Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

While he was probably best-known for his personal eccentricities, pet monkeys, and legal problems (and some music, too, we suppose), Michael Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50, has a small but important footnote in video game history as well.

Back when Jackson was merely a semi-eccentric star, Sega created a video game property for him, named Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (actually separate games for the arcade and Sega Genesis/Master System consoles). Moonwalker was notable for being an early example of real-life celebrities appearing in video games, and for using digitized versions of some of Jacko's songs.

The game is also unintentionally ironic because Jackson is tasked with rescuing helpless children from a crime boss named Mr. Big (although in hindsight, perhaps it was Mr. Big who was doing the rescuing).

The arcade version was a basic isometric beat-'em-up, with two players able to play as dual Jackos, one in a white suit, one in red (similar to his "Smooth Criminal" music video). Jackson's special attack was a dance move, and when activated, a spotlight from the heavens illuminated him as he pulled off some signature spins and kicks, destroying many of the onscreen enemies.

Even stranger, Bubbles the Chimp made a cameo, and if you picked him up, Jackson would be briefly transformed into a laser-shooting robot version of himself.

The somewhat more pedestrian home console version behaved more like a standard side-scrolling platform game. Again we're rescuing kids from a mobster, but the real appeal is hearing Jackson shout "Woo!" with each attack--usually a dance-like high kick that causes tiny stars to shoot from his foot.

The music in the home console version was a letdown for anyone who had played the arcade version--essentially MIDI-style pinky versions of tracks such as "Smooth Criminal" and "Beat It."

The game went on to become a cult classic, more for its cultural kitsch value than its gameplay, with its animated Jackson appropriated for funny Web videos and retro-'90s talking-head TV shows.

Subsequently, Jackson made only a handful of video game appearances, in Space Channel 5 (also from Sega) for the Dreamcast, and as an unlockable fighter in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2.

At the time of his death, rumors had surfaced that Jackson was involved with a new video game project for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3, but the game was never officially confirmed. via CNET.com written by Dan Ackerman

OLED data glasses let your eyes do the walking

If you thought there were enough menaces on the road with people yakking away on Bluetooth headsets and texting while driving, these OLED data eyeglasses just upped the ante.

Just imagine if this little invention out of the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems in Germany were to hit mainstream use. We'd have a global epidemic of distracted users plugged into their eyewear, busily accessing the day's news, e-mails, instant messages, and miscellaneous data on their glasses, barely paying attention to where they're going.

Still, there's no halting technology. So looking on the bright side, this interactive eyewear does provide a far more natural alternative to head-mounted displays. The data glasses throw the image onto the retina via an OLED micro-display so it appears a meter in front of the wearer. And instead of getting a static image, an eye-tracking device fitted to the hinge lets you scroll through information by simply moving the eyeball, leaving you essentially hands-free.

Fraunhofer's Dr. Michael Scholles believes the eyeglasses already have ready-made applications in the medical and construction fields, and will open up new uses and, I'm pretty sure, new users like Stephen Hawking and others who are disabled.

(Source: Crave Asia via Gizmag)

Power outlet wall solves your electrical needs

How about about instead of buying a surge protector you have a wall filled with what seems like endless electrical outlets. Well the future of tech is looking up and this seems like a great idea for many homes. I'm sure people with their full setup of an entertainment center, surround sound, HDTV, game system or two, dvd/bluray player, cable box, would benefit from clunky wire mess. I'd like to put this on my wall one day, bit weird looking but at least cords won't get tangled. Which leaves the question....wireless AC/DC anyone??

tech presentation coming up.....

..personal note. Am I scared, nooooo! Wish me luck!

Oh wireless give me power...

...ahhhhhh! yes Nokia has taken a stab at what we like to call in the tech world wireless charging. What could that mean? Just kidding, means your phone should never die right. Well assuming you are in places with radio waves and even phone signals, your puppy should be good to go all day, possibly everyday. Nokia picks up all the bits and pieces of these waves and uses the collected electromagnetic energy to create electrical current, then uses that to recharge the battery. This leaves open a wide range of frequencies to be utilized by the system. Of course this is theoretical infinite power for your phone, but it should be enough in it's early stages to keep you going.

Can you manage an iPhone like a BlackBerry?

San Francisco -

Users love the iPhone, but IT does not. The biggest complaints: The iPhone can't be managed for security and access policies like a BlackBerry can. Businesses can buy a BlackBerry Enterprise Server or Motorola Good for Enterprise server to manage user profiles over the air, ensuring that users conform to password policies, encryption policies, app-installation restrictions, and so on, as well as have their e-mail, VPN, and other settings preconfigured to reduce hands-on deployment effort.

For some time now, Apple's offered its free iPhone Configuration Utility for Windows and Mac that lets IT set up and install configuration profiles on iPhones in BlackBerry-like breadth. But it doesn't provide the over-the-air reach, the granularity of control, or the visibility that BlackBerry Enterprise Server offers. Lacking these key needs of larger businesses, iPhone Configuration Utility has been dismissed as a toy application.

[ InfoWorld Test Center's first look: What iPhone 3.0 brings to business -- and what it misses. | Should you upgrade to iPhone 3.0 S or just get an iPhone 3G S? Tom Yager investigates. ]

But last week, Apple shipped the iPhone 3.0 OS that adds improved support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync policies, and it made available the 2.0 version of its iPhone Configuration Utility, with significant new management and security capabilities. Can IT now manage the iPhone in the manner of BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices?

To answer that question, the InfoWorld Test Center has been testing both the version 2.0 iPhone Configuration Utility and Exchange ActiveSync as approaches to managing iPhones to see how well they really work and what types of IT and businesses can effectively use them -- and which cannot.

The short answer: Each tool has important capabilities that the other lacks. For managing our fleet of iPhones (and iPod Touches), we'd prefer to use them in combination. For shops not running Exchange, managing iPhones with the iPhone Configuration Utility alone has one critical drawback: Should the phone be lost or stolen, an administrator cannot initiate a remote wipe of the phone's data or receive confirmation that a remote wipe occurred. But we found that managing iPhones via Exchange is no substitute for using the iPhone Configuration Utility.

iPhone Configuration Utility 2.0: Powerful but not scalable
Apple's free iPhone Configuration Utility, boosted to a 2.0 version when iPhone 3.0 OS was released, has a rich array of policy controls that give IT great authority over iPhones and iPod Touches. The UI is easy to use, with various capabilities broken into "payload" sets that you switch among and configure for a given configuration profile. And they really do work, strictly enforcing their rules on the client devices.

The policies can be set so that an admin password is needed to remove them, as well as to allow or completely prevent user removal. (For an IT admin to get around full removal prevention, you need to connect the device to your PC or Mac and run iPhone Configuration Utility's Remove feature on that device. That certainly gives IT control.)

The configuration utility has the password controls you'd expect, such as enforcing password entry to use the device and specifying restrictions (number of characters, disallowing repeating patterns, requiring a minimum number of characters overall and of symbols in the password, maximum password age, number of intervening unique passwords before one can be reused, and grace lock period before a password is required again). A key capability is being able to set how many failed password attempts wipe out the device's data, which turns the device into a brick. (A "bricked" iPhone can still make emergency calls, but that's it.)

If you're concerned about employees' nonwork activities, you can block access to explicit content; use of Safari, YouTube, and/or the iTunes Music Store; the ability to install apps; and the ability to use the iPhone's camera. But if you want to disallow specific applications, too bad. The only way to do so is to install the permitted apps on the device first (or remove the unpermitted ones), then disable the ability to install apps -- but that also disables app auto-updating.

You can also install credentials via profiles, which is handy if you want to require credentials for e-mail or VPN access, instead of using plaintext passwords that users might copy and use elsewhere. Other configurations you can set include LDAP server information, subscribed calendars, and a default Web clip (essentially, a Web page that appears on the Home screen as if it were an app, such as to your Web e-mail page or customer order lookup page).

You can create multiple configurations and apply multiple ones to individual devices. Thus, you can layer configurations rather than develop a custom profile for each and every device. For example, everyone might get a profile with Exchange, LDAP, password, and application access settings for your corporate standards. And you might have a separate VPN profile that only some users get, and a separate Wi-Fi profile that restricts some users to specific wireless LANs (based on SSID).

One warning on the tool: If you open a payload's settings and don't close it (click the minus icon), the profile includes all the null values for that payload, which essentially prevents users from accessing those settings. You can use this intentionally to, for example, block all Wi-Fi access by only allowing access to null SSIDs (which is not the same as any SSID) -- but it's easy to inadvertently prevent access you didn't mean to block.

The payload controls are for the most part thorough and have a good range of configuration options. But there are no controls over the iPhone's more granular settings, such as whether JavaScript is enabled or disabled or whether the user has encryption set for the device backup in iTunes.

The Wi-Fi configuration also doesn't let you require a certain minimum connection security (such as WPA2) for any Wi-Fi connection; you can only require minimum security protocols for specific SSIDs. That's too bad, as it would be useful to allow access at all Wi-Fi access points that meet a certain security requirement.

But the biggest flaw in the iPhone configuration utility is how it manages the configurations. This is a deal-breaker for large organizations that have to assure that they are meeting compliance requirements or that must be able to install and update configuration profiles over the air or over a network.

You can easily share configuration profiles by e-mailing them or putting them on a Web site. If users click the attachment or the link, the profile is installed. But there's no way to force them to install the profile, and even if they do you have no way of knowing that they did, nor any way of ensuring that they will install any updates or additional profiles.

The iPhone Configuration Utility works well in defining configuration profiles. And it's a reasonable tool for businesses that set up mobile devices for their users, as IT support can easily and quickly install the profile over a USB connection when preparing the device in the first place.

In some cases, you can comfortably rely on the use of e-mailed or Web-accessible profiles. After all, if those profiles contain the only route to what a user needs to, say, access e-mail or the VPN (such as by requiring a certificate be used for authentication), then users will install them -- or not be able to use their devices for work purposes in the first place. We suspect many businesses not subject to regulations such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley can live with this "they'll install it because they have to" strategy, but it's not ideal. After all, you still have the issue of managing updates, which are harder to enforce through such draconian hurdles than the initial corporate access is.

Exchange ActiveSync: Short on policy, long on reach
The Exchange ActiveSync policies the iPhone supports fall well short of the controls provided by the iPhone Configuration Utility. In both Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007, you can enforce the use of a password on the device, and determine how complex the password must be and how often the user must change it. You can set the number of minutes the device can be idle before a password is required, and you can set a maximum number of failed password attempts before the data on the device is wiped clean.

However, the only iPhone feature you can disable using Exchange ActiveSync policies is the camera, and only via Exchange Server 2007. Exchange ActiveSync policies offer no control over the use of the Safari browser, YouTube, the iTunes Music Store, or the App Store. Nor, of course, can ActiveSync deliver configuration settings for Wi-Fi, VPN, LDAP, and calendar subscriptions to your iPhone users. For all of these things, there's no substitute for the iPhone Configuration Utility.

Nevertheless, Exchange ActiveSync offers iPhone administrators one essential feature that the iPhone Configuration Utility doesn't provide: the ability to push a button and make all of the sensitive data stored on an iPhone go away, no matter where that iPhone might be. This "kill switch" is available in both Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007, but only in 2007 is it also extended to the iPhone user, who can initiate a remote wipe from Outlook Web Access. That seems like a good idea, since the user is likely to be the first one to know when his device is lost, but you can hide the mobile device management option from Outlook users that you don't want to trust with this responsibility.

We've tried several remote wipes from Exchange Server 2007, and it works like a charm. Apple warns that older iPhones could take as long as one hour per 8GB to be "bricked," but our iPhone 3G handsets (with about 1GB of data, and running either iPhone OS 2.2 or iPhone OS 3.0) were cleaned and ready for restoration within 10 or 15 minutes every time. The status of the wipe is reported in both the Exchange Management Console and Outlook Web Access. E-mail confirmation of a successful wipe is also sent to the user's mailbox.

From a practical standpoint, the iPhone Configuration Utility is probably just as effective against the loss of an iPhone as the kill switch in Exchange. After all, if you configure a complex password and a wipe of the phone after five or six bad guesses, you can be pretty darn sure that the data will be destroyed. Still, we recognize the importance of documenting the wipe and receiving a confirmation that a successful wipe has occurred. Many organizations won't settle for less.

The Apple/Exchange combination comes tantalizingly closer
For that reason alone, the best way to manage iPhones in the enterprise today involves the use of both the Apple iPhone Configuration Utility and Exchange ActiveSync. But even in combination, these tools don't offer the level of control that admins currently enjoy over BlackBerrys. If Apple wants to own the enterprise, it will need to give iPhone administrators more middle ground -- between allowing either all App Store apps or none, for example, or between turning Safari completely on or completely off.

More important, Apple will have to make the iPhone manageable with or without the user's permission. The iPhone Configuration Utility is good enough to get a fair number of iPhone users rolling, but only if they're responsible folks who can be trusted to play by the rules. As the number of iPhone users spikes and more control is needed, relying on users to install profiles and updates when asked is not going to cut it.

The good news is that most of the policy pieces are in place. The bad news is that the critical management pieces are still MIA.

Courtesy Yahoo! Tech news

Time to talk home theater......

...Home theater systems, depending on how you live are sort of a big deal. Super quality surround sound is the topic at hand. Bose Acoustimass 10 Series IV (black) are one of the premier speaker systems that you can get for just under $1000 depending on where you buy. Yes, I know $1000? but with Bose quality sound and gold wiring what do you expect. This is a five speaker system with a subwoofer of course, very compact so it won't take up too much space. As for the setup it's all based on preference of course assuming the four corner rule(I call it) one speaker to each of the four corners of the wall and your woofer best placed by you theater. Nifty setup, always does the trick and let the Bose sound blow you away!(literally for you lightweights out there)

Windows 7

Microsoft is at it again this time with Windows 7. Seems like a worthy upgrade to Vista. I tried to get my hands on the beta, I did, but didn't feel like partitioning my HDD to dual boot. From what I've read however, it seems snappier than Vista, startup times are quicker, and more user friendly than ever. Starting on July 11 we'll be able to upgrade our Vista PC's and wait for it, XP machines, yes, XP, for $50, hard to believe, well yeah. This is obviously a limited time offer. Did you really think Microsoft would keep those prices for a substantial amount of time, they do have a business to run.

Now for a look into the future.....

If you haven't heard by now OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays are starting to become a little more popular and future gadgets we see seem to have these as standard. Sony, tech mega giants, have had a few tricks up there sleeves.(I'm sure all of you have had at least one Sony product in your lifetime) How about a flexible OLED screen that can even be worn. Yes we've seen this in sci-fi movies I'm sure, but now it's a reality. Sony's flexi-OLED made from a glass substrate, has a resolution of 120x169 pixels and weighs a skimpy 1.5 grams. Imagine reading a newspaper and you turn the page to the top story. You would see the text and maybe a moving slide show or even news report. Or imagine reading a fashion magazine, turn the page, and boom moving ads for your eyes to see. Something really cool to think about and see come into fruition.

Blackberry Tour 9630

How can any of this news be complete without talking about my technological love. We all know if RIM were to propose to me they'd get a resounding YES!(I still dream however) Anyway here we have the Blackberry Tour 9630 heading to a Sprint and Verizon dealer near you. When I first saw this or when anyone sees it you first think Bold. Thanks to AT&T we cant own one right now(I'm a Sprint guy). But this is the next best thing for now. I currently own a curve and I am sooo tempted to upgrade, even though I still love my phone. Even my girlfriend wants one now and claiming "mer, I don't think I want a Blackberry." Glad to see this beauty has changed your mind. but, yes, the phone now.

The Tour measures 4.4 inches by 2.4 in. by 0.6 in., and weighs 5.2 ounces. Stylistically, the device features the Bold’s black keys, the Curve 8900’s rounded top, and the BlackBerry’s signature track ball.

The smartphone offers e-mail, GPS navigation, social networking platforms, a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 compatibility, a built-in HPS, a video media player, and video recording capabilities.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2009/06/17/2009-06-17_research_in_motion.html#ixzz0JM7Z5QDZ&C

Not as bulky as the Bold, more productivity, no wi-fi, but who really uses wi-fi on the go. And you get my favorite app store, the Blackberry app store. This is also being touted as a world phone, so when I go to Jamaica next year, I'll get some nice coverage I'm assuming. Great device for any BB lover. Sprint prices these at $199.99 with rebates and all that good stuff. No word from Verizon yet, but expect it to be within the same ball park.

Before we delve in the future....

let's talk about NEC's weird yet super cool 43" curved monitor. If you've never heard or even seen this by now you must be living under a 32 nm die, geez! First off make sure you have $8,000 plus tax to play with. But you get what you pay for. Seeing as how this is a curved screen pixel resolution is a bit from the normal 2880x900. So you figure its ultra wide and you're right. It's super ultra wide, (super ultra wow) its got your HDMI ports, DVI, USB ports(that's a plus) and 0.02Ms response time. I must say that is very impressive. Basically let's say your watching nascar or something really fast move by. On your standard monitor you would see that ghost trail left behind, but on this monitor, much less so. Of course this baby ships in July and has a 3 yr warranty. I'd want a warranty on this baby too.

All broadcasting has now switched to digital, time to get that flat screen you've always wanted..

I'll begin with my favorite for the day, I've actually seen this one in action. Here we have the Samsung UN46B6000(Ultra thin series). Where do I start, we have 46in, diagnol of course, 1900x1200 resolution, it's and LED backlit LCD TV. So what do we expect from those 8 letters a nice sharp, crisp picture in full HD. I mean this thing is thinner than my laptop, obviously heavier, but it's still extremely sleek. menu controls are everywhere, tweaking is a fun task to get that just right picture for you. There's a news ticker, weather, and judder reduction. An for all you green heads out there, there's three power saver modes and of course with it being a flat screen your saving energy from the jump. Black levels were good, not the greatest in the world, but of course the price is already enough to stomach, I think the average viewer can live without a 1000000:1 ratio in terms of black levels for viewing. All in all great set for your viewing pleasure.

Apple MacBook Pro

Woah I'm reviewing an Apple product again...interesting -_- Anywho here we have the MacBook Pro with your Core 2 Duo processor(2.8Ghz), a hefty 4GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD, and an Nvidia 9400M + 9600M GT series video card. This one sits at 15-inch, an upgrade from the previous 13in MacBook Pro. Positives: price cut from previous model, a new SD card slot, but you still get your jumbo trackpad, and unibody construction. Negatives(my favorite part) let's see no easy battery switching, changing between graphics cards not as user friendly as it should be, and as always it's gonna cost you and arm, a leg, and possibly your kidney. I mean I can build an almost supercomputer like setup for way less. Apple is like Gucci or Fendi, your only paying for the name. Great laptop, don't get me wrong, but there are other budget friendly options out there.

iPhone 3G S

Now I must first warn you I am an avid Blackberry user and proud owner as well. I will be looking today at the iPhone 3G S. This is my first time looking at the reviews and first off what is all the hype really about. Let's get a couple things straightened out. First of all not battery removal(come on Apple :/). Original iPhone and 3G(without 3.0 os) no MMS(multimedia messaging), video recording, voice dialing. How basic, my old Samsung MMA900 did that and you would think these days, camera lens = video recording. Well, Apple has picked themselves up a little bit, but can you really wow people by adding basic functions that were previously missing. Current iPhone users won't be wowed, but a resounding "FINALLY!" would definitely ensue. I mean it definitely runs faster now, it's a little zippier, battery seems to last a little longer, but guess what Apple, your call quality isn't that amazing and I've been victim to it many times. With that being sad you may be wondering "I have an iPhone 3G, should I upgrade?" The answer my friend is no; upgrade your OS and nothing more. If your new to the iPhone scene you'll be a step ahead of your friends who wouldn't know an OS upgrade if it landed in their laps.

Zune HD

So Microsoft is at it again with it's Zune line. If all goes well here I won't be chasing the cool and instead might find myself with one of these puppies. No official release date yet, but these look sweet. Of course you'll have all of your classic Zune features plus some added bonuses. For one you'll find that unlike its future competitor the iPod Touch or iPhone, this baby boasts a 3.3inch touch screen OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode). For all you tech junkies out there this should mean crisper HD content as well as some nice black levels for a portable device, but we'll see. They also have an HD radio tuner, personally I don't listen to the radio much, but if it's HD why not. Hopefully they don't overprice this bad boy and it should be a worthy competitor for the iPod Touch come fall 2009.

First Official Blu-Ray Portable Player

So the Panasonic DMP-B15K is the first portable Blu-Ray player. Seeing as how this is the 1st of it's kind it's a little disappointing to see that the full phenomenon that is Blu-Ray isn't quite captured by this little device. Yes it plays the discs, but you won't get that 1080p crystal clear picture you were looking for. Not a surprise since the screen isn't really that big to begin with and the price, you're better off getting a standalone Blu-ray player.
Lets you watch your Blu-ray collection on-the-go; HDMI output for use as a standalone player; full access to YouTube and Picasa if connected via Ethernet; comes with cigarette lighter adapter and headrest mount for car use.-via CNET.com

RIM Blackberry

So I hear there is a new web application for Blackberry coming out. Apparently it's better than the current opera mini which I use. I also use the native Blacberry browserfor my casual surfing endeavors. Skyfire is in its alpha stages. It will support full flash apparently so sites like veoh and hulu are fully capable of running. According to tests from the current alpha users it's chalking up to be one of the best Blackberry browsers seen to date. Of course users can still get their hands on either the Opera Mini(I use it) or Bolt browsers respectively.

Time to change up

Hmm I want money thats no secret and I know you do, so what do you guys suggest while were still in college. Think about it??