Sep 28

Google drops cloud computing lawsuit against US Department of the Interior

Posted in: cloud, Google, government, lawsuit, Microsoft, minipost, money, politics, Today's Chili
Last year, Google filed a lawsuit against the US Department of the Interior, on allegations that the government unfairly awarded a $59 million cloud computing contract to Microsoft without conducting a sufficiently competitive auction. Big G won an injunction against the department in January, effectively putting the contract on hold, and it looked as if the company would prevail, with Judge Susan Braden recently declaring that there was a “justifiable basis” for dispute. Last week, however, Google decided to drop the suit altogether, after filing a motion in the US Court of Federal Claims. “Based on the defendant’s agreement to update its market research and then conduct a procurement in a manner that will not preclude plaintiffs from fairly competing, plaintiffs respectfully move for dismissal of this action without prejudice,” the company’s attorney wrote in the motion, filed on Thursday. Federal lawyers, however, responded by claiming that the two sides have not reached an agreement, while confirming that it had no problem with Google’s decision to cease litigation. It remains to be seen whether the two sides have truly reached an agreement, or whether the litigation may wear on, but we’ll keep you abreast of any future developments.

Google drops cloud computing lawsuit against US Department of the Interior originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Ferroelectric transistor memory could run on 99 percent less power than flash

Posted in: memory, Today's Chili

We’ve been keeping an optimistic eye on the progress of Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FeRAM) for a few years now, not least because it offers the tantalizing promise of 1.6GB/s read and write speeds and crazy data densities. But researchers at Purdue University reckon we’ve been looking in the wrong place this whole time: the real action is with their development of FeTRAM, which adds an all-important ‘T’ for ‘Transistor’. Made by combining silicon nanowires with a ferroelectric polymer, Purdue’s material holds onto its 0 or 1 polarity even after being read, whereas readouts from capacitor-based FeRAM are destructive. Although still at the experimental stage, this new type of memory could boost speeds while also reducing power consumption by 99 percent. Quick, somebody file a patent. Oh, they already did.

Ferroelectric transistor memory could run on 99 percent less power than flash originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Full-Sized Electric Scooter Legal in Bike Lanes

Posted in: Today's Chili, Transportation

The FlyKly electric scooter, coming to a bike lane near you

What would you say if I told you that the scooter you see above will soon be shooting around your town or city, nipping in and out of bike lanes, piloted by untrained, unlicensed drivers? If it makes you angry, prepare to get angrier still, because what I just told you is the truth.

The scooter, called the FlyKly, is a rechargeable electric motorbike with vestigial pedals. Because it can reach just 20mph and has a motor of less than 750W, it qualifies under Federal electric bicycle law as a pushbike. 20mph (or 32km/h) isn’t fast enough to ride in traffic, but is fast enough to be a danger to cyclists.

The FlyKly comes in two models, both costing $1,900. The “Modern” looks like a regular gas scooter, and the “Vintage” has less fairing and more chrome. Both weigh 125 pounds (57kg), both have a range of 40 miles on a charge, and both will carry 500 pounds (227kg).

The Modern has disk brake at the rear (for effortlessly skidding out of control) and drum brake at the front. The Vintage has a pair of drums.

The FlyKly folks claim that, at five cents per charge, you can go 1,000 miles for a dollar. To charge, just plug the bike into the charger, or lug the battery pack inside and hook it up for 4-5 hours.

If it could go a little faster, it would be just about perfect, would require training and a license to use, and would be kept out of bike lines. As it is, it just looks annoying and dangerous: Consider that, here in Spain, it is legal for bikes to ride on the sidewalk.

On the other hand, it’s way better than a car.

The Modern is available for pre-order (ships October) and the Vintage can be had now through UrbanDaddy through some tedious membership program.

FlyKly product page [FlyKly. Thanks, Eric!]

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Sep 28

iLuv unveils WorkStation docks, turns your iPad 2 / Galaxy Tab into a PC, sort of

Posted in: Apple, GalaxyTab, ios, ipad, ipad 2, Ipad2, iPhone, keyboard, Today's Chili

We’ve seen all shapes and sizes of iPad cases, with varying degrees of utility. But, if you have use for a desktop PC-style dock / keyboard combo, you may want to check out some of the new offerings in iLuv’s WorkStation Series. First up is the iMM737, featuring a wired keyboard with iOS function keys that can be stowed in the dock’s base when you’re not typing away, a tilting / rotating bracket for easy customization and built-in speakers. Next, the iMM517 boasts an adjustable slate holder of its own, a Bluetooth keypad and jAura Sound technology. Need something a wee bit more portable? Perhaps the iCK826 or the iSK912 Professional WorkStation Portfolio cases will suit your workflow. Both offer a wireless set of keys that are detachable, should the need arise. Only looking for a keyboard? That’s an option too with the iBTKB20. You can grab any one of these you’d like for $180 to $50, from top to bottom. You’ll have to wait until November to pick up the iMM737, though — everything else will be hitting stores this month. Check out the gallery below for a look at all the above mentioned add-ons, or peep the full PR after the break.

Gallery: iLuv WorkStation Series

Continue reading iLuv unveils WorkStation docks, turns your iPad 2 / Galaxy Tab into a PC, sort of

iLuv unveils WorkStation docks, turns your iPad 2 / Galaxy Tab into a PC, sort of originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Toshiba Thrive 7, Another Netbook — Sorry, Tablet

Posted in: Android, honeycomb, Tablets and E-Readers, Today's Chili

What’s the best thing about Toshiba’s 7-inch tablet? Turn it over and you’ve got every other 7-inch tablet, ever

Are non-Apple tablets the new netbooks? Let’s look at the evidence:

Same OS across the board? Check. (Windows XP on netbooks with a few early Linux boxes; Android everywhere plus BlackBerry’s Playbook).

Commodity hardware, with the only variations being minor differences in CPU, camera sizes and ports? Check.

Race-to-the-bottom prices? Check check check!

In fact, the only real differences seem to be that people actually bought netbooks in decent numbers, and that Apple has some skin in the game. And this time, Apple is the cheap option, as well as the only option anyone actually wants. Meanwhile, netbooks totally died and Apple just made its cheapest MacBook thinner.

Which brings us to Toshiba’s Thrive, a 7-inch me-too tablet running Android 3.2. It has an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 5MP and 2MP cameras (plus an LED flash), USB, HDMI and microSD slots, and will ship in 16GB and 32GB versions. The ports are all hidden under the same kind of annoying flap that I tear off my smartphones in rage.

Pretty much the only thing you can’t find elsewhere is the knobbly, rubberized back (like the one on the bigger Thrive, only non-removable). And the price? A cagey “less than $400.” Should you wish to ignore the Thrive and buy an iPad instead, you’ll have to wait until November to do so.

Thrive 7-inch tablet [Toshiba. Thanks, Yulimar!]

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Sep 28

Canonical launches Ubuntu App Developer platform for curious coders

Posted in: app, application, developer, launch, Linux, minipost, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili, ubuntu
Creating apps for Ubuntu is about to get a lot easier, now that the folks over at Canonical have launched the Ubuntu App Developer platform. On the new site, developers will find guides, tutorials and other resources to help them create apps specifically for the Linux OS, or to port other apps to the platform. Once finalized, these apps can then be published on the Ubuntu Software Centre, where developers can choose to either offer them for free, or at a price. In announcing the new platform, community member David Planella predicted that it will offer a “unified and consistent journey for both open-source, non-commercial and commercial app authors.” He went on to acknowledge, however, that there’s still plenty of work to be done: “For all its current awesomeness, we are aware that the site needs to pass the test of a wider audience, adapt to their needs, and grow.” Find out more at the source link, below.

Canonical launches Ubuntu App Developer platform for curious coders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Should Microsoft Just Create a Forum?

Posted in: Microsoft, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on August 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

It looks as though Microsoft is dancing around the fact that they need a forum – a place where people can go to post their tips and questions for anything Microsoft related whether it be Windows or the Zune. They just relaunched Windowslive.com as a community site which we see as a step in the right direction, but they aren’t quite there yet. Speaking to Read Write Web, the Windows Live senior marketing manager Marty Collins explained that their goal behind the redesign was “to better explain to users how they can use these services together, as well as fostering an active user community.

Microsoft is also currently in the process of rolling out Windows Live Clubhouse. The clubhouse, currently available by invite only, is a forum of sorts for Windows Live users. When we first saw and read about it, it reminded us of a more abstract forum. People can post help and tips about Windows Live products, but it’s not quite as organized and open as it should be.

microsoft clubhouse.png

Here’s how the Clubhouse will work (from what we understand). Someone can post something “Live” related on their Live Spaces account and tag it with “Clubhouse” followed by the name of at least one Live application that they wrote about. Those posts will then appear for others to read and rate. The stories rated the highest whether it be a how-to tip or a story about using a Live product will then be featured on WindowsLive.com. Authors receive “club points” for contributing.

Now getting back to the idea of Microsoft introducing a forum, we think it would help them out tremendously. Like we said, the Clubhouse is a forum of sorts, but it doesn’t allow for open communication as much as a typical forum would. They’d certainly have to spend a good amount of time designing a forum, and then hire a team of people to moderate it, but think about all of the questions people have regarding Vista that could very simply be asked and answered in a Microsoft forum. They have so many different products and services, and each could have it’s own dedicated section.

Should Microsoft just create a forum?

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 28

CyberNotes: Create a Shortcut to Launch Multiple Programs

Posted in: CyberNotes, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on January 17, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

In the past we’ve shown you how to create batch files for synchronizing two folders, and today we’re going to demonstrate how they can be used to launch your favorite applications. If you’re like me you probably start the same applications every morning, such as your feed reader, web browser, and your calendar. If that’s the case then you’ll be in love with what I’m about to show you. In under a minute you can create a batch file to launch several applications, documents, files, and more in a single click.

What some people don’t realize is that you can also use this method to reduce the startup time of your computer! It’s likely that you have at least a handful of applications that startup with Windows which you don’t need immediately. Things like an instant messenger or email checker. You can place all of those applications into a single batch file, remove them from the startup list, and then just run them when you’re ready.

Update: Be sure to checkout how you can use a batch file to close multiple programs as well.

You may think that doing something like this is a tedious process, but it’s actually rather easy:

–Instructions–

  1. Open Notepad (Start Menu -> Accessories -> Notepad):
    Notepad
  2. Get the paths for the programs you want to start. The easiest way to do this is to right-click on each of the existing shortcuts, choose the Properties option, and then copy the Target path.
    Target Properties
  3. Enter the paths for each of the programs into Notepad, one per line. Be sure to put

    start "" 

    at the beginning of each line, and put a space after it to separate it from the application path. If the path of your application has a space in it, you’ll need to surround the entire path with quotes. It should look something like this:
    Multiple Shortcuts in Notepad

  4. Save it as a .BAT file by manually entering in the extension at the end of the file name.
    Save BAT
  5. Double-click on the new file that you just created to test out the results.

–Examples–

There are all kinds of things that this can be used for, especially since you can throw parameters onto each of the applications. Let’s say you wanted to open our website in Firefox, one of the lines would look like this:

start "" "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" "cybernetnews.com"

You can also have it open a document by providing the path to it, like this:

start "" "C:\Users\Wagner\Documents\CyberNet.doc"

In the end you can create several different batch files each for different tasks. Batch files are powerful tools that can greatly enhance your productivity, and this is one of the ways they do that.

Thanks to Tim for asking us how to do something like this!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Sep 28

Bose’s CineMate 1 SR and Lifestyle 135 soundbar systems are slim, sleek, not particularly cheap

Posted in: hdpostmini, Today's Chili

Bose is offering up two new soundbar systems for folks with a few extra bucks in their bank accounts. The Lifestyle 135 is a single speaker system with a soundbar that can either be laid on a flat surface or mounted on a wall. The system also features a control console with six HMDI inputs, an iPod dock, AM/FM radio, a wireless Acoustimass module and a universal remote, all for $2,500. The 1 SR features only the soundbar, remote and Acoustimass for $1,500. Info on both systems can be found in the source link below.

[Thanks, Anders]

Bose’s CineMate 1 SR and Lifestyle 135 soundbar systems are slim, sleek, not particularly cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

GMail Drive 1.0.10 Has Been Released

Posted in: Google, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on April 19, 2006 by CyberNet.

GMail Drive 1.0.10 Has Been Released

For those people that are using your GMail accounts for file storage then you might want to grab this update to GMail Drive (if GMail Drive is what you are using, there is also a Firefox extension that does this). The GMail Drive update fixes a bug where it would tell you that there is no room left to upload files, but in reality you would have plenty of room. This is because Google changed some code around which screwed things up in the software, but it is good to go now!

If you are using your GMail account for file storage then you may want to create a separate email account for doing this. Google is known for terminating accounts that they find to be using this software (especially if you use it excessively).

GMail Drive Download
News Source: Digg

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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