Everything You Need to Know About Android 2.0
Digg Tech • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 7:50 a.m.
Android 2.0 (formerly codenamed Eclair) is the latest evolution of the mobile OS developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. This version is a chunky upgrade, superseding the current Android 1.6 software (dubbed Donut), which was actually considered "a minor platform release."

 
MacHeist Offers NanoBundle Worth $154, for FREE!
Digg Tech • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 7:38 a.m.
The biggest Mac software bundle makers are offering a what appears to be prelude to their christmas bundle, for free. The list includes: Shovebox, Twitterrific, Writeroom ,TinyGrab, Hordes of Orcs, MarinerWrite. There is no catch, just register and download.
 
Managed Copy hits Blu-ray Discs December 4th, but you still can't use it
Engadget • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 7:34 a.m.
Managed Copy demo
The egg had to come before the chicken right? Well either way, one of 'em came first and in the case of the latest Blu-ray feature, Managed Copy enabled Blu-ray Discs will come before the hardware. Less than five months since AACS was finalized and the details of Managed Copy were revealed and so far we've only seen one demo and not a single product announcement. This doesn't surprise us, but AACS-LA is apparently surprised because although all Blu-ray Discs sold after December 4th have no choice but to allow at least one copy to be made, the requirement to label the packaging as such has been postponed until Spring of next year. We'd expect at least a few products that support Managed Copy to be announced at CES and although we highly doubt any stand-alone Blu-ray players will sport this feature anytime soon, we do have our hopes on PC software and expect a few movie jukebox devices like Kaleidescape -- that we won't be able to afford -- will be announced at the big show in Vegas.

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Managed Copy hits Blu-ray Discs December 4th, but you still can't use it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rite of Passage (COMIC)
Digg Tech • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 7:30 a.m.
That's how it always starts...
 
Skype's Legal Situation Clears
Slashdot • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 7:13 a.m.
chill writes "Skype's co-founders, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, have agreed to transfer ownership of the remaining Skype technology that eBay didn't own, paving the way for eBay to complete its sale of a majority stake in Skype to an investor consortium. In exchange, Friis and Zennstrom will join the investor consortium and obtain a 14 percent stake in Skype. The other consortium partners, led by Silver Lake, will own a 56 percent stake in Skype, and eBay will hold on to 30 percent, eBay said Friday."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

 
Teen sex belongs in teen lit
Boing Boing • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 7:09 a.m.
My latest Locus column, "Teen Sex," explains why I think young adult literature should have sex -- and other "mature" topics -- in it.
There's really only one question: "Why have your characters done something that is likely to upset their parents, and why don't you punish them for doing this?"

Now, the answer.

First, because teenagers have sex and drink beer, and most of the time the worst thing that results from this is a few days of social awkwardness and a hangover, respectively. When I was a teenager, I drank sometimes. I had sex sometimes. I disobeyed authority figures sometimes.

Mostly, it was OK. Sometimes it was bad. Sometimes it was wonderful. Once or twice, it was terrible. And it was thus for everyone I knew. Teenagers take risks, even stupid risks, at times. But the chance on any given night that sneaking a beer will destroy your life is damned slim. Art isn't exactly like life, and science fiction asks the reader to accept the impossible, but unless your book is about a universe in which disapproving parents have cooked the physics so that every act of disobedience leads swiftly to destruction, it won't be very credible. The pathos that parents would like to see here become bathos: mawkish and trivial, heavy-handed, and preachy.

Cory Doctorow: Teen Sex

 
How would you change Windows Mobile 6.5?
Engadget • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 5:59 a.m.
We know, today is totally Android 2.0's day to shine, but what would a Friday night be without a little diversity? Windows Mobile 6.5 officially landed on a gaggle of Windows Phones back in early October (a month ago to the day, in fact), but by and large, all of 'em have seemingly drifted off into some forgotten corner while Motorola's DROID has taken over the hype. Still, we've got a feeling at least a few of you loyalists went out and gave Sir Ballmer a few more of your nickles, and now we're eager to hear if you're loving or regretting that choice. Is 6.5 really a worthy update over 6.1? Are you waiting for WinMo 7 instead? What would you change about 6.5 in order to make 7 the best mobile OS of all time? Sound off in comments below!

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How would you change Windows Mobile 6.5? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updates on previous entries for Nov 6, 2009*
Jason Kottke • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 5:11 a.m.

The Higgs boson and the Enchantment Under the Sea dance orig. from Oct 21, 2009

* Q: Wha? A: These previously published entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours. You can find past updates here.

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Microsoft tops Google, Yahoo, Facebook in worldwide Web use (Nick Eaton/The Microsoft Blog)
Techmeme • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 5:10 a.m.

Nick Eaton / The Microsoft Blog:
Microsoft tops Google, Yahoo, Facebook in worldwide Web use  —  Windows Live Messenger led Microsoft's Web properties in capturing 14.5 percent of total time spent online in September worldwide, handily beating Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other sites, according to analysis firm comScore.

 
Norwegian Court Rules ISP Doesn't Have To Block The Pirate Bay
Slashdot • Saturday November 7 (2009) @ 5:09 a.m.
C4st13v4n14 writes "In a sudden outbreak of uncommon sense yesterday, a Norwegian District Court handed down the decision that Telenor, Norway's largest ISP, will not have to block access to The Pirate Bay. Telenor was sued earlier this year by the IFPI after being threatened and not backing down. 'The court ruled that Telenor is not contributing to any infringements of copyright law when its subscribers use The Pirate Bay, and therefore there is no legal basis for forcing the ISP to block access to the site. ... In making its decision, the court also had to examine the repercussions if it ruled that Telenor and other ISPs had to block access to certain websites.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.