Comment Re:Try before you buy (Score 1) 672
You are correct sir/madam. You can do a clean install with the beta; no previous OS required.
Comment News from the Zune team (Score 1) 785
Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you're a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.
Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support).
We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are sorry for that, and want to thank them for their patience.
Q: Why is this issue isolated to the Zune 30 device?
It is a bug in a driver for a part that is only used in the Zune 30 device.
Q: What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?
This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.
Q: What's the timeline on a fix?
The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.
Q: Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?
There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.
Q: What is Zune doing to fix this issue?
The issue should resolve itself.
Q: Are you sure that this won't happen to all 80, 120 or other flash devices?
This issue is related to a part that is only used in Zune 30 devices.
Q: How many 30GB Zune devices are affected? How many Zune 30GB devices were sold?
All 30GB devices are potentially affected.
Matt Akers
Zune Product Team
Comment Re:Great, any benefits to adding my copy to Steam? (Score 1) 354
It doesn't seem to be possible at this time. Only these games can be added using retail keys: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601#which
Comment Re:Great, any benefits to adding my copy to Steam? (Score 1) 354
Not true. I bought Football Manager 2009 and used the key on the manual to install the game via Steam's 'Activate a product on Steam...' feature.
Submission + - New cracks in Google mail (theregister.co.uk)
Xannon writes: A new weakness in Gmail makes it easy to put in a back door into Gmail accounts. The back door is installed by sending some one to a 'specially crafted' website while they are logged in to Gmail. The back door is made by adding a filter that forwards all mail to a specified address.
Submission + - Google accused of aiding far-right in Germany (neowin.net)
athloi writes: "The Central Council of Jews in Germany wants the government to begin a criminal investigation into Google and YouTube for airing neo-Nazi and Nazi videos they claim violate Germany's strict laws against inciting hatred toward minorities. Salomon Korn, VP of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, called for an investigation of YouTube for allegedly allowing the spread of anti-Semitic propaganda. They include World War II Nazi propaganda clips, as well as recent clips from neo-Nazi groups active in Germany. German journalists said one of the YouTube-aired clips was viewed more than 400,000 times in eight months, despite pleas from several German groups to take it down.
http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=42250
I hate what they say, but I'll defend to the death their right to say it. IIRC, one of Google's founders is Jewish, so I doubt it's sympathy that's making YouTube keep these videos online."
http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=42250
I hate what they say, but I'll defend to the death their right to say it. IIRC, one of Google's founders is Jewish, so I doubt it's sympathy that's making YouTube keep these videos online."
Submission + - Girl's heart regenerates due to artificial assist (www.cbc.ca) 1
Socguy writes: "A 15-year-old girl has become the first Canadian to have an artificial heart removed after her own heart healed itself.
Doctors at the Stollery Children's hospital implanted the Berlin Heart, a portable mechanical device that keeps blood pumping in an ailing heart, so she could survive until a transplant became available.
But over the next few months, Melissa's overall condition improved dramatically, and her heart muscle regained much of its strength. After 146 days on the Berlin Heart, Melissa underwent surgery to have the device removed.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/08/28/ artificial-heart.html"
Doctors at the Stollery Children's hospital implanted the Berlin Heart, a portable mechanical device that keeps blood pumping in an ailing heart, so she could survive until a transplant became available.
But over the next few months, Melissa's overall condition improved dramatically, and her heart muscle regained much of its strength. After 146 days on the Berlin Heart, Melissa underwent surgery to have the device removed.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/08/28
Submission + - $1.4m server falls off forklift (theregister.co.uk) 1
mistahkurtz writes: it sucks to be this guy:
having worked in a S&R dept, i know that things can arrive packed improperly. but usually, you'll be able to tell that before unloading the item from a truck, since said item is often already tipped over, busting open, or broken into pieces. can IBM really be held responsible? better question: should they?Federal contractor T.R. Systems says its workers were moving the server from a freight truck into its warehouse in Alexandria, Va., when the mishap occurred. "The rear wheels of their forklift hit the raised surface at the entry door of the warehouse, causing the forklift to rock, and subsequently causing the server to rock," T.R. Systems says in court papers filed last month.
Submission + - $4.5 billion "bin Laden trade" 1
Submission + - Mark Russinovich about Vista network slowdown 1
koro666 writes: In his latest blog post, Mark Russinovich analyzes the network slowdown experienced by some users when playing multimedia content. "Tests of MMCSS during Vista development showed that [...] heavy network traffic can cause enough long-running DPCs to prevent playback threads from keeping up with their media streaming requirements, resulting in glitching. MMCSS' glitch-resistant mechanisms were therefore extended to include throttling of network activity. It does so by issuing a command to the NDIS device driver [...] [to] pass along, at most 10 packets per millisecond (10,000 packets per second)."
Submission + - Reuters Image of Russian Subersible from Titanic
Juha-Matti Laurio writes: "Footage purporting to show Russian explorers claiming the seafloor beneath the North Pole last week was in fact a scene from the 1997 film, reports The Independent. It took a 13-year-old Finnish boy to call a local newspaper pointing out that the footage looked identical to that in the film. According to Finnish Helsingin Sanomat publishing the pictures too 'at the time of the original broadcast, the vessels and their crews were known to be still some hours away from their destination'."
Submission + - The sky is falling! Meteor shower peaks Sunday eve (badastronomy.com)
The Bad Astronomer writes: "Well, it may be death to my server to submit two articles at once, but I was shocked to see nothing on /. about the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks Sunday night. I have some simple advice on how to watch it, for those of you who can actually venture away from the computer and get outside. No tech, no gadgets, just you and the sky, and little bits of rock and ice impacting our atmosphere at 60 kps."
Submission + - Benoit Murder on Wikipedia Before Publicly Known?
An anonymous reader writes: Fox News is reporting that the Wikipedia page for Chris Benoit was updated with information on his wife's death at least 13 hours before police found her body. According to Fox News, the IP where the edit came from is located in Stamford, CT, home of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Submission + - Microsoft shuts down Longhorn Reloaded project (arstechnica.com)
lone technical writer writes: "Microsoft shuts down, for valid contractual reasons, a project designed to bring back the features originally intended for Vista that had geek "wow" beyond Aero Glass. This indicates a user community that expects more from Microsoft, and many hope the company listens so not to bore its developers.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070628-micr osoft-shuts-down-longhorn-reloaded.html"
Submission + - Information Disclosure in Google Docs
An anonymous reader writes: Several users of Google Docs and Spreadsheets are reporting that upon logging in since the upgrade, they're greeted with other users' documents. Now is probably a very good time to delete any private information.
