273035
submission
Slaine writes:
More information has come to light about why Apple and NBC aren't seeing eye-to-eye on selling TV shows through iTunes (previous /.). NBC wants far more restrictive DRM, and demanded $4.99 pricing for TV shows, more than doubling the price. Apple has retaliated by refusing to sell NBC's new fall shows, even though they have a contract through the end of the year. Something tells me NBC will be regretting this decision once the new season of shows starts.
272209
submission
eagl writes:
It seems as if DIRECTV has jumped on the DRM bandwagon in a big way. Wil Wheaton finds himself with 57 channels (plus or minus a few hundred) and nothing on, quite literally. Is the inevitable result of forcing restrictive standards that do not benefit consumers?
263387
submission
wamerocity writes:
"One of the biggest if not THE BIGGEST development in the PSP hacking scene has just unfolded."
A new homebrew app, lovingly referred to as "Pandora's Battery" has surfaced as a joint effort between the most noted PSP Homebrew devs, team Noobz, C + D, and homebrew god Dark_Alex. This app, allows ANY homebrew enabled PSP to turn any regular PSP battery into the famed "jigkick" battery, (the method Sony uses to unbrick warrantied PSP) and in conjunction with a small program on the memory stick, it can restore it to the celestial homebrew-friendly 1.5 firmware.
As a sidenote, the newly-created jigkick battery can no longer be used as a normal battery, so a new one should be purchased first.
263227
submission
LucidLion writes:
As reported here and according to the vgchartz, in less than a year the Wii has overtaken the XBox 360 and has become the fasted selling console ever.
From the article:
The news marks the first time that Nintendo has been the leader in both the home console and handheld markets since 1994 when the company's Super NES and Game Boy lines reigned supreme. Currently, the DS and Wii are the top two selling system's in the industry.
With the way it's selling, any drought in Wii games probably won't last long.
260131
submission
SoyChemist writes:
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology have used pellets made from the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to produce biodiesel at room temperature. Usually, biodiesel is made by brewing vegetable oil with methanol and lye at high temperatures. That wastes a lot of energy, and thus partially defeats the point of making an alternative fuel. The researchers in Hyderabad mixed sunflower oil with methanol and trickled it through a glass column filled with fungus pellets. A lipase enzyme in the fungus converted the brew into biodiesel with a yield as high as 85 percent. Considering that the U.S. Department of Energy and BP are have pumped tons of money into synthetic biology for making alternative fuels, it is amazing to see what an apparently underfunded lab can do with natural organisms.
