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Science

Concentrate Better By Doodling 94

Posted by timothy from the la-la-la-la-shiny dept.
Kelson writes "The next time you see someone doodling during a meeting, don't criticize them for drifting off. It turns out that doodling is the mind's way of keeping itself just busy enough to avoid checking out entirely and slipping off into a daydream, and doodlers actually remember more of that boring talk. (Judging by my college notes, this probably helped me remember a lot of otherwise-boring lectures.)"
Internet Explorer

Microsoft Says IE Faster Than Chrome and Firefox 532

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-we-all-have-to-design-for-the-broken-thing dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to its own speed tests, Microsoft's Internet Explorer loads most websites faster than both Chrome and Firefox when looking at the top 25 websites on the Internet. 'As you can see, IE8 outperforms Firefox 3.05 and Chrome 1.0 in loading 12 websites, Chrome 1.0 places second by loading nine sites first, and Firefox brings up the rear by loading four sites faster than the other two browsers. Also, in case you missed it, IE loads mozilla.com faster than Firefox, and Firefox loads microsoft.com faster than IE, just for kicks.'"
Graphics

Creating 3D Environments Without Polygons 74

Posted by Soulskill from the too-cool-for-geometry dept.
Igor Hardy writes "I've conducted an interesting interview concerning a new episodic indie adventure game series called Casebook. What's quite uncommon, especially for these kinds of independently developed and published productions, is that they include professionally created FMV — all of the footage is filmed in real locations. Yet what's even more interesting is that the games use an innovative photographic technology which recreates a fully explorable 3D environment through the use of millions of photos instead of building from polygons. The specifics of how it works are explained by Sam Clarkson, the creative director of the series."
The Internet

Canadian ISPs Speak Out Against Net Neutrality 213

Posted by Soulskill from the you-can-trust-us,-eh dept.
Ars Technica reports on a proceeding being held by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regarding net neutrality. They requested comments from the public as part of the debate, and several Canadian ISPs took the opportunity to explain why they think it's a bad idea. Quoting: "One of the more interesting responses came from an ISP called Videotron, which told the CRTC that controlling access to content ... 'could be beneficial not only to users of Internet services but to society in general.' As examples of such benefits, Videotron mentioned the control of spam, viruses, and child pornography. It went on to suggest that graduated response rules — kicking users off the 'Net after several accusations of copyright infringement — could also be included as a benefit to society in general. ... Rogers, one of Canada's big ISPs, also chimed in and explained that new regulations might limit its ability to throttle P2P uploads, which it does at the moment. 'P2P file sharing is designed to cause network congestion,' says the company. 'It contributes significantly to latency, thereby making the network unreliable for certain users at periods of such congestion.'"

Comment Think before doing something. (Score 1) 348

by Noxn (#26899997) Attached to: Malware Threat To GNOME and KDE
Well, i never thought or said Linux was invulnerable... Also many people told me that the Linux viruses can be waaay nastier then windows ones.

But, in many years of using Windows XP i almost never got a virus(/malware/trojan).
Why? Because I'm not the type of people that say:
"WHAT? Free music??? *clickyclickyvirusdownload*" (Yes, a friend of mine did this.)
Why should I be less careful in linux?

PS: I still think Linux is more secure than windows. (Not only because system security, but also because Linux users know more about computer then windows users (most of times))
Security

Malware Threat To GNOME and KDE 348

Posted by timothy from the turducken dept.
commandlinegamer writes "foobar posted on his blog recently about 'How to write a Linux virus in 5 easy steps,' detailing potential malware infection risks in the .desktop file format used by GNOME and KDE. This is not a new threat, and it appears to still be a risk, as discussions in 2006 did not seem to come to any firm conclusion on how to deal with the problem." There's a followup on LWN.
Security

Do We Need a New Internet? 690

Posted by kdawson from the alarmist-or-cassandra dept.
Richard.Tao and a number of other readers sent in a NYTimes piece by John Markoff asking whether the Internet is so broken it needs to be replaced. "...[T]here is a growing belief among engineers and security experts that Internet security and privacy have become so maddeningly elusive that the only way to fix the problem is to start over. What a new Internet might look like is still widely debated, but one alternative would, in effect, create a 'gated community' where users would give up their anonymity and certain freedoms in return for safety. Today that is already the case for many corporate and government Internet users. As a new and more secure network becomes widely adopted, the current Internet might end up as the bad neighborhood of cyberspace. You would enter at your own risk and keep an eye over your shoulder while you were there." A less alarmist reaction to the question was blogged by David Akin: "If you build a new Internet and you want me to get a license to drive on it, sorry. I'm hanging out here in v.1."
Security

Web Scam Bilks State of Utah Out of $2.5M 138

Posted by kdawson from the lessons-from-the-nigerian dept.
KitB sends in a story in the Salt Lake Tribune that tells of a Web-based scam, resembling some used by Nigerian gangs, that snared the state of Utah. $2.5M was sent to a bank account in Texas before the bank raised a question and then froze $1.8M in the account. "Thieves apparently used a Nigerian-based scam to steal $2.5 million from the Utah treasury, covering their tracks by using intermediaries and a church address. A Salt Lake Tribune review of the names listed in a search warrant as receiving or transferring money [found] names of African origin or connections to that continent. Michael Kessler, ... a forensic accounting [investigator] in New York City, said the thieves appear to have used a simple scam that originated in Nigeria about five years ago. The Utah theft is the first time he's seen a government victimized. 'Their IT people should have known better,' Kessler said after reviewing a copy of the search warrant Thursday. 'It sounds like any kid could have done this.'"
First Person Shooters (Games)

First Doom 4 Production Shots Revealed 136

Posted by Soulskill from the bring-a-flashlight dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Actor Brad Hawkins has been tapped to do motion-capture work for Doom 4, and revealed that the game features the military and civilians fighting side by side. Does this mean the game is set on Earth for sure? GGL Wire has an interview with Hawkins and a selection of production shots. '[Filmmaker Mark Bristol] was very specific on the civilians having a certain personality and the military characters having a separate one as well. The body language of the civilians is less, well, "trained." They carry their guns in a looser fashion and are a little sloppier when they run, a little more freestyle. The military characters are sharp as razors, with very swift moves, exact hand positioning and can turn on a dime.'" This follows news from last month that British novelist Graham Joyce was brought in to develop the story for the game.

Comment Oh wow... (Score 1) 553

by Noxn (#26771151) Attached to: Phantom OS, the 21st Century OS?
I must admit i didn't understand EVERYTHING...
But i understood enough to say that you have a good point.

BUT, as long (like you said) we don't have anything better, i will stick to Linux.

Also, many Linux users (Damnit, i mean GNU/linux) are happy with it.

But yeah, its aaaalll the same...
But nobody can give you a guarantee that phanton will work great. MAYBE they screw it (or maybe not).

PS:(that-kind-of-advanced-stuff-that-you-said)Pro VS (that-kind-of-advanced-stuff-that-you-said)newbie (-me)
Communications

Open Source Chat Bridge Between Virtual Worlds 43

Posted by Soulskill from the more-the-merrier dept.
wjamesau writes "The Parallel Selves Message Bridge, a new addition to the code forge of OpenSimulator, the 'Apache for virtual worlds,' makes it possible for users within one OpenSim world to send IMs to users currently logged into another Second Life-compatible world. In the future, technology like this could make it possible to keep in contact with friends in other virtual worlds and MMOs without having to log out. Imagine orcs and space commandos existing in alternate realities but still in contact!"

Comment Re:He dislikes linux? (Score 1) 553

by Noxn (#26762925) Attached to: Phantom OS, the 21st Century OS?
I just got burned. *g*
And as far as i know linux is open source. Or most of the distros.

Yeah, hibernation works like that (as far as i know), but doing it often still (could) be a problem (or maybe not.)

Also, why is linux a dinosaur? (Fanboy sense is tingling XD)
Btw, what are you running? A dinosaur or a broken window?


DISCLAIMER: My opinion is MINE, even if im totally wrong :D

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