Feed aggregator
Comparing Microsoft and Apple Websites' Usability
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 15:46
An anonymous reader writes 'In the article entitled Apple vs. Microsoft — A Website Usability Study, Dmitry Fadeyev, co-founder of Pixelshell, compares Apple's and Microsoft's web sites from a usability perspective, and Apple is the winner. Scott Barnes, PM at Microsoft, agrees with him and suggests the problem is because various site sub-domains have different management.'
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Cryptographic Tools To Keep You Hidden On Facebook
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 15:00
Al writes "Many people reveal way too much personal information on social networking sites--something that can easily lead to identity theft or unwanted attention from employers etc. Technology Review has a story about several tools cryptographic tools that can be used to hide your activity on Facebook, from both untrusted users and from Facebook itself. Urs Hengartner, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo, developed a Firefox plugin that obfuscates anything marked with '@@' on Facebook and only reveals the correct information to trusted users who have the right keys. The sensitive data itself is even stored on an outside server so that even Facebook cannot access it. The piece mentions two other projects, NOYB and flybynight, that also aim to make personal information more secure on Facebook."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Swine Flu Outbreak At PAX
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 14:09
whisper_jeff writes "There's been a confirmed outbreak of Swine Flu at PAX. Those who attended and are feeling under-the-weather after the con should not write it off as a typical convention cold and go see a doctor to make sure, just in case." The linked post also lists the airplane flights of the cases known so far, so if you flew from Seattle on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday for any reason, you might want to compare your itinerary.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple Announces iTunes 9, "LPs," Video Camera For the iPod Nano
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 13:20
Apple just finished their latest press event, and they revealed a number of new services and features for their products. They kicked things off by saying that iPhone OS 3.1 is now available. It will add the Genius recommendation technology to the App store, giving users suggestions on which apps they might find useful based on what others with similar needs use. They're also adding 30,000 ringtones that users can purchase. Next, they announced iTunes 9, which will use Genius to make mixes by analyzing songs in your library to see which go well together. iTunes is also seeing UI improvements for things like app management, and syncing utilities. You'll be able to easily transfer apps, music, and videos from one of your local devices to another, and there is integrated support for Twitter and Facebook if you want to send music as a gift. Another big new feature: iTunes LPs. These LPs will be a digital album with cover art, lyrics, videos, and other customized content created by the artists themselves. Moving on, they showed off a few new games: an Assassin's Creed sequel, an FPS called Nova that had impressive graphics and multiplayer capability, Riddim Ribbon, a futuristic driving/music game that lets you remix your songs by how you navigate the course, and Madden NFL 2010. Next, Apple announced a price cut for the 8GB iPod Touch and a doubling of available storage for the other models. It's also getting OpenGL 2.0. The iPod Classic is getting a storage upgrade from 120GB to 160GB. In addition, there are headphones that have a controller for the Shuffle. Finally, Jobs got down to his "one more thing": Apple will now be building a video camera into the back of every iPod Nano. Apparently it will be a simple matter to sync videos to your computer or put them up on YouTube, and they're building in an FM radio as well. A detailed liveblog of the event with a ton of screenshots is available at Engadget.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Microsoft Aims To Cure Server-Hugging Engineers
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 12:37
1sockchuck writes "Microsoft wants the engineers in its labs to manage their servers remotely, and is moving development servers from a bevy of computer rooms in labs to a new green data center about 8 miles from its Redmond campus. "I see today as a real transition point in our culture," said Rob Bernard, chief environmental strategist at Microsoft, who acknowledged that the change will be an adjustment for veteran developers but will save money and energy use. Microsoft expects its customers will run their apps remotely in data centers, and clearly expects the same of its employees."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Terrorists Convicted With Help of NSA E-mail Intercepts
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:50
A Schneier blog post notes that three would-be bombers were recently convicted in the UK thanks in large part to e-mail communication that was intercepted by the US National Security Agency. This was the second time the men had faced criminal charges; in the first trial, the prosecution was unable to make part of their case because they didn't yet have the e-mail evidence. "Although British prosecutors were eager to use the e-mails in their second trial against the three plotters, British courts prohibit the use of evidence obtained through interception. So last January, a US court issued warrants directly to Yahoo to hand over the same correspondence." The BBC posted a number of e-mails used as evidence in the trial. The communication is coded, and some of it looks like what you might find in your spam folder, but the article also provides the prosecution's explanation of what they mean.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Sega Dreamcast Turns 10
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 11:06
traycerb writes "It's been 10 years since 9/9/1999, when the Dreamcast launched on American shores. The hardware was ahead of its time; online capability, web browser, a visual memory unit, and a controller that anticipated the much-loved Xbox 360 controller. The games were amazing: Jet Set Radio (the first popular 3d cell-shaded game on a console), Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (still the apotheosis of 2-d fighting; just try finding a copy on ebay), Soul Calibur (still looks good compared to the recent Xbox/PS3 versions), NFL 2K (came out of nowhere, and was so good that it shook EA into spending tens of millions of dollars to seal up exclusivity for NFL rights), and many others. No doubt some of the reasons for the Dreamcast's demise lay with Sega, whose dubious hardware decisions (ahem, 32x) finally caught up to them, in the form of ambivalence from both developers and gamers, just as the console-making world was shifting to the multinationals with big pockets who were willing to spend it on pricey hardware design (or could absorb the cost of faulty hardware design). It was also one of the first consoles widely used for homebrew. In honor of the 10th anniversary, a new game is being released for the Dreamcast, called Rush Rush Rally Racing. The Dreamcast is dead! Long live the Dreamcast!"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
How Wired's Hiding Writer Was Found
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 10:19
newscloud writes "A twitter-savvy, gluten-free pizza shop nabbed missing Wired magazine writer Evan Ratliff in New Orleans early on Tuesday to win the $5,000 Vanish contest. Ratliff was ensnared in part by repeated non-TOR visits to our Facebook application, launched to support the contest's tracker community, and his secret travel journal on Twitter. 'The Vanish Team application became part of the game — essentially a trap for Evan — one he stumbled into each day knowingly and willingly. This is something that we would never do with our Facebook technology if Evan hadn't asked us to pursue him - but it's a useful reminder of "relative" anonymity on the Web.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Coming Problems For Rolling Out 3D TV
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 09:35
holy_calamity writes "Now that Sony has announced it will sell 3D-capable televisions in 2010, people are thinking more seriously about the rocky road leading to mainstream 3D TV adoption. New Scientist says that not only do program makers lack the technology to make shows in 3D, but that little is known about the creative problems posed by shooting shows that make use of a whole new dimension, and what works for audiences. Engadget's own pundit focuses on the more predictable problems of format wars between competing 3D display technologies. Suddenly 2010 seems a little too soon."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tolkien Trust Okays <em>Hobbit</em> Movie
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 08:50
saudadelinux writes "Last year, the Tolkien Trust, which administers JRR's estate, bellowed stentoriously, 'Youuuu shall not make The Hobbit!' and sued New Line Cinema for 'a reported $220m (£133m) in compensation, based on breach of contract and fraud.' New Line, chastened, has settled for an undisclosed sum of money. The Trust has given its blessing to New Line for Guillermo del Toro to film The Hobbit and for New Line to make other films based on Tolkien's work. Much rejoicing!"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Why Motivation Is Key For Artificial Intelligence
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 08:03
Al writes "MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden has a column discussing the potential dangers of building super-intelligent machines without building in some sort of motivation or drive. Boyden warns that a very clever AI without a sense of purpose might very well 'realize the impermanence of everything, calculate that the sun will burn out in a few billion years, and decide to play video games for the remainder of its existence.' He also notes that the complexity and uncertainty of the universe could easily overwhelm the decision-making process of this intelligence — a problem that many humans also struggle with. Boyden will give a talk on the subject at the forthcoming Singularity Summit."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
China Considering Cuts In Rare-Earth Metal Exports
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 07:17
SillySnake sends in a report from the Telegraph on draft plans in China to restrict exports of rare earths. "Beijing is drawing up plans to prohibit or restrict exports of rare earth metals that are produced only in China and play a vital role in cutting edge technology, from hybrid cars and catalytic converters, to superconductors, and precision-guided weapons. A draft report by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has called for a total ban on foreign shipments of terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, thulium, and lutetium. Other metals such as neodymium, europium, cerium, and lanthanum will be restricted to a combined export quota of 35,000 tonnes a year, far below global needs."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
In the UK, T-Mobile and Orange To Merge
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 04:21
EthanV2 sends in BBC coverage of the merger plans of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK. "T-Mobile and Orange plan to merge their UK businesses, creating a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers. If completed, a deal between Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and Orange owner France Telecom would see a firm with sales of €9.4 B (£7.0 B, $13.4 B). It would be the UK's largest provider, overtaking Telefonica's O2, with about 37% of the mobile market. ... However, it is likely that competition authorities in the UK and EU will probe the deal."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Exoskeletons For Rent In Japan
Techie Stuff - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 01:29
destinyland writes "Cyberdyne has started renting their exoskeleton body suits in Japan. The mind-controlled wearable machine increases strength and endurance, and rents for $2,300 a month. (Sensors on the skin detect traces of nerve signals from the brain, synchronizing the power suit's movements with the user's own limbs.) New video shows the suits in use on the streets of Tokyo, and the concept may be catching on. DARPA now has a program called Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation 'to develop devices and machines that will increase the speed, strength and endurance of soldiers in combat environments.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Warner Bros. Creates DC Entertainment!
Movies - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 00:00
Warner Bros. has officially announced the restructuring of DC Comics into a new company: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI) has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros. DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has...
Exclusive Interview: Jennifer's Body Director Karyn Kusama
Movies - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 00:00
ShockTillYouDrop.com has posted an exclusive interview with Jennifer's Body director Karyn Kusama in which they talked about her horror-comedy, working with Fox (the actress), Fox (the studio) and more. You can check it out here ! Opening September 18th, the Diablo Cody-scripted film stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody and J.K. Simmons.
Exclusive Capitalism: A Love Story TV Spot
Movies - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 00:00
ComingSoon.net has your exclusive first look at a new TV spot for Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story , opening in theaters on October 2nd. You can watch the clip using the player below!
The Trailer for Reitman's Up in the Air !
Movies - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 00:00
/Film has premiered the trailer for writer/director Jason Reitman's Up in the Air , starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Tamala Jones and Chris Lowell. In the Thank You for Smoking and Juno helmer's new film, opening December 4th, Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years: reaching five million frequent flyer miles and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams. You can watch the trailer using the player below or in High Definition QuickTime here ! The first clip is also available online here .
ComingSoon.net's Toronto Film Festival Preview!
Movies - Wed, 09/09/2009 - 00:00
It's that time of year again, as the Toronto International Film Festival (also referred to as TIFF) is ready to kick-off ten days of non-stop movies and parties, taking over the theaters and clubs of arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the Northern Hemisphere. Founded in 1976, the annual festival has become one of three must-attend events for the film industry, mainly because it's one of the primary markets for new movies from all over the world to show up seeking distribution. Every year, the festival is the chosen place for many of the world's most prestigious filmmakers to debut their work, but it's also where studios will premiere their movies opening theatrically over the next couple months, hoping to build buzz at the festivals to help generate awards attention later...
Microsoft Letting Patents Move To Linux Firms
Techie Stuff - Tue, 09/08/2009 - 22:40
mnmlst notes a Wall Street Journal story (picked up at Total Telecom) on the move of some patents originally held by Microsoft to the Open Invention Network, where they will join a portfolio whose purpose is to inoculate open source companies against patent trolls. OIN is near a deal to buy 22 patents from another patent-protective group, Allied Security Trust, whose members include Verizon, Cisco, and HP. AST won the patents in a private auction Microsoft put on earlier. An AST executive says that "Microsoft presented the patents to potential bidders in its auction as relating to Linux." While OIN's acquisition of the patents will act to protect the Linux community, AST, by contrast, exists to protect only its corporate members, not the community as a whole. But by selling the patents to OIN, they are cooperating in the protection of Linux. And by allowing the patents to go to AST in the first place, Microsoft may (the article implies) be signaling at least their lack of active intent to disrupt the Linux marketplace.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Comics News
- Top Cow releases "The Darkness/Pitt" #1 for Free on Comics by comiXology app
- Guido Crepax Adapts The Classic "The Story Of O" This November
- Brave New World launches "Master Class: Writing for Comics" With Mark Waid
- Tim Gunn and Phil Jimenez At Midtown Comics In New York City
- “The Surrogates” Gets Digitized For iPhone By Top Shelf Productions and iVerse Media
