Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - GOG.com Caves to Chinese Censorship

Submitted by sombragris
sombragris writes: Game store GOG.com, owned by Polish developer CD Project (which also developed Cyberpunk 2077) announced that it would offer for sale acclaimed Taiwanese horror game Devotion. This game is notorious for being highly controversial in Mainland China, since it once carried a poster mocking China Communist Party's Leader Xi Jinping.

However, in a matter of hours, GOG backpedaled. In a Twitter announcement, the company stated that the game would no longer be listed due to "many requests from gamers" without any further explanation.

This move generated a strong backlash within the gaming community, and GOG hasn't commented further. The Guardian as a good summary which points to a potential explanation: GOG does not want to attract undue Chinese attention upon itself that would jeopardize any potential Cyberpunk 2077 business from China.

Comment Re: Be aware of acetaminophen (Score 3, Informative) 94

by sombragris (#60827914) Attached to: Creator of DirectX Dies at Age 55

Acetaminophen has its uses, although admittedly could be dangerous in excessive doses.

In my country, dengue fever is endemic. I had a severe case of it back in 2007 (I had to be hospitalized). Doctors prescribe Acetaminophen for that because there's simply no other drug which can effectively reduce the fever and also alleviate other dengue symptoms. I was taking it at maximum doses when I inadvertently began to take slightly higher doses (by taking more frequently than prescribed) and I promptly got higher level of liver transaminases; or as my doctor said, a medication-induced hepatitis. The levels returned to normal when the doctor explained to me the correct spacing between takings, and since then I tend to approach the drug with caution.

But... it is effective, no doubt.

Comment I like Firefox (Score 1) 318

by sombragris (#60407197) Attached to: Can Firefox Be Saved?

I like Firefox and it looks like they got their act together after Firefox Quantum. Now it's much faster and leaner, although it still has way to go before it reaches an "ideal" status. It's the default browser on all my PCs.

Now, on mobile they have a mess with their "private" browsers. They began with Firefox Focus, a lean, ad-blocking browser. Then they "de-emphasized" it and stopped developing it, recommending users to switch to Firefox Preview.

More or less a month ago, they moved all Firefox Preview users to Firefox Nightly.

So, my cellphone passed from downloading a 4 MB lean and mean browser (admittedly, a custom version of Chrome for Android) to a 70 MB daily update of an experimental browser...

There might be a rationale for all that but they seriously need to get their act together on mobile.

Comment Old games (Score 1) 134

I do single player campaigns, no multiplayer. This quarantine was a great opportunity to play some good old games. Gameplay is usually excellent and the requirements are very easy on my hardware. I've been playing Quake 4, Halo (Reach, 1,2), Battlezone Redux (both BZ1 and TRO), XIII and others. It's been good to learn, and sometimes relive, them.

Btw, GOG.com has great prices and sales which makes most of these games really affordable.

Submission + - SPAM: Benefits of Freelancing amidst COVID-19

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread, it is normal to feel fear and uncertainty. With the current global pandemic of COVID-19, freelancers around the world are losing contracts to companies that are being directly affected by the pandemic. COVID-19 has shown companies with full time employees thatmost of them can work from home and perform their job duties the same as those actually in an office. COVID-19 will change the way many businesses will view work from home as more and more companies will start offering remote jobs or partial remote jobs giving their employees an option to work from home 2-5 days a week as an example.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Trump announces US to designate Antifa as terrorist organization 5

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told "Fox News Sunday" he has evidence that people from out-of-state were involved in violent behavior in Minneapolis, but he did not specify whether they were affiliated with any particular group or ideology.

A resolution to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization was introduced in the Senate in 2019, stating that Antifa "represents opposition to the democratic ideals of peaceful assembly and free speech for all[.]"
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Low-cost device splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight (phys.org)

Submitted by fahrbot-bot
fahrbot-bot writes: Phys.org reports that Rice University researchers have created an efficient, low-cost device that splits water to produce hydrogen fuel.

The platform developed by the Brown School of Engineering lab of Rice materials scientist Jun Lou integrates catalytic electrodes and perovskite solar cells that, when triggered by sunlight, produce electricity. The current flows to the catalysts that turn water into hydrogen and oxygen, with a sunlight-to-hydrogen efficiency as high as 6.7%.

This sort of catalysis isn't new, but the lab packaged a perovskite layer and the electrodes into a single module that, when dropped into water and placed in sunlight, produces hydrogen with no further input.

The platform ... is a self-sustaining producer of fuel that, they say, should be simple to produce in bulk. The platform introduced by Lou, lead author and Rice postdoctoral fellow Jia Liang and their colleagues in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano is a self-sustaining producer of fuel that, they say, should be simple to produce in bulk.

"The concept is broadly similar to an artificial leaf," Lou said. "What we have is an integrated module that turns sunlight into electricity that drives an electrochemical reaction. It utilizes water and sunlight to get chemical fuels."

Submission + - Tesla May Be Exposing Customer's Data In An Unexpected Way (insideevs.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When Tesla performs hardware upgrades on customer's cars, their data may not be deleted.

A (white hat) hacker bought several Tesla computers online and was able to retrieve “owner’s home and work location, all saved wi-fi passwords, calendar entries from the phone, call lists and address books from paired phones, Netflix and other stored session cookies.”

Submission + - Windows 10x might become a Chrome OS competitor (windows.com)

Submitted by Ammalgam
Ammalgam writes: Very interesting news this morning in a post by Panos Panay. The Microsoft Windows and Devices chief announced that some substantial changes were being made regarding the development of Windows 10x. For a refresher on Windows 10x, see this What is Windows 10x article. Part of his announcement today:

With that increased focus comes a shift in priorities for Windows too. The world is a very different place than it was last October when we shared our vision for a new category of dual-screen Windows devices. As we continue to put customers’ needs at the forefront, we need to focus on meeting customers where they are now. Our customers are leveraging the power of the cloud more than ever, and we believe the time is right to lean into this acceleration in a different way.

With Windows 10X, we designed for flexibility, and that flexibility has enabled us to pivot our focus toward single-screen Windows 10X devices that leverage the power of the cloud to help our customers work, learn and play in new ways. These single-screen devices will be the first expression of Windows 10X that we deliver to our customers, and we will continue to look for the right moment, in conjunction with our OEM partners, to bring dual-screen devices to market.

The implications of two versions of Windows 10 coming to laptops are huge. From The Redmond Cloud:

Microsoft is not yet explicitly defining what Windows 10x will have now that this change has been announced and we will probably learn more at the BUILD conference. However if it’s a more simple and modular form of Windows 10, it makes sense that this could be a lower cost Chrome OS competitor.

Slashdot Top Deals

Is your job running? You'd better go catch it!

Close