Nicholas likes video games, soccer, UFC, and astronomy–particularly the study of asteroids. He went to NYU.
Crytek went to great pains throughout the development of Crysis 2 to stress that it wasn’t going to be a repeat of the first game. You weren’t going to need a monstrous machine merely to get 20 frames per second. No, Crytek said, we’ve managed to get the game running on the Xbox 360! And if the 360 can run it, what can’t run it? Not the Asus Eee 1215B, that’s for sure. → Read More
Sometimes humor is the best mechanism to explain an opaque topic. Public Knowledge, a group that concerns itself with defending consumer rights in “the emerging digital culture,” has released a report today entitled “Peak Bandwidth.” Keep in mind today’s date, is all I have to say. The report says that the “era of plentiful, low-cost bandwidth is approaching an end. The supply of bits, the raw material of our information economy, is rapidly dwindling… unless mitigation is orchestrated on a timely basis, the economic damage to the world economy will be dire and long-lasting.” You hear that, we’re running out of bits! → Read More
It must be an absolute nightmare being a Hollywood executive in 2011. Four big studios (20th Century Fox, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros.) have announced plans to introduce a premium video-on-demand service, to debut on DirecTV next month as “Home Premiere,” that will screen movies a mere 60 days after their theatrical debut. Renting such a movie will set you back $30. And if you think you’re angry about that, just imagine how theater owners must feel. → Read More
Common sense, for once, has prevailed. For whatever reason Boston College was telling its students that using a wireless router could be considered a “common example of copyright infringement.” Word got out, the Internet complained, and now the offending bullet point has been removed. → Read More
Time Warner Cable received rare praise these past few weeks with the launch of its iPad app. Not familiar with it? It lets Time Warner Cable subscribers view 32 different TV networks on their iPad provided they’re connected to their home (read: Time Warner-provided) Wi-Fi network. (You can’t watch these channels while at the park and connected to 3G, in other words.) As you might expect, several networks have reacted by freaking out, arguing that Time Warner Cable doesn’t have the right to develop such an app and stream their content. It’s madness that we still have to deal with this in 2011, but I’m confident that in the future we’ll look back on these controversies and laugh heartily. “Ha, what simpletons, thinking you should only be allowed to watch video content on a TV. I’m watching the game on my Internet-connected contacts lenses* right now!” → Read More
The very first generation of Google Cloud Print-ready printers have been loaded onto the trucks, and are en route to your local gadget shop. HP calls the technology ePrint, and it’s found on its range of Photosmart, Officejet, and LaserJet Pro printers. → Read More
There’s a plan in the UK that would, if enabled, lead to ISPs blocking access to specific Web sites in order to cut down on piracy. It takes all of two seconds to understand why this is a silly idea, and thankfully a prominent consumer rights group there has come out against it. → Read More
The Blu-ray edition of Star Wars: The Complete Saga now has a release date: September 16 of this year. Amazon lists the collection for $90, so start saving your pennies. → Read More
Crysis 2 and Total War: Shogun 2 have come and gone, so that leaves only a few big PC releases left this year. What you see here is the latest Battlefield 3 trailer, “Get That Wire Cut.” → Read More
Google’s about to step up its use of “interest-based advertising.” The company has announced that it will change the way it uses the information that it gathers from your scanned Gmail messages. (Or did you forget that Gmail scans every single one of your messages in order to show relevant advertising?) The big change is this: rather than scanning your email on a per-message basis, Google will now begin building a profile about you based on all of your emails. It’s this profile that will then be used to deliver advertising to you. → Read More
Yet another example of why even the savviest of Internet users need to keep their anti-malware software current and fully working. Spotify, the popular European streaming service, discovered that it was inadvertently serving ads that were laced with malware. → Read More
No, we still have no idea what the Air Force is doing up there with the X-37B, but at least now we can track its movement. Amateur skywatchers—a delightful phrase&mdashl have discovered the whereabouts of the spacecraft. There’s even video of it in orbit. → Read More
One day after McAfee warned about the dangers of corporations becoming vulnerable to hackers, we now learn that Nasa has similar concerns. Its inspector general, Paul Martin, has written a report entitled “Security Practices Expose Key Nasa Network To Cyber Attack,” and you can guess what that means. Actually, don’t bother guessing. The report warns that six of Nasa’s servers that just so happen to contain critical data are vulnerable to remote attack. And if a hacker were so inclined, he could exploit those vulnerabilities to get further inside Nasa, wreaking all sorts of havoc (say, “cripple Nasa’s operations”) in the process. Again, panic. → Read More
“Our nanogenerators are poised to change lives in the future. Their potential is only limited by one’s imagination.” Strong, powerful words from Dr. Zhong Lin Wang, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, whose nanogenerators could one day power a whole host of gadgets, from your iPod to your favorite tablet. The idea rests upon zinc oxide nanowires, wires that generate electricity when flexed. → Read More
This is pretty big. Rockstar’s upcoming LA Noire will be an official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival. It’s the first time a game has been accepted into the festival. → Read More
President Obama spoke to Univision yesterday at one of those town hall meetings the TV networks like to organize. What’s pertinent to us here is that our president, the man who’s famous for carrying a BlackBerry wherever he goes, does, in fact, own his own computer. → Read More
Best Buy is now in the the 4G business. The company has announced that its Best Buy Connect service, which first launched last July, will now support 4G, courtesy of a deal worked out with Clearwire. Access to the 4G network will set you back $45 per month, with Best Buy willing to waive the $35 activation fee if you agree to a two-year contract. → Read More
Don’t have a Blu-ray player yet? You’re going to want to get one before June 21, for that’s when Louis CK’s “Louie” makes its way to the format. It’ll also be available on plain ol’ DVD if that’s your thing. → Read More
It looks like the Crysis 2 Direct X 11 patch could be coming sooner rather than later. An item on a German PC gaming site—Germany certainly loves its PC gaming&mash;says that the patch should hit the Internets tomorrow. This is most welcome news. → Read More
