Articles


Verizon privacy case takes a turn for the worse

According to an article in the Washington Post, Verizon has failed to receive a stay against a previous ruling that will require them to hand over the names of a couple of P2P file sharing users in the next 14 days. The only hope for the preservation of the right …

Video games as an essential educational tool?

An interesting article in Wired asserts that video games are an essential part of training the next generation for productive work in a high-tech society. The claim centers around the move from the fuzzy school programs of the late 70's and 80's to the "back-to-basics" programs of the 90's and …

Review: Identity

Identity is the first real thriller of the year and it does not disappoint. Set as it is in a remote Nevada hotel during a heavy rainstorm, it becomes obvious early on (even if you haven't seen the trailers) that not all of the players are going to survive the …

Review: Confidence

Confidence is another fun exploration into the game of the grifter. I went in expecting to have to work hard to figure out who plays what parts and what the ending is going to look like, and was not disappointed. Edward Burns (who started his career with The Brothers McMullen …

Hard Drive backup with... well... hard drives!

An article on Tom's Hardware details the project in Germany to build a 70TB (that's 70,000,000,000,000 bytes) back up system with hard drives. Amusingly, I was just this lunch talking about a "drive robot" that I was suggesting would be a more efficient (speed and cost …


DNA expert in UK calls for all to be registered

OK, call me a bit paranoid and overly dramatic, but the idea of suggesting that "all shall be enrolled" this close to Easter is just a bit amusing for my tastes. Good thing it wasn't Christmas. An article in Wired about comments made by British scientist Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys …

The end of innovation?

One futurist thinks it may well be if we don't all act together to prevent it. An article from Wired details some of the concerns about how the current political process is on the road to turning "users back in to consumers" and what that will mean to the end …

Chewbacca to return in Episode 3

An article on the official Star Wars site indicates that we will be seeing actor [Peter Mayhew](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Mayhew, Peter (II)) reprising his role as Chewbacca in Star Wars:Episode III: A hope for a Better Name (my joke, sorry George). Interesting is that according to …

Matrix sequels to come to IMAX

Yahoo is carrying a story that sequels to The Matrix will be available to be shown in IMAX theaters two to three weeks after its initial release in theaters. This marks the first time that an IMAX release has come this close to the "normal" theatrical release of a major …


Apple/AMD discussions again?

The Register fuels the file of speculation about a possible AMD/Apple link, with an article debating the merits of a cooperation between Apple and AMD after an AMD representative made some obscure comments at a press conference this week that could be construed as implying that they may at …


Online marketers push for self regulation before it's too late

Nobody likes spam (except maybe the members of the Monty Python troupe), but a group of online marketers, calling themselves the Email Service Provider Coalition (an initiative of the Network Advertising Initiative) has announced plans to create a system to register, rate and authenticate advertising on the 'net. With growing …

Top Role Playing Games make it to cell phones

An article on The Mortuary Portal. The article has a bit of information about the phone versions of Everquest:Hero's Call (pun intended, no doubt), Ultima Online, and Wizardry, all set to debut soon. It also mentions an upcoming phone version of Neverwinter Nights, including an article from Intel on …




eWeek exposes Apple's upcoming Panther details

An article in eWeek details many of the upcoming features in Apple's just-announced Panther version of its operating system. Many rumors see additional light in this description, but we'll really get our best view of it in late June when Apple unveils the OS at the annual WWDC conference in …

Vonage to get 911 services for their customers

CNet is reporting that the Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone provider Vonage customers will soon be getting a service that most local telephone customers expect to have everywhere these days, 911 routing services. Because of the way that VoIP calls are handled, there is no direct interaction with the local …