June

Leap second: June 30 to be longer than other days

Oh good, I can get one second more sleep the night of June 30. In an effort to keep our extremely accurate atomic clocks in line with the more arbitrary nature of the way the world wobbles, we're getting a leap second this weekend.

Sure, it's not as dramatic as what happens during a leap year, but it's still exciting for clock aficionados, science geeks, and time lords. The leap second will be added to Coordinated Universal Time at the end of the day on June 30.… Read more

Foxconn recruiter: We're 'hiring' for June release of iPhone 5

A Foxconn recruiting office is telling potential hires that the iPhone 5 is expected to go on sale in June, according to a Japanese broadcaster.

In a conversation recorded here by TV Tokyo and aired April 2, a Foxconn recruiter says the company needs to hire about 18,000 people to manufacture the iPhone 5.

"Because it seems it will go on sale in June," the recruiter says in response to a question about the iPhone 5, according to a Japanese translation of the original Chinese. (That conversation starts around the 7:10 mark.)

This wouldn't be … Read more

Happy Tau Day, everybody!

There's a celebration for everything these days--National Yo-Yo Day, Ice Cream Day, even Corduroy Day. March 14 was Pi Day--3.14... get it? On Pi Day, which celebrates the number that represents the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle, enthusiasts had pie-eating contests and played educational games.

Guess what today is! It's Tau Day. Tau represents the circumference of a circle divided by the radius, which is approximately 6.28. Today is June 28... get it?

Apparently, people have been celebrating this day for 10 years. On Tau Day last year, theoretical physicist Michael Hartl launched the Tau Manifesto, which explained why pi is confusing and instead should be replaced with tau.

One of his reasons: Since tau is the ratio of circumference to radius of a circle, circles are more naturally defined by their radius than diameter. (Are you still following this?)… Read more

iFlow Reader developer rages at Apple (Q&A)

CNET ran a story yesterday about BeamItDown Software, the start-up behind the iFlow Reader app for iOS, offering harsh words for Apple as it felt forced to shut down. In a note to customers, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said its demise was due to Apple's "mid-game rule changes that make it impossible for anyone but Apple to sell e-books at a profit on iOS."

I was struck by the candidness of the remarks and decided to track down BeamItDown's co-founder Dennis Morin for a follow-up interview. Morin has been an entrepreneur for a number of … Read more

Inside the iPhone 4--courtesy of Steve Jobs

The iPhone 4 got a pre-emptive teardown on Monday, courtesy of CEO Steve Jobs at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Though a precommercial version of the iPhone 4 was notoriously taken apart by Gizmodo--and no doubt other meticulous teardowns will follow--there's nothing like an official peek inside by Jobs to set the record straight.

So, what's going on inside? Not surprisingly, one of the key goals is to pack more features and functionality into a smaller space: at 9.3mm thick, the device will be 24 percent thinner than its predecessor. And to make this point, an Apple video released Monday shows an animation of the Apple A4 chip package … Read more

Kindle DX shipping June 10

Amazon.com says its Kindle DX e-book reader will start shipping on June 10. "The Kindle DX is currently available for pre-order and all orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis," the company said Monday in a statement.

Not to much to add at this point other than we'll post a review on the 10th. In the meantime, you can check out our lengthy first take of the jumbo-screen e-reader.

Has anybody ordered one yet--or thought about buying one? Or is the DX just too pricey at $489?

Nielsen: 3.1 percent of U.S. unprepared for DTV

With under 40 days remaining until the June 12 switch-off of analog TV stations across the United States, Nielsen Media Research reports that 3.1 percent of TV homes in the U.S. are still not prepared for the DTV transition.

That number amounts to 3.5 million households being caught by surprise when their analog-only over-the-air TV broadcasts go to snow next month. That's an improvement of about 1.5 million homes since a February 18 Nielsen survey, which is significant because the original switchover date was scheduled for February 17 before being delayed.

There's no sign … Read more

The 404 279: Where Jason is Rana's bloody Valentine

It's Friday the 13th today, and just one day left before Valentine's Day, so we beg 404 resident hottie biscotti Rana Showbunny of Medialets into the studio to help Jeff decide what to get his girlfriend for the holiday. Her answer is definitely the opposite from what we thought! Meanwhile, I think all hope is lost for Wilson and me...I can't speak for him, but I know that by this time tomorrow I'll be curled up in the fetal position with a Snuggie watching A Walk to Remember and polishing off a Dumpster's worth … Read more

The 404 138: Where the show is now called The 202

Today's show starts off a bit rough. Wilson's still gone and our guests Rana Sobhany and Eric Litman are nowhere to be found, so it's the Jeff and Justin show for the first half. We do our normal thing and chat about old people getting it on until BAM! Rana and Eric arrive and all is well again. They give us the scoop on their newest business venture, Medialets, and we also discuss the YouTube versus Viacom lawsuit. Thanks for coming on the show, guys! Episode 138 Download today's podcast