martiniturbide writes "Author Holly Lisle tried to publish her guide How To Think Sideways Lesson 6: How To Discover (Or Create) Your Story's Market at Apple's iBooks store. She says it was reject first by Apple because it had 'live links' to Amazon. After she removed the links, it was rejected again because according to her: 'The problem is the CONTENT. You can't mention Amazon in your lesson.'"
Capt.Albatross writes "Andrew Hacker, a professor of Political Science at the City University of New York and author of Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids — and What We Can Do About It, attempts to answer this question in the negative in today's New York Times Sunday Review. His primary claim is that mathematics requirements are prematurely and unreasonably limiting the level of education available to otherwise capable students ."
TechCrunch has a story about the recent trend of websites wanting users to use their real names in an attempt to make comments better. The story points out that the practice didn't work in South Korea, From the article: "...In 2007, South Korea temporarily mandated that all websites with over 100,000 viewers require real names, but scrapped it after it was found to be ineffective at cleaning up abusive and malicious comments (the policy reduced unwanted comments by an estimated .09%). We don’t know how this hidden gem of evidence skipped the national debate on real identities, but it’s an important lesson for YouTube, Facebook and Google, who have assumed that fear of judgement will change online behavior for the better."
First time accepted submitter bigvibes writes "A technology that would enable low-cost, high efficiency solar cells to be made from virtually any semiconductor material has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley. This technology allows for plentiful, relatively inexpensive semiconductors, such as metal oxides, sulfides and phosphides that had previously been considered unsuitable for solar cells because of the difficulty in tailoring their properties by chemical means."
bs0d3 writes "According to this article printed in tagesspiegel.de, not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer.(German) As examples they use Norwegian shooter Anders Breivik, who used MySpace instead of Facebook and the newer Aurora shooter who used adultfriendfinder instead of Facebook. They already consider those with Facebook accounts, who lack friends to be suspicious, but now they are suggesting that anyone who abstains from Facebook altogether may be even more suspicious."
An anonymous reader writes "Project Glass made a big splash not too long ago at Google's annual developer conference when they showed several users falling on to the Moscone West in San Francisco. Google's pretty bent on showing us the sharing possibilities with Project Glass, but it feels like in time that technology could become a ubiquitous part of our lives. Fortunately for those of us who lack a hyperactive imagination, a short film popped up recently that can help fill in the blanks. The world created in the film was made possible by wearable tech. Games, cooking challenges, information in real-time about the person you are talking to, all made possible by the contact lenses being worn. And of course there's a darkside to the equation, the potential to hack and therefore influence the actions of others. Ultimately, it's a realistic idea of the future we all face."
cylonlover writes "General Motors is working to expand upon its vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems that allow information to be shared between vehicles and infrastructure to provide advance warning of potential road hazards, such as stalled vehicles, slippery roads, road works, intersections, stop signs and the like. The automaker is now looking to add pedestrians and cyclists to the mix using Wi-Fi Direct technology so a car can detect them in low visibility conditions before the driver does."
Nerdfest writes " The lawyers behind the upcoming Apple v. Samsung trial have been hard at work filing docket after docket as their court battle looms closer, and many of those dockets have just been released to the public. We're now seeing a lot of previously secret information about the early days of iPhone and iPad R&D, and what's happened behind closed doors at both Apple and Samsung. Surprises include the iPhone design being 'inspired' by Sony product ideas, and that Samsung was warned that it was copying Apple."
An anonymous reader writes "Boston magazine provides the first reasonably satisfying account of the final year of Curt Schilling's video game company 38 Studios, which was heavily subsidized by a huge loan guaranteed by the state of Rhode Island. During his career as a baseball pitcher, Schilling helped lead three different teams to four World Series, resulting in three championships. He has so far been much less successful as a video game CEO; although he has some of the stereotypical qualities of a successful entrepreneur (passion, energy level, optimism, selling ability), his company seemed utterly lacking in controls, while facing a very tough industry and economy. Schilling apparently regrets the decision to bet the company on an MMO game, but otherwise seems to accept little blame for the demise. His company burned more than $133 million over six years, mostly for headcount, according to an analysis of public documents by Providence TV station WPRI."
MojoKid writes "GameStop makes a killing selling used videogames, but what happens to that business model when digital distribution platforms run physical media out of town? That's not anything to worry about today, tomorrow, next week, or even next year, but at some point, GameStop will have to deal with the direction the games industry is headed, and it may already have a solution. GameStop CEO Paul Raines recently brought up the possibility of reselling used digital downloads."
MarkWhittington writes "A company named Dynetics, in partnership with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, will perform a study contract for NASA to explore whether a modern version of the Saturn V F1 booster (PDF) could be used on the Space Launch System. These would be the basis for a liquid fueled rocket that would enhance the SLS to make it capable of launching 130 metric tons to low Earth orbit, thus making it capable of supporting deep space exploration missions in the 2020s."
lukehopewell1 writes "After the threats, admissions and delays, hacktivists protesting a data retention scheme proposed by the Australian Government's National Security Inquiry have begun dumping data gleaned from an Australian telco — presumably AAPT. Anonymous is in the process of dumping government and business customer data onto Pastebin for the world to see under the guise of Operation Australia. This episode is far from over, however. We're likely to see more data trickle out over the coming days, considering that the group has promised 40GB worth of leaks."
Nexus 7 owners who get a nudge to go shopping at Google Play are finding many interesting and budget-priced apps available.
New Rakshasa hardware backdoor is demonstrated at Defcon security event; it is persistent and hard to detect, researcher says.
When the software developer produces hardware, it might alienate its hardware partners -- and Microsoft knows it must walk a careful line when promoting the Surface tablet.
Apple's purchase of fingerprint tech company AuthenTec means biometric readers could soon be standard on mobile devices. That's both good news and bad.
Near Field Communication technology could enable a future iPhone to act as a Universal Remote Control for cameras, game consoles, thermostats, and more.
Amazon is as tight-lipped about a refresh of Fire as Apple is about its products, but a growing consensus among forecasters suggests the company is ready to compete directly with the iPad.
A bold new cloud offering built on open source -- with a subtle restructuring -- may plant the seeds for the future rescue of HP.
Kansas City, Kansas residents got a sweet deal for cheap, fast Internet access from Google; but they're paying a price in other ways.
The Olympics events are especially inviting to social networks, from offering a venue for quick and timely bulletins to the opportunity for online interaction with participants.
Security researchers released two tools at the Defcon security conference that can beat the encryption of certain PPTP sessions in less than a day's work.
The research may be skewed by the MSN factor, but outbound spam still indicates a security problem, with systems compromised by botnets and or users who were hooked by phishing.
A rare slip in financial returns reveals Apple makes an 58 percent profit from sales of the iPhone, hitting results dramatically when sales slide a bit.
Analysis: Be forewarned, Facebook: When tech companies screw customers, tech companies die. See Zynga and Digg for proof.
The big Apple-Samsung patent trial begins in the U.S. on Monday. What are the arguments, what's at stake, who's likely to win, and where will this leave the mobile industry?
Could aggressive data mining by law enforcement prevent heinous crimes, such as the recent mass murder in Aurora, Colorado, by catching killers before they can act?
Supporters of the British Team can get a special edition of the newest Samsung smartphone emblazoned with UK colors and theme.
Security firm Intego says the Trojan is actually espionage malware that spies on victims using instant messaging clients, browsers, and Skype.
Each audience member waved a ten-inch paddle outfitted with nine full-color LCD squares to work together to broadcast images.
Hotel locks, iris scans, GooglePlay and other "secure" technologies are cracked in demonstrations at the security conference.
Analysis: Take my Twitter account -- please! Employers' policies are often unclear when it comes to social media account ownership.
Domino's Pizza has revealed that its e-commerce function has helped deliver a 11 percent increase in its total sales for the first half of 2012.
Hackers can help educate people who don't understand cybersecurity as well as they do, and protect help networks, civil liberties, and privacy, the NSA chief said.
A Japanese invention scans and recognizes different items by shape, color and pattern, providing instant information.
Take a look at some of our favorite videos made with the SFM so far.
Most analysts believe the new iPhone will house a Qualcomm chip that lets the phone connect with several flavors of 3G GSM and 4G LTE service.
Call for business to 'step up' in fight against cyber attacks sparks discussion of proper private, public roles.
Here's some guidance for podcasts, smart playlists, streaming audio, and what happens to your iTunes Store content when you're gone.
Favs works with several social services: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instapaper, Delicious, Google Reader, Instagram, Pinboard, and Vimeo, to name a few.
Inside, the Saxby has a semi-rigid, padded laptop sleeve that fits a 15-inch MacBook Pro perfectly.
This National Geographic offering is a worthwhile tool for planning your next visit to a national park, particularly if you're willing to download the individual guides for each park, though its scope is limited.
Chirp uses sound to transmit words, pictures and URLs from one phone to another, and it gets its name because its data transmission sounds like a robotic bird.
Apple and Samsung Electronics won't be able to keep certain pieces of information from the public during their high-profile jury trial that begins on Monday.
'Ethical' hackers at Black Hat conference question the need to do so.
Miss the old mixtapes? This upgraded, 3D-printed version from MakerBot looks just like the real thing, but holds your favorite MP3 playlist instead.
While earnings from marquee-name tech companies such as Apple and Facebook disappointed this week, sales of mobile devices and enterprise software showed signs...
As the 2012 Olympics kick off today, don't rely solely on the TV broadcasts to enjoy the festivities: Thanks to social media, there are plenty of alternatives.
Or: How I learned to stop worrying and tolerate Microsoft's mail client/information manager.
A concept device could let you take pictures and capture the smell on a postcard.
A widespread spam attack linking to malware has broken out on Twitter, according to the security firm Sophos.
A U.S. judge should permanently dismiss a U.S. Department of Justice criminal case against file-sharing and storage website Megaupload, the company's attorney requested Friday.
Google Talk, a desktop and mobile text and voice chat service used by many Google Gmail customers, suffered a widespread outage Thursday morning that the company says affected "a majority of users."
Ultrabooks and convertible tablets will soon have everything from compasses and gyroscopes to GPS and accelerometers.
OnLive has announced its streaming game service will be available on the anticipated Ouya console.
Google disclosed Friday in an email to the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office that it had not yet deleted all user data collected by its Street View...
Facebook has taken delivery of the first set of innovative server racks it helped design, technology that the company hopes other organizations with large data...
More than 85 percent of all Firefox users have at least one add-on installed, Mozilla says.
UC Berkeley researchers restore sight to genetically blind mice with a single chemical injection, and it may work on humans too.
The social network site isn't likely to enter the hardware business -- right now, anyway, its CEO insists.
We need stronger security for mobile devices as we begin to make payments by smartphone, or connect on the go to the company network.
A new Trojan dubbed 'OSX/Crisis' has been discovered which takes sneaky to a whole new level for infecting Mac OS X systems.