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Woman Charged Heavily for Downloads
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Editorial, Internet, Music,
Back in October of 2007, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was charged with copyright infringement of 24 songs and decided to fight the Recording Industry Association of America and Capitol Records instead of settling. But now a jury has decided that she is guilty and must pay 1.92 million dollars, which comes out to about $80,000 per tune. While it is possible that the RIAA may still settle for less, Ms. Thomas-Rasset is only the first of 20,000 that may be brought to court and is certainly being used to tell us all that her action was a no-no bigtime.
Read More 
| Mashable
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Panasonic is giving away 30 products in 30 days on their Living in HD community site. You only have about a week left to win your choice of an MP-BD80 Blu-Ray Player, a 12.1 Megapixel LUMIX DMC-TS1 or a 16GB HDC-TM20 camcorder. Note that in order to enter the contest, you have to join the community with your email addy, a full profile and upload either a photo or video. This is a definite commitment.
Read More | Living in HD
Verizon Offers Incentives With FiOS Bundles
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Hot Deals, Internet,
In an effort to get even more customers for FiOS, Verizon is offering some incentives. From now until August 15, new customers can sign up for a triple bundle (FiOS Internet with a connection speed of 25/15 Mbps or higher, TV Extreme HD service and Essentials voice service.) They then have their choice of a free Compaq Mini netbook (except for S&H,) retailing at $299.99 for only or a free Flip Ultra camcorder. A triple bundle that includes 15/5 Mbps Internet allows purchase of the netbook for $99.99 or the free cam.
Read More | Verizon
Latest Gear Live Videos
HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web: First Web-Connected Printer Ever
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Internet, PC / Laptop, Peripherals,
HP just unveiled their HP PhotoSmart Premium with TouchSmart Web home printer. While that is a mouthful to say, we know, it actually turns out to be pretty cool technology for those of us who do still rely on a printer. The easiest way to describe it is, imagine if your printer had an iPhone-like control panel that was connected to the Internet, and controlled both the printer and could control and pull up web data for printing. That is what HP has put together here. Through the magic of HP Applications, you’ll be able to use the 4.33-inch control pad to pull up maps with directions, coupons, movie tickets, newspaper articles, are more. Even better, the apps are smart enough to know how best to print each piece of content, so all will usually look decent. If you have a Snapfish account, the printer can connect directly to that, and print photos…I know, thrilling. Luckily, the apps will be something that just about anyone can make, so the current limits that seem to be apparent as it pertains to which services you can use with this printer may actually fall to the wayside. The only barrier to companies spending time on making apps for this printer, though, are going to be in the numbers. The reason the Apple App Store has over 50,000 apps is because there are millions of iPhone and iPod touch units out there. We aren’t so sure that people will be rushing to buy the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web when it hits stores this fall, what with its $399 price tag, but hey, we are all for innovation, and HP has at least tried to do that with this product.
Read More | HP
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I’m glad I’ve never experienced the displeasure of losing a wallet or mobile device, but I know it’s something that happens all too often. Apple tried to make it a little easier to recover a stolen iPhone, with the MobileMe service Find My iPhone. In a nutshell, Find My iPhone shows you where your iPhone is physically located on a Google Map, and let’s you ping the phone with messages, even if it is in silent mode, in the hopes that someone will see the message and act on it. Of course, sometimes they will ignore it, thinking they’ve just scored themselves a free iPhone. That’s what happened to Kevin, who actually used Find My iPhone to chase down the thief who had his mobile device, in attempts to get it back on his own, without the help of law enforcement. It’s a fun read, because he could have been killed, depending on who the thief was!
Read More | The Intermittent Kevin
Video: iPhone 3GS Safari vs. Mac Firefox speed test
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Features, Handhelds, Internet, Portable Audio / Video, Software,
So, if you are wondering just how fast that iPhone 3GS really is, we’ve got something you may want to take a look at. In this video, we compare the speed of the iPhone 3GS at pulling up Gear Live in Mobile Safari, to that of an iMac doing the same in the latest version of Firefox. Forget about comparing iPhone 3GS browser speeds to the older iPhone 3G, this really shows off the power inside of the latest Apple smartphone.
More Now Use Internet for Health Information
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Science,
In a recent study from Pew and American Life Project, it was found that those who use the Internet for health information almost doubled in the last couple of years. Frequenters increased from 31% to 60%. The survey group contacted 2,253 people by landline and 502 by cellphone and found that 86% consult a health care professional while 68% ask friends or family. We expect that part of the reason is the high cost of health care these days. What the survey doesn’t say is how many of those are hypochondriacs who tend to jump to WebMD at the first sign of a rash.
Read More | ABC News
Iran Struggle Documented on Twitter
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Internet, Videos,
As further proof of the power of the Internet, Twitter has become a tool for the political struggle in Iran since the recent election. Users think it is so important to the cause that they asked them not to shut down for scheduled maintenance. Co-founder Biz Stone reports that they had worked out a deal with its network provider, NTT America. You can check out what is happening on the site Iran elections. Of course, you can also find video on YouTube as there is a constant streaming from cell phones in the area.
Read More | Forbes
Last weekend, Facebook users clamored to get a personalized Web address. Within the first 15 minutes, about half a million had grabbed a vanity URLs. With one, a user will be able to make a personal home page similar to those on MySpace. Facebook says it will now be easier to find profiles via searching. There are some restrictions, such as celebrity and brand names, politicians and those with profanity. Only those who had an account before June 9 can claim an addy.
Read More | USA Today
Replace your annoying “You’ve got mail” announcement with the Email Notifier. When one arrives, the small device lights up and flashes to tell you the good (or not so good) news. Attach to your USB port with no external batteries or power source needed, and use it for both your home and business accounts. The notifier is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista and most POP email services for GBP 13.99 (~$23.00.)
Read More | Lazybone
