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Comment Note Taking Appliance? (Score 1) 313

by gr33nlantern (#44574033) Attached to: Using Laptop To Take Notes Lowers Grades
I would like to see this study re-done with a third group who uses a note taking appliance such as the Surface Pro with OneNote and a stylus. Does the stylus and the act of 'writing' instead of typing change the results? I would imagine someone with an organized method in a program like OneNote that is purpose-built for note taking would have a leg-up on the paper/pen crowd.
Games

Balancing Choice With Irreversible Consequences In Games 352

Posted by Soulskill from the no-takebacks dept.
The Moving Pixels blog has an article about the delicate balance within video games between giving players meaningful choices and consequences that cannot necessarily be changed if the player doesn't like her choice afterward. Quoting: "One of my more visceral experiences in gaming came recently while playing Mass Effect 2, in which a series of events led me to believe that I'd just indirectly murdered most of my crew. When the cutscenes ended, I was rocking in my chair, eyes wide, heart pounding, and as control was given over to me once more, I did the only thing that I thought was reasonable to do: I reset the game. This, of course, only led to the revelation that the event was preordained and the inference that (by BioWare's logic) a high degree of magical charisma and blue-colored decision making meant that I could get everything back to normal. ... Charitably, I could say BioWare at least did a good job of conditioning my expectations in such a way that the game could garner this response, but the fact remains: when confronted with a consequence that I couldn't handle, my immediate player's response was to stop and get a do-over. Inevitability was only something that I could accept once it was directly shown to me."

Comment Re:Okay that's some funny shit (Score 1) 410

by gr33nlantern (#34547698) Attached to: Anonymous Now Attacking Corporate Fax Machines
Working as the IT Director for a copier/MFP sales and service dealership, I can tell you within the past 5 years, nearly all of my clients have converted to sending faxes through the network (using a network fax driver,) and receiving faxes either to a networked folder, or a shared fax e-mail address with strict spam filters... I can't imagine that Joe Schmoe's Realty on the corner is running a more advanced fax environment than the likes of PayPal, Amazon, etc. This seems very trivial indeed.
Image

4chan Declares War On Snow 201

Posted by samzenpus from the common-enemy dept.
With all the recent hacktivism in the news, Anonymous has decided to take on a new and powerful enemy: snow. On Sunday the group announced that it will "do everything in its power to shut snow down by attacking the Weather Channel and North Face websites, boycotting outerwear, and voting for the sun as Time’s 2010 Person Of The Year." I'm sure there are a lot of people in Minneapolis right now that would wish them luck.
Role Playing (Games)

Final Fantasy XIV Launches To Scathing Reviews 401

Posted by CmdrTaco from the my-fantasies-are-never-final dept.
RogueyWon writes "Now that the massively-multiplayer Final Fantasy XIV has been on the shelves for a couple of weeks, the reviews are starting to arrive; and it appears that the game is the subject of a critical battering unprecedented in the history of the main Final Fantasy series. First it was the Amazon user reviews, then Gamespot weighed in, describing the game as a 'step backwards for the genre,' and now IGN has described it as 'an arduous experience that, in its current state, isn't worth playing.' Given the general dissatisfaction that surrounded the release of the (offline) Final Fantasy XIII earlier in the year, many long-time fans of the series must now be wondering whether the magic hasn't departed."
Movies

Submission + - SPAM: Toy Story (1995) DVDRip.Xvid 1

Submitted by
getitboard2
getitboard2 writes: "A little boy named Andy loves to be in his room, playing with his toys, especially his doll named "Woody". But, what do the toys do when Andy is not with them, they come to life. Woody believes that he has life (as a toy) good. However, he must worry about Andy's family moving, and what Woody does not know is about Andy's birthday party. Woody does not realize that Andy's mother gave him an action figure known as Buzz Lightyear, who does not believe that he is a toy, and quickly becomes Andy's new favorite toy. Woody, who is now consumed with jealousy, tries to get rid of Buzz. Then, both Woody and Buzz are now lost. They must find a way to get back to Andy before he moves without them, but they will have to pass through a ruthless toy killer, Sid Phillips."
Link to Original Source
Government

Wikileaks Publishes $1B of Public Domain Research Reports 231

Posted by timothy from the well-there's-a-nice-circularity-to-that dept.
laird writes "Wikileaks has released nearly a billion dollars worth of quasi-secret reports commissioned by the United States Congress. The 6,780 reports, current as of this month, comprise over 127,000 pages of material on some of the most contentious issues in the nation, from the U.S. relationship with Israel to abortion legislation. Nearly 2,300 of the reports were updated in the last 12 months, while the oldest report goes back to 1990. The release represents the total output of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) electronically available to Congressional offices. The CRS is Congress's analytical agency and has a budget in excess of $100M per year. Although all CRS reports are legally in the public domain, they are quasi-secret because the CRS, as a matter of policy, makes the reports available only to members of Congress, Congressional committees and select sister agencies such as the GAO. Members of Congress are free to selectively release CRS reports to the public but are only motivated to do so when they feel the results would assist them politically. Universally embarrassing reports are kept quiet."
Enlightenment

Submission + - Having online fun at work is good for your morale (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
toddatcw
toddatcw writes: "Wouldn't you know it? Having fun at work can be good for workers and their companies. That's the conclusion of a new study by Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. The study found that online fantasy football leagues can create a gridiron quandary for businesses because although they take up employee work time, they also benefit a company by increasing office morale. In a Computerworld story yesterday, a Challenger spokesman argues that while employers may not like the wasted time, all work and no play policies can backfire for employers, leaving workers resentful rather than energized."
Biotech

Submission + - Creating life in a lab within 3 -10 years (cnn.com)

Submitted by KeithJM
KeithJM writes: Scientists may be able to create life in a laboratory in the next 3 to 10 years. They figure there are three steps in the process, none of which involve underpants. Create a membrane, create a genetic system, and establish some kind of metabolism. One scientist from Harvard thinks that the membrane may be all that's needed — if you stick some nucleotides inside the membrane in the right proportions, evolution will take over from there. According to that same scientist, the membrane step may be accomplished in the next 6 months.
Editorial

Submission + - Dinosaurs Don't Suck (dinosaursnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Headline writers love to use the word "dinosaur" to mean out-of-date, obsolete, impractical, or ridiculously large. It's about time they found a new turn of phrase, because modern research tells us that dinosaurs simply don't suck.

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