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Honda has been hard at work trying to get back on track with so many catastrophes hitting the company and even though the car company is usually lethargic and conservative they usually deliver well built vehicles. Honda is a company that is not afraid to offer new vehicles such as the FCX Clarity or the Civic Natural Gas and for their insight and engineering I salute them. Today Honda has once again delivered a vehicle that could certainly bring in some urban dwellers that are looking to cut out oil completely and go electric. The 2014 Honda Fit EV is their ticket to getting a versatile vehicle that has plenty of interior room, especially for a compact little car.

As for the Fit EV it received the top spot for EV’s as the EPA delivered its results. 118MPGe is the rating that the Honda Fit EV received with a combined range of city and highway driving of 82 miles of range which tops even the golf cart like Mitsubishi i-MiEV. So this will probably cause Mitsubishi to start losing out on a few sales but since there will only be about 1,000 Honda EV Fit vehicles being leased in only California and Oregon this year means that Mitsubishi should still be able to move some metal. What will draw in some Fit buyers is the fact that this car is delivering 188 lb-ft of torque and has a sporty suspension setup so this could actually be a fun little car to drive.

Delivery of the 2014 Honda Fit EV to the west coast starts this summer and then east coast gets it next year. Honda will start the program as a lease only and will likely start offering them for sale as a 2014 model , as for the price for a Fit EV looks to be in the range of $40,000 which will be about $10,000 less with government subsidies. Look for all EV’s to start getting updated batteries as we have already seen the Chevy Volt get. Honda claims that the 2013 Fit EV is able to recharge in three hours with a 240-Volt kit which is helping to draw in customers. So look for there to be massive advancements in the EVs that will benefit all of us as they become more convenient and better at distance and efficiency.

Posted in: Honda

2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe

6:28 AM

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There is something to be said when you drive a nice luxury coupe such as the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe. This car tells others that you are either a well to do professional that likes to wrap it up or that you are an empty nester looking to drop those keys into a bowl in the hopes that someone more attractive picks it out. What I am trying to say through this bizarre analogy is that a coupe symbolizes freedom and these coupes symbolize badass looks with a little bit of performance stuffed under the bonnet. From a 1.8L to a 6.3L there is fuel efficiency and then there is speed.

The 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-250 Coupe starts at $37k and offers the Turbo 1.8L. With the 4 banger you get 201 hp and 31 mpg’s on the highway through a 7-speed automatic transmission. Good gas mileage but not good performance. If you or daddy can fork out $42k you can get the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C- 350 Coupe that sports a 3.5L V6 that produces 302 hp. Fuel economy drops but only to 28 mpg on the highway. If you want the muscle car tire melting ability then you need to look at the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe that pumps out 451 hp thanks to its monster 6.3L AMG V8. The AMG C63 gets you from 0-sexy in 4.4 secs. The problem with all that fun is that you are only going to get 19 mpg on the highway if and only if you can keep your foot off the gas pedal, which is impossible. The AMG C63 comes at a price of $61k but hey it’s an AMG. If you have more money then you can go for the AMG C63 Performance Special Edition or for the Black Edition but that’s top secret.

These coupes are set to offer a little bit of everything. If you want luxury but have a commute or like trees and baby seals then the C250 is your ride. If you need a little more oomph then the 302 hp C350 is what you need. Still decent on gas as well as power and is the perfect all around vehicle as well as makes a great inclement weather and road trip car with the available 4Matic AWD system. Then if you are balls out ready to slide sideways and ruin some rubber then the powerful and sought after 2013 C63 AMG is the top pick. Either one you choose you will be getting a good looking coupe.

Categories: Mercedes Benz Tags:

Posted in: CClass,Coupe,MercedesBenz

The 2013 Nissan Xterra

2:53 AM

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Over 5 years ago big massive dinosaur SUV’s roamed the land and had quite an ability to go anywhere although they usually roamed around on smooth surfaces. As more and more SUV’s started roaming the land, their food was becoming scarcer and although they were surviving, they were stressed. Then in 2007 a comet of financial burden would crash down and caused many SUV’s to become extinct as their owners could not afford them anymore. Owners wanted a dinosaur that were less destructive and hungry and that’s when all the auto manufacturers started euthanizing the SUV. Today we see that auto manufacturers with the exception of Jeep are executing their SUV’s with extreme prejudice. On the plus side Jeep sales are great and they are thanking all the other manufactures for scrapping their programs.

So what is Nissan to do, they have already turned the Nissan Pathfinder 2013 Model into a nose coned minivan and have Xterra fan boys and girls such as myself that are asking for a continuation of this inexpensive means to outdoor freedom. The problem is that market trends don’t look to hot as everyone either wants a fat-ass 7-passenger minivan crossover thingy or they want a cute little crossover that can’t go off more than a dirt road. So hopefully we will see that there is some life still in the 2013 Nissan Xterra. The Nissan Xterra has been a large seller for Nissan in the past but is not really producing any wow figures. What may save the Xterra is the Frontier. As these two vehicles share everything but a bed (get it) they are pretty much like one vehicle that is just optioned heavily. But Frontier sales have been good to Nissan as it is only second to the Rogue in Nissan truck sales.

So hopefully Nissan will go back to the roots of the Xterra and give us a capable off-road vehicle for cheap and startit off with no frills in the interior because we are just going to mount GPS’s, Tilt Gauges, Mag-Light holders and GoPros on the dash anyways. We just need the beefy powertrain and maybe some MPG’s can be squeezed out as well. But look for the Direct Injected 3.7 L to go into this baby and a starting price tag of around $25K. As we get updates we will post them.

Posted in: Nissan,Xterra

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

2013 FFR Project 818

11:21 PM

cyber

Ok so you are at the track and you have been working on fine tuning your mom’s Ford Escort in order to throw down some better times. You and your friends have been working on the car but since you’re from the poor side of town you don’t have thousands of dollars to throw down on a Lotus Elise. Well that is about the time as Fred Maximillion Percilus Blueblood Jr III comes by with his Lotus Elise and challenges you to a race and the winner gets the girl. So what do you do? Well Factory Five Racing has you covered as they may just be introducing the answer to all our “blue collar” racing needs.

Factory Five Racing has long been a builder of replica Shelby Cobras as well as Daytonas. These replicas and others are impressive to say the least as they are not fragile little fiberglass rides with a VW engine powering it. These vehicles can be used as daily drivers if one was so inclined. The company has now decided to take on its next challenge and that is a fast and inexpensive racecar for the masses and that my friends, has us very interested.

The vehicle is known as the Project 818 as it stands for the weight which is 818 kg or 1800 lbs. The kit is setup with a tubular frame and utilizes as many parts from a 2002-2007 Subaru Impreza and WRX as possible. The result is a low price vehicle that can be repaired and worked on cheaply if there is ever the need. As for the price of the kit it seems that Factory Five Racing wants to shoot for a target price of under $10,000 for the non-running kit and $15,000 for everything. So if this is the case you can easily have a 227 hp Turbo that can be boosted or fit an STI engine and make 300 hp stock. These engines can of course be custom built and make as much as 1,000 hp but that will be up to you. So we await word on the final price of the Project 818 and will be sure to update you all when we get word. So start looking for donor Subaru’s.

Posted in: Project

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Inmate upsets Obama in US primary

11:35 PM

cyber

9 May 2012 Last updated at 18:57 GMT Keith Judd in a prison photo in 2008

Keith Judd is due to be released from prison in June 2013 US President Barack Obama had to fight off stiff competition from a convict in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.

Although Mr Obama's path to his party's nomination to run for a second term is all but assured, the result underlines his unpopularity in the state.

Texas federal inmate Keith Judd won about 41% of voters in the poll, while Mr Obama took 59% of the vote.

Mr Obama lost the state in the general election in 2008.

As of January, he held a 33% approval rating in West Virginia.

Judd was able to get on the ballot by filing a form and paying $2,500 fee, a state spokesman said.

He is in a federal prison in Texarkana after an extortion conviction for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999.

The Obama administration's energy policies have upset West Virginia's powerful coal industry.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Senator Joe Manchin, both Democrats, have declined to say if they will support Mr Obama in the upcoming election.

Candidates normally qualify for delegates to the party's national convention by attracting 15% of the vote in the state.

However, state party executive director Derek Scarbro told the Associated Press that no-one has filed to be a delegate for Judd. They also believe Judd has failed to file other paperwork required of presidential candidates.

Posted in: Inmate,Obama,primary,upsets

Media Center yanked from Windows 8 Release Preview, here's how to re-enable it

8:13 PM

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Microsoft has already said that Windows Media Center will be available to Windows 8 users as a separate, paid for add-on, rather than being integrated into the OS as was the case with the last two releases of Windows. Although it was still present in the Consumer Preview, if you’ve already installed the new Release Preview build you may have noticed that the media center software is nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, there is a way to enable Media Center in Windows 8 Release Preview for free so users can continue testing it in the interim. Also, if you want to play DVDs on Windows 8, Media Center or a third-party app are required, as Microsoft decided not to include DVD and Blu-ray playback by default anymore.

Here are the instructions as detailed on a Microsoft Windows 8 Release Preview FAQ:

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.)Enter add features in the search box, and then tap or click Add features to Windows 8.Tap or click I already have a product key.Enter this product key: MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7 and then click Next.Select the checkbox to accept the license terms and then click Add features.Your PC will restart and the Windows Media Center tile will be pinned to the Start screen.

This is the same procedure users will need to follow when adding Media Center to the final version of Windows 8 — save for the fact that you’ll need to pay for the license key. Microsoft hasn’t revealed exactly how much the upgrade will cost yet, besides saying that "it will be in line with marginal costs".

Posted in: Center,heres,Media,Preview,reenable,release,Windows,yanked

Judge rules in favor of Google, APIs cannot be copyrighted

4:16 PM

cyber

google, android, oracle, judge, infringement, jury, apis, copyright

US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco has ruled against Oracle in their lawsuit with Google. The judge declared that copyright law does not reside over APIs, specifically in this case, with Google’s use of Java when they developed the Android mobile operating system.

Last month a jury found that Android does not infringe on patents from Oracle. The search giant was being charged with eight counts of infringement that covered two separate patents. The jury determined that Google did infringe on 37 Java APIs when they were creating Android but they were unable to ascertain if its use constituted as “fair use” under copyright law. Without a ruling here, Oracle was unable to proceed and collect damages which is where this latest ruling comes into play.

Alsup said that Google didn’t copy Oracle’s programming code in Android but rather wrote their own code to replicate the same functions. Google reportedly used some of the same phrases in their code but it was necessary to maintain the same level of interoperability. He concluded that names, titles and phrases aren’t covered by copyright law which is what Google’s use amounted to.

Company spokesperson Deborah Hellinger told Bloomberg that Oracle plans to appeal the ruling.

“This ruling, if permitted to stand, would undermine the protection for innovation and invention in the United States and make it far more difficult to defend intellectual property rights against companies anywhere in the world that simply takes them as their own,” said she in an e-mailed statement.

Google is still responsible for using nine lines of Java code in Android but the charge is limited to statutory damages not exceeding $150,000, a far cry from estimated $1 billion payout Oracle was seeking.

Posted in: cannot,copyrighted,favor,Google,Judge,rules

Intel launches second wave of Ivy Bridge processors ahead of Computex

1:13 PM

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Intel officially launched its Ivy Bridge architecture back in April with over a dozen third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors, all but one of them being quad-core parts destined for high-performance laptops and desktops. Now, the company is following up with another 14 processors to the line-up, only this time the chips are mainly dual-core parts catering to a number of different market segments and platforms.

The new additions consist once again of both Core i7 and Core i5 parts. Of the 14 processors, six are desktop-grade Core i5s — five quad-core parts and a single dual core — while the remaining eight are mobile processors split evenly between the standard mobile version (marked with an "M" suffix) and the ultra-low-power variants we’ll soon start seeing inside in Ultrabooks (with a "U" designation).

Desktop parts are priced between $184 and $205 in 1,000 bulk quantities, topping out with the Core i5-3570 clocked at 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) and featuring a TDP of 77 Watts. Meanwhile, the new mobile processors are priced between $225 and $346. The standard 35W parts top out with the Core i5-3520M clocked at 2.9GHz, while the i7-3667U leads the pack for ultra-low-power variants clocked at 2.0GHz.

All chips offer PCIe 3.0 support as well as features like Intel Secure Key, OS Guard, and Virtualization technologies. Detailed specifications of these new processors are available in the tables below.

As far as Ultrabooks are concerned, Intel says it has a whopping 110 different ultrabooks in the pipeline now, 30 of them featuring touch screens and 10 offering convertible designs. They’ve also slightly tweaked their definition of what it takes to build an Ultrabook, mandating either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt, Intel Identity Protection and Intel Anti-Theft support, and have storage that is “responsive while active.”

Third generation Intel Core desktop processors

CPU modeli5-3570i5-3570Si5-3475Si5-3470i5-3470Ti5-3470S

Third generation Intel Core mobile processors

CPU modeli5-3210Mi5-3320Mi7-3360Mi5-3520M

Third generation Intel Core mobile ultra processors

CPU Modeli5-3317Ui53427Ui73517Ui7-3667U

Posted in: ahead,Bridge,Computex,Intel,launches,processors,second

Lichtenstein sale sets new record

9:20 AM

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10 May 2012 Last updated at 08:35 GMT The hammer drops on Roy Lichtenstein's Sleeping Girl and Andy Warhol's Double Elvis

A work by Roy Lichtenstein has sold at auction for nearly $45m, a new record for the US Pop Art icon.

Sleeping Girl, from 1964, went for $44.9m (£27.8m) at Sotheby's New York sale of post-war and contemporary art.

The same sale saw Andy Warhol's Double Elvis, a life-sized silver silkscreen image of Elvis Presley depicted as a cowboy, fetch $37m (£23m).

The artwork, one of 22 Warhol dedicated to the famous singer, had been expected to sell for as much as $50m (£31m).

The sale came a day after another New York auction saw a 1961 painting by Mark Rothko set a new record for a contemporary artwork sold at auction.

Orange, red, yellow sold for $86.9m (£53.8m) at Christie's.

And last week, Sotheby's sold a version of Edvard Munch's The Scream for $119.9m (£74.3m), making it the most expensive artwork to go under the hammer.

Al Weiwei exhibited his sunflower seed exhibition in London in 2011

Wednesday's sale also saw dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei sell a portion of his porcelain Sunflower Seeds installation for a record $782,500 (£484,919).

The lot comprised about a tenth of the 100 million seeds displayed at Tate Modern in 2011, where safety fears about ceramic dust saw them cordoned off from visitors.

A Francis Bacon work from 1976 went under the hammer as well, fetching almost as much as the Roy Lichtenstein canvas.

Yet while Figure Writing Reflected in Mirror sold for an impressive $44.8m (£27.8m), it only amounted to half of the record price set in 2008 when one of Bacon's Triptychs sold for $86.3m (£53.5m).

Tate Britain announced this week that it will host a major retrospective of Lichtenstein's work in spring 2013.

Posted in: Lichtenstein,record

Michele Bachmann becomes Swiss

5:22 AM

cyber

9 May 2012 Last updated at 17:09 GMT Michele Bachmann walks down the Supreme Court steps 28 March 2012

Michele Bachmann husband was born to Swiss parents who settled in the US after their wedding Minnesota congresswoman and former US presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is now a citizen of Switzerland.

Mrs Bachmann, 55, is eligible for dual citizenship through her husband, who is of Swiss descent, a spokeswoman said.

A three-term Republican, Mrs Bachmann went through the process with her family when some of her children wanted to become dual citizens.

Mrs Bachmann, who herself has Norwegian ancestry, is now eligible to hold office in Switzerland.

When asked about running a campaign in Switzerland by Swiss national television, Mrs Bachmann joked that the competition "would be very stiff", referring to the Swiss parliamentarians she was meeting with on Tuesday.

While Mrs Bachmann is now registered in the canton of Thurgau in northeast Switzerland, she told Swiss TV she enjoyed visiting all different parts of the country.

"It's tough to find a place not to like in Switzerland," she said.

The Minnesota congresswoman ran for the Republican presidential nomination, but dropped out early in 2012 when she came sixth in the Iowa caucus.

As a presidential candidate she was the outspoken favourite of the Tea Party movement. Her blend of evangelical Christian social conservatism and fierce anti-tax rhetoric propelled her to the top tier of the Republican primary race in the summer of 2011.

She is now campaigning for another term in Congress representing Minnesota.

Posted in: Bachmann,becomes,Michele,Swiss

Microsoft SkyDrive update adds Windows 8 sync, other improvements

2:00 AM

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microsoft, windows, windows live, cloud, windows 8, mac os x, update, launch, upgrade, release, win8, microsoft skydrive, live.com, windows 8 rp, ipho

The client software for SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage solution, has been updated for both Windows and Mac OS X. Build 16.4.4111.0525 adds improved Windows 8 integration, specifically with photos and goes on to address a number of bugs and quirks. The update also aims to improve performance and the overall user experience.

Probably the biggest change in SkyDrive's client software is its Windows 8 photo manager integration. When a user logs in with their Microsoft account (a.k.a. Windows Live), the Windows 8 Photo app will work with photos from the associated SkyDrive account. This new feature will also work with the Windows 8 Release Preview, something Microsoft just released for public consumption today.

Other changes include a bump from 150,000 files to a maximum of 10 million, improved reliability in both terms of syncing and stability and quicker folder updates. In April, Microsoft had lowered the 25GB of space to 7GB but upped the maximum file size to 2GB. More storage can be purchased at a premium.

Windows 8 integration obviously isn't useful for Mac users. However, those who do use SkyDrive on their Macs may be pleased to know that the annoyingly persistent SkyDrive icon has been taken out back and shot.

If you already have SkyDrive installed, the update should be pushed out automatically -- SkyDrive just needs to be running. Windows users can check to see what version they are using by right-clicking on the SkyDrive icon in the system tray (right corner of the task bar) and clicking "Settings" from the menu. For Mac users, bring the SkyDrive application into focus, click the "Settings" menu at the top of the screen and then click "About". The latest build number should be 16.4.4111.0525.

If you don't have SkyDrive and would like to give it a whirl, you can download it here (Mac & PC). This installer will update to the latest version during setup.

Not sure what cloud storage is best for you? You may also want to check out our very own cloud storage comparison.

Posted in: improvements,Microsoft,other,SkyDrive,update,Windows

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Microsoft talks IE10, "Do Not Track" will be enabled by default

10:00 PM

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microsoft, ie10, internet explorer, preview, fcc, w3c, government, windows 8, privacy, tracking, internet explorer 10, cookies, do not track, dnt, track, touchscreen, test drive, msdn, d

Yesterday, Microsoft posted an interesting look at the current state of Internet Explorer 10 on its MSDN blog. In the article, readers will discover that Microsoft is touting a faster and more fluid experience, natural touch and gesture control, metro-influenced design elements and -- to the dismay of advertisers everywhere -- "Do Not Track" will be enabled by default.

For starters, IE10 will better appeal to the fine sensibilities of touchscreen users. Unsurprisingly, the browser will be bundled with Windows 8 -- an operating system which is expected to be found on tablets and other touchscreen devices. As a result, Microsoft is touting its very own MSGesture touch gesture API which was inspired by Surface.

Other mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS include their own touch gesture APIs, but Microsoft appears to be improving upon those systems with a richer set of capabilities. IE10 will also come bundled with a touch-optimized version of Adobe Flash.

One of the most interesting elements about IE10 though, is its bold decision to turn on Do Not Track by default.

DNT, for those who aren't familiar with the idea, is an evolving, voluntary standard (or should I say set of non-standards?) by which users can opt out of web-based tracking mechanisms via a web browser setting.

There does not seem to be a central consensus on how to do this best. Firefox, for example, requires the website you're visiting to support and respect DNT while Chrome implements it only through an extension which prevents cookies from being persistent. Internet Explorer, on the other hand, takes Mozilla's voluntary approach but supplements it with a curated DNT protection list which blocks untrusted websites that don't honor DNT.

IE's respectively heavy-handed approach to DNT is one of two reasons why Microsoft's decision to turn it on by default is so fascinating.

The second reason? According to the Wall Street Journal, by enabling DNT out of the box, Microsoft is breaking an agreement made with the White House by the Digital Advertising Alliance -- a consortium which includes Microsoft as a member. The DAA is likely concerned about Microsoft's unilateral decision because tracking is valuable to advertisers and advertising, as we all know, is what makes much of the web go 'round.

Interested in trying it out? The latest version of IE10 is bundled with the Windows 8 Release Preview that was made publicly available on May 31. Unfortunately, IE10 Release Preview 6 is only available for Windows 8.

Posted in: default,enabled,Microsoft,talks,Track

Windows 8 Release Preview is out, download now

6:25 PM

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windows, download, beta, windows 8, operating system, release previ

Microsoft accidentally leaked yesterday that Windows 8 Release Preview would become available today and indeed, it's now here, download links are below. Windows 8's development has been considerably more open than on previous releases, we believe in part so Microsoft could introduce and tweak the new Metro interface, which has become the new face of the Windows operating system.

The combination of the new Metro-based Start screen and the traditional desktop has been criticized by many, but at this point it's become apparent there's no turning back. Microsoft is betting heavily on a new paradigm that has the traditional PC and upcoming tablets sharing a common user interface, which also resembles Windows Phone OS’ latest efforts.

We’ll bring you more details on Windows 8 Release Preview changes and new features shortly.

Download: Windows 8 Release Preview 32-bit, 64-bit or Upgrade Assistant

Product Key: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF

Also available: Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate | Windows 8 Driver Kit

Key Features and Changes

It delivers new Bing apps, including ones for Travel, News and SportsImprovements to Mail, Photos and People apps since the Consumer PreviewIncreased personalization options for the Start screenImproved multi-monitor supportRefinements to the way people find and download apps through the Windows StoreNew Family safety features and enriched privacy and security controls when browsing online, including Do Not Track capabilities being turned on by default with Internet Explorer 10Enriched support for touch with Internet Explorer 10, including a new capability with the Release Preview called “flip ahead” that allows users the option to flip between pages with the swipe of a finger, as well as a touch-friendly Adobe Flash Player now fully integrated into IE10; IE10 is also the first browser to enable Do Not Track “on” by default, giving customers more choice and control over their privacy

Here's a handy list of relevant Windows 8 stories, so you can catch up while you download:

Posted in: download,Preview,release,Windows

Weekend game deals: 75% off Serious Sam 3, Killing Floor, AvP

2:37 PM

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killing floor, serious sam, aliens vs predator, a

It's a great time to grab outstanding indie games on your wishlist, between the dozens of individual titles discounted on Steam and the deals offered by Indie Royale and the Humble Indie Bundle. Also of note is the first playable (alpha) release of StarForge, an upcoming free-to-play game described as Halo meets Minecraft. Other deals include 50-75% off Saints Row: The Third, Battlefield 3, Killing Floor, Dead Island, and Serious Sam 3: BFE. As a reminder, we're giving away one copy of Diablo III or Max Payne 3.

Steam
84 Saints Row: The Third $16.99 (66% off)
83 Worms Reloaded: GotY $8.50 (66% off)
83 Worms Complete Pack $27.20 (66% off)
85 Super Meat Boy $5.10 (66% off)
88 Braid $2.50 (75% off)
82 Dungeon Defenders $7.49 (50% off)
90 World of Goo $3.00 (75% off)
81 The Binding of Isaac $2.00 (60% off)
77 Stacking $7.49 (50% off)
67 Zombie Driver $2.00 (80% off)
61 The Baconing $2.99 (80% off)
81 Osmos $3.00 (70% off)
78 Vessel $9.99 (33% off)
86 Frozen Synapse $12.49 (50% off)
81 And Yet It Moves $2.50 (75% off)
79 Capsized $4.00 (60% off)
69 Q.U.B.E. $7.49 (50% off)
83 Anomaly: Warzone Earth $4.00 (60% off)
76 Avadon: The Black Fortress $4.99 (50% off)
Double Fine Bundle $14.99 (50% off)
Psychonauts $4.99 (50% off)
Cave Story+ $4.99 (50% off)
Really Big Sky $2.50 (75% off)
Lunar Flight $2.50 (75% off)
Gish $3.40 (66% off)
Bit.Trip Runner $4.00 (70% off)
Eufloria $5.10 (66% off)
Jamestown $4.99 (50% off)
Fieldrunners $2.99 (40% off)
Waves $3.00 (70% off)
Eets $3.00 (70% off)
Edge $3.20 (60% off)
Zen Bound 2 $2.00 (60% off)
Two Tribes Pack $5.60 (60% off)
More...

Amazon Digital
77 Plentiful Paradox Package $12.49 (91% off)
86 Crusader Kings II $9.99 (75% off)
84 Rift $5.58 (72% off)
78 Tropico 4 $19.99 (50% off)
81 Tropico 3 $4.41 (56% off)
More...

GameStop
79 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution $14.99 (50% off)
76 Arma 2 $19.99 (60% off)
88 Rayman Origins $20.09 (33% off)
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc $4.99 (50% off)
Titan Quest Gold $4.99 (75% off)
More...

GamersGate
88 Battlefield 3 $29.98 (50% off)
86 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 $5.99 (70% off)
88 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam $4.49 (70% off)
67 Aliens vs Predator $5.08 (75% off)
Precursors $9.98 (50% off)
UFO Trilogy $6.00 (70% off)
75% off select Civilization V content
More...

Green Man Gaming
77 Killing Floor $5.98 (75% off)
75 Dead Island $11.99 (60% off)
78 Tomb Raider: Anniversary $6.99 (29% off)
More...

GameFly
75 Serious Sam 3: BFE $9.99 (75% off)

Games for Windows
62 Faery: Legends of Avalon $7.49 (50% off)

GOG
50% off the Ultima and Wing Commander series

Posted in: deals,Floor,Killing,Serious,Weekend

Megaupload's lawyers file notion for dismissal due to lack of jurisdiction

10:45 AM

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united states, megaupload, court, copyright infringement, kim dotcom, legal action, indictme

Following a New Zealand court ruling ordering the US Government to share all evidence relating to the criminal charges of the accused on Tuesday, attorneys representing Megaupload filed a notion in the Alexandria District Court to throw out the criminal copyright charges (PDF) brought against the file-sharing website due to lack of legal jurisdiction.

"Megaupload does not have an office in the United States, nor has it had one previously," Megaupload's lawyers wrote in the motion filed with the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. "Service of a criminal summons on Megaupload is therefore impossible." The filing pointed out that even if the US was successful in extraditing Doctom, it would still be unable to satisfy the second part of rule 4.

"The Federal Rules do not contemplate service of a criminal summons on a wholly foreign corporation without an agent or offices in the United States. Wholly foreign corporations, therefore, may not be prosecuted for alleged violations of federal criminal law unless they waive service. In short, a corporation such as Megaupload cannot be brought within the jurisdiction of this Court for criminal proceedings absent its consent."

This marks an important point in the ongoing legal battle and follows an earlier hearing in which the court acknowledged that Megaupload not having been served was an "issue." In a remark that could prove very damaging to the US Government's case against the file-sharing website, the court even admitted that it "frankly didn't know that we are ever going to have a trial in this matter."

Speaking on Radio New Zealand, Ira Rothken, a member of Megaupload's legal counsel said, "the law here in the United States is that you can't indict and then serve a company that does not have a presence in the United States [...] This case was flawed from the start, once this case gets dismissed it cannot be fixed."

Dotcom's legal counsel also filed a second notion requesting (PDF) that assets seized as a result of the raid on his residence be unfrozen to allow them to fund their defense. The filing also highlighted the key points of argument should it reach court: "Patent law, from which the Grokster Court borrowed the 'inducement' rule is exclusively civil in nature," the brief stated. "There is no such thing as criminal liability for patent infringement."

"The Government has stepped in to transmogrify the doctrine of secondary infringement, as fashioned by the courts for civil copyright cases, into a crime and to wield its prosecutorial pretrial powers to snuff out an innovative technology," Megauploads lawyers argued. The consequence of doing so would risk "upsetting the essential balance that Congress and the Supreme Court have taken such care to strike and maintain."

"We'll respond at the appropriate time in court," a spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office for the District of Virginia said in an emailed statement to CNet,

Posted in: dismissal,jurisdiction,lawyers,Megauploads,notion

Rumor: Apple to demo new Apple TV OS at WWDC, will be used on iTV

7:20 AM

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Apple could be preparing to demonstrate a new operating system for the Apple TV set-top box at the Worldwide Developers Conference in a couple of weeks. The OS is much more feature-complete than the current offering and while that alone could be exciting news for some, BGR says that this OS will also be utilized on the company’s long-rumored HDTV.

A trusted source told the publication that Apple has been shopping around a new “control out” API that would allow manufacturers to make accessories and components that would be compatible with the new TV OS and the pending television set. This new API will reportedly be able to control any connected component from the Apple remote control and probably the Apple iOS remote app as well.

As you can imagine, having this level of control over components would be unheard of as today’s home theater systems typically include a bevy of different remote controls, infrared codes, physical cables and / or separate Wi-Fi apps for each device.

The publication’s source claims that the API works on all levels of popular components, even allowing the user to control programming guides on a cable provider’s box. Perhaps this could be the game-changer that the late Steve Jobs was referring to when he said he’d finally cracked it?

Finally, the iTV isn’t expected to make an appearance at WWDC although at this point anything is viable. The developer conference runs from June 11 through the 15th in San Francisco.

Posted in: Apple,Rumor

Microsoft SkyDrive update adds Windows 8 sync, other improvements

4:18 AM

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If you don't have SkyDrive and would like to give it a whirl, you can download it here (Mac & PC). This installer will update to the latest version during setup.

Not sure what cloud storage is best for you? You may also want to check out our very own cloud storage comparison.

Posted in: improvements,Microsoft,other,SkyDrive,update,Windows

Spotify's Sean Parker claims Apple tried to prevent their US launch

12:35 AM

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apple, spotify, streaming music, sean park

A director at Spotify claims that Apple tried to prevent them from entering the US market. Sean Parker says that Cupertino felt threatened by their presence and that he got the impression from others in the industry that Apple tried to thwart them from entering their home turf.

Parker spoke at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. His comments came in response to Walt Mossberg asking if Apple had tried to keep Spotify out of the US. Reuters notes that there was a brief moment of silence and awkward looks between Parker and Spotify chief Daniel Ek sitting beside him before the director moved forward to answer.

It was during Spotify’s negotiations with executives in the music industry that he learned of Apple’s alleged intent. He told Mossberg that you hear things and that people send you emails, further suggesting that Apple might have felt threatened.

"There was some indication that that might have been happening," Parker said while also noting that he could “get away with saying things” that Ek could not.

Parker got his start as an entrepreneur when he co-founded Napster with Shawn Fanning in 1999. He later went on to become the first president and investor of Facebook before ultimately serving on Spotify’s board after a $15 million investment in 2010. He was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie “The Social Network.”

Spotify launched in the US last July as an invite-only service before opening its doors for anyone to join in September. As of January 2012, the service had 3 million paid subscribers which represented 20 percent of their overall active user base.

The publication says that Apple declined to comment on the allegations.

Posted in: Apple,claims,launch,Parker,prevent,Spotifys,their,tried

Friday, June 8, 2012

Media Center yanked from Windows 8 Release Preview, here's how to re-enable it

8:46 PM

cyber

Here are the instructions as detailed on a Microsoft Windows 8 Release Preview FAQ:

Posted in: Center,heres,Media,Preview,reenable,release,Windows,yanked

Google Voice gets "Anonymous" and "All Contacts" groups

5:00 PM

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google, google voice, sprint, anonymous, smartphone, apps, updates, telecommunications, calling, upgrades, contacts, telepho

It's not often we see new features rolled out for Google Voice, but yesterday the search giant announced it would be adding two new call groups to its service: All Contacts (people who are in your address book or circles) and Anonymous Callers. These features were based upon popular request, according to the blog.

What does this mean for Google Voice users? For starters, the addition of an All Contacts group will allow users to effectively eliminate telemarking and other potentially unwanted calls -- all without the need to screen your calls. It's worth noting that Google Voice's existing "Spam" feature works reasonably well already, however.

Users, for example, may now set rules which send to voicemail any caller who isn't found in the recipient's address book. Google Voice users will also be able to handle anonymous callers in special ways too. Special ringtones, custom voicemail greetings, ringing certain phones or even ignoring calls are all options for unknown and non-whitelisted numbers.

The last change to Google Voice, which was in February, added the ability to use Google+ circles for contact groups. While certainly not a bad feature, it serves as proof that no Google product or service will be left untouched by the company's "plusification" of everything.

Last year, Google and Sprint struck a partnership which integrated Google Voice into the carrier's wireless phone service. Although the blog doesn't say this specifically, there is little reason the new call groups won't also be rolled out to Sprint subscribers just as swiftly.

A few months ago, it was rumored that Google was in talks with other carriers about replicating their Sprint deal. As intriguing as that may sound, the telecommunications industry has a long history of playing hardball and maintaining tight control over its products and services. Google will have to offer a very sweet deal in order to entice major carriers to relinquish a portion of their control over subscribers.