michael

What's in a Vblock? It's a cloudy mix onto which a very experienced CEO is shedding more light.

Michael Capellas, the former chief executive of Compaq, MCI, and First Data, and current CEO of Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) Coalition, updated industry analysts with VCE progress as of early December 2010, slightly more than a year after Cisco Systems and EMC announced the VCE joint venture, which integrates servers and networking gear from Cisco, storage and management software from EMC, and the VSphere virtual operating system of VMware into Vblocks.

While the VCE Coalition is a privately held entity … Read more

The 404 is away on vacation, but that doesn't mean you won't get your fix during the break! We're starting off with one of our favorite movies of all time: Back to the Future! Russ Frushtick from MTV's Multiplayer blog

We'll stump each other with trivia from the DVD extras, discuss some mistakes in the movie, our favorite moments, our first time watching it, and why we collectively hate the third film. Also, be sure to check out the slide … Read more

Today's parents are trying another form of punishment for their misbehaving kids: no Internet.

A new report from the folks at the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future found that three in five American households restrict their kids' access to TV as punishment, a figure that's been virtually the same the past 10 years.

But in a sign of our digital age, restricting access to the Internet has become much more common, with 57 percent of the households surveyed employing that as a form of punishment for their kids under 18.

A majority (69 percent) of the … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Jorge Bauermeister's bio below.

For those heavily engaged in the Internet regulation battle that has been raging over the past year, the next two weeks will be a nail-biting period. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski recently announced what seems to be a sensible compromise on the issue of Net neutrality, which will work to govern how the Internet pipes are managed.

Genachowski's proposal appears to meet all interested parties in the middle by ensuring the continuation of an open Internet and also providing an environment that enables the growth of the Internet and communications sector to continue at a rapid pace. Continued growth, naturally, is essential to enabling new technologies and services to meet consumer demand and needs.

But instead of plaudits, the chairman is stuck in a tug-of-war between the long-standing proponents of Net neutrality and those skeptical of new regulations and any unintended consequences they may cause. Splits in the commission, which will vote yea or nay this month, mirror the outside fight.

I have been a supporter of light-touch approaches to any sort of Internet regulation, often citing the negative fallout that could result from heavier rules--particularly the approach of reclassifying Internet services under the Title II framework that has governed telephone services since the 1934 Telecommunications Act. Luckily, the Title II approach appears to have been taken off the table, given the recent announcement of the chairman's framework, which maintains rules under the current Title I approach.

Why compromise is good--and where extreme policy goes wrong As for those who want tough neutrality rules on wireless broadband, I'd advise one to be careful what you wish for. The smartphone revolution has created dramatic new demand for wireless capacity, which is already bumping up against the limits of current technology.

Wireless networks simply can't handle as much data as wired networks and, therefore, the wireless infrastructure and management of mobile networks require a different approach than wired and fixed broadband. We are just at the beginning of a high-growth wireless revolution. Overregulation will stunt its growth, and Genachowski's plan takes into account that reality, leaving room for continued growth while also doing enough to ensure consumer protections on mobile networks. … Read more

So much for the PlayStation Move's sales lead over the Kinect.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter released a note yesterday saying Microsoft has sold more units of its motion-control device, Kinect, than Sony has sold PlayStation Move units, even though the Move launched weeks earlier.

"The higher-priced Kinect controller appears to have overtaken the Move controller in the sales races, with sales about even notwithstanding Move's six-week head start in the marketplace," Pachter wrote in a research note to clients.

Pachter came to that conclusion by analyzing information offered up recently by both Sony and Microsoft.

Earlier … Read more

If you haven't already gotten one of these, then sorry, you're not on the list of select people receiving this limited-edition "Dominate Another Day" iPad.

"Dominate Another Day" is a viral marketing campaign on YouTube (video below) that seeks to promote basketball legend Michael Jordan's brand. Packaged in a metal briefcase with the iconic Air Jordan logo, the iPad's back has been laser engraved with images from the video.

Unfortunately, this unique iPad isn't for sale, at least not until someone puts it up on eBay. For now, you can just feast your eyes on the images. … Read more

We're back after a full weekend of turkey-binging and shopping guilt with a brand-new Digital City podcast. Bonnie Cha bravely guest-hosts, joining Julie and Scott for some shopping wish-list picks while Dan and Joe remain in holiday seclusion.

We marvel at a recent Nielsen survey claiming that iPads are the top holiday pick for kids aged 6-12. Is this really an appropriate kid gift?

Scott debates whether he has enough energy to try EA's NFL Training Camp fitness game, and whether an NFL game called "Training Camp" that's released in November suffers from awkward marketing.

Plus, new MacBook Pro rumors, a strange sequined glove pack-in for Ubisoft's Michael Jackson game, and a close-up look at the Samsung QX410, one of the best all-around laptop values of the year, and a recent four-star reviewed product. Enjoy!

… Read more

Wilson's taking a day off to devote more time to early-morning photography, so Mark Licea sits in his seat to fill in. We received a handful of listener responses about yesterday's TSA scanner conversation, so we spend part of the first half clarifying our stance on the issue, but also discuss our typical Friday stories--Asians, vacations, video games, Apple, Kool-Aid, and paper airplanes just a few things you can expect to hear on today's show!

A 17-year-old geek bearing a striking resemblance to Wilson in middle school is getting heat from Apple after running a six-figure business out of his home selling white iPhone 4s. Six months ago, high school senior Fei Lam contacted Apple's Chinese supplier Foxconn and somehow convinced them to sell him white iPhone 4 parts.

He used those parts for Whiteiphonefournow.com, a site specializing in converting black iPhone 4s into the missing white version. After selling more than $130,000 worth of parts since, Lam just received a letter from a private investigator hired by Apple to investigate accusations of stolen goods, but there's no word yet from Apple about what they plan to do with the litigation. Another reason explaining Wilson's absence today!

Social networks are all fun and games until someone gets outed for digging Asian girls--that's the lesson of the week for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose old Friendster profile is making the rounds on the Internet for comments made about Asian females under the "What I Enjoy Doing" heading.

We'll grant Zuckerberg some slack since he was just a 19-year-old teenager at the time, and the rest of the content is equally lighthearted--he also lists "coding," "IN n Out," "bad life decisions," and "defeating nemeses" under the same category.

Our final story of the day comes from South America, where Brazilian Christians have banned the use of all USB connections and their associated products after claims that the logo for USB resembles the Satanic trident.

The Web is divided on the origin of the USB logo, but some suggest that the artist based the design on Neptune's Trident, with three shapes adorning the points that symbolize several connections to one destination.

Unfortunately, the ban on USB devices means that flash drives, mice, keyboards, and printers all fall under the same devil-worshiping umbrella, so hold onto your parallel port cords and PS/2 extensions--someday you might need them in Brazil.

AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile are creating a mobile payment network designed to help consumers more easily pay for items at stores using their cell phones, the trio announced today.

The three mobile companies are building the network, known as Isis, with the initial goal of setting up a mobile payment system in which people can use cell phones to pay for items directly at a retailer, known as point-of-sale purchases.

The system will use a technology called near-field communication (NFC), which provides short-range and encrypted wireless communication between different devices. The companies said the system will … Read more