Foxconn wages are deplorable unless you die on the job

While the tragic Foxconn suicide count climbs it appears as though Telegraph UK has uncovered at least one of the contributing factors. According to the article, families of the dead victims receive an pay out of up to 110,000 Yuan ($16, 100) — that’s the equivalent to 10 years worth of pay. And while that doesn’t seem like a lot of money for us “westerners,” with basic monthly wages starting at 900 Yuan ($130) you can begin to see why some unfortunate souls have chosen to take their own life.

Brandon Davenport May 28, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Applications, News

VLC now Supports WebM and VP8

At May 28, 2010

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VLC now Supports WebM and VP8

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I am going to force myself to get excited about this.

VLC 1.1.0rc is now ready for download, now sporting support for WebM and VP8 as well as other codec enhancements. It’s one of the first desktop clients to include the new Google marketed video codec, WebM and VP8, which is a big step in some sort of direction…

It’s still up in the air whether WebM is a viable video format, but if VLC has it, it must have a chance - Download now

Acer's Stream: A surprisingly good Android device not made by HTC

Sick of HTC branded Android devices? Looking for something that could potentially rival the Nexus One? If you’ve answered yes to either of those questions wait until you get a look at Acer’s latest set. Called the Stream, Acer’s latest handset is well, as the press release says, “Powerful. Spectacular. Cutting-edge.” Running Android 2.1 — we know it isn’t Froyo, but hear us out — the Stream adds Acer’s “brand new” user-interface on… well, what is still the most widely used Android build to date. “Elegant and minimalist in design” the Stream measures in at just 11.2mm thick — which is rather impressive unto itself, however, it’s made more impressive when you see what’s under the bonnet. Under the proverbial bonnet we’re looking at a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 2GB internal storage (with an 8GB bundled microSD), 3.7-inch WVGA display, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, HDMI out and a 5-megapixel camera. No word on pricing or availability, but in the meantime how about you mosey on past the break to check out a streaming video (pun intended) and Acer’s press release?

Steve Ballmer will not be at WWDC for Microsoft

Brandon Davenport May 27, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Industry News, Microsoft, News

Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI.Thu May 27 18:12:57 via webMicrosoft
Microsoft

There was rumor that Steve Ballmer would be attending Apple’s WWDC event on June 7 to chum it up with Mr. Jobs on stage, but Microsoft has smothered any hopes of that, via Twitter. This is somewhat of a dissapointment, because all the speculations were getting exciting. Some of which were “Apple switching to Bing for search” and “Something to do with Visual Studio 2010”. Even though this is all out the window, it still leaves us wondering, why did this rumor even start?

Brandon Davenport May 27, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Apple, breaking

FTC and FCC Publicize Legal Complaints Against Apple

At May 27, 2010

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FTC and FCC Publicize Legal Complaints Against Apple

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Mounds of complaints have been filed with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission against Apple. They mostly point out the obvious issues people have with iDevices like, the iPad’s lack of Flash support and the availability of adult material in the iTunes App Store and even an iPhone catching fire while charging.

You can see all the official documents over at Information Week - Read more

Video - IRON BABY - Kids are Badass

How do you make an epic, fake movie trailer? - First you take one of the most undoubtedly successful action movie franchises, and replace the actors (whom we have come to love) with babies. Done, and voila, birthed through the intertubes with the gentle hands of Jocelyn “Strob” Simard and Patrick Boivin from Montreal, who are very talented filmmakers. Using the technical perfection of CGI, and the irresistible cuteness of a baby, they have forged a masterpiece which will live in our fanboy hearts for all eternity.

Trailer After the break!

Brandon Davenport May 27, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us News, breaking

NBC and Time Warner say HTML5 is Yuck

At May 27, 2010

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NBC and Time Warner say HTML5 is Yuck

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“Sources said several large media companies, including Time Warner and NBC Universal, told Apple they won’t retool their extensive video libraries to accommodate the iPad, arguing that such a reformatting would be expensive and not worth it because Flash dominates the Web”

I cant believe how stubborn some companies are! - Read more