Because of quirks in many state laws, sales taxes may be levied on CDs sold in storefronts but not on iTunes and other digital downloads. This is the situation that recession-weary, tax-hungry politicians are hoping to change. A growing number of states are considering laws to tax digital goods, such as iTunes songs, Amazon MP3s, or e-books.
After the leaked pictures of the Zune HD appeared on Saturday, more unconfirmed technical specifications of the device have now emerged. Microsoft’s new portable media player is set to go neck-to-neck with Apple’s iPod Touch, as the specifications of the Zune HD make it a viable contender.
An anonymous reader writes “University researchers in the UK have put together a team tasked with predicting the next big thing in terms of communication technologies, in a bid to tackle ethical pitfalls before they become a problem. This is in the wake of the rise of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, which has led to a dramatic increase in the amount of personal information available online.”
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Al writes “Two research groups have found a way to unzip carbon nanotubes to create nanoribbons of graphene — a material that has shown great promise for use as nanoscale transistors but which have proven difficult to manufacture previously. A team led by James Tour, a professor of chemistry and computer science at Rice University and another led by Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford University, both figured out ways to slice carbon nanotubes open to create the nanoribbons. The Stanford team was funded by Intel and the Rice group is in talks with several companies about commercializing their approach.”
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 The Canadian Press |
Conquest Vacations shuts its doors
Canada.com Conquest Vacations Inc. made the surprise announcement Wednesday it would cease operations immediately, becoming the first casualty in an ongoing price war in the travel tour business in Canada. Conquest Vacations Ceases Operations Macleans.ca Credit squeeze fells Conquest Vacations Reuters Canada Globe and Mail – Hamilton Spectator – 580 CFRA Radio – iNews880.com all 160 news articles |
 CTV British Columbia |
'Gordon Campbell can't be trusted': Carole James
Vancouver Sun BC NDP leader Carole James speaks at the BC Rail/ CN Rail yard in West Vancouver, BC WeJdnesday morning, April 15, 2009 while on the BC NDP provincial election campaign. Campbell promises cheap transit passes to post-secondary students CBC.ca BC voters to compare platforms now that both Liberals and NDP … The Canadian Press CTV British Columbia – News1130 – Opinion250 News – Globe and Mail all 318 news articles |
 guardian.co.uk |
French raid pirate ship, US seeks to freeze assets
The Associated Press MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) – The US and its allies battled Somalia's pirates on two fronts Wednesday, with French forces seizing a bandit mother ship and Washington seeking to keep the marauders from their spoils. Video: Somalia: pirates improving methods for night attack France 24 France detains Somali pirates, US to boost fight Reuters Xinhua – Aljazeera.net – AFP – Daily Times all 3,385 news articles |
This is Michael Fremer. He’s listening to “Avalon” by Roxy Music on his 0,000 stereo system. It sounds excellent. He’s a bit crazy, but if you love music, you need him. Here’s why.
An ISP review website in the UK claims that 25 percent of its readers have run into “excessive use” warnings. Compared to the new caps being trialed in the US, though, there’s little to complain about on that front.
If anti-piracy lobbyists are to be believed, all content creators hate The Pirate Bay and other torrent sites. The truth is obviously more balanced. In fact, some of the most creative minds are BitTorrent users themselves, including best selling author Paulo Coelho, who offered to travel to Sweden to testify in favor of The Pirate Bay.
