XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Thursday, May 4. Today’s theme is it’s still going around , and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — You have only to look at the World of Warcraft to see some potential obstacles for MMORPG’s. In this case, users are complaining about delays in getting in the game and other interactive hiccups that occur during game play. As an educator, these remind me of complaints associated with online learning. Could it be that education was actually at the front of a technology wave? Also, Cory Doctorow links to his interview with Danny Hillis on how theme parks are different than games.




• Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — CBS has announced that it will follow ABC into the Web broadcast trend. Interestingly, the service is a combination of Web-only productions and popular prime time shows.
• Mobile Computing and Cell Phones – Intel has been pushing its way to the forefront with its new $400 laptop and other aid for developing countries. The Intel folk are critical of the MIT $100 laptop program saying it is giving the less fortunate last year’s technology. Or perhaps, Intel just wants to take everyone’s mind off of AMD? At any rate, here’s more on Intel’s low cost laptop solution. Nice pictures too. Also, I mentioned the new Helio phone earlier this week. Well, the folks over at Engadget Mobile have a nice review of the hardware. Finally, Opera has released its new Opera Mini 2.0 browser. “Users can download mp3s, pictures and videos directly onto their phones. This
  feature, along with buying content via sms automatically were missing from 1.0.”
• Social Networks – Robin Good has a great review of Skype’s new Skypecasting service. And, not to be outdone, AOL has announced its new plan to offer its AIM users (41 million of them) a free phone number that will allow people to call them from regular phones while they are online. The new service will also feature more traditional Skype-like services as well as AIM Pages that will extend AIM into the MySpace territory.
• Technology Talks — Microsoft announced yesterday the launch of its new proprietary adCenter. “AdCenter will now be the sole platform serving up advertisements on MSN, Windows Live, and other Microsoft Web sites, Microsoft said. Microsoft has previously relied on partners like Yahoo to sell advertising on its behalf, said Nate Elliott, an analyst with Jupiter Research.”