In an interview printed by Pioneer Press, Evangelist and a group of Astarte developers described pitching the simplified app concept to Steve Jobs. 'Jobs never glanced at their presentation,' the article noted. 'Instead, he walked up to a whiteboard and drew a square. This is the program, he said. Users will drag their movies here to create DVD menus. Then they'll click 'burn.' That's it. 'I don't want to hear anything about drawers or pop-out' windows, he said.'

Because Eric is both the owner and sole employee, The Tempest is exempt from California’s law banning smoking in bars and restaurants. And so patrons smoke.

At first, Sound Grenade was completely free.� Once it entered the Top 50, High said he decided to switch to an ad-supported model.� Now, after processing a million ad requests in 24 hours, the app is generating upwards of $200 per hour in clickthrough revenue.� In order to keep the app popular, he is looking into a few strategies.

CBS will subscribe to the TiVo StopWatch service, which provides a "second-by-second measurement" of how DVR owners watch live and recorded programs and commercials. The DVR maker inked a similar pact with NBC Universal in November, although in addition to the research NBCU also has the option to sell interactive TV ads on TiVos.

In 2006, Free Software Foundation (FSF) decided to combat TiVo's technical system of blocking users from running modified software. This behavior, which FSF dubs 'tivoization', was tackled by creating a new version of the GNU General Public License (GPL v3) prohibiting this activity.[25] The operating system kernel included in the TiVo is distributed under the terms of the GPL.... This new license provision was acknowledged by TiVo in its April 2007 SEC filing: 'we may be unable to incorporate future enhancements to the GNU/Linux operating system into our software, which could adversely affect our business'.[26] Regardless, the Linux kernel has not been changed to use GPL v3.

The kernel license covers the *kernel*. It does not cover boot loaders and hardware, and as far as I'm concerned, people who make their own hardware can design them any which way they want. Whether that means "booting only a specific kernel" or "sharks with lasers", I don't care.

Labels: DRM, DTV

In terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2.

For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

So while Jobs may be the visionary, Gartner analyst Mike McGuire told BusinessWeek not to underestimate Cook in that department, either.

"I don't know Cook that well, but my guess is he isn't just an ops guy," said McGuire, who said Apple's new interim chief will have learned how to launch successful products from being around Jobs for a decade. "I don't think you survive at Apple as just an operations guy. I don't think you get let into the inner sanctum as just an operations guy."
...
'I think he's wickedly smart and he doesn't have a big ego, which is useful at Apple,' said John Landforce, who dealt with Cook for years on an Apple advisory board. The Journal goes on to describe Cook as 'analytical and detail-oriented', with such a strong memory that he 'rarely consults notes when recalling minutiae from past meetings.'

Labels: apple, Jobs

Labels: apple, pystar

AND -- for any readers who love Bujold's other work but haven't yet given this series a try -- we're making the first volume, Beguilement, 100% available for the month of January (1/6 -- 1/27). Click through here for the Browse Inside widget -- all 361 pages available FREE, through your PC!

Labels: apple

Gmail will now tick the checkbox on all the messages currently on screen. However, you might still have thousands not covered by the current view. Gmail will ask you if you want to select all the conversations, including those out of view.

A series of reports from 9to5Mac indicate that Apple is going to make a major effort to turn portions of their iLife and iWork products into Internet services. This would allow some or all of iWork and iMovie to be accessed from your web browser and possibly your iPhone. Critics of the move, however, point to the problematic launch of Apple's MobileMe web-services.

Labels: apple, iMovie, rumor

For me, the situation calls for strategic government intervention. Rather than a 'holiday' on organic standards to weather the storm, why not temoporary payments to organic farmers to cover losses while the slump continues? And in the long term, the government could bring down organic feed costs by creating incentives for organic grain production -- and disincentives for environmentally destructive conventional grain farming.

Labels: food, Other Stuff

'GM crops do not increase yields. Scientists have found genetically engineered insecticide in crops can leak and kill beneficial soil fungi.'
Peter Melchett, Soil Association

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers (we don't actually use these things or keep old ones around for testing, and needed customers to let us know) that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used (can you believe it?! People not only bought, but continue to use these things!!). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately (we knew this was going to be some major bad press) and isolated the issue (blamed folks not longer working at MS): a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009 (which is to say we're not doing anything now). We expect (but we're not sure) the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power (ie, you won't be able to use your Zune for hours, and if you've had it plugged into your PC while it's frozen, you've only delayed your ability to use it again) before the unit can restart successfully then simply (any time you see a word like "simply", you know it's not going to be fun) ensure that your device is recharged (that is, wait several more hours), then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to (do a lot more esoteric jive than someone not sucked in by our marketing) sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device (which is to say the bug borks all the stuff you had on your Zune).

Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support). (we're not real sure we're at the bottom of this yet)

We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are sorry for that, and want to thank them for their patience. (this, of course, is an age-ole trick; the line presupposes that you'll be patient in an attempt to cause many of you to be patient, herdies)

Q: Why is this issue isolated to the Zune 30 device?

It is a bug in a driver for a part that is only used in the Zune 30 device.
Dodged a bullet there, didn't we? Good thing we scrapped brown so quickly.

Q: What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?

This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.
Aka, we're doing nothing that would help you now.

Q: What’s the timeline on a fix?

The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.
Again, if this wasn't clear from our last answer, we're doing nothing at this time.


Q: Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?

There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.
Our engineers are idiots who don't bug check their code.


Q: What is Zune doing to fix this issue?

The issue should resolve itself.
G*dd#mm!t, folk, haven't you been reading this Q&A? We're not going to do anything right now. Sheesh. We figure by the time you actually hear we could've done something, you'll either have escaped unharmed or had your computer freeze and your Zune rendered useless until you accidentally unplug it and let the battery die. You think I'm coming in during my vacation to post a fix for the five percent of *coughcough*theNumberOf30GigZuneUsers*coughcough* that'll actually find this page? We both know that's not happening.

Q: Are you sure that this won’t happen to all 80, 120 or other flash devices?

This issue is related to a part that is only used in Zune 30 devices.
Did someone know this would happen before now? Who fixed this later on? Ooops, did I say that out loud?

Q: How many 30GB Zune devices are affected? How many Zune 30GB devices were sold?

All 30GB devices are potentially affected.
Um, how many did we sell? We'd rather not say. More than two, less than the iPod shuffle. Potentially.

Further, the Microsoft-Hotmail administrators inform us that they are blocking our communications to Truthout subscribers on their systems due to what they describe as our "reputation."
...
2.) It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Free Email Services - all of them - are a morass. You are a commodity to these administrators and as far as they are concerned your rights are your problem, not theirs. If you are serious about receiving TO, or any other content they are not supportive of, you are pretty much on your own. Bluntly stated: AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo and all of the domains they control restrict what you receive in your inbox. And it is at their discretion, not yours.