Maximum PC election RSS Feed

No BS Podcast #86: Hologram Fail

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:40:45 -0600

Core 2 Quad? That's so early 2008. Intel officially launched its Core i7 CPU on Monday, and this speedy new chip is the hot topic of discussion this week. The podcast gang grills Gordon about his benchmarking experience with three Core i7 CPUs, and we have a lively debate about the usefulness of CNN's hologram interview technology. The release of the Left4Dead demo excites everyone, and we also welcome a new member to the Maximum PC team. As always, we also answer a load of listener questions!

Plus, podcast producer Andy Bauman's interview with GirlTalk: http://www.vimeo.com/2150443

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by.

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

CNN to Use Holograms on Election Night to Interview Campaign Representatives, Princess Leia

Paul Lilly — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:30:11 -0600

While the presidential election might only come around every four years, the monotonous coverage has become all too predictable. Tuning in to your favorite news station will inevitably net pundits from both the Republican and Democratic parties giving a play-by-play analysis of how the voting has gone aided by a blue and red color coded map of the United States. Rinse and repeat in four years.

But this year the process looks to get a bit more interesting from a technological standpoint. Instead of remote interviews showing the candidates on a split screen or a floating window, CNN will look to up its geek cred with the use of holograms.

"Everyone is doing something virtual this election year," says CNN senior VP David Bohrman, the guy who pushed the technology. "Virtual elements in a real set look so much better than a real person in a virtual set."

To make it happen, CNN will use 44 cameras and 20 computers in each remote location to capture 360-degree imaging data of the person being interviewed. The images will then be processed and beamed by computers and cameras located in New York. The end result, if all goes to plan, is that those being interviewed, whether a spokesperson from the Obama or McCain camp, will appear as though he or she is in CNN's television studio.

Will holographic interviews make you more likely to tune into CNN? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

Automated System Utilities and More--This Week's Top Freeware Picks!

David Murphy — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:00:00 -0600

The best kinds of system applications are the ones that make your life easier without you having to lift a finger. While the freeware applications we're profiling in this weekly roundup still require you to input a few settings, they're great tools to help automate some of the critical parts of your daily computer life. From hotkey creation utilities to applications that help you conserve power by turning off your PC at specified intervals, these freeware tools are must-have additions to your computing repertoire!

HotKeyz

What it does: Remember gMote? It's an application that lets you create mouse gestures for any function you want on your PC. HotKeyz is similar, but instead of twitching your mouse around to launch your favorite application, you just jam on a specific combination of keyboard buttons. You can set your little combination to launch programs, folders, or run commands in a normal, minimized, or maximized state! Start your screensaver, shut down your computer--with HotKeyz, your fingers can command nearly any task!

Download it here!

Startup Delayer

It's ok. Not all of us can sport the fastest PCs, the largest chunks of memory, or the fastest hard drives. And sometimes, when you go to start your machine, it can just be agonizingly slow as a result of your underpowered rig. That's where Startup Delayer comes into the picture. Rather than letting Windows attempt to start up all of its applications and processes immediately after your machine logs in, Startup Delayer lets you set specific time intervals before each program can start. Instead of launching 10 applications at once, you can now space them out and--who knows--use your PC. It sure beats sitting there and watching your hard drive activity light blink!

Download it here!

AMP WinOFF

So what do you often use your maximum pc (and maximum broadband connection) for? Downloads. And when's the best time to fill your Internet's pipe, as to not hack off your roommates who also depend on your connection? Nighttime. But suppose you hate the idea of leaving your souped-up, energy-sucking rig on needlessly. We do too. That's why we use AMP WinOFF to manage our computer's uptime. You can set the program to perform any number of shutdown actions for your PC, including a normal shut off, a restart, a log off, et cetera. These can run by timer or CPU usage--if your processer drops below a certain rate of use for a set period of time, the application can flip off your PC! Watch your electric bill go through the floor thanks to one simple little utility!

Download it here!

US Presidential Polling Screensaver

Hey, did you know that there's an election coming up? An important election? If you did, and you're one of those hardcore folk who cling to the latest polling numbers and statistics, then this is your screensaver. The screensaver pulls updated polling numbers from the 'net and displays them, state-by-state, in a beautiful DirectX-based screensaver. Show your pride in your statistical knowledge and prevent monitor burn-in all at once!

Download it here!

Copywriting Wrongs

Quinn Norton — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:00:00 -0500

With a presidential election around the corner, let’s look at how people pervert copyright law to squelch speech. Copyright takedown notices were never meant to stifle whistle-blowers or detractors, yet that’s become a popular use for them. Individual critics are likely to go broke even if they win a case, so people and ISPs tend to back down at lawyer point.

One of the most repugnant misuses of the takedown notice was by Diebold, a maker of electronic voting machines. Diebold responded to allegations of security flaws with an “Oh no, our machines are fine! Move along!” type of response. But leaked internal Diebold documentation posted on the net confirmed the company knew it was p0wned. Diebold couldn’t deny anything—instead it demanded the documentation be taken offline, on the basis of copyright infringement. According to the EFF, Diebold failed to pass “the giggle test” on that case.

Nobody loves its copyrights and hates its former members like the Church of Scientology. It makes the RIAA look like an amateur when it comes to suing the hell out of its critics, anywhere, anytime. The Church of Scientology has been at it the longest, too. When there’s no legitimate way to gag your critics, you’re down to sending a cease-and-desist letter or hiring a team of ninjas to take them out. The former is a lot cheaper. Even if the latter is more fun.

It goes on... the Jehovah’s Witnesses shutting down a critical website, the rapper Akon trying to shut up conservative pundit Michelle Malkin, etc.

My personal favorite is radio personality Michael Savage. Savage made some comments about Islam on his radio show that were, shall we say, colorful. The nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) posted these comments on its site to highlight his bigotry. So Savage sued for copyright infringement. At no point did he actually try to defend his comments, he just tried to hit CAIR over the head with a big lawyer and intimidate the group into silence. In this case, the EFF stepped in and hit him back.

But it’s such a weak way to shut people up. If you really want to oppress someone, I say get the ninjas.

Quinn Norton writes about copyright for Wired News and other publications. Her work has ranged from legal journalism to the inner life of pirate organizations.