Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/fortunebrainstormtech/~3/3AuFuCHfBUw/
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Bafta: an evening with the Oliver twins
Come and meet the creators of Dizzy and movie karaoke sim, Yoostar 2, at Bafta HQ!
This is just a quick post to let you all know that, on Monday night, I'll be interviewing Philip and Andrew Oliver LIVE on stage at Bafta. The creators of the iconic Dizzy series and founders of Blitz Games Studios will be discussing their career, the changes to the games industry they've witnessed, and the future of interactive entertainment. Blitz is a leader in 3D technology and motion controls so they should plenty of interesting insights about these potentially game-changing new developments. They'll also be chatting about their latest title, the movie karaoke sim, Yoostar 2.
The event starts at 6.30pm and tickets are �5. You can find out more here. Or view the Bafta Facebook page. Hope to see you there!
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/mar/31/bafta-oliver-twins
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iPad accounted for $9.566B out of $9.6B in tablet sales in 2010
I have an original iPad and I really like it, I can certainly see why the tablet did so well on the market. Take into account that for much of 2010 it was the only media tablet on the market and you can see why the numbers for tablet sales in 2010 were so lopsided. According to numbers released by Gartner, the iPad accounted for almost every bit of the tablet sales last year.
Gartner reports that $9.6 billion was spent last year on media tablets by consumers. Out of that number, the firm has Apple selling $9.556 billion worth of iPads. A little math will leave all other tablets that were on the market last year selling a combined $34 million in revenue.
IDC’s numbers showed that the iPad had 83% of the market last year. This year is likely to be even better for sales of iPads with the iPad 2 on the market. There will be more competition this year and a few of the tablets may have what it takes to make this a two horse race. IDC still figures that the iPad will grab 70% of the tablet market in 2011 putting a cool $20 billion into the coffers in Cupertino.
[via BetaNews]
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Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/fcCmuZ1aKr0/
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Do you like having your search results influenced by what your friends like? (blog)
You might’ve noticed that as of yesterday, some Google search results are followed by a note about someone you know having shared that link. This is because Google just made a change where listings vetted by people you’re connected to … Continue reading 
Pro Tip: Don't Sell Military Spy Drones on eBay
After being indicted on March 10th by a grand jury, Chua is facing significant jail time for selling something a crafty hobbyist probably could have built in his back yard. Let this be a lesson: if you're going to get arrested for selling a military drone, at least make sure it's one capable of firing off a few Hellfire Missiles.
Pro Tip: Don't Sell Military Spy Drones on eBay originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.switched.com/2011/03/29/raven-spy-drone-sale-gets-henson-chua-jailtime/
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Nexus makes a mouse that has no noisy click
If you work in an office where you have lots of people sitting very close to you it may drive you crazy that most mice and keyboards are so noisy. If you want a mouse that makes no noise at all, that can be hard to find. Every mouse I have ever used has made clicking sounds when you hit a button or scroll the mouse wheel.
A company called Nexus has a new mouse called the Silent Mouse that has a new patented switch for the button that makes no sound when used. The mouse is also wireless with 2.4GHz tech for good range and low latency. The mouse uses a tiny nano receiver.
I really like the nano style receivers since you can plug them into a notebook and just leave them. The mouse has 1000 or 1600 dpi sensitivity with a switch to choose. That is more than your average mouse offers at 800dpi and will be welcome by users that have big screens on their computer. Check out the video below to see the mouse in action.
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Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/lVieRxhl4V0/
IntelliGuard Systems adds flash storage to RAVENAlert
There have been some high profile and tragic shootings on college campuses and many schools are taking to technology to alert students when there are emergency issues. Some campuses are using a system called RAVENAlert from IntelliGuard Systems to warn people when emergencies arise.
The RAVENAlert system is a small device that can be hooked to a bag or to a key ring that looks like a flash drive, it’s actually wirelessly connected device with an LCD screen that the school can use to send messages out to students and faculty. The system can warn all connected devices at one time within 20 seconds.
The company that makes the RAVENAlert device has announced that it has now crammed a flash drive inside the device to make it more useful to users. Inside the alert device is now a 4GB flash drive. The device also has a digital clock and uses a rechargeable battery. The small portable screen works with wall units for classrooms and large LED display for common areas.
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- Micron introduces Serial NAND Flash memory for embedded applications
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/GXoJz4yGsQ8/
Yoshi Ono: why Street Fighter has to be more like football
The producer of Street Fighter IV 3D and the forthcoming Street Fighter x Tekken talks about taking the fighting game franchise into the 22nd century ? and why that future looks like footie...
Yoshinori Ono has big plans for Street Fighter. The affable deputy head of Capcom's consumer games R&D division has already triumphed with Super Street Fighter IV 3D, which many consider the finest title in the 3DS launch line-up. But that's just the beginning of his plans to turn the fighting game series into a mass mainstream phenomenon.
Last week, I met up with Ono in London and spoke to him about his game design philosophy, and about the intriguing future of Street Fighter. What does this long-running series have to do with football? Ono is about to explain...
When did you decide you wanted to work on a 3DS title?
Two seconds after seeing it I knew I wanted to do something, I didn't necessarily know what, I just knew I wanted to do something. The potential was there, I didn't even have to think about the specifics. I could see it.
After that, did you think Street Fighter?
In the next five seconds, I realised that 3DS coincided with where I wanted to take the entire fighting game genre. I knew that Nintendo's console was definitely going to be a stepping stone toward that. After seven seconds, the 3DS basically said, 'make Street Fighter' to me.
You said that Street Fighter IV 3D is a stepping stone. Where do you want to take Street Fighter?
Until very recently fighting games have been a niche. In order to play you needed to understand all the rules, you had to know exactly what to do in every situation. The genre has been isolating itself from non-hardcore gamers. But I want Street Fighter to be a tool, like playing cards or a chess board ? you just need the pieces and everyone can play, not just the elite. It will take a few more generations to get to that utopian point, but what the 3DS has done is enable me to take the first step toward my grand scheme.
Is it difficult to move toward the mainstream without alienating those hardcore fans?
A quick metaphor: think of the Premier League. When Manchester United play Chelsea, you have the most professional, skilful players taking part, so any kid just out of school can't join that team. However, just because not everyone can play for Manchester United doesn't mean no one plays football. Until recently, we only ever aimed Street Fighter at the high end, we've been neglecting people who want to play at their own level. So what we've done with Super Street Fighter IV 3D is, we've retained the hardcore elements, but we've lowered the entry barrier, so people can play in the way they want to play, rather than having to aspire to be hardcore. We've established a very important milestone here.
Were there difficulties bringing over any of the moves or characters to the 3DS screen?
There were technical issues with the speedy characters who move across the screen very quickly. It became difficult to identify whether it was the character moving or the background scrolling. What saved us, though, was the 3D vision. Because there's now a depth to the background, it's very easy to find out if it's the character or scenery that's moving. It's pretty much perfect.
Have Street Fighter players developed different tactics for the 3DS version?
Most hardcore gamers will be used to playing with fighting sticks, but those gamers are very dextrous ? that's what makes them good. So give them a different control style and they'll adapt very quickly. They've come up with some strange way of playing, they have names for how to hold the 3DS in a professional way. I'm not worried about them at all. I'm happy that I've managed to provide a much easier interface ? via the hardware supplied by Nintendo and our own software. Sticks are a little intimidating for people who have not been exposed to fighting games before. I think they find pads easier to use and the way that the touchscreen registers special moves, it allows everyone to adapt the game to their own style ? to play the way they want.
Street Fighter makes interesting use of the StreetPass mode, allowing your console to fight and swap characters with other 3DS units as they pass by. Are you looking to create ad-hoc communities and meet-ups as we saw with Monster Hunter?
StreetPass is very interesting, technologically, and I obviously had to do something to implement it. But the feature isn't really the goal. In Monster Hunter, playing together, hunting together, is the whole purpose of that game. With Street Fighter, we use StreetPass to educate people, to suggest to them how interacting with other players might work. Some people don't want to play with others ? they just want their own console, they want to be offline all the time, they don't want to interact. However, some people only want to play online ? all they care about is the multiplayer game.
StreetPass is there to work in-between the two. You don't have to involve yourself with other people, but you can enjoy the result of interacting. For people who are scared of online gaming, they might find through StreetPass that playing with other people can be quite fun. It's another string to what we can offer with Street Fighter. It's really exciting.
How do you think developers will exploit the 3DS going forward? Is there much still to learn about the device?
With any game we make, we always feel like we do 100%. In terms of the 3D edition, we think we've ticked all the boxes in terms of what the 3DS is capable of. But what tends to happen ? and this was the case with the NES, the SNES and so on ? is that we reach a point where we think we have accessed 100% of the hardware's ability, but then you learn and apply new techniques and suddenly 100% is not 100%. We have included all the features of the 3DS, but I have a feeling there exists some sort of synergy where we'll be able to achieve above this.
Let's talk about Street Fighter x Tekken, a historic meeting of the two fighting game series'. What have been the key difficulties of this collaboration?
I'm going to try to force in another football analogy! Different national football leagues have their own characteristics, their own personalities, and they all play very differently. Compare the English Premier League to the Spanish La Liga ? they're playing the same sport, but it feels fundamentally different. Putting Chelsea and Real Madrid together won't automatically form a functioning team. Although it's an exciting idea, it would require very careful planning and execution. It's exactly the same for Street Fighter x Tekken: two top notch games, both fighting, but in a very different style. I'm having fun creating this game, but it's tough as hell!
What alleviates the pain, what lifts my motivation to take the fighting genre to the 22nd century, is the potential that comes from putting these two together. Time for another football metaphor. Even with people who aren't fans of Chelsea or Real Madrid, when they hear the teams are playing, everyone is excited and wants to know what will happen. It's the same here. When these two get together, it creates such a buzz around the whole fighting genre. This is going to be a major spin-off ? it's not Street fighter 5, it's not Tekken 8, it's Street Fighter x Tekken! it's there to draw in more interest. After that, we want those people to come to Street Fighter and to Tekken, and think, 'I've been out of the fighting game genre for a while, but now I may come back'. It's all part of my grand scheme to bring the fighting genre to where it should be.
What's the working relationship with Namco? Are there creative differences?
When we first decided to go ahead with this project we agreed not to interfere with each other at all! So Namco Bandai has no say in anything we do in Street Fighter x Tekken and vice versa for Tekken x Street Fighter ? we have no idea what that's going to look like and we cannot object to whatever Namco does!
That's brave...
If they go down the Dead or Alive route and Chun-Li comes out rather sexy, we STILL can't say anything!
It's like Alex Ferguson managing Arsenal for one match?
Yes, even the club owners can't say anything ? even if he changes the whole team?
Is there anything from Capcom's rich back catalogue that you'd like to see being re-imagined for 3DS? I'd love an Onimusha or Devil May Cry title.
It would be an interesting idea to bring classic games back, but one thing to note is that Street Fighter 4 3D has to be on the 3DS: it couldn't have existed without the console. If we produced a simple port of Onimusha it would be difficult to fundamentally utilise the capabilities of the 3DS as we did with Street Fighter. I'd rather bring out a completely new title. But, whether that could be a sequel or perhaps themed around Devil May Cry or Onimusha ? that's a different question?
Do you think the 3DS will prompt a whole new range of game genres?
If people don't resort to just bringing game series into 3DS for the sake of it, if they work on creating games for the 3DS that exploit all of its capabilities, they're bound to come up with new genres ? it can do so much that other consoles can't. It would be very questionable if we didn't come up with new genres ? that would mean we weren't doing enough. So I have two answers to that question ? it should and it will!
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/mar/31/3ds-street-fighter-ono-interview
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Tesla sues Top Gear over 'faked' electric car race
Car-maker to sue BBC for libel and malicious falsehood as faked race continues to be shown uncorrected on repeats and DVD
Electric sports car maker Tesla Motors is sueing the BBC's Top Gear TV programme for allegedly faking a scene showing the company's Roadster car running out of electricity and slowing to a halt in a race.
The legal move is the culmination of a row that has rumbled on between the show and Telsa since the episode was first broadcast in 2008. Specialist libel law firm Carter-Ruck issued the writ on behalf of the firm on Tuesday at the high court because the scene was still being shown onworldwide repeats and was available on DVD, and the BBC had failed to correct it. The firm expects to recover not more than �100,000 in damages.
In the race with a petrol-powered Lotus Elise, the �87,000 electric car was shown having to stop for a recharge. But the car never ran out of electricity.
Tesla said after the race aired that neither of the two Roadsters that it loaned Jeremy Clarkson's team had gone below 20% of charge.
Earlier in the same episode, Clarkson had praised the Tesla: "I cannot believe this ? that's biblically quick. This car is electric, literally. The top speed may only be 125mph but there's so much torque it does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. Not bad from a motor the size of a watermelon and which has only one moving part."
Tesla is sueing the show for libel and malicious falsehood, and says the show misrepresented the car's true range ? claiming 55 miles rather than 211 ? and that claims a second Roadster on loan had broken brakes was untrue.
In a statement, the California-based company, whose first cars were based on British-made Lotuses, said: "Tesla simply wants Top Gear to stop rebroadcasting this malicious episode and to correct the record, but they've repeatedly ignored Tesla's requests."
A Top Gear spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that we have received notification that Tesla have issued proceedings against the BBC. The BBC stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim"
On Monday Tesla, which plans to introduce a cheaper "Model S" car next year, said the 1,500 Roadsters it had sold since 2008 had collectively saved over 2,404 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Top Gear magazine, which is separate from the TV show, has also been critical of previous electric cars, and in 2007 released shocking images of a G-Wiz crash-tested at 40mph.
But analysts have predicted 2011 will be a "breakthrough" year for the vehicles, which became eligible a �5,000 government grant in January. Last week, the first few hundred Nissan Leafs, the UK's first mass-produced electric car, were delivered to customers. Unlike the Tesla Roadster, the Leaf is limited to around 110 miles and 90mph. A new generation of around 10 different electric and plug-in hybrid cars are expected in the UK by the end of 2012.
Separately on Wednesday, green group WWF released a report warning that the UK will needs millions of electric vehiclesto meet its carbon targets. Around 1.7m will be needed by 2020 and 6.4m by 2030, it said, in an echo of calls by government watchdog the Committee on Climate Change for a similar number to meet the target of cutting greenhouse gases emissions 80% by 2050.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/30/tesla-sue-top-gear
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
How to Spring Clean Your Skateboard
When spring has sprung, and the sound of skateboards is in the air, it's time to clean up the old board and get it running like new again. Here's how.
Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Spring-Clean-Your-Skateboard
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Chatterbox: Tuesday
The place to talk about games and other stuff. Mostly other stuff.
It's Tuesday. What's happening in your gaming world?
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/mar/29/chatterbox-tuesday
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Anti-piracy firms 'delete data' in filesharing row
BT steps up fight against legal firms as 'speculative invoicing' unravels
BT will on Wednsday take to the high court to fight government plans to curb illegal filesharing. A coalition of beleaguered rights owners will line up in opposition. An apposite time, then, for this industry's most controversial anti-filesharing cabal to be back in the news.
In a post on its customer forum on Tuesday evening, BT said that it had ordered DigiProtect and MediaCAT, two (very different) media companies used by notorious solicitors' firm ACS:Law, to delete thousands of its customers' details they received last year.
The two companies had issued a court order (known as a Norwich Pharmacal Order) for the information ? which includes telephone numbers and addresses of customers ? with the apparent intention of suing them for illegal filesharing, which we now know was probably unlikely.
BT said in the statement:
"With regard to Media CAT, we have been under a court order since July last year to supply them with details belonging to thousands more customers. We refused to do so and have now secured a further order to set aside the July order, meaning that the customer details will not be disclosed. Media CAT has also confirmed that all customer data that we sent to them in the past has now been deleted."
The UK's largest broadband provider has also escaped having to hand over thousands of customer details to Ministry of Sound, which applied for them back in May 2010 ? months before the whole ACS:Law row blew up. BT adds:
"Digiprotect was another client of ACS:Law. We have already disclosed some customer details to them under a court order in early 2010. Since even before the revelations about ACS:Law, we had been challenging Digiprotect on their use of that data but did not get satisfactory answers.
"We have now taken the matter back to court and secured an order requiring Digiprotect either to issue proceedings or delete the data. The time for issuing proceedings has now expired and the data should be deleted."
We rang DigiProtect on Tuesday afternoon to see whether the data had been deleted. We were told that Dr. Frederik Gerckens, the company's managing director, was "in a meeting" and that we should ring back on Wednesday. That we shall. In the meantime it would be interesting to know what power BT, based in the UK, will have over Digiprotect, based in Germany, to order the deletion of user data that it handed over ? and how it will be able to confirm that that deletion has been done. After all, how do you prove something isn't there?
All of this is bad news for so-called speculative invoicing schemes. While they were unashamedly lucrative for the solicitors' behind them ? reaping money from those accused of illegal filesharing, but who didn't want to face the embarrassment (many were charged with downloading adult films) of fighting the charges in court ? the long-term damage to these companies will likely outweigh the short-term spoils.
And that's before you ask big rights owners ? Paramount Pictures, Disney, 20th Century Fox etc. ? whether the row has sullied their cause. Back to BT:
"As a business we must facilitate genuine rights holders who wish to enforce their copyright in a proportionate way. With that in mind we have been working on a new framework policy to deal with future applications, in a bid to protect our customers.
"We continue to develop that policy, particularly in light of the comments of HHJ Birss QC in the recent Media CAT cases."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/mar/22/bt-acslaw-filesharing
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No surveillance without oversight | Jay Stanley
Given the FBI's record of fallibility ? and without genuine safeguards for citizens ? this $1bn biometrics project is alarming
The FBI recently announced that its Next Generation Identification System (NGIS) has "reached its initial operating capacity". This vast new biometrics project, for which Lockheed Martin won a $1bn contract in 2008, encompasses not only fingerprints but also, possibly, such biometrics as iris scans, face recognition, bodily scars, marks and tattoos.
Such a system raises a number of concerns from a civil liberties perspective. Many types of biometrics are of particular concern because they allow individuals to be tracked secretly and at a distance. For instance, facial recognition may allow a person to be tracked by various CCTV cameras across a city. Worse, in the future, this may be automated and done by computers.
The FBI is rushing ahead with this system in a larger context that is very troubling. Since 9/11, we've repeatedly seen the government throw together new identity and tracking systems without building in the necessary protections to make sure innocent people aren't caught up in them. A good example is aviation watchlists. Countless travelers have found themselves trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare ? improperly listed as suspected terrorists, hassled, arrested or worse, and with no way to clear their names in the eyes of the government's secretive security bureaucracies. The problem is not just errors and mistaken identification, or the lack of due process or rigorous procedures for keeping the lists accurate, but also the possibility that government bureaucrats have used a "when in doubt, thrown a name on the list" approach.
We don't want to see the NGIS operate that way. Unfortunately, the FBI's record does not inspire confidence. In 2003, the bureau exempted its main criminal database, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), from a requirement under the Privacy Act that agencies maintain records with "such accuracy, relevance, timeliness and completeness as is reasonably necessary to assure fairness to the individual". Some people have experienced the reality of this, such as a Maryland woman named Amy Studnitz who was fired from her job after an NCIC background check erroneously reported that she had a criminal record (even after the error was discovered, she was not rehired).
The experience of Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield is also a cautionary tale. Considered a suspect in the 2004 bombing of a Madrid train due to a faulty fingerprint match, the FBI spied on Mayfield without a warrant, broke into his home several times and arrested him under the "material witness" statute. The FBI also investigated 19 other individuals whose fingerprints, like Mayfield's, were deemed similar to those found on evidence in Madrid.
Finally, the FBI's giant biometric project is taking place in a context where the United States ? almost alone in the industrialised world ? has no strong, overarching privacy laws, and no robust, independent institutions to enforce such laws. In another country where such institutions existed to protect people from error and abuse, this kind of programme might be cause for less concern. But rather than building such institutions, the US government has instead been granting sweeping new powers to our security agencies, and dismantling the checks and balances that are needed to ensure those powers are not misused.
Most technologies have good and bad uses, and limited uses of biometrics can be fine. But these databases need strict oversight, and now is the time to make sure the proper safeguards are in place. As the use of biometrics expands and our law enforcement moves into the future, so too should our privacy rights.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/30/fbi-civil-liberties-international
REETI PCBot tracks users, squirts video and blushes [Video]
In the robotics world, silicone rubber can be either used for disturbing evil, such as the slug-like Elphoid P1 humanoid cellphone, or for bug-eyed good, like French firm Robopec‘s endearing REETI. The desktop companion is both a PC, a webcam and a telepresence ‘bot, capable of streaming live video from his webcam eyes, responding to touch thanks to various embedded sensors, and making facial expressions.
Video demo after the cut
Inside is a 1.8GHz dual-core Atom CPU paired with NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics, a 500GB hard-drive, WiFi b/g/n, ethernet, three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, digital audio outputs, Blu-ray, �and more, running Ubuntu with some custom robotics tools preloaded. Hooked up to a display, keyboard and mouse, and you can use REETI as your regular desktop.
Your normal PC probably doesn’t have cheeks that light up in various colors depending on mood, a head that can turn and track people in 3D (or be remotely controlled by an iPad app), or respond and track sound and key commands. REETI is also capable of reading out RSS, Facebook, Twitter and other sources, or acting as a robotic receptionist to welcome people to your business.
It reminds us of a far more complex Nabaztag, but then Robopec is positioning REETI as an open-source development platform rather than just a simply entertainment device. No word on pricing at this stage.
[youtube�P3R45YbEM2M]
[via Plastic Pals]
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How not to handle bad reviews
Self-published author Jacqueline Howett's online meltdown after a poor review quickly went viral, proving the internet has finally removed the line in the sand between reviewers and authors
Writers, said the science fiction author Isaac Asimov, fall into two groups: "Those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review."
Jacqueline Howett falls into the former category. Her now-infamous online outburst against a two-star review of her self-published novel The Greek Seaman on Big Al's Books and Pals, a website devoted to reviewing the output of the independent presses, is less "bleeding visibly", more an out-and-out gorefest.
But Howett can perhaps take comfort amid the opprobrium flung her way from the fact that more successful authors are not immune to such outbursts. Authors frequently bite back, and it is rarely pretty. Just this week, in fact, there has been much to-ing and fro-ing in the Irish Times, following literary editor Eileen Battersby's review on Saturday of Dermot Healey's Long Time, No See. Battersby calls Healey's book "difficult; it is slow moving and complacent, and at times dangerously relaxed, lacking the urgency of his life's achievement to date, A Goat's Song." She goes on to opine that the author has "attempted to write a young man's book. It doesn't quite work."
On this occasion, it wasn't Healey who bit back on this occasion, but a correspondent named Eugene McCabe, who took issue with the review and turned his ire on the reviewer herself, saying he has taken a ghost story of Battersby's published in the Irish Times, which he calls "stunningly bad", and "used it in a workshop as an example of how to avoid writing 'Shite and onions'." Today, though, the pendulum swung back again, with the novelist John Banville leaping to Battersby's defence against McCabe's rather tremendous Joycean epithet, calling it an "ad hominem and scatological assault".
But all this was rather civilised, really, when you compare it with Howett's gleefully-tweeted meltdown. Big Al did not get on well with The Greek Seaman, which he summarises thus: "An eighteen-year-old newlywed finds herself on a romantic adventure when she goes to sea with her sailor husband on a large cargo ship. However, the ship owner and captain have plans that could disrupt her wedded bliss."
The review, posted last Wednesday, starts promisingly enough: "If you read The Greek Seaman from the start until you click next page for the last time I think you'll find the story compelling and interesting." But Big Al goes on: "However, odds of making that final click are slim. One reason is the spelling and grammar errors, which come so quickly that, especially in the first several chapters, it's difficult to get into the book without being jarred back to reality as you attempt unraveling what the author meant." And he finally awards the book two stars.
Disappointing for Howett, you would imagine. You would be right. Internet reviews being what they are, it's easy for an author to respond directly to their critic should they choose not to be one of Asimov's secret bleeders ? and Howett did so, all guns blazing. Her major beef seems to be that Big Al read the wrong version of the book, when she had asked him to download a "cleaner" copy.
"You obviously didn't read the second clean copy I requested you download," she says, "so this is a very unfair review. My Amazon readers/reviewers give it 5 stars and 4 stars and they say they really enjoyed The Greek Seaman and thought it was well written. Maybe its just my style and being English is what you don't get. Sorry it wasn't your cup of tea, but I think I will stick to my five star and four star reviews thanks."
And there it might have ended ? had Howett not been unable to resist the lure of the comment box. She posts some of her Amazon reviews, to which Big Al responds by quoting a couple of choice lines from the book - including "Don and Katy watched hypnotically Gino place more coffees out at another table with supreme balance." Howett goes ballistic.
She says: "Look AL, I'm not in the mood for playing snake with you, what I read above has no flaws. My writing is fine."
And: "Besides if you want to throw crap at authors you should first ask their permission if they want it stuck up on the internet."
And: "You are a big rat and a snake with poisenous (SIC) venom. Lots of luck to authors who come here and slip in that!"
Of course, by the time other people have weighed in, linked to the row on their own blogs, and tweeted the exchange ? well. Howett is enjoying a brief moment of internet fame, but it's only tangentially for The Greek Seaman.
Reviewing's a tough business, and reading reviews of your own work is even tougher. But the traditional line in the sand between a print reviewer and an author ? which necessitates taking time to sit down and pen a response, time during which the author will generally come to their senses and decide to take the criticism on the chin ? have been wiped out by the internet's immediacy. Howett won't be the last to respond ? and she certainly isn't the first. In 2009, Alain de Botton logged on to a critic's blog to denounce a review of his The Pleasures of Sorrows and Work in the New York Times, "driven by an almost manic desire to bad-mouth". Round about the same time, novelist Alice Hoffman tweeted that a Boston Globe critic was "a moron" for his bad review of her The Story Sisters.
While it's too late for Howett to learn from these high-profile meltdowns, perhaps she will take on board Big Al's comments. Perhaps next time she'll sit on her hands and count to 100 the next time she reads a bad review. Perhaps she'll adopt Iris Murdoch's philosophical line on reviews: "A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia." Or, given Howett's final posting to the Big Al blog just before comments were closed on the thread, perhaps not.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/mar/30/jacqueline-howett-bad-review
Zynga and Gaga Form Not-So-Terrible Alliance
You have to hand it to Lady Gaga; she's pretty tapped into tech. Her latest venture is a partnership with Zynga, in which she's donating $1.5 million for earthquake relief via its in-game funding drives.
The partnership is not particularly surprising on either end. Gaga has been making the tech rounds recently, and Zynga has long been savvy about using its games as a platform for fundraising. These types of actions may not have the high profile of, say, charity supergroups, but they're highly effective at harnessing the power of hundreds of millions of users. To wit: Zynga has raised over $10 million since starting its Zynga.org program in October 2009. Not too shabby an undertaking for a bunch of mafiosi and farmers.
Zynga and Gaga Form Not-So-Terrible Alliance originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.switched.com/2011/03/29/zynga-and-lady-gaga-form-not-so-terrible-alliance/
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6 students injured in shooting in Scotland. 5 steps that could save your life. (blog)
At least six students are believed to have been hurt in an airgun shooting that just happened near Auchinleck Academy in Cumnock, East Ayrshire in Scotland. Nineteen teenagers were eating lunch when the gunman opened fire. Fortunately, none of the … Continue reading 
Source: http://blog.wikihow.com/2011/02/23/701/
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Onkyo and Spotify team up for streaming on home theater receivers
Onkyo is a big name in the home theater and audio world. The company has a wide range of receivers for home theater fans and they run the gamut from affordable entry-level devices up to high-end receivers costing thousands of dollars. Onkyo and Spotify has teamed up for a first in the industry.
Onkyo is now the first brand in the consumer electronics market to offer direct access to Spotify music service via its receivers. The new service allows more than a million Spotify premium subscribers in seven countries to access the service on Onkyo receivers.
Starting today the Spotify service is offered on the TX-NR609 receiver and Onkyo notes that new products offering Spotify access will be coming very soon. The Spotify service on Onkyo receivers will stream at 320kbps bitrate using the Ogg Vorbis codec.
Relevant Entries on SlashGear
- Onkyo debuts new HT-RC260 and HT-RC270 home theater receivers
- Onkyo Unveils Entry-level AV Receivers
- Onkyo promise Blu-ray player before end of year
- Onkyo TX-SR608 AV receiver is THX certified and 3D-ready
- Onkyo HT-SP908 7.1 HTIB
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/t_A2k0aeaCY/
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
How to Use Your Camera's Aperture Priority Mode
Aperture-priority mode is the favoured mode of many photographers because of the control it gives, from people shooting vast landscapes to those photographing the smallest of insects. It's considered by many to be the mode that maps most closely onto how certain kinds of photographs demand photographers think about how they're shooting. Here's how to get yourself out of green auto and into shooting a mode that lets you control, and forces you to think about, some important aspects of your shot.
Note: This is a quick-and-dirty primer; for even more gory technical details, head over to How to Choose a Lens Aperture (F Stop), which covers a lot of things skimmed over or ignored in this article.
Note: This is a quick-and-dirty primer; for even more gory technical details, head over to How to Choose a Lens Aperture (F Stop), which covers a lot of things skimmed over or ignored in this article.
Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Your-Camera%27s-Aperture-Priority-Mode
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Verizon USB551L 4G LTE Modem Available March 31st
The Verizon USB551L 4G LTE USB modem, made by Novatel Wireless, which the company states is “the smallest LTE USB modem available today”, will be available in Verizon stores and online this Thursday, March 31st. According to Verizon, the device is up to fifty percent smaller than competing products.
The USB551L has download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps, and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps. The modem supports Windows XP 32-bit, Vista 32/64-bit (SP2), Windows 7 32/64-bit, and Mac 10.4 or higher.
It will be $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and that price comes with a new two-year customer agreement on a 4G Mobile Broadband plan, which start at $50 a month for 5GB.
Corporate quote: “The Verizon USB551L 4G LTE modem is a high-performing USB modem with a
compact design and industry-leading flexibility, convenience and reliability.”
The full press release is below:
THE VERIZON USB551L 4G LTE MODEM LANDS ON THE VERIZON WIRELESS NETWORK MARCH
31STVerizon Wireless and Novatel Wireless today announced that the Verizon USB551L made by Novatel Wireless will be available to order on March 31st in Verizon Wireless
Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com. The USB551L
give customers expected download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of
2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE Mobile Broadband coverage area in a portable device,
small enough to fit in the palm of the hand.
The Verizon USB551L 4G LTE modem is a high-performing USB modem with a
compact design and industry-leading flexibility, convenience and
reliability. The USB551L modem is designed to provide connectivity to check
email, download rich multimedia content and stay connected to family,
friends and coworkers. Customers who travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage
area, will stay connected on the Verizon Wireless 3G network.Key Features:
? Compact and lightweight USB modem with advanced proprietary antenna
technologies to maximize data throughput and operating range.
? Supports Windows � XP 32-bit, Vista� 32/64-bit (SP2) and Windows� 7
32/64-bit, MAC: 10.4 or higherPricing and Data Plans
? The Verizon USB551L will be available for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in
rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a 4G Mobile Broadband plan.
? 4G LTE Mobile Broadband plans begin at $50 monthly access for 5GB.
Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt,
customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. Data
usage can be tracked by logging on to My Verizon online at
www.verizonwireless.com/myverizon.
Relevant Entries on SlashGear
- Verizon launches UMW190 USB world modem
- T-Mobile Jet 2.0 4G USB modem to launch March 23
- Verizon Wireless USB760 Micro Modem announced
- Verizon gets Sierra Wireless USB 598 modem
- Novatel USB727 from Verizon – wireless broadband modem with integrated data storage
Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/c6FFhNtnoRY/
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Is there really a Resident Evil shooter on the way? Plus: classic Resi titles go HD!
Rumours suggest that the developer behind the team-based SOCOM series is working on a title for later this year...
Rumours of a Resi Evil spin-off having been ciculating the industry for a while, like a particularly virulent strain of the T-virus. But now we would appear to have confirmation. Of sorts. US gaming blog Stickskills claims to have seen the next issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, which features an exclusive preview of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, a team-based shooter set inbetween Resident Evil 2 and 3. The game is apparently being developed by Slant Six, the studio behind the squad shooter series, SOCOM.
It seems players take control of an Umbrella Security Services squad sent in to the zombified town to destroy evidence of the ongoing outbreak ? and to kill all the survivors. Alternatively you can play as a spec ops squad charged with saving innocent bystanders and stopping the USS. Key characters from the series will crop up along the way, as will recognisable monsters like the tyrants. Players will be able to earn XP to unlock new weapons and abilities.
The weird thing is, the reported release date ? winter 2011 ? seems a bit soon, considering the lack of official comment from Capcom. However, it fits in with the publisher's new habit of giving established Japanese franchises to Western developers ? 2009's Bionic Commando reboot was handled by Swedish outfit, GRIN, while the next Devil May Cry is with Cambridge studio, Ninja Theory.
Hardcore Resi fans are unlikely to be impressed with the continued shootification of the series, a process that started with Resident Evil 4, a much more action-orientated take on the 'survival horror' theme, than previous titles.
For them, however, Capcom has also announced that it's bringing downloadable HD versions of Resident Evil 4 and cult favourite Resident Evil: Code Veronica X to Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/mar/25/resident-evil-shooter
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Simple 'Color' Hack Lets You Snag Anyone's Photos, Regardless of Location
The new social photo-sharing app 'Color,' which shares photos with and from everyone within a 150-foot radius, landed last week, and immediately garnered some raised eyebrows from those concerned with silly things like privacy. But sharing your photos with anyone and everyone who might walk down the same block as you seems like a trivial complaint, now that security researcher and Veracode chief technology officer Chris Wysopal has figured out a pretty simple way to remove the location limitations.Wysopal realized that, with the help of a jailbroken iPad and an app called 'FakeLocation,' he could trick 'Color' into thinking he was anywhere. The result? He could then snag the photos of anyone in that area without physically being there. (A similar trick can be pulled off with a rooted Android phone and a location-spoofing app that reports fake GPS coordinates.)
Continue reading Simple 'Color' Hack Lets You Snag Anyone's Photos, Regardless of Location
Simple 'Color' Hack Lets You Snag Anyone's Photos, Regardless of Location originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.switched.com/2011/03/29/simple-color-hack-lets-you-snag-anyones-photos-regardless-of/
Time Warner Sends Ohio Man $16 Million Cable Bill
Daniel DeVirgilio of Beavercreek, Ohio was understandably shocked last week when he received a letter from Time Warner Cable. DeVirgilio, a 26-year-old engineer, had apparently failed to pay his cable bill, and owed the provider a chunk of cash -- $16.4 million, to be exact.Turns out, the company made what it's calling a "human error" in calculating DeVirgilio's bill. An employee reportedly typed in the wrong total, which triggered an alert from Time Warner's automated system. DeVirgilio was notified that his credit card had been rejected for insufficient funds, but the card was never charged. Time Warner has promised to resolve the issue.
Continue reading Time Warner Sends Ohio Man $16 Million Cable Bill
Time Warner Sends Ohio Man $16 Million Cable Bill originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.switched.com/2011/03/28/daniel-devirgilio-gets-16-million-time-warner-bill/
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