Web 3.0 Technology.com » Tech News

The Mumbai Reports: Will Twittering Masses Supplant Pro Journalists?

Renay San Miguel — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

I’m starting to lose track of which major news event is supposed to be THE turning point for technology-driven citizen journalism. Was it bloggers detailing the horrors of Sept. 11? The surreal graininess of cell phone videos and photos capturing the 2004 London subway bombings? The digital camcorder footage later that same year showing the South Asian tsunami washing away coastlines and lives? What about the eerie muted gunshots of a madman heard on another cell phone video, this one from the Virginia Tech campus in 2007?

Mac Bloggers Dig Up 4-GB iPhone’s Grave, Sling Mud Over Virus Baiting

Chris Maxcer — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

The biggest news in the Apple-focused blogosphere this week is the rumor that retail powerhouse Wal-Mart might be prepping to sell a $99 iPhone — that’s right, an iPhone for less than 100 bucks. In other hot news, Apple’s been flirting with virus-checking recommendations, and finally, after weeks of delay, Apple is almost shipping its new in-ear headphones. The Boy Genius Report first broke the original Wal-Mart rumor — that the retail behemoth could be selling iPhones in the future.

Sun Brews Up Rich JavaFX

Chris Maxcer — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:21:00 +0000

Sun Microsystems has launched a new platform in an attempt to gain a foothold in the rapidly growing rich internet applications space, as well as generate solutions for mobile devices and even TVs. The platform, JavaFX 1.0, seeks to let developers build Web apps with high-fidelity audio and video, rich text, vector graphics, animation and Web services for, as Sun notes, “all the screens of life.” Sun says JavaFX opens up a vast market for developers and content authors.

IBM Takes Dead Aim at Microsoft With Virtual Linux Desktop

Walaika Haskins — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:48:11 +0000

IBM has teamed with Virtual Bridges and Canonical to offer a new Linux-based virtual desktop solution. The three companies announced the general availability of Virtual Linux Desktop Thursday, calling it a cost-effective alternative to Microsoft’s desktop software. VLD runs open standards-based e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, unified communication, social networking and other software to any laptop, browser or mobile device from a virtual desktop login on a Linux-based server configuration.

Is YouTube Becoming PrudeTube?

Renay San Miguel — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:47:29 +0000

In the early days of YouTube, one could find scads of commercial pornography, plenty of amateur pole-dancing and scatological material out the wazoo, but as the world’s top user-generated video Web site chases down more revenue, it has also cracked down on the kind of mature content that might make advertising executives a tad nervous when they’re deciding where to place their brands — not to mention moms and dads wondering what uploaded atrocities the kids are viewing now.

Our Selves but Not Our Bodies

Karl Ritter — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:36:38 +0000

Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much. Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body. In a study presented Tuesday, neuroscientists at Stockholm’s renowned Karolinska Institute show how they got volunteers wearing virtual reality goggles to experience the illusion of swapping bodies with a mannequin and a real person.

The Rise of the Netbook

Marc Saltzman — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:33:58 +0000

You see them on tables in coffee shops, under the arms of college students and on the laps of travelers waiting for a flight. Called “netbooks” or “mini-notebooks,” these small, lightweight and relatively affordable computers are one of the hottest tech toys of the year. Popularized by Asus Eee PCs, which start at $269, netbooks are designed for basic tasks — Web surfing, e-mail and word processing. That’s just fine for some folks. These sleek WiFi-enabled computers are usually limited in capacity, and to keep costs down, often ship with the open source Linux operating system.

Are Computers Messing With Circuitry of Human Brains?

Malcolm Ritter — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:23:37 +0000

What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to emoticons than to real people? These sound like concerns from worried parents. But they’re coming from brain scientists. While violent video games have gotten a lot of public attention, some current concerns go well beyond that. Some scientists think the wired world may be changing the way we read, learn and interact with each other.

NFL Kicks Off 3-D Broadcast Experiment

Ryan Nakashima — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:21:43 +0000

In broadcasting the world’s first live 3-D football game to theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston on Thursday evening, the NFL promises an “up close, personal, visceral” experience that could open a new revenue stream for the league. The screenings for team owners, producers and journalists will use technology developed by 3ality Digital, a Burbank, Calif.-based company whose major investor is the family of Art Modell, owners of the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 to 2004.

Light Echoes Illuminate Nature of Long-Gone Supernova

Malcolm Ritter — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:47:34 +0000

More than 400 years after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe challenged established wisdom about the heavens by analyzing a strange new light in the sky, scientists say they’ve finally nailed down just what he saw. It’s no big surprise. Scientists have known the light came from a supernova, a huge star explosion. But what kind of supernova? A new study confirms that, as expected, it was the common kind that involves the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf star with a nearby companion.