09.27.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 8:34 am by Lee
European negotiators said they made “surprising progress” in talks today with Apple Computer over easing the restrictions it imposes on users of its iTunes service, by far the dominant seller of downloaded music.
But a full resolution of the dispute could require Apple to make major changes in the iTunes business model.
Officialsof four Nordic countries have threatened to impose heavy fines on Applebecause iTunes prevents customers from using the songs they buy onmusic devices that compete with Apple’s iPodplayers. The officials say that restriction and other aspects of theway iTunes works violate consumer protection laws in the four countries— Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
“Our meeting was muchmore constructive than I expected it would be,” said Bjorn Erik Thon,director of the Norwegian consumer ombudsman’s office, which has takenthe lead in the talks. “We argued and did not agree on a lot, but wediscussed all issues.”
In addition to “interoperability” — beingable to use downloaded music files on different manufacturers’ players— the talks covered four other issues, Mr. Thon said, including Apple’srefusal to accept liability for any damage its iTunes software might doto a computer and Apple’s claim of a right to change contract termsafter purchase of a song.
Europe Makes Progress in iTunes Negotiations – New York Times
I think if they manage to succeed with this it’s got to be good for all of us if the DRM is opened up a bit more. I currently have an Ipod and have bought iTunes music in the past.
The result?
I’m tied to buying an iPod for my next portable music player, unless I go about it in a way to remover copy protection.
However, I can’t see Apple being very willing to open it up – and if they do, will microsoft have to do the same? Or will we just see apple pull out of these countries?
technorati tags:ipod, itunes, apple, europe, drm
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09.26.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 10:29 pm by Lee
From the site:
Although our policy is to allocate earnings 45 days after the end of every month, we’re so thrilled about August’s results that we’re releasing the numbers a few weeks early this month.
So without further ado, it is our pleasure to announce that the top Newsvine earner earned $414.27 in August!
As a user of newsvine, i think this is fantastic news. Although my earnings weren’t quite this high, they were considerably higher in August than other months. Hopefully, they’ll keep going up ($50 per month would keep me VERY happy!)
Interested in joining newsvine? Contact me on blog@lee-stone.co.uk as I can send you an invite. Although you don’t need one to sign up, it does give you some advantages.
read more | digg story
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Posted in Tech From The Net at 7:32 am by Lee
The mobile web is about to receive the biggest shake-up in years with the start of open registration for mobile phone-specific website addresses.
The general public can now register websites ending with .mobi (dotmobi) as the backers of the mobile net hope to overturn consumer apathy.
Only one in 10 mobile owners use their phones to surf the net due to concerns over cost, speed and poor content.
Sites ending dotmobi are designed for phones and must meet agreed standards.
The organisation charged with overseeing the domain name registration, Mobile Top Level Domain (MTLD), expects 200,000 mobile sites to be registered in the next year during a so-called “land rush”.
MTLD is promising that websites with a registered dotmobi address will be optimised for mobile phones, guaranteeing users a consistent experience.
It costs about $25 (£14) to register a dotmobi site for a minimum two-year period.
read more | digg story
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09.23.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 9:08 am by Lee
Rita – Queen of Speed is now back up and running, after an incident last weekend took her out of action.
Witnesses of the breakdown described a loud bang as a trainlaunched, followed by a puff of smoke. Engineers were then seen pickingout what looked like fragments of metal from inside the launch track.
To have the ride back open in less than a week is definitely good newsfor the park, following the announcement a few weeks ago that theRunaway Mine Train would be shut until the 2007 season.
This isn’t the first major problem to be experienced by Rita since itopened in 2005. In November last year, it was reported that the drumwhich the launch cable wraps around would need to be replaced beforethe ride could run again.
However, the replacement drum was damaged during fabrication, so thecurrent drum was repaired for the 2006 season. It is expected to bereplaced over the coming winter.
And the other Intamin launched coaster, Stealth at Thorpe Park inSurrey, had to remain closed for almost a month soon after it opened,due to a major breakdown.
Alton Towers Almanac: News: Rita Reopens
I’m impressed how quickly they’ve got this back up and fixed, i’m guessing it wasn’t as major as reports originally thought.
technorati tags:rita, alton towers, rollercoaster, repair
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09.22.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 11:25 pm by Lee
Second Life give more details about their security breach two weeks ago and what information they believe was accessed. They think they were after L$ and the source code with his access to account information largely incidental.Second Life also discuss what they are doing to help prevent this in future.
read more | digg story
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Posted in Tech From The Net at 11:03 pm by Lee
Hewlett-Packard’s chairman Patricia Dunn has resigned with immediate effect amid allegations of illegal spying by the US computer firm.
Chief executive Mark Hurd said he had accepted the offer from Ms Dunn, who had earlier indicated she would leave in January over the scandal.
read more | digg story
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09.21.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 7:30 am by Lee
Rita is currently closed and could remain so for a while, following an incident on Saturday.Nobody was hurt during the breakdown, but it was severe enough to stop the ride from running for the immediate future.One witness of the incident said: “As a train launched there was a loud bang and a puff of smoke just after the brake fins. That was the last time [the ride] ran.”As we were evacuated, several engineers could be seen picking what looked like fragments of metal from the inside of the launch track.”
Alton Towers Almanac: News: Rita Breaks Down… Again
Rita is up and down like a yo-yo, but something seems to have gone seriously wrong this time. It’s another ride out of action for alton towers but I can’t see it being back before the end of the season.
technorati tags:rita, rollercoaster, alton towers
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09.16.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 9:08 am by Lee
A bus in the UK managed to get itself stuck when it took a wrong turn and ended up going down a cul-de-sac. The driver got wedged on a grassy verge for three hours before a tow truck came and took 45mins to get it out.
read more | digg story
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09.13.06
Posted in Tech From The Net at 11:15 am by Lee
Apple has finally upgraded the extremely popular shuffle.
With it’s built in clip it is now the worlds smallest MP3 player – and reasonably priced too!
read more | digg story
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