Family Learning Center

Microsoft Seizes 23 Domain Names In One Swoop

Apple recently made headlines here on TC for depriving an individual of 16 .com domain names that contained some of the company’s brand names, including MacBook and iPod.

Microsoft saw that move and then played an even better hand: the company was granted no less than 23 .com domain names in one fell swoop earlier this month.

Of those, 22 relate to the software giant’s desktop operating system, Windows, while one contained the ..read more

Lenovo unleashes cut-rate ThinkStation E20 workstation on an unsuspecting public

Kids, are you a corporate buyer of CAD and DCC (digital content creation, duh!) systems looking to save a few pennies in a difficult economic environment? Well, you’re in luck: we’ve dug up yet another demure, innocuous Lenovo with an oversized novelty handle for you, the ThinkStation E20. Shipping with your choice of an Intel Core i3, i5, Pentium, or Xeon 3400 Series processor and either Intel Core HD or NVIDIA ..read more

Openmoko brings improved keypad / scrolling and math equations to WikiReader

It sort of blows our mind that OpenMoko has managed to sell more than a smattering of its $99 WikiReaders (you know, considering just how limited in scope this thing is), but evidently there’s a huge demand out there for improvements. The company has just rolled out its Spring 2010 update, which adds math equations, fluid scrolling, and enhanced navigation. Reportedly, the latter comes in the form of an improved ..read more

Can Google Buzz Succeed Where FriendFeed Couldn’t?

Google just launched Google Buzz, the company’s new social networking service which will be tightly integrated with Gmail. There can be little doubt that Google Buzz looks a lot like FriendFeed, the social aggregation service that was acquired by Facebook in August 2009. Today, FriendFeed’s developers are Facebook employees and aren’t likely to continue to improve the service in any meaningful way, while the active user community on FriendFeed continues to shrink rapidly. Given ..read more

How Google Buzz is Disruptive: Open Data Standards

Google rolled out a social stream service today called Buzz. It looks on the surface like Facebook, FriendFeed and other stream reading and writing services. It will compete with Facebook and Twitter. Under the covers, though, this major product was built by a team of people taking a radical new approach to online publishing: Buzz is all about open, standardized user data.

Google Buzz data can be syndicated out to other ..read more

Screen Grabs: DJ Roomba mixes business with pleasure on Parks and Recreation Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.

An automated vacuum cleaner that pumps out rap while tidying your mess? Call us crazy, but this very well may be the most intelligent thing the United States government has ever done.

Continue reading Screen Grabs: DJ Roomba mixes business with pleasure on ..read more

Raiding the Android pantry: after Froyo comes ‘Gingerbread’

Anyone who’s been following Google’s codename saga for Android builds is probably 15 pounds heavier just from hearing the names themselves — Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, you get the idea. Delectable dessert names aren’t the only common theme here, though: they’re going in alphabetical order, so we need a “G” sweet next. Well, Google’s Brian Swetland — who works on Android’s Linux-based kernel in Mountain View — has dropped that knowledge in passing ..read more

Bubble Motion Launches Twitter-Like Voice Blogging Service For Mobile Phones

Sequoia-backed voice messaging company Bubble Motion is getting into the microblogging space today, that is the voice-based microblogging space. The startup is launching Bubbly, a voice-blogging social network built for mobile phones.

With Bubbly, you can record and broadcast messages from any mobile device. When a users records audio messages and updates, followers can listen in whenever they want. To start voice-blogging, you enter a short code onto your phone, ..read more