Tech Culture

There's a retrograde little sports event happening in England this week called Wimbledon.

The organizers still force players to wear predominantly white clothing. Yes, even on the practice courts.

And yet, way back in 1980, Wimbledon began employing Cyclops technology to make service line calls.

Meanwhile, soccer (or football, as most of the world knows it) contented itself with sad little men carrying flags, often somehow blind to balls crossing the goal line.

But that perhaps will soon be no more. For the BBC reports that the International Football Association Board has finally decided that it should experiment with goal-line technology, starting in December at the slightly insignificant FIFA Club World Cup (not to be confused with the World Cup).

Sony might be working on a new version of the PlayStation 3, according to one report.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has published an exhibit on its Web site of what appears to be a new PlayStation 3. Sony requested that the government organization inspect the device to ensure it was within the FCC's guidelines for wireless support. According to the FCC file, it received the sample device back in March.

Although the "PlayStation" branding is not included in the FCC's inspection, the organization makes clear that Sony Computer Entertainment is the applicant and it examined a "computer more

Update (Friday, 12:46 a.m. PT): The answer to Thursday's challenge -- which 17 people got right -- is Abengoa Solar's Solana solar power plant, a 280-megawatt parabolic trough plant currently under construction in Gila Bend, Ariz., that may end up as the world's largest such facility.

Under normal circumstances, all I do is post the day's answer, but Thursday's responses merited a special note. Usually, a large majority of the people who respond to the Picture of the Day challenge get the answer right. But on Thursday, just 15 percent were correct -- more

You've seen one fireworks display, and, well, the next one doesn't seem all that different.

However, those who went to see San Diego's Independence Day fireworks last night surely left with a feeling like no fireworks display had ever given them.

For instead of 20 minutes of flash! whoosh! red, white, blue! ooooooooh! -- the whole shebang went off with a bang. At once.

Yes, they were gone in 15 seconds.

As CNN explains it, San Diego's "Big Bay Boom" was definitely big and definitely booming, as the fireworks were set off five minutes too soon,

TUCSON, Ariz.--It's summer in the Southwest, and there may not be a hotter border anywhere in the United States. For one thing, the mercury is easily over a hundred every day. And then there's the steady flow of organized smugglers trying to sneak themselves and their substantial cargo -- of migrants and/or drugs -- across Mexico's long desert frontier with Arizona.

There are nine U.S. Border Patrol sectors stretching across America's southwestern frontier. And back in 2000, the agency was snagging more than 2,000 people a day for crossing illegally into its more

Update (Wednesday, 10:40 p.m. PT): The answer to today's challenge -- which 52 people got right -- is the Spreckles Sugar Plant in Brawley, Calif. Thanks to everyone who played, and to all, please come back for Thursday's challenge.

Welcome to the Road Trip Picture of the Day contest. This is your chance to win some cool prizes as you test your skills at recognizing pictures.

Each day, I'll be posting a new photograph from my various travels, and your job is to try to correctly identify it using any means at your disposal. Throughout more

Electronic Arts is considered a major publisher in the gaming industry. But soon, it might be a major digital publisher in the gaming industry.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview published yesterday, EA Labels President Frank Gibeau said that his company will transition its operation entirely to digital in the not-so-distant future.

"For us, the fastest growing segment of our business is clearly digital and clearly digital services and ultimately Electronic Arts, at some point in the future -- much like your question about streaming and cloud -- we're going to be a 100 percent digital company, period," more

Fans may never forget the numerous sandy scenes of the "Star Wars" saga, which George Lucas and crew mostly filmed in the North African country of Tunisia.

A recent glance by RocketNews24 at famous "Star Wars" locations such as Mos Espa (where Anakin grew up) and the Lars Homestead (where Luke grew up) paints a much different picture of the movie sets beloved by countless geeks around the world.

Update (Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. PT): The answer to today's challenge -- which 14 people got -- is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study (home of the Academy Film Archive), in Hollywood. Thanks to everyone who played, and to all, please come back for Wednesday's challenge.

Welcome to the Road Trip Picture of the Day contest. This is your chance to win some cool prizes as you test your skills at recognizing pictures.

Each day, I'll be posting a new photograph from my various travels, and your job more