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digg.com: Top News
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In case you haven't heard, New Zealand was devastated by a 7.1 earthquake only a few hours from now. My friend posted these pictures of the carnage in his apartment, only 20km from the epicenter. We can only hope their civilization can rebuild.
submitted by Early_Deuce to pics [link] [68 comments]
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Texas Launches Antitrust Investigation of Google
It has been revealed that the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is conduction an investigation of Google over complaints of antitrust and
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Sex-Mythbusters: Top 10 Sex myths
Men want sex more than women do: Sex myth or sex fact? Bad sex always leads to breakups: Sex myth or sex fact? If he had an affair, he doesn't love you: Sex myth or sex fact? Sex myths make us feel bad about ourselves and most of the time, they're not true. Which are true and which are false? Read on.
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Why This New Apple TV Makes Sense For Now
As a longtime Apple TV owner, Ill admit a dirty little secret: I really like the device. Sure, it has been one of the rare flops for Apple in recent years. And it could be so much more with say, a Blu-ray player or a web browser. But it is really good at its core functionality: bringing iTunes content into your living room. And thats why this new version of the Apple TV makes sense at least for now.
When I first bought the Apple TV, there were two varieties: a 40 gigabyte version and a 160 gigabyte version. I was torn between which one to get, but I ultimately went with the 160 GB one thinking I could put most of my movies on it. Big mistake. I basically never use the hard drive on my Apple TV, so its a 160 GB hard drive sitting there doing nothing. Instead, I stream everything to the Apple TV.
In fact, the only time I do use the hard drive on my current Apple TV is when I rent a movie on it. Currently, even when renting, you download a movie to your hard drive where it sits for up to 30 days (or 24 hours after you start playing it). But with the new iTunes rentals (both TV and movies) everything is streamed no hard drive is required (besides a small one for buffering purposes). Thanks to that, and undoubtedly the knowledge that most owners were using it for streaming, Apple removed the hard drive from the device, and cut it down in size and price.
Now, at one-forth the size and less than half the price, its an even more attractive way to get your iTunes content into your living room. And it has a few very nice bonuses. The mixture of the new Netflix functionality with Apples new release rental movies makes this an excellent in-home movie machine for the masses. For those who pay $9 a month to Netflix, you get access to tens of thousands of older movies. For those interested in newer movies, theyre $4.99 a pop from Apple.
Yes, Apple removed the option to buy movies on the Apple TV itself. But you can still do this through iTunes on your computer or on your iPad/iPhone/iPod touch. And guess what? With the forthcoming AirPlay feature, youll be able to stream any of those purchased movies right from any of those devices to the Apple TV. In a way, it sort of does make the Apple TV a $99 iPad accessory.
Further, the removal of the option to buy (as well as the removal of the SD options) make Apple TV much less complicated for general consumers. Now there is no question about whether you should rent or buy. There is also no question about whether you should do rent or buy in HD or SD. I suspect most people were renting in HD on the device, which is why Apple made the move it did to eliminate the other unnecessary options. Theyre keeping it simple, stupid.
Apple also removed the option to buy TV shows which never really made much sense to me. There are some shows that people would like to own, but most are definitely watch-once programs. Previously, there was no rental option, you had to buy. Worse, even if you did want to own a lot, the old Apple TV didnt have nearly enough storage to handle them all some HD TV show seasons take up 30 GB of space or more. The model just didnt make a lot of sense.
Granted, Apples current $0.99 TV show rental option is pretty weak. They only have shows from ABC and Fox and only some shows from Fox. But obviously, just as happened with iTunes music and movies, Apple is hoping all the studios eventually get on board. And if they do relatively soon, the Apple TV will be a very interesting device to consumers as both a movie box and as a potential cable replacement. Sure, most people arent going to feel comfortable totally killing cable just yet but at $99, this will be a very interesting experiment for a lot of people.
All that said, lets be clear: this Apple TV is not the killer device in the living room. This will be more popular than the current Apple TV, but it will not be iPod/iPhone/iPad-big. And Apple seems to know that, which is why theyre still talking cautiously about it.
The problem Apple faces is the same problem that everyone faces: content agreements. Hollywood is proving much harder to convince than the music labels were. In a few years, if DVD sales keep falling and cable revenues start decreasing, theyll be more receptive to new options.
The killer Apple TV would have TV network subscription packages. It would offer live events. It would have every movie ever made available on-demand.
And on-demand is the big key to all of this. All of this content is going to move to the cloud. It has too for storage purposes and given how many devices we all have. Rentals just completely made the jump, but eventually purchases will too. At first, youll have the option to download certain movies youve bought to take on the go, but when youre at your home, even movies you own will be streamed theyll simply be streamed for free. And then one day, all of this stuff will be in the cloud entirely as mobile devices will always be connected by high-speed wireless.
This is the future. Its Apples future along with everyone elses. This Apple TV is one small step in that direction, and at $99 it makes sense for now at $229, it never did. This is a stepping stone to the cloud age. Right now its a mixture of the internal cloud (streaming from within your house) with the external cloud (streaming rentals from the cloud). Soon it will all be external.
If this half-step isnt your thing, if you want morefunctionality, buy a Mac mini. Theres a reason Apple just added a HDMI output to it. But that device is too complicated and way too expensive for most consumers to use as a set-top box. The Apple TV is simple.
Oh, and one more thing: the true killer Apple TV device will have apps. Im still absolutely convinced (as many people are) that its only a question of when they make the jump to the living room. The fact that this new Apple TV is running iOS seems to be all the proof one should need that this will come eventually.
When that happens, the Apple TV will become a hell of a lot more than a hobby.
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I'm not an Artist, but this is fucking cool
submitted by PolarCovalentBonds to reddit.com [link] [37 comments]
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S4 - Super Simple Storage Service
submitted by catamorphism to programming [link] [16 comments]
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7 Famous Movie Flaws That Were Explained in Deleted Scenes
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Turns out major Tea Party organizations are being backed by telecoms. Their opposition to net neutrality is suddenly less surprising.
submitted by redthrowaway to politics [link] [26 comments]
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First impressions of Logitech?s Revue, the first set-top box featuring Google TV
Logitech Revue: Hands-On Impressions
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I think my 6 year old daughter is being sexually abused... Help
My daughter just told me about a 'dream' she had regarding one of her caretakers at school pulling down her panties and then pulling down his pants and underwear... "and we were really close to each other...". She was acting really embarrassed about the whole thing and shy. I kept my cool and played for a while, then went back to her dream. More of the same. I don't know what to do. She's 6, so she's known for telling stories, but this is just too far out for my comfort. We've never talked about anything like this, and she's never seen anything of the sort. Any advice, my Reddit community? Do I call the police? Do I let her go back to school? Your assistance is appreciated.... Greatly.... submitted by shrike71 to AskReddit [link] [148 comments]
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12 concept images from the new Dune movie you'll never see
Whoa! Coming Soon unearthed a trove of concept art by comic artist Jock and Andy Diggle for Peter Berg's Dune movie that will never be. Pierre Morel took over as director after Berg left the project, and Morel's going to do his own thing, so sadly this gorgeous art will go unused.
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Fed Up Author Changes The Rules For Learning Spanish
Totally Different Learn Spanish Audio CD program
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Group Attacks Google Privacy & Schmidt with Times Square Ad
Just in time for the holiday weekend, a California-based consumer group has purchased space on a Times Square jumbotron to display a video that attacks Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and his company's privacy policies.
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10 Most Torturous Methods of Execution
Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies?both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent.
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Jerry Lewis on Lindsay Lohan: 'I Would Smack Her in the Mouth!' (VIDEO)
We're not going to say this clip makes Jerry Lewis seem like an angry, half-crazed old man, because we're afraid he might hit us.
On 'Inside
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Ping Surpasses 1 Million Users
In less than two days, Apple's Ping music social network has surpassed the 1 million user milestone. Apple introduced Ping as the centerpiece of iTunes 10 at
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What are the Perils of Being a Lefty?
About 10% of the world is left-handed. That means, only 1 in every 10 people primarily use their left hand to perform tasks. Therefore, in a world where most people are right-handed, lefties often have difficulty performing day-to-day tasks with tools, appliances, and other equipment that have been designed for the right-handed majority.
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Watch True Blood Online
Watch True Blood Online For Free
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Mary Roach: Death In Space
For some uplifting weekend reading, I suggest Mary Roach's excellent special Boing Boing feature "Death In Space."
The U.S. has plans for a manned visit to Mars by the mid-2030s. The ESA and Russia have sketched out a similar joint mission, and it is claimed that China's space program has the same objective. Apart from their destination, all these plans share something in common: extraordinary danger for the explorers. What happens if someone dies out there, months away from Earth?
Swedish ecologists Susanne Wiigh-Msak and Peter Msak are the inventors of an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation and burial, called Promession. The technique entails freezing a body, vibrating it into tiny pieces, and then freeze-drying the pieces, which can then be used as compost to grow a memorial shrub or tree.
"Death In Space"
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"Tool Man" Tim Allen Is The Voice Of Chevrolet, 2011 Cruze
Tim Allen, the voice of Michigan tourism, Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear, and Home Improvements Tim Taylor will soon be the voice of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, and the rest of the Chevrolet brand, GM announced today. The ads running Allen's voice will start September 7, the day before the official retail launch at GM's Lordstown plant.
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