Hero Ha is an adorable three-year-old Korean kid who likes to stand around in his diaper with a giant guitar slung over his shoulders, performing truly excellent renditions of Beatles songs. Here he is singing "Hey Jude."
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Rumors abound about a new "exclusive" Disney World theme park that would only admit 2,000 people at a time for "adult" fun. Lots of similar ideas have been floated over the years, including a villain-themed park across the lagoon from the Magic Kingdom, with an evil, lurking castle to counterpoint the frosted confection that the "good" side sports. Best part of this rumor is that it holds that the new park will incorporate elements form the Pleasure Island Adventurer's Club, a nightclub/cabaret/immersive play that's one of my favorite things at the park.
There were a few missing details in Jim's report, but enough has leaked out that tells me this is similar to an idea that's been on the table since the mid-90s. Imagineer Tony Baxter talked about a related concept back in 1998. I know a certain camp in Imagineering has been itching to try it out, the only question being East or West coast.
What strikes me about this 'boutique experience' is how 'adult' all the attractions sound. Plus the evening hours is clearly targeting older guests. More than anything this might be Disney's attempt to win back some of the Vegas (aka High-Roller) crowd they hope to see return with a couple of the luxury hotels that will be opening in and around the WDW resort over the next few years.
Here's a lovely idea for improving an old coffee table: 8-bit pixel-art Mario mosaic!
I decided to take an old table my grandfather made that had a stain on the top of it and tile it myself. Luckily my parents were tiling their bathroom so I got to use a nice industrial cutter :)
IO9's Annalee Newitz liveblogged the presentation of Stephen M. Kosslyn, author of Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston. Kosslyn presented on his findings from Cognitive Science research into the optimal way to present visual information -- like PowerPoint slides. Kosslyn's boiled it all down to a few simple points, and while I'm sure there's a lot of nuance and detail in the book, Annalee's piece on its own is damned good advice to circulate to the slideslingers in your life.
The Rudolph Rule refers to simple ways you can make information stand out and guide your audience to important details -- the way Rudolph the reindeer's red nose stood out from the other reindeers' and led them. If you're presenting a piece of relevant data in a list, why not make the data of interest a different color from the list? Or circle it in red? "The human brain is a difference detector," Kosslyn noted. The eye is immediately drawn to any object that looks different in an image, whether that's due to color, size, or separation from a group. He showed us a pizza with one piece pulled out slightly, noting that our eyes would immediately go to the piece that was pulled out (which was true). Even small differences guide your audience to what's important.
Random House Audio -- a division of Bertelsmann, one of the largest publishing conglomerates in the world -- has announced that it will now allow its audiobooks to be sold without DRM by all of its online retailers. In the announcement, Random House notes that they've been running a DRM-free audiobook program with eMusic for months, and that none of the pirate editions of their audiobooks online came from those DRM-free editions; rather, they've come from DRM'ed editions that were cracked, and from ripped CDs. I know, I know -- duh. But how freaking cool is it to have a publisher come out and say that in public?
I'm especially pleased about this because I've been doing a couple of little publishing deals with various Random House divisions. The German division publishes translations of my novels in Germany and Austria, while Random House Audio is doing the audiobook version of my forthcoming novel, Little Brother. My agent had negotiated a one-off no-DRM deal with them for that edition, but now it seems like everyone's going to have the same option: authors who don't want DRM won't be forced by Random House to include it.
The big question-mark is hovering over Audible, recently acquired by Amazon. I love the range and selection and pricing of Audible's titles, but I got majorly hosed when I switched to Linux and had to spend a month converting my giant, expensive Audible collection to DRM-free MP3s. When my agent started shopping the audio rights for Little Brother, I was shocked to discover that Audible refused to release any books without DRM -- even if the author didn't want it -- and that they had the exclusive contract to supply audiobooks to the iTunes Store.
Amazon's gone on record saying that they'll kill Audible's DRM if the public makes a big enough stink. With Random House going DRM-free, you gotta wonder if Amazon will do the right thing and follow.
Since our decision has been based in part on our experience with eMusic, I would like to share those
results with you. EMusic started selling audiobooks mid-September, and their program has been a
success, with strong sales every month since launch. Since they sell content only in the MP3 format
(in other words, without DRM), our goal was to find out if allowing them to sell our content would
lead to any increase in illegal filesharing. For tracking purposes, we watermarked all of the eMusic
files and then hired a piracy watchdog service to monitor and report back to us if any of our titles
appeared on the major filesharing networks. We tracked a mix of popular titles, including some that
were not available through eMusic. Because piracy is already a fact of life in the digital world, what
we were interested in finding out was not whether piracy exists, but rather whether there is any
correlation between DRM-free distribution and an increased incidence of piracy.
The results: we have not yet found a single instance of the eMusic watermarked titles being
distributed illegally. We did find many copies of audiobook files available for free, but they did not
originate from the eMusic test, but rather from copied CDs or from files whose DRM was hacked. It
is worth noting that these results are entirely consistent with what the music industry has found
in the last six months. After conducting their own tests with Amazon, Walmart.com and others, the
major labels have reached the conclusion that MP3 distribution does not in itself lead to increased
piracy, they are now moving their entire catalogs to this approach.
Here's some amazing footage -- uncut -- from a feature film that Suzanne Pleshette and Tony Curtis made in Disneyland in the sixties. There's not really much dialog and it kind of meanders, but it's really golden nevertheless: high-production-value footage of Disneyland from the golden age.
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(Thanks, Bill!)
On 7 March, a Private Member's Bill proposed by Pete Wishart MP titled Sound Recordings (Copyright Term Extension) Bill 2007-08 will have its second reading in the House of Commons. It is vital that you write to your MP now to ask him or her to attend the Commons on 7 March and stand up and object to this Bill. If you don't the Bill is likely to pass through to committee stage without debate.
What can you say to persuade your MP to show up to the Commons on a Friday? Perhaps you might point out that all the economic evidence points against term extension. Or that every other UK citizen is expected to contribute to their pension out of income earned in their working life. Or that retrospectively extending copyright term won't encourage Elvis Presley to record any more new tracks. Or that if governments continue to draft intellectual property legislation on behalf of special interest groups, it will only further erode the respect that ordinary citizens have for the letter of the law.
However you choose to pitch it, you should find the Open Rights Group briefing pack on copyright term extension useful. And remember to specifically ask your MP to oppose this Bill on 7 March in the House of Commons. Writing to your MP doesn't take long, and ORG have developed a handy guide to help you get the results you want.
Chipmaker Toshiba has signed a definitive agreement with electronics manufacturer Sony for jointly producing semiconductors. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
Electronics manufacturing services company Sanmina-SCI is exiting the personal computing business with the sale to Foxteq of its PC business assets and associated logistics services located in Hungary and the US. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
BEIJING, Feb. 22 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- ChinaCache, a leading content distribution network (CDN) service provider in China, today announced the immediate availability of the Adobe(R) Flash(R) Video Streaming Service, powered by ChinaCache. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
JetBlue Airways has announced that it will launch daily nonstop service between Salt Lake City, Utah and Las Vegas in Nevada, US, beginning May 1, 2008. The company said that it will offer an introductory fare of $49 each way for flights to/from Las Vegas. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
Network testing and fiber-optics company 3M Telecommunications has introduced a triple-play modem module for testing xDSL services. It said the compact 3M Dynatel All-in-One Modem Module VDSL2 attaches to the back of the 3M Dynatel Advanced Modular System 965AMS. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
By Yonat Shimron, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Feb. 22--About 20 teens from Orange County have signed up for a lock-in at a Chapel Hill church this weekend. They will play games, shoot videos and help plan a worship service. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
By Jason Kuiper, Omaha World-Herald, Neb. Feb. 22--COUNCIL BLUFFS -- When you're as tech savvy as Chikai Ohazama, an everyday paper map doesn't quite cut it. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Feb 2008 | 11:00 am
By Evan Ackerman The Novint Falcon haptic controller has been out for a little while now, and honestly, most people have a difficult time telling what it is at all, much less how it works or why on earth... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 10:31 am
mklickman writes "I've been hearing more and more about mobile broadband offered by the big wireless phone providers, and for the first time came to ask myself how it compares to using a wireless router. Since my wife and I both have laptops, and we're out a lot, would it be wise and/or worth it to do away with the standard cable-modem-plus-router setup and switch over to mobile broadband with (for example) AT&T or Sprint? I'm not really concerned about the cost of the PC cards themselves; they're not much more expensive than a decent router. Also, the cost of the wireless service per month is only (roughly) ten dollars more than my current ISP is charging me. Is it a good idea?"
Today in my ongoing series of photos from my travels over the years: this WPA-style space mural outside the Spaceship Earth ride in Epcot. It's like a public artwork from an alternate universe in which space remained sexy.
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Today in my ongoing series of photos from my travels over the years: this WPA-style space mural outside the Spaceship Earth ride in Epcot. It's like a public artwork from an alternate universe in which... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:39 am
WiebeTech's "Hot Plug" is a device that allows cops -- and data-thieves -- to unplug a computer from the wall without powering it down, preventing the machine from locking down the drives with crypto. Basically, you unscrew the wall-socket (or the power-strip), attach HotPlug (a UPS) to the power-wires, then cut the wires out of the wall -- HotPlug keeps the juice running.
Connect HotPlug LT to the computer's power source. There are several ways to achieve this. It's easiest if the target computer is on a Power Strip. If it's not, use Plug Capture Device, or one of the advanced methods to gain access to the computer's supply of power.
WiebeTech's "Hot Plug" is a device that allows cops -- and data-thieves -- to unplug a computer from the wall without powering it down, preventing the machine from locking down the drives with crypto.... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:35 am
Barely visible in the foreground framed by his glowing epaulets, Elfod Nemet stands at the ornate and rapturously imagined docks leading to the Vernian Sea, located in the steampunk-themed New Babbage... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:30 am
Stephen Fry -- one of my favorite bloggers on the planet -- has been running a series of columns explaining free/open source software to the world at large, and this week he took on the Asus Eee computer:... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:27 am
Lisa sez, Some friends of mine have just released RetarDEAD , a low-budget indie film that's a sequel to Monsturd . Evil has come to the Butte County Institute of Special Education, and its students... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:14 am
This year's most talked about SMS, purportedly send by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to his ex-wife Cecila eight days before his marriage to singer Carla Bruni saying: "If you come back, I'll cancel... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:12 am
By Luke Anderson Every day I see a handful of new flash drives that claim to look new and exciting. Unfortunately that seems to be marketing-speak for either same as everything else or really strange.... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:01 am
By Luke Anderson I’m a horribly forgetful person. The only way I remember anything is when Outlook pops up and tells me I need to be somewhere in an hour. That is if I even remembered to enter my... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 9:00 am
By Luke Anderson Looking for something that’s going to really set your desk apart from everyone else’s in the office? Surely with all of the strange gadgets out there you’d be able to... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:58 am
By Ritter, Andre V Ghaname, Eduardo; Leonard, Ralph H ABSTRACT Background. One approach to controlling dental unit waterline (DUWL) contamination by microorganisms is the addition of chemical cleaners to the treatment water. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Joe Orso, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Feb. 22--Organic food sales in the U.S. have increased at an average of 18.6 percent a year in the past decade, according to the Organic Trade Association's 2007 Manufacturer Survey. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Flores, Alfredo Beef cattle browse more than 11 million acres of grazinglands in the State of Florida. In fact, Florida is 11th among U.S. beefproducing states, and 4th among those with herds of more than 500 brood cows. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Bryla, David R Does it make a difference whether a raspberry plant receives water from the top down or from the bottom up? Irrigation methods used in producing this fragile fruit vary regionally in the Northwest, where 80 percent of the popular berries originate. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Linda Spice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 22--A three-alarm fire in Kenosha early Thursday morning destroyed a restaurant and caused smoke and water damage to adjacent businesses and apartments, displacing 18 people from their homes. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Chris Hubbuch, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Feb. 22--The Federal Communi-cations Commission has dropped a fine against a La Crosse ABC affiliate station for airing an episode of "NYPD Blue" the agency considered indecent. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
Plans to create a green haven in the centre of an Aberdeenshire commuter town look set to get the go-ahead. Councillors are expected to approve an application to create a community woodland at Portlethen when they meet next week. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By The Dallas Morning News Feb. 22--The city of Garland is warning residents to be on the lookout for bogus water workers. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 22--Wisconsin's harsh winter hasn't exactly been a picnic for wildlife. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
By Hurst Laviana, The Wichita Eagle, Kan. Feb. 22--Three Mexican citizens were indicted by a federal grand jury this week on charges of unlawfully transporting undocumented Mexican residents in Kansas. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
Saxophonist brings us a story from Forbes about security researchers who demonstrated a new method for breaking the encryption on GSM cellular signals. The presentation was made at the recent Black Hat conference, and it's notable for the fact that the technique only requires "about half an hour with just $1,000 in computer storage and processing equipment." The researchers also claim to have found a faster method, which they intend to market for $200,000 - $500,000. Quoting: "Undetectable, 'passive' systems like the one that Muller and Hulton have created aren't new either, though previous technologies required about a million dollars worth of hardware and used a "brute force" tactic that tried 33 million times as many passwords to decrypt a cell signal. All of that means, Hulton and Muller argue, that their cheaper technique is simply drawing needed attention to a problem that mobile carriers have long ignored--one that well-financed eavesdroppers may have been exploiting for years. 'If governments or other people with millions of dollars can listen to your conversations right now, why shouldn't your next-door neighbor?' Muller says."
mytrip writes with news that Google's health record archive is about to be tested with the assistance of the Cleveland Clinic. Thousands of patients (who must approve the transfer of information) will have access to everything from their medical histories to lab results through what Google considers a "logical extension" of their search engine. We discussed the planning of this system last year. "Each health profile, including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories, will be protected by a password that's also required to use other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools. The health venture also will provide more fodder for privacy watchdogs who believe Google already knows too much about the interests and habits of its users as its computers log their search requests and store their e-mail discussions. Prodded by the criticism, Google last year introduced a new system that purges people's search records after 18 months. In a show of its privacy commitment, Google also successfully rebuffed the U.S. Justice Department's demand to examine millions of its users' search requests in a court battle two years ago."
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. More than three decades after the last Apollo astronauts roamed the lunar surface, disparate universities, open-source engineers and quixotic aerospace start-ups are planning to... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 2:36 am
Ward D points out a story about a recent study that predicts significant economic growth through increased broadband adoption in the U.S. The study is based on a program in Kentucky that has, through the increased use of broadband, "saved an average of more than $200 per person per year" on health-care services, and decreased the average amount of time residents spent driving by 100 hours per month. From Computerworld: "The Connected Nation model ... focuses more on broadband adoption and local needs than huge, government-funded programs. Several Kentucky businesses have benefited from the increased access, according to Connected Nation. Geek Squad, the Best Buy subsidiary, moved its headquarters to Bullitt County, Kentucky, in late 2006 because of the broadband availability."
BEIJING - China is calling on the U.S. to release data on the shooting down of an ailing spy satellite. The Communist party's newspaper blasted today what it called Washington's... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 1:43 am
United States is prepared to share with China some of the information it has about the U.S. shootdown of a spy satellite. His comments came hours after Beijing complained the missile... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 1:42 am
The Sharper Image, the 31-year-old purveyor of futuristic adult gadgetry like $5,000 massage chairs and $300 robotic vacuum cleaners, has filed for bankruptcy protection after years of slipping sales,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 1:35 am
Indie filmmakers' gritty, controversial coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan go where mainstream media fears to tread. The unvarnished truth may bomb at the box office, but the stories need to be told.
Intuit Inc.'s second-quarter net income fell 21 percent as increased costs more than matched strong revenue growth driven by TurboTax sales. The financial software maker cut its... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:52 am
Yahoo Inc. , which has come under fire for its role in the jailing of Chinese journalists, spent $1.6 million in 2007 lobbying the government, in part, on issues related to China and foreign jurisdiction... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:39 am
DENVER The Bush administration on Thursday announced an end to federal protection for gray wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, concluding that the wolves were reproductively robust enough to survive.... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:37 am
Bioengineered crossbreeds. Temperamental robots. Spermatozoa imprinted with secret texts. Although the fascination with organic form has been around since the Renaissance, we have now entered an age in... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:37 am
WASHINGTON Videotape of the Navy mission to shoot down a dying spy satellite made available Thursday shows an interceptor missile ascending atop a bright trail of burning fuel, and then a flash, a fireball,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:37 am
Yahoo Inc., which has come under fire for its role in the jailing of Chinese journalists, spent $1.6 million in 2007 lobbying the government, in part, on issues related to China and... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:34 am
ethericalzen writes "The LA Times has published an opinion article about the legal semantics and analogies of file sharing. The article includes arguments from those who believe file sharing is theft and those who strongly disagree. As it points out, the common analogies to theft are often incomplete or inaccurate. The author states, "balancing the interests of content creators against the public's ... is a much more complicated task than erecting a legal barrier to five-fingered discounts." He recognizes that it is not a trivial concept, and that the clamoring from both camps about definitions and moral boundaries will dictate how businesses and users function in the future."
Abengoa Solar plans to build the world's largest solar plant in Arizona in cooperation with an energy utility in the southwestern state, the companies said Thursday. Abengoa... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 22 Feb 2008 | 12:12 am
Seeking to satisfy European antitrust officials, Microsoft said on Thursday that it would open up and share many more of its technical secrets with the rest of the software industry and competitors. Microsoft... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 21 Feb 2008 | 11:36 pm
The Supreme Courts decision Wednesday protecting many types of medical device makers from personal injury lawsuits began rippling through the courts and law offices almost immediately. Hours after the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 21 Feb 2008 | 11:36 pm
Even a scientist working in a location as remote as Antarctica logged in online to cast a vote for Democrat Barack Obama, who won the global primary Thursday.
The sudden appearance of vertebrates 600 million years ago has been a bit of a mystery to evolutionary biologists. New research suggests the development of backbones may be tied to microRNA, which is produced by so-called "junk" DNA.
HOPKINTON, Mass. - Data storage vendor EMC Corp. on Thursday agreed to acquire Pi Corp., a privately held developer of software and services to help individuals sort through and share... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Feb 2008 | 11:29 pm
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Sarah Colborne-Penney is anxious that her two children may be among the 28,000 whose personal information went missing when four school board laptops were stolen... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Feb 2008 | 11:25 pm
China and South Korea are climbing up the ranks of the world's leading inventors, according to figures released by the U.N. patent agency Thursday. Of the 156,000 international patents Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Feb 2008 | 11:16 pm
The Narrative Fallacy brings news that NASA has awarded a $500,000 grant to develop plans for an array of radio telescopes to be located on the moon. The telescopes would be used to gather data from the earliest stars and galaxies, observations of which are difficult from Earth due to the ionosphere and terrestrial broadcasts. The grant was part of NASA's sponsoring of 19 "Next Generation Astronomy Missions." Quoting: "The Lunar Array for Radio Cosmology (LARC) project ... is planned as a huge array of hundreds of telescope modules designed to pick up very-low-frequency radio emissions. The array will cover an area of up to two square kilometers; the modules would be moved into place on the lunar surface by automated vehicles. The new lunar telescopes would add greatly to the capabilities of a low-frequency radio telescope array now under construction in Western Australia, one of the most radio-quiet areas on Earth."
The first 10 teams to officially register for Google's $30 million robotic race to the moon promise to win. They'll compete with other great robotics teams, such as the crew from Carnegie Mellon University who won the Darpa Urban Challenge and the Romanians who made a run for the money in the Ansari X Prize.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on closing the GLOBE forum on climate change Thursday, called on the Group of Eight (G8) developed nations to meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets set... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 21 Feb 2008 | 10:37 pm
bowser100 writes "The EFF has named their 2008 Pioneer Award winners, picking three people very familiar to this community — Mitchell Baker and the Mozilla Foundation, Canadian law professor Michael Geist, and AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein."
genji256 writes "Adding to his first impressions, Walt Mossberg has published a full review of the soon-to-come Lenovo X300. As a bottom line he 'recommends the X300 for road warriors without hesitation, provided they can live with its two biggest downsides: a relatively paltry file-storage capacity and a hefty price tag.' Gizmodo lists all the comparisons with the MacBook Air that Walt inevitably makes. Final score: it's a tie, though certain points are arguable ('Doesn't use Mac OS X Leopard. Winner: MacBook Air')."
theodp writes "A recent Amazon SEC filing sheds light on the puzzling departure of Microsoft Sr. VP Brian Valentine in Sept. 2006. Valentine is the Gen. George Patton-like figure charged with pushing Vista developers, who dumped the still not-ready-for-prime-time OS into RC1 status as he bolted for a new gig at Amazon. Having repeatedly assured everyone that Valentine was staying with the company post-Vista, Microsoft backpedaled and explained that Valentine decided to leave since the company had shipped a near-final version of Vista. Not so. Although analysts fell for the PR line, it seems Valentine had actually signed an Employment Agreement way back in June calling for him to be on board at Amazon on Sept. 11 if he wanted to pick up a $1.7M signing bonus, $150K base salary, another $500K bonus, and 400K shares of Amazon stock (now worth almost $30M). Who says you have to shell out $999.95 for MS-Project to come up with accurate planned completion dates?"
Whether you're starting from scratch with a brand-new computer or you've decided to go back to a totally clean slate and reinstall your entire operating system, here are some tips and tricks to make a fresh installation of Microsoft Windows up-to-date, more secure and more usable.
Firebones writes "In 1986, the book Programmers at Work presented interviews with 19 programmers and software designers from the early days of personal computing including Charles Simonyi, Andy Hertzfeld, Ray Ozzie, Bill Gates, and Pac Man programmer Toru Iwatani. Leonard Richardson tracked down these pioneers and has compiled a nice summary of where they are now, 22 years later."
The lunar eclipse on February 20 was captured by Wired.com readers from Santiago, Chile to Waterloo, Ontario. We publish some of the best reader submissions.
New York City wants to shake up the cab industry by dictating the terms of taxi design to create the "taxi of tomorrow" -- cleaner, greener and much cooler.
In an effort to boost ad revenue, Google rolls out AdSense for video beta. Under the program, publishers are expected to boost their advertising revenue.
The Rudolph Rule refers to simple ways you can make information stand out and guide your audience to important details -- the way Rudolph the reindeer's red nose stood out from the other reindeers' and led them. If you're presenting a piece of relevant data in a list, why not make the data of interest a different color from the list? Or circle it in red? "The human brain is a difference detector," Kosslyn noted. The eye is immediately drawn to any object that looks different in an image, whether that's due to color, size, or separation from a group. He showed us a pizza with one piece pulled out slightly, noting that our eyes would immediately go to the piece that was pulled out (which was true). Even small differences guide your audience to what's important.
Now here's a radical t-shirt idea: Manuel from Fawlty Towers as Che.
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