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Cellphones

Apple Sells Nine Million iPhones Over Weekend 432

Posted by samzenpus from the a-lot-of-units dept.
Nerval's Lobster writes "Apple managed to sell nine million iPhones over the weekend, with the company claiming its initial supply of high-end iPhone 5S units completely sold out. Apple didn't sell out of the new iPhone 5C, its plastic-cased (and cheaper) alternative to the iPhone 5S; models are still available for shipment within 24 hours from Apple's online store. And the iPhone 5S selling out is no surprise: in the weeks ahead of the new iPhones' launch, rumors persisted that the initial production run of the device was relatively small in scope, which would make it far easier for Apple to sell out of its first batch. But how many iPhone 5C units did Apple actually manage to sell? In August, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that Apple would produce just over 5 million iPhone 5S units ahead of the device's launch weekend; if that number's accurate, and Apple sold every single one, it would mean Apple sold roughly 4 million iPhone 5C units in order to reach that 9-million-sold figure for both models. That's an impressive figure for any smartphone, of course, and it could quiet some of the naysayers who have spent the past several months suggesting that Apple's best years are behind it."
Government

NSA Posts Opening For "Civil Liberties & Privacy Officer" 177

Posted by samzenpus from the I-think-I'll-pass dept.
cold fjord writes "The Hill reports, 'The National Security Agency has posted a job opening for a privacy and civil liberties officer. The position was first mentioned last month, when President Obama outlined his plans to bring more transparency to the NSA surveillance programs. A White House press release said the agency was "taking steps to put in place a full time Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer."' — From the NSA job posting: 'The NSA Civil Liberties & Privacy Officer (CLPO) is conceived as a completely new role, combining the separate responsibilities of NSA's existing Civil Liberties and Privacy (CL/P) protection programs under a single official. The CLPO will serve as the primary advisor to the Director of NSA for ensuring that privacy is protected and civil liberties are maintained by all of NSA's missions, programs, policies and technologies. This new position is focused on the future, designed to directly enhance decision making and to ensure that CL/P protections continue to be baked into NSA's future operations, technologies, tradecraft, and policies. The NSA CLPO will consult regularly with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence CLPO, privacy and civil liberties officials from the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice, as well as other U.S. government, private sector, public advocacy groups and foreign partners. '"
Beer

Extreme Microbe Brewing: the Curse of Auto-Brewery Syndrome 110

Posted by timothy from the certainly-not-what-I-want-my-gut-to-do dept.
An anonymous reader writes with a story excerpt that may inspire envy in some readers: "Most beer guts are the result of consuming fermented brew, but a new case study describes a rare syndrome that had one man's gut fermenting brew, not consuming it. It's called gut fermentation syndrome or auto-brewery syndrome, and it's 'a relatively unknown phenomenon in Western medicine' according to a study published in July's International Journal of Clinical Medicine. 'Only a few cases have been reported in the last three decades' according to Dr. Barbara Cordell, the dean of nursing at Panola College in Carthage, Texas, and Dr. Justin McCarthy, a Lubbock gastroenterologist, the study's authors." (More at NPR.)
Space

To Boldly Go Nowhere, For Now 308

Posted by samzenpus from the we-don't-have-lift-off dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A recent Slate article makes the argument that manned space exploration is not useful and we should concentrate on Robots. The article makes the claim that manned space exploration was never popular and by diverting money to robotic space exploration we can get more bang for the buck. From the article: 'Most of the arguments in favor of manned space exploration boil down to the following: a) We need to explore space using people since keeping the entire human race on a single piece of rock is a bad strategy, and even if we send robots first, people would have to make the journey eventually; and b) humans can explore much better than robots. Both these arguments are very near-sighted—in large part because they assume that robots aren’t going to get any better. They also fail to recognize that technology may radically change humans in the next century or so.'"

Comment Re:Brazil always answers to USA (Score 1) 285

by EmagGeek (#44896163) Attached to: Brazil Announces Plans To Move Away From US-Centric Internet

First, they don't care if they change it or not. The US can change it or not, and Brazil will maintain reciprocity. Reciprocity is about fairness, not about forcing change.

Second, it does not reduce the number of Americans traveling to Brazil because, believe it or don't, most Americans who have the means to travel don't have trouble meeting the financial criteria to get a visa to the US (which is the chief problem poor foreigners run into when trying to come here).

Comment I don't like it (Score 4, Insightful) 230

by EmagGeek (#44889951) Attached to: Cyanogen Mod Goes Commercial To Make "Available On Everything, To Everyone"

With this move, they are now beholden to shareholders (i.e. the Venture Capitalists) and profit is the #1 priority, despite the flowery, rainbow-colored unicorn fantasy they are promoting.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that CM is going to become payware and possibly even supported by ads integrated directly into the O/S, with underlying information snooping software that gives them your private info so they can sell it to marketing firms.

So, no, I don't like it one bit.

Comment Re:Brazil always answers to USA (Score 4, Interesting) 285

by EmagGeek (#44889913) Attached to: Brazil Announces Plans To Move Away From US-Centric Internet

Brazil has a policy of absolute reciprocity when it comes to immigration. Brazil requires the same of US Residents applying for a Brazilian visa as the US requires of Brazilian Residents applying for a US Visa.

Any requirement imposed upon Brazilian citizens by any other country is reciprocated toward that country's citizens. It makes perfect sense to do it that way.

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