IT News HeadLines (HardOCP) 07/08/2010

Women Missing From Game Development Work Force
Did anyone else notice that there aren't many women in the game development work force? Heck, now that I think about it, I can't remember the last time I saw a woman (that I wasn't related to) in real life. I need to get out mom's basement more often. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 40 percent of video and online game players in the U.S. in 2010 are female, having inched up from 38 percent in 2006. The number of women working as game developers, however, is much smaller. In a 2005 demographic survey by the International Game Developers Association, only 11.5 percent of the respondents were female. Comments
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DIY Accessory-Hiding TV Compartment
Wow. What a great idea! It is so obvious, you have to wonder why nobody came up with this before now. Thanks to Ron B. for the link. Comments
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France Plans on using Spyware to Prevent Piracy
Could you imagine if our government made it a requirement that all internet users must install spyware on your PC? French Internet users could soon be asked to install spyware on their PCs that tracks their surfing habits and analyzes the applications installed on their machines in order to prevent file sharing piracy. Plans for this type of surveillance surfaced this week when a paper authored by the French Hadopi agency Comments
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Jailbreaking An iPad in the Store
Jailbreaking an iPad? No biggy. Jailbreaking an iPad while it is still in the store? Priceless. Comments
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Company Won't Fix Your Laptop? Take Them To Court
How do you get a company to fix your broken laptop for free? File a case against the company in small claims courtÂ…it worked for this guy (ymmv). After filing in small claims court, about a week goes by and HP legal team gives me a call. HP would like to fix my laptop for Free if I drop the case.....which I will do once my laptop is fixed. Tip to your readers, fight them in court. Comments
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Many Mozilla Bug Finders Turn Down Cash
Apparently ten to fifteen percent of all the people that find bugs in Firefox have some sort of brain damage. That is the only thing that can explain this. Between 10 percent and 15 percent of the serious security bugs reported since Mozilla launched its bug bounty program have been provided free of charge, according to Mozilla. "A lot of people would say, 'Don't worry about it. Donate it to the EFF [Electronic Frontier Foundation] or just send me a T-shirt,'" said Johnathan Nightingale, the director of Firefox development, in a recent interview. Comments
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Microsoft Kinect Patent Application
Microsoft wants to make sure they get the patent on gesture based gaming. There are lots of images posted with the patent application as well, too many to post here. You can see the complete patent application here. Systems, methods and computer readable media are disclosed for gesture keyboarding. A user makes a gesture by either making a pose or moving in a pre-defined way that is captured by a depth camera. The depth information provided by the depth camera is parsed to determine at least that part of the user that is making the gesture. When parsed, the character or action signified by this gesture is identified. Comments
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Intel Social Scientists on Technology and Stress
Intel Scoop will feature social scientists such as anthropologists and pscychologists from Intel on a thoughtful discussion about the relationship between technology and stress – how technology can elevate but also alleviate stress at the same time. Comments
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Call Your Facebook Friends for Free
Vonage has just introduced a new iPhone, iPod touch and Android app that allows users to call their Facebook friends for free. I haven't tried this out yet so if you give it a try, post your experience in the comments section. Vonage Mobile for Facebook [iTunes link] is similar to VOiP apps like Skype or Fring, but with a twist: It's all about Facebook. The free app does not require a Vonage subscription, but does require both parties to have the Vonage Mobile for Facebook app installed. Once installed, calls can be made over 3G or Wi-Fi. Comments
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Funny Craigslist Ad
I like this person. I like this person a lot. This could very well be one of you guys. Thanks to Robert G. for the laugh! Comments
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DIY Datsun EV Does the ¼ in 10.4 Seconds
For those of you that are into hot rods AND high tech gadgets, you'll want to see this homebuilt electric Datsun do the ¼ mile in 10.4 seconds. Comments
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AOL: You've Got FAIL!
If you are like me, you are thinking "AOL is still around?" Well, it seems they areÂ…but just barely. It's hard to believe that, at one point, the company was worth billions. Remember back when AOL had so much cash on hand they would snatch up crap companies for $850M a pop, only to sell them soon afterwards for $10M and change? Good times, good times. AOL has spent the past 10 years trying to recapture that earlier success and is working on its latest rebuilding effort. This one is off to a rocky start: on Wednesday, AOL reported second-quarter earnings that failed to meet already lowered analyst expectations. Revenue, which analysts projected to come in around $602 million, fell 26 percent from a year ago to $584 million. Comments
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