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Comment Re:ehh.. (Score 1) 554

by king-manic (#24877921) Attached to: Blu-ray Gone In Five Years, Samsung Claims

Hey, I had an N64 up until late last year. It was damned fast. With the introduction of the original Playstation, we had

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load times. Yes, we can fit a lot more data onto those 750MB disks than the cartridge tech of the time. Now they're giving away 1GB Flash drives with a box of cereal. You can easily buy 16GB drives now, and that's got 4x the info of a DVD.

It'll be much easier for "Them" to lock down each game with a globally unique serial number when you're burning Flash drives; much, much harder than when you're pressing CD / DVD runs. Microchip will sell you chips (by the reel, of course) that are pre-programmed and have an incrementing sequence in one section.

Actually 16GB is 1/2 od a dual layer DVD not 1/4. As well it's manufacturers cost that drove the n64 out of contention and out of consideration with 3rd parties. While a DVD is under a penny to press in bulk flashram still has a higher cost per unit memory which the manufacturer/publisher bears. Even in retail a Flashstick for 8 gigs is around $25, a DVD-RW is a dollar. BD's aren't that much more expensive to press then a DVD. It'll take a giant advance in the expense Flashrom/Flashram production before we'll see it replace optical media. You're probably better off betting on digital downloads to tak over after BD.
The Internet

"Anonymous" Takes Scientology Protest to the Streets 740

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the watch-out-for-the-hit-squads dept.
This past Sunday members of the group "Anonymous" that has been running an attack on the church of Scientology took their battle from the tubes of the internet to the pavement of real life, staging a protest outside the central Phoenix Church of Scientology. "The protesters said they gathered Sunday in lieu of the birthday of Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist once cared for by church staffers. Her 1995 death sparked media attention and a civil wrongful death suit against a branch of the Church of Scientology. A wrongful death suit by her family was a public-relations nightmare for the church for years until it was settled in 2004. The Church of Scientology declined to comment on the Phoenix protests. It did provide a news release calling members of Anonymous cyber-terrorists."
Privacy

Submission + - Privacy rights loss alarms Canada's civil libertar (canada.com)

Submitted by
king-manic
king-manic writes: "Canada opens up consultations on privacy policies concern ISP's releasing personal information without warrants. Previously they held private consultations with concerned groups without notification to the public that this was going on. In fact many privacy groups were entirely unaware that the Canadian government was discussing this matter.

The Public Safety and Industry Departments have been conducting a limited consultation, which was scheduled to end Sept. 25, on potential changes that would make it easier for police to get customers' personal information from Internet providers without a court order or other legal justification. Those invited to participate in the consultation process received a letter and no information was made public on any government website.
This about face comes due to a large number of privacy groups raising the alarm."

RealPlayer 11 Is a Real Rip Contender 226

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the making-enemies-on-all-sides dept.
rishimathew writes to tell us TechNewsWorld is reporting that the new RealPlayer 11, not even out of beta yet, has a lot of great new features including the ability to easily rip streaming videos from sites like YouTube, Revver, and Heavy.com. "With the release of RealPlayer 11, the company is boldly moving into another dicey realm: ripping streaming video. Sure, there are lots of means out there to capture video from sites like YouTube Latest News about YouTube, Revver, Heavy.com and such. There are programs like WM Recorder (US$49.95) and Replay A/V ($49.95), as well as Web sites like Keepvid.com and Mozilla Latest News about Mozilla Foundation Firefox add-ons like VideoDownloader. I've tried some of them. Few, though, can match the slick ease of use of RealPlayer 11 -- and it isn't even out of beta yet."
Security

Another Sony Rootkit? 317

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the slow-learners dept.
An anonymous reader writes to tell us F-Secure is reporting that the drivers for Sony Microvault USB sticks uses rootkit techniques to hide a directory from the Windows API. "This USB stick with rootkit-like behavior is closely related to the Sony BMG case. First of all, it is another case where rootkit-like cloaking is ill advisedly used in commercial software. Also, the USB sticks we ordered are products of the same company — Sony Corporation. The Sony MicroVault USM-F fingerprint reader software that comes with the USB stick installs a driver that is hiding a directory under "c:\windows\". So, when enumerating files and subdirectories in the Windows directory, the directory and files inside it are not visible through Windows API. If you know the name of the directory, it is e.g. possible to enter the hidden directory using Command Prompt and it is possible to create new hidden files. There are also ways to run files from this directory. Files in this directory are also hidden from some antivirus scanners (as with the Sony BMG DRM case) — depending on the techniques employed by the antivirus software. It is therefore technically possible for malware to use the hidden directory as a hiding place."
Privacy

Going to Yosemite? Get Your Passport Ready! 969

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the certainly-not-of-or-for-the-people dept.
rev_media writes to tell us that CNN has a few updates to the Real ID act currently facing legislators. The Real ID acts mandates all states to begin issuing federal IDs to all citizens by 2008. Costs could be as much at $14 billion, but only 40 million are currently allocated. Several states have passed legislation expressly forbidding participation in the program, while others seem to be all for it. The IDs will be required for access to all federal areas including flights, state parks and federal buildings. People in states refusing to comply will need to show passports even for domestic flights.
Space

Astronomers Again Baffled by Solar Observations 299

Posted by CowboyNeal from the back-to-the-drawing-board dept.
SteakNShake writes "Once again professional astronomers are struggling to understand observations of the sun. ScienceDaily reports that a team from Saint Andrew's University announced that the sun's magnetic fields dominate the behavior of the corona via a mechanism dubbed the 'solar skeleton.' Computer models continue to be built to mimic the observed behavior of the sun in terms of magnetic fields but apparently the ball is still being dropped; no mention in the announcement is made of the electric fields that must be the cause of the observed magnetic fields. Also conspicuously absent from the press releases is the conclusion that the sun's corona is so-dominated by electric and magnetic fields because it is a plasma. In light of past and present research revealing the electrical nature of the universe, this kind of crippling ignorance among professional astrophysicists is astonishing."
Communications

Toshiba Puts Fingerprint Readers on Cell Phones 163

Posted by samzenpus from the touch-it dept.
An anonymous reader writes "As if it wasn't enough to have fingerprint scanners on laptops, Toshiba has put them on two of its latest smart phones. The Toshiba G500 and G900 feature fingerprint scanners on the back of the handsets, allowing users to access their phone by simply sliding their finger over the scanner. This is supposed to provide a better level of security than using a code of some sort. Of course it also means that someone is more likely to chop your hand off if they desperately want your data."

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