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Submission + - Duke Researchers Enable Graphics-Rich Cloud Gaming Without Eating Up Mobile Data (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: Cloud gaming is a technology that's already here, but with high bandwidth requirements and data caps still a thing that mobile users have to contend with, there's room for improvement. Researchers at Duke University and Microsoft Research have been working together and what they've come up with is a promising new tool that could lead to console-like graphics on mobile devices with comparatively lower bandwidth requirements. The tool is called "Kahawai," which is the Hawaiian word for stream. What Kahawai does is task the mobile device — smartphone or tablet — with generating a rough sketch of each frame in a game, or a few high-detail sketches of certain frames. This takes some of the load off the remote server, which can then focus on filling in the missing pieces. By taking advantage of a mobile device's GPU to help with the load locally, less bandwidth is needed. This differs from conventional cloud gaming where the remote server does all the heavy lifting. Kahawai solves that problem through collaborative rendering. To demonstrate the technique, the researchers integrated Kahawai into Doom 3 and uploaded a video showing the experience. Running at 1Mbps, the version of Doom 3 using Kahawai was noticeably better looking than the version that relied on conventional cloud gaming methods.

Submission + - Bogus FBI 'porn warning' scares Android users into ransomware trap (thestack.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Cybercriminals have been targeting Android users in a new ransomware campaign which poses as an email from the FBI warning against viewing porn online. Romanian security software firm Bitdefender suggests that as many as 15,000 spam emails including zipped attachment files were sent to Android customers over the past few days. The attack is thought to have originated in Ukraine. If the files were opened, users were faced with a ransom note demanding $500 to restore full access to their system. It continued to threaten that users who try to unlock their devices would be charged up to $1,500. Payments were requested to be transferred via PayPal My Cash or Money Pak. The ransomware was disguised as an Adobe Flash Player update – a frequent façade used in hacking attacks.

Submission + - The Scientific Method and the Art of Troubleshooting

HughPickens.com writes: Karl Popper came up with the idea in the 1930's that scientists should attempt to falsify their hypotheses rather than to verify them. The basic reasoning is that while you cannot prove a hypothesis to be true by finding a number of different confirming instances (though confirming instances do make you more confident in the truth), you can prove a hypothesis to be false by finding one valid counter-example. Now Orin Thomas writes at WindowsITPro that you’ve probably diagnosed hundreds, if not thousands, of technical problems in your career and Popper's insights can serve as a valuable guide to avoid a couple of hours chasing solutions that turn out to be an incorrect answer. According to Thomas when troubleshooting a technical problem many of us “race ahead” and use our intuition to reach a hypothesis as to a possible cause before we’ve had time to assess the available body of evidence. "When we use our intuition to solve a problem, we look for things that confirm the conclusion. If we find something that confirms that conclusion, we become even more certain of that conclusion. Most people also unconsciously ignore obvious data that would disprove their incorrect hypothesis because the first reaction to a conclusion reached at through intuition is to try and confirm it rather than refute it."

Thomas says that the idea behind using a falsificationist method is to treat your initial conclusions about a complex troubleshooting problem as untrustworthy and rather than look for something to confirm what you think might have happened, try to figure out what evidence would disprove that conclusion. "Trying to disprove your conclusions may not give you the correct answer right away, but at least you won’t spend a couple of hours chasing what turns out to be an incorrect answer."

Submission + - Indian Matrimony site uses unique gamification approach to tackle dowry deaths (dqindia.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In a country known for dowry deaths, Shaadi.com, a popular matrimony website in India shocked viewers by asking them to click a dowry calculator and find out how much dowry were they worth. This campaign is specifically relevant in India, as one woman dies every four hours due to dowry. Dowry accounts for 32.4% of crimes against women and 5 women commit suicide every day due to dowry disputes.

Submission + - Help with a questionnaire for a MSc research project (surveymonkey.com)

An anonymous reader writes: I need volunteers to fill in a questionnaire related to the research project for my MSc in Management of Software Projects. This questionnaire intends to collect the views of IT project stakeholders (from IT practitioners to end users and project sponsors) regarding their views on what defines project success at different points in time. The questionnaire should take about 20 to 30 minutes to fill in and it will be accessible until the 31st of May 2015. Please feel free to share the link with friends or acquaintances that you think might fit the profile. The link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s....

Submission + - How the iPhone crippled BlackBerry

Robertoswin writes: Mike Lazaridis was home on his treadmill when he saw the televised report about Apple’s newest product. Research In Motion’s founder soon forgot about exercise that day in January 2007. There was Steve Jobs on a San Francisco stage waving a small glass object, downloading music, videos and maps from the internet on to a device he called the iPhone.

Submission + - Ebay and Amazon go premium (hexus.net)

Taco Cowboy writes: Once upon a time online shopping site was free

But 'free' apparently does not allow those awash with lots of extra cash that 'special feeling'

To provides the elites (and the "elite wannabe") a feel of being priviledged, Amazon came up with "Amazon Prime" (See http://lmgtfy.com/?q=amazon+pr... )

Not to be outdone by Amazon, eBay is rolling out its eBay Plus this summer

Customers who sign up with either of the premium services have to pay subscription fees. In exchange for the subscription fees these 'elite' customers get to enjoy certain 'privileges'which commoners don't get — Such as last minute order, free two-day shipping, and fast returns of merchandises, and so on ...

When are we going to have our Slashdot Plus ??


Submission + - Latest Vector To Attack Point-of-Sale Terminals: Email (itworld.com)

jfruh writes: Point-of-sale software has meant that in many cases where once you'd have seen a cash register, you now see a general-purpose PC running point-of-sale (PoS) software. Unfortunately, those PCs have all the usual vulnerabilities, and when you run software on it that processes credit card payments, they become a tempting target for hackers. One of the latest attacks on PoS software comes in the form of malicious Word macros downloaded from spam emails.

Comment Re:What? (Score 1) 121

This is not to cry over some perceived unfairness to the Nazi, but rather to stand astounded that all Communists aren't being rounded up today with the same fervor. You claim to want justice for totalitarian perpetrators of genocide? Great, just don't pick and choose.

Not all Communists are genocidal, only their leaders. In the same way, not all Nazis deserved to go on trial (IFAIK, 10% went), nor the ones who faced trial should ben condemned, (again, AFAIK, 10% were). I've heard people say that it is a shame that it went that way and that all Nazis should have been prosecuted and hung. However most of then had no say on the fate of the inmates of concentration camps, nor had important roles in the party, nor have anything to do with the Nazi party besides being affiliated. Heck, Oskar Schindler was a Nazi.
Setting aside the numbers, did you know that Brazil is a genocidal country? The Brazilian government is building a barrage that will flood the lands of some Indian tribes, and is yet to provide a territory for such people to live. But what does the world do? Nothing, because it's a capitalist country and an ally to EU and US.

Comment Re:What? (Score 2) 121

The Terrorists are considered an Evil group. However they are are just a bunch of bullies, who haven't (compared to the military actions in the past) gained much foothold.
The Communists were less Evil, but more a solid threat, the Soviets had taken control of many countries, and having a Nuclear Arsenal as well made them really scarry.

There is some disagreement about those people being evil, especially the communists. One could easily say that the capitalists are the greater evil, especially the owners big corporations, because they pollute the Earth, are utterly greedy, etc and have no concern for the distribution of resources among those who need them. The CIA, on behalf of a capitalist state, participated in coups d'état in various countries, the US invaded Nicaragua, Panama, Hawaii, just to name a few countries. Thus, capitalism is evil.
About the terrorists, I can say that the main distinction between a terrorist group and a state is that other countries recognizes the occupation of territory by a state, but not by a terrorist group, no matter the opinion of the people in the occupied territories.
The Nazis, on the other hand, are held as the embodiment of evil, almost unanimously.

Comment Re: What Bothers me Most (Score 1) 121

We used to have this kind of absurdity here in Brazil. The first divorce law was in a budget law as well. In the last years, some laws where enacted to limit the obvious: budget laws can't deal with anything but budget stuff; an amendment to a "medida provisÃria" (provisional law from the president) has to do with its subject. I was made to think that we are the only ones who needed that kind of things, but unfortunately we where wrong.

Submission + - OrderAhead steals restaurant identities and Google listings (geekwire.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Restaurant delivery service OrderAhead apparently is impersonating restaurants, including claiming Google Maps and Gooogle Business listings without knowledge or consent of restaurant owners.

Submission + - Scientists discover first warm-bodied fish (sciencemag.org)

sciencehabit writes: Researchers have discovered the first fish that can keep its entire body warm, much like mammals and birds. The opah, or moonfish, lives in deep, cold water, but it generates heat from its massive pectoral muscles. And it conserves that warmth thanks to body fat and the special structure of blood vessels in its gills. Having a warm heart and brain likely allows the little-known fish to be a vigorous predator, the researchers suspect.

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