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Comment iTunes needs a redesign (Score 1) 390

iTunes has always suffered from a not-quite-native feel on Mac OS and that's disappointing. Version 10 is definitely a step in the wrong direction. Besides Finder, it's probably the single most used application on a Mac considering all the purposes it serves.

In Mac OS 10.7 I'd love to see a user interface redesign that obeys Apple's own human interface guidelines and removes some of the serious bloat. For instance, why does the music application handle synchronizing with the iOS devices? I understand this single application paradigm keeps things simpler in some respects for cross platform support, but really, why bother porting the interface? I agree with a previous poster that the back end(s) for the music player, synching, etc. should be maintained as cross-platform libraries and native front ends should be created for Mac OS and Windows. This would probably reduce bloat in the long run and make it easier for Apple to integrate synch behavior into the OS on the Mac but keep it in iTunes for the Windows application.

Image

Geek Squad Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter To God Squad 357

An anonymous reader writes "A Wisconsin priest has God on his car but Best Buy's lawyers on his back. Father Luke Strand at the Holy Family Parish in Fond Du Lac says he has received a cease-and-desist letter from the electronics retailer. From the article: 'At issue is Strand's black Volkswagen Beetle with door stickers bearing the name "God Squad" in a logo similar to that of Best Buy's Geek Squad, a group of electronics troubleshooters. Strand told the Fond du Lac Reporter that the car is a creative way to spur discussion and bring his faith to others. Best Buy Co. tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it appreciates what Strand is trying to do, but it's bad precedent to let groups violate its trademarks.'"

Comment Re:Hardly a mexican standoff (Score 2, Insightful) 159

It could be a lot worse for Nokia if Apple is able to prove that the licensing fees Nokia requested from Apple for essential GSM patents turns out to be unreasonable. Nokia does hold GSM patents, which as part of a standard are required to be licensed under "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" terms. If Apple can prove that Nokia requested unreasonable terms from Apple for the GSM patents, Nokia may be in trouble with the ETSI.

If anything good comes out of this for future patent encumbered standards, it could be that the courts may be left to define what fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory actually means. As Engadget states in their coverage:

In reality FRAND is nebulous and undefined, with almost no specific rules for determining what a "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" license actually is. source

It would be nice if these cases were looked at as clear reason why we really need patent reform, but I doubt that's going to happen any time soon.

Comment What HP's Palm Purchase Really Means (Score 4, Insightful) 170

I think it was obvious from the start that the Palm acquisition was all about WebOS and tablets, not smart phones. Anyone else see this purchase and cancelation of Slate as a huge setback for Microsoft? It's basically a public admission by HP that Windows can't cut as a tablet OS.

HP just broke their direct dependence on Microsoft for an emerging market for a good reason: Microsoft's failure to produce an innovative user interface for tablets.

Cellphones

Microsoft Unveils 'Pink' Phones As Kin One and Two 278

adeelarshad82 writes "Microsoft has recently launched two new phones known as the Kin One and Kin Two, previously codenamed 'Pink.' The phones are designed to appeal to social-networking-focused teens, which is probably why the marketing team has tried to spice up the packaging of the phones. According to a Microsoft official the phones are named Kin because they 'knit together ... kindred spirits.' The phones have a keyboard. The Kin One has a 5-megapixel camera, while the Kin Two's 8-megapixel camera can shoot 720p HD video. Both cameras include an LED flash. The One has a mono speaker, the Two's is stereo. One includes 4GB of on-board memory and the Two has 8GB. Both Kin phones have touch screens. According to the hands-on, the Kin phones are based on the same Windows CE core as Windows Phone 7, and they have an IE-based browser. These phones have no downloadable apps, no games, not even a calendar. They're not meant to be expandable smart phones; instead, very good messaging phones."
Security

Feds At DefCon Alarmed After RFIDs Scanned 509

FourthAge writes "Federal agents at the Defcon 17 conference were shocked to discover that they had been caught in the sights of an RFID reader connected to a web camera. The reader sniffed data from RFID-enabled ID cards and other documents carried by attendees in pockets and backpacks. The 'security enhancing' RFID chips are now found in passports, official documents and ID cards. 'For $30 to $50, the common, average person can put [a portable RFID-reading kit] together,' said security expert Brian Marcus, one of the people behind the RFID webcam project. 'This is why we're so adamant about making people aware this is very dangerous.'"
Bug

How To Track the Bug-Trackers? 174

schneecrash writes "Submitting bug reports — and waiting for responses etc. — seems to be SOP for developers and users alike, these days. Every project has some sort of bug-tracker — bugzilla, trac, mailing list, etc. E.g., we currently track 200+ external bugs across ~40 OSS projects. Half the bugs depend on something else getting fixed, first. Every bug has its own email thread, etc. Management asks 'How we doin' overall?,' and suddenly everyone involved gets to work removing dried gum from the bottom of their shoe. What do Slashdotters use/recommend for centrally keeping track of all the bugs you track across all those different bugtrackers? In particular, managing communications and dependencies across bugs? So far, the best method I've managed to use is bunches of PostIt-notes stuck to the screen of an out-of-commission 32" TV (glossy, non-matte screen, of course!)."

Comment Seriously people (Score 2, Interesting) 320

Sorry, but I can't believe the incredible amount of stupid comments posted here on this article. Jobs basically announces he's not dying and Apple's shares jump 4%. Apple isn't a one man operation and Wall Street knows that. It's probably safe to assume that every single innovation that's come out of Apple in the past 11 years hasn't been dumped straight from Steve's brain either.

Steve's marketing genius and patient leadership are the real value he provides to Apple, and losing his leadership is what makes investors nervous. As some suggest, Apple pulling the Stevenote from MacWorld is an attempt to address the former, but without a plan to address the latter, Wall Street will still freak out at the possibility of Apple losing Jobs.

In a world where IT companies are constantly diversifying their offerings, rushing products to market, and generally playing a bizarre game of throw 50 products at the market and see which ones stick, Apple is playing its cards close to its chest - and has been successfully since Job's return. It's not chasing emerging markets (Netbooks), it's not trying to get into online advertising (Microsoft) and hell it's not even doing things that outsiders think it should be doing to expand its business. Apple's stock value is based on the perception that is has a master plan. This is what makes Apple unique. And this is the value of Steve Jobs.

Comment (Open) Solaris (Score 2, Informative) 121

Solaris 10 and Open Solaris have the concept of zones and containers. The computer runs a single Solaris instance but can run isolated process trees in zones which share common libraries but can be updated for dependencies independently. The containers concept (in conjunction with zones) allows a fair share scheduler to guarantee a service level for each allocated zone (CPU/memory sharing, etc). IMHO, must better than Virtuozzo, VMware and Xen.
Desktops (Apple)

Is the Dell XPS One Better than the Apple iMac? 627

An anonymous reader writes "The Apple iMac is probably the standard all-in-one desktop computer. Great operating system, built-in software and design around solid, but pretty normal, hardware guts. According to Walter Mossberg, there's a new kid in town that not only matches it but is 'sightly ahead': the Dell XPS One. His latest review is already causing the usual suspects to weigh in. Mossberg says it is a better machine, but Vista and its built-in software make it inferior than Apple iMac's Leopard and iLife suite. Would you choose the better hardware of the Dell XPS One -which is more expensive- or the elegant design and software of the Apple iMac?"

Comment Re:Why should log off in your own home? (Score 0) 274

e thing you need to protect from is your computer being compromised from the outside by someone intent on using it for a botnet. That's really the only value that your PC has outside of physically stealing it. That means using anti-virus software, getting email filtered for viruses, keeping up on windows updates, using firefox instead of IE, and implenting WPA security . None of those things really interfere with anyones usage of the computer, so they shouldn't have any objections.

That's exactly what I worry about with them. Leaving it logged in like they do leaves it open to exploits. And I'm not talking about logging out every time you go to the bathroom or eat dinner - They leave it logged in literally all the time and leave it on 24/7. It's just asking for trouble.

Some asshole above said something about me being paranoid about "ninjas breaking in and stealing their data." Not hardly. But having an admin user logged into a machine 24/7 is, by default, a security hole, that needs to be fixed.

Even a lot of their non-security issues would be solved by separate user accounts, so that they could have individual bookmarks, email client configs, etc.

MMOG Addiction Makes Mainstream Media 70

Via Game Politics, a story in the Philedelphia Inquirer about Massively Multiplayer Game addiction. The lengthy article looks at the usual complaints from gamers too wrapped up in WoW or Everquest to deal with their real lives. It's surprisingly even-handed, though, showing both sides of the issue. From the article: "Not everyone into Warcraft, EverQuest and other MMORPGs neglects his or her life. Those most susceptible have preexisting problems, such as depression or anxiety disorders, therapists say. Temple University psychology professor Donald A. Hantula said he believed the medium was not to blame for dysfunctional behavior by its users. 'I know people who spend 40 or 50 hours a week playing golf,' said Hantula, who is executive editor of the Journal of Social Psychology."

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