The Genius in Apple’s Vertical Platform

This is a really interesting article explaining one possible reason for Apple blocking Apps made using other compilers (ie, flash) from the App store.

It’s clear from a strategic perspective that Apple has thought about vertical integration incredibly deeply. Their choice to enter the CPU business was not made lightly, and reflects a platform heritage and an ability to steer developers (afforded by huge network effects). We will likely find out what’s really inside the A4 soon. But one thing is already clear:Apple is sowing the groundwork to make architecture changes seamless developers will only need to flip a switch to give their apps blazing, native performance.

Read the full article.

Building Collapsed In Shanghai

At around 5:30am on June 27, 2009, an unoccupied building still under construction at Lianhuanan Road in the Minhang district of Shanghai city toppled over.  One worker was killed.  According to information, a 70 meter section of the flood prevention wall in nearby Dianpu River and that may have something to do with this building collapse.

The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist

This is worth a read.

In February 2003, Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils. The vault was thought to be impenetrable. It was protected by 10 layers of security, including infrared heat detectors, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, a seismic sensor, and a lock with 100 million possible combinations. The robbery was called the heist of the century, and even now the police can’t explain exactly how it was done.

The loot was never found, but based on circumstantial evidence, Notarbartolo was sentenced to 10 years. He has always denied having anything to do with the crime and has refused to discuss his case with journalists, preferring to remain silent for the past six years.

Until now.

Full Article

Facebook’s Big Facelift

This is a short article about the makeover plans for facebook. Quite an interesting read.

read more | digg story

From Win32 to Cocoa: a Windows user’s conversion to Mac OS X

A couple of Gartner analysts have recently claimed that Windows is “collapsing”; that it’s too big, too sprawling, and too old to allow rapid development and significant new features. Although organizations like Gartner depend on trolling to drum up business, I think this time they could be onto something. “Collapsing” is over-dramatic—gradual decline is a more likely outcome—but the essence of what they’re saying—and why they’re saying it—rings true.

This is a very interesting article from ars technica detailing some of the core differences between Mac OS X and Windows Vista.

Read the Full Article

Australian Police Caught Pirating Movies

HUNDREDS of police officers across South Australia caught using their work computers to illegally copy movie DVDs will escape prosecution.

Read the full article at The Australian

Found via TorrentFreak

Anonymous Philanthropist Donates 200 Human Kidneys To Hospital

With Diet, Exercise and Friendship, Man Loses 400 Pounds

Four and half years ago, David Smith weighed more than 630 pounds. He had spent nearly a decade on the couch in his parents’ house eating pizza, raiding the fridge, and drinking soda. For much of his life he said he “felt like the elephant man.”

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Man drinks liter of vodka at airport line

BERLIN – A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday.

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