Monthly Archives: November 2009

Summer Wars

by Nopy
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Summer Wars

If you’re not a hardcore anime fan but do enjoy animated films like Spirited Away or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, then I think the film Summer Wars is worth taking a look at. Summer Wars was produced by the animation studio Madhouse and distributed by Warner Bros. The story revolves around a high school boy named Kenji. He is asked by an upperclassman, Natsuki, to go with her to her grandmother’s home and pretend to be her boyfriend to make her grandmother happy. While there, however, Kenji finds out that he has been accused of hacking into OZ, a virtual world that is connected to infrastructure networks around the world. Read more »

DJ Mouse: might not be a great mouse but it's a great DJing tool

by andy
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DJ Mouse: might not be a great mouse but it's a great DJing tool

For DJs who have jumped ship and gone totally digital (and there’s a large number who have, at least if sneaking a peek at their setups in nightclubs is anything to go by) this DJ Mouse looks like an interesting addition. It is designed to work with the PC/Mac software Deckadance, and comes with a special mat that’s supposed to make the mouse easier to use. The product page makes no mention whether the aluminium and rubber-clad gizmo can be used effectively as a real mouse, but as left-button functions include dragging and dropping of songs and playing samples, I’d imagine it can. It doesn’t look the most ergonomic bit Read more »

Touch and sound sensitive plasma heart dances with blue lightning

by andy
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Touch and sound sensitive plasma heart dances with blue lightning

Yes, I know this is a heart-shaped gadget, so perhaps I shouldn’t admit to wanting at least one in my home. It may not be the most male-oriented gizmo, and perhaps I’ll have to buy it as a present for my wife as an excuse, but it looks pretty cool. First, I must admit that I’ve always been fascinated by objects that dance or move in an interesting way in response to music, be that plastic sunflowers in a pot, gyrating Coke cans, or just the iTunes visualiser. So, when I read that this electric blue plasma heart can sit on your stereo speakers and shoot out cool bolts of Read more »

Ten embarrassing cellphone blunders revealed in new survey

by andy
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Ten embarrassing cellphone blunders revealed in new survey

With cellphones near-ubiquitous now, and the fact that we take them pretty much everywhere, no matter what state we’re in, it’s not surprising that they’re the source of a number of embarrassing gaffes. A survey by a leading UK mobile phone price comparison site has revealed Brits’ top ten blunders. How many of these have you been caught out by? 1. Embarrassing ringtones in public places (85%) Who hasn’t set their phone to the most irritating ring tone possible and then have it ring at the most inappropriate time? Oh wait. Me. Ha ha. Really, no sympathy at all for anyone who voluntarily put a daft song or sound on Read more »

WoWeekly: Reasons Why PUGs Aren't So Bad!

by Lia
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WoWeekly: Reasons Why PUGs Aren't So Bad!

I can’t really say I’m elitist, but if I were to run chain heroics or join a 10 man or 25 man raid,  I would definitely prefer to run with my guildmates than with PUGs (or Pick Up Groups). For one thing, it’s less painful and if you do end up wiping and dying a lot, it’s not that stressful since you know you’re on the same level as your guildmates. In a PUG, you never know who’s super hardcore and who’s casual. And if a hardcore player joins with a casual player, you know that their ideals will never match. But just because I have a preference, it doesn’t Read more »

Who's surprised that women geek out on tech too?

by andy
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Who's surprised that women geek out on tech too?

I had to laugh when I read the latest report from one of the UK’s leading electrical retailers. Comet’s “Tech Census” has found something ‘amazing’ — women are comfortable with gadgets as well as men. I know the stereotype is that guys know everything about consumer electronics, technology, the Internet and gadgets, while girls apparently just sit around cluelessly tapping away on their mobile phone as if it were no different to a remote control, but seriously… this ‘revelation’ is really nothing new. I’ve always thought there are just as many girls as guys who are into technology. The tech industry may still be male-dominated, but I see plenty of Read more »

iPhone worm maker lands app development job

by andy
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iPhone worm maker lands app development job

Ashley Towns, the hacker who developed the Ikee worm which infected / rickrolled a number of unlocked iPhones, has got himself a job with iPhone application developer Mogeneration. Security firm Sophos has reacted negatively to the news, suggesting that it glamorises the writing of potentially malicious code (despite the fact that this worm, in particular, wasn’t malicious) and arguing that there are probably more talented, law-abiding coders who could have been given the job. There are a number of issues here. Firstly, anyone who jailbreaks their iPhone is opening themselves up to a greater risk of malware and other undesired software, particularly if they don’t bother to do basic housekeeping Read more »

4iThumbs: iPhone gets tactile keyboard overlay

by andy
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4iThumbs: iPhone gets tactile keyboard overlay

Smartphone and cellphone users tend to be fairly clear about what type of keyboard they prefer on their device, be it the standard numeric keypad, a physical QWERTY keyboard or a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. The iPhone has had its fair share of criticism from those who say the virtual keyboard is too difficult to type on, or that people with fat fingers or long fingernails have difficulty using it. It’s not the only large screen phone to suffer this kind of feedback, but it certainly gets a lot of it. Since Apple introduced the landscape oriented keyboard across more applications in a recent firmware update, things have got Read more »

Ostendo launches serious 43-inch curved gaming monitor

by andy
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Ostendo launches serious 43-inch curved gaming monitor

It’s amazing how much specialist hardware you can rack up if you’re a serious gamer. Not only do you want some kickass PC, probably custom built, and possibly even a gaming chair, but what you’re staring at is also important. Standard monitors are OK if you’re running games from a PC, and an HDTV (particularly one with a proper lag-free gaming mode and low response time) is fine if you’ve got a PS3 or Xbox, but how about this going-on-ridiculous widescreen curved monitor? Read more »