techclick

Need for Speed carbon

2006-09-07T02:48:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Black Box
Genre: RacingRelease
Date: November

Need for Speed Carbon, is no different.From what EA tells us (and we'll trust them as our rusty Ford Pintos are not exactly ready for competition), street racing has essentially divided into two distinct factions. Being that it's highly illegal, some street racers have shifted to sanctioned races, competitions set up legally on safe tracks. Some racers, however, have taken their sport outside city walls, continuing to defy the law but pushing the boundaries of what any sane person would consider safe even further than before.

This leads us to the newest and biggest mode in Need for Speed Carbon, Canyon Duels. Based on points rather than finishing the race first, Canyon Duels pit two cars against each other in two rounds, with one car chasing the other in the first, and then reversing it for the second. You'll always begin as the follow car in NFS Carbon, whereby you'll earn points for keeping up with your opponent. The closer you are, the quicker you'll earn points. For the second leg, your opponent will follow you and attempt to chip away at the points you've just earned. Finish in the positive and you'll take home a medal, but finish in the negative and you'll go home empty handed (and maybe on foot).The most interesting part about this is that it's possible to earn an instant victory (or loss, as the case may be). If the following car passes the lead car and manages to stay ahead for 10 seconds, the race is over. Likewise, if the lead car manages to pull way ahead of the following car, the latter of the two is going home. And last but certainly not least, if you happen to take a turn too late and break through the guardrail, the only thing you'll earn is a heaping pile of metal at the bottom of the canyon.This stressed the main aspect of Canyon Duels to us: speed versus danger. Though the track we were able to try didn't have any very sharp turns, it was almost never straight, meaning that we were always toying with sliding into the mountain or off the edge of the cliff. In and of itself, the course isn't difficult to navigate, but when you're trying to stay either out in front or just behind the other racer, you'll wind up pushing your car farther than you should more often than not. This was the coolest part about this race - managing speed against safety.

Speaking of managing, this brings us to Carbon's crew aspects. While you'll be racing one-on-one in Canyon Duels, those only make for about 25% of the races in Carbon, with the majority of the game taking place in its open-world environment. This is where the bulk of the story will take place and it's here that you'll build up your own crew. Details are a little scarce on exactly how you'll gain members, how you'll manage them and so forth, but we do know that you'll be able to choose who joins your racing team and each member will be able to increase their skills as the game progresses.Each member has two of six skills, one off the track and one on. For racing, a crew member will be classified as a Blocker, Scout or Drafter. During a race you'll be able to tell your teammate to perform their ability a few times per race (as to not overdo it) and help you get ahead. They're able to win races for you, but you're the main focus so they're present more for support and will drop back to help you out even if it means losing a few positions.

(via ign)

Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs

2006-09-07T02:21:00.000-07:00

Publisher : Microsoft Games
StudiosDeveloper: Ensemble Studios
Genre : Real-time StrategyRelease
Date : octomber

The third and last WarChief’s civilization was featured recently on the front page of IGN. The Aztecs are a dilemma for me. They are a strong economic civ, which I usually prefer, and they have maybe the coolest looking units and architecture in the game. But because they have foot soldiers only and no cavalry or artillery, I find them the most difficult to play. Playing the Aztecs well requires being able to first recognize quickly on screen the different types of Aztec units and what they do well, and then organize and employ them to take advantage of their strengths. It will be interesting to see how top players do with them after the game is published.

Warchiefs looks like it will breathe some new life into Age of Empires III by offering a different perspective. Players will no longer necessarily be battling to conquer the new world. With Native American tribes, they will have a chance to defend it. The Native American tribes look distinct enough from the European factions to stand out and offer some diverse gameplay while preserving feel of AOE3. Where they were pretty much backdrop NPC's in the original game, they are now living and playable. The developers, Ensemble Studios, seem to be on the right track with Warchiefs, and we're looking forward to seeing how the other Native American tribes fit in to the big picture.

ea, fps, battlefield 2142, trailer, games, youtube, DirectX, Windows XP, xbox, pc, ps2, ps3, wii, multiplayer, Gamers, Electronic Arts,Ubisoft, action, gadgets, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent, Microsoft Games, WarChief’s, IGN, Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, aoe3, architecture, unots, Aztecs , players, conquer

battlefield 2142

2006-09-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Digital Illusions CE
Genre: Online Shooter
Release Date: October

Background:
In the year 2142, the Earth is experiancing a new ice age. Thus the battle for land not yet covered by ice, a most belonged thing, starts. In this war, there are two sides: European Union and the Pan Asian Coalition. Both armies are highly equipped with the latest in war technology. Ranging from laser rifles all the way to walking mechs. And both armies are willing to fight for what little land is left. Now, the battle has been changed.

Features:
# Titan Mode: Wage epic-scale war to defeat your opponent's Titan, a massive flying warship, controlled by the team's commander. Players must destroy the Titan's shields, board the craft, fight to it's reactor core and detonate it from the inside - all while defending their own Titan.
# 64-Players Online (Internet connection required for online play.)
# Experience all-out war with Battlefield's legendary multiplayer for up to 64 players.
# Real-Time Persistence: To the victor goes the spoils! Equipment, medals and other rewards are awarded ingame and in real time. Choose an unlock and have access to it immediately next time you spawn. The game features five times more unlocks than Battlefield 2.
# Customisable Abilities: Gamers can expand their abilities and blend multiple player classes to match their play-style.
# Lethal Vehicles: Gamers control menacing Battle Walkers that stalk the land and futuristic gunships that patrol the skies. APC's and high-speed recon vehicles keep the action fast, furious and unpredictable.
# High-Tech Weaponry: EMP grenades, sentry guns, smart mines, cloaking devices, and more change the rules of the Battlefield forever.
# The world has changed: Fight for survival on the Battlefield of the 22nd century in brand new locations from Minsk to North Africa as the ice presses down from the North.

Min System Requirements:
Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights
1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater
512 MB of RAM or more
8x or faster CD/DVD drive
2.3 GB free hard drive space or more
DirectX 9.0c compatible
128Mb Video card or more

International release dates:
Europe: October 20, 06

Technorati Tags:
ea, fps, battlefield 2142, trailer, games, youtube, DirectX, Windows XP, xbox, pc, ps2, ps3, wii, multiplayer, Gamers, Electronic Arts
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

2006-09-06T03:32:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Genre: Action
Release Date: October 17

Veteran agent Sam Fisher is back. But he's never faced an enemy like this before. To stop a devastating terrorist attack, he must infiltrate a vicious terrorist group and destroy it from within. For the first time ever, experience the relentless tension and gut-wrenching dilemmas of life as a double agent.

As you infiltrate a terrorist organization in its American headquarters, you must carefully weigh the consequences of your actions. Kill too many criminals and you'll blow your cover. Hesitate too long and millions will die. Do whatever it takes to complete your mission, but get out alive.

Game Features:

Dual objectives to fulfill: NSA government agents and terrorists will each want you to accomplish opposing tasks at the same time.
Discover the tension of being a double agent: Use actual tactics employed by today's real-life double agents to sabotage the terrorists' plans.
Explore a branching storyline with multiple endings: Your choices have an impact on how the story and game play unfolds.
A world of international espionage: Missions from all over the world, from Asia to Africa to the heart of the US. Experience extreme situations: underwater or in a sandstorm, hiding behind the dust or smoke - and even skydiving.
New authentic gadgets: Master the latest weapons and gadgets used by NSA government agents in addition to black-market terrorist weapons.
PC extras: Two additional alternate single-player missions, nine all-new merged versus and co-op maps, and new underwater and sandstorm combat.

System Requirements:

CPU: P4 3.0Ghz or AMD equivalent
Ram: 1Go
Videocard: supporting shaders 3.0 (GeForce 6 and 7 series, ATI X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900 series)

The best antivirus software is........

2006-09-05T03:06:00.000-07:00

One thing I always hate to do is to find the best Antivirus program that will protect my computer. The two best paid versions that I have always heard about are Kaspersky and NOD32. For free software, I always look towards Avast or AVG. Of course, that is what I knew before but it looks like there may be some new people climbing the ladder.

Virus.gr tested quite a few different software companies to see how they would stack up against each other. How did the 147,000+ virus test pan out? Here are the results (the ones in bold are the ones I expected to do good):

1. Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303 - 99.62%
2. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.299 - 99.62%
3. F-Secure 2006 version 6.12.90 - 96.86%
4. BitDefender Professional version 9 - 96.63%
5. CyberScrub version 1.0 - 95.98%
6. eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 95.82%
7. BitDefender freeware version 8.0.202 - 95.57%
8. BullGuard version 6.1 - 95.57%
9. AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02 - 95.45%
10. Nod32 version 2.51.30 - 95.14%
11. AntiVir Classic version 7.01.01.02 - 94.26%
12. ViruScape 2006 version 1.02.0935.0137 - 93.87%
13. McAfee version 10.0.27 - 93.03%
14. McAfee Enterprise version 8.0.0 - 91.76%
15. F-Prot version 6.0.4.3 beta - 87.88%
16. Avast Professional version 4.7.871 - 87.46%
17. Avast freeware version 4.7.871 - 87.46%
18. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 - 86.03%
19. Norman version 5.90.23 - 85.65%
20. F-Prot version 3.16f - 85.14%
21. ArcaVir 2006 - 83.44%
22. Norton Professional 2006 - 83.18%
23. AVG Professional version 7.1.405 - 82.82%
24. AVG freeware version 7.1.405 - 82.82%
25. Panda 2007 version 2.00.01 - 82.23%
26. Virus Chaser version 5.0a - 81.47%
27. PC-Cillin 2006 version 14.10.1051 - 80.90%
28. VBA32 version 3.11.0 - 79.12%
29. ViRobot Expert version 4.0 - 76.22%
30. UNA version 1.83 - 75.44%

There’s the list and as you can see there are several towards the top that really shocked me. The one I am most happy about is the Active Virus Shield by AOL because it is offered to the public for free. Sure it branded as AOL but underneath it is all Kaspersky and this goes to show it.

I expected NOD32, Avast, and AVG to perform a little better than they did but NOD32 and AVG definitely fought back at the heuristic testing. Heuristic testing is extremely important because that is what gives an Antivirus the ability to catch a virus even it is not in the database. Here are the top 10 from that list:

1. Nod32 2.51.30 - 41503
2. Vba32 3.11.0 - 32911
3. VirIT 6.1.9 - 16469
4. AVG 7.1.405 Professional - 13624
5. AVG 7.1.405 freeware - 13624
6. Rising AV 18.41.30 - 12214
7. McAfee 10.0.27 - 10708
8. Ikarus 5.19 - 7191
9. F-Prot 6.0.4.3 beta - 6247
10. Ukrainian National Antivirus 1.83 - 5506

One thing is for sure and that is Norton needs some work for as much as it costs. So many people rely on Symantec’s software because that is what comes installed on most computers but it obviously won’t provide the protection that is needed.

I fix computers for people all of the time and when I find that their Antivirus subscriptions have expired I normally install Avast. After seeing these tests it definitely makes me ponder using Active Virus Shield by AOL because of the high ranking. Avast does have the Web Shield which stops malicious attacks through your Web browser and I really like that feature. I wonder what is more important, the overall ability to find a virus or being able to block Web attacks?

(via cybernet)
Technorati Tags:
Kaspersky version 6.0.0.303, Active Virus Shield by AOL version, F-Secure 2006 version, BitDefender Professional version, CyberScrub version 1.0, eScan version 8.0.671.1, BitDefender freeware version 8.0.2021, BullGuard version 6.1AntiVir Premium version 7.01.01.02, Nod32, AntiVir Classic version, ViruScape, McAfee, Avast, Norton, AVG, Panda 2007, Virus Chaser, PC-Cillin
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Fight Night Round 3

2006-09-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

This is a completely new experience that allows players to fight through the eyes of the boxer from the moment they enter the ring until someone gets KO'd. This is the closest a gamer will ever come to getting into the ring and trading blows with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya and the other greats. What makes it so powerful and exciting is that the experience changes as the boxer's health deteriorates. We've captured the sensation and feel of taking punches by implementing a number of different effects such as ear ringing, simulated loss of hearing, and restricted vision that mimics the effects of eye swelling and damage as well as flashes of bright light, color shifts and blur to give players that sense and feeling of getting punched.

In multiplayer mode, the players can take advantage of widescreen and HDTV technology to go head to head in first person split-screen battles. This is really cool because as you inflict damage on your opponent, you can see the damage happening in real time and if you peak over at your opponent's side of the screen you'll be able to see the effects of the damage on his vision.

(via ign)
Fight Night Round 3, boxer, game,ring, Muhammad Ali, damage, punched, multiplayer, HDTV

SanDisk V-Mate Memory Card Video Recorder

2006-09-04T03:05:00.000-07:00

Hot off the floors of IFA is the V-Mate memory card recorder from SanDisk. This device is really pretty simple and could be really practical for people who love getting their video fix on portable media players like the iPod, PSP, etc. The V-Mate connects to any analog video and audio output. It can then record video directly to a wide variety of portable media formats like SD, MMC, and all of the Sony varieties. It records the video at 640 x 480, therefore being perfect for any of the portable media players out there. The TV-based interface allows you to control and adjust all features of the V-Mate. This device will be available in October for $130 or so.

(via gizmodo)

iPod,Philips SA9200,Mp3 Player,Flash player

A new player for Ministry of Sound's fifteenth birthday

2006-09-04T03:03:00.000-07:00

Ministry of Sound has dropped a new player to celebrate the brand turning fifteen, and it turns out you'll have to plunk down £179.99 to show your love to the prolific party host. In return, you'll get the MP055C6, which features 6GB of "internal memory" (flash? hard drive? who knows.), a color screen and a docking station that matches the player's shiny "piano black" casing. Voice / insanely loud club music recording comes standard, along with ten tracks from the MoS's collection. Another notable (but not new) player that we spotted on MoS's site is the MP3 player-in-a-clip MP097 Clipstix. Coming in both 256MB and 512MB, pink and black varieties, this little player looks like a rebadge of Evergreen's player from late last year. As the Ministry would say -- if it were a real Ministry -- this concludes our MoS broadcast for the day.

[Via TechDigest]

new player,Ministry of Sound's,internal memory,piano black,voice,MP3 player,MoS broadcast,

Samsung SDC-MS61: Slim 6-megapixel

2006-09-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

Samsung unveiled this tiny camera at IFA. It is small as hell, looks pretty hot and includes a six-megapixel sensor.It has a 3-inch LCD screen, video recording—in widescreen (!!)—and even includes an MP3 recorder and player. Hopefully it will include some kind of image stabilization, small cameras like these are bitches to keep steady. Not much other information is known about this little diddy, but TechDigest is suggesting a winter release.

(via gizmodo)

Samsung,Slim 6-megapixel,SDC-MS61,MP3 recorder,playerTechDigest,video recording,LCD screen

Sony Launches 2 GPS Navigation

2006-09-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Sony has launched the NV-U81T and NV-U80 navigation units. Both of which comes loaded up with Sony's Position Plus—I'll show them a position plus...—technology for more accurate positioning and routing even when the signal is weak. The unit itself has a 4.3-inch touchscreen display with voice commands and Bluetooth for hands-free calling via a cellphone. The NV-U81T includes a 4GB hard drive for map and information storage while the NV-U80 comes with 512MB of memory. They should both be hitting the shelves this November and will likely cost an arm and a leg.

Commodore Gravel in Pocket Portable Media Player and Gravel in Home

2006-09-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Featuring the weirdest name for a PMP we've heard this week, the Commodore Gravel In Pocket supports MP4, MPEG, DivX, Xvid, WMV, MP3, WMA, WAV, JPG, BMP and GIF files. It has 1 or 2GB of internal flash memory, plus an expandable SD slot for removable memory. It plays at a respectable 24FPS (film quality) on its 2.8-inch TFT screen.

Then there's the Gravel in Home system, which has a 80GB hard disk, which has Video On Demand and Replay TV support, but to what extent we're not sure. There should be more information at IFA from September 1 to September 6 in Berlin.

(via gizmodo)

tags: commodore, gravel, portable, media+player

Creative Fatal1ty Keyborad Seems Preety

2006-09-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

Here is an shot of the Fatal1ty keyboard being manufactured by Creative with Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel's logo plastered all across it. Keyboard look familiar? It should, it is damn near identical to the Auravision EluminX that we first told you about almost four years ago! What's up Fatal1ty? No new ideas for a keyboard?

The keyboard has backlighting that can be turned on and off. The keyset is the Sunrex keyset, which is similar to the feel of a laptop keyboard and has a quick response time, shorter keystrokes, etc. I think the best feature of all about this keyboard is that there are no bells or whistles. It is a keyboard. Period. No fancy calculator buttons or media buttons. It's got the letters and that is really all you need in a keyboard. Expect to pay around $50 or $60 when this keyboard hits the shelves mid-September.

(via gizmodo)

tags: fatal1ty, creatioj, backlightning, sunrex+keyset

TraceNet 100 Mobile Stuffs Wifi And Tv In Your Car

2006-09-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the thing to make your computer a little bit more like KITT. The TracNet 100 Mobile puts a WiFi hotspot, web browsing, and IPTV in your hoopty ride. The data love comes courtesy of a Verizon EVDO card, built into the controller box. That box itself has 802.11G wireless, 3 ethernet ports, and an MSN IPTV tuner. Topping off the package is a remote and keyboard. But know that the TracNet system doesn't come with a monitor. You'll have to hook your own up through the VGA, or standard video outputs. Internet AND cable in the car? Looks like I'm going to need to fit a Lazyboy recliner in the backseat.

Of course, if you're looking for data strictly, and can do without the IPTV, we're going to go ahead and recommend you buy the Kyocera mobile EVDO router instead. It's only a few hundred bucks, vs the $2000 dollar sticker price for the TracNet.

(via gizmodo)

Nokia N80 Internet Edition In September

2006-09-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

Nokia plans to release an upgraded version of its N80 smartphone this September that's been christened the N80 Internet Edition. Wi-Fi, support for third-party VoIP applications (Skype, basically), a Download! cleint and a Yahoo!-powered mobile search application are what make this N80 ready to greet the smut-filled world of the Internet.

The multimedia-friendly phone has a 2.1-inch screen with a 352x416-pixel resolution screen and runs on GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz networks. Nokia promises three hours of battery life while talking and eight days of standby time. The 3-megapixel camera is appreciated, but there's a noticeable lack of autofocus and VGA recording. Bluetooth, a miniSD slot, and USB 2.0 support are also included. Plus, if you like reading books on a relatively tiny screen, you'll be thrilled to see the inclusion of a Mobipocket eBook reader.

The N80 Internet Edition will be in European and U.S. stores by the middle of September. You might as well guess the price, however, since it hasn't been announced yet.

(via gizmodo)

tags: nokia n80, smartphone, internet, voip, ebook, usb

Elmos Suv-Cam Micro Video Camera System

2006-09-01T00:08:00.000-07:00

If you ever wanted to snoop on your unsuspecting neighbors before but didn't think there was a small enough camera out there to get the job done, Elmo has a surprise for you with its SUV-cam. This micro video camera—micro being 2.2x4.0x1.1-inches—system is able to capture MPEG-4 video with a resolution of 704x480 pixels. Better yet, should you, Mr. Bond, need to take the camera under water, you can rest easy knowing that it's water-proof up to 12 feet.

Just like other cool gadgets that help you reenact Porky's, Elmo's micro camera solution will set you back quite a bit of coin. In fact, if you're not willing to part with about $750, you might as well forget about it. Plus, you'd have to import it from Japan where it launches on September 29.

(via gizmodo)

tags: micro video cam, elmo, porky's

SONY Revise Production Number on s3

2006-09-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Sony Going to Revise Production Numbers on PS3s?

Sony may be restating their 4 million unit estimate down to 2 million, thanks to troubles with Blu-ray diodes, their GPUs, and lousy Cell yields.

If Sony's even going to hit the 2.0 million mark, something Microsoft couldn't do in two months with less complicated hardware, it's a good thing they started making PS3s already

(via gizmodo)

tags: ps3, sony, blu-ray

Mithubishi Launches Lancer Evolution ix MR

2006-08-31T23:51:00.000-07:00

Mitsubishi’s new Lancer Evolution IX MR high-performance 4WD sports sedan (GSR/RS) and Lancer Evolution Wagon MR high-performance 4WD sports wagon (GT/GT-A) went on sale at affiliated dealerships throughout Japan today. The MR designation is an abbreviation for Mitsubishi Racing, and is restricted to the most prominent sports model in Mitsubishi's line-up. The new models are the second group of MR models released by Mitsubishi, the first being the Lancer Evolution VIII MR launched in February 2004. The new models mark the 14th iteration of the series that began with the Lancer Evolution in October 1992 and both sedan and station wagon are third-generation compilation models and are designed with a focus on on-road sports driving.

(via gizmag)

Toshiba Will Produce The Ipod killer,Gigabyte killed by Zune

2006-08-31T05:03:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has made a pledge to release a "Zune" MP3 player and matching online music and video store in time for the yearend holiday shopping season.The Toshiba-manufactured MP3 player (mainly that is what Zune is going to be…) will also be endowed with a 802.11b/g Wi-Fi module, an FM radio tuner (some people are reporting it doesn't, but the main FCC report clearly states it does), a 3inch LCD, and a USB 2.0 port to allow for data transfer and to connect to a TV-out dongle which is shown running on a standard TV in the main test report.It all depends on Zune’s success: Microsoft will eventually decide to manufacture it “in-house” if it meets its objectives, sending both Gigabeat and Toshiba’s hopes in the MP3 market into oblivion.

Fujitsu Gets Perpendicular With 160gb 2.5 Incher

2006-08-31T03:46:00.000-07:00

tags: fujitsu, hitachi

They promised 200GB by 2007, and it looks like we're getting 160GB in 2006. We can't quite tell if we're supposed to be disappointed by the missing gigabytes, or excited by the launch date, but with 160GB of perpendicular data spinning at 5,400 RPM you can't go far wrong. Of course, Hitachi announced a 5,400 RPM 160 gigger earlier this year, so we're not sure why Fujitsu is trying to pass off their new MHW2160BH's speed as some sort of record. Fujitsu is also dropping an 80GB MHW2080BH based on the tech, and both drives will be available in October.
[Via gizmag]

Marian launching 30 gb tv recording device

2006-08-31T03:43:00.000-07:00

tags: hong kong, korean, avi , mpeg , asf , wmv , dat , vob , china , europe, maxian, tv recoding

Korean manufacturer Maxian looks to be set to drop a new PMP on parts of the world other than this one with its newly-unveiled M800, though an exact launch date has yet to be announced. Like Maxian's T600, this one boasts direct video recording from a TV or other source, with a 30GB hard drive for you to fill up and a 4.3-inch WQVGA screen for you to watch it all on. If you prefer your media pre-recorded, it also supports AVI, MPEG, ASF, WMV, DAT, and VOB formats -- a much more thorough selection than some recent PMPs we've seen. While it looks like we're out of luck on this one here in North America, it seems you'll be able to snag one in Korea, Europe, China, and Hong Kong in your choice of black or white for the equivalent of $415 US.
[Via DAPreview]

Amd Proceeds To Centrino With "Yokohama" Platform

2006-08-31T03:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing has been verified just yet, but DigiTimes is reporting that AMD is prepping a Centrino competitor for Q4 of this year, in hopes to compete with the Merom-powered Napa64 platform. The new "Yokohama" platform would naturally be based on AMD's Turion 64 X2 processors, and feature the forthcoming RS690M, RS690DC and RS790M chipsets from ATI. It looks like AMD isn't quite ready to go all the way with their Centrino killer, though, since supposedly they'll be using third-party WLAN chips, and there is still going to be that pesky performance gap between AMD's Turion and Intel's Core chips. What might be an even bigger worry for AMD is when Intel starts throwing other wireless chipsets such as WiMAX into the mix, but at least Yokohama would be a good first step towards a mobile platform that could actually rival Intel's.

[Via TG Daily]

tags: amd, merom, yokahama, wimax, wireless+chipset

Download Youtube Videos Directly To Itunes

2006-08-31T03:31:00.000-07:00

TubeSock

About TubeSock
Grabs YouTube videos from the web and copies them to your video iPod, Mac, or PlayStation Portable. TubeSock knows how to convert the video using the codecs and bitrates best for each device. It can even add the video to iTunes for you. TubeSock can also grab just the audio portion of a video and add it to iTunes, too. Find your favorite tracks, outtakes, and live recordings on YouTube, then click “Save” to copy them to your iPod. The conversion is quick and there’s no loss of audio fidelity.

tags: tubeshock, Download Youtube Videos Directly To Itunes, youtube, covert the video

Treo 700wx launch materials leaked

2006-08-30T03:41:00.000-07:00

Now that we've officially beaten the Treo 700wx to death, it's not like we can imagine there's anything more you need to know from Palms new handheld. But just in case you wanted the hard specs list lifted straight from their leaked marketing materials, here you go:

Available August 31st (this Thursday) to businesses (September 3rd for consumers)

Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC (duh)

XScale 312MHz CPU

SDIO slot

128MB NVRAM (60MB user)

dual-band EV-DO / 1xRTT

1.3 megapixel camera

Bluetooth 1.2, IR

240 x 240 touchscreen

QWERTY keyboard

Top 10 Firefox Web 2.0 Add-ons

2006-08-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

With all this talk of the Web as a platform, it's worth taking a closer look at what web apps are using Firefox as their platform. Firefox is regarded as the best Web browser in terms of extensions - i.e. small browser add-ons which modify or add to existing functionality. It has hundreds of add-ons, which can be downloaded from here. But which are the best 'web 2.0' add-ons for Firefox? And I'm using the term 'web 2.0' very broadly here, to mean any add-on that has a social Web aspect to it.

Based on Mozilla's list of recommended extensions, AdaptiveBlue's Alex Iskold and I have generated a top 10 list of Firefox Web 2.0 add-ons. As always, let us know your own favorite add-ons in the comments.

Smart Browsing / Personal Productivity

Browster

Browster is a very cool add-on that enhances your browsing experience - for example mousing over a link gives you a preview of the website. It enables you to speed up your browsing experience and can save a lot of clicks in the long run. It does this by automatically pre-fetching links. It's a free add-on for both IE and Firefox - and hopes to make a profit by putting ads in the pop-up previews.

Answers

Answers is an add-on that promises to "instantly deliver the information you are looking for". It comes from answers.com, which is a popular online dictionary and Wikipedia syndication site. Alex says this is a "perfect example of smart integration with a service in the browser". The Answers add-on works like this:

"Just point at any word, hold the Alt key and click. Upon letting go, an AnswerTip in the form of a pop-up "information bubble" appears on the screen explaining the term."

blueorganizer

The blueorganizer smart browsing extension for Firefox is developed by Alex's company adaptiveblue. This extension drives productivity by building smarts and semantics into the browser. The blueorganizer integrates with many popular sites and services - including Amazon, Flickr, YouTube, iTunes, Odeo and Netflix. It utilizes Amazon's S3 storage service, as well as being run from the Firefox browser - so it is using the Web as a platform in many ways. SolutionWatch has a great review of blueorganizer, if you want to find out more.

Bookmarking / Social Bookmarking

delicious

The del.icio.us extension for Firefox allows you to easily bookmark webpages in del.icio.us, from within the Firefox browser. It integrates with the Firefox toolbar and provides extra options such as right-click menu and highlight text to add notes.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is an increasingly popular bookmarking tool - indeed in my recent post about the Turkey market, we discovered that StumbleUpon is a very popular app in Turkey. The StumbleUpon add-on is described as "collaborative surfing tool", because you can browse websites according to what other people recommend.

ClipMarks

ClipMarks is an early pioneer in the clipping space. Users clip pieces out of web pages and share these bits with each other. They can also tag and lookup the clips, but not much more can be done since the information is not structured. The Clipmarks Firefox add-on integrates this with the browser.

Google Notebook

Google Notebook is very similar to Clipmarks, but has better Firefox integration. It also works in IE6. As with Clipmarks, the user manually extracts text and images out of the page - but this information is unstructured. Google Notebook has had mixed reviews so far, but we think Google is currently putting in resources to improve it.

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer

FoxMarks Bookmark Synchronizer is an easy way to sync your Firefox bookmarks, if you use Firefox on more than one computer. It is very simple, but does its job nicely and has been well received by Firefox users.

RSS Readers

Unfortunately, we are not aware of a really great RSS Reader for Firefox. If you know of one, please mention it in the comments section. In our opinion the best reader in a Mozilla-based browser is the one which comes with Flock. It would be great if someone got inspired, extracted it and released it for Firefox - since Flock is also open source.

There are however two RSS readers that most Firefox users rely on:

Sage

Sage is a basic and lightweight RSS Reader, although you need to be a techie to use it. It leverages Firefox bookmarks to store feeds - and it does the job pretty well.

Wizz RSS News Reader

Wizz RSS is a fancier reader that works well. It supports OPML import and export, plus has advanced features like filtering news items on words and/or phrases. But it is still not as smooth in terms of usability and options as the Reader that is built into Flock.

Powered by Qumana

Google to allow free downloads of books

2006-08-30T03:08:00.000-07:00

Google Inc. on Wednesday plans t To begin letting consumers download and print free of charge classic novels and many other, more obscure books that are in the public domain.

Using Google's Book Search service, Web surfers hunting titles like Dante's "Inferno" and Aesop's "Fables" will be able to download PDF files of the books for later reading, to run keyword searches or to print them on paper. Up to now, the service only allowed people to read the out-of-copyright books online.

GOOGLE supports the service by showing its small, keyword-generated text ads on search-results pages.

Aopen Minipcs Will Use Core 2 Duo

2006-08-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

AOpen MiniPCs Will Use Core 2 Duo

While yesterday may have been the big unveiling of the Intel Core 2 Duo—also known as Merom—AOpen just announced that its MiniPC line of PCs (think of them almost as the PC's Mac mini) will also be using Intel's latest wunderchip. Both the MP945-X and the MP945-VXR will use the Merom processor.

The MP945-VXR will boast, in addition to the Merom, integrated graphics (boo!) in the form of Intel's 945GM chipset, gigabit Ethernet, DVI output, 5.1-channel sound and a DVD burner. Home theater PC, anyone? It sure is small enough to not be an eyesore.

(via life hacker-Nicholas Deleon)

AOpen mobile-on-desktop PCs enter Core 2 Duo era [The Register]

windows vista price Leaked

2006-08-29T03:27:00.001-07:00

Windows Vista Prices & Release Date Leaked

Windows Vista will officially hit the retail shelves on January 30, 2007.
Windows Vista Home basic edition would be available for $199 while the Vista Ultimate edition would cost $399.00. If you are upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista, the price would vary from $99 to $259 depending on the Vista version you choose to buy.
These details are available at the Amazon store [Pre-Order Windows Vista] and also at the Microsoft Vista Price list page as discovered by Ed Bott of ZDNet and picked up by Microsoft Monitor.
Windows Vista development seems to be on track and Microsoft has already made available Windows Vista pre-RC1 for download.
If you are wondering whether to buy a new PC with Windows XP or wait until January for Windows Vista, you may postpone your purchase until October when Microsoft will issue free Windows Vista upgrade coupons to all Windows XP customers who make a purchase during that period.

(via labnol-digital inspiration) windows vista, price, leaked, labnol, vista ultimatemicrosoft monitor, microsoft, free windows vista, vista price list, download.

Sony PS3: Saving The World For Real This Time

2006-08-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

Our early-rising, slightly less hungover friends at Kotaku beat us to the punch, but Sony has demonstrated a piece of software for the PS3 that will aid in the mapping of protein folding. The software is part of the Folding At Home Project and works like many other existing programs, pooling idle computers together to create supercomputer power.

A standard PC working alone would take a day to simulate 1 billionth of a second of protein folding. But scientists believe that 10,000 idle PS3s can be four times faster than IBM's BlueGene/L System, which cranks out 280.6 trillion calculations per second. And if Sony could actually sell the PS3 with as much success as the PS2, imagine what 100 million units could do.

The cause is good and all, but this is a lot of computing power with problem solving potential that we can utilize in even more worthwhile causes. Two words: spider powers.

Google to rock with office 2.0

2006-08-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

Google has deployed the first pieces of its upcoming Office suite. They’ve launched Google Apps for your Domain, a set of Google services targeted to small and mid sized companies. With the new service, companies can use Gmail, Talk, Calendar and Page Creator under a single control panel. Applications and data will be hosted by Google, for free, with ad support.

And that’s just the first move. According to Aaron Ricadela at InformationWeek, Google will soon add their Writely and Spreadsheet products to the suite, add collaboration tools that will work across platforms, and even provide technical support.

And when Gmail users send office documents, Google will prompt them to open the documents in Google’s new suite, allowing for collaboration and, presumably, making money from advertising.

This is a bold move by Google. They are striking hard at a nearly $12 billion/year Microsoft revenue stream. And they are clearly trying to get this out the door fast, in anticipation of Microsoft Office 2007, which will include collaboration features for businesses (as does Office Live, announced last year).

Customers clearly want Office documents stored on servers instead of, or in addition to, local storage. And while it’s not clear that there is great demand yet for online creation of documents (the experience is still nowhere near as good as the desktop products), the ability to collaborate on reviewing and editing documents is important, and this must occur online to be effective.

Google and Microsoft are approaching this from very different positions. Google has a clean slate but has to play catch up in customer acquisition and in building compelling functionality. And while Microsoft has a lock on customers at this point, their need to protect a huge revenue stream puts them at a distinct disadvantage. Who wins this fight could very easily be settled in the next 12 months, after Office 2007 and Vista hit the market and Google fleshes out its offering. But regardless if the result is that the cost of creating office based documents falls, the consumer wins.

And while all of this is going on, Zoho is quietly building a really excellent online office suite of its own. Any of the other big guys could also quickly enter this game with a timely acquisition.

Google

Posted in Company & Product Profiles |

First Look: PSP Camera, GPS Unit

2006-08-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Download of the Day: Convert photos with Photo to Sketch

2006-08-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

Windows only: Convert your photographs into black and white sketches or watercolor paintings with Photo to Sketch.

The program is extremely simple to use - just select a photo on your machine and click on "convert." You have a choice of pen, pastel, or pencil, along with a few rudimentary editing options. Photo to Sketch is a free download, Windows only.

Download of the Day: ReloadEvery extension (Firefox)

2006-08-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Download of the Day: ReloadEvery extension (Firefox)

Win/Mac/Linux with Firefox: The ReloadEvery extension automatically refreshes a web page at a time interval you define (like every 10 seconds.) Use it to stay logged into web mail or an online banking session. Reader Steve writes:

ReloadEvery is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.

Xbox Live Arcade Goes Un-Live

2006-08-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

A collection of titles from the Xbox Live Arcade is now available for purchase. The Live Arcade Unplugged will hit stores on September 5 for $40. It will include Geometry Wars, Wik: Fable of Souls, Outpost Kaloki X, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, Hardwood Backgammon and Texas Hold'em. The package will also have demos of Uno, Marble Blast Ultra (a personal favorite of mine) and Feeding Frenzy. They also toss in one free month of Xbox Live—they seem to be handing these out like candy recently.

Live Arcard Game Pack Dated, Priced

Water Level Battery Indicator

2006-08-26T02:52:00.000-07:00

This screensaver on the NTT DoCoMo N702is cellphone looks and acts just like a glass of water. When you move it around, the motion sensor detects your angle and sloshes the water to the left or right, depending. The actual water level itself is indicative of the amount of battery you have left, so it's probably more fun to keep your phone charged up. Maybe some developer can whip up a J2ME version of this app?

Skype and Logitech Introduce EasyCall Desktop

2006-08-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

Skype and Logitech Introduce EasyCall Desktop

logitech and Skype have developed a new product to target Skype consumers who miss the sophisticated call features of their traditional, deskbound telecom systems but still want to use the Internet-based network. Named EasyCall Desktop, the product includes a mouse, headset and speakerphone.

It also features a Skype-specific keyboard that includes one-touch buttons for launching Skype software , placing a call, ending a call, changing the user's online status, and dialing a mobile or traditional phone. The F9 to F12 keys also act as programmable speed-dial buttons.

The two companies plan to first market EasyCall Desktop in Europe, beginning in mid-September.

Tangible Products

This latest product rollout by Skype is part of the company's larger plan to target consumers with tangible products, says John Arnold, an independent VOIP consultant with J Arnold & Associates in Toronto.

"Skype is moving into the next phase of its development by offering actual products -- not just a service that can be downloaded from the Internet," he tells TechNewsWorld.

In part, this is just the natural trajectory that analysts expect Skype to follow, he notes. Skype's move into product development is also a reflection of the pressure eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is under to show a return on investment in its acquisition of Skype, he adds.

"It can be difficult for mainstream investors to understand what Skype is and what it offers, and how it differentiates itself from similar offerings in the market, like Vonage," Arnold says. Offering a tangible product not only shows that Skype is on the path to returning eBay's investment, it also illustrates to shareholders how its services work, he explains.

In a separate initiative, Skype has announced plans to introduce WiFi phones for its VoIP service in Q3. One manufacturer, Sony (NYSE: SNE) , will be introducing a handheld device next month called Mylo, which will offer instant messaging, e-mail, Internet browsing and voice communications through Skype, via WiFi networks.

Ongoing Partnership

Skype and Logitech have previously partnered to introduce Skype users to video calling and other products, such as the Cordless Internet Handset, QuickCam STX for Skype, QuickCam Chat for Skype, and QuickCam Communicate STX for Skype.

"Skype has been a driving force behind the success of Internet calling in Europe," says Denis Pavillard, Logitech's vice president of product marketing for keyboards and desktops. "Working with Skype, we've integrated the Skype Internet calling experience with a complete desktop solution, so that people can quickly access the Skype features they've come to rely on.

Download of the Day: HideWin (Windows)

2006-08-25T00:44:00.000-07:00

Windows only: Freeware program HideWin lets you define a list of windows you want to be able to hide fast and completely from your desktop in the event that,

To use HideWin, you'll want to select the List Visible Windows options and find the class, title, or both of the windows you'd like to hide (the rule from the screenshot, for example, will hide Fleshbot). This may not sound impressive, since it may seem like little more than a Windows+D/M shortcut or a minimize, but in fact HideWin actually hides the windows from the taskbar, so they're not just minimized - they actually disappear.

The real bummer of HideWin, though, is that there's no keyboard shortcut available to automatically hide/show your defined programs, so it's more of a two-click affair. — Adam Pash

Microsoft Xbox 360 Accessories Get Official

2006-08-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

Remember all of those damn peripherals for the Xbox 360 that we saw at E3 in May? Sure you do! Well they have gotten a little more official-ized with prices and release dates! Hooray! Here they are in an oh-so-friendly bullet list.

•Vision Camera: This camera, which is actually already being sold (kind of) will come in two packages. The camera itself with one month of Xbox live, a headset, and some free Xbox Live Arcade downloads for $40. The other package is the "Gold Kit" and is exactly the same as the previous package, but includes a 12-month Xbox Live subscription and will retail for $80. Both packages will be officially available on September 19
• Wireless Racing Wheel: This is the same as we mentioned before at E3. Wireless, force feedback, etc. But also included with the $150 wheel is a limited edition force feedback version of Project Gotham Racing 3. The wheel will be available in November.
• Wireless Headset: This is the peripheral worthy of peeing yourself over. Finally Microsoft has released a truly wireless headset to match all of the other wireless peripherals of the Xbox 360. It has a bit of a Bluetooth headset look and will retail for $60 in November.
• Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows: This is a USB device that will allow all of the wireless Xbox 360 peripherals to work on a Windows (duh) PC. It will go for $20 and be available in late December.

Microsoft also announced new faceplates for the 360, but nobody gives a damn about those. Well, at least I don't. Good accessories, looking forward to the PC adapter and the wireless headset. –

Designer Garage Makes Walls Transparent or Opaque

2006-08-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

car auto, pheripherals, designer

So you just spent a million bucks on a Ferrari Enzo. Do you park it In a regular garage made of regular concrete? Hello No.

Futurists are thinking about this very serious problem. Here's a garage concept, for a time where the rich are even more ridiculously rich, enough so to buy this transparent concrete model for $212,000. Created by architects Neutral, the "Designer Garage" features LCD sandwiched in between the concrete, that can be electronically darkened so the poor people can't bother you with their hunger-stare and "begging for food".–

Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate 1 released

2006-08-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

Despite many technologists' belief that IE7 should undergo another beta cycle or two before it's release candidate time, this morning Microsoft released Internet Explorer Release Candidate 1. According to General Manager Dean Hachamovitch, the release "includes improvements in performance, stability, security, and application compatibility," and apart from those users won't notice too many differences. "A release candidate is fundamentally different from a beta," says Hachamovitch, "With the exception of a very short list of issues we're aware of and working on, we think the product is done." Microsoft is soliciting user feedback on the release candidate and plans to release the final version of IE7 in Q4 of this year. Paul Thurrott has a brief review of IE7 RC1 up on his site, in which he concludes, "It's not a perfect browser, but IE 7 is hugely improved, and even in this prerelease version is worth considering." Oh, and for keyboard-centric users (like me), there's a new quick reference sheet of all of IE7's keyboard shortcut at the IEBlog.

Google Notifier

2006-08-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

Tags: Google Notifier

Mac OS X only: If you've grown accustomed to new mail notifications from the Gmail Notifier, you may be excited (as I was) to learn that Google has released a new and improved notifier, henceforth to be known as the Google Noti

Why the name change? Well, aside from the Gmail alerts, the Google Notifier also integrates alerts from your Google Calendar. Awesome, right? Strange that Google hasn't released a Windows version, but I suppose it's only a matter of time. I can attest to the Google Notifier looking and working great on a Mac. — Adam Pash

DM2 Windows enhancer

2006-08-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Tags: DM2 Windows enhancer

Windows only: Free software DM2 adds all sorts of windowing, desktop and folder management enhancements to Windows.

With DM2 installed you get 4 virtual desktops, custom Open/Save dialog folder locations (can you say godsend?), and the ability to minimize any window to the system tray. Also, right-click the minimize button to send any window to a floating, transparent icon that stays on top but doesn't crowd your taskbar. Warning though: If you do install DM2, be sure to delete the SHIFT+HOME, SHIFT+END and SHIFT+UP hotkeys straightaway, otherwise selecting whole lines of text via the keyboard doesn't work. DM2 is a free download, Windows only. Thanks, Sander and Leon for the essential DM2 tip! — Gina Trapani

GTDGmail

2006-08-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

Firefox extension GTDGmail integrates your Getting Things Done implementation directly in your Gmail account.

Gmail has always been a good GTD tool, but GTDGmail makes setting up of all your contexts, projects, and next actions a breeze. Honestly, I already have my own system of labels and whatnot in Gmail that I love, but after looking over and playing around with GTDGmail, I'm very tempted to dive head first into GTD all over again (though, for productivity's sake, I'd recommend everyone try out my Gmail master post, specifically for the Gmail Macros Greasemonkey script).

How does GTDGmail compare to your system? Anyone thinking about giving it a go? Let us know in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com.

Download of the Day: Calgoo

2006-08-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

Windows only: Freeware program Calgoo offers desktop integration with your Google Calendar, meaning, most significantly, that you don't need to be online to view or schedule upcoming events.

Once you do go online, Calgoo will synchronize your Google Calendar with Calgoo so that you're always synced up and ready to go. Although I love the idea of Calgoo, especially for Gcal lovers who aren't always plugged into the 'netters, I wasn't thrilled with the trouble I had getting Calgoo going. For some reason the calendar would not show up - I was able to create new appointments and sync them with my Google Calendar, but I could never actually look at the main calendar. That said, if the calendar had shown up, I think I would have really liked Calgoo.

Google Desktop 4 Comes Out of Beta

2006-08-24T00:16:00.000-07:00

Google Desktop 4 looks to be coming out of beta today and will be available in 26 languages, including Romanian. A few of the new features include an easier interface for finding gadgets in other languages, a configurable taskbar gadgets button and the ability to change the sidebar font size. Also announced by Google was the availability of the Desktop Gadget Designer in several new languages

Google Desktop 4.

Playstation 3 works but Sony doesn’t want to show it

2006-08-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

WE HAD a chance to get within five inches of what Sony claims to be the final production prototype of the Playstation 3 console. We could even touch the wireless remote but the machine didn’t work as Sony didn’t want to plug it in.

The marketing chap had the lamest excuse of them all, he said that Sony doesn’t want to show the live demo as there is a hidden secret feature that Sony doesn’t want to show off yet.

I can guarantee you that it super does not work and that Sony is merely showing what the machine will look like. There was a live demo - but from the developers' machines - of some developers' demos but you can clearly forget about the real hardware.

I don’t have any idea how it is going to produce enough play station 3 machines in time to meet the November timeline.

Here are some pictures to feast your eyes, in case there's a famine. µ

2006-08-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

Gamepark GP2X

Gamepark GP2X Available in U.S.

Wait, wait, wait. Stop the presses—we don't actually use presses, but you know what I mean—something a bit epic is happening here. Remember the Gamepark GP2X? Yeah, that Korean game and portable media player. Well, it is coming to the states, baby. This is probably the first Korean gadget in the history of the world to actually make it to the states—not really, but with the mass amount of Korea-only gadgets coming out, it seems like it.

For a refresher, the GP2X shines because it is actually powered by Linux and encourages home-brew creations. It also includes a video player capable of MPEG, MPEG-4, DivX and XviD playback via SD memory. Dynamism is the lovely company making this device available to the U.S., and they are hocking it for $200. Not too shabby for a PMP and a gaming handheld.

Dissolvable Spy Paper Keeps Your Secrets Safe

2006-08-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

When shredding your sensitive documents isn't enough, think of this dissolvable spy paper. It's made from a special material that turns the paper into an unreadable mulch once it comes into contact with any type of liquid. This disappearing act takes place in a matter of seconds, leaving your state secrets unknown for yet another day. Otherwise, the paper behaves as you'd expect it to, perfect for drawing up legal documents with super villains.

The paper sells in packs of 32 for $9.00 each. Take that, faith and trust in humanity!– Nicholas Deleon

Tags: spy paper, secret safe

Iomega Silver Series Portable Hard Drives

2006-08-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Tags: iomega, silver series, portable, hard drives

These Iomega Silver Series hard drives come in both 80 and 120GB sizes, and feature USB 2.0 and Firewire connections to your computer. They can be used in both Windows and OS X, and weigh less than six ounces. They're about $1.65 a gigabyte, and are mainly used to carry data with you on the go.

One use we can think of is to place all your important files, liketax informationtax information, music, work documents, on this drive, instead of on your actual laptop or desktop hard drive. That way, when the cops come snooping around because your kids/wife haven't shown up to school/work lately, you can high-tail it out of town quickly. No muss, no fuss. – Jason Chen

Microsoft to Repair Flawed IE Patch

2006-08-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

Microsoft to Repair Flawed IE Patch

Microsoft said it will issue a fix for a patch the firm released last week that was meant to repair a vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The patch was found to have a security bug of its own, which could allow attackers to take over a Windows PC, even with the original IE update installed

Microsoft Habu Gaming Mouse Tracks Motion to 20Gs and Glows Crazy Blue

2006-08-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

Tags: gaming mouse, habu, microsoft habu, 20gs, glows cracy blueMicrosoft can't write operating systems, but they sure as hell can make mice. I love me some M$ft ergos, yes sir. Razer, on the other hand is known for making insanely accurate mice for gamers, with thousands of dots of resolution on their optical sensors. Here's a mouse they've worked on together.

The Habu has 2,000 dots of resolution per inch in its digital eye. The 16-bit optical sensor tracks movement up to 45 feet per second, or up to 20Gs of acceleration. also The feet are teflon, which isn't such a rare thing these days. And the 7 buttons can be programmed with up to 5 game profiles. Side bumpers can be swapped out for smaller and larger ones, to fit any hand. The Always-On mode gives it little latency. We think that means it never goes to sleep, like many gamers we know. And yes, it actually glows all crazy blue like that.– Brian Lam

Shintaro SD / MMC Memory Card Reader USB 2.0: For Secure Digital and MultiMedia Cards Only!

2006-08-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

If you are after a no fuss memory card reader for your SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card, the Shintaro SD / MMC Memory Card Reader USB 2.0will do the job. It simply plugs into a spare USB port on your PC, laptop or Mac and will work on both USB 1.0 and 2.0. High speed transfers will only work on USB 2.0 connections. And because SD cards and MMC (MultiMedia Cards) are interchangeable, this card reader will also read MMC cards too. It's small and light and would make a great companion for notebook owners on the go but don't have memory card readers built into the laptop itselfTags: shintaro, memory card, secure digital, multimedia

It’s official, 8 different flavors of Windows Vista

2006-08-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

Tags: windows vistaTags: vista home basicTags: vista home premium, vista buissness. vista enterprise, vista ultimate

There is a follow-up post to this story: Vista Flavors, This Time for Real

Because choices are good? Or because there would be more money to be milked? Perhaps the victims of having 8 different flavors of Windows Vista are the software vendors, who would have to explain the differences between each edition to their customers.

Here’s a quick rundown of the 8 product editions:

Windows Starter 2007 Windows Vista Starter - This edition does not include the Aero graphical user interface, hence it’s not Vista-branded. And there’s no 64-bit edition, no networking, no Fast User Switching, no DVD Authoring, no gaming common controller support, and no image editing with enhanced touchup, and only three applications/windows are allowed to run simultaneously. Good only for really basic users with low budgets.

Windows Vista Home Basic - This is the true baseline version of Windows Vista; think Windows XP Home Edition. You can expect to find features such as Windows Firewall, Windows Search, Photo Library and etc. However, it doesn’t include the Aero graphical user interface as well. Every other edition below will be based on this edition. Good for general consumers or even the kids.

Windows Vista Home Basic N - Same as the Home Basic Edition, but minus the Windows Media Player. This edition is for the Europeans as they have antitrust rulings against Microsoft which does not allow the player to be bundled.

Windows Vista Home Premium - This edition includes features such as Media Center Extender support, Cable Card support, DVD authoring and Tablet PC functionality. This edition is best suited for notebooks and networked home desktops, but it’s probably insufficient for the geeks.

Windows Vista Business - Analogous to the Windows XP Professional, this will probably be the most widely used edition in corporate environments. This edition allows joining of domains, non-Microsoft networking (Netware, etc), Remote Desktop and Microsoft Windows Web Server. Most geeks and IT professionals will want to go for this edition.

Windows Vista Business N - Just like Home Basic N Edition, this one is meant for the Europeans and comes with no media player.

Windows Vista Enterprise - This edition will come with several new features such as Virtual PC, multi-language user interface (MUI) and Secure Startup (BitLocker Drive Encryption).

Windows Vista Ultimate - This one is going to be the most expensive, most feature-packed, and perhaps the most pirated edition of Vista. It’ll include new and unique features such as Game Performance Tweaker, Podcast creation utility, online “Club” services and privileged product support. This edition will be perfect for Windows fanboys.

So which one’s for you?

Xbox Live Vision Mix Up

2006-08-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

One lucky xbox 360 user managed to buy Microsoft’s Xbox Live Vision camera from Toys R Us, almost a month before its official release date September, 19. He courteously posted the images of the fruit of his spoils on Flicker.

The contents of the package include: the headset, camera, 1 month of Live Gold, and a free registration to the Xbox Live Arcade game Uno.

Sony’s Cybershot DSC-H5

2006-08-23T05:40:00.001-07:00

While my brother, Elliott has chosen Sony’s Cybershot DSC-H5 as the best consumer grade camera, I myself believe that Sony’s Cybershot DSC N1 8.1 megapixel camera is the best home consumer-grade camera.

The most important features are:

8.1 megapixels

3x optical zoom/6x digital zoom

3.0 inch LCD display/touch screen menu

Long battery life: 300 shots per charge

ISO 800

VGA 640 x 480 Video at up to 30 fps

For a price of $380, Sony’s Cybershot DSC-N1 is an excellent consumer camera, especially for beginners. Its large 3.0 inch touch screen menu is easy to use, and also has an impressive slide show mode. PC Magazine reviewed the DSC-N1 and gave it a 4/5, “very good” rating, reporting that the camera consistently took high quality photos. Sony’s DSC-N1 is the perfect home consumer grade camera because of its high quality photos, large viewing screen, exceptionally long battery life, and beginner friendly interface.

Samsung’s YP-K5 MediaPlayer

2006-08-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

Samsung rolled out another media player in Korea- the YP-K5.

Samsung’s YP-K5 DAP has integrated speakers, supports mp3, WMA, ASF, and OGG files, and is available in 1,2, or 4 gb capacities. There’s been no word on price or eventual US availability.

Optimus Mini Keyboard

2006-08-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

The Optimus 3 Key Mini Keyboard uses programmable OLED screens as buttons.

Origianlly, the Optimus Keyboard was going to be made into a full fledged, completely customable keyboard– however, this 3 Key Mini Keyboard is the child of that endeavor. There are 6 possible presets for the three keys.

The Keys are 20 mm x 20 mm with 96 x 96 pixels each, and animation at 3 frames per second. The keys can be configures to start an application, show free memory and CPU usage, display a web cam, display time and weather, or control IE, Windows Media, and Word. The Optimus 3 Key Mini Keyboard will become available in September from ThinkGeek, and will cost $160.

Singapore Students Invent Waterless Washing Machine

2006-08-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

Tags: Waterless Washing Machine

Two Industrial Design students from the National Univeristy of Singapore (NUS) are the first Asians to win the Design Lab Award at the international Electrolux Design Lab 2005 competition! Their product? A waterfall-inspired washing unit that require neither water nor detergents. Need I say more? Imagine the amount of water it can save!

Gabriel Tan and Wendy Chua, both third year students in NUS, beat 3,000 other students from over 88 countries. Ahh…you two make me proud to be a Singaporean!

“Called Airwash, the waterfall-inspired washing unit is waterless and does not use detergents. Instead, it utilises negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to clean clothes. By using atmospheric air and negative ions � a natural cleansing agent � it fights dirt and bacteria with nature’s own weapon. Airwash is also designed to be placed anywhere in the home, instead of the designated laundry area.”

- National Univeristy of Singapore

As good as it seems, The Straits Times has quoted Wendy Chua as saying it’s not meant to replace the traditional washing machines. But more a hybrid of the washing machine and the dry cleaner. Bummer…

There should be a strong market for this if it’s not too costly. After all, a large portion of potential buyers will likely be those looking to save some money on water usage.

Update 1: Here are some pictures of the Airwash, Airwash’s inventors, and some other worthy products showcased at the Electrolux Design Lab 2005 competition.

Update 2: “I’ve heard of this for the future of space travel. they should expect NASA to be knocking on their door soon.” - BLACKANGEL32076

I don’t know much about space travel, but this is perhaps the most qualified comment around the web so far. Everyone, including myself, has been thinking about home usage. But yeah, what about space travel usage? The water saved could mean a lot. Any experts in the spacecraft field could give a comment?

Fancy a Million-Gigabtye Hard Drive?

2006-08-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

Researchers have finally found a way to create storage devices that are capable of storing millions of gigabytes of data. With the use of ferroelectric, the researchers from Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania are able to squeeze 12.8 million gigabytes of information into a cubic centimeter. Very amazing indeed.

Until recently, researchers were not able to find a method of stabilizing ferroelectricity on the nano-scale. It was this group of talented researchers that found out that water is in fact the answer to their problem. It has to do with the hydroxyl (OH) ions molecules found in water, which are capable of screening the charges.

Imagine the possibility of million-gigabyte hard drives. The amount of disk space might seem excessively generous, but I trust that when these drives become a reality, applications that truly leverage the obscene amount of space will start to sprout.

However, several researchers have suggested that significant challenges still lie ahead, such as methods of assembling the nanowires densely and efficiently reading and writing data to and from the nanowires.

The Pink PS2

2006-08-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

What more can I say? Sony’s PS2 will be available in Pink starting November 8th in the UK.

The PS2, Tags: memory cards, and controllers are all unbearably pink. This pink PS2 will also be bundled with Tags: Singstar Pop, and will retail for £129.99 ($245 USD).

Tags: pink ps2

Blogger upgrades itself-new blogger beta by google

2006-08-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

Blogger a very popular blogging platform by google, has got its much awaited upgrade. Like all google products its in beta testing mode and not all accounts have been transfered to the new environment.

Some of the new features include:

1) A more userfriendly environment.

2) Integration of some elements from googlepages:

3) Categorial posts/ lable

4) Stylised Archiving:

5) New templates and nice template catalog:

6) Editing fonts and CSS:

7) Adding permissions:

Take a look at the tour to see all the new things you can do. They’re limiting the number of people who can switch over. (You’ll see a link on your Blogger dashboard when you are able to move.) Eventually, of course, everyone will be able to transition their blogs to the new version.

If you can’t wait, you can create a new account on the beta now and make a new blog to test out the new features. Because the new Blogger uses Google Accounts, you can use your existing Google login, or create a new one. (Later, you’ll be able to merge your current and beta accounts, and have all your blogs in one place.)

Tags: blogger, upgrades, blogspot, beta services, screenshots, google

YouOS - Online Computing platform

2006-08-23T04:39:00.000-07:00

YouOS is an experiment in a new kind of computing platform.

Access from anywhere.
Create a document at an office computer, drive home, continue right from where you left off.
Built-in sharing.
Instantly share music, documents and more with your buddies.
An application community.
Everyone from professional software engineers to high school age programmers can participate at no cost. Choose from a growing list of over 301 released applications developed by our users.

Some of the features include:

Using the RichTextEditor, create a document, and save it.
Using YouFiles, open previously created documents, share them with others, and open other people’s shared files.
Using Chat, make chat channels and have discussions in them.
Using YouBuddy, instant message other people in YouOS.
Using YouSticky, make and save sticky notes.

And most importantly,

Using JavaScript and our IDE, make new applications.

Right now, YouOS is the beginnings of a web OS. It runs applications, has data storage for your apps, and is extensible– you can write apps for it right now. Our web OS right now has a Javascript-driven front end and an ever-growing backend of cool services. It’s a little raw (we’re working on it), a little ugly (also working on that), and wayyyy alpha.

But it works. Right now, wou can write YouOS apps that use our servers to save data. You can write an application that has its own chat. You can write an app that receives text messages from your mobile phone. And of course, you can use our existing apps to chat, create documents you can access from anywhere, and more. And we’ve got lots of new things on the drawing board (as well as a good number of bugs to fix.)

If Google is gonna work on their OS, then keeping in m ind the Google spreadsheets, calender, writely, paint, notebook, even their OS is bound to be web interactive. In some ways similar to YouOS.

You can get a free account at YouOS.com. A demo is also available.

Tags: youos, operating system, OS, open source

Some screen shots:

(more…)

Google MP3 Player found in GMail

2006-08-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

A new GMail feature lets you play MP3 files right inside the GMail interface without having to download the MP3 or open an external media player.

When you receive an audio file as an email attachment, click the play button and Google will play the audio file for you in a popup window. Very neat implementation (see screenshot)

Now digging into the GMail Mp3 player code, I discovered that it's actually the Google video player that's playing the audio file. Infact, you can play any MP3 files from the embedded Google Video player without even having to login to GMail. Here's the secret URL (works perfect in Firefox)

http://mail.google.com/mail/html/audio.swf?audioUrl=MP3_URL

Replace the MP3_URL with the actual location of the MP3 file on the web and play it inside Google Video. Odeo, take note. Google is entering your territory.

NB: The song shown in the Google Player screenshot is actually the 6kb Yahoo! Song.

You can embed the Google MP3 player in your website or blog just like the Odeo plugin. Here's how it looks with the Blogger Anthem Song.

A new way to test your bandwidth

2006-08-22T05:01:00.000-07:00

Applications that test bandwidth speeds have been around for years, but Speedtest.net takes the concept a step further.

The site allows you to select servers to ping from around the country on an interactive map and graphically displays connections as they travel with varying speeds along the way. It also lets you store results of tests for your computer and sort them by date, time, speed and distance.

Finally, Speedtest provides a simple way to share your results with others--taking the practice of monitoring bandwidth into the Web 2.0 realm.

Microsoft's got a codename for Vista successor

2006-08-22T04:33:00.000-07:00

MARY JO Foley at Microsoft Watch said that planners at the firm have lit upon a codename for the next version of Windows and that name is Fiji.

But she reckons that because Microsoft isn't into parallel software development, delays in Vista will push back Fiji and its successor Vienna.

So there you have it. Because we haven't got Vista yet. Or, rather, here you have it.

Direct X 10 will be Vista only

2006-08-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

WE FINALLY got the official word that Direct X 10 won't find its way to Windows XP.

So anyone who plans to buy Direct X 10 hardware and plans to use its full potential will have to buy Vista as well.

The current driver model on the Windows XP is the limitation. One of the key points of Direct X 10 is to be the ability to have more independent objects and the current driver model on Windows XP simply won't be able to deal with it.

Direct X 10 hardware will of course run Direct X 9 games and it is also supposed to do so fast.

The Vole, ATI, Nvidia and the other creators of the Direct X 10 specification wanted to make sure that you will be offered the toppest-notch gaming experience.

We still have to hold our breath and wait and see real hardware running real games on the final Vista Direct X 10 API but give it some time

Vista gamers need 2GB plus of memory

2006-08-22T04:26:00.000-07:00

RECENTLY we managed to spend some time using a Vista machine. The machine had Athlon 4000+ and 2 GB of memory with Geforce 7800 GTX card. We installed a game and we didn’t have anything else than Far Cry at the moment. We wanted to check how much memory you actually will need to play games on Vista. We know it is a beta, but it will at least give you a feeling what could you expect from the final one.

We moved the community with our story where we said you need up to 800 MB memory just to run Vista. You can read it here and we have to say that we do know the difference between page file and the actual physical memory, but trust me you need 1GB memory just to work in Word or Paint using vista. People were claiming that the machine used 400MB of physical memory but it will work like a beaten horse with 512MB. It works slow even with 2GB.

Here is another cool shot for you. You can clearly see that you need more than 1GB of memory to run the game. Far Cry is not that an intensive game, and we ended up with 1.23 GB page file and you can see that we are running a single instance of Explorer and a task manager.

I have a fear of FEAR the game as it will eat significantly more than Far Cry. We FEAR that you might need even more than 2GB as FEAR of already wants 2GB memory under Windows XP. It works with 1GB as well but it works better with 2GB, and so does the Battlefield 2. We are sure that you will soon be able to buy 4GB gaming kits, at least by the end of the year when Vista gets closer

Microsoft cleans up its WGA act

2006-08-22T04:25:00.000-07:00

SOFTWARE FIRM Microsoft issued an update to its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme.

The firm tweaked it so that your PC doesn't automatically report in to Seattle Central every time it reboots, like it did before. If you had auto updates set on your XP, you might never have realised this.

Some people got a bit upset when they realised that, and so Microsoft relented.

The Vole has even produced a page which tells you how to disable or uninstall the pilot version. Except the page, here, says the instructions haven't been tested. If you want to twiddle around with the Registry then be it on your own head.

Music industry sues Yahoo

2006-08-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

THE MUSIC industry seems to have started legal action against search engines for promoting software piracy.

The International Federation for the Phonographic Industry, which includes EMI, has sued the Chinese version of Yahoo, claiming that it provides links to piracy sites.

The IFPI says that it was currently negotiating with Yahoo, but if these talks fail then the full weight of the music industry will fall on the search outfit. In recent court cases against P2P sites, the operators have said that all they did was provide links to torrents, they did not supply the pirated material themselves. In suing the P2P outfits, they said, the music industry might as well sue Google or Yahoo.

This recent action has indicated that the entertainment industry is considering such a cunning plan. It is focusing its attention on China, where the government has just made changes in the law and fines distributors of illegally copied music, movies and other material over the Internet as much as 100,000 yuan ($12,500).

The music industry has already had some success against the Chinese search outfit Baidu.com.

This is because the Chinese law says that a Web site is jointly liable with the host of the pirated files for infringement "if it knows or should know that the work, performance or sound or video recording linked to was infringing".

Such laws do not exist in the West, otherwise, it seems, Google would have been sued a long time ago.

Worm pretends it is Windows Authentication Software

2006-08-22T04:23:00.000-07:00

MEDIA FRIENDLY anti-virus outfit Sophos has dug up a worm which pretends that it is Microsoft's super-popular Windows Authentication Software (WAS).

Sophos alleged that the worm, which is called Cuebot-K, is being distributed over AOL's instant-messaging network.

It has the public display name of "Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Notification" and registers itself as a system driver named "wgavn". If users try to remove it from the file manager they are told that their will be some system instability, or God will kill a kitten or something similar.

Cuebot-K disables the Windows OS firewall and turns the PC into a zombie (tsumba) which hands over data to other computers or could be used for distributed denial-of-service attacks.

The worm writers apparently are betting that people will be looking for an update of WGA, and since the software has spyware-like capabilities they will not think that there is anything wrong with the way it is behaving when it is installed.

Tags: Worm pretends it is Windows Authentication Software

Vista may not be ready for January

2006-08-22T04:21:00.000-07:00

MICROSOFT'S super soaraway operating system is still only vapourware with the outfit's supreme Vole Bill Gates saying that he is only 80 per cent sure that it will be in the shops by January.

Speaking to a congregation of brethren of the Volish faithful in Cape Town, Gates said that he was prepared to delay the launch still further if beta testing uncovered shortcomings.

So far. Vista has suffered more delays than the 8.30am train from Nottingham in Autumn and Microsoft claims this is because it has been put through extreme amounts of testing.

Gates told the assembled throngs that Microsoft had to get Vista "absolutely right" and if the feedback from the beta tests shows "it is not ready for prime time, I'd be glad to delay it."

It has cost Vole between $8-9 billion to develop Vista and Office, Gates said. He said the company's software partners, in developing and adapting their own products for the two launches, would invest 20 times as much as Microsoft.

Microsoft's Live Spaces goes live

2006-08-22T04:20:00.000-07:00

THE NEW version of MSN Spacesfrom Microsoft – Windows Live Spaces – is now active. And it's designed to seamlessly interwork with other Live services such as Live Mail (the old Hotmail) and Live Messenger.

One of the greatest benefits for Hotmail fans will be that you can share the same addressbook – Live Contacts – between your IM service (Messenger); your web mail (Live Mail); and your personal blog (Live Spaces).

That makes it much easier to add security to an online blog since Live Spaces can let its users specify who can contact them, who can see their profile and who can view the contents of their blog site.

Live Spaces offers users the ability to choose 'gadgets'. These are tools that very simply add facilities such as a news ticker; a quote of the day; and a weather forecast to a personal blog.

As predicted, Live Spaces is being supported by banner advertising. When the INQ tried Spaces, there was an advert from Virgin Money on display.

Existing MSN Spaces users won't have to change their browser bookmark. The link takes them straight to the new Live Spaces.

Intel questions whether AMD will make ATI chips

2006-08-22T03:59:00.000-07:00

And zooms in on stable image platform WITH THEAGREEMENT of the court in the antitrust case AMD started against Intel last year, a subpoena has been served on graphics firm ATI.

Apart from the financing of the ATI acquisition, Intel wants details of potential chip production at AMD fabs, as well as extensive details about the stable image platform that forms the plank of both the CPU manufacturers' corporate business.

As AMD said last week, the terms of the subpoena are sweeping, but its lawyers believe it falls outside the time limit, and AMD reserves the right to request its own subpoenas from other firms, if necessary.

The documents asked for by Intel cover the perod from January 1st 2004 to the date the subpoena was served, 18th of August last.

As expected, they relate to ATI's decision to be acquired by AMD, "including but not limited to thr transaction's strategic raionale, growth opportunities, and financial projections". Intel also subpoenas all documents presented to AMD and ATI shareholders and investors relating to the acquisition, and those that discuss or relate to the potential or actual effect of AMD's takeover in chipsets, graphics processor and microprocessors.

Interestingly, Intel want to see documents provided to ATI or any initiative by AMD to improve performance or competitively position against Intel's Stable Image Platform (SIP). Interestingly, because AMD has collaborated with fierce ATI competitor Nvidia to produce such a platform. It wants to see such documents from January 1st 2002 to now.

That includes information about problems ATI had implementing AMD's CSIP programme, and documents concerning AMD's ability to extend battery life in notebooks.

Intel also wants information on AMD's financing of the acquisition of ATI, including financing and cash reserves, as well as third parties involved in such discussions. And Intel wants to see all documents that relate to how an AMD-ATI acquisition would affect Intel.

Also, interestingly, it wants to see that documents that might affect AMD's semiconductor manufacturing, "including, but not limited to, the manufacturing of any ATI designed products in AMD fabs".

Watch your favourite TV channels in your browser - FREE

2006-08-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

Watch more than 150 TV channels for free. Here is a collection of more than 150 free legal channels that you can watch from your browser. Includes HBO, ESPN, Playboy TV, Bloomberg, ABC News, AL Jazeera, E-Music, Deejay TV, Deluxe Music, Fashion TV, Horror Channel, Comedy Channel, Sci-Fi Channel, Lifestyle Network and a lot more.

to watch your favorite channels
http://www.chooseandwatch.com/index.html

First Xbox360 Mod. Expect More to Come if this sells well

2006-08-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

This is called the first “real” mod chip for the Xbox360. — Is it? You tell me.

The NME-360 enables your XBox360 to play backups of your highly valuable original games. NME-360 is a universal solution for ALL currently available XBox360 Consoles on the market. Forget crazy dual mods with 30+ wires or even bricking your DVD drive by flashing corrupt/wrong firmware files. Your original firmware stays untouched and intact at any time when using the NME-360. There is no need for any firmware-reading or flashing.

The NME-360 autodetects the inserted media. If the inserted media is a backup NME-360 injects the necessary information to the DVD drive enabling it to boot smoothly ahead! If the media is an original game, or anything else, which doesnt require any further action of the NME-360 then it simply falls asleep so there is no need for an external switch whatsoever. This way it can not be detected online when you play an original onlinegame.

I’d be surprised if some sort of legal action is not taken regarding this sort of thing since Microsoft has to minimize any sort of box “modding” to assure that its online gaming activities do not allow cheaters and thus ruin the experience for everyone else. Of course this device seems aimed at making the device capable of running “backups.” Whatever the case when you read through all the literature it seems like a lot of work overall. What I’d like to see is a complete Xbox360 done in software to run on a PC. Now that would be something!

found by Chris Coulter

5 ways to organize - your rss reader

2006-08-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

RSS feeds can be your best friend, they can also be your worst nightmare when you wake up and have thousands of new items to scan over, hundreds which dont even interest you.

5.

First step, get NewsFire! NewsFire is the best RSS reader, hands down. Simple interface, just the features you need, fast and with a neat sound effect to let you know something’s been downloaded. NetNewsWire has been around longer and has many more features, but that requires more configuration and thinking.

NewsFire is hands down, no argument, the best RSS reader for the Mac.

4.

Go through all of your feeds and decide which ones you no longer read. The more you remove the more free time you will have, and less time stressing over unread feeds. I generally remove feeds which aren’t regularly updated, or have drifted off-topic from the time of me originally adding them to my collection.

3.

Change the option of checking feeds every “x” minutes to 13. Studies have shown the longest people can focus on one task at any given time is 13 minutes. If you set your reader to refresh every 13 minutes you’ll be able to take a short break from your work, search through the feeds, then get back to work and repeat for the rest of the working day.

2.

If you feel a certain feed has so much content soaring through it and it’s a constant distraction, simple set that one feed to check every hour, or every day, not at 13 minute intervals like your other feeds.

Distraction diminished.

1.

My number one tip to keeping organized with RSS is to create groups in your RSS reader based on importance. Set up a folder for very important, important, normal, low importance, and very low importance. Then assign each and every one of your feeds to a folder. This way you’ll be able to actually read your news and know you have found out the important stuff if you dont have enough time to clear through everything, you can just check out the important stuff.

Microsoft invites Firefox development team to Redmond

2006-08-22T03:27:00.000-07:00

Microsoft wants to help aid in the development of Firefox. It sounds pretty scary, doesn't it? If you're still here, let me tell you that it's not as bad as it seems. Sam Ramjii, Director of Microsoft's Open Source Software Lab, has extended an invitation to the Firefox and Thunderbird developers asking them if they'd like to visit the company's open source research center. Microsoft's hopes are that, in a four-day span, the company can provide the open source developers with enough information to get the popular web browser running smoothly on Windows Vista.

Last Saturday, Ramjii posted a message in the newsgroup "mozilla.dev.planning" asking Mozilla's Mike Schroepfer and any other Firefox developers if they'd be interested in visiting the Windows Vista Readiness ISV Lab. Ramjii said that he's made a special exception for the Mozilla team since this isn't how the lab invitations normally work.

As part of my mission as an advocate for open source applications on Windows, I've gotten spaces set aside at the Windows Vista Readiness ISV Lab. In the past the company has only invited commercial software developers to these labs. I'm committed to evolving our thinking beyond commercial companies to include open source projects, so I went to the non-trivial effort of getting slots for non-commercial open source projects.

While there's no word as to whether Mozilla has accepted the offer, someone who at least goes by the name of Mike Schroepfer responded by saying, "I believe we are already in contact with your team via email. We will follow-up there." That sounds like a positive response, but even if this event never becomes a reality, it's great to see that Microsoft is concerned about projects like Firefox and Thunderbird. Sure, this could be viewed as a publicity stunt since Ramjii posted in a public forum, but that doesn't make the offer worthless. If this is what needs to happen for Firefox to run unhindered on Vista, then I'm all for it.