timrichardson - Slashdot User

Submission + - Second Life shuts down casinos (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by

Tech.Luver

on Thursday July 26, 2007 @05:11AM

Tech.Luver writes: "theinquirer reports, ( http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41240 ) " LINDEN LAB, hallowed creator of the Second Life virtual world, has announced that all in-world casinos and miscellaneous gambling joints are herewith to be shut down. That means that the large chunk of users that enjoyed using in-world casinos and betting Linden Dollars on events both inside and outside the game world will now have nothing left to do. Perhaps more to the point for Linden, the move will cut off the revenues earned from those owning Casino-style islands in the game, the owners of which are some of the top contributors to the Linden coffers through currency fees and land rental. ""

Submission + - AI Poker shows machines can bluff

Submitted by timrichardson on Thursday July 26, 2007 @01:16AM

timrichardson writes: Computers playing poker can now give strong human players a real challenge (NY Times free link) , which is quite a surprise given the element of bluffing and risk-taking. In the first of a new annual human-machine challenge. Interestingly, the program has a range of different personalities (such as highly aggressive), which a supervisor module would monitor and select according to performance against the humans.

Submission + - Google Is Evil, A Full List of Privacy Concerns (lowesoftware.com)

Submitted by on Wednesday July 25, 2007 @03:30PM

An anonymous reader writes: Google has been growing and consuming information like no other entity in history. With this consolidation of public, personal, and trend data in a single searchable, cross-referenceable database there is a new threat to privacy. There are numerous Google privacy concerns that have been published and discussed over the years. Here's the formula: Google is pervasive and peddles seemingly free wares and services that only ask to record information about you; the Google privacy policy is broad in what Google will collect and what Google will do with the data; Google has proved it will violate privacy rights and use your information. Finally, there is much more possibility for abuse and therefore this is something we should be cognizent of.

Submission + - UK rejects lengthening of copyright (yahoo.com)

Submitted by timrichardson on Tuesday July 24, 2007 @10:43AM

timrichardson writes: The British Government has rejected extending copyright for sound recordings. This is an important development in the face of trends to extend copyright duration, although it leaves British copyright protection for music recordings at a shorter duration than for written works. The decision was despite fierce lobbying from the large British music industry. The music industry will now lobby direct to the European Commission, but without the support of the national government, its position is significantly weakened. British copyright for music recordings therefore remains at 50 years after the death of the artist, in contrast to 95 years in the US and 70 years in Australia.

Submission + - Intel joins One Laptop per Child (pressesc.com)

Submitted by

Drawoc Mous

on Friday July 13, 2007 @04:21PM

Drawoc Mous writes: "The war is over. Negroponte and Barrett have decided to kiss and make up. The folks who make the "$100 gadget" will now work with the folks who "should be ashamed of themselves". Under the agreement, Intel and OLPC will explore collaborations involving technology and educational content. Intel will also join the board of OLPC."

Submission + - Blu-ray Backers launch deceptive "HiDef News&# (valleywag.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 13, 2007 @04:07PM

An anonymous reader writes: There is a new web site focused on unbiased coverage of high-def discs. The only problem: it's a Blu-ray promotional campaign — exclusively covering Blu-ray — created by Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, and other backers of the format. Sony, of course, should know better... they've been caught creating a fake blog promoting the PSP last December and fake critics for its movies six years ago.

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