Category: You Decide

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Is it Psystar as in Sister or Psystar as in Shyster?

Submitted by Wayne Zebzda:

Knock Knock, who’s there? Is this company really home? Gizmodo readers

went to all the physical addresses that appeared on Psystar’s site. They found no evidence any such company had ever existed at any of the locations. One was a residence and one was a packing supply company that knew nothing of Psystar.

Recent announcements about this Apple knockoff company that will run the Leopard OS raised some interesting legal questions, hoax or not. Many wonder if Apple will sue or even issue a statement but then again, where would they send the subpoena?

Apple doesn’t really have to do anything to defend its honor, when it has such a loyal armchair detective customer base. Here’s an article from C/NET, followed by an article from Forbes that will walk you through the whole mess.

415openpromir383à—461-200.jpgSend in the Mac clones
C/NET News.com
April 18, 2008

Psystar suddenly appeared on the tech scene when it began to sell a white box PC that it says will come with Apple’s Mac OS X operating system pre-installed, the first Mac clone since CEO Steve Jobs banished them 11 years ago.

Psystar is selling a PC called the Open Computer which comes with a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR2 memory, integrated Intel 950 graphics, and a 250GB 7200RPM drive.

Psystar says it achieved Mac OS X compatibility in its Open Computer by using an EFI emulator based on OSx86 software. The Open Computer costs $399 without an operating system but it can be ordered with Apple’s Leopard operating system pre-installed for an additional $155, according to the Psystar Web site. The lowest-cost Mac is the Mac mini which starts at $599.

Credit: Psystar

Rotten Apples?
Meet The Mac-Clone Mystery Man
by Brian Caulfield
March 18, 2008

Burlingame, Calif. – How’s this for a deal. At a fraction of the cost of a comparably equipped machine from Apple, a Web-based company dubbed Psystar is offering a computer you can have loaded up with just about any operating system you choose, including Apple’s OS X Leopard.

That would not be news if, like thousands of mom-and-pop computer builders around the country, Psystar were offering any other operating system. But that Psystar is allowing users to order what is essentially a cut-price Mac violates Apple’s licensing terms, which forbids users from jamming its software onto non-Apple hardware. The novelty generated a storm of press coverage–and when the company stopped being able to take orders and switched locations — accusations from bloggers that the start-up business is a scam. Continue reading “Is it Psystar as in Sister or Psystar as in Shyster?”

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Abortion Art Project: Who’s Hoaxing Whom?

Submitted by Rose Foster:

Yale student claims to make art from her induced miscarriages–but it’s a hoax [Editor’s note: see updates at the end in which she claims it is not a hoax]

Aliza Shvarts ‘Abortion Art’ Project a ‘Creative Fiction,’ Yale Says
by David Emery
About.com: Urban Legends
April 17, 2008

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/humss/bioethic/abort1.htmYale art student Aliza Shvarts delivered a one-two punch to the media on Thursday, beginning with the announcement of her senior project: an exhibition chronicling a nine-month period during which she impregnated herself “as often as possible” with semen from voluntary donors then videotaped herself inducing miscarriages and preserving the bloody byproducts thereof. “I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts was quoted as saying in the Yale Daily News. She got her wish in spades. The announcement sent shock waves through the blogosphere, eliciting disgust and outrage from every quarter, expressed via headlines on the order of “The Art of Murder” and “Aliza Shvarts Is a Monster.”

Hours later came an announcement from the Yale University Office of Public Affairs stating that the art project was just that — art. “The entire project is … a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body,” read the statement by Yale spokesperson Helaine Klasky. “She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages.” Continue reading “Abortion Art Project: Who’s Hoaxing Whom?”

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Richard Branson Heading to Mars: Wherever Ego I Go

Branson’s Mars Mission: Prankster Or Pathfinder?
by Jim Goldman
CNBC
April 1, 2008

branson_richard_apstandard-72.jpgIs he or isn’t he, that is the question. I’m talking about Sir Richard Branson and his lofty (extraterrestrial?) goal of a manned mission to Mars, in partnership with Sergey Brin and Larry Page at Google.

Needless to say, the news captured a lot of attention–and the imagination — of so many who read those headlines. But then, as quickly as the news broke, reporters, including our own Jane Wells, broke the news that all this was an April Fools hoax, bursting the Mars bubble shortly after that one small step onto the internet.

Or was it? I sat down with the man himself here at the CTIA wireless conference in Las Vegas, and in my exclusive interview with the Virgin empire builder covering all kinds of topics, I had to ask about the prank. No prank, he assured me. It’s a hoax, I said. It’s not, he retorted. (I’m posting the entire interview here, so judge for yourself!) [See video interview on this page]

So I played along, and pressed him on the details. When? Hopefully by 2020, if not sooner, but definitely before he dies. How much capital will he commit? He hemmed, hawed, paused, and then said that he and the Google guys would pony up $15 billion toward the project. Continue reading “Richard Branson Heading to Mars: Wherever Ego I Go”

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Eiffel Tower Being Redesigned?

Update, April 7, 2008: EdgarGonzalez.com interviews David Serero about the success of his Eiffel Tower Design hoax here.

From Marcy LaViollette: Please tell me this is a prank!

[Editor: Right. And next the Statue of Liberty’s torch will be replaced with an umbrella due to global warming…]

serero_detail_etdna_600à—400-425.jpg

From the Serero Architects Web site:

Serero Architects unveils its design for the extension of the Eiffel Tower top floor. The project will extend the top floor plate of the tower by grafting a high performance carbon Kevlar structure on it. The structure will be temporarily bolted to the slab without requiring any modification of the existing structure. It will expand the usable floor area from 280 m2 to 580m2.

Related articles:

  • New look for Eiffel Tower, The Guardian, March 24, 2008
  • They Wouldn’t Would They? The Stranger, March 25, 2008
  • Redesigning the Eiffel Tower, DIGG [Ed: In particular, read the first comment]

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