Comment Re:Oh no, we're screwed! (Score 5, Insightful) 139
I'm not a lawyer either, but you're right. He hasn't violated copyright law. He has violated the DMCA's anti-circumvention clause though.
Comment Re:1996 called, (Score 1) 349
I believe it's more sending a copy of the data, and only letting users modify that copy as opposed to the stored data. So yeah, missed the point a bit. This makes it so users can only wreck the copy that they have, rather than the database.
Overclocked ReMix Releases Xenogears Tribute Album 3
quintin3265 writes "Yesterday, the video game remix group Overclocked ReMix released its 15th album, 'Humans + Gears: Xenogears ReMixed.' The album highlights work from the PlayStation 1 role-playing game Xenogears. The soundtrack to Xenogears was originally composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, who also contributed to soundtracks such as Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and Xenosaga. The two-discs of 'Humans + Gears,' which began development in mid-2006, include 33 songs mixed by 31 different artists. The collection is free to download in this torrent, and a trailer is up on YouTube that should bring back memories to those who played the game back in 1998."
Comment Re:fewer pages = better server performance (Score 1) 175
I think the best way to do it would be to split it up over two. Have the first page be short, mostly just the introduction, with everything else being on the second. That way, they still get a bit of click-through, their servers don't get hammered as badly by people who only read the first page, we get an article that doesn't span a dozen pages, and everybody gets a free unicorn... I think that sentence got away from me there at the end. You get the point.
Comment Re:Seems like a weird time to enter the market (Score 1) 247
The PSP is $120 used and $170 new, and it can connect to the PSN store. It can handle SNES and earlier games through emulation (assuming a certain willingness and capability to install custom firmware), and can also handle PS1 games, not to mention all of the platform specific games out for it. Not exactly in the $50-$100 range, I know, but it's also not in the $200-$400 range.
Just to keep you aware of what's already out there that might match what you'd like.
Comment Re:Just lay back and enjoy it? (Score 1) 922
With MAD, it's more like the rapist has already let you know that he's going to kill you when he's done raping you, so you go ahead and blow the belt. Also, a huge explosive belt would tend to ward off all but the most crazed rapists, which is also in keeping with MAD.
Comment User friendly had a great comic on this (Score 5, Insightful) 674
I know it's not the ever popular xkcd, but this comic is just too appropriate here. http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20081109
Submission + - Obama: Open Formats for Government Data
buswolley writes: Discussing technology policy at Google Inc.'s Silicon Valley headquarters last week, presidential candidate Barack Obama mentioned his desire to promote "universally accessible formats" for government information.
Submission + - New Encryption Standard may Contain Backdoor 1
Hugh Pickens writes: "Bruce Schneier has a story on Wired about the new official standard for random-number generators the NIST released this year that will likely be followed by software and hardware developers around the world. There are four different approved techniques (pdf), called DRBGs, or "Deterministic Random Bit Generators" based on existing cryptographic primitives. One is based on hash functions, one on HMAC, one on block ciphers and one on elliptic curves. The generator based on elliptic curves called Dual_EC_DRBG has been has been championed by the NSA and contains a weakness that can only be described a backdoor. In a presentation at the CRYPTO 2007 conference (pdf) in August, Dan Shumow and Niels Ferguson showed that there are constants in the standard used to define the algorithm's elliptic curve that have a relationship with a second, secret set of numbers that can act as a kind of skeleton key. If you know the secret numbers, you can completely break any instantiation of Dual_EC_DRBG. "We don't know where the constants came from in the first place. We only know that whoever came up with them could have the key to this backdoor. And we know there's no way for NIST — or anyone else — to prove otherwise," says Schneier."
Submission + - Smallest Double Slit Experiment (typepad.com)
sulimma writes: Scientists at LBNL showed that two protons and one electron are enough to build a double slit experiment. When adding a second electron the system starts to show classical particle behaviour although some quantum interference is still present. The experiments provides for essential insight into the transition from quantum to classical behaviour.
Submission + - Impeachment of Cheney Moves to Judiciary Committee (washingtonpost.com) 2
An anonymous reader writes: Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) yesterday successfully moved articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney to the House Judiciary committee. The final vote was 218-194.
Oddly enough, none of the major news networks are covering this.
Oddly enough, none of the major news networks are covering this.
Submission + - Winefix - improved desktop integration for Wine (blogspot.com)
Anonymous Coward writes: "I found this on the Ubuntu user forums, thanks goes out to (deadlydeathcone) here is his post.
A script called winefix. In short, it allows Wine applications to be run just as easily as those native to Linux, meaning that they can be linked to or run from any directory, whether from a terminal or even a file manager like nautilus. It also handles some of the more awkward Wine extensions like .lnk and .msi, akkowing them to be run with a double click.
It also offers a good number of enhancements and fixes over "vanilla" Wine, especially in regards to Compiz and Beryl. If either of the two are running when a Wine application requiring DirectX or OpenGL is run, you'll be asked if they should be temporarily disabled, and reinstated immediately after the application exits. it also allows for the "Legacy Apps" workaround in Compiz Fusion to be similarly enabled and disabled, as always leaving it on is a disaster — while it can fix the fullscreen modes of Wine apps, it actually breaks those of most native ones. The other enhancements allow the option for each application to have it's own dedicated virtual Windows desktop (basically whether a program should be started "windowed" ), be reniced, ensure that fullscreen applications restore the desktop resolution properly, or, for 64 bit machines, run in 32-bit compatability mode (thanks to mikey for suggesting the last two!)
The script also changes Wine's error reporting behavior. Wine normally reports every error and fixme message that is encountered when an application is running, meaning that running programs via terminal results in a deluge of error messages that can greatly hurt performance, and that running them via script or file manager results in losing the ability to see any error messages at all. This script, by default, only reports critical system and Wine error messages, and only displays them if a Wine program actually crashes, in which case you'll then see a dialog much like this:
If it's the first time a particular application has crashed, you'll also be given the option to view its Winehq.org Application Database page, or if not found, asked if you'd like to create one.
The script also allows for more thorough error reporting by the use of command line options. Adding the flag "-d 1" causes all errors normally reported by Wine to be displayed, and saves application to the "log" folder in your Wine directory. There's also a "-d 2" option that causes ALL errors and system relays to be reported, but it's really only useful for debugging (it's insanely slow).
Using the script is pretty easy — it's used in exactly the same manner as wine itself, ie 'winefix drive_c/Program Files/dwarfort.exe' or 'winefix "C:\Program Files\dwarfort.exe"', and accepts all of wine's environment varables. It adds many command line options as well — run "winefix -?" in a terminal for a complete list.
The easiest way to use the script is to install the attached deb — the script will be automatically integrated with Gnome, allowing Wine apps to be run with a double click — something that can't be reliably done with Wine alone (see Bug #1, below). It does the same with Wine files of the .msi, and .lnk extensions, and adds Tango icons to the Wine menu as well:"
A script called winefix. In short, it allows Wine applications to be run just as easily as those native to Linux, meaning that they can be linked to or run from any directory, whether from a terminal or even a file manager like nautilus. It also handles some of the more awkward Wine extensions like
It also offers a good number of enhancements and fixes over "vanilla" Wine, especially in regards to Compiz and Beryl. If either of the two are running when a Wine application requiring DirectX or OpenGL is run, you'll be asked if they should be temporarily disabled, and reinstated immediately after the application exits. it also allows for the "Legacy Apps" workaround in Compiz Fusion to be similarly enabled and disabled, as always leaving it on is a disaster — while it can fix the fullscreen modes of Wine apps, it actually breaks those of most native ones. The other enhancements allow the option for each application to have it's own dedicated virtual Windows desktop (basically whether a program should be started "windowed" ), be reniced, ensure that fullscreen applications restore the desktop resolution properly, or, for 64 bit machines, run in 32-bit compatability mode (thanks to mikey for suggesting the last two!)
The script also changes Wine's error reporting behavior. Wine normally reports every error and fixme message that is encountered when an application is running, meaning that running programs via terminal results in a deluge of error messages that can greatly hurt performance, and that running them via script or file manager results in losing the ability to see any error messages at all. This script, by default, only reports critical system and Wine error messages, and only displays them if a Wine program actually crashes, in which case you'll then see a dialog much like this:
If it's the first time a particular application has crashed, you'll also be given the option to view its Winehq.org Application Database page, or if not found, asked if you'd like to create one.
The script also allows for more thorough error reporting by the use of command line options. Adding the flag "-d 1" causes all errors normally reported by Wine to be displayed, and saves application to the "log" folder in your Wine directory. There's also a "-d 2" option that causes ALL errors and system relays to be reported, but it's really only useful for debugging (it's insanely slow).
Using the script is pretty easy — it's used in exactly the same manner as wine itself, ie 'winefix drive_c/Program Files/dwarfort.exe' or 'winefix "C:\Program Files\dwarfort.exe"', and accepts all of wine's environment varables. It adds many command line options as well — run "winefix -?" in a terminal for a complete list.
The easiest way to use the script is to install the attached deb — the script will be automatically integrated with Gnome, allowing Wine apps to be run with a double click — something that can't be reliably done with Wine alone (see Bug #1, below). It does the same with Wine files of the
Submission + - Why You Feel Like Less of a Man Once You Marry
theodp writes: "Just in case you haven't picked up this month's Current Anthropology, it's official — getting married saps your testosterone. After measuring testosterone in 205 Ariaal men in Kenya, researchers found that those with one wife had lower levels of the hormone than unmarried men, and men with more than one wife had the lowest levels of all. 'Testosterone levels are lower among married men probably because they are investing less in mating effort,' said Peter Gray of the UNLV. Ball Finder, anyone?"
Submission + - Craft useful front ends for Ajax not tech overload
An anonymous reader writes: Ajax is not about technology. Most developers will try to convince you that it is, using languages like XML and JavaScript to prove their points. However, that's a very limited view. Customers don't care about technology; they care about how the application feels, how it works underneath their hands via a mouse and keyboard. The goal is to marry technology and usability, and this is particularly true in the case of Ajax apps. This article focuses on how to build intuitive, easy-to-use Ajax-driven applications that look and feel good to use.
Submission + - 40GB PS3 confirmed for US, Spiderman 3 bundled (psu.com)
nousemerk writes: "Jack Tretton, President of Sony Computer Entertainment America has now confirmed that the new 40GB PlayStation 3 will make it's way to the U.S., releasing on November 2 for a retail price of USD 400.
If that wasn't good enough, Tretton also confirmed that the 80GB version will be getting a hundred price cut, dropping it from USD 600 — 500.
Also PSU.com was notified that the 80GB price cut is effective today and Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, the 40GB PS3 will come bundled with Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray disc as previously rumoured."
