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Hugo Chavez joins Twitter, gets 120,000 followers after two tweets

Posted by Harshad

Hugo Chavez joins Twitter, gets 120,000 followers after two tweets


Hugo Chavez joins Twitter, gets 120,000 followers after two tweets

Posted: 29 Apr 2010 10:43 PM PDT

Hugo Chavez joins Twitter, gets 120,000 followers after two tweetsVenezuelan president Hugo Chavez, known globally for calling ex-President George Bush a "devil" among other slights has set up a Twitter account and has quickly amassed 120,000 followers.

The president even had 12,000 followers before his first Tweet, which came right before midnight on April 27th.

Venezuela is said to have 200,000 "active" Twitter users and it seems that a good portion have signed up to follow their elected leader.

Chavez's first Tweet says: "Epa que tal? AparecĂ­ como lo dije: a la medianoche. Pa Brasil me voy. Y muy contento a trabajar por Venezuela. Venceremos!!" Roughly translated that says "What's up? Came as promised, at midnight. Headed to Brazil now. I'm very happy to work for Venezuela. We will win!!"

If you want to check out some Chavez tweets, head here: http://twitter.com/chavezcandanga

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Pre-alpha version of Mozilla Fennec released for Android

Posted: 29 Apr 2010 10:23 PM PDT

Pre-alpha version of Mozilla Fennec released for AndroidMozilla has finally released the "pre-alpha" of the Fennec browser today for Android devices, bringing an early version of mobile Firefox to testers.

Says Mozilla developer Vladimir Vukićević: The release is "usable enough that we wanted to get some feedback on it."

The developer is fast to warn that the release is very buggy and will give Android users a lot of "force close" notifications, with some of the bugs even crashing the phone. The browser may not even work on phones that aren't the Droid or Nexus One.

The new release does have some notable features including "Weave" support, allowing for bookmark syncing from your desktop version of Firefox.

You can get it here but don't expect a fun-filled ride: http://bit.ly/fennec-android

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Apple vs. Adobe Round 2: Steve Jobs and Shantanu Narayen duke it out

Posted: 29 Apr 2010 02:43 PM PDT

Apple vs. Adobe Round 2: Steve Jobs and Shantanu Narayen duke it outThe battle over Apple's decision to keep Flash of its iPad and iPhone devices has taken a new turn this week, with the CEOs of the companies slugging it out with rant posts.

Over the course of a few months, the niceties between Apple and Adobe have broken down, with Apple practically saying Flash is not good enough to be on the iPad and one Adobe developer going as far as to tell Apple to screw itself.

This week, round two of the "epic" battle began, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs posting a 1700 word rant with his thoughts on Adobe and Flash, and why HTML5 is better. He also takes aim at Flash by saying it affects battery life negatively, is hard to use on touchscreen devices, and is not secure. I will post the letter at the end of the article, but Jobs concludes his post by saying:

"Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short. The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple's mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple's App Store proves that Flash isn't necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games. New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind."


Hours after the letter was posted, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen responded, calling Job's points a "smokescreen." Additionally he argues Flash is an open specification, and Apple's restrictions have "nothing to do with technology" and are more on protecting Apple's bottom line.

As for Flash's negative affect on battery life? "Patently false."

Steve Jobs: Thoughts on Flash
Highlights: The Journal's Exclusive Interview With Adobe CEO

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Sony sued over PS3 firmware update that removes 'OtherOS' feature

Posted: 29 Apr 2010 02:21 PM PDT

Sony sued over PS3 firmware update that removes 'OtherOS' featureSony has been sued this week in California over its recent firmware update that removed the "OtherOS" feature of the PlayStation 3, a feature that had allowed for the installation of Linux on an HDD partition.

The firmware update, version 3.21, was released last month.

The case was brought by Anthony Ventura who is claiming that the update is an "intentional disamblement of the valuable functionality originally advertised as available." Ventura adds that millions of customers purchased their consoles with OtherOS advertised, and that Sony has broken the terms of its contract with these customers.

Additionally, Ventura says there are no "security concerns," as Sony claims, and the real reason the feature was removed was to prevent homebrew and piracy. Piracy has decimated PSP software sales, and it seems Sony would like to stop that on the PS3 before it even gets started.

The class action suit is available for all U.S. PS3 owners that purchased their "fat" console before March 27th.

You can read the filing here: Ventura v. Sony

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Bungie signs exclusive 10 year pact with Activision

Posted: 29 Apr 2010 01:50 PM PDT

Bungie signs exclusive 10 year pact with ActivisionBungie, the developer behind the Halo franchise has announced they have signed an exclusive 10 year pact with Activision that will bring the developer's "next big action game universe to market."

For the next decade Activision will have exclusive, worldwide rights to publish and distribute future Bungie games "based on the new intellectual property on multiple platforms and devices."

Financials of the deal were not disclosed.

Bungie formally had an exclusive partnership with Microsoft, but the two split in 2007.

"We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise," adds Bungie President Harold Ryan. "From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences."

The Halo franchise has so far brought in $1.5 billion in revenue, and Bungie has sold over 25 million units worldwide.

"Bungie is one of the premier studios in our industry and we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with their talented team over the next decade,"
says Thomas Tippl, Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard. "Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry's best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities."

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