Netflix Inc.’s move to separate its movie-streaming business and its DVD-by-mail service failed to soothe many customers’ anger over the company’s recent price increase. A Netflix spokesman said the DVD-by-mail service, to be renamed Qwikster, will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Netflix. … He wrote that customers will receive separate credit-card statements for the two services, with the new one billed under its new name. Netflix Separates DVD and Streaming Services – WSJ.com. Oh boy…I was okay with Netflix until now. Communication, communication, communication! It’s not so much what the company is doing, but HOW they’re doing it. Also to have two different websites for the same company..with two different bills? A big User Experience fail. I’ve always been annoyed with Verizon for having me sign in two different sites to pay my FIOS Internet and wireless bills (can’t do OneBill since I don’t have a landline). It made no sense that not having a landline precluded me from using that single sign on service. Come on now Netflix…do you have anything else to announce? Just put it all out...

Gotta say, I am a bit excited about this. Windows 8 looks super sleek! Here’s a link to download the Developer preview if you want to check it...

 Nestled in Sony Ericsson’s feature phone past is a rich history of Walkman devices, some good, some bad, all purporting to offer enhanced music features, something that many phones will now offer you. The Mix Walkman is a Walkman feature phone and by feature phone we mean that it isn’t an Android device like the Xperia line, it’s a return to the proprietary OS of before. If it’s Android you’re after, you’ll want the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman. Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman hands-on – Pocket-lint. It’s interesting that they would bring back this popular brand only to attach it to a non-competitive smart phone. Walkman had a big opportunity back when the iPod came out…not sure about it now. As someone mentioned in the comment section though, an audio feature rich phone would be huge. Perhaps Sony should look into...

Photo by darkywarky In effort to do a quick poll, I asked my Twitter followers if they had long conversations via text messages on their phones. I got responses back that many did. I found that strange, but I feel that’s because I’m not much of a phone person and am usually tethered to my computer when I’m not sleeping. Texting, Twitter, Tumblr, and other forms of micro-communication technologies seem to often be used in ways they weren’t intended as many people find their ease of use a low barrier of entry. How many times do you see someone tweeting a dozen tweets in a row when going on a rampage of some sort? Or as mentioned earlier, having 20 minute long conversations via text message? Or even using tumblr as a traditional blog rather than as an image/media board of sorts? It raises several questions : Do people know about the various sorts of technology that are available to them? Are appropriate platforms too complicated for those who are not technically inclined? Is email becoming as antiquated as Blackberries snail mail in that it serves a specific purpose but otherwise is not a preferred method of communication? In general, technology does tend to make people lazy as its entire purpose is to automate some manual process to make people’s lives more efficient. Still though, in many cases it seems to be a double edged sword as people are able to hide behind their electronic personas or even exist through “word bytes” while not developing the critical communication skills that face time requires. It makes one wonder…in this age of technology, seemingly high divorce rates, and general apathy, perhaps the results of the industrial and later electronic ages have had a much deeper impact than...

During the IBC trade show in Amsterdam on Friday, Adobe officially took the wraps off of its new Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5 and Adobe Flash Access 3.0 products, which will allow iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users to access Adobe Flash content. Apple, which has long rejected Adobe’s Flash technology, doesn’t need to approve the tech for it to work, either.  Adobe finally brings Flash to iPhone and iPad. Don’t get too excited yet. iPhone and iPad users will only be able so see Flash content served by Flash Media server…a $4500 product that content providers must use to develop said Flash content. Will the mobile iFamily ever see the type of Flash integration the Android families have? That remains to be...

​Making stuff is hard. Being creative is a tough business, especially in an age when any stupid young (and probably fat) nerd can log onto Kazaa or whatever you crazy kids are using these days and experience for no money what many of us have slaved for long and hard to make. Videogames have had to contend with illegal distribution since the beginning. But unlike the makers of music and film, game designers have larger capabilities when it comes to circumventing would-be software pirates (not to be confused with would-be software ninjas, who would totally beat the software pirates in a fight). Nowadays most will just use a verifiable product code or something else just as effective, and just as boring. The 5 Most Hilarious Forms of Software Copy Protection – Topless Robot. They really did the most to curb software pirating back in the day. I totally remember the “Dial a Pirate” pad! I also remember looking up the 3rd word on line 5 on page 5 of my PHOTOCOPY of the Prince of Persia...

TechCrunch is on the precipice. As soon as tomorrow, Mike may be thrown out of the company he founded. Or he may not. No one knows. And if he is, he will be replaced by — well, again, no one knows. No one knows much of anything. Certainly no one at TechCrunch. This site is about to change forever and we’re in the total fucking dark. I’ve been able to piece together little bits of information here and there, and it’s not looking good. Hence, this post. TechCrunch As We Know It May Be Over | TechCrunch Not particularly surprised by this. Tech news is not exempt from the perils of big media takeovers. I’m actually surprised they lasted this long. Nothing good can come from AOL…   Still though, RIP for what you once were, a really cool place for start up news, bleeding edge tech discoveries and other things of that nature.  ...