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Google

Submission + - Google Execs Spared Extradition To Thailand

Submitted by DonZorro
DonZorro writes: Apparently Google execs know the fear of extradition, Thailand has an extradition treaty with the US for criminal offences. TechTree reports the near closure of a month long battle between Thai authorities trying to enforce lese majeste laws via the criminal justice system. The Register reports another lawsuit by the English Football Association to enforce copyright laws.
There is great contrast in laws that value copyright (the right of the publisher to copy an artist's work) and laws that value respect (Thai people hold their King in high regard). Also, laws that value privacy would presumably prevent Thai police from obtaining the ip address of the insulting videos Bangkok Post
Media

Disney - Blu-ray's Fair Weather Friend 138

Posted by Zonk from the pick-a-side dept.
An anonymous reader writes "One day they're out, the next day they're in. Back in March, Disney CEO Bob Iger seemed to indicate that his company (which has exclusively backed Blu-ray since the start of the high-def format war) was on the verge of supporting *both* high-def formats. What a difference a couple of months of good press for Blu-ray makes: this week, the CEO reversed his earlier position, saying 'the single greatest thing we can do right now is to not waffle, but to be very, very blunt about it, (and) to continue our support of Blu-ray because we sense a real advantage.'"
Announcements

Submission + - Ask launches Mobile GPS application with Navi

Submitted by Mobile Enthusiast
Mobile Enthusiast writes: Reuters and Wall Street Journal are reporting that InterActive Corp's Ask.com has exploded into the mobile space with a GPS-enabled Mobile Lifestyle application that includes Citysearch reviews, Evite, voice-enhanced turn-by-turn navigation, scrollable maps, and the ability to share your location with friends (by sending them a text message that includes a WAP link showing your location on a map). The nature of the story (and lack of press release) makes me think that this was an early scoop resulting from a leak. I'll bet that we'll see a press release early next week.

I think we have a legitimate leapfrog situation on our hands. The application is apparently brilliantly designed to minimize triple-tapping by automatically suggesting nearby locations (bars, restaurants, cities, airports, etc) and remembering past input. Furthermore, beyond just finding bars/restaurants and offering user-generated comments and ratings, this app can also get you there with a navigation system that's similar to those very expensive in-car navigation devices (saying the instructions out loud, automatically rerouting when you get lost, etc). I don't think any of the other big guys have anything like this... Apparently Ask.com partnered with WaveMarket (http://www.wavemarket.com/), a mobile LBS company based in the San Francisco area to deliver this application. It looks like WaveMarket has been in the Location Based Services space for a while, but this is definitely a break-out app for them. Check out: http://gps.ask.com
Space

Submission + - Canada Has Lower Gravity

Submitted by vparkash
vparkash writes: Its official. Canadians weigh lesser than their American neighbors! The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite system has determined that the Earth's gravitational field over Canada, especially near the Hudson Bay area is lesser than surrounding areas. GRACE is a joint venture between NASA and German Aerospace Center. The system comprises two satellites in LEO, that use a microwave altimeter to detect tiny fluctuations in the earth's gravity with a resolution of around a micron
Bug

Submission + - After 9 years, Bugzilla moves up to 3.0

Submitted by BuggyUser
BuggyUser writes: Bugzilla, the popular application to track and manage software development bug reports, has moved up to version 3.0. The 2.x series has been in service for the last nine years. From the article "According to the Bugzilla 3.0 release announcement, some of the new features in this version include custom fields, support for the Apache mod_perl module, per-product permissions, an XML-RPC interface, and the ability to create and edit bugs via email. A demo site has been set up where users can test the new version before downloading."

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