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In the year leading up to this talk, the web tool Twitter exploded in size (up 10x during 2008 alone). Co-founder Evan Williams reveals that many of the ideas driving that growth came from unexpected uses invented by the users themselves.
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Major staff reductions have been underway at both the RIAA and MPAA, and sources state the layoffs at the RIAA are far more than was previously thought. From Hypebot:
"It is about 90-100+ people across the US and global offices - anti-piracy, coordinated IFPI/BPI etc - trust me it's a bloodbath...The MPAA is also reportedly laying off 10% of it's staff. From CNet news:
(Major label heads) Hands, Morris are squeezing the ____ out of these guys after the ISP failure and a major budget cut. (The) RIAA as you know it is probably history by Tuesday of next week, a formal announcement is being drafted for drop next week.
The new group is a aggregate of IFPI + remaining pieces of BPI + RIAA - (a) new leaner, coordinated group...DC offices are getting closed except for one part of one floor on Conn. Ave., just for the address."
The Motion Picture Association of America, much maligned by file sharers everywhere, has gone through a "significant" round of layoffs, according to a studio source. The source said the layoffs were well over 10 percent and more reductions are expected.
From the 'some people will believe anything' files...
In a 90-second video that's popping up on tin-foil-hat sites everywhere, 28-year-old software engineer Adam Chronister is seen cracking open his government-subsidized Magnavox converter, and revealing to the world the tiny video camera and microphone hidden inside.read more | digg story
Observers in more technical forums like BroadbandReports.com have dissected the video and easily discerned that it's a hoax, with some taking apart their own converter boxes to provide proof. But even as posts debunking the clip roll into his YouTube comments, some remain convinced of its veracity. "There are still people defending the video," he says.
Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations.Holy. Cow.
The legislation, which echoes a measure proposed by one of their Democratic colleagues three years ago, would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers and is certain to draw fire from businesses and privacy advocates.
Two bills have been introduced so far--S.436 in the Senate and H.R.1076 in the House. Each of the companion bills is titled "Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth Act," or Internet Safety Act.
Each contains the same language: "A provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service shall retain for a period of at least two years all records or other information pertaining to the identity of a user of a temporarily assigned network address the service assigns to that user."
Translated, the Internet Safety Act applies not just to AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and so on--but also to the tens of millions of homes with Wi-Fi access points or wired routers that use the standard method of dynamically assigning temporary addresses. (That method is called Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP.)"Everyone has to keep such information," says Albert Gidari, a partner at the Perkins Coie law firm in Seattle who specializes in this area of electronic privacy law.
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The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
I don't usually post about finance and economics but I thought this video was too good not to share. The economic/credit crisis explained easy enough for all to understand.
A Missouri man, frustrated over losing his cable television service, peppered his TV set with gunfire. Police responded to 70-year-old Walter Hoover's house in Joplin, Missouri Wednesday after reports of shots being fired inside.
The man was livid over losing cable and couldn't get his digital TV converter to work.
After a brief standoff, police took him into custody and charged him with unlawful use of a firearm.
It was Hoover's wife who reported him to police, and she also told them he had been drinking.
For a company that's not making money, Twitter is being awfully picky about who it hires to come up with ideas for generating cash. The company accidentally published the email addresses of 186 rejects.
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Consumers should be able to receive new coupons within weeks to help defray the cost of converter boxes for the nationwide switch to digital television signals, the federal government said on Tuesday.
The mandatory switch to digital TV has been officially postponed by several months to June 12, after the government ran out of budget authority for the $40 coupons earlier this year.
The mandatory switch to digital TV has been officially postponed by several months to June 12, after the government ran out of budget authority for the $40 coupons earlier this year.
With President Barack Obama's signature on the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus bill, the government can clear its coupon waiting list of some 4 million households within 2 to 3 weeks, the National Telecommunications Information Administration said on Tuesday.
The stimulus bill contains tens of millions of dollars needed to restart the coupon program -- designed to help consumers pay for electronic boxes that make digital signals usable on analog TVs -- for an estimated 10 to 20 million households which have older televisions that won't work after the switchover.
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Due to all the negative publicity regarding recent changes to it's terms of service, Facebook has decided to go back to it's old Terms of Service. Phew, now we can all safely go back to sending each other digital cupcakes without Big Brother watching us.
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The FCC said it has dispatched staffers to 72 markets across the nation where the impact is expected to be the greatest, while broadcasters who are shutting down analog signals intensify efforts to notify and educate the public.“This is not just about whether people can watch their favorite reality show,” stated acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps. “It’s about whether consumers have access to vital emergency alerts, weather, news and public affairs.”
Finding that the public was not ready for the transition to digital television, Congress earlier this month delayed the deadline for termination of analog signals from Feb. 17 to June 12. But Congress also directed the FCC to give broadcasters the flexibility to make the transition early, including on the original Feb. 17 date.
The first detailed map of the gravity fields on the Moon's far side shows that craters there are different than those on the near side. The results could reveal more about the Moon as it was billions of years ago, when magma flowed across its surface.The new gravity map was collected by the Japanese lunar satellite Kaguya, which released two small probes into orbit around the Moon in 2007.read more | digg story
PC sales are in free fall as the weak demand for Windows desktops and full-size notebooks in a poorly performing global economy is being compounded by an influx of low cost netbooks, which are gobbling up the remains of profitability in the PC industry.
According to an IDC report issued last week, worldwide PC processor unit shipments in the fourth quarter of 2008 declined –17.0% quarter over quarter and –11.4% year over year. Those tragic numbers were buoyed somewhat by sales of mini-laptop netbooks running low powered processors. Take out Intel's Atom chips that power netbooks, and processor unit shipments declined by –21.7% over the previous September quarter and –21.6% over last year's holiday quarter.
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According to an IDC report issued last week, worldwide PC processor unit shipments in the fourth quarter of 2008 declined –17.0% quarter over quarter and –11.4% year over year. Those tragic numbers were buoyed somewhat by sales of mini-laptop netbooks running low powered processors. Take out Intel's Atom chips that power netbooks, and processor unit shipments declined by –21.7% over the previous September quarter and –21.6% over last year's holiday quarter.
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There has been high drama on the second day of the Pirate Bay trial. Due to serious shortcomings in the prosecution evidence, around 50% of the charges in the case are going to have to be withdrawn. The defense describes it as a ’sensation’, seeing half of the charges being dropped on the second day.
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Is it finally time to take the Twitter plunge? The free service that lets users micro-blog 140 characters at a time had accumulated around 1.9 million users as of December 2008, according to comScore. If you are just now jumping on the Twitter bandwagon, or are intimidated by your inexperience with Twitter etiquette and acronyms, allow us to share some Twittery tips that will make your experience easier and more enjoyable.
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Fox aired the first of it’s special new, X-Men Origins: Wolverine TV spots during Family Guy tonight. This first one, entitled “Outcasts” focused in particular on Wolverine’s childhood, and did a pretty good job of hinting around at the notion that they’re setting Sabretooth and Wolverine up as brothers.read more at CinemaBlend
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For the first time in the show's history, The Simpsons will be in HD for all to see tonight, as well as the first full, permanent revamp of the show's opening titles since its premiere in 1989. Fox will also air both a full-length and an abbreviated version of the credits.
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In what must be the most touching and useful tribute to departed author Arthur C. Clarke ever attempted, a group of scientists authors are trying to dare time travel into existence. Sir Clarke famously stated that "when a [distinguished scientist] states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong". And a lot of distinguished scientists just told LiveScience "Time travel is absolutely impossible".read more | digg story
Tech historians may point to February 12, 2009 as the official fall of the plasma empire. That’s the day that Pioneer—arguably the maker of the best plasmas ever—announced its complete exit from the TV business and that Vizio—the number-three plasma retailer in the US—gave up on the tech in favor of LCD.
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Though hundreds of TV stations are turning off their analog signals next week, households in line for their $40 coupons for digital converter boxes are likely to have to wait at least several weeks longer.
The fund that subsidizes the coupons has reached its authorized limit. It's still sending out around 100,000 coupons a day as older coupons expire unused, but there's a wait list of 4 million coupons. At that rate, it would take the National Telecommunications and Information Administration about two months to process coupon requests made today.
The fund that subsidizes the coupons has reached its authorized limit. It's still sending out around 100,000 coupons a day as older coupons expire unused, but there's a wait list of 4 million coupons. At that rate, it would take the National Telecommunications and Information Administration about two months to process coupon requests made today.
Federal regulators tweaked recommendations for how websites should collect, save and share information about users, extending them to Internet service providers and mobile users. "You may have a contract with your ISP and everywhere you go, they can be collecting information on you."
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Sirius XM confirmed it is in discussions to refinance its debt, and the company could file for bankruptcy as early as Feb. 17 if the discussions are not successful.Sirius XM issued a statement saying, “The company is in discussions with others with respect to transactions that could refinance some of its and [XM’s] indebtedness."The company also announced that XM, its wholly owned subsidiary, has refinanced close to half of its debt due in December, although the company still faces a looming payment of approximately $175 million in debt on Feb. 17.Sirius owes DISH Network CEO Charlie Ergen the $175 million due on Feb. 17, according to the Wall Street Journal and is in talks with Ergen as well Liberty Media, which has a controlling interest in DirecTV.
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, diamond is regarded to be the hardest known material in the world. But by considering large compressive pressures under indenters, scientists have calculated that a material called wurtzite boron nitride (w-BN) has a greater indentation strength than diamond. The scientists also calculated that another material, lonsdaleite (also called hexagonal diamond, since it’s made of carbon and is similar to diamond), is even stronger than w-BN and 58 percent stronger than diamond, setting a new record.
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Two big communications satellites collided in the first-ever crash of two intact spacecraft in orbit, shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds and posing a slight risk to the international space station.NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the crash, which occurred nearly 500 miles over Siberia on Tuesday.
"We knew this was going to happen eventually," said Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA believes any risk to the space station and its three astronauts is low. It orbits about 270 miles below the collision course. There also should be no danger to the space shuttle set to launch with seven astronauts on Feb. 22, officials said, but that will be re-evaluated in the coming days.
The collision involved an Iridium commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be nonfunctioning. The Russian satellite was out of control, Matney said.
The Iridium craft weighed 1,235 pounds, and the Russian craft nearly a ton.
No one has any idea yet how many pieces were generated or how big they might be.
"Right now, they're definitely counting dozens," Matney said. "I would suspect that they'll be counting hundreds when the counting is done."
As for pieces the size of micrometers, the count will likely be in the thousands, he added.
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Mike Judge, Stephen Root, and Gary Cole were among the stars that showed up last night at Austin's legendary Paramount Theater for a unique event: a 10th anniversary screening of Judge's 1999 film Office Space.
Fans started gathering outside the Paramount around 6:30pm for the 8pm showing. Local news as well as G4TV were there interviewing fans beforehand and filming the red carpet arrival of the cast.
Judge and his family were the first to arrive at 7:30 to a crowd of cheering fans. Shortly after, the remaining cast arrived in a separate limo. This included David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Gary Cole, Stephen Root, John C. McGinley, Diedrich Bader, Paul Willson, Kinna McInroe, and Todd Duffey. Several cast members re-enacted the printer smashing scene from the film right there on the red carpet.
Vendors hawked Office Space swag inside including Initech t-shirts, bags of flair, and Office Space Blu-rays. The screening was met with wild applause to a packed theater. Mike Judge and the cast fielded questions after the showing.
Judge and a few other cast members milled about the lobby after the show signing autographs and talking to fans.
Office Space 10th Anniversary from Dallas Observer on Vimeo.
To Hollywood executives, he's public enemy number one. To film fans around the world, he's a modern-day Robin Hood. As the internet's most prolific pirate makes his 1,000th illegal film download available to the masses, Tim Walker investigates the mysterious figure known only as aXXo.read more | digg story
If this sounds familiar, you probably saw it in the 1997 movie Gattaca. In the film, a sort of instant readout of the newly born baby's genetic code was given to parents right after birth, detailing genetic predisposition from everything from disease to baldness to predicted lifespan. The film shows the logical progression society would then take when this becomes possible, with a sort of genetic underclass being formed. It's well worth watching if you haven't seen it.Babies born from 2019 onwards will have their genetic code routinely mapped at birth, predicts Jay Flatley, one of the world's leading genome sequencing experts.
Dr Flatley, the chief executive of Illumina, the world's leading genome sequencing company, said technology capable of giving complete DNA read-outs at birth will be widely available within a decade.
Dr Flatley told The Times newspaper that the diminishing cost of the technology would provoke a "healthcare revolution" allowing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease to be predicted and prevented.
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An Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow presentation, this is tonight at 8pm at the Paramount Theater in Austin. Get there early for fun events before the movie.Buy tickets
Originally released theatrically on February 19, 1999, writer/director Mike Judge's OFFICE SPACE was well received critically but did not initially click with the general public. It wasn't until the film hit video and cable TV that it finally found its audience, soon becoming one of the largest selling catalog titles in the then-burgeoning DVD market. It has since gone on to become one of the biggest selling titles in Fox Home Entertainment history and is a modern day comedy classic.In celebration of the film's 10th anniversary, Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing the film on Blu-Ray DVD on Tuesday, February 3rd. That following Sunday, February 8th, South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival (SXSW) and Fantastic Fest will co-present the ultimate OFFICE SPACE screening at the legendary Paramount Theater in Austin, TX, where OFFICE SPACE was filmed. This one-time only screening event will take place at 8:00 PM and will include special appearances by writer/director Mike Judge and members of the cast and crew to be announced. Additionally, there will be exclusive giveaways courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment, and co-presenters SXSW and Fantastic Fest have promised special OFFICE SPACE activities before and after the screening. If you are a poorly functioning office fax machine, however, you may want to avoid the festivities entirely.
Mike Judge (Mastermind, Stan- Chotchkie's Manager)
Stephen Root (Milton)
Gary Cole (Bill Lumbergh)
John C. McGinley (Bob Slydell)
Diedrich Bader (Lawrence)
David Herman (Michael Bolten)
Ajay Naidu (Samir Nagheenanajar)
Paul Willson (Bob Porter)
Todd Duffey (Brian, Chotchskie's waiter with the most Flair!)
From tinyComb:In an effort to thwart off time-theft and loiterers, Apple has decided to add Facebook to the list of banned websites at retail locations nationwide. When I asked some of the genius' today whether or not anyone noticed the change, they all said that Facebook stopped working sometime in the past week. "It's become a regular internet-cafe, so placing the most popular time-killer [Facebook] of them all on the banned-list will certainly help everyone get a chance to test out the computers."
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After a week of gasps and jokes over a tape of his tirade, the actor tells DJs, 'I was out of order beyond belief.'Four days after a profanity-ridden audiotape of Christian Bale ranting at the director of photography on the set of "Terminator Salvation" hit the Internet -- launching a veritable tsunami of fan reaction, Web creativity (including a dance remix) and comedic skits on late-night talk shows -- the actor has finally done what many professional public-relations types have advocated all along: He owned up to his mistake and apologized for his bad behavior.
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Astronomers spot cosmic dust fountain
(PhysOrg.com) -- Space dust annoys astronomers just as much as the household variety when it interferes with their observations of distant stars. And yet space dust also poses one of the great mysteries of astronomy.
I'm sorry, but that looks like a really wimpy Bat'leth to me.A robber in Colorado Spring has no honor. According to reports, a masked man robbed two 7-11 convience stores early Wednesday morning using a Bat'leth. A clerk at one of the two stores recognized the weapon from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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From Broadcasting and Cable:After heated debate by legislators Wednesday and a year and a half of broadcasters, cable operators and the government drilling the Feb. 17 'hard' date into the hearts and minds of viewers, the House voted today to change the cut-off date for analog TV to June 12...And there we have it, the third time the DTV switchover has been delayed. And now, the most critical piece of information:
The bill moves the date and allows households with expired coupons to reapply for them.
Republicans complained that the bill had gotten no markup, no hearing, and was essentially being railroaded through unnecessarily. Democrats countered that there had been nine hearings on the DTV transition in general and that it was a finite, one-time delay that was necessary to reduce the number of TV’s that would go dark and viewers, particularly senior, lower-income and rural viewers, who would be affected by the government’s failure to sufficiently plan, coordinate and fund the program.
Democrats also pointed out that the date change had the support of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Verizon, AT&T, and a number of public safety organizations.
"Only by delaying the transition and utilizing the $650 million contained in the economic recovery bill to address these problems can massive viewer disruption be avoided," said House Telecommunications & Inernet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA).
Behind the push for the change was an accounting problem that caused the National Telecommunications & Information Administration earlier this month to start putting requests for DTV-to-analog converter box coupons on a waiting list and slow the distribution of the coupons to a trickle.
That list had topped two million households by press time and had grown by 200,000 households in the past two days, according to top Democrats who had pushed to change the date.
The $40 coupons are a government subsidy to help analog-only viewers pay for a converter box that allows them to still get a TV signal after the change to digital.
So even though the mandatory date will change once President Obama signs the bill into law, that is no guarantee your local station will wait until June 12 to turn off it's analog signal.The FCC said Tuesday that over a thousand stations would still be able to turn off their analog signals before June 12 if they choose to.
Some stations have already indicated they are sticking with the Feb. 17 date. The FCC said it had heard from 276 stations to that effect, in addition to 143 stations that had already pulled the plug, and another 60 who said they planned to do so before Feb. 17. The FCC had pointed out that some of those 276 may change their minds once the date changes.
Joe Barton (R-TX), who has led the opposition to the bill in the House, suggested that the bill was unnecessary because, according to acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps, some 61% of TV stations were going to make the transtion before June 12 anyway...
In fact, a larger number of stations than previously anticipated are likely to terminate their analog operations on the original date of Feb. 17, according to Ardell Hill, senior VP of broadcast operations for Media General.
This will result in nothing but confusion to anyone still unprepared for the switch. To make things worse, you will still see all those announcements on your local channels counting down to February 17 as stations are still required to run them until the date change is signed into law. Come Feb 18, people without a converter may still see their old TV signal coming through and assume their TV is digital ready, then not worry about it again.
Let's face it, no matter how many times they delay this transition, there will be people not ready for it.
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