Archive for the ‘Geek lifestyle’ Category
December 20th, 2008 | 
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If you?ve ever found yourself working at a coffee shop or other locale when your laptop battery is nearing its end?only to find that every outlet in the place has already been hogged?it would seem that you have no choice but to head home. The Voltaic Generator laptop bag ($499) offers the option to plug your notebook right into its solar-charged battery for few more hours of juice. The Generator is the only notebook bag capable of providing a charge to a laptop (other solar and wind chargers to date haven?t been powerful enough)…
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The group representing the U.S. recording industry said Friday it has abandoned its policy of suing people for sharing songs protected by copyright and will work with Internet service providers to cut abusers’ access if they ignore repeated warnings.
The move ends a controversial program that saw the Recording Industry Association of America sue about 35,000 people since 2003 for swapping songs online. Because of high legal costs for defenders, virtually all of those hit with lawsuits settled, on average for around $3,500. The association’s legal costs, in the meantime, exceeded the settlement money it brought in.
The association said Friday that it stopped sending out new lawsuits and warnings in August, and then agreed with several leading U.S. Internet service providers, without naming which ones, to notify alleged illegal file-sharers and cut off service if they failed to stop…
Google is introducing new tools that will convert its free email service into a video and audio channel for people who want to see and hear each other while they communicate.
Activating the features, introduced on Tuesday, will require a free piece of software as well as a Webcam, which are becoming more commonplace as computer manufacturers embed video equipment into laptops.
Once the additional software is installed, Gmail users will be given the option to see and hear each other without leaving the email application…
Microsoft is ramping up its battle for internet popularity with plans to make Windows Live services more social and build bridges to Twitter, Flickr and other popular websites.
Windows Live will let users keep track of friends in ways similar to those at hot social-networking website Facebook, which has a partnership with Microsoft.
It will also apparently incorporate Live Mesh technology launched early this year to let people combine “smart phones”, personal computers and websites into de facto networks that allow data to be accessed from almost anywhere…
Nintendo, riding high on the success of the Wii, said on Thursday that it will launch a new version of its popular DS handheld console next month with a built-in camera and enhanced audio capabilities.
The dual-screen DSi will go on sale in Japan from November 1 with a price tag of 18,900 yen ($US178), the Japanese video game giant said. It will be launched in overseas markets some time next year…
Yves Rossy, the self-styled “Fusionman”, leapt into the skies 2500 metres above the small town of Bex in western Switzerland clad in his new carbon wing.
He performed various manoeuvres for five minutes before landing with the aid of a parachute.
His “wing” is 2.5 metres in diameter and comes with four tiny jets, which are lit inside the plane just before he jumps.
Once in full flight, Rossy can reach speeds of up to 300kmh, but he can only stay in the air for a maximum of ten minutes due to the small fuel capacity of his jets…
Now these may look like normal AA batteries, but the magic is revealed when you pop the top open to reveal a USB plug. Instead of needing a bulky recharger you plug them into any powered USB port and they?re fully recharged in only 5 hours. Just think, you have so many potential chargers in your home. From PCs and laptops to keyboards, hubs, games consuls, even some monitors.
New security changes to auction website eBay Australia will affect the way buyers purchase goods, and funnel more funds into its coffers.
Under the changes, direct deposits, money orders and personal cheques will no longer be listed as a payment option after June 17.
As a result, buyers will have only two options with which to pay: either cash-on-delivery, or via the online commerce website PayPal, which is owned by eBay.
PayPal accepts direct deposit or credit card payment on behalf of eBay sellers at a fee of between 1.1 and 2.4 per cent.
EBay defended the change, saying buyers were more likely to have problems with ‘offline’ payment options such as direct deposit…
The latest firmware for Sony’s Playstation 3 has added powerful audio features. In addition to an updated interface, the firmware 2.30 adds DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio features for Blu-ray movies.
“We are extremely pleased that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is adding the full spectrum premium DTS-HD Master Audio codec into the PS3 so that more than 10 million owners of one of the best selling computer entertainment systems can have the best sounding, most efficient and flexible audio technology available system as well. DTS-HD Master Audio is fast becoming the must-have feature for high definition entertainment enthusiasts,” said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS.
In late February, Sony announced two new BD-Live (Profile v2.0) ready Blu-ray players, priced at $400 and $500. The BDP-S350, which will ship sometime in the summer for $400, will feature 1080p24/60 output via HDMI, one Ethernet port and decoding of 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD…
Social network Facebook will roll out more extensive privacy controls Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, as well as an instant-messaging service soon after, representatives from the company announced during a press briefing at the company’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.
Most notable about the new privacy controls is the fact that Facebook members will now be able to choose how much of their profiles are visible to those on their friends list.
Naomi Gleit, Facebook’s product manager for privacy and internationalization, previewed the updated options, which include a new “Friend of Friends” option based on social proximity–not unlike LinkedIn profiles, in which profile information is visible to second- and third-degree contacts rather than the site’s members as a whole. Facebook members will also be able to include or exclude certain friends from having access to information…
