Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Less Talk…More News

Last week, one of my blogs had almost no news in it. Well, it is just the opposite today. We’ve got lots of new here, most of it relevant to what this blog tries to achieve.

Like most folks, I am a bit surprised that Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, bought the Washington Post. On the surface, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But, there must be good reasons. He may be single handedly trying to save the dying newspaper business. I hope so. I’ve included a story about the purchase details and another story as to the possible reasons.

I am also surprised that the President intervened on the ban that would have prevented Apple from importing older model iPads and iPhones into the US. I truly hope it is the first step in revising these ridiculous patent and copyright laws we are stuck with.

But Apple also had some bad news as the Department of Justice proposed punishments and remedies for Apple’s violations of anti-trust laws involving the sale of books. It is steep. It will be interesting to see if the judge in the case will approve them.

Well, as the headline implies, it’s time for me to shut up and get on with today’s feature stories. -JRC

Apple iPhone and iPad patent ban overturned in US

A ban on sales of older models of Apple's iPad and iPhone in the US has been overturned by the Obama administration.

Microsoft cuts Surface Pro price by $100 following Surface RT reductions

Microsoft is discounting its Surface Pro tablet this weekend, following heavy reductions to its Surface RT costs recently. The 10 percent price cut to Surface Pro reduces the cost of the 64GB and 128GB models by $100 each in the US.

Why Microsoft will stick with Windows RT

Is there any chance Microsoft is going to do a 180 and dump its Windows RT operating system? My bet is no, and here's why.

Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post for $250 million

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has announced a surprise plan to buy The Washington Post for $250 million in cash. Bezos is snapping up one of the country's most respected daily newspapers in a private deal that is separate from his role at Amazon.

Why Jeff Bezos Bought The Washington Post

Anyone rooting for the Washington Post to transform into a successful digital business should be thrilled that Jeff Bezos is buying it.

Amazon starts selling art

The site showcases more than 40,000 works from over 150 galleries and dealers that run the gamut as far as subject, genre and period are concerned.

Redbox Instant comes to Roku

The fledging joint venture from Redbox, the DVD-rental kiosk company, and Verizon adds another device to push its catalog of streaming movies straight to TVs.

DOJ proposes ways to halt Apple e-book price-fixing

Apple would need to pay for an external monitor, sever deals with publishers, and let Amazon and Barnes & Noble link their iOS e-book apps to their respective online stores, among other proposed measures.

An 83,000-Processor Supercomputer Only Matched One Percent of Your Brain

Taking advantage of the almost 83,000 processors of one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, the team was able to mimic just one percent of one second's worth of human brain activity—and even that took 40 minutes. Good to know we are not obsolete.

The blink tag is finally dead, killed off by Firefox 23

According to the release notes for the new browser, Firefox 23 completely drops support for the "blink" element, preventing browsers from rendering text that, well, blinks.

The 10 Best Scanners

Our favorite scanners include high-speed desktop scanners, film and photo-print scanners, portable models that will let you preview scans on a smart phone, and hybrid desktop models that you can undock and take with you on the road.

Youtube Downloader HD (Free)

Youtube Downloader HD saves videos to your computer for playing outside a browser or offline viewing. The videos can be downloaded in Flash video format (FLV) or, if available, higher quality H.264 (MP4) formats, playable by iPhone, iPod, etc.

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