Comment Re:Hmm... (Score 1) 399
Citation needed
Comment Re:"doesn't have a USB or HDMI port" (Score 1) 161
I can see why you want a USB port for a table; transfer photos from cameras, share files via a flash drive, and a keyboard. I'm sure a 80% of the tablet market could find a use for USB port or USB adapter (I'm not a fan of the iPad adapter but it does work.) The added expense of the USB port would increase sales. The increase in sales would offset the increased cost of the tablet and increase profits.
I don't think a significant majority needs a HDMI port at this time. The number one feature of a tablet is it extremely portable; laying in bed or couch at odd angles is one reason why I use my tablet. Having it tethered to your TV sounds like a pain in the ass. It also means I'd have to carry a cable with me at all times or leave one plugged into my TV and hope others others have a spare HDMI cable with their TV. Non-slashdot people won't like that solution and their purchasing power is much larger than the slashdot crowd. Apple's Airplay or similar technology is the better answer but Airplay isn't supported by other manufacture (I'm 99% sure it is proprietary.) The small increase of sales would not offset the increased cost of the tablet and decrease profits.
Submission + - Apple Moves to Tighten Control of App Store (nytimes.com)
Strudelkugel writes: Apple is further tightening its control of the App Store.
Some application developers, including Sony, say Apple has told them they can no longer sell e-books within their apps unless the transactions go through Apple’s system. Apple rejected Sony’s iPhone application, which would have let people buy and read e-books from the Sony Reader Store.
Apple said on Tuesday that it was still allowing customers to read e-books they bought elsewhere within apps. For example, a Sony app could still access books the customer bought earlier from Sony’s store.
But Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading division, said on Monday that Apple had told his company that from now on, all in-app purchases would have to go through Apple.
“It’s the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market,” Mr. Haber said. “We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”
Some application developers, including Sony, say Apple has told them they can no longer sell e-books within their apps unless the transactions go through Apple’s system. Apple rejected Sony’s iPhone application, which would have let people buy and read e-books from the Sony Reader Store.
Apple said on Tuesday that it was still allowing customers to read e-books they bought elsewhere within apps. For example, a Sony app could still access books the customer bought earlier from Sony’s store.
But Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading division, said on Monday that Apple had told his company that from now on, all in-app purchases would have to go through Apple.
“It’s the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market,” Mr. Haber said. “We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”
How To Replace FileVault With EncFS 65
agoston.horvath writes "I've written a HOWTO on replacing Mac OS X's built-in encryption (FileVault) with the well-known FUSE-based EncFS. It worked well for me, and most importantly: it is a lot handier than what Apple has put together. This is especially useful if you are using a backup solution like Time Machine. Includes Whys, Why Nots, and step-by-step instructions."
Lack of Manpower May Kill VLC For Mac 398
plasmacutter writes "The Video Lan dev team has recently come forward with a notice that the number of active developers for the project's MacOS X releases has dropped to zero, prompting a halt in the release schedule. There is now a disturbing possibility that support for Mac will be dropped as of 1.1.0. As the most versatile and user-friendly solution for bridging the video compatibility gap between OS X and windows, this will be a terrible loss for the Mac community. There is still hope, however, if the right volunteers come forward."
Submission + - SPAM: Facebook rolls out personal URL
AnkleHealer writes: Facebook is letting their 200-plus million users customize their profile URLs starting this weekend, according to a post on Facebook's official blog.
Ten Applications That Changed Computing 437
bfire writes "The term 'killer app' gets tossed around quite liberally these days. Nearly every piece of software released seems to be pitched as having the potential to send shockwaves throughout the IT world. In reality, there have been precious few applications which have truly changed the computing industry over the years. This article lists some of the top ten true killer apps that changed computing, from Phil Zimmermann's gold standard in encryption, PGP, to Dr Solomon's groundbreaking anti-virus toolkit, to Mitch Kapor who took the idea of VisiCalc for Apple and created Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS." Typical for top-10 lists, the choices seem pretty arbitrary — what changed your corner of the computing world?
Submission + - Rails 2 done (rubyonrails.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Rails 2.0 has been finished.
Submission + - Apple's cash reserve tops $15B (cnn.com)
Jerry Rivers writes: "It was only ten years ago or so that Apple was in dire straights. Then, with second coming of Steve Jobs, it started a meteoric rise to where it is today — a consumer electronics all-star with over $15B in cash in the bank. The question now is what is it going to do with all that loot? Fortune (http://bigtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2007/12/07/apples-15-billion-cash-hoard/) examines the issue and points out that just letting it sit there might not be such a good thing to do. After all, Apple could, if it wanted to, "...easily buy TiVo (TIVO), Netflix (NFLX) and Circuit City (CC), and still have plenty left in the bank.""
Comment GPL 3 and Closed Source Addons/Extensions (Score 1) 219
What does changing to v3 do to companies that use Samba and closed source software?
Example: Apple's preference panel. It is used to control Samba but is closed source.
Example: Apple's preference panel. It is used to control Samba but is closed source.
Samba Adopts GPLv3 For Future Releases 219
Jeremy Allison - Sam writes with news that the Samba Team has decided to adopt the GPLv3 and LGPLv3 licenses for all future releases of Samba. Follow the link for a FAQ addressed to Samba developers and contributors. "To allow people to distinguish which Samba version is released with the new GPLv3 license, we are updating our next version release number. The next planned version release was to be 3.0.26, this will now be renumbered so the GPLv3 version release will be 3.2.0. To be clear, all versions of Samba numbered 3.2 and later will be under the GPLv3, all versions of Samba numbered 3.0.x and before remain under the GPLv2."
Submission + - Mac OS X Update 10.4.9 Released
Parry writes: Ok, it's going to be a busy afternoon updating to 10.4.9 — Software update just popped up with the 10.4.9 Update listed. It's a 163Mb download over 10.4.8 and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes or compatibility updates for the following applications and technologies:
— RAW camera support
— Handling of large or malformed images that could cause crashes
— Image capture performance
— Mouse scrolling and keyboard shortcuts
— Font handling
— Playback quality, and bookmarks in DVD Player
— USB video conferencing cameras for use with iChat
— Bluetooth devices
— Browsing AFP servers
— Apple USB Modem
— Windows-created digital certificates
— Open and Print dialogs in applications that use Rosetta on Intel-based Macs
— Time zone and daylight saving for 2006 and 2007
— Security updates
All in all it does sound like a good number of improvements made it to this (perhaps final) update. http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n304821 has more information.
— RAW camera support
— Handling of large or malformed images that could cause crashes
— Image capture performance
— Mouse scrolling and keyboard shortcuts
— Font handling
— Playback quality, and bookmarks in DVD Player
— USB video conferencing cameras for use with iChat
— Bluetooth devices
— Browsing AFP servers
— Apple USB Modem
— Windows-created digital certificates
— Open and Print dialogs in applications that use Rosetta on Intel-based Macs
— Time zone and daylight saving for 2006 and 2007
— Security updates
All in all it does sound like a good number of improvements made it to this (perhaps final) update. http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n304821 has more information.
Demystifying Salary Information 184
Arun Jacob points us to an article in the NYTimes about online tools that can help in salary negotiations. The article concentrates on two websites — Salary.com and Payscale.com — that use different approaches to provide information on standard compensation packages for particular positions and roles. The theory is that, armed with information that was once available only to corporate HR departments, you could have an easier time negotiating your pay using a fact-based rather than a feelings-based approach.
Submission + - Slashdot FireHose Beta Sneak Preview
Davak writes: "The old fogey slashdot has announced a new (dare I say, Web 2.0) youthful, digg-like voting system-Firehose. This new code is described as a "collaborative system designed to allow users to assist editors in the story selection process." This review of the Firehose describes the new features and implications of this new system. For example, much of Firehose's AJAX eye candy is built around yahoo's ajax toolkit."
Submission + - E17 -- Desktop Enlightenment
michuk writes: "The performance of desktop computers increases year by year. This gives the programmers great opportunities to further improve the desktop experience of the users. However, what should you do when you have an old computer that is not capable of running the latest and hottest software? How can you benefit from the great software that is X.org when you can't run a desktop that takes advantage of its best features? No need for upgrading your PC, when you can have a usable alternative with the current one. Let me introduce you Enlightenment E17 — the window manager with minimal hardware requirements that may amaze you."
