A federal judge in Los Angeles overturned a guilty verdict on Thursday against Lori Drew, a participant in a cyberbullying hoax against a 13-year-old girl who later committed suicide.

According to U.S. District Judge George Wu, the federal case against Drew revolved around the idea that violating the terms of service for MySpace was the equivalent of computer hacking, which “…leaves it up to a website owner to determine what is a crime”. Wu threw out the case against Drew of three misdemeanor accounts of accessing computers without authorization, despite a conviction by the jury. A guilty ruling in the case could have potentially made a criminal of anyone that enters false information when registering on any website.

Lori Drew, 50, was accused of participating in a MySpace …

Amidst rumors of overheating iPhones since shortly after the iPhone 3GS was launched, Apple has finally released the first acknowledgment that there might really be an issue with the iPhone regarding excessive temperatures. Various sites on the internet have posted reports of problems with the iPhone due to excessive heat such as shortened battery life, shut downs and even discoloration of the device itself. Now Apple has officially issued a warning about operating and storing the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in places with too much heat.

Apple suggests to only operate the iPhone 3G and 3GS in temperatures between 32º to 95º F (0º and 35º C) and to only store the device between temps of -4º to 113º F (-20º and 45º C). Using or storing the iPhone in temperatures beyond this range can cause the device to stop charging (which could explain a shortened battery life), a dimmer display or a weak signal.

We’ve seen some pretty cool lasers come across our desks in the past so it’s always refreshing to see a unique twist like what we have with the Photonic Disrupter. The folks at Wicked Lasers have taken an already powerful 100mW laser and modded it into non-lethal, “Threat Assessment Laser Illuminator”, (TALI for short) weapon.

The main feature that makes the Photonic Disrupter different from other 100mW lasers is its adjustable lens, allowing you to create a broad or very focused non-lethal beam of green light. The intent of the laser is for military and law enforcement use in dark or low-light situations, allowing the wielder of the light to temporarily blind and overwhelm the senses of the other person.

The guys over at SKYlaser gave us the opportunity recently to check out there version of a 150mW green laser pointer with a unique adjustable power feature. We’ve reviewed a number of types of lasers and laser pointers here on the ‘Brick but this is the first we’ve gotten our hands on one that has this type of adjustable power.

The nice thing about getting a powerful laser of this caliber is just that; it’s powerful. This laser has enough oomph to put a green dot on something from pretty much as far away as you can see, and that’s during the day. At night it makes a seemingly unending saber-like beam of green laser light visible for miles.

In this weeks version of “Patch Tuesday” from Microsoft, the released security bulletin addressed a record count of 31 vulnerabilities across versions of Windows and Microsoft Office.

Of the updates a number of them were rated as “critical” and dealt with an issue of remote code execution through specifically designed web pages that were viewed through Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8. This vulnerability, before the fix, would allow strangers to take control of the PC remotely through executing code in the browser.

TomTom announced on Tuesday that it would be making it’s navigation software and some hardware pieces available specifically for use with Apple’s iPhone sometime in the not too distant future. TomTom will be offering the navigation software through the iTunes App Store and will also provide some type of charging dock and speakers for use on the go.

The navigation company did say the software would be available for the iPhone 3G but did not specify if it would be available for the newly announced iPhone 3G S version, however logic tells us it will.

The N97 that Nokia unveiled way last December is hitting stores tomorrow afternoon. Well, at least hitting the Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago. If you’re not already in line at one of these two places you might have some luck online as Amazon appears to have some in stock and we would imagine (or at least hope for the sake of all you that pre-ordered) that they will start shipping today or tomorrow as well.

This release from Nokia comes right on the heals of the new and improved iPhone 3Gs announcement and adds some healthy competition to Apple’s reigning smartphone champion. The N97 sports not only a wide touchscreen display but also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to add some ease and speed to your mobile …

In an article published Wednesday in Nature, researches in Japan reported the successful passing of a transgene from a primate to its offspring, marking a milestone in this type of research. In the study the scientists injected a number of marmoset embryos with a manufactured virus which contained a gene that would be inserted into the animals DNA, making their feet glow green under ultraviolet light.

Almost true to rumors, along with the press release from Microsoft late Tuesday about the new Zune HD release, the company announced they will be extending the Zune video service into Xbox LIVE this fall as well.

“The Zune music player is an integral part of the overall Zune experience, and we’re proud to be growing and extending our offering beyond the device,” said Enrique Rodriguez in the Microsoft press release on Tuesday. Rodriguez is the corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV, Video and Music Business Group.

Microsoft made the official announcement late Tuesday that the Zune HD, the next generation of the Zune media player, would indeed be hitting the market in the near future. The Zune HD packs some new features including built-in HD radio, high-def video out, OLED multi-touch screen, WiFi and an included internet browser.

The tough guys over at Spotlight were nice enough to send us a few samples of their their small rechargeable 12V flashlight to try out for ourselves we have to admit that we were impressed. Now, the Spotlight has but only a couple features and is no new radical cutting-edge technology but we would consider it a gadget nonetheless. Also, its refreshing to see a very simple and useful gadget come across the desk from time to time.

The Spotlight is just like it sounds; it’s a small flashlight measuring a mere 2 inches and weighing in at a svelte 1.8 ounces. What makes this little guy so handy is it’s small size which is by no coincidence the same size as many automotive outlets. The flashlight alone fit in 4 of the 6 different car outlets we tried and emits a glowing red light to let you know it’s charging. For those outlets that don’t quite fit, Spotlight provides a small length adapter and a Super Socket adapter (separately) to allow it to fit just about any vehicle.

We’ve gotten our hands on some pretty cool and powerful lasers in the past, but never one of quite this magnitude. If you were wondering if there really is a difference between laser pointers, or if there is a difference between a $300 laser and a $1700 laser; well we’re here to tell you that there is.

From the time we opened the box of the Spyder II GX we could tell that this one meant business. The Spyder II is another green laser with a beam that can be seen from miles and miles away, literally. It’s powered by a special single LI-ION 18650 rechargeable battery (the device comes with 2 of them and a charger) and is housed in a military grade, water resistant case. It operates by a rubber toggle switch in the back that keeps it on until you press it again, unlike the Elite Series which requires you to hold it to keep the laser on.

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8, its latest version in the browser battle. This latest version comes loaded with a set of new features designed to make browsing the internet more convenient, fast and secure. The latest IE browser is also the latest blow to rival Mozilla’s Firefox in the quest for online browsing dominance.

Microsoft added a number of security features to IE8, such as increased protection against malware, cross-site scripting attacks, click-jacking, and protection against installing malicious Active-X controls. In addition, they’ve added an InPrivate browsing mode which will track no history of your browsing activities, negating the need to delete the history after the fact.

Powerful laser pointers are something that many people are often curious about, however not too often does someone get a chance to handle one. The folks over at WarnLaser recently gave us at the ‘Brick a chance to try out one of their lasers to see what we thought. This is not the first time we’ve had our hands on a laser of this caliber and through this we’ve learned that all lasers are not created equal.

The sample we received is a 120mW Tiger Series GX, running on a couple of standard AAA batteries in a frame about the size of a large pen. In fact, this laser has pen-like clip and can pretty easily fit in a shirt pocket, but might be a little bit heavier than most of the items in your pocket protector at 55 grams. The Tiger Series is a nice balance between power and portability in the array of lasers from WarnLaser. It’s about in the middle of the road – you can get weaker lasers and you can get them much more powerful.

The folks over at OtterBox, protectors of gadgets for the active and accident-prone, gave us a chance to try out one of their defensive products to see just how well it holds up. In this case, OtterBox sent us a protective case for the Blackberry Curve, a device I have with me day in and day out.

Since the case from OtterBox is protecting something I own and depend on daily, we did not put it through the usual drops, dunks and vodka-proof trials that we would normally do. But, despite this we can tell you that this case blows away any other protective case we’ve had our hands on, for any mobile device.