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Trial in dispute between Apple, Eminem's publisher (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:36 am Are We Kingmakers Or Prognosticators?
Well, for starters, it would be impossible to cover every company and each of their competitors, and give them each the same treatment. Not only are there not enough writers to do this for TechCrunch, if you put all the blogs together, there still would not be nearly enough. Further, and maybe more importantly, no one would want to read all of that coverage. A part of our job is to provide a filter to readers. Some call that filter “bias,” and that’s fine except for the negative connotations associated with that word. While the idea of objective journalism is nice, if you go high enough, it really doesn’t exist. Somebody, somewhere at even the most exalted publications has to make a call on which story to pursue. There is always a flip side (or several), where another story is left out. Others will be quick to jump on that saying something like, “yes, but you don’t have to do so many stories on X company while not covering Y company at all.” That’s true, but if X company is more worthy of coverage, shouldn’t that be the story to pursue? Not everyone will agree with that, but I think it comes down to a debate of what our role is: Are we kingmakers or are we prognosticators? The people who think our so-called bias is hurting other companies, clearly will think we’re kingmakers; that we randomly or not-so-randomly pick companies that we want to see succeed and shower them with coverage. From my perspective, the reality is more that we’re prognosticators (or at least are trying to be). That is, finding cool companies that we think could actually have an impact in the tech sphere and covering why that may be the case, independent of caring about how many stories that might mean for any one company. A good example of this in the past couple of years has of course been Twitter. From the early days of the company, many people could not see the potential of the service, and plenty still don’t. As such, some get really, really angry over the amount of coverage it gets. But what’s interesting is that this coverage is now happening across pretty much all levels of the press, it’s not just one site (though some obviously cover certain companies more than others). So either all of the press is colluding to bolster companies like Twitter, or they’re simply seeing a trend happening, that this company, for whatever reason is becoming important, and so they’re covering it. Before you know it, the company that just a few years ago no one could understand why it was getting so much coverage, is now raising money with a billion dollar valuation. Did the early explosion of coverage make that happen? Or was the early coverage simply serving as a predictor that it would eventually happen? Kingmaker or prognosticator? A more recent example of this that we’ve been seeing is with Foursquare. Many of the tech sites (including this one) have been covering the company quite a bit, and there are plenty of readers who have no idea why. But it’s one of those companies that myself and others saw potential in before it even launched. And so far, that prognostication has been slowly but surely been playing out, as earlier this month the company got a round of seed funding that several VCs were said to be fighting over the right to get involved with. Did they get the funding because of the early coverage? Or was the coverage there for the same reason they got the funding? Kingmaker or prognosticator? The majority of complaints about Foursquare coverage seem to be that only a few early-adopter geeks and their friends are using it. Of course, the same exact thing was said for Twitter and for Facebook before that. It was also said for FriendFeed, which, while it never got the massive amount of mainstream users (though usage was way up right before the sale), still exited to Facebook to the tune of $50 million for one reason or another. Was that just the press coverage? Or did the press see the potential, especially with regards to Facebook (back pat)? Kingmaker or prognosticator? With Foursquare, like Twitter before it, we aren’t writing about it because a group of geeks are using it. We’re writing about it because of the interesting use of gaming elements with a mobile app that propels usage. And because of the very interesting ramifications it could have on local mobile business deals. This is about seeing the start of a trend. Just as Twitter was about seeing the start of a trend. That’s not to say that Foursquare will for sure go on to be a real success, it’s still a very young company, and has a very long way to go. And even Twitter at this point could still fizzle away over time. And of course it is always possible that everyone in the press is overlooking the next big company. But I believe that if a company is truly great, it will find a way to make itself known. Someone, somewhere will find it and start covering it, and from there, the product will speak for itself and garner more attention and coverage. It remains, and will always be about the product. And we’re always out there hunting for the next great one. If you’re not getting the coverage you feel your product deserves, remain focused on improving it. Focus on making it better than the ones getting all the coverage. Don’t be bitter, be better. If you stick to that, eventually someone will find it. And then the complaints will start rolling in that your product is getting too much coverage. And that we’re kingmakers. [photo: flickr/javier kohen] Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco
Source: TechCrunch | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:36 am Microsoft Launch WebsiteSpark: Free Software For Web Developers
Moments ago Microsoft launched WebsiteSpark, a new program to provide web developers and designers free copies of Microsoft development tools, applications and server licenses for a period of three years. The program is the third and latest launch as part of the ’spark’ series of outreach and support programs designed to engage communities with new Microsoft products. The initial programs to launch were BizSpark, for startups, and DreamSpark, for students. The WebsiteSpark program announced today provides eligible individuals or organizations with 3-year licenses of Visual Studio 2008, Expression Studio, Expression Web (also part of studio), Windows Web Server, SQL Server and DotNetPanel. To be eligible, an organization or individual developer must be in the business of building web applications or websites for others (ie. clients) and also have no more than 10 employees. I recall as a young developer constantly bitching about the cost of development tools, which was a real barrier of entry. Microsoft bundled QBASIC with DOS, which spawned a whole generation of developers, but for those who were looking to learn further there was a real commercial barrier because of the price of good compilers and tools. Most of us ended up ripping these tools off by downloading them – which meant that we all became familiar with certain tools (like the old VC++) and then ended up getting real jobs where we would use them. Microsoft have obviously caught on and have realized that they need to lower the barrier for some parts of the market (as with academic discounts) in order to bring Microsoft tools, and in-turn platforms/servers (and services!), into development shops and to developers. There is a broader motive here – Microsoft want to eventually sell you on the entire platform. But who cares, because frankly, their developer tools have long been the best available (queue flame war). I could never have imagined such programs coming out of Microsoft all that long ago, especially combined with support for more open source (PHP), supporting an open implementation of the entire .NET platform and executives like Scott Guthrie who are not only blogging, put publishing their email addresses so that anybody who has a problem signing up with the program can email him (it is scottgu@microsoft.com, btw). Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco
Source: TechCrunch | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:35 am There's water on the Moon, scientists confirm - Register
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:22 am Nintendo to cut Wii price by 20 percent (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:18 am FuelMyApp Lets iPhone App Devs Reward Reviewers. Will It Work?FuelMyApp is a new site launching now which is a platform for iPhone app developers to reward users for reviews. Here's their pitch: Developers get reviews about their apps, while users get free apps in...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:14 am FuelMyApp Lets iPhone App Devs Reward Reviewers. Will It Work?
A lack of reviews on very new apps is a common occurrence when you hear about an app that’s potentially awesome it hasn’t hit the mainstream yet. So how does it work? Developers submit their app’s iTunes reference to the site and select how many reviews they want. iPhone users sign up with their Paypal email address and iTunes nickname. As soon as the review is published in iTunes, fuelmyapp automatically credits back the app fee to the user via Paypal. Now, let’s look at those potential problems. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco
Source: TechCrunch | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:14 am Digi-Diana: Lomo Lens Adapter for Canon, Nikon DSLRs
If the roll-your-own Digital Holga is too rich for you (and at $3,000 and up to take some blurred photos it certainly should be), then you might try Lomo’s ready-made solution for its other medium format camera, the Diana F+. The Diana F+ SLR adaptors are simple rings that attach to Nikon and Canon SLR cameras and let you use them with the low-quality Diana lenses. Why bother? Because the happy accidents you get using crappy glass or plastic lenses are impossible, or at least too long-winded, to reproduce digitally. And unlike the rather more specialized (and splendid) Lensbaby series, these are so dirt cheap that it is almost silly not to buy them. The adapter is a mere $12, and the lenses start at $40. That’s a lot, lot less than you’d pay for a single (proper) fisheye lens. Actually, I’m sold. As soon as the local Lomo store re-opens after today’s holiday, I’m going to pick one up. Product page [Lomo] See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:13 am New E-Reader Set to Rock ... - InternetNews.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 24 Sep 2009 | 4:08 am How to avoid the smartphone Exchange policy lie
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 Gadgetrepublic | Palm's Pre heading to O2 UK on October 16 Mobile Burn This morning UK carrier O2 announced that it will begin offering Palm's webOS-powered Pre smartphone to its customers starting on October 16. The phone will be available in the UK only through O2, Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U, and other O2 partners. ... Palm Pre On O2 Available On 16th of October From £34.26 Per Month Palm Pre UK launch set for October Palm Pre officially coming to O2 UK on October 16 |
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Moviewedge is not, as I first thought upon reading the rather juicy name, a chunky media viewer, or even a small prop to hold your eyes open during the penultimate 15 minutes of Blade Runner. It is a beanbag in the shape of a wedge, with a plush lip at the front, and it is the perfect place to rest a tired iPod, cellphone or other movie-playing device.
It’s probably a little chunky for the minimalist traveler, but we like it anyway. The bag will sit on an airline seat-tray or your knee, just as happily, and just as steadily. The single best feature is the micro-fiber material which forms the skin, perfect to quickly polish away greasy smears from grubby thumbs. And finally, the combination of soft body and hard, shiny screen reminds of of the Chumby, only this is actually useful.
Product page [Moviewedge. Thanks, Brad!]
By Scott Austin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Here in New York, there’s no shortage of networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. The “city that never sleeps” is teeming with conferences, happy-hour meet-ups and business-plan competitions for start-ups.
That’s all great, says local venture capitalist Warren Lee, but what’s missing are straight-talk lectures by successful entrepreneurs giving practical advice about the grittier side of starting up a company.
“The start-up world sort of glamorizes how cool being an entrepreneur is,” Lee said. “But people are putting their lives on the line. They’re mortgaging the house and not talking to their wives or husbands because they’re working 100 hours a week. It’s not glamorous.”
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Foursquare is the location-based iPhone app getting a lot of love in the press (and from VCs) these days. And while there is no shortage of location social networking apps in the App Store, Foursquare works well on the platform because it’s based on the active checking-in to venues, which is perfect since the iPhone doesn’t allow apps to run in the background (though Loopt has a workaround). While Brightkite has also long been in this space, it’s been a while since any new viable competitors have come along. But we recently got two more: Gowalla and Going.
Going
Going, which is an app made by AOL’s Going.com site, has one great feature going (see what I did there) for it. When you check in to a place you can set a “How is it right now?” slider to tell your friends either “Don’t Come”, “Eh”, or “Get Here Now” (or anything in between). That’s a great idea, and something all of these apps could benefit from. A lot of times people will see that I’m checked-in somewhere and may show up, but just because I’m checked-in somewhere that doesn’t mean it’s great, just that I’m there, for some reason.
I also like that you have to “leave” a place you’re checked-in before you can check-in some place else. Though I suppose that checking-in another place means that you’ve left your previous place already.
The main problem with Going is that it has too much going on. One reason that I think Foursquare works is because it’s so simple. Going may be trying to do too much by wrapping personal check-ins, with events, and photos, and city-based public streams, etc. I’m not sure people are really ready for all of that just yet.
There also doesn’t appear to be a way to easily add new venues to the listings. Going’s list of places is pretty good, but it’s definitely not complete, so if a place you’re at isn’t on there, there’s no checking-in for you.
Going is potentially interesting for its events calendar. If Yahoo would have ever made an Upcoming app that just did events, I think people would have definitely used it (it may be too late since Facebook’s app finally got that funtionality). But the events area of Going is nice because you can see a list of things happening on any given day and RSVP to them with your name with a couple of clicks.
Gowalla
Gowalla is more directly akin to Foursquare. Basically, like Foursquare, it’s an app that allows you to check-in places and rewards you for it. Instead of badges, you get stamps for going certain places. And you obtain items that you then leave other places.
The main difference is that rather than relying on users to enter addresses for places manually, as you do with Foursquare, Gowalla pulls the GPS coordinates. This is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, this makes it slightly harder to cheat, but on the other hand it also makes it harder to check-in places — especially if you’re inside, which you are going to be most of the time at venues, obviously.
When I was first testing out the app a couple weeks ago, it was nearly impossible for me to check in anywhere due to the GPS issue. But since then, the Gowalla team has rolled out some updates using what it calls “elastic GPS,” which has improved things greatly. That’s especially true when you’re trying to add a new venue to Gowalla’s directory of places (which is otherwise very easy to do).
One thing that sets Gowalla apart (other than the GPS thing) is its emphasis on trips. It has a special area dedicated to user-generated treks made by people in various cities. For example, one of the trips recommended for me in San Francisco is the “Golden Gate Gallop,” which is a 18-stop trek that takes you to various venues around the water in the city, leading you to the Golden Gate bridge. The fact that any user can make these and share them with other Gowalla users is pretty cool.
One major problem users have with Foursquare is that it’s still limited to a handful of select cities. Gowalla has no such restriction, and anyone can start using it anywhere, populating maps with venues as they go. Foursquare eventually plans to implement something similar, but if you’re not in one of the cities that it’s in just yet, Gowalla is likely to be very compelling to you.
Something I also noticed about Gowalla as compared to Foursquare is that there seems to be more of an emphasis on you rather than your friends. The main screen in Gowalla is your passport features your stamps and items, and your check-ins. With Foursquare, the main page is your friend check-in stream. Foursquare’s approach seems like a better idea if you want your app to be as social as possible (which is the only way any of these apps are going to find success).
I’m also not a fan of Gowalla’s overall design. The shades of green mixed with yellow, mixed with large item icons, is a bit too garish.
The Challenge
So the obvious question is, do either of these apps stand up to Foursquare? The short answer is that Gowalla has a chance, while Going likely doesn’t.
The key to all of this is the gaming aspect of each app. Gowalla, like Foursquare, has one, while Going really doesn’t. Again, Going could work as an events app, but it’s got too much else going on besides that.
Both Robert Scoble and The Next Web have written up Gowalla over the past couple of days. Scoble thinks Gowalla won’t be able to compete with Foursquare, while Zee from The Next Web actually likes it more. I agree with Scoble that the GPS thing, which may seem like a plus, will likely end up hurting it. Sometimes people want to check-in some place but want to be kind of vague about where they are, you can’t really do that when your location is tied to your GPS coordinates.
Zee, of course, has a good point about the availability around the world. But as I said, Foursquare will likely change that soon. The question then becomes will Gowalla be able to attract these worldwide users before the more buzzed-about Foursquare greatly expands?
Beyond a loyal user base, Foursquare’s real potential lies with its business partnerships. That is likely to ultimately decide if the company sinks or swims. Gowalla doesn’t yet have any of the “mayor deals” that Foursquare offers, and their icon gifts can only go so far before users will start wanting tangible gifts for playing the game if Foursquare is offering them.
Another key is that Foursquare is quickly expanding beyond the iPhone. They already offer an Android app and Blackberry and Windows Mobile are coming shortly. Gowalla is currently only on the iPhone.
Still, it’s good to new entries in the social location space. Both bring some interesting new things to the table; particularly Going with its “How is it right now?” feature and Gowalla with its “Trips” functionality.
You can find Going in the App Store here. And Gowalla here. Both are free apps.
[photo: HBO]
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
When it comes to dealing small businesses, the last thing you want is for the company you’re working with to renege on a transaction after you’ve contributed your half. Sending multiple invoices may be enough to annoy them into submission, but if that doesn’t work the legal fees and time involved with taking them to court usually isn’t worth it. Cortera, a new site that launched yesterday at DEMO Fall, is looking to help businesses avoid this kind of dispute.
Cortera can be thought of as a Yelp for business credit, offering reviews on large and small businesses alike that have been submitted by the community. In other words, it can help you figure out if a company you’re thinking of dealing with is going to pay you in a timely fashion, or if it’s run by deadbeats who should be avoided.
Up until now, the business credit market has been dominated by one major player: Dun & Bradstreet. But Cortera says that D&B fails to properly address small businesses, which account for a large percentage of America’s GDP. So Cortera has built out a database that includes not just the large companies that are D&B’s bread-and-butter, but also countless smaller ones that previously have been neglected.
The site’s members can use a review system much like the ones you’ll find on Yelp and Amazon to share their experiences with companies on the site, and paid members can also see key data like a company’s annual spending budget and supplier volume. Cortera offers one-off reports for as little as $3, and also has monthly plans beginning at $29 a month.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
AFP - US software giant Microsoft has agreed to invest more than 19 million dollars to develop South Korea's online games industry, a government agency said Thursday.
By Nicholas Thompson, Senior Editor, Wired Magazine
Valery Yarynich glances nervously over his shoulder. Clad in a brown leather jacket, the 72-year-old former Soviet colonel is hunkered in the back of the dimly lit Iron Gate restaurant in Washington, DC. It’s March 2009—the Berlin Wall came down two decades ago—but the lean and fit Yarynich is as jumpy as an informant dodging the KGB. He begins to whisper, quietly but firmly.
“The Perimeter system is very, very nice,” he says. “We remove unique responsibility from high politicians and the military.” He looks around again.
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By Mary Jo Foley, Blogger, All About Microsoft, ZDnet
As soon as Microsoft releases the final bits of a new Windows release to manufacturing — and often before — many users’ thoughts turn to what’s next.
Windows 7 and its server complement, Windows Server 2008 R2, were released to manufacturing in late July. By late August, Microsoft’s Windows client unit already was turning the crank on Windows 8 client and server.
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By Vincent Rossmeier, writer, Salon.com
By now the arguments are familiar: Facebook is ruining our social relationships; Google is making us dumber; texting is destroying the English language as we know it. We’re facing a crisis, one that could very well corrode the way humans have communicated since we first evolved from apes. What we need, so say these proud Luddites, is to turn our backs on technology and embrace not the keyboard, but the pencil.
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By John Markoff, Technology Writer, The New York Times
In less than two months after a group of University of Washington computer researchers proposed a novel system for making electronic messages “disappear” after a certain period of time, a rival group of researchers based at the University of Texas at Austin, Princeton, and the University of Michigan, has claimed to have undermined the scheme.
In July, the University of Washington team described an experimental system called “Vanish” predicated on the idea of scattering the parts of an encryption key on a publicly accessible peer-to-peer file sharing network in such a way that the key — a large number — would become unusable as pieces of it were lost from the network.
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 Telegraph.co.uk | Halo 3 ODST Los Angeles Times Remember the old days? When it came to first-person shooters, there was the Halo series and then there were the rest. For proof, look no further than Halo 3 ODST, which hit store shelves Tuesday. Is this "prequel" to 2007's Halo 3 a ... Review: 'Halo 3: ODST' plays it safe Visiting New Mombasa? It's One Dangerous Burg Review: 'Halo 3 ODST' a blast to play |
By Paul Ohm, Associate Professor of Law and Telecommunications,
University of Colorado Law School
In my last post, I had promised to say more about my article on the limits of anonymization and the power of reidentification. Although I haven’t said anything for a few weeks, others have, and I especially appreciate posts by Susannah Fox, Seth Schoen, and Nate Anderson. Not only have these people summarized my article well, they have also added a lot of insightful commentary, and I commend these three posts to you.
Today brings news relating to one of the central examples in my paper: Netflix has announced plans to commit a privacy blunder that could cost it millions of dollars in fines and civil damages
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Tetris Tiles Hit The States, Showers Forever Changed
This Microsoft Windows 7 launch video is, if possible, worse than that musical one
Poken gets a Pulse
iPod nano banned by many gyms
R2D2 features 8 consoles, projector
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
 guardian.co.uk | Sony to release new PS3 motion controller next spring CNET News Sony announced it was working on a new motion controller at E3 last June in Los Angeles. Sony announced late Wednesday night from the Tokyo Game Show that it plans to release a new motion-sensitive controller for its PlayStation 3 ... PS3 motion controller supported games named; PSPgo gets accessorised PS3 slim sells 1 million in three weeks Sega Memo Spills Sony PS2 Emulator, Motion Control Plans |
It looks quite promising: the application uses Google maps and your phone’s GPS to pinpoint your location, and then show you where and how far away points of interest are. If you have an older iPhone or iPod touch, it’ll show you a map, but if you have an iPhone with a camera, just pan the camera around you and it’ll show you a graphic representation of what’s there.
While Bionic Eye isn’t the first augmented reality browser, it is the first one (at least, the first official one) for the iPhone/iPod crowd, and definitely looks like fun. I don’t know if I’d use the part where it directs you to a location however, that looks like a good way to get mugged.
Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
 Telegraph.co.uk | Satellite reveals faster melting of polar ice San Francisco Chronicle A NASA satellite has revealed more accurately than ever that polar ice in Antarctica and Greenland is melting from glaciers and ice sheets far faster than scientists had previously thought, a discovery that one UC Berkeley climate expert calls "ominous ... Antarctic, Greenland Ice Sheets Thinning, Melting Fast Antarctic coastal ice thinning surprises experts 'Runaway' melt on Antarctica, Greenland |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Wii Price Cut Takes Aim at Xbox 360, PS3 PC World As expected, Nintendo has dropped the Wii's price in both the US and Japan, with European details pending. The cut brings the Wii in line with Microsoft's $200 entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade in the US, and about $220 (¥20000) in Japan. ... Nintendo drops Wii console price Nintendo to cut price on Wii to $200 Nintendo Cuts Wii Game Console Price In US, Japan |
It's tempting to count coup here and write Allen off as a hypocrite, but there's a more important story here. Allen just hasn't thought this through. Copyright is problematic for everyone: musicians, fans, bloggers. The absence of clear affirmative rights to make personal copies, to share with your friends, to copy for the purposes of discussion and commentary (as opposed to the fuzzy and difficult-to-interpret fair use guidelines, which have been further confused by the entertainment industry's bold attempts to convince us all that they don't matter and can't be relied upon) means that we're all in a state of constant infringement.
A law that no one understands and no one abides by is no law at all. Parts of copyright -- the right to regulate how commercial licenses with industrial entities work -- are really important to me and to all working artists. But if we continue to try to expand copyright to cover everything, every interaction that involves a copy (which is every interaction these days), then the broad consensus that copyright is nonsense will continue to grow, and we'll lose the good stuff as well as the ridiculous stuff.
For the record, I am a small-time Lily Allen fan, and I bought her latest CD after hearing it for free, when a friend emailed me some tracks. If Ms Allen would prefer, I can stop buying and listening to her music, given that I discovered it through "piracy."
Also, this is not the only infringement on her blog. While she's trying to point out how much damage 'pirates' do to the music industry she blatantly infringed the copyrights of a number of newspapers by posting scanned articles.Lily Allen Pirates Music, Is Clueless About CopyrightTo make things even more absurd Techdirt discovered that Lily is pirating music herself by offering some unauthorized mixtapes (tape 1 and tape 2) on her website LilyAllenMusic.com. The tracklist of one of the mixtapes reveals a list of no less than 19 unauthorized tracks. This means the RIAA can easily sue her for millions.
David "Everything is Miscellaneous/Small Pieces Loosely Joined" Weinberger sez, "I've started a series of video interviews with FCC Broadband Strategy folks (and others) about the process and its progress. The first is with Blair Levin, director of the initiative. He explains the value of broadband; confirms that broadband means access to the open, neutral network; defends the impartiality of the initiative's process; and talks about the causes of the U.S.'s low ranking when it comes to broadband access, prices, and speeds."
He's also posted interviews with Sascha Meinrath on mesh networking, and Clay Shirky on why freedom ought to be a part of the infrastructure.
Broadband Strategy Week
(Thanks, David!)
Source: Boing Boing | 23 Sep 2009 | 11:40 pm
Schizophrenia
(Thanks, Nelson!)
Source: Boing Boing | 23 Sep 2009 | 11:37 pm
Blood Lamp (via Cribcandy)
For the lamp to work one breaks the top off, dissolves the tablet, and uses their own blood to power a simple light. By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is.
Sneakey (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)
The access control provided by a physical lock is based on the assumption that the information content of the corresponding key is private --- that duplication should require either possession of the key or a priori knowledge of how it was cut. However, the ever-increasing capabilities and prevalence of digital imaging technologies present a fundamental challenge to this privacy assumption. Using modest imaging equipment and standard computer vision algorithms, we demonstrate the effectiveness of physical key teleduplication --- extracting a key's complete and precise bitting code at a distance via optical decoding and then cutting precise duplicates. We describe our prototype system, Sneakey, and evaluate its effectiveness, in both laboratory and real-world settings, using the most popular residential key types in the U.S.
Reuters - A new Michael Jackson song, "This Is It," will be released as a single on October 12, Sony Music Entertainment announced Wednesday.
Makers Tile Game 5x5
Source: Boing Boing | 23 Sep 2009 | 11:14 pm
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
According to sources close to the situation, AOL has been busy selecting the board for the company, which is still set to spin itself off by year’s end–even as it slows down a decision on a new search deal with either current partner Google or a more emboldened Microsoft.
AOL is using Spencer Stuart in the search for directors, led by well-known headhunter Jim Citrin, sources said, and the company has already settled on several outside candidates.
The final board that is likely to be have about 10 members and up to a dozen.
At least one of those seats will go to CEO Tim Armstrong, with one or two more claimed by its current corporate owner Time Warner (TWX).
AOL and Time Warner had made their own wish list of potential directors earlier this year, but some people are also lobbying the company to join the board.
BoomTown is working on discovering all those names, but sources added the candidates being looked at are a mix of personalities culled from the media, advertising and Web world.
Among the key attributes: More presumably fast-forward and innovative Silicon Valley types that can help burnish AOL’s tarnished tech cred.
Here’s some of my picks:
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; Guitar Hero CEO Dan Rosensweig; WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg (actually, AOL should buy the start-up); eBay (EBAY) CEO John Donahoe; LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman or CEO Jeff Weiner; and Juniper Networks (JNPR) CEO Kevin Johnson; Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings; and former AOL iconic exec Ted Leonsis.
And, just for fun, News Corp. (NWS) digital don (and ousted former AOL head) Jon Miller or former Yahoo President Sue Decker.
(I might also add former AOL exec, Netscape Co-founder and all-around entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, but if he joins another tech/Web board, he is going to get splinters.)
That’s because Armstrong has set a strategy of centered around the turbocharging of online content, powered by a more flexible platform and paid for by goosing its graphical advertising business.
That puts the online icon–once a powerhouse and now not so much since it has been operating inside Time Warner since its merger early in this decade–in more serious competition with Yahoo (YHOO).
Yahoo now dominates content on the Web, with powerful news, sports and finance sites, and has recently been trying to reinvigorate its brand. This week, it launched a new marketing campaign with the motto, “It’s Y!ou.”
Yahoo also recently struck a search technology and advertising partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), which has now aimed its efforts at AOL.
According to sources, Microsoft execs have been aggressively courting AOL to switch its search business from Google (GOOG).
The search behemoth has long been AOL’s partner in what sources at both companies said has been a productive and lucrative relationship.
Armstrong is also a former top exec at Google, which many at the company hope will further cement its chances.
And while the renewal of that deal does not officially need to be struck until late next year, sources add that Google has already prepared and offered what it considers an attractive new deal for AOL.
But, much to Google’s chagrin, with a focus on the spin-off and preparations for some more cost-cutting in the months ahead, AOL has decided not to accept it yet and is not likely to anytime soon.
While hedging the situation in a recent video interview with MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka, sources said Armstrong has also indeed recently met with Microsoft execs, who have discussed a number of partnership options with him, including a tighter relationship with its MSN content properties.
“There’s no need to rush, especially since there is already a lot on AOL’s plate,” said one source close to the situation. “And, since it has options, AOL is going to take time considering them.”
(For more on Armstrong’s thinking, here’s a link to another video interview I did with Armstrong, while both of us were in Germany today, in which he talked about the ad market and AOL’s strategy, but was cagey about being more specific.)
Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.
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Here is an video interview I did today with AOL CEO Tim Armstrong in Germany–really!–where we both were appearing at a digital marketing conference.
In it, the former Google (GOOG) exec talked about a range of things, including the possibility of charging for content, innovating in the graphical advertising market, competition with Yahoo (YHOO) and the upcoming spin-off of the Time Warner (TWX) unit.
But Armstrong did not talk about merging or other big search deals with any other companies–including Microsoft (MSFT), which I wrote about here, along with AOL’s search for directors.
In the interview, I also insulted the famous AOL yellow running man, even though the mascot icon apparently just won “a vote to be inducted into the Advertising Walk of Fame, beating out 25 rivals, including Ronald McDonald and the Vlasic Stork,” according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
There must be hope yet for AOL if it bested a pickle-loving bird and a freaky clown.
Here’s the interview:
Last week I saw some coverage of this new HP device called the DreamScreen. And more than a couple of blogs were comparing it to the elusive Apple Tablet. Given my extreme interest in this space, I thought I should get this new DreamScreen in my hands as soon as possible and see if HP had indeed beaten Apple (and us) to the punch in delivering the first high quality tablet computing experience to consumers.
The press: "Want a hint at how the much-anticipated Apple Tablet might be shaping up? Take a look at the HP DreamScreen," said one of those blogs, adding "this certainly looks like what we’re expecting from the Apple Tablet." Another site: "Hewlett Packard has beaten Apple to the punch in coming up with a beautiful tablet-like computer." Engadget called it "something special."
The reality: I can't repeat here what I wrote on Twitter because of the sensitive nature of the TechCrunch audience, but I will say this. The HP DreamScreen is possibly the biggest piece of crap to ever grace my desk. Which is saying something.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The anxiety ridden addiction that is Tetris, is now available… in your shower. A tile supplier based in the UK is currently producing ceramic, indoor/outdoor tiles that allow you to create your own Tetris mosaic or order a pre-designed mosaic.
You can choose seven different colors, one for each of the Tetriminoes shapes. The colors are taken from Pantone colors and all orders come with an installation manual and grout spacers.
At first you might wonder why you would want to be reminded of painfully incongruous shapes and colors falling from the sky, but for all those who claim Tetris makes you smarter, you’re right. Various studies show Tetris increases the size of your cortex and, as a result, critical thinking, reason and language and processing all increase in activity. Three to four week shipping time for a larger cortex? I’m in.
How much design goodness can be packed onto a bottle cap? Judge for yourself.
Last week I saw some coverage of this new HP device called the DreamScreen. And more than a couple of blogs were comparing it to the elusive Apple Tablet. Given my extreme interest in this space, I thought I should get this new DreamScreen in my hands as soon as possible and see if HP had indeed beaten Apple (and us) to the punch in delivering the first high quality tablet computing experience to consumers.
The press: “Want a hint at how the much-anticipated Apple Tablet might be shaping up? Take a look at the HP DreamScreen,” said one of those blogs, adding “this certainly looks like what we’re expecting from the Apple Tablet.” Another site: “Hewlett Packard has beaten Apple to the punch in coming up with a beautiful tablet-like computer.” Engadget called it “something special.”
The reality: I can’t repeat here what I wrote on Twitter because of the sensitive nature of the TechCrunch audience, but I will say this. The HP DreamScreen is possibly the biggest piece of crap to ever grace my desk. Which is saying something.
To be fair to HP, they didn’t really market it as much more than a glorified digital picture frame, the press just got out of hand. But even that’s too much. The device costs $250. It lacks a touchscreen. It lacks a browser. It lacks a battery. And it has the annoying habit of running a very loud demo video every few minutes – the only way to make it stop is to unplug it. Which is very effective, since it lacks a battery (not a good idea when you market yourself as a digital clock). And HP did nothing to stop rabid bloggers and journalists from heralding the device as some sort of Apple killer. I can’t help but wonder if any of these guys actually tried the device.
Wifi setup took ten minutes. I never got Pandora to work. I refused to even try with Facebook, because my password is long and, as you’ll see if you watch to the very end of the video below, I just don’t have an entire afternoon free to type it in. It’s also much thicker than those sexy photos on the HP site make it look.
Text input makes me think that HP was actually aiming for the Macbook Wheel as a comparison point.
I want my money back.
p.s. – I obviously have a huge conflict of interest here. So try it out yourself. But try it in a store where you don’t have to buy it, because you are going to be seriously unhappy with this device.
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In what was ostensibly a meeting of the majors last week to advise the FCC on broadband policy, the COO of Paramount was allowed to wax ignorant for 10 minutes on piracy and file-sharing technology. As a major content provider, they should certainly have some input, but this was sheer soap-boxery. Sure, peer to peer and torrent traffic (legal and otherwise) is going to be a major driver of broadband adoption and major consumer of the resource, but Paramount's contribution to the discussion didn't limit itself to germane observation and reasonable speculation.
On the upside, we have a fabulous new quote on the level of Ted Stevens' "series of tubes" that demonstrates how utterly out of touch people like Paramount's COO are with actual Internet terminology and capabilities. Behold:
"We are uploading it essentially to a 'cyber locker,' which is nothing more than electronic locker on the Internet."Mr. Huntsberry, we are in your debt for this immortal chestnut of cyber-wisdom. That's nothing more than electronic wisdom on the Internet, for those of you who don't know.
In what was ostensibly a meeting of the majors last week to advise the FCC on broadband policy, the COO of Paramount was allowed to wax ignorant for 10 minutes on piracy and file-sharing technology. As a major content provider, they should certainly have some input, but this was sheer soap-boxery. Sure, peer to peer and torrent traffic (legal and otherwise) is going to be a major driver of broadband adoption and major consumer of the resource, but Paramount’s contribution to the discussion didn’t limit itself to germane observation and reasonable speculation.
On the upside, we have a fabulous new quote on the level of Ted Stevens’ “series of tubes” that demonstrates how utterly out of touch people like Paramount’s COO are with actual Internet terminology and capabilities. Behold:
“We are uploading it essentially to a ‘cyber locker,’ which is nothing more than electronic locker on the Internet.”
Mr. Huntsberry, we are in your debt for this immortal chestnut of cyber-wisdom. That’s nothing more than electronic wisdom on the Internet, for those of you who don’t know.
Here is his presentation. It has an air of Reefer Madness to it.
It’s an excellent study in how the RIAA and MPAA are able to show a service solely in the light of illegality. I like to imagine them showing a picture of a hammer. “This is what’s called a hammer, it’s essentially a heavy rock on the end of a stick. This allows the user to beat people with said rock over and over without losing it. The stick portion can also be used to dig up other people’s gardens.” As far as they are concerned, there is no legitimate application for a site like Mininova or, incredibly, something as simple and practical as Drop.io.
Interesting that he’d look at something like Drop.io and not Megaupload or another such widely-misused site. Note that the free accounts at Drop.io are limited to 100MB. Frederick, if I may:
Clearly Drop.io is not at the cutting edge of piracy, however useful it may be for sharing home videos and other medium-sized files.
It’d all be the usual fun and games if this weren’t a public hearing, advising the FCC on broadband policy. It was neither the time nor the place for copyright issue grandstanding. As if that weren’t bad enough, Paramount decided that its own portion of the hearing, a public policy meeting you understand, would be private. Its explanation for asking for this was that the content of the presentation was unpalatable for public consumption. And, disappointingly, the FCC agreed to this ludicrous condition.
Luckily, the concerned citizens at Public Knowledge found a copy of the presentation and put it up on YouTube. They had to snip it from the FCC’s Real Video stream (!) and I’m sure they’re fielding takedown notices as I type this.
There’s a fairly obvious conflict of interest going on here, among other things. Public Knowledge has an excellent breakdown of the issues involved, and Techdirt has a nice follow-up as well, so I’d rather not duplicate their content here, even if I were capable and informed enough to do so.
I have to say, though, the bubble Huntsberry speaks from is pretty entertaining. “This is a site that is clearly an illegal website” indeed. I understand you have to speak for your company’s best interest, but you might want to take your foot out of your mouth first.
[Update: Title changed to have more Ps in it.]
Earlier this month, the location-based social network Foursquare revealed that it had raised a $1.35 million seed round of funding. Almost immediately, they used the money to purchase an important domain for them: foursquare.com (previously, they were found at playfoursquare.com). Today, they revealed another project that the money is being used for: A redesign.
A new homepage went live today with a significantly improved look and feel. While the graphics have been prettied up, the main new feature is a constantly moving river of updates from the service. This includes when users write tips for venues, unlock badges, and become the mayors of places. There are also prominent links to its iPhone and Android apps (along with the mobile web version for other phones), and a link for businesses to learn more about how they can utilize the service.
Foursquare used some of its funding to hire the design firm Hard Candy Shell to create this new homepage, Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley confirmed to us (the two companies actually share office space in New York City). But this is just the beginning of Foursquare’s redesign plans.
Currently, there is no way for users to really interact with the service through its website. You can see things like venues and user profiles, but there is no way to check-in a place, the main function of the site. That should soon change. When I asked Crowley if this new design was part of a larger effort to turn foursquare.com into a usable web app, he replied that “it’s all in the works.”
Of course, the mobile apps will continue to be the focus (aside from the iPhone and Android apps, versions for Blackberry and Windows Mobile should be out soon), but Foursquare users will undoubtedly welcome news of a usable website. Previously, if you wanted to do something as simple as accept friends, it would require a full page reload, which was annoying. Now, features like this have been AJAXified, like a proper web app.
Currently, you’ll only see this new Foursquare homepage when you are logged out of the site.
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By Ben Worthen, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers was one of the first tech executives to predict that the recession–then limited to the financial sector–would spread to the rest of the economy. Now he’s among the first to say it’s on the way back.
The economy has started a “gradual recovery,” Chambers said Wednesday during a meeting with Wall Street Journal reporters and editors, echoing optimism he expressed when discussing Cisco’s fourth-quarter results in August. Chambers said that he bases his assessment of the economy on several factors, including the stock market, conversations with customers and the rate at which Cisco (CSCO) receives orders. Based on these criteria, he believes that the U.S. is coming out of the recession. He added that Asia seems to be picking up as well, but that he expects Europe to lag behind.
Read the rest of this post on the original site
Section: Video, Content, Gaming, Console, Web, Online Music/Video
Netflix is already on the Xbox 360, lots of media players, and, of course, on your computer. It probably comes as no surprise that the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, says that he wants Netflix on the PS3 and the Wii one day.
Eventually we want to be on all the game consoles, all the Blu-ray players, all the Internet TVs. So we are working in parallel with all of those efforts. Currently our Xbox deal is exclusive and we haven’t characterized it more than that.
As we all know, exclusivity deals eventually must come to an end. One day the iPhone will be on other carriers and Netflix will hit those other video game consoles. Hastings comments shouldn’t be taken lightly. Netflix has made many moves that a larger company would be afraid to try. Their partnership with Roku initially defined the Roku media player. Its deals with content providers to get streaming content are growing. Expect the Nintendo Wii to land Netflix before Sony as Microsoft sees Sony as its number one competitor.
Read: [Reuters] via [Gamespot]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
DEMO Fall has just announced the winners of its media prizes, who will each receive $500,000 in free advertising across IDG’s publishing properties and a number of sites including VentureBeat.
The winner of the ‘Enterprise’ category is Liaise, which allows you to automatically generate a To-Do list from your Email. The application performs semantic analysis to determine which portions of an Email message require an action, and can automatically generate a list of these, complete with different priorities and deadlines. Provided the technology works well this could prove very useful (no more trudging through the Email trenches to figure out what you need to do that day) but to be effective it will need to really work every time — it won’t do much good if it only catches most of your to-dos.
Liaise is available in a limited beta for Outlook, with plans to come to more platforms in the future (though we’ve heard that one before).The application is free for its beta period, with plans to charge under $10 once it fully launches.
Taking top prize in the ‘Consumer’ category is Emo Labs, which has created an impressive new speaker technology that’s fully-transparent. This means that speakers can actually be included as part of LCDs and other flat-panel displays, without the clunky black boxes sticking out the side. The company also says that because the surface area of the LCD panel (and in turn, the transparent speakers) is typically far greater than that of traditional speakers, users should actually notice an improvement in sound quality. For more on this new technology, check out the Emo Labs page here.
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There’s a certain enthusiastic group of photographers out there that love to use really cheap and unpredictable cameras to create amazing pictures. The problem is, most of them use film, which is becoming harder and harder to find these days.
Admittedly cameras like the Diana+ or the Holga can create amazing pictures, but there’s no way of being sure exactly what you’re going to get when you push that shutter button. Sure, you can take an image from a digital camera and tweak it in photoshop, but that takes away the spontaneity. Now you can take pictures that may or may not come out with your DSLR. The Diana+ company has made a series of adapters that will allow you to attach any number of their lenses to your expensive DSLR.
The basic adapter will set you back a measly $12, so if you already have some of the Diana+ lenses, you’ll be set. Otherwise, you’re going shopping. The 20mm fisheye will set you back $55, the 110mm telephoto is $50, the 55mm is $60. It just depends on what exactly you’re looking to do.
Microsoft is going to let marketers and advertisers dip their toes into the social stream. The tech giant is planning to launch a new social media product, dubbed “Looking Glass,” which will let marketers aggregate and monitor social media platforms for brands and companies. According to a report by Ad Age today, the product is still in “proof of concept” stage and will be privately distributed to testers in the coming month. Microsoft’s advertising blog also mentions the new product.
Looking Glass will aggregate feeds from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and other social media sites and will also be able connect with CRMs, databases, service centers and more. In terms of analysis, the product will track sentiment of content but it’s unclear what other data analysis and features the application will have. Looking Glass will be browser-based and powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight technology. And unsurprisingly, all data collected by Looking Glass will be integrated with Microsoft’s Sharepoint and Outlook products. In fact, the product’s functionality may be limited for a business that isn’t using Microsoft’s enterprise suite.
That tidbit isn’t too big of a surprise, considering other platforms, like Salesforce, offer social monitoring and engagement services that are attached to their software. But it seems like Microsoft is pretty late in the “stream monitoring” game. There are plenty of startups out there like Viralheat, PeopleBrowsr, Socialseek and more that offer freemium platforms that do the same thing as Looking Glass. Not to mention that Salesforce just launched an incredibly powerful version of its Service Cloud, with Twitter and Facebook features integrated within the platform.
The other piece of the puzzle is if Looking Glass will have real-time functionality. That’s definitely where the future of social monitoring is, so it would make sense that Microsoft would add this into the product. We’ve contacted Microsoft about this question; we’ll update the post with more info when we hear back.
UPDATE: Looking Glass will have real-time functionality says a spokesperson for Microsoft.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Pfly
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Microsoft is reportedly working on two new smartphones of its own codenamed ‘Project Pink’ and the first pictures of the device have been leaked.
But brace yourself. It isn’t a pretty sight. The two phones, called Turtle and Pure, are chunky little monsters whose design seems inspired by the Helio phone.
Microsoft ‘Project Pink’ phones will be made by Sharp, says Gizmodo, which first published the photos. Sharp has manufactured Sidekick phones for Danger, a company that Microsoft acquired last year.
Microsoft’s phones will be slider-style with physical keyboards. And, not surprisingly, they seem to be updated versions of the Sidekick with their rounded edges. The latest photos of the top-secret phones also look like software renderings rather than snap shots of real devices.
Rumors about Project Pink, Microsoft’s attempt at creating its own smartphone hardware, have been kicking around for more than a year. Previously nicknamed the ‘Zunephone,’ the device widely expected to offer Zune as a services and probably an app store of its own.
See Also:
A chip inside the eye that can help blind people see again is moving closer to reality as researchers at MIT work on a retinal implant that can bypass damaged cells and directly offer visual input to the brain.
Patients who receive the implant will wear a pair of glasses that has a tiny camera attached to it. The camera will send images to a microchip implanted in the eyeball that channels the input to the brain.
It won’t entirely restore normal vision, say the researchers, but it will offer just enough sight to help a blind person navigate a room.
“If they can recognize faces of people in a room, that brings them into the social environment as opposed to sitting there waiting for someone to talk to them,” says Shawn Kelly, a a researcher in MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics and a member of the project.
MIT’s latest quest should be of interest to people like Rob Spence, a Canadian film maker who is on a quest to put a tiny wireless video camera into his empty right eye socket. Spence is looking to capture the world around him and a retinal implant like that from MIT could actually help bring him closer to his quest.
Here’s how the implant works. The glasses that patients wear contains a coil that can wirelessly transmit power to receiving coils surrounding the eyeball. The eyeball holds a microchip encased in a sealed titanium case to avoid damage from water seepage. The chip receives visual information and activates electrodes that in turn fire the nerve cells that carry visual input to the brain.
A research team, led by MIT professor of electrical engineering John Wyatt, plans to start testing the prototype in blind patients within the next three years.
With feedback, researchers can configure the algorithm implemented by the chip to produce useful vision. Ultimately, the goal is to produce a chip that can be implanted for at least 10 years.
It’s a risky and challenging procedure as researchers have to design an implant that won’t damage the eye. In the October issue of IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering journal, researchers have said they hope to attach the implant to the outside of the eye, and put the electrodes behind the retina.
Photos: Models of the retinal implant/MIT
The Pentagon already employs legions of elite hackers trained in cyberwarfare. But they mostly play defense, and that's what Naval Postgraduate School professor John Arquilla wants to change. He'd like the US military's coders to team up with network specialists abroad to form a global geek squad. Together, they could launch preemptive online strikes to head off real-world battles.
Armies (even guerrilla armies) are so dependent on digital communications these days that a well-placed network hit could hobble their forces. Do these cyberattacks right—and openly—and the belligerents will think twice before starting trouble. Arquilla calls his plan "a nonlethal way to deter lethal conflict."
Sure, it's risky. A misinterpreted or misattributed attack could inflame tensions. Or you might fritz the good guys and civilians by mistake. But Arquilla says this "kinder, gentler deterrence" is better than threatening to strangle an adversary's economy or reduce its cities to radioactive cinders. Here are three scenarios in which preemptive cyberattacks could prevent bloodshed.
Scenario: Defusing South Asia
Situation: Pakistan and India are massing armies on their shared border.
Solution: Take out the command-and-control networks on both sides before these nuclear-armed foes can go to war for a fifth time. In the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, Arquilla notes, a benevolent alien shuts down the machines of Earth's superpowers before they can spread nukes to other planets. Here, US- led hackers play the ET role to put the conflict on ice.
Scenario: Disconnecting al Qaeda
Situation: Intelligence sources report that al Qaeda is about to launch another 9/11.
Solution: Track down militants online and let them know we're watching. Spy agencies already eavesdrop on al Qaeda's networks and occasionally take down its Web sites. But to really disrupt increasingly Web-dependent terror groups, you have to convince them they're not safe anywhere on the Net. Set up online honeypots—like a fake jihadist discussion forum—to lure in and bust wannabe Osamas. And even if you break up terror cells by other means, give public credit to your online spadework. A little fudging is acceptable if it keeps killers from clicking for the cause.
Scenario: Restraining Russia
Situation: Russia is mobilizing its troops for another showdown with Georgia.
Solution: Deploy a US-led or NATO-sponsored cyberdeterrent squad to disrupt the Russian military's communication networks, forcing the Kremlin to delay an attack on the former Soviet republic. The intervention would buy time for diplomacy to work. Arquilla says, "I like the idea of cyberdeterrence being used against anyone who would start a war"—even, he muses, the US.
After more than 70 years and roughly 1,500 suicides, the Golden Gate Bridge may finally get a suicide barrier, preventing the desperate and hopeless from leaping to their deaths. As heartbreaking as those events are—and well worth trying to avert—they're bound to continue somewhere else. Wouldn't it be better to let people end their lives in a manner that's respectful of their personal autonomy?
That's how it's done in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal as long as the assistant has selfless motives. You don't necessarily have to be terminally ill—or Swiss, for that matter. Taking advantage of his nation's unique legal status, attorney Ludwig Minelli founded Dignitas, a right-to-die organization that has made Switzerland the destination for suicide tourism. Not that he's eager for more business: The group provides counseling that persuades many clients to go on living. "It is astonishing that society, and especially governments and politicians, do not pay enough attention to reducing suicide numbers," he says.
But for those who do make the ultimate decision, Dignitas is there to help. The group is barred from taking lethal action itself, but for 10,500 Swiss francs (about $10,000) it keeps customers comfortable and cleans up afterward.
That's a far cry from the US approach, where assisted suicide is illegal everywhere except Oregon and Washington, and in those states available only to residents suffering from a deadly disease. Until people have more options, we'll need that suicide barrier across the Golden Gate.
Most occupations require people skills. But for some, a preternatural capacity for concentration and near-total recall matter more. Those jobs, entrepreneur Thorkil Sonne says, could use a little autism.
Sonne reached this conclusion six years ago, after his youngest son was diagnosed with the mysterious developmental disorder. "At first I was in agony and despair," he recalls. "Then came the thought of what happens when he grows up."
In Sonne's native Denmark, as elsewhere, autistics are typically considered unemployable. But Sonne worked in IT, a field more suited to people with autism and related conditions like Asperger's syndrome. "As a general view, they have excellent memory and strong attention to detail. They are persistent and good at following structures and routines," he says. In other words, they're born software engineers.
In 2004, Sonne quit his job at a telecom firm and founded Specialisterne (Danish for "Specialists"), an IT consultancy that hires mostly people with autism-spectrum disorders. Its nearly 60 consultants ferret out software errors for companies like Microsoft and Cisco Systems. Recently, the firm has expanded into other detail-centered work—like keeping track of Denmark's fiber-optic network, so crews laying new lines don't accidentally cut old ones.
Turning autism into a selling point does require a little extra effort: Specialisterne employees typically complete a five-month training course, and clients must be prepared for a somewhat unusual working relationship. But once on the job, the consultants stay focused beyond the point when most minds go numb. As a result, they make far fewer mistakes. One client who hired Specialisterne workers to do data entry found that they were five to 10 times more precise than other contractors.
Sonne recently handed off day-to-day operations to start a foundation dedicated to spreading his business model. Already, companies inspired by Specialisterne have sprouted in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Similar efforts are planned for Iceland and Scotland. "This is not cheap labor, and it's not occupational therapy," he says. "We simply do a better job."
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloClick on the thumbnails below for a closer look at rehabilitation in the year 2019.
What do you think our world will look like in 10, 20, or 100 years? We need your help creating a new artifact from the future for every issue of Wired magazine. Each month, we'll propose a scenario and ask for your prognostications. Sketch out your vision, then return here to upload your ideas, see other submissions, and vote for your favorites. Check out this month's challenge.
This is the bulletin board at the entrance to a rehab center from the year 2019. Overeaters, alcoholics, gadgetholics, and body-mod addicts can all come here for help.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloTwelve-step programs have been drying out alcoholics since 1935. But in attention-deficit 2019, slow 180s be damned; three-step programs exorcise the powerful urges of powerless drinkers in one-sixth the time.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloWe predict that some emotional eaters of the future will abuse the capsules, tablets, and powders promising good health. And that abuse can lead to build-up in the kidneys. But no sweat: They'll have nanomites to bite through the stones!
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloConfronting your shortcomings in a roomful of strangers swiftly loses its luster. Break away from the gut spilling and channel your frustrations into luminescent holiday art with the Fiber-Optic Basket-Weaving Club.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloBody modification isn't all fun and grafts. It can have serious health ramifications (some lab rats implanted with RFIDs have developed cancer), not to mention emotional consequences. The cyborgs of the future will most certainly need a little support.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloGadgetholism is not a recognized disease or disorder yet. But we can expect that 10 years after the opening of America's first Internet addiction center, the allure of technology will only be stronger, uploading new antisocial behavioral traits into the human race.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloA Blink-182 cover band is holding auditions in a room at the center, but technophiles need not apply for this pop-punk throwback.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloIf global warming has intensified your sunburns, dear Oregonians, exercise your suffrage this election season.
photo: Photo: Daniel SaloSome things just don't change, like comfort foods with heaping shovelfuls of refined sugar and oceans of hydrogenated oil.
AP - Regulators approved changes to accounting rules Wednesday that in the short term will make sales and profits seem higher at technology companies selling certain gadgets that blend hardware and software.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
I think Bret is lying here but it’s funny to see the FotC boys with mustaches. I also like the cutaway to Jimmy Kimmel or whoever that guy is at around minute 1:30. Such charming lads.
My favorite song after the jump.
All this buzz about Pink, and this is what you give us, Microsoft? A midgie Pre and a Touch Pro crossed with a jellybean? Apparently they’ll be made by Sharp (*eyebrow*) and will share some services with the Zune, though may have their own app store. I say, Microsoft, this is most underwhelming.
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Though its shares are up more than 900 percent since January, Palm remains a “show me” story. So says Susquehanna Financial analyst Jeffrey Fidicaro, who seems to think the Street is putting a bit too much faith in the company’s next-generation platform, WebOS, and the devices that run on it.
“Palm is still a turnaround story with its financial success reliant on the newly released webOS operating system and new devices in an increasingly competitive smartphone market,” Fidicaro said in a note to clients Wednesday. “While we anticipate Palm to expand its carrier partners both in the U.S. and internationally, and expect sell-in unit shipment growth to ramp accordingly, we believe the current valuation reflects an optimistic adoption rate of webOS devices.”
Fidicaro went on to say that while he feels webOS is a decent enough platform, its success might be limited–in the near term, at least–because of Palm’s (PALM) exclusive distribution deal with Sprint (S).
“We view the recent price decrease for the Pre to $149 (from $199 at launch) with caution as it may signal that it needed to be repositioned in order to achieve the price elasticity required to reinvigorate unit sales,” he said. “Longer term, we are cautious regarding the webOS platform’s sustainable competitive advantage, especially compared to RIM in enterprise and Apple in retail with more than 75,000 applications in its App Store.”
The Wii is getting cut down to $199 this Sunday. We know that. But European gamers might not be that lucky. GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that instead of getting a price cut, Nintendo will bundle MotionPlus along with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort and sell it for the same price. Actually, that’s not that bad as MotionPlus really does improve the gaming experience and every Wii should have it. But none of this is official just yet. It’s just another one of those wild Internet rumors.
Section: Communications, Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks
The Intel Developer Forum looks to be an excuse for Intel to show off all the cool stuff they’ve been cooking up and let PC makers show off some of their products. Of course there’s a multitude of technical sessions each day, though those probably won’t interest many people outside developers and engineers. Today we have two new announcements from Intel: a formal announcement of new processors and a new optical cable technology as well as an interesting syncing technology.
The first announcement comes in form of the official announcement of the Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor. We’ve already seen laptops that use the Core i7 Mobile and now Intel is showing it off. According to Intel, the Core i7 Mobile will bring the power of a desktop PC to a laptop, allowing for much more complex tasks like audio mixing, multiple camera video editing, and high-end gaming. Having seen the difference a Core i7 in a desktop can make, Intel’s claims should be more or less true. Now all we need is for more companies to put these into laptops, a MacBook Pro with a Core i7 Mobile would be fantastic.
The second announcement is Intel’s new Light Peak, a new way of connecting devices. Those devices can include anything from peripherals, computer, hard drives, displays, and docking stations among others. It’s all done through optical wires about the width of a human hair, which can replace any sort of wire and can even connect through current connections like USB. Light Peak can transfer data at 10Gb/s when it will be released in 2010 and will be scalable to 100Gb/s over the next decade, which should be able to handle just about any size file with amazing speeds.
In terms of non-Intel announcements, we have Syncables which is showing off its cross-platform syncing application. Syncables Desktop is truly cross-platform, working on Linux as well as Windows and Mac, and allows you to fully sync multiple machines. This includes media, bookmarks, email and any other documents you want to sync. The application also has Facebook and YouTube integration for easy uploading of media. The company is showcasing NetworkSync at IDF, which allows for easy collaboration and streaming through any network.
Read [Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor]
Read [Intel Light Peak]
Read [Syncables]
Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
David and I love the 1979 movie Over the Edge, about youth run wild in a suburban cultural wasteland. The (out-of-print) soundtrack is terrific, and so were the kids in the movie (most were not professional actors).
On the 30th anniversary of the movie, Mike Sacks of Vice magazine put together an oral history of the movie with comments from 20 members of the cast and crew.
Jonathan Kaplan (director): I was only 30 when I was hired to do Over the Edge, but I had some unique experience, which helped. I had studied with Martin Scorsese when I was younger. And I had been the director of an infamous Sex Pistols movie called Who Killed Bambi?Here's the Over the Edge trailer.What I took away from that experience was the spark and the truth that I saw in the punk aesthetic. And I saw that same spark and truth in the Over the Edge script. I thought, These kids are American punks. They’re not as articulate as the English punks, but they’re also in a rage.
With that in mind, I decided to attack Over the Edge from a punk angle: keep it simple. No fancy camera moves, visual effects, nothing fancy. I remember when I first saw Super Fly. There were boom shadows, badly shot scenes, and mistakes. But there was a simplicity and an authenticity to it that I really appreciated.
When it came time to cast Over the Edge, we tried to go for that same authenticity. We wanted real teens, as opposed to professional actors—and kids who were also age-appropriate. No twenty-somethings playing 14-year-olds.
OVER THE EDGE: An Oral History of the Greatest Teen Rebellion Movie of All Time
Source: Boing Boing | 23 Sep 2009 | 4:43 pm
Iqbal's women are not nude or semi-naked or involved in some illicit acts as their profession might suggest. They are mostly some unknown and unremarkable women of modest looks and appearance.
Above: Hussain's take on the Red Mosque siege.
At first glance, the women in burqas seem to have a
predatory presence, but the hand on the woman in red's shoulder is at
ease and their eyes are relaxed, not enraged. Interestinly, the facial expression of the woman in red is one of either despair or hope. The situation painted is intentionally left ambiguous. But what troubles us most in Iqbal's women is the fact that they silently poke our conscience and raise questions about the otherwise obvious hypocrisy of our society.They raise the questions that 'respectable' Pakistani society rather not to ask of it self. And that is what makes Iqbal Hussain so 'controversial!'
The more my games stutter and the more my HD content skips frames, the more I think about that wonderful day when I shall put together a beautiful new system with all new hardware. The trouble is that Intel’s got the processor thing locked down and AMD has the lead on graphics. I don’t really want to mix and match, but the pull of the Radeons might prove to be too strong. That new 5800 series is looking mighty fine, sir, mighty fine.
They didn’t drop all of a sudden as some hardware is wont to do, and the rumored specs have been around for a while, but of course, we don’t comment on rumors here at CrunchGear. Too much integrity.
The new flagship card runs at the same core clock speed as the old one, but it has twice the stream processors and texture units and a much-improved memory clock speed. Judging from the transistor count, it looks like the new 40nm process basically just allowed them to fit a huge amount more of the same stuff on the same card without worrying as much about heat or power draw. So this is less a revolutionary step and more a dangerously turbo version of the old 4800 series.
Of course, they’re also DirectX 11-compatible, and they’re at least working on making the most popular GPGPU protocols work with them as well. OpenCL and such, you know.
Anandtech’s review of the 5870 suggests that while this is certainly the fastest single GPU solution available today (for gaming and such at least), it’s not the leapfrog that was expected, and you can get more performance from putting a couple older cards into crossfire. At any rate, I’m not interested in the flagship models. The 5850 is the sweet spot: $260 MSRP for a huge improvement over the last flagship design, and you’ll probably be able to get it for much less once the novelty wears off and prices drop. Do I have my next video card picked out? Very possibly.
Update: The Inquirer has a pretty exhaustive list of reviews if you want to get dirty.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Communications, Smartphones
Over at the official Palm blog are lots of pictures of celebrities posing with the Palm Pixi and the Palm Pre. Why? Palm somehow was at the Emmy Awards and coaxed people into the pictures. There’s no word if these pictures were taken using the Palm Pre, but it would have been smart to show off that pretty good camera on their blog.
Since these celebrities are actors, we’re guessing Palm told them “Your motivation is that you love the Pixi.” The actor probably said, “The what?” Director person then said, “Just pick up the phone - you love it. Got it?” With that, many photos were taken with the celebs smiling while holding up the phone. Some actors thought, “Hey, it’s a phone, I’ll hold it up to my ear.” Others thought, “I’ll just hold this up so I can get out of here.”
Will this get people to buy the Palm Pixi or Palm Pre? This probably will not result in a huge sales spike because Ricky Gervais played with a Pixi (no offense, Ricky. If you’re reading this, I think you’re quite funny). However, it couldn’t hurt sales. The Palm Pixi is obviously meant for a younger audience, maybe their tech picks can be influenced by celebrities.
Read: [Official Palm Blog]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Either Microsoft’s sense of humor has gotten almost British in its sophistication and dryness, or this is the worst promotional video I’ve ever seen in my life. Yes, worse than their Songsmith video. I’m beginning to think Microsoft’s marketing department really is a thousand monkeys with a thousand high definition cameras. Or are we being punk’d?
This is seriously too surreal to comment on. But don’t let that stop you.
FROM APPLETELL - The USB Implementers Forum—which controls how the USB architecture is used—has ruled against Palm’s camouflaging of their Pre smartphone as an iPod.
MORE »
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Well, that didn't last long. Jabra barely started their mysterious campaign to hype up the Jabra Stone this morning, and it looks like the beans have already been spilled.
Well, that didn’t last long. Jabra barely started their mysterious campaign to hype up the Jabra Stone this morning, and it looks like the beans have already been spilled.
Someone just passed the picture above onto Giz, claiming that it was none other than the Stone itself. It doesn’t look anything like the silhouette Jabra has been touting on the countdown page – but that outline may very well be what it looks like while resting on the charger. If it’s a fake, it’s an extremely well done one. Whether or not this is the Stone, it’s probably something Jabra didn’t intend to see leak out just yet.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Michael Massing of the Columbia Journalism Review digs up some startling info that helps explain why network TV news is knee-deep in FAIL while National Public Radio thrives:
Katie Couric's annual salary is more than the entire annual budgets of NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered combined. Couric's salary comes to an estimated $15 million a year; NPR spends $6 million a year on its morning show and $5 million on its afternoon one. NPR has seventeen foreign bureaus (which costs it another $9.4 million a year); CBS has twelve. Few figures, I think, better capture the absurd financial structure of the network news. (link)
It also captures a hard reality that news folk should keep in mind as they protest the collapse of their industry: most money in journalism, isn't spent on journalism.
Thanks, Cyrus
Source: Boing Boing | 23 Sep 2009 | 3:15 pm
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Software / Applications
Maybe you missed it, but there’s a big hubub over a new Microsoft tablet/booklet computer, the Courier. We got together with Randall Bennett and Gary Krakow on TechVi to talk about what Microsoft has to do to have a winner on its hands. By crafting their own hardware to go along with their software, will Microsoft be able to succeed? If Microsoft pairs the Courier with some of its other properties they may have a fighting chance before that Cupertino company inevitably releases its own tablet.
Watch more episodes: [TechVi]
More with Gary Krakow: [BuyMeGetMe.com]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
FROM GAMERTELL - Microsoft has released a mandatory Xbox 360 system update, so if your Xbox 360 is connected to the internet, you’ll have to do some downloading and updating. The update adds no new features, but prepares for Facebook, Last.FM, and Twitter support.
MORE »
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Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray, HDTV, Gaming, Console, Imaging, Camcorders
Sony is running some deals at their outlet store. There are all kinds of deals available. A Sony sound bar virtual surround sound system for under $150 (down from $240), the Webbie HD pocket cam for $99.99 (down from $169.99), televisions, computers, and even the old version of the 40GB PS3 for $219.99. What’s the catch? All these products are refurbished. If you don’t mind your product being used by someone else, fixed by Sony, and then sent to you, this could be a good time to pick up some nice stuff on the cheap. The PS3 is on backorder, but you can still order it at the $219 price and Sony will e-mail you when it ships. This is a weekly deal so it will run out soon.
Store: [Sony Outlet]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Computers, Netbooks, Software / Applications
Today, at the Intel Developer Forum, Dell announced the new Dell Mini 10v as the first netbook to use Intel’s Moblin operating system. Moblin is Intel’s idea of what a netbook OS should be and with the coming version 2.1, Moblin is designed for smartphones and Mobile Internet Devices as well. With the OS receiving so much attention, it might be worth knowing just what exactly it is.
As mentioned above, Moblin is meant to run exclusively on devices with smaller screens and less processing power. There isn’t much to find in the current build that isn’t somehow based on cloud computing. It can pull in data from a variety of sources on the main screen, whether it be a Twitter feed, RSS feed, or web-based calendar. It also has a strong media base, with the OS designed for easy navigation of all media on the device and other devices connected to your wireless network.
While this is Moblin 2.0, which is still in beta, it’s only now that it reaches a state that anyone would want to use. To say 1.0 was slow to start is an understatement. Sure, the community behind the project supported it, but there was nobody else using it. Even now it’s not the greatest choice for everyone.
Having tried Moblin 2.0 several times, it just doesn’t seem as the best option. The interface, to me, is quite clumsy, and it chokes when displaying any webpage with flash on my Eee PC 901. With Intel behind it, there is a lot of promise, though it just doesn’t seem as desirable as Jolicloud (the battery hog that is is). Perhaps it might work better on the next generation of Atom chips, but for now the flash issue kills it for me, and also the fact that with such little storage I have no media to really consume on my netbook. If you’re still looking for the perfect Linux for your netbook, it’s worth a shot. Having major PC manufacturers shipping it on netbooks is certainly a good sign of the support to come.
Read [Engadget]
Read [Moblin Project]
Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Another day, another merger rumor. The once-mighty handset developer, Palm, Inc., announced an increase of its public offering of common stock to 20,000,000 shares, @ $16.25/share. This news has spurred rumors of a possible bid on Palm by the Finnish mobile powerhouse, Nokia.
James Faucette, an industry analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, thinks the idea of a merger makes a lot of sense. He explained to Bloomberg:
“Palm is worth $17 a share on its own, and $25 to $30 to Nokia, based on what they are spending to replicate Palm,” said Faucette. He rates Palm stock “outperform” and doesn’t own shares. Such an acquisition “would make a lot of sense,” he said.
As for the increased offering, Palm is looking to cash in, expecting to receive net proceeds of approximately $313.1 million. Palm expects to use the proceeds for “working capital and general corporate purposes.”
Neither Palm nor Nokia would comment about the rumor. To be honest, this one seems a bit bonkers to us – but we’ll see.
[via Unwired View]
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile
Rumors swirled over Nokia’s potential purchase of Palm which sent Palm’s stock up and caused analysts to take a step back to see how this might play out. If Nokia is shelling out the cash for Palm, estimated at a $3 Billion deal, then it must have a very real problem. The problem: entry into the US market.
Nokia is bigger than big. They pump out 13 phones every second. They own 40% of the world’s mobile phone marketshare and have 1.1 billion customers. Nothing could be better, right? Well, not in the US.
In the US, Nokia is still struggling to find a win. They’ve got phones at major carriers but nothing to drive people to these them. There is no wow factor with their current offerings. Nokia’s smartphones can’t seem to get a foot in the door while running Euro-popular Symbian and Maemo as both seem to fall into Apple’s shadow.
Would Palm add more than a brand name for Nokia? Analysts say Palm adds a “solid name” to the pot, but not much else, despite moving almost 1 million Palm Pre phones. Having another OS to deal with would present some issues for Nokia, particularly back home in Europe where Symbian is top dog.
Motorola’s name gets put into the ring as well as a potential suitor. Moto’s struggled over the past years but their new MotoBlur skin atop Google’s Android looks to be a winner (even winning over Moto-disliker Iyaz, our editor). Perhaps Moto would add webOS to their top end while the Blur OS would live, quite happily, at the mass level?
In a move, perhaps to get Nokia to show its hand, Palm announced the intention for an IPO. You might recall how much Palm hated being publicly traded, saying it added too much to the stress level. Perhaps they have no choice. In any event, things are moving quickly for the little company.
Read: [Computer World] and [Wall Street Journal]
Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Topping our list of anticipated Xbox Live Arcade games but still off too many radars elsewhere, Offworld returns from a day at Scotland-based Denki with a behind the scenes look at the making of their upcoming word-battler Quarrel (above), from its cardboard and tiddly-wink origins to the 'magic wool' now running underneath.
Elsewhere we saw the Tri-Islands of Monkey Island rendered in the hyper-poly pushing engine behind Crysis and early PC transforming robo-shooter Thexder coming to the PSP, and got a glimpse into the art and design behind the fantastical heavy-metal world of Brutal Legend.
We also saw the wickedly blood-drenched pixels of Cactus's low-bit Life/Death/Island and Valve's amazing/ly swift response to a fan-made Team Fortress 2 canine class, shoes fit for Okami and high concept Pac-Man and Tetris wearables, and purchased a two-disc collection of Blip Fest 2008 performances -- possibly the best catalog of the top chiptune players released to date.
And our 'one shot's: Bioshock 2's Mr. Bubbles meets Mary Blair, and 40 artists collaborate on a magic-mile-long mega-Mario Kart illustration.
 Telegraph.co.uk | Google Enables Web Annotation With Sidewiki InformationWeek Web site visitors who use Google Toolbar now have access to a global comment and annotation system called Google Sidewiki. By Thomas Claburn Continuing the broad industry effort to transform Web pages from static content into frames for third-party Web ... Google Sidewiki -- A First Look Google Steps Where Many Have Stumbled: Sidewiki Google Toolbar adds comments with Sidewiki |
Dylan Tweney looks at the consequences of regulatory mandates on net neutrality: if the ISPs can't hit up content and bandwidth providers, they'll hit up consumers.
It seems the most reasonable outcome: the consumer pays, the consumer gets. As the simplest and least obscure business model to run the tubes on, isn't it worth rationalizing prices to guarantee open access? Tweney, however, points out that the additional bureacracy being layered atop the market could stifle innovation:
Net neutrality regulations make sense in closed, monopolistic situations. But outside of small, rural markets, most of the U.S. offers a high level of competitive choice. Don't like Comcast cable internet? Switch to SpeakEasy, Astound or SBC, or look into satellite internet. Don't care for AT&T's spotty 3G wireless network? Try T-Mobile or Verizon. Need help finding an alternative? Check Broadband Reports' interactive ISP finder.That's why the FCC should take a very cautious, careful approach to implementing its brave, new principles.
FCC Position May Spell the End of Unlimited Internet [Tweney Report]
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google
There’s a new version of Google Picasa for Windows and Mac. There are plenty of new features - the biggest one is face scanning. When you load up the new version of Picasa, the software scans your pics and looks for faces. Underneath the faces is a spot for a name. Names can be autocompleted if you are signed into your Google account. Photos can also be geotagged since Google has put together Picasa with Google Maps.
Google put in a nice little feature that lets you share photos directly from the import area. Previously, you would have to import the file to your library and then share the files. This small change saves time and as a Picasa user I like it.
If you have your photos organized in your own folder system, Picasa doesn’t try to reorganize your folder structure unlike another major photo organizer on OS X.
Read: [Google Blog]
Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
Tablet PCs might be headed for a revival. Archos introduced a 9-inch notepad-like tablet with a touchscreen, making it the latest manufacturer to get an early jump on the emerging tablet trend.
The $500 Archos 9 tablet features an Intel Atom processor, up to 120 GB disk drive, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and will run Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 7.
“It will blend the computing horsepower of a laptop with a rich multimedia experience,” says Ron Ferguson, senior vice president at Archos North America.
Until earlier this year, most analysts and industry watchers saw tablets as a category that wouldn’t catch on with consumers. Tablets are not as compact as smartphones and don’t have a physical keyboard that could make them a real alternative to netbooks. But with rumors of Apple working on a tablet, the category seems to have caught the interest of other device manufacturers. Dell is also reportedly working on a tablet.
Archos’ announcement comes at the same time as Microsoft’s prototype tablet, called Courier. On Tuesday, Microsoft showed the Courier, a dual-screen device that is still under development. The Courier folds like a book and has 7-inch multi-touch screens. It can detect finger gestures as well as a stylus for writing, flicking and drawing.
Archos’ tablet offers less functionality. At 0.68 inches thick, it is fairly thin, but it’s far from small enough to fit into the back pocket of your Levis. And the resistive touchscreen can become a deal killer quickly: Not as sensitive as the capacitive touchscreens on the iPhone or Palm Pre, the Archos 9 tablet requires pecking away on the display with a stylus.
The device has 1 GB RAM and a removable lithium-ion battery. On the left panel are buttons for the speaker, webcam, and the virtual keyboard. The tablet comes loaded with a browser, Microsoft Office and Skype among other software.
The Archos 9 tablet, which weighs about 28 ounces, is expected to start shipping October 22.
Photo: Archos 9/Archos
See Also:
If you happen to be a T-Mobile subscriber who lives in one of the 8 newly announced markets, get excited! 3G is coming to town! As you can see above, 3G network access is rolling out in Columbia, Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and Escondido and Oceanside, CA. Better late than never, we say.
Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies
Unless it’s expensive or otherwise unique, it’s tough to get people pumped about Bluetooth headsets. We get press releases for at least 3 of them a day – all of them more or less the same.
Looking to generate a bit of hype around their new and as-of-yet unannounced “Stone” headset, Jabra is going with the ol’ mystery-and-intrigue routine. They’ve got a big timer tickin’ away at jabrastone.com, revealing almost nothing – you get a profile of the headset, some claims that it “looks, feels, and sounds better than anything you’ve tried before” and … well, that’s it.
Our ears have held plenty of headsets that feel and sound great – the real trick here would be if Jabra managed to make a Bluetooth headset that didn’t make you look like a wanker. Fingers crossed!
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
In the same way that the FCC acts as the Black Gate of Mordor for US-bound mobile devices, the South Koreans have their own Hobbit-deterrent regulatory body to oversee mobile communications and devices, the KCC. As luck would have it, the orcs kind folks working at the KCC have had a change of heart regarding Apple’s darling.
Normally, the KCC requires that all mobile phones operating within South Korea must use “domestic technology” for location services on phones. However, earlier today, the KCC issued a specific exemption for the iPhone. See what money kindness will do for ya!
Word on the mobile street is that Apple has been in talks with S. Korean mobile carrier, KT Corp., for quite a while. So, now that the phone is legal, it’s just a matter of time before the “exempt” device drops.
Finally, an iPhone with some Seoul!
[via Macworld]
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
We’ve got a pretty good idea of what we should expect of LG’s upcoming Chocolate Touch, the VX8575 – at least, we’ve got a better idea than we did a week ago. We know to expect a 3.5mm jack, 3″ touchscreen, and a 3.2 megapixel camera. We (sadly) know that it won’t look like the yardstick-esque LG BL40. Pretty much the only things we don’t know are the price and launch date. This morning, that last item might have been cleared up.
According to PhoneArena’s sources (and they were the ones to break the first shots of the VX8575, after all), this new Chocolate ought to be on the shelves by October 18th. The source wasn’t able to name a price – but seeing as those things tend to get pinned down just a few days before launch, that’s not too surprising.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Remember the screen printing system from the Boing Boing Video episode Mark and I shot at Maker Faire, the Yudu? Well, I wanted to make t-shirts for my personal blog, TokyoMango, so I went over to my friend Ben's house this past weekend to do a test run on the one he bought at the Faire. The Yudu, it turns out, is a great compact home printing machine as long as you don't have high expectations and are armed with mountains of patience.
First, Ben mocked up two versions of his design using Adobe Illustrator, one for dark ink and one for light. We printed these out on a vellum transparency using a regular inkjet printer, then put it aside to dry. It took us several attempts to get a perfectly un-smudged transparency, but we finally got one we could work with. (This obviously is no fault of Yudu — it's either the printer ink or the vellum or the compatibility of the two.)
Next step: prepare the screen. We put emulsion on the screen in a darkened room through a wet-and-stick-and-dry process to get it ready for exposure. We wet the screen with a spray bottle and then squeegeed the excess off. Then we put the screen on a drying rack in the Yudu machine. The drying is supposed to take 20 minutes, but we found it took a good hour of manual hairdryer heat in addition to the preset drying cycle. While we waited, we ate pizza and wings and playing Rock Band.
In earlier test runs with the Yudu, Ben claimed he had nightmarish troubles getting it to just the right wetness — the tutorials warn against making it too wet, but too dry was the bigger problem for him, leaving parts of the screen patchy and other parts just completely missing the emulsive layer. (Ben: "It was super annoying and I wanted to kill it.")
Once the emulsion was completely dry, we burned the transparency onto the screen. We put the vellum transparency with the TokyoMango design on it on the Yudu's glass surface, put the emulsion sheet on top of that, weighted both down with a giant black bin, and then turned on the Yudu's Exposure button for eight minutes.
After that, we took the screen downstairs to the utility sink and washed it. The emulsion that wasn't exposed to light simply washed off, the part that was had hardened and stayed put. We hair-dried it once again, and voila! The screen was ready for printing.
We placed the prepared screen on top of the Yudu's lid and secured it in place with clear mailing tape, then put the first test t-shirt on the platen (kinda like a t-shirt hanger for the machine) Note: be really careful to gauge the placement of the design on the t-shirts chest area. Just hanging it from the platen yields potential fashion disaster, with the design ending up at the collar bone.
Once we were sure everything was in the right place, we closed the top and put a line of ink at the top of the design and then squeegeed the ink over the design with slow, consistent pressure.
It worked! Once that was done, we hung it to dry and then set the design in place with a couple minutes of ironing on both sides. We did nine t-shirts of different shapes and colors total; about half of them came out perfectly, and the other half had slight flaws — uneven ink distribution, an oddly positioned design, barely visible color combinations.
In conclusion, we had a fun evening of t-shirt making, but it took a long time (five hours!) and would have probably taken even longer had Ben not diligently tested the machine with several other designs of his own in previous weeks. It's a great all-in-one toy for those who don't have professional screen printing aspirations or facilities. However, the machine itself ($300) and the accessories ($10 for a bottle of ink, $22 for the platen, $28 for a single screen, etc.) are expensive, and for the same price one could basically get a starter pro screen printing kit. Also, we only printed single color designs, but the process gets incrementally harder — virtually impossible, in fact &mdash when it comes to multi-color designs, because you have to line up multiple screens perfectly on a not-so-perfect surface.
You can see the finished t-shirt designs and order one for yourself here between now and October 5th.
Described by its seller, Nat, as "awesomeness incarnate," this ancient and evil example of arcade tech does not, regrettably, boot up.
it boots sorta, red led's power up etc, but no image or sound. I suspect there is a problem in the interface to the 1970s era b/w tv that is inside as a monitor.
Its appeal, however, remains: it's claimed to be a hitherto unknown version of Nintendo's first ever arcade game.
Final ebay of the day, promise!
Unfortunatley, by telling you this wonderful antique mechanical calculator is only $5 heading into the final day of its auction, I probably ensure it won't remain so for long.
"There's even a bunch of white ceramic DIPPs and some RISC processors."
Oh, the infamous chin of many HTC Android phones – how controversial it is. At least, it’s about as controversial as things get in the geeky little world of the phone-obsessed. Done one way (as with the G1), it finds itself on the wrong end of an endless train of mockery. Done almost identically on another, generally more appealing handset, and people like it so much that more than half of them get upset when it’s taken away.
Either way, one things now for sure: while not all Android handsets will carry a big chin, any HTC-made handset with a chin will carry Android.
From a Forbes interview with HTC’s design firm, One & Co:
Its Windows Mobile devices come in dark, glossy finishes to appeal to a professional audience, while its Android phones often sport a playful “chin” or angled base. Those characteristics will stay separate, says Zellweger, meaning no chins for HTC Windows Mobile phones. (HTC’s newer Android phones like Sprint’s version of the Hero and the Tattoo have shed the chin as well, but Zellweger says the distinctive feature may return in future devices.)
There you have it, folks – love it or hate it, HTC (or, at least the design studio which HTC owns and calls upon for all of their handset designs – so yeah, HTC) seems fully intent on keepin’ the chin around. These are also the guys responsible for the oh-so-sexy shine thats been on every HTC-made WinMo handset as of late, along with things like the Teflon coating on some versions of the Hero. In other words, these guys make really, really awesome decisions. Keep up the good work, One & Co.
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Like it or not, Windows Mobile is a predominant mobile OS. It rules the roost, along with Symbian, and although Android will shortly beat its butt – I’d expect it to reach parity in about 2012 – we’re still going to have to live with up to 30 million WinMo 6.5 devices by the end of the year.
This number also presumably includes the full existing install base, so it’s not like they’re going to sell 25 million of these off the cuff.
Take note, however, that this prediction is coming from the GCR Mobile Tea in China and that we can expect to see new models from HTC, Acer, Samsung, and LG. Also note that WinMo 6.5 on HTC phones, at least, look so much like the Hero SenseUI interface that it’s scary.
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For those folks who hate wires enough to put up with bad, hissy FM quality from their in-car iPod listening, we have good news. While it still won’t make the sound better than it would be if piped through a cable, Griffin’s new hardware/software iTrip combo at least makes FM transmitting to your car-stereo a whole lot easier. And prettier.
The iPhone application is free, but you’ll need the new $50 iTrip to use it. The new iTrip itself has a backlit LCD display on which you can see the tuned frequency, and it will actually send track information to be shown on your car’s head unit if it supports RDS.
The application will auto-tune the iPhone to a fairly unused frequency, and you can store three presets for fast access. The nicest UI feature is the Big Ol’ Dial, which gives an onscreen wheel that you can twist and tune manually.
One other handy hardware touch is the mini-USB port on the bottom of the iTrip. This will take any USB cable and, when hooked into the iPhone’s dock connector, allow you to charge it with any old charger. Available now.
Product page [Griffin]
Product page [iTunes]
Poor Kodak. George Eastman’s once proud company conquered the world, bringing cheap, portable and easy to use cameras into the hands of millions. Now it is reduced to a purveyor of trinkets, a prince turned pauper, hawking tatty tchotchkes just to pay the bills.
There may be no better evidence that Kodak has lost it than the Smile Digital Photo Keychain. At first, the idea of a little photo screen in your pocket is appealing, and you start to think of loading it up with baby photos to make a gift for Grandma. But then the device arrives, you hook it up via USB to you computer, and the nightmare begins.
First, some physical details. The Smile has a small but bright 1.5-inch screen, a mini-USB port, a rechargeable battery with a two-hour life and of course a ring for keys. It is a little bulky, but for people who like to dangle crap from their keychains, perfectly portable. There are also three buttons for accessing menus and flipping between photos.
When you connect to the computer (in this case a Mac running OS X 10.6), the display flashes a question: USB connect? Yes. No. Pick “yes” and a tiny, ~300kb CD mounts on the desktop. Yes, a CD. Upon this you will find driver software and instructions for both Windows and OS X.
Unzip the app, called MacDPFmate, and fire it up. You will be greeted (in Snow Leopard at least) with a box telling you you need to install Rosetta, the framework needed to run legacy PowerPC applications. That’s right. We have had Intel Macs for years, and a brand new Kodak product doesn’t support them. Good work Kodak. Even better, take a look at the software when it is finally running:
That’s not a glitch. It really looks that bad. After a while I managed to make it work, and it will read any picture file that the computer supports, converting it to a bitmap image for display on the device, even RAW. The problem is that you can’t actually navigate to the pictures if they are in your home directory (hint — unless you are a very odd Mac user, they will be here). I assume some permissions have not been set properly. The workaround is to make copies of the photos in a shared or system-level folder, something granny will of course find easy.
It gets worse, but I won’t frustrate you. Actually, I will. See those arrow buttons. They move the picture around in the big black box. But you can also drag the crop-overlay with the mouse (thank the lord), rendering this huge chunk of the window pointless.
Once the pictures are on the keychain, though, everything should be fine, right? Switch on and enjoy the show? Wrong. The display is indeed bright, but it is at a resolution so low that it is impossible to see any detail. I took some snaps to show you, but all you see is a blur.
We don’t know what Kodak was planning to do here. It seems like the R&D department was given this simple brief: “Make the customer hate us”. In this, they achieved outstanding success. From the lightweight, cheap plastic housing to the undersized keyring, awful blocky screen and indescribably poor software, the Smile will make you do nothing but frown.
It’s not all bad, though, and there are two features that slightly mitigate the otherwise total contempt for the customer. One, you get a free USB cable in the box. Two, it’s pretty tough. The Lady and I took turns flinging it at the tiled floor and, while the metal ring loosened, the horribly, blocky slideshow just kept on going. And don’t be fooled by the on-screen photo in the picture at the top of the post. That’s a sticker that comes covering the screen. $30.
Press release [PR Newswire]
 CNET News | Intel Gives First Demo Of Larrabee Graphics Processor InformationWeek The chip will put Intel into competition with high-end graphics processors from Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. By Antone Gonsalves Intel on Monday conducted the first demonstration of its long-awaited Larrabee graphics processor, which will launch ... Intel Ahead of Schedule With New Xeon Server Chips Intel Gravitates to Graphics With Larrabee Microservers: Blades rebooted |
Before they all went pro, one of the big differences between the entry-level unibody MacBook and the next model up was the illuminated keyboard of the better machine. This upgrade cost a few hundred bucks, and I bit, paying the premium for see-in-the-dark keys.
If only I had known about the Dark Keyboard Stickers, from Baron Bob, the tireless Gift Crusader. For a mere $9, I could have added the glowing stickers which are described both as glow-in-the-dark, or as highly reflective, depending on which paragraph you choose to read. Whichever it is, you should be able to see a lot more in dim rooms, and perhaps this would be the perfect compliment to the Laptop Burka, today’s Worst Gadget Award winner.
Product page [Baron Bob via BBG]
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