Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
PC Games (Games)

EVE-Online Patch Makes XP Unbootable 572

Posted by kdawson from the boot-hill dept.
Nobo writes "CCP's latest major patch to the EVE-Online client, Trinity, comes with an optional DX9-enhanced graphics patch that dramatically improves the visual quality of the in-game graphics through remade models, textures, and HDR. It also has an unfortunate bug: the incredibly stupid choice of boot.ini as a game configuration file, coupled with an errant extra backslash in the installer configuration. The result is that anyone who installs the enhanced graphics patch overwrites the windows XP c:\boot.ini file with the EVE client configuration file, bricking the machine on the next boot. Discussion in a couple of forums threads is becoming understandably heated."

Comment Re:What? (Score 1) 755

by Dormann (#21027763) Attached to: Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Is Out

In other words, you're too lazy to dual-boot ... so you stay on Windows

I see where you're coming from...but how lazy is too lazy? My ideal computer would be downright psychic and instantaneous with any task I wanted it to perform. Is that too lazy? I also don't want file transfers interrupted or services abruptly halted because of the task I choose.

To most people a computer isn't a project to work on, it's a tool to make things easier. You and I aren't most people...but I suspect some folks are.


Oh, and in the self-serving interest of deflecting [-1 Offtopic], I'm also running Ubuntu (and reccomend it to others) specifically because it's the laziest distro I've stumbled upon.
Businesses

Getting Gouged by Geeks 581

Posted by CowboyNeal from the broken-trowlfaz-inhibitor dept.
dottyslashdottydot writes "CBC Marketplace recently ran a sting operation and discovered that most home computer repair technicians failed miserably at diagnosing a simple RAM failure. Many techs tried to sell unneccessary software or upgrades. (or even a new computer!) However, the worst offender was one guy who claimed that the hard drive had failed, and that the only remedy was to pay $2,000 to have a special facility with a clean room recover the data."
Networking

One Less Reason to Adopt IPv6? 174

Posted by CmdrTaco from the adopt-a-puppy-instead dept.
alphadogg writes "For a decade, IPv6 proponents have pushed this upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol because of its three primary benefits: a gargantuan address space, end-to-end security, and easier network administration through automatic device configuration. Now it turns out that one of these IPv6 benefits — autoconfiguration — may not be such a boon for corporate network managers. A growing number of IPv6 experts say that corporations probably will skip autoconfiguration and instead stick with DHCP, which has been updated to support IPv6."
Hardware

Magnetic Wobbles Cause Hard Drive Failure 276

Posted by samzenpus from the shake-it-up dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to this report by IT PRO, scientists working at the University of California have discovered the main reason of hard drive failure. According to researchers, some materials used in hard drives are better at damping spin precession than others. Spin precession of magnetic material effects its neighbors' polarity and this can spread and cause sections of hard drives to spontaneously change polarity and lose data. This is known as a magnetic avalanche. So next time Windows fails to start, you'll know why!"
Education

Intel Laptop Competes With One Laptop Per Child 347

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the highest-form-of-flattery-still-doesn't-pay-the-bills dept.
Tracy Reed writes "According to the BBC, Intel has designed and begun marketing it's own low-cost laptop targeted at education in developing countries. 'Professor Negroponte, who aims to distribute millions of laptops to kids in developing countries, said Intel had hurt his mission "enormously". Speaking to US broadcaster CBS, Intel's chairman denied the claims. "We're not trying to drive him out of business," said Craig Barrett. "We're trying to bring capability to young people." Mr Barrett has previously dismissed the $100 laptop as a "gadget".'"
GNU is Not Unix

Submission + - How not to promote open source.

Submitted by blowdart
blowdart writes: gnu is promoting ogg vorbis though www.playogg.com.

This is the perfect example of how not to do it; promoting a free audio format is laudable, but they promote it by suggesting to users that they .... download an entirely new media player.

iTunes users won't give up iTunes just for a codec. WMP users won't give up WMP just for a codec. In fact there are ways to get Ogg into those players; but what do GNU do? ignore how users currently work to push an open source media player along with the codec. This just is not realistic. There must be a better way, right?
Space

Submission + - Comet wiped out mammoths, early hunters

Submitted by brian0918
brian0918 writes: Researchers speaking at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, this week will outline a new theory for the extinction event and subsequent global cooling that occured about 13,000 years ago. From the Guardian: 'A group of US scientists have found a layer of microscopic diamonds at 26 different sites in Europe, Canada and America. These are the remains of a giant carbon-rich comet that crashed in pieces on our planet 12,900 years ago.' According to geophysicist Allen West, the comet was 'about 2km-3km in diameter and broke up just before impact, setting off a series of explosions, each the equivalent of an atomic bomb blast. The result would have been hell on Earth. Most of the northern hemisphere would have been left on fire.'
Power

Journal Journal: New rotating tower to be wind-powered 1

Journal by Neonmozart
With the development of Dynamic Architecture, new constructions are now available. Few months back Dubai Property Ring announced new solar powered rotating tower. Recently a development group which includes Sheikh Mejren bin Sultan's Mejren Group, Kriston Co., a developer based in Athens, and Gowealthy, a Dubai real estate marketing company presented a similar but more advanced project

U.S. Government Demands ISP Data Retention 355

Posted by Zonk from the put-up-or-shut-up dept.
dlc3007 writes to mention an article in the New York Times discussing data privacy. The article expands on the U.S. Government's 'request' last Friday at a meeting between Robert S. Mueller III, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, and the executives of several Internet Service Providers. The ISPs were required to retain data on users, for trials if subpoenaed. Right now they're asking companies to do this. The threat is that, if they don't comply, legislation will follow. From the article: "The Justice Department is not asking the Internet companies to give it data about users, but rather to retain information that could be subpoenaed through existing laws and procedures, Mr. Roehrkasse said. While initial proposals were vague, executives from companies that attended the meeting said they gathered that the department was interested in records that would allow them to identify which individuals visited certain Web sites and possibly conducted searches using certain terms." We originally covered this last Sunday, but more details have been released on the meeting since then.

The First Three Books Every Linux User Should Read 133

Posted by Hemos from the time-to-edu-macate-yerself dept.
lessthan0 writes "Anyone proficient with Linux had to climb the steep learning curve. Part of getting over the top for me was reading a hundred different Linux and Unix related books. From that list, three books stand out as the most useful and influential. I can't promise easy sledding; it will take some work, but mastering this material will demystify Linux and make you appreciate it more."

12.8 Petabytes, You Say? 205

Posted by Hemos from the will-it-happen dept.
MadUndergrad writes "Dr. Jonathan Spanier from Drexel University has come up with a novel way to greatly increase data storage density: water. Specifically, they propose using hydroxyl ions to stabilize minute ferroelectric wires. These wires could be many times smaller than what is possible today, enabling data densities in the neighborhood of 12-13 PB per cubic centimeter. While there are still many problems to be resolved before drives using these can be manufactured this technology does seem promising. For one thing, it would be non-volatile, but could apparently be made to act as RAM. The fact that this is coming out of a university gives me hope that this technology won't turn out to be just so much vapor."

Lessig, Stallman in New Documentary 110

Posted by CmdrTaco from the but-only-if-you're-in-nyc dept.
Alternative Freedom is a documentary on intellectual property rights featuring lots of interviews with folks like Stallman and Lessig, as well as people like DJ Danger Mouse (creator of the Grey Album). They have a trailer available, but if you're in NYC the movie is now showing. If anyone manages to go, I'd love to see some real reviews of it.

Your Thoughts Are Your Password 240

Posted by Zonk from the my-name-is-werner-brandes dept.
Vitaly Friedman writes "Scientists hope that mind-reading computers will one day replace typed passwords, making fingerprint readers and retina scans obsolete. Skeptics say don't count on it. From the article: 'Researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, are exploring the possibility of a biometric security device that will use a person's thoughts to authenticate her or his identity. Their idea of utilizing brain-wave signatures as pass-thoughts is based on the premise that brain waves are unique to each individual. Some researchers believe the difference might just be enough to create a system that allows you to log in with your thoughts.'"

Slashdot Top Deals

Arithmetic is being able to count up to twenty without taking off your shoes. -- Mickey Mouse

Close