Arquivo para July, 2013
The German Libreka and Amazon
31
Jul
Despite having been launched Amazon.de store in April this year in the most prosperous
nation in Europe, many leaders of the German publishing industry were already planning to do against powerful German distributor of digital publications, sales of e-books have not taken off there like here in Brazil.
Unlike the American version of sales, the German publishing market still sells printed more than e-books, the German Kindle store, for example, only sells an e-book for every 100 printed books, a growth of only 0.5% of total book sales in the past year.
But the German market digital download is quite strong in terms of music, software and videos, e-books still represent only 5% of the transfers, according to market research firm GfK in Germany.
But one of the problems in Germany, claimed by readers, is the instant access to e-books is not always possible because many digital retailers do not offer a full set of titles in digital format in their catalogs.
The German rival comes Libreka since 2007 competing in this market, and the main platform for the Germans of ebooks, it also has a partnership with German publishers, the MVB (Publishers and Booksellers Association of Germany).
Brazilian iPhone is launched
30
Jul
After winning a court battle causing the iPhone brand is the Brazilian company
Gradient, the company announced on its official website the IPhone C600 for October.
The Brazilian unit had the trademark in 2000, Apple in 2007.
The decision of the National Institute of Intellectual Property left in February this year, but the dispute continues IGB justice (see the news on Reuters).
The iPhone has the gradient for two chips, HD screen of 5 inches and rear cameras of 13 megapixels and 2-megapixel front, uses the dual-core processor at 1.4 GHz with 8 GB of internal memory and runs the Android system 4.2.2.
Still do not know the cost, but the unit’s previous line C Gradient Iphone with 5 megapixel camera and Android 2.3, has a suggested retail price of U.S. $ 599, much cheaper than the Apple clone around R$ 1,800.00 (US$ 900).
The Gradient smartphone has 3.7-inch screen has a resolution of 320 x 480 and the processor is 700 MHz, supports two chips, has Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth, and uses memory card of 2 GB.
Instagram is causing envy and depresses
29
Jul
The survey is the author Jessica Winter, and was published in Slate, in U.S.A., 
where she exhibited her arguments in a work done in collaboration Humboldt University, Berlin, in research that relates Social Networks and envy.
The conclusion is very striking, according to Jessica people get depressed to see the success of others, whether they are friends or acquaintances.
The first reason is that the photos are the envy at seeing the success or happiness in photographs of people known because most of the time the photos illustrate success, wealth or movements of some wonderful people.
Looking at pictures of other people, even if not known, feel more unhappy when they see people who have a wonderful life and compared them.
The researcher Hanna Krasnova, Humboldt University, Berlin, says that there is a “spiral of envy,” she says “There are signs more explicit than implicit to see that a person is happy, rich and successful in a picture [is more influential] than from a status update, “because” a picture can result in immediate social comparison, and it can trigger feelings of inferiority. You do not envy the news, “says Hanna.
Of course this is favored by a competitive society and whose value is the status.
Religion and politics in Pope´s visit
28
Jul
In the background does not matter if someone is saying
something about the present political’ll be saying something without being so, and if any politician comes to important issues, it is re-connecting with something that believes, even without some belief professes will be saying something that believeth.
In difficult times, in times of social and cultural transformation, these emerging figures within the political broth or on some divine light that proclaims demands and prevent hazards.
Pope defends what he calls the “culture of encounter”, dialogue, defended the secular state and has acknowledged that the current society deletes old and young.
Give a concrete example, nothing more religious than the skeptic and scholar Edgar Morin said: “In the end, everything is supportive. If you have a sense of the complexity, you have a sense of solidarity “(Morin, 2007) and nothing more political than listen to the pope:” “You, dear young people, have a special sensitivity to the face of injustice, but often disappoint with news that talk of corruption with people who, instead of seeking the common good, seeking their own benefit “ai visit the community of Varginha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
So there are no limits so narrow between politics and beliefs, as would be desirable for some network connected nodes are not uniform and often the convergence and divergence of values do not matter much, there will always be a convergence in some direction.
This is not anarchy or rebellion without cause, surely causes exist and are all there for those who are honest and use the glasses of justice and truth, is a desire for more citizenship.
What there is a prospect accurate, but it may be that the network also helps this.
Pope on social networks
26
Jul
Since coming to Brazil the number of access to 
official website reached 300,000 unique hits, Twitter in Portuguese has just over 556,000 followers (until 25/07), and recent tweets re-twitted has been for thousands of people more than 20 000 since the publications were made on July 19, when the papal Twitter began writing WYD (the World Youth Journey).
The last twitter who has read the message: “The measure of the greatness of a society è given the way it treats the most needy, those who do not have anything other than their poverty”, the center of all the messages of the Pope in Brazil.
The success of Pope Francisco is huge on Facebook too, even without direas interactions with the pontiff.
On Tumblr, Pope Francis has won a special place to centralize memes, with the name “Papa Humildão”, the site uses images with captions funny practical there.
On Twitter, Francisco has official accounts linked to the Vatican in eight different languages, including English, Spanish, Italian and Arabic.
England ban porn sites
25
Jul
Announced on Monday last week (22/07), and now it is an effective measure that all 
web transactions will create a filter that will prevent standard users access porn sites, the campaign was already taken by NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children).
This was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron and aims to prevent children from accessing these sites, and the measure will cost retroactively, ie also for customers and companies that already have sites for some time and the deadline will be the end of 2014.
Observing the reaction of British newspapers and magazines so far seem to naturally accept a government measure, Cameron said in a speech that “By the end of this year, new broadband internet users will have the filter installed automatically,” Cameron said in a speech.
The Guardian finds difficult to measure but recognizes the inefficiency of the family to take care of the issue, said in the news 3rd. Wednesday (24/07): “Meanwhile, we are left with software filters, which are expensive and difficult to work on newer devices such as tablets and smartphones. Or parental intervention, it is difficult and time consuming. ”
The Daily Telegraph has fully backed the measure citing the minister “He put Google and other companies a deadline of October, when they will be called to Downing Street to make their plans to ‘obliterate this stuff disgusting the net'” using the words of the Minister .
The Independent, uses the word in an academic Prof. Dr. Paul Bernal, University College of Law in East Anglia, suggests that the measure will not be effective for images of child abuse, stating that “Plans like these, worthy as they seem, do not seem to me likely to be somewhat effective”, he said.
But newspapers understand that media is intended only protect children, allowing any pornography “light” finally expect to see in practice who want to use these sites will ask the operators to identify and tell your age.
Digital art in Brazilian Winter
24
Jul
In addition to the World Youth Day and the presence 
of the pope, the Rio de Janeiro has other attractions.
In the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro is held the Festival SESC Rio Winter 2013 with unpublished works and themes, combining art and technology.
Her artists and researchers transform the traditional look and integrate new technologies in various expressions of art such as photography, sculpture and painting.
The exhibitions are held in Petrópolis and Nova Friburgo, but especially exposition SESC Quitandinha in the imperial city, is the show ‘Exposure FILE – Casino’, making a reference to the casino that worked on site.
The exhibition includes installations / sculptures digital interactive Brazilian and foreign artists that depict the current poetics of the technological arts.
Another is the “Art + Technology | perceptions | meanings” is the SESC Teresopolis, which seeks more interactive aspect with the aim of bringing the innovations of public art.
In Nova Friburgo are works of researchers and teachers UFRJ Guto Nobrega and Malu Fragoso, Wherefore called “Contemporary spectra”.
The exhibition runs until August 25.
Critics rushed Technology
23
Jul
Critics of technology always show the same thing: 
the danger of the new look.
So with graphene, which is a novelty that has caught on and is being well with Google Glass, novelty that neither reached the market.
Not adopted 3D technology because it is still early and the latest news indicate that it did not fall in public taste, so decide in the crowd know what is new and what is just a novelty consumer.
A proof of this is that the British broadcaster BBC last week announced the suspension of all your problems in 3D, with a very simple reason: there is public.
A few weeks ago came the news that ESPN will close its 3D channel in the United States.
But these are not the only ones, we can enumerate: the Maps App Apple’s Ultrabook Vizio, Nokia Lumia 900, the payment system Google Wallet and Lytro Camera, not to mention the Microsoft Surface that have not yet spawned, all only in 2012.
The list is longer, but that is not what matters, what is important is that new developments that may fail or fail does not depend on “propaganda against” but popular taste.
Real stage of Artificial Inteligence (AI)
22
Jul
The term was created to develop programs and related activities that could create through computing methods to create logical “reasoning” in Computer.
Recently, a team of University of Illinois at Chicago in the United States (news), set out to find out
where is this progress and trying to compare it to the man.
Using methods that would make any human being, use an artificial intelligence system, the ConceptNet4 which was developed by the brightest minds in the field at MIT, and applied a test called WPPSI known test for children to see that “age” would have the computer , and although it fared well with objective questions, had enough work with questions that had “whys”, ie, those that call essay.
According to Robert Sloand, there is also another interesting fact: “If a child finished the test with this degree of variation,” the researcher said that “this could be a symptom that something is wrong,” ie, the machine is still only machine and man is that it operates.
The conclusion is that for “intelligence” based only on the machine in operation, assigning meaning to things is still very bad and although we Smartphones smart and even smart watches, but Robocop (robot soldiers, played by Schwarzenegger) are fantasy.
Incidentally, luckily the police are human beings and as such can differentiate between a person who manifests peacefully for their rights and opportunists who want to take advantage of the manifestation of discontent with the mismanagement of public affairs in this country.
This is because the growing discussion on the role of policemen in demonstrations across this country (Brasil).
Prices will fall ebooks
20
Jul
It was my prediction from the beginning, but with attempts to trusts, with the lobbies
of publishers to push through legislation free access and especially the prices of tablets and e-readers this trend has been delayed, but is a matter of time.
Think the first ebook reader appeared in 2004 and was Sony, the Kingle came only in 2007, the first tablet iPad came only in 2010 (when I started the blog), so technologies are still very young, but the trend is already visible on some data.
According to an article by Jeremy Greenfield at Digital Book Wold, the average 25 bestseller charts in the last six months of last year, fell by an average of $ 11.37 to $ 8.23, according to the graph.
The article states that took control of the discounted titles of some of the largest publishers in both the Amazon with Barnes & Noble (there are others as well) have been lowering the price of bestselling titles, and fell from $ 14.99 to 12 $ 99 until arriving at the lowest points, sometimes below $ 5.
Already there are companies like Zola and Smashwords, which allow communities and platforms organize authors and readers, connecting them with editors, marketing professionals, and librarians.
