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Comment Not short sighted really... (Score 4, Interesting) 121

Not really. Since an app has to go through Apple's approval process, Hello World apps that don't actually do what the submitter indicates should not make it into the store. Of course, given the opaque approval process and the number of fart apps that made it in to the store, the approval process is not a guaranteed firewall.

Apple could them flush the "empty" apps that do not have approved binaries, or at least binaries in the approval process, if they have been empty for more than 3 months or so.

This is just another thing that Apple, and the Android and Palm folks, will have to deal with. The real fun will be when apps are available on multiple platforms, but have different names because of conflicting approvals processes, squatters, and other things that have not yet surfaced.

Comment Sounds like Software by Rudy Rucker (Score 0, Offtopic) 161

in the book, AI evolves as competing programs in a computing environment through natural selection. it was a pretty good book published in the 80's. the robots wind up on the moon (i don't remember how they got there in the first place) and eventually overthrow the humans there. here's an Amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Software-Rudy-Rucker/dp/0380701774/
Nintendo

Nintendo Blocks Homebrew Installation 251

ElementC writes "Sometime yesterday Nintendo uploaded the latest Wii system update. This update quietly patches a few bugs that allowed the installation of both homebrew and warez apps. Currently installed apps such as the Homebrew Channel and the video DVD library, DVDX, are reportedly not affected. Those not installing this update are blocked out of the Wii Shop channel and in the future may be blocked out of certain games. Team Twiizers cracked the last update within about eight hours. They're already on the case. Readers familiar with the architecture of the Wii will find the list of currently discovered changes interesting."
Google

Submission + - Google forbids turn-by-turn nav apps on Andriod

l3iggs writes: Google's Andriod SDK License Agreement (http://code.google.com/android/download.html) links to their Google Maps API Terms of Service (http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html) which has the following words in it:

"...You may not use the Service with...real time route guidance (including without limitation, turn-by-turn route guidance and other routing that is enabled through the use of a sensor)..."

This seems to fly in the face of everything that Andriod stands for and everything that makes it worth while. How can they tout this as an open platform if they prohibit development of (in my opinion) the most useful applications?
By the way, I believe Apple has a similar clause in their iPhone SDK paperwork.

I'm sure the underlying reason for this restriction is patent related. How annoying.
Intel

Submission + - SPAM: Intel Repudiates Execs Criticism of the iPhone

narramissic writes: "Earlier this week, ZDNet Australia reported that Intel executives Shane Wall and Pankaj Kedia described the iPhone as slow and said the popular handset wasn't able to run the 'full Internet' because it uses an Arm processor, instead of an Intel chip. Naturally, these comments caused great consternation in Intel's PR ranks and the company has posted a statement on its Chip Shots Web site, saying 'Apple's iPhone offering is an extremely innovative product that enables new and exciting market opportunities. The statements made in Taiwan were inappropriate, and Intel representatives should not have been commenting on specific customer designs.'"
Link to Original Source
Robotics

Submission + - T-1000 - Coming to a Battlefield Near You (computerworld.com)

Numbah One writes: "
Creative scientists have until next week to submit proposals for creating a shape-shifting military robot that can shrink and then reconfigure itself to normal height and shape. The description of the robot, at a high level, is somewhat reminiscent of the villainous liquid-state cyborg of the sci-fi movie Terminator 2 — except that this robot would be dispatched to save lives on the battlefield. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is accepting proposals for building the so-called Chemical Robot (ChemBot) from researchers until July 2.
"

Biotech

T. Rex Protein Analysis Supports Dinosaur-Bird Link 242

LanMan04 writes "For the first time, researchers have read the biological signature of a Tyrannosaur — a signature that confirms the increasingly accepted view that modern birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. Analyzing the organic material (collagen protein) found inside the unique fossil linked the collagen to several extant species. The bottom line is that the T. rex's biological signature was most like a bird's, at least based on the first fragmentary data. "It looks like chicken may be the closest among all species that are present in today's databases for proteins and genomes," one of the scientists interviewed said."

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