Picture the scene: You're innocently surfing around, working on the research for your next assignment, looking at a few sites and generally minding your own business. But did you ever stop and consider what your innocent little surf has just divulged about your computer and your location?
It's not unusual for a story to be based wholly on material gleaned from e-mail and other online sources - often on sensitive subjects. By booking a holiday using your credit card one minute, and then carrying out background research on some shady internet community the next, journalists are mixing a cocktail of personal and professional online activity. If part of your online life is compromised - all of it may be threatened.
Have a quick look at Browserspy or Showmyip to understand what website owners can find out about you using nothing more than your internet connection.
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Monday, July 9, 2007
New Nano Weapon against Cancer
Nano weapon: A gold nanoparticle enveloped in treelike polymer branches could act as a multipurpose tool for fighting cancer.
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Italians Build Atomic Laser Predicted By Einstein 82 Years Ago
Scientists have reported a way to achieve the so-called atomic laser, a breakthrough predicted by Albert Einstein in 1925, the Italian news agency ANSA reported today.
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Sony cuts PlayStation 3 price by $100
Sony Corp. slashed the price of its current PlayStation 3 by $100, or 16.7 percent, and introduced a high-capacity model in an effort to spur sales of the struggling video game console.Starting Monday, the current 60 gigabyte model will cost $499, down from $599.
Son
And announces new $599, 80 GB model coming in August
The PS3 still costs twice that of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s - Wii console, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of cutting-edge graphics and hard disk.
SonThe Japanese electronics maker also said it is introducing a new version of the PlayStation 3 with a bigger hard drive for storing downloaded content such as video games and high-definition movies.
The PlayStation 3, which includes a 60-gigabyte hard drive and a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player, will now cost $499, or $20 more than the most expensive version of Microsoft Corp.'s - Xbox 360.The PS3 still costs twice that of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s - Wii console, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of cutting-edge graphics and hard disk.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Computer Games World Cup Starts in Paris
The World Cup of computer gaming has brought some 700 players from 51 countries to Paris for an intense weekend of virtual combat, a sign of the growth of the "electronic sports" industry.
The players, selected from 500,000 candidates, will compete for a pool of 180,000 dollars (132,000 euros) in prize money at the Electronic Sports World Cup grand final, put on by the Games-Services company. It was taking place at a convention hall on the southwestern edge of Paris.
Like any professional player, everything about their equipment is state-of-the-art and major players are sponsored and equipped by the most important names in computing industry. For those of you not so familiar with the concept of professional gamer, you should know that the best players are organized in clans, which enter some of the most prestigious competitions in the world, where they play virtual games for real money, coming from brands like AMD, Intel, Sennheiser, Steelpad, Logitech and many more.
Some of most renowned games are among the "categories" of the cup, like Counter-Strike, the most played first person shooter in history, which is all about reflexes and speed, Pro Evolution Soccer 6, which is all about control and strategy and Quake IV, which allows for a large number of players to fight simultaneously on one map, where it's every man for himself.
The players, selected from 500,000 candidates, will compete for a pool of 180,000 dollars (132,000 euros) in prize money at the Electronic Sports World Cup grand final, put on by the Games-Services company. It was taking place at a convention hall on the southwestern edge of Paris.
Like any professional player, everything about their equipment is state-of-the-art and major players are sponsored and equipped by the most important names in computing industry. For those of you not so familiar with the concept of professional gamer, you should know that the best players are organized in clans, which enter some of the most prestigious competitions in the world, where they play virtual games for real money, coming from brands like AMD, Intel, Sennheiser, Steelpad, Logitech and many more.
Some of most renowned games are among the "categories" of the cup, like Counter-Strike, the most played first person shooter in history, which is all about reflexes and speed, Pro Evolution Soccer 6, which is all about control and strategy and Quake IV, which allows for a large number of players to fight simultaneously on one map, where it's every man for himself.
Xbox 360 repairs will cost Microsoft USD 1 Billion
Microsoft Corp. said it would take a more than $1 billion charge to fix "an unacceptable number of repairs" to its Xbox 360 video game consoles and had missed shipment targets for the end of June.
Microsoft is under pressure with mounting complaints about Xbox 360 failures on the Internet and growing expectations that Sony Corp. could slash the price of its rival PlayStation 3 console at a video game exposition next week.
So far Microsoft has the lead on Sony in the battle for high-end video game machines, but it shipped only 11.6 million 360s by the end of June, compared with a target of about 12 million, Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said during a conference call with analysts on Thursday.
Microsoft said it had investigated the sources of hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console and had identified "a number of factors" that can cause such failures. Bach said many of those factors took time to show up in the consoles, explaining why the number of repairs had grown in the second year of the Xbox 360`s release. He would not say exactly how many Xbox 360s had been returned due to hardware issues except that "the number is too large."
The company said it would extend warranty coverage to three years to cover the problem and would reimburse customers who had previously paid for repairs related to the three-flashing-lights error message. It also said it has made improvements to the Xbox 360 console. The charge will be in a range of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion, before taxes, for the quarter ended June 30, Microsoft said.
Microsoft is under pressure with mounting complaints about Xbox 360 failures on the Internet and growing expectations that Sony Corp. could slash the price of its rival PlayStation 3 console at a video game exposition next week.
So far Microsoft has the lead on Sony in the battle for high-end video game machines, but it shipped only 11.6 million 360s by the end of June, compared with a target of about 12 million, Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said during a conference call with analysts on Thursday.
Microsoft said it had investigated the sources of hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console and had identified "a number of factors" that can cause such failures. Bach said many of those factors took time to show up in the consoles, explaining why the number of repairs had grown in the second year of the Xbox 360`s release. He would not say exactly how many Xbox 360s had been returned due to hardware issues except that "the number is too large."
The company said it would extend warranty coverage to three years to cover the problem and would reimburse customers who had previously paid for repairs related to the three-flashing-lights error message. It also said it has made improvements to the Xbox 360 console. The charge will be in a range of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion, before taxes, for the quarter ended June 30, Microsoft said.
Nokia N80 - CNET review
Design of Nokia N80
The Nokia N80 is a little cell phone, short and stout. In its closed state, the slider phone measures 3.7 by 1.9 by 1.0 inches and weighs 4.7 ounces. Though the form factor is compact, it's on the thicker side, so it'll make for a tight fit in a pants pocket. Despite the bulk, it's comfortable--though a little slippery--to hold in the hand, and its all-black case is attractive; the phone is available in stainless steel as well.The Nokia N80 has a beautiful 2.2-inch screen that boasts 262,144 hues at 325x416-pixel resolution. Colors pop, and text and images are extrasharp; it's certainly one of the best cell phone displays we've seen to date. Below it you'll find two soft keys, the Talk and End buttons, a four-way navigation toggle with a center select function, an edit key, a menu shortcut, a multimedia key, and a Clear button. For the most part, the controls are easy to use, but the toggle and the select button are a bit small, so you have to press them carefully.
The navigation toggle and bottom row of shortcut keys may give users with larger digits some problems.
To slide open the cover, just push the face upward. The sliding mechanism is smooth and locks into place with a solid click. Once the phone is open, you'll have access to the numerical dial pad. The keys are large and adequately backlit, but the top row of numbers are closely lined with the bottom of the open face, which may cause some problems for users with larger hands. On the left spine, there's a Mini SD card slot, while the speaker and camera activation key are on the right. The placement of the latter is especially nice since it mimics the feel of a real digital camera when held horizontally. Consequently, though, it's a little awkward if you want to take a vertical picture. The camera lens is located on the back along with a flash and a switch that lets you change from normal to close-up (macro) mode. There's no self-portrait mirror, but it isn't necessary since there's a second camera lens on the front of the phone; it's positioned above the screen in the upper-right corner.
The Nokia N80 has a second VGA camera on front for self-portraits.
Nokia packages the N80 with most of the basic accessories, including an AC adapter, a stereo headset, a USB cable, a wrist strap, a screen shammy, and a 128MB Mini SD card.
Features of Nokia N80
The main draw of the Nokia N80 is its multimedia prowess--more specifically, its imaging features. The mobile sports a 3-megapixel camera with video-recording capabilities and 20X digital zoom. The breadth of customization and editing options available on this phone is astounding. You can choose from eight shooting modes, ranging from portrait to sports to night portrait, and five resolutions: 2,048x1,536, 1,600x1,200, 1,280x960, 800x600, and 640x480. You can tweak the brightness, contrast, white balance, color tone, and exposure value. There's also a self-timer and flash. The secondary camera is of only VGA quality, but then again, how often do you find a cell phone with two cameras? The shooting options are significantly reduced, with a mere two modes to choose from: automatic or night.
The N80 boasts a 3-megapixel camera and is one of the most robust camera phones we've seen to date.
The N80's camera captures video with sound in MP4 or 3GP formats with up to 5X zoom. You get a choice of automatic and night shooting modes, as well as High, Normal, and Low quality settings. Most of the aforementioned customization features are also available in video mode. Once you're done with your shots, you can touch them up with the preloaded image and video editors. For photos, you can add clip art or text and reduce red-eye, while you can cut audio, trim clips for multimedia messages, and more for videos. Also, the photo-sharing options on the N80 are much more robust than those of other cell phones. In addition to being able to e-mail or save your images, you can use Nokia's Xpress Solutions to print photos, upload them to the Web, or transfer them to other devices.
If you'd rather be entertained, there's an integrated music player that supports MP3, AAC, WMA, M4A, and eAAC+ files. To get tracks onto your handset, you can simply drag and drop files from your PC to the N80 via the included USB cable. The N80 will show up as a storage device on your computer. The mobile has an equalizer and can loop songs or play them at random. There's also an FM radio, but you must use included stereo headset to take advantage of this feature since the tuner is built into the headset. RealPlayer is also onboard, with 3GPP and MPEG-4 video streaming support.
Now, let's not forget that the Nokia N80 is still a phone. The address book is limited only by the available memory (40MB), and the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. There's room in each entry for multiple phone numbers; work, home, and e-mail addresses; a birthday; and more vitals. For caller ID purposes, you can assign each contact a photo, one of 37 ring tones, or a group ID. The quad-band world phone also has a speakerphone, speed dial, voice-command support, a vibrate mode (called Pager Profile on this phone), and text and multimedia messaging.
Other than cellular wireless, the Nokia N80 has integrated Bluetooth 1.2, Wi-Fi (802.11g), and an infrared port. The handset also supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), which means it can connect to TVs and home stereos over an 802.11g Wi-Fi network. The only catch is that UPnP devices are limited at this time. We like that the N80 automatically looks for available access points and you can be connected with just a couple of clicks (see Performance for more). The N80's Web browser is worth a mention too. Based on the Symbian's S60 software platform, the browser tries to prove a "true Web experience," according to Nokia, and includes some neat features. For example, it will present you with a thumbnail of the full Web page so that you can easily navigate to a certain point on the site, rather than having to scroll all over the place--very nice.
Though the N80's main focus is on multimedia, it also comes with advanced PIM functionality and runs Symbian OS 9. The smart phone can access POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts with attachment support, but there is no push e-mail solution available at this time. You can use the N80 to open and view (but not edit) Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Nokia's PC Suite, which is available for download on the company's Web site, allows for easy synchronization and data transfer between your PC and phone. Other tools include a calendar, a calculator, a voice recorder, notes, a currency converter, and an alarm clock.
You can customize the N80 with a number of preloaded themes or download more from the Web. The phone supports Java-based applications and ships with three games: Snakes, Card Deck, and Go To.
Basic specs
Talk time: Up to 190 min
Combined with: With digital camera / digital player
Dimensions (W x D x H): 2 in x 0.9 in x 3.7 in
Weight: 4.7 oz
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