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Jitway

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Posts posted by Jitway

  1. FROM MIX 08 - While Silverlight was first sprung upon the public as a distributed graphics program for the Web, Microsoft is now expanding it as many thought it might, into an all-purpose, Web-based, cross-platform extension of the .NET Framework.

     

    At one level, it's the dream of distributed software developers of decades ago: a rich programming environment with too many controls to list all in one page, the capacity to deploy applications cross-platform, and the flexibility for the logic to use the programming language of the developer's choice. We knew things were headed this way; we were just never certain of when.

     

    Today, Silverlight 2 has entered the public Beta 1 stage, along with its development toolkit for Visual Studio 2008. The runtime platform may be downloaded here.

     

    As Silverlight product manager Brian Goldfarb told BetaNews this afternoon, the company is moving towards enabling the runtime graphics platform to be programmable using the general concept of "managed code," as opposed to the choice of either C# or Visual Basic to which Silverlight 1.1 was limited. "Whatever language, Microsoft doesn't care, it's just code," he told us.

     

    With the right tweaks, Goldfarb added, one can make any .NET control work with Silverlight 2. Thus any control designed for use with the Windows Presentation Foundation for general applications, has the ability -- theoretically at least -- to work with the new Silverlight.

     

    That said, Goldfarb later remarked that current .NET controls should be tailored for use with Silverlight, pointing to the possibility that some developers may need to make "the right tweaks" one way or the other.

     

    We asked him whether he expects the Silverlight runtime to become as ubiquitous as Adobe's Flash, its key competitor, and arguably the dominant player in this field. "It's not a question of if," he responded, "it's a question of when. And when is coming soon." While Microsoft's own Web services use some degree of Flash today, every new rich Web application it develops from here on out will be based on Silverlight.

     

    That said, the company wants to be careful not to give the appearance that it's pushing customers into deploying Silverlight, the way it once appeared to be pushing them to use Internet Explorer. Consumers will never be forced into installing Silverlight, Goldfarb promised, not due to the need to respond to someone's anti-competition findings, but out of its own principles. "Consumers should want to install Silverlight to get these great experiences," he said.

     

    For now, Silverlight 1.0 will continue to be deployed on the company's own servers, though it plans to make the switch the moment 2.0 is officially released. One exception to the rule may come during the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where Microsoft is scheduled to partner with NBC Sports in the delivery of online content for the US market. Goldfarb left the door open for the Olympics site to require the Silverlight 2 beta platform.

     

     

    This is good news for web creators everywhere. Being a cross platform for Net Frame will allow us to make any Net control work with Silverlight. I have been trying out 1.0 and got to say 2.0 sounds promising. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

     

    Full Story HERE

  2. The press conference was hosted by Eddie Trunk, who can be heard on XM’s Boneyard Channel 41, VH-1 Classic and is syndicated throughout the nation. In attendance was Bret Michaels, front man of Poison, all of Warrant featuring Jani Lane, along with members of Cinderella, LA Guns, Enuf Z Nuff, Beautiful Creatures, Night Ranger, XYZ, Pretty Boy Floyd, Vain, and Lynch Mob.

     

    The Rocklahoma Press Conference was heard live on XM’s Boneyard Channel 41, as well as streamed on Wyldside Radio.

     

    The initial lineup on the main stage is as follows:

     

    Thursday (Pre Party for those who have bought three day tickets) Bret Michaels, LA Guns featuring Tracii Guns, Enuf Z Nuff, Vain, House of Lords and Jet Boy.

     

    Friday: XYZ, Armored Saint, Kingdom Come, Night Ranger, TBA, Triumph and TBA.

     

    Saturday: Pretty Boy Floyd, Every Mother’s Nightmare, Tora Tora, Black N Blue, Trixter, Kix, Warrant featuring Jani Lane and Cinderella

     

    Sunday: Axe, Beautiful Creatures, Zebra, Lynch Mob, TBA, Tesla and TBA

     

    Additional bands on the main stage will be added in the upcoming weeks. Lineup and bands are subject to change.

     

    Two side stages adjacent to the main stage feature over twenty-eight regional artists on each stage.

     

    The Retrospect Records stage includes the following bands: Jester, Sidekixx, Pair-A-Dice, Front Runner, Tommy Had a Vision, Valor, Gypsy Blue, Whitefoxx, Blue Tiger, Wild August, Messang, Paul Shortino, Mariah, Warryor, Bad Candy, Lorraine, Nasty Nasty, Real Steel, Cuttlass, Vyper, Mass, Bad Candy, Oney, Strikeforce, Herazz, Reckless, Heartless, Ron Keel, Warryor and Alibi.

     

    The other stage has Texas Hippie Coalition, Karnevil featuring Dario Lorina, Dirty Penny, Crooked X, Gypsy Pistoleros, Sweet FA, Banshee, Gods of Kansas, Lipstick Magazine, Pownd, Shadowside, Mindflow, Warmachine, Asphalt Valentine, Krucible featuring Lance King.

     

    Rocklahoma is the world’s largest Rock Festival of its type featuring bands from the eighties. Rocklahoma has already sold tickets from all fifty states and throughout Canada and Europe.

     

     

    Already got my tickets and going. What a 4 day event it will be.

  3. The term "latecomer" is a particularly uncomfortable one for AMD. So for its 45 nm CPU unveiling at CeBIT in Hannover today, the company had to make the case that, despite being later, Shanghai and Deneb will be technologically better.

     

    It's now an unavoidable asterisk in AMD's history: Intel introduced its first 45 nm CPUs to consumers last fall. So the fanfare accompanying the demonstration of AMD's first 45 nm quad-core CPUs just today at CeBIT in Hannover can't come from the usual source. It's following up, and it has to catch up fast, but it won't have the full arsenal of process technologies that Intel is already putting to use.

     

    One of the key differentiators between AMD and Intel process technology continues to be their choice of substrates. Years ago, Intel made a conscious choice to stick with ordinary CMOS, or "bulk silicon," while AMD introduced an insulating layer in its base wafer, for what's called silicon-on-insulator (SOI). That reduced power leakage considerably already, which is one of the key benefits of HK+MG.

     

    But that benefit is best appreciated for a bulk silicon substrate, which arguably needs it most, Silcott remarked. "Because we use silicon-on-insulator substrates as opposed to bulk silicon that Intel uses," he said, "SOI gives us a certain amount of advantages at a performance-per-watt level...as well as other things that we do in terms of our design and our process. [so] we don't feel like we're going to be lacking by not having high-k+metal gate right away."

     

    Intel has claimed it made the choice to stick with bulk silicon because it doesn't scale as well at smaller lithography levels, it's too costly to implement for the benefits it produces, and that it actually introduces a problem at smaller scales: With a CPU's SOI supporting a higher thermal resistance, it requires a higher operating temperature, according to Intel's explanation. Typically that implies higher power consumption.

     

     

     

    Well a better late then ever. I still like AMD and recommend them all the time to my customers but Intel sure is putting the hurt on them lately. So my question to you is AMD on the way out?

     

     

    Full story HERE

  4. Gamasutra's list of best selling games this week sees Sins of a Solar Empire in the number one slot, beating out Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and WoW: The Burning Crusade.

     

    The Realtime Strategy/4X game was released on February 4, and has already received critical acclaim from several video game review publications. What has won it such praise is its unique combination of 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) civilization management gameplay with the battle speed of a RTS, and its sheer size, which creates an immersive effect heretofore unseen in strategy games.

     

    Players take control of one of three races and attempt to dominate the galaxy through diplomatic relations, economic acumen, and military superiority. The game's story represents each of the three races as a sort of dynasty: one which was formerly in control of the galaxy but was wiped out (and then came back,) the "current" one which restored order after the former empire, and one which is a nation exiled from relations with the current empire.

     

    Putting out such a successful game is an admirable feat when considering the company's main focus is not gaming. Stardock began as an applications provider for the OS/2 platform, and later found success in the skinning and customizing of Windows with its WindowBlinds skinning tools and Object Desktop accessory suite, which remains the company's chief products.

     

    Compounding the impact of this feat is the size of Stardock when compared against whom it beat in sales. With under 50 employees, Stardock's product bested Activision/Blizzard, which has 3,000+ employees, and EA which has over 9,000. Developers of Sins of a Solar Empire, Canada's Ironclad Games, is a group of only nine programmers and designers who had formerly worked for the following: Sierra Studios, Take2 Interactive / Rockstar Games, Disney Interactive, TNT Television, The Cartoon Network, and Mattel.

     

    By comparison, Infinity Ward, developers of the Call of Duty series which took second place behind Sins has a team of over 70.

     

     

     

    Anyone here played this yet? I am not a big turn based game fan but still it is big news do knock off something as big as COD 4.

     

    Source HERE

  5. Confirming earlier reports, Sony Computer Entertainment's Phil Harrison has indeed taken a job with Infogrames, owners of the Atari brand.

     

    Harrison stepped down from SCE at the end of last month. Industry insiders have speculated that his departure had a lot to do with Sony's failure to fully embrace social gaming, ceding control of the video game market to Microsoft and Nintendo.

     

    At Sony, Harrison was involved in the launch teams for all of the PlayStation consoles, and had served in a number of roles over his tenure. He has held management positions in both the company's European and North American divisions, most recently as president of SCE Worldwide Studios.

     

    With Infogrames, he will assume the role of president, and would roughly have the same duties as his former job. He will oversee software development and its students, as well as attract new blood to the company.

     

    It would not be all that surprising if Harrison uses his long tenure with Sony and deep connections within the company to poach talent from the Japanese company. Harrison would also gain a seat on the board of directors for the French company as well, it said in a statement.

     

    "This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari; one of the industry's legendary brands," Harrison said. "As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over."

     

    The hiring of Harrison marks Infogrames' second big hire in as many months -- in February, it named former EA executive David Gardner as its CEO.

     

     

    Nice maybe now Atari will be back in the limelight.

     

     

    Source HERE

  6. Today, Dell announced the availability of its Latitude XFR D630, a ruggedly designed notebook meant to serve as competition to Panasonic's Toughbook.

     

    Though it cannot claim to have made the strongest nor first rugged laptops, Panasonic's Toughbook line of computers undoubtedly is the most recognizable rugged laptop brand on the market today. Dell, however looks to be moving in on the territory, by making direct challenges to Panasonic's performance.

     

    Dell's Latitude XFR D630 meets the oft-cited MIL-STD 810F, or the Department of Defense-certified standard of toughness. MIL-STD is a series of specifications that cover resistance to different conditions including pressure, temperature, and humidity variance, fungus, fog, sand, dust, acceleration, shock and even gunfire.

    Dell XFR rugged notebooks

     

    The new notebook line features a sealed keyboard, shock-mounted solid state drive, a 14.1" widescreen LCD display designed for outdoor use by outputting 500 nits (sRGB standard luminance is 80 nits, most LCD displays go up to 300), and ExpressCharge batteries, which Dell claims can achieve an 80% or greater charge in 60 minutes.

     

    The XFR directly challenges Panasonic's CF-30 in its initial marketing push, claiming 23% greater performance with its 2.2 GHz Intel Core2 Duo T7500 processor against Panasonic's Intel Core2 Duo L2400 running at 1.66 GHz.

     

    Availability of the XFR begins today, starting at $3,899.

     

     

    Impressive but I wonder what the true battery life is going to be with the up to 500 nits on the display. Though the express charge is nice it is really works and holds. I have a toughbook and got to say on of the best laptops I own.

     

    Source HERE

  7. When it comes to the Internet, no matter how overt and honest people are, we don’t want our privacy to be invaded. While President Bush may defend domestic eavesdropping, it doesn’t mean you should. Things have gone from bad to worse - why, we can’t even send an email without worrying about it being intercepted. Every site we visit, every facebook or hotmail login, every search in a browser - it’s all recorded, logged and saved in giant datastore farms, surreptitiously laying-in-wait for that one day where it’s all dragged out and thrown back in our faces. It’s anyone’s guess who’ll be granted access to this datamine down the road.

     

    An exact copy of all Internet traffic that flowed through critical AT&T cables — e-mails, documents, pictures, Web browsing, voice-over-Internet phone conversations, everything — was being diverted to equipment inside the secret room,” - Mark Klein, a 20-year veteran for AT&T, referring to the sixth floor (secret room) in which the U.S. Government & NSA have unconditional access. According to Mr. Klein, there are 15 - 20 more buildings just like it across America, set up the same way. This is just the tip of the iceberg - there aren’t many whistleblowers like Klein that “leak” sensitive information such as this.

     

    Whilst there’s not much one can do about Big Brother™ and his Orwellian cohorts from videotaping you at the local convenience store, or taking pictures of your licence plate at every street corner, or even RFIDing your next born - the least we can do is not let it happen to us in our own living room.

     

    Here are a few tips for total anonymity within the Internet.

     

    * Web Surfing

    * Anonymous Chat

    * Anonymous email

    * Blog Anonymously

    * Anonymous Hosting

    * All-in-one Anonymity

     

     

     

    I found this a very refreshing read and lots of good information about Anonymous tools out there. We all want to be safer on the web and not give Big Brother too much info on us. I have used Tor and VPN tunneling in the past. Tunneling worked well but tends to slow down the connection a bit. I hear that the pay tunneling sites are much faster but have never purchased on as of yet, maybe I will and report back on it, on a later date. But still much to learn and read here check it out.

     

    Full Story HERE

  8. Filtering all Internet traffic to look for signs of illicit file-swapping has been a hugely controversial idea, criticized on grounds of privacy, efficacy, cost, and long-standing "safe harbor" principles that apply to network operators such as ISPs and phone companies. But a new study out from UK media lawyers Wiggin suggests that, if it works, such filtering could actually curtail "digital piracy" by 70 percent.

     

    The finding is of special relevance in the UK, where some form of ISP filtering is currently being considered as a way to deal with the illegal trading of copyrighted material. ISPs and content owners are engaged in a voluntary negotiation over how to address the problem, but the UK government has indicated that it will legislate in April 2009 if no agreement is reached by then. The government appears to be planning something similar to the French system, which is developing a "three strikes" approach to notifying and then blocking offenders.

     

    Wiggin commissioned the 2008 Digital Entertainment Survey, which found that 70 percent of all people polled said they would stop illegally sharing files if their ISP notified them in some way that it had detected the practice. When broken down by age group, an unexpected trend emerges: teenagers are generally more likely to change their behavior than older Internet users.

     

    The survey showed that people would also stop sharing files if they felt that the chance of being prosecuted was higher, but that 68 percent of all users think it is "very unlikely I will be caught." Even if more stories about P2P prosecutions find their way into the mainstream press, half of all users said they would continue to share files because they perceive the total risk to be quite small. A notice system that required only a letter or a phone call instead of a full-blown legal proceeding could clearly operate more quickly and more widely, and seems to have the best chance of altering behavior.

     

    Whether ISP filtering can work, and can do so while avoiding false positives and maintaining user privacy, remains an open question, and there's still debate over the idea that ISPs should (as a matter of policy) become enforcers of the copyrights for a specific industry segment. Still, the new survey suggests that if these problems can somehow be overcome, ISP notification might well have a better chance of changing behavior than legal action alone.

     

     

    Ok I can speak from past experiences that this did slow me down for awhile. But did it stop me no. All it caused me to do was find more secure less watched avenues to get my fix of warez. This might work on the average say Kazaa or Limewire user but that is about all. So I find this percentage a bit over the top.

     

     

    Source HERE

  9. "We enthusiastically support QTRAX as an innovative method for reclaiming rights and revenues from music misappropriated by worldwide P2P networks, while at the same time providing users with a superior legal and free net- based music experience," said Martin Bandier, Chairman and CEO, Sony/ATV Music Publishing. "This agreement expands upon our original agreement with QTRAX and represents another example of Sony/ATV's commitment to securing our songwriters' rights in the digital space."

     

    QTRAX (www.QTRAX.com) is the world's first legal and free peer-to-peer (P2P) music service. QTRAX showcases an innovative ad-supported delivery model that easily directs revenue back to artists and rights holders. QTRAX is available for browsing now and soon will provide fans with access to a colorful and diverse catalog with millions of high-quality digital music files representing the broadest artist-based fan-directed array of products available anywhere. Based in New York City, QTRAX is a subsidiary of Brilliant Technologies Corporation BLLN, a publicly traded technology holding company.

     

     

    Will I am not a big fan of Sony Corporation I do think this is a step in the right direction upon their part. Anyway for users to hear and share new music is a good thing. I have used QTRAX in the past and will most likely use them in the future.

     

    Full Story HERE

  10. Rocklahoma Press Confrence

     

    Today at 4pm EST is the time, the press conference you've been waiting for!

     

    Warrant will be there making a special announcement, so DON'T MISS IT!!! :shootem:

     

     

    Don't have XM to hear the Rocklahoma press conference?

    Don't worry... 14 day free online trial...stream the bone yard on your computer and don't miss the press conference on Tuesday! http://xmradio.com/onxm/promo.xmc

    It is on XM channel 41

     

    ALSO...

    Wyldside Radio Show will doing a Live video press conference from the Whisky out in Hollywood California on March 4 so fans can watch the event. Tune in here: http://www.mogulus.com/wyldside_rocklahoma

  11. IBM researchers today unveiled the fastest and most highly integrated optical data bus ever developed. The prototype technology could bring massive amounts of bandwidth in an energy-efficient way to all kinds of machines—from cell phones to supercomputers. This could revolutionize the way we access, use and share information across many different applications.

     

    The new technology uses light instead of wires to transmit information. This could allow, for example, the transmission of 8 terabits of data per second—equivalent to about 5,000 high-definition video streams—using the power of a single 100-Watt lightbulb.

     

    Bandwidth of this magnitude could greatly enhance the energy efficiencies of entire data centers and accelerate the sharing of large datasets. The potential advantages are far-reaching. Whether it's scientists crunching data to discover new drugs or to forecast the weather, people sharing high-definition movies on various devices, doctors sending high-definition medical images to a specialist for diagnosis within seconds while the patient is still in the office, or bringing the power of high-definition to mobile phones, the enormous bandwidth capacity of this new technology could change the way we work and live.

     

    In the context of so-called green computing initiatives, the new optical technology could save massive amounts of power in supercomputers. For a typical 100-meter-long link, the power consumed by this new optical technology is 100 times less than today’s electrical interconnects. This translates into a power savings of 10 times over current commercial optical modules.

     

    The new prototype, called a "green optical link", is designed to meet the bandwidth requirements of petaflop and even exaflop supercomputing. As such, it constitutes a significant leap from related work announced by the same research team just one year ago. The new technology combines optical chips and optical data buses into a single package together with standard components.

     

     

     

    This is truly amazing but will we ever see it in our lifetime to the extent of real life application. Would be nice to see these speeds one day.

     

    Full story HERE

  12. Canadian jazz guitarist Jeff Healey, known for his blues-based rock and his distinctive playing style, died in hospital on Sunday after a life-long battle with cancer. He was 41.

     

    Healey, stricken with retino blastoma, a rare form of cancer that robbed him of his eyesight as a baby, first picked up the guitar when he was three years old.

     

    With his trademark style of holding the instrument across his lap, Healey formed his first band at 17 and later gained fame for his trio, The Jeff Healey Band.

     

    Discovered by the legendary jazz guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan in a Toronto bar in 1982, Healey released a string of albums over the next 20 years, including the 1988 Grammy-nominated "See the light," with the hit single "Angel Eyes."

     

    He performed with a host of legends over his three-decade career, including B.B. King, George Harrison and Vaughan.

     

    Healey was also the host of a long-running jazz radio show and owned the funky "Jeff Healey's Roadhouse," a Toronto-based bar in which he frequently recorded.

     

    At the time of his death, he was about to release his first rock and blues recording in eight years, "Mess of Blues."

     

    Healey leaves his wife Cristie and two children.

     

     

    Truly sad to lose such a great musician. Seen this guy live once. He has more talent in his little finger then most musicians have in the whole being. Jeff you will be truly missed.

     

     

    Read about it HERE

    and HERE

  13. EMORY, Texas - A weekend ambush left a mother and her two sons dead and the father wounded, a grisly shooting and stabbing attack authorities say was carried out by the family's teenage daughter and the boyfriend her parents disliked.

    ADVERTISEMENT

     

    "We feel confident that the motive was the fact that the juvenile daughter and one of the individuals in custody were dating and that the parents were attempting to break the relationship up, which led to the crime that was committed," Rains County Sheriff David Traylor said Sunday.

     

    The 16-year-old girl joined her boyfriend and two others in killing members of the Caffey family in their bedrooms before setting the house on fire, authorities said, confirming what most in this rural farming town had known since the pre-dawn attack Saturday.

     

    The lone survivor was Terry Caffey, the father. He was shot five times — including twice in the back — before he dragged himself through the woods in search of help. He awaited surgery Sunday to remove the bullets, Traylor said, and an update was not available Monday morning.

     

    Killed were Penny Caffey, 37, and sons Tyler, 8, and Mathew, 13.

     

    The girl, who was not identified because of her age, was arraigned Sunday on three counts of capital murder and being held on $1.5 million bond. Charlie James Wilkinson, the girl's 19-year-old boyfriend, and two others, Charles Allen Waid, 20, and Bobbi Gale Johnson, 18, were arraigned on the same charges.

     

    Waid, Johnson and Wilkinson were being held in Rains County jail on $1.5 million bond. The Caffeys' daughter was being held in neighboring Hunt County's juvenile detention center. Traylor said he wasn't aware if they had attorneys yet.

     

    The killings gripped everyone and everything in Emory, from the Sunday morning church services to lunch conversations at small cafes along the two-lane road running through this town of just 1,500.

     

    Classmates of the Caffeys' daughter and Wilkinson described the couple as inseparable and with few other friends on campus. Stunning most here was the arrest of Johnson, who was widely described as a good student active in theater at Rains High School.

     

    Jennifer McClanahan, a senior at Rains, said that Wilkinson had been scolded during her English class last week for being on the computer. Wilkinson, she said, in turn told the teacher that her girlfriend's father had hacked into his MySpace page.

     

    McClanahan and others said Wilkinson was not really a troublemaker, other than constantly being told to remove the cowboy hat he always wore to school.

     

    "That's Charlie," said McClanahan, 17. "He would start an argument over something like a hat."

     

    Carl Johnson, a friend of the family, said the Caffeys moved about two years ago to just outside Emory. He called them good Christians and said he often told the daughter he wanted her soft singing voice to perform at his funeral.

     

    "(The parents) didn't like the boy and were trying to break them up," Johnson said. "They told me at church they didn't have any use for him."

     

    The attack occurred on about 20 acres of pine-canopied, remote land in Alba on a narrow gravel road with just two other homes. The area is so secluded that even the closest neighbors reported only faintly hearing what sound liked thunder early Saturday, and few saw the blaze.

     

    Authorities said that Terry Caffey crawled 300 yards to his closest neighbor to get help, leaving a bloody trail. He was shot in the head, twice in the back and twice near his shoulder, Traylor said.

     

    The Rev. Todd McGahee of Miracle Faith Baptist Church, where the Caffeys worshipped and were the house musicians, wept and struggled to stay composed during his Sunday sermon.

     

    "When I first heard, I was like, I don't even think I would have crawled out of the house," McGahee told his congregation. "But God has a purpose for Terry's life. God has a reason. God gave him the strength to get out."

     

    One gun and one knife were used in the attack, Traylor said. He would not detail which suspects he believed were responsible for which acts, saying only that all four were there at the time.

     

    Police found the daughter hiding in the home of one of the suspects, Traylor said.

     

    The family members were asleep in their bedrooms when the ambush began, Traylor said. Penny Caffey and Mathew suffered gunshots and stab wounds; the youngest, Tyler, had only stab wounds.

     

    On the Caffeys' wooded plot, the family's black Labrador waited in vain by the ashes of the incinerated house and a burned van for his owners to return.

     

    "There's been a change in this church and a change in this community," McGahee told about 80 worshippers. "And we can't just wish it away. ... It will be the same loss, the same hurt tomorrow. There's been that change in our lives."

     

     

    Ok I get she was pissed at her parents for trying to break up the relationship with her boyfriend. But what did her brothers have to do with it. One cruel and spoiled self centered biatch if you ask me.

     

    Source HERE

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