November 21, 2011

102,000 cupcakes! Small bakery burned by Groupon

A bakery owner was forced to make 102,000 cupcakes after being swamped by customers taking up her cut-price Groupon offer, according to reports Tuesday.

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102,000 cupcakes! Small bakery burned by Groupon

STHoldings withdraws more than 200 record labels from Spotify, does so with gusto

STHoldings stormed its way out of Spotify this week, leaving only a trail of choice words in its wake. On Wednesday, the distributor boldly withdrew more than 200 of its record labels from Spotify, Rdio, Simfy and Napster, following the release of a study that cast the music subscription industry in a rather unfavorable light. According to the research, carried out by NPD Group and NARM, cloud-based services like Spotify and Rdio deter consumers from purchasing music via other channels. Amid concerns that these companies may “cannibalise the revenues of more traditional digital services,” STHoldings decided to withdraw its catalogue of more than 200 labels. In fact, of the 238 labels consulted on the decision, just four expressed a desire to remain with Spotify, et al.

“As a distributor we have to do what is best for our labels,” STHoldings explained, in a statement. “The majority of which do not want their music on such services because of the poor revenues and the detrimental affect on sales. Add to that the feeling that their music loses its specialness by its exploitation as a low value/free commodity.” The distributor went on to quote one of its labels with a line that rhymes with “duck modify.” In comparatively subdued response, Spotify said it respects STHoldings’ decision, but still hopes that the labels “will change their minds.” The Swedish company also contested STHoldings’ study-backed arguments against it, claiming that it has “already convinced millions of consumers to pay for music again,” and assuring that artists’ revenue streams will “continue to grow.” Read more about the study, the stats and the spat at the links below.

STHoldings withdraws more than 200 record labels from Spotify, does so with gusto originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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STHoldings withdraws more than 200 record labels from Spotify, does so with gusto

Exoplanet Count Tops 700

astroengine writes “On Friday, the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia registered more than 700 confirmed exoplanets. Although this is an amazing milestone, it won’t be long until the ‘first thousand’ are confirmed. Only two months ago, the encyclopedia — administered by astrobiologist Jean Schneider of the Paris-Meudon Observatory — registered 600 confirmed alien worlds. Since then, there has been a slew of announcements including the addition of a batch of 50 exoplanets by the European Southern Observatory’s High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (or HARPS) in September.”

MS To Build Antivirus Into Win8: Boon Or Monopoly?

jfruhlinger writes “Microsoft has quietly announced that it’s planning on baking anti-virus protection right into the Windows 8 OS. Users have been criticizing Windows’ insecurity for years — but of course this move is raising howls of protest from anti-virus vendors, who have built a nice business out of Windows’ security holes. Is this a good move by Microsoft, or a leveraging of their monopoly as bad as bundling Internet Explorer?”

HP Blew $3.3 Billion on WebOS [Hp]

Click here to read HP Blew $3.3 Billion on WebOS

HP will tell the investors just how rocky its waters are later tonight, but for now, enjoy this gem: the company lost $3.3 billion solely through buying and squandering WebOS. More »

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HP Blew $3.3 Billion on WebOS [Hp]

Hooray! Facebook Ads Are Heading to Your News Ticker [Facebook]

Click here to read Hooray! Facebook Ads Are Heading to Your News Ticker

If there’s one thing that sucks about Facebook, it’s the paucity of advertisements. We need more! And we need them in real time. Luckily, TechCrunch reports, we’re in luck—more live Facebook ads are headed our way today. More »

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Hooray! Facebook Ads Are Heading to Your News Ticker [Facebook]

Mimo Magic Touch adds 10 inches of capacitive touchscreen to your PC using only USB

We’ve seen monitors with touch input and displays powered only by USB, but combining both those features into a single unit would make for something truly unique. We’ve gotta hand it to Mimo Monitors for pulling it off — the Magic Touch and Magic Touch Deluxe deliver 10.1 inches of capacitive interactivity using only a single USB 2.0 cable. The panel itself offers a resolution of 1024 x 600 for keeping video chats out of your way, displaying email or monitoring social networks. The Deluxe version also adds a two-port USB hub but, if you plan to charge your devices through it, you’ll have to hook up the optional AC adapter. Sadly, while they can act as a secondary monitor regardless of OS, you’ll need a Windows 7 machine to take advantage of the touch capabilities — and even then it’s single touch only (though, the panel itself is technically capable of four-point multitouch). Both models are available to pre-order now for $300 (Magic Touch) or $330 (Magic Touch Deluxe) with delivery expected before Christmas. Check out the complete PR after the break.

Continue reading Mimo Magic Touch adds 10 inches of capacitive touchscreen to your PC using only USB

Mimo Magic Touch adds 10 inches of capacitive touchscreen to your PC using only USB originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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