Reader Al F.'s old Apogree speakers and Krell amplifiers.
I never had any doubt that readers of this blog have the coolest systems, but the magnitude of the flood of homemade speakers, desktop systems, headphones, and all sorts of groovy turntables totally knocked me out. There's some sweet gear here, so click to the slideshow and check out the systems. Thanks to all who sent JPEGs -- I heard from well over 100 readers, so I can't show everyone's gear.
Get ready for some changes to your Facebook profile.
The social network is unveiling a new design for its News Feed on Thursday, according to an invite sent to journalists today.
The bare-bones invite tells journalists to "Come see a new look for News Feed," at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters next week.
Coincidentally, a new look for Timeline was spotted today in New Zealand, a country where Facebook typically tries out new features. The layout had a single-column for all the posts and updates on your Timeline, instead of two columns.
The lights are on -- it's time to go home. Mobile industry trade show Mobile World Congress is winding down, with new phones and
tablets and software dominating the headlines. But what does this year's show tell us about what to expect at MWC 2014?
The standout trend of this year's show that has the potential to be fully realised next year is the arrival of new operating systems, to challenge iOS and especially
Android. Mobile manufacturers and carriers have got behind
Firefox and OS as a way to stop Android siphoning your app and downloads cash to Google, with Ubuntu Touch also in the mix.
All three promise new phones this year. Firefox is furthest along, appearing on the Alcatel One Touch Fire and ZTE Open among others. By this time next year all three new operating systems should be ready for primetime, so I'm expecting a range of new phones at MWC 2014 endowed with Firefox OS, Tizen, and -- fingers crossed -- Ubuntu Touch too.
On a related note, Firefox OS and Tizen are aimed at low-end, wallet-friendly devices. As high-end phones head for market saturation and feature phones becoming smarter, there's a lot happening at the budget end. I'm expecting that to continue with more cheap devices -- and I'd be pleased if that has a knock-on effect, lowering the prices of high-end phones, a process already started by the Google Nexus 4.
High-end phones will continue to get more powerful, too. The new Nvidia Tegra 4 chip will be in hardware by this time next year, so there'll be Tegra-powered behemoths chomping through the show next year.
And we'll see more phones that work as hubs for your life, like the incredibly powerful LG phone that streams 4K video to a TV.
Finally, one thing we won't see is a flagship announcement from any of the major players. Microsoft, Apple and BlackBerry all snubbed the show in favour of standalone launches, while Samsung limited its involvement, also holding back its biggest announcement -- the Samsung Galaxy S4 -- until away from the show.
At first glance that might seem like a bad thing, but I'm optimistic: without a heavy-hitting flagship sucking up the attention, we were able to explore other aspects of the show. It's a great opportunity to other manufacturers to step up and steal the glory with something exciting, like Nokia did last year with the PureView 808 -- or come up with something divertingly wacky, like the crazier kit we saw at this year's show.
Whatever we see at MWC 2014, you'll see it too right here in CNET. In the meantime stick with us for more news, reviews and videos than you can shake a stick at. Right, we've got a plane to catch!
Apple's iPhone 5.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook says today during the electronics giant's annual shareholder meeting that he knows people are upset about the stock drop.
"I don't like it either," Cook said. Nor does the board and management, he added.But what investors are likely still wondering is what Apple's going to do about it. Shares have tumbled roughly 35 percent from their peak in September, and it's unclear what could spur another run higher. Many investors have become worried about increased competition from the likes of Samsung and others, and some shareholders, like David Einhorn, have demanded that Apple return more cash to investors.
Cook today says the company is focused on the long term and making the very best products. He noted that Apple is working harder than ever and "has some great stuff coming."
Apple shares recently slid 1 percent to $444.29 as investors await more news from the shareholder meeting.
Google Android chief Andy Rubin
So, last week an "extremely reliable source" told blog 9to5 Google there was big news coming: Google was planning to build standalone retail stores in the U.S. to sell Android devices, and the first outlets might even be open in major metropolitan areas in time for the holidays.
Andy Rubin, who heads up Google's
Android business and also qualifies as an extremely reliable source when it comes to this particular company, offered a different appraisal during a meeting with reporters in Barcelona today during Mobile World Congress. "Google has no plans, and we have nothing to announce," he said, and he suggested that changes in customer behavior recently have undercut the traditional rationale for a traditional retail outlet.
"A few years ago, consumers needed to touch and feel devices, but these days they can often get the information they need to make a purchase decision by talking to friends and reading reviews," he told reporters. "They don't have to go in the store and feel it anymore."
Rubin's nyet echoed a similar statement last December, when Google Shopping head Sameer Samat told AllThingsD that the company "had no aspirations to open a store."
Of course, aspirations change and companies are always revisiting old assumptions as conditions change. What with Google pushing into new areas with
Kyocera's Durapro feature phone.
Smartphones may be hot in the U.S. and U.K, but feature phones dominate in such countries as India and Russia, according to the folks at Nielsen.
Released today, Nielsen's "2013 Mobile Consumer Report" found that smartphones owners make up the majority of mobile phone users in nations such as the U.S., the U.K., South Korea, and China.
But in other countries, the networks required to support smartphones are still limited to large urban areas. As a result, the standard feature phone remains the top choice in regions such as India, Brazil, and Russia. But that trend could eventually start to swing.
Younger mobile users around the world are the ones most likely to be drawn to smartphones. As those people age and make up a greater slice of the consumer base, more countries may be spurred to expand their smartphone networks.
Among people surveyed for the report, smartphone ownership was cited by 53 percent of those in the U.S., 61 percent in the U.K., 67 percent in South Korea, and 66 percent in China. But only 10 percent in India, 19 percent in Turkey, 36 percent in Brazil, and 37 percent in Russia said they owned a smartphone.
Nielsen also found a difference in smartphone plans based on country.
People in areas with a higher percentage of smartphone owners tend to opt for fixed price data plans. Those in countries with a small percentage of smartphone users were more inclined to use pay-as-you-go plans or simply rely on Wi-Fi to get connected.
Many people across different countries also own more than one mobile phone, in some cases one for work and one for home. A full 51 percent of people in Russia said they own more than one phone, while only 17 percent of those in the U.S. said the same.
And what are people across the globe doing with their smartphones?
Text messaging, Web browsing, and using social networks proved the most popular activities among most of the countries included in the report. Games, social networking apps, and navigation apps were tops in mobile software across a majority of countries.
Nielsen's report analyzed the behavior and device preferences among consumers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, South Korea, and Turkey.
From April to June 2012, Nielsen interviewed 76,204 mobile users, 54,585 of which were able to identify their mobile phone. Among those, 28,103 said they owned a smartphone and 26,482 owned a non-smartphone.
It's hard to imagine that, on seeing yesterday's carnage at Daytona when scores of spectators were hurt after debris from a crash flew a fence, someone at Nascar would have been thinking about a vital matter such as copyright infringement.
Yet it seems that one no-doubt harassed Nascar operative did exactly that and demanded that a video taken by a spectator and posted to YouTube be removed.
As the Verge breaks it down, within hours of the crash, Nascar seems to have insisted to YouTube that the video, taken by someone with the handle "tyler4dx", infringed Nascar's rights.
Yet when the Verge asked for a statement, Nascar insisted that, no, no, this was not the case:
The fan video of the wreck on the final lap of today's Nascar Nationwide Series race was blocked on YouTube out of respect for those injured in today's accident. Information on the status of those fans was unclear and the decision was made to err on the side of caution with this very serious incident.
One imagines that quite a lot of footage of this incident was constantly being shown on TV.
Some might find it odd that Nascar might try to ban a fan video that really doesn't show that much of what really happened any way.
Moreover, fans post many videos from Nascar events, none of which are subject to any objections.
Indeed, YouTube decided that Nascar's attempt to remove the video was, well, against its laws.
A YouTube spokesperson told the Washington Post: "Our partners and users do not have the right to take down videos from YouTube unless they contain content which is copyright infringing, which is why we have reinstated the videos."
Now, of course, YouTube is flooded with videos of the crash.
But some might find it sad that Nascar reacted as it did.
Was it really about preserving respect for the victims? Or might it have been about preserving its own image?
Randi Zuckerberg knows a thing or two about complications caused by the Internet.
The sister of Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has seen her fair share of controversial choices or awkward missteps become fodder for attacks from those who view her as the ultimate benefactor of nepotism.
After serving as Facebook's marketing director for six years, Zuckerberg struck out on her own with Zuckerberg Media, a media and production company that fashioned her an executive producer of the oft-panned Bravo reality television flop "Startups: Silicon Valley." She's also the lead singer for a cover band called Feedbomb, which is comprised of past and present Facebookers.
Come fall 2013, we'll all get to read more about her online and offline adventures, as the other Zuckerberg is turning her overexposed existence into a lifestyle book entitled "Dot Complicated" for HarperCollins. She's also penning a companion picture book for children that will also be released this fall.
CNET went to Zuckerberg to get the scoop on the pending publications, and we couldn't help but ask about how her brother feels about her putting their private lives on display. Our questions and her answers are included in their entirety below.
Q:What does the title, "Dot Complicated," mean to you and why do you feel it best describes your story?
Zuckerberg: Technology has changed virtually every part of our lives. We live in a world of such rapid innovation - as the tools change, so do the social norms and etiquette that go with them. While many things have gotten easier and more efficient, many aspects of our day-to-day lives and managing our personal relationships have become a lot more complicated. That's why I'm so excited to be writing Dot Complicated, because I am passionate about helping people untangle their modern, wired lives.
Personally, along with being part of the team that built Facebook from early on, I also grew up on social media. These tools have affected how I raise my son, how I balance my career, and how I interact with friends and family, to name a few. I've seen firsthand how this new digital era can be both wonderful, and utterly complicated, at the same time. I can only imagine how confusing things must feel for millions of people who use these tools, every single day, and don't live right in the heart of all the action. If I can use my own experiences, knowledge, and lessons learned to help other people navigate their modern, digital lives (while having some fun along the way,) I would consider the book a huge success.
Who do you see as the primary audience for the book and why do you feel the need to publish your story now?
Zuckerberg: There's a lot of great content out there about "technology" or about "lifestyle" -- but I saw a gap missing at the intersection of the two. How technology is changing the way we interact with the people around us, how it affects our love lives, our personal lives, our work lives. My hope is that the book will be interesting and useful to a broad audience, whether you are a lightweight consumer of these tools, a parent who wants to stay up-to-date with the latest trends "the kids are using," a student who wants a competitive advantage in the job market, or a business who wants to better understand the modern consumer's habits and social issues.
The reason for publishing the story now is that I just launched my newsletter, also named Dot Complicated a few weeks ago. The newsletter has already received such positive early traction and feedback, that I felt the timing was right to expand it into a book as well, especially since the book process requires a lengthier timeline. I plan to discuss many of the topics we cover in my Dot Complicated newsletter -- complexities of the modern, digital world we live in -- including issues around etiquette, privacy, social, identity, career, love, family, and more. I will also discuss where social media is heading and how it will continue to influence every facet of our modern world -- from our personal relationships and professional careers to the bigger picture of global initiatives and politics.
It's also a great time for me personally to be publishing this book, as I'm navigating how to balance my career and new motherhood and how to raise my son the right way in this digital age. I've engaged with a lot of people online who are grappling with similar challenges and questions and I feel strongly that right now is the time for that approachable voice of technology. I didn't want to limit the audience, which is why I'm working on both an adult nonfiction book, as well as a children's book, with HarperCollins. In this digital world we live in, it's important for children to be tech-savvy and to understand the benefits and risks of technology from early on. Which means speaking to them directly.
Is there anything that will surprise readers? Can you provide a few examples?
Zuckerberg: I think what has surprised me the most in my research and conversations, is that no matter where in the world you go, no matter if you're speaking to someone in Silicon Valley or Nebraska, Dubai or Delhi, we're all grappling with the same issues related to technology and our lives. I did a lot of public speaking last year, and no matter where I went, people always asked the same questions: how can I better understand what my children are doing online? How can I ask my significant other not to immediately reach for their
tablet in bed? How can I make sure I don't lose my job to someone who is younger and more tech-savvy? I plan to address many of these topics in the book -- some of the topics may surprise readers, or feel slightly uncomfortably familiar/intimate at first, but when you break past the news about the latest gadgets, devices, updates, and software, you realize that technology is nothing without the humans on the other side of it. These are issues that affect all of us in our own lives and need to be openly discussed as a society.
Can you share one of the funnier anecdotes you plan to include in the book?
Zuckerberg: There are too many to choose from. Because tech and pop culture are coming together more closely every day, I've had the opportunity to check things off my bucket list I never dreamed I'd be able to do, like walking the red carpet for The Golden Globes, getting a personal phone call from The White House, and hosting a live video chat with United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon and rock band Linkin Park ... together. I can't give away all my good stories just yet, but suffice it to say that I think readers will be thoroughly entertained, as well as educated.
The Bravo show "Startups: Silicon Valley" rubbed many people working in the technology industry the wrong way. Will you discuss the show, the cast, the ratings, and address the critics in the book?
Zuckerberg: Of course I'll talk about the show in the book. It will just be a small part of the book, as I have so much content to cover, and this was just one experience I am lucky to have been part of, but I've done a lot of reflecting over the past few months on what I think the future of media/television looks like in the digital age -- and I've purposefully remained quiet about everything, so I can write about it for the first time in the book. I hope that readers will be pleasantly surprised by and interested in the learnings I have to share, based on my recent experiences working with Bravo and other media partners.
Do you expect Dot Complicated to incite a strong negative reaction among Valley types?
Zuckerberg: You know, it seems that these days, everything that anyone does incites a strong negative reaction, doesn't it? It's so easy to hide behind our online handles and criticize others. I'm just focused on doing the best work I can, and through this project, helping people navigate their complicated, wired lives. Of course not everyone will agree with every single thing I have to say -- and I wouldn't want them to! Would you honestly want to read a book that didn't have anything provocative, controversial, or thought-provoking in it?
The tone of Dot Complicated will be friendly, informative, and a little bit sassy -- just like our newsletter. I'm thankful for all of the great feedback we've been receiving on the newsletter, which in turn is helping me shape the book so that it reaches readers at a raw, human, and relatable level.
Has your brother expressed any concern about a nonfiction book that relates stories from your personal life, stories that will surely include details about his own private life?
Zuckerberg: The book will draw from some of my own personal experiences, in order to tell a broader story about the complexities of our wired world. Some media outlets have called this book a "memoir," which makes me laugh, because that couldn't possibly be further from the truth of what this book is. Who writes a memoir at age 30?! My goal with this book is to spark dialogue and inspire people of all ages to embrace technology and the new sets of norms that come with sharing content online -- something my family has always been supportive of.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka "Sabu," will likely get a reduced sentence for signing a plea agreement and serving as an informant.
But Monsegur, who subsequently worked as a double agent for the FBI, still awaits his fate. The authorities abruptly postponed his sentencing. No explanation was offered.
His cooperation with the authorities led to the March 2012 arrest. of several LulzSec members. Monsegur was later described in court documents as having "proactively" cooperated with the FBI as it built its case. Following his arrest, the Wall Street Journal reported that information supplied by Monsegur had helped the FBI stop over 300 planned hacks. It's widely believed that Monsegur will receive a reduced sentence for signing a plea agreement and serving as an informant.
The indictments against Monsegur pertain to hacks carried out against websites operated by the Tunisian, Algerian, Yemeni and Zimbabwe governments between December 2010 and May 2011. They also include the launching of distributed denial of service attacks on the United States Senate, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, Bethesda Softworks,Fox News, the Chicago Tribune newspaper site, Sony Pictures Europe, Sony Music Entertainment, PBS, and Nintendo.
I don't know where I'd be today without my entrepreneurial mentors. A lot of successful entrepreneurs will tell you the same thing.
Every 20-something entering the job market should have a mentor that can help her navigate the business world, but the bond between an entrepreneur and her mentor is unique. There aren't a lot of tougher mountains to climb than starting a company from scratch, and the emotional stress of a startup can be overwhelming. Being able to learn from somebody who's gone through the ups and downs is invaluable.
"Mentorship is a critical part of building an entrepreneurial community," says TechStars Chicago Managing Director (and one of my entrepreneurial mentors) Troy Henikoff. "Having successful entrepreneurs helping newer ones creates a sustainable culture were everyone participates and gives back."
I've written about this topic before, but I wanted to expand on the subject with some thoughts and advice on how to find and get the most out of an entrepreneurial mentor. Naturally, I turned to my mentors (Troy Henikoff and Redbox SVP Mark Achler), as well as a few friends, for some sagelike advice.
Here are the five lessons I recommend remembering:
You can't force a relationship, whether it's love or business. It took me years to learn this lesson. While you may want something out of somebody new you meet (an investment, an introduction, advice, mentorship, and so on), coming out of the gate with that will only turn people off.
More importantly, you won't know whether somebody will be a great mentor for you until you've had time to get to know them and work with them. Mentorship is a lifetime relationship, so don't rush in.
Mark Achler
When it comes to finding a mentor, the first place you should be looking is your existing network. But when that fails, you should talk to your fellow entrepreneurs.
"One of the best ways to find a great mentor, if you haven't encountered and built these personal relationships up over time through your previous work history, is to talk to fellow entrepreneurs/CEOs and ask them who have they worked with and recommend," says Redbox SVP of New Business (and my longtime entrepreneurial mentor) Mark Achler.
CEOs and founders aren't the only people who are connected to potential mentors, though. Trades that cater to entrepreneurs -- lawyers, accountants, advisors, and the like -- are also great resources.
"I have also found that attorneys and accountants who specialize in the startup world often already have these relationships and can provide the right access and recommendations to the appropriate mentors," Achler adds.
Troy Henikoff
While mentors are there to help you when you're dealing with a crisis, this should not be the only time you reach out to them.
"Keep your mentors and advisers updated with regular e-mails monthly on your progress," says Henikoff. "Then when you need their advice, you don't have to waste time updating them on the basics, but keep them focused on the issue at hand."
Just like the investor update (which every entrepreneur should be sending to their investors quarterly), the mentor update keeps the lines of communications fresh.
In Silicon Valley, there is a tendency for entrepreneurs (and VCs) to say that "Everything is awesome!" when asked about how their company is doing. Entrepreneurs don't want to show any weakness publicly, lest it hurt their chances for a Series A.
These barriers must come down when it comes to your mentor, though. If you can't tell your mentor exactly what's happening, both the good and bad, then you aren't getting the most out of your mentor. You're just going through the motions and doing a disservice to your company and your team.
"The right mentor is a father confessor," Achler argues, "allowing the entrepreneur to let down their walls and share the emotions -- both high and low. The right mentor is an invaluable sounding board of advice."
Achler also says that the right mentor is a trusted friend, "who will tell you both the good (and let's face it everyone needs a pat on the back every once in a while) as well as give you the honest swift kick in the rear end when appropriate."
The mentor-mentee relationship is built not just on trust and friendship, but on learning. One must be open to hard lessons and be humble enough to recognize the gaps in his or her knowledge.
"The biggest mentor I've had has been [Y Combinator founder] Paul Graham," says Justin.tv and Exec founder Justin Kan. "His number one piece of advice was simply 'make something people want.' -- which is pretty good advice, because if you don't make something people want, you have no product, and no sales."
I'd say that Kan has done a good job following his mentor's advice. And while not everything a mentor advises you to do will be the right course of action, more often than not they are right and you are wrong. So go into the relationship willing to learn and humbled by the fact that you still have a lot more to learn.
Lync is Microsoft's unified communications platform for business users.
The biggest piece of news is that Lync-Skype connectivity/federation is coming later than many expected. The first piece of that connectivity --- sharing of presence, instant messaging, and voice across the two services -- will be available to all Lync users as of June 2013. Video connectivity between Skype and Lync isn't coming until sometime in the next 18 months, executives confirmed today.
Customers who were testing Microsoft's Lync 2013 last year noted that Skype federation was one of the features of Lync 2013. Microsoft also confirmed Skype federation was designed to be part of the Lync 2013 release. But when Lync Server 2013 was released in October 2012, along with the rest of the new Office client/server products, Skype federation seemingly wasn't part of the final product, after all.
Lync is Microsoft's unified communications platform for business users. It includes corporate IM, VoIP, and conferencing capabilities. Skype is Micrsosoft's unified communications platform for consumers. As of three months ago, Microsoft moved the Lync team under the Skype team, so that Lync reports to Tony Bates, the president of Skype. (That said, Lync will continue to report its financial results as part of the Microsoft Business Division, not the Entertainment & Devices unit, which is where the Skype division reports.)
Microsoft executives also unveiled as part of today's updated Lync road map:
Microsoft also announced at the Lync Conference that a handful of the company's hardware partners are embedding Lync into their next-generation conferencing systems. These new integrated devices will be called "Lync room system" products. Partners who announced initial support include Crestron, Lifesize, Polycom, and SMART.
Microsoft said 90 out of the Fortune 100 companies are Lync customers. About 90 percent of Lync deployments are on-premises, not in the cloud, the company said.
This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline "Microsoft to begin connecting Skype and Lync by June 2013."
Nothing shallow here.
If you're sitting at Apple HQ, you must be very aware of Samsung.
There must be such a temptation to offer a public swat or two at the fly that has cleverly positioned itself as the challenger to your own emotional supremacy.
Yet, with two new
iPad ads that Apple has just released, Cupertino is stoically continuing to pretend that its
tablet exists in a world all of its own.
Here, to vaguely jazzy music, we see words flash across the screen at lightning speeds. Not one of these words is "patent," "lawsuit" or "rip-off."
Instead, in one ad called "Alive," we see all sorts of educational and entertaining excitements. They are accompanied by words like "alive," "loud," and "surprise."
In the other, called "Together," we see, well, more or less the same. Here the words include "beautiful," "phenomenal," and "brilliant."
How odd to see Apple boast quite this much.
Apple simply wants you to understand -- as if you haven't grasped this already -- that it enjoys so many apps through its beautiful, phenomenal, and brilliant ecosystem.
It stands on its superior pedestal and doesn't deign to look down.
Still, I wasn't convinced that through two ads there wasn't one solitary jab at the competition.
So I slowed the words down to see whether a small, subliminal jest might have been inserted.
I think I may have found one. In the "Together" ad, there appears one solitary word that those who love Apple believe will always distinguish the brand from any other.
That word is "taste."
Pioneer VP-1000 LaserDisc Player
Years ago, long before the dawn of the DVD or Blu-ray formats, consumer video was strictly all-analog, from the very first broadcasts right up to the introduction of the LaserDisc. The 12-inch, double-sided LaserDisc looked like a giant CD, but the video was analog encoded on two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. The discs that debuted in 1978 had analog audio soundtracks, but later discs featured stereo digital sound. Millions of players were sold in the U.S., but LaserDisc was, even during the height of its popularity, a niche format that appealed mostly to videophiles. It had much greater success in Japan, and was used in 10 percent of all households. LaserDisc video quality was a big step up from VHS and Beta tapes.
Pioneer's LaserDisc players, starting with the VP-1000 in 1980, dominated the market, but in 1981 RCA started a minor format war with its analog CED video discs (an LP-like grooved video disc), but the inferior system faded quickly.
My friends with large LaserDisc collections were skeptical of DVD's quality, and were unhappy with the first DVDs' compression artifacts. The LaserDisc supporters gleefully pointed to poor DVD transfers, ridden with aliasing, blotching, and pixilation woes. LaserDiscs were 100 percent compression-free. There were significant DVD compatibility issues, some discs wouldn't play in some players. I spoke with Geoff Morrison about his take on the LaserDisc, and he said "There was a natural smoothness to the image, because it was analog, and over most televisions [of that era] there wasn't a radical change between a good LaserDisc and the first DVDs." Even the Criterion Collection, known for releasing exquisitely restored editions of classic films, didn't immediately abandon the Laserdisc format.
To be fair, it didn't take all that long for the DVD engineers to sort out the mastering problems, but in the early days it looked like we were going to have an analog vs. digital war on our hands. It didn't happen, but the LaserDisc true believers kept the faith long after DVD reigned supreme. Pioneer continued selling players well into the DVD age and ceased production in 2009.
Did you ever own or watch LaserDiscs? Share your memories in the Comments section.
The picture as it appears on Driscoll's Facebook page. Yes, that's a toy mortar.
When you make your Facebook profile picture that of Action Man (aka the British G.I. Joe), it can be a clue to your fascination with fantasy.
It also suggests that if there's a toy mortar in the background of the picture, that, too, might actually not be entirely real.
Please try telling that to the five carloads of police who raided Ian Driscoll's house in Tewkesbury, England, armed with guns and a search warrant.
"The Action Man looked a bit like me, so I decided to put it as my Facebook picture. I didn't even notice the mortar in the background," 43-year-old Driscoll explained to the Daily Mail.
The image offered more clues as to the mortar's unreality. There was a TV remote control by its side. It offered what some might call scale and perspective.
Sadly, perspective is not always something the police embrace with anything other than loaded arms.
"It's tiny and quite clearly a toy. I can't stop laughing. I think it's hilarious," Driscoll told the Mail.
The police did manage to see the funny side, but only after reportedly telling him that he was lucky he was at home, otherwise they would have been forced to break down his front door.
They didn't even seem to have considered that this profile picture had been up for a month.
It isn't clear which wise "friend" of Driscoll's contacted the police to tell them of his arms cache. It might have been polite of this person to at least own up to the marginal over-reaction.
A representative for the Gloucestershire police told the Mail: "We are sure that the community would rather we acted quickly on information given to us of this nature, in case it had turned out to be a weapon."
Many will be glad of the police's confidence in this matter. Perhaps a phone call to Driscoll might have obviated the necessity for a raid.
Still, it is heartening that he has stood his ground and continued to make believe that he is really Action Man.
The profile picture, with mortar in the background, is still on his Facebook page today.
An ex is like a scar you once got after a seventh Cabernet in a bar with 12 steps.
Some days, you look at it and are proud. At other times, you wonder how you could have done it to yourself.
The lies, the hurt, the occasional odor of indifference and the underarm spray that was at least two years old -- they all serve as jogs and jags to the memory.
Sadly, many people still hold material relics of disappointed love all over the most important part of their lives -- yes, their Facebook timelines.
In the bowels of these definitive capsules lies the evidence of smiles that proved fake, hugs that proved self-serving, and the sharing of caramel cone ice cream that proved to be nothing more than a deceptive and fattening practice.
So to give your Valentine's Day a fresh start and a clean break, a mobile app called KillSwitch is launching, its sole purpose being to eradicate your ex from your Facebook timeline.
As Mashable reports, KillSwitch promises faithfully to hoover away at your past and suck up all the detritus of the one who once said she loved you more than she loved, well, herself. (C'mon. This is America. That couldn't possibly have been true.)
There's one important -- and potentially deal-breaking -- element to using this app. You and your ex must still be Facebook friends.
I know that for some the very first act after a breakup is to sever the Facebook friendship. (The second is severing ties on LinkedIn.)
Some, though, for reasons of laziness or hidden longing, keep that tenuous connection alive, just in case one party becomes less obstinate or less blind to what really happened.
KillSwitch puts an end to that maybe.
It digs deep and wide, in order to find any last image, wall post, status update, or poke. You then decide whether to delete them permanently or keep them in a secret KillSwitch folder for a snowy day (in Hell).
Though it costs a whole 99 cents, some of the money will go to the American Heart Association of New York. (It's available as an
Android app in the Google Play store and "coming soon" to the Apple App Store.)
With some exes, it can take awhile to remove all trace -- 4,000 posts took 15 minutes, according to the people behind the app. (4,000 posts? Who does that?)
But if your relationship was a mere superficial shell, then you can be done with all the evidence before you've had 10 slurps of your cappuccino.
Naturally, one could suggest that you could avoid the need for such technology, if you didn't feel such a desperate need to plaster the Web with pictures of every stage of every relationship.
But life these days is about display before dismay, isn't it?
Microsoft's Skype team today rolled out two new updates, both labeled as version 6.2, for Windows and Mac.
The Windows version includes a redesigned top toolbar that brings together main actions, like calling phones, creating groups, and adding contacts. It also includes "eGifting," or the ability to send Skype credits to users on their birthday which the recipients can use anytime.
Another feature in the Skype 6.2 for Windows release includes the option to send an instant message using ctrl+enter. This version drops support for PCs using Intel Pentium 3 or similar CPUs which don't support SSE2 instructions.
The Skype for Mac 6.2 update includes the same eGifting capability. It also adds support for one-way SMS without the addition and verification of the user's mobile number.
The
Mac update includes several bug fixes, including problems with signing out of Facebook, and issues around the display of Messenger contacts in a Skype contact group.
This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline "Skype rolls out 6.2 updates for Windows, Mac."
Apple's iTunes generated revenue of $13.5 billion last year, making it the company's fourth-largest business, according to Asymco analyst Horace Dediu.
A business that simply broke even a few years ago has been rising "steadily and rapidly," Dediu said in a post yesterday.
iTunes has averaged growth of more than 30 percent over the past two years. The $13.5 billion in sales in 2012 was up from $10.2 billion in 2011.
At the same time that iTunes is adding a greater chunk of sales to Apple's overall results, the
Mac and
iPod lineups are contributing less. If this trend continues, iTunes could become Apple's third-largest business sometime this year, forecasts Dediu.
Another business already bigger than the Mac is Apple's Accessories line, which includes products such as Apple TV. As Dediu points out, iTunes and Apple accessories depend on hardware sales to thrive. But the results show that these "ancillary" businesses are contributing more than their fair share.
"Indeed, if seen in isolation, iTunes plus Accessories combined is a bigger business in terms of revenues than any of the other phone vendors except Samsung," Dediu said.
Yes, it makes you smarter.
Can I share a secret with you?
Smartphones really aren't that smart.
They do a small amount of thinking for themselves, but they depend quite a bit on the information you give them about yourself. Yes, they're like IBM's Watson -- or pretty much every Valentine's blind date you've ever had.
However, Google chose last night's Grammys to suggest that its smartphone, the
Nexus 4, is just a little smarter than, say, oh, the
iPhone 5.
Siri has had her troubles understanding you -- both your voice and the strange way you sometimes think. Even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has called her something of a disaster.
Google has Google Now -- which is very now and very Google.
The more information you give it about yourself, the more useful its offerings are.
Why would you be bothered about old-fashioned idiocies like privacy (or 4G LTE) when your Nexus 4 can help you not be late for something important or find the French word for "vegetable" while you're in Paris, staring at a sea urchin?
After Samsung, Google is the one brand that has used advertising very effectively to create a distinct (and much needed) emotional connection with an audience that might otherwise be suspicious.
This ad manages to marry the warm with the useful, the local with the worldly. It doesn't bother showing a voice capability to directly jab at Siri, because it has something potentially more interesting to offer.
The idea that you can be given the right information at the right time is extremely powerful, when we seem to spend most of our lives being given the wrong information by people (and machines) who really couldn't care one way or another.
Of course, Google has managed not to be able to give people the right phone at the right time, by somehow failing to ensure that enough Nexus 4s are available for humans to do quaint things with them -- like taking them home, for example.
Still, imagine if you could find this phone at your local Best Buy by just casually wandering down the street. Yes, now.
That would be a revolution, wouldn't it?
There's no disturbing lack of faith among Kickstarter supporters.
After all, a crowdfunded project to construct the Death Star that was launched less than a week ago already has nearly 1,500 backers and an astonishing $364,772 in pledges.
Well, the Rebels aren't taking that threat sitting down. A rival Kickstarter campaign to build X-wing fighters has just taken off. Its goal is to build one of the famous spaceships from "Star Wars" and then more.
"If George Lucas produced 'Star Wars IV, A New Hope,' for $11,000,000 we figure we can finance a prototype of an X-Wing and train a pilot," organizer Simon Kwan, a product designer in Shanghai, writes on the campaign page.
"One update we'd like to include for our updated X-Wing is iPhone and Siri integration."
The stretch goal is to build a squadron of X-wings for $4,485,672,683, the worldwide box office take of all the films in the franchise, according to The Numbers, a film sales tracking site.
A further goal is "13 million Galactic Standard Credits: A Class YT-1300 Freighter (heavily modified) and a crew consisting of a Corellian smuggler and a Wookie co-pilot."
Tech Crunch, however, politely points out that such credits have been estimated at only 62 cents, making the Falcon cost only $8 million, which is of course less than the campaign's basic goal.
Details, details. What matters is we get an X-wing built, stat!
At least then we'll have a chance of countering a real threat to our planet: asteroids.
I suppose it's still a fair assumption that more people listen to music than movies with headphones, but there has to be a growing audience listening to movies, TV shows, and YouTube videos via their headphones. Thanks to the booming popularity of tablets, might the ratio of movies-to-music listening time be moving away from music? Or not?
I watch a lot of movies at home with headphones on. They present a level of detail that you can get from speakers only when you play them really loud. With headphones, I don't have to crank the volume. They're also handy when other people in my apartment are sleeping.
If you watch movies or TV shows on an
iPad, headphones are the most likely way you'd listen. Some folks probably use a single Bluetooth speaker for movie sound with
tablets, but then again, if you have a decent home theater you're more likely to listen with speakers. Do you watch movies on your computer, and if you do, do you prefer headphones or speakers? Do your headphones sound better than your computer speakers? Of course, where you watch may skew the headphone vs. speaker preference one way or another.
Please share your movie vs. music listening over headphones experiences in the Comments section.
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