Donkey Kong

The arcade whiz became a hero to retrogamers worldwide for his starring role in the 2007 documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which follows his successful quest to topple video game nemesis Billy Mitchell for the title of Donkey Kong world champion.

Mitchell - who was also the first person to achieve a perfect score in Pac-Man - had held the title since 1982, but lost it after a spiteful running public battle with Wiebe which formed the basis for King of Kong.

After the movie's release, Mitchell took his title back off Wiebe within months, but both he and Mitchell were amubushed by newcomer Hank Chien, who hit an all-time high of 1,061,700 points back in March this year.
The ever-competitive Mitchell claimed it back off Chien in August, controversially stopping play once he was 1100 points clear of Chien.

Asked why, he replied: “Some say I’m being cocky. Some say I’m being lazy. I say, I’m being Billy Mitchell."

Now he might regret "being Billy Mitchell" on that day, because Wiebe's new record - set on August 30 but not verified by video game scorekeepers Twin Galaxies until yesterday - stands at 1,064,500.

Space agency to stream aurora borealis online

SKYWATCHERS can turn now their gaze to a computer for a glimpse of the northern lights.

The Canadian Space Agency this week launched an online observatory to stream the aurora borealis live over the internet.

"Armchair skywatchers everywhere can now discover the wonder of the northern lights live on their home computer screen," said the agency's president Steve MacLean.

"We hope that watching the dance of the northern lights will make you curious about the science of the sky and the relationship we have with our own star, the sun."

Auroras occur when charged particles from the Sun collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere, resulting in a ribbon of lights dancing across the night sky.

The launch of the website, called AuroraMAX, coincides with the beginning of aurora season in northern Canada, which generally begins in late August or early September and ends in May.

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Aurora enthusiasts will be able to catch the most frequent and intense auroras when the Sun reaches the most active period of its 11-year cycle, called solar maximum, in 2013.

In addition to nightly broadcasts of the aurora, the website will also explain the science behind the phenomenon and offer tips for seeing and photographing auroras.

As well, it offers an image gallery with photographs and videos of the auroras from previous nights.

BlackBerry tablet

THE company behind the BlackBerry may unveil its iPad rival at a conference for developers next week, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal said Research In Motion could debut its new tablet computer at an event next week for developers who make software for the BlackBerry range of phones.

The company responded to an inquiry with a terse email stating its "standard policy is to decline comment on rumours and speculation".

A tablet computer unofficially referred to as the "BlackPad" is due for release by the end of the year, prompting talk that it will be introduced at the Devcon 2010 event in San Francisco next Monday.

The Journal cited unnamed insiders as saying the BlackPad would have a 7" touchscreen, built-in cameras, and link wirelessly to cellular networks through BlackBerry phones.

Research In Motion has been under pressure in recent times because of the popularity of Apple's iPhone and handsets running Google's Android software.

Apple earlier this year unleashed a new titan into the mobile arena in the form of its hot-selling iPad tablet and rival firms have been racing to field competing devices.

Credit Card with a Computer Inside

A programmable credit card can display useful information, offer added security features, and even act as several different cards by rewriting its own magnetic strip.
Two types of programmable credit cards were unveiled this week at the DEMO conference in Santa Clara, California, by Dynamics, a startup based in Pittsburgh that's been developing the technology in stealth mode for three years. The company raised $5.7 million of funding last year.

The new cards are no bigger than the one in your wallet, and is actually slightly more flexible. It can display information at the press of a button, and can become several different cards by rewriting its own magnetic strip.

The "MultiAccount" card has two buttons on its face, each with an indicator light that can be pressed to record data to its magnetic strip. "One might switch the card to be your debit card, and the other your credit card," says Dynamics CEO Jeff Mullen. "These cards are exactly the same size and thickness of a conventional card, and the lithium-polymer battery inside can last four years under high usage. They're also fully waterproof, so you can put them through the washing machine."