Forgot your password?

Close
typodupeerror
Role Playing (Games)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Announced for November 2011 231

Posted by Soulskill
from the ugly-things-biting-me dept.
Bethesda took advantage of the Video Game Awards this weekend to announce the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series, titled Skyrim. The game is planned for November 2011, and a teaser trailer has been posted on the Elder Scrolls website. Details are sparse, though the game will apparently run on an "all-new" engine.
The Almighty Buck

Letting Customers Decide Pricing On Game DLC 156

Posted by Soulskill
from the a-map-and-a-hat-are-not-worth-ten-bucks dept.
An anonymous reader writes "How much should game developers be charging for DLC? It seems that one indie dev has decided to carry out a unique experiment. The latest expansion pack for Gratuitous Space Battles is priced at $5.99 — or is it? It turns out there is both a standard ($5.99) version and a discount version ($2.99). And the difference between them is... nothing. The buyers have been left to make their own decisions on whether or not they should pay full price, and send more money to the developer, or treat themselves to a deserved discount. The buy page even lists comparisons of national incomes, average salaries and even the price of sausages to help buyers make up their minds. Will this catch on? Will Microsoft start asking us whether or not we should get a discount and trust us to answer honestly?"
Crime

Girls Bugged Teachers' Staff Room 227

Posted by samzenpus
from the making-the-grade dept.
A pair of enterprising Swedish schoolgirls ended up in court after they were caught bugging their teachers break room. The duo hoped they would hear discussions about upcoming tests and school work, allowing them to get better grades. It worked until one of them decided to brag about it on Facebook, and the authorities were called in. The girls were charged with trespassing and fined 2,000 kronor ($270) each in Stockholm District Court.
Image

NASA's Space Balloon Smashes Car In Australia 174

Posted by samzenpus
from the wrong-turn dept.
Humunculus writes "Of more worldly issues, NASA's latest multimillion-dollar stratosphere-bound balloon launch has gone horribly wrong and crashed into a car, turning it over and narrowly missing two elderly people who were observing the launch. The payload fared worse, reportedly being smashed into a 'thousand pieces.'"
Security

Colorado prison turns to inmates to run Help Desk

Submitted by
PetManimal
PetManimal writes "A Colorado prison system has an unusual solution to handle help desk support issues in the face of antcipated budget cuts: Assigning inmates to handle telephone support, PC tracking, and PC imaging and repairs. Besides training the inmates to take over help desk duties, one of the main challenges was convincing staff to trust the help desk:

The transition wasn't entirely smooth, noted Kim Withers, a help desk supervisor for the agency. "It was a big obstacle in the beginning for the staff to call [the inmates] and ask for help," said Withers. Some corrections workers were also concerned about how much information inmates would be allowed to see on their screens during a help desk call.
The article says the agency used a software tool to limit some of the information that the inmate workers could see. No word on how much the inmates are paid, though."
Power

Inflatable mirrors could cut solar cost to $0.29/w

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes "A new technology using inflatable mirrors could dramatically cut the price of solar power to around $0.29 per watt, making the renewable energy source cost competitive with coal and other fossil fuels. The tensegrity-based concentrated photovoltaic system could open up vast areas of the United States for solar farming, whereby farmers could produce both agricultural products and clean energy. The technology has been developed by CoolEarth Solar, based in Livermore, CA."
Media

A Statistical Comparison of HD DVD & Blu-Ray Reviews 179

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the on-the-fence dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Gizmodo today posted a statistical comparison of over 300 HD DVD and Blu-ray reviews published at High-Def Digest since the start of the high-def format wars last Spring. Their findings? Overall video quality between the two formats is nearly identical, however Blu-ray titles were slightly, but definitely superior in audio playback, while HD DVD titles had far superior standard def features and moderately superior high-def features."
User Journal

SPAM: The Foggo of War

Journal by Jeremiah Cornelius

"The CIA's former executive director and a defense contractor were indicted yesterday by a San Diego grand jury for allegedly corrupting the intelligence agency's contracts, marking one of the first criminal cases to reach into the CIA's clandestine operations in Europe and the Middle East. Kyle 'Dusty' Foggo, a longtime logistics officer who was the CIA's top administrator from November 2004 until last May,

Push where it gives and scratch where it itches.