[WEB2] Made it to the center of the corn maze
[WEB2] Skype rolls the dice with Facebook games
Choose from 18 different games. Facebook is quickly becoming a way for established software publishers and services to gain new market share. Today Skype (for Windows and Mac) slipped an app launcher for 18 games into Facebook's app directory. I might mention that the games already exist as Skype Extras. Not only will the new app advertise this content to a fresh audience, the third party developers who provide Skype their games can also win new followers. The single- and multiplayer ...
[WEB2] Trent Reznor: Take my music, please
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails(Credit: Rob Sheridan) An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported when Saul Williams' new album debuts. It will be available on Thursday. Also, the album is available for free or for a $5 donation. Rocker Trent Reznor says he doesn't pretend to know the answers to what ails the music industry. But that hasn't stopped the iconoclastic front man for the band Nine Inch Nails from marching to the front lines--in lock step with British band Radiohead...
[WEB2] Google pitches Gphones to Verizon
Google is pitching its vaunted Gphone to Verizon Wireless, but the odds are still against the search giant striking a major deal with the second largest phone company in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported Tuesday evening that Google is in "serious discussions" with Verizon Wireless to put its mobile "GPhone" software on Verizon phones. For months, people have been speculating about the rumored Google "GPhone." Most people believe that it's not a specific phone, but...
[WEB2] Google launches open APIs for social networks
Borrowing a page from Sun's Java playbook, Google is announcing a way for programmers to build social applications for multiple Web sites at once. Google's version of this "write once run anywhere" concept is called OpenSocial, a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs) that will enable developers to create applications for social networks, blogs and any Web sites that accept the OpenSocial code. Currently, developers have to write new programs for each site, even if the func...
[WEB2] Earthquake adds special effects to 3-D movie
As ghouls swished gently over my head, it was as if the floor was shaking. No, wait, that was the floor shaking. At first I wasn't sure if 3-D movie technology had advanced even further than I thought. But it turns out that Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas wasn't supposed to be that scary. The crowd at San Francisco's Sony Metreon mall took the 30 seconds of rolling in stride, but there were all sorts of whispered queries as to whether that was the movie or an earthquake. ...
[WEB2] Digital Home Leopard coverage: Mail
Mail has always been one of my least favorite applications on Mac OS X. Generally speaking, it has always been underpowered and lacking in some of the functionality that I have come to expect from an Apple product. But with the release of Leopard, Mail is finally a useful and I can now justify using it as my main mail application. The most obvious addition to Mail is Apple's decision to make the RSS reader a highlight of the new version. And while I use both Bloglines and Google Read...
[WEB2] What's a Zuda? Major publisher leaps into the world of webcomics
The Zuda Comics front page will promo currently running comics, an ongoing webcomic contest for users to vote on and forums.(Credit: DC Comics, Inc.) DC Comics has been publishing comic books even before Superman debuted in the first issue of Action Comics nearly seven decades ago. On Tuesday, they launch Zuda Comics, their first foray into webcomics, throwing the full weight of a major publisher into a game that has been dominated by independent and self-published creators. So what took ...
[WEB2] Hate the RIAA? Buy a 'Free Jammie' thong
Jammie Thomas, the Minnesota woman ordered earlier this month to pay the recording industry $222,000, is pulling out the stops in her bid to defend herself in court. The 30-year-old woman has begun selling men's and women's undergarments, coffee mugs, canine apparel, and baby bibs to raise money to pay her legal fees. All the merchandise is stamped with the new "Free Jammie" logo created for her by one of her supporters. The logo features a music note superimposed on a globe and the...
[WEB2] 'Rock Band' set list is hit heavy
If you're one of the millions of people who have shed your dignity to rock out to Guitar Hero and you've been waiting to find out what songs would be included in Harmonix Music System's forthcoming Rock Band, wait no more. I've got you covered. (Credit: Amazon) We're talking dozens of hit songs here, and mostly not the sound-alike covers included in many of these kinds of games. The track list starts with the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter, continues on with David Bowie's Suffragette Cit...
[WEB2] Lenovo quietly adds a new holiday desktop
In addition to the new Lenovo laptop we found earlier, Lenovo also has a new desktop. Micro Center has the lower-end dual core versions ($589 and $789) of the new K100, and Office Depot has a full-fledged quad core model ($1,129). Highlights seem to include a dial for balancing processor speed with noise-level/power consumption, a TV tuner on the Office Depot model, and a one-touch back-up button, similar to that on the new HP Pavilion Elite. The new Lenovo K100 (LCD not included)(Credit: Lenov...
[WEB2] Does 'Second Life' need CNN's resident journalists?
On my way to work this morning, I came across an item in MediaWeek talking about how CNN is planning to inaugurate a substantial citizen journalism project in the virtual world Second Life. The idea is that CNN will distribute kits to Second Life residents that will make it possible for them to "transmit copy and photos" back to the network, which could, presumably, run the stories or images on its Web site. Further, CNN journalists will hold weekly "news meetings" geared toward helping th...
[WEB2] Chrysler honcho has high-tech interiors in mind
A more high-tech interior may be in store for future Chrysler models, Bob Nardelli, Chrysler's new chief executive officer and chairman, hinted during an interview at the annual conference of the Magazine Publishers of America on Monday. "Look, I'm not a designer, but I am a consumer," he said at the Webcasted event. Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli(Credit: Chrysler) "The interior and aesthetic of a vehicle today has to be your most favorite room under your roof. It has to be tranquil. It has...
[WEB2] Obama pledges Net neutrality laws if elected president
If elected president, Barack Obama plans to prioritize, well, barring broadband providers like AT&T and Comcast from prioritizing Internet content. Affixing his signature to federal Net neutrality rules would be high on the list during his first year in the Oval Office, the junior senator from Illinois said during an interactive forum Monday afternoon with the popular contender put on by MTV and MySpace at Coe College in Iowa. Sen. Barack Obama Net neutrality, of course, is t...
[WEB2] High noon for Vontu?
There is absolutely no question that large organizations are growing more and more concerned about data privacy and security. In fact, a recent ESG Research survey reveals that security professionals rate "protecting confidential/private data" as the biggest influence on their security management needs--more important than regulatory compliance or corporate governance. The survey was based on a recently released Enterprise Strategy Group report titled "Security Management Matures," which I ...
[WEB2] Bid low for Thanksgiving dinner with Ozzy Osbourne
For most Americans, Thanksgiving is a chance to reconnect with family and friends, to share some roast bird with aunt Sally and uncle Bert and maybe to get stuck in some airport somewhere. Some people spend the day having dinner at home, and some with friends. Well, if you're the lowest bidder, you might have a new family to spend Turkey Day with: The (Ozzy) Osbournes. It's true. It's part of a promotion for SoLow.com, a site that rewards people trying to make the lowest unique bid for som...
[WEB2] Covad sells to private equity firm for $304 million
Covad Communications Group has sold out to the private equity firm Platinum Equity for $304 million in cash, the company said Monday. Covad, which offers a slew of telecommunications services such as DSL, voice over IP, broadband wireless, and Web hosting to Internet service providers and small and midsize businesses and home users, is the latest in a long line of technology companies to be gobbled up by private equity firms as they struggle to keep up in the competitive market. Ear...
[WEB2] Report: NBC wanted a cut of iPod revenue
I will say this: NBC's Jeff Zucker has got serious stones. According to a report in the venerable entertainment industry trade rag Variety, Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, asked Apple for a cut of iPod revenue as part of the failed negotiations between the two companies over a contract extension for the right to sell NBC's shows on iTunes. (Thanks, Valleywag.) If that's true, wow. A source familiar with NBC Universal's negotiations confirmed that the company asked for a slice of...
[WEB2] How deep are Leopard's changes?
Our review of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard last Thursday lauded its lovely interface innovations but withheld judgment about the operating system's speed until we could put it through its paces. Tests returned from CNET Labs on Saturday show that Leopard didn't perform noticeably faster than Mac OS 10.4.6 Tiger (See the chart in our review.). Because Leopard's improved speeds of between 1 percent to 3 percent fall within the 5 percent margin of error, it's fair to call Leopard and Tiger ev...
[WEB2] Deal or no deal: HD-DVD player cracks $200 barrier?
Toshiba's entry-level HD-A2: yours for $198.(Credit: Toshiba)I know no one's going to be terribly shocked by this, but I thought I'd point it out just in case you missed it. Engadget HD, after another stroll through AVS Forum's message boards, is reporting on how Circuit City, Wal-Mart, and Amazon have lowered the price of Toshiba's HD-A2 HD DVD player to $198 (Amazon's deal includes free shipping). This kind of price drop on standalone HD-DVD players has been widely expected and we think you...