Amazon Coins: Jeff Bezos’ brilliant plan to give free money to Kindle Fire owners

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/02/amazon_coins_jeff_bezos_brilliant_plan_to_give_free_money_to_kindle_fire.html     / November Amazon unusual issued $3 billion bonds no particular reason excellent credit rating no outstanding debt could borrow money cheaply announced the coming launch of Amazon Coins virtual currency use to buy Kindle Fire content announced part of the launch giving out tens of millions of dollars worth of Coins to users coins that content vendors can redeem for actual dollars Specifically, each Amazon Coin will be redeemable for 1 cent. What kind of company borrows money just to give it back to customers and suppliers? A brilliant one that understands the underlying economics of the technology platform wars better than its rivals The competition among Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others to become the dominant firm of the mobile era can be analogized to the problem faced by developing countries. Industries want to locate where skilled workers and advanced supply chains already exist. But workers and other supply chain participants only have the incentive to invest if they’re confident industries will be around. The solution, typically, is “industrial policy” deliberate state-led efforts to subsidize specific sectors in order to foster their growth as exporters South Korea, for example, has used a model state-led capitalism to go from poor to rich with amazing speed. But it can also work out quite poorly, as in Egypt and many other middle income countries stuck in a web of crony capitalism and corruption A perhaps savvier approach is China’s much-derided currency manipulation By keeping the yuan cheap relative to the dollar and the euro, China in effect offers a subsidy to any firm that wants to use China as an export base Thus, even a country with a fairly high overall level of corruption has been able to rapidly industrialize by letting the international marketplace decide which particular subsidized exporters succeed The parallel problem in the technology platform wars is the feedback loop between market size and app development. Because Apple was first out of the gate with an app-friendly smartphone and first out of the gate with a popular tablet, it’s gained a huge built-in advantage. The large market of iOS users makes iOS development an attractive proposition, and the large quantity of iOS apps makes iOS attractive for customers. Microsoft has been trying to vanquish this problem by offering direct subsidies to app developers to make sure that Windows 8 phones have versions of the most popular mobile apps. One problem with this central planning strategy is that it relies on Microsoft executives doing a good job of guessing which apps are most important to potential customers. A bigger problem, however, is that it largely serves to encourage subsidy farming—delivering a product that’s good enough to qualify for the check—rather than a real focus on excellence. Last and by no means least, this is a terrible way to encourage innovative new apps to emerge on the platform Amazon’s strategy is more like China’s or an aggressive program of quantitative easing /

Who, what, why: What is the method for reconstructing Richard III's face?

Credit: BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21350181     / Bones  Leicester car park have been confirmed DNA testing as those of Richard III technique scientists used to reconstruct his face scientist skull no portraits king reign survive built a model of Richard III's face died 1485 bones well preserved  anthropologists right conditions soil with low acidity few bugs bones remain pristine thousands years team of scientists at Dundee University facial reconstruction never got near the bones sent CT scans photographs skull, which they ran through a computer programme Richard III Caroline Wilkinson Dundee University professor of craniofacial identification crucial ignore any existing preconceptions what Richard looked like shape of the face had to be based entirely on the scans answer 3D digital recreation of face using CT scans 3D printing onto plastic Artist guesses at hair, skin and eye colour build someone's cheeks nose eyebrows piece of bone lots of clues she says teeth width of mouth determined exactly by position of the teeth little bump on the outer orbit is where the outer corner of the eye is. We can use these anatomical standards to help us rebuild the face nose used toughest features to recreate because it's made of cartilage recent research unearthed formula allows predict what the soft nose would look like from the underlying bone she says  shape of the brow can be guessed at although the number of lines on someone's forehead will not be apparent historian Holinshed Shakespeare used source calls Richard little of stature ill-featured of limbs crook-backed the left shoulder much higher than the right hard favored of visage ears are the hardest thing to get right deduced from the skull is whether the person has earlobes and where they sit on the side of the head 70% of the facial surface should have less than 2mm of error guesswork amount flesh 15th Century face use average tissue depth from today but he may have been substantially thinner or fatter than contemporary faces digital head build one out of plastic using a rapid prototyping system essentially 3D printout prosthetic eyes realistic skin texture created plausible wig added artist artist Janice Aitken stage process was guided posthumous portraits science draws blank Richard's eye colour color skin hairstyle 3D printing cheaper access CT scans exhibition Dresden last year recreated faces of hominids dating back millions of years Twisted bones reveal a king Martin Evison director Northumbria University Centre for Forensic Science limits technology can achieve Facial reconstruction can yield a resemblance from the skull, but not an exact likeness. It is not a method of positive identification facial reconstructions often look young, Wilkinson  can't really add any age creasing as we don't know where to put them tyrant element of subjectivity acial expression /

Patent wars: Judge strips 13 patent claims from Motorola suit v. Microsoft

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/judge-strips-13-patent-claims-from-motorola-suit-v-microsoft/     / 
patent battle between Microsoft Google Motorola Mobility one step closer resolution US District Court judge threw out 13 of the patent claims Motorola made in the case Judge James Robart US District Court Seattle tasked deciding what is a fair and reasonable rate license fees Microsoft should pay Motorola for use of patents  H.264 video Wi-Fi standards Microsoft proposed a payment of $1.21 million per year to Motorola, Motorola demanded 2.25 percent of the sale price of Windows PCs Xbox 360s Microsoft has said could amount to billions. While Motorola sued Microsoft for patent infringement, Microsoft also sued Motorola for not meeting its obligation to license standards essential patents at fair and reasonable rates, leading to multiple court cases being consolidated into one /

Phablets: Great for everything but as phones?

Credit: Boy Genius Report

My take: big screens are better, with the proviso that the user has to be able to span the device to hold it to her ear. If a particular phone is too wide, make do with one with a smaller screen.

About concentration of development on phablets rather than smaller phones: this is nonsense. Development in one phone is used in development of the next. E.g. Samsung Galaxy Note II is essentially a Galaxy S III with more RAM, battery & screen.

http://bgr.com/2013/02/08/phablet-criticism-phone-functionality-questionable-322559/     / Samsung Samsung’s 005930 impressive Galaxy Note II 2 does a lot of things very well Google Google’s GOOG mobile Chrome browser installed joy surf the web beautiful bright screen excellent device mobile gaming stylus very useful jotting down quick notes making small shopping lists similarly sized phablets simply mobile telephones cell phone people look completely ridiculous holding the mammoth-sized Note II up to our ears large devices feel particularly mobile in the sense that they don’t fit all that easily in my pants pockets unless I decide to pull a Kris Kross and walk around wearing backward jeans all the time doesn’t feel comfortable to hold hands measure fairly large seven-and-a-half inches stubby fingers phablet avalanche Apple AAPL iPhablet LTE-Advanced technology require more antennae higher processing power super-fast data speeds smartphone vendors /

Acer T232HL • Touch comes to the desktop

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6714/acer-t232hl-touch-comes-to-the-desktop     / Windows 8 computers more unified experience phones tablets laptops desktop PCs PC systems primarily touch-oriented computers large number touch displays environment keyboard mouse input touchscreens rouchscreen launch of Windows 8 availability mainstream, touch oriented operating system OS T232HL Acer, a 23” 23 inch HD 1080p display IPS panel glossy screen finish kickstand back adjust angle of the screen no other ergonomic adjustments available review sample too tight remove cover loosen mechanism shipping units 100mm VESA mounting holes more adjustments display off your desk inputs limited HDMI DVI DSub DisplayPort DP input 3.5mm audio input internal speakers USB 3.0 hub three ports left side of the display exterior power brick screen IPS panel viewing angles very good glossy finish of the screen reflects a lot of light fingerprints using the touch features touch sensors angle adjustment eliminate reflections reflections were less visible on screen on-screen display OSD  manual screen controls mounted right side display making an adjustment /

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/10/29/amazon-kindle-papewhite-review/     / Kindle Keyboard 3G  smaller size touch interface upgrade built-in light Paperwhite reading bookshelves books analogue books buy download Amazon e-book resellers reading habits non-fiction non fiction factual books histories biographies biography autobiography autobiographies  reading at night read device devices size comparison household original Kindle review illuminated display smartphone e-book reader app built in light thickness of the units lighter sturdier better built volume headphones microphone micro-USB micro USB  sliding on/off switch a push on/off switch port charge light LED audio novelty value read the books to you aloud loud listen to MP3s background lighter 300 books Special Offers screen savers new artwork now and then jailbreak screen save hack reading at night /

This is probably the best video on YouTube?

YMMV ... worth a look anyway:

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/02/this-is-probably-the-best-video-on-youtube-like-ever/     / People did some awesome stuff in 2012. action cameras exist insanity shared with the world soundtrack to make what I’m calling the best video on YouTube video features everything from crazy animals, snowboarding flips, parkour insanity, Felix Baumgartner, awesome cosplay, BASE jumping and the hottest cars, dance moves and girls This Is What The Internet Is Made For video was taken down, unfortunately compilation covered mirror Video is back up NSFW NSFW-ish in places SHARE TAGS Australian stories cars clips entertainment feature geek out like ever /

Aerodynamics matter: The 88 MPG, 1981 Alpina BMW

1981 Alpina BMW 3-Series built for the Shell Kilometre Marathon
Credit: BMW/ Green Car Reports

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082221_aerodynamics-matter-the-88-mpg-1981-alpina-bmw     / kilometer Detroit Auto Show car lowest coefficient of drag of any production car just 0.23 cd Mercedes-Benz Mercedes Benz CLA small sport sedan powered petrol gasoline engine Efficiency figures frugal highway speeds doubted benefits of aerodynamics German sedan earlier era demonstrates tuning work luxurious, high-performance sedans fuel efficiency E21-generation BMW 318i effective win class 88 miles per gallon US 100 mpg imperial gallons UK British good aerodynamics can make a heck of a difference /