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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 102 declined, 11 accepted (113 total, 9.73% accepted)

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Google

Submission + - Gmail gets themes

UnanimousCoward writes: Google is doing a phased rollout of themes for Gmail (personal accounts). Lots of articles (here's one), of course. I especially like the Terminal theme (since I submitted this theme for the /. redesign contest, but, of course, it didn't win). I haven't seen anything yet about customizing themes (other than the old unofficial way)...
Television

Submission + - Netflix enters the set-top box fray

UnanimousCoward writes: "The NYT has an article about Netflix's entry into the set-top box market with Roku (in which Netflix has a stake). In contrast, there's no market for something like this or AppleTV in other countries — my cousin uses his 54MB connection in Korea to get on-demand access of movies, tv shows, etc. through his provider (actually, they're moving to fiber because I guess people are complaining that 54MB is too slow)."
Businesses

Submission + - Craigslist countersues eBay

UnanimousCoward writes: "Several weeks ago, eBay sued Craigslist for stock dilution. Craigslist has now countersued with multiple charges, among them (from Reuters):

Craigslist's complaint alleges a plan by eBay to use its position as a minority shareholder in Craigslist and its position on the Craigslist board to gather competitive information that led to the launch of eBay's rival classifieds business. The suit claims eBay code-named Kijiji its 'Craigslist killer' in internal strategy discussions.
Many articles about it, but it's been a while since I've looked at Wired :-)"
Digital

Submission + - Pascal Dangin and Box Studios

UnanimousCoward writes: "The New Yorker is running this article about Pascal Dangin and his photo retouching empire, Box Studios (note the URL goes to a nondescript page — Dangin must want it that way). Dangin anonymously has a hand in most of the fashion and advertising shots, and the article delves into all the issues associated with photo retouching including history, anatomical accuracy, color, body image, etc. His studio has even developed its own retouching software (he apparently has six programmers on staff).

Related, here's a great site with before/after shots, AKA reality to plastic..."
Robotics

Submission + - Maker Faire Bay Area this past weekend

UnanimousCoward writes: "The Maker Faire put on by Make Magazine was held this past weekend at the San Mateo County Expo Center. My son and I didn't get to spend enough time there. The coolest thing we saw was tortillas getting laser engraved which, of course, brought out the grilled cheese sandwich with the Virgin Mary story out about a thousand times..."
Moon

Submission + - Moon Backup: is it time? revenue model?

UnanimousCoward writes: "I since become obsessed with backing up my data, doing both ext hd backup with SyncBackSE and online backup with Mozy. But it got me to thinking about the ultimate backup, the Moon. Given the inevitability of cloud computing, I'm wondering if it's just a matter of time before Google/Apple offers iMoonBackup(tm). Given Google's "free" model, what would be the revenue model for iMoonBackup(tm)? (This is where Steve comes in, I guess...)"
Power

Submission + - The Upsides of Solar Panels in Parking Lots

UnanimousCoward writes: "SFGate has an Open Forum piece written by UCLA Professor Donald Shoup considering the benefits of installing solar panels in parking lots:
  • Provides power when it is needed most
  • Cooler cars
  • Can't be worse-looking than the current asphalt desert :-)
  • Pro-business/Pro-development
  • He even plays the decentralized-power-in-the-face-of-terrorists card
The article mentions efforts by Walmart and, of course, Google:

Google, for example, has installed solar canopies on its parking lots to satisfy 30 percent of its headquarters' power demand.
"
Media

Submission + - views on the future of the Entertainment industry

UnanimousCoward writes: "Here are two articles that present interesting views of the direction of the Entertainment Industry:
  • In this NYT Magazine article, Rick Rubin states:

    You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home. You'll say, 'Today I want to listen to ... Simon and Garfunkel,' and there they are. The service can have demos, bootlegs, concerts, whatever context the artist wants to put out. And once that model is put into place, the industry will grow 10 times the size it is now...Steve Jobs understood Napster better than the record business did...IPods made it easy for people to share music, and Apple took a big percentage of the business that once belonged to the record companies. The subscription model is the only way to save the music business. If music is easily available at a price of five or six dollars a month, then nobody will steal it
  • In his FSJ blog entry, Daniel Lyons states:

    It's over now. [The TV Network] business model was a historical anomaly built on scarcity of a valuable resource and the willingness of a small group of network operators to not slit each other's throats and to collaborate in exploiting the content producers. Sort of like the Five Families in New York. Wars are bad for business...You know what the new network is? It's [Apple].
Are these views at odds with each other or complimentary?"
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Spreading the word of God in Second Life (yahoo.com)

UnanimousCoward writes: "This article notes that Jesuits are contemplating spreading the word of God in the virtual world as they have done in the physical world. My first thought was, "yeah, right," especially on the heels of the gambling ban. My second thought was that before they were successful in the physical world, I would have also said, "yeah, right," so who knows?"
The Internet

Submission + - Obama Girl fuels Internet's Influence on Campaigns

UnanimousCoward writes: The NYT and ABC have articles about the Obama Girl music video, the brainchild of Leah Kauffman who was also behind Box in a Box. Kauffman, who pulls it off because of both her incredible voice and political/cultural savvy, is helping define the political campaign landscape for the 2008 Presidential election. Maybe John Edwards should hire her for his campaign...
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - How Does QuickPick Work?

UnanimousCoward writes: A buddy and I had a debate as to how QuickPick (the process with which you let the lottery machine pick your numbers as opposed to picking them yourself) works:
  • I thought that QP tries to generate a set of numbers that hasn't been picked (either manually or automatically). The rational here is that it gives the player some assurance that if he/she wins, he won't have to split it with someone else.
  • He thought it was just a random number generator that didn't look at the existing set of picks.
So I guess I have two questions:
  • Who is right?
  • What algorithm do they/would they use for my scenario?
Privacy

Submission + - VaTech and Background Checks

UnanimousCoward writes: The NYT has an article noting that the Virginia Tech killer shouldn't have been able to purchase firearms because of his mental health record. What astounds me the lack of seeing the forest for the trees: if we had stricter gun control in this country, it wouldn't have been an issue. However, we are debating the lack of coordination of federal and state databases. To me, issue with respect to privacy FAR outweighs my right to bear arms...
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - FBI invited to look at Second Life casinos

UnanimousCoward writes: Yahoo! is running an article reporting that Second Life has invited the FBI to tour their casinos, and that the FBI has indeed visited but will not comment. With the U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling, visits to Second Life casinos has increased (using Linden dollars that have been exchanged for "real" currency). From TFA:

Most lawyers agree that placing bets with Linden dollars likely violates U.S. anti-gambling statutes, which cover circumstances in which "something of value" is wagered. But the degree of Linden Lab's responsibility, and the likelihood of a any crackdown, is uncertain.

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