We’ve been very skeptical about reports claiming the next-generation Xbox would require a persistent Internet connection to play games. Although an updated Xbox roadmap detailed by VGLeaks mostly dispelled that idea, today we’re as close as we’ll get to putting the rumors to rest short of an official announcement. … … Read More
YouTube promises fame and fortune to Internet-savvy musicians
YouTube is proving to be a powerful launch pad for a new generation of Internet-savvy music stars from Psy to Macklemore and beyond. The Google-owned video-sharing website has catapulted Psy, Macklemore, Justin Bieber and others onto global stages where they can cash in on digital downloads of…
Gigabyte teases customizable, high-res UEFI for Haswell motherboards
Intel isn’t the only company working hard to prepare new products for the next-generation Haswell platform. Gigabyte is working to revamp their UEFI on Haswell motherboards and judging from a teaser shot that recently found its way to Facebook, there will be a lot to love. … Read More
Accidental child shooting in Kentucky sparks gun debate
BURKESVILLE, Ky. (AP) — As Stephanie Sparks cleaned the kitchen, her 5-year-old son, Kristian, began playing with a rifle he was given last year. She stepped out onto the front porch, poured grease out of a frying pan for the dogs and “heard the gun go off,” a Kentucky coroner said.Authorities said the boy had fatally shot his 2-year-old sister, Caroline, in the chest.In rural southern Kentucky, far removed from the national debate over gun control, where some children get their first guns even before they start first grade, the accident stunned the community.Kristian’s rifle was kept in a corner of the mobile home, and the family didn’t realize a bullet had been left in it, Cumberland County Coroner Gary White said.”Down in Kentucky where we’re from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation,” White said. “You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything.”What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is “that a kid would get shot with it.”In this case, the rifle was made by a company that sells guns specifically for children — “My first rifle” is the slogan — in colors ranging from plain brown to hot pink to royal blue to multi-color swirls.Continue Reading… … Read More
Fracking ourselves to death in Pennsylvania
More than 70 years ago, a chemical attack was launched against Washington State and Nevada. It poisoned people, animals, everything that grew, breathed air, and drank water. The Marshall Islands were also struck. This formerly pristine Pacific atoll was branded “the most contaminated place in the world.” As their cancers developed, the victims of atomic testing and nuclear weapons development got a name: downwinders. What marked their tragedy was the darkness in which they were kept about what was being done to them. Proof of harm fell to them, not to the U.S. government agencies responsible.Now, a new generation of downwinders is getting sick as an emerging industry pushes the next wonder technology — in this case, high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Whether they live in Texas, Colorado, or Pennsylvania, their symptoms are the same: rashes, nosebleeds, severe headaches, difficulty breathing, joint pain, intestinal illnesses, memory loss, and more. “In my opinion,” says Yuri Gorby of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, “what we see unfolding is a serious health crisis, one that is just beginning.”Continue Reading… … Read More
Russia to spend over $30 billion in nuclear energy development
“Nuclear security and nuclear power production safety should be upgraded with the aid of new technological solutions,” the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for security and disarmament Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Wednesdayas, as quoted by Itar-Tass.A new generation of Russian nuclear power plants will include such safety features as double reactor containment, passive heat removal systems, and specialized cooling units, he said.According to Ulyanov, Russia has started designing the reactors that not only generate electric power, but also desalinate water. Plants with such reactors may potentially become “instruments of development for many countries,” the official believes.Ulyanov’s comments came amid discussions on nuclear nonproliferation, and in connection with Geneva Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) talks, in which Russia is participating.The next major review of the 1970 Treaty is scheduled for 2015, with preparatory session now taking place. The NPT treaty has been signed by 190 countries. … Read More
Microsoft looking to hire program manager for cloud gaming initiative
Microsoft is no doubt busy gearing up for the debut of the next generation Xbox in a few weeks but it seems they may be looking even further to the future as evident by a new job posting on the company’s Careers website. The ad notes they are looking for… … Read More
