Monitortan http://www.monitortan.com/ The mental meanderings of technology journalist Hiawatha Bray en Copyright 2007 Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:35:52 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Fun or fanaticism? Some liberal religious groups say that the new videogame "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" sends a message of intolerance and violence.

So of course, it should sell like hotcakes....

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/fun_or_fanaticism.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/fun_or_fanaticism.html Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:35:52 -0500 Making the scene Woburn's Gotuit Media creates SceneMaker, a system that lets you edit and tag individual scenes in your favorite YouTube videos.

Kinda cool.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/making_the_scene.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/making_the_scene.html Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:32:33 -0500 Avatars are all too real Those electronic representations of people you find in online games like Second Life really do have a life of their own, as far as the environment is concerned. Nicholas Carr calculates the amount of energy needed to keep one of them alive--and the answer will amaze you.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/avatars_are_all_too_real.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/avatars_are_all_too_real.html Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:29:01 -0500 Apple's next ad... ...may come from a top Microsoft exec who said in 2004 that if he didn't work at Microsoft, he'd go out and buy himself a Mac.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/apples_next_ad.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/apples_next_ad.html Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:01:46 -0500 Say it ain't so Nearly half of all users of Apple Macintosh computers are 55 or older?

Naah....

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/say_it_aint_so.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/say_it_aint_so.html Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:56:44 -0500 Get everything on paper A kid from India figures out how to store vast amounts of data on good old-fashioned paper. Gigabytes of the stuff on a single page.

Dude!

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/get_everything_on_paper.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/get_everything_on_paper.html Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:36:53 -0500 Maybe Zune's not doomed It seems Microsoft's new digital music player did pretty darn well during its first week on the market.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/maybe_zunes_not_doomed.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/maybe_zunes_not_doomed.html Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:35:03 -0500 Well, duh... Microsoft's new Vista operating system and Office 2007 office suite offer little that's truly necessary to improve the computing experience. So it's no surprise that most businesses will be in no hurry to buy.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/well_duh.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/12/well_duh.html Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:39:48 -0500 Scarcer than we thought According to the CEO of Electronic Arts, the biggest videogame maker, Sony only delivered about 200,000 PlayStation 3 consoles to the US during its first weekend on sale. That's half the number Sony was supposed to provide. The result was a sizable shortfall in sales of EA games for the PS 3

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/scarcer_than_we_thought.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/scarcer_than_we_thought.html Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:55:01 -0500 The problem with podcasting... ...is that not all that many people want to listen to them. And even if they do listen, most will only tune in once.

Why am I not surprised? Besides, there's another drawback to podcasting: Life's too bloody short. Who's got time to listen to various know-it-alls nattering on for half an hour? Blogging is better because you can skim a blog in a minute or so, get the gist, and move on. With a podcast, you actually have to pay attention for an extended period to get any benefit. It's like a step backward to the age of oral tradition. What's the point?

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/the_problem_with_podcasting.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/the_problem_with_podcasting.html Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:14:09 -0500 Spyware comes to the Mac In theory, anyway. But that's bad enough.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/spyware_comes_to_the_mac.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/spyware_comes_to_the_mac.html Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:08:35 -0500 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Looks like the Beatles are finally going digital. And about time too...

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/yeah_yeah_yeah.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/yeah_yeah_yeah.html Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:06:26 -0500 The tech shopper's friend Check out this impressive new gadget shopping site that puts everything you need on a single page. Quite cool it is.

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/the_tech_shoppers_friend.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/the_tech_shoppers_friend.html Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:37:56 -0500 Back from Thanksgiving vacation... ...and ready for action!

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/back_from_thanksgiving_vacatio.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/back_from_thanksgiving_vacatio.html Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:36:58 -0500 Duck, you sucker! Twenty-three years from now, a giant asteroid will pass within 20,000 miles of Earth. Or maybe even closer...

]]> http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/duck_you_sucker.html http://www.monitortan.com/2006/11/duck_you_sucker.html Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:59:42 -0500