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. . „ . • 1 * the mix Monday, Nov. 21,2005 ■» JL J! 1_ J A ± 1 • ■ J % Page 5 Microsoft’s second home video game console hits store shelves Tuesday Jeremy Turnage FOR THE GAMECOCK Gamers around the country are eagerly awaiting the release of the Xbox 360 on Tuesday, marking Microsoft’s second foray into the home video game console market and the beginning of the next generation of consoles and games. Microsoft is banking on the power and capabilities of the system to attract new consumers. The Xbox 360 runs with two 3.2-gigahertz power PC processors, codenamed “Xenon.” The system runs an ATI-powered special graphical processing unit, codenamed “Xenos,” at 500 megahertz. When it comes to memory, the system packs 512 megabytes of RAM running at 700 megahertz. The system has a myriad of new features, concepts and updates to current features that Microsoft hopes will solidify the success of the system. Microsoft is trying something new this generation with the video capabilities of the 360. The system is set to support several high-definition television resolutions, such as 480p, 480i, 720p and 1080i. Microsoft is depending on members of its customer base to have a high definition television to support the system’s display capabilities. In the audio department, the 360, like its older brother, will support '5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound right out of the box. The 360 will also be able to play DVDs right out of the box instead of requiring a separately purchased DVD remote as the original Xbox did. Microsoft has also completely revamped the DVD - remote to something beefier. The universal media remote will be able to control the music and movie capabilities of the 360 and it will also double as a television remote. Wireless is the word with the 360. When Microsoft unveiled the console earlier this year, they also unveiled wireless controllers to accompany the system. The company worked on these controllers in-house, and worked on several user-friendly options for the controllers. When the battery life on onfe of the controllers is getting low, the system will display an pn-screen message reminding you to change the batteries. If the controller power dies altogether, the system will pause the game and display another on-screen message prompting you to switch controllers or put in new batteries. Like its predecessor, the 360 also supports up to four controllers fpr multi-player games. These wireless controllers will retail for $49.99. Wired controllers will also be available at launch for the system, at a retail price of $39.99. Interestingly enough, these controllers will also support PC games. Wireless controllers will not be the only element with wireless capability. Microsoft plans to release a wireless networking adapter on launch day for a retail price of $99.99. Faceplates will be one way to customize the system. Users can remove the default Xbox 360 faceplate and attach one of the many faceplates Microsoft plans to ship on launch day. The faceplates will retail for $19.99. Xbox Live is also getting a makeover in time for the release of the 360. The entire dashboard has gotten a facelift and a new visual look to match the color scheme of the 360: silver and white. Among the features of the new Xbox Live is the ability to download demos of future games, just like a PC. The user can also download and watch trailers for future movie and video game releases. The Xbox Live Arcade is also back, with games such as “Bejeweled,” “Pac-Man” and “Minesweeper.” Gamers will also be able to use the dashboard for messaging and voice chat services. The Xbox Live Marketplace will allow Xbox developers to offer special features for download for their games. For example, a developer can put up a new level for download on the Xbox Live dashboard, and gamers can get this level for a fee. The launch list of titles for the console comes in at 18 tides for release day. Some notable tides include “Call of Duty 2,” “Madden NFL 06,” “NBA 2K6,” “Perfect Dark Zero,” “Project Gotham Racing 3” and “Quake 4.” Many high-profile video game Web sites have already gotten their hands on some of the launch tide games and rated them. Backwards compatibility with games from the original Xbox has become an issue with many gamers. Microsoft has 200 games listed on Xbox.com that will work with the 360. “Halo” and “Halo 2” are on that list. As a bonus, Microsoft plans to add new high-definition resolutions for both • tides in the “Halo” series. The pricing options for the XBOX • 6 Special to THE GAMECOCK Wireless controllers are one of the options available at launch for the Xbox 360. Others include a revamped remote, Xbox Live Silver membership, a 20-gigabyte hard drive and removable faceplates. Laughter class tackles stress California instructors workshop mixes yoga with ‘acting like a fool’ Amanda Strinberg THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Late to* an appointment. Money tight. Stuck in traffic. Jeffrey Briar just laughs. “Things that would normally stress me out and annoy me, I can laugh at,” Briar said. Briar doesn’t need a reason to laugh. He laughs for the sake of laughing and soon the forced laughter turns into a belly roaring hoot. “Laughter is a gift from nature,” he said. “It’s good for us. It’s free, easy to carry around and we can share it with anyone. We don’t have to be stressed. We can be filled with joy.” When Briar feels stress coming on, he laughs, whether he’s in public, driving in his car or at home. He can often be found at the beach rolling in the sand with a case of the giggles. “Laughter can make your whole life a more enjoyable experience,” he said. Briar shared his laughter expertise with others at a recent laughter yoga class at Lake Forest’s Blue Pearl Yoga Studio. The class began with traditional yoga stretches followed by an intense laughter session. Briar, a yoga teacher of more than 30 years, received laughter training in Switzerland from Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in India. Kataria, the author of “Laugh for No Reason,” teaches that when you first Either way, the body produces the physiological benefits of a good, hearty laugh, thereby waking up the endorphins, Briar said. On a recent Monday night, the forced chuckles of laughter yoga participants soon turned into uncontrollable belly busting guffaws, the kind you get when you shouldn’t — at church, during an important business meeting or at a sleepover after lights out. Some had trouble catching their breath. “It’s a happy feeling,” said Mary Tarail, 79. “It reminded me of being a kid.” Tarail said the laughter is good therapy for her Parkinson’s disease. The disease tightens her muscles, but the laughter loosens them up. “It releases stress,” she said. “And if you feel good, you are going to be healthier.” At the class, participants performed exercises such as laughing while exhaling. Visa bill laughter was another exercise. Class members pretended to hold a credit-card bill and laughed when others SS2® ' —.It. open their hands to show the bill. “Let it surprise you with delight,” Briar said. “Naughty, naughty laughter” was an exercise in which participants pointed their fingers at one another while laughing with their jaws dropped. “Next time an experience comes up in life, such as a receiving a high credit card bill or your husband losing the toothpaste cap, you’ll remember you laughed at it before, and it will be less stressful,” Briar told the class. Those who take the class regularly also will see an improvement in their self confidence, Briar said. “Acting like a fool really helps you lose your inhibitions,” said Jonathon Prince, 61, of Laguna Woods. “Ordinarily I am a pretty serious guy. I don’t even smile too much.” Prince hopes to perfect his laugh. “I notice I’m a little hoarse,” he said after the class. “I think I am laughing from the wrong part of my voice box. I’ve got to work on that.” KKT CAMPUS Zimbra CEO Satish Dharmaraj shown with Scott Diezen, the new company's chief technology officer. New e-mail service aims high Hatt (llarshall KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS If you’re like a lot of people, you probably think your email service is just fine, thank you very much. But in October, a small San Mateo, Calif., start-up called Zimbra launched a new e-mail platform with gee-whiz features — and at a price low enough that it could steal some customers. Zimbra elicited oohs and aahs from an audience of technologists at a San Francisco conference in October when its e-mail novelties were first unveiled. The excitement stems from Zimbra’s visual fireworks, based on the latest Web technology. The service lets you do things like pull up Google maps by scrolling your mouse over an address written in the e ^niUtiltaiuau^Mh need to switch back and forth from your e-mail and your calendar. There is a long line of companies that have sought to knock Microsoft’s Exchange Server e-mail platform off its perch. Most have failed; a few others have had minor traction. But Gartner analyst David Mario Smith says Zimbra may succeed. “It is pretty interesting,” he said. “Small, mid-sized companies might go for its lower-cost platform.” Zimbra is built using open source software, which means developers for other companies can access its software code and customize the e-mail technology with their own options. All kinds of features have already sprouted: You mouse over a phone number, and your Skype account will pop open for you to make a free Internet call. Or mouse over a jjjKl order numUjrand it can tell you where your package is. Zimbra’s product is compatible with Microsoft Outlook and other popular e mail platforms, such as Apple Mail. Zimbra runs the bulk of the e-mail service, making it a competitor to Microsoft’s e mail server offering, called Exchange. But Zimbra keeps , the familiar “front-end” part of Microsoft’s e-mail platform, which users interact with, called Oudook. But while Zimbra claims e mail is “broken,” many companies may still think it works well enough for them. Zimbra has some good-looking technology, but the challenge will be winning converts. Zimbra will also have to prove it has a security component that works well enough for big companies to be comfortable with. “This remains to be