Comment Re:WTF? (Score 1) 229
BT is NOT unmetered. I got kicked off BT for "excessive use" a couple of years back. They considered it wrong to be connected for long periods of time and using software to redial when they dropped it.
Comment Blogging is dangerous! (Score 3, Funny) 74
Extra Extra! Read all about it! Blogging may be fatal!
Comment Ghost busters (Score 1) 205
I've been a huge fan pretty much since birth and all this makes me think is that I won't be buying the game. I picked the 360 because it had more games and content I wanted to play, I was quite looking forward to the game but a year+ delay just means by the time it has a 360 release I will be buying something else and the game will be long forgotten. It's a shame that Sony are trying to sell their console instead of selling a game, their first priority should be to making profit and making successful games, not to screw a game's sales over by desperately clawing at a failing console.
The PS3 is in a bad position and is clearly in last place this generation, but they do themselves no favours by stealing a game from the 360, because they will lose far more in game sales (and reviving a franchise) than they will gain from getting a handful of new consoles sold. I don't really care for the fanboy crap and was tempted to buy a PSP for some games recently, but when I see Sony's commitment is to selling hardware and not selling great games, I question if I should be giving them money.
Comment Re:Rat Race (Score 2) 391
As someone who is sitting here recovering from an operation I must strongly disagree with you. I met some damn incompetent people at the hospital and wouldn't of minded smacking them up side the head, but I also met some very good nurses and last time I checked my operation went well and that says my surgeon probably did his job pretty damn well.
We remember the incompetent far more than the competent, if people are doing their jobs well you will rarely hear about them but the moment they make 1 mistake there will be giant flashing billboards 3 inches from your nose. Not everyone is terrible at what they do, it's just if they do what they are meant to you will never have them stand out to you.
Comment takes me back (Score 3, Interesting) 244
Back in 1997, I was playing a character on the old TrekMoo, when the Q (the admins) were in the process of moving to new servers. They decided to all scorched universe on the remaining players and I have to say, that was a heck of lot of fun. The Borg invaded, the Romulans and Klingons got their ass kicked and we intrepid few in the federation were forced to make some tough choices that included sacrificing our ship. It was a small community of text based adventurers, but the collaborative effort made it a hell of a lot of fun.
I'm surprised there aren't more scorched earth games, where we build up communities just to have them torn down. I hope the loyal players of playing Tabula Rasa get to have the same kind of experience. I know it influenced me as to what good collaborative theaterical improvisation was all about.
I'm surprised there aren't more scorched earth games, where we build up communities just to have them torn down. I hope the loyal players of playing Tabula Rasa get to have the same kind of experience. I know it influenced me as to what good collaborative theaterical improvisation was all about.
Comment Re:And the web site was already slow this morning. (Score 1) 433
If this is the case, can you please explain why the UK is also in a recession right now?
Submission + - EU Commissioner Calls For Censorship Of Web Search (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: According to the Reuters, "Internet searches for bomb-making instructions should be blocked across the European Union, the bloc's top security official said on Monday". Franco Frattini, the EU Justice and Security commissioner, "intend[s] to carry out a clear exploring exercise with the private sector ... on how it is possible to use technology to prevent people from using or searching dangerous words like bomb, kill, genocide or terrorism ..." So, how long before the tech companies in USA are being investigated for assisting the evil EU to curb free speech of their citizens? And what chances there are for the Europeans among us to kick Mr. Frattini out of his office before it's too late to even talk about it in the Internets?
Submission + - Law students sue anonymous message board posters (wsj.com)
The Xoxo Reader writes: "The Wall Street Journal reports that two female students at Yale Law School have filed suit for defamation and infliction of emotional distress against an administrator and several anonymous posters (identified only by their pseudoynms) at the popular law student discussion board AutoAdmit (a.k.a. Xoxohth). One of the claims is that the posters have violated copyright laws by reposting pictures of the women without their permission. Since AutoAdmit's administrators have previously said that they do not retain IP logs of posters, it is unclear how the plaintiffs will ultimately be able to identify the actual people behind the pseudonyms named in the complaint. Apparently, one method was to post the summons on the message board itself and ask the posters to step forward. The controversy leading to this lawsuit was previously discussed on Slashdot here."
Submission + - Bush names anti-open source lobbyist as counselor (pressesc.com)
Citizen Pain writes: "President Bush today appointed as his counselor a man who received $820,000 from Microsoft to lobby during negotiations over its antitrust settlement as well as to oppose the use, especially within the government, of "open source" systems such as Linux. Enron also paid him $700,000 in 2001 alone to lobby on the "California energy crisis" and thwart efforts to re-regulate the Western electricity market through price controls."
Submission + - Intel in graphics partnership with Nvidia?
An anonymous reader writes: Intel may get some help building its upcoming floating point accelerator Larrabee. Following some rumors earlier this month, which claimed that Intel and Nvidia will be trading technologies, TG Daily now says that it has received information that the two companies will be announcing a "graphics partnership". An acquisition of Nvidia is a bit unlikely right now, but if Intel has access to Nvidia GPU technology, what exactly does that mean for AMD/ATI? Looks like Intel is catching up with AMD's ideas much faster than we thought.
Submission + - Computer Nerds being sued over Trademark
An anonymous reader writes: This Guy is trying to claim exclusive rights to use the term "Computer Nerds"
"
Computer Nerds®
3301 East Rancier #G101
Killeen, Texas 76543
(254) 690-6373 — Killeen Texas
(850) 244-6373 — Fort Walton Beach Florida
(239) 226-0014 — Fort Myers Florida
(416) 630-6373 — Toronto Canada
(866) 451-0588 — Fax
www.computernerds.net www.690-nerd.com www.clickanerd.com www.livepcrepairtechs.com
You are currently advertising a registered trademark Computer Nerds. (USPTO)
You have not obtained our permission to utilize said mark.
Please be advised that you are in violation of California, Texas and Federal Laws.
You are hereby ordered to cease and desist immediately with the use of our trade mark.
You are hereby noticed to seek legal representation.
If you fail to remove our trademark immediately, we will enforce our rights under the law.
Respectfully,
Computer Nerds
By: S.A. Richeson — Trademark Owner"
Feed European robots assist children in forming relationships (engadget.com)
Filed under: Robots
We've seen robots that help humans diagnose autism, but a team of researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have developed a number of robots and humanoids that can help autistic children cope and form relationships. The €3.22 million ($4.33 million) Interactive Robotic Social Mediators as Companions (IROMEC) project is being funded by the European Sixth Framework, and seeks to "investigate the use of robotic toys to enable children with disabilities to develop social skills." A number of creations have been concocted in order to help youngsters with learning disabilities interact more normally, and KASPAR (Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics) has emerged as the latest android to come to the rescue. The team isn't satisfied just yet, however, as it purportedly plans to further "investigate how robotic toys can become social mediators" within the next three years.[Via Physorg]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Submission + - Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!
Underholdning writes: "As part of an experiment security researcher Didier Stevens bought a Google ad six months ago that said, "Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!" 409 people clicked on the ad. Didier writes that during those six months, the ad was displayed 259,723 times and clicked on 409 times. 98% of the machines ran Windows. Now that's a pretty cheap way of acquiring zombies."
Submission + - Microsoft Patents Disclosed (somewhat)!
CptRevelation writes:
Just recently Microsoft announced a list of the most detailed info yet against the open-source community.
Even though they accuse companies of infringement, they state they would rather do licensing deals instead of any legal action. Microsoft states that the free Linux software violates 42 patents. Graphical user interfaces, the way menus and windows look on the screen, breach 65. E-mail programs step on 15, and other programs touch 68 other patents. As well as accusing Open Office of 45 patent infringements. "Microsoft can't drive a company out of business and make Linux go away," said Al Gillen, an analyst at the technology research group IDC.
Submission + - Microsoft claims 256 patents in Linux
geeflow writes: "Did you see it coming? HP, Dell?
CNNMoney.com says: Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe.
Read the rest of the story: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_arc hive/2007/05/28/100033867/"
