jobs

Unlocking Ma Bell: How phone phreaks came to be

Imagine a day when it cost an arm and a leg to use the phone, especially for long-distance calls. Then imagine that buried deep within the telephone network infrastructure was a flaw -- a hole that allowed those who were aware of it, and capable of exploiting it, to make all the free calls they want.

These days, phone calls are free -- or nearly so -- and hackers put their energies into computer networks, jailbreaking iPhones, and other more modern pursuits. But back in the 1950s and 1960s, a new group of people emerged, people who were fascinated by … Read more

Actor Josh Gad took programming courses to be Woz

SAN FRANCISCO--Last week it was revealed that actor Ashton Kutcher ended up in the hospital after going on an all-fruit diet to be like Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. It turns out, Kutcher's co-star Josh Gad went through some of his own method acting to channel Apple's other co-founder, Steve Wozniak.

"I had to take programming classes," Gad told attendees today at Macworld iWorld, during an onstage interview with Kutcher. "Acting by its very nature is faking. You don't become that person unless you're psychotic."

Gad added that he "was as computer … Read more

Kutcher went on Jobs' fruitarian diet, landed in the hospital

Actors are lovely people.

Until they take themselves seriously, that is.

Then, eccentricities are magnified, intentions are doubted and sanity is questioned.

What to make, you see, of Ashton Kutcher's revelation that, in some actorial attempt to be as much like Steve Jobs as he could, he became a fruitcake?

This is the technical term for someone who decides to go on a fruitarian diet, which involves only allowing fruits, nuts, and seeds inside you -- something that Jobs himself tried.

As the entirely unseedy US Weekly digests it, Kutcher was so dedicated to pursuing his craft that pursuing … Read more

Review: While "jOBS" fawns over subject, film falls flat

PARK CITY, UTAH -- The eagerly awaited biopic "jOBS" opens in 2001, when Apple's iconic co-founder arrives at Town Hall on Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus with good news. A secret team, Steve Jobs tells his employees, has built a product that will revolutionize the way everyone listens to music. Before he can even show them the iPod, the employees have sprung to their feet, wild-eyed and ecstatic, and their thunderous applause is eventually drowned out only by strings swelling in the background. It's a scene that sets the tone for all that is to follow: … Read more

Crave Ep. 106: DIY laser cannons

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This week on Crave, we take a look at the deadly do-it-yourself Iron Man Laser Gauntlet and monkey around with Apps for Apes. After playing with monkeys all day, maybe we should consider washing our hands with ManHands manly scented soaps. Our favorite one: Urinal Mint.

Wozniak slams scene in Kutcher's 'Jobs' biopic

Probably only a handful of people know what Steve Jobs was really like. And one of them is Apple co-founder and longtime friend Steve Wozniak.

After watching the first publicized clip from the Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, Wozniak has said it's all wrong, according to Gizmodo.

"Not close...we never had such interaction and roles...I'm not even sure what it's getting at...," he wrote to Gizmodo.

The movie, titled "Jobs," is about Jobs' life from the 1970s through the 1990s. The cast of characters includes Josh Gad as Wozniak, Matthew … Read more

First clip of Kutcher as Jobs: A little too Kutcherian?

Many of you have probably not slept for wondering what Ashton Kutcher would do to Steve Jobs.

Would he be able, in the new movie "jOBS", to deliver the slightly nasal vocals? Would he be able to express the passion, as well as some of the bite?… Read more

'Jobs' biopic starring Ashton Kutcher to hit theaters April 19

The Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher will open in theaters on April 19, the movie's distributor announced today.

The indie film, which is set to debut Friday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, covers Jobs' life during the years 1971 through 2000 -- a time frame that includes the founding of Apple, as well as his ouster, the formation of Next and Pixar, and then Jobs' return to the company when Apple acquired Next.

The movie should not be confused with a separate production penned by "The Social Network" and "The West … Read more

Apple, Google, and the e-mail trail in the no-poaching case

Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, and other companies had agreements in place during the mid-2000s not to steal employees from each other and other technology players, court documents suggest.

A series of e-mails posted today by The Verge point to a paper trail of apparent non-poaching agreements among a variety of companies.

The revelation follows a civil lawsuit filed in 2011 by five workers against Apple, Google, and others alleging that the companies purposely tried to keep down wages through non-poaching agreements.

The civil suit is being weighed by Judge Lucy Koh to determine if it can move forward as a class action suit, … Read more

Steve Jobs threatened Palm with patents over no-poaching deal, says court filing

Steve Jobs threatened Palm with a patent lawsuit if the company didn't agree to a deal with Apple whereby neither company would poach the other's workers, according to a legal filing made public today that quotes former Palm CEO Edward Colligan.

The filing, a civil lawsuit brought by five tech workers against Apple, Google, and others that alleges the companies plotted to drive down wages, includes the following sworn statement from Colligan:

"In 2007, I received a call from Steve Jobs, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple. In the months before the call, several employees had moved … Read more