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Games

Why Don't We Finish More Games? 341

IGN has an opinion piece discussing why, as video games get shorter, we seem less likely to finish them than in the past. For example, BioWare said only 50% of Mass Effect 2 players finished the campaign. The article goes into several reasons gamers are likely to drop games without beating them, such as lowered expectations, show-stopping bugs, and the ease with which we can find another game if this one doesn't suit us. Quoting: "... now that gamers have come to expect the annualized franchise, does that limit the impetus to jump on the train knowing another one will pull up to the station soon enough? ... In the past, once you bought a game, it was pretty much yours unless you gave it to somebody else or your family held a garage sale. The systemic rise of the used games market now offers you an escape route if a game just isn't your bag. Is the middle of a game testing your patience? Then why not sell it back to your local game shop, get money back in your pocket, or trade it in for a game that's better – or at least better suited for your tastes? After all, the sooner you ditch it either at a shop or on an online auction site, the more value you stand to get in return."

Submission + - Did bad solder break the LHC? (j.mp) 1

An anonymous reader writes: A CERN insider is blaming design flaws for the last year's breakdown of the Large Hadron Collider--the world's biggest particle accelerator. In a paper appearing in the journal Superconding Science and Technology, Lucio Rossi says that, among other things, the type of solder used to connect the LHC's superconducting magnets together doomed it to failure. Not everyone at CERN agrees with Rossi, according to a story about the paper on Nature News, but Fermilab physicist Jim Strait says he too thinks there were mistakes made in the "stupid little corners" of the giant collider's design.
Security

Submission + - Google and NSA Teaming Up to Battle Cyberattacks

Hugh Pickens writes: "The Washington Post reports that an agreement is being finalized between the National Security Agency and Google to analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm says originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter. The objective is to better defend Google — and its users — from future attack. Google and the NSA declined to comment on the partnership but sources with knowledge of the arrangement say the alliance is being designed to allow the two organizations to share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of Americans' online communications. Any agreement would mark the first time that Google has entered a formal information-sharing relationship with the NSA, sources say. In 2008, google stated that it had not cooperated with the NSA in its Terrorist Surveillance Program. "The critical question is: At what level will the American public be comfortable with Google sharing information with NSA?" says Ellen McCarthy, president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Dune remake restarted: 3D sandworms a possiblity (sffmedia.com)

bowman9991 writes: The new Dune remake is becoming as epic as Frank Herbert's Dune series itself. Now that director Peter Berg has been ousted, new director Pierre Morel has decided to throw out Peter Berg's script entirely, starting afresh with his own ideas and vision. "We're starting from scratch," said Morel. "Peter had an approach which was not mine at all, and we're starting over again." Morel also reveals that "It's the kind of movie that has the scope to be 3D." He's also keen on sticking to the original material and recognises that he must try and delete the images associated with David Lynch's 1984 version of Dune from the public’s consciousness.
Moon

Submission + - Is there a lava tube on the moon? (agu.org)

tenco writes: J. Haruyama and coworkers discovered on pictures from JAXA's moon orbiter SELENE what may be a lava tube. It's about 65 m in diameter and it's 80 to 88 m deep. It's surroundings are covered by a thin lava sheet which is 20 to 25 m thick. Due to the protection astronauts staying on the moon would need, a lava tube like this would be a good spot to build a moon station. Since it's still uncertain if this is really a lava tube, the researchers hope for sharper pictures from NASA's LRO.

Submission + - Finger Looking Good

gosand writes: Do you look at your fingers while you type your password(s)?
- Yes, but only passwords because they're complex
- Yes, I can't touch-type
- No, my passwords are simple
- No, I'm that damn good

Submission + - Choopa.com domain expired!

An anonymous reader writes: Choopa.com domain expired just two days ago and was not renewed. All customers who are using their services (especially DNS) have non functioning sites. Hooray for Choopa — one of the best hosting companies out there. You can send them 10$ for renewal, seems they can't afford it.
Science

Submission + - Universe closer to heat death than once thought? (arxiv.org)

TapeCutter writes: In a paper soon to be published in the Astrophisical journal Australian researchers have estimated the entrophy of the universe is about 30 times higher than current estimates. For those of us who like their science in the form of a car analogy Dr. Lineweaver compared their results to a car's gas tank. He states, "It's a bit like looking at your gas gauge and saying `I thought I had half a gas tank, but I only have a quarter of a tank."
Security

Submission + - Old virus returns as new malware (techworld.com)

rifles only writes: Pranksters have re-used the code from the 1995 One-half virus to create a new virus, 'Zimuse', that infects and destroys the MBR section of hard and USB drives. Spreading across the world in small but destructive volumes, researchers think Zimuse was originally a targetted attack on a Slovakian off-road motorcycling club. What did they do to deserve this?
Censorship

Submission + - New cyber-attack highlights increasingly sophistic

GoG writes: Websites run by Chinese human rights activists were hit by cyber-attacks over the weekend, highlighting increasing sophistication of efforts to censor dissident voices in China. Hackers launched a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that lasted 16 hours starting Saturday afternoon, according to the advocacy group Chinese Human Rights Defenders, which was also attacked. The attack comes on the eve of calls from the US for world governments to ensure the freedom of its citizens to access content and websites freely.

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