Wii = Sold Out Motion Gaming!

Nintendo’s Wii,unveiled last month to US audiences is sold out!

The $40 billion global gaming wars, dominated by Microsoft (Xbox) and Sony (PlayStation) is expected to be ravaged with the new competition.

Wii’s advantage is revolutionary motion-sensitive technology that allows gamers to control in-game characters by moving their bodies rather than pressing buttons.

Gamers dont need to be sitting their fat ass around, they have to sweat it out ang play the game.

The Wii costs around $400 . I wouldnt mind getting one this Christmas. Alas! its out of stock

Disposable Email account!

Tired of using your valid email accounts for registration in various web sites? Maybe it’s just a message board you want to read one time only and from which you don’t want to be saddled with a lifetime of spam.

The convention is just to sign in to Yahoo Mail!, Gmail or other web based email systems. But here’s a new trick. 10 Minute Mail!

It is free! It gives you an email address that vanishes after 10 minutes. There’s no registration, no verification. Just click over to the site and hit “Get my 10 Minute Mail e-mail address.” You’ll instantly be given an address that ceases to exist after 10 minutes. You can then use this address in filling out web forms or whatnot, and a very simple web-based interface gives you full access to any mail the account receives. You can reply to any messages, but you can’t send mail to an account that hasn’t already emailed you. If you can’t get the job done in 10 minutes, you can reset the timer to 10 minutes at any time.

Enjoy!

3G Broadband Data Cards

These cards carry the emerging technologies in mobile internet. With speeds of up to 1.4Mbps, you can kiss your wi-fi coffeshop hotspots goodbye. You have unlimited access to connect and surf through HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, GPRS, Wi-Fi and dial-up depending on your mobile network service provider.

To get started, you need SIM from your service provider, a HSDPA Data Card or a HSDPA USB Modem, a laptop with a PCMCIA slot or USB slot, and a network signal (HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, GPRS, Wi-Fi). It is best to connect to the internet via HSDPA or 3G. This will give you the fastest speed. If you are unable to obtain HSDPA or 3G signal in your current location, you may connect via EDGE or GPRS, although these will give you slower speeds versus 3G or HSDPA. GPRS is comparable in speed to a dialup connection while EDGE is around twice the actual speed of dialup.

Cheap, hackable Linux smartphone

One of the world’s largest computer and consumer electronics manufacturers will ship a completely open, Linux-based, GPS-equipped, quad-band GSM/GPRS phone direct, worldwide, for $350 or less, in Q1, 2007. First International Computing’s (FIC’s) “Neo1973″ or FIC-GTA001, is the first phone based on the open-source “OpenMoKo” platform.

FIC Neo1973 (FIC-GTA001)
(Click to enlarge)
Moss-Pultz worked for FIC in Taiwan for two years, before founding the Neo1973 project in January. He said. “I was able to convince FIC that having an open phone makes financial sense for us. Some big company’s got to stick their neck out there and say we believe in this, and we’re going to do it.”

Consistent with FIC’s dual-OS support policy on computing products, the Neo1973 can also run Windows Mobile. In fact, the phone was co-designed by the Chinese government, for a high-volume Windows-based PHS (“Personal Handy Phone”) product. FIC has the capacity to ship 100,000 of the phones per month, Moss-Pultz said, explaining its low cost.

Dialer (Click to enlarge)

Messaging client (Click to enlarge)

Because OpenMoKo consists exclusively of open-source software, the Neo1973 will ship with a limited feature set, including a dialer (image at left), unified SyncML-enabled email/text messaging client, phonebook, (image at right), and media player, according to Moss-Pultz. However, many additional open source applications will be available through “feeds,” including “certified” ones from FIC, as well as those from commercial and community sources, he adds.

App manager (Click to enlarge)

The Neo1973 will also ship with an “apt-get-like” software manager (pictured at right) that makes it trivial to add, remove, and update applications packaged in the OpenEmbedded package format, including “literally thousands of existing open source applications from the OpenZaurus, Familiar Linux, and Angstrom projects,” according to Michael Lauer, founder of OpenEmbedded and an early OpenMoko developer.

Moss-Pultz adds, “Applications are the ringtones of the future.”

FIC’s approach in sponsoring the OpenMoKo project resembles that taken by Nokia, which finances a “Maemo” software development community for its 770 Internet Tablet. Moss-Pultz acknowledges, “I have to give mad props to Nokia. I just think it’s a shame [the 770] is not a phone.”

FIC will distribute the Neo1973 direct, on a worldwide basis, leaving users to add a pre-paid or carrier-supplied “SIM” chip. Moss-Pultz said, “One reason I love GSM is that the carrier has no control over the SIM card. From the carrier’s point of view, it’s like adding a GSM modem PCMCIA card to your laptop.”

Neo1973 Handset Hardware

The Neo1973 is based on a Samsung S3C2410 SoC (system-on-chip) application processor, powered by an ARM9 core. It will have 128MB of RAM, and 64MB of flash, along with an upgradable 64MB MicroSD card.

Typical of Chinese phone designs, the Neo1973 sports a touchscreen, rather than a keypad — in this case, an ultra-high resolution 2.8-inch VGA (640 x 480) touchscreen. “Maps look stunning on this screen,” Moss-Pultz said.

The phone features an A-GPS (assisted GPS) receiver module connected to the application processor via a pair of UARTs. The commercial module has a closed design, but the API is apparently open.

Similarly, the phone’s quad-band GSM/GPRS module, built by FIC, runs the proprietary Nucleus OS on a Texas Instruments baseband powered by an ARM7 core. It communicates with Linux over a serial port, using standard “AT” modem commands.

The Neo1973 will charge when connected to a PC via USB. It will also support USB network emulation, and will be capable of routing a connected PC to the Internet, via its GPRS data connection.

Moss-Pultz notes that the FIC-GTA001, or Neo1973, is merely the first model in a planned family of open Linux phones from FIC. He expects a follow-up model to offer both WiFi and Bluetooth. “By the time one ships, the next one is half done,” he says.

Neo1973/OpenMoKo software implementation

OpenMoKo menu (Click to enlarge)

The Neo1973’s Linux-based operating system is based on a “2.6.17, going on 2.6.18 kernel,” according to Moss-Pultz. The graphics framework is based on GTK+ 2.x, in conjunction with the Matchbox window manager. And, says Moss-Pultz, “We’ve written our own set of widgets that optimize the UI for smaller devices.”

The OpenMoKo stack currently has a footprint of 64MB, leaving an equal amount of space for user-installed applications. User apps can also be run from MicroSD cards, which can be found in capacities up to 1GB, Moss-Pultz said. “[Linux navigational device maker] TomTom Go did some really good work [on SD card support], and we’re basing our work on their patch set.”

OpenMoKo will also include a kernel patch that adds GSM multiplexing capabilities to the 2.6 kernel. Harald Welte, an eearly contributor to OpenMoko who is also known as the founder of GPL-Violations.org and the OpenEZX project, stated, “Multiplexing conforms to TS07.10, the 3GPP’s standard for serial port virtualization, and is inspired by the design Motorola developed for its 2.4-based Linux phones.”

Moss-Pultz notes, “That’s the big thing missing from Linux. There is no GSM multiplexing available right now. You want multiplexing so apps can simultaneously access call features — so when you’re browsing the Internet, you can still get a call.”

As for additional software components, Moss-Pultz admits, “Quite a lot is there, and quite a lot is not there. We’re hoping to change this.” In addition to a dialer, phonebook, media player, and application manager, the stack will likely include the Minimo browser, he said, and a SyncML client.

And, one early contributor is working to port gTune — a guitar tuning application — to OpenMoKo. “If you have access to the microphone, and the different drivers, all is open, so it’s no problem to do that kind of thing,” Moss-Pultz said.

“That’s the main thing I want to push with this phone — it’s customizable in any way you see fit.”

He adds, “Mobile phones are the PCs of the 21st century, in terms of processing power and broadband network access. It’s quite a shame that today, when you buy one, the software is already out of date.”

Next Year’s Models

From Tokyo tech alleys with love. See next year’s models today.

Ultra-mobile Windows PC

Sony VAIO UX90P

The design goal: a full-featured mobile PC small enough to fit in a pocket. Weighing just over a pound, this PC has a 4.5-inch touchscreen that slides up to reveal a keyboard. A U.S. version is expected soon, starting at $2,000.

Robot boombox

ZPN/Kenwood MIURO

This 14-inch-wide rolling robot has a built-in iPod dock and speakers; it can “dance” as it follows you around the house. In white, red, black, or yellow, this could make it to the U.S. next year. About $930.

Personal iPod theater

Mikimoto Beans iTheatre

Attach a video iPod, game device, or multimedia cellphone, and two two-inch LCD displays embedded in these geeky but stylish goggles create the effect of a 50-inch TV hovering before your eyes. But watch where you’re walking. About $275.

 

 

Mobile video telephone

Sharp Vodafone 905SH

With a clamshell lid that can flip up and rotate 90 degrees, this 3G phone has a high-resolution, 2.6-inch widescreen display perfect for watching digital TV broadcasts aimed at Japanese cellphone users.

Motion-sensing game gear

Nintendo Wii controller

Call it the “wee-mote” for the upcoming $250 Wii game console. With ambidextrous appeal for experienced gamers and novices alike, the wand and joystick (included in console) can be a steering wheel, racket, or gun for new dimensions of game play.

Blu-ray prototype camcorder

Hitachi WOOO

These design mockups of high-definition videocameras have a charming retro style that incorporates direct recording onto future mini Blu-ray three-inch discs. Too bad there are no mini Blu-ray players yet. (Not on market.)

 

 

World’s Largest Digital Image

Probably the largest digital image (8.6 Gigapixel) in the World is located here. It is a composite photo of the “Parete Gaudenziana,” a fresco painted by Gaudenzio Ferrari, dated 1513. This fresco is in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in the convent of Varallo Sesia, diocese of Novara and Province of Vercelli, Italy. The site uses Flash to let you explore the fresco over a zoom range of more than 180 to 1. The photo is made up of 1145 images, each 12.2 Mpixel and 16 bits per color channel.

MySpace Compromised by Phishers

Netcraft has discovered that the social networking site, MySpace, appears to have been compromised by phishers who have presented a spoof login form on the main site. This modified login form is designed to submit the victim’s username and password to a remote server hosted in France.

Netcraft has notified MySpace of the issue, although it currently remains live. Because the fraudulent login page is hosted on MySpace’s own servers and does not exhibit any signs of external content, such as cross-site scripting (XSS) or open redirects, it is convincing and even security-conscious users are at risk of becoming victims. The attack is launched from a profile page, where the username is login_home_index_html, and uses specially-crafted HTML in order to hide the genuine MySpace content from the page and instead display its own login form.

2M Firefox2 Downloads in 1 day

Firefox 2.0 has had over two million downloads in 24 hours with a peak rate of over 30 downloads a second. This means Firefox is well on track to beat IE7’s three million in four days. Of course stats don’t equal users but it’s interesting to see that the demand for Firefox is currently outstripping IE.

by linuxci!

History has proven open-source enthusiasts pray over the mozilla browser for about 4weeks of incremental downloads while in contrast to ie users, they just come along at random and mostly on automatic updates without them knowing anything about it. Guess!

The 10 Dirtiest jobs in Science

Manure Inspector

What they do: Wade through farming manure, inspecting different kinds of animal waste to make sure it is free from contaminants. By checking the manure, these scientists make sure that the harmful materials do not spread to infect vegetation, animals or consumers.

Orangutan-Pee Collector

What they do: Collect and analyze ape urine to study factors that effect their reproduction. The work involves tracking down apes and laying down large plastic sheets or attaching plastic bags to poles in hopes of catching adequate samples to analyze.

Hot-zone Superintendent

What they do: Perform maintenance work for bio-safety labs that study lethal airborne pathogens, for which there is no known cure. Their work enables scientists to study the nature of disease-causing organisms, such as anthrax.

Extremophile Excavator

What they do: Sift through the smelly fumes of arsenic-saturated mud areas in blistering heat in order to gather samples containing arsenic-eating extremophiles. The purpose is to find microbes that could possibly assist in the decontamination of the nation’s freshwater sources.

Dysentery Stool Sample Analyzer

What they do: Study stool samples from diseased humans who have experienced diarrhea from a disease-causing microbe. The analysis allows these scientists to develop intestinal diagnostics to ease those suffering from the disease.

Semen Washer

What they do: Take semen samples under microscopic observation to study their sperm count, then spin, separate, add preservatives and freeze the samples for in vitro fertilization.

Volcanologist

What they do: Monitor volcanic regions to determine when they’ll erupt next. In addition to dodging hot magma, these scientists mountain climb their way through the heat and fight their way through fogs of sulfur dioxide gas, ash, rocks and debris.

Carcass Cleaner

What they do: Clean corpses for display using one of a variety of cleaning methods. This may include immersing the body in boiling chemicals, placing maggots or beetles on the carcass, or picking off the leftover flesh.

Fistula Feeder

What they do: Study how the insides of cattle work. To do this, they deplug the fistula, an opening to the bovine intestinal system, and take samples from the forestomach to test their digestion and reaction to food additives.

Corpse-Flower Grower

What they do: Grow and tend to a towering, foul-smelling plant called the corpse flower. Similar to the way pleasant-smelling flowers attract honeybees, the corpse flower attracts its own bugs, Sumatran carrion beetles and flesh flies. These scientists are competing to grow the largest blooming plant in cultivation.

by careerbuilding.com

IE sent Cake to Firefox2.0 team

Here’s the cake.

How come the logo ain’t blue?

Cake wasn’t poisoned though. Cheers!

Congratulations to the teams.