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Comment Re:FPS players (Score 2, Interesting) 97

by blackirish (#24806125) Attached to: Gameplay Videos Released For Fallout 3

I think a lot of FPS players are going to be tricked into buying this ("Wow! Look at those graphics/setting/review score/whatever"), and be very distraught once they learn that it is not an FPS. Sure, there will be those who will like the fact that your shooting skills/power are based upon your stats, but I can see those who are used to guns doing a set amount of damage with a set amount of accuracy being very turned off by this game.

You know, I've heard crap like this before and I'm tired of it. FPS players play games from other genres too. We're not all obnoxious 13 year olds who think Counterstrike is the end all, be all. Most of us have longer attention spans than you give us credit for. We can read where it says 'RPG' on the fucking game box and comprehend that it isn't going to be like CS or Quake. Stop looking down at FPS players like we're retards just because we like twitch games. Very few FPS players are going to be "tricked" into buying Fallout 3.

Personally, I think the game looks great and I hope that it plays great. The post-apocalyptic wasteland looks awesome and I think they captured most of the "feel" of Fallout. I loved Fallout 1 & 2, and while I know this game won't be like those, I'm optimistic that this game could be just as excellent. I see a lot of complaints about the new AP system and the character modeling/animations, but we won't know how much those affect the fun and immersion without actually playing the game. After reading a few message boards, I feel like I'm one of the few Fallout fans that are willing to give Bethesda a chance.
Moon

NASA Plans to Smash Spacecraft into the Moon 176

Posted by samzenpus from the hit-it-hard dept.
djasbestos writes "NASA is planning to smash a spacecraft into the Moon in order to look for hydrogen deposits in the poles. More notably, it will impact with significantly greater force (100x, per the article) than previous Moon collisions, such as by the Lunar Prospector and Smart-1 probes. Admiral Ackbar was unreachable for comment as to the exact location and size of the Moon's thermal exhaust port."
The Internet

Egypt Calls for Bandwidth Rationing 182

Posted by Soulskill from the stay-away-from-youtube dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has called upon its citizens to ration their internet usage. This comes after two of its three undersea fiber optic links were recently severed. The cut cables have caused communication difficulties for millions of people throughout the Middle East. Ministry spokesman Mohammed Taymur was quoted as saying, 'People should know how to use the Internet because people who download music and films are going to affect businesses who have more important things to do.'"

Perpetual Energy Machine Getting Lots of Attention 965

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the swimming-in-snake-oil dept.
Many users have written to tell us about a magnetic machine promising "infinite clean energy". Engadget has the first picture of the device and is reporting that the announcement (along with a short video) of this supposed device will be released later tonight. "CEO Sean McCarthy tells SilconRepublic how it works. Namely, the time variance in magnetic fields allows the Orbo platform to 'consistently produce power, going against the law of conservation of energy which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.' He goes on to say 'It's too good to be true but it is true. It will have such an impact on everything we do. The only analogy I can give is if you had absolute proof that God wasn't real.'" In my experience if something seems too good to be true it generally is. I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Vista Sales Strong, Higher Than Expected 394

Posted by Zonk from the so-it-begins dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Despite reports, it seems Microsoft is not only alive, but has been thriving these last few months. Following Apple's solid earnings yesterday comes above-expectation reporting from Microsoft. Profits jumped 65% from the previous year, and sales of its Windows operating system were strong: 'Microsoft said it deferred $1.2 billion in Windows Vista revenue to the third quarter, to account for upgrade coupons given to PC buyers during the holiday season before the consumer launch of the new operating system. Excluding this figure, client revenue totaled $4.1 billion, 30 percent higher than last year.' Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said Vista beat internal forecasts by $300 million to $400 million, and Office 2007 sales were $200 million better than expected."
Windows

Surprise, Windows Listed as Most Secure OS 499

Posted by Zonk from the opposite-day dept.
david_g17 writes "According to a Symantec study reported by Information Week, Microsoft has the most secure operating system amongst its commercial competitors. The report only covered the last 6 months of vulnerabilities and patch releases, but the results place Microsoft operating systems above Mac OS X and Red Hat. According to the article, 'The report found that Microsoft Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006.' The article continues to mention the metrics used in the study (quantity and severity of vulnerabilities as well as the amount of time one must wait for the patch to be released)."
Security

Department of Defense Now Blocking HTML Email 262

Posted by Zonk from the nuke-them-from-orbit-only-way-to-be-sure dept.
oKAMi-InfoSec writes "The Department of Defense (DoD) has taken the step of blocking HTML-based email. They are also banning the use of Outlook Web Access email clients. The DoD is making this move because HTML messages can easily be infected with spyware and executable lines of code that enable hackers to access DoD networks, according to an article in Federal Computer Week by Bob Brewin . A spokesman for the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO) claims that this is a response to an increased network threat condition. The network threat condition has risen from Information Condition 5 to Information Condition 4 (also called Infocon 4). InfoCon 5 is normal operating conditions and Infocon 4 comes as a result of 'continuing and sophisticated threats' against DoD Networks. The change to Infocon 4 came in mid-November, after the Naval War College suffered devastating attacks that required their entire system be taken offline, but the JTF-GNO spokesman claims there is no connection."
NASA

Google NASA Partnership Announced 154

Posted by Hemos from the word-hit-the-paper dept.
eldavojohn writes "Google & NASA announced their partnership today with many benefits. The director of a NASA site said 'Just a few examples are new sensors and materials from collaborations on bio-info-nano convergence, improved analysis of engineering problems, as well as Earth, life and space science discoveries from supercomputing and data mining, and bringing entrepreneurs into the space program.'" Update 23:51 by SM As pointed out by so many readers the GoogleNASA site originally linked was completely bogus.
Microsoft

Microsoft Releases Book Search 108

Posted by samzenpus from the bill-can-find-that-book dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft is releasing its Live Search Books, a rival to Google's Book Search, in test, or beta, version in the US. The digital archive will include books from the collections of the British Library, the University of California and the University of Toronto. Books from three other institutions will be added in January 2007. All the books currently included in the project will be non-copyrighted but later it will also add copyrighted work that publishers have given permission to include in the project."

Vista's EULA Product Activation Worries 439

Posted by Zonk from the stands-for-excused-user-laceration-activities dept.
applejax writes "SecurityFocus is running an article regarding some concerns about Vista's activation terms. Do you have the right to use properly purchased but not validated software? What happens if Microsoft deactivates your OS that was legally purchased? The article goes into some detail about Vista's validation and concerns." From the article: "The terms of the Vista EULA, like the current EULA related to the 'Windows Genuine Advantage,' allows Microsoft to unilaterally decide that you have breached the terms of the agreement, and they can essentially disable the software, and possibly deny you access to critical files on your computer without benefit of proof, hearing, testimony or judicial intervention. In fact, if Microsoft is wrong, and your software is, in fact, properly licensed, you probably will be forced to buy a license to another copy of the operating system from Microsoft just to be able to get access to your files, and then you can sue Microsoft for the original license fee."

The Physics of a Good Store Location 72

Posted by kdawson from the move-over-feng-shui dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes, "In 'Atomic Physics Predicts Successful Store Location,' LiveScience reports that a French physicist has applied methods used to study atomic interactions for another task: to 'help business owners find the best places to locate their stores.' Pablo Jensen has used his method for the city of Lyon and is now developing software with the local Chamber of Commerce to help future business owners. Read more for additional references and maps of the city of Lyon showing for example the best locations to open a bakery, according to atomic physics." Jensen says that more research is needed to know if this method would work in other cities.

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