Issue 810

On The Net

with Chris Goh

X marrs the box

HotNews

Microsoft's Xbox sold extremely well at its launch in Japan earlier this month but, like Sony, it's been reported that customers returned them due to problems, especially complaints that the unit scratched disks when it played them. To limit the damage, Microsoft has said it will be accepting any returns with full refunds.

Of course Xbox was released in Australia today. Forget Playstation - in Germany the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne has developed the Painstation. It only has one game which is pretty similar to the old pingpong ball game between two bats, with a twist.

Depending on where the shot comes from, your hand feels anything from heat to an electric shock or a punch. The aim of the game is for someone to quit because they can't tolerate the pain anymore.

Apparently initial tests have revealed that it's rather addictive, especially for anyone with an over-inflated machismo. It just goes to show - you don't have to be that bright to be tough.

Back to the real Playstation - in May, Sony will launch a kit so a PS2 can run on a Linux Operating System. At about $400 Australian, I think you'd rather put it on your PC for free.

With the new Dolby headphone standards, you'll soon be able to have 6 speaker surround sound on any average pair of stereo headphones. It uses an acoustic principle called HRTF or Head Related Transfer Function. The decoder to do it will set you back around $8,000 though, and you can't carry it with your walkman, and the music/movie has to support this new standard (which only a few do), and... if you want it, you have too much money.

The National Australia Bank is trialling ATMs that speak back to help those with visual disabilities. By hooking up a pair of speakers, you can hear the ATM utter instructions about how to take your money out. Apparently it doesn't tell you how much they've just charged you to give your money back though...

Hotsites

plato.stanford.edu/contents.html: If you're into thinking about the 'big questions', then Stanford's big encyclopaedia of philosophy is a pretty good starting point - just wait for it to finish up to 'Z'. It's all the more impressive when you think that this isn't a portal, but drawn from Stanford's excellent archives.

www.myhero.com: No, not the recent TV comedy, but an amazing site which focuses on historical heroes and this week is dedicated to great women. It's a well-presented, in-depth site with excellent content.

www.rockhall.com: The Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame is another well constructed site, on the history and culture of Rock. Right on dudes.

www.flags.net: Now you can find out all the nations flags here, how comforting to know people still do these things.