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Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Turns 35: Best, Worst, Most Notables (computerworld.com)

Submitted by CWmike
CWmike writes: It's hard to believe, but Microsoft turns 35 this year. Preston Gralla takes an opinionated look back, calling out the highs and lows of Microsoft history: the most reviled OS, smartest acquisition, worst PR disaster, best hire, sneakiest software bundling, prickliest partnership, biggest under-the-radar success, most embarrassing product glitch, weirdest company spokesperson and more.

Comment Re:tax dollars for corporate capital expenditures (Score 1) 144

by joshamania (#31134484) Attached to: Pittsburgh, Seattle Announce Interest In Google's Fiber Trial

I certainly wouldn't want to pay any money at all to turn my city into the Florence of the digital renaissance. Keep those Da Vinci and Michelangelo types out of my community! I don't want any new tech startups coming to my city either because they can get crazy fast internet access for way cheap.

I don't want rich people moving to my town just for the internet access. Tell those folks to spend their money somewhere else.

I don't want the current industry base to stay here, so don't bring the Giganet here as CEOs would never move anywhere else because they'd have the best connection to their international companies from my town.

I don't like low unemployment figures. Building the Giganet in my community would create too many jobs. Eff that...

I hate money. Money would flow too easily to my community if we had the Giganet built here.

I hate artists. People creating their own digital video content would want to live in my community if we had the Giganet. No sir! Not for me!

I hate research. I don't want the ENTIRE STAFF OF FERMILAB moving to my community instead of Switzerland. I don't want a shedload of doctors moving here either because they've got the fattest pipe on which to do remote-diagnosis in their own home. ...

Dude, seriously...you tell your city government to give Google WHATEVER THE HELL THEY WANT. The costs of this network will be...lets call them "insignificant" when compared to the benefits of it, okay?
Businesses

GameStop, Other Retailers Subpoenaed Over Credit Card Information Sharing 117

Posted by Soulskill from the you-can-trust-us dept.
New York State's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, has subpoenaed a number of online retailers, including GameStop, Barnes & Noble, Ticketmaster and Staples, over the way they pass information to marketing firms while processing transactions. MSNBC explains the scenario thus: "You're on the site of a well-known retailer and you make a purchase. As soon as you complete the transaction a pop-up window appears. It offers a discount on your next purchase. Click on the ad and you are automatically redirected to another company's site where you are signed up for a buying club, travel club or credit card protection service. The yearly cost is usually $100 to $145. Here's where things really get smarmy. Even though you did not give that second company any account information, they will bill the credit or debit card number you used to make the original purchase. You didn't have to provide your account number because the 'trusted' retailer gave it to them for a cut of the action." While there is no law preventing this sort of behavior, Cuomo hopes the investigation will pressure these companies to change their ways, or at least inform customers when their information might be shared.
NASA

Dying Man Shares Unseen Challenger Video 266

Posted by Soulskill from the new-perspective-on-an-old-tragedy dept.
longacre writes "An amateur video of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion has been made public for the first time. The Florida man who filmed it from his front yard on his new Betamax camcorder turned the tape over to an educational organization a week before he died this past December. The Space Exploration Archive has since published the video into the public domain in time for the 24th anniversary of the catastrophe. Despite being shot from about 70 miles from Cape Canaveral, the shuttle and the explosion can be seen quite clearly. It is unclear why he never shared the footage with NASA or the media. NASA officials say they were not aware of the video, but are interested in examining it now that it has been made available."
Image

Prolonged Gaming Blamed For Rickets Rise 254

Posted by samzenpus from the don't-let-the-scurvy-get-you-down dept.
superapecommando writes "Too many hours spent playing videogames indoors is contributing to a rise in rickets, according to a new study by doctors. Professor Simon Pearce and Dr Tim Cheetham of Newcastle University have written a paper in the British Medical Journal which warns of the rickets uptake – a disease which sufferers get when deficient in Vitamin D. The study boils down to the fact that as more people play videogames indoors they don't get enough sunlight and this has meant the hospitals are now having to combat a disease that was last in the papers around the time Queen Victoria was on the throne." At least the kids are eating enough snacks with iodized salt that we don't have to worry about goiters.

Comment Way off the mark on e-cigarettes (Score 4, Insightful) 214

by joshamania (#30751276) Attached to: The Worst Products of CES 2010

A guy I work with bought one of these...not the same brand, but pretty much same deal. I've tried the e-cigarette and if they were more easily available, I probably would have bought one by now. It actually tastes pretty much like a cigarette, and once one gets accustomed to it, I see it as a direct replacement.

The guy I know who has one...smokes in wal-mart, restaurants, in public, etc. Granted, he's going to catch flak for it from the countless busybody-douchebags in this world that just cannot stand seeing someone else enjoying themselves, but its not banned anywhere. It doesn't burn anything and produces no smell.

This product deserves an A +.
PC Games (Games)

EA Shutting Down Video Game Servers Prematurely 341

Posted by Soulskill from the sixty-dollar-yearly-fee dept.
Spacezilla writes "EA is dropping the bomb on a number of their video game servers, shutting down the online fun for many of their Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 games. Not only is the inclusion of PS3 and Xbox 360 titles odd, the date the games were released is even more surprising. Yes, Madden 07 and 08 are included in the shutdown... but Madden 09 on all consoles as well?"
Games

Whatever Happened To Second Life? 209

Posted by Soulskill from the i-blame-ralph dept.
Barence writes "It's desolate, dirty, and sex is outcast to a separate island. In this article, PC Pro's Barry Collins returns to Second Life to find out what went wrong, and why it's raking in more cash than ever before. It's a follow-up to a feature written three years ago, in which Collins spent a week living inside Second Life to see what the huge fuss at the time was all about. The difference three years can make is eye-opening."
Games

Copyright and the Games Industry 94

Posted by Soulskill from the your-super-mario-toilet-paper-is-probably-illegal dept.
A recent post at the Press Start To Drink blog examined the relationship the games industry has with copyright laws. More so than in some other creative industries, the reactions of game companies to derivative works are widely varied and often unpredictable, ranging anywhere from active support to situations like the Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes debacle. Quoting: "... even within the gaming industry, there is a tension between IP holders and fan producers/poachers. Some companies, such as Epic and Square Enix, remain incredibly protective of their Intellectual Property, threatening those that use their creations, even for non-profit, cultural reasons, with legal suits. Other companies, like Valve, seem to, if not embrace, at least tolerate, and perhaps even tacitly encourage this kind of fan engagement with their work. Lessig suggests, 'The opportunity to create and transform becomes weakened in a world in which creation requires permission and creativity must check with a lawyer.' Indeed, the more developers and publishers that take up Valve's position, the more creativity and innovation will emerge out of video game fan communities, already known for their intense fandom and desire to add to, alter, and re-imagine their favorite gaming universes."

Submission + - Computer Monitor as TV Replacement, What's best? 2

Submitted by
joshamania
joshamania writes: "A little over a year ago I ditched my 46" TheaterWide projection and went to 100% media consumption via my personal computer. I listen to music, watch TV, movies, game, etc, all on a 24" widescreen computer monitor. The monitor I have is fantastic and I've been considering getting a new one...this thing is about 4-5 years old now...and switching my 24" to be my crap 20" second monitor. The 24" has been great, but I want something bigger now. I've looked around the past few weeks and have seen some interesting products but I really don't know what the best solution is. Best Buy doesn't sell a single TV with a DVI connection. A local geek told me don't worry, there's HDMI, and perhaps I"m missing something, but I have DVI coming out of my video card, not HDMI. I would prefer native connections to having to convert something. Also I shouldn't forget that I'm an avid gamer. So what is the best monitor or TV to buy? It doesn't need to be huge, but at least 30". Do refresh rates made a difference? Are the 3D glasses setup worth it? I'd be satisfied with 1920x1080 but more is cool. And please nobody post the 30" computer monitors with the 700:1 contrast ratio. *wince*"
Power

Submission + - Helsinki to recycle excess heat from data center (idg.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Helsinki public energy company Helsingin Energia will recycle heat from a new data center to help generate energy and deliver hot water for the Finnish capital city. The recycled heat from the data center, being built by IT and telecom services company Academica, could add about 1 percent to the total energy generated by Helsingin Energia's system in the summer."
Science

Submission + - Royal Society Puts 60 Seminal Scientific Papers On (royalsociety.org)

Submitted by coaxial
coaxial writes: In celebration of it's 350th anniversary, The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge (aka The Royal Society), has placed 60 of the most revolutionary scientific papers it has published online. Highlights include the first paper describing blood transfusion from 1666, Newton's paper on light and color from 1672, to Stephen Hawking's work on black holes.
Government

Submission + - FCC Moves On Net Neutrality (nextgov.com)

Submitted by suitablegirl
suitablegirl writes: Today's Federal Register includes an official notice from the FCC that it is proposing a rule that would "preserve the open Internet." Net Neutrality has been a hot topic in recent days; two weeks ago a White House official spoke out in favor of the concept and took a shot at the broadband industry.

Speaking at a telecom policy conference last week, Deputy CTO Andrew McLaughlin compared censorship in China — where President Obama's recent comments on open Internet values were blocked from Chinese Web sites — to the need for net neutrality rules so as to prevent corporations from acting as gatekeepers of information and speech.

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