Mereja

Author: Zach Walton

  • The Open Web Was Born 20 Years Ago Today

    In 1989, CERN and Tim Berners-Lee changed the world forever with the creation of the modern Internet. They changed the world again four years later when the net was freed from being owned by any one person or organization.

    CERN announced that today is the 20th anniversary of the free and open Web. On April 30, 1993, CERN put the software behind the World Wide Web into the public domain. The Internet only grew as fast as it did thanks to the software behind it being made available to all.

    “There is no sector of society that has not been transformed by the invention, in a physics laboratory, of the web”, says Rolf Heuer, CERN Director-General. “From research to business and education, the web has been reshaping the way we communicate, work, innovate and live. The web is a powerful example of the way that basic research benefits humankind.”

    As part of the celebration, CERN has put the world’s very first publicly accessible Web site back online. It must have been mind blowing to see a computer fetch a wall of text from another computer hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.

    The Free, Open Web As We Know It Was Born 20 Years Ago Today

    Like most other relics of the Internet’s past, the first Web site really helps to put things into perspective. It’s easy to take the Internet of today for granted, but this Web site should really hit home just how revolutionary this stuff was only 20 years ago.

    Of course, the Internet is still just as revolutionary today as it was two decades ago. In fact, there’s an argument to be had that the Internet of today is doing far more good than any other invention in human history as its bringing millions of people from every walk of life together to exchange ideas while promoting empathy among the human race. No other tool in human history has ever had that kind of power. So maybe, just maybe, it’s something that’s worth protecting.

  • Outlook.com Users Can Now Make Skype Calls Directly From Their Inbox

    Last year, Microsoft introduced an entirely new Outlook.com in an attempt to revitalize its email client. Early results (from Microsoft) say its working, and now it’s adding even more functionality to tempt more people over to its side.

    Microsoft announced that it’s rolling out a preview of Skype for Outlook.com to those in the UK today. It already integrated Skype into the latest enterprise Outlook software, but now the same functionality will soon be available to regular users on the Web version of Outlook.

    The preview version of Skype for Outlook.com will be available soon as a plugin for Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox. The plugin will ask you to connect your Microsoft account with your Skype account, and then you can start video calling people in Outlook. Just look for the usual Skype icons when mousing over a friend’s contact details.

    Skype for Outlook.com is just the latest in Microsoft’s mission of integrating Skype into pretty much all of its services. It already merged the old Windows Live Messenger client into Skype, and a rumor emerged earlier this year saying that Xbox chat would be replaced by Skype in the next Xbox.

    Skype for Outlook.com is available in the UK starting today, but what about everyone else? Microsoft says that its latest Skype integration will be available to users in the US and Germany in the coming weeks. Everybody else will have to wait until Summer.

  • Just So You Know, The Galaxy S4 Can’t Survive Being Shot

    Samsung’s latest flagship device – the Galaxy S4 – must have went through the same rigorous testing process that Samsung’s other devices go through. That being said, I’m pretty sure Samsung never tested to see if its lastest device was bulletproof.

    YouTube personality raredrr saw this glaring hole in Samsung’s testing regimen and took matters into his own hands with his latest test to see if the S4 can survive being shot with a 50 cal sniper rifle. Short answer – no. Long answer – don’t expect the Galaxy S4 to stop incoming bullets.

    As a bonus, here’s ratedrr shooting the Galaxy S4′s main competition – the iPhone 5 – with a 50 cal rifle. It holds up a little better:

    [h/t: Kotaku]

  • Diablo III For PS3 Goes Up For Preorder Today

    At Sony’s PS4 event in February, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it was returning to console development after a long hiatus. It announced a Diablo III port for the PS3 and PS4 as its first project.

    Blizzard Entertainment announced today the PS3 version of Diablo III is now available for preorder. There’s no launch date available just yet, but the developer confirmed once again that the title will be available later this year.

    “We’ve poured blood, sweat, and hellfire into creating an epic Diablo III experience for PlayStation gamers,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to including all the improvements from the PC version over the past year, we’ve made several updates to Diablo III for play on the PS3. We got a ton of positive feedback from players who tried the game at PAX East, and we can’t wait to get it into everyone’s hands later this year.”

    Those who preorder Diablo III will gain instant access to the Infernal Helm. It provides an experience boost to any player character who’s equipped with it.

    The console version of Diablo III comes with another bonus in the form of ditching the PC version’s always online requirement. Players are free to play online, or offline, with up to four friends in online and local co-op modes.

    There’s no word on whether or not the PS4 version of Diablo III will be available this year, but I would expect an announcement near the launch of the PS3 version. It would be pretty advantageous for Sony if its new machine were to launch with a game like Diablo III, especially if the PS4 version was cross-compatible with the PS3 version.

  • Missed Facebook At GDC? Watch These Videos

    Do you develop games for Facebook? Were you unable to attend the Game Developers Conference in March? If you answered yes to both, Facebook has quite a treat for you today.

    On its developer blog, Facebook posted a recap of all of its sessions at GDC. The social network covered everything from the basics to advanced monetization strategies. Here’s some of the more interesting talks with links to the videos in blue:

    Facebook Games Product Update

    It’s been a record year for games. More than 250 million people, or one out of every 5 users, play games on Facebook.com each month. George Lee, Product Manager for Facebook Games, walks through improvements that have helped drive 75% more game installs year over year. He also discusses how games are part of the overall Facebook experience through News Feed, Timeline, and Graph Search.

    Building Core and Mid-Core Games on Facebook

    There are 84 million 18-35 males playing games on Facebook each month, which represents 32% of all monthly active gamers. In other words, there’s a huge opportunity for core and mid-core game developers to build on Facebook. Andy Katzman, Strategic Partner Manager, Colin Creitz, Partner Engineer, and Peter Chang, Partner Engineer, walk through the products we are building to help gamers find great games and stay connected with each other. In addition, Greg Richardson, CEO of Rumble, discusses how his team is creating a more immersive game experience, and David Helgason, CEO of Unity, talks about 3D gaming and how we’re improving the Unity experience on Facebook.

    Monetizing Your Game on Facebook

    More than 100 developers generated more than $1 million on Facebook last year. Our payments team is committed to growing the games payments ecosystem and driving developer revenue. Deborah Liu, Monetization Product Manager, Daniel Schultz, Partner Engineer, and Sara Brooks, Strategic Partner Manager, discuss how developers can prepare for the updated Facebook Payments and price virtual goods for a global audience.

    There are many more videos at Facebook’s blog post to keep you busy for a few hours. You might even learn something.

  • Here’s Microsoft’s Take On The Apple/Android Fanboy Wars

    Android fans love to talk trash about Apple fans and vice versa. Unfortunately, we only ever see this conflict from those directly involved. Is there not an outside voice that can give us an unbiased look at just how silly they look?

    Well, no, but Microsoft tried its hardest in the latest Windows Phone ad. The Nokia Lumia 920 is on display in this latest ad that pitches the fervent fans of Apple and Samsung against each other at a wedding. Insults are thrown, cake is ruined and a scared middle-aged man desperately asks Siri for help in learning karate.

    It looks like Microsoft is finally starting to figure this whole advertisement thing out. Its earlier ads were at best inane and at worst irrelevant. In short, Microsoft should make more ads like the above and less ads with terrible dance dancing.

  • This Baseball-Playing Robot Is Leading The Charge In Artificial Brain Reearch

    Super Baseball 2020 predicted a future where robots and cybernetically enhanced humans competed on the diamond for our enjoyment. Now some research at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo is starting to fulfill part of that prophecy.

    Wired reports that researchers have built a baseball-playing robot learns more about the game as it plays. In other words, it will miss the first few pitches, but it will slowly learn where the ball is most likely to come from. After a while, it will start to hit more pitches and become more proficient in baseball.

    The robot is able to quickly learn baseball thanks to its new brain that emulates a brain with about 100,000 neurons. According to Wikipedia, the fruit fly and lobster both have about 100,000 neurons in their brains. In comparison, the human brain has about 85 billion.

    It may not have as many neurons as a human, but the researchers hope this latest robot can help them produce more complicated brains in the future. The end goal is to have robots perform complicated tasks that only humans and advanced animals, like apes, dolphins and elephants, can perform.

    [Image: Wired]

  • Metro: Last Light Trailer Introduces New Companion Character

    Metro 2033 introduced gamers to a large and varied cast of characters when it came out in 2010. Its sequel – Metro: Last Light – will bring back a number of those characters while introducing a new set of companions that series protagonist Artyom will encounter throughout his journey.

    Anna, the Spartan Order of Rangers’ top sniper and daughter of their uncompromising leader Miller, talks about the hope of the survivors that rests on Artyom’s shoulders. Will he be able to lead humanity to salvation, and find personal redemption in the tunnels of the Metro?

    Metro: Last Light launches across Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on May 14.

  • Gigabit Internet Is Coming To Tullahoma, Tennessee

    Chattanooga was one of the first cities in the nation to introduce Fiber Internet to its residents through city-owned utilities. Other cities have slowly been jumping on board with the help of Google Fiber and other organizations. Now the gigabit Internet craze has returned to Tennessee.

    Tullahoma is a small city in the south-central part of Tennessee. Its population is estimated at a little over 18,000. Starting this week, the city will start delivering 1Gbps fiber Internet to its subscribers. The Tullahoma News reports that LightTUBe, the city-owned utility company, will be upgrading residents who already subscribe to its 300Mbps plan will be automatically upgraded to 1Gbps at no extra charge over the next few days. The service is pretty expensive at $300, but it’s consistent with the pricing of Chattanooga’s service.

    The high price obviously keeps many residents from being able to access gigabit speeds, and the city seems fine with that. Tullahoma Utilities Board Chairman Bob Lindeman says that upgrading the city’s infrastructure to 1Gbps speeds is more about attracting businesses to the area:

    “It shows that we can provide anything they want. The TUB board made the decision to build a fiber to the premise system for economic development reasons, and it is paying off for our community. We want to make Tullahoma a much more desirable location for technology companies to locate, due to our ultra-high speed Internet and our highly skilled workforce. Tullahoma is light years ahead of most cities in the United States with the ability to offer these incredibly fast Internet speeds, and we look forward to the benefits this will bring to our city.”

    Offering businesses gigabit Internet is definitely a major benefit for any community, but it may be a little shortsighted to keep access out of the hands of most residents. A rural ISP in Vermont is offering 1Gbps speeds to its residents for only $35 a month, and they are likely to benefit greatly. The rollout of Google Fiber in Kansas City has also proven to be incredibly beneficial not just for startups, but for the community as a whole.

    Regardless, it’s encouraging to see gigabit Internet rolling out to more cities across the U.S. Sooner or later, the bigs ISPs will have to stop pretending that Google Fiber and its ilk don’t exist. They can’t feign ignorance forever.

    [h/t: Reddit]

  • Printcraft Brings Minecraft Creations To Life With 3D Printing

    People are obviously proud of their elaborate Minecraft creations. Some may even want to create physical versions of their buildings to display for all to see. One company – FigurePrints – uses 3D printers to turn Minecraft creations into reality, but new software lets those who already own a 3D printer make their own.

    Printcraft, a multiplayer server for Minecraft, lets players build creations on an in-game representation of a build platform. Once the creation is complete, players can then convert their creation into an STL file that’s compatible with 3D printers. Even better, Printcraft has teamed up with MakerBot to allow direct uploads of creations to Thingiverse.

    Printcraft from Paul Harter on Vimeo.

    What makes Printcraft so amazing is that it has turned the often complicated 3D modeling software into Minecraft. Those with no knowledge of 3D modeling can instead build objects in Minecraft to have them printed on their own 3D printer.

    Granted, Printcraft is pretty limited in what it can do compared to traditional 3D modeling software, but it’s great for the hobbyists that just want to see their creations come to life.

    [h/t: 3ders]

  • IllumiRoom Has The Potential To Be The Next Big Thing In Gaming

    One of the coolest inventions shown at CES was IllumiRoom, a projector technology from Microsoft that would expand the gaming experience beyond the TV. In other words, it would display visuals from the game on the wall around the TV to create an immersive experience.

    The original demo released during CES only showed IllumiRoom in action. The new demo goes into the hardware powering IllumiRoom, and explains how the engineers at Microsoft are hoping to revolutionize home entertainment.

    At this point in time, IllumiRoom is still very much a prototype. That being said, Microsoft would be stupid to not integrate it into the next Xbox. It has the potential to be the next big innovation in games, especially if games can go beyond expanding the field of view. Some of the examples, like warping reality and realistic snowflakes, could go a long way in increasing immersion in games.

    There’s a lot of anxiety in the gaming community today regarding the next Xbox. Many aren’t too keen on having to keep up a constant Internet connection just to play games while others are concerned that Microsoft’s console will block used games. Despite that, IllumiRoom may be one of the few things gamers can overwhelmingly get behind, especially if Microsoft can knock it out of the park with the final hardware.

  • Samsung Announces The Galaxy Tab 3, Gets A May Release

    The original Galaxy Tab helped to popularize the 7-inch tablet when it was released in 2010. Samsung then began to experiment with different sizes in 2011, but returned to the original branding with the Galaxy Tab 2 in 2012. Now the company is sticking with the branding in 2013 with the Galaxy Tab 3.

    Samsung announced today that it intends to launch the Galaxy Tab 3 in May. The company is also working on a 3G capable version of the Galaxy Tab 3 that will launch in June. Samsung says it has made a number of enhancements to the design and internal hardware to increase performance and usability:

  • Easy Handgrip and Portability: Its compact, one-hand grip form factor ensures users can hold comfortably for hours as well as store in a pocket or small bag for reading and entertainment on the go. The sleek and stylish design encompasses thinner bezel than the previous GALAXY Tab 2 (7.0).
  • Better Multimedia Performance: Powered by a 1.2GHz Dual Core processor, the device allows for faster downloads and sharing, while providing easy access to videos, apps, games, and the web. Offered with either 8/16 of internal storage plus up to 64GB of expandable memory, the device has plenty of space to hold your favorite photos, music, apps, videos and more.
  • Enhanced User Experience: The GALAXY Tab 3 7-inch is equipped to better capture life’s moments in stunning clarity and resolution with its 3-megapixel camera rear camera and 1.3 -megapixel front camera. Combined with the latest Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), it allows users to share photos, videos, and life’s special moments through a few quick taps and swipes.

    • The Galaxy Tab 3 is an upgrade from the Tab 2 in most areas except for the display. Samsung is still keeping with the 1024×600 display that was in the Tab 2. This particular series of tablets is meant for the cost-conscious, but it would have been nice to see Samsung upgrade the Tab 3 to at least a 1280×800 display.

    That being said, the target audience for the Tab 3 will probably not care much for the display resolution. It will be marketed at the consumer that wants an inexpensive tablet.

    Of course, Samsung will have to compete with Google’s own Nexus 7. The current hardware is already better than the Tab 3, and rumors point to the next Nexus 7 being much better. With Google’s low pricing, Samsung will have to convince consumers that it provides a better Android experience despite having inferior specs.

  • Character Customization Coming To Star Wars: The Old Republic

    Star Wars: The Old Republic was the subject of countless jokes and TORtantic memes last year after the game started to bleed subscribers. The MMO went free-to-play less than a year after launch, and now EA has to retain players while attracting new players to the game.

    In April, the team at BioWare Austin added a number of features and items to the game. Some were microtransactions meant to give players more options in customization, but the real treat will be coming next month in the form of new character customization options. Players will soon be able to change their physical appearance and even their race.

    The guys at BioWare are not in an enviable position right now. They have to keep EA and the new overlords at Disney happy. Both companies are currently in the process of killing off studios and games. “>The Old Republic may be next on the chopping block if it doesn’t pick up some steam.

  • Vermont ISP Offers Gigabit Internet For $35 A Month

    National telecoms like AT&T have said they are going to compete with Google Fiber, but there’s not been much proof of that so far. Instead, startups and small phone companies are leading the charge in bringing fiber Internet to more Americans.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that Vermont Telephone Co, a local telecom that only recently upgraded its century old network, has recently installed fiber across its service area thanks to stimulus money it received as part of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. The company plans to offer gigabit speeds for only $35 a month, half of what Google Fiber charges for it service.

    Funny enough, the company has Google to thank for its new fiber Internet. Michel Guite, Vermont Telephone Co.’s CEO, said that he was denied federal stimulus money when he first applied. After the Google Fiber announcement, the government agreed to fund the upgrade.

    Vermont Telephone Co. is not alone either in receiving funding either. The Wall Street Journal says that more than 700 rural telephone companies have upgraded their infrastructure to fiber to keep up with the big ISPs. What’s funny is that these rural telephone companies are now starting to offer better service at cheaper prices than the major players.

    Putting the proliferation of gigabit Internet aside for a moment, it’s encouraging that more rural communities are getting access to faster and cheaper Internet. The large companies often ignore these smaller communities saying the cost of building out Internet to remote areas isn’t worth the investment. Of course, the FCC is trying to change that with its City Gigabit Challenge, and one lawmaker has even proposed legislation that would make broadband Internet much more affordable for the poor families that often populate rural areas.

    Of course, Vermont Telephone Co. doesn’t know if it will be able to keep up the $35 price in the long run, but it’s an experiment. That’s exactly what we need though. Experiments can soon lead to national examples.

  • Facebook Will Have Quite The Presence At Google I/O

    Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg said that Google and Facebook weren’t talking much. The two seem to be getting closer thanks to Android, though, and that catalyst will be bringing Facebook to Google I/O in May.

    Facebook announced this week that its Facebook Developers group will be setting up shop at Google I/O. The team obviously won’t have any official presence at the show itself, but it will be hosting a Google I/O kick off party on the day before the conference. The team will also be on the conference floor during the week to talk with developers about app discovery on Facebook:

    “…members of the Facebook team will also be there to help you learn how Facebook can drive app discovery in a crowded marketplace, and keep people interested and coming back to your app.”

    If you can’t make it out to Google I/O, developers will have another chance to pick the minds of Facebook team members at AnDevCon Boston on May 28. The Facebook team will be hosting a number of talks covering topics like Home, Facebook’s Android app and the Android SDK:

    Join Facebook Home engineers Will Bailey and Luke St. Clair for a keynote on Tuesday evening about our new user experience on Android. We’ll talk about why we built Home, how we designed its UI, and how we optimized battery and data usage. We’ll have a few technical deep dives, and will share some insights about how we built the product to be centered around people.

    Our first class session, by Android team engineers Frank Qixing Du and Mark Peng, covers the native rewrite of Facebook for Android and the major performance challenges the team faced. They’ll talk about app design, GC and memory optimization, view optimization, and what techniques and tools you can use to make your Android app more performant.

    For those of you building apps that use Facebook, we’ll have two workshops about the basics of our Android SDK, and advanced tips to make your apps and the stories people publish from them sticky. We’ll be around throughout the conference to chat and answer any questions you have about your integration.

    It’s nice to see Facebook embracing Android, but I personally can’t wait to see what it does with Google Glass. Google will probably showcase some Google+ stuff on Glass at Google I/O, but we might get a sneak peek at Facebook on Google Glass at AnDevCon.

  • Chrome Beta For Desktop Adds Support For Microsoft Office Documents

    Despite Google’s best attempts at getting people to switch to Google Docs, much of the world still works in Microsoft Office. It may be a while before Google can win the format wars; but in the meantime, it will make sure Chrome users stay in Chrome when opening Microsoft documents.

    Google announced that Chrome Beta for desktop can now open Microsoft Office documents directly in the browser. In other words, all of your Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files can be accessed in the browser without having to open Microsoft Office.

    You could interpret this as Google firing a warning shot across Microsoft’s bow, but Google says it’s only watching out for its users:

    In addition to saving you time, the Chrome Office Viewer also protects you from malware delivered via Office files. Just like with web pages and PDFs, we’ve added a specialized sandbox to impede attackers who use compromised Office files to try to steal private information or monitor your activities.

    If you want to start viewing Microsoft Office files in Chrome, you’re going to first need the Chrome Beta. You can grab that here. Next up, you’re gonna need the Chrome Office Viewer which is also in beta. Google reminds users to help them squash any remaining bugs in the Office Viewer by submitting bug reports whenever things go wrong.

  • Resident Evil: Revelations Is Classic Horror According To Its Developers

    Resident Evil has seemingly lost its way. Resident Evil 4 started the move away from true survival horror, but the next two installments pretty much did away with it entirely. A side story in the series got it right, however, and the developers are now discussing why that is.

    In a developer diary released today, the developers of Resident Evil: Revelations discuss the horror elements of the title and how the game is thematically similar to the older titles in the franchise. Capcom has said that Revelations’ reception will decide the future of the series, but the team seems confident that it can create a horror experience that will satisfy longtime fans without sacrificing the action set pieces that newer fans want.

    It will be interesting to see if Capcom returns to more horror-themed Resident Evil titles, especially after the series creator, Shinji Mikami, has announced that he’s returning to survival horror with Bethesda’s The Evil Within.

    Resident Evil: Revelations will launch across the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC on May 21.

  • This Is What A DDoS Attack Looks Like

    The weapon of choice for many hacktivists is the distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack. In essence, multiple users flood a server with so much traffic that it collapses under the load taking the Web site with it. It’s easy enough to understand, but a visual representation would really sell the awesome might of this particular form of online attack.

    We now have that visual representation courtesy of Ludovic Fauvet. He says that his Web site, VideoLAN, experienced a massive DDoS attack on April 23. He was able to capture what the attack looked like in real time:

    What’s great about this video is that it shows the number of requests hitting the other parts of the site at the same time. As thousands of requests are hitting the ‘Misc” section of the site, you see maybe 20 hit the “Images” section.

    Thankfully, DDoS attacks rarely cause lasting damage. The Web site is usually back up and operational after that attack subsides. Still, it’s awe inspiring to see this much power being conveyed over the Internet.

  • Want To Update Your Android App Outside Of Google Play? Well, You Can’t

    Google Play is one of the best Android app distribution platforms around. It also has incredible reach what with it being installed on every Android device. Developers would be stupid not to be on Google Play, but some would prefer not to deliver app updates via Google’s service. Well, they can’t anymore.

    Google recently updated its content policy for developers, and there’s an interesting new policy that’s aimed squarely at those developers who would seek to circumvent Google Play when delivering app updates:

    An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play’s update mechanism.

    Surely this new policy won’t affect any major apps, right? Actually, Facebook introduced a self-updating mechanism in its Android app recently that bypasses Google Play entirely. With this new policy, Facebook will now have to go back to manual updates via Google Play.

    Of course, this isn’t a case of Google picking on Facebook. Google says that its Play store is “trusted source for Android application downloads” and that it is “committed to providing a secure and consistent experience.” Allowing apps to update themselves could possibly lead to some less-than-secure scenarios as the initial download from Google Play would be safe while the in-app updater installs malware.

    It should be noted that these new policies only affect apps available on Google Play. Former Google Play apps, like Adblock Plus, are completely free to use in-app updates.

    [h/t: Gizmodo]

  • Online Sales Tax Bill Will Go Up For A Final Vote On May 6

    The Senate really wants the public to know that it’s completely behind the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bill that would require online businesses to collect sales tax from every state regardless of its location.

    After two previous votes that saw the legislation move forward, the Senate voted one final time in favor of ending the debate on the bill. The 63-30 vote ensures that the bill will finally move to a final vote on the Senate floor. That vote won’t come for another week, however, as the Senate also agreed to delay the vote until after they return from a weeklong recess on May 6.

    The Hill notes that support for the bill has dropped considerably as the Senate has rejected an open amendment process. Many senators who would be in favor of an online sales tax bill are now opposed for this very reason. That doesn’t mean that the bill will suddenly be stopped in its tracks, however, as a number of influential Senators and the White House both stand in favor of the bill’s passage.

    The Marketplace Fairness Act will most likely pass a floor vote in the Senate on May 6, but the bill still has a very uncertain future. The House is hostile to any legislation that would increase taxes. The bill’s supporters will likely have to make a few compromises in the House to see it passed.

    One of those compromises, suggested by Sen. Ron Wyden, may very well show up in the House. Wyden argued that states should be able to opt out of collecting online sales tax from retailers. The argument is that states sales tax should be decided by the states, and that the federal government has no right to force states into collecting sales tax.

    That being said, states seem to have no problem with the legislation as many governors have voiced support for the bill. States feel that they are losing out on billions of dollars in tax revenue ever year in untaxed online revenue.

    We’ll continue to follow the Marketplace Fairness Act as it heads for a final floor vote on May 6. Don’t expect any major surprises out of the Senate, but we’ll keep an eye on it just in case.