Project Gutenberg Founder Michael Stern Hart, 1947-2011

gutenbergIn 1971, Michael Hart was given some operator time on a Xerox mainframe, and felt obligated to produce something worthwhile. Struck by an idea, he typed in, letter by letter, the text of the Declaration of Independence, from a copy he had been given on the fourth of July. He then attempted to send it to everyone connected to the mainframe, and narrowly escaped bringing the network (such as it was) down around their heads. An inauspicious start for Project Gutenberg, one of the most forward-thinking projects in the history of technology. The basic principles of the web as we know it are embodied in Project Gutenberg. The idea of digitizing and making freely available the world's information found its first real traction there. YouTube, iTunes, and Google Books of course are merely scaled-up versions of that first impetus, to take the written page and translate it to ones and zeros. And in an age of copyright conflicts, patent disputes, and trademark bullying, the project is a sobering reminder that posterity cares very little for our vain squabbling.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/qVFF3FXzGHg/

Angelika Frey Mika Bernhardt Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann

Microsoft adds Acer, ViewSonic to patent licensing list

You can go ahead and add Acer and ViewSonic to Microsoft's long list of patent licensees. This morning, Redmond announced a pair of new licensing agreements with the two companies, just a few months after striking similar deals with Itronix and Velocity Micro. Details, however, are few and far between, with Microsoft saying only that it will receive royalties from ViewSonic and that the patents in question pertain to both companies' Android tablets and smartphones. Of course they do. Both press releases await you, after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft adds Acer, ViewSonic to patent licensing list

Microsoft adds Acer, ViewSonic to patent licensing list originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/wt99_uM_YIg/

Emma Sauter Rosemarie Ramsauer Jörn Domenighini Marion Dallmeyer

LG's 55-inch LW9800 3D HDTV earns THX certification, our home theater respect

Let's face it. We live in a world chock full of entertainment options. With more means of accessing the visual goods, comes less reason to leave the house. Well, LG's aiming to make the cinema experience even more passé with its 55-inch Nano Full LED Cinema LW9800 3D HDTV set. Recently shown off at CEDIA 2011, the slim, flat panel is the first passive 3D display to garner THX certification, delivering HD enthusiasts closer to true "movie experiences." The 480Hz TV utilizes film-pattern retarder tech to optimize 3D image separation, and also includes LG's Smart TV suite of streaming video services (Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, et al.) and app store. So, if you're ready to roll your eyes at Lucas' latest tweaks from the comfort of your couch, get set to fork over $3,800 and join the at-home grousing.

Continue reading LG's 55-inch LW9800 3D HDTV earns THX certification, our home theater respect

LG's 55-inch LW9800 3D HDTV earns THX certification, our home theater respect originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/i4LYQQdJ0k0/

Fiona Brandenburg Franziska Spanier Erna Van den Hout Laura Pauli

Marvell debuts first single-chip LTE world modem for smartphones, tablets and more

There are LTE modems and there are LTE modems. Marvell's latest is of the latter sort -- the kind you don't see (or lose in your bag) but are glad to have inside your device. It's also a first, packing connectivity for FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, and EDGE networks into a single-chip design that promises to lower the cost of manufacturing said devices. If Marvell has its way, you'll also be seeing this particular modem in more than just phones and tablets -- the company also sees it being used in everything from cars to TVs and set-top boxes. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Marvell debuts first single-chip LTE world modem for smartphones, tablets and more

Marvell debuts first single-chip LTE world modem for smartphones, tablets and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/L0F4lDiitZU/

Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte

Induction Charging Kit Costs More Than the iPad it Juices

Nickel and dime, nickel and dime. Ching, ching! If you could hear design and marketing strategies as sounds, then that’s the sound you’d hear coming from LaunchPort, makers of inductive iPad chargers and mounts. The product itself is appealing. You put your iPad into the PowerShuttle case, which adds the necessary charging circuitry, as well as [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/09/induction-charging-kit-costs-more-than-the-ipad-it-juices/

Sylvia Lösche Steven Walnsch Lennart Tonn Simone Temme

iPad Hacks ? Getting the Most out of Your iPad

If you are an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad user, you surely have heard of the term jailbreaking. No, it does not involve breaking someone out of jail. Jailbreak, or iPad Hacks, is the process of utilizing apps, music and other elements without purchasing from Apple. It is also a gateway to third party apps and tweaks. The question is, do you need it? You have been eyeing one application in the App store for quite some time and still [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/ipad-hacks-%e2%80%93-getting-the-most-out-of-your-ipad/

Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar

Introducing the A-Fold iPad Case

Aside from relentless hoarding of apps, perhaps there would be no other habit that would come close to purchasing accessories for one?s iPad. From protection screens, silicone cases, and leather covers, to peripheral devices and gadgets, there are a lot of distinct items available in the market. However, there is one item that stands out above the rest in terms of uniqueness and functionality. Meet the A-Fold iPad Case, which is a new product by Moss to increase and improve [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/introducing-the-a-fold-ipad-case/

Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann Antonio Fellberg Emma Knebel

Interlocked is a three-dimensional brain teaser

interlocked
Back when I was a kid, I used to love crafting ornate puzzle boxes out of Lego. There would be just one way to open the box, by carefully shifting and rotating a bunch of pieces. Well, either that, or breaking the box in frustration.

Interlocked takes that spirit and turns it into a beautiful Flash game. It's a good thing the soundtrack is soothing, because the game itself can get pretty frustrating.

At the start of each level, you're presented with a box built out of blocks in different colors. You can click and drag the mouse to rotate the box any which way. Once you decide you want to shift a part of the box, hit SPACE to switch into "move" mode. You can then click any part of the box and drag it. Of course, you can only move a part as long as nothing is in its way. So it becomes a matter of understanding how the box is built, and what parts you need to move around so you could eventually take the box apart.

It's a tricky, difficult game, but it's a great brain teaser -- and definitely a keeper.

Interlocked is a three-dimensional brain teaser originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/interlocked-is-a-three-dimensional-brain-teaser/

Lutz Yalcin Birte Höß Kerstin Klos Dieter Schreiter

Pandora's New Workout Stations Will Pump You the Hell Up [Music]

Yeah! Thursday! Burn your calves! The weather is shitty outside! But I've got 12 stations of ass-maneuvering, tummy-crunching, algorithmically determined jams! Pandora's suite of exercise tunes almost makes me want to exercise—I'm sort of exercising in my chair! More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OB78iO2DWTw/pandoras-new-workout-stations-will-pump-you-the-hell-up

Kristin Gehrmann Annette Lechner Margarethe Lachner Lutz Yalcin

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that

howsecureismypassword
We've all heard it before; you need to select a lengthy password, one that's hard to guess. Not a dictionary word. And it has to have some capital letters in it too, and some digits, and a symbol or two won't hurt either.

That's a handy set of rules to keep in mind, but How Secure is My Password helps us understand why they're important.

It's basically like a full-screen version of one of those password-strength meters websites sometimes use. But instead of showing you a bar going from "weak" to "strong", it shows you an estimation of how long your password would take to crack. That's a much more visceral way to understand why your password is strong.

For example, when I entered "rabbit", it came back with "your password is one of the 500 most common passwords. It could be cracked almost instantly". "rabbit5" would take two hours, "$rabbit5" would take 38 days, and "$rabbitZ5" would take 237 years. It's quite enlightening to see what a difference three simple characters can make.

How Secure is My Password lets you know just that originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/05/how-secure-is-my-password-lets-you-know-just-that/

Maurice Giese Frederik Faulhaber