Two months ago, my XBOX 360 that I purchased over a year ago came down with the infamous “Ring of Death,” a problem that all too many Xbox owners are aware of. In short, the Ring of Death makes your Xbox unusable due to a flaw in the connection between the CPU and motherboard. Microsoft has sold over 11 million Xbox systems and some estimate that between one third and one half of these suffer the flaw that results in the red ring of death symptom. Like Vista, this has proven to be a PR nightmare for the product line. As a result, Microsoft has extended its standard year warranty by an extra year so that any and all Xbox owners who experience the problem can get their box repaired for free by mailing in the unit with the supplied shipping box for UPS.
The fix has cost Microsoft nearly two billion dollars. The Ring of Death is also a classic example of how the Internet has become a highly used research tool to troubleshoot and find home remedies for broken products. One can go to YouTube and find dozens of videos showing how common users have temporarily remedied the Ring of Death through the “Towel Trick”. Using the towel trick, one wraps their Xbox in 3 towels and leaves the unit on for at least twenty minutes. Encasing the box in towels causes the unit to overheat the unit which actually reseats the CPU in the motherboard by heating up the solder connections. The fix is only temporary as it only lasts for a week or so, but allows you to finish your game.
Thanks to Orin Optiglot for permission to use this Photo.
I was reading CSO magazine the other day (Corporate Security Officer) and came across a fascinating new security product for executives who transport highly confidential company documents. A pharmaceutical issued a high security briefcase for its research executives. The briefcase has two security modes. The “Loss Proof” function alerts the executive with an alarm signal when he is more than five meters away from the case. This is to not only discourage someone from lifting the case, but prevents the owner from leaving the case incidentally unattended.
The “Robbery Proof” mode is designed so that if the owner is accosted and forced to give up the case, the case will wait until the briefcase is more than 100 meters away and then send a 30,000 volt shock throughout the case as well as sound an ear shattering alarm. Click here to check out a similar case.
With Apple continuing to dominate the headlines and industry buzz with one acclaimed release after another, it’s easy to forget that the so-called ”Evil Empire” has been rather quietly refining their Surface computing technology. We’re talking about more than multi-touch features for your mobile phone; Surface is perhaps most intriguing for its’ “surface” adaptability and potential virtual applications. Check out this video demonstration of Microsoft’s Sphere prototype. I’m an Apple guy myself, but I must admit that Sphere could be interesting…
Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University
There are not many people who can seriously put into question the projected dominance of Google search technology in the future evolution of the Internet. Through his brilliantly engineered software architecture and conceptual maps of its' potential applications, supergenius Tim Berners-Lee, the acknowledged inventor of the World Wide Web, has for years been carrying his message of a "semantic web" that will make the current incarnation of the web seem like your Dad's Rolodex by comparison.
In Berners-Lee vision, the next generation of web technology will be semantic, i.e. all data will be interconnected and capable of communicating with other "information" through a common language so speak. The following article discusses the development of the semantic web alongside the related, but not parallel development of Google’s search, mapping, and tracking applications. Berners-Lee is not anti-Google, but he is passionately against the centralization of web data and any form of proprietary control over Internet content.
I also encourage you to check out this very insightful video presentation in which Berners-Lee takes you on a virtual tour of the Web from its’ beginnings into tomorrow. This is fascinating stuff. Please share your thoughts with the Ashworth Blog community after brainstorming on your own.
Johnny Lee is a brilliant technologist who’s become a YouTube star through his amazing demonstration of Wii remote hacks. After watching this video, you’ll never look at your Wii the same again. I love this video because Lee once again proves how integral human creativity and ingenuity are to the process of technological innovation. In this case, a relatively unknown guy like Lee on center stage at the famed TED conference, reinventing the very essence of what an already popular technology’s applications can ultimately be. These hacks are insane. Don’t miss this one…
If you open a window in your car, house, or computer today; there’s an outside chance that you may see an event horizon out there where the sun used to be. You don’t have to do anything more than stare, so please don’t worry about recording the moment with a camera. We often discuss the development of a metaverse on this blog, a 3-D environment or simulated world that’s completely integrated with the “real world” that we physically live in. The concept once seemed like science-fiction, but then we realized, collectively, that we didn’t have to imagine ourselves walking down the street while information was being transmitted to and from our minds, i.e. telecommunications, music, photographs, etc. Consider Emotiv’s newest addition to their virtual toy box, a neuro-headset that translates the electrical signals in the user’s brain into emotional/conscious responses of this user’s virtual self or avatar. This neuro-headset is scheduled to hit the market later this year as a gaming device, which is cool enough in itself, yet the other potential applications of this technology for those with various cognitive and physical disabilities could literally be life-altering. Check out this video demonstrating just a few of this headset’s capabilities. We’ve all seen this before, but where were we?
I enjoyed this insightful video interview on the growing power of Participatory Web Media. The interviewees are acknowledged in the industry as leading figures in the social media marketing realm. You’ll notice their cynicism regarding companies who attempt to “spin” or manipulate social media with little understanding of new media culture. I agree that these companies are doomed to fail in the online market. As an internet marketer, you can’t just follow the ”buzz.” You have to understand the the ”buzz” and relate to it from the consumers’ perspective. After you’ve done your research, you can begin figuring out where your business might fit in and ultimately add value to the consumers’ experience. Continue working hard through your program studies. There are exciting careers waiting for those who dedicate themselves to their education and training. I believe you can be one of these dedicated people with bright futures. Stay focused.
Thanks to Ron Bailey for permission to use this Photo.
The singularity continues to close in on us at light speed. The realization of a 3-dimensional/fully immersed Internet or “Metaverse” appears inevitable, especially when two of the world’s most dynamic online gaming and social network sites, Gaia and Facebook, have announced a partnership that will allow their users to freely connect with both networks/communities in an integrated way. Gaia’s new Facebook widget is certainly the tip of the iceberg in terms of cross-platform applications, but with two of the Internet’s power players involved, this “official” announcement serves notice that all the hype about interconnected social network/virtual reality worlds may in fact be warranted. Click on the image above to read more about this story. As always, please feel free to share your comments.
Thanks to Manny Diller for permission to use this Photo.
Google’s chief evangelist, Vint Cerf, recently wrote a fascinating article for The Guardian in which he discusses the future of the Internet, technology, innovation, new trends, etc. with some of the world’s brightest tech minds. If you’re interested in hearing what people like the myspace and YouTube creators see ahead, and you should be, check out this article and let me know what you think. Click on the image above to read article.
Thanks to RPArena for permission to use this Photo.
Japanese writer, blogger and game designer Shigesato Itoi’s site, Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, is running a series of articles taken from a conversation with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Eleven pieces are up on the site, and there’s some good stuff there, not just for game designers, but for designers of software in general, especially at a moment when more and more people are coming to recognize the importance of game mechanics to user engagement. Whether you’re interested in Nintendo’s perspective on game and software design, or you just want to hear from “the world’s number one researcher of Miyamoto studies,” this is pretty much required reading. (more…)
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