Blogger leads China to free-thinking revolution
March 31, 2007
AFP - It was spring 2002 when Isaac Mao, a Shanghai-based software engineer for US chipmaker Intel, first came across Internet blogs.
Happy April Fools: April 1, 2007
March 31, 2007
Today is April 1, 2007 and represents April Fool’s Day — so readers should be wary of hoaxes and claims at both news and rumor sites today.
Today also represents Apple’s 31st Anniversary. Last year’s April Fools’ was met with much o…
Haptics Technology Turns Phones into Weapons
March 31, 2007
SlashRating© 17 slashdottit! tm SkinnyGuy writes “Virtually all of our phones have little motors that make vibration possible. Now there’s a company working on taking the abilities of these mini motors much, much further. Touch-Bak’s technology allows for users to send ‘virtual punches’ and jabs, and can send phones flying from the hands of users if they’re unaware of the service. It’s all a bit on the extreme side and, to his credit, the PCMag.com author recognizes that, but it’s still a fascinating application of the little understood Haptics technology. ‘”Imagine,” Galsworthy continued, “that you know your buddy Kyle is in an important meeting and you know that he keeps his phone in his pocket. You can deliver a digital punch right to his thigh. He jumps out of his seat during the meeting and . . . it’s hilarious!” Galsworthy was so tickled by this description of events that he was lost in fits of laughter on the other side of the phone. To me, this service is childish and, well, kind of stupid.’”
Acquisitions quadruple size of Brocade's market
March 31, 2007
InfoWorld - Executives of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. say their acquisition strategy has given the company access to an estimated US$7.2 billion market in 2008 for its storage hardware, software, and services technology, four times the market it serves today.
Apple TV Running Full Mac OS X
March 31, 2007
AppleTVHacks posts walk through to boot full Mac OS X on the Apple TV, along with keyboard and mouse support.
At this time, the 14 step hack requires opening the Apple TV, installing Mac OS X on the hard drive, and modifying some Opera…
Building an Energy Efficient, Always-On PC?
March 31, 2007
An anonymous reader asks: “Like many readers, I find it necessary to leave my home PC running 24/7, for things like web or FTP servers, BitTorrent, or simply to make sure I don’t miss any messages on IRC or my instant messaging client. It has been about 3 years since I built my current PC, and keeping it running all the time uses a lot of juice. With my next PC, I would like to do what I can to keep the power-consumption to a minimum, without sacrificing processing power or other features. What should I look for when choosing components for my PC, and what other ways are there to keep the power consumption down?”
O'Reilly Attacks The View's O'Donnell Factor
March 31, 2007
E! Online - O'Boy.
Rosie O'Donnell was sucked into the No Spin Zone Thursday when Fox News host Bill O'Reilly questioned whether ABC should fire the morning chat maven over a posting on her personal blog and remarks she made on The View concerning the recent capture of 15 British sailors by the Iranian military.
How To Properly Archive Data On Disc Media
March 31, 2007
An anonymous reader writes “Patrick McFarland, the well-known Free Software Magazine author, goes into great detail on CD/DVD media over at the Ad Terras Per Aspera site. McFarland covers the history of the media, from CDs through recordable DVDs, explaining the various formats and their strengths and drawbacks. The heart of the article is an essay on the DVD-R vs. DVD+R recording standards, leading to McFarland’s recommendation for which media he buys for archival storage. Spoiler: it’s Taiyo Yuden DVD+R all the way. From the article: ‘Unlike pressed CDs/DVDs, burnt CDs/DVDs can eventually fade, due to five things that affect the quality of CD media: sealing method, reflective layer, organic dye makeup, where it was manufactured, and your storage practices (please keep all media out of direct sunlight, in a nice cool dry dark place, in acid-free plastic containers; this will triple the lifetime of any media).’”
Most Impressive Game AI?
March 31, 2007
togelius asks: “I have the feeling that when developers make the effort to put really sophisticated AI into a game, gamers frequently just don’t notice (see e.g. Forza). Conversely, games that are lauded for their fantastic AI are sometimes based on very simple algorithms (e.g. Halo 1). For someone who wants to apply AI to games, it is very interesting to know what AI is really appreciated. What is the most impressive game AI you have come across? Have you ever encountered a situation where it really felt like the computer-controlled opponents were really thinking?”
GTA IV Trailer Inflames Big Apple Politicians
March 31, 2007
GP writes “The GTA4 trailer isn’t 48 hours old yet, but NYC politicians are up in arms because the game’s setting, Liberty City, is a virtual version of the Big Apple.” Obviously these guys never played GTA3, since it was also set in the “fictional” Liberty City, that also felt a lot like NYC.
