2003 April 24

“SGI subsidiary Alias|Wavefront today announced that customers on full annual maintenance contracts can now download Maya 5. The full version, and upgrades for other customers, will be released on May 1st.”

“Microsoft Corp. has rolled out four new special edition hardware products: Wireless Optical Desktop Special Edition, Wireless Optical Mouse Special Edition, Optical Mouse Special Edition and MultiMedia Keyboard Special Edition. With icicle white and matte black versions, the mice and keyboards come in both Mac and PC versions.”

“A regular MacWhispers source from the OEM network responsible for PowerMac production has confirmed that the new enclosure is “still primarily a plastic construct,” but that the front panel “is nearly all of the same anodized aluminum” used on the newer PowerBooks.”

“Enter our survey competition and you could win this limited edition Xbox console with two S-controllers (normally you only get one) and five games!” —
This is off an New Zealand site and there are no rules execpt that competition not open to TVNZ employees. So enter away please remember this is a New [...]

Vivendi Universal has confirmed its plans to release a game based on the hit film The Fast and the Furious and its upcoming sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, on Xbox. The Fast and the Furious is being developed by Genki, the Japanese developer best known for solid street racing games like the Tokyo Xtreme Racer [...]

“OpenBSD team’s Miod Vallat says that due to the upcoming release of OpenBSD 3.3, the 3.1-STABLE branch will have no more fixes committed to its branch after June 1, 2003 and should therefore be considered out of regular maintenance.”

“Linux offers powerful, flexible tools for creating CDs. You can create disks that are readable on almost any platform and create .iso files for download and distribution.”

“There is a bogus patch floating around again pretending to be a patch for MS Windows. It is actually a virus.”

“Microsoft Wednesday took the wraps off a preview of next level of its Windows operating environment for non-PC devices.
Version 4.2 builds on previous versions, but adds new features to better support routers, voice over IP (VoIP) and set-top box devices. Windows CE .NET is Microsoft’s modular, small footprint, embedded operating system for mobile and [...]

“Atari announced today the development of a videogame based on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the upcoming summer blockbuster motion picture from Intermedia, IMF and C2 Pictures, scheduled for nationwide release by Warner Bros. Pictures on July 2.”

“It is no secret that the vast majority of current game titles will never see the light of day on Linux. With Loki dead and gone, and their old stock quickly running out, some would go as far as to say that Linux gaming is dead as well. However, in recent days, Linux users have [...]

“Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer officially launched the company’s long-awaited and thrice-delayed Windows Server 2003 operating system Thursday, claiming it is the right product for businesses that want to “do more with less” in these tough economic times.”

“Microsoft is preparing a new test version of its upcoming Office 2003 desktop software, which will delay the final release of the product until later this year.”

“Microsoft Corp. is using a twist on some old technology — FM radio waves — to deliver instant messages, headlines and traffic updates to a new generation of gadgets that will fit on your wrist or keychain.”

“Computer book publisher O’Reilly & Associates is taking a dramatic stand against automatic extensions of U.S. copyrights by voluntarily limiting its own copyright protection on hundreds of technical titles–and promising they’ll enter the public domain after that.”

On Thurday a U.S. district court ruled for a second time that Verizon must ID an anonymous Internet subscriber accused of swapping music online. The previous ruling was temporarily put on hold.

What sort of game-play style have they managed to pull from the frenetic films? Try all of them.

“Fans will not be dissatisfied when they see the work that’s gone into this,” Perry says. “We have a full exploration engine, a full fighting engine, a shooting engine, a driving engine, a hovercraft-flying engine and a full hacking system.

“So you can hack into your console and actually hack the game and add new abilities.

Fox executives showed off their newest reality TV show, Appointed By America. This series has contestants fighting for the top spot in Iraq’s new government.“Will it be Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the exiled Iraqi National Congress? Or General Tommy Franks, commander of the allied forces? Or maybe Roshumba Williams, the Macon, GA, waitress with big [...]

“The Hubble Space Telescope, vanguard of astrophotography, launched on this date 13 years ago. Things did not start well, but the observatory’s track record has been nothing short of stellar since a 1993 mission corrected initially blurred vision.”

“Microsoft pulled a security patch for Windows XP systems with Service Pack 1 installed after customers complained that installing the patch slowed their systems to a crawl.
Microsoft is working on a revised patch for Windows XP Service Pack 1 and will reissue that patch when it has been completed and fully tested, the Redmond, Washington, [...]