IT News HeadLines (HardOCP) 15/07/2010

Vaseline Launches Skin-Whitening Facebook India App
You'd think that a Facebook app that makes your skin look whiter in your profile picture would stir up controversy but it hasn't. Apparently the opposite is true, people in India love it. "We started campaign advertising (for the application) from the second week of June and the response has been pretty phenomenal," Pankaj Parihar from global advertising firm Omnicom, which designed the campaign, told AFP. Comments
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ESRB Apologizes For Leaking A Thousand Emails
The ESRB accidentally sent out a mass e-mail that contained the e-mail addresses of everyone that complained about the company's plans to require the use of real names. They have since apologized and, from the looks of things, no damage has been done. Yesterday we sent an e-mail to a number of consumers who wrote to us in recent days expressing their concern with respect to Blizzard's Real ID program. Given the large number of messages we received, we decided to respond with a mass e-mail so those who'd written us would receive our response as quickly as possible - rather than responding to each message individually, as is our usual practice. Comments
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Nerdiest Wedding Ring Ever
Check out this wedding ring that looks like a USB flash drive and bears the inscription "For a lifetime of memories." Comments
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Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs Ahead of Schedule?
According to this report, Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs could tape out by the end of the year. Intel has every right to lay contentedly atop the laurels of its biggest quarterly profit ever, but that's not what the company is doing at all. Instead of protracting the life of its current-gen processors unduly, Intel is planning to accelerate the roadmap for its next generation of multicore parts, codenamed Sandy Bridge. Comments
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eBay Served With $3.8 Billion Patent Suit
eBay has been slapped with a $3.8 billion lawsuit for patent infringement. Wow, can you imagine eBay losing this case? That's a serious chunk of change. According to the suit, which was filed Tuesday in a Delaware federal district court, technology that was built into PayPal's patent had previously been shared with PayPal confidentially by representatives from XPRT and is contained in a total of six XPRT patents. Comments
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The Internet is NOT Killing You
The internet is NOT killing you. I repeat, the internet is NOT killing you. Matter o' fact, it might actually be good for some of us. According to the report, "Living with chronic disease is also associated, once someone is online, with a greater likelihood to access user-generated health content such as blog posts, hospital reviews, doctor reviews, and podcasts. These resources allow an internet user to dive deeply into a health topic, using the internet as a communications tool, not simply an information vending machine." Comments
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Microsoft Helps Service Providers Capture Cloud Services Opportunities
This week at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010, Microsoft Corp. is highlighting market opportunities for hosting and communications service providers as adoption of cloud services among small and midsize business (SMBs) continues to rise. Microsoft is helping service providers take advantage of those opportunities through its software, services and programs that enable them to become trusted advisors and full-service IT providers to businesses. Comments
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Early Office 2010 Sales 'Disappointing'
Apparently Office 2010 sales have been disappointing so far. Mind you, the numbers are better than Office 2007's numbersÂ…but analysts are still disappointed. Huh?!? Microsoft released the consumer version of Office 2010 to retail a few weeks ago, and according to NPD's Weekly Tracking Service the results are mixed. Units and dollars are down from Office 2007's initial two weeks of sales but are in line, and in fact slightly ahead of, sales trends of Office 2007 so far this year. Comments
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Intel Reports Best Quarter Ever
Intel Corporation today reported second-quarter revenue of $10.8 billion, up 34 percent year-over-year. The company reported operating income of $4.0 billion, net income of $2.9 billion and EPS of 51 cents. "Strong demand from corporate customers for our most advanced microprocessors helped Intel achieve the best quarter in the company's 42-year history," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Our process technology lead plus compelling architectural designs increasingly differentiate Intel-based products in the marketplace. The PC and server segments are healthy and the demand for leading-edge technology will continue to increase for the foreseeable future." Comments
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Cool Commercial of the Day
Gary Newman + 24 Cars + 1 battery + playing the song Cars = cool commercial of the day. Comments
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Microsoft to Allow Windows XP Downgrades Until 2020
Microsoft is allowing XP downgrades until 2020. In 2020 it will be revised to 2030. In 2030 it will be revised to 2040. In 2040Â…whatever, you get the point. Windows XP is dead, Windows XP will live forever! Windows 7 Professional buyers will continue to have an option to downgrade two gens to Windows XP for the next 10 years, according to Microsoft. Comments
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