Vatican: Give Up Texting...Your Car...Etc

ROME - Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are urging the faithful to go on a high-tech fast for Lent, switching off modern appliances from cars to iPods and abstaining from surfing the Web or text messaging until Easter.

The suggestion goes far beyond no-meat Fridays, giving a modern twist to traditional forms of abstinence in the five-week period Christians set aside for fasting and prayer ahead of Easter.

And it shows the Church's increasing focus on technology's uses — with many of the Lenten appeals posted on various dioceses' Web sites. - Yahoo!

Sorry, Vatican, but I don't think this is a good idea. I agree with Angelo Dente, who said, "I have to decide how to experience the Lent period. I should give up something if I really feel it, not because the Church says so."

Cal. Court Strikes Down Video Game Law

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal appeals court on Friday struck down a California law that sought to ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 2005 law violates minors' rights under the Constitution's First and 14th amendments. The three-judge panel's unanimous ruling upholds an earlier ruling in U.S. District Court.

The law would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. It also would have created strict labeling requirements for video game manufacturers. - Yahoo!

I don't see how the 9th could have possibly erred in this decision.

MIT Students Make Internet A 6th Sense

LONG BEACH, California -- Students at the MIT Media Lab have developed a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen. The wearer can summon virtual gadgets and internet data at will, then dispel them like smoke when they're done.

Pattie Maes of the lab's Fluid Interfaces group said the research is aimed at creating a new digital "sixth sense" for humans.

In the tactile world, we use our five senses to take in information about our environment and respond to it, Maes explained. But a lot of the information that helps us understand and respond to the world doesn't come from these senses. Instead, it comes from computers and the internet. Maes' goal is to harness computers to feed us information in an organic fashion, like our existing senses.

Watch this stunning video:

GDrive

Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data.

The Google Drive, or "GDrive", could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet.

The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of "cloud computing", where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres. - Guardian

Sounds nice if you put a lot of trust in corporations and the government.

Windows 7

Yesterday at CES, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the public availability of the Windows 7 beta release. At PC World we've been running our own evaluations of the forthcoming replacement to Microsoft's much-derided Windows Vista for some time now, and we just couldn't wait to take this new version for a spin. Here's one editor's take on the latest Windows 7 user experience.

This being an early beta release, I won't get persnickety about the performance issues and minor functionality glitches I experienced during my first day with Windows 7. Let there be no doubt, however, that in the weeks and months to come the PC World Test Center will continue to put the new OS through its paces to see what it's made of. - PC World

Sounds exciting.

PC Magazine To Go Digital

The January 2009 issue (Volume 28, Issue 1) of PC Magazine will mark a monumental transition for the publication. It is the last printed edition of this venerable publication. Of course, as with any technology-related enterprise, this is not the end, but the beginning of something exciting and new.

Starting in February 2009, PC Magazine will become a 100-percent digital publication. So, in addition to our popular network of Websites, which includes our centerpiece, PCMag.com, as well as ExtremeTech, blogs like Gearlog and AppScout, and audio and video content that includes PCMag Radio, Cranky Geeks and DL.TV, we'll offer PC Magazine Digital Edition to all of our print subscribers. The PC Magazine Digital Edition has actually been available since 2002. So for thousands of you, the benefits of this unique medium are already clear. And those benefits will continue to multiply in the coming months, as we work hard to enhance your digital experience. - PCMag.com

Shucks! It's not like I actually read it though.

Google Browser: Chrome

Chrome, a new browser is hitting or has already hit the web.(the beta version) Google has teamed up with Mozilla firefox to create a whole new web browser from scratch that fits in with today's main stream uses, They are going head to head with internet explorer. Microsoft is pretty confident with its own flawed internet explorer stating that they arrive with every Windows OS, so they would probably dominate the market. Chrome is said to be more simple and faster than explorer but need s more polish. The BETA version is available.

Xbox 360 Lowered To $199

SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp., in a move to court the mass market with its videogame products, plans to sharply cut the price of its Xbox 360 game consoles--including offering its least expensive model at $199.

The price cuts, effective Sept. 5, signal an increasing aggressiveness by Microsoft of Redmond, Wash., to boost sales of the Xbox 360 before the crucial holiday shopping season. The price cut in its low-end console, which had been priced at $279, marks the first time that one of the latest generations of consoles from game makers has fallen below $200.

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, said three-quarters of sales for game consoles historically have occurred after hardware makers dropped the prices of their machines below that mark. - Wall Street Journal

This is absolutely nuts in a great sort of way for Microsoft. I remember just a few years ago when the PS2 was over $200.

Microsoft To Buy Greenfield Online

LONDON — Microsoft on Friday said it will buy Web-based survey company Greenfield Online for about $486 million in cash in a move that will bolster its search and e-commerce services in Europe.

Microsoft will pay $17.50 a share for Greenfield. The deal tops an earlier proposal by buyout firm Quadrangle Group to acquire the company for $15.50 per share.

The Microsoft offer represents a premium of about 10 percent to the closing price of Greenfield shares Aug. 25, the day before it said it had received a $17.50 acquisition offer.

The deal, Microsoft's first since it failed to acquire Yahoo for $45 billion, will give the software giant access to Ciao.com, which provides consumer reviews and ratings along with comparison prices from online merchants in Europe. - The Seattle Times

I think we all agree: Web surveys are stupid.