This is a different phase, not an incremental improvement. The difference between the standard Internet access that shapes our imagination and a fiber-to-the-home connection is as great as the difference between no electricity and an electrified life. But only if we see this difference, only if we understand what’s possible, can we change our expectations. And that’s the most important thing about the Google Fiber efforts.
In my area, fiber backbone is being run thanks in part to government grants. But it’s not going to be “last mile” service, so homes aren’t going to get it. I’d love to see Google Fiber come to town.
Is there any sight more dispiriting than an unaware idiot taking pictures with a tablet? I can’t help but feel like we’re on the verge of our civilization breaking down; we’re just a tablet picture and a few “YOLOs” away from making shit-paintings of buffalos in caves.
Seen from this perspective, the architecture of their proposed campus makes perfect sense. If it was a divisional structure then each division could live in its own building or campus. In fact, each division would not have much to talk about to any other division. But as a functional organization Apple needs to move people quickly between projects. It needs to re-configure itself frequently. Being in the same building means they can do this much more efficiently.
I hadn’t really thought of Apple’s new campus design in these terms before, but Dediu makes good sense here.
Satellite-TV provider Dish Network Corp. is making a $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel Corp., an effort to derail the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier’s acquisition by Softbank Corp. of Japan.
Bitcoin is first and foremost a virtual currency. It is also a decentralized currency, meaning that there is no one person or party in charge of it. It’s not backed by a government or any form of hard asset, which means that its value is protected only by the integrity of a distributed network of accountability and the willingness of people to accept them for goods or services.
A really helpful guide from Bryan at The Mac Observer to help understand what Bitcoins are and why people are so interested in them.
With Windows 8, Microsoft entirely screwed the pooch. A badly conceived OS, designed to compete with Apple’s iOS and yet remain a traditional PC, did neither. It only confused and repelled users. Windows 7, a decent replacement for Windows XP, finally, could have sustained the industry easily for a decade.
Kay’s comments about how Intel and Microsoft dropped contracts with his consulting company are particularly telling: he blames the decisions on Endpoint’s unwillingness to help their PR efforts.
Security experts are warning that an escalating series of online attacks designed to break into poorly-secured WordPress blogs is fueling the growth of an unusually powerful botnet currently made up of more than 90,000 Web servers.
Now would be a good time to shore up your WordPress installation with the latest security fixes and perhaps change your password to something more secure.
If you need to do anything with PDFs, you need PDFpen. You can add a signature, make changes to text and images, correct a typo, fill out forms–and that’s only the beginning. Got a scanned document? PDFpen includes OCR so you can convert that scan into text that can be searched, copied, and corrected. Want to remove sensitive info such as tax ID numbers from your PDF before sharing it? PDFpen can perform redaction, removing the stuff you want to keep private.
The big news is that PDFpen 6 is now available, and the new features make it more powerful and easier to use than ever. The interface and tools have been updated and improved. And now you can export your PDFs to Microsoft Word format for sharing or editing. If you want to see the new features in action, check out the great video by David Sparks where you can see the new features.
Buy PDFpen for $60 in the Mac App Store or directly from Smile. Or buy PDFpenPro for $100 and you’ll get advanced features like form creation tools and document permission settings. Find out more at Smile Software.
“Today has been gangbusters for T-Mobile,” Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert said in a statement to AllThingsD. “We experienced lines out the door this morning at nearly all of our almost 3,000 stores nationwide.”
T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 5 for $99 up front, letting customers pay for it over time, but not locking them into a restrictive contract.
It takes 13 minutes and seven seconds to complete Snake, the decades-old game that enjoyed a renascence through Nokia’s early mobile phones. What reward lies at the end of this snake’s insatiable desire for food?
For the Bulls and Blackhawks to share the floor at the United Center, it takes a choreographed conversion from ice to hardwood and back again — something that will happen 26 times this season. Once a Blackhawks game ends, the crew of 45 springs to action, changing the playing surface in about two hours.
Fascinating video and description of the process of turning a hockey rink into a basketball arena.
T-Mobile is kicking off its official sales of the iPhone 5 today, marking the first time the U.S.’ fourth largest carrier has offered an Apple smartphone. Thanks to T-Mo’s new Uncarrier plans, the iPhone 5 can be had starting at just $99, with two years of $20 monthly payments to cover the balance, or for free if you’re switching from another carrier and bring a device in for trade. So far, so good, according to reports of lines forming at retail stores for a phone that’s now over six months old.
Now the iPhone 5 is available on all four major U.S. carriers (and several MVNOs as well).
The most amazing part of this is that it isn’t emulation – “Bacteria” has built this monster gaming system using the original electronics. He developed his own master controller and figured out an ingenious way to get it to work with each system. Really an amazing thing to behold.
(Another link that I have to thank my fantastic wife for finding.)
Ebooks accounted for 22.55 percent, or nearly a quarter, of U.S. book publishers’ sales in 2012, according to a full-year report released by the Association of American Publishers Thursday. That’s up from 17 percent of sales in 2011 and 3 percent in 2009. Ebook growth continued to plateau, however, suggesting that the industry is maturing.
The U.S. trade book industry saw $7.1 billion in revenue in 2012, with $1.54 billion coming from ebooks.
Big Red’s gone back to basics, announcing a novel prepaid plan for folks without a smartphone — which will go alongside the company’s existing $50, all-you-can-have offering. With the new Basic Plan, Verizon’s giving would-be customers a $35 option which serves 500 anytime minutes (sorry, no mobile-to-mobile) as well as unlimited mobile data and text messaging.
I’ve written before about my experience using a “dumb” phone (which I still use), so it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who eschews smartphones and their expensive data plans.
If you hadn’t already guessed, my fellow Movoto bloggers are all pretty nerdtastic. So, naturally, when we recently got to talking about what some of the best cities in the U.S. are for various types of people—see our recent look at the top towns for gamers—the idea of determining where nerds (aka “my people”) would most feel at home came up.
After coming up with our criteria and crunching the numbers, it was Atlanta—also Movoto’s top gamer city—that took the crown.
Portland, Ore. is Robin to Atlanta’s Batman. Click the link for more details, including the criteria used to determine nerdiness.
(Thanks to my hot nerd wife Bonnie for giving me the heads up on this.)
Apple is agreeing to pay $53 million to settle a class action accusing the company of failing to honor warranties on iPhones and iPod Touches, according to an agreement obtained today by Wired.
According to the plaintiffs’ complaints, Apple refused to honor warranties on some iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and first, second and third-gen iPod touches if a white indicator tape embedded within the device was discolored, indicating water contact. 3M, the manufacturer of the tape, said humidity, not direct contact with water, could cause the tape to change color.
A United Kingdom government department has launched an investigation into in-app purchases aimed at children. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is attempting to find out if the methods used by developers to encourage children into performing the purchases are “misleading, commercially aggressive, or otherwise unfair.”
The OFT is seeking input from parents and wants to know if in-app purchases in games contravene a 2008 law that makes it illegal for products to ask kids directly for money.
Two minutes: that’s about how long it took before Dungeon Hunter 4’s in-app purchase system first reared its ugly head, with the tutorial explaining that equipment upgrades could be “sped up” by paying a few gems. Mind you, I wasn’t encouraged to spend any money yet; that wouldn’t happen for another two minutes, once I saw the first “special offer” on a loading screen suggesting I spend some gems on an item (evermind that I hadn’t seen much in the way of action yet). A minute later came the introduction to the Dungeon Hunter item shop, where I learned all about buying gear (it was on sale!).
This doesn’t sound so much like Free to Play as it is, Pay to Win. That’s an obnoxious business model and I absolutely detest those sorts of games. It’s like being back at the arcade and having your pocket continuously emptied of quarters, but not by your lack of skill – just by the game’s greediness.
Perhaps worse, according to a report from Detwiler Fenton, customer returns of the Z10 are actually outnumbering sales.
“We believe key retail partners have seen a significant increase in Z10 returns to the point where, in several cases, returns are now exceeding sales, a phenomenon we have never seen before,” Detwiler analyst Jeff Johnston writes in the report.
When Felix Baumgartner set out to make a living by stunt jumping—from cliffs, buildings, and bridges—the young Austrian had no idea where it would take him: to a pressurized capsule nearly 24 miles above New Mexico, last October 14, preparing to free-fall farther than any man in history, and at supersonic speed. Detailing Baumgartner’s quest, William Langewiesche explores what drove him to ever greater heights.
I’m still not as hugely impressed as some by Baumgartner’s stunt but the story has many interesting details regarding what it takes to put together this kind of event.
Apple Inc. and Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility unit are more interested in using litigation as a business strategy than in resolving disputes over the use of patented technology, a federal judge in Florida said.
“The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute; they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end,” U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami said in an order dated yesterday. “That is not a proper use of this court.”
Unauthorized documentary of one of the most influential synthpop bands ever. Featuring other artists of the era like Andy McCluskey from OMD, Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan and others.
The Mac Observer asked Mr. Welch what was going on and he said, “People were indeed laid off, however, the company is not folding.” He added that Ambrosia is still selling and supporting its products.
Glad to hear that Ambrosia is continuing, albeit at diminished capacity. I’ve enjoyed Ambrosia’s games and utilities since the very earliest days of Mac shareware, and their demise would truly be sad day in the annals of Mac history.
Game Informer has learned from sources close to the matter that Orth is no longer with Microsoft. A call to Microsoft’s main switchboard confirmed this fact. Our sources, who wish to remain anonymous, suggest that Orth resigned in the wake of last week’s events. We haven’t been able to confirm whether this was a voluntary or forced resignation.
Adam Orth created a buzz last week when he posted dismissive comments about gamers who complain about “always on” connections for games. Rumors suggest that Microsoft’s next Xbox console – expected to be revealed at an event next month – will do so.
Microsoft distanced itself from Orth’s comments but didn’t refute the rumors, and now it looks like Orth is out of a job.
The software giant is developing a new lineup of its Surface tablets, including a 7-inch version expected to go into mass production later this year, said people familiar with the company’s plans.
So the company can fail in two form factors. Awesome!
Video accounts for 50 percent of Verizon Wireless’ network traffic today and by 2017 the carrier estimates video will make up two-thirds of all traffic over the network.
Pretty remarkable that that many wireless users are watching video from their devices.
This month marks the 70th anniversary of one of our favorite children’s books of all time, the beautiful, contemplative novella The Little Prince. To celebrate the book’s legacy (and to encourage any parents currently dragging their feet to get it for their little ones), we’ve put together a list of 25 essential books that every kid should have on his or her bookshelf growing up.
Embarrassed to say I’ve only actually read two of these – “The Phantom Tollbooth” and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” How many have you read?
