Brandon Dimmel

Just months after it appeared Paramount's decision to exclusively back Toshiba's HD-DVD would save the format from what seemed an inevitable demise, Sony's Blu-ray is again threatening to snuff out its competition. Sales figures peg Blu-ray movie ... titles well ahead of the competition with the 2007 holiday season now just another footnote in the history books. According to statistics filtering out of the Blu-ray Disc Association's recent press event, Sony's format outsold the competition from HD-DVD by 2-to-1 when it came to total 2007 movie sales. Moreover, there was not a single week during ... (view more)

Having etched his own place in tech history, Bill Gates' 'swan song' is now playing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The famous (and to some, infamous) Microsoft leader gave his final speech to the media Sunday night at the Venetian ... Hotel's Palazzo Ballroom. Ending a dominant legacy that to some was marked my monopoly more than success, Gates' address took time to both look back at his own history and the future of a company he made the most powerful in the world. With the former cutesy McDonald's tune "Do You Believe in Magic" thumping from speakers, Gates and his executives ... (view more)

Own a blog? Like your domain name? Granted, it's hard to believe anyone would really want the first and last name of the average American for a domain, but that's exactly what happened to David Airey and davidairey.com. Hackers recently fudged a ... domain transfer on Airey's behalf, and then demanded a ransom for its return. Airey is a web designer and, like many in the tech biz, takes his blog somewhat seriously. Not long ago, he decided to take a break from the stress of work, jetting with his girlfriend to India on an exotic vacation. Unfortunately for Airey, he returned to find that his blog ... (view more)

Facebook has come under much scrutiny since its popularity exploded during 2007. With the year rounding out, we can think back to all the buzz created by a social networking site that asked for an individual's private details and then neatly handed ... them to Microsoft's advertising division. Questions of voyeurism and greed continue to dog Facebook. Now, a controversial study is examining the controversial web site. Researchers at Harvard University have decided that they'd like to know what the racial and ethnic interests of Facebook users might be. The analysts recently gained access to the ... (view more)

Thought maybe that sleek 'n cute little iPhone from Apple would hurt sales of the efficient but not-so kitschy BlackBerry? Doesn't look like that's the case. According to third quarter sales, Research in Motion (the Waterloo-based maker of the ... BlackBerry) is reporting double its 2006 third quarter earnings. The statistics stem from numbers released last Thursday. Most surprising may be that BlackBerry subscriber accounts climbed an impressive 1.65 million over that third quarter, which ended back on December 1st. In addition to 3.9 million devices being shipped, it means Research in Motion ... (view more)

Think CNN and the major network news agencies are the only ones quick to jump on breaking international events? Think again. Only hours after the tragic announcement of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, malware ... creators had already crafted an exploit to take advantage of curious web users. A number of security companies are reporting the widespread exploit, including McAfee, Symantec, and WebSense. According to this group, at least ten sites on Blogger.com (Google's primary blog service) were, as of the day of Bhutto's assassination, spreading a fake video ... (view more)

Although retailers reported an increase in sales this past holiday season, they're not particularly happy about it. Many analysts are startled that U.S. spenders didn't match an expected sales increase pegged at 4.5 per cent. According to major ... credit card company MasterCard, Americans spent more money this holiday season than last year, a surprising fact given a relatively stagnant U.S. dollar and more broadly, the U.S. economy. MasterCard finds that retailers experienced a 3.6 per cent rise in sales in 2007 over 2006. Earlier in the shopping season, most researchers pegged the holidays to " ... (view more)

Part of the appeal behind Nintendo's stylish little Wii this holiday season comes from the nature of its gameplay. Boasting motion-sensitivity, it challenges gamers to swing and swipe their way to victory in Wii Sports tennis or boxing. With kids ... and parents alike getting off the couch, Nintendo has advertised the console as great exercise and a healthy alternative to those lazy systems from Microsoft and Nintendo. But, is it true? According to a study by researchers at Liverpool John Moores University in England, not so much. The study examined boys and girls aged thirteen to fifteen, ... (view more)

Many of us have simply accepted that the holiday season's hottest Christmas gifts are often hard to find. In some ways, that makes up about half of their appeal. However, for the two companies behind this season's most in-demand items, customer ... complaints are beginning to mount. Could it even affect their post-Christmas sales? Few of us are new to the Nintendo Wii shortage. Even those that haven't much interest in owning the cutesy little console -- myself included -- it's no secret that the device is very hard to get, and has been for a remarkable amount of time. In fact, finding the Wii has ... (view more)

Has the Storm Worm passed? According to reports over the last few months, the danger has been minimized. And yet, some hackers still believe they can have a real impact with what was arguably the most popular bug of 2007. A recent Christmas-inspired ... version has been released and is reportedly bringing Storm back to its original potency. Since its debut almost a year ago, the Storm Worm -- which initially created headaches for IT employees, Internet providers, web site owners, and the average surfer alike -- appears to have been downgraded significantly. Like a hurricane passing over land, the ... (view more)