Message date: 2009-12-25

Leave a comment: 2009

Whether you do the Christmas thing or not, you probably found yourself on either end of some gift giving this holiday season. We want to know, did you give or receive any amazing tech gifts this year? Of course there are the holiday staples–the videogames, the iPods, and digital cameras–and those are always great, but anything [...]
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A major development: Developers readying apps for a January 2010 tablet demo

Apple’s mythical tablet might be demoed during a rumored January 2010 introduction. It could ship in March 2010 and major newspapers are willing to put their credibility behind it. If the sheer amount of Apple tablet stories on Geek.com is any indication, the tech industry is fascinated by a non-existent portable device from Apple thought to [...]
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The computing power that created Avatar

Ever wonder what kind of computing power it takes to create fantastic visual effects for movies like James Cameron’s Avatar? The simple answer is, a lot. And when you need superior computing to crunch the numbers for those awesome looking movie effects, major Hollywood movie productions often look to a visual effects company called Weta [...]
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Orange aces augmented reality with Infinite Loop iPhone app

Although augmented reality has yet to transform me into the Snow Crash like techno-gargoyle I breathlessly anticipated I would be back in the cyberpunk throes of my teenage years, there’s just no denying the cool factor, and while the iPhone is a far cry from the virtual reality contacts the likes of William A. Gibson [...]
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Barnes & Noble promises Nook pre-order deliveries by Christmas

Barnes & Noble’s attractive, dual-screen e-reader has some problems with page refresh rates and the interface, but the most pressing problem for most customers who pre-ordered one is B&N’s seeming inability to deliver their Nooks before Christmas. However, there’s good news, albeit belated: Barnes & Noble now says they should be able to get the [...]
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FCC finds Verizon

It was just earlier this week that Verizon Wireless responded to a Federal Communications Commission “request for clarification” about their recent doubling of end termination fees, or ETFs, from $175 to $350. Verizon’s response was highly unsatisfying: they claimed that the doubled fees were “good for consumers” and claimed that they were still losing money [...]
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How To: Upgrading a MacBook hard drive

My MacBook has been a work horse since the day I purchased it. It has had some issues, most recently a hard drive death, but for the most part it has worked without issue. Of course, one thing that happens to your primary machine is that it runs out of space quick. This isn’t helped [...]
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San Francisco wants radiation warning labels on cell phones

There’s no real scientific evidence that your cellphone’s radiation will result in a pulsing, sentient cyst growing out of your forehead. Heck, even the FCC says they’re safe. But that’s not stopping various busy-body politicians from trying to make their names off of the crusade against cell phone radiation. Hot off the news that Maine [...]
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Appvent Calendar Day 24: Appvent Olympics

I was expecting something big these last two days from the Appvent Calendar. We knew there wasn’t going to be any free games, but a surprise instead and I have to say I am a bit disappointed. Yesterday there was a character creation competition and today it’s just more competitions, only this time there are [...]
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Quick Review: Speck iPhone cases

Both Sal and myself have experienced a cracked iPhone screen within the past couple of months. In my case my son grabbed the iPhone from me and then threw it (he’s less than two years old so I excuse that behavior) and in Sal’s case, it went for a pretty big fall. Sal previously detailed [...]
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Steve Jobs receives $1 salary for 2009

Normally if a CEO was offered a $1 salary for a year’s worth of work, they would most likely laugh at such a gesture. For the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs is most likely content with such a deal and is probably even happier with just still being here. According to the Associated Press, Apple indeed paid Jobs [...]
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Valve adds bots to Team Fortress 2

Christmas time usually means a few days off and therefore lots of time for gaming, but you also probably have to be sociable and spend time with family. Then there’s present wrapping, unwrapping, and lots of eating of nice food to sap your time. So getting together with friends for a game of your favorite [...]
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