digoBlog: news on tech & games

Buried in a site devoted to early robots is my dream man, Electron. Russian, born in 1967, he has 4ft-wide shoulders, waltzes, plays chess, and while he only understands 112 commands, his steely gaze is reassuringly paternal. [CyberneticZoo via BotJunkie]

He's also sharing it with a rookie. Billed as an advertisement of the game's Ryder Cup features, some take the pairing with Rory McIlroy as more fallout from Tiger's inability to abstain from sex with women not named Mrs. Woods. More »

According to Jonathan Schwartz—then Sun's CEO—that's what Steve Jobs told him over the phone after Sun presented Looking Glass, a desktop concept similar to Mac OS X's. After that, Schwartz verbally cockpunched His Steveness and shut him up:

"Steve, I was just watching your last presentation, and Keynote looks identical to Concurrence – do you own that IP?" Concurrence was a presentation product built by Lighthouse Design, a company I'd help to found and which Sun acquired in 1996. Lighthouse built applications for NeXTSTEP, the Unix based operating system whose core would become the foundation for all Mac products after Apple acquired NeXT in 1996. Steve had used Concurrence for years, and as Apple built their own presentation tool, it was obvious where they'd found inspiration. "And last I checked, MacOS is now built on Unix. I think Sun has a few OS patents, too." Steve was silent.

And probably foaming at the mouth, and wanting to send Luca Brasi to get Jonathan brand new cement shoes.

Even while Apple uses BSD as the basis for Mac OS X, I bet Jobs realized the stupidity of his call, realizing that Sun had a very strong IP portfolio, and plenty of ammo to fight Apple back. Something that HTC—or Google, for that matter—, when it comes to phones, don't have. [Johnathan Schwartz via Silicon Alley Insider]

Kotaku has occupied GDC 2010. But what of GDC 2011? Next year's show will run from February 28 through March 4, still in San Francisco. Unknown whether the event will commemorate the anniversary of the great PS3 blackout of 02/29/09. More »

Several people are reporting that there are odd charges on credit cards they've used to make purchases from online retailer Monoprice. This is what the company had to say:

A few of our customers recently reported to us that information from credit cards they used on the Monoprice website had been misused. We promptly began an investigation with the help of expert computer forensic investigators to determine if any card data had been stolen from our computers.

To date, the investigators have found no evidence that card information has been stolen from Monoprice's computer network. As a precaution to ensure that our customers' information is not at risk, we have taken our website offline temporarily while we and our investigators complete the audit of our computer network.

We want to ensure that there is no security vulnerability in any part of our computer network system. We notified local and federal law enforcement agencies, our credit card processing business partners, and all credit card companies that some of our customers reported concerns regarding their card information to us.

We also advised these entities that we are working with outside security specialists to determine if there was breach of our computer system. We will post additional information when it is available. We regret any inconvenience that our investigation and the temporary suspension of the Monoprice website may have caused you. Thank you so much for your great support.

Until this issue is resolved, we recommend keeping a closer eye than usual on your credit card statement. [Monoprice via Facebook—Thanks, Richard!]

In advance of NPD sales results for February 2010, analysts are predicting year-over-year declines for pretty much everything. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, according to Gamasutra, is predicting that hardware and software sales will decline 10 percent, with Wii hardware sales hit particularly hard (around 40 percent) due to shortages. Beyond the Wii, the continuing decline of the music genre is partly to blame for the reduced sales.

Analyst Colin Sebastian is guessing at a 15 percent decline, despite encouraging early sales for games like Heavy Rain and preorders for games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (which, as an early March release, may fit into the NPD February sales period) and God of War III. The fact that high-profile games are likely to show sharp declines after strong first-week sales will prevent software trends from turning for the better.

Analysts predict hardware, software drops in February NPD originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The premise of Tweet Defense is simple: The more you tweet and the more Twitter followers you gain, the stronger your tower defenses will be. Clever, though hopefully RT bonuses will come in the future. $1. [iTunes via Kotaku]

Apple-owned company on Tuesday releases next major version of its database product, FileMaker Pro 11.

Sure, Ferraris are fun and all, but they aren't exotic enough. EA's looking to increase Need For Speed: Shift's roster of wacky, expensive rides you'll probably never drive in real life through the Exotic Racing Series Pack. Available March 18 for 800 ($10) on Xbox Live and PSN, the Exotic Racing Series Pack parks seven new rides in your virtual garage:

• Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
• BMW M1 Procar
• GUMPERT apollo
• Honda NSX
• McLaren MP4-12C
• Maserati GranTurismo S
• Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss

Need For Speed: Shift gets exotic DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square Enix's latest Anatomy of a Stunt video for Just Cause 2 shows off a very creative way to reach those hard-to-reach places with a rocket launcher. More »

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/eOvWioz4PoQ&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); From the new BBC program Wonders of The Solar System, this clip of a solar eclipse over Varanasi is something you really must watch. The view sure beats staring through a pinhole reflection in a cardboard box. [BBC]

But will consumers be willing to download and install yet another media player to play ScatterTunes' V-Albums?

In 1815, having come back for one last bite of the cherry, Waterloo was Napoleon's, well, Waterloo. Could Creative Assembly be risking the same fate returning to the age of muskets and bright uniforms so soon after Empire: Total War? More »

In 1815, having come back for one last bite of the cherry, Waterloo was Napoleon's, well, Waterloo. Could Creative Assembly be risking the same fate returning to the age of muskets and bright uniforms so soon after Empire: Total War? More »

Though we already know the bulk of the March release schedule for new content on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Major Nelson's blog recently laid out how the rest of the month will play out. Tomorrow, we'll get our hands on Scrap Metal for 1200 ($15), next Wednesday will see the release of Perfect Dark for 800 ($10), and on March 24, we'll get our hands on the (somewhat) free Game Room hub. Oh, and the Games on Demand service got a bit crazier today with the release of Condemned: Criminal Origins for $19.99.

If you're an insatiable value-hound, you should turn your attention to the upcoming Deals of the Weeks: The original Fable will have its price reduced to 800 ($10) from 1200 ($15) during the week of March 15. All of Fallout 3's add-on packs, including Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta, will be offered at half price (400, or $5) during the week of March 22. For the rest of the schedule, including Avatar outfits and add-on packs, check out the list after the jump.

Continue reading Xbox Live Marketplace release schedule for March

Xbox Live Marketplace release schedule for March originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the terrorists could vote, they'd vote for Candidate X—this argument is America's greatest rhetorical treasure. So let's apply it to smartphones, right now! I've got a picture of a high-level terrorist with an iPhone and everything!

The man pictured here is the recently captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is world famous for precisely the kind of stuff that you don't want to be famous for. Infamous, even!:

Mullah Baradar has been credited for rebuilding the Taliban into an effective fighting force and has been running the group's daily affairs for many years, since Mullah Omar was forced to take a less active role in the organisation due to his failing health.

And!

[Mullah Baradar] is said to have developed the Taleban tactic of planting "flowers" - improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - along roadsides has been described by terrorism experts as even more cunning and dangerous than Taleban supreme leader (his old friend) Mullah Omar.

What I'm trying to say is, next time you find yourself in an endless online flamewar about smartphones representing the side of Android or WebOS or Windows Mobile or BlackBerry, it is totally fine to call your opponent a terrorist. [Times, Jeune Afrique—Thanks, Benjamin!]

If the terrorists could vote, they'd vote for Candidate X—this argument is America's greatest rhetorical treasure. So let's apply it to smartphones, right now! I've got a picture of a high-level terrorist with an iPhone and everything!

The man pictured here is the recently captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is world famous for precisely the kind of stuff that you don't want to be famous for. Infamous, even!:

Mullah Baradar has been credited for rebuilding the Taliban into an effective fighting force and has been running the group's daily affairs for many years, since Mullah Omar was forced to take a less active role in the organisation due to his failing health.

And!

[Mullah Baradar] is said to have developed the Taleban tactic of planting "flowers" - improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - along roadsides has been described by terrorism experts as even more cunning and dangerous than Taleban supreme leader (his old friend) Mullah Omar.

What I'm trying to say is, next time you find yourself in an endless online flamewar about smartphones representing the side of Android or WebOS or Windows Mobile or BlackBerry, it is totally fine to call your opponent a terrorist. [Times, Jeune Afrique—Thanks, Benjamin!]

Members of Congress announce the Global Internet Freedom Caucus and a bill to spend federal dollars on research to "defeat Internet suppression and censorship."

This is the gear that gets our troops excited. Microflown Technologies' tiny sensor listens for the sounds of war by measuring particles in the air. Then it reports what weapon made the sound and where that sound originated.

The sensor uses a technology, developed by Microflown, called acoustic vector sensing. AVS heats two 200-nanometer wide platinum strips to 200 degrees Celsius and measures how passing air particles cool them down. From those cooling patterns, Microflown's proprietary software can determine not only what the sound is but also where it came from.

There are other technologies that can do the same type of thing, but they all have their own unique disadvantages: radar-based solutions are traceable; others require the deployment of large apparatuses, and some need multiple sensors to triangulate sounds.

Microflown's matchstick almost seems too good to be true, but several nations' armies—including the Netherlands, Germany, India, Poland, and Australia—are currently testing out the tech and seeing what they hear. [DVICE]

This is the gear that gets our troops excited. Microflown Technologies' tiny sensor listens for the sounds of war by measuring particles in the air. Then it reports what weapon made the sound and where that sound originated.

The sensor uses a technology, developed by Microflown, called acoustic vector sensing. AVS heats two 200-nanometer wide platinum strips to 200 degrees Celsius and measures how passing air particles cool them down. From those cooling patterns, Microflown's proprietary software can determine not only what the sound is but also where it came from.

There are other technologies that can do the same type of thing, but they all have their own unique disadvantages: radar-based solutions are traceable; others require the deployment of large apparatuses, and some need multiple sensors to triangulate sounds.

Microflown's matchstick almost seems too good to be true, but several nations' armies—including the Netherlands, Germany, India, Poland, and Australia—are currently testing out the tech and seeing what they hear. [DVICE]

Ngmoco's Eliminate was one of the first games to offer 3G multiplayer on the iPhone. But how did they do it?

What started as a routine traffic stop ended with a Colorado teen doing hard time. The offense? Not returning a "House of Flying Daggers" DVD to his local library. Come on, Colorado. You're better than that.

Apparently young Aaron Henson, an impressionable lad all of 19 years old, fell in with the wrong DVD-borrowing crowd sometime last year. Henson packed up the flick for a move, forgot that he had it, and ended up with a warrant for his arrest:

The city said it sent an overdue notice and bill, neither of which were returned.

The city then sent a summons, which was returned.

Then, the city sent a new court date order, it was not returned. And when Aaron failed to appear for the second court date, the city issued a warrant.

Why all the fuss? Because apparently the municipality of Littleton, CO values the DVD of a 2004 release at $31.45, and any "theft" over $30 gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Also of note: Littleton, CO has apparently never heard of Amazon.

Anyhow, the whole mess get straightened out after Henson's family forked over a $200 fine for the DVD, $200 to remove the car from the impound lot, and $60 in court fees. And while Littleton has acknowledged its mistake and the mayor swears it won't happen again, the arrest is still on Aaron's record.

Just so long as no one got hurt, I suppose, except for the integrity of our judicial system. [The Denver Channel via Consumerist]

What started as a routine traffic stop ended with a Colorado teen doing hard time. The offense? Not returning a "House of Flying Daggers" DVD to his local library. Come on, Colorado. You're better than that.

Apparently young Aaron Henson, an impressionable lad all of 19 years old, fell in with the wrong DVD-borrowing crowd sometime last year. Henson packed up the flick for a move, forgot that he had it, and ended up with a warrant for his arrest:

The city said it sent an overdue notice and bill, neither of which were returned.

The city then sent a summons, which was returned.

Then, the city sent a new court date order, it was not returned. And when Aaron failed to appear for the second court date, the city issued a warrant.

Why all the fuss? Because apparently the municipality of Littleton, CO values the DVD of a 2004 release at $31.45, and any "theft" over $30 gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Also of note: Littleton, CO has apparently never heard of Amazon.

Anyhow, the whole mess get straightened out after Henson's family forked over a $200 fine for the DVD, $200 to remove the car from the impound lot, and $60 in court fees. And while Littleton has acknowledged its mistake and the mayor swears it won't happen again, the arrest is still on Aaron's record.

Just so long as no one got hurt, I suppose, except for the integrity of our judicial system. [The Denver Channel via Consumerist]

The battle for the fate of humanity continues this fall, when NBC Universal and Bigpoint launch Battlestar Galactica Online, a massively multiplayer browser-based game set in the universe of the award-winning Syfy television series. Can I get a frak yeah? More »

The battle for the fate of humanity continues this fall, when NBC Universal and Bigpoint launch Battlestar Galactica Online, a massively multiplayer browser-based game set in the universe of the award-winning Syfy television series. Can I get a frak yeah? More »

If you own a Kindle, you also own a mobile Web browser. But chances are you never use it. That may be about to change.

With Shank now being published by EA, Klei Entertainment is putting the increased development budget to good use -- with a trailer! Well, it's likely there would be a trailer this week anyway, as this week also marks the hyper-violent XBLA/PSN/PC brawler's appearance at the Independent Games Festival.

The brutal violence may dominate the trailer, but our eyes were immediately drawn to the acrobatics. There's so much somersaulting, swinging, hanging, and other exciting-looking methods of movement that they even manage to distract us from the usually thrilling shoot-stab-saw combos on display.

See a cut of Shank gameplay originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jalopnik's gathered up the flying car covers from Popular Science's complete archives and come out with a brief 77-year history of our flying car fantasies, which shift from cautious to optimistic depending on the tone of the decade. [Jalopnik]

Jalopnik's gathered up the flying car covers from Popular Science's complete archives and come out with a brief 77-year history of our flying car fantasies, which shift from cautious to optimistic depending on the tone of the decade. [Jalopnik]

After all the hype, the TiVo Premiere was greeted by disappointment by many gadget fans. But is there more to the story?