IT News HeadLines (HardOCP) 16/09/2010

Pentagon Reopens Investigation into Child-Porn Purchases among Ranks
In a follow up to the initial investigation begun in 2007, the Pentagon is reviewing 250 cases to insure that proper actions have been taken. The lesson here is never use government IDs or military addresses when subscribing to porn sites. This is the reason Military Intelligence is labeled an oxymoron. An inquiry by the DCIS subsequently identified 264 DoD affiliated individuals who had registered on child porn sites under investigation. Of those, 9 individuals had the highest-level security clearances giving them access to some of the nation's most sensitive secrets according to documents on the investigation that are available on the DoD inspector general's site. In addition, 13 had Top Secret clearance, 8 had NATO Secret Security clearance, and 42 possessed a Secret Security clearance, according to the documents. Comments
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Apple Patches Months-Old QuickTime Bugs
Better late than never I suppose, but Apple could have shown a bit more concern over this flaw and treated it like it was a problem in an Apple application. I guess that's what you call competition. The QuickTime 7.6.8 update is for Windows only, and fixes a pair of flaws in the media player. Of the two, the most notable is a patch for the QuickTime plug-in used by Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Comments
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Pi Record Smashed as Team Finds Two-Quadrillionth Digit
After 23 days,1000 computers and 500 years of combined computing, Nicholas Sze of Yahoo still walked away with zero. That should teach him not to mess with Pi. The heart of the calculation made use of an approach called MapReduce originally developed by Google that divides up big problems into smaller sub-problems, combining the answers to solve otherwise intractable mathematical challenges. Comments
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Microsoft Predicts Kinect Sales of 3 Million Units
If you are not familiar with Kinect, it is a motion sensing controller-free peripheral which allows a game player to control game play by body motions, facial expressions and voice recognition. Microsoft research indicates this will be the biggest launch for an xbox product in their history, selling 3 million units before the end of the year. "Our key indicators are feedback from retailers - I think you'd be surprised at how sophisticated they are, and they really have the pulse of the market. They're looking at preorders, they're talking to customers," Comments
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Nokia Developing 3D Rival to Google's Street View
Nokia is entering the 3D arena through Navteq, its mapping division, by recording 3D street views initially throughout Europe. The images are much sharper than Google's 2D street renderings and have better marketing capabilities. Objects rendered in Nokia's system will resemble their 3D originals better than they do in Street View, says Mattila. But perhaps the most noticeable way in which Nokia's service will differ from Google's is that users will be able to move smoothly through urban environments, almost as if they were in a photorealistic driving game, suggesting the firm could license its 3D cityscapes to games companies that want cheap but realistic 3D urban models. Navigating through Google Street View, by contrast, simply involves hopping between panoramas photographed from a series of set locations. Comments
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Reducing Piracy May Stimulate World Economy
A new study by the Business Software Alliance finds that piracy, if reduced by only a factor of 2.5% for four years, would result in producing 500,000 new high tech jobs. BSA claims they found four out of 10 programs installed on computers was pirated in one form or another, an alarming statistic. The outfit's work has also been criticized by the Government Accountability Office for the assumptions inherent in some of its studies, especially that every piece of illegal software represents a missed sale. This methodology "raised concerns among experts we interviewed," the GAO noted, "including the assumption of a one-to-one rate of substitution and questions on how the results from the surveyed countries are extrapolated to non-surveyed countries." Comments
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Keyless Keyboard on Mobile Devices
Are you prepared to master a whole new method of typing on your mobile device? SnapKeys, an Israeli company, is prepared to bet you will for the sake of speed and accuracy. Ten years in the making, the keyless keyboard may revolutionize the mobile market. "We are in the phase of closing deals ... It will take a few months to get to the market," Ghassabian said, adding the system works on all Windows, Symbian and Android-based devices. Comments
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Halo: Reach $200 Million First Day Global Sales
Sales of Halo:Reach hit $200 million worldwide the first day of sales. This is proof that the gamers are still out there, but aren't buying just anything that happens to be on the shelf. Phil Spencer, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said a lack of blockbuster games was to blame for the industry slowdown, and the success of "Halo: Reach" would support Xbox 360 console sales for the world's biggest software maker. Comments
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Do You Stay Connected During Sex?
It sure looks like you do and that's not all. A study conducted by PC Tools says many Americans think it's fine to be connected to the internet on your wedding, throughout meals, and yes, during sex, but maintaining their computer to stay connected takes a back seat. When it came to protection from computer viruses or other Internet-transmitted woes, people said they would rather change a diaper, be stuck in traffic, visit a dentist or get a colonoscopy than clean machines. Comments
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iOS 4.2 beta 1 Released
It didn't take too long for Apple to issue a beta version for iOS 4.2 released last week. The beta is directed at developers and the final version is due to be released in November. The beta contains updates along with some significant changes. One of the most significant changes is the introducing of AirPrint, which will initially allow iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users to wirelessly print to a compatible HP printer at the touch of a button. Comments
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3D Upgrade for PlayStation 3 Coming Next Week
Sony is releasing a promised software update next week earlier than expected. The free update will enable the PS3 to work as a Blu-Ray player for 3D movies, not just 3D games. The 3-D capabilities for the PlayStation 3 will not be as thorough as they are for 3-D Blu-ray disc players. The game machine will have no problem playing 3-D movies, but some parts of the menu and other minor portions of some DVDs will play only in 2-D, Sony said. Comments
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NV GTX 460 1GB SLI vs. ATI HD 5870 CFX Redux
We re-visit GeForce GTX 460 1GB SLI vs. Radeon HD 5870 CrossFireX performance using new Catalyst drivers and new CrossFireX Application Profile 10.8a. We also have a new BETA ForceWare driver in play and we will now see how these video card configurations compete with updated software.
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Intel Will Teach Gadgets to Learn About You
I find this a bit unnerving and is reminiscent of Big Brother is Watching you, only this time it would be 'Little Brother'. Intel researchers say that in the near future, your gadgets will know you, what you want and when you want it. Context-aware computing is Intel's term for devices that anticipate what people need or want and guide them accordingly. The context is gathered through a combination of "hard sensors"--cameras that detect movement and GPS-based location information--and "soft sensors"--such as calendar information or pieces of data you input into a device. Comments
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Move Gets Streaming Patent; Are Adobe & Apple Hosed?
Move Networks has been granted a patent for its streaming technology leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the other major players in the streaming media arena. Move Networks had no comment on future plans at this time. In the press release, Move founder Drew Major even explicitly names multiple video companies that have deployed technology similar to that which Move Networks received the patent for. Major is quoted as saying that Akamai, Apple, Adobe, Limelight, Microsoft, Netflix and Widevine all now use adaptive bit rate streaming that was "inspired" by Move's invention. Comments
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Apple to Announce Subscription Plan for Newspapers
Subscription numbers are falling all across the nation for daily print newspapers, since more and more people are getting their daily news from handhelds. Apple plans to offer a solution to revive the sagging news market and create a new source of revenue for Apple. Publishers wanted to pay Apple a fee rather than a cut of subscription and advertising revenue and are not happy with Apple's terms, he said. They had hoped to offer app editions as part of subscription bundles that include print versions of the paper. Instead, they must use Apple as an intermediary with subscribers. Comments
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Craigslist Confirms Shutdown of Adult Services Section
Craigslist confirmed today that they had shut down the adult services section and would be permanently terminated. It is still unclear if the termination applies only to the United States or be extended worldwide. Powell outlined the various efforts Craigslist has made to monitor adult services ads, including pre-screening all submissions and working with state attorney generals, law enforcement, non-governmental organizations and others. "Craigslist has been one of the few bright spots and success stories in the critical fight against trafficking and child exploitation," he said. Comments
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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 SLI Video Card Review
We've seen how GeForce GTS 450 performs as a single video card, now we are going to configure two in SLI and see how these compare to Radeon HD 5770 CrossFireX and Radeon HD 5750 CrossFireX. The results this time are even more surprising.
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