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PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Accellerated X drivers coming for PS3 Linux (ps2dev.org)

Submitted by t0qer
t0qer writes: Over at the PS2dev forums a hacker named Ironpeter has successfully managed to bypass the PS3's Hypervisor to gain direct access to it's Nvidia RSX GPU.

This is s first step and far from a complete working driver, but it seems as word of this spreads, more people are helping with the effort to hunt down the Hypervisors Fifo/Push buffer. It won't be long before we're playing tux racer on the PS3 in it's full OpenGL glory.
Linux Business

Submission + - Microsoft Fracturing the Open-Source Community

Submitted by
TechGeek
TechGeek writes: "Microsoft has succeeded in fracturing the Linux and open-source community with the patent indemnity agreements it has entered into with several prominent vendors, Ubuntu leader and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth told eWEEK(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2167193 ,00.asp). Microsoft's strategy was to drive a wedge into the open-source community and unsettle the marketplace, Shuttleworth said. He also took issue with the Redmond, Wash., software maker for not disclosing the 235 of its patents it claims are being violated by Linux and other open-source software. "That's extortion and we should call it what it is," he said."
Businesses

Submission + - Penalizing for Poor Health 2

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Perhaps laying the groundwork for Sicko II, Clarian Health announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index is over 30. Even slim-and-trim employees have to worry about their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels — they'll be dinged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Smokers get a sneak preview of the policy starting next year, when they'll find $5 less in each check. Clarian credited new government HIPPAA rules that became effective July 1st for giving it the courage to follow its penalize-for-poor-health convictions."
Mars

Submission + - Thermal IR imaging suggest half of Mars has ice

Submitted by
Ixlr8
Ixlr8 writes: "BBC news is running a story that suggests up to half of Mars may have ice. From the article:

Up until now, scientists had been able to search for water deposits using a spectrometer fixed to the orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft. However, only readings that are accurate to within several hundred kilometres can be obtained.
By comparing seasonal changes in thermal infrared patterns, detected by the same Odyssey spacecraft, (scientists)[ed] can make readings accurate to within just hundreds of metres."
Security

Submission + - Digg.com Accounts Compromised

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There is a cross-site scripting vulnerbility on the registration page of popular social networking site Digg.com. The hole allows cookies and sessions of logged-in users to be hijacked, compromising the account. The exploit can be triggered simply by a user clicking a maliciously-crafted link. A full explanation and sample exploit code is available here
Bug

Submission + - World's most expensive train ticket?

Submitted by BeerCat
BeerCat writes: The UK National Rail site can search for journeys between different destinations, and will also display the likely fare. Unless, the journey is from Oxford to Hawarden (about 170 miles by road, according to Google Maps), travelling tomorrow from 08:00, in which case the fare will be £179,769,313,486,231,570,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ,000,000,000.00

The site even notes "We are sorry, but we couldn't find any First Class tickets available. You can try searching in different times or dates for available First Class tickets". Which is probably just as well.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's HD Photo spec: Review at your own risk

Submitted by
PetManimal
PetManimal writes: "Microsoft is preparing to submit its HD Photo standard as a replacement for the JPEG standard. Microsoft claims the new HD Photo standard can potentially display higher-quality photos that take up just half the storage space of an equivalent JPEG image. Unfortunately, it's not easy to actually read the HD spec — Microsoft forces users to agree to a legal document before downloading the spec. The agreement states that users cannot duplicate any part of the spec and Microsoft can "commercialize your feedback"."
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Computer Characters Tortured for Science

Submitted by
Rob Carr
Rob Carr writes: "Considered unethical to ever perform again with humans, researcher Mel Slater recreated the Milgram experiment in a immersive virtual environment. Subjects (some of whom could see and hear the computerized woman, others who were only able to read text messages from her) were told that they were interacting with a computer character and told to give increasingly powerful electric shocks when wrong answers were given or the "woman" took too long to respond. The computer program would correspondingly complain and beg as the "shocks" were ramped up, falling apparently unconscious before the last shock. The skin conductance and electrocardiograms of the subjects were monitored. Even though the subjects knew they were only "shocking" a computer program, their bodies reacted with increased stress responses. Several of the ones who could see and hear the woman stopped before reaching the "lethal" voltage, and about half considered stopping the study. The full results of the experimental report can be read online at PLoS One. Already, some (like William Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute) are asking whether even this sanitized experiment is ethical. The application of these results to video games are obvious, and it's only a matter of time before someone starts using this research to question the effects of violent video games on people."
The Media

Sex, Violence, Tension & Video Games 87

Posted by timothy from the handwringer's-symphony dept.
simoniker writes "Gamasutra has just posted an interview with author Gerard Jones, subtitled 'Sex, Violence, Tension and Comic Books,' in which the writer of 'Killing Monsters' talks about violence and games eloquently. When asked: 'What do you think it is in your work that resonates with the gaming community?', Jones comments: 'Video games have been so much under attack recently, that I think there's a certain nervousness. Most people in this business are very pleasant and non-confrontational and the fact that they are being reviled as the causes of crime, causes of violence, is disturbing. On the one hand, I think people want to know how to respond to those criticisms. But on the other hand, I think there's some genuine anxiety that maybe games have a bad side, maybe there is a problem, and how do we deal with any guilt or fear?' He goes on to suggest of attacks on gaming: "I would say now we're kind of at the tail end. If games continue to push boundaries, particular ones could come under attack. A lot of it's just the medium being around long enough that people have realized the world hasn't gone to hell.""
Data Storage

Submission + - Big Table as 556,296,975,142 Megabytes woo hoo!

Submitted by
aisnota
aisnota writes: "Google Code has revealed Google statistic about Big Table, the database that powers Google itself.

Val Hallas Software stumbled upon the humonguous number through an error emitted from Google Code when he checked the quota, google code reported: "Quota used: approximately 556296975142 MB of 100 MB". Quite an astonishing number for data storage.

That is a whole lot of data and probably a surprise for some of those working with tools in Google Space. Now the following page is left intentially blank to fill in all the data space with your comments."
User Journal

Journal Journal: Ask slashdot: are the ancient pyramids of Bosnia real?

Journal by 192939495969798999

The Register reports through an expert interview that the so-called Bosnian pyramids may in fact be a natural phenomenon. The photographs of the excavation appear to tell a different story, especially the incredibly artifical-looking surface stone tiling. So are these real man-made pyramids, or are they naturally occurring river rock that happened to shatter into a pattern that looks just like
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Too Much 'Guitar Hero' Causes Pro to Miss Games

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the following article, CBS Sportsline reports on how playing too much Guitar Hero on a Sony Playstation caused Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya to miss several games. At first, trainers thought that he had injured himself playing baseball, but it was determined that his injuries were "more consistent with guitar players' injuries". Professional sports players have restrictions on what they can do in the off-season (i.e. basketball players can't play a pickup game) — will we now see restrictions on video gaming??
Education

First Russian Anti-Evolution Suit Enters Court Room 485

Posted by Zonk from the popular-thing-to-do dept.
sdriver writes "If you thought it was only the US giving Darwin a hard time, Russia has its own problems starting with evolution. A student has 'sued the St. Petersburg city education committee, claiming the 10th-grade biology textbook used at the Cervantes Gymnasium was offensive to believers and that teachers should offer an alternative to Darwin's famous theory.' The suit, the first of its kind in Russia, is being dismissed out of hand by the principal and teachers. The teacher of the science class had apparently even taken the step of stating at the start of the school year that there were other theories on the origin of life."

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