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Games

Submission + - Bioshock 2's First DLC Already on Disc

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "Trouble is brewing in Rapture. The recently released Sinclair Solutions multiplayer pack for BioShock 2 is facing upset players over the revelation that the content is already on the disc, and the $5 premium is an unlock code. It started when users on the 2K Forums noticed that the content is incredibly small: 24KB on the PC, 103KB on the PlayStation 3, and 108KB on the Xbox 360. 2K Games responded with a post explaining that the decision was made in order to keep the player base in tact, without splitting it between the haves and have-nots."

Original Source
Censorship

Submission + - Scientology Attempts to Censor German Documentary (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: Slashdot posts on operating thetans aren't the only things Scientologists are trying to censor. The Guardian is reporting on the strained relationship that Scientology is having with the German government and the airing of a pesky documentary on Southwest Broadcasting. "Until Nothing Remains," a $2.3 million documentary, is slotted to air live on German television at the end of this month. It recounts the true story of Heiner von Rönn and his family's suffering when he tried to leave the Church of Scientology. A Scientology Spokesperson called the film false and intolerant and also said they are investigating legal means to stop the film from being aired. Despite an unusually high degree of caution and secrecy about the filming, anyone involved with the film suffered from the usual harassment from Scientologists when investigations of wrong doing in Scientology are undertaken. More details on the film can be gleaned here. Commencing Streisand Effect in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Submission + - Prom Cancelled To Prevent Lesbian Date (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by TrekkieTechie
TrekkieTechie writes: A Mississippi school district has decided that it would be better to cancel the local high school's prom outright rather than allowing a lesbian student, Constance McMillen, to take a female date. After the ACLU stated that preventing her attendance violated her rights, the district announced the dance was cancelled. Many students on campus blame McMillen for the cancellation — 'Thanks for ruining my senior year', said one — but shouldn't fingers be pointed at the school officials behind the decision instead?
Cellphones

Submission + - Android growth? Lies, damn lies and statistics (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Julie188
Julie188 writes: comScore just released its latest US Mobile Subscriber Market Share report and it does indeed show that Android had a phenomenal quarter. It more than doubled it's share of smart phone users. The media is heralding Android as the death of Windows Mobile (which may eventually be true enough) and, if not a cause of death, then at least a serious illness for the iPhone. But the truth is, not all phones are smart. In fact the overwhelming majority are not. While smartphone usage did increase by a healthy 18% from the prior reporting period, there are 42.7 million smartphone users in the US. There are 234 million mobile subscribers.

Submission + - The FCC Wants You to Test Your Broadband Speeds (wired.com) 1

Submitted by AnotherUsername
AnotherUsername writes: The FCC is asking the nation's broadband and smartphone users to use its broadband testing tools to help the feds and consumers know what speeds are actually available, not just promised by the nation's telecoms.

By going to http://www.broadband.gov/, users enter their address and test their broadband download speed, upload speed, latency, and jitter using one of two tests(users can choose to test with the other after one test is complete). The FCC is requiring the street address, as it may use this data to analyze broadband quality and availability on a geographic basis.

The FCC isn’t forgetting about those left out of the broadband revolution and is asking those who live in a broadband “Dead Zone” by filling out a report online, calling the FCC at -888-CALL-FCC, faxing the e-mail or even sending a letter through the Postal Service.

The announcement comes just six days before the FCC presents the first ever national broadband plan to Congress. Goals include 100 million Americans with 100 Mbps service by 2010, bringing affordable broadband to rural and urban areas, and helping digital laggards get online.

The FCC is collecting IP addresses, along with physical addresses, but is not asking for names or e-mail addresses. They promise not to release the street addresses, with some exceptions noted in the privacy policy. A free Java plug-in is necessary to run the test.

Submission + - Mass Produced Mini-Nukes? (publicradio.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Marketplace aired an interesting article about the possibility of decentralized "mini nukes" being used to provide power for towns or small cities. Based on designs for nuclear submarines, these reactors could prove to be a more economical solution for allowing nuclear power to become for widespread. By using a modular, mass-produced design costs for nuclear power could fall dramatically. The main corporate website for the reactors can be found here: http://www.babcock.com/products/modular_nuclear/ .
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Gives Rival Browsers a Lift (nytimes.com)

Submitted by gollum123
gollum123 writes: Rivals of Microsoft’s market-leading Web browser have attracted a flurry of interest since the company, fulfilling a regulatory requirement, started making it easier for European users of its Windows operating system to switch. Mozilla, whose Firefox browser is the strongest competitor to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer worldwide, said that more than 50,000 people had downloaded Firefox via a “choice screen” that has been popping up on Windows-equipped computers in Europe since the end of last month. Opera Software, based in Oslo, said downloads of its browser in Belgium, France, Britain, Poland and Spain had tripled since the screen began to appear. Microsoft said it was too early to tell whether the choice screen might prompt significant numbers of users to change. The digital ballot is being delivered over the Internet with software updates, and it is expected to take until mid-May to complete the process. The browser choice will also be presented to buyers of new Windows computers across the European Union for five years.

Submission + - Boeing 'Phantom Eye' Hydrogen Powered Vehicle. (planenews.com)

Submitted by gilgsn
gilgsn writes: The Boeing Company has begun to build Phantom Eye, its first unmanned, liquid-hydrogen powered, high altitude long endurance (HALE) demonstrator aircraft. “The essence of Phantom Eye is its propulsion system,” said Darryl Davis, Boeing Phantom Works president. “After five years of technology development, we are now deploying rapid prototyping to bring together an unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] with a breakthrough liquid-hydrogen propulsion system that will be ready to fly early next year.”
Google

Submission + - Google launches tool for searching public data (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google Public Data Explorer takes information from public databases and makes 2-D charts, graphs, and maps. Data sources include the World Bank, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the California Department of Education, Eurostat, the U.S. Center for Disease Control, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The most frequently viewed graphs are those on unemployment and school comparisons.
Communications

Submission + - Major ISPs Fund BitTorrent User Tracking Research (ucsd.edu)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I was scanning conference proceedings to come up with ideas for a reading group I run at my workplace and I noticed an interesting paper from the new IEEE WIFS forensics conference. Researchers from the University of Colorado have published a technique for tracking bittorrent users by joining and actively probing torrent swarms using low-cost cloud computing services. They claim their methods allowed them to monitor the entire Pirate Bay torrent set for as little as $13/mo using EC2. But that's not even the interesting part. Their work appears to have been "funded in part through gifts from PolyCipher" — a broadband ISP consortium. That's right. Three major national ISPs funded this round of bittorrent tracking research, not the MPAA/RIAA. Could this be evidence of ISP support for ACTA and a global 3-strikes law?

Comment Re:Basic math and science (Score 1) 1142

by TrekkieTechie (#31082486) Attached to: If Everyone Had To Pass A Particular 101 Course, It Should Be About...

I clearly remember students in grade/high school asking my teachers "what is this for?" I remember overhearing this one time in geometry, and watching the teacher stammer out a bogus answer, because he didn't have one! WHA?!

Direct quote from my AP Calc class, junior year of high school:

Student: "Ugh, this is so pointless! When are we ever going to use this?"
Teacher: "I use it every day."
Space

Submission + - Has NASA found the tapes? 1

Submitted by
jra
jra writes: "For over 5 years, various people both inside and retired from NASA have been engaged in a quest. They were looking for the long-lost original slow-scan video tapes from the Apollo 11 moon landing, which went missing in a record-keeping snafu, covered in unreasonable detail in a Wired article a couple years ago. Well now, according to the UKs Sunday Express newspaper, some tapes may or may not have been found which may or may not be the Apollo video. Apparently — I love the British press — the NASA boffins are a bit put out that it leaked; they were hoping to blow everyone's minds with the scoop themselves. All I can say, though, is Holy Living Fuck."

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