| Google Testing Subscription Service that Blocks Ads from Participating Websites Posted: 21 Nov 2014 06:13 PM PST  Pay $1 to $3 a month to block ads
Would you pay to get rid of ads on a website? That is the question being asked as Google has announced its Google Contributor subscription service, which would block ads from a participating website for a fee. Suffice to say, this announcement comes as a surprise considering that Google's lifeblood is advertising. "Today's Internet is mostly funded by advertising," said Google. "But what if there were a way to directly support the people who create the sites you visit each day?" Google's Contributor program is not only a way for readers to directly support their favorite websites but also provides an alternative way for website owners to pay the bills. Participants choose how much their monthly contribution would be, the current range is $1-$3, and then they simply visit the participating sites. Part of the contribution will go to the participating website, or websites, you visit where you'll see a "thank you" message and a pixilated panel where an ad would normally be. There are not many websites participating in the program, but the ones that are involved include Urban Dictionary, The Onion, Science Daily, WikiHow, Mashable, and Imgur. And for those who wish to participate in the program, they will need to be invited and put on a waiting list. While the idea is an intriguing one, is it a solution to an old and established business model that has, in some cases, become a nuisance to readers? What about those of you who make use of an ad blocker? Is the concept of Google Contributor one you would switch to as a way to support a website? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Dell Starts Shipping Alienware Alpha PC Game Console Posted: 21 Nov 2014 01:12 PM PST  Steam Machine turned Alpha Console starts at $549
Dell originally intended for its Alienware Alpha console to be an official Steam Machine, though Valve threw a wrench in those plans when it delayed the platform in order tweak its Steam Controller to satisfaction. Instead of tossing aside all that R&D into building a console-sized game box for the PC, Dell re-marketed the device as the Alienware Alpha, and it's now begun shipping out to customers. "We've been working hard this past year to break the mold and develop a system that finally brings hundreds of Steam games, including some really fun indie titles, to TVs," said Frank Azor, General Manager of Alienware. "The team and I are excited to finally deliver our vision for big screen gaming and give our fans a console that delivers true next-gen performance with the flexibility to choose how, what and where they want to play." The Alienware Alpha starts at $549 and includes an Intel Core i3 4130T dual-core processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU customized to "run at speeds found in no other device," and 500GB hard drive. If you need more power, there are other configurations available, with the top-end model costing $899. It includes an Intel Core i7 4765T quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive. All models come with an Xbox 360 wireless controller with USB adapter and several pre-loaded games including Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Awesomenauts, Magicka, Metro: Last Light, Payday 2 and Strike Suit Zero. The obvious buzz kill here is the custom GTX 860M GPU. It's based on Nvidia's newer Maxwell archicture, but isn't upgradeable and somewhat out of date with Nvidia having released its 970M and 980M mobile GPUs last month. It's also only rocking 2GB of GDDR5 memory instead of 4GB as found on some other systems. As configured, the Alienware Alpha boots into Dell's Alpha UI, a console-based menu that's friendly for controllers. After the first boot, gamers can opt to have the system boot directly into Steam Big Picture or the regular Windows 8.1 desktop if they prefer. You can find out more on the Alienware Alpha product page. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Google's Serving 1TB of Drive Storage for New Chromebook Buyers Posted: 21 Nov 2014 10:36 AM PST  Buy a Chromebook, get 1TB of cloud storage for two years
It's getting to be all-out warfare in the low-cost computing market. In response to the growing interest in cheap Chromebooks, Intel and Microsoft have been working together to push sub-$200 Windows laptops into the market place through its hardware partners. That's caused Chromebooks to come down in price as well, but it isn't stopping there. Google today announced that new Chromebook buyers can get 1TB of Google Drive cloud storage for two years at no additional cost. "That's enough space to keep more than 100,000 awkward holiday sweater pics safe and shareable in Drive. With that much free storage, you can use your Chromebook for work, play and pretty much everything else you'll do this holiday season," Google stated in a blog post. Google's free offering works out to a $240 value over the course of two years. To get the 1TB Drive storage, you have to purchase an eligible Chromebook and redeem the offer before January 1, 2015. You'll find eligible models at retail stores, online outlets, and Google Play. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Mattel Issues Apology for Book Depicting Barbie as an Incompetent Computer Engineer Posted: 21 Nov 2014 09:37 AM PST  Internet backlash prompts Mattel to apologize for a book published in 2010
Toy company Mattel apologized on Facebook this week for a controversial book portraying Barbie's failed attempt at becoming a computer engineer. The book received intense criticism on the web after comedian Pamela Ribbon stumbled upon the title at a friend's house and wrote a scathing review of it on her blog. At issue is the depiction of the iconic doll as being incompetent and needing to rely on men to save the day after she screws things up. In the book, Barbie has aspirations of making a game that teaches kids how computers work. So far, so good -- time to break down gender stereotypes. However, Barbie quickly clarifies to her sister Skipper that she's "only creating the design ideas...I'll need Steven and Brian's help to turn it into a real game!" From there, things go downhill like Clark Griswold on a sled in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. She fails at trying to email her design to Steven and, with the help of Skipper, manages to reboot her laptop before determining it has a virus. Turns out the virus was on her heart-shaped USB drive that she wears as a necklace, and Skipper subsequently loses all of her homework assignments and music files, which weren't backed up. Instead of being overly upset by this, Skipper "playfully" hits Barbie with a pillow. "Skipper has just lost her homework, all her music files and her laptop, but all she's moved to is STATUS: PILLOW FIGHT," Ribbon writes on her blog. There's quite a bit of reading between the lines and extrapolation that goes into the criticism, though the main issue people have with the book is Barbie's overall incompetence. Rather than promote Barbie as a woman capable of being a computer engineer, she screws things up -- badly -- and turns to a couple of males to save the day. "The Barbie I Can Be A Computer Engineer book was published in 2010. Since that time we have reworked our Barbie books. The portrayal of Barbie in this specific story doesn't reflect the Brand's vision for what Barbie stands for," Mattel explained in a Facebook post. "We believe girls should be empowered to understand that anything is possible and believe they live in a world without limits. We apologize that this book didn't reflect that belief. All Barbie titles moving forward will be written to inspire girl's imaginations and portray an empowered Barbie character." 
That's all well and fine, but it didn't stop the Internet from doing what it does best. Trending on Twitter is #FeministHackerBarbie, in which you'll find hilariously rewritten entries like the one above. Some of the better ones have been collected by Gizmodo, if you're need of a good laugh. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Eizo's 31-Inch ColorEdge 4K Monitor Calibrates Itself Posted: 21 Nov 2014 08:38 AM PST  Built-in sensor enables self-calibration
Following up on its funky square-shaped monitor announcement earlier this week, Eizo has introduced a self-calibrating DCI 4K (4096x2160) display for media and entertainment fields like cinema and broadcasting. The ColorEdge CG318-4K is a 31.1-inch monitor featuring a built-in sensor to enable self-calibration if you'd rather not muck around with settings. Should you need or want to manually fine tune the settings, it comes with ColorNavigator 6 calibration software. Eizo also offers ColorNavigator Network, a secure, cloud-based web hosting solution for administrators to perform quality control tasks on client ColorEdge monitors with ColorNavigator NX (a free color calibration download) installed. "Used together, ColorNavigator Network and ColorNavigator NX allow an administrator to take advantage of the self-calibration capabilities of the ColorEdge monitors by automating calibration and other QC tasks on ColorEdge monitors located in a single or multiple locations," Eizo says. "This potentially saves hundreds or thousands of hours annually in maintenance downtime while ensuring the color accuracy of all ColorEdge monitors." The ColorEdge CG318-4K is a 10-bit display with a 16-bit lookup tablet (LUT). It sports an IPS panel that reproduces 98 percent of the DCI-P3 and 99 percent of the Adobe RGB color spaces. Other ratings include 178-degree viewing angles, 350 cd/m2 brightness, 1,500:1 contrast ratio, and 9ms response time. It has a three-port USB 3.0 hub, ergonomic stand with height, tilt, and swivel adjustments, two HDMI ports, and two DisplayPort connectors. The ColorEdge CG318-RK will begin shipping in April of next year. No word yet on price. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| GameStop Blames Third Quarter Sales Decline on Delayed Assassin's Creed Unity Launch Posted: 21 Nov 2014 08:12 AM PST  GameStop sales slipped 0.7 percent in Q3
New and used games retailer GameStop reported its third quarter financial results this week, which fell below what analysts were expecting. GameStop's total global sales for Q3 came to $2.09 billion, a drop of 0.7 percent compared to the $2.11 billion in the same quarter a year ago and below the $2.2 billion analysts on average were predicting. As a result, GameStop's stock went into free-fall mode. Shares of GameStop are down more than 14 percent today with several hours still to go in the trading day. With today's plunge, GameStop's stock is down by around 25 percent since the beginning of the year when it was valued just shy of $50 per share. GameStop pointed the finger at the delayed release of Assassin's Creed Unity as the reason why topline and comparable store sales were negatively impacted. "Overall, most of our major product categories performed very well, but our third quarter results were impacted by Assassin's Creed Unity moving out of October," stated Paul Raines, chief executive officer. "As we look at the holiday quarter, we are focused on relentlessly applying our competitive advantages: convenience, strong CRM, knowledgeable associates and value through our unique forms of currency, which include buy-sell-trade and the new PowerUp Rewards credit card, to deliver a successful quarter." In a post-earnings call with analysts and media, GameStop president Tony Bartel added that he'd like to see Microsoft and Sony issue price cuts for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, respectively. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core, WD Black Series 1TB HDD, and More! Posted: 21 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST |
