Retro - Arcade Style Games Not Dead Yet!

Check out this High Def block breaker called Shatter, for the Playstation. It looks like a lot of classic titles from the good ole days of gaming with a modern HD effect.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

North Suspected In South Korea / US Denial Of Service Attacks

The South Korean government is warning that about 20,000 computers infected by a virus as part of an alleged denial of service (DOS) attack are expected to have their data destroyed by the vicious code, starting today. The DOS affected high profile sites in both South Korea and the United States including the South Korean Spy Agency, a bank and a top newspaper as well as the US Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and the Transportation Department.

According to the CBC "Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think-tank, said the attack could have been done by either North Korea or China, adding that he "heard North Korea has been working hard to hack into" South Korean networks."

Turning To YouTube For Help When United Breaks Guitars

A Halifax, Nova Scotia musician has taken his fight with United Airlines, regarding a guitar which he says the company broke during transit, to the airwaves by posting his music video "United Breaks Guitars" on YouTube. With 350,000 views to date and a 5 star rating, perhaps he'll find satisfaction?

Dave Carroll's web site explains the saga "In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say “no” to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise."



Dear United, is this kind of publicity truly worth the $3,500 dollars that it would have cost you to reimburse Mr. Carroll? I think not. I know I'll remember this catchy tune when I'm booking airfare... and I'm likely to visit a Sons of Maxwell show if I get the opportunity.

Google Announces Google Chrome OS

A post on the Official Google Blog introduces Google's latest shot across the bow of Microsoft. "Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google."

Google Chrome OS is said to be able to run on both x86 and ARM chips, and the company is working with OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year saying "... netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010."

It sounds as though this is a cloud computing initiative to rival the efforts of Microsoft and Windows 7. The Chrome OS is said to have a minimal user interface and is made up of "Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel." Applications for the OS will be developed as web apps and therefore will run on any standards-based browser.

Good News For Geeks, Caffeine May Reverse Alzheimers

Researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center have published a study indicating that increased consumption of caffeine may mitigate or even reverse the effects of Alzheimer's. In their research they fed mice which were genetically predisposed to the disease with the caffeine equivalent of 5 cups of coffee per day and found that after 2 months, those that were given the caffeine performed much better on memory and thinking tests than a control group which was not given any caffeine. This may be the news that Starbucks was waiting for...

Source: CBC

Ramen Noodle Preparing Robot

A restaurant in Minami-Alps, Japan, has some unusual help in the kitchen... "Momozono Robot Ramen," has a robotic chef of sorts, built by the shop's owner at his own expense. According to the Mainichi Daily News "Customers can place their orders on a computer in the shop, customizing various aspects such as the levels of soy sauce, salt, and richness of the soup. Uchida says there are 40 million different flavor permutations." Owner Yoshihira Uchida studied electronic circuits and motors at several universities and worked on noodle-packing machines at a food manufacturer until his retirement last year. The need for a machine came from his customers at his side business, a noodle shop, they often suggested his noodle's were too strong or not strong enough and so he decided to give them the controls by allowing them to customize their orders through a computer interface. The robot interprets their orders to prepare the perfect soup mixture.