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Comment Re:US doesn't know how to handle terrorism. (Score 1) 335

by madenglishbloke (#34047280) Attached to: British Airways Chief Slams US Security Requests
Your second sentence is somewhat disingenuous - you may as well blame all the national rivalries in Europe on the Romans invading everyone else and stealing their lands. Ireland (as a whole) has been under British rule for hundreds of years, dating right back to the Norman invasion in the Twelfth Century - remember, these are the same Normans who invaded England. Incidentally, the Normans were invited over to help one of the ousted Irish kings regain his kingdom, and he gradually handed more and more power over to the Normans. If anything, the British GAVE AWAY land, allowing the creation of the Irish Free State which occupied 5/6ths of the landmass - the Protestant dominated North-East of the country remained part of the UK. All the terrorism was aimed at bringing that last small piece into an independent Ireland, and was mostly bankrolled by the Irish government and various American political groups who claimed an Irish background - even if that background was Protestant rather than Catholic. More people were killed by Irish terrorists than died in the Twin Towers, yet not once did the British government try bringing in any measures approaching anywhere near this level of paranoia and stupidity.

Comment Re:THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM !! (Score 1) 344

by madenglishbloke (#32746186) Attached to: UK Police Threaten Teenage Photojournalist

Thank God we don't have any smart terrorists... the kind who would, say, cause a security alert at an airport in order to have it evacuated and then set off the car-bomb parked outside (away from all the security, checks, police officers with guns, etc.), in the open-air, right where 10,000 people just got evacuated to.

There was a terrorist attack in Manchester several years ago by one version of the IRA - several small bombs were placed on shops in the Arndale Centre (later to be all but demolished by another bomb). When these bombs went off, the entire building was evacuated - it was later found that explosives had been laid by one of the main emergency exit routes. IIRC, these explosives didnt go off, but the loss of life among those trying to get away from a smaller event could have been staggering. Then again, this was something the IRA was adept at - after all, what better way to cause terror than by making it obvious you might be killed even if you get away from a terrorist incident.
Input Devices

Project Natal Pricing and Release Date Revealed 156

Posted by Soulskill from the not-cheap dept.
tekgoblin writes "According to Edge-online.com, their source says that we can expect Microsoft's Project Natal to cost around $149. 'The figure for the standalone unit is significantly higher than a previous sub-£50 estimate, but less than pricing recently suggested by European retailers. It’s also more expensive than Sony’s Natal rival, Move, which will be available later this year with a game for less than $100.'"
Windows

Microsoft Kills Support For XP SP2 315

Posted by timothy from the too-soon? dept.
Trailrunner7 writes "Microsoft's announcement this week that it is preparing to end support for machines running Windows XP SP2 not only represents a challenge for the thousands of businesses still running SP2, but also is the end of an era for both Microsoft and its customers. It wasn't until 2004 that the final release of XP SP2 hit the streets, but when it did, it represented a huge step forward in security for Windows users. It wasn't necessarily the feature set that mattered as much as the fact that the protections were enabled by default and taken out of the users' hands."
Moon

3-D Printer Creates Buildings From Dust and Glue 139

Posted by timothy from the one-layer-at-a-time dept.
An anonymous reader writes "D-Shape, an innovative new 3-D printer, builds solid structures like sculptures, furniture, even buildings from the ground up. The device relies on sand and magnesium glue to actually build structures layer by layer from solid stone. The designer, Enrico Dini, is even talking with various organizations about making the printer compatible with moon dust, paving the way for an instant moonbase!"
Businesses

Facebook Mafiosi Go To the Mattresses vs. Zynga 102

Posted by Soulskill from the concrete-galoshes dept.
sympleko writes "Zynga has the lion's share of traffic in Facebook applications, and Mafia Wars is one of their most popular social games. Collapsing under the weight of over 26 million users, Zynga has been scrambling to thwart hard-core gamers who reverse-engineer URLs or script the game to optimize their enjoyment. Many of the workarounds have annoyed users who were accustomed to various game features, and even worse, the hastily-deployed changes have resulted in many players losing access to the game, in-game prizes, or statistics. Fed up with a software company seemingly bent on discouraging people from enjoying their product, a number of tagged players have organized a boycott of all Zynga games. The first 24-hour boycott on Sunday 12/13 resulted in an 11% decline in Daily Active Users, and an emergency thread on Zynga's forums (from which most of the flames were deleted). The current boycott, extending Wednesday through Sunday is being supported by a 428K strong Facebook group. At issue is the social contract between software companies and their devoted user base, as well as the nefarious tactics Zynga has used to raise cash."

Comment Re:I'm just wondering... (Score 1) 95

by madenglishbloke (#30154710) Attached to: Two Arrested For Zbot Trojan
It's just that every time the Met comes up here, they bungle the case big time and those arrested have to be released, even in the midst of over-whelming evidence against them. Either that, or they blatantly get the wrong person but release all sorts of emotive "facts" about what they were arrested for which tries to convince everyone (or maybe just themselves) theyve got the right person. GMP are trained at least as well as anyone else in the country, and a lot better than some - they know exactly how to do this sort of thing and don't need anyone holding their hands.

Comment I'm just wondering... (Score 1) 95

by madenglishbloke (#30154240) Attached to: Two Arrested For Zbot Trojan
why the Met had to get involved. surely, every time the Police in London want to arrest someone in Manchester (usually terror related!) they should be the ones doing the support. Or is it another case of our Southern masters not trusting anyone north of the Watford Gap?
Games

An Early Look At DC Universe Online 60

Posted by Soulskill from the with-x-ray-vision dept.
Joystiq got the opportunity to spend some time playing an early version of Sony's DC Universe Online . Though the MMO won't be released for perhaps a year, the developers seem to have created a solid foundation for an entertaining and innovative game. GameDaily is running an interview with Marv Wolfman, a comic veteran who recently joined the DCUO team. From Joystiq: "DCUO is very much an action MMO, with few game mechanics decided by the roll of the algorithmic dice. The game controls much like most third-person action titles, with standard light and heavy (charge-sensitive) attacks, a jump action and an interact button (notably, used to pick up cars). Super moves are mapped to the same four face buttons (when using the PS3 gamepad; a keyboard and mouse will be compatible with the console version, too) and are activated using L2 and R2 toggles. In total, up to eight super moves are easily accessible at any given time. Our character could fire ice balls and freezing rays at opponents, melee them with blocks of ice, or conveniently freeze them inside larger blocks, for example. A simple targeting mode (accessed by holding R1) locks the game camera onto an opponent for focused attacks. ... DC Universe Online isn't trying to strictly clone today's success models. SOE is making genuine efforts to build what could be the best superhero game ever conceived, and we're excited to watch it grow."

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