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Australia

Aussie Attorney General Says Gamers Are Scarier Than Biker Gangs 409

Posted by Soulskill
from the well-perhaps-in-some-senses dept.
Sasayaki writes "South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson claims, in an interview with Good Game, that gamers were more of a threat to his family than biker gangs. This is the man who has been the biggest opponent to Australia receiving an R18+ rating for video games and who has the power to veto any such law introducing it."
The Internet

Backlash Builds Against US Copyright Blacklist 292

Posted by kdawson
from the not-so-black-and-white dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The release last week of the US copyright blacklist is beginning to generate a backlash in countries around the world. Reports from Canada, Europe, and Asia all note that the US claims are very suspect and that the report is little more than an attempt to bully dozens of countries into following the US DMCA model."
Science

Nuclear Testing Helps Identify Fake Vintage Whiskey 366

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the nuclear-booze-coozie dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Industry experts claim the market for vintage whiskey has been flooded with fakes that purport to be several hundred years old but instead contain worthless spirit made just a few years ago. Now researchers at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit have developed a method that can pinpoint the date a whiskey was made by detecting traces of radioactive particles created by nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s. '"It is easy to tell if whiskey is fake as if it has been produced since the middle of the twentieth century, it has a very distinctive signature," says Dr. Tom Higham, deputy director of the facility. Nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s saw levels of carbon-14 in the atmosphere rise around the world so the amount of isotope absorbed by living organisms since this time has been artificially elevated. Whiskey extracted from antique bottles is sent to the laboratory where scientists burn the liquid and bombard the resulting gas with electrically charged particles so they can measure the carbon-14 in the sample. In one recent case, a bottle of 1856 Macallan Rare Reserve was withdrawn from auction at Christies, where it was expected to sell for up to £20,000, after the scientists found it had actually been produced in 1950. "So far there have probably been more fakes among the samples we've tested than real examples of old whiskey," says Higham.'"
Television

Super Bowl Porn Hacker?->

Submitted by
Apostata
Apostata writes "According to this article on CNN, Tucson AZ's broadcast feed of last Sunday's Super Bowl was interrupted by 10 seconds of porn. This only affected Comcast subscribers and is being actively investigated. The question remains whether this was a hack...could such a thing be possible?"
Link to Original Source
Media

45% of Dutch Media-Buying Population Are "Pirates" 307

Posted by timothy
from the dutch-treat dept.
Anonymous writes "A non-government study in the Netherlands found that 4.7 million Dutch Internet users 15 years and older downloaded hacked and pirated DVDs, games, and music in the last 12 months — or, about 25 percent of the Dutch population. But there may be an upside to this unauthorized sharing/distribution: 'The average [Dutch] downloader buys more DVDs, music, and games than people who never download,' with illegal downloaders representing 45 percent of consumers who purchase content legally, according to the Institute For Information Law, which administered the study."

Comment: Re:I've got a better idea (Score 1) 585

by Apostata (#26642459) Attached to: Please No, Not a Blade Runner Sequel

Not only that, but the Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, etc. shtick is lifted directly from "The Taking of Pelham 123".

Treating "originality" as a sacred goal is a one-way ticket to getting nothing accomplished. This isn't to say that we should be openly plagiarizing, but that a narrow-minded focus on originality itself will only lead to frustration.

Medicine

Athletes' Brains Reveal Concussion Damage 328

Posted by kdawson
from the chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy dept.
jamie found a story on research about what concussions do to athletes, with the insights coming mostly from the study of the donated brains of dead athletes. The NFL has the biggest profile in the piece, but other sports make an appearance too. Turns out that repeated concussions can result in depression, insomnia, and the beginnings of something that looks a lot like Alzheimer's. "The idea that you can whack your head hundreds of times in your life and knock yourself out and get up and be fine is gone," said [retired wrestler] Nowinski. "We know we can't do that anymore. This causes long-term damage."
First Person Shooters (Games)

New Open Source FPS Blood Frontier Shows Promise 242

Posted by Soulskill
from the but-can-i-bunny-hop dept.
Softhaus writes "The guys at Blood Frontier have been busy for the last two years working on a new FPS called (surprise) Blood Frontier . This game is an enhanced Cube 2 engine with original artwork and new gameplay (including a kid-mode, which optionally turns off the blood — a nice option for a change). Add the new paintball mode and you have a real 'game community' here. The code is all there (complete for you to play with), the team listens to feedback from the community, and the game is great! It's nice to see these talented guys showing a true free software attitude. They've mentioned that the first actual release is scheduled for next Friday. Does anyone know of other great open source games that are truly 'open?'"

Comment: Re:Nope. Never. (Score 1) 395

by Apostata (#26615143) Attached to: Daemon

Since when is second-person narrative (in and of itself) necessary to make a book "more of a literary novelty than a good novel"?

So, I guess writers like Italo Clavino ("If On A Winter's Night A Traveller"), Jay McInnery ("Bright Lights, Big City"), and Günter Grass ("Cat and Mouse") just wrote "novelties" then?

Privacy

New Law Will Require Camera Phones To "Click" 1235

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the pointless-wastes-of-time dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A new bill is being introduced called the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which would require any mobile phone containing a digital camera to sound a tone whenever a photograph is taken with the phone's camera. It would also prohibit such a phone from being equipped with a means of disabling or silencing the tone."
Media

Dutch Study Says Filesharing Has Positive Economic Effects 336

Posted by CmdrTaco
from the like-helping-kids-save-money-for-college dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In a study conducted by TNO for the Dutch government the economic effects of filesharing are found to be positive. According to the 146 page report (available for download, but in Dutch) filesharing is good for the prosperity of the Dutch: with filesharing more media are available, even though this costs the media industry some profit. One of the most noticeable conclusions is that downloading and buying are not mutually exclusive: downloaders on average buy just as much music as non-downloaders, but they buy more DVDs and games then people who don't download. They also tend to visit more concerts and buy more merchandise."
Image

The Zen of SOA 219 Screenshot-sm

Posted by samzenpus
from the read-all-about-it dept.
Alex Roussekov writes "The book "Zen of SOA" by Tom Termini introduces an original view to the challenging world of SOA. He refers to the Zen philosophy as a "therapeutic device" helping SOA practitioners to get rid of prejudices and opinions in order to apply a clear mind-set based on real-life experiences and the application of technology knowledge. Each chapter of the book is prefaced by Zen Truism that the author suggests to "revisit, reflect on it longer, and see if you are able to establish a truth from the narrative, as well as from your own experiences." In fact, the book is about a SOA Blueprint outlining a methodology for building a successful SOA strategy. The target audience is C-level Executives, IT Managers and Enterprise Architects undertaking or intending to undertake adoption of SOA throughout their organizations. I strongly recommend the book to all SOA practitioners involved in implementation of SOA." Read below for the rest of Alexander's review.
Image

South Carolina Seeking To Outlaw Profanity 849 Screenshot-sm

Posted by samzenpus
from the f@#k-those-f@#king-f@#kers dept.
MBGMorden writes "It looks like in an act that defies common sense, a bill has been introduced in the South Carolina State Senate that seeks to outlaw the use of profanity. According to the bill it would become a felony (punishable by a fine up to $5000 or up to 5 years in prison) to 'publish orally or in writing, exhibit, or otherwise make available material containing words, language, or actions of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious, or indecent nature.' I'm not sure if 'in writing' could be applied to the internet, but in any event this is scary stuff."

He missed an invaluable opportunity to hold his tongue. -- Andrew Lang