Miscellaneous

There's little love in the air for Windows 8 on at least two fronts, as Asus warns of poor uptake for the operating system.

Yesterday, Asus reported a boost in revenue during 2012's fourth quarter, growing by 14 percent year-on-year to around $4 billion, with net profit up by 21 percent to $202 million.

As one of the champions to Windows 8 in recent quarters, the company has invested millions into developing new devices to take full advantage of the array of features in the next-generation software. But the company said while its Windows 8-powered notebooks have been … Read more

Math. The very word can conjure painful memories: long division, square roots, the quadratic equation.

Not only do many of us not like math; we're also not very good at it. In an international test of 15-year-olds, the U.S. placed 24th out of 64 countries.

"We don't currently, in this country, have a cultural expectation that yeah, you're going to learn math just like you're going to learn reading," said Glen Whitney. "It's OK to not be good at math."

Glen Whitney is good at math. He's got a Ph.D. in it, and is trying to change the way we think about one of our least favorite subjects. … Read more

Samsung apologized yesterday for the January acid leak at one of its semiconductor plants that killed one worker and injured four others. The event occurred at one of the plants in the Hwaseong area of South Korea.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Oh-Hyun Kwon said that as part of the apology, the company plans to revoke its bid to have all of its Hwaseong plants certified as green for another five years, the Yonhap News Agency reported today.

Kwon also promised that the company would take measures to prevent future accidents, saying that "we plan to overhaul the system in … Read more

A sweaty confession: I use my cell phone in the gym.

No, of course I don't talk into it. Who does that with a cell phone? But it's useful to have around, just in case someone needs you to urgently think about something -- or if you need to know what's happening out there somewhere. Texting and e-mailing are silent.

Some gyms, it seems, are very cell phone-averse. At Planet Fitness in Boston, for example, there is a very strict anti-cell phone policy.

You can only use your gadget in the lobby. Once you're on the … Read more

Phase One said today it's updating high-end medium-format camera line with three new Wi-Fi-equipped digital backs -- including one model that shoots only black-and-white images.

The $43,990 IQ280 keeps the same 80-megapixel sensor of its predecessor, the Phase One IQ180, but it's got a better 13-stop dynamic range -- a measurement of image's span from bright to dark. That's up from 12.5 stops on the IQ180.

Phase One announced the cameras today along with the IQ260, which has a new 60-megapixel sensor, and the IQ 260 Achromatic, a black-and-white variation. The three new digital … Read more

None of us is immune from being our own worst enemy.

We find ways to sabotage ourselves that aren't even assuaged by years of visits to our psychologists.

The extremely openhearted may, therefore, find a certain at-oneness with an alleged drug dealer whose bottom may have caused him to be arrested.

As KGW-TV deals it, Raleigh Reynolds, 25, was allegedly about to participate in a narcotic business transaction.

Unfortunately (at least for him), police say a 911 dispatcher got to listen in on the proceedings, as Reynolods inadvertently called it in.… Read more

Great chefs are crazy.

There are many kinds of crazy. Some of these culinarians rant, rave, and spit fire and brimstone. Some pore over their ingredients like scientists: quiet, brooding, and deeply serious.

All believe they can create their own particular gastronomic dreams, ones nobody else can copy. Especially not a computer.

IBM thinks different.

Having seen its Watson computer crush mere humans at the trivial game of "Jeopardy," the company is now setting the machine's sights on bigger business.

According to The New York Times, the world of haute cuisine is one in which IBM would like to make a robotic incursion.… Read more

Google CFO Patrick Pichette played down reports that his company's relationship with Samsung was becoming strained and noted that "journalists love big headlines that sell newspapers."

Pichette was referring to a Wall Street Journal report this week noting Google was worried about Samsung's dominance.

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley investment conference, Pichette fired back:

We have a terrific relationship with Samsung. They've been very successful with the Android platform. They benefited just like the rest of the ecosystem. We welcome all of the partners that we have on our Android platform and continue to innovate. … Read more

T-Mobile USA managed to grab more customers last quarter, but that achievement didn't translate into higher revenue.

For the fourth quarter, the company saw a net gain of 61,000 customers, compared with a net loss of 526,000 customers a year earlier. The overall news, however, was mixed.

The number of prepaid customers grew for the sixth quarter in a row, with 166,000 additions last quarter. But the number of contract customers dropped by 515,000, compared with a drop of 492,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Total revenue for the quarter reached $4.9 … Read more