Well, well, well — maybe there’s a place for human beings in the new media landscape after all. Who would have guessed? The revelation comes courtesy of Gabe Rivera, the creator and programming genius behind a series of news aggregation sites including Memeorandum, Ballbug and Techmeme. He has just admitted that the algorithms he uses to find the latest hot news haven’t been working all that well, and that as a result, he has added the services of a (gasp!) human being to the mix to try and improve things. That would be Megan McCarthy, a former writer for Wired.com and the gossip site Valleywag.

Rivera posted a job ad on Craigslist recently, looking for what he variously described as a “news technician,” “news analyst” or “configuring editor.” As the young Techmeme founder noted in the ad, the type of job he had in mind — the one Megan McCarthy has apparently been hired to do — had never really existed before, but “will become increasingly important in the years ahead.” Anyone who has tried to follow the news coming from hundreds or even thousands of different sources, using a combination of overstuffed RSS readers and other tools, knows that Rivera is right — there is a fire hose of data gushing 24 hours a day, and filtering through it all is becoming harder and harder.

Not that long ago, it was assumed by many that algorithms would be the answer. Aggregators like Yahoo News and Google News, along with more specialized (and in some cases short-lived) RSS “meme trackers” such as Techmeme and Tailrank, were seen as the killer app for information overload — automated news readers that would be able to sort through the headlines and figure out what was important. And some of them, including Memeorandum and Techmeme, manage to do that pretty well. But they are still missing, as Rivera describes in his frank and honest assessment of the flaws in his methods, an important ingredient: the ability to tell when a story or headline just doesn’t belong.

The hiring of a human being to tweak the selection of headlines at Techmeme and possibly some of Rivera’s other sites is just another sign that algorithms aren’t the final solution to the information overload problem, and that it’s going to take software and human beings working together to make sense of the information coming out of the fire hose. Even Google, the king of the algorithm — a company whose automated PageRank methods have helped to create more than $100 billion worth of stock market value in just a few years — has started allowing people to influence its search results directly, through its recently-launched Search Wiki features. Although the choices people make only directly affect the results they see, the search giant has suggested that in the future those choices could affect a site’s overall PageRank.

Looks like there might still be a few jobs left for us human beings after the robots take over.

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In the US we have been enjoying downloading videos over Xbox Live for about two years now. Parts of Europe and Canada got access to it last year, but not Japan. Considering the size of the user base it’s easy to understand why Microsoft hasn’t released the Video Marketplace over there either.



This year games like Tales of Vesperia made the Xbox 360 explode in Japan and Microsoft is having a change of heart. Sometime in 2009 the Xbox Live Video Marketplace will launch in Japan with movies and anime. No specific titles have been announced and even if Microsoft made a killer partnership with Aniplex it would mostly be meaningless since video content is region locked. Such a shame too since it would be fantastic to use Microsoft’s digital video rental service to watch films that aren’t coming out in the US.

http://www.siliconera.com/2008/12/04...pan-next-year/

Welcome to this week's Games Update, our weekly summary featuring all new product arrivals from the last seven days.

Releases this week is a little calmer than last week, but still there is a number of sensational products. The true classic Chrono Trigger DS US version is released a week after the Japanese one.

For those who have played the game in the SNES era, you can now play it on your favourite portable system again and relive the fun, and for those who has never played it, you are missing out a lot and is in need of a quick remedy to that.

The decadently glamourous and dangerous place, Liberty City is expanding its territories into the PC landscape. While the English versions are out already, to allow more people to enjoy Grand Theft Auto 4, Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions are coming out within these few days. For more information, please see this special news entry.

Besides the ultra modern cities like Liberty City, ancient cities has its charm and its fair share of danger. Explore Persia in Prince of Persia on your third generation console. Neither the action nor the plot is linear this time round.

By exploiting the graphical capabilities of systems and the creativity of the script writers, the developers bring the hordes of monsters, landscape and plot alive before you.

While Prince of Persia weaves a labyrinth out of Ancient Persia, 428 Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de is an intricate network of plots that surrounds a case of kidnapping. Scoring a 40 out of 40 in Weekly Famitsu, this visual novel is a must see for all those who enjoys deep plots and have the tendency to delve into the bottom of things.

Enjoy some light hearted action after playing the nerve wreakingly exciting visual novel. Kaze no Kuronoa is a game for everyone. Explore the dream world and find out about nightmares. Jump, skip, run and throw, the simple controls and wholesome nature of the game ensures that your whole family can enjoy it.

Play a game of baseball with your family via Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 [PlayStation3, PlayStation2 vers.] and your favourite baseball stars from the comfort of your living room. The newest data and records on this season's matches are all collected and incorporated to produce this game, giving you a feeling that the national matches are carrying on.

As 2008 approaches an end, Dragon Ball Z announced their last game, Infinite World on the PlayStation 2 platform. This game incorporates all the coolest elements of the series on the last generation platform and is a must have for all fans of this manga/anime converted fighter.

The simple and innovative controls and the smooth, cheerful pastel graphics won Loco Roco many fans when it first came out in 2006. Inheriting the interface, Loco Roco 2 [Asian & JPN vers.], the second installment of the rolling platform game comes with more songs and action. Roll and bounce through this holiday season as a cheerful blob.

As usually, here's a summary of all new releases from this week, followed by a quick preview of what is expected to be hot next week.

Xbox360™
Fallout 3 JPN US$ 78.90
Naruto: The Broken Bond ASIA US$ 49.90
Prince of Persia ASIA US$ 49.90
Saints Row 2 JPN US$ 68.90
Sonic Unleashed US US$ 64.90

PlayStation3™
Assassin's Creed (UBI the Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Brain Challenge ASIA US$ 39.90
Prince of Persia ASIA US$ 59.90
Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 Kanzenban [First Print Limited Edition] JPN US$ 79.90
Saints Row 2 JPN US$ 64.90
The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion Set 3: Booster Pack US US$ 4.90

Nintendo Wii™
428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de JPN US$ 64.90
Cooking Mama 2: Taihen! Mama wa Ooisogashi!! JPN US$ 59.90
Hori Classic Controller (Light Blue) JPN US$ 29.90
Kaze no Klonoa: Door to Phantomile JPN US$ 49.90
Skate It US US$ 54.90
Ultimate Band US US$ 54.90
Wii Speak JPN US$ 39.90

PlayStation2™
Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World JPN US$ 64.90
Hisshou Pachinko * Pachi-Slot Kouryoku Series Vol. 11: Shinseiki Evangelion - Magokoro o, Kimi ni (Special Price) JPN US$ 34.90
Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 Kanzenban [First Print Limited Edition] JPN US$ 68.90
Real Rode JPN US$ 68.90
Real Rode [Limited Edition] JPN US$ 89.90
Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi (PlayStation2 the Best) JPN US$ 34.90

Nintendo DS™
Age of Empires: Mythologies US US$ 34.90
All Star Cheer Squad US US$ 34.90
Blazer Drive JPN US$ 48.90
Boku to Sim no Machi Kingdom / MySims Kingdom JPN US$ 48.90
Chou!! Nep League DS JPN US$ 39.90
Chrono Trigger DS US US$ 44.90
Custom Battler Bomberman JPN US$ 48.90
Drawn to Life: Kamisama no Marionette JPN US$ 48.90
Eiyuu Senki Leavadein JPN US$ 48.90
Gokuhou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou: Mecha Mote Days, Hajime Masuwa! JPN US$ 54.90
Hajime no Ippo The Fighting! DS JPN US$ 48.90
Hello Kitty Daily US US$ 34.90
Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryaku Series DS Vol. 3: Shinseiki Evangelion - Yakusoku no Toki JPN US$ 48.90
Hisshou Pachinko*Pachi-Slot Kouryoku Series DS Vol. 1: Shinseiki Evangelion - Magokoro o, Kimi ni (Special Price) JPN US$ 29.90
Itouke no Shokutaku DS JPN US$ 39.90
Kageyama Hideo no Hanpuku Ondoku DS Eigo JPN US$ 39.90
Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS: Mafia Daishuugou Bongole Festival JPN US$ 48.90
Kikiite Hajimaru: Eigo Kaiwa Training - KikiTore JPN US$ 39.90
Kirihara Shoten Kanshuu: Daigakusei Ryoku Kentei DS JPN US$ 39.90
Monster Lab ASIA US$ 29.90
Mori no Cafeteria DS: Oshare na Cafe Recipe JPN US$ 48.90
Motto Hayaku! Seikaku Ni! Suu Sense Keisan Ryuoku Up Training - SuuTore JPN US$ 39.90
Neopets Puzzle Adventure US US$ 34.90
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King ASIA US$ 29.90
Princess on Ice JPN US$ 48.90
Sally's Salon DS US US$ 34.90
Sekai no Gohan Shaberu! DS Oryouri Navi JPN US$ 39.90
Skate It US US$ 34.90
Ultimate Band US US$ 34.90

Nintendo DSi Accessories™
Fit Pouch DSi (Black) JPN US$ 12.90
Fit Pouch DSi (White) JPN US$ 12.90
Hard Pouch DSi (Black) JPN US$ 10.90
Hard Pouch DSi (White) JPN US$ 10.90

Sony PSP™
LocoRoco 2 JPN US$ 48.90
LocoRoco 2 ASIA US$ 42.90
Monster Hunter Pig Pouch JPN US$ 24.90
PlayGear Pocket Slim JPN US$ 19.90
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku (PSP the Best) JPN US$ 29.90

PC Game
EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey (DVD-ROM) US US$ 44.90
Fallout 3 (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 44.90
Grand Theft Auto IV (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 44.90

Guides & Magazines
Arcadia Magazine [January 2009] JPN N/A
Famitsu PSP + PS3 [January 2009] JPN US$ 10.90
Famitsu Wave DVD [January 2009] JPN US$ 16.50
Famitsu Xbox 360 [January 2009] JPN US$ 10.90
Fantasy Earth: Zero Armdedion Official Setting Sourcebook JPN US$ 32.90
Kanuchi: Shiroki Tsubasa no Shou Official Visual Fan Book JPN US$ 37.90
Prince of Persia Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide US US$ 34.90
Prince of Persia: Prima Official Game Guide US US$ 19.90
Ryuusei no Rockman 3 - Databook - Secret Satellite Server JPN US$ 8.90
Super Robot Taisen Z Perfect Bible JPN US$ 27.90
Super Robot Taisen Z The Complete Guide JPN US$ 26.90
Weekly Famitsu No. 1043 (2008 12/12) Special Issue JPN N/A

Video Game related Soundtracks
Devil May Cry 4 Original Soundtrack US US$ 15.97
Fable II Original Soundtrack US US$ 15.97
Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari No Ken Original Soundtrack JPN US$ 21.90
Halo Trilogy - The Complete Original Soundtracks US US$ 29.97
Place Of Period (Higurashi No Nakukoru Ni Kizuna Vol.2 Theme Song) (~Mio Isayama) JPN US$ 11.90
Too Human Original Soundtrack US US$ 15.97

Here is a preview of what are expected to be hot next week:

PlayStation3™
Hakuna Matata (English / Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 49.90
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (PlayStation3 the Best) ASIA US$ 29.90
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (PlayStation3 the Best) JPN US$ 34.90

Nintendo Wii™
Samba De Amigo JPN US$ 49.90
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii JPN US$ 89.90
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Stick JPN US$ 79.90
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes JPN US$ 68.90

PlayStation2™
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories US US$ 34.90
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (w/ Soundtrack CD & Artbook) US US$ 44.90

Nintendo DS™
Personal Trainer: Cooking US US$ 24.90

PC Games
Grand Theft Auto IV (Simplified Chinese Version) (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 29.90

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html

pI have used Ubuntu exclusively for almost 2 years now. In that time I have very rarely had contact with other distros. The only exception being spending about half an hour in Fedora 8 or 9, quite liking it and never getting round to making a partition to dual boot between it and Ubuntu. But with the release of both Fedora 10 and VMWare 6.5, what better time is there to check out the latest release from the Fedora team?/p pI grabbed the Live CD ISO from the Fedora site, which auto-located the nearest mirror to me and it downloaded pretty quickly. The installation process was incredibly simple. The LiveCD booted straight into a graphical interface, where you could setup things like Language and Keyboard layout. This is a refreshing change from Ubuntu, where you are dumped into a #8220;grub#8221; style keyboard interface to setup keyboard/language by pressing funny key combinations and using ugly text menus. Once I had changed my keyboard/language from US to UK I was presented with a nice (very blue) GNOME desktop. An #8220;Install to hard drive#8221; shortcut was neatly placed on the desktop to get the installation properly started. The actual installer (called Anaconda) is very like Ubuntu#8217;s Ubiquity. It goes through most of the same steps, in roughly the same order (and does the same job). Partitioning was a breeze and it even included an #8220;Encrypt my hard drive#8221; check-box, which was a cool little feature.At the end of the main installation process, it told me to reboot, without giving me a reboot button or telling me how to reboot. It#8217;s just a little cosmetic issue, but it could be quite confusing for new users, who don#8217;t have a clue how the GNOME interface works./p pOn first boot I was presented with a #8220;Setup Agent#8221;. This tool lets you setup your user account and your timezone (which, quite confusingly, was also done in the first part of the installation). Both of these functions are handled prior to the actual installation in Ubuntu, which seems a bit more #8220;streamlined#8221; and didn#8217;t make you waste time on your first boot./p pAfter exiting the Setup Agent, I was dumped straight into a GNOME desktop. Fedora is often heralded as one of the best looking distros around, but to be honest, I cant really see why. The default background is incredibly blue and looks like it is supposed to be a sun, with some solar flares coming out of it but it looks more like a stock picture of a moon, with some dodgy GIMP effects laid on top of it. The default window theme is OK (it is also very blue), but the buttons on the right hand side just don#8217;t look like they #8220;belong#8221; there and really stick out from the rest of the panel, which is pretty distracting./p pInstalling software is also very easy. A simple add/remove software tool is included in the System menu which lets you search the repositories, which I found to be quite small and not have some of the software I rely on daily such as Flash, VLC and Terminator (ok, Terminator is quite a small project, but VLC!). You simply search for the package you want to install, hit the installation button and it will go away and do it for you. The package-kit based installation dialog is very simple (it basically just says #8220;I am installing your selected packages now#8221; or #8220;I am resolving dependencies now#8221;), which some people may like, but I like to know what is going on when I am installing stuff. Some people might not notice this, but after using apt-get and synaptic for a few years, you get used to being told absolutely everything that is going on./p pThe update manager is also very easy to use. Its #8220;these are your updates#8221; screen is brilliant as it groups them into Bug Fixes, Enhancements and Security updates, each with their own big shiny icon, which looks absolutely great. I would be very happy if Ubuntu had something similar./p pGenerally the distro is very easy to use. The preferences menus are grouped into little sections like #8220;Look and Feel#8221; and #8220;Internet and Networking#8221;, which makes it a lot easier to find a setting dialog than in Ubuntu#8217;s monolithic list. The distro is also mostly bug free, but I did notice that the keyboard options I set during installation were not kept when I rebooted, so I was stuck with a US keyboard until I worked out how to use the (quite confusing) keyboard layout selection dialog./p pAll in all, I am very impressed with Fedora. I don#8217;t think I will be giving up my Ubuntu yet (being an Ubuntu contributor, I would find it hard to keep up my contributions to Ubuntu while using another distro), but I would be happy to recommend it to people who are thinking of switching from Windows or Mac OS. If Mark Shuttleworth suddenly decided he wanted to invest in something else and Ubuntu fell apart, I would happily make the switch to Fedora./p

Visit the official site www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/coming_out_stories/videos.jhtml Jackie Warner, star of Work Out, on coming out in the Bible belt© 2008 MTV Networks

Auteur : LOGO
Tags : Logo Gay Lesbian Gay TV Celebrities
Envoyé : 04 décembre 2008
Note :0.0
Votes :0

Jury out on Boy George.

Following the announcement yesterday of a forthcoming lawsuit from fired HR administrator Crystal Dixon, University of Toledo president Dr. Lloyd Jacobs reiterates the school's position with regard to sexual orientation in the Toledo Free Press.

Little Britain creator Matt Lucas got a new boytoy for Christmas.

Secret gay party outed in Mongolia: "On November 15, an intentionally hidden and exclusive party was held at Amazon Club, in Bayazurkh Palace. Gay men, lesbian women, bisexual and transgender individuals (LGBT), and friends of these minorities, congregated to socialize with one another and to celebrate their sexual identities. The main festivity was the annual 'Mr. Beauty' contest. With a pool of eleven male-to-female cross-dressers, judges determined who made the most beautiful woman through a sequence of swimsuit, gown, and talent competitions...The party’s secret location (which changes each month and is not released until a few days before the event) and the strict security guards, were not enough to maintain LGBT privacy in the insular capital. One week after ‘Mr. Beauty’, a post on a Mongolian website revealed the existence of the party, and disclosed names of attendees. Few positive, and many negative comments were posted in response."

Twitter turns down $500 million Facebook offer.

Gay City News: Gay men being targeted unfairly in arrest stings as justification to shut down adult-oriented shops in Manhattan.

Nominees for the 2009 Grammy Awards announced.

Conservative Episcopal church leaders announce intention to found rival denomination: "Conservatives alienated from the Episcopal Church announced on Wednesday that they were founding their own rival denomination, the biggest challenge yet to the authority of the Episcopal Church since it ordained an openly gay bishop five years ago. The move threatens the fragile unity of the Anglican Communion, the world’s third-largest Christian body, made up of 38 provinces around the world that trace their roots to the Church of England and its spiritual leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury."

Students at University of Colorado in Colorado Springs hold "safety" rally to battle back against verbal and physical harassment: "The rally was related to a recent rift between student body president David Williams and the campus' gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender group, Spectrum. Williams declined to sign off on a Spectrum funding request for a National Coming Out Day observance in October, citing his personal convictions."

Coming soon: RuPaul's Drag Race.

Gay organizations making recession-based staff cuts: "At Lambda Legal, 10 positions were cut last month. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation laid off several staff members Nov. 21. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has left open unfilled positions, and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association recently reduced its national staff from seven to two. GLAAD President Neil Giuliano said the cuts at his organization 'touched all departments,' but did not reach 'double digits.'...He said a reduction in donations coupled with the nation’s ongoing financial crisis meant that GLAAD had to make job cuts to stay within budget and prepare for 2009."

Brody Jenner with his first two bromances.

James Franco is so hot he'd like to rip his own shirt off.

Noise pollution in world's oceans hurting wildlife.

Right Whale causes shutdown of Cape Cod Canal: "Authorities said the 45-foot whale swam into the Sagamore end of the canal at about 12:30 p.m. today. The Army Corps of Engineers — which operates the canal — ordered it closed to avoid a collision between the animal and a ship. The waterway was reopened at about 3 p.m. after the whale swam into Buzzards Bay."

South African writer to face Equality Court for homophobic Sunday Sun article: "The article equated homosexuality with bestiality, praised Robert Mugabe's oppression of gays and lesbians and encouraged the removal of the sexual-orientation protection clause from the constitution. In July, the Press Ombudsman ordered the Sunday Sun to apologise for the article but fell short of declaring the piece hate speech and refused to recommend any sanctions against Qwelane himself."

Charlie and Marcus from Survivor won't be pairing up on The Amazing Race till they're household names, apparently. Casting director: "With Rob and Amber, they met on the reality show, they were engaged. They were not at a crossroads, but they were getting married and they had a lot of issues to work out. And also they were household names. Let’s see, if Charlie and Marcus become household names, maybe. I think that’s the difference, too."

I'm having an issue with an InDesign CS3 file which is printing too dark and I can't figure out what the problem is. I'm a little out of my element and would greatly appreciate any advice.

The document is a photo-based advertisement and it's coming out dark and muddy. It's printing through an HP Designjet 130, but I don't suspect the printer as the problem because I ran a calibration and when we print another ad it comes out perfect - identical to a copy which was printed professionally.

The file looks fine on several computers/monitors, but always prints dark and muddy. I've played with as many settings as I could think of - stuff like relative and perceptual colorimetric colors, but when I deviate from the settings we always use, it only looks worse. In fact, we always print with the same print settings, color and paper profiles, and the same paper, so the only thing which seems to be different is this file itself.

I'm out of ideas and would really appreciate any advice you might have.

This article has been published at RLSLOG.net - visit our site for full content.

I wouldnt usually post something like this but someone was asking in one of the other releases if it was coming out, so here it is

The Victoria’s Secret models walk the runway from Miami, Florida for the first time ever. Heidi Klum, Marissa Miller, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Karolina Kurkova and Selita Ebanks are among those participating.

Links: HOMEPAGE - TV.com

The.Victorias.Secret.Fashion.Show.2008.720p.HDTV.x264-CTU
1.09GB
NTi | TPB | NZB

more at RLSLOG.net

YouTube is growing up. Thanks to the influence of Google, the video-sharing site is becoming a haven for professional content, with advertising coming out of every orifice. And now we have video guidelines to match the maturity.

YouTube As A Human

If we think of YouTube as a human being, we can see how at the beginning of its life, it was slowly growing, with more and more people aware of its existence every day. Its reach and influence also grew and affected more people every day.

It then became the most popular kid at school, doing what the other kids wouldn’t dare do, allowing copyrighted clips to be uploaded, and generally behaving like it owned the playground.

And then a father figure came into its life, with Google buying YouTube. Soon after that, its first run-in with the authorities happened, with Viacom suing the video-sharing site for $1 billion.

YouTube Growing Up

It has since started to clean its act up, and looked at where its headed in life. Gone are the reckless days of youth, and in its place is emerging a grown up site trying to embrace professional content and draw in advertisers.

And now, thanks to a new set of rules pertaining to the uploading of videos, YouTube is finally maturing into an adult, and leaving those days of sexually suggestive material and profuse swearing behind.

The new guidelines are explained in a YouTube Blog post which does its best to strike the balance between lecturing and teaching. The new rules are as follows:

Stricter Standards For Mature Content

Pornography and footage of sexual activity has always been banned from YouTube, but those guidelines are now being expanded to include sexually suggestive videos. These will now be age-restricted.

Sexually Suggestive Content And Profanity

Videos which contain sexually suggestive material, or profanity (swearing), will now be “algorithmically demoted”. This means video marked as inappropriate will find themselves falling down the ‘Most Viewed’ and ‘Top Favorited’ charts.

Improved Thumbnails

Thumbnails will now be algorithmically chosen to better represent the content of the video than they currently do. Uploaders will still have the choice of three thumbnails, but these will no longer purely come from the 25/50/75 percent points of the video.

More Accurate Video Information

Titles, tags, descriptions, and metadata has always been the place for unscrupulous video uploaders to game the system in order to drive traffic. While gaming the system has always been against the rules, more enforcement will now be brought it.

Conclusions

These rules represent a more mature approach from YouTube, and are mostly a good thing. If Google wants YouTube to truly start competing with Hulu and the like, and attract serious advertisers, then a tightening of the video guidelines was always going to be necessary.

However, there are some YouTube videos which contain copious amounts of swearing, or rely on sexually suggestive innuendos or remarks to hit the spot. What these content creators are now going to do remains to be seen, but the most likely outcome is they’ll move to an alternative site that doesn’t have such strict rules.

I know the game isnt due out till sometime next year but I saw a video on gametrailers and thought Id make a thread about it.

First heres the video(its a user video so I cant embed it...I dont know how to embed user videos:confused:):

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/u...es/291461.html

Judging by that video it seems that the game is more in depth and a lot faster than round 3. Inside and outside fighting is a really big thing IMO. Like the guy in the video says its more true to the real life boxer styles. Imagine Mike Tysons inside game in Round 4:drool:.

Anyway I hope we can get a full list of boxers sometime soon, I hope there are more new boxers as well as some classic guys.

Oh yea and there is supposed to be an official trailer coming out sometime during the Spike Video game awards later this month.

Instant buy for me, no questions asked.

The first beta release of Windows 7 may be out in just over a month, according to the official website of the MSDN Developer Conference. About half-way down the site's about page, you'll see a "Giveaways" section, the Windows 7 logo, and the following text sitting right under it: ...

pemsmallPhoto by Pennie Smith/small/embr /br /a href="http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/" target="_blank"strongLily Allen/strong/a has revealed her first tour in support of sophomore album, a href="/article/news/146946-lily-allen-announces-new-album" target="_blank"strongemIt's Not Me, It's You/em/strong/a. The dates announced thus far are limited to the UK and Ireland, but with the record coming out February 9 (February 10 in the U.S.), Allen's bound to add more.br /br /Allen's "The Fear" made its radio debut recently, and it's a very nice tune (hear it below). The song will get a single release on January 26.br //ppa href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/147857" target="_blank"read more/a/p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/tMqW-PhjnsDzDm_BJPNWQRKjZtg/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/tMqW-PhjnsDzDm_BJPNWQRKjZtg/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/today/~4/MjGRkK5U5Pg" height="1" width="1"/

Category: Games
Released: Nov 28, 2008
Price: $1.99

Description:
"Ivory Tiles" is a refreshingly creative new game from master puzzle creator Mung Qi Fun. It's perfect for passing the time and challenging your puzzle solving skills. Developed specifically for the tilt capabilities of the iPhone and iPod Touch, this original creation has you guiding ivory tiles around in over 80 uniquely crafted gameboards. Touch control also provided. Simple to understand and play, but a lifetime to master. Follow the ancient Taoists as you journey with increasing difficulty from the Beach to the Heavens. Can you reach enlightenment? Features: - Over 80 hand crafted levels to pit your brain against. - Progressive difficulty means kids can have fun playing the early stages. - Supports both tilt and touch input control. - Beautiful mahogany boards and ivory tiles rendered in realtime 3D. - Soothing authentic traditional Chinese music arranged by "Silk & Bamboo Ensemble" and "Cheng Yu" - Personal high scores tracked for each puzzle. Achieve Zen when you take it a step further and reach the "perfect" score. - Campaign screen and easy to use level select. - Configurable audio and input settings. --- Initial user feedback: "OMG this is genius !!!! Whoever designed these puzzles must be tapping into some kind of ancient wisdom." "Later in the game when the pieces ride on top of others, I was blown away." "The levels are simple, that is until you try to complete them with the least possible moves. This game is worth every penny. Graphics and music are great and very high quality all around." "When is the sequel coming out?"

Website: http://www.ivorytiles.com
Support Website: http://www.ivorytiles.com

Note: The description above is the official one supplied by the application developer and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of this site or its staff.


Get it on iTunes: Ivory Tiles

Matt Singley is a business process advisor that focuses on social media and UGC sociology. He authors a blog, Singley’s Blog Thoughts, about new (and sometimes old) technologies that can help organizations get ahead.

Each morning you get an obscenely-sized coffee, open your email and turn on your favorite music to lean into the upcoming workday. You are a part of an ever increasing group that starts their day with music and listens until it’s time to go to sleep. In this exploding market of online streaming audio, two companies are leading the way, fighting for a position at the top and looking to earn your loyalty: Pandora and Last.fm.

From a total traffic perspective the sites appear to be pretty close, with Pandora slightly overtaking Last.fm in the early part of 2008.  A closer look at the data however reveals that within the United States, Pandora is dominating in site traffic by almost double. Why the big difference stateside and elsewhere? Pandora is only offered to customers within the U.S. If you are an international reader, it appears the choice for you is obvious; if not, read on.

It’s All About the Music

Let’s get right down to the music selection. I chose a wild mix of genre and popularity and was happy to see that both services not only recognized each artist but also seemed to really understand the type of music that each represented. Pandora started each channel with a song from the artist I selected, but Last.fm played for over an hour and never included them. I love listening to music while I work, so this part of the test was easy for me…I just listened to a lot of music on each service, all day long.

It wasn’t long before I came up with a sweeping generalization: Last.fm plays more Indie music, Pandora leans toward mainstream. As I continued to listen to each channel, I found myself going back to Pandora more and more. The music that was being selected for me just seemed better, it really seemed to understand what I liked. I think what sealed it for me was the inclusion of “Where Is My Mind?” by the Pixies in my Death Cab station. It just felt right.

Each service builds a custom channel based on artists or songs that you chose, and plays music that they think you will like. From an ease-of-use standpoint Pandora came out of the gate strong, I was signed up and listening to songs in less than a minute. I had to stumble around just a bit longer to get going with Last.fm, although it was still a mostly straightforward process.

A Look Under the Hood

With both Pandora and Last.fm working hard to create custom playlists for you, it’s important to take a quick look at the technology that is driving these two sites.  Last.fm uses a technique called scrobbling to determine which songs rise to the top and which sink.  Scrobbling begins by downloading their software and ranking the songs that you like. With millions of songs being scrobbled every day, this is a great way to crowdsource popularity.

From the Last.fm website:

Millions of songs are scrobbled every day. This data helps Last.fm to organise and recommend music to people; we use it to create personalised radio stations, and a lot more besides.

Pandora selects music based on The Music Genome Project®, which is the work of “a group of musicians and music-loving technologists.” This seems to be more of an artisan effort, with this group listening to and defining the music, as opposed to the crowdsourcing method.  

Since we started back in 2000, we’ve carefully listened to the songs of tens of thousands of different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as we endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world.

So which method of determining what you will like is better? Do millions of ratings on songs create a better experience for the listener, or does a select group of people tediously pouring over individual songs yield better results?  Before getting to the bottom line, I want to take a look at more of the overall experience.

User Interface

Looking at the different UIs of the sites, I was naturally drawn to Pandora. The mostly Flash media player seemed a lot easier to use, and frankly a little sexier than the average looking player offered by the competitor. I was not disappointed with the Pandora interface, as I listened to songs I was able to click through to more information about the artists, album, songs and fans of the music all within the same page. Finding similar information over at Last.fm was certainly possible, but required separate page loads for each category that I wanted to find out about.

In terms of social networking, Last.fm is the clear leader. The media player page is set up like a blog that you can scroll down and leave a “shout” about the track as well as look through what others are saying. Last.fm also does a brilliant job of incorporating events into the play page, such as upcoming concerts and events. Pandora simply doesn’t offer this kind of service.

iPhone Apps

Pandora and Last.fm both have created iPhone apps that are free. Comments can be made about aesthetics and function, but Pandora easily won the battle with response time. The Last.fm app seemed to slow down quite a bit as I loaded channels but I didn’t have this problem with Pandora, which loaded almost instantly every time.

Final Thoughts

Designs will change, apps will get updated and new algorithms will be created, but in the end it’s all about the music. Both services offer great things for their users, but one consistently played tunes that I really like. Since it really is all about the music, I’m picking Pandora as the winner in this head to head battle.

Which do you prefer? Tell us in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockPhoto, bns124

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Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Last.fm and Pandora - Music Discovery Services
Last.fm versus Pandora (Continued)
Rumor: Pandora Adding Videos?
Last.fm Partners with Warner
Podcast With Pandora Founder Tim Westergren
Pandora’s A Social Climber: Major Upgrades Look Like Last.fm, Napster
Pandora Now Free!

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/43031?ns=guardianpageName=Business%3A+The+road+to+ruinch=Businessc3=The+Guardianc4=Automotive+industry+%28Business%29%2CGeneral+Motors%2CFord%2CBusiness%2CUS+economy+%28Business%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Motoring%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CUS+Economyc6=Ed+Pilkingtonc7=2008_12_03c8=1127737c9=articlec10=GUc11=Businessc12=Automotive+industryc13=c14=h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FAutomotive+industry" width="1" height="1" //divpThe Ford plant in Highland Park, a city within the city of Detroit, is a monument to the American automobile. It opened in 1910, and three years later pioneered the world's first car assembly line. In 1925, it spewed out 9,000 Model Ts in a single day. The revolution that turned America into a car-owning democracy had arrived. Today, there is ample evidence of that revolution. The factory looks over a six-lane highway that is heavy with traffic from dawn to dusk. Next door is a drive-thru McDonald's, where customers come to order Big Macs before rolling 50 metres to a drive-thru chemists to pick up indigestion tablets./ppThe story of the plant is told in one of those green-and-gold heritage plaques erected by the main entrance. It says: "Mass production soon moved from here to all phases of American industry and set the pattern of abundance for 20th-century living." Pattern of abundance: the phrase reads like a sick joke, for the Ford factory it describes is a shell of what it once was. Its red brick and granite walls still stand proud, framed by decorative mosaics. But the windows are broken or boarded up, its ceilings have gaping holes, the floor is covered in broken lumps of fallen plaster. On the roof, the flagpole that for years flew the Stars and Stripes is rusty and bare./ppOther companies, other countries, might have turned Henry Ford's factory of dreams into a museum rather than let it decay into the pitiful wreck that it is today. But Ford, and its fellows in the Big Three - General Motors (GM) and Chrysler - have enough to do staying alive without worrying about preserving the past. GM, the giant of the three, has lost $73bn in the past three years; it is haemorrhaging $2bn a month. At that rate it will run out of cash by the middle of next year and collapse by that year's end, potentially bringing millions of workers down with it. Which is why the CEOs of the three giants took their begging bowls to Washington earlier this month, pleading for a "bridging loan" of $25bn./ppThey didn't get a warm reception. They were ridiculed by senators for having flown in three separate corporate jets, an act that must rank among the most impressive PR disasters of the decade. But what the senators and the largely hostile media coverage missed was that the miserable condition of the Detroit car industry is not merely a comment on the failed leadership of its corporate executives, though it is that. It is also a matter of personal survival for millions of Americans who depend, directly or indirectly, on the revolution Henry Ford began 100 years ago./ppNowhere is this more visible than in Detroit, the crucible of the Big Three. Half of GM's 100,000 workers live in the city, and they in turn support a spider's web of relatives, spin-off industries and services. Detroit is really nothing but a company town. Hamtramckis a city within the city that borders one of GM's main factories. When GM enjoyed good times, Hamtramck boomed. Now GM is in the doldrums, Hamtramck is too. We walk along a stretch of shops along one of its main streets. First in line is Anna's Beauty Salon: it's closed, but the sign on the door suggests Anna is managing to stay open four days a week. Next, Popular Fashion and Variety Store: shut down. Billiards and Burger Hall: abandoned. Antiques store, an oil painting portraying an autumn landscape still in its window: deserted. Law offices: vacant. Funeral home: open. Even in a recession, one aspect of life must go on - the ending of it./ppOn the other side of the road is the Family Donut shop, a local institution run by a Polish family for the past 28 years. It has a picture of Princess Diana on the wall, a gift from one of the regular clients, and another of the Three Stooges. The owner, Vojno, is unloading a bundle of cardboard boxes used to pack the donuts. A few years ago he would order up to 30 bundles a month; now it's 10. On Polish festive days, there would be a line of customers out the door and round the corner, and the stools at the counter would be loaded. Today, the line is more of a dribble and the counter is largely empty. Unless GM recovers, and money starts flowing again, he will have to close in a few months. "It's not just me. Everybody around here is going to shut down," he says. What will he do if he does have to close? "I'll stay home and sleep. I'm hungry for sleep," he says./ppOne of the few clients, dressed in a bomber jacket with Detroit written across the back, shouts over at him. "You only work one job, so why do you need to sleep?"/pp"Shut up, Eddie," Vojno replies./pp"I work three jobs to make my money," Eddie Fabiszak says, prompting the only other customer in the bakery to say, under his breath: "Lucky man."/ppThe other customer is Melis Lejlic, 27, a naturalised American originally from Bosnia. His father and mother, two uncles and a cousin all work in the car business. All now fear redundancy. Lejlic works in construction, but that is no better. Car workers are no longer spending on home improvements, so demand for his work has fallen by half. Of 10 builders he knows, seven are unemployed. "Everybody in a small town like this is looking to the car industry, and there's no hope there," he says. "Drive around, you'll see. Detroit is worse right now than Baghdad."/ppThe comparison sounds far-fetched, but in the streets around the GM plant you can see what he means. Several houses have no glazing in their rickety wooden walls. Front lawns have turned into littered pasture. Walls are lined with barbed wire. A mural of a Stars and Stripes has been graffitied. And though it is nothing like Baghdad, there is clearly a market in lawlessness. A poster advertising the services of a lawyer says: "Aggressive criminal defence. Drugs CCW [carrying a concealed weapon] Theft Murder All felonies misdemeanours." That is how Henry Ford's dream looks in November 2008./ppGM's headquarters in downtown Detroit dominate the city's skyline. The seven cylindrical glass towers of the Renaissance Centre were built in 1977 as a statement of the company's untouchable status as the then unquestioned king of the auto world. Inside the main tower, there is an exhibition of some of GM's most memorable models, dating back to the 1950s. It is almost shocking to see how beautiful and exhilarating those cars were. There is a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster, built largely by hand, its white, sensuous curves set off by red leather seats. Then there's a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air in black, the quintessential car of the American dre