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Submission + - LogMeIn Removing Free Tier (cbsnews.com)

Shalaska writes: LogMeIn, a popular remote access software, is removing its free tier completely requiring premium subscriptions to access any computer. As a small business we purchased 2 paid subscriptions to connect to computers where we needed file sharing and printer sharing, but otherwise used free connections to connect to the 30 remote computers we need access to. From the announcement on January 21st users have 7 days to make the upgrade although the grace period does begin from the next time you log on.

Submission + - AMD Catalyst Driver To Enable Mantle, Fix Frame Pacing, Support HSA For Kaveri (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: AMD has a new set of drivers coming in a couple of days that are poised to resolve a number of longstanding issues and enable a handful of new features as well, most notably support for Mantle. AMD's new Catalyst 14.1 beta driver is going to be the first publicly available driver from AMD that will support Mantle, AMD’s “close to the metal” API that will let developers wring additional performance from GCN-based GPUs. However, the new drivers will also add support for the HSA-related features introduced with the recently released Kaveri APU, and will reportedly fix the frame pacing issues associated with Radeon HD 7000 series CrossFire configurations. A patch for Battlefield 4 is due to arrive soon as well and AMD is claiming performance gains in excess of 40 percent in CPU limited scenarios but smaller gains in GPU-limited conditions, with average gains of 11 — 13 percent over all.

Submission + - AMD To release Mantle drivers today. Battlefield 4 patch released. (hexus.net)

Spottywot writes: While there were some reports flying around about further delays of the Battlefield 4 Mantle patch it has been delivered on time today by DICE. The necessary AMD Catalyst 14.1 beta drivers — to get Mantle optimisations to work — are yet to be released publically but are expected to be available later today.

Johan Andersson, one of the Technical Directors in the Frostbite team, said about the update: "Battlefield 4 on PC is already quite heavily optimized using DirectX 11 and DirectX 11.1, but with Mantle we are able to go even further: we’ve significantly reduced CPU cost in our rendering, efficiently parallelized it over multiple CPU cores and reduced overhead in many areas." Andersson added that the best performance gains are observed when a game is bottlenecked by the CPU "which can be quite common even on high-end machines".
DICE did a "couple of benchmarks" using Battlefield 4 on a variety of configurations. With an AMD A10-7850K 'Kaveri' APU Mantle provides a 14 per cent improvement, on a system with an AMD FX-8350 and Radeon 7970 Mantle provides a 25 per cent boost, while on an Intel Core i7-3970x Extreme system with 2x AMD Radeon R9 290x cards a huge 58 per cent performance increase was observed.

Comment Re:Recent studies (Score 5, Insightful) 118

Exactly, in most cases piracy is a indication of a service problem. It is amazing the number of times I have and have seen others have to pirate a game I already own, just because the DRM-copy fails to function as advertised due to draconian DRM restrictions. Furthermore the pirated copy doesn't require things such as disks in the CD drive which I would rather not have to look for. On the other hand all of the games I have gotten off of Steam, although using Steam's DRM system, I have not had to pirate because their system just works for me.

Whenever a pirated copy is better then the legal copy, there is something wrong with the legal copy.

Comment Re:that wasn't 'no rules' (Score 2) 127

Exactly, and apparently the students are being better monitored for the study, every time I was bullied in the past it was while no one was watching or around, and I almost never reported it. That said it is only a matter of time until some kid is seriously hurt (or killed) falling out of a tree (or similar activity) and regardless of the effects on bullying those rules will be right back in place.

Comment Re:Firewall (Score 0) 197

I believe the parent was thinking of the incoming FTP port not the outgoing port. This does show however the common problem that the average person does not understand how most of this technology works, and many of them believe that they have secured themselves with steps such as above when in reality all they have done is made themselves feel safer without any actual security in place.

Comment Re:Sourceforge download ads (Score 2, Informative) 197

The number of times I have accidently clicked on an ad Download button instead of the actual download button on sites I am not familiar with is astounding. I always have caught on quickly, stopped the incorrect download and then gone looking for the correct one, but as a Comp Sci PhD candidate and computer security practitioner, the fact that it can fool me even for a minute is astounding. Sites really should remove ads that confuse where you should be clicking to download what you came there for.

Comment Re:Please (Score 0) 197

Exactly, the hashes are the best way to tell the two apart and anyone downloading software from the internet should learn how to check them.

For reference you can find FileZilla's hashes at:

http://sourceforge.net/project...

Or to get their yourself go to Download, then click on "Show additional download options" and it will be the last one in the list.

Comment Re:at this point (Score 0) 822

I agree, it is a rather dissenting opinion here on Slashdot but he even stated in an interview with the South China Morning Post that he only took the job in order to gain access to privileged information for the sole purpose of leaking classified information. Now maybe some of the information that he leaked shouldn't have been classified but as to the NSA breaking the law the courts have ruled that they were not. There is a big divide between being a whistle-blower and a traitor and I think he crossed that line significantly and should have the book thrown at him. Remember any clemency we give to this guy will result in more people thinking it is OK and possibly harming national security. Just because you don't agree with everything that is done to keep our nation safe does not mean that some of it isn't necessary and could result in meaningless deaths that could have been avoided.

Submission + - Frankenstein's Simulated Worm is Alive? (gizmag.com)

Zothecula writes: The OpenWorm project is aimed at creating the first artificial lifeform – a bottom-up computer model of a millimeter-sized nemotode, one of the simplest known multicellular organisms. In an important step forward, OpenWorm researchers have completed the simulation of the nematode's 302 neurons and 95 muscle cells and their worm is wriggling around in fine form.

Submission + - Risk of supervolcano eruption big enough to 'affect the world' far greater than (independent.co.uk)

rbrandis writes: The eruption of a “supervolcano” hundreds of times more powerful than conventional volcanoes – with the potential to wipe out civilisation as we know it – is more likely than previously thought, a study has found. An analysis of the molten rock within the dormant supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park in the United States has revealed that an eruption is possible without any external trigger, scientists said.

Submission + - FBI Edits Mission Statement: Removes Law Enforcement as 'Primary' Purpose... (foreignpolicy.com)

schwit1 writes: Following the 9/11 attacks, the FBI picked up scores of new responsibilities related to terrorism and counterintelligence while maintaining a finite amount of resources. What's not in question is that government agencies tend to benefit in numerous ways when considered critical to national security as opposed to law enforcement. "If you tie yourself to national security, you get funding and you get exemptions on disclosure cases," said McClanahan. "You get all the wonderful arguments about how if you don't get your way, buildings will blow up and the country will be less safe."

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