via www.artefacture.com
via www.artefacture.com

Using XMLTV with EyeTV
mc2xml
“Die Grenzen des Wachstums zeigen sich an allen Fronten: Der Gehalt an Treibhausgasen in der Atmosphäre sollte besser nicht weiter ansteigen; die Ölvorräte sind bald zur Hälfte erschöpft; seltene, aber ungemein wichtige Metalle wie Rhenium oder Gallium gehen deutlich früher zur Neige, so dass niemand weiß, wie wir künftig unsere Flugzeugturbinen und Solarzellen bauen sollen. Nennenswertes Wirtschaftswachstum in früh industrialisierten Nationen, deren Konsum längst gesättigt ist und die ihren demographischen Höhepunkt hinter sich haben, ist kaum noch vorstellbar. Wir brauchen daher schleunigst Wege für ein Wohlergehen der Gesellschaft ohne Wachstum und sollten nicht versuchen, es dort zu erzeugen, wo es gar nicht möglich ist.”
— Reiner Klingholz, Direktor des Berlin-Instituts für Bevölkerung und Entwicklung (FAZ, 30. Juni 2009, S. 31)
Jeff Goldblum is not dead, or is he?
“Viele leben zu sehr in der Gegenwart: die Leichtsinnigen; andere zu sehr in der Zukunft: die Ängstlichen.”
— Schopenhauer
Zukunft

I said NO SQUEAKS!

Hoisted from the Popbitch archives:

“A friend of mine was in Los Angeles 79 thru 87. Michael Jackson had had a huge hit with Off The Wall, and was recording the follow up.

“The sessions were arranged for a very late start, and, after a night on the town, my mate popped around to the studio to see the producer.

“He got into the control room to find that everyone’s attention was fixed on the glass window. On the other side, Quincy Jones was kicking a pile of rags on the floor while shouting “Silent, you motherfucker! I said NO SQUEAKS!”

“It turned out the pile of rags was a gibbering Michael Jackson. They were recording a new song called Billie Jean, and Michael had decided to fill every gap with his trademark whoops, clicks and squeaks. Quincy, however, had decided that the track would be a pared down.

“After several hours of trying to get the singer to do what he wanted, and having consumed large quantities of ragedust, Jones had finally snapped and attacked the poor freak. Needless to say, after the outburst, MJ sang the song how he was told to, and the rest is history.”

Today is "European level crossing awareness day"

We will bring you more updates as this exciting story develops… ;-)

Making iPhone costs $6.50

iPhone teardown:

“The entry-level, 16Gbyte version of Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 3G S carries a BOM cost of $172.46 and a manufacturing expense of $6.50, for a total of $178.96,” said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst, teardown services, for iSuppli.

This is mind-blowing. Just $6.50 for putting the thing together once you have the parts?! Amazing what a Taiwanese contract manufacturer can do for you.

Estimating how much it would cost to manufacture in Europe or the U.S. is left as an exercise to the reader.