Apple Boss Had Liver Transplant

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee. An Apple spokesperson told the Journal that Jobs "continues to look forward to returning at the end of June, and there's nothing further to say." In January Jobs announced he was taking a 6 month medical leave of absence and according to CNet Jobs moved from California to Tennessee earlier this year, apparently because the State has a shorter waiting list for patients seeking organs.

Source: CNet

New Bill To Give Police Access To Personal Data Without Warrant

At a news conference in Ottawa yesterday, Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan announced new bills aimed at providing law enforcement virtually unrestricted access to information gathered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) regarding their customers and their activities online.

According to this CBC article:

"One bill, announced by Van Loan, would require telecommunications and internet service providers to:

• Install and maintain "intercept-capable" equipment on their networks.
• Provide police with "timely access" to personal information about subscribers, including names, address and internet addresses, without the need for a warrant.

Van Loan said the bill won't provide new interception powers to police, but simply update the legal framework designed "in the era of the rotary telephone."

He noted that police can already get the authority to intercept communications, but the network is often incapable of allowing such interception."

In addition a second bill introduced would:

• Allow law enforcement officials to obtain transmission data that is sent or received via telephone or internet if authorized by a production order or warrant
• Require telecommunications companies to keep data related to specific communications or subscribers if that information is needed in an investigation and requested via a preservation order.
• Make it a criminal offence for two or more people to agree to or arrange child sexual exploitation by means of telecommunications.
• Modernize the system for tracking warrants.

I'm all for police getting the tools they need to combat crime, however, "without the need for a warrant." seems a little scary to me...

iPhone 3.0 Upgrade Causing Some Owners Issues

The reports seem to be mixed over the newest version of the iPhone Operating System. Some users are excited and have reported no issues while others are frustrated after many failed attempts, dubbing the upgrade "iFail". According to the NYTimes Bit Blog "Reports are flooding Twitter and the Web that attempts to upgrade their devices to the latest version of the iPhone operating system are being hit with an error message stating that the “iPhone activation server is unavailable.”" Sounds to me like an indication of just how many iPhones are in the wild, Apple likely didn't expect all of you iPhone users to upgrade at once...

MySpace Lays Off 400

After the dust settles at MySpace the social networking site will be 400 employees fewer, leaving about 1000 in an attempt by Owen Van Natta (former Facebook executive who recently became CEO of the company) to return to a “start-up culture.” In a statement Van Natta said “Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company. I understand these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product.” The onetime leader in social networking sites, MySpace has taken a bit of a backseat to Facebook of late and it would appear is feeling the pinch.

Source: NYTimes

"Weird Al" Yankovic Pays Homage To The Doors And Craigslist

Weird Al is still making his parody music into an art form and this Doors / Craigslist tribute is no exception, perhaps my new all time favourites from Weird Al...

Dell Finding Sales Via Twitter

Dell seams to have found the right formula for making money via Twitter, attributing $3 million in sales to posts on the social networking site. According to PCWorld, "Dell Outlet uses Twitter to promote clearance sales, coupons, and other discount-related fodder... It also may provide a much-needed business model for Twitter by giving the social networking site a valid reason to charge for corporate accounts." Of course $3 million is not a huge sum where Dell is concerned but in these trying economic times it's nothing to sneeze at either. With some simple math we can deduce that @DellOutlet, which has some 600,000 followers, can place a value of $5 on each follower. Interesting...

Canadian Carriers Team Up To Offer Money Transfer Through Cellphones

The big 3 Canadian mobile phone carriers, Rogers, Bell, and Telus have collaborated to form a jointly owned company called EnStream LP. “The end vision is you can take your billfold or purse and stick it into your phone,” said David Robinson, vice-president of new business planning at Rogers Wireless.

According to the Globe and Mail, "The first step involves software called Zoompass, which customers can download from EnStream to their phones beginning Monday. It will let them draw up to $1,000 a day from their bank accounts and credit cards and send it to other individuals using the same software. Recipients will have instant access to the money, which will be held in trust by HSBC Bank Canada. Recipients will access funds by moving them to their own bank accounts or using a special MasterCard that will be credited instantaneously."

This type of transaction via mobile phones is not new globally, what appears to be new is the collaborative effort of the carriers which could, in my mind, have it's pro's and con's. Perhaps working together will keep the cost to consumers down, but we are talking about cell phone companies and banks here, neither of which have great reputations in that department...

MIT Team Develops Futuristic Bus Stops

Making its debut in October in Florence, Italy, the EyeStop is a new take on the traditional bus shelter. Providing such information as shortest bus routes, time to wait for in coming buses, air quality reports, and temperture, the EyeStop developed by the SENSEable City Lab at MIT will give commuters something to do while waiting for their ride. “You have a map where you just touch where you want to go and you will see in real time how to go there.” and “When there's lots of time, you will see a coffee cup so you can have a coffee before the bus arrives.” according to Carlo Ratti, head of the lab. EyeStop shelters will cost between US$5,000 for a basic EyeSpot – a pole designed for narrow streets – to $30,000 for a shelter with all the technology packed in.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Oline Gambling Players Have Money Frozen By Courts

Prosecutors in the US have gone to the courts to freeze the accounts of several payment processing companies that work with off shore gambling sites. The move has left millions of dollars payable to tens of thousands of players in accessible. Since the prosecutors have no jurisdiction over the gambling sites themselves, the new tactic is to cut off the cash by going after the companies that do operate within the US, the transaction processors. The effect is that it has become harder and harder for players to send payments or receive winnings, and that puts a clamp on the gaming sites and places doubt in the mind of players. “Now, you not only have to find a way to get money to a place you trust and that’s going to be honest, you have to get money back and hope it doesn’t get seized,” says I. Nelson Rose, a gambling law expert at Whittier Law School.

Source: NY Times Bits blog

iPhone 3G S Unveiled

At it's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple Inc. demoed it's next generation of iPhone dubbed the 3G S. The S apparently stands for Speed and it is reported to be as much as two times faster than it's predecessor the iPhone 3G. As for new features the iPhone 3G S is reported to have:

• The long anticipated Cut, copy and paste capability.
• Internet tethering, which allows the iPhone to share its 3G wireless network connection with laptop computers.
  
• Video recording ability.
  
• A three-megapixel camera with built-in autofocus and the ability to focus on individual objects by tapping their image on the screen.
  
• Voice control.
  
• A digital compass.
  
• A larger keyboard that can be accessed by rotating the phone into the "landscape" orientation.

Many of these features were obviously missing from the 3G and/or are found on competing devices and therefore causing mixed sentiment amongst reviewers.

The 3G S will sell in the United States for $199 for the 16 GB version and $299 for the 32 GB model. The 8 GB 3G model will remain in play for a reduced $99, all prices require a 2 year contract commitment. The Canadian prices are to be released on June 19th.

Source: CBC