February 2009
129 posts
1 tag
Amazon Backs Off Text-to-Speech Feature in Kindle →
The headline is a little misleading, it makes it look as if Amazon is going to cripple the Kindle 2. What they actually did is basically tell the industry to go fuck themselves, then suggested that they will add a flag to their content which will allow the content creators to disable the text-to-speech feature.
In other words, Amazon is not going to do anything about it (apart from patching the...
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Marketecture
A while ago Karla had asked me to define for her some IT roles, including solution architect. I was trying to explain that programmers resent some (notice I say some, not all) of those fellows because there is a tendency to promise to the customer more than what we can produce, then the project is dumped on our laps and they walk away. Their responsibility ends there, so it is the...
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Write your own Dollhouse episode
Here is the basic outline:
1. Echo gets an assignment.
2. The FBI dude spends the episode running around. He’ll probably get his ass kicked.
3. Doyle gets hurt at least once per episode. If he is hurt bad enough, it is OK that he starts the episode hurting and then finishes OK.
4. The nerd guy somehow screws up Echo’s programming.
5. Throw a coin: heads means one Deus-ex-Machina...
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Happy Anniversary gift from Harlequin Press →
The following Harlequin Press Kindle books are available for free for a limited time:
Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren
Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry
Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf
Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels
Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson
Baby Bonanza by Maureen Child
Price of Passion by Susan Napier
Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart
Watch“What happens to all the stuff left inside a foreclosed house when the ex-owners jet? The bank contracts these guys to haul it all away in what is called a “trash out.” Here’s a short video following a crew of junk chuckers.”
Why Kindle 2's Screen Took 12 Years and $150... →
Metro Silver Line: Wiehle Metro station approved,... →
This is the station closest to my house, a hair under two miles away. If I am lucky the station will open before I qualify for a senior citizen’s bus pass.
General Motors posts $9.6 billion quarterly loss →
They lost $30.9 billion for all of 2008. This is almost beyond comprehension. They burned thorough $6.2 billion as they were begging for government handouts.
Why is GM still up? When is somebody going to say that enough is enough? Why is CFO Ray Young still gainfully employed? Why is CEO Rick Wagoner still employed? If you rack a $30.9 billion loss running the company and/or overseeing its...
WatchAre Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?
Safari 4 Hidden Preferences - Random Genius →
This is the one thing that keeps driving me up a wall, the stupid tabs on the top edge of the browser window. The fix works as described, now I am at peace again.
Marvell Plans $100 Computer Inside a Wall Plug →
Dump something like XBMC or Boxee into it and you have one hell of a media server, and it is pretty much invisible, you can easily stick that behind a TV and you would never know it is there.
For $3K, You Can Build Your Own Kindle Killer →
This is pretty damn clever of E Ink: sell a developer toolkit with all of the parts needed to put together an ebook using their new electronic ink displays. This is not a direct threat to Amazon and the Kindle, but it is going to be a problem for Sony and anyone trying to aim for being second in the market. With a kit like this, any small company can quickly turn these items into a workable...
No-Follow Enabled On Disqus WordPress Plugin v2.04 →
This is a quick FYI for those that use the Wordpress version of the Disqus comments system. As of version 2.04, the plugin uses no-follow, which means that it is basically worthless to spammers to waste their time on your blog(s).
Google and friends will not use links marked as no-follow when calculating page ranks, so spamming your Disqus comments is a waste of time.
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OPPO BDP-83 Blu-Ray Player Early Adoption Program
Oppo is a company that for the past few years has made a series of wildly popular upconverting DVD players. If you just google them, you can easily see that they have a semi-fanatical following, almost the kind of thing you usually expect from us Apple fanboys.
Well, the folks over at Oppo are about to launch a Blu-Ray player, so everyone is of course going wild about it. Oppo just emailed me...
Amazon Kindle's Blog: Danielle Steel on Kindle... →
First Tom Clancy/Penguin budged, now Danielle Steel. Almost all of the bread-and-butter writers are already on Kindle, and something tells me that the others are already talking to Amazon.
Largest US camera store seeks bankruptcy... →
I will miss them, that was the only local shop where I could buy photo development supplies, and the only place I trusted to develop my b&w and slides back in the day.
Kindle 2 is out in the wild
In a shocking turn of events, it hasn’t sold out yet. Buy yours by using the link below, so Amazon can send me a kickback under the table. All kickbacks go to Pedro’s Next Digital Camera Memorial Fund:
Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)
“Bonuses were determined based upon the performance and the retention of people,...”
– Merrill Lynch CEO: “Nothing Happened In The World Or The Economy” That Would Justify Suspending Bonuses
Can you believe this asshole? There was nothing, absolutely nothing, going on that would make it a bad thing for him to approve $3.6 billion in bonuses, funded by bailout money, right...
U.S. to pledge $900 million for Gaza rebuild →
Why are we paying to rebuild something that we didn’t blow up? Can’t we use the $900 as part of the bailouts here?
Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera + 16GB SDHC Class 6... →
I just put my Zi6 on eBay, proceeds go to Pedro’s Next Digital Camera Memorial Fund.
Noname says FML →
Too funny.
NAACP calls for firing of N.Y. Post cartoonist →
God Bless the Freedom of Speech. I am waiting for a showdown between the NAACP and the ACLU.
43%-35% - Big Macs or Lattes? →
WatchEasy way to get out of debt, courtesy of SNL.
The Future of Netflix is All About Streaming →
This is not the first time that Netflix’s CEO hints at only-digital distribution. They see Blu-Ray as what is probably going to be the last physical distribution format. 5 or so years from now we will be seeing digital distribution approaching critical mass, and that is going to be the begining of the end for physical distribution. I already got Blu-ray, but I also have Netflix and I...
what's your favorite book?
karlaakins:
merricat:
theprosaic:
dinosores:
paigesmuts:
(via elliep)
It’s a toss-up between The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
All of my followers probably know this by now but Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas!
the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime by mark haddon
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
...
Cash-Strapped Oscars To Give Out Emmys →
Breakfast?
karlaakins:
nom-nom-nom:
betweenthestars:
I always find it interesting to know what people eat for breakfast. If they don’t eat breakfast, if they just have cereal, if they have pork tenderloin for breakfast, and so on.
Today was a typical day. I had cereal (Nature’s Path Optimum Slim cereal) with soy milk, a banana, and some grapefruit juice. And green tea. And fiber tablets, haha. It was...
It's Time for Cities to Favor People, Not Cars →
That’s the problem here in North Virginia, this place is laid out that we have to measure distance in time, not in length. Want to drive to Target? That’s 15 minutes, not 3 miles. Want to drive to Alexandria? That’s at least 40 minutes, not 20-odd miles.
Fast Company Magazine ranks Apple #4 of 50... →
Heads will roll at Apple over this terrible oversight.
Bank of America's CEO is subpoenaed →
This is ironic (actually, it is hilarious), a bank CEO being held ACCOUNTABLE for his actions. Get it? ACCOUNTABLE!
Pure genius.