Comment Separate (Score 1) 804
Separate the people using laptops from those who aren't then. And put them in the back, so nobody else has to watch their screen savers/World of Warcraft/Facebook.
Comment Re:I don't get it... (Score 1) 515
Actually, black is bad. It's a golden color if good.
Comment Re:Still out of date (Score 1) 515
That's weird. As an American who just visited Japan, I can tell you I thought their currency felt flimsy, especially compared to a dollar bill. It was tearing with a crease in a bill that I had folded maybe twice. Now I understand why they still use coins like mad, because their coins are awesome. Before I left I was worried I'd have a sack of change in my pocket anytime I went anywhere, and after I was there I was mad when I didn't!
That being said, they did have different lengths for their bills, which I think probably helps the blind. Got us there.
Comment Blizzard (Score 1) 336
Blizzard's anti-cheat software for WoW is just as deep-scanning as this, if not more so. What's new here?
The Murky Origins of Zork's Name 70
mjn writes "Computational media researcher Nick Montfort traces the murky origins of Zork's name. It's well known that the word was used in MIT hacker jargon around that time, but how did it get there? Candidates are the term 'zorch' from late 1950s DIY electronics slang, the use of the term as a placeholder in some early 1970s textbooks, the typo a QWERTY user would get if he typed 'work' on an AZERTY keyboard, and several uses in obscure sci-fi. No solid answers so far, though, as there are problems with many of the possible explanations that would have made MIT hackers unlikely to have run across them at the right time."
PlayStation Network Expanding To Involve Other Devices 63
At CES, Sony's Kaz Hirai confirmed that the company will build out its PlayStation Network for use with other devices, such as televisions, Blu-ray players, and PCs. Quoting:
"... the expansion starts next month with the availability of the PSN video store on these other devices, and Hirai explained they are constructing a mechanism to create a single user ID across the entire network (if you have a PSN account, it's good to go on any other applicable Sony device, and if you create one on another device, it'll work on PSN). And finally, Hirai also announced the formation of a new Sony division — called Sony Network Entertainment, Inc. — to drive this expansion of the PSN service into a Sony-wide network."
Nanomedicine Kills Brain Cancer Cells 99
destinyland writes "Scientists from the University of Chicago and the US Department of Energy have developed the first nanoparticles that seek out and destroy GMB brain cancer cells. Nanoparticles killed up to 80% of the brain cancer cells after just five minutes of exposure to white light, showing the promise of nanomedicine — highly-specific intervention at the molecular scale. Because nanomedicine could repair brain cells or damaged nerve and muscle tissue, the NIH has established eight Nanomedicine Development Centers around the country for their Nanomedicine Roadmap Initiative. Researchers have also used gold nanospheres to search out and 'cook' skin cancer cells with light — 'It's basically like putting a cancer cell in hot water and boiling it to death,' says one researcher. And the NIH Roadmap ultimately predicts 'novel tiny sensors ... that search for, and destroy, infectious agents.'"
Comment Re:How about Nintendo? (Score 4, Interesting) 292
There's a story in one Nintendo Power from ages long past about a kid who lost his GB in the yard once. It got mowed over twice and rained on and still worked fine, although there was a crack in the screen I think. They had a picture of it too. Impressive craftsmanship.
Comment Re:Just one question... (Score 1) 539
I really hope they have a cure for cyberbrain sclerosis ready, to preemptively stop a "stand-alone" complex. Hopefully one that doesn't use nanomachines.
Comment Re:Celebrity status? (Score 1) 305
Yeah. It's 20 cents a text anyway, and I'd bet most of them probably have unlimited texting anyway.
Comment That's new (Score 1) 192
>> Using money left over
What is that? I've never seen that before...
Comment Re:I'm for the Death Star Stimulus (Score 1) 534
Now *that's* change I can believe in.
Comment Re:Won't Help Big Three (Score 5, Insightful) 740
Maybe the person with the junker will buy a used car that costs them about how much they're being reimbursed by the government for, and then the person who just sold their car will buy a slightly newer used car, then that person will buy a new car? In the end a new car is bought, it just might take a couple sales to get to it.
GP is right though. Foreign is where it's at right now.
Comment Re:I see a problem. (Score 1) 693
They only altered the ID3 tags as far as I know... Which all your MP3s have anyway. You can alter the hell out of ID3 tags and it won't touch the actual music. MP3 files have space at the beginning/end (depending on v2 or v1) of them for all that tagging data so the music isn't fiddled with.
Comment Re:What could possibly go wrong? (Score 1) 693
If you look at the ID3 tags in another program, like winamp or foobar2000, all you see is jibberish. It's encoded. I'm sure you could figure it out and do what you suggest if you really wanted to, but that's more work than it's worth really. I'm pretty sure you can just delete the jibberish and there goes any record of who bought it etc, too. But I don't have iTunes so I can't check.
