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Comment Re:Hmmmm.. (Score 1) 210

I'm reminded of one of my favourite CS quotes:

"I propose to consider the question, `Can machines think?'"
-- Alan Turing

"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim."
-- Edsger W. Dijkstra.

Comment Re:Happiness is Mandatory! (Score 2, Informative) 437

Now that my net is back up I'll reply (oh how I loathe BigPond):

I don't think this had anything to do with child porn, the ACMA merely ruled that the page contained prohibited content. Why pictures of aborted babies were ruled to be prohibited I'm not sure, the pictures certainly weren't something you'd want to see before you sit down to eat, but there was nothing whatsoever illegal about them.

Here's a link to a thread on the forum about the topic and the reply the ACMA sent to the person who submitted the complaint: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1161107#r4

Comment Re:Happiness is Mandatory! (Score 5, Informative) 437

The link in question was to an anti-abortion page containing some pictures of aborted babies. Apparently a member of the forum decided to test the filter by posting a link to the page and then submitting a complaint to the ACMA asking for such a link to be banned, for the purpose of seeing what would happen.

Lo and behold someone at the ACMA must of looked at the page, seen the pictures (I'm sure you can find much worse in any medical journal mind you) and decided that linking to the page was now illegal. So they sent a notice to the forum's hosting provider (bypassing the forum all together) informing them to take the link down within 24 hours or risk being fined $11K per day. The host then contacted the forum admin who obviously didn't want to put this on his provider took down the link.

I initially thought nothing would come of this ridiculous filter idea because it was just so plain stupid and so many people, including most ISPs, are against it. But I'm not so sure anymore.
Microsoft

Users' Admin Logins Make Most Windows Malware Worse 420

nandemoari writes "A new analysis claims that over 90% of the Windows security vulnerabilities reported last year were made worse by users logged in with administrative privileges — an issue Microsoft has been hotly debating recently. According to BeyondTrust Corp., the result of the analysis of the 154 critical Microsoft vulnerabilities indicated that a full 92% could have been prevented if users were not logged into their systems with administrator status. BTC believes that restricting the number of users who can log in with these privileges will 'close the window of opportunity' for attackers. This is particularly true for users of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office."
Nintendo

Nintendo Brain Games Effectiveness Questioned 63

nandemoari writes "While Nintendo boasts that its Wii can make you fit, the game company's popular line of DS 'Brain Games' have for some time promised to make kids smarter by challenging them with word puzzles and math formulas. However, a French professor isn't buying the shtick. University of Rennes professor Alain Lieury, a cognitive psychology specialist in Brittany, France, recently studied a group of ten-year-old children playing a variety of mentally-challenging games. Not all were video games, however; Lieury pitted more traditional games (including sudoku, Scrabble, and regular old reading and homework) against Nintendo's popular line of DS hits, including Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, and Brain Training. Although he credits the Nintendo DS — one of the best selling consoles of all-time — as 'a technological jewel,' he finds Nintendo's claim that it can actually help kids learn is nothing more than pure 'charlatanism.'"

Comment Re:I duno about that (Score 1) 676

When I [sic] came out, I had an 8800 GTS ... However the Crysis benchmarks showed it didn't.

Just a quick point about Crysis - an 8800GTS would easily run that game in a playable fashion. I have a really old 6600GT and I've played all the way through Crysis probably three times now. Of course I have to run at 800x600 with most of the settings turned down to low, but with an 8800GTS you could easily maintain medium to high settings and have an acceptable frame rate. Plus the game is just so good that I'm willing to put up with a tiny bit of jerkiness here or there.

Seriously if you like FPS games, which I take it you do because you bought Doom 3 (something I just couldn't bring myself to do after playing the demo), do yourself a favour and pick up Crysis. Easily one of the best FPS games released in recent memory.

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