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Gear Live Podcast: Participatory Culture’s Tiffiniy Cheng
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Podcasts,
Get ready for a new way to present your work. Peer-to-peer publishing with BitTorrent means file size and cost are not issues anymore, so you can offer fullscreen video with no bandwidth costs. That is the midset behind the Participatory Culture project. We sat with Tiffiniy Cheng of Participatory Culture to discuss bringing the media back into the hands of the people, publishing video on the Internet, and President Bush’s pirated music. Click here to download the MP3, or you can just subscribe to the Gear Live Podcast feed. Conversely, you can now subscribe to us directly from iTunes - be sure you have version 4.9.
Voices: Andru Edwards, Tiffiniy Cheng - Participatory Culture
Length: 40:28, 23.2 MB
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Listen | Participatory Culture Interview
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Tom Bihn Brain Cell Review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, PC / Laptop, Product Reviews,
Tom Bihn constructs some very unique and functional bags. We recently got the opportunity to try out a couple of them, and the results are in. The first bag we are going to talk about it the Brain Cell laptop bag. If you have a notebook, it is essential that you have a way to carry it while keeping it protected. How does the Brain Cell meet the challenge? Find out after the jump.
Click to continue reading Tom Bihn Brain Cell Review
So, a few weeks ago I made a post where I discussed the Netzero HiSpeed 3G commercial that I saw while watching TV. I called out NetZero for the way they were promoting the service, saying that you won’t believe it isn’t broadband. I then searched their site for the Terms of Service, and posted them to Gear Live. I pointed out how it basically sped up text transfer and images. Basically, none of the things that people get broadband for in the first place - multimedia streaming, downloads, VOIP, etc. - had any different on NetZero 3G. I also stated that the 3G term was misleading, as many understand it to be a truly broadband way of transferring data. Well, Peter Delgrosso took offense to the post. He works with NetZero, and pointed out his stance on the situation. I responded, offering to review the service and give an honest opinion - he never wrote back. Below you can read our email exchange:
Hi Andru,
I would just like to clarify two points in yesterday’s NetZero HiSpeed 3G review you wrote. #1, NetZero’s claims as the fastest dial-up service on the market today have been validated by the leading software testing lab VeriTest. As a result, it does give users a broadband like feel. #2, you mention we’re only caching text, which is not accurate, the technology has been developed over the years to utilize caching and compression technologies along with other various proprietary techniques to accelerate
Web pages (HTML markup and JavaScript), graphics including JPEG and GIF images, Text, and email including POP3 and Email on the Web. If you’re interested in a trial account so you could try out the service for yourself, please just let me know. I’d be happy to arrange it. Thank you.Peter Delgrosso
VP, Corporate Communications
United Online, Inc.
My response followed:
Hi there Peter,
I was specifically referring to the terms from the NetZero HiSpeed 3G site. Looking at it, it disqualifies just about everything that people expect from broadband. Most people don’t get broadband service so that it speeds up the loading of text. It is for the music, video, and other multimedia aspects, which 3G does not support. Now, even if it isnt just caching and pre-fecthing, it still is only limited to text and images. Are the images downgraded in quality to support the higher speeds?
I would be happy to make corrections and/or let people know exactly what they can expect with the service. Heck, I would even be willing to give it a test if you would like me to. I will give it a fair shot.
Also, what does the 3G stand for? I can see many confusing that with the broadband 3G term.
Andru Edwards
Editor-in-Chief
Gear Live
Since then, I figured out that 3G stands for Third Generation. Anyone use NetZero HiSpeed 3G yet? Any thoughts?
Latest Gear Live Videos
Opera for Windows 8.02 Technical Preview 1 was released, one of the biggest new features is implementation of BitTorrent protocol support. Being that such a large percentage of Internet traffic is from BitTorrent, you can’t blame them for going this route. I just hope it is feature-rich, rather than a clunky attempt. The official announcement should be coming tomorrow.
Read More 
| OperaWatch
WeatherBug announced yesterday that it will bring its popular weather application to the cell phone via WeatherBug Mobile for Java. The service is only available through Sprint, and will cost users $2.99 a month. While Sprint PCS Vision customers already have access to Weather Channel information through their phone, most weather information is only updated hourly, unlike WeatherBug. “A recent AP poll indicated that most Americans closely monitor weather reports but find them unreliable. People want reliable weather conditions for their specific location and want to be able to view them as they go about their day, depending on where they are,” said Andy Jedynak, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, WeatherBug. “Unlike all other weather reports, which are based upon hourly data from local airports, WeatherBug offers continuously updated live weather information at your fingertips, when it matters most.”
Read More | WeatherBug Mobile
China is the latest country to join in the anti-spam movement started by the US and UK. The Chinese government committed to UK/US-led international efforts to combat spam by adopting the London Action Plan on Spam Enforcement Collaboration, a plan which was created in October 2004 from the first international forum that focused solely on spam. China is the second biggest source of spam, with as much as 20 percent of unsolicited emails coming from within the country.
Read More | Slashdot
The European Parliament overwhelmingly voted to reject a proposed law that would create a single way of patenting software across the European Union. The final vote, 648-14 vote with 18 abstentions, came Wednesday and is the nail in the coffin for the bill, since the drafters of the law, the head office of the European Commission, say they won’t create another bill. Many lawmakers have said they believed the measure did not promote innovation and would stifle enterprise, and also that human knowledge cannot be patented.
EICTA, a group representing 10,000 companies including giants such as Nokia and Alcatel SA which had been lobbying for the bill, said the decision to scrap it was wise, given the large number of amendments that threatened to severely narrow the scope of the legislation. CompTIA, representing small- and medium-sized information technology companies, echoed this view. “Conflicting views have confused the issue and made it difficult for the parliament to reach a clear and balanced decision that would adequately support innovation.”
Read More | USA Today
Resident Evil DS
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Action, Portable/Mobile, Role Playing Games, Strategy,
Newest news on the web concerning Resident Evil for the Nintendo DS has it that the game will be a remake of the original Resident Evil game. The game will feature Resident Evil 4’s camera perspective and use the touchpad for all the attacks. Even though this is a small amount of news, the greatest news of all is that it will be a remake of the original that made the series what it is now. Could this be one of the games that will gain the DS even more popularity in the face of the PSP?
Read More | GamesAreFun.com
Halo 2 Multiplayer Pack Released
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: First Person Shooters, Internet, Xbox,
The day has finally arrived when we get new multiplayer maps for our favorite online shooter – Halo 2. There are two versions available – online and retail pack. The online version includes the five new maps for $11.99 via Xbox Live – Containment, Turf, Sanctuary and Warlock are currently available for free download. The retail pack on the other hand includes all 9 maps, all the auto-updates, a bonus cinematic and a behind-the-scenes documentary. The retail version will set you back $19.99 and should be available from your favorite retailer now. As cool as these new maps are, there is one major draw back – you can only play the new maps during custom games against people that also purchased the maps. Bungie states that these new maps should start rolling out into Rumble Preview and Team Preview on July 11th. At least this gives all a chance to download the maps and get used to them before getting our ass kicked
kicking butt online. Anyone else have the maps yet?
Read More | Bungie
Denon S-101 and S-301 Stereo System With iPod Dock
Posted by Sparky Categories: Home Entertainment, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
One of Gear Live’s favorite audio manufacturers, Denon, has released their new S301 and S101 high end audio receivers. Both of them have the much requested feature of including a true iPod dock. You can plug your iPod into the system and control it fully though the remote control. Now like most Denon equipment, this blend of great audio and stunning functionality won’t come cheap - $999 for the ‘low end’ S-101 and the S-301 commands a $1599 price tag. The perfect solution for the bleeding edge early adopter.
Read More | Playlist Magazine
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