Seinfeld and Gates, Chrome, and Great Gaming

If Microsoft’s purpose behind the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld commercial was to get people talking, it certainly accomplished that purpose as people debate if it was funny, stupid, or, like the old Seinfeld show, a commercial about nothing.  Along with the commercial, Microsoft has deployed a cadre of support people to stores to help people have a positive computing experience.  Apple Geniuses, meet the Windows Gurus…  NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/technology/06soft.html

So is Chrome really part of Google’s Master Plan To Take Over The World???  Newsfactor: http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Chrome-Hints-at–Big-Brother–Goal/story.xhtml

Cory Doctorow writes about how people may be reluctant to pay pennies for something, but have no problem laying down large amounts of dollars, or “Macropayments.”  Locus Magazine: http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2008/09/cory-doctorow-macropayments.html

Careful with those visual edits!  Some viewers got a surprise when watching John McCain accept the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention this week:  a view of their alma mater, Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California, as part of a melange of shots behind McCain while he spoke.  The current assumption is that the flunky assigned to come up with background shots was told to include a shot of Walter Reed, meaning Walter Reed Medical Center.  However it may have happened, the principal of the school is not happy his institution was apparently used to endorse a political candidate:  CNet: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10033827-56.html

GameTap may have some competition, if you’re into retro computer gaming!  Good Old Games promises to offer DRM free, Windows XP/Vista compatible versions of classic computer games for $5.99 or $9.99.  Sign up now for the Early Access Beta, which begins 8 Sept.  Good Old Games: http://www.gog.com/en/intro

Reports a few days ago said that Adam Savage of the Mythbusters said that the show was forced to cancel an episode on hacking RFIDs after giving in to pressure from the credit card companies.  Now Savage is backing away from the story, admitting he may have gotten carried away and misremembered key events.  CNet: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10031601-52.html

Speaking of great gaming deals, id Software, creators of Doom, Quake, et al, announced a price cut on the id Super Pack on Steam this weekend.  The pack includes 22 games from Commander Keen through Doom 3, including most of the Doom and Quake expansion packs.  Not bad for $34.99.  Steam: http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=sub&SubId=440

Technically Correct – Technical Information from Novice to Expert: www.techcorrect.com

TechDock on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TechDock

Browser Wars, Google Chrome, and other tech happenings

The Browser Wars are back on!  Tuesday Google will release Chrome, a web browser that will challenge Internet Explorer and Firefox for Internet dominance. Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSWEN771820080901

Check out Google directly for the straight scoop: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html

The Commodore is back!  The Commodore UMMD 8010/F Netbook was announced at the IFA in Berlin.  Unfortunately, the only thing this Commodore has to the computer manufacturer of yore is its name.  CNet:http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10029963-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

A look at the upcoming game Spore by Will Wright by a couple of evolutionary biologists.  NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/science/02spor.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Electronic Arts releases Command & Conquer: Red Alert for free as a promotion for the upcoming Red Alert 3: http://www.ea.com/redalert/news-detail.jsp?id=62

Remember a few weeks ago when Cuil, a new search engine touted as the first serious competition for Google was launched?  There are reports that when Cuil finds a website and starts the index process, it hits the site so hard that it may slow it or crash it entirely.  TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/is-cuil-killing-websites/

The RIAA won a $40,850 judgement against an Arizona resident for sharing music on Kazaa.  It’s rare for such a case to make it to trial and not many actually make it to judgement.  However, this defendant didn’t help matters when he acted as his own counsel during the trial, and ignored the judge’s instructions to not tamper with the evidence, instead attempting to delete all traces of P2P networking from his computer:  Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080901-howell-verdict-riaa-wins-40850-p2p-judgment.html

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station observed a rare, but beautiful, phenomenon this summer:  clouds forming around an altitude of 50 miles, where the atmosphere gives way to space.  For comparison, most high altitude clouds top out around 11 miles.  While these noctilucent clouds have been known for 120 years, scientists are still unsure what causes them.  Space.com: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080901-mm-night-shining.htm

Researchers have found that people who lose their jobs tend to withdraw from society, foregoing common social circles such as church or hobby groups.  The ramification is that such withdrawal makes it even more difficult to find a new job.  LiveScience: http://www.livescience.com/culture/080901-jobless-hermits.html

Well, that seems rude.  Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimming champion, was presented with an early copy of Call of Duty: World at War from Activision.  This seemed unusual, as the industry buzz is that the game is at least a month from completion.  Activision later admitted that Phelps was presented with an empty box, but promised to get the game to him as soon as it’s actually, you know, done. MTV: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/29/michael-phelps-call-of-duty-early/

Technically Correct – Technical Information from Novice to Expert: www.techcorrect.com

TechDock on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TechDock