777 HD Wallpapers for Nerds Welcome to an absolutely massive collection of HD backgrounds. 777 of them. All hand picked - by a few nerds and myself - to ensure only the most artistic, impressive, and badass wallpapers are included. In this collection, my nerd friends and I have mined some of the best sources of wallpaper (InterfaceLift, Deviant Art, and others). How to setup a daily wallpaper rotation With this near infinite supply of HD wallpapers you'll have the benefit of a fresh new desktop every day. Windows With the introduction of Windows 7, Microsoft finally gave users a more robust way to organize wallpapers. Ubuntu Ubuntu doesn't have a built-in wallpaper rotation feature out of the box (although KDE does). Mac OS On a Mac, it's very simple. The HD wallpapers Although some are direct links, the majority of the wallpapers in this collection will link to the source page. A Trip to Elsewhere 1900 x 1200 from Desktopography Absorb 1900 x 1200 from Desktopography Confused by Nature 1900 x 1200 from Desktopography
New mobile devices spur greater news reading | Media A mounting body of evidence finds that the spread of mobile technology is adding to news consumption in the United States. Its effects, however, are mixed. While it enhances the appeal of traditional news brands, and even boosts the reading of long-form journalism, it also shows that technology companies are strengthening their control. These are the key findings in the 2012 report, State of the news media, by the Pew research centre's project for excellence in journalism. It is a comprehensive analysis of the health of journalism in America and also includes special reports on the impact of mobile technology and social media on news. The reports find that rather than replacing media consumption on digital devices, people who go mobile are getting news on all their devices. They also appear to be getting it more often, and reading for longer periods of time. For example, 34% of desktop/laptop news consumers now also get news on a smartphone. Sources: Pew/State of the news media
Google wants to reinvent transportation, Apple wants to sell you fancy headphones There were two striking pieces of business news this week from America's leading technology brands. On the one hand, Google unveiled a prototype of an autonomous car that, if it can be made to work at scale, promises to end mass automobile ownership while drastically reducing car wreck fatalities and auto-related pollution. Meanwhile, Apple bought a company that makes high-end headphones. Which is to say that Apple's playing checkers while Google plays chess. And to be clear about something, in the increasingly partisan smartphone platform wars I am decidedly on Team Apple. But that's exactly why it's so disappointing to see Apple focused overwhelmingly on small-ball extensions of its existing franchise while Google goes for big plays. I don't particularly want to live in a world where the future of heads-up displays, autonomous cars, and home automation is an elaborate effort to track your daily life in order to display micro-targeted advertising. And it shows.
Google va lancer sa plateforme de commentaires ! Mercredi 28 mars Réseaux sociaux - 28 mars 2012 :: 09:10 :: Par En réponse au lancement par Facebook il y a un an d’une plateforme de commentaires, Google vient de laisser entendre lors d’une conférence que sa propre plateforme de commentaire allait prochainement voir le jour. Cette année, entre les deux géants c’est la guerre. Ce type de service a été initié il y a un an par Facebook : chaque site peut, s’il accepte que ses articles soient commentés, utiliser Facebook pour le faire. Il est à peu près sûr que ces commentaires seront indexés au Search. D’après le même blog, d’autres annonces ont été faites par le staff de Google, comme par exemple l’imminente sortie de Google Drive, le service stockage cloud made by Google, et également des URL personnalisées.
Thought Leaders: JP Rangaswami - Chief Scientist At Salesforce.com Posted by Tom Foremski - March 20, 2012 Salesforce.com recently held its Cloudforce conference. I caught up with its Chief Scientist JP Rangaswami, who's based in the UK. I first met Mr Rangaswami several years ago when he was Chief Scientist at British Telecom. And I've been an avid reader for many years of his blog confused of calcutta where you can find insights into the nature of enterprise technologies, food, copyright, and music in equal measures. When he joined Salesforce in late 2010 I wrote that the company had made an important and astute hire. I asked why he joined Salesforce? "Salesforce's Chatter is what convinced me that the company understood what is going on in the enterprise, this was the biggest attraction for me. Chatter is sometimes described as Twitter for the enterprise and it competes against Tibco's Tibber, and Yammer. It was acquired by BT for $108 million in July 2008. (Mr Benioff is extremely media savvy. Please see: About confused of calcutta
218 HD Resolution Desktop Wallpapers for Nerds Here are 218 HD resolution wallpapers. Nerds like you and me have big ass screens so ALL of these wallpapers are available in high resolutions of at least 1900x1200. Plus, each one has been hand picked for quality, not quantity. And as much as I would like to make them all available for you in their uncompressed, full resolution glory, I don't have an infinite bandwith machine. Enjoy! Growth of Cubic Bacteria 2560 x 1600 by Václav Pajkrt WarCraft Skull 1920 x1200 from Curse.com WarCraft Zul'aman 1920 x1200 from Curse.com Spiderman 1920x1200 from CheatHappens.com Crysis Fan Art 1920 x 1539 from CrysisOnline.com Nvidia Green 1920 x1200 from nzone.com Precious Things 2560 x 1600 by Blatte's Backgrounds (you need to generate a free password from his Terms page) Sanctuary 2560 x 1600 by Blatte's Backgrounds (you need to generate a free password from his Terms page) The Four Quarters 2560 x 1600 by Blatte's Backgrounds (you need to generate a free password from his Terms page)
How Amazon finds tax loopholes | Technology Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, has always taken a keen interest in tax planning. From the beginning, loopholes were a key part of Amazon's ability to undercut rivals on price. When setting up the company, Bezos even considered basing it on an American Indian reservation near San Francisco to exploit state tax loopholes. The world's largest internet retailer collects sales taxes from only five American states, exploiting a 1992 court ruling that US businesses without a physical presence – such as a shop or warehouse – in a state cannot be required to collect its sales tax. Amazon has a map of the US with each state coloured red, yellow or green. Executives travelling to red states need company permission before entering, in case their actions trigger laws that force Amazon to collect taxes there. "The products we sell and ship to customers we pay the UK VAT rate," said North. But he conceded that this only applies to physical products – and books are zero-rated.
Redirecting... It's not often that Google's two founders do a joint interview, so when they do it's worth paying attention. Larry Page and Sergey Brin conducted a fireside chat late last week with Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, about everything from self-driving cars and artificial intelligence to health projects and the unnecessary complexity of government. Page, currently Google's CEO, discussed the need for business leaders to maintain a 20-year vision instead of a 4-year vision and revealed the criticism he got from Steve Jobs ("You guys are doing too much stuff.") "If you really think about the things that you need to make yourself happy—housing, security, opportunities for your kids—anthropologists have been identifying these things. So the idea that everyone needs to work frantically to meet people's needs is just not true. So the idea that everyone needs to work frantically to meet people's needs is just not true." "You just reduce work time," Page said.
Google Map Maker disponible en France Mercredi 21 mars Web - 21 mars 2012 :: 07:36 :: Par Eric Google Map Maker permet à ses utilisateurs d’améliorer la cartographie des lieux qu’ils connaissent le mieux et de rendre leur quartier et leur ville plus présente sur Google Maps. Le crowdsourcing[1] au service de la cartographie, ou comment améliorer la précision des plans en s’appuyant sur l’expérience des internautes. Déjà disponible aux Etats-Unis, au Canada, et dans 180 autres pays, Google Map Maker permet à ses utilisateurs d’améliorer la cartographie des lieux qu’ils connaissent le mieux et de rendre leur quartier et leur ville plus présente sur Google Maps. Google Map Maker fournit l’opportunité à chaque internaute de devenir un cartographe en utilisant son expertise et ses connaissances locales pour ajouter des détails aux cartes Google et ainsi partager ses connaissances. Les contributions sont ensuite contrôlées et corrigées par d’autres utilisateurs, des experts régionaux ainsi qu’une équipe de correcteurs Google.
What’s The Role Of Curation In Search Earlier this year Tom Foremski brought a collection of fascinating friends and colleagues together to explore the growing notion of content curation on the Internet. What is it? What does it mean? I strongly suspect that no person other than Tom has the ability to bring such a diverse group of smarties together in one place. Apparently, no one double checked the guest list because I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the inaugural meeting at Specs’, the infamous bar where many a member of the Beat Generation use to imbibe in North Beach. A fellow founding member, and one of the original people working with Tom to make the curation salon a reality, is Oliver Starr. At the last meeting he and I talked about the impact of curated content on how people are now finding information on the Internet. Watch The Video Here Interviewed: New here? About Steve Farnsworth @Steveology Like this: Like Loading...
Raspberry Pi Alternatives at WLAN Book.com Raspberry Pi Alternatives “The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming.” There are two models of Raspberry Pi, Model A is priced at $25, Model B is $35 and adds one Ethernet port. Raspberry Pi Model B Raspberry Pi and WiFi Both models of the Raspberry Pi have a USB port that can be used to add WiFi connectivity to the device. Actually, I’m glad I didn’t buy a Raspberry Pi Model B because it forced me to look for alternatives. Globalscale DreamPlug While I like the idea of tinkering with a development board I just don’t have the time. The DreamPlug is one of several Plug Computer development kits. GuruPlug Another Plug Computer kit that looks really nice is the GuruPlug. Cotton Candy PandaBoard
Cyberwarfare takes Heidegger's ideas to their logical end | Technology | The Observer If you write about technology, then sooner or later you're going to meet a smartarse who asks whether you've read Heidegger's The Question Concerning Technology. Having encountered a number of such smartarses in recent years, I finally decided to do something about it, and obtained a copy of the English translation, published in 1977 by Harper & Row. Having done so, I settled down with a glass of sustaining liquor and embarked upon the pursuit of enlightenment. Big mistake. For example, he says at one point that the "instrumental conception" of technology – as a means to an end – is "correct", and the innocent reader nods in agreement. At this point a red mist began to occlude this reader's vision, and several hours later he withdrew from the fray, thinking that while one clearly needs to be very clever to study German philosophers, one perhaps has to be nuts to want to. Which brings us to information warfare, defined as the use of information technology to wage war. Spot on.