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Comment: Re:Class Action!? (Score 1) 265

by Maradine (#21933688) Attached to: Microsoft Giving Xbox Live Users a Free Game
XBox Live Arcade is a collection of cheap and nasty games like Frogger which probably took a single guy 2 hours to code including drawing the sprites. Think bargain bucket games from the early 1980s.

I hate to yank your hyperbole-bubble back down to one standard atmosphere, but XBLA contains, amongst other things, the two best computer ports ever produced of two of the best board games ever produced, a complete and well-executed Smash Brothers clone, a number of excellent arcade-perfect translation of classics, fucking Symphony of the Night, and numerous first-time attempts from indy developers showcasing a several consumer game development engines.

If you could execute any one of the above in two hours, you're too talented to troll.

M
Security

Symantec CEO Says Bad Service Fix Only Temporary 116

Posted by CowboyNeal
from the better-and-better dept.
Lucas123 writes "Symantec's CEO John Thompson says the company is still struggling with its consolidated ERP system and that it has only thrown bodies and not technology at the post-Veritas buyout issues that created poor customer service. 'I've kind of lost track where we are timing-wise...but we threw an awful lot of head count at this wait-time problem. Wait times from their peak of well over an hour are down to now under two minutes,' he said."
Media

NY Times "Free" trial is a trap->

Submitted by LiquidCoooled
LiquidCoooled writes "The New York Times have recently begun offering an exact digital replica of the daily newspaper.
However to get a look at this nifty sounding site, you must signup and leave your credit card details.
The only thing which concerns me is the following:

Page Headline: Free: Try The New York Times Electronic Edition For 7 Days

Clause lower down: The first charge will be on the 5th day of your 7-day free trial.

My question then, how do I get a free 7 day trial?"
Link to Original Source
Wireless Networking

'Sidejacking ' On WiFi

Submitted by ancientribe
ancientribe writes "As if you need another reason not to use WiFi unprotected, here's one: a researcher has released a tool that lets hackers "sidejack" your machine and access your Web accounts. Called Hamster, the tool basically clones the victim's cookies by sniffing their session IDs and controlling their Website accounts.

http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=130 692&WT.svl=news1_2"

Engadget: Senators Wyden and Brownback promise to push Internet Radio Equality Act->

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

Things haven't looked great for internet radio stations for a while now, and though SoundExchange has put a pause on the rate hikes while it's in talks with the webcasters, not much progress has been made, and US Senators Ron Wyden (D) and Sam Brownback (R) have decided to do something about it. They're promising to push forward their co-sponsored "Internet Radio Equality Act," which hopes to chuck the new extravagant rates decided upon by the Copyright Royalty Board and return to a flat percentage-of-revenue model. Wyden and Brownback also decry the recording industry's use of a minimum per-station fee to leverage broadcasters into DRM, which "fails to respect the established principles of fair use and consumer rights." While they do support a negotiated solution, the Senators promise to takes steps toward passage of the IREA if there's no progress in negotiations by Labor Day. To throw your weight in behind the movement, check out the read link.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


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The Internet

Amazon Cries 'Uncle' to End IBM Patent Feud 63

Posted by Zonk
from the make-it-stop-make-it-stop dept.
theodp writes "Amazon will pay an undisclosed amount to IBM to settle a long-running patent feud, and the two companies have agreed to a long-term patent cross-licensing agreement. Information Week wonders if an insurance dispute prompted Amazon's settlement, noting that Atlantic Mutual sued Amazon back in March to escape any obligation to reimburse the e-tailer should it lose the case brought by IBM. Amazon had relied on Atlantic Mutual's backing in an earlier legal battle it waged against tiny InTouch. 'Amazon, whose chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is a vocal advocate of patent reform, has had numerous patent issues in the past. In 2005, the technology used in its 1-Click checkout system came under scrutiny as potentially infringing upon a similar product made by a small Virginia-based company called IPXL Holdings. Meanwhile, the US patent system itself is experiencing growing pains as Congress continues to explore the possibility of updating it to better serve the needs of the 21st-century business world.'"
Television

Wanna Watch Sky Channels For Free? Make a Baby!

Submitted by
Ikaro
Ikaro writes "A couple of Sundays ago I saw a soccer game and a movie on Sky TV without having any subscription, nor decoder and even less a satellite dish.
It happened thanks to a very simple object that serves for other purposes.
I've found extremely funny this combination of events which IMHO represent the incapacity of who tries to fight against the new media potentiality, like a man who tries to stop a little torrent with his hands and is overwhelmed. Read this story to know more"

Goodbye TID, hello Xbox 360 Chatpad->

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Not that this is life-changing news or anything (except maybe for Major Nelson), but it looks like Microsoft has snapped out of its DOS flashback and given the upcoming Xbox 360 QWERTY thumb keyboard a less technical-sounding moniker than "Text Input Device": meet the Chatpad. The real name of the peripheral-formerly-known-as-TID was discovered by a Joystiq reader poking around the Marketplace after Tuesday's Spring update, where its identity is revealed in a page about Windows Live Messenger integration. Expect lawsuits from the makers of ChatBuddy and PepperPad any day now.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


Link to Original Source
User Journal

Journal: random loss of input focus in WinXP - Help? 1

Journal by Frisky070802
I am tearing my hair out. I got a new thinkpad a few days ago. It has something running in the background that is causing the window that I'm typing into to lose focus at random, sometimes as often as every couple of minutes. I tried installing tweakUI and its feature to prevent apps from stealing focus, but it's had no effect. So, I type away, and I lose characters if I'm not watching like a hawk. Surely there is an app I can install that would sit around and, when something tries to grab
Censorship

Dreamhost removes access to sites with HD-DVD key

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Dreamhost, a big hosting company is removing access to sites to sites with the HD-DVD key (spanish site hosted in DH) and request delete HD-DVD key above re-activate their(s) site(s), this is the email:

DreamHost Abuse/Security Team

Hello,

We have received complaint from the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA) regarding a posting to your site at the following location:

It appears that on the page above you are publicizing their AACS processing key "clave en cuestión", which can be used to decrypt the Fair Use-encroaching digital rights management (DRM) software that their firm provides to content owners for use in HD-DVD players.

While we believe that the "cat is out of the bag" and that their AACS system is inherently flawed, the similarly flawed Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention rules technically makes this a violation of US copyright law. As such, we have had to remove access to the above site by renaming its parent directory. Once you can ensure that the above entry is no longer visible, you may re-enable it.

The AACS' legal counsel has provided an email address of csims AT proskauer DOT com for you to contact should you wish to do so.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Jeff,
The AACS fight versus bloggers is just started..."
Windows

Microsoft is Screwing Up Live on Vista 114

Posted by Zonk
from the get-with-the-program dept.
Joe The Dragon wrote with a link to an ExtremeTech article lambasting Microsoft for its confusing rollout of the Live service on the PC. While the vision of achievements, a gamerscore, a consistent friends list, and one sprawling multiplayer network is tantalizing, the reality falls somewhat short of that goal. "The biggest mistake Microsoft is making with Live on the PC is the way they're treating the PC as if it's a console platform they can control. They're trying to lock out the rest of the world and to charge for features that PC gamers have had for free for ages. It's a shortsighted, greedy scheme that could only come from a product manager or VP who simply doesn't "get" PC gaming. The free Silver level of Xbox Live lets you log in on the PC and earn Achievements just like you do on the 360--but only single-player Achievements. Multiplayer Achievements are only for those $50-a-year Gold members. Player matchmaking is for Gold members only. Voice in games is for Gold members only. Cross-platform play between 360 and PC is for Gold members only. In fact, the only thing silver members can really do is view a server list and hop onto a specific server." Article author Jason Cross warns Microsoft at the end of the piece that it is 'not too late' to turn things around. Vista is still a young platform, and once driver issues are ironed out and Vista becomes the standard there are still opportunities for success.

Ah, the Tsar's bazaar's bizarre beaux-arts!