Debate over Galveston public housing turns ugly

Debate over Galveston public housing turns ugly

A plan to rebuild units destroyed by Ike has split the island, with one side alleging racism and the other calling tenants lazy or worse.

Hulu Officially Charging for Content in 2010 [Television]

Hulu Officially Charging for Content in 2010 [Television]

Bad news if you like free stuff: In 2010, the popular ad-supported streaming video site Hulu will officially begin charging for content.

We've heard rumors about this before, and while about 17% of you said you'd consider paying for Hulu if it was reasonable, the vast majority were completely against the idea (40% said you just head back to BitTorrent).

So far it sounds like Hulu will still keep some content outside of the pay wall, but, as Gizmodo points out, the quote from News Corp isn't promising:

It's time to start getting paid for broadcast content online. I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business

Specifically, saying users will need to pay for broadcast content worries us—you know, the non-premium content that already comes for free over the airwaves. We'll see where this ends up next year, but in the meantime, it looks like it could spell trouble for Hulu lovers.

Chase Carey: Hulu to Charge in 2010 [Broadcasting & Cable via Gizmodo]

61-year-old surfer's ordeal ends on oil rig

Sent to you via Google Reader

61-year-old surfer's ordeal ends on oil rig

Swept farther and farther out into the Gulf of Mexico, John Baker saw bright lights — a drilling platform.

NFB Films Brings Hundreds of Free Documentaries and Other Films to Your iPhone [IPhone]

Sent to you via Google Reader

NFB Films Brings Hundreds of Free Documentaries and Other Films to Your iPhone [IPhone]

iPhone/iPod touch only: Need a little something enriching to pass the time on your non-driving commute? The National Film Board of Canada's NFB Films iPhone application brings access to hundreds of free animated movies, documentaries, and experimental films to your iPhone.

All the films stream from the internet, so you'll need an internet connection to grab them, but this app also allows you to download and store films to watch later (up to 24hrs), which is fabulous for those places around town where signal is weak or non-existent—like the 3rd floor bathroom in your office, or the spotty signal you get while riding the train.

The content includes everything from children's cartoons to Oscar-winning flicks, and to top it all off, the download and the entire contents of their film library are free of charge.

NFB Films [iTunes App Store via Drawn]

Enable MMS on Your 2G iPhone [IPhone]

 

 

Sent to you by James via Google Reader:

 

 

Enable MMS on Your 2G iPhone [IPhone]

via Lifehacker by Adam Pash on 10/19/09

AT&T rolled out MMS to the iPhone 3G and 3GS last month, but if you're the proud owner of a first generation 2G iPhone, you don't get the "new" feature. If you're feeling left out and adventurous, this hack brings the MMS.

The particularly annoying thing about Apple not enabling MMS on the 2G iPhone is that there's no hardware limitation. (Presumably they just want to give consumers one more reason to upgrade.) A user at iPhone-hacking forum Hackint0sh details how to replace a tweaked system file on your iPhone to enable MMS on your 2G iPhone without Apple's help.

1. Backup original CommCenter (goes without saying...)
2. Replace CommCenter in: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreTelephony.framework/Support/ with a patched one.
3. Chmod the new CommCenter to 755
4. Open /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/M68AP.plist and insert a true boolean value for "mms" under capabilities

As you can see, this method requires some serious know-how (head to the original post for more specifics), so proceed at your own risk. As an alternative, the commenters at Gizmodo point out that folks with jailbroken phones can also install a package called ActivateMMS2G using Cydia (the default app management tool for non-approved iPhone apps) that will do most of the behind-the-scenes dirty work for you.

We don't have a 2G iPhone on hand to test either method, but if you've hazarded down this territory already, give us your canary-in-the-coalmine take in the comments.

iPhone 2G - 3.1.2 MMS - DEVS ONLY [Hackint0sh via Gizmodo]

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Lifehacker using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

Some shots from around Houston

These are some shots I took the other day when in downtown Houston. Fist is coming up Main Street along the tram line, heading into downtown, the next are some street shots around where I used to work, and then some shots from our sorry ass train depot. There was a Union Pacific Business Train there, with a locomotive at each end, and two dome cars and one observation car. On a pocket siding across the way were the two cars of a private rail car charter service.

 

 

Snow Leopard Bug Deleting Entire User Accounts [Data Loss]

Snow Leopard Bug Deleting Entire User Accounts [Data Loss]

Tech news site ITWire reports that a reproducible bug related to guest accounts in Snow Leopard is deleting entire user account data. That's a very bad thing. From ITWire, here's what's happening:

According to multiple topics on the Apple Support discussion boards, the problem can occur when a user logs into their Mac's Guest account — whether by accident or on purpose — and then tries to log back into their regular account.

In some cases, users have reported finding their regular account empty of data, as though it were a brand new account.

The current workaround: disable the Guest account. Apple isn't offering any response to this yet, and details are slim, but just to be safe, you may want to at the very least steer clear of your guest account for the time being. [ITWire via Neowin]

When Clouds Die: T-Mobile loses all Sidekick personal data!

When Clouds Die: T-Mobile loses all Sidekick personal data!

Slashdot 10/11/09:

"T-Mobile's popular Sidekick brand of devices and their users are facing a data loss crisis. According to the T-Mobile community forums, Microsoft/Danger has suffered a catastrophic server failure that has resulted in the loss of all personal data not stored on the phones. They are advising users not to turn off their phones, reset them or let the batteries die in them for fear of losing what data remains on the devices. Microsoft/Danger has stated that they cannot recover the data but are still trying. Already people are clamoring for a lawsuit. Should we continue to trust cloud computing content providers with our personal information? Perhaps they should have used ZFS or btrfs for their servers."

---

Dell reportedly to make Android phone for AT&T

Dell reportedly to make Android phone for AT&T

A newspaper report says Dell Inc. is working on a "smart" phone for AT&T that runs Google Inc.'s Android phone operating system.

AT&T to expand Internet calling services on iPhone

Sent to you via Google Reader

AT&T to expand Internet calling services on iPhone

AT&T Inc. said late Tuesday that it will begin allowing iPhone owners to use Internet calling services on its wireless network.

10,000 Hotmail Passwords Leaked Online [Email]

Sent to you via Google Reader

10,000 Hotmail Passwords Leaked Online [Email]

According to tech news site Neowin, an anonymous user posted usernames and passwords for over 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail accounts to web site PasteBin, including accounts on email domains like @hotmail.com, @msn.com, and @live.com. Neowin verified that the accounts are genuine, and that most appear to be based in Europe. Ars Technica reports, more specifically, those leaked accounts include usernames in alphabetical order beginning with the letters "ar" to "bl". Microsoft has confirmed the leak, so if you're a Live Hotmail user and you suspect you may have been affected, now's the time to change that password. For the rest of us—well, this may serve as a reminder that it might be a good time to do a password refresh, anyway.

Turf war may slow commuter rail plans

Sent to you via Google Reader

Turf war may slow commuter rail plans

Competing plans by Galveston, Metro and a third group could hurt Houston's position in the race for federal dollars, officials say.