CrunchGear |  |
- Test Pattern Mouse Pads For The Broadcasting Ephemera Buff In Your Life
- ATI Releases StarCraft II Anti-Aliasing Hotfix
- Review: NOX Audio Specialist Gaming Headset
- New Price For Older Xbox 360 Bundles As Best Buy Clears Shelf Space
- Samsung’s Tablet: Android, 7-inch screen, August 11th announcement?
- Some Say He Can Fly. All We Know Is, He’s Called The Stig Copter!
- New York City Subway To Get Wi-Fi, Cellphone Service
- Prediction: The RIM BlackPad Will Crash And Burn Just Like The Storm
- Keuring Could Put RFID Chips In Their Coffee Pods
- University Of Central Florida Developing Motion-Controlled Abstinence Simulator
- Big Interview: The Philosophy Behind Best Buy And Future’s @Gamer Magazine
- Chevy Volt’s 2012 Production Capacity Bumped From 30,000 to 45,000
- You Think You’re High Tech? Why Don’t You Carry Around A Zune Lined With Thermite
- Lord British, of Ultima fame, goes into space on the back of $27 million lawsuit settlement
- Is It Real, Or Is It A Bootleg Sony Vaio?
- FBI pokes around Defcon social engineering contest that tries to obtain corporate information
- UK body clears Google of Wi-Fi wrongdoing
| Test Pattern Mouse Pads For The Broadcasting Ephemera Buff In Your Life Posted: 30 Jul 2010 06:00 PM PDT
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| ATI Releases StarCraft II Anti-Aliasing Hotfix Posted: 30 Jul 2010 05:30 PM PDT
This is just a heads-up for any ATI folks out there looking to add a little anti-aliasing to your StarCraft II-ing. ATI has released an updated driver, version 10.7a, that includes a hotfix that enables forced AA for the game. You have to activate AA inside the Catalyst Control Thingamajig outside of the game. End transmission.
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| Review: NOX Audio Specialist Gaming Headset Posted: 30 Jul 2010 05:00 PM PDT
Pros:
Cons:
Full review: We first encountered this headset at E3, where it made its debut alongside the in-ear Scout (not yet released) and the Negotiator, an adaptor which allows you to use either headset with a PS3 or Xbox 360. I found one in my possession shortly after, and have been using it on and off for a couple weeks as my primary headset. The Specialist is designed as a portable headset — that design goal manifests itself in a couple ways. First, the headset is foldable. I mean, it’s not like you can fold them down to nothing, but flipping the earcups up does reduce the headset’s footprint by quite a bit. You can fit them into a smaller pocket, they’re not as awkward as a normal pair of headphones, and of course it lets them go into the nice carrying case they come with.
The other way you see the portability thing is in the retractable microphone. A few other headsets have this (SteelSeries comes to mind) and the Specialist doesn’t do it in any special way, but they do it right. The cord coils up inside the left earcup, obviously, and the outside of the earcup spins in order to reel it back in. It seems to be torqued pretty heavily, and sounds crazy if you do it when you have the headset on. The mic itself feels a little short but it sounds great. On the other earcup you have a differently-cut plate that also spins — this is the volume knob. It turns 180 degrees and adjusts the volume very smoothly; I found it convenient in-game, better than having a little puck weighing down the cord at least. For $80 you should expect a pretty good sound out of a headset, and the Specialist doesn’t disappoint there. They’re definitely skewed towards the warm and bass-y end, but that’s great for games, and I got plenty of clarity once I adjusted my EQ. I couldn’t make them clip or pop, though the bass did tend to take over and spread out toward higher volumes. I was surprised at the amount of isolation they provided, as well. At medium volume, I believe that most normal voices would be difficult to discern, though higher-frequency noises like key clicks and snapping fingers were audible. The fit was (for me) very comfortable, which is what you’re really concerned about when it comes to gaming headphones. Multiple-hour sessions are common, of course, and if I wore something like the G35 for that long, my neck would probably break. It’s hard to say whether the Specialist will fit everyone as well as it fits me, but it if it does, kudos to NOX. While the earcups don’t rotate to accommodate your preferred headband angle, I found they sat perfectly on my ears and didn’t push hard at all on them. The lightness of the headset also helps make marathon sessions bearable. At a petite 0.3 pounds, it’s easy to forget you’re wearing it.
The look of the headphones, I should mention, is pretty nice. They come in a few colors — I think green is the best of them — and they’re quite nicely designed, though they won’t blow anyone away. I prefer in-ears for my day-to-day public headphones, but you could do worse than the Specialist if you have to take it to the street. One thing the headset could improve, though, is the cord and plugs. Gamers plug and unplug their headsets a lot, and this satin-finish rubber provides almost no grip at all to a sweaty-palmed gamer. The rubber does help keep loops and snags to a minimum, but braided cords with L-plugs on the end would be a definite improvement. It could be longer, too: 6 feet really should be the minimum allowed. As for Xbox 360 and PS3 compatibility: you’ll be paying extra for it. If you think you’re going to use the headset with more than just your PC, get the Negotiator bundle; it’s an extra $20 rather than the $60 you’ll pay if you buy the adapter separately. I only tested the Specialist on my PC, but the Negotiator looked simple enough to operate when I tried it out at CES and it could save you some clutter by letting you use one headset between your consoles and PC. Other headsets do this as well, of course, the AX Pro for instance, though that’s a much more involved affair. Conclusion: This headset is easy to recommend, though of course $80 is more than a lot of people are willing to pay. You can get a Razer Carcharias for less, or a G35 for a little more, so there are definitely options out there. But your money would be as well spent on the Specialist, especially so if you like your headphones compact and portable. Adding the Negotiator into the package brings it to a round $100, but if the alternative is to buy a separate headset for your 360, it’s not so bad. If you’re in the market for a comfortable, portable, and attractive headset, the Specialist is definitely worth your time. Product page: NOX Audio Specialist   
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| New Price For Older Xbox 360 Bundles As Best Buy Clears Shelf Space Posted: 30 Jul 2010 04:15 PM PDT
Both consoles will come with the 250GB hard drive, two wireless controllers and the game. Price is expected to be $299, a savings of $50 off MSRP. [via Joystiq]
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| Samsung’s Tablet: Android, 7-inch screen, August 11th announcement? Posted: 30 Jul 2010 03:21 PM PDT
Samsung has a real chance of being a player in the tablet game. From what we’ve heard so far, their offering will be basically a larger version of the Galaxy S cell phone, called the Galaxy Tab. It will run Android, presumable 2.2, on a 7-inch screen. There might even be a phone function, something the iPad lacks. A Reuters report published today echoes pretty much all of that but notes that Samsung is shooting for a Q3 release. Interestingly enough, shortly after that report hit, I got a fancy invite to some big Samsung event scheduled for August 11. Imagine that.
Notice that Tim Baxter, President of Samsung America is speaking and there will be an opportunity to “see new products.” It’s not that much of a stretch to think that the Samsung tablet will be announced at this event. That will give the press a couple of months to build-up the device before it launches at the beginning of the Christmas spending spree. It will also give developers some time to jump on the Android tablet bandwagon and tweak their apps for the device. Or I could be totally wrong and Samsung will show off some random 3D TV or clock radio. We’ll find out on the 11th.
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| Some Say He Can Fly. All We Know Is, He’s Called The Stig Copter! Posted: 30 Jul 2010 02:00 PM PDT
Meet the Stig-Copter. Mini-helicopters are quite fun, and this product looks to be a pretty high tech version of the breed. The heli is based around an aluminum frame, it’s rechargeable, and it gives you about 8-15 minutes of flight time per charge. The body is based on the design of The Stig’s helmet, giving the helicopter almost supernatural cornering, and the ability to translate Morse code. Now for the bad news; you’ll have to order from the UK, and it’ll cost you about $60, before shipping.
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| New York City Subway To Get Wi-Fi, Cellphone Service Posted: 30 Jul 2010 01:30 PM PDT
You'll soon be able to use your phone in the New York City subway system. It's part of a $200 million renovation of the system, which, well, not to say that it's falling apart, but it's seen better days. There used to be a W train, for example. Memories.
The plan to wire the subway, at least parts of it, is at least several years old. Several 14th Street stations were supposed to have been wired for Wi-Fi and cellphone service two years ago, but the company that was to do the wiring ran out of financing. An Australian company has now stepped in with the necessary dollars. Subway systems all over the world, including those in Berlin and Hong Kong, already have such communications capabilities. But again, I don't think it's too crazy to say that you'd rather see a fully functional subway system rather than a patchy one that just so happens to let you check into FourSquare as you stand on the platform.
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| Prediction: The RIM BlackPad Will Crash And Burn Just Like The Storm Posted: 30 Jul 2010 01:06 PM PDT
We all need to give major props to Research In Motion. They were really the first major player to make smartphones relevant by offering a nearly-bulletproof mobile emailing system to business. Eventually RIM started making consumer-orientated email devices that worked with personal email accounts. RIM really showed the world that you need email while you were away from your desk. But that’s where their claim to fame stops. Don’t misunderstand the Canadian company’s importance in consumer electronics' history. RIM ranks up there with the best of them, but unless the so-called BlackPad is targeted solely at businesses and enterprise users — and all signs suggest otherwise — the BlackPad will fail. I lived with a BlackBerry Storm for a year and a half. In fact, I just got rid of it for the Droid X. Before the Storm, I had a 7130e for two and a half years — my favorite phone of all time. BlackBerrys do a lot of things, but only one thing well: email. It’s still the best email device I’ve used partly because it’s clear that the OS was designed around that function and everything else was added later. That’s where the BlackPad is going to have trouble. All the extra add-ons and capabilities take second seat to email and that’s not going to fly in a consumer-originated tablet. People are going to expect the BlackPad to be an iPad and they’re going to be disappointed. RIM’s touchscreen OS is a sorry clone of iOS. iOS and its huge library of apps consumers were already familiar with is the iPad’s secret sauce. The BlackPad doesn’t have that. Oh, sure, there are BlackBerry apps available via RIM’s App World, but you can’t take any of those seriously. There are more fart machine apps in Apple’s App Store than there are applications in App World. There is one way I could be wrong. If RIM totally forgoes the consumer market and instead goes after the Cisco Cius and the HP Slate, the BlackPad might be here to stay. This would require RIM to go back to its roots and target business before consumers. The thought is that because emailing — and in some industries, video conferencing — is such a big part of everyday corporate life, a large tablet kind of makes sense. This way RIM could get by without any fancy apps and rather focus on just a few areas like emailing. Emailing on the iPad is fantastic. The form factor works well and in many ways, it’s better than using a smartphone. But many consumers can’t justify purchasing even the iPad just for one application. Its appeal is the vast range of tasks it can perform because of all the apps. Businesses are different. They are used to spending extra cash on silly one-task devices. RIM has a fantastic opportunity to develop with just them in mind. But that’s not how it’s going to go down. Just like the Storm before it, RIM is developing a clone of an Apple device. It will likely target the same consumer group with a similar, but far less appealing, feature set. The screen size will probably be around 10 inches, it will probably have limited connectivity options although USB and SD card slots are likely, and Verizon will probably have a competitively priced data plan. All this is a recipe for public humiliation rather than a financial flop. Remember back to before the Storm launched? It was the first device that was supposed to kill the iPhone. Verizon even had long lines reminiscent of iPhone launches. Then consumers tried the phone and found early versions to be buggy, slow, and overall gimmicky. The phone then went through a lot of criticism. It was the phone to hate and nearly everyone include myself took shots at it whenever possible. It was really that bad. But RIM kept on developing and supporting the phone. Apparently it wasn’t that big of a flop in RIM’s book, because the Storm 2 launched a few months back. The same thing will probably happen to the BlackPad. RIM’s touchsceen OS still hasn’t evolved into something better than iOS even though it can effectively multi-task. It’s still the same core OS that puts email before everything and it simply will not translate well into tablet form. Moreover, if it isn't the same but rather a totally different UI, then the BlackPad is in for even more hurt. It’s not that I want RIM to crash and burn. I truly enjoy most of their products. I even came to appreciate the Storm although longed for a proper touchscreen phone with quality apps. It’s just I hate seeing consumers duped into buying clones of other products. They are rarely as good as the original. We’ll talk again after the launch, but I guarantee the BlackPad isn’t going to offer one legitimate feature over the iPad.
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| Keuring Could Put RFID Chips In Their Coffee Pods Posted: 30 Jul 2010 12:54 PM PDT
It’s all very pie-in-the-sky right now with little information as to how the RFID tags will be used. However, it is an interesting move in the SSC world. For example, employees could get certain coffee types out of the machine with an RFID tag or the pods themselves could communicate with certain machines. You could also automate the pod process, creating an all-knowing coffee robot. It could happen.
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| University Of Central Florida Developing Motion-Controlled Abstinence Simulator Posted: 30 Jul 2010 12:50 PM PDT
I’m not going to object to using public money to promote abstinence — it’s useless, I feel, but a variety of approaches is surely justified in efforts to keep teen pregnancy rates down. My problem is that they’re spending so much — $434,000! — on a program that will not work, because A: the game looks really weird and B: middle school girls aren’t going to go for it. I mean really, a full-body motion capture studio? Who approved this budget? Did they not consider working with an existing studio to produce a game for the Kinect?
As Conrad points out at Destructoid, that kind of money would hire a couple extra teachers, maybe people with counseling credentials, people who could do an entire class on issues like this or be available every day to help kids deal with their problems. Anyway, if they really want an abstinence simulator, they could just put a camera helmet on me and have kids watch the 24-hour feed. Instruction and warning all in one!
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| Big Interview: The Philosophy Behind Best Buy And Future’s @Gamer Magazine Posted: 30 Jul 2010 11:30 AM PDT
Conventional wisdom says that it'd be a better idea to build a ladder to the moon than it would be to start a magazine in 2010. Apparently Best Buy disagrees. The retailer announced, some months back, that it would be starting a new video game magazine called @Gamer. (Pronounced "gamer"—ignore the @.) It hooked up with the good folks at Future, the same people who publish the World of Warcraft magazine, as well as Edge, PC Gamer, and Nintendo Power, to produce it. I had the good fortune to talk to the magazine's Editor-in-Chief, William O'Neal, and its Editorial Director, Julian Rignall, over the past few days to help get a better understanding of the magazine's raison d’être. Hooray for random French phrases. @Gamer is a monthly magazine that you'll be able to find at your local Best Buy. The first issue, with a cover story on EA's upcoming Medal of Honor reboot, is available now. Each issue features a number of coupons that can be used at Best Buy. $20 off this game, $10 off that one, etc. It was put together in only around 40 days. I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with magazine production, but 40 days is really quite swift. The first question you ask is, simply, "Why?" It's not like there's a dearth of video game information online, right? "The goal of the magazine is to offer gamers an easy, digestible way to make purchasing decisions for games and accessories and things like that," says William O'Neal, the magazine's Editor-in-Chief. "A lot of what's out there [magazines, blogs, etc.] caters to the same type of people, geared toward fairly hardcore people who are obsessed with minutiae to a certain degree." I realize that many of you are by definition "hardcore." Lord knows if you spend even two minutes on this site that you've clearly demonstrated an interest in technology and gaming and whatnot far above and beyond that of the average man on the street. But that's the very problem: there's so much out there for us, the hardcore, that the guy who goes to the mall once or twice a month and looks around the new release aisle in Best Buy doesn't really have anyone to turn to. "Not everybody wants to read a 3,000-word exposé on Cliff Blezinski," says O'Neal. "Some people just want to know whether or not the next Gears of War will be awesome or not." Julian Rignall, the Editorial Director, calls the magazine "boiled down." Hardcores may read it just because they read everything all the time, but casuals may see the magazine on the rack at the store and say, "A new Medal of Honor? I didn't know that." For the record, I like to read 3,000-word exposés on this or that. That's why I subscribe to Edge magazine, which is primarily known for its fanciness. And I am nothing if not a fancy man. Best Buy, you say? We all know my storied history with the company, but how do the suits there affect the content of the magazine? Do they sit in smoke-filled rooms and demand that Game X be on the cover even though the magazine's editors want Game B? No. "We dictate what we want to do, and that's that," he says. "The people at Best Buy who we actually deal with—and we on the editorial side of things don't really deal with Best Buy too, too much—are pretty hardcore gamers, it turns out. They realize that the magazine will only be beneficial to Best Buy if it's seen as a legitimate gaming outlet. Gamers can figure that out a mile away." Rignall agrees. "They all have a gaming background, all understand gaming, all understand magazines," he says. "They really 'get' the fact that if we're just a shill magazine, saying that every game is great, then nobody will buy the magazine. They understand that the editorial side of the magazine is over here, and that the little Best Buy bits [the coupons and whatnot] are on that side over there. There's a clear division." As you might expect, the magazine doesn't focus too much on everyday news. You won't see articles about how Tetsuya Nomura bought a new pair of pants, or that a GameStop in Peoria broke the street date of a game by 17 minutes. You will see big news, if only because there's the expectation that the people reading @Gamer, again, aren't spending every waking hour reading game news online. "Oh, they're making a 3D Nintendo DS? Cool!" Based on the first issue, there's a healthy mix of previews and reviews, both of which are kept fairly brief. Again, no 3,000-word articles on the new Sims 3 expansion. @Gamer doesn't get down like that, to use vernacular from 1989. The Internet! I asked the guys how they planned to use the Internet, if at all. (You'll note that @Gamer is already taken on Twitter. Mm.) O'Neal says that the primary focus of the magazine will be on just that: the print magazine. There may be online content, but it's a magazine above and beyond everything else. Rignall described it a little further. "There may be an online component in the future but it doesn't need to be huge," he says. "We [Future] already have one in Games Radar. The Web site will probably be a little more bloggy, a little more conversational. A sort of 'Here's what we're playing this week,' that kind of thing. But it won't be a news source or review source." No, that's what the magazine is for.
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| Chevy Volt’s 2012 Production Capacity Bumped From 30,000 to 45,000 Posted: 30 Jul 2010 10:50 AM PDT
Chances are this production bump is dependent on a successful roll-out of the first 10,000 vehicles slated to hit dealers later this year. If the $41,000 Volt quickly flops, then GM will probably scale the production numbers back to the initial estimate or less. GM has a lot riding on, not only the Volt, but also the Voltec platform. As I detailed yesterday, GM’s future doesn’t ride solely on the Volt, but rather the future vehicles that will employ the same electric/gas parallel hybrid powertrain. But the Volt still needs to be successful. If the Prius — and it’s nearly identical but more expensive Lexus cousin — has taught us anything is that some consumers couldn’t care less about actual gas savings. They’re after the perception that they do. DETROIT, Mich. – General Motors today said that thanks to strong public interest in the Chevrolet Volt, the 340-mile extended range electric vehicle, it will increase U.S. production capacity of the groundbreaking new car by 50 percent, from 30,000 units to 45,000 units, in 2012. The announcement came as U.S. President Barack Obama toured the Detroit-Hamtramck facility, where the Volt is being produced now for sale later this year. "The Chevrolet Volt provides drivers with the latest technology, outstanding innovation, and something no other electric vehicle can provide – peace of mind," said Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., GM Chairman and CEO. "We are very proud to host the President of the United States at this plant, where the future of the American automobile industry is being built today by the men and women of General Motors." The expanded U.S. production capacity is the latest in a series of positive developments for the Chevrolet Volt. This week, participating Chevrolet dealers in launch markets began taking customer orders for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, following the release of retail and lease pricing. The brand also recently announced unprecedented battery and vehicle limited warranties to bring value and peace of mind to Volt customers. And the number of U.S. launch markets for the vehicle recently was raised from three to seven. In the past few weeks, more than 25,000 people have joined the Chevrolet Volt enthusiast list. The Volt offers a total driving range of about 340 miles and is powered by electricity at all times. For up to the first 40 miles, the vehicle drives gas- and tailpipe-emissions-free using electricity stored in its 16-kWh lithium-ion battery. When the Volt's battery runs low, a gas-powered, engine/generator seamlessly operates to extend the driving range another 300 miles on a full tank. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant received $336 million in new investment to prepare for production of the Volt, part of more than $700 million GM has invested in eight Michigan facilities to support Volt production since 2008. This includes a 33,000 square-foot battery systems lab in Warren; a battery assembly facility in Brownstown Township; and supporting engine and stamping operations in Grand Blanc, Bay City, and three plants in Flint. Besides direct GM jobs, the Volt has helped spur additional supplier employment and investment. Earlier this month, battery cell supplier LG Chem/Compact Power Inc. broke ground on a $300 million, 650,000 square-foot plant in Holland, Mich., to support Volt production, creating 400 jobs. In addition, the Volt helped start an electrification trend. Since its debut in January 2007, other automakers have announced 30 plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles. About General Motors: General Motors, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 205,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 157 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.
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| You Think You’re High Tech? Why Don’t You Carry Around A Zune Lined With Thermite Posted: 30 Jul 2010 09:51 AM PDT
Back in the old days, when hackers were men, Blue Boxing was all the rage. If you’re not in the know, Blue Boxing is basically a process of sending tones down old telephone lines to enable free calls around the world. The boxes were the skeleton keys of their day and made a lot of people a lot of money. This article from Esquire in 1971 described a world of phone phreaks, hackers, and two boys named Jobs and Wozniak who basically paved the way for hackers woldwide. Here’s one of the best quotes in any computer story anywhere, and it was uttered four years before the first personal computer hit the streets.
Thermite? Fake radios? Syndicates? Damn. What did I ever do? Maybe act as a broker to buy a hard drive full of pirated car repair manuals.
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| Lord British, of Ultima fame, goes into space on the back of $27 million lawsuit settlement Posted: 30 Jul 2010 09:30 AM PDT
Lord British, now in space. The Ultima creator has spent $30 million hitching a ride aboard the commercial spacecraft Space Adventures. Bonus: he just won a $28 million settlement. Must be nice. Lord British, whose real name—yes, we're breaking kayfabe—is Richard Garriott, was fired from NCSoft after the game Tabula Rasa bombed. He spent some six years developing it. So, fired. But then NCSoft did something rather silly: it demanded he sell all of his stock within 90 days of being fired. This, despite the fact that his contract said he's have some 10 years to sell the stock. He sued for $47 million. He got $28 million. What's he doing now? Fiddling around with Facebook games. The moral of the story is that being rich will get you a trip to space. That, or build a time machine to when Nasa actually had money.
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| Is It Real, Or Is It A Bootleg Sony Vaio? Posted: 30 Jul 2010 09:00 AM PDT |
| FBI pokes around Defcon social engineering contest that tries to obtain corporate information Posted: 30 Jul 2010 08:30 AM PDT
The world-famous Defcon hacker conference is currently ongoing in Las Vegas, and we already have our first bit of controversy. (I fully expect plenty of "evil hackers do bad things" stories to pop up in the coming hours.) A social engineering contest that encouraged participants to try to social engineer their way into major corporations has drawn the ire of THE MAN, specifically the FBI. Always trying to ruin the fun, those guys. The contest wasn't all that complicated: contestants were put in soundproof booths (but with a microphone so that audience members could hear what was going on) and they were to try to social engineer their way up the food chain at various corporations. The point was to see who was able to social engineer their way to the "best" piece of information. Social engineering, of course, is the art of persuading people to tell you something, or give you information, that they're otherwise disinclined to tell or give. Because of the nature of the contest, and after consulting with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, contestants were bound to certain rules: no asking for sensitive information such as passwords. Says the rules, "If something seems unethical—don't do it. If you have questions, ask a judge." So what type of information were the contestants looking for? Mostly harmless nonsense, nearest I can tell. Listed examples include asking who handles your paper shredding or who takes out your trash. Again, harmless nonsense. But no! The banking industry was particularly concerned about the contest, going so far as to warn their employees, including legal departments, about it. I guess they didn't feel comfortable with someone asking questions about their practices. Real fine society we have here. The FBI was called in, and grilled contest organizers about the nature of the contest. Thankfully, after checking in, the FBI was satisfied, finally realizing that there was absolutely no cause for concern. Contest on!
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| UK body clears Google of Wi-Fi wrongdoing Posted: 30 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT Google has been cleared of any wrongdoing relating to Wi-Fi snooping in the UK. Well, partially cleared. The country's Information Commissioner’s Office, whose job is to "uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals," has said that "it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data" during its Street View mappings. The report added that there's also no evidence—yet—that any of the data Google collected "has caused or could cause any individual detriment." In essence, all the hubbub that was stirred up by various privacy groups and concerned individuals seems to have been overstated. Well, according to this one UK office. Google isn't free and clear quite yet. It's still under investigation in various European countries, including France and Germany, and there's still a class-action lawsuit pending against it here in the U.S. But if one prominent office says that it found no wrongdoing, what are the odds that another office will throw the book at Mountain View? This, of course, doesn't mean you should still feel comfortable with Google cars driving about your neighborhood, perhaps obtaining the name of your Wi-Fi access point, but there doesn't appear to be any "real" reason to be too upset.
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Here’s something you might have missed if you’re not in the UK. Top Gear is one of the most popular television programs in the world. With over 350 million viewers, it’s actually fairly surprising that there aren’t more licensed products out there. I guess James May could have his own line of “Captain Slow” sweaters, Hammond could sell hair products, and Clarkson.. Well, Clarkson could sell the Prius or something. At any rate, The Stig is one of the most popular (and enigmatic) cast members, and he’s finally got his own product.
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