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Tag Archive: Tom

China Censoring Skype

China Censoring Skype

A Canadian research group called Citizen Lab, which is associated with the University of Toronto, has turned up a publicly available Chinese database that not only contains literally thousands of politically sensitive words blocked by the state, but also the names and details of Skype subscribers, meaning that the state has been censoring and blocking VoIP Skype calls and texts, according to the BBC.

Citizen Lab says the Chinese system picks up and stores messages using the sensitive terms, and has over 150,000 in its database – which seems to be not especially secure, according to Citizen Lab’s Breaching Trust report.

Build A Robot, Win $5,000

Build A Robot, Win $5,000

If building a BattleBot is a little too violent for your tastes, a new robot-building challenge may just give you a more civil outlet for your constructive impulses. The company that produces the Roomba floor-cleaning robot, iRobot, has teamed up with Tom’s Hardware Guide and Instructables to sponsor a contest, beginning Wednesday, which challenges builders to build their own open-ended creations for a $5,000 prize.

Contestants must use the iRobot Create kit to build their entries, but they can perform absolutely any function. Robots will be judged on task complexity, aesthetics, intelligence, usefulness, entertainment value, and other criteria. Between May 16 and August 31, builders can submit photos and descriptions of their robots through the Instructables Web site. After judging, a winner will be announced on or before October 1.

eBay China to Roll Into Joint Venture

Online auction juggernaut eBay has announced (PDF) it is repositioning itself in the Chinese market, rolling its operations into a minority stake with a new partnership with Tom Online, an Internet and wireless company controlled by Hong Kong entrepreneur Li Ka-shing. The move marks a major repositioning for the company, which has previously heavily invested in creating a Chinese version of its auction business, only to see its grand hopes fail to fully materialize.

Under the terms of the partnership, eBay will hold a 49 percent stake to Tom Online’s 51 percent, and reports say eBay plans no job reductions in China.

Warner Bros. Pacts with SCi, CodeMasters

Warner Bros. has announced it will be buying a 10.3 percent stake in SCi Entertainment Group, the parent company of Eidos Interactive Ltd., developers of the Tomb Raider,Deus Ex,Hitman,Carmageddon,Just Cause, and Conflict gaming titles. And the deal doesn’t stop there: Warner Bros. and SCi have forged an agreement to develop and distribute game based on selected Warner Bros. Entertainment properties, including some of the company’s crown jewels—like Looney Tunes——along with current hits and money-making juggernauts like Batman.

Google Pins Up Free Calendar Service

Google has taken the wraps off Google Calendar, a free, beta-release online calendar service, enabling registered users to manage their schedules and share events with others.

Known for it’s ambitious online interfaces (as well as services which seem to stay in perpetual beta testing!), Google Calendar enables users to move events via drag and drop, and utilizes natural language processing to streamline event creation. Creating an event no longer needs to involve typing a title, a descripton, and fiddling with onscreen controls to set times, dates, or contact lists. Instead, a “quick add” feature enables users to type simple phrases like “Lunch Friday with Tom” or “leave work tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.” and Google Calendar automatically translates the descriptions into calendar entries.

Americans World Video Game Champs

It was announced yesterday that the U.S. took home the gold from the 2005 World Cyber Games’ Grand Final in Singapore as they won two gold medals and one silver in Counter-Strike, Halo 2 and WarCraft III: Frozen Throne against a field of 700 competitors representing 67 countries.

Kyle Miller (Washington DC), Ronald Kim (Dallas, TX), Sal Garozzo (New York, NY), Josh Sievers (Des Moines, IA), and Mike So (Los Angeles, CA) comprise Team 3D, who repeated as gold medalists in Counter-Strike for the second year.

Asustek Develops First SLI Motherboard

“Our previous motherboards featuring NVIDIA nForce technology have proven to be very successful, and has helped ASUS win numerous editorial accolades, including Tom’s Hardware Guide coveted Reader’s Choice Awards for two years running,” said Joe Hsieh, Vice President at ASUSTeK. “With NVIDIA nForce4 SLI, we are ushering in a whole new level of performance and features and quickly establishing our new A8N-SLI motherboard as a ‘must-have’ for this holiday season.”

More than 19 global system builders have already joined the NVIDIA SLI Certification and Logo Program, with more being added daily, and all are working feverishly to meet the anticipated consumer demand of complete SLI PC systems built around the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI technology and ASUS A8N-SLI motherboard.

Omnifi Reduces Digital Audio Player Prices

Resulting from the continuing maturity of the digital media player market, Omnifi announced today that it is dropping suggested retail prices for its DMP1 mobile digital audio streamer and DMS1 home digital audio streamer. The DMS1 will now be offered at a suggested retail price of $199, down from $299, and the DMP1 is being offered at a suggested retail price of $349, down from $599.

Omnifi’s General Manager, Tom O’Mara, commented on how growing acceptance and subsequent demand led to this decision.

Low-Power Mobile Athlon 64 Planned

AMD’s products currently appeal only to the upper segments, such as the desktop replacement and thin-and-light market. The company has little to offer when it comes to the emerging segment of small notebooks which are dominated by Intel processors.

This scenario could change soon. A PDF document which apparently was accidentally published on AMD’s website reveals plans for a “Mobile Athlon 64 2700+”. Dated “April 2004″, this chip is placed on the lower end of the performance range of the product family. According to the specifications, it nearly cuts the power consumption of other Mobile Athlon 64 chips in half.

Florida City Proposal Targets Violent Games

A Florida city is determined to pass a law restricting children’s access to violent computer games despite legal challenges to similar attempts elsewhere, and charges of censorship, its mayor said onFriday.

The ordinance proposed by North Miami City Council was prompted by fury in Miami’s large Haitian American community at Rockstar Game’s top-selling “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,” in which players are urged to “kill the Haitians.”

Rockstar owners Take-Two Interactive Software Inc have agreed to cut the offending remarks from future issues.

“This is not about censorship, it’s about inciting violence,” said Mayor Joe Celestin, a Haitian American. “We’re going to take it all the way.”

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