Gyrowheel by Gyrobike Interbike 2009
Mann Cup 2009 Game 1 – Salmonbellies vs. Excelsiors
Google Removes Pirate Bay’s Front Page from Search Results [BitTorrent]
BitTorrent weblog TorrentFreak reports that Google has removed the front page of popular BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay from their search results due to a DMCA takedown request, regardless of the fact that there are no torrents available to download on TPB’s front page.
Red Epic Used to Shoot Sexiest Woman Alive, Kate Beckinsale, at 5K Resolution [Red]
Megan Fox may have been sexy enough to use the 3K resolution Red Epic video camera to shoot with, but the sexiest woman alive needs 5K. Kate Beckinsale is an extra 2K sexier than Megan Fox.
It's technologically interesting since, with both the 3K and the 5K Red cameras, they're able to take video and strategically take out frames to use as stills. This makes it a lot easier on the photographer since he doesn't need to know, intuitively, when the best few seconds are to snap a stream of shots—he can just point the thing and tell Kate to be sexy.
It’s too bad for Kate though, because in order to crown a new Sexiest Woman Alive next year, Esquire will have to have her put down. [Esquire]
Broadband quality study finds Canada lagging
Canada has some of the poorest-quality broadband among advanced countries, according to a study of global internet infrastructure.
Balsillie ends pursuit of Coyotes
Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie confirmed Wednesday he won’t appeal Judge Redfield T. Baum’s decision to reject both bids for the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes.
GM to phase out Saturn
General Motors Co. is phasing out its Saturn division and its 340-member dealer network after talks to sell the unit to retailer Penske Automotive Group Inc.
Sundin hangs up his skates
Mats Sundin announced his retirement from hockey on Wednesday, ending a professional career that spanned nearly 20 years.
CNET Declares Picasa the Winner at Facial Recognition [Facial Recognition]
CNET’s Josh Lowensohn used his own mug as a standard to measure the facial recognition prowess of iPhoto, Windows Live Gallery, and newcomer face-finder Picasa 3.5. The verdict? Picasa 3.5, because it’s all about the workflow of approving or denying face matches, which Picasa makes easiest. Do you see face-to-face with Lowensohn’s assessment? How accurate is your own photo organizer at recognizing your features? [CNET]
“A little impatient” — Keenan about Flames
Mike Keenan — despite many, many, many off-season requests from Calgary media — held his tongue this summer.
Refusing to talk, of course, is his right. In Keenan's case, however, it had been an uncharacteristic stretch of silence.
Tuesday, though, Iron Mike finally cleared his throat, choosing a Toronto radio station for his coming-out.
The FAN 960 replayed clips of his excuses, I mean, explanations.
For what it's worth, here's a couple of them:
* Did Keenan think he'd be fired after two seasons in Calgary? "No, I didn't, particularly when you look at the context of the season. We had more wins than Vancouver, two points short. In the last 10 games, we played shorthanded. As everyone knows, we ran into cap problems and a plethora of injuries, particularly on defence with Regehr, Giordano, Sarich, and Phaneuf in the playoffs. Bourque was a big injury for us in the playoffs as well. To answer your question, though, I didn't think it would go to that extent because of those extenuating circumstances. Particularly (when we were) vying for that first place in our division with a shorthanded roster. A little impatient. They gave Bowman four years to get a Cup in Detroit . . . but we only had two years and I didn't know it."
* About being fired? "The business part of it is unexplainable at times. That's what you do — you take your medicine, you move on, you try to dust yourself off, and away you go."
* About Dion Phaneuf's performance in 2009-08? "Phaneuf adds a lot to that hockey club. Even though it's perceived that he had a bad year, if I had to identify problems or people that didn't have great years, Phaneuf wouldn't be the first guy I'd point out."
So there.
Google Wave Opens a Crack to 100,000 New Users Tomorrow, Despite Reports [Google Wave]
In July we mentioned that Google Wave would open up to 100,000 new users tomorrow, September 30th. Despite reports that those 100,000 invites go out today, Google confirms on their blog and via email that tomorrow’s still the big day.
We’ve contacted Google for clarification, and they’ve assured us that reports that invites are going out today are simply misunderstandings, and that invitations won’t go out until tomorrow. Either way, if you want to get up to speed on Wave in hope that you’re on the short list for tomorrow, check out our Google Wave highlight reel and Wave QnA.
Beyond that, stick around tomorrow for an even fuller examination of what you can expect if you’re lucky enough to get in on the limited Wave preview. If you don’t get an invite in the first go-round, you’re not entirely out of luck. Google says they’ll “ask some of these early users to nominate people they know also to receive early invitations.” In the meantime, if you happen to get an invite before tomorrow, let us know in the comments.
Surf’s up Wednesday: Google Wave update [Official Google Blog]
Microsoft Security Essentials Free Antivirus App Leaves Beta [Downloads]
Windows only: We took a first look at Microsoft Security Essentials, the free antivirus application from Microsoft, back in June, but today Microsoft Security Essentials has left beta and is ready for your PC.
The application hasn’t really changed much since we took our first look from what we can tell, meaning this release is most likely filled with bug fixes and stability improvements rather than new features.
We’ve been impressed with Security Essentials so far, though it may not be enough of an improvement or change that’ll make it worth switching to from your current favorite antivirus application. If you’ve been testing it out since the beta release, or you’ve just played around with it a little this morning, let’s hear what you think of it in the comments.
Microsoft Security Essentials [Microsoft]
GPU-Accelerated Flash Player Provides Smooth HD Video, Arrives Next Month [Flash]
At last, here’s a GPU-accelerated Flash player. That means two things: One, my laptop won’t melt every time I run freaking Hulu. Two, since almost every Nvidia GPU is supported, even smartphones will be able to play HD Flash video.
Nvidia has been demonstrating builds of the GPU-accelerated Flash player around, and it’s making an announcement on October 5. According to those who have seen it, it provides ultra-smooth high definition video playback, even on portable Tegra platforms.
About time. [Notebookjournal.de via Hexus]
Leaked Courier Video Shows How We’ll Actually Use It [Exclusive]
Microsoft’s Courier booklet was surprising, mostly because it was so far outside of what everybody now expects from a tablet. This internal video shows how Microsoft thinks we’ll use Courier.
Since publishing the first leak, several more people have come forward with details on the Courier project.
This video is produced by the same firm that collaborated with Microsoft’s Pioneer Studios on the previous clip, and it walks through a slightly different (and more conservative/realistic) iteration of the Courier interface. While the first video showed a handful of use cases, this one actually provides an overview of the interface and Courier’s features, and more of how you would actually use it if you are not a designer.
The heart of Courier appears to what’s called the “infinite journal,” which is what it sounds like: A journal/scrapbook that is endless, bound only by storage constraints (presumably). Hopefully they will call it something less awkward. The journal can actually be published online, and it’s shown here as able to be downloaded in three formats: a Courier file, Powerpoint or PDF. There’s also a library that looks a lot like Delicious Library, where things like subscriptions, notebooks and apps, are stored.
This interface does share a few things in common with the other one: In particular, the hinge between the screens is still used as a pocket to “tuck” items you want to move from one page to another. It also still revolves almost exclusively around using the pen for input: In 4 minutes of video, there’s not a virtual keyboard in sight. Fingers are still used just to navigate, through flicks, swipes and pinches.
The interface has a few more traditional elements than the first video, with more of a Microsoft feel (fonts and titles bars) and less of the entirely handwritten journal aesthetic: a smart agenda, more defined folder system, universal search and multi-page web browsing. It feels more evolved and fined, and less convoluted, suggesting it’s more recent.
It also begins to bring into focus Courier’s priorities, and possible limitations: Other than the brief glimpse at the library and the web browser, there is basically nothing about viewing content, like watching movies, reading books, or listening to music. Courier, in this iteration, appears to be all about creating and writing with a pen, which is vastly different from what everybody expects out of the Apple tablet.
We expect to have more a in-depth breakdown of the Courier interface in the next few days, so stay tuned.
Windows 7 OEM prices unveiled, 50% off list price
ComputerWorld is reporting that online retailer Newegg.com has unveiled Windows 7 OEM pricing. Newegg.com has priced the OEM version of Windows 7 Home Premium at $99.99 which is a price reduction of 50% down from the recommended retail price of $199.99. Other savings are available for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate at $134.99 and $174.99, respectively. This is a saving of approximately 50% on each version from the list price. OEM editions are priced lower as you typically do not get retail packaging, little official support and you're not able to transfer the operating system license from one PC to another.
Touchscreen HP Pavilion dv3 leaks out, brings dm1 ultraportable and Core i7 dv8 along for the ride
Well, well, what’s this? We were just sent what looks like a rough draft of HP’s Winter 2009/2010 consumer catalog, and it’s got details on three as-yet-announced machines. The most interesting is the Pavilion dv3 with TouchSmart, which has a 13.3-inch touchscreen, but there’s also confirmation of that previously-leaked Pavilion dm1 11.6-inch CULV thin-and-light and the monster Pavilion dv8 with an 18.4-inch screen and a new mobile Core i7 processor. That’s a pretty strong lineup to back the new Envys, we’d say — and for whatever reason, we’re fascinated by this new trend of sticking touchscreens on regular laptops. We’ll see if the dv3’s TouchSmart 3.0 build is any more usable or sensible than Lenovo’s take on the idea soon enough, we hope — for now, check out the whole catalog in the gallery.
[Via Engadget Spanish; thanks, Marc]
Filed under: Laptops
Touchscreen HP Pavilion dv3 leaks out, brings dm1 ultraportable and Core i7 dv8 along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Flames look to rise higher: preview
Calgary hopes the additions of rock-solid defenceman Jay Bouwmeester and no-nonsense coach Brent Sutter can shore up a shaky defence and help snap a streak of four straight first-round exits.
Archos 9 confirmed for October 22nd with $499 price tag
We heard the Archos 9 tablet was due alongside Windows 7, but just in case you were worried that preposition would be stretched to the limits of its definition, the company made clear at IDF that October 22nd was the target, making it day and date with Microsoft’s latest OS. As for US price, it’s a better-than-expected (at least as far as UK currency conversions go) $499 for the ultra-thin tablet. Mark your calendars accordingly, the diehards in the audience have less than a month to prepare their bank accounts. Now if only Archos would do something about that maladjusted resistive touchscreen…
[Thanks, Anthony]
Filed under: Tablet PCs
Archos 9 confirmed for October 22nd with $499 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Is it legal to download music if you don’t upload?
A claim seen commonly online is that only peer-to-peer uploads break the law, but it’s not true—in the US, downloading copyright music is infringement. The Canadian situation, though, is significantly more murky.