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Comment How does this even work? (Score 1) 490

Ok, forget the legal aspects of this being an obvious rip-off of the Wiimote. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how anyone would use the motion function on this thing when the screen is ON what you are moving. I mean seriously, it would be like having to pick up your laptop up off your desk and lift it up and to the left if you wanted to move your mouse to the file menu. Not only is your pointer moving on the screen, but your whole point of reference is also moving. It's easy to focus on a tv or computer screen because it is STATIONARY. Say you have to tilt it forward to move the pointer up. Well, now your screen is tilted away from you and you can't see it. I mean, when they come up with these cheap knock-off toys, do they just go straight from some marketing guys head straight into production? Surely someone out there would at least try to use it once and realize how stupid this is. I guess the idea is, is that it doesn't actually have to be functional to sell, it just has to look like a Wiimote, yeah, make it white with a d-pad on it and you can hold it in your hand. Brilliant.
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1 released (pclaunches.com)

Vinit writes: "Microsoft has silently released Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1 versions to a small group of testers. Tagged as 5.1.2600.3180 (xpsp.070718-2058) the 350MB XP Service Pack 3 includes fixes for over 900 reported problems, some of which have already been resolved with post-Service Pack 2 hotfixes. http://www.pclaunches.com/software/microsoft_windo ws_xp_sp3_and_vista_sp1_released_to_small_group_of _testers.php"
Microsoft

Submission + - Vista prevents users from playing high-def content (networkworld.com)

jbrodkin writes: "The restrictive content protection rules in Windows Vista still prevent users from playing high-definition content, more than half a year after the operating system's release, researcher Peter Gutmann said at USENIX this week. The specifications are intended to protect Hollywood copyrights, but even home movies can be blacked out by Vista because camcorders are increasingly becoming capable of shooting in HD. And that's not the only problem: Vista content protection requires so much extra encryption that system performance is being harmed significantly, Gutmann says. Since Vista lacks numerous security features that could protect users from online attacks, Gutmann wonders why Microsoft seems more intent on protecting the rights of Hollywood than the rights of its customers."
Television

Submission + - HowTo: Play movies on your AppleTV sans conversion

brad-x writes: "Since the Apple TV is running MacOS X, it is possible to install arbitrary codecs and have it play. The following instructions save time by not requiring the user to transcode all their movies (and suffer the lossy conversion), but does involve some expertise. Read on for more.

If the story is approved please approve the one using .nyud.net:8080 as I forgot to include that in the first submission. Sorry. :("
Google

Submission + - Traffic flow now on Google Maps

JohnAGonzalez writes: A recent look at Google Maps shows that they have added a new traffic feature. Click on the Traffic button in the upper right-hand corner of the map window while viewing your local metropolitan area and the major roads will be overlaid with colored outlines that show the traffic flow for that particular roadway.
Java

Submission + - Google Guices up Java dependency injection

LauraW writes: "Google recently open sourced Guice, a dependency injection framework for Java 1.5, under the Apache License. Guice bucks the "convention over configuration" trend started by Ruby on Rails in favor of concise but explicit configuration and maintainability. Unlike other J2EE frameworks such as Spring, Guice does only dependency injection, but does it very well, taking full advantage of modern Java features such as annotations and generics. Google is currently using Guice in mission-critical enterprise applications such as AdWords, and other companies are starting to experiment with it as well.

Disclaimer: I am a Google engineer. I didn't contribute to Guice, but I use it in my projects and think it's insanely great."

Adobe Releases Cross-Operating System Runtime 297

An anonymous reader writes to mention that Adobe released the first public version of their new cross-operating system runtime today nicknamed 'Apollo'. "The software relies on HTML, JavaScript, Flash, and Adobe Flex. The alpha version, which presently works on Windows and Macintosh, can be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com/go/apollo. Once the Apollo apps are created, users can launch them from their desktops, without using their browser or connecting online. An Apollo application can connect automatically to online data or services when an Internet connection is detected, with new components automatically downloaded and integrated. The user needs the Apollo runtime to run the apps, just as a Flash player is needed to run Flash animations."
Databases

Submission + - Data Centers Breathe Easier with Less Oxygen

danbert8 writes: PC World has an article about an interesting new idea for datacenter fire protection. What better protection is there than prevention? From the article:

Air is composed of about 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen and 1 percent of other gases. Fire needs the oxygen to burn, and lower percentages of oxygen makes it more difficult or impossible for fire to start.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129918/article.h tml

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