Parents, please do your jobs! Kids, stop freakin' flirting on the DS to strangers.
"DS needs to be within range on the same network, and must also be using a DS, making it potentially easier to nab potential stalkers than it is via, say, online chat rooms (though we do have to admit that it is a little creepy, since the stalker is right there with the kid, as opposed to being thousands of miles away). "
Flaming people online is nothing new -- and I am glad we have some very responsible Moderators at GTF. What happens though, when it goes too far?
"A BBC cricket message board has been temporarily pulled after banter between Indian and Pakistani fans degenerated into out-and-out abuse, Reuters reports. Insults hurled included references to 9/11 and Hitler and general Hindu and Muslim bashing."
Of all places, you'd think Europe would have everything pulled together. Read more about it here.
HBO has really pushed forward with their DRM. It seems that PVR users are now unable to record HBO shows.
"Well no sooner than this morning we now have a screen shot up at Ed Bott's Media Central about a "Restricted Content" error that he is receiving on his Media Center PC for an HBO show that he recorded. The message reads: Restricted Content, Restrictions set by the broadcaster and/or originator of the content prohibit playback of the program on this computer.
What's worse is that according to Ed, he is receiving this message on the computer that actually recorded the programming, not a second computer that he copied the file too."
If you watched Minority Report, you may remember Tom Cruise manipulating a computer using his hands. This technology may just be around the corner.
"While touch sensing is commonplace for single points of contact, multi-touch sensing enables a user to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time, as in chording and bi-manual operations. Such sensing devices are inherently also able to accommodate multiple users simultaneously, which is especially useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops."
Technology | U.S. concludes 'Cyber Storm' mock attacks
There's a new threat to homeland security.
"WASHINGTON -- The government concluded its "Cyber Storm" wargame Friday, its biggest-ever exercise to test how it would respond to devastating attacks over the Internet from anti-globalization activists, underground hackers and bloggers.
Bloggers?
Participants confirmed parts of the worldwide simulation challenged government officials and industry executives to respond to deliberate misinformation campaigns and activist calls by Internet bloggers, online diarists whose "Web logs" include political rantings and musings about current events."
That's right, bloggers are the new terrorist. Read more here.
Internet | Google, Skype and US$21.7mil Funding Given
Investors, that include Google and Skype, awarded a USD21.7 million funding to a Spanish-based startup company called "Fon." What exactly do they do? Well, they are trying to create (by the year 2010) a network of WiFi hotspots... A *world* network of hotspots, rather. Read more about it here.
I mean, Reality hath legally arrived online. Mark Burnett (the dude behind Survivor, The Apprentice, etc.) and AOL (surprise surprise) have teamed up to launch a reality show online. Are people actually going to buy this? Only time will tell. I prefer those silly amateur viral videos -- you know, the ones that have the "numa numa" guy, or the "Star Wars kid" or the "Milk and Cereal skit..."
A financial analyst has predicted (yes, sorry for bursting your bubble) that Dell will make a move and break their "Intel-only stance" with notebooks containing the AMD mobile processor (expect it around March). There have been a lot of speculations about this, but according to this article, this is the first time that a professional has made a dated prediction. Let the processor wars continue. Maybe we'll see more AMD adverts now that Intel is in a Mac?
CNN Money has posted a list of the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for 2005. Personal favorites include: #71 (Infinium Labs goes bust), #13 (Sony's copy protection fiasco), #41 (MSN's new $100 million search page), #53 ("podcasting"), #98 (targeted advertising goes awry), and #59 (Michael Brown starts his own company).
Microsoft is suing Secure Computer's Spyware Cleaner software because their software allegedly does more harm than good. Not only does it not clean up the spyware on a user's machine but it also makes the machine less secure because of their software. The lawsuit was filed in the state of Washington under their 2005 Computer Spyware Act. Read more about it here.