250 Discussion / Question Topics
Remove Filter  | My youngest daughter got a Nintendo DS for xmas, complete with a bunch of cutesy games which seem to involve patting animals of various kinds. It is, of course, pink. Which has kind of summed up the DS, a handheld games console for the family which is all cuddly and … |
| | According to the latest figures to be released, it would seem that as far as gamers in the UK are concerned Nintendo is the bees knees grabbing nearly half the market. The [URL="http://www.elspa.com/"]ELSPA[/URL] numbers show that the [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22425/532/"]Wii[/URL] managed to increase game software sales by 112 percent over the previous … |
| | If you ever wondered just what it takes to look for aliens, then prepare to get informed. Sure, you might imagine it doesn't take much more than hooking up a load of computers to form a gigantic zombie network which, for a change, does not use spare CPU cycles to … |
| | How many times have you bought something on eBay and the sale didn't go quite according to plan? What did you do, just bite your lip and say nothing or make use of that eBay tool called the feedback system to leave a negative for the seller so that other …  |
| | The quick answer is no, at least according to well respected security guru and Chief Research Officer at F-Secure, Mikko Hypponen. The slightly longer answer is that dealing with organised crime on the Internet is not as easy as you might imagine, and bringing cyber criminals to justice can be … |
| | If you were offended by that headline, or perhaps felt intimidated by it, then you are not alone. In fact, a new study published by the Journal of School Health has revealed that cyber-bullying is so common amongst teenagers who use the Internet a lot (so that's most teenagers then) … |
| | MDY Industries developed a popular World of Warcraft bot by the name of MMOGlider. Popular because, I would imagine, it took much of the donkey work out of progressing through the virtual world by automating repetitive tasks. You know, the boring stuff such as slaying monsters and scavenging for loot. … |
| | Ever looked at something, done a double-take, looked again and yes, that is what you saw but your brain told you it could not be? That is exactly what just happened to me when I read the NASA press release which informed me, in no uncertain terms, that it was … |
| | You've got to love this one. A Bangladesh government website, for the Rapid Action Battalion, was hacked last week. It was one of those hacktivism style affairs, with the home page defaced and a message left in its place. The message, in this instance, read: "GOVERNMENT DOES NOT TAKE ANY … |
| | According to a survey by [URL="http://www.BroadbandChoices.co.uk"]BroadbandChoices.co.uk[/URL], most parents in the UK are not actively monitoring what their kids are up to when using the Internet. In fact, while 40 percent of kids between the ages of 11 and 16 use Facebook and MySpace, 45 percent make new friends in chatrooms … |
| | File under strange but true: an IBM developed supercomputer based on the same processor technology that powers the Sony PlayStation 3 has just been officially ratified as the fastest computer on the planet. According to the [URL="http://www.top500.org/"]Top 500 supercomputing rankings[/URL], published today at the International Supercomputing Conference in Dresden, Germany, … |
| | According to the Guardian newspaper, the much publicised reports circulating online and in the global print media that Sir Paul McCartney has struck a deal to put the Beatles back catalogue up for download on iTunes this year is simply not true. The story is that Sir Paul has agreed … |
| | One of the biggest takeovers that the corporate world has ever seen could be on the cards now that Microsoft has confirmed an acquisition bid for Yahoo! According to various reports online it had already made what moves towards what it says were negotiations for a 'friendly takeover' late last … |
| | There have been some odd items for sale on eBay over the years, but a million pound wall has to be amongst the most bizarre. The wall itself, of course, is not the reason for the high Buy it Now price tag. That can be accounted for by the graffiti … |
| | According to [URL="http://www.airwidesolutions.com"]Airwide Solutions[/URL], which is well placed to comment on such matters as it is a provider of mobile messaging infrastructure amongst other things, the SMS (short message service) we all better know as text messaging will hit record highs on New Years Day. In fact, you can think … |
| | There was a kind of cult of C-list celebrity surrounding Adam Lyons a few years back, but only amongst teenage boys who asked him for help with cheat codes on the UK [URL="http://www.skyone.co.uk"]Sky One[/URL] TV video gamers show [URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428117/"]Gamezville[/URL]. Back then he was known simply as the Games Guru, but … |
| | Boffins from the [URL="http://www.ucsd.edu/"]University of California, San Diego[/URL] have succeeded in developing new algorithms to map the Internet. While mapping any network topology can be complex and demanding, mapping the Internet takes the task to a whole new level. Yet Priya Mahadevan and Amin Vahdat think they have accomplished it … |
| | [URL="http://www.legality.biz"]Legality[/URL] prides itself as being the first virtual law firm in the UK, having set up in business some five years ago now. So it seems fitting that it should be providing advice to those businesses looking to set up shop in the daddy of virtual worlds, Second Life. Now … |
| | A newly published study by web audience measurement outfit [URL="http://www.hitwise.com/"]Hitwise[/URL] has revealed that despite the media frenzy surrounding Web 2.0 sites and services, when it comes to the actual public only a minuscule number actually participate in the social networking and information sharing revolution when they visit. For example, how … |
| | China has officially declared war on Internet porn, and set a target of purging the web of sexually-explicit images, stories and AV clips within a six month timescale. According to the [URL="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english"]China View[/URL] official online news agency the Vice Minister of MPS, Zhang Xinfeng, is quoted as stating “the boom … |
| | Every now and then, as a journalist, a press release lands upon my virtual desk that stands out because it relates to ‘a good thing’ and one of them arrived today. In fact, it relates to a number of good things: [B]Good Thing Number One[/B] It raises awareness of what … |
| | Face it, the PDA is dying if not dead, killed off by the evolution of the cellphone into smartphone. This is no great shame, because it means you now have a smaller device in your pocket that does twice as much as either a cellphone or PDA on its own. … |
| | Like many other geeks I have lost the ability to read a map, so used am I to having a posh if slightly robotic lady telling me where to turn during a road trip. SatNav is a wonderful thing, in the right hands, such as Eva Ericsson and the boffins …  |
| | The International Association of Virtual Reality Technologies (IAVRT) is planning an alternative Internet, the [URL="http://www.iavrt.org/neuronet.html"]Neuronet[/URL], designed to meet the needs of Virtual Reality applications. Which begs the dual questions of what those needs might be and what does Virtual Reality actually mean these days? Indeed, I spent quite a time … |
| | Finnish mobile phone giants [URL="http://www.nokia.com"]Nokia [/URL]are claiming to have organized the biggest 2006 New Year’s Eve celebration in the world, with more than 2 million people in 5 locations joined by 150 million television and Internet viewers. Fittingly enough, Nokia was delivering on its promise to connect the world through … |
| | A report published by the Social Issues Research Centre, combining data from a YouGov poll with the results of physiological tests on separate study group of Internet users, suggests that there is a link between badly designed websites and negative effects on human health. Specifically, the reports links five key …  |
| | According to an in-depth study by the [URL="http://www.socialfuturesobservatory.co.uk"]Social Futures Observatory[/URL], anti-bank feeling is running so high in the UK that 74% of Brits would consider borrowing or lending money through a social lending community in preference to their high street bank. In the ultimate case of old concept finds new … |
| | You know when you are invited to the [URL="http://www.stjohns.co.uk/"]St John’s Innovation Centre[/URL], part of the Cambridge Enterprise Hub in the UK that supports early-stage knowledge-based businesses and research institutes, that you are going to be in for an interesting day. When it is a press day with a focus on … |
| | I guess when you are a billionaire, finding somewhere new and exciting to go on vacation gets difficult after a while. No such problem for Charles Simonyi, who as part of the original Xerox PARC team helped developed the mouse, the GUI and even laser printing, and went on to … |
| | More than 7 million Sony batteries have now been recalled since the middle of August when Dell made its big 4.1 million battery recall announcement, a figure which has risen to 4.2 million over the weekend interestingly enough. Toshiba has now joined the feeding frenzy by recalling 830,000 laptop batteries; … |
| | Sometimes, I get wind of something that has all the makings of an April Fool’s Day prank: but not often in September. Which is why I took a second look at the story about an IBM supercomputer in the making, with ambitions to break the petaflop speed barrier, which will … |
| | AOL has announced its [URL="http://developers.aimphoneline.com/"]AIM Phoneline Developer Initiative[/URL] that will allow voice application developers and device manufacturers to create new tools to extend the functionality of the still relatively new AIM Phoneline service. Examples of the new APIs for call personalization (or ringtones as mere non-marketing mortals might say), untethered … |
| | AOL has announced its [URL="http://developers.aimphoneline.com/"]AIM Phoneline Developer Initiative[/URL] that will allow voice application developers and device manufacturers to create new tools to extend the functionality of the still relatively new AIM Phoneline service. Examples of the new APIs for call personalization (or ringtones as mere non-marketing mortals might say), untethered … |
| | Thursday 24th August could be a date for your diary if you happen to be in the market for compilers and development tools for the high-performance computing arena. Especially that which nods towards parallelization and optimization functionality in order to squeeze multi-core processors to the max. The [URL="http://www.pgroup.com/"]Portland Group[/URL] have … |
| | I was born in London, and although I no longer live there (having swapped the rat race for a life of rural seclusion) I am a regular business visitor. Unsurprisingly then, I tend to travel a lot by the good old London Black Cab. While more expensive than taking the … |
| | When you are the world's biggest PC maker, your problems tend to be on the large scale when they hit. Such is the case of what the US Consumer Products Safety Commission is calling the biggest recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry. The problem is that a … |
| | OK, so that would just be silly, would it not? Nobody in their right minds would accept a job working in IT on Mars. Yet so far 70 people have applied to the [URL="http://www.imbp.ru/Mars500/Proj_M500-e.html"]Mars-500[/URL] project in Russia, for the unusual position (literally) of an IT Manager willing to be sealed … |
| | I was caught up in the travel nightmare that has been unraveling in the UK this week, the result of a major gambit in the ongoing ‘war on terror’ being foiled. Like many business travelers, I had been due to fly, short haul across into mainland Europe, when the news … |
| | Sometimes, the cleverest of folk say the dumbest things. Case in point, I am sure that Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack is very clever, as a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts you would have to assume as much. So why has she claimed that as many as 40 percent … |
| | Rockstar Games is no stranger to controversy, after all the Grand Theft Auto series of hugely successful video games revolve around the concept of robbing and killing your way to victory. But with the confirmation that it will release the long delayed ‘Bully’ in October, originally slated for a PS2 …  |
| | More bad news from the Las Vegas Black Hat Convention, this time for the blogging community. Most RSS reader software is vulnerable to malicious JavaScript insertion attacks, and web based readers are not immune either. With typical JavaScript based attacks targeting passwords and personal data, it is something that should … |
| | No, it is not a trick question and, yes, your security could be compromised by the fact that you trust your printer almost implicitly. At the Black Hat Security conference this week, Brendan O’Connor proved just how insecure embedded software can be, by exploiting a vulnerability affecting Xerox printers and … |
| | If your neighbour was borrowing your wireless Internet connection, without your permission, and you wanted to teach them a lesson, what would you do? [URL="http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html"]Pete [/URL]decided to have some fun with a fairly simple Squid proxy and turned their online life upside down. Literally. What Pete did was split the … |
| | According to [URL="http://www.spreadfirefox.com"]Spread Firefox[/URL] the Internet Explorer alternative has been downloaded 200 million times. Which sounds impressive enough, until you factor in the small matter of downloads not being the same thing as actual users? Yet while Spread Firefox admits as much and reminds us that the 200 million figure … |
| | How can so many people be so wrong all at the same time? That is the question I am left asking myself following the 410 to 15 vote in favor of the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 (also known as HR5319 or DOPA.) The answer is, of course, that … |
| | How much money does Microsoft need? As much as possible would appear to be the answer, considering that it has announced a $1.50 fee to download the Office 2007 Beta as from August 2nd. Claiming a requirement to cover server costs as a result of the 3 million people that … |
| | In what could be an important week for anyone with the slightest interest in online chat, Microsoft and Yahoo began a limited public Beta which sees users of the two IM systems being able to talk to each other for the first time. My inside man tells me that the … |
| | Microsoft's Cybersecurity and Systems Management Research Group have created an automated tool, as part of the larger [URL="http://research.microsoft.com/SearchDefender/"]Strider Search Defende[/URL]r project, to combat sources of comment spam that is the scourge of blogs across the web. Because sites can get high legitimate search rankings while at the same time serving … |
| | Who would have thunked it, the Sony PS3 has run into yet more trouble before it has even made it into the shops. Well I would have for a start, the project has been plagued with bad planning, bad marketing and bad luck since the get go. The decision to … |
| | Surveys, I often find, manage to arrive at the most unexpected of conclusions. This could be down to the questions that are asked being worded in such a way to solicit a politically or commercially acceptable result. It could be down to the fact that people do not tell the …  |
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