Apple Conference Call

Written by

Apple:

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, will host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple® will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash.Apple will provide live audio streaming of its conference call using Apple’s industry-leading QuickTime® multimedia software. The live webcast will begin at 6:00 a.m. PDT on March 19, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/call31912.

Short version: “We have a buttload of cash. Here’s what we’re going to do with it.”

The world’s most beautiful turntables

Written by

CNET:

The iPhone and iPad are truly elegant designs, but they are the rare exceptions in the rather drab world of consumer electronics. Most cameras, printers, computers, home theater receivers, and speakers are pretty sedate, but there is one product category that stands out: turntables. I’ve picked a choice selection that represents remarkable achievements in industrial design, and they’re highly functional, exquisitely engineered products.

If you have to check Wikipedia to find out what a “turntable” is, please ignore this article.

Take a wild ride on a Shuttle solid rocket booster

Written by

Bad Astronomy:

On Google+, Michael Interbartolo — who worked for ten years on the Space Shuttle Program in Mission Control in Houston — just posted about this amazing video from cameras mounted on the Shuttle solid rockets as they rode into space.On the upper left is elapsed time, and on the upper right is the air speed as calculated using on board instruments. Watch as the speed increases… and then the increase increases!

iFixit’s iPad 3 4G teardown

Written by

iFixIt:

Is it “The New iPad?” “iPad HD?” “iPad 3?” Who cares? All we know is this: It’s here!Our CXO flew to the Telstra store in Melbourne, Australia and was first in line to get the iPad 3 for our deconstructive pleasure.

For your geeky pleasure, here is the traditional iFixIt abuse of a brand new Apple product.

Survey says: iPad most popular tablet for first time buyers

Written by

Dealnews:

A reader survey discovered 55% of current iPad owners said they would update to the third generation.But what about consumers who are currently tablet-free and finally ready to jump aboard the slate train?78% of non-tablet owners who are planning on buying their first device said they’ll spring for the newest offering from Apple. And, of the people who aren’t buying the new iPad (the remaining 22%), almost half will buy a previous generation — specifically, 60% plan on buying the iPad 2 within the next six months. Why? Because the iPad 2 is now cheaper.

Certainly an unscientific, self-selecting survey but it is most likely indicative of desire and demand among potential first time tablet buyers.

Former Britannica editor on the print edition’s demise

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Former Britannica.com editor Charlie Madigan:

This was inevitable. As a senior editor at Britannica.com, where I went to work after decades as a newspaper editor, I had high hopes for the idea of giving away knowledge.Talking about the public’s right, and need, to know with some of those folks was like talking to frogs about poetry.

Does this signal the beginning of the end of these kinds of books?

iPhone become top seller in Japan for 1st time

Written by

Mainichi Daily News:

The iPhone captured the largest share of mobile phones shipments in Japan for the first time in the October-December quarter, accounting for 26.6 percent, due to the popularity of the iPhone 4S smartphone model, research firm IDC Japan said Thursday.

Thanks to Daring Fireball.

After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica stops the presses

Written by

New York Times:

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered sets of reference books that were once sold door to door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, the company is expected to announce on Wednesday.In a nod to the realities of the digital age — and, in particular, the competition from the hugely popular Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools, company executives said.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica was probably the first “adult” books I ever read as a kid. They opened the world up to a fat little kid in Nova Scotia.

Watch a live feed of the Northern Lights

Written by

Wired Science:

Are you too far south or in too bright of a city to catch the spectacular auroras that have been streaking across the sky lately?Not to worry. The Canadian Space Agency’s AuroraMAX Camera — located in the City of Yellowknife, near the Arctic Circle — can fulfill all your Northern-Light-viewing needs every night from now until late May.The AuroraMAX camera, run in collaboration with the University of Calgary and Astronomy North, will turn on automatically when darkness falls (around 7:30 MDT tonight) and provides spectacular, full-sky views of the Northern Lights. Peak aurora activity is expected in the hours just before and after midnight (Mountain Time).

Canadians are such nice people.

World’s coolest staircases

Written by

Yahoo! Travel:

While staircases are fundamentally a means to get from one point to another, they become cool—and worth seeking out—when the form is made at least as important as the function. Whether in shops, museums, or the great outdoors, the staircases we’ve found are inspiring works of public art and provide interesting perspective on a destination.

Even us lazy guys would enjoy taking some of these stairs.

Canadian hotel offers amnesty to thieves

Written by

Gadling:

In honor of its upcoming 100-year anniversary, the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa is offering an amnesty for anyone who has pilfered something from the hotel over the last century. The historic, castle-like hotel in the Canadian capital has already received more than 60 items from people all over North America.“The amnesty part means there are no questions asked,” said Deneen Perrin, the hotel’s director of public relations. “It doesn’t matter whether your grandmother took a silver spoon and put it in her purse or if someone’s parents maybe worked in the hotel and took something, we’ll take it back.”

Shows how nice Canadians are.

Home of the unofficial SXSW music torrent files

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The (unofficial) SXSW Torrents:

This torrent includes all the tracks that could be previewed on the SXSW website for SXSW 2012 as of March 6, 2012. This year’s collection includes 1,219 files totaling 7.52GB. Torrents for 2005-2011 are also available.

Would you like a buttload of free (and legal) music, from (mostly) undiscovered bands? These torrent files are your ticket.