By now we know that basically every manufacturer in the world has been trying—and
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Thursday, October 17, 2013
Nokia's 'Facet' Smartwatch Concept Is an Insane Multi-Display Bracelet
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The Word E-Book Should Be Replaced With CodeX
Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
When's the last time you sat down to read a book for several hours? Or even one hour? We are both card-carrying humanities scholars, but even we can barely scrape 15 minutes together for sustained engagement with a text. And yet humans are reading now more than ever when you think about the billions of hours we collectively spend on email, Facebook, Twitter, texting, sexting, and reading illicit things online. This is more than just information overload: When we change how we read, we are changing our brains. Researchers have proposed that we play out literary scenarios with mirror neurons and fire up complex, full-brain patterns of activity when asked to practice “close reading,” in contrast to the patterns associated with reading for pleasure.
Neurological effects, different types of media, totally new reading habits—just a few reasons why e-reading is a fundamentally different experience than curling up with a dead-tree book. Print books are a highly refined technology that isn't going anywhere soon, but there are ways in which the digital is superior to the old-fangled, and vice versa: They’re horses of different colors.
And yet publishers keep trying to re-create the print experience online, with the faux wood of the iOS bookstore and the fake page-turning animations on many e-readers. It’s time for that to end. We need to embrace digital reading as its own medium, not just a book under glass. That means imagining a new language for reading as an experience, starting with a new word to use instead of book.
It’s still no easy trick to figure out a name for this thing, though. At the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, we acted as ringmasters for a crack team of novelists, journalists, and publishers conducting a gonzo experiment in the future of publishing. Our project, Sprint Beyond the Book, aimed to upend the publishing industry’s centuries-old model for book production. We wrote in public, on the crowded and noisy floor of the fair. We moved from concept to final product in just 72 hours. We crowdsourced the writing, featuring dozens of contributions collected through our website. We shot and embedded videos throughout. We’re even giving the thing away for free. But despite our pretensions to renegade chic, we couldn’t stop returning to the word book to talk about what we were building. (Disclosure: We work for Arizona State University; ASU is a partner with Slate and the New America Foundation in Future Tense. Sprint Beyond the Book is part of a research project funded by Intel Labs.)
The fact is that every other name we came up with sounded boring or silly. Text was a strong early contender—after all, it’s used by humanities geeks like us to refer to everything from political speeches and Hungarian rap lyrics to recipes for gumbo. Sadly, it’s totally misleading: We’re hurtling toward a future in which reading means making decisions, watching videos, writing back, and getting lost in vast virtual spaces. Book system is too stodgy (as are reading system, platform, and service) and doesn’t even get rid of the word book. We gleefully entertained and discarded many bad ideas like graphies. Some of us liked plat, a shortening of platform that sounds like something out of a Golden Age science fiction story, but the more we said it, the more it sounded like a comic book sound effect for something gross.
Rather than grope forward, we decided to look back. With some trepidation, we would like to nominate codex, a word with a rich history that most of us don’t know anything about. Codex, derived from the Latin caudex (meaning “trunk of a tree”) even happens to contain the English word code, which will be central to the future of reading in a variety of ways. The things we’ll be reading in the future will not only involve a lot of programming; they’ll also require readers to decode complex, multilayered experiences and encode their own ideas as contributions in a variety of creative ways. Since standard printed books are technically codices, we propose (with significantly more trepidation) to distinguish our variant with one of those annoying midword capitals: codeX, to remind us that these new things involve experience, experimentation, expostulation … you know, all those X things.
This also works nicely because it reminds us of the X-Men and the X Games: We see the future of reading as an arena with the social dynamics of competition and play, scoring points and showing off, rather than a LeVar Burton rainbow of love and generosity. (Twitter works like this now, as a performance space where we’re all more or less openly vying for the award for “most clever person on the Internet this minute.”) Books have always been potent weapons in the cultural battlefield for prestige and distinction, and they won’t magically turn into utopian spaces anytime soon. At the risk of sounding too academic, we think the X highlights the jousting and (hopefully friendly) conflict inherent to digital reading.
From social reading platforms like Medium to digital pop-up books like 2012’s Between Page and Screen, we’re already building the future of reading, and there’s no going back. So let’s agree on a new term and stop pretending these utterly new ways of reading are anything like the singular and lovely experience of thumbing through a printed book.
This article arises from Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, visit the Future Tense blog and the Future Tense home page. You can also follow us on Twitter.
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/10/we_need_a_new_word_for_e_book_here_s_one_idea_beyondthebook.html
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Hillary Clinton Honored For Her Work On HIV/AIDS
NEW YORK (AP) — Elton John has honored Hillary Rodham Clinton for her work to help those affected by HIV/AIDS at an annual event for his foundation.
Clinton was excited as she accepted the first founders award from the Elton John AIDS Foundation Tuesday night in New York City. The former secretary of state told the crowd at Cipriani's restaurant that "we still have so far to go" when it comes to helping those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Billy Joel, Alec Baldwin and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also attended the black tie event. Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Heart performed a dozen songs.
John's foundation is celebrating its 20th year. The pop icon says he will continue to be "stubborn" when it comes to finding ways to help those affected by AIDS.
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AP: In Special Election, Cory Booker Wins N.J. Senate Seat
Newark Mayor Cory Booker greets a supporter after casting his vote in a special U.S. Senate election on Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey.
John Moore/Getty Images
Newark Mayor Cory Booker greets a supporter after casting his vote in a special U.S. Senate election on Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey.
John Moore/Getty Images
The Associated Press projects that Newark Mayor Cory Booker will win a special election for the New Jersey Senate seat left vacant after the death of Frank Lautenberg.
With 55 percent of the precincts counted, Booker, a Democrat, has a commanding 11-point lead over Steven Lonegan.
Booker will succeed Gov. Chris Christie's interim appointee, Republican Jeff Chiesa, and will have to run again in 2014 for a full six-year term.
The AP adds:
"Booker, 44, will become the first black senator from New Jersey and heads to Washington with an unusual political resume. He was raised in suburban Harington Park as the son of two of the first black IBM executives, and graduated from Stanford and law school at Yale with a stint in between as a Rhodes Scholar before moving to one of Newark's toughest neighborhoods with the intent of doing good.
"He's been an unconventional politician, a vegetarian with a Twitter following of 1.4 million — or five times the population of the city he governs. With dwindling state funding, he has used private fundraising, including a $100 million pledge from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, to run programs in Newark, a strategy that has brought his city resources and him both fame and criticism."
Booker is also a rising star in the Democratic party.
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Iran, world powers pledge new nuclear talks
Geneva (AFP) - World powers and Iran agreed Wednesday to hold fresh talks next month on its nuclear programme, after Tehran made what it dubbed a breakthrough proposal that could allow spot checks on its nuclear sites.
Iran said it was hopeful for a "new phase in our relations" with the international community after two days of talks hailed by the White House as showing a greater level of "seriousness and substance" than ever before.
Germany was also positive, saying the latest talks had boosted hope for a diplomatic solution but a wary Russia warned there was "no reason to break into applause."
"It was decided to convene the next meeting in Geneva on November 7 and 8," European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters.
She read from what she underlined was an unprecedented joint statement agreed with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and herself as chair of the international negotiating team.
The EU is at the helm of the so-called P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany -- which has spent years trying to reach a deal with Iran amid fears that it is developing nuclear weapons.
The Islamic republic vehemently denies that and insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
The statement described this week's Geneva talks as "substantive and forward-looking", calling Iran's plan a "proposed basis for negotiation" and "important contribution".
The talks were the first between all parties' nuclear negotiators since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, seen as a relative moderate, succeeded conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August.
They ended a six-month freeze over Iran's refusal to curb uranium enrichment in exchange for easing the international sanctions battering its economy.
Amid signs of a thaw with the international community, Rouhani has pledged transparency on the nuclear programme and engagement with major powers to try to remove the sanctions.
"We hope that this a beginning of a new phase in our relations," Zarif told reporters.
While the details remain under wraps, Iran's lead nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said its proposal involved "proportionate and reciprocal steps by both sides".
After an hour-long presentation Tuesday by Iran's team -- in English, a first in the nuclear talks -- Araqchi said the proposal had the "capacity to make a breakthrough".
Iran's plan contains three steps that could settle the nuclear dispute "within a year", Araqchi has said, the first achievable "within a month or two, or even less".
He said that snap inspections of Iran's atomic facilities were part of the last step.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Iran's presentation at the talks was "useful", showing a "level of seriousness and substance that we have not seen before."
In Geneva, a senior US official said: "I have never had such a detailed, straightforward, candid conversation with the Iranian delegation."
But there was a note of caution.
"The devil is truly in the detail in this particular subject... Although we got more today than we've ever gotten, there is a whole more that we need to get. Probably a whole lot more Iran wants to get from us."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the talks had "reinforced hope that a diplomatic solution is possible to completely calm our concerns about the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme."
'No reason for applause'
But Russian negotiator Sergei Ryabkov was less than upbeat.
"The talks were difficult, sometimes intense, and sometimes unpredictable. One of the reasons is the extremely low level of mutual trust –- practically the absence of the required level of trust," he said.
Ryabkov agreed that the results were better than April's round in Kazakhstan -- when Ahmadinejad was in power, and the talks hit the wall.
"But this does not guarantee further progress. There is no reason to break into applause. Things could have worked out better," he said.
Iran has already drawn red lines, saying it will not accept demands to suspend uranium enrichment or ship stockpiles of purified material abroad.
"We will not back down on our rights," Zarif said.
"At the same time we feel there is no need for concerns about our nuclear program... It is logical to remove any concerns though," he added.
Araqchi said: "We entered into details about the first and final steps... Differences still exist and there are a number of them. But we are on a path to bridge those differences".
The rapprochement comes after Zarif held a landmark meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry during the UN General Assembly in New York last month, when Rouhani also spoke on the telephone with US President Barack Obama.
While Western negotiators insist they will never leave room for Iran to develop atomic weapons, Israel, the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed power, has sounded the alarm over the thaw.
Israel's International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz said Wednesday the country was watching the talks "with hope and with concern".
"We see the worrying signs and we don't want Geneva 2013 to turn into Munich 1938," he said on Israel's army radio, referring to Britain and France's failed bid to avert war by agreeing to Nazi Germany's annexation of swathes of Czechoslovakia.
Israel has not ruled out a military strike to halt Iran's nuclear drive.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/geneva-nuclear-talks-herald-phase-ties-iran-161917680.html
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Cerberus explores acquiring BlackBerry
October 16, 2013
Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is reportedly considering a bid to acquire all of ailing BlackBerry.
The Bloomberg news service, citing a person close to the situation, reported Wednesday that Cerberus is in the early stages of weighing an offer and has signed an agreement with BlackBerry to gain access to its financial information for more insights.
[ Get expert advice regarding your BYOD strategy with InfoWorld's 29-page "Mobile and BYOD Deep Dive" PDF special report. | For a quick, smart take on the news you'll be talking about, check out InfoWorld TechBrief -- subscribe today. ]
BlackBerry and Cerberus did not comment on the report.
Cerberus sees BlackBerry as a viable business that can be turned around, even as BlackBerry reported a third-quarter loss of nearly $1 billion due to slack smartphone sales. The phone maker plans to lay off 4,500 of its 12,500 workers. Cerberus specializes in investments in distressed companies.
Last week, BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to take over all or part of BlackBerry, while Fairfax Financial Holdings made a preliminary offer in September to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion. Fairfax owns 10 percent of BlackBerry, while the founders own 8 percent.
This article, Cerberus explores acquiring BlackBerry, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.
See more by Matt Hamblen on Computerworld.com.
Read more about smartphones in Computerworld's Smartphones Topic Center.
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Banksy Unveils A Ronald McDonald Sculpture In NYC
'Better Out Than In' Continues to Unfold
On Monday we learned that mysterious street artist Banksy orchestrated an art stunt on the streets of NYC over the weekend that no one knew what was really going on until after it was all said and done. Today we get to see the latest art stunt that Banksy has unleashed upon the Big Apple as his ongoing Better Out Than In art residency in NYC rolls on. Banksy has been spray painting art pieces all over NYC in the past couple of weeks but has, today, unveiled a new sculpture as part of his art residency. Ronald McDonald is the subject of Banksy‘s latest art piece, check it out in full below and see what Banksy has come up with now.
For the 16th day of “Better Out Than In,” Banksy has tackled a familiar subject: corporate business and McDonald’s in particular. Dubbed Shoeshine, the new piece is the controversial street artist’s latest commentary on big business and depicts “the powerful figure of Ronald McDonald waving impassively as his ridiculously oversized clown shoes are buffed to a fine shine.” Appearing today in the South Bronx, Shoeshine is set to make its way to a different McDonalds around the city at lunchtime for the next week as its fiberglass shoe is shined by a “real live boy.”
The sculpture is impressive, particularly since it comes with a real live “boy”. It’s clear that Banksy has quite a few tricks up his sleeve and he is clearly having fun with this project. I’m sure how it works logistically to haul this huge sculpture all over town but I do like the concept. I must admit, I’m really jealous that NYC is getting all of the fun. I doubt that Banksy will bring his show to LA anytime soon but even tho it’s not as fun as being there, getting to watch this art residency unfold online is kind of neat. Love it or hate it, Banksy is really turning the art world on its head. It looks like Banksy is trying to be the Andy Warhol of our generation. I think he’s doing a pretty decent job thus far.
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