dazaris - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Why are there still game retailers? (Score 1) 155

by dazaris on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:56PM (#29868951) Attached to: Game Retailers Facing Digital Distribution Transition

It's nice to have a tangible product to go with your purchase, but it seems that most games are tending to go towards the console standard of a single disc and paper thin manual in a tiny DVD case. When that's the case there's very little incentive to pay the extra amount of money as well as take time out of your day to drive to the store (When you don't live in a city center).

I don't see digital distribution replacing the corner store in the near future though. Consoles will ensure that (until they get a widely used and reliable form of digital distribution for big name titles), as will the games you can't purchase off steam or similar services.

Comment On the plus side... (Score 1) 762

by dazaris on Saturday October 24, 2009 @05:36AM (#29855103) Attached to: App Store Developer Speaks Out On Game Piracy

You 're going to get a huge amount of publicity for your new game by having your article posted on Slashdot.

Submission + - Should I care if my credit gets ruined? 1

Submitted by 100k-in-the-hole on Saturday October 24, 2009 @02:54AM

100k-in-the-hole writes: I have been having some financial trouble lately, and have for the first time stopped paying some of my bills (mostly credit cards). I already have a fixed rate mortgage, and have no intention of using a credit card ever again. Has anyone else here stopped paying their bills? What kind of experience can I expect? I sort of feel like a low credit score will help me to avoid this problem in the future.

Submission + - Music Rights Holders Sue Youtube Again (newteevee.com)

Submitted by bennyboy64 on Saturday October 24, 2009 @12:49AM

bennyboy64 writes: NewTeeVee reports on a criminal investigation that has been launched against senior executives of YouTube and parent company Google in Hamburg, Germany, over allegations of copyright infringement. The case started after a complaint by German music rights holders. Hamburg's prosecutor has formally requested assistance from U.S. colleagues to compel YouTube to produce log files identifying who uploaded as well as who viewed 500 specific videos.

Submission + - What is Slashdot Popular?

Submitted by bam13 on Friday October 23, 2009 @12:59AM

bam13 writes: I am presenting a Master of IT level project on 'Effective Online Communities', and am using Slashdot as one of my case studies. I personally visit Slashdot (as an AC) almost every day, and I am sure many other readers do too. I know that Slashdot has had several interface redesigns, and features (such as tagging) added along the way, and I was hoping to get insights from readers on why they continue to visit Slashdot, what features would make it better, and what features they could do without.

Submission + - McCain Introduces Bill to Block Net Neutrality (pcworld.com)

Submitted by Adrian Lopez on Thursday October 22, 2009 @03:25PM

Adrian Lopez writes: PC World reports that US Senator John McCain has recently introduced legislation that "would keep the FCC from enacting rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Internet content and applications."

"McCain, an Arizona Republican, called the proposed net neutrality rules a 'government takeover' of the Internet that will stifle innovation and depress an 'already anemic' job market in the U.S. McCain was the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in the 2008 election, and Obama has said net neutrality rules are among his top tech priorities."

Submission + - Evolution May Lead to Shorter, Heavier Women 2

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens

on Thursday October 22, 2009 @11:11AM

Hugh Pickens writes: "Yale University researchers report that while survival to reproductive age is no longer such a hurdle for humans, other evolutionary pressures – including sexual selection and reproductive fitness – are still working away in full force and if the trends detected in their study are representative and continue for another 10 generations, the average woman in 2409 AD will be 2 cm shorter, 1 kg heavier, will bear her first child five months earlier, and enter the menopause 10 months later. "There is this idea that because medicine has been so good at reducing mortality rates, that means that natural selection is no longer operating in humans," said Stephen Stearns of Yale University. "That's just plain false." Stearns and his team studied the medical histories of 14,000 residents of the Massachusetts town of Framingham, using medical data from a study going back to 1948 spanning three generations and found that shorter, heavier women had more children than lighter, taller ones. Women with lower blood pressure and cholesterol were also more likely to have large families as were women who gave birth early or had a late menopause. More importantly these traits are then passed on to their daughters, who also, on average, had more children. The study has not determined why these factors are linked to reproductive success, but it is likely that they indicate genetic, rather than environmental, effects. "The evolution that's going on in the Framingham women is like average rates of evolution measured in other plants and animals," said Stearns. ""These results place humans in the medium-to-slow end of the range of rates observed for other living things.""

Submission + - Chinese 'cat-girl' baffles doctors (ninemsn.com.au)

Submitted by

dazaris

on Thursday October 22, 2009 @05:48AM

dazaris writes: "A six-year-old Chinese girl has doctors puzzled after thick grey hair started growing all over her body, earning her the nickname "cat-girl". Li Xiaoyuan, from Fengkai in southern China, had a small birthmark on her back just months ago, which has since grown to cover her entire back and parts of her arms and face. "Doctors told us it was just how a birthmark even when it started spreading but now it covers half her body," her father Li Yan was quoted as saying."

Submission + - Windows 7 preorders already top Vista sales (itpro.co.uk)

Submitted by End_of_tether on Thursday October 22, 2009 @03:57AM

End_of_tether writes: Preorder sales of Windows 7 have already outsold Vista in its entire first year at DSGi shops like PC World and Dixons in the UK. "We've sold more copies on preorder than we sold of Vista for the whole year," said DSGi category director Jeremy Fennell.

Amazon.co.uk is having similar luck with the OS, with Windows 7 the biggest grossing preorder product ever, topping even Harry Potter and Dan Brown. "The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone’s expectations, storming ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the biggest-grossing pre-order product of all-time, and demand is still going strong," claimed managing director Brian McBride.

Submission + - Author David Eddings Has Passed Away, Age 77 (about.com)

Submitted by

thejynxed

on Friday June 05, 2009 @02:34PM

thejynxed writes: "From the source article:
Eddings was famously old-fashioned, never using a typewriter or computer (he wrote out his scripts in long-hand) and was well-known for being self-effacing, once remarking, "I'm never going to be in danger of getting a Nobel Prize for literature."
From another article:
David Eddings, the acclaimed fantasy novelist and author of such series as The Belgariad and The Malloreon, has died at the age of 77. David Eddings was predeceased by his wife and writing partner Leigh two years ago.

It's a shame really, as The Belgariad is one of the better series out there, IMHO. I spent many hours of class time during my junior and high school years reading his novels."

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