Brandon Dimmel

Taking advantage of its dominant standing in the search engine world, Google is now setting its sights on the online payment market. Rumors abound that Google will announce today its intent to openly take on Paypal, the Internet credit medium that ... has been a hot payment option for -- and major benefactor of -- the popularity of eBay. Sources reveal that Google's first foray into online payments may resemble a simple Internet "wallet", something as simple as a network account (a service already adopted by Yahoo, which allows consumers to store their billing information via the web). However, ... (view more)

Electronic Arts (EA) is the dominant game publisher in today's console market. There has, however, been one genre that EA has yet to manhandle -- the immensely popular line of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or "MMORPGs." With that ... said, yesterday's announcement that EA has purchased Mythic games -- the developer behind the Dark Age of Camelot series and the upcoming Warhammer Online -- is proof that EA is interested in bringing MMORPGs to console gamers on a grand scale. (Source: gameSpot.com ) Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games: A bit of History MMORPGs ... (view more)

Just a few weeks after the major release of its new security system (OneCare Live) and hours after the launch of Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft has lost two of its most recognizable executives: corporate vice president Martin Taylor and original ... Xbox team member Ted Hase. Hase was a co-creator of Microsoft Media Center, and a major reason for its connectivity with the Xbox 360. After sixteen years with Microsoft, Hase may have been tempted by greener pastures. Although there is no clear reason given for his resignation, he admitted, "It's only recently become known that I was leaving ... (view more)

Maybe the Styx really were onto something. Decades after the song "Mr. Roboto" changed the definition of bad dancing, robots are once again at the center of technological news. Recent headlines have outlined the increasing role robots may play in ... the future of North American life, from Microsoft software to national defense. There are a few definitions of robots: yesterday Microsoft released the basic outline for a platform that would use system tools, including browsers, programming formats, and operating systems similar to those used for the artificial intelligence in robots. Microsoft is ... (view more)

As hype over the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) and Nintendo Wii (pronounced "We") continue to threaten Microsoft's current hold over "next-gen" systems, the latter is preparing for the Fall and Winter battle by incorporating proven hardware. Featuring ... technology manufactured by GestureTek, the Xbox Live Vision Camera will allow Xbox 360 owners with an online connection to customize their gamer tags, engage in video conversations, and most importantly play interactive games that move beyond the joystick. Much like Sony's popular EyeToy, the Xbox Live Vision Camera (set for release ... (view more)

Three years after announcing its intent to enter the world of security software, Microsoft will be launching its new Windows OneCare Live on Thursday, June 1st, 2006. OneCare provides users with Spyware and antivirus protection through firewall ... software that also offers comprehensive backup and maintenance tools for Windows PCs. Although the functions offered by OneCare -- including all-in-one protection against undesired intruders and the regular backing-up of files to keep processing speed high -- are reason for its growing popularity, much of the hype surrounding OneCare Live comes from ... (view more)

On May 23, 2006, Bill Gates was giving his speech on the future of Microsoft, when protesters wearing bright yellow Hazmat suits swarmed the entrance of a convention center. Their message to the software developer was, "your product is defective and ... hazardous to users." (Source: www.fsf.org ) The surprise protest marked the launch of DefectiveByDesign.org, a direct-action campaign that will target Big Media and corporations that market Digital Rights Management (DRM). DefectiveByDesign.org is a broad-based, anti-DRM campaign that is targeting Big Media, unhelpful manufacturers, and ... (view more)

X-Ray Pc X-RayPC Displays running processes, and compares them to the SpywareGuide database. The result is something like a systems management tool with a built-in expert system. Lists active processes, List autostarting programs, Lists BHOs, ... Download Program Files, IE Extension plugins, etc, Shows file size and MD5 of all files instantly, One-Click "Triage" : shows which items are "good", "bad" or "unknown", Integrated file-uploader, Integrated deactivation and removal of an item or file, Can kill running processes (within the limits of the OS security model), Can delete in-use files (after ... (view more)