"In its fourth quarter earnings report released last week, Apple Computer revealed that 2/3 of its on-hand cash – some $54 billion — is squirreled away outside the boundaries of the United States, presumably to avoid paying its fair share of taxes. In the meantime, reports Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), a Hong Kong-based group, Apple’s major manufacturing contractors routinely subject employees to forced overtime, wage theft and no breaks — and even unprotected exposure to toxins."

"But whether [Apple] Siri becomes the model for how humans interact with computers in the future or whether it gets laughed off the stage of technical innovation like so many AI systems that have come before hinges on whether it can tell the difference between “Andrew” and “Andrea”—especially when I’m in a crowded coffee shop, speaking with a Southern drawl, with a stuffed-up nose from a bad cold."

"Look, I’m not going to go into great detail about what I’ve been doing with Siri during my testing period, but I will tell you this — Siri says some crazy stuff.

Hit the gallery below for a look at a number of bizarre items the AI-powered / voice-recognizing “intelligent assistant” lays on you on the new iPhone 4S."

"For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to make some improvements to Apple's iPad. Some of these entries are definite improvements. Others? Uh, not so much."

"Feature-wise, an iTunes LP is a DRM-free album in high-quality 256kbps AAC format, along with digital extras (visualizer(s), photos, videos and interviews) wrapped in a custom WebKit-powered site."

"Repeated emails yesterday to Apple have still been ignored at this point. We did receive a voicemail at our main office from the same Richard who called our competitor. Unfortunately it wasn’t until today that we were able to connect for our “conversation”. The word conversation really doesn’t cover it because what transpired was not informative by design and felt like theater of the absurd. It went roughly like this:"

"A Foxconn employee in China has committed suicide, after a fourth-gen Apple iPhone prototype he was entrusted with went missing. 25 year-old Sun Danyong worked in the company’s product communications department, and was responsible for shipping prototypes from Foxconn to Apple. Having reported the missing handset, Sun’s apartment was illegally searched by Foxconn employees and he was, according to unsubstantiated allegations, detained and physically abused. On Thursday July 16th, just after 3am, he jumped from the window of his apartment."

"To answer this question, I’ll start by noting that there are in general two ways that firms can make profits: by making something people want, or by rent-seeking. The former is usually beneficial: it increases the sum of human happiness and welfare. Th

Google in the style of the OS X dock. "Roses are red. Violets are blue. OS X rocks. Homage to you."

"As reader Thomas Olson noted, "What irks even more about the swill he [Bill Thompson] publishes on the BBC website, is that there is no place for public feedback, so us common folk can call BS on his rant in real time for the world to witness. BBC is sti

"Greetings irrational fanboys and Apple haters! Ten days and 12,000 words later, our stone-cold look at what it means to own an iPhone is done. Before we get to the in depth hands-on, here's the verdict I'd give any good friend: Wait to buy the iPhone."

"I had also mentioned other ways in which the AMS could be employed, such as for scrolling in applications and for input in video games. ... Apparently many owners of AMS-equipped PowerBooks wish to experience physical motion-based gaming."

"Don't worry, he's running a Linux file server on it."

"The more we tighten our grip the more software will fall through our fingers. ....Oh wait, which ones are we Linux guys again, Rebels or Empire?" "Microsoft is the Empire. Apple is the Rebels. We are the Ewoks."

Where Apple got inspiration for those new Leopard features.

A look at the innards of the new Mac Pro.

A comparison of the software behind the recent Windows on Mac hype.

Mac. Nobody gives a shit.