Feed Wired: Behold the 'Duke Nukem Forever' Trailer (wired.com)
Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Released 341
smithtuna33 writes "As of today there is a teaser up for Duke Nukem Forever at 3dRealms. It's up on Youtube as well, since the site is already slow. Not much actual game-play, but still ... might this game actually see the light of day after so much talk?" 1up, GameTrailers, and Voodoo Extreme have it too.
Journal Journal: FBI Focuses on Porn, Despite Shaky Evidence.
File under blame the internet.
Cybercrime, the majority of which involves child pornography, is now the FBI's third-highest priority, behind counterterrorism and counterintelligence. The new program's proponents equate image viewing with rape and murder and punish those caught accordingly.
Nanowires Boost Laptop Battery Life to 20 Hours 238
brianmed writes to tell us that Stanford researchers have created a new use for silicon nanowires that promise to reinvent lithium-ion batteries. "The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. [...] The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture."
Journal Journal: Bushite Congress Kills RIAA's Anti-piracy Efforts 2
The Law of Unexpected Consequences is expected to soon take an ironic twist. As reported in The Guardian, the WTO will issue its long-awaited ruling next week on Antigua's complaint against the US for its law that prohibited banks from allowing money to flow to and from offshore Internet gambling sites.
Journal Journal: Blockbuster reveals your rentals on facebook... 3
Blockbuster and Facebook recently teamed up to bring a whole new level of privacy invasion! Now, when you visit Blockbuster Online, they use cookies to find your facebook account and then post all your rentals in your news and profile... all without your consent!
Submission + - Josh Wolf now wants to free the media (10zenmonkeys.com)
destinyland writes: "Video blogger Josh Wolf spent more time in prison than any American journalist. But in this amazing new interview he clears up misconceptions about his imprisonment and release. "The government still has the option to re-subpoena me to try to make me testify about the content of the tapes... But I don't think they're going to because they know that I'm not going to testify."
So now what? He's building a "Free the Media" coalition, "trying to build a dialogue with independent journalists, establishment journalists, and then everyday viewers to try to shape the future of the media..." Even more interesting is a site called Prison Blogs. "We want to pair up individual prisoners with sponsors on the outside who agree to type up what they have to say and post it on their own blog."
So what did it all mean? "Some journalists realize that if they're coming after me — they're next..." Asked whether the internet is empowering, he decries censorship by Digg and Flickr — and then ends up defending deleting comments on his site.""
So now what? He's building a "Free the Media" coalition, "trying to build a dialogue with independent journalists, establishment journalists, and then everyday viewers to try to shape the future of the media..." Even more interesting is a site called Prison Blogs. "We want to pair up individual prisoners with sponsors on the outside who agree to type up what they have to say and post it on their own blog."
So what did it all mean? "Some journalists realize that if they're coming after me — they're next..." Asked whether the internet is empowering, he decries censorship by Digg and Flickr — and then ends up defending deleting comments on his site.""
Submission + - Support Blows
An anonymous reader writes: After a still-unresolved, four-day nightmare trying to switch to Comcast digital voice (with all features working, please-thank-you), I'm again asking myself what does the buffer zone support layer really provide. I've been bumping up against the BOsFH since Friday trying to get my phone service ported, along with my number, and I'm asking myself again what do these unqualified phone-bots really provide? They operate under the theory that having a layer of low budget (India!) phone-answers in between you and the solution to your problem adds value somehow. I lucked out getting Michelle today who ported my number correctly in about two minutes, whereas four days of calls to front-line nincompoops led me to nothing but frustration and a disconnected number. I specifically requested to speak to Michelle's supervisor so I could tell him she rocks!
Background: I've been managing in IT for 10+ years and the career is getting close to 25 years overall. It's taken as gospel, in my experience, that some fresh-out-of-school $15k-a-year (US) newbie is the best person to answer the phone. You've got to keep your developers, who cost real money and who really know what's going on, away from that distraction — away from customers. That distraction keeps them from creating new stuff to sell after all. In this process though, customers effectively get ignored (often for a weeks) while somebody in front-line support gropes for an answer... an answer that a developer could field with a couple of SQL queries. From what I've seen, a couple effective developers could outmatch an army of call-center bots.
The over-arching question here is what the real value of a call center is. At the moment I'm thinking not much. Get the people who can really answer questions on the front line! The counter-argument is that those folks cost 3-4x what a phone-answering bot costs. So which is really most cost-effective, a few highly skilled people or an army of near-illiterates?
The twist I would add is that a company only need rotate a fraction of the development workforce through the call center at any given time — say folks who are rolling out a new service or a major upgrade. Everybody else in development would still be nose-to-the-grindstone. Make the people who release stuff eat their own dog food.
Background: I've been managing in IT for 10+ years and the career is getting close to 25 years overall. It's taken as gospel, in my experience, that some fresh-out-of-school $15k-a-year (US) newbie is the best person to answer the phone. You've got to keep your developers, who cost real money and who really know what's going on, away from that distraction — away from customers. That distraction keeps them from creating new stuff to sell after all. In this process though, customers effectively get ignored (often for a weeks) while somebody in front-line support gropes for an answer... an answer that a developer could field with a couple of SQL queries. From what I've seen, a couple effective developers could outmatch an army of call-center bots.
The over-arching question here is what the real value of a call center is. At the moment I'm thinking not much. Get the people who can really answer questions on the front line! The counter-argument is that those folks cost 3-4x what a phone-answering bot costs. So which is really most cost-effective, a few highly skilled people or an army of near-illiterates?
The twist I would add is that a company only need rotate a fraction of the development workforce through the call center at any given time — say folks who are rolling out a new service or a major upgrade. Everybody else in development would still be nose-to-the-grindstone. Make the people who release stuff eat their own dog food.
Flaws In Intel Processors Quietly Patched 311
Nom du Keyboard writes "According to this article in The Inquirer and this Microsoft Knowledge Base article, a fix for some significant problems in many of Intel's most recent processors has been quietly released — by whom is not clear. Patches are available on Microsoft's site. Affected processors include Core 2 Duo E4000/E6000, Core 2 Quad Q6600, Core 2 Xtreme X6800, XC6700, and XC6800. Details on just what has been fixed are scanty (it's called a 'reliability update'), however, it's probably more important than either Intel or Microsoft is openly admitting." There is no indication that Apple users are affected.
Submission + - L-1 better than H-1 for replacing American workers (computerworld.com)
An anonymous reader writes: While everyone debates the contentious H-1 visa, the stealth like L-1 has been used for years by employers with no quotas and very few controls.
Submission + - Seagate announce 1TB Hard Drvie
Tunguska Impact Crater Found? 229
BigBadBus writes in with a claim by an Italian team that they may have found an impact crater resulting from the 1908 Tunguska explosion over Siberia. The BBC story quotes a number of impact experts who doubt the Italians' claim. "A University of Bologna team says a lake near the epicenter of the blast may be occupying a crater hollowed out by a chunk of rock that hit the ground. Lake Cheko — though shallow — fits the proportions of a small, bowl-shaped impact crater, say the Italy-based scientists. Their investigation of the lake bottom's geology reveals a funnel-like shape not seen in neighboring lakes. In addition, a geophysics survey of the lake bed has turned up an unusual feature about 10m down which could either be compacted lake sediments or a buried fragment of space rock."
Submission + - E-mail gets fourth amendment protection
An anonymous reader writes: People concerned about e-mail security got a whole new reason to worry last year with revelations of secret government monitoring. Earlier this month, though, a U.S. Appeals Court told the government where to knock it off, at least when dealing with people in the Southern District of Ohio.
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/070207 bradner.html
Submission + - UW cooperates with music industry in suing student (komotv.com) 1
Bomarc writes: "From the article:
The University of Washington says it will cooperate with the music industry as it tracks down and sues students accused of illegally downloading audio files.
A university official, Eric Godfrey, informed students by e-mail that it will use its computers to identify students and notify them of their settlement options.
The university will forward notices from the Recording Industry Association of America telling them they have about 20 days to settle before going to court.
Settlements range from $3,000 to $5,000."
A university official, Eric Godfrey, informed students by e-mail that it will use its computers to identify students and notify them of their settlement options.
The university will forward notices from the Recording Industry Association of America telling them they have about 20 days to settle before going to court.
Settlements range from $3,000 to $5,000."
