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Space shuttle Atlantis fueled up for launch - msnbc.com
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Nov 2009 | 3:18 am Obama visit arouses mistrust in China's Internet populace (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Nov 2009 | 3:17 am Tempo Tags Keep It SimpleBy Evan Ackerman Tempo Tags are tiny little clip-on watches. They tell time. And they’re small. Made out of stainless steel and powered by a replaceable watch battery, they’ll remain useful...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 3:09 am Egypt creates first Arabic domain name - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Nov 2009 | 3:07 am The First Windows 7 Zero-Day Exploitxploraiswakco writes with the first Microsoft-confirmed Windows 7 zero-day vulnerability, with a demonstration exploit publicly available. The problem is in SMBv2 and SMBv1 and affects Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, but not Vista, XP, or Windows Server 2003. A maliciously crafted URI could hard-crash affected machines beyond any remedy besides pushing the white button. "Microsoft said it may patch the problem, but didn't spell out a timetable or commit to an out-of-cycle update before the next regularly-scheduled Patch Tuesday of December 8. Instead, the company suggested users block TCP ports 139 and 445 at the firewall." Reader xploraiswakco adds, "As important as this the mentioned article is, it should also be pointed out that any IT staff worth their pay packet should already have port 139 blocked at the firewall, and probably port 445. too."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:54 am Tim Berners-Lee in Africa: Web Foundation Announces 2 New ProjectsSir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Web, has embarked on a trip through Africa on behalf of the non-profit Web Foundation - which today announced two new projects. The Web Foundation exists to bridge...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:48 am UPDATE 1-TTM to buy Meadville printed circuit board businessNov 16 (Reuters) - Electronics manufacturer TTM Technologies Inc agreed to buy Hong Kong's Meadville Holdings Limited's printed circuit board (PCB) business for about $521 million in a cash and stock...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:48 am Consumer Reports: When To Repair, When To ReplaceBeing the frustratingly indecisive and demanding consumer that I am, I find Consumer Reports to be an invaluable resource for major purchases. Their winter 2010 electronics buying guide has hit the shelves,...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:39 am My Seven Favorite New World Notes Posts From Last WeekMeet Second Life's oldest Resident: She's 97 years young. How to Make Second Life Truly Mass Market, Part 2: Point-and-Click Avatar Movement! (Heated but interesting conversation in Comments) Philip Rosedale...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:36 am UPDATE 3-Canon buys Dutch Oce for $1.1 bln, fights Ricoh* Deal worth 1.5 bln euros including debt, other obligationsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:29 am UPDATE 3-Canon buys Dutch Oce for $1.1 bln, fights Ricoh* Deal worth 1.5 bln euros including debt, other obligationsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:29 am Clockman: Japanese alarm clock has its own personality (video)
Japan sure has a penchant for weird alarm clocks, as we blogged many times in the past. And Clockman, a new model from major Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy, isn’t really normal either. Reasons: It looks creepy, it can speak, its eyes and mouth can move and Takara Tomy says it even has a personality and “blood type” (seriously). There are four different versions of the clock, and each of them works differently. The Clockman with blood type A, for example, is the polite type. He wakes you up by saying “It’s time to wake up. Please wake up.”, while the one with blood type 0 will try to get you going in snooze mode by shouting “Fight! Make an effort! Stand up! Fight!” (in Japanese).
The Clockman is sized at 80×83×80mm and weighs 297g. Takara Tomy says each one can speak 300 pre-installed sentences. The Clockman will hit Japanese stores November 19. It’s available for pre-order at the Japan Trend Shop for everyone living outside Japan (price: $57). Watch the video (in English) below to see the Clockman in action. It’s creepy. Via IT Media [JP] and The Japan Trend Shop
Source: CrunchGear | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:24 am Russia recalls Modern Warfare 2 - CVG Online
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:15 am YouTube Upgrades Video Streaming To 1080pBy Chris Scott Barr It’s getting hard to remember life before YouTube. Before our favorite video streaming site existed, we had to scrape by with America’s Funniest Home Videos and the occasional...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:10 am AMD powered Jaguar wins supercomputer race - TG Daily
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:10 am Would Google Be Liable Under The Pirate Bay Ruling? [Voices]By Mike Masnick, Editor, Techdirt Michael Carrier, a law professor specializing in intellectual property law, was kind enough to let us know about a paper he recently wrote analyzing the Swedish court’s ruling in The Pirate Bay Case, and seeing how the reasoning set forth might apply to two other services: Grokster and Google (GOOG). Grokster, of course, was a key player in a similar US lawsuit, that eventually resulted in the service shutting down. While many believe that the Supreme Court said Grokster was illegal, in reality, the ruling on the case only found that Grokster could be liable as a third party. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:05 am Empyrean Energy encounters more fractures at Texan wellNov 16 (Reuters) - Oil and gas explorer Empyrean Energy Plc said the Quinn 3H well at its Riverbend project in Texas, United States, encountered additional significant and minor fractures.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:02 am Networks & Their Fear & Loathing of HuluHulu, the online video joint venture of NBC, Fox and Disney that’s funded by Providence Equity Partners, seems to be having familial issues. No, it’s not YouTube or TV Everywhere giving the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am UPDATE 1-Tandberg shares suspended pending statement* Bourse: Tandberg statement expected "relatively shortly"Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:57 am Fix Your Terrible, Insecure Passwords in Five Minutes [Voices]By Farhad Manjoo, Technology Columnist, Slate.com It’s tempting to blame the victim. In May, a twentysomething French hacker broke into several Twitter employees’ e-mail accounts and stole a trove of meeting notes, strategy documents, and other confidential scribbles. The hacker eventually gave the stash to TechCrunch, which has since published notes from meetings in which Twitter execs discussed their very lofty goals. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:55 am Official Google Chrome Extension Gallery Announced Early, Launching SoonGoogle's Chrome, the fastest major browser on the internet, appears set to launch an official gallery of browser extensions in the very near future. In the latest nightly build of the app an extension...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:48 am Apple Wouldn’t Risk Its Cool Over a Gimmick, Would It? [Voices]By Randall Stross, Professor, San Jose State University; Columnist, Digital Domain, New York Times “SOME of the best-loved technology on the planet” is how Apple (APPL) describes its products when recruiting new employees. It’s a fair description. But the love that consumers send Apple’s way could flag if the company puts into place new advertising technology it has developed. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:47 am Indonesia forestry laws curbing geothermal-industryJAKARTA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Indonesia needs to relax its laws to make it easier to explore for geothermal energy in protected forests if it is going to meet a target of lifting electricity demand from...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:28 am UPDATE 1-William Demant raises H2 sales, EBIT outlookCOPENHAGEN, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Danish hearing aid maker William Demant on Monday raised its forecast for sales and operating profits in the second half of this year on the back of stabilising markets...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:25 am UPDATE 1-Victoria Oil & Gas finds gas sands in Cameroon* To apply for 35-year exploitation, production licenceSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:22 am Dr. Horrible Fan Prequel Offers One Take on Dr. Horrible’s Origins [Voices]By Liz Shannon Miller, Blogger, NewTeeVee When web video juggernaut Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog debuted last year, it inspired fan-made contributions to the world of the series almost immediately — something the Whedon family encouraged by soliciting supervillain applications to be included on the official DVD. But more than a year later, a group of Houston-based fans has taken things to a whole new level. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:21 am UPDATE 1-Serica renegotiates credit facility* Facility to refinance outstanding debt on Kambuna field (Adds details)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:07 am The Missing Final Chapter of Auletta's Google Book: 25 Media Maxims [BoomTown]
Last week, New Yorker writer Ken Auletta launched his new book on the search giant: “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It.” But one final chapter was actually cut from the book, which Auletta posted this past weekend on his Web site. Auletta emailed BoomTown, explaining that he killed it, because it was “not organic to the book’s narrative, and because I feared it [would] muddy the books purpose, casting it as a How-To book.” It contains 25 media maxims or things Auletta learned from covering the media and Google (GOOG), kicking off by recounting Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs’ famous “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005 (see it below). Included among Auletta’s maxims: “Passion Is Required,” “Vision Is Required” and “Don’t Ignore the Human Factor.” Here it is, in its entirety: And here is a video interview I did with Auletta at his book party in San Francisco last week, followed by the Jobs’ speech: [ See post to watch video ] Source: All Things Digital | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am The Growing Value of URLs You Can Easily Spell Out In Dead Bodies [Voices]By Seamus McCauley, Blogger, Virtual Economics Probably the funniest bit of commercial ingenuity I’ve seen these past few months is the growth of corpse-spam in World of Warcraft.You see, it’s quite hard, in-game, to spam people with commercial messages. If you send messages to people you get blocked and reported and your account shut down. Read the rest of this post on the original site Source: All Things Digital | 16 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am BRIEF-Oslo Bourse suspends trade in Tandberg shares* Suspends trade in Tandberg shares pending announcementSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 12:59 am RadarGolf Ball Location SystemBy Andrew Liszewski Thanks to the RadarGolf system you golfers will never lose another ball again, though you will have to jump through a few hoops for it to be really useful. The system uses BPS, or Ball...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Nov 2009 | 12:33 am NSMB Wii release bash: Bucken-Berry and Ala-Gold! - Destructoid
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 16 Nov 2009 | 12:15 am Public School Teachers Selling Lesson Plans Onlinetheodp writes "Thousands of teachers are using websites like Teachers Pay Teachers and We Are Teachers to cash in on a commodity they used to give away, selling lesson plans online for exercises as simple as M&M sorting and as sophisticated as Shakespeare. While some of this extra money is going to buy books and classroom supplies, the new teacher-entrepreneurs are also spending it on dinners out, mortgage payments, credit card bills, vacation travel and even home renovation, raising questions over who owns material developed for public school classrooms."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:46 pm Obama: "I Have Never Used Twitter"Barack Obama spoke to a group of Chinese students tonight at a town hall in Shanghai. The meeting was streamed live, worldwide on the Whitehouse website and on the Whitehouse's Facebook page. He was...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:36 pm GCSE English Exam to include questions on text messagingThere have been as many articles on the benefits of text messging to the English language as studies condemning it's negative impact on students' writing skills, but this is the first time a major English...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:27 pm President Obama Admits That He’s Never Used Twitter, But Thinks The Chinese Should Be Able To
That revelation was made tonight during a Q&A session at a town hall event with Chinese youth that was held in Shanghai this evening (which was streamed live on the web). The President fielded a question about the restricted use of Twitter in China and he had this to say, “I have never used Twitter but I’m an advocate of technology and not restricting internet access.” This is interesting considering the Internet, and social media in particular, was considered a large part of his ascension to the Presidency. Obviously, he had a killer team around him that was able to embrace the web without the then-Senator getting too much involved. Still, it’s somewhat surprising that he never sent any of his own tweets during the primaries. And undoubtedly part of us wants to believe that when you see tweets like “This is history,” which was sent on November 7 — or “Humbled” after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, that’s it could the President really sending it. Nope. Of course, the more important story here is his stance on Chinese Internet censorship. It’s ridiculous that people in China are restricted from accessing certain parts of the Internet. But we’ve all known that for a long time, and we’ve known the President’s position on it.
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Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:23 pm Cellphone contracts getting even better!Saul Hansell suggests that hated U.S. cellular carrier practices such as text message markups and fee-packed contracts ultimately give American consumers what they really want: predictable bills. In pursuit of this we learn of the psychological "nuances" of pricing and the "supersized logic" of using fat overage fees to upsell customers to expensive all-you-can-eat plans. "This year," he writes, "the deals are becoming even better."His piece even claims that the industry would love to give up the adhesive contracts, early termination fees and locked-in subsidy handsets that it won't give up, even when threatened by congress. Now all the carriers are selling heavily subsidized smartphones. They hate this state of affairs -- and wish that American consumers would just pay full price for the phones, the way people do in Europe. Hansell's evidence for this is the iPhone, which was "unsubsidized" when it was $600. It only dropped to $400 and then $200, he writes, when they moved to subsidies. He implies that the iPhone launch was initially unsuccessful and that this shows Americans won't buy contract-free phones: "Consumers balked at the high upfront cost. By the second generation of the iPhone, Apple reverted to a traditional subsidy model." For customers, however, the only practical option with the $600 U.S. iPhone was to activate it on the standard subsidy-payoff contract, with a compulsory data plan to boot. Whatever the unsubsidized payment arrangements between Apple and AT&T, the contract arrangements between AT&T and consumers always assumed a subsidy. In fact, my recollection is that AT&T itself wouldn't even sell you that "unsubsidized" iPhone without activating a 2-year contract on the spot. Buying one from the Apple store did not enforce activation, but everyday customers couldn't activate on other carriers (or on a pre-paid AT&T plan) without using warranty-busting hacks that emerged only later. In fact, AT&T didn't market a no-contract iPhone until March, 2009 -- for $600-$700 depending on model, more than the original iPhone model ever cost "full price." Throughout his piece, Hansell writes often of people's confusion. He claims that even economists find cellphone plans baffling. But they're not hard to understand except in the nickel-and-dime details. Hansell's repeated evocation of "confusion" is reminiscent of when characters in novels continually ask what's going on, or when they wake up in white rooms: it's because the writer himself doesn't know. Excepting the Yale professor whose words introduce the article, the people quoted in it are carrier flacks and cellular industry analysts: a fair sign of a piece tossed off inside a snowglobe of PR.  Source: Boing Boing | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:55 pm IBM's new service jumps on cloud computing bandwagon (Reuters)Reuters - IBM launched a new cloud computing service on Monday, aiming to take on companies such as Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Salesforce.com Inc.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:38 pm Gartner Raises Global Chip Forecast on Strong PC Sales (PC World)PC World - Gartner raised its revenue forecast for the global chip industry on Monday due to stronger than expected demand for PCs and mobile phones, as well as government stimulus programs that have boosted demand for chips.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:30 pm Time Revisits TechlandTime Inc just launched a new technology blog called Techland, headed up by one of our former CrunchGear editors Peter Ha. Time magazine’s senior tech writer Lev Grossman is also a contributor. Techland covers the intersection of gadgets and geek culture, and is aimed at a mainstream audience. Some of the debut posts cover the movie 2012, Samsung’s new Android phone, and a recap of Apple’s legal victory over clone-maker Psystar. It’s a crowded field, but the appetite for gadget culture is seemingly endless. Random Internet history note: This won’t be the first time that Time Inc. trots out a blog by the name of Techland. It used to be one of the Business 2.0 blogs, and then a Fortune blog (archived here). My former editor at Business 2.0, Josh Quittner, who is now at Time, bought the domain way back when. Now it’s up to Ha to bring it back to life.
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Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:12 pm Apple Wins Big Against Psystar - PC Magazine
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm Plastic Boat: The Making of a High-Tech, Eco-StuntThey'll sail 60 feet of recycled plastic bottles, reconfigured as a catamaran, across the Pacific.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm Algae and Light Help Injured Mice Walk AgainTake a brain. Insert an algae gene. Flip a switch and watch a paralyzed mouse (or human) move and walk again.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm IBM Furthers Investment In Business Analytics With Smart Analytics Cloud
During IBM’s Q3 earnings call a few weeks ago, IBM CFO Mark Loughridge highlighted business analytics as a sector where Big Blue is investing significant amounts of cash. The company recently acquired data analytics company SPSS for $1.2 billion and business analytics firm RedPill. Tonight, IBM is unveiling a new internal analytics product that the company is touting as the “largest private cloud computing environment for business analytics in the world,” which launches internally with more than a petabyte of information. Along with this internal product, IBM will launch a companion product for clients to build upon this cloud-based architecture, called IBM Smart Analytics Cloud. The internal product, dubbed Blue Insight, will provide 200,000 employees in IBM’s sales and development department with the ability to extract data and information to make decisions and gain further insight at the point of sale. Blue Insight will gather information from nearly 100 different information warehouses and data stores, providing analytics on more than a petabyte (1,000 terabytes or 1,000,000 gigabytes) of data. For example, sales execs may use customizable queries of real time data to understand revenue opportunities and how many sales in their region are closing to help improve prediction. Or a manufacturing process engineer can evaluate real-time data on the plant floor to identify trends and data to improve yield and reduce shipment delivery times. IBM Smart Analytics Cloud offering for clients will similarly deliver powerful business intelligence via the scalable, private cloud. The product will lets the client import data and than transform this information into insights to develop strategies and decisions. The service sill offer the ability to create reports, analysis, dashboards, and scorecards to monitor business performance and measure results. IBM has been shifting its focus towards software and services as opposed to hardware and Big Blue’s strong earnings are an indication that this strategy is paying off in a big way. It’s not surpising that company is continuing to invest in R&D in cloud computing and business analytics, which seems to be the future for both Big Blue and other enterprise-focused tech giants like Oracle. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:50 pm Nvidia's RealityServer 3.0 Demonstratedrobotsrule writes "As we discussed last month, RealityServer 3.0 is Nvidia's attempt to bring photo-realistic 3D images to any Internet-connected device, including the likes of Android and iPhone. RealityServer 3.0 pushes the CPU-killing 3D rendering process to a high-power, GPU based, back-end server farm based on Nvidia's Tesla or Quadro architectures. The resulting images are then streamed back to the client device in seconds; such images would normally take hours to compute even on a high-end unassisted workstation. Extreme Tech has up an article containing an interview with product managers from Nvidia and Mental Images, whose iray application is employed in a two-minute video demonstrationof near-real-time ray-traced rendering." Once you get to the Extreme Tech site, going to the printable version will help to preserve sanity.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:30 pm Brightcove 4 Adds Support For The iPhone, Facebook, Live Video, And More
It’s been about a year since Brightcove released the last upgrade to its professional online video platform with Brightcove 3. On Monday, it’s going to release Brightcove 4, and it’s a massive upgrade. Brightcove 4 now supports a native video player on the iPhone, in Facebook, and live video streaming on the Web. It’s got Twitter integration for sharing videos, faster-loading video players, the ability to switch between Flash streaming and HTTP, adaptive streaming based on a user’s device and bandwidth, behind-the-firewall video delivery, support for most major ad servers, better analytics, and a new, cheaper, entry-level subscription service called Brightcove Express. The biggest new feature is the iPhone player. Instead of clicking off into the Quicktime player, Brightcove uses the Quicktime APIs to render the player within an app. Developers are going to love this because they can skin the player any way they want, tie it into the same ads served through a publisher’s Brightcove player on the Web, add email and Twitter sharing, and Coverflow-style browsing. The Facebook integration will also be popular. Brightcove 4 offers a template which allows for Facebook Connect logins with realtime comments which appear in each commenter’s Facebook stream. Brightcove videos shared on Facebook will also be playable within the stream, just like YouTube videos. Brightcove 4 will also support live video streams for the first time. Live videos of events can be scheduled, archived, mixed with on-demand videos, and tied into the same advertising backend. If a publisher has a huge event and would rather use their own CDN, they can do that as well. Why now? “We waited until there was sufficient market demand,” says CEO Jeremy Allaire. Yet more evidence that live video on the Web may be finding its legs. So far Brightcove is mostly used by media companies and professional video publishers who can afford to pay at least $500 a month for the service. But with this release, Brightcove is also trying to broaden its appeal with service plans which now begin at $99 a month. It’s still not a consumer platform, and probably never will be. But for professional Web video publishers and companies with video marketing budgets, the new entry point should help to expand Brightcove’s market. I am not sure why Brightcove holds all of this good stuff back until they can package it in a new, numbered release, since it is a Web-based service, which could just as easily upgrade on a rolling basis. But doing it all at once like this does highlight all the changes to the code-base, and shows why Brightcove is considered the leading Web video platform for professional use. Brightcove boast 800 customers which use its players across 2,500 different Web sites. Collectively, they reach 135 million unique viewers per month, according to Allaire. He won’t disclose exact revenues other than to say that it is in the “tens of millions” of dollars a year, and growing at a 50 percent annual rate. But he does say that the company, which has raised a total of $91 million in venture capital, isn’t burning any more cash. “During the first half of this year we were profitable and cash flow positive,” he says. Like everyone else, Brightcove cut back on expenses last year, and even went through layoffs of 13 percent of its workforce. The fourth quarter was the low point, but demand started picking up again at the beginning of the year, especially from branded goods companies, marketing departments, and even manufacturers looking to add video to their sites. Last quarter, Allaire hired 30 people, and currently employs 180. Next quarter he is looking to hire 30 more.
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Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:15 pm Brightcove 4 Online Video Platform UnveiledCAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Brightcove Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm AT&T Unveils Network-Based 'On Demand' Computing for Companies of All SizesDALLAS, Nov.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Improves External Interaction and Collaboration With JivePORTLAND, Ore., Nov.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm Microsoft’s Loss, Google’s Gain. Don Dodge Gets A New Job
We sat down with him to do a proper exit interview while he was in town. I got a few tips from Googlers that he was seen roaming their Mountain View headquarters, and I confirmed tonight that he has been offered a job at the company. He has accepted, and will shortly begin working for the company that he only recently considered the enemy. It’s unheard of for Google to go from a first interview to an offer in such a short period of time. For Dodge, the process from first interview to first day on the job was less than a week. He’ll be working for another ex-Microsofter, Vic Gundotra. Gundotra worked 15 years at Microsoft as General Manager of Microsoft’s developer outreach efforts. He joined Google in 2007 as VP Engineering, responsible for mobile applications and developer evangelism. Dodge will have a similar job at Google as he did at Microsoft – developer evangelism. He’ll be focusing on Google Apps. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 8:58 pm Mark Cuban Has An iPhone App
Mark Cuban’s image is on the home screen of the app, and users can choose to turn some of his personal pictures into puzzles, or use your own. The app is available now at rockapp.com/cuban (redirects to iTunes). You compete for fastest time to put a puzzle together. If I had an iPhone I’d definitely buy this just to make fun of Mark the next time I run into him. Alas, I’m on a Droid, so I’m safe for now. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 8:25 pm ChinaEdu Corporation to Present at the Brean Murray, Carret & Company's 2009 China Growth ConferenceBEIJING, Nov.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pm FTC Seeks to Modify BlueHippo SettlementBALTIMORE, Nov.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 7:36 pm "2012" Sells Tickets, Sells-Out ScienceLast night, my wife Deb and I went to watch the Roland Emmerich movie 2012. Deb fell asleep. She was the lucky one. I'm joking, it wasn't that bad, we just had to attend the midnight showing as the earlier ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 15 Nov 2009 | 7:34 pm Free Software For All Russian Schools In JeopardyGlyn Moody writes "Last year, we discussed here a Russian plan to install free software in all its schools. Seems things aren't going so well. Funds for the project have been cut back, some of the free software discs already sent out were faulty, and — inevitably — Microsoft has agreed to a 'special price' for Windows XP used in Russian schools."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:31 pm Last Ditch Effort to Save Tasmanian DevilsTasmanian devils are so close to extinction that conservationists are running out of long-term options. Swift and decisive action may be needed to prevent these carnivorous marsupials from disappearing off the face of the earth in our lifetime. You can ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:06 pm Introducing the CrunchGear Gift Guide It is officially on: we’re running our super duper, extra sassy Holiday Gift Guide from now until the end of time, giving you the latest in hot gift ideas for you and yours. Why are we doing this so early? Because we have so much to give away this year it’s scary. That said, let’s hit the slopes and shush our way into Gift Guide Nirvana.
What do you need to do? Well, first you have to click through to our gift guide and keep your eye on daily posts for news of what we’re giving away. We’re starting off with the five days of Peek Pronto: five full days, one Peek Pronto each day. How do you win? Just comment using your actual email and we’ll pick a winner a day from this post. We’ll also run other giveaways concurrently with this one, so fear not.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pm Bookmark Away: Instapaper Comes Up With A New Way To Work With The Kindle
There were a number of problems with the Kindle/Instapaper support. The biggest is that the system was completely unreliable. The way Instapaper works on the Kindle is that you have to set up the service to email your Kindle either daily or weekly wrap-ups of the articles you bookmark on the web. In my experience, about half the time this would work, the other half, these summaries simply would not get sent. Arment says he’s tried talking to Amazon about the issue, but has never received a response. Considering that Kindle users are paying $0.15 for each of these emails sent (an unfortunate side effect of the Kindle’s free built-in network), and it still is completely unreliable, this is totally unacceptable. So Arment has come up with a new way of doing Instapaper + Kindle: USB transfers. To be clear, this isn’t the most ideal solution, since at least the over-the-air sync required you to do nothing and now you’ll have to attach your Kindle to your computer. But USB transfer will be infinitely more reliable and 100% cheaper (as in, free). This new process (which Arment stresses is still very much “beta”) allows you to download a Kindle-compatible .mobi file. These files are populated with your 20 more recent Instapaper saved articles. This also isn’t ideal if you want to see older articles you have saved, but I suppose you could always re-save them if you really wanted them on your Kindle. On the upside, Instapaper will now work with non-U.S. Kindles (the email service was previously U.S.-only). Also nice is that many articles will now contain images, which previously were not transfered via the email route. Along with Kindle-ready .mobi files, Instapaper now also allows for ePub downloads, the format that many other popular e-readers use (like Sony Readers). The idea is the same with the Kindle support, you get your 20 most recent articles converted into .epub files which you can then read on these devices. There is also now print support for all Instapaper folders. Arment notes that because the over-the-air Kindle solution is completely unreliable with no support from Amazon, he plans to completely discontinue it next week in favor of the USB method. And if you’re wondering why you can’t simply use the Kindle’s built-in web browser to visit Instapaper, the answer is because the Kindle’s built-in web browser is awful and Instapaper currently doesn’t work on it (though Arment seems to suggest he is still trying to fix that). While it’s the Kindle that is the dedicated reading device, it’s interesting to note that Instapaper’s iPhone app is at least a billion times better for consuming Instapaper content away from your computer. Not only does it seamlessly sync over the air, but you can mark items as read from it, visit the actual content on the web, and do about a dozen other more useful things. Of course, the downside is that the iPhone has a backlit screen (harder on your eyes) and is much, much smaller than the Kindle. An Apple Tablet + Instapaper app might be the perfect remedy for the latter. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 5:55 pm Largest Gene Study Of Childhood IBD Identifies 5 New GenesFindings linked to a key molecule active in GI inflammationIn the largest, most comprehensive genetic analysis of childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an international research team has identified five new gene regions, including one involved in a biological pathway that helps drive the painful inflammation of the digestive tract that characterizes the disease.A research team led by Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says that the findings advance the scientific understanding of how IBD develops.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Nov 2009 | 5:54 pm NIST Demonstrates 'Universal' Programmable Quantum ProcessorPhysicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated the first "universal" programmable quantum information processor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics—the rules governing the submicroscopic world—using two quantum bits (qubits) of information.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Nov 2009 | 5:49 pm "Mandelbulb," a 3D Mandlebrot Construct, Discoveredsymbolset writes "Many know the beauty and complexity of the Mandelbrot set. For some years now a few enterprising mathematicians / rendering fiends have been seeking a true 3D Mandelbrot set. A month ago a solution was found, and it is awesome to behold."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Nov 2009 | 5:13 pm Android Market Badly Needs A Desktop Presence To Compete With The App Store
Currently, all Android Market browsing and transactions are done through an application that comes with the phone. This mobile application used to be pretty bad (it didn’t even offer screenshots of the apps), but was finally overhauled in September to be more competitive with the iPhone’s mobile version of the App Store. The new version is a big improvement, but browsing the store from the phone isn’t exactly a good time — you can only see a few apps at once, so scrolling through various lists gets tedious. Contrast that with the App Store that’s integrated into Apple’s iTunes. Using iTunes to download new applications isn’t just something people do when they need an app to accomplish a certain task. It’s something they do for fun. Clicking through various top apps exposes plenty of high quality games, apps from popular sites like Yelp, and even the occasional productivity tool. It’s all very fast too — you can easily download fifteen new apps in a single browsing session without breaking a sweat. Android doesn’t have anything close to that. The official Android Market website (pictured below) is a total joke. It shows a list of some of the top apps from its Paid and Free sections, along with a handful of screenshots. It doesn’t even have a full listing of the apps available, or any kind of search feature (as an aside, the entire Android site looks terrible — type in “Android” into Google, and this homepage is the first result). Yes, there are more comprehensive third-party listings, but there’s no way to download apps to your device without looking them up from your phone.
There’s an answer to this, and it’s one that’s right up Google’s alley: Google should rework the Android Market site into a full-fledged AJAXy web app, hopefully with the input of some talented designers. From a functionality standpoint the new Market should be a fairly blatant ripoff of Apple’s App Store on iTunes, with Top App lists, search, ratings, and so on (though there’s plenty of room for Google to improve on application discovery). Users would log in using their Google accounts, and use Google Checkout for payments. Next to every app listing would be a ‘Download’ or ‘Buy’ button. Clicking that would then send a notification to your phone, alerting you that you had outstanding downloads that could be sent straight to your device at your leisure. Large applications would require a Wi-Fi connection to download. Your Android phone is already tied to your Google account anyway, so the entire experience would be seamless. Of course, there’s the argument that most people don’t buy mobile apps from their desktop anyway — AdMob recently conducted a survey(PDF) that found that over 90% of users download their iPhone apps Over-The-Air (i.e. they’re downloaded directly to the phone) rather than through an iTunes sync. That number sounds high to me, but it’s one that Google shouldn’t pay much attention to for a few reasons. For one, syncing with iTunes is a pain. Yes, Apple has made the process about as easy as it could given the bevy of options it has to include, but between the backing up, nebulous ‘Syncing’ messages, lengthy transfers from PC to iPhone and vice versa, it’s just a lot easier to download straight to your phone. A cloud based push solution wouldn’t have those syncing issues — you’d be able to purchase apps from just about any computer connected to the Internet, and the only downtime required would be the time needed to actually download the app from Google’s servers. And even if the bulk of purchases would still be done directly from handsets, that doesn’t make a full fledged Android Market experience on the desktop any less important. Android Market is still very much the underdog to Apple’s App Store, and consumers considering an Android handset are likely turning to the web to scope out the applications available on Android to see how they compare to the App Store. Right now, Android fails that test. Done properly, this setup would likely see the number of apps downloaded increase, as would the number of paid purchases (entering a credit card number on a computer is far easier than on a phone). And that would bring more developers to the platform, boosting the number of quality apps available. Of course, Android has a few other problems to worry about — some developers complain about the inability to install applications on a phone’s SD card, and there’s always the problems involved with developing for multiple devices running different versions of the OS. But turning the Market into something users can actually browse from their PCs is a good start. Oh, and don’t be surprised if Apple adopts their own web based store some time in the future — they’re already experimenting with ‘iTunes Preview’ for music and video content. Image via GearDiary. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 5:12 pm Stacking 117 objects on a Lego block, then knocking it over.Artist Walter Wick stacks 117 objects on a single Lego block, then sends little wind-up creatures toward it to knock it over. Fun! (Via Gurney Journey) Alternate Star Trek pilot to be releasedThe forthcoming DVD release of Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 3 includes a pilot episode previously only available on the bootleg circuit. Apparently a German film collector found a print of this alternate version of the second Star Trek pilot, titled "Where No One Has Gone Before," and brought it to Paramount. Above are some clips from that alternate version of the pilot, which has never officially been released until now. From The Live Feed: The alternate version is in three parts with 1970s-style act breaks, an entirely different version of Captain James T. Kirk's opening monologue ("But now a new task. A probe out into where no man has gone before") and music that contrasts from the famous opening theme and an extended action sequence.Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 3, Blu-ray (Amazon, thanks Jason Weisberger!) UPDATE: From Memory Alpha, more background on this alternative version of the pilot episode: There is a different, pre-broadcast cut of ("Where No One Has Gone Before") in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution. This unique cut includes a few brief scenes trimmed from the aired cut of the episode, different opening titles, and a unique closing theme. The alternate closing theme can be heard on the GNP Crescendo CD Star Trek: Original Series (Volume 1) "The Cage" / "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The pre-broadcast cut is commercially available only in bootleg form, although it has been screened at numerous conventions. Paul Carr was credited as "Navigator" in the end credits of the original cut. The version on the first season box set may contain the alternate ending theme, but does have the changed credits. This cut will be finally be available commercially on the Season 3 Blu-Ray set. Source: Boing Boing | 15 Nov 2009 | 4:37 pm "Assassin's Creed 2" hits stores on Tuesday (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Nov 2009 | 4:25 pm Apple Deals Another Blow to Psystar (PC World)PC World - tar can't catch a break. After spending more than a year in a legal battle with Apple for selling Intel based systems pre-loaded with Mac OS X, the company lost its battle on Friday when a federal judge ruled in favor of Apple.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Nov 2009 | 4:17 pm Happy Holidays from CrunchGear
Good luck and thanks for reading!
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Nov 2009 | 4:09 pm UN Officials Remove Poster Mentioning Chinese FirewallAt a UN-sponsored Internet Governance Forum in Egypt, anti-censorship group Open Net Initiative was startled by a demand from UN officials to remove a poster mentioning Chinese Net censorship. When ONI refused the request, security personnel arrived and took away the poster. The group was promoting a new book, Access Controlled, a survey of Internet censorship, filtering, and online surveillance. A witness said, "The poster was thrown on the floor and we were told to remove it because of the reference to China and Tibet. We refused, and security guards came and removed it. The incident was witnessed by many." Here is a video of the removal.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pm Black Friday 2009 video game deals roundupFROM GAMERTELL - For those of you who like things in nice, nifty, easy-to-browse bullet-point style lists, click on through…
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm Genentech Puts Words In the Mouths of Congress Memberstheodp writes "In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling health care, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with remarkable similarities. Often, that was no accident. Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech. E-mail obtained by the NY Times shows that lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans. Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss drug giant Roche, estimates that 42 House members picked up some of its talking points — 22 Republicans and 20 Democrats, an unusual bipartisan coup for lobbyists. ... The statements were not intended to change the bill, which was not open for much amendment during the debate. They were meant to show bipartisan support for certain provisions, even though the vote on passage generally followed party lines. ... Asked about the Congressional statements, a lobbyist close to Genentech said: 'This happens all the time. There was nothing nefarious about it.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Nov 2009 | 2:52 pm SAME we can believe inSAME WE CAN BELIEVE IN: The Obama administration has granted Defense Secty. Robert Gates new powers to block the release of 21 color photos showing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq being abused by Americans. The ACLU sued for release of the images. Federal courts previously rejected attempts to keep them secret. ACLU: "No democracy has ever been made stronger by suppressing information about its own misconduct."
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm Apple patents anti-user attention-compliancewareApple's filed a patent on a design for a device that won't let its owner use it unless that person demonstrates that she has complied with an advertiser's demands by paying attention to an ad and taking some action indicating her dutiful attention.It's amazing how many of these vendors fail to understand Chekhov's first law of narrative: "A gun on the mantelpiece in act one is bound to go off by act three." That is, if you design a device that is intended to attack its user -- by shutting her out of her own files and processes against her wishes and without her consent -- someone will figure out how to use that device to attack its user. Or as Mitch Kapor once quipped, "Architecture is politics." Designing your device ecosystem for 1984 gives you...1984. Cue Apple Fanboys who want us all to understand that the infallible and immortal Steve Jobs would only use this power to show us lovely, interesting, and informative messages that we're happy to receive in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1.... Its distinctive feature is a design that doesn't simply invite a user to pay attention to an ad -- it also compels attention. The technology can freeze the device until the user clicks a button or answers a test question to demonstrate that he or she has dutifully noticed the commercial message. Because this technology would be embedded in the innermost core of the device, the ads could appear on the screen at any time, no matter what one is doing.Apple Wouldn't Risk Its Cool Over a Gimmick, Would It? (via Warren Ellis) Source: Boing Boing | 15 Nov 2009 | 1:58 pm Apple patents anti-user attention-compliancewareApple's filed a patent on a design for a device that won't let its owner use it unless that person demonstrates that she has complied with an advertiser's demands by paying attention to an ad and taking some action indicating her dutiful attention.
Its distinctive feature is a design that doesn't simply invite a user to pay attention to an ad -- it also compels attention. The technology can freeze the device until the user clicks a button or answers a test question to demonstrate that he or she has dutifully noticed the commercial message. Because this technology would be embedded in the innermost core of the device, the ads could appear on the screen at any time, no matter what one is doing. Apple Wouldn't Risk Its Cool Over a Gimmick, Would It?
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Nov 2009 | 1:53 pm UN goons destroy academic poster describing China's censorwallJZ sez, "The OpenNet Initiative, a joint effort of U. Toronto's Citizen Lab and Harvard's Berkman Center, tracks Internet filtering by governments around the world. We published a book detailing such filtering in 2008 called Access Denied, and the sequel is about to come out, called Access Controlled. ONI colleagues Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinksi were at the Internet Governance Forum today in Egypt, where they hosted a reception about Access Controlled. It featured a poster describing the book. The poster contained the following sentence: The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous 'Great Firewall of China' is one of the first national Internet filtering systems. That was apparently enough to trigger concerns on behalf of the Chinese government, and UN-liveried security guards knocked over the poster and then later removed it."
IGF 2009 event rattled by UN Security Office
(Thanks, JZ!) "Pathfinders" Take Shape For Galileo, Europe's GPSoliderid sends along a BBC report on progress toward Europe's home-grown GPS system. The Galileo concept will get an initial test via four "pathfinder" satellites that will be the first in the Galileo constellation. Galileo is intended to be complementary with the US GPS system — when all 30 Galileo birds are flying, a receiver with both GS and Galileo capability should enjoy 1-meter positional accuracy, vs. the several meters available through GPS alone, according to the article. There's a video tour of the facility where the pathfinders are being built. "After all the wrangling, the delays, and the furor over cost, Europe's version of GPS is finally starting to take shape. Due for launch in pairs in late 2010 and early 2011, the 'pathfinders' will form a mini-constellation in the sky. They will transmit the navigation signals that demonstrate the European system can become a reality."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm djay 3 gets a dedicated controller
Christened Spin, this “turntable” connects to your Mac with USB, allowing you to control djay 3, and by extension, iTunes, seamlessly. It weighs just a little over 3 pounds, making it a very mobile system. The two jog wheels and various faders allow you to control speed, looping, cue points, effects, and EQ, just as with a traditional DJ rig. There are dedicated mic in and headphone out ports, as well as a pair of stereo RCA jacks for house speakers. You can pick one of these controllers up exclusively at any Apple Store for $249.95, which includes the djay 3 software. The software standalone price is $49.95.
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pm Top 10 Gamertell posts for the week of November 08, 2009FROM GAMERTELL - Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! MORE »
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm Modern Warfare 2 hacked to reveal dev console, tweaks, etc
Well, you can’t keep a good PC gamer down. Certain cracks already allow some online play, and now the console has been enabled, allowing players to kick, change POV and FOV, and presumably do most of the stuff Infinity Ward decided had to stay in the cookie jar. Tut tut, developers. You didn’t see this coming? You could have made it easier on yourselves, but instead you turned a whole segment of your market against you. Here’s the download link for the tool (use at your own risk) and the discussion thread at Guru3D.
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Nov 2009 | 12:59 pm How to Profit off the Poor… and Keep Your Soul
These weren’t middle class kids on the well-trod, parent-driven Indian path to seats at IIT. These were Delhi slum kids, whose families likely live on less than $2 a day. And yet, for the last five years, they’ve spent several hours of their free time every day playing games and learning English, Math and Science on computers. So how have they bridged the much-agonized-about digital divide without a hand out from a chip company, computer company or wealthy philanthropist? A for-profit Indian company called NIIT. It started back in 1999 when Sugata Mitra, NIIT’s chief scientist, noticed his kid could learn how to use gadgets like a mobile phone far faster than tech-savvy adults could. At this time, most computer “labs” in Indian schools were one or two computers that were only to be used under the strict supervision of a teacher. The reasoning was computers were expensive and required training and supervision. As a result many kids only got to look at them from afar in the classroom. Instead Mitra wondered what would happen if he left a computer out in the open for a group of children to discover. So he literally knocked a hole in the office wall to the slum on the other side. He shoved a computer in the hole and set up a camera on a tree limb to record what happened. A 13-year-old, illiterate kid who’d never seen a computer wandered over tentatively, and soon realized he could move the cursor by moving a finger across the touch pad. Within four hours, a small group of kids had gathered. They had figured out how to open Internet Explorer and were playing a game on Disney’s Web site. “All of us were absolutely shocked watching that,” says Abhishek Gupta who heads the program now. Some expected the kids to break or even try to steal the computer. A pilot project with the World Bank followed, and 22 of these “Hole in the Wall” kiosks were set up around the country from 2001 to 2005. The organization studied the results closely. The most obvious take-away was that kids left on their own will learn computers. The project also helped develop team-building and social skills—with 200 kids sometimes huddled around one screen. Whether the computers lead to more general academic improvement was less clear, but in many cases it was up measurably, Gupta says. But interestingly when that partnership was over, NIIT didn’t take the project down the non-profit route. It’s not because the company is adverse to such things—it’s also opening a new high-end university that is run as a non-profit. But there’s a unique attitude in India that believes the way to eradicate poverty is to turn India’s scrappiest, free-market entrepreneurs on the problem, not to increase handouts. NIIT now sells the kiosks at between $6,000 and $20,000—depending on which model and how many screens—to the government, who puts them mostly in schools in India’s poorest areas. There are 500 stations in India and a handful in 10 different African countries. Having customers means NIIT has had to compromise on the original vision. For instance, the government requires administrators to keep an eye on the systems. They’re not open when an administrator isn’t there. But running the program as a business has assured its survival and given NIIT the cash flow to pour money into content creation so it doesn’t have to rely on the country’s spotty Internet connections for kids to stay engaged. Gupta says his job isn’t necessarily to be a profit center. Success is running a break-even program that makes a social impact. But that’s still a world away from a donor-funded program. NIIT isn’t alone. For profit companies have made microfinance loans for years in India. One of the most known is SKS Microfinance. It was run as a non-profit in the early days, but when it was time to scale, decided to turn into a Sequoia Capital-backed startup. “It’s important to realize the poor have been paying three-to-four times more to the local money lender,” says Surendra Jain, a managing director with Sequoia in Bangalore. “There’s nothing wrong with using the same tools to scale the way other companies scale. The question is: In your heart are you doing the right thing?” Even non-profits I’ve met over the last two weeks run themselves to rely on revenues not donors. An example is LabourNet, a company that seeks to move India’s huge informal workforce into a formal channel. The company organizes phalanxes of construction crews, drivers, cooks and retail clerks and matches them with the best employers. How does it reach them? Word of mouth and SMS. So far 7,000 workers are in the system. It was started by Solomon JP. His umbrella non-profit organization, MAYA, has already produced one self-sustaining company that trains poor youth in making high-value furniture. With a grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CHF International, an international NGO addressing urban poverty in India, is providing technical and financial support to help LabourNet become a self-sustaining enterprise. “Being poor isn’t about not having money, it’s a lack of capabilities,” JP says. So LabourNet doesn’t stop at getting poor people a job, it offers access to healthcare benefits, issues ID cards, and helps with bank accounts, literacy, and job training too. The worker pays a small fee, and the employer pays LabourNet a larger one in exchange for matching them up. It’s hard work. JP has been working with the poor in Bangalore for some 15 years and says it’s like Hotel California. “I don’t recommend this path. I can never leave. I’m trapped!” he says with a weary half-smile. (I’m not sure what percentage of that is a joke.) But he believes he and others can solve the problem through self-sustaining means as long as organizations don’t sacrifice humanity in the name of efficiency. It’s a dramatic difference from China, where most entrepreneurs are building businesses that are aimed squarely at the top of the pyramid or the burgeoning middle class. But since India is a democracy—and not an authoritarian one—it doesn’t have the same social safety net of other emerging worlds. It’s fitting that it’s trying to use a free-market economy to solve its social ills instead— something American do-gooders could probably learn from. After all, we’ve got our own digital divide. One final note on NIIT’s Hole in the Wall program: It was allegedly the inspiration for the book “Slumdog Millionaire” which spawned the movie. “Where’s my Oscar?” is a favorite joke of Rajendra Pawar, the chairman and co-founder of NIIT. I asked a lot of people working to eradicate poverty how they felt about the movie, and most said it was neutral-to-positive for India. It doesn’t hurt to show rich Americans how one-third of India’s 1.2 billion-person population lives, even if it was sensationalized. The difference is none of them are banking on a one-time windfall as the answer. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Source: TechCrunch | 15 Nov 2009 | 12:58 pm Secret Diary of a Specialist in Developmental Neurotoxicology and Cancer EpidemiologyThe author of long-running "secret diary of a call girl" blog Belle de Jour outs herself. Dr. Brooke Magnanti is a science blogger--and respected health researcher. And she really was a sex worker, for about a year and a half, while finishing her Ph.D. Takeaway lesson: Graduate school is expensive, yo. Takeaway debate: Is this good or bad for female scientists/science bloggers? It shouldn't matter at all. But does it?
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pm New Dating Sites Match People Through DNA TestsThe Installer writes with this excerpt from an Associated Press report: "A couple of genetic testing companies are promising to match couples based on DNA testing, touting the benefits of biological compatibility. The companies claim that a better biological match will mean better sex, less cheating, longer-lasting love and perhaps even healthier children. 'How many dating services can you think of where they can suggest you might have better children?' said Eric Holzle, founder of ScientificMatch.com, one of the first online dating sites to use DNA. ... The idea is that people tend to be attracted to those who have immune system genes that are dissimilar from their own. Biologists say the HLA genes of the immune system — which are responsible for recognizing and marking foreign cells such as viruses so other parts of the immune system can attack them — also determine body odor 'fingerprints.' And people tend to be attracted to the natural body odors of those who have different HLA genes from their own."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Nov 2009 | 12:27 pm December Climate Pact Not Likely, World Leaders SaySeveral world leaders have agreed that a legally binding climate deal between nations would not be likely to be reached by next month’s summit in Copenhagen.During the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting, leaders admitted an agreement may not be reached until 2010."GivenSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Nov 2009 | 12:26 pm Braving the weather to see New Super Mario Bros. Wii at the Nintendo World Store
New Super Mario Bros. Wii hits stores today, and it will probably be on of the biggest games of the year. (Little Tommy and Little Susie shouldn’t be playing Modern Warfare 2!) To celebrate the launch of this latest Mario game, Nintendo invited its fans to the Nintendo World Store in New York yesterday. In addition to being able to buy the game a whole day early, fans could participate in a Mario tournament, get their picture taken in Mario garb, play the older games in the series, and meet Gary and Alison from Nintendo Week. It was basically madness. I strolled in, along with my younger brother (who desperately wanted to meet the Nintendo Week hosts… it’d be like me wanting to meet Brock Lesnar or Lionel Messi), and found the Nintendo World Store swarming with children. You immediately realized that yeah, for all of the money games like Modern Warfare 2 or Assassin’s Creed II make, Nintendo’s audience is completely different. That’s not exactly breaking news, no. Unfortunately for the Nintendo faithful, New York was being battered by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, so it was windy, rainy, and gray all day long. That made standing in line to buy the game much more of a hassle, and meant that I was juggling my camera, an extra lens, and an umbrella while trying to avoid running into anybody while taking photos. The line to buy the game was quite long, stretching about halfway down the block. I waited, like an everyman, and was out there for around 20 minutes. Keep in mind that I find the idea of waiting in line for a video game to be ludicrous, but you sometimes have to make exceptions. That’s about it. It was a fun little afternoon, only hindered by the fact that it was something like 98-degrees Fahrenheit upstairs (where the tournament took place). I also ran into E-Rock from the Opie and Anthony Show, which was pretty great in its own right. I’ll have my thoughts on the game itself in the coming days.
Source: Gizmodo | 15 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm Are You a Blue-Collar Or White-Collar Developer?jammag writes "Some developers have gone to four-year universities, where they've also studied subjects like history and sociology, while other coders go to vocational schools and focus purely on writing great software. So why, asks a longtime developer, is there a stigma attached to not having a four-year degree, when 'blue collar' coders might be better trained? Why does the software industry keep emphasizing this difference — and generally giving better pay to four-year grads? Isn't being a developer about real skill level, not the piece of paper on the wall?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:24 am Warmer Means Windier On Lake SuperiorRising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren.Since 1985, surface water temperatures measured by lake buoys have climbed 1.2 degrees per decade, about 15 percent faster than the air above the lake and twice as fast as warming over nearby land."The lake's thermal budget is very sensitive to the amount of ice cover over the winter," says Ankur Desai, atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:05 am Hot gaming news for the week of 11-08-2009Section:  No need to scour the interwebs for hot gaming news, Gamertell‘s already done that for you! Here’s a look at this week’s top stories…
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am Toys (backwards R) Us Black Friday ad
I have no backwards R key on my keyboard and I don’t have the wherewithal to figure out the tricky Wingdingy ALT+numpad+four digit code voodoo it’d take to produce it (if it’s even possible), so let’s just say “Toys R Us” and enjoy the store’s Black Friday ad.
Stores open at midnight – yes midnight – on Thursday night/Friday morning. Doorbuster deals are marked with an asterisk and are good until 1PM on Friday. Computers VTech Learning Laptop – $14.99 * Digital Cameras Fujifilm FinePix Red 12MP Digital Camera – $69.99 * iCarly Mini Digital Camera – $12.49 * Pink Or Blue Digital Video Camcorder – $29.99 * Vivitar 8.1MP Digital Camera – $39.99 * Digital Media Cards SanDisk 8 GB SDHC Memory Card – $19.99 * DVD Players Coby 7″ Portable DVD Player – $49.99 * Digital Labs DVD Player – $19.99 Electronics Grand Prix AM/FM Clock Radio – $4.99 iHome iPod Docking Station – $39.99 * iHome iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock Docking Station – $49.99 Nickelodeon Portable CD Player – $14.99 Sakar Digital Photo Frame Keychain – $9.99 Singing Machine Karaoke System – $49.99 * Home Theater Coby Home Theater System – $49.99 Miscellaneous Toys R Us Battery 20 Packs – $4.99 * MP3 Players $50 Gift Card With Any Apple iPod 8GB Touch – $0.00 * Nextar 1GB Digital Mp3 Player – $11.48 Nextar 2GB MP3 Player With Video – $17.49 * SanDisk 8GB Sansa Fuze MP3 Player – $49.99 * Photos Nextar 7″ Digital Photo Frame – $29.99 * Televisions Haier 22″ LCD TV – $199.99 * Video Games All iCarly Video Game Accessories – 50% Off Avatar For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Avatar Into The Inferno For Nintendo Wii – $9.99 Carrying Case For Wii – $15.00 Cheetah Girls For Nintendo DS – $21.99 Chrysler Classic Racing For Nintendo Wii – $9.99 Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (Wii Game) – $29.99 * Club Penguin For Nintendo DS – $17.99 Crash Bandicot For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Dead Space (Wii Game) – $24.99 * Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360 Game) – $34.99 * Gear Monkey Video Game Accessories – B1G1 Free * Guitar Hero On Tour And Decades Two Pack Bundle (DS Game) – $29.99 * Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360 Game) – $34.99 * Hannah Montana Guitar Video Game – $24.99 * Hot Shots Golf – $21.99 iCarly (Wii Game) – $23.99 * Ice Age For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Imagine Family Doctor For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Imagine Party Babyz For Nintendo Wii – $9.99 Kingdom For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Messenger Bag For Xbox 360 – $15.00 Monsters Vs Aliens For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Mushroom Men For Nintendo DS – $21.99 MySims Party For Nintendo Wii – $9.99 Narnia For Nintendo DS – $21.99 Need For Speed: Shift (PS3 Game) – $34.99 * Need For Speed: Shift (Xbox 360 Game) – $34.99 * Nintendo DS Lite Starter Kit – $11.99 Petz Horse Ranch For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Pirates Of The Caribbean – $21.99 PSP Accessories – 50% Off * Scooby Doo First Frights (Wii Game) – $23.99 * Select Nintendo DS Accessories – $5.00 Select Nintendo DS Games – B1G1 Select Wii Accessories – $10.00 Sonic Rivals 2 – $21.99 Spore Hero (Wii Game) – $24.99 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Wii Game) – $29.99 * The Price Is Right For Nintendo Wii – $9.99 Tony Hawks Motion For Nintendo DS – $9.99 Transformers For Nintendo DS – $17.99 Ultimate Alliance 2 For Nintendo DS – $17.99 Video Game Charge Docking Stations – $15.00 * Wii Fit Accessories – 50% Off * Wii Nerf N-Strike Bundle (Wii Game) – $14.99 * Xbox 360 Arcade System With Carry Case And Three Games – $229.95 * Xbox 360 Wired Guitar Hero Game Controller – $9.99 * Toys R Us Black Friday Ad [BlackFriday.info]
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am MIT Scientists Pinpoint Origin Of Arsenic In Bangladesh WaterImage 1: Rebecca Neumann (in green hat) works with graduate students from the Harvey Lab, technicians from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and local people to install a 20-foot tower in a rice field near Bashailbhog village in Bangladesh. The tower housed a datalogger and battery that powered, controlled and recorded data collected hourly by 18 hydrologic sensors installed at a range of depths below the rice field surface. The tower, red cage and waterproof box were necessary to keep the equipment above the annual monsoon floods, which may be as deep as 15 feet. Neumann periodically climbed the tower carrying a laptop computer to download data off of the datalogger. Credit: Photo / Charles Harvey, MITImage 2: Rebecca Neumann of MIT hangs on bamboo scaffolding in a rice field near Bashailbhog village in Bangladesh as she connects the end of the tubing that will be used to suck up water from the rice field for analysis, including determining the arsenic content. The setup was used for an intensive sampling campaign that involved the collection and processing of surface water from seven locations, and subsurface water from 14 locations every day and night for six days. Credit: Photo / Sarah Jane White, MITSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:31 am Court sides with Apple, those dudes at Psystar are hosed
Groklaw puts it best when it writes:
Shine on, you crazy Psystar diamonds. I guess I’ll never get support for the janky Hackintosh we bought. Thanks, Alex
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am Apple: Psyonara, Psystar [Digital Daily]
“Psystar has violated Apple’s exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works,” Alsup wrote in his ruling (see full text below). Not only did the company infringe on Apple’s (AAPL) copyrights by installing Mac OS X on its hackintoshes, he explained, it violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to do so. An ugly defeat for Psystar, which just a few weeks ago asked a judge to bless its business and rule that it is legally allowed to sell machines with Apple’s Mac OS X pre-installed. Still, it doesn’t mean that the acrimonious legal battle between the two companies is finished. Psystar could appeal, though Alsup’s ruling would seem to leave the company pretty far up that certain creek it’s been traveling lately–without a paddle. There remain a number of accusations to be decided at trial, among them, Apple’s claims of breach of contract, trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition. Beyond these, there are the damages that will almost certainly be brought against Psystar on the copyright issues in the case. “The court asked for briefs on that subject,” Pamela Jones notes over at Groklaw. “In short, Psystar is toast. Psystar’s only hope now is Florida, and frankly I wouldn’t bet the house on that one. Judges notice if you were just found guilty of a similar cause of action in another state.”
Source: All Things Digital | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:23 am The Green Flash of the Sun
Sometimes, from certain places, the light from the sun can briefly appear green. NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day explains,
Astronomy Picture of the Day via Cliff Pickover. Source: Boing Boing | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:01 am Black Friday 2009: Office Depot’s Black Friday deals leakedSection: Gadgets / Other
Computers:
Digital Cameras:
GPS:
TVs
Office Depot isn’t doing any Doorbusters, but quantities will still be limited so be sure to get there early! Read [BlackFriday.info] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am Apple Approves Political Caricature App: A Closer Look - PC World
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 15 Nov 2009 | 8:22 am BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 11-08-2009Section:  We may not cover Apple 24x7… but we know someone who does! Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 15 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am Dell touts "World's fastest office laser printer" (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - On Tuesday Dell announced the 5130cdn ($1549), a workgroup color laser printer that the company claims is the âworldâs fastest single function letter-size office color laser printer.âSource: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am Please release me: Modern Warfare, Spore Islands, and Half Minute HeroesFor most, there will have been only one game released this week (and that most includes a number of major publishers, who, gun-shy from the competition, have pushed their own releases to Q1 of next year): Infinity Ward's return to the Modern Warfare franchise they laid down in 2007. Modern Warfare 2 [Infinity Ward, PC/PS3/Xbox 360] The developer has twice courted controversy in recent weeks, one for the very unfortunately devised viral video gag (for which IW has yet to offer a formal apology), and the second with early leaked video of what it surely intended as its most emotionally charged level -- a scene in which an agent embedded with an arms trafficker is present for a civilian massacre.Infinity Ward were correct on one count: taking the scene out of context is misleading, as the premise is the hook on which the global geo-political fallout that guides the rest of the game is hung, and your involvement in it has its own twist of fate. But they otherwise squandered what could have been a multi-faceted moral quandary and flattened it into a paper-thin action scene with no real ramifications. Players, who experience the scene looking down the barrel of their own gun, can easily simply play witness to the horrors around them without once pulling the trigger, but IW make it impossible to actually finish the level without killing at least a few of the SWAT team that arrives when the damage is done (unless I missed a route in my hour-long trial to do just that). But simply observing also never overtly raises the suspicion of the rogue team you're embedded with -- that only comes if you deliberately try to hang back away from the group for more than a minute (and, I don't know, say, distract yourself by taking a closer look at all of the hardcover jackets in the airport bookstore). Devoid of any real freedom of choice, then, and coming -- as it does -- far too early in the game for players to first become emotionally invested in its world, its execution (no pun) falls flat. That's a shame, too, because its bombastic volume drowns out a number of more genuinely affecting subtleties. Chiefly, the return of 'Soap' McTavish -- the rookie recruit who served as the first MW's player-character -- as a vet seasoned by your own actions in that game, now guiding and protecting you as an even fresher face (whose approval I found myself actively seeking in our duo levels). As a summer-blockbuster-esque rollercoaster (and one clearly made by a team in love with the essence if not the lessons of HBO miniseries Generation Kill), it's hard to come away unaffected by the thrill of its ride, and -- as with the original -- its true long term draw the unique lite-MMO structure of its multiplayer (that unlocks abilities as you level up through wins and kills), but it's a shame that it doesn't require more of you than thinking -- in the Colbert-ian sense -- from your gut, for as much as it chides you for shooting from the hip. Spore Islands [Area/Code / Maxis, web] Also recently launched and well worth your time is one of EA's first forays into the Facebook gamespace with one of its largest brands: Spore. Created by NYC developer Area/Code (the studio behind masterful iPhone puzzler Drop7) in conjunction with original creator Maxis, the game feels more closely akin to the direction the Spore franchise was headed in in the earliest days of development. Influenced by the biodiversity (and the high number of evolutionary experiments that died in their tracks) of the Burgess Shale, Spore Islands is a numbers game of statistic modifications to create a creature that can withstand both the elements and the set of creatures that inhabit your island -- or, with its deep social hook, the islands of your Facebook friends. The catch is that your observations (the simulations that let you see first hand how your character is faring and what weaknesses or strengths it needs to focus on) and the DNA point modifications to tweak your character to flourish in its environment are unlocked over real-time (or by purchasing them outright), but it's one of the games on the platform that's actually worth that wait, and easily the smartest time-sink on Facebook. Half Minute Hero [XSEED, PSP] And finally, another game released just a week or two prior but still eating up most of my time (in very tiny chunks) is the PSP release of XSEED's Half Minute Hero, a game which tells you more about its premise in its title than you'd first believe. Created originally as a miniscule freeware indie release that would be expanded to a full commercial production, Half Minute's hook is that of a traditional RPG, shooter, and strategy game played out in a world where there's only 30 seconds before total demonic annihilation. What this means as a player is that your 8-bit hero is tasked with leveling up via CPU-controlled random battles and player-controlled returns to town for better equipment while staring at a rapidly decreasing timer, desperately trying to save up the precious last seconds to defeat the inevitable time-controlling demon at the end (and undertaking various seconds-long missions in between to get there). It's a slow-motion version of the three-second micro-games of Nintendo's WarioWare series, and -- split as it is into easily digestible chapter missions -- is the perfect addition to a platform that's been very much in need of more portable plays. Already too much overlooked even by the hardcore, there aren't many other recent games that are more deserving of your 30 seconds at a time.
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 15 Nov 2009 | 7:53 am Shutter Buddy: Look up here. Atsa baby. Up here!
Babies, as we know, are dumb. They’ll look at any old thing. That’s why the Shutter Buddy is ingenious. You put this checkered hood over your camera, make a bunch of funny noises, and wham – instant smiley baby. Or instant crying baby. Or instant baby crawling off to the stairs to try to climb up the first two only to slip onto the floor and cry. Wow, right? If I weren’t so sleep deprived I’d kick myself for not thinking of this.
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Nov 2009 | 7:50 am Hotel proudly proclaims Winston Churchill's displeasure with its service Alice spent the weekend in a Scottish hotel that Winston Churchill was a regular guest at -- even though he seems to have hated it, as is demonstrated by this sign in the lobby.
... and he hated it. by Crys Cellphone contracts getting even better!Saul Hansell suggests that hated U.S. cellular carrier practices such as text message markups and fee-packed contracts ultimately give American consumers what they really want: predictable bills. In pursuit of this we learn of the psychological "nuances" of pricing and the "supersized logic" of using fat overage fees to upsell customers to expensive all-you-can-eat plans. "This year," he writes, "the deals are becoming even better." His piece even claims that the industry would love to give up the adhesive contracts, early termination fees and locked-in subsidy handsets that it won't give up, even when threatened by congress. Now all the carriers are selling heavily subsidized smartphones. They hate this state of affairs -- and wish that American consumers would just pay full price for the phones, the way people do in Europe. Hansell's evidence for this is the iPhone, which was "unsubsidized" when it was $600. It only dropped to $400 and then $200, he writes, when they moved to subsidies. He implies that the iPhone launch was initially unsuccessful and that this shows Americans won't buy contract-free phones: "Consumers balked at the high upfront cost. By the second generation of the iPhone, Apple reverted to a traditional subsidy model." For customers, however, the only practical option with the $600 U.S. iPhone was to activate it on the standard subsidy-payoff contract, with a compulsory data plan to boot. Whatever the unsubsidized payment arrangements between Apple and AT&T, the contract arrangements between AT&T and consumers always assumed a subsidy. In fact, my recollection is that AT&T itself wouldn't even sell you that "unsubsidized" iPhone without activating a 2-year contract on the spot. Buying one from the Apple store did not enforce activation, but everyday customers couldn't activate on other carriers (or on a pre-paid AT&T plan) without using warranty-busting hacks that emerged only later. In fact, AT&T didn't market a no-contract iPhone until March, 2009 -- for $600-$700 depending on model, more than the original iPhone model ever cost "full price." Throughout his piece, Hansell writes often of people's confusion. He claims that even economists find cellphone plans baffling. But they're not hard to understand except in the nickel-and-dime details. Hansell's repeated evocation of "confusion" is reminiscent of when characters in novels continually ask what's going on, or when they wake up in white rooms: it's because the writer himself doesn't know. Excepting the Yale professor whose words introduce the article, the people quoted in it are carrier flacks and cellular industry analysts: a fair sign of a piece tossed off inside a snowglobe of PR. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Nov 2009 | 7:32 am Hacklab.to's laser-cutter really *does* play the Mario Bros theme!
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:27 am Circuit City announces a pre-Black Friday online saleFROM GAMERTELL - Circuit City is holding an early Black Friday sale that ends November 15, 2009. The deals are all available online, and include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $55.99 and some cheap computers and HDTVs. Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am CrunchGear Week in Review: New Moon, Now With Water Edition
Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear. CrunchGear wants to kiss you this Holiday
Source: CrunchGear | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am Global Economic Growth Depends on Informed Internet Policymaking, Business Leaders Tell Internet Governance ForumSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of the Internet is everyone's concern. As a gateway to abundant resources that can help raise global living standards, the continued evolution and success of the Internet is essential.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am Google Files Revised Settlement For Digital Book SalesGoogle, along with U.S. authors and publishers, submitted a revised settlement to a federal judge in New York on Friday in hopes of resolving the antitrust and copyright concerns of the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am
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President Barack Obama has one of the most popular Twitter 
It was just 11 days ago that Microsoft’s “ambassador to startups” 
Irvine-based mobile phone app developer 
One of the reasons I broke down and bought a Kindle earlier this year was a favorite service of mine, 
I’ve spent the last week throughly enjoying my new 
It is officially on: we’re running our super duper, extra sassy Holiday Gift Guide from now until the end of time, giving you the latest in hot gift ideas for you and yours. Why are we doing this so early? Because we have so much to give away this year it’s scary. That said, let’s hit the slopes and shush our way into Gift Guide Nirvana.
What do you need to do? Well, first you have to 
DELHI, INDIA–“I’ll take you! I live there!” a small boy with a blue shirt and a perfect toothy grin said as he ran ahead of me. His quiet friend in yellow jogged beside him smiling shyly, his jet-black Elvis curl bobbing on his forehead. The boy in blue stopped a few yards in front of me turned around, beaming and added in Hindi, “I know computers quite well.”
Apple’s charges of copyright infringement and DMCA violation against Psystar have stuck and, friends, things ain’t pretty for 
Psystar’s ill-starred crusade against Apple has ended in a total rout. U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup on Friday dropped the hammer on the Mac clone maker, 
Office Depot’s Black Friday ad had been leaked. Here’s a look at some of the deals they will be offering this year.
