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arstechnica.com rss archive / August-26-2007
DVR viewership eating away at DVD watching
A report from the UK's Office of Communications has some bad news for Hollywood, as DVR owners report that they are now spending a lot less time watching DVDs.Read More...
Fast wireless broadband backers: c'mon FCC, you know it works
The White Spaces Coalition has said that it doesn't care if the FCC retests its prototype device or not, saying that the Commission should know by now that the technology works.Read More...
Ars System Guide: August 2007
Is your PC looking old and busted? Build yourself some new hotness with the help of this month's Ars System Guide. Read More...
Keyloggers and spies beware: EyePassword lets you eyeball your login
Researchers at Stanford have created a new infrared light system designed to track the position of a person's eyes as they look at numbers on a keypad, with the goal of eliminating the annoying (but occasionally inevitable) issue of shoulder surfing.Read More...
NFL to stream live games over the Internet
After spending several months asserting control over all online video coverage of the NFL, the league is gearing up for a foray into the streaming video world with a program available to DIRECTV users. Read More...
SoundExchange drops DRM requirement, webcasters still oppose new deal
Even with anti-streamripping DRM requirements off the table, the latest offer from SoundExchange has plenty of small webcasters upset about caveats they describe as unfair and rigged to limit growth of their business. Read More...
Sony announces high-definition DVR for the PlayStation 3 in Europe
Sony announces its newest attack on your living room: PlayTV, a high definition DVR that allows control and playback using a PSP. The catch? It is only going to be available in Europe.Read More...
On-demand out-of-body-experiences: all you need are VR goggles and a stick
Two papers appearing in today's issue of Science report the ability to induce an out-of-body experience simply by using VR googles and some carefully planned pokes.Read More...
U of Tennessee student says RIAA subpoena violates federal privacy law
A University of Tennessee student asks to have an RIAA subpoena seeking his name, addresses, phone number, e-mail address, and MAC address quashed. His argument: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act bars the school from releasing the data without his or his parents' permission.Read More...
AMD's chief sales and marketing officer Henri Richard to step down
As if AMD's year couldn't get much rougher, the company has now announced the the imminent departure of chief sales officer Henri Richards. Read More...
With 60% sales boost, PS3 is hotter but still in "last place"
July NPD console sales numbers show a strong console market with plenty of competition. Sony's price cuts lifted the PS3, which is now breathing down the neck of the Xbox 360. Ain't competition grand?Read More...
What state secrets? National Intelligence Director cops to spying program
In a remarkable interview released yesterday by the El Paso Times, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell confirmed several new details about government surveillance activities and telecom companies' participation in them. He also charged that public debate of the program would get Americans killed.Read More...
Report slams Google Apps' enterprise prospects, Google says: just you wait
A new report by the Burton Group suggests that IT managers that are looking to save money by switching from traditional enterprise software to Google Apps have another thing coming. Google Apps should be seen as supplementary, the report says, not a replacement for enterprise software.Read More...
First look at Microsoft's Tafiti: sexy Silverlight searching
Microsoft has released a demonstration application of their Silverlight web development frameworks: a fancy search engine shell called Tafiti. Is beauty only skin deep?Read More...
Study: Students more wary of Wikipedia, online resources than thought
Research tools online and offline make for a harrowing research experience, according to a new study. While students are wary of Wikipedia and the like, there's also a clear need for resources like it.Read More...
New DRM scheme will let consumers stream cable TV over home networks
Consumers will be able to stream digital cable content, including HD and video on demand programming, across their home networks. Of course, that programming will be locked down tight with DRM.Read More...
University presses being left behind by digital era
A new report suggests that university presses have become peripheral to the academic mission in the age of the Internet. A university press group has responded by putting the report online using CommentPress.Read More...
Big webcasters agree to royalty cap deal, DRM to be "discussed" later
DiMA and SoundExchange have agreed to cap per-station minimum fees at $50,000 for large webcasters. Actual royalty rates—and DRM issues—will be decided later.Read More...
WHOIS privacy reform reaches dead end
Privacy advocates have pressed for reform to the WHOIS database so that registrants don't have to pay for extra services in order to protect their personal information from publication. Law enforcement and intellectual property lawyers, on the other hand, want easy access to the information. Read More...
Court orders movie pirate to switch to Windows
A pirate who was sentenced to five years in jail for illegally downloading a movie from a BitTorrent site has been told that under the terms of his probation, he has to switch to Microsoft Windows.Read More...
Willful infringement gets harder to prove in patent cases
A new ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit makes treble damages harder to collect by simply claiming that patent infringement was "willful."Read More...
iPhone set free from AT&T with first full software unlock
The iPhone is free. Free from AT&T, that is. A full software unlock has been developed by a dedicated team of hackers that allows users to take the device to any GSM network anywhere in the world.Read More...
Windows Genuine Advantage suffers worldwide outage, problems galore (updated)
Microsoft is in the midst of a major failure of its anti-piracy system, WGA. The outage leaves legitimate users stranded for what company representatives say could be a couple of days. Update: Microsoft says it's all fixed.Read More...
Pavlov's iPod: music player morphs into "personal achievement device"
New Reality's NXTLynk personal achievement device claims to alter your state of consciousness; then, through a series of pre-recorded therapy sessions that use visual and aural techniques to stimulate the brain, it turns you into Stewart Smalley. Read More...
Clearing the air: Bioshock does not contain a rootkit
This weekend news spread quickly that the PC version of Bioshock comes loaded with a rootkit. The only problem is, it isn't loaded with a rootkit, it's just your standard "let's punish our customers" anti-piracy tool. Irritating? Yes. Rootkit? No.Read More...