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PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Bioshock DRM Causes Massive Outcry (pcgamer.com)

Dr Kool, PhD writes: "The PC DVD version of Bioshock is loaded with DRM like no other game ever released, and the outcry has reached critical mass. PC Gamer editors are reporting that they are not able to install and activate the game more than twice, even when previous copies are uninstalled. Thousands of complaints from frustrated buyers have flooded 2K Games' official Bioshock forum. The game uses a new version of the rootkit SecuROM to do its dirty deeds."
Power

Submission + - Navy to continue funding of Polywell fusion (talk-polywell.org)

BCGlorfindel writes: "On the 21st of August the Navy signed the release of the remainder of Dr. Bussard's funding for research into his Polywell device. Details emerging via an email to Tom Ligon here. Tom Ligon worked on the project with Bussard a few years before the funding was cut. Many will remember the google talk he gave shortly after analyzing their last test results before they had to shut down. I've been following this for awhile now, this should be great news for everyone. If Bussard reproduces the results of his last test it'd top the expectations from the $12B ITER project."
XBox (Games)

Submission + - Bioshock reviews are rapturous

RamblinLonghorn writes: The reviews for Bioshock are pouring in. With a metacritic score of 97%, the gaming press is united in their praise of the game. Gamasutra summarizes the finer points of the game and lists some of the reviewer's complaints.

Take Two Interactive Software stock, already reeling from the GTA IV delays, gained nearly 10% on Tuesday. Is Bioshock's critical praise and success a turning point for the embattled Take Two? How strong will Bioshock sell compared to other AAA titles set for release soon?
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - PlayStation 3 to gain PVR functionality in Europe.

An anonymous reader writes: The BBC are reporting that Sony has unveiled a digital TV tuner for the PlayStation 3 which will turn the console into a PVR. As well as the usual PVR functionality, it will be possible to stream the video to a PSP via WiFi or copy recordings to a PSP using a USB cable so that they may be viewed later. The tuner will be released in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain in 2008.
Sci-Fi

Submission + - School uniforms to track kids using GPS

Gary writes: "Trutex a school uniform maker based in Lancashire, UK is considering adding satellite tracking devices to its clothing range so parents will know where their children are. The move comes after Bladerunner another English clothing company revealed it was selling stab-proof t-shirts, hooded tops and school blazers to parents worried about their children being attacked."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Copy Protection Goes Too Far (kotaku.com) 2

Synner writes: Anti-piracy is squeezing the legitimate user once again. The new Bioshock game from 2K Studios only allows you to install the game twice, no ifs ands or buts. Even though the "Update" for the article says that 2K has replied with a solution, if you read the following forum posts, users have tried the fix and has not been confirmed to work. You might want to hurry before the thread is locked and or deleted, like so many others. This might fuel the fires of piracy, to give legitimate customers a work around until they get the official company line.
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - EA Spore finished

xtracto writes: Spore is finished. That's the first thing I learn as I head in to my play session at the Leipzig Games Convention. Obviously, the game isn't finished finished (as in ready to ship), but in terms of its content offering, it's all there — the game is complete. At this point, EA is spending the next several months paying attention to feedback from players to tweak and polish Spore for its release next Spring. But otherwise, it's done.
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - PC owners get Bioshock, draconian new DRM system (kotaku.com)

igorthefiend writes: Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/more-bioshock-shock/) and others (http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t =5527) are reporting that the PC version of Bioshock is loaded with new DRM from Securom which limits users to just two installs.

2K are saying that if users come up against the limit they should contact Securom — but Securom are referring people back to 2K according to NoFrag. http://www.nofrag.com/images/00311b.jpg

Where does this leave the doctrine of first sale? Is this ushering in a new era of restrictive protection on AAA titles?

Announcements

Submission + - Linux Kernel Documentation Gets Creative

DocJock writes: There's a very interesting look at one of the newest pieces of documentation in the Linux kernel at KernelTrap. Evidently the author of lguest, a simple hypervisor for running a virtual instance of Linux on Linux, felt creative and embed his documentation throughout the various source code files. The article describes the riddle that gets you started on extracting the documentation, and offers samples of what you will find. What you find is evidently quite entertaining, from references to random famous quotes, to steamy love stories, to poetry, and of course actual documentation as well. Following through with the documentation promises to turn you into a guru on lguest, hypervisors, and x86 virtualization in general.
XBox (Games)

Submission + - XBox 360 May Not Be Adaquately Cooled 1

Heffenfeffer writes: Kotaku reports that Nikkei Business publication Tech-ON! has enlisted the aid of a thermal design expert to analyze the XBox 360's heat dissepation as a possible reason for the recent costly 3 year extended warranty. The expert's findings were a bit troubling:

"When designing consumer products, it is common to seek a temperature gap of around 10C between exhaust and room temperatures," the thermal design expert said. "The 22C is quite a large gap, in the first place...The heat sink on the graphics LSI is so small, I wonder if it can really cool down the board."

During testing, the heat sink on the graphics LSI reached a temprature of 80 degrees Celsius — 57 degrees above normal room temprature.
AMD

Submission + - The future of AA? Edge detect AA on the 2900 XT (elitebastards.com) 1

Hanners1979 writes: For all of the negativity surrounding ATI's Radeon HD 2000 series of graphics boards upon their launch, one of the more interesting features of these news GPUs was Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing, allowing for the company to experiment with some new and intriguing ways of reducing aliasing. While the narrow and wide tent filters unleashed alongside these new boards got a mixed reception, the release of Catalyst 7.7 saw a new addition to ATI's anti-aliasing fold — Edge detect AA. What's it all about, and how does it look and perform? Elite Bastards investigates.
Businesses

Submission + - eBay blocking thumbnail images from toolbar users

MoxFulder writes: "Remember yesterday when a group of Stanford students released an eBay toolbar for Firefox — before the Mozilla-eBay collaboration released its official toolbar? Well, beyond being a major embarassment, that toolbar offers features eBay doesn't want its users to have, namely the ability to view thumbnail images for auctions that haven't paid for them.

Looks like eBay is fighting back, by punishing users of the Stanford toolbar. If you install the Stanford toolbar and log in to an eBay account, you'll suddenly be unable to view the thumbnails whenever you're logged into that account. I installed the Stanford toolbar earlier today, and all the thumbnails disappeared from the "List View" on eBay (try it yourself!). I found that when I logged in from another computer, the thumbnails disappeared again. The only way for me to get the thumbnails back is to log out of my account.

Isn't this a pretty drastic measure for eBay to take? Banning toolbar users from seeing all thumbnails? Might this violate eBay's contractual obligations to those who have actually paid to display thumbnails?"

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