
<?phpxml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
>
<channel>
<title>Haaze.com / Sophia002 / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2011 07:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Jobs pitches Apple store concept in '01 (video)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=jobs-pitches-apple-store-concept-in-01-video</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=jobs-pitches-apple-store-concept-in-01-video</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2011 07:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=jobs-pitches-apple-store-concept-in-01-video</guid>
<description><![CDATA[With today being the 10th anniversary of the first Apple retail store, it's worth taking a look back at what Apple was actually offering when its first stores opened up. Cult ofMac has dug up a wonderful time capsule (no, not Apple's Time Capsule) of a video featuring Apple CEO Steve Jobs giving a quick walk-through of the first store layout:Notably missing is any background music from the Black Eyed Peas, which were just on the verge of gaining Fergie power, as well as theiPod, which Apple would introduce a few months later. Instead, it's just Jobs doing a quick run-through of the store's various areas, which are broken down by computing need. &quot;Every product we make is in this first 25 percent of the store,&quot; Jobs beams. &quot;You can see the whole product line.&quot; That very point was said to be a cause for concern just a year after this video was taped, when the company expanded its operations into New York. At a speech given to press at the 2006 opening of its Fifth Avenue store in New York, Apple's senior vice president of retail Ron Johnson reminisced that the company was &quot;nervous&quot; about filling nearly 20,000 square feet with a set of products that could fit on a conference room table. Iconic Apple stores around the world (photos) In 2001, Apple's solution was to fill the rest of the store with &quot;solutions&quot; or situational use of computers tied to accessories to give customers an idea of why they should shell out for Apple gear.&quot;The center half of the store--literally half the store--is devoted to solutions, because people don't just want to buy personal computers anymore,&quot; Jobs explained. &quot;They want to know what they can do with them, and we're going to show people just that.&quot; While that idea hasn't changed since 2001, one big thing that has are the third-party products the company stocks on its shelves. At the time, Jobs noted that the store six different digital cameras, six camcorders, six MP3 players, and six handheld organizers. All of those items have effectively been squeezed into Apple's own gadgets since then--specifically theiPhone and iPod touch. The store also stocks more than 300 boxed software titles, something Apple's scaled back on dramatically, and on the road to doing away with completely with efforts like the Mac App Store. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Four things still in AT&T's iPhone pocket]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=four-things-still-in-atts-iphone-pocket</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=four-things-still-in-atts-iphone-pocket</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=four-things-still-in-atts-iphone-pocket</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:AP/CBS)Ever since AT&amp;T and Apple introduced the first iPhone four years ago, the carrier has racked in the cash and customers while selling iPhones by the millions. But along with all that success, AT&amp;T also has received heaps of criticism for a creaking network that has saddled users with dropped calls and slow data speeds.Though AT&amp;T doesn't deserve all of the blame, it shouldn't escape it completely. Indeed, when I was at CES last week, I couldn't get aniPhone signal anywhere near the Las Vegas Convention Center. It can be pretty miserable, frankly, which is why Phone users and fence-sitters alike have been clamoring for Apple's device to land at Verizon Wireless for years. And now that a Verizon iPhone looks like a sure thing, AT&amp;T will a few defections. But as even as some consumers switch to Verizon in search of a perceived better network--which is hardly a sure thing, mind you--AT&amp;T still has a few advantages that Verizon can't touch. And these points are nothing to take lately.A global technologyAT&amp;T uses GSM, which is the dominant global cellular technology. Whether you're in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, or the Americas, you can find a GSM network for using your iPhone. Verizon, however, uses CDMA, which is present in only a handful of countries outside North America. That list includes Brazil, China, India, and Israel, but you won't find a drop of CDMA across the whole of Europe. Of course, Verizon could close this gap with a dualmode CDMA/GSM device.Voice and dataCurrently, CDMA phones can't transmit voice and data at the same time. To you, that means that you won't be able to be on a call and browse the Web or access your e-mail simultaneously. It's a big change for how many people use the iPhone now, especially when you consider that Apple has made such functionality--you can talk on the phone and get directions to Starbucks!--a centerpiece of some of its ad campaigns. The good news is that the CDMA Development Group will fix this limitation sometime during the first half of next year, but AT&amp;T will have a big ball in its court until then.A faster 3GDespite its troubles, AT&amp;T's HSPA 3G network is theoretically faster than Verizon's EV-DO network. For most people, that has been just a theory, but other users may notice a difference if they live in an area with better AT&amp;T reception. Of course, 3G speed will be irrelevant if Verizon has an LTE handset, but that's an unlikely prospect at this point.PriceIf you're an AT&amp;T user still on contract, switching to Verizon could cost you $624. You'll have to pay the carrier's early termination fee (ETF)--as high as $325--and you'll have to buy a completely new iPhone that supports Verizon's network. Though we don't know Verizon's pricing strategy just yet, I imagine Apple will insist on matching AT&amp;T ($199 for the 16GB model and 32GB for the $299 version). Granted, AT&amp;T does prorate the ETF as you serve out your contract, and Verizon could offer an incentive program for AT&amp;T customers, but it's still going to be an expensive proposition.CNET will bring you live coverage of Verizon's event tomorrow, January 11, at 11 a.m. ET, so be sure to check back for the full story. In the meantime, tell us what you're expecting from the Verizon iPhone.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Google fans egg-bomb blurred German homes]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-fans-egg-bomb-blurred-german-homes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-fans-egg-bomb-blurred-german-homes</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-fans-egg-bomb-blurred-german-homes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The launch of Google Street View in Germany seems to be causing civil unrest. Which has now reportedly mutated into uncivil unrest.Should your mind still be blurred by the conundrum of the apparently naked man on Street View in Mannheim, Germany, you might not be aware that almost 3 percent of Germans requested that their buildings be made fuzzy beyond recognition on Google's photographic street record.Now, Search Engine Land has brought my attention to an apparent protest about the blurrings.Google&amp;39's Munich office in less than all its glory.(Credit:Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)It seems that a group of passionate, if stunningly misguided, individuals has gone around the Bergerhausen district of Essen and pelted some of the blurred-out houses with eggs. In addition to this organic disregard for animal byproducts, the protesters apparently taped a message to the mailboxes of these houses.The message read &quot;Google is cool.&quot;While one can only mutter misgivings at such half-witted behavior (and Google itself has expressed its disapproval), one can also wonder what would have happened had these enthusiasts for freedom ventured to Munich and adorned Dienerstrasse 12 with chicken-sourced projectiles. This, you see, is the home of Google's Munich office. Thanks to the protestations of another tenant, this building is one of those that has been blurred out. So wouldn't it have been almost Banksyish artistry for Google's own office to have been splattered with eggs and garlanded with the sign &quot;Google is cool&quot;Oh, come on. You have weird thoughts too sometimes, don't you<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[After 5 years, Xbox 360 still a big winner]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=after-5-years-xbox-360-still-a-big-winner</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=after-5-years-xbox-360-still-a-big-winner</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=after-5-years-xbox-360-still-a-big-winner</guid>
<description><![CDATA[On November 21, 2005, Norm Edwards became the first-ever person to buy an Xbox 360. It has now been five years since the launch of Microsoft&amp;39's video game console.(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)If there's one thing that I recall more than any other from &quot;Zero Hour,&quot; the 30-hourXbox 360 launch event on November 20 and 21, 2005, it was the sight of dozens of gamers literally passed out on beanbags, their controllers still in their hands.Despite absolutely frigid conditions, more than 2,000 gamers showed up in Palmdale, an aerospace town about an hour northeast of Los Angeles, for the chance to be among the first ever to play and buy an Xbox 360.And after those 30 hours, their patience was rewarded: a fleet of Best Buy trucks rolled into the giant hangar where the event was taking place, and the Xboxes flowed.The Xbox 360 turns 5 (photos) Because my memories of that event are still so fresh, it's very hard for me to believe that it's been five full years since the launch of the Xbox 360--the release that heralded the first shot in the next-generation console wars among Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. The latter two companies would release theirPlayStation 3 andWii consoles a year later, in November 2006.But back then, the PlayStation 2 was still the most dominant console on the planet, and no one had ever heard of the Wii. For its part, the Xbox 360 was an unknown--the original Xbox, released in 2001, had been a highly unprofitable loss leader, and now the world was waiting to find out if Microsoft was ready to be a real player in the console game. And did they succeed By almost any measure, they did.&quot;Microsoft has come such a long way,&quot; said Dean Takahashi, the author of &quot;The Xbox 360 Uncloaked,&quot; and like me, one of only three reporters there throughout the Zero Hour event. &quot;In planning the Xbox 360, they expected to get maybe 20 million units sold in five years. In fact, they were able to do more than 40 million. This console generation has worked out far better than they thought.&quot;By comparison, according to an article Takahashi wrote last month for VentureBeat, where he is a lead writer, Nintendo has moved 74.6 million units to date, while Sony has sold 38.9 million PS3s. Back then, in the fall of 2005, the question on everyone's mind was how the new Xbox would fare against Sony's PS3. After all, Sony had sold more than 100 million PS2s, and it was well understood that the PlayStation fan base gave Sony a huge advantage heading into the next-generation console wars.But from the beginning, Sony stumbled, most visibly with supply chain issues that forced it to charge $600 for the PS3. And Microsoft, with its $400 Xbox 360, had no problem taking advantage of the PS3 fans who simply weren't willing to fork over $600.Another area where Microsoft got an early lead was with its lineup of exclusive games. Indeed, the platform has helped spawn (or enhance) some of the biggest and most important exclusive titles in video game history--the Halo, Gears of War, and Fable franchises--and has seen titles available on multiple platforms tend to perform better on Xbox.For their parts, the PS3 and the Wii have both had their share of blockbuster exclusives. PS3 players have had sole access to titles like the God of War and Gran Turismo franchises and those with Wiis were the only ones to be able to play New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit, and others.Of course, back then, no one expected Nintendo's next-generation entry to be a real player. The thought was that it would be a battle for first place between the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Five years on, that seems like a quaint equation given the almost instant dominance of the Wii. Still, many people have long lumped the PS3 and the Xbox 360 together--given their high-quality graphics and immense processing power--and measured them more against each other and not against the Wii.ImpatientIf the new Sony and Microsoft console entrants were to be evaluated head-to-head, then Xbox has to be judged the winner, at least so far, despite its year head start. While the PS3 has had more success in the last year or so, the first few years of the console wars has seen the Xbox take a very big lead over Sony.Now, with the release of its $150 Kinect motion controller, which sold more than 1 million units in its first 10 days, Microsoft is looking to solidify its position. Indeed, the company has said it now expects to sell 5 million Kinects this year alone. Sony, of course, also has released a new motion controller, the Move, but Takahashi said that Kinect is already winning that battle. And while everyone initially wanted to compare both Kinect and Move with Nintendo's Wii-mote controller, it's hard to equate the different controllers because the base systems are so different.But in spite of that success, some might caution Microsoft to move slowly with Kinect--and with the rest of the Xbox platform. One of the biggest failures in the five years of the Xbox 360 is indisputably the so-called &quot;Red Ring of Death,&quot; which caused the consoles to crash or even die. Microsoft had to pony up for a $1 billion warranty program to cover potentially faulty Xboxes, a program for which many gave the company props, but to Takahashi, the history of the Red Ring of Death illustrates an area where the company should proceed carefully.&quot;The Red Ring of Death exposed one of the weaknesses in the strategy of moving too fast,&quot; Takahashi said. &quot;If Microsoft is guilty of anything, it is sometimes too impatient when it comes to getting business results.&quot;Takahashi said that it's for that reason that Microsoft has failed to become a player in the massively multiplayer online games business, and that to date, it doesn't match up with others like Zynga or Apple in social games, smart phones, or portable music players. With that in mind, he said, sticking to the Xbox platform might well be wise.Microsoft was not able to respond for comment for this story.Still, it seems clear that the company has bided its time with the Xbox 360--waiting out consumers who fretted about the console's lack of integrated Wi-Fi, or its small hard drive. As Michael Pachter, a video games industry analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities put it, the Xbox 360 has &quot;remarkable staying power&quot; and &quot;didn't get made obsolete after five years.&quot;Indeed, Pachter said that the future of the Xbox franchise looks strong, precisely because of the Kinect. &quot;They did a phenomenal job with Kinect,&quot; Pachter said, and &quot;got people excited about it...That's the most exciting thing going on now.&quot;Elite and SlimIn the past, it's been seen as a truism that each new console generation lasted about five years. And by that measure, it would be time for Microsoft to come out with an all-new Xbox.Of course, no one expects that to happen any time soon, and the same is true of both Sony and Nintnedo.But both Microsoft and Sony have found ways to come out with new iterations of their consoles--new versions that address things like missing accessories or too-high prices--along the way. In 2007, Microsoft released the Xbox 360 Elite, which offered a 120GB hard drive--up from 20 GB on the original--as well as an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) port, an HDMI cable and a wireless remote. This year, it went even further, bringing out the Xbox 360 Slim, which offers a 250GB hard drive. Yet the price has dropped over time to $300.Takahashi said he originally thought that the PS3 would surpass the Xbox 360 in graphics quality and that gamers would respond by buying more PS3s. &quot;But that advantage hasn't turned out to yield any benefits for Sony,&quot; he said. &quot;If Sony has gained ground, it is because Microsoft wasn't ambitious enough in designing a slimmer version of its console.&quot; Similarly, Microsoft is dominating its rivals in online services. Its Xbox Live service currently has 25 million members, and Pachter said 17 million of those are Gold members who pay $60 a year to take part in sophisticated multiplayer gaming and access a wide variety of social and multimedia content like Netflix streaming, A-list movies and TV shows, Twitter and Facebook, and more. And to Pachter, there must be something of value there because, he said, he heard very few complaints when Microsoft raised the annual price of membership from $50 to $60.But Takahashi said that Kinect may well be Microsoft's best hedging against having to come out with an entirely new generation of console, something that may well not happen for at least two or three more years. &quot;Kinect has certainly given [the Xbox 360] a mid-life kicker,&quot; Takahashi said. &quot;I wasn't expecting that to happen and really thought that the company would have had to introduce a brand-new console by now.&quot;For his part, Pachter doesn't think that's likely to be necessary for at least a couple more years. Yet Pachter also wonders how Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have managed to keep the prices for their consoles so high, what with well-equipped Xboxes and PS3s still coming in at $300 each, and the Wii still selling for $200. &quot;If you'd told me in 2005 that (for the holiday season in) 2010, the three consoles would be $300 (for the core Xbox 360 Slim), $300 (for the core PlayStation 3) and $200 (for the Wii),&quot; said Pachter, &quot;I would have told you (that) you were on drugs. There's no way.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Wireless Space outdoes Time Capsule]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wireless-space-outdoes-time-capsule</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wireless-space-outdoes-time-capsule</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wireless-space-outdoes-time-capsule</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Apple hands Java reins to Oracle]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-hands-java-reins-to-oracle</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-hands-java-reins-to-oracle</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-hands-java-reins-to-oracle</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Sun/Oracle)After years running Java forMac OS X as an in-house project, Apple is handing control to the Oracle, the companies announced Friday.With Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January, Java stewardship moved to the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giant, which sells Java server software among other products. Java is widely used on servers, common on mobile phones, but never met its potential on personal computers as a tool to let developers span different varieties of desktop computers with the same program.In the Oracle handoff, Apple will transfer its Java work to OpenJDK, the open-source project under which Java is developed. Apple will maintain its current version of Java Standard Edition 6 for Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, and 10.7, aka Lion, but Oracle will release Java SE 7 for the Mac, the companies said.The move is no surprise. With the release of an updated Java SE 6 package in October, Apple deprecated use of its Java--in other words, told programmers they should make alternate plans if they relied on it.What's more interesting about the Apple-Oracle-Java situation is the history supplied by James Gosling, father of the technology, who has been revealing interesting nuggets ever since turning down the transfer to Oracle and the prospect of working for Larry, Prince of Darkness, as Gosling refers to chief executive Larry Ellison.Apple embraced Java when it was in a weaker position and, like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and others, took over responsibility for providing the virtual machine software that would let Java programs run on its computers.&quot;In the early days, they were insistent on doing the port themselves. They put terrific energy into it. They did a good job,&quot; Gosling said in a blog post in October. &quot;But then, as OS X took hold and Apple was able to convince developers to target their non-portable/proprietary environment, Apple's fundamental control-freak tendency took over and they put less and less energy into Java.&quot;The juicier part of the tale, though, concerns the difficulties that arose around discussions about Apple unshouldering its Java burden. It turns out that the company employed application programming interfaces (APIs) not available to others, Gosling said.&quot;The biggest obstacle was their use of secret APIs. Yes, OS X has piles of secret APIs...The big area (that I'm aware of) where these are used is in graphics rendering,&quot; Gosling said.In one specific case, he said, the Java graphics specification had &quot;careful wording&quot; to allow Apple's approach to graphics. Apple required antialiased rendering--an ages-old graphics technique that uses intermediate-colored pixels to smooth away otherwise jagged edges that result curves or diagonal lines made out of square pixels. Java could handle either aliased or antialiased rendering, and Apple's approach didn't sit well with one Java developer.&quot;Most authors fixed their apps so that they worked in both cases,&quot; Gosling said, meaning aliased or antialiased. &quot;But one developer took a serious 'f**k you' attitude on this issue and forced Apple to implement aliased rendering--which they kept secret because it was such an awful thing to have to do. The 'one developer' Oracle, of course.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[GameStop VP: PSP 'a disappointment' in 2010]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gamestop-vp-psp-a-disappointment-in-2010</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gamestop-vp-psp-a-disappointment-in-2010</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gamestop-vp-psp-a-disappointment-in-2010</guid>
<description><![CDATA[PSP Go(Credit:Sony)When pressed to find a disappointment in the gaming space this year, GameStop senior vice president of merchandising and marketing, Bob McKenzie, pointed to Sony's PSP.&quot;If I were to pick a disappointment, the only thing would be looking at the number of titles that launched on the PSP format compared to the prior year,&quot; McKenzie told video game publication Eurogamer in a recent interview. &quot;I think Sony did a great job two years ago in terms of coming out with a pretty good lineup of PSP offerings, and I didn't see that breadth of titles this year.&quot;Sony's PSP games page reveals few games that hit store shelves this year have left a mark on gamers, aside from favorites like Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Madden NFL 11. The recently released God of War: Ghost of Sparta is arguably the biggest release on the PSP this year, and so far has garnered strong reviews from critics.But games might just be the least of Sony's worries right now. PSP sales are plummeting. In fact, in August, the last month for which market-research firm NPD reported hardware unit sales, Sony sold just 79,400 PSP units. In August 2009, it sold 140,300 PSP units.Sony isn't ignoring the slumping sales. The company announced late last month that it dropped the price of its PSP Go from $249.99 to $199.99, bringing it to within $30 of Nintendo's DSi XL and $50 of the DSi. The company's PSP-3000, which retails for $169.99, was not discounted.Going forward, Sony might also try to jump-start its mobile hardware sales with the release of the rumored PSP2. Although Sony has been mum on the PSP2, speculation abounds that the device will go on sale in 2011. Rumors suggest the device will feature an HD display and a touch pad on the back.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[3D body scanner can identify your fat zones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=3d-body-scanner-can-identify-your-fat-zones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=3d-body-scanner-can-identify-your-fat-zones</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=3d-body-scanner-can-identify-your-fat-zones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Stripped down to the undergarments, the patient steps into a 7-foot booth to be scanned by 16 sensors and 32 cameras section by section. (Credit:Body Volume Index)3D is finally getting some love in the health segment--specifically the love handle segment. A 3D body scanner in development for 10 years and out this month from U.K. company Select Research, can not only tell how obese you are in relation to what's recommended, but exactly where those numerous high-tea buffets have distributed themselves. Ouch. Say hello to BVI, or body volume index, and goodbye to BMI, or body mass index, which uses a standard international formula to calculate body weight.  The more detailed BVI system is a 7-foot-tall booth that scans a patient, stripped down to his or her undergarments, using 16 sensors and 32 cameras. In a whopping six seconds, more than 200 linear data measurements of the patient's body are gathered and sent to a secure server to be accessed and analyzed by authorized doctors. An exact &quot;virtual&quot; image of a person's shape is also created. The BVI scanner uses white light but no radiation.The system, developed in conjunction with Aston University in Birmingham, England' Heartlands NHS Hospital, also in Birmingham' and the Mayo Clinic, scanned over 2,000 test subjects across the United Kingdom, United States, and Europe to fine-tune the norms for fat deposition in various parts of the body according to age, gender, body shape, and body composition. As developed countries face increasingly obese populations, it's hoped that the device will be able to alert doctors to the potential for heart disease, stroke, or diabetes.&quot;Most people in the world realize that carrying extra weight around the stomach means that they do have a greater health risk, commonly known in healthcare as central obesity,&quot; Select Research's Dr. Richard Barnes said. &quot;What BVI now offers the world is a brand new way of measuring the abdominal area which BMI simply cannot do.&quot;  Speaking to the Daily Mail, Barnes added that &quot;BMI was never meant to be used as an individual assessment for obesity and we believe that after nearly 200 years, each patient deserves to be measured in a way that takes their own body shape and lifestyle factors into account.&quot;Now, all that's left is to hope that when this comes around to our local doctor's office, we won't get hit with a fat consultation fee.The body volume index could make BMI outdated as the former reveals how two people with similar BMIs could have fat distributed differently. (Credit:Body Volume Index)(Source: Crave Asia via Gizmag) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Government Agency Ignored Obama Directive When It Handed Microsoft A No-Bid&nbsp'Contract]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=government-agency-ignored-obama-directive-when-it-handed-microsoft-a-no-bidnbspcontract</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=government-agency-ignored-obama-directive-when-it-handed-microsoft-a-no-bidnbspcontract</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=government-agency-ignored-obama-directive-when-it-handed-microsoft-a-no-bidnbspcontract</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Last week, Google filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior over not considering Google Apps as an option for a productivity suite for its 88,000 employees when the government agency issued a call (otherwise known as an RFQ) for applications. Specifically, the DOI stated upfront in the RFQ that the email solution had to be part of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Google is alleging that this is anti-competitive and that if Google were to submit a proposal, not only would it come in at a much lower price point than a Microsoft contract, but it would meet all of the DOI&amp;'s security requirements.The twist in all of this: President Obama issued a statement shortly after he took office that essentially reaffirms Google&amp;'s point. In this memo from March 2009, the White House states that &amp;''Excessive reliance by executive agencies on sole-source contracts (or contracts with a limited number of sources) and cost-reimbursement contracts creates a risk that taxpayer funds will be spent on contracts that are wasteful, inefficient, subject to misuse, or otherwise not well designed to serve the needs of the Federal Government or the interests of the American taxpayer. Reports by agency Inspectors General, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other independent reviewing bodies have shown that noncompetitive and cost-reimbursement contracts have been misused, resulting in wasted taxpayer resources, poor contractor performance, and inadequate accountability for results.&amp;''Essentially, Obama is suggesting that contracts that limit sources are not only non-competitive but they encourage wasteful spending at the hands of the American taxpayers. Directing that an email solution has to be part of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite could very well run afoul of this structure.The memo does concede that &amp;''in certain exigent circumstances, agencies may need to consider whether a competitive process will not accomplish the agency&amp;'s mission. In such cases, the agency must ensure that the risks associated with noncompetitive contracts are minimized.&amp;'' According to the complaint, the DOI said that Google Apps didn&amp;'t meet the security needs of the agency. Google contends that it does have a federal government compliant security infrastructure in place, and the decision was based on limiting the scope to Microsoft products. In this case, it looks like the risks associated with this non-competitive contract were not minimized, otherwise Google would not have found the grounds to file an arbitrary lawsuit. New York City also issued a non-competitive search for a productivity suite when it signed city&amp;'s employees up for Microsoft&amp;'s suite a few weeks ago. We&amp;'ve contacted Google for comment and will update when we hear back. UPDATE: Here is a statement Google released to TechCrunch:a4AGoogle is a proponent of open competition on the Internet and in the technology sector in general.  Here, a fair and open process could save US taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and result in better services.  Wea4a4re asking the Department of Interior to allow for a true competition when selecting its technology providers.a4CrunchBase InformationGoogleInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Spammers Were Offering $2K For The Gawker Database. Now They Have It For&nbsp'Free.]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spammers-were-offering-2k-for-the-gawker-database--now-they-have-it-fornbspfree-</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spammers-were-offering-2k-for-the-gawker-database--now-they-have-it-fornbspfree-</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spammers-were-offering-2k-for-the-gawker-database--now-they-have-it-fornbspfree-</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In the modern media equivalent of a Greek myth, the Gawker empire was hit hard over the weekend when it was revealed that a hacker group had infiltrated its commenter database via a vulnerability in its source code, exposing the user names and encrypted passwords for over 1.3 million commenters. To further drive the moral of this story home, the group, which goes by the name Gnosis, pulled a dictionary attack and unencrypted about 188K of the easiest ones like &amp;''password&amp;'' or &amp;''qwerty&amp;'' releasing the whole database and source code package in a torrent on Pirate Bay.Apparently the Gawker data breach was no secret on the Internet (reports had been circulating for about a month) and people offered Gnosis money for the Gawker database before the release. According to a Gnosis representative who gave details to TechCrunch, the group received several offers all in the vicinity of 2K, mostly from spammers and re-salers, &amp;''certainly not for good.&amp;''Already Internet nogoodniks are taking advantage of the exploit. Aa4shack-related Twitter attack on Sunday forced users to tweet about the Acai berry diet. TechCrunch Senior Editor Erick Shoenfeld fell prey to what looks like the second iteration of the Acai attack this morning. The New York Post reports that one woman had her entire life &amp;''turned upside down&amp;'' when her social media accounts were taken over and used to post anti-Semitic messages. Behemoths LinkedIn, Yahoo and World Of Warcraft have all taken measures to protect against further attacks.Because many people use the same password across multiple sites, this spammer&amp;'s delight is going to get worse before it gets better. Especially if the attacks spread from social media to financial services. It&amp;'s time to get an entirely new password if you&amp;'ve ever commented on Gawker, for everything, even if your password (like both of mine) is still encrypted in the full_db.txt file. You can check if your information has been exposed here.Damnit. Can&amp;039't remember all my new passwords.ReplyWhen asked why they didn&amp;'t accept any of the offers, our Gnosis source replied, &amp;''We didn&amp;'t sell because we thought that would be too far. It&amp;'s one thing finding out that your database was leaked, and its another to find out that it was sold. We are not heartless, we know the implications for selling it, even though a minority of the group wanted to sell it.&amp;'' While the Gnosis representative admitted that there are lot of interesting things that can be done with a hacked database, the more serious issue here is the public availability of the PHP source code which leaves open the possibility of further exploits, &amp;''Just say if Gawker recovers fully, and all is well, six months down the line some Eastern European hackers jump in and do the whole thing again,a4sbecause they had access to the source and found a way to exploit it.&amp;''In a comment explaining the breach Gawker founder Nick Denton, who reportedly has a meeting with the FBI today, hinted at hiring an independent security firm to improve security. Not enough says the Gnosis rep, who holds that all the sites&amp;' API keys and cookies are in still in the source code and that while difficult, those with nefarious intent can still impersonate Gawker users, &amp;''I would bite the bullet and release all the source code if I were thema4sofficially, and go &amp;8216'open source.&amp;'&amp;''Denton, who is in the unenviable position of being the busiest person in the world at the moment, did not reply to my questions about the measures being taken to further protect users and the ethical implications of such a large breach. He only responded with this link to show that Gawker site traffic hadn&amp;'t fallen since the release, when asked about that in an addendum to my first email.CrunchBase InformationGawker MediaInformation provided by CrunchBaseTipTweet<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Smart grid in Europe is all about renewables]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=smart-grid-in-europe-is-all-about-renewables</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=smart-grid-in-europe-is-all-about-renewables</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=smart-grid-in-europe-is-all-about-renewables</guid>
<description><![CDATA[George Bernard Shaw once claimed that England and America were &amp;''two countries divided by a common language&amp;''. This adage may hold true even when the language is smart grid.The culture gap became clear at a recent smart -gridevent held by the IEEE, a global professional association for engineers, whichfocused on the European grid. In the U.S., the smart grid mostly means smart meters (the country is ahead of the rest of the world in metering) and features to improve the reliability of aging transmission and distribution infrastructures. The European grids don&amp;'t have any major reliability problems but they are rapidly integrating renewables, which poses a different set of smart-grid challenges.Ralf Christian, the CEO of Siemen&amp;'s power distributiondivision, told me that the US-centric view of smart grid is also not shared by the rest of the world. China, for example, has singlehydroelectricitysites which can produce power equivalent to 10 nuclear plants. Therefore the Chinese are very concerned with smart technologies for efficient, long-distance transmission of power to the cities.One of the reasons for Europe&amp;'s emphasis on renewables is the European Union&amp;'s 20-20-20 targets. By 2020, EU countries must cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 percent compared with 1990 levels, increase renewables by 20 percent and cut energy consumption by 20 percent. Renewables already have priority in the power mix, so utilities must use any available hydroelectric, wind or solar power available before ramping up power plants burning fossil fuels. Much of the EU and government grants related to energy have gone to technologies like offshore wind power and carbon capture rather than smart metering.To give an idea of the scaleof renewables already deployed in Europe, Ireland&amp;'s grid hit a wind penetration rate of almost 50 percent at one point this year, Germany has gone from almost zero to 25 gigawatts of solar generation in under 3 years on top of its 25 gigawatts of wind power(at minimum demand the entire German grid consumes 31 gigawatts) and Denmark has, at times, had negative electricity prices because the amount of wind power available exceeded demand.All this means that the technology priorities of European utilities are very different to those in the U.S.Traditionally, power was transported from a fossil-fuel burning power station via a high-voltage transmission network and then distributed to homes and businesses over a medium and low voltage distribution grid.Renewable energy is generated in multiple sites from utility-size wind farms to home solar panel installations.High volume renewable generation sites like large wind farms are connected to the high-voltage transmission grid. Smaller generation sites, including home solar generation, connect directly to the distribution grid. Electricity generation in parts Europe is starting to move from acentralizedto a distributed model more like that of the Internet. This places different demands and stresses on the grid.Renewable power sources are intermittent, unpredictable and produce asynchronous power (conventional power is synchronous). They cause voltage rises and grid elements age more quickly because of the thermal stresses caused by load fluctuations. Crucially, grid network operators must be able to counterbalance major dips in renewable generation with flexible conventional power or storage. If 30 percent of your power is generated by wind and solar, what do you do when there&amp;'s little sun and no windGrid operators with access to hydropower can store power by pushing water up behind dams and releasing it as required to generate electricity. Operators in flat countries like Denmark don&amp;'t have this luxury and have to come up with creative solutions like highly controllable conventional power plants which can be ramped up and down quickly, CHP (combined heat and power) installations which store power as heat, and even electric-vehicle batteries. Even home heat pumps could become &amp;''batteries&amp;'' for storing energy.Dong Energy in Denmark is starting a project with Better Place to test using EV batteries as a storage mechanism for its copious wind-power resources.Electric transportation is another big upcoming issue for the European grid. If electric vehiclesachieve 25 percent market share in a local area and they all charge overnight, this is enough to cause transformers to collapse (based on Germany&amp;'s grid layout). Since EVs are likely to occur in clusters, this is not too outlandish a figure. The solution is either to add expensive new transformers or develop smart charging programs to stagger charging. Smart charging requires a high level of communication with the customer and car. Flexible charging (and maybe discharging) must be set up on a particular schedule taking price and expected mileage into consideration. And obviously EVs are not very sustainable if the power is generated by a coal-burning power plant' another reason to ramp up renewables.The economics of energy is a crucial factor in the move to renewable energy. Electricity generators are currently paid based on the assumption that fuel is the main generation cost. This is obviously not true for renewables where the upfront capital costs are high but there is no fuel cost. Ralf Christian from Siemens also maintains that electricity policy in Europe has been driven by the goal of keeping electricity low-cost and since renewables will always be more expensive, this needs to change.Generators are also not paid for services like storage, contributions to maintaining voltage stability, dispatching down generation when necessary or other services. In the utility world, services like this which help maintain security and reliability of supply, are called ancillary services.Klaus Baggesen Hillger from Dong Energy, one of Europe&amp;'s biggest utilities, argued thatancilliary services including reserve are very real-time and markets which allow grid operators to trade them don&amp;'t exist right now.Neither are consumers compensated for services like storage or reducing demand at peak times.Finally, grid operators are looking for financial support from governments before they make big investments. I talked to Miguel A. Snchez Forni from the Spanish utility Iberdrola. He maintains that grid operators stillneed to be convinced that there will be a return on their smart grid investment. This requires large demonstration projects (tens of thousands of homes) of the type already been conducted in the U.S. with funds from the stimulus package. Such projects allow the operator to see what efficiencies are possible. The European commission has a plan for such large demonstration projects and is expected to invest 2 billion Euros in rolling them out.There may be afeel-goodfactor in going green but electricity grid operators are still motivated by another type of green &amp;8212' the type in their bottom lines.Next Story: Is Nathan Myhrvold&amp;'s Intellectual Ventures becoming a patent troll (poll) Previous Story: CardPool lets you cash in gift cards for Facebook CreditsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: China, Europe, renewables, Smart Grid, Solar, wind powerCompanies: dong energy, Iberdrola, IEEE, siemens          Tags: China, Europe, renewables, Smart Grid, Solar, wind powerCompanies: dong energy, Iberdrola, IEEE, siemensCiara Byrne is a full time techie and part-time writer. She has worked as a software developer, team lead, engineering manager and mobile standards expert. Ciara is based in Amsterdam and her interests include creative companies, useful technology, torture by piano and cycling in high heels. Follow her on Twitter at @deciara. VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Self-storage by mail - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=self-storage-by-mail---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=self-storage-by-mail---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Style &amp; Leisure</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=self-storage-by-mail---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Centralized storage in the a4Aclouda4 is becoming an increasingly ubiquitous option for consumers'' digital belongings, but tangible goods are still typically hauled off to expensive self-storage units when they can''t be accommodated at home. New Jersey-based StorageByMail is a company that aims to change that, however, with a service that lets clients send their possessions through the mail to the company''s central warehouse for flexible offsite storage.Similar in many ways to Garde Robe''s service for clothes and Dorm2Dorm''s solution for college students'' possessions, StorageByMail maintains a world-class storage facility that''s also used by brands including Bloomingdale''s and Tommy Hilfiger. Customers of the service begin by creating an account and an online description of any package of goods they''d like to send into storage. Next, they print a custom, prepaid USPS shipping label for each box they''d like to send' for users on the go, there''s even a mobile app to send a label to the nearest fax machine. Either way, those labels ensure safe passage for the goods through the U.S. Postal Service to StorageByMail''s warehouse. When the customer wants them back, he or she simply requests return delivery and the company will ship them out the next business day. Storage pricing ranges from USD 4.99 per month per cubic foot for a pay-as-you-go option to USD 249 per month for an annual plan including 100 boxes of any size and free return-trip shipping. For consumers with just a single box to store, there is no charge. A video on YouTube explains StorageByMail''s concept in further detail.We''ve already noted on many occasions the ownership-averse nature of today''s transumers, who don''t want to be tied down with possessions when they aren''t currently using them. Mobile consumers, however, are likely to find StorageByMail''s location-independent service equally compelling, as are space-strapped urban dwellers. One to partner with or emulate in your part of the world (Related: Personal data storage with emergency access a4&quot; Consolidated storage space for product warranties a4&quot; More ways for consumers to rent out unused space a4&quot; A virtual vault for information-age valuables a4&quot; Online receipt organizer thinks inside the box a4&quot; Key storage &amp; delivery service in Manhattan.)Website: www.storagebymail.comContact: membercare@storagebymail.com<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Amazon falls behind Chinese e-reader maker Hanvon to debut first color E Ink device]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-falls-behind-chinese-e-reader-maker-hanvon-to-debut-first-color-e-ink-device</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-falls-behind-chinese-e-reader-maker-hanvon-to-debut-first-color-e-ink-device</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-falls-behind-chinese-e-reader-maker-hanvon-to-debut-first-color-e-ink-device</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Hanvon,  Chinaa4a4s largest e-book manufacturer, will be debuting the first device  to use a color E Ink display on Tuesday, according to a report by the  New York Times.The  company will be demonstrating the color e-reader at the FPD  International 2010 trade show in Tokyo, which is dedicated to flat panel  display technology. In doing so, Hanvon will beat out Amazona4a4s popular  Kindle e-reader, which is still stuck with a black and white E Ink  display. Meanwhile, Barnes and Noble ended up relying on LCD technology  for its recently announced Nook Color.But  dona4a4t expect Hanvona4a4s color device to beat the iPad just yet. The New  York Times reports that the colors are muted, a4Aas if one were looking at  a faded color photograph.a4 And like all E Ink displays, it cana4a4t handle  full motion video since the screen refreshes at a slow rate. Still, it  will be able to offer killer battery life (e-reader battery life is  measured in weeks)  and full readability in sunlight &amp;8212' unlike LCD screens.Color E Ink displays have been talked about for years, but until now they haven&amp;'t made it to consumers. Hanvon&amp;'s color  display was achieved by laying a color filter over the standard  black-and-white E Ink panel, so it offers the same battery life as  existing e-readers. The color filter does reduce the screena4a4s brightness,  which will likely be a worthy compromise for many consumers.Both  Amazon and Sony are apparently waiting for color E Ink displays to  mature before they jump on the technology. a4ATherea4a4s no question that  color is extremely logical. But it has to be vibrant color. Wea4a4re not  willing to give up the true black-and-white reading experience,a4  Sony e-reader president Steve Haber said to the NYT.Hanvon  plans to release its first color E Ink reader &amp;8212' which features a  9.68-inch display &amp;8212' in China this March for around $440. The company  says it may bring the device to the US &amp;8212' it already sells its products  through the web and Frya4a4s Electronics stores.At  this point, Amazon must be feeling the pressure. The companya4a4s $139  third-generation Kindle has been selling like crazy, but now that ita4a4s  facing color competition from China, it will likely need to step up its color  plans for the Kindle.Next Story: Attention, flight-search startups: Priceline, Expedia say hotels are where it&amp;'s at Previous Story: Facebook PR director departs for the startup worldPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: E Ink, ebooks, ereaders, kindle, NookCompanies: Amazon.com, Barnes &amp;amp' Noble, E Ink Holdings, Hanvon, SonyPeople: Steve Haber          Tags: E Ink, ebooks, ereaders, kindle, NookCompanies: Amazon.com, Barnes &amp;amp' Noble, E Ink Holdings, Hanvon, SonyPeople: Steve HaberDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[If Amazon Wona4a4t Cross The Line,&nbsp'SomeoneElseWill]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-amazon-wonrsquot-cross-the-linenbspsomeone else will</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-amazon-wonrsquot-cross-the-linenbspsomeone else will</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-amazon-wonrsquot-cross-the-linenbspsomeone else will</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This morning&amp;'s discovery of a mind-bogglingly offensive title in Amazon&amp;'s self-publishing e-book platform has drawn a variety of responses. There are a number of issues in play here, from first-amendment rights to a &amp;''curated&amp;'' web. And although Amazon has issued a statement apparently taking a hard-line stance against censorship, the book is almost certainly in violation of their Digital Text Platform guidelines, which makes their defense of this title seem a bit arbitrary.The guidelines state that offensive material (which they define as &amp;''about what you would expect&amp;'') will be rejected or removed, yet they stated today that &amp;''it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable.&amp;'' They can&amp;'t have it both ways, and it&amp;'s dangerous for such a sensitive question to remain unanswered when the company shapes digital publishing to so significant an extent. So what&amp;'s it going to beBoth sides have a legitimate defense. Amazon is not the government, they are a corporation, and it is their prerogative whether or not to publish something. They are not in a position to censor, they are in a position to choose whether or not to provide a service. That&amp;'s a different thing altogether. And it&amp;'s actually, if you look at their content guidelines, their present policy. That&amp;'s why the decision not to remove this book is so surprising.On the other hand, while it isn&amp;'t easy to defend pedophilia, it isn&amp;'t really necessary. Free speech is protected in this country, with very few exceptions, and even those are difficult to prove. Usually they have to do with a clear and present danger, something which this book, awful as it is, does not present. If it is Amazon&amp;'s position that they will make available anything that is not demonstrably illegal, then they are only assailable on grounds of what constitutes good taste.That&amp;'s a hell of a position to take, but the fact is someone is going to take it whether Amazon does or not. While the comparison is in some ways a poor one, it is a natural one, so I may as well say that the &amp;''curated&amp;'' App Store versus the &amp;''open&amp;'' Android Market constitutes a similar fundamental antagonism. That kind of divide is only going to grow, and because both sides get to claim the high ground, there&amp;'s good reason for both to exist. The same will happen with the book market, and (to some extent) the rest of the internet. This is just an advance skirmish brought about by a particularly repulsive book on a particularly influential platform. What Amazon does with a hot potato like this will draw a line in the sand. And like most lines in the sand, people tend to get on one side or the other of them.Let&amp;'s say Amazon recants and pulls the book. While many will congratulate them for a showing of prudence and good taste, the other booksellers, which are hovering above this debacle like buzzards, will settle in and feast. &amp;''Can you trust Amazon&amp;'' &amp;''Every book in our store is hand-approved.&amp;'' The taglines write themselves.They also leave themselves vulnerable to criticism from some ambitious e-book market, who says &amp;''So first they pull 1984 from your Kindle. Next they make some rules, then let in a book against those rules. Then they say those rules don&amp;'t apply. Then they apply them, but only after public outcry. Is that integrity We may not agree with what you write, but we will defend to bankruptcy your right to publish it.&amp;'' Or something to that effect. It may not be pretty, but the fact is it is a stand some people are very passionate about taking. Even if their store ended up being nothing but rape manuals and racist screeds, all they need to do is point to the first amendment and say that theirs is a legal and needful operation. And it&amp;'s not a long walk from there to Wikileaks.If they choose not to pull the book, they must clarify their position in all this, and that is not going to be easy after this opening act. Is Amazon bold enough to be the bookseller I describe above I somehow doubt that&amp;'s a position that will please shareholders.Wherever Amazon chooses to stand after this incident, someone will define themselves by its shadow. The only appropriate action they could have taken would have been to immediately pull the book on being notified of its existence, and take the position that it slipped through the cracks and they&amp;'ll be hiring more people to oversee content control. These things do happen, though I&amp;'d be suspicious of any content control process with cracks big enough to let such a blatant red flag such as &amp;''The Pedophilea4a4s Guide to Love and Pleasure&amp;'' through them.We expect to hear from Amazon soon on whether they truly have subscribed to either free speech and good taste, two principles which in this case appear to be incompossible. Who knows but this might have been a watershed moment for the e-book market I doubt this one will just get swept under the rug.On a related note, while we certainly encourage you to make your opinion (positive or negative) known to Amazon, as they must square themselves with the repercussions of their actions either way, please try to remember that if you buy the book as a means of protest against censorship, you are giving money to the author of this monstrosity.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Even Merton Hasn&'t Been On Chatroulette In&nbsp'Months]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=even-merton-hasnrsquot-been-on-chatroulette-innbspmonths</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=even-merton-hasnrsquot-been-on-chatroulette-innbspmonths</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=even-merton-hasnrsquot-been-on-chatroulette-innbspmonths</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Internet phenomenon Merton, who forged his career playing piano for strangers on Charoulette,a4stook the stage at the NewTeeVee conference today to talk about the profound effect of online video on his life.Along with revealing that he is now committed to his infamous hoodie and glasses disguise because Internet fame has turned him into a public figure, Merton lamented the decline of the service and its potential for musicians, &amp;''I&amp;'m very surprised Chatroulette never caught on for other artists.&amp;''Merton talked briefly about how he&amp;'s trying to evolve beyond the Chatroulette platform and emphasized that he&amp;'s had quite a few sponsorship offers, mainly from people who want him to play music next to &amp;''stuff he doesn&amp;'t eat.&amp;''When asked at the end of the interview when the last time he visited Chatroulette was, Merton gave the bittersweet response, &amp;''Months and months ago.&amp;''CrunchBase InformationChatroulette!Information provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

</channel>
</rss>
