Mark Maughan - Slashdot User

Submission + - Doom fans petition Raven for GPL Hexen source

Submitted by

sfraggle

on Sunday January 28, 2007 @05:57PM

sfraggle writes: "Doomworld is reporting about a group of Doom enthusiasts petitioning Raven to GPL the source code to Heretic and Hexen. Although the source code was released several years ago, the license is so restrictive as to be next to useless. Now over 30 programmers working with projects derived from the Doom source have drafted an open letter to Raven in the hopes of getting the source finally re-released under the GPL. The letter is backed by a petition signed by over 300 people."

Submission + - Genitalia Now Inappropirate in 7th Grade Health

Submitted by firemoose on Saturday January 27, 2007 @06:15PM

firemoose writes: A 7th grade health class teacher has been transferred to administrative duties and may be fired for having his students draw male genitalia on a chalk board in class. The district superintendent took action after receiving complaints from parents. He has labeled the teacher's actions as "insensitive" and inappropriate for the mixed-sex students of the 7th grade class. The article quotes a parent and a teacher who believe that the school board may be overreacting, but is only able to cite a 4th grade student who found the idea of genitalia in class offensive.

Submission + - Microsoft steal BlueJ idea and patent it

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27, 2007 @05:40AM

An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft is attempting to patent "Object Test Bench", a graphical object-oriented teaching tool. The problem is that BlueJ created it in 1994 and it's been in active and healthy use since, as a free project created by academics. Microsoft openly acknowledges this. Whichever way the BlueJ team turn, they now face a legal battle against huge corporation. Headstrong Slashdotters might be screaming "SUE!! PRIOR ART!!" but BlueJ is an academic project and legal battles require lots of cash. It's not helped by the fact BlueJ is based outside of the US.

Submission + - Age of Conan delayed six months

Submitted by

Haavard Sverdrup

on Thursday January 25, 2007 @07:17PM

Haavard Sverdrup writes: "According to the Norwegian news agency "TDS Finans" and several Norwegian newspapers, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be delayed for another six months, pushing the release date to 30th October 2007. http://www.tothegame.com/game_news.asp?id=27"

Submission + - Blu-ray Backup Playback

Submitted by

Janvitos

on Thursday January 25, 2007 @03:23PM

Janvitos writes: "Video demonstrating the playback of a Blu-ray backup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfzLVogXOpM"

Blame Gaming - Is the Blinking PS3 Sony's Fault? 103

Posted by Zonk on Thursday January 25, 2007 @11:19AM from the finger-pointing-with-blank-media dept.

mattnyc99 writes "After discovering a blinking problem associated with the HDCP handshake from an HDMI cable to the PlayStation 3, then solving it, Popular Mechanics has now set off a mini-war between Westinghouse and Sony. The 1080p TV set maker appears to be blaming Sony as the source of the blinking PS3, and the two powerhouse companies have organized a meeting to settle the score. From the article: '[Westinghouse had] one suggestion for PS3 owners with blinking Westinghouse televisions: Purchasing an HDMI to DVI adapter to bypass HDCP. Average cost of an adapter: $30. As we reported last week, Popular Mechanics has found an even easier solution: Unplugging the HDMI cable, and then plugging it back in'"

Submission + - PS3 European launch date revealed

Submitted by

bain

on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @09:12PM

bain writes: "The BBC reports that Sony have announced the 23rd of March as the date when the console will finally go on sale in Europe. The only version of the next gen console to be released on that date however is the 60Gb version. "One million of the consoles will be made available at launch in Europe, with around a quarter of the stock landing in the UK. Each machine will cost £425 or 599 Euros." Said Sony in their announcement."

Submission + - Pope Declares Violent Video Games a Perversion

Submitted by Dr. Eggman on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @08:36PM

Dr. Eggman writes: According to the Associated Press Pope Benedict XVI has declared "Any trend to produce programmes and products — including animated films and video games — which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion." However, rather than call for action against violent video games and other media, the Pope has opted instead to ask the media "How could one explain this entertainment to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse?" and to instead assist parents in instilling children with good values and "the positive achievements and goals of humanity."

Submission + - Blu-Ray is cracked now too

Submitted by on Saturday January 20, 2007 @10:45PM

An anonymous reader writes: Looks like Blu-Ray DRM has been compromised, for one disc at least:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=939873#pos t939873

Submission + - Gonzales denies Americans have habeas rights

Submitted by

TrumpetPower!

on Saturday January 20, 2007 @03:42PM

TrumpetPower! writes: "This past Thursday, in response to questioning by Senator Arlen Specter (R, PA), US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary committee that ``The Constitution doesn't say every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas corpus. '' The exchange between Mr. Gonzales and Senator Specter has received virtually no attention from the press; Google News currently has all of a dozen or so stories. Habeas corpus is the right, in America guaranteed by Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, which ensures that people are not unjustly imprisoned and tried."

Submission + - Sun Goes After Red Hat, Discounts Solaris Support

Submitted by

kernelpanicked

on Saturday January 20, 2007 @12:34PM

kernelpanicked writes: "Sun Microsystems announced Tuesday that its latest upgrade to the Solaris 10 operating system includes discounted support pricing. The move is intended to undercut support plans offered by Linux vendor Red Hat. The Solaris upgrade features improved disaster recovery and support for the Xen virtual machine technology."

Submission + - Utah's Newest Attempt to Block Pornography

Submitted by gc8005 on Saturday January 20, 2007 @12:23PM

gc8005 writes: There's something brewing in Utah. A new, non-profit organization called CP80 that wants to segregate Internet content based on IP ports. To a lay person, it sounds plausible, as CP80 describes port segregation like cable TV channels. But unlike the cable system, it's easily bypassed. Even more disturbing are the founders and backers of CP80, which include Ralph Yarro, who was recently fired from his CEO position at Canopy Group (see SCO fiasco), and several venture capital firms. Even Darl McBride has donated to the cause. Why are VCs backing a non-profit anti-pornography organization? What's the real story behind CP80?

Ohio Recount Rigging Case Goes to Court 224

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday January 20, 2007 @11:15AM from the counting-down-the-hits dept.

The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting that the trial of the three election workers accused of rigging the 2004 presidential election recount in Cuyahoga County is finally underway. As you may recall, this was the case where poll workers 'randomly' selected the precincts to recount by first eliminating from consideration precincts where the number of ballots handed out on Election Day failed to match the number of ballots cast and, then opening the ballot boxes in private and pre-counting until they found cases which would match up. What is interesting here is that they have already admitted doing this and that it was clearly counter to the letter and the spirit of the law, but still insist it wasn't really 'wrong,' presumably since they only did it to avoid having to go to the bother of a full recount as required by law.

Submission + - Your web browser, now a graphing calculator

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 20, 2007 @05:27AM

An anonymous reader writes: Taking advantage of the vector graphics features offered by the latest browsers, a recently created website called FooPlot turns your web browser into a function plotter (in 2-D and 3-D), offering a few basic graphing calculator features with a promise for further developments and integration with popular online spreadsheet applications. Gaining popularity in an educational context both in high schools and universities, this is another great example of the potential of the Internet to become the application platform of the future.

As an added extra, FooPlot also permits functions to be tacked onto the URL: http://fooplot.com/x^2+2x+1.

Submission + - Why isn't ReactOS gaining momentum?

Submitted by

CSMatt

on Saturday January 20, 2007 @04:09AM

CSMatt writes: "I find it puzzling and interesting that, given all of Microsoft's negligence on Windows, the community still doesn't seem to support ReactOS development near as much as the Linux distributions or even the BSDs. ReactOS could easily do to Windows what the GNU project did to UNIX, but it seems like it is constantly falling short of a suitable Windows alternative due to either a lack of developers or a lack of money. Yes, I know that it takes about a decade for the community to write a complete operating system, and it will probably take at least 15 years to write one as complex as Windows, but there still seems to be something that is slowing the project down. Is it disbelief that the final version will be able to provide compatibility with Vista or Vienna programs because ReactOS will inevitably have to play catch-up with Windows? Is it the idea that it would still be used only by hobbyists and free software advocates, even though it is possible that the low price of zero might woo OEMs into preinstalling it?"

Slashdot Top Deals