Syber News

Call of Duty: Black Ops will launch on November 9. It will be available on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and the Nintendo DS. Activision has just released the official launch trailer.

Although the YouTube video says it was uploaded on Oct. 29, it was done then so it could render in HD and be tested properly. It was only publicly revealed about an hour ago at the time of this writing.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is the seventh installment of the Call of Duty series and the third game in the series to be developed by Treyarch. It is a sequel to the Treyarch’s previous title in the series, Call of Duty: World at War. It is the first Call of Duty title set during the Cold War era. The MSRP of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows editions is $59.99. The Wii version is $49.99, and the DS version is $29.99.

“Hardened” and “Prestige” limited editions for PS3 and Xbox 360 will be available, just as with Modern Warfare 2. The Hardened Edition includes a SteelBook case, a medal with its display case, four exclusive co-op levels and an Xbox Live or PlayStation Home avatar outfit. MSRP is $79.99.

The Prestige Edition will offer everything that the Hardened Edition does, but adds a real RC-XD remote-control vehicle modeled after the in-game Killstreak reward, which gives video and audio feedback to the controller.

Watch the video.

Amazon.com Widgetshttp://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/10/call-of-duty-black-ops-launch-trailer.html

Once again the “magic” (not iPad magic, though) of jailbreaking enables another function that Apple has artificially restricted. Using a jailbroken iPhone and some instructions via Mike Pan, you can record HD video of up to 1080 x 800 resolution on the iPhone 3GS @ 30 frames per second.

The ARM Cortex processor in the iPhone 3GS is perfectly capable of recording at that resolution, but Apple has placed restrictions in place to prevent it. Here are the instructions on Pan’s blog. One would expect that someone would come up with a one-click install for Cydia soon, but until then those will to do a little work can enjoy it now.

You can see a sample of the result below.

Amazon.com Widgetshttp://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/10/jailbroken-iphone-3gs-phones-to-see-hd.html

Google’s latest Doodle is one for Halloween, and it celebrates All Hallows’ Eve with the canine king of spooks: Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo, of course, is the talking Great Dane which began as a CBS cartoon in 1969. Since then it’s been spun-off into numerous sequels, revivals, and even live-action (except for Scooby Doo) movies and TV movies.

Google’s Doodle on All Hallows’ Eve (better known as Halloween) is actually a set of five Doodles you can scroll through. Scooby Doo and the Gang are obviously, as usual, hot on the trail of some mystery.

“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” made its CBS network debut on Saturday, September 13, 1969 with its first episode, “What a Night for a Knight.” In those earlier episodes, the show followed the theme of cartons at that time: there was a montage of some sort which included a “sing-over” with some sort of pop song.

Another such example was the Hardy Boys cartoon series which ran from 1969 to 1971 on ABC. In that series, Frank and Joe Hardy were even members of a rock band.

There have been two live-action (with a computer generated Scooby Doo) Scooby Doo movies, starring Freddy Prinze, Jr. as Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, and Linda Cardellini as Velma. Cartoon Network has also aired two live-action Scooby Doo TV movies as well.

At any rate, hopefully tonight you’ll get candy, not Scooby Snacks, but congratulations Scooby Doo for making Google’s home page. Enjoy the original Scooby Doo theme below.

Amazon.com Widgetshttp://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/10/scooby-dooby-doo-where-are-you-on.html

A gentle reminder that Silly String is banned in Hollywood on Halloween. This ban has been in effect since 2004.

Hollywood’s ordinance calls for a maximum $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail for use, possession, sale or distribution of Silly String in Hollywood from 12:00 a.m. on October 31 to 12:00 a.m. on November 1.

While the whole thing sounds “silly,” it’s not to the LAPD. It was, at least prior to the ordinance, a major issue and expense for the city, and for business owners, who asked for the ordinance to be put in place. The press release from 2004 says:

On a typical Halloween night, up to 100,000 people come to Hollywood Boulevard in search of something to do. Given the lack of a formal event, hundreds of illegal vendors flock to the street and sell Silly String which then becomes the sole source of entertainment for the night.

Loa Angeles City personnel are deployed from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), Department of Transportation, Bureau of Street Services and Department of Sanitation to protect and clean up the Silly String “event.” The financial costs to the city are detrimental as they exceed $200,000 for this one night.

Silly String, for those who don’t know it, is supposed to be a toy, but it used by adults as well. Basically, it’s aerosol string: a stream of liquid shot from an aerosol can sets quickly into a flexible, brightly-colored plastic string, in mid-air. It gets used for various celebrations, parties, and the like.

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