han

We're believers: WINTER IS COMING. Technically I guess it arrived a year ago, but Jeff and I are finally catching up to the "Game of Thrones" hype and spend the first few minutes of today's episode discussing the George R. R. Martin books and the anachronisms of the show.

The reviews are in for Microsoft Kinect Star Wars and nobody is impressed with the glitchy gameplay and a story that seems to appeal more to kids than fans of the original movies. With years of anticipation in the making, Jeff echoes the fans in the galaxy … Read more

Released over the last decade, the Lego Star Wars ultimate collector series contains many elaborate sets, including "the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs." This "hunk of junk," officially known as set #10179, sold for $500 when it launched in 2007.

Over the course of three years, Francisco Prieto created a 3D stop-motion video of the Lego-ized Falcon being born. … Read more

Hans Reiser, the jailed Linux programmer convicted in 2008 of killing his estranged wife, is going to federal court to demand a new trial, according to a 117-page handwritten filing posted by Wired reporter David Kravets, who covered the bizarre courtroom drama gavel to gavel in Oakland, Calif.

Reiser--known to the technology world as the founder of the ReiserFS file system software, claims, among other things, that his attorney forced him to take the stand against his will.

"My court appointed lawyers, the judges, the DDA, the police, C.P.S., County Counsel, the Public Defender, in short the … Read more

Global Gaming Factory X, a Swedish company that operates Internet cafes but became far more noteworthy for attempting to acquire The Pirate Bay last year, is facing possible bankruptcy. In addition, the company is the subject of a police investigation in Sweden.

Two of GGF's creditors claim the company owes them the combined equivalent of $220,000 and want authorities to put the company into bankruptcy, according to reports in numerous Swedish newspapers. A bankruptcy isn't very exciting, but GGF's owner-operator, the mercurial Hans Pandeya, has a long track record of generating controversy--so things may perk up. … Read more

When it comes to the future of technology, Jeff Han literally has his finger on the pulse.

Han, best known for creating the giant touch-screen "Magic Wall" used by CNN, has been a pioneer in touch technology since his days at NYU. His 40-person company, Perceptive Pixel, is hardly a household name, but the company has carved out a niche for itself selling the kinds of touch wall systems used in defense, government, and medical-research markets.

"We're trying to understand how multitouch is useful to the knowledge worker (to) get real work done," Han told CNET. His comments come just as Perceptive Pixel has landed a new wave of funding, including an investment from products giant 3M. It's the second round of funding for the start-up, which now has offices in New York, Palo Alto, Portland, and Washington, D.C.

While Apple and Microsoft focus on the consumer and retail end, Han has zeroed in on the upper echelon of the business. His only real consumer play was a brief appearance in the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog back in 2007.

Although Han is focused largely on large-screen touch interfaces, one area he is also eyeing is the intersection between touch screens and "Minority Report"-style in-air gestures. On their own, he said, the in-air stuff is fairly imprecise, largely useful for games and entertainment--much the way Microsoft is using it for Kinect. Combine those gestures with a touch screen, though, and things get a bit more interesting, he said.… Read more

The operators of The Pirate Bay have denied claims that the Swedish BitTorrent search engine has been sold.

The Pirate Bay was responding to claims made Tuesday by Swedish businessman Hans Pandeya, who announced he had paid $10 million to acquire The Pirate Bay.

"We have no deal with them," said a note that was posted to The Pirate Bay's blog on Wednesday. "We have not even talked to them. Since this is quite heavy fraud and we don't want our users to buy shares or anything like that in a company that is claiming … Read more

Hans Pandeya, the man who tried to acquire The Pirate Bay last year, has purchased controlling interest in a tiny U.S. company that makes and sells wall calendars, according to records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pandeya paid $325,000 for Business Marketing Services, a printing company that trades its over-the-counter stock on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB), according to the SEC filing.

In January, Pandeya took control of 15 million shares, or 78 percent of the company's stock, records show. Business Marketing Services didn't report any revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, … Read more

NEW YORK--Hans Pandeya, the Swedish businessman whose attempts to acquire The Pirate Bay last year collapsed amid controversy, is giving digital media another try.

Pandeya, who attended this week's Digital Music East Forum here, said Thursday he's busy creating a base in Boston for his U.S. operations. Asked whether he was still interested in The Pirate Bay, Pandeya said, "I have a lot of secret plans I'm working on."

As for why he was at a digital music conference, Pandeya would only say that his plans include digital media. Last year, Pandeya, CEO of … Read more

As we’re nearing the end of a year and the end of a decade, it’s time to look back and ahead. With at least three formative events in this young 21st century (9/11, the Tsunami, and the Great Recession) providing some sort of apocalyptic arch and instilling a profound sense of anxiety, it is no wonder that former visionaries are gathering at conferences asking “Where did the future go?” But, at the end of the day, the end of all days didn’t occur, and as the New York Magazine points out in its comprehensive review of … Read more