Would you like a slice of Apple history?

 

                                                                        Picture courtesy of Sotheby's

     This is the Original contract signed by apple founder Ronald G. Wayne along with Steve Jobs and Ronald G. Wayne. It is planned for it to go to auction on the 13th of december to go to action and its estimated value is 150K. Would you pay so much for it? Many historians and Apple "fans" would. Apple's original partnership agreement, signed on April 1, 1976, by Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Apple's "forgotten founder," Ron Wayne. According to Walter Isaacson in his new "Steve Jobs" biography, Jobs signed the document in lower-case letters, "Wozniak in careful cursive and Wayne in an illegible squiggle." The three signed the document in Wayne's apartment and split the profit in the company not equally: Jobs and Wozniak both got 45%; Wayne, who came to the confab late as a consultant of sorts, got a 10% share. He later received an additional $1,500 payment. Bad move, right? His stock options today would be worth more than $30 billion. Many people say its history and others say is not that valuable. What do you believe? How much would you pay for if it was so valuable to you?

                                                                     -Gustavo

Google Offers Indoor Maps for Android

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Google is bringing its mapping technology to the great indoors.  With the launch of Google Maps 6.0 on Tuesday, users of mobile devices running Android OS 2.1 and anything newer will have the ability to use Google Maps not just to get directions to an Ikea, Macy's, or to several airports, but also to figure out how to navigate the places and find housewares, ATMs and their airline boarding gates inside the building.  There are a few problems though.  For example, the release is limited. Google's launch partners include 18 U.S. airports, including some of the biggest, such as Chicago O'Hare International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and San Francisco International airports.  Some large stores, such as Ikea, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Home Depot, have already been mapped, but other stores such as Target and Wal-Mart haven't been. There aren't nearly as many malls mapped as shoppers would like this holiday season though.  In upcoming years who knows, peoples phones may be telling them every turn to make, the directions, and even when to start and stop moving so that they can go everywhere and anywhere, inside or out, with their eyes closed.

For More Information Click Here

Jacob Saslavsky

Jacob's Lead and Nut Graph

Lead - When you walk into an apple store to buy your new iPhone, most people think something like I am so excited to get my new iPhone.  What most people do not think about is how hard it must be to orchestrate the process of getting the products into all of the stores on time.  For people like Laurie Weinstein this process is their life.

Nut graph – Laurie Weinstein is the director of product distribution for the Americas for apple.  She always has work getting apple products to stores and dealing with the difficulties associated with the job.

Weekly Geek and Poke

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-Beck Goodloe

World of Warcraft Gold to Equate to the Dollar?

On August 9, 2011, Treasure Secretary Timothy Geithner proposed that the US turn WOW gold into legal currency. Recently, this proposal has raised controversy, as many republicans object to the move. “This is nothing but wealth redistribution,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “Nearly all of World of Warcraft wealth is held by the nations poorest 5%. Making World of Warcraft Gold into legal tender is part of a radical socialist agenda that we must stop at all costs.” Democrats have come to Geithner’s aid though. Together, they have begun a campaign to marry the dollar to WOW gold. “World of Warcraft has an economy that is strong and trustworthy, and attaching our economy to this one is an important step in getting our country back on track,” explained Geithner. “By marrying the dollar to World of Warcraft gold, we may be able to achieve the economic strength enjoyed by Dwarven Miners, or the Blood Elves.” High-level gamers have also begun to jump into the argument, many of whom vehemently oppose the idea. Their reasons? WOW gold is too valuable and combining it with the US dollar would only drag down the idea. To back their argument, the gamers told us that +3 enchanted shoulder pads would cost millions of US dollars, whereas it runs for 500 gold in WOW. Despite the opposition, analysts predict that the idea will pass through Congress quickly, but there is no telling what will happen in the senate, or even how the President will react. Until then, we will just have to wait and see how things play out.

Check out the whole story here!

-Beck Goodloe

Ben's Nut Graph and Lead

Lead: As you walk into the light clean office of the director of communications, you get a sense of how things are run. Papers in neat stacks and nothing is out of place. The great view from the window shows the rolling trees and the hills of Austin. This is the office of PR and communications head, Kathy Thrift.

Nut Graph: Kathy Thrift is the director of communications at the Texas County and District Retirement System; a pension fund that deals with almost every county in the state of Texas. She deals with public relations and controls the flow of almost all public information that represents the fund. As technology advances, Kathy’s job is to implement new technologies into the workplace and display the ideals and views of the company. She wants to use these new technologies to make it easier for users of the fund to become interactive with their plan, get updates, and learn new information.

Gustavo's lead and nut graph

Gustavo’s lead:
          Its 4:00 in a Saturday  morning when Cesar Salinas gets out of his house to deliver 10 games in Galveston Island, TX. Every Friday family and friends call him to see if he has Modern Warfare 3 or Grand Theft Auto 5 available for the weekend. If they are available then he makes the 2 and a half hour drive south to get money for his family.
Nut graph.
Cesar Salinas works in construction every day of the week from 4:30 am to 7:30 pm to support his family. It has happened before that he and his wife are not able to pay bills on time because of how much he gets paid. After a while he saw people working two jobs and he thought of the perfect additional job that would get him fast money. In Mexico, movies, games, Cd's get released earlier than in the US. He orders games from Mexico about 2 weeks before the games get released here. The games get to his house about a day before the game releases.

Beck's Lead and Nut Paragraph

Lead: You could see the sleep crusted in the corner of their eyes and the bags under their eyes gave one an inkling of the adventure that the four men had just undertaken. To some, the sight might have been amusing, but to the gamers who strode purposely through the doors only seconds ago, they had reached their destination: Dallas, Texas. It was the annual LAN party that they had come for, and they had driven 19 hours from Michigan to get there.

Nutshell: Several years ago, Chris Quick and three other friends left Michigan early in the morning, heading for the biggest LAN party in the US (in Dallas, Texas). They were planning to stay the week, filling their time with video games, movies, and other technological time consumers. They had driven 19 straight hours to make it on time, and it was obvious by the exhausted that haunted each of their faces, despite being disguised by looks of jubilation.

-Beck Goodloe

A Private Carrier for the iPhone

Photo credit here.

Recently, word got out that Steve Jobs wanted a private cell phone carrier for the iPhone. He wanted to make an Apple brand provider that would supply plans for only Apple phones. With this in action, all other plans for other providers would become arbitrary and would dissolve. Current providers such as AT&T and Verizon would be out of the iPhone’s vision and would have split the smart phone market into farther distances of separation. Without the iPhone, these two major providers would not be as big of competitors. Many speculate that AT&T would have filed for bankruptcy without the addition of the iPhone their collection. Another group of people think that the Apple phone would not have had the incredible impact on the smart-phone community had it not been for the setting with established providers. The theory is that people do not want to rely on a network that only sells one phone and does not primarily specialize in the telecommunications business anyways. When it comes down to what happened, advisors convinced Jobs before the phone’s release to go with the established companies. Had Jobs created his own provider, it is tough to know just how much the cell provider system could have changed.

For more information, check out this article.
-- Ben Fagelman

Windows 8 will be less bossy about automatic restarts

Picture from microsoft.com

           Don't you hate when you have just installed a new super cool software and the computer tells you to restart your computer in order for the program to run properly and then it takes for ever? Well, that is what Windows 7 does. After you install a cool program like Virtual DJ, Windows 7 will ask you to restart your computer so that the program runs faster and how its supposed to run. After its restarts it freezes and a box shows up that says " Loading Virtual DJ files". This takes forever. Even if you skip it, it still will do it after you turn it back on the next day. This problem is not because of the downloaded software size, its because Windows 7 is so strict. Microsoft says that Windows 8 is not as bad as & but it still takes a while to restart. Windows & is still a good software but the one thing that is affective is that it take a long time to load files. Its not the file's size but the program opening it. For more info click here.

• Gustavo

If you would like to check out the awesome Virtual DJ program click here.

Google Launches a Music Server

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Google released a new online music store on Wednesday to challenge the Apple and Amazon.com.  this new service will feature millions of songs from many albums.  Google says people will be able to purchase the music through the android market, which offers smartphone apps, electronic books, and videos.  To help start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.  Also through Google+ friends can share there purchased songs.  Google is playing catch-up to its biggest rivals Apple, Amazon.com and Facebook, who all have some sort of music store or application through their online sites and mobile products.  For example, Apple has iTunes and Facebook has Spotify.  Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue, but they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its mobile efforts based on Android can match its competitors such as Apple and Amazon.  Without a music service, Android devices such as smartphones and tablets may not seem as attractive to consumers.  Looking for a product that offers a seamless media experience.

For More Information Click Here

Jacob Saslavsky

Weekly Geek and Poke

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-Beck Goodloe

Another Peaceful Perspective

On Saturday afternoon, Michael Koenig posted a video on video of the earth from an International Space Station orbiting the earth. In this time lapsed short-film taken with a special lowlight 4K camera, we see the earth from an entirely different perspective. In this video, we can forget everything happening on the ground and focus on the earth as a whole. All social statuses and broken governmental systems are forgotten. No more riots; no more coups; no online rants; no discrimination; no war. In this video, all is forgotten, and only the beauty of the earth shines through. We can see the lights of the cities, the clouds, the mountains. There are even physical ties between countries made of light. It is like a spider web. Each country branches into the next, and in turn, those branch into others. It is symbolic. The world is tied together whether everyone sees it or not. We are all brothers and sisters, joined together by our conquest to survive. We were all brought into this world together, but at the pace we are going, we will all leave it together as well. Just take a moment and watch this, and picture the world as one in which there is only love.

Check out the video here!

In addition, if you are wondering, the mysterious green light is the infamous Aurora Borealis.

-This inspirational post is brought to you by Beck Goodloe

Siri, a Threat to Google or Just Compitition

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Some people have labeled Siri as a "Google Killer" for they think it will dominate the way we search the web and Google will just be an afterthought.  This is not necessarily true though.  If Google goes ahead and makes a Siri like thing for Android phones there will be no problem.  Plus at the moment Siri's default search engine is Google.  So for now Siri is not a "Google Killer," but rather a serious possible competitor to Google.  This is something Google has not had until recently with specialized search engines like Yelp and Kayak that are easier for their specialization.  Yet, Siri has created a new way of searching the web and other things that before now has not worked well.  Eventually these technologies could work better than Yelp for food searches or Kayak for travel.  Siri is not the first voice activated thing that will search the web.  It is just the best one out there yet.  Google will become an afterthought though if they don't get on the bandwagon and start making a better voice activated search engine like Siri.

More Information Here

Jacob Saslavsky

iPad Vs. Kindle Fire

Image credit and more info here.

Amazon has released their Kindle Fire tablet and is in a war with apple and their iPad. Even though apple is not afraid of them they still don't want to release their newest products. Amazon is having "tablet wars" with the new Nook Color and apple. Many say that Kindle fire is better and other say that the iPad and nook are better. Some advantages that the iPad has over the kindle fire are that it has a dual-core processor which makes it 2 times faster and a very light and thin device. The iPad weights 1.3 pounds which is pretty good for so many services and stuff it has.It is 33% thinner that the first iPad. It has built in 2 cameras, one in the front facing you and the other in the back. A disadvantage is that it’s priced at $499. In the other hand the kindle fire is $199 and has one processor and no camera. It is also about 2 pound heavy. The screen on the kindle fire is really small and for some people size does matter. So which one do you think is going to win? Amazon's Kindle Fire or Apples iPad. 

                                      -Gustavo Salinas

Zuckerberg Flaunts Success at Old Turf

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On Monday November 7, Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Facebook, returned to Harvard as part of a recruiting tour. Zuckerberg went to Harvard for college in 2004 when he started the social networking site now known as Facebook. He started the website as a small way for Harvard students connect instantly over long distances. When it started spreading around, Zuckerberg went to California for funding, employees, and advice and never went back to college. Many students at Harvard look at Zuckerberg as a hero and aspire to do great things like him. Many students rushed just to get a glimpse of their hero as he moved from conference to conference around the different parts of the school. Many think of Zuckerberg as a social misfit and a backstabber, as the movie The Social Network depicts. However, students that have seen him in person and have followed him for a while say that he is a genuine person who is interested in what he does. As Zuckerberg becomes more public over time, he will continue to encounter problems with his public image. As long as he keeps making these real and public appearances, he will stay a hero to many.

For more information, click here.

-- Ben Fagelman

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-Beck Goodloe

Siri's Anticipated Arrival on Antiquated Phones

On Thursday, a private blog called Jailbreak Nation released a video detailing release of Siri on the iPhone 4. The video is quickly raising controversy, as Apple did not sanction this study. In the video, we see that the use of Siri on an iPhone requires it to be jail broken. Once this happens, programmers can download files that act the same way that Siri does on an iPhone 4. But why is this a breakthrough? The challenge of this experiment was not to get the files onto the iPhone 4, but in fact to get through to the Apple server. As described by these “hackers,” Apple has put in place “guards” or programs whose specific job is to determine whether or not the Siri information is coming from an iPhone 4S. If the information is not, than the connection is cut and the data is not delivered to the user.

            While this software and knowledge has not been released yet, it is expected to come soon. Many iPhone 4 users see this as an opportunity to get the upgrade that comes with the 4S at a fraction of the cost (as the invention of Siri is the main difference between 4s and 4Ss). Until that time though, I recommend waiting for this new technology (especially if your iPhone is already jail broken). Here is your opportunity to get a cheap upgrade that functions with the same speed and data that you would get if you spent hundreds of dollars on a new phone.

For more information, check out Jailbreak Nation

-Beck Goodloe

Apple Admits to Bugs in IOS 5 That Are Affecting Battery Life

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Apple admits that the new iOS 5 is shortening the battery life of the phones due to a bug.  "One [user] told the Guardian: "I am getting around 10-12 hours standby (without using the phone), and then when I am using the phone for browsing, the battery percentage drops 1% every minute.""  What is going to happen if all of apple users on iOS 5 can't use their phones for more than 100 minute (an hour and 40 minutes) while browsing?  Apple has said that they will fix it soon with a new update.  Yet, currently no cause of the problem has been determined.  Some people find turning off certain features saves battery, which seems kind of obvious, but who would want to have to do that just to use their phone anyway.  If this takes too long I see many angry users that might even buy new phones because they need something that will last longer.  For example what if you are on a long conference call and need to be on your phone for three hours and you can't plug it in anywhere.  What will happen when your phone dies in the middle of it.  Not good.  This problem needs to be fixed quickly before bad things happen.

More Information Here

Jacob Saslavsky

Angry Birds Launched Far Past Expenctaions

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Games are some of the most popular downloads from the iTunes App Store. Recently, the popular, repetitive, and addictive game, Angry Birds, topped the charts with a record 500 million downloads. Reaching this milestone made the game the most downloaded of all time. The game involves a bird being pulled back in a slingshot and fired at enemies protected be shelters. Rovio, a company that instantly skyrocketed with the popularity of their game, owns angry Birds. They currently have angry birds released on all major smart-phones, have millions of plush toys produced, are planning on a store, and hope to start cartoon production. Most players continue to play the game after the initial download. Evidence to this is the fact that people have played 200,000 years on the game. These astounding facts mean that mobile gaming is actually coming into the gaming world. Many people like this style of game because there is a simple goal and you do not have to be too into it. I hope that in the future, big game producers will get more into this field and mobile gaming will get even better than it is now.

For more information on the topic, click here.

-- Ben Fagelman

Your New Phone Might have a Flexible Screen

Image from cnet news

 Nokia has made a new phone that is flexible. The flexible phone allows users to zoom in and out. What does this mean? Technology is growing really fast and that it will be a new way of life. This phone has not been released and its plan to release on winter of 2012. The producers in Nokia want it to be indestructible. Its flexibility might make it the first indestructible phone. Some issues that the phone has are the screen size. Some of the producers are not satisfied with screen size and want it to make it bigger. That is the new product they are working on. A phone that can have a screen as big as the one on the iPad and it is able to roll up into a regular phone sized shape and fits easily into any pocket. The new roll up phone might be a better idea but the question is, How? Some people don't think it’s possible. The producers do think it’s possible and it’s going to be a big hit. Just imagine. You have a phone the size of this monitor. You grab it roll it up and put it in your pocket.

                                                                           -Gustavo