May 8 2009

Windows 7 Anti-Piracy Plans

Slatterz writes “Microsoft has announced that the forthcoming Windows 7 operating system will contain a number of piracy ‘tweaks’ it says are designed to protect the interests of customers. Under the new regime users will be expected to validate their software in a much more precise way than before. Other Microsoft operating systems and anti-piracy measures, including Windows Genuine Advantage, allowed users to delay ‘activation,’ but Windows 7 will make it harder to ignore repeated messages. According to Joe Williams, general manager for Worldwide Genuine Windows at Microsoft, counterfeit software ‘delivers a poor experience and impacts customer satisfaction with our products, particularly if users do not know that their software is non-genuine.’ Williams gave the example of one piracy exploit that caused more than a million reported system crashes on machines running non-genuine Windows Vista before Microsoft was able to resolve it.”

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May 8 2009

Balsillie's attempts to cherry-pick US franchise popular in Canada – Canada.com


ESPN

Balsillie's attempts to cherry-pick US franchise popular in Canada
Canada.com
By John MacKinnonMay 8, 2009 8:04 AM Would you like to see Jim Balsillie purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and relocate the NHL team to southern Ontario?
Can Hamilton steal one? Toronto Sun
Hamilton seeks long-term deal Canoe.ca
Globe and Mail – Ottawa Citizen – Rotoworld.com – National Post
all 1,770 news articles  Langue : Français
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May 8 2009

Apple Reconsiders, Approves NIN iPhone App

gyrogeerloose writes “According to MacRumors, NIN’s iPhone application has been approved. Trent Reznor has reported via his Twitter account that the now-approved app was resubmitted without modification, which suggests that Apple reconsidered their initial rejection. This should really come as no surprise to anyone who follows Apple news since it follows the company’s typical pattern of handing potentially controversial iPhone apps, especially when it concerns high-profile rejections.”

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May 7 2009

7 Surprising uses for the iPhone’s camera

These days, a 2-megapixel camera may not seem like much. But add Web access, a pocket-size Mac, and third-party apps to the mix, and presto! That humble camera is now a personal assistant and digital artist in one. Here are just a few of the ways you can extend your camera.


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May 6 2009

Ray Kurzweil’s Vision of the Singularity, In Movie Form

destinyland writes “AI researcher Ben Goertzel peeks at the new Ray Kurzweil movie (Transcendent Man), and gives it ‘two nano-enhanced cyberthumbs way, way up!’ But in an exchange with Kurzweil after the screening, Goertzel debates the post-human future, asking whether individuality can survive in a machine-augmented brain. The documentary covers radical futurism, but also includes alternate viewpoints. ‘Would I build these machines, if I knew there was a strong chance they would destroy humanity?’ asks evolvable hardware researcher Hugo de Garis. His answer? ‘Yeah.'” Note, the movie is about Kurzweil and futurism, not by Kurzweil.

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May 6 2009

Canada won't let seal ban 'contaminate' free trade talks – Calgary Herald


New York Times

Canada won't let seal ban 'contaminate' free trade talks
Calgary Herald
Czech Republic's President Vaclav Klaus, right, welcomes Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Prague Castle on Wednesday. Canada and the 27-nation European Union launched free-trade negotiations here Wednesday by announcing an open skies agreement.
Harper will 'vigorously' defend sealers from ban CTV.ca
Canada and EU sign deal to open aviation market Reuters
Macleans.ca – New York Times – Bloomberg
all 874 news articles
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May 6 2009

Exclusive Apple Source: 10.5.7 Hitting Your Mac on Friday

According to a source inside Apple, 10.5.7 should be ready for all your Software Updating needs on Friday.


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May 5 2009

Russia expels 2 Canadian diplomats – CBC.ca


Monsters and Critics.com

Russia expels 2 Canadian diplomats
CBC.ca
Minister of Defence Peter MacKay, shown during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on April 27, wants to know why Russia expelled two Canadian diplomats.
Video: Georgian mutiny quelled RT
Mutineers crank up tensions between Georgia and Russia Scotsman
Reuters – Daily Times – Telegraph.co.uk – AFP
all 1,040 news articles  Langue : Français
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May 4 2009

VirtualBSD Inside and Out

VirtualBSD is a strange Mac OS X look-alike version of FreeBSD trapped in VMware…


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May 4 2009

Nuclear Testing Helps Identify Fake Vintage Whiskey

Hugh Pickens writes “Industry experts claim the market for vintage whiskey has been flooded with fakes that purport to be several hundred years old but instead contain worthless spirit made just a few years ago. Now researchers at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit have developed a method that can pinpoint the date a whiskey was made by detecting traces of radioactive particles created by nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s. ‘”It is easy to tell if whiskey is fake as if it has been produced since the middle of the twentieth century, it has a very distinctive signature,” says Dr. Tom Higham, deputy director of the facility. Nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s saw levels of carbon-14 in the atmosphere rise around the world so the amount of isotope absorbed by living organisms since this time has been artificially elevated. Whiskey extracted from antique bottles is sent to the laboratory where scientists burn the liquid and bombard the resulting gas with electrically charged particles so they can measure the carbon-14 in the sample. In one recent case, a bottle of 1856 Macallan Rare Reserve was withdrawn from auction at Christies, where it was expected to sell for up to £20,000, after the scientists found it had actually been produced in 1950. “So far there have probably been more fakes among the samples we’ve tested than real examples of old whiskey,” says Higham.'”

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