"Khronos Group, the association behind OpenGL, has today announced the fourth generation of its cross-platform API spec, which takes up the mantle of offering a viable competitor to Microsoft's DirectX 11. The latest release includes two new shader stages for offloading geometry tessellation from the CPU to the GPU, as well as tighter integration with OpenCL to allow the graphics card to take up yet more duties off the typically overworked processor."

Click the auto-refresh button or batter F5 for the latest news. Email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk. And click here for all the latest scores in the Europa League

38 min Babel is limping off after a (fair) challenge from Obraniak. It looks like a hip injury, and I'm not sure he'll be back.

37 min Lille are still attacking with an endearing and entirely misplaced enthusiasm, unaware that Liverpool have a complete grip on this game defensively and are going to squeeze every bit of joy out of all our lives for the next 50 minutes. When you see defensive performances as unyielding and accomplished as this, you wonder how Liverpool how made such a Horlicks of their season.

36 min "Give me some excitement, please" says Mike Down, mistaking me for a pimp.

35 min "Alex McGillivray isn't far off, but Episode 7 is way creepier," says Paul Whaley. "And of course to get there, you have to watch all the creepy episodes inbetween. I saw all that four years ago and haven't slept since."

34 min Gerrard shoots over from 30 yards after a nice turn.

33 min Lille's first half-decent attack for a while. Cabael muscles past Lucas and then passes it down the right to Hazard; he plays a low cross towards the near post, where Frau, under pressure from Agger, spanks it high and wide.

31 min A summary of the highlights so far:

30 min "I lost faith in Neighbours when shouty Max left and his previously unknown brother nicked all his lines," says Charlie Bird. "As for weird YouTube...

28 min It's gone extremely quiet around the stadium, and Liverpool will be well pleased with how this is going, particularly after such a lively first five minutes.

26 min Babel almost scores a fabulous goal. He and Torres sliced right through the centre of the Lille defence with a nice one-two. That put Babel through on goal, 15 yards out and slightly to the right of centre, but his shot across goal was saved by the legs of Landreau. That was delicious football.

25 min "Although I should point out that I'm not a Liverpool fan, I do live in Italy and know what pushed the deal through," says Jonny Mills. "Roma needed loads of money to stay in business. They couldn't sell any of their good players though. But Aquilani wasn't one of them, and Benitez doesn't have a clue what he's doing. There."

24 min "Re: the Aquilani signing," says John T. "It's simple, really. If Rafa didn't buy him for £20m, then he wouldn't be able to Keane him back to Roma this summer for £15m and subsequently complain that he didn't have £20m to buy a proper player."

23 min Frau is getting treatment; he's leaking what really, really, really, really tough middle-class boys call "claret" from his right eye following an accidental clash of heads with Lucas. He's back on now.

22 min Balmont has looked good for Lille. Balmont. With a name like that he should be a butler in a particularly farcical episode of Frasier.

20 min "Are you sure this match isn't being played on my high school soccer field?" says Richard Whittall. "The colour resembles a slightly under-ripe banana."

19 min Can someone wake me up when something happens please?

18 min "I once did a knick-knack on Harold Bishop's door," says Alan Belton, who I hope is talking about knock-door ginger. "My Australian wife was less than pleased with my immaturity at the time, but I think hindsight has given us both the appreciation that it needed to be done."

17 min For all Lille's possession, Reina has only had one rudimentary save to make so far. Liverpool are extremely good, away in Europe, at keeping their opponent at arms' length.

15 min "Erinsborough isn't an anagram of Neighbours – there's a superfluous 'O'," says Alex McGillivray. "I have no life. Here's the creepiest thing I found on YouTube."

14 min Fantastic play from Torres, who moved smoothly past Chedjou in the centre of the pitch and then touched a pass behind Rami for Babel. He was just about to shoot first time from 15 yards when the stretching Rami got the slighest touch to divert the ball for a corner.

12 min "The problem here isn't Kuyt or Gerrard," says Adam Wood. "It is Rafa and Lucas. Gerrard and Mascherano should be playing centre mid, with Aquilani just behind Torres. Two defensive mids are unnecessary, especially when playing with wingers like Kuyt, who are defensive-minded. Kuyt shouldn't even be starting, as Riera, Maxi, Yossi, and Babel are all more worthy than him." This is understand (although I'm not sure I agree about Gerrard), but the more relevant point is surely that Benitez is always going to play two deep-lying midfielders, which makes you wonder why on earth he bought Aquilani.

10 min There's a real confidence, almost a swagger, about Lille's play. Hazard goes on a superb run down the right, past Insua and Agger before driving a beautiful ball right across the face of goal between keeper and defenders. It would have been an open goal had anybody been on the end of it. They weren't.

9 min "It shames us as a society that we no longer make the gesture involving moving a partially opened fist back and forth from the forehead to signify that the recipient of this gesture was something that rhymes with a tickhead," says Mike Gibbons. "It's much quicker to say it and get on with your life having saved precious seconds - but that's the broadband generation for you. Wayne Bridge would have aced the PR War had he done that to John Terry."

8 min Gerrard stabs a pass into Mavuba's chest, appeals for handball and gets it. Agger's long free-kick is headed away easily.

7 min Liverpool haven't started yet. "Rob," says Tom Bason. "There are only six houses featured in the show (numbers 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32) but those numbers would suggest there are at least another 24 houses somewhere, who's residents have no interaction with anyone else at all. Yours in pedantry."

If they're not in Neighbours they are dead to me.

6 min The pitch is very poor by modern standards, bobbly and a bit sandy, but it hasn't really impacted upon on Lille's passing yet. As Graham Taylor says on Five, "they know how to play the pitch".

5 min "Rafa refuses to take Kuyt of the pitch," says Garry O'Connor. "Aquilani plays the same role as Gerrard. So until Gerrard moves to the wing and Kuyt comes of the pitch, Aquilani stays on the bench." This I all understand. But it does invite the question: why buy him then?

4 min Lille have started much the better, dominating possession and moving the ball around with real menace.

3 min "Erinsborough is an anagram of Neighbours," says Mike Gibbons. "Send me a catalogue of lives so I can pick one." I'll swap yer.

2 min A fast start from Lille, and Cabaye works Reina with a good strike from the edge of the box. Reina gets down to hold on pretty comfortably.

1 min Lille, in red, kick off from right to left. Liverpool are in white.

A question for Liverpool fans Can anyone explain the Aquilani signing? Me no understand.

I wish I had Tom Bason's life department

"The boy and girl in that scene were Zeke Kinski, and his new piece Mia, an animal rights activist. Zeke is Susan's stepson (who divorced Karl, got married and widowed, picked up three step-children and is now back married to Karl. Karl fathered a baby himself during this period). Other characters still in it you might remember: Paul Robinson, Steph and Lynn Scully Erm, thats about it."

His new piece. Now that's a phrase I haven't heard for a while.

I wish I went to Tom Hopkins' pub quiz department

"How many houses are there on Ramsay Street? This question came up at a recent pub quiz. I was sure I had got it right and when it turned out I hadn't I was so incensed that I checked on the internet the minute I got home; this confirmed that I was in fact completely wrong. P.S. I am aware that there are at least three points there than individually or collectively may suggest that I am powerfully uncool."

The answer's six, Tom. Also, did you know that Ramsay Street is a fictional cul-de-sac featured in the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, it is set in the equally fictitious suburb of Erinsborough. Pin Oak Court, in Vermont South, is the real cul-de-sac that doubles for Ramsay Street.[1] All of the houses featured in the show are real and the residents allow Neighbours to shoot external scenes in their front and back gardens.[2] Neighbours has been filmed in Pin Oak Court since the series began in 1985. Neighbours interior scenes are filmed at the Global Television studios in Nunawading, Forest Hill[3], and there are occasionally differences between the appearances of the inside and outside of the houses.

Ramsay Street is named after the Ramsay family, who were a prominent family in the area historically when the show began. By 2001 all members of the family had left the show, but during 2009 three new members of the Ramsay family moved into the street.[4]

Sample Neighbours dialogue

Boy: "This has been the best day of my life"
Girl: "Ever?"
Boy: "The clue's in the word 'life' you brainless wench, I never want to see your stupid face again Ever"

And then they kiss.
And then it cuts to a scene involving Lou Carpenter and Toadie.

No way can the game top this.

One good thing about Liverpool being on Channel Five is that I've just accidentally stumbled across Neighbours on that channel while waiting for the game to start. All our yesterdays. I defy anyone to watch this video and not weep their heart out with joy at a youth well spent in Ramsay Street.

You did cry, right? Right?

A simple way to improve Liverpool's form Tell each player that, if they produce a performance of, say 5/10 or less, they will be locked in a darkened room with only a loop of this film for company. Have you ever seen anything so jauntily sinister? David Lynch would kill to have seen this in a nightmare.

Team news Glen Johnson starts for the first time this year and, with the possible exception of Martin Skrtel, this is probably what Rafael Benitez regards as his strongest team.

Lille (4-3-3) Landreau; Beria, Chedjou, Rami, Emerson; Balmont, Mavuba, Cabaye; Obraniak, Frau, Hazard.
Subs: Butelle, Vandam, Aubameyang, Toure, Dumont, Souare, Souquet.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Insua; Mascherano, Lucas; Kuyt, Gerrard, Babel; Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Riera, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, El Zhar, Kelly.

Referee Alan Larsen (Denmark)

Now, after Steven Gerrard's noble attempt to bring back the V-sign – last unironically delivered by an adult in 1987 – I wonder what other retro classics footballers could reintroduce into society. Perhaps John Terry could assert his throbbing masculinity by wearing shorts so tight that it's touch and go whether you'll self-vasectomise by the end of the 90 minutes. Or perhaps that popular wordsmith Wayne Rooney could bring back words and phrases from the eighties, like crud or aces or did you see that TV show, Gaylords Say No?

I have no idea where I'm going with this, to be honest.

Preamble Hello. It's been easy to laugh at Liverpool this season, and we'll come to that in due course, but they of all clubs know that what happens in March stays in March. When a season is appraised, all that really matters in what happens in May: the 1981-82 season, when Liverpool were 12th at the turn of the year only to end up as champions, shows that. So if Liverpool can win the two competitions they are left in, the Europa League and the race for fourth – and they are the most accomplished side left in each of those, even if their form might not suggest as much – they will have redeemed their 2009-10 season to a large extent.

Conversely, if they finish fifth or worse and go out of the Europa League in the last 16, even Rafael Benitez might admit that it's time to call the whole thing off. What happens depends on which Liverpool is most in evidence fof the rest of the season: the granite-willed scrappers who earned hugely deserved victories at home to Manchester United and Everton this season, and should have done the same in their vital Champions League match in Lyon; the irresistible force which produced a stunning 41 goals in the final 13 games of last season; or the demoralised shower that have already lost 14 games this season.

They will get a good test from Lille, who are the top scorers in Ligue 1 (try pronouncing that during a particularly debilitating constipation) and who have one of Europe's hottest teenagers in the brilliant Belgian Eden Hazard, the first foreigner ever to win France's Young Player of the Year award.

• Uefa Europa League
• Liverpool
• Lille

Rob SmythMinute-by-minute reportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Tor Books, the US/Canada publisher, has two hundred advance copies of my next young adult novel, For the Win, available for free to young (19 or younger) gamers who are interested in reviewing the book on their blog or school paper. The book is about gamer kids all over the world who use multiplayer games to organize and fight back against abusive employers: In the virtual future, you must organize to survive At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual "gold," jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world's poorest countries, where countless "gold farmers," bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay. Mala is a brilliant 15-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her the title of "General Robotwalla." In Shenzen, heart of China's industrial boom, Matthew is defying his former bosses to build his own successful gold-farming team. Leonard, who calls himself Wei-Dong, lives in Southern California, but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia, a world away. All of these young people, and more, will become entangled with the mysterious young woman called Big Sister Nor, who will use her experience, her knowledge of history, and her connections with real-world organizers to build them into a movement that can challenge the status quo. The ruthless forces arrayed against them are willing to use any means to protect their power--including blackmail, extortion, infiltration, violence, and even murder. To survive, Big Sister's people must out-think the system. This will lead them to devise a plan to crash the economy of every virtual world at once--a Ponzi scheme combined with a brilliant hack that ends up being the biggest, funnest game of all. Imbued with the same lively, subversive spirit and thrilling storytelling that made LITTLE BROTHER an international sensation, FOR THE WIN is a prophetic and inspiring call-to-arms for a new generation If you're under 19 and want a free early look at the book for review on your blog/paper/whatever, send a note with your address to torpublicity@tor.com with "FTW" for the subject-line. Also include the name of your blog or school paper. For fun, also share a game you enjoyed recently and why. We did this with Little Brother a couple years back, on the grounds that books for young people should be available for young reviewers to write about, rather than just adult reviewers who try to figure out whether young people will enjoy them. It was a real success and I'm happy to be repeating it. This is being launched in honor of the American Library Association's Teen Tech Week, and is open to Canadians and Americans. I'm working on a similar offer for the UK edition, for Britons, Aussies, South Africans and Kiwis, and will post about it as soon as I have details....

As announced last fall, TiVo will return to the UK market after a seven-year absence. TiVo will partner with the UK's Virgin Media, which will develop the cable firm's next-generation set-top box. While details on the hardware are thin on the ground, TiVo chief executive Tom Rogers said it will be heavily based on the TiVo Premiere slated for other markets and confirmed for the US....

Mehrfach haben katholische Würdenträger einen Zusammenhang zwischen Zölibat und den Missbrauchsfällen in ihrer Kirche zurückgewiesen. Anders der Wiener Erzbischof Christoph Schönborn. Auch die Frage "was in der 68er-Generation mit der sexuellen Revolution geschehen ist", müsse nun gestellt werden.

What's a Game Developers Conference without some sweet new tools for developers to sink their teeth into? Khronos Group, the association behind OpenGL, has today announced the fourth generation of its cross-platform API spec, which takes up the mantle of offering a viable competitor to Microsoft's DirectX 11. The latest release includes two new shader stages for offloading geometry tessellation from the CPU to the GPU, as well as tighter integration with OpenCL to allow the graphics card to take up yet more duties off the typically overworked processor -- both useful additions in light of NVIDIA's newfound love affair with tessellation and supposed leaning toward general purpose GPU design in the Fermi chips coming this month. Lest you don't care that much about desktop gaming, OpenGL ES (Embedded Systems, a mobile offshoot of OpenGL) is the graphics standard on "virtually every shipping smart phone," meaning that whatever ripples start on the desktop front will be landing as waves on your next superphone. If that holds true, we can look forward to more involvement from our graphics chips beyond their usual 3D duties and into spheres we tend to care about -- such as video acceleration. Now you care, don't ya?

OpenGL 4.0 arrives, brings more opportunities for general purpose GPU action originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Tech Crunch  |  Virtual Press Office  | Email this | Comments

Tournages > L'étau se resserre autour de Captain America, puisqu'il se murmure que les producteurs hésitent maintenant entre quatre acteurs : Chris Evans ("Les 4 Fantastiques"), Mike Vogel ("Cloverfield"), Garrett Hedlund ("Eragon") et Wilson Bethel ("Generation Kill").

>> Lire tout l'article | sur AlloCiné - le Jeudi 11 Mars 2010

OverSite 3.1.8

OverSite heps define your website or application's structure. It can create wireframe mockups of your pages. You can attach notes to your wireframes to provide further details. Once you're done, OverSite will auto-generate a structure map of your site or application, and will allow you to export to a number of different formats.

Features of the OverSite application include:

• An easy-to-use structure editor with drag-and-drop functionality and the new Rapid Structure Creator.
• A wireframe editor, allowing you to mock up pages and screens of your site/application.
• Detailed notes attached to widgets within your wireframes.
• Reusable wireframe components with OverSite's composites and templates functionality.
• Automatic sitemap generation with customizable colors, fonts, and other UI elements.
• Ability to test site interaction with OverSite's Clickthru browser.
• Ability to import pre-existing Web sites, and modify their site structures.
• Ability to export site structures as folders and HTML files.

WHAT'S NEWVersion 3.1.8:

• Radius percent settings for Starts now persist across saves.
• Fixed an issue that could cause text or links in versioned spreadsheets not to save properly.
• Fixed a memory issue that could occur when closing and opening documents.
• The border drawn around notes is now always drawn at the correct dimension.
• Switching to "Custom" style in wireframe controls panel now enables the style controls.
• Components are now placed in the proper location when wireframe is zoomed.
• Components within scrollpanes are now positioned correctly when canvas offsets have been set.

REQUIREMENTSMac OS X 10.3 or later.
PRICE$65.00
DEVELOPERDave Taubler
DOWNLOADS10298
DOWNLOAD NOW (7 MB)
More information

tbcpp writes "The Khronos Group has announced the release of the OpenGL® 4.0 specification. Among the new features: two new shader stages that enable the GPU to offload geometry tessellation from the CPU; per-sample fragment shaders and programmable fragment shader input positions; drawing of data generated by OpenGL, or external APIs such as OpenCL, without CPU intervention; shader subroutines for significantly increased programming flexibility; 64-bit double precision floating point shader operations and inputs/outputs for increased rendering accuracy and quality. Khronos has also released an OpenGL 3.3 specification, together with a set of ARB extensions, to enable as much OpenGL 4.0 functionality as possible on previous generation GPU hardware."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

tbcpp writes "The Khronos Group has announced the release of the OpenGL® 4.0 specification. Among the new features: two new shader stages that enable the GPU to offload geometry tessellation from the CPU; per-sample fragment shaders and programmable fragment shader input positions; drawing of data generated by OpenGL, or external APIs such as OpenCL, without CPU intervention; shader subroutines for significantly increased programming flexibility; 64-bit double precision floating point shader operations and inputs/outputs for increased rendering accuracy and quality. Khronos has also released an OpenGL 3.3 specification, together with a set of ARB extensions, to enable as much OpenGL 4.0 functionality as possible on previous generation GPU hardware."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Apple Investor is a daily report from TBI Research. Sign up here to receive it by email.

Apple (AAPL) Blasts To Another New High
Once again, Apple shares have hit an all-time high, reaching a market cap ($204 billion) greater than that of Berkshire Hathaway ($203) and closing in on Walmart ($204). Apple stock traded up with the NASDAQ yesterday, closing at $225.  At this level, the shares are trading at a pricey but not outrageous valuation of 19x estimated fiscal-year 2010 EPS and 18x Enterprise Value / Trailing Twelve Months Free Cash Flow (TTMFCF).  Not that the stock needs any encouragement, but potential upcoming catalysts include the iPad hitting stores in the US in early April as well as Australia and the UK later in the month; the March quarter earnings release; the release of the next generation iPhone this summer; and progression or resolution of the HTC lawsuit.

Android And Blackberry Gaining Share Against iPhone In Mobile Internet Consumption
(Quantcast)
Total mobile web consumption is increasing rapidly, according to a monthly report out from Quantcast. Apple's iPhone has 64% of mobile web consumption but Google's Android OS is starting to gain share after a couple years of lagging far behind Apple. Google's share increased about 8% in February 2010 to 15.2% of the market and has nearly doubled in the past year. Apple's share decreased 3.2% from January to February. Blackberry reversed the downward trend it experienced last year, increasing 13.2% to 9.2% share. As the pie continues to grow rapidly, Apple's loss of share is not cause for alarm, but the gains illustrate that this will be a competitive market. It will be interesting to see if the iPhone 4.0 OS launching this summer will have an impact on these figures.

Android Operating System Continues To Gain Share As iPhone OS Lags
(comScore)
Want to know why why Google's Android keeps Steve Jobs awake at night? In a mobile subscriber report on the latest quarter, comScore shows that Android registered the largest market share gains of the five leading U.S. smartphone operating systems. Verizon, while they may see an opportunity with Apple, has done an incredible job at marketing the launch of the Motorola Droid as well as Google with the major media attention for the Nexus One. Those efforts have paid off as Android more than doubled its market share over the previous quarter, jumping more than 250% from 2.8% of the U.S. smartphone market to 7.1%. Much of that market share increase came at the expense of Microsoft, which finally unveiled the next generation Windows Phone 7 platform. The iPhone saw a statistically irrelevant increase. Could the Apple iPhone be reaching a saturation point when it comes to consumer adoption? We will see with this summer's launch of the iPhone 4 OS.

iTunes In The Cloud Will Increase Traffic With Greater SEO Potential
(The Apple Blog)
There is no doubt that with the acquisition of Lala, Apple is migrating iTunes to the cloud. But what does that mean? Weldon Dodd of The Apple Blog says moving iTunes to a web-based system will have a huge impact on how we find (search for) iTunes media content (including apps, etc.), especially when it comes to mobile. He takes an in depth look at the overall search engine optimization aspect of the transition. "The iTunes web preview pages are an enormous draw for search engines and consistently rank high in the results when searching for the names of apps." That said, he also says the "iTunes preview has so far had little impact on how we use purchased media content." Maybe, for now. But it could be argued that part of Apple’s strategy in moving iTunes online would be to enable outside sites to implement easier purchases of iTunes content without the hassle of loading up the software as required by the software system now. This decrease in friction could have huge business potential for Apple, which has historically thought of iTunes as just a small source of overall revenue. Partnerships with various music sites, like Pandora, could essentially become mini-iTunes based stores.

Dell Launching iPad-Killer With Help From Amazon And Google
(Engadget)
The Dell Streak (no that's not a typo) tablet will take on the iPad with a little help from Google and Amazon. Engadget has uncovered what appears to be a Dell presentation showing that the Google Android-powered Dell Streak tablet will include access to over 300,000 e-books in the Kindle store, over 11 million "songs and extras" in the Amazon MP3 download store and over 50,000 movies and television shows available for rental or purchase. This collaboration is set to give iTunes the first and serious run for its money just as the iPad (along with the Lala acquisition) is about to take Apple’s its content distribution where no system has gone before. The documents also indicate that users will have wireless (3G) access to the Kindle store with no hidden fees, services plans or hunting for a Wi-Fi connection. If that is true, Dell’s tablets would have a significant advantage over the iPad, which can only access the 3G network if you purchase the more expensive hardware and sign up for a monthly AT&T data plan. Flash issues aside, let's see if the three companies can offer an experience as seamless and smooth as Apple.

Steve Jobs Is the 136th Richest Man In The World
(Forbes)
In its annual list of the world's billionaires, Forbes ranked Apple CEO Steve Jobs 136th place (tied with 6 others) with a net worth of $5.5 billion. Jobs' net worth is up from $5.1 billion from just 6 months ago when Forbes ranked him in 178th place (October 2009). Other techies on the list: Bill Gates ranks number 2, Larry Ellison number 6, Steve Ballmer number 33 and Michael Dell number 37. Jobs is Disney's largest individual shareholder by virtue of the company's 2006 acquisition of Pixar and the continued rebound in Disney's stock price has pushed his stake in the company to $4.2 billion. Not to mention, Apple's stock has continued to soar and is up more than 150% over the past year.

Warning: iPhones Are Addictive And Can Make You More Organized And Productive
(LiveScience)
Stanford University (ahem...go Bears!) recently released results of a survey of 200 iPhone-owning students and found that, on a scale from one to five, 10% were completely addicted, 34% were somewhat addicted and that only 6% said they were free and clear of any iPhone-related illness. According to LiveScience, the company which oversaw the survey, the most interesting observation was "just how identified people were with their iPhone. It was not so much with the object itself, but it had so much personal information that it became a kind of extension of the mind and a means to have a social life. It just kind of captured part of their identity." The survey also found 75% of respondents admitted to falling asleep with their iPhone in bed (weird) and 69% were more likely to forget their wallet than their iPhone (guilty). In terms of practical use, more than 70% said their iPhone made them more organized, and 54% found the device makes them more productive. Hopefully for the stock, the consumer addiction escalates to Philip Morris like proportions. That is, without the government regulation and change in identity.

Read the rest of this story »

See Also:

• Sign Up Now To Get The Apple Investor Newsletter
• The Apple Investor: What It's Like To Be The Target Of Steve Jobs' Wrath
• The Apple Investor: Apple Armed With More Patents Than Google And HTC

Our friends from Norway have dropped a little present in the Android Market — especially for all you Opera fans — as Opera Mini 5 beta 2 is available for download starting... now. Opera’s next generation mobile web browser packs tabbed browsing, speed dial, Opera Link, a download manager, and a password manager, amongst other things. Those of you who are sick of the default Android browser and can’t quite cozy up to Dolphin can go ahead and take Opera Mini 5 for a spin... and do let us know what you think about it.

Read

There are exactly eight weeks to go before 6 May – the probable date of the general election. As polling day approaches, hardy perennial issues such as the economy, crime and education will get plenty of attention. But what of the issues we won't be hearing about?

Michael White explores the topics that candidates will be sidestepping on the doorsteps.

Meanwhile in the studio Seumas Milne, Polly Toynbee and Deborah Orr provide their own examples.

Leave yours in the comment section below.

Also on this week's show we hear from Conservative frontbencher David Willetts. He appeared at an event at Guardian HQ this week to argue that a breakdown in trust between the generations has helped to bring about what his party calls a "broken society".

Why has the phrase resonated above all others for the Tories – and is it backed up by evidence? Polly Toynbee, who took part in the debate, disputes the premise of the Tory argument.

Next week Politics Weekly will be recorded live at Manchester University. For details of how you can get tickets for the event on Tuesday 16 March click here.

Tom ClarkMichael WhitePolly ToynbeeDeborah OrrSeumas MilnePhil Maynard

MGMT

Aus dem Sony Music-Pressetext:

Hallo zusammen,

die Popwelt darf sich beglückwünschen – das neue MGMT-Album ist fertig. [...] 

Haben wir aber gut hinbekommen, das neue MGMT-Abum. (Musikpressetexter ist aber auch kein dankbarer Job.) MGMT, die Soundtracker unserer Generation, haben also ein neues Album fertig. ‘Congratulations’ wird es heißen und in knapp einem Monat in den Läden stehen und damit die Digitalen Ureinwohner wissen wie es sich anhört, wenn sich eine Gegenwartsband auf 70er Glamrock bezieht, kann man sich den Song ‘Flash Delirium’ auf ihrer Homepage kostenlos laden. Newsletteranmeldung muss nicht sein. Einfach auf das Bild klicken.

It looks like TiVo's freshly minted Premiere hardware will soon be setting sail eastwards as The Daily Telegraph is reporting Virgin Media's next generation set-top box will be built around it. Loyal readers of Engadget HD will already be aware that TiVo and Virgin hooked up last November and this latest news relates to the first hardware to be spawned from that relationship. According to TiVo CEO Tom Rogers, the Premiere will "heavily inspire the development work" going into Virgin's next TV appendage, which may or may not mean that the cable company will simply rebadge the well-received new boxes. What's assured though is much greater integration with online content, with search linking you out to Amazon, BBC's iPlayer, YouTube or good old standard broadcast channels. The whole thing's about unlimited choice, apparently, and should be showing up on the Queen's isles by the end of this year. We can wait, but we'd rather we didn't have to.

TiVo returning to the UK thanks to partnership with Virgin Media originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink T3  |  The Daily Telegraph  | Email this | Comments

Neighbours say 64-year-old David Askew had been targeted by gangs at his home in Hattersley, Greater Manchester

A man with learning difficulties who died at his home last night was "tormented to death" by local youths, neighbours claimed today.

Police had been warned that 64-year-old David Askew was being targeted before he was found dead in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, nearby residents said.

They criticised police and officials, claiming they had not supported Askew, his brother, Brian, and his mother, Rose, who uses a wheelchair.

Officers were called to the family home last night after being told youngsters were causing "annoyance".

When police arrived, the youths had vanished, but officers discovered Askew, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

"This has been going on for about 10 years," Avona Davies, a 49-year-old neighbour, said.

"We have complained to the police and council, and they put cameras in their back garden about three years ago.

"They tormented David for money and cigarettes. They harassed him every night without fail."

Davies said she had stopped complaining to police because "nothing gets done", adding that yesterday's harassment, by people who were "about 18 or 19 years old", had begun at around 6.30pm.

"David had learning difficulties, and I think that is why they tormented him, because he would scream out of the window at them," she said.

"Sometimes it would be two of them, others it would be six kids or a big gang. David would throw money and cigarettes into our garden to get rid of them, but they would always go back. That's why they did it."

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she had lived near the Askews for 39 years.

"Last night, I came out to talk to a neighbour and there was a body on the ground under a white sheet," she said.

"We didn't know who it was then. I said: 'If it is David, his misery is over.'"

The woman said she believed the gang had come from a neighbouring area to target Askew. "Not that many children live around here, so this gang comes from elsewhere," she added.

"They would come and bait David ... he was a harmless soul. They would wind him up something dreadful. Every year, the youngest brother would join in – the next generation.

"They always knew he would retaliate. It is tragic – like bear-baiting – tormented to death."

The case has echoes of the death of Fiona Pilkington, who killed her disabled daughter and herself by setting fire to her car after suffering years of abuse from youths.

It is unclear how Askew died. The results of a postmortem examination later today, but Chief Superintendent Zoe Hamilton, of Greater Manchester police, said he had not been physically attacked.

"My team and the neighbourhood team have been in daily contact virtually with David and his family to address the problems they have been having," she said.

"It's a sad fact that if people are different in a community, sometimes they end up being targeted.

"I think we have done everything we can. The level of personal involvement my staff and housing officers have had cannot be stressed enough."

• Crime

Adam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Apple est de plus en plus contesté au sujet de sa politique envers les développeurs IPhone.

Il y a déjà le ticket d'entrée payant pour l'AppleStore , même s'il a baissé dernièrement. [1]

Il y a l'obligation de s'appuyer sur le SDK qui n'est disponible que pour le Mac et qui oblige a investir dans le matériel maison.
Cette situation évolue un peu grâce à des alternatives pour C# [2] et depuis peu Java [3]. Mais les machines virtuelles sont écartées et ces solutions se contentent uniquement de traduire le code vers de l'Objective C. Le développement reste donc bien spécifique et fortement lié aux APIs natives.

Il y a le passage devant le comité de censure qui, tel César, désigne les gladiateurs qui peuvent entrer dans l'arène ou qui, par un signe du pouce, décide qui peut vivre ou mourir. [4]
On connaissait déjà Adobe qui frappe à la porte avec son Flash Lite mais Opéra aussi est sous le couperet et Firefox préfère ne pas s'engager. [5]

Mais la dernière contestation en date, émane de l'Electronic Frontier Foundation qui a mis la main sur le contrat de licence qui lie les développeurs IPhone. [6]

On y découvre, entre autre, que l'interopérabilité avec des logiciels open-source est proscrite, qu'une application rejetée ne peux pas être diffusée sur d'autres plateformes de diffusion, ...


Ce qui m'interpelle le plus est l'interdiction de distribuer une application Iphone ailleurs que sur une autre plateforme concurrente. Si elle s'applique aussi aux applications validées, cette exclusivité me parait incompatible avec les licences open-source de certaines applications disponibles sur l'Apple Store [7]. Peux-t'on à la fois s'engager à ne pas diffuser un logiciel autrement que par un canal (même avec les sources) et appliquer une licence qui permet la diffusion sans restriction ?
Les développeurs open-source sur l'Iphone ne se trouvent t'ils pas dans une certaine insécurité juridique ?

Je sais qu'il y a quelques développeurs Iphone qui traînent par ici.
Peut-être qu'ils pourraient m'éclairer sur ce point.


[1]
http://www.lemondeinformatique.fr/actualites/lire-apple-divi(...)

[2]
http://www.blogiphone.fr/2009/09/15/monotouch-developper-en-(...)
[3]
http://www.generation-nt.com/flexycore-java-developpement-ap(...)

[4]
http://www.01net.com/editorial/512916/l-app-store-censure-5-(...)

[5]
http://www.macplus.net/magplus/depeche-52377-opera-et-mozill(...)

[6]
http://www.01net.com/editorial/513832/l-eff-publie-et-critiq(...)

[7]
http://open.iphonedev.com/

Claims Conservative government would cap tech +£100m contracts

Shadow chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne claimed today that the Conservative party, if elected to form the next government, would meet its "ambition" of ensuring that the next generation of "Googles, Microsofts and Facebooks" were British companies....

Khronos Group, the industry consortium behind the OpenGL 2D and 3D graphics standards, released its OpenGL 4.0 specification, an update promising to bring the "latest in cross-platform graphics acceleration and functionality" to PCs and workstations. Khronos's OpenGL ARB (Architecture Review Board) working group defined the OpenGL 4.0 specification, which now includes the GLSL 4.00 update to the OpenGL Shading language. The group says this will enable developers to access the latest generation of GPU acceleration ...

Ninjakicks writes "Although they won't hit store shelves for a few more weeks, today Intel has officially unveiled the new Core i7-980X Extreme processor. The Core i7-980X Extreme is based on Intel's 32nm Gulftown core, derived from their Nehalem architecture and sports six execution cores. The chip runs at a 3.33GHz clock frequency, that can jump up to 3.6GHz in Intel's Turbo Boost mode. This processor has a max TDP of 130W, which amazingly is the same as previous generation Core i7 quad-core CPUs. Of course, it's crazy fast too. Some may say that the majority of applications can't truly take advantage of the resources afforded by a six-core chip capable of processing up to 12 threads. However, the fact remains there are plenty of multi-threaded usage models and applications where the power of a CPU like this can be put to very good use."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ninjakicks writes "Although they won't hit store shelves for a few more weeks, today Intel has officially unveiled the new Core i7-980X Extreme processor. The Core i7-980X Extreme is based on Intel's 32nm Gulftown core, derived from their Nehalem architecture and sports six execution cores. The chip runs at a 3.33GHz clock frequency, that can jump up to 3.6GHz in Intel's Turbo Boost mode. This processor has a max TDP of 130W, which amazingly is the same as previous generation Core i7 quad-core CPUs. Of course, it's crazy fast too. Some may say that the majority of applications can't truly take advantage of the resources afforded by a six-core chip capable of processing up to 12 threads. However, the fact remains there are plenty of multi-threaded usage models and applications where the power of a CPU like this can be put to very good use."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Swedish glam-rock band CRASHDIET has inked a deal with Frontiers Records for the European release (excluding Scandinavia) of its third album, "Generation Wild".

Whatever happened to that dreamy Line 6 / Apple tie-up? Who knows, right? While those two sort out their future behind the scenes, Paul Reed Smith Guitars is stepping up to take advantage of an obvious market opportunity. The newly announced Guitarbud is a simplistic accessory that allows axe slingers to jack their guitar into an iPhone or second-generation iPod touch, all while providing a headphone output in order to keep the noise making to yourself. We're told that the device works with pretty much any recording-supported app (even Apple's own Voice Memos), though PRS obviously recommends that you check out its JamApp guitar amp simulator / tuner / training tool. Best of all, it's available today for £29.95 (or $29.95 here in the States), putting you just a few yard mowings away from securing your own personal aural sanctuary. Too bad the reviews from early adopters aren't so promising...

PRS Guitarbud jacks your axe, ego into iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dans son roman de 1959, Le temps désarticulé, l’auteur de science-fiction Philip K. Dick nous entraine dans une petite ville américaine des plus typiques. Dans cette bourgade vit un homme connu pour ses capacités à gagner constamment au concours “Où se trouvera le petit homme vert demain ?” publié régulièrement dans le journal local, ce qui lui permet de gagner sa vie sans trop se fatiguer. Mais comme souvent chez Dick tout cela n’est que simulacre. On ne se trouve pas dans les années 50, mais dans un futur lointain, où la Terre est en guerre contre ses colons lunaires indépendantistes. Quant à notre champion, en croyant s’amuser à résoudre des énigmes futiles, il indique à son insu les prochaines cibles attaquées par les colons, une tâche pour laquelle il possède un don réel, mais qu’il rechigne à accomplir “consciemment”…

Le monde de l’entreprise de demain ressemblera-t-il au Temps désarticulé ? Travaillerons-nous à des objectifs sérieux sans nous en rendre compte, en nous livrant à des jeux amusants et séduisants ? Pour bon nombre de chercheurs du domaine ludique, cela ne fait aucun doute : le jeu est l’avenir du travail. Comme l’affirmait d’ailleurs récemment le patron de Google, Eric Schmidt : “Tout dans le futur va se mettre à ressembler à un jeu multijoueurs. Si j’avais 15 ans, c’est à ça que je me consacrerais aujourd’hui.”

L’école des leaders

Réalité ? Rumeur ? La conviction que des jeux comme World of Warcraft (WoW) préparent efficacement au leadership est des plus répandues. Pour s’en assurer, IBM confiait en 2007 une étude (.pdf) sur le sujet à Byron Reeves, professeur de communication à l’université de Stanford, et Thomas Malone, professeur au MIT et auteur du livre Future of work (L’avenir du travail).

Première constatation, trois joueurs sur quatre, dit le rapport, sont convaincus que leur pratique de WoW est susceptible d’améliorer leur leadership dans leur vie professionnelle. Évidemment, ça ne prouve rien, mais dans des domaines aussi subjectifs que le management, y croire, c’est déjà en augmenter l’efficacité…

Pour effectuer leur enquête, Reeves et son équipe se sont appuyés sur la théorie du “modèle de Sloan” qui cherche à énumérer les qualités d’un leader. Le modèle de Sloan tire son nom de l’endroit où il a été élaboré, le MIT Sloan, une prestigieuse école de management de Boston créée en 1931 par Alfred Sloan, patron de General Motors. Selon les concepteurs de ce modèle, le leader se doit de posséder quatre qualités fondamentales : l’invention (Inventing), qui permet d’élaborer des nouvelles formes d’organisation et de collaboration ; la vision (Visioning), pour envisager de grands projets à long terme ; la capacité de communication (Relating) pour gérer une équipe ; et enfin celle de “Faire Sens” (Sensemaking) pour comprendre le contexte de ses actions et les inscrire dans une stratégie globale.

Faut-il adapter le leadersphip de l’entreprise au monde des jeux ou adapter le leadership du monde des jeux à l’entreprise ?

Selon le rapport le leadership est quelque chose qui apparait spontanément dans les MMO, et concerne souvent des gens qui, dans le monde réel, n’ont pas spécialement vocation à exercer une position sociale dominante. Autrement dit, l’occasion fait le larron : “Le leadership apparait rapidement dans le jeu en ligne, et est souvent assumé par des joueurs en général plutôt réservés, qui sont eux-mêmes surpris par leurs capacités”.

Mais le leadership dans le jeu n’est pas le même que celui privilégié traditionnellement dans les entreprises : “Une conviction non dite chez les spécialistes des techniques de management consiste à penser qu’une fois qu’un leader fort a été identifié, il faut alors installer cette personne à un poste directorial, où elle sera promue selon ses performances, se voyant offerte avec le temps de plus en plus de responsabilités (…). Mais bien sûr, cette stratégie organisationnelle a déjà été largement critiquée dans le passé, car, ainsi que le précise le principe de Peter, c’est surtout un bon moyen pour élever un employé jusqu’à son niveau d’incompétence”.

Au contraire de la lente stratification générée par de telles méthodes, dans les jeux en lignes, “les rôles de leaders sont éphémères, peuvent durer 10 minutes, 10 jours, voire des mois. On considère le leadership comme un travail à assumer en vue d’aboutir à la réalisation d’une certaine tâche, et non comme une identité qui est assignée pour toujours au joueur”. Dans le jeu, les leaders “comprennent que demain, il pourront devenir des suiveurs”.

Pour les auteurs du rapport, cette nouvelle forme de leadership est liée, selon le modèle de Sloan, à la capacité d’invention (Inventing). Mais WoW permet aussi de repérer ceux qui sont capables de fournir à une équipe des buts à plus long terme. Ils sont doués de la capacité de vision (Visioning) qui donne au leader la possibilité d’envisager de grands desseins, d’entrevoir de nouvelles perspectives.

Ce qui permet d’envisager la question dans l’autre sens ? Si plutôt que d’adapter le leadersphip de l’entreprise au monde des jeux on adaptait le leadership du monde des jeux à l’entreprise ? Pourrait-on imaginer que ce leadership “tournant”, “spontané”, soit réellement possible dans les entreprises telles qu’on les connait aujourd’hui ? Par exemple, comme le précise le rapport : “Il ne s’agit pas juste de promouvoir les leaders les plus flexibles, mais d’avoir l’option de faire permuter les leaders selon la tâche, le délai, et les talents des différents membres de l’équipe.”

Mais qui “permutera” ces leaders ? D’autres leaders “provisoires” ? Jusqu’où ? Jusque… “en haut” ? Une telle structure semble annoncer les “démocraties économiques” imaginées par Bruce Sterling dans son roman les Mailles du réseau : des espèces de conglomérats multinationaux autogérés dont la hiérarchie se détermine de bas en haut… Mais de telles structures n’existent pas aujourd’hui, et on ne voit pas comment saupoudrer les actuelles structures économiques volontiers pyramidales avec un peu de fluidité venue des mondes virtuels sans créer, à terme, un véritable conflit idéologique sur la nature même de l’entreprise et de l’activité économique.

Une autre caractéristique de jeux en ligne à placer aussi sous le signe de l’invention, d’après le rapport IBM est celle de l’intégration de la prise de risque. “La structure des jeux est ainsi faite que l’échec est accepté comme le prix nécessaire à la conduite des affaires, plutôt qu’une tache noire permanente sur le CV ou l’annonce de l’échec d’une carrière.”

Les auteurs tentent de répondre à l’objection qu’on ne manquera pas de leur faire : “Certes, ce n’est qu’un jeu. Et le plus souvent, il n’y a pas de véritable argent (et encore moins des vies) mis en jeu. Mais croire qu’il n’y a rien de risqué serait une erreur. De nombreux jeux réservent de sévères pénalités en cas d’échec (…). Il n’y pas de millions de dollars investis dans chaque raid, mais essayez de convaincre un hardcore gamer que l’échec ne compte pas”…

Ici aussi on peut rester un peu sceptique. C’est vrai, le jeu est vécu très sérieusement par ceux qui le pratiquent (et d’ailleurs, dans les sports extrêmes, des vies sont réellement en jeu !). Mais le “sérieux” du joueur est-il psychologiquement comparable au “sérieux” du professionnel ? Il ne s’agit pas de dire que jouer a moins d’importance que travailler, mais il est fort possible que l’investissement placé dans les deux activités, même s’il est d’une intensité comparable, ne soit pas de même nature… Une fois de plus, on échappe difficilement à la problématique du “cercle magique”. Le monde du jeu et celui du travail sont-ils vraiment comparables ?

Le leadership “multimédia”

Un autre aspect intéressant, plus technique, de WoW dont on pourrait tirer des leçons est l’aspect “multimédia” du leadership moderne.

“Chaque média sert un but spécifique. Par exemple, quand des changements de communication dans le système affectent l’ensemble de l’organisation, un courrier sur le forum s’avère le procédé le plus approprié. Lorsqu’on se trouve face à un conflit de personnalités entre joueurs, on préfèrera y consacrer un tchat. Lorsqu’il s’agit de mener un raid, la VoIP peut s’avérer nécessaire. Lors de raids ou de missions complexes ou difficiles, un leader pourra simultanément recourir au broadcast (VoIP), au narrowcast (messagerie instantanée en groupe) ou au microcast (messagerie instantanée) afin d’amener le groupe à accomplir ses objectifs. Plus un leader dispose de méthodes de communication, plus il lui est possible de diriger avec efficacité.”

Cette capacité d’organiser différents niveaux de communication est rapprochée par le rapport de la qualité de mettre en relation (Relating), propre au bon leader, toujours capable de jouer les médiateurs et gérer les relations au sein d’une équipe.

Un autre aspect du jeu online s’avère peut-être le plus important : celui des “systèmes incitatifs” qui encouragent les joueurs à prendre des risques. Dans un jeu en ligne, la plupart du temps tout est transparent : les compétences de chacun sont connues de tous, on sait exactement où on se situe dans la hiérarchie du jeu, comment on peut progresser et ce qu’on est susceptible de perdre. Cela permet aux apprentis leaders de développer leurs talents avec plus de facilité. On pourrait être tenté de rapprocher ces systèmes incitatifs du mécanisme de la distribution de dopamine dans les jeux évoqué par Stephen Berlin Johnson : la présence de micro-récompenses immédiates ne serait-ce que par le gain de points ou de monnaie virtuelle, suffit à accrocher le joueur.

Pour les auteurs du rapport, cette capacité de transparence des informations est à rapprocher de la capacité de “faire sens” (Sensemaking), de saisir le contexte dans lequel se déroule une opération.

Vers un “engagement total” ?

Certains envisagent une refonte complète de la conception du travail dans l’entreprise en prenant modèle sur les enseignements du jeu. Byron Reeves – le même qui a dirigé la rédaction du rapport sur WoW pour IBM – exprime cette théorie dans son livre Total Engagement, écrit en collaboration avec l’entrepreneur Leighton Read. Pour ces deux essayistes, le jeu va cesser d’être utilisé en entreprise uniquement à des fins de formation ou d’évaluation : c’est le lieu de travail lui-même qui doit devenir une plateforme ludique.

“Nous pensons que les gens effectueront bientôt leur travail depuis l’intérieur d’un jeu…” Pour Reeves et Read, le jeu permettrait en premier lieu une refonte de la hiérarchie des entreprises. En permettant un engagement total des employés, il deviendrait moins nécessaire de les placer sous la surveillance de leurs patrons ou d’intermédiaires. Le jeu offre en effet une séduction qui pousserait les gens à travailler par eux-mêmes. Un exemple connu de l’usage du jeu au sein de l’entreprise est celui de 42Projects, un groupe au sein de Microsoft qui a organisé la chasse au bugs de manière ludique. Les méthodes du groupe sont expliquées dans un article, Theory Y meets generation Y (.pdf), où l’on affirme : “comme exemple de jeu accroissant la productivité dans le développement logiciel, les membres de l’équipe étaient encouragés à essayer des fonctions de sécurité et à décrire leur expérience ou à chercher des problèmes dans d’autres domaines. Comme cela ne faisait pas partie de leur travail quotidien, ils ne se portaient pas volontaires pour le faire (…). Mais si on construit un jeu autour de cette activité, si chaque joueur reçoit des points et s’il existe un tableau où sont affichés les classements, le volontarisme et la participation explosent. Des jeux construits autour d’objectifs dans ce genre ont abouti à une augmentation de 400% de la participation à certaines activités”.

D’accord. Mais les “joueurs” de 42Projects sont hyperdiplômés, très bien payés, passionnés par leur travail. On connait les programmeurs ! Ils développent toutes la journée, et lorsqu’ils rentrent chez eux, ils développent autre chose pour leurs loisirs ! Il n’est donc pas surprenant que dans ce contexte, le jeu, déjà intégré à la culture high-tech, se montre particulièrement efficace. Mais pour Reeves et Read, aucune raison de penser que le jeu se cantonnera à des techniciens de haut vol, ou à de jeunes cadres soucieux d’exercer leur leadership. En fait, le jeu pourrait bénéficier à tous ceux qui font des travaux ennuyeux, répétitifs. Ils imaginent ainsi le futur d’une employée type d’un centre d’appel, qu’ils nomment “Jennifer” : dans ce futur proche, Jennifer travaille ans un monde 3D à l’aide d’un avatar personnalisé, mais le changement opéré n’est pas d’ordre exclusivement cosmétique. Comme dans un jeu en ligne, elle est capable de voir d’un coup d’oeil, sa progression et celle des membres de son équipe, sous la forme de points ou de monnaie virtuelle, ainsi que les divers échanges et rapports sociaux matérialisés par les fenêtres de tchat, les forums… Cela lui permet d’avoir une vision claire de son rôle : la plupart du temps et surtout dans ce type de travail, les objectifs ne sont pas clairs, l’évaluation se fait selon des critères obscurs et plutôt rarement, par des tiers. Ici, on peut mesurer tout de suite ses progrès et s’évaluer soi-même en temps réel. C’est ce que le rapport IBM nommait les “systèmes incitatifs”. En fait, plus que l’aspect amusant ou graphiquement riche des jeux, c’est cette transparence, cette clarté des règles et des résultats qui feraient l’avantage du monde des jeux sur celui du travail, souvent dominé par l’opacité des objectifs, et la confusion des processus organisationnels.

A la lecture des propos enthousiastes de Reeves et Read, on ne peut que se demander si le véritable univers d’Heroic Fantasy dans cette histoire n’est pas finalement celui dans lequel les entrepreneurs d’aujourd’hui se rêvent : un monde où les standardistes travaillent avec enthousiasme pour un but qui les dépasse et dans lequel le “leader éclairé”, activant avec sagesse ses sorts d’Invention, de Vision, de Mise en relation et de Signification, ressemble bien plus à un paladin de niveau 80 qu’à un patron de PME …

Les techniques utilisées par 42projects et Byron Reeves peuvent être vécues comme une tentative d’ériger les paradis artificiels offerts par le jeu en “nouvel opium du peuple”. A se demander, si, le but final de ces opérations de séduction n’est pas de pousser les gens (et notamment toutes les “Jennifer” du monde entier) à travailler beaucoup plus… sans gagner plus. D’un autre côté, puisqu’il faut bien bosser, ne vaut-il pas mieux être employé dans un Royaume Enchanté où l’on redirige les clients tout en cassant du troll plutôt que se retrouver coincé dans un bureau tristounet avec une plante en pot à moitié morte, un supérieur hystérique et des collègues dépressifs ? Au final, avec ses idées de décentralisation, d’allègement de la hiérarchie, d’autonomie des salariés et de transparence des règles, cette vision de l’entreprise représente peut-être tout de même un – petit – progrès, malgré ses côtés manifestement illusoires.

Alors, exploitation, ou libération ? Sans doute la réalité est-elle plus complexe. Peut être tout cela est-il le signe que le jeu, devenant un média aussi important que le livre ou le cinéma et se retrouve aujourd’hui tout à la fois arme principale et champ de bataille privilégié des futurs conflits idéologiques, économiques et politiques.

Rémi Sussan

Sony's calling the PlayStation Move the "next generation" of motion gaming and planning to market it as heavily as an entirely new console, so it's sort of a big deal -- and that means our main dudes at Joystiq are all over it. We've already covered the main details, but hit the links below if you're looking for some seriously deep dives.

• SOCOM 4 to support PlayStation Move
• EyePet to support PlayStation Move, hits North America holiday 2010
• Move supported by 36 companies, 20 games this fiscal year
• The PlayStation Move games (we know of)
• Hands-on: SOCOM 4 (with PlayStation Move!)
• Hands-on: PlayStation Move's 'The Shoot'
• Hands-on: PlayStation Move's 'Move Party'
• Hands-on: PlayStation Move's Sports Champions
• We touched it: PlayStation Move from every angle
• 'Arc' lives on in PlayStation Move's logo

Want more on the PlayStation Move? Head over to Joystiq! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A rather surprising article hit the front page of the BBC on Tuesday: the next generation of hard disks could cause slowdowns for XP users. Not normally the kind of thing you'd expect to be placed so prominently, but the warning it gives is a worthy one, if timed a bit oddly. The world of hard disks is set to change, and the impact could be severe. In the remarkably conservative world of PC hardware, it's not often that a 30-year-old convention gets discarded. Even this change has been almost a decade in the making.

The problem is hard disk sectors. A sector is the smallest unit of a hard disk that software can read or write. Even though a file might only be a single byte long, the operating system has to read or write at least 512 bytes to read or write that file.

Read the comments on this post

A rather surprising article hit the front page of the BBC on Tuesday: the next generation of hard disks could cause slowdowns for XP users. Not normally the kind of thing you'd expect to be placed so prominently, but the warning it gives is a worthy one, if timed a bit oddly. The world of hard disks is set to change, and the impact could be severe. In the remarkably conservative world of PC hardware, it's not often that a 30-year-old convention gets discarded. Even this change has been almost a decade in the making.

The problem is hard disk sectors. A sector is the smallest unit of a hard disk that software can read or write. Even though a file might only be a single byte long, the operating system has to read or write at least 512 bytes to read or write that file.

Read the comments on this post

Seizing on an absurd claim spread by right-wing blogs that President Obama wants to ban sport fishing, Glenn Beck stated on his Fox News program that Obama is attempting to prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing on some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, and great lakes "by executive order." In fact, there is no evidence of any such order, but rather a task force which seeks to "better manage" -- not ban -- recreational fishing alongside other uses of ocean, coasts, and lakes.

Beck forwards fishing ban myth

Beck: "No more fishing. ... People are losing their rights." On the March 10 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck, Beck stated:

BECK: A new report out today says it's a move to appease the environmental groups, and just like before, without your consent, done in darkness by executive order. I told you a year ago this would happen. I'm not some prophet by any stretch of the imaginations. The New York Times said this man would do this.

The report claims that Obama will no longer listen to the public as he tries to prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing on some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, and great lakes, even some inland waters. No more fishing. Really? Yeah, apparently some environmentalists want to save the fish. Forget about the frickin' fish. People are losing their rights. Who's more important: the fish or you?

He later revisited the topic, stating, "How about a fishing ban? A fishing ban that would put jobs at risk in the middle of an economic crisis, but beyond that, you and your son being told you can't go there to fish! What the hell is happening to us? How are people not seeing this? He's going to do it through executive powers, without consulting the public."

Myth is based on ESPN column later acknowledged to have "errors" and lack of "balance"

ESPNOutdoors.com has acknowledged "errors," lack of "balance" in piece sparking controversy. In a March 9 piece on ESPNOutdoors.com, Robert Montgomery wrote that the "Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters." ESPNOutdoors.com executive editor Steve Bowman later posted the following acknowledgement on the site:

ESPNOutdoors.com inadvertently contributed to a flare-up Tuesday when we posted the latest piece in a series of stories on President Barack Obama's newly created Ocean Policy Task Force, a column written by Robert Montgomery, a conservation writer for BASS since 1985. Regrettably, we made several errors in the editing and presentation of this installment. Though our series has included numerous news stories on the topic, this was not one of those -- it was an opinion piece, and should clearly have been labeled as commentary.

And while our series overall has examined several sides of the topic, this particular column was not properly balanced and failed to represent contrary points of view. We have reached out to people on every side of the issue and reported their points of view -- if they chose to respond -- throughout the series, but failed to do so in this specific column.

No evidence of executive order to ban fishing

Task force plan seeks to "better manage," not ban recreational fishing. In its September 10, 2009, interim report, the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force recommended that the administration implement "coastal and marine spatial planning," which has been described as ocean "zoning." The interim report states that such a system "will allow for the reduction of cumulative impacts from human uses on marine ecosystems, provide greater certainty for the public and private sector in planning new investments, and reduce conflicts among uses and, between using and preserving the environment to sustain critical ecological, economic, and cultural services for this and future generations." A December 9, 2009, task force report discussing coastal and marine spatial planning in more detail states that "CMSP provides an effective process to better manage a range of social, economic, and cultural uses, including" commerce and transportation, commercial fishing, conservation, mining, oil and gas exploration and development and recreational fishing, among many others. Nowhere in these two reports did the task force propose a ban on recreational fishing.

Fishing columnist Jeffrey Weeks: "ESPN should be ashamed." Charlotte Fishing Examiner.com columnist Jeffrey Weeks wrote on March 9: "In what may be the worst example of outdoor sports reporting in the history of America, ESPN has claimed that President Barack Obama is on the verge of banning recreational fishing." Weeks added: "Am I going to agree with everything that this task force does? Probably not. Issues like access to fishery grounds and over-regulation of species without sound scientific data are legitimate concerns. However, in no way shape or form is the task force President Obama created about to ban recreational fishing. That is silly. ESPN should be ashamed."

Marine biologist Larry Crowder: "It's not an environmentalist manifesto." The Christian Science Monitor reported on March 9 that Larry Crowder, a marine biology professor at Duke University, stated of the task force: "It's not an environmentalist manifesto." Crowded added: "It's multiple-use planning for the environment, and making sure various uses ... are sustainable." The Monitor further reported that "Obama has said he will not override protections put in place by Presidents Clinton and Bush that established recreational fishermen as a special class" and that "nonpartisan experts say the task force has already made strides in better recognizing various stakeholder groups, including recreational fishermen, and that it doesn't intend to undermine the ability of states to manage their natural resources, as many fishermen fear."

Deals. Scott Caan stars in Mercy, which has been picked up by IFC Films, according to indieWIRE. Caan, who also wrote and produced, plays a romance novelist "who doesn't believe in love." Until, I'm sure, he meets the right woman, possibly the beautiful and mysterious title character (Wendy Glenn). Caan's real-life father, the legendary James Caan, plays his fictional father. Mercy will close this year's Gen Art Film Festival, which Erik Davis recently explained is the coolest thing ever. The film will be available on demand on April 28 before opening theatrically in New York and Los Angeles.

Also due in theaters this spring: Jean-Luc Godard's original, daring, influential Breathless. For the first time in its 50 years of existence, the film has been restored, making the new wave look new again. After debuting at the inaugural TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood next month, it will open at New York's Film Forum on May 28 before rolling out nationally, courtesy of Rialto Pictures. I first saw Breathless at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles many moons ago, and it left me stunned, so I'm very happy that a new generation will be able to experience Breathless the way it was meant to be seen.

Online / On Demand Viewing. If you're not 'mock-doc' averse, you'll want to take a look at What the Funny?, a new web series by Lynn Shelton that's debuting exclusively on Babelgum this week. Shelton made the bromance male relationship flick Humpday, so she knows a little bit about dry and humorous. The first episode is up, and if you like it, you can look forward to ten more episodes in the days ahead.

After the jump: a secret, a prophet, and dolphins.

Filed under: Classics, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Deals, Box Office, Distribution, Cinematical Indie

Continue reading Indie Roundup: 'Mercy,' 'Breathless' (Yeah, That One)

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As the cloud is getting more players and interfaces, best and worst practices are emerging. As the market grows and more companies try to plug in, the cloud may benefit from guiding principles.

Similar to new technology movements in the past, a natural process is underway to define "what is good", which, for some in the industry, equates to "what is open". Like religion itself, open can be defined in ways that are uplifting, or on the other side of the coin, restricting. Also, we learn again, nothing is free.

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Cloud APIs Must Walk on Water

If you've been part of a software development project, you know that sometimes it's hard to get the team to all agree on best practices for interface design, database optimization, or even what technology to use. In this analysis, we take a look at some of the movements in cloud computing that start to lay a framework of good as it relates to this technology.

In this context, API designers for cloud applications need to think ahead and avoid common pitfalls. For several reasons, more than ever before. First, because many people will be accessing your one piece of code. Second, is that in this world of open APIs, it's easy to compare your code against another.

We notice that data management practices are at the core, and details matter when provisioning in platforms. At the same time that groups are forming to align practices and forms of virtualization and cloud standards, a voice whispers that perhaps this is a free-market problem. People who benefit at solving it, will; others will ignore it or compete directly. We enjoyed this post from Joyent on where standards matter in a practical sense.

In essence, the question raised: If a vendor makes it easy and bakes in the ability to "just do it", do you know or care about the standards? This seems to mirror an iPhone development paradigm, which is to expect work from the vendor SDK or libraries. The SDK wraps standards implementations, which is done in the way best understood by that vendor.

Do Unto Others as You Would Have Done To You

We know the cloud is big - perhaps it will inevitably be bigger than the Internet itself as it usurps our conception of location, space and time.

Where power forms, rules, groups, and organizations do as well. In information technology there is always tension between open standards and defacto standards. The former are crafted through agreements, the latter through leadership and market dominance.

We asked in a prior series "Will a single company become the dominant provider in the cloud?" Today we look at the more practical side of "who is winning now" - who is setting the rules and who is in the trenches.

Quite a number of the responses to our earlier posts emphasized that "the cloud should be free", meaning that it should have governing principles to avoid one vendor from owning the landscape.

Here are a few groups that have emerged to provide some context in how this may come together, both philosophically and practically. In both, the devil is in the details. A good summary of some of the current combining of forces is by the Open Grid Forum. (In our opinion, grids have given way to clouds as the dominant concept in this technology makeover).

• A resource directory of initiatives is located at the Cloud Standards Wiki, which in itself was formed by a handful of organizations and movements working to align around setting rules and patterns for cloud computing.
• The Open Cloud Consortium is organized around developing practices around sharing resources and has recently focused on a developing a test bed.
• The DMTF is working at the core definition of virtualization. It recently focused on the 1.1 version of the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) specification that focuses on packaging virtualization instances and creating a portable mechanic distribution by defining envelope and collection parameters around the virtual machine and its services. The organization, which contains members of IBM, Microsoft, Dell, VMware, XENSource, Sun, and NEC, has submitted 1.1 for consideration as an ANSI and ISO standard.
• The efforts by the federal government in its data.gov initiative shows that there's a market that's starting to see the value of raw government data formats. Soon, we would expect this to be powered by a mesh of computer resources that allow all sorts of jobs - integrated jobs - to work with these data sets. It would comprising an active government cloud.

Do Not Covet Thy Neighbors Network Resource

When looking for things to avoid, we found a lot of philosophical questions around data ownership, logging and portability. These discussions are alive and well and seem to be being absorbed into vendor solutions and consortiums like the ones mentioned earlier.

For a more practical view, we turned to a friend of ReadWriteWeb, Thorsten von Eicken, and have summarized his thoughts from a recent post, "Top Cloud API Sins. Bold items are our (loose) mapping to biblical terms.

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• Do not covet your neighbors resources.: Listing of resources without the details, e.g., a list-servers call that doesn't return all the details for each server. This makes it very expensive to poll for server state changes ...
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• Do not make cast idols: Not returning a resource id on creation. Some APIs don't give you a server i.d. when you request a server...
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• Labor six days, rest on the seventh: Providing a task queue. Several APIs I've seen have a task queue that is supposed to provide updates on tasks that are in progress E.g., you launch a server and you get a handle onto a task descriptor. For us that's just overhead...
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• Though shall not bear false witness: Not returning deleted resources in a "list resource" call. In particular, terminated servers must be returned in a list servers call for a certain duration, probably at least for an hour. Ouch!...
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• Shall not covet his neighbor (or force me to repaginate): Pagination that goes page-wise instead of using a marker, e.g. where you get page one or the first 100 resources and then issue a query for "page 2″ or "from 100 on". Explain to me how a client can get a consistent resource listing when resources can be added and removed concurrently...
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• Randy Bias added to Torsten's post: Treat others as you want to be treated Your UI MUST use your API so you understand how to be a consumer of your own API...
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We plan on keeping up with this list and seeing how it intersects with implementations and standards that evolve. Please let us know your thoughts below.

Nirvana: Smells Like Services Orientation

Torsten goes on to describe a picture of the future. "Now here's what I'd really like to see. This is what we're working on for internal purposes and it's not easy, which is an event based interface instead of a request-reply based interface... " This sounds like a vision where we all win.

Smart services in the cloud, rather than resources alone. This starts to get us closer and closer to an object-orientated network. Maybe that's what the cloud will be for platforms, infrastructure and software. The industry has been quick to identify the layers. But perhaps the point is piecing them together in a smart transactional framework.

A way to engineer highly reliable systems around these architecture challenges may sound familiar to those who monitor existing data centers today.

Torsten continues, "We run a good number of machines that do nothing but chew up 100% cpu polling EC2 to detect changes. Fortunately cpu cycles are cheap :-)".

This is practical intervention between vision and get it done. We find it refreshing to hear this type of dialog in the industry and see a fresh opportunity for defining efficient patterns for this next generation of the cloud infrastructure.

Perhaps a new concept is forming: "Divine Computing". Where do you sit in the "just do it" spectrum?

Photo credit: tsarkasim, Amsterdam Esogna

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