ghosts

G.ho.st gives users way to access their virtual computer on iPhone

SAN DIEGO--Why carry a computer laden down with data and applications with you everywhere when you could access all that information from any browser?

That's the proposition behind an Israeli company known as G.ho.st, which presented at DemoFall here Monday afternoon.

Already, the company, whose name is also their URL, has a browser-based version that allows anyone to access all this data from anywhere. The idea is that by doing it this way instead of through traditional virtual computer software, which requires a lot of configuration, you can access your data from any computer.

Now, G.ho.… Read more

Trying to erase the Ghosts of the past

CARLSBAD, Calif.--In the field of start-ups looking to replicate the computer operating system on the Web, Ghost is just one of many.

Like others, it sees an opportunity to not just re-create Windows on the Web, but perhaps to even replace the traditional operating system. I see some interesting notions, but a lot of challenges in these models.

But what struck me most about the company is its unique workforce. Ghost has a few workers in Israel, while most of the company is located in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The idea is to show the world as … Read more

Ghost and Glide show Web OS innovation at D6

Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher put Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer up on stage first thing at the D6 conference, and by doing so, let them set the agenda for the operating system discussion here at the show.

Microsoft's duo didn't do a great job of capitalizing on that position. Rather, they left a lot of room for other companies to excite the audience with newer ideas. Two companies here are taking on that charge.

Ghost The first, Ghost, demo'd Wednesday. Its product is a "virtual computer," as the company calls it. Hosted at Amazon Web Services, … Read more

Update: NIN grosses $750,000 overnight

An update to yesterday's post: the $300 deluxe box set is sold out, according to the Nine Inch Nails Web site. The band made only 2,500 copies of the deluxe set, which means that they've already grossed $750,000. In preorders. In less than a day. That should be more than enough to cover the cost of manufacturing this set, and probably the initial runs of the lower-priced physical sets as well, plus recording costs (a high-budget major-label release might cost $100,000 to record). And since NIN is no longer on a label, every dollar of … Read more

Where we're so awesome, we can electrocute Blanka

EPISODE 49

Caroline McCarthy joins us to summarily rick roll the living crap out of us. We talk ghosts and social networks, SXSW, Major League Baseball 2K8. And we even get a little personal...What? Caroline McCarthy + Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales? What? We didn't say that...see the question marks?

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Cross-blogging link: Ace Reporter Caroline McCarthy's cool, hip, in-the-know, up-to-date, above-average, exceptional, adept, and witty blog, the Social.

NIN nails it

Nine Inch Nails' surprise release of Ghosts I-IV today in five differently priced formats is the perfect example of how recorded music can, should, and inevitably will be sold in a world where free has become the norm.

I suggested several business models for recorded music in my post the other day, which was a response to Chris Anderson's Wired article about "free" as the future of business. Ghosts employs at least two of them.

First and foremost, it's a great example of the "freemium" model, in which the hardcore NIN fans subsidize the … Read more

RC toy for the paranoid: black helicopter

All good things must come to an end. Eventually, your co-workers will become immune to your flying toy antics, and you'll need to come up with some other way to irritate them. So here's the answer you've been looking for: the black helicopter.

This way, not only can you buzz them at will, but you can also prey on their paranoid tendencies at the same time--the best of all conspiratorial worlds. The "Black Ghost," as first seen on Coolest-Gadgets, has "full altitude and directional control," which is a good thing because it'll … Read more

Put a Ghost in the machine for $0

Symantec's Norton Ghost is a super tool for backing up your PC. The latest version, 12.0 (wow, is that like the first 12.0 version of anything, ever?), normally sells for $69.99, but you can get it free, kinda, from Buy.com.

You start out paying $50 (free shipping!), then get back a $30 Visa debit card as part of Rebate #1. To qualify for Rebate #2, a $20 Visa debit card, all you need is proof of ownership of just about any semi-related utility: "A stand-alone, retail (boxed or downloaded) version of any Norton or … Read more

Wii virtual console releases for this week

Just in case you aren't busy enough playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption today, here are the three virtual console games released this morning.

Super C (1990, NES, 500 Wii points)--Super C is the sequel to the classic Konami action side-scroller, Contra. In Super C, you'll take on even more aliens and baddies, some of which used to be your allies. Breath of Fire II (1995, Super NES, 800 Wii points)--Play as one of nine available characters in this highly regarded RPG filled with demons, dragons, and magic. Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1989, Genesis, 800 Wii points)--The … Read more