Friday,
Jun
12,

FocuSoft Tech Blog

FocuSoft Tech Blog


Font Bureau takes credit for Palm’s custom ‘Prelude’ fonts; our hearts melt

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:48 PM PDT

66ec264a81lude 1.jpg Font Bureau takes credit for Palms custom Prelude fonts; our hearts melt

Normally we’re just happy to be able to read a bit of legible text on a mobile device — maybe with a bit of anti-aliasing tossed in — but we really have to hand it to Palm for the truly stunning and readable set of fonts in webOS. Apparently we have Boston-based Font Bureau to thank, who developed the all-new “Prelude” sans serif font family for the device, along with a related “Apres” set for print and marketing. The project was lead by Font Bureau co-founder David Berlow, who has also developed fonts for Microsoft and Apple in the past.

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Font Bureau takes credit for Palm’s custom ‘Prelude’ fonts; our hearts melt originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Psystar: We’ll gladly pay you tomorrow for 581 copies of Leopard today

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:30 PM PDT

jughaid

Picking apart the bankrupt Psystar corpse has revealed a debt of $75,000 to Apple for "Unsecured Nonpriority Claims," whatever thoseare. Nobody knows what exactly that might be for, although some savvy mathemagicians have decided it might be for 581 (and a half) copies of Leopard. Not knowing Psystar's actual sales volume, that number means practically nothing. Did they maybe order all those copies and never pay? Or was that just the unsold ones left over after Apple caught them up in the ongoing legal tiff?

Psystar isn't saying, probably because it's got more important things to deal with (and quite a bit more debt to settle). Apple is quiet, too. Maybe it's something shady? I'm going to say no. Probably just regular debt.

Looking and the smoking wreckage of Psystar certainly drives the point home, though: if you want a Hackintosh, do it yourself. Two of my friends have just put OS X onto sub-$400 netbooks and they love it. Contact your local geek if you're interested.

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Psystar: We'll gladly pay you tomorrow for 581 copies of Leopard today


Holocaust Museum Death Won’t Change Facebook’s Mind On Hate – But Advertisers May Be Able To

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:16 PM PDT

9adf0796a1minoes.jpg Holocaust Museum Death Won't Change Facebook's Mind On Hate   But Advertisers May Be Able To

Earlier this week a Holocaust denier shot and killed a guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. Facebook didn't change its policy on allowing Holocause denial groups on site, even though one group quickly put up a cartoon mocking the event.

If attacks on Jews by Holocaust deniers won't be enough to sway Facebook that this is all hate speech, perhaps angry advertisers will do the trick. Brian Cuban has been tracking advertisers who have insisted their ads don't show up anywhere near Holocaust denial pages on Facebook, and at least one who doesn't want ads to be placed on profiles of people who are members of such groups.

Vodafone, Tesco, American Airlines and Domino's Pizza have pulled advertising, says Cuban.

Domino's Pizza's Social Media Specialist Phil Lozen wrote to Cuban saying that "initially, Facebook was pushing back on their ability to block ads" from some of the pages. But as of today even pages showing search results for hate groups won't have Dominoes ads. He also says that Dominoes would not have purchased ads at all if they knew of the possibility of their ads appearing near Holocaust denial pages.

What we really need are a set of large advertisers to boycott Facebook entirely until these groups are banned. There's a reason why eBay and other private companies won't let this kind of hate speech on their sites. It's bad for business. And as soon as Facebook realizes that, they'll change their policy. Then look for lots of talk from Facebook employees about how proud they are that their company did the right thing – [insert current policy here].

And for those of you who will argue that the best way to handle hate is to shine a light on it, debate these people openly, and generally assume that reason will prevail: you're wrong. Read this USA Today opinion piece that is talking about the steady rise of hate groups in the U.S. – "the Internet gives formerly isolated racists, whether individuals or small groups, a means to stoke one another's smoldering anger. With the ready availability of weapons, even a single person can do enormous harm."

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Holocaust Museum Death Won't Change Facebook's Mind On Hate – But Advertisers May Be Able To


SDXC set to blow your mind next year, with 64GB capacity out of the gate

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:13 PM PDT

99d1beed70types.jpg SDXC set to blow your mind next year, with 64GB capacity out of the gate

Kevin Schader, director of communications for the SD Association and all-around great guy, just stated that SDXC cards should be hitting us as early as next year, with a 64GB capacity to begin with. The spec was released to member companies in April, and though Pretec has been parading around a 32GB card, we haven’t had a release window of any sort before now. Naturally, it’s going to be a slow build up to the theoretical limits of SDXC, with 52MB per second speeds and 64GB cards, instead of the 300MB per second, 2TB cards of our dreams, but we promise not to complain too much along the way.

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SDXC set to blow your mind next year, with 64GB capacity out of the gate originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shure debuts over the ear cans, SRH240

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:00 PM PDT

site_image_srh240_l

At the London International Music Show, Shure introduced a set of headphones that are perfect for "general listening." The SRH240s feature 40mm neodymium dynamic drivers that promise to reproduce "deep bass with clear mids and highs." Weighing in at 181 grams, the SRH240 headphones will be available next month for roughly $115.

Shure also rolled out two other high-end headphones, the Professional Studio SRH440 and the Professional Monitoring SRH840. No details on either of these other than specs listed on the Shure site.

via Pocket-Lint

Shure SRH240
SRH440
SRH840

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Shure debuts over the ear cans, SRH240


Rumor: Samsung GX-30 or NX-series set for July 7th launch

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:00 PM PDT

It seems a day doesn't go by without some new technology rumor. But hey, it keeps things exciting. Today, there's a rumor going around on the Pentax Forums that Samsung will be releasing the GX-30 very soon.

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The GX-30 is set to be the successor to the GX-20, a DSLR camera. The suspected launch date is July 7th. Interestingly enough, we heard last month that the GX-30 would be launching in June but nothing has come of that yet.

However, not everyone thinks it's the GX-30 set to launch. Others are set on the idea that the NX-series will be making it's debut next month. Of course, nothing official has been revealed by Samsung just yet, so for now all we can do is speculate.


Relevant Entries on SlashGear

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Rumor: Samsung GX-30 or NX-series set for July 7th launch


The Scratch DJ Controller Promises to Teach You to Fake DJ [Gaming]

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:00 PM PDT

726b222905DJ vid.jpg The Scratch DJ Controller Promises to Teach You to Fake DJ [Gaming]

While makers of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ were relatively quiet at E3, declining the opportunity to demo their game/controller on the show floor, a new promo video gives us a closer look at the package.

In this clip, the Numark Scratch Deck looks fun enough to use, but maybe more importantly, Numark promises that their toy turntable can teach you skills that are “transferable to any DJ setup.” (We doubt that, but given that our own knowledge of mixing is pretty limited, any real DJs in the audience are invited to run that comment through their BS filter in the comments.) Maybe the game will offer some passing entertainment, but we still can’t help but recall our Beatmania controller whenever we look at the thing. [Kotaku]

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The Scratch DJ Controller Promises to Teach You to Fake DJ [Gaming]


Dotcom Hangover: Amazon Pays $51 Million To End Long-Standing Battle With Toys “R” Us

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 02:51 PM PDT

241601667cfight.jpg Dotcom Hangover: Amazon Pays $51 Million To End Long Standing Battle With Toys

Back at the height of the dotcom bubble, Amazon was signing lucrative deals with traditional retailers to be their online store. One of the biggest such deals was with Toys "R" Us. It was announced with much fanfare in 2000 and was supposed to last a decade. Toys "R" US would handle the toy buying and inventory management, Amazon would handle the Website.

It made sense until, oh, about 2004, when Toys "R" us filed a lawsuit for breach of contract. While Amazon was perfectly happy to be the exclusive online presence for Toys "R" Us, it didn't feel that it had agreed to make Toys "R" Us the exclusive of provider of toys on Amazon. A New Jersey court ruled in favor of Toys "R" Us back in 2006. But only yesterday did Amazon finally settle with Toys "R" Us, agreeing to pay $51 million.

In an SEC filing Amazon states:

On June 11, 2009, Amazon.com entered into a settlement agreement in its lawsuit with Toys "R" Us, Inc., and its affiliates, with terms that include, among other things, (i) a one-time payment from Amazon.com of $51 million in the third quarter 2009, substantially all of which was unanticipated and will be charged to "Other operating expense" in the second quarter, (ii) dismissal of all claims and counterclaims, and (iii) mutual releases.

Nine years after the initial agreement, that particular dotcom hangover is finally over. It lasted almost as long as the original deal was supposed to be. The lesson here: don't hand a key part of your business to someone else, especially if it is where your growth is going to be coming from. That is the same as handing control over your destiny to someone else.

(Photo credit: Flickr/Daniel Chan).

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it's time for you to find a new Job2.0

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Dotcom Hangover: Amazon Pays $51 Million To End Long-Standing Battle With Toys "R" Us


Eizo FlexScan EV2333W-H LCD monitor announced

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 02:47 PM PDT

Eizo announced a new LCD monitor today called the FlexScan EV2333W-H. Measuring in at 23-inches and sporting a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, this 1080p display supplies an eco-friendly and practical monitor solution.

flexscanev2333w 480x432

What makes this display unique is that it has both a HDCP-protected DVI port and DisplayPort. Other inputs include VGA. With 300cd/m2 brightness and a 3,000:1 contrast ratio, it's equipped for a decent quality picture for everyday use.

Other specs include a 7ms pixel response time, a FlexStand with vertical adjustment and swivel capability and EcoView Sense, which is an infrared sensor that detects the brightness in the room and whether or not you're sitting in front of the computer, adjusting the screen's on-status and brightness accordingly. You can get the Eizo FlexScan EV2333W-H LCD monitor starting on July 16th in Japan for the equivalent of $560. There's been no word on a U.S. release just yet.


Relevant Entries on SlashGear

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Eizo FlexScan EV2333W-H LCD monitor announced


Video: Archos 9 tablet looks nice, may cost under $500 this fall

Posted: 12 Jun 2009 02:40 PM PDT

Ooh la la, here's video of the Archos 9, straight from a recent Archos event in Paris. The quick and dirty: about three hours battery life, Windows 7, 8.9-inch 1024×600 touchscreen, 80GB hard drive, 1.2 GHz Atom CPU, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, kickstand, onscreen keyboard, and SIM card slot for HSDPA.

Charbax from ArchosFans.com speculates that it'll cost under $500 here in the US when it launches in the fall. The European launch price is apparently 450 Euro ($632), but US consumers generally pay less since there's no VAT here.

[ArchosFans.com via SlashGear and via CrunchGear.com]


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