Happy Festivus, readers! You lot have disappointed me in so many ways, I'm deciding to punish you with these Remainders four: HDMI prepares new 3D-ready spec, Kindle DRM stripped, Steve Jobs takes a $1 salary, and snow snow snow snow!

HDMI Spec Updated to Ensure HD 3D Compatibility

The fine folks who work on HDMI have updated work on the 1.4 spec to make sure it can communicate all that upcoming Avatar-inspired HD 3D nonsense between display and source. Frankly, all this stuff is way over my head, and that's okay because dual-1080p streams in the home are still a ways off. From what I understand, HDMI will meet soon to discuss implementing the "Top/Bottom" format of 3D into HDMI, and the group is working to ensure that older 3D hardware will still work with the updated spec. Luckily, I have not been asked to participate in this discussion. But rest assured, HDMI is on the case. [Engadget]

Kindle eBooks Hacked!

An enterprising hacker named Labba has apparently managed to create a program that strips the DRM off Kindle-formatted ebooks, turning them into unprotected PDFs. The hack seems kind of too complicated to use right now, but Labba's working on a more consumer-friendly version as well. This isn't just hacking the Kindle to accept other formats—this is straight-up DRM elimination. Big win for hackers, not so hot for Amazon. [Engadget]

Steve Jobs Takes $1 Annual Salary for 2009

There've been a bunch of stories today about Steve Jobs' $1 salary that make it sound like a philanthropic exercise or some kind of response to the current recession—but Apple fans know that Steve Jobs has taken a $1 salary for about a decade. Of course, it's not like he needs a paycheck; his stock in Apple is valued at $1.1 billion, and his stock in Disney at $4.5 billion. Interestingly, he is usually reimbursed for miscellaneous expenses; last year, he was reimbursed $871,000, but this year only $4,000. He has been out on sick leave for a long time, but still, that's a big difference. This has been making the rounds (today I saw it on the AP, NYTimes, and HuffPo), but I'm sure you guys already knew it—so I tossed it into Remainders. [AP]

The Weather Outside Is Goddamn Frightful

Here are pictures of snow! [Boston.com]


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