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Games

Blizzcon 2009 Wrap-Up 297

Posted by Soulskill from the this-post-is-not-available-over-LAN dept.

Last year's Blizzcon was tremendously popular. So much so that their servers were unable to handle the strain of fans competing for 15,000 available tickets. This year, Blizzard was more prepared; they made an additional 5,000 tickets available and set up a queue so that the transaction servers weren't overwhelmed. CEO Mike Morhaime said during the keynote address that if you weren't able to get into the queue within 30 seconds of its opening, the tickets were sold out before your turn came. Tens of thousands more chose to order the pay-per-view coverage, demonstrating the extraordinary enthusiasm felt for Blizzard's games. Their presentations didn't disappoint. Read on for details on the status of StarCraft II, Diablo III, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and the new Battle.net. It's divided into sections by game in case you're only interested in one or two of them.

Comment Parasite Rex (Score 2, Insightful) 397

by proggoddess (#27588629) Attached to: Are Human Beings Organisms Or Living Ecosystems?
This is a great book about how free-living organisms (like ourselves) have evolved alongside parasitic organisms (like bacteria). I found it interesting that the scientists that the author interviewed all look at free-living organisms not as individuals, but as miniature eco-systems for parasites. Several scientists said "I don't see a mouse (or frog, or fish) anymore, I see a bag of parasites." A little gruesome, but true. http://www.amazon.com/Parasite-Rex-Bizarre-Dangerous-Creatures/dp/074320011X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239818586&sr=8-1
The Internet

Is Virtual Rape a Crime? 690

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the because-/quit-is-so-hard-to-type dept.
cyberianpan writes "Wired is carrying commentary on the story that Brussels police have begun an investigation into a citizen's allegations of rape in Second Life. For reasons of civil liberty & clarity we'd like to confine criminal law to physical offenses rather than thought crimes but already threats, menace & conspiracy count as crimes. Could we see a situation where our laws extend?"
Education

Submission + - McGill Wins Inaugural Formula Hybrid Competition

Submitted by
syguy
syguy writes: "The McGill Hybrid Racing Team won the inaugural Formula Hybrid International Competition held May 1-3, 2007 at the New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, NH, USA. College and university students from the US and Canada took up the challenge to construct and race gasoline-hybrid powered, open-wheel racecars."
Software

AACS Vows to Fight Bloggers 601

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the guerilla-bloggers dept.
Jonas Wisser writes "The BBC is carrying the story that AACS has promised to take action against those who have posted the AACS crack online. Michael Ayers, chairperson of AACS, noted that the cracked key has now been revoked, and went on to say, 'Some people clearly think it's a First Amendment issue. There is no intent from us to interfere with people's right to discuss copy protection. We respect free speech.' The AACS website tells consumers how they can 'continue to enjoy content protected by AACS' by 'refreshing the encryption keys associated with their HD DVD and Blu-ray software players.'"
Music

Submission + - Pandora blocked outside of U.S.

Submitted by
Skidge
Skidge writes: "Pandora, the popular personalized internet radio station, has blocked users outside of the US, UK, & Canada from accessing their music streams. From Pandora blog post, "It's hard to think of anything more anathema to who we are than turning off someone's radio, but the current legal realities leave us no choice. While the DMCA provides us a blanket license in the U.S., there is no equivalent in other countries.""
Yahoo!

Submission + - AT&T Yahoo! to be spamming email users

Submitted by kc64
kc64 writes: When I joined SBC DSL service, they offered me a 2GB email account if I would use the SBC Yahoo! portal. I accepted. Well, a 2GB inbox is not as impressive as it used to be and SBC is now AT&T. I guess it shouldn't surprise me to read the following email today. I won't accept the changes so I either have to either start using gmail exclusively or remember how to break the AT&T/Yahoo! email account binding. Anyone know how to do that?

Dear AT&T Yahoo! Member:

AT&T and Yahoo! have a history of providing our members with award-winning, industry-leading Internet products and services at a great value.

As more members are using AT&T Yahoo! Mail to send and receive photos, videos, and music, we will begin offering unlimited email storage in May to both existing and new members. Your service will continue to include all the premium products you already enjoy including video, LAUNCHcast Plus, and an all-in-one security suite.

Additionally, within the next few weeks you will begin seeing graphical advertisements in your AT&T Yahoo! Mail service. These advertisements will be integrated into the AT&T Yahoo! Mail experience, and we hope you will find the advertisements useful. Advertising such as this allows us to continue delivering new and innovative elements to our service and helps us keep prices competitive, while we continue to provide the high level of service that you have come to know and trust.

We strive to provide you with the best online experience possible and to address all your needs on the Internet.

Sincerely,
AT&T Yahoo! Member Services
The Internet

Submission + - French elections: TV debate causes Wikipedia abuse

Submitted by
o'reor
o'reor writes: "According to this article in french paper Liberation , during the debate on TV between the two candidates to the presidential elections in France, Wikipedia.fr was edited several times by a number of anonymous surfers, to reflect the erroneous assertions of candidate Nicolas Sarkozy concerning the type of nuclear plant that is about to be built in the near future in France, if he takes office.

"At 22:34, Ségolène Royal snaps at her opponent: "You will have to look it up again: the EPR is the third generation of nuclear power plants, not the fourth." One minute later, a web surfer based in Nancy pays a visit to the french version of Wikipedia, and edits the EPR page : "third generation" is changed to "fourth generation".
That was the beginnig of a partisan editing battle on Wikipedia. The history page can be found here. Meanwhile, the English version of the same page did not budge."
Censorship

Submission + - Web commic "terroristic" threat

Submitted by
grasshoppa
grasshoppa writes: "Reports from around the web comic community indicate that Matt Boyd was paid a visit by detectives after posting this. This after being fired ( as can be seen from previous comics ) for discussing target shooting."

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