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WSO2, an open source SOA provider, has combined JavaScript programming and Web services with the launch of its Mashup Server 1.0. This open source offering, which can be downloaded without subscription fees, will allow enterprises to consume, aggregate and publish information in a variety of forms and from a variety of sources. At the same time, WSO2, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Mountain View, Calif., has announced the beta release of Mooshup.com, a hosted online version of the Mashup Server, which provides a community site for developing, running and sharing mashups.

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Here’s one that needs little explanation: one pedal activates Star Power, the other one fiddles with the whammy bar. That keeps your arms and fingers free to Guitar Hero, and since the React Standalone Pedal is wireless and works with any PS2 guitar, you shouldn’t have too much hassle tossing this on to your garishly patterned carpet and proceeding to rock. It’s available now for $25.

[Via Joystiq]

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Ardvark writes “Google promised some time ago to bid at least the reserve price for the C block of 700Mhz spectrum if the FCC accepted its demand for an open access rule for devices using the band, which the FCC did over Verizon’s objections. If the reserve price is not met the rule will be dropped and the block re-auctioned. It appears now that bidding has stalled just short of the reserve price. It’s assumed that Google has no interest in becoming a cell phone company and with a recession looming the 700MHz spectrum now seems worth a whole lot less. If Google’s strategy was to force the bidding above the reserve but still lose the auction, Verizon could be calling their bluff, threatening them to live up to their word and buy what to Google could be the equivalent of a $4.6 billion ‘doohickey.’” Update: 01/31 16:01 GMT by Z : And just like that, the plot thickens: the C block has hit the reserve price during bidding.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The Federal Communications Commission received a $4.7 billion bid for Block C, a swatch of spectrum being auctioned that is mandated to operate as a national wireless network that works with any mobile device. The auction started on Jan. 24, but the FCC won’t announce which company submitted the bid until after the auction closes at a yet-to-be-announced time. Until then, the only information available is the amount of the bid.

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Despite how important memory cards have become to daily life a lot of computer still don’t have card readers, or at least a sufficiently robust one. If you are lucky your notebook will come with a 3-in-1 reader that will be able to handle a SD card, but that is about all we tend to see. For many people this is not that big of a deal, because SD has emerged as the most popular type of memory card, but many of use still use other types, like CF, and are picking up smaller cards to use on phones and portable devices, like microSD.

Running down the list, the Media Reader can handle CF (type I an II), MicroDrive, SD, SDHC, miniSD, miniSDHC, microSD, microSDHC, MMC, RS-MMC, MMCmobile, MMCmicro, and five flavors of MemoryStick. The main card style that people may find missing is xD. The Media Reader is an external device that uses USB to connect to any computer.

The design of the Media Reader is simple and effective. It is about 3.5″ x 2.5″ x 0.75″ and weighs very little (71g). It is sturdy enough to throw in a bag and move around with you and the USB cord tucks inside the body so it should not snag on anything. The reader itself slides within the body of the device so that the four card slots can be exposed or hidden away, protecting both the slots and, more importantly, cards you are holding. The USB connector is on a short cord, about an inch long but an extension is included in case you want to connect the reader to a somewhat inaccessible port.

From a speed standpoint the device is capped at 480Mbps due to it being a USB 2.0 device. During testing speeds were sufficient so that even extended transfers were not too painful. The Media Reader is more designed for versatility and travel than speed though.

Overall, Kingston’s Media Reader gets the job done. My only complaint would be that the sliding mechanism is a bit tough to move from time to time so you have to push the reader a harder than you would normally want to. Past that it works well, and since it costs under $20 there is not really much to complain about. The lack of xD support will be an issue with some people, but it has all the other major media cards covered.

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