Home / digg.com rss archive / October-02-2007


Yahoo's "new" search: don't look now, but Yahoo is on the rise
On the heels of a study which proclaims Yahoo's Search to be the most efficient and "relevant" of the big three, Yahoo announces a plethora of improvements to its search engine. Yahoo is neither down nor out in Silicon Valley.

Old Zune Getting All The New Features: This is How You Treat Your Customers
The old Zune is getting all the new features. All. Microsoft's did something fantastic here and rewarded the believers who purchased Zunes in the first year by allowing them to get in on all the cool new stuff without having to pay more. Are you paying attention Apple? This is how you should treat your customers.

Zune 2 and Flash Zune Official
The next-generation Zune has just been announced, coming at you with a price tag (which we already saw) of $249 for the 80GB hard drive model and $149/$199 for the 4GB and 8GB flash-based models respectively.

Sony BMG's chief anti-piracy lawyer: "Copying" music you own is "stealing"
"When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy',"

FUD: "Linux Still Doesn't Make it On Desktop"
A response to that FUD piece ("Linux Still Doesn't Make it On Desktop") from Microsoft Shill, Michael Gartenberg [former Microsoft Evangelist]

Boing Boing Launches Daily Online TV Show
On Wednesday Boing Boing is launching a daily online TV show at http://tv.boingboing.net, The show will feature daily 3-5 minute reports hosted by Boing Boing authors Xeni Jardin and Mark Frauenfelder, with regular segments by Boing Boings other three authors David Pescovitz, Cory Doctorow and Joel Johnson.

Microsoft's new Zunes: officially in 80, 8, and 4GB sizes
We love a good non-mystery around here, and Microsoft's new Zunes are about as un-mysterious as they get. But we also love a good product refresh, and now that the cat's officially out of the bag we can really dig into the new Zunes, which definitely have a lot going for them. There's plenty to cover, so here's what you need to know.

AT&T vows to use Terms of Service for good, not censorship
Although AT&T's Terms of Service (ToS) give the company the right to terminate the accounts of users who criticize the company, AT&T says that the ToS is only meant to distance the company from those who support violence or exploit children.

Full speed ahead for Linux drivers
Linux needs drivers more than Mars will ever need women. So, noted Linux kernel and Novell developer Greg Kroah-Hartman will be devoting all his time to helping create Linux drivers.

Jewels for Geeks ! [PICS]
Even geeks need jewels...

Phone with a rape alarm
chekout this new phone .... i mean new feature

Interesting elevators
Im no statistician but according to my rough calculations there are over 70 elevators in the world.Here are some that may actually be enjoyable to ride.

A Glimpse of the Real Estate Development in Dubai [PICS]
Heres a birds eye view of the construction and development work in Dubai

AT&T Refuses To Provide Unlock Codes, Feel Free To Complain To The FCC
from the consumerist.

20 tips to get more juice from your laptop battery
When there are no power outlets in sight there's nothing more frustrating than a dying laptop battery. We've all been in that situation where we have a couple hours of work left to finish but our battery life is only estimated to last one more. Good news. Often times these situations can be avoided by optimizing the battery performance...

Good things come to those who wait (for 3rd party iPhone apps)
Believe it or not, Apple might actually be telling the truth (countless times) when it's said that they're working out a way to allow 3rd party apps without jeopardizing the security or reliability of the iPhone.It's a 1.0 product, and some may argue even a .8 beta productwhen was the last time you've used a 1.0 product that worked reliably?

Fox's 'House' Being Pulled From iTunes Because of NBC/Apple Dispute
'House' is being pulled from Apple iTunes, even though the show is on Fox, NBC-Universal Produces it, and as a result of them ending the contract with Apple, 'House' is no more on iTunes.

Bling! Gold Plated MacBook Pro (Pics)
Steve Jobs and Jonny Ive will surely wince when they see what Computer Choppers have done to their beautiful machine, but for readers who weigh in on the wrong side of the Taste:Cash ratio, the 24 karat gold plated MacBook Pro might be just the thing.

Why Do Companies Choose Proprietary Software Over Open Source?
The answer may surprise you.

Why Do Costco and Sams Treat Me Like a Criminal?
Why is it that they always want to see my receipt before I leave the damn building? Now, before I went on a rant about this, I did my research. Did you know that when you join Sams Club or Costco you agreed to allow them to not only see your receipts, but actually search your purses, bags, or whatever you have on your person?

Inside the Nokia Mansion Party: Unveiling the N-series Devices
An inside look at the event which debuted the "iPhone-killing" Nokias. The N95 and N800 devices are advanced, yes, but do they really measure up?

The Ultimate Guide to Workstation Ergonomics
"If you're like most people, you spend a good portion of your waking hours sitting at a desk or working with a computer. This time can become painful if you don't take steps to properly set up your workstation to work with your body and not against it. Creating an ergonomic workstation is easier than you might think, and the rewards can be huge..."

'iPhone Extreme' reference spotted in Apple.com HTML code
This one's a stretch, but a one-off mention of a product dubbed "iPhone Extreme" in the HTML code of one of Apple Inc.'s iPhone web pages has raised some eyebrows

RED ONE 4K video camera unboxed (finally)
The Red One Camera, which we saw in person back in April at NAB, just got unboxed. Yes, it's the same camera that Peter Jackson used to shoot the Crossing the Line short film proof-of-concept, but he seemed to like it enough that maybe, just maybe, he's buying a crapload to shoot the Halo movie with.

Reasons why I love Microsoft's Operating sytems
I love Microsoft's OS's, so much I just had to let it out.

UK can now demand data decryption on penalty of jail time
A controversial provision in the UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) allows investigators to demand access to cryptographic keys or fully decrypted data. Failure to comply leads to jail time.

Road to Mac OS X Leopard: an extensive look at Preview 3.0
Apple in a matter of weeks will roll out Preview 3.0 as part of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a significant update to its homebred media viewer that will see the application expand from a simple PDF reader into the beginnings of a full-fledged image editor. Here's an extensive look at what's new in Preview 3.0.

How To Invent
"Somewhere between picking out the the perfect shade of maroon and rounding the corners on your tabs you realize that you have completely lost the point. Lets see if we can get you back on track."

Rocket-Powered 21-Foot Long X-Wing Model Actually Flies (PICS)
Andy Woerner and his crazy rocketeer friends have built a 21-foot long X-Wing model that can actually fly. Yes, this is a real X-Wing powered by four solid-fuel rocket engines complete with radio-controlled moving wings. It blasts off in California next week, and we talked with Andy about the project, and how they expect it will do.

Compiz 0.6.0 Released With New Plug-Ins
In Compiz 0.6.0, the new Cube plug-in additions include transparency support, basic background support, and support for non-power-of-two sky dome textures. There is also now plug-ins for Glib, Ini, Fs (FUSE), and Video.

Blog reviews $400k Rolls-Royce Phantom, craps pants
A quote: "I pulled back on the short stalk poking out of the steering column's left side, which activated a little dual-lensed camera mounted in the center of the front bumper. A split-screen image showing me views up the intersecting road in both directions popped onto the display." DAMN!

2008 Nissan Skyline coupe revealed in Japan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today introduced the all-new Skyline coupe in Japan, a grand touring coupe designed off the same platform as the Infiniti G37, it gets the same 3.7-liter V6 producing 333 HP.

Valve Software's Co-Founder Explains Why No Mac OS X Support
Kikizo interviews Valve Software's co-founder, Gabe Newell, about the upcoming Orange Box game compilation due for release in October. The compilation includes Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 and will only be available for Windows, XBox 3...

How to run WinXP on Linux
A guide for running WinXP on Linux through VirtualBox

iPhone users calling for class action lawsuit over firmware v1.1.1
Angry with Apple over the absolute lockdown of the iPhone? You're not alone. Angry enough to start a lawsuit over it? You're probably in a far smaller group entirely, which now includes a number of rabble-rousers on Apple's forums, whose comment threads were killed shortly after beginning discussions of calling for a class action suit against Apple

Dealing With Stupid People Online - - Ignore, engage, insult?
The intent of this post is to collect as many strategies and thoughts in one place about how to deal with stupid people online. Because there are plenty of them. And, because the more successful you become, the more of them you will encounter.

World's Biggest Fake Fish Tank (PICS)
A 250m by 30m LED screen has been installed in the ceiling of a new mall in Beijing. That's an impressive 7,500 square meters of viewable area, and comes with an impressive $32 million price tag to match. It hangs 80 feet in the air, and is actually five screens combined. Check out a video after the jump.

Office Live Workspace revealed: a free 250MB "SharePoint Lite" for everyone
Cash cows are sacred, and Microsoft's new OLW looks to secure the future of Office by providing "value-added" online services for storage and collaboration. But it can also be used by users of other office apps.

Starbucks iTunes Music Store Reviewed, Pics
The Starbucks iTunes Wifi Music Store has launched in NYC and Seattle. Here is the first full review of the new service!

ShipIt will be distributing copies of Ubuntu 7.10 (free, as always)
Canonical's ShipIt service will be distributing free copies of Ubuntu's latest version, 7.10, when it becomes available later this month. You've got nothing to lose, why not try Ubuntu?

Scientists Invent 30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery
Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for (30 years without a single recharge)