Posts by gafisher

China pad peddler wins iPad name from Apple

It's probably one of those obscure issues like, oh, say, blocking Samsung tablet sales.

It's not uncommon to differentiate between "international" and "domestic" rights, strange as it seems.

"... and the 8 banks they owe money to have taken over."

So legal representation won't be a problem. And banks don't let go quickly when the smell of money's in the air.

But consider ...

... can Chinese manufacturers legally produce an export product which is, by Chinese law, illegally badged? (Yes, I know -- "only if it's handbags, clothing, wristwatches, etc. etc.")

Best Buy fires parting shot at Dixons with closing down sale

Very, very few retailers perform any significant technical service in-house, though if you purchase a house-branded product you might have problems. Most "Name Brand" manufacturers cultivate and maintain their own service networks which can repair their products regardless of where they were purchased.

Phobos-Grunt 'crippled by US aurora station', 'is a bio-weapon'

"[S]tanding behind your team" has an entirely different meaning when you're thinking in terms of draught animals.

Hideous orchid that just wants a one-night stand found

"As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast."

One plucked orchid at a time.

Amazon's Android-friendly Kindle Fire splutters

... people who thought they were buying a cut-down iPad

... were misled by reviewers who failed to grasp that the Fire is in fact a Kindle, designed and marketed as a content delivery device, not as a laptop replacement.

It doesn't ...

Neither my wife's Kindle Fire, nor my daughter's, nor my own exhibit the supposed "lagginess."

Truly unlimited mobile for $19: How can it be true?

Completely and unequivocally unlimited until you reach your limit.

(Actually, "unlimited" via WiFi; only the cellular connections are limited, and then (according to Republic Wireless) only loosely.

Presumably the phones won't try to connect to WiFi unless WiFi is detected, which can be done in a very low-power manner (think of those keychain WiFi detectors).

B&N fans fondleslab flames following Kindle Fire

It's Complicated

"Haven't they already got a 7" android tablet called the nook color?"

Well, yes, but that's a "reader" and now sells for $50 less. The new higher-priced "tablet" seems to be essentially the same device without the confining "reader" designation.

Kindle users can 'borrow' an extra book - forever

$79 in the US as others have said, and until recently that was no more "feature-laden" than the current UK offering. Free streaming et al is a recent enhancement.

Amazon's Kindle Fire is sold at a loss

EE Times' estimate is probably more accurate than the one used for this article.

Amazon intros $199 movie Kindle

No cameras on the Kindle Fire, so no worries.

Well, OK, none we *know* of ...

WhisperSync is a synchronization technology, not a delivery technology. It's what makes it possible to turn off your Kindle Touch at page 225 and have page 225 appear when you next open that book the Kindle app on your iPad. Strictly speaking, since WhisperSync only works when you're connected to the internet it won't do the handover if you're using your Kindle Fire or other 3G-less Kindle away from a WiFi connection, but it can be re-synced as soon as you return to any place you're likely to actually need it.

"I have bad memories of those..."

They've improved significantly since then.

Would you be seen dead with a shopping computer?

I prefer live data

I spend over a thousand dollars a year on real books, mostly hardcover, but when I'm e.g. in the middle of a meeting or on public transportation no library, including my own, is a practical option -- except for the one in my Kindle. Further, with my 3G Kindle I can locate, purchase and use books I don't already have within seconds, something that's proved indispensable on several occasions.

Sorta

Well, not many real techies but for sure all the kool kids.

Bases covered

I'm trying to think of anything else you could have gotten wrong about Apple wanting to sell media.

Nope, you've nailed it.

Frightening

I'm far less 'frightened' by those willing to let others subsidize their recreation than by those willing to pay a premium for the iSell family of devices.

Value Added

If, as rumored, the Amazon tablet includes free Amazon Prime membership (meaning, among other things, free streaming of many, many movies, TV shows, etc.) and, of course, if a potential buyer wanted what Prime offers without paying US$80/year for it, then the price is quite low for a 7" tablet.

Having said that, I don't think the Android 2.0 example you gave is much of a competitor, even at closeout prices.

HP pops out all-in-one biz boxes

Not your typical beige box

HP wants to be out of the commodity PC business; these fall outside that particular box.

Keyboard

Touchsmart PCs include an onscreen keyboard gadget. Rather large for battery-powered portability, though.

Why modern music sounds rubbish

Little to do with background noise

Several decades as an audio engineer have shown me that wherever a graphic EQ isn't behind a locked door, most or all of the controls will be maxed out, even in theaters and concert halls where background noise isn't an issue. Many times I've earned my fees by simply restoring the controls to their proper, usually minimal, levels -- and hiding the EQ behind a panel.

... only to a point

"Not a chart band ... ... - everything was clipped and unlistenable."

The second clause may substantially explain the first. In the end, the public does not base music purchases on meter readings.

iRoglyphics

// There ought to be a sticker on iPods "Louder does not mean better". //

Can you express that as an icon? (Preferably in, er, loud colors?)

No pain, some gain: Ubuntu Oneiric Ocelot examined

Surprising

If 'Joe Public' is perfectly satisfied with Windows why is he posting here about his failed attempts to use Ubuntu?

Amazon's cloudy vid-tablet breaks cover: Not an iClone

Cost issue

Considering how many forked out $399 for the original Kindle I doubt the $249 price point will seriously hobble the Kindle Tablet.

Sunspot decline could mean decades of cold UK winters

Have we heard from ...

... the University of East Anglia?

Not just motorists

It's not a nice little spiteful war on motorists; it's a nice little spiteful war on capitalism.

Amazon throws tax hissy-fit, dumps California affiliates

For What?

Taxes are assessed to pay for the benefits they provide. California offers Amazon no direct benefits. Under what pretense could California (or any other government or unit of government) charge for providing nothing?

If California chooses to charge California residents for internet purchases, they need to pursue the residents, not the retailers.

Paramount to recount The Martian Chronicles

No Lenswomen

"... the Lensman series - how did Hollywood ever miss that?"

Perhaps a little trouble finding a female lead to play the doormat.

Miniseries

"And it wasn't that bad."

For its time it was actually done rather well; simulating on film what Bradbury created in the minds of his readers is likely to be even harder on the big screen than it was on the small.

Season of TV shows blown out of cloud... for good

Penny Wise,

Pound Foolish.

With removable storage going for under US$100/terrabyte, neglecting to keep local backups is the real "Fail" in this situation.

Failed Psychically

"The Cloud" failed to anticipate that what it had every reason to view as a valid command from what it had no reason to believe (pardon the anthropomorphizing) was not a valid user was not what some other valid users wanted it to do. Reminiscent of those stupid cars that permit drivers to run into things.

HP to put a WebOS in every PC

Mayan Prophecies

Sure, but who knew the prophecies referred to Redmond?

ECJ gender ruling 'could throw insurance into turmoil'

Unintended Consequences

>> "This ruling sim(p)ly says look at MY risk."

A great idea in the abstract, and with regard to driving record, experience and even choice of cars quite reasonable -- and already standard practice in the insurance industry.

But do you REALLY want insurance companies to launch a background investigation into each applicant's life for such other details as you've listed? My extensive selection of fuzzy dice, for instance, is a deeply personal matter.

Official: Booze prevents senile dementia

Too Narrow

You're assuming the poster was referring to nicotine-based smoking materials.

Similia Similbus Curentur

The fundamental principle of homeopathy is confirmed yet again.

Radio in the cloud: Do we want to TiVo our radio?

Call me ...

If you ever worry about that last point, Michael, give me a call. I'd be happy to pay for the domain name for a fractional interest in the invention. (:

Cloud vs. Client

Although time-shift technology has been available in various client-side forms for a long time, none of those offers the flexibility and convenience of DAR.fm and cloud storage, first of which is the fact that DAR.fm doesn't restrict one to a given device. If I'm listening to a program and called away for some reason, I can quickly instruct DAR.fm to record the remainder of the show and play it back from virtually any other internet-connected device at my convenience. If I'm at the office and learn of a show I'd like to hear, I can make the arrangements and listen -- there or elsewhere -- later.

The market for client-based audio time shifting is limited but real; a cloud-based equivalent should attract both that and a wider audience.

Been there, done /some of/ it ...

The last version of Command Audio's website appears to list only client-side time-shift patents, and of course "cloud" storage wasn't in the picture ten years ago.

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090310225909/http://www.commandaudio.com/index.php

Census threatens spies' cover

Waste of Resources

Google already has all this information and can show it on a map.

DARPA to pay hackers and hobbyists for help

"Best Line" Candidate:

Given that the linked story relates a plan to offer significant bundles of cash to small developers:

'"Since the early '80s there has been some contingent of cyber researchers and hobbyists operating in low-budget settings," ... The limited resources these groups operate on "forces them to be extremely creative," he said."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/07/internet-creators-ask-hackers-help/#ixzz1E7f9YLba

Apple refuses frozen iPhone repair

Condensation - GOT

If the device had been inside the house for long, particularly overnight, the warm, humid air inside it would have released condensation when the lady brought it out to the cold car. Apple ought not to build its products so poorly -- this problem is commonly and easily dealt with in many other electronic products -- but a badly designed device could indeed be susceptible to condensation under the conditions described.