Developages - Development and Technology Blog

yorugua writes “Furniture trembled as Steve Ballmer was to be interviewed by InformationWeek. He then went on to talk about Linux: ‘How does Microsoft beat Linux? The same way “you beat any other competitor: You offer good value, which in this case means good total cost of ownership,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says.’, Embrace-Extend-Extinguish: ‘We say when we embrace standards, we’ll be transparent about how we’re embracing standards. […] If we have deviations, we’ll be transparent about the deviations.’”

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Original post by ScuttleMonkey

Filed under: Cellphones

We’ll be honest with you — it’s a bit disheartening to watch the (seemingly) inevitable happen to Helio. After all, it’s managed to soldier on despite hordes of other MVNOs hanging it up here in the US of A. Nevertheless, data gleaned from EarthLink’s most recent annual report shed some light on its deteriorating situation. Reportedly, Helio’s net loss “widened by 41.3-percent to $326.6 million in 2007 compared to $191.8 million in 2006,” yet revenues managed to grow 267-percent to $171 million from $46.6 million the year prior and subscriber growth rose 28-percent over last quarter to 180,000. Add those figures to the $42 or so million it lost in 2005, and we’re up to a grand total just south of 560 million American dollars. Tough times, indeed.

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

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Original post by Darren Murph

netbuzz writes “Lawyers for the Swiss bank that got the plug pulled on Wikileaks.org have dragged a Stanford grad student/human rights activist into the case because he moderated a discussion group about Wikileaks on Facebook. He has no relation to Wikileaks or the case, other than that he helped authenticate documents — completely unrelated to the bank matter — that were posted on Wikileaks. The guy and his lawyer have done a nice job of making lemonade out of this lemon, though.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by ScuttleMonkey

Filed under: Networking

Sure, the researchers at Alcatel-Lucent have already sent data 50 miles at 25.6Tbps, but it looks like now they’re going for distance rather than speed: the company announced yesterday that it’s now pumped bits over a 1584-mile long link at 16.4Tbps. Sure, that’s slightly slower than the record, but being able to firehose bits at distances like that is even more impressive, if you ask us (you didn’t). The core tech is essentially the same as used in the earlier speed record: bundling several 100Gbps optical signals at different wavelengths into one multiplexed transmission, shooting it down fiber, and splitting it up at the end. This latest test used 164 different channels and updated transmitters and multiplexers to hit the record — which is fine and all, but guys, if you’re using that old school 25.6Tbps gear anymore we know a few people who are interested.

[Via Slashdot]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Gaming

We already knew it was coming, but if for some reason you’ve been holding out on buying a PSP until you could get a minty green model, you can now finally get your fix — in Japan, at least. As DCEmu points out, however, you can also go the importing route courtesy of SuccessHK, where the brightly-colored handheld demands the slight premium of $228 (plus shipping, of course). Or you could just wait a bit, save a few bucks, and get the God of War model with a bunch of bundled goodies, your choice.

[Via DCEmu, thanks Craig]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

eldavojohn writes “I’ve been charged with making a specific user interface style guide for a suite of software by my employer. I’m not quite sure where to start. So I turned to my favorite search engine only to be brutally disappointed with what is out there to help me. I’m a software developer but have not had any formal training in UI design or look and feel. I’m looking for something more than just “keep it simple, stupid.” I’m looking more for something that is specific but not technologically dependent. This doesn’t have to be a global standard, merely a document that illustrates how one would effectively describe look and feel. Does anyone know of such a guide either created by an organization, government or company for their own uses — possibly one even released under the creative common license?” In addition to just documentation, what other UI advice can Slashdot readers offer in order to ensure quality development?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by ScuttleMonkey

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Maybe it’s just us, but here recently it feels as if there’s been quite the outpouring of HD media streamers. Next up is Mvix’s MX-780HD, which doesn’t innovate much in the design department, but does include space for your own HDD along with support for wired Ethernet or 802.11b/g/n WiFi. Best of all, you’ll find 1080p output via HDMI, and there’s file support for DivX, XviD, AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, AAC, OGG, AC3, MP3, WMA, JPEG and lots, lots more. There’s also component outs and coaxial / optical audio ports, but we’re still teetering on whether that cute LCD on the front makes this thing a bargain at $299.99.

[Via Unplggd]

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Original post by Darren Murph

A quiet beauty
Energy efficient box
Dual-core model

—Molly K. McLaughlin

For Lead Analyst (Desktops) Joel Santo Domingo’s full-length, free-verse Apple Mac mini (2-GHz Core 2 Duo) review check out PCMag.com.

Original post by Blogging Molly

Jack Donnell writes in about this video from Andrew Crawford’s blacksmith studio in Atlanta wherein he makes a sunflower out of a sheet of steel using a waterjet cutter and various blacksmithing techniques - Link.
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Original post by Becky Stern

Filed under: Gaming

There’s certainly been no shortage of sad stories involving Xboxes, but when it comes to attempts to get the console repaired, this latest tale from a gamer known only as Nathaniel might have to take the cake. As you can see above, his console (one of the first to hit the market) boasted a good deal of personalization, including signatures from folks at Bungie and the Xbox 360 team, and a spiffy illustration by Rooster Teeth Comics artist Luke McKay. As with many other Xbox users, however, Nathaniel’s console eventually packed it in, and he was forced to send it to Microsoft for repairs. Needless to say, that’s when things took a turn for the worse. Despite calling ahead of time and getting assurances that his prized console would be sent back intact, and including a letter reiterating how much the console meant to him, Microsoft apparently took it upon themselves to clean it as best they could before returning it, leaving only a few faint smudges of permanent marker to ensure that it was, in fact, the same Xbox. There’s no word as to what Nathaniel plans to do next (other than weep), but given that Microsoft gave the royal treatment to someone that did nothing more than get a Zune tattoo, you’d think they could at least give the guy a few free points or something.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Wired has an interesting editorial on the latest resurgence of the old days of phone phreaking and the latest phreak that is rising into the FBI crosshairs. The most recent hoax, “swatting”, involves malicious pranksters calling police with reports of fake murders, hostage crises, or the like and spoofing the call to appear as though it was from another location. “Now the FBI thinks it has identified the culprit in the Colorado swatting as a 17-year-old East Boston phone phreak known as “Li’l Hacker.” Because he’s underage, Wired.com is not reporting Li’l Hacker’s last name. His first name is Matthew, and he poses a unique challenge to the federal justice system, because he is blind from birth. If he’s guilty, the attack is at once the least sophisticated and most malicious of a string of capers linked to Matt, who stumbled into the lingering remains of the decades-old subculture of phone phreaking when he was 14, and quickly rose to become one of the most skilled active phreakers alive.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by ScuttleMonkey

Flickr user pfhranzilicious made this delicious breakfast game. - [via] Link.

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Original post by Becky Stern

Okay, so being the winner of our “Pink Palm Centro Misery Giveaway” means you’ve been a big loser at love, at least once during Valentine’s Day, but now you’re getting the messaging phone extraordinaire and you can send hate messages to the one who wronged you. Only kidding….

The winner will be receiving the Pink Centro, valued at $399.99 (or $99 with a 2-year Sprint contract).

And the winning/losing story:
M & I had been dating for 7 years. Valentines Day was a huge day for us, as we had been set up on a blind date on V-day 2000. A mutual friend set us up & we hit it off immediately. We got close quickly, but were both happy with keeping our separate living arrangements as we were both professionals with busy work schedules. We had always talked of getting married at some point and having kids. We had similar ideas & ideals about marriage & families. Back to V-day. M always put a huge effort into making our V-day celebration special. I never knew from year to year what he would plan. One year, he whisked me away to NYC in a limo to an intimate dinner & then to a show that I had wanted to see. On the way, he took me to my favorite SoHo boutique to buy a new dress & beautiful shoes.

Don’t be too jealous, see the misery come in after the jump…

Original post by Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

Okay, so being the winner of our “Pink Palm Centro Misery Giveaway” means you’ve been a big loser at love, at least once during Valentine’s Day, but now you’re getting the messaging phone extraordinaire and you can send hate messages to the one who wronged you. Only kidding….

The winner will be receiving the Pink Centro, valued at $399.99 (or $99 with a 2-year Sprint contract).

And the winning/losing story:
M & I had been dating for 7 years. Valentines Day was a huge day for us, as we had been set up on a blind date on V-day 2000. A mutual friend set us up & we hit it off immediately. We got close quickly, but were both happy with keeping our separate living arrangements as we were both professionals with busy work schedules. We had always talked of getting married at some point and having kids. We had similar ideas & ideals about marriage & families. Back to V-day. M always put a huge effort into making our V-day celebration special. I never knew from year to year what he would plan. One year, he whisked me away to NYC in a limo to an intimate dinner & then to a show that I had wanted to see. On the way, he took me to my favorite SoHo boutique to buy a new dress & beautiful shoes.

Don’t be too jealous, see the misery come in after the jump…

Original post by Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women

Okay, so being the winner of our “Pink Palm Centro Misery Giveaway” means you’ve been a big loser at love, at least once during Valentine’s Day, but now you’re getting the messaging phone extraordinaire and you can send hate messages to the one who wronged you. Only kidding….

The winner will be receiving the Pink Centro, valued at $399.99 (or $99 with a 2-year Sprint contract).

And the winning/losing story:
M & I had been dating for 7 years. Valentines Day was a huge day for us, as we had been set up on a blind date on V-day 2000. A mutual friend set us up & we hit it off immediately. We got close quickly, but were both happy with keeping our separate living arrangements as we were both professionals with busy work schedules. We had always talked of getting married at some point and having kids. We had similar ideas & ideals about marriage & families. Back to V-day. M always put a huge effort into making our V-day celebration special. I never knew from year to year what he would plan. One year, he whisked me away to NYC in a limo to an intimate dinner & then to a show that I had wanted to see. On the way, he took me to my favorite SoHo boutique to buy a new dress & beautiful shoes.

Don’t be too jealous, see the misery come in after the jump…

Original post by Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women