Tech Blog

[#1]

Windows 7 Service Pack one gets a date?
Development and enhancement work never stops, and it looks like an enterprising Russian website has published details on upcoming Windows 7 work:

The Russian site wzor.net, which leaked many builds of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 during their development phase, last week released some timeframe information about SP1. According to the rumor, Windows 7 SP1 will have two betas and two release candidates. Testers may get the first beta as early as December 2009, the public will get it in January 2010, the RTM is scheduled for summer 2010, and finally the RTW will arrive in autumn 2010.

That's a lot of apps.
Apple announced that there's over 100,000 apps in the app store. That's a lot of inventory to maintain:

“The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating.”

Twitter Lists launch
After an extended trial period, Twitter has finally rolled out lists to all users. They're neat, complex, and require a bit of investment to make work well. And I'm not sure how they'll integrate into third-party apps for desktop or mobile devices. But if you have a blog, There's a widget for that:

The List Widget is exactly what you’d expect: A widget that you can place on your blog that displays a list of your choosing. One nice thing is that this can be a list you made or one any user has made (that is public).

Drawing the line
Where do the rights and duties of citizens in civilization begin and end when they become 'citizen' journalists. Interesting item and perspective on the news twitted from inside the Fort Hood shooting incident ear....

Crossing the line?
One in-game player-controlled sequence has gamers shooting innocent civilians. Good taste or good writing?

"The question is," he continued, "just because that is the way it is, do we need that in a video game? I don’t think so. In my opinion it dumbs down the absolute horror and viciousness of these tactics, and glorifies the acts.

Looking for an eReader? Check out your iPhone
Yep, it looks like the iPhone (and by extensioin, the iPod Touch) is poised to become the most popular eReader.

" The trend isn’t an aberration. In October, one out of every five new applications launching on the iPhone was a book,"

Got Google Wave but can't figure it out?
Try this Wiki - lots of details here from two of Lifehacker's leading writers.

The Complete Guide to Google Wave is a straightforward, well-organized volume that goes a long way toward demystifying a new and complex tool. It's available to read online for free, but you'll be able to buy it as a DRM-free PDF soon, and in print in January.

Mystery town in Google Maps?

Argleton, a 'phantom town' in Lancashire that appears on Google Maps and online directories but doesn't actually exist, has puzzled internet experts.

Beatles to release USB collection
In case  you didn't already have a complete Beatles collection, this may interest you:

The exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with the critically acclaimed re-mastered audio for The Beatles’ 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs’ visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes. 

A specially designed Flash interface has been installed, and the 16GB USB’s audio contents will be provided in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps formats, fully compatible with PC and Mac.  

---

Your Turn
So, did I miss anything? What online story really got you going this week? Link to it in the comments!

Message Edited by bgrier on 11-08-2009 09:59 AM