coverage at Yahoo News (Ebay Fined $61M By French Court For Sales of Fake Goods)A court in France ordered eBay to pay more than 61 mega-dollars to the parent company (LVHM) of Givenchy, Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, because a user sold fake goods on the website. eBay has been sued by other 'luxury goods' vendors (such as Tiffany's (US), Rolex (Germany) and L'Oreal (EU)). Problems stem from some companies demanding that their merchandise (even legal merchandise) not be displayed nor sold as it is a violation of their 'property.' Others have complained that eBay is too slow to take down claims. Apparently eBay was hit with two violations: 1) eBay illegally allowed legitimately purchased and owned products made by LVHM to be resold on its website by 3rd parties not under the control of LVHM, and 2) not doing enough to protect LVHM's brands from illegal sales. eBay has said it will appeal. So eBay is to know what products every company allows to be sold before allowing them to on auction? (There's also coverage at Yahoo News.) "eBay fined for selling fake Louis Vuitton goods online""A Paris court on Monday ordered Internet auctioneer eBay to pay 40 million euros (63 million dollars) in damages to Louis Vuitton for selling fake luxury goods online." By Bertille Ossey-Woisard and Gaelle Geoffroy for Yahoo! news (June 30, 2008) ( 1 , 2 ) eBay fined for selling fake Louis Vuitton goods onlinecoverage at Yahoo News (Ebay Fined $61M By French Court For Sales of Fake Goods)A court in France ordered eBay to pay more than 61 mega-dollars to the parent company (LVHM) of Givenchy, Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, because a user sold fake goods on the website. eBay has been sued by other 'luxury goods' vendors (such as Tiffany's (US), Rolex (Germany) and L'Oreal (EU)). Problems stem from some companies demanding that their merchandise (even legal merchandise) not be displayed nor sold as it is a violation of their 'property.' Others have complained that eBay is too slow to take down claims. Apparently eBay was hit with two violations: 1) eBay illegally allowed legitimately purchased and owned products made by LVHM to be resold on its website by 3rd parties not under the control of LVHM, and 2) not doing enough to protect LVHM's brands from illegal sales. eBay has said it will appeal. So eBay is to know what products every company allows to be sold before allowing them to on auction? (There's also coverage at Yahoo News.) ( 33 ) - 9 weeks ago in yro, ebay, industry, fashion, and lawsuits |
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10-minute video (A Video Tour of the MSI Wind and Other Netbooks)Ken E. writes "UK mobile tech site Mobile Computer has posted a nice 10-minute video that gives a tour of the MSI Wind, and shows it alongside the two other Intel Atom-powered netbooks, the Acer Aspire One and Asus Eee PC 901. The site also has photos that show the three netbooks together to give a good idea of the differences in size. The MSI Wind goes on sale today in the UK (a week ahead of the US) for £350 (around $700). Not cheap for a supposedly low-cost laptop, but the MSI Wind looks like the best of the bunch so far." Mobile Computer - MSI Wind hands-on video and Aspire One/Eee PC 901 comparisonsThe latest news and reviews of laptops, ultra-portables, smartphones and mobile gadgets, plus practical advice on getting the most from your mobile life., A hands-on video of MSI’s new netbook with side-by-side comparisons with the Acer Aspire One and A ( 1 , 3 ) 10-minute video (A Video Tour of the MSI Wind and Other Netbooks)Ken E. writes "UK mobile tech site Mobile Computer has posted a nice 10-minute video that gives a tour of the MSI Wind, and shows it alongside the two other Intel Atom-powered netbooks, the Acer Aspire One and Asus Eee PC 901. The site also has photos that show the three netbooks together to give a good idea of the differences in size. The MSI Wind goes on sale today in the UK (a week ahead of the US) for £350 (around $700). Not cheap for a supposedly low-cost laptop, but the MSI Wind looks like the best of the bunch so far." ( 4 ) - 9 weeks ago in review, hardware, and laptop |
A proof of the Riemann hypothesisAn anonymous reader writes "Xian-Jin Li claims to have proven the Riemann hypothesis in this preprint on the arXiv." We've mentioned recent advances in the search for a proof but if true, I'm told this is important stuff. Me, I use math to write dirty words on my calculator. A proof of the Riemann hypothesis( 2 ) claims to have proven the Riemann hypothesis (Claimed Proof of Riemann Hypothesis)An anonymous reader writes "Xian-Jin Li claims to have proven the Riemann hypothesis in this preprint on the arXiv." We've mentioned recent advances in the search for a proof but if true, I'm told this is important stuff. Me, I use math to write dirty words on my calculator. ( 33 ) - 9 weeks ago in science, math, and mathematics |
blocked access to the ICQ network to alternative clients (ICQ Starts Blocking Alternative Clients)An anonymous reader writes "It appears that since yesterday ICQ has blocked access to the ICQ network to alternative clients. Users of QIP, Adium, and other clients are getting a 'The client version you are using is too old. Please upgrade'. No comment yet from ICQ or AOL." blocked access to the ICQ network to alternative clients (ICQ Starts Blocking Alternative Clients)An anonymous reader writes "It appears that since yesterday ICQ has blocked access to the ICQ network to alternative clients. Users of QIP, Adium, and other clients are getting a 'The client version you are using is too old. Please upgrade'. No comment yet from ICQ or AOL." ( 116 ) - 9 weeks ago in mainpage |
conduct a wide-ranging study of victims of the crime (FTC Recruiting Identity Theft Victims)coondoggie writes "In an effort to buttress its enforcement and better understand the scourge that is identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission said today its plans to conduct a wide-ranging study of victims of the crime. The FTC is looking for people harmed by the crime and said the survey will examine the remedies available to victims under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). Among other things, the FACT Act gave consumers the right to place fraud alerts on their credit files if they are, or suspect they may become, victims of identity theft; block information on their credit reports that resulted from identity theft; and obtain copies of their credit reports free of charge." Layer 8:FTC recruiting identity theft victimsconduct a wide-ranging study of victims of the crime (FTC Recruiting Identity Theft Victims)coondoggie writes "In an effort to buttress its enforcement and better understand the scourge that is identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission said today its plans to conduct a wide-ranging study of victims of the crime. The FTC is looking for people harmed by the crime and said the survey will examine the remedies available to victims under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). Among other things, the FACT Act gave consumers the right to place fraud alerts on their credit files if they are, or suspect they may become, victims of identity theft; block information on their credit reports that resulted from identity theft; and obtain copies of their credit reports free of charge." ( 11 ) - 9 weeks ago in tech, and itbwbuffer |
raises questions regarding the transforming nature of the Web (Is Today's Web Still 'the Web'?)snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister raises questions regarding the transforming nature of the Web now that Tim Berners-Lee's early vision has been supplanted by today's much more complex model. AJAX, Google Web Toolkit, Flash and Silverlight all have McAllister asking, 'Is [the Web] still the Web if you can't navigate directly to specific content? Is it still the Web if the content can't be indexed and searched? Is it still the Web if you can only view the application on certain clients or devices? Is it still the Web if you can't view source?' Such questions bely a much bigger question for Web developers, McAllister writes. If today's RIAs no longer resemble the 'Web,' then should we be shoehorning these apps into the Web's infrastructure, or is the problem that the client platforms simply aren't evolving fast enough to meet our needs?" If the point of 'The Web' is to allow direct links between any 2 points, is today's web something entirely different? Fatal Exception | Neil McAllister | InfoWorld | Is the Web still the Web? | July 3, 2008 03:00 AM | Neil McAllisterFor developers of RIAs (rich Internet applications), Adobe's announcement that Google and Yahoo will soon be able to index text within Flash movies should come as welcome news. ( 1 , 2 ) raises questions regarding the transforming nature of the Web (Is Today's Web Still 'the Web'?)snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister raises questions regarding the transforming nature of the Web now that Tim Berners-Lee's early vision has been supplanted by today's much more complex model. AJAX, Google Web Toolkit, Flash and Silverlight all have McAllister asking, 'Is [the Web] still the Web if you can't navigate directly to specific content? Is it still the Web if the content can't be indexed and searched? Is it still the Web if you can only view the application on certain clients or devices? Is it still the Web if you can't view source?' Such questions bely a much bigger question for Web developers, McAllister writes. If today's RIAs no longer resemble the 'Web,' then should we be shoehorning these apps into the Web's infrastructure, or is the problem that the client platforms simply aren't evolving fast enough to meet our needs?" If the point of 'The Web' is to allow direct links between any 2 points, is today's web something entirely different? ( 15 ) - 9 weeks ago in blog, web, article, flash, and tech |
Pluribo (An App to Boil Down Online User Reviews)An anonymous reader writes "Is this a glimpse at the future of the Semantic Web? A new startup named Pluribo has developed a technology that can auto-summarize user reviews on the internet. It is a Firefox extension that can take a webpage filled with reviews and condense it down into a couple of sentences. Currently, it just works with Amazon electronics, but the potential seems incredible. Ars Technica took an in-depth look." PLURIBO: Instant summaries of Amazon user reviews.a Firefox extension for Amazon reviews. The plugin automatically culls through every review on a given product and generates a concise two sentence summary that highlights the most common positive and negative comments. ( 5 , 30 ) Pluribo (An App to Boil Down Online User Reviews)An anonymous reader writes "Is this a glimpse at the future of the Semantic Web? A new startup named Pluribo has developed a technology that can auto-summarize user reviews on the internet. It is a Firefox extension that can take a webpage filled with reviews and condense it down into a couple of sentences. Currently, it just works with Amazon electronics, but the potential seems incredible. Ars Technica took an in-depth look." ( 40 ) Our mission here at Pluribo is to help people understand inf...Our mission here at Pluribo is to help people understand information faster.One area where information overload can be particularly painful is when sorting through product reviews. When you're researching which digital camera to buy or which toaster is best for your kitchen, there's just too much information out there. Although Amazon's millions of reviews are a terrific way of learning about other people's real-life experiences, reading all those reviews can be extremely time-consuming.Certainly, we thought, there must be a way to use technology to make better sense of all those opinions. Rather than having to read through endless reviews and manually figure out the most important lessons, wouldn't it be nice if they could be summarized automatically? Could there be some way of boiling down all those opinions into a single collective voice? In that moment, when we asked ourselves that question, Pluribo was born.Towards this goal, we've spent the last year building a novel system that can automatically read reviews and generate an accurate summary. Our technology builds on decades of research in Artificial Intelligence. But don't worry about all the technical details. All that matters is that Pluribo can save you time and help you more quickly discover key insights from user reviews. Take the extra hours of your life that you've liberated and enjoy them. Only then will we consider ourselves a success. ( 1 ) - 9 weeks ago in tools, reviews, tech, review, and shopping |
OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner (OpenMoko In Stores On July 4)ruphus13 writes "July 4 will be day when OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner will be available to US consumers. Being Open Source, it is modifiable down to the core. From the article: 'The FreeRunner is based on a GNU/Linux, and it will initially ship with basic software to make calls, send and receive SMS, and manage contacts. But the company is encouraging users to write and install their own applications. Software updates will add features to the phone over time, and the company said an August update will enable location-based services.'" openmoko.com | ProductsAn opensource phone with wifi built-in, available now ( 2 , 13 ) OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner (OpenMoko In Stores On July 4)ruphus13 writes "July 4 will be day when OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner will be available to US consumers. Being Open Source, it is modifiable down to the core. From the article: 'The FreeRunner is based on a GNU/Linux, and it will initially ship with basic software to make calls, send and receive SMS, and manage contacts. But the company is encouraging users to write and install their own applications. Software updates will add features to the phone over time, and the company said an August update will enable location-based services.'" ( 25 ) - 9 weeks ago in diy, linux, phone, mobile, and cellphone |
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identifying the most influential of a circle of friends (Google Seeking "FriendRank" Patent)theodp writes "In its just-published patent application for Network Node Ad Targeting, Google hatches plans for identifying the most influential of a circle of friends and providing this 'influencer' with 'financial incentives from advertisers in exchange for permission to display advertisements on the member's [social network] profile' (sound familiar, Jeremy?). Doing so will 'provide advertisers with the option of targeting either all members in the community or advertising only on the profile of the influencer, thereby targeting the entire community,' explains Google. Who says you can't buy friendship!" identifying the most influential of a circle of friends (Google Seeking "FriendRank" Patent)theodp writes "In its just-published patent application for Network Node Ad Targeting, Google hatches plans for identifying the most influential of a circle of friends and providing this 'influencer' with 'financial incentives from advertisers in exchange for permission to display advertisements on the member's [social network] profile' (sound familiar, Jeremy?). Doing so will 'provide advertisers with the option of targeting either all members in the community or advertising only on the profile of the influencer, thereby targeting the entire community,' explains Google. Who says you can't buy friendship!" ( 16 ) - 9 weeks ago in tech |
interview with Don Woods (Interview With Author of the First Spoof Language)An anonymous reader brings us Computerworld's interview with Don Woods, one of the creators of Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym (INTERCAL). INTERCAL and its documentation were created in 1972 as a parody of that era's languages and instruction manuals. Among other things, Woods had this to say: "We designed the language without too much trouble. Writing the manual took a while, especially for things like the circuit diagrams we included as nonsensical illustrations. The compiler itself actually wasn't too much trouble, given that we weren't at all concerned with optimising the performance of either the compiler or the compiled code. I admit I'm surprised at its longevity. Some of the jokes in the original work feel rather dated at this point. It helps that the language provides a place where people can discuss oddball features missing from other languages, such as the 'COME FROM' statement and operators that work in base 3." interview with Don Woods (Interview With Author of the First Spoof Language)An anonymous reader brings us Computerworld's interview with Don Woods, one of the creators of Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym (INTERCAL). INTERCAL and its documentation were created in 1972 as a parody of that era's languages and instruction manuals. Among other things, Woods had this to say: "We designed the language without too much trouble. Writing the manual took a while, especially for things like the circuit diagrams we included as nonsensical illustrations. The compiler itself actually wasn't too much trouble, given that we weren't at all concerned with optimising the performance of either the compiler or the compiled code. I admit I'm surprised at its longevity. Some of the jokes in the original work feel rather dated at this point. It helps that the language provides a place where people can discuss oddball features missing from other languages, such as the 'COME FROM' statement and operators that work in base 3." ( 9 ) - 9 weeks ago in developers |