PS Move Wand
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PS Eye Camera for PS3
Move Sharpshooter rifle controller
Killzone 3 full game
Resistance 3 full game

All in all, this is an amazing deal! Go get it!

Man, oh man, is this interesting: smart paint that can detect problems in structures painted with it. Something I constantly tell the people in my life is this: “Technology will save the world.” I really believe that’s the truth. Yes, there are drawbacks we discover while learning to manufacture various technologies. Yes, we run into unforeseen problems. But at the end of the day, technology enables more people to enjoy a greater degree of safety, comfort, freedom and health. These things improve our odds of living happily, and that’s worth our effort. Read on after the jump for more!

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland have developed a new kind of paint–smart paint–with some interesting properties. The paint, made with Carbon Nanotubes, conducts electricity differently depending on whether the tubes are stressed or bent. Monitoring systems, wired into the paint itself, detect structural defects or fatigue. This in turn makes it easier to detect problems that often end in tragedy, saving lives, money and time. Oh, but there’s more!

Mohamed Saafi, Chair of the Civil Engineering Department at the university, explained, “There are no limitations as to where it could be used, and the low-cost nature gives it a significant advantage over the current options available in the industry.” Did I mention that smart paint gets even better?

He went on to say that “The process of producing and applying the paint also gives it an advantage, as no expertise is required and monitoring itself is straightforward.” So, they have a new kind of paint. It’s capable of monitoring the structural integrity of anything paintable. Existing painters, with existing painting skills and techniques can apply the paint with no additional training. Pretty slick!

Let’s make sure we give credit where it’s due, though. There’s a simple truth about any kind of  breakthrough: without visionary minds who create these innovations, none of the applications, jobs created, lives and money saved and so on, would be possible. Smart Paint is under development by Dr. Saafi and PhD candidate David McGahon, who expect to continue testing over the next few months in their native Glasgow. If all goes well, it may just be a few short years before buildings, bridges and other structures can tell us they need some attention. And I don’t know about you, but I desperately need to hear from bridges and buildings–SOON.

Source: CNet

There are few characters from the 1980′s more iconic and beloved than Ferris Bueller. The movie is one of those rare gems of cinema that can delight audiences born well before and long after it was introduced. For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard people rumor, hope and ask for a sequel to the film. I’ve never thought a sequel was a particularly good idea–some kinds of lightning, you can’t bottle twice.

But Honda’s new CRV commercial is a real treat, for the most part, recreating classic moments from the original film in a nostalgic, yet still “in” on the joke sort of way. I have only one complaint: that Ferris is driving a CR-V sport utility vehicle. Really, Honda, you have a great new car that Ferris might actually be seen in: the CR-Z. That one little change would have made this commercial just about perfect.

Rumors have been swirling for awhile about Kinect’s impending integration into devices not traditionally called “Xbox 360,” so this one comes as no surprise. Microsoft is busy working on an embedded version of Kinect for laptops (and probably) tablets. This iteration of the polarizing tech aims to replace the ditzy little webcam found on typical mobile computers, enabling a slew of gesture and voice controls no doubt geared toward the new Windows 8 user interface. But the big question on everyone’s mind is: how will it work?

Gaming seems like the most obvious use to the fine folks of The Daily, for a fairly obvious reason: that’s all it’s really being used for right now (awesome hacks notwithstanding, of course).

Click here to view the embedded video.

But what else might the system be used for? For starters, voice control of applications and the operating system. Think about the current integration of Kinect voice commands on Xbox 360, but integrated throughout the entire operating system or embedded into apps.

Another possibility, hinted at about a year ago, is the idea of facial recognition logon. This already works with Kinect on Xbox–at least, it does if the lighting conditions are right–but in the up-close space of a laptop it should be very accurate pretty much all the time. Better hope you don’t have any local doppelgangers, though.

Gesture support for the new Windows 8 UI is a given, I think. The OS was clearly built with the idea in mind, and combined with both voice and tough could signal a paradigm shift in how we interact with our computers. If they can pull it off, such a combination will make Microsoft’s competitors look like they’re standing still.

What are your thoughts, though? How do you see Kinect integration in laptops and tablets affecting the way you do the things you do? Sound off in the comments!

From: Joystiq
Source: TheDaily

There are things that never cease to amaze me in life, but this is not one of them. Symantec–a storied company which makes decent products for the Enterprise Computer market but isn’t really worth the price for home users–has announced that yeah, they got hacked. Okay, fair enough, right? After all, hacks happen, and nobody’s immune. But get this: they were hacked all the way back in 2006, and only now are realizing that their source code was stolen.

Holy.Freaking.Crap. And it gets worse.

According to the Wired article, Symantec now believes that the source code for their “2006 era” software was stolen. OK, fair enough–but software doesn’t start over from scratch each and every year–the codebase is built and evolved over time, meaning that some portion of that code is still part of today’s products. It’s likely that it’s a fairly large portion of code, to boot, given the breadth of products Symantec offers on a common platform, including consumer and professional level antivirus applications, to say nothing of remote access apps.

This latter area should be of particular concern to IT administrators. Apparently, hackers have not only distributed Symantec’s source code for these products, but have reverse engineered the PC Anywhere product to allow for easy control of remote PC Anywhere servers. That’s bad news any way you slice it, and a superb catalyst for getting your organization the hell off of their products. Luckily, with highly competent alternative services abounding these days, it should be easy to replace PCA with the likes of a Team Viewer or Go To My PC type alternative.

What an embarrassing turn of events for Symantec, and a wake up call for Systems Administrators everywhere to look elsewhere for their antivirus and remote access software needs.

Source: Wired

Whenever a new operating system is released–and especially if said OS is released by Microsoft–there’s much ballyhooing to be done about its specs and requirements. Particularly after the debacle of Windows Vista, which was sluggish on even the very newest hardware at the time of its release, Microsoft has been under a lot of pressure to “de-bloat” Windows. With Windows 7, they proved they could do that by shipping an OS that was smaller and tremendously faster than its predecessor. With Windows 8, we’re seeing that evolution continue as Windows slims down and speeds up yet again.

Of course, this time it’s very different: Windows 8 is a complete reinvention of the desktop operating system, with a front-and-center focus on the touch and, if rumors are correct, voice, experience. With all these new bells and whistles, the natural question is: what the hell kind of minimums will I need to run this?! Click through after the break for the full lowdown, sans bellyaching!

Source: Within Windows

What follows is from the Within Windows website, with AtNS’s commentary in blue.

Minimum component set for tablets and convertible PCs
These are the BASELINE specifications for Windows 8 tablets and PC’s. While some sites we’ve seen today are stirring the “ZOMG! Teh Rez is too l0w!” pot, there are already Windows 8 tablets announced with higher resolutions up to 1080p. So let’s not get our panties in a twist for no reason!

Storage: At least 10gb free space after the out-of-box experience completes. In all likelihood, this means that the minimums we’ll see in storage for these devices are 16GB of NAND storage, similar to iPad and other tablets.

System firmware: UEFI. This is the new “Basic Input/Output System” replacing the decades-old BIOS. It should ensure that new systems have a lot more protection from malware running in the OS or from bootable media.

Networking: WLAN and Bluetooth 4.0 + LE (low energy). Obvious, but the good news about Bluetooth 4.0 as a minimum specification is that we can count on battery life improvements from even the most basic of devices.

Graphics: Direct3D 10 device w/ WDDM 1.2 driver. Good news for gamers, though I’m a little surprised they didn’t mandate DirectX 11 since that’s been the current version for more than 2 years. Still, DX10 is very capable.

Resolution: 1366×768. This has some folks up in arms. Don’t be pissed–it’s a MINIMUM, which means that even the cheapest, lowest end device will still have better resolution than your iPad 1 or 2. 3 is up in the air .

Touch support: At least 5 touch points, must pass all tests. Better than some tablets, less than others. For reference, iPhone supports 5, iPad supports 11.

Camera: 720p Don’t get too excited. That’s 0.9 Megapixel.

Ambient Light Sensor: 1-30k lux capable w/ dynamic range of 5-60K. Neat! Sensors.

Magnetometer. Even MORE sensors. We like sensors. Sensors are sensible. They make sense.
Accelerometer: 3 axes w/ data rates >= 50Hz. In case you were worried there aren’t enough sensors.

Gyroscope. Last one. We promise. Maybe.

USB 2.0: At least one controller and exposed port. Likely, these will be MicroUSB ports, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a few tablets shipped with full size ports. Personally I’m looking forward to the “Transformer Prime” variants.

Speakers. So you can hear stuff, I’ll bet. Surprised Microphone isn’t listed, given it’d seem to be a requirement for Microsoft’s TellMe service.

But among it’s perceived failings is that, unlike earlier attempts at mobile, the new Windows Phone is not typically known as a “hacker’s paradise,” instead opting for a very locked-down experience that keeps the OS running ship-shape 99% of the time. That’s a good thing for most users, but it annoys the crap out of people who want to customize their phones to the Nth degree. The good news is that in recent months, that’s begun to change, and today there’s a new ROM for the much-beloved HTC HD7, this time featuring the latest build of Windows Phone 7.5 (AKA Mango). Head on over to XDA Developers to check it out!

First, the impression: The Cape has all the makings of a great superhero show, but like a new package of Legos, those pieces have been poured onto the floor in a big, incomprehensible mess. Let me explain.

Let’s start with a discussion of what was wrong (I prefer to end on a positive note, so bear with me,) which can be summed up in a word: Pacing. The show’s pace was all wrong, racing along at breakneck speeds as it tried to get Vince Faraday into his outfit quickly–too quickly. In the space of about twenty minutes we went from a basic character introduction to a man in an outfit, with only snippits in the way of explanation. Sure, we get the gist–Vince is a good cop, most of the rest are scumbags, and then bam-his partner, who’s barely introduced at all, becomes his betrayer.

Faraday’s introduction to the carnival was interesting but raced by too quickly, his “training” barely existing at all. The characters who make up the circus and its various abilities had too little screen time, with virtually no motivation to actually help Vince, much less teach him the secrets of their trade. The security card was nice, sure, but in reality it would have been deactivated before the frame job even happened, useless for a bank robbery, much less several, but we can chalk that up to “suspension of disbelief” and move along.

Next is Vince’s meeting with Orwell. What the hell happened here? First time we see her she’s snapping pictures of Vince, next moment he knocks her down and gets her in a headlock, and before we know what’s happened she’s driven him to her house. What.The.Hell? What should have been something that examined both characters was simply plowed through, like a teenager so desperate to get to the goodies in his prom date’s dress that he doesn’t bother to ask if she even wants to show him. And why, apparently out on a spying and picture taking “mission,” did she have a bunch of flyers clearly identifying herself as Orwell, yet she spends the rest of the episode telling Vince that she can’t let anyone know who she is? If you want to remain anonymous, it’s probably best not to carry clearly identifying paraphernalia while spying on those from whom you wish to remain a secret.

I felt that the editing was a little baffling at times in both halves of the episode, a fact which I think is a little strange given that it seems all this footage was filmed at least 6 months ago (which is about when the trailer debuted, if I recall, though it may have been longer than that.) Beyond just the speed of the thing, many scenes and shots were just incredibly abrupt, immediately cutting away from what could have been more interesting moments. It wasn’t terrible, to be sure, but all the way through I felt like we were being rushed and hurried to some big destination–that we never did end up reaching.

There were some other very glaring oddities as well. For example, why, in the restaurant where the poisoning guy was trying to kill the secretary of prisons (is that even a real position?) was the killer the only one working in the kitchen? Here you had this giant kitchen in a fully loaded restaurant, yet nobody was cooking anything? There were no additional chefs? No waiters coming in and out? No food all over the place, no sign that anybody’d done anything at all? Seriously–somebody needs to talk to the set dresser. Another strange thing was with Vince finding that old “not the cape” cape and starting to dick around with it arbitrarily. OK…why? Sure, we saw him read the comic with his son, but that doesn’t explain why he’d have given that thing a second look, much less played with it so much. Last but not least, so Vince kick’s the poisoner’s ass and ties him up–in the kitchen of a restaurant apparently owned by Chess. OK, and? What’s to stop Chess from simply untying the thug and putting him back to work? Nothing, that’s what. Chess owns the police (and apparently a restaurant, but no security detail to check out the skirmish in the kitchen, that he does on his own, mysteriously.)

The big problem I see is simply this: the focus appears to be on plot over character, which is simply backwards. If the audience doesn’t know the characters well enough to care about their well being and their situation, the plot doesn’t really matter. Don’t get me wrong, I love plot, and rue the show that eschews it entirely in favor of character development (see Lost, which had 95% character development and 5% plot; it irritated me to no end, but I kept watching because they managed to make me care about some of the characters,) but you do need to have some. There are questions to be asked and relationships to be examined, and it’s precisely these that make any plot worth watching at all.

Moving on to what was good: I like the Cape’s costume design, and his (admittedly tenuous) grounding in somewhat real world “stuff.” I like that he has no super powers, and that his connection to “regular” human stuff is his son and his wife. Right there we have the basic ingredients for some very poignant moments, but there are layers that need to be built up first in order to make that happen. Simply knowing they’re his wife and son isn’t enough to get us caring–everyone has people they care about, the question is, “why should the audience care?”

The other elements I see as having promise are some of the outlandish villains, with the exception of Chess. A billionaire CEO on a power trip can be a great villain (witness Lex Luthor as portrayed by John Shea–a much better actor, I’ll add, than the one hired for Chess) without the need for an outlandish outfit or silly contact lenses. It’s fine for him to find those folks and hire them directly, there are plenty of character quirks you could exploit to make his desire to use them seem plausible, but there’s virtually no reason why he’d dress himself up, and certainly no reason why he’d wear those cheesy contact lenses while alone, in his home, without the rest of the outfit.

How I wish it would have unfolded is pretty simple: first, spend the first hour on character. Show us Vince Faraday being a good cop, doing the right thing. Show him taking down bad cops. Hell, maybe even show him working with Orwell via her cryptic computer messages and taking down some actual corrupt cops. Show Vince and his family at play, sharing good times. The comic book reading with Tripp was the best part of the episode–yet unfortunately one of the shortest. Don’t dress him up yet–before we can care about the Cape, we have to care about Vince Faraday. It can’t work any other way. Let hour one resolve in Vince being betrayed and presumed dead. End it in a scene of grief and despair.

For hour two let’s talk new connections and training. Meet the circus freaks, establish something meaningful. Vince and Max should have a father/son sort of relationship, with Max seeing in Vince some potential that stirs something in himself, ideas about heroism and doing great things. There’s a little of that hinted at in the second half now, but it’s too slim. Realistically the entire second half should have been devoted to his training in various ways and forging relationships with some of the circus characters, only to finally debut as the cape in the last 10 minutes, but still not coming face to face with Chess. The direct encounters between Chess and Vince were easily the worst parts of both episodes. These characters simply should not have met face to face, much less in battle, by this point.

So, my advice in summary is simply this: slow down, slow down, slow down. The show is trying to cram far too much into far too little time, and the whole endeavor suffers as a result. Put character first, put plot a close second, and if you can get any of them, hire some of the writers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Pushing Daisies or the first season of Heroes (but not the later seasons, please.) Some names to consider include Jane Espenson, Brian Fuller, David Fury, Tim Minear, Stephen DeKnight, among a few others I can think of off the top of my head.

All in all The Cape has a worthy premise and all the ingredients to make for powerful superhero drama, but it’s not quite there yet. I’m holding out hope for things to improve, but only time will tell. Now back to work!

Luckily, that’s very possible thanks to a free downloadable app called iRinger, which will allow you to convert almost any audio format you can throw at it to an iPhone appropriate ringtone that’ll work with any version of the device, included the much-maligned (yet celebrated) iPhone 4. There is no application to install–you simply download the executable and run it. In my tests I found the app speedy, easy to use and virus free, though as a precaution I do encourage you to always perform a virus scan on any executable file you download from absolutely anywhere before you run it. You can never be too safe, after all.

The process is pretty simple. Open the program, click “Import,” and your music will appear on the timeline. By dragging the “In” and “Out” sliders at the bottom right of the app window (it’s a small app window, you can’t miss them) you can select the portion of the song you want to use as your ringtone. When you’ve got the clip you want to use (up to 30 seconds in length, which is the maximum the iPhone supports,) simply click “Export,” browse to the file location where you want to save the ringtone, click the checkbox that says “also export to iTunes,” and click go. In about 10 seconds your new ringtone will both save to the folder you specified and add itself to iTunes, making it quick and easy both to sync to your phone and to email your ringtone to friends, family, and of course to Steve Jobs, along with a note that says “Neener-neener-neener, I still have my $1.50!” Or something like that.

Software: iRinger

Price: Free, though they do ask for a donation if you like it.

Rating: Highly recommended if you prefer an app on your PC vs a web based solution like Myxer.

Download: iRinger

It’s a shame, really. I do love the cast and characters (except Kate–I hate Kate for being a stereotypically weakfemale lead, always making stupid decisions that seem to illustrate that “if she’d just listened to the man” things would have been better), who’ve managed to grow on me, each in their own, wonky ways, over the course of the six seasons leading up to the Lost Series Finale. The drag is that the resolution was disappointing enough that I really will never recommend anybody start from the beginning of the series and watch it. Great acting is always wonderful, but without a well executed overall story, what’s the point?

But enough about the cast and characters; everyone already knows those are wonderful. The problem with Lost was always in its plot, or more accurately, lack thereof. In the end it sort of works out, in some sense, because Cuse and Lindelof successfully managed to explore a number of interesting themes both in the main body of the series and in the finale, not the least of which are those about personal choice and sense of self in the formation of identity. 

Like life itself, Lost ends with no real revelations, no magical key to sudden knowledge or wisdom, and with countless plot threads utterly ignored. Lost can be summed up as a “beautiful cacaphony,” leaving you starved for a melody, yet mesmerized by its absence. As a series, Lost is chaos incarnate, with very little meaning in most of its machinations. It’s like Cracker Jacks: tasty by the handful, but ultimately you really do need to eat a real meal.

Is it worth the time investment? If you got into the series at the very beginning and already had a sizable time investment, say maybe, the first 3-4 seasons, I’d say yes. If you’ve never seen Lost and are wondering if you should start, I’d say no. Why? Simply put, you can get all the major philosophical themes of Lost via countless other stories or films and understand its meaning in a few short hours, whereas the series will leave you, most of the time, confused and spinning your wheels. I submit that life does that enough already.

In the interest of helping you, dear reader, avoid spoilers in the event you haven’t seen the finale but plan to, this is your last chance. Beyond the break you’ll find a list of top Likes and Dislikes about the finale, and I hope you’ll share your thoughts on this non-event Event in the history of television.

Top things that disappointed me:
1. No mention of Walt. He went from being so UBER important to being an “also ran”
2. No “special revelation” of knowledge for characters who accepted being the Island’s guardians, they’re as clueless as everyone else.
3. Very little explanation of the alternative universe. Was it really JUST for them? Were they the only “dead” people in it or was EVERYONE in it “dead”?
4. When the Man in Black went into the hole with the Magic Lightbulb, he became a Smoke Monster. When two additional people went into the same hole, nothing happened to them. Why did the Man in Black become a smoke monster, exactly? Because he wore black?
5. No explanation for virtually anything that happened on the island over the years. Christian’s empty coffin, the Time Travelling, the Polar Bear, Walt appearing to people in visions, women unable to have babies, the Dharma Initiative–everything appears to have been a dead end.

Top things I ENJOYED:
1. Thematically, the idea that YOU have to decide the person you are, and not fall into the trap of what other people TELL you you are.
2. Thematically, the idea that the people in your lives, whether friend or foe, are there because you need them and they need you, to help shape the course of your life.
3. The “connection” of the living characters to the dead and the reunions of people who loved but had lost each other; those scenes were SO effing sad, I love it!
4. That all the characters died in the end. No possibility of “Lost: Return to the Island!” in five years.
5. The urge to wonder and criticize: Lost did a lot of things well: connecting the dots of a coherent story is not one of them. What’s an interesting emergent from the chaos, though, is the desire to think about what happened, how and if any of it connected or didn’t connect, and to think about abstract ideas such as identity of self, relationships, etc. It’s unsatisfying, but at the same time cool, and in a sense it mirrors life–there are no easy and guaranteed answers; from childhood until death we must always question, always wonder. That’s a decent moral.

All in all I feel both cheated by and glad that I watched it. I wouldn’t recommend the series to anyone else because thematically the whole series could easily be summed up in a 2-3 hour movie (See: Pleasantville, among others), but, having gotten on board not knowing what to expect, it was an interesting–if frequently frustrating–ride.