The FCC’s plan to rework how it regulates the internet just got a lot more solid today, as the agency officially announced its “third way” approach to classifying broadband services and opened it up for public comment. We’ve broken the entire thing down for you — we’re not kidding when we say this will affect how the internet works for all of us in the future, so grab a snack and head past the break for the whole story.
Guy, doing his version of a "super, ultra, sonic move."
(Credit: Capcom)
This week, we go on and on about incredibly difficult-to-pronounce product names, which is just every product Dong comes in contact with. No, I kid! Actually, no I’m not kidding. No, of course, I’m …
Still waiting on that big-screen OLED TV? Yeah, so are we, but here’s some news that could mean they’re coming soon: OLED tech has just been obsoleted. Seriously. We still can’t even afford an 11-inch model and now we have to start pining for something new: OLET. That’s Organic Light Emitting Transistor, tech that researcher Michele Muccini at the Institute of Nanustructured Materials has just proven can be between two and 100 times as efficient as OLED. OLETs rely on three layers of material, with the bottom layers carrying a charge, the middle layer (the meat in this high-tech sandwich) emitting photons when excited by the bottom, and the top layer selectively letting those photos through. All three combined are just 62nm thick. It’s this separation of layers and horizontal flow of current that gives OLET its efficiency and it’s believed that it could not only be used for (next) next-generation displays but also for on-chip optical interconnects. When will an OLET HDTV will hit the market? Don’t even go there.
We have seen enough crazy mousepads but here’s a wacky mouse for Nascar fans or geeks obsessed with cars.
The Motormouse is a computer mouse modeled on a classic sports car design and takes the toy shape factor very seriously.
The trunk of the car-shaped mouse opens to store batteries and the receiver and even has a ’spare tire’ scroll wheel in there. And if that isn’t enough, the motormouse’s wheels are are real rubber, says the company.
As for its tech cred, the mouse has a 2.4 GHz USB receiver so it can wirelessly connect to your keyboard. The $50 mouse comes in three colors: silver, red and black.
The question is would you buy one to actually use it or is it just a tech gag gift?
It’s a lot easier to stomach $15 a month for unlimited music playback when it’s bundled with your phone bill, but Verizon and Microsoft missed the boat. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-20004346-27.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Digital Noise: Music and Tech/a/p
These sticks are preconfigured to work out of the box with Microsoft consoles and include a free one-month Xbox Live Gold membership subscription worth $7.99.
Android’s quickly becoming the elephant in the room for Sling Media, so we’re delighted to hear today that the promised Android client of SlingPlayer Mobile is apparently entering a private beta period as we speak — according to a tipster over at Phandroid, anyhow. It seems that some members that signed up to Sling’s beta program have been contacted recently with a link to the download and a request that they not discuss the app or the beta program (so much for that), so if everything goes really, really well, we might see a release before too long. The thought of this thing running on the EVO 4G just blows minds, doesn’t it?
Today we celebrate the anniversary of Jasmine France’s first visit to The 404 studios. This time around we’ve given her a few days to recover from her flight to New York, but if you don’t remember what happened last year, we’ve got a hilarious clip at the start of the show to refresh your memory.
Jasmine is CNET’s senior editor for MP3s and digital audio, but she joins us today to talk about her new Tech Dos and Don’ts column on the MP3 Insider blog and the social politics of finding love on Facebook.
Social networks like Facebook and Twitter encourage users to share interests and connect with friends new and old, so it makes perfect sense that some will inevitably use them for romance.
In fact, Jasmine suggests that many users actually prefer Facebook to spark a flame instead of going to dedicated online dating sites like OKCupid or Match.com that practically force you into an uncomfortable situation. On Facebook, it’s easy to hit that “like” button or add a comment to show common interest.
We have our own suggestions for online loveseekers as well. For example, stop with the poking already. Seriously, 86 percent of FBers don’t even know that exists, and even if they do happen to notice it much later, the gesture remains just as meaningless if not slightly creepy and confusing, so stick with the “like” button… UNLESS your object of lust just changed their relationship status to single, in which case you should definitely send the “Heyyyyy couldn’t help but notice…” message. OK, I’m joking, but now you see now why Jasmine’s tips are so crucial.
Another tip we didn’t get to address on the show is the question on every single person’s mind: what is the appropriate amount of time to wait before adding “someone of interest” on Facebook? The answer is easy: you simply update the same rules that previous applied to the first-date phone call. Three days seems to be the consensus and gives the other person enough time to digest your initial meeting–friending in less than three days makes you come off (at best) overly accessible or (at worst) a genuine Internet stalker. At the end of the day, you’re really just trying to dodge that “ignore” button, because once the relationship enters Facebook request purgatory, you might as well just delete your account and try your luck with Make Out Club.
Jasmine’s got plenty more tips on how to comport yourself in an online dating environment, so check out today’s show and let us know YOUR thoughts–leave a comment, send us an e-mail at the404(at)cnet[dot]com, or you can leave a voice-mail for our daily Calls From the Public segment at 1-866-404-CNET (2638)!
It can take someone anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to solve the Rubik’s Cube puzzle. But a neat contraption built out of an Android powered Motorola Droid phone and a Lego Mindstorms NXT kit can whip the Cube into shape in just under 25 seconds.
Folks at ARM, whose architecture the Motorola Droid processor is based on, created the device and have called it the Speedcuber. With the use of the yellow Lego pieces and the droid, the robot is extremely attractive. But it’s not just about looks.
An Android App running on the Motorola Droid uses the phone’s camera to take pictures of each face of the cube and sends the solution to the Lego NXT controller via Bluetooth.
Check out the video above to see the cube twisted into the right configuration in seconds.
Opera Software already caused quite a stir with the release of the iPhone version of its browser, and it looks like it’s now starting to make itself heard in one of the biggest browser-related debates going. Speaking with Tech Radar, Opera’s product analyst Phillip Grønvold started out with something of a diplomatic approach by saying that “today’s internet content is dependent on Flash” and “if you remove Flash you do not have today’s internet,” and for that reason Opera needs to support Flash. Things get a bit more interesting from there, however, with Grønvold stating that while Flash has its place for things like dynamic content, it “makes very little sense” as a video container given the impact on processor and battery usage, adding that “you can cook an egg on [devices] once you start running Flash on them and there’s a reason for that.” Fried eggs, potatoes — these browsers sure are making us hungry.
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