virtualization

Wii virtual console releases for this week

NES Play Action Football (1990, NES, 500 Wii points)--Considered quite ahead of its time, NES Play Action Football allowed you to choose between 10 real teams--all with current rosters (at the time)--in addition to selecting real plays. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994, Genesis, 800 Wii points)--Sonic Team improved on the series in every way possible--from faster action to more massive play areas, Sonic 3 delivers the nonstop action that fans have come to expect. Neutopia II (1991, Turbografx 16, 600 Wii points)--In this sequel you'll have to deal with the same evil demon from the … Read more

Four new Wii virtual console releases this week

Nintendo has bestowed upon us a holiday bonus for Labor Day. Instead of the usual three virtual console releases, there are four new Wii games ready for download this week.

Adventure Island (1988, NES, 500 Wii points)--Adventure Island is a classic side-scrolling platformer, where you play as Master Higgins. Tina, the love of your life, is missing, and it's up to you to find her on a remote island. Donkey Kong Jr. Math (1985, NES, 500 Wii points)--And who says learning can't be fun? This is a great game to buy if you've got a … Read more

Second Life: over-hyped or scientifically significant?

We're constantly imitating nature.

Artificial intelligence researchers study the way babies learn to right themselves after falling down to help train robots to behave similarly.

We're still learning new things about flight dynamics and wing design from butterflies and other animals.

If you've ever carefully tiptoed across the floor to keep from disturbing someone, you're mimicking how a deer walks to avoid alerting predators to its presence.

Okay, that one's a stretch, but if you've ever watched a deer do this, it sure seems like one heck of a coincidence.

In any case, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's also how modern science works - creating models for simple structures in order to approximate the real world. When we succeed, we learn; when we fail, we learn more. It's a painstaking process of trial and error called the scientific method.

Every year the biotechnology industry comes one step closer to learning how to cure our ills and extend the human lifespan. We have further to go than we've come, to be sure, but getting here was no easy trick. After all, biotech research is attempting nothing short of unveiling the secrets of life.

Why am I telling you all this? Because, this is the same thought process that changed my opinion about Second Life being over-hyped - an opinion many of you have recently expressed.… Read more

Out-of-body, change of mind?

Ask any first grader to name the five senses and sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste will roll out as a satisyfying answer. But this list leaves off the sense of balance, along with body position. We generally don't think of this sense because it is always on. We close our eyes and it gets dark, but we still know which way is up and what our bodies are doing. Gravity feels like a constant force of nature, and we feel firmly rooted in our bodies.

The key word here is feel. As much as we may take it for granted, there is a true sensory process going on, involving the vestibular organs of the inner ear, the positional information coming from our joints, as well as integration of other sight and touch cues. And since it is a sensory process, it can be manipulated to induce an illusion. Neuroscientists have used surprisingly low-tech methods involving virtual reality goggles and a stick to create an out-of-body sensation in ordinary people.… Read more

EarthLink to lay off 900

Internet service provider EarthLink said Tuesday that it would lay off approximately 900 employees as the company restructures in an attempt to boost its sagging stock price.

EarthLink will lose about half its staff in the restructuring as it shuts down operations in Orlando, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Harrisburg, Pa., and San Francisco. It will also substantially reduce its presence in Pasadena, Calif., and Atlanta, the company said in a press release Tuesday.

The reductions are expected to cost the company $60 million to $70 million. But it will save EarthLink $25 million to $35 million through the remainder of 2007, … Read more

Ex-XenSource CEO tries another virtualization start-up

Nick Gault apparently just can't get enough of virtualization start-ups.

Gault, who was founding chief executive of XenSource but who was replaced in 2006, now is leading Pano Logic, another virtualization start-up. XenSource was mostly focused on servers, but Pano Logic's emphasis is on desktop PCs, the company said as it announced its strategy Monday.

Virtualization, as most often described these days, enables a single computer to run multiple operating systems at the same time. Ideally, it increases the efficiency of hardware use, eases management burdens and enables a more flexible computing infrastructure in which software can be … Read more

Wii virtual console releases for this week

Just in case you aren't busy enough playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption today, here are the three virtual console games released this morning.

Super C (1990, NES, 500 Wii points)--Super C is the sequel to the classic Konami action side-scroller, Contra. In Super C, you'll take on even more aliens and baddies, some of which used to be your allies. Breath of Fire II (1995, Super NES, 800 Wii points)--Play as one of nine available characters in this highly regarded RPG filled with demons, dragons, and magic. Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1989, Genesis, 800 Wii points)--The … Read more

CNET News.com feature: 'Second Life,' the promise and paradox

CHICAGO--In Second Life, avatars can fly with the push of a button. Maybe that's why it seems like the virtual world's enthusiasts sometimes have trouble staying grounded.

At this weekend's Second Life Community Convention, Philip Rosedale--founder of Second Life creator Linden Lab--ambitiously declared as he often does that "this is something that everybody on Earth is going to use," that the virtual world will be "bigger than the Web."

But minutes earlier, Rosedale had been jokingly boasting over PowerPoint graphs showing the extent of Second Life's problems with server lag time, maintenance … Read more

Say what? When it comes to uptime, 'Second Life' founder is on cloud nine

Virtual world Second Life, the centerpiece of this weekend's Second Life Community Convention in Chicago, has occasionally come under fire for its outages. Scheduled downtime, unpredicted outages, server crashes due to onslaughts of thousands of Super Mario graphics flooding the tubes (those are from griefers, natch)--it's a headache for newbies and avid residents alike.

But in his keynote at the convention on Saturday morning, Philip Rosedale, the founder and CEO of Second Life parent company Linden Lab, suggested that we all look on the bright side. The virtual world is active about 90 percent of the time, … Read more