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CNN HD heads north to Canada on Rogers
Canadians, rejoice! Effectively immediately, Rogers cable customers in Ontario can tune into CNN HD on channel 545. 'Course, only certain shows such as American Morning, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Anderson Cooper 360 and In The Money are actually shot in high-definition, but hey, you'll take what you can get, eh? Sadly, there's no word on if / when the station will bleed out to other locales and carriers in Canada, but if you manage to spot it on your lineup (and you're not already situated in Ontario), be sure to drop us a line in comments.
Konami slot machines pulled for subliminal messaging
While we've seen quite a few instances where shifty gamblers got the boot, this time it's the slot machines participating in a mass exodus of Canadian casinos. In another tale of misguided marketing garnering awful PR, Ontario's provincial gambling operator has "pulled 87 video slot machines out of service or physically removed them from its casinos" after an investigation found some tricky imagery hidden within. Apparently, a number of Konami slot machines flashed "winning jackpot symbols" for a fifth of a second every so often, purportedly giving players "subliminal messages" that would keep them chucking away coins for longer periods of time. Comically, Konami is asserting that the flashing images are simply a "software glitch" that will be fixed shortly, which leaves us wondering what else could be ailing these machines for the betterment of the establishment. Regardless, the Ontario-based discovery has spawned several other investigations in the US, British Columbia, and Quebec, but it has "yet to be determined" if the flashing imagery has effected the gameplay of addicts professional gamblers.[Via Konami]
Clipped Tags: IBM's solution to RFID security woes
Remember how we've been harping forever about how awful RFID is, security-wise? Specifically, how everything from your credit card data to your passport info can be hacked pretty easily? Well, IBM's new solution to this problem is not to change the way RFID works, but rather, to just snip off part of the antenna. Calling the new technology "clipped tag," Big Blue claims that this would reduce the range of RFID tags from 30 feet to mere inches, meaning a potential malfeasant would have to get awfully close to their target to steal data. Fortunately for us, clipped tags are set to ship this week, according to InfoWorld. The magazine also interviewed Dr. Ann Cavoukian, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada, who said that "the clipped tag concept solves a problem she has wrestled with for years: how to protect a consumer's privacy while still offering them the benefits of RFID technology." And as we all know, as Ontario goes, so goes the rest of the world. [Via The Inquirer]
DIY cat feeder powered by Ubuntu Linux, CD-ROM tray
It seems, from our very unofficial research, that cat owners tend to be geeks. And to prove our point, we bring you the geekiest cat owner in history. Lee Holmes, of Ontario, Canada, recently combined his Ubuntu Linux server to create a Rube Goldberg machine of a cat feeder. By running a script on his server, the CD-ROM tray pops open, a trap door opens, allowing cat food to flow down a cardboard chute into his cat's bowl. (Bah, just go watch it in action on YouTube, which is linked from his site.) As if that weren't geeky enough, he can use his i-mate JasJar to SSH to the server, allowing him to feed his cat from across the room, or across the world. Now all he needs is to figure out a way for the restocking process to be automated, and he could retire from his day job and sell these things to cat owners worldwide. [Via MAKE:Blog]
Toronto, Ontario Apple Store opens this weekend
Attention, Mac-users in Toronto: Apple Store Eaton Centre will open this Saturday, May 6th at 9:30 AM. This store is located at 220 Yonge Street Space #3110A in Toronto, on Level 3 near Sephora. You can find complete travel directions here. As usual, the first 1000 visitors will be rewarded with commemorative t-shirts. Visitors can also enter to win the “Grand Opening Sweepstakes,” which will award one winner with an iMac, an iPod nano, a Canon digital camera, a Sony Handycam CCD-TRV138, and an HP inkjet printer.If you're going to attend the opening at Eaton Centre, please send us links to your photos and reports! Good luck and have fun.
