After studying the songs of 10,000 artists for the past five and a half years, Pandora Media has just released an Internet music service that streams songs based on 400 distinct musical characteristics. You enter the name of a song or an artist, and Pandora creates a station that plays similar music.

Founder Time Westergren describes Pandora as a "music discovery service."

Ever get the itch to jam a Dell or Macintosh into your car? Me neither, but Damian Stolarz says you can do a lot with a touchscreen or remote-control operated car PC, like navigate with GPS, play music and DVDs, surf the Web, and send e-mail.

His new book, Car PC Hacks, shows you how to install a computer.

Researchers from Microsoft and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have devised a new method for delivering Internet search results tailored to the interests of individual users.

Before search results are returned, the system scours a user's e-mail, documents, Weblog entries, and Internet history, looking for clues as the the user's personal interests.

Guest: Jaime Teevan, M.I.T. doctoral candidate

Requiring Internet users to divulge some personal information in exchange for the right to read newspaper articles online has become the norm, but that doesn't mean readers like it.

Steve Outing, an editor with the journalism think tank Poynter Institute, and a columnist for Editor & Publisher, has an idea to bridge the gap between data-hungry newspapers and annoyed readers.

Google has launched its own instant messaging system that features both text and voice communication. The move comes just days after Google updated its desktop search feature.

Guest: Gary Price, a librarian and news editor at Search Engine Watch

Robert Moog, whose self-named synthesizers turned electric currents into sound, died this week at age 71 from a brain tumor.

A childhood interest in the spooky-sounding theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, lead Moog to a create a career and business that tied the name Moog to synthesizers.

The Moog first captured the public imagination on Wendy Carlos' "Switched on Bach," and has been used by countless artists including Stevie Wonder, Devo, Funkadelic, New Order, and Gary Numan.

Concert promoter Charles Carlini says Moog was a little bit musician, but mostly an engineer.

Scientists at the Rochester Institute of Technology say American museums could be doing a better job when it comes to producing accurate digital images of their collections.

The R.I.T. study, two years in the making, found a wide range of competence in digital photography and color management.

Accuracy is critical when it comes to marketing and archiving of museum collections, according to Roy Berns, R.I.T. professor of color science, appearance and technology.

At bookstores around the world, naughty customers are moving Orwell's 1984 from the fiction section to non-fiction, current affairs, and U.S. politics. The Internet-based mob calls itself "The Ministry of Reshelving." Members are posting pictures of their handiwork on the photo-sharing site Flickr.

The person responsible for this performance art game is U.C. Berkeley doctoral student Jane McGonigal, a game researcher and developer. McGonigal says the Ministry is motivated by what it sees as 1984-style war-time doublespeak from the U.S. government and military, and concerns over surveillance and privacy.

Experts say criminals aiming to pry passwords and other sensitive information from organizations have started using phony e-mails to pose as top leaders of the targeted organizations.

The technique is a variation of the phishing e-mail scams that try to trick consumers into giving up bank-account information and other sensitive details that can be used in identity theft.

Alan Paller, chief executive of the nonprofit cybersecurity research firm SANS Institute, says the scam is known as "spear phishing."

In the September issue of Business 2.0 magazine, reporter Om Malik writes, "A trail of hidden clues suggests Google is building its own Internet, and might be looking to let everyone connect for free."

In schools around the country, students are wielding handheld gadgets to answer quiz questions, play learning games and indicate to instructors they're not cutting class for the day. The remote control-like devices are connected to software that allows instructors to instantly score tests, record attendance and keep tabs on students' comprehension.

Purdue is the first major university to license the "clicker" technology for systemwide use.

In the open source community, a large pool of programmers, tied together by the Internet, works cooperatively to make computer programs. Code writers learn from each other, solve tough problems, and constantly improve the product without top-down coordination.

John Robb argues that insurgents and terrorists are following the same model. Dozens of disparate groups with different motivations, communicating over the Internet, are collaborating to fight Americans and attack other enemies around the globe.

Robb is author of a forthcoming book on next generation terrorism, to be published by Wiley and Sons. He's a former Internet analyst at Forrester Research.

Security software company Sunbelt says it has identified the piece of spyware that is funneling stolen sensitive information, like online bank account passwords and credit card numbers, to a criminal group.

Sunbelt president Alex Eckelberry says it's a keylogger that thousands of computer users around the world have unwittingly downloaded to their machines. It steals data from Internet Explorer's protected storage area. That's where a lot of personal information is stored in the browser.

Is your machine infected?

Researchers are the University of California Berkeley say mobile phones might be the perfect instrument for detecting and tracking air pollution, radiation, and other hazards.

The idea is to build inexpensive environment-sensing chips into new phones.

Guest: Berkeley's R.J. Honicky

The humble computer mouse can cause some mighty problems. Used too much or improperly, a mouse can be the source of repetitive stress injury to the hands, arms, neck, and back.

Guest: Ira Janowitz with the University of California Ergonomics Program

Panasonic claims its new Oxyride batteries will last much longer than alkaline batteries in digital cameras, portable CD and MP3 players, and other devices.

You'll pay about the same price for Oxyrides as alkaline batteries like Duracells.

Guest: Paul Klatt with Batteries Plus

The New York City public advocate represents the voice of citizens before city government, acts as a watchdog over city agencies, and introduces legislation to the city council.

Internet entrepreneur Andrew Resiej is running for the office, and is campaigning on a platform to bring low-cost wireless Internet to the entire city, improve mobile phone communications on subways, and allow citizens to use mobile phones to report potholes.

With more airlines offering high-speed satellite Internet service to passengers, the FBI, Homeland Security and the Justice Department have asked the Federal Communications Commission to require Internet providers to build wiretapping capability into their networks. The government says it fears terrorists may use in-flight Internet to communicate with each on the plane, or with associates on other planes or on the ground.

The Center for Democracy and Technology has filed comments[PDF] opposed to the idea. Staff counsel John Morris says CDT does not object to wiretapping, but believes the government should not dictate the design of technology products.

Elsewhere:

Music podcasting storm a-brewin' (USAT)

U2's city of blinding lights (Wired)

Google blacklists CNET reporters (Slashdot)

Internet and financial services companies believe they'll eventually conquer phishing. That's when a fraudster sends e-mails designed to lure consumers to fake Web sites where they're asked to divulge personal data. The phishing growth rate is already leveling, according to a new report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a private sector association.

However, phishing may soon be upstaged by more sophisticated frauds, pharming and crimeware.

Elsewhere:

Korean first to successfully clone dog (USAT)

Yahoo introduces search service for music (NY Times)

Pentagon on defensive over blogs (Wired)

Last week the U.S. District Court in San Francisco barred a former Internet Security Systems employee from further disseminating research he has already disclosed on how computer hackers could undermine Internet equipment made by Cisco Systems that is vital to the operation of the 'Net.

The ruling permanently bars former employee Michael Lynn and the Black Hat conference organization from disseminating, in any form, the presentation Lynn gave at the conference last Wednesday. The presentation did not explain the vulnerability in any detail.

Internet Security and Cisco, the biggest maker of gear used to direct traffic over the Internet, filed a joint request for the court injunction after Lynn gave the presentation. Lynn made the presentation after resigning from Internet Security.

Independent technology journalist Robert Lemos, an editor-at-large for Security Focus, says this case highlights a central question in an ongoing debate that pits security researchers against technology companies.

Elsewhere:

Cisco's efforts to plug leaks "failing" (BBC)

Cisco router flaw is "ticking bomb" (News.com)

Rating system to evaluate free software (NY Times)