AMAZON CLOSES DOWN AFFILIATES IN NORTH CAROLINA, A NEW SERVICE
LETS YOU TRADE STOCKS OVER TWITTER, AND THERE ARE NEW RUMORS OF
A PLAYSTATION PORTABLE PHONE. ITS MONDAY, JUNE 29TH. I'M NATALI DEL
CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
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AMAZON HAS SEVERED TIES WITH ALL OF ITS AFFILIATES IN NORTH CAROLINA
DUE TO A TAX LAW. THIS MEANS THAT ANY SITE THAT WAS MAKING
REFERRALS TO AMAZON WILL NO LONGER GET COMMISSION. THE LAW IN
QUESTION WOULD INSTATE A TAX ON THOSE TRANSACTIONS AND AMAZON,
APPARENTLY, WOULD RATHER SHUT IT DOWN THAN PAY THE TAX. THE
COMPANY CALLED THE TAX UNCONSTITUTIONAL. AMAZON HAS BEEN
FIGHTING AN UPHILL BATTLE ON IN-STATE TAXES. LAST YEAR THE COMPANY
SUED THE STATE OF NEW YORK FOR A SIMILAR LAW BUT A JUDGE DISMISSED
THE CASE IN JANUARY.
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EVEN THOUGH THE EUROPEAN VERSION OF WINDOWS 7 WILL SHIP WITHOUT
A BROWSER, IT WILL STILL COST MORE IN THE E.U. THAN IT DOES IN THE U.S.
MICROSOFT SAID THAT WINDOWS 7 HOME EDITION WILL COST 119 EUROS IN
MOST OF EUROPE AND 79 POUNDS IN THE U.K. THAT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF
ABOUT $170 US DOLLARS IN EUROPE AND $132 US DOLLARS IN THE U.K.,
WHILE U.S. CUSTOMERS WILL ONLY PAY $119. OF COURSE THIS IS DUE TO A
PRETTY CRAPPY EXCHANGE RATE. MEANWHILE PRE-ORDERS OF WINDOWS 7
HAVE SOLD OUT IN JAPAN. THIS WAS THE DISCOUNTED PRE-SALE OF THE
OPERATING SYSTEM. OF COURSE USERS CAN STILL PRE-ORDER AT THE
REGULAR PRICE.
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THERE ARE RUMORS THAT A SONY PLAYSTATION PORTABLE PHONE COULD
BE ANNOUNCED AS SOON AS NEXT MONTH. WE HAVE HEARD THIS BEFORE
BUT WE HAVEN'T TAKEN IT SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO REPORT ABOUT IT HERE
ON LOADED. IT WOULDN'T BE TOO SHOCKING. SONY DOES MAKE PHONES OUT
OF ITS SONY ERICCSON DIVISION. BUT THE PSP IS TOO BIG SO THEY WOULD
HAVE TO PUT IT ON A DIET BEFORE THEY ADDED PHONE CAPABILITY.
REUTERS REPORTS THAT WE COULD SEE AN ANNOUNCEMENT BY NEXT
MONTH BUT NO ACTUAL PRODUCT ON THE MARKET FOR A QUITE A LONG TIME.
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LENOVO IS GOING TO MAKE THE ESCAPE AND DELETE KEYS ON THE
THINKPAD LAPTOPS. THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A SILLY STORY BUT CONSIDER
THAT LENOVO DOESN'T OFTEN CHANGE THE HARDWARE ON THE THINKPADS.
THIS WAS BASED ON USER TESTING THAT SHOWED THAT USERS HIT THE
ESCAPE AND DELETE KEY 700 TIMES PER WEEK. I GUESS WE MAKE A LOT OF
MISTAKES IN OUR DIGITAL LIVES. ACCORDING TO PC AUTHORITY, THE NEXT
KEYBOARD CHANGE COULD BE THE DEATH OF CAPS LOCK. THE COMPUTER
MAKER ISN'T SURE ANYONE USES IT ANYMORE. I DO.
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IT TOOK TWO YEARS BUT SOMEONE HAS FINALLY BESTED NETFLIX AT ITS
ALGORITHM FOR RECOMMENDING MOVIES. THE COMPANY ISSUED A
CHALLENGE IN FEBRUARY OF 2006. THEY PROMISED $1 MILLION TO ANYONE
WHO COULD IMPROVE THEIR MOVIE RECOMMENDATION ENGINE. TWO TEAMS
CALLED TEAM PRAGMATIC THEORY AND TEAM BILLKOR IN CHAOS WROTE AN
ALGORITHM THAT IS 10.05 PERCENT BETTER THAN THE ONE THAT NETFLIX
USES. THE RULES OF THE CONTEST STATE THAT OTHER CONTESTANTS HAVE
30 DAYS TO CHALLENGE OR ONE-UP THE WINNING TEAMS. IF NO ONE CAN,
THERE WILL BE A VERIFICATION PROCESS AND THEN A BIG PAY OUT. WE
DON'T KNOW IF AND WHEN NETFLIX WILL ACTUALLY START EMPLOYING THE
NEW ALGORITHM THOUGH.
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NASA IS ALSO CROWDSOURCING. THE SPACE AGENCY IS CALLING FOR HELP
IN ANALYZING AND ELECTRONICALLY CATALOGING NOTES FROM THE EARLY
DAYS OF THE HUMAN SPACE PROGRAM. THIS IS A HUGE ARCHIVE OF DATA
AND NASA WANTS TO MAKE IT PUBLIC IN THE MOST INTUITIVE WAY POSSIBLE.
MOST OF THIS ARCHIVE WAS FOUND IN BOXES JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO.
NASA IS SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR IDEAS ON WHAT FORMAT TO USE, HOW
TO INDEX THE NOTES, AND HOW TO CREATE A USEFUL DATABASE. IF YOU
HAVE IDEAS, GO TO NASA.GOV. I THINK THEY'RE LOOKING FOR A LITTLE MORE
THAN "USE GOOGLE DOCS" THOUGH.
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A NEW ANDROID PHONE LAUNCHED IN SPAIN. IT IS CALLED THE GEEKSPHONE
ONE. IT LOOKS A BIT LIKE THE SAMSUNG OMNIA AND HAS SIMILAR SPECS:
WI-FI, 3.2 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA, 3.2-INCH SCREEN. IT WILL BE SOLD IN THE FALL
UNLOCKED FOR AROUND $350 ON EDGE PLUS HSDPA. AND I'M ASSUMING IT IS
BILINGUAL.
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A NEW SERVICE CALLED POLLYTRADE LETS YOU TRADE STOCKS OVER
TWITTER. IT LINKS TO YOUR E-TRADE ACCOUNT AND LETS YOU BUY, AND SELL
SHARES OF PUBLICLY TRADED STOCK. SO IF YOU WANT TO BUY SHARES OF
STARBUCKS, YOU TWEET @POLLYTRADE BUY 200 SHARES SBUX. WE'VE
SEEN OTHER TRADING FIRMS ENABLE TRADING OVER SMS. I'M NOT SURE THIS
IS SUCH A HUGE IDEA. I MEAN, LETS PUT ASIDE THE FACT THAT TRADING
STOCKS IS RISKY ENOUGH IN THIS ECONOMY. BUT TRADING OVER TWITTER?
TWICE THIS WEEKEND I TWEETED A TYPO. I WOULD HATE TO LOSE MONEY
OVER IT.
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IF YOU ARE OR HAVE BEEN A HACKER IN THE UK, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO
REPENT AND PUT THOSE SKILLS TO USE. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS
HIRING FORMER HACKERS IT A NEW SECURITY UNIT THAT IS SUPPOSED TO
PROTECT THE COUNTRY FROM FOREIGN SPIES, THIEVES, AND TERRORISTS.
PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN ANNOUNCED THE NEW CYBERCRIMES
UNIT ON THURSDAY. THE COUNTRY IS LOOKING FOR "YOUNGSTERS WHO ARE
ACTUALLY DEEP INTO THIS STUFF." ITS THE OLD
IF-YOU-CAN'T-BEAT-EM-JOIN-EM..OR HAVE THEM JOIN YOU.
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THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I WILL SEE YOU
TOMORROW. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNETTV
AND YOU JUST BEEN LOADED.
