Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Games

Submission + - Valve starts promoting Steam for Linux to Windows users (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: team is now being used by thousands of gamers running a Linux OS, and Valve has got to the point where they are happy to start urging Windows users to make the switch.

Proof of that comes from a “Join the Beta” promotion on the homepage of Steam suggesting you try Steam for Linux. There’s even a download link to get Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, which removes yet another barrier to entry.

With Gabe Newell’s clear hatred of Windows 8, this shouldn’t be a surprising move. We aren’t going to see another version of Windows appear for a few years, so in Valve’s eyes pushing Linux to gamers makes a lot of sense.
Programming

Submission + - JavaScript Comes to Minecraft (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: JavaScript is the language of the client and it is becoming the language of the server. Now it seems set to be the language of Minecraft. ScriptCraft is a Minecraft mod that can be added to the game to allow the player to use JavaScript commands. Walter Higgins ported the Rhino JVM implementation of JavaScript in a few spare weeks over Xmas. Some additional JavaScript classes allow the construction of blocks making it possible to automate construction. It also provides a "turtle like" drone class that makes it easier to move in 3D. It makes use of a fluent API to create a domain specific language for movement. As its creator says:
"Ultimately I think the ScriptCraft mod could be used to take building in Minecraft to a whole new level. With a full-blown language at the Player's disposal, it should be possible to create not just castles and forts but entire road networks and cities."
Most importantly of all, it not only pushes the boundary of Minecraft it also provides a way to get kids who are already hooked on Minecraft to start learning JavaScript.
https://github.com/walterhiggins/ScriptCraft/
AMD

Submission + - AMD tweaking Radeon drivers to reduce frame latency spikes (techreport.com)

Submitted by
crookedvulture
crookedvulture writes: "Slashdot has previously covered The Tech Report's exposure of frame latency issues with recent AMD graphics processors. Both desktop and notebook Radeons exhibit frame latency spikes that interrupt the smoothness of in-game animation but don't show up in the FPS averages typically used to benchmark performance. AMD has been looking into the problem and may have discovered the culprit. The Graphics Core Next architecture underpinning recent Radeons is quite different from previous designs, and AMD has been rewriting the memory management portion of its driver to properly take advantage. This new code improves frame latencies, according to AMD's David Baumann, and the firm has accelerated the process of rolling it into the official Catalyst drivers available to end users. Radeon owners can take some comfort in the fact that a driver update may soon alleviate the frame latency problems associated with AMD's latest GPUs. However, they might also be disappointed that it's taken AMD this long to optimize its drivers for the now year-old GCN architecture."

Submission + - That link you just posted could cost you 300 Euros (the-digital-reader.com)

Submitted by Nate the greatest
Nate the greatest writes: Do you like to tweet or share links to interesting news articles? According to a coalition of Irish newspapers, that makes you a pirate. The National Newspapers of Ireland has adopted a new policy. Any website which links to one of the 15 NNI member newspapers will have to pay a minimum of 300 euros, with the license fee going up if you post more links.

Note that this is not a fee to post an excerpt or some punitive measure for the copying of an entire article. No, the NNI wants to charge for links like. It's almost as if this organization has no idea how the web works. Or maybe they have found an elaborate way to commit suicide.
Security

Submission + - Africa's Coming Cyber-Crime Epidemic (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "Those Nigerian spam scams of the last decade may have just been the first step in a looming African cyber-crime wave. Africa has the world's fastest-growing middle class, whose members are increasingly tech-savvy and Internet connected — and the combination of ambitious, educated people, a ceiling on advancement due to corruption and lack of infrastructure, and lax law enforcement is a perfect petri dish for increased cybercrime."
The Courts

Submission + - Obama DOJ Goes AGAINST Film Companies (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "If one were forced to attempt to distill a single prevailing emotion or attitude about government on Slashdot, I think it is fairly arguable that the winner would be cynicism or skepticism. Well here's a story that could make us skeptical and/or cynical about our skepticism and/or cynicism. Chalk one up for those who like to point out that occasionally the system does work. You may recall that the U.S. Supreme Court has been mulling over whether to grant the film industry's petition for certiorari seeking to overturn the important Cartoon Networks v. CSC Holdings decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. This was the case which held that Cablevision's allowing its customers to make copies of shows, and store them on Cablevision's servers for later viewing, did not constitute a direct copyright infringement by Cablevision, there being no 'copy' made since the files were in RAM and buffered for only a 'transitory' duration. The Supremes asked the Obama DOJ to submit an amicus curiae brief, giving its opinion on whether or not the film companies' petition for review should be granted. The government did indeed just file such a brief, but the content of the brief (PDF) is probably not what the film companies were expecting. They probably thought they had this one in the bag, since some of the very lawyers who have been representing them have been appointed to the highest echelons of the Obama DOJ. Instead, however, the brief eloquently argued AGAINST the film companies' position, one by one dismembering with surgical accuracy each and every argument the film companies had advanced."
Education

Submission + - Scientists create di-positronium molecules (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
doxology
doxology writes: "The BBC reports that scientists have been able to create di-positronium molecules. A di-positronium molecule consists of two positronium atoms, exotic atoms which are made from an electron and a positron (the anti-particle of the electron). A potential use of these molecules is to make extremely powerful gamma-ray lasers, possibly on sharks."

Slashdot Top Deals

Disraeli was pretty close: actually, there are Lies, Damn lies, Statistics, Benchmarks, and Delivery dates.

Close