R.Cad0r - Slashdot User

Why Sony Cannot Stop PS3 Pirates 378

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 14, 2011 @06:29AM from the of-pots-and-kettles dept.

Sam writes "A former Ubisoft exec believes that Sony will not be able to combat piracy on the PlayStation 3, which was recently hacked. Martin Walfisz, former CEO of Ubisoft subsidiary Ubisoft Massive, was a key player in developing Ubisoft's new DRM technologies. Since playing pirated games doesn't require a modchip, his argument is that Sony won't be able to easily detect hacked consoles. Sony's only possible solution is to revise the PS3 hardware itself, which would be a very costly process. Changing the hardware could possibly work for new console sales, though there would be the problem of backwards compatibility with the already-released games. Furthermore, current users would still be able to run pirated copies on current hardware." An anonymous reader adds commentary from PS3 hacker Mathieu Hervais about Sony's legal posturing.

Prince Says Internet Is Over 450

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday July 06, 2010 @09:18AM from the it-was-fun-while-it-lasted dept.

the_arrow writes "According to the artist currently known as Prince, 'The internet's completely over.' At least that what he says in an interview with the British newspaper Mirror. Quoting Prince: 'The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you.'"

Comment Honest answer (Score 0) 609

by R.Cad0r on Thursday March 25, 2010 @03:39AM (#31608102) Attached to: Math Skills For Programmers — Necessary Or Not?

I can answer this honestly, I've been 'programming' nearly 30 years now, I make a very comfortable living, and I actually consider myself to be one of the best at what I do. But I have absolutely horrible math skills.

My math history consist of failing pre-algebra in 9th grade, having to suffer thru remedial math in 10th, an advancing all the way back to pre-algebra again in 11th grade. Where I went to school (GA in the 80's), the only required class in 12th grade was English, so no more math I took. Not that I was dense, I was actually in the gifted programs until I stopped caring about what school was teaching me, and was way more interested in what I was doing in my spare time on the computer.

Now I get paid to solve problems. Mainly big business problems that are worth millions of dollars to my clients. This rarely involves much math. My expertise lies in automating processes, integrating existing systems, and creating simple interfaces for people to work efficiently, with even less skills then myself.

I did eventually spend quite a bit of time teaching myself all the things I missed out on, like geometry and trig, but this was purely for personal reasons, I never use that kind of math in a business environment.

Sony Develops a Universal Game Console Controller 62

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 20, 2010 @02:45AM from the floats-like-a-dreamcast-stings-like-a-wii dept.

Go Rumors has discovered that Sony recently applied for a patent on a "universal game console controller." According to the patent filing, the controller "includes a hand-holdable housing and a touch sensitive liquid crystal display (LCD) on the housing. The LCD is caused to present, depending on what type of game console a user has selected, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console. A key layout includes plural keys selectable by a user to input commands to a game console."

"Limited Edition" SSD Has Fastest Storage Speed 122

Posted by timothy on Friday February 19, 2010 @08:20PM from the genuine-leather-bits dept.

Vigile writes "The idea of having a 'Limited Edition' solid state drive might seem counter-intuitive, but regardless of the naming, the new OCZ Vertex LE is based on the new Sandforce SSD controller that promises significant increases in performance, along with improved ability to detect and correct errors in the data stored in flash. While the initial Sandforce drive was called the 'Vertex 2 Pro' and included a super-capacitor for data integrity, the Vertex LE drops that feature to improve cost efficiency. In PC Perspectives's performance tests, the drive was able to best the Intel X25-M line in file creation and copying duties, had minimal fragmentation or slow-down effects, and was very competitive in IOs per second as well. It seems that current SSD manufacturers are all targeting Intel and the new Sandforce controller is likely the first to be up to the challenge."

How To Play HD Video On a Netbook 205

Posted by timothy on Thursday February 18, 2010 @08:34PM from the addressing-that-stuttering-problem dept.

Barence writes with some news to interest those with netbooks running Windows: "Netbooks aren't famed for their high-definition video playing prowess, but if you've got about $10 and a few minutes going spare, there is a way to enjoy high-definition trailers and videos on your Atom-powered portable. You need three things: a copy of Media Player Classic Home Cinema, CoreCodec's CoreAVC codec, and some HD videos encoded in AVC or h.264 formats. This blog takes you through the process."

Bark Beetles Hate Rush Limbaugh and Heavy Metal 220

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 11, 2010 @01:24PM from the tiniest-minds dept.

Aryabhata writes "According to scientists, climate change and human activity have allowed bark beetle populations to soar. They decided to fight the beetles by using the 'nastiest, most offensive sounds' that they could think of. These sounds included recordings of Guns & Roses, Queen, Rush Limbaugh and manipulated versions of the insects' own sounds. The research project titled 'Beetle Mania' has concluded that acoustic stress can disrupt their feeding and even cause the beetles to kill each other."

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