The executive summary of the National Broadband Plan is out today, and in addition to the stuff we’ve already covered, we finally know how the FCC plans to treat the issue most responsible for the current state of broadband in the U.S. — the lack of competition. The FCC has proposed collecting more data, which is good, but what matters is how it uses that data, which isn’t outlined in the plan. If the FCC uses the data it hopes to collect as a means to rule and impose conditions on mergers, as well as enforce certain polices around special access reform or sharing fiber, then that’s going to have an impact.

Despite outdated maps showing that most areas are hotbeds of competition, the FCC has no real data on which Internet service providers serve individual homes, what those ISPs charge and what speeds they deliver. We’ve discussed the fallacies of spending $7.2 billion in government money toward better broadband without such data, and have called for such data for years. But now that the FCC plans to get it, what else will they do to enforce competition?

One element is a broadband certification program — or a so-called “Schumer box” for broadband — that gives a defined format for broadband that shows customers what they should be getting for their dollar. So instead of paying $45 a month for speeds advertised as up to 7 Mbps, but which really average out at 3 Mbps, the FCC would require that I get a more accurate assessment of the service, based on reality. Other elements include:

• Special access reform: the FCC pledges to undertake a review of wholesale competition rules to see if those providing middle mile broadband are being charged competitive rates. It’s clear that in rural areas some are paying ten to a hundred times more for middle mile access.
• Deliver more unlicensed spectrum, which could be great, but it depends on what spectrum is freed up and would still require investment from tech companies for devices and network infrastructure.
• Update rules for using microwave for wireless backhaul to boost capacity in urban areas and range in rural areas.
• Figure out how to get wireless broadband providers to improve mobile broadband coverage everywhere, not just in cities. This might involve intercarrier compensation reform.
• Change the rules around set-top-boxes to open them up.
• “Clarify” a Congressional mandate that allows municipalities to provide broadband in their communities. I’m not sure how this would affect existing state and local laws that prevent municipalities from building fiber networks, but depending on the “clarification,” it might help cities avoid costly legal fights over building fiber networks.
• Make a statement on consumer privacy when it comes to users’ online profiles. The FCC said it will “clarify the relationship between users and their online profiles to enable continued innovation and competition in applications and to ensure consumer privacy, including the obligations of firms collecting personal information to allow consumers to know what information is being collected, consent to such collection, correct it if necessary, and control disclosure of such personal information to third parties.” I’m not sure how far the FCC can go when it comes to ensuring disclosure about my online information, but my hunch is it relates more to schemes where ISPs try to track consumer’s web surfing to sell info to advertisers than to prevent involuntary disclosure of private information through services like Google Buzz.

Taken together, better information about broadband speeds and pricing, special access reform, making it easier to build out municipal fiber, and open set-top boxes will likely have the greatest impact on consumers, while the ability to get better data on services could have the most far-reaching effect if the FCC decides to use that information to promote competition. For more details, we’ll have to wait for and read the several hundred pages of the complete plan coming out tomorrow.

It was 25 years ago today when the first dot-com was registered — Cambridge, Masssa.-based Symbolics computers. Over the years, dot-coms became symbolic of both the Internet bubble and bust; now they’re simply part of our everyday lives. More than 650,000 dot-com domains are registered every month; current estimates put the total number at over 71 million.

I remember signing up for my first domain in 1994, a whole nine years after the first dot-com domain was registered. It was quite an antiquated process — it took a whole lot of faxing to get it done. (I’m sure many of today’s young entrepreneurs have no idea what I’m talking about.) Even back then I had a tough time picking up my most wanted domain: Om.com.

Related on GigaOM Pro: Did we really learn anything from the dot-com crash.

Recent data from mobile analytics firm Flurry shows iPhone OS developer activity has increased by 185% since Apple announced their upcoming slate computing device known as the iPad earlier this year. By measuring new application starts within the Flurry community, the firm was able to determine significant increases in developer activity, including the largest spike ever in their recorded history during the month of January after the announcement occurred. The growth continued in February and now the company reports that a large proportion of the new applications they are seeing are custom version of existing applications tailored specifically for use on the iPad.

Sponsor

When Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPad on Friday, March 12th, the Apple.com website was updated with new information about the device. One of the most significant reveals was that iPad applications would soon have their own dedicated section within the iTunes App Store. The website text reads:

Browse a section of the store that features apps designed specifically for iPad. You'll find hundreds that make the most of its large display, responsive performance, and Multi-Touch interface.

Although current iPhone applications will work on the new Apple device without modifications, developers who want to take advantage of the larger screen could use the updated iPhone SDK (software development kit) to modify their apps in order to release custom iPad-only versions. Now it appears that those who chose to do so will be rewarded for their efforts by having their apps made more visible via this new section of the iTunes Store. Considering that the number of  iPhone apps now in existence is somewhere near 140,000, being able to achieve this increased visibility will allow developers "the opportunity to establish an early presence on this new device and drive more downloads," says Flurry.

Last week, we took a look at some of the iPad applications we're looking forward to, including things like comic books, magazines and games, but there's clearly a lot of others we haven't even anticipated yet. We're only days away from knowing what those will be: Apple's iPad will be available for sale starting April 3rd, and along with its launch, the new iPad App Store will go live as well.

Apparently March is a month in which Gabrielle Bell bewitches the minds of writers, as my post today, a spotlight on Gabrielle Bell, is following up Brian's "A Year Of Cool Comics - Day 73" post of just yesterday.  I considered pulling my post (and asked Brian if he'd prefer it) but he said I should go ahead and jump on the bandwagon...so here you go...more Gabrielle Bell! I'll try my best to talk about different stuff than Brian, though his post about her was insightful and smart, so it'll be hard to avoid copying him.

Yesterday Brian said in his post:

"As I've said in the past, what I love most about Gabrielle Bell's artwork is that she is an autobiographical artist whose work cuts to the core of the story rather than the surface - what i mean is, her style depicts the FEELING of a particular scene, rather than some photo-realistic view of what it it "should" look like."

And this really cuts to the core of what works to me about Bell's comics, because while Bell does not feel like a writer more than an artist, or vice versa, there is the feeling that her images are wholly there to service her storytelling.  She doesn't seem interested in the crazy bells and whistles that sometimes come with comic art - especially independent comics which often includes wild experimentation with the form, instead Bell seems mostly interested in storytelling.  And there's something I really love about that.

There is some mild nudity below the cut, so read with caution.

Bell's work personally hits great notes for me as she writes a lot of stories that skate the autobiographical /memoir line nicely (Lucky is almost entirely semi-autobiographical) and her life (though wildly different in some ways) has many things that I can relate to - such as living in New York City and the trials of looking for a non-ridiculous apartment in this city.  Apartment hunting is a hilarious ongoing theme in Lucky, as Bell and her boyfriend and other friends are constantly looking for something workable and yet affordable in New York - no small feat I can assure you.  And she manages to tie her ongoing searches together nicely with what the apartments end up meaning to her, and how they exacerbate her current situation.  It generally ends up feeling much deeper than mere apartment hunting for apartment hunting's sake.   Check it out:

Bell also has several great stories both in Lucky (which won an Ignatz Award for Most Outstanding Mini Comic in 2004 before it was collected by Drawn & Quarterly) and in her latest collected work, Cecil And Jordan in New York Stories, that are about art, art school, being an artist, trying to be an artist, and even modeling for art classes.   Like New York and apartment hunting, all things I can also relate to - well, not the modeling for art students - though if Bell's take is any indication, I wish I could relate, if only so I'd have hilarious and poignant feelings about it:

For years of reading Bell's work I used to think it was because she and I had some basic things in common that I so enjoyed her stories, but on examination, I don't think that's it at all.  Rather I think Bell has struck a very delicate and difficult to maintain balance for most artists doing autobio work - a balance that is about being both unflinchingly honest and still having a sense of humor.  A work that talks about serious day to day things, but never takes itself so seriously that you get lost in a pointless narcissistic narrative.  It's not easy to do and there are thousands of really bad autobio books, mini comics, and webcomics out there that haven't found the right balance.  But without fail Bell seems to nail that sweet spot for me.

Some of Bell's work, like the following excerpt from her story, Cecil and Jordan, from her collection, Cecil And Jordan In New York Stories, starts off with a very autobio feel, but by page three evolves into a much more fantastical tale, one that though based in fantasy (a girl becomes a chair!) is really a heartfelt story about feeling invisible and useless.

I think that Bell's artwork, mostly black and white with very simple almost utilitarian linework, is a stumbling block for a lot of people that might otherwise really enjoy her humorous take on day in the life stories and creative fantasy yarns.  But I urge anyone that is put off by the style, to give it a try anyway, the same way I would encourage anyone that watches only blockbuster Hollywood films with lots of special effects, to try out some low budget independent films or off-beat foreign films.  There's a reason we've got so much variety out there, and you'd be surprised what you might respond to if you just look past what you are used to seeing, and what you expect to see and give something new a try.  Bell's stories are regularly heartfelt and funny, with not so buried messages about the choices you make and don't make in life and the struggle to make something of yourself.  Bell isn't afraid to poke fun at herself or to look brutally at her relationships and decisions and that honesty is easily felt in her pages for anyone that dives in.  Brian compared Bell's work to Lewis Trondheim and I would agree, though I would say she's more part Lewis Trondheim, part Jeffrey Brown with her own crazy whimsy and female perspective of course.

In addition to Bell's more autobiographical and fantastical tales, she also has a few interesting adaptations, including one of my favorite stories, One Afternoon, from her Cecil And Jordan collection, which is loosely based on a Kate Chopin story.  It's not a good story to post unfortunately because I'd have to post the whole thing (which I doubt Bell would appreciate) in order for it to be fully understood, but it's a brutal tale about a woman's brief taste of freedom, at a very high price.  It's insightful and honest to a fault - suggesting feelings and emotions on the part of the main character that few stories would dare to admit to, or authors would even admit to conceiving of.  Bell's early collection When I'm Old And Other Stories, which in general leans much more towards fantasy and fiction, even has a loose adaptation of Roman Polanski's 1965 film Repulsion starring Catherine Deneuve.  Recently Bell's original work has been adapted as well - her story Cecil and Jordan was tackled in 2008 by Michael Gondry as a short called "Interior Design" in the film Tokyo!

Though Bell has three collected works available:  When I'm Old And Other Stories (Alternative Comics), Lucky (Drawn & Quarterly), and Cecil And Jordan In New York Stories (Drawn & Quarterly); there is also a book from Drawn & Quarterly called Kuruma Tohrimasu (Petits Livres) by filmmaker Michael Gondry and Bell that was supposedly conceived as a thank you gift to the cast and crew of Tokyo!. The book is mostly an art book collection of drawings and photos from the shoot.  In addition to her collected works Bell's short stories have been well published in respected anthologies, most notably Fantagraphics's MOME, Best American Comics 2007 and 2009, Kramer's Ergot, Drawn & Quarterly Showcase Book Four, The Comics Journal, and Scheherazade.

Currently Bell is at work on Vol. 2 of Lucky, which as been published by Drawn & Quarterly so far as Vol. 2 #1 and Vol 2. #2, and I hope it will be given the D&Q hardcover treatment in the future.

Bell has a semi- autobiographical "clog" (comic web log) also called Lucky, which you can find here, along with original art work for sale and all sorts of other great stuff.

Bell has been featured in MOME #1, 2 (which includes an interview with Bell), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9, which you can buy here.

• At March 15, 2010, Michael wrote:

  Woohoo! Boobies!

  Seriously, though, good piece. I haven't delved into Bell's work, but what I see here makes me want to. ...

The Texas Board of Education has long promoted the teaching of creationism in schools instead of actual science. It’s former chairman and current member Don McLeroy uttered this immortal line when confronted with numerous actual scientists urging that evolution be discussed accurately in the curriculum: “I disagree with these experts. Somebody’s gotta stand up to experts that are just…I think, I don’t know why they’re doing it, they’re wonderful people.”

This stuff is important nationwide. Because Texas buys so many textbooks. So textbook publishers tailor their products so that they’ll be marketable in Texas. And many places around the country get stuck with the same books.

While we know that Nintendo will definitely roll out a spiritual sequel to the Nintendo DS platform, we still don't know what the official name would be, so Nintendo DS 2 would have to do for the moment. Needless to say, an updated version ought to feature larger displays compared to the current DSi and DS XL, where you can use these displays as separate ones or one huge one. Of course, the resolution count would be improved as well, alongside the introduction of an accelerometer to help it keep up with the iPhone in terms of portable gaming. Perhaps E3 this year would be the platform where the DS 2 would be announced?

Permalink: More Nintendo DS 2 rumors from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!

Gina Bianchini, the well-known co-founder and CEO of Ning, is stepping down from her role as chief executive after more than five years at the helm. She will be replaced by Jason Rosenthal, the current COO of the company.

While Ning may not be a household name on the level of Facebook or Twitter, it’s very likely you’re a member of one of the millions of social networks created by users of the Ning platform. Ning has grown to more than 20 million visitors, according to comScore.

The announcement was made by Ning Co-Founder Marc Andreessen. You might remember him as the co-founder of Netscape, the web browser that was integral to the rise of the world wide web. He will remain as chairman of Ning.

According to Boomtown, Gina Bianchini will be moving to Mr. Andreessen’s new venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, as an executive in residence (EIR).

Tags: Gina Bianchini, marc andreessen, Nina

Gallery: APB

Continue reading GDC Impressions: APB

GDC Impressions: APB originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: APB

Continue reading GDC Impressions: APB

GDC Impressions: APB originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cedric Dugas feels so passionate about fixed positioning in WebKit that he created A Better Mobile Web to talk about it:

The Problem

It is impossible to have an element fixed in CSS on the page in the mobile Webkit browser. When you are surfing the web on your phone, webkit opens the page completely and acts as a viewport.

“Imagine a book in front of you. Take a piece of paper, cut a 320*416 square in it, and lay it over the book. To read the book, move the paper around and position the hole over the words you want to see.” -Richard Herrera

Why it is important

To create better mobile applications and websites, we need fixed positionning to give the user better tools to browse the web on handled devices. Like a real mobile app, we could have a fixed toolbar when scrolling on a site, it is critical to not take the user in hostage in very long list or on long content pages. This is something we can’t really emulate in javascript as mobile devices are not really powerful.

The solution

The Webkit team could give us a proprietary CSS property that would overwrite the viewport behavior, and this is the proposition here. Give us a CSS property like position: -webkit-viewport-fixed that we can apply on a div so it can be fixed to the viewport.

That is one feature request, but surely there we can add to that? The broad domain of “abettermobileweb.com” deserves more!

What would you like to see for mobile specifically that isn’t covered in the current Web and device API standard work?

NVIDIA's 3DTV Play finally solves the HDMI 1.4 gap for 3D Vision originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After five-and-a-half years as the chief executive of Ning, the Palo Alto-based social network platform provider, Gina Bianchini has decided to step down from her position and is being replaced by current chief operating officer and former Netscape & Opsware executive Jason Rosenthal. Bianchini is becoming an executive in residence (EIR) at Marc Andreessen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz.

“Nothing else is changing — I remain Chairman, the current management team remains exactly the same, and the Ning service continues unchanged,” says Andreessen, chairman and co-founder of Ning. Ning says it has 2.3 million user-created Ning Networks and more than 45 million registered users and adding million new registered users every 12 days and and 5000 Ning-powered networks every day. The company has raised more than $110 million in funding and is valued at over $500 million.

Reuters – “U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours. Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the current average is one of the myriad goals to be unveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday. The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly turn to the Internet to communicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and music.”

Hi Markus,

What TeamCity version do you use?

The URL path should be "/admin/issuetracker/editIssueProvider.html", but I can't figure out how it could've changed.

Could you attach the current sources of your plugin?

---

Maxim

Continue reading Lip reading mobiles are wunderbar, still at the prototype stage (video)

Lip reading mobiles are wunderbar, still at the prototype stage (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

By Carmi Levy, Betanews

I risk being tagged a curmudgeon, but I'll say it anyway: 3D television isn't ready for prime time. It isn't ready for your living room, either (or any living room, frankly).

Headlines claiming 3D TV to be the greatest thing since the creation of 2D TV, are sadly more than a little hyperbolic, and I wish the industry would ease back on the PR push to get us to replace our still-new LCD and plasma televisions with 3D versions.

I know this comes as a bit of a disappointment for vendors like Samsung and Panasonic, which last week started selling 3D TVs through US retailers. But anyone who ponies up a triple-digit price premium for the right to wear goofy, overpriced glasses to watch content that doesn't exist yet and can't be broadcast over conventional distribution channels is, to put it gently, gullible.

Someday isn't here yet

Samsung, Panasonic, and other television vendors have been working themselves into a tizzy over 3D TV ever since this year's Consumer Electronics Show, where 3D TV was the darling. Unfortunately, they're all in for a very hard lesson. Despite the headlines, breathless press releases, and similarly breathless product reviews, 3D TV has no immediate future in the living room. That may very well change, someday, but it'll take a whole lot of evolution -- in technology, content and marketing -- before 3D makes the mainstream leap from movie theaters to living rooms. Here's why:

• No content. While a growing percentage of top-grossing movies over the past couple of years have been 3D, the vast majority of movies and virtually all televised content remain conventional 2D. While Avatar has used breakthrough 3D cinematography to become the most successful movie of all time, it's an exception to the rule. How many other movies really need the full-on 3D treatment?
• No distribution. If you want to watch a 3D movie, you're buying or renting a 3D Blu-ray disc. Current-generation cable or satellite-based distribution simply can't support the bandwidth required by a 3D broadcast. Will this change someday? Certainly, and for DirecTV customers, who may have access to a grand total of three 3D channels by June, soon. But for the rest of us, the best you can hope for is a half-resolution 3D signal from your television provider. And don't be surprised if you're charged a premium even for that half-baked "solution." Either way, if you do the math, your fancy new screen will be yesterday's news by the time the majority of distributors get with the 3D program...assuming they ever do.
• No affordability. Every new technology carries a significant premium, and 3D screens are no different. Samsung's $2,899 package for a 46-inch screen, two sets of glasses, and a Blu-ray player seems rich in a world awash with sub-$1,000 sets. Want more glasses? They're $250 a pop, a figure which will be inscribed into your brain the moment you discover your five-year-old has left them on the living room floor just as the dog sniffed around for something new to chew. Economies of scale will, as they always eventually do, bring prices down. But do you really want to wear special glasses every time you watch television? As technology advances and potentially (or hopefully) makes glasses unnecessary, will your expensive new acquisition even be compatible? Don't count on it.
• No relevance. 3D has been around in one form or another for decades. It's had more just-about-finally-almost-here moments than any technology deserves to have. Despite the fact that it's finally moving past its cheesy/campy movie past and becoming an accepted cinematographic tool, television is an entirely different ballgame. We don't watch TV like we watch movies. The typical TV viewing session isn't an event. Watching the local news, Stephen Colbert, or the mercifully last few episodes of Lost will never qualify as events, either. And I don't want to see my local weather dude in 3D any more than I want to feel as if I can touch Mr. Colbert as he faux-grills his guests. Although 3D adds some value to some admittedly limited forms of entertainment (such as movies), it adds patently none to the vast majority of today's televised content.

I understand the full-court press to move us all into 3D TV. Manufacturers are hurting. After spending most of the decade coaxing us out of our now all-but-gone CRT-based televisions and into bigger, flashier and, yes, more expensive LCD and plasma flat panels, they sat quietly by as we hunkered down though the recession. Now they want -- nay, need -- for us to have an entirely new reason to buy new stuff. There's always got to be a reason to drive the consumer need to replace things before their time. And if this year's reason doesn't take off, watch for next year's CES to carry an entirely different theme.

When my Betanews colleague Tim Conneally called it kids-stuff in an article last week, he was uncomfortably (for vendors) close to the truth. For all the novelty value of watching a 3D movie on a properly equipped home theatre, the realities of content and economics mean it'll be a long time before any of this is as routinely workable as regular old 2D HDTV is today.

Dreams don't always come true

In the ideal world, vendors announcing products based on radically new technologies would be greeted by thunderous applause and near-universal approval from rapturous consumers eager to spend whatever it takes to remain current. In the real world, however, announcements are rarely met with such unmitigated adulation. Buyers who have seen and heard it all before are growing tired of overly optimistic vendor claims, and are rightfully challenging them. In many cases, they're simply ignoring them outright.

That seems to be happening in my immediate circle of friends and colleagues, where no one has any plans to replace their current equipment with 3D anytime soon. Their universal conclusion -- which I share -- is it's too early, and too many additional pieces have to come into play before it becomes a reasonable and reasonably affordable choice for consumers. As hard as vendors have decided to push their 3D wares in 2010, they're dreaming in three-dimensional Technicolor if they think this is the year the mass television market moves beyond two dimensions.

Carmi Levy is a Canadian-based independent technology analyst and journalist still trying to live down his past life leading help desks and managing projects for large financial services organizations. He comments extensively in a wide range of media, and works closely with clients to help them leverage technology and social media tools and processes to drive their business.

Despite many rulings which have declared file-sharing sites legal if they don’t profit directly from copyright infringements, in recent years its become something of a custom in Spain for music rights groups to attempt to close down sites in advance of a full hearing to assess their legality.

One such case involves eDonkey link site elrincondejesus.com and although fairly low profile worldwide, the site will now start to set headlines.

Back in May last year, site and bar owner Jesus Guerra received a complaint from music group SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores) which alleged the site abused the copyrights of its members.

In a June court appearance, SGAE hoped to get an early injunction to shut Elrincondejesus immediately in advance of a full hearing which would happen at a later date. Guerra protested that his site is legal, carries no advertising and simply provides links like any other search engine.

Judge Raul N. García Orejudo threw out the request for an immediate closure of the site in July, declaring: “P2P networks, as a mere transmission of data between Internet users, do not violate, in principle, any right protected by Intellectual Property Law.”

Now the full case has been heard and the outcome is nothing short of a disaster for SGAE.

In order to assess if there had been a breach of Spain’s Intellectual Property Act, the court had to decide if simply providing links to copyrighted works was the same as making those works available to the public. Judge Raul N. García Orejudo decided that offering an index of links and/or linking to copyright material is not the same as distribution and noted that under current law there is nothing which prohibits such sites from operating.

In making his decision the judge also looked at the finances of the site. He said the site was not a business since the operator of Elrincondejesus made no direct or indirect profits from its operation. Apparently on a roll after confirming non-profit file-sharing sites are legal, he gave users of those sites a nice surprise too.

“P2P networks are mere conduits for the transmission of data between Internet users, and on this basis they do not infringe rights protected by Intellectual Property laws,” he declared. Therefore, if an individual uses P2P networks like eDonkey or BitTorrent to obtain copyright material for non-profit reasons, the act is completely legal.

The outcome of this case is such bad news for SGAE it’s expected they will appeal the decision. Or get the law changed. Or both.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Although our perception of the world seems effortless and instantaneous, it actually involves considerable image processing, as we have noted in many of our previous columns. Curiously enough, much of the current scientific understanding of that process is based on the study of visual illusions.

Analysis and resolution of an image into distinct features begin at the earliest stages of visual processing. This was discovered in cats and monkeys by a number of techniques, the most straightforward of which was to use tiny needles--microelectrodes--to pick up electrical signals from cells in the retina and the areas of the brain associated with vision (of which there are nearly 30). By presenting various visual targets to monitored animals, investigators learned that cells in early-processing brain areas are each sensitive mainly to changes in just one visual parameter, not to others. For instance, in the primary visual cortex (V1, also called area 17), the main feature extracted is the orientation of edges. In the area known as V4 in the temporal lobes, cells react to color (or, strictly speaking, to wavelengths of light, with different cells responding to different wavelengths). Cells in the area called MT are mainly interested in direction of movement.

The moment we read new Googler Tim Bray's screed about the evils of Apple's iPhone and his desire to obliterate it, our first thought was "When is Google going to muzzle him?"

Heretofore, Google has been, if not Apple-like in its control over public communications, at least tight.  And this is by far the most aggressive and direct attack on a competitor by a current Googler we have ever read.

Read the rest of this story »

See Also:

• New Google Employee Says He Wants To Kill The iPhone

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Hatchback, Mini

Gallery: MINI Roadster Concept

Mini's future is smaller engines, DCT, and challenging the Mazda Miata? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Samsung wants to make an even bigger splash in the US market to cement their position as the top cellphone provider Stateside, rolling out a couple of handsets in the form of the Samsung Sunburst and the Samsung Strive. The former will be a full touchscreen display that is accompanied by a wide range of customizable widgets, while the Samsung Strive is a stylish vertical slider that has a full QWERTY keyboard. Expect to see both devices hit the market via AT&T online as well as in brick-and-mortar stores from March 21st onwards. More details on both handsets will be revealed right after the jump.

Samsung Sunburst
The Samsung Sunburst comes with a 3.0” full touchscreen display to keep you connected to family and friends in style. It boasts a sleek, futuristic black and chrome design, where the Sunburst’s resistive touchscreen relies on widgets to provide users with one-touch access to their favorite features, applications and social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace. Apart from that, you get advanced messaging features including text and instant messaging and Mobile E-mail, offering you with options to stay connected at all times. Also, you will find the following key features – a virtual full keyboard for easy typing, a full browser experience with Single Zoom, Smart Unlock for easy access to applications, a 2-megapixel camera with camcorder capability, SMS and MMS messaging, Mobile E-mail, support for AT&T SocialNet, AT&T Mobile Music and AT&T Navigator and Bluetooth connectivity.

Samsung Strive
As for the Samsung Strive, this vertical slider will feature the styling cues of the Samsung Propel range of messaging devices, where you will be able to choose from a couple of color options – black/silver and purple/charcoal. The inclusion of a full, slide-out QWERTY keyboard makes it a snap to send text messages as well as e-mail in a flurry, while you can also access group messaging with conversations, taking advantage of threaded text messages with video, pictures and the ability to view multiple conversations simultaneously. The Strive is the first device of its kind from AT&T which will offer a trio of new mobile services – a new group messaging service, AT&T Mobile Share and AT&T Address Book.

The Samsung Sunburst is pretty cheap at $39.99 with a two-year agreement and mail-in-rebate, while the Samsung Strive is even cheaper at $19.99 for a limited time, since it falls under AT&T’s current 50%-off quick messaging phones promotion. Any takers?

Press Release
Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ Samsung rolls out a couple more handsets copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

The concept is this - I tell you things that I'd have done in certain comics!!

But don't worry, I'm not talking about simple 20/20 hindsight things like pick a famous bad storyline and just say, "I wouldn't have done that."

No, I mean more like tweaks and nudges, stuff like that.

You can check out past years' I'ds to see what I'm talking about, or just read on (I've decided to consolidate them all into one big post this year to better center the discussion)!

I'd Have Silver Surfer Be Out on His Own Again

To put it simply, if Jack Kirby and Stan Lee think a character set-up is a good one, it's probably worth following their general lead.

They thought it was a great idea to have Silver Surfer be spurned by his former master, Galactus, and travel the world experiencing new things every day. You can expand that from the Earth to the universe and still get the same basic feel of their plans for the character, but making him go back to being Galactus' herald?

I don't think it works - he's too interesting of a character to have him stuck as Galactus' herald again.

Free the Surfer!

I'd Have Kept a Certain Character Killed in Cry For Justice Alive.

Spoilers for Cry For Justice!!!!

Okay, like Cry for Justice or hate it, the death of Lian Harper is pretty necessary to the plot of Cry for Justice. It doesn't mean that it was well-told or a GOOD plot or anything like that, but Green Arrow's granddaughter pretty much HAD to die (or someone of equivalent importance to him, like Speedy or Dinah or Hal) to get the reaction from Green Arrow that James Robinson wanted in the series. So I don't think it is fair for me (or anyone else) to say "I'd have kept Lian Harper alive," because that's not a tweak or a nudge - it would drastically change the story.

However, having one of the very few gay superheroes (and one of the coolest ones, at that) killed off IN A FLASHBACK did not seem to be a particularly important plot point, and the same gag (showing the big bad guy using the hero's hide as a rug) could have been achieved through any number of truly unremarkable characters (or even a new character), so I'd have kept Tasmanian Devil alive.

I'd Make the Red Hulk be Thunderbolt Ross

I know that Ross was sort of the "obvious" choice for the alter-ego of the Red Hulk, but just because it's the obvious choice doesn't mean that it is a BAD choice!

Having Ross turn into the very thing that he's been trying to chase down for years, and then finding out that he LIKED it?

That's a great twist on the old Ross/Banner dynamic, particularly for a character like Ross who wasn't exactly getting a lot of screen time anyways.

I find it hard to believe that the Red Hulk's actual identity will be cooler than Ross (maybe somehow it IS Ross! But it's most likely going to be Clay Quartermain).

I'd Have the Lead of Haunt Have a Different Job When the Series Began.

The main character of Haunt (about a guy who merges with the ghost of his dead brother to form a super powered being) was a priest when the series began. For, like, no reason that I can see so far (and he no longer IS a priest anymore). It's a distracting plot point in that it really doesn't seem to have a purpose, we never really get to see any sort of guilt (or hell, even any real response from other characters) over his role as a priest mixing with his several vices of his, and now he's no longer a priest - so what was the point? It was basically worth one fairly cheap gag in #1 (look, he went to a hooker but he's a priest!!) then never really used again - I'd have just dropped that aspect of the character period.

I'd Bring the X-Men Down to a Consistent, Moderately-sized Team.

I really think that, while the whole "Every mutant in the same area" concept is an interesting one in general, when it comes to a regular title it is better to have a consistent main cast of characters. There were a lot of characters in Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, but he had a main cast, and it was relatively small.

Joss Whedon continued in this vein, and Warren Ellis after him.

But I think based on a good idea (at the time) of "Why shouldn't Uncanny X-Men get to use cool characters like Cyclops and Emma Frost TOO?," we got this gigantic cast of X-Men, and I think the book works best with a small, consistent, moderately-sized team.

It can even use the same characters who are in Astonishing if you'd like to keep using Cyclops and Emma Frost and Wolverine, just get a regular team!

I'd Have Brian K. Vaughan Write Another Comic!

Come on, Brian, we're dying here! You're too awesome not to write any new comics!

I'd Make the Masters of Evil a Major Avengers Foe Again

So it's been, what, twenty years since the Avengers fought the Masters of Evil in the pages of the Avengers?

Doesn't that just sound WRONG to you? They used to fight the Masters of Evil a lot! Like, a dozen times in the first twenty years of the Avengers, but just the one time in the twenty years since, and that time wasn't even in their own title, but rather in the early issues of the Thunderbolts when the Masters were passing themselves off as heroes.

I guess The Hood's league of super-villains is BASICALLY the Masters of Evil, but I'd prefer the "real" thing.

I'd Have Kept One Couple Apart at the End of Y the Last Man

Spoilers for the end of Y the Last Man!

I really didn't like that Hero and Beth got together at the end of Y the Last Man. It seemed way too "cutesy" in a sort of "hey, guess what, everyone you knew ended up with everyone else you knew!" way. I'm glad Yorick didn't end up with Beth, and I guess Vaughan figured it would save space in the final issue by having the two characters together (so he wouldn't have to do two separate "wrap up" visits), but it really took me out of the moment to see how two basically random characters (who both happened to be major cast members of the title) end up together at the end.

I'd Have Roger Stern and John Byrne do Their Red Skull Three-Parter as a Prestige Format Series

Whether an extra-long one-shot (or hell, a three-issue mini-series), I'd bring Roger Stern and John Byrne back to finish the story that they were prepared to do before they left Captain America almost thirty years ago.

They were willing to do it in the past, so it's up to Marvel (well, okay, I guess it's also up to Byrne to work for Marvel again, which might not be a possibility)! This needs to happen!

I'd Give Kieron Gillen SOME Major Book to Write

I get that the thought of having Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker handling the ongoing titles of the Big Three (two for Fraction one for Brubaker) is too cool of an option to pass up, so I don't blame Marvel for not letting Gillen write Thor regularly, but he's surely shown that he's not just capable of writing a major character, but that he would THRIVE on such a title - so someone really ought to find a major book he could write! If not at Marvel, maybe DC?

I'd Have Not Killed Stealth

I really don't understand the concept behind killing off Stealth in REBELS, especially off-panel!! Her relationship with Vril Dox was fascinating - there had to be a better way to set up an adversarial position between Vril and Querl than to kill off Stealth (NOTE: If she returns to life due to Blackest Night, then, well, my apologies for even bringing this up as a complaint).

I'd Reveal That the Time Displaced Alpha Flight Died in The New Avengers' Collective Storyline

Or that the Time Displaced Alpha Flight (from Scott Lobdell's Alpha Flight run) are still alive - either or.

In either event, I'd use the gaping loophole Lobdell left for everyone at the end of that series and bring back Alpha Flight.

You don't even have to use them right away - just establish that they're alive out there and if someone EVENTUALLY wants to use them, have the option be there.

Open the door, basically.

I'd Bring Wesley Back Into the Pages of Angel

Angel spoilers ahead!

While Wesley did, indeed, die in the last episode of Angel, Joss Whedon made a point of saying that, had the show been renewed for Season 6, Wesley would be back, so now that Angel continues as a comic book, I don't see the point in keeping Wesley out of the comic. He was a strong part of the After the Fall storyline, and he'd be a great addition to the current cast (which, otherwise, IS a pretty interesting cast, a nice mix of established characters and characters introduced in the comic).

I'd Have Wally West's Parents Show Up Once in Awhile

While I can understand why people would not be interested in using some of Bill Loebs' Flash supporting cast like Chunk (although I like him a lot), I really don't understand why the fact that Wally's parents are both alive is not more of a plot point in any Flash comic. I mean, Wally's dad hasn't appeared in a comic in over ten years! Basically, since Bill Loebs last wrote a Flash (or Flash-related) comic, Wally's parents have been no-shows.

I think that's a shame - Bill Loebs did strong work with Wally's mother, Mary, and his father, Rudolph, and I'd like to see them show up once in awhile.

I'd Give Nick Fury and His Old SHIELD Allies Their Own Book

I LOVE the parts of Secret Warriors spotlighting Nick Fury, Ex-Agent of SHIELD.

I don't MIND the third-generation superhero characters, but I don't like them as much in a book that would be near-perfect if it was just Nick Fury, Ex-Agent of SHIELD.

So, well, I suppose I'd like a Nick Fury, Ex-Agent of SHIELD comic, basically.

Those are MY I'ds for this year - now share yours, too!

[Continuing his 'Sound Current' series of interviews with notable game music creators for GameSetWatch, Jeriaska catches up with Heavy Rain composer Normand Corbeil to discuss the creation of the soundtrack to the acclaimed Quantic Dream-developed PlayStation 3 exclusive.]

Composer Normand Corbeil previously joined game director David Cage and film composer Angelo Badalamenti on the production of Quantic Dream's paranormal thriller Indigo Prophecy, titled Fahrenheit in Europe.

The soundtrack to Cage's follow-up title, the interactive drama Heavy Rain, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and has recently been made available on iTunes. In addition, a code to download the soundtrack album comes with the Collector's Edition of the game. In this interview, Corbeil discusses his approach to adding nuance to the personalities of the story's central characters through the use of the musical score.

The Heavy Rain Collector's Edition released in Europe

The storyline of Heavy Rain involves several central protagonists who each have their own distinct musical themes. How did you decide which facets of their character or backstory would best be complemented by aspects of the game score?

Normand Corbeil, Heavy Rain composer: David [Cage] briefed me very precisely. Each character has a different way of seeing life, and that was more important than what they do in the game.

For Ethan, we focused on the piano. The theme is something very human, fragile but strong at the same time. For Madison there is a chamber orchestra with a smaller setup, both strong and emotional. Jayden is an investigator and researcher in a sad and crazy world, so his theme is dark. There it’s the opposite, a symphony orchestra. Shelby’s theme is drawing on French film noire from the 60’s: cop stories, a bit jazzy, brass and flutes.

I don’t want to say too much about it because I think we love to discover the themes by ourselves—people don’t want too many hints. Also, you never know if what you say will spoil the plot.

David Cage is himself a musician. Did this help make communicating easier in the process of writing the score?

I think the most important part of his being a musician is that he understands the aspects of a musician’s work. He never involves himself directly in the notes, in the way I do the orchestration. He briefs me about the characters and prefers that to talking directly about the music.

Did this allow you greater freedom to make your own artistic choices?

I think that’s it exactly. David really knows when it’s time for him to stop talking. That adds to the great pleasure of working with him.

How would you describe the process behind your previous collaboration for Quantic Dream?

That I did with Angelo [Badalamenti], who I was working with on several projects at the time. The three of us met in New York for an afternoon, and then I worked on it for a month and a half. I think they appreciated what I did, because they called me back for Heavy Rain.

Of course many people know Badalamenti’s music from David Lynch films. Are there particular movie scores of his that have stood out in your memory?

It’s difficult to say. Muholland Drive is a very, very interesting score, and "really Angelo." I think he is among the greatest composers alive and it was a privilege to work with him and observe his process.

When you are working on game projects like Heavy Rain, do you think of it as “making game music?”

No, especially not at the beginning. I think that David came to Angelo and I because he does not want people thinking too narrowly about games, or musicians thinking too much about cues. He is concerned most with the emotion and the journey. Of course in the end because it is a game we are recording all the variations to the themes, but at the beginning at least it is the same as working in film.

Around how many cues ended up being recorded?

We recorded the cues, varying the mood and duration on the fly with the orchestra, for instance saying to the clarinet player to play the part of the harp. We did all these variations because we could not afford to come back later with the orchestra. At the end I delivered around 250 cues.

Even after that, when I returned to Montreal, I recorded a solo piece on piano. Each time you hear a solo piano in the game, it’s me playing. Now, the number might be closer to 300 cues. That gave Quantic Dream a lot of music to play with, and they said to me they used them all in the game.

How were these many cues labeled?

They changed all the titles for the soundtrack release. For me it was like “Ethan, Piano 1,” “Ethan, Piano 2”... We had only a short time, a couple months starting the fifth of June 2009 and ending at Abbey Road, for everything.

Have you had a number of experiences recording at Abbey Road Studios before?

I’ve done many things there. I’m used to working with the musicians, the sound engineer Jonathan Allen, and the assistants. I love when I’m at Abbey Road because I know that I don’t have to concern myself with anything other than music. Everything else is taken care of. They’re taking notes on all of your suggestions and if you need to hear the 62nd take, they can play it back to you in two seconds. It’s like Jonathan is co-producing with me, the way he knows the music.

This title has been years in the making, and yet the score had a tight production schedule. Did you ever feel pressured for time on Heavy Rain?

Of course. The reason why they waited until the end was because they were not sure exactly how they wanted the music. More music was required than for a movie, because there are so many beginnings, so many middles and ends. You have to take care that each piece of the puzzle fits together.

It was a bit crazy, especially because it was for a symphony orchestra and I am doing the composing and orchestration alone, but I’m used to working that way on films and miniseries and it was amazing to do. I did ask that if I am involved in a next game that I be given a bit more time.

There are any number of activities open to the player that are very uncommon to what we are used to seeing in games. Guiding Ethan through a day of playing with his son at the park is one example. In your observation do you feel this format of an interactive drama allows for the player to be engaged in the story and the identities of the characters on an experiential level?

I don't want to speak for David, but yes. People want more than to watch TV passively. They want to be involved, and games if designed correctly can offer tools to be involved. Some people are resistant to Heavy Rain because they are used to having a jump button and a run button, but for a lot of people I think it was interesting. Being involved in all these choices, maybe some people will feel closer to the characters.

Are you currently looking into to the possibility of writing for interactive dramas in the future?

Of course. It would be a shame not to use the technology to go further as an art form. Compared with other games, this is closer to the suspense thrillers I'm used to doing, more about human beings. For me the interactivity is inspiring—to know that somebody can decide to go one way or another. I think it holds a lot of possibilities for storytelling and for a composer. Heavy Rain is just the start.

[To learn more about Normand Corbeil, visit the composer's official website. Images courtesy of Quantic Dream. Heavy Rain (Original Soundtrack from the Video Game) is available for purchase on iTunes.]

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