They don’t like it. They don’t really understand it either or they wouldn’t do and say the things they do. The ‘lamestream’ or ‘fringe’ media as we sometimes call them, are being increasingly marginalized by the nearly instantaneous transfer of information available to the average person at his or her computer keyboard today.

Back in the day when virtually the entire hard news output was controlled by major print media and the three large television networks, NBC, CBS and ABC, there was a virtual lock on opinions voiced outside of these increasingly politicized outlets. With a decidedly left-leaning message, Americans were hammered for decades with decidedly one-sided messages. What conservative voices there were on the right were marginalized and diminished as being eccentrics and somehow outside the norm of American politics.

The increasing preeminence of leftist thought in our journalism schools had really begun to be felt in the late 60’s and 70’s when I had returned from military service and entered college. The anti-war movement was in full bloom and the left’s grip on academia was pronounced. As a journalism student I had numerous clashes with professors or grad students objecting to the the conservative slant of many of my pieces. This didn’t do a heck of a lot for my grades in those classes, but even then I was stubbornly defending my position and pointing out the fallacy of the liberal Utopian redistribution of wealth model. As you can well imagine, I took a lot of heat for speaking my mind and standing up for conservative principles.

With the advent of conservative talk radio and the personal computer came a sea-change in the public’s access to varied points of view. The so-called ‘mainstream’ press, both print and television, had dominated the landscape for so long that they had taken a paternalistic attitude that the American people really didn’t know any better. We had to have our ‘betters’ interpret for us. Along with the information revolution came the ability of America and the world to access information from thousands of sources instantaneously.

America had not been sufficiently dumbed down despite the left’s best efforts. We began to see the fallacy and the inaccuracies in what the left was saying. We saw lies and stories created out of whole cloth to support their socialist aims. Furthermore, we clearly saw the symbiosis between the leftist press and their political allies in the Democrat party and in the entrenched Washington bureaucracies. We began to talk to each other and exchange ideas. Not necessarily the ideas of our own party leadership either, for we had found them wanting. We came together through our new-found information freedom fountain as never before. The Conservative revolution was born. The country awoke and its people felt the resurgence of hope that was birthed with the adoption of the greatest document in history, the United States Constitution, on March 4, 1789.

We now re-dedicate ourselves to the ideals of the Constitution and the principles of truth, freedom and individual responsibility that has made America the greatest country in history.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2009

For some reason, in my head, it had the same scansion and rhythm as “Lucy in the sky, with diamonds”…

I spent the weekend beating my head on a viral invasion of our home PC. It had replaced all of the critical functions of my computer with itself, all three of my anti-virus installations (NIS, Seach & Destroy, SpywareBlaster), and there was just no way in hell I was going to risk others by doing anything online.

So, I gritted my teeth and acquired Windows 7 and Norton 360 (2010). W7 only comes on DVD, so I then acquired a DVD drive to replace the CD-ROM drive that came with my PC. Then I find that the drive interfaces have changed, and SATA is not the same as E-IDE (those who don’t ling the slingo should look those up), so I returned the SATA drive and spent half a day (enjoyably, with my wife along) driving to Best Buy and agonizing over which drive to purchase.

Removed old drive. Inserted new drive. Did what I could in Safe Mode to save some files (and there weren’t many I could save). Installed W7. Reinstalled W7 upon finding that I had also fallen behind the times concerning disk formats, and locked away 75% of the disk from the C: drive.

So, a weekend forcibly removed from online community, especially a holiday weekend where the downtime started on Thursday, actually was a Good Thing.

The fairie pig looks down upon me from its magnetic nose to cabinet perch, its wings stretched out, its pink fur reflecting the flourescent lighting. I should disclose that it doesn’t look very aerodynamic…

Oh, and if you missed me, you really should work more on your aim… ;-D

Διαθέσιμο το Divinity II: Ego Draconis | Game 2.0

To πολυαναμενόμενο action RPG Divinity II: Ego Draconis είναι πλέον διαθέσιμο στην Ευρώπη για PC και Xbox 360.

 

Στο Divinity II: Ego Draconis αναλαμβάνετε τον ρόλο ενός νέου Dragon Slayer που έχει την δυνατότητα να μεταμορφώνεται σε δράκο. Το παιχνίδι διαρκεί πάνω από 60 ώρες, ενώ διαθέτει μεταξύ άλλων μάχες στο έδαφος και στον αέρα, τεράστια dungeons αλλά και ανοικτές περιοχές.[more]

We have upgraded our network infrastructure to better accommodate the huge response to L4D2. 360 players will now have lag-free servers. We’ve also added more dedicated servers.

Lol, I don’t know, I thought they would of been upgraded the servers for Left 4 Dead 2 a while back. You’ll never read anything about Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 getting dedicated servers but that’s only for PC. Anyway, I doubt the servers would be lag free though, they’ll have less lag but you can’t get rid of all the lag but whatever. At least they’re making progress. No telling when I’ll play the game if I even want to play it now.

Yes I have finally succumbed, no the girls haven’t sent me stir crazy although the request from the 4 year old for highlights in black and pink nearly came close or the 5 year old asking for an iPhone cos all her mates have one… or the 14 year old deciding what tattoo she would like for Christmas.

No, it’s the other Funny Farm, the Facebook one.

Farmville

We meet up with the main players in the courier world at the weekend after a small detour around Stratford. All the couriers are talking about making money on Facebook, and I felt a pang of envy…. I want to make money on Facebook. Imagine the stamping of feet here and all the toys being thrown from the pram. So one of my friends take me aside and even though he had 200 pints and slurred a little, I hung on his every word which I have faithfully reproduced here

“Get a farm on facebook and plant crops, Alison has 37 levels and I am just behind her.“

Plant! OMG, does he have no idea of my track record with plants? and now I need to be doing crops!

The whole place, hundreds of couriers all talking about their farms on Facebook and I didnt have one. Bah. Then another of my friends decided to join Facebook just for the Farm. I thought no, I will not have one of these stupid games. It’s business as usual for me.

All Sunday and most of Monday I avoid Facebook .

Monday evening I find I have a farm, a viking clan and a mafia wars thing. Where did they come from? The Hubby. Apparently I have left my login on his PC and when he needs a boost in one of these games, he adds me. Thanks love.

So I now have a farm, and I can’t just have a basic farm and uninstall it, I have to plant a few of the trees that Andrea Sitler has kindly sent me, and a few haystacks that John Kenworthy has sent me… and my own daughter won’t add me as a neighbour.. yet.

I have no idea what I am doing either, I water plants and clear leaves and am given money. My farm is very small and everyone else has acres and some even have fun fairs on them. I hate it already

If you want me, I am no longer on twitter I am in the Funny Farm on Facebook

Sarah

Steampunk electronic consumer goods are almost inevitable. One of the most charming things about the narrative is when we get an image of the protagonist using some gizmo or gadget to vanquish the enemies or solve a mysterious puzzle. An idea to be brought up in Steampunk It Up will be the transcendence of the genre as it allows for different themes, time periods, and conceptions of futuristic technologies than just the classical Victorian imagery of the genre. Many narratives and visual art presentations have amusingly blended the antiquarian and the futuristic. As we look at these particular consumer electronic goods, we can see a sort of small step away from the Victorian. It’s no mere cake decorated in a theme: now one is actually taking the technology, in this case a rather advanced piece (the laptop) and forcing it’s visual representation to an anachronistic place, but assuredly using it in the modern way. How retro-futuristic of one. It seems like not too many true steampunk laptops exist out there, but check out some of these crazy things (are they actually pleasant to use, or is the highly designed concept not good for its general interface?):

• Intricately designed quintessential steampunk laptop, the clawed feet are sensible (for ventilation) and awesome. (Here’s a video of it in action!) Apparently it was made by someone who goes by Datamancer.
• This laptop comes with a Morse key.
• Interesting transition from laptop into portable typewriter.
• Beyond laptops, we need a steampunk laptop stand.
• And a laptop skin to go with it. (and look at that clown!)
• I don’t know enough about whatever this is to be able to identify it, but it looks weird and interesting.

DA OGGI I CLIENTI CHE HANNO L’ESIGENZA DI RIPARARE UN NOTEBOOK O UNA STAMPANTE E CHE TROVANO PIU’ COMODO RECARSI AL CENTRO DIREZIONALE DI NAPOLI, POSSONO PORTARCI I PRODOTTI DA RIPARARE PRESSO IL NS. NUOVO CONTACT POINT SITO C/O MBE CENTRO DIREZIONALE NAPOLI IS. E2.

CONTATTI PER INFO:
TEL. 081/ 2452106 – 19312802 – 19362270 – 0094036
CELL 347 3001401 (anche serali e festivi)
mail: dynamicsna@gmail.com
web: www.e-dynamics.biz

ASSISTENZA, RIPARAZIONI, SUPPORTO, RICAMBI, NOTEBOOK, COMPUTER, STAMPANTI, ACER, HP, COMPAQ, FUJITSU SIEMENS, LENOVO, TOSHIBA, SAMSUNG, LEXMARK, DESKJET, PHOTOSMART, OFFICEJET, LASERJET, DESIGNJET, PORTATILI, SOSTITUZIONE, DISPLAY, LCD, TASTIERA, BATTERIA, ALIMENTATORE, PULIZIA VENTOLA, LAPTOP, DESKTOP, FISSO, PIASTRA MADRE, MOTHER BOARD, SCHEDA VIDEO, ROTTURA LEVA PLOTTER

Basic PC: Requirements: No previous experience necessary.

Monday, January 4th

Saturday, January 9th

Basic Internet: Requirements: Experience using a PC and a mouse.

Monday, January 11th

Saturday, January 23rd

Keyboarding: Requirements: No previous experience necessary.

Tuesday, January 5th

Saturday, January 16th

Word Processing with Open Office Part I: Requirements: Experience using a PC and a mouse.

Tuesday, January 12th

Saturday, January 30th

Word Processing with Open Office Part II: Requirements: Word Processing with Open Office Part I

Tuesday, January 19th

Presentations with Open Office: Requirements: Experience using a PC and a mouse.

Monday, January 25th

Spreadsheets with Open Office: Requirements: Experience using a PC and a mouse.

Tuesday, January 26th

All classes are held in the Regional Library Computer Center (RLCC) of the Central (downtown) Library. All class times are 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Space is limited. Registration will be handled on a first-come, first served basis. If you register for a class and cannot attend, please call the Center as soon as possible. No one will be admitted after 10 minutes past the time of class is scheduled to start. These classes are provided by the Jefferson County Library Cooperative.

To register for a class, please call 205-226-3799 or 205-226-3798 or visit your local library and fill out a registration form.

Related articles by Zemanta

• What should the Library of Birmingham be and do? (steflewandowski.com)

E’ uscito, a cura dell’ISTAT, l’ Annuario statistico italiano 2009 che ci propone, tra gli altri, questi dati:

Popolazione

Alla fine del 2008 i residenti in Italia sono 60.045.068, circa 426.000 in più rispetto all’anno precedente. Questo incremento si deve tutto agli stranieri in base al saldo attivo del movimento migratorio (+434.245 unità)

Sempre a fine 2008 gli stranieri residenti sono 3.891.295, con 458.644 persone in più rispetto all’anno precedente. (Non sono, credo, inclusi, gli irregolari).

La maggior parte degli stranieri proviene dall’Unione europea (29,1%), seguono l’Europa centroorientale (24,1%) e l’Africa settentrionale (15,6%).

In Italia la fecondità delle donne si attesta nel 2008 a 1,41 figli per donna (da 1,37 nel 2007). Prosegue dunque il trend crescente osservato dopo il 1995, anno in cui, con 1,19 figli per donna, la fecondità ha toccato il punto minimo. All’interno dell’Unione Europea a 27 Paesi (dati 2007), l’Italia si colloca nella parte bassa della graduatoria. (nota: questo aumento della fecondità è dovuto per gran parte alle nascite di figli da donne straniere che, secondo altre rilevazioni hanno tasso di fecondità di oltre 2 figli per donna contro 1 delle italiane)

Nota: Aumentano dunque gli immigrati che fanno più figi di noi, e lo si vede nelle scuole elementari

Nel 2008 i matrimoni segnano una battuta d’arresto dopo la ripresa osservata l’anno precedente, passando da 250.360 a 249.242.(nota: sono comunque molti meno che negli anni 90)

Prosegue il processo di invecchiamento della popolazione, al punto che ormai un italiano su cinque è ultrassessantacinquenne.
A fine 2008 l’indice di vecchiaia (rapporto tra la popolazione con più di 65 anni e quella con meno di 15) registra un ulteriore incremento, raggiungendo un valore pari al 143,1%. Nella graduatoria internazionale (dati 2007), la Germania, con un indice pari a 146,4, è il paesemaggiormente investito dal fenomeno dell’invecchiamento, seguita dall’Italia.

Nel 2007 risultano in crescita sia i divorzi (+2,3%, per un totale di 50.669) che le separazioni (+1,2%, pari a 81.359). (Nota: meno matrimoni e più divorzi, questo è il trend) In forte aumento risulta l’affidamento condiviso, stabilito per la metà dei casi di divorzio (era il 28% nel 2006) e per quasi due terzi delle separazioni. Diminuisce di conseguenza il ricorso alla custodia esclusiva della madre, che risulta pari al 25,6% per le separazioni e al 46,1% nei divorzi (rispettivamente 58,3% e 67,1% nel 2006).

Istruzione

Sono 8.960.311 gli studenti iscritti all’anno scolastico 2007/2008,.
L’aumento della scolarizzazione ha prodotto, nel corso degli anni, un costante innalzamento del livello di istruzione della popolazione italiana; la quota di persone con qualifica o diploma di scuola secondaria superiore si attesta al 32,6%, mentre il 10,7% possiede un titolo di studio universitario.

Nel complesso la popolazione universitaria è composta da 1.808.665 studenti con una mobilità territoriale piuttosto elevata: uno studente su cinque studia in una regione diversa da quella di residenza. La partecipazione agli studi universitari risulta particolarmente elevata in Molise, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Lazio e Calabria.

Le donne sono più propense degli uomini a proseguire gli studi oltre la scuola secondaria (le diplomate che si iscrivono a un corso universitario sono circa 71 su 100, i diplomati circa 60), ma anche a portare a termine il percorso accademico (le laureate sono c

Personal Computer

Sempre nel 2009 crescono gli utilizzatori del personal computer e di Internet, che ormai
rappresentano rispettivamente il 47,5% (44,9 nel 2008) della popolazione di 3 anni e oltre e il 44,4% (era 40,2%) di quella di 6 anni e più. L’uso del pc coinvolge soprattutto i giovani e tocca il livello massimo tra i 15 e i 19 anni (86% rispetto all’80% del 2008); con il crescere dell’età diminuisce l’uso e fra i 65 e i 74 anni la percentuale scende al 9,9%, per raggiungere il 2,4% fra gli ultra settantacinquenni.

Image via Wikipedia

On Saturday I finally stepped out of the television stone age and into the age of high definition. While I rather like tech and gadgets, I have learned to wait a bit when it comes to the latest and greatest. After all, technology is marked by price settling. Briefly put, when a new technology emerges, it will generally be absurdly expensive. For example, personal computers used to cost a small fortune, but now they are quite cheap. When HDTVs first appeared, they were extremely pricey-so much so that I could not justify ditching my 36 inch CRT TV (which I got more or less by accident).

But, the prices seem to have dropped to that settled point-that is, the point at which they will probably not go much lower for quite some time. While I could be wrong, I suspect that decent 42 inch LCD TVs will stick at about $800 for quite some time-so I bought one.

Naturally, to use the HDTV properly, you need HD input. I happened to have an Xbox 360 and an old laptop that both have HDMI outputs. However, since the Xbox had been plugged into the old TV, I did not have an HDMI cable on hand.

Wanting to use my Xbox right away, I went to the cable section of Best Buy and stopped in shock at their prices. The cheapest HDMI cable was $30 and the others were in the $70 and up range. I overhead the salesperson selling some of the cables-going on about how important it was to buy the super-expensive gold plated cables. While I am not an expert on HDMI cables, I do know a bit about computer cables. My experience with them has been that you want to avoid the super cheap (in terms of quality) cables, but that the super-premium cables really do nothing more than the moderately priced decent cables.

But, since I was driven by the desire to get right to the XBox 360 in HD, I parted with the $30 for the cable. However, a little research revealed what I expected: the super high end premium cables do not really do anything special-except make the companies some decent profits. While you will want to make sure that your HDMI cable is not some crappy cable and that it is the right sort for your hardware, a relative inexpensive cable will work fine. For example, I got another HDMI cable from Amazon for a few bucks and it works just as good as the $30 one I bought at Best Buy. And that $30 one works as well as the $80-100 cables. So, save your money and avoid the super-premium cables: you will almost certainly not get what you think you are paying for.

If you are thinking of buying a computer then you need to know every thing about it including its accessories. It has been seen that people know only a few details about computers. They are content by knowing only about its hardware, software and processing details, and never give a thought about the accessories that are needed or used along with the computer. The following paragraphs summarize the work of computer accessories experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of computer accessories. If you follow their advice you can avoid any confusion in buying computer accessories surprises.

Yesterday, we spent about three hours trying to convince a client of ours that brand new computers just don’t come equipped with the all things that most computers need in a PC. We tried to convince him that a fully functional computer is one that is personalized with specially selected hardware and software accessories – and that the computer purchased at the store doesn’t come with these things. Unfortunately, all of our convincing was to our avail. Our client insisted that he should never need more than what came with his boxed product and that we were just trying “bilk” more money out of him.

As computer consultants, it’s our job and mission to make sure our clients are 100% satisfied when they walk out our offices. But our job is unnecessarily made harder when people don’t take the time to learn about computer accessories and familiarize themselves with the limitations of store-bought computers. Hopefully by the time you finish reading this article, you’ll understand the lesson that we were trying to teach our client: “What comes out of the box is really just a starter kit.”

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

The typical computer package comes with a CPU unit, keyboard, mouse, and speaker set. That may be just fine for some, but most people require more than that especially in today’s “connected” society. Today’s users require full multimedia capabilities, a wide range of graphics tools, and accommodations for the various portables we now enjoy. These extras aren’t included with “what comes out of the box,” and the only way to get them is to accessorize.

To illustrate the importance of accessorizing, we like to use the “plain dough” analogy. Let’s say that a brand new computer is a batch of plain dough – waiting to be flavored and baked into something useful. If we want to use this dough to make a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies, we would need to “accessorize” this dough with chocolate chips and a little brown sugar. If we want to use this dough into in a warm loaf of sesame seed bread on the other hand, we’d need to “accessorize” the dough with yeast and sesame seeds.

Like “plain dough,” the brand new computer isn’t very useful by itself. It needs accessorizing.

Depending on what’s needed, accessorizing doesn’t need to be expensive.  In fact, you can get away with paying a minimal amount for extra software and hardware if these accessories are for children. It’s when these accessories are work requirements or when they’re needed to produce works of quality for any other reason that they can become rather expensive. And this expense applies to microphones, digital cameras, PDAs, scanners, video cams, and more.

Regardless of cost, it’s important to understand that accessories can become “necessities,” and that the best time to get them is the moment you buy a new computer. Waiting too long to accessorize can cause more problems than necessary because while you wait, manufacturers continuously develop new technologies – technologies that your computer won’t be able to accommodate in the future. Once you’re ready to accessorize, the new products on the market are too advanced for your computer and they just won’t work. This is a typical problem experienced by those who want to use hardware designed for Windows Vista on a Windows XP or Windows 2000 machine.

I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.

Read more

Is a magic audio frequency fixture. It is quite different from the traditional one which base on electro-magnetic coils. It makes any hard surface play euphonious musical notes, such as wood, glass, floor, metal surface, etc. You can hear various materials around you, which play different music quality in different sides, and you can enjoy yourself in the freedom of music. The new sound principle will bring a new musical life style to you.

Many prefer Kubuntu to Ubuntu because of the stunning interface.

This is perhaps the most user-friendly tutorial on how to install Kubuntu afresh on your PC. To get Kubuntu, click here (as with all Cannonical releases, its totally free!) and burn the downloaded .iso file to a CD (you could also burn it to a DVD).

One more thing, the installation instructions here are for Kubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala release), currently the latest version.

Step 1: BIOS Changes – Make sure your first boot device is set to your CD/DVD ROM. Save your settings and exit BIOS.

Step 2: When you boot, this is the first screen you will get:

Step 3: Select your language and then select the “Install Kubuntu” option and press enter.

Step 4: The following images are in sequence. You will have to enter your details as per your preferences.

Select your region:

Select your keyboard layout (best keep it to the default one as shown here if you’re not sure).

If you want to install Kubuntu on your hard drive as the only OS, then click on the first option “Erase and use the entire disk” as shown here. (If you want to set partitions, click on the specify partitions and set your partition size and specification) Its better to select the first option as shown here if you’re not sure.

Enter your name and username, password etc. If you dont want Kubuntu to ask you for passwords everytime you boot, select the “Log in automatically”

Click on Install and get your cup of coffee coz its gonna take quite some time!

The installation bar which you will have to tolerate for around 10-15 mins. Did you get that coffee?

After the installation is over/the bar reaches 100%, you will get this image on your screen. As directed simply remove the CD from the tray and press Enter.

Kubuntu will now reboot and greet you with its amazing interface!

Thats it!

Some of my local readers may have not seen this spat between Engadget and Miami New Times. Tim Elfrink of the New Times wrote a piece on the two brothers of Psystar, the company that makes Mac clones out of PC parts for half the price of a legit Apple laptop/desktop. Young second-gen Cuban immigrants from hardscrabble upbringings defy stereotypes by dressing well and take on an established American corporation by creating grey-market shadow products. It’s like BrandsMart but sexier because Apple is involved. Almost sounds like a made for TV movie on Univision, Telemundo or Spike TV. Well there is a lot some nerd rage out on the interwebs with some of the details.

From the Engadget article.

[...]there’s a quote here from Psystar founder Rudy Pedraza that simply leaps off the page:

Rudy scoffs at the idea he borrowed from the Hackintosh scene. “The first thing you have to do is unlearn everything you’ve read online about how to make this work,” Rudy says, “because it’s all wrong.”

Really? Because we think there’s a very large, very active hacking community out there that would disagree with you, Rudy.

• “Robert cracked the code behind Apple Computer’s elegant operating system, OS X.” Yeah.
• “Psystar legally buys the software…” That’s not in question, really. The issue is what happens after Psystar buys OS X, when it modifies and redistributes it. You know, the specific thing Apple’s suing about.
• “[Apple] filed a 35-page lawsuit in California claiming Psystar was selling “unauthorized” versions of OS X.” Why is unauthorized in quotes? That’s exactly what Apple claims.
• “As with Microsoft, which lost a multimillion-dollar antitrust decision in Europe in 2004, Apple is protecting an illegal monopoly, Psystar claims.” Psystar has already lost this part of its case in California, and in the new Florida case Psystar only claims Apple has a monopoly on “premium personal computers,” which pretty much invalidates the pricing argument and has driven the company to sell more expensive machines.
• “Robert says he found his own way around Apple’s built-in security devices. The breakthrough meant that, among other things, the cheap machines were virtually immune to viruses and hackers.” This is simply not true. OS X is vulnerable to hackers in its shipping form, and hacking EFI doesn’t change that.
• “Psystar pays full price – $29 – for each copy of OS that it installs on its computers.” $29 is the Snow Leopard upgrade price. The full price is $169 with iLife and iWork.
• “What’s more, Apple holds that consumers who purchase an operating system don’t actually own the software…It’s a dubious-sounding arrangement that courts, at least so far, have upheld.” It’s not dubious to the courts, who’ve been upholding EULAs for over a decade across the country. (And striking some down, to be fair.)
• “Pretty much anyone with basic computer knowledge can make a cloned Mac for just the cost of a full tank of gas in an SUV.” Actually, anyone can do this for free, without having to pay Psystar.

Now, don’t get us wrong — the personal story of Robert and Rudy Pedraza laid out in the article is moving stuff, but when the chips are down, we’re picking the hacker and enthusiast community over a couple guys trying to make a buck selling unlicensed software, and that Hackintosh quote struck us as impossibly arrogant and extremely foolish. The OSx86 community is already wary of Psystar, and we’re guessing no one’s going to rush forward the next time these jokers need some help.

Hi Edwin –

Yes, Endgadget did such a good job of calling out our “errors” that they spelled my name wrong until I called them out on it. (Looks like the’ve fixed it now).

As for the other “errors” — I see 7 complaints about characterizations in the story and no complaints about factual errors. (Way to bust us for putting “unauthorized” in quotes. That’s because it’s “quoted” straight from the Apple lawsuit.)

There is only one charge about a supposed factual mistake: that Snow Leopard’s update runs at $29 but the whole package sells for $169 with the whole iLife package.

I’m not certain which version Psystar purchases, nor do I claim to know in the story — I was simply providing readers some context on what Apple charges for Snow Leopard updates at the Apple Store.

Tim

Comment by Tim Elfrink from Miami on Nov 11th, 2009, 18:55 pm

Well, Nilay didn’t take too kindly to his article being accused of shoddy writing either.

My reply is that it’s pretty ballsy to take on a copyright lawyer who’s been covering Psystar and its associated litigation since day one by bitching about a typo and trying to re-cast my criticisms of his piece as taking issue with his “characterizations” of the facts.

His entire piece is centered around a single, provably false “characterization”: that Robert and Rudy Pedraza developed the EFI hack that enables Mac OS X to run on non-Apple hardware without any reliance on the hackintosh community. That’s a joke, and he clearly didn’t do the required research before writing his piece.

As for the rest, Psystar’s antitrust claims *have* been thrown out, so a comparison to Microsoft is ridiculous and misleading, there’s simply no way the EFI hack renders any machine “virtually immune to hackers and viruses,” the Snow Leopard price is simply wrong, calling EULA law “dubious” is even more misleading as it’s been so well-tested, and anyone *can* make a hackintosh for free.

Psystar tells a good story, and it’s clear that Tim bought it without question. It’s just too bad so much of it is based on lies and mistruths.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am with Nilay and Engadget on this. They have far more experience and the actual facts on their side. Yes Engadget had a typo with Tim’s name, but that’s really a secondary and minor issue. But at least one of the issues in the original Engadget list could be easily fixed with a little more detail. Let’s do some comparisons.

“Robert cracked the code behind Apple Computer’s elegant operating system, OS X.”

That’s too vague for me. Let’s try again.

“Robert cracked the code behind Apple Computer’s elegant operating system, OS X that prevented the OS from running on non-Apple hardware.”

“Robert cracked the code behind Apple Computer’s elegant operating system, OS X. But some in the Hackintosh community claim they stole the code from open source projects.”

Depending on what you want to believe, either of those may work and I’m sure a ton of other people can re-write it better ways. As for the others on the list, I believe the New Times did fail to get the facts on this. Granted this isn’t a quick and easy subject but with time and some research, this would not have been a problem. Sadly, time is valuable for any newspaper. Time and money that seemingly no paper has to spare. I just hope this doesn’t burn the Miami New Times from writing about more tech articles. I really enjoyed the majority of the article and wish for them to write more stories about technology.

Update:

I originally wrote this story on Wednesday of last week and something new has happened in the Psystar vs. Apple case. On Saturday this update was posted:

Yet another bad day for Psystar. After both Apple and the shady hackintosh company filed for summary judgements, the rulings are out, and Psystar is looking pretty screwed.

All of Psystar’s motions for summary judgment were denied, while all of Apple’s were granted. That means that Apple got exactly what they wanted, while Psystar got exactly what they didn’t want.

Don’t worry, there will be a trial. The court still needs to determine (*deep breath*):

Apple’s allegations of breach of contract; induced breach of contract, trademark infringement; trademark dilution; trade dress infringement; and state unfair competition under California Business and Professions Code § 17200; and common law unfair competition.

Phew! So yeah, at this point it’s looking less like a trial to determine Psystar’s legitimacy, more like a trial to decide how much they owe Apple.

Now, I’m no lawyer, but from where I’m standing this case is looking pretty grim for Psystar. I’ll leave it to you legal eagles to explain exactly what all this means in the comments, because all I know is that it can’t be good. [Gizmodo via Groklaw via 9 to 5 Mac, image via walknboston]

So there you have it.

The world is flat.

No?

Here’s why.

Globalisation It is the integration of economies, societies and cultures through communication.

The world shrank from a Large size to a Medium size because Christopher Columbus founded the New World* and he opened trade between the Old and New World.  Globalisation was driven only by countries & the government.

Generation 2.0 (Year 1800-2000)

The world shrank from a Medium size to a Small size. Global integration was driven by MNCs.

Generation 3.0 (Year 2001-present)

Shrinking world (and still continuing) from small to tiny. It is the convergence of:

1)   Personal computer- where we are the authors of our own content in digital form

2)   Fiber optic cable- represents the internet, where you can access more digital content around the world

3)   Rise of workflow software- allows you to collaborate on the same digital content from anywhere in the world. (Eg Forums, comments on blogs, chatrooms, video-conferencing)

So what does this mean for us?

• Individuals can now go global by themselves without relying on countries or companies.
• However, competition isn’t just limited within your country, but from other individuals around the world.
• Distance isn’t an issue anymore
• You own strengths and capabilities matter

And how does this link back to the world being flat?

It simply means that the world is a level playing field where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed!

Yeah!

I love Boxee, but instead of just watching it my Mac, it’s mind blowing  when hooked up to the large plasma in the living room!

So I have been running it on an Apple TV with a hack (anyone interested do a search for ATV Flash, from Firecore), which is great for the most part, but the hardware is just too slow for HD shows, which lag and jerk a fair bit, so I was super pleased to hear that Boxxee is launching it’s own “box”: According to Engadget:

Color us shocked and elated. Boxee, the white-hot startup that has risen from nothing to everywhere
thanks to its internet TV software portal, has just announced that a deal has been inked between it and an undisclosed “hardware partner.”
If you’ll recall, we actually heard that the outfit was mulling the production of its own set-top-box back in January, and now it looks like Roku, Apple TV and a host of other mini PCs will have yet another formidable rival vying for space underneath the tele.

• Heads Up: Update your Apple TV to 3.0.1 ASAP, says Apple

DEVI RIPARARE UN NOTEBOOK ACER A NAPOLI? AFFIDATI AL PARTNER DYNAMICS NAPOLI 081 19312802 DA 30 ANNI AL TUO SERVIZIO

UN’EQUIPE DI TECNICI QUALIFICATI, PREZZI TRA I PIU’ BASSI DEL SETTORE, AMPIA DISPONIBILITA’ DI RICAMBI ORIGINALI ACER, TEMPI RAPIDI,

VENDITA ALIMENTATORI E BATTERIE ACER, SOSTITUZIONE DISPLAY LCD ACER, TASTIERE, DVD, INVERTER, CERNIERE, PORTATILI, NOTEBOOK.

CONTATTI:
TEL. 081/ 19312802 – 2452106 – 0094036
CELL 347 3001401
MAIL: napolicomputer@gmail.com

ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK HP, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK ACER, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK ASUS, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK SAMSUNG, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK FUJITSU-SIEMENS, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK COMPAQ, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK TOSHIBA, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK SONY, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK LENOVO, A NAPOLI RIPARARE UN NOTEBOOK HP, ACER, ASUS, SAMSUNG, FUJITSU-SIEMENS, COMPAQ, TOSHIBA, SONY, LENOVO A NAPOLI, ASSISTENZA RIPARAZIONI NOTEBOOK , ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK NAPOLI, ASSISTENZA NOTEBOOK A NAPOLI, NOTEBOOK, HP, NAPOLI, ASSISTENZA, RIPARAZIONI, ACER, RIPARAZIONI COMPAQ, RIPARAZIONI FUJITSU-SIEMENS, RIPARAZIONI LENOVO, RIPARAZIONI HP, SOSTITUZIONE, DISPLAY, TASTIERA, HD, DVD, ALIMENTATORE PER NOTEBOOK HP, ACER, SAMSUNG, LENOVO, TOSHIBA, SONY, FUJITSU-SIEMENS, RICAMBI ORIGINALI, ACER,

I’m sure a few of you have been going on those porn sites and get viruses which fuck up your PC. Well i suggest that you protect yourself by using the same anti virus software that i use. Its called Avast! and is a pretty decent anti virus software plus it is free. Just click on the image below and download the avast! home edition from their site and then after you download you just need to register it and your PC will be protected.