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The lighter side of IT

Camping out at AOL: Teen entrepreneur lives on AOL's couch for two months

Posted May 25, 2012 - 6:21 pm

SiliValley entrepreneur Eric Simons crashed on AOL's couches and ate its food for free after a four-month AOL-sponsored incubator session ended before Simons was ready to leave.
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DARPA funds starship; liftoff T minus 100 years

Posted May 24, 2012 - 5:33 pm

DARPA provided seed funding, but the foundation founded by an African-American woman in her mother the teacher aims to teach generations of Americans how to build knowledge, educated populations and a window to the secrets of the universe, not just a starship.
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Does this mean someday we'll be able to store digital porn in our DNA?

Posted May 24, 2012 - 10:03 am

Researchers at Stanford University say they've figured out how to encode, store and erase digital data in living cells.
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The latest disruptive technology? Tin cans.

Posted May 24, 2012 - 8:30 am

A start-up brewer decides to deliver its product in old-fashioned tin cans, and in so doing gets a slot on-stage at a conference on disruptive technology. Does anyone else find this funny?
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New photo of Wii U tablet controller leaks ahead of E3

Posted May 21, 2012 - 8:30 am

Nintendo's veil of secrecy is slipping a mere two weeks before the start of E3, as a QA worker posts an image of a re-designed Wii U controller to Twitter.
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Sony's Playstation Network to support pre-loading digital titles.

Posted May 18, 2012 - 8:30 am

In theory one of the benefits of buying your software digitally is getting it fast. In practice when the software is a 'full-sized' game that download can take quite a while. Sony is following in the footsteps of Steam with a work-around to get you into your new game as quickly as possible.
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Nvidia shaking up cloud-based gaming

Posted May 16, 2012 - 8:30 am

Nvidia claims they can eliminate lag from cloud-based gaming while reducing costs for the game providers.
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Chicago PD: 'PA,' not 'sound cannon;' Occupy NATO protesters: WHAT? OWWWW!!

Posted May 15, 2012 - 8:04 pm

Chicago police plan to use a pair of LRAD sound cannon only as communication devices to broadcast instructions to protesters expected to pack downtown Chicago this weekend to protest the NATO summit, not as the painful crowd dispersers as they were designed to be.
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Video

Watch some puppets play classic video games

Posted May 15, 2012 - 9:46 am

Relive some classic video game moments with puppet commentary.
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Rdio rolls out its new design to free users

Posted May 15, 2012 - 8:30 am

Back at SXSW streaming music service Rdio introduced a redesign to paying customers. Now free users have it, too.
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Science news: Chimps are mean, sneaky bastards

Posted May 11, 2012 - 5:40 pm

A chimp named Santino made news three years ago for gathering rocks in the morning to throw at humans in the afternoon. Now he's hiding the rocks and his own anger until it's time to whip out the rocks and have at the enemy, which dumb animals are not supposed to be able to do.
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Xbox 360 may finally be getting a web browser (IE of course)

Posted May 11, 2012 - 8:30 am

This week's pre-E3 rumor is that Microsoft is finally launching a web browser for the Xbox 360. My first question:Will it be behind the Xbox Live Gold paywall?
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Microsoft's Kinect Play Fit will track exercise across games

Posted May 9, 2012 - 8:30 am

Off-the-couch motion based games fit into two categories: Fitness products that are dull, or fun games that don't track fitness goals. What if you could combine the two?
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Meet the Facebook killer

Posted May 8, 2012 - 1:20 pm

Facebook may be enjoying its IPO roadshow at the moment, but out there lurks the company that will destroy the social networking giant.
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Anonymous will leak UFO data, or was trolled again

Posted May 8, 2012 - 12:31 pm

Anonymous is disavowing knowledge of a YouTube video warning the collective will leak proof that aliens visit Earth, which is funny, but is just one of a growing list of trolling incidents that hold Anonymous up to ridicule.
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Microsoft wants to sell you a cheap Xbox 360 with a two-year contract. Don't do it!

Posted May 8, 2012 - 8:30 am

Microsoft will let you walk out of one of their retail stores with an Xbox 360 and Kinect sensor for just $99 if you're willing to sign a two-year, $15/month contract. It's a bad deal and I've got the numbers to prove it.
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Kickstarter game project exposed as a probable scam

Posted May 2, 2012 - 8:30 am

We all knew the scent of easy money would draw scammers to Kickstarter sooner or later, and it seems the first deliberate scam in the gaming category has been exposed.
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Caveman DNA proves keeping up with technology is a survival tactic

Posted April 30, 2012 - 5:27 pm

Every geek has been frustrated with those who refuse to upgrade to something so much better the way they're doing it now that they're obviously cutting their own throats in the name of tradition. Turns out that's a long tradition, too, though its practitioners tend not to be.
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Video

Tech predictions from 1993: Video phones, tablets and hovercars

Posted April 30, 2012 - 2:58 pm

AT&T predicts the 'world of 2003' in this 1993 video, with moderate success (tech was close, fashion was way off).
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Irish priest in gay porn probe should have followed PowerPoint best practices

Posted April 30, 2012 - 12:41 pm

All of us have been in "PowerPoint Hell" at one time or another. A priest in Northern Ireland, however, has brought a whole new meaning to the term.
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Nintendo financials disappoint, leaked Wii U game footage delights [video]

Posted April 30, 2012 - 8:30 am

Rounding up a bunch of Nintendo odds and ends from last week...
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Finding Anonymous in its own images

Posted April 27, 2012 - 1:28 pm

For all its influence, Anonymous is little understood, often even by other Anon. Its nature changes with each group of Anon and few perceptions agree. Many explain the Anonymous they see in pictures that illustrate what they do, why and who they see behind those masks.
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On lithium-ion batteries, smartphones, and impermanence

Posted April 27, 2012 - 7:30 am

Here’s one of those facts that is somehow both reassuring and disheartening in equal amounts: no matter how perfectly you treat your phone or tablet, you only get three or four years until it’s functionally useless without a charging cord nearby.
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Microsoft bringing new music service (yay!) and more ads (boo!) to Xbox

Posted April 26, 2012 - 8:30 am

The ads will be in streaming media apps, and the music will be cross-platform.
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Google Drive is a magic warehouse, Dropbox a robotic filing cabinet

Posted April 25, 2012 - 11:45 am

Google Drive feels more like a reminder than a release. It’s Google letting you know that the way they see your computer life is very different than the way you see it. Allow me to explain.
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