A quick burst of 11 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team
Tangle: a JavaScript library for reactive documents >> Bret Victor
"Tangle is a JavaScript library for creating reactive documents. Your readers can interactively explore possibilities, play with parameters, and see the document update immediately. Tangle is super-simple and easy to learn." Tangle is HTML5 goodness. Swallow it whole.
U.S. Retail Sales Rise, Beat Forecast on Electronics Gains - Bloomberg
"Retail sales rose more than projected in October as Americans snapped up Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhones and demand for automobiles improved, giving the world's largest economy a boost entering the final quarter of 2011. "The 0.5% gain followed a 1.1% increase for September, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was a rise of 0.3%. Purchases of electronics jumped by the most in two years." Really? The iPhone 4S goosed US retail sales? That would be pretty dramatic. Either US retail was dead before, or iPhone sales are astronomical.
holman/spark >> GitHub
Shell script sorcery: "Just run spark and pass it a comma-delimited list of numbers. It's designed to be used in conjunction with other scripts that can output in that format."
iPod nano (first generation) replacement program >> Apple support
"Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006. "This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages." Scramble to find your five- or six-year old iPod nano! Free replacement!
Linus Torvalds cries 'bogus' too often and too easily -- but the gullible believe him >> FOSS Patents
"I'm starting to see a pattern. For any intellectual property issues facing Linux (or at least the most popular Linux derivative, Android), Linus Torvalds has a standard answer at hand: after admitting that he doesn't know the facts, he claims that "this [whatever it may be] seems completely bogus." Or, interchangeably, "totally bogus". "If he did this only in private conversations, there would be nothing wrong with it. Everyone may opine on anything, with or without conducting in-depth analysis. But an authority like Linus Torvalds doesn't act responsibly by repeatedly giving interviews that are as ignorant as they are assertive."
Windows 8 Failure Could Set Off Tech Industry Chain Reaction
Paul Thurrott, nobody's idea of a Microsoft-hater: "Let's say Windows 8 is enormously popular, a Windows 7-level success story with customers. In this scenario, consumers have embraced ARM-based, iPad-like Windows 8 tablets over competing tablets and businesses have embraced a mix of more traditional Windows 8 PCs. That is, Windows 8 isn't just a platform for PCs, it's a platform a new generation of devices as well. Growth ensues. "But let's say Windows 8 flops with consumers on tablets. Yes, many still buy traditional PCs, because that's what they know. Businesses still buy Windows PCs, too, for similar reasons and because they are highly manageable and compatible. But the market for traditional PCs will eventually slow, flat-line, and then decline." He sees a worrying potential effect if PCs become ignored and tablets and smartphones take over: "Microsoft gets locked out of this future market for computing, at least from a platforms perspective."
New study shows majority of Americans against SOPA; believe extreme copyright enforcement is unreasonable >> Techdirt
"One of the talking points we've been hearing about SOPA from the lobbyists pushing to get it approved is that the majority of Americans are in favor of the bill, because they want to "protect" intellectual property or jobs. This has never made much sense, since SOPA doesn't protect jobs at all. It destroys them, by hindering one of the few parts of our economy that has been creating jobs -- new and small businesses, particularly in the tech community." SOPA = "Stop Online Piracy Act". In the US, of course.
Andy Baio: Think You Can Hide, Anonymous Blogger? Two Words: Google Analytics >> Wired.com
"Last month, an anonymous blogger popped up on WordPress and Twitter, aiming a giant flamethrower at Mac-friendly writers like John Gruber, Marco Arment and MG Siegler. As he unleashed wave after wave of spittle-flecked rage at "Apple puppets" and "Cupertino douchebags," I was reminded again of John Gabriel's theory about the effects of online anonymity. "Out of curiosity, I tried to see who the mystery blogger was." And he succeeded, because Google Sees All. Well, pretty much all.
Microsoft annual meeting: Live notes from the scene >> GeekWire
Good rapid liveblog of the Microsoft annual meeting. Shareholders being asked to be patient with Bing and Windows Phone as they're on the "path to profitability". Then the Q+A. Fifth question: Are we in the post-PC era? Ballmer: "We are in the Windows era -- we were, we are, and we always will be. ... We are in an era in which the range of smart devices is continuing to expand. That's a fantastic thing for Microsoft."
Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8: cousins or siblings >> Hal's (Im)Perfect Vision
"For quite some time now there have been rumours about Windows Phone 8 (WP8) being based on the Windows NT kernel (WinNTk). More recently a blogger called MS Nerd made the case that this is not true. Well, I'm going to add fuel to the fire and make the case that Windows Phone 8 can and should be based on the Windows NT kernel." The point being that Windows Phone is presently based on Windows CE. Shifting Windows 8 to ARM would be.. well, Microsoft's done it. But is Windows 8 really shrinkable in this way? Then again, Apple did it - apparently - with Mac OS X being shrunk down to iOS. But shifting from WinCE to WinNT could mean another shift for third-party developers. Would that really work?
Mobile phones approach total penetration globally, with smartphones moving toward market dominance >> PRNewswire
"An overwhelming 95% of people around the world now own cell phones, according to a new nine-country study by SSI. Hong Kong (99%), China (98%) and Sweden (98%) have the highest cell phone ownership rates, while the US (89%) has the lowest. Findings show that, among cell phone owners, 42% currently have smartphones -- and 58% are planning to make their next cell phone a smartphone. "The highest rates of smartphone ownership are in China (68%) and Hong Kong (57%), while Japan (16%) and Sweden (33%) fall at the opposite end of the spectrum. Those countries that are lagging are likely to catch up soon, however, with almost half of respondents in Japan and Sweden intending to make their next cell phone a smartphone." Really interesting. The US is a mobile phone backwater.
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