Bring Me Up: The Geek

3D Modeling Software | SpaceClaim

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:41:00 +0000

SpaceClaim, provider of the world's fastest and most innovative 3D Direct Modeling software, today announced the fifth release of the company's engineering software, SpaceClaim 2009+. This new version of SpaceClaim is the first in the industry to support Windows 7 and Multi-Touch for 3D direct modeling. Other new 2009+ capabilities are aimed at driving ease of use in preparing models for simulation, and extending SpaceClaim's leadership in direct modeling for conceptual design.

"This has been a remarkable year for SpaceClaim, as we have begun to see wider adoption in engineering organizations," said Chris Randles, SpaceClaim President and CEO. "Our rapid growth this year demonstrates that we are solving real, complex, and costly engineering challenges, such as accelerating the development of concept models, or speeding model preparation for upfront or downstream analysis and simulation. On average, our customers report a halving of the time taken to prepare models for CAE, enabling them to be more productive and accelerating overall time-to-market. With industry-leading partners such as ANSYS, we are now recognized as an innovative solution that is expanding the use of 3D among analysts, engineers, and other non-CAD specialists in modern manufacturing organizations."

SpaceClaim is enabling manufacturers to accelerate innovation cycles and leverage engineering and product styling as key differentiators. SpaceClaim evolves 3D outside of the traditional detail design environment in CAD, putting straightforward modeling tools in the hands of engineers and CAE analysts. With SpaceClaim, engineers can perform simulation, collaborate, and converge before specifying the design concept to the CAD team for detailing and design-for-manufacture. Additionally, SpaceClaim provides CAE engineers with a solution to easily prepare, edit, and optimize CAD data, with the freedom to explore solutions without relying on CAD operators.

SpaceClaim 2009+ Pushes the Envelope of Direct Modeling and Automates Model Preparation

The new release features enhanced capabilities for design and analysis engineers that include:

-- Direct modeling enhancements:
-- Bodies can be locked to prevent unintentional modification.
-- New round creation techniques allow rounds to be placed in more
complicated situations.
-- Curves imprinted on faces can be easily manipulated, facilitating
conceptual sketching in 3D.
-- Numerous other enhancements to surfacing, patterning, and
construction geometry maintain SpaceClaim's lead in direct
modeling.
-- Model preparation for simulation made easier:
-- Conceptual beam elements facilitate structural design.
-- A beam library provides easy beam creation with standard sections.
-- Beam extraction converts imported beams to conceptual beams.
-- Enhanced geometry checking and repair makes it easy to diagnose
common geometry problems.
-- De-featuring is faster than ever with new round slicing tools.
-- Several ANSYS add-in enhancements, including the ability to
transfer beams and pattern count dimensions, making it more
convenient to optimize models from within ANSYS(R) Workbench(TM)
2.0.
-- Multi-touch user interaction
-- Hands-on interactive solid modeling using up to four fingers
provides a more immersive user experience.
-- New selection techniques such as four-finger box select and lasso
select make the most common 3D interactions faster than possible
with a mouse.
-- Multi-touch view rotation and gesture support provide
straightforward access to commands that would normally be hidden
behind toggle keys and shortcuts.

Adobe AIR 2.0 and Flash update

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:37:00 +0000

Adobe announced two new betas, Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.0, that look forward to greater mobile device support. The new betas also support hardware-based H.264 video decoding.

The announcement would seem to be a preemptive strike against any Silverlight news Microsoft may have up its sleeve at this week's Professional Developer Conference.

On all platforms, Flash 10.1 adds support for hardware decoding of H.264 high-definition video. That means that companies like AMD, for example, can support Flash 10.1 natively. AMD said Tuesday that a number of its GPUs will support Flash 10.1, including the ATI Radeon HD 4000, HD 5700 and HD 5800 series, the Mobility Radeon HD 4000 and higher, the Radeon HD 3000 integrated graphics series, and the latest FirePro series.

It's also the first release in Adobe's "Open Screen Project," an initiative intended to allow developers to target different devices without rewriting code. Even Google, with its large stake in Flash use on its YouTube site, has signed up for the Open Screen Project. But it seems somewhat of an extension of the term "open" for a standard to require a proprietary software plugin.

"With the beta availability of Adobe AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 today, we are taking an important step toward realizing the Open Screen Project vision to enable rich Internet experiences across any device, anywhere," said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe. "Content creators will provide multi-screen experiences with uncompromised Web browsing and standalone applications across desktops and netbooks, and in the near future across a wide range of mobile devices."

Retail drama c/o Speedtrack

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Software developer SpeedTrack has filed suit against nearly two dozen major online retailers, including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Overstock.com, Nike, Costco and Dell, accusing the major online retailers of infringing some patent that supposedly covers a search mechanism customers can use to locate products on their websites.

The complaint, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses the defendants of infringing U.S. Patent Number 5,544,360, titled "Method for accessing computer files and data, using linked categories assigned to each data file record on entry of the data file record".

Dubbed GIA (Guided Information Access), originally developed and patented by SpeedTrack co-founder and CTO Jerzy Lewak, the system is designed to guide users to contextually relevant information when searching specific keywords, ensuring a result rather than a page that says "no result can be found" or whatever. According to its website, law enforcement agencies like police departments use SpeedTrack's GIA software to sort through massive criminal records data, which supposedly helps them solve crimes faster.

SOURCE - TechCrunch

Mini Robo Vacuum

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:50:00 +0000

This has got to be the coolest little gadget I have stumbled upon in quite some time.

This fun desktop robot will clean up all your messes! Simply press top button and zoom over crumbs, pencil shavings or other debris and he'll sweep 'em up. Requires 2 AA batteries, not included. In three colors. Red, gray or black!

You can purchase one at FredFlare.com.

And for more geeky awesomeness I saw these cool Emotibud Earbuds at ShanaLogic.

"Are you sick of your plain ear buds? Well, our friends at Emotibles have solved your fashion problem!" They are flexible charms fit classic iPod earbuds as well as second-generation earbuds with included inserts. Who needs a mood ring when you have Emotibuds!?

2009 TopCoder Open Champions

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:51:00 +0000

TopCoder(R), Inc., the leader in online programming competition, skills assessment and competitive software development, today announced the Champions for all 9 tracks of the 2009 TopCoder Open along with a new accessibility challenge. Chinese member Bin Jin, known by his TopCoder handle crazyb0y, took top honors in the Algorithm competition. Members from China, Russian Federation, Argentina, Australia, Ukraine and Canada won their respective competitions in Mod Dash, Architecture, Development, Marathon Competition, Assembly, TopCoder Studio, Design and Specification. Sponsors of the 2009 TopCoder Open included IEEE-USA, SNIA-XAM, Facebook and patron NSA. Additional support was provided by AOL for the Sensations Developer Challenge. The competition attracted nearly 6,000 registrants earlier in the year, and after a series of online qualification rounds, 76 of the top finalists were flown in from 17 different countries to compete live on stage in Las Vegas.

In addition to the nine tracks of competition, a special event, the AOL/TopCoder Sensations Developer Challenge, was won by a group of TopCoder members whose contributions to the winning application "Accessible Walking Directions" earned them a share a $25,000 bonus prize. Honorable mention went to the runner up submission "My Parents' Email Client".

The Sensations Developer Challenge was focused on advancing internet accessibility and utilizing all software development and Studio tracks of TCO'09 competition to build solutions for improved usability of mainstream internet-based products by people with disabilities.

About TopCoder, Inc.
TopCoder is the world's largest competitive software development community with over 180,000 developers representing more than 200 countries. TopCoder hosts the largest and most comprehensive developer ratings and performance metrics available. The TopCoder community builds software for a wide-ranging client base through a competitive, rigorous, standards based methodology. This methodology results in a highly consistent set of software components allowing a software-as-parts approach to application development. TopCoder makes this large library of software components built through competition available to all of our clients. Utilizing a world-wide member base and this library, TopCoder seeks to lower the cost of software development while increasing both the speed at which applications can be developed and the quality of the ultimate application.

An Envirobank? And an ITDatabase

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:25:00 +0000

The Envirobank accepts both cans and bottles, scanning the bar code to identify the product and also checking the material to make sure it's recyclable. Accepted containers are crushed and kept, while the kind-hearted recycler gets a coupon or credit of some sort for their efforts. Envirobank says their machines cut CO2 emissions, reduces waste disposal and collection costs, even provides advertising and fund raising opportunities.

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BlackBerries nearly dominated iPhones in US smartphone sales for the start of 2009, the NPD Group said today in a new study. The market researchers note that the top-selling phone line from the quarter ended in March was the BlackBerry Curve 8300 series, which edged out the iPhone 3G at second place. Of the top 5 phones, 3 were BlackBerries and included the touchscreen Storm in third place and the non-flip Pearl in fourth. The lone Android phone in the US, T-Mobile's G1, occupied the fifth spot.

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ITDatabase is launching Monday and tackling a very specific opportunity--get all tech news indexed in one place, and make it much easier for tech industry pros to analyze/aggregate trends about what's being said across all tech news. The company is starting with tech PR pros as the initial target customers, but believes the product offers a lot of research value to product managers and sales roles as well.

"There are thousands of tech authors covering tens of thousands of vendors and themes," said Travis Van, founder of ITDatabase. "Multiply them all together and you get a huge unstructured data mess, which largely accounts for why tech PR folks are often hitting the wrong journalists with the wrong content."

*~*~*

Everyone was impressed with the new administration adding a blog to the White House website, but they've outdone themselves yet again with an official Twitter account and now a stellar-looking MySpace page - both launching within the last few days.

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Spore created by industry legend Will Wright announced Monday that 100 million creatures have been created, far outrunning the number of species on Earth.

The game publisher, Electronic Arts, started counting last June. That's when it first released its Spore Creature Creator, several months ahead of the full Spore game itself.

There's more Spore on the way. Electronic Arts' Maxis studio is releasing the Spore Galactic Adventures expansion pack for PC and Mac players, Spore Hero for the Wii, and Spore Hero Arena for the Nintendo DS.

WebHostRating.com: Click and Bookmark Worthy

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:31:00 +0000

You can't help it, everything and everyone is going online. If you plan on starting up a business or getting any sort of mass exposure for something you have to do it online. Even my Mom who is terrified of computers has recently been heard saying she was going to "Google" something. That's right, it's a known verb to all generations to Google. And we all know to go online you need to have a domain and a host and a site designer, etc. It's great to know it can be done but where can you find the best resources?

In comes sites like Web Hosting Rating, where you can get user reviews about different elements of web hosting as well as a wealth of other webby information.

For someone like me who is already on the web I can still find useful information at Web Hosting Rating, because they have great articles about what you should look for in your hosts. For instance, many hosts have a built in web designer element and you just need to know where to look to find this application. Web Hosting Rating fortunately has an article that makes the hunt a bit easier. There is a current article on their site right now which discusses SoloLaunch. "SoloLaunch is a user-friendly software program that allows you to easily build and maintain a professional website regardless of experience."

My favorite section of their site is the Awards page. Independent customer rating of the best web hosting providers. It's updated all the time and it breaks ratings down based on user need. So you can look to see who is the top in e-commerce if that's your niche or for me it would be the best blog host which right now is Globat.com.

Whether your needs are many because you're just starting out online, or your needs are more specific you'll be able to use WebHostRating.com as a resource. Click and bookmark this one!

This is a sponsored post.

Peggle WoW Add-on

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:51:00 +0000

As of this morning, you can download the brand new Peggle for WoW addon from PopCap's site.

WoW Insider got a chance to play with the add-on from its early beta on, and it's extremely impressive -- not only will you find the usual addictive peg-hitting gameplay that we've come to know from Peggle, but PopCap and creator Michael Fromwiller (whom we interviewed about Bejeweled, and who we're told is actually being hired on full-time at PopCap as soon as he finishes school this spring) have really added a new level to the game by tying it right into World of Warcraft. The game rewards you with "Talent points" that can change the game play itself, and you can challenge other players within World of Warcraft to duels and score battles. There's even a "Peggle loot" setting, which, when used as Master Looter, will let your guildies and friends with the add-on actually take Peggle shots against each other to determine who gets loot drops.

If you've never played the game Peggle you should try it out. It's much more mindless than WoW, but sometimes your mind needs a break while still being entertained. My five-year-old loves Peggle and so do I. You'll love it.

tradeMONSTER will pump you up

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:17:00 +0000

A couple months ago I signed up for one of those free stock type games (WeSeed) you can try out with fake money to see how you would do in the real stock market. I haven't done so bad considering the intense fluctuations stocks have been experiencing.

My interest in stocks is mostly due to the fact that I have a 403B with my employer and I'm losing money as I'm sure most people are right now. So I've been wanting to learn more about what it's all about.

One of the places I've come across for information and advice is tradeMonster. The site was co-founded by Jon Najarian, Pete Najarian, and Dirk Mueller which means they collectively have an average of 20 years experience dealing with financial information.

When it comes to finding an online options broker you definitely want someone with experience and I'd say especially those with young, fresh and innovative minds because they too are dealing with the craziness of today's economy. And yes, I admit, going to their website and being greeted with a wave of music which totally pumped me up also helped.

But when you look beyond the fresh site and energizing music you see all the tools and assets they have to offer as a trading facility online. Their production tools are completely browser based so you can access information from anywhere. Once you pull up your account you have the tools to actively watch the market and pick up strategies tuned in to your personalized needs. It is a bit overwhelming at first, but at the same time it is an invigorating experience (coming from a 28-year-old novice).

I should also let you know they have different options for different type people. Someone like myself would be better off dealing with paperTrade which is the area you sign up to test different trading strategies and learn risk management. It's free to open the account and it brings you all the necessary proprietary stock reports right to your browser window.

WeSeed is free, too but the advice and analysis you receive is from other people like yourself. Being able to work with tradeMonster and knowing people who actually do this for a living are the ones giving me advice definitely puts me at ease.

So as our markets stabilize and eventually improve if you want to hop on ship while investments have the potential to start low then you should definitely sign up with tradeMonster.

Drooling over a Nintendo Purse

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:23:00 +0000

For a girl who loves Super Mario, this is exciting. I mean Super Mario is one of the all-time classic games in my world. Granted I did grow up with Atari before Nintendo, but when Super Mario came out my brother and I were in awe and addicted.

This Nintendo purse is the dream of every girl who grew up mashing buttons on a Nintendo system. This cute accessory has a screen and a fully-functioning Nintendo inside. It's also got two controllers connected to it that allow a game of Super Mario Bros. 3 to be played by two people anywhere and everywhere!

Thank you Jeri Ellsworth for designing this awesomeness!

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Western Digital has launched its My DVR Expander for the TiVo DVR, now with 1TB of hard drive storage capacity. Designed for storing HDTV shows beyond the stock storage, the upgraded DVR Expander uses a eSATA connection and can hold up to an additional 140 hours of HD television or a maximum of 600 hours standard definition, simply by attaching the device to any TiVo DVR, including those that normally restrict regular eSATA drives.

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MySpace boss and co-founder Chris DeWolfe is stepping down from his job, but will stay on as a "strategic adviser" on the board.

The social networking site's owner News Corp announced the move yesterday.

DeWolfe's contract will not be renewed by "mutual agreement" said News Corp, adding that the firm was talking to MySpace president Tom Anderson about taking on a "new role in the organisation".

Reports say the new CEO of News Corp (NWS) social network MySpace will be former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta. Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, who's close with News Corp digital boss Jonathan Miller, probably knows whether this is true or not, but he says he can't confirm or deny it till Friday.

*~*~*

LittleSnapper from Realmac Software has been available for OS X for quite some time (and was one of the apps available in this year's Macheist bundle), and a few days ago they released a trimmed-down version that runs on your iPhone. While it lacks the basic photo editing and annotation available on its desktop counterpart, LittleSnapper for iPhone is no slouch.

Oprah Twitter Effect; Adobe Flash TV; and the Stella

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:27:00 +0000

You've probably seen the commercials comparing the Subaru Stella to the BMW Mini. The commercials are lame if you ask me, I don't see any comparisons to begin with so of course they can dish out tons of incomparable features.

Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company and maker of Subaru automobiles, has just announced its plans to begin testing prototypes of its Subaru plug-in Stella electric vehicle, which will be introduced in Japan this summer. Furthermore, the company has managed to boost power output from 40kW in the previous iteration to 47kW, and it also stripped away some unnecessary weight and fine-tuned the output management system. There's no mention of a price or expected launch date in North America.

*~*~*

Adobe is working to bring its Flash web animation and video viewer to the living room via a new run-time system for HD TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other connected living room devices.

This is all part of bringing Internet content into the TV viewing experience.

Adobe has signed up a host of partners to support the technology, called the Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home. The new platform is available now to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), and the first devices and processors that will support it should be available in the second half of the year, Adobe said.

Partners that have signed on to support the new version of Flash are Atlantic Records, Broadcom, Comcast, Disney Interactive Media Group, Intel, Netflix, STMicroelectronics, The New York Times Company, NXP Semiconductors and Sigma Designs.

*~*~*

Oracle will acquire Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun's cash and debt. The deals comes after IBM withdrew its offer to buy Sun earlier this month.

"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems," said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in a statement. "Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system - applications to disk - where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Our customers benefit as their systems integration costs go down while system performance, reliability and security go up."

*~*~*

Today sees the public launch of Tweetie for Mac, the desktop-based big brother of what many consider to be the iPhone's best Twitter client. People have been playing around with a beta version of the app for the last few days since the initial preview last Thursday.

In other Twitter news...

Late last night, former Engadget editor-in-chief Ryan Block tweeted out that he had done some research to attempt to quantify the "Oprah Effect" - that is, the number of users who signed up for Twitter after Oprah featured the service on her show on Friday. The number he came to was about 1.2 million new users.

Summit News, AT&T and Motorala Phone News

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Motorola in Mexico earlier this week announced the upcoming release of the MOTOROKR W6 handset, which hopes to combine music with a set of fitness-tracking apps. I think it sounds very cool, honestly. I am sure you can get apps like that for other gadgets, but to have it all come in one piece that's set and ready sounds like a great idea.

Users can enter their name, age, sex, weight and height into a fitness app that will then create a training plan based on that information. There is also a timer that keeps track of the duration of workout and the theoretical number of calories burned. The handset can export this information into a Microsoft Excel document for tracking progress over time.

Internal memory can be expanded with a card of up to 2GB.

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Oh Lordy.

AT&T is offering a new service that allows parents to track loved ones using their phones.

AT&T's service called FamilyMaps allows people to track the location of any cell phone on AT&T's network from a mobile phone or PC. The person being tracked receives a text message informing him or her that he or she is being watched. The service periodically informs the tracked individual that he or she is being watched.

I can hear the tweeny boppers sighing now.

The service uses satellite GPS technology and cell tower triangulation to pin-point the location of the phone. The service is not supported on prepaid or AT&T Go Phones. And the service costs $9.99 for two phones and $14.99 for up to five phones.

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel have each been offering "tracking" services for more than a year. Sprint Nextel has even lowered the price of its service from about $10 a month to $5 a month.

What's different about these social-networking location services from the service AT&T is offering is that these other services often require those being "tracked" to also run the application on their phones.

*~*~*

Microsoft's Office team has officially announced a Service Pack 2 for Office 2007, which adds some speed, reliability, and printing improvements across the board. The major new new thing? Native support for OpenDocument files (ODF), the major format of OpenOffice.org, without a plug-in, and printing to PDF. SP2 should arrive on April 28.

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Delegations from across the Western Hemisphere will descend upon the twin island Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago this week for the fifth Summit of the Americas. A hemispheric agenda on energy figures prominently among the issues they will be addressing.

A key component to such an approach would be the reduction and eventual elimination of the United States' 54-cents-per-gallon tariff on ethanol imports, as well as revision of current agricultural subsidies in the United States.

Enhanced regional collaboration on alternative fuels is a logical next step to the efforts begun by Brazil and the U.S. two years ago. However, overcoming U.S. domestic politics that have allowed debate on ethanol to be influenced by the corn lobby remains a robust hurdle for follow-through on such an initiative.

For more developments on the Summit click here >>

Car diverts you from bad weather; You can go Bionic

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:05:00 +0000

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are testing an innovative technological system in the Detroit area this month that ultimately will help protect drivers from being surprised by black ice, fog, and other hazardous weather conditions.

The prototype system is designed to gather detailed information about weather and road conditions from moving vehicles. Within about a decade, it should enable motor vehicles equipped with wireless technology to transmit automated updates about local conditions to a central database, which will then relay alerts to other drivers in the area.

"The goal is to reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths by getting drivers the information they need about nearby hazards," says Sheldon Drobot, the NCAR program manager in charge of the project. "The system will tell drivers what they can expect to run into in the next few seconds and minutes, giving them a critical chance to slow down or take other action."

Maybe then we could all have cheaper auto insurance!? Yeah, I know, I'm dreaming.

(Credit: Copyright UCAR, photo by Michael Chapman)

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Years after the HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) suit first debuted, it seems that Cyberdyne's pride and joy is about to get really real. According to a report over at HPlus Magazine, the company is linking up with Daiwa House in order to "begin mass production" of the cybernetic bodysuit.

Sounds like someone really wants to be like Iron Man.

The cybernetic suit that "augments body movement and increases user strength by up to tenfold."

Though whether or not that warrants the $4,200 price tag remains to be seen.

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A new blog hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Technology Transfer Program promises to be a nexus of information on energy research across the University campus and around the world.

The blog, "SIU Energy Technology," will promote energy research at SIU's campuses, publish articles by researchers, carry links to outside information and act as a general clearinghouse for energy research information.

Smarty Pig Can Fly and Bluetooth 3.0

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:16:00 +0000

The current economic downturn is the perfect opportunity for this social banking service to go mobile.

SmartyPig's accounts are securely held in West Bank, they get a 3.05% interest rate and customers can get discount on their purchase from top retailers such as Best Buy or Amazon. If you are one of those who already uses some sort of financial management system for other things you don't have to worry. Integration is easy peasy. You can integrate your SmartyPig account into your preferred financial money management site like Mint, Geezeo, Wesabe, Rudder, Yodlee, Buxfer, and Expensr.

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TunesBag is essentially a social music player that can best be compared to the likes of Lala, imeem and Anywhere.fm in the sense that it allows you to upload your entire MP3 collection, stream it from anywhere over the Internet and share it with your friends. It's completely free and claims to be perfectly legal under Austrian law. I imagine if they were able to outsmart of the rippers from getting their hands on those files it would remain legal since it's a stream and not something anyone could actually burn and download and sell, right?

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We've seen no official word from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, but phonescoop has it that the Bluetooth 3.0 specification is just about ready for prime time. Reportedly, the spec will feature "dramatically increased speeds, allowing for the transfer of large video files, music collections and photo libraries wirelessly within seconds."

Bluetooth 3.0 will reportedly transfer files at rates of 480 megabits (60 Megabytes) per second in close proximity, and 100 megabits (12.5 Megabytes) per second at 10 meters. At those speeds, high-quality streaming video is a definite possibility, along with a host of other applications that are simply impractical with the current transfer rates.

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Will Wright, the lead designer behind the phenomenally successful Sims franchise, announced today that he has left EA Maxis to start a new project that isn't directly attached to game development.

The Spore designer will instead be heading up a new entertainment think-tank called Stupid Fun Club which, though it has the backing and support of Electronic Arts, does not seem to be directly linked to the publisher.

According to Wright the purpose of Stupid Fun Club will be to develop new ideas and IPs that can used across all forms of entertainment and interactive media. While one application is obviously the creation of new video games, the group will also look at movies, TV, books, comics, internet sites and physical toys.

"The entertainment industry is moving rapidly into an era of revolutionary change," Will said in an announcement. "Stupid Fun Club will explore new possibilities that are emerging from this sublime chaos and create new forms of entertainment on a variety of platforms. In my twelve years at EA, I've had the pleasure to work alongside some of the brightest and most talented game developers in the industry and I look forward to working with them again in the near future."

Needle in a Facebook Haystack; The Neeris and Cyber Security

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Facebook's photo storage system holds 850 million photos and costs a lot of dough. Niall Kennedy has a nice overview of what Facebook is doing to minimize its storage costs.

Facebook's system, dubbed Haystack, is custom-built but relies on content delivery networks and NetApp. Facebook is trying to minimize the custom stuff and use commodity hardware.

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Old worm, new tricks...

The Neeris worm, which dates from as far back as May 2005, making it a bit of geriatric, has been adapted to spread using the infamous MS08-067 vulnerability harnessed by Conficker. Earlier variants of the Neeris worm exploited a much older flaw (MS06-040) in the same Windows component hit by the Conficker exploit, so the update to the older malware probably involved more of a tweak than a complete rewrite.

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With President Obama's 60-day comprehensive review of US cyber security still underway, Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snow (D-ME) on Wednesday introduced sweeping legislation that would establish a cyber security "czar" within the White House and bring both governmental and private sector "critical infrastructure" under a unified regulatory regime.

In case a lone cyber security advisor doesn't seem like enough, that legislation provides for the creation of cyber security advisory panel to be staffed by stakeholders from the governmental, private, academic, and nonprofit sectors.

The bill establishes a dizzying array of programs, administered by a variety of agencies, over the course of its 51 pages. Perhaps most significantly, the bill tasks the National Institute of Standards and Technology with developing a set of security standards and vulnerability tests that will apply to any information networks or software used by federal agencies and contractors-but also by any private entity designated as "critical infrastructure" by the President. The President is also empowered to order the disconnection of any federal or private critical infrastructure network, either during a "cyber security emergency" or for reasons of national security more broadly.

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Windows only: Looking for a different kind of, and can be customized to fit any theme.

Unlike other popular Windows alternatives to the taskbar, like the previously mentioned (and popular) RocketDock or ObjectDock, SliderDock offers a kind of pop-on, jump-out functionality. That is, if you only want to use SliderDock for a certain subset of apps or file locations, you can hide it with a custom keyboard shortcut.

Dashboard Computer; Microsoft's PlayReady; New Sanyo Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:01:00 +0000

Can the Web save the Big 3 automobile companies? Probably not, but making Web-friendly vehicles could help to sell a few more cars. Tech companies have increasingly been showcasing web applications for automobiles. Microsoft was working with Hyundai on making an in-car computing system and OnStar may be incorporating Twitter into its vehicle systems. Now Ford will be allowing owners of the Ford F-150, Super Duty, E-Series and Transit Connect trucks and vans to access the web from their vehicles through the Opera mobile browser. Opera will be the featured browser on Ford's first broadband-capable, in-dash computer.

Ford is purposely installing these computers in trucks and vans to appeal to contractors, farmers, and construction workers to turn these cars into "mobile offices." Truck owners will be able to use the in-dash browser to access sales information, contact databases, job-site plans, inventory lists, calendars, e-mail, or even the weather.

But don't think about driving using your cell phone, that is far too dangerous...

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Taking steps to help expand the marketplace and improve the consumer experience for digital entertainment, Microsoft Corp. today announced that PacketVideo Corp. will include support for Microsoft PlayReady technology in its CORE multimedia platform, significantly broadening PlayReady's reach to a range of mobile device platforms. Microsoft also announced the availability of the PlayReady Service Provider Program, in addition to announcing a range of content and technology companies that join the more than 50 companies that have selected Microsoft PlayReady technology to power products and services to deliver mobile and in-home entertainment content. PlayReady is a content access technology that enables content owners and service providers to deliver virtually any type of digital content, using a wide range of business models, from on-demand streaming video and subscription to rental or download-to-own. PlayReady also provides significant improvements in ease of use for consumers looking to access, manage and sync protected content with devices.

More Microsoft news...

At CTIA 2009, Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, ran through essentially the same news that his boss, CEO Steve Ballmer, presented about six weeks ago during the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. The company demonstrated how Windows 7 has built-in software for connecting to 3G wireless networks, showed off some of the features of Windows Mobile 6.5, and played a quick video highlighting its mobile application store, Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

The demonstrations were all geared around Bach's central theme of the "three screens:" the PC, the television and the mobile phone. Microsoft intends to make sure Windows is able to give people access to their personal data, information, and services on all three of those screens.

But Bach promised that Windows Mobile phones will be the subject of Microsoft's next big advertising push, and said the company's partners will have 10 phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 ready when that operating system arrives in the second half of this year.

*~*~*

SANYO Fisher Company (SANYO), a subsidiary of SANYO North America Corporation, today announces that shipping has started for the new, 2009 Dual Camera Xacti lineup announced in January this year.

The all-HD Dual Camera lineup for 2009 offers a variety of unique features including 1080p, 60frames per second High Definition Video with 8 megapixel photos (VPC-FH1), standard (720p) High Definition Video, up to 2 megapixel photos and 30x optical zoom (VPC-TH1) on land, or even underwater - down to a depth of 10 feet for an hour (VPC-WH1), and standard (720p) High Definition Video and 10 megapixel photos (VPC-CG10).

As part of the launch for the new lineup, SANYO has also unveiled part of its marketing plan for the 2009 Dual Cameras part of which includes a push into online communities. One highlight of the plan features SANYO's Dual Camera line in a number of videos alongside a number of Web Stars - many of the hottest names in online video culture. Some of these stars earn a living making viral videos capable of generating audiences that often surpass that of some hit TV series. Web names such as Lisa Nova, iJustine, Rhett & Link, Mr. Safety, Audrey Kitching, Brandon Hardesty and Apprentice A are creating a variety of videos typical of their style, but with a theme relevant to the 2009 Dual Camera line.

*~*~*

Is gaming all about ego? Gosh I hope not!

"Most people are very narcissistic," said Electronic Arts' Wright, creator of the Sim City and Sims franchises and now last year's avant-garde Spore, onstage with Federated Media's John Battelle. "The more you can make the game about that person, the more interested, the more emotionally involved they will get."

Advancements in technology have made it possible for the customization craze of the social-networking world to permeate the console and PC gaming sectors, and that has begun to open up the industry to new users who didn't see the appeal in hardcore gaming or immersive role-playing virtual universes.

When it comes to the Wii, probably not.

"The Wii, to me, represents the idea of non-immersive gaming," he said. "When you think about the Wii...most of the entertainment is not happening on the screen, it's about watching your friend act like a doofus swinging the thing around and maybe throw it into the TV set."

Ribbit winners, PS2 price drop, new Intel chips, next iPhone news

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Intel updated its processor list with new Core 2 chips for Macbook Air-class laptops and a crush of Xeon processors for workstations and servers.

The number of new processor models is 20 in all.

Intel has introduced new power-sipping low-voltage (LV) and ultra-low-voltage (ULV) processor models for laptops such as the Apple MacBook Air and Dell Adamo.

The new LV and ULV processor models include the 17-watt SL9600 (2.13GHz, $316) and 10-watt SU9600 (1.6GHz, $289). More power-hungry Intel mainstream mobile processors are typically rated at 25 watts or 35 watts.

*~*~*

Two start-up companies are using new technology to resurrect old but crude strategies to combat hypertension, believing that they can achieve significant improvement in health without the side effects. The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies offered data at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology that indicated they were on to something big.

One of those companies, Ardian, developed an electrode that emits radio-frequency energy into the renal artery wall to kill nerves that play a role in hypertension, according to the Journal. And data from a 50-patient study indicated a significant improvement in average blood pressure rates. Minneapolis-based CVRx, meanwhile, created a device that is implanted and then emits electronic impulses that signal very high blood pressure, tricking the body to protect itself with all its natural abilities.

Both developers are now planning to mount larger studies to test the technologies.

*~*~*

Looking to scoop up a PlayStation 2? Starting tomorrow, April 1, Sony will cut the price of its gaming console to $100, down 25 percent from its current price of $130. Today's announcement is the third price cut for the PS2 since Sony's first discount in 2002.

Rumors had swirled in recent days that Sony was set to make a major PlayStation 3 announcement today. But that does not seem to be the truth and news updates are stating they have no ideas on lowering the PS3 price in the near future.

*~*~*

Ribbit, the VOIP platform that was bought by British Telecom last year, announced the winners of its $100,000 KillerApps challenge today. The contest was obviously meant to stimulate interest in Ribbit's APIs among developers, and judging from the line-up of winning applications, a lot of developers came up with highly creative ways of using Ribbit's platform in their apps.

Here are the winners of the five categories in Ribbit's KillerApps challenge:

Media, Advertising, Entertainment: Lucid Viewer

ribbit_lucid_small.pngLucitd Viewer is an authoring tool that allows developers to create interesting, immersive experiences. This demo here, for example, shows a 3D, Google StreetView-like view of a street in Rome, with the ability to call up stores directly from the Flash interface through Ribbit's service. Lucid Viewer also won the Grand Price in Ribbit's KillerApps contest.

Business: Sugared Frog

Similar to Ribbit's own integration with Salesforce, Sugared Frog integrates Ribbit with SugarCRM. With the help of Sugared Frog, users of SugarCRM's open source solution can use Sugared Frog to organize their voicemail, and dictate notes and memos right from their mobile phones.

Social Networking and Communication: Save A Life

Save a Life is an interesting Adobe AIR application that allows you to quickly reach a group of friends or community members by phone. Currently, the application focuses on blood donations (you can download the application here), though the program could be used for other donation campaigns or emergency services as well.

Breakthrough: CYHAA

CYHAA won Ribbit's free-form 'breakthrough' category. CYHAA, which stands for Control Your Home, Anytime, Anywhere allows users to control their smart home devices with their voice right from their phones.

*~*~*

Dell today introduced five new blade, rack and tower PowerEdge servers based on the new Intel Xeon 5500 Series processors. Dell designed its 11th generation of servers with input from IT professionals worldwide to help companies do more with less by simplifying data center operations, improving performance and energy efficiency, and lowering total cost of ownership.

The new Dell PowerEdge servers are available today starting at $1,599.

*~*~*

Apple is expected to begin production on a low-end 3G iPhone and a high-end version with 32GB of NAND flash memory beginning this spring, according to a research report released Tuesday by an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets.

Production is anticipated to begin in April, ramp up in May and the new phones could be announced in June, Daniel Amir, a Lazard Capital Markets analyst, said in his report.

Intel's new GPU, Youth Bloggers, Free Blackberry, WiMax

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:53:00 +0000

For our young bloggers out there...

The Youth Bloggers Network is officially joining the Teens in Tech network. They have been communicating with CEO Daniel Brusilovsky of Teens in Tech over the past month or so, discussing the best course of actions for both of their endeavors to take. They decided that by joining forces, their projects could help each other vastly. They figured that YBN and TinT complement each other very nicely. TinT offers a place where teens can get set up with a free blog, while YBN offers a community for young bloggers to collaborate, communicate, and grow their blogs and projects.

*~*~*

What is WiMax?

WiMAX, is the cutting-edge network technology is the successor to Wi-Fi and is presently only open through Sprint to residents of Baltimore. However, that strictly limited availability should expand notably during 2009 and 2010 as communications giant Sprint extends its WiMAX reach to a number of major cities across the country.

"Sprint continues to lead the wireless industry by harnessing the power of WiMAX," enthused Spring 4G vice president Todd Rowley in an official statement.

"The availability of Sprint 4G in more places this year and our aggressive expansion of Sprint 4G service demonstrates our commitment to provide 4G capabilities and devices nationwide for our business, consumer and government customers," he added. "These capabilities enable significantly enhanced performance and productivity for our customers."

Specifically, 2009 will see the technology rolled out in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle, while 2010 will introduce Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington D. C. into the 4G mix.

*~*~*

Looking for a BlackBerry Bold but don't want to pay the full price for one? Well, if you're willing to accept a refurbished unit, then AT&T certainly has a deal for you. The carrier is currently offering refurbished BlackBerry Bolds for free, as long as you're willing to commit yourself to a new 2-year contract. Considering that the price of a normal refurbished BlackBerry Bold is $199.99, it's quite a good deal. It seems that this promotion is only valid for a very limited time, so check it out as soon as you can.

*~*~*

Intel engineers are detailing the inner-workings of the company's first graphics chip in over a decade at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco--sending a signal to the game industry that the world's largest chipmaker intends to be a player.

During a conference call that served as a preview to the GDC sessions, Tom Forsyth, a software and hardware architect at Intel working on the Larrabee graphics chip project, discussed the design of Larrabee, a chip aimed squarely at Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit.

This is "Intel's first many-core architecture," Forsyth said. "The first product will be very much like a GPU. It will look like a GPU. You will plug it into a machine and it will display graphics," he said.

The centerpiece of the chip's core is the vector unit, used to process many operations simultaneously. "The interesting part of the programming model is the SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) vector unit and the instructions that go with it," he said. "We want to show off this big new vector unit and the instruction set," he added.

He described what the vector unit can do and how it works with the scalar unit. "(The vector unit) can do 16 floating point operations every single clock. That's a lot of horsepower. Even in just one of these cores--and we have a lot of these cores. So it's a very high-throughput unit. The good thing is that it's independent of the scalar unit. You can issue instructions on the scalar unit and vector unit at the same time. The scalar unit is extremely useful for calculating addresses, doing flow control, doing housekeeping--and keeps all those miscellaneous tasks off the real powerhouse, which is the vector unit."

*~*~*

It looks like Blizzard is stirring the pot again for some juicy developments behind the scenes. As some of us probably know, they're currently working on (or at least maybe still in the planning stages) five games. They are, in no particular order:

* StarCraft II
* Diablo III
* a new World of Warcraft expansion
* a next-gen MMO
* and a yet to be revealed game

This last item was first hinted in a statement from Blizzard's COO, Paul Sams, back in 2006. At that time he said, "I wouldn't be surprised to see a new franchise from us at some time in the future; there's certainly a desire to do so."

Now it seems that we're getting some developments on that new game that they've yet to be revealed. Two new job postings from Blizzard indicate that they're looking for software engineers (one for gameplay, another for client) to work on "an unannounced title."

rumor has it they are talking with Microsoft about being part of the next-gen Xbox 360, which they want to be more RTS-friendly.

Facebook's virtual money, Camera record 1080p video

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:46:00 +0000

The rumors were true. Canon has crammed the $1500 50D's sensor and 5D-Mark-II-like 1080p video capture into an $899 entry-level Rebel. We ran it through its paces for a few hours, and it's awesome.

So what we have here is almost the exact sensor from the 50D-a 15.1 megapixel CMOS with sensitivities up to ISO 12,800 at its top-end H2 boost setting. And almost the exact same HD capture from the 5D Mark II-the only change is that 1080p video is captured at 20fps, down from the 5D Mark II's 30fps.

*~*~*

On Tuesday night, a Los Angeles Times blog post pointed to an soundbite that Facebook "gaming guru" Gareth Davis produced at the GamesBeat conference in San Francisco: that the company is "looking at" offering a virtual currency to developers. The virtual goods industry, the article notes, is a $1.5 billion behemoth.

This would mean that games and other apps with a presence on Facebook could use a universal "Facebook currency" that would not only be interoperable between apps, it could also line Facebook's pockets with some extra cash. But Davis' language ("looking at") is about as ambiguous as it gets, so my advice to potentially-excited developers would be "don't hold your breath."

Late last year, Facebook switched the payment system for Facebook Gifts from U.S. dollars to "credits," making it easier for the site to charge more or less than its previous standard $1 for the virtual items.

*~*~*

If you're planning on any outdoor parties, like camping out or just hanging around a bonfire, it's always nice to bring some music with you. This BoomCooler is easy to wheel around no matter where you go, although you might want to keep a tarp or something around to protect it just in case it rains. It has a built-in CD player or you can hook up your iPod to the cooler. They actually recommend for better sound using something plugged into the aux input or USB input as opposed to using the CD player.

*~*~*

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's GDC keynote today has revealed that the Wii will not be on the receiving end of a new hard drive, but will instead support the SDHC memory card format. Owners of the Wii will be able to do so using the Wii Menu 4.0 by downloading content straight onto the SDHC card from the Wii Shop Channel, where up to 240 SD channels are supported. With the SDHC standard to hit 32GB in the near future anyways, it makes perfect sense to use this relatively diminutive card instead of a portable hard drive.

And a new Zelda in the works?

Nintendo's CEO Satoru Iwata took the keynote stage at GDC this morning to encourage the developer community, talk about the DSi handheld and unveil some new titles for the Wii and DS platforms including a new Zelda game called Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (working title).

BillShrink, PC Gaming Rules; and OnLive

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:44:00 +0000

Personal savings site BillShrink has a new feature: a gasoline pricing database that directs you to gas stations based on the route you take on your daily commute, not just how close you are to the stations.

The Web app isn't just for finding prices. It actually helps you plan your refueling stops along the way. You start by telling it about your car and its mileage, and your home and work addresses. You get back a results page that shows you a Google Map of all the gas stations along your route. You can zoom in and out to expand or limit the search area.

Beneath the map is a listing of all the gas stations BillShrink was able to find, followed by their location, price, and amenities.

*~*~*

The PC Gaming Alliance has issued its state of the industry report for 2008 and it makes for interesting reading for those who think gaming is all about consoles like Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

Here are the highlights:

The PC is the largest single platform for games with annual worldwide revenue of about $11 billion. This is more than any of the console and portable systems from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

In emerging markets such as Asia and Eastern Europe the PC has become the de facto platform of choice for games as console systems have not had major penetration in most countries.

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are the leading products for both revenue and profits. Several Asian MMOGs are generating over $100 million in annual revenue after 5+ years on the market. World of Warcraft is generating over $1 billion in annual revenue.

In 2008, two major new subscription MMOGs (Warhammer Online and Age of Conan) sold over 1 million units at retail.

*~*~*

Epson America has just released its new document camera known as the Epson DC-06 which is able to deliver flexibility, ease-of-use and affordability to today's K-12 classroom. This $399 device comes with an easy USB connection which enables educators and teachers alike to hook up to one of the new feature-rich Epson PowerLite 85, 825 and 826W projectors or alternatively, to a computer using included software for easy operation. The Epson DC-06 document camera will come with XGA resolution that allows you to show off detailed reproductions within a 10.7"x 14.3" capture area, making it a snap for educators to share information from text books, journals, models, and even 3D objects to keep students riveted.

*~*~*

A few years back, a company called Infinium Labs introduced a new game console, The Phantom. It was going to change the face of PC and video gaming by offering a downloadable catalog of titles available by subscription. It was an aptly named product: The Phantom never shipped.

Yesterday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, a similar sounding service was announced: OnLive. The major differences between The Phantom and OnLive seem to be that first, OnLive doesn't deliver games to your house, it delivers output (more on that in a minute) and second, OnLine doesn't appear to be vaporware.

Game publishers could also frequently update their games on OnLive by changing the code running on the servers. If one part of a game is too hard, the publishers can simply patch that part and then everyone will play the new version the next time they log in. Publishers can also pull the plug on games that aren’t selling well without taking a big inventory hit.

You'd have no control over these changes, since the game doesn't exist in your house. So if you liked that challenging part of the game, you'd lose it (rather than opting not to patch, as you would now).

*~*~*

And here is a link to The Ultimate Guide for Everything You Need to Know About Twitter >>

One of the guidelines is as follows:

Twitter will allow you to import e-mail lists, contacts from instant messaging services, and you can find your friends on their search engine. The best way to build a list of interesting people is to go to the Twitter search engine at search.twitter.com and plug in your interests. This will then spit tons of people back out at you that you can choose to follow. Twitter will also give you some suggestions for people to follow.

Facebook, Song.ly and Middlespot News

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:38:00 +0000

It's true, I have a Facebook profile much like everyone else online these days. I like it. I like the different things you can send to people and it's nice to be able to see what everyone is up to. I don't like the cheesy apps where people send me tupperware, but what can you do. I also hope they don't allow people to start modifying the look of their pages like on MySpace. I hated that! I know people like to be unique, but Facebook is a profile about you, how much more unique do you need to be?

Anyway. PC World has an article up today titled, "10 Facebook tips worth reading".

One of the tips is about the gmail add-on. It shows everyone you email who also has a Facebook account. I admit I do know about that and I do have it plugged into my e-mail account. It has helped me to see which publicists and artists also have Facebook profiles and in some cases I do add them as a friend. That way they can see if I have written about them and I can keep up with their news.

*~*~*

A company profile that was just submitted: Middlespot, another startup taking a crack at making the web search experience more visual, joining the likes of SearchMe and Viewzi.

Like its counterparts, Middlespot aims to enhance searching for websites, images, news, Amazon and even Twitter by returning screenshots of results rather than just text links.

Their mission... "We believe searching is an iterative activity of evaluation and interpretation that doesn't end with the presentation of a linear list of text only results. It's why we're building the tools to make the activity of search more effective."

*~*~*

Song.ly

Share & Discover Music on Twitter!

Type in a song title or mp3 link to tweet. Your followers will get a short link to a page allowing them to play the song right in the browser without having to download it first!

They have a button widget you can add to you blog posts which will allow people to tweet an mp3 if you have one embedded. But as far as I can tell it takes some manual work for the blogger in each post because you have to add the mp3 url to the button. Optional fields include the artist and title which of course would be quite helpful to a listener so I know I'd add them even though they are only optional. So I don't know, maybe I'll try added the tweet song.ly button to some posts in the future, but I doubt I'll add them every time.

*~*~*

In the same week that Samsung Mobile launched its own online movie and television entertainment service to challenge the likes of iTunes, Netflix and Xbox Live, Apple Inc. has moved to up the ante by announcing the wider availability of high-definition (HD) films through its popular iTunes Store.

Offered up for either full purchase or rental, Apple's new selection of 720p content will continue to grow alongside future studio releases and already includes relatively new movies such as comic book adaptations Punisher: War Zone and The Spirit along with action titles Transporter 3 and Bangkok Dangerous.

Prices for high-definition movies available through iTunes – on both PCs and Mac systems – are positioned at $19.99 USD for a full purchase, while high-definition rentals cost markedly less at $4.99 USD and older HD titles are priced at $3.99 USD.

But as I have been complaining about in the past. There is not easy way to put the movies you buy on iTunes onto a DVD to watch at home. You can only ever watch them on a computer. Yes, you could hook your computer up to your TV but that is annoying. I'd rather buy the DVD and be able to watch it wherever I want.

GM still government dependent; Time Inc. Wants Online to Pay

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:42:00 +0000

IBM developerWorks offers free e-Kits. E-Kits give you a collection of tutorials, articles, webcasts, podcasts, and demos about a particular product, task, or role.

They have a Web 2.0 e-kit which states, "Organizations want to take advantage of open, flexible Web 2.0 technologies. They want to use social software and mash-ups to add a new dimension of imagination and innovation. IBM's Web 2.0 solutions are already helping businesses apply Web 2.0 technologies across the globe to gain a competitive advantage."

Other e-kits include: IBM Rational Build Forge Demos, Software Developer e-Kit and IBM Business Analyst e-Kit to name a few. Definitely worth checking out for some good resources.

*~*~*

Remember the restaurant I wrote about which had touchscreen tables to order your food and also to play games while you wait?

Microsoft has a touchscreen coffee table concept which is very cool. Microsoft Surface is without a doubt one of the coolest coffee tables I've ever seen. But of course, this isn't your average coffee table, this is a multimedia hub that'll allow you to browse all kinds of multimedia through an incredibly responsive Natural User Interface.

Microsoft is only really looking at commercial sales just now with half an eye on integrating one of these things into a kitchen table or worksurface in a few year's time.

*~*~*

Time Warner's Time Inc. (TWX) invited the press to its midtown headquarters yesterday to show off the latest and greatest at the publishing group's digital portfolio. But while Time is happy to boast about its online audience, it is also acknowledging that Web advertising alone may not be enough these days. So it's going to start charging readers.

PaidContent's Staci Kramer got a Time Inc. official to provide an equally vague take: "There is nothing specific to point to now but you can expect some experiments within six to eight months. We're also looking closely at devices and applications and pricing and business models associated with those."

The upshot: You're going to see more and more publishers at least fiddle with the notion of getting readers to pay for something online. The New York Times (NYT), for instance, has been publicly musing about this for some time now.

*~*~*

The first generation of Chevy Volt extended-range electric cars, at the center of General Motors' financial viability plan, has yet to hit showrooms. But that (along with its financial troubles) hasn't kept GM from working on generations two and three, the company said in a call with reporters this morning. GM said that in fact the parallel projects were a sign of the automaker's long-term commitment to electric vehicles for the mass market.

To be sure, gen-one Volts will be on the expensive side for an average car buyer - in the neighborhood of $40,000, according to former Volt frontman Bob Lutz, or about twice the cost anticipated for the new Honda Insight hybrid. This makes government incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles especially important in GM's plan for the Volt. "First-generation technology is expensive," said Bob Kruse, GM's executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries. "Incentives help make it viable."

In short, GM is still counting on the government far too much. And $40,000 is definitely too expensive for the average car buyer. Especially considering the cost of maintenance on these gen-one Volts.

Uh oh Amazon; Startup 2009 Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:48:00 +0000

The parent company of the Discovery Channel (Discovery Communications) has filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com, claiming that the Internet retailer's Kindle e-book reader infringes Discovery's U.S. patent 7,298,851, titled "Electronic book security and copyright protection system".

It was filed in 1999 as a "continuation in part" from patent applications dating back to 1992. Among the prior-art disclosures listed are 52 U.S. patents or applications, 34 foreign patents or applications, and 15 nonpatent publications. It has 171 claims, three of which are independent. Those are all signs of a strong patent.

*~*~*

The Startup 2009 conference, which will take place in New York in June. The conference is co-hosted by Silicon Alley Insider, New York University's Stern School of Business, General Catalyst, SoftBank, and Venrock. Startup 2009 will showcase 10 top startups competing for bragging rights, buzz, and a $50,000 prize.

Startup 2009 will be a one-day conference featuring interviews with entrepreneurs, expert panels, networking, and a 10-company startup contest. Committed speakers include:

* Jason Calacanis, Founder/CEO Mahalo, founder Weblogs, former EIR at Sequoia.
* George Bell, partner General Catalyst; former CEO Excite, Excite@Home, and Upromise; board member Big Fish Games; Going; HubSpot; PhotoShelter; ShortTail Media and WonderHowTo.
* David Pakman, partner Venrock, former CEO eMusic.
* Kevin Ryan, CEO Alleycorp; former CEO Doubleclick; founder Gilt Groupe, Silicon Alley Insider, Shopwiki, Panther, 10gen.

*~*~*

Media regulator Ofcom will take over the regulation of video on demand services, but will delegate it to an industry-formulated co-regulator, the Government has said.

The Government has published details of how it will ensure that the UK complies with the European Union's Audio-Visual Media Services (AVMS) Directive, which extends regulation to television-like programmes regardless of the medium used to show them.

*~*~*

New iPhone uses

A host of companies took the stage at Apple headquarters in Cupertino on Tuesday to explain what their new applications can do on the much-vaunted personal communications device.

NBC Bay Area tech reporter Scott Budman tweeted all the updates as they occured.

Developers will gain access to thousands of new application "API's" because of the updates. The API's will allow developers to create and change the applications they want, Budman reported.

Designers unveiled new audio file and texting features for the iPhone. There is also a new voice memo feature built into the phone's home screen, as well as a more synchable calendar, Budman reported.

More information is available here >>

Yahoo redesign; The9 Sinking; And Syfy

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:58:00 +0000

The company that operates World of Warcraft in China, The9, has told the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) that it will go bankrupt unless the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is approved by the regulator.

Reports last week claimed that The9 was having trouble getting the game past the regulators. A substantial sum was paid the the game's developers, Blizzard Entertainment, in April last year to secure the license, and without the sale of the expansion The9 will not be able to recover the cost. An article on JLM Pacific Epoch reports GAPP has said that the issue lies with the game's unhealthy content, which was the same problem faced by WoW's first expansion, The Burning Crusade. This resulted in a delay while the game had to be redesigned to remove some of the scarier aspects, namely covering exposed bones on skeletons and replacing corpses with graves.

*~*~*

There has been something of an outpouring of bile directed at NBC for its decision to change the name of the Sci-Fi channel to Syfy.

"Syf" is the Polish word for "total bloody mess." (It seems to have its roots in the lesions of syphilis.) And "Syfy" would be, well, the plural.

The Sci-Fi channel doesn't actually present all that much programming that might strictly be defined as science fiction.

However, I suspect that somewhere beyond the arguments for wanting a name the channel can trademark is an argument that the phrase "science fiction" has become a little old.

*~*~*

With DS sales continuing their astronomical climb and people still snagging Wii consoles off of shelves faster than you can say: "Your princess is in another castle," Nintendo's doing pretty well for itself in these difficult economic times. It's doing even better today on news that the lawsuit filed against it two years ago by Fenner Investments has been dismissed. The suit alleged that Nintendo inappropriately infringed on a 1998 patent relating to the monitoring of the position of analog joysticks in the Wii and GameCube.

*~*~*

After getting an earful from disgruntled testers of its revamped home page, Yahoo is working on a new incarnation that will dramatically speed up access to e-mail.

The new home page, code-named Metro and due to launch later this year, will let users customize what they see and install a range of applications. But upon beginning "bucket testing" last September, in which different subsets of Yahoo users are involuntarily presented with variations of the new home page, Yahoo found out it was making it too difficult for people to continue with their accustomed practice of dropping by the page to scan for changes, said Burke Calligan, senior director product management for Yahoo front doors, in an interview at Yahoo headquarters here.

In particular, people were incensed that it took too many mouse clicks to glance at their e-mail inbox. But changes are coming to fix that, Calligan said.

"We have moderately addressed it in this round and we're going to radically address it in upcoming testing," Calligan said. "We've rethought the flow and design based on feedback we've gotten from users. I think users will...feel much better about it."

Moontoast

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Moontoast is building a global community of experts and enabling them to share their knowledge live, at a scheduled time, via moontoast.com's unique face-to-face video player. Out to disrupt the web and the world by democratizing knowledge and linking those who know with those who want to know, moontoast.com launches as a beta site and is currently enlisting early adopters.

The Moontoast technology combines:

-- The Moontoast Session Player: A live video interface designed to
enable people to share their knowledge from anywhere in the world with
a Web browser and a Webcam. The Session Player supports multiple
cameras and microphones, as well as real time file transfer between
people while they are talking live.

-- The Moontoast Calendar: A Rich Internet Application which allows
Moontoast experts to present their availability to the world. Those
seeking knowledge can view a provider's calendar, and choose a
convenient time to request a Moontoast session.

-- The Moontoast Message Center: An email like system that facilitates
all communication and purchases between experts and buyers.

"The idea is both simple and huge. We are working to harness technology to simply connect people and allow them to share their unique brand of knowledge," said Moontoast Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Marcus Whitney.

"We start today. We want to attract experts of every kind, from a former CEO to a video game wizard. We need everybody, because together we know everything," added Moontoast Chief Content Officer, Michael Haje.