Space is crazy today. Supermassive gas-guzzling black holes, celestial angels and now the Silver Surfer on collision course with the Sun: it's comet Lovejoy approaching our home star. It will pass behind the solar limb on December 15, around midnight.
According to The Economist, we're entering a new age of digital consumption: Lean Back 2.0. They say tablets and e-readers are to thank, but is it all just hyperbole about hypertext?
It wasn't so long ago that GTA III was the bête noire of the games industry. Hysterical tabloid headlines accused it of encouraging everything from gang violence to sexual promiscuity. To see it available in the squeaky-clean environs of the App Store is something of a surprise (but not so much with Android Market). We're reminded of that old saying; "Money Talks, Bullshit Walks".
Universal Music's legal department sure has been busy! Late last week UMG had a song defending Megaupload removed from YouTube on a false copyright claim. Then on Monday, the company had a news report removed on the same grounds.
In The Social Network, Movie Mark Zuckerberg describes his project as the entire college social scene, put online. In a sense, he completely pulled it off. Now Real Zuck's lept beyond boat races: your entire existence, Facebook-ified. It's terrifyingly amazing.
That messy court ordered website blocking business is continuing unabated, with Sky being the latest to be strong-armed into blockade of Newsbin2. It was asked "nicely" by the Motion Picture Association last month, and despite the EU ruling that forcing ISPs to filter sites for piracy is illegal, it's now come back with a court order.
Like an early Christmas present for the game-starved, you can grab three months' OnLive access for free if you're a BT Broadband customer. Sign up to OnLive before the 31st of January and you'll be gifted the free subscription with the magic words "zero commitment" appended, just in case it's utter pants.
Like a consolation prize for Sony and Ericsson splitting up and going their separate ways, Xperia owners can now grab a free 50GB Box.net account for life just by logging into the Box.net Android app.
You might think you've found a clever way to get them to learn, but kids see right through educational board games. And while some do a good job at hiding their true nature, c-Jump — which teaches programming concepts — does not.
Xylitol is a natural sugar substitute that's been around since the '60s. You can find it in products like chewing gum, sweeteners—even sinus nasal sprays. But the most incredible use so far has to be its integration into the Louis Garneau Carbon Pro Team shoes.
We knew there was a gigantic black hole in the middle of our very own Milky Way. Now we have images of how this monster eats. This video shows it devouring a massive gas cloud.
I'm hungry. And lazy. And that sandwich/bowl of popcorn isn't going to make itself. Or maybe...? With James and Rosie in my kitchen, they will. Just very, very slowly.
Certainly sounds like it. Google's just been awarded a patent for "transitioning a mixed-mode vehicle to autonomous mode". It specifically talks about how to transition a "mixed-mode" vehicle from human control to autonomous control.
We all have a couple of old keyboards lying around at home. Not Sarah Frost, though — because she rips them to pieces and makes fine-looking art with them.
We all know being a National Geographic photographer dangerous work, but it's not all snake bites and panther maulings. Nat Geo's new Field Test feature series shows off some of the high tech gadgets—from camera traps to sexcopters—the photographers employ to get their spectacular shots. [Field Test - Image: National Geographic/Michael Nichols]
There just seems no stopping those Angry Birds from taking over the world -- I'm starting to feel a little like we're the pigs. The next move in Rovio's take-over plan is to set up some Angry Birds military bases, cleverly disguised as "activity parks".
