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Bizarre Brazilian Discoveries - The Eyeless Martialis Heureka Ant (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have found a bizarre ant in Brazil that doesnt look like any other existing ant species. Its proposed name, Martialis heureka, refers...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 2:59 pm Flixwagon Launches New PlatformFlixwagon, one of the top providers of live video broadcasting applications, has just announced the launch of a new telco-grade platform targeting both mobile carriers and media organizations. The platform...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:30 pm Celebrity Mock PSAs - Your Vote, Your Choice by Hayden Panettiere (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Hayden Panettiere is exercising her comedic chops yet again, this time to get out the vote. Weve seen Panettieres PSAs before; her last mock PSA about sexual harassment was covered...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:19 pm Bushmeat Ban Not the AnswerA ban on bushmeat hunting ignores the nutritional needs of local people, says a new report.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:16 pm Apple’s Capricious Rules for iPhone Apps - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:10 pm Newspaper group adds opposition to Google-Yahoo deal - Bizjournals.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:06 pm Cognitive Radios Could Increase Wireless Spectrumschliz writes to tell us that a new intelligent radio technology, dubbed "cognitive radio," is being developed that adjusts operation based on input from its surroundings. Consumers wont likely see practical implementations of this tech for another five years, but it could have wide reaching applications from wireless networking to public safety devices. "Adaptive, cognitive radios could enable techniques such as dynamic frequency sharing, in which radios automatically locate unused frequencies, or share channels based on a priority system. In public safety, cognitive radios also could be used to provide interoperability between various signals and automatically adjust radio performance."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:52 pm Imdb.com allows free film, TV viewing - Reuters
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:50 pm Imdb.com allows free film, TV viewing (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:46 pm Best Buy 2Q profit drops 19 percent (AP)AP - Best Buy Co. says its second-quarter profit fell 19 percent as it spent money to roll out its Best Buy Mobile to all stores to capture cell phone sales. Its sales rose in the quarter, topping expectations.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:44 pm Porn passed over as Web users become social: author (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:40 pm Intel launches six-core Xeon monster chip - Ars Technica
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:30 pm WOW: Wrath of the Lich King Ships Nov 13 - The Mac Observer
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Eclipse 400Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:18 pm VMware Fusion 2.0 available - Macworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:12 pm High School Athletes and Fans Score Big With Jookt.comNew Online Network Provides Student Sports-Enthusiasts the Power to Showcase Their Talents, On and Off the Field DENVER, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ --Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:10 pm Nova Appoints New President for its US SubsidiaryREHOVOT, Israel, September 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) provider of leading edge stand-alone metrology and the market...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:09 pm Intel Unveils 6-Core Xeon 7400JagsLive recommends CNet coverage that begins "Intel officially unveiled its six-core 'Dunnington' Xeon 7400 processor Monday... As expected, Intel launched the Dunnington chip for high-end servers... The Xeon 7400 is also one of the first Intel chips to have a monolithic design. In other words, all six cores will be on one piece of silicon. To date, for any processor having more than two cores, Intel has put two separate pieces of silicon... inside one chip package."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:06 pm RNC: Friend Updates Added to 'BarackBook'WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Republican National Committee (RNC) today launched new friend updates to its social networking Web site,Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:06 pm ACS Saves Oklahoma Residents Thousands of Dollars per Year With New Payment SystemDALLAS, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oklahoma residents are benefiting from new payment services provided by Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS) in conjunctionSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:05 pm Apple ARMs up iPhone - Register
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:03 pm DECE - Lipstick on the DRM pig - ZDNet
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:02 pm The Second Life Of Sarah PalinSarah Palin is said to haunt the dreams of many Americans, so its not surprising shes seeping into the lucid dream space of Second Life. Last weekend I ran a query of her name in SLs search engine, and...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:01 pm Pixily Selects ABBYY FineReader Engine SDK to Deliver Content Management to the MassesTechnology Partnership Enables Fully Searchable Documents Available Anytime, Anywhere FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- ABBYY, a leading provider of ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm SeatQuest.com Launches Enhanced On-Line Ticket Application for 2008 Fall Sports LineupFree, Visual Search Engine Now Presents Customized Tools and Seat Location for Sports Enthusiasts CHICAGO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- SeatQuest.com, a Chicago-based...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm President's Letter to Current Technology's ShareholdersVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On August 12, 2008 Current Technology Corporation (OTCBB: CRTCF) announced its subsidiary Star One...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle(R) Communications Converged Application Server 4.0Standards-based Development and Deployment Platform Enables Rapid, Cost-effective Deployment of Innovative, Revenue-generating Services PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Sept. 16Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm Wyse and VMware Customers Champion Thin Clients as Ideal Desktop Virtualization Endpoint Based on Low TCO, Rich Multimedia Capabilities, Ease-of-Use and SecurityVirtual Desktop Adoption Continues to Grow as Wyse Combines Hardware and Software Solutions for Best-in-Class End-User Experience SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 16...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff Named CEO of the Year by CRO MagazineSAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the market and technology leader in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm Sneak Peek: Pre-Launch BlackBerry Storm Pics and Specs - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:41 am Zune Owners Get Free Wi-Fi at McDonald'sMicrosoft signs three-year deal with Wayport for old and new Zune owners alike: This is a nice win for Zune users, Wayport, and McDonald's, each in their own way, and it's something Microsoft can simply...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:01 am USDA &Amp; FDA Regulated HACCP Training to Be Integrated Into Eco-Safe ServicesEco-Safe Systems USA, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: ESFS) is pleased to announce future integration of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) training into services offered to Eco-Safe clients through certification of Eco-Safe staff.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am BASF to Acquire Swiss Specialty Chemicals FirmBASF, the world's biggest chemicals group, agreed to acquire the Swiss specialty chemicals company Ciba on Monday to strengthen its position in the plastics and coatings industries.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Court Revives Lawsuit Over College Fees for IllegalsBy Matt Krupnick A state appeals court has revived a lawsuit challenging a law that allows illegal immigrants and other nonresidents to pay the same college fees as California residents.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am 'Too Conservative' Scotland Urged to Speed Up Return of Missing LynxBy Peter Ranscombe A LEADING wildlife expert has called for Scotland to accelerate plans to re-introduce extinct species. Speaking ahead of a major conference today, Roy Dennis said he thinks the Highlands could support the reintroduction of the lynx and the wolf.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am 'Not Much of Anything Left in Crystal Beach'By Marisol Bello HIGH ISLAND, Texas -- As 25-foot waves from Hurricane Ike battered their house, Frank and Deeann Sherman sought refuge in their attic, along with their two dogs and six of their pet birds. Walls crumbled around them, and the first floor filled with water.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am IN OUR PAGES: 100, 75 AND 50 YEARS AGO 1958: Chiang Plans Attack on RedsChiang Kai-shek today [Sept. 15] condemned as "no solution" the convoy system by which the American Command here hopes against hope to break the blockade of Quemoy. The President-Generalissimo promised to be patient.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am WEEK IN REVIEW: Reporters' NotebookSometimes silence is golden. At a recent court hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen remanded a defendant to custody after learning she had tested positive for methamphetamine and tried to fake a drug test. After hearing Leen's decision, the defendant tried to explain herself.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Run-Up to the WARMBy JENNIFER ROBISON What's spurring regulatory action? Studies such as a July report claiming Nevada could suffer serious economic losses from global warming, for one.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Dan K. Thomasson: National Capital, Armed and DangerousBy Dan K Thomasson The National Rifle Association has designated as "must" legislation a bill that, according to law enforcement officials, would not only eliminate most of the District of Columbia's firearm control efforts but also permit the carrying of semi-automatic rifles and handguns on the streets of the nation's capital.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Millbrae Grease-Recycling System Notches One Million GallonsBy Kyveli Diener MILLBRAE -- Since the implementation of a new grease-receiving method in January 2007, the city's Water Pollution Control Plant has recycled 1 million gallons of used kitchen grease, a milestone that will be celebrated this morning during a ceremony at the plant.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Fluxtrol, Inc. Introduces the New "Fluxtrol.Com"Fluxtrol, Inc. announced today that it has officially released a completely redesigned corporate website at www.fluxtrol.com. The new site is the culmination of many months of design and development and has a new look and feel to better communicate the Fluxtrol message.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am It's Your CallBy Sonya Padgett By SONYA PADGETT REVIEW-JOURNAL Prepaid cell phones have come a long way since their humble beginnings in the early 1990s.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am ZTE Wins $58m Libyan Network Expansion ContractChinese telecoms equipment supplier ZTE Corp has won a $58m network expansion contract from Libyan mobile network operator Libyana. The deal will enable Libyana to expand its existing network from 1 million lines to 6.5 million lines.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Google Acquires Korean Blogging Software ProviderGoogle has acquired South Korean blogging platform provider Tatter and Company, TNC, for an undisclosed sum. TNC provides a blogging and publishing platform Textcube, which Google plans to introduce to bloggers outside Korea.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am IBM Provides Green Data Center for Saigon BankIBM has collaborated with Vietnam-based commercial bank Saigon Commercial Bank, SCB, to implement a scalable green data center. IBM and SCB will work together to transform SCB's existing data center to a scalable modular data center.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Knetwit.Com Among This Year's Must Haves As College Students Head Back to CampusCHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In time for the new school year, two students from Babson College, recently named the nation's top entrepreneurial college by U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Advertising to Fuel Mobile Social Networking Growth As UGC Revenues Reach $7.3bn By 2013, Juniper Report RevealsAd-funded social networks will provide the bulk of revenues in the mobile user-generated content (UGC) space by 2013, according to a new report from Juniper Research.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am New Web Shopping Center GiftsToGo.Com Helps Families Keep in TouchDENVER, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Keeping in touch with family overseas or away at college doesn't have to be hard. The new Internet shopping site, giftstogo.com makes it easy to send care packages to the people you care about.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am As Markets Fall, Slate Pushes Ahead With Business Web SiteBy Brian Stelter The editors of The Big Money, a new business Web site by the editors of Slate, had their work cut out for them Sunday: It was the day before their site opened, and Wall Street seemed to be in free fall.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am VMware Launches VMware Fusion 2.0 -- The Second Generation of Its Award-Winning Windows-on-Mac SoftwareVMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced the general availability of VMware Fusion 2.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Nokia N810 Internet Tablet Doubles As Mixer InterfaceBy Andrew Liszewski I’m still not sold on the idea of ‘UMPCs’ or ‘internet tablets’, mostly because they tend to be just too big to carry in your pocket. If I’m going...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 10:21 am Update On TechCrunch Reader Chrome Usage: Trending Up To 8.12%Checking back in Google Analytics to see how Google Chrome usage is trending now that the browser has been out in the wild for two weeks. A couple of days after launching on September 2, 6.23% of visitors...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 10:09 am SOA deployments: What actually works (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - SOA may have seemed the savior of bad software architecture and poor development project planning, but the reality is that it's a complex and difficult venture. Thus, the number of failed SOA projects is about equal to the successful ones. In other words, you have a 50 percent chance of failing, and the odds of failure are even greater if you work within a larger Global 2000 organization or within the government.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 10:00 am Be careful what you post on the Internet, because a possible job ... - DailyTech
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:39 am New Aluminum MacBook Already Shipping?Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner says the much rumored new aluminum MacBooks are already winging their way from China to Apple's secret underground storage facility. This fits with speculation that we'll see a notebook refresh from Apple some time in October.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:32 am New Aluminum MacBook Already Shipping?Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner says the much rumored new aluminum MacBooks are already winging their way from China to Apple's secret underground storage facility. This fits with speculation that we'll see a notebook refresh from Apple some time in October.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:32 am FRED UFO HumidifierBy Evan Ackerman Whatever planet the FRED humidifier comes from, the aliens who live there sure do like it humid. Or this particular UFO happens to be powered by a steam engine. Either way, you can take...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:06 am Nokia adds big names to ad networkNokia has expanded its mobile advertising network with the addition of some of the biggest publishing names in Europe, including Telegraph Media Group and Five owner RTL Group. Launched in February,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:03 am Naomi Alderman debates the artistic merits of videogamesOne hundred years from now, schoolchildren will study the computer game classics just as they study classic books, music, art and film.I suppose many people might find this statement absurd. While our...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:59 am Tapping the Web's Collective Wisdom For PatentsBountyX sends in a CNN story offering an update on the US patent office's experiment in crowdsourcing, called Peer-to-Patent. (We've discussed this initiative a few times in the last couple of years.) In its first year the program has dealt with a minuscule fraction of patent applications, which numbered over 467,000 in 2007, up over 97% from a decade earlier. "The Patent Office reports that it has issued preliminary decisions on 40 of the 74 applications that have come through the program so far. Of those, six cited prior art submitted only through Peer-to-Patent, while another eight cited art found by both the examiner and peer reviewers... [I]n its second year, Peer-to-Patent is being expanded to include claims covering electronic commerce and so-called 'business methods' ..."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:46 am Best Buy to acquire music-sharer Napster (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:35 am Yahoo’s New Marketing Push: Purple Rain! (Actually, Purple Pain.) [BoomTown]
First off, as Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski pointed out to me today, you have to give Yahoo props for using Gogol Bordello as the soundtrack and–more to the point–actually knowing about Gogol Bordello in the first place. “Since when does [Yahoo CEO Jerry] Yang listen to gypsy punk?” asked Paczkowski in an email to me today. Since Bill Gates eats churros with Jerry Seinfeld and adjusts his skivvies hands-free, that’s when! Oh dear, Yahoo (YHOO) too has succumbed to the hipster, ironic thing–an unfortunate marketing virus that has hit Microsoft (MSFT) of late too–in an under-the-covers “Start Wearing Purple” online marketing campaign. The Internet company is now out with a Web site touting it, advocating people to “celebrate purple.” Purple and also yellow have always been Yahoo’s colors–even while Google (GOOG) just up and grabbed the whole spectrum and emerged victorious.
Nonetheless, Yahoo is going to town on the purple idea, using a lot of its tools and products in the process to show itself off. It starts with a video of multi-racial hipsters doing wacky stuff, including a yodeling Yang (see at top), which makes it look like a very alternative version of “High School Musical.” Also on the site: see purple-inspired photos from Flickr; view videos of “Purple Pranks” (first up, of course, ringers singing the purple song in an elevator to unsuspecting folks); peruse profiles of “Purple Picks.” (like the cool crafts site Etsy and artist Clarence Lee) and “Purple Pioneers” (a mix of do-gooders and more hipsters, so far); and even search the word “purple” on Yahoo to fun-filled results. There are also a bunch of purple bikes apparently traveling the globe and taking pictures that will be uploaded to a Flickr map. And, natch, you can also buy purple clothes. After trolling the site for a bit, I can tell you I live in the dead center of San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood and we don’t get that purple here ever! In other words, it’s all very high-concept, much like the dancing guy video that Yahoo did recently (see that very sweet morale-building video at the very bottom). But to really resonate with the mass of users Yahoo needs to hold onto, as dull as this sounds, I would just like a simple explanation of why I should use Yahoo in my daily life. The legendary Apple (AAPL) Mac-PC ads that these and also Microsoft are clearly trying to mimic are good, primarily because they clearly have a message in each funny exchange about why you need to own a Mac. Not so much with this quirky Yahoo effort, which is laudable, but a waste of time. In the main “celebrate purple” video on the site, part of the tag line is: “Deep inside everyone is a Yahoo! waiting to come out. Set yourself free with a little purple.” Actually, deep inside Yahoo is a Yahoo waiting to come out. And it is going to take more than purple to coax that magical creature out into the light again. In the meantime, here is some genuine purple–Prince singing the classic “Purple Rain”:
Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:14 am European regulators investigate Google-Yahoo advertising dealEuropean regulators have confirmed that they are investigating the online advertising deal brokered between Google and Yahoo, following similar moves by the US department of justice.Under the terms of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:04 am EA Plays the Microsoft Game [Voices]By Jim Goldman, Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, CNBCIf Electronic Arts’ unsolicited bid for Take-Two Interactive sounds a lot like Microsoft’s unsolicited play for Yahoo — complete with both EA and Microsoft ultimately walking away — think again. It’s only a little bit surprising that EA walked, mostly because Take-Two was in a far stronger negotiating position than Yahoo. EA announced Sunday that it would cease discussions with Take-Two, capping nearly seven months of back-and-forth between the two gaming titans. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:04 am Sold! Best Buy Swallows Napster For $121 Million (BBY) [Voices]By Peter Kafka, Managing Editor, Silicon Alley InsiderLooks like Chris Gorog really was serious about selling off perenially troubled Napster (NAPS), after all. He’s selling the company to Best Buy (BBY) for $121 million. That’s $2.65 per share, which works out to be $54 million net of cash. The good news for Napster shareholders is that Best Buy is paying twice Friday’s closing price. The bad news, for anyone who’s held the stock for any length of time: A year ago NAPS was trading above $3. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:03 am Facebook: No Social Networking Here [Voices]By Steve O'Hear, Blogger, The Social Web, ZDNetOne of the delightful things about creating a new web application or service is the way in which end users find unintended ways of utilizing said service. That’s a common story we hear from those who’ve created cutting-edge and disruptive products on the web and something that has become an aspiration of web startups. An example that springs to mind is the way in which early adopters of Twitter made use of the @ sign, and how Twitter recognised this to evolve to become more than a micro-blogging system into a communications platform. But Facebook is different. Arrogant even. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:02 am The Entire D6 Interview With Activision’s Bobby Kotick (2 of 3) [BoomTown]We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May. Unfortunately, due to issues too complicated to go into, we have to post all the D6 interviews in several 15-minute parts (I know, I know). But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.
Here’s an interview I did with Activision Chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick about the state of the gaming business. The video of the interview is in three parts. It’s a good week to focus on the gaming industry since Electronic Arts (ERTS) abandoned its hostile acquisition bid for Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) over the weekend. EA’s effort was motivated, in part, by Activision’s recent merger with Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft,” one the most popular multi-player games. The merger has made Activision (AVTI), with its own well-known franchises–especially the hugely popular “Guitar Hero,” which debuted version IV at D6–one of the gaming industry’s largest companies. In this second video, Kotick talks about virtual goods and in-game advertising, the international market, set-top boxes, violence and “Grand Theft Auto,” the competitiveness of the gaming business, the situation at Yahoo (he has, until recently, been a board member) and takes a question from the audience about social gaming.
Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:01 am Source Code Requests Force Breathalyzer Maker to Sober Up [Voices]By Nate Anderson, Associate Editor, Ars TechnicaThe Intoxilyzer 5000EN, a breathalyzer machine used by Minnesota law enforcement, runs on a pair of Z80 processors and uses 50,000 lines of assembly code. The accuracy of that code base is now under nationwide scrutiny as defense attorneys around the country now frequently claim that the source code must be made available to them during DUI cases. Numerous courts have agreed, but vendor CMI of Owensboro, Kentucky, puts up Herculean resistance to every such request, leading to hundreds of cases being tossed by the courts. It’s gotten so bad in Minnesota that the state has gone to federal court this year, charging CMI with a host of contractual failures and asking for more than $75,000 in compensation. With police departments now losing confidence that an Intoxilyzer reading will lead to a conviction, many have switched to blood and urine testing. Such testing puts a “heightened burden” on the state’s laboratory budget. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:01 am Brian Eno’s Mutating “Spore” Score Reinventing Game Music [Voices]By Chris Steffen, Blogger, PluggedIn.com, Rolling StoneWith games like Grand Theft Auto, Rock Band and Guitar Hero tripping over each other to license as much music as possible, at least one eagerly anticipated game is going in the opposite direction. When playing Spore, the latest brainchild of Sim City mastermind Will Wright, gamers won’t hear any songs they know. In fact, they won’t hear the same song twice. Spore simulates the evolution of creatures from single-cell organisms through the space age, so the changes start at the very beginning: make your creature an aggressive carnivore, and the music will be noticeably different from that of a plant-eating species. The uses procedural music, meaning that the music a player hears will develop and mutate along with their style of play. Iconic producer Brian Eno was brought in to provide much of these tracks. Source: All Things Digital | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am Yahoo-Google ad partnership faces EU reviewGrowing scrutiny and opposition could cause problems for both Internet companies. Roadblocks are mounting on a...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am Best Buy to acquire Napster for $121 millionThe electronics retailer says the acquisition will allow it to expand its delivery of digital content. Ending...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am Hewlett-Packard to slash 24,600 jobsThe cuts are designed to help the company integrate its operations with those of Electronic Data Systems, which it acquired in August. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am CBC's Search Engine back in podcast formJesse Brown, host of the excellent CBC radio show Search Engine (senselessly cancelled by CBC brass after an immensely successful first year) sez, "People keep telling me that my radio show was canceled last season. I refuse to accept this, and will therefore continue producing new podcasts every week. The first zombie episode of Search Engine is now online! It features an awkward discussion between me, the CBC exec who gave us the axe and a guy who started a Facebook group to protest the cancellation. There's also a story on our embarrassing federal election, titled 'Canada is retarded.'" Zombie Search Engine Episode 1, MP3Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:48 am Solar system quiltThis gigantic, gorgeous 19th-century quilt depicting the Solar System hangs at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian. The story of the maker, an early woman astronomer is really amazing, too.Solar System Quilt (via Craft) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:32 am Homebrew espresso machineOn the Home Barista Forum, user Matadero210 is posting running progress reports from an heroic effort to machine and construct the perfect espresso machine:Robo-Pavoni ; learning to make espresso machine from scratch (via Make) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:28 am Marble floor made from salami Marilyn sez, "Belgian conceptual artist Wim Delvoye makes salami floors that look like marble. Famous for tattooing a pig with Louis Vuitton symbols and for making a food digestion machine that produces vacuum-packed poo (for sale) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp." Marble Floor # 102 (click "Marble Floors" in the top-bar) (Thanks, Marilyn!) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:25 am Google's plans for floating data centresOver at the Times, they've got the scoop on a patent application filed by Google which outlines a novel idea for data centres: offshoring them. And by offshore, we don't just mean in another country, but...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:49 am HP surprises Wall Street with size of EDS job cuts (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:41 am Tech Vs. Business?An anonymous reader writes "I've recently found a spot in a large company, and I'm noticing that here a lot of people on the technology side are very anti-business. Tech makes up about 40% of the total line of business staff, but the whole LOB is only a tiny percentage of the larger company in the financial industry. I personally haven't seen this before in prior jobs, but I'm told that this animosity is commonplace. So I come to Slashdot to find out if others have experienced this adversarial relationship between business and tech, and if so, what was the effect on the overall success of the business?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:29 am Big Blue claims virtualization breakthrough (CNET)CNET - Twelve months ago, IBM Research began work on a project to develop an algorithm to help reduce the cost and requirements of virtual desktop storage.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:01 am Sept. 16: Jobs Quits Apple in 1985, Returns in 1997Sept. 16: It's an auspicious day in the history of Steve Jobs. It's the day he quit Apple and the day he returned. Jobs resigned as chairman of Apple Computer on Sept. 16, 1985, after losing a boardroom battle for control of the company with then-CEO John Sculley. Jobs had co-founded Apple seven years earlier with his hacker friend Steve Wozniak. A pair of teenagers, the two Steves had little idea how to grow the hot company at the dawn of the soon-to-be-giant PC industry. Jobs helped recruit Sculley from Pepsi-Cola, where Sculley had shown a genius for lifestyle advertising. The pair ran Apple as co-CEOs but fell out and took their differences to the board. Though a visionary, the board decided Jobs was too volatile for the lead role. So he quit. On the same day he resigned, Jobs submitted incorporation papers to the California secretary of state for the name of his new company, NeXT Computer. NeXT was Jobs' revenge. Jobs founded NeXT with the express purpose of running Apple into the ground. NeXT would develop computers that were far better than anything Apple could offer, and Apple would soon be out of business. NeXT never did put Apple out of business, and for the next 10 years just barely survived itself. It did, however, produce a fantastic operating system, NeXTStep, which many praised as ahead of its time. In December 1996, Apple bought NeXT for $400 million. It wanted NeXTStep to form the basis of a new, modern operating system, one that didn’t crash every time Netscape Navigator was launched. Jobs came on board as an informal adviser to then-CEO Gil Amelio. But within months, the board fired Amelio after Apple suffered one of the biggest quarterly losses in Silicon Valley history. Jobs was initially reluctant to take a role at Apple. His other company, Pixar, had just released its first movie, Toy Story, to great acclaim. But he soon found himself putting in more time at Apple, working hard to whip it into shape. On Sept. 16, 1997, Apple announced that Jobs had officially been named interim CEO, or -- as the company cleverly put it -- iCEO. Source: Wikipedia, others
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:00 am Plasticized fabric-draped coffee table
This surreal cocktail table from the 1970s was draped in fabric and then coated with resin, giving it a strange rigidity. It's up for auction on eBay with a BuyItNow price of $495. Plasticized fabric-covered coffee table (eBay, thanks Michael-Anne Rauback!) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 3:35 am NASA Announces Next Mars MissionGrant Henninger writes "Today, NASA announced their final selection for the Mars Scout 2013 mission: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN. MAVEN will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars's evolution by measuring characteristics of its atmospheric gases, upper atmosphere, solar wind, and ionosphere. The mission, estimated to cost $485M, is scheduled for launch in late 2013."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 16 Sep 2008 | 2:07 am Today at Boing Boing Gadgets
Today at Boing Boing Gadgets, we admired Tim Knowles' Spy Box art project; pondered how best to survive the zombicaust; caged our pets in the highest fashion; and saw a whisteblower ride the red ring of death right into the unemployment line. Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:36 am Witchcraft claim leads to deadly soccer riotA riot broke out at a soccer match in the Congo yesterday, apparently after one of the players was accused of using witchcraft. Thirteen people were killed, most of whom were teenagers. From the Associated Press:Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans."Witchcraft rumor sparks riot at Congo soccer game" (Associated Press) Source: Boing Boing | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:06 am Hewlett-Packard to shed 25,000 jobs as result of buying EDSHewlett-Packard last night revealed that it plans to slash 24,600 jobs - nearly 8% of its workforce - during the next three years, as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems, the technology...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:59 am Scribbling On Digital PhotosJagsLive notes a patent application filed in the US by Nokia for a way to 'scribble on the back' of digital photos. Nokia's approach is similar to the iPod's Cover Flow, except that Nokia users will be able to flip through their snaps, select one, and then turn it over and annotate the back just using SMS-like text entry. The scribble becomes an integral part of the saved photo.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:09 am HP Cuts 24,600 JobsHP says it will slash 24,600 jobs over the next three years, nearly 8 percent of its work force. The move comes as HP combines operations with Electronic Data Systems Corp., the technology-services company it recently acquired.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am NPD Data on Mac Sales Disappoints [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron'sApple (AAPL) needs to refresh the Mac line. That’s a key takeaway from today’s data from market research firm NPD on August Mac and iPod sales. In a note this afternoon, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reports that the NPD data showed Mac sales growth in August was up 23 percent year-over-year in units, down from 43 percent growth in July. On a revenue basis, Macs were up 21 percent year-over-year. Earlier in the day, in a preview of the report, Munster had forecast that the NPD data would show 35 to 40 percent year-over-year unit growth for the month. Munster also notes that NPD’s iPod data show 19 percent unit growth in August, up from 12 perent in July, while revenues were up 27 percent. The bottom line, Munster writes, is that “the directional trend” in the Mac data is weaker than expected, “likely due to Mac family in need of refresh.” He notes that the iPod data were “surprisingly strong,” but that “the Street may not give Apple credit” for the strong iPod number. The other factor in the weak Mac sales, Munster theorizes, is that “the weak consumer environment is negatively affecting Apple’s business.” Source: All Things Digital | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:45 pm Mac OS 10.5.5 packs fixes for slew of security flaws (CNET)CNET - With the release of Mac OS X 10.5.5 on Monday, the Cupertino, Calif., computer company provided patches for almost three dozen software flaws. Some of the fixes are specific to Apple features, such as image processing and Finder. Other fixes are updates to various open-source projects including Bind, ClamAV, OpenSSH, and Ruby.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:33 pm Hewlett-Packard to cut 25,000 jobsThe US jobs market was dealt a fresh blow on Monday when Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest information technology group, announced plans to cut nearly 25,000 jobs - about half of them in the US. HP...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:31 pm Pentagon Researcher Unveils Warcraft Terror PlotThe American military and intelligence communities are increasingly worried that would-be bin Ladens might gather in a virtual world, to plan a real-life attack. Now, a Pentagon researcher has laid out how such a terror plot might unfold. The planning ground is World of Warcraft. The main target of this possibly-nuclear strike: the White House.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:22 pm Spy Agencies Turn To Online Sources For Infopalegray.net sends us to US News and World Report for an article about increased spy agency use of online sources. Turning to well-known destinations such as NPR and Wikipedia, folks in the intelligence world are increasingly filling their reports with information gleaned from the public domain. "A few days ago, a senior officer at the Pentagon called his intelligence officer into his office. The boss had heard a news report about China while driving to his office and wanted some answers. It wasn't a tough assignment, given the news coverage, but there was a hitch. 'There was plenty of information in the public domain about the topic,' recalls the intelligence officer, a 10-year veteran. 'And yet, if there wasn't some classified information cited in my report, the boss would never believe it was accurate.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:21 pm Kate Hilpern: Just how unreliable are our powers of recall?Kate Hilpern finds out just how unreliable our powers of recall areSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:19 pm Hopes pinned on Lara Croft after SCi loss triplesSCi Entertainment, the troubled video games group, has reported a more than threefold jump in pre-tax loss to £136m after a year of costly software delays, a desperate rescue cash call and deep...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:17 pm Newly-discovered bizarre ant Scientists have dubbed this newly-discovered ant Martialis heureka, implying that it's so weird it could have come from Mars. Found in the Brazliian rainforest, it has no eyes, and its "mouth" is like a pair of long forceps. According to University of Texas at Austin evolutionary biologist Christian Rabeling, Martialis heureka is from the oldest ant lineage still living. From Science News: Its DNA may be even more interesting. Genetic analysis puts the new ant so far from other species that it deserves its own subfamily, Martialinae, Rabeling and his colleagues report in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It’s the first new subfamily described for a living ant since 1923, the discoverers say..."Ant 'From Mars'" (ScienceNews) Source: Boing Boing | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:09 pm Political "crop circle"
Every year, Lebanon, Ohio farmer Bill Irons creates a design in his corn field. This year, it's a 12-acre maze with an election theme. From the Cincinnati Enquirer: Irons creates his design the old-fashioned way. He draws it out on graph paper, then enlarges it on 16 to 20 pages of graph paper that he tapes together and mounts on a board.Corn maze takes election theme (Cincinnati.com, thanks Charles Pescovitz!) Source: Boing Boing | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:40 pm Twilight of the GPU — an Interview With Tim Sweeneycecom writes to share that Tim Sweeney, co-founder of Epic Games and the main brain behind the Unreal engine, recently sat down at NVIDIA's NVISION con to share his thoughts on the rise and (what he says is) the impending fall of the GPU: "...a fall that he maintains will also sound the death knell for graphics APIs like Microsoft's DirectX and the venerable, SGI-authored OpenGL. Game engine writers will, Sweeney explains, be faced with a C compiler, a blank text editor, and a stifling array of possibilities for bending a new generation of general-purpose, data-parallel hardware toward the task of putting pixels on a screen."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:31 pm New From HP: PinkSlipJet EDS Edition [Digital Daily]
Cost-cutting is one of my favorite subjects. We have quite a bit more to do.” When Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CFO Cathie Lesjak said she was fond of cost-cutting, she wasn’t kidding. On Monday HP announced plans to cut 24,600 jobs over the next three years as it digests Electronic Data Systems, the technology services giant it acquired for nearly $14 billion this summer. The job cuts amount to about 7.5 percent of the combined company’s total workforce, and most will come from EDS, whose bloated cost structure was in need of a good trim. HP estimates $1.8 billion in annual cost savings once the three-year program is completed. Incidentally, 24,600 sacked employees is a new record for Mark Hurd, whose first big act as HP’s CEO was a restructuring that eliminated some 15,000 jobs. [Image credit: jischinger] Source: All Things Digital | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:20 pm Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Fact or Fiction?Dozens of public interest groups are urging the trade representatives from several nations, including the United States and European Union, to divulge the contents of a proposed treaty to strengthen intellectual property rights. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is said to criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, allow iPods to be searched at borders and require internet service companies to monitor customers' online activities.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:15 pm Apple's iPhone 2.1: The Bug-Fix You've Been Waiting ForApple's recently released iPhone 2.1 firmware update fixes a number of bugs, improves 3G data reception, appears to reduce the number of dropped calls, and adds several minor but interesting new features.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:13 pm Apple's iPhone 2.1: The Bug-Fix You've Been Waiting ForApple's recently released iPhone 2.1 firmware update fixes a number of bugs, improves 3G data reception, appears to reduce the number of dropped calls, and adds several minor but interesting new features.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:13 pm How to draw a USB key icon in Photoshop Here's another cool Photoshop tutorial by Eren Göksel. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to illustrate a USB key floating in the air and reflecting on a surface. We’ll be adding numerous details that will make this illustration shine. Notice how the PSDTUTS name reflects off the floor in the illustration. These are the little details that add a degree of realism to your work.Make a Floating in Air USB Key Illustration Previously on Boing Boing: Source: Boing Boing | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:10 pm Peugeot Bringing a Hybrid to Le MansPeugeot's shown diesels can dominate Le Mans, now it wants to try its luck with a hybrid. Yes, a hybrid.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 10:10 pm Ford's 65MPG Due In November, But Not In the UScomputermesh writes "Ford has a vehicle that gets 65MPG and will not be released in the US. Why? Because they can not afford to! 'Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 15 Sep 2008 | 9:47 pm How to Get Better Genius Recommendations in iTunes 8The latest version of Apple's iTunes offers a new "Genius" feature for generating on-the-fly playlists based on your own personal tastes. But it isn't magic, it's math. And it ain't perfect, either. Inject some sanity into iTunes' musical mad scientist with our guide in the How-To Wiki.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 9:13 pm Spider Venom Recipe Could Be Key to AntidoteUsing hi-tech methods, scientists list the ingredients of brown recluse venom.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Sep 2008 | 9:09 pm BLOG: Deep Sea NewsJust when you thought the Invertebrate Wars were over...Think again.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Sep 2008 | 9:09 pm NASA Patents To Be AuctionedPresto Vivace writes to tell us that as a continuing push to commercialize NASA-funded technology a group of 25 NASA patents will be auctioned off this coming October. "The sale, which will include rights to signal processing, GPS for spacecraft and sensor technologies, is the first auction under a partnership announced earlier this month between Goddard's Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) and Ocean Tomo Federal Services LLC. Ocean Tomo provides a marketplace for intellectual property, which NASA wants to leverage in commercializing its technology."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 15 Sep 2008 | 9:02 pm Lawmakers Say HANG-UP and Fly!With all the things our lawmakers could be doing, they decide banning cellphones on commercial flights is the most important.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 9:00 pm Backup Your Disqus CommentsLet's discuss discussions with Disqus. Better yet, let's figure out how to backup and transport your sites' Disqus comments using the commenting system's new application programming interface (API). Webmonkey's Scott Gilbertson hacked away a guide to backing up Disqus comments using only a little Python and some knuckle grease.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Sep 2008 | 8:45 pm Report: New MacBooks, Justifications for Buying Them, in Production [Digital Daily]
“Field checks confirm that shipments of new MacBooks have begun, with a sharp production ramp planned for September and an introduction planned for early October,” Gardner wrote. “The most distinctive features of the new MacBook appear to be a very thin aluminum casing, an LED-backlit display and an aggressive entry-level price point.” Gardner expects Apple (AAPL) to introduce its fall notebook line “within weeks.” October 14, perhaps? Source: All Things Digital | 15 Sep 2008 | 8:24 pm Current TV to broadcast `tweets' during debates (AP)AP - Current TV is handing over feedback on the upcoming presidential debates to those who make up so much of the network's programming: its audience.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Sep 2008 | 8:19 pm Take-Two sinks after EA says it won't buy company (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Sep 2008 | 7:09 pm Logitech Media-Streaming Device Fills a Room With BoomLogitech continues to churn it quality audio networking devices with the Boom. This gadget, based on the incredibly awesome Squeezebox Duet, adds a set of speakers and a small sub to the diminutive media streaming device. The result is a unit that plays the very music it streams with equal gusto.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 15 Sep 2008 | 6:30 pm People Wired to See Walking Men as ApproachingA male figure seen walking is more likely to appear to be approaching a viewer.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Sep 2008 | 3:36 pm Leica Releases M8.2The successor to the M8 rangefinder is out and the biggest news is that the 8.2 gets a full auto-mode. Like any other full-auto mode, the camera selects aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance. There is also an exposure compensation mode: press the shutter halfway and use the command dial to adjust up or down in 1.3 stop increments.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 15 Sep 2008 | 2:14 pm Chianti: Secret to Long Life, Says Ancient RecipeA centuries-old recipe promising long life is found and its base is Chianti.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Sep 2008 | 1:40 pm NASA Eyes Nuclear Reactor for Moon BaseNASA makes plans to power a future moon base with nuclear fission.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Sep 2008 | 1:40 pm
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It’s looking more and more like Apple’s next-generation Macbooks will arrive at market in October. In a research note to clients today, Citigroup’s Richard Gardner said channel checks have confirmed that the notebooks are in production.