nLite 1.4.9.1
September 12, 2008
Chris Wiles, vnunet.com, Friday 12 September 2008 at 00:00:00
Customise your Windows XP setup CD
Windows is a very flexible operating system, both after installation and, surprisingly, before you install to your computer. For instance, wouldn’t it be beneficial to take your old Windows XP…
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Does Quest for Booty confirm the existence of a new Ratchet & Clank game?
August 15, 2008
Next week, Insomniac is releasing Quest for Booty on PSN, a downloadable sequel of sorts to last year’s incredible PlayStation 3 game Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. From what I hear, this expansion is short, but every bit as creative and polished as previous retail games. I, for one, cannot wait to play it!
Fans of the series will love to hear that at the very end of Quest for Booty, the following message appears: THE QUEST CONTINUES IN FALL 2009 …
You don’t have to be a lombax (or a sassy robot) to figure out that this must hint at the release of a brand new game in the Ratchet & Clank universe due out next year. But what kind of game will it be? It is obviously a direct sequel, but will it be a full game or an episodic entry? What do you think? No matter what it is, I am excited already!
[Via 1UP]
EA Showcase 08: Hands-on with NERF N-Strike for the Wii
August 15, 2008
NERF N-Strike is easily going to have the best peripheral ever made for a game. You will actually get a real working NERF gun that also doubles as the gun cradle for the Wiimote. There will be a removable one-shot NERF launcher where the Wiimote fits, and the NERF gun is even designed to accept the MotionPlus and allows for the Nunchuk to plug in for easy access.
There will be a story for the single-player mode, designed in a Saturday morning cartoon fashion, where the main character joins an elite NERF group and fights with NERF guns against robots. This is a kids’ game after all, so there won’t be any humans that are yelling out horrible one-liners to shoot at.
The game will support up to four players with around 24 events to play. I played a game with Emily from Ripten where we had to shoot as many balls as we could. Each time we hit a ball, a machine hanging above the stage would paint the ball your team’s colors until all the balls were destroyed. 
Players will have access to 25 guns, 12 of which are real NERF guns and 13 of which are brand new NERF guns designed for N-Strike. I played with a handgun, an automatic rifle and a sniper rifle during my playtime.
The game basically feels like Time Crisis, but with NERF guns. The main downside to all of this is that the gun and game package will cost .99, and the gun by itself will go for .99. That’s a great price point for the gun, but no arcade-style on-rails shooter is worth more than . Both the gun and game will be out in your local videogame section and toy section this November 4 for the Wii.
New Noise Blackout feature with Jabra BT530 Bluetooth headset
August 15, 2008
The new Jabra BT530 with Noise Blackout feature has been announced by GN Netcom, and according to GN Netcom this Noise Blackout feature reduces ambient sound without compromising voice quality.
The Jabra BT530 is the first Bluetooth product to feature the new Noise Blackout technology, which has been developed by GN Netcom. Noise Blackout uses dual microphones to capture sound, intelligently filtering background noise only.
“Used together with advanced DSP technology and Audio Shock Protection that monitors incoming audio volume, sound is balanced to filter out background noise, leaving both sides of the call with a natural sounding voice quality.”
The Jabra BT530 weighs .35 ounces and specs are as follows: Noise Blackout technology; High Performance with Bluetooth 2.0, including Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) and eSCO; A2DP & DSP technology; Multipoint technology; Auto-pairing.
With the Jabra BT530 also comes: 8 ear gels and one ear hook provided for added comfort; Micro USB Charger Connection; and has Acoustic Shock Protection; Dual microphone, with 5.5 hours talk time and 250 hours standby time.
The Jabra BT530 will be available at stores beginning of September for roughly .99
Source – slashphone
Treo 700p and 700wx ROM updates from Palm
August 15, 2008
Palm have released an update for both the Palm 700p on Verizon and Palm 700wx on Alltel for the Treo, funny thing is although for now you have to treat these two as separate updates, in a few more months they will both be one and the same.
Anyway, that aside, anyone out there packing either Palm Treo may be interested in downloading what will probably be the final ROM updates for both the Palm 700p and Palm 700wx on Verizon and Alltel.
Fairly predictable, Palm hasn’t gone into much detail about what these respective Radio Patches are all about, probably patching up something or another.
But then if you are a Palm Treo-ist you simply can’t be expected to walk around with your Palm without the latest and greatest Palm has to offer on your mobile phone now can you.
Want the updates then go 700p and 700wx
Source – palminfocenter via engadgetmobile
RCA Victor Dog And Robot
August 15, 2008
Robot and Dog Originally uploaded by lukeroot. It sure looks like the old RCA Victor dog, but it obviously isn’t hearing "His master’s voice."
Go to Source
Mars robots begin test campaign
August 15, 2008
By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News
Engineers have unveiled the latest prototypes for a European rover that is due to land on Mars in 2015.
BBC News has had exclusive access to the test vehicles which are being put through their paces by space company UK Astrium at its HQ in Stevenage.
The British team on this European Space Agency (Esa) project has nicknamed the prototypes Bruno and Bradley.
The six-wheeled robots are claimed to be the most robust and manoeuvrable planetary rovers to be built.
According to Chris Draper, Astrium’s ExoMars rover vehicle industrial manager, they can go literally where no rover has gone before.
“Obviously, the American MER rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) that were put up by Nasa enjoyed an extreme amount of success. They were able to travel large distances, well beyond their planned lifetimes. But we’re hoping that with our baby, we’ll be able to go places that are actually much further.”
EXOMARS MISSION CONCEPT- Set to leave Earth in 2013; primary aim is to search for life
- Will launch on a heavy-lift rocket, such as the Ariane 5
- Vented landing bags allow for a larger payload
- Rover will carry a 16.5kg ‘Pasteur’ instrument suite
- 30kg geophysics/environment static station also possible
- This would study the weather and listen for ‘Marsquakes’
- Concept to cost Esa states more than first estimates
Each prototype has six-wheel steering, which means that they can turn all six wheels and crab sideways.
They also have what engineers describe as “wheel walking capability”. This means that when the vehicles come across a particularly steep or slippery slope, they can anchor themselves with five of the wheels and inch each wheel forward one at a time, to crawl over an obstacle.
The prototypes have a unique intelligent navigation system which enables them to plot their own course.
Such is the distance between the planets, it can take 20 minutes for an instruction sent from Earth to arrive at Mars. The delay means instant commands to change direction are not possible and so a rover must have autonomy to make decision if, for example, it is approaching a dangerous precipice.
And because the rover will make its own decisions, it can also cover more ground.
ExoMars’ primary mission is to search for signs of past or present life.
To do that, it will make its way to locations thought most likely to support life and drill up to two metres into the ground. Sub-surface soil samples will be analysed by an onboard laboratory.
The rover will have the largest array of scientific instruments to be taken to Mars. So if it gets strong indications that organisms might be present, it will be able to subject samples to a wide range of tests to confirm initial readings.
But the executives at Astrium are concerned that after having done the groundwork in developing the vehicle systems (the chassis, locomotion and navigation systems), the company might actually lose the opportunity to build the final flight vehicle.
"It’s quite a tense period for us in Astrium and for the other companies involved in building ExoMars"Dr Ralph Cordey, UK Astrium
The concern stems from the recent funding difficulties faced by the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC), the agency which supports astronomy and space science in the UK.
The company won its role on the mission as leader of vehicle development partly because of the funding the STFC put through Esa. But Astrium’s science business development manager, Dr Ralph Cordey, said that given the recent squeeze on British astronomy and space resources, he was now unsure if that same level of funding would continue.
“It’s quite a tense period for us in Astrium and for the other companies involved in building ExoMars; and for all the many, many scientists who will depend on this mission,” he told BBC News.
“On the one hand, we are moving ahead with a great momentum, as you’ve seen. This is not a paper project - there is real engineering going on and we are on the verge of building the real hardware that will go on to the planet Mars. 
“But on the other hand, we do have a real problem. In order to complete the project, further funding needs to be made available and it won’t be until November that we are sure that that is in place.”
The cost of ExoMars has risen dramatically since European space ministers first approved the venture in 2005. Revised estimates to be agreed next month with industrial partners mean the price for ExoMars will nearly double from its original 650m-euro price tag.
If the UK wants to maintain its position on mission, it will have to boost its financial commitment to ExoMars or come to some other compensatory arrangement with Esa.
If the UK plays the wrong hand at the next space ministers’ meeting in November, UK Astrium warns, the contract to build the flight vehicle could go to a space company sited in another Esa member state.
The STFC said: “The UK will be working with its international partners to try to bring about a mission that has high impact and is affordable, in a process of negotiation that will culminate in decisions at the ministerial in November 2008.
“Meanwhile, it remains a high strategic priority for the UK as emphasised previously.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation
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