http://www.techsnake.com Tech talk with a UK based slant is what we're all about here, so sit back subscribe and get a daily post delivered to your RSS reader! Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:29:59 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Simulation market has been around for a long time. It’s still here and bigger than most people think. We know about Flight Simulators with their hardcore followers, but what else is out there? Well surprisingly, after doing a little bit of digging around, there are a LOT of ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/06/30/games-that-simulate-real-life-jobs/ Yeap, you heard me right. Microsoft have truly shown their evil streak by allowing Lockheed to take an innocent Xbox 360 controller, and twist it for use in modern warfare, which could potentially spell the end of the planet. The “Mule” (Multifunction Utility/Logistics Equipment) is one of the ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/06/23/steve-ballmer-preoccupied-with-world-war-3/ For champions of the open source blogging platform, the latest installment of Wordpress has just been released. Aiming more for polish and bug fixing, it’s surprising the number of features crammed into this release. Nicknamed “Baker”, most of the changes to Wordpress 2.8 are behind the scenes. The overall ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/06/11/wordpress-2-8-released/ The latest version of Firefox has some added features that will appear in the soon to be released Firefox 3.5 Amongst those is the Private Browsing Mode, already popular amongst Chrome and IE users. Private Browsing Mode disables all history being recorded and cookies being saved. Essentially keeping your ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/06/06/firefox-beta-gets-a-pr0n-mode/ For a change, the Chinese government have decided to impose their holier-than-thou ideals on the public by preventing access to common social networking sites, including twitter.com Not happy with just blocking Blogger, YouTube and a plethora of others, the Great Firewall of China has put a stop to ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/06/02/the-chinese-cant-tweet/ This is a project that I wouldn’t mind doing – If I had the time, money, and patience, plus required skill. As I possess none of these, I, like most of us, can only look on with envy.. The desk is constructed from laser-cut acrylic, 7 fans, liquid ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/05/20/liquid-cooled-pc-in-a-desk/ I know, it sounds like a post title to draw you in, but it really isn’t – you can own Windows 7, free for a year, to install on your PC! Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft, is trying to put to bed the bad press ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/05/01/windows-7-for-free/ It’s been a story that’s been going on for years. Whether or not the guys who run the Pirate Bay website are actually committing a crime or not. Well it seems that a court in Sweden have decided that they are. The court in Sweden have handed out ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/04/17/the-founders-of-the-pirate-bay-go-to-jail/ If you're unlucky enough to live outside of the UK, the US or Germany, then you will notice that the free use of last.fm to stream music has been taken away. A move that in keeping with the current economic climate, and the acquisition of last.fm by CBS, ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/03/25/lastfm-looking-to-make-some-money/ A quick post, with a link to a bar chart (don't we all love bar charts?) with various liquids listed, and their price per ml. Top of the list is HP, just above blood! Does this mean that HP are a secret society of vampires, or do I have problems ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/03/23/printer-ink-more-expensive-than-human-blood/ The BBC demonstrated that by acquiring some software from chatrooms on the internet, they were able to set up their own botnet and take control of 22,000 user's PCs. Apparently the BBC are voicing that as this was not done with "criminal intent" it's not illegal – and ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/03/12/the-bbc-hack-22000-computers-for-a-tv-show/ No, I thought it odd too - until I caught this old advert of a Tandy 1000, with Bill Bixby himself touting the advantages of a Tandy over a PC! Of course Bill didn't know how well the PC was going to do, so we can't really blame him. In ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/03/04/the-incredible-hulk-uses-computers/ The impression everyone was given in the community was that IE8 would be different. It would be web standards compliant. Well bad news folks.. It appears that a few sites don’t actually render correctly in the Beta version of Microsoft’s upcoming answer to the modern browser wars. IE8 ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/02/18/ie8-not-as-compliant-as-once-thought/ In true Tech Snake form, I give to you another retro tech advert! This one is for the grey beast that was the Atari Lynx. A "handheld" console, released at the same time as the Nintendo Gameboy in 1989, Atari thought it to be a winner with full screen ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/02/12/atari-lynx-retro-advert/ Proof XKCD style, if you needed it, that the weakest link in any security solution is YOU! http://www.techsnake.com/2009/02/10/xkcd-security/ A significant part of the British government has spoken out against the recent surge of recording and tracking the general public's whereabouts and communications. CCTV cameras, databases recording emails, SMS communication and Internet traffic have all been in the news lately, and covered in some depth on Tech ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/02/06/uks-house-of-lords-wary-of-surveillance-state/ In a scene that conjures up visions of Terminator, the US Airforce have revealed the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's refueller will be an automatron. Not only is it another job gone by the wayside (which we could do with more of in the current climate) but also it ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/02/04/robots-refuelling-planes/ Born from the bowels of the Microsoft Research Labs, Songsmith was deemed not to be a product by the head-honchos there. And for good reason. The software creates a backing track after listening to the microphone of your singing. The problem is the music sounds as though it's coming out ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/01/29/songsmiths-greatest-hits/ And it gets better – apparently the current release candidate is "platform complete" – meaning that this version will be identical to the final release, which is due in the near future. IE8 looks to remove, or at least diminish, the previous bad press with the browser by being ... http://www.techsnake.com/2009/01/27/internet-explorer-8-release-candidate-available/ It's easy to slip into the trap of always using technology to help you out – however, what would happen if someone detonated an ECM over your city? It sends shivers down my spine just thinking of the internet blackout.. Courtesy of XKCD http://www.techsnake.com/2009/01/21/why-being-a-geek-isnt-always-an-advantage/