Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Facebook movie is all about the hoodies ... and shower shoes

CLICK to read article on Technolog.

"Much is made of Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg's ubiquitous grey hoodie. Not so much the Adidas shower shoes that — if 'The Social Network' isn't the complete work of fiction Facebook reps claim it to be — Zuck wore with and without socks throughout his time at Harvard and Facebook's meteoric rise.

Having just seen a screening of the movie (which hits theaters Oct. 1), I'm inclined to side with the Facebook reps on the colorful liberties taken with events, certainly dialog, and possibly wardrobe. In his portrayal of Zuckerberg, Jesse Eisenberg (aka the rich man's Michael Cera) wears at least six different colored hoodies.

Don't get me wrong. 'The Social Network' is worth seeing — fast paced and engaging — an achievement all the more impressive considering this is a movie pretty much about coding and legal documents. One wonders what director David Fincher ('Fight Club') and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin ('The West Wing') could've done with 2008 dud 'Valkyrie'— another movie about paperwork.

Where 'The Social Network' fails in historical accuracy — and all movies based on 'actual events' do — it succeeds in hitting key points in the Horatio Alger narrative, revealed through the color of hoodie fictional 'Zuckerberg' wears in any particular scene. As far as I'm concerned, anyway. Check it out!

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Friday, September 24, 2010

Samsung Galaxy Tab Official Live Demo

This is the first official hands-on video that contains a demonstration of every key feature and benefit of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. It also contains information of the most frequently asked features from social networking sites.

Most importantly, it highlights the value proposition of the Galaxy Tab: Advanced Media, Productivity and Communication, and On the Go.



This video doesn't contain any graphic effects.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Rock group Kiss to rock live in Facebook game 'Nightclub City'

CLICK link to read entire article.

"If you're a fan of make-up-wearing rock stars who have been known to spit blood on stage but you just can't make it to Saturday's Kiss concert in Fontana, Calif. ... not to worry! Kiss will bring its show live to your home — via the Facebook game 'Nightclub City.'

That's right, say what you will about Facebook games, Kiss is a fan.

The iconic rockers will be broadcasting the final North American date of their 'Hottest Show on Earth' concert tour live in the 'Nightclub City' game created by the startup Booyah.

'We have always believed in pushing the boundaries...in giving the fans bang for the buck...in going where no band has gone before,' said Kiss singer/guitarist Gene Simmons (he's the one with the really long tongue) in a statement. 'This one's gonna rock big time!'

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Blockbuster files for bankruptcy protection

CLICK here to read entire article.

"Troubled video-rental chain Blockbuster Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection and said it plans to keep stores and kiosks open as it reorganizes.

The move, long expected and pre-arranged with bondholders, effectively ends an era that Blockbuster dominated — of Americans visiting video-store chains for the latest movie-rental releases.

Increasingly, Americans are watching movies via video subscription services like Netflix Inc., video on demand and vending machine services such as Redbox.

In a submission to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, the company said it reached an agreement with bondholders on a recapitalization plan.

Blockbuster plans to reduce debt from nearly $1 billion to about $100 million or less by swapping debt for equity in a reorganized Blockbuster with bondholders that hold about 80.1 percent of the company's senior notes.

It has received commitments for $125 million in 'debtor-in-possession' financing from senior noteholders to repay customers, suppliers and employees during the reorganization.

'After a careful and thorough analysis, we determined that the process announced today provides the optimal path for recapitalizing our balance sheet and positioning Blockbuster for the future as we continue to transform our business model to meet the evolving preferences of our customers,' said CEO Jim Keyes.

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RIM Readies Its Answer to iPad — Codename "BlackPad"

CLICK here to read entire article.

"BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (NasdaqGS: RIMM - News) could unveil its new tablet computer—as well as the operating system that will power it—as early as next week at a developers' conference in San Francisco, said people familiar with RIM's plans.

The tablet, which some inside RIM are calling the BlackPad, is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year, these people said. It will feature a seven-inch touch screen and one or two built-in cameras, they said.

It will have Bluetooth and broadband connections but will only be able to connect to cellular networks through a BlackBerry smartphone, these people said. Since the tablet won't be sold with a cellular service, it's not clear which carriers or retailers will sell the device.

In a significant development, RIM's tablet will eschew the recently revamped BlackBerry 6 operating system in favor of a completely new platform built by QNX Software Systems, these people said.

RIM bought QNX, a maker of operating systems used in everything from cars to nuclear reactors, earlier this year, in what industry watchers said was a bid to replace software criticized as slow and buggy.

RIM eventually plans to transition its BlackBerry smartphones to the QNX operating system as well, people familiar with RIM's strategy said.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Will users flee AT&T if Verizon (or another carrier) gets the iPhone?

Will users flee AT&T if Verizon (or another carrier) gets the iPhone? - Yahoo! News

"As (unconfirmed) reports continue to trickle in claiming that Apple is preparing to churn out millions of CDMA-ready iPhones, analysts and execs in the wireless industry are scrambling to predict what might happen if AT&T loses its exclusivity deal with Apple in the coming months.

The latest evidence suggesting that another U.S. carrier — perhaps the biggest of them all, Verizon Wireless — is about to get the iPhone comes from wireless analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro of Susquehanna Financial Group, who (in a note to investors snagged by AppleInsider) writes that 'checks with overseas supplies' indicate that Apple is gearing up to build about 3 million CDMA iPhones in December alone, which would put Cupertino 'on track' for the launch of a CDMA-ready iPhone in 'early' 2011.

For now, Apple has only been making GSM versions of the iPhone, which are compatible with AT&T’s GSM cellular network. With a CDMA iPhone, however, Apple would be free to jump to a CDMA carrier like Sprint or Verizon Wireless — assuming its exclusivity deal with AT&T is expired or otherwise kaput. (GSM carrier T-Mobile is another option that’s been bandied about.)

The prevailing wisdom is that frustrated AT&T iPhone users would immediately jump ship for Verizon or any other carrier that gets the iPhone here in the states — the only question is how many, and naturally enough, the number varies wildly depending on whom you ask.

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Monday, September 20, 2010

First Impressions: Samsung's Galaxy Tab

First impressions: Samsung's Galaxy Tab - Technology & science - Tech and gadgets - msnbc.com

"We've heard a lot of chatter about the coming army of Android tablets, but we haven't seen any real contenders posing a challenge to Apple's dominant iPad — until now. Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy Tab at the IFA show in Berlin earlier this month; now, the company has formally introduced the Tab to the U.S. market for all four major wireless carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon). And judging from my initial hands-on with a preproduction Samsung Galaxy Tab, this tablet has the chops to compete with the iPad.

The carriers each already offer a custom branding of Samsung's Galaxy S family of smartphones. For the Galaxy Tab, Samsung said that it was leaving the pricing and availability announcements to each carrier — and right on cue, all four carriers have issued announcements about their respective devices.

So far, none appear to have applied a unique name to the product, referring only to the Samsung Galaxy Tab. None of the carriers discuss pricing or service-plan options in their announcements, either, nor do they discuss availability beyond broad strokes: 'holiday' (T-Mobile), 'the coming weeks' (Verizon), 'the coming months' (AT&T), and 'this fall' (Sprint).

CLICK link above to read entire article.

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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Gamers lend support to widow of heroic developer

Gamers lend support to widow of heroic developer - Plugged In - Yahoo! Games: "by Ben Silverman

Brian Wood spent his life thrilling millions of faceless gamers, but his last moment was spent saving the lives of those he loved most.

Wood, a 33 year-old lead designer at popular game developer Relic Entertainment, was on his way back to his Washington home when his wagon was struck by an oncoming Chevy Blazer being driven by a 21 year-old woman believed to be driving under the influence. With his pregnant wife Erin in the passenger seat, Wood swerved his car to put himself directly in the path of the oncoming SUV -- a decision that ultimately cost him his life, but protected his wife and unborn child from harm. Two other passengers riding in the backseat of the Blazer were also killed.

'All the policeman say that if we had hit the car head-on all of us would be dead,' Erin Wood told The Province. 'At the very last second (Brian) braked really hard and turned right so that he would be put in the path of the SUV and not me and the baby, and that is the only thing that saved us both.'

'He was always sacrificing himself for me and the baby,' she added.

But while Wood's impossibly brave act left a permanent void in the life of Erin Wood, the same people who Brian strived to please with his work have returned the favor with a striking show of support for his bereaved widow.

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Fall Tech Preview 2010 - CNET Reviews

Fall Tech Preview 2010 - CNET Reviews

"The onslaught of new products has begun, which can only mean one thing: 'Tis the season for new gadgets, just in time for the holidays. We've got a comprehensive preview of the tech you've been waiting for.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook

6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"The whole social networking phenomenon has millions of Americans sharing their photos, favorite songs and details about their class reunions on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and dozens of similar sites. But there are a handful of personal details that you should never say if you don't want criminals — cyber or otherwise — to rob you blind, according to Beth Givens, executive director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

The folks at Insure.com also say that ill-advised Facebook postings increasingly can get your insurance canceled or cause you to pay dramatically more for everything from auto to life insurance coverage. By now almost everybody knows that those drunken party photos could cost you a job, too.

You can certainly enjoy networking and sharing photos, but you should know that sharing some information puts you at risk. What should you never say on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site?

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VIDEO: Top 5 smartphones, not the iPhone

Yahoo! Finance - Financially Fit

Don't care for an iPhone? Here are the top choices on the market. Click on the link above to watch this video I found on the Yahoo! Finance site.

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Sunday, September 12, 2010

SHOW #94 - NerdBoyTV: Video2mp3.net

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee demonstrates how to use Video2mp3.net to snag audioclips from YouTube videos and automatically convert them into mp3s that you can transfer to iPod.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Why Apple's Winning in Tech Support and Satisfaction

Why Apple's Winning in Tech Support and Satisfaction | Lance Ulanoff | PCMag.com

"Some say it's not entirely fair to compare Apple to HP, Dell and Lenovo, but consistent wins in PCMag's Readers' Choice can no longer be ignored.

Tech support is hard. It burdens big companies and brings down even the heartiest of market warriors (Gateway in the '90s, anyone?). These are the thoughts that run through my head every year as I read our annual Readers' Choice Awards (also known as Service and Reliability) report. Year after year, companies like HP, Dell, and Lenovo are, to a certain extent, savaged by their own devoted customers. And like the swallows returning to Capistrano, Apple swoops in annually to collect a passel of prizes.

Some might say that Apple, with its far smaller system market share has an unfair advantage. Perhaps, but the company's customer base is not in the hundreds. Apple has millions of system customers (it sold over 3 million Macs in the first quarter of this year alone). Depending on whom you ask, Windows PCs own anywhere from 89%-to-95% of the systems market. However, unlike the Mac OS PC market, the Windows PC market is split up among at least dozen or so manufacturers. Individually, each one might sell only slightly more PCs on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

Companies like HP, however, also sell other vast numbers of products—like printers and displays. Apple, of course, does too—it has hundreds of millions of iPhone and iPod customers. It also sells routers. In virtually every category, Apple beat the competition when it comes to overall satisfaction. There are those who will say Apple and Steve Jobs' reality distortion field has obviously taken hold. Nobody's customers can be that happy.

But they are.

CLICK link above to read the entire article.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

How to Buy a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera

How to Buy a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera - PCMag.com

"Follow these seven simple rules to find the perfect compact digital camera for your needs—and your budget.

By far the largest segment of the digital camera market, point-and-shoot models are compact, easy to use, and typically take great pictures with minimal effort. With a point and shooter, you simply press the shutter button, and the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed, aperture, focus, and light sensitivity to capture a clear image with optimal color. Unlike digital SLRs, which offer more manual control and interchangeable lenses, point-and-shoot cameras can slip into a pocket, and are often hundreds of dollars less expensive than their D-SLR counterparts.

Deciding to buy a point-and-shoot camera is the simple part, but with hundreds of models to choose from, selecting the best one for your needs and budget is no easy feat. Following our seven rules will help bring your perfect camera into focus.

CLICK on link above to see the seven simple rules.

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Monday, September 6, 2010

How Apple plays the pricing game

How Apple plays the pricing game - Business - Bloomberg Businessweek - msnbc.com

"Next time you're sitting at an airport bar and hear two businesspeople debate whether Apple is a technology or design company, chime in: 'Nope. What Steve Jobs sells is pricing.'

Pricing? You bet.

The popular iPod Touch media player has been revamped at three price points - $229, $299, and $399 - all costing more than the iPhone, which does everything the Touch can plus make phone calls.

What gives? Watch Apple, and you can learn pricing tricks for your own business.

First, understand that pricing games are vital for Apple, because competition is fierce in the tech world and product hits just don't last.

The current iPad costs $499 in its lowest-powered configuration vs. the Archos 7 Home Tablet ($189) or the Dell Streak ($299 with a two-year AT&T contract). And competitors are rushing to offer more functionality for hundreds of dollars less; the Streak tablet throws in a videocam and phone, which iPads don't yet match.

Apple's touchscreen buzz window is closing fast, and even though it will inevitably add features - I predict the iPad will sport a camera, videocam, and phone within two years - today's tech wonders, like the much-copied iPhone, become tomorrow's commodity.

So let's count the ways Apple defends itself with pricing.

CLICK on the link above to read the entire article.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Sunday, September 5, 2010

SHOW #93 - NerdBoyTV: DecalGirl Phone Skins

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee uses a cool skin from DecalGirl.com to spruce up the look of his old Blackberry Curve 8330.

How to make money on YouTube

Some YouTube folks posting videos on the popular Google site are making BIGTIME money. Checkout this video from MSNBC featuring Molly Woods of CNET.com.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Friday, September 3, 2010

Apple's iPod, Apple TV Updates: 10 Big Questions and Answers

Apple's iPod, Apple TV Updates: 10 Big Questions and Answers | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

"With Steve Jobs and company unveiling so many new products—new iPods, a reborn Apple TV, Ping, iOS4 updates and more—a few questions is only natural.

Apple now lives is a Sisyphean world where no matter how far up the hill it pushes the hype boulder, it's always rolling back down by the end of the day. At this point, there's no way any Apple launch event can live up to expectations. That said, Apple CEO Steve Jobs certainly gave it the old college try yesterday. There were a lot of product updates. The whole iPod line got a refresh. He introduced not one but two iOS updates, and we got a new version of iTunes. The two biggest announcements were, easily, the revitalized Apple TV and the surprising social network for music, Ping.

Since Ping is part of iTunes 10, it didn't get the 'one more thing' treatment (Apple TV was the chosen one). That's kind of a shame since it was, easily, the most unexpected launch of the day. iTunes has 160 million users and now—Bingo!—they're, potentially, all part of a brand new social network. This raised eyebrows and questions. In fact, I heard a lot of questions both during and after the presentation. Let's walk through them and, in lieu of getting a one-on-one with Steve Jobs, here are all of my best answers.

CLICK on link above to see the full Q&A.

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Facebook stalker continues to harass 12-year-old girl

Technolog - Facebook stalker continues to harass 12-year-old girl

"Hot on the heels of a woman who's suing Facebook after the world's largest social network bounced her account (for reasons that remain unclear), comes a story from Australia about a mother who can't get Facebook to shut down a stalker using the site to harass her 12-year-old daughter and her friends.

'A Sydney mother-of-three, her daughter and daughter's friends have been subjected to a two-week ordeal at the hands of a Facebook stalker and they have been unable to get the social networking company to intervene,' the Sydney Morning Herald reported Thursday.

This dramatic tale of a Facebook stalker hacking and harassing young girls on Facebook speaks to a couple of issues regularly faced in this brave new world of social media — the dangers awaiting children online and Facebook's oft-complained-about lack of customer service.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Your Own Hot Spot, and Cheap

Your Own Hot Spot, and Cheap - Yahoo! Finance

"Someday, they’ll build wireless Internet into every building, just the way they build in running water, heat and electricity today. Someday, we won’t have to drive around town looking for a coffee shop when we need to check our e-mail.

If you want ubiquitous Internet today, though, you have several choices. They’re all compromised and all expensive.

You could get online using only a smartphone, but you’ll pay at least $80 a month and you’ll have to view the Internet through a shrunken keyhole of a screen. You could equip your laptop with one of those cellular air cards or U.S.B. sticks, which cost $60 a month, but you’d be limited to 5 gigabytes of data transfer a month (and how are you supposed to gauge that?). You could use tethering, in which your laptop uses your cellphone as a glorified Internet antenna — but that adds $20 or $30 to your phone bill, has a fixed data limit and eats through your phone’s battery charge in an hour.

Last year, you could hear minds blowing coast to coast when Novatel introduced a new option: the MiFi. It creates a personal Wi-Fi bubble, a portable, powerful, password-protected wireless hot spot that, because it’s the size of a porky credit card, can go with you everywhere. The MiFi gets its Internet signal from a 3G cellphone network and converts it into a Wi-Fi signal that up to five people can share.

You can just leave the thing in your pocket, your laptop bag or your purse to pump out a fresh Internet signal to everyone within 30 feet, for four hours on a charge of the removable battery. You’re instantly online whenever you fire up your laptop, netbook, Wi-Fi camera, game gadget, iPhone or iPod Touch.

The MiFi released by Virgin Mobile this week ($150) is almost exactly the same thing as the one offered by Verizon and, until recently, Sprint — but there’s a twist that makes it revolutionary all over again.

The Virgin MiFi, like its rivals, is still an amazing gizmo to have on long car rides for the family, on woodsy corporate offsite meetings, at disaster sites, at trade show booths or anywhere you can’t get Wi-Fi. If you live alone, the MiFi could even be your regular home Internet service, too — one that you can take with you when you head out the door. And it’s still insanely useful when you’re stuck on a plane on a runway.

But three things about the Virgin MiFi are very, very different. First, Virgin’s plan is unlimited. You don’t have to sweat through the month, hoping you don’t exceed the standard 5-gigabyte data limit, as you do with the cellular-modem products from Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile. (If you exceed 5 gigabytes, you pay steep per-megabyte overage charges, or in T-Mobile’s case, you get your Internet speed slowed down for the rest of the month.)

If you hadn’t noticed, unlimited-data plans are fast disappearing — but here’s Virgin, offering up an unlimited Internet plan as if it never got the memo.

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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Apple unveils new box for streaming movies, TV

Apple unveils new box for streaming movies, TV - Yahoo! News

"Apple Inc. announced a smaller, cheaper version of its Apple TV device for streaming movies and television shows over the Internet and into the living room. It also unveiled a new line of iPods, including a touch-screen Nano model.

The tiny new Apple TV system announced Wednesday will only let people rent, not buy, content. For first-run high-definition movies the day they come out on DVD, people will have to pay $4.99. High-definition TV show rentals will be 99 cents.

The price of the box is also being cut to $99, from $229. Cheaper options for streaming video had been available, including Roku's set-top boxes that start at $60.

Apple TV has been around since 2007, but it hasn't caught on with the mainstream. For one thing, it doesn't record shows the way TiVo and other digital video recorders do. And the need to sync the box with a computer was too complicated for most consumers, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said.

'We've sold a lot of them, but it's never been a huge hit,' Jobs said.

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