Daily Friction #353
Create your own plastic Lego bricks, learn all about the current gaming consoles, find out about turning security to be part of the core components, understand how Google took such a big chunk of our digital life, put your hands on 15 useful web development tools, find great bargains and more in today’s edition of the Daily Friction.
Hardware
- Lego loses EU trademark on bricks - The EU ruled that the beloved Lego brick design was not a corporate trademark. While Lego imitators still can’t use the name, they can now replicate the exact measurements and design of Lego bricks with impunity. No doubt the original Lego brick are of the highest quality, but I can never imagine them ever being as pricey as they are today.
Information
- A feature guide to current-generation gaming consoles - The holiday season is always an exciting time for gamers. This is the time of year when the best games are lining store shelves in mass quantities, the console manufacturers are putting together the best hardware deals of the year, and all the guns are ablaze in the glorious console war. This year in particular is special, though, as both the PlayStation 3 and Wii are two years old this month, and the Xbox 360 is about to undergo a substantial refresh.
- Security software one step closer to being a core unit - Much of the core components like the Windows Kernel32 has always had a weak spot in that it had to provide hooks to allow third party vendor access into this core so their products could work. This is why there was such a stink raised before Vista was release. At that point Microsoft wanted to totally lock down the Kernel from any outside access through PatchGuard.
- A Sea of Unwanted Imports - Gleaming new Mercedes cars roll one by one out of a huge container ship here and onto a pier. Ordinarily the cars would be loaded on trucks within hours, destined for dealerships around the country. But these are not ordinary times.
- Google Seduces With Utility - My increasingly exclusive relationship with Google started with search, of course, when I switched from Yahoo years ago. Eventually I accepted an invitation to Gmail, with its oodles of storage and very granular search function, and it has oddly become my default database — deep, rich and personal.
Wed Development
- 15 Helpful In-Browser Web Development Tools - There are many useful Web development tools that integrate in your browser. These in-browser tools are commonly known as add-ons or extensions. Though add-ons and extensions aren’t just for Web development, many of them out there are designed specifically for Web developers.
Bargains
- Remember: Many of these bargains may be discontinued hours or less after they are announced, check the specified price to see if you arrived on time.
- Panasonic KX-TG9361B DECT 6.0 Drop & Splash Resistant Cordless Phone ($37.55).
- Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens ($499.95).
- SanDisk Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player ($144.95).
- Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks ($69.99).
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