Sony is struggling on all fronts.  The PS3 is a distant third in the console war, and to make matters worse, the games division of Sony lost a staggering $3.3 billion (with a b) dollars in 2008.  Sony loses its corporate shirt on every unit sold, and they haven't sold enough of them to even have bragging rights.  There's talk of a 10-year life cycle, but by that time the XBox 720 (or whatever) will be out and nobody will want an 'antique' video game, even if it is one that's improving in graphics as it gets older. 

The solution is threefold:  A) better exclusive games, B) a cheaper console, or C) cut the price to make it affordable.  Solution A is very expensive, so it might not happen.  Solution C is just going to cause the company to lose even more money.  So that leaves Solution B.  One of the rumored ways of dropping the PS3's price would be to take out the Blu-Ray drive.

Maybe I'm crazy, but wasn't the whole point of the PS3 to be something to get Blu-Rays into homes, like the PS2 got DVD players into homes?  That's worked, as they won the format war over HD-DVD, but… Blu-Ray adoption thus far has been terrible.  Sony ended up winning for format war, but did they lose the video game console war because of it?  A downgraded PS3 means you'd have to have Blu-Ray games AND normal DVD games, oftentimes across several discs. 

As we've seen throughout history, people hate having to pay attention to what they're buying, and confusion would reign.  Sony's not going to take the Blu-Ray out of the PS3.  Prices will drop slightly, sales and bundles will increase, and still… nobody will buy the PS3.  At least not until Sony picks up some exclusive titles and dumps even more money into their games and entertainment product.  It takes money to make money, but how much more money can they afford to lose? 

Google's been troublesome all the way around lately.  First there's the GMail outages and continued technical difficulties, and now there's a phishing scam circulating around Google Talk.  Here's what to watch out for and what to avoid.

Basically, like I tell my parents all the time, most of the stuff people link you or send you in emails isn't worth downloading.  If someone sends you a TinyURL link to some site called ViddyHo, then it's probably not the smartest idea to give that site your Google login information.  If you have, change your username and password immediately!  (You should actually change your username and password on a regular basis anyway, but I don't need to tell you that.)

I have friends who, wisely, ask me "What is that?" any time I send them a link to anything.  Generally, I'll tell them either what it is or to shut up and click it.  Either way, they always know it's me on the other end and not some phishing scheme that's taken over my computer.  Most phishing schemes aren't rude enough to tell you to shut up.

H/T somegeekintn via Love Shak, Baby

I love GMail, but I'm also kind of dependent on it.  I have a couple of different websites, and all the mail I get at those locations goes to my GMail account, which I can usually check anywhere.  Unfortunately, when GMail goes down, I'm out of contact with just about everyone and everything.  Here lately, GMail has been giving me a lot of problems.  Thankfully, there are plenty of workarounds!

It's pretty amazing that Google gives you so many options for accessing GMail.  So many free email providers force you into using their newest interface, yet Google gives you access to the old mode, a Java-less mode, an iPhone mode and a general mobile phone mode, a secure mode for use in public settings, and even a safe mode in case some new Google widget is what's giving you email troubles.  For whatever your use, GMail has a mode for it. 

I've used at least four of these GMail modes myself, and I've often used one of the various work-arounds when I was getting some error or another depending on slowdowns in my Internet connection, browser errors, using older computers, or checking my mail on a wireless network or at the library.  I swear by secure mode.  It's a bit slower, but I think the safety is worth it.

H/T and Image:  NewsTechZilla

Source: 4 color rebellion

The gaming world has been all atwitter about the latest handheld offering from the only company to make handheld gaming really work on a massive scale.  When you want to play a game on the subway or the bus, or on break at work, it's basically Nintendo or nothing.  That's why the Nintendo DSi is getting a ton of attention since it was announced.  Since most of the world already has a DS (except me), is it worth rushing out on release day to get the upgrade?  CNET takes a good look and compares the old with the new here. 

The one deal-breaker for me is the fact that the DSi won't include a GBA slot.  Considering that without that slot you can't play Guitar Hero On Tour, and that I skipped the entire GBA generation (and a ton of great ports of older Super Nintendo games I never got to play), I kind of want whatever I buy to have the ability to play whatever games I can get my hot little hands on. 

While everyone is out buying a DSi, I think I'm going to buy a regular old DS.  Maybe I'll finally be able to beat ChronoTrigger now!

I love the Tetris fabric that Jenny at Chronically Uncool has designed.  It's colorful and fun, and she even left gaps in at the base of the fabric because any Tetris fan knows full lines always disappear.  Most importantly, it's also free for anyone to use via the Creative Commons, and it fulfills a dream Jenny has had for quite some time.

She's always wanted Tetris fabric.  I've always kind of wanted Tetris curtains myself, like for a game room.  Anyway, she used Spoonflower for her fabric printing needs.  If you have some design that you've always wanted to see made into a quilt or dress or tablecloth, then you too can have your design custom-made! 

I've lost track of how many great ideas I've had that I was never able to put into play because I had no way of getting raw materials.  Thanks to places like Spoonflower and CafePress, the playing field is officially starting to level and all my witty tee-shirt designs can come to fruition (assuming I can remember them or find the notebook I wrote them down in). 

H/T: Wonderland

One of the problems I have when I park myself at my desk for work purposes is that, well, I sit at a desk all day and when I get home, the last thing I want to do is sit at another desk for a few extra hours.  The ergonomics for someone over 6 feet tall at my day job are all wrong, so by the time I get home my back is complaining about the position I've been sitting in. 

Since I don't have a laptop stand to pull to my couch, that means I'm forced to use my home desk.  What I'd love is to use something like the Calypso chair.  It's one of the most innovative and customizable pieces of furniture I've ever seen.  It can transform from a love seat to two chairs, the arms fold down to get them out of the way or inward to turn into writing surfaces, and the whole thing folds in to transform into a coffee table with storage space underneath! 

It's not ready for mass production yet, and there are still some issues to work out from an ergonomic standpoint, but that would be an awesome piece of furniture if you could get the design into the hands of a skilled manufacturing company.  I really like the under-table storage shelf and the collapsible seating.  I think that, as laptops and working from home become more common, that you're going to see a lot more furniture designed to incorporate laptops.

You might not believe it, or understand WHY, but Vitaly Komar, Alex Melamid and David Soldier have been hard at work putting together the worst song in the world.  Blending opera, country, tubas, accordion, rap, bagpipes, synthesizers, Wal-Mart commercials, and who knows what else, the 21 minute monstrosity of unappealingness is available for download here or for streaming off Wired's write-up.  If this is what science is going to do for us, then I think it's about time we cut all federal funding to science and start a bonfire to burn all musical instruments and lab coats.  This song is kind of catchy and fun in some places, but in other places it's brain-damagingly bad.

I have to apologize for this one; I made it about halfway through before I accidentally clicked off the page.  I think that my mind forced me to accidentally browse away to preserve what's left of my mind from rapping opera Bavarian folk music mash-ups.  This is the musical version of being beaten with a sock full of quarters.

Happy Valentine's Day from Shaktronics!  You can check out other geeky Valentine's Day cards at Burn The Internet!

H/T: 4 color rebellion