TechStuff
Navigate today’s cutting-edge technology with the gurus from HowStuffWorks.
Last week, Marc Whitten posted on the Xbox 360 press page some discouraging news. Microsoft will stop supporting games for the original Xbox on Xbox Live. That means you won’t be able to play online with or against your friends in classic games like Halo 2, Crimson Skies or Star Wars Battlefront. And that means your old Xbox consoles won’t work online anymore.
Microsoft is tweaking Xbox Live and plans to introduce new features to the service. According to the press release, some of these changes are incompatible with the classic Xbox games.
OK, so as Jonathan and I were streaming live this afternoon on TechStuff Live, Google executives were rolling out the company’s new social networking project, Google Buzz. Rumors were circulating this morning that Google wanted to do something new with social networking with status updates akin to Twitter, probably something related to Gmail.
Come join us at 1 p.m. Eastern today for the latest news and rumors in the world of technology. Did Steve Jobs really send Steve Ballmer two iPads glued together with the word “Courier” written on them in crayon? [Editor's note: No, that didn't happen.] Did Google turn all of its search results upside down for Australia Day? [Editor's note: No, that didn't happen either.] Did Facebook alienate its users through yet another redesign? [Editor's note: That one actually happened.] Plus you don’t want to miss our special effects extravaganza known as the Tweet of the Week!
You can watch us right here or grab our handy-dandy Facebook application.
Google Nexus One Test Video or Torture Film?
by Jonathan Strickland | February 8, 2010
Over the last few days, Google has released a series of videos documenting the development and manufacture of the Nexus One smartphone. The third in the series is one that filled me with a sense of dread and unease. The video reveals the testing procedure HTC (which manufactures the Nexus One) uses to determine if a phone is ready for release. HTC puts phones through a series of different tests to check durability and damage resistance. It’s fascinating stuff, though a little hard to watch if you’re a technophile like me.
Ranting About Ghost Hunters and iPads on TechStuff
by Jonathan Strickland | February 5, 2010
When Chris and I step into the recording studio, we record at least two episodes of TechStuff at a time. On some days, we’ll record three shows. We do this so that we have several episodes in reserve. If one of us goes on vacation or has a sick day, we’ll still have episodes to publish twice a week for all our loyal listeners.
But we don’t pick when each episode publishes. Those decisions fall to our wonderful production crew. You’ve heard us (and some of the other podcasters) mention these people in other episodes. Folks like Jeri, Matt, Tyler, Liz and Rachel work hard to make us sound good. They also schedule our shows for publication and write all the meta data. Their contributions are invaluable.
This week, two episodes featuring rants from yours truly went live. Now if I had been in charge of the publication schedule, I probably would have given you guys a break from my ire. But that was not meant to be. Don’t blame the production staff though — they think it’s funny when I get angry.
One of the things that really gets on my nerves is when tech journalists ask aloud if the gadget that has just been released is the previous hot gadget’s killer. For example: Is the Droid or Nexus One an iPhone killer? And now people are suggesting that the iPad may be a Kindle killer.
Using Online Ads to Build a Crime Network
by Jonathan Strickland | February 3, 2010
Are you evil or willing to learn? Do you wish to profit off of the suffering of others? Do you have no scruples, morals, ethical boundaries or decency? Then come on down to CyberCrime Incorporated!
I’m guessing that the actual ads targeting potential cyber criminals aren’t quite that transparent. But according to this report in Reuters, at least two companies that promote criminal activities are placing ads for work-at-home jobs. Employees must take company-provided code and link it to something — anything — on the Web that will guarantee lots of clicks. The employee receives a payment for every 1,000 downloads generated by the link.
Monday night I was driving home and listening to All Things Considered on National Public Radio. The All Tech Considered segment runs on Monday evenings, and yesterday Robert Siegel interviewed Richard Littlehale and Bob Casey of YouRenew, a company that will pay you to take your old electronics off your hands.
Come join us at 1:00 p.m. Eastern today to see if Chris and I have recovered from the psychological damage we endured while covering the Apple iPad announcement last week. Today we’ll be talking about some mysterious botnet activity, rumored products from Microsoft and an obligatory segment on the aforementioned iPad. Plus you don’t want to miss our special effects extravaganza known as the Tweet of the Week!
You can watch us right here or grab our handy-dandy Facebook application.
There are lots of different kinds of malware out there, most of which are interested in hiding behind the scenes. After all, the point is to avoid being discovered and removed. The longer they stay on your computer, the more information these programs can send back to their creators. Or the malware can continue sending out spam or creating denial-of-service attacks.
Bob Sullivan wrote a post in MSNBC’s The Red Tape Chronicles that discusses a particular type of malware that fully intends to get your attention.
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