achilles777033 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Internet activation (Score 1) 547

by achilles777033 on Wednesday September 22, 2010 @12:27PM (#33664270) Attached to: Xbox Head Proclaims Blu-ray Dead

I have an installer, I have the game files
The installer requires a connection to a server that Activision Blizzard can shut down at any time.

Not really. You can install and play SCII without any internet connection at all. You simply lose the ability to gain 'achievements' and you can't play multiplayer (obviously). The solo campaign is completely playable off-line. IMHO, the achievements are a multi-player feature anyway. Why would I care about them if not to brag about them? ;) Blizz might be tightening the reins a bit more than I'd like, but they are FAR from the worst offender.

Comment Re:Raiders of the Lost Ark (Score 3, Interesting) 455

by achilles777033 on Thursday May 29, 2008 @09:28PM (#23594939) Attached to: Best Indiana Jones Film?

Time, Distance, and Size are a bit wonky in Star Wars, but if you'll recall, Han does say "It's a bit far, but I think we can make it."
And the Falcon is a Cargo Ship, chances are they had a few supplies on board, as far as food and fuel.

[geek-version]In the West End Games version of the Star Wars RPG, YT-1300s have storage for 2 months 'consumables' (I always assume fuel and food, etc) standard, in addition to the Cargo Space. [/geek version] (I don't have the distance charts memorized, I'm not quite 'that' geeky.)

So, in theory, the Falcon could have been on the way to Bespin for the better part of 8 weeks, which you'd think would still not be enough to get trained as a Jedi (considering they start them out as toddlers), but certainly a lot better than 2 days.

Submission + - 1.6M records stolen from Monster.com (computerworld.com)

Submitted by JRHelgeson on Monday August 20, 2007 @04:02PM

JRHelgeson writes: Somebody has found a use for monster.com. The attackers first harvested applicant information using stolen employer credentials. They gathered the information on job seekers living in certain areas and seeking specific jobs. They then crafted custom phishing emails targeting the job seekers by name, getting them to install an information gathering Trojan or ransomware.

Submission + - Startup raises multicore bar with new 64-core CPU (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by ianare on Monday August 20, 2007 @03:58PM

ianare writes: A new startup emerged from stealth mode today to announce that they're shipping a 64-core processor for the embedded market. The company, called Tilera, was founded by Dr. Anat Agarwal, the MIT professor behind the famous and venerable Raw project on which Tilera's first product, the TILE64 processor, is based. The chip is composed of processor "tiles" arranged in a mesh network, where each tile houses a general purpose processor, cache, and a non-blocking router that the tile uses to communicate with the other tiles. Tilera claims a 30x performance per watt over a 3GHz Xeon and a 40x performance advantage over a TI DM648 DSP chip. It will also run existing code, "If you have an application written for any multi-core or single processor architecture that's written to work with Linux, you can take it, compile it and have it running on our chip in minutes," says Agarwal.

Submission + - Breaking into Identity-centric Services (informit.com)

Submitted by Nitsudima on Monday August 20, 2007 @03:48PM

Nitsudima writes: Identity management services such as OpenID, Microsoft's CardSpace, Sxip, YADIS, and others are here to improve the way we identify ourselves online and eliminate the necessity to register for every single service. But can we really trust them? pdp reveals the dangers of user-centric management systems.

Submission + - Monster Tile64 multi-core CPU announced (tilera.com)

Submitted by

MrLinuxHead

on Monday August 20, 2007 @03:45PM

MrLinuxHead writes: "The TILE64(TM) family of multicore processors delivers immense compute performance to drive the latest generation of embedded applications. This revolutionary processor features 64 identical processor cores (tiles) interconnected with Tilera's iMesh(TM) on-chip network.

Each tile is a complete full-featured processor, including integrated L1 & L2 cache and a non-blocking switch that connects the tile into the mesh. This means that each tile can independently run a full operating system, or multiple tiles taken together can run a multi-processing operating system like SMP Linux."

Submission + - DMCA lawsuit for circumventing coupon print limits

Submitted by whoever57 on Monday August 20, 2007 @03:41PM

whoever57 writes: A Fremont, CA man (John Stottlemire) who claims that he was trying to show his skill in order to get a job at Coupons, inc. created a program and showed people how to delete the files and registry entries that limited the printing of coupons using software from coupons.com. He now faces a lawsuit, from Coupons, inc., alleging DMCA violations. The company alleges that his actions are equivalent to those of DeCSS creator "DVD Jon". Mr. Stottlemire asks how deleting files off one's own computer can be illegal, while some lawyers suggest that the DMCA is very broad and may apply in this case.

Submission + - Rising wages prompt Riya to pull out of India

Submitted by

E5Rebel

on Monday July 02, 2007 @07:05AM

E5Rebel writes: "Image search firm Riya is to pull its research and engineering operations out of India to consolidate in the US due to rising wages in Bangalore. http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/careers- hr/people-management/news/index.cfm?newsid=3815"

Submission + - iPhone users: anyone can listen to your voicemail (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02, 2007 @06:58AM

An anonymous reader writes: Altough this problem was found out more than a year ago, new users that are buying iPhones and migrating to AT&T/Cingular should know that their voicemails can be listened to by anyone. In February 2006 security researcher Nitesh Dhanjani wrote about how easy is to spoof your Caller-ID and as a result users can listen to voicemail messages of other AT&T/Cingular users. The default settings leave the voicemail accounts open, so no password is needed to open them, just a form of "authorization" by calling from "your" number.

Submission + - Malware Self-Defense Technologies Evolution (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02, 2007 @04:38AM

An anonymous reader writes: This article explores how malware has developed self-defense techniques and how these techniques have evolved as it has become more difficult for viruses to survive. It also provides an overview of the current situation. In order to avoid confusion about what is considered a self-defense technology and what is not, it examines only the most popular and obvious means of malware self-defense. First and foremost this includes various means of modifying and packing code, in order to conceal the presence of malicious code in the system and to disrupt the functionality of antivirus solutions.

Submission + - Recognizing Your Own Handwriting As A Password

Submitted by

Gary

on Monday July 02, 2007 @03:33AM

Gary writes: "A new online authentication system called Dynahand could make logging in to websites a little easier. With Dynahand, users simply identify their own handwriting, instead of entering a cryptic password or buying a biometric device to scan their fingerprints. The user's handwriting samples contain only digits, since numerals are harder for an outside party to recognize than letters are. The digits displayed are random, so the handwriting is the only clue to the correct answer."

Submission + - End of the World in 2012 ?

Submitted by sas-dot on Monday July 02, 2007 @03:12AM

sas-dot writes: The NewYork Times sunday magazine carries an interesting article on the Final days of Earth as predicted by Mayan Calendar, which is Dec 21, 2012. From the article i quote "Far from its origins, divorced from its context and enlisted in a prophetic project that it may never have been designed to fulfill, the Mayan calendar is at the center of an escalating cultural phenomenon — with New Age roots — that unites numinous dreams of societal transformation with the darker tropes of biblical cataclysm. To some, 2012 will bring the end of time; to others, it carries the promise of a new beginning; to still others, 2012 provides an explanation for troubling new realities — environmental change, for example — that seem beyond the control of our technology and impervious to reason. Just in time for the final five-year countdown, the Mayan apocalypse has come of age."

Submission + - Free linux shells and other services at Cluenet. (cluenet.org)

Submitted by

ClueNet

on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:37AM

ClueNet writes: "The Internet has always been a place for corroboration and communication, but most Internet communities have degraded substantially. There are large numbers of communities devoted exclusively to sexual talk, and others that focus on illegal activities such as attacking servers or piracy. Here and there, good communities spring up and foster information exchange as well as general chatting. However, in many cases, these are few, far between, and small.

A new community has emerged from the merging of several existing communities that is focused on computer learning and development. The community is largely based in IRC, but many community members have contributed their resources to the good of everyone to provide free services to the Internet. This new community is called Cluenet.

Cluenet was initially formed by the merging of two UNIX shell account providers: Chules.Net and C&HServices. Both providers maintained online communities of their own and provided only free services to people. The respective administrators of these two providers, going by the nicknames Crispy and Cobi, decided to join together, connect the servers together both socially and technologically, and try to foster a large Internet community of intelligent students, users, and administrators. Since its creation, many more people have offered to donate their resources to the network, and their servers have been integrated into the Cluenet infrastructure.

A single account on Cluenet gains access to (currently) half a dozen shell account servers (with IRC access and web hosting capabilities), extensive and very customizable email services, IPv6 over TCP tunnels, a compile cluster, and more. An experimental service will even allow users to have their own, free virtual private server. All of these services are focused around preserving and growing a great community.

The Cluenet web site can be accessed at www.cluenet.org and the main IRC channel is #clueirc on irc.cluenet.org. From experienced UNIX server administrators to people that are completely new to computers but eager to learn, we'd love to have you join us."

Submission + - iPhone: Still No BlackBerry Killer (cooltechzone.com)

Submitted by toby on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:37AM

toby writes: As much Apple would like to admit, the iPhone is not a BlackBerry killer. Here's why: "Now that the e-mail issue has been resolved, the touchscreen is still the hindering factor for a lot of professionals. The idea of typing fast with tactile feedback, which reduces the need to look up at the screen every so often, is a great time saver. And unfortunately, without this feedback, the iPhone gets a little too annoying a little too quickly.

Submission + - Google, Microsoft Continue to Fight Over Vista (osweekly.com)

Submitted by tobyj on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:32AM

tobyj writes: As Google continues to take over the 'Net and now set to target offline at the software giant's own turf, the Windows desktop, the Redmond giant is working to block Google to the best of its abilities. OSWeekly.com transcribes the latest saga between the two behemoths of the tech industry. "In the past, I have long since abandoned the idea of Google doing any sort of desktop OS for us in the sense that we think of one now. I believe it could happen, but it will not be anytime soon. With that said, I also believe that Google and Microsoft will eventually come into a final showdown. It will be big, nasty battle, and a lot of people in both companies will likely feel the quake once it goes down.

Slashdot Top Deals