Comment Re:I don't play Rubik's Cube (Score 2, Insightful) 76
I'll take you as trying to troll, but the old adage "It is not the destination but the journey" seems to fit in this case.
Comment Re:Why has no one taken this thread seriously... (Score 1) 520
Oi, where's some mod points when I need them. The electronics world and our plugs was the first thing I thought of.
How Do I Create a Spiritual Game Successor? 125
An anonymous reader writes "I've recently been on a legacy video game binge, reliving the nostalgic days, when I realized that one of my favorite old games can be vastly improved with a few tweaks. This game is pretty much made for a controller, so I would love to get it done on Xbox Live, but doing it on the PC is just as viable. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure the game is not in the public domain yet. Based on previous stories covered here, some companies are all for community made successors while others choose to give them the crushing blow from the start. My question is: how far is too far when one is trying to make a spiritual successor? I do not intend to copy any materials, but it would be lovely if I could incorporate some game design ideas (very general level design, movement, and just one or two game features)."
The Gamebook Writers Who Nearly Invented the MMO 72
mr_sifter writes "In the 1980s, gamebooks were all the rage, and most geeks have read through a Fighting Fantasy novel or two. You might even have heard of Fabled Lands, arguably the most ambitious gamebooks ever — it was planned as a series of 12 books, each representing a different area of the world, and players could roam freely from book to book. It was completely non-linear, and unless you died, there was no way to finish. In 1996, the authors, Dave Morris and Jamie Thompson, hooked up with game developer Eidos and started work on what would have been a ground-breaking computer game version of their books — an MMO, in other words. Unfortunately, development hell awaited. This article tells the story of the game that could have been WoW before Warcraft."
Comment Repeat after me (Score 1) 1
Led Zeppelin
L-E-D Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Submission + - SPAM: No lead here: Zeppelin flights lift off in Calif. 1
coondoggie writes: "Air service of the huge floating Zeppelin variety is now available to the public, in California at least. Airship ventures today launched airship passenger services over Silicone Valley for prices ranging from $495 to $975 for one to two hour flights respectively. The entire airship can be rented out for special occasions for up to 12 people at prices up to $6,100.
The Airship Ventures Zeppelin NT is 246 ft long — 15 feet longer than a Boeing 747, and weighs close to 18,000lbs. The airship will cruise at about 1,000 feet (its ceiling is about 9,300 ft.) and its three engines can get the airship to almost 80Mph (though it will typically cruise at about 45mph). It has a range of about 560 miles.
[spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Windows 7 Leaked, Pirates Downloading (computerworld.com)
CWmike writes: "Gregg Keizer reports that leaked copies of 'pre-beta' Windows 7 hit the Internet only hours after Microsoft handed out a preview build to developers last week, according to searches at several BitTorrent-tracking sites. The notorious Pirate Bay site first noted the 32-bit version of the upcoming operating system on Oct. 29. A 64-bit edition was posted the following day. On Sunday, more than 1,400 'seeders' were found on Pirate Bat and close to 5,300 downloads were under way. Welcome to Hollywood, OSes... Vista SP1 was leaked like any new blockbuster movie in Asia as well, and a pirate version of Mac OS X 10.5 was released earlier than scheduled too."
Submission + - Music industry wants credit card nums in ID3 tags (michaelrobertson.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In an obituary for AnywhereCD which closes in one week, MP3.com founder Michael Robertson chronicles how at least one record label wanted him to put credit card numbers of buyers into songs. Fascinating story about how at least some of the labels still don't get it and why AnywhereCD is about to buried.
Submission + - Google sued for $5b for crimes against humanity (theregister.co.uk) 2
mytrip writes: "A Pennsylvania crusader has slapped Google with a $5bn lawsuit, claiming that the world's largest search engine is endangering his personal safety.
With a suit filed in federal court, Dylan Stephen Jayne insists that the company is guilty of "crimes against humanity" because its name turns up when his social security number is scrambled and turned upside down.
By calling itself Google, Jayne argues, Google has exposed him to attack by an army of culturally diverse, net-savvy terrorists. "A person regardless of race or religion that wishes to cause acts of terrorism would look for social security numbers that are made readily available on the public use databases," his suit reads.
And he's adamant that if Google claims ignorance, many people could end up dead or buck naked. "The 'I don't know' defense obviously is a waste of money, time, and puts the lives of Americans and illegal aliens at risk of death or serious undress.""
With a suit filed in federal court, Dylan Stephen Jayne insists that the company is guilty of "crimes against humanity" because its name turns up when his social security number is scrambled and turned upside down.
By calling itself Google, Jayne argues, Google has exposed him to attack by an army of culturally diverse, net-savvy terrorists. "A person regardless of race or religion that wishes to cause acts of terrorism would look for social security numbers that are made readily available on the public use databases," his suit reads.
And he's adamant that if Google claims ignorance, many people could end up dead or buck naked. "The 'I don't know' defense obviously is a waste of money, time, and puts the lives of Americans and illegal aliens at risk of death or serious undress.""
Submission + - Enable compiz-fusion in Ubuntu Feisty (vanzonneveld.net)
kevmaster writes: "Linux desktop effects have come a long way. Over time we've seen different implementations like compiz & beryl. These 2 projects have lead a life of their own but have now been merged back together again in a new project called: compiz-fusion. Compiz-fusion has got some awesome eye candy effects, but it's still a little bit tricky to get it to work though. There are some other howtos online but those didn't cut it for me, so eventually after getting it to work, I wrote one myself."
Submission + - Penalizing for Poor Health 2
theodp writes: "Perhaps laying the groundwork for Sicko II, Clarian Health announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index is over 30. Even slim-and-trim employees have to worry about their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels — they'll be dinged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Smokers get a sneak preview of the policy starting next year, when they'll find $5 less in each check. Clarian credited new government HIPPAA rules that became effective July 1st for giving it the courage to follow its penalize-for-poor-health convictions."
Submission + - HP to Researchers: Our Printers Are Safe (hp.com)
Sidepocket_Pro writes: "Based on our own testing, HP knows that many variables can affect the outcome of tests for ultrafine particle emissions. Although HP is not aware of all of the specific methodologies used in the Queensland study, based on what we've seen in the report — as well as our own work in this area — we do not believe there is a link between printer emissions and any public health risk. Specifically, HP does not see an association between printer use by customers and negative health effects for volatile organic compounds, ozone or dust. While we recognize ultrafine, fine, and coarse particles are emitted from printing systems, these levels are consistently below recognized occupational exposure limits."
Submission + - Bad bosses take the elevator...
Submission + - Using AI to filter RSS feeds
holden writes: "According to a blog post AideRSS has moved from closed to open beta. I've been using AideRSS over the past few weeks to filter my RSS feeds (including slashdot & reddit) and I've been quite impressed. They talk a bit about how the filtering system works, which apparently tracks a mixture of things, from pick up in other blogs, to some clustering technology."
Submission + - GOATSE Picture Shown In YouTube Debate
Penguinshit writes: "What makes the Internet so great, beyond showing a glimpse of a confusing world to millions of mouth-breathers? The answer, of course, is GOATSE (relax, this isn't THAT link...). One of those lame YouTube questions featured a split-second image of the horrible anus. As of this time, it is unclear as to how many Americans witnessed the outrage, but there are reports of as many as 200,000 phone calls made to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) reporting the obscenity. CNN has yet to make an official statement regarding the matter, but a top spokesman was reportedly overheard denouncing the incident as "despicable."
The story is being reported in several aggregators and blogs."
The story is being reported in several aggregators and blogs."
