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Wii

Wii Shortages Could Last For Months 307

Posted by Zonk from the get-with-it-big-n dept.
Next Generation is reporting that, apparently, the Wii shortages could continue for some time yet. This is news from Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo's VP of marketing and corporate affairs, speaking to the Game Theory Podcast. Says Kaplan, "There is a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of working on what we are producing and the numbers continue to rise but the product is so very popular that we may see a supply / demand situation last for some time. We are at absolute maximum production and doing everything we can. The number of units that we have been able to produce has far exceeded our hardware production in the past and the production levels of a lot of our competitors but demand continues to be really high."
XBox (Games)

New Gears of War Mode Announced 31

Posted by Zonk from the i-claim-this-land-in-the-name-of-spain dept.
In an update downloadable on April 9th, the newest multiplayer mode for the Xbox 360 hit Gears of War will be made available. Called Annex, the mode is an objective-capturing gameplay scenario. Each map will have physical locations which must be taken and held, and allows for infinite respawns on a fifteen second timer. "On the map, a projected ring marks the physical location and boundaries of the objective in the world. The ring's color indicates the current captor: White means neutral, blue COG, and red Locust. To capture an objective, players must stand inside the glowing ring uncontested for a short period of time. How long depends on how many teammates stand in the ring at once. One player can capture an objective in eight seconds, two players in four seconds, three players in two seconds, and four players in one second. Once a team takes an objective, they are not required to remain inside the ring to maintain ownership."
The Internet

Submission + - Are AOL Customers Being Duped Out of Their Rights?

Submitted by
jarenado
jarenado writes: "On August 6th 2006, AOL announced the launch of My E-address a service to provide AOL Customers their own unique "domain" style email address sans the AOL tag. While the service is free, little tells registrants that they could be giving away their Creative and Intellectual Property rights. How? AOL becomes the owner of the domain name you create."
Displays

Submission + - How productive does using two monitors make you?

Submitted by Double Vision
Double Vision writes: In my job, I work with several software applications at once. I find that constantly switching back and forth wastes a tremendous amount of time and causes me to lose focus. My video card supports two monitors, so I found a discarded monitor in my office and hooked it up. This has made it much easier to do my job. However, we are getting ready to go through an equipment audit, which means I will likely lose my additional monitor unless I can justify keeping it. How can I make this case? Is anyone aware of studies that support my claim that two monitors makes me more productive?

Feed Apple not fighting back against Apple TV hacks (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed
We had a word with Apple yesterday about the Apple TV -- specifically about that supposed backdoor. We asked whether enthusiasts really are in fact having services and hacks shut down through surreptitious software updates and backdoors into the Apple TV, to which Apple let us know that is absolutely not the case. Although they didn't account for any issues these have been experiencing when upgrading their machines, Apple is certain that they didn't do any of that funny stuff that would make Sony's legal team cringe. Apple's stance, it claims, is more along the lines of: it's your box, do with it what you please -- but be mindful of voiding that warranty. Guess this is just the stuff you've got to deal with when tooling around with an STB -- your hacks aren't necessarily always going to stick and work, which is why they're hacks.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Music

Apple's Move May Make AAC Music Industry Standard 428

Posted by Zonk from the razors-and-razorblades dept.
stivi writes "BusinessWeek has up an article about a war: a standards war in the online music business. Apple's recent deal with EMI to sell DRM-free songs from the publisher's catalog on iTunes may clinch the iPod's AAC format as the industry standard. The article talks about possible reasons why AAC might marginalize WMA, as well as deals with some of the implications of drm-free aac-standardized industry. 'Online music stores, like Napster, Yahoo Music, URGE, and all the others that sell WMA songs will be forced to consider jumping into the DRM-free AAC camp, and thus become iPod compatible, and in so doing become competitors of iTunes. Apple will be fine with this, because in its range of priorities, anything that sells more iPods can only be a good thing. With time, practically all music stores will be selling iPod-compatible songs. This will be considered a Richter 10 event at Microsoft.'"
Education

Submission + - Math & Reading software provide no added benef

Submitted by Fysiks Wurks
Fysiks Wurks writes: According to the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, a subgroup of the Education Department, using math and reading software in the classroom produces no noticeable change in reading and math achievement scores. From the article, "The study found achievement scores were no higher in classrooms using reading and math software products than in classrooms without the new products. Researchers looked at elementary and secondary classes in 132 schools. The teachers that participated used more than a dozen software products to help deliver their lessons." [ http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/04/05/education. technology.ap/index.html%5D

So why spend the money on said products when you can spend it on other materials or profession development for teachers?
The Almighty Buck

Study Finds Cost Major Factor In Outsourcing Positions 367

Posted by Zonk from the they-get-you-coming-and-going dept.
theodp writes "Debunking claims to the contrary, a new study from Duke University asserts that it is purely cost savings, and not the education of Indian and Chinese workers, or a shortage of American engineers that has caused offshore outsourcing. 'The key advantage of hiring Chinese entry-level engineers was cost savings, whereas a few respondents cited strong education or training and a willingness to work long hours. Similarly, cost savings were cited as a major advantage of hiring Indian entry-level engineers, whereas other advantages were technical knowledge, English language skills, strong education or training, ability to learn quickly, and a strong work ethic.' The article goes on to point out that despite this, outsourcing will continue to be a problem for US workers in coming decades; new elements of traditional corporations like R&D may in fact be next on the outsourcing chopping block."
IBM

IBM the Next Great Software Company? 132

Posted by Zonk from the brave-new-world dept.
Diomidis Spinellis writes "A report in this week's Economist discusses IBM's globalization strategy and the company's presence in India. Refreshingly, the article admits that there's more to outsourcing than cheap labor, contrasting IBM's calculated investments with Apple's rapid pull-out from Bangalore. Although the jury is still out on how sluggish multinationals can compete with vigorous tigers, it seems that IBM has a credible strategy for becoming the next great software company, and that outsourcing is only a part of the puzzle."
Biotech

Three University of Wisconsin Stem Cell Patents Rejected 92

Posted by Zonk from the i'm-so-torn dept.
eldavojohn writes "A non-profit alumni group from the University of Wisconsin (WARF) has suffered a preliminary ruling against three of their recent patents regarding stem cells. Given that these patents have been upheld in prior rulings, there is a lot of speculation that they will be upheld in a future court case. From the PhysOrg article: 'The patents, which cover virtually all stem cell research in the country, have brought in at least $3.2 million and could net much more money before they expire in 2015, the newspaper said. Companies wanting to study the cells must buy licenses costing $75,000 to $400,000. The newspaper said WARF recently started waiving the fees if the research is conducted at universities or by non-profit groups.' Should universities (or groups within universities) be allowed to hold patents and intellectual property while at the same time gaining donations and grants as an educational institution — or for that matter government funds?"
Music

RIAA Attacks Sites Participating in Its Own Campaign 384

Posted by Zonk from the need-to-get-your-stories-straight-here-guys dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The RIAA is once again at their old tricks. The band Nine Inch Nails has intentionally 'leaked' songs via USB keys hidden at restrooms during their current European tour. Sites hosting the songs are now being sent cease and desist orders. 'Ironically, with its numerous pirated downloads available, the whole album has not leaked yet. According to a source, the only leaks are the ones Reznor approved himself. And whether he realizes it or not, Reznor may be building a new option for presenting music that augments the existing CD/tour scenario.'"
Google

Journal Journal: Google gets personal with My Maps

Journal by panchi2131
Search engine giant Google is launching My Maps, a new feature of Google Maps that enables users to create custom maps for personal use or sharing through search. for more details click here http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/11123/53/
Software

New Algorithms Improve Image Search 111

Posted by kdawson from the where's-waldo dept.
bc90021 writes "Electrical engineers from UC San Diego are making progress on an image search engine that analyzes the images themselves. At the core of this Supervised Multiclass Labeling system is a set of simple yet powerful algorithms developed at UCSD. Once you train the system (the 'supervised' part), you can set it loose on a database of unlabeled images. The system calculates the probability that various objects it has been trained to recognize are present, and labels the images accordingly. After labeling, images can be retrieved via keyword searches. Accuracy of the UCSD system has outpaced that of other content-based image labeling and retrieval systems in the literature. One of the co-authors works at Google, where the researchers have access to image collections at the largest of scales."
The Internet

ICANN Wants Immunity 235

Posted by kdawson from the divine-right-of-the-Commerce-Department dept.
rprins writes "In what is perhaps a reaction to recent Homeland Security demands, a strategic report by ICANN suggests that it should take on the model of a private international organization (PDF). That would make ICANN immune from US law and regulations. However, it's unlikely that the Bush administration would grant ICANN these privileges. So the organization might opt to relocate to Switzerland where such privileges are easier to attain."

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