Technology Nirvana

Stanford's Quake-Catcher Network has been up and running since early 2008, but it looks like it's just now starting to reach the critical mass of users that's essential for its success. As you may be aware, the software takes advantage of the accelerometers built into many new laptops to watch for any signs of shaking or vibration, which it then compares with data from other laptops in the same area -- if they're all shaking at the same time, that's a pretty good indication there's an earthquake happening. Until recently, however, there hasn't been enough users in any particular area to produce reliable data, but Stanford now counts more than 450 users in California alone, which has provided it with its first truly viable testbed. Of course, more users would be even better, and you can sign up and download the software at the link below if you're interested in helping out.

Earthquake detection software gains foothold in California originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The whole time I was watching this Mega Man 10 fauxmercial, I was thinking “something about this is wrong.” And yes, it’s all wrong, of course, but specifically… it’s 16:9. Man, there ain’t no NES commercials in 16:9!

[via Reddit]

Yesterday I forgot four passwords, two book titles, and one pair of pants despite sticky notes reminding me of each. Since then, I've read HowStuffWorks' suggestions on improving memory. I forgot if they worked, but let's review 'em anyway. More »

Microsoft showed off its new retro-tastic Game Room UI for Xbox 360 in playable form at GDC last week. While the "make a virtual representation of a gaming space" idea might seem ripped straight from Sony's Home, there aren't really any actual similarities -- outside of the fact they're both in 3D, at least. You dive disembodied through the different game rooms pretty intuitively, with different company collections on the bottom "level" of the mall-like UI, and upper levels set aside for your own collections of the games. Unfortunately, once you actually select an arcade cabinet, the UI gets rather overly complex, with all sorts of modes you can play the game in, sorts of scores to be tracked and an indecipherable menu tree that makes it a real chore to exit a game. We're sure arcade fanatics, ready to pit their scores against the best of them and looking for truly in-depth functionality are going to love all this, but for us poor simpletons it's a little much to take in all at once. Luckily, Microsoft saved the best for the actual gameplay. Not only does it nicely emulate inserting coins and even entering in codes on a virtual keypad, but when playing games in the non-ranked classic mode there's a "rewind" function accessible at any time with the tug of the left trigger. The screen gets those VHS-style wavey lines and you can mend your errors instead of losing a valuable life or having to start from the beginning. It's perfect for patching over the quarter-munching difficulty of some of these games, and it might even be enough to pull us away from our polygon-drenched gorefests now and then to don an inexplicable bear avatar and spelunk some Crystal Castles. Check out a video of Game Room after the break, and stand by for a launch of the service on March 24.

Continue reading Microsoft's Game Room for Xbox 'rewinds' the hits in our hands-on demo

Microsoft's Game Room for Xbox 'rewinds' the hits in our hands-on demo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I haven’t been keeping up with the hardware. Last year I was all set because I’d recently built my PC, but all this dag-nabbed Macintosh-using has made me lazy. So when Kingston says their new HyperX 2400MHz DDR3 RAM is the fastest in the world and is timed at 9-11-9-27-2, all I can do is nod my head, open a new tab, and hit “New Post.” The result… is what you see.

The fact is that it’s a full-time job to keep up with enthusiast hardware. I skimmed this great roundup of processor features recently and it let me know how much I’d missed out on — and of course there’s memory and motherboards to think of as well.

I’m planning on putting together a new PC sometime in the next six months or so, at which time I’ll check in with all my favorite hardware sites and get a digest of what’s been happening, what’s a gyp, what’s on the horizon, and so on. But in the meantime, just check out the fins on these babies! This isn’t only the fastest RAM in the world, it’s also the first RAM you can simultaneously burn and stab yourself with!

[via Hot Hardware]

There are two popular options for virtualization software: VMware Fusion and Parallels. But which is better? MacTech did a detailed comparison and they found out that there was an obvious winner when it came to handling graphics. More »

Well, there goes Zion. That rave-lovin’ excuse for a remnant of humanity would have been taken out in a trice by these Robotic Underground Munitions. And so it will be once the Robocalypse hits. Why are we doing the machines’ job for them? Here, I’ve got a better name for these bunker-busting subterranean missiles: Drill-based Earth-Asploding Terrifying Horrorbots.

I guess it’s worth nothing that pretty much every missile fired is at this point a robot, what with the GPS navigation, on-board cameras and all that. But somehow when they’re in the air they aren’t quite as scary. Under the ground, though — remember Tremors? And Screamers? And Gremlins? Well, that last one not so much, but still worth thinking about.

Note: the above illustration is not an accurate representation of this nightmare technology. It is Drill Man.

[via Ares and Gizmodo]

Very cagey way to play it Comcast. While DirecTV, ESPN and Discovery were first to say they would have 3DTV broadcasts back at CES, the cable company will actually be the first to deliver it, starting with the Masters Tournament (but why not the 3D broadcast of the Final Four?) April 7-11. That's right, the first "live next-generation 3D broadcast of a major sporting event on TV, the first live simulcast of a next-gen 3D event online, and the industry's first live multi-camera next-gen 3D production" will be on cable (& internet), not satellite or telco. Again, that's right, if you don't have a 3D television set up yet, it will also be streamed at Masters.com (no word whether this is a Comcast only or if it will be open to all) for those with a 3D setup on their PC. We'll temper our expectations until we see what kind of quality is able to squeeze through Comcast's fiber backbone and down our neighborhood coax wires, but this should certainly blow away the anaglyph stuff currently offered on VOD. Of course, the old school HD streams will still be broadcast on ESPN and CBS, but if Tiger really does make his comeback at Augusta this should give us a better view of the course (and any residual damage from that "car accident") than ever before.

[Thanks, Simon]

Comcast will broadcast the Masters Tournament in 3D April 7-11, beat DirecTV to the punch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One day, you're going to die. And when you do, you online presence—like your social network profiles, your blog comments, and your web services—will serve as your very first memorial. Here's how it'll play out. More »

Three Windows Phone 7 Series devices, all in a row originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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