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US military to attack future computers
BBC Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:47:59 GMT
Supercomputers one thousand times more powerful than existing machines are being planned by a US defence research agency.
Microsoft to patch shortcut bug
BBC Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:52:09 GMT
An urgent security patch for a flaw in the way Microsoft Windows handles shortcuts is being issued on 2 August, the firm says.
New software slashes CT radiation
PRESSTV Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:56:03 GMT
Researchers have made a new software program that reduces the radiation dose of a colon scan to half, improving the quality of CT images.
Apple grabs tech crown from Microsoft
PRESSTV Thu, 27 May 2010 06:52:35 GMT
With the latest share price changes, Apple takes over its archrival Microsoft and becomes the world's greatest technology company for the first time in 11 years.
BT launches rival to iPad
GUARDIAN Thu, 13 May 2010 17:40:43 GMT
BT developing own touchscreen device similar to iPad and plans to offer on-demand computer games
We love Apple, say Adobe ads, as battle enters new phase
GUARDIAN Fri, 14 May 2010 09:56:21 GMT
Owner of Flash web technology opens new front in bitter dispute with Apple with ad in financial papers and on tech websites
The mystery of the mega-selling floppy disk
BBC Wed, 28 Apr 10 08:53:43 BST
Sony has said it will stop making floppy disks, after nearly three decades. Yet millions of them are still being bought every year.
Infected XP owners left unpatched
BBC Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:30:16 GMT
Windows XP machines infected with a sneaky virus will not be able to install Microsoft's latest security updates.
Microsoft loses appeal in $290m patent case
GUARDIAN Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:55:35 GMT
Suffering under an injunction against versions of Word that deal with particular forms of XML, Microsoft sallies forth once more against i4i Remember Microsoft, and the case taken out by i4i alleging that it held particular patents relating to XML, and that later versions of Word infringed it - and that Microsoft should therefore be injuncted against selling it? Yes, that case, which got its first result last August. (And you'll recall our interview with the chief executive of i4i.) At that time, both sides were waiting for the outcome of an appeal lodged by Microsoft - which, being big, would expect to prevail. And now, the result: "a panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a revised opinion in i4i v. Microsoft which affirms the August 11, 2009 Final Judgment by The Honorable Judge Leonard Davis that ruled in favor of i4i and found that Microsoft had wilfully infringed i4i's U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449." Oh dear, Microsoft, that has to hurt. "Loudon Owen, Chairman of i4i, says, "The appeals court has again upheld the lower court's decision in its entirety. In addition, it issued a more detailed analysis in concerning the finding of willfulness in this case. The determination that Microsoft willfully infringed i4i's patent stands."" "Michel Vulpe, founder of i4i and co-inventor, says, "i4i is especially pleased with the court's continued decision to uphold the injunction, an important step in protecting the property rights of inventors. i4i continues to offer custom XML solutions."" The Court of Appeals is still considering a petition by Microsoft for en banc review (which, to save you the click, is granted pretty rarely - about 94 cases get it per year). Which may mean that that's that for the XML-infringing version of Word, which is the 2003 version - though of course Microsoft is perfectly able to sell other versions that don't. As Jack commented way back when the first case came up: "anyone who has read a chunk of i4i's US Patent No 5,787,449 might well have doubts about the competence of the US Patent Office in granting it, and it seems even more unlikely that the average judge or juror in East Texas is competent to adjudicate on it. Perhaps someone should tell POTUS that the US software patent system is broken. "Having said that, you have to wonder whether Microsoft has a rational legal strategy. Given its track record for losing lawsuits, and its presumed familiarity with the East Texas courts, you'd have thought it would either have found some way to move the case or change its Word code so that it couldn't be seen to infringe i4i's patent. If the latter is impossible, of course, then the XML open standard could be in trouble, too." i4i has subsequently indicated that it's not going after the XML open standard. Microsoft Intellectual property Software Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Apple iPad will choke innovation, say open internet advocates
GUARDIAN Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:50:00 GMT
The Apple iPad's closed, iPhone-like environment could shut out the next computing revolution, say industry veterans Apple's new iPad tablet computer could hamper innovation and cause long-term damage if it becomes a hit, according to experts. Just as Steve Jobs tries to wow the world with the "magical" new device - unveiled on Wednesday at a media-saturated launch event in San Francisco – leading industry figures have told the Guardian that the machine marks a fundamental shift in the way the computer industry works. The iPad, a 10-inch touchscreen computer that will cost upwards of £300, was greeted by many admirers as a significant step forward. But in developing it using the closed model of the iPhone, industry insiders said, Apple could wrestle even more power away from its rivals and partners. "It's chilling," said Brewster Kahle, a technology veteran and director of the Internet Archive. "We may be seeing the iPhone-ification of the Macintosh." The concerns come because – contrary to the predictions of many pundits – the iPad is more like a scaled-up version of the iPhone than a scaled-down laptop computer. That means it can only run one program at a time, and even then those applications must be approved by Apple before they can be loaded on to the machine. This is the opposite of the traditional model used by the computer industry, where the makers of operating systems have little or no control over what software their users buy or download. Kahle told the Guardian that such a lockdown would prevent major innovation from software developers. "They really control the horizontal and the vertical by going with the iPhone platform... I think it's discouraging," he said. "The future is controlled, and it's controlled by Apple." Referring to some major innovations like web browsers, email and instant messaging, he added that Apple could easily block in favour of developing a competing product or simply limiting new ideas. "All of those started out as independent applications by independent organisations that were not in the plan of any of the platform makers," he said. "If you were to come up with these now on the iPhone, you couldn't even get out of the starting gate." Kahle, whose organisation is trying to assemble a vast library of digital assets for access by the public, is not the only person concerned that the move to what Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain calls "tethered appliances" could have long-lasting effects on modern culture. The Free Software Foundation staged a protest at the launch event and argued that the iPad could set a precedent that would fundamentally change the way we related to technology. "This past year, we have seen how human rights and democracy protesters can have the technology they use turned against them by the corporations who supply the products and services they rely on," said Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF. "Your computer should be yours to control. By imposing such restrictions on users, Steve Jobs is building a legacy that endangers our freedom for his profits." Apple has previously come in for criticism for its seemingly arbitrary approval policy for applications submitted for use on the iPhone – a system that has seen some applications banned from going on sale for containing "sexual content", while allowing others get through. Last summer, Google accused its Silicon Valley neighbour of unfairly blocking rival companies from putting their software on the iPhone, a claim that led to an investigation by US regulators. Kahle, who oversees the OpenLibrary project that aims to put millions of books online, also said that he hoped Apple's iTunes model would not become as dominant as it has in the music world – and that the company would open up the system to benefit everyone. "Apple is going towards having a single store and aggregating everyone into that store. That is not the web, that is a pre-web world. We think that you not only want interesting.....
EC to monitor anti-piracy trial
BBC Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:40:00 GMT
The European Commission agrees to monitor Virgin Media's trial of anti-piracy software after a complaint from privacy activists.
IBM reports jump in fourth-quarter earnings
PRESSTV Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:02:09 GMT
Computer giant IBM has reported a stronger-than-expected 9 percent increase in its fourth-quarter earnings due to its cost-cutting plan.
The UK Top 10 Games
GUARDIAN Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:52:26 GMT
Warfare or fitness? It's a chart of differences this week Leisure software charts compiled by GfK Chart Track © 2009 ELSPA (UK) Ltd Nintendo Sony Microsoft Xbox PlayStation Wii Games guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Microsoft Word 'sales ban' begins
BBC Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:25:43 GMT
A ban on Microsoft selling certain versions of its flagship products Word and Office begins, following a patent dispute.
Microsoft shows off 'slate' PC
BBC Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:41:52 GMT
Microsoft and HP team up to introduce a slate computer ahead of the launch of a much rumoured device from Apple.
Ten years of technology: 2008
GUARDIAN Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:30:00 GMT
As the noughties come to a close, we take a look at the biggest technology stories of the decade - and how the Guardian reported them at the time In a lot of ways, it still feels like we're living out in the ripples of 2008. It was, after all, just a year ago. But it was a year of major turbulence, largely the result of financial misadventures - the sub-prime mortgage crash in America turned into a full-blown crisis, and the resulting recession has hit every manjack among us in one way or another. Once you factor out the bitter, deflated meringue that was the economy, among the big technology companies, there was much of the same: Google continued expanding, Apple released a new version of its iPhone, Microsoft started trying to put the problems of Vista right - by announcing the imminent launch of Windows 7. A few icons died in 2008, including SF legend Arthur C Clarke, Last Lecture author Randy Pausch and Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax. But for the Guardian's technology team, it was an interesting year. The Free Our Data campaign, which had kicked off in 2006 with a crusading article Give us back our crown jewels started making serious headway. I ran the GameCamp event (great fun, and we should have more news on that front soon) and moved to San Francisco to be the Guardian's first full-time correspondent in Silicon Valley. Anyway. Let's crack on look at how we saw it. 2008 • OK, let's get the horrible stuff over with first. There were massive job cuts all over the technology world, including thousands of jobs gone at Yahoo, Sony and Siemens. For a while, the big companies tried to act as if nothing was happening. A little cheeky, perhaps, given that software was sort of to blame for the crisis anyway. • In the midst of all the crap, Microsoft found the time and money to launch an audacious $45bn bid to buy Yahoo. The saga, which went on forever, included rejection, mooted tie-ups with Google, hostility, revolt, agreements, more rejections, disappointment and then - after all of that - the decision by Yahoo boss Jerry Yang to step down. Crikey. Oh, and somewhere during all of that, Bill Gates found time to retire. • Once upon a time there had been a game called Grand Theft Auto, which sent lots of anti-gamers running for the hills and even got a bit saucy. In 2008, however, it became a genuine mainstream phenomenon when GTA IV launched. The usual questions came up - will it turn us into killers?; can games be art?; is it any good? - but this time all the right boxes seemed to get ticked. Yeah, there had been big games before - Halo 3 in 2007. But GTA IV may have been the first game that everybody took seriously. • In September, scientists completed the biggest machine the world has ever seen, a 17-mile long particle accelerator hidden under the Swiss mountains. The idea of a Big Bang Machine, ready to show physicists the secrets of the beginning of the universe gave plenty of people the willies. However, the world didn't end when it got started... but given that it broke down almost immediately, there's still time. • Last but by no means least, a certain Barack Obama proved the power of the web as he surged to victory in the US presidential elections, and therefore into the White House, in November. If every electoral contest of the past 10 years has tried to claim the title of "the election won by the internet" then perhaps this was the first time one genuinely deserved it. Obama raised hundreds of millions online, leading what seemed to be a groundswell of grassroots sentiment after eight years of George Bush. Is that a good thing? Maybe, maybe not - but money is the way the game is played. Next week we'll take a look at 2009. In the meantime, enjoy Christmas. Microsoft Yahoo Yahoo takeover Physics Games Bill Gates Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
OLPC unveils slimline tablet PC
BBC Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:34:35 GMT
The group behind the $100 laptop reveals a tablet version of its PC aimed at connecting children in the developing world.
Microsoft sued over Bing trademark
GUARDIAN Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:47:33 GMT
A small design company in America has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, alleging that it is unfairly using the Bing name for its search engine. Bing! Information Design, based in St Louis, Missouri, launched a legal action last week in a local court - alleging that the multibillion-dollar software corporation "had knowledge of the mark" and "intentionally interfered" when it relaunched its search engine with a new name earlier this year. Lawyers for the Missouri firm said that the action damaged the smaller company's business, and would seek punitive damages to "punish" Microsoft and deter other companies from acting in a similar manner. "For nearly 10 years my client has been using the Bing! mark," said lawyer Anthony Simon in a statement. "My client selected this unique mark to distinguish itself in the marketplace and invested substantial time and effort promoting its business using Bing!." "Microsoft's use of the identical mark and its aggressive advertising have gutted all of my client's efforts to distinguish its business and created confusion that must be remedied." The situation may not be clear cut. The company says it has been using the name since at least 2000, and an application for the trademark outlines the use of the name Bing! for advertising and services for the advertising industry. However, a trademark application for the name was not filed until May - when rumours about Microsoft's new product had already spread widely across the internet. Microsoft, meanwhile, filed its own trademark applications for the name in March - for a variety of uses, including search engine software, interface software, advertising, telecoms and for "providing a website and website links to geographic information, map images and trip routing". In addition, two other companies are also taking action against Microsoft over what they say are trademark infringements: a web-based shopping service called BongoBing and software company Terabyte, which has a product called BootIt Next Generation, or Bing for short. Microsoft lawyer Kevin Kutz said that he believed the case would be dismissed because there was little confusion between his company's business and the St Louis firm. "We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainants offerings and Microsoft's Bing," he told the Register. "We respect trademarks and other people's intellectual property, and look forward to the next steps in the judicial process." That assertion, however, may ring hollow for some - coming after a difficult week for the Seattle-based software company in which it admit having stolen computer code from a Canadian internet startup. After allegations that a site developed by MSN China had lifted code from messaging website Plurk, Microsoft apologised for the transgression and said it was the fault of an independent contractor. "It was never our intent to have a site that was not respectful of the work that others in the industry have done," the company said. Plurk responded by saying it is still considering whether to take legal action. Microsoft Bing Search engines Intellectual property United States Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Stonehenge bones may be evidence of winter solstice feasts
GUARDIAN Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:32:18 GMT
Sheffield University archaeologists believe enigmatic prehistoric monument was used for ritual banquets on special occasions Some 4,500 years ago, as the solstice sun rose on Stonehenge, it is very likely that a midwinter feast would already have been roasting on the cooking fires. Experts believe that huge midwinter feasts were held in that period at the site and a startling picture is now emerging of just how far cattle were moved for the banquet. Recent analysis of the cattle and pig bones from the era found in the area suggests the cattle used were walked hundreds of miles to be slaughtered for the solstice celebrations – from the west country or west Wales. Professor Mike Parker Pearson of the University of Sheffield and his team have just won a grant of £800,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to answer some of the riddles about the enigmatic prehistoric monument. The grant is to fund Feeding Stonehenge, his follow-up research on the wealth of material, including animal bones, pottery and plant remains, which they found in recent excavations at Durrington Walls, a few miles from the stone circle – a site which Parker Pearson believes key to understanding why Stonehenge was built and how it was used. His team fully excavated some huts but located the foundations of scores more, the largest neolothic settlement in Britain. To his joy it was a prehistoric tip, "the filthiest site known in Britain", as he dubbed it. "I've always thought when we admire monuments like Stonehenge, not enough attention has been given to who made the sandwiches and the cups of tea for the builders," said Parker Pearson. "The logistics of the operation were extraordinary. Not just food for hundreds of people but antler picks, hide ropes, all the infrastructure needed to supply the materials and supplies needed. Where did they get all this food from? This is what we hope to discover." Stonehenge was begun almost 5,000 years ago with a ditch and earth bank, and developed over 1,000 years, with the circle of bluestones brought from the Preseli hills in west Wales, and the double decker bus sized sarsen stones. It was too early for the Phoenicians, the Romans or the largely mythical Celtic druids. The Anglo Saxons believed Stonehenge was the work of a race of lost giants, and a 12th-century historian explained that Merlin flew the huge stones from Ireland. It has been explained as a place of druidic sacrifice, a stone computer, a place of witchcraft and magic, a tomb, a temple or a solar calendar. It is aligned on both the summer and winter solstice, crucial dates which told prehistoric farmers that the time of harvest was coming, or the shortest day of winter past. Although not all archaeologists agree – Geoff Wainwright and Tim Darvill have dubbed Stonehenge the stone age Lourdes, a place of healing by the magic bluestones – Parker Pearson believes it was a place of the dead, while Durrington Walls, with its wooden henge, was the place of its living builders, and the generations who came to feast, and carry out rituals for their dead, moving from Durrington to the nearby river and on by the great processional avenue to Stonehenge. He found no evidence that Durrington was permanently inhabited or farmed, and the first tests on the pig and cattle bones support his theory that it was a place where people gathered for short periods on special occasions. The pigs were evidently slaughtered at mid-winter, and he expects the cattle bones to back this. What the sample already tested shows is that they were slaughtered immediately after arrival, after travelling immense distances. "We are going to know so much about the lives of the people who built Stonehenge," Parker Pearson said, "how they lived, what they ate, where they came from." Heritage Archaeology Stonehenge, England Cultural trips Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More...
Swiss intellectuals seek to reverse minaret ban
PRESSTV Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:11:37 GMT
Amid mounting controversy over Switzerland's ban on building minarets, the country's liberals are planning to push for a new referendum aimed at overturning the ban.
Intel unveils 48-core cloud chip
BBC Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:40:17 GMT
A chip that fits a data centre onto a piece of silicon the size of a postage stamp has been unveiled by Intel.
PCs designed for Windows 7
GUARDIAN Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:14:00 GMT
Peter Atkins wonders if there is any point in waiting to buy PC until they are built for Windows 7 Some say we should delay buying PCs until they are built for Windows 7. Is there anything in that and, if so, when will the hardware catch up? Peter Atkins There's not much difference between Windows 7 hardware and Vista hardware. The main things to watch for are support for DirectX 11 graphics, and a motherboard able to handle 8GB or more memory, even if you don't need it at the moment. Windows 7 is designed to make better use of the GPU (graphics processor) and today's larger memories. A rough guide is that PCs intended for Vista will usually have the 32-bit version loaded, and will often have only 3GB of memory. The better Windows 7 models will have the 64-bit version loaded, and 4GB of memory. To do this, the PC manufacturer will need to have found and tested 64-bit drivers, which are less common than 32-bit drivers. But PC development is a continuous process, and Intel is preparing to release the 32nm Arrandale platform for portable computers, and Clarkdale for desktops (PDF). It's not clear when these will arrive: the first chips are promised for the first half of next year, which could be as soon as January. However, this is of most concern to buyers of high-end systems: mainstream users may not know or care. Microsoft Windows 7 Jack Schofield guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Windows 7 faces 'screen of death'
BBC Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:39:23 GMT
Microsoft confirms that it is investigating a problem that affects Windows 7 described as the "black screen of death".
In praise of… the Royal Society
GUARDIAN Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:05:16 GMT
Gravity, evolution, the atomic nucleus, DNA. You name it, and the person who discovered it was a Royal Society fellow. While the individual glories of those on its membership roll are well established, its corporate contribution to advancing knowledge is appreciated less often. In the present, that contribution comes through grants, lectures and the esteem of the 44 fellowships dished out every year. In the past, the society had a hand in shaping the scientific method itself. Physics and the like were still regarded as mere provinces within philosophy's empire when the "Invisible College", which preceded the society, was set up to challenge the scholastic view that the world was best understood through abstract reasoning and ancient text. The subversive upshot of instead emphasising experiment is neatly captured in the society's strapline Nullius in verba – roughly, "Take nobody's word for it." But intellectual revolution was cannily mixed with pragmatic politics. As the restored Charles II scrambled around for innovations to prove he was more than a chip off the old chopping block, his endorsement was successfully sought. The archives the society has put online for its birthday this week show how it went on to develop central precepts of modern scientific practice, such as peer review and the faithful writing-up of experiments so that they could be replicated. After 350 years, the evidence is in, and the peculiar experiment of the Royal Society has proved a rip-roaring success. Medical research People in science Heritage Physics guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Government intelligence organisation targets recruits with Xbox Live ads
GUARDIAN Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:58:45 GMT
GCHQ to run ad campaign within Xbox Live online games to attract 18- to 34-year-olds to its ranks
Intel debuts text reading device
BBC Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:14:08 GMT
The global technology giant has unveiled a product designed to make print accessible to vision-impaired and dyslexic people
China joins supercomputer elite
BBC Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:04:26 GMT
China becomes one of a handful of nations to own one of the the top five fastest supercomputers in the world.
Xbox console ban is 'permanent'
BBC Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:55:34 GMT
Thousands of gamers cut off from Microsoft's Xbox Live service will have to buy a new console to get back online, the firm says.
Computer device 'helps' diabetics
BBC Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:28:17 GMT
A game has been released that helps young people with type 1 diabetes monitor their condition and check blood sugar levels.
Microsoft disconnects Xbox gamers
BBC Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:20:59 GMT
Microsoft confirms it has cut off a number of gamers from its Xbox Live service for modifying their consoles to run pirated games.
Computer for the elderly launched
BBC Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:08:18 GMT
A computer designed for older people who have never used the internet before has been launched by Valerie Singleton.
Regulators square off over Oracle-Sun
GUARDIAN Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:17:51 GMT
The future of Oracle's $7.4bn takeover of Silicon Valley rival Sun Microsystems is in doubt, after European and American regulators were left at loggerheads over the potential impact of the deal. Officials at the European Commission have said that their preliminary investigation into whether the deal would damage competition had raised concerns - news which prompted the Department of Justice in Washington to issue its own, contrary, advice on the deal yesterday. "After conducting a careful investigation of the proposed transaction between Oracle and Sun, the department's antitrust division concluded that the merger is unlikely to be anti-competitive," said Molly Boast, deputy assistant attorney general. "At this point in its process, it appears that the EC holds a different view. We remain hopeful that the parties and the EC will reach a speedy resolution." The primary concern appears to be whether the deal would adversely affect the huge and lucrative computer database market, by bringing together under one roof Oracle's proprietary database systems and Sun's open source database software MySQL, which it bought in 2008 for $1bn. Although Washington officials said they did not believe there would be any harm to consumers if the two companies - which command a significant share of the market - came together, European officials opened a formal investigation in September. "The commission has to examine very carefully the effects on competition in Europe when the world's leading proprietary database company proposes to take over the world's leading open-source database company," said competition commissioner Neelie Kroes at the time. The difference of opinion adds a further layer of complexity to the deal in which Oracle, the software maker, would bail out Sun and take control of its business - which also includes computer servers, workstations and software products. The surprise deal between the two companies was announced in April, after struggling Sun had indulged in a long flirtation with other technology companies including IBM. Oracle said it would fiercely object to the position of the European regulators, which it felt had no merit. "The commission's statement of objections reveals a profound misunderstanding of both database competition and open- source dynamics," the company said in a statement. Oracle Sun Microsystems Computing Software Law and technology Mergers, acquisitions and funding Mergers and acquisitions Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
GUARDIAN Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:32:29 GMT
Modern Warfare 2 is the most polished FPS of the year Xbox 360/PS3/PC; £54.99; cert 18+; Infinity Ward/Activision Other developers must be getting sick of Infinity Ward pulling an X-Factor by doing nothing all year and then bagging the Christmas No1. Well, the bad news is, they've gone and done it again. COD: Modern Warfare 2's single player storyline picks up roughly from where the first instalment left off, casting you as several members of Task Force 141, a squad of heavily armed Rangers tasked with stopping a Russian terrorist named Makarov. Drawing on impressive AI for both allies and enemies as it races from one scripted set-piece to the next, MW2 takes you on a veritable world tour; from stealth based levels in Kazakhstan, to a running battle through Brazilian Favelas to rescuing hostages from a heavily defended oil rig. Each mission in the three-act campaign presents you with different challenges, abilities and controls, so left and right triggers are used for aiming and firing, swinging ice-picks to climb sheer cliffs, piloting a skidoo for an Endor-style chase through trees or controlling the new Predator droid to take out hostile targets by aerial satnav. Along the way there are twists and turns galore, including one controversial level that sees you joining Makarov to massacre passengers at Moscow airport. Graphically, the tweaked IW4 engine copes with up to 40 onscreen enemies at once – particularly impressive in the Brazilian levels where the Black Hawk Down-style action reaches almost multiplayer levels of intensity. Speaking of which, our limited time on the pre-launch servers revealed Free-For-All, Search & Destroy, Demolition, Domination, Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch modes for 8-12 players plus a new co-op Special Ops mode that can be played online or split-screen over 20+ extra levels. With two map packs already in the pipeline to compensate for some of the more formulaic designs currently included, you can expect this to be jamming servers for months to come. All in all, MW2 is exactly what fans were expecting. Yes, it carries a hefty price-tag, a shortish single player campaign and only adds a handful of genuinely new elements to the prequel, but you won't find a more polished, intelligent FPS this year. For non-stop action, superior AI and perfectly balanced weapons, it's a worthy chart-topper that hammers a nail into any hope of the COD franchise returning to its WW2 roots anytime short of the next round of console upgrades. And, on this evidence, you won't find too many complaints about that. Games Xbox PlayStation PC Mike Anderiesz guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
1980s computing for the 21st century
GUARDIAN Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT
8-bit computers shaped the west – now one firm is taking the same spirit of exploration to children in India and China It is nearly two years since Derek Lomas, then a graduate student on an internship with the communications giant Qualcomm, stumbled across a unexpected find while browsing a Bangalore market stall. Perusing the vast spread of goods, he was drawn to an array of strangely familiar computers. The boxes were emblazoned with slogans such as "EDUCATION COMPUTER" and "LEARN COMPUTERS THE FUN WAY", and generally contained a mouse, a couple of joysticks and a combined computer-keyboard that featured a built-in slot for game cartridges. On closer inspection he discovered that the machines were, in fact, modelled on the early generations of 8-bit computers – pioneering home PCs such as the Apple II, BBC Micro and Nintendo Entertainment System. For somebody brought up on these early machines, the find was a revelation … but the biggest surprise was the price: the entire set came in for $12 (around £7.50). Excited by the possibility of an extremely low-cost computer that was being bought across countries including India, China and Brazil, Lomas returned to the US and joined up with his colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, to start playpower.org – an effort to jump on the bandwagon and provide software that can turn one of these machines from a simple entertainment device into something more useful. Get with the programme In the same way that millions of programmers were forged through early experiments with the BBC Micro or Commodore 64, PlayPower wants to see the same thing take place elsewhere. "Even some basic computer skills such as touch-typing can be economically transformative – making the difference between making a dollar a day as an urban labourer, or a dollar an hour as a back-office worker," says Lomas, who is now a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. "So what we're trying to do is to obtain some of this 'abandonware' – 8-bit software that was produced in the 80s for education in England and America – and import it to this existing $12 dollar computer." It may seem crazy or even illegal that such machines can be sold so cheaply, but the situation has come about because the underlying patents have expired. With the chip designs in effect in the public domain, and western companies finding little use for them, manufacturers in China are able to copy, produce and sell these proto-PCs at very low cost. The result is that thousands (or even millions) of children worldwide are using these computers – and although it is 25-year-old technology that pales in comparison to today's powerful PCs, that is a substantial new market for anybody. Lomas says that the manufacturers cannot afford to make their own games – but they are eager to include any software that helps them sell more units. "They recognise that having an educational impact is important for selling their product, but that's about as far as their engagement goes," he says. "They don't have the margins to invest in research and development of effective learning games, but they are interested in them." "When we contacted some of these manufacturers, one question we had was whether we had any content in Arabic because they're getting a lot of Middle Eastern buyers. So we might be able to provide them with some learning games for the different regions they sell to." PlayPower has formed a substantial open source community of hackers, coders and enthusiasts who want to help, and is looking to resurrect some of the popular 80s software left behind by its developers. It's also looking to build new software platforms that will help build in their own language, for local users. But bringing educational computing to the developing world is not a new idea – and it has not always been entirely successful in the past. Most notably, the One Laptop per Child scheme – the so-called "$100 laptop" – has found it tough....
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City | Game review
GUARDIAN Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:35:00 GMT
Xbox 360; £34.99; cert 18+; Rockstar Games If any lingering doubts remained as to the true relevance and importance of downloadable content, Episodes From Liberty City will finally blow them away. Consisting of the second and third instalments of Grand Theft Auto IV – The Lost & Damned and The Ballad Of Gay Tony – packaged on a single disc and available, in a coup for Microsoft, exclusively to Xbox 360 owners, Episodes From Liberty City is sufficiently meaty to be accorded a status not far below a full-blown new GTA release. Of the two episodes, The Lost & Damned is the most familiar, having been available for download for some time. It takes a gritty approach (enhanced by a clever visual filter), focusing on a biker gang called The Lost Motorcycle Club, in which you play Johnny Klebnitz, the gang's number two, but in temporary charge while club president Billy Grey is in rehab. Naturally, the psychotic Billy soon returns, to undo all your efforts to bump the game up the organised crime ladder. Story-wise, The Lost & Damned is as rich and involving as we have come to expect from GTA, and the missions focus on combat and riding motorbikes. All thoroughly enjoyable, but it's GTA at its most serious and reflective (although fear not, that doesn't mean it isn't rammed with filth and outrage). Whereas The Lost & Damned is low-down and dirty, The Ballad Of Gay Tony is loud, brash, in-your-face and thoroughly over the top. It sure doesn't mess around. You play Luis Lopez, "business partner", bodyguard and general right-hand man for the eponymous Gay Tony, owner of the two most successful nightclubs in Manhattan (one gay, one straight, naturally). Everybody loves Tony – he's a charismatic party animal – but he is heroically feckless, with a penchant for doing things like apparently selling his clubs to two different buyers – and it's up to you to clean up his spectacular messes. A process which, from the off, consists of deliciously spectacular missions – less than an hour into the game, you will have taken out a building-full of homicidal Chinatown gangsters, pulled a girl off your club's dancefloor for a knee-trembler in a toilet cubicle, hit golf balls at a bolshy Union official strapped to the front of a Mafioso's golf cart, blown up a crane, train and plane and, at the behest of the gloriously monstrous and deluded Yusuf (voiced by Omid Djalili), and stolen an attack-helicopter (in the grand GTA manner an absolute pig to fly) from a drug-dealer's gin-palace, which you then use to blow the aforementioned yacht to smithereens, plus the drug-runners escaping in a flotilla of boats. Later on, you take part in a base-jumping contest, and the missions become astonishingly spectacular. The Ballad Of Gay Tony distils all that is best about GTA into a hilarious, larger-than-life romp. If you haven't downloaded The Lost & Damned, Episodes From Liberty City is a must-buy. And if you have, make sure you download The Ballad Of Gay Tony, too. Games Xbox Software Steve Boxer guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Microsoft reveals new-look MSN
BBC Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:50:34 GMT
Microsoft has announced a major redesign of its MSN.com web portal, designed to drive traffic to search engine Bing.
The Beatles cover Hendrix at a venue near you
GUARDIAN Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:28:41 GMT
Forget the Rock Band video game, software is being developed that not only recreates Beatles performances, it allows the Fab Four to play other artists' music in their own style Fancy some tickets to a live performance by the Beatles – with Jimmy Hendrix on guitar? This could become a reality thanks to Zenph Studios, a North Carolina company that is developing software which not only recreates famous musicians' performances, it also learns the "DNA" of their style, letting them perform music that they never played before. Zenph is best known for their "re-performances" of works by Glenn Gould, Art Tatum and Rachmaninov. On those albums, the company's software memorised the original musicians' performances and then recreated them on computerised pianos, in state-of-the-art recording studios. "We know what makes an artist sound like them," Jeff McIntyre, Zenph's director of sales and marketing, told the Pocket-Lint technology website. By studying the musical "algorithm" of a given artist, Zenph hopes to recreate performances that never actually happened. "Everything you've known to be frozen will be free," McIntyre said. "It will be a sea change." Not only does Zenph hope to release a CD of, say, "Oscar Peterson" playing Moon River with "Keith Moon" and "John Lennon", but the company's audio fingerprinting lets them tweak tiny aspects of the performance. "You will be able to change key, tone, make it sadder, happier as well as change the point of view or the location," McIntyre said. "Imagine if you wanted to hear the songs Norah Jones played as if you were Norah Jones. We could re-record her performance with the microphone where her head is as she doesn't have to be sitting at the piano. Or how about if you want to hear what the song would sound like in the audience at a certain concert hall or venue. All is possible." Then again, it's also technically "possible" that Lady Gaga will win the Nobel prize for literature. Zenph admits that the technology is still a long way off. So far, they have only captured the performance "essence" of four artists: Gould, Rachmaninov, Tatum and Oscar Peterson – all pianists. But McIntyre says that work on the bass guitar is 90% complete, and they hope to create "fantasy" performances – like Eric Clapton with the Byrds – within five years. However, even if the technology is there, and Zenph finds the funds ("When we started it would cost us $14 a note to capture the musical DNA," McIntyre said, "now we are down to $2"), there is an unresolved copyright issue. "We are breaking new ground here," McIntyre said. "There is nothing in the law about bringing back artists from the dead to play to a concert hall or stadium." This week, New Yorkers will have the chance to judge Zenph's high-tech player piano for themselves – Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov at Carnegie Hall on Friday. The Beatles Pop and rock Sean Michaels guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Microsoft ditches deal with Family Guy
GUARDIAN Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:59 GMT
Remember the news that Microsoft had tapped up Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane for a TV show sponsorship? The software megacorp said it was going to ditch traditional advertising around a comedy special (due to be broadcast next week) in favour of "deeply integrated" mentions of Windows 7. The prospect left me a little aghast, and you too - AlanAudio said it would be "memorable for all the wrong reasons", while Slabman said it was a brilliant way "to put ammo in the hands of your detractors". Turns out it was all a little bit too much for Microsoft. They've pulled their sponsorship, after seeing the show. According to this Seattle PI story, Microsoft said: "We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of 'Family Guy'... but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." Instead, the comedy show will be sponsored by Warner Bros - which will use it to trail the new Sherlock Holmes movie, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. My question: if Windows 7 was so "deeply integrated" into the show (largely, one has to expect, in the form of the script itself) then how can it simply be removed? And did Microsoft really expect that it would be any different? Microsoft Windows Windows 7 Advertising Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
A look at what's new in Windows 7
BBC Tue, 20 Oct 09 10:01:04 BST
The BBC takes a quick tour through Windows 7 to outline the most noticeable changes and features.
Microsoft's grinning bots or the Brotherhood of Mac. Which is worse?
GUARDIAN Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:06:20 GMT
Windows works for me. But I'd never recommend it to anybody else, ever. I admit it: I'm a bigot. A hopeless bigot at that: I know my particular prejudice is absurd, but I just can't control it. It's Apple.
Microsoft to pay $290m in lawsuit
BBC Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:46:41 GMT
Microsoft has been fined $290m (£175m) and barred from selling its program Word in the wake of a patent row.
UAE Blackberry update was spyware
BBC Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:50:03 GMT
A software update promoted by United Arab Emirates telecoms firm Etisalat appears to have been surveillance software.
Psion settles case over the N word
GUARDIAN Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:27:13 GMT
The threat to popular 'netbook' term has ended with Psion saying that it will "voluntarily withdraw all of its trademark registrations" Psion, the British company founded by Dr David Potter, "has settled the trademark cancellation and infringement litigation brought in the Northern District of California with Intel regarding its trademark of the term 'netbook'," reports Taiwan's DigiTimes.
India's IT students feel the heat
BBC Mon, 27 Apr 09 00:28:46 BST
The BBC's Swaminathan Natarajan says that students of IT in India are finding it tough in the recession-hit digital age.
China accused over global computer spy ring
GUARDIAN Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:01:00 GMT
• Dalai Lama and foreign ministries bugged
• Cambridge researchers point finger at Beijing

An enormous electronic espionage programme run from servers in China has been used to spy on computers in more than 100 countries, according to two reports published at the weekend.
China analysts reject cyber-espionage claims
PRESSTV Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:46:20 GMT
Chinese analysts dismiss claims that China-based cyber spies have hacked governmental and private computers in over 100 countries.
China accused over global computer spy ring
GUARDIAN Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:01:00 GMT
• Dalai Lama and foreign ministries bugged
• Cambridge researchers point finger at Beijing

An enormous electronic espionage programme run from servers in China has been used to spy on computers in more than 100 countries, according to two reports published at the weekend.
'Scareware' scams trick searchers - "Criminals are making as much as $10,000 a day"
BBC Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:16:12 GMT

Makers of fake anti-virus software are exploiting search engines to drive people to sites peddling 'scareware'.

Using popular and mis-spelled search terms, the criminals divert people to sites that are seeded with fake warnings about virus infections.

The pop-up warnings claim that a visitor's PC is riddled with malicious programmes and spyware.

Research suggests some criminals are making as much as $10,000 a day from fake security software.

Anyone clicking on a booby-trapped page is then instantly re-directed to the site hosting the links to the fake security software.

Once they arrive, visitors are bombarded with pop-ups warning that their PC is infected. To clear up the infection users must download and pay for anti-virus software which typically costs about $50 (£34).

Mr Ben-Itzhak said people should be very wary of any pop-up window claiming to find evidence of an infection.

"It's impossible to scan your local disk without installing software," he said.


Symantec's Norton Utilities 14
GUARDIAN Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:27:11 GMT
Norton Utilities promises to make your PC 'as good as new', but sometimes a bit of memory is all you need As the global financial malaise bites, most of us will have to make do with our existing IT gear for longer. On the other hand, it's difficult to be productive on a slow PC, buckling underneath years of accumulated digital detritus and resource-hungry new software. This is where Symantec's Norton Utilities 14 for Windows XP and Vista promise to make your PC "as good as new", boost performance and solve common problems. NU14 has pedigree in geek circles spanning decades: named after Peter Norton, the pink-shirted super-nerd with a steady "I can fix it" gaze who graced the packaging for years, NU used to be the techie's tool suite.
Microsoft's New Browser Is Better, but Still Not Best
WASHINGTONPOST Thu, 19 Mar 2009
Microsoft plans to ship a major update to its Internet Explorer Web browser today -- and it's either arriving just in time or far too late. A huge chunk of Microsoft's user base has yet to upgrade to the version it released in the fall of 2006, while many other people have long since switched to competing browsers.
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