Comment Re:Hmmm (Score 2) 466
GFWL seems to be usually mentioned among the system specs. GTA4's store page was a particularly good detergent, for example.
Comment Re:NT4 was such an abomination... (Score 1) 221
This, plus proliferation of antialased rendering offsets advancements in CPU power - to the point that navigating source code in QtCreator on my Linux box is not that smooth as I'd like it to be.
That almost certainly has more to do with either display sync issues (which sadly aren't uncommon on a composited X desktop especially with non-free drivers) or the various services of the IDE. Anti-aliased font and line drawing aren't that demanding to begin with, and can be GPU-accelerated with pretty much any hardware you might have picked up within the last five years or so.
Comment Re:CD? (Score 1) 488
Oh - you mean those things we used back when USB sticks weren't big enough?
Theater Professor's Firefly Poster Declared Threatening
566
ocean_soul writes "Probably because nothing more threatening was happening and they need to prove their usefulness the school police at University of Wisconsin-Stout decided a Firefly poster with the quote: "You don't know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed," was a threat to the safety on campus. Wasn't that a quote about not killing people?"
Comment Re:Get some artists already (Score 1) 158
Agreed. These announcements would be a lot more interesting if the demo material didn't resemble special effects nightmares from the 90's.
Code Hero: Play and Learn 101
mikejuk writes with a bit from I Programmer on what sounds like an intriguing new game: "If you're bored with games where you run around shooting soldiers or monsters, how about a game where you shoot enemies to win computer code snippets that you can then use to shape the reality around you? It's good to play and good enough to win both the Editor's Choice and Kid's Choice at this year's Bay Area Maker Faire." The linked story has a video demo, too.
Hair Growth Signal Dictated By Fat Cells 146
RogerRoast writes "According to an article published in the journal Cell, molecular signals from fat cell (adipocyte) precursors under the skin are necessary to spur hair growth in mice. Yale researchers report in the paper that these cells produce molecules called PDGF (platelet derived growth factors), which are necessary to produce hair growth. The discovery of the source of signals that trigger hair growth may lead to new treatments for baldness. The trick is in getting adipocyte precursors under the skin to talk to stem cells at the base of the hair follicles."
Google Launches Identity Verification Badge Scheme 241
theodp writes "CNET reports that rather than backing down after complaints about its insistence that Google+ user accounts be opened under a real name, Google has upped the ante and will pin 'verification badges' on users in an effort to assure people that 'the person you're adding to a circle is really who they claim to be.' In a Friday night post, Google employee Wen-Ai Yu explained that the Google+ team is initially 'focused on verifying public figures, celebrities, and people who have been added to a large number of Circles, but we're working on expanding this to more folks.'"
Terrorist Target Mexican Nanotechnology Professors 234
An anonymous reader writes "A Mexican terrorist organization sent an explosive device to an ITESM professor due to his research in nanotechnology. ITS or Individuals with Wild Tendencies in english, is a group that claims to be against the 'nanotechnology revolution' in fear of a nanomachine take over that will mean the end of civilization. The group has published on their website that they plan to target individuals in this research field to ensure the survival of mankind. Mexican authorities are investigating the case."
Comment Re:This can't be!! (Score 1) 463
DNF was finished thanks to being given to a development team that had actually released a game within the last ten years. So it's completely plausible that they finally got people into Hurd whose goal is to finish real projects as opposed to chasing perfect ideas.
US House Takes Up Major Overhaul of Patent System 205
Bookworm09 writes "The House took up the most far-reaching overhaul of the patent system in 60 years today, with a bill both parties say will make it easier for inventors to get their innovations to market and help put people back to work. Backed by Obama and business groups, the legislation aims to ease the lengthy backlog in patent applications, clean up some of the procedures that can lead to costly litigation and put the United States under the same filing system as the rest of the industrialized world."
No Additional Firefox 4 Security Updates 445
CWmike writes "Unnoticed in the Tuesday release of Firefox 5 was Mozilla's decision to retire Firefox 4, shipped just three months ago. Mozilla spelled out vulnerabilities it had patched in that edition and in 2010's Firefox 3.6, but it made no mention of any bugs fixed in Firefox 4 on Tuesday, because Firefox 4 has reached what Mozilla calls EOL, for 'end of life,' for patches. Although the move may have caught users by surprise, the decision to stop supporting Firefox 4 has been discussed within Mozilla for weeks. In a mozilla.dev.planning mailing list thread, Christian Legnitto, the Firefox release manager, put it most succinctly on May 25: 'Firefox 5 will be the security update for Firefox 4.' Problem is, users are being prompted to upgrade now but are hesitant because the new rapid release of updates means many add-ons are not compatible. And without security updates in between, many could be left exposed with unpatched browsers."
Comment Re:Incompetent key handling. No surprise. (Score 1) 146
Are we still talking about the people who roll out custom Android firmware?
Comment Re:Why NOT? (Score 1) 262
Quote: "Adopting a new image format in Web browsers is a big decision. Once a format becomes a part of the Web, it will have to be supported in perpetuityâ"adding overhead to the browserâ"even if it largely fizzles and only gains a small niche following."
It's akin to if Web browsers were required to support failed formats like ANIM or HAM or IFF.
In practice that doesn't seem to be the case; see, for instance, the state of MNG support in Gecko-based browsers. On the other hand, the adoption of APNG in Firefox has been a catalyst for its spread into wider use.
France Outlaws Hashed Passwords 433
An anonymous reader writes "Storing passwords as hashes instead of plain text is now illegal in France, according to a draconian new data retention law. According to the BBC, '[t]he law obliges a range of e-commerce sites, video and music services and webmail providers to keep a host of data on customers. This includes users' full names, postal addresses, telephone numbers and passwords. The data must be handed over to the authorities if demanded.' If the law survives a pending legal challenge by Google, Ebay and others, it may well keep some major services out of the country entirely."
