winter

Microsoft is aiming to make Web viewing of the Winter Olympics a lot more like watching the events on TV.

While Beijing brought the first widespread use of the Internet to deliver live video of the Games, the Vancouver Olympics--which starts February 12--will offer a range of new options, including TiVo-like features like pausing, rewinding, and replaying during a live broadcast. In addition, broadcaster NBC is using the adaptive streaming capability of Silverlight (Microsoft's rival to Adobe's Flash) to allow those with a good connection to get the Games in up to 720p high-definition quality.

"At the … Read more

The International Olympic Committee on Friday made it clear that athletes should feel free to share their experiences via Twitter at the upcoming Games in Vancouver.

In a post on its own Twitter feed, the IOC pointed to its detailed rules (PDF) for bloggers, but summarized its position with the succinctness called for in a tweet.

"Athletes go ahead and Tweet as long as it is about your own personal experience at the Games," the IOC said on the microblogging site.

Some Olympians, including skiing star Lindsey Vonn, had expressed confusion over the policies. At one point, Vonn … Read more

Ever wish you could move objects using only your thoughts?

That vision is becoming closer to reality. Toronto-based Interaxon has created technology that lets users control a series of lights using only their minds.

At this month's Winter Olympics in Vancouver, visitors to the Ontario House will be able to try out the technology, using their brain waves to control lights at either Toronto's CN Tower, Niagara Falls, or Ottawa's Parliament building.

Users wear a headset that measures the brain's alpha waves--associated with relaxation--and beta waves, associated with concentration. By focusing or relaxing, a signal is … Read more

With snow at a premium, Olympics organizers at one Vancouver, B.C., venue are using bales of straw to augment the white stuff as they construct runs for snowboarding, freestyle skiing, and other events.

Although there is plenty of powder at Whistler, B.C., where many of the skiing and sledding events take place, a combination of rain and unseasonably warm temperatures have left Cypress Mountain with less snow had been anticipated.

Olympics officials have taken a number of steps to preserve snow on the mountain and ensure that they have enough powder to make it through the games. Earlier … Read more

Cabrios and bikinis aren't just great for summer, they can also keep you warm in the middle of winter. In this video, a spontaneous bikini contest burst at Koningsplein, a town square in Amsterdam.

If you just gotta have USB Warm Gloves, Japanese e-tailer Thanko has finally released a new fashion model, four years later. The latest gloves (2,500 yen, $27.75) come in white with faux trimmings for a more feminine elegance. Not forgetting the tech nerds, they also come in a more conservative black without the furry bits.

Other than those cosmetic tweaks, the gloves retain the original hood so you can expose your twinky digits for more effective keyboard work. The bummer is you'll need two USB jacks to plug in and get toasty, which could be a crowd … Read more

I bought a ticket and was ready to go to Woodstock; however, my ride chickened out and I missed the seminal musical event of the 1960s.

The thing is, over the course of those three days in August 1969, I, even a 20-year-old, was glad I missed it.

Sure, three days of peace and music sounds nice, but Woodstock was an instant media legend. Granted, great bands were there by the helicopter load; but the sound, as best as I could tell, was awful for the crowd gathered. Unlike today's high-powered concert sound systems that can easily play sound loud enough to cause hearing loss, the Woodstock system was probably pretty low intensity volumewise. Then again, I'm sure most of the 500,000 Woodstock Nation attendees were grooving under their own power.

That, combined with the rain, mud, and less than stellar lavatories would have made me pretty miserable.

I bought the "Woodstock: Music from the original Soundtrack" LP when it came out, and I saw the film--in 70mm in Manhattan. For me, those were a lot better than being there. I listened to the best music of the three days and didn't have to endure the rest of ordeal.

Think about it: The edited, perfected versions of the event are the ways most folks have experienced Woodstock. Most people were either too young to go in the first place, and most boomers, like myself, didn't get there. For us, Woodstock is the movie or music.

I just wonder for those who were there, have the movie and soundtrack albums replaced their memories of the actual event? There seems to be an endless stream of Woodstock titles coming out. … Read more

The last time we spoke with Shaun White on The 404, he was promoting his multiplatform video game Shaun White Snowboarding. We got to sit down with the Olympic gold medal winner again this week at an Ubisoft event in lower Manhattan where he explained what's new in Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, an exclusive title for the Wii.

With the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver around the corner, World Stage focuses on taking snowboarding globally. The game will once again take advantage of the Wii Balance Board, allowing you to sway back and forth like you're actually … Read more

This time of year, I hear that much of the country suffers from a season called "winter." Here in Houston, we bundle up when the temperature drops below 70, so I feel your pain. To get through these cold, dark days, consider adding a slow cooker to your kitchen appliance stash.

The Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 comes with--wait for it--three separate crocks in 2-, 4-, and 6-quart sizes. Why would you want such a thing? Allow me to explain.

We're a family of six here at our house, and four of those are kids under 10, so the … Read more