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Submission + - html5media - HTML5 video for everyone (google.com)

Submitted by Zarkonnen
Zarkonnen writes: Open source project that consists of a single Javascript file that you include in the head of your page. Once this file has been included, you can use tags anywhere in your page, and they will work in all major browsers. Browsers which support HTML5 video will get a HTML5 video player. Browsers which don't will get a Flash video player instead. It uses h.264 (mp4) and also supports Theora on Firefox.
Software

Submission + - Google Chrome 2 benchmarked, beats everyone (cnet.co.uk)

Submitted by
CNETNate
CNETNate writes: "Google's latest version of its Chrome browser has wiped the floor with all other browsers in terms of rendering speed, including itself. Benchmarks have shown it could be the fastest browser in the world by a significant margin, beating Safari 4 and the most recent build of Mozilla's Minefield, which previously held spots one and two on in the speed charts."
Games

Submission + - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Board Game 1

Submitted by wunderbread
wunderbread writes: http://www.jrbaldwin.com/boardgame A scientifically accurate and safe (accounting for drug interactions and dosage amounts) board game. Built inside a suitcase to be extra mobile, it includes activity cards, dosing cards and challenge cards. It was designed to be played over a whole, fun-filled weekend!

Comment Mathematics (Score 3, Interesting) 150

by Zarkonnen (#27569229) Attached to: Should Good Indie Games Be More Expensive?

What most of the commenters seem to be ignoring is the evidence that the author is doing perfectly well selling his game for $28.

Having played (and paid for) one of them, given it took me dozens of (entertaining) hours to complete, I don't have much of a problem with that price.

I think what the post really boiled down to was:

Expect high ($30 - $60) prices for big commercial titles because they cost millions. Huge development costs divided by lots of customers result in high prices.

Expect low prices ($1 - $10) for indie games in popular genres (puzzle, etc) because there is lots of competition. Low development costs divided by lots of customers result in low prices.

But expect highish ($10 - $30) prices for indie games in niche genres, because there are simply fewer potential customers. Low(ish) development costs divided by few customers must result in highish prices, or you lose money.

Yes, there are free flash games, but point me at a free flash game in the same genre and of the depth of the author's games?
The Almighty Buck

Should Good Indie Games Be More Expensive? 150

Posted by Soulskill from the i-wonder-what-the-internet-will-say dept.
spidweb writes "Indie gaming blog The Bottom Feeder has an article on why independent games should be more expensive. The enforced low prices on XBox Live, Amazon, and iTunes might feel good now, but they'll kill off the variety and depth gamers are hoping indie developers can provide. From the article: 'Every year, life is getting more and more expensive. Insurance. Rent. Food. And, at the same time, games are getting cheaper and cheaper, sometimes as cheap as a dollar, as we engage in a full speed race to the bottom. This is not going to help developers stay in business. This is not how a healthy industry is maintained.'"
Microsoft

Submission + - Gates foundation deathly side-effects (latimes.com) 3

Submitted by HuguesT
HuguesT writes: An long and detailed article from the L.A. Times points out severe, unintended side effects of the health policies of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. This foundation has given away almost 2 billions US$ to the fight against AIDS, TB and Malaria worldwide. Thanks in no small measure to this effort, the death toll from AIDS in most of Africa are finally levelling off. However, the money from the foundation is earmarked to the fight against these three diseases, to the detriment of global health. Sick people can also be hungry and not able to ingest healing drugs. Doctors in these countries prefer to be well paid working against AIDS than poorly working against all the other health problems, which creates a brain drain. Numerous children also suffer from diarrhea or asphyxia due to lack of basic care. The paradox is that countries where the foundation has invested most have seen their mortality rate increase, whereas it has improved in countries where the foundation was least involved.
Announcements

Submission + - Product Of The Year Goes To "Nothing At All (thesietch.org)

Submitted by
farnishk
farnishk writes: "In a bizarre but brilliant move, a source close to the green news and products web site Treehugger.com has revealed that it is to award its coveted Product Of The Year to "Nothing At All". Accused by some people of selling out after its acquisition by Discovery Communications this year, the popular web site has decided to show what it really thinks of eco products by putting its stamp of approval not on a specific product, but on the idea of buying nothing at all."
Government

Submission + - 66%: if USA ignored 9/11, things would be better (pollsb.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Recent poll shows a surprising amount of people believe the world would be in a better place today if the US just ignored 9/11: http://www.pollsb.com/polls/view/4441/if-the-usa-had-completely-ignored-the-9-11-attack-just-shrugged-and-rebuilt-the-building-it-would-have-been-better-than-the-real-course-of-history"
Republicans

Submission + - Mitt Romney silent about atheism (tpmelectioncentral.com)

Submitted by
A-Rex
A-Rex writes: "Mitt Romney talks about his own religion, and has mentioned a lot of religions, but have nothing (positive) to say about atheists. His only mention of non-believers came in a speech in which he addressed his own faith: "It is as if they're intent on establishing a new religion in America — the religion of secularism. They're wrong.""
Government

Submission + - US Deptt. of Justice okays 200k fine for 24 songs 1

Submitted by silverbyte
silverbyte writes: The US Department of Justice okays a 222,000 fine for 24 songs, imposed on Minnesota woman, Jammie Thomas, quoting that the offense is

not so severe and oppressive as to be wholly disproportioned to the offense.
Previously, Jammie Thomas had attempted to get the fine ruled unconstitutional (citing State Farm vs Campbell) , pleading that $9250 per song was... well.. a bit too excessive.
Moon

Submission + - Green: The Next Space Race (fixourpolicies.com)

Submitted by
dalporto
dalporto writes: "In 1961 JFK inspired a nation and a world with his challenge to reach the moon in 10 years. Now, it's time for an even more important and more inspiring challenge: "This nation should reduce its per capita production of climate changing emissions from the highest in the industrialized world to the lowest in the industrialized world by 2020.""
United States

Submission + - Pro-Kremlin Parties Win Russian Election (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by
reporter
reporter writes: "The Russian election concluded on December 2, and according to a report by Bloomberg, the pro-Kremlin parties appear to have won the election. "The Central Election Commission announced that with 19.5 percent of the vote counted, United Russia had 63.5 percent, the Communists 11.3 percent, the Liberal Democrats 10 percent and Fair Russia 7 percent." If these percentages are maintained until the final tally, then 69.2% of the legislators in the Duma will hail from United Russia; that percentage gives them the power to arbitarily change the constitution in accordance with the wishes of the Kremlin. Only the Communists oppose (in a very loose sense of the word) the policies of the Kremlin and, ironically, will now be the only opposition party in the Duma. In 2004, Gennady Zyuganov, head of the Communist Party, had warned, "This is not an election, it's a special [Kremlin] operation with a predetermined result." ("The Washinton Post", 2004 March 14)

On Saturday (December 1), the "Wall Street Journal" published a front-page story about Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize for releasing the Eastern Europeans from the yoke of Soviet oppression. He has criticized the steadily eroding freedoms that he initiated in Russia in the late 1980s, but he has refrained from directly criticizing Czar Vladimir Putin."
The Courts

Submission + - Ballot Stuffing in Russia (iht.com)

Submitted by
reporter
reporter writes: "According to an eye-opening report just published by the "Moscow Times" via the "International Herald Tribune", a senior election official in Russia has just leaked information, to the "Moscow Times", that the Kremlin has ordered state-supported organizations — clinics, universities, polling stations, and the like — to produce votes for United Russia, which is the party favored by Czar Vladimir Putin. "At Oryol State University, professors have told students to vote for United Russia or face dismissal, said a journalism student, who requested anonymity to avoid the risk of being expelled. He said the students had also been told to vote at an on-campus polling station, which is to be supervised by a teacher."

Yet, there is a silver lining. Like the United States, even Russia has people who volunteer to leak information when their conscience overwhelms them. Further, a few Russians have decided to defy the orders of the Kremlin and will vote against United Russia. Specifically, an employee of a Moscow food importer defiantly declared, "I'm going to vote because the boss can check, but I'm not casting a ballot for United Russia. I'm disgusted by this situation."

Here is an interesting question for the SlashDot crowd. Suppose that a similar situation occurred in the USA. For example, suppose that, under orders from Washington, the owners of SlashDot send an e-mail note to us users to order us to vote for Republican candidates in the Congressional elections. How would we respond?"

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