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Programming

Submission + - Scrolling Game Development Kit 2 in Beta (sf.net)

Submitted by
BlueMonk
BlueMonk writes: "Version 2.0 of this build-your-own-game IDE is a rewrite from the ground up in C# on the .NET 1.1 / DirectX 9.0 platform. Yesterday, the homepage posted an announcement of the initial beta release. SGDK2 has grown significantly in flexibility and features since the last 1.x release more than a year ago. One of the extra sample projects is a tetris game, demonstrating that SGDK2 is less confined to the notion of scrolling games, though that's where you'll still find it providing the most support. Although the initial release is based on .NET 1.1 and Managed DirectX 9.0, the intention is to upgrade to later versions of the .NET framework and possibly support alternate graphics platforms as soon as possible after the initial release. The project will remain in beta for a period of time to allow feedback before the 2.0 release; among other final refinements, hardware requirements are still being worked out. The beta is public and available for download to all."
Handhelds

Turned Off iPhone Gets $4800 Bill from AT&T 951

Posted by CmdrTaco from the gotta-hate-when-that-happens dept.
Tech.Luver writes "Jay Levy says he has been stung by Apple's iPhone pact with AT&T after he took an iPhone on a Mediterranean cruise. They didn't use their phones, but when they got back they had a 54-page monthly bill of nearly $4,800 from AT&T Wireless. The problem was that their three iPhones were racking up a bill for data charges using foreign phone charges. The iPhone regularly updates e-mail, even while it's off, so that all the messages will be available when the user turns it on. ""
Education

Submission + - Levitation Technology Developed (smarthouse.com.au)

Submitted by
Mike
Mike writes: "Scientists at a Scotland university have developed technology that offers a way of levitating tiny objects. The technology relies on reversing the Casimir force. The physicists said they can create "incredible levitation effects" by manipulating so-called Casimir force, which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force.The scientists say they are a long way off, they admit it is possible in principle for the technology to be developed to levitate larger objects, including people and vehicles. Now, I remember when the very idea of owning a gigabyte of hard disk space was regarded as crazy-talk; now you can get a terabyte for $300 or less. So the question is, how much longer before this technology is scaled up to a useful level?"
Patents

Submission + - House Passes Patent Overhaul Bill (itworld.com)

Submitted by
narramissic
narramissic writes: "ITworld reports that the House of Representatives has passed a 'bill to overhaul the nation's patent system, overcoming objections by many Republicans, small inventors and some labor unions.' From the article:

The Patent Reform Act, supported by several large tech vendors including Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp., would allow courts to change they way they assess damages in patent infringement cases. Currently, courts generally consider the value of the entire product when a small piece of the product infringes a patent; the bill would allow, but not require, courts to base damages only on the value of the infringing piece.
"
Communications

Submission + - Opposition to Net-Neutrality

Submitted by Arnold Enil
Arnold Enil writes: Following the US DoJ's quite ridiculous ruling that commends a two-tier internet as a good idea and ensuing (surprisingly positive) big-media attention, the possiblity of a two-tier internet with different pricing rates, speeds, and available bandwidth is steadily becoming more and more of a real threat. Here are ten very real reasons why a two-tier internet is a very bad thing, for everyone from end-users, to ISP retailers, to webhosts alike. Users are encouraged to submit their own. And, of course, the obligatory petition.
Censorship

Submission + - Uncensored Manhunt 2 Leaks Online (kotaku.com) 2

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Projectmanhunt.com is reporting that an early PS2 build of Manhunt 2 has leaked online. Though credited to Rockstar-unaffiliated Team Slonik, the software had to come from somewhere and YouTube clips are already appearing for public consumption — meaning this could become a quite literal torrent of bad press for Rockstar...who was finally (kinda) out of the fire for Hot Coffee.
Slashback

Submission + - Where has democracy gone & how to change it?

Submitted by Scragmoor
Scragmoor writes: Sirs,
Posting from the UK. I've been reading /. on and off almost from the start, until recently I have never needed to post as most of my views (including the dam right ridiculous) have been posted but now I want your opinion. This may turn out to be a big mistake but here goes. I want to change politics, particularly the voting system.......... Pauses until laughing has stopped...... No seriously, I'm fed up. After reading your posts on here and other forums I get the general feeling most of us feel ignored, fed up, frustrated, helpless, apathy in our political systems and sheer pointlessness of politicians. WHAT can we/I do. I have seriously been considering setting up a 'None of the above' party (queue Brooster's Millions jokes), after talking to many unhappy voters I realise that no one will vote for it. In fact its worse they are most likely to continue to either vote right or left (does not matter which they are in fact the same), 'Kick out that Foreigner' party or will just not bother.

So a new party probably won't work. Instead I was thinking how could I radically change the voting system. I've been through all the proportional representation clone systems, but they are the same but different, I want some thing radical. A particular thought experiment I like at the moment is the 'Continual Referendum System'. This is where we have elections as normal, but every policy/law has to pass a referendum. OK not every one will want to vote, so for those that cant be bothered they can register an alignment (ie with a party) and at each vote that alignment is counted. In fact we can make it law that every one has to have an alignment, even if it is an abstention. Obviously every four years every one would have to re-confirm their alignment if they have not voted or changed their alignment since the last general election. We would need to be able to vote or change our alignment easily and regularly, voting machines, if we could trust them would work. Obviously we would have to have a Beowulf cluster of these machines, AND YES they would all be running Finux. SO how would you change the voting system, what is wrong with my idea (other than the fact the current politicians are in the way and will have something to say about it)? I for one will welcome our Beowulf cluster of Linux running fairly elected overlords!
Announcements

Submission + - Shutting down user's hogging bandwidth (msn.com) 1

Submitted by
thebonafortuna
thebonafortuna writes: "Not really new news, but another article describing steps taken by Comcast to shut down users 'hogging' bandwidth through downloading/uploading.


To trigger a disconnection warning, customers would be downloading the equivalent of 1,000 songs or four full-length movies every day. Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas declined to reveal specific bandwidth limits.

What remains so interesting about this is that Comcast still has not provided users with a means to monitor such activity (an issue if your children leaving a computer downloading without your knowledge). As a current Comcast customer plagued by dramatic decreases in connection speeds in the last year or so, this policy doesn't necessarily bother me...but considering the cost of Comcast, is the account holder entitled to a tool which allows them to monitor their household data transmission?"
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Cry no more early Apple adopters! (apple.com)

Submitted by juuri
juuri writes: The mighty Steve has perched himself on high and decided to give you all 100 Apple Fun Bucks! This is a scary trend if even the infallible are willing to listen to the mighty masses. Personally (as an early adopter) I didn't understand what the stink was about, you paid a price you apparently felt fair for a product, Steve's assertation yesterday that, "(this) is tech..." was right on the money!
Security

Submission + - Storm Worm botnet - most powerful supercomputer (zdnet.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Nearly nine months after it was first discovered, the Storm Worm Trojan continues to surge, building what experts believe could be the world's most powerful supercomputer. By New Zealand computer scientist Peter Gutman's calculations, the Storm Worm botnet "may be the first time that a top 10 supercomputer has been controlled not by a government or mega-corporation but by criminals." Now, according to Finjan security researcher Aviv Raff, the group has started to target tech-savvy computer users. The page displays a legitimate looking download page for the Tor (The Onion Router) network anonymity proxy and a "download now" image that points to a malicious "tor.exe" file.
Communications

Submission + - Verizon smokes out another family

Submitted by
netbuzz
netbuzz writes: "This time it's a Philadelphia family having to watch smoke billow from the front of their home after another Verizon FiOS tech drills into another electrical wire. The really bad PR news for Verizon? The homeowner happens to be a business reporter for Associated Press. But, hey, at least there was some good news, too, this time: The reporter had very nice things to say about FiOS ... aside from the installation.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/19126"
Security

Submission + - Is benchmarking a website you don't own illegal? 2

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: As a web developer, I'm constantly benchmarking my own sites to optimise for speed and stability. But recently, I was curious about the performance of a 3rd party website, and ran a benchmark against it. It was taking a while, so I went out to do some errands, and when I got back, the site was completely down, and had been for hours. I'd totally wiped them out, using nothing but ApacheBench.

My question is: is this illegal? I did nothing except request their own public URL, from one computer, a few thousand times. And yet, the effect was a total DOS. Could simply running AB be a crime, and can I expect the Feds at my door someday soon?
Enlightenment

Submission + - Virus, not cell phones, killed 1 in 4 U.S. bees (msn.com)

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "Colony Collapse Disorder is characterized by the rapid disappearance of a colonies' bees, even if there are adequate stores of food in the hive, MSNBC is reporting. The bees just seem to fly off into oblivion — hinting that the malady somehow affects the insects' navigational sense or learning ability. Some scientists had proposed that cell-phone radiation was disrupting bee colonies."

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