Comment Re:Steambox (Score 1) 435
There *used to be* a used PC games market. Until Steam came around and made it vanish because of its DRM.
Comment Steam Box (Score 1) 435
"Is the upcoming Steam box a reasonable plan?"
Um, you mean a supposed console from *THE* company who has done more to promote and force acceptance of DRM to the masses than any other?
Submission + - New Program Detects Alzheimer's 6 Years Before Symptoms With 100% Accuracy (counselheal.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Being able to diagnose people with Alzheimer's disease years before debilitating symptoms appear is now a step closer to reality. Researchers behind Neurotrack, the technology startup that took the first health prize at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) startup accelerator in Austin, says their new technology can diagnose Alzheimer's disease up to six years before symptoms appear with 100 percent accuracy.
Comment Re:Better off enforcing an EA boycott (Score 2) 469
- DRM done right and not invasive
No such thing.
- Fast download of new release games
Irrelevant. Not specific to Valve. Plenty of other pro-consumer vendors have it.
- Ability to install your games as many times as you like?
Irrelevant without DRM.
- Super cheap specials and multi-packs
Irrelevant. Not specific to Valve. Plenty of other pro-consumer vendors have it.
- Offline modes
Irrelevant without DRM.
- Simple game install and patch deployment
Possibly. I prefer standalone patch downloads that I can opt out of or run the version I choose, if I want to run an old version.
But it's otherwise all downside: Valve's a gigantic gaping back door to social acceptance of DRM. They are the ones who began the erosion of consumer rights in the video game sector. They are the ones who implanted in the popular mind that it's okay to require a game to have an online connection before you can play it. Even the pros you mention above are all Trojan horses at best to convince you to accept their DRM practices in the name of "sales!".
Submission + - Take a Deep Breath – Scientists Working on a Stress Breath Test (gizmag.com)
Zothecula writes: Most of us are able to let other people know that we’re stressed, simply by telling them. For people such as those suffering from Alzheimer’s, however, it can be difficult to express such a thought. That’s why UK scientists at Loughborough University and Imperial College London are developing a new test that can determine someone’s stress levels by analyzing their breath.
Submission + - Sunstone Unearthed From Sixteenth Century Shipwreck (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: In 1592, a British ship sank near the island of Alderney in the English Channel carrying an odd piece of cargo: a small, angular crystal. Once it was brought back to land, a few European scientists began to suspect the mysterious object might be a calcite crystal, a powerful "sunstones" referred to in Norse legends which they believe Vikings and other European seafarers used to navigate before the introduction of the magnetic compass. Now, after subjecting the object to a battery of mechanical and chemical tests, the team has determined that the Alderman crystal is indeed a calcite and, therefore, could have been the ship's optical compass. Today, similar calcite crystals are used by astronomers to analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets—perhaps setting the stage for a whole new age of exploration.
Submission + - Wayland vs Mir: It's more about control than technology (muktware.com)
sfcrazy writes: Most of the communication Canonical has sent out to justify why they dropped Wayland focusses on the problems plaguing Wayland, including the security issues. Which doesn’t seem to be true. If we look at the IRC discussion between Wayland/X developers and a Canonical employee it turns out that none of the reasons cited on Mir wiki page are valid and the one reason that's missing from the wiki is about CLA and control. Canonical wanted complete control of the project instead of 'collaborating' with Wayland. But that reason would make them look bad.
What is Canonical up to? Why are they manipulating everything?
What is Canonical up to? Why are they manipulating everything?
Submission + - U.S. lawmaker introduces bill to legalize cellphone unlocking (networkworld.com)
alphadogg writes: A U.S. senator has proposed a bill that will allow consumers to unlock cellphones for use in other networks, after the Obama backed over 114,000 petitioners http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/petition-legalize-cell-phone-unlocking-tops-100000-signatures http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/petition-legalize-cell-phone-unlocking-tops-100000-signatures who asked the government to legalize the unlocking of smartphones. "You bought it, you should be able to use it. My Wireless Device Independence Act ensures you can unlock your device," said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, in a Twitter message on Tuesday. https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/309074335040159745
Submission + - New type of silicone exhibits both viscous and elastic properties (gizmag.com)
cylonlover writes: Looking for a more effective solution to the all-too-common wobbly table dilemma than a folded up bit of cardboard or piece of rubber under the leg, University of Virginia physicist Lou Bloomfield created a new type of silicone rubber called Vistik – it's malleable enough to take on any shape when pressed, but is still resilient enough to offer support, as it gradually starts to return to its original shape as the pressure is released. The material could have many applications ... beyond just steadying up wobbly tables.
Submission + - SimCity Launch Failure: A good case for DRM being bad for business (pcgamer.com)
earlzdotnet writes: "The SimCity release happened, yet there are many people incapable of playing the game. Many can't install the game because the Origin servers providing the downloads are overloaded. This is to be expected. But, one cited reason for this is because they didn't allow preloading of the game at all. Even if you decided to buy a disk set instead of download it, you'll still have problems installing it because it still needs a few files from their servers that wasn't provided
One of it's primary features is multiplayer support. However, single player support appears to have taken a back seat. So, now even the lucky few that have managed to get it installed are having to wait in a queue to play the single player game because it requires a slot on their servers.
Although it's a best guess at this point, but one of the probable causes of all this happening is because they were trying really hard to prevent piracy. It's not easily possible to pirate a game if all the logic goes through their servers. However, by doing it in this manner, they have (like most DRM schemes) harmed the paying customers primarily. As a result of these failures, many people are steering clear of buying the game and even requesting refunds from EA."
One of it's primary features is multiplayer support. However, single player support appears to have taken a back seat. So, now even the lucky few that have managed to get it installed are having to wait in a queue to play the single player game because it requires a slot on their servers.
Although it's a best guess at this point, but one of the probable causes of all this happening is because they were trying really hard to prevent piracy. It's not easily possible to pirate a game if all the logic goes through their servers. However, by doing it in this manner, they have (like most DRM schemes) harmed the paying customers primarily. As a result of these failures, many people are steering clear of buying the game and even requesting refunds from EA."
Submission + - Scientists Claim Have Solved Falkland Island Wolf Origins Mystery
An anonymous reader writes: The mystery surrounding the origins and subsequent extinction of the Falkland Islands wolf may have been finally explained, a new research claims.
Submission + - SimCity 5: How not to design a single player game. (inquisitr.com)
choke writes: Players attempting to play EA/Maxis' new SimCity game are finding that their save games are tied to a particular server, are facing problems with disconnects, inability to track friends or search for specific coop games online and failures to load game, and wait times of 20 minutes per login attempt.
The question is, why the online restriction? Does this possibly indicate future micro-transactions in game?
The question is, why the online restriction? Does this possibly indicate future micro-transactions in game?
Comment price (Score 1) 242
Consider that the Chromebook is about twice the price of my company's average machine... Including software costs. No.
Not to mention, our people [collectively] *use* all those features in Office that everyone claims "no one uses".
Submission + - NASA researching LENR (aka cold fusion) and they are not alone. (phys.org)
Moabz writes: There have been quite a few news reports about LENR lately. Unlike the drama about the Rossi e-cat, there seems to be a revival in legitimate scientific research into this area. University of Missouri is running a 5.5 million USD research project, and scientists at other institutes like Purdue, NASA, MIT, SRI, NRL are all looking into it.
A couple of days ago the Nuclear Energy Institute was talking about it on their facebook page and the American Nuclear Society posted a similar story on their "nuclear cafe". The University of Missouri will host a cold fusion conference in July this year and the topic will also be discussed in a talk at the upcoming "Nuclear & Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2013) organized by the ANS starting coming Monday.
A couple of days ago the Nuclear Energy Institute was talking about it on their facebook page and the American Nuclear Society posted a similar story on their "nuclear cafe". The University of Missouri will host a cold fusion conference in July this year and the topic will also be discussed in a talk at the upcoming "Nuclear & Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2013) organized by the ANS starting coming Monday.
Comment grouping (Score 1) 266
Can someone explain how these are grouped at all? I don't see any pattern at all. QSXGA is what I'd like to use but it pretty much doesn't exist. (Death to wide screen. Give me 1:1 even!)
