Comment Re:California does not have the cash for a case th (Score 1) 167
Let him produce better porn, then.
Comment Re:It's Only $5 (Score 0, Redundant) 117
Takes a while, but there it is.
I just wish the server was a tad quicker.
Comment Re:It's Only $5 (Score 0, Redundant) 117
Hmm - did we slashdot Paypal? There's no history of the transaction in my account. Odd.
Comment Re:It's Only $5 (Score 0, Offtopic) 117
Did we slashdot their e-sales partner? I ordered the game a few minutes ago and am still waiting for a confirmation email from the shop.
Comment Re:Governments love crime (Score 1) 215
I rather think our (German) minister of families and youth did invent child porn on the net.
She seems to be the only one who ever saw any, even the police say child porn in distributed mainly via other channels. Still we are getting the same kind of filters on August 1st; nevermind they are not constitutional and there was a massive backlash in parts of the press and people, as well a record-breaking petition with for than 100k signatures.
Funny thing, she got some extremely ugly images of child porn from the police and showed them to the press. Of course she was indicted for possession and distribution, but the (local equivalent) of the DA didn't take up the case citing she had official reasons to do so.
Say, les mecs. You've got Bastille Day over in France today, haven't you? Could we send her over for a little re-enactment? We'll gladly take your Sarkozy on our national holiday and bore him to death with depressive speeches.
Hackers' Next Target — Your Brain? 295
Hugh Pickens writes "Wired reports that as neural devices become more complicated — and go wireless — some scientists say the risks of 'brain hacking' should be taken seriously. '"Neural devices are innovating at an extremely rapid rate and hold tremendous promise for the future," said computer security expert Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington. "But if we don't start paying attention to security, we're worried that we might find ourselves in five or 10 years saying we've made a big mistake."' For example, the next generation of implantable devices to control prosthetic limbs will likely include wireless controls that allow physicians to remotely adjust settings on the machine. If neural engineers don't build in security features such as encryption and access control, an attacker could hijack the device and take over the robotic limb." Relatedly, several users have written to tell us that science may be closer to the science fiction "mind wipe" than previously thought. Put this all together and I welcome the next step in social networking; letting the cloud drive my limbs around town via a live webcam and then wiping the memory from my brain. Who has MyLimb.com parked and is willing to deal?
Comment Next step (Score 5, Funny) 389
Outlaw roofs.
Comment Re:Ban how to host a murder while you're at it. (Score 1) 473
Sorry, the point I was trying to make was that the injunction stopping the friend from carrying out the murder grows successively weaker with each ultra-realistic simulated murder, to the point where when the opportunity arises, he's already desensitised himself to it.
It's still not realistic. The murder victim does not exist prior to the game, the corpse will not exist after the game. The victim will exist again at the beginning of the next game. No consequences extent past the actual game.
It's nothing but playing cowboys and indians. Someone calls: Next round and all the corpses rise again and switch places. Any kid can understand that.
A rather more interesting variety: Let's say you could make your friend believe he was in a simulation and get him to kill someone for you. Be careful and you can commit a nice murder by proxy. The idea is not new, try reading Curtains, by Agatha Christie.
Some Overheating 3GS iPhones Glow Pink 364
Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that dozens of users of the recently released iPhone 3GS have reported overheating issues, with some iPhone owners unable to pick up the device because the handset gets so hot to the touch, while others say the casing turns pink with the heat. 'I am definitely experiencing issues with the iPhone running warm and quick battery life lost,' writes Tom Goldstein on one discussion board. 'The phone seems to warm up almost immediately if I am doing anything that pulls data over the network.' Some users have said the device has been too hot to put to their ear while making a phone call, and others say the overheating seems to occur when owners are using the iPhone's mapping software, which uses the handset's built-in GPS technology. Melissa J. Perenson writes at PC World: 'I became aware the handset had become very hot. Very, very hot — not just on the back, but the entire length of the front face, too.' Some gadget experts believe faulty batteries could be the cause of overheating and poor battery life. 'My guess is there's going to be a whole lot of batteries affected because these [iPhones] are from very large production runs,' said Aaron Vronko, who fixes iPods and iPhones. 'If you have a problem in the design of a series of batteries, it's probably going to be spread to tens of thousands [of device], if not hundreds of thousands, and maybe more.'"
Comment Re:Released!?!! (Score 1) 436
NOTE: THIS WORKS.
Just started working with 3.5 De_de. Firebug already has an update, but the ugly dotted borders are not fixed. Sigh....my designer will lynch me.
Comment Re:Game code isn't set up that way (Score 1) 209
Because you'd get lynched in the opposing factions towns before you can explain. Friend and enemy are well-defined in WoW.
It's bad enough with the DKs, when they ally with a faction. RP-wise they should get attacked, not pelted with fruit.
Comment Re:Lame (Score 1) 209
The fact that you start with a lvl 55 char with next to no money, having to do the starter areas to raise your profession. It's ok if you level your profession while you play, but spending days running areas where you only meet grey - but still annoyingly aggressive - mobs while you try to get your gathering skill up to the level appropriate for the outlands is a major pita. For the herd-players that may not be a problem, for a solo it's a real fun-killer.
I am waiting for a third faction: scourge. The DK starter quests are real fun, except the one where you get shot of your stupid flying mount. Arthas may make my fist itch, but he's still a lot better than those crusading idiots. RP-PVP ing as Scourge, now that'd be something to look forward to.
Comment Re:I wonder (Score 1) 256
If any other news "event" has ever caused there to be such a massive amount of searching - it worries me that it is a celebrity causing this and that people aren't this into any "real" news that actually impacts them.
There's people for you. We are a social species after all. As a society we lost someone who meant something or other to everyone.
I found it rather amazing to hear all kinds of groups, temporary and permanent, talk about Jackson. I work in an office building with a lot of small companies and there was Jackson music coming from most offices on Friday, either from the Net or any local FM station.
People were talking conciliatory about him, mostly praising his music and pitying him for being such a screwed up character. As far as it is proven in court, he never hurt any child, so very few people felt the need to discuss his alleged child-abuse. We do not talk ill of the dead.
Still, I enjoyed the jokes about this demise. Humour is one way of dealing with loss.
Very few people get such a worldwide eulogy.
Comment Re:outsourcing and unemployment (Score 1) 1144
When your test driving a car do you immediately put the car in 5th gear and expect to pull away from the curb without burning out the clutch? Why do you do the same thing when test driving a person?
Because cars have value.
Comment Re:No touchy! (Score 1) 149
By the orangutans' reaction when the researcher next appeared? Did they flee him or come to him to be tickled again? That should be a good indicator if the apes in question enjoyed it. Also, one could watch out if the orangs copied the behaviour and tickled other members of the group.
Of course, the researcher could have just looked up ook in the librarian's orangutan-human dictionary.
