Submission + - BitLet: A Java Applet BitTorrent Client (torrentfreak.com)
Ernesto writes: "BitLet is a web-based Java applet that allows you to download .torrent files on a computer that doesn't have a BitTorrent client installed. Very useful if you want to share a torrent with your BitTorrent illiterate friends, or if you're on a computer that doesn't have a BitTorrent client installed."
Submission + - Marvel Studios to produce its own movies
Dekortage writes: "According to the New York Times, Marvel Studios will be producing its own superhero movies instead of licensing the superheros to other Hollywood studios. It's all about the money: despite the enormous popularity of Sony Pictures' Spiderman 1 and 2, the licensing deal only netted Marvel $62 million. The article includes some tips about upcoming works: Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in a new Incredible Hulk, and Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark in Iron Man."
Submission + - Best Places to Work in IT (computerworld.com)
jcatcw writes: "Computerworld's annual summary of the best places to work in IT lists companies that excel in five areas of employment: career development, retention, benefits, diversity, and training. According to the scorecard, the top 5 retention methods are: competitive benefits; competitive salaries; work/life balance; flexible work hours; and tuition reimbursement. Sixty-four percent of these companies expect the number of U.S.-based IT staffers to increase in 2007, on average by 7%. The whole list contains the top 100. The top three are:
No. 1: Quicken Loans;
No. 2: University of Miami; No. 3: Sharp HealthCare. "
Submission + - Wireless USB chip created (yahoo.com)
athloi writes: "Chip designer Alereon Inc. said Monday it is releasing the first chip that uses a frequency band that is legal all over the world for wireless USB, a technology with the potential to cut the tangle of cables surrounding computers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070618/ap_on_hi_te/wi reless_usb"
Submission + - Pressure is on IBM to forgive millions in IT debt (networkworld.com)
coondoggie writes: "Can a $93 billion company be publicly shamed into charity? My guess is not, but the Contra Costa school district in California is hoping IBM can see it in its Big Blue heart to erase some $5 million in long-overdue debt. This week four California state legislators threw their support behind West Contra Costa School by pleading with IBM to release the district from the debt. Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley; Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord; state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland; and Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, sent a letter to IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano requesting that the computer-industry giant write off the 15-year-old debt as a charitable contribution.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1633 1"
Submission + - Interesting questions for A2IM's Bengloff
newtley writes: "A2IM boss Rich Bengloff renages on a promise to respond to interesting (in the Confucian sense) questions posed by well-known entertainment lawyer Fred Wilhelms on the proposed Copyright Royalty Board Net radio royalty hikes. Among them, "Do you think your label members would agree to a rule that if they sold 'X' number of CDs in a year, they would be forced to pay retroactive membership fees to the RIAA?""
Submission + - Microsoft to Red Hat: Come on down!
MsManhattan writes: Microsoft hopes to lure Red Hat into a licensing and interoperability agreement akin to those it has signed with Linspire, Xandros and Novell, but so far Red Hat remains stand-offish, according to the article 'Microsoft interoperability team: Bring on Red Hat.' 'We continue to believe that open source and the innovation it represents should not be subject to an unsubstantiated tax that lacks transparency,' a Red Hat spokeswoman said in an e-mail. Nonetheless, rumors suggest that a deal between the two rivals is 'imminent.'
Submission + - Investigating Midway's 'Ghost Racer' Patent
simoniker writes: Did you know that games such as Project Gotham Racing and Ridge Racer 6 are paying Midway to include 'ghost mode' cars to race against, thanks to a patent in the company's 1989 arcade racer Hard Drivin'? A new article talks to Midway and licensee Global VR about the deal and examine just how patents like this impact the game biz — Global VR exec Debbie Minardi "...acknowledges that the ghost mode is more original than some of the "you've got to be kidding me" patents she's come across, she says it still probably doesn't deserve full legal protection. "If it was me I'd never have given them a patent on it," she said. Taking that conviction to court, though, is another matter entirely. "Patents like these probably are easy enough to argue against, but it's expensive," she said."
Submission + - Ebay tries to woo back store owners
MsManhattan writes: Responding to a defection of store owners from its site, eBay Inc. has pledged that it will not increase merchants' selling fees next month and also that it will restore the stores category to the eBay page header within 30 days. Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, made the promise during his keynote address at eBay's annual sellers convention last Thursday. The move comes after disgruntled eBay sellers began moving inventory off the site when the company raised fees and began downplaying eBay stores in favor of promoting its auctions. 'If you're not an eBay auction seller, eBay doesn't want you on their site,' one store owner complained. 'EBay has disadvantaged store owners over the last year to drive them away."
Submission + - 9.9 Gigapixel photo -A breathtaking italian fresco (haltadefinizione.com)
Gigapixel writes: "The 9.9 Gigapixel Apotheosis of St. Ignatius
Another breathtaking italian fresco
HAL9000 Srl, under the artistical direction of the Inventory Office — dept. Cultural Property of
Diocese of Novara, realized the high definition digital picture of the Apotheosis of St. Ignatius, a
fresco painted on the barrel vault of the St. Ignatius church in Rome, Italy property of "F.E.C.-
Fondo Edifici di Culto" of the italian "Ministero dell'Interno" and conducted by the Jesuits order.
The church is located in the ancient Rome near the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain.
The fresco was painted in the last years of the 17th century (1685-1694) by Andrea Pozzo, an
italian baroque architect and painter who entered the Jesuits order in 1668.
The fresco is considered a masterpiece of perspective; from the center of the church appears
another order of columns leading to the Holy Trinity and St. Ignatius that reflects the light of
Jesus all over the world.
The size of the vault is 17 x 35 meters (56 x 115 feet) and the highest point reaches the height
of 32 meters (105 feet), the height of a 10 floors building.
A 9.9 billion pixel image as been realized to reproduce the 1200 square meter fresco (about
13000 square foot) in any detail. The digital image is entirely and freely visible on HAL9000
website www.haltadefinizione.com where is also possible to browse each page of the original
edition of the book "Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum", by Andrea Pozzo, considered a
milestone in the perspective study. Innovative web technology allows the dynamic comparison
of the original 17th century sketch and the real execution of the painting."
Submission + - Xandros acquires Scalix (linuxmagazine.com.br)
Submission + - The Life of a Chinese Gold Farmer
DrLudicrous writes: The NYTimes (reg. required) is running an article about Chinese gold farmers. It is an interesting look at the economics and day-to-day reality of people who "play" MMO games for a living. Check it out here.
Submission + - AT&T San Diego Outage?
Ray writes: "What's happened to AT&T's San Diego presence lately? It has be completely off the air to the Internet Health Report for several days, causing AT&T's service an overall red."
Submission + - Baby Vista is born, 5 pounds and 11 ounces
jollyreaper writes: File this under the category "Will parents never learn?" Naming your kid after an operating system. It'd be geeky enough if the kid was named Linux or OSX but no, this poor kid is named Vista. The proud father says: "Okay, first I know that most of you are reading this on the bus, at home, at work, and you're laughing. Some people are shocked and probably scratching your head why a nerd would potentially put their child through the slings and arrows of naming their spawn after an operating system. Hopefully by the time she's old enough for someone to make fun of her name, nobody will remember where it came from."
He might want to ask Moon Unit Zappa about that.
