Comment New? (Score 1) 277
Unless I'm mistaken, this "new theory" was part of the plot of an Orson Scott Card book, Pastwatch.
Comment Re:Why remove functionality? (Score 1) 181
BN intends to open their own app store in January. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say that they don't want the competition.
Comment Re:Student loan debt not worth it (Score 1) 618
For grad school in the sciences, loan debt is uncommon--- students typically get paid stipends as research assistants or teaching assistants, which cover full tuition plus a modest salary (~$16k-30k or so, depending on field and institution).
It depends on where you are. The weird bit is that grad student stipends tend to be pretty consistent across the country, but living expenses aren't. Where I went to school (UCD), all students in my grad group got a stipend of 20k per year. When I first started that was plenty of money, but after six years of rent going up and my stipend staying the same I was taking loans and picking up extra work in order to make ends meet.
AU R18+ Rating Plans Put On Hold Due To "Interest Groups" 139
Dexter Herbivore writes "Australian gamers are yet again left disappointed by their government's response to a lack of an R18+ rating for games. Gamespot reports that Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor has blamed 'interest groups' for swamping the public consultation with pro-R18+ submissions. From the article: 'A strong response from gamer groups in the Australian Federal Government's R18+ public consultation has led Censorship Ministers to claim that more views from the community are needed before a decision into the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games can be reached.'"
Reader UgLyPuNk adds that support for the new rating is coming from unexpected places.
