Signs the machines are taking over: we've harnessed the power of the sun

So does this mean I'll never have to recharge my iPod battery again?

"A key component of a $10 billion nuclear fusion plant is vintage 2002 Indonesian coconut-shell charcoal. After a 20-year search, German researchers discovered that the coconut-shell charcoal is the best medium for 'adsorbing' waste byproducts sucked out of the thermonuclear reaction's vacuum chamber. In what will be the first fusion power facility that's commercially viable, magnetic fields will heat hydrogen isotopes to over 150 million degrees Centigrade. (Essentially, the super-hot plasma creates artificial stars.) As the article points out, 'It's not quite a Starship warp drive, but it does harness the power of the sun.'"

(From Slashdot)

Photo: Windows 7 will give you a heart attack

No really it will.

Tech market continues to rock the economy

While it may not be a sign that the economy is recovering quickly, it's good to see some industries bounce back from the abyss. The graphics processor market is humming along nicely since people like cards that make their video games render cool explosions and effects.

Third quarter graphics processors shipments jumped 21.2 percent sequentially after an initial rise in Q2 2009, according to the latest numbers from Jon Peddie Research. Overall 119.45 million units were shipped during the period, exceeding the record 111 million units that were shipped in the year-ago quarter, as computer vendors built up inventory in preparation for the Windows 7 launch.

As usual, JPR's report includes market share data and covered both discrete and integrated graphics -- thus as expected Intel continued to hold the top spot with 52.7% of the market, bolstered by its installed base of integrated graphics chipsets. Nvidia was second with 24.9%, followed by a closing in AMD with 19.8%.

Noticing a trend in the tech market? Everyone is making some profit. Good news...

Microsoft nixes Family Guy special

You may have heard about Microsoft's partnership with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to make a special with built-in Windows 7 plugs. You know that show... the one that pushes the line on decency and offensive material?

Well apparently Microsoft got offended.

Microsoft had planned to sponsor the special, titled "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show," and was going to embed Windows 7 pitches directly into the show, rather than using traditional ads. A sneek peek at a trailer revealed that the pitches were not even close to being funny.

Now that Microsoft has actually seen the show, the company has changed its mind about sponsorship. According to Variety, in a taping of the show Seth MacFarlane and his "Family Guy" co-star Alex Borstein:

"...made typical "Family Guy" style jokes, including riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest."

That spurred Microsoft to pull the plug.

What did they expect? A special about ponies and rabbits? It's Family Guy! This show takes more risks that Michael Jordan at a craps table. Did anyone brief the Microsoft execs on what Family Guy was all about or were they assuming it was like that Simpsons cartoon?

Bing strikes back

Remember a month ago when people we're freaking out over the one-month drop in market-share by the Microsoft search engine Bing? Well look out naysayers... it's bouncing back!

Microsoft's Bing search engine captured 8.8 percent of the search engine market in September, up from 8.7 percent in August, according to a new report from Compete, a Web analytics company. Google continues to dominate the search engine market with 72.6 percent of all searches performed in September done through the Mountain View, Calif.-based giant; Yahoo ranked third with 14.7 percent of searches.

Google (NSDQ:GOOG), like Bing, also grew from month to month, outpacing its Redmond, Wash.-based competitor, with 0.3 percent growth, from 72.3 percent in August to 72.6 percent in September, according to Compete.

Yahoo (NSDQ:YHOO), on the other hand, was the biggest loser in the search engine market share race. The company saw its query volume drop 8 percent from 1.98 billion searches in August to 1.82 billion in September, contributing to its market share dropping from 15.8 percent to 14.7 percent.

While Google is still doing its thing, it looks like Bing is here to stay (hopefully). The real loser in all of this is Yahoo, which after announcing they'll be using the Bing search engine has lost users to either Google or Bing. Once Microsoft finally takes over all the search capabilities from Yahoo, there might not be any market share left.

Video: I hate when this happens

I think we have found a design flaw in the Nintendo Wii...

Grumpy journalist complains about not getting Microsoft press releases

Stop the presses! We've got a news story on our hands as PC Mag's John Dvorak has thrown down the gauntlet - he's going after the evil giant software company known as Microsoft. You may have heard of them because they're trying to take over the world. Dvorak reveals some of the horrible things that the company has done...

I haven't received a single personal note from a Microsoft PR person for roughly four years. Instead, the company has taken to sending out very lengthy and somewhat boring cheerleader-type consumer newsletters to the media in an attempt to keep us informed. It's essentially spam with lots of links and no real compelling content, which seems to be the work of someone who has recently finished taking English as a Second Language courses.

Somewhere along the line, Microsoft apparently decided that it only wants to deal with those amenable suckers who will give it a pass on everything—or perhaps the company has just given up any hopes of getting favorable press. Whatever the case may be, the Microsoft of 15 years ago did a much better job managing the media than it does today. The shift signals more than a simple annoyance—Microsoft's carelessness with the media seems to represent an overall careless that permeates throughout the entire company.

You haven't received a press release?!?! Heaven forbid you have to actually research something yourself or go onto these blogs which are already stuffed with info on windows. You want an article hand delivered to your inbox so you can rewrite it and collect a paycheck. Ladies and gentlemen, journalism!

Yahoo hauls in a boatload of cash

Yahoo has reported a total net income of $186 million this quarter, up an astounding 244% from last quarter when it netted $54 million. This comes largely because Yahoo cut costs but nevertheless shows how tech companies and raking in the cash in this recession.

Yahoo's surge in profit comes after some major budget trimming, and despite the company's handsome bottom line, its revenue is still falling. Yahoo recorded revenue of $1.6 billion in the third quarter, down 12% year-over-year, and excluding traffic acquisition costs revenue was $1.1 billion. 

Now considering all the issues surrounding Yahoo (i.e. their outsourcing of search engine duties to Microsoft) it seems like a good sign that the company is able to haul in profit at a decent margin. We'll see how this plays out in the coming quarters.

Sony Playstation 3 is king (for now)

After less than stellar sales during the early part of its existence, a new price drop helped the PlayStation 3 become the top selling console in September. What does this mean? Maybe people are sick of Microsoft and waving motion controls around like a drunk uncle.

Benefiting from a significant price drop last month and a hardware redesign, Sony's PlayStation 3 took the top spot in the U.S. gaming console sales rankings for the first time since it was launched in November 2006. According to the latest figures from NPD, the Blu-ray equipped device sold 491,800 units in September, compared with 462,800 for the Nintendo Wii and 352,600 for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

No one managed to topple the Nintendo DS, however, which boasts an impressive 524,000 units sold for the month. The entire industry as a whole enjoyed a 1 percent year-on-year growth to $1.28 billion, breaking six months of straight decline. Of that amount, software was up 5 percent to $649.32 million, while hardware was down 6 percent to $472.28 million and accessory sales were up 2 percent to $157.33 million.

While the PS3 does boast better graphics than the Xbox 360 and definitely the Wii, for some reason it seems to have excluded two key demographics: the kid gamer and the casual gamer. I would guess that hard-core gamers eat this stuff up since it's the most powerful machine on earth (other than PCs) and has several franchises from Sony. However, things have always seemed a little more advanced and adult on the PlayStation. Kids are going to be more attracted to the fun Wii, and the off-and-on gamer is going to be more inclined to buy the cheaper and better franchised Xbox 360.

Serious, name one franchise specifically on the PS3 that has reached main, main stream conscious (NOTE: I'm not talking about being mentioned on your gamer message board, I'm talking about something your mom would recognize). Now do the same for the Xbox and Wii. Mario? Halo? Those have entered the big time and people are willing to hope in bed with those machines. Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy are mainstream in the gaming world but probably not as popular as the other console's marquee franchises.

However it appears this price drop may have earned the PS3 some more fans.

Video: Does anyone find this commercial slightly creepy?

Just the end of it, with the change of music, made my skin crawl a little.