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Sen. Ted Stevens (R), Alaska, who was made famous on the internet for his famous gaffes made while during the net neutrality debate several months ago. He compared the internet to a “series of tubes”, as opposed to a “big truck”, and ranted about how it took days for “an internet” his staff sent him to arrive. He also sponsored bill S.49, which was intended to block any site with user accounts from public schools and libraries. The FBI search is part of an ongoing investigation with the IRS of the senator’s ties to oil services companies. In his 80s Sen. Stevens is the longest currently serving senate member and the longest severing republican ever, this apparently makes him expertly qualified to deal with modern issues regarding the internet.
For more detail on this story goto abc.com
Author Archive for Will
Start Of Conference – 11:31
Jack Tretton- Showing Home -11:33
Jack Claims New kind of Conference – Talks about stage- Nervousness -11:35
Plans to Focus On Software This E311:35
50 Titles on All Sony Platforms To Be Shown During Conference 11:36
PSP and PS2 Games Shown – Nothing special 11:42
Sims 2 Cast Away on PSP – 11: 43
FFTactics PSP and Castlevania – 11:33
Back to Home With Jack He walks outside and makes ridge racer joke to kaz’s avatar- 11:45
Kaz on stage in pink shirt – 11:47
New PSP – Visualy Identical – Lighter and slimmer faster and more efficient – Video Out wow – 11:48
Continue reading ‘E3 2007: Sony Press Conference LiveBlog’
Today starting at 2:30 EDT (11:30 PDT) we will have our live coverage of Sony’s e3 press conference. Although last year’s press conference was criticized as weak it did offer some embarrassing gems such as “Riiiidge Racer” and “Giant Enemy Crab”. Whether or not we see any more awkward comments on things one thing remains true: This year more than ever it is important for Sony to prove that they are still a force in this generation. Also, there is a new MGS trailer which was flown in from Japan by Konomi execs which is sure to make any gamer, regardless of his console preferences, drool in anticipation.
The Official Playstation blog announced today that PS3 owners will get to download the much awaited MGS4 trailer from the Playstation Store as soon as Sony’s E3 conference ends. It is reported to be in HD with 5.1 surround sound and will definitly be a great addition to any eager MGS fans’s video collection.
via – Playstation.blog
Today IGN posted a of new set screenshots of Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft sequel which has been eagerly awaited by gamers for nearly 10 years. These can be found here and feature prevalently the new Protoss warp rays. Another important pice of PC news is a release window for spore. In an IGN interview a maxis exec states that Spore, Wil Wright’s new game, will be released some time soon after April 1st 2008. This in-depth interview can be found here.
Via IGN.com
Sony released their firmware update 1.80 which most notably, adds DVD, PS1, and PS2 upscaling to 1080p. This allows normally 480p displayed content to be sent to a TV in 1080p. This leverages one of the Cell’s strengths, media handling. Additionally Sony extended RemotePlay over the internet. This allows any PSP owner(after the next PSP update on the 27th) to access their PS3 stored content from any hotspot in the world. Also important is the addition of a DLNA enabled media client. This allows the ps3 to receive streamed content (video included) from any DLNA-Enabled devices, or from DLNA-enabled software like WMP11 and 10. These features, along with various other additions make this one of the most important firmware updates yet.
Full details here.
–Will Bertelsen
The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta was released yesterday albeit, dampened, due to the failure to enable the beta for Crackdown users. Crackdown, which included a beta invite on specially marked CDs, makes up the vast majority of beta users. However. none of them could download the beta untill 10:00 PM Eastern, 15 Hours after the announced release time. Additionally a significant number of Rule of 3 winners failed to receive the email with the code. Due to these issues the beta has been extended from July 6th to July 10th.
Expect a full analysis of the beta on this weeks Revenge of the Podcast.
–Will Bertelsen
At JavaOne, Sun Microsystems’ yearly developer conference, Sun announced JavaFX. JavaFX has been designed from the ground up to compete with Flash, AJAX, and other technologies for the rich web application market. Run on the locally installed JRE, JavaFX allows for near universal browser compatibility. Additionally this allows for use across the broad range of platforms that Java runs on. PDA’s, cell phones, and set-top boxes will all run the exact same code as their PC counterparts. Another potential capability is the offline use of applications, which would benefit popular AJAX apps like Google Docs. Future plans for the FX family is a development interface where a designer never has to see the code. This would allow web developers with little or no programming experience to develop and deploy feature rich software quickly. Sun has a rundown on all JavaFX’s features
[via internetnews.com]
–Will Bertelsen
Fark Redesign
Today in a surprise move the popular community website Fark.com has been totally redesigned. Rather tham a more traditional interface fark now employs a liberal selection of javascripty elements. While modernization is good the site seems to be running rather slow and in my opinion, is horribly ugly. Luckily some of the annoying and useless adds/menus have been removed from the left side. All i can say is see for your self: www.fark.com
Update: Heres what it looked like before.
–Will Bertelsen
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, is the newest installment in this classic RTS series. For the first time since EA bought the license the series is returning to its roots. Rather than a modern day RTS like Generals, Tiberium Wars is a direct sequel to Tiberian Sun. Importantly returning is the games namesake Tiberium, a mysterious crystalline substance which infects animals and land. Also back are the cheesy FMV cutscenes the series is famous for, however now they are in HD and feature some well known actors. Acting talent includes Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer and Grace Park, Star Wars’ Billy Dee Williams (He played Lando Calrissian) along with House’s Jennifer Morrison and SG-1 regular and voice of Sam Fisher; Michael Ironside. Dont worry fans, even with better known actors the dialog and costumes are just as campy.
Listen for a full review on the next Revenge of the Podcast!
-Will Bertelsen
LOTR Online: Public Beta
“The Lord of the Rings Online”, the mmo based on the LotR books, is inviting players around the world to its public beta. LotRO allows players to delve into J.R.R. Tolkien’s world and interact with some of his best known characters and locations. You can make your characters as Humans, Elfs, Hobbits, or Dwarfs, but at the same time play as some of Middle-Earths most fearsome monsters in dedicated Monster PVP areas. Sign up for the open beta here!
–Will Bertelsen
StarFox 64 On Wii VC!
StarFox 64, the highly popular n64 space shooter was released for the Wii Virtual Console for 1000 Wii points along with a NES TMNT game this week. StarFox 64, regarded as the last good entry in a once great series, is a welcome addition to the Wii VC lineup. Hopefully this release will remind gamers of their good memories of the series and give first time players their an enjoyable romp through the Lylat System.
-Will Bertelsen
via: Gamespot
E For All Expo Prices
Gamepro’s new convention, “E For All Expo”, was created after the news that industry juggernaut E3 will be a far smaller and more exclusive press event. Unlike E3 of years past “EFAE” will open admission to anyone willing to pay.
These prices are for online advance registration:
$45 for Thursday/Friday
$65 for Saturday/Sunday
$90 for a 4 day pass.
At the door these tickets will cost a bit more: $50, $75 and $110 respectively. E For All will take place October 18 – 21 in the LA convention center.
-Will Bertelsen
Since its PS3 release on the 22nd Stanford’s Folding@Home’s processing power has been given a considerable boost. As of Sat, 24 Mar 2007 10:48:41 the two OSs with the highest teraflop contributions were Windows at 152 TFLOPS and PS3 at 606 TFLOPS. In fact right now PS3s alone out power all other contributors put together.
Folding@Home uses idle CPU time on a range of platforms to crack to mysteries of protein folding and misfolding. Research into folding could hold key information than could be used to fight many as of yet incurable genetic diseases. Sony’s inclusion of this application, which is downloaded from the XMB rather that the store might have more than philanthropic motivations. It allows Sony to flex the muscles of the Cell Processor in a very high profile way, long before games are developed to truly tap it. The PS3 version of F@H has more of an advantage of processing power. Beautiful 1080p models of the protein are rendered for the user in either ball and stick, spacefill, or ISO surface mode. Serving as a backdrop is a earth model showing a yellow dot for each contributor.
Full current CPU stats
http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html
RotPod F@H Team:58107
-Will Bertelsen
Set for a March 22 release, PS3 Firmware 1.60 adds the long awaited background download functionality. This allows users to download software from the PSN store and continue to use the system (e.g. playing fl0w) while it downloads. This has been offered on the 360 since an update early last year. Also added in this update are other usability upgrades as well as the Folding@Home client. Another change of note: owners of 20gb systems will be able to enjoy remote play with their PSPs with this new update!
-Will Bertelsen
Via joystiq
Sony Press Release (jp)
flOw Mini-Review
Last month fl0w, the highly anticipated downloadable PS3 game was released. Now news has come out that Nintendo also attempted to bring the game onto their next-gen system; the Wii. Apparently Sony’s help in setting up their studio lead to the game arriving on the PS3, in 1080p no less. The game is far deeper than the flash version. It features 4 different campaigns featuring different types of creatures. The models are now 3D, making the organisms seem much more alive. More interestingly it is one of the first games to use the SIXAXIS motion sensing intuitively. The controller functions as a giant analogue stick with the x button used as a boost. The game looks good in 1080p, and you can see where the game looks better on the PS3 then it could have ever looked on the Wii. This game is defiantly a top choice on the PSN store and is worthy of purchase by anyone looking for some casual fun.
Full review coming on the next episode of ROTPOD.
-Will Bertelsen
PS3 Rumble Returns?
Immersion and Sony, who have been battling over the rumble technology used in the PS2s dual shock have come to an agreement today. In ending their in court battles both companies announced plans to explore putting rumble back into the playstation world.
SCEA Exec Kaz Hirai stated:
“We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers”
The current SIXAXIS, which dose not incorporate rumble, has been the subject of much displeasure from both gamers and devs. Hideo Kojima himself, responsible for one of the most anticipated PS3 games; MSG4, expressed his remorse at the loss of rumble, which he used extensively in the previous Metal Gear Solid games. Sony’s current stance is that rumble was removed because it interfered with the accelerometers. The Wiimote however, which uses a similar system, did include rumble. Should a rumble feature be included in First Party controllers it would help quiet some of the PS3 skeptics.
-Will Bertelsen
via Yahoo Finance / SCEA
Star Trek XI – DEC 08
Yesterday Paramount officially confirmed the long rumored Star Trek movie entitled “Star Trek XI”. More importantly they gave a firm release date of December 25th 2008. With a Christmas release it’s clear that Paramount is taking this venture seriously. Produced by J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III), the film will be a prequel to TOS and will feature a young Spock and Kirk in the Academy. Much controversy surrounds the as of yet unannounced choices for Kirk and Spock. This is the first time in franchise history that a major character has been played by a new actor. Added to the fact that both Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner are so closely identified with their Star Trek characters, any choice will be sure to piss a significant faction of Trekkies off. No matter who they choose, any sort of film success will be important in getting Trek back on its TV home. The franchise survived for years after TOS ended on the shoulders of the often mediocre movies while TV has been trekless since the prequel “Enterprise” failed miserably.
-Will Bertelsen
PAL PS3 EE Removal
The Emotion Engine and the Reality Synthesizer are the heart of both the PS2 and the NTSC PS3 backwards compatibility. The EE however will not be making the journey across the pond. Backwards compatibility will be handled through software emulation, like the 360s. Sadly there will be less games that work. While for a few days rumors of this have been flying around, the situation was confermed by SCEE’s blog Three Speech.
Three Speech
–Will Bertelsen
ComicCon 2007: Saturday
TODAY WAS THE SECOND DAY OF COMICCON!! It was totally sold out! We got to Javits ~11:00 AM and although the show had been open for an hours, the entry line stretched around the center and down 2 blocks. We got inside at noon and were greeted with a packed con. Unfortunately we missed the Q/A with BSG cast members but the day was only beginning. Comics, manga, toys, weapons and dvds were all for sale, with choices for every taste. The 1st floor gaming lounge is probably the bets kept secret of the con. Free from the omnipresent crowds and filled to the ceiling with free Rockstar stuff this oasis of gaming fun was a good refuge for any one looking for a break from all the comics. Todays big event: 1.5 hour Q/A with Clerks director and fellow New Jerseyan Kevin Smith. More on that later but to : Hilarious. Comic Con seems to be less crowded this year, even though there seem to bee just as many or more people. It also seems cleaner and more organized. Its nice to see this young con grow into its own!
-Will Bertelsen
