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Games

Submission + - Minecraft wins gaming arts award (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC reports that Minecraft has won a new arts award for games, beating the likes of Portal 2 and Ilomilo. The prize was announced at the finale of the GameCity videogame culture festival in Nottingham.
Science

Submission + - Fish Evolve Immunity To Toxic Sludge (economist.com) 2

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes: Fish in the Hudson River and the harbor in New Bedford, Mass., have evolved resistance to PCBs. In the Hudson, a species of tomcod has evolved a way for a very specific protein to simply not bind to PCBs, nearly eliminating the toxicity. In New Bedford, the Atlantic killifish has proteins that bind to the toxin (just as the do in mammals) but the fish aren't affected despite high levels of PCBs in their cells. Why the killifish survive is a mystery.

Submission + - The trend toward smaller independant PC builders (apcmag.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: We are experiencing a spike in sales from new desktop computers buyers in the home office, home and small business segments from people who would normally buy brand name or retail systems. This trend is based on dissatisfaction, bad service, no onsite technical service, back to base warranty which is inconvenient and often lacking in technical skill. Visit www.wiredoffice.com.au/new-computers-perth.php to see examples of cutting edge business class desktops with very interesting specs for the dollar spend.
Government

Submission + - Ohio Emergency Responders Stage Mock Zombie Invasi (nbc4i.com)

Submitted by destinyland
destinyland writes: An Ohio Emergency Management Agency staged a mock zombie attack Monday using more than 225 volunteers dressed as zombies at an Ohio college. "Organizers hoped the theme would attract more volunteers than previous simulations of industrial accidents or train crashes," the AP reports, quoting a spokesman for the agency as saying that "People got zombie fever here in Delaware." The exercise included decontamination procedures for hazardous materials, and was inspired by an "emergency preparedness" post on the CDC web site citing the popular fascination with zombies. (The number of zombie ebooks in Amazon's Kindle store has increased by 13.9% in just the last two months.) Now, "Dozens of agencies have embraced the idea," the AP reports, "spreading the message that if you're prepared for a zombie attack, you're prepared for just about anything."

Submission + - Flattr To Continue Sending Money To Wikileaks (activepolitic.com)

Submitted by bs0d3
bs0d3 writes: Piratebay Co-Founder and owner of a site called flattr, Peter Sunde talks about how even though he sometimes disagree's with wikileaks.. his service will continue to handle their flattr account. Flattr is a mircopayment system where fans of a page can click on pages they like and send a particular amount of money. Peter (brokep) writes, "Even though I have a love-hate type of relationship to WikiLeaks, and some of my other co-workers at Flattr as well, we all stand up for the right of WikiLeaks to use the system. It’s a separate thing from any personal views. It’s a political view based on equal rights, the right to a fair trial and the right to partake in society as a peer."

Submission + - Andrea Rossi Claims E-Cat Test a Success (wired.co.uk) 4

Submitted by NoisySplatter
NoisySplatter writes: The test of Andrea Rossi's 1MW cold fusion power plant mentioned previously here has been declared a success by its inventor. During the test the E-Cat unit is reported to have produced an average of 470 kW over 5 hours. Skeptics however should have no trouble finding ammunition with which to attack the test, since the power plant remained suspiciously connected to a running generator the entire time.
Hardware

Submission + - Who Stole 40 ton Bridge? Metal Theft on the Rise

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Time Magazine reports that police in North Beaver Township, Pa are searching for a missing steel bridge weighing 40-tons with an estimated value of $100,000. The most likely scenario is that the thieves used a blowtorch to cut apart the bridge and haul it away. "I thought that with the rain it got washed away," says New Castle Development spokesman Gary Bruce. The theft highlights the growing crime of metal theft caused by rapid industrialization in Asia that has inflated the international demand for scrap metals. Aluminum guardrails. Brass fittings. Bronze plaques. Aluminum siding. Sprinkler fittings. Catalytic converters on church vans. Bronze urns. Storm drain grates. Street signs. Copper downspouts. The US is the No. 1 exporter of scrap metal, and because of increasing demand, its annual exportation to developing nations tripled from 6 million to 18 million tons between 2002 and 2007. "Because of the massive amount of construction that's happening, there's a need for building supplies. Meanwhile the U.S. has been industrialized for quite some time, which allows our trash to become their gold, so to speak," says Brandon Kooi, a professor of criminal justice at Aurora University in Chicago. Scott Berinato believes frequent media reports of metal thefts also have contributed to the rise. "Thieves have caught on: There's metal everywhere and much of it is, understandably, unguarded," writes Berinato. "You don't notice how much metal there is for the taking until it starts getting taken.""

Submission + - La Quadrature releases three videos on ACTA (laquadrature.net)

Submitted by
theocrite
theocrite writes: "On the occasion of the Free Culture Forum in Barcelona, La Quadrature du Net releases three films to inform citizens and urge them to take action against ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Learn more: http://www.laquadrature.net/en/acta

The videos are currently on thepiratebay's homepage and have already been seen 200'000 times in 24h."
Android

Submission + - New NookColor coming on November 7th (the-digital-reader.com)

Submitted by Nate the greatest
Nate the greatest writes: If you already have a Kobo Vox or Kindle Fire on order, you might want to cancel it. Barnes and Noble are rumored to be launching a new NookColor in a couple weeks.

According to The Digital Reader, several Barnes & Noble employees have anonymously reported that their stores are about to be remodeled with a new larger department for the Nook. One was quite clear in reporting that management said there would be a new Nook coming.

But it gets better. Late on Friday The Wall Street Journal published an article which confirmed some details. According the the WSJ, B&N released info on Friday that they will be expanding Nook boutiques in some of the B&N stores. no reason was given, but it does back up the story.
Hardware

Submission + - Can Open Hardware Transform the Data Center? (datacenterknowledge.com)

Submitted by 1sockchuck
1sockchuck writes: Is the data center industry on the verge of a revolution in which open source hardware designs transform the process of designing and building these facilities? This week the Open Compute Project gained momentum and structure, forming a foundation as it touted participation from IT heavyweights Intel, Dell, Amazon, Facebook, Red Hat and Rackspace. That turnout is not an isolated event, but reflects a growing focus on collaborative projects to reduce cost, timelines and inefficiency in data center construction and operation. The Open Compute project is just one of a handful of initiatives to bring standards and repeatable designs to IT infrastructure.
Privacy

Submission + - Siri and privacy (ssrn.com)

Submitted by Enoughads
Enoughads writes: A paper from last year predicts the trend toward ever more social interfaces like Apple's Siri and suggests that they raise unique privacy concerns, beyond just collecting information. Will you search for the same things if it feels like you're asking a person? Can you ever experience solitude, surrounded by devices or apps your brain thinks of as people?
Google

Submission + - Google Streetview Moves Indoors

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Google is taking its Street View mapping service indoors with plans moving ahead for 360-degree Business Photos, a program that would send Google photographers to various businesses to snap professional photos for their Places Page. "This experience, using Street View technology, includes 360-degree imagery of the business interior and storefront," says Google. "With this immersive imagery, potential customers can easily imagine themselves at the business and decide if they want to visit in person." Photographs are taken by "trusted" photographers though businesses can also upload their own images via Google Places and is starting with businesses "that we know are searched for most regularly," like restaurants, hotels, retail shops, gyms, salons, and repair shops. Taking internal photos and posting them online brings up some security questions but Google says its photographs will "capture nothing different to what a customer would see by visiting the business in real life.""

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