TermKit.

An ambitious project to bring the Unix terminal out of the dark ages.

"The Unix philosophy talks about software as a toolset, about tiny programs that can be composed seamlessly. The principles are sound, and have indeed stood the test of time. But they were implemented in a time when computing resources were orders of magnitude smaller, and computer interaction was undiscovered country.

...while I agree that having a flexible toolbox is great, in my opinion, those pieces could be built a lot better. I don't want the computer equivalent of a screwdriver and a hammer, I want a tricorder and a laser saw. TermKit is my attempt at making these better tools and addresses a couple of major pain points.

I see TermKit as an extension of what Apple did with OS X, in particular the system tools like Disk Utility and Activity Monitor. Tech stuff doesn't have to look like it comes from the Matrix."

See it in action. Pretty slick!

Apple backs the little guys.

Apple officially responds to patent troll Lodsys' claims.

"Therefore, Apple requests that Lodsys immediately withdraw all notice letters sent to Apple App Makers and cease its false assertions that the App Makers’ use of licensed Apple products and services in any way constitute infringement of any Lodsys patent."

Pretty black & white.

USB 3.0 vs Thunderbolt

So Hewlett Packard in it's infinite wisdom has decided to bet on USB 3.0 instead of Thunderbolt. HP's worldwide marketing manager, Xavier Lauwaert said HP didn't see value in including Thunderbolt in desktops. "On

the PC side, everybody seems to be content with the expansion of USB 3.0. Do we need to go into more fancy solutions? Not convinced yet."

No convinced yet? Considering Thunderbolt is superior to USB in every regard, will soon be included on all Intel motherboards, and has a much longer life span ahead of it; what other convincing does HP need? The largest PC manufacturer in the world watches the rest of the industry move forward while it runs in place. Sigh.

Yet another reason to overhaul the patent system in this country.

Patent-troll Lodsys is threatening to sue small iOS developers over in-App purchasing. All this company does license the patents it holds (bought) and extorts them over the little guys. I picture a couple of guys in shark skin suits; extortion (injunction) letters in one hand, clubs in the other, knocking on the doors of these small-time developers.

Their website is proof that these guys aren't legit; it looks like a domain placeholder. Shameful.

How GPS works in mobile phones

A clear and concise explanation of how the iPhone finds your location and what data it stores. For the paranoid amongst us.

Front Pages from May 2nd

A round-up of front pages from around the nation the day Osama went down.