By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Thu Oct 6, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET In Memory of Steve Jobs: 1955-2011
Today the RP pauses to remember the life and enduring legacy of Steve Jobs. [Wired]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Sep 29, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
“The Fraying of a Nation’s Decency” An interesting article about Amazon.com. [NY Times]
The White House has been petitioning on a number of issues. However, the petition to “Direct the Patent Office to Cease Issuing Software Patents” has been a hit. [Technology Review India]
Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control? What?! Unbelievable. [Salon]
Since Spotify has been released in Sweden music piracy has dropped by 25%. [TorrentFreak]
Three Senators: Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), and Chris Coons (D-DE) have condemned OnStar for tracking its customers. Schumer called it “one of the most brazen invasions of privacy in recent memory.” [ars technica]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Sep 22, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
U.S. internet speeds have dropped to the 25th globally in terms of speed. We are ranked right behind Romania. That is so depressing I’m having trouble putting it into words. [Common Dreams.org]
Is OnStar spying on its customers? [Jonathan Zdziarski’s Domain]
Sony has stated they will ban players on its Playstati0n Network unless they agree to waive the right to collectively sue the company regarding security breaches. [BBC]
One of the simplest tools to access purified water: a plastic cone. [evirogadget]
A cool feature that was found while checking out the upcoming Microsoft Win8. [picture]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Sep 15, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that employees cannot be fired for complaining and/or making comments about work on Facebook or other social networking sites. [Forbes]
File Transfers [xkcd]
NASA announced plans yesterday for a new launch system that could make deep space exploration much easier. Mars here we come! [NASA]
Google has acquired Zagat according to a release from the company last week. This is sure to make Google Places an even more useful tool. [Google]
What is the wave of the future for battery tech? Jelly. [BBC]
Earlier this week, Apple, along with new CEO Tim Cook made a play to acquire Dropbox for $800 million. Dropbox declined the offer. [Chip Hazard]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Sep 8, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Google Correlate – search by drawing a correlation. How fantastic! [Google]
This past week the U.S. filed an antitrust lawsuit to prevent AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile. That merger would combine the 2nd- and 4th-largest mobile carriers in the country. [Bloomberg]
“Web-blocking and Illegal Sites” – Do minutes obtained from a secret meeting reveal plans to implement measures to block parts of the Internet? Check it out. [Pirate Party UK]
The hacker group Anonymous hasn’t shown up in the news for a while. Probably because the group’s leader was arrested. However, they came back with vengeance last week with big leak of Texas Police e-mails and documents. There are a few examples in the link. [Gizmodo]
You will probably recall the Raspberry Pi that I have written about before. It’s that amazing $25 PC that fits on a USB stick. Well here is a video of it running Quake III! [Geek]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Aug 29, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
I’m sure you have already heard, Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple. The new CEO will be his protege Tim Cook. Many people were ready to make wild proclamations regarding this change, but the fact is Jobs and Apple have been anticipating and preparing for this transition for a long while. [Wall Street Journal]
Here are five things to watch for during the transition period for Apple and going forward into the future. [PC World]
Finally, what are the repercussions for all of those investments you made in Apple? Check out the nice breakdown in the link. [Seeking Alpha]
Chloe Holmes, 15, is the proud new owner of bionic fingers after growing up having lost her fingers to septicaemia. The field of robotics and bionics continues to amaze. [Huffington Post]
Here is an autopsy performed on a Pentium III CPU. Some of those magnified images are just awesome. [Sciency Stuff]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
If you haven’t already heard, Google has acquired Motorola Mobility. Very nice get for Google as they look to expand more into the mobile market. [The Google Blog]
A 13-year-old boy increased the efficiency of solar panels by 20-50 percent by using them to mimic the form of tree branches and leaves. Wow, way to go, kid! [The Atlantic Wire]
A restaurant in North Carolina is being forced to pay $30,450 in statutory fees for “illegally playing” four unlicensed songs. This should be illegal. [techdirt]
27,000 South Koreans are suing Apple for $26 million for claimed privacy violations due to location information. [MSNBC]
Google wants to map the Amazon river like they have done with streetview. Please do! [BBC]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Aug 15, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Mark November 5 down on your calendars, folks! The hacker group Anonymous has stated that they will “kill Facebook” on that date. Keep in mind that November 5 was not chosen at random. I probably don’t have to remind you to check Facebook on that date, which, I believe, is the whole point. [Business Insider]
Those of you who use LinkedIn, may be interested in this: Apparently, LinkedIn has added a default setting that allows names and photos of users to be used by third-party advertisers. The link will tell you how to opt-out of this setting. Also check out the update in the link that includes LinkedIn’s response. [Connection Agent]
Check out this cool archived story from CNN regarding the origins of texting using cell phones. It’s pretty interesting to go back and see how our use of cell phones has evolved. [Wayback Machine – CNN]
A new study from California State University indicates that 3D technology does not increase enjoyment from watching movies and increases the likelihood of developing headaches, something most of you likely have discovered empirically. Plus, watching a movie in 3D costs more! [Guardian UK]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Aug 8, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The British government has come out to say that they believe copyright laws in the UK have been stretched to far, in that they are over-regulating and hurting individuals. The probability of new exceptions is certainly a reason to rejoice if you live in the UK. [ars technica]
The XKCD view on the Mac vs. PC debate. [XKCD]
Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA franchise the Dallas Mavericks, recently weighed in on the topics of job creation and patent abuse. He tied the two together by stating that technology companies spend far too much time fussing over patent laws, which in turn causes them to focus less on the creation of new jobs. Not to mention the vast amounts of money it takes to deal seriously with patent law and litigation. [blog maverick]
Staying on the topic of patents, Google has accused Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle of creating “a hostile, organized campaign against Android…waged through bogus patents.” These are fighting words coming from Google, but they only help to underscore the point made in the previous link from Mark Cuban. [The Next Web]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Aug 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Back in May I wrote about the Blackberry Pi, a fully-functioning computer that could fit on a USB stick. Now, developer David Braben has announced that his brainchild will enter alpha production and would cost $25, with the possibility of $35 model. How exciting! [Geek.com]
In another update of a previous story, Google has begun construction of their 1 Gbps fiber network in Kansas City. They hope to offer the high-speed service in early 2012. We should all hope for a solid and efficient launch so Google can start rolling these out in more places! [Google Blog]
It’s becoming more and more clear that ISPs are giving us, the consumers, the raw end of the deal. Everything indicates that their costs are dropping and yet, we continue to pay ever-increasing costs. Many ISPs are also eyeing the possibility of capping the data/bandwidth they offer. Internet speed, availability and cost are areas in which America lags behind many other industrialized countries (namely Japan and South Korea). This is something that needs to change. [TechCrunch]
A great concept: Google+ Venn Diagrams. The solution to when you want to share something with people in two different circles. [Techno-anthropology]
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