Mereja

Author: Serkadis

  • Nothing was stirring, not even these mice

    Filed under: , , , ,

    Wired’s Gadget Lab points to this great Flickr gallery by raneko of Apple mice throughout the years, from the blocky one-button behemoths of years past up to the smooth and slick Mighty and Magic mice of today. Laid all in a row like that, it’s interesting to see just how much care went into the look of these things, and how the different iterations, across years of work, built upon the basic idea. Wired says that Apple mice have never been its strong point, and they’re pretty right about that — even the current mouse, while beautiful and well-designed, doesn’t have the functionality or ergonomic design that you’ll find in most other brands of mice.

    But nevertheless, these still look great, and for the Apple fan, they’ll probably bring back a flood of memories all the way back to the Macintosh. Great gallery.

    TUAWNothing was stirring, not even these mice originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • FCC unsatisfied and troubled by Verizon Wireless’ response regarding its ETF and $1.99 phantom data fee

    verizon-logo

    In a scathing one page response, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn cut Verizon Wireless to its knees by saying the answers the wireless carrier provided in response to the FCC’s investigation were “unsatisfying and, in some cases, troubling.” The commissioner chided Verizon for the fluctuating rationale behind its early termination fee, which has been expanded to include not only the cost of the device itself but operating and retail costs as well. She pointed out that high voice and data costs already subsidize these business costs and the fees levied, especially those at the end of a contract, are not in the public’s best interest. Clyburn further condemned Verizon by stating that she was “alarmed” by these $1.99 phantom data fees and that Verizon can not just bury its head in the sand and ignore this issue by saying it does not exist. The letter concludes with a stern reprimand reminding Verizon Wireless that they should be “focusing primarily on developing innovative products, maintaining affordable prices, and providing excellent customer service”. Hear that Big Red? Clyburn also promises to discuss this issue in greater depth with her colleagues next year. That water in which Verizon Wireless is standing just got a little bit hotter.

    [Via DSL Reports]

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  • T-Mobile HTC HD2 2.01.531.7 ROM shown off in blurrycam

    Xmoo, one of the first HTC HD2 owners, have published this video of the latest HCT HD2 ROM, version 2.01.531.7, running on his HTC HD2.

    Shown of is some of T-Mobile’s extra software, such as the IM client, and of course HTC’s new documents tab.

    The ROM can be found in this XDA-Developers thread here.

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  • Your most important support staff

    Engineers and an expert sales team are valuable to entrepreneurs, but the most important members of the team are supportive members of your family, says Frank Levinson, founder of Finisar. In this talk, given as part of an entrepreneur thought leader lecture at Stanford University many years ago, Levinson recounts a Christmas day when his family postponed opening presents to help customers – and keep the business moving forward.


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  • Datel claims new Action Replay works on PSP Go, we hope cautiously

    Now this is interesting. Datel, which is well known for enabling all sorts of hacks on varying consoles, seems to have just introduced a refreshed version of its Action Replay PSP. What’s new, you ask? Why, PSP Go support, of course! In the item description, we’re told that those using this on Sony’s UMD-less portable console will have to install it directly on the inbuilt memory, but one of two things has to happen (in theory, anyway) for that claim to be true. The first is that Datel is now an official Sony partner, which is about as likely as you getting a Foleo for Christmas. The other is that Datel found a way to run unencrypted code on the PSP Go, and if that’s the case, we’ve got an idea that the homebrew junkies in the crowd will be all over this in search of further exploits. Hop on past the break for a promo video, and if you’re down with shelling out funds for something that may or may not work as advertised, it’s all yours for $24.99.

    [Thanks, Bill]

    Continue reading Datel claims new Action Replay works on PSP Go, we hope cautiously

    Datel claims new Action Replay works on PSP Go, we hope cautiously originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • When Google Attacks: Toktumi’s Tale

    Toktumi's original product

    It’s a nightmare that startups and big businesses alike fear — Google suddenly getting into their market and sucking away users and profits. With hundreds of product launches, it’s a legitimate concern, but it doesn’t have to be the end. For San Francisco-based Toktumi, its trial-by-Google began earlier this summer about a year and half after the startup debuted with the wrong product which it then revamped, only to later have it come head-to-head with the search giant.

    Toktumi launched a business-based softphone at DEMO 2008 in January. CEO Peter Sisson said he quickly realized the company had launched with an unsuitable product when it signed up few users and those people immediately began to complain.

    “We got it wrong and launched a softphone-based service that was like Skype with business calling features built into it,” Sisson said. “We had no traction and maybe 100 customers. So we asked them what they wanted.”

    It turns out they wanted mobility, rather than a phone that tied them to a computer (see device pictured above).  Toktumi listened, and began to provide a web-based client and hosted telephone system that reaches users on their PC, mobile or desk for $14.95 a month. It’s a similar enough service to Google Voice that when the search giant released its telephone product in July, Sisson told his board that he expected the company would lose 25 percent of its customers. Instead the company’s paid subscribers grew 56 percent each of the three months following the Google Voice launch.

    Sisson managed some of this by using Google’s own services to help expand his business. Reasoning that potential Google Voice customers would search for the term on Google, he bought a Toktumi ad against Google Voice searches. He said the whole experience actually helped Toktumi because it educated consumers and businesses about the benefits of a hosted PBX. It doesn’t hurt that Toktumi lets users bring in their existing telephone numbers, rather than assigning them one.

    Sisson would not give me actual sales or consumer figures, but the company is still tiny with between 5,000 and 10,000 customers. And in the coming weeks, Sisson plans to take his customers’ focus on mobility a step further by offering an iPhone app called Line2 that will allow them to make and receive VoIP calls on the Wi-Fi network. However, unlike other VoIP offerings, Toktumi’s Line2 service will still work over the cell network for placing and receiving calls when Wi-Fi isn’t available.

    Sisson, the co-founder of VoIP startup Teleo which Microsoft bought in 2005,  recognizes that the future of the phone is its ability to offer voice wherever a person is — and on the network of his or her choice. If it can survive launching the wrong product and Google’s entry into its market, he might be a player in telecom’s IP future.

  • Blackberry Turns Crashberry Yet Again

    With BlackBerry users still fuming over the near-total collapse of e-mail just prior to Christmas, the impact on manufacturer Research In Motion could last a lot longer than a New Year’s Day hangover. Users got an early piece of coal in their stockings Tuesday when many BlackBerry smartphones — now deemed “Crashberries” by some wags — stopped sending and receiving e-mails.

    BoxTone, a mobility management software provider, said the outage started between 3 and 4 p.m. Tuesday and reached a critical state by 7 p.m. “At each of our customers, BoxTone detected a greater-than-normal quantity of users with messages pending, based on our learned baseline of what is normal for each server and carrier, and immediately generated a warning alert to our customers before the flood of user calls,” the company said.

    On Wednesday, RIM released a status update, explaining the outage and apologizing to users. The problem appeared to be a software glitch in new versions of BlackBerry Messenger. Users are advised to download the latest version, 5.0.0.57, which solves those problems.

    Service Interruptus

    “A service interruption occurred Tuesday that affected BlackBerry customers in the Americas,” RIM’s statement said. “Message delivery was delayed or intermittent during the service interruption. Phone service and SMS services on BlackBerry smartphones were unaffected. Root cause is currently under review, but based on preliminary analysis, it currently appears that the issue stemmed from a flaw in two recently released versions of BlackBerry Messenger (versions 5.0.0.55 and 5.0.0.56) that caused an unanticipated database issue within the BlackBerry infrastructure.”

    BlackBerry users weren’t mollified by the announcement, judging from angry comments on the popular Crackberry blog. In a post entitled “WOW … just WOW,” one user wrote, “BBM causes a system-wide crash?!?! Glad RIM isn’t responsible for y’know, security or Wall Street or something.”

    Indeed, a major outage on the eve of Christmas…

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  • iSlate.com and the ‘impending Apple slate’

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    As we mentioned earlier, MacRumors reported that Apple apparently bought the islate.com domain name a few years back. This name isn’t so shocking when you remember the quote from New York Times executive editor Bill Keller at a meeting on October 26th about the future of digital content in the newspaper business:

    “I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate…”

    At the time, Apple had been busy meeting with the heads of newspapers and magazines all over the world. Would Steve drop the name to the heads of the publishing industry? I think so. At the very least this will get people to stop calling the Apple tablet the ‘iPad’.

    Let me say this clearly: Apple would never name the tablet the ‘iPad’. It’s too similar to ‘iPod’. So, everyone, please stop calling it the iPad.

    If you want to listen to an interesting talk about the future of digital publishing and distribution, check out the video of Keller’s speech below. If you want to jump to the ‘impending Apple slate’ mention, skip to 8:30.

    IMHO, ‘iSlate’ is a great name, but I want to know what you would call it. Tell us in the comments!

    TUAWiSlate.com and the ‘impending Apple slate’ originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • FPSEce Playstation emulator for Windows Mobile reaches version 1.0 – now with full touch screen support

    A new version of the Windows Mobile Playstation emulator, FPSEce, has been released. With the last version being 0.96, I suspect the developer made a small mistake when he named it version 0.10, but that seems to be about the only bug in this great release.

    The new version features:

    • Completely rewritten core and interface!
    • Faster!
    • Supports many new games
    • Supports g-sensor on Toshiba TG01, more to come
    • Touch screen analogue stick emulation
    • New on-screen multi-touch button-assignment
    • Supports some Bluetooth-gamepads (i.e. BGP 100)
    • And more…

    The software is  freeware, but the developer has released a special version to cover his costs, which includes the ability to save the state of the game at any point, which will be useful for popping into and out of a game. That version costs $5.

    Read more at the developer’s website here.

    Via Pocketnow.com


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  • Confirmed: Men Are Better at Parking, Study Shows

    If it wasn’t a female scientist to prove this, we might still have had some second thoughts when coming to such a disputed subject. However, recent studies conducted under Dr. Claudia Wolf’s supervision confirmed that men are better at parking than women.

    The research team at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, asked the volunteers too repeatedly park a saloon car, and this was how they found out that women didn’t benefit from the extra 20 seconds they took to complete the maneuve… (read more)

  • Question

    I have a question about exercising. Will my BG go down faster if I jog or walk. I would think jogging would be better, but not always the case.

  • FAQ: How to install manual pages in Solaris?

    solaris logoIn order to use install man pages for various commands in Solaris it is necessary to get two packages: SUNWman and SUNWdoc. You can check if they are already installed using commands ‘pkginfo SUNWdoc' and 'pkginfo SUNWman', or just try ‘man man‘. If they are not present in your system you can install them from Solaris 10 cd-rom (I guess you’re using exactly this version of Sun’ operating system):

    1. Mount cd-rom:

    mount -F hsfs /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s2 /mnt/

    where c0t1d0s2 is identifier of your cd-rom and may differ from system to system.

    2. Install Packages:

    pkgadd -d /mnt/Solaris_10/Product SUNWman
    pkgadd -d /mnt/Solaris_10/Product SUNWdoc

  • Lecture: TT33 Padiamenope ala Petamenophis

    Luxor News Blog (Jane Akshar)

    Jane kindly took some notes for her readers as usual, but the lecture was in French so most of her notes were taken from the occasional slide with English captions. Here’s an extract:

    TT33 Padiamenope ala Petamenophis – Pr Claude Traunecker.

    Sadly this lecture was in French so my notes are from the occasional English slide title

    The tomb is situated in the Assasif next to Pabasa. It is the largest tomb in Egypt. In 1737 Richard Pocoke thought it was the subterranean palace of a king. It is described in Description de la Egypt and comprises a succession of rooms with an underground burial area. The opening of the tomb was mentioned in a novel by Paul Ivory

    In 1881 W Johannes Dumuchen from the University of Strasbourg commented about the architecture, it is a very atypical layout and mentioned his family mother NamenKhetuset and wife Tudit

    The tomb was used as storage for many years and many rooms were inaccessible. The tomb was reopened 5th December 2005. Here he showed a photo of the reopening and yours truly was in shot!! I wrote some notes at that time which you may wish to look at the end.

    Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

  • Gentex Mirror with Rear View Camera Receives Positive Reviews

    Zeeland based company Gentex has announced that its interior auto-dimming rearview mirror with Rear Camera Display (RCD), installed on the Daihatsu Mira Cocoa has been named as one of the top-six new technologies at the 2010 Automotive Researchers’ & Journalists’ Conference of Japan (RJC).

    Gentex is the automotive industry’s biggest producer of automatic dimming rearview mirrors and video recording active safety systems.

    Besides its normal electrochromic function, t… (read more)

  • In the field: More re raising pylon in Alexandria

    drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass)

    Last Thursday, I went to Alexandria in order to remove an important artifact from the water of the harbor. This was the tower of the pylon, likely from the Ptolemaic temple of Isis in the area known as Chatby.

    I had been convinced since 2002 that we should not take any major artifacts out of the water, but rather leave them there to be placed in the Underwater Museum we are planning. Also, it is difficult to remove these large pieces from the water, and it takes a lot of work and care to remove the salt from artifacts. But recently I was convinced to raise this piece by the head of the Greek mission, Dr. Harry Tzalas, who directed underwater excavations in the area in 1998. His team discovered 400 ancient artifacts and architectural elements. I would also like to acknowledge the work of Abu Saadat, an Egyptian diver who surveyed Chabty in 1960. He was not an archaeologist, so he was not able to recognize many artifacts, but his survey work contributed to the archaeology of the area.

    The Greek expedition was able to recognize the artifacts, and they worked in cooperation with the Department of Underwater Antiquities of Alexandria at the coastal area of Chatby. The two most important of the 400 the Greek mission found are the 9-ton pylon tower, and the 15-ton threshold of a door. Both are made of granite and are of great historical importance in reconstructing the great city of ancient Alexandria. Ancient authors such as Plutarch and Strabo write about Cleopatra’s palace being located in this area, with her mausoleum and a temple of Isis right next to it. It seems likely that this pylon tower was for that temple of Isis, since it was the only temple in the area, and the threshold, which was found very near to it, could be for the door of Cleopatra’s tomb.

    Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

  • Renault F1 to Name Eric Boullier Team Boss

    Renault seems to have found a new team manager for its Formula One operations. The French manufacturer will reportedly name Eric Boullier as new head of the Enstone organization, none other than the former team boss of GP2 Series outfit DAMS.

    Needless to say, Boullier is connected with the team’s new majority stake owner Gerard Lopez. Following his role within the French team, he became director of the sports management firm Gravity. As most of you may have guessed by now, Gravity… (read more)

  • Apple’s New Tablet To Be Baptized iSlate? Let’s Dig A Little Deeper

    Nice scoop by MacRumors, which reportedly retrieved historical evidence that Apple has acquired the domain name islate.com back in 2007. Apparently, the Cupertino company registered the domain through brand protection firm Mark Monitor to conceal the fact that the domain name is theirs, as usual, but was briefly listed as the owner at some point in the past nonetheless.

    If correct, that means we can add a rumor to a rumor: that the unconfirmed, unannounced but most definitely coming (maybe) Apple tablet device will be named iSlate. That would be in line with earlier connections of the ’slate’ term to the illusive tablet computer, based on New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller calling it something to that effect in a speech.

    Let’s dig a little deeper.

    Other iSlate Domain Names

    There’s a lot of islate-related domain names with different TLDs that Apple most definitely does not own (islate.org, islate.net, islate.be, islate.nl, islate.es, and so on) but I did find a couple of interesting things trolling whois servers.

    A search for islate.co.uk lists Mark Monitor as the owner, just like islate.com. This could be meaningless, but we know for sure Apple works with Mark Monitor for other domain names and the United Kingdom is a key market for the company. Registration date: 17 November 2006.

    Unfortunately, the whois server for German TLDs (whois.denic.de) is currently down, so I can’t look up who secured islate.de at this point.

    But look up who the owner of islate.fr (country TLD for France, a third key country for Apple in Europe) is: a Paris-based IP property attorney firm called Wilson & Berthelot. Guess who the technical contact for the domain name registration is? Mark Monitor. And doesn’t Apple work with law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in the States?

    Coincidence, or not?

    Other related domain names that were secured through Mark Monitor: islate.info and islate.biz, both of which were registered on the same date as islate.co.uk: 17 November 2006.

    The plot thickens.

    The ISLATE Trademark (United States)

    On November 21, 2006 a company called Slate Computing (registered in Delaware) filed for a US word mark for ‘ISLATE’. Notably, that was right around the time at least three islate-related domain names were registered.

    You won’t find any information about any company called Slate Computing online, although according to the filing these are the goods and services they offer:

    Computers; computer software, namely, database management software, electronic mail and messaging software, Internet browser software, paging software, database synchronization software, software for accessing, browsing and searching online databases, software for creating spreadsheets, tables, graphs and charts, software for organizing and analyzing data, software for word processing, software for creation and display of presentations including text and graphics, software used for image editing, image processing, image acquisition, image file management, image viewing, image sharing, and the creation of documents incorporating images, software for use in developing websites, software to help users create, edit, organize, search, transfer, publish and subscribe to weblogs, blogs, podcasts, web broadcasts and news and information feeds on global and/or local computer and telecommunications networks, software for use in authoring, downloading, transmitting, receiving, editing, extracting, encoding, decoding, playing, storing and organizing audio, video and still images, software for authoring digital content, software for personal information management, software for DVD authoring, software for the electronic storage and retrieval of electronic calendar files, software with clock and alarm clock functionality, telephony management software, character recognition software, application development tool software for personal and handheld computers, software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server, and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device; computer operating system software; computer utility software; computer peripherals. notebook computers; laptop computers; tablet computers; computer servers; handheld computers; mobile computers; hard drives; audio speakers; speakers for computers; radios; cameras; video cameras; telephones; mobile telephones; personal digital assistants; electronic personal organizers; electronic notepads; blank magnetic data carriers; computer gaming machines; microprocessors; memory boards; computer monitors; keyboards; computer input devices, namely, touch screens, styluses, mice, trackballs and shuttle dials; computer cables; modems; printers; computer accessories, namely, computer battery chargers, battery packs, docking stations, adaptors, computer wired and wireless remote controls, audio headphones and earphones, and replacement parts for all the aforesaid goods.

    That’s quite a list for a company that doesn’t even have its own website, but it matches exactly what Apple’s business is all about. Is Slate Computing just a shell company created by Apple, or is someone trying to play a number on them? More on that later.

    Either way, the USPTO record shows that an opposition was filed on June 10, 2008.

    In case you’re interested, the domain name slatecomputing.com is owned by a company called “Cayman Ninety Business” – with an office address on the Cayman Islands – which according to Domain Tools owns over 11,000 other domain names (all the marks of a savvy domainer and/or cybersquatter at play).

    The ISLATE Trademark (Europe)

    I did a search for ‘islate’ on OHIM, and founded out that same Slate Computing has filed for a trademark for the term in the European Union as well. It was filed in 21 November 2006, on the same day the filing for the ISLATE word mark was registered in the US.

    Listed as legal representative on the form: UK-based Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, the same law firm Apple worked with for securing the EU-wide trademark for the term ‘Macbook’, for one.

    Then I noticed something else on the record for the European ISLATE trademark: the priority country that was registered is Trinidad & Tobago. Why that matters? Because Apple has a history of listing Trinidad & Tobago as the priority country for European trademarks – just look up ‘iphone’ on OHIM and you’ll see I’m right.

    Conclusion

    Here’s what I think happened, based on the evidence presented above: Apple decided on the name iSlate for a new product it was working on, whether it will ultimately turn out to be for their new tablet computer or not, in November 2006. That same month, they moved to file for a trademark for the name in the United States and Europe under disguise, setting up and using Slate Computing LLC as a shell company, and securing a couple of available domain names through Mark Monitor (islate.co.uk, islate.biz and islate.info).

    Then, they acquired the domain name islate.com from whoever owned it at that point. MacRumors reports that the domain name was under ownership of a company called Data Docket, Inc back in 2006, and a search for that company turns up this interesting article on that company. They’re either a shell company for Google (unlikely), or professional domainers/cybersquatters.

    Either way, Apple reportedly got a hold of the domain name early 2007, right about the time they also secured islate.fr, supposedly.

    The evidence is overwhelming: if there’s going to be a new tablet from Apple coming out next month, chances are that it’ll be christened iSlate.

    Feel free to start lauding or ranting on the chosen name.

    (Original image: MacRumors)

    Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0


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  • ASUS ECleaner is ready to rumble with the Roomba

    Judging by the comparative explosion of robo vacuum releases this month, you might think 2010 is all set to be the year of the automated floor sanitizer. Augmenting that impression is ASUS, who has now made its heavyweight presence known with the newly announced ECleaner, to be released under the AGAiT brand. This new bot comes with a UV light for disinfection, a fragrance slot, the usual photo sensor to prevent it from falling off a cliff, and naturally a remote control for the hands-on househusband. The biggest attraction though — beyond that killer paintjob — is likely to be the $150 price tag, which significantly undercuts most of what’s out on the market right now. Video of the little spherical hipster lies after the break.

    Continue reading ASUS ECleaner is ready to rumble with the Roomba

    ASUS ECleaner is ready to rumble with the Roomba originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Star-delta starters in insulated enclosure

    The new series of star-delta starters M3P…70 are used to start electrical motors with 7.5 to 30kW power ratings at 400VAC and 16 to 60A currents at 440VAC.

    They are housed in plastic enclosures with IP65 protection degree.

    The starter can be equipped with additional components , both electromechanical (e.g. disconnect switch) and electronic (e.g. current monitoring relay) thanks to the enclosure size.

    The thermal overload relay needs to be purchased separately and selected based on the motor rating to be started.

    The wide cover surface and depth allow the customer to install push buttons, measuring instruments and switch disconnectors.

    In addition to the M3P…70 type starters in insulated enclosure, LOVATO Electric has star-delta starters available up to 375kW at 400VAC in open-type version.

  • vertical axis balancing machine

    The Hines HVR (Vertical Rotating) Balancer can be used for both single and two plane balancing. The configuration is suited for quick top loading of shaftless, flat parts. The unique suspension makes balancing fast and easy with superior separation of pure force and couple unbalance.

    Hines Industries is a world leader in balancing equipment design innovation and manufacturing process improvement. Our balancing equipment can be found around the globe at major industrial manufacturers and in the machine shops of high performance racing greats. Hines offers leading edge vertical and horizontal, static and dynamic, balancing machines with multi-plane correction, and manual to assembly line-ready balancing processes. New, refurbished, and used balancing equipment is available. Services include manufacturing improvement analysis, balancing services, training, and machine calibration and repair.