Mythical Apple Tablet Rumors Surface Again November 19, 2009
Posted by Joey in Gadgets, Technology.Tags: Apple, Apple Tablet, Vaporware
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The long rumored Apple Tablet makes another vaporware appearance in Wired, this time with the news that it’s delayed by the addition of an OLED display.
Here’s the obligatory photoshop:
iTablet Gains OLED Display, Delayed Until Late 2010 | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.
If an unannounced product exists solely in the minds of speculative journalists and know-nothing analysts, can it be “delayed”? If so, then the fabled Apple tablet has just seen a setback to its non-existent launch date, pushing it to the second half of 2010.
The source? Component manufacturers for the iTablet, who, according to Digitimes, say that Apple has changed its mind on the product range (partway through production, it would seem) and decided to confuse customers with a split product launch.
Instead of the usual Apple strategy of launching one product, letting it run for a few years, and only then adding more lines (think iPod, which was on sale for two years before the Mini joined it, and iPhone, which is still the only iPhone), Digitimes’ sources claim that there will be two tablets at launch. One with a TFT screen will measure 10.6-inches and one with an OLED screen will measure 9.7-inches.
Pirate Bay Shuts Down BitTorrent Tracker November 18, 2009
Posted by Joey in Internet, Software, Technology.Tags: Filesharing, The Pirate Bay
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The Pirate Bay has shut down its BitTorrent tracker, in favor of a decentralized system. And it helps get the Swedish prosecutors off their back.
Pirate Bay Retires World’s Largest BitTorrent Tracker | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Operators of The Pirate Bay shuttered the site’s BitTorrent tracker on Tuesday, six years after it was founded.
Trackers — the servers that bootstrap each BitTorrent download — are no longer necessary with enhancements like DHT and PEX that allow peers to locate one another without accessing a central server, site operators wrote in the Bay’s blog.
“Now that the decentralized system for finding peers is so well developed, TPB has decided that there is no need to run a tracker anymore, so it will remain down!” reads the announcement. “It’s the end of an era.”
“This is what we consider to be the future,” the Bay wrote. “Faster and more stability for the users because there is no central point to rely upon.”
But Did the IQ Go Down When The Bra Size Went Up? November 7, 2009
Posted by Joey in Fashion, Gadgets, Technology.Tags: Inflatable Bra
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Via Gizmodo, apparently now a fashion blog:
Based on my non-existent Chinese skills, I managed to understand that this inflatable bra makes boobs big, BIG, BIG. And I guess it comes with odd sound effects included? Can someone watch please this commercial and translate for me?
Windows 7 Security Still Pathetic November 5, 2009
Posted by Joey in Software, Technology.Tags: Malware, Microsoft, Rootkits, Viruses, Windows 7
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When, do you suppose, Microsoft will actually write a secure operating system?
Never. Gotta keep those anti-virus companies fat, dumb and happy. After all, the anti-virus companies can’t make money on Mac OS X or Linux.
Windows 7 Still Vulnerable to Viruses — Durr, Really? | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.
Anti-virus software vendor Sophos tested Windows 7’s built-in anti-virus capabilities by feeding a clean system 10 pieces of the newest malware. Eight out of the 10 samples ran successfully, claims Sophos.
“Unfortunately, despite Microsoft’s claims, Windows 7 disappointed just like earlier versions of Windows,” says Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at Sophos, in a blog post. “The good news is that, of the freshest 10 samples that arrived, 2 would not operate correctly under Windows 7.”
Sophos’ findings aren’t surprising: Windows 7 promises backward compatibility with most software that works on older operating systems, such as Windows XP. It would be reasonable to infer most malware compatible with Windows XP or Windows Vista is likely going to harm Windows 7.
LHC Cools Down October 16, 2009
Posted by Joey in Science, Technology.Tags: Large Hadron Collider, Mini black holes, Particle Physics, Physics, Vacuum Bubbles
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The Large Hadron Collider has now reached its operating temperature of 1.9K. Can whirring protons be far behind?
Stand by for vacuum bubbles and/or mini black holes.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | LHC gets colder than deep space.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment has once again become one of the coldest places in the Universe.
All eight sectors of the LHC have now been cooled to their operating temperature of 1.9 kelvin (-271C; -456F) – colder than deep space.
The large magnets that bend particle beams around the LHC are kept at this frigid temperature using liquid helium.
The magnets are arranged end-to-end in a 27km-long circular tunnel straddling the Franco-Swiss border.
The cool-down is an important milestone ahead of the collider’s scheduled re-start in the latter half of November.
The LHC has been shut down since 19 September 2008, when a magnet problem called a “quench” caused a tonne of liquid helium to leak into the LHC tunnel.
Large Hadron Collider: Sabotage From The Future October 15, 2009
Posted by Joey in Science, Technology.Tags: Higgs Boson, Large Hadron Collider, Mini black holes, Physics, Time Travelers, Vacuum Bubbles
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Oh, yes! Saboteurs from the future are keeping the Large Hadron Collider from starting up, since that will cause vacuum bubbles or mini black holes that could destroy the universe, and/or the earth, respectively.
Woohoo!! You go, time travelers. Stop in, we’ll have coffee and chat.
Big assist to William Gibson for this article found at Is The Large Hadron Collider Being Sabotaged from the Future? – Large hardron collider – io9.
What if all the Large Hadron Collider’s recent woes are more than bad luck and technical problems? Two noted physicists speculate that the future may be pushing back on the LHC to avert the disaster of observing the Higgs boson.
The quest to observe the Higgs boson has certainly been plagued by its share of troubles, from the cancellation of the Superconducting Supercollider in 1993 to the Large Hadron Collider’s streak of technical troubles. In fact, the projects have suffered such bad luck that Holger Bech Nielsen of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and Masao Ninomiya of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyoto wonder if it isn’t bad luck at all, but future influences rippling back to sabotage them. In papers like “Test of Effect From Future in Large Hadron Collider: a Proposal” and “Search for Future Influence From LHC,” they put forth the notion that observing the Higgs boson would be such an abhorrent event that the future is actually trying to prevent it from happening.
A Robot Sings October 7, 2009
Posted by Joey in Technology.Tags: CEATEC HRP-4C, Robots
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Kill it. Kill it with fire.
FTC to Regulate Blogging October 5, 2009
Posted by Joey in Government, Internet, Politics, Technology.Tags: FTC
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Which part of the 1st Amendment don’t these FTC turds understand?
Here’s my freakin’ disclosure: No one is stupid enough to pay me to write this blog.
Via Instapundit, FTC to Regulate Blogging – Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News – FOXNews.com.
The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging for the first time, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.
The FTC said Monday its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final Web guidelines, which had been expected. Violating the rules, which take effect Dec. 1, could bring fines up to $11,000 per violation. Bloggers or advertisers also could face injunctions and be ordered to reimburse consumers for financial losses stemming from inappropriate product reviews.
The commission stopped short of specifying how bloggers must disclose conflicts of interest. Rich Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s advertising practices division, said the disclosure must be “clear and conspicuous,” no matter what form it will take.
Bloggers have long praised or panned products and services online. But what some consumers might not know is that many companies pay reviewers for their write-ups or give them free products such as toys or computers or trips to Disneyland. In contrast, at traditional journalism outlets, products borrowed for reviews generally have to be returned.
Miniature Living Room Inside A PC October 4, 2009
Posted by Joey in Art, Gadgets, Technology.add a comment
I have to admit, this is freakin’ cool!
I’m a MacHead, and the only thing I miss about PCs is building a customized gaming machine.
There’s a painstaking amount of detail inside the scene, including intricate housewares such as a vase, flowers, the newspaper, and a gumball machine (?!). Anyone with this much time on their hands must also spend hours thinking of the perfect way to get away with murder.
