PlayStation fan changes name, loses grip on sanity

If you were ever worried that you were spending far too much time sitting in front of your TV, gamepad in hand, Lara's butt cheeks squatting in your face, worry not. At least you're not as addicted to the world of console gaming as 23-year-old Carl Lindley, aka the Reverend PlayStation 2. The obsessive Manchester-based gamer, recently dumped by his long-suffering girlfriend Anna, for spending too much time playing with the console, has officially changed his name by deed poll and now plans to build a 15ft 'church' in his back garden in order to properly worship the new love in his life. ...more

Asus enters the GPS-enabled PDA affray

Asus wants a slice of the burgeoning GPS-enabled PDA market with its latest handhelds. The MyPal A636 and A632 boast the SiRF Star III GPS chip for GPS capabilities and a swivel antennae that folds discreetly away when not in use. The company claims that the powerful antennae will help in built-up areas where signal strength can be patchy due to the proximity of large buildings. ...more

Maya to support Shockwave 3D

Alias|Wavefront, the developer of 3D animation package Maya, has announced it is developing a plug-in to enable users to export content into the Shockwave 3D format. The Maya Shockwave 3D Exporter will "serve as a high-speed scene optimiser and export solution allowing for the rapid refinement of content for the soon-to-be released version of the Shockwave web platform", according to Alias|Wavefront. Macromedia has just announced Director 8. ...more

Adobe releases Acrobat 3D CAD translators

Adobe has released free 3D computer-aided design (CAD) translators for Acrobat 3D that add support for several major CAD file formats, so that users can convert 3D models in those formats to PDF, regardless of whether they have CAD software. The updated translators employ technology that Adobe gained as part of its April 2006 acquisition of Trade & Technologies France (TTF), a company whose software is used by many leading CAD, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) developers. 'Acrobat 3D and PDF continue to gain significant momentum in the manufacturing and architecture, engineering and construction industries, as well as praise from customers and influencers who see the technology as a means for addressing long-standing communication and collaboration issues by leveraging a ubiquitous, trusted file format,' said Tom Hale, senior VP, Knowledge Worker Business Unit at Adobe. ...more

Philips underperforms, and looks to 2002

Philips has added to the gloom surrounding the semi-conductor industry by posting poor results and announcing further job cuts. The Dutch semiconductor and consumer electronics company recorded a net loss of €770m (£469), which compares with a net income of €3.6bn ( £2. ...more