rsmoody - Slashdot User

Games Workshop Forbids Warhammer Fan Films 251

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday July 11, 2007 @02:19PM from the wont-last-after-WAR-is-released dept.

EikeHein writes "Made by dozens of fans over a period of several years and featuring impressive special effects, the feature-length Warhammer 40.000 epic DAMNATUS ranks among the most elaborate fan productions ever made — and yet may never see the light of day. Despite initially giving a go-ahead to the project, UK-based Warhammer franchise owner Games Workshop has come around to forbid distribution of the film just as it was being readied for release. What's more, they've amended their IP Policy to forbid any such projects in the future. At the heart of the matter appears to be Continental European copyright law, which grants the German film makers certain irrevocable rights to their creation which they cannot sign away. Given that the owners of the other two SF mega-franchises, Star Trek and Star Wars, have been able to come to terms with such issues and arguably benefit greatly from the media attention paid to popular fan productions, it would seem that Games Workshop still has to learn a thing or two about how to capture fan enthusiasm for their benefit."

Submission + - ultra-thin/light MacBook Pro before years' end (macscoop.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @08:33PM

An anonymous reader writes: MacScoop's sources claim ultra-thin and light laptop is coming before the end of this year: "Compared to the original 12 inch PowerBook, which is Apple's smallest notebook released so far, the new notebook is said to be half as thick, or something between 0.6 and 0.7 inch (15 to 18 millimetres). It will also be, by far, the lightest computer Apple ever released, or less than 3 pounds (1.36Kg), sources told MacScoop"

Submission + - AOL driving AIM users nuts with non-stop alerts (infoworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @03:35PM

Anonymous writes: AOL is blasting upgrade alerts to AIM users who refuse to upgrade to the IM software's new version. The update alert can't be turned off. You close it and it reappears minutes later. It also interrupts your work by periodically positioning itself as the primary active window.

Submission + - Sun Open Sources Solaris Cluster

Submitted by

fragmentate

on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:53PM

fragmentate writes: "

Sun announces the open sourcing of Solaris Cluster, an integrated software platform that provides high availability clustering and disaster recovery to key business applications. Called Open High Availability (HA) Cluster, the open sourced code will be made available to developers in three phases through a new HA Clusters community on OpenSolaris.org. With Open HA Cluster, Sun provides community members with a solid technology base to support innovation on cluster and high availability systems. Donating this cluster code to the OpenSolaris Project further cements Sun's position as the top contributor of code to the open source software community.

"

Submission + - Newly Declassified Window Film Keeps Out Hackers, (sciam.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:33PM

An anonymous reader writes: A newly declassified window film from CPFilms Inc. (Solutia Inc.) will give war drivers a run for their money. As printed in a recent issue of Scientific American: Once manufactured under an exclusive contract with the U.S. government, this recently declassified window film is now available to the public. But don't expect to see it on store shelves anytime soon. Currently, it's only available directly from the manufacturer, and at prices that will likely make it prohibitive for all but the wealthiest home owners. The two-millimeter-thick coating can block Wi-Fi signals, cell phone transmissions, even the near-infrared, yet is almost transparent, making it no more intrusive than conventional window treatments. It can keep signals in (preventing attempts to spy on electronic communications) or out, minimizing radio interference and even the fabled electronics-destroying electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a nuclear blast.

Submission + - Thompson to Join GOP Contest (kiplinger.com)

Submitted by

David Greenspan

on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:21PM

David Greenspan writes: "Later this month Senator and actor Fred Thompson, (from Law and Order and other tv shows) will officially announce that he is running for President of the United States on the GOP ticket. "The former senator and actor has hired his production staff, orchestrated the advance publicity and carefully worked his audience, which is desperate for a star to lead the GOP out of its funk." Kiplinger"

Submission + - Nintendo market value now higher than Sony (videogamesblogger.com)

Submitted by

Wowzer

on Monday June 25, 2007 @07:48AM

Wowzer writes: "Nintendo's stock is now worth $53 billion and as a result Nintendo has surpassed Sony, who are currently worth $52 billion, in market value. The Wii continued to outsell the PS3 on average by two to one, since both console's launches in November 2006. From the article: "Nintendo sold 251,794 Wii machines in May in Japan, topping PlayStation 3 sales by a five-to-one margin. — Sony last month sold 81,600 PlayStation 3 units in America, while Nintendo sold 338,000 Wii's. So the PlayStation 3 trailed the Wii by four-to-one in May.""

Submission + - Windows Server 2008 turning towards the dark side! (microsoft.com)

Submitted by

Jubei

on Monday June 25, 2007 @05:50AM

Jubei writes: "Has anyone checked out the beta of Microsoft Server 2008? I haven't but according to Microsoft's web site Windows Server 2008 comes with "Windows PowerShell is a new command-line shell with more than 130 tools and an integrated scripting language" and also "Server Core is a new installation option for selected roles that includes only the necessary components and subsystems without a graphical user interface". Is it me or is or is Microsoft turning towards a unix-like server solution?"

Submission + - Washington Woman Sues RIAA for Attorneys Fees 1

Submitted by

NewYorkCountryLawyer

on Friday June 22, 2007 @04:49PM

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "A Washington woman sued by the RIAA has asked the Court to award her attorneys fees, after the record company plaintiffs (Interscope Records, Capitol Records, SONY BMG, Atlantic Recording, BMG Music, and Virgin Records) dropped their case against her after two (2) years of litigation, in Interscope v. Leadbetter. The brief submitted by her attorneys (pdf) pointed out the similarity between Ms. Leadbetter's case and Capitol v. Foster. In Leadbetter, as in Foster, the RIAA sued the woman solely because she had paid for an internet access account, and then later in the case attempted to plead "secondary liability" against her without any factual basis for doing so. This tactic had been repudiated by Judge Lee R. West in Capitol v. Foster as "marginal" and "untested" in his initial decision awarding attorneys fees, and in his later decision denying the RIAA's motion for reconsideration."

Feed Engadget: Report: Vista more secure than OS X and Linux (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Friday June 22, 2007 @08:32AM

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Media PCs

Attention Linux, Vista, and Apple fan boys: put on your gloves... it's time to rumble! A 6-month vulnerability report issued by Jeff "Security Guy" Jones has caught the eye of Redmond and the ire of places beyond. The report which bases its security assessment upon vulnerabilities found (not actually exploited) claims that Vista is "more secure than OS X and Linux." In fact, the much maligned XP even crushes the competition using their calculations. Of course, it's worth noting that Jeff is a member of Microsoft's Security business unit which will probably sway your opinion as to the integrity of the data. Still, as incomplete as the assessment may be, it certainly appears to be a good showing for Vista considering the vast community of hackers attempting to thwart its security. Of course you know what Billy G's probably saying right about now? Dy-no-mite JJ!

[Via vnunet]

Read -- 6 Month Vulnerability Report [warning: PDF]
Read -- JJ's blog entry

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Submission + - Install Solar Panels, get foreclosed (myfoxdfw.com)

Submitted by

gambit3

on Friday June 22, 2007 @08:17AM

gambit3 writes: "According to the Dallas Fox affiliate, the exclusive Valley Ranch subdivision outside of Dallas is threatening to foreclose on a homeowner. His crime? Installing solar panels. They claim it is an eyesore, even though the panels can be seen only from the lawn of one neighbor, and he has no problems with the panels."

Submission + - Dangerous Global Cooling is Concern 1

Submitted by chfriley on Friday June 22, 2007 @07:20AM

chfriley writes: A current article on Canada.com states that "the mud at the bottom of B.C. fjords reveals that solar output drives climate change — and that we should prepare now for dangerous global cooling." It continues: "Politicians and environmentalists these days convey the impression that climate-change research is an exceptionally dull field with little left to discover. We are assured by everyone from David Suzuki to Al Gore to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that 'the science is settled.' At the recent G8 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel even attempted to convince world leaders to play God by restricting carbon-dioxide emissions to a level that would magically limit the rise in world temperatures to 2C. The fact that science is many years away from properly understanding global climate doesn't seem to bother our leaders at all." Apparently, the research isn't as settled a some would like to believe given that these scientists believe we are in for global cooling, and that is the main danger we should fear. To read the full article about Global Cooling, follow this link.

Submission + - MS to change desktop search after Google complaint (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by

Raver32

on Wednesday June 20, 2007 @07:38AM

Raver32 writes: "Microsoft Corp. will make changes to the program that helps Windows Vista users search their hard drives, in response to antitrust complaints from Google Inc., according to a U.S. Justice Department report issued late Tuesday. Google filed a 49-page document with the Justice Department in April claiming Vista's desktop search tool slowed down competing programs, including Google's own free offering, and that it's difficult for users to figure out how to turn off the Microsoft program. Microsoft initially dismissed the allegations, saying regulators had reviewed the program before Vista launched. However, Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in an interview last week that the company was willing to make changes if necessary."

Submission + - WAN-friendly filesystems for Linux

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @03:23PM

An anonymous reader writes: What options are there for folks who want to have synchronized filesystems on Internet-connected Linux machines, like at two associated branch offices sharing common data, or a small office with an off-site machine maintained for disaster recover purposes? The files should appear to be local at both locations (caching and file-locking), and changes need to propagate efficiently between the two systems. If the Internet connection becomes temporarily unavailable, the data kept as available as possible on each end in the interim.

We're not talking about rsync-replicated snapshots, although those are useful too, but rather live, fast access to a shared filesystem, with the geographical separation transparent to the end users. If the filesystem is large, it can initially be "seeded" from an image on tape(s)/disk(s)/dvd(s). Both sides should be able to access the common data over local Samba shares, too, if they want.

Production quality reliable solutions that work over DSL-type connections are what we're looking for...

Submission + - T.I.E. Fighter tracking the Space Shuttle Atlantis

Submitted by

farrellj

on Tuesday June 19, 2007 @02:56PM

farrellj writes: "The NY Times has a photo of the space shuttle Atlantis here which seems to show a Star Wars T.I.E. Fighter behind the shuttle. You can see it in the picture just above the right OMS pod. Has the Empire found our planet?!?!?"

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