Comment Re:Yeah, and Blackwater is now called Xe. (Score 1) 356
No, that will totally screw up the slashdot tag system. How will we know that a post is NOT about the company, !!Xfinity ?
Australian AvP Ban Reversed 71
Earlier this month, we discussed news that Sega's new Aliens vs. Predator video game had been refused classification in Australia, effectively banning it. After a scathing response from the developer saying they wouldn't censor the game, and later news that the classification scheme may be updated to include an R18+ rating, it now seems that the Classification Board has seen fit to give the game a green light after all. Sega's Darren Macbeth told Kotaku, "We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever. This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians."
Facebook Mafiosi Go To the Mattresses vs. Zynga 102
sympleko writes "Zynga has the lion's share of traffic in Facebook applications, and Mafia Wars is one of their most popular social games. Collapsing under the weight of over 26 million users, Zynga has been scrambling to thwart hard-core gamers who reverse-engineer URLs or script the game to optimize their enjoyment. Many of the workarounds have annoyed users who were accustomed to various game features, and even worse, the hastily-deployed changes have resulted in many players losing access to the game, in-game prizes, or statistics. Fed up with a software company seemingly bent on discouraging people from enjoying their product, a number of tagged players have organized a boycott of all Zynga games. The first 24-hour boycott on Sunday 12/13 resulted in an 11% decline in Daily Active Users, and an emergency thread on Zynga's forums (from which most of the flames were deleted). The current boycott, extending Wednesday through Sunday is being supported by a 428K strong Facebook group. At issue is the social contract between software companies and their devoted user base, as well as the nefarious tactics Zynga has used to raise cash."
Comment Who's emergency? (Score 1) 785
For a school-wide or town-wide emergency, of course they'll shut off the jammer.
What if a student's parent (or a teacher's spouse) is being rushed to the hospital? They will need to ramp up the old-fashioned "call the school, let them track down the person" mechanism. Cell phones have made those days obsolete.
-Joe
Comment Re:Crazy people (Score 1) 515
Put these people in a faraday cage with a WiFi router without being able to see the unit, and have them report when it's on/off, double-blind the test
If they pass, they might even qualify for Randi's million.
Comment Re:Longer lifetimes is the answer (Score 1) 627
you just keep right on going at
That's the dilemma in Tau Zero by Poul Anderson. I won't give any spoilers, but he came up with an interesting resolution.
-Joe
