NASA won't dampen exploratory spirit of Mars rovers
[Via Physorg]
Posts with tag killed

Japan's NHK has followed up The Hollywood Reporter's earlier indications Toshiba was ready to dump its money-losing HD DVD business, with news that the company is prepared to cease manufacturing software and hardware, at a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. This caps the worst week ever for red, when HD DVD was dumped by Netflix and Wal-mart, pushed to the background by Best Buy and put on -- an apparently incredibly short -- deathwatch right here. Toshiba is mum on the subject right now, but we hear there's plenty of cheap players and movies in a dumpster around back of the HQ.
At first listen, one may assume that leaping onto subway tracks for an iPhone is completely and utterly insane, and while we'd tend to agree, it's not like we haven't seen folks do similarly zany things in the heat of the moment. Reportedly, a vacationer in New York recently dropped his iPhone down onto the subway tracks while shuttling back home, and after realizing his dear mobile was missing and backtracking quite a ways, his pal finally spotted it down below. As you can probably imagine, the crazed owner leaped down, snagged the scratched up (but still fully functional) device and managed to climb back out unscathed. Granted, we can only imagine how painful it would be to drop even more dough on yet another iPhone when all that stands between you and your current one is a leap of faith, but we'd probably just ask one of those friendly MTA employees to help us out before going mano a mano with the Reaper.
Now that Spider's hogging the limelight, the question inevitably had to be asked, and it seems the answer is no. The inquiry, of course, is whether or not AMD would keep on keepin' on with the lukewarmly received Quad FX platform, and judging by comments from the chip maker's own Suzy Pruitt, the end for it is nigh. More specifically, Pruitt stated that AMD had "discontinued future planning and development" for the Quad FX platform, and also noted that it had shifted most of the effort over to initiatives such as the aforementioned Spider. Notably, it was stated that the outfit would continue to support customers that have existing Quad FX-based hardware, and while specifics weren't doled out, we did hear that upgrade options for those individuals would likely not include a Phenom-branded product. So much for unwavering dedication to its enthusiast-class dual-socket technology, eh?
This past Monday, an old electric fan (circa 1970) that was produced by Sanyo reportedly "caused a fire" which led to the death of two people in Tokyo. Apparently, a fire broke out "due to decay in the motor and other parts" of the fan, but the firm has denied that there were design flaws "or any other defects" to blame. Interestingly, the company has purportedly received "23 similar reports since 2000, including two involving people who suffered burns," but recalling a device made nearly four decades ago isn't exactly high up on the feasibility list.
GPS systems that end up helping the fuzz track down the baddies are nothing new, and a recent case involving a Piscataway man has an inconspicuous tracking system to thank for solving a gruesome mystery. Reportedly, the culprit had informed police that he had taken a 12-year old babysitter to view horses on their way back to her domicile, but "accidentally backed over her" during the outing. Closer inspection of the GPS system -- which was installed just days earlier by his suspicious wife -- revealed that the "horse stop" lasted three hours, which led police to believe that the girl was "ran down" after trying to escape. Needless to say, murder charges have since replaced the comparatively minor accusations of "reckless endangerment" that he had previously been dealt.
It goes without saying that talking whilst driving (let alone texting) isn't exactly the safest practice, and unfortunately for a British teenager, she could have four solid years to think about it. Rachel Begg, who was found to have used her cellphone nine different times in the 15 minutes prior to crashing into a grandmother's vehicle and subsequently killing her, was recently found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison. To make matters worse, Begg was driving nearly 70 miles-per-hour on a dark, rainy night, and the judge reportedly emphasized how costly her lack of reason was. Better leave the texting 'til after the ride's over, eh?
In a move that could be considered somewhat insensitive to those still grieving over Palm OS' official departure, Palm has now gone and axed a little bit more of itself, as the firm's once-popular LifeDrive device has been marked "end of life." Not even two full years after seeing the device get legit, go on sale, get photographed, and hit the chopping block, the media-centric Mobile Manager is on its way out. Notably, the unit has also vanished from UK retailers after reportedly "having fallen foul of EU regulations on the use of hazardous materials." Yeah, we've still got a few Treos and whatnot to keep us occupied, and there's always an (admittedly dim) glimmer of hope that Garnet solves all the Palm-related woes, but it looks like the LifeDrive has finally suffered the same fate that so many other dedicated PDAs already have.







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