Tuesday Tech News

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That's right, any takers who want a huge, slightly perambulation-challenged mech are in luck, as long as they have $40,000 and a big backyard. He's not happy about selling off the steel giant that he has spent practically every waking hour with for years, but he says it's the only alternative if he wants to start over from scratch.

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The Department of Justice’s action, code-named “Operation Site Down,” targeted warez “release” groups, including “Myth,” “Vengeance,” and “Gamerz,” which specialized in the early distribution of pirated games throughout the world via the Internet. U.S. and foreign law enforcement officials conducted close to 100 searches worldwide within a 24-hour period. Searches occurred in the U.S., Canada, Israel, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, and Australia. The investigation has identified more than 120 individuals around the world, including many leaders or high-level members of piracy groups. The Department of Justice expects that additional targets will be identified and pursued during this ongoing investigation.

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Despite running highly profitable businesses, makers of Internet software that tracks people on their PCs and displays pop-up advertisements or other kinds of promotions have a sullied history. In the past, they have buried download disclosures in lengthy legalese; installed software surreptitiously through security loopholes; disguised their brands, or made it tough for consumers to uninstall the pop-up programs.

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The most interesting thing for people buying TVs at the moment is that Toshiba have stated that their HD-DVD Player will ONLY output high Def on the player's HDMI output (plus other digital connections) the analogue output will be downrezed to 480 lines (in the US - expect the equivalent, no doubt, in Europe). The Toshiba player will also have a USB interface to allow connection to computers for enhanced content and interactive options direct off the disk. In addition mastering of the underlying DVD content will be based on 1080p - but there was no discussion on the resolution of the MPEG4 images.

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The countdown to the shuttle Discovery's launch on Wednesday officially started on Sunday. But the real frenzy begins on launch day. Below is a list of specific events leading up to the first launch of a space shuttle in more than two years.

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Discovery is scheduled to launch at 3:51 p.m. EDT (1951 GMT) on July 13, though its 10-minute launch window that day opens at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT). Weather officers predict a 70 percent chance that conditions will be good for Discovery’s flight, though subsequent launch attempts on July 14 or July 16 could see a higher possibility of poor weather.

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The research, conducted in Perth, Western Australia, was based on 456 drivers who had been involved in road crashes requiring hospital attention. By comparing the time of crash with records from phone companies, study leader Suzanne McEvoy and colleagues at the Injury Prevention and Trauma Care Division at the University of Sydney, found that cellphone use significantly increased the chance of a crash. That was regardless of sex, age group, or whether or not a hands-free device was used.

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In a stellar black hole, which forms when a giant star dies explosively, the rotation is a logical remnant of the star's spin. Just as a skater speeds up when she pulls her arms in, the dead star's rotation picks up dramatically as remaining material collapses into a small, dense black hole.