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Seems like only the other day I blogged about video gamers and how cheaters never prosper.
Well, it's a new day, and Ziff Davis' beta of MyCheats.com makes use of the latest in collaborative content, social networking and search technologies to help gamers get the most out of their videogames.
MyCheats.com users can easily create and edit content themselves and can contribute to each others' content as well so that hundreds of gamers can collectively author a segmented, fully searchable game guide.
Following in the collaborative tradition of Wikipedia, the process is simplified so that no code is involved and anyone can contribute immediately.
... with apologies to W.C. Fields.
(Do I need to tell you the rest of that famous funny line?)
Anyway, I digress.
With new wireless credit cards gaining momentum (SpeedPass anyone?), security has once again become a major issue (as in taking and using someone else's credit card information without them knowing it).
Now cell phones compete on features, on price, on coolness, etc., with price usually meaning the cheaper the better. (And the other ones with more the better as the motto.)
Now for something completely different (apolgies to Mr. Python), Bang & Olufsen and Samsung have teamed up to deliver a really cool looking cell phone called Serene. The price, keeping with B & O high-flying prices for its audio gear, is $1,275.
Finally made it through the Washington Post article about a self-described "professional cheater" -- as in video game cheater.
Let's go to the source for a taste of what this article is all about:
Today's video games are anything but easy, the 24-year-old will tell you. And to get through the intricate, challenging, mind-numbing levels of City of Heroes and The Godfather, two games he's currently stuck on, he needs help.
Web sites such as 1Up.com provide gamers with tips, tricks, tutorials and outright cheating strategies for games.
I used to have a lot of fun looking throught the cut-out bins at record stores for LPs by artists that looked or sounded interesting.
(Does anybody know what I'm talking about?)
And I used to find some good albums and artists that I might not have ever heard about.
Now, in a similar vein but with a modern twist, www.MP3Musicgrams.com, a free music promotion site that features MP3 music uploads, and Musicgrams, have entered into an online artist promotion and revenue sharing partnership with MusicGorilla.com.
The computer printer market has been pretty much HP's for such a long time now it's hard to believe there's much competition (but don't tell Lexmark, Epson or Canon that ...)
Now, in what could have seismic implications in this pretty staid market, Lenovo is planning to make an entrance (and we mean major, as in major entrance) into the printer market.
According to Lyra Research, Lenovo has a vision for a Chinese consortium of printer and supplies makers. Such a Chinese consortium, operating under the protection of the Chinese government, could have a major impact on foreign printer makers’ sales in the domestic Chinese market.
Wouldn't Vonage would be better off doing local mailings to target a broader audience? There is a huge demographic of broadband users that only use the Internet for email -- for staying in touch with friends/family and only some occasional surfing. Many parents, or those >45 years old fall into this category.
It was bizarre for me, all VoIP but almost no Skype in the hall, and none in the official program. This conference brings VoIP resellers and enterprise buyers (seen above in masthead photo) to the exhibitors, corporate VoIP toolmakers. Skype, as far as these folks are concerned, is in another industry, consumer VoIP, and not their business.
Microsoft and France Telecom have launched mobile messaging into the PC and mobile space with "Orange Messenger by Windows Live" (some name, huh?).
This will provide access to the Windows Live Messenger community and to the Orange portal services, enabling consumers to access an instant messaging service “Orange Messenger by Windows Live” that promises to delivers rich communications services experience on the PC and mobile, including all-the-time access to contacts.
It’s easy to go comparison shopping for gadgets when you're at home or work -- you check out various websites that can give you online price comparisons for anything you can dream of.
And for the Sunday couch potatoes, it's easy to check out the weekly circulars from Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA (and even Target) to get guidance on how much the gadget you crave (or need) is going to set you back.
But what about if you happen to be in a store -- yes, that "bricks" thing from the glory days of the Internet when it was "bricks" (physical stores) vs. "clicks" (online retailers)?
It's always fun to read AppleInsider for the latest news, buzz and rumors of what's going on inside the core of Apple Computer.
Well, it's not a surprise to many of us (I expect) to read today about Apple seeking the rights to the iPhone trademark. (Love to add this little symbol after the word ...
The votes have been tallied and the winners are ready to be announced for the DigitalLife 2006 "Best of Show" Awards.
The show wrapped up yesterday at the Javits Center in New York.
And now -- without further ado -- here are the award rwinners:
BEST OF SHOW: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony Electronics http://www.sonystyle.com/
It would be really great to be able to sit in the car and hear great, high-quality, static-free radio.
Well, those (don't have to be a subscriber) days are coming clsoer and closer.
In a play to make HD radios more affordable, including tabletops and car adapters, iBiquity is discounting models by up to $50, lowering the costs of some receivers to less than $200.
Here they are in all of their startling multi-colored glory -- the new Treo 680 from Palm. The official launch was yesterday at DigitalLife in New York City.
The target audience was very clearly defined during the press conference -- people who are ready to move up to a full-featured mobile phone that includes everything needed to stay organized, aka "mobile accomplishers" rather than "mobile professionals."
Palm is targeting new users in the rapidly growing smartphone and feature-phone markets, a market that will be 25% of all wireless handsets worldwide will be smartphones by 2011.
Well it wasn't a disappointed kickoff to DigitalLife 2006 at all yesterday!
(And didn't really expect it to be either; wore outs lots of shoe leather walking the floor of the Javits Center -- but walking is good for you, isn't it?)
We started with the launch of the Treo 680 from Palm (more about that later -- blog, blog, blog) and moved a whole bunch of wideranging topics of interest:
Santa Clara, CA — Packet Island today announced that it will debut it’s VoIP Lifecycle Management Solution for Asterisk at TMC's INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO West 2006, October 10-13, 2006 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California (www.itexpo.com).
Packet Island’s ‘PacketSmart for Asterisk’ is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that has been designed to target the VoIP lifecycle management needs of VARs and SMBs deploying Asterisk. The solution is based on Asterisk software agents and purpose-built micro-appliances that work with the highly scalable PacketSmart SaaS platform, hosted at a Tier-1 data center. The Asterisk software agents are highly optimized applications installed on the Asterisk PBX and collect detailed quality metrics on all VoIP calls terminating at the PBX.
While Libya may not be the best place in the world to call home, it certainly looks a lot better to the 1.2 million children that will get $100 laptops courtesy of the Libyan government.
While we here at home are faced with many, many more expensive PC choices, the Libyan kids will join the PC-powered generation. (John Markoff's fine reporting can be read here.)
How much would it be worth to you for me to add video support to the email-to-blog script?
This way you can capture videos on your Verizon XV6700 mobile phone, email it and then it will publish it onto your blog.
Could be a cool feature to capture a keynote while you are up on stage, or walking the show floor and you want to INSTANTLY show how the traffic is, etc.
Audio, video, backup; I don't know about you, but I've got plenty of data to store and keep track of -- and keep it safe and secure at the same time.
OWC's Mercury On-The-Go bus-powered portable solutions make it safe and easy to transport large amounts of data.
Stylishly engineered in a sleek, impact-resistant acrylic enclosure, the Mercury On-The-Go incorporates shock-isolation technology for maximum protection.
(Nothing worse then backing up and then dropping the drive ...)
When the acquisition is complete, YouTube will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google’s own fast-growing video business.
WaterField Designs has come up with some winning, innovative pouches to hold your iPod -- and all the rest of your gear for that MP3 player or just plenty of your other stuff.
It's very nice that the scrambling around to find all your iPod gear is now a thing of the past.
An assortment of padded compartments keeps your iPod – no matter what size or style –and iPod accessories secure and tangle free.
A bug in Blogger enabled an unauthorized user to make a fake post on the Google Blog last night, claiming that we've discontinued our AdWords click-to-call test. The bug was fixed quickly and the post removed. As for the click-to-call test, it is progressing on schedule, and we're pleased with the results thus far.
The ballots are in for the best selling cell phone (on a global basis), according to Krusell, the Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable gadgets.
The Krusell list is based upon the number of pieces of model-specific mobile and smart phone cases that have been ordered from Krusell during September 2006.
According to the company, this list is unique due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe.
Free classical music downloads of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony launch The Philadelphia Orchestra’s online music store.
(I like it!)
The Philadelphia Orchestra is the first major American orchestra to offer consumers the opportunity to download recent and archival music directly through its own website.
Also available for purchase in the store are the other Beethoven symphonies recorded under Christoph Eschenbach during the 2005-06 season, selections from the Orchestra’s highly acclaimed Centennial Collection with works conducted by the great maestros of Philadelphia – Stokowski, Ormandy, Muti and Sawallisch -– and pieces recorded during the past six years.
It seems like a pretty wacky idea, but having a keyboard that you can customize (I mean really customize) can make a lot of sense.
Ergodex's DX1 Input System is the first in a new category of input device that features movable programmable keys -- and exceptional performance, especially for gamers, engineering professionals and artists (quite the grouping!).
The DX1 consists of a Pad on which you place individual Keys anywhere you want, and then you tell the computer what you want the Keys to do.
The DX1 Keys are assigned to match a single keyboard key, such as the letter "a" or to perform a more complex macro containing a series of keystrokes.
Sites were you can download music for free is far from a new idea, but at least TuneFlow is taking a novel approach with its support of indie music.
TuneFlow's "Music to the Ears: Tune Tournament" lets us (we the people) decide the best new songs on its web site.
Better yet (mostly), all tournament songs are available for free downloading. The songs are already in iPod-ready MP3 format, and there's no DRM.
A Bluetooth killer or an enhancer? Seems Nokia's announcement today about its Wibree technology may be either one.
A unique radio technology extending local connectivity to small devices, Wibree is an open industry initiative developed by Nokia Research Center.
Now we really have something good here with Dell’s announcement of its no-charge recycling program for U.S. customers. Let's just call it was it is -- free! The magic URL is www.dell4me.com/recycling.
