NJ Pregnant Women Face HIV Testing

New Jersey (dbtechno) - As part of an overall tightening of state regulations and health rules, Acting New Jersey Governor Richard Cody signed into law a new regulation that mandates doctors to test women who are pregnant for the HIV infection. Women who are steadfast against having the test can still choose not to, but are urged not to. Read more

NASA Sets No New Date For Delayed Shuttle

Orlando (dbTechno) - NASA officials have come out and stated that they will not set a date for th launch of the Atlantis space shuttle which has been delayed due to problems with the fuel gauges.

The malfunction of several fuel gauges has caused some severe headaches for NASA as they stated that they will not make the proposed January 10th launch date which was rescheduled from early in December originally. Read more

Wal-Mart Surrenders To Netflix and Apple

Seattle (dbTechno) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has made the announcement that they have shut down their video-downloading service, throwing in the towel and surrendering to Apple’s iTunes service as well as Netflix.

The video download sales stopped as of December 21st. Wal-Mart spkeswoman Amy Colella stated that the decision was greatly based on the fact that Hewlett-Packard decided to discontinue systems which supported the Wal-Mart service.

Back in February 2007, Wal-Mart began by opening their video-download service, selling thousands of television shows and movies. The hope was that they would be able to complete with locations such as Netflix, Apple, and others who rent movies over the internet.

Consumer electronics analyst Michael Pachter put it best though by stating, “They gave up, Wal-Mart occasionally makes these mistakes, assuming that because they sell the greatest percentage of everything, they can succeed at any business line.”

This comes as Netflix reported growth during their third quarter thanks to price cuts made to the service. Another one bites the dust in the video-download market.

Wal-Mart MP3 Video Player Sold To Little Girl With Porn

Boston (dbTechno) - A man in Cookeville, Tennessee is not too happy with Wal-Mart to say the least as he found out that the MP3 video player he purchased his 10-year-old daughter was filled with porn videos and explicit music.

This is quite an interesting situation that is developing and a nightmare for Wal-Mart to say the least. The reports are stating that the Wal-Mart location received this MP3 video player as a return from a previous owner. Instead of cleaning out the hard drive or checking if it was used, it was simply resold. That previous owner though loaded up the player with many porn videos as well as explicit lyrics.

This violates the Wal-Mart policy as they sold the item as a brand new MP3 video player, when it was clearly not new in any way.

Wal-Mart has come out and stated that they are looking deeply into the issue as stores, per policy, are not supposed to return open packages to the sales floor.

The 10-year-old daughter of Daryl Hill received the video player as a gift from Santa. He stated “my daughter was crying. I wish I could take the thoughts and images out of her head.”

Hill has already declined the offer from Wal-Mart to replace the MP3 video player. A lawsuit is likely going to be coming.

Microsoft Releasing Motion Controller for Xbox 360?

Boston (dbTechno) - Rumors have been circulating that Microsoft has plans to come out with a motion controller for the Xbox 360 similar in the manner that the controller of the Nintendo Wii functions.

The big question right now is whether or not Microsoft wil release a first-party motion controller for the Xbox 360. One Microsoft official has come out and stated that “Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation. And I have nothing further to share.” Read more

Adults of Generation Y Big Library Users

Boston (dbTechno) - A new study has found that young adults of generation Y are the most common users of public libraries.

This is an interesting study because of the fact that adults in this age group of 18-30 year-olds still go to the library more than any other groups of people despite the fact that they are intelligent enough to turn to the internet for information.

It was found that 21% of Americans aged 18-30 have gone to public libraries to figure out solutions to problems regarding job training, government benefits, health conditions, etc. The general adult population that attends public libraries is at only 12%.

The most common reasons people to go public libraries is to solve problems to pay and make decisions regarding school, and getting job training.

The Pew Internet and American Life project and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign states that “The age of books isn’t yet over.”

The library usage drops gradually as people get older. 62% among Americans aged 18-30 compared to 32% for people age 72 and up. The big decline happens most commonly when people turn 50.

The Pew director Lee Rainie stated “It was truly surprising in this survey to find the youngest adults are the heaviest library users.”

IPod Tackles Online Movies

New Delhi (dbtechno) - The tiny iPod media device has slowly led to the demise of many of the music stores and venues across the United States. Many people feel that the lessening of music stores can be traced to the ability to download and record music on the portable iPod devices.

But will the same thing happen to movie rental stores? Read more

Microsoft Motion Controllers

Boston (dbtechno) - The lack of motion controllers for a game system has not seemed to prevent the Xbox 360 from being very popular and a sales leader. But there has been a persistent rumor that Microsoft may be re examining the issue.

“Microsoft makes a point to not comment on speculation or rumors,” said a Microsoft official on Friday, when asked if the rumors concerning a first-party motion controller were accurate.

The continuing rumors keep surfacing because other game systems have motion controls as part of their game consoles. Microsoft has said that they do not think that motion controls are viable for game systems. Read more

Thick Winter Coat Covers Midwest

Chicago (dbtechno) - A winter storm that has been causing numerous flight delays hit on full force on Saturday, dropping a load of snow and causing travel to be disrupted. Four hundred and fifty flights were canceled at Chicago’s O’Hara Airport, with hundreds more delayed by late afternoon on Friday, and the promise of resuming flight operations soon looked doubtful.

Flight Delays at the Midway Airport were an average of two hours, and there were twenty cancellations. Read more

AOL To Stop Support For Netscape Browser

Boston (dbtechno) - The Internet web browser Netscape at one point was the dominant force on the Internet, with 90 percent of all web browsing done with Netscape. But those days have long past. AOL announced that is planning to discontinue all support and active development for the Netscape Browser.

In 1996 Netscape had nearly the entire Internet dominated, with nearly everyone using Netscape. But the introduction of Internet Explorer in 1995 began a change. Microsoft began to bundle the browser with each new addition of Windows operating software. Read more

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