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Studying addiction in a virtual meth house

Just as catching a whiff of fresh coffee beans can trigger cravings for my own addictive habit of choice, many environmental cues can create a very real physical response in drug addicts.

Studying cravings is an important part of designing treatments for addictions, and scientists have long studied the way in which cues like videos and drug paraphernalia trigger those cravings. Now, one group of researchers are trying to find out if cues in virtual environments like Second Life can produce real drug cravings in addicts as well. And if so, are those cravings neurologically similar to ones resulting from … Read more

Chattanooga: Fastest Net in U.S.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: Chattanooga has fastest Net in country Twitter loses John Mayer Boxee Box goes on sale CBS News app for iPad Halo: Reach released

Making real estate look good in Google's 3D world

In the physical world, people knowing they'll be judged on appearances often prefer to put their best foot forward.

But there's a direct analog of the real world taking shape inside thousands of Google computers, a collection that began with addresses and roads and that's extended to photos and 3D buildings. What do you do when it's time to spruce up for virtual visitors?

You can of course learn how to create 3D models and submit them to Google. But a New Zealand start-up is hoping you'll do the same thing most people do when … Read more

Turn your iPad into a second monitor

Can I be brutally honest? Much as I like my iPad, I'm just not using it much. (No, you can't have it.) Turns out my iPhone is still my go-to device for e-mail, e-books, games, and other day-to-day stuff.

Needless to say, it troubles me to see that beautiful (and expensive) screen just sitting there going to waste. Well, waste no more! MaxiVista turns an iPad into a second monitor.

If this sounds familiar, you're probably thinking of a similar utility: Air Display. However, that popular app works only with Macs. MaxiVista is the first such option … Read more

Intel posts $2.9 billion profit, cites strong demand

Intel's second-quarter profit surged past the dismal earnings reported in the same period last year.

For the quarter, which ended period ended June 26, Intel earned $2.9 billion, or 51 cents a share, one of the biggest profit showings in its history. And it was a stark contrast with the loss of $398 million, or 7 cents per share, posted a year ago. Last year's results were pushed down by a $1.45 billion charge as a result of a European Commission antitrust fine.

Analysts had been expecting second-quarter earnings of 43 cents per share.

Revenue for … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1246: Stick it to the FCC (podcast)

On today's episode, we discover that frenemies make for great collusion, everyone at the White House is suddenly sorry they bought all those iPads, the iPhone 4 doesn't actually have an eyeball, and only birds are now allowed to "tweet."Oh, and everything's better if you're naked.

Hulu on your iPad? Air Display, hands-on

Hulu on an iPad? How about Photoshop, or FarmVille? While all of these are technically possible thanks to the Air Display app, they're not all recommended, or even viable. But yes, they can be done. So can using the iPad as a wireless tablet interface for graphic or music applications.

You will, however, need a Mac running close by.

Many owners of iPads, myself included, have noticed how the device actually works quite nicely as a "second screen" when placed next to a home computer. Air Display takes the metaphor literally, by enabling the iPad to become an extended desktop display for your Mac.

Air Display works over local Wi-Fi, with the aid of software that's installed on any Intel Mac with OS X 10.6 or later (Windows support, says maker Avatron, is "coming soon") and toggled via a toolbar. The setup is dead simple: First, launch Air Display on the iPad. Then, enabling Air Display on the Mac shows a list of whatever iPads happen to be on the same local network (odds are, just the one you're using, unless you're at an Apple Store). Click the name of your iPad, and you're set.

The extended display activated fairly quickly, and worked just like a second monitor does: We were able to drag any window on our Mac onto the iPad. While the reaction time was quick, unlike the several-second lag that occurs on Intel Wireless Display-enabled computers, there was a noticeable framerate drop on secondary display functions. On version 1.0, the image sometimes broke up or clipped oddly as well--the technology at work is not unlike what enables you to use your computer remotely via VNC.

There is a nice surprise, however: Touch-screen controls do work. We could tap to click links in Safari and to browse, although the mouse cursor tended to leap from point to point instead of smoothly dragging. We even were able to drag a window and highlight text, though that was a bit hit-or-miss. Continuous motions such as drawing on-screen work better. Still, even in its first release, touch works nearly as well as any Windows 7 tablet PC we've seen. And, windows had the sense to auto-expand to fill the iPad's screen space properly--maximizing anything from Safari to GarageBand was easy to do whether we were in landscape or portrait mode.

Well, so now that the iPad can be a Mac extension, what exactly would we do with it?

Our first instinct was to load up Hulu, of course.… Read more

preGAME 16: ModNation Racers and Split/Second

This week on preGAME we build our very own racetrack and then give it a spin live on the show! Today we're giving you a double dose of racing action with ModNation Racers and Split/Second. Joining us on the phone to talk about ModNation Racers will be Dan Sochan, producer on the project.

Before we hit our live demos, we'll discuss some of this week's top gaming headlines. First up, Halo: Reach has been officially dated. September 14 is when you'll be able to play the prequel to the Halo trilogy that follows a team … Read more

Class action lawsuit targets Second Life

A number of paying users (or "residents") of virtual world Second Life have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company and its founder, Philip Rosedale. Their complaint: The terms of virtual property ownership have changed, and residents were forced to agree to a new terms of service that eroded their ownership rights to virtual property and goods. In fact, the suit filed on April 15 claims, the promises of "ownership" were empty in the first place.

Through extensive marketing, Second Life parent company Linden Lab, with Rosedale as its spokesman, "lured consumers across the United … Read more

Start-up hopes to bridge real, virtual worlds

LONDON--Micazook, a start-up trying to bring some real-world flavor to virtual worlds on the Net, plans to publicly launch an online realm it calls Project X for now.

"A beta will be out in the next few weeks," Michael Fotoohi, managing director and one of the prime programmers behind the project, said at the Image Sensors Europe conference here. By then, he said, Project X should have a real name instead of its present placeholder.

Project X attempts to overlay the free-wheeling style of Second Life over a model of the real world. The company has obtained high-resolution … Read more