Dvorak News Blog

HP Unveils Strange “DreamScreen”

By hhopper Thursday September 17, 2009

TechNewsWorld.com – 09/17/09 10:33 AM PT

It isn’t a full-on tablet PC, and it has more features than a common digital picture frame. HP’s new DreamScreen is a portable touchscreen tablet that can run video, pictures and music. It can be used with a home WiFi network; however, once it’s online, it can only use built-in apps for Internet radio, social networking and local playback utilities, not browse the Web.

There are two models in the DreamScreen family: the 100 and the 130. The 100 has a 10.2-inch screen; the 130 has a 13.3-inch screen. They come with stands and are ready for wall mounting out of the box.

Both come in black and have a flush glass widescreen display. They will include 802.11 b or 802.11g wireless capabilities. The 100 is available now at various online outlets at US$249; the 130 will sell next month for $299.

I can’t believe it doesn’t have a browser. It’s like a tablet computer but it’s not. Who will buy these ‘semi-computers?’

Phone Calling Coming to Twitter

By hhopper Thursday September 17, 2009

11 Comments

CNN.com/Technology – 9:46 a.m. EDT, Thu September 17, 2009

(CNET) — Twitter users on Thursday will, for the first time, be able to make voice calls directly to each other through the microblogging service.
During the beta period, voice chats will be limited to two minutes on Twitter, the company Jajah said.

A new third-party offering from Jajah known as Jajah@call is expected to go into beta Thursday morning that will allow Twitter users to initiate a two-way voice chat with other users by typing “@call @username” — where “username” is someone’s Twitter ID — into any Twitter client.

During the beta period, the company said, the calls will be limited to two minutes, but the company will evaluate that length during beta. However, it sees the two minute period, after which the call will end, as “the verbal equivalent of a tweet.”

According to Jajah, an Internet communications provider with tens of millions of users, the service will allow a user to place a call to any other user, so long as the second person follows the first on Twitter and both have Jajah accounts.

The service is free to use and is expected to work on any Twitter-enabled device, from PCs to smart phones.

Browser-Based Office Shows its Face

By hhopper Thursday September 17, 2009

13 Comments

(Click photo to enlarge.)

C-Net News – September 17, 2009 9:38 AM PDT

Microsoft plans on Thursday to start public testing for the first browser-based version of Office, although the technology preview is at least as notable for what it doesn’t include as what it does offer.

The limited test of the so-called Office Web Apps includes versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but not the OneNote note-taking application. And while Excel and PowerPoint offer the ability to edit and create documents, the current Web-based version of Word can only be used to view documents, essentially the same capability it already offers as part of its current Office Live Workspace product.

Microsoft said the Web versions of OneNote and Word share “the same editing surface,” and that the technology is still being worked on.

“We made the hard decision to turn off editing in the Word Web App at Tech Preview, in order for people to have the best experience at this early stage,” Microsoft said.

Microsoft plans to offer the Web Apps preview first to users of Windows Live SkyDrive, giving them 25GB worth of storage.

I still don’t want my data floating around somewhere on a cloud.

Ottawa sends body bags to Manitoba Indian Reservations – Swine Flu!

By John C Dvorak Thursday September 17, 2009

14 Comments

Ottawa sends body bags to Manitoba reserves FYI

Aboriginal leaders in Manitoba are horrified that some of the reserves hardest hit by swine flu in the spring have received dozens of body bags from Health Canada. The body bags — which were sent to the remote northern reserves of Wasagamack and God’s River First Nation — came in a shipment of hand sanitizers and face masks. ‘Don’t send us body bags. Help us organize; send us medicine.’—Grand Chief David Harper

Grand Chief David Harper, who represents northern First Nations, says body bags send the wrong message and no one can understand why Ottawa would do such a thing.

“It really makes me wonder if health officials know something we don’t,” he said. “I have a right to speak for my people. I make a plea to the people of Canada to work with us to ensure the lowest fatalities from this monster virus. Don’t send us body bags. Help us organize; send us medicine.”

Found by Michael Millette.

U.S. Government Finds $20 Trillion Buried By Absentminded Reagan In 1987

By hhopper Thursday September 17, 2009

49 Comments

WASHINGTON — In what government officials are calling a stirring testament to the leadership and foresight of late U.S. president Ronald Reagan, nearly $20 trillion in low denomination bills were discovered this week buried in the White House Rose Garden.

Sealed in hundreds of old mason jars, crumpled shoe boxes, socks, metal tins, and oven mitts, the financial windfall is believed to have been stashed away by Regan, then 76, during his second term.

“Our economic worries are no more,” announced a jubilant Barack Obama, who claimed that the remarkable find would sustain the struggling nation for the next two decades. “Not only did President Reagan manage to anticipate a crippling recession 20 years ahead of time, but it appears he left behind all of the resources we would need to overcome it.”

Found by Misanthropic Scott.

Susan Boyle sings for 1st time on US television

By Jacob Galt Thursday September 17, 2009

19 Comments

Good job.

Amazing ‘Zoom Into…’ Videos

By Uncle Dave Thursday September 17, 2009

12 Comments

If your bandwidth can handle it, click on the SD on the video’s control panel and change to the hi-def version. Watch more of these zooming videos.

Bush’s Pointless European Anti-Missile Shield About To Be Killed By Obama?

By Uncle Dave Thursday September 17, 2009

62 Comments

Pointless may be the wrong word since the point of it was to give taxpayer money to defense contractors.

U.S. President Barack Obama has told east European states he is backing away from plans for an anti-missile shield there, in a move that may ease Russian-U.S. ties but fuel fears of resurgent Kremlin influence.

Russia said it would welcome abandonment of the plans, which have been a major source of Russian-U.S. tensions.

Poland said Obama would announce a final decision later on Thursday (1400 GMT) on a project that has raised the prospect of multi-billion dollar contracts for U.S. defense giants.

The shield, involving interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar complex in the Czech republic, was promoted by Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush to defend against any missile launches from “rogue” states such as Iran and North Korea.

Cripes! You Can’t Even Go On Vacation Without Complaining!

By Uncle Dave Thursday September 17, 2009

11 Comments

One man told staff of his irritation at the number of holidaymakers who traveled with plain black suitcases, hindering his attempts to find his own plain black suitcase on the airport conveyor belt.

After discovering that the shampoo in her luggage had leaked during her flight, one woman bemoaned the fact that the hotel she was staying in provided complimentary toiletries, rendering the entire incident “very preventable”.

Another woman wrote in to complain that her plane journey was a disappointment because the sky was far too cloudy, impeding the view for her and her children and spoiling their game of eye-spy.

Following a trip to a local theme park, another woman wrote to the travel agent to complain that the Log Flume ride made her feet wet and the sun was so strong that her ice cream melted too quickly.

There’s more where these came from.

And since drinking tends to be a part of many a vacation, here’s some people who went a tad too far while imbibing and hit record blood levels.

Son of slain anti-abortion protester says his dad had a “pathological hatred of women,” “didn’t care about abortion,” and “enjoyed making people suffer”

By SN Thursday September 17, 2009

51 Comments

Flint Journal – 9/17/09:

Dr. James M. Pouillon, a Grand Rapids podiatrist who had not spoken to his father since 2001, criticized him and the attention he’s getting in a post on a story about Harlan Drake, the man accused of killing Pouillon’s father, James L. Pouillon, on Sept. 11.

The whole nation is debating if Pouillon was a martyr. Here is what the younger Pouillon had to say in an mlive.com post on mlive.com on Sept. 13:

“It will be impossible for some to believe, but my dad really didn’t care about aborton.

He did this to stalk, harass, terrorize, scream at, threaten, frighten, and verbally abuse women. He had a pathologic hatred of women: his mom, my mom, everyone.

After my mom finally left him and he lost his favorite punching bag the violence and abuse that was always contained within our 4 walls was unleased on the people of Owosso.

My dad used the pro-life movement and 1st Amendments foundations to defend him, support him, and enable him. He fooled them all.

He was at the high shool because my niece was there, and female family members were always his favorite targets.

Again, my dad didn’t care about abortion. He wanted to hurt people, upset people. He enjoyed making people suffer.

His goal was to be shot on a sidewalk. His goal was to make someone so angry, to make them feel so terrorized, to make them feel the only way they could make him stop was to kill him.

His pro-life stance was the most perfect crime I personally know of. He hid behind the 1st Amendment and was allowed to stalk, terrorise, harass, be obsene, ect. These things are crimes. Offending people isn’t a crime, and having different political views isn’t a crime, but he committed several crimes over the last 20 years and got away with it.

Yes I really am his oldest son. Owosso is now rid of a mad man.”

Video – Malicious Websites Using Death Of Patrick Swayze To Spread Malware

By Gasparrini Thursday September 17, 2009

3 Comments

As it happens when someone famous dies, malicious websites are taking advantage of the recent death of Patrick Swayze to spread malware.

Activision’s CEO says: “The goal that I had… was to take all the fun out of making video games”

By SN Thursday September 17, 2009

30 Comments

Hothardware.com – September 16, 2009:

Last weekend, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick gave details on what he believes represents the future of gaming—and managed to become the poster child for unhappy workplaces.

Kotick’s real bombshell of a statement didn’t hit until he stopped talking about gaming technology and started discussing his views on corporate culture. According to Gamespot, Kotick “pointed to changes he implemented in the past as being particularly beneficial, such as designing the employee incentive program so it ‘really rewards profit and nothing else.'”

According to the CEO, studio heads now regularly argue with CFO’s over the allocation of funds, each competing with the others for cash. If this doesn’t sound like much fun—and it doesn’t—that’s Bobby’s stated plan. “We have a real culture of thrift,” Kotick said. “The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games.”

The CEO’s long-term vision, in his own words, is to instill the corporate culture with “skepticism, pessimism, and fear…We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression.” You’d think the man might’ve learned his lesson when indivuals and press organizations decried his plan to strictly focus on games that “have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises.” Evidently not. In Bobby’s world, the best games are produced when every employee is in a constate state of fear, projects are always on the brink of being killed, the ability to generate profit is the only yardstick by which an employee’s value is measured, and—let’s not forget—making video games is not fun.

Great comment from reader GetSmart: “Industries are started by visionaries. And then finished off by douchebags.”

The City Slicker Joke

By John C Dvorak Wednesday September 16, 2009

44 Comments

Here’s a funny gag floating around the Internet.

A cowboy named Mark was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?”

Mark looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, “Sure, Why not?”

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his iPhone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location, which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany . Within seconds, he receives an email on his iPhone that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his iPhone and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turns to the cowboy and says, “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.”

“That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,” says Mark.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then Mark says to the young man, “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?”

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?”

“You’re a Congressman for the U.S. Government”, says Mark.
“Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

“No guessing required.” answered the cowboy. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter you are than I am; and you don’t know a thing about how working people make a living – or about cows, for that matter. This is a herd of sheep. ….

Now give me back my dog.

In the world of telling jokes this comes pretty close to a shaggy dog story. (groan)

Found by Mike Westerfield.

Birther Challenge Formally Thrown Out Of Court As “Frivolous”

By Uncle Dave Wednesday September 16, 2009

83 Comments

Wow! Who could have guessed this outcome.

U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land has thrown out a complaint questioning the president’s birth from an Army captain fighting deployment to Iraq and gave a warning to her lawyer, birther maven Orly Taitz.

Land also put attorney Orly Taitz, who represents Capt. Connie Rhodes and is a leader in the national “birther” movement, on notice by stating that she could face sanctions if she ever files a similar “frivolous” lawsuit in his court.

“(Rhodes) has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States,” Land states in his order. “Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is ‘an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.'”