Scientists have come up with a system that can scan zebras in photographs the way cashiers scan cans of peas at the grocery store. More

Just like with music, sometimes checking out free offerings is a great way to discover new stuff. If you want to see a complete listing of Amazon’s free Kindle books, eReaderIQ will do that for you and more. More

Okay, maybe it’s a little too early to say for sure just how good the 10.1-inch Acer Iconia Tab A500 is, but the specs—1GHz Tegra guts, 1GB RAM, 16GB storage 1280×800 LCD screen, 2MP and 5MP front and rear-facing cameras, etc.—put it up there with the elite guard of Android tablets. And its price tag of $450 makes it the first serious cost competitor to Apple's ace. More

A reader who works at Best Buy just told us that there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding between the electronics retailer and Apple. Apparently, Best Buy was holding off on selling the iPad 2s it had in stock, telling customers there weren’t any when in fact they had just reached their quota of sales for the day.

Yeah, doesn’t seem like a smart strategy to me either, but this is Best Buy we’re talking about. Apple didn’t like it either, and has declined to sell any more iPads at the store for the time being.

The tipster continues, saying that no less than Tim Cook is involved in this little snafu, and will be helping with the negotiations. He says the Apple Rep at his branch of Best Buy confirmed the story, though until we get proof in the form of a lack of iPads in-store, we’ll consider it a rumor. A very likely rumor, but still.

I just don’t get why you would mess with Apple. Their retail roll-outs are very carefully planned for maximum splash effect, and selling them by the million on day one is a big part of that. Did Best Buy really think it was wise to tell customers to come back later?

UPDATE – The original tipster just got this from Tim Cook:

SL,

My understanding is most of their stores sold all of their initial supply on the first night of the launch and the balance were out by the following day. I am not aware of any units being held.

Tim

Rumor (potentially) smashed.

Follow this link:
Rumor [Smashed]: iPad 2 Mishandling Gets Best Buy Blacklisted By Apple

Beautiful Dance Moves

Excerpt from:
Beautiful Dance Moves

Ever wonder when that loaf of bread sitting on the grocery shelf was actually baked? Here’s how you can tell at a glance.

Read Full Post

Read this article:
Color-Coded Secret! How To Tell When Bread Was Baked

A reader who works at Best Buy just told us that there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding between the electronics retailer and Apple. Apparently, Best Buy was holding off on selling the iPad 2s it had in stock, telling customers there weren’t any when in fact they had just reached their quota of sales for the day.

Yeah, doesn’t seem like a smart strategy to me either, but this is Best Buy we’re talking about. Apple didn’t like it either, and has declined to sell any more iPads at the store for the time being.

The tipster continues, saying that no less than Tim Cook is involved in this little snafu, and will be helping with the negotiations. He says the Apple Rep at his branch of Best Buy confirmed the story, though until we get proof in the form of a lack of iPads in-store, we’ll consider it a rumor. A very likely rumor, but still.

I just don’t get why you would mess with Apple. Their retail roll-outs are very carefully planned for maximum splash effect, and selling them by the million on day one is a big part of that. Did Best Buy really think it was wise to tell customers to come back later?

More:
Rumor: iPad 2 Mishandling Gets Best Buy Blacklisted By Apple

It’s rare to see medical implants that are so important yet so wildly frightening. What you see here is a new implant designed for anterior lumbar fusion, a process designed to reduce lower back pain due to disk degeneration.

Utility aside, all I can keep looking at is the teeth on this thing. Gar.

via Medgadget

Read the article:
Solus Spinal Fusion Device Looks Evil

The last thing the tablet world needs right now is yet another platform, but that appears to be where Google is heading — or at the very least, they’re bracing for the inevitable by making Chrome OS a bit more touch-friendly.

Some hints, in the form of layout adjustments, virtual keyboard graphics, and so on, have been uncovered by Stephen Shankland over at CNET, but the import of these items isn’t really clear just yet. After all, Honeycomb is just at the very beginning of its life — but that doesn’t mean it’s Google’s only answer to the tablet question.

For one thing, Chrome OS is potentially much more lightweight than Android, especially Honeycomb, which has strict hardware requirements. On the other hand, Chrome OS is designed to boot in seconds and run on anything that can handle a browser. What web apps and video decoding might require in a year or two is another question entirely.

For now it’s just vague inklings of a future product. I’ll keep an eye out for more news like this; I like the idea of Chrome OS on tablets, though it doesn’t make a lot of sense commercially right now.

See more here:
More Hints That Chrome OS Is Coming To Tablets

Greetings. And welcome to. The Old PC Yard. More