6943252
submission
Shrike82 writes:
The BBC are reporting that around 600,000 XBox owners have been banned from using Microsoft's XBox Live service for modifying their consoles to "play pirated games". The article mentions Terms of Use violations as the reason for disconnections, and cites game piracy as the main reason behind this move. The bans will only affect online services, so anyone banned from XBox Live can still use their consoles for offline gaming.
3497473
submission
Shrike82 writes:
Disgruntled XBox Live players are apparently being offered a way to get revenge on fellow players. Common tools for Denial of Service attacks are being marketed as a means to kick players from games, and even prevent the use of XBox Live as a whole. By flooding the port(s) associated with XBox Live a player can effectively be blocked from the service entirely. For as little as $20 (£13) "some Xbox Live hackers will remotely access a customer's PC and set up the whole system so it can be run any time they need it". Now the player that you dominated in Halo 3 isn't limited to sending you abusive messages — they can actually stop you from using a service you've paid for, effectively wasting your money.
3372519
submission
Shrike82 writes:
Mozilla have described plans for the next version of their popular web browser, Firefox. Mozilla's "Ubiquity project" is set to become a standard feature, allowing "users to type natural language phrases into the browser to perform certain tasks, such as typing 'map 10 Downing Street' to instantly see a Google map of that address, or 'share-on-delicious' to bookmark the site you're currently visiting on the social news site."
Also of interest is so-called "lightweight theming" allowing users to customise the browsers design more easily. The launch date is still somewhat unclear, and Mozilla are apparently unsure if version 3.2 will be released at all, apparently considering going straight to Firefox 4.
