ware

MIT OpenCourseWare: Teaching the world for free

By any measure, MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative, which seeks to "open source" education by making course ware from premier institutions available online to all for free, is a success.

But recently published data for OpenCourseWare suggests that it's an even bigger success than I had supposed. Consider:

More than 53.7 million individuals have now visited OpenCourseWare's site/affiliated sites; OpenCourseWare servers have now delivered over 3.1 billion files ("hits") since launch; 8.5 million zip files of full course content have been downloaded from the site; 2.1 million OpenCourseWare videos have … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings us a retro-themed rhythm game on WiiWare and an Olympic-style competition simulator from 1985. WiiWare BIT.TRIP BEAT (Aksys Games, 600 Wii points): Retro-themed rhythm gaming at its finest! Use your Wii remote to control the beat alone or with up to four players total. The 8-bit soundtrack is sure to please gamers of all ages. Virtual Console Summer Games II (1985, Commodore 64, 500 Wii points): 1985's Summer Games II puts you up against thousands of athletes from around the world. Compete in various events including cycling, equestrian, fencing, high jump, javelin, kayaking, rowing, and … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings us an interactive board game for the whole family and a turn-based fantasy game from the Super Nintendo. WiiWare Family & Friends Party (Gammick Entertainment, 1,000 Wii points): Up to eight people can play along in this interactive board game. Compete in single challenges or events that require multiple simultaneous players. Virtual Console Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993, Super Nintendo, 800 Wii points): Take down the evil Empire in this turn-based strategy game. It's your duty to lead a group of rebels to destroy the Zetegenian using magic weapons and Tarot … Read more

Take frying matters into your own hands

Everything tastes better deep fried. Or at least, everything tastes better when it is deep fried correctly. From fish to fries, anything that spends too much time in the oil ends up a greasy and soggy mess. It's unfortunate that so many meals that could be delicious end up swimming in a puddle of their own grease. If only there was a way to control the frying process...

Take fry matters into your own hands with the Waring Professional Deep Fryer. The professional-style fryer is operated through a digital LCD control panel. Just input the desired temperature and set … Read more

Gaming preview: Who should buy the Nintendo DSi and who shouldn't

With estimated unit sales approaching 100 million worldwide, Nintendo has proven itself time and time again as the industry ruler of the portable console market. With the DSi--the second refresh of the Nintendo DS--we're starting to see the company move in an evolutionary direction with its flagship handheld.

The DSi takes with it most of the features the DS Lite had to offer, but adds new multimedia capabilities. The DSi has been on sale in Japan since November 1 of last year and has already sold well over an astonishing 1 million units. Now that Nintendo has announced that the DSi will go on sale April 5 in North America, it certainly leaves everyone asking one big question, "Should I buy one?"

First, let's look at what exactly separates the new DSi from the DS Lite. In terms of actual form-factor, the difference between the two portables is negligible. The DSi is slightly slimmer, but you're not going to see the massive change in size like we saw when Nintendo upgraded the original DS to the DS Lite. What you may notice is that both screens are a quarter of an inch larger. The DSi hardware also actually eliminates the Game Boy Advance slot found on the Lite, so you won't be able to play older Game Boy Advance games or DS titles that make use of the port, such as "Guitar Hero: On Tour." … Read more

Bring the breakfast bar home

Waffles are good any time of the day or night. This may be because waffles are good topped with sweet or savory ingredients. From chicken and waffles to ice cream and berries, the waffle is a versatile base for many a delicious meal.

Perhaps more amazing than the ability to have waffles with any meal is the ability to have breakfast anytime. The breakfast bar in a hotel closes at a certain hour and the biscuit-selling fast-food joints do the same. Many restaurants serve breakfast until a predetermined time. For those who want 24-hour breakfast availability, it's best to … Read more

Old MacDonald's waffle iron

This morning I was hungry for waffles. Not pancakes, but waffles. Sometimes I keep a box of Eggos in the freezer, but those aren't really waffle-waffles. Eggos, at least to my taste buds, are more of a buttery blueberry cookie than they are a waffle, so popping a couple of those in the toaster ain't gonna do the trick. The craving is for waffles and waffles only. Unfortunately, I only have a cheap waffle iron that produces less than stellar results. It is in this frame of mind that I go window-shopping for waffle irons.

This VillaWare V2001F UNO Farmyard Waffler … Read more

Q&A: Citrix exec says cloud to carry Xen against VMware

Citrix aims to beat VMware at virtualization. A year ago it bought XenSource, the company created by the founders of the Xen open-source hypervisor, and switched the Citrix business focus to virtualization.

Citrix made XenServer, the commercial system based on Xen, central to its strategy, and applied a Xen brand to other Citrix products involved in delivering applications to desktops. XenSource staff gained senior positions at Citrix and have been setting the company's future direction.

Ian Pratt, the original project leader of Xen and a founder of XenSource, remains a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, but is now … Read more

LucasArts, BioWare unveil new 'Star Wars' game

Updated at 4:13 p.m. PDT: This story now includes more information from the press event announcing 'Star Wars: The Old Republic' at LucasArts Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO--At a press event at LucasArts' headquarters in the Presidio here Tuesday afternoon, LucasArts and BioWare unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, a new massively multiplayer online game.

The game is set about 350 years after the popular Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games and about 3,500 years before the Star Wars movies.

The companies did not divulge a release date and it appears that they will not show any … Read more