How in the TECH » Bits & Bytes

Talking Points to Defeat Canadian DMCA

Adam Myers — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:59:15 +0000

Brendon Wilson has a fantastic write-up concerning the ramifications of Bill C-61, which has been tabled in the Canadian Parliament. This a topic that I hope will be hotly contested and all Canadians are encouraged to write their MPs to present their feelings. Brendon provides a rational fact based argument against the bill, which should prove to be much more effective than emotional rants that are commonplace when DMCA-like discussions take place.

Record Setting Weekend Leads to Record Setting Tuesday

Adam Myers — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:39:20 +0000

Fresh off my participation in the 72h Podcast record set by KATG this past weekend, I’ll also be doing my part tomorrow for Firefox’s attempt at the Guiness Book entry for most downloads in a 24h period. Related posts:Backup and Restore your Master Boot RecordShocker: Record Labels are GreedyOnline Content Cannot Remain FreeSetting the Default Route [...] Related posts:

Metallica Continues to Show They Don’t Get It

Adam Myers — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:39:48 +0000

Caveat, I’m a huge fan of Metallica – even after getting booted from Napster by their representatives (ironically I own all their albums). Metallica held a listening party for a few journalists in London but was then taken back when they wrote about what they heard. As a result, management had the reviews yanked from the Internets. Guys, I can’t continue to defend your lunacy!

For Rubix’s 23 is the New 25

Adam Myers — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:56:52 +0000

Tomas Rokicki is at it again! If you recall, in March I wrote about his latest revelation that all Rubik’s Cube are solvable in 25 moves. Like any good mathematician and computer enthusiast, when in doubt, throw more hardware at the problem. Using the same algorithm as before with a Quad Intel Core 2 and 8GB of memory, he has prooved that 23 is the new magic number.

Well Goosh Damn, a Google Shell

Adam Myers — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:43:43 +0000

Goosh is a “Google Shell” for your browser written by Stefan Grothkopp and it happens to be fairly nifty. The shell like interface allows once to search Google and Wikipedia, returning information in a text only form sans ads. Goosh that’s cool! Related posts:Filtering Google Search Results by DateIncrease the Suggestion Count on Google Chrome’s OmniboxThe [...] Related posts:

Mozilla Requests ‘Save the Date’ .. er Month?

Adam Myers — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:48:04 +0000

For the upcoming release of Firefox, Mozilla is preparing Download Day 2008: a campaign to set a world record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. Participants are asked to pledge to download Firefox 3 on the day that it’s launched. Silly publicity stunts are great and all, but wouldn’t it make more sense to actually have a release date set before garnering up all this attention?

Another! Statement! from Microsoft! Regarding! Yahoo!

Adam Myers — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:46:07 +0000

Here we go again! The money continues to burn a hole in Microsoft’s pocket so it’s time for another public statement concerning their bid for Yahoo.

In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft announced that it is continuing to explore and pursue its alternatives to improve and expand its online services and advertising business.

How Apple is Changing DRM

Adam Myers — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:08:42 +0000

Ironically, the music companies are now abandoning DRM because it worked too well. Apple wouldn’t license its version to rivals – so the best-selling iPod drove the iTunes store to its present position, where it is the third-largest music retailer in any form in the US. Rosenblatt says that record labels “have been desperate to find a viable competitor to Apple and iTunes”. More

Icahn Leads Campaign to Oust Yahoo Board

Adam Myers — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:03:51 +0000

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is buying up Yahoo shares after Yahoo shareholders had urged him to lead a campaign to replace Yahoo’s 10 directors at the company’s July 3 annual meeting in hopes of bringing Microsoft back to the bargaining table. Here’s another thought, if there shareholders are so upset with the current board – how about taking their money elsewhere? You cannot convince me that shareholders who actually care about Yahoo want Microsoft’s influence.

Nintendo Power Glove Makes Comeback as Communication Device

Adam Myers — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:38:01 +0000

Engineers at Carnegie Mellon University have demoed their latest project, Handtalk, a sensor equipped glove that translates finger and hand gestures into speech. The device’s vocabulary is limited to just 32 words but I have to admit, I’m out of words after two or three hand gestures ..

Let’s just hope the Power Glove works better than it did in Rad Racer.