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2009-05-12T16:49:00.001-07:00

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Fraud “Lord” convicted in $324 million bank scam

2009-03-06T06:52:00.000-08:00

A self-styled “lord” and a sex shop owner in the UK have been convicted of an audacious multi-million dollar attempted fraud in which spyware was installed on computers at a Japanese bank.

“Lord” Hugh Rodley and David Nash, both from England, were convicted of conspiracy charges for their part in the attempted fraud and several other gang members admitted conspiracy to steal. The gang gained access to the premises of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation at night thanks to the bank’s crooked security supervisor, Kevin O’Donoghue.

Once inside the bank, two other men - Belgian Jan Van Osselaer and Frenchman Gilles Poelvoorde - set to work on computers at the bank, installing keystroke-logging software and other monitoring tools. O’Donoghue attempted to cover their tracks by tampering with the bank CCTV system. The gang attempted to make numerous transfers of money from accounts controlled by the bank, but were thwarted by technical problems.

The activities of the gang were detected when staff at the bank noticed problems with their computers, including unplugged network cables.

Read more at BBC News, funding news, Geeek News

The Creative Assembly limit Stormrise to Vista users

2009-03-06T03:50:00.000-08:00

Any PC owners looking forward to the release of The Creative Assembly’s real-time strategy game Stormrise need to ensure they have a machine running Windows Vista.

Artem Kulakov, lead designer on the game, has done an interviewed with PC Games Hardware where he stated:

From day one Stormrise has been designed as a new type of RTS for next generation consoles and PCs. Stormrise has been designed for DirectX 10 and Vista only right from the start. Integrating DX10.1 was an opportunity to increase performance and improve visual quality even further.

So Windows XP users will not be able to play the game and TCA have potentially really limited the sale of the game on the platform. But it looks like the developer was more concerned with ensuring the quality of the game was high and suited for consoles too by using DirectX 10.

Artem went on to say:

It matches capabilities of next generation consoles better than DX9, which is important for us considering that Stormrise is a multi-platform title.

With Stormrise expected to ship in the Summer this could give quite a few gamers a difficult decision to make. Upgrade your gaming rig to Vista rather than waiting for Windows 7 to arrive, or don’t buy the game until you have a Windows 7 rig? I think I’d wait as buying Vista then upgrading to Windows 7 will cost significantly more, and who is buying Vista now that Windows 7 is imminent?

Read more at PC Games Hardware, found via Blue’s News, funding news, Geeek News

Combine music and shopping with the Boombox Bag

2009-03-06T03:45:00.001-08:00

With the green movement growing stronger every day, one of the things you see more of is people using reusable shopping bags. Now granted, I have yet to own any of these bags myself for my daily shopping, but after spying this particular bag I just might start.

Not only does this Audio Couture Boombox Bag look like a stereo that would be carried in some famous celebrity’s entourage, it can really belt out your favorite tunes. This is because the it actually has speakers discreetly hidden in the art on the front on the bag that allows you to plug your MP3 player in. Just attach your player to the hidden cord inside the bag and walk around with your own personal soundtrack as you do your shopping.

The Audio Couture Boombox Bag comes in a variety of colors including black, blue, pink, and green and is available for around $35.

Read more at blog.PCnews.ro, found via 7 Gadgets, funding news, Geeek News

GameTap to receive major update, lose Mac support

2009-03-06T03:38:00.000-08:00

Subscription game service GameTap is about to get a touching up, and while it gets a nip and a tuck it’ll lose some unwanted weight in the form of support for Mac users.

The new-and-improved GameTap will receive a much-needed interface overhaul focused around a web browser. Arcade and console games will be playable in web browsers, including Firefox, and other fixes include improved download management, desktop and Start Menu shortcuts for games, and easier access from multiple computers.

All the newness comes at a price, however. Players in the middle of challenges or certain games should be careful, as “leaderboards, challenge play, IM and save states are [all] affected.” Mac users should prepare their Boot Camp installations, as OSX support is going away entirely.

Joystiq speculates that the changes are being made to better integrate with GameTap’s new owner, the European subscription service Metaboli. Along those lines, GameTap promises an “updated digital download store with a better selection and competitive prices.”

The slimmer, more attractive GameTap will make its debut in “just over two weeks.”

Read more at the GameTap Blog

2009-03-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

When Capcom isn’t busy banking from bad Street Fighter movies, it likes to think it’s found another growth sector: PC games sold as digital downloads. In an interview, Capcom’s Christian Svensson laid out three reasons why his company is poised to gain big from moving into digitally distributed PC games.
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The first, Svensson said, is the large market comprised of lots of smaller countries. “The platform of choice in many countries is not a current-gen console,” he explained, referring to countries outside major game territories like North America and Japan.

The second reason is the need for somebody to fill the vacuum left by publishers running away from the PC platform en masse. In the last two years, virtually every large publisher has abandoned the PC citing ease of piracy. Svensson sees the upside: “the more people who shy away from that platform, the bigger the opportunity.”

The last reason is the business opportunity a digital distribution network represents for Capcom. With a Steam-like service in place, Capcom can profit from selling other companies’ games. According to Svensson, the house that Street Fighter built is “building up a digital distribution channel that has about twenty different partners.”

Capcom’s PC-based digital distribution business has no known launch date, but the company’s console-based download business is running full steam ahead as evidenced by its robust marketplaces on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

Read more at RockPaperShotgun

Toys R Us pays $5.1 million for toys.com

2009-03-06T03:14:00.000-08:00

If you want people to think you are about to do a big online retail push then you spend a lot of money buying a memorable domain name associated with your products. That’s exactly what Toys R Us has just done by spending $5.1 million to get the toys.com domain.
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Domain name seller Sedo believes it could mean big changes for the toy retailer, with their business development manage Nora Nanayakkara comementing:

In the case of Toys R Us it could be that they are thinking of rebranding or increasing its online presence … Toys.com is going to put them in the top search ranking and is likely to give them kudos in terms of brand recognition.

Purchasing such a high profile domain was not a simple task, however, and a bidding war ensued. As the bidding passed $2.9 million all interested parties dropped out except for Toys R Us and National A-1, a company well known for buying desirable domain names. Bidding then continued between these two with each adding between $5,000- $100,000 per bid as the price escalated. National A-1 put in a final bid of $5 million, but Toys R Us added another $100,000 and won. You can see full details of the bidding war at DirectNavigation.com

Read more at BBC News and The Washington Post

Panasonic GH1 Micro 4/3rds camera is impressive

2009-03-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

Panasonic stated at least year’s PMA that a version of the G1 Micro 4/3rds camera will be available next year–and they delivered on their promises. The GH1 seems to be exactly what the Panasonic G1 was and more. Perhaps most importantly, it solves almost all the problems that reviewers and users had with the camera to begin with.

The main differences between this new camera and the old G1 is first and foremost the ability to shoot 1080p HD video at 24fps and 720p HD video at 60fps (AVCHD format). What this means that the the camera has the versatility to work well with filmmakers and also those shooting sports videos for the web. My personal gripe with it is that I wish there was a 30p mode available as that would cater most towards shooting online video. Consumers would also appreciate this when trying to share videos with their friends, grandparents, etc.

However, I am very pleased with the fact that there is stereo audio recording and users are given the option to connect an external microphone to it. Indie filmmakers will be very pleased with this because of the fact that they will have a very nice hybrid camera for use in many situations that can be modified with a rail system, microphones, etc. Additionally, users will be able to shoot with Leica glass: sure Leica’s are expensive but their lenses are top quality. Besides this, they will also be able to use other Micro 4/3rds lenses, Canon FD lenses and regular 4/3rds lenses from Olympus. All those lenses are very, very nice and are regarded as some of the best out there. Even better, they auto-focus with the camera. That means a small semi-professional camera rig can be made with this camera, the 14-140mm lens, a Rode Shotgun mic for $160.00 (give or take) and a small rail system for around $70. The total will still most likely be under $1000, which provides more versatility than most camcorders priced at the same amount.

Added praise also goes to the articulating screen, which allows for better video capture in different situations.

That doesn’t mean that it’s all good and well though. There is only video-out connectivity, which doesn’t always necessarily mean that you can hook headphones up to it in order to listen to the audio that is being recorded. This may prove to be a problem with many users. I know that this was a problem with many photojournalists when the Canon 5D Mk II came out. Then again, Canon did acknowledge that it wasn’t a perfect product. Similarly, the GH1 is an improved product on the G1, but still doesn’t seem perfect.

The GH1 shoots still photos (in both RAW and JPEG) at 3fps (and at many different aspect ratios), which is the same as the G1 and many entry level DSLRs. That’s slow by today’s standards. However, 3fps may be fine for most people shooting small products and that would like a camera for general everyday use.

Otherwise, the only other thing that seems different about this camera is that ISO sensativity is all the way up to 3200. I cannot imagine images shot at ISO 3200 coming out very nicely on a camera like this. One problem is the sensor: the sensor is way too small to be able to do such things and the noise reduction algorithms set by the companies have not been able to clean up image noise that well.

Expect this camera to recieve lots of press in the coming months. Additionally, Wired predicts that is may retail for $500. That’s not terrible, but consider that DSLRs are priced very similarly. The best analysis so far of the camera comes from CameraLabs.com. Over there they compare it to the previous G1 and even a camera many steps up: the D90.

Review At: geeek news And Funding News.

Microsoft pledges up to 3,000 new research jobs this year

2009-03-04T22:28:00.001-08:00

No matter where you look companies seem to be making job cuts to either protect themselves from the current economy or in response to major losses. Even cash-rich Microsoft was not immune announcing 5,000 job cuts in January.

But Microsoft also look like they might be one of the companies to offer some relief and start offering a significant number of new positions. Kevin Turner, chief operating officer for the company has spoken at CeBIT this week and stated:

Realignment of the company will help us reassign people and could allow us to create some 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs.

Even though it has already decided to cut 5,000 jobs they come from other areas of its business. Microsoft has said it will continue to focus and expand its research and development efforts and with that comes new jobs. In total Microsoft are set to spend $9 billion on research which is $1 billion more than 2008.

When it comes to deciding where that money will be best spent, it is thought most of it will go into the area of cloud computing as Microsoft seeks to claim its space online next to rivals such as Google.

Read more at Reuters, geeek news And Funding News.

Flickr lets all users upload video, Pro users get HD

2009-03-04T22:22:00.000-08:00

Flickr has decided to open up the posting of video footage to all users of the site regardless of whether they pay for a Pro account or not.

Adding a video upload option to Flickr was confirmed in March last year to a mixed response. Then in April it was rolled out to users who paid for a Pro account.

Now Flickr is expanding the service. All users can upload video, but free accounts will be limited to two videos per month of no more than 90 seconds and 150MB in size – Pro accounts get unlimited uploads, but still have to adhere to the tight restrictions on length and size. Pro users don’t lose out in this update though, because they are getting the option of uploading 720p HD video.

Free accounts can upload HD video, but it will only be shown in SD format. Any free account upgrading to a Pro account will automatically have those HD videos stored on their account playback in HD, so it’s worthwhile uploading them in HD format in case you ever do upgrade. Some examples of the HD video on offer can be found in the Flickr HD Video group.

Read more at the Flickr Blog, found via PC Magazine, geeek news And Funding News.

Watching videos does nothing for baby development

2009-03-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

Next time you drop your baby Einstein in front of the TV to have him learn a little more science, consider this: new data out this week suggests kids under two get no benefits cognitively from television viewing. This may compel you instead to take Junior outside.

The study, conducted at both Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, found that television viewing before the age of two does not improve a child’s language and visual motor skills. The findings of this study are said to reaffirm guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which suggest that “maternal, child and household” characteristics are influential on your tyke’s cognitive development.

Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, senior author of the study and pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston said:

In this study, TV viewing in itself did not have measurable effects on cognition … TV viewing is perhaps best viewed as a marker for a host of other environmental and familial influences, which may themselves be detrimental to cognitive development.

The flip side of the study, interestingly enough, suggests overall time of increased infant TV exposure is of no detriment, though specific content was not considered. You could perhaps, therefore, stick you kid in front of snow on the screen and watch him drool? Probably not such a good idea.

Read more at Children’s Hospital Boston

Intel Outlines Specialized Atom Processors

2009-03-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Intel announced four, specialized Atom processors and two new media hubs for "in-car infotainment devices, media phones, eco- technologies and other industrial-strength applications."

According to the press release, part of Intel's growth strategy hinges upon the low-power Atom processor to push into computing-related markets requiring specialized, embedded circuits. These markets include "automotive in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), industrial control and automation, and media phones."

Directly from the release:

With the addition of these new products, we can bring the benefits of Intel processors to new applications, devices and customers who develop products used in unconstrained thermal environments with low-power in mind," said Doug Davis, vice president, Digital Enterprise Group and general manager, Embedded and Communications Group, Intel. "Meeting the needs of embedded environments and new market segments will play a large role in delivering the connectivity and functionality necessary as the number of devices connecting to the embedded Internet is expected to grow to an estimated 15 billion devices by 2015," Davis added, citing a January report by IDC's John Gantz titled "The Embedded Internet: Methodology and Findings.

The Atom processor, according to Intel, features the smallest and most efficient transistors in the world and is Intel's smallest processor to date.

HTC Cavalier successor Maple spotted in Germany

2009-03-04T19:16:00.000-08:00

A long overdue replacement for the HTC Cavalier QWERTY phone, the HTC Maple, has been spotted on Germany’s CNET site. Next to nothing is known about the handset’s features other that what is seen in the photo. The Windows Mobile-based handset notably adds a BlackBerry-like trackball for navigation and a 2-megapixel camera on its backside.

A feature called Inner Circle reportedly allows users to group their contacts either as friends or work- or business-related people, with incoming e-mails and messages sorted accordingly during the work week and weekend or after-hours in order to not interfere with a busy schedule.

There is no word on date of availability or pricing in any market, though the Cavalier is sold as the T-Mobile Dash in the US and makes the American carrier a likely candidate for any replacement.

Review At: electronista

PSP To Finally Stake Its Claim To Fame?

2009-03-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

Everyone’s always harping on the PSP for being so lame. I love my PSP. Sure there’s not a s**t ton of games out right now but the franchised games like Syphon Filter, Silent Hill, GTA, and MGS are just an example of the quality that can be the PSP. In recent news, SCEA has announced that they will be bringing over as many PS1 games as possible to add to PSN. Japan already has a massive collection of PS1 games available on its PSN. Also Sony is in talks with publishers in regards to getting classic non PS1 games on PSN, like old genesis games and such. Whenever we hear more about this fabled PSP 4000, we will hear more about the lack of UMD and the transition to download only content which I think is a great idea. Keeping the price down on games will be a key factor though because as of now I could go on amazon or ebay and buy the PSP Genesis collection for $20 and that has three sonic games on it not to mention a bunch others. How about some Resident Evil for PSP?

Review At: CrunchGear

Call of Duty series creators open Twitter suggestion box

2009-03-03T00:26:00.000-08:00

Call of Duty creators Infinity Ward are open to your suggestions for its upcoming shooter sequel Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, so long as your suggestion is under 140 characters.

Infinity Ward community coordinator Robert “fourzerotwo” Bowling is supervising the effort and changing questions from time to time. Questions so far have covered desired additions for the game and requested features on a Modern Warfare 2 community site.

Suggestions range from the caps-locked “

ADD IN A GOOD COVER SYSTEM. DESTRUCTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS. SILNCE SNIPE NO VEHC” to the more salient and subtle “Martyrdom requires player to have 1 grenade when they die.

“

Call of Duty addicts can follow the action on Infinity Ward’s Twitter page, or they can get in on the action themselves by appending #mw2 to their tweet.

Conficker worm may hit Southwest Airlines site

2009-03-03T00:19:00.000-08:00

The Conficker worm is likely to cause network disruption at several legitimate domains, including Southwest Airlines, security analysts say.

The malware, also known as Downadup, uses an algorithm to generate a daily list of IP addresses which it polls for updates, based on date information pulled from several Internet sources. Infected machines call out to these addresses looking for new instructions, code updates, etc. If just one of the generated addresses is ‘live’ (i.e. under the control of Conficker’s authors), the worm can be updated.

Microsoft recently announced that it would work with domain registrars to block access to any unregistered domains that Conficker targets, thus preventing the author(s) from registering one of them and hosting an update site. However, security and antivirus firm Sophos has identified some legitimate sites that will be targeted by the worm.

Legitimate sites on the list include Southwest Airlines, which is due to be hit on Friday 13th by millions of infected machines. The result will be something akin to a DDOS attack, with servers placed under immense strain throughout the day.

Mike Wood of SophosLabs, Canada said:

A legitimate domain that happens to make it into the Conficker call-home list is a problem for two reasons … First, without proper investigation, they may end up on a blocklist and prevent users from accessing their services. Second, those millions of Conficker infected machines contacting the domain on its given day may overload the site and essentially result in a denial-of-service attack.

Report predicts $860 billion in mobile payments by 2013

2009-03-02T23:32:00.000-08:00

300 billion mobile payment transactions will be made in 2013, totalling US$860 billion, according to a new report.

The report, by research firm Informa Telecoms & Media, suggest that revenue from mobile payments in 5 years time will be as high as US$10 billion, a twelve-fold increase on what we see today. Much of the growth will come from emerging markets in Africa and Asia, according to the report.

Expanding on this, John Darnbrough, author of the report, said:

In the developing world, the behavioral change amongst consumers has already begun; mobile payments and mobile banking are already the natural and only financial services to millions of previously unbanked consumers.

The report also predicts that mobile transactions will change in nature; whilst in 2008, approximately one third of mobile payments were for mobile content such as ringtones or games, by 2013 people will be far more likely to be using their mobile to purchase physical goods and services. Alongside this, users of mobile banking are predicted to grow significatnly, from 67 million in 2008 to 977 million in 2013.

Read the press release at TMCnet, found via mocoNews

City of Heroes to get player-created content with Mission Architect

2009-03-02T23:26:00.000-08:00

Any MMO players out there that would like to see their own gameplay being made available to other players may want to take a look at City of Heroes.

The forthcoming Architect Edition is set to introduce a new feature called Mission Architect that will allow players to create their own in-game quests and make them available to other players. According to the FAQ for the City of Heroes Issue 14: Architect it works as follows:

Players create content in game through a computer terminal within one of the Architect Entertainment buildings. Architect Entertainment is the name of an in-game company that’s developed this type of ‘simulated experience’ for heroes and villains of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. You can think of this like a holo-deck or a simulated mission tool. Players go to these facilities that are spread through out most of our zones and interact with a computer that walks through the creation process. Here is where they pick all of their options for a mission as well as write all the dialog and build their custom characters. Once they’ve gotten their story together, they can test it out and see how it plays. Once they’ve gotten it perfect, they can publish the story up to our Arc Server. This server is cross shard and cross game. So, any content published will be seen by everyone on every server, regardless of where they play.

The video above was created by Rooster Teeth Productions (of Red vs. Blue fame) and is the first of three introducing the Mission Architect feature.

I can’t see this not being popular with players. Who wouldn’t want to create missions for their superheroes and friends to carry out? The real test will be just how easy the tools are to use for the average player. I also wonder if NCSoft will have to use some kind of vetting process to ensure content created is appropriate for the game.

You’ll be able to pick up the Architect Edition at some point in April for PC and Mac.

Read more at the City of heroes website, found via Kotaku

Seagate bringing Mobile Armor encryption to laptop hard drives

2009-03-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

Pre-loaded software is rarely a good thing, in my experience. There are anti-virus and chat programs, game demos, and unnecessary drivers. Of course, there are exceptions, but usually users would prefer to install these things themselves.

Thumb drives have brought another level of pain to the picture with pre-loaded software that is intended to aid in their use. Sometimes, though, these are stopped by the free anti-virus or unnecessary drivers.

Now, Seagate is teaming up with Mobile Armor to install automatic data encryption services on 2.5-inch Seagate Momentus FDE hard drives. The results of this pairing could be horrendous or spectacular. If the hard drives are widely used, then there will be a lot of grandmothers who don’t know how to operate the sophisticated software. However, if they’re used sparingly and mostly in the enterprise market, then look for the mobile auditing included in the software to become a big hit.

From the way that their CEO, Chand Vyas, is talking, they could very well be going the government and enterprise route:

Mobile Armor is pleased to augment our security platform previously validated by our largest-in-the-world implementation of centrally-managed encryption and enterprise key management with the Seagate(R) hardware security solutions.

In that case, I know a lot of IT guys that are going to have some very secure data pretty soon. No word on prices yet, or what PC brands will benefit from this partnership, but I’m sure the CIO knows. The CIO always knows.

Read more at the joint press release, found via I4U

Access full length CBS shows through free iPhone app

2009-03-02T00:05:00.000-08:00

CBS has released a free iPhone app called the TV.com application. The app will allow iPhone users to access full episodes of shows from CBS. Video updates on sports, news, and entertainment will also be available. The application works on both 3G and Wi-Fi networks, but the highest quality videos are only available on Wi-Fi. In addition to CBS programming there will also be videos from CNET which show reviews and demonstrations of the latest gadgets.

Users can search for specific video from anywhere in the application. You can even create your own custom feed based on keywords and your favorite shows, channels, or topics. If you want a random video you just need to shake the iPhone to have one displayed.

It seems that CBS is taking full advantage of its purchase of CNET. I’m a big fan of being able to watch programming from an iPhone or an iPod touch, it’s sometimes the only way to “zone out” and watch your favorite television programs without interruption.

Read more at the iTunes app page

eBooks move to mobile phones with Shortcovers

2009-03-01T23:54:00.000-08:00

This week a new website was launched called Shortcovers which has the goal of bringing eBooks to smartphones such as the iPhone, BlackBerry, and G1 Android. The website also offers a free application for both devices which allows you to have the same access to the website as if you were on a computer. The application includes a reading application allowing you to create bookmarks so you can remember exactly where you left off reading.

Shortcovers offers readers access to books, chapters, news and magazine articles, short stories, and blog posts. Some reads will be available for free or for as little as US$0.99. The website also allows you to sample first chapters to decide whether or not you’d like to purchase an entire book.

Shortcovers also let’s you know what other people think about some of the reads available through tags, ratings, reviews, and comments. You can even share great reads with friends by emailing them or making recommendations. The website will allow you to create your own short story, article, essay, chapter, blog post, diary, or journal entry that you can upload and share with others.

Read more from the Shortcovers blog and website

Facebook invites users to participate in policy decisions

2009-03-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

Social networking site Facebook has announced a democratic approach to policy and site governance, with users invited to contribute to site policies.

Announcing the move on the Facebook blog, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg explained that the company aimed to make the world more open and transparent. Zuckerberg thinks Facebook must lead by example by enshrining these principles in their own business.

Expanding on the plans, Zuckerberg said:

History tells us that systems are most fairly governed when there is an open and transparent dialogue between the people who make decisions and those who are affected by them. We believe history will one day show that this principle holds true for companies as well, and we’re looking to moving in this direction with you.

The moves come in the wake of a user backlash over its terms of usage, causing the company to make a u-turn and revert to their previous terms of service. Users were angry at what they saw as an attempt by Facebook to lay claim to all content on the site, including personal photos and comments.

The user-participation scheme is still in its infancy, with two governance documents put up for review and comment. Users will be able to vote on proposed changes before they become part of site policy.

Explaining the relevance of these documents to users, Zuckerberg said:

The first is the Facebook Principles, which defines your rights and will serve as the guiding framework behind any policy we’ll consider—or the reason we won’t consider others. The second document is the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which will replace the existing Terms of Use

This is a bold move by Facebook and seems to encapsulate the core principles of Web 2.0. If these moves prove successful and popular with users, many more companies may jump on the bandwagon to encourage greater user involvement in the direction of their business.

Read more at BBC News

US Military in final phases of testing laser armed jet planes

2009-03-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

This sounds like fiction out of a 1985 movie starring Val Kilmer, but in reality the US Air Force is in the final phases of testing a piece of military tech aimed at taking out recently launched missiles or enemy aircraft with lasers.

This relatively new system was developed in cooperation with the US Air Force, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. It involves a high-powered laser mounted on the nose of a large jet plane that can track and destroy enemy missiles when launched. The system is designed so that laser equipped planes could patrol areas of international tension to intercept missile launches soon after they leave the ground.

In experiments completed last year, the system passed a low powered test where the laser successfully found and tracked another jet plane that was painted to simulate a target missile. Further testing on the laser system is expected to continue throughout 2009, but the future of the weapon is in limbo as the new Obama Administration has yet to decide to continue funding on the project.

Read more at New Scientist, found via Engadget

The $27,000 Internet football game

2009-03-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

You’ve got to love a dedicated football fan that will watch his favorite team no matter where he is. Of course, I’m sure that same fan doesn’t expect to receive a $27,000 phone bill as a result. According to the Shutdown Corner Y! Sports Blog, that’s exactly what happened to Wayne Burdick.

It seems Wayne boarded a cruise ship while it was still docked at a port in Miami. The ship had not left port yet, so Wayne decided to use his AT&T wireless card and laptop to connect to his Slingbox over the Internet to watch a Chicago Bears game.

Wayne’s vacation was over when he got the $27,000 bill for the wireless service because, for some reason, he got a rogue signal which had him using International roaming at a rate of $0.02 a kilobyte. Luckily for Wayne, AT&T found the error of their ways after some encouragement from the Chicago Sun-Times and let him off the hook since he was still in Miami at the time of the connection.

$27,000 would get you a heck of a good time during Super Bowl weekend. For that amount of money you could also get great seats at the Super Bowl. It’s stories like this that make you want to double check your wireless connection to ensure you’re not roaming. $0.02 a kilobyte is pricey.

Read more from the Shutdown Corner blog

Nintendo gives release dates for over 100 games

2009-03-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

Nintendo has just released a large games list for the Wii and DS platforms, including both first- and third-party games for each system. All in all, 120 games have been confirmed and given release dates, including Nintendo’s high-profile releases leading up to this summer’s E3.

Perhaps Nintendo’s biggest spring release will be the Wii remake of Punch-Out!!, coming May 18. Also among the releases are the first entries in the New Play Control! series of GameCube games remade for the Wii: Mario Power Tennis and Pikmin, are both coming in March. A new game, ExciteBots: Trick Control, will continue the Excitebike and Excite Truck franchises and pack a Wii Wheel accessory like Mario Kart Wii did.

From third-party publishers come a variety of promising titles, including EA Sports Active (May 19), Virtual Tennis 2009 (May), Peggle Dual Shot (March 3), Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (March 17), and Desktop Tower Defense (April 29).

Nintendo’s own DS lineup includes a couple of pleasant surprises, including the first American entry in the long-running Japanese series The Legendary Starfy (June 8) and Personal Trainer: Walking (May 25), which packs a pedometer. And in case anyone has forgotten, the exceedingly wacky Rythm Heaven will arrive on April 5.

Read the full list at Kotaku