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KDR_11k (778916)

KDR_11k
  (email not shown publicly)
You waste your time looking at other people's Bios? Haven't you got something better to do, like glueing cats to a bicycle or something?

KDR_11k (778916)

  Science: Scientists Find Believing Can Be Seeing 2008-02-21 08:58

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 21, @08:58AM
from the the-mind-is-quicker-than-the-eye dept.
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Scientists at University College London have found the link between what we expect to see, and what our brain tells us we actually saw revealing that the context surrounding what we see is all important — sometimes overriding the evidence gathered by our eyes and even causing us to imagine things which aren't really there. A vague background context is more influential and helps us to fill in more blanks than a bright, well-defined context. This may explain why we are prone to 'see' imaginary shapes in the shadows when the light is poor. "Illusionists have been alive to this phenomenon for years," said Professor Zhaoping. "When you see them throw a ball into the air, followed by a second ball, and then a third ball which 'magically' disappears, you wonder how they did it. In truth, there's often no third ball — it's just our brain being deceived by the context, telling us that we really did see three balls launched into the air, one after the other." The original research paper is available on PLOS, the open-access, peer-reviewed journal."
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 [+] story, science, biotech, religion, beliefcreatesreality, thatexplainsufos

  Spring RTS Engine version 0.76b1 released 2008-01-02 17:25 KDR_11k

Submitted by KDR_11k on Wednesday January 02 2008, @05:25PM
KDR_11k writes "The opensource (GPL) RTS Engine Spring has seen the release of the long awaited 0.76b1 version. The changelog for this version alone is one third the size of the changelog since the first public release (maybe it just got more verbose). One major change that you can see is the inclusion of multiple mods in the installer that are downloaded at demand as well as an extended map selection (also downloaded on demand) to allow an easier start into the game. Also notable is a major performance increase for users of DirectX 10 compatible graphics cards.

There is not much available in terms of full playing AIs or singleplayer missions so Spring should be used mostly online against human opponents. The available game modules include the Total Annihilation-derived Balanced Annihilation and XTA, the abstract computer-themed mod Kernel Panic, the WW2 based Spring 1944, Evolution RTS, Gundam RTS and the parody of a common game style, SimBase as well as others available on Unknown Files which hosts pretty much everything related to Spring."
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 [+] submission, games, rts, slownewsday

  RSF releases Press Freedom Index 2007[->] 2007-10-17 09:18 KDR_11k

Submitted by KDR_11k on Wednesday October 17 2007, @09:18AM
KDR_11k writes "Freedom of Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF, Reporters Sans Frontieres) has released the annual worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2007.

The US has improved in ranking from 53rd place to 49th while its score worsened from 13.00 to 14.50. All G8 nations saw an improvement in their placing (even Russia which the headline singles out as not improving gained 3 places) although many had score increases. China, despite hosting the Olympic Games next year remained stable at its position 163 with 89.00 points, placing it firmly into the bottom ten. Without computing a comparison it looks to me like the average score of the index went up as several countries improved their position on the list despite showing a worse censorship score. Whether this is due to increasing censorship or just different scoring methods is not clear.

A growing trend is censorship against bloggers which are now targeted as well as professional reporters.

While 2006 saw four countries (Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands) tied for first place with a score of 0.50 each, 2007 had only two remaining with a score of 0.75 each, namely Iceland and Finland. Ireland dropped to position 8, score 2.0 and the Netherlands took a severe fall to position 12 with 3.50 points."
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025
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 [+] submission, yro, censorship, slownewsday, interesting

  Apple: Vivendi Calls iTunes Contract Terms "Indecent" 2007-09-24 17:23

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday September 24 2007, @05:23PM
from the better-business-through-greed dept.
Bemopolis writes "Brace yourselves for a shocking revelation: The CEO of Vivendi, parent company of UMG, is not happy with the current deal with the iTunes Store. 'The split between Apple and (music) producers is indecent [...] Our contracts give too good a share to Apple.' The usual argument about older music priced at the same rate as new music is trotted out. No doubt UMG would prefer to make the former cheaper, while maintaining the current pricing for the latter. At least he had the decency not to claim that they were trying to defend their artists against predatory iTunes pricing. Or maybe he just misplaced the index card with that boilerplate on it."
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 [+] story, apple, music, money, potkettleblack, thevapors

  How does the GPL apply to game content?[->] 2007-09-22 08:11 KDR_11k

Submitted by KDR_11k on Saturday September 22 2007, @08:11AM
KDR_11k writes "In the mod developer community of the opensource Spring RTS engine there is significant confusion about the scope and meaning of the GPL when applied to scripts within mods.

Specifically, the engine has recently added support for mod-side Lua scripts to deal with more complex behaviours that aren't possible with the BOS/COB system (script language taken from Total Annihilation as the engine was originally meant to recreate that game). For these Lua scripts there's a module system called the "gadget handler" that allows Lua scripts to be separated from each other to facilitate copying a feature from one mod (or from code made by people without a mod affiliation) to another without affecting other features. The gadget handler loads these gadgets by going through the directory for them at load time, the files are never mentioned specifically in the code.

The gadget handler as well as most of the available gadgets are licensed under the GPL v2 or later. The Lua code can interface with the COB code (which is binary) and the whole code gets zipped up with the rest of the mod content into a single archive that acts as the package format for the engine (i.e. is not unzipped during installation, the content is loaded directly from the archive).

A large number of modders is confused about the scope of the GPL's derivative work clause in this situation. Will the gadget handler force all gadgets into the GPL? Does the Lua to COB interface make the COB a part of the Lua code? Will GPL code within the mod put the whole mod under the GPL as the mod as a whole can be considered a work? Does the GPL not "jump" to a file that is not explicitely included by or includes a GPL file?

The mods aren't really modifications of any base content as the engine does not contain base content that could be considered a game, they are merely interchangeable modules that provide the units, weapons and other rules for the RTS and so far it is assumed that the GPL does not jump from the engine to the mod. The Lua scripts only implement deviations from the standard formula, a certain amount of RTS gameplay is hardcoded into the engine."
http://spring.clan-sy.com/
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 [+] submission, askslashdot, pcgames, interesting

  IT: The Need For A Tagging Standard 2007-01-15 10:13

Posted by Hemos on Monday January 15 2007, @10:13AM
from the tagging-joy dept.
John Carmichael writes "Tags are everywhere now. Not just blogs, but famous news sites, corporate press bulletins, forums, and even Slashdot. That's why it's such a shame that they're rendered almost entirely useless by the lack of a tagging standard with which tags from various sites and tag aggregators like Technorati and Del.icio.us can compare and relate tags to one another. Depending on where you go and who you ask, tags are implemented differently, and even defined in their own unique way. Even more importantly, tags were meant to be universal and compatible: a medium of sharing and conveying info across the blogosphere — the very embodiment of a semantic web. Unfortunately, they're not. Far from it, tags create more discord and confusion than they do minimize it. I have to say, it would be nice to just learn one way of tagging content and using it everywhere.""
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 [+] story, it, internet, njkewjdkewd, tagging, standards, no,

  Your Rights Online: UK Teachers Say Censor The Internet 2007-01-03 22:45

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 03 2007, @10:45PM
from the how-can-you-have-any-pudding-if-you-smash-my-window dept.
Marlow the Irelander writes "The BBC is reporting that in response to a YouTube video of a schoolboy breaking his teacher's window (yes, this is a video), NASUWT, one of the teaching unions in the UK, is calling for legislation to control the internet. Could Britain, rather than the US, be the main front of the battle against censorship in 2007?" From the article: "Unfortunately, any yob or vandal can now have their 15 minutes of fame, aided and abetted by readily accessible technology and irresponsible internet sites which enable such behaviour to be glorified. [The general secretary of the union] said the union supported a zero tolerance approach in schools to pupils who used technology to abuse and undermine teachers, and called for more rigorous legislative control of internet sites which gave them license."

  Games: PS3 Lines Already Forming In America 2006-11-09 05:03

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 09 2006, @05:03AM
from the get-a-life dept.
Wowzer writes "Nine days until Sony's PlayStation 3 launches in America, and lines are already forming. From the article: "Someone went to Best Buy this morning and saw about 7 people waiting outside. He went inside and one of the workers told him that they had been there since Monday. It must be a tough job being such big PS3 fans and being the butt of many passer-by jokes like 'Where is the line for PS4? Is it on the other side?'"
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 [+] story, games, sony, ps3, !life, haha, astroturf,

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