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Microsoft sued for infringing patent on Live Tiles | 258 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
The Nexus 10 the thinner, lighter, faster, higher resolution tablet
Authored by: SilverWave on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 02:42 PM EDT
Google announces Nexus 10 tablet with iPad-beating specs

---
RMS: The 4 Freedoms
0 run the program for any purpose
1 study the source code and change it
2 make copies and distribute them
3 publish modified versions

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Apparently PJ has some comms
Authored by: SpaceLifeForm on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 02:54 PM EDT
Hopefully she will be back to near normal ops soon.


---

You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Microsoft Announces New Device - the Pivot™
Authored by: albert on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 03:46 PM EDT
[video] [young people in a lovely walled garden, playing with the products]

[jingle]
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
'Does everything a phone can do, and it's a tablet, too!'©

[video Ballmer]
"It floats like a boat and flies like a plane", says Steve Ballmer. "We got the idea from Tim Cook.", says Ballmer. "It took a lot of work, but we did it!"

The Pivot™ closes the chain of Microsoft Paradise™, an ecosystem that gives to user a total Microsoft Experience™. Steve says: "Buying a Pivot™ at a Microsoft Store™ lets you into our world, where you get to use the Microsoft Cloud™, Microsoft Movies™ and Microsoft Music™, Microsoft Bing™, and Microsoft Apps™". "And there's more in the pipeline!", says Steve.

[jingle] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
'Be part of our world. The world of the future...'©

[female voice]
Microsoft™!

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Google’s Nexus 4, 7, 10 strategy: Openness at all costs By Ryan Whitwam
Authored by: SilverWave on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 04:18 PM EDT
Google’s Nexus 4, 7, 10 strategy: Openness at all costs By Ryan Whitwam

---
RMS: The 4 Freedoms
0 run the program for any purpose
1 study the source code and change it
2 make copies and distribute them
3 publish modified versions

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

tablets, but no teachers, and no instructions (olpc)
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 04:34 PM EDT
Earlier this year, OLPC workers dropped off closed boxes containing the tablets,
taped shut, with no instruction. “I thought the kids would play with the boxes.
Within four minutes, one kid not only opened the box, found the on-off switch …
powered it up. Within five days, they were using 47 apps per child, per day.
Within two weeks, they were singing ABC songs in the village, and within five
months, they had hacked Android,” Negroponte said. “Some idiot in our
organization or in the Media Lab had disabled the camera, and they figured out
the camera, and had hacked Android.”


http://mashable.com/2012/10/29/tablets-ethiopian-children/

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Given OLPC Tablets - But No Teachers - Ethiopian Kids Teach Themselves
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 06:23 PM EDT
In an interview after his talk, Negroponte [Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC’s founder] said that while the early results are promising, reaching conclusions about whether children could learn to read this way would require more time. “If it gets funded, it would need to continue for another a year and a half to two years to come to a conclusion that the scientific community would accept,” Negroponte said. “We’d have to start with a new village and make a clean start.”

The idea of dropping off tablets outside of the context of schools is a new paradigm for OLPC. Through the late 2000s, the company was focused on delivering a custom miniaturized and ruggedized laptop, the XO, of which about 3 million have been distributed to kids in 40 countries. Deployments went to schools including ones in Peru.

Giving computers directly to poor kids without any instruction is even more ambitious than OLPC’s earlier pushes. “What can we do for these 100 million kids around the world who don’t go to school?” McNierney [Ed McNierney, OLPC’s chief technology officer] said. “Can we give them tool to read and learn—without having to provide schools and teachers and textbooks and all that?”

David Talbot, Mashable / MIT Technology Review

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Nokia claims it 'resurrected' the Windows Phone
Authored by: yorkshireman on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 07:26 PM EDT
Nokia claims it 'resurrected' the Windows Phone

I wonder if Nokia shareholders knew that was where their money was going?

 

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Another device waiting for an Android hack
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 08:04 PM EDT
Philips LED lightbulbs iPhone only for now

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Recent Frustration with Google News
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 09:17 PM EDT
It is often said that television changed the nature of the news by requiring all
stories to fit into a ten second soundbite in order to get coverage. I feel like
the advent of touchscreen smartphones on the internet in large numbers is
starting to impose a similar change on the internet - dumbing it down -
shrinking it - forcing everything to fit on a tiny touch screen.

I've been recently finding Google News increasingly frustrating to use on my
desktop and I've just realised that this is why. The main page by default now
shows only one story on each topic. If there is a topic I am interested in I
want to browse multiple sources. This used to be easy - now it is less so. You
now have to drill down through the inaptly named "realtime coverage"
link and go a couple of layers deep to get at other stories covering the same
topic. The format is all one column now. There is a lot less news on the screen
at one time and you have to scroll and click incessantly to get at more. I can
see all this makes sense on a small screen tablet or smartphone. But I've got a
desktop with multiple large screens. It is starting to frustrate me. It feels
like being forced to look at the world through a cardboard tube.

Please Google and others who have redesigned everything to be smartphone
friendly. Could we have desktop editions for people still using large screens
who want to have more information visible at once.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Re Previous story
Authored by: N_au on Tuesday, October 30 2012 @ 11:07 PM EDT
See the previous story is still narrow and hard to read. Has anyone looked at
the table as that is the width the whole thing ends up? I know it doesn't affect
all themes, but I have mine set up with a different colour when I am logged in
so it reminds when I am not.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

How Zappos' User Agreement Failed In Court and Left Zappos Legally Naked
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 01:27 AM EDT
We have known for years that browsewraps are unenforceable (see some of the cases discussed here) and judges clearly dislike unilateral amendment clauses (see, e.g., the uncited Ninth Circuit's Douglas ruling from 2007 and the cited 2009 ruling in the Blockbuster/Facebook Beacon case).

Still, the ruling leaves Zappos in a bad position. Its contract is legally irrelevant, meaning that all of the risk management provisions in its contract are ineffective--its disclaimer of warranties, its waiver of consequential damages, its reduced statute of limitations, its clause restricting class actions in arbitration...all of these are gone, leaving Zappos governed by the default legal rules, which aren't nearly as favorable to it. Losing its contract provisions meant Zappos is legally naked.

Avoiding this outcome is surprisingly easy.

Eric Goldman

Eric Goldman is a Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law. He also directs the school's High Tech Law Institute. Before joining the SCU faculty in 2006, he was an Assistant Professor at Marquette University Law School, General Counsel of Epinions.com, and an Internet transactional attorney at Cooley Godward LLP.

Eric teaches and publishes in the areas of Internet Law, Intellectual Property and Advertising & Marketing Law.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Disasters: SCO > Mitt > Sandy
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 01:33 AM EDT
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/mitt-romney-fema_n_2044213.html

'Mitt Romney refused to answer reporters' questions about how he would handle
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), after a Tuesday "storm
relief" event in Ohio for Hurricane Sandy.'

'"Gov are you going to eliminate FEMA?" a print pooler shouted,
receiving no response."'

'"Gov you've been asked 14 times, why are you refusing to answer the
question?"'

'During a GOP primary debate last year, Romney had said he supported the idea of
states and private sector groups taking over responsibility for disaster
relief.'

'Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government
and send it back to the states, that's the right direction," he said.
"And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector,
that's even better.'


Hmm. Where is SCO in all this? They are SCO. In a league of their own.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Sandy impact
Authored by: SpaceLifeForm on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 02:07 AM EDT
Google Crisis Response

Hurricane Sandy Takes Out 25 Percent Of Cell Towers (so far)

People are charging their phones with diesel generators, but if the cell tower is now dead, it is a moot effort.

It is recommended to do text instead of a call if you can get a cell connection, in order to save your battery and to minimize the load on the network.

Note to Google: Please disable the auto-complete search feature, or make a button to turn it off. You are not helping with bandwidth usage.

---

You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

More signs of Apple fall
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 11:10 AM EDT
El reg

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Free download of CrossOver for Linux and Mac today [10-31]
Authored by: artp on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 11:35 AM EDT

H-Open has an article about CodeWeavers giving away Crossover for 24 hours. They were running a "Get out the vote" campaign, and met the goal, so this is the result. Free download plus one year of support.

A separate program will be run for people impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

I thought one or two people here might be interested.

---
Userfriendly on WGA server outage:
When you're chained to an oar you don't think you should go down when the galley sinks ?

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Microsoft sued for infringing patent on Live Tiles
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 11:49 AM EDT
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580728/microsoft-sued-for-infringing-patent-
on-live-tiles

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Update on Zydeco Breakfast documentary project
Authored by: artp on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 12:16 PM EDT

Zydeco is music that comes out of the Louisiana Creole culture. Louisiana Creole is a French-black fusion, one of many Creole cultures around the world.

The project that my friend, Tom, started has met its Kickstarter goal, but it still has about 36 hours to go if you want to chip in. It is a fascinating project to me, because it preserves an ethnic culture that is very much regional, and doesn't fit in to the normal **AA plans. [Thank God!]

So they have enough to go forward with this. From their website:

We are currently in the final stages of editing and will soon have the picture locked – meaning no more editing changes! After the film is picture locked, then it will go to Color Correcting and Sound Mastering. Once those stages are complete then the film will be ready for Film Festivals and Distribution!!

Take a look just for the information. Even this Iowa rural Irish-Czech fusion finds it fascinating. I'm looking forward to the film. All I know about Zydeco is what Zydeco Buckwheat did back in the 70s.

---
Userfriendly on WGA server outage:
When you're chained to an oar you don't think you should go down when the galley sinks ?

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Looks like Samsung aren't happy with Apple Statement
Authored by: jmc on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 12:24 PM EDT

The same appeal panel as dismissed Apple's appeals 2 weeks ago is reconvened tomorrow 1st November at 9:15 to hear Samsung's application.

Link and search for Samsung or Apple.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Windows tablet users may need training: analyst
Authored by: JamesK on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 01:18 PM EDT
Users are apparently finding the touch-screen functions and tiled interface difficult to use

---
The following program contains immature subject matter.
Viewer discretion is advised.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

OT - google 'defamation' case in OZ
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 02:14 PM EDT
Not heard anything about this

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Fuzzy FCC math
Authored by: SpaceLifeForm on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 02:29 PM EDT
Regarding the cell tower outages, the spin is good.

The FCC says 25 percent down.

Verizon reports 6 percent.
T-Mobile reports 20 percent.

AT&T is not talking much.
The best they will say is that a majority are up.

Do the math. The odds are good that AT&T has
over 25 percent down.

---

You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Nokie patents multi-user mobile phones
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 07:16 PM EDT
"A mobile telephone is designed to be used by
several different end-users at different times. A first end-
user can alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a
manner specific to that first end-user and a subsequent end-
user can alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a
manner specific to that subsequent end-user; wherein each
end-user has only to respond to prompts displayed on a
screen in order to alter the mobile telephone so that it
operates in a manner specific to that end-user" <a href
="http://www.androidauthority.com/android-4-2-multi-user-
127142/">link</a>

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Monsters are people too
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 07:42 PM EDT
12-year-old uses Dungeons and Dragons to help scientist dad with his research

Alan Kingstone, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, had a problem: all humans have their eyes in the middle of their faces, and there’s nothing that Kingstone could do about it. His 12-year-old son, Julian Levy, had the solution: monsters.

While some monsters are basically humanoid in shape, others have eyes on their hands, tails, tentacles and other unnatural body parts. Perfect. Kingstone would use monsters. And Julian would get his first publication in a journal from the Royal Society, one of the world’s most august scientific institutions.

[...]

In the meantime, the paper describing the results—delightfully entitled “Monsters are people too”—has been published in Biology Letters. Kingstone wrote it with postdoc Tom Foulsham, but Levy did the rest. He prepared the images, trained himself to use the eye-tracker, ran the experiment, and coded all the data. Accordingly, at the current age of 14, he’s the first author on the paper.

Ed Yong, Discover Magazine

---

Monsters are people too
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/10/25/rsbl.2012.0850.f ull

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Off Topic Here
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 11:21 PM EDT
If you've never seen this before, it's totally great:

Juice Rap News episode 15: Big Brother is WWWatching You

I must have watched it at least half a dozen times now... its full of brilliant soundbites (my favorite was "War of Terror") and subtle references (such as General Baxter's compulsion to do a Nazi salute, just like Dr. Strangelove).

All of their previous episodes are pretty good too, but 15 is just amazing!

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Now that the Trick-or-Treaters are in...
Authored by: artp on Wednesday, October 31 2012 @ 11:30 PM EDT

You really need to read/watch this article on trading candy entitled "An Economic Guide To Trading Your Halloween Candy". From Techdirt. Of course. Hilarious! I only wish that I'd had it when my kids were young...

---
Userfriendly on WGA server outage:
When you're chained to an oar you don't think you should go down when the galley sinks ?

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Acer delays Windows RT tablets over Surface concerns
Authored by: tiger99 on Thursday, November 01 2012 @ 09:18 AM EDT
BBC

Windoze RT is clearly not fit for purpose (yet, and probably never), and M$ are undercutting the PC manufacurers on price. Maybe Ballmer is trying to save his job by creating a new Monopoly in hardware? If so, underpricing is regarded as illegal dumping in some places, and attracts anti-trust action.

If Acer are displeased, I would expect that the other manufacturers will be too. I wonder if they will be provoked sufficiently to shift their attention back to Android?

Whatever, the good news is that M$ are coming unstuck yet again, as many here predicted.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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