Comment Re:interesting (Score 3, Interesting) 136
Multitasking for one. If you are in Skype and want to run another program, you can forget about it with the current iPhones.
EA Shuts Down Pandemic Studios, Cuts 200 Jobs 161
lbalbalba writes "Electronic Arts is shutting down its Westwood-based game developer Pandemic Studios just two years after acquiring it, putting nearly 200 people out of work. 'The struggling video game publisher informed employees Tuesday morning that it was closing the studio as part of a recently announced plan to eliminate 1,500 jobs, or 16% of its global workforce. Pandemic has about 220 employees, but an EA spokesman said that a core team, estimated by two people close to the studio to be about 25, will be integrated into the publisher's other Los Angeles studio, in Playa Vista.' An ex-developer for Pandemic attributed the studio's struggles to poor decisions from the management."
Comment Keep it simple, stupid! (Score 1) 514
Google's page is simple and pure. There is one logo and a search bar.
Bing has decided to make their search page bloated with graphics that actually update.
Do you know how painful it is to remote desktop or vnc to someone's computer that has yahoo, bing, or some other search engine besides google set as their homepage? grr!
Bing has decided to make their search page bloated with graphics that actually update.
Do you know how painful it is to remote desktop or vnc to someone's computer that has yahoo, bing, or some other search engine besides google set as their homepage? grr!
Comment Re:What remote access technology? (Score 1) 251
Probably GoToMyComputer.
GoToMyComputer creates an outgoing connection to the GoToMyComputer server. When you want to log in, you log on to the central GoToMyComputer server and click connect. The server contacts the laptop and logs you in.
This bypasses the need to know the IP personally since the laptop creates the outgoing connection to the central server. This also bypasses 99% of all home firewalls since an outgoing connection session is established, enabling the session and allowing for data to pass in both directions.
GoToMyComputer creates an outgoing connection to the GoToMyComputer server. When you want to log in, you log on to the central GoToMyComputer server and click connect. The server contacts the laptop and logs you in.
This bypasses the need to know the IP personally since the laptop creates the outgoing connection to the central server. This also bypasses 99% of all home firewalls since an outgoing connection session is established, enabling the session and allowing for data to pass in both directions.
Submission + - Gamer sues gold farmers
navygeek writes: Tired of contending with gold farmers in Blizzard's online sensation, World of Warcraft, gamer Antonio Hernadez has filed a class-action lawsuit against gold farming outfit IGE.
The attorney representing Hernandez in the case, Richard Newsome, told The Escapist, "Guys like Tony [Hernandez, the plaintiff] have paid their $15 for some entertainment, and IGE is polluting that entertainment. It's kind of like, if someone pays for a ticket to go see a movie, and if someone else comes in behind them and kicks their seat, you can get them to stop doing that."
Details on the lawsuit may be found at Gamespot and The Escapist. The actual complaint can be found here, PDF warning.
Submission + - OCZ makes first FireWire flash drive
An anonymous reader writes: OCZ makes first FireWire flash drive
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/114838/ocz-makes-first -firewire-flash-drive.html
Submission + - Man sues Gateway because he can't read EULA
Scoopy writes: California resident Dennis Sheehan took Gateway to small claims court after he reportedly received a defective computer and little technical support from the PC manufacturer. Gateway responded with their own lawyer and a 2-inch thick stack of legal docs, and claimed that Sheehan violated the EULA, which requires that users give up their right to sue and settle these cases in private arbitration. Sheehan responded that he never read the EULA, which pops up when the user first starts the computer, because the graphics were scrambled — precisely the problem he had complained to tech support in the first place. A judge sided with Sheehan on May 24 and the case will proceed to small claims court.
A lawyer is quoted as saying that Sheehan, a high school dropout who is arguing his own case, is in for a world of hurt: 'This poor guy now faces daunting reality of having to litigate this on appeal against Gateway...By winning, he's lost.'
A lawyer is quoted as saying that Sheehan, a high school dropout who is arguing his own case, is in for a world of hurt: 'This poor guy now faces daunting reality of having to litigate this on appeal against Gateway...By winning, he's lost.'
Submission + - Top 20 Hard Disk Drive Myths Debunked
crazyeyes writes: "Hilarious and informative. How many articles are like that? I did think about putting it under It's Funny, Laugh.... until I saw two myths I thought was true. Yeah, I'm laughing at myself now.
Take a look and see how many of these top 20 HDD myths you actually believed to be gospel?"This guide was written in response to the numerous fallacies about the hard disk that are still being propagated in many forum discussions. Although many articles have covered these topics, it is apparent that hard disk urban legends are still more popular than the simple truth. So, let's get down to basics and examine some of these common fallacies or myths and debunk them!
Submission + - Patent reform on the horizon?
Reivec writes: U.S. patent law, already shaken up by a Supreme Court ruling this spring, is facing its biggest overhaul in 50 years, amid a legislative battle that pits drug companies against some major players in the financial and high-tech sectors.
The battle's next round is in the Senate, where a committee is set today to consider legislation backed by Democratic and Republican leaders that would make patents harder to get and easier to challenge. It would also reduce penalties for violating them.
The battle's next round is in the Senate, where a committee is set today to consider legislation backed by Democratic and Republican leaders that would make patents harder to get and easier to challenge. It would also reduce penalties for violating them.
Submission + - WoW gamer files lawsuit against IGE
racton writes: The Escapist posted an interview with an attorney who has filed a consumer class action suit against IGE, the large in-game item trading company. The complaint states that selling virtual money is "polluting the entertainment" for players who pay for the World of Warcraft service.
From the article:
TE: So what is the actual lawsuit — in layman's terms? RN: The actual lawsuit is Hernandez v. IGE. We filed it in Miami, where IGE has offices. In layman's terms, the core of the complaint is a consumer class action for unfair trade practices. Guys like Tony [Hernandez, the plaintiff] have paid their $15 for some entertainment, and IGE is polluting that entertainment. It's kind of like, if someone pays for a ticket to go see a movie, and if someone else comes in behind them and kicks their seat, you can get them to stop doing that. We're just trying to get IGE to stop kicking the seats. This is not unlike other consumer complaints where someone has paid for a service, and someone else is interfering with it. It's really very simple.
Submission + - Riding an Ion Drive to the Asteroid Belt (nasa.gov)
Iron Condor writes: JPL is now close to embarking on another of its trademark, one-of-a-kind missions, this time to the heart of the asteroid belt: The Dawn mission is being prepared for launch this summer from Kennedy Space Center. Dawn will explore Ceres and Vesta, the two largest known asteroids in our solar system, which lie in the vast expanse between Mars and Jupiter. In the process, the mission will make history on several fronts. Besides being the first spacecraft to orbit a main-belt asteroid and the first to ever orbit two targets after leaving Earth, Dawn will be the first science mission powered by electric ion propulsion, the world's most advanced and efficient space propulsion technology.
Submission + - The Death Of A Software License (GPL) (bmc.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Death Of A Software License argues that Google's Greg Stein's "license pressure" is something that Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation should pay more attention to. If the FSF takes the GPL v3 in an opposing direction to the developers that gave the GPL legs in the first place, then we'll see an obvious outcome — the death of the GPL. Interesting blog post if nothing else.
Submission + - Scientists turn back time on mice skin cells (nature.com)
prostoalex writes: "Nature magazine is reporting that a team of scientists from Kyoto University has developed a technique to reprogram the aging skin cells into embryonic skin cells, effectively reversing aging in mice without cloning or stem cells: "If researchers succeed, it will make it relatively easy to produce cells that seem indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells, and that are genetically matched to individual patients. There are limits to how useful and safe these would be for therapeutic use in the near term, but they should quickly prove a boon in the lab.""
Submission + - Asus stuns Computex with £100 laptop (linuxdevices.com)
srinravi writes: According to linuxdevices.com, Asus chairman Jonney Shih sprang a surprise during Intel's Computex keynote today with the announcement of a $190 laptop.
The notebook measures roughly 120 x 100 x 30mm (WDH) and weighs only 900g. The notebook boots in 15 seconds from its solid-state 2GB flash drive. The huge auditorium then burst into applause as Shih revealed the astounding price tag. Dubbed the 3ePC, Shih claimed the notebook is the 'lowest cost and easiest PC to use'.
The notebook uses a custom-written Linux operating system, much like the OLPC, though unlike the OLPC, Asus has chosen a more conventional interface. The 3epc is based on an unspecified Intel processor and chipset. Given the laptop's low cost, it may well be among the first products based on Tolopai, Intel's forthcoming Pentium M-powered SoC (system-on-chip). Along with a Pentium M core clocked between 600MHz and 1.2GHz, initial Tolopai chips are expected to integrate components traditionally found in PC northbridges and southbridges — a graphics processing unit (GPU), external memory and storage controllers, and peripheral interfaces such as USB and Ethernet.
The notebook measures roughly 120 x 100 x 30mm (WDH) and weighs only 900g. The notebook boots in 15 seconds from its solid-state 2GB flash drive. The huge auditorium then burst into applause as Shih revealed the astounding price tag. Dubbed the 3ePC, Shih claimed the notebook is the 'lowest cost and easiest PC to use'.
The notebook uses a custom-written Linux operating system, much like the OLPC, though unlike the OLPC, Asus has chosen a more conventional interface. The 3epc is based on an unspecified Intel processor and chipset. Given the laptop's low cost, it may well be among the first products based on Tolopai, Intel's forthcoming Pentium M-powered SoC (system-on-chip). Along with a Pentium M core clocked between 600MHz and 1.2GHz, initial Tolopai chips are expected to integrate components traditionally found in PC northbridges and southbridges — a graphics processing unit (GPU), external memory and storage controllers, and peripheral interfaces such as USB and Ethernet.
Submission + - A closer look at Asus' $199 computer
Known Nutter writes: This year's Computex is proving to be very exciting with Asus' introduction of their $200 PC. Chairman Jonney Shih introduced the flash-powered portable computer and claimed that it can boot in about 15 seconds. The computer will be available in 7 and 10-inch screen versions and will run a customized Linux distro. Asus has not said when the computer will be available.
