Daily Bits

Archives for September 2010

Santa Can’t Deliver Nintendo 3DS This Year

by Leave a Comment

Come on now, you’re not really surprised are you?  After all, most – if not all – electronics manufacturers do experience delays every now and then.  Sony and Microsoft are pretty much the same way – why not Nintendo?

Anyhow, news about the Nintendo 3Ds has been going around for a while now, which, of course, has excited many a Nintendo fan.  The improved version of the Nintendo handheld gaming console promises a 3D experience to every gamer without having the neeed for 3D glasses.  Now isn’t that something?

Unfortunately, Nintendo just announced that we are not going to see the new console by Christmas.  This is, of course, a disappointment to the fans who have been dreaming of getting a new portable gaming device from Santa this year.  On a more practical note, this move also means big losses for Nintendo.  But who cares about their losses when you can’t have your wish for the holidays?

There’s not much that you can do about it, though, except to wait for March if you’re in the United Kingdom – and the rest of Europe.  If you’re in Japan, then the wait is a bit shorter, as the console will be released by February.  The reason for the delay?

Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president says: “At first we thought it would be desirable to launch the 3DS within the year, so we made our forecasts on that basis. At this point it is clear that if we launch within the year, we will not be able to supply enough units.”

Whether or not it’s the real reason, you might want to save some of your Christmas money for February or March, whichever the case may be.

No Firefox for the iPhone

by Leave a Comment

Firefox lovers who are also iPhone users  might have been yearning for the day that a “real” version of the popular browser would be available for the Apple device.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon – if it will even happen, actually.

Yesterday, Mozilla once again announced that it is NOT going to come up with a full fledged version of Firefox for the iPhone.  Instead, it is simply going to continue working on Firefox Home, which is already in existence for the iOS.  Firefox Home is technically not a browser but is a bookmarking and tab synchronization technology.  In a blog post yesterday, ragavan puts an end to speculation that there just might be Firefox for the iPhone:

No Firefox Browser for the iPhone

We are working to bring as much of your Firefox experience as possible to Firefox Home. People have asked about adding more browser-like features to Firefox Home, but there are technical and logistical restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to build the full Firefox browser for the iPhone. We are focused on building Firefox Home as a rich, cloud-based application and making it a valuable product that people will continue to love and use.

iPhone users will also get more features from Firefox Home including password synchronization (I can just imagine how many people will find this useful!) and more connectivity to social networking sites (of course, that is a must these days).  If you want to download Firefox Home (lucky iPhone user you), you can find it in the iTunes App Store.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

by Leave a Comment


Can’t get enough of speed? Of course, the average person (READ: you and I) may never get to experience what the boys at the Singapore GP experienced over the last weekend, but good thing we have the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and PC to provide vicarious gaming experiences. Come the 26th of October, we are going to be treated to something that just might whet our virtual appetites – Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, from Electronic Arts and Criterion Studios.

Not that the game is anything like the F1 races, but it has been touted as THE game that will bring back some life into the Need for Speed Franchise, which has seen a decline in the recent years. The question is: will this new release really make the franchise more interesting to players?

Here’s one video (of several) which will show you what is in store for us in the next month:

You have to admit – that is pretty impressive. I also have read that the game will not be too focused on the storyline, but instead highlight the fact that cops and players have to perform as best they can to level up. I like how simple that is, without the complication of plots that seem to be a tad too put on. Maybe it’s just me, but when storylines are not excellently crafted, it’s better not to have much of one at all?

In any case, for those in Europe, the game will be released a little later – November 19. In the meantime, enjoy the video and get ready to satisfy (and increase) your need for speed!

Internet Surveillance in America’s Future?

by 1 Comment

Talk about Big Brother. As if the capability to run (legal) wiretaps weren’t enough, the United States government is now aiming to set in place systems that would allow them to (legally) wiretap electronic communication such as e-mail and Facebook messages! What the Congress wants is that if the government sends a provider a wiretap order, they should be able to provide the required information.

The implications are huge. Bottom line: anything you send online (whether you’re using a wired connection or a wireless one) can be retrieved and reviewed.

Of course, the average person should not have anything to hide (aside from potentially embarrassing private messages), but the idea that the government can take a look at private information/communication if it wishes is not something that people will welcome any time soon. From a technical point of view, this proposition also poses a lot of risks. According to James X. Dempsey, Vice President of the Center for Democracy and Technology, the government is “asking for the authority to redesign services that take advantage of the unique, and now pervasive, architecture of the Internet. They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function.”

The underlying reason for the government’s plan is that the Internet is being used as a venue for communication by terrorists and other individuals/groups that are threats to society. If they have the ability to monitor and scrutinize this venue, then the world might just be safer for it. While this is indeed a serious concern, I am not so sure that wiretapping is the best solution. The system might just open up a whole new can of worms.

What do you think?

The Rise of The Yen

by 4 Comments

In times of recession, although some claim that the recession has ended already, the strength of currencies is very important for nations to maintain their economic power. While a strong dollar can damage the revival, and make imports more expensive as well as exports, Japan and the USA and Europe have had to deal with the amazing rise of the Yen over the last months.

Earlier this year the Yen reached its strongest point in 15 years compared to the USD but the currency did not stay as high and would soon drop again. One of the problems for Japan was that half of its exports to China are invoiced in yen, thus making its products less attractive. Luckily the country did not have to look for a credit loan and the Yen dropped in value again. Even though last week nations have stepped up and announced a verbal intervention to save the Yen. We looked at how the Yen grew this strong and its history. We also compared the Yen to other international markets and looked at its market share.

With thanks to Infographiclabs for another awesome graphic.

The Story Behind Facebook’s September 23 Outage

by Leave a Comment

Facebook addicts enthusiasts were sure to have noticed the outage last night – or early morning, rather.  The downtime lasted for about two and a half hours  – the longest in four years.  While some people (like yours truly) just gave up and forgot about the social networking site for a while, others just got totally frustrated.

Naturally, the Facebook Team released a statement to provide an explanation regarding what happened.  In a note, Robert Johnson tells us this:  “The key flaw that caused this outage to be so severe was an unfortunate handling of an error condition. An automated system for verifying configuration values ended up causing much more damage than it fixed.”

He goes on to say that the system resulted in a feedback loop that bogged down the database. In short, users couldn’t access the site.  Interestingly, the only way they could fix the situation was to shut down the site.

Think about it this way…if your computer freezes and will not respond no matter what you do, what is your course of action?  The chances are that you will simply turn the device off and then have it up and running again in a few minutes.  That’s basically what the tech guys at Facebook did.  Of course, the downtime took much longer than rebooting your computer, but that is only understandable considering the larger scale of the operations of the social network.

In any case, they had the site up in a couple of hours and we’re all enjoying the new Facebook look.  Don’t be surprised, though, if you encounter a few problems here and there in the next few days.  They’re still looking at the issue and doing a few tweaks.  What matters now is that you can go check your food in Cafe World and make sure they don’t spoil.