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Call it Round Two of the news conference, with a big Internet twist. President Barack Obama took questions from the White House press corps on Tuesday in a prime-time, East Room session that represented the most formal and time-honored of president-and-reporter interactions. On Thursday, he is taking to that same room for another public grilling — this time by regular folks armed with questions submitted via the Internet and in person, as part of a political strategy to engage Americans directly.

“It’s a way for the president to do what he enjoys doing out on the road, but saves on gas,” press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday.

By 9 a.m. Thursday, the White House Web site had already logged more than 100,000 questions.

Obama used the Internet to build a grass-roots movement that delivered the presidency and raised unheard-of money. Now in power, he is employing the same online network and style to speak — unfiltered — with Americans.

The president already has taken that tactic on the road, spending two days on the West Coast last week at town hall-style meetings and appearing on Jay Leno’s late-night talk show. It offered easier questions and a chance to get his message to the widest possible audience.

“It’s not a whole lot different than were we in California doing the meeting,” Gibbs said. “It’s just we’ll have people hooked up from a lot of different places all over the country, but he’ll be able to do all that from the East Room.”

Already, the White House is connecting the old-school press conference with the new-media event. It will be an easy contrast between skeptical reporters and supporter-selected questions.

Political operatives say the White House’s strategy is a way to reach a demographic key to Obama’s election.

“In the new world of online media, formal press conferences are just…

Copyright infringement on the Internet has been an ongoing problem, and Internet service providers have had to police such content to comply with infringement laws while also keeping customers happy.

Reports that ISPs, specifically AT&T, Cox Communications, and Comcast, are working with the Recording Industry Association of America to send out warnings, then threatening to close subscriber accounts have surfaced — and some ISPs say they aren’t accurate.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, every ISP is required to send out notifications to customers when there is a question of copyright infringement. But last year the RIAA began a more proactive approach by flagging ISPs whenever there is a question of infringement. RIAA sends a letter to ISPs when an incident is discovered.

No ‘Three Strikes’ Policy

Comcast said it’s not working hand-in-hand with the RIAA and it’s not threatening customers who may be unintentionally or intentionally committing copyright infringement.

“Comcast, like other major ISPs, forwards notices of alleged infringement that we receive from music, movie, video-game and other content owners to our customers,” said Charlie Douglas, a Comcast spokesperson. “This is the same process we’ve had in place for years — nothing has changed.”

Douglas said the company follows the law by sending out messages to customers through an automated process, but doesn’t threaten its customers.

“We receive the request to notify an alleged infringement from the copyright holder,” Douglas said. “We then pass it along to our customer either in an e-mail or letter.”

“While we have always supported copyright holders in their efforts to reduce piracy under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and continue to do so, we have no plans to test a so-called ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy,” he added.

Liz Kennedy, a spokesperson for RIAA, declined to comment.

Process Is Unchanged

Cox also said nothing has…

The Great Firewall of China was activated earlier this week, as the eastern nation moved to block all access in the country to the online video-sharing service YouTube.

According to reports first published by the BBC, China shut off access in response to the posting of a video depicting a raid by hundreds of Chinese army soldiers on a Tibetan monastery. The video includes graphic footage of a man being beaten with batons and a group of men (including a monk) being assaulted while lying on the ground.

There is no information regarding when the film was shot or at what location.

YouTube Slowly Disappears

Following the posting of the video over the weekend, Google noticed on Monday that less YouTube traffic was flowing to China. As of Tuesday morning, traffic had stopped altogether.

According to Google spokesperson Scott Rubin, China didn’t inform the company that it was blocking YouTube, and hasn’t offered an explanation. “We don’t know the reason for the block,” Rubin said, “and [we] are working to restore access to users in China as quickly as possible.”

There has been limited direct comment from the Chinese government, apart from a statement at a news conference early in the week in which a spokesperson said, “We encourage the active use of the Internet, but also manage the Internet according to law.”

International Controversy

This is the second Tibet-related block of YouTube by China in the past year. In March 2008, a similar shutdown followed the uploading of video clips showing riots in the streets of Tibet.

The move to cut off access for Chinese citizens has been condemned by human-rights groups. In a statement to the BBC, the Center for Democracy and Technology accused China of failing “to live up to international norms.”

“China’s apparent blocking of YouTube is at odds with the rule of law and the…

After kicking off on Monday, the Game Developers Conference being held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center is well underway, and today the conference brought in one of the industry’s most respected executives, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, to deliver a keynote address.

Iwata, who last took the stage at GDC just before releasing the Wii in 2006, took no time to tell the audience of peers and press that Nintendo has shipped more than 50 million units of its popular Wii gaming console worldwide, making it the fastest-selling game console in history.

In the month of February alone, 750,000 of Nintendo’s Wii consoles were sold in the United States, according to the NPD Group. In the same month, Microsoft sold 391,000 Xbox 360 units and Sony sold 276,000 PlayStation 3 units.

Nintendo has also sold 588,000 portable DS players, while Sony sold just under 200,000 PlayStation Portable units.

“It is in the power of game developers to invent things that gamers have never seen — or even imagined — before,” Iwata said.

Third-Party Developers

After briefly talking about the success of Nintendo’s Wii, Iwata did not hesitate addressing what has been on third-party developers’ minds for some time: whether they can continue to successfully sell their games on the Wii platform.

More third-party games were sold for the Wii last year than for any other platform, Iwata said, according to GameSpot, which blogged live during the event.

“We all work in a time of rapid change,” Iwata told the audience. “When this is the case, it is normal for people, even game developers, to feel unsettled.”

“Other people believe that only Nintendo software [is successful] on Nintendo systems,” Iwata added. “Later, I will explain why this is not the case, but that I understand the concern.”

Surprises for Consumers

Before announcing a few surprises for consumers, the…

Canon USA has taken the wraps off its new entry-level digital SLR camera, which integrates a 15.1-megapixel image sensor with high-definition video recording.

The EOS Rebel T1i offers users two different ways to capture high-definition video with a 16:9 aspect ratio: At 30 frames per second for 720p video clips, or 20 fps when recording video at full resolution 1080p (1920×1080 pixels). Additionally, users can elect to shoot standard-definition video with a 4:3 aspect ratio at 30 fps.

“We are witnessing the emergence of a new phase in digital imaging history, as high-resolution still images and HD video can now both be produced in a handheld device for under $1,000,” said Canon Vice President Yuichi Ishizuka.

15.1 Megapixels

Canon’s new camera can capture up to 4GB of MPEG-4 video per clip, which is roughly equivalent to 12 minutes of 1080p HD video, 18 minutes of 720p HD video, or 24 minutes of SD video. All clips are recorded in the .MOV video format and stored on 1GB to 2GB SD or 4GB SDHC memory cards, which are sold separately.

The EOS Rebel T1i comes with a three-inch VGA-quality LCD monitor. When recording video, the camera’s rear LCD screen is letter-boxed by a semitransparent border to match the aspect ratio selected for the clip being recorded.

Under the hood, the new camera integrates a 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor and the DIGIC 4 imaging processor, which uses 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion to generate digital data with incredibly smooth tones. The new camera also has an HDMI output to make it easy for users to display their images on an HDTV screen.

The EOS Rebel T1i camera offers three Live View autofocus functions that can be applied to still images as well as video. Though the Quick and Live modes employ different AF detection methods,…

Rochester, NY, March 24, 2009 –- Vuzix Corporation, the leader in video eyewear for the mainstream consumer, defense and low vision markets, will showcase a game-changing Augmented Reality Accessory Kit for the popular VR920 Virtual Reality Video Eyewear. Partnering with metaio, Inc., a world leader in augmented reality software solutions, Vuzix will demonstrate at the 2009 GDC how a simple printed page can be brought to life with 3-D animated characters that literally pop out of the book. Additionally, be prepared to experience the thrill of a fantasy tale coming to life with a fire-breathing dragon flying overhead.

Vuzix AR Accessory Kit consists of two main features:

• CamAR™, a clip-on USB camera that mounts onto a pair of Vuzix Video Eyewear. The CamAR™ not only allows the user to see through to the real world but is also designed to accurately track objects and the user’s position in 3-dimensional space.

• PhasAR™, a wireless augmented reality input controller is designed to be used in unison with the CamAR™. The PhasAR™ allows users to interact with virtual, mixed and augmented reality worlds with a revolutionary 6 degree of freedom tracking system that lets the computer know exactly where the user is touching in the virtual and real worlds. Depending on the application, the PhasAR™ can become anything from a powerful virtual magic wand to a 3-D virtual paint brush. The PhasAR™ enables powerful 2-D like mouse support in order to effortlessly control virtual objects in 3-D space.

Together, these new devices allow the user to perceive and interact with the real world in ways they have never dreamed of before.

“This capability, known as Augmented Reality (AR), will open up new applications in the gaming, education and business sectors,” said Vuzix CEO, Paul Travers. “The applications for gaming and education will…