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Punk math philosophy and podcastI've just signed up for Tom Henderson's Math for Primates podcast on the strength of this interview he conducted with Technoccult about his theory of punk mathematics. My dad's a mathematician and I love math, but stopped taking it after first year university calculus and stats and feel like I'm losing it by the year. I like Henderson's approach to the subject! Bonus: Tom helped Jane McGonigal and pals make the awesome Superstruct game.The Philosophy of Punk Rock Mathematics - Technoccult interviews Tom Henderson (via Beyond the Beyond)
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 Source: Boing Boing | 28 Feb 2010 | 2:52 am Do the Meek Inherit the Galaxy?The good news, the Milky Way could be abundant in intelligent life forms. The bad news, we may never hear from them. At last week's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego, California's ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Feb 2010 | 1:14 am Text Messaging Fund Raising for Chili Earthquake VictimsThe Mobile Giving Foundation is coordinating text messaging campaigns to raise money for Chili earthquake victims. By texting a keyword to a designated short code via a mobile phone, a micro-donation of...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Feb 2010 | 12:59 am Punk math philosophy and podcastI've just signed up for Tom Henderson's Math for Primates podcast on the strength of this interview he conducted with Technoccult about his theory of punk mathematics. My dad's a mathematician and I love...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Feb 2010 | 12:51 am Delta Rocket Crashes In MongoliaDr La writes "Two metal objects, one cylindrical and a smaller round one, crashed near Buren Soum in the Tuv province of Mongolia, in an empty field, on 19 February. They are parts of an American Delta II rocket stage (nr. 35939, 2009-052C) that launched the military STSS Demo 1 & 2 satellites in September 2009. Both articles linked above say that the larger of the two objects is 7.5 meters in diameter, but in this photo it looks more like 7.5 feet. It is marked with the serial number '02728.' (The military STSS program is intended for space-based detection and tracking of missiles.) In the months leading up to the February 19 orbital decay over Mongolia, the fall of the rocket stage was followed by amateur satellite trackers. Based on their final orbit determinations just hours before the decay, the decay must have occurred near 3:32 UTC on February 19."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 28 Feb 2010 | 12:26 am North Korea's woman traffic-cops and the robotic mime they doSuper Punch has rounded up a bunch of the best YouTube videos of Kim Jong Il's "traffic girls," who are dressed in snappy uniforms, which they wear as they perform an elaborate, robotic mime-show that directs North Korean traffic. They only turn counter-clockwise. Of course. Super Punch: North Korean Traffic Girls:Traffic
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Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:56 pm North Korea's woman traffic-cops and the robotic mime they doSuper Punch has rounded up a bunch of the best YouTube videos of Kim Jong Il's "traffic girls," who are dressed in snappy uniforms, which they wear as they perform an elaborate, robotic mime-show that...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:56 pm Kids' gimbal-mounted cereal bowlLoopla's "Gyro-bowl" is a kids' eating-bowl mounted on a gimbals so that it can swing freely as your kid picks it up and moves it around. It looks like it would be a lot of fun -- and easier for kids...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:51 pm Kids' gimbal-mounted cereal bowl
Loopla's "Gyro-bowl" is a kids' eating-bowl mounted on a gimbals so that it can swing freely as your kid picks it up and moves it around. It looks like it would be a lot of fun -- and easier for kids to carry without spilling.
Loopla
(via Make)
Just look at this awesome slow-moving performance artist whose face has been covered with exploding bananas.Just look at it. Bananas Exploding on Face (via JWZ) Previously: Just look at this awesome EU banana curvature regulation. Boing Boing Just look at this awesome anti-banana-ripening bag. Boing Boing...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:32 pm Just look at this awesome slow-moving performance artist whose face has been covered with exploding bananas.Just look at it. Bananas Exploding on Face (via JWZ)
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Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:32 pm Online gaming sweeps China (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:31 pm UK Digital Economy Bill will wipe out indie WiFi hotspots in libraries, unis, cafesGlennF sez, "The Digital Economy Bill in the UK that Cory has written about has a new, horrible portion that could cause many (most?) public hotspots to shut down unless run by companies large enough to handle the recordkeeping requirements. This ZDNet UK article cites legal experts who say that the penalties associated with failure to comply will make small businesses turn off hotspots. Universities and libraries may face huge liability as well."Lilian Edwards, professor of internet law at Sheffield University, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the scenario described by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in an explanatory document would effectively "outlaw open Wi-Fi for small businesses", and would leave libraries and universities in an uncertain position.The Digital Economy Bill is being sold to us on the grounds that copyright infringement harms the British economy because of the importance of our entertainment industry. But while the measures in the DEB won't stop copyright infringement (copying isn't going to slow down -- as computers and the technology they enable gets cheaper and more widely distributed, copying will continue to speed up, just as it has done since the dawn of the computer industry), they will harm British business and British families, by making the Internet generally less useful and more difficult and more expensive for honest people to use. In other words, the Digital Economy Bill will do no good for the analogue economy industries, and will weaken the digital economy. Open Wi-Fi 'outlawed' in Digital Economy Bill (Thanks, Glenn!)
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Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:24 pm UK Digital Economy Bill will wipe out indie WiFi hotspots in libraries, unis, cafesGlennF sez, "The Digital Economy Bill in the UK that Cory has written about has a new, horrible portion that could cause many (most?) public hotspots to shut down unless run by companies large enough to...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:24 pm Upcoming DSiWare Title Features Motion-Controlled Interactive 3D DioramasI have no idea what this game is called since the page on Nintendo.co.jp is made up of images (hence Google translate is useless) but an upcoming Japanese DSiWare title features a clever system of motion-controlled...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:15 pm Utility crews out in force to restore power in Mass., NH - Boston Globe
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Feb 2010 | 10:23 pm Unfriendly Climate Greets Gore At Apple Meetingtheodp writes "Apple's shareholder meeting this week took on a Jerry Springer vibe, with harsh comments about Al Gore, former VP and Apple board member, setting the tone. Several stockholders took turns either bashing or praising Gore's high-profile views on climate change. Apple shareholder Shelton Ehrlich urged against Gore's re-election to the board, claiming that Gore 'has become a laughingstock. The glaciers have not melted. If [the] advice he gives to Apple is as faulty as his views on the environment then he doesn't need to be re-elected.' Hey, at least he moved a few copies of Keynote, Shelton. Shareholders introduced proposals regarding Apple's environmental impact — one asking Apple to commit publicly to greenhouse gas reduction goals and to publish a formal sustainability report; another proposing that Apple's board establish a sustainability committee. These proposals were rejected by shareholders. However, preliminary voting results indicated that Gore was re-elected to Apple's Board."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 9:35 pm Review: Alienware Aurora ALX
Features:
Pros:
Cons:
Full review: The Aurora ALX is unabashedly a gamer’s PC. It’s main focus in life is to run the latest software, and run it as fast as possible. The case makes no apologies about this, it doesn’t try to disguise itself as a business product, you can tell by looking at the case that it’s designed to go fast. The front of the case is smooth, with the alienhead logo prominently displayed at the top. When you push on the head, the front panel drops exposing the Blu-ray drive, gently lit by white LEDs. The bottom of the front gapes open, allowing air to flow through as quickly as possible. The top of the case is covered by a row of thermostatically controlled louvers, which open to allow more air flow as needed. It’s actually hard to get the louvers to open, since the factory installed liquid cooling system is so efficient. The side of the case are actually restrained. There’s a small window, lit from behind via multicolor LEDs (which you can control from in Windows). The whole design of the case is remarkably restrained, considering Alienware’s reputation for, shall we say, extreme design. One interesting feature is the addition of a small, pressure sensitive button on the back of the computer near the card slots. If you push this button (regardless of if the computer is on or not), several small LEDs light up and show you the area where you plug in the video, sound, and network connections. This is frankly brilliant, I don’t know how many times I’ve been crawling under a desk wishing for a flashlight while plugging everything in to get the thing up and running. These little LEDs are in other places as well. Taking the side of the case off reveals not just the extremely well routed wires and hoses, but also another one of these small buttons. Pushing on that button lights up the entire inside of the case, making it incredibly easy to see what you are doing while hooking up and routing said wires, connectors, and hoses. Again, a brilliant inclusion in design, that I wish more PC makers would use. After mentioning how much I liked these lights to my contact at Alienware, I was told that both sets of lights run off of a rechargeable battery.
Hardware configuration: You can see why this system is so fast after looking at the specs. To give you some hard numbers, running at 1680×1050 @ 120Hz, AAx8, and Ultra High on all options, the average FPS in the Far Cry 2 “Ranch Long” benchmark was 63 FPS. It peaked out at 139 FPS, and dipped down to 25 FPS at the slowest point. Crysis averaged 35 FPS during the “Island Time-demo”. Very respectable. From a purely organic viewpoint, I’m happy to report that any game I threw at the ALX ran perfectly, and incredibly smoothly. The Bad: The price. Let’s be honest, not a whole lot of people have $4500 to drop on something like a PC, particularly these days. If you do though, this is the machine to get. It’s also really really heavy. Liquid cooling and an 875 watt power supply do not make for a light weight computer. I also noticed that because it is liquid cooled, it seems to pull in more dust and fibers then an air cooled system.
Bottom line: if you can afford it, buy it. The Aurora ALX is a great machine. I’ve really enjoyed my time “reviewing” it (meaing playing Far Cry 2, Crysis, and Borderlands) and will be sad to see it go back to Alienware. Particularly because my wife will expect me to help out around the house again since I’m not busy doing work.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm Apple cites suppliers for violations - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Feb 2010 | 8:45 pm mGive Powers Mobile Donations for Earthquake Victims in ChileSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 8:17 pm Will the Serial Console Ever Die?simpz writes "Will the serial port as a console connection ever be displaced — especially for devices such as switches, routers, SAN boxes, etc.? In one sense it's a simple connection. But it is the only current port that, in order to use, you need to know about wiring / baud rates / parity, etc. It has non-standard pinouts. And it is becoming too slow to upload firmware to dead devices, as the firmware updates get larger. Also, the serial port is rapidly disappearing from new laptops — which is where you often really need it, in data centers. Centronics, PS/2, and current loop are mostly defunct. Is there any sign on the horizon of a USB console connection?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:58 pm Top 50 Bizarre Trends in February 2010 - From Wacky Galaxy Gowns to Porcine Power Converters (COUNTDOWN)(TrendHunter.com) For the month of February 2010, these are the Top 50 bizarre trends, which include Wacky Galaxy Gowns, Freak Show Photography and Tiered Cake Attire. The rankings are based on millions...Source: RSS feed - channel BNBlogTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:39 pm Twitter To Add “Nifty” Site Features That May Make You Forget Third-Party Clients
Twitter appears to be on the verge of some big changes to its website if a tweet that Twitter engineer Alex Payne sent today is any indication. In fact, the new features may be so good that they could make some people re-examine their use of desktop Twitter clients, apparently. As Payne writes:
Not surprisingly, that tweet had a few third-party Twitter developers worried. “@al3x as a developer, i’m not sure how to take that looming tweet….,” wrote developer Chad Etzel (who actually used to work part-time at Twitter). Payne immediately repsonded, “@jazzychad I don’t mean that developers won’t be able to compete with the site. We still release most everything API-first, of course.“ While I dabble with both Brizzly and Seesmic Web, I still mainly use Twitter.com day to day, so the prospect of these new, more powerful features excite me. The reason I never got into one of the desktop clients is the same reason I only dabble with Brizzly and Seesmic: The lag in the API (and the rate-limit) annoys me. But that should hopefully change soon with the new Twitter firehose of data. Last year, Twitter added two huge new features to Twitter.com: Lists and Retweets. It’s hard to imagine what else they’re working on for the site now. One definite possibility is baked-in geolocation, which Twitter currently offers through its API, but not on the site itself. While new features are great, Twitter has to be careful not to make things too complicated. The core of Twitter has always been its simplicity — if you start tacking on features, that goes away quickly. That said, there is still room for improvement. Certainly, search is one area on the site that could use an upgrade with more options. The upcoming Twitter ads are thought to be built around Twitter Search, so it’s likely a candidate for an overhaul sometime soon. It’s worth noting that Twitter also recently hired a new UI guru away from LinkedIn. This was the guy largely responsible for LinkedIn’s nice iPhone (and other mobile platforms) app. Could Twitter be getting into that game too? And should third-party developers be worried by these moves? Twitter Lists in particular encroached a bit on what services like Brizzly were doing (though they now play nicely together). Any more encroachment and Twitter’s upcoming developer conference, Chirp, could be very interesting. Update: More from Payne:
And:
Information provided by CrunchBase      
Kotaku-Tan, The T-Shirt For The Kotaku Fan Super Mario Galaxy 2: Yoshi's Back...and He Brought a Drill! Heavy Rain Explores Player Depression With Freezes And Glitches The Stalling Of An Anti-Bush Video Game Don't Worry, DSi XL Fits In My Rear Left Pocket Kirsten Dunst Is Your Magical Nerd Princess Resident Evil 5: Lost In Nightmares Micro-Review: Less Fighting, More Frightening Warner Buys Batman: Arkham Asylum Devs Hands-On, Sword Out With Red Steel 2 Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:17 pm Key Republicans reject Dodd's consumer agency planWASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Key Republican members of the Senate Banking committee rejected its chairman's proposal to place a consumer protection agency within the Treasury Department, sources familiar...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:17 pm The Great Porn Purge of 2010
Let’s go back, way back to the 1800s. Early porn was shared in the form of nudie postcards that could be purchased from the local optician (weird, yes), instrument maker, or art dealers. As these postcards became more and more popular, there was a huge movement to get rid of them. Although the masses loved this form of porn (sales were astronomical), the few elite that found it offensive had the power to end it. In 1802 Britain had a specific government task force whose sole purpose was to fight porn and the U.S. government took measure to remove any pornographic pictures circulated through the mail. This story epitomizes the power struggle between the majority of porn lovers and the minority of porn haters and their ability to regulate it. With sexy iPhone applications dominating best-seller lists and porn sites like RedTube and Pornhub listed as part of the top websites on the Internet, there is clearly a large demand for adult content. If people are demanding adult content, why are government groups and corporations like Apple, VUDU, and Google trying to block it? Many ad networks including Google won’t even advertise on sites that have been deemed adult. Some say it’s to maintain a certain type of branding image, others say it’s simply an issues or being prude. In a society where a sex tape makes a career (cough cough Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian), and where everyone from school kids to public figures like John Edwards and the cast members of the Bachelor are involved in some sort of sex scandal, could this porn persecution be in response to a complete loss of control? We see Lindsay Lohan’s side boob on E! every night, but the entire state of New York won’t stock the new issue of Q magazine because it shows the bottom half of Lady GaGa’s breast? Hell, even the infamous Janet Jackson Superbowl “wardrobe malfunction” is back in court this week to decide whether the $550,000 fine is a sufficient punishment for the broadcasters who aired the footage. Perhaps corporations and government regulators are attempting to regain control in a world where sending nude text messages has become endemic and sex tapes are the norm. From a corporate standpoint, perhaps pulling sexy apps and banning on demand porn is an attempt to distance their brand name from such scandals. The problem that the adult industry faces with Apple and VUDU’s porn purge comes in the form of profits. Smartphone applications and video on demand have been targeted by the adult industry as the future of the porn industry. In a world where free content outweighs the amount of purchased content, tapping into new technology for profit making purposes is essential to keep the adult industry afloat. Even if corporations and policy makers try to squelch it, porn is an industry based on demand. As long as there is a demand, porn will always be around. Porn will always exist in one form or another, but without profits, the quality will clearly suffer. And we don’t want that! Guest columnist Lydia Leavitt writes about sex and, oddly enough, social media. For more information on the latest intimate technology, check out 69adget.com.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:16 pm People, Groups Flock to the Web After Chile Earthquake (PC World)PC World - After Chile's massive earthquake and potential Pacific Rim tsunami damage, relief organizations, government agencies, corporations and throngs of people are on Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other services to seek and provide information and help.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:10 pm US Government Poisoned Alcohol During ProhibitionHugh Pickens writes "Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Deborah Blum has an article in Slate about the US government's mostly forgotten policy in the 1920s and 1930s of poisoning industrial alcohols manufactured in the US to scare people into giving up illicit drinking during Prohibition. Known as the 'chemist's war of Prohibition,' the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, killed at least 10,000 people between 1926 and 1933. The story begins with ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919, which banned sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the US. By the mid-1920s, when the government saw that its 'noble experiment' was in danger of failing, it decided that the problem was that readily available methyl (industrial) alcohol — itself a poison — didn't taste nasty enough. The government put its chemists to work designing ever more unpalatable toxins — adding such chemicals as kerosene, brucine (a plant alkaloid closely related to strychnine), gasoline, benzene, cadmium, iodine, zinc, mercury salts, nicotine, ether, formaldehyde, chloroform, camphor, carbolic acid, quinine, and acetone. In 1926, in New York City, 1,200 were sickened by poisonous alcohol; 400 died. The following year, deaths climbed to 700. These numbers were repeated in cities around the country as public-health officials nationwide joined in the angry clamor to stop the poisoning program. But an official sense of higher purpose kept it in place, while lawmakers opposed to the plan were accused of being in cahoots with criminals and bootleggers. The chief medical examiner of New York City during the 1920s, one of the poisoning program's most outspoken opponents, liked to call it 'our national experiment in extermination.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:53 pm Google Streetview images retention period reduced from 12 months to 6 months in the UKSection: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Web Apps, Websites, Google
Read [Computerworld] Full Story » | Written by Cheng Hung for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:49 pm Chile quake in 'elite class' like 2004 Asian quakeThe huge earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile belongs to an "elite class" of mega earthquakes," experts said, and is similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean temblor that triggered deadly...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:39 pm Facebook Buzz Exists! It’s A Stream… Of Beer.
While Keg Presence isn’t an official Facebook app, it was created and is maintained by Facebook employees. So what does it do? The app is a steady stream of information about what’s going on with the Facebook keg. For example, Keg Presence sends out notices to let users (other Facebook employees) know what type of beer is in the keg. And when the keg is empty, it posts pictures of BevMo, where Facebook employees apparently go to refill it. Anyway, the application isn’t new, it has been around since sometime last year, but a humorous update from Keg Presence was recently brought to our attention. Announcing the “launch” of Keg Presence 2.0, one Facebook employee jokingly named it “Facebook Buzz”:
80-some Facebook employees gave the update a thumbs up “like.” This is of course in reference to Google Buzz, the recently launched social stream feature that now resides inside of Gmail. Following its launch, much was made of Buzz as a potential “_____ killer,” including, naturally, Facebook. The social network doesn’t seem too worried though if their response is a keg application. Update: As former Facebooker Ryan Merket notes in the comments:
That’s just awesome. Viva la Facebook Buzz.
     
As best we can guess, Natal will be making its way to Xboxes sometime this fall. That means we've still got a good deal of waiting ahead of us, so every once in a while it's nice to have a reminder of why we're so excited. February's reminder: this video of Natal perfectly tracking a dude dancing during the requisite playground ball demo game. The video isn't as much of a slam dunk on the lag factor. At some points it looks like there's a definite delay between the dancer's movements and those of his avatar on screen, and at other times the lag seems imperceptible. It's hard to say for sure. But as for the motion capture itself, even in low light situations, it appears to be undeniably smooth. [Project Natal Games - Thanks, Jordan!] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:23 pm How to decline Facebook friends without offenseNEW YORK (Reuters) - A colleague I just met at work has invited me to be their friend on Facebook. I don't want to offend them, but nor do I want to share my candid photos and lousy...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:11 pm Warming panel, under attack, seeks outside review - The Associated Press
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Feb 2010 | 4:43 pm U.S. military opens up the web and changes social media policySection: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking  U.S. servicemen and women will now have more access to popular social networking and media sharing websites that were previously banned from military servers. A review of a policy that has blocked sites like Facebook and YouTube since 2007 has been changed to permit use of social media among military personnel. The new policy requires all military units to provide access to social networking sites. Commanders will be able to restrict access in some cases, but only on a temporary basis. The military permits discretion to “continue to defend against malicious activity,” meaning there’s still room for individual commanders to rationalize banning certain activities that are prohibited or a threat to security (geolocation being the most obvious example). However, the default policy will open up new opportunities for military personnel to use the net for more communication services. The Army had previously banned YouTube and the Marines had restricted other social networking websites. On a personal note, I’m very glad to see this policy change. My brother served in Iraq and it was very difficult to rely on phone calls to communicate with him. I often fielded calls from my worried mother asking if I’d heard from him, so it was reassuring to be able to drop a line to him via Facebook or see photos that he uploaded to MySpace while on leave. His time for these types of activities was severely limited, so I hope the new policy will make it easier for those in service to communicate with their family and friends. Read [NYTimes.com] There's not a whole lot in the way of details—it's a slider that's a bit thicker than the iPhone, it has a 5MP camera, and sports six hardware buttons—but it's still exciting to see the new operating system on a branded device for the first time. Woodman wouldn't confirm nor deny if Windows Phone 7 Series would support Mac OS, only mentioning that it was a topic the team was currently discussing. Hey, at least the notion hasn't been shut down out of hand, so we'll take this as a no news is good news type of thing for now. Head over to Engadget for more pictures and a quick video clip of the LG phone in the round. [Engadget] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 4:09 pm Repo Men Using New Technology To Track Carskamapuaa writes "The NY Times has an article about how real-time license plate scanning is changing the car repo business. MVTRAC is one of several companies providing technology to track car license plates automatically, in order to populate private databases. This new tech is used by car repo companies to help banks or other lenders repossess cars; by police to find stolen cars or to locate ticket scofflaws; or really for whatever application MVTRAC and its competitors feel like pursuing, as the new-found industry lacks any kind of government oversight."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 4:02 pm US group launches text message aid drive for Chile quake (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm Chile quake wave racing to Asia at jet speed: scientistA tsunami triggered by the powerful quake that rocked Chile was Saturday racing across the Pacific Ocean towards Hawaii and Asia at around 450 miles per hour, a quake expert said. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:35 pm Verizon Wireless Makes Calls to Chile FreeSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:30 pm Apple’s ban on in-app purchases will continue with the iPadSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Gadgets / Other, ebooks
Apple’s iTunes music store is not the only way for iPod owners to purchase music, but iTunes remains the most popular outlet because of its built-in integration with the iPod. Apple will maintain a similar advantage when the iPad goes on sale this year. Though the iBook store will have a competitor in the Amazon Kindle App, Apple “stacks the deck against Amazon” according to the Business Insider. Apple forbids companies from including in-app purchases unless they are willing to share 30% of the revenue with Apple. When Amazon attempted to include a direct method to order eBooks within its Kindle app, Apple told them to pay up or remove it. As a result, Amazon and other eBook retailers who target the iPad will have to make customers go to the web, log-in to Amazon, search to place an order, and then return to the Kindle app to sync the new content. It’s a minor inconvenience, but it’s one that the iBook store will not present. Amazon’s recent tussle with publishers over pricing removed what would have been an advantage over Apple’s bookstore. Customers will naturally question why they should deal with the extra steps of Amazon purchases if they can pay the same price in the integrated experience built-in by Apple. The iTunes store accounts for much of the world’s digital media purchases, and the iPad will likely make Apple a major factor in the digital books market as well. Read [Business Insiders] I hear the iBoard's going to implement twenty finger multi-touch and the iMat's even going to support Flash. [BeGeek.fr] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:26 pm Weekend Update 02.27.10- Get to High Ground Edition [Digital Daily]
Kara was full-tilt-geek this week with an early post from TED’d viral video division. It seems Bill Gates told the assembled geekerati his one true wish. Wanna know what it is? We guess you have to watch. Kara then gave us some perspective on Yahoo (YHOO) playing social catch-up with their recent Twitter deal. Everyone may be muttering, “too little, too late,” but it could be worse. They could have tried to release their own social network. Kara then jetted off to sunny Mexico to give a keynote at SISCTI, Mexico’s major info-tech conference. If she successfully avoids narco-wars and swine flu, we’re hoping she brings us back a sombrero. Everyone is chattering about web-delivered video this week, but Peter brought some real perspective to the racket. It looks like Wal-Mart is coughing up $100 million for Vudu in its theoretical bid to compete with the iTunes store. That’s a way bigger ticket that we had thought, but it looks like the world’s largest retailer is getting some serious skin in the game. Midweek, Peter brought us a story of triumph from the world of newspapers. It seems that the financial situation at the Washington Post (WPO) was less terrible last quarter. Or, more accurately, the bleeding has slowed. Peter rounded things out with a dose of reality for Apple’s (AAPL) magical rhetoric. Billions of songs, billions of apps and download volume that leaps every quarter does not equal impressive profits, apparently. Don’t feel too bad for Steve though. We all know songs and apps are just fuel for the iFire. Digital Daily started off the week all aflutter with news that Twitter was pumping out 600 tweets per second. That means if all those tweets are paced end to end, multiplied by 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day, twitter still isn’t making any money. After a slew of post early in the week, John tied up a week of Palm coverage with some thoughts on “project jumpstart.” Its seems like everyone is saying Palm (PALM) should be thinking about a different sort of project, maybe involving Nokia, or anyone who whats a company that makes something called a pixi. Finally, in everyone’s favorite category, John covered some more Apple speculation in the iPad afterglow. It looks like analysts are expecting a refreshed iPhone that will cost less and potentially have some new gesture based features. Walt’s column was of particular interest this week, especially if you’ve got finances to deal with, or a certain gray-bearded uncle to pay. Walt gave the run down on the latest Mac version of Quicken. The Mac – Quicken relationship has always been tricky, and people (Weekend updater’s included) have used some tricky work-arounds to keep using the Windows version of Intuit’s (INTU) popular finance program. Sadly, the latest version for Mac didn’t really close the gap, and Walt wasn’t too up on making the switch. Mossberg’s Mailbox was full of magicJack mail this week- sort of like the leftovers from last week’s wild VOIParty. it turns out that its not the best idea to try to fax over the magicJack, even if it does sort of work for some people, some of the time. That settles it. Weekend Update is gonna get one and hook it up to our Clapper activated file-server. Finally, Katie brought the cloud down to ground level this week with a review of the Pogoplug, a device that lets you host and stream your files from a home hard drive over the internet to your devices. You can be your own cloud, sort of, and Katie said she liked it just fine. Low-level clouds… maybe we can get the term fog computing to catch on. That’s all from the wild, wet and waterey world of Silicon Valley and AllThingsD this week. If Kara makes it back from down Mexico way, we’ll let you know next week. If not, shes resourceful. There’s probably lots of reporting to be done from a Tijuana jail. Source: All Things Digital | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:14 pm Bill In UK May Disallow Public Wi-Fi
But while an ISP may detect a violation by one of its subscribers and send a nastygram to the appropriate party, it’s difficult to do that when your “subscriber” is a pub or café that offers free wi-fi to customers. If someone buys a cup of coffee, downloads a few songs, and then leaves and never returns, who is at fault? According to the Digital Economy Bill, the café. Read the rest of this story on CrunchGear…      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm Bill in UK may disallow public wi-fi
But while an ISP may detect a violation by one of its subscribers and send a nastygram to the appropriate party, it’s difficult to do that when your “subscriber” is a pub or café that offers free wi-fi to customers. If someone buys a cup of coffee, downloads a few songs, and then leaves and never returns, who is at fault? According to the Digital Economy Bill, the café. The question critics pose to the DEB’s framers is simply: how is justice done in this situation? Clearly the café is not really at fault for providing a simple service. On the other hand, if small businesses, universities, and libraries are exempted from copyright oversight legislation, they are at risk (theoretically) of becoming pirate havens. While to the informed internet citizen, the idea of a bunch of hardcore pirates all sharing a 2Mbit DSL line, sucking down bottomless cups of coffee and seeding zero-day Blu-ray rips might seem ludicrous, I assure you: the people in charge are by no means informed internet citizens. So something’s got to give — but the industry’s ignorance is an immovable object, and while you can’t stop progress, you sure can slow it down. Again, to the advanced internet user (under which heading falls much of this site’s readership), such backwards legislation much seem unwise — with a streak of expediency. What with the applicability (if not the fundamental legal base) of copyright being shaken by all manner of P2P, media company inertia, and skyrocketing bandwidth, it seems simply impractical to pass any sort of lasting legislation — upon shifting sands, as it were. Not that a law should be passed which fails to address obvious copyright violations, but its scope and application should be limited to where it is sure-footed, and as the landscape evolves, further steps can be taken. Should this bill become law, backpedaling will be sure to occur in five or six years, when the flaws in such unilateral proscription produce their inevitable unsavory results. I’m not familiar with the rest of the DEB, but if it is anywhere near as short-sighted in other matters as it appears to be in this one, it’s sure to make trouble for UK citizens and lawmakers alike down the road. [image: Joe Mabel, Wikipedia]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm How Telescopes Deal With Earthquakes In ChileReader edgeofphysics provides a technical sidelight on the earthquake in Chile this morning — some details on how the European Southern Observatory protects the mirrors of the Very Large Telescope when an earthquake strikes. "Given that Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, how do astronomers protect their giant telescopes that have been built or are being built in the Chilean Andes? This blog post discusses how Chile's most advanced facility protects its priceless 8.2-meter primary mirrors in the event of an earthquake."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:52 pm The many hi-tech wonders of Adidas at this year’s World Cup
Greetings from lovely Seattle! I’m here on the West Coast for two reasons. One, Thursday was Adidas’ World Cup Media Day in Portland, and I was invited to check out all the hi-tech wonderment that the company has in store for this World Cup year. Needless to say, being a bit of a soccer fan, I was very excited to attend—I met the guy from Univision, Fernando Fiore, so I’m pretty sure I’ve accomplished all there is to accomplish in life. Two, then I took the choo-choo train to visit Devin. We’re at a café and everyone has their laptop out. It’s very Seattle. But let’s talk about this Adidas thing for a minute.
The World Cup begins this June. It’s in South Africa, the first time the tournament has ever gone to Africa. (It’s in Brazil in 2014, in case you’re keeping score.) Team USA doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning the thing, so you’d be well advised to pick a “second team” to follow. Someone like Spain or Argentina or, dare I say, England.
Adidas will be all over the World Cup. The official ball of the tournament, the Jabulani, has already been talked about here, but a brief reminder is in order. I think the flashiest “spec” I can mention is that it’s the roundest ball ever created. You never really think about how much engineering goes into producing a ball like this, but man alive! As mentioned a few weeks ago, the ball is composed of eight 3D, thermally bonded panels. That last part, the thermally bonded business, is key, as that means the ball isn’t merely stitched together on a sewing machine or whatever. That would lead to leaky seams, which would lead to a water-logged ball, which would lead to Spain’s Xavi Hernandez missing a free kick right on the edge of the penalty box. We don’t need that.
Take a look at this video, showing France’s Nicolas Anelka scoring against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier from this past November. Be sure to pay attention to his back: You see those weird little criss-cross straps? That’s called TechFit, a type of elastic compression layer that, according to Adidas’ own numbers, helps increase a player’s vertical leap, speed, and endurance. That’s because the straps store energy that would otherwise be lost as the player moves about. The number increase—players’ power increases by 5.3 percent, vertical leap by 4 percent, sprint speed by 1.1 percent and endurance by 0.8 percent—may not seem like a lot, but when you’re dealing with top-class athletes performing in high-pressure situations, numbers like that help immensely. Imagine David Villa being able to strike a ball 5.3 percent harder than he normally would, or Michael Ballack being able to jump 4 percent higher to nick that header, or Leo Messi running 1.1 percent faster—it’s crazy. Of course, there’s something of a trade-off, as the TechFit does fit a little more snugly than traditional kits (Adidas’ name for those are Formotion kits), and not every player would want that. And for those wondering, FIFA has given its full blessing to the TechFit technology, so no worries there. FIFA still won’t allow video replay, but what are you going to do? I don’t know, TechFit seems to be the most “whoa, neat” thing that’ll be at the tournament, England’s performance post-John Terry notwithstanding. The last bit I’ll draw attention to is the players’ cleats. One of the all-time stories in World Cup history is when Germany beat Hungary 3-2 in the final of the 1954 World Cup. Germany and Hungary were pretty big rivals at the time, and Germany was looking to avenge an 8-3 loss that had occurred in the first round of the tournament. Adidas’ founder, Adi Dassler, was the German team’s equipment manager, and had provided the team with new (at the time) cleats with removable studs. Did those new cleats help the German team overcome its rivals? You’d certainly have to think so.
So, this year’s cleats! One of the fancier shoes that Adidas’ players will be using is the Predator X. (I love the names for these things.) Apparently Zidane helped to design them, so you know they’re quality. Obviously it’s lightweight—that’s a given—but one thing worth mentioning is something called the Powerspine. It’s a small strip that runs down the mid-foot area that helped stabilize your feet. That helps reduce the occurrence of injuries, like a torn ACL. The last thing the World Cup needs is someone like Kaká or Frank Lampard going down to injury in an early round game. So yeah, I’m pretty psyched for the tournament, and it’s neat to see how much science and engineering goes into creating all the various pieces of equipment used by the teams. Presumably I’ll be watching many of the games at Nevada Smiths in New York, so come on down if you’re of age.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:30 pm Kazakhstan hindering Russian space missions: officialKazakhstan, home of the space base used to launch rockets to the International Space Station (ISS), is interfering with Russian space missions, the head of Russia's space agency said...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:30 pm Verizon Wireless Makes Calls to Chile FreeBASKING RIDGE, N.J., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- In the aftermath of today's 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, Verizon Wireless has waived all calling fees for its customers trying to reach loved ones in Chile.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:30 pm Massive Earthquake Hits Chile, Tsunami Warnings IssuedA magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday morning damaging buildings, destroying bridges and tossing cars and trucks around like they were toys. The earthquake set off a tsunami that battered the Chilean coast minutes after the devastating tremor.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:30 pm PDVSA could drop Curacao refinery lease - reportCARACAS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Venezuelan oil company PDVSA may withdraw from the 320,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery it operates in Curacao to protest U.S. military operations on the Caribbean island, Ultimas...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:27 pm Verizon Google super phone gets date: March 23Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile
Recently approved by the FCC, rumor has it Google Nexus One will launch day one of CTIA on the Verizon network. The CTIA show opens March 23rd in Vegas and its where the big US wireless players show off their latest and greatest. Word is Verizon will refresh their top Android devices with the addition of the Nexus One. Built by HTC, the Nexus One made headlines as it runs the latest Android version 2.1 (eclair). The hardware is top notch: a 5 megapixel camera, video shooting at 720 x 480 px at 20 fps or higher, WiFi, Bluetooth, 480 x 800 px, 3.7 in (94 mm), 252.15 ppi, 3:5 aspect ratio, WVGA, AMOLED with 100,000:1 contrast ratio and 1 ms response rate, and a 4GB microSD card (included) expandable to 32GB and it runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Like I said, top notch. Launched in January, the Nexus One was offered for $529 "unlocked" with no contract or $179 with a T-Mobile contract. We expect a similar price with a Verizon contract. The release date rumor comes from an anonymous contact inside Google. If Verizon is to announce this device, CTIA is the perfect place and opening day is the perfect time. A big phone for the nations biggest network. Read: [Neowin] The 600MHz VIA CPU isn't blazing fast and the 7" touch screen isn't luxuriously wide. The 2GB of flash memory isn't great. The Android 1.6 OS isn't ideal. But if you just want a tablet without all the bells and whistles for doing some surfing from the couch or reading some documents in bed, the HAL seems like a fine option, especially considering the $199 price tag. And anyway, the storage is expandable via SD card and the OS is upgradable. It has Wi-Fi, 128MB of RAM, a USB port, and claims a 16 hour battery life. Best of all, Haleron says it's shipping the HAL on March 1st. So, if only for a few weeks, you can be the first of your friends to be officially on the tablet bandwagon. [Haleron via Ubergizmo] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm /C O R R E C T I O N -- Mobile Giving Foundation/In the news release, Mobile Giving Foundation Extends Support to Chile Earthquake Relief, issued 27-Feb-2010 by Mobile Giving Foundation over PR Newswire, we are advised by the organization that the text number 25383 was in error and should be disregarded.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 1:50 pm Mobile Giving Foundation Extends Support to Chile Earthquake ReliefSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsTech | 27 Feb 2010 | 1:42 pm Vermont May Revoke Nuclear Plant Licensemdsolar writes "Following the Vermont Senate's 26-to-4 vote not to approve a 20-year license extension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, the Vermont Public Service Board will consider revoking its operating license as well. Meanwhile, the plant continues to operate without its Director of Nuclear Safety Assurance, who has been placed on administrative leave; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has merely issued a Demand for Information rather than shutting down a plant that is lacking a full complement of safety personnel. It may be that the NRC is not capable of doing what is needed with regard to Entergy, the plant owner, which is also facing prosecution by the Mississippi Attorney General."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
As we've heard is the case with the Droid, some niceties like animated wallpapers probably won't make the jump, but if the updates come to fruition, increased text-to-speech support and enhanced widgets will likely come along with them. The price of getting up to date, Androidandme explains, might be wiping your phone clean. A bummer, but that's life. Google has shown its awareness that fragmentation is a serious issue for Android, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them try to make things a little more even across the board. The G1 and MyTouch are supposedly candidates for the first wave of updates, so keep an eye out for confirmation in coming weeks. [AndroidandMe] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 1:10 pm JooJoo tablet gets delayed, now coming March 25Section: Computers, Mobile Computers  The last we heard in terms of the JooJoo was that it will “reach consumers at the end of February.” Well, that may have been said with good intentions but at the same time is was not entirely accurate because the latest in terms of the JooJoo is that it has been delayed. Yup, shocking, however those who were brave enough to place a pre-order will now be waiting until almost the end of March. Or more specifically, March 25. Via [Gizmodo] Keep reading to check out the full press release…
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Feb 2010 | 1:09 pm Tsunami Rushes Ashore in Hawaii On Its Way to AsiaA tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Chile has swept ashore in Hawaii, but there are no immediate reports of damage.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Feb 2010 | 1:07 pm Chile earthquake: First-hand notes from Camilo of Disorder Magazine Camilo Salas K. from Disorder Magazine in Chile (a very cool publication about music and culture, in the same eclectic/irreverent vein as Boing Boing) writes to us from the capital city of Santiago:
Follow Disorder Magazine on Twitter. Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 12:59 pm Chile quake, Pacific tsunami watch: open thread A todos los amigos chilenos de Boing Boing, y toda la gente de latinoamerica que tienen familiares y amigos allá, les saludamos y esperamos por lo mejor para ustedes y sus familias. An 8.8 earthquake struck Chile last night, killing at least 150 people, leaving some half a million people homeless, and setting off tsunami activity that now threaten islands in the Pacific, and coastlines from South America to Canada. Related quake activity has claimed lives and caused structure collapse in Argentina. Chile sits along the seismologically volatile "Ring of Fire," and has a long history of strong earthquakes. While the force of this quake was some 800 to 1,000 times stronger than the quake that recently struck Haiti, the destruction and loss of life, by early estimates, seems lower—in part, say some, because the country has more wealth, better infrastructure and architectural standards, and is generally well-prepared. As I publish this blog post, the National Weather Service reports that the waves hitting the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia were smaller than forecast, causing some to believe that the coming impact on Hawaii may be less than initially feared. A few early resources here, please feel free to share others in the comments:
* Photographs at Boston.com.
(some items via @seanbonner, @mgorbis) Mobile Giving Foundation Extends Support to Chile Earthquake ReliefSEATTLE, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- What: A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 12:42 pm And here’s a video of a guy carving BioShock’s Big Daddy out of wood with a chainsaw
Then there’s the guy in the video above. He must be some sort of rare hybrid woodsmen and gamer who fell in love with Big Daddy from BioShock. There likely isn’t many like him so he should be treasured and encouraged to carve more iconic video game characters. Let me suggest that his next chainsaw carving be of Gordan Freeman smashing a headcrab with his crowbar.
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 12:41 pm A New Wi-Fi Exploit, Limited But Clevereggboard writes "Martin Beck, who in 2008 co-wrote a paper describing a way to inject packets into a secured Wi-Fi system, is back with a more extensive exploit. His 'Enhanced TKIP Michael Attacks' still don't allow extraction of a key, and are limited to TKIP (not AES-CCMP) WPA-protected networks. Still, he's figured out how to put in large payloads, and to extract data sent from an access point to a client — all without cracking the network key. The attack requires proximity to sniff and inject data, but it's another crack in the older key standard (TKIP) that no one with serious security interests should still be using." Here is Beck's paper (PDF) describing the new attacks.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 12:32 pm CONTEST! Win these handsome pump-action salt and pepper grinders
Yes, the “Pump and Grind Salt and Pepper Mills” cost $20 apiece and allow you to season your favorite foods with one hand. Made from restaurant-grade stainless steel, these may be the last salt and pepper apparatuses you’ll ever have to buy. Did I say “buy?” I meant, “win!” For free! You can win both — a $40 value — courtesy of Vat19.com. HOW TO ENTER: Just enter a comment on this post and we’ll pick a winner at random. Contest available to US residents only, please. Entries will be counted until 11:59 PM Eastern time Sunday night and announced Monday morning. Make sure that the comment you leave contains a valid e-mail address so we can get in touch with you for your shipping address. Pump and Grind Salt and Pepper Mills – One finger pump action mills [Vat19.com]
The 24-page report is full of bad news. The worst of it: three different factories Apple uses to manufacture parts employed 15 year old workers, 11 minors total, in countries that had a minimum working age of 16. Other unsavory findings include over 50 factories keeping workers on the job for longer than the maximum 60 hour work week and at least 24 factories paying workers less than the minimum wage. Stuff that would be bad normally but doesn't seem quite as bad in light of the child labor: only 61% of the factories Apple uses were following correct safety regulations and only 57% had the necessary environmental permits for operation. Apple didn't reveal which factories were culpable, or the nations in which these facilities were located—they contract independent factories in China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, the Czech Republic and the United States—but they are still using them to manufacture their products. Apple confirmed that the child laborers are no longer employed. Apple's no stranger to supply chain controversy, and all of these details come right from their own supplier responsibility report. You'd imagine that at some point people would stop gawking at Apple's supply chain scandals and actually put pressure on them to make some significant changes in their manufacturing. Hopefully these latest discoveries are enough to start that process. [Telegraph and Bloomberg] Update: We got an eye-opening look at Apple's attitude toward manufacturing when a tipster recently told us Steve Jobs' mantra circa 1996: "Apple will be the Nike of consumer electronics." I'm glad that the company's trying to clean up their act, but with a legacy like that, it's hard for me to applaud them for admitting they found underage workers. Image credit gnta Picture a Transformer. But instead of being a really cool car that turns into an ass-kicking robot, it's a little red cooler that doesn't actually keep things cold that turns into a mediocre massage chair. That should help you capture the essence of the Foldaway Massage Chair. I can't attest to how well it massages, but if I had to guess, I'd say not very well. The folding design makes it easy to stow away, though even if you manage to keep your friends and family from finding out you spent $800 on a folding massage chair from Hammacher Schlemmer, deep down you will always know that you did. And you will regret it. And regret you can't just fold away. [CrunchGear] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:26 am The Difficulty of Dismantling ConstellationLast month, we discussed news that President Obama's 2011 budget proposal did not include plans to continue NASA's Constellation program, choosing instead to focus on establishing a stronger foundation for low earth orbit operations. Unfortunately, as government officials prepare to shut down Constellation, they're warning that it won't be a quick or simple process due to the contracts involved. From the Orlando Sentinel: "Obama's 2011 budget proposal provides $2.5 billion to pay contractors whatever NASA owes them so the agency can stop work on Constellation's Ares rockets, Orion capsule and Altair lunar lander. But administration officials acknowledge that this number is, at best, an educated guess. ... Many inside and outside of the space agency, however, think the number is too low. The agency has signed more than $10 billion worth of contracts to design, test and build the Ares I rocket and Orion capsule that were the heart of Constellation. But government auditors said last year that the costs of some of those contracts had swelled by $3 billion since 2007 because of design changes, technical problems and schedule slips. How much NASA will owe on all those contracts if the plug gets pulled is unclear. Many of the deals are called 'undefinitized contracts,' meaning that the terms, conditions — and price — had not been set before NASA ordered the work to start. That means the agency will need to negotiate a buyout with the contractor — and that can be a long and painful process, according to government officials familiar with the cancellation process."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:23 am TigerText: The App for Spies and Cheaters (PC World)PC World - If you've ever sent a text message that you've later regretted sending (Tiger Woods, I'm looking at you), then a new texting application just released for the iPhone could be your new best friend.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:19 am The Great Battle of Sitting and Spitting: Whitney, Texas, 1949
"Why, they must spit two or three gallons a day! They ain't died fast enough, these old men!"--Mrs. T.E. Bagley, Whitney, Texas, 1949 John Ptak comments on a story from a 1949 issue of LIFE. The photos are fantastic. It isn't, I guess, so much a story about their sitting as it is a story about their not sitting, about how it came to be that their lumber was removed and the men forced to find another place to take in the sights and construct their great edifices of commentary and asides.The Great Battle of Sitting and Spitting: Whitney, Texas, 1949 Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:04 am Pentagon OKs social media access - CNET
Source: Sci/Tech - Google News | 27 Feb 2010 | 11:01 am CDMA Nexus One passes through the FCC, next stop Verizon WirelessSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  It is no secret that the Nexus One is heading to Verizon Wireless. In fact the Nexus One has been listed on the Google.com/phone website with a notation that it will be available in the Spring of 2010. But before that can happen it needs to make its way through the FCC, and thanks to this recent listing we can now say that has happened. Of course that does not give us a release date, but it does me we are that much closer to an actual availability. Read [FCC] Via [unwired view] Take, for example, Norma Kamali's boutique in Manhattan, which recently implemented a system called ScanLife that allows shoppers to find more information on products from their smart phones. So far, so good. But ScanLife also lets shoppers buy those products from their phones, even when seen in passing in a display window, even when the store is closed. Impulse buying just got a whole lot more impulsive. Sure, ScanLife will certainly make physical shopping more convenient, but you have to wonder if it's going to make shopping too convenient. Whereas ScanLife could make it dangerously easy for you to spend your money, another system called Presence, developed by IBM, could make it downright annoying to do so. Presence tracks you as you walk through the store and reminds you of things you might have forgotten you wanted to buy. By way of example, the Times article describes a trip to the supermarket in which Presence beams coupons to your phone in real time as you walk through the aisles and suggests items that would go well with the one you just put in your cart. Of course, shoppers will have the option of using these new systems; no one is going to force you to augment your shopping. But at the same time, the internet age has a way of sweeping people up into using new technologies, even when the headaches equal the benefits. Presence could let you pinpoint an item's location in an unfamiliar grocery store, but would this capability be worth it if it came at the price of shopping with an overbearing digital assistant? The article mentions Crate & Barrel and Walmart specifically as companies who are interested in these types of systems, but you can be sure that all major retailers are considering software that let you use your gadgets to spend more money on their products. Still, I imagine that many people will be content keep on window shopping the old-school way, without their phones and without their credit cards. [New York Times] Source: Gizmodo | 27 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am Los Angeles: play about government/corporate conspiracyA few weeks ago, the Pasadena Playhouse, a historic theater just outside of Los Angeles, announced that it's totally out of cash and shutting its doors. The news was a blow to the L.A. theater world, as the Playhouse has nearly a 100-year history of great performances and arts education. It was especially bad news for the Furious Theatre Company, the Pasadena Playhouse's current company-in-residence, known for its challenging, intense, controversial, and critically-acclaimed productions. It was also bad news personally, as my brother Robert Pescovitz had been deep in rehearsals with the rest of the Furious ensemble for their latest production, a contemporary black comedy about government/corporate conspiracy titled Men of Tortuga, by Jason Wells. The show was supposed to open last weekend, and suddenly Furious found itself scrambling for a new space. At the eleventh hour though, Furious managed to secure the Pasadena Playhouse for one more month to stage this play. The rescheduled opening night is tomorrow, Saturday, February 26. I haven't seen Men of Tortuga yet, but it sounds like a terrific piss take on corporate politics and shady power brokers. The show runs until March 28. Furious Theatre Company: Men of Tortuga UPDATE: Furious Theatre Company has kindly offered Boing Boing readers a $10 discount on tickets. When purchasing tickets online, just enter the code: boingboing
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 10:41 am The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Workspidweb writes "Much virtual ink has been spilled over Ubisoft's new, harsh DRM system for Assassin's Creed 2. You must have a constant internet connection, and, if your connection breaks, the game exits. While this has angered many (and justifiably so), most writers on the topic have made an error. They think that this system, like all DRM systems in the past, will be easily broken. This article explains why, as dreadful as the system is, it does have a chance of holding hackers off long enough for the game to make its money. As such it is, if nothing else, a fascinating experiment. From the article: 'Assassin's Creed 2 is different in a key way. Remember, all of its code for saving and loading games (a significant feature, I'm sure you would agree) is tied into logging into a distant server and sending data back and forth. This vital and complex bit of code has been written from the ground up to require having the saved games live on a machine far away, with said machine being programmed to accept, save, and return the game data. This is a far more difficult problem for a hacker to circumvent.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 27 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am Nexus One hitting Verizon on March 23rd? The last we heard the Nexus One was navigating its way through the FCC and Verizon was targeting a "Spring 2010" launch. But now there's a rumor floating around that states quite clearly that March 23, 2010 will be the launch date. Interesting...
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 10:18 am Nexus One hitting Verizon on March 23rd?
We reached out to our Verizon contacts and none of them could confirm this date. But the rumor doesn’t originate from a Verizon source, but rather someone within Google. The March 23rd date does fit within the Spring 2010 launch window and also happens to be during the CTIA wireless conference. So even though this is purely a rumor at this point, you may wanna hold of on your phone buying decisions a bit longer as the rumored launch date is less than 30 days away. The Nexus One is noice.
Source: MobileCrunch | 27 Feb 2010 | 10:17 am This LEGO Avatar helicopter would only be cooler if Michelle Rodriguez came with it
[via NoWhereElse.fr]
Source: CrunchGear | 27 Feb 2010 | 9:37 am Hot gaming news for the week of 2-21-2010Section:  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 | 27 Feb 2010 | 9:35 am Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Static is funnyWhat do you get when you combine Mr. Wizard, Harpo Marx and "Adventures with Bill"? I'm not sure exactly, but the exploits of Dr. Ernest Otherford get pretty close. In this segment, the good Dr. Otherford explores the power of static electricity. Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user johnwilson1969 via CC Source: Boing Boing | 27 Feb 2010 | 9:24 am Five Tips to Prevent iPad Eye Strain (PC World)PC World - The iPad is coming soon. The rumor that pre-orders would begin this past Thursday failed to materialize, and there are still a number of question marks--most notably "when will the FCC approve the iPad for sale in the United States?" But, one way or another, the iPad will arrive sooner or later.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 9:10 am webOS 1.4 now available for Sprint, O2 and MovistarSection: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile
First and foremost, the update comes in at about 39MB. Feature wise you can expect to see things like Flash support, video capture, video editing and sharing, enhanced notifications and better performance. Those sporting a Pre or Pixi can either sit back and wait for the update or go out and look for it using the update app on your webOS device. Keep reading to read the full webOS 1.4 changelog… Read [Palm Blog] Via [Engadget]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Feb 2010 | 8:21 am Can Entrepreneurs Be Made?
Jason, Fred, and Silicon Valley VCs, I’ve got news for you: you’ve got it all wrong. Entrepreneurs aren’t born, they’re made. And they aren’t anything like you think they are. My team surveyed 549 successful entrepreneurs. We found that the majority didn’t have entrepreneurial parents. They didn’t even have entrepreneurial aspirations while going to school. They simply got tired of working for others, had a great idea they wanted to commercialize, or woke up one day with an urgent desire to build wealth before they retired. So they took the big leap.
Only a quarter caught the entrepreneurial bug when in college. Half didn’t even think about entrepreneurship, and they had little interest in it when in school.
The education and training of entrepreneurs is something that the Kauffman Foundation has been researching extensively. Over the last six years, it has invested around $50 million on academic research to understand what makes entrepreneurs tick and what policies are most conducive to entrepreneurship and to construct data bases to permit analyses of these subjects. (Kauffman has also funded some of my research at Duke, UC-Berkeley, and Harvard.) Its VP of Research, Bob Litan, says that Kauffman has learnt conclusively that entrepreneurship can be taught. The key is to provide education at “teachable moments” — when the entrepreneur is thinking about starting a venture or ready to scale it. What entrepreneurs need isn’t the type of abstract course they teach in business schools, but practical, relevant knowledge. That’s why Kauffman created a program called Fast Trac, which has trained 300,000 entrepreneurs so far. One of the findings of Kauffman research is that of the appx. 600,000 businesses that are started every year, less than a fraction of 1% become high-growth “scale” businesses. These new firms, especially the “scale” firms, have added all of the net incremental jobs to U.S. economy since 1980 (about 40 million), and probably account for about 1/3 of GDP growth since then. So the key to boosting economic growth is to increase the number of successful high-growth startups. After all, the growth rate of our economy is nothing more than the aggregation of the growth of our firms. That is why Kauffman (which has a $2 billion endowment) is investing heavily in an ambitious new program called Kauffman Labs. This aims to dramatically increase the ability of small businesses to become big businesses. The Labs program is built around a novel idea: that highly motivated individuals with “scalable ideas” can be recruited to be entrepreneurs and to be made successful, by surrounding them with a network of other experienced entrepreneurs; sources of money; and mentors. The goal is to educate entrepreneurs and surround them with a powerful network. This is like a Y Combinator on steroids. Anecdotal evidence also shows that there are many more factors at play than that of genes. Note this BusinessWeek article about waves of spinoffs from Google. I doubt that all of these Google employees who are starting successful businesses were born with entrepreneurial genes. VC and former entrepreneur Brad Feld also blogged about how many of his frat buddies at MIT had become successful entrepreneurs. Were all of these people born to be entrepreneurs as well? I don’t think so. It is probably education, exposure to entrepreneurship, and networks that led these people to pursue the entrepreneurial path — which means that Kauffman Foundation may have hit on the right idea with Kauffman Labs. The reason this topic is really important is that, as Wilson writes, “Venture Capital is a lot about pattern recognition”. The reality is that VCs like him make quick judgments about people based on the stereotypes in their minds. So, like the women that I wrote about in my previous posts, we may be disadvantaging another important segment of our population – a segment that is older, more humble, more sensible, and more realistic than the population that is getting all the attention (and the money). Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. Follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa.      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am AT&T Stores in Metro New York, New Jersey are Open for Business After Record-Breaking SnowfallNEW YORK, Feb.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 7:41 am PayPal To Restore Bank Withdrawal Service In India On March 3rd
Last week, rumors that PayPal was actually forced into halting personal payments by Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) because they did not comply with all relevant regulatory requirements, were confirmed. Last night, PayPal posted a status update on its corporate blog, saying that they anticipate to resume part of its service, namely bank withdrawal abilities, as of Wednesday, March 3rd. From the blog post:
As part of the changes, Indian customers will be required to fill out a new field dubbed ‘Export Code’ when they request a withdrawal (here’s how to get one). This information is apparently required under current Indian laws in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions. PayPal will share specific instructions on how users can move money into bank accounts on Monday, March 1st. But Reserve Bank Of India has informed the eBay company that it requires specific approvals to allow personal inward remittances to India, which it currently does not have. In other words: PayPal is still forced by law to effectively suspend personal payments going into the accounts of its Indian customers for the foreseeable future, unless they are exporters. We’ll provide an update when that changes. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Feb 2010 | 7:34 am BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 2-21-2010Section:  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 | 27 Feb 2010 | 7:12 am Climate May Keep Killer Plant In CheckThe flowering plant - purple loosestrife - has been heading north since it was first introduced from Europe to the eastern seaboard 150 years ago. This exotic invader chokes out native species and has dramatically altered wetland habitats in North America.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Feb 2010 | 7:10 am Reducing Accidental Captures Of LoggerheadsSpanish scientists have studied interactions between the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and fishing gear such as longline hooks used at the water surface, mass beachings, and the effects of climate change on these animals.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:35 am Chitosan As Alternative To Growth-Promoting Antibiotics For RuminantsIn vitro trialsFor the research a series of experiments were put forward to determine the effect of chitosan on ruminant fermentation. Initially, simulation in vitro trials were undertaken to determine the effect of different types of chitosan on ruminant fermentation, as well as the influence of the diet, the dosage and the incubation time on these effects.For the first in vitro trials, a technique of discontinuous cultures was employed. In this technique a specific feed item is incubated with an inoculum from the rumen of sheep, under conditions of pH and temperature that simulate those of the rumen itself. The trials showed that the chitosan modified the ruminant fermentation in a manner that could turn out to be beneficial for the animal; for example, with increments in the production of propionic acid during the fermentation of up to 95%. Moreover, it was observed that these effects or modifications were more important as the degree of deacetylation of the chitosan molecule increased and as the ration or diet contained a greater proportion of concentrate.In the second round of in vitro trials the Rumen Simulation Technique or RUSITEC was used. This is different from the previous technique in that in this case semicontinuous fermenters were used in which there is a recycling of the culture medium. It thus enables maintaining a culture of stable ruminant microorganisms for longer periods in order to undertake studies for a longer time and thereby observe the persistance of the effects observed with the previous technique, and enable discarding possible adaptive effects of the ruminant microorganisms to chitosan. In these trials the effect of chitosan on rumen fermentation was observed to persist during the incubation time, thus enabling them to discard adaptive effects of the ruminant microorganisms to this compound.In this way, in vitro trials obtained highly promising results, based on an improvement on the energy efficiency of the rumen fermentation process with fermentations aimed at the production of propionic acid and a reduction in the production of methane during this process of up to 50%.Experiments with animalsSource: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:35 am Hiding The HoneypotsIs it possible to hide honeypot traps from Botnet dronesArmies of networked computers that have been compromised by malicious software are commonly known as Botnets. Such Botnets are usually used to carry out fraudulent and criminal activity on the Internet.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:25 am Dell Mini 5 is first in a series of Dell tablets to come in the futureSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Gadgets / Other, Household, Miscellaneous  To be a successful company, you need to be able to reach to a variety of customers. Computer companies do this by making different models based on the needs of its customers. Dell is the first major company that is taking this concept and applying it to their tablets. The idea was hinted at during the announcement of the Mini 5 concept at CES; but now it has been confirmed in a direct statement from the company’s tablet division head, Neeraj Choubey, that the Dell Mini 5 is only the first tablet in a series of them to come in different sizes in the near future. The Dell Mini 5 is a 5-inch tablet that will be released sometime this spring. Though no price has been announced, Choubey stated that the price will be competitive. But there will be other tablets after in an assortment of sizes and functions. The Mini 5 is more like a mobile internet device (MID) while a bigger, 8-9 inch size tablet could be used for completely different functions such as an e-reader. Expect Dell to release one in direct competition with the iPad so they won’t get left in the dust like they did with the iPod. (Does anyone remember the Dell DJ?) Dell has a great opportunity here and I hope they take it. As of now, the iPad is lacking a lot of things consumers desire; and if Dell can take advantage of that, they have a chance to take control of the tablet market-share right off the bat. Read [Electronista] Image via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:07 am Tackling The Challenges Of Survival In A Changing WorldWith the failure of the Copenhagen summit to draft a legally binding agreement on the reduction of global CO2 emission rates, it seems almost certain that we will see further rapid changes in the global climate.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 27 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am CeBIT 2010: Live 3-D-TVThis is the year in which 3D cinema and 3D TV will make the breakthrough. At CeBIT in Hannover, Fraunhofer researchers are presenting technologies and standards that are hastening the progress. Strikers and defenders furiously compete for the ball.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:52 am CeBIT 2010: The New ID CardImage Caption: The "Test and Demonstration Center of the New Personal Identity Card" in Berlin acts as the starting and reference point for the applications test. (© Fraunhofer FOKUS)Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:50 am CeBIT 2010: Intelligent Energy Management For The HomeImage Caption: Using his mobile phone as a display and control mechanism, the resident can control the energy consumption of his appliances. (© Fraunhofer FIT)Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:46 am Iris scans may prevent mistaken release of inmates (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:42 am Nintendo DSi XL Coming To US SoonNintendo plans to launch its DSi XL hand-held game console in Europe and the United States soon.Nintendo said Friday that the device was unveiled in Japan in November and will hit the European market on March 5 and U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:25 am Apple Rumored To Bring Back Sexually Explicit AppsIt is rumored that Apple is planning to add a new category to its iPhone's App Store for overtly sexual applications, according to a recent report from the Telegraph UK.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 27 Feb 2010 | 5:23 am Roving Mars in Award-Winning StyleHow would you like to explore the Martian landscape? Jump aboard the Manned Mars Exploration Rover, a self-contained mobile base designed to deal with the worst the Red Planet can throw at it.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Feb 2010 | 4:34 am China premier: 2010 'most complicated' for economy (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 4:22 am Huge Quake Hits Chile; Tsunami Threatens PacificA 8.8-magnitude earthquake rattles Chile on February 27, threatening Pacific Ocean nations with a tsunami.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:45 am Facebook wins US patent for 'news feeds' (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Feb 2010 | 3:43 am The Steady, Efficient Decline Of Yahoo
Yahoo’s strategy seems more like “ready, aim, aim, aim, aim…” Yesterday Jordan Rohan at Thomas Weisel Partners described Yahoo in his first analyst report on the company. He thinks this is the right management team to bring more efficiency to Yahoo. But he spends most of his time talking about the negatives, and there’s no excitement around new products or ideas:
On the upside, he notes that a cyclical upswing in advertising is likely to help Yahoo. Here are a few of the negatives:
More worrying are the metrics comparisons to Facebook. Rohan notes that total minutes spent by U.S. visitors to Facebook are set to surpass Yahoo. And the worldwide numbers are even worse. Facebook now has 160 million daily visitors and 227 billion monthly page views worldwide (Comscore), compared to 160 million and just 94 billion for Yahoo. Yahoo still has tons of daily visitors, but they are spending 12% less time on the site in aggregate compared to a year ago. In the same period Facebook has grown total page views by 217%. Yahoo will continue to shrink as sites are sold off and shuttered, and CEO Carol Bartz works on those efficiency gains. But this is no longer even close to an exciting company that thrives on chaotic creativity. Yahoo’s foundation is rotten. They have no plan to get back into the game. Or if they do have a plan, no one knows about it. Sadly, the first site many of us ever visited on the Internet is turning into little more than a business school study in financial engineering. It deserved a better fate. Information provided by CrunchBase      
Source: TechCrunch | 27 Feb 2010 | 2:23 am
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So, the concept I pitched to Nick was, "Let's talk about math from the platform of 'Math that humans are likely to want to know, because it's about other humans.'"
Social conflict. Sex. Beauty.
Short version: The Aurora ALX is quite possibly the fastest computer I’ve ever used. It is in a word, amazing. The water cooling, thermally reactive venting system, and lighting combine to make a system that runs great, looks amazing, and has some innovative features that make you go “duh. why didn’t I think of that?” Of course performance has its price, and you will have to pay a premium price for this system.
In a bid to streamline EU data protection law compliance, the European Union ordered Google to delete images captured for Streetview after 6 months. For the uninitiated, Streetview is a feature on Google Maps and Google Earth where you can view images of places on street-level. These images are captured by a vehicle equipped with Google’s proprietary camera systems. Google usually stores these images for up to 12 months after first capturing the images, however, according to the EU this is not in compliance with the data protection law which allows only up to 6 months of data retention. Google typically stores Streetview images of other countries for 12 months. Google’s top lawyer, Peter Fleischer, defended their standpoint by arguing that the storage of Streetview images merely serve the purpose of improving their maps-based products.
Since Facebook started on a college campus, it makes sense that they celebrate kegs. But did you know they actually have a Facebook application dedicated to the keg in their office? And they like to have fun with it.
If you’re reading this, then its likely you have come down out of your tsunami perch. Grab some soup, put the furniture back on the floor and pull up a chair to catch up with your tech news this week. Better get it in before the aftershocks.
The situation right now is very bad. We are getting news of the most bad places (the south center of Chile) and the news is no good. I am listening about buildings on the floor, hospitals with a lot of people and aftershocks. Every 5 or 10 minutes we feel shakes from the earth. Right now I am experiencing a VERY LONG ONE.
The news says there are over one hundred dead people and lot of injuries. I have electric light and internet, i can use my cellphone, with some difficulty, but it works.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of advancement in the salt and pepper industry – UNTIL NOW!
Three power-brokers scheme with a weapons specialist to assassinate a despised opponent... Too bad they’re all such incompetents. The bungling only gets worse as Maxwell, the senior power-broker, takes a young idealist under his wing. Suddenly his long-dormant conscience begins to reawaken. This comedic thriller discloses a sharp parable that takes a crack at the nastiness of covert governmental and corporate operations.
As 
Silicon Valley investors often have a picture in their heads of the type of person who is worthy of funding: young, brash, stubborn, and arrogant. They believe that successful entrepreneurs come from entrepreneurial families and that they start their entrepreneurial journey by selling lemonade while in grade school. Angel investor and entrepreneur, Jason Calacanis said as much in his 
About three weeks ago, eBay’s electronic payments daughter 
Efficiency is a business school idea that suggests a company is running smoothly. It’s absolutely terrific when you’re talking about a coal mining operation or a Supercuts. But when it comes to a company like Yahoo it’s not a positive. The Internet is still in its wild west days, and the “ready, fire, aim” game plan of Facebook and the other young guns is eating their lunch. Even the massive Google is still trying to shake things up with new and controversial products. 