Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson made James Cameron change one thing in the re-release of Titanic 3D

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Apr 3, 2012 1:26 AM CDT

We are being greeted to a re-release of James Cameron's Titanic, which is being done in 3D, and there is one specific, and very detailed change being done to the movie. After much nagging from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cameron made one edit to his 1997-released film, which is in relation to the star formation during the sinking of the Titanic.

Most directors would not have bothered with changing it, but Cameron has a knack for perfectionism, and Tyson convinced him to change it. The scene in question is when we see Rose reclining on a piece of driftwood while looking up at the sky. Tyson first e-mailed Cameron years ago, where he noted that the star field she was looking at was incorrect for the night of April 15, 1912 at 4:20am, and bought up the issue more and more over time as the two ran into each other over the years.

Finally, Cameron's team asked Tyson to send over an accurate sky map for the date and time, that is used on the 10th anniversary director's cut of Titanic. The new, updated star formation will also be seen in the new 3D re-release of the film, too. Cameron also described Tyson's original message as "quite snarky", but conceded that he did in fact, have a point. Cameron says:

Continue reading: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson made James Cameron change one thing in the re-release of Titanic 3D (full post)

Sony confirm Android 4.0 ICS updates for 11 handsets

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | Apr 3, 2012 12:24 AM CDT

Over the weekend Sony detailed their Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update plans for their Xperia lineup of smartphones, where we should see the ICS updates rolling out to no less than 11 Xperia handsets by mid-June. The update will be pushed out to some phones in mid-April, with these phones being the Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V, and Xperia Ray.

The late-May, early-June should see ICS-based updates for Xperia Arc, Play, Neo, Mini, Mini Pro, Pro, Active, and the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman as well. There is a problem with these updates though, is that none of them will be over-the-air (OTA), and will require that owners of these handsets who want to upgrade have to tether their handsets.

This is because Sony wants users to make a "conscious and informed decision to upgrade". All this means is that while Sony are pushing out ICS updates for 11 handsets, those who don't know about ICS will have to wait until Sony push them OTA, if they even bother doing so. I would expect a notification from Sony saying "your phone is compatible for an update, if you would like to do so, visit this site", and that site explains what ICS is, and how you upgrade.

Continue reading: Sony confirm Android 4.0 ICS updates for 11 handsets (full post)

SEGA slashes jobs, cancels in-development games

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 2, 2012 11:26 PM CDT

SEGA have confirmed they have cut jobs and ceased work on in-development non-core titles, as the company is mourning with the loss of almost 50-percent of income for the financial year. SEGA also confirmed they will go through a restructuring exercise that will see a fair amount of job losses across Europe and the U.S., but they aren't saying just how many positions are at risk.

SEGA are now trying to stop bleeding money from multiple wounds, and have declared non-core IP a factor in this, and have cut it. From now on, instead of developing new games, SEGA will concentrate on pushing its established IP including Sonic the Hedgehog, Total War, Football Manager, and the Aliens franchise. SEGA are also looking to get out of the retail business, and push the creation of downloadable titles to sell on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store, the Nintendo eStore, and Valve's Steam platform.

A SEGA spokesperson explained in a statement to the press:

Continue reading: SEGA slashes jobs, cancels in-development games (full post)

Apple and Samsung make up 95% of all handset profits in Q4 2011

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 2, 2012 10:26 PM CDT

A new study from Canaccord Genuity is claiming that Apple and Samsung account for a combined 95-percent of all handset profits in Q4 2011. Apple accounts for 80-percent of profits, while the company behind the GALAXY range of handsets, Samsung, takes 15-percent. The remaining 5-percent is left to all of the other manufacturers.

This leave companies such as Research in Motion (RIM), HTC and Nokia with just 5-percent of the profits, considering they were at once time all top dogs of the market, this is a big change and I'm sure it's hard to swallow for these companies. CNET reports that Apple's iPhone is outselling all other phones combined at AT&T and Sprint, and with Verizon Wireless they are even with all Android phones available.

Samsung has seen incredible success with their GALAXY S range of phones, with the GALAXY S II selling 20 million units in 2011. The GALAXY S III is the most anticipated phone ahead of its official announcement, and Samsung's GALAXY Note has been selling quite well, even if it is half way between a tablet and smartphone. I'm predicting this market share will change with HTC dishing out their One series, and the GALAXY S III should be Samsung's home run this year.

Continue reading: Apple and Samsung make up 95% of all handset profits in Q4 2011 (full post)

IBM over the next five years will build a low-power, exascale computer for largest-ever radio telescope, promises it won't be Skynet

Over the next five years, IBM is set to work with the Netherland's National Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) where tehy hope to develop a low-powered, exascale supercomputer. Not impressed yet? Hold onto your chair, dear reader. According to IBM, this supercomputer would be millions of times faster than today's high-end desktop PCs, and possibly thousands of times faster than even the most recent super computers.

The exascale computer would be used to analyze data collected by SKA (square-kilometer array), which is a cutting-edge radio telescope set to become the largest and most sensitive of its kind ever built. ASTRON hopes to have the telescope ready by 2024. While it's still a fair way off, the excitement will only build over time.

Now, this is where you don your math hat, and get ready to have your eyes widen a little: to compare to what we know, and use now, exascale refers to a computing device that is just incredibly fast, where the number of floating-point operations per second it can perform isn't measured by gigaflops or even petaflops, but exaflops. Today's highest-end desktop CPUs rank up around 20 gigaflops, not that impressive in terms of scale to this beast.

Continue reading: IBM over the next five years will build a low-power, exascale computer for largest-ever radio telescope, promises it won't be Skynet (full post)

Highlight Hunter locates your best clips and cuts down editing time by 80%

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | Apr 2, 2012 6:37 PM CDT

Video cameras are everywhere! From the smallest cell phone all the way up to the professional camera, more and more people are taking video. But wading through hours upon hours of video is both a boring and time consuming task. Enter Highlight Hunter. This free piece of software was created by Noah Spitzer-Williams and team cuts down editing time by up to 80 percent.

Noah spent 5 years at Microsoft at different posts and finally decided to start his company. The way the software works is like this. As one records an adventure, game, or the like, a user simply covers the lens for one second after a highlight to bookmark it. One then downloads the data onto a Mac or PC and uses the free app. It takes a couple of minutes and pulls together all of the highlights that were bookmarked.

The software is compatible with most video cameras and data files. You can choose how much time to record before the highlight bookmark in the settings. The app can take hours of video and cut it down to the highlights in an average of 3 to 4 minutes according to Spitzer-Williams. The team has plans to integrate with video editing software, but they aren't there yet.

Continue reading: Highlight Hunter locates your best clips and cuts down editing time by 80% (full post)

Two additional AMD execs leave for better prospects

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 2, 2012 5:32 PM CDT

It seems as though AMD execs have been jumping ship left and right. Is AMD really doing this poorly, or is there something else going on that's resulting in all of these resignations? Emilio Ghilardi left less than two months ago, and now Pat Patla, former General Manager and Corporate VP of AMD's Commercial Business unit, and Godfrey Cheng, Director of AMD's Client Technology Unit have left or are in the process of leaving.

First, let's look at Pat Patla. His departure is official. His LinkedIn profile confirms it as well as the Wall Street Journal. He has reportedly defected to Samsung where he holds the title of Vice President. The WSJ blog speculates that Samsung wants to build some ARM-based server chips, and Patla is a good fit because he oversaw the Opteron series from AMD.

Then we have Cheng. He hasn't officially left yet, but according to a Facebook post by him, he's tendered his resignation. "after almost 12 years at ATI Technologies / AMD, I tendered my resignation last week. I will be here for approximately the next week then I may wander the earth and get into adventures......" Cheng oversaw AMD's graphics marketing as well as the Client Technology Unit.

Continue reading: Two additional AMD execs leave for better prospects (full post)

Teacher's aide finds herself suspended after she refuses to share Facebook access

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 2, 2012 2:29 PM CDT

Today's news has been filled with business and legal happenings, so here's one more! A teacher's aide has found herself on administrative leave after refusing Facebook access to her employer. This all started back in April of 2011 when Kimberly Hester posted a picture on her own time of her co-worker's pants around her ankles and a pair of shoes.

Hester felt the image was harmless enough, but someone disagreed. A parent of a student at the school where she worked felt that it wasn't appropriate filed a complaint with the school district. Hester was summoned to the office of the Intermediate superintendent Robert Colby. Colby asked to see her Facebook account.

"He asked me three times if he could view my Facebook and I repeatedly said I was not OK with that," Hester told WSBT. Because of this refusal, Hester received a letter from the Special Education Director which informed her that "...in the absence of you voluntarily granting Lewis Cass ISD administration access to you[r] Facebook page, we will assume the worst and act accordingly."

Continue reading: Teacher's aide finds herself suspended after she refuses to share Facebook access (full post)

RumorTT: Xbox 720 will feature 6-core CPU, two GPUs, and Blu-ray

Trace Hagan | Gaming | Apr 2, 2012 12:28 PM CDT

I always love me a good rumor, but I'm not so sure I'm happy with all the parts of this one. Oh, also, before we begin, take the salt and do your thing. Also, knock on some wood for a part of this rumor to be changed. Ok, let's go. The Xbox 720 has been fully detailed to some third parties and we now know that it is slated for a Christmas 2013 release.

The next-generation Xbox will come with a Blu-ray player, contrary to some reports. This is a nice feature so that you don't have to buy a separate player. It will also allow the games to be bigger since a Blu-ray disc holds so much more data. Additionally, multiple sources have confirmed the same thing: it will have two GPUs. One said: "It's like two PCs taped together."

There's no final confirmation of the specs for the GPUs, but it's thought that they are equivalent to AMD's 7000 series GPUs. However, they are not SLI or Crossfire enabled. Instead of alternating, they will be able to work simultaneously to individually draw objects and items on screen. There will be four or six cores in the Xbox's CPU, one of which is reserved for the OS and one for the Kinect.

Continue reading: RumorTT: Xbox 720 will feature 6-core CPU, two GPUs, and Blu-ray (full post)

A new UK law could give the gov. right to monitor communication and internet

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 2, 2012 10:35 AM CDT

There's a new bill running around in the UK and it is akin the US Patriot Act. This bill, if passed, would give the Government Communication Headquarters, or GCHQ, the ability to access phone calls, text messages, emails, and online activity of any citizen without a warrant. The actual contents of the emails and messages would be off-limits, but this is still a gross violation of privacy.

I know we live in an age where privacy doesn't exactly mean much to anyone anymore, but at least with Facebook, we get to choose what to share with the world. This new bill would share the recipients, time, duration and frequency of conversations, plus a list of websites being visited with the government without the need for a warrant.

A similar bill was tried in 2009, but they made the decision to drop it after the massive public outcry. The public was not to happy about having their privacy violated anymore than it already was. The question is, will it pass? It most likely will have a similar outcry to the 2009 attempt, but Britain might still try to pass it. It's estimated at costing $2 billion, and that was in the 2009 attempt. Hopefully it's cost prohibitive enough so that it doesn't get passed.

Continue reading: A new UK law could give the gov. right to monitor communication and internet (full post)