Silicon Republic is reporting that ALTO, the Alternative Licensed Telecoms Operators group whose membership includes BT Ireland, Magnet Networks, NTL, Chorus, Smart Telecom, Budget Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Colt Telecom, Complete Networks, Digiweb, ESB Telecoms, Verizon and 3 Play Plus, dissaproves of the “draconian deal” struck between Eircom and EMI which would put customers at risk of having their Internet connection cut off after a 3 strikes and your out rule.
While we obviously do not condone illegal downloading or any illegality on or over the internet, we firmly disapprove of any draconian measures that would compromise the privacy, speed or services offered to broadband users. We do not need measures to further impede the development of next generation broadband in Ireland – Ronan Lupton of ALTO
Here’s a modular robot from the University of Pennsylvania that can reassemble itself after being kicked into pieces. This is the second video I’ve seen of a robot that responds in a surprising way to its master’s kick. The first video was of the Big Dog pack robot. “
My immediate reaction was that we’re not that far off making real life replicators ala Stargate.
GamaSutra reports that AMD has released a toolkit for game developers to develop games which are social-issues oriented. The toolkit, ‘Let the Games Begin: A Toolkit 4 Making Social Issue Games’ proposes to enable game developers games on subjects such as energy consumption, poverty, health, and environment issues.
The IrishTimes reports that Eircom has settled a lawsuit with EMI Records that puts all of its customers’ connection to the net at the will of EMI with a 3 strikes and your out policy. After 3 unsubstantiated accusations of copyright threat by EMI, Eircom will disconnect customers from the Internet.
We live in a world where connectivity to the Internet is as important as the ability to use public roads. How safe would you feel if your car could be taken away from you after 3 unsubstantiated accusals?
Business Week via Gizmodo reports that the reason RIM’s BlackBerry Storm is pricier ($203) to make than Apple’s monsterously popular iPhone ($175) is down to a $35 Qualcomm IC which gives the Storm its advantageous CMDA abilities in addition to other components’ costs.
