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Games

The Struggle For Private Game Servers 125

A story at the BBC takes a look at the use of private game servers for games that tend not to allow them. While most gamers are happy to let companies like Blizzard and NCSoft administer the servers that host their MMORPGs, others want different rules, a cheaper way to play, or the technical challenge of setting up their own. A South African player called Hendrick put up his own WoW server because the game "wasn't available in the country at the time." A 21-year-old Swede created a server called Epilogue, which "had strict codes of conduct and rules, as well as a high degree of customized content (such as new currency, methods of earning experience, the ability to construct buildings and hire non-player characters, plus 'permanent' player death) unavailable in the retail version of the game." The game companies make an effort to quash these servers when they can, though it's frequently more trouble that it's worth. An NCSoft representative referenced the "growing menace" of IP theft, and a Blizzard spokesperson said,"We also have a responsibility to our players to ensure the integrity and reliability of their World of Warcraft gaming experience and that responsibility compels us to protect our rights."
Debian

FreeNAS Switching From FreeBSD To Debian Linux 206

dnaumov writes "FreeNAS, a popular, free NAS solution, is moving away from using FreeBSD as its underlying core OS and switching to Debian Linux. Version 0.8 of FreeNAS as well as all further releases are going to be based on Linux, while the FreeBSD-based 0.7 branch of FreeNAS is going into maintenance-only mode, according to main developer Volker Theile. A discussion about the switch, including comments from the developers, can be found on the FreeNAS SourceForge discussion forum. Some users applaud the change, which promises improved hardware compatibility, while others voice concerns regarding the future of their existing setups and lack of ZFS support in Linux."
Cellphones

FCC To Probe Exclusive Mobile Deals 159

On Tuesday, we discussed news that four US Senators would be looking into the exclusivity deals between carriers and cell phone makers. Apparently, they didn't like what they heard. Reader Ian Lamont writes with an update: "The Federal Communications Commission is planning on launching an investigation into exclusive handset deals between mobile carriers and handset makers. In a speech on Thursday, acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said the agency 'should determine whether some of these arrangements adversely restrict consumer choice or harm the development of innovative devices, and it should take appropriate action if it finds harm.' It's not hard to imagine who might be targeted — at a separate Senate Committee on Commerce hearing on Thursday, much of the discussion centered on AT&T's exclusive deal to carry the iPhone. AT&T claimed 'consumers benefit from exclusive deals in three ways: innovation, lower cost and more choice,' but carriers and senators from states with large rural populations disagreed, saying that their customers had no choice when it came to the iPhone — it's not available because AT&Ts network doesn't reach these areas. One panelist also brought up the Carterfone precedent (PDF), which concerned an 'electrical acoustic coupling device' that a man named Tom Carter developed in the 1950s to let field workers make phone calls using a radio transceiver connected to AT&T's phone network. AT&T, which was then a monopoly, claimed no foreign devices could be connected to its network, but lost when it challenged the Carterfone in court. The result spurred innovation such as the fax machine."

Comment Re:Why bother? (Score 1) 479

>This is, of course, bullshit, at least in my experience.

That certainly is NOT BS in my experience.

If you are getting either analog or digital on rabbit ears, you are NOT 50-60 miles out (or more) like I am. I can get analog just fine, with a much bigger antenna. Not so with digital.

I do get digtal now, but I had to get a much bigger antenna *and* put amplifiers on it. And if the weather goes bonkers (fog or whatever), it might blip out, and you get nothing. But that doesn't happen too often. HD looks very good otherwise

Comment Re:tips (Score 1) 695

Except that in most states, a homeowner is not legally allowed to touch the meter in any way.

Plus, if there is something wrong with the meter / base there is danger of personal injury. You could be badly burned or killed.

Let the power company do its job. They know what to look for and what safety precautions to take.

Comment Re:tips (Score 2, Interesting) 695

Nah, not at all likely to make them dead, your typical home generator just doesn't put out enough juice to kill most of the time. It's almost like people on slashdot didn't play with electricity as a kid =) The worst shock I've ever received was from a 10KV fly back transformer in an old Sun SLC workstation (it was the part for powering the CRT). That jolt blew a hole in the screwdriver I was using and threw me a couple feet and knocked me out.

Pure nonsense. That flyback is 10kv at a very low amperage. The voltage/amperage sent back over the powerlines from a home generator is plenty to kill someone. It could also kill you at th 120/240 volt level if you get into that.

Furthermore, what happens out on the utility lines, grounded or at 12kv, might very well toast your generator and maybe put something on file.

Many a safety minded lineman has had a good chuckle about the *deserving* generator user that foolishly endangered lives with a backfeed.

DO NOT hook up directly. Please use a transfer switch or just hook up extension cords to your appliances.

Stay out of court.

PS. The power company I work for did not tell me what to say....

Comment Re:Misconception junction (Score 1) 874

If you've actually read the Old Testament,

Yeah, did that....

and haven't noticed the incitements to violence, then there's little I can say. And it wasn't, by any means, all defensive. A lot of it was, but those were in periods where Israel was the weaker party.

Hmmm, incitments? Really don't know what you are talking about. There are:

  • Parts where they were instructed what to do. More often than not, they didn't do it. That is when things didn't go as well (less favor from God) and they became weak. They were stronger when more of the heavy lifting was done by God, and they behaved better. Not real often.
  • Parts where what is related is *historical*. An account of what happened. This is perhaps what you refer to. But it is NOT instructional about what they should be doing (a commandment) but rather how things go, particularly when they did not obey These parts should not be taken as "thou shalts". Instead, it is the ongoing soap opera.

    That is where this part comes from.

    How about this bit: A prince wants to marry the daughter of a leading Israelite, and she's agreeable. They've had a bit of premarital sex. Her brothers trick all the males in town into getting circumcised on the same day, and while they're in recovery, the kill them all.*

    And this:

    Or the bit about killing everyone worshiping a golden calf after they think Moses has abandoned them?

  • And the last part, prophecy. This is about 1/3 of the Bible. With this mixed in the already confusing mixture above, most folks really don't understand it. They don't know the purpose, the end game so to speak.
There are lots of others. (I *DON'T* have the Bible on my computer, so I'm not going to cite chapter and verse, or anything that doesn't come readily to mind.)

No, really everything falls pretty much in those three categories. You can however, look up whatever via a site like Biblegateway without installing anything. Or do it from a Linux box as I am now.

The christian testament *IS* less inciteful. Somehow, however, the christians have traditionally been more violent than the jews.

A jew is a jew by birth or by religion. One by birth is one regardless. A self proclaimed christian is not necessarily a real christian. Just because they say they are, and they believe they are, does not mean it is so. They must follow the teachings of Christ. Most of those who call themselves so, follow the teachings of some church. And that is entirely different.

So, a diversion. Solve this (easy) riddle. How can Israel fight Judah? Who is the Israel of today?

# 2 Kings 14:13 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate--a section about six hundred feet long.

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