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Graphics

A History of 3D Cards From Voodoo To GeForce 320

Posted by kdawson from the long-and-winding-road dept.
Ant sends us to Maximum PC for an account of the history and current state of 3D video cards (single print page). "Try to imagine where 3D gaming would be today if not for the graphics processing unit, or GPU. Without it, you wouldn't be [trudging] through the jungles of Crysis in all its visual splendor, nor would you be fending off endless hordes of fast-moving zombies at high resolutions. For that to happen, it takes a highly specialized chip designed for parallel processing to pull off the kinds of games you see today... Going forward, GPU makers will try to extend the reliance on videocards to also include physics processing, video encoding/decoding, and other tasks that [were] once handled by the CPU. It's pretty amazing when you think about how far graphics technology has come. To help you do that, we're going to take a look back at every major GPU release since the infancy of 3D graphics. Join us as we travel back in time and relive releases like 3dfx's Voodoo3 and S3's ViRGE lineup. This is one nostalgic ride you don't want to miss!"
Data Storage

Submission + - Hacker destroys avsim.com along with its backups

Submitted by
el americano
el americano writes: "Flight Simulator community website Avsim has experienced a total data loss after both of their online servers were hacked. The site's founder, Tom Allensworth, explained why 13 years of community developed terrains, skins, and mods will not be restored from backups, "Some have asked whether or not we had back ups. Yes, we dutifully backed up our servers every day. Unfortunately, we backed up the servers between our two servers. The hacker took out both servers, destroying our ability to use one or the other back up to remedy the situation.""
Handhelds

Submission + - Gamepark Release the GP2X Wiz (dcemu.co.uk)

Submitted by Craig
Craig writes: Gamepark have officiallly released the follow up to its successful Linux handheld the GP2X, the GP2X Wiz is a 533Mhz Linux based handheld thats a similiar size to the GBA Micro with a touchscreen and 12 games preloaded into memory many of which are demos of commercial games, the system comes with 1gb of flash memory which can be expanded with sd cards. The Homebrew Community have already released ports of games such as Quake, Wolfenstein3d, Warcraft and emulators for Snes, Genesis, Commodore64 and the arcade emulator Mame.Will this threaten the PSP and DSI ?
Power

Submission + - Suspicion on the FCC's Broadband Over Power Lines (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: Ars has a nice little post on the curious events surrounding the death of broadband over power lines (BPL). Trials and advances have been discussed on Slashdot many times but the Federal Communications Commission's go ahead has now been called into question by the American Radio Relay League who used a FOIA request to obtain non-redacted documents. The ARRL is concerned with receiver interference in their HAM radio operations and would like to see BPL stopped. These documents have interesting data points and other analysis that may cast doubt on BPL. After a federal court took a look at the FCC's study, a DC Court of Appeals judge noted, 'there is little doubt that the Commission deliberately attempted to exclude from the record evidence adverse to its position.'
Medicine

Submission + - Daydreaming is really complex problem solving

Submitted by beefsprocket
beefsprocket writes: ScienceDaily reports that "A new University of British Columbia study finds that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously thought. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that activity in numerous brain regions increases when our minds wander. It also finds that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving — previously thought to go dormant when we daydream — are in fact highly active during these episodes. "Mind wandering is typically associated with negative things like laziness or inattentiveness," says lead author, Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. "But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream — much more active than when we focus on routine tasks."
Windows

Submission + - Windows 7's disingenuous "Advantage" (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
Barence
Barence writes: "An interesting blog about Microsoft's 'slimy' and 'sneaky' anti-piracy policies. Quote: "Last week, Microsoft announced some details of anti-piracy measures in Windows 7. It sounds like they're going to be slightly less intrusive than those in Vista, and probably roughly as effective. I don't exactly resent all this product validation stuff. I'd prefer it if Microsoft didn't feel the need to do it; but I accept that the company has a legitimate interest in dissuading casual copying, and to me a one-time online authorisation doesn't seem an unreasonable way of going about that. But I do resent all the weasel words and spin that surround the process.""

Comment Re:The problem isn't GLIBC. It's Ulrich Drepper. (Score 1) 565

by HunterZ (#27867783) Attached to: Debian Switching From Glibc To Eglibc

My favorite part is when someone tries to defend him and gets yelled at too:

------- Additional Comment #26 From Ulrich Drepper 2008-07-08 03:28 -------

Stop reopening the bug. And this is also no discussion forum. Go somewhere else.

------- Additional Comment #27 From Paul Wankadia 2008-07-08 04:48 -------

I concur, Ulrich. This bug has been discussed to death and only the trolls are
reopening it. If anyone wishes to "me too" this bug, please open a new bug.
Thanks.

------- Additional Comment #28 From Ulrich Drepper 2008-07-08 05:08 -------

Stop commenting.
Role Playing (Games)

A History of Rogue 240

Posted by Soulskill from the not-rogue-origins dept.
blacklily8 writes "Gamasutra has published "The History of Rogue: Have @ You, You Deadly Zs." Despite only the most 'primitive' audiovisuals, Rogue has continued to excite gamers and programmers worldwide, and has been ported, enhanced, and forked now for over two decades. What is it about Wichman and Toy's old UNIX RPG that has sent so many gamers to their deaths in the Dungeons of Doom, desperately seeking the fabled Amulet of Yendor? This article covers the history of the game, including the Epyx failure to make a ton of cash selling it in 1983. It also goes into rogue-like culture and development."
Patents

OIN Posts Details of Microsoft's Anti-Tom Tom Patents 65

Posted by kdawson from the does-this-filesystem-make-me-look-fat dept.
number6x writes "LinuxDevices.com is reporting that the Open Invention Network has posted the details of three of the eight patents used by Microsoft in the Tom Tom suit (which Tom Tom settled last month), asking the community for prior art. These patents cover aspects of the FAT file system. You can find them on Post-Issue.org — see numbers 5579517, 5758352, and 6256642. OIN CEO Keith Bergelt believes that these three patents are of tenuous validity and will probably not survive a review. Bergelt believes that there's a good chance that the USPTO may well invalidate them before the end of the year.
The Courts

Papers Sealed In Class Action Against RIAA 215

Posted by samzenpus from the for-their-eyes-only dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In Andersen v. Atlantic Recording, the Oregon class action brought by Tanya Anderson against the RIAA, MediaSentry, and others, the plaintiff's motion for class action certification has been sealed by the Court. Also, the Court conducted an 'in camera' conference with the defendants' attorneys — meaning the Judge met with the defendants' attorneys alone — in connection with a discovery motion, and the record of that conference has been sealed as well. The RIAA has made a motion to dismiss the class action; that has not been sealed. In case you're wondering what's going on here, so am I."
Censorship

Submission + - Wikipedia Threatens Artists for Fair Use 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Can a noncommercial website use the trademark of the entity it critiques in its domain name? Surprisingly, it appears that the usually open-minded folks at Wikipedia think not. The EFF reports that Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern have created a noncommercial website at Wikipediaart.org intended to comment on the nature of art and Wikipedia. Since "Wikipedia" is a trademark owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, the Foundation has demanded that the artists give up the domain name peaceably or it will attempt to take it by legal force. "Wikipedia should know better. There is no trademark or cybersquatting issue here," writes Corynne McSherry. "Moreover, even if U.S. trademark laws somehow reached this noncommercial activity, the artists' use of the mark is an obvious fair use." iI is hard to see what Wikipedia gains by litigating this matter but it is easy to see how Wikipedia loses. After all, "What better way to call attention to the artists' critical work than by threatening their free speech?""
Yahoo!

Submission + - Yahoo to close down Geocities (techcrunch.com) 1

Submitted by robkill
robkill writes: Yahoo announced on it's help site today that it will be shutting down Geocities later this year and is no longer accepting any new customers. Who knows, maybe it will take the blink tag with it when Yahoo shuts it down. More information at Techcrunch

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