Ruckus Media Group based in Wilton, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to build a means to help people to read together over an internet connection.
Deborah Sloan of Ruckus said,
We’re excited about the possibilities it brings – for instance, a grandparent or a parent away on business or stationed away from home can read a book on a mobile device and have their child hear it read aloud and follow-along in real time (and get reading assessments as well) — as research shows (and we all now know) the importance of reading aloud to and reading together with children.
The app will allow mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-desktop reading for parents or grandparents for example, to read with children at a distance.
The company is also working on a mobile app with Connecticut Public Broadcasting which will be out soon. The app will allow content to be used after downloading which will allow it to be used with or without an internet connection. The app will also allow CPB to monetize in app purchases to increase revenue for programming.
By using small, remote controlled Quadcopters, some video makers captured the salvage operation for the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy. Pretty cool stuff.
Fox CT’s Jim Altman takes a look at a local man who operates similar “aircraft.”
REDMOND, Washington (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp gave the world the first look at its new game console on Tuesday, hoping the Xbox One will attract existing video game fans while also becoming a hub for living room entertainment.
The third-generation Microsoft console, coming eight years after the Xbox 360, was unveiled by games unit chief Don Mattrick at an event at the software company’s campus near Seattle.
The Xbox One is an “ultimate all-in-one entertainment system,” Mattrick said.
The console will launch worldwide “later this year,” the company said without providing an exact timeframe.
The new device interacts with a television, responds to voice and gesture commands, and includes Skype video calling, 15 exclusive game titles and original programming content.
Acclaimed movie maker Steven Spielberg will be creating a premium television series based on Microsoft’s blockbuster sci-fi game “Halo” for the Xbox One, the company said.
The new console will offer exclusive National Football League content and eight new game franchises, executives said.
It will have 8 gigabytes of memory, with an updated controller and new-generation Kinect sensor that communicates a user’s voice and gesture commands to the console. The technology is built on the Xbox operating system and the kernel of Windows software to handle Internet-based content.
The Xbox One will chiefly compete with Nintendo Co’s new Wii U and Sony Corp’s forthcoming PlayStation 4 for a bigger slice of the $65 billion-a-year computer game market.
But the world’s largest software company also sees it as a broader strategic piece in the battle with Apple Inc, Google Inc and others to control consumer entertainment in the age of tablets and smartphones.
Microsoft’s stock was off 5 cents at $35.03 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dan Grebler and Nick Zieminski)
Movie theaters have empty seats and moviegoers want to pay less for tickets. Makers of a new app are hoping to solve both problems.
Dealflicks describes itself as Priceline for movie tickets and has teamed up with three Hartford area theaters to sell discounted tickets in hopes of filling seats and saving customers money.
The company also offers mobile apps on iPhone, and Android in addition to the website. Dealflicks is listing discount tickets for three Hartford area theaters: Spotlight Theaters on Front Street in Hartford, Starplex Cinemas in Berlin, and Metro Movies in Middletown. There are cinemas listed for other areas around the country. Discounts on the site range from 10 to 50 % depending on the theater, movie time and package (tickets alone or tickets with snacks.)
For example, Tuesday night’s 7:15 showing of Ironman 3 in 3D at the Starplex Cinemas in Berlin will cost a moviegoer $7, including a small popcorn — about a 50% savings. Discounts vary by show time and location, with some locations only listing daytime availability.
Ticket prices hit an all-time high in 2012, with an average ticket price of $7.96, according to a Deadline.com report of data from the National Association of Theatre Owners earlier this year.
Photo: Lori Shepler/Los Angeles Times
A firm that runs dedicated denial of service attacks that can lead to a website going down has said that it allows the FBI to monitor it’s systems.
According to Brian Krebs at Krebsonsecurity.com, the firm Ragebooter disguises themselves as a website security testing firm and perform DDOS attacks on websites. A DDOS involves thousands of computers loading a website at the same time. It often brings websites down.
The owner of Ragebooter claims legitimacy and the fact that he’s able to stay in business because he is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Krebs talked to the owner, Justin Poland, about the ethics of DDOS.
“That was when Poland dropped the bomb, informing me that he was actually working for the FBI.
“I also work for the FBI on Tuesdays at 1pm in memphis, tn,” Poland wrote. “They allow me to continue this business and have full access. The FBI also use the site so that they can moniter [sic] the activitys [sic] of online users.. They even added a nice IP logger that logs the users IP when they login.”
Essentially, he claims the FBI would be able to track all the electronic comings and goings of the customers of Ragebooter. The FBI would not confirm or deny Poland’s claims.
Track closures from Friday night’s Metro North train crash could present problems for families and friends traveling to New Haven for the Yale Commencement exercises this weekend.
More than 70 people were injured in the collision, which officials said appeared to happen after one of the trains derailed. Eight people remain in hospitals, officials said. Train passengers who expected to come north from New York City to Yale will be forced to take alternative forms of transportation. All Metro North train travel is stopped at South Norwalk and is indefinitely suspended. Amtrak service between New York and New Haven is also suspended. Officials on Saturday said they do not know when service will be restored.
The main events for Yale’s graduation are on Sunday and Monday.
Yale University had created a mobile site, m.commencement.yale.edu to alert people as to transportation issues prior to the accident with up to the minute information.Bruce Judson, president of the site developer Judson Mobile, said, ” While we can’t change the situation, our mobile capabilities are helping to ease the challenges parents and families now face in traveling to the graduation.”
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