Recent Comments:
Verizon confirms DROID tethering cost, will ask subscribers to double-down on their data plan {Engadget}
Nov 6th 2009 9:22AM trainwrecka, you're paying an additional $720 on top of $2100 over the course of two years because _they can get away with it._ Data is data, and they shouldn't care whether the endpoint is your phone or your laptop. The clever people who figure out how to tether without paying an additional $30 a month are the only ones in the entire telecom business that have the consumers' interest at heart.
Without them it'd be even worse.
Pavegen taps pedestrians for power in East London (video) {Engadget}
Oct 29th 2009 4:13PM SSDs had the promise of increasing reliability. OLEDs had the promise of increasing efficiency and luminosity. These systems, however, can never promise to create more energy than they consume (even ignoring the cost of manufacturing them). They exist to harvest mechanical energy, which would not result in a net gain in energy even if the system was 100% efficient. The only sensible application of such systems are in places where the energy would have gone into a form that is unhelpful to us anyway--such as putting generators on exercise bikes, or placing these Pavegen tiles in the ground at runners' tracks. The energy expended by the commuters walking over the sidewalk would have been better spent in helping them reach their destination, unless they were walking with the goal of expending energy.
iTunes goes 9.0.2: adds support for Apple TV 3.0, kills Pre sync {Engadget}
Oct 29th 2009 3:45PM Steve has a point. I don't consider it a software improvement when an update intentionally breaks functionality with other devices.
Pavegen taps pedestrians for power in East London (video) {Engadget}
Oct 29th 2009 3:40PM Don't forget the chemical energy expended by the humans as they do a bit of extra work against gravity, due to the slight vertical displacement of the Pavegen tile as it's depressed. The cost of replacing that chemical energy translates to the manufacturing and transportation of produce, as well as losses due to the usual inefficiencies of digestion and biological energy storage. Just because the intended user of the device won't notice such small energy expenditures doesn't mean that the tile is magically "green."
Psystar releases Rebel EFI installer, further enrages Apple {Engadget}
Oct 23rd 2009 2:23PM The OS X isn't an embedded OS, as it's available as a retail product and is purchasable without proving you own Apple hardware--hardware which is fundamentally identical to PC hardware. It's just Apple attempting to use questionably legal EULA terms to tell you what you can and can't do with software you purchase.
FCC net neutrality rules enter drafting process, face McCain challenge {Engadget}
Oct 23rd 2009 9:58AM Not only is the "Internet Freedom Act of 2009" bill ironic, it's ballsy. There already exists a bill called the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, which is actual net neutrality legislation http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3458/show.
The FCC can adopt regulations all they want, but they're a slow and ineffectual body when it comes to taking action against an offending party. Do you think the FCC would take prompt action if you report that your ISP is blocking content or violating your right to an open internet? No. What we need is net neutrality legislation, so that offending parties can be brought into the judicial system, where lawsuits will ensure an expedient administration of justice.
When I say that the FCC is ineffectual at responding to complaints of average people, I speak from experience. I had to sign up with the only broadband provider in town, which was extremely costly and had a draconian Terms of Service. In order to use the service, I had to agree that I wouldn't use the connection to access material that "contains explicit or graphic descriptions, or accounts of, sexual acts." To make it worse, they would hijack random HTTP requests and redirect me to ads. No, I'm not kidding. This is what I'd occasionally see when trying to go to google.com: http://i35.tinypic.com/28qqf4w.png. I submitted a formal complaint to the FCC two years ago (when they still had these open internet guidelines) and they've done absolutely nothing.
McCain calling it the Internet Freedom Act of 2009 is either arrogant or ignorant. Tell your congressperson to support the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, H.R. 3458: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3458/show
Palm WebOS 1.2.1 now available, 'fixes' iTunes media sync {Engadget}
Oct 3rd 2009 12:38PM Guys, an update to a piece of software on YOUR computer that intentionally breaks the use of YOUR device is what we call malware. Just because Apple is a big company doesn't mean we should give them a pass on this. They're distributing malware for the purposes of maintaining their monopoly on the de facto digital music solution. There is no technical reason why that program should intentionally cripple compatibility with third-party devices.
Palm WebOS 1.2.1 now available, 'fixes' iTunes media sync {Engadget}
Oct 3rd 2009 12:12PM I love it. Apple upgrades make your product worse, Palm upgrades make it better. This is why I downgraded from iPhone OS 3.0 to 2.2.1. 3.0 made my 3G unusably slow and hot.
New Microsoft Courier video details tablet interface, exciting life of a shoe designer (Update: Windows 7 underneath, might run Microsoft hardware) {Engadget}
Sep 29th 2009 11:41AM A calculator would be awesome. Imagine something like a handwritten version of Wolfram Alpha. It would be the math students' version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
New Microsoft Courier video details tablet interface, exciting life of a shoe designer (Update: Windows 7 underneath, might run Microsoft hardware) {Engadget}
Sep 29th 2009 11:14AM Heh, good point, kazbaeden. I bet that laptop was supposed to be a Mac, too....The cursor is the OS X cursor. they probably just removed the camera, changed the latch, and threw in IE on XP.
