Daily Archives: September 16, 2011

The Owners of an old abandoned hotel have threaten a guy Who photographed it With copyright infringement, according to Techdirt.

“The story begins with Sherman Cahal, who runs the awesome site AbandonedOnline.net, on which he posts photographs from abandoned buildings. He recently posted photographs of the Waldo Hotel in Clarksburg, West Virginia. As you can see at the link, he doesn’t just put up photos, but a rather detailed history of the building itself. Then there are a bunch of exterior photos, interior photos and even some historic photos of the building. I have to admit that I’m a sucker for this kind of photography.

Of course, not everyone thought it was cool. In particular, the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, who currently owns the building and has been trying to raise money to restore it, sent Cahal a letter complaining about the photos, telling him that the photos were both evidence of trespassing and copyright infringement.”

Google has now expanded its Voice Actions service to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, reports engadget

“Beginning today, loquacious smartphone and tablet users will be able to place calls, send texts and conduct Google searches by speaking into their devices. All you have to do is press the microphone button on your home screen’s Google search field and open the Voice Search app, or simply press the physical search button on your handset to bring up the “Speak Now” field. From there, you can begin chattering away in French, German, Italian, Spanish and real British English.”

Requires Android 2.2 or above