Posted 09/09/09 at 08:02:26 AM by Paul Lilly

The Dallas Cowboys just can't seem to get a grip on this whole technology thing. In a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans last month, Dallas' 180 foot long HD screen blocked a punt by the Titans, a play which isn't reviewable under current NFL rules. Moving the screen could cost millions of dollars, so the solution for the time being is to do nothing.

Fast forward and the Cowboys once again take center stage in this week's giant screen fail, only this time there were no punts involved. Instead, a scrolling banner let everyone in attendance know the eggheads behind the scenes had encountered an error and didn't shut down properly. Or maybe it's a really good Photochop. Either way, it's fun to laugh at the Cowboys. That is, unless you're a Lions fan, in which case there's nothing at all funny about the NFL.

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Posted 05/20/09 at 05:38:04 PM by Andy Salisbury

Thanks to a recent report, a new worst-case scenario has been proposed that details the downfall of the modern GPS system, as we know it.

The report, distributed by the Government Accounting Office, states that our nation’s GPS could begin to fail sometime next year. Our GPS system has supposedly been extremely mismanaged, and when the aging equipment used to keep it all running begins to fail there will be no new satellites to take their place.

“If the Air Force does not meet its scheduled goals for development of GPS IIIA satellites, there will be an increased likelihood that… the overall GPS constellation will fall below the number of satellites required to provide the level of GPS service that the U.S. government commits to,” says the report.

It also notes that the Air Force has failed to build successful GPS satellites within the cost and schedule constraints provided to it.

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Posted 02/10/09 at 10:53:28 AM by Paul Lilly

The story of Old Yeller is about a dog who wins the heart of teenager Travis Coates tasked with helping manage the family farm while his father is away on a cattle drive. But by the time his father returns, Yeller becomes infected with rabies while fending off a rabid wolf. Travis is left with little recourse but to shoot the dog.

Now imagine the above summary in video form lasting for about 20 minutes. Would you pay $10 to watch it? HarperCollins thinks so, and has kicked off the concept by launching a video edition of Jeff Jarvis' "What Would Google Do?" that it's now selling through Amazon's digital-download store for $9.99.

"We're looking to create new revenue streams," said Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins. "There is a tremendous amount of search and discovery of video on the Web. Some consumers won't spend the money or invest hours in reading a book, but they will watch a 23-minute video."

Depending on the interest the video book concept generates, HarperCollins said it could release up to six more before the end of the year, all of which would be produced in-house. Twenty-five percent of the net revenue would go towards the author.

Hit the jump and tell us what you think about the future of video books, but first a protip: HarperCollins has made available the entire text of "What Would Google Do?" for free right here. We'd summarize it for you, but then we'd have to charge you.

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Posted 11/12/08 at 09:06:05 AM by Paul Lilly

Thanks to a borked update, some PC users running AVG's free antivirus were in for a long and frustrating weekend. The virus definition update, which was released on Saturday, erroneously detected the "user32.dll" file for the Trojan Horse PSW.Banker4.APSA instead of recognizing it as a critical Windows component. Once the scanner went active, users found their AVG software recommending that they delete the quarantined file. Doing so caused systems to either stop booting or enter into a continuous reboot loop. Whoops!

The misinformed update affected both AVG 7.5 and AVG 8.0 installations on Windows XP. Vista users appear to be in the clear, though a spattering of user comments around the web have indicated otherwise. In any event, another update has corrected the error. For those who already deleted the critical system file, AVG is providing step-by-step instructions on how to restore your system back to a working state. Whether or not it restores your faith back in the program is another question altogether.

Hit the jump and let us know what security software you're using.

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Posted 07/03/08 at 02:50:34 AM by David Murphy

Nvidia shares dropped by a fourth today after the company announced it was setting aside a one-time hit of $150 to $200 million dollars to cover warranty and repair costs associated with an "abnormal failure rate" on its mobile graphics cards.  The exact sources of the increased GPU problems are unknown at this time, although Nvidia believes the cards' increased thermal issues stem from weaker manufacturing and packing materials.

More after the jump!

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