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Software

Using AI to Monitor Kids Online 230

Posted by Zonk
from the ok-yeah-sigh-think-of-the-children dept.
eldavojohn writes "An Australian startup believes that the best way to protect your children online is through an artificially intelligent software program. The inventors of this idea are banking on children's attachment to pets. The creature's 'cuteness' and helpfulness will ingratiate the software with the child, so that he or she will respect it and listen to it, or even find it as a likable companion. Agent-based internet applications are nothing new but for concerned parents, this might be an admirable solution to what is perceived by many to be a growing problem. From one of the inventors: 'Of course, we're also planning to release a version of the Moji IM for teenagers and adults, but we're focusing on children at the moment.'"
Upgrades

Virtualization In Linux Kernel 2.6.20 178

Posted by kdawson
from the performance-numbers dept.
mcalwell writes with an article about the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (or KVM for short) in the release candidate Linux 2.6.20 kernel. From the article: "[T]he Linux 2.6.20 kernel will include a full virtualization (not para-virtualization) solution. [KVM] is a GPL software project that has been developed and sponsored by Qumranet. In this article we are offering a brief overview of the KVM for Linux as well as offering up in-house performance numbers as we compare KVM to other virtualization solutions such as QEMU Accelerator and Xen."
Space

black hole found inside globular cluster

Submitted by acidrain
acidrain writes "Contrary to the prediction of some computer models, scientists have found a black hole resting peacefully in a dense nest of stars called a globular cluster. Previously discovered black holes are either similar in size to a large star, or super massive holes which are millions of times bigger than a star is able to remain stable. This finding indicates there may be an intermediate size range of holes residing within these star clusters."
PlayStation (Games)

Grey Markets Compared - PS3 vs. Wii 82

Posted by Zonk
from the comparative-shopping-for-next-gen-swag dept.
Kotaku has a follow-up feature to their earlier look at the declining PS3 market on EBay. Post author Michael Fahey has now gone back and looked at Ebay sales, comparing the PS3 and the Wii. Unlike the sharp dips and spikes the PS3 market has suffered, the price seems to be fairly constant for the Wii console. From the article: "Considering the small window that the PlayStation 3 auctions had to turn a truly amazing profit, prospectors would have been better off in the long run purchasing a couple of Wiis, which have maintained an average profit margin of 45-50% since preorders became available. Definitely not a windfall, but a much more financially sound investment in the long run. Unfortunately these launches weren't about being sound financially. They were about betting on the big bucks, and the majority of the PS3 prospectors out there played the tables and lost."
XBox (Games)

360 Achievements More Popular Than Microsoft Imagined 117

Posted by Zonk
from the flaunting-those-sk1llz dept.
GameDaily is hosting an article looking at the phenomenal popularity of Achivements on the Xbox 360. Even the marketing team that came up with the idea is floored by the incredible popularity of what CliffyB referred to as 'nerd cred'. From the article: "Achievement points are changing the way gamers play. While the tendency had been for people to play a game through to the end and then toss it into a closet, many gamers are now going back and playing them again, this time to unlock achievements to boost their Gamerscore. Or if they only played the single-player version, to go back and play the multiplayer or online component. Or to go out and buy games they would not ordinarily have purchased. Or to rent games."
Graphics

Low-res, low-price sells gaming hardware right now

Submitted by fiorenza
fiorenza writes "With the launch of the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii days away in the US, Ars Technica takes a look at how gaming hardware offerings from Microsoft Nintendo and Sony have fared this year so far. The results are surprising: the new Xbox 360 has been outsold by the the 6 year old PS2 every month but April. At the top is the Nintendo DS, which has outsold all of the consoles this year, and has more than double the sales of the Sony PSP. It would appear that gamers prefer big gaming libraries and less expensive hardware. This doesn't bode well for the 360 or the PS3."
XBox (Games)

Xbox 360 HD-DVD Rendered Using Software

Submitted by
spacemky
spacemky writes "From the story:

"In a post on Microsoft's developer network blogs, software engineer Shaheen Gandhi, explains just how demanding HD DVD playback is for the Xbox 360."
Apparently the new drive renders content off its new HD-DVD player entirely using software. "All 6 of Xbox 360's hardware threads are hard at work while playing back an HD DVD. At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game)."

Also interesting, "In total around 4.7 million lines of code were needed to implement the HD DVD player.""
The Internet

Canada's Copyright Czar Faces Heat On Lobby Ties

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, who is responsible for copyright and broadcast policy in Canada, is facing a brewing storm for her close ties to lobby groups and willingness to take their cash. After cancelling a fundraiser under pressure last week, today the Hill Times reports on another 2005 fundraiser and the Toronto Star traces back to 2004 to find that Oda has long been a favorite of broadcaster and copyright lobbyists."
Communications

Non-Outlook mobile contact and calendar software?

Submitted by Overzeetop
Overzeetop writes "What solutions are there for non-Outlook based calendaring and contact software that can be used on both a Windows desktop and a Windows Mobile device? I need shared contacts and calendaring with others in my small office, and would like to take that "on the road" with my new (yet to be purchased) pda/phone. I really don't want to go to Exchange server. Is there something that will work on both the desktop and a mobile device that doesn't use the Outlook database?"

Copper Wire As Fast As Fiber? 239

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the kudos-for-trying dept.
Krishna Dagli writes to tell us that a new consortium of hardware vendors and phone companies have banded together in order to try for fiber optic speeds over copper wiring. From the article: "To avoid interference, current DSL implementations use static spectrum management that is built for a 'worst-case' scenario. Most actual phone lines would allow for far better performance, and DSM technology will allow each DSL connection to be regulated in real time by the hardware based on measured crosstalk and on current data needs of each customer. The end result could be DSL connections that top out at 100Mbps or more."

For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat.