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3376

Living Room / Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 4

« on: March 06, 2010, 08:06 PM »

Welcome to this weeks edition of 'Stephen's Tech News' - By now, you all know that this is a selection of my favorite news stories from across the globe, and are placed in no particular order.  Anyway, I hope you are all as interested in them as I am!

-Stephen


A week off the grid and in touch with energy

There's nothing like living off-grid for a while to make you aware of your environmental and energy footprint. During a family vacation to Belize last week, I got a flavor for what's needed to function, albeit at a leisurely pace, when you're far beyond the reach of power lines.

This was a special trip, mostly paid for by....Read More...


Microsoft demos game across PC, mobile, and console platforms

Whoa. During the keynote presentation at TechEd Middle East in Dubai, Microsoft's Eric Rudder played the same Indiana Jones-ish game on a Windows computer, a Windows Phone 7 phone, and an Xbox 360. Gaming is about to get really ubiquitous.


Not only is the game itself playable on all three platforms, but the...Read More...


Robot avatar MeBot gives you wriggling bug body

In the future, all business meetings will be conducted by telepresence robots--on-site avatar machines that will take care of the boring business of earning a living while we sit back at home sipping lattes and generally enjoying our 300-year lifespans.
 (Credit: Sigurdur Orn)

Even if you don't believe telepresence robots are going to eliminate the need to get out of bed in the morning, it's hard to...Read More...


Some Newegg Customers Received Fake Intel Core i7s

Several readers have mentioned the strange goods that some customers received from Newegg in place of the Intel Core i7 920 processor they ordered. Word on the problem first surfaced on TribalWar on Thursday evening. Newegg still hasn't...Read More...


Steve Jobs: The Agony and the Ecstasy

A new play about tight-ship-running Apple CEO Steve Jobs is set to be staged at California's Berkeley Theatre early next year, penned by one of America's leading playwrights.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs is to...Read More...


10 high tech cars to tear up the tarmac

Car technology is advancing quickly - partly to save the auto industry from imminent collapse, but also because tech innovations can help save lives on the road.

Besides, why not make your morning commute just a notch easier? These ten vehicles offer something new and innovative...Read More


Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth

he massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.


The quake, the seventh strongest earthquake in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and should have...Read More...


UK next-gen broadband gets funding body

Two major upgrades to the UK's broadband infrastructure have moved closer with the creation of an organisation which will allocate funding for the work.

On Thursday, the government launched Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), which will allocate funds for the two major schemes: the universal service commitment and next-generation broadband. The universal service commitment will ensure...Read More...


Spamhaus: Microsoft's botnet cull had little effect

Microsoft's takedown of the Waledac botnet has not been effective, according to some security researchers.

The throttling of Waledac, which Microsoft claimed to have achieved by means of legal action last week, has led to no appreciable reduction of junk mail coming from the botnet, anti-spam organisation Spamhaus told ZDNet UK on Tuesday.

"The amount of spam coming from...Read More...


ISPs attack 'misguided' site-blocking plan

The ISP Association has said it is outraged at an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill that would let copyright holders force ISPs to block websites accused of unlawfully giving access to copyrighted material.

In a statement on Thursday, ISPA said Amendment 120a, passed in the House of Lords on Tuesday, was "hastily constructed and...Read More...

Video of The Week

Seeing as nobody responded to my Video of The Week Competition I have decided to annoy you all with this:

3377

Living Room / Re: Online RPG Players.

« on: March 06, 2010, 07:09 PM »

I played four years in the original Everquest, a couple of days in EQ2. I've had an active account on and off for about 5-6 years with Eve-Online.

I have recently been playing D&D Online since just before Christmas when the game went free. I've also toyed around with dozens of the free games available here and there, although I haven't found one yet with much staying power (or I guess that should be phrased that *I* haven't had much staying power yet with the free games).

-Daleus (March 03, 2010, 11:19 AM)

If you enjoyed Everquest, then you should check out the game I mentioned. 

I have updated my original post to include information and links to play it.

-Stephen

3378

Living Room / Re: Browser Wars: Why did you choose yours?

« on: March 05, 2010, 11:38 AM »

I find any discussion about who came first with what, to be of very little interest, if any.

-Curt (March 05, 2010, 11:31 AM)

I find "Who does it better" ones funnier tbh.  But "Who came first with what" is only good if its actually new at that time, and its of any interest to me.

3379

Living Room / Re: an abbreviation system pitfall

« on: March 05, 2010, 07:40 AM »

Great post, even though I got bored 1/2 way down due to the sheer amount of data lol.

I think the best short-hand available at the moment is 'txt lang' which is widely used, and very widely understood.

u wud nt av a prob readin dis if i typed lyk it wud ya

-Stephen

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Living Room / Re: Browser Wars: Why did you choose yours?

« on: March 05, 2010, 07:34 AM »

No one mentioned Safari ... probably with good reason

-Carol Haynes (March 05, 2010, 03:07 AM)

Haha, never noticed that till now, i've only used Safari once, and wasn't very impressed with it to be honest.  It seemed very clunky slow, and just was not to my taste.

Just to jump in here - I use k-meleon : it is really fast, light on resources and very easy to configure to one's tastes. There are a number of excellent add-ons or extensions and a really friendly and helpful community.

I think I will never go back to FF or any other browser.

-joiwind (March 05, 2010, 04:50 AM)

Great to see this discussion has gained a new lease of life, and the fact we have found our first K-Melon user has got to be a good thing, I would love to hear about your experiences with that browser (as I have never used it) and what features you think make it better than other browsers.


Anybody use any relativity UN-heard of browsers?

If so, let us all know what they are, why you use them, what the features are etc... I think that would be a great help to this discussion

-Stephen

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General Software Discussion / Uninstall and Re-package installed software.

« on: March 04, 2010, 06:16 PM »

I was wondering (after reading 40hz's post about upgrading from xp to vista to win7) whether it is possible, to create a piece of software, that will, on UN-installation, re-package everything required ready for re-installation at a later date.

Obviously this wouldn't be easy, but would be highly practical and useful due to loads of people installing things, losing the installation files, then never being able to re-install after formatting/upgrading/system clean/crash etc...

Would be great to head some ideas/feedback in regards to this.

Cheers

Stephen

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: "www.genuinekey.com" - Is it legit?

« on: March 03, 2010, 03:03 PM »

You are buying a legitimate, unique, and genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Product Key. A download link with a ISO/DVD file for installation will be provided. These keys are strait from Microsoft and are 100% guaranteed to work.
31 Comments
Windows 7 download
Filed under: Windows 7; Tagged as: Untouched Windows 7 download, Windows 7 home premium download, Windows 7 Professional download, Windows 7 Ultimate download

Firstly, you need a free download manager to handle the download. I strongly suggest you using the free one from http://www.gigaget.com

Some people said they have no file error report by direct download, but using this download manager, it’s all good.

Secondly, Untouched Windows 7 ISO files download Link:
Windows 7 Ultimate
32-bit Windows 7 Ultimate x86 ISO


**link removed by Stephen66511 due to not knowing if its legal or not**

From the home page bout 4/5 of the way down

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: "www.genuinekey.com" - Is it legit?

« on: March 03, 2010, 02:40 PM »

Given that the prices on that site are lower than what even very large OEMs likely pay Microsoft for each copy of Windows (http://arstechnica.c...-copy-of-windows.ars), I think you can be confident that the keys are not legitimate.

I recently visited the MS Company Store, and my recollection is that the prices on the "genuinekey" site are even a bit lower than what MS was charging their employees. MS Company Store purchases include media, which might account for a bit of a bump in price, but "genuinekey" doesn't even include a software download - another sign that the offering is not legit.

-mwb1100 (March 03, 2010, 02:35 PM)

They ARE offering the ISO's but not direct from their site, saw the link for the ISO's on their home page, near the comments.

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Found Deals and Discounts / Re: "www.genuinekey.com" - Is it legit?

« on: March 03, 2010, 01:04 PM »

These are most likely MSDN keys. The poster has either an MSDN or technet account , which gives you 10 , 1 time use keys per edition of Windows 7

If Microsoft catches which keys are being sold here , they will look up what account the keys below to and black list all of them!

Regards
hacker1993

Seems like a plausible idea. Perhaps they received OEM keys or something and are selling excess ones.  Legit and Working keys, but by no means legal for resale.

3385

Living Room / Re: Strange question about salsa

« on: March 03, 2010, 11:21 AM »

What you eat WITH it may not be, but that is another issue.   

-steeladept (March 03, 2010, 08:54 AM)

Only brussel sprouts, I promise

Seriously though, the reason I microwave it is because I pack it for lunch to put on top of homemade burritos that my wife makes. I don't want to put cold salsa on a hot burrito and I prefer salsa to picante sauce.

-edbro (March 03, 2010, 10:48 AM)

But won't the hot burrito be cold by the time you get to lunch? lol

3386

Living Room / MMORPG Players - What Games do you play + Plug for Myth of Soma Server

« on: March 03, 2010, 10:26 AM »

Anybody on here play MMORPG's?

If so, what do ya play?

Im currently back on one of the games i played YEARS ago, even tho there are NO official servers for it, and the game was abandoned, there is still a huge following and plenty of Free2Play servers are available for people to play about on.
Game I play is called 'Myth of Soma'

Wiki about the company who made it, and the game.

Official notice of server closure, account deletion and removal of services for: Legend of Mir 2, Legend of Mir 3, and Myth Of Soma.

http://www.gnonline.net/

Server I Play on (The best {and only} Free2Play Server):

www.remixworld.co.uk

Client download:

www.mythofsoma.info (choose: RemixFull.exe)

User Registration:

http://remixworld.co.uk/register.php

Community Forum

http://somadev.com/f...m/viewforum.php?f=42

Vote For This Server on XtremeTop100.com:

http://www.xtremetop....php?site=1132302456


Basically the whole point to the game is to kill monsters, get items and new weapons, and armours, and to level your character.

There are 2 worlds to choose from, Human World and Devil World (Human world has the most work done on it at the moment, but Devil world is being worked on).

The leveling system is like no other, and pretty hard to explain, but basically you get stats (strength, dexterity, intelligence, constitution, wisdom and more) by attacking monsters.

Also there are a LOT of quests which you can do (all of which are optional, but can really help you during the game if you choose to do them)

In game character chat, guild chat, area shouts and map shouts are just a selection of the chatting capabilities.

Loads of Monster Bosses to beat!

There are weekly events such as "Guild Village War" and "War of The Worlds" and other random events hosted by the Game Masters.

The game itself is 2D Isometric and the system is quite old, but has been heavily modified to suit today's gamers without affecting the game play.

To sum it all up, you guys should all, at least, try this game.  It's great fun!

Lemme know if any of you try it.

Screenies:

Skip to 2:44 - Everything before is for the v1 client download and connection.

Official Video Trailer for Myth of Soma - Sorry for the Korean language, this was never translated.

Currently the server is under major development but this does not stop the game being available to play.

The user count currently stands at approximately 100 but is steadily growing. (This is a very large number for a Free2Play Server.)

A community of developers are attempting to get to get together to re-create this awesome game but thus far, have been unsuccessful due to none of them being committed enough.

If anyone is a huge fan of a particular game, please post it in here like I have done and in the same style, including links, and info where needed.

Thanks

-Stephen

3387

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« on: March 02, 2010, 07:18 PM »

Stone Sour - Through Glass

Failing that, hunt for Chocolate Rain...its catchy

-Stephen66515 (January 28, 2010, 09:36 PM)

Updatied the link with he official video, finally managed to find it

Forgot how cool this song/vid is lol

3388

Living Room / Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3

« on: March 01, 2010, 07:00 PM »

Awesome & Logo of This news has been edited to make the logo, to that one, cause its just plain brill, tyvm for it

3389

Living Room / Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3

« on: March 01, 2010, 05:17 PM »

Every newsletter deserves its own masthead
 (see attachment in previous post)

-40hz (February 28, 2010, 11:30 PM)

Thats awesome, nice1 for that, I will deffo use it

3390

Living Room / Tech News Video of The Week - Competition

« on: February 27, 2010, 12:57 PM »

Hey guys,

As you have probably noticed, each week, I add a video to the bottom of the Tech News Post.

This video can be about anything and is literally just there for giggles.

What I am going to do, is try get you all involved with it, but to do this, I'm gonna need your help!

If you want a chance for your video, or choice of video (one you made, or even one you found on Youtube) then please submit it here, and at the end of the week, I will pick a winner.

Don't miss your chance to have your video submitted to the Tech News Thread!

3391

Living Room / Re: Nuclear fallout from the latest netsplit....

« on: February 27, 2010, 12:46 PM »

Kamel, I now HATE you

That was like 5am in the morning here and you insisted on confusing the hell out of me lol

 

3392

Living Room / Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3

« on: February 27, 2010, 12:37 PM »

Hey Guys, sorry its a little bit later than normal, been a busy few days.  Anyway, here's your weekly dose of tech news.  Hope you enjoy!

Hope You Enjoy!

Weekly Tech News

U.K. bill would 'outlaw open Wi-Fi'

The U.K. government will not exempt universities, libraries, and small businesses providing open Wi-Fi services from its Digital Economy Bill copyright crackdown, according to official advice released earlier this week.

This would leave many organizations open to the same penalties for copyright infringement as individual subscribers, potentially including disconnection from the Internet, leading legal experts to say it will become impossible for small businesses and the like to offer Wi-Fi access.

Lilian Edwards, professor of Internet law at Sheffield University, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the scenario described by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in an explanatory document would effectively "outlaw open Wi-Fi for small businesses" and would leave libraries and universities in an uncertain position....Read More...


Microsoft takes off gloves against Google

Microsoft left little doubt Friday that it was one of the companies leading the charge against Google worldwide.
 

In a blog post entitled "Competition Authorities and Search," Microsoft Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner said part of the motivation for Microsoft and Yahoo's search deal was "we are concerned...Read More...


Tools for Putting Web Apps to the Cross-Browser Test

Web-based applications and cloud computing have presented new challenges for software developers. Most software makers are by no means tone-deaf to user concerns about security and usability issues, but even those software writers who are receptive to these worries must contend with hard-to-plug holes that can open up in cross-platform programs such as Web browsers.

For Web app developers, the problems occur on...Read More...


New glasses-free 3D game for Nintendo DSi

Nintendo has released a new 3D game for the DSi in Japan which uses the devices in-built cameras to track the position of your eyes in relation to the two screens, and then delivers a 3D game world in line with the position of your head.

It sounds a little bit...Read More...


Sony: Don't hold your breath for PS4

The chances of seeing a PlayStation 4 underneath your television any time soon are receding, with the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America insisting that we are in the 'first 25 to 30 per cent' of the current generation.

With the battle against ...Read More...


The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

Much virtual ink has been spilled over Ubisoft's new, harsh DRM system for Assassin's Creed 2. You must have a constant internet connection, and, if your connection breaks, the game exits. While this has angered many (and justifiably so), most writers on the topic have made an error. They think that...Read More


Europe 'will not accept' three strikes in Acta treaty

The European Commission has pledged to make sure the Acta global treaty will not force countries to disconnect people for unlawfully downloading copyrighted music, movies and other material.

The assurance from the office of the trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht (pictured), is the strongest statement on Acta (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) to emerge from the new Commission since it took office earlier in February.

"We are not supporting...Read More...


Government departments allowed to use Firefox

The government has said its departments are free to consider any browser, and should consider open-source software including Firefox.

According to a parliamentary written answer from Cabinet Office minister Angela Smith, there is no rule that says government departments must use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, even though it is the browser most widely used within Whitehall.

When asked by Francis Maude MP what the government's policy on the installation of different web browsers is, Smith said: "Government policy regarding installation and use of web browsers is that all decisions must be in line with value-for-money requirements.

"In addition, the open source...Read More...


No Lie! Your Facebook Profile Is the Real You

On the Internet,” one dog tells another in a classic New Yorker cartoon, “nobody knows you’re a dog.”

The internet is notorious for its digital dens of deception. But on Facebook, what you see tends to be what you get — at least in one study of tailless, two-legged young adults.

College-age users of Facebook in the United States and a similar social networking site in Germany typically present...Read More...


Win A Free Ticket to Google IO 2010

Google’s premiere developer event is coming up in just a couple of months, and we’ve got two passes to give away.

Google I/O takes place on May 19 and 20 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. It’s the company’s largest developer event, with hundreds of sessions and demos of all the latest Google tech. Plus, there are the big keynotes like the launch of Wave, the first major public demo of Android and the HTML5 coming-out party where everyone in the room got a free Android phone....Read More...

Video of The Week

Note: This video is NSFW (not suitable for work) because of coarse language:

Well, Thats it for this week, hope you all enjoyed this week top news stories!

-Stephen

3393

Living Room / Re: Pirate vs. Paying Customer illustrated

« on: February 25, 2010, 09:59 AM »

Not so funny when you see your applications pirated.

-mrainey (February 25, 2010, 09:53 AM)

This is about movies, but I do understand your point.  I also never said I DONT buy the DVDs, I just download them cause I hate having to hunt through my collection just to put it in my computer, and it saves A LOT of time copying the DVD (if it even allows you to) then converting to AVI to save space.

Technically not pirating, due to the fact I own the original work anyway.  Its along the same lines as downloading a no-cd or modified EXE so you don't need the CD/DVD for software/games, due to risk of scratching the disc, or playing that many games it just gets annoying locating discs.

3394

Living Room / Re: Pirate vs. Paying Customer illustrated

« on: February 25, 2010, 09:47 AM »

Hahaha, thats awesome, and also very very true, and pretty much the only reason I download some films

3395

Living Room / Re: OK - lets get to know each other... who are you, what do you do, where from?

« on: February 24, 2010, 05:01 PM »

Somerset is lovely, been through it loads (if its somerset in the UK your meaning haha)

3396

Living Room / Re: Desktop Icons

« on: February 22, 2010, 05:00 PM »

I'm one of those types that hates desktop icons & hide them 98% of the time.
I can go through the right click exercise,(I have XP),and do the hide/show
icon dance easy enough but I would love to have some silly little applet that
could live in quick launch or better yet in the system tray that would hide &
seek my desktop icons with the push of a button. (Yes I know I want instant
gratification!) Windows+D is fine for showing & hiding the desktop but I'm
looking for something like that for desktop icons. Maybe just a custom keyboard command/short cut or something.
I guess this post is really a suggestion for one of you slick coder guys to
come up with something,or maybe just tell me how to do it myself.
anyone?
Buehler? Ferris Buehler?
anyone?
tom?

-tomcom (February 22, 2010, 04:01 PM)

Firstly, Welcome, Secondly, if you need something like that coding, you will get a better responce posting in the Coding Snacks section 

3397

Living Room / Re: Right, time to work on...o_0 a shiny penny, I WANT IT!

« on: February 21, 2010, 04:34 PM »

How about: 'waking up your muse' (google books)

Here is another link describing the (exact) same subject (everything.com).

With the advise provided by these links you can still indulge each of your whims and call it....book research. 

-Shades (February 21, 2010, 04:18 PM)

Cheers, I will take a proper look at them later when I get a free minute 

3398

Living Room / Re: looking for a title (short story)

« on: February 21, 2010, 03:44 PM »

http://www.amazon.co...Palmer/dp/0553255193

13 used from $14.95

$14.95 + $3.99 shipping: http://www.amazon.co...8&condition=used

3399

Living Room / Re: Right, time to work on...o_0 a shiny penny, I WANT IT!

« on: February 21, 2010, 03:38 PM »

If I were to tell you to clear your mind of everything else and focus on one thing for 10 minutes, then you can have a 2 minute break to do all that other stuff, then back to work for another 10...etc.

And you don't even have to watch the clock because I'll do that for you and tell you when to take a break and when to get back to work, do you think you could be more focused?

For some people, knowing they only have to work for a short time and that they have a set scheduled break to check email, reorganize their paperclips, twitter, facebook, or whatever else normally clutters their head while working, and knowing they don't have to watch the clock for fear they might miss the opportunity to do all that stuff, helps them concentrate better on what they are supposed to be doing.

It's probably why so many people love my Instant Boss application.

-app103 (February 21, 2010, 03:31 PM)

A> Love the plug haha
B> Already got Instant Boss, Already Use It, Love It, But like everything else, it fails me when writing my book.  I think it is just a literal case of writer's block, which can take unknown amounts of time to go away

3400

Living Room / Re: Right, time to work on...o_0 a shiny penny, I WANT IT!

« on: February 21, 2010, 01:42 PM »

I tried that lately, dusted off my old laptop (which has no internet connection), cleaned up the contents a bit, spent an intense hour or so writing, & thought great - do that again tomorrow night.
The laptop died the next time I turned it on - I even lost what I had written lol

lmfao, unlucky