Comment Re:Grandfather paradox (Score 2, Informative) 106
In Chronotron, you create a time paradox and have to restart the level.
Comment Re:Chronotron. (Score 1) 106
Nicely done! Chronotron was exactly the game I was trying to think of when I read the summary.
I was hooked on that one for a while.
Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time Offers New Gameplay Mechanic 106
Ars Technica has a great look at the latest installment in the Ratchet and Clank series, "A Crack in Time." Along with the great looking graphics and same great gameplay, A Crack in Time offers a brand new game mechanic: "time pads." Time pads allow you to make a copy of yourself and move through a series of action, then shift back to "real time" and interact with your past self. "It's a game mechanic that's hard to describe in words, and wrapping your head around it inside the game isn't much easier when it's first described with an example or two. You have to play with it and bend time to your will before you see just how ingenious the whole thing is. The puzzles begin simply and grow harder as the game moves on. The use of time is done very well and elevates what we've played of the game from another platforming experience to something truly special."
Report That OS X Snow Leopard May Include Antivirus 335
File this firmly in the "rumor" category for now. the JoshMeister writes (in the third person) "Mac antivirus company Intego broke the story this morning that Apple is apparently including antivirus functionality in its upcoming operating system, Snow Leopard. But which antivirus engine is Apple using? Security researcher Joshua Long discusses the likely candidates."
Comment Re:Digital divide FTW! (Score 5, Insightful) 368
We just know from WoW that most people can connect online and play. There are some cases out there, some legitimate-use cases -- that aren't just people that refuse to buy a modem or are crazy and weird and living in a closet.
I believe what you're describing ("all those gamers who live in a rural, dial-up only area") would fall under the "legitimate-use cases" to which he refers, and very clearly dissociates from the "crazy and weird" contingent.
Reading comprehension for the win?
Up To 90 Percent of US Money Has Traces of Cocaine 441
mmmscience writes "Scientists have found that up to 90% of US paper money has some cocaine contamination, up from the 67% mark measured two years ago. Looking at bills from 17 cities, it's no surprise that the city with the highest level was Washington DC, where up to 95% of bills gathered there tested positive. From a global standpoint, both Canada and Brazil tested rather high (85% and 80%, respectively), but China and Japan were well behind the curve at 20% and 12%. The researchers hope that studies such as these will be of help to law enforcement agencies that are attempting to understand the growth and flow of drug use in communities."
Submission + - Schiller Responds To iPhone Dictionary App Drama (pcworld.com)
beef curtains writes: Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, responded by e-mail to a blog post discussing Apple's rejection of a dictionary app.
If Schiller's e-mail is to be believed, it offers an interesting perspective on this whole issue. PC World has an article summarizing the drama to-date, the blog post, and Schiller's response.
If Schiller's e-mail is to be believed, it offers an interesting perspective on this whole issue. PC World has an article summarizing the drama to-date, the blog post, and Schiller's response.
Nicotine Improves Brain Function In Schizophrenics 297
An anonymous reader suggests a Cosmos Magazine note that nicotine has been shown to enhance attention and memory in schizophrenics. Research is now aimed at developing new treatments that could relieve symptoms and prevent smoking-related deaths. "A strong link between schizophrenia and smoking — with over three times as many schizophrenics smoking (70 to 90%) as the population at large — prompted scientists to investigate the link. Researchers led by Ruth Barr, a psychiatrist at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, set out to find if the nicotine in cigarettes was helping patients to overcome their difficulties with cognitive function, such as planning and memory in social and work settings."
Comment Re:Seriously (Score 2, Funny) 237
Stupid git.
;)
Navigating a Geek Marriage? 1146
JoeLinux writes "I am soon to marry my true love (a girl! yes! they do exist!). She is a literary geek, whereas I am a gaming/Linux geek. Being the RTFM-style geeks that we are, we have been reading up on marriage, making things work, etc. Unfortunately, all of the references seem to be based around an alpha-male jock and a submissive cheerleader-style wife. A lot of the references to incompatibility in the books don't apply to us (neglect due to interest in sports, etc.). What are some of the pitfalls and successes learned in the course of a more geek-oriented marriage?"
Comment Re:Refreshing Change (Score 4, Informative) 177
He's an idiot on their frequency, thereby endangering the passengers.
Trying to get elected with that sensationalism are you?
you need to go further and call his actions "terrorist" and how he endangered the "entire city".
what he did was stupid, but you are doing the same thing by acting like a Fox news reporter.
Are you on drugs? The GP could not have summarized this whole thing in a more factual, less sensational way. So posing as a CTA supervisor & ordering train conductors to ignore stop signals when approaching busy subway stations doesn't count as "endangering the passengers" in your mind?
Look, I hate the black & white, "with us or with the terrorists" propaganda as much as anyway, but how about a little perspective on things? The facts here are simple: this guy is definitely an idiot, and some of his idiocy had the potential of injuring and/or killing a lot of folks.
BringIt.com Allows Players to Bet On Console Game Matches 112
eldavojohn writes to tell us of a new service, "BringIt.com," that allows gamers to put their money where their mouth is with respect to their console gaming skill. "BringIt supports the PlayStation 2, the PS3, the Xbox 360 and the Wii. Players challenge each other on the site, but play on their consoles. BringIt holds players' entry fees until the game is finished. After the game is done, it verifies the results and credits the winner, minus the service fee. To attract players of a broad range of skill sets, BringIt has separate tournaments meant for novice players and expert gamers. Levin compared it to the handicap system in golf or the weight-class system in wrestling.
David Pogue Wants to Take Back the Beep 383
David Pogue has distilled into useful form a long-standing complaint I have (and one reason I have long had a voice mail greeting that asked people not to leave me voicemail): cell phone companies set up the greeting, caller instructions, and playback system prompts in large part to maximize their revenue per user; by his calculations, the "mandatory 15-second voicmail instructions" from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and others is earning those companies something near a billion dollars a year in charges. Pogue suggests that users should "take back the beep," and to that end provides contact information for the largest cell carriers in order to register a complaint — and, more helpful in the short run, suggests ways in which to make better use of paid-for phone minutes by alerting callers how to bypass the annoying instructions.
Arizona Considers Selling Capitol Buildings
301
Things are so bad in Arizona that legislators are considering selling the House and Senate buildings where they've met and worked for more than 50 years. Dozens of other state properties may also be sold. The plan is to sell the properties and then lease them back over several years before assuming ownership again. "We've mortgaged the legislative halls," said an exasperated state Rep. Steve Yarbrough, a Chandler Republican. "That just tells you how extraordinary the times are. To me, it's something we're going to have to do no matter how much we find it undesirable." I bet they could get a great price on the Grand Canyon.
Comment Re:Beer summit (Score 1) 254
Awesome.
Thanks for making me quite literally "LOL"
