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XBox (Games)

Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service 254

Posted by Soulskill from the by-reading-this-you-bequeath-me-all-your-possessions dept.
Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements. "No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."
Graphics

DX11 Tested Against DX9 With Dirt 2 Demo 201

Posted by Soulskill from the shadows-with-shadows dept.
MojoKid writes "The PC demo for Codemasters' upcoming DirectX 11 racing title, Dirt 2, has just hit the web and is available for download. Dirt 2 is a highly-anticipated racing sim that also happens to feature leading-edge graphic effects. In addition to a DirectX 9 code path, Dirt 2 also utilizes a number of DirectX 11 features, like hardware-tessellated dynamic water, an animated crowd and dynamic cloth effects, in addition to DirectCompute 11-accelerated high-definition ambient occlusion (HADO), full floating-point high dynamic range (HDR) lighting, and full-screen resolution post processing. Performance-wise, DX11 didn't take its toll as much as you'd expect this early on in its adoption cycle." Bit-tech also took a look at the graphical differences, arriving at this conclusion: "You'd need a seriously keen eye and brown paper envelope full of cash from one of the creators of Dirt 2 to notice any real difference between textures in the two versions of DirectX."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Huge backlash against Doctor Who companion casting

Submitted by Artifice_Eternity
Artifice_Eternity writes: The BBC have announced who will be sharing the TARDIS with David Tennant in season 4 of the new "Doctor Who": Catherine Tate. The sharp-tongued comedienne will be reprising her role as Donna, the "runaway bride" of the 2006 Christmas special. But neither diehard fans nor casual viewers of the show are laughing... in fact, 64 pages of comments on the BBC's site suggest an overwhelmingly negative public reaction to this news. Will Donna become the new Mel (the Sixth Doctor's much-reviled companion)? Should the Beeb have gone with the more likable Carey Mulligan instead, whose star turn in the recent episode Blink has been widely praised?
Graphics

Submission + - Nvidia threatens website for hosting their drivers (ngohq.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: We understand that you are distributing or facilitating the unauthorized distribution of NVIDIA's drivers for its GPU and/or MCP products. We are writing to remind you that these drivers constitute intellectual property ("IP"), including copyrights, of NVIDIA. As the exclusive owner of this IP, under Section 106 of the Copyright Act, NVIDIA alone has the right to authorize distribution. Since you are not authorized, we ask that you immediately stop all activities that distribute, allow or facilitate distribution of NVIDIA's drivers on your web site. Unauthorized distribution is a serious violation of NVIDIA's intellectual property rights and if it continues, we will take the necessary steps to prevent further unauthorized distribution.

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