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Piracy

Sony Joins the Offensive Against Pre-Owned Games 461

BanjoTed writes "In a move to counter sales of pre-owned games, EA recently revealed DLC perks for those who buy new copies of Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Now, PlayStation platform holder Sony has jumped on the bandwagon with similar plans for the PSP's SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3. '[Players] will need to register their game online before they are able to access the multiplayer component of the title. UMD copies will use a redeemable code while the digital version will authenticate automatically in the background. Furthermore ... anyone buying a pre-owned copy of the game will be forced to cough up $20 to obtain a code to play online."
Cellphones

Owners Smash iPhones To Get Upgrades, Says Insurance Company 406

markass530 writes "An iPhone insurance carrier says that four in six claims are suspicious, and is worse when a new model appears on the market. 'Supercover Insurance is alleging that many iPhone owners are deliberately smashing their devices and filing false claims in order to upgrade to the latest model. The gadget insurance company told Sky News Sunday that it saw a 50-percent rise in claims during the month Apple launched the latest version, the iPhone 3GS.'"
Games

Whatever Happened To Second Life? 209

Barence writes "It's desolate, dirty, and sex is outcast to a separate island. In this article, PC Pro's Barry Collins returns to Second Life to find out what went wrong, and why it's raking in more cash than ever before. It's a follow-up to a feature written three years ago, in which Collins spent a week living inside Second Life to see what the huge fuss at the time was all about. The difference three years can make is eye-opening."
Cellphones

Duke Nukem 3D Ported To Nokia N900 95

andylim writes "It looks as if Duke Nukem isn't completely 'nuked' after all. Someone has ported the 90s classic on to a Nokia N900. As you'll see in the video, you control Duke using the Qwerty keypad and shoot using the touchscreen. I'm wondering how long it will take for this to get on other mobile platforms." In other Duke news, reader Jupix points out that 3D Realms' CEO Scott Miller recently said, "There are numerous other Duke games in various stages of development, several due out this year. We are definitely looking to bring Duke into casual gaming spaces, plus there are other major Duke games in production."

Comment Re:Kick the Pig to Win an iPOD * FLASH * FLASH * (Score 1) 419

I completely agree with this- I actually enjoy ads that are for things I am interested in- further I like when a site I trust won't allow ads from companies that they deam are less than reputable (they do some weeding out for me)-

I really do think that the ability to turn ads on or off would be the best solution-

Comment With all this talk about Russia, what about China? (Score 1) 715

It is interesting to read through the comments here dealing with Russia- when talks are currently underway where countries like China are stating that they won't cut anything, and won't allow for independent inspectors to verify anything-

The data should be public. I see no reason why it shouldn't be. The argument that people aren't qualified to look at it is total bull.

First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Duke Nukem Forever Solidifying?

BlueMonk writes: "Browsing Best Buy's web site today, one may be surprised to find an offer to pre-order something that a lot of people may be hesitant to place as a pre-order considering its past. It looks like they think Duke Nukem Forever will be coming out in December and are feeling good enough about it to start taking orders."
Businesses

Submission + - EB games exposed

black hole sun writes: "Ever walk into an EB games only to get harassed by an employee? Or have you ever overheard some steaming pile like The Shield being lavishly praised, in a thoroughly dishonest manner? Well, don't blame the employees; mystery shoppers hound them constantly to ensure they're handing out the required amount of BS to customers. They cannot give their honest opinions about games or accessories; that is, if by "honest," they mean "negative." EB corporate apparently makes them perform every trick in the book to lie, cheat and steal money from your wallet. And to think that most of them get minimum wage — they have my sympathy."

Wii Hacked To Control Sword-Wielding Robot 136

ianchaos writes "WiiBot is the pet project of two engineers who apparently have way too much cool hardware and time on their hands. These two guys figure that as long as you have a Kuka KR16 industrial robot to work with, why not see if you can control it with the Wii Remote? The result is a tennis-playing, sword-wielding mechanical arm that simultaneously captures 'weekend of nerdy fun' and 'accident waiting to happen' in a fun two minute video. The website even details the technical aspects of teaching a robot to parry."
Security

Submission + - Dolphin Stadium Site Compromised to Deliver Trojan

MrQuentin writes: "ExtremeTech reports that the website of Dolphin Stadium (where the Superbowl will take place on Sunday) has been compromised. The homepage will execute malicious Javascript code that delivers a remote exploit to Microsoft Windows users, according to findings by Websense Security Labs."
Science

Material Tougher Than Diamond Developed 237

sporkme has handed us a link to a New Scientist article. The piece outlines the development of a new substance reported to be stiffer than diamond. A team of scientists from Washington, Wisconsin, and Germany combined the ceramic barium titanate and white-hot molten tin with an ultrasonic probe. The new material was, in some tests, almost 10x more resistant to bending than diamond. Composite materials researcher Mark Spearing of Southampton University comments on the result: "The material's stiffness results from the properties of the barium titanate pieces, Spearing says. As the material cools, its crystal structure changes, causing its volume to expand. 'Because they are held inside the tin matrix, strain builds up inside the barium titanate,' Spearing explains, 'at a particular temperature that energy is released to oppose a bending force.'"
PC Games (Games)

Top 20 PC Games on Windows XP 194

ApacheVE writes "Voodoo Extreme has up a story called Generation XP: Top 20 Games of the Last Generation. They call out some of the best games released in the Windows XP era, to mark the passing into the 'next generation' of PC gaming this past week. Some favorites include Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament 2004, Civilization IV, World of Warcraft and other titles that helped shape the era." Any titles you see missing from the list? The XP years were truly great, as far as PC titles went; how long do you think it will be before Vista has enough market penetration to make a difference in gaming?
The Courts

Submission + - The Beginning of the end for Jack Thompson?

Buzzsaw5 writes: Looks like anti video game activist and jackleg lawyer Jack Thompson's unscrupulous actions in his crusade to bring down Take-Two (publisher of the Grand Theft Auto game series), and anyone who disagrees with him, may have finally caught up to him. As reported at GamePolitics, Thompson "faces a disciplinary hearing before a referee appointed by the Florida Supreme Court. The pending judicial review follows a recent recommendation by the Florida Bar that five counts of professional misconduct against Thompson should proceed to the state's high court for action. If the charges are eventually upheld, Thompson could face disciplinary action up to and including disbarment." Thompson has assured GP that the Florida bar is in more trouble than he is (presumably for daring to sully his prophetic image). The sad thing is that regardless of the beat down he's facing, clueless and/or sensationalist media outlets and activists will continue to give credence to Jack Thompson's inanity, slander and outright lies. Don't expect Thompson to go down without a fierce fight, as he will do anything to remain relevant.
Perl

XML::Simple for Perl Developers 186

An anonymous reader writes "XML has become pervasive in the computing world and is buried more and more deeply into modern applications and operating systems. It's imperative for the Perl programmer to develop a good understanding of how to use it. In a surprisingly large number of cases, you only need one tool to integrate XML into a Perl application, XML::Simple. This article tells you where to get it, how to use it, and where to go next."
Moon

Submission + - Anti-Scientology Activist Keith Henson Arrested

kulakovich writes: "One of the founders of the L5 Society, Cryonics advocate, and well known anti-Scientology activist Keith Henson, was taken into custody yesterday in Arizona, on an outstanding warrant for picketing a Scientology office back in 2001. There is much concern over his current condition at this time due to medication requirements as well as fear for his well-being. He and his family had been receiving death-threats prior to the arrest. The Extropy Institute immediately set up a Henson Legal Defense Fund on his behalf. Henson is also known for his work with the US Congress on Lunar policy in the early 80s."

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