Steve Wozniak just sent this fun stunt caught on video a few years ago:
Watch him deliver a Mac to Emma, a girl who freaks out when she realizes
her idol is at the door carrying her new computer. As Emma's father
says in the video: "This is like having your lightbulbs delivered by
Thomas Edison."
-- via roy
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
speeding up Windows 8
I noticed Windows 8 seems a bit sluggish on my laptop, especially while scrolling. Don't know whether it's Windows 8 or the laptop. Probably both. But let's see if I can speed things up.
Came across this page and tried step 2. Don't know if it's my imagination, but seems more responsive now.
Came across this page and tried step 2. Don't know if it's my imagination, but seems more responsive now.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Tim Cook on ROI
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has bluntly told climate change sceptic investors to ditch their stocks if they do not support his pledge to slash greenhouse gas emissions, in the latest signal that the company will continue to invest in sustainable energy.
According to witnesses at Apple’s annual meeting on Friday, Cook became visibly angry when questioned by a radical right-wing think tank about the profitability of investing in renewable energy.
Under Cook’s leadership Apple has stepped up its commitment to curbing its environmental impact, pledging to supply 100% of its power from renewable sources and crack down on the use of minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that can fund war and human rights abuses.
At the meeting last week, shareholders voted down a resolution by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) - an avid campaigner against action to tackle climate change - that would force Apple to disclose more information about the costs of its investment in tackling climate change.
However, Justin Danhof of the NCPPR pursued the line by asking Cook if Apple’s environmental investments increased or decreased the company’s bottom line. He also asked Cook to commit Apple to only investing in measures that were profitable.
Cook became visibly angry at Danhof’s questions and categorically rejected the NCPPR’s climate scepticism, according to the Mac Observer’s Bryan Chaffin, who attended the event. He told shareholders that securing a return on investment was not the only reason for investing in environmental measures.
“When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don’t consider the bloody ROI,” Cook said, adding that the same sentiment applied to environmental and health and safety issues.
He told Danhof that if he did not believe in climate change, he should sell his Apple shares. “If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock,” he said.
Cook’s comments and visible passion over the issue are one of the strongest signals yet of his commitment to reducing Apple’s environmental footprint. He told shareholders that he wanted to “leave the world better than we found it”.
-- TheGuardian
***
Apple CEO Tim Cook took on so-called climate change "deniers," issuing a stern message to anyone who disagrees with the company's clean energy push.
According to a report by Mashable, the exchange occurred Friday at an annual meeting with the company's shareholders.
He was pressed on the issue by a general counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research, a D.C.-based conservative think tank that owns Apple shares. He asked Cook to pledge not to go forward with any new energy initiatives that do not improve the company's bottom line.
"We want to leave the world better than we found it," Cook responded, telling any shareholder who doesn't like the policy "to get out of the stock."
-- Fox News Insider
***
It looks like former Obama EPA Chief Lisa Jackson (alias: Richard Windsor), who Apple gave a job to last year in spite of her scandals, and Global Warming High Priest Al Gore, an Apple board member, have gotten to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook is so entrenched in the faulty theory of man-made global warming that he’s even willing to see his shareholders dump his stock.
Never mind that a plurality of Americans reject the myth of the discredited belief in man-made global warming and that the co-founder of Greenpeace this week referred to the myth’s followers as being like members of a religious cult, Apple CEO Tim Cook has a message for his shareholders. Cook says if you don’t like believe in man-made global warming, you should sell his company’s stock.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a free-market think tank, who owns shares in Apple stock along with National Center executives, released the following statement on Friday:
***
Tim Cook, was asked at the annual shareholder meeting by the NCPPR, the conservative finance group, to disclose the costs of Apple’s energy sustainability programs, and make a commitment to doing only those things that were profitable.
Reportedly looking directly at the NCPPR representative, he said, “If
you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of
this stock.”
Mr. Cook made clear that Apple would continue with energy
sustainability and its other initiatives. Most of the shareholders went
along with that: the NCPPR’s proposal received just 2.95 percent of the
vote.
-- Forbes
According to witnesses at Apple’s annual meeting on Friday, Cook became visibly angry when questioned by a radical right-wing think tank about the profitability of investing in renewable energy.
Under Cook’s leadership Apple has stepped up its commitment to curbing its environmental impact, pledging to supply 100% of its power from renewable sources and crack down on the use of minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that can fund war and human rights abuses.
At the meeting last week, shareholders voted down a resolution by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) - an avid campaigner against action to tackle climate change - that would force Apple to disclose more information about the costs of its investment in tackling climate change.
However, Justin Danhof of the NCPPR pursued the line by asking Cook if Apple’s environmental investments increased or decreased the company’s bottom line. He also asked Cook to commit Apple to only investing in measures that were profitable.
Cook became visibly angry at Danhof’s questions and categorically rejected the NCPPR’s climate scepticism, according to the Mac Observer’s Bryan Chaffin, who attended the event. He told shareholders that securing a return on investment was not the only reason for investing in environmental measures.
“When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don’t consider the bloody ROI,” Cook said, adding that the same sentiment applied to environmental and health and safety issues.
He told Danhof that if he did not believe in climate change, he should sell his Apple shares. “If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock,” he said.
Cook’s comments and visible passion over the issue are one of the strongest signals yet of his commitment to reducing Apple’s environmental footprint. He told shareholders that he wanted to “leave the world better than we found it”.
-- TheGuardian
***
Apple CEO Tim Cook took on so-called climate change "deniers," issuing a stern message to anyone who disagrees with the company's clean energy push.
According to a report by Mashable, the exchange occurred Friday at an annual meeting with the company's shareholders.
He was pressed on the issue by a general counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research, a D.C.-based conservative think tank that owns Apple shares. He asked Cook to pledge not to go forward with any new energy initiatives that do not improve the company's bottom line.
"We want to leave the world better than we found it," Cook responded, telling any shareholder who doesn't like the policy "to get out of the stock."
-- Fox News Insider
***
It looks like former Obama EPA Chief Lisa Jackson (alias: Richard Windsor), who Apple gave a job to last year in spite of her scandals, and Global Warming High Priest Al Gore, an Apple board member, have gotten to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook is so entrenched in the faulty theory of man-made global warming that he’s even willing to see his shareholders dump his stock.
Never mind that a plurality of Americans reject the myth of the discredited belief in man-made global warming and that the co-founder of Greenpeace this week referred to the myth’s followers as being like members of a religious cult, Apple CEO Tim Cook has a message for his shareholders. Cook says if you don’t like believe in man-made global warming, you should sell his company’s stock.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a free-market think tank, who owns shares in Apple stock along with National Center executives, released the following statement on Friday:
Cupertino, CA / Washington, D.C. - At today’s annual meeting of Apple shareholders in Cupertino, California, Apple CEO Tim Cook informed investors that are primarily concerned with making reasonable economic returns that their money is no longer welcome.
The message came in response to the National Center for Public Policy Research’s shareholder resolution asking the tech giant to be transparent about its environmental activism and a question from the National Center about the company’s environmental initiatives.
“Mr. Cook made it very clear to me that if I, or any other investor, was more concerned with return on investment than reducing carbon dioxide emissions, my investment is no longer welcome at Apple,” said Justin Danhof, Esq., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.-- TPNN (the Tea Party News Network)
Tim Cook, was asked at the annual shareholder meeting by the NCPPR, the conservative finance group, to disclose the costs of Apple’s energy sustainability programs, and make a commitment to doing only those things that were profitable.
Mr. Cook replied –with an uncharacteristic
display of emotion–that a return on investment (ROI) was not the primary
consideration on such issues. “When we work on making our devices
accessible by the blind,” he said, “I don’t consider the bloody ROI.” It
was the same thing for environmental issues, worker safety, and other
areas that don’t have an immediate profit. The company does “a lot of
things for reasons besides profit motive. We want to leave the world
better than we found it.”
The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) attended the meeting as shareholder. It describes itself as a conservative think tank and was pushing a shareholder proposal
that would have required Apple to disclose the costs of its
sustainability programs and to be more transparent about its
participation in “certain trade associations and business organizations
promoting the amorphous concept of environmental sustainability.”
-- Forbes
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Whoosh!
As I was walking through the recent International CES, the big, bright-orange Whoosh! booth caught my attention. I gave my phone to the Whoosh! representative – and wow! My phone was probably the cleanest it has ever been. What makes this cleaner different than all the rest is that it coats your screen with a nano-thin proprietary polymer that resists fingerprints, dust and dirt buildup, yet allows your fingers to glide easily over the surface.
The very first thing I noticed after my phone was Whooshed was the ease of swiping my finger across the screen. There was significantly less resistance than before, which is a good thing. It now has been more than a month since my iPhone has been Whooshed, yet I still can feel the coating’s effectiveness. I’m sure I should be cleaning it much more often than that, but I wanted to see how long it would stay on.
Being the germophobe I am, I already know that my iPhone harbors a ton of germs. To be exact, according to the BBC, 18 percent of mobile phones are contaminated with staphylococcus and 16 percent are contaminated with fecal flora and E-coli. On top of that, Yahoo states that the average cell phone is up to 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat – yuck!
Whoosh! is 100 percent natural, non-hazardous, environmentally friendly and never tested on animals. Best of all, there is nothing within Whoosh! that will damage or etch harm to any of your screens or devices. Visit whooshscreenshine.com or Amazon.com to purchase for $4.99 (pocket/.3 fluid ounces), $9.99 (on-the-go) or $19.99 (Duo+/one 3.4 fluid ounce bottle and one .3 ounces).
-- Click Chick, Midweek, February 12, 2014
Saturday, March 15, 2014
reporting phishing attacks
You can take steps to avoid a phishing attack.
• Don’t ever email or text personal or financial information.
• Be cautious about opening attachments and downloading files from unfamiliar emails.
• Use trusted security software and make sure it is updated consistently.
• Provide personal or financial information through a business’s or organization’s website only if you typed in the website address yourself. If the URL begins with https (the “s” stands for secure) it is likely safe. However, keep in mind that phishers have been known to forge security icons.
• Review your credit card and bank account statements and check for unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company to confirm your billing address and account balances.
If you think that you have been tricked by a phishing email, take the following actions.
• File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at www.ftc.gov/complaint.
• Visit the FTC’s identity theft website, www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identitytheft. Victims of phishing could become victims of identity theft; the site lists steps you can take to minimize your risk.
• Forward phishing emails to the FTC at spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank or organization impersonated in the email. You may also report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a group of ISPs, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, uses these reports to fight phishing. UPS offers more tips on fighting phishing. Go to www.ups.com and search “fight fraud.”
-- Costco Connection, March 2014
• Don’t ever email or text personal or financial information.
• Be cautious about opening attachments and downloading files from unfamiliar emails.
• Use trusted security software and make sure it is updated consistently.
• Provide personal or financial information through a business’s or organization’s website only if you typed in the website address yourself. If the URL begins with https (the “s” stands for secure) it is likely safe. However, keep in mind that phishers have been known to forge security icons.
• Review your credit card and bank account statements and check for unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company to confirm your billing address and account balances.
If you think that you have been tricked by a phishing email, take the following actions.
• File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at www.ftc.gov/complaint.
• Visit the FTC’s identity theft website, www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identitytheft. Victims of phishing could become victims of identity theft; the site lists steps you can take to minimize your risk.
• Forward phishing emails to the FTC at spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank or organization impersonated in the email. You may also report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a group of ISPs, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, uses these reports to fight phishing. UPS offers more tips on fighting phishing. Go to www.ups.com and search “fight fraud.”
-- Costco Connection, March 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Amazon Prime price increase
“There are two kinds of companies,” Amazon.com (AMZN)
Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is fond of saying, in one of his
earnest, oft-repeated Jeffisms. “Those that work hard to lower prices,
and those that work hard to raise prices.”
In a letter to Prime members this morning, Amazon cited fuel and transportation costs and noted that the number of items eligible for free Prime two-day shipping has jumped to more than 20 million products. Amazon’s shipping expenses have indeed risen dramatically, from $2.4 billion in 2010 to $3.5 billion in 2013. In all but two years since Prime’s inception, Amazon’s net shipping costs have increased more than 25 percent. At the same time, Amazon has extended Prime eligibility to millions of products sold by third-party merchants that store their stuff in the company’s distribution warehouses, via its popular Fulfillment by Amazon program.
Prime isn’t just a two-day shipping program anymore. It’s become a varied loyalty program that draws customers in and seeks to convert them into Amazon addicts. And that costs more. That said, Amazon Prime’s streaming media service isn’t priced at much of a premium compared with competitors. Prime’s monthly cost is now $8.25, not much more than the $7.99 that Netflix (NFLX) charges for a service that doesn’t also come with digital book rental and free shipping on a vast assortment of merchandise.
The Prime price increase is partly the result of changes in the way Amazon itself has used the service—as its prime weapon (pun intended) in the battle against Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL). Bezos believes, even more so than his rivals, that content (books, music, and the like) can be the gateway drug that lures customers into Amazon’s immersive world of devices and digital services. So over the last few years, he has packed digital freebies into Prime membership: 40,000 movies and TV episodes inside Prime Instant Video, plus more than 500,000 e-books that can be borrowed free, one each month, within the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
And Bezos is only getting started. Amazon is producing its own television shows and movies in an arms race with Netflix to secure exclusive streaming rights to the most popular TV series. And the company is reportedly working on adding a free music streaming service into Prime. It’s also hiring game developers like crazy up in Seattle, building a game studio from scratch in an effort to replace the selection of mobile applications it loses by not putting Google’s more popular Android app store on its Kindle Fire tablets. In the next few weeks, Amazon will also likely release a set-top box for the living room, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the device touting extra benefits for Prime members.
***
Non-HBO subscribers will soon be able to watch some of the network's old TV shows, like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire," on Amazon Prime's streaming video service.
Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) described the deal as a first for HBO, which has a reputation for being tightfisted with its library of hit shows -- even ones that stopped airing years ago.
The assortment of HBO shows will be a significant addition to Amazon Prime as it attempts to sign up more monthly subscribers and challenge Netflix. HBO will continue to provide complete access to all its shows through HBO GO, the streaming service for its existing subscribers.
The Amazon deal draws a bright line between old and new. The seasons of "Girls," "The Newsroom" and "Veep" that are premiering this year won't be available through Amazon Prime for approximately three years. The three-year delay will apply to past seasons as well: for example, the first season of "Girls," which premiered on television in 2012, will become available on Prime in 2015.
What's missing entirely is HBO's current biggest hit, "Game of Thrones." The deal also excludes "True Detective," the new series with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson that debuted earlier this year to rave reviews and quickly became a pop culture phenomenon. HBO may seek to make money from repeats of those shows some other way.
HBO is owned by Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500), which is also the parent company of CNNMoney.
Previously, the only ways for people without HBO to watch the network's shows would be by purchasing DVDs, buying individual episodes through Amazon or Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iTunes store, or by watching reruns of certain shows on other cable channels. ("Sex and the City" now runs on the E! channel, and isn't included in the Amazon deal.)
In the television industry, revenue from DVDs and reruns has been declining as viewers gravitate toward on-demand ways to watch. With Amazon, HBO is generating a new way to make money from its reruns. In Hollywood, this is known as a new "window" for programming. (The first "window" remains the hotly-anticipated premieres of episodes on the main HBO television channel.)
Amazon and HBO said the first shows would start to appear on Prime on May 21, just in time for Memorial Day weekend.
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Dish's deal with Disney
The Walt Disney Company and Dish Network said Monday they've agreed
to a new carriage deal that restricts an ad-skipping feature in Dish's
digital recorder and grants the satellite TV service provider new
streaming rights.
In partnering with one of the world's largest media companies, Dish gets the right to provide to its customers -- though it didn't commit to it -- live-streaming of Disney's channels, including ABC and ESPN, as a separate service.
Many pay-TV providers, including Dish, Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon, allow subscribers to stream Hollywood's content -- TV and movies -- on other devices inside and outside the home. But this new deal is the first to raise the possibility of a pay-TV provider using a media company's content, in this case Disney's channels and movies, for a new online service without requiring customers to subscribe to the video portion of their cable or satellite subscription.
***
Dish Network took a big step toward such a future with a deal announced Monday with Disney. The agreement opens the way for the satellite TV service to live-stream Disney-owned channels like ESPN and ABC over the Internet to customers' smartphones, tablets, video game consoles and other devices.
The new service will bypass Dish's
14-million-customer satellite system and offer content via the Internet
in much the same way that Netflix delivers video.
No start date has been announced. Dish will probably have to cut similar deals with other programmers to make such a service attractive.
*** [3/8/14]
This deal gives Dish Network the right to offer a separate, live TV and video-on-demand service that you could only access by streaming over the Internet. According to Bloomberg, Dish Network would be looking to price such an offering at between $20 and $30 a month.
Q: That sounds awesome, where do I sign up?
A: In the famous words of ESPN's Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend." There's still a lot that needs to happen before Dish's plans for an Internet streaming network (also known as an "over-the-top" network) can become a reality. For starters, industry analysts think Dish and Disney's contractual agreement likely prevents Dish from launching a streaming network without content from other major players like NBCUniversal, Fox and CBS.
*** [3/8/14]
Mark March 3, 2014, as the day Dish Network and Walt Disney signed the death warrant for the cable industry.
In partnering with one of the world's largest media companies, Dish gets the right to provide to its customers -- though it didn't commit to it -- live-streaming of Disney's channels, including ABC and ESPN, as a separate service.
Many pay-TV providers, including Dish, Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon, allow subscribers to stream Hollywood's content -- TV and movies -- on other devices inside and outside the home. But this new deal is the first to raise the possibility of a pay-TV provider using a media company's content, in this case Disney's channels and movies, for a new online service without requiring customers to subscribe to the video portion of their cable or satellite subscription.
***
LOS ANGELES (AP) — With a string
of recent deals, cable and satellite providers are beginning to
acknowledge a brutal truth that companies like Hulu and Netflix have
known all along: Many TV viewers, especially young ones, want shows and
movies on their own terms — wherever, whenever and on whatever devices
they choose.
Dish Network took a big step toward such a future with a deal announced Monday with Disney. The agreement opens the way for the satellite TV service to live-stream Disney-owned channels like ESPN and ABC over the Internet to customers' smartphones, tablets, video game consoles and other devices.
The
goal is to attract so-called cord-cutters who have become disenchanted
with large channel packages and rising monthly bills for cable or
satellite service.
Charlie
Ergen, Dish Network Corp. chairman, hinted at the underpinnings of the
deal last month, when he admitted that the traditional pay-TV business
model — charging customers $80 or $100 a month for hundreds of channels,
many of which they never watch — is not appealing to younger people.
"We're losing a whole generation of
individuals who aren't going to buy into that model," he told analysts.
"Obviously you'd like to kind of have your cake and eat it too, and
make sure that you come up with products that can engage that new
generation."
No start date has been announced. Dish will probably have to cut similar deals with other programmers to make such a service attractive.
*** [3/8/14]
This deal gives Dish Network the right to offer a separate, live TV and video-on-demand service that you could only access by streaming over the Internet. According to Bloomberg, Dish Network would be looking to price such an offering at between $20 and $30 a month.
Q: That sounds awesome, where do I sign up?
A: In the famous words of ESPN's Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend." There's still a lot that needs to happen before Dish's plans for an Internet streaming network (also known as an "over-the-top" network) can become a reality. For starters, industry analysts think Dish and Disney's contractual agreement likely prevents Dish from launching a streaming network without content from other major players like NBCUniversal, Fox and CBS.
*** [3/8/14]
Mark March 3, 2014, as the day Dish Network and Walt Disney signed the death warrant for the cable industry.
Roku Streaming Stick
Roku announced the Roku Streaming Stick today, which manages to pack
nearly all the functionality of a full-size Roku box into a device not
much bigger than an USB flash drive. It's actually a new version of
Roku's old MHL-based Streaming Stick, but there are two major differences: it now works with any TV that has an HDMI input, and it's half the price, at just $50.
If this all sounds familiar, that's because the design is awfully similar to Google's $35 Chromecast, and it's hard not to see the updated Streaming Stick as a response to Google's popular streamer. So what do you get for the extra $15?
For one, you get a traditional remote and an onscreen interface. It's a pretty standard Roku remote, and it works via Wi-Fi Direct, so it can still control the Streaming Stick when it's hidden behind your TV.
The other major perk over the Chromecast is you get access to all 1,200 of Roku's apps, or "channels" in Roku's parlance. This includes nearly every major service -- such as Netflix, YouTube, HBO Go, Amazon Instant, MLB.TV, Showtime Anytime, and PBS -- as well as a huge number of niche content sources. While the Chromecast has added some crucial apps since its launch (including HBO Go, Hulu Plus, and Pandora), it still can't compare to Roku's sprawling and frequently updated library.
If this all sounds familiar, that's because the design is awfully similar to Google's $35 Chromecast, and it's hard not to see the updated Streaming Stick as a response to Google's popular streamer. So what do you get for the extra $15?
For one, you get a traditional remote and an onscreen interface. It's a pretty standard Roku remote, and it works via Wi-Fi Direct, so it can still control the Streaming Stick when it's hidden behind your TV.
The other major perk over the Chromecast is you get access to all 1,200 of Roku's apps, or "channels" in Roku's parlance. This includes nearly every major service -- such as Netflix, YouTube, HBO Go, Amazon Instant, MLB.TV, Showtime Anytime, and PBS -- as well as a huge number of niche content sources. While the Chromecast has added some crucial apps since its launch (including HBO Go, Hulu Plus, and Pandora), it still can't compare to Roku's sprawling and frequently updated library.
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