Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-397785.html
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Cisco embarks on media-centric Internet thrust
The Internet is moving away from being a data transportation and messaging platform, into a space filled with integrated rich-media content, according to Cisco Systems. by Kevin Kwang, ZDNet Asia
Next Firefox to drop Mac OS X 10.4 support
Mozilla has officially decided that the next major version of Firefox will require at least Mac OS X 10.5 when running on Apple computers. by Stephen Shankland CNET News
Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-397786.html
Nintendo Entering E-Books Market With DSi XL
Nintendo announced that its latest gadget, the DSi XL, will be useful for more than just chasing around in a Mario Kart. You’ll also be able to read books on it.
Bloomberg reports that the first DSi XL e-book offering will be a cartridge containing 100 public domain books, including classics such as Twain and Shakespeare. This means Nintendo is opting for its traditional, cartridge-oriented approach versus launching an online bookstore.
The $190 device, which is basically a blown-up version of its predecessor, DSi, features two 4.2-inch screens, folds like a book, and is about the size of a paperback. All of which could make it an attractive platform for reading (though it’s not the only e-reading device to feature two screens).
Nintendo has sold roughly 130 million DS consoles so far (including DSi and DS Lite), and the global popularity of the DS platform might make Nintendo a serious e-book competitor. But Cammie Dunaway, the executive vice president of sales for North America told Bloomberg that’s not the immediate goal. “It’s just one more way to enjoy your device.?
The DSi XL, which has been available in Japan for months now, will launch in the U.S. on March 28.
Wired’s Chris Kohler reviewed the Nintendo DSi XL recently and concluded it’s not just about it being bigger: “The larger screen isn’t just some frivolous purchase ? it’s completely awesome.”
Nintendo’s move most likely doesn’t represent an aggressive move into the e-book market. Rather, it shows the company is trying to make its gadgets more useful in new ways before a tidal wave of tablets and smartphones chips away at the audience for mobile games.
Photo by Jim Merithew for Wired.com
Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/DN1qpqGH8x8/
Adult Swim Skins Make Your Phone #1 In The Hood, G
Check check it. Here’s the toughest thing you’ll ever slap on your phone (or computer). Ever.
MusicSkins is a Brooklyn based company that makes vinyl coverings (aka fancy stickers) for iPods, iPhones, laptops, and a glut of other consumer electronics. And now they’ve gotten all sexy with Cartoon Network and commissioned some incredibly cool designs inspired by shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Venture Brothers, Space Ghost, and God love him, Brak.
Our faves? The awesome abstract Venture Brothers skull and the Todd McFarlane-esque Aqua Teen Hunger Force illustrations you see above.
You can get ‘em through Adult Swim’s website or direct from from MusicSkins starting at $10.
And if you’re not familiar with Adult Swim (shame on you!) here’s the intro of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie where heavy metal band Mastodon eloquently explains the theater rules. Enjoy!
Photo by Jon Snyder for Wired.com
Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/zmqEH_4c0tU/
Lloyds Banking Group cuts IT spend by �82m
Angelica Mari, Computing, Friday 26 February 2010 at 14:25:00
And technology integration is on track
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has reduced its yearly IT spend by six per cent to
�1.2bn as the financial giant continues to integrate Lloyds TSB and HBOS.
According to the bank?s results released today, the cost reduction of �82m
has been achieved through the consolidation of IT operations across the group as
well as lower investment spend as project activity was replaced by integration
work.
LBG said it is "making good progress" towards integrating the entire
organisation, with preparations for data migration in "full flight".
?Detailed plans are in place, along with testing requirements that are fully
commensurate with an integration of this scale,? the bank said in its annual
financial statement.
At the bank?s wholesale arm, for example, the initial planning and
organisational design stage has been finished, major decisions related to
systems have been made and the first product migrations have also been
completed.
LBG said that a core focus area for 2010 is planning and execution of
additional product migrations and enhancing its risk systems.
However, the taxpayer-supported bank recorded a �6.3bn loss, largely due to a
�24bn impairment on legacy HBOS assets.
LBG said that the "overwhelming majority" of its job cuts in 2009 were
achieved through re-deployment, "natural turnover" and voluntary redundancy,
while a small amount left via compulsory redundancy.
IT
workers were among the worst-hit by the cull.
Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2258609/lloyds-banking-group-reduces
Updated tsunami warning system in action
Full story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35619051/ns/world_news-chile_earthquake/
Big quake question: Are they getting worse?
Full story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35618526/ns/world_news-chile_earthquake/
Planning For Haiti's Future Presents Many Challenges
From the early days after the earthquake, planners have been trying to develop a long-term recovery plan to address some of Haiti's long-standing problems. But competing needs — rebuilding infrastructure, providing social services, restoring forests — are making it difficult to work out a comprehensive plan for recovery.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Full story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124113458&ft=1&f=1001
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Cisco embarks on media-centric Internet thrust
The Internet is moving away from being a data transportation and messaging platform, into a space filled with integrated rich-media content, according to Cisco Systems. by Kevin Kwang, ZDNet Asia
Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-397785.html
Next Firefox to drop Mac OS X 10.4 support
Mozilla has officially decided that the next major version of Firefox will require at least Mac OS X 10.5 when running on Apple computers. by Stephen Shankland CNET News
Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-397786.html
Nintendo Entering E-Books Market With DSi XL
Nintendo announced that its latest gadget, the DSi XL, will be useful for more than just chasing around in a Mario Kart. You’ll also be able to read books on it.
Bloomberg reports that the first DSi XL e-book offering will be a cartridge containing 100 public domain books, including classics such as Twain and Shakespeare. This means Nintendo is opting for its traditional, cartridge-oriented approach versus launching an online bookstore.
The $190 device, which is basically a blown-up version of its predecessor, DSi, features two 4.2-inch screens, folds like a book, and is about the size of a paperback. All of which could make it an attractive platform for reading (though it’s not the only e-reading device to feature two screens).
Nintendo has sold roughly 130 million DS consoles so far (including DSi and DS Lite), and the global popularity of the DS platform might make Nintendo a serious e-book competitor. But Cammie Dunaway, the executive vice president of sales for North America told Bloomberg that’s not the immediate goal. “It’s just one more way to enjoy your device.?
The DSi XL, which has been available in Japan for months now, will launch in the U.S. on March 28.
Wired’s Chris Kohler reviewed the Nintendo DSi XL recently and concluded it’s not just about it being bigger: “The larger screen isn’t just some frivolous purchase ? it’s completely awesome.”
Nintendo’s move most likely doesn’t represent an aggressive move into the e-book market. Rather, it shows the company is trying to make its gadgets more useful in new ways before a tidal wave of tablets and smartphones chips away at the audience for mobile games.
Photo by Jim Merithew for Wired.com
Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/DN1qpqGH8x8/
Adult Swim Skins Make Your Phone #1 In The Hood, G
Check check it. Here’s the toughest thing you’ll ever slap on your phone (or computer). Ever.
MusicSkins is a Brooklyn based company that makes vinyl coverings (aka fancy stickers) for iPods, iPhones, laptops, and a glut of other consumer electronics. And now they’ve gotten all sexy with Cartoon Network and commissioned some incredibly cool designs inspired by shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Venture Brothers, Space Ghost, and God love him, Brak.
Our faves? The awesome abstract Venture Brothers skull and the Todd McFarlane-esque Aqua Teen Hunger Force illustrations you see above.
You can get ‘em through Adult Swim’s website or direct from from MusicSkins starting at $10.
And if you’re not familiar with Adult Swim (shame on you!) here’s the intro of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie where heavy metal band Mastodon eloquently explains the theater rules. Enjoy!
Photo by Jon Snyder for Wired.com
Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/zmqEH_4c0tU/
Lloyds Banking Group cuts IT spend by �82m
Angelica Mari, Computing, Friday 26 February 2010 at 14:25:00
And technology integration is on track
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has reduced its yearly IT spend by six per cent to
�1.2bn as the financial giant continues to integrate Lloyds TSB and HBOS.
According to the bank?s results released today, the cost reduction of �82m
has been achieved through the consolidation of IT operations across the group as
well as lower investment spend as project activity was replaced by integration
work.
LBG said it is "making good progress" towards integrating the entire
organisation, with preparations for data migration in "full flight".
?Detailed plans are in place, along with testing requirements that are fully
commensurate with an integration of this scale,? the bank said in its annual
financial statement.
At the bank?s wholesale arm, for example, the initial planning and
organisational design stage has been finished, major decisions related to
systems have been made and the first product migrations have also been
completed.
LBG said that a core focus area for 2010 is planning and execution of
additional product migrations and enhancing its risk systems.
However, the taxpayer-supported bank recorded a �6.3bn loss, largely due to a
�24bn impairment on legacy HBOS assets.
LBG said that the "overwhelming majority" of its job cuts in 2009 were
achieved through re-deployment, "natural turnover" and voluntary redundancy,
while a small amount left via compulsory redundancy.
IT
workers were among the worst-hit by the cull.
Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2258609/lloyds-banking-group-reduces
Video game sex that's sexy, not sophomoric
Full story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35591230/ns/technology_and_science-games/
Cosmic Log: Saturn?s moons in 3-D
Full story at http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/02/26/2213757.aspx
Argentina's Dirty War Still Haunts Youngest Victims
From 1976 to 1983, a vicious military dictatorship ruled Argentina. Among its crimes: taking hundreds of babies from their biological parents — political prisoners who then "disappeared." A group of determined grandmothers has been seeking to identify these stolen orphans.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Full story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124125440&ft=1&f=1001
Friday, February 26, 2010
Cisco embarks on media-centric Internet thrust
The Internet is moving away from being a data transportation and messaging platform, into a space filled with integrated rich-media content, according to Cisco Systems. by Kevin Kwang, ZDNet Asia
Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-397785.html
Next Firefox to drop Mac OS X 10.4 support
Mozilla has officially decided that the next major version of Firefox will require at least Mac OS X 10.5 when running on Apple computers. by Stephen Shankland CNET News
Full story at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-397786.html
1,200 Pounds of Recycled Steel Form a Hulking Alien Queen
Hollywood is not always larger than life. RoboSteel, an Ireland-based firm that creates sculptures from scrap metal, has created a real-world piece inspired by the the character of the queen from the cult Hollywood franchise Alien.
The piece, called “alien queen,” is 1,200 pounds of recycled steel and has more than 4,000 parts, polished and lacquered to create a replica that would make any tinsel-town art director proud.
A sci-fi horror film released in 1979, Alien featured a band of aggressive extraterrestrials that killed humans on a spaceship. In the sequel to the movie released in 1986, the alien queen is a 15 feet tall, a terrifying monster whose power comes from being the only fertile member of the predatory species.
In RoboSteel’s real-world version, the queen is about half the size (2.5 meters, or 8 feet) but still impressive in its details.
Nearly 90 percent of the parts for the sculpture came from Yamaha motorcycles collected from scrapyards, says RoboSteel. All the parts were hand-welded.
The construction took about three months and three people worked full time to complete the project. RoboSteel made an alien king and queen pair. The king was sold last year and now lives in Trinidad.
If you want this sculpture next to the R2D2 in your living room, it will set you back by about $6,000.
The sculpture will also be featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not later this year.
More photos of the alien queen sculpture follow.
Photos: RoboSteel
[via Walyou]
Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/4949iEQntzY/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
