 Google Continues Pranks
Search giant Google is reasonably notorious for amusing and subtle April fools pranks. Previous years have seen technological revolutions such as PigeonRank, their patent pending new search technology using pigeons.
Not to be out done, the latest crop of engineers at Google have got two launches today for watchers. Google Romance was launched, with the amusing by line - "Pin All Your Romantic Hopes on Google". Using I'm feeling lucky search techniques, Google can pair you up with your love.
Also spotted today are craftily placed aliens in area 51. You can see them at the link below. Question you've got to ask yourself, however, is whether or not this is an April fools prank? You've been warned.
Elsewhere on the web, geeks spewed hilarity quite literally on-mass. From the BBC to other favourites, the 'comedy' kept on coming.
Area 51 - Click
Romance - Click
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: April 3, 2006, 2:37 pm
News Source : Neowin
 Rockstar North hiring network programmers
According to the job listings posted by Rockstar North, they are looking for experienced network programmers. When Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories said it would have multiplayer, many hoped that it would let players shoot at each other (deathmatch). Sadly that did not happen, but their recent job postings show that there could be more complex online play in the future.
The minimal listing says that the Scotland-based shop is "looking to expand their experienced and talented teams" with the addition of...network programmers.
What will Network Programmers most likely do?
Network programmers specialize in code that allows for multiplayer gaming via a LAN, wireless connection, or online.
About the ad
The ad in question has been up for more than a month, meaning that positions remain open. That's a sign the company is hiring for more than a few slots--which could indicate a potentially large project is in the offing. Since the network programmer job is at Rockstar's Edinburgh headquarters, not at the handheld-centric Rockstar Leeds, it means that the game in development is almost certainly for a console or PC. However, with Rockstar's history of debuting games on consoles--specifically the PlayStation 2--it is most likely the former.
While speculation is already beginning that that the network programmers will be working on the next-generation console version of Grand Theft Auto, it must be stressed that nothing is official other than the listing.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 27, 2006, 2:59 pm
News Source : Gamespot
 Thirty Years of Apple
It's been a long fruitful run for Apple, next week the company celebrates its 30th Birthday. But with Apple keen to promote itself as fresh and cool, will the wrinkles start to show as they get older?
Maybe not, Apple is going through somewhat of a renaissance at the moment. Not only is their desktop market seeing an increase in sales, but they have managed to become a major player in the music industry. You can walk down the high street and almost guarantee that a symbolic white earbud will catch your eye. Where Apple struggled in their youth, they have certainly made up for it as they approach middle age.
Apple?s first product, strangely, was a build it yourself computer, which a year later was updated to the Apple II. They were the first to bring you a rich graphical based operating system which was most successful in the Apple Macintosh in 1984. Despite the innovation the company struggled through much of the 90?s, with Steve Jobs leaving the company and a series of failed projects.
With the return of Jobs in 1996 Apple turned a corner and suddenly started to make waves again. While they only account for 4% of the worldwide PC market they posted a record $14billion for its fiscal 2005. Keep checking back on Neowin next week to see how Apple plans to celebrate their birthday.
But what is in store for the next 30 years? Post what you would like to see Apple come out with next in your comments.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 27, 2006, 2:59 pm
 Radiohead Fans Fight Back At eBay Ticket Auctions
Angry fans of the band Radiohead appear to have taken the ticket touts head on. Auctions on eBay for tickets to the bands up-coming UK tour are being troubled by fake bids, inflating the prices well above any reasonable price point, and leaving sellers without a buyer. One auction for the Blackpool show is currently at ?1,000,000 (approx $1.7m), and another floating around ?1000. The action, described as 'Ticket Revolt', appears to be being pushed by a user on Mortigi Tempo, an un-official Radiohead discussion board.
The bidding list reveals a number of questionable usernames, including 'pleasegoawayidontexist' and 'radioheadjustice2006' - the latter being an apparent serial offender, with amusing feedback from an aggrieved ticket tout - 'Life Is Not About A Free Lunch.' Indeed.
Tickets featuring Radiohead in an up-coming concert for Friends of the Earth, a charity, were also swiftly placed on eBay. The Radiohead lead singer was quoted as saying " Might I suggest that those selling their KOKO tickets on eBay for stupid money gives a contribution... say 30 percent of their proceeds, back to Friends Of The Earth, for whose benefit we are all doing this show. Seems only fair, unless you're a shallow____, don't you think?" We found one auction donating 10% of the final value to Friends of the Earh.
The activism once again raises the issue of friction between artists, fans and touts. Touts, some have argued, serve to correct a market imperfection whereby those that are willing to pay more for tickets are able to obtain them. Further, those who weren't able to obtain tickets due to tours selling out in minutes often have little option but to resort to eBay. Are these fans really doing themselves any favours?
After our previous moan at the state of online ticket services, we're proposing something a bit 'new'. If artists, or rather, ticket companies, wanted to stop touts, why not offer the same tickets at tiered price levels for the same item? The cheaper ones would sell out sooner, as is now, but the more expensive ones would remain for the fans prepared to pay the price. We'd love to hear your thoughts (leave a comment!) on this issue; have you bought tickets on eBay before? Do you think this is right?
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 27, 2006, 2:57 pm
The dark side of MySpace
Perhaps you use MySpace regularly to keep up with friends, family or even meet new people. Say one of them were to die.
It's not an alien concept, over 150,000 pop their clogs every day. Statistics suggest that MySpace users total around 65 million, and that the site is the fifth most popular English-language website online. Quite a title to hold.
Well to satisfy your morbid curiosity or genuine concern, MyDeathSpace.com has been established in order to keep an online tally of deceased MySpace users. Not only does each entry link back to the profile pages, but news articles and testimonies are used as evidence.
Take the poignant suicide of a young, 16-year-old girl who lived in Churchville, New York state. This user chose to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train.
Adorning the front page of her profile are messages both paying hommage to her death and profane statements that would surely shock the average mourner. A closer look reveals a frightful final blog entry and an ongoing struggle amongst the comments for blame.
But of course, not all MyDeathSpace entries are suicide. There are tear-jerking car accidents, the rather sobering method of alcohol poisoning and even a member of the US army who was killed in action in Iraq.
As macabre as it seems the internet should welcome this site designed to perform a simple service. It doesn't glorify death, or taint the seriousness of the sitation with humour. It is simply a compendium of online memorials.
So sit back as the undeniably curious human brain takes you on a virtual-graveyard tour amongst heroin overdoses, police shootings and medical mishaps.
When a system like MySpace escalates to the size it already has, there are undoubtedly going to be off-shoots such as this and now we face the question - what next for the MySpace phenomenon?
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 27, 2006, 2:54 pm
Don't Buy CRAP Products
ZDNet have published a rather amusing video be-moaning the ever encroaching spectre of Digital Rights Management - aka DRM.
Rather than accepting the lingo del MPAA and RIAA, ZDNet chief editor David Berlind adopts a new moniker - CRAP. Standing for Content, Restriction, Annulment and Protection. Berlind outlines the problem with different content providers using different CRAP mechanisms.
" And guess what? If you try to connect these three universes, they don't connect. Doesn't happen. Sorry. Nada. This music won't play here. This music won't play here. And this music won't play here. That to me is a problem. That's why I say that all these devices, for example, the iPods that you buy out in the stores today, are a load of CRAP. I'm not going to buy any of this CRAP. Stop buying this CRAP. Don't buy any technology that has CRAP in it, because all it's going to do is make it impossible for you to take the content that you're paying good money for and play it anywhere you want."
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 27, 2006, 2:54 pm
News Source : ZDNet
Download : Watch Video
FCC Chief Pro Tiered Internet
In a disappointing move for online firms, Federal Communications Commission Chief Kevin Martin said that he supported ISPs that wished to offer tiered service for providers willing to pay for preferential treatment. However, at the industry trade show TelecomNext, Martin also stated that he believed the FCC was able handle so called 'net neutrality' problems, where ISPs block specific content from service providers.
AT&T chief Ed Whitacre had previously argued that companies like Google should pay for the use of their 'pipes', and that they were 'nuts' to think they could use it for free. Google, like any other online company, pays for bandwidth. Further, any consumer paying for an internet connection pays ISPs for bandwidth and access to pipes. Whitacre recently toned down his comments that had caused serious worry in the industry, saying he had no intention of degrading consumer access.
In the Q & A, Martin said that believed "I do think the commission has the authority necessary" to handle net neutrality violations, and noted that the FCC had recently arbitrated over a recently blocking of Vonage's VOIP service. Martin, seemingly missing the apparent contradiction in his comments, didn't seem to expand on how consumers who didn't wish to pay for a tiered internet could ensure they still enjoyed good quality of service.
Vint Cerf, internet inventor and current Google employee / lobbyist recently testified to the US congress on the issue. " Enshrining a rule that broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would place broadband operators in control of online activity. Allowing broadband providers to segment their IP offerings and reserve huge amounts of bandwidth for their own services will not give consumers the broadband Internet our country and economy need."
Martin's comments from the FCC fall into a deep, worrying and on-going melting pot of discussion between ISPs and online businesses. Whether it reflects a desire to make sure the FCC 'stays relevant' in the online world, or a true concern for consumers is unclear. Senator Ron Ryden (D-OR) recently proposed a bill to ban companies from discriminating traffic they carry; expect to hear much more on this issue as the year progresses.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 24, 2006, 2:36 pm
News Source : Networking Pipeline
Robertson Launches Online Version Of MS Word
Michael Robertson, of MP3.com and Lindows - eek, we mean Linspire - 'fame' has today announced AJAXWord, an online Word processing app.
Robertson claims that the company has developed a library of AJAX based Office apps, that it will be launching over the coming weeks at AJAXLaunch.com. He wrote on his weblog that " ajaxWrite is a powerful word processor that can read and write Microsoft Word formatted documents. Anytime you need a word processor, need to open a .doc file or edit a .doc file, simply point your Firefox browser at ajaxWrite.com and in seconds a full-featured program will be loaded. For 90 percent of the people in the world, the need to buy Microsoft Word just vanished. This won't make Microsoft happy, but software users should be very excited that software just got cheaper, immediate and modern."
Helpfully, Robertson also wrote " As you probably surmised from the names ajaxLaunch and ajaxWrite, we are using AJAX technology to deliver this software magic." In case you missed it, they use Ajax. Hence the name.
We were quite optimistic to try out the latest offering from Robertson. After all, and online version of MS Word that was free surely had some market disruption power towards one of Microsoft's cash cows. However, slowly pondering previous offerings from his companies, we had quite low expectations for AJAXWrite, which were duly delivered. The claimed 'six second load time' was far from met, as the site struggled under the load of internet interest. We'll leave the user to ponder what'd be the effect of a medium - large company using the product all day long. When we did get it to load, in fairness, it did look surprisingly like Microsoft Word - what would be described as a familiar interface for any office worker. And, again, to be quite fair, it did function reasonably well. The menus were snappy, and you could easily be lulled into believing that you were, in fact, running the program locally. What functions it did offer seemed to be usable. That was, of course, till we tried to save our document. And it crashed Firefox, and the previous version of this report along with it. Very annoying*.
Sure, you'll say, an isolated incident. You're probably right. However, it brought home a deeper problem. Whilst AJAXWord superficially appears to be a good substitution for Word, the most basic exploration reveals serious deficiencies that few IT decision makers would accept. Microsoft Word, whilst obviously costing money, delivers certain functions that even the most clever AJAX apps can't match; Robertson's claim that most user's needs will be met simply doesn't hold.
* = Microsoft Word's auto-save feature, by the way, would have caught the document when it crashed, and saved this journalist's from having to write the story twice. We'll keep paying.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 24, 2006, 2:35 pm
News Source : Michael's Minute
Sony unveils online solution, region-free PS3
A week after the last wave of PlayStation 3 news, Sony has spoonfed its waiting fanbase more details of the console's planned features.
Speaking from the Games Development Conference in San Jose, USA, Sony said their new console will support the downloading of full games and other content, eliminating the need to leave the comfort of your living room. This service turns the heat up on the PS3 versus Xbox360 battle, as both consoles see the internet as an indespensible next-generation tool.
Not only will the console be online-savvy, but every unit will be region free. This means games purchased in any of the world's regions will run on any of Sony's consoles. This eliminates the need for die-hard console gamers to modify their units in order to play import games.
What is unknown however is how the console will deal with the problems of cross-platforming games from different regions, for example a PAL game bought in Europe may not display correctly on an American NTSC television.
Despite this the news is still exciting, as Sony appears to close-in on the Xbox360 with every new announcement. However Microsoft has already proved it can deliver, as the whole world waits for Sony and Nintendo to do the same.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 24, 2006, 2:34 pm
News Source : IGN PS3 Portal
 Microsoft Office 2007 to be released in 2007
Following on from the recent Windows Vista delays Microsoft has stated that it expects Microsoft Office 2007 to be available to businesses at year-end and OEM/Retail in early 2007.
Microsoft has a habbit of releasing products in one year but naming them a year ahead to keep them sounding up to date in the market.
With Office now similar to the Vista release date, the two products will definitely be pre-loaded onto PC's for the new year.
Office 2007 hasn't suffered any major disturbances along it's short time-line unlike its big brother Vista.
Microsoft recently announced the Office 2007 naming and released an updated Beta 1 build to testers.
Office 2007 beta 2 is expected around the May timeframe this year and could make an appearance alongside an updated version of Windows Vista at this years Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Washington.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 24, 2006, 2:33 pm
News Source : Neowin
 nVidia ForceWare 84.21 WHQL
NVIDIA, today, released an updated version of its unified driver release under the name ForceWare Release 80. ForceWare ensures the best out-of-box experience for every user and delivers continuous performance and feature updates over the life of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs. Includes full support for PCI Express and AGP.
Release Highlights:
* WHQL Certified
* Adds support for GeForce 7900 GTX, GeForce 7900 GT, and GeForce 7600 GT
* New NVIDIA PureVideo features and enhancements. Please visit the NVIDIA PureVideo website for more information on PureVideo technology and system requirements.
* Support for high definition H.264 hardware decode acceleration on GeForce 6 and 7 series GPUs.
* Support for high definition MPEG-2 inverse telecine.
* Support for high definition MPEG-2 spatial temporal de-interlacing.
* Adds mixed vendor support for NVIDIA SLI.
* TV-Out/HD-out support for NVIDIA SLI.
* Added support for VSync on Direct3D games when running NVIDIA SLI.
* Microsoft? DirectX? 9.0c and OpenGL? 2.0 support
* For a full list of fixed and known issues please view the Release Notes.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 22, 2006, 3:41 pm
News Source : Neowin
Download : ForceWare 84.21 WHQL (English)
Update: Microsoft IE7 Beta 2 Preview Released for Download
Developers and IT pros: Download and evaluate the newest, layout-complete build of the Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview - released on March 20th ? and explore the improvements in security, user interface, and development platform.
Please note that this release is only for Windows XP. Currently x64 versions of XP and Windows Server 2003 are not supported.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 22, 2006, 3:40 pm
News Source : Bink
Download : IE7 Beta 2 Refresh
Samsung Announces 32GB Flash Disk
Samsung has announced a 32GB solid state disk designed to completely replace traditional hard disks inside mobile computers. The disk features read and write speeds around twice as fast as current 1.8" hard drives and consumes 95% less power.
The 1.8" form factor drive lacks the storage capacity of current hard disks, but the advantages in power consumption and overall speed should make it a very attractive option for lightweight notebooks and tablet PCs. Read speeds are reported to be roughly 57MB/sec with write speeds coming in at 32MB - substantially faster than the roughly 24MB/sec read speeds of current 1.8" hard drives. In addition, the Samsung NAND SSD also provides noiseless operation.
With flash memory prices expected to fall dramatically in the near future, the new drive should debut at a substantially lower price point than current enterprise and military flash drives. When asked for an availability time frame, Samsung would only give "soon" in response.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 22, 2006, 3:40 pm
News Source : TG Daily
Starforce DRM, Another Sony Rootkit
After the Sony rootkit fiasco, you'd think that companies would have learned their lesson involving dangerous copy protection methods. Well according to some rather alarming news from cdfreaks.com, it appears that Starforce is following in the footsteps of the Sony?s now famous rootkit.
According to cdfreaks.com the anti-piracy system that Starforce is using installs a driver that runs at the highest level of access on the system. Meaning that this driver has access to basically all same things the operating system itself enjoys (hardware/drivers/processes). Further more this driver runs all the time, regardless of whether or not you are playing a game that used Starforce's DRM. If that wasn't enough to scare you, if the Starforce driver thinks it has detected suspicious activity relating to disc copying the driver will instantly reboot your computer without any notification.
Aside from restarting your computer whenever the driver thinks it detects suspicious activity, the Starforce driver can also interfere with certain device drivers. In fact it can interfere so bad that the device drivers will run in legacy PIO mode instead of DMA, this not only slows down you computer but also slows down the data transfer to affected hardware. As with the Sony rootkit, this Starforce driver will only install under Administrator privileges.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 22, 2006, 3:39 pm
News Source : CD Freaks
Guild Wars: Factions available April 28th
Yahoo has the word that NCSoft will ship the hotly anticipated second chapter in the Guild Wars universe - Factions, worldwide on April 28th.
Guild Wars Factions takes place on the Asian-inspired continent of Cantha, where new and existing Guild Wars players join an epic quest to defeat an ancient evil and save a war-torn empire. Roleplaying and competitive player-versus-player gamers alike will be able to join together in guild alliances to take control of territory and determine the fate of Cantha. New scored challenge missions and strategic competitive missions allow players to test their roleplaying prowess and earn the right for their alliance to take control of cities, towns and outposts. Large-scale alliance battles pit teams from opposing factions against each other in a struggle to conquer new territory and redraw the battle lines across the continent of Cantha. New elite missions allow the most skilled players exclusive access to areas designed to be the ultimate cooperative challenge.
New players will join the more than one million gamers already playing Guild Wars worldwide, and existing players will have a new continent and storyline to explore within the universe of Guild Wars, the ground-breaking online roleplaying game that took the gaming world by storm in 2005 with its innovative design, depth of play and no-subscription-fee model. While Guild Wars Factions is a standalone product that does not require Guild Wars to play, gamers with Guild Wars accounts who purchase Guild Wars Factions will be able to play in both campaigns with their existing characters and even gain extra character slots.
For gamers who can't wait until April 28 to get their hands on a copy of Guild Wars Factions, ArenaNet is hosting a massive beta test event in which all existing Guild Wars players and their friends are invited to delve into the experiences awaiting them in Cantha. For those who want to be the first to enjoy all that Guild Wars Factions has to offer, a limited edition pre-order package is currently available at retail stores throughout North America. This pre-order pack includes an access key to the Factions Preview Event (FPE) on March 24, and also provides access to Guild Wars Factions twenty-four hours before the street date, exclusive in-game items for each of the game's new professions, a "friend-key" that gives access to the FPE for friends without an existing Guild Wars account, a limited trial of Guild Wars (original Prophecies campaign) for a friend, a tactical guide, a quick reference card, and a CD that includes concept art, wallpapers, and in-game trailers.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 20, 2006, 4:06 pm
News Source : Neowin
Battlefield 2: Euro Force released
Euro Force the first Battlefield 2 "Booster Pack" has been released and is available immediatly for download through EA's Downloader service for $9.99US. Just to refresh, Euro Force adds the following to Battlefield 2:
# The all-new Euro Force Army, with a full arsenal of the latest technology.
# 3 new maps, from battles in the Taraba Quarry and Operation Smoke Screen to close-quarters mayhem around the Great Wall of China.
# 4 new vehicles including the Leopard battle tank, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Tiger attack chopper.
# 7 new weapons including FAMAS and P90 rifles.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 20, 2006, 4:05 pm
News Source : Neowin
24: The Game Released
Fans of the popular TV show "24" are now snapping up the latest addition to the franchise, the 24 game for PlayStation 2. Released yesterday to stores in the UK, the game retains the look and feel of the show with key cast members lending their voice talents. The game takes place between Season 2 and Season 3, and answers key questions such as "How did Kim Bauer end up working at CTU?" and "Who ran the country while President Palmer was fighting for his life?".
While first reviews have criticised some of gameplay elements, Sony Computer Entertainment (based in Cambridge, UK) have worked closely with the TV show's directors and storywriters to produce a game full of action that fans will want to buy, if only for the plot.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 20, 2006, 4:04 pm
News Source : Neowin
Google Mars
As a tribute to Percival Lowell, Google geeks have launched Google Mars and placed a space-based logo on their homepage.
Alert readers will remember Google Moon, which maps the Apollo landing sites via the company's slick mapping interface. Google Mars takes a similar approach, using data from NASA researchers Noel Gorelick and Michael Weiss-Malik, from Arizona State University. It allows users to explore the planet's (red) surface. You can view the martian landscape by topology, what is visible to the naked eye (think satellite imagery), and an infra red view.
Lowell was an Astronomer working in the 18th and 19th centuries. He described in numerous works on Mars an intricate system of non-natural 'canals', designed to channel water around the planet for a presumably alien race.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 17, 2006, 4:53 pm
News Source : Neowin
Windows Vista interim build expected
According to my sources, Microsoft will soon ship an unexpected "refresh build" of Windows Vista to its technical beta testers and some corporate customers. Previously, the company had been shipping only semi-monthly Community Technical Preview (CTP) builds of Vista to testers and other audiences, including MSDN subscribers. The refresh build is currently build 5342, I'm told. It will require different product keys than the previous CTP.
It's unclear why Microsoft has chosen to ship a Vista refresh build at this time, though I'm told the company is using it as a testing board for the extensive feedback they've gotten since the last CTP, which was issued in February. According to my sources, the refresh build will not meet CTP quality measurements, and will ship only in the Vista Ultimate edition, for both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) systems.
Microsoft originally expected to ship a CTP build in April, though that release could slip until May, according to sources. That CTP should be made available to the public via Web downloads.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 17, 2006, 4:52 pm
News Source : Wininformant
Sony: PS3 released worldwide in November 06
At Tokyo's 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing Sony Computer Entertainment have announced that they are delaying the release of their long-awaited PlayStation 3 console till November due to technical difficulties.
Despite not providing a more detailed release date, the company have said they will ship one million units per month after the launch and plan to have produced six million PS3s before the end of 2006. Not only will the unit be completely backwards compatible, but will rely on a 60GB Linux-based hard drive unit which Sony is now reporting may or may not be included in the box.
Ken Kuturagi, Sony's PlayStation guru, said: "The hardware was developed with the hard disk in mind."
Sony also let slip their plans for the online element of their new console, which will be free to play via the "basic" package and include community tools such as a lobby matching, voice chat and commerce features incorporating software bootable directly from the PS3's hard drive.
Games will come in the form of Blu-ray in the hope to minimise piracy, though the machine will of course play movie DVDs and PS2 DVDs. SCE also said that developers will get their hands on the console's software development kit (SDK) not in June as first announced, but July.
The news marks the first time Sony plan a global release for their PlayStation hardware.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 17, 2006, 4:51 pm
News Source : IGN PS3 Portal
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