Farewell

This is my last post for this blog so I am sorry for those who actually read this which I am sure is not many.  I would like to say thanks to our subscribers for showing their support but it will be no more.  This blog has been great but it is now coming to an end.  well thanks anyone who reads this and i am sorry for those people that there will be no more posts from me.

*SOBBING*

Dear and beloved viewers *sniffle*,

This is my last blog post as an Extension Cord collaborator. The journey was one filled with surprises, challenges, and lots of good times. I am glad that you could be with us through this experience. For me, the magazine-making process was a learning experience. I had never used a vector or raster program in my life (programs used to make the magazine) and had definitely never designed. We also learned different magazine writing techniques, that hopefully you, the readers enjoyed. The magazine itself had its ups and downs and was limited to time constraints. However, I think it turned out well and was duper awesome. Hopefully, you enjoyed following us as much as we did making the magazine. So, without further adieu, I a signing off.

-- Ben Fagelman

Farewell

This is my last blog for this website and i would like to thank my parents for bringing me to this country from Mexico by crossing the border. Without them i would not be here. I also would like to thank my Ezine teacher Ms. Young for teaching us all what it is like to make a magazine.  I would like to thank my group, Beck, Ben, and Jacob. I really like doing these blogs and this might be the last time that i will see this blog. Thanks
                                                                                   -Gustavo

Check out our Final Magazine

Extension Cord Magazine Final

By LASA EZINE

32 pages, published 14 DEC 2011

A school technology magazine. Basic designs, basic writing, bu the topics are interesting! Come and check it out now!

The Last Geek and Poke

Check out Geek and Poke here.

-Beck Goodloe

This is Farewell

     It has been a great semester so far, and now it is slowly ending. This is my last post as an Extension Cord staff, for our first, yet final issue is finally coming to print. I want to first begin by thanking my parents. If it were not for them, I wouldn’t be here today, so thank you for creating the beautiful mind that is me. Next I would like to thank Ms. Young, my Ezine teacher who consistently required me to post on the blog for a grade. I’m never actually this diligent, so again, the blog would not be here if it were not for her and her required class. Finally, I would like to thank my nine subscribers. I will now choose to ignore the fact that seven of the nine subscribers are actually either on the Extension Cord staff or my fellow classmates whom I bribed to join. Juiceboxx, thank you. You were our first subscriber whom I do not know, and it was always a pleasure to see the weird little picture of the black kid every time I opened our website. Amy Bishop, I still don’t know who you are, and the fact that you do not have a picture on your profile is greatly disappointing. I have no idea when you joined, but I hoped you enjoyed the very random technology blog posts littered with mistakes, typos, and incorrect grammar. You say you liked the pictures? Those are required too. So really, this whole blog was controlled down to each little pixel in each blogger’s picture. Nevertheless, let us not stop these facts from ruining the joyous moment that is our end. Once this class is over, I will never touch this blog again. It will never be visited, and it will sit by itself in cyberspace, hoping a viewer might just stumble upon it, but the chances of that are unlikely. So now I say goodbye to you, the two readers whom I do not know, and the seven that I do, this is the end. But do not fret, you can always give me a ring if you are lonely. If you do not have my number, that is probably how it should be, sorry, that’s just the way things roll in our technology-filled world. 

-Beck Goodloe

Apple Loses iPad Trademark Case in China

Photo Credits Here

Apple may end up facing major problems with its iPad sales in China after a court rejected Apple’s claim to own the iPad trademark in the country, and a rival sought to halt sales of the tablet device in two Chinese cities.  The developments are the latest in a long-running dispute between Apple and Proview Technology (Shenzhen), a struggling Taiwanese-owned company that registered trademarks for the name IPAD in many countries long before Apple conceived its smash hit tablet computer.  Normally, Apple is on the receiving end of property rights infringements in China.  With all of the counterfeits that are extending even to copies of its flagship stores.  “Apple is such a Goliath and has a good image, so people wouldn’t imagine that Apple could possibly infringe on our intellectual property rights,” said Xiao Caiyuan, a lawyer for Proview at Guangdong Guanghe law firm. “People always think its small companies infringing upon large companies’ IPR.”  If things continue to go as badly as they are for Apple, the company might end up having to market the iPad, in China, under a different name because of trademark rights that Proview Technology now has.

For More Information Click Here

Jacob Saslavsky

Grand Theft Auto 3 to come to smartphones

In the 10 years since the debut of "Grand Theft Auto III," several video games have upped the ante in the naughty category -- including some other "Grand Theft Auto" games.But the original open-world gangster-action game is doing a second drive-by with the December 15 release of "Grand Theft Auto: 10 Year Anniversary Edition."The game will be available for download on Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and on Android tablets and smartphones. It will cost $4.99.Publisher Rockstar Games sells "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" in Apple's App Store, but this is the first game in the series to be released on Google's Android platform. The Apple version works on all iPads, the latest iPod Touch and the iPhone 4 and 4S. Rockstar has posted a list of supported Android devices as well.From the first batch of screen shots released by the publisher, the game looks similar on the two mobile platforms. Instead of using a controller like on the original PlayStation 2 game, players will tap on-screen buttons to switch between weapons.Rockstar plans to release more details and a trailer video to coincide with the game's release next week, the company said. A spokesman didn't immediately respond to a question about whether the anniversary game would have different missions from the original.

                                -Gustavo 

The Old Is New Again

Microsoft recently released information that they will come out with a new update for the Xbox 360. It will come out on Tuesday, December 6. The update will drive their new wave of accessible media entertainment.  It will add new video streaming features, such as HBO and YouTube, as well as making the entire Xbox Kinect ready. The goal of the update was to make media and gaming as accessible and easy to use as possible, as well as only needing one device to meet all media needs. So far, Microsoft and the people at Xbox have done the best at constantly updating their internet media databases. New features are constantly becoming available and more companies than ever are designing programs around gaming consoles. With this in mind, some people see the Xbox and similar consoles being bought solely for non-gaming purposes. However, most of the market will probably continue to be dominated by internet capable DVD players and cable TV. While the future of the Xbox is uncertain, it is probable that internet-based media will continue to rise in popularity. For those interested in media, the update will mean fun for the whole living room.

Click here for more information.
-- Ben Fagelman

Weekly Geek and Poke

Check out Geek and Poke

-Beck Goodloe

Is Apple Overaggressive?

Many are waiting for December 14 to come. This will mark the day when the International Trades Commission makes a public ruling on the Apple vs. HTC court case.

            Recently, Apple filed four lawsuits against the well-known Japanese company HTC on the basis that they were are stealing Apple’s technology. One of the specific programs under speculation is the one that allows the reader to touch a number on the keypad and then it is shown on the screen. Now it may seem like a small matter, but Apple says that they are stealing everything that is making their newer phones special.

            Analysts currently believe that the case is beginning to favor Apple, as the technology is almost identical in both phones.

            To show that this is no game, HTC recently counter-sued, saying that Apple is actually stealing their technology, not vice-versa. This is not the first accusation made against Apple though. Several months ago, Google Android also had problems with Apple, each company saying that the other stole their technology.

            This is not a problem that the common person can affect though. It is now up to the lawyers and CEOs to work this problem out, and now all we can do is wait.

Check out more information here. 

-Beck Goodloe

Microsoft on the Apple Frontier

Photo credit.

Recently, rumors arose that the popular Microsoft Office software will be available for the tablet that started it all - the iPad. Up until this point, Microsoft has been somewhat unsuccessful inside of Apple territory. A relatively boring Bing app has been all they have had to show for up until this point. If this transition could be made, it would be a win-win situation for both companies, at least for the time being. With the apps rolling out on the App Store, it would most likely be available for other phones and application stores as well. Microsoft Office would be contested by the current word, spreadsheet, and presentation apps, called Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. However, I think many people will drop the old apps for the classic programs included in Microsoft Office. The expected price is $10 and will most likely be implemented in early 2012. If the features of the Microsoft programs are upheld in their app forms, they will dominate their competition. Many people are fed up with the new systems apple has tried to put in, and will jump on this quickly. Lots of listeners were surprised when they heard this because of Apple's tightly closed off and privatized way of

doing things. For whether this is for the best, only time will tell.

For more information, click here.

-- Ben Fagelman