Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Science

Bone-Eating Worms Found In Antarctic Waters 38

sciencehabit writes "When you drop a whale backbone into Antarctic waters and retrieve it a year later, you'll find it covered with a pelt of wriggling, rosy-hued worms. Drop a chunk of wood in the same spot, and you'll discover that it's hardly changed. That's the result of a simple experiment to find out if some of the world's weirdest worms also live in Antarctic waters. The discovery extends the range of bone-eating worms to the Southern Ocean and suggests that Antarctic shipwrecks may be remarkably intact."
Bug

Xerox Photocopiers Randomly Alter Numbers, Says German Researcher 290

First time accepted submitter sal_park writes "According to a report from German computer scientist D. Kriesel, some Xerox WorkCentre copiers and scanners may alter numbers that appear in scanned documents. Having analyzed the output of two such devices, the Xerox WorkCentre 7535 and 7556, Kriesel found that "patches of the pixel data are randomly replaced in a very subtle and dangerous way": in particular, some numbers appearing in a document may be replaced by other numbers when it is scanned."

Comment Thrilled to have less options? (Score 1) 120

You're thrilled to have less options? 3D content can easily be downconverted to 2D, just play every other frame. Personally I like having stuff in 3D, though I won't watch stuff exclusively in 3D even if everything was available in it. It's just for special times when I really want to get into a movie or video game. For example, I loved Sony's 3D gaming push. I'm sad that it's over. I liked playing Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS in 3D, and when I got the PS3 version, I was sad to see that it wasn't in 3D for some reason, even though the game isn't that complex graphically and it would have been easy to include the option.

Comment No (Score 1) 315

Tablets are way more expensive, don't control as well, don't have high enough graphics fidelity, and don't offer the same gameplay experience. A tablet can be a fine companion device, but it won't take over as your main game device any time soon.

You can argue that they have some nice looking games, but most of them are a controlled linear experience. There are tons of clones, and the popular titles get lost in the sea of a constant stream of apps coming out.

I play games casually (when I just want a distraction) and hard core (when I want a couch experience that's going to last a few hours at least) and I'm happy with my 3DS and PS3. I've got a phone but only a couple of games on it, Dodonpachi and Deathsmiles, probably the only games which control better on a phone than on console. I don't see myself getting deeper into mobile games.

Comment Very nice (Score 2) 509

I was going to build a steam box if this didn't happen. I collect consoles and games*, and I'm not sure if I want the Xbox One because it's not guaranteed I'll be able to play my games 10 years down the road.

* Not for the value, but my old games are still fun and if I keep them I don't have to re-buy them or wait for the stars to align for games like Earthbound to come out intact
Microsoft

Microsoft Attempts to Woo Students With 'Crowdsourced' Laptops 128

theodp writes "Q. What do Chris Brown and Steve Ballmer have in common? A. They both want you to Beg for It. GeekWire reports that Microsoft is touting its new Chip In program, a crowdfunding platform that allows students to 'beg' for select Windows 8 PCs and tablets that they can't afford on their own. Blair Hanley Frank explains, 'Students go to the Chip In website and choose one of the 20 computers and tablets that have been pre-selected by Microsoft. Microsoft chips in 10% of the price right off the bat, and then students are given a link to a "giving page" to send out to anyone they think might give them money. Once their computer is fully funded, Microsoft ships it to them.' Hey, what could go wrong?"

Comment I don't really care (Score 1) 127

I'm collecting games so that I can re-play them in the future, or play them at all since I have quite a few that are unopened or at least unplayed. And I won't have to rely on any server authentication to do so! I'll also have the original unchanged and uncensored versions. Some games that have been re-released have included modifications and changes that are a result of expired agreements or what the developers deem "fixes" and other such things. Even NES and Genesis games.

Even if the next generation of game consoles holds me hostage, I'll still be able to go back to my game collection and play those however and whenever I want.

Slashdot Top Deals

"Protozoa are small, and bacteria are small, but viruses are smaller than the both put together."

Working...