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Why not just avoid buying Sony products?

Sheesh! You gonna avoid the iPhone 5 also?

Just stop it.. Okay? Don't be an idiot.. If you want to boycott Sony, you're gonna have to boycott everything... Maybe even toilet paper. Then you can learn what the left hand is really for..

As someone who already avoids buying Sony products, yes, yes I will.

Happy with my HTC built Android phone, Asus built laptop and Samsung displays and NEC projector.

(X) Achievement unlocked: No Sony Timer installed.

Why not just avoid buying Sony products?

Sheesh! You gonna avoid the iPhone 5 also?

Just stop it.. Okay? Don't be an idiot.. If you want to boycott Sony, you're gonna have to boycott everything... Maybe even toilet paper. Then you can learn what the left hand is really for..

Apparently in completely unrelated news, Asus is deprecating Windows Phone 7. This even though Google totally cleaned Garmin's clock on the free navi thing.

As always, Garmin-Asus seeks the best for our consumers either on Android platform or on Windows platform. However, we see the potential of Android platform devices, so we are focusing on Android platform currently. - Steven Tu

Meanwhile Microsoft's VP, Corporate Communications Frank X. Shaw is over on Twitter right now trying to repair the damage done by today's CNN Money report. In case y'all want to wander over and lend him a hand.

perhaps because /. + IT + India = wharrgarbl? =)

Here's what a cursory click-through on tfa showed - article with pic.

In essence, the creators appear to have thoroughly understood this. It doesn't have to do everything, just enough of the most relevant things for most people. Now, if only it were exported here, I'd love to get one.

• On Bluetooth phone viruses, apparently the next big thing in malware (2004): "If you don't know about bluejacking these messages can be quite a shock" (2004)
• On the groundswell of Mac malware: "This means two real viruses have emerged for the Mac OS X platform in less than a week. The question on everyone's lips is - when will we see the next one, and will it have a more malicious payload?" (2006)
• On "naming and shaming" (his words) countries from whose IP address space spam appears to emanate: "A new dirty 'gang of four' - South Korea, Brazil, India and their ringleader USA - account for over 30% of all the spam relayed by hacked computers around the globe." (2010)

It is a bit rich that he's asking Tavis whether he "feels good about himself." Just saying.

The main reason I use Chrome is because of the excellent interface. When maximized, the tabs push right against the screen edge. I've not seen any app that makes such efficient usage of screen real estate. I've tried to configure FireFox, using TinyMenu to reduce the amount of white space. But it's still not as efficient.

Chrome had set a new trend for browser UIs. For example, the just-released Opera 10.50, out of the box, largely copies Chrome UI in default configuration, complete with tabs-in-title-bar. I suspect Firefox will follow suit eventually.

Huh? The outer left and right rows on this picture are the memory controllers, that's what 5-10% of the total die area? Adding 1/3rd more pins would add a couple percent to the overall cost of the chip. Now on lower level parts where there's half as many logic units it would be more significant, but there's a reason that lower end parts have less memory bandwidth (and they need less since they can process less per clock.)

The fourth iteration (Maemo Fremantle) has a UI built on Hildon/GTK+; the fifth (Maemo Harmattan), a UI built on Qt. I've read 4Q 2010 or 1Q 2011, so app developers have to consider whether or not to use the community-supported Qt API on the existing device, which will become "the" OS in 2011, or build something on GTK+, Maemo/Nokia-supported now, which will become community-supported in Harmattan.

I think that presently Microsoft is more of a risk to Google than Google is to Microsoft. Why? Bing.com has real market share, and they've done a good job of copying most of their algorithms and techniques. Google is nowhere near being the same competitive threat. Chrome (my favorite browser) is a meager 1% market share. Switching browsers is dramatically easier than switching operating systems, and they have not been able to drive users to them even then. Switching search engines is trivial, and as such more liable to fads and more easily influenced. Not to mention that MSFT's earnings are roughly 4 times those of Google, even despite the Vista debacle. MSFT - one of the worst companies in the history of man kind - has massive staying power, and enjoys a heavily entrenched position. The risk that Google is the next has-been is much greater than the same thing happening to MSFT, IMHO. Which is why I am doing my part, diligently sabotaging every MSFT product I encounter, purging them from my life and the life of my friends and family. But I have no illusions and I am still afraid, very afraid.

Yes they already did. It is called Windows 7.

RC1 is expected to arrive on April 10th. Should be going Gold really soon.

http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Windows_7_RC_Gets_36_Changes/551-99470-643.html

As a virus requires user interaction such as double clicking a email attachment and worms require no user interaction and auto install due to unpatched vulnerabilities in the OS, I would think worms are worse. The last time a major worm hit over 9 million Windows users was Jan 20th 2009. http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Windows_Virus_Infects_9_Million/551-98002-582.html Back on topic, Macrumors reports that the trojan is already receiving instructions and participating in Denial of Service attacks. They also have manual removal instructions. http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/22/iwork-09-torrent-carrying-os-x-trojan/

Which mouse under $10 is the best mouse?

The Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse. (Not the Microsoft WheelMouse Optical.) Seriously, the only Microsoft product I'd ever recommend. Completely no-frills, reasonably well-built, fits my hand perfectly. Some have weights built in, others don't. My favorite feature is that the sides are straight rather than slanted so picking the mouse up to relocate it on the mouse pad (something I do often) is easy. Almost all mice designs get this wrong and have slanted sides, especially the more expensive ones.

You can get one for under $10 if you shop right.

It especially takes more than 10 minutes of simply watching what someone else was doing instead of actually using the system themselves and forming an informed opinion. So these are people who had an opinion formed from ignorance against Vista, who now have an opinion formed from ignorance for Vista.

Microsoft only has less than a third of the people who watched a canned demo who came out impressed enough to be shown on video. The whole "experiment" is not representative of actual user experience with the OS. In short, Microsoft is scamming the technically less savvy and using their scammed results to scam the public.

Vista really isn't as bad as people have heard, especially with SP1. It is still worse in several ways, in my opinion, than XP or Server 2003. I haven't tried Server 2008 yet to compare. What shouldn't be coloring people's opinions, though, is unethical marketing chicanery presented as actual user opinion. It can't be user opinion, because these are not users they're bragging about converting. Whatever happened to actual testimonials from real people who have actually used a product?

Microsoft really don't get the point of the OLPC. They've missed the market for mini laptops and only have Windows XP to offer that market. Shoehorning a kludgy XP and Office, antivirus and protection onto the OLPC makes it a far less useful product.

They are doing the same thing to the EEEPC.

Microsoft's Plans for the distribution of EEEPCs in India

Slashdot material will also cover accusations of LimitNone being a M$ proxy and the perills of non free software in general. The senseless accusations you are talking about will be half covered by the Wintel trade press as they did with the SCO case.

The statement:

People need to realize that Google is just another large publicly traded corporation that will do whatever it takes to increase its revenue, even if that means risking its reputation among developers." is right out of the M$ FUD book.

The alleged theft is laughable:

The lawsuit alleges that Google's product, called "Google Email Uploader" steals gMove's look, feel and functionality.

There were also Vague accusations of "trade secret theft" but there are several excellent free software tools that have been getting this kind of information for years. No further details were given by business wire. Let's look for more, shall we?

• Wired, same stuff Google has not had time to look over the suit and comment.
• CNet, same kind of thing with market size and potential price thrown in for fun.
• TechTree bare facts, no Google comment.
• The Inquirer does better with a brief statement of facts, without Google comment.
• The Wall Street Journal adds insight by noticing that there is a conflict of interest between small companies and large ones in any business relationship but only applies this wisdom to Google. No comment from Google.
• There are many echos in other papers and blog space which contain even less information than the Slashdot summary.
• Something to spook clueless investors about "another" billion dollar suit for Google without background information about the frequency of such things.

So, we see a one sided media blitz, complete with stock market "advice", but completely lacking in input from Google, technical insight and other information. These are M$ hallmarks.

Interesing thing about Shivaji's case which happened in August 2007 was that, they arrested wrong person the first time (Airtel local ISP mixed up ip info. he he). And that guy sued Airtel for screwing him for months in jail. Second time, they might have got the right person.

The ignorance of Slashdot stuns me sometimes. I'm not saying you're a fool, you probably are extremely intelligent. But just because something is secure now, does not mean it is 100% secure and impenetrable by any means. If the majority that uses Windows now, used Linux instead, you can damn well be sure they'd have nearly as many ways to zombify those Linux boxes you're so proud of. We see this all the time, not too long ago, at that 'hacking' competition, they used a trick in Javascript to compromise the Vista system. Zomg evidence Just because it's Linux, doesn't mean it's foolproof, and I think somewhat shortsighted to assume it would be so much better.

The posted article's author used "ostensibly" meaning "apparently" when a better choice is "hopefully". This is a Microsoft product -- no feature works as a sane person would expect. Another article explains:
"A helpful notification will appear to warn the gamer when the session is nearing the end, and once the set time is over, the console will automatically turn-off."

I could not discover the duration between warning and shutdown. Is the duration configurable? Configured by game? Configurable until next save? Or save opportunity for games with limited opportunities for saving?

Does the timer distinguish school nights? A five-hour session desirable on Saturday morning (so parents can sleep) is not feasible on a school night.

The need for this feature was obvious soon after consoles became popular (early 1980s?). Realization was delayed because console manufacturers have little desire to reduce addiction to their products. Poor implementation and poor usability will reduce the long-term impact (losing the next generation of addicts) of providing such a good-for-marketing ("We care about children") feature.

This feature cannot relieve parents from monitoring children. This timer only affects gaming time. Timers for the games, television, and computers are not integrated so no total "screen" time limits can be electronically enforced.

A ten-year-old girl I know will switch between television and computer games. Limiting the computer game time increases her television time, and vice versa. If both options are removed, she will play or read in her room. None of her preferred activities include exercise.

This feature may be more useful for adults with "one more turn" addictions than a parental control.

with gaming as another (big) feature...and call it a day...

If that doesn't work...market it as a cheap grid supercomputer! :)

Ya rly: "while TightPod manufactures slip-on covers designed to protect electronic products such as laptops and MP3 players."

From TFA itself, no less!

Also, it doesn't really matter: the point is that for such a ubiquitous product, and one that is so important to Apple, current trademark dilution law is so broad in scope that it encourages companies - especially ones who own the really, really huge trademarks like iPod - to be overly broad in defense of the mark, lest some entity in the future successfully assert that Apple didn't adequately protect it. All it takes is one. And yeah, it sucks, but that's exactly why Apple is doing what it's doing, not just to be pricks for the sake of it,

This is a pretty handy site.. I just ran across it a couple days ago and was about to look through it at home today and disable most of the services listed.

Useless XP SP2 Services: http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?a rticle_id=70112&cat_id=584

(Quick way to get to list: Start->Run->services.msc)

Guide to useless XP services ... I don't think all the ones they mention are 'useless', for example SSDP Discovery is very useful to those using UPnP DSL/Cable modems and UPnP-savvy software like uTorrent or Azureus, but it's still a good article: http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?a rticle_id=70112&cat_id=584

Nokia has unveiled five new mid-range handsets including two CDMA handsets; the Nokia 6275/6275i and 2875/2875i, two GSM handsets; the Nokia 6151 and 6080, plus the Nokia 1110i.

The Nokia 6275/6275i phone integrates a high-resolution 2-megapixel camera, while the Nokia 2875/2875i phone includes a high-quality 1.3-megapixel camera. Both new devices are expected to be available during the 4th quarter of 2006.

The Nokia 6275/6275i comes with a high-resolution 262,144 color 240 x 320 pixel QVGA screen, and is framed by a real stainless steel accent band and sleek body. It also features a built-in digital music player, and support for up to 2 GB microSD memory card.

The Nokia 2875/2875i phone boasts Bluetooth 2.0 wireless technology for compatibility with a wide range of Bluetooth-enabled devices and accessories, and sports an easy-to-read 128 x 160 pixel 262,144 color screen for ease-of-use.

The Nokia 6275/6275i phone measures just 4.3-inches long, 1.7-inches wide, and 0.7-inches thick, and weighs 105 g, whereas the Nokia 2875/2875i phone measures 4.2-inches long, 1.7-inches wide and 0.75-inches thick, and weighs 94g.

An Additional feature of both the phones includes an integrated FM radio and support for "real music" alert tone formats, including MP3, AAC, and eAAC+.

The two new GSM handsets include the Nokia 6151, what the company calls the most affordable 3G handset till-date, and the Nokia 6080.

The Nokia 6151 is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2006 for a retail price of approximately EUR240, whereas the Nokia 6080 is expected to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2006 for a retail price of around EUR180 before taxes or subsidies.

The Nokia 6151 introduces the benefits of 3G to consumers such as streaming multimedia audio and video content, or downloading their favourite music or video - at traditional GSM prices. It offers features like 1.3 megapixel camera with dedicated camera key, 4x zoom, landscape-mode and video recorder; 30MB user memory, which can be expanded with optional microSD memory card; Music player, stereo FM radio and Visual Radio; Bluetooth wireless technology; and Push-to-talk.

Weighing 98 grams, the Nokia 6151 has a talk-time of up to 4.5 hours on GSM networks (up to 3.5 hours of talk time via WCDMA), and a standby time of up to 10 days. It operates in WCDMA 2100 and GSM/EDGE 900/1800/1900 networks, and will be available in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The tri-band Nokia 6080 presents a stylish and compact camera phone at an affordable price point, and is primarily targeted at consumers in Asia. This camera phone combines camera and video recorder capabilities with a stereo FM radio, and has a large color display with illuminated keypad layout. The phone can be personalized with wallpapers, themes, and a Sudoku game, which is especially designed for the Nokia 6080.

According to the company, the phone allows browsing for news and convenient uploading of images and videos with the XHTML browser, and fast data connections through EDGE. Weighing 91 grams, the Nokia 6080 offers a talk time of up to 3.5 hours, and a standby time of up to 12 days, and will be available in stylish black, gold, and silver color variants.

The company has also introduced the Nokia 1110i, which is the latest addition to the range of phones that are aimed at first-time users. The phone is expected to retail for approximately EUR45, before subsidies or taxes.

It has a number of cost-management features, including support for the Nokia Pre-paid Tracker to help people monitor their phone usage, as well as other technological features which reduce the total cost of mobile ownership for consumers. Weighing 80 grams, the Nokia 1110i has a talk-time of up to over 5 hours, and a standby time of up to 15 days.

source

Oh, Chinese are leftist, current US Government is viewed as Right Wing. Silly me!

Hoo boy. A partisan. Guess what? Just because you take somebody's side on one issue (like Google and the DoJ) doesn't mean that you have to take their side on another issue (like Google and China). Yes, shocking -- I know.

My main complaint is in why the government wants this data. I'm less happy with Google after the China bit, but I'm more unhappy with China itself. In case you didn't know, China also claims that censorship of porn and terrorism are their major reasons for filtering the internet. A lot of people don't know that despite being officially atheist, the Chinese government spends just as much time beating the drum of public morality as many openly religious political organizations.

I PURPOSELY set Safari Version 2.0.3 (417.8) under Mac OS X 10.4.5 to "open safe files" and I have admin privileges.

It downloaded the file.

To get it to unzip I had to double-click on it.
To get it to execute I had to double click on it.

According to This article

Safari also unpacks ZIP archives, and displays the documents inside if they are "safe". In the event active content is found in the archive, user confirmation is requested.

Typically shell scripts begin with a "shebang line" such as "#!/bin/bash" to indicate which interpreter will handle the script's execution. In case a shell script is stored into a ZIP archive without the shebang line, Safari stops recognizing the content as potentially dangerous and executes shell commands sans a confirmation prompt.

If users assign the Finder to open scripts using the Terminal, Mac OS X loads scripts without shebang lines into the Terminal where they are executed by a shell.

If a script is given an extension such as "mov" or "jpg" and stored in a ZIP archive, Mac OS X adds a binary metadata file to the archive which instructs the operating system on another Mac to open the script with the Terminal application, irrespective of the script file's extension or symbol displayed in the Finder. The Terminal redirects scripts without interpreter lines directly to bash, the standard shell in OS X.

So you have to jump through hoops. Another BS story to set the Mac community into a panic.

I did find it interesting that a file with a .mov extension could exectute a shell script. THAT should be a concern. NOT Safari, IMO.

Courtesy of Google News.

IE on the Mac: Bubbye
CNET News.com- Dec 19, 2005
News on Monday that Microsoft plans to discontinue support and development of its Internet Explorer Web browser on the Macintosh hardly came as a surprise.
MS pulls plug on Mac IE Register
Microsoft Drops Support for Mac IE TechNewsWorld
VNUNet.com- InformationWeek- Techtree.com- ZDNet UK- all 112 related

In the court?!?!
http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?a rticle_id=69610&cat_id=585
http://news.com.com/2061-11199_3-5984639.html

I don't believe there has been any indication of systems compromised and hacked into by Sony ...

Not hacked by Sony but others are beginning to take advantage as a result of Sony making it easy for them. Sony Rootkit Trojans Emerge. So far, trojans Backdoor.IRC.Synd.a and its variant Backdoor.IRC.Synd.B have been detected.

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.jsp ?storyid=66795

Here is a sample of the close to 200 links posted on Complete April Fools Day Reference

kylewenda.com - the government records your phone calls... scary
google.com - Google releases Google Gulp
theregister.co.uk - Bush twins to join Air Force tech unit in Iraq
spacedaily.com - Bush Cancels Space Shuttle Program
chron.com - Bush Twins in Maxim
slashdot.org - Say 'Cheese' to Google Satellite at 10AM
habitablezone.com - Terrible News: The UN has voted to close down the Internet!
ebay.com - Google Gulp Invite
sswug.org - Run MSSQL on your xbox and linux
worldofwarcraft.com - Panda Express joke making fun of EQ and its /pizza
techtree.com - Apple hires DVD Jon

Apple hires DVD Jon. First of April folks...:-D http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.jsp ?storyid=66795/

DVD Jon and two other programmers have released software they call "PyMusique", that allows people to connect to Apple's iTunes music store and purchase songs without any copyright protection. PyMusique is allegedly being described by its developers as "the fair interface to the ITunes Music Store". This software lets users download songs from Apple iTunes without Digital Rights Management (DRM). The software prevents the DRM from being applied, allowing the user to copy, share and use the downloaded song like an MP3 file.

It was always too good to last. Apple has stamped on an attempt to make it possible to purchase songs from the company's iTunes Music Store without having DRM restrictions added to the downloads. In a statement, the Mac maker announced last night that it was henceforth requiring all ITMS customers to upgrade to version 4.7 of Apple's iTunes jukebox software. iTunes 4.7 was released late last year, and is already notable for nobbling DRM-stripping utility Hymn.

A group of underground programmers has posted code online they say will reopen a back door in Apple Computer's iTunes store, allowing Linux computer users to purchase music free of copy protection. The release comes just a day after Apple blocked a previous version of the program, called PyMusique, in part by requiring all iTunes customers to use the latest version of Apple's software.

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.jsp ?storyid=49854&upto=1

Actually, that is a really popular use for a phone in Asian and European markets. SMS is such a shock for US citizens.

Check another review of this phone at the link below.

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.jsp ?storyid=53686

Although the Korean retail business is miniture in comparison to Japan's (page 13 of this document), you've got to consider things like the ring-back, or caller-tune market (explained here and here) which have quickly grown into a $100 million market, showing that if you move in tune with technology you can make profits...

No Windows XP (Lite) for India. http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.jsp ?storyid=53490/

I hope you all have seen Sony's QRIO ROBOT. It's that humanoid robot. More like an AIBO in the human form.

Can do all that the AIBO can, and can do it all a lot better cause it can carry a lot more equipment. It has Wi-Fi, and a customizable software that lets you control all cameras / motion / etc. It can be used as an autonomous creature, or be remote controlled.

A customized version could easily do security robot tasks.

Read more about it here.

Read the entire story here on Techtree.com. They have some interesting observation and comments too.

"However, there are various issues raised over "voice-over Wi-Fi." Firstly, there isn't enough Wi-Fi coverage yet to make it feasible for the executives who are the primary users of pocket PCs to own only that device. Most people who would want to use that service need a reliable network. Also, the sound quality offered is poor."

Where are u MyDoom.B writer?

Here at Techtree.com is an interesting viewpoint about how, if the open source community doesn't take any action, "Microsoft will become the âcontrollerâ(TM) of all digital entertainment you see around you."

He says that the movie industry is already happily using Microsoft's Windows Media 9 for digital theater, and they're lobbying hard to get into many other standards commities.

The columnist also goes on to say "It is inevitable. DRM and Copy Protection will get implemented whether consumers want it or not. The choice of whether we want it to be based on an open technology, or a proprietary technology from one of the âworstâ(TM) purveyors of monopolistic regimes, lies with us, the consumers and the open source community.".