Feed US achieves autonomous docking in space (pheedo.com)
Journal Journal: Ferrium Project relaunch - Privateer/Elite like game
Today (2007-05-08) I relaunched my previously fallen-through game engine project, Ferrium, has a Privateer/Elite like game. I have long wanted a true successor to Wing Commander Privateer, in playstyle and feel. I finally decided to try it myself (again). So if you would like to play this game, or even better like to help me make it, swing on by my Announcement on the dev forums.
Feed LG's GGW-H10N HD DVD / Blu-ray combo drive previewed (engadget.com)
Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Peripherals, Storage
We can't deny feeling a little rush of excitement when we first learned that LG would be releasing an optical drive that could handle both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs -- like many fence-sitters, we see these combo units as an end run around the format war -- so obviously we were quite stoked to read ExtremeTech's initial thoughts on one of these devices (provided by HP in what was likely an upcoming Media Center). Bearing in mind that neither the review unit nor the drivers were finalized versions, it sounds like the GGW-H10N does indeed live up to its promise of reading nearly every disc format available as well as burning and Lightscribing Blu-ray media, DVDs, and CDs; however, Blu-ray write speeds were well below the claimed 2x in testing, and the lack of HD DVD-R/RW read support could prove to be a rather frequent annoyance unless it's rectified through a firmware update (or HD DVD pulls a Betamax). Bottom line: if you just can't wait any longer to jump into the game, this LG drive will give you most of the capabilities you're looking for -- but with a likely pricetag of $1,000 and more full-featured models probably right down the road, it would seem to pay off if you can just keep on waitin'...
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Obsession With Firewalls Could Hinder IPv6 278
DosIgriegas writes "The obsession with firewalls in IPv6 may result in some of the quirks of IPv4 reappearing. Ars Technica has an article looking at the topic in depth, exploring the technical challenges of securing the new protocol, and looking a the re-emergence of old problems in new guises. 'Ironically, what's required to make IPv6 work through a stateful firewall is almost identical to what's required to make IPv4 work though NAT. This means the IETF's efforts to keep IPv6 NAT-free in order to make protocols do their job without messy workarounds are defeated by the notion that everything should be firewalled.' If we decide to stick with firewalls in IPv6, we'll see many of the same hard-to-diagnose network problems that we have with IPv4."
Feed Engineers Uncover Factors That Control Ion Motion In Solid Electrolytes (sciencedaily.com)
Scientists show for the first time that they can connect an increase in electrical, or ionic, conductivity with flexibility of their networks. The same team of researchers discovered intermediate phases seven years ago in amorphous or disordered materials where networks are covalently bonded.
Powerful Supernova May Be Related To Death Spasms of First Stars 136
necro81 writes "The New York Times is reporting on a discovery from a team of UC Berkley researchers, who may have discovered the brightest stellar explosion ever observed. Observations of the cataclysmic explosion of a 100- to 200-solar-mass star began last September, based on data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The researchers believe that the explosion is similar to the death spasms of the first stars in the universe. The super-massive star's collapse is believed to have been so energetic as to create unstable electron-positron pairs that tore the star apart before it could collapse into a black hole — seeding the universe with heavier elements."
Comment Switched, but a hardware solution would be nice... (Score 1) 559
I actually started the process to switch about two weeks ago. I weighed the advantages and disadvantages and decided that the trouble of making the swich was worth it in the long run. I'm making good progress and my speed and accuracy are almost caught up with before. There's only one thing I worry about, and that's the trouble that can be involved in switching back and forth on other systems or on things like rescue discs (where it's not really feasible to rebuild the images every time just for that one change.) On other systems I'm most worried, because in some rare cases they are pretty locked down for security reasons, so I can't run files from my flash drive to make the switch or when I'm working on someone else's system (I do a lot of problem fixing for people.)
What I really want -- instead of always relying on some software solution -- is just some dirt cheap Dvorak hardwired keyboard (preferably USB) that I can simply plug in and it work in everything (it would take some interesting work to get Dvorak in syslinux or other boot loaders for example, so such a thing has the added advantage of letting you more easily deal with these sorts of things.) Basically all I want is something like those $12 QWERTY keyboards you can find at a Walmart, only hardwired for Dvorak instead (I know that those ubercheap keyboards will give you a massive case of carpel tunnel type pains if you use them more than a few hours, but we're talking about something that would only be used for less than an hour at a time since I can just use my nice normal keyboard on my personal computer with all the software solutions.)
I realize that it would cost more than the $12 Walmart boards, but right now I have been unable to find a hardwired Dvorak keyboard for less than $60, which is a pricerange that is just out of the question for such a thing. I've checked everywhere ranging from the higher quality electronics sites to places like eBay and even more questionable websites, but the most affordable Dvorak keyboard I ever found was just an ordinary cheap QWERTY keyboard with the keys moved so it still required a software solution (and even that was at a ridiculous price for what it was.) Sometimes I just wish I had the ability to create my own circuit sheets to rewire a keyboard to Dvorak in hardware myself, but while it may be theoretically possible for some to do it with stuff they may even have at home, it's just way too much for me.
I can't believe that companies are selling these things for $100+ when just taking the same crappy parts that make up a $12 keyboard, tossing in different circuits (they don't even have to change the chip it uses!) and putting the keys in different places would allow them to market to a LOT of people making the switch (I know that when I first thought about Dvorak a long time ago I assumed I would need a new keyboard and would have bought one if it were reasonably priced) as well as some who already have (not to mention that they could get away with slapping a $20 pricetag on it and make even more per keyboard within reason to offset the difference in the smaller volume.) Not many people are willing to spend so much for a keyboard...
I was wondering if anyone here might actually know of some solution like the recircuiting idea (but more reasonable) or someone selling cheap Dvorak keyboards that I haven't been able to find?
What I really want -- instead of always relying on some software solution -- is just some dirt cheap Dvorak hardwired keyboard (preferably USB) that I can simply plug in and it work in everything (it would take some interesting work to get Dvorak in syslinux or other boot loaders for example, so such a thing has the added advantage of letting you more easily deal with these sorts of things.) Basically all I want is something like those $12 QWERTY keyboards you can find at a Walmart, only hardwired for Dvorak instead (I know that those ubercheap keyboards will give you a massive case of carpel tunnel type pains if you use them more than a few hours, but we're talking about something that would only be used for less than an hour at a time since I can just use my nice normal keyboard on my personal computer with all the software solutions.)
I realize that it would cost more than the $12 Walmart boards, but right now I have been unable to find a hardwired Dvorak keyboard for less than $60, which is a pricerange that is just out of the question for such a thing. I've checked everywhere ranging from the higher quality electronics sites to places like eBay and even more questionable websites, but the most affordable Dvorak keyboard I ever found was just an ordinary cheap QWERTY keyboard with the keys moved so it still required a software solution (and even that was at a ridiculous price for what it was.) Sometimes I just wish I had the ability to create my own circuit sheets to rewire a keyboard to Dvorak in hardware myself, but while it may be theoretically possible for some to do it with stuff they may even have at home, it's just way too much for me.
I can't believe that companies are selling these things for $100+ when just taking the same crappy parts that make up a $12 keyboard, tossing in different circuits (they don't even have to change the chip it uses!) and putting the keys in different places would allow them to market to a LOT of people making the switch (I know that when I first thought about Dvorak a long time ago I assumed I would need a new keyboard and would have bought one if it were reasonably priced) as well as some who already have (not to mention that they could get away with slapping a $20 pricetag on it and make even more per keyboard within reason to offset the difference in the smaller volume.) Not many people are willing to spend so much for a keyboard...
I was wondering if anyone here might actually know of some solution like the recircuiting idea (but more reasonable) or someone selling cheap Dvorak keyboards that I haven't been able to find?
Build Your Own Band-aid Fuel Cell 84
ptorrone writes "Here's how to make a fuel cell from a band-aid...This has got to be the simplest way to build a fuel cell from scratch. The design is ridiculously simple, whilst being effective - it will allow you to explore the concepts of fuel cells in a ludicrously simple way."
RIM Strikes Back, Files Countersuit Against Visto 83
SilentOne writes "Research In Motion Ltd. launched an all-out assault on competitors yesterday, countersuing its latest legal nemesis and introducing software to pre-empt imminent launches by other challengers. The countersuit also gives RIM a chance to move the patent battle to a courtroom where it has a better chance of beating Visto. Visto filed suit against RIM on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, which reportedly favours patent holders in 92% of cases heard by the court. Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive, said the company wants the trial moved to the Dallas area, where RIM's U.S. headquarters are located, for practical reasons.
Meanwhile, RIM is giving away a free software package, valued at US$3,000, to hook the e-mail accounts of small businesses and consumers up to BlackBerries instead of competitive devices from Palm and Microsoft."
Microsoft Seeking to Patent Automatic Censorship 187
theodp writes "Microsoft is back at the USPTO, this time seeking a patent for the automatic censorship of audio data for broadcast, a system and method for automatically altering audio to prevent undesired words and phrases from being understandable to a listener as originally uttered."
802.11n Spec Still In The Air 119
Vitaly Friedman writes "Standards for the hotly anticipated Wi-Fi successor haven't yet been agreed upon. Where's that leave all those early-bird products? 802.11n is a highly anticipated successor to today's Wi-Fi, promising a huge performance boost. The draft spec promises to deliver data rates up to 180 Mbps, which could make wired home networks unnecessary and should allow high-definition wireless video streaming. At issue is whether the draft spec is far enough along that companies can make products that will provide that performance but still be compatible with each other and with older Wi-Fi equipment."
Bethesda Responds To Oblivion Re-Rating 341
Gamespot has details on Bethesda's response to the ESRB for their (some would argue) knee-jerk reaction to fan-added elements of Oblivion. From the article: "There is no nudity in Oblivion without a third party modification. In the PC version of the game only - this doesn't apply to the Xbox 360 version - some modders have used a third party tool to hack into and modify an art archive file to make it possible to create a mesh for a partially nude (topless) female that they add into the game. Bethesda didn't create a game with nudity and does not intend that nudity appear in Oblivion." They go on to state they submitted a 60-page document detailing the violence in the game. If anyone is at fault here, I think it's the ESRB.
More Unintended Consequences of the DMCA 205
BrianWCarver writes "In the seven years since Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), examples of the law's impact on legitimate consumers, scientists, and competitors continue to mount. A new report released today from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 'Unintended Consequences: Seven Years Under the DMCA,' (pdf) collects reports of the misuses of the DMCA -- chilling free expression and scientific research, jeopardizing fair use, impeding competition and innovation, and interfering with other laws on the books. The report updates a previous version issued by EFF in 2003, which Slashdot also covered."
Sun's Open Source DRM 274
DigDuality writes "Wired has an interesting look at Sun's proposed 'Open Source DRM'. From the article: 'Its goal is to promulgate an open-source architecture for digital rights management that would cut across devices, regardless of the manufacturer, and assign rights to individuals rather than gadgets [...] If DReaM works, consumers will be able to access their purchased songs through a number of providers, and using a wide variety of devices." Slashdot took a first look at Sun's DReaM last August.
