We knew the the place and the price, just needed to know when the party starts. You can grab a pre-order for the $600 netbook ($300 with two-year contract) at Best Buy and pick it up November 15. [Engadget]
Hank Risan was ordered to pull The Beatles' catalog from the BlueBeat website this week, but those weren't the actual recordings. The tracks were "psycho-acoustic simulations" of the songs. Too bad that defense will never hold up in court.
Hank calls the technique equivalent to a virtual cover band playing The Beatles' songs. He bought all of their albums, had a computer analyze the waveforms to determine their pitch, timbre and other defining qualities, then destroyed the original copies of the music.
He then had a computer reconstruct the songs based on the data it collected from analyzing the waveforms. It wasn't a recording, but a complete mathematical rebuild of the song.
That's really cool, and incredibly impressive that he managed to recreate the tracks from scratch like that, but there's no way the defense stands a chance against EMI's lawyers. I think I remember this argument being tried before with MP3s. A defendant claimed that because a majority of the waveform data was thrown away during encoding, it was not identical to the original recording.
Nice try, said the judge. As long as it's audibly identifiable as a certain recording, it constitutes as copyright infringement. At least that's what I remember. If anyone knows the specific case or I'm completely wrong, please chime in. Have fun in court November 20, Mr. Risan. [FastCompany]
Objectified, Gary Hustwit's look at the world of industrial design, featured a lengthy section on Apple Chief Designer Jon Ive—and now that clip is online for impatient Apple fans to see. [Brainstorm Tech]
The clip is pretty interesting, even if you're not normally enamored with Apple. Ive is the most prominent tech designer of the last two decades, and I like his philosophy on "getting design out of the way." Hopefully the clip motivates you guys to go see the full movie, which is great, even if it doesn't reach the heights of Hustwit's previous effort Helvetica.
The ‘Haptic Cow' recently won Sarah Baillie the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year Award. Hear that, Adam Frucci? It's for learning. Don't get any ideas.
Miss Baillie's invention solves one of the biggest problems in veterinary medicine. That is, once your hand is up an cow's butt you can't really see anything you're doing. Now, with robotic organs and a monitor, she can teach students exactly what they should (and definitely should not) be grabbing.
On a related note, Miss Baillie claims she is also working on a 'Haptic Horse.' Kent Smith may well have some ideas for her, as evidenced by this September Photoshop Contest entry:
If you'd like to be put in touch, Miss Baille, please let me know. [Wired]
Apparently Microsoft's COFEE software that helps law enforcement grab data from password protected or encrypted sources is leaking all over the internet. So not only can you steal the software, but break the law by using it too.
Yep, it's all out there on the internet, but if you use it to grab private data from someone else's computer chances are you're in for a world of legal hurt. It's one of the few pieces of software I can think of where the subsequent use is more illegal than the act of downloading it.
But I know it's not the only one. What else can you guys come up with? [CrunchGear, Pirate Merch]
A while ago I was considering putting low-powered 5400 RPM drives into a NAS. I was worried about performance, but Tom's Hardware shows us that drive speed isn't the bottleneck, and how slower drives can even beat faster ones.
The main bottleneck in any NAS is the RAID engine. Since many NAS units don't include a dedicated controller, oftentimes the speed of the drive just doesn't matter. If you're using a blazing-fast hardware RAID card in your own custom built setup, then drive speed might make a difference. But for most consumer units, the controller is the bottleneck.
With that in mind, you can go with slower 5400 RPM drives that reduce power consumption, generate less heat, and will likely cost less up front too. Even if you have a dedicated RAID card that could let a 7200 RPM drive do it's thing at full speed, I'd consider the benefits of low-power drives to outweigh the marginal speed increase you might see.
This chart shows the difference between Samsung 7200 and 5400 RPM drives in various RAID configurations:
Not much, right? So think twice before you drop more than necessary on 7200 RPM drives for your backup unit. Check out the link for the full test rundown. [Tom's Hardware]
The latest round of iPhone rumors reads like a roundup of everything we've heard before. Now the mythical iPhone nano is back, and supposedly said device will be coming to Verizon in 2010 featuring a new hybrid cellular radio.
Keep in mind this is all coming from an industry analyst report supplied to Apple Insider, and as with all analyst reports, take it with a huge chunk of rock salt.
Rumor has it that the new iPhone will have a hybrid UMTS/CDMA radio inside, so it'll work on nearly all major carriers. The report also cites that the device will have a 2.8" screen, downsized from the current 3.5" display.
That's nothing we haven't heard before, but the one thing that might make this report more believable than others is the tidbit about who'll make the thing. According to the document, Pegatron will build the phone and not Hon Hai, the current manufacturer.
Baseless speculation, or looming product launch? Whatever the case, I'm much less excited about these rumors now that Android handsets are available on Verizon. As great as an iPhone would be on Big Red, there are very solid alternatives that you can pick up today, so why wait? [Apple Insider]
I love this 8-bit wedding invitation. Not only for the design, but because it not-so-subtly portrays marriage as a prolonged Street Fighter match.
Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against marriage. And if you've got a wife awesome enough to agree to an invitation like this, it'll probably be pretty smooth sailing from here on out. But let's face it, there'll be times where verbal Hadouken's are thrown. So why not acknowledge that with an awesome wedding invitation?
I'm assuming the front says "Marry Me" in binary, but I'll leave that to those of you fluent in cyborg parlance to decode. Combine this with the Tauntaun cake and you've got yourself a real wedding. [GeekStir]
Zune HD users should be able to download the latest firmware update now, and it's substantial enough to warrant grabbing ASAP. There's a speedier browser, predictive text entry (a la iPhone), and that's just the beginning. Updated:
Update: The firmware upgrade went through just fine on my 32GB Zune HD, and I'm definitely seeing an improvement in the browser's speed. Before, it was mysteriously slow, especially compared to the iPod Touch's browser—there's no reason for that, especially given the Zune HD's speedy Tegra processor. Even with the upgrade, it's slightly slower than Mobile Safari, especially when loading heavy sites like Gizmodo, but it's noticeably faster and not at all irritating anymore.
It's good to see Microsoft offering optimizations, but we're still waiting for a more major firmware upgrade: Social networking, IM, and YouTube should be top priorities. That being said, I still love the Zune HD—it's even wowed the notoriously hard-to-please Brian Lam.
Browser:
•Faster performance in navigating web pages
•Option to render pages as Desktop or Mobile (Option in settings)
•Better Tap-To-Zoom
•Better ability to scroll when typing a message onlineKeyboard:
•Predictive Text
•Auto capitilization
•Dedicated Settings Menu
•Wider keyboard in landscape modeMusic:
•Artist bios now contain links to songs, other artists, and other albums
Radio:•Choice of seek method (presets or seek) in settings
Other•Apps load slightly faster, and the accuracy of the touchscreen is improved during game play.
•Apps close faster
•The power off says "slide down to power off" instead of just "Power Off"
•Faster Startup (less than 15s)
The download should be available through the Zune software, but some 16GB users are reporting it hasn't been pushed through to them yet. If you can get it, report back with anything else new/better you find. [GDGT, MobileTechWorld, thanks Ubi79!]
Facebook ad scamming is on the rise, unsurprising for a site gaining a huge user base—what is surprising, if the allegation proves true, is Facebook's complicity in allowing the dodgy ads.
Tech Crunch's Michael Arrington believes that Facebook is looking the other way because it doesn't want to lose the revenue. He points out popular game Farmville: "it took me about 10 seconds to find really scammy ads."
Of course Facebook is adamant that it's doing everything it can to stop scams. In an email exchange with Newsweek, Facebook spokesman David Swain stated "We have, and will continue to, move aggressively to stop any activities that threaten or damage our users' experience. Any assertion to the contrary is false." Policing and curtailing scam containing ads will be a challenge for Facebook as it grows, though it would be a good idea to tackle the problem now while it's still manageable.
I can't wait to see how this plays out in the Facebook movie. [Newsweek]
Photo by TechCrunch
Gigabyte's been listening to all of the iPhone syncing issues from motherboard owners using Intel's P55 chipset. They've put out a beta BIOS that addresses the problem. Unfortunately, that doesn't help all the Asus and MSI users who are having the same troubles, but hopefully now that Gigabyte has set an example the others will follow.
If you're one of the unlucky few, hit the link to grab the update. [Gigabyte via PC World]
Remember that Walmart ad featuring a $100 Xbox? Well, Amazon is matching the offer, so you can skip the crowds. There'll be other electronics deals running all day starting at 9 a.m. EST. Update:
It looks like the Amazon 9 a.m. deal ran out (not before I managed to grab one, natch), but the same deal will be running again at 12 p.m. PST, 3 p.m. EST. So don't despair, there's a second chance! Also, Walmart is now featuring the deal online. Man holiday price competitions rule.
And also, anyone who thinks they got the Xbox deal, MAKE SURE to check your order confirmation. If you didn't get a $0.01 discount with the phrase "Lightning Deal" next to it, you won't be receiving a credit. I just checked mine and sure enough, I'm SOL, so I cancelled. [Amazon via Cheap Ass Gamer, thanks Jonathan!]
Nowadays, everything comes with a rechargeable battery, but who knew that getting long battery life could get soooo confusing? Here are 10 expert-backed tips to keep you from running low on the juice:
1. Since a battery should never be 100% full or 100% empty, you should charge it then discharge it in sequence ideally ranging between 80% to 20%. Start by charging for 12 minutes, then running it down, then charge it for 11 minutes then run it down, and so on. Confused? Just use this handy formula: n!=C(n,k)/r! where n can't equal r, and k never reaches zero. Simple!
2. If you use a phone or laptop without first charging its battery fully, you will die.
3. A lot of battery experts warn of the memory effect, but it's not really an "effect." It's just their way of saying "Remember to charge your batteries!"
4. Batteries run better when cold. The easiest way to do this is to find a refrigerated warehouse or meat locker, befriend the night watchman, and do all your work from there. ($20 bribes usually work.)
5. If your laptop battery gets hot enough to sear tuna, step away. Check your fridge for tuna. If no tuna in fridge, run to the supermarket to buy tuna. Don't worry, as long as you don't unplug your laptop, the battery will stay hot while you are gone.
6. When putting your laptop into storage, take out the battery. Wrap the extracted battery in a well oiled cloth and place it in a clay pot. Bury the pot in a hayfield. Any will do, but it's best if there's a long rock wall with a big oak tree at the north end. The battery should keep fresh for up to six months that way. If you're worried about finding it again, just mark your spot with a rock that has no earthly business in a hayfield. I favor black volcanic glass.
7. If your battery is about to run dry, take it out and blow on it. I have no idea why this works, but it totally does.
8. If your battery does die, you can always make your own: A potato theoretically has enough "potential energy" stored inside to power a laptop for a full hour—the trick is knowing where to stick the wires. Just ask a third grader. One tip: The potato must not be baked.
9. You should never confuse your batteries. Here's an easy way to keep them apart in your head: Lithium Ion batteries explode, Nickel Cadmium destroys the environment, and Lead Acid batteries are more corrosive than the Alien Queen's blood (plus, they contain lead). You can eat Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries.
10. People may tell you to carry a battery-life extender in your bag, but the secret there is, it's just another battery. What do I recommend? Jumper cables.
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?
I just really need to know whether the voice over guy or the girl with the measuring tape are included with the purchase or sold separately.
Switzerland gets all the cool offices. This particular one's dubbed "Cocoon" and acts as headquarters for an architecture firm. I prefer to imagine it as home to a super heroine who zoom-zoom-zips down that spiral and saves the day.
Such gorgeous design. When I snuggle up in my own cocoon of blankets tonight, I'm going to dream of being in that building and of being that particular super heroine. Right after I figure out a proper alter ego name that is. [WAN]
Back in the early 80s, computers were new and terrifying. Luckily, Steve Allen was available to chuckle you through all of that crazy jargon. [Everything Is Terrible]
Bob Davis scored a complete power supply including a 5 KV transformer, 100 uf Capacitor and a contactor on eBay for $100 and did what any sane person would do—he built a can crusher.
The first test was caught on tape, and despite issues with a broken meter, the device managed to crush the hell out of that soda can. In fact, it was so powerful that the power transformer shorted out and the diode was "blown to bits". Interesting, but not quite as manly as it could be. I'm waiting to see someone build a crusher that smashes a can flat on a dummy's skull. [Bob Davis via Gadget Lab]
Ooooh, io9's fantastic Charlie Jane Anders has a Friday treat for us: The Top 10 Dumbest Evil Geniuses of All Time. This was definitely one of my favorite reads today and I particularly agreed with number two. [Io9]
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