Steve Jobs resigns from Apple, Tim Cook is the new CEO

The world known man who always wore a tucked in black shirt with blue jeans on Apple's new product unveilings and already cartoonized on Comedy Central's South Park, Steve Jobs on Wednesday resigned as chief executive of Apple Inc in a stunning move that ended his reign at the technology giant he co-founded in a garage 14 years ago.

After the news broke, Apple shares dived as much as 7% in after-hours trade. Jobs has been on medical leave for an undisclosed condition since January 17, is now replaced by COO and longtime heir apparent Tim Cook.


Even though Android is the most popular smartphone platform for users craving wireless internet service , the iPhone 4 is the best-selling phone. A recent study shows that the second best-selling phone on the market is the over two year old iPhone 3GS.

"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come," - Steve Jobs

The 55-year-old CEO had briefly emerged from his medical leave in March to unveil the latest version of the iPad and later to attend a dinner hosted by U.S President Barack Obama for technology leaders in Silicon Valley.
 

Bigger picture HERE

 

 

Rumors on the internet stated the reason for his resigning is that he is unable to make a recovery quick enough for the unveiling of the new iPhone 5 which is coming very soon.

Large ISP Profit From BitTorrent Traffic

For many years Internet Service Providers from all over the world have throttled or even banned BitTorrent traffic on their networks.

Claims often heard on the news from high speed internet providers is that heavy users are using too much resources and bandwidth and are making them lose a lot of money.

Well, not according to a new paper out from Northwestern University and Telefónica Research that studies how P2P applications affect ISPs. The paper claims to look at the whole ecosystem, across network boundaries and geographical borders to detail the effect of the entire system of files.

As far as larger ISPs concern, there’s an upside to BitTorrent as well. In fact, companies like Comcast make a substantial amount of money from BitTorrent traffic.


The goal of the research was to understand the network impact of BitTorrent, both in terms of traffic and the costs involved. To answer these questions the researchers conducted a 2-year study where they tracked the downloads of 500,000 people for 169 different countries. The end result is an interesting trend report which, among other things, shows how BitTorrent traffic has developed over time.

A third of BitTorrent traffic stays local: Thirty-two percent of BitTorrent traffic stays in the country of origin and 49 percent of traffic is intra-domain or crosses a single peering or sibling network link.

BitTorrent traffic doesn’t usually hit the big backbone transit providers: That’s partly because it stays local and partly because the largest amount of BitTorrent traffic stays inside a local area network run by a hosting company or enterprise.

BitTorrent traffic occurs at the same time as peak web traffic and it’s growing: The old myth that BitTorrent users were up late at night seeding files has evolved and most users are sharing files during the day. Many are doing so during “peak traffic times,” which the researchers don’t disclose unless daytime means peak traffic time.

The researchers translated their findings into the actual costs and revenues of Internet providers and found that contrary to what the public would expect, large Tier 2 ISPs actually make money off BitTorrent traffic. This means that broadband providers like Comcast, Virgin Media and France Telecom profit directly from heavy downloaders.

“Using inferred business relationships between ISPs, we showed that most BitTorrent traffic flows over cost-free paths and that it generates substantial revenue potential for many higher tier ISPs,” the researchers write.

But not all Internet providers make money off BitTorrent; those in the lower tiers where most traffic is flowing through have less local (and free) traffic and often have to pick up the bill.

“Unlike with tier 2, provider traffic is larger than customer traffic for tier 3, indicating that these ISPs on average are paying for rather than profiting from transit charges due to BitTorrent traffic,” state the researchers.

Sony To Replace PSP Of Mugged Student In London Riots

Savages.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has promised to replace the PSP portable gaming device of Ashraf Haziq – a straight A Malaysian student who just arrive in United Kingdom a month ago on an accounting scholarship.

Ashraf was video taped being mugged of his PSP after being brutally beaten up. The shocking video that have gone viral shows Haziq being robbed off his goods from his backpack after being assisted to his feet by youths. He suffered a broken jaw and was seen sitting at the roadside, bleeding heavily. He was caught in the midst of widespread rioting in London on Monday night.

SCEE marketing director Alan Duncan wrote on a blog set up specifically for this purpose that the company would “like to give Ashraf a new PSP and games,” and requested to be put in touch with him or a hospital where he is being treated.

“If we can find out how to get it to him we’ll replace the PSP,” added a SCE UK rep.

 Speaking at a press conference after being discharged from the Royal London hospital after a three-hour operation on Wednesday, Haziq said he felt sorry for his attackers.

"I was really sad for them because amongst them there were children," he said.

 "There was a boy from a primary school, I think. It was shocking because I expected it to be someone older, but there was this boy."

Despite this horrible incident, Haziq still want to complete his 2 year study in the UK and hold no grudges to his attackers.

Starbucks Blocking Ports To Prevent Wi-Fi Campers

It's a sight almost all of us have seen in the city everyday. People buying a cup of latte and staying at Starbucks for hours on their laptops for their wireless internet access.

It has apparently become quite the problem. Reuters points out that some highly trafficked Starbucks outlets in New York City are actually blocking electrical outlets in a bid to keep campers moving on and provide seats for other customers who just need a place to sit after buying up a latte or pastry.

"Customers are asking (for it) .... They just purchased a latte and a pastry and there is nowhere to sit down in some of these really high-volume stores," said Starbucks spokesman Alan Hilowitz.

Move it along brah.

"If this is what the store needs to do to support the business, then they're allowed to make the decision to do that," Hilowitz said. "It really is all about the balance."

Starbucks offers free wireless internet access to all of its customers. While inviting customers to linger can result in repeat purchases, it also can have unintended consequences.

Seating is limited in some cafes frequented by students, freelancer workers and other laptop users who sometimes stay for hours eventhough their cup of latte is empty for quite a while.

Perhaps they can just bring more batteries?

Norway Pulling Violent Video Games After Killing

After the world shocking mass murders allegedly performed by Anders Breivik (picture) 10 days ago, retail chains in Norway are pulling violent video games off their shelves and as usual, violent video games are targeted as the main motivator of the shooting .

Coop Norway, one of the Norway's largest retailers, announced late last week that they will be removing over 50 video games and weapon-like toys from their shelves in the aftermath of the Oslo/Utoya shootings.

Among the titles affected are Homefront, Counter-Strike, Sniper: Ghost Warrior, World of Warcraft and various Call of Duty games. According to statements made to Norwegian newspaper Rogalands Avis, the ban on these games is apparently only temporary, but no reinstatement date were announced for gamers to continue to buy video games.

Coop Norway Retail director Geir Inge Stokke said, "The decision to remove the games was made around the time we realized the scope of the attack. Others are better suited than us to point to the negative effects of games like these."

Stokke added, "At the moment it's [appropriate] for us to take them down. I wouldn't be surprised if others do the same. We have to think very carefully about when to bring these goods back. The economy involved is of no importance."

A comment someone posted awhile ago:

"I even heard he drank milk once! They should ban that too."