The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 21, 2005, Page 5, Image 5
. . „ . •
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