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Comment Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (Score 1) 518

by FalseModesty (#34310388) Attached to: FPS Games That Need a Remake
Looking Glass's Terra Nova was a real diamond in the rough. Vast outdoor environments (in 1996!), weapon/armor/squadmate selections that actually mattered, jump jets, squadmate commands (that worked!), limited ammo, horrible acting. That game had it all. God, I still want to play it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova:_Strike_Force_Centauri

Comment The cool thing... (Score 1) 486

by FalseModesty (#27974107) Attached to: Microsoft To Banish Memcpy()
The cool thing about this discussion is how it highlights the brilliance of our slashdotty community. How many people here think "memcpy(dest, src, src_size)" is safe? How many people here think "memcpy(dest, src, dest_size)" is safe? They're both unsafe. memcpy_s() isn't much of an improvement, but at least it will overrun neither the source nor the destination (unless used very stupidly indeed).

Nobody seems to have mentioned the other problem with memcpy(), which is that it only works on untyped data. This is always dangerous and rarely required.
Media

Theora Ahead of H.264 In Objective PSNR Quality 313

Posted by timothy from the why-ayn-never dept.
bigmammoth writes "Xiph hackers have been hard at work improving the Theora codec over the past year, with the latest versions gaining on and passing h.264 in objective PSNR quality measurements. From the update: 'Amusingly, it also shows test versions of Thusnelda pulling ahead of h.264 in terms of objective quality as bitrate increases. It's important to note that PSNR is an objective measure that does not exactly represent perceived quality, and PSNR measurements have always been especially kind to Theora. This is also data from a single clip. That said, it's clear that the gap in the fundamental infrastructure has closed substantially before the task of detailed subjective tuning has begun in earnest.' Momentum is building with a major Open Video Conference in June, the impending launch of Firefox 3.5 and excitement about wider adoption in a top-4 web site. It's looking like free video codecs may pose a serious threat to the h.264 bait-and-switch plan to start charging millions for internet streaming of h.264 in 2010."
Privacy

Rep. Jane Harman Focus In Yet Another Warrantless Wiretap Scandal 312

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the irony-makes-head-asplode dept.
Many different sources are talking about the latest scandal surrounding the warrantless wiretapping program. Incriminating evidence against California rep. Jane Harman was apparently captured some time ago on a legal NSA wiretap. However, Attorney General Gonzales supposedly intervened to drop the case against her because (and this is where the irony meter explodes) Bush officials wanted her to be able to publicly defend the warrantless wiretap program. "Jane Harman, in the wake of the NSA scandal, became probably the most crucial defender of the Bush warrantless eavesdropping program, using her status as 'the ranking Democratic on the House intelligence committee' to repeatedly praise the NSA program as 'essential to US national security' and 'both necessary and legal.'"
Government

Obama Stimulus Pours Millions Into Cyber Security 156

Posted by CmdrTaco from the because-they-need-it dept.
nandemoari writes "As his administration continues to work on a stimulus plan that can save America's economy, Obama's latest course of action will see millions of dollars being allocated to heighten cyber security. The move will assist government officials in preventing future attacks on the United States. The President recently addressed his 2010 budget, outlining funding plans that will grant the Department of Homeland Security $355 million to secure the nation's most essential computer systems. The money will be spent on both government and private groups, with much of the funding going to the National Cyber Security Division and the Comprehensive National Cyber Security Initiative programs."
Graphics

Creating 3D Environments Without Polygons 74

Posted by Soulskill from the too-cool-for-geometry dept.
Igor Hardy writes "I've conducted an interesting interview concerning a new episodic indie adventure game series called Casebook. What's quite uncommon, especially for these kinds of independently developed and published productions, is that they include professionally created FMV — all of the footage is filmed in real locations. Yet what's even more interesting is that the games use an innovative photographic technology which recreates a fully explorable 3D environment through the use of millions of photos instead of building from polygons. The specifics of how it works are explained by Sam Clarkson, the creative director of the series."

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