...that will unfortunately never catch on. Sadly, people are lazy to the core, and would rather just throw old stuff out and buy kitchsy "rustic" art at some shop somewhere.

To be honest, I find this an interesting turn for a space agency. Releasing this sort of spec allows for the nearly endless genius of the internet to produce hundreds of completely awesome and powerful viewers for this sort of data.

I don't know if the ESA pictured doing this, but in the future, they can just choose from a half-dozen open source projects that far outstrip whatever they were using before. Good show!

While I can see where you are coming from, in a reactionist YRO sorta way, there is something odd about complaining about inability to copy a rented film. You aren't even talking about making a legal backup of a movie you own, you are talking about outright theft (duplication not being theft aside). I don't think having some DRM on a movie that is inherently rented is exactly a bad idea. I agree that purchased hard copies (CDs, DVDs, Games) should be copyable, but whining because you can't copy a rented DVD is a bit of a stretch.

Your comment would be a bit more relevant if a streaming video codec was anything like a VHS deck. The VHS decks tended to break due to lots of moving parts and little kids jamming toy cars into them. They were a physical aspect and required physical fixes that generally weren't worth the money it would cost to repair. A streaming video codec has no moving parts to speak of, though being similarly susceptible to toy cars, I suppose. Regardless, I see them being a lot less likely to break, and probably a great deal more able to be repaired.

Though it seems a bit silly to integrate this feature into the TV itself, streaming movies is a good idea. Even aside from the ease of use and general appeal to a fairly large portion of the populace, it's a step towards abolishing some of the older business models that exist.

Integrating into the TV also helps sign on those folks who just aren't savvy enough to hook up DVD players or other external devices.

I really have to say that combining the phrases "pulled out of someone's ass" and "fudge factor" makes for a really distasteful image.

This is entirely accurate. I don't think humans have ever or will ever have a frotier or technological paradigm that isn't weaponized at some point, so trying to 'protect' space won't work.

However, attaching NASA more closely to the, frankly, runaway military spending will help add funding to space exploration. Even if that means that the next Mars Rovers will have guns, it's a good thing.

Though the game is still technically in alpha (version 0.40 or so), it's the game that held my interest the most over the past year. Dwarf Fortress has a learning curve like a freaking cliff, but it's a great deal of fun if you enjoy silly city-building sims.

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/

Do read the wiki http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page before pestering the people in the forums there if you check it out.

As far as commercial games go, my pick in 2008 was embarrassingly Fallout 3. Though the game had it's flaws, certainly, it was still fun and generally enjoyable.

Biggest disappointment was Spore, though playing it again with lessened expectations generated some fun bits.

I maintain that the entire article is moronic anyway. The fact of the matter is that there's no real reason to believe that MS would bother releasing their beta junk to the world as a pirated system, particularly since pirates (and those that pirate) don't really make good software testers in the sense that they don't write bug reports to Microsoft. That said, I think a real, official open beta would be a very interesting move. MS could get a lot of real-world testing done, and be protected from lawsuits and too much flak for bad crashing and bugs by hiding under a 'beta' umbrella. That, and they could always make the beta lack enough features that people would feel the need to purchase the real product later, or make the beta self-destruct on a timer.

In my opinion, all online contract coding sites are pure and unadultered crap. It's been mentioned that RentACoder is full of "I need a full copy of ebay" with a bid of $200. This is true on every site I've been to. It's just not worth bothering. If you are looking for local contract work, you may try a job site such as Monster.com or (City)HelpWanted.com. Aside from that, it's difficult to find a place that isn't saturated with idiots.