Daily Rant: Mars Curiosity a $2.5 Billion Waste of Money? Compare It To This List And Decide Yourself
Monday, 13th August 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: curiosity, government spending, money, spent, tech, waste
Written by: Paul Nyhart
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
It’s been a little over a week since space geeks enjoyed one of the most exciting and promising events since probably the WISE Explorer three years before it…
And it’s taken just as long for naysayers, skeptics, and all around cynical people to ask the proverbial question:
“Why are we paying 2.5 billion dollars for a robotic thing to send us back dirt stuff and take photos of a place that looks like Arizona…”
It’s a fair question, albeit a terribly unoriginal one that lacks Continue reading “Daily Rant: Mars Curiosity a $2.5 Billion Waste of Money? Compare It To This List And Decide Yourself” »
Too Old to Learn Technology? Too Bad, Says 96 year-old Tech/Internet Whiz
Monday, 18th June 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets, Technology
Tags: 96 years old, Bill Sleeper, Merrill Gardens, senior, seniors, sleeper, tech, tech geek
Written by: Jeff Nau
Follow @jeffnau
Ninety-six year old Bill Sleeper doesn’t have much patience for seniors who aren’t tech-savvy. His specific message to the geezers who can’t quite grasp the technology of today:
“Get with it.”
One of the reasons Sleeper’s so in-your-face with learning technology is that stuff like The Internet and an iPhone helps you keep in touch with your loved ones. Sounds pretty obvious, but a lot of us know that for every gaming grandma, there still seems like an inherent lack of Internet-surfing seniors.
Yet Sleeper takes things a couple things further by going around and yelling, er, speaking at seniors who aren’t willing to jump in the deep end. Continue reading “Too Old to Learn Technology? Too Bad, Says 96 year-old Tech/Internet Whiz” »
How Should You Really Feel About Booth Babes?
Thursday, 19th January 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Keeping it Real
Tags: BBC, booth babes, ces, degrading, models, scantily-clad, show, tech, women, xbox
Written by: Craig Hunter
You may not be surprised to see “booth babes” in this BBC report from the show floor at CES 2012. However, the report doesn’t just show off the women, but instead the BBC’s Matt Danzico went to CES to find out how females working in the tech industry feel about booth babes.
The report starts out interviewing various female technology writers including Molly McHugh of Digital Trends who says “it’s sending this message of what my sex is here to do… I’d rather be learning about the products”. McHugh says the booth babes’ presence at the shows is “uncomfortable” but in her opinion not degrading. Continue reading “How Should You Really Feel About Booth Babes?” »
Kanye West Is Looking For Some 1337 Minds For New Tech Company
Thursday, 5th January 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: company, designers, donda, Kanye, rant, team, tech, tweet, video games, want, west
Written by: Craig Hunter
Kanye West definitely isn’t known for holding back on Twitter. In fact, just yesterday, West went on a three-hour, 85 tweet, 8,806 word rant that National Post was kind enough to transcribe.
Rather than read the whole thing, we’ll save you the time and cut to the most interesting part — West is starting a new company known as DONDA and he’s hiring a team of tech industry heavyweights to help him.
Over several tweets, West described the company: Continue reading “Kanye West Is Looking For Some 1337 Minds For New Tech Company” »
FACEBOOK INVESTOR Says Microsoft is Dead, iPads Will Rule World Soon
Monday, 25th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: culture, Facebook, social networks, tech
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Facebook investor and proverbial tech and business mogul Roger McNamee had some interesting things to say about the future, or at least how he sees things developing Continue reading “FACEBOOK INVESTOR Says Microsoft is Dead, iPads Will Rule World Soon” »
FEDS Crack Down on ‘Anonymous’ in Hacking Sting
Tuesday, 19th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: anonymous, culture, hacking, tech
Written by: Paul Nyhart
Because all hackerz wear hoodies while breaking into a company's mainframe...
Operation Payback is getting a taste of its own medicine…
The US government is taking down alleged members of the infamous hacking clan, Anynymous, in reaction to the latest hacking events sweeping the country.
At least 14 people have been arrested as part the operation targeting the group, with arrests taking place in Florida, San Francisco and New Jersey.
Leave no stone unturned is the theme, taking computers, hard drives, and manilla folders that might contain any information that could crack down on the hackers that have been cracking into everything from Arizona Prisons (allegedly) to Paypal (probably).
Next on the list is members of Lulzsec, another hacking group that has caused as much if not more trouble for groups everywhere.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s E-Crime Unit in London arrested a 16-year-old boy in South London Tuesday afternoon, the latest arrest in an international sting operation targeting the notorious hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that they arrested a juvenile, who goes by the user name Tflow, convicted of violating the Computer Misuse Act (amongst other things).
After a flurry of attacks, which the hacking groups dubbed “Operation Payback” as part of a series of coordinated distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on multiple high-profile, billion-dollar companies.
Apple Versus HTC, Samsung, Others—Is This Really About Google?
Tuesday, 19th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: android, apple, gadgets, htc, phones, samsung, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
So we’ve been reporting about the various lawsuits flying back and forth in front of the ITC between Apple and other tech giants—recently HTC lost big time when the ITC ruled that it had violated several of Apple’s patents (Though they did not specify which ones publicly) So why is Apple so adamant about getting HTC and Samsung to bow before the Cupertino giant?
Apparently it’s all about Google. Samsung, HTC, and others that will probably soon feel the wrath of Jobs are obviously all the manufacturers of the various Android cell phones–currently the only serious contender against iPhone in the smartphone war. (No Blackberry. You do not get invited to this party.)
If this patent ruling holds up, these developers will be hamstrung in their ability to produce the phones UNLESS they submit to Apple and pay for the use of the patents. For those of you who already own Android phones, this won’t affect you, but for future Android customers it could mean an increase in prices.
So, legit move by Apple, or dick one? YOU TELL US.
PIRATES AND CHEATERS WILL BE BEATEN BY—Cloud based gaming?
Sunday, 17th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: cheating, cloud gaming, culture, piracy, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Well that was anticlimactic. Venturebeat posted yesterday an article discussing what will cause the death of piracy–it’s not gonna be new laws, the internet police, or your Mom shutting off your internet connection, it’s gonna be cloud-based gaming.
Here’s the lowdown: Right now, it’s easy to pirate games because they need to at some point exist as your file on a computer, right? But what if you never need to buy that file? What if you just subscribe to a service like Onlive and played your games through there? You can’t steal a game if the game is never released…(on that note, you’ll never OWN your games again. Kind of scary!)
Onlive CEO Steve Perlman was quoted as saying that in “10 years,” we’ll be seeing only cloud-based gaming–you’ll be able to play your game anywhere you want, but you won’t have the actual file. This means all you’ll need to play the game is a high-speed internet connection and a processer powerful enough to handle video Continue reading “PIRATES AND CHEATERS WILL BE BEATEN BY—Cloud based gaming?” »
Cybernews! Pentagon Goes to Cyberwar, John McCain Demands CyberBlood
Friday, 15th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: controversy, culture, john mccain, politics, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
That's a G4M3R in the background for sure.
CyberBlood will also be the title of my next film. I want it to star Bruce Willis as John McCain as a Cyber Vampire.
Okay, onto the news! The Pentagon today announced it was officially regarding Cyberwarfare as an official battlefield, along with air, land, sea, and love.
What’s critical to recognize in this announcement is that the Pentagon will be focusing on developing “offensive solutions” against hackers, desiring to move away from a “If it’s OK to attack me and I’m not going to do anything other Continue reading “Cybernews! Pentagon Goes to Cyberwar, John McCain Demands CyberBlood” »
Scientists Punch Hole in Time: FUTURE, WE’RE OFFICIALLY HERE!
Thursday, 14th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: culture, science, tech, technology
Written by: R Bryant Francis
I am so happy about this. Not because it’ll do any kind of good for humanity, but because it opens, for the briefest second, the possibilities of time/space travel. Which, by natural logical extension means I can get a time-traveling Delorean soon!
Scientists at Cornell announced today the invention of a form of technology that can effectively remove an object from time. This isn’t theory either, they’ve built the thing, and it works. (But…how do they know it works?!)
To keep the technobabble to a minimum, I’ll sum it up–the scientists can bend light in two ways that effectively leaves the light’s path unchanged, but whatever’s in that path will vanish out of time…for about 120 nanoseconds. So not even a second out of time. Drat. Continue reading “Scientists Punch Hole in Time: FUTURE, WE’RE OFFICIALLY HERE!” »
Shots fired at News Corp! FBI Investigating over 9/11 Voicemail Hacking
Thursday, 14th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Offbeat, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: controversy, culture, fox news, hacking, pop, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
You know who News Corp is—FOX NEWS.
Remember when we talked about News of the World maybe hacking 9/11 victims? Looks like we weren’t the only ones who noticed that little tidbit of information. The FBI whipped their heads around at the word 9/11 and are launching an investigation into the New York based Media conglomerate to see just how far the scandal Continue reading “Shots fired at News Corp! FBI Investigating over 9/11 Voicemail Hacking” »
I need a drink: Netflix and Comcast both make Bad Decisions
Wednesday, 13th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: culture, internet, netflix, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Guys, say it with me. The future of the internet, will be in the delivery of cheap content, at high speeds, with payments seemingly “invisible” to users. We got that, right? So why on earth are two Internet giants dropping the ball today like Lebron in the fourth quarter?
It's okay Lebron, we'll all forget about this soon
So, we’ve got two bits of news here. First: Netflix. Netflix announced 60% price increases today and shifted a lot of their plans around. Their single DVD plan now will coast you $9.99/month, (previously about how much their DVD+Streaming cost), and DVD+Streaming now will cost $15.98/month. Streaming-only is going to be $7.99/month…you get the picture.
So why the change? Weeeell there were rumbling lately about Sony pulling its movies from Netflix after a certain term of their contact was reached. Now that Netflix is dominating bandwidth across North America, it’s likely that Cable providers are strong-arming the streaming service in order to make sure live TV doesn’t go the way of the Dinosaur. Fan-TASTIC idea boys! ‘Cause making something more expensive is TOTALLY going to drive customers to the more-expensive-and-less convenient service instead of Piracy.
Ugh. So, unfortunately today, that’s the boring news. Here’s the good stuff.
This story making the rounds of the web is a potential vision of Draconian internet laws to come. Blogger Andre Vrignaud recently had his service cut off from Comcast for a year. The reason? He’d violated his 250 gb/mo data cap—twice. But how did he violate it, you ask? It wasn’t pirating tons of software. It wasn’t downloading mountains of Porn. No, he violated it by legally using all his streaming services and cloud-uploading services, the latter of which shotgunned his bandwidth usage and shot him past the cap. (He was syncing .RAW and other big file size formats to multiple clouds and servers.)
And because of that, Comcast saw fit to deny him internet for a year. And in his area, there are no other ISPs. This man is without internet.
Is that the future we want? Where companies can just kill our internet just because we’re using our services legally? Because that 250gb per month also includes uploading files?
I do not think so.
Facebook Search Warrants: Yep. They’re Real.
Tuesday, 12th July 2011Posted in Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: culture, Facebook, internet, social networks, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Talk about a good time to jump to Google Plus! (Though they can probably search that too, come to think of it.) Police and law enforcement agencies across the nation, according to a recent Reuters news report, are gaining warrants to access people’s Facebook accounts, going after everything from your latest status update to the time you turned down that creepy girl’s friend request (if it can happen once…)
NOT WORTH IT DUDE, NOT WORTH IT
Don’t sweat it though—the authorities aren’t looking to tear into every single Facebook account, these warrants were issued in ongoing investigations for a variety of different departments, with the accused crimes ranging from Arson to Continue reading “Facebook Search Warrants: Yep. They’re Real.” »
OnLive on Facebook: Yo dawg, we heard like to have games in your…social networks…
Friday, 8th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: cloud gaming, culture, Facebook, gaming, onlive, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Alright, so Xzibit wouldn’t be proud of my failed attempt up there. Still, check this out. Onlive has just secured a partnership with Facebook to bring their content to the Facebook platform. Meaning that instead of using Onlive on your PC to play games–you’d….be able to use your Facebook? Huh?
Where you GAME?
Wait, back it up, there’s some sense in this. You still need some special Continue reading “OnLive on Facebook: Yo dawg, we heard like to have games in your…social networks…” »
Apple Releases the Hounds on Spy-Cam video Artist
Thursday, 7th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Offbeat, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: computer spy, culture, tech, video
Written by: R Bryant Francis
First, a preface. Check this out.
It’s a video of a guy who snuck into an Apple store and loaded some software on the computers that took pictures of people looking at the display models and sent them back to him. It’s a leetle shady on the personal privacy part, but to the fair, this is in a public place, so the pictures he’s taking aren’t going to be of people naked or anything. The art (italicized for emphasis) here is based on the question of what we do when we stare at computers. Which is kind of interesting when you think about it. The question of the perspective of a device that cannot see what we see on a screen OH WAIT Continue reading “Apple Releases the Hounds on Spy-Cam video Artist” »
Google Nukes the Internet: 11 Million Websites Cry Out–and are Silenced
Wednesday, 6th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: culture, google, internet, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Yikes, just remember guys, these are the people who are trying to sell you a new Social Network. Google today announced it’s targeted websites with a .co.cc registration–a registration largely based out of South Korea, and according to google, a hive of scum and villainy for sites that trafficked in malware designed to turn your computer into a nonworking, nonfunctional brick.
But though you may still doubt the power of this battlestation, rest assured that Google’s not going to be taking down your favorite websites anytime soon. (Your favorite porn—that may not be so lucky.) This act continues in Google’s-long standing tradition of keeping the internet as clean and classy a place as it can. (Without, you know, opening fire on 4Chan.) The overall goal is to cut down as much spam and malware as they can and keep the internet a clean and safe place.
You know. Just like the Empire.
Smartphones Could Make Keys Obsolete
Tuesday, 5th July 2011Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: gadgets, keys, nfc technology, smartphone, tech
Written by: Paul Nyhart
The thing that used to be reserved for making phone calls, and playing the occasional game of snake, is now moving onto its next endeavor. Opening your door without the need of using a key. That’s right, those pesky things that make noise in our pocket and clog up space on our keychain are becoming a thing of the past. It used to be that you’d turn your car on by turning a key to start the ignition, now you can push a button on your phone so that you don’t have to wrist jamming your fingers or spraining your thumb. Advancements being made Continue reading “Smartphones Could Make Keys Obsolete” »
Stupid Laws are Stupid: S.978 Seeks to Ban Streaming Game Footage
Friday, 1st July 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: controversy, s.978, streaming, tech, video gaming laws
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Oh, look, we put up a picture of Stephen Colbert! That's an electronic performance! Better throw us in the slammer!
Are you a fan of Let’s Play videos? Perhaps you enjoy watching footage from E3 streamed over Hulu. Or how about our own Jace Hall show? (I’m not linking to that because you should all know WHERE YOU CAN WATCH)
If you are, be prepared for some monumentally stupid news. S.978 is a bill making its way through the United States Congress that, if passed would see to stiff criminal penalties for those who stream content illegally. To be clear, it’s clearly targeted at film, television, and music streamers. To be even clearer Continue reading “Stupid Laws are Stupid: S.978 Seeks to Ban Streaming Game Footage” »
Good News Everyone! Tech Supply Chain to be Fully Restored after Japan Disaster
Thursday, 30th June 2011Posted in Blog Archive, Pop Culture, Technology
Tags: gadgets, japan, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
You just read this in my voice!
All right, that’s what I’m talking about!
CNN’s reporting that an analysis by IHS iSuppli is bearing the good news that by this fall, Japanese electronic companies will be able to make full recoveries and get back into business. Currently responsible for 35% of the world’s NAND Flash production, and the leading source of semiconductor and LCD manufacturing equipment, these companies were in a rough spot after the devastating earthquake earlier this year. Continue reading “Good News Everyone! Tech Supply Chain to be Fully Restored after Japan Disaster” »
How the Mighty have Fallen: Myspace sold for $35 Million to Specific Media
Wednesday, 29th June 2011Posted in Blog Archive
Tags: culture, myspace, tech
Written by: R Bryant Francis
Look upon my works ye mighty, and despair! Myspace today announced its sale to Specific Media for $35 Million—which, while probably more than some of us will ever see in a lifetime, is a far cry from the company that was once purchased for $580 Million by NewsCorp. And in the continuing theme of “There is no way to put a positive spin on this,” not only was Rupert Murdoch hoping to dump the company at $100 Million, but Myspace CEO Mike Jones (Who’s probably one of the most miserable millionaires on the planet right now) announced they’d be laying off employees as well—on top of the 47% cut the company suffered back in January.
And thus the swan song of the once-mighty Social Media company begins to air. Though Specific Media claims it can profit from acess to data about Myspace users and help with their ad targeting, the reality is—who uses Myspace anymore? Ever since the site got filled with Spam, clunky interfaces, and stupid chain messages (Wait, this is starting to sound familiar…), it’s been rendered an unusable digital wasteland Continue reading “How the Mighty have Fallen: Myspace sold for $35 Million to Specific Media” »
Recent Posts
- Everybody Calm Down, Kickstarter Is Fine
- Artistic Director Talks About The Upcoming Vampiric Stealth-Action RPG: DARK
- This Week in Gaming (Snarky Style): Faux News Host Rants, Star Wars Stuff & More on the $2,600 Banana
- Control Your Very Own Zombie Army in The Pikmin Inspired Action Puzzler: RAY’S THE DEAD
- Donald Trump Begins His Own “Kickstarter Website”, The End is Officially Nigh
- Gamers Offer Us Some of Their Biggest (and Most Explicit) Confessions – Part 1
- How Video Games Helped Me Overcome Video Game Addiction
- Why Live Action Video Game Trailers Work
- How “Road Rage Redemption” Plans To Bring “Road Rage” Back To Life
- What We Want To See From Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag