GLENN’S SHOWNOTES
Apple Reports First Quarter Results
Apple Reports First Quarter Results
Best Quarterly Revenue and Earnings in Apple History
iPod Sales Set New Record
CUPERTINO, California—January 21, 2009—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ended December 27, 2008. The Company posted record revenue of $10.17 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, equal to the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The best turntable $64,000 can buy? – CNN.com
The best turntable $64,000 can buy
- Story Highlights
- An Italian manufacturer unveils a $64,000 turntable at CES in Las Vegas
- Gabriel turntable is made with bronze and can be customized with up to four arms
- Manufacturer: “When I look at it, the only word that comes to mind is love”
- A distributor is being sought to sell the turntable through specialty audio retailers
Nasty worm wriggles into millions of computers, identified as ‘Conficker’ or ‘Downadup’ | News |
Nasty worm wriggles into millions of computers, identified as ‘Conficker’ or ‘Downadup’
US software protection firm F-Secure says a computer worm known as “Conficker” or “Downadup” had infected more than nine million computers and was spreading at a rate of one million machines daily.
The malicious software had yet to do any noticeable damage, prompting debate as to whether it is impotent, waiting to “detonate”, or a test run by cybercriminals intent on profiting from the weakness in the future.
Microsoft says it is aware of the Conficker “worm family” and has modified its free Malicious Software Removal Tool to detect and get rid of infections.
The US software giant also advises people to stay current on anti-virus tools and Windows updates, and to protect computers and files with strong passwords.
A troubling aspect of the worm is that it can potentially crack passwords and lock a legitimate user out of their own computer.
Small business gets $120,000 phone bill after hackers attack VoIP phone | News | News.com.au
Small business gets $120,000 phone bill after hackers attack VoIP phone
A SMALL business has been landed with a $120,000 phone bill after criminals hacked into its internet phone system and used it to make 11,000 international calls in just 46 hours.
WA Police Technology Crime Investigations detectives said thieves were targeting Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP) PBX systems.
Thieves can exploit the call-forward function and run up huge international phone bills, Sergeant Greg Lambert said.
A small Perth business reported its VoIP PBX telephone system was hacked by an unauthorised user who used it to make more than 11,000 international phone calls in a 46-hour period this month.
YouTube’s “Man in the Jacket” Heidi admits love story a campaign for Witchery Man | News |
YouTube’s “Man in the Jacket” Heidi admits love story a campaign for Witchery Man
THE blonde behind the YouTube “Man in the Jacket” clip has come clean admitting she is a model employed for clothing company Witchery, but still says she’s a “hopeless romantic.”
In a second YouTube video released today, the woman – who was claiming to be “Heidi Clarke” – said: “I’m coming clean.
What’s New in Windows 7
What’s New in Windows 7
Infrastructure
· DirectAccess : Allows access to corporate network for remote users without initiating VPN connection. This works in conjunction with Windows Server 2008 R2.
· Search Federation : The windows search functionality will be able to search beyond the local files. Web Applications, Sharepoint Sites and other data stores on corporate network can be enabled to be searched from Windows 7.
· ‘BitLocker to Go’ : Provides data protection for removable storage devices such as USB flash drives.
· AppLocker : Ability to control what is allowed to run in the desktop.
·
User Experience
· Taskbar : Ability to set order of icons and full-screen previews
· Internet Explorer 8 to be part of Windows 7.
· Touch Screen: Better designed for touch screen functionality.
· Handwriting recognition support improves across application.
· Problem Steps Recorder : A screen capture tool that record a series of actions. It tracks mouse & keyboard and captures screenshots. It saves the whole thing to a ZIP file, containing an HTML-based slide show of the steps.
Development
· New UI Automation Client COM APIs similar to earlier managed APIs.
· XPS Document API so that any kind of applications can use the XPS document features. Till now they were available to only WPF developers.
· Direct3D10 : An end-to-end 3D graphics solution, enabling developers to target a single API that works on a variety of software and hardware configurations.
· High Color : set of capabilities that enable the rendering of content beyond 8 bits. These capabilities include:
o The ability to display content wider than Srgb gamut(s).
o The ability to display content with higher precision.
o The ability to display content with High Dynamic Range.
· Direct2D API : hardware-accelerated, immediate-mode 2-D graphics API that provides high performance and high quality rendering for 2-D geometry, bitmaps, and text. The Direct2D API is designed to interoperate well with developers existing code that uses GDI, GDI+, or Direct3D.
· DirectWrite : New addition to the DirectX family of APIs. DirectWrite uses OpenType fonts and ClearType rendering to enhance the text experience provided by Win32 applications.
· Windows Scenic : a collection of new user interface APIs for Win32 applications.
· Scenic Animation : COM API for developing UI animations like transitions, storyboard etc.
· Scenic Ribbon : a new UI command system built with Windows Scenic as a modern alternative to layered menus, toolbars, and task panes.
· Windows Sensor and Location Platform : The Windows Sensor and Location platform provides a standard way for device manufacturers to expose sensor devices to software developers and consumers, while providing developers with a standardized application programming interface (API) for working with sensors and sensor data.
Hardware Requirements
These are the Microsoft minimum hardware recommendations for systems that will be running the Windows 7 Beta. These recommendations are specific to the beta release and are subject to change:
Processor : 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
Memory : 1 GB of system memory
Hard drive : 16 GB of available disk space
Video card : Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme)
Note: Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV or navigation through the use of “touch”, may require advanced or additional hardware.
Obama gives White House site online overhaul | Australian IT
Obama gives White House site online overhaul
THE White House of President Barack Obama went online on Tuesday with a promise that its slick new website would provide a “window for all Americans into the business of the government.”
In a posting on the blog of whitehouse.gov, Macon Phillips, the White House director of new media, said the site “will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.”
“Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov,” Mr Phillips wrote after the whitehouse.gov website of former president George W. Bush went offline at 12:01 pm (1501 GMT) and was replaced by that of Mr Obama.
Noting that the internet played a key role in Mr Obama’s November 4 election, Mr Phillips said: “WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration’s efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.
“Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first,” he said.
Mr Phillips said the White House’s new media efforts would focus on “communication,” “transparency” and “participation.”
$2bn in sales a high score for games | Australian IT
$2bn in sales a high score for games
the Australian video and computer game industry recorded $1.96 billion in sales last year, an increase of 47 per cent from 2007 according to statistics from market research group GfK Retail and Technology Australia.
That figure places the games industry as Australia’s most successful entertainment business last year. Video game hardware and software sales more than doubled the $946 million made through ticket earnings at the box office, and eclipsed the DVD industry’s $1.4 billion sales by more than 40 per cent.
The Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, which released the 2008 figures, attributed the explosive growth in game sales to the popularity of family-friendly games which grew by 137 per cent last year.
“Gaming in general, but in particular family gaming, offers much better re-playability than other forms of entertainment such as DVDs or going to the movies,” IEAA chief executive officer Ron Curry said.
Flying the banner for family-oriented games was the Nintendo Wii console, which, with annual sales of more than 680,000 units, was the undisputed best console seller of the year.
In comparison, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console sold 78,824 units for the December period and more than 200,000 for the year.
Gamer hit with $6000 Bigpond bill | Australian IT
Gamer hit with $6000 Bigpond bill
Mr Cavanagh, 29, connected three computers at his North Gosford home so his friends could go head-to-head on the popular online World War II strategy game Battleground Europe.
But he exceeded his Telstra Bigpond 60GB ADSL2+ plan by more than 38GB.
Telstra’s policy is to charge excess data at a rate of 15c per megabyte but, the company says, Bigpond customers are always sent email notification when they are nearing their download limit.
When Mr Cavanagh’s next Telstra bill arrived it said he owed them $6041. A distraught Mr Cavanagh contacted Telstra about the massive bill and was told to send an email.
“It was a bit hard to send an email because they cut off my connection,” he said.
When The Daily Telegraph contacted Telstra a spokesman rang Mr Cavanagh immediately and said the bill would be waived as “a gesture of good will”.
Display wall enlarges the world at university | Australian IT
Display wall enlarges the world at university
THE Australian National University has installed one of the largest high-resolution display walls in Australia for use as a research and education tool.
It is made up of 35 Dell 30in LCD panels, as well as 12 Dell Precision R5400 rackable workstations.
The screen layout is five high by seven wide, and each of the Dell 30in sreens has about four megapixels. The result is a display of about 143 megapixels, or the equivalent of about 70 HDTV pictures.
“In the display wall system, instead of showing 30 individual images we show one scaled across all of them,” ANU ICT environments director Markus Buchhorn said.
Official Google Notebook Blog: Stopping development on Google Notebook
Stopping development on Google Notebook
Starting next week, we plan to stop active development on Google Notebook. This means we’ll no longer be adding features or offer Notebook for new users. But don’t fret, we’ll continue to maintain service for those of you who’ve already signed up. As part of this plan, however, we will no longer support the Notebook Extension, but as always users who have already signed up will continue to have access to their data via the web interface at http://www.google.com/notebook.
First Australian Google Android phone, Kogan Agora, delayed indefinitely | News | News.com.au
First Australian Google Android phone, Kogan Agora, delayed indefinitely
THE first Australian “Google phone” set to go on sale within weeks has been delayed indefinitely, with the manufacturer Kogan forced to refund early buyers.
In a statement released this afternoon, the company said the delay was “due to future interoperability issues.”
“The Agora reached a very late stage of development, manufacturing had commenced and we were within days of shipping the product to customers,” company founder Ruslan Kogan said in a statement.
“But it now seems certain the current Agora specifications will limit its compatibility or interoperability in the near future.”
Mr Kogan said one of the potential problems was applications with a higher resolution and screen size than what the Agora could handle.
iTWire – Kaspersky’s Anti-Virus for Windows 7 released as “prototype”
Kaspersky’s Anti-Virus for Windows 7 released as “prototype”
Announcing a “new antivirus engine” in “technical prototype” form, Kaspersky Lab has made its Windows 7 antivirus solution available for free download to Windows 7 beta users.
So far, there are three “official” anti-virus partners for the Windows 7 beta – AVG, Symantec (with Norton 360 3.0 beta) and Kaspersky Lab
Bring U.S. Broadband Up to Speed – BusinessWeek
Bring U.S. Broadband Up to Speed
offers advice to the americans who he is advising them to spend 10-15 billion. but cant get a bid into the ring of a 4bil bid….
The U.S. desperately needs to catch up with global leaders in two areas of high-speed broadband communications. The first is extending the current world-class wired broadband service now used by big business, smaller companies, and consumers across America. The second is increasing the transmission speed and reach of wireless service to nearly everywhere in the nation. Achieving these two goals would bridge the digital divide between city and country and provide a powerful productivity tool to all sectors of society: private enterprise, nonprofit organizations and institutions, and every level of government. A federal stimulus plan should do more than just add jobs in the telecommunications industry.
Australia, with territory nearly as large as the continental U.S. and a very similar population distribution, has wireless network speeds of 14.4 Mbps to cell phones, laptops, and other wireless devices on a mobile Internet that reaches 99% of the population. This speed, many times faster than the best U.S. wireless networks, enables Australians to transmit real-time video, photos, MRI images, and other data that cannot yet be delivered by American wireless systems. Our network is ready to operate at 21 Mbps and, in the next year or so, we will double Australia’s network speeds to 42 Mbps—providing bandwidth fast enough to download a two-hour movie to a laptop on a beach in four minutes. That’s faster than all but a tiny fraction of U.S. wireline broadband connections.
Yes, he can: Obama to keep his beloved BlackBerry
Yes, he can: Obama to keep his beloved BlackBerry
The President-elect gets to hang onto his favourite gadget, although he’ll also have to carry a chunky second super-secure mobile for “government” use.
This will make Obama the first US president to carry a mobile phone and have any technology in the Oval Office.
Second Google Android phone — Kogan Agora — “Delayed Indefinitely”
Second Google Android phone — Kogan Agora — “Delayed Indefinitely”
Kogan has announced that the heavily anticipated phone has been, to use their words, “delayed indefinitely“.
The problem? In a nutshell (or at least from what Kogan’s stating) it seems as though the Agora’s screen resolution might not have been up to scratch when it came to Android applications. The Agora and Agora Pro were both proposed with simple 320 X 240 pixel QVGA screens, and in a posting on the Kogan Web site Blog, company owner Ruslan Kogan states that
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Apple smashing Macs to pieces
Apple smashing Macs to pieces
Filmmaker James Johnston (not his real name) supplements his income with factory work through several large corporate recruitment centres that routinely contract out staff for warehousing duties. Johnston assumed he was in for an everyday job until he saw what he estimated to be $200,000 worth of Apple hardware, peripherals and equipment.
“There were up to nine pallets,” Johnston remembers, “two were of MacBooks, both Pro and 13 inch versions, two were of iMacs, two were of Mac Pro towers, one had few Xservers on it and a few Mac Pros and one had Mighty Mice and a copy of Final Cut Studio – we went as far as manually tearing up the manuals.”
“Someone who’d been there about nine months said Apple had replaced the units because it was too expensive to send them to China for repair.”
But instead of being stacked on pallets for re-conditioning, resale or donation, Johnston and his colleagues were instructed to destroy it all. “The supervisor told someone to get some tools and they came back with two hammers and several screwdrivers. They wanted us to separate the two halves of the MacBooks and smash the screens of the iMacs with hammers.
When asked who gave the order, Johnston mentions another worker who represents Apple and occupies the site permanently. When the crew initially dumped the equipment into a large dumpster bin outside the facility his supervisor reported that someone had complained because the units were visible over the top of the dumpster’s edge. The next step was to use a forklift to crush the smashed Apple machinery even further down so as to render it invisible.
Contacted for comment, Apple Australia Marketing Director Rob Small claimed that Apple does not smash perfectly good Macs and put them in bins. “We only destroy stock that’s either beyond economic repair or is been deemed not fit for sale to a customer again,” Small added.
MARK’S SHOWNOTES
Willis Carrier – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willis CarrierSkype for PS3 – Skype Community
Skype for PS3BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | New evidence on Antarctic warming
New evidence on Antarctic warmingThe continent of Antarctica is warming up in step with the rest of the world, according to a new analysis.
Scientists say data from satellites and weather stations indicate a warming of about 0.6C over the last 50 years.
Writing in the journal Nature, they say the trend is “difficult to explain” without the effect of rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, scientists in Antarctica say a major ice shelf is about to break away from the continent.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is said to be “hanging by a thread” from the Antarctic Peninsula, the strip of land pointing from the white continent towards the southern tip of South America.
In isolation
Most of Antarctica’s scientific stations are located along the peninsula, and scientists have known for many years that this portion of the continent is getting warmer.
It’s hard to think of any situation where increased greenhouse gases would not lead to warming in Antarctica
Dr Drew Shindell, NasaBut trends across the bulk of the continent have been much harder to discern, mainly because data from land stations is scarce.
It is somewhat insulated from the rest of the world’s weather systems by winds and ocean currents that circulate around the perimeter.
In the new analysis, a team of US scientists combined data from land stations with satellite readings
“We have at least 25 years of data from satellites, and satellites have the huge advantage that they can see the whole continent,” said Eric Steig from the University of Washington in Seattle.
“But the [land] stations have the advantage that they go back much further in time.
“So we combined the two; and what we found, in a nutshell, is that there is warming across the whole continent, it’s stronger in winter and spring but it is there in all seasons.”
They conclude that the eastern region of the continent, which is larger and colder than the western portion, is warming at 0.1C per decade, and the west at 0.17C per decade – faster than the global average.
The 2007 assessment of the global climate by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded: “It is likely that there has been significant anthropogenic (human-induced) warming over the past 50 years averaged over each continent except Antarctica”, with the word “likely” in this context meaning “at least 66% probability”.
The scientists said this study did not change that picture, with natural climatic cycles probably involved as well as elevated greenhouse gas concentrations.
“It’s hard to think of any situation where increased greenhouse gases would not lead to warming in Antarctica,” said Drew Shindell from Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss) in New York.
“We’re almost certain that greenhouse gas increases are contributing to this warming, but what’s difficult is to attribute this warming and so say how much is down to natural warming and how much down to anthropogenic causes.”
Last year, scientists from the UK Met Office used climate models to attribute trends at the poles, and concluded that human emissions of greenhouse gases were largely responsible for the observed warming.
Gareth Marshall from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), who was not involved in the analysis, commented: “This study shows that, similar to the other six continents, Antarctica has undergone a significant warming over the past 50 years.
“The magnitude of this warming is similar to the rest of the southern hemisphere, where we believe it is likely that human activity has played some role in the temperature increase, and therefore it is also likely that this is the case regarding an Antarctic warming.”
Cool analysis
Over the last 30 years, satellites have also shown that sea ice is slowly growing in extent around Antarctica, which some observers say indicates a cooling across the continent or at least in the surrounding seas.
But Walt Meier from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, which follows ice trends at the poles, said wind patterns were probably the main reason.
“Around Antarctica, the winds play a much bigger role than they do in the Arctic,” he said.
“If they’re blowing northwards you can grow ice quite quickly and in contrast if they blow southwards the ice can contract quickly, whereas in the Arctic it’s much more constrained (by land masses).
“So this positive trend in the Antarctic is certainly not an indication of any cooling trend.”
One region that has seen spectacular losses of ice in recent years is the peninsula.
A BAS team currently on site is reporting that the Wilkins shelf, about 15,000 sq km in area, is probably about to break free.
“It really could go at any minute, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the final cracks started to appear very soon,” said BAS’s David Vaughan.
Race is on for carbon offset work | Australian IT
Race is on for carbon offset work
AT least 20 new IT projects potentially worth millions of dollars are on the table as the Department of Climate Change prepares for online trading of emissions permits and establishes an environmental watchdog agency with responsibility for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
Tenders for the CPRS auction platform and architecture, systems integration, financial management, identity/access, business intelligence systems, web portal design and hosting services will be announced as soon as this month.
“Our overall procurement strategy is still being developed, but the design and build will be co-ordinated within the department, using a range of suppliers,” department spokeswoman Vicki Kapernick said. “The projects just listed on our procurement plan are an indication of the work likely to be undertaken in preparation for the establishment of the CPRS and the regulator.”
The new agency, the Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority, will assess organisations’ liability under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act, enforce compliance and manage the auction or allocation of permits, including collection of revenue.
The Kyoto-compliant national emissions registry completed just before Christmas represented the first phase of the CPRS system, Ms Kapernick said.
US-based environmental consultant Perrin Quarles Associates, along with local companies Strategic Data Management and AussieHQ, won a $600,000 contract to supply the registry, which is linked to the UN International Transactions Log.
Countries signing up to the Kyoto Protocol are assigned a number of carbon emission units, and must set up a registry to track and record all trades.
Minister for Climate Change Penny Wong said having the trading registry operating “was an important milestone”.
“We need these units to meet the target of limiting our average annual emissions over the period 2008-12 to 108 per cent of 1990 levels,” Senator Wong said.
The registry will now be further developed to support the introduction of the CPRS by July 1 next year.
Ms Kapernick said a healthy response to the first tender indicated a number of companies were likely to bid for this work.
Some $37 million over four years was allocated for the creation of an emissions trading scheme in the last budget, but Ms Kapernick said the new projects related to the regulator’s office, announced last month.
“Obviously, a lot of detail is yet to be worked out.”
The department has to provide an IT infrastructure before the authority’s establishment through passage of the scheme’s enabling legislation.
The week that was
Aussie Tech Head services
Lord Of The Rings PS3
Playstation Store
Movies no longer need to shoot in 70mm or 35mm as Today’s LCD and Plasma TV’s crop the top and bottom of the picture.
AVI answers
How can we solve the AVI problem.
Make ISP monitor compu\ters of their subscribers. When Web Browser (Safari, Firefox or IE) is opened high speed for surfing, checking mail, youtubing or facebook. As soon as programs like Azureus, Vuze, Limewire are opened and connected to the net, the bandwidth slides to 56kps, until those applications are closed or quit out of.
Cleaners Project, anybody interested.
Anybody seen Twilight
Catherine Tate
USB Flash Sale
Casting Suggestions for the female lead in Mirror’s Edge the movie
Dragon Naturally Speaking dramas
In graphics
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