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Submission + - GM announces new electric vehicle: meet Chevy Volt

Submitted by savuporo
savuporo writes: Who killed the Electric Car ? Who cares, its alive again. General Motors has announced a new Chevy Volt at Detroit auto show. Its actually a plug-in serial hybrid, but can go 40 miles on purely electric mode on its lithium-ion battery pack. If driving less than that in a day, you never need to stop at the gas station again.
Games

Submission + - Will Vista make it cheaper to be a gamer ?

Submitted by
rathalian
rathalian writes: "After spending many a year wrestling home built PCs and working through the inevitable issues seen with increasing performance including heat and noise reduction, I decided to investigate purchasing a 'gaming' laptop. As the salary sacrificing options I have make it very appealing, particulary as I have an IT business that requires some mobility, it was interesting to see how over the last 4 months the online specifications available for laptops is changing fairly rapidly as we have approached Vista's release. Notably the premium that was charged for a laptop containing a 'decent' GPU to play games has dropped sharply. You can now get laptops with Core 2 Duo's, ATI X1700 GPUs and 1 gig of memory for under $2000 (Australian) as these chips are now more mainstream. And why are they more mainstream ? — see Vista GPU requirements for one... A classic example of this has been Dell's site. Previously their 6400 and 9400 Inspiron series of laptops offered the Intel 950, ATI X1400 and in the case of the 9400, the Nvidia 9700GS. Just over a month ago the Intel line was dropped from both the 6400 and the 9400's catalogue and it is standard on the 6400 to get an X1400 at a much lower price than Dell was offering around the end of October 2006. You can now get Toshiba's laptop that includes an Nvidia 7900GTX for $3400 (Australian) which was previously unheard of in a laptop re bang for buck. Now I know that prices change, however there has been a clear surge in the amount of laptops running higher performance GPU's and for a lower cost. So, does this mean that 2007 will mark the year where there is an across the board drop in GPU prices as the higher performance GPU cards become the standard cards in the 'average' PC or laptop due to Vista requirements? What are your thoughts?"
Music

Submission + - The dark history of music copyrights

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Okay, this article is a bit old, but it's a hellava good read and very enlightening about the seedy, shady, underhanded goings-on in the music copyright business. How do you steal a composition from someone and turn it into a megahit? Or claim copyright on centuries-old folk ballads while using an alias for youself? It's mostly the story behind "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", the megahit by the The Tokens in 1961, but there are plenty of side stories that show what happened to that song was not so unusual. Next time you hear the RIAA trying to wrap themselves in the purity of copyright, you'll laugh out loud.
User Journal

Journal Journal: How patents should work

Journal by Harmonious Botch
The following is an attempt to improve the patent process by adding competition to it. It is essentially a public test of non-obviousness.

A patent application should be composed of two documents. The first document should say what the invention does. The second document should say how it does it ( or in some cases how the manufacturer made it ). Both documents would be submitted privately to the patent office at the same time.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Could the Wii end up competing against its remote?

Submitted by StreetStealth
StreetStealth writes: Now that the Wii's motion sensing and infrared triangulation have been hacked, intercepted, and utilized by PCs, the Wii's central feature is no longer exclusive to itself. What happens when a platform's revolutionary feature is an accessory that can be easily appropriated by anything with a Bluetooth transceiver? "No Substance / All Eloquence" explores the possibilities.
Media

Submission + - China to go with its own DVD format from 2008

Submitted by thefickler
thefickler writes: Chinese DVD manufacturers are pissed, very pissed, because patent licensing fees mean that they don't make much money making DVD players. Now, with the backing of the Chinese government they are launching their own format called EVD that could spell the end of DVD as we know it, according to this story.
The Internet

Submission + - C|NET Editor Kim Found Dead of Exposure

Submitted by shylock0
shylock0 writes: Some of us have been following the events over the past week surrounding James Kim, C|NET senior editor who disappeared with his family in a snowstorm. C|NET is reporting that Kim was found dead of exposure, though his family is safe. Many of us remember James' contributions to TechTV, or have read his reviews and other content over the years. He will be missed.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Ask the Dotted Circle 7

Journal by Short Circuit

"Coincidence? I think NOT!"

Where did that phrase come from, originally? What made it so recognizable, popular, and even cliche?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - NASDAQ to start de-listing SCOX

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Since SCOX has closed at $0.93 a share today, NASDAQ will start the process of de-listing the stock!

The End is [thankfully] near!

W00t!
Television

Submission + - Comcast decrees "You will watch our TV or pay!

Submitted by
PortHaven
PortHaven writes: "Just received a notice from Comcast regarding future rate hikes. Essentially, Comcast is trying to force all it's broadband subscribers to use their TV service.

The rates were as follows:

$39.95 internet+TV
$49.95 internet only ($39.95+$10 additional fee)

The new rates for 2007 are as follows:

$42.95 internet+TV
$59.95 internet only

There is nearly a 40% cost difference if you decide not to subscribe to Comcast's TV. Yes, it is common to offer discounts for bundled services but Comcast has gone way beyond a mere bundle discount. The new pricing scheme is akin to McDonald's announcing that you can no longer buy a hamburger unless you also buy a coke and fries. Everyone understands the concept of the value meal. Buy a #1 and save 70 cents on your big mac, fries and coke. But what Comcast is doing is charging $7 for a #1 value meal. And if you just want to buy a big mac charging you the same $7.

Essentially, this pricing is designed to prevent customer from moving to alternatives. Now any difference in savings you'd gain by using satellite TV + cable internet is lost because there is now a $20 surchage. Presently, my household does not own a TV or subscribe to TV service instead we utilize Netflix and iTunes. The only real alternative to cable broadband is DSL. However, the telephone companies require you to have a landline (approx. $20). I, like many others in the younger generations have found no need for a landline (our cell phones do quite nicely) nor for TV service.

It appears I have no choice but to choose one or the other if I want broadband internet access. It's Monopoly! Do you choose to land on Boardwalk or Park Place?"
Microsoft

Submission + - Free Domain Name and Hosting From Microsoft

Submitted by
Marc
Marc writes: "Signup for a free "Office Live Basic" account, and get a free domain name and hosting. Offers 500MB of web space, and includes up to 25 email accounts with 2GB of storage each. Also includes "Easy-to-use Web site design tools". Of course, IE is required to sign up, and a credit card is required for validation purposes."

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