Comment Time to dig it out again. (Score 1) 193
I think that I currently have 3 DC's in storage with a ton of games. I guess that it is time to dig it out and play it again...
Comment Re:The status quo (Score 1) 426
Unlimited? Comcast yells if you download/upload too much in one month. Note, that the limit is high (currently 250GB/month) but the fact that there is a limit, is by default not "unlimited". That does limit my effective speed to 768 kbps (96 kBps) which is "slightly" lower then the 12 Mbps (1536 kBps) in download speeds that they sell.
What it really comes down to, is that Comcast is doing both. They are limiting the amount you get per month, and the speed you get it at.
Comment Re:Ouch. Torturous. (Score 1) 161
Just remember, the internet is proof that a large amount of monkeys behind a large amount of keyboards does not produce Hamlet. Just porn.
Comment Re:In other news... (Score 1) 4
I think that you miss the point. The phone companies and cable companies make it possible to do P2P by providing the bandwidth to the end users...
I am still surprised that they do not go after Google, since you can search torrents there also..
Submission + - Film giants close in on Pirate Bay 4
paulraps writes: Ten major film companies, including Disney, Universal, Warner Bros and Colombia Pictures, are suing The Pirate Bay and demanding that the file sharing site "cease aiding the production of copies" of their films and television shows. The companies also want The Pirate Bay to stop making the recorded material available to the general public. The writ comes less than a month after it was announced that the site would be sold for $7.8 million to Global Gaming Factory X, a company specializing in internet café management software.
Keeping Up With DoD Security Requirements In Linux? 211
ers81239 writes "I've recently become a Linux administrator within the Department of Defense. I am surprised to find out that the DoD actually publishes extensive guidance on minimum software versions. I guess that isn't so surprising, but the version numbers are. Kernel 2.6.30, ntp 4.2.4p7-RC2, OpenSSL 9.8k and the openssh to match, etc. The surprising part is that these are very fresh versions which are not included in many distributions. We use SUSE Enterprise quite a bit, but even openSUSE factory (their word for unstable) doesn't have these packages. Tarballing on this many systems is a nightmare and even then some things just don't seem to work. I don't have time to track down every possible lib/etc/opt/local/share path that different packages try to use by default. I think that this really highlights the trade-offs of stability and security. I have called Novell to ask about it. When vulnerabilities are found in software, they backport the patches into whatever version of the software they are currently supporting. The problem here is that doesn't give me a guarantee that the backport fixes the problem for which this upgrade is required (My requirements say to install version x or higher). There is also the question of how quickly they are providing the backports. I'm hoping that there are 100s of DoD Linux administrators reading this who can bombard me with solutions. How do you balance security with stability?"
Dave Perry Shows Off Cloud Gaming Service "Gaikai" 79
jasoncart writes "Veteran gaming man Dave Perry has shown off his OnLive-rivalling, cloud gaming service called Gaikai in a new video that is drawing a lot of attention. As you can see from the video, Perry plays World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Mario Kart 64, Spore and more — all running on a bog-standard computer through the Gaikai website, itself running in a normal version of Firefox."
More details about the service are available at Perry's website. He spoke about Gaikai in an interview a few months ago, and he seems confident that this will work better than OnLive (which we've discussed in the past).
Can Video Game Accessibility Go Too Far? 164
A piece at GameSetWatch questions whether modern game companies are taking accessibility a step too far in their rush to attract people who don't typically play video games. This worry was inspired, in part, by the news that Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii would have the capability to play itself in order to let a human player get past a tricky part. Quoting:
"Bigger audiences finishing more games is certainly a worthy goal, and Nintendo has shown that accessibility is the servant of engagement. History has rarely — if ever — dared to disprove the wisdom of Miyamoto's foresight. History has also never disproven, however, the principle that any medium and any message degrades the wider an audience it must reach. Art was never served by generalization, nor language by addressing all denominators. Entertainment for the masses ultimately becomes empty. There must exist an absolute point beyond which greater accessibility means less engagement. Making a game so easy it can play itself for you at the push of a button just might be that point."
Battlefield Heroes Goes Into Open Beta 43
EA Digital Illusions CE has quietly opened up the beta of Battlefield Heroes, their long-delayed, free-to-play shooter. After gradually scaling up the number of players in the closed beta, they've now made the game available to everyone and lifted the NDA. EA has not yet mentioned this in an official announcement, probably hoping to keep their servers from being overwhelmed. The game's website is now accepting signups. IGN ran a hands-on preview of Battlefield Heroes back in April.
Submission + - Opera Unite: the First Anti-Cloud Computing App? (computerworlduk.com)
Glyn Moody writes: "Open source warfare teaches us that huge, centralised resources like oil pipelines and electricity grids are extremely vulnerable to repeated low-cost attacks that can cripple an economy. And yet the currently-fashionable cloud computing aims to turn processing power into a kind of electricity, available on demand, powered by huge server farms. Is this wise? Wouldn't it be better to build on the new Opera Unite, which puts the Web server into the browser, dispersing computing as widely as possible to make it more resilient?"
Submission + - Senators ask FCC to review iPhone-AT&T exclusi (reuters.com)
suraj.sun writes: WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) — Several U.S. senators urged regulators on Monday to review exclusive arrangements regarding mobile handset technology between wireless carriers and cell phone makers and how they affect competition and choice in the marketplace.
In a letter to Michael Copps, acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the senators said they were concerned about exclusivity.
"We ask that you examine this issue carefully and act expeditiously should you find that exclusivity agreements unfairly restrict consumer choice or adversely impact competition in the commercial wireless marketplace," they wrote.
Some exclusive agreements include the iPhone by Apple and AT&T and the deal between Verizon Wireless and LG Voyager.
Reuters : http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssWirelessTelecommunicationServices/idUSN1545906820090615
In a letter to Michael Copps, acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the senators said they were concerned about exclusivity.
"We ask that you examine this issue carefully and act expeditiously should you find that exclusivity agreements unfairly restrict consumer choice or adversely impact competition in the commercial wireless marketplace," they wrote.
Some exclusive agreements include the iPhone by Apple and AT&T and the deal between Verizon Wireless and LG Voyager.
Reuters : http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssWirelessTelecommunicationServices/idUSN1545906820090615
Comment Re:Not same as elevator (Score 1) 296
They're solving two different problems and aren't really that comparable.
What problem is the inflatable tower going to solve?
Too much government hot air? They are going to need a place to blow it all soon..
Comment Re:Over time (Score 2, Interesting) 313
Then I see myself watching Hulu less and less
Really? If having paying customers allows them to post a better range of content, I'm all for it, especially if there is little to no advertising in the paid content.
After all, cable, which only has paying customers, has been so good about having little to no advertising, even for the "premium" channels that cost even more to get.
Sorry For the Detainment, Here's a Laptop 218
A select group of 17 Uighur Muslims held in Guantánamo, and waiting for a nation to grant them asylum are getting laptops and web training from the US military. Their web training will take place in a virtual computer lab the military has set up. The lessons will be limited to DVD language training as well as a basic users skill — set to help in any future employment options. Nury Turkel, an Uighur rights activist, said the training would help the men "be reintroduced into a modern society," adding that it "also would give hope to the men that their freedom is nearing." This special group already gets to order fast food and use a phone booth for weekly calls. I think the government is on to something here. Nothing keeps a man pacified like an occasional phone call, a cheeseburger, and surfing for a little porn.
Comment Re:Looks good (Score 1) 283
Agreed. If they are going to ban an app for reasons like this, then they need to ban the web browser, since it can hit more porn then pretty much any other app they can find.
If they really want that much of a nanny state, then they need to have the telco's filter the web that the iphone can see.
