cable
Science
Fibre Optic Cable In Your Skull Can Reprogram Your Brain
8:30AM Jason Chen | Stanford scientists discover that by changing a mouse’s neurons to respond to light, they could use fiber optic cables to influence the mouse to do certain things. The trick is to insert plant genes into the brain first. More »
Business
Comcast Is Buying Up NBC Universal
11:35PM Matt Buchanan | Comcast and GE are in the “midst of due diligence” for a deal that would give a Comcast 51 per cent stake in NBC Universal, and GE 49 per cent. It would merge with its own cable networks. The sticking point, for now, is Vivendi’s 20 per cent stake and its asking price of $US6.3 billion. But, since GE and Comcast both “appear to favour” the deal, we can still probably expect 30 Rock cracks about having Comcastic days next season. [WSJ]
Computers
11:00AM Chris Oaten | When Apple updated its MacBook Pros and dropped support for Firewire 400 ports, the company conveniently (for them) ignored the fact that many creatives, especially camcorder users, were left high and dry. More »
Firewire 400/800 Converters. Going Cheap(er)
11:00AM Chris Oaten | When Apple updated its MacBook Pros and dropped support for Firewire 400 ports, the company conveniently (for them) ignored the fact that many creatives, especially camcorder users, were left high and dry. More »
Entertainment
Supreme Court OKs DVR-In-The-Cloud Concept
10:15AM Wilson Rothman | Hollywood apparently tried to make a federal case about Cablevision launching a virtual DVR, a cable box with no local hard drive that still lets you “record” shows to watch later, and even fast forward through commercials. Hollywood studios got mad because they deemed it unfair re-broadcasting of content. The Supreme Court looked at the case and took a pass—by not hearing it, they are allowing Cablevision and others to proceed with development unhindered. I like the concept of a driveless DVR, but I don’t like the cable company keeping my shows—stuff I’ve already recorded—under lock and key. [NY Times]
Peripherals
Monster SuperThin HDMI Cables Really Are SuperThin
12:00PM Matt Buchanan | Monster’s SuperThin HDMI cables aren’t just marketing noise, they’re real, and thinner than the anacondas most people have jacked into their TVs. RedMere’s tech lets them skimp on heavy-gauge copper, so they’re just 3.5mm around. More »
Entertainment
3:08PM Nick Broughall | Good news for Foxtel cable subscribers – One HD will be coming to your pay TV network on July 1. More »
Foxtel Cable Broadcasting One HD From July 1
3:08PM Nick Broughall | Good news for Foxtel cable subscribers – One HD will be coming to your pay TV network on July 1. More »
Networks
Google on How to Change the Internet: You Should Own Your Broadband Pipes
5:20AM Matt Buchanan | Google policy analyst Derek Slater—who’s so obviously related to Christian Slater—explains how to reshape broadband in the US. Step one: Own the actual pipes that run to your house. More »
Random Stuff
Exposing Your Junk To The Comcast Guy Will Not Get You Free Cable, Only Jail Time
10:00AM Sean Fallon | Here is my life lesson for today: no matter how excited you are to get your internet service fixed, do not expose yourself to the cable guy. I can’t stress that enough. More »
Networks
12:00PM Nick Broughall | Melbourne residents with access to Telstra’s cable broadband are set for a big boost in speed this year, with Uncle Sol announcing that the Telco is boosting the service’s speeds to 100Mbps by Christmas. More »
Telstra Boosting Melbourne Cable Broadband To 100Mbps
12:00PM Nick Broughall | Melbourne residents with access to Telstra’s cable broadband are set for a big boost in speed this year, with Uncle Sol announcing that the Telco is boosting the service’s speeds to 100Mbps by Christmas. More »
Online
10:00AM Nick Broughall | We all want cheaper broadband. To get it, we need to lay undersea cables to connect us to the rest of the worls. To lay the cables, someone needs to put it on a boat. And it needs to be done by hand. More »
The Hardest Part About Cheaper Broadband
10:00AM Nick Broughall | We all want cheaper broadband. To get it, we need to lay undersea cables to connect us to the rest of the worls. To lay the cables, someone needs to put it on a boat. And it needs to be done by hand. More » 