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Games

Submission + - Carmageddon: Reincarnation Linux Version confirmed (kickstarter.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Stainless Games have been fundraising for Carmageddon: Reincarnation, a modern day remake of the classic Carmageddon racing games, on Kickstarter.com for weeks. Stainless said that if they hit 600,000 Dollars in pledges before time runs out, the would commit themselves to creating a Linux port of the game, as well as a MacOS port. Today they made it official: The fundraising has come so close to netting 600K overall, with a few more hours left to go, that they are officially committing themselves to creating a Linux port of the new game. PC gamers will get to play Carmageddon 4 first, with a February 2013 release date. The MacOS & Linux versions will follow the PC version later in 2013.
Education

Grad Student Wins Alan Alda's Flame Challenge 161

Posted by Soulskill from the wins-free-M*A*S*H-dvd-set dept.
eldavojohn writes "Scientists have long been criticized of their inability to communicate complex ideas adequately to the rest of society. Similar to his questions on PBS' Scientific American Frontiers, actor Alan Alda wrote to the journal Science with a proposition called The Flame Challenge (PDF). Contestants would have to explain a flame to an eleven-year-old kid, and the entries would be judged by thousands of children across the country. The winner of The Flame Challenge is quantum physics grad student Ben Ames, whose animated video covers concepts like pyrolysis, chemiluminescence, oxidation and incandescence boiled into a humorous video, complete with song. Now they are asking children age 10-12 to suggest the next question for the Flame Challenge. Kids out there, what would you like scientists to explain?"
Censorship

Submission + - Ham-fisted Music Trade Association Attacks Internet (Again) (techdirt.com)

Submitted by cpu6502
cpu6502 writes: Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) CEO Cary Sherman wants big internet service corporations to block content he says is destroying a fossilized music industry. "Intermediaries like search engines would [negotiate] voluntary marketplace best practices to prevent directing users to sites that are dedicated to violating property rights." In other words, Sherman and the RIAA want Google to delist certain websites in Orwellian memory hole fashion. Sherman made his remarks before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing which is deciding if government should allow business to put FM receivers in the next generation of smart phones.

The RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are in the business of stigmatizing file sharing as criminal behavior despite the fact much of the content is original and is not in violation of copyright law. MegaUpload.com and HotFile.com represent a "business model that cuts out the legacy gatekeepers" and allows alternative content producers to distribute their products to consumers without the burdensome intervention of a middleman.

Submission + - Egyptian Teenager Creates Next-Generation Quantum Space Propulsion System (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by cplusplus
cplusplus writes: An Egyptain teenager has patented a next-generation propulsion system that could send spacecraft to other solar systems—without using a single drop of fuel. While it is not quite warp-drive technology, young physicist Aisha Mustafa’s system is based on quantum physics and could see mankind boldly go where no man has gone before.

Submission + - New analysis shows dinosaurs not as heavy as previously believed. (discovery.com)

Submitted by Cognitive Dissident
Cognitive Dissident writes: Discovery.com has an article on a new study using computer modeling to estimate the actual amount of flesh needed to cover the skeletons of dinosaurs. Based on a comparison with modern animals, it indicates that these animals could have weighed dramatically less than has been previously estimated. "A huge Brachiosaur, once thought to weigh 176,370 pounds, is now believed to have weighed 50,706 pounds." That's only about two-and-a-half times the weight of a modern African elephant. If other evidence can be reconciled with this, many estimates of the ecosystems dinosaurs lived in will also have to be revised.
Games

Submission + - Live Interview With GLaDOS From Portal (twitch.tv)

Submitted by
Mr. Jaggers
Mr. Jaggers writes: "Chris Pope (podcaster from Tech Jives Network and social media guy for the Guys From Andromeda game studio) is being joined by Ellen McLain, the voice actress of GLaDOS from Valve's series of Portal games in an informal live chat on Twich TV right now (12pm PST / 3pm EST, United States time zones). Ellen's other voice work includes the announcer from Team Fortress 2, as well as appearing in the other games in Valve's 2007 Orange Box release (Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two). The chat can be joined via IRC or from the Twitch TV website, and Ellen will be available to fans for questions, including her work with Valve, as well as future projects (including the spiritual-successor to the Space Quest series of adventure games). The podcast of it will be up later on for those that miss the chat, but for those that can join in, it ought to be real treat to be able to ask GLaDOS why she was so mean to us..."

Submission + - Initial reviews of the first fully customizable mouse come in (examiner.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Cyborg is a company well known for their gaming peripherals. It has a line of mice, xBox controllers, keyboards, and the like. The Cyborg R.A.T. 7(the original one) is one of the most comfortable mice you'll ever own, once you have it customized to your hand. It is also very, very precise, and it one of the nicest mice out there on the market currently. Click here to see pictures of the mice.

Let's start with the physical design first. The outside is matte black, with an option of changing the back piece that sits in the middle of your palm. The options for the back piece are: a shiny/rubbery piece, a long matte black piece and a short matte black piece. Overall, the device looks very mechanical and very modern looking. The matte black is a nice finish, because it doesn't show fingerprints/finger grease as much as a glossy one would. The underside is a thick aluminum plate, with a hole in it for the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel is a rubberized one, instead of a matte finish. The scroll wheel is then accented on the side by more aluminum. The one item that you think people would have an issue with, would be the section just to the right of the left mouse button. It seems like a lot of people would hit that accidentally with their fingers, but that doesn't happen all that much. The button area's are quite large, and make it difficult to miss them.

Submission + - Verizon empties 2nd barrel into their foot. (cnet.com)

Submitted by GuyverDH
GuyverDH writes: Verizon announces they are forcing grandfathered unlimited data plan owners to upgrade to tiered (read overpriced) usage plans.
Translation: Verizon is forcing mass exodus of it's customers.
Wikipedia

Kevin Bacon Meets Wikipedia With New Pathfinding Program 50

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the computers-are-ruining-everything dept.
New submitter BLT2112 writes "Inspired by the Oracle of Bacon, the Oracle of Wikipedia finds the shortest path between two Wikipedia articles, as in Wikipedia Golf. As explained in the site, 'One selects one article as the tee and another article as the hole and then completes the course between them clicking as few links as possible. No typing is allowed. . . . The Oracle also allows you to search for the most challenging potential Wikipedia Golf courses. Can you find a longer course and merit a place in the "records" section?'"
Android

Submission + - Facial Recognition To Be Used In San Francisco Bars (techfleece.com)

Submitted by
TheGift73
TheGift73 writes: "Bars in San Francisco are going to start to use Facial Recognition software that will stream in real-time the male to female ratios of patrons. The app is currently servicing Chicago, Austin, Bloomington, Gainesville, and Madison with SF going live last Friday.

The software is made by an Austin, Texas based night-life startup called SceneTap and will give users of the free app, the ability to see what the the current ambience of the bar/club is like as well as the average age of the clients."
Android

Submission + - KegDroid - The Ideal Bar Gadget (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: If you are looking for an exciting hardware project, KegDroid deserves a look. It is a sophisticated system that involves Android, Arduino, NFC, plumbing and — beer. Perhaps the final stroke of genius is to package the whole thing in a Droid body. Some how the little green fella looks at home on the bar. You have heard of desktop and laptop apps now we have bartop apps to add to the list.
Check out the video...

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