The original FCC plan allowed for “paid prioritization” (fast lanes and slow lanes on the net) and the new language specifically disallows it. Hoping this plays out as stated and doesn’t get softened by corrupt influences.
Samsung Chairman Lee stable after surgery following heart attack
Bloomberg:
Lee was operated on early yesterday at Samsung Medical Center after being resuscitated and stabilized the previous night at Soonchunhyang University Hospital following an acute myocardial infarction, according to an e-mailed statement from Samsung Group spokeswoman Rhee So Eui.
Minecraft creator’s new, simple webgame
The game is called “Drowning in Problems”. Takes about 10 minutes to play through. Interesting game mechanic.
Latest aerial photos of new Apple campus
Some notable progress. When you see the final result, remember these pictures. The land is almost completely cleared. I suspect the trees will return.
How to deliver a package when you are the size of a planet
[VIDEO] Really love this video. Beautifully animated, though be warned, a lot of bad things happen so watch it before you share it with any young’uns.
The epic visual history of Beats by Dre
A visual walk through the critical events in the creation of the billion dollar Beats empire. A fun read.
Solar powered iBeacon sunglasses
I think this sounds useful and, I suspect, a feature that expensive sunglasses will standardize on in the future. Or you can just get the $15 sunglasses off the rack at the drug store.
Snapchat admits its photos don’t “disappear forever”
Oops. That’s a pretty big thing to get wrong.
Bits and pieces on the potential Apple, Beats deal
Lots has been written about Apple’s potential acquisition of Beats. This is my attempt to gather some of the facts in a single place.
Clearing up “other” memory on your iOS device
When you look at the memory consumption on your iOS device, chances are high that a good chunk of it is taken up by a category labeled simply as “other”. Read the linked post for three steps you can take to free up some space. Even if none of these fixes are new to you, it’s nice to be reminded to clear the backlog every once in a while.
Why engineers make great CEOs
A good read, plus some of my thoughts on why engineers are well suited to lead tech companies.
Symantec: “Antivirus is dead”
Hackers are finding new techniques that are beyond the grasp of antivirus software. You might think that Symantec was throwing in the towel. But no, they’ve got a new strategy. Interesting read.
Add a product to your Amazon cart from Twitter feed using hashtag
[VIDEO] Interesting move on Amazon’s part. I do question the effectiveness. I have yet to find a product to tag in my Twitter feed, though I have no doubt the spam will soon start to flow. Watch the video to see how this works.
Jury foreman in Samsung case questions how Google affects Apple’s motivation
Tom Dunham was the jury foreman in the case.
Mr. Dunham said the jury was curious about how Google affected Apple’s motivation in this case. Samsung’s smartphones and tablets use Google’s Android operating system. Apple hasn’t sued Google directly, but has sued Samsung and other device makers that use Android.
“If you really feel that Google is the cause behind this, as I think everybody has observed, then don’t beat around the bush,” said Mr. Dunham, whose job at IBM was to oversee developers expected to file patents. “Let the courts decide. But a more direct approach may be something to think about.”
His comments suggest that Samsung lawyers succeeded with arguments that Samsung was merely a proxy for Apple’s real target: Google and its Android operating system. Apple’s lawyers insisted that Samsung—and not Google—was the defendant in this case.
To support its point, Samsung presented evidence of an email sent by former Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs saying that Apple should wage a “holy war” on Google.
Straight from the horse’s mouth. I don’t pretend to understand all the complexities of this case, but didn’t this start out to be about wholesale copying of a groundbreaking user interface?
Sony in free fall
The TV business has moved deep into commodity territory, spread as thin as can be. Consumer electronic sales are down, as focus shifts to non-Sony categories. The PlayStation is a bright spot, but just not a large enough business compared to the whole.
Tough times for an innovative firm that brought us a lot of new technologies over the years.
When hitting ‘Find My iPhone’ takes you to a thief’s doorstep
Interesting read and solid advice. If someone steals your phone, call the police.
Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, others keeping eye on “Heckler’s Veto” case
A cheerleader’s defamation lawsuit against a gossip site has big implications for sites that carry third party content of any kind. At the core of the suit:
“If websites are subject to liability for failing to remove third-party content whenever someone objects, they will be subject to the ‘heckler’s veto,’ giving anyone who complains unfettered power to censor speech,” according to briefs filed Nov. 19 by lawyers for Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Amazon, Gawker and BuzzFeed, among others.
In other words, should Facebook or Twitter be liable for statements posted by one of its users? Should Amazon be held liable for the accuracy of a review posted on its site?
Teardown.com reports $1500 Google Glass costs $80 to make
That is one heck of a markup.
The positive and negative effects of video games
I’ve seen a number of articles purporting to lay out the evils or the benefits of video games for kids. This article actually does a good job of laying out the pros and cons, reasonably objectively. Personally, I’m pro video games, with a healthy mix of other activities mixed in.
How a laser works
Ever wondered how a laser works? Follow the link. It does get a bit technical, but I found it to be reasonably understandable and incredibly fascinating.
Watch an entire Baltimore street collapse at once
[VIDEO] Heavy rains triggered the collapse of a retaining wall on one side of a railroad track. The road has partially collapsed when this video (in the original post) was shot. The guy who shot the video? His Jeep was one of the cars that got swallowed up.
The action happens about a minute into the video, and it happens fast. It does get a bit loud, so you might want to turn your volume down if you are at work.
Watchmaker Swatch to fight for iWatch trademark
My opinion? If Apple does come out with an iWatch product, they’ll find the path to protect the name legally.
The xkcd phone
Finally.
Bill Gates no longer largest Microsoft shareholder
Gates is selling his shares on a regular basis, is on track to sell his last shares in about 4 years.
Flying through a fireworks display with a drone
[VIDEO] Most perspectives of a fireworks show are 2D. You are far away and the depth of field is relatively infinite. The video embedded in the original post adds a third dimension. You get the sense of the individual elements moving towards and past you. Pretty cool.
New 2014 MacBook Air benchmarks
If you are in the market for a new MacBook Air, take a read.
How Steve Wozniak wrote BASIC for the original Apple from scratch
The linked article is Woz reminiscing about his journey creating BASIC for the Apple I.
The great works of software
As with any list, there will be much disagreement on what was included and left off the list. That aside, I found this to be a thoughtful read.
As far as I can tell, no truly huge world-shifting software product has ever existed in only one version (even Flappy Bird had updates). Just about every global software product of longevity grows, changes, adapts, and reacts to other software over time.
So I set myself the task of picking five great works of software. The criteria were simple: How long had it been around? Did people directly interact with it every day? Did people use it to do something meaningful? I came up with the office suite Microsoft Office, the image editor Photoshop, the videogame Pac-Man, the operating system Unix, and the text editor Emacs.
I would have placed Unix at #1, the original Mac OS at #2, Mac OS X at #3, and iOS at #4. But hey, that’s just me.
The hunt for El Chapo: How the world’s most notorious drug lord was captured
Don’t know if Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, was the world’s most notorious drug lord, but I do know that this was one ripping yarn.
The illusion of life – Disney’s core animation principles
[VIDEO]
From the video’s about page:
The 12 basic principles of animation were developed by the ‘old men’ of Walt Disney Studios, amongst them Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, during the 1930s. Of course they weren’t old men at the time, but young men who were at the forefront of exciting discoveries that were contributing to the development of a new art form. These principles came as a result of reflection about their practice and through Disney’s desire to use animation to express character and personality.
This movie is my personal take about those principles, applied to simple shapes. Like a cube. Check also the animated gif gallery here.
Astonishing. Watch the video in the original Loop post.