By Alexander Walters, Journalist and Blogger, Guardian.co.uk
I’m standing outside a branch of Diesel and a colourfully dressed man is dancing the robot in front of me like Peter Crouch on steroids. Browsing through the items on offer in the window, I spot a pair of jeans that I like the look of.
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By Steve Lohr, Technology Correspondent, New York Times
Most people think of the grand challenges in computing as big science projects, like simulating nuclear explosions or protein folding. But with the holiday shopping season just ended, consider another: retail marketing.
Retailing is emerging as a real-world incubator for testing how computer firepower and smart software can be applied to social science — in this case, how variables like household economics and human behavior affect shopping.
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Facebook seems to be rolling out its new site design to at least some people outside the company, although none of us at TechCrunch have yet to be graced with its presence. The new design is “exactly” like the screenshots that GigaOm posted on December 27, says one source.
The search bar has been moved from the right to left-center and the navigation bar is simplified. Notably Facebook has removed the double link to your profile. Settings and login/logout have been combined into a single “account” drop down.
There isn’t a whole lot to hate here, but Facebook users have a fine tradition of trashing any changes to the site, and this will likely not be an exception.
Any of you on the new version yet? Let us know, and send in those screenshots.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.
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James Cameron will shortly be responsible for the two highest grossing films of all time. After just 17 days Avatar has gathered over $1 billion in gross ticket sales, placing it fourth all time after Titanic ($1.8 billion), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12 billion) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.07 billion). At $1.02 billion through Sunday, Avatar will shortly jump from no. 4 to no. 2.
The box office amount is fueled by 3D and IMAX ticket sales, which are more expensive than regular movies. It has brought in $352.1 million domestically and $670.2 million internationally. $66.4 million has come in from IMAX theaters.
We are unabashed fans of the movie – see my review of Avatar here. I’ve now seen it three times in 3D, but haven’t seen in in IMAX yet.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
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Online games keep on appearing out of nowhere as the gold rush mentality continues to thrive in this part of the game industry. Today, GoldFire Studios announced today its BC Wars browser-based massively multiplayer online game.
The Oklahoma City,Okla.-based company is launching a beta test of the game today, targeting role-playing game fans from around the world who might have an interest in a prehistoric-themed game. It is certainly a different kind of game genre, as most MMOs have you killing Orcs and dragons. In that sense, it’s original. But the category is also unproven, meaning the company will need a lot of good word of mouth about the game. In the game, you can build and design caves, battle ancient monsters and dinosaurs, fight other players, join tribes and participate in big tribal wars, and explore the ancient world.
James Simpson, chief executive of GoldFire, said that the game has been in development since June, 2008, and Goldfire itself has been around since ealry 2005. The game is free to start playing, but you can buy virtual currency and use it inside the game to buy things. You can also withdraw the virtual currency you earn and cash it out through PayPay, check or bank transfers.
The company has 12 employees and competes with the likes of Artix Entertainment, Bigpoint, GameForge, and xs-software. Simpson, a 21-year-old game entrepreneur, funded the company himself. At age 14, he created a virtual pet game called SchooglePets, but he closed it after it hit 5,000 users because of hackers. He sharpened his programming and security skills and then launched a virtual pet game, Venetopia, which was acquired by Carriere Entertainment. He also worked on Apex Web Gaming, Free Image Upload, and Eternal Kingdoms. In 2006, Goldfire launched PokerRPG, a role-playing online poker game.
This game is an example of how a small team can launch a browser-based online game with relatively small resources. But it’s a crowded market, so we’ll see how it work out.
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After plenty of posts chewing over 2009, VentureBeat is looking ahead with 10 predictions about the year to come, covering tech giants, tiny startups, and of course Twitter. As in the past, these predictions represent the thoughts of individual writers, not the VentureBeat Hive Mind.
Tablet computers will fail to become the Next Big Thing — They’ll get lots of attention, for sure. Apple’s tablet, unless the entire Internet is wrong, will redefine our expectations for the quality of text on a computer display. But a combination of high prices plus lack of a must-have application will keep most consumers away from buying a tablet.
Here’s a simple way to understand it: If you drop your phone and it breaks, you need to replace it immediately. If you drop your $300 tablet and it breaks, will you rush out to buy another? (Paul Boutin)
Google will trounce Microsoft in a showdown on multiple fronts — As the search giant’s ambitions continue to grow, it’s not just threatening the startups in its path, but also king of the hill Microsoft. Next year expect to see Google challenge Microsoft’s flagships, Windows and Office.
In 2009, Google finally took the beta testing label of online applications like Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar; it launched a rare advertising campaign called “Gone Google” for those products; and company executives are boasting that 2010 will be the year that Google Apps (the business bundle that includes Gmail, Google Docs, and more) becomes a viable alternative to Office. That doesn’t mean Docs will be a perfect match for Word, but the service will improve enough that Microsoft’s price tag will start to seem mighty onerous. And early versions of an online version of Office are still rough.
Meanwhile, Google’s new netbook operating system, Chrome OS, should be available to consumers by the holiday season, and while it won’t replace Windows anytime soon, you can expect it to make a big splash. And anticipation is building around this week’s rumored launch of the Nexus One, a phone using Google’s Android operating system that the company designed itself, which will probably leave Windows Mobile even further in the dust. (Anthony Ha)
Twitter will launch its own social version of AdWords — And contrary to what chief operating officer Dick Costolo said earlier this year, we’re not sure everyone is going to love it. It will be ground-breaking in its own right though. After rabid speculation during the year that one part of Twitter’s secret business model would be to sell text ads against its real-time search results, the company went ahead and turned on revenue via data deals with Microsoft and Google. Costolo then said in November that the company will launch ads:
You’ll see an advertising strategy from us in the near future. It will be fascinating and completely non-traditional and people will love it. The genius of Google was that when they first rolled [AdWords] out — the ads were what people were looking for. What we want to do is to do something organic, where it’s in the flow and where it matches what people want. It’s going to be really cool.
So here’s a guess at what it might look like. When you naturally converse with friends on Twitter about brands or movies, there might be extra keywords or immersive media attached to the tweet. It will all be opt-in — you have to click through, just the way you do on geotagged tweets to see an image, map or movie preview drop down from the tweet. For example, if you talk about “Avatar”, 20th Century Fox could pay per impression or click for a trailer to be attached to your tweet and your followers would have the option of clicking through to watch it. (There’s more on this “Supertweet” idea here.) Companies would bid to attach rich media to phrases appearing in tweets across the Twitter ecosystem. Clients like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Seesmic would get a revenue share from that advertising. Twitter would probably have certain limits for the volume of ads propelled through the firehose, in the way that Google limits the number of text-ads per search, so it’s not too annoying. (Kim-Mai Cutler)
Tech IPOs will boom — If the economy continues to improve as it has been, then technology-related initial public offerings will likely increase. Eight venture-backed tech firms went public in 2009, compared to seven the year earlier, according to VentureSource. Those numbers are small compared to past years, and they’re definitely small compared to the numbers of medical and pharmaceutical companies lining up to go public. Writers such as Paul Kedrosky are predicting a tech IPO boom in 2010. There are dozens of IPOs in the pipeline.
Of course, it’s not the number of tech IPOs that really matter, but the magnitude of each one. If Facebook, Twitter, or Zynga go for an IPO, it could trigger a wave of excitement for the technology industry, similar to how Google’s IPO in 2004 helped turn around the sliding fortunes of Silicon Valley, or how Netscape’s IPO instigated the Internet boom. Meanwhile, smaller companies such as Yelp, which turned down a Google acquisition, and Telegent Systems could also keep the IPO pipeline full. We don’t know exactly how many, but it’s a good bet that we’ll see more than eight venture-backed technology IPOs in 2010. (Dean Takahashi)
Home energy management will be the first cleantech bubble — 2009 was a huge year for the various industries involved in building a cleaner, more efficient Smart Grid. The U.S. Department of Energy handed out $3.4 billion to utilities looking to modernize their systems, and many of them have announced big plans to roll out smart meters and newer equipment to millions of homes. More meters means more data — a trend that has led to an explosion of companies looking to slice and dice home power consumption data into formats easily digested and used by consumers to save energy and dollars off their electricity bills.
Sure, this is a relatively new business, but new startups can’t keep launching forever. There isn’t enough of a market for these services yet. Utilities are far more focused on getting meters installed in their coverage areas than anything else. The only chance most of these services have in this crowded field is to form enough partnerships with either utilities or appliance makers. We’ve already seen a number of these: Tendril scored a deal with General Electric,OpenPeak with smart meter maker Itron, etc. Hohm and PowerMeter are clear exceptions to this rule because they have the backing of internet giants Microsoft and Google. Few will be able to compete.
Our prediction is that Tendril will become the most formidable startup in the space due to its generous funding, strong leadership and on-point PR strategy. The other contenders seem more like acquisition bait. Itron could easily snap up OpenPeak. Google could acquire AlertMe or The Energy Detective — it has partnerships with both. Newer entrants probably won’t fare as well. (Camille Ricketts)
Facebook will enable location in its mobile apps –The world’s biggest social network has so far kept its powder dry as tiny location-based social services like Gowalla, Rummble, Foursquare and Loopt duke it out for mass user acquisition. We think that time is coming to an end. The company changed its terms of service this fall to allow for location sharing, and the market has changed. Growing penetration by smartphones has made consumers comfortable with revealing where they are for socializing and startups like New York-based Foursquare have pushed the popularity of “check-ins” over persistent location-sharing.
The big question is how the company will implement it from a privacy perspective. Will Facebook turn it on and set the default to completely private, allowing you to choose a close cohort of friends to share location with? Or will the default be more inclusive than that, open to any Facebook friend who is in serendipitously close proximity to you? (Kim-Mai Cutler)
The venture environment will heat up, but many web startups will be left cold — After 2008’s financial crash, venture investments for web entrepreneurs plummeted (along with everything else), and have been recovering more slowly than newer sectors like cleantech. We’ll see plenty of Internet fundings in 2010, but I expect investors to continue to use a more skeptical eye than they did during the heyday of Web 2.0 when they consider “me too” companies and entrepreneurs with a “We’ll figure out later” business plan.
As venture investments increase over the year, web investments will lag. Lower returns and a shrinking industry won’t help. Web 2.0 to go from being Sand Hill Road’s focus to just one of a number of investment areas. (Anthony Ha)
Games, social and otherwise, will continue to take over the world — Social games took off on Facebook, MySpace and other platforms in 2009. Games like FarmVille gathered tens of millions of users who played for free and paid only small amounts if they wanted to buy a virtual good like a better tractor. Zynga, Playfish and Crowdstar rode this juggernaut, adding millions of users every day for games that were simple, social and casual. In the meantime, hardcore console games were in the doldrums for much of the year and revenues are likely to come in flat compared to 2008 once December sales are counted. The logical conclusion is that during a recession, people will opt for free or cheap games instead of expensive ones.
But it’s good to keep these markets in perspective. While social gaming is less than billion dollars, console game hardware, software and accessories will likely top $20 billion in 2009. We expect social games to grow at fast rates in 2010. The growth will likely spread to other web-based and mobile-based platforms as well, with social gaming gathering momentum on the iPhone and Android platforms.
The hardcore game industry will likely bounce back as well in 2010. If the economy improves, the console games will benefit. Also, there’s a lot of pent-up demand for some of the big titles coming in 2010, which include Starcraft II, BioShock 2, Mass Effect 2, MAG, World of Warcraft Cataclysm, Metroid Other M, and God of War III. All of these games are potential blockbusters that will make it much easier to top 2009 growth figures. On top of that, Sony and Microsoft will launch gesture-control systems that could bring new users into gaming just as the motion-sensing Wii remote from Nintendo has done.
In short, games will continue to grow in all directions. (Dean Takahashi)
The hottest phone feature of 2010 will be tiny projectors — For example, there’s the Optoma Pico Projector, coming soon from AT&T. The few lucky gadget gurus who’ve had a chance to bring one to a party all report the same thing: The Pico Projector drives people wild. Never mind how many pixels it does or doesn’t have. Lighting up the nearest wall with a video clip projected from your phone will make your friends forget about their touchscreens. (Paul Boutin)
The Chevy Volt will launch … and disappoint — General Motors recently announced that it will definitely be launching its much-anticipated plug-in vehicle in 2010, first in California and then elsewhere. The company increased its marketing for the car to a fever pitch this year, kicking off a major campaign based on its ability to get 230 miles per gallon (with a driving range of 300 miles).
But not everyone is so enthused. Some analysts are saying that the 230 figure is misleading. Others are saying that its lithium-ion battery technology will already be out of date by the time it launches. One of the most compelling arguments is about how much it will cost. The estimated price tag is $40,000 before a $7,500 rebates. That’s still pretty pricey for a commuter sedan and won’t easily be afforded by middle class consumers who would otherwise be interested. General Motors seems to have accounted for this, planning only to produce 8,000 to 10,000 of the cars in its first year, and 50,000 to 60,000 in the year after that. But considering the state of the economy, the rate at which average people buy cars, the general unpopularity of GM following its bailout, and the serious doubts some have raised about the Volt’s specs, it seems like it’s more poised to fizzle out than become a wild success.
If this happens, it could have some serious ramifications for the plug-in vehicle market overall. Sure, companies like Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive have attracted attention with their swanky and exorbitantly priced luxury EVs, but they aren’t being targeted at the general public. Companies like Nissan and Mitsubishi, planning to release their own, more practical green cars after the Volt’s debut could suffer if EVs have already gotten a bad rap, or even if they just seem like no big deal. Excitement over plug-ins will probably spike again when Toyota comes out with its new iteration of the Prius in 2013, but the Chevy Volt could very well hear crickets when it goes live sometime in the next several months. (Camille Ricketts)
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Gra turowa, której akcja toczy się na pograniczu epok Średniowiecza i Renesansu. Tura trwa cały dzień. Integralną częscią gry jest jej forum stąd dostępne jest ono wyłącznie po zalogowaniu się do gry.
Rozwój postaci w grze nie zajmuje dużo czasu jednak by w pełni wykorzystać możliwości gry potrzebne jest jakieś minimalne chociażby zaangażowanie.
Grę rozpoczynamy jako przybłęda stojący u bram miasta, którego celem będzie zapracowanie na awans społeczny. Pracą na plebanii oraz zyskiwaniem zaufania mieszkańców zdobędziesz status mieszkańca danej społeczności a wraz nim otrzymasz ziemie uprawne a także prawa wyborcze. Poza pracą należy Ci się też wypoczynek a ten zaznasz w licznych miejskich karczmach gdzie piwo leje się strumieniami, można dobrze zjeść, pogadać z ludźmi a nawet pospierać się z nimi. Przy czym spór czasem może skończyć się pojedynkiem.
Od tego momentu wszystko już zależy tylko od Ciebie. Sam zdecyduj czy chcesz w przyszłości zostać rzemieślnikiem, wykładowcą na uniwersytecie czy może rycerzem a nawet generałem.
Rozwój Twojej postaci może doprowadzić Cię do wybitnego lekarza, polityka czy też żądnego przygód podróżnika. Możesz podążać także drogą kupców czy żeglarzy, którzy zwykli przemierzać spore odległości poznając nowych ludzi, ich obyczaje i prawa. Jeżeli zaś wolisz pracę z ludźmi, to otworem stoi przed Tobą droga Kościoła – od nowicjatu, przez wikariusza do proboszcza. Najlepsi zostają biskupami, a wybrani arcybiskupami.
Twoja aktywność polityczna zaś, może doprowadzić Cię na szczyty władzy by w rezultacie jako kasztelan rządzić księstwem. Jeśli zaś masz zacięcie do walki to kuszącą może okazać się ścieżka wojskowości gdzie orężem swym będziesz strzegł bezpieczeństwa księstwa. Otworem stoi przed Tobą nawet stanowisko generała armii odpowiadającego za całość sił zbrojnych księstwa. Jeżeli jednak nie odpowiada Ci życie prawego obywatela a ludzie, którzy Cię spotkają poznają Twą mroczną duszę to w końcu trafisz na swoich. Świat pełen zbójów, grup zbójeckich oraz piratów sam oceni Twą przydatność. Staniesz się wtedy częścią świata, który z różnorakich pobudek nęka obywateli i zakłóca spokój, w którym zwykli żyć.
—
Mieszkańcy polskich księstw zapraszają!
Jak widać pseudointeligentnych NPCów nie ma,kazda jednostka spotkana w grze to żywy człek.
Oczywiście chętnie pomogę jak beda jakieś problemy u zagubionych nowych mieszkańców.
Jeżeli chcecie,możecie wpisac moj nick jako polecajacego – Kellendil. Wtedy bedziemy latwo swoje profile znajdować.
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Originally Posted by Dubaiiscool:)
(Post 49469833) Observation Deck
Elevator |
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Originally Posted by Parisian Girl
(Post 49446549) 
Burj Dubai lights up on night before its opening; Hugh Ferriss would like this January 03, 2010 Somewhere, perhaps in the very small section of heaven where last, great architectural renderers go, Hugh Ferriss is smiling. Hugh Ferriss, you see, was the great architectural of the early 20th Century. In the 1920s, his visionary drawings of mountainlike skyscrapers helped popularize what became known as the "setback style." Sometimes, the drawings showed spotlights knifing into the sky behind Art Deco skyscrapers (below). The images were so powerful that they inspired actual buildings–or, more accurate, their architects–to follow Ferriss’ example. Well, if you’ve looked at my colleague Kuni Takahashi’s spectacular photo of the Burj Dubai here in Dubai tonight–on the eve of its formal opening tomorrow–you know where I’m heading. The skyscraper’s spiraling setbacks are filled with laser nights that shoot into the air just like a Ferriss drawing. It’s as though the chief architect of the Burj Dubai, Adrian Smith, formerly with the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and now head of his own firm, had precisely this kind of image in mind when he designed the tower’s spiraling setbacks. Life continues to imitate art. |
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Originally Posted by Imre
(Post 49406279) Burj Dubai , pics from the spire and higher tiers, final set of my site visit , Picasa album will be done soon:)
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Originally Posted by christos-greece
(Post 49430161) A bit old photo of Burj Dubai (December 2009):
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/35095078@N02/4235140416/ btw, tomorrow (4 January) is really a great day… |
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Originally Posted by Imre
(Post 49361419) 31/December/2009
Burj Dubai , photos from the top of the spire PART 1
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Originally Posted by Imre
(Post 49342759) Thanks , it was great to be there but the climbing inside the spire was hard and probably I wouldnt try again. 🙂
one more set for today 31/December/2009 Burj Dubai , landscaping around the Burj
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Originally Posted by Old Town Resident
(Post 49355873) Early hours of the morning light testing going on right now.
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Originally Posted by Imre
(Post 49335057) I saw fireworks people everywhere close to the spire, Tier 20 etc.., installation in full progress , will be an amazing 🙂
31/December/2009 Burj Dubai , fireworks preparation
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Nasser Al-Attiyah returned to his winning ways in the Dakar Rally on Monday, after clinching the top spot in the second stage of the South American event. Not only the Volkswagen driver managed to outscore his overall rivals yesterday, but he also climbed up to the leading position in the rally, after starting the day in 4th place.
The last part of the Cordoba-La Rioja stage was when Al-Attiyah really got up to speed, as he took the lead from BMW X-Raid’s Guerlain Chicherit and ev… (read more)
On January 15, the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) will host a Charity Preview gala fundraising event at Cobo Center in Detroit which will benefit a wide range of children’s charities. Since 1989 the Charity Preview has raised more than $79 million for southeastern Michigan children’s charities, with over $35 million raised in the last six years alone.
"Every year we are so proud to host this event which has gained not only local but national recognition f… (read more)
A herd of sheep graze amongst sun-tracing photovoltaic panels installed at Solarpark in Rodenas, North Friesland. Photograph: Bert Bostelmann/Getty Images It would connect turbines off the wind-lashed north coast of Scotland with Germany’s vast …
Imagination has no limits and Mr. Benedict Radcliffe, a qualified architect from the UK, has proved it once again. Radcliffe decided to build a Lamborghini Countach model made of steel rods a little thicker than a pencil, which is 6 ft wide and 14 ft long, timesonline.co.uk wrote.
The Lambo allowed me to use all the skills I have learnt from my previous work as an architect, fabricator and artist. It uses really complex curves and was a real labour of love, said Radcliffe. The 32-… (read more)
ceremony of the paving.
There must be some of you out there who look at the Cygnet, this strange combination between Aston Martin’s brilliant design cues and the size of the otherwise lovable Toyota iQ and say: isn’t that cute? Yes, it is, BUT IT’S WRONG!
The departure from the classic, yet sporty feel of a regular Aston Martin is best depicted in the video you will see at the end of this piece. Most of us associate Aston Martin with James Bond, fine drinks, sophisticated weapons, suits and beautiful wo… (read more)
photos by brownrage, flickr.
photo by marioalexander, flickr.
Subaru and sportswear company Columbia joined forces for developing a new special edition Forester for the Australian market that will go on sale across the country this week. Codenamed Forester X Columbia, the range will be limited to 1,050 units and will be offered with either a manual or an automatic transmission.
According to globalmotors.net, pricing for the special edition Forester will start at $33,990 for the manual and $35,990 for the automatic. Additionally, customers ch… (read more)
As we’ve all heard before, it’s often “who you know,” instead of “what you know,” when it comes to the world of business. And that’s even more true for the greentech industry, which became the leading venture capital investment sector in the third quarter of 2009 largely based on investments from the U.S. government’s stimulus […]
The 9ff GT9-R tuning of the Porsche 911 increases power to a whopping 1120 hp! This means we get acceleration to 100 km/hr in just 2.9 seconds, 300 km/hr is reached in 15.8, and the top speed hits 414 km/hr. 9ff has achieved this by taking the six cylinder boxer biturbo to four litres.
Production will be limited to just 20 units, and “less” extreme versions of 987 hp and 750 hp will also be available. The latter will have a Tiptronic, five-speed gearbox, although it can still reach 300 km/hr in 20 seconds. Each GT9 will be made on the basis of the customer’s specifications, meaning no car will be the same. See the 9ff GT9 gallery below.
Chrysler Group officials decided that it is time for the logo of the new Ram brand to get on top of dealerships throughout the country. This is just one of the changes Chrysler decided to apply to its dealerships after the company emerged from bankruptcy under Fiat management.
Though most dealers had to get money out of their own pocket to pay for upgrading their signs according to company requirements, they will not have to pay for this next change, as Chrysler will pick up the b… (read more)
