Forgot your password?

Close
typodupeerror

Has filesharing stemmed the flow of new music?->

Submitted by Kavafy
Kavafy writes "In a new working paper, economist Joel Waldfogel attempts to estimate the continued flow of high-quality new music since the emergence, at the turn of the millennium, of Napster, the daddy of all file sharing services. Waldfogel concludes that there is "no evidence that changes since Napster have affected the quantity of new recorded music or artists coming to market.""
Link to Original Source

26,000 Customers Lost Internet Access Friday

Submitted by AcidTag
AcidTag writes "My girlfriend discovered Friday night that her ISP OpenRange had ceased operations with no warning. It had been previously reported that OpenRange would continue operations through the end of the year. Her and 26,000 other rural customers are now without Internet access."

JPEGmini – the Future of Image Compression?-> 3

Submitted by
Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth writes "An Israeli company recently unveiled what might be the next generation of image compression technology. Based on the JPEG format, the new JPEGmini is compatible with existing JPEG but capable of reducing the file size of an image by up to 5X without any visible loss of image quality. A revolution on its way? MegaPixel.co.il set out to test it and talk with the developers."
Link to Original Source

XBMC Bridges the communications gap with the TV->

Submitted by
Malard
Malard writes "Home theatre systems have forever suffered from the bain of multiple remote controls. One for the HTPC and at least one other for the TV. Pulse-Eight working with XBMC have built a USB — CEC Adapter allowing users to consolidate their remotes and even throw out HTPC specific remotes in favour of their TV or Blu-Ray remote control."
Link to Original Source
EU

RealNetworks crushes Dutch webmaster for hyperlink->

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes "RealNetworks has sued the owner of a website in The Netherlands for displaying a hyperlink to a competing freeware package. As the company seeks compensation for its claimed losses, the 26-year-old man is borrowing money from family to survive.

The case started in 2010 when RealNetworks demanded that the computers belonging to Hilbrand Edskes and his family be confiscated. A Dutch judge granted this in an ex-parte ruling, based on an alleged violation of copyright law and trademark law. The company claims that Edskes was hosting the infringing software. The move to secretly obtain the order was meant to ensure that evidence wasn’t deleted.

Edskes has a website, Codecpack.nl, that links to a wide variety of freeware programs. One of these is "Real Alternative", a competitor of the mediaplayer RealPlayer from RealNetworks.

However, Edskes wasn’t hosting the software, but just redirected to other sites for the actual download. The complaint turned out to be based on a hyperlink to the software. To date there have been two court sessions, and in December Edskes will have to testify under oath.

PC Advisor: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/tech-industry/3299285/realnetworks-crushes-dutch-webmaster-for-hyperlink/"
Link to Original Source
Apple

OSX Lion ships with faulty NVidia Drivers->

Submitted by TeaCurran
TeaCurran writes "Apple OSX Lion shipped with new NVidia video drivers that are causing anyone with a mid 2010 Macbook Pro to get a kernel panic every 5-10 minutes. Apple knew about the issue before shipping lion, hasn't responded to the issue, and is censoring posts in their support forum that mention words like 'boycot' and 'petition'. NVidia has responded that the drivers are the responsibility of Apple so they won't deal with the issue. How a major hardware manufacturer can ship such a faulty product without getting much press about it is completely beyond me."
Link to Original Source
Science

Diver Snaps First Photo of Fish Using Tools->

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes "While exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef, professional diver Scott Gardner heard an odd cracking sound and swam over to investigate. What he found was a footlong blackspot tuskfish holding a clam in its mouth and whacking it against a rock. Soon the shell gave way, and the fish gobbled up the bivalve, spat out the shell fragments, and swam off. Fortunately, Gardner had a camera handy and snapped what seem to be the first photographs of a wild fish using a tool."
Link to Original Source
Music

Mini Infrared Theremin->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "....IR sensors used to detect the distance between the sensor and an object are a perfect fit for a DIY Theremin because they are low cost and they are reliable enough to get the project working. The idea here is that instead of using antennas, we'll use infrared proximity and be able to play an instrument, the Mini IR Theremin!"
Link to Original Source
Privacy

LulzSec Document Dump Shows Cops' Fear Of iPhones->

Submitted by
jfruhlinger
jfruhlinger writes "People are starting to comb through the details of the law enforcement documents made public by LulzSec. Blogger Kevin Fogarty noticed one interesting trend: The cops seem very anxious about iPhones, particularly apps that would allow encounters with a police officers to be recorded. Ironically, the cops seem extremely concerned with protecting their own privacy, but the documents encourage police to examine iPhones during the course of interacting with the public to see what apps they have."
Link to Original Source

It's Official – Cell Phones are Killing Bees->

Submitted by kdawson (3715)
kdawson (3715) writes "Scientists may have found the cause of the world’s sudden dwindling population of bees – and cell phones may be to blame. Research conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland has shown that the signal from cell phones not only confuses bees, but also may lead to their death. Over 83 experiments have yielded the same results.

The signals cause the bees to become lost and disoriented. The impact has already been felt the world over, as the population of bees in the U.S. and the U.K. has decreased by almost half in the last thirty years – which coincides with the popularization and acceptance of cell phones as a personal device."
Link to Original Source
Apple

Apple Nixes iPad Giveaways->

Submitted by KingSkippus
KingSkippus writes "According to a story at CNN, Apple has begun enforcing third party promotion guidelines (PDF) that, among other things, restricts organizations from giving away iPads, using the word "free" to describe any Apple products in a prominent manner, or promoting giveaways of iPod Touches in lots of less than 250 and with Apple's explicit approval."
Link to Original Source

Comment: DIY was king... (Score 2, Informative) 348

by AcidTag (#32281852) Attached to: <em>The Secret of Monkey Island</em> Shows Evolution of PC Audio
When the game-blaster was $500 or so we made our own thank you. :)
I used to get reels of matching resistors and make soundcards for everyone I knew with a PC.
Originally released by Covox, it was simple to make your own, and way cheaper than everything on the market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covox_Speech_Thing

I just ate a whole package of Sweet Tarts and a can of Coke. I think I saw God. -- B. Hathrume Duk