Yes, my friends, it looks like the death spasms are might be kicking in for Circuit City—it's definitely twitching in any case. Fresh off losing $US239 million and watching its stock plunge below 50 cents a share, a firm that advises on manufacturers on whether or not to ship their wares to retailers has just yanked its recommendation for Circuit City. In other words, they don't think Circuit City can pay for the merch. It may very well be seeing CompUSA in retailer heaven soon (before being re-animated like a zombie). [WaPo via Consumerist]

Need more evidence that Democrats are more grassroots tech savvy than their elephantine counterparts? At a Sarah Palin rally in LA on Saturday, the California Democratic party rented a digital billboard across the street which displayed questions for the veep candiate sent by text message. Granted, even if Palin did read them, she wouldn't be able to recall which ones she read specifically. But still, quite awesome—I hope both parties get creative with tech like this, it's a fantastic way to reach voters. [CA Dems via Online Video Watch via Textually]

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Whereas a live online stream of the first presidential debate was a bit harder to pin down, our pick for tonight's at 9PM Eastern is Hulu. Its live stream of the final two presidential debates is actually Hulu's first ever live broadcast, which is something they might do more of following the debates. (Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it'll be in HD.) But there are, of course, other options.

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No amount of oohing, aahing or drooling can convince HTC to bring this 480x800 monster to American shores, according to the Taiwanese company. That's a shame, because it was looking pretty good. The company passed the news on through Twitter, which is the corporate equivalent of breaking up with your girlfriend with a text message:

Sad news, US. we looked into it- by the time we could bring Touch HD to the States, it would be old news. We do have other cool stuff coming.

[Twitter via WMExperts]

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Our constant reportage that border agents can snatch and frisk your laptop for basically no reason at all seems to have worked. The sighing, sweaty "feh" of nerds and barks of disapproval from hardcore business travellers, both unhappy at the thought of some macho dickhole agent tooling around in their notebook, seem to have trickled up to Congress, resulting in the Travellers' Privacy Protection Act.

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CNet earlier today broke a story about how the National Association of Broadcasters—traditional broadcasting conglomerates and others who think HD Radio is more vital than the internet—is trying to kill a brand new bill that could save Pandora and other web radio services. We've done some reporting of our own, and the situation does indeed seem dire. If you love your Pandora, here's what's going on, and how you can help save its very existence:

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California is joining seven other states and Washington DC by imposing a full-on ban of text messaging while driving. The bill signed by the Governator himself imposes a $US20 fine for the first offence and $US50 for repeat offenders starting next year. Kind of a slap on the wrist if you ask me—but that is more than 43 other states in this country are doing. [LA Times via CrunchGear]

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After the Florida debacle a number of years ago, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that there are *gasp* vulnerabilities in the voting system. Take this hack of the Sequoia Voting kiosk for example. As you will see in the video, a trojan app can be easily installed via a USB key planted among a pool of keys used to initialise the system. While it is highly unlikely that a hack like this could be implemented in such a way that it has a major impact on an election, it is a frightening prospect nonetheless. [CrunchGear]

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You love America, don't you, boy? Well, then, why ain't you showin' it? These colours don't run! Freedom isn't free! Smoke 'em out of their caves! USA USB! That's the name of this DIY USB device that attaches a lit, flapping flag to your computer. It'll constantly remind you that America is the best and constantly remind everyone around you that you are more patriotic than they are. As a bonus, if you put it in your carry-on luggage, you'll breeze through airport security every single time. Hit the jump for a tears-of-pride-inducing video of this baby in action.

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Survey-masters JD Power and Associates have completed their most recent review of US mobile providers, dividing the US into six regions and crowning a king of call quality for each. And for most areas, Verizon is still tops. But... Read More »