and out of the elements.

The OutCast features an array of buttons on the top, including play/pause and track shuttle keys that can be used to control an iPod docked in the iCast. There are also power and volume buttons, as well as a key that controls a blue ambient light at the bottom of the speaker.

The OutCast can be used as a standalone speaker as well, though that takes away from its water-resistance, since the audio-in port must be uncovered in order to connect a source.

Setting up the OutCast couldn't be simpler. The first thing you'll need to do is install the OutCast's battery, which is a bit of a chore and requires a screwdriver, but it's not a difficult process.

Then, just plop your iPod into the iCast, connect the power cable, make sure the iCast and OutCast are on the same channel, and hit play. Music pumps out immediately. The playback controls on the speaker work just fine, though the response delay increases the further the speaker is from the base.

The wireless performance in general is great: no hiccups from more than 100 feet away through several office walls.

The star of the show, though, is sound quality. The OutCast features four 3-inch tweeters, which are arranged around the center of the speaker in order to output sound in all directions. There's also a 100-watt digital amplifier and an 8-inch downward firing subwoofer. This means that music not only gets exceptionally loud, it also offers truly powerful bass--you can feel it thumping in your chest (the true test of any good speaker, in our book).

Audio is expansive, encompassing, and clear--all things we expect from a unit in this price range. If you're looking for an easy way to port impressive wireless audio from your living room to your patio, the

Read more!