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OCAU News |
Friday Afternoon
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Friday, 30-December-2011 13:21:09 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Right, now to try and summarise a week's worth of news!
Simon Hackett has posted more info about the Internode-iiNet deal. This is the only time in iiNet’s history that the result of an acquisition includes the assignment of a Significant shareholding to the founder of the company concerned. It makes this a combined merger/acquisition, because I’m retaining a substantial shareholding interest at the completion of the deal. This was my choice.
Gigabyte have announced some of their X79 motherboards can have overheating problems - people are even reporting smoking components. Unfortunately that page is machine translated and I can't find a proper english release, but in short it seems like you need to do a firmware update or send the board back. More info here.
A Japanese researcher has created a biometric chair which recognises your own unique bum-print. Why develop this technology when fingerprint and iris scanners already exist? Because those scanners can be easily influenced by environmental factors (greasy fingers and low light, respectively) while - unless you have a giant George Costanza wallet in your back pocket - there is very little to interfere with a chair measuring the pressure you create while sitting down.
The RIAA are claiming that someone else is using their IP addresses for piracy. A few days ago we reported that no less than 6 IP-addresses registered to the RIAA had been busted for downloading copyrighted material. Quite a shocker to everyone - including the music industry group apparently - as they are now using a defense previously attempted by many alleged file-sharers. It wasn’t members of RIAA staff who downloaded these files, the RIAA insists, it was a mysterious third party vendor who unknowingly smeared the group’s good name.
Meanwhile the "You Wouldn't Steal A Car" music seems to be stolen itself. Netherlands composer Melchior Rietveldt composed that ominous techno tune for a local film festival after being asked by anti-piracy group BREIN, who are funded by Hollywood. A few years later, he got himself a copy of Harry Potter on DVD and noticed his music was suddenly being used for much wider use than he had originally agreed to in contract. Which essentially means that when they say 'you wouldn't steal a television', that doesn't quite extend to intellectual property.
An controller manufacturer (or more accurately, their marketing firm) have enraged the hive mind by attacking a concerned customer and then staff from the popular gaming comic Penny Arcade. I got an incredible email today from a Penny Arcade reader. Dave shared with me an email chain between him and Ocean Marketing (the folks behind the Avenger controller) Trust me when I tell you that this is one wild ride. I’m serious, Mr. Toad would look at this ride and just give a slow clap while shaking his head. More here. Discussion here.
Also recieving the wrath of the masses is GoDaddy, for their support of SOPA, a controversial US internet bill. When the internet gets upset about something, it doesn’t sulk alone in IRC, a single felt-pen tear static on its cheek. No, it goes all-out. At the moment, it has GoDaddy in its sights, and with Jimmy Wales’s decision to find a new, non-GoDaddy home for Wikipedia, the internet has just fired one of its bigger weapons at the under-siege registrar. More info on the GoDaddy story here on CNN and more on SOPA affecting websites on TomsHardware.
Volkswagen have turned off work email after hours to help employees keep their home and work lives separate. Under the arrangement servers stop routing emails 30 minutes after the end of employees' shifts, and then start again 30 minutes before they return to work. The staff can still use their devices to make calls and the rule does not apply to senior management.
Wired say that Windows 8 tablets will surprise everyone. Windows-based tablets haven’t been treated kindly by the test of time. Those released in the Windows XP era relied on wonky, stylus-based data entry, and even modern, touch-based tablets running Windows 7 are poor performers.
Meanwhile Intel are showing off their smartphone and tablet tech for next year. Known as "reference designs," the devices are sent out to inspire and instruct manufacturers interested in building products around Intel's latest technology. "They can use as much or as little of the reference design as they like," says Smith, who hinted that the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January could bring news of gadgets in which Intel's chips will appear.
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