An unconfirmed report today from Reuters quotes an industry analyst firm iSuppli as saying that Apple plans to buy as much as 40% of Samsung’s second-half flash memory output. The NAND flash memory cards will be used in a new, 4GB iPod Mini, which Apple would release in time for the holiday shopping season. The current version of the 4GB mini contains a hard drive. Apple’s iPod Shuffle uses flash memory
Hitachi unveiled the world’s first hard disk drive/DVD recorder that can store one terabyte of data, or enough to record about 128 hours of high-definition digital broadcasting
Professional loony fundie, Pat Robertson, called for the murder of the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. In an apology he repeated the call for murder. Welcome to the voice of Christian extremism
A crafty killer whale has devised a new way to catch a tasty bite. The orca spits regurgitated fish onto the surface of the water — and then waits. When a passing gull dives for the bait, the whale lunges at the feathery treat with open jaws. What’s more, the trick was picked up by other family members. And it’s not just whales that exhibit cultural learning, there is mounting evidence that the trait is widespread in animals, including chimps
Intel is to invest AU$37 million in wireless telco Unwired, in an effort to support the carrier’s rollout of wireless broadband based on the forthcoming high-speed WiMAX standard. Unwired CEO David Spence said the proceeds would be used to expand the company’s services beyond Sydney next year, although he would not be drawn on which cities would be first
The new rumour mongering doing the rounds is how Google’s new Talk/Jabber/IM thing is just a stepping stone, but it’s really just a foreshadowing of their future buyout of Skype
In a victory for free speech on the Internet, a New York man ordered to transfer the domain name www.fallwell.com to the Rev Jerry Falwell will be allowed to keep the Web site, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled — via Politech
For three years, the two groups, headed by Toshiba (HD DVD) and Sony (Blu-ray), have pushed to have their respective technology standards adopted to gain dominance in the multibillion-dollar markets for DVD players, PC drives and optical discs. The two groups have held negotiations on unifying their formats to persuade consumers to shift to advanced discs and to promote growth in the industry. But negotiations fell through as neither side yielded, and time ran out to develop a format before the launch of new products from both groups
A vendor in a Stormtrooper suit (with a plastic laser gun) at a Star Wars convention in Janesville, Wisconsin, was surrounded by police after someone called the police and said that there was an armed robber
in fancy white armour at the local Ramada — via BoingBoing
Google’s new IM service, Google Talk, is already live. All you need is a Jabber-compatible Instant Messaging client (such as Apple’s iChat, or gaim), and a GMail address. This should answer, at least in part, all of the speculation that has been flying around the net over the last couple of days
Ryan Hamlin, head of Microsoft’s Technology Care and Safety Group spoke out against New Zealand’s proposed anti-spam legislation, warning that it could impinge on the amazing vehicle of e-mail marketing
. He also suggests that CAN-SPAM has been effective in deterring spammers. Though often criticised as too meek, US anti-spam legislation — which relies on people opting out of spam — has proved effective in supporting prosecutions and deterring spammers
Google launched a new beta version of its desktop search tool on Monday that features updated Web navigation software and an innovative tool-bar. The move puts Google in direct competition with Yahoo, Lycos and AOL, as well as Microsoft’s new search engine. The search giant may be hoping that the beta version of Google Desktop Version 2 will be better received than the first version, which was criticised by analysts at Gartner who advised firms to steer clear of it
An allegedly legal rave in Utah last Saturday was broken up by a heavily armed SWAT team who reportedly teargassed hundreds of peaceful dancers and then set attack dogs on them. Some of the attendees had video cameras with them, and the footage that has begun to appear on the Internet is very disturbing, showing brutal assaults by the officers — via BoingBoing
With off-the-shelf components, scientists have managed to speed up light beyond the universal
constant of c, or roughly 300 million m/s. This, and the previous ability to slow light down could shake up the telecom world
Recently, Mark Cuban of Icerocket made the accusation that Blogger is by far the worst offender when it comes to Spam Blogs. Now Google Blogger is introducing Word Verification for user comments to prevent comment spam and another feature called Flag As Objectionable where users can report blogs with questionable content. Google appears to be listening
The owner of a CCTV surveillance shop which was robbed by a hooded thief has said the incident was the biggest boost to business imaginable
. The suspect was caught stealing a £700 laptop on eight separate cameras at CCTV Surveillance Solutions — via Feòrag
A Qantas engineer has found a way to help small aircraft avoid stalling [BugMeNot] at low speeds: pumping sound through the wings. He found that music also works, having tested Spiderbait and Radiohead. Spiderbait apparently works better
British soldiers will be getting germ-fighting underwear. The antimicrobial underpants have been introduced by the Ministry of Defence as part of a new desert uniform for soldiers. They are the first undergarments issued to British troops, who traditionally have had to supply their own. Military officials said Thursday the unisex trunks were made from artificial fibres for comfort, with silver particles woven into the material to prevent sweating. According to Colonel Silas Suchanek: It is coated to prevent bacterial infection, and we have tried to arrange the seams so that they don’t chafe
Thanks to the Kansas School Board, the idea that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster is really taking off. There’s a good guide to the cult at Wikipedia. The joke, of course, is that it’s arguably more rational than Intelligent Design
— via Guardian Unlimited: Onlineblog
San Francisco is about to embark on a Free (or low cost) WiFi campaign with the mayor holding the reins, of course, in hopes of offering more low-income residents easier access to the Internet. Since San Francisco, unlike Philadelphia, is only 127km², will this work here and can this be accomplished in a year as promised or is this just another political plot to get the Mayor re-elected?
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