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Bandai’s case turn the iPhone into a DeLorean. Photo: Bandai
The iPhone 6 Plus has a hard time sliding into most pants pockets, but if you’d like to make the iPhone 6 Pinch even more unbearable, Bandai is coming out with a new case that transforms your device into the time machine from Back to the Future.
The DeLorean time machine case brings all the incredible details of Marty McFly’s DMC-12 to your iPhone with moving parts like wheels that switch between hover and street modes. The case doesn’t come with actual time-traveling and levitating features, but Bandai did pack in a couple extra goodies.
The Olloclip clipped onto an iPhone 6 Plus. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Like millions of photography fans, the iPhone is my main camera. In fact, ever since my Nikon D600 took a suicidal, lens-first dive off a cliff and into a waterfall, my iPhone has become my only camera.
I’m always trying to eke out a little extra performance from my iPhone’s tiny camera sensor with new apps, tripods and lenses. Over the last three months, Cult of Mac has been testing various lenses for the iPhone 6 in a search for the best aftermarket glass. I’ve narrowed the field down to two top choices: the new Olloclip and Moment’s mountable lens system.
Unfortunately, iPhone 6 users can’t actually use both the Olloclip and Moment lenses at the same time. But if you’ve been considering getting new photo gear for your iPhone 6, we’re ready to break down the pros and cons of these aftermarket accessories.
Apple’s going to be transporting more iPhones this quarter than even this guy. Photo: Sina News
Anyone holding onto the mistaken belief that Apple waited too long to launch a big-screen iPhone got their correction during Apple’s recent earnings call, when the company revealed it shipped a massive 74.5 million iPhones during the last three months of 2014 — representing more than half of Apple’s total revenue for the quarter.
iPhone 6 mania isn’t going away anytime soon, either, according to estimates provided by sources in Apple’s supply chain. Based on orders received, manufacturers reportedly expect Apple to ship more than 50 million additional iPhones by the end of March.
Tim Cook has a lot to be happy about. Photo: Apple
Apple closed its earnings call this afternoon after announcing an unprecedented 74.5 million iPhone sales to go along with $74.6 billion in revenue and $18 billion in profits. It broke the record for the most money made by a corporation in history.
While breaking down the Q1 2015 numbers, Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri also gave us some juicy details about what’s in store for 2015 by hinting at new products in the pipeline, as well as subtly dropping the Apple Watch’s release date.
We’ve combed through the numbers and the conference call and found seven huge new revelations every Apple fan needs to know:
Apple’s earnings from last quarter will be historic. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are getting ready to announce Apple’s biggest earnings ever to investors this afternoon, and we’ll be on hand to liveblog all the action.
The results are expected to be historic, thanks to unprecedented demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in not only the US, but also China. Wall Street expects Apple to blow past its projected revenue of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion and hit somewhere closer to an all-time high of $68 billion.
Analysts expect iPhone 6 sales to have topped more than 66 million, but Apple expert Ben Bajarin is predicting any number lower than 70 million would be a result of supply chain limitations, not demand. Mac sales are also expected to be strong, while the iPad remains the only wild card.
The call begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, but the liveblog action starts now. Keep this tab open and come back throughout the day for coverage of Apple’s biggest quarter ever.
iPhone 6 is #1 in China. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple took the top spot for smartphone sales in China last quarter for the first time in the company’s history, reports financial research firm Canalys.
To accomplish the stunning feat, Apple leapfrogged Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi, thanks to the sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Apple is also selling more iPhones in China now than it is in the United States, even though the iPhone costs nearly double its nearest competitor. Canalys credits this to Apple tapping into trends like larger screens and LTE.
Land of the rising sales. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
China may have been a bit late to the iPhone 6 party due to a drawn-out regulatory approval period, but it seems the wait was worth it — both for Chinese customers and Tim Cook’s wallet.
Ahead of what should be a blockbuster earnings call for Apple on January 27, UBS analysts are predicting that the holiday season will be the quarter in which China finally sold more iPhones than the U.S.
Samsung vs. Apple is looking more and more like a horrible mismatch. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Thanks to Apple’s continued success in Japan, and Tim Cook’s big push to expand into China, everyone forgets about one of the most revealing markets the iPhone 6 has scored big in: South Korea. Why is South Korea so revealing? Because it’s none other than the stomping ground of longtime Apple rival, Samsung.
According to a report published Wednesday by Counterpoint Research, Apple is now firmly challenging Samsung in its home ground — with market share in the country rising to 33 percent, from less than 15 percent, based on the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Samsung’s market share meanwhile plummeted from 60 percent to 46 percent.


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Earlier this week we saw leaked images taken from a 2013 Mazda MX-5 Miata brochure, containing a subtly altered, more aggressive looking roadster.
Read This Article
With new car consumers in mind, Mazda has announced its first-ever pre-paid maintenance program.
The Mazda3 accounts for 30 percent of Mazda's worldwide volume.
Mazda has a unique solution to keep developing proprietary technology

domain: news


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NIKE SEES 20% DECREASE IN EARNINGS FOR SECOND QUARTER
Nike yesterday reported a net income for the 2Q ended November 30 of $141M, or $.48/share, compared to $176.9M, or $.60/share a year ago. Revenues increased 7% to $2.26B from $2.11B last year. In the U.S., athletic footwear revenues declined 3% to $787.6M, compared to $814.9M (Nike). REAX: Nike said that "a world-wide slowdown in demand for its footwear and apparel, especially in Asia, broke its three-year streak of earnings gains," driving down its earnings by 20% "and promising to depress revenue and earnings for the next two quarters," according to Bill Richards of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Analysts had projected that Nike would report earnings of $.55/share. Nike also said that worldwide future orders, set for delivery between December and April, fell 1% to $4.2B world-wide. Nike said the slowdown was due to a mix of order cancellations in the U.S. and Asia, inflated inventories and "problems" in the Asian markets (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/19).


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Sporting goods giant Nike and controversial NBA star Kyrie Irving are no longer working together.
the essentials in brief
- Nike ends collaboration with NBA star Kyrie Irving.
- The Brooklyn Nets player shared an anti-Semitic film on Twitter.
- Irving loses about eleven million US dollars a year as a result.
Nike has ended the contract with Irving that has been dormant for weeks, several other US media reported yesterday in addition to “The Athletic”.
The Brooklyn Nets basketball player has recently been heavily criticized. The reason: Irving shared a link to a film with anti-Semitic content and then did not clearly distance himself from anti-Semitism for a long time.
Kyrie Irving loses $11 million
Nike had therefore already put the sponsorship contract on hold at the beginning of November. According to reports, Nike transferred about eleven million US dollars to Irving every year.
More on the subject:


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Microsoft and Nokia have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating transformation and innovation across industries with cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).
Companies using AI and IoT together catapult ahead of competitors using IoT alone, with organisations using IoT with AI appearing to be more competitive than IoT-only enterprises by a double-digit margin across a variety of business indicators like employee productivity, innovation and operating costs, according to a new study.
There’s a growing digital divide between small businesses and large enterprises, with smaller businesses gaining an advantage by their adoption of new technology, according to a new report.
This is an unbearably good headline :-)
Great Stuff Sam - I wish this could go out to a larger audience.
5G will save us, and the NBN will have to be redone anyway.
As always, a great article Sam.
I will never forgive him.


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By Jennifer Erickson | LB Indy
Andy Siegenfeld’s goal at the Laguna Food Pantry is twofold: provide free food to those in need and remove the stigma attached to accepting help so keenly felt by most customers.
The pantry’s chairman largely succeeds, signing in customers with a warm smile and kind word before handing them off to pantry manager and board member Marianna Hof. Cheerfully solicitous, she helps patrons navigate the neatly organized bins, shelves and cold storage units containing produce, dry goods and refrigerated items available in a constantly varying level of supply.
“There wasn’t a bean left on the table,” Siegenfeld said of the Friday before Christmas, when a record 146 people stopped by for provisions during the pantry’s two-and-a-half-hour shopping window each weekday.
Siegenfeld and Hof do everything in their power to safeguard the dignity of the people they serve: a mix of formerly middle class residents, unemployed due to recession cutbacks, as well as low-income families, many of whose bread-winners hold minimum wage jobs in Laguna’s hospitality industry, and an increasing number of fixed-income seniors.
The volunteers who run the pantry, formerly known as the Laguna Resource Center, try to erase the guilt many feel over not earning enough to provide for themselves or their families.
For Laguna Beach resident Jeremiah Weller it worked. A single dad, Weller confessed discomfort at having to rely on the pantry when he was out of work, “but Andy does a good job of taking away the embarrassment,” he said. “It’s a very loving place there.” Working again, he gives back by trekking to Trader Joe’s five days a week to retrieve their pantry food donations.
Many among the 10 or so volunteers who restock the pantry’s shelves with boxes and bags of arriving donations are current or former customers bent on giving back. Rick Goodman, a homeless shelter regular, serves tirelessly and admits that besides pay back, his involvement “helps my depression better than any drugs they could give me.”
In addition to a financial overhaul two years ago led by secretary-treasurer Susan Thomas, board members decided to narrow the entity’s scope. Conceived as a relief organization after the 1993 fire, its multiple missions grew to include homeless outreach and disaster relief as well as supplying food to low-income families.
“We decided that what we could do well is give away free food,” said Thomas, who insists on a professionally run operation that keeps records of input and output.
Walk in any morning between 8 and 10:30 a.m. and you’ll see shoppers seated in chairs outside the door, waiting to be invited in. To minimize chaos in the small space, customers are staggered and called by name. Siegenfeld greets them with a bright smile, matches their name to a list and takes notes on where they are from and how many people they are shopping for. Hof then helps them find their needs from the available, well-organized inventory. Some shelves are marked: one per shopper.
That inventory relies entirely on donations of groceries or money from the public, businesses, other nonprofits and especially the unsold goods of food merchants that include Laguna Beach’s Whole Foods and Pavilions, Trader Joe’s in Crystal Cove and Laguna Hills, and Laguna Hill’s Fresh and Easy.
Without the markets, the pantry could never keep up with a sky-rocketing customer base.
In addition to making daily contributions from its own shelves, Whole Foods chose the pantry as the local recipient for the company’s two-month Feed 4 More holiday donation program. “We love the Laguna Food Pantry,” said marketing supervisor Joanne Ekblad.
Proceeds from the drive will be put to good use by the pantry, which last year signed in 25,000 shoppers, representing 60,000 people, a 150 percent increase over 2012. The pantry also provides breakfast and lunch daily for the 50 homeless people who stay overnight at the adjacent shelter.
It’s hard to tell how much of the increase can be attributed to greater awareness of the pantry’s mission or whether there are more families in need. Either way, the pantry serves as a welcome way station for a largely invisible population that defies the county’s stereotype.
Despite an improving economy “many, many of the people coming to our agencies are the working poor,” whose minimum wage jobs fail to cover their rising living costs, said Barbara Wartman, marketing director for Irvine-based Second Harvest Food Bank, which sells and sometimes donates surplus food to the pantry. Likewise, seniors on fixed incomes find themselves in a similar fix. Additionally, families that counted on a special recession supplement to government food stamps — about $36 a month for a family of four — lost them in October.
She anticipates a new influx of cash poor people. The threat of discontinued unemployment benefits also looms for about 150,000 residents countywide, Wartman said.
Though overhead is low for Laguna’s all-volunteer pantry, there are expenses, said publicist Barbara McMurray. While the organization pays nominal rent and no utilities to its landlord, the city of Laguna Beach, the pantry purchased and maintains 10 on-site refrigerators and freezers and reimburses volunteers for the gas they burn to make the 35 weekly food pick ups.
Importantly, cash donations to the pantry procure discounted staples from county food banks; $10 buys 120 pounds of food, Siegenfeld said. Six staples are always in need: pasta, pasta sauce, peanut butter, jelly, canned tuna, and cereal.
Donations can be made at their website, or by dropping a check or a bag of groceries at the pantry, 20652 Laguna Canyon Road, just past the dog park, weekday mornings between 8 and 10:30 a.m.
“This is pure, 100 percent joy for Marianna and me,” said Siegenfeld. If you stop in to make a donation, you will see why.


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Pikmin 4 - the long-awaited next entry in the Pikmin series - has been announced, and will be released for Nintendo Switch next year.
Pikmin 4 was teased during September's Nintendo Direct, though only with a brief teaser trailer. No details about the game were shared, but Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that more details would be revealed ahead of launch next year.
2022 marks the series' 20th anniversary, as Pikmin was released for the GameCube in 2002. The latest release was Pikmin 3 Deluxe, released for Nintendo Switch in 2020 after originally launching for Wii U in 2013.


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Distracted driving is a problem across our country. As cell phones have replaced home phones, and on-the-go-offices have been implemented over standard cubicles, people behind the wheel have been overtaken with emails, texts, and calls that take their attention away from the road.
With this occurring almost everywhere, you can never be too careful when driving. Staying vigilant and having strong Las Vegas personal injury attorneys on your side may come in handy when faced with a distracted driver.
The Nuts & Bolts of the Lawsuit
The lawsuit filed by MLG Automotive Law is interesting. In short, it alleges that Apple has the technological capabilities to lock out unsafe phone use, effectively eliminating texting while driving.
The class action lawsuit centers around a single plaintiff. According to the filing, Julio Ceja was stopped at a red light when he was hit from behind by another driver who was using her iPhone.
In 2014, Apple was granted a patent for a technology that could potentially block users from texting and driving. As it stands, this appears to be the basis for the plaintiff in this case. It's worth noting, however, this technology could have its downfalls, and it's highly possible Apple hasn't released the technology as a result of potentially problematic scenarios.
Who's Phone Gets Disabled?
Apple's lockout technology could, in fact, prevent numerous accidents and deaths, should it be implemented. The question is -- is this Apple's job?
The lawsuit specifically targets Apple, although there are plenty of other devices being used on the road daily. According to 9to5Mac.com, "The suit cites data from the U.S. Department of Transportation that claims 1.5 million people are texting and driving at any given moment."
This is a red flag to Las Vegas personal injury attorneys. To begin with, who's to say all of these 1.5 million drivers are using Apple devices? It's highly unlikely any cell phone manufacturer could be singled out for this cause.
Additionally, Apple's lockout technology largely relies on the speed in which the user is traveling. This begs the question -- What happens to cell phone users' devices if they're simply passengers in a moving vehicle? Should all phones be disabled if they're in vehicles traveling at certain speeds?
Our Las Vegas personal attorneys would argue, most people would not wish to have their mobile devices locked if they were simply passengers in moving vehicles. So, how would the court distinguish these users? At present, there is no distinction. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Apple hasn't moved forward on its patented technology.
Contact Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorneys
If you've been hit by someone who was texting and driving, contact GGRM, a team of Las Vegas personal injury attorneys that specialize in vehicular accidents. GGRM will be able to examine your case and help you understand your rights if you were in an accident caused by a distracted driver. Call 702-388-4476 for a free consultation today.


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In November, California reportedly crossed the 500,000 threshold for electric vehicles sold in the state since 2010. Months of strong US sales in 2018, preceded by a strong 2017, are starting to show a trend: electric vehicles are selling well, especially in places where there are strong monetary and non-monetary incentives to buy them.
According to Veloz—a group of electric vehicle industry stakeholders that includes GM, Honda, Nissan, Pacific Gas & Electric, Uber, and Lyft, among others—electric vehicle sales in California hit a cumulative 512,717 since 2010.
“Overall, this year has seen exponential growth in electric car sales,” Veloz wrote. “Electric cars accounted for 7.1 percent of California car sales in the first three quarters of the year, with fully electric, zero-emission car sales outpacing plug-in hybrid sales 4.1 percent to 3 percent respectively.” Veloz’s data tallies not just fully battery-electric vehicles but also plug-in hybrids as well as the much rarer fuel cell vehicles. The group gets its data (PDF) from the blogs InsideEVs and HybridCars.com as well as a market-research firm called Baum & Associates and estimates from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).


text: We're awaiting earnings before the open from the Cracker Barrel -- the company is looking for $1.22 a share, but private equity firms have been looking for potential investment opportunities in the consumer restaurant space. Could it be time for the restaurant to look for a private backer? Also set to report earnings is Michael Kors, see what Herb Greenberg has to say about this hot stock. And Jim Cramer's action alert pick of the day is for Johnson and Johnson -- he's still holding onto his shares, even after solid performance by the company to start 2014. See what Jim likes from J&J's most recent presentation.


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COLUMBIA -- Since the opening of the Rock Bridge Hy-Vee in November 2009, manager of store operations Luke Long has noticed that Americans love their moms.
Mother's Day, which ranks second in consumer spending to Christmas, attracted flocks of shoppers Sunday. The increased business hardly surprised Long, who has now worked on the holiday for three straight years.
"Mother's Day always seems to be a success," Long said. "We all appreciate our moms and everything they do, and we all go out and spend a little more time and money on them."
Long said flowers, cards and balloons sell especially well during the holiday. In anticipation of the extra customers, Long said the store called a full staff in to work-- even on a Sunday.
"We want to make sure we staff the departments enough to take care of business and get all spects covered," Long said.


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14 Jan 2019.
Bitcoin money adder can help u add your bitcoins instantly to your own bitcoin wallet. Our software is the only one that we have created ever.
The Winklevoss Twins Now Appear To Be Bitcoin Billionaires The Winklevoss twins—the brothers Mark Zuckerberg allegedly stole the idea for Facebook from—are making a movie about. Lack Of Incentives
Ryan Rzepecki, who sold Jump to Uber, says host nation for his venture needs a good climate, stable political environment and.
Exploit Script 695 in 6 minutes btc per day proof bitcoin adder – YouTube Everyone.
I think that its still weird to many that I love bitcoin more than money itself.
Adam Back’s name has surfaced again in the crypto community’s favorite guessing game: Who is the anonymous creator of Bitcoin.
27 Apr 2018.
The virtual goldrush to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies leads us to Central Washington state where a Bitcoin mine generates roughly.
2 Jan 2019.
Add Bitcoin to your wallet with the new Method provided by this software called MINEY! You can Mine Money with MINEY as easy as drinking a.
The livestreams, which were viewed by tens of thousands of people before being removed by YouTube, offered a fake "bitcoin.
Analysts like Adam Back say institutional players are no longer need to bring bitcoin to the $300K mark thanks to the work of.
22 Apr 2020.
Ripple is suing Youtube, accusing the video platform of not doing.
in the “ giveaway” never received the money, according to court papers.
22 May 2020.
Skrill money adder; skrill hack 2019 skrill money adder make money online free money money adder free skrill money bitcoin yungmanny


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The Dallas Business Journal’s list measures sales growth over the past three years
After moving to Dallas last year, JetSuite this year was named as one of the 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies on the 2019 list by The Dallas Business Journal. JetSuite had been based in Orange County, California.
In its 29th year for awards, the newspaper said it worked together with The Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business to put the list together.
Continue reading “JetSuite named to 2019 Dallas’ 100 fastest-growing private companies”
SuiteKey jet card members will get championship treatment from the private jet charter operator
Options include private luxury boxes seating up to 28 at Hard Rock Stadium
As the NFL season heats up, fans from New England to Kansas City and San Francisco, Green Bay, Baltimore, and Buffalo are thinking about Miami in February, specifically, Feb. 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium.
That’s where they are hoping when Jennifer Lopez and Shakira
shake Super Bowl LIV’s halftime spectacular, their favorite team will be just
30 minutes from the Lombardi Trophy.
For members of JetSuite’s SuiteKey jet card program who want to root on their team or just partake in the fun, its JetSuite Experiences is offering the Ultimate VVIP Super Bowl Experience.
The package includes four nights at Acqualina Resort and
Spa, the nearest 5-star resort to Hard Rock Stadium, less than 10 miles away.
Continue reading “JetSuite Experiences unveils VVIP Miami Super Bowl LIV experiences”
The private jet operator has launched 15 trips to “the most remote and thrilling adventures around the world”
Luxury private jet charter operator VistaJet said it has
launched VistaJet World, “a comprehensive portfolio of one-of-a-kind,
multi-stop travel adventures tailored around its members’ passions.”
According to a press release, “To celebrate the company’s
15th anniversary, the program highlights 15 exclusive journeys to experience
the most remote and thrilling adventures around the world.”
Continue reading “VistaJet launches VistaJet World luxury travel experiences”


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7-Eleven franchising package made affordable at P300,000
May 31, 2023
June 17, 2017
The country’s leading convenience store operator Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC) has rolled out its simplest and most affordable franchising package to date – one that requires only P300,000 in cash outlay from franchisees willing to run these stores on a full-time basis.
With this new scheme, PSC seeks to farm out mature corporate-owned stores to franchisees, in turn freeing up more resources to open more stores and cement its market-leading position in the local convenience store business.
This year, PSC plans to invest P3.5 billion to open around 400 new stores and renovate other stores. The company ended last year with 1,995 stores, further expanding to 2,071 stores as of end-May, thereby gobbling up a 70 percent market share.
“We’re also looking at franchising out existing stores. We have a new franchise package which we’re testing and we’ll be rolling out this year with very low minimal investment,” PSC president Jose Victor Paterno said in a press briefing at the sidelines of the company’s stockholders meeting on Friday.
“Basically, we want people who are willing to work in the stores..The idea is to get ex-employees, people who have managed QSRs (quick service restaurants), people with real skills but not much capital,” Paterno said.
The latest franchise package of P300,000 lowers further the barrier to enter the Philippine 7-Eleven network. This was even more affordable than the P1-million package announced by the company last year. Older franchise packages were worth around P3.5 million
“This is meant to address true entrepreneurs,” Paterno said, adding that this was also to support efforts towards “financial inclusion” and the idea of giving opportunities to people with skills.
The P300,000 outlay, Paterno said, was basically just a deposit that the prospective franchisee would eventually get back. It’s just an assurance that the new investor “won’t run away with the weekend sales,” he noted.
Under this package, he said the franchisee would take over an existing corporate store – one which has already operated for at least one year while PSC would waive charges on electricity and maintenance. However, he said the profit share of the franchisee under this package would be lower compared to other packages where they put in greater capital and take on more risk.
To date, PSC has converted 50 of its existing corporate-owned stores into franchises under the latest package but so far involved only the “internal” network- employees or existing franchisees.
The same package will be offered to more people this year, he said.
PSC believes that when franchisees are actively involved in running their stores, revenues per store will be higher, in turn boosting overall profitability of this convenience store chain.
Moving forward, Paterno said PSC – while continuing to grow its store network- would focus more on growing store sales by improving its products and services.


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Home » Tech » 'Elon Musk' scams thrive on social media
'Elon Musk' scams thrive on social media
Is cyber hacking out of control?
Prevailion founder and CEO Karim Hijazi discusses the spike in ransomware attacks on businesses.
No, Elon Musk isn’t going to offer you a free watch or free Bitcoin on Twitter – but scammers will.
Scammers are students of human psychology, whether it’s duping you into clicking on a bogus email or offering fake free stuff on social media.
And dropping Elon Musk’s name into a scam to lure the unsuspecting is a popular strategy for crooks, according to a new report.
"Elon Musk is an incredibly popular target for scammers and spammers on social media. Attach his name to something he has no involvement in and watch it fly," Malwarebytes Labs said this week in a blog post.
RECORD $4.2 BILLION STOLEN THROUGH ONLINE SCAMS IN 2020: REPORT
Since October 2020, reports to the Federal Trade Commission of cryptocurrency scams have spiked with almost 7,000 people reporting losses of more than $80 million with a median loss of $1,900, according to the FTC.
That's about 12 times the number of reports and nearly 1,000% more in reported losses compared to the same period last year, the FTC said.
The giveaway scams typically trade on famous names. More than $2 million in cryptocurrency was lost to Elon Musk impersonators over just the past six months, according to the FTC.
Malwarebytes says one scam making the rounds starts like this: a Twitter account goes viral with a popular tweet. Then a bot account replies with a screenshot. In this case it appears to show Elon Musk, on Twitter, saying:
"Just google 'Topmid Dust Watch' and thank me later," – a reference to a map in the popular video game "Counter-Strike."


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An anonymous reader writes "From the LA Times: 'Although Microsoft's 128 GB Surface Pro tablet is advertised as having 128 gigabytes of storage, the amount of space available to users is much less than that. That's also true for the 64 GB model. The Redmond, Wash., company confirmed Tuesday that the 128 GB Surface Pro has 83 GB of free storage, while the 64 GB version comes with 23 GB of open space. The reason for the difference: space already taken up by the tablet's Windows 8 Pro operating system and various preinstalled apps.' It's generally understood that your device won't have as much available storage as advertised, but it's usually a lot closer than this. Should device-makers be required to advertise how much storage is available to users, rather than the size of the storage media?"
Have you META-MODERATED today? Sign up for the Slashdot Daily Newsletter! DEAL: For $25 - Add A Second Phone Number To Your Smartphone for life! Use promo code SLASHDOT25.×
waderoush writes "It may be the biggest art hack ever: a project to install 25,000 individually addressable LED lights on the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. New York-based 'light sculptor' Leo Villareal was in San Francisco last week to test the vast 'Bay Lights' art installation, which will officially debut on March 5 and last for two years; Xconomy has photos and video of Villareal running the light show from his laptop. To optimize his algorithms and figure out which patterns would be most interesting or arresting, Villareal needed to experiment on the bridge itself, says Bay Lights director Ben Davis, who has raised $5.8 million for the project so far. 'This has never been done before in history — literally debugging software 500 feet in the air, in front of a million people,' says Davis."
Space MMORPG EVE Online is best known for its amazing stories, and on Sunday it added a new epic tale. The leader of a huge coalition, preparing for a moderately sized assault, mis-clicked and accidentally warped himself into enemy territory without his support fleet, endangering his massive ship worth an estimated $3,500. Realizing the danger, he called upon every ally he could, and the enemy fleet rallied in turn, leading to an incredible 3,000-player battle. What's also impressive is that the EVE servers stayed up for the whole fight, when most MMOs struggle with even a few hundred players at the same time. The Penny Arcade report spoke with CCP Games for some information on how they managed that: "It’s hard to wrap your head around, but they sometimes move the in-game space itself. 'We move other solar systems on the node away from the fight. This disconnects anyone in those systems temporarily, but spares them from the ongoing symptoms of being on an overloaded server,' Veritas explained. 'It helps the fight system a little bit as well, especially if a reinforcement fleet is traveling through those other systems. This was done for the fight over the weekend, but is rare.' ... They do have a built-in mechanism for dealing with massive battles, however: They slow down time itself. ... Once server load reaches a certain point, the game automatically slows down time by certain increments to deal with the strain. Time was running at 10% speed during this 3,000-person battle, which is the maximum amount of time dilation possible."
An anonymous reader writes "Electronic devices are built to last, which make them very reliable. However, if during a hostile situation such a device has to be left behind or gets dropped, it will continue to function and could end up giving the enemy an advantage. With that in mind, DARPA has set about creating electronics that work for as long as necessary, but can be destroyed at a moment's notice. The project is called Vanishing Programmable Resources (VAPR). Its main aim is to develop so-called transient electronics that are capable of dissolving completely, or at the very least to the point where they no longer function. Destroying a VAPR device should be as easy as sending a signal to it or placing the device within certain conditions e.g. extreme heat or cold, that triggers the rapid destruction process."
noh8rz10 writes "Holy moly! iPad gets a heavyweight sibling, clicking in at 128GB. This places it in range of storage for Surface Pro and ultrabooks. It's clearly targeted at the professional market, as the press release cites X-rays and CAD files as reasons. Should Microsoft be afraid? Methinks so. Best part, pricing is growing by log 2. Just as the 32GB version is $100 more than the 16, and the 64 is $100 more than the 32, this new version is $100 more than the 64!" Update: 01/29 16:00 GMT by T : Here's Apple's announcement itself.
An anonymous reader writes "Boeing is currently dealing with a bit of a disaster as the company's 787 Dreamliner has been grounded due to safety concerns. Boeing is currently investigating the situation, but they aren't alone. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has stepped in to offer his help and technology if Boeing wants it. Musk has had to harness battery tech not only to run his Tesla Motors, but also to function flawlessly aboard SpaceX spacecraft as they travel both in and out of the Earth's atmosphere. If you need a battery to work at any altitude, you'd trust Musk to supply one, and that's exactly what he's offering Boeing."
crankyspice writes "Having recently picked up the Erector set I've wanted since I was a kid, I quickly found myself wanting to plunge deeper into makerspace by adding more sophisticated electronics to moving devices (rovers, maybe eventually flying bots). My first instinct was Arduino (maybe because of brand recognition?), but that got me thinking — what's the 'best' platform out there (most flexible)? Arduino with its myriad options (Nano, Mega, Uno, Mini)? PICAXE? BASIC Stamp? Raspberry Pi? (The latter seems like it would easily be the most flexible, but at greater cost in terms of weight and complexity.) I'm a hobbyist programmer, having learned C and C++ in college and recently re-learning Java (took and passed the Oracle Certified Professional exam, FWIW)..."
mikejuk writes "If you are a fan of the Sci-Fi sub-genre of robot apocalypses, you may well not want to give a robot a chainsaw to wield. If, on the other hand, you are a creative artist, then it seems well worth the risk, as this video demonstrates. In this case the robot is a standard industrial arm with an electric chainsaw mounted where the gripper would normally go. Exactly what the robot is doing isn't obvious to the viewer, but once it is finished the whole thing is disassembled to reveal two wooden stools and some interesting shapes. A robot with a chainsaw is just a subtractive 3D printer."
rtfa-troll writes "The Register tells us that Microsoft has begun squabbling with PC manufacturers over the reasons behind the failure of Windows 8. Microsoft is 'frustrated with major OEMs who didn't build nearly enough touch systems.' PC manufacturers have hit back, saying that they 'would have been saddled with the costs of a huge pile of unsold units,' claiming that customers actually avoided higher-end touch products which were available and instead bought lower-end, cheaper laptops while 'Microsoft is not blaming itself for' the failure of its own touch device, the Surface RT. The PC manufacturers' claims that touch is the problem seem to be backed by reviews, and some educational rants from users and opinions from user interface design experts. However, Microsoft sees this differently. Microsoft is planning to strike back at the PC vendors in February with Surface Pro; with a shorter battery life and much heavier than a normal tablet, this is being seen as a direct competitor to traditional laptops. By using its desktop operating system franchise as a lever, Microsoft will be able to enter the lower-specification end of the laptop market with a cost advantage which make make life difficult for former partners such as HP and Dell. We've discussed previously how some PC manufactures such as Dell have failed in generational change whilst others have diversified to survive market changes; Samsung with Android and the (still) bestselling Chromebook. ASUS with their successful Nexus tablets. We also discussed the ergonomic problems which are claimed to make touch screens unsuitable for PC use."
alphadogg writes "A rugged server from NCS Technologies introduced on Friday can withstand drops, will work in extreme temperatures and can be deployed via parachute into crisis areas or war zones if needed. The Bunker XRV-5241 is a 1U rack server designed for organizations such as the military and first responders that need servers in rugged environments. The server has been tested to meet U.S. Department of Defense specifications for environmental, temperature and shock requirements." Hope they drop some hardened screens, too, to help with setup.
fsck! writes "My office recently installed a pair of huge plasma TVs to display some metrics and graphs. They only update every 15 minutes or so, and I couldn't help but wonder, why can't this be E-Ink? I searched all over the place but couldn't find anything bigger than 9.5" (Amazon's Kindle DX). I want a >30" E-Ink picture frame with USB or WiFi. Can the Slashdot community find anything greener than these energy sucking plasma TVs that seem to be everywhere?"
MikeChino writes "Instructables member Patrik has successfully transformed an old HP5150 inkjet printer into a DIY bioprinter. To do this he removed the plastic covers and panels and rewired the paper handling mechanism. Then he prepped ink cartridges to be able to handle biological materials by opening the lid, removing the ink, and washing it out with deionized water. For his first experiment, he printed a simple solution of arabinose onto filter paper."
Jeremiah Cornelius writes "Blogger Adam Howard at Port3000 has a post about Google's exposure of thousands of publicly accessible printers. 'A quick, well crafted Google search returns "About 86,800 results" for publicly accessible HP printers.' He continues, 'There's something interesting about being able to print to a random location around the world, with no idea of the consequence.' He also warns about these printers as a possible beachhead for deeper network intrusion and exploitation. With many of the HP printers in question containing a web listener and a highly vulnerable and unpatched JVM, I agree that this is not an exotic idea. In the meanwhile? I have an important memo for all Starbucks employees."
redletterdave writes "On Friday morning, BitTorrent launched the alpha test of a new, free public service called BitTorrent Sync, which allows users to securely back up and sync files over the Web using BitTorrent's platform. Unlike competing services such as Box or Dropbox, BitTorrent Sync doesn't store files on remote servers (which means that no third party has access to one's files), and also has no storage limits other than what your devices can hold."
cylonlover writes "Researchers at the University of Buffalo have created spherical silicon nanoparticles they claim could lead to hydrogen generation on demand becoming a 'just add water' affair. When the particles are combined with water, they rapidly form hydrogen and silicic acid, a nontoxic byproduct, in a reaction that requires no light, heat or electricity. In experiments, the hydrogen produced was shown to be relatively pure by successfully being used to power a small fan via a small fuel cell."
alancronin writes "Intel has been planning to make its Ireland base one of three global manufacturing sites for its 14nm chips since May last year, and its now been given the okay by Ireland's lead planning agency. The new $4 billion plant will create around 4,300 jobs for the region in Co. Kildare, where Intel already has around 4,000 on staff. The two-year plan involves redeveloping its existing operation, expanding and shifting to make its smaller, more efficient 14nm process. Intel's plans don't stop there, however. It still plans to roll out 10nm products sometime in 2015."
Timothy Lord starts this video with these words: "Sensors are a big deal at CES this year. They are small devices that track everything from the location of your pets to how many steps you have taken today." And so he chatted with Phillip Bolliger, founder of Swiss company Koubachi AG, which makes Wi-Fi sensors that help you give your plants the right amount of water and light and to keep them at the right temperature. As of this writing, the prices on their online store are in Euros, not dollars, but the sensors are now available through Amazon with U.S. pricing. Koubachi also has a free app for your iOS device, and a Facebook app for your computer or Android device, that will help you give your plants the right amount of fertilizer and other love even if you don't buy a Koubachi sensor.
Orome1 writes "Barracuda Networks has released firmware updates that remove SSH backdoors in a number of their products and resolve a vulnerability in Barracuda SSL VPN that allows attackers to bypass access restrictions to download potentially insecure files, set new admins passwords, or even shut down the device. The backdoor accounts are present on in all available versions of Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Web Filter, Message Archiver, Web Application Firewall, Link Balancer, Load Balancer, and SSL VPN appliances." Here's Barracuda's tech note about the exploitable holes.
Titus Andronicus writes "fuse-exfat, a GPLv3 implementation of the exFAT file system for Linux, FreeBSD, and OS X, has reached 1.0 status, according to an announcement from Andrew Nayenko, the primary developer. exFAT is a file system designed for sneaker-netting terabyte-scale files and groups of files on flash drives and memory cards between and among Windows, OS X, and consumer electronics devices. It was introduced by Microsoft in late 2006. Will fuse-exfat cut into Microsoft's juicy exFAT licensing revenue? Will Microsoft litigate fuse-exfat's developers and users into patent oblivion? Will there be a DKMS dynamic kernel module version of the software, similar to the ZFS on Linux project? All that remains to be seen. ReadWrite, The H, and Phoronix cover the story."
Un pobre guey writes "'To understand the impact technology is having on middle-class jobs in developed countries, the AP analyzed employment data from 20 countries; tracked changes in hiring by industry, pay and task; compared job losses and gains during recessions and expansions over the past four decades; and interviewed economists, technology experts, robot manufacturers, software developers, entrepreneurs and people in the labor force who ranged from CEOs to the unemployed.' Their findings: Technology has consistently reduced the number of manufacturing jobs for 30 years; people with repetitive jobs have been easy to replace in the past, and task jugglers like managers and supervisors will be likely targets in the future; companies in the S&P 500 have expanded their business and increased profits, but reduced staffing, thanks to tech; and startups are launching much more easily these days. The response to the article includes the dutifully repeated bad-government-is-at-fault and don't-worry-it's-like-the-Industrial-Revolution memes. But what if this time it's different? What if delegating everything to machines is a radical and fundamental new change in the course of human history?"
SternisheFan sends news of researchers who encoded an MP3, a PDF, a JPG, and a TXT file into DNA, along with another file that explains the encoding. The researchers estimate the storage density of this technique at 2.2 petabytes per gram (abstract). "We knew we needed to make a code using only short strings of DNA, and to do it in such a way that creating a run of the same letter would be impossible. So we figured, let's break up the code into lots of overlapping fragments going in both directions, with indexing information showing where each fragment belongs in the overall code, and make a coding scheme that doesn't allow repeats. That way, you would have to have the same error on four different fragments for it to fail – and that would be very rare," said one of the study's authors. "We've created a code that's error tolerant using a molecular form we know will last in the right conditions for 10 000 years, or possibly longer," said another.
Decatxt chording keyboard may be new and exciting to him, and he says has a patent on it so apparently the USPTO found it novel and original, but it's not the first chording keyboard by many long shots. The idea has been around (at least) since 1968. And let's not forget Braille chording keyboards, as described in a 1992 IEEE paper. And if you have an iPhone and want to experiment with a virtual Braille chording keyboard, there's an app for that. Maybe we're just jaded. Or maybe we've known a lot of blind people who used one-handed Braille chording keyboards to type as fast with one hand as a sighted person using a QWERTY keyboard and two hands. So it's hard for us to get excited about a chording keyboard. Be that as it may, we wish Wayne Rasanen all the luck in the world as he brings his invention to market.
coop0030 writes "Open source hardware company Adafruit has announced a new tiny wearable electronics platform board called the Gemma. The Gemma is a tiny, 1-inch diameter and 4-mm thick package. It's powered by an Attiny85 and programmable with an Arduino IDE over USB. There are three available I/O pins, one of which is also an analog input and two of which can do PWM output. Gemma is currently wrapping up development, but should be available soon."
Zothecula writes "Given that most real-life superheroes don't have the budget of Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne, you would assume that their gadgetry wouldn't be quite on par with what we're used to seeing in the movies. German cyber weapons hobbyist Patrick Priebe, however, has built his own working laser gauntlet... just like the one made famous by a certain Iron Man."
kkleiner writes "No longer will they say, 'He's going to end up flipping burgers.' Now, robots are taking even these ignobly esteemed jobs. San Francisco based Momentum Machines makes a robot called the Alpha that can churn out 360 gourmet burgers per hour. The company plans on launching the first ever burger restaurant chain with a cook staff made entirely of robots. You think Americans are obese right now? Just wait."
mynamestolen writes "In order to read paper-based books many visually impaired people want to attach a webcam to a computer and attach the computer to a TV. Some Electronic Magnifiers are purpose-built to provide a similar solution. Different organisations around the world (such as in the UK) have help pages. But I have not been able to find a guide to set up my own system. So I'm asking Slashdot readers how to go about it. What is the best camera to use if I want to hold the camera in my hand and point it at book or magazine? What parameters should I adjust, either in the software or on the camera? Depth of view, refresh rates, contrast, color balance and resolution might be key problems. My system is Linux and getting drivers for a good camera might also be a problem."
Nerval's Lobster writes "For quite some time Mozilla has been working on Firefox OS, a lightweight mobile OS built in HTML5. Now it's whipped the curtain back from the first developer preview phones. The developer preview phones are unlocked, requiring the user insert their own SIM card. If those specs seem a little underpowered compared to other smartphones on the market, it's because Firefox OS is intended for lower-end smartphones; target markets include developing countries such as Brazil and China. (The first developer preview phones will be available in February.) The Firefox OS (once known as 'Boot to Gecko') is based on a handful of open APIs. The actual interface is highly reminiscent of Google Android and Apple iOS, with grids of icons linked to applications." The specs really aren't that bad; reader sfcrazy points out that they include the usual features baked into medium- and high-end phones these days: Wifi N, light and proximity sensors, and an accelerometer (though no mention of NFC).
Nerval's Lobster writes "Last week, Facebook announced Graph Search, a system for searching the social network's vast collection of users, photos, and 'Liked' interests. But how will Facebook power it? The Disaggregated Rack, which will separate compute, RAM, storage, and caching functions in order to remain flexible in the face of Graph Search's changing needs. By breaking up resources and scaling them independently of each other, Facebook can scale without needing to constantly open up new servers and upgrade new hardware."
Will the Open Compute Project’s Common Slot specification and Facebook’s Group Hug board commoditize the data center hardware market even further? Analyst opinions vary widely, indicating that time and additional development work may be necessary before any sort of consensus is reached. At the Open Compute Summit last week, Frank Frankovsky, director of hardware design and supply chain operations at Facebook, announced both the Open Slot specification and Facebook’s prototype Open Slot board, known as “Group Hug.” Group Hug’s premise is simple: disaggregate the CPU in a way that allows virtually any processor to be linked to the motherboard. This has never been done before with a CPU, which has traditionally required its own socket, its own chipset, and thus its own motherboard. Group Hug is designed to accommodate CPUs from AMD, Intel, and even ARM vendors such as Applied Micro and Calxeda.
Zothecula writes "Scientists based at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have set a new efficiency record for thin-film copper indium gallium (di)selenid (or CIGS) based solar cells on flexible polymer foils, reaching an efficiency of 20.4 percent. This is an increase from a previous record of 18.7 percent set by the team back in 2011."
Kim Dotcom's new "Mega" cloud service appears to be a hit. According to Dotcom over 1 million have signed up for their free 50 gigabytes of storage. Although that is about 1% of the Dropbox user base, it's not a bad start. From the article: "Mega quickly jumped up to around 100,000 users within an hour or so of the site's official launch. A few hours after that, Mega had ballooned up to approximately a quarter of a million users. Demand was great enough to knock Mega offline for a number of users attempting to either connect up or sign up for new accounts, and Mega's availability remains spotty as of this articles' writing."
hypnosec writes "Stephen Hawking's ability to communicate has been deteriorating over the years and as it stands, he is only able to communicate at the rate of 1 word per minute. Intel CTO Justin Rattner has revealed that they are working on an interface that will boost the scientist's speech to up to 10 words per minute. Beyond twitching his cheek, Hawking is also capable of other voluntary facial expressions which can be tapped to achieve faster communications with the help of a better character interface and a better word predictor."
hydrofix writes "The Wikimedia Foundation is preparing for the transition of its main technical operations to a new data center in Ashburn, Virginia. This is intended to improve the technical performance and reliability of all Wikimedia sites, including Wikipedia. The current target windows for the migration are January 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2013, from 17:00 to 01:00 UTC. Since 2004, Wikimedia sites have been hosted in the main data center in Tampa, Florida, a location chosen for its proximity to Jimmy Wales at the time. In 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation's Technical Operations team started to look for other locations with better network connectivity and more clement weather. Located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Ashburn offers faster and more reliable connectivity than Tampa, and usually fewer hurricanes."
An anonymous reader writes "After months of hype riding the coattails of the MegaUpload controversy, Kim Dotcom's new cloud storage site, Mega, is finally going live. After being available to early adopters briefly, it's now open to the public with 50GB of free storage and end-to-end encryption. Several outlets have posted early hands-on reports for the service, including Ars Technica and The Next Web. In an interview, Dotcom spoke about how Mega's encryption scheme benefits both the users and the company: 'The Mega business plan will be a distributed model, with hundreds of companies large and small, around the world, hosting files. A hosting company can be huge or it can own just two or three servers Dotcom says—just as long as it's located outside the U.S. "Each file will be kept with at least two different hosters, [in] at least two different locations," said Dotcom. "That's a great added benefit for us because you can work with the smallest, most unreliable [hosting] companies. It doesn't matter because they can't do anything with that data." More than 1000 hosts answered a request for expressions of interest on the Mega home page. Dotcom says several hundred will be active partners within months.' On top of that, the way it's designed will protect Mega from legal problems: 'It's all about the plausible deniability. Mega doesn't know what you're uploading. ... Mega isn't so much securing your files for you as it is securing itself from your files. If Mega just takes down all the DMCAed links, it will have a 100 percent copyrighted material takedown record as far as its own knowledge is concerned. It literally can't know about cases that aren't actively pointed out to it, complete with file decryption keys.'"
New submitter Hesh writes "Ibex, the first cross-platform VR desktop of its kind, was previously released for Linux, and has finally been updated to work on Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Running at a silky smooth 60fps, it is nearing final release and awaiting delivery of the developer Oculus Rift kits for final integration testing. A Windows version may be released in time. The source can be found on bitbucket for the Linux version and iPhone orientation sensor client while the Mac source is to follow soon at the same location."
An anonymous reader writes "3D printing is on its way toward becoming ubiquitous. Of course, if you have such a printer and want to print something, you need raw materials — the plastic filament that's fed into the machine. It's also likely that while you're learning the ropes, you'll print a bunch of terrible attempts at objects, and end up having to throw them out. Now, Wired is reporting on a device aiming to solve both of those problems. Tyler McNaney's 'Filabot' will break down failed projects as well as many other plastic items from traditional manufacturers, turning them into a filament you can then feed through a 3D printer. 'So far the plastics that work are HDPE, LDPE, ABS, NYLON. More to come on the different types that work.' McNaney sees it as a 'closed-loop recycling system on your desk.' The Filabot's Kickstarter campaign succeeded easily in 2012, and now he and his team are getting ready to launch."
An anonymous reader writes "Wired reports on a research paper from Google employees about the future of authentication on the web. 'Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe,' the authors write. Their plan involves authenticating just once, to a single device, and then using that to unlock all of your other accounts. "We'd like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorize a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity." Recognizing that this isn't something they can accomplish on their own, they've gone ahead and created a device-based authentication protocol that is 'independent of Google, requires no special software to work — aside from a web browser that supports the login standard — and which prevents web sites from using this technology to track users.'"
bmcage writes "Belgium wants to build an artificial energy storage island within 5 years. The island will store excess energy produced at night from the offshore wind farms already present in the North-Sea. From the article: 'Belgium is planning to build a doughnut-shaped island in the North Sea that will store wind energy by pumping water out of a hollow in the middle, as it looks for ways to lessen its reliance on nuclear power. One of the biggest problems with electricity is that it is difficult to store and the issue is exaggerated in the case of renewable energy from wind or sun because it is intermittent depending on the weather. "We have a lot of energy from the wind mills and sometimes it just gets lost because there isn't enough demand for the electricity," said a spokeswoman for Belgium's North Sea minister Johan Vande Lanotte.'"
crookedvulture writes "AMD has begun addressing the Radeon frame latency spikes covered previously on Slashdot. A new beta driver is due out next week, and it dramatically smooths the uneven frame times exhibited by certain Radeon graphics processors. The driver only tackles performance issues in a few games, but more fixes are on the way. In the games that have been addressed, the new driver delivers more consistent frame times and smoother gameplay without having much of an impact on the minimum or average FPS numbers. Those traditional FPS metrics clearly do a poor job of quantifying the fluidity of in-game action. Surprisingly, it seems AMD was largely relying on those metrics when testing drivers internally. The company has now pledged to pay more attention to frame latencies to ensure that these kinds of issues don't crop up again."
Don't yet have one of those million Raspberry Pis, but you're in the market for a tiny, cheap ARM computer? An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from geek.com: "VIA has decided it's time to update the APC (ARM PC) board with new components and the choice of two configurations. The new systems are called APC Rock and APC Paper. The hardware spec for both boards is exactly the same except for the fact the Rock ships with a VGA port whereas the Paper doesn't. The Rock also costs $20 less at $79, whereas the Paper is $99. The reason for the price difference is the fact that the Paper ships with a rather novel case whereas the Rock is a bare board. The Paper's case is made from recycled cardboard attached to an aluminum chassis to help with strength, meaning it will keep the dust off the components and make it easier to carry while keeping weight to a minimum."
An anonymous reader writes "Kim Dotcom on Thursday used Twitter to reveal some interesting new tidbits in regards to his upcoming Mega service, which will be hosted at the New Zealand-based domain Mega.co.nz. Two days before the service is to go live, Doctom says he plans to offer 50GB of free storage to all members and is also working on bringing over users' Megaupload files and data, but has so far run into legal issues." To say that Kim Dotcom has "run into legal issues" is like saying that Julian Assange is having a sleepover at the Ecuadorian embassy.
YokimaSun writes to point out a Kickstarter project that may warm the cockles of your heart: "Fans of emulation and homebrew have not had much to cheer about over the years; the recent generation of consoles has pretty much killed off any hacking by constant firmware updates. The days of PSP homebrew have died a death and consoles like the Caanoo, GP2x and even the mighty Openpandora never really lived up to the massive expectation. There is a glimmer of hope from a team of homebrew developers who have developed a new console called the GCW-Zero, a new open source handheld system which uses the OpenDingux Linux OS. The specs are impressive, with a Ingenic JZ4770 1 GHz MIPS processor, Vivante GC860, capable of OpenGL ES 2.0, 3.5 inch LCD with 320x240 pixels; 4:3 aspect ratio, 512 MB DDR2 and 16GB of internal memory which can via external memory card be extended by another 32GB. N64 and PS1 emulation and everything below should be at full speed in time."
fangmcgee writes "Rethink Robotics invented a $22,000 humanoid robot named "Baxter" that could give cheap offshore labor a run for its money and return manufacturing jobs to U.S. soil. Artificial intelligence expert Rodney Brooks is the brain behind Baxter. From the article: 'Brooks’s company, Rethink Robotics, says the robot will spark a “renaissance” in American manufacturing by helping small companies compete against low-wage offshore labor. Baxter will do that by accelerating a trend of factory efficiency that’s eliminated more jobs in the U.S. than overseas competition has. Of the approximately 5.8 million manufacturing jobs the U.S. lost between 2000 and 2010, according to McKinsey Global Institute, two-thirds were lost because of higher productivity and only 20 percent moved to places like China, Mexico, or Thailand.'"
redletterdave writes "Dell is reportedly working on a project codenamed 'Ophelia,' a USB stick-sized self-contained computer that provides access to virtually every major operating system — from the Mac OS, to Windows, to Google's Chrome OS, to cloud-based solutions from Citrix and Dell — all via the cloud. Powered by Android, Ophelia works just like a USB stick: Just plug it into any flat panel monitor or TV, and boom, you have a computer. Ophelia connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and can connect to keyboards and other peripherals over Bluetooth. Not only is the computer portable and power-efficient, but to make it truly accessible, Dell plans to sell the device for just $50."
gbrumfiel writes "Experts believe that the many thousands who fled from the Fukushima nuclear disaster received very low doses of radiation. But that doesn't mean there won't be health consequences. Nature magazine traveled to Fukushima prefecture and found evidence of an enormous mental strain from the accident. Levels of anxiety and PTSD-like symptoms are high among evacuees. Researchers fear that, in the long run, the mental problems could lead to depression and substance abuse among those who lost their homes. In other words, even if no one develops cancer as a direct result of radiation, the health effects could still be very real."
Nerval's Lobster writes "AMD, Intel, ARM: for years, their respective CPU architectures required separate sockets, separate motherboards, and in effect, separate servers. But no longer: Facebook and the Open Compute Summit have announced a common daughtercard specification that can link virtually any processor to the motherboard. AMD, Applied Micro, Intel, and Calxeda have already embraced the new board, dubbed 'Group Hug.' Hardware designs based on the technology will reportedly appear at the show. The Group Hug card will be connected via a simple x8 PCI Express connector to the main motherboard. But Frank Frankovsky, director of hardware design and supply chain operations at Facebook, also told an audience at the Summit that, while a standard has been provided, it may be some time before the real-world appearance of servers built on the technology."
hypnosec writes "Korean scientists have developed a 'fluid-like' polymer electrolyte used in lithium-ion batteries that would pave way for flexible batteries and flexible smartphones. The discovery was made by a joint team of researchers that was led by Professor Lee Sang-young of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. The new electrolyte, though flexible, is made of solid materials hence making the batteries more stable than the lithium-ion batteries used today." Paper, but full text is paywalled.
angry tapir writes "Two U.S. power companies have reported infections of malware during the past three months, with the bad software apparently brought in through tainted USB drives, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT). The publication (PDF) did not name the malware discovered. The tainted USB drive came in contact with a 'handful of machines' at the power generation facility and investigators found sophisticated malware on two engineering workstations critical to the operation of the control environment, ICS-CERT said."
crookedvulture writes "Solid-state drives became much more affordable in 2012. The median price for 240-256GB models fell by about 44% over the course of the year and now sits around 83 cents per gigabyte. Lower-capacity drives also got cheaper, albeit by smaller margins that kept median prices from dipping below the $1/GB threshold. Surprisingly, most drives actually got more expensive over the fourth quarter, despite Black Friday and other holiday sales. This upswing was driven largely by OCZ's decision to back off its strategy of aggressively discounting drives to gain market share, allowing its rivals to raise prices, as well. Although some new models arrived with next-generation 19- and 20-nm NAND that should be cheaper to produce, those drives didn't debut at lower prices. We may have to wait a while before SSD makers pass the savings along to consumers."
Orome1 writes "DefenseCode researchers have uncovered a remote root access vulnerability in the default installation of Linksys routers. They contacted Cisco and shared a detailed vulnerability description along with the PoC exploit for the vulnerability. Cisco claimed that the vulnerability was already fixed in the latest firmware release, which turned out to be incorrect. The latest Linksys firmware (4.30.14) and all previous versions are still vulnerable."


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It isn’t new that Central banks have negative views towards digital currencies. Though the interesting part is that they view central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC) the same way. Earlier this month, Masayoshi Amamiya, the deputy governor of The Bank of Japan (BoJ) fully supported his negative stance from earlier this year. In April, the governor spoke negatively about the effects of CBDC on the current financial system. Amamiya’s view is shared by many central bank operatives from around the world. The concept of CBDC or national cryptocurrencies has been discussed many times. A lot of governments across the world have debated on the pros and cons of this practice. Some governments even came up with their own virtual currencies, while others are still researching the effects. Venezuela issued their own Petro, others like Japan for instance, have entirely dismissed the idea.
Even Banks don’t like CBDC
CBDC are simply national digital currencies. They are digital currencies, issued and controlled by a regulatory body. This means that they are 100% controlled by the government. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, CBDC are not decentralized. They simply represent fiat currency, but in a digital form. Of course this means that the central bank, which issues the CBDC becomes the regulator and the client’s account holder. Each CBDC unit is supposed to act as a secure digital equivalent to a paper bill. In most cases, it’s powered by distributed ledger technology (DLT).
CBDC are believed to be the next part of the financial evolution by many experts. They are largely a result of the ever-growing popularity of Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain technology and digital currencies. Seen as a logical response by central banks, CBDC were designed to take the “best parts” from cryptocurrencies. Namely the security and convenience, but also combine them with classical and trusted features of the traditional banking system. Switzerland is nicknamed “The blockchain capital of Europe.” It’s without a doubt one of the most blockchain and crypto-friendly countries in the world. Despite that, the country is still unsure when it comes to CBDC.
Earlier this year, Thomas Moser, the director of the Swiss National Bank, mentioned that despite crypto and blockchain being huge innovations, they aren’t advanced enough to be considered as a state-backed digital currency. Moser stated that in order for an innovation to reach the state of mass adoption, it must be better and cheaper than its predecessors. Of course there were counter-arguments by Swiss people. The chairman of the Swiss stock exchange SIX, Romeo Larcher, argued that if the central bank issues an “e-franc”, it would result in a lot of synergies. In turn these synergies will be extremely beneficial for the Swiss economy.
Banks are observing and waiting for the rigtht moment
In China CBDCs are nothing new under the sun. The concept has been researched for a while by the Digital Currency Research Lab. A lot of experts believe that a Chinese digital currency might be in development because the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), expanded the activities of the Digital Currency Research Lab beyond the capital. A new, extremely modern research center was created in Nanjing. Additionally, PBoC opened 4 positions for crypto-knowledgeable professionals earlier this month. The professionals are rumored to work on a secure data platform and a chip processor for crypto transations.
Japan is one of the few countries, which have publically discarded the concept, twice. Even though the country recognizes Bitcoin as an official means of payment, Masayoshi Amamiya has been very vocal about his doubts regarding CBDC. The deputy governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), has stated multiple times that there are no plans for CBDC development in the near future. Amamiya also explained that the country isn’t willing to eliminate fiat money even if there was a technological possibility for it. Cash is a very popular and reliable method in the country and in order to replace it, the replacement must be something out of this world.
Over in Europe, many officials decided to wait and observe the situation. Earlier this year, Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank (ECB) President, announced that there are currently no plans for development. He further elaborated that the technologies are not developed enough and require a colossal amount of testing before the ECB would even consider their use. However, he noted that the ECB is always carefully analyzing all developments and will take action if the right opportunity presents itself.
Iran is in a very unique position. Even though in April, the country banned all local banks from dealing with cryptocurrencies, the government minister shared that an experimental model of a national cryptocurrency was under development. He also stated that the country’s central bank will not prohibit or restrict the use of the national digital currency. There were rumors that Iran and Russia would start using their own cryptocurrencies in order to avoid the United States sanctions. The head of the Iranian Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs, Mohammad Pourebrahimi, noted that cryptocurrencies are a very promising way for Russia and Iran to avoid the sanctions. He also stated that digital currencies can prove to be a solid replacement for the SWIFT interbank payment system.
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The GSM Association (GSMA) has formed a group of mobile operators to explore the creation of a SIM that can be embedded and remotely activated in any electronic device.
The move could usher in a new era of machine-to-machine communications by giving network connectivity to devices such as cameras, MP3 players, navigation devices, e-book readers and smart meters.
GSMA said that it will analyse the market requirements and technical solutions needed to evolve current SIM provisioning mechanisms to create an embeddable version that will enable remote activation.
The task force will comprise experts from AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, in co-operation with SIM producers.
The analysis is expected to be completed by January, and the technical suggestions will be built on the principles of openness and standardisation, according to GSMA.
Devices featuring the new SIM activation capability could appear in 2012, and GSMA stressed that traditional SIM-based devices will continue to work on existing networks.
Ian Fogg, a principal analyst at Forrester Research, believes that the rise of connected devices is creating the need for a different type of SIM.
"The number of connected devices is growing all the time in smartphones, e-book readers and more everyday objects as the technology becomes smaller and more capable and reliable," he said.
"However, if you start embedding SIMs within devices you need a different way of provisioning and maintaining devices that contain these technologies, rather than the current access offered by mobile phone SIMs."
This sort of technology could have benefits for sectors such as utilities and logistics by passing data to companies without consumer intervention, according to Fogg.
The Mobile World Congress 2011 conference in Barcelona next month could well see some interesting innovations and technologies from companies and organisations like the GSMA, Foog said.
Freshly launched 11nm Qualcomm silicon will come with Adreno 612 GPU
Are pinning down the exact rate of expansion of the Hubble constant
RISC OS 5 to form the basis of RISC OS Open after Castle Technology sells to RISC OS Developments
A smartphone maker fiddling its benchmarking scores? That's unusual, isn't it?


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The COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered the digital sector, and propelled Nintendo to new highs.
The game industry has been working its way through the COVID-19 pandemic, which put a strain on how games are developed, while simultaneously bringing in big player spending. While numerous companies have seen quite a boost to their bottom line during this period, it appears Nintendo is benefiting more than most.
Nintendo recently shared their FY/2021 Q1 earnings results, and the figures were quite substantial. During the quarter, Nintendo managed to reach an operating income of ¥144,737,000 ($1,364,896), which amounted to ¥106,482,000 ($1,003,917) in net profit. This surge of support from customers new and old is thanks to the one-two punch of the Switch hardware itself, along with the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This wasn't just a fantastic quarter for Nintendo--these numbers helped the company set a new bar.
"This was Nintendo’s best Q1 on record, with the company reporting higher operating profit than during the peak Wii and DS period," Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at Niko Partners, told GameDaily.
In terms of raw sales, Switch hardware reached 5.68 million units sold during the quarter. That figure includes sales of the standard Switch and the portable-only Switch Lite. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which launched on March 20th, 2020, reached more than 22 million units sold. This figure tops the previous best-seller in the series, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which sold 12+ million units in its entire lifetime. In just 5 short months, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has already become the second best-selling title on Switch.
Nintendo also saw a sizable boost to their digital sales as millions hunkered down at home to help flatten the pandemic's curve. Every single title available on the Switch, including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is available for customers to buy digitally on the Nintendo Switch eShop. Players were eager to turn to this online option to fulfill their gaming needs.
"Digital continues to play a key role in Nintendo’s growth this console cycle with the company reporting a 230% increase in digital sales for the quarter," said Ahmad. "It’s important to note that this is the first quarter where more than 50% of software and services sales are digital and it’s also the 4th consecutive quarter where digital sales have increased from the prior quarter. Full game downloads have been the main contributing factor, accounting for approximately 68% of total digital sales, with games such as Animal Crossing having a more than 50% digital sales ratio."
While the quarter was indeed good to Nintendo, it likely could have been even better. The pandemic impacted Nintendo's ability to produce enough Switch units to meet demand, which resulted in potential customers being met with out-of-stock notices on retailer websites, or turning to third-party resellers to pay double, if not triple the MSRP. To a lesser extent, Nintendo also had trouble producing units of key software due to the pandemic impacting manufacturing, as happened with the exer-game Ring Fit Adventure. The good news is that Ahmad believes Nintendo has just about managed to get their production lines back on track.
"We believe that most of the impact from COVID-19 has passed for Switch hardware and software production, with developers adjusting to new workflows, and expect the company to announce at least 2 hit titles for release before the end of the fiscal year."
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FIRST BLOCKCHAIN-SMARTPHONE “SIRIN LABS” IS RELEASED
Today, Swiss electronics manufacturer SIRIN Labs launches its first blockchain smartphone, said the publication of Computerworld on November 28.
SIRIN Labs, a manufacturer of smartphones Solarin worth $ 14,000, is developing an open source model that runs on the blockchain. The company held an ICO in December, collecting $157 million, and this summer announced the upcoming product release in November. The head of SIRIN Labs noted that the new blockchain smartphone is designed to simplify the process of using cryptocurrencies and p2p networks.
Named after bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney, FINNEY’s smartphone will run on Android and the open-source operating system SIRIN OS, specifically designed to support applications such as cryptocurrency cold storage wallets and secure exchange access.
The article also notes that Token Conversion Service (TCS) application will be built into the new smartphone for $1000, in which it will be possible to convert tokens and coins, without the need of external applications.


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Some 10-15 products are planned till FY21, with two all-new offerings lined up every year for the coming few years.
MUMBAI: Onlookers and commuters on Marine Drive, Mumbai’s most famous promenade, recently witnessed a rare spectacle — the reticent and low-key chairman of India’s largest conglomerateTata Group, Cyrus Mistry, at the wheels of ‘Zest’, a new sub-4 metre compact sedan that group company Tata Motors is set to roll out in the market in the coming months.
Mistry, 46, was testing a vehicle that carries the burden of enormous expectations as the company hopes the new model will help reverse a precipitous decline in domestic market share.
Mistry Focusing on Design Changes
In an interaction with ET, Girish Wagh, senior vice-president, programme planning and project management, recounted how Mistry had asked his team in Pune to bring along theZest on their next trip to Mumbai. “He (Mistry) was quite pleased,” says Wagh about the chairman’s reaction to his driving experience and a number of improvements in the final version, some of which were carried out at Mistry’s behest. The successor to Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, is as involved in the nuts and bolts of designing a new car as his predecessor, whose passion for automobiles is well-known, he says.
The Zest, a compact sedan, is the first new car off the block and will compete with Honda Amaze, Swift DZire and Hyundai’s Xcent. It will be followed by ‘Bolt’, a hatchback that will compete with the Swift. A revamped Nano, said to sport a small boot, is also in the works. Tata Motors posted its lowest market share in a decade, achieving a meagre 7.94% in FY14 in the passenger vehicles space, a drop of almost 8-9% from a peak of 17% a decade ago. The company ceded its No. 3 position in the passenger vehicles (cars plus utility vehicles) segment to rival Mahindra & Mahindra in the last financial year. Maruti Suzuki was in pole position followed by Hyundai, M&M and Honda.
Mistry’s intervention has helped “motivate, galvanise and recharge” the team and makes a huge difference, says Wagh. He adds that Mistry has been focusing on design changes that would make the product more aspirational. He has been also working closely on how to improve quality and perceptions of it.
Tim Leverton, head-advanced & product engineering, who has been with Tata Motors for four years now, says the company is embarking on an “new era”. “It’s the start of a new era of products. We’ll get better and better,” says Leverton, a former BMW official. Responding to the steep decline in market share, Tata Motors has been working to revamp its manufacturing operations, the product development process and quality systems with strong support from Jaguar Land Rover, its overseas arm that accounts for 81% of revenue and contributed over 100% of profit in FY14. Some 10-15 products are planned till FY21, with two all-new offerings lined up every year for the coming few years.
Leverton says the company has enough funds and a portfolio plan that stretches beyond five years. “I’ve got a map in my office of all the things we can do. We can move quickly and across markets.” Wagh says it was on the chairman’s recommendation that they got a team from Warwick Manufacturing Group to work with the company. “This will help us take our craftsmanship to the next level.”
Among the changes that Mistry recommended were to improve the tactile feel of the knobs controlling the air-conditioning system, to reduce the gloss and improve the texture of the steering wheel and to make the chrome lining finer on air-conditioning ducts.
The teams took steps to implement these recommendations and the next time Mistry was in Pune, he remembered and reacted to the improvements. While he felt the tactile feel of the knobs still had scope for improvement, he was pleased by the changes in the lining and the texture of the steering wheel. “The feedback from the chairman is the best certificate we can get,” Wagh says.
He’s a keen observer and the design language does have his direction, Wagh adds. “He has a keen eye for design and has been able to comment on the newer upcoming scale models in a fairly concise manner,” Leverton says.Mistry’s intervention has gone beyond design. Another person closely involved with the new products who did not want to be named says Mistry was instrumental in deciding that the Zest would be launched ahead of the Bolt. “Whether he was advised to do so, or whether it was his own decision, is still unclear.”
He has also offered inputs on overall manufacturing quality levels and the type of materials used — an indication of the importance of the new launches to Tata Motors’ future.
- Notable Personality


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In turmoil over the allegations of the US Congress, Google does not forget the safety of its users. In a blog post published on October 7, 2020, Mountain View described various new features to improve the safety of Internet users.
Notifications without Gmail
“The security of our products is based on three fundamental principles: protecting your information, handling it responsibly and controlling it,” writes Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, vice president of products and data protection at Google. Because of this, the company introduces new security alerts if it suspects malicious activity is taking place on your account.
In the same category
Several French companies affected by a “presidential fraud” cyber fraud
Android smartphones have had notifications since 2015, but they “automatically display an alert in the Google app you are using and help you act” without the need to check email or phone notifications. These notifications are particularly secure and, according to statements, can only be issued by Google. They will be made available to a small number of users in the coming weeks and will be officially launched a little later.
Mountain View also confirms that its Safety Center, a platform for educating its users on cybersecurity, is currently being updated in the US and “very soon” in the rest of the world.
Changes to the Google Assistant and Timeline
Google Assistant users, especially those on the Google Nest series of devices, now enable guest mode:
“With a simple voice command, you can activate guest mode and your assistant’s interactions in that mode will not be saved in your account. You can deactivate guest mode at any time to enjoy the full and personalized Google Assistant experience again. “
The company also announces that it is now possible to change your location history on the Google Maps timeline and see your security settings with a simple search in search.
All of these new features are available because Mountain View has significantly improved the security of their Chrome browser with the update to the latest version.


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Why iRobot Stock Lost 12% in December
Shares of iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) trailed the market last month, losing 12% compared to a 9% slump in the S&P 500, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The drop wasn't enough to put the consumer electronics specialist in negative territory for the year, though. Instead, iRobot closed out 2018 up 9% compared to a 6% decline for the market.
iRobot announced early last month that it won a key patent protection case, which is another sign that its intellectual property is both valuable and a key competitive advantage. However, investors were likely more concerned with the risk that its consumer products might not sell as well as expected over the key holiday shopping season. For its part, management said in late October that they saw no issues with demand, and that their newest Roomba releases should excite consumers in the fiscal fourth quarter.
The company announces holiday-quarter results on Feb. 6 in a report that will be closely watched for signs of continued strong demand and healthy pricing. These warning signs would likely show up in actual results that fall short of management's target of between $92 million and $96 million of operating income for fiscal 2018. Looking further out, investors are bracing for a profitability decline in 2019 that could come courtesy of higher production costs thanks to rising tariff rates.
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On Wednesday, EarthLink filed a complaint against Charter Communications that alleged Charter is attempting to steal its broadband subscribers.
EarthLink said in its complaint to the Supreme Court of the State of New York that Charter purposely set out to mislead EarthLink subscribers in order to get them to switch to its broadband service.
A spokesperson for Charter declined to comment at this time on the filing.
EarthLink said Charter has falsely informed EarthLink customers that EarthLink is out of business, and that Charter has "taken over" EarthLink, as well as EarthLink's broadband service wasn't available in markets where it was.
"These false statements have reduced connectivity options for customers when they need them most, damaged EarthLink’s reputation and brand, and directly resulted in lost customers," EarthLink said in its complaint.
As one of the conditions of Time Warner's merger with AOL, which at that time was one of the largest ISPs in the nation, 20 years ago, EarthLink entered into an agreement with Time Warner that allowed it sell its branded broadband service over Time Warner's cable network. That "high-speed service agreement" remained in place when Charter bought Time Warner Cable in 2016.
Under terms of the agreement, both parties agreed to not target the other's internet subscribers.
Four years ago, Windstream bought EarthLink's network assets for $1.1 billion. In 2017, Charter elected to terminate the agreement with EarthLink, which meant the latter could no longer add new subscribers. Based on a section of the agreement, the two parties have been operating under a "transition period" whereby "existing service subscribers—currently approximately 50,000 in number—are eligible to continue to receive EarthLink High-Speed Service until October 31, 2020." As a result of Charter's actions, EarthLink said the 50,000 customers could lose access to their personal email accounts.
"EarthLink recently uncovered evidence that Charter has not complied with the terms of the Agreement," EarthLink said in its complaint. "Specifically, in an attempt to convince customers to switch to Spectrum, Charter has secretly been using its call centers to target EarthLink’s Service Subscribers and affirmatively mislead them about EarthLink and its service."
EarthLink and Charter did engage in negotiations in regards to the 50,000 subscribers, most of which are in New York with large clusters in California and the Carolinas, but were unable to come to terms.
"Rather than engage in these negotiations in good faith, Charter has attempted to exploit its dominant market position to achieve an unfair advantage," EarthLink said in its filing.
EarthLink said it has paid Charter and Time Warner "several million dollars," including $150 million over the last five years alone, to use Charter's cable network and to compensate Charter for handling the billing and service issues. While Charter handles the billing for the broadband services, EarthLink maintains its own relationship with customers that are using its email service.
“Charter is engaged in a campaign of deception with the purpose of misleading consumers about their internet options," EarthLink said in its complaint. "Charter has spread false rumors about the financial health of EarthLink in order to grow its customer base and eliminate competition, ultimately enabling Charter to increase prices in the future.
"Charter’s efforts have reduced service accessibility and increased consumer costs during the midst of a global pandemic, when the budgets of middle-class families are already being stretched to their limits. Access to affordable, reliable and high-speed Internet is an economic lifeline for millions of Americans who are working or learning from home and are unable to access traditional office spaces or classrooms."
EarthLink also provided statements from its subscribers that said Charter employees told them EarthLink was no longer in business and Charter's Spectrum service had taken over EarthLink. Subscribers also said that Charter had switched over to Spectrum broadband with out their authorization.
"These statements were and are false, tend to injure EarthLink in its business, and were made to EarthLink’s customers," EarthLink said in its complaint. "Charter knew the statements were false at the time its employees made them, and/or Charter acted with reckless disregard as to their truth or falsity."
Shades of Windstream?
EarthLink also brought up Charter's dust-up with Windstream in its filing. In May of last year, a federal judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York ruled that Charter Communications had to pay for letters that were sent to Windstream subscribers saying that an advertisement sent to them by Charter "was untrue and improper."
A preliminary injunction was filed that outlined the steps that Charter needed to take to remedy an advertising campaign that said Windstream, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February of 2019, was going out of business.
On April 5 of last year, Windstream filed a federal lawsuit against Charter that said Charter was engaging in a "scare-tactic campaign" to entice Windstream subscribers to switch over to Charter.
Among other issues, Windstream said in its filing that Charter, which filed for its own bankruptcy protection back in 2009, used envelopes that had Windstream's trademark and company colors to imply that it would not be able to provide services to its subscribers and that it was going to liquidate its assets.


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It’s no secret that Amazon (AMZN) has leaped ahead of the competition when it comes to e-commerce — and that Amazon stock has steadily climbed higher in recent years as a result.
So it also should be no surprise that AMZN is jumping into places usually avoided in the world of online shopping … like packaged consumer goods.
AMZN has plans to expand its same and next-day grocery delivery service called Amazon Fresh, for example, despite the fact that groceries and other household staples are notorious for having razor-thin margins. Then again, Amazon stock has soared higher despite the fact that low margins have long been the bread and butter of AMZN.
However, AMZN is working hard to bulk up margins — without raising prices, no less — by making moves like streamlining the AMZN supply chain.
AMZN Eying Unchartered Territory
AMZN has moved into a Procter & Gamble (PG) warehouse as part of its new program called Vendor Flex, which aims to lower the cost of moving and storing goods.
As The Wall Street Journal summed it up this morning, Amazon is “is quietly setting up shop inside the warehouses of a number of important suppliers as it works to open up the next big frontier for Internet sales: everyday products like toilet paper, diapers and shampoo.”
Household staples aren’t usually bought online, as they’re thought to be too big or too cheap to be worth the price of shipping. But that means there’s big-time potential for whatever company can figure out just how to make consumers buy even their most basic daily needs with the click of a mouse.
And there’s a good chance that company will be AMZN.
Already, the WSJ says “more efficient distribution and changing consumer habits are unlocking the market.” Not only is AMZN a leader in that efficient distribution with moves like these warehouse deals, but it’s been the one changing consumer habits to a large extent.
The company’s large footprint should help the AMZN foray into the consumer goods market, too. As Jeff Reeves wrote about Amazon Fresh and AMZN stock recently:
“Bake in a group of 10 million superusers with its Amazon Prime premium service — some of whom buy almost everything from AMZN — and you have a platform for massive wallet share.”
Mastering consumer goods and fresh goods could widen the company’s already-huge economic moat … and thus could amplify the already huge gains for Amazon stock.
Already, AMZN boasts a five-year total return of 41% per year vs. a mere 14% for the S&P 500. In 2013 alone, Amazon stock is beating the broader market with 22% gains, despite quarterly losses and several earnings misses.
That’s because investors believe AMZN will continue sprinting ahead in the e-commerce race. Amazon’s vendor deals and consumer goods push suggest they’re probably right.
As of this writing, Alyssa Oursler did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.