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OS X

Large Auto Warehouser Switches to OS X

Submitted by good soldier svejk
good soldier svejk writes "Computerworld reports that, "Over the next 60 days, AWC (Auto Warehousing Co.) will begin systematically pulling the plug on all Windows-based PCs in its cavernous auto processing shop and power up Macs to execute virtually all of its revenue-generating operations. The move comes on the heels of a quiet wholesale replacement of Windows-based servers for data storage and Web operations, which are now running on Apple Inc.'s Xserve RAID machines."

Apparently, the company tested OS X and was impressed with the feature set and long term return on investment."
Windows

Mac Attack! Enterprise PC shop switches to Apple->

Submitted by
jcatcw
jcatcw writes "The largest full-service auto processing company in North America, Auto Warehousing Co, is switching from Microsoft to Apple. Over the next 60 days, AWC will begin systematically pulling the plug on all Windows-based PCs. They'll power up Macs for virtually all revenue-generating operations. The move comes on the heels of a quiet replacement of Windows-based servers for data storage and Web operations, which are now running on Apple Inc.'s Xserve RAID machines. The CIO, Dale Frantz, says "This stuff just works." Some might claim that this move is vengence for a spat with MS over licensing some years ago, but Computerworld's Don Tennant calls Frantz a hero and defends the decision as purely business based. Frantz is in good company. Michael Gartenberg has been there and has the Lessons Learned."
Link to Original Source
Music

Two Music Industry Cowboys

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes "There are two new sites that seem to be polar opposites, but both offer a little something worth mentioning. Textango offers bands a chance to sell their wares through text messaging. What makes this unique is that no credit card is involved in the purchase and everything is billed to the carrier. They aren't just selling no names either, Victory Records has some of their artists featured on there as well. On the flip side, SkreemR, the new audio search beta is picking up where Singingfish left off. Crawling blogs and giving you mp3s at your fingertips. SkreemR's results were quite impressive considering they've only been around for a month or so. The interface is simple but has a lot to offer adding links to YouTube and Facebook."
Power

Plug-In Hybrid Cars to hit Toronto by 2008

Submitted by Adambomb
Adambomb writes "A recent story on CTV has brought to light a municipal partnership between the City of Toronto and Hymotion (an Ontario based company recently acquired by A123 Systems Inc. of Watertown, MA) to help ease fuel usage in the metropolis. The pilot project is expected to hit the roads with as many as 200 vehicles with a new Plug-In conversion to allow hybrid cars to be charged directly instead of relying primarily on engine power. CTV quotes Hymotion President Ricardo Bazzarella stating that the cars will be able to travel 100km of city driving with just 2.4 litres of gasoline (about 2/3rds of a gallon)."
Security

Skype Worm leaps onto MSN, ICQ

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "From The Register: Malware miscreants have created the first worm targeting Skype that's also capable over other instant messaging networks, such as MSN and ICQ. The worm poses as a chat message linking to a website, as with other example of Skype-spreading malware before it. Although the main vector for infection is Skype, the malware also attempts to spread by punting messages across MSN and ICQ, according to an analysis of the malware by researchers at IM security firm FaceTime Communications."
Star Wars Prequels

Star Wars is 30 Years Old 223

Posted by Zonk
from the how-old-does-that-make-you dept.
javipas writes "On May 25th, 1977 the first film of the Star Wars Saga was released to theaters. Thirty years later, and celebrations are being held all around the globe. Wired has a series of articles entitled The Empire at 30, and many fans are posting about this particular birthday. For example, you can see the best 30 clips made by fans to celebrate this anniversary. The BBC is chronicling the journey of one man who had never seen Star Wars before. IGN has a rundown on some of the highlights of the Celebration convention, running this weekend."
Privacy

Using RFID and wi-fi to track students

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC reports on a proposal to use RFID and wi-fi to track students wherever they go on campus: "Battery-powered RFID tags are placed on an asset and they communicate with at least three wireless access points inside the network to triangulate a location." At The Wireless Event in London, "Marcus Birkl, head of wireless at Siemens, said location tracking of assets or people was one of the biggest incentives for companies, hospitals and education institutions to roll out wi-fi networks." The article points out that integration of RFID and wi-fi raises the possibility that RFID can be used for remote surveillance."
Windows

Microsoft plays monopoly again with Vista!

Submitted by
mike95
mike95 writes "I just started playing around with voice recognition on Windows Vista and I was very happy with the results — at last, accurate dictation ...UNTIL. I tried with OpenOffice Writer. Complete failure. I was stumped. Is this an OS feature or a Word feature? It's promoted as an OS feature. I pulled out the trusty notepad and the accuracy and results were the same as in Word 2007! What the heck?

I double checked, I triple checked and quite frankly it cannot be so obvious they are wielding their monopolistic practices by being biased when making this operating system feature available.

How many people would cry foul loudly if the network connectivity OS feature was crippled for Firefox? I just cannot see a valid argument here so I created a video of my experience and just posted it on youtube.

I used the same microphone to record the video as dictation, so what you hear in the video is same sound offered to both the video recording software and voice recognition and any claims to background noise, etc. are without merit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMdbbvzocuU

Sincerely,
Michael Olivero"
Music

Trent Reznor rails against music price gouging.

Submitted by
Delusion_
Delusion_ writes "Zeropaid has an interesting article which reports that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has been speaking out on his blog against price gouging practices of record labels, including his own, while on tour in Australia, where some retailers are selling his new album, Year Zero, for $29 USD.



...to the question of illegally downloading music, to which he answered "...I steal music too, I'm not gonna say I don't."...

...He goes on to say that sure he resents people getting his stuff for free but, unlike most other artists it seems he knows who's actually to blame for the whole file-sharing mess — record labels. He says that "... you got record labels that are doing everything they can to piss people off and rip them off."


The climbing price of CDs has already cost many music retailers to throw in the towel, especially stores catering to specific styles of music. Music piracy is usually blamed for the shift, but the fact that the RIAA has been fighting used CD sales tooth and nail, and that the average CD price has increased significantly despite the fact that media production costs have decreased since the early 1990s isn't usually credited when music retailers go out of business."

He who lives without folly is less wise than he believes.