Researchers at Purdue University and the University of Virginia are now able to create “tiny, thin-film electronic circuits peelable from a surface,” the first step in creating an unobtrusive Internet-of-Things solution. The peelable stickers can sit flush to an object’s surface and be used as sensors or wireless communications systems. The biggest difference between these stickers and traditional solutions is the removal of the silicon wafer that manufacturers use. Because the entire circuit is transferred right on the sticker there is no need for bulky packages and you can pull off and restick the circuits as needed. “We could customize a sensor, stick it onto a drone, and send the drone to dangerous areas to detect gas leaks, for example,” said Chi Hwan Lee, Purdue assistant professor. From the release: A ductile metal layer, such as nickel, inserted between the electronic film and the silicon wafer, makes the peeling possible in water. These thin-film … [Read more...] about Peelable circuits make it easy to Internet all the things
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Apple’s MacBook Pro refresh puts the focus back on creative pros
New MacBook Pros seemed like a no-brainer for WWDC. Like the rest of the company’s hardware line, however, they were a no-show. Sure, Apple used the opportunity to reaffirm its comment to creative professionals — perhaps most notably in the form of some key macOS updates — but there were no new devices available to take advantage of those new features. The company is addressing that today with its first major hardware release since its big developer conference. Like Mojave, updates to the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bars find the company tipping its hats to creative pros, a key demo long understood to be the core to Apple’s user base. Nothing has changed on the outside. The new Pros are indistinguishable from last year’s model. As is the case with a majority of updates to the line, all of the really important stuff is happening inside. And these are, indeed, formidable machines. You get a six-core Intel Core i7 or i9 on the bigger … [Read more...] about Apple’s MacBook Pro refresh puts the focus back on creative pros
Snapchat debuts a library of selfie filters
Piece by piece Snap is trying to eek a developer platform out of Snapchat Lenses and give users something extra at the same time. Today, we’re seeing the most user-facing of these efforts as Snapchat debuts a new Lens Explorer section which will give the user base greater access to scouting out new face filters beyond what’s sitting in the oft-refreshed Lens Carousel on the app’s central camera screen. The new update will be rolling out to iOS users slowly, the company says. There are 70 million daily active users of Snapchat Lenses (more than one-third of total Snapchat DAUs) who spend an average of about three minutes playing around with them per day but up until now discoverability hasn’t been too extensive. It’s honestly pretty surprising that its taken so long for Snapchat to gain this type of discovery feature, Lenses have long been a distinguishing feature of the platform though Facebook has been aiming to catch up with their own efforts. Why … [Read more...] about Snapchat debuts a library of selfie filters
Editorial: It’s Been Real: Goodbye RealNetworks
With the recent release of Realplayer 8, yet another software company has outlined the path that it will follow to its own destruction. RealNetworks has managed to release a taste of a product, which may even be worse than the one that preceded it. Following the route taken by Netscape, they have innovated in a reactionary manner rather than by listening to the demands of their customers. RealNetworks may fall flat on their face quicker than Rudy Giuliani – although they would probably prefer facing Hillary Clinton rather than brutal onslaught of Microsoft. That is why they are positioning themselves to eventually be bought out. With the release of RealPlayer 8, a giant leap has been taken in the wrong direction- once again. All in all, this release is an attempt to duplicate the feature set of Microsoft’s new Windows Media Player (CD-ripping, streaming media, etc). The addition of iQfx 2.0 directly mirrors Microsoft’s bundling of SRS WOW! technology into its … [Read more...] about Editorial: It’s Been Real: Goodbye RealNetworks
Windows ME
ActiveWin is reporting that rumors circulating concerning the current build of Windows Me, Build 2525.6, being Release Candidate 1 of the next Microsoft operating system have been confirmed. This build was released last week, causing many to wonder whether or not it was the "official" RC1, and Microsoft confirmed those rumors early today in an announcement to testers. … [Read more...] about Windows ME
Napster Claimants ‘Liars,’ Says Metallica’s Attorney
More than 30,000 of the 300,000-plus music fans barred from the Web site of Napster, Inc., the online music sharing software company, want their access restored. Howard King, the attorney for the hard rock group Metallica, whose actions caused these fans to be barred from accessing Napster software, has labeled them liars. Approximately 330,000 music fans were barred from the Napster Web site recently when Metallica claimed that the fans were infringing on Metallica's copyrights by sharing Metallica recordings among themselves and others without permission or paying royalties. Earlier this month, Metallica delivered the names of Napster users to the company with the demand that these names be blocked from access to the Napster Web site. Napster complied on May 9. However, at the time it took the action, Napster gave instructions to the barred users advising them how to make a claim against Metallica if the users believed that they were wrongly identified. In … [Read more...] about Napster Claimants ‘Liars,’ Says Metallica’s Attorney
Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 Beta
Available to Professional and Universal MSDN subscribers only, the Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 beta is open for download. This service pack includes many fixes for bugs found in Microsoft's flagship software, which some rumored in February to be upwards of 65,000 separate problems within the operating system. For a full list of the fixes, visit Microsoft.com. More information, including download links, can be found at https://msdn.one.microsoft.com/subscriber/. … [Read more...] about Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 Beta
Napster Bars Over 317,000 Names From Web site
According to a report published this morning, Similar separate lawsuits, brought by the Recording Industry Last week, the rock group's drummer and their attorney delivered 13 The move by Napster to remove the more than 300,000 user names comes The action by Napster to remove the names of its subscribers, many Neither Napster's nor Metallica's attorneys could be reached for http://www.newsbytes.com … [Read more...] about Napster Bars Over 317,000 Names From Web site
ILOVEYOU Worm Spreads
After first appearing in Asia, a new e-mail worm has begun to spread like wildfire and reak havok on corporate mail systems. Titled, "barok -loveletter(vbe) i hate go to school," the worm propagates itself via e-mail as a VisualBasic script named LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs with the message, "kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." Like the infamous Melissa, this worm is written to spread itself any possible way. After first sending itself to the victims' address book, it infects mIRC trying to send users an HTML file with the worm, and auto-downloads the file WIN-BUGSFIX.exe. While it is currently unknown whether this file has a destructive payload, Symantec has confirmed the worm will modify vbs, vbe, js, jse, css, wsh, sct, hta, jpg, jpeg, mp3, and mp2 files in an attempt to spread itself. The anti-virus company is calling the worm, VBS.LoveLetter.A and warns to delete any messages with the subject 'ILOVEYOU'. … [Read more...] about ILOVEYOU Worm Spreads
Metallica Accuses 335,435 Napster Users
The heavy metal band, which is suing music-trading company Napster for what they say are copyright infringements, says it has found the identifications of over 335,000 individuals allegedly sharing the band's songs online. The band's attorneys plan to deliver 60,000 pages of documents to the software company, asking for the users to be blocked from the service. "I don't know if it's going to put a chill on the user end, but it certainly is going to show other artists what they can do to get their work out of Napster," stated Howard King, the Los Angeles attorney who represents Metallica and Dr. Dre, who is also suing Napster. Napster has refused to remove specific artists' content from its service many times, stating that the software is only a portal for the users who are trading the files. However, Napster agreed to eject users who were found trading copyrighted materials. Metallica is scheduled to chat with fans online tomorrow at Artistsdirect.com to explain its fight … [Read more...] about Metallica Accuses 335,435 Napster Users
Microsoft Demonstrates Whistler
The software giant's next version of Windows, dubbed 'Whistler' was showcased by Microsoft executives at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) Tuesday. The company hinted that the new operating system is a fairly minor upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. Whistler is in pre-beta stages, although pirated copies have been leaked to the Web. Whistler will be available in both consumer and business versions, and will be the successor to Windows 2000 and Windows Me. Windows Me is set to be released in the second half of this year, which will offer multimedia enhancements for consumers. However, Microsoft claims Whistler, available in 2001, will feature a much wider array of services tuned for home users. The software giant is planning to simplify Whistler by increasing the ease in which tasks are performed. The company is relying heavily on feedback from current Windows consumers. "The thing that people would really like to see us prioritize ... is the … [Read more...] about Microsoft Demonstrates Whistler
US, States Favor Plan To Split Up Microsoft
The Justice Department and 19 states are leaning toward asking a court to split Microsoft Corp. into two or three separate companies in a plan designed to end the software giant's monopoly in the US computer industry, people familiar with the discussions said over the weekend. The drafting of a breakup plan marks a dramatic moment in the two-year lawsuit and only the first time since the 1974 antitrust lawsuit against AT&T Corp. that the federal government has considered such a drastic proposal for a corporate lawbreaker. Microsoft has vowed to appeal the April 3 verdict that it broke federal antitrust law. A spokesman for the company said yesterday that a breakup remedy would go too far. "There is nothing in the case that was brought that would merit such an unfounded remedy and one that is not in the interest of the industry or of consumers," Microsoft spokesman Greg Shaw said. "It is difficult to know what's being floated as a trial balloon and what is … [Read more...] about US, States Favor Plan To Split Up Microsoft
Napster Forgot About Dre!
Well, it appears that Napster has "forgot about Dre." The artist has quickly reminded the San Francisco-based company by giving them until Friday to take his songs out of their index, claiming copyright infringement. This follows the recent lashing out on Napster of many artists including Metallica, who filed suit last week against the company and three universities, making the same copyright infringement claims. While Dr. Dre has reportedly not committed to suing the company, past experiences lend everyone to believe that is the next step in the process. … [Read more...] about Napster Forgot About Dre!
New Alternative to DirectX?
Many graphics and sound businesses are working in partnership to develop a new cross platform equivalent to DirectX. Companies such as 3dfx 3Dlabs, ATI, Compaq, Discreet, Evans & Sutherland, IBM, Intel, S3, and SGI have formed a group dubbed 'Khronos' to design a new API for graphics, video, and audio. This new API could boost Linux's gaming capabilities immensely. Khronos is described as "a new Special Interest Group formed by a cross section of media software, hardware, and platform vendors. Its purpose is to develop a specification to effectively integrate and synchronize video, graphics and audio across platforms, operating systems, hardware devices and software applications." As of now, the Khronos group has plans to release the first OpenML compliant products in the first half of 2001. Some anticipated components in the eventual specifications of the product are: an abstraction layer that provides an API for applications and an interface for devices to interact at a common … [Read more...] about New Alternative to DirectX?
Metallica Sues Napster, Universities, Fans
Metallica today filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Napster, three educational institutions, and 20 fans for unauthorized distribution of music. The suit alleges that by enabling music piracy to occur, the defendants have committed copyright infringement. Specifically named thus far are Yale University, the University of Southern California, and Indiana University. Napster has faced heavy litigation as of late, due to their MP3-sharing program of the same name. Napster allows users to trade and share MP3s, legal or not. Many Napster-like applications have arisen since, including Globalscape's CuteMX, Gnullsoft's Gnutella, Scour's Exchange, iMesh, and more. A San Francisco judge will soon announce a verdict in the Recording Industry Association of America's case against Napster. This will be the first time a band has directly filed suit against Napster, and the first time universities have been sued for allowing students to trade MP3s. The … [Read more...] about Metallica Sues Napster, Universities, Fans
Windows Me Hits Beta 3
Microsoft has sent word to testers that Windows Me has reached the long-awaited Beta 3 milestone. Beta 3 adds many changes since Beta 2, including Microsoft's new Movie Maker, Windows Media Player 7, USB updates, added application compatibility, and a myriad of bug fixes. Beta 3 was finalized last Friday morning and subsequently demoed to thousands during last weekend's Microsoft eXtreme. Testers are reporting much improvement in stability and speed over previous betas. This will be the last Beta phase before Windows Me hits RTM, currently scheduled for June 2nd of this year. … [Read more...] about Windows Me Hits Beta 3
Netscape Launches Netscape 6 Preview Release
LIVE FROM INTERNET WORLD - Netscape Communications kicks off the first day of exhibits here at Spring Internet World 2000 with a preview release of its next-generation Web browser, Netscape 6. eFront will be live at the show bringing you the news straight from the source. AOL CEO Steve Case will start the day with a keynote address, followed by a Netscape 6 press conference at 1:15PM EST. For those not lucky enough to be in LA, the webcast may be viewed here. Download Netscape 6 for Linux and Windows via FileForum. Is the browser war back? … [Read more...] about Netscape Launches Netscape 6 Preview Release
Microsoft Ruling Announced
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson gave his second ruling today in the US vs Microsoft anti-trust case. Stating that Microsoft Corp. violated the Sherman Anti-trust Act, Jackson said the software giant had "... engaged in a concerted series of actions designed to protect [windows] ... from a variety of middle-ware threats including Netscape’s Web browser and Sun Microsystem’s implementation of Java" The Judge’s ruling signals that the final stage of the trial has begun. In this 'remedy' phase, the government will take actions against Microsoft in an attempt to impede the company’s ability to mis-use its monopoly in the operating system market. These actions may lead to the breakup of Microsoft, though the government said that a breakup alone would not suffice in stopping Microsoft from abusing its power. After the market close today, Microsoft was down 15 points. Though the ruling was timed at 5 pm EST as to not affect the market, the … [Read more...] about Microsoft Ruling Announced
Netscape 6 Unofficial Preview Release 1
UPDATE: Netscape Communications has ceased allowing downloads of the unofficial Preview Release. eFront has received word about an unofficial version of Netscape 6 Preview Release 1. Secretly hosted on Netscape's FTP servers, the beta was not set for a public release until next month. Netscape 6 is the next generation browser from Netscape Communications, based on the work of Mozilla.org. In development for two years, many Netscape followers have tracked the browser's progress and are quite anxious to see the final product. After the decision was made to re-write the browser from the ground up, Netscape began to receive pressure from the Internet community due to delays in beginning development anew. The first Preview Release of version 6 comes complete with a new installer, Netscape messenger (an AIM clone), Net2Phone, a new HTML engine, Sun's Java2, and a spell checker. Please note this release is completely unofficial and unsupported. Use it at your own risk - it will contain bugs. … [Read more...] about Netscape 6 Unofficial Preview Release 1
About The Onion
The Onion is the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events. Rising from its humble beginnings as a print newspaper in 1756, The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history. In addition to maintaining a towering standard of excellence to which the rest of the industry aspires, The Onion supports more than 350,000 full- and part-time journalism jobs in its numerous news bureaus and manual labor camps stationed around the world, and members of its editorial board have served with distinction in an advisory capacity for such nations as China, Syria, Somalia, and the former Soviet Union. On top of its journalistic pursuits, The Onion also owns and operates the majority of the world’s transoceanic shipping lanes, stands on the nation’s leading edge on matters of … [Read more...] about About The Onion