Computing – Page 17

CRTC launches public consultation on internet and telephony

July 28, 2010 Doug Groves canada, CRTC, Internet, Obligation to Serve, online rights, public consultation1 Comment

Last Friday, the CRTC launched a new public consultation to get feedback from Canadians on their telephone and internet services. Being cynical about the impact of such a public consultation, especially one with the title Obligation to Serve, would be the easy approach, given some of the CRTC’s past decisions regarding internet services. I’ll try not to be though, and suggest that everyone visit the public page and speak their mind. You can catch the full announcement after the break…

The Amiga would have been 25 today

July 23, 2010 Doug Groves Amiga, Amiga 1000, Amiga 2000, Amiga 500, boing ball, Commodore4 Comments

The Commodore 64 may have been the first computer to sell over one million units, but it was June 24th, 1985 when Commodore debuted the Amiga 1000, a computer that was, for all intents and purposes way ahead of the computing curve. Computer stores in shopping malls across North America and Europe loved showcasing the now classic “Amiga Ball” as evidence of the power under the hood of this high end machine. Over the next 10 years and multiple iterations, the Amiga computer proved to be a versatile creative tool,…

Panasonic’s New FZ100 Digital Compact Camera

July 22, 2010August 17, 2010 kingpinlei 60 FPS, FZ100, Lumix, Panasonic, photography, point and shoot3 Comments

Panasonic has just announced the release of some new fixed-lens point-and-shoot digital cameras (hmmm… we must be getting close to the Photokina trade show). With the exception of the new Lumix DMC-LX5, all their new cameras have been given the ability to shoot in full HD (1920×1080) using the AVCHD codec. Of particular interest is the FZ100 which has been given one very interesting feature…

Router exploit leaves millions vulnerable

July 22, 2010July 22, 2010 Doug Groves DNS rebinding, hack, router, security1 Comment

One of the biggest problems with computer security has to do with password protection. Although it took a few years, most users are now smart enough to make sure they have proper password protection both on their computers and their WiFi, but a new variation of an old exploit appears to leave a wide range of consumer grade routers vulnerable to attack The exploit, reported by Ars Technica, and to presented at the Black Hat security conference as “How to Hack Millions of Routers”, is a new take on an…

Evan Ratliff interview

July 16, 2010July 16, 2010 Doug Groves Evan Ratliff, interview, James Donald Gatz, NXNE, NXNEi, Vanish, Wired, Wired Vanish4 Comments

Last year, Evan Ratliff went on the lam as an experiment for Wired magazine. The goal was to remain untraceable for 30 days, while assuming a new persona and maintaining an online and digital lifestyle. The reward for uncovering him was $5000 US. We caught up with Evan after his talk at NXNEi 2010.

There’s a TV for that – Samsung’s Connected TV message

July 12, 2010July 14, 2010 Doug Groves Connected TV, LinkStick, Samsung, Samsung Apps1 Comment

First shown off at CES back in January, it appears that Samsung is ready to make a huge push in the TV market with their web applications on newer model TV sets and Blu Ray players, under the name ‘Samsung Apps‘, not to be confused with the mobile phone Samsung Apps. To sell the point to consumers, they’re making a play on Apple’s “There’s an app for that” iPhone advertising, which, while not the most original approach, will probably resonate with consumers used to the ubiquitous phrase. This is…

App Inventor aims to democratize Android application development

July 12, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Android Market, App Inventor, google5 Comments

Google has just announced the beta of App Inventor, a new tool that makes development for Android easier than ever before. Instead of using a programming language, the App Inventor tool makes use of blocks of code that the user can manipulate and customize, and is based on MIT’s Open Blocks project. Although the interface looks very straight forward, Google mentions that amongst the predefined blocks are tools to access the various sensors found in Android phones, from GPS to accelerometer, and that this includes communication tools. The App Inventor…

HandEye Society’s Arcadian Renaissance

July 6, 2010 Doug Groves arcade cabinet, classic arcade, Hand Eye Society, Nuit Blanche, Spooky Squid, TCAF 2010, TORONTRON4 Comments

The HandEye Society, the coalition of Toronto indie game designers and enthusiasts, has announced that their TORONTRON game cabinet will be appearing as part of Nuit Blanche this October 2nd, as well as offering up a full arcade of gaming goodness, under the name The Arcadian Renaissance. The TORONTRON is a classic arcade cabinet retro fitted to play video games from local developers, and has been touring around at various events, including the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. All of this will be presented as part of Nuit Blanche on Oct…

Cold calling for hackers

July 5, 2010November 6, 2020 Jason Cobworks, cold calls, commentary, sales, schedule bin1 Comment

As a hacker, you live by what you think is a high code of ethics and standards. You pride yourself on your good work, you take your work very seriously and it’s not uncommon to work every waking hour to meet a deadline. Every year or two you invest lots of time and effort learning a new technology, be it a new programming language, server platform or design paradigm. When you stroll into the office every morning, you can almost be forgiven for having what appears to be a chip…

Sony 3D Launch interview

July 3, 2010July 3, 2010 Doug Groves 3D, blu ray, Bravia, canada, Future Shop, Gaming, interview, Playstation, Playstation 3, Sony, TV2 Comments

A couple of weeks back, we had a chance to go hands on with Sony’s new line of 3D TVs and PS3 games. While at the launch, we also got a chance to talk with Karol Warminiec about some of their plans.

Toshiba mini museum of portable computing

June 23, 2010June 23, 2010 Doug Groves Dynapad, gallery, museum, NXNEi, Primer, Primer Party, tablet PC, Toshiba, Windows 3.11 Comment

At the Primer Party for NXNEi, we got more than a hands on with Toshiba’s Satellite A660-042 3D laptop. There was a mini Toshiba portable computing museum lined up against the wall, though it’s amazing how 20 years or so has really redefined the meaning of ‘portable’. Unfortunately, none of the pieces were powered up, we did have an opportunity to lift some of these beasts, including the Toshiba T5200C, the first 16 colour portable computer which back in it’s day was $17,000 and 18.7 lbs. Also on hand was…

Toshiba 3D laptop hands on

June 22, 2010June 22, 2010 Doug Groves 3D laptop, A66-042, Arkham Asylum, Blur 3D, Nvidia, Nvidia 3D Vision, satellite, Toshiba3 Comments

If there’s one thing that’s almost inescapable in consumer electronics these days, it’s 3D in just about everything. We had a chance to give Toshiba’s new Satellite A660-042 3D laptop a run for it’s money at the Toshiba-sponsored Primer Party, as part of NXNEi, ahead of it’s public release. It’s the first major release of a 3D laptop in Canada, though others using the Nvidia 3D Vision technology are available at many independent and smaller chains. The Toshiba Satellite A660-042 is definitely the kind of rig that a gamer can…