Watch as a DIY 8-bit computer comes together, learn something in the process

We've actually already seen one completely home-built 8-bit computer but, while Jake Eisenmann wasn't afraid to show off his creation, Kyle Hovey is actually inviting us along for the ride. The project started up last week when Hovey gathered his first batch of parts and a pair of books and started designing a simple 8-bit computer based on the SAP-1 architecture (SAP stands for Simple as Possible). The transistor-transistor logic (TTL) design is slowly coming together and every step of the process is being documented by Hovey on his blog so that others may follow along and learn from his experience (and, most likely, his mistakes as well). For more details on this rather impressive project, and to monitor its progress, check out the source.

Watch as a DIY 8-bit computer comes together, learn something in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/30/watch-as-a-diy-8-bit-computer-comes-together/

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15-inch Samsung Series 7 laptops follow big brother across Intel's Ivy Bridge

Intel's bridge is a popular one and, while we don't know just what the toll to cross is, today the gatekeeper has a little extra change jingling in his pocket. Samsung is announcing that its 15-inch Series 7 Chronos laptops now offer Ivy Bridge processors, joining the 17-inch models that have already have made their way across. Thanks to a Samsung Canada leak last week, we knew the slightly more portable flavor wouldn't be far behind. NVIDIA graphics are onboard, joining the Core i7 processors and 1TB hard drives plus other pleasantries like backlit keyboards. No word on when these machines and their "uncompromised performance" will arrive at retail, but we hear getting over that bridge is the tricky part, so it shouldn't be long now.

15-inch Samsung Series 7 laptops follow big brother across Intel's Ivy Bridge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/iuFvxrCxFb8/

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Logitech introduces spill resistant keyboards for the feds, prevents Bauer flip-out

Logitech might be in the midst of a corporate revolution, but it still has time to produce peripherals just for the G-men (and women). The Swiss company has produced a keyboard and mouse that satisfy all TAA guidelines and, most importantly, answered "no" when asked if they are, or were ever a member of the communist party. The pairing can be picked up by federal IT buyers for $35 and are fully "spill resistant," so we can't blame the forthcoming robopocalypse on a wayward cup of coffee.

Continue reading Logitech introduces spill resistant keyboards for the feds, prevents Bauer flip-out

Logitech introduces spill resistant keyboards for the feds, prevents Bauer flip-out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/zgokqpo4Ro8/

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Internet speeds drop around the world according to Akamai, adoption rate up

Here's an odd one: average connection speeds around the globe dropped 14 percent to just 2.3 Mbps during the last quarter of 2011. The drop off remains something of a mystery since the data used to calculate that result doesn't include mobile broadband (so its increased adoption can't be dragging down the whole) and Akamai offers no explanation. Still, it's not time to start panicking, just yet. Even though speeds in the US dropped 5.3 percent from the previous quarter, average connection rates are still up significantly over the previous year. Otherwise, things largely stayed the same. Global broadband adoption was steady at 66 percent and the US continued to trail its friends across the Pacific (by a lot) in the race for the fastest Internet connections.

Interestingly, while the number of broadband connections stayed consistent the number of narrowband lines (under 256 Kbps) declined dramatically. Yet, the percentage of the world's population connected to the web managed to increase 2.1 percent quarter over quarter -- and 13 percent for the year. So, while it may seem that the internet had a temporary set back in Q4 of 2011, the long term trends look good. The number of people online is increasing, the average speeds being pulled down by those people is climbing and the number of folks stuck in the dial up era is dropping. To get a copy of the full report hit up the source.

Internet speeds drop around the world according to Akamai, adoption rate up originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/30/internet-speeds-drop-around-the-world/

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Smart TV May Be Too Smart for Its Own Good

If you've been anywhere near a consumer electronics retailer lately or have leafed through the consumer electronics circulars and ads that supplement Sunday newspapers, you've no doubt noticed the words "Smart TV" shouting out at you. And if you've been wondering what a Smart TV is, or whether whatever it is may be smarter than you are, read on.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/1ecbe9cf/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C749690Bhtml/story01.htm

Charlize Theron Chelsea Handler Cheryl Burke

'Dark Knight Rises' Viral Campaign To Unveil New Trailer

The Weekly Rising takes a closer look at how Warner Bros. is getting fans involved.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Christian Bale on the set of "The Dark Knight Rises"
Photo: Getty Images

The massive amount of buzz that preceded the release of "The Dark Knight" in large part came out of the film's intricate viral marketing campaign. For the third and final film of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Warner Bros. has mostly opted out of a big viral effort, favoring sparse but mostly traditional material releases.

But with the arrival of the final "Dark Knight Rises" trailer, dedicated fans will find that a virtual hunt for the anonymous vigilante known as "The Batman" is on, and a new viral campaign is in full swing.

The journey begins at the website for the film. There you will find a full dossier on John Doe (a.k.a. The Batman) and the charges he is accused of: six counts of first degree murder, three counts of kidnapping, and 15 counts of aggravated assault of a peace officer; the list goes on.

The premise of the campaign is that in preparation for the upcoming Harvey Dent Day, the mayor of Gotham City has ordered a "redoubling" of efforts to catch Batman and anyone supporting his return. It's important to remember that in the world of "The Dark Knight Rises," this is all happening seven years after Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes and death.

The site also includes an extensive list of real-world locations where "graffiti related to movement in support of the vigilante's return" is supposedly located. The spots appear around the globe and include dozens of locations in the U.S. alone.

Loyal fans have already been tweeting and emailing from the locations listed on the site, and each location marked off the list has revealed a single frame of film from the upcoming trailer. The stills have been appearing one-by-one here, so if you scroll fast enough, maybe you can make yourself a handy flipbook.

As with the previous viral campaigns for the series, it's likely that we'll have to wait until most or all of the frames have been restored to the online film strip.

Be sure to check back here throughout the next few days, as we keep an eye on the campaign and bring you the first sign of the final "Dark Knight Rises" trailer.

Check out everything we've got on "The Dark Knight Rises."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

Related Videos

• 'Dark Knight Rises': The Year In Review
• 'Dark Knight Rises' Trailer Decoded!

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• On The Set Of 'The Dark Knight Rises'

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1684132/dark-knight-rises-trailer-viral-campaign.jhtml

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Which celebrity would you most like to see talking with Siri in an iPhone commercial?

Last week Apple debuted two new iPhone 4S commercials, once again highlighting the still-in-beta Siri, but this time using celebrities Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel to do the demos (does Santa count as the first celebrity?). Apple rarely uses celebrities in their advertising, so maybe this is the beginning of something new and exciting? Could there be more celebrity Siri spots in the future? And if so, who would you like to see?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/rPizZjzfXeE/story01.htm

Hilary Duff Hilary Swank Isla Fisher

iPhone remains a best-seller, despite carriers

Carriers have a love/hate relationship with the iPhone. They hate Apple's control (because they want that control for themselves) but love the money and customer-retention having the iPhone on their network brings them. Sprint's willingness to pay damn near all the money in their pockets, and delve into whatever passes for a corporate second mortgage, proves that that point. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint sell Android because they want to. They sell iPhone because they have to.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/soEVkaoevm4/story01.htm

Alecia Elliott Alessandra Ambrosio Alexis Bledel

Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.2 gets smarter, faster

Auslogics Disk Defrag has been part of my system maintenance toolkit for quite some time. With the release of version 3.2, it's now even better at tidying up and optimizing your system's hard disk drives. In addition to a cleaner, easier-to-use interface, Disk Defrag 3.2 offers improved single file and folder defragging, better processing of multiple disks, a simplified scheduling screen, and more informative tool tips. Auslogics has also fine-tuned the program's defragmentation and file consolidation algorithms.

For laptop users, there's a new option to lock the program if your system is running on battery power -- so scheduled operations don't kick in and drain your power source at an inopportune moment. If you happen to have an SSD installed in your PC, you can head to the Disk Defrag options and exclude it from scanning (many think that defragmenting an SSD is a very bad idea).

Auslogics Disk Defrag is a free download and works with most versions of Windows.

Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.2 gets smarter, faster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/auslogics-disk-defrag-3-2-gets-smarter-faster/

Drew Barrymore Ehrinn Cummings Elena Lyons

Mozilla Messaging reintegrates with Labs, unifies focus on Web-based communication

Mozilla Messaging, citing Mozilla's increased focus on Web-borne communications, will be reintegrating with Mozilla Labs.

The Messaging subsidiary was formed in 2008 to focus on Thunderbird, but given Mozilla Labs' current focus on identity and contact management, it now makes sense for the groups to be merged. Thunderbird will be unaffected by the change -- some URLs might change, but that's it -- and presumably Messaging's F1 and Raindrop will thrive in the Labs playground.

What this means for the end user -- for the hundreds of millions of Firefox users -- is that the next big additions will be communication- and messaging-oriented. Contacts and F1 will be almost certainly be baked into Firefox 5 or 6, both of which will be released this year -- and, who knows, there might be something else even more exciting up Mozilla Labs' sleeve!

Mozilla Messaging reintegrates with Labs, unifies focus on Web-based communication originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/mozilla-messaging-reintegrates-with-labs-unifies-focus-on-web-b/

Blu Cantrell Bonnie Jill Laflin Bridget Moynahan

Pepsi Puts A Pop Culture ?Cheat Sheet? At The Heart Of Its New Campaign

Pepsi is launching a big rebranding campaign today, and the company says social media is going to play a crucial role. Specifically, PepsiCo Global Head of Digital Shiv Singh tells me that the biggest online piece of the campaign is a "social media cheat sheet" called the #NOW board ? it has, in fact, taken over the Pepsi website. The board is built on top of Pulse, the social media visualization platform that Pepsi launched last fall. Looking at the RSS feeds from across the Web, as well as the firehose of wants being shared through Twitter and bit.ly (with help from startup SocialFlow), Singh says the #NOW board presents the pop culture stories that are hottest in social media at any given moment, presented in easily-digestible form.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KnIJ7cmedXk/

Jessica Cauffiel Jessica Paré Jessica Simpson

Google Cloud Print comes to HP ePrint printers

HP has become the first major OEM to deliver support for Google Cloud Print in retail-boxed printers. In an official release, HP announced that its ePrint-enabled printers are now fully Cloud Print compatible. Just sign in to your Google account, pick your HP ePrint device, and you're ready to fire off a print job from anywhere you've got Internet access. Well, as long as your app supports Cloud Print as well -- like Gmail and Google Docs, for example.

We're curious, though -- how many of you are still printing? Like our pals at Engadget, our printers have been mostly gathering dust for the last few years.

Google Cloud Print comes to HP ePrint printers originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/google-cloud-print-comes-to-hp-eprint-printers/

Anne Marie Kortright April Scott Arielle Kebbel

Google TV YouTube app updated for better recommendations, search and sharing

It only makes sense that the Google TV initiative to increase personalization would extend to videos served up from its YouTube site, and now the official app has been updated to do just that. The new version brings recommendations meant to pull gems you might like out of the ever growing pile of content available, as well as a way to search between the new YouTube channels on your TV. Also users should notice improved video quality since the app will automatically try to play content at the best available resolution from the start, and if they find something interesting, it now supports +1 sharing to Google+. The new app is already live on Google Play, compatible devices should be pointed that way for the new experience.

Google TV YouTube app updated for better recommendations, search and sharing originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/28/google-tv-youtube-app-updated-for-better-recommendations-search/

Amanda Peet Amanda Righetti Amanda Swisten

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences

You know those fridge magnet kits composed of a whole bunch of words? The ones you put all over your fridge door and then try to arrange into all sorts of juvenile and/or amusing sentences. Well, Farragomate is the social, webby version of that very same pastime.

You get to play with a bunch of random strangers in real-time, and make up sentences out of a pre-set collection of words, including some fairly naughty ones, and all players' nicknames. As you can imagine, some of the results are not child-friendly.

There are ten rounds to a game. Once a round is done, players get to vote for their favorite sentence from that round. You can't vote for your own creation, of course. There's in-game chat, too.

I think the vocabulary could be made a bit more eclectic, but even as it is, it's a nice way to spend a few minutes and meet random strangers on the Internet (always a thrilling experience).

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/25/farragomate-is-a-social-game-where-you-make-up-sentences/

Christina Aguilera Christina Applegate Christina DaRe

Foxconn Profit Down As Scrutiny Forces Corporate Changes

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn saw its profits fall to $509 million from $1.19 billion last quarter. Chairman Terry Gou said this quarter was particularly affected by Foxconn's recent image problem. Improvements in wages, worker benefits, and education accounted for some of the loss, although new iPad and iPhone 4S manufacturing bolstered income last quarter. As a reaction to recent popular criticism on various fronts, the company increased wages by 25 percent this year and is planning to open a hospital and language schools for its employees.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uLj_9CNI4II/

Bijou Phillips Blake Lively Blu Cantrell

Deal of the Day: Seidio SURFACE Case for Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX

The April 27 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Seidio SURFACE Case for Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX. Crafted from a hard yet flexible material, the Seidio SURFACE Case provides an amazingly thin layer of protection without adding the excessive bulk of other cases. Seidio's signature soft touch finish provides a great feel and better grip without attracting lint. Available in black, blue, red, amethyst, and white.

You can grab the Seidio SURFACE Case for just $16.95 today only, 43% off the regular price. Get yours while supplies last!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Fu_7AgoZKM8/story01.htm

Ali Larter Alice Dodd Alicia Keys