General Gaming Article |
- Google Gives Users the Option to Plan for Their Digital Afterlife
- Blackberry Claims Analyst Reports Citing Abnormally High Z10 Return Rates Are “Absolutely False”
- Diamond Releases New USB Powered External Display Adapters
| Google Gives Users the Option to Plan for Their Digital Afterlife Posted: 14 Apr 2013 08:55 PM PDT
It only takes a few minutes, but makes a ton of sense if you're invested in the ecosystem.When it comes right down to it the modern Internet is really quite young. The term Web 2.0 was coined back in 1999 to help describe websites that had evolved beyond simple static webpages, but most of the web services we have come to know and love are actually less than 10 years old. As we start to pour more of ourselves into the cloud, it's worth asking the question, what happens to our data when we die? I recently had a close personal friend of mine pass away suddenly at the age of 32, and every time I log into Facebook, I can't help but notice his avatar floating off to the right in my chat list, smiling away like nothing ever happened. It left me wondering how Facebook will deal with the ever increasing numbers of users who are no longer with us, and Google to its credit is once again leading the way. Google's new Inactive Account Manager allows users to specify what will happen to their data after a set period of time, and it is really quite clever. The system has built in safeguards that will send out text messages to verify you are actually no longer among the living, at which point the system will either notify your loved ones with instructions on how to access your account, or delete your data once and for all. The cynical among us could make the case that Google is simply looking for ways to shave on long term storage costs, but that just sounds awful. We prefer to think Google is just trying to prepare us mentally for our digital afterlife, and giving us a chance to choose how we want our personal data handled after we shuffle off this mortal coil. |
| Blackberry Claims Analyst Reports Citing Abnormally High Z10 Return Rates Are “Absolutely False” Posted: 14 Apr 2013 07:42 PM PDT
Blackberry isn't ready to talk sales numbers just yet, but is fighting back against negative analyst reports.It has become fashionable over the years to dump on Blackberry, and for once, the company isn't going to let it slide. Late last week analysts from Detweiler Fenton and ITG released reports citing poor sales of Blackberry's new Z10 flagship handset, and one even went so far as to insinuate that returns are outstripping sales in several markets. Rumors like that tend to mess with stock prices, so the company wants to set the record straight. Blackberry has stated in no uncertain terms that these allegations are "absolutely false", and that so far sales of the device and return rates are well within expectations. Words are cheap, and the handset maker has gone one step further by asking the Ontario Securities Commission to formally review the claims made by Detweiler Fenton. So far the analyst in question is sticking by his report, so only time will tell. "These materially false and misleading comments about device return rates in the United States harm BlackBerry and our shareholders, and we call upon the appropriate authorities in Canada and the United States to conduct an immediate investigation," BlackBerry Chief Legal Officer Steve Zipperstein remarked in a statement. "Return rate statistics show that we are at or below our forecasts and right in line with the industry," BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins added. Being a publically traded company means we won't have to wait long to get the real story here, so it sounds like we should just wait for the official numbers before we pass judgment. |
| Diamond Releases New USB Powered External Display Adapters Posted: 14 Apr 2013 07:03 PM PDT
Need to drive six displays off one notebook?Desktop machines typically come with two or more display outputs right out of the box, but as the world becomes increasingly mobile, finding a way to plug in your extra display's when using a notebook has always been a challenge. Sometime even if you're fortunate enough to have a laptop with more than one output, they don't all work at once. Thankfully Diamond has been hard at work on the problem, and late last week they let us know that their new lineup of USB powered display adapters are ready to ship. Diamond claims the BVU165 and BVU165LT consume 80% less power than internal graphics, support both Mac and PC's, and allow you to drive up to six external displays at resolutions of up to 2048x1152. These dongles are fairly compact, powered by any USB 2.0 port, and come ready to connect to any DVI, HDMI, or VGA capable display. We haven't had a chance to bring these in for testing just yet, but if you're on the hunt for a notebook multi-monitor solution the price seems pretty reasonable. BVU165 – DVI, HDMI, VGA: $49.99 Each BVU165LT – DVI Only: $39.99
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