National Geographic&mdashlworld-renowned, more than a century old, and one of the largest non-profit educational and scientific organizations on the planet—has announced it’s diving into the 21st century by forming National Geographic Games, a new division that, in conjunction with Bandai and Sony Computer Entertainment, will release family-friendly gaming titles based on National Geographic’s primary themes and media content. The titles will span consoles, mobile devices, portable game units, and online properties, and the first title—Herod’s Lost Tomb—is due this month.
Tag Archive: National
National Geographic to Offer Global Phone
National Geographic might be more known for its venerable publication, exquisite photography, and solid coverage of science and nature…but now it’s taking another step in its efforts to get people to think on global terms with the National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone, which promises to offer pre-paid cellular communications in more than 100 countries—with no contracts, no roaming fees, and free incoming calls in most areas.
“National Geographic is excited to offer the Talk Abroad Travel Phone to all international travelers,” said John Dumbacher, senior vice president of licensing for National Geographic, in a statement. Students, vacationers, business travelers and our own explorers and photographers can now stay connected with this affordable travel phone and SIM card, while they seek to understand and experience our world.”
Kurzweil Portable Reader for Blind
Kurzweil and the National Federation for the Blind have announced the Kurzweil-National Federation for the Blind Reader, a handheld reader which can take pictures of everyday printed materials and read those items to visually impaired users using a combination of character recognition and speech synthesis software.
Users just hold the reader over the printed materials, and in a few seconds the reader takes a picture of the item and begins reading back the document. The reader can store thousands of printed pages (expandable via SD memory cards) and can transfer files to both computers and Braille notetakers, and read files transferred to it from computers and other devices; the reader also sports a headphone jack so users can more easily hear the reader over background noise, and use the system without disturbing others.
Online Shows Get Emmy Attention
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is keeping up with the times, creating a new award for “original entertainment programming created specifically for nontraditional viewing platforms” to recognize shows produced exclusively for mobile phones, handhelds, and the Internet. Who knew that pixelated, stuttery stuff you maybe tried to watch once or twice was maybe Emmy-worthy material?
Emmy judges have presented six nominees from a field of 74 contenders, more than any other Emmy category this year. The only real requirement for nomination was that the show not first appear in television or other traditional media.
Don’t Get Pharmed
Are you getting pharmed? In observance of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the National Consumers League and the National Cyber Security Alliance have partnered to warn Internet users about this new form of phishing scam.
In this newest form of phishing, called “pharming,” a virus or malicious program secretly planted in a consumer’s computer hijacks the computer’s Web browser. When a consumer unknowingly types in the address of a legitimate Web site, they’re taken to a fake version of the site without realizing it. Any personal information provided at the phony site, such as passwords or account numbers, can be stolen and fraudulently used.
IBM Supercomputer Sets Another Speed Record
“IBM’s Blue Gene/L, being assembled for the department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, performed 135.3 trillion floating point operations per second running benchmark software, the NationalNuclear Security Administration said. The result eclipses the 70.72 teraflops that a smaller version of the system achieved running the Linpack benchmark program last fall.
Blue Gene, being assembled for the NNSA for simulating the performance and safety of nuclear weapons and other applications, became the world’s fastest supercomputer last September, surpassing a Japanese government-funded system. “
Anyone up for a game of DOOM3?
Read more at EETimes
SCO Targets Federal Supercomputer Users
SCO sent letters raising the prospect of legal action for using Linux to two Department of Energy facilities, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).
The letter to NERSC director Horst Simon used strong language in its effort to convince the research facility to buy a license that will let it use Linux without fear of SCO legal action.
Read the full story at CNET News.com.



