They listened, Microsoft relaxes restriction to Xbox One.

There is a new variation to the saying, "Divide and Conquer".
As of today you can say "Unite and Conquer".
After Xbox gamers made a united planet-wide & I'm assuming, emotional, complaint to Microsoft, the Xbox division  have decided to relax alot their hardline on DRM with their new Xbox One.
Don Mattrick, President, Interactive Entertainment Business announced on their blog, to kill the requirment for a 24 hour connection. There is still a need for an initial system setup connection, & I would assume that there will be the need for system updates at various stages.
The blog announcement also mentions their policy on the aquisition of games for the Xbox one, will remain as it is today with the Xbox 360.

 I found it rather enlightening that one sentence toward the end of the post actually said " We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity."
Is this Microsoft's way of asking if they can come back in out of the cold.

To get the latest on the Xbox in general go to news blogsite

Nasa sites reliability as cause for 'Windows XP' demise over Linux.

The United Space Alliance has announced that the ISS (International Space Station), has swapped it's computer system from 'Windows XP' to Linux.
Reason, stability and security. 'Debian 6' would have a much small chance of infection over the aging 'Windows XP'. Linux is also the OS of choice amoung the scientific community.
Extreme Tech has a story on it. If you have a look at the photo there is already a little Linux penguin sitting on a solar panel.

CISPA, is it the SOPA on steroids??

SOPA, PIPA & now we're back to CISPA.
What is CISPA?
It's the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing & Protection Act". It is a U.S. law only, but once implemented, other govt's around the globe are sure to implement their own variation. It allows private firms to go round existing privacy laws, & collect data(e.g. E-Mail, txt msg's, any of your data stored in the cloud) & be delivered to the US Govt., all without any judicial oversite.
As Australia is laying it's own 'fibre' network this sort of law will pass alot easier, as it will be a Govt. Asset.

Zdnet has a good FAQ on the subject.

A must read for anyone if you have a interest in SOPA, PIPA OR CISPA

Anti trust against Android. Could it reach further than the Tech World???

A group called Fairsearch Europe, has filed an anti trust complaint at Google, saying it is unfairly giving the Android O/S for free.
We see alot of promotions where not just software, but services & products are sold far below cost, or free.
This BGR storyis interesting.

Aussie Galaxy S4 to get SnapDragon

Samsung Australia has signalled that the Aussie release of the Samsung Galaxy S4, will have the Quadcore Snapdragon processor from Qualcom.

There was some speculation that we'd get Samsung's own octocore Exynos.
Is the decision not to, influenced by the power drain on the battery, being too much from a LTE based, octocore machine???
Cnet Aust. has the gos on it

Curiosity to have a month of silence

Curiosity had a month of challengers during March, but April may be a challenge of silence. The Earth, Mars & the Sun have aligned themselves in a 'conjunction', which will block any transmission we sent or recieve from it.

The 1st of May is when communications are planned to recommence, untill then Curiosity is on it's own. 

Slash Gear has a quick write-up on it.

Are you the Europian Mafia??

If your driving a Volvo, just make sure you don't park next to another one. As you will see in this report, you could be mistaken for the Mafia!!

Swedes arrested in Switzerland for driving Volvos | Sveriges Radio Mobil

Wrist-watch or phone, that will be the question!!!

  With phone designers starting to run short on idea's, the advancement of new tech being able to be incorporated into our smart phones is beginning to show. 

Some years ago I bought a hand held GPS, to use in the truck. It was a pain because it was before navigators were about. I had to plot a course on a map on the desktop and then transfer a track onto the handheld.

    I don't know why I was surprised a couple of years later when Nokia brought out GPS's in it's phones.

Will we start to be numbed by the continual push from industry to BUY, BUY??

Or will we all take to the next generation of tech??

Well it looks like the next generation is on it way, in the wrist-watch. 

The IT crew from The Australian, has a pretty good look at what could be a transition in our love for tech from the phone, the the watch.  

photo's thanks to news.com.au

iPhone found to be more ‘vulnerable’ than Android smartphones - Yahoo! News

Yahoo News is running a story saying the the I-Phone maybe more vulnerable than Android,
 or most of the other smart phones

  WHAT. Can it be??
No. Surley not!! But, now-a-day's you never know. It's a bit like when I hear officials say that a system is secure from hacks, or "can't be hacked".
Everyone & everything has a weakness.

One of the I-Phone's greatest attraction to the hacker, is that Apple give the impression that (while not actually saying it), it's product is totally secure.
A good site to have a look at, to see what vulnerabilities have been ADMITTED to have been found (as oppossed to what is been kept quiet about), is at The ultilmate security vulnerability datasource, not just for Apple, but all other products, Android as well.

OUYA see's a good start to 2013

Ouya, the Kick Starter gameing console project, built on the open source O/S, Android, has had a healthy start to 2013, with 1200 units being shipped to developers and others in the pre-order circles.
 TechCrunch  has an article and 'unboxing video' on the shipment.
At this stage it seems estimates on costs of the gaming console are at around the US$100 mark.
To keep up with the projects latest's happenings, keep an eye on OUYA.TV.

Fairwell to the first lady to the stars

Fairwell Sally Ride. Mission Specialist on Space Shuttle Challenger flight STS-7. First lady in space and founder of Sally Ride Science.

3 Mozilla updates

Mozilla has posted updates to Firefox, Thunderbird & Seamonkey.

Oracle's release of a Critical update

Oracle has posted a Criticle update to patch some 87 soft spots, found in it's various Sun & Oracle products.

Most are in it's enterprise libary of products, & more detail can be found at Oracle

Barnawartha to get BP Service Centre

Looks like there are plans for a BP service centre at Barnawartha in Victoria's north.
The 24hr site is to be part of Barney's Logic Centre, & accomadate around 45 trucks.

It would be funny if it wasn't real

A humourous start to the week.
But is it really funny??

FBI's MegaUpload raid, excessive & ILLEGAL!!!

  The USA's attempt to extradite MegaUpload's Kim Dotcom has taken a wallop.
   A New Zealand High Court has ruled a raid by the New Zealand Police & US FBI, as illegal.
   Justice Helen Winkelmann, also declared that the search warrant parameters were too broad & that authorities exceeded their powers.
More from news.com.

Internet Explorer security hole

It seems that there is what they call a XML memory corruption vulnerability that is currently being used by the bad guys to get into users machines using Internet Explorer. At the moment there is no fix, but Microsoft has a work around at the link below. Security experts are suggesting to use it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2719615

Microsoft in doghouse for making privacy a Default

Microsoft decision to make DNT (Do Not Track) turned on by default has hit a wall of resistance.
Some not happy, some fear it may make some not respect it at all. My thoughts and a couple of questions.

The DeLorean makes a comeback

The DeLorean is back. Or is that, was back, or will be back?? I don't know.
Anyway from whatever time, it's back.
The company just released a prototype DMC-12 Ev at the DMC Texas Open House. Has a 260 horsepower electric motor, giving it a top speed of 125 mph. But don't forget to turn off the time circuits, or you'll see some serious shit happen!!
For a few more spec's including if it comes with a flux capacitor, check out inhabitat

NBN gives only 23% to Aussie firms

A spat has broken out with The Australian saying the NBN Co. has given Australian controlled companies contracts worth only 23%, during the construction. NBN Co. say's it's more like 50%.
Check out The Australian's analysis that has local tech firms feeling left out
The 23%  is even further reduced if you consider that Optus is 100% owned by Singapore Telecommuncations