Google Takes On Skype

The Official Google Blog has announced a new service within gmail that will allow you to make free gmail to telephone calls to Canadian and US numbers and low rate calls to other nations. The service is said to be offered only to gmail users in the US, but the CBC reported yesterday that if you are a Canadian with a gmail account and have your language setting tweaked to English (US) then the service will also be available to you. The roll out is happening over the next few days, so don't panic if you don't see the option just yet. You will need to install the video and voice chat add-on to enable the functionality but it's a quick and painless install. According to the blog post the service will remain free at least for the remainder of the year, similar to Skype's roll-out of Skype Out a few years back. I don't make a lot of phone calls, but I'm bound to be making Google my choice of carrier at least until 2011.

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A Trip Down Memory Lane - Tron Style

At the risk of dating myself I remember fondly the 80's and a big part of those memories is time spent in arcades and movie theatres.  When the two joined forces in a movie with "stunning" graphics it was a match made in geek heaven. 

During a couple of recent trips to the movies I've been sent back down memory lane, salivating a little,over the upcoming release (12.17.2010) of Tron Legacy in 3D. My recent thoughts where of my boys who have not (yet) had the pleasure of seeing the original movie, and yes I know it was not an Academy Award winning flic by any stretch of the imagination but in the world in which I lived in 1982 this was a pretty big deal. In order to do a little comparison I entered a few queries into YouTube and for your viewing pleasure, here is the original Tron movie trailer circa 1982 and one of the trailers for the upcoming, updated, 3D sequel...

I'm glad that they've waited nearly 30 years to make this film!

Update: I'm a little disappointed by one small detail. Watch the original trailer and pause it at the 1:56 mark, then watch the new one and stop it at 1:13 mark. :(

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Robots Are Our Friends

I stuck my iRobot I <3 Robots magnet up in my workstation today and my coworker, Dustin, sent me the following:

Thanks Dustin, I think I like robots even more now :)

I believe credit goes to http://www.albinoblacksheep.com

New Halo Leaked, Kinda...

One of the most anticipated game titles of the pre-Christmas season is Microsoft's Halo: Reach. In an attempt to get the title to game reviewers the company had experimented with different methods of distribution including putting the title on XBox live for select download. The move however seems to have backfired as GameTuts, a site dedicated to modifying and cracking game consoles claims to have obtained and cracked the code. "Me and my team finally did it; we got Halo: Reach! This is not released for public, and we are not really planning on releasing either," Unfortunately for Microsoft the title has begun showing up on torrent sites, however it will only run on modified (moded) consoles and the owners of such devices are not the type to purchase titles in any case.

Read more: CBC


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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange Deflects Accusations For Now

The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been cleared for now of allegations of rape but may still face charges of molestation though the Chief Prosecutor has not had time to investigate that claim yet. In a brief statement Eva Finne said: "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."

Last month Wikileaks published about 77,000 secret US military documents on the war in Afghanistan and US officials demanded the return of the materials. "If doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what other alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing," department spokesman Geoff Morrell said at the time. hmmm?

According to the BBC "In a series of other messages posted on the Wikileaks Twitter feed, the whistle-blowing website said: "No-one here has been contacted by Swedish police", and that it had been warned to expect "dirty tricks"."

Perhaps I've been listening to too many conspiracy theorists but something doesn't feel right here.

See: BBC and this previous post citing CNN.

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