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Comment Blah (Score 2, Informative) 81

It feels like augmented reality is becoming the next buzzword to follow cloud computing. Honda in Japan have had HUD tech for years, where their repair people could identify engine parts. Apparently it made them something like 30% more efficient. Even this article has AR features and is from 2004.

http://www.allbusiness.com/automotive/automotive-trade-motor-vehicle-parts/5531755-1.html

Call me when it can be put inside a contact lense or into the eye permanently, until then it's just a mash of tech we've had for a while.

Comment Re:Anyone actually use "Genius"? (Score 2, Informative) 174

The biggest problem is that Apple is probably the closest internet-based distribution system to the record labels of old. Perhaps this is an "appeal to the masses" approach or to get onside with the labels.

The downside of this is that a collaborative filter based on genre and sales will never go deep. I doubt they'd ever use pearson's correlation coefficient seriously enough to offset the "this is the new hit everyone listens to so you should too".

I guess it comes down to musical integrity to the extent of ignoring trends to deliver truly accurate results... or hit 90% of the market with a simple solution that probably makes them more money and makes the record labels easier to deal with.

Glad to see they're thinking different and aren't just playing to the status quo.

Comment Re:The Guardian says this is hot air (Score 1) 325

Twitter would make absolutely no sense to Apple.

Twitter has no revenue model as yet, and I doubt some amazing twist will mean it starts a money printing machine. Just because a bunch of people find it fun or interesting doesn't mean it will make much. Same goes with Facebook - 3 companies I know used their ad system and the click to conversion ration was terrible. So bad the CPA meant we were better doing radio or tv.

Why doesn't Apple buy Adobe? They did it with emagic and made Apple a haven for audio production with Logic. They should do the same with Adobe.

Mars

Water Ice On Mars 364

cathector sends along a story from SpaceWeather.com on the discovery of water ice on Mars. "Scientists have figured out the mysterious white substance unearthed by NASA's Phoenix lander on Mars. It's frozen water. The breakthrough came last week when Phoenix's stereo camera caught the substance in the act of disappearing. Bathed in martian sunlight for four days, the white substance sublimated — i.e., it transformed from solid to gas without passing through the liquid state. This is how water behaves on Mars.... Some readers have asked, how do we know the white substance is not frozen CO2 (dry ice) instead of frozen water? Answer: Phoenix's landing site is too warm for dry ice. The average daily temperature is about -70 F while dry ice requires temperatures lower than about -109 F." The animated GIF showing the ice sublimating is pretty nice too.
Privacy

SSL Encryption Coming To The Pirate Bay 267

An anonymous reader writes "The Pirate Bay, in response to Sweden's new wiretapping law, will start offering SSL encryption to its user base this week. Although copyright issues really have little to do with national security, The Pirate Bay knows its population is uneasy with the recent legal change. The encryption will mostly benefit Swedish users living under the current law. Since The Pirate Bay and its servers are not hosted in Sweden, the additional security offered to outside users could be comparatively minimal."
Security

Fingerprints Recoverable From Cleaned Metal 178

dstates points out a recent article from guardian.co.uk which discusses a new method by which to recover fingerprints from metal. The method relies on corrosion caused by sweat and other biological residues on the metal's surface. Quoting: "The patterns of corrosion remain even after the surface has been cleaned, heated to 600C or even painted over. This means that traces of fingerprints stay on the metal long after the residue from a person's finger has gone. The chemical basis of the change is not yet clear, but [Dr. John Bond] believes it is corrosion by chloride ions from the salt in sweat. These produce lines of corrosion along the ridges of the fingerprint residue. When the metal is heated, for example in a bomb blast or when a gun is fired, the chemical reaction actually speeds up and makes the corrosion more pronounced."

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