Google has enlisted Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to create an original animated series that it will distribute on the Web via its AdSense advertising system, according to The New York Times.

Google plans to use AdSense to syndicate the program–called Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy–to thousands of Web sites that are popular with MacFarlane’s target audience, according to the newspaper. Advertising will be incorporated via “preroll” ads, banner ads, or “brought to you by” ads, according to the report.

MacFarlane is also reportedly working with advertisers to create original advertising to run with the Cavalcade content, although neither Google nor MacFarlane would reveal any of the advertisers, saying only that the deals were among AdSense’s largest ever.

Are cable television companies purposely or inadvertently sabotaging their customers’ TiVo installations? This question came to mind a few weeks ago when our local cable company performed an “upgrade” that virtually disabled TiVo personal video recorders. In this article, Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz explores that question as the basis for a case study on industry flexibility. He also looks at specific solutions for problems being encountered, and possible solutions for the industry as a whole.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

Think you paid too much for your Playstation 3? Don’t expect any sympathy from Sony. In the company’s fiscal 2008 annual report, Sony revealed that they’ve now lost roughly $3.3 billion on the Playstation 3 since its launch. That breaks down to $2.16 billion in 2007, followed by a notably smaller but equally daunting $1.16 billion loss in 2008.

The reason? Pricing the console below its production cost. That’s right–that hefty $599 you paid for the PS3 back when it first launched was significantly cheaper than the cost of producing it in the first place, and while the retail price has come down some, the losses keep piling up.

Electric Pocket has added a collection of new free ringtones to its Ringo ringtone manager for smartphones. The new ringtones were custom composed exclusively for Ringo and won’t be found anywhere else. The ringtones are a mix of Classical, Country, Rock, Salsa and Ragtime. Versions of Ringo are available for users of BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Palm OS/Access smartphones.

Ringo gives smartphone users an attractive and easy-to-use interface for playing their own MP3 music as ringtones and message tones on their phone, as well as making personal and group call tones easy to set up and maintain.

iambic announced the release of version 4.1 of TripTracker for Windows Desktop, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, while introducing the brand new edition for Windows Mobile Smartphone (AKA WM6 Standard).

TripTracker is the convenient way to carry along trip essentials (such as flight, hotel and rental car information) and track all the trip-related activities (frequent flyer miles, expenses & more) at the desktop as well as on the go.

Concrete Software, along with the Professional Bowlers Association, announced the release of PBA Bowling for mobile phones. The new mobile game is being released on most of the current mobile phones and also includes smartphones running Windows Mobile and BlackBerry operating systems.

PBA Bowling includes 11 of the top PBA stars, 3D graphics that follow the ball down the lane, and cutting edge mobile motion technology on many of the phones to simulate real bowling motions. The game also includes 5 bowling locations, 5 types of lane oil patterns, and 3 different game types.

Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s 8th annual Best Software Awards helps users select the best Windows Mobile applications, utilities, and games, while honoring companies that produce outstanding software.

Throughout June, Nominations Manager, Werner (“Menneisyys”) Ruotsalainen, and the 2008 Board of Experts, developed the nominations list. Now, the preliminary list of Windows Mobile Windows Mobile nominations is ready for public viewing and comment.

End-users and Windows Mobile developers are welcome to make nominations suggestions from through July 16, 2008. The list will change daily (products may appear, disappear, and be re-categorized) until nominations are frozen on July 21.

PhatWare, provider of software products and professional services for mobile and desktop computers, announced the beta availability of PenOffice 3.0, a suite of handwriting recognition and collaboration software for Microsoft Windows-based computers and Tablet PCs.

PenOffice has found acceptance among OEMs and end users due to its highly accurate handwriting recognition, easy-to-use user interface, and extended set of pen-based collaboration features. The new version of the application recognizes handwriting in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Spanish, and is designed for use with Windows-based desktop, portable, tablet, and ultra-mobile PCs. PenOffice also incorporates features that allow users to add handwritten notes to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, embed control gestures into writing, create handwritten notes, utilize fill-screen drawings, and much more.

Thanks to some text message-savvy grandchildren, North Carolina drivers whose license plates have thepotentially offensive “WTF” letter combination can replace the tags for free.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday the state Division of Motor Vehicles has notified nearly 10,000 holders of license plates with the letter combination. Officials learned last year the common acronym stands for a vulgar phrase in e-mail and cell phone text messages.

But this week, the DMV officials got another surprise when they learned the same letters appeared on the agency’s own Web site on a sample personalized plate.

The days of the ubiquitous mouse may be coming to an end. Those were the thoughts of Steve Prentice, a Gartner analyst, as he walked the floor of the 2008 CES show earlier this year and saw a host of ways, from facial recognition technology to the multitouch capabilities of Apple’s iPhone, to replace the mouse as one of the main ways people interact with the computer.