Robber Tom - Slashdot User

Submission + - New Civilization game coming to consoles (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28, 2007 @02:33PM

An anonymous reader writes: Civilization is a game with a long history and a well respected pedigree. Unfortunately the newest entry into the series is going to be a console and portable-specific game that is "action packed." Is this going to be the Civilization we all know and love?

Submission + - Sports Video Search using Artificial Intelligence (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21, 2007 @09:41AM

An anonymous reader writes: The article describes a new technique to search broadcast television (particularly sports) using the actual video, not just metadata or speech transcriptions.

Submission + - First Video Game Ban For a Decade In The UK

Submitted by Novotny on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @09:08AM

Novotny writes: The Guardian is reporting that Manhunt 2, from — predictably enough, Rockstar Games — has been banned by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the first such action taken in 10 years. The last game to be banned was Carmageddon, a ruling which was subsequently overturned. Rockstar have 6 weeks in which to appeal the decision.

Submission + - PayPal becomes bank in Europe.

Submitted by

butlerdi

on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @09:04AM

butlerdi writes: "Just noticed the following article on the Inquirer from Friday 15 June. http://de.theinquirer.net/2007/06/15/paypal_ist_ei ne_bank.html In German and not found in the English version, but talks about the conversion of PayPal accounts to their recent Lux bank. Guess not much a big deal in the US as it seems that they are already part of several other financial institutions but also had interesting stats on the annual turnover. As one who canceled my account years ago due to withholding of funds to a seller it does seem like a very large amount."

Submission + - Manhunt 2 banned in the UK

Submitted by sm on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @09:03AM

sm writes: Manhunt 2 has been banned in the UK. From the article: The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rejected 'Manhunt 2' on the grounds of its "casual sadism" and "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying".The game "constantly encourages visceral killing", it said.

Submission + - How Not to Find an American Programmer

Submitted by Amiga Trombone on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @05:38AM

Amiga Trombone writes: Immigration attorneys from Cohen & Grigsby explain how they assist employers in running classified ads with the goal of NOT finding any qualified applicants, and the steps they go through to disqualify even the most qualified Americans in order to secure green cards for H-1b workers. See what Bush and Congress really mean by a "shortage of skilled U.S. workers." Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, and thousands of other companies are running fake ads in Sunday newspapers across the country each week.

Submission + - British break global, web-based, pedophile ring

Submitted by

westlake

on Monday June 18, 2007 @12:26PM

westlake writes: "In a breaking news story, the AP is reporting that the British police with the help of U.S. and Canadian investigators, have broken a web-based global pedophile ring, with 700 arrests world-wide. The ring was traced to an Internet chat room called "Kids the Light of Our Lives" that featured images of children being subjected to horrific sexual abuse including streaming live videos. Police rescued 31 children, some of them only a few months old. More than 15 of the children were in the United Kingdom. Authorities said they used surveillance tactics normally used against terrorism suspects and drug traffickers to infiltrate the ring at its highest level. The host of the chat room, Timothy David Martyn Cox, 27, of Buxhall, who used the online identity "Son of God," admitted to nine counts of possessing and distributing indecent images. Cox was given an indeterminate jail sentence Monday at a court in eastern England. That means he will remain in prison until authorities determine he is no longer a threat to children. 700 held as pedophile ring smashed, Police Smash Global Pedophile Ring"

Submission + - The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer (nytimes.com)

Submitted by The-Bus on Monday June 18, 2007 @12:25PM

The-Bus writes: Julian Dibbell has written a great article for the New York Times Magazine on the life of Chinese gold farmers. It's a great read and has a lot of very interesting tidbits, from comparing the potential size of the economy of MMO games and the GDP of Bolivia, to a Stanford scholar who found similarities between contemporary anti-gold-farmer rhetoric and 19th-century U.S. literature on immigrant Chinese laundry workers.

Submission + - Survey polling creative pros' IT usage and needs (it-enquirer.com)

Submitted by

Erik Vlietinck

on Monday June 18, 2007 @12:17PM

Erik Vlietinck writes: "IT-Enquirer is organising its first anonymous survey, which polls creative pros and photographers for what equipment and software they use for their daily job. They are also polling for needs and desires: Why do creatives use what they're using and what would they rather like to be using? The purpose of this survey is to get an overview of creative users' needs and desires with regards to their daily work. When the results are in, staff will write a report. The findings of this report will be made available on IT-Enquirer. The survey is anonymous but they are giving away three iPod Shuffles in a random drawing as an incentive for taking the 12 minutes it approximately takes to go through all the questions. The survey starts here: http://www.it-enquirer.com/main/creativesurvey"

Submission + - New Device Conserves Energy - via Torturing Users (mit.edu)

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Monday June 18, 2007 @12:09PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Thigh Master is a servo-controlled ring of thorns that pierces the user's upper thigh when she consumes too much power.

While great efficiencies may be found in energy generation, it is clear that the most substantial way to solve the energy crisis is by reducing demand.

While reformulating lifestyle and habits is usually thought to be the job of media, public relations, and activism, there is no reason that technology should not be central to how we understand, consider, and change our own energy usage."

Submission + - 'Father' of climatology dismisses global warming

Submitted by jaymzter on Monday June 18, 2007 @11:54AM

jaymzter writes: In yet another salvo in the battle between media, science, and money, Reid Bryson, known as the "Father of Climatology", is quoted as questioning the consensus on global warming. Among other factors, he claims money is at the root of the current state of affairs: "There is a lot of money to be made in this," he added. "If you want to be an eminent scientist you have to have a lot of grad students and a lot of grants. You can't get grants unless you say, 'Oh global warming, yes, yes, carbon dioxide.'"

iPhone Gets Better Battery, Scratch Resistant Glass 527

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 18, 2007 @11:40AM from the clean-off-your-pants dept.

Dekortage writes "Prior to its much-hyped launch on June 29, Apple has announced upgrades to its battery life (almost 40% more than originally announced) and scratch resistance (using "optical quality glass" rather than plastics). The announcement also includes a comparison chart pitting the iPhone against smartphones from Nokia, Samsung, Palm, and Blackberry."

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