News Trends

Friday, October 5, 2007

Illegal Music Sharing...any takers?

A federal jury in Duluth, Minn., on Thursday ordered a Minneapolis woman to pay US$220,000 to six music companies for illegally downloading and sharing copyrighted music over a peer-to-peer network.

The 12-person jury said Jammie Thomas must pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that were the focus of the case. In their complaint, the six music companies that sued her had claimed that Thomas had illegally shared a total of 1,702 songs over the Kazaa file-sharing network, but they chose to focus on a representative list of 24 songs.

The verdict was greeted with dismay by many in the blogosphere who have been following the case closely for some time now.

New York lawyer Ray Beckerman, writing in the Recording Industry vs The People blog, called the verdict "one of the most irrational things I have ever seen in my life in the law."

"A verdict of $222,000 for infringement of 24 song files worth a total of $23.76?" he asked. "It is an outrage, and I hope it is a wake-up call to the world that we all need to start supporting the defendants in these cases."

Commenting on Gizmodo.com, a reader identifying himself as DirtyBacon said he was shocked but not surprised by the verdict. "I guess my two mp3 players, that have thousands of songs that I bought on CD, are illegal contraband," he said. "My options of moving to Asian countries for work are looking more appealing. I've officially lost faith."

The six music companies that sued Thomas were Capitol Records Inc., Sony BMG, Arista Records LLC, Interscope Records Inc., UMG Recordings Inc. and Warner Bros. Records Inc.

Article Source: PC World

Labels: Gadgets, Misc, Technology

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Halo 3: Microsoft to replace damaged games

Microsoft has been forced to offer replacement Halo 3 games within hours of launching the much-hyped Xbox 360 game.

Not long after thousands of fans walked away from long queues with the software giant's most eagerly awaited computer game, reports of scratched video game disks flooded the internet.

Microsoft faced a flurry of blogs claiming that the scratches were a result of the game's special limited-edition packaging. In response, the group told its customers on the Xbox website, "if, for any reason, you have a damaged Microsoft Xbox 360 disc and (would) like to replace it...you will need to complete the program form".

Customers have until December 31 to send their damaged disks back to Microsoft, which warned that the replacement games would take four to six weeks to deliver. The game went on sale in Britain at midnight last night. Prices in the US start at around $60 (£30), yet the same basic edition of Halo 3 in the UK is on sale for £49.99. Retailers Amazon and Game, however, are offering it online for around £39.99. Last month, Microsoft finally caved in to Xbox 360 games console price cuts in the UK, just weeks after Nintendo turned up the heat by lifting its profit forecast for the year by more than 40pc on the back of soaring global sales of Wii and DS devices.

The news of damaged Halo 3 games will come as a blow to Microsoft, which recently admitted it will have to spend up to $1.15bn repairing defective Xbox 360 consoles and extending their warranty policies.

Labels: Misc, Technology

Monday, August 6, 2007

Fake Steve Jobs Busted

The quest to unmask the anonymous author of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, a satirical blog purportedly written by Apple's charismatic chief executive, is over.

The snarky, no-holds-barred diary, which lampooned everyone from tech industry figureheads to tech journalists to venture capitalists, has enthralled and amused the blogosphere for the past 14 months.

In Business 2.0 magazine's recent list of "The 50 Who Matter Now", Fake Steve Jobs ranked 37th, ahead of Evan Williams, founder of Twitter, and just a few spots behind Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

But the mystery surrounding who penned the pseudonymous diary - which has attracted readers from the highest echelons of tech, including Steve Jobs himself and Bill Gates - captivated industry watchers more than the content itself.

Today, the mystery scribe was revealed by The New York Times reporter Brad Stone as Forbes Magazine senior editor Daniel Lyons, bringing to an end a six-month search that in recent months bordered on the illegal.

"Well, tip of the hat to you, Brad Stone ... Now you've ruined the mystery of Fake Steve, robbing thousands of people around the world of their sense of childlike wonder," Lyons wrote in his usual acerbic style after he had been outed.

"Hope you feel good about yourself, you mangina."

Previously, Fake Steve lashed out at the "creepy" attempts to unmask him, which reportedly involved shady computer hacking techniques and other privacy invasions.

But today's revelations did little to break Lyons out of his egotistical Fake Steve Jobs character; in fact, the blog will now be rolled into Forbes.com and October will see the publication of Lyons's latest satirical novel, Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody.

Oroginal and complete story is published at: Sunday Morning Herald

Labels: Celebrity, Finance, Misc

Monday, July 30, 2007

All About Google

Much more than you know about Google knows Google about you. The makers of Google want to conquer the world, the world of information. They have more power and influence than any other enterprise. Google has six times more stock-value than General Motors. Google wants to become the one and only search engine - so that Google is the Internet.

Who doesn't appear at Google doesn't exist. Some people are Google addicted. They seek information about people. If they are interested in a girl and they don't want to look like a stalker, they go to the Internet and have a look, what Google knows about her.

Google uses so-called "robots". These are programs, which search the entire the Internet and analyze all web pages automatically. They go onto every side and have a look at every single word and every single link. They save the contents on her hard disks and every word is indexed. They do this permanently and for all web pages of the world. Every side is analyzed and evaluated and the number of the references to every document investigated. From this the relevance is figured out. One then finds the most popular sides which are called again and again. This is the heart of the system: the page-rank algorithm (indicates the rank of a web page). Behind these Google algorithms millions of mathematical equations which convey the feeling to one to obtain the best hits and the search results indeed are very good.

The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page

The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are approximately beginning thirty (and each of them already has a fortune of approximately 7 to 12 million dollars). Both are sons of college professors. The family of Sergey Brin emigrated to the USA in 1976. Sergey was six years old at that time. His parents left Russia because of the anti-Semitism ruling there. Sergeys father is a mathematics professor at university of Maryland. His mother works as a rocket designer for NASA. The father of Larry Page was the first one who made his doctor to computer science at university of Michigan (in Chicago).

How Google earns his money

Although no advertising is on the initial page of Google, Google earns its money by advertising in the end.

Google has said himself: "If so many people look for certain information, then it must be worthwhile, to approach to people, who are advertiseing, and to them say: 'I have so and so many people who are looking for the product which You sell by chance. Do You want to buy these enquiries from us?'Google sells advertising to advertising-driving in form of a sponsered link which is displayed besides or over the search results. The Google advertisement program "AdWords" makes it possible for enterprises or single persons to offer for or to buy certain words or terms. If somebody enters a search word, then the advertising of the one who has most paid for this is displayed at the highest position.

But this isn’t the whole picture. If the advertising often isn't selected enough, then it doesn't appear. So the advertising of this one which has most paid and which is selected most is published in first place. So the popularity of the advertising is taken into account. Why does Google do this? Because the customer must pay for every click on his advertising, the advertising which most is selected is the most interesting for Goggle.

The most frequent requested words are "pornography", "pills" and "poker"

Google obtains at least 95% of its profits with the "AdWords program". At the moment, this is probably the worldwide most successful advertising medium.

Googles gigantic computer capacity

The enormous size of its computer network belongs to the greatest secrets of Google. No matter how many search requests come in at Google, they are always processed very fast. Google has created a worldwide unique infrastructure and built the biggest computer of the world which consists of innumerable microprocessors. They have approximately 450 000 computers in 10 to 20 computer centers allover in the world.

Read this great story complete at: Koinae.de

Labels: Finance, Misc

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Last supper - my version

Click image to enlarge

You are reading and hearing about it since yesterday and we are still not able to open the websites. What i've learnt from searching the net that the man who "Discovered" this theory is actually mirrored+superimposed the pic. I've done exactly that. Those who have not looked at the "original", may want to look at my version.

Technically it is mirrored superimposed image. Make your own judgment.

(what i have done is ..downloaded the original image from wikipedia...opened it in photoshop.. layer copied.. new layer=50% opacity..done)

I don't think personally that Mr. Davinci could take anymore "Theories". But still... Cheers!

Labels: Misc

25 Interesting facts, YOU CAN live without these

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.

6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

11. Dalmatians are born without spots.

12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).

14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.

15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.

16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.

17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.

18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.

19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.

20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.

23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.

24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.

25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.

Read the complete list at: Hemmy.net

Labels: Misc

New ‘Last Supper’ theory left crashed Web sites

MILAN, Italy - A new theory that Leonardo’s “Last Supper” might hide within it a depiction of Christ blessing the bread and wine has triggered so much interest that Web sites connected to the picture have crashed.

The famous fresco is already the focus of mythical speculation after author Dan Brown based his “The Da Vinci Code” book around the painting, arguing in the novel that Jesus married his follower, Mary Magdelene, and fathered a child.

image taken from wikipedia

Now Slavisa Pesci, an information technologist and amateur scholar, says superimposing the “Last Supper” with its mirror-image throws up another picture containing a figure who looks like a Templar knight and another holding a small baby.

“I came across it by accident, from some of the details you can infer that we are not talking about chance but about a precise calculation,” Pesci told journalists when he unveiled the theory earlier this week.

Web sites www.leonardodavinci.tv, www.codicedavinci.tv, www.cenacolo.biz and www.leonardo2007.com had 15 million hits on Thursday morning alone, organizers said, adding they were trying to provide a more powerful server for the sites.

full story at: MSNBC

Labels: Misc, News

Friday, July 27, 2007

Man Paid $39000 for a new mobile number

LUDHIANA, India: There seems to be no limit to price tags on status. But paying a jaw-dropping Rs 1.55 million (approx $39000) for a fancy cell phone number will clearly be India’s richest ring.

That’s what Ludhiana’s Amit Malhotra coughed up for 9780000000.

Even though Ludhiana — which has the most Mercedes per capita in any major Indian city and where Rs 600 thousand-suitlengths are common sartorial acquisitions — is known for its if-you-have-it-flaunt-it attitude, the price tag for Amit’s number has set a new benchmark. ‘‘ What do we say,’’ chuckled a Hutch employee who didn’t want to be named. ‘‘ If people have the money, let them buy the moon.’’

Amit, the son of a city garment manufacturer and property dealer, won the number at an auction organised by Hutch. He learnt last week that the company was going to release ‘VIP’ numbers and applied for one. Then he was told it planned to auction these numbers.

The auction was conducted through a phone-conference . The bidding process began on Tuesday morning and ended on Wednesday evening. In the final round, there were five men battling it out for the big-draw number. The results were released on Thursday evening.

In the Malhotra household, sweets were distributed as friends and relatives trooped in. Vijay Malhotra , the father, wasn’t a bit fazed. ‘‘ It’s not something new. He has always chosen VIP numbers for his belongings. Only this time he has spent a huge amount on it.’’

Swamped by questions, the 26-year-old ‘VIP’ said he didn’t just dust his pocket out for the money. ‘‘ I borrowed money from friends and relatives and will repay them soon,’’ Amit said.

Ludhiana at Wikipedia
Hutch Cellular at Wikipedia

Originally Published at: Economic Times

Labels: Bizarre, Misc

Monday, July 23, 2007

11-Year-Old Dies In Deadly Weekend Across GTA

It was a shockingly violent weekend in the city, as gunfire left four people including an 11-year-old boy dead and four others injured.

The youngster, Ephraim Brown, was killed overnight Saturday into Sunday after being caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs in the Jane and Sheppard area. He had been attending a cousin's birthday party at the time.

Brown's grief-stricken sisters called for the community in North York to come together and attempt to bring an end to the gun violence before more lives are lost. The youth once attended school with 15-year-old Jordan Manners, who was fatally shot inside his high school in May.

"The community needs to take charge and take action," Camisha Brown said. "If you know anything please, help our family out."

Police Chief Bill Blair appealed for the public's help in the case and asked that those in the community refrain from retaliating for the attack. There's no word on suspects.

A 21-year-old was also wounded in the gunfire but apparently isn't helping police in the investigation.

Original Story at: Citynews.ca

Labels: Misc, News

People Searching Magnetic-Diet

This is real. People all across US are searching for Magnetic Diet. I Searched too and this is what i found. Magnetic Diet is just another Paid diet program. The "official site" say:

The magnetic diet is more than a weight loss diet. It’s a complete weight and health management system. Not only will you be able to lose weight but you will be able to stay at any weight you choose once you get there. For those who want or need to you can even use the magnetic diet to gain weight. Beyond weight control you will also learn:

1. How to control your cravings. Uncontrolled cravings are the number one reason why people fail at their diets. In the magnetic diet you will learn the most powerful technique to control cravings ever developed. You will be able to use this technique to combat any type of craving including food, tobacco, and other addictions as well.

2. How to exercise to burn fat. Most people waste their time and put themselves at risk of injury performing exercises that only burn sugar and not fat. Your muscles will only burn glycogen (stored sugar) unless you create the correct condition for them to burn fat for energy. In the magnetic diet you will learn how you can create this condition every single day.

3. How to create a lean self image. In life, what’s on the outside is merely a reflection of what is on the inside. If you see yourself as overweight and unhealthy you do the things to create that condition in your life. If you see yourself as lean and healthy you will automatically do the things to create that condition in your life. In the magnetic diet you will learn the techniques that will allow you to reprogram your mind and create a new self image, which will help to create, from the inside out, the changes that you want to see in your body.

4. You’ll learn how to lose weight without losing muscle. Every fad diet on the web and in the media that promises fast weight loss causes you to lose muscle. You’ll learn why losing muscle ruins your metabolism and is the number one reason people end up getting fatter than they were when they started.

My opinion: Worthless, Nothing New. What is your opinion?

Labels: Health and Fitness, Misc

Pocket money has risen 600% in 20 years, says study

The children of today receive an average of £8.01 pocket money per week, according to Halifax, compared to just £1.13 in 1987 – an increase of more than six hundred per cent.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Halifax conducting research into children’s pocket money, they have released a report which reveals the amount given has risen more than six times faster than inflation, which has increased by just 99% over the same period.

Pocket money levels have experienced some drops, with last year’s average of £8.20 being higher than this year’s and lower than the previous year’s average, as well as drops in 1994, 1996, and 1997.

South East children have come off the best, with an average of £10.43 per week, compared to those in the North East who get just £5.70 per week, almost 29% below the UK average.

Most of the children surveyed did not have anything particular in mind that they were saving for. Mike Regnier, head of savings at Halifax, commented on children’s saving and spending habits and how they have changed over the past two decades:

“Children's spending power has increased dramatically since 1987, with the average pocket money rising from £1.13 per week to £8.01, an increase of over 600%. This is well in excess of inflation, which has risen 99% over the same period.

“Part of the increase may be explained by changing tastes and technology. Whereas 20 years ago children spent their money on toys or saved towards things like holidays, nowadays children are likely to buy DVDs and mobile phones, which simply didn't exist in 1987.”

Original Story from: Fairinvestment.co.uk

Labels: Finance, Misc

simpsonizeme or simpsonize

Today I read an article about a cool little web site that you can use to convert yourself into a Simpsons character. The tool is at www.simpsonizeme.com and it allows you to upload a picture of yourself and it spits out a yellow, cartoon version of yourself. Of course, you can change the color and many other characteristics about your Simpsons doppelganger. When you're finished tweaking your character to your liking, you can save it and e-mail it to all of your friends.

I used it on myself and the picture above is supposed to be me - in case you ever wondered what I look like. It took me a number of tries until it actually worked.

I believe the website is very busy right now, so if you get an error when importing your picture, just try it again in a few minutes. Also, be sure to save your character before you try to export it. I didn't save it the first time and it wasn't able to export anything and I ended up starting again from scratch.

Labels: Entertainment, Misc

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Pete Wilson, long-time Bay Area television journalist, dies at 62

07-21) 13:25 PDT Palo Alto, Calif. (AP) --

Pete Wilson, an award-winning broadcast journalist who co-anchored the evening news at the San Francisco Bay Area's KGO-TV, died of a massive heart attack during hip replacement surgery. He was 62.

Wilson, who also hosted KGO Radio's daily afternoon talk radio call-in show, died Friday night at Stanford University Hospital, according to KGO-TV, San Francisco's ABC affiliate.

Wilson's last television broadcast on KGO-TV, also known as ABC7, was on Wednesday. Before his surgery, Wilson had told radio listeners he was nervous about the procedure.

Wilson first joined the news operation at KGO-TV in 1983 after a stint at KTXL-TV in Sacramento. He later went on to anchor the news broadcast at San Francisco competitor KRON-TV for 12 years before returning to KGO-TV about five-and-a-half years ago.

A Wisconsin native, Wilson began his broadcasting career at a country-western station in Milwaukee more than 30 years ago. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in journalism and creative writing.

The Vietnam veteran won several Emmys, Associated Press awards and two Peabody awards for his work, including one for his coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

"He was never fully satisfied just reporting the facts of a situation," KGO Radio President and General Manager Mickey Luckoff said. "He constantly questioned and probed the logic behind the beliefs and views of those in the news."

Wilson lived in Marin County. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, and a son, Brendan, a college student.

Original News from: www.sfgate.com

Labels: Celebrity, Entertainment, Misc

Burglars hit homes of Hollywood big earners

Skilled burglars have raided the homes of corporate titans, celebrities and sports stars in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods around Los Angeles over the past year, making off with more than US$7 million (HK$54.6 million) in cash, rare books and jewelry while leaving few clues.

The two, possibly three, men clad in black and wearing ski masks and gloves have hit more than 70 homes in areas such as Bel-Air and Beverly Hills, usually at night and often on weekends.

They evade security systems and surveillance cameras, taking advantage of the fact that many of the estates are walled off from street view and their owners are frequently out of town.

The team often enters houses by using bricks to break through backyard sliding glass doors or climbing through second-floor windows.

Police did not release victims' names. But sources with knowledge of the investigation said the burglars hit the home of former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and her Oscar- winning director husband, William Friedkin.

They also stole US$500,000 in cash and jewelry from the Bel-Air mansion of Los Angeles Clippers basketball player Cuttino Mobley.

Read Full Story at: thestandard.com.hk

Labels: Entertainment, Misc

Hackers Cracked iPhone

Hackers have succeeded in (partially) unlocking the iPhone so Apple's much-hyped device can be used on at least one network other than AT&T.

Although the iPhone Development Project team has broken the shackles tying the device and AT&T directly, there are still limitations that mean customers can use pre-paid SIMs from Cingular, for example, but not yet use any SIM of their choice.

A tool called iASign will unlock the iPhone allowing it to be used with any singular or AT&T SIM with FULL functionality of the iPhone, avoiding the need to use the iPhone-specific SIM that comes with the device. Virtual network operator pre-paid SIMs also work, providing these operators piggy-back on AT&T's network.

Using alternative SIMs provides several advantages. In the case of a Cingular SIM, there's no need to sign up to a new two-year contract. Those whose businesses subscribe to Cingular can use company SIMs on personally-bought iPhones. Finally, those not wishing to tie themselves to a contract can use pre-paid SIMs.

Hackers have been hard at work trying to unlock the functionality of the iPhone since the devices were released in the US earlier this month. Reverse engineer Jon Lech Johansen (DVD Jon) discovered a way to get iPod and Wi-Fi - though not the phone - features of the device working without signing up to AT&T within three days of its release.

Read Full Story at: theregister.co.uk

Labels: Gadgets, Misc

Friday, July 20, 2007

Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote

So we were thinking about getting a new TV, and we asked ourselves: what is that we enjoy most about the television watching experience? Is it the high-impact action of televised poker? The sensitive terminal illness dramas on that ladies’ cable network? The soul-cratering emptiness that is the contemporary sitcom? The mentally unstable human dregs who populate reality TV? Yes, of course, we love all of that and more. But then it hit us: as wonderful as TV is, our favorite part is the clicking, the flipping, the endless search for something better on another channel. It’s not the prey we care about – it’s the hunt.

So we said, “Screw the new TV. Let’s get a new remote.” Now we enjoy the Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote more than we ever enjoyed all the CSI and Law and Order spinoffs combined. For one thing, it’s got a little screen of its own, so it’s kinda like a remote and a TV*.

Whoa. We just blew our own minds.

Read Full Story at : Woot.com

Other resouces: Official Product page for Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote

Labels: Gadgets, Misc