Comment SeaQuest DSV (Score 0) 93
Send the SeaQuest or Darwin to find it.
Comment Steam pricing could use some looking at as well (Score 2) 255
I still don't understand why a game that costs $50 in the US should cost 50 euros in Europe.
UK customer don't seem to be affected by these strange currency conversions.
Comment Hope it works out (Score 2) 54
Seems like all of Belgium's neighbours are developing plans to roll out FTTx .
Meanwhile we're stuck in the dark ages and this country's telecom duopoly (Belgacom & Telenet) can't seem to care.
On one hand we have the semi-nationalised Belgacom, earning money on the network they were able to roll out using taxpayer's money.
They recently decided investing in FTTH is too soon, preferring to look into revitalizing DSL technology to support marginally higher speeds (50 MBit instead of 20).
Smaller providers resell their service with somewhat better pricing and conditions, but they are not big enough to make a dent.
Then there's Telenet which owns the cable market on the Flemish side of the country. They started advertising "Faster than light" 100/5 Mb/s connections to customers, but were forced to retract this ad due to false advertising because 1) It's not faster then light 2) Their product FibetNet is not actually FTTH but fiber to the neighbourhood and then distributed across DOCSIS 3.0 modems.
Bottom line: neither company has any financial intrest in rolling out FTTH, citing high costs and low potential returns. They seem to think their current products are more than fast enough for today's online applications and that technology firms don't need to invest in new technologies to remain in business.
Years ago a plan was hatched by politician Vincent Van Quickenborne called SuperFastBelgium. It aimed to promote fiber rollout with financial incentives to companies. Nothing ever happened. I wrote an e-mail to that politician's cabinet asking what happened and if there had been any meetings with industry leaders as promised. I only got a political bullshit answer, nothing concrete at all. (Never voting for you!)
So it is with a tear in my eye that I read this article and hope that one day, people in charge here wake up and actually get off their asses to do something for a change. Because I want my 1 Gbps FTTH!!!
Comment Re:Starsiege: Tribes and Possibly Achron (Score 1) 325
I played that game to death and even though competition seems to be as good as dead, some people still play even today, almost 12 years later.
For an idea of how the gameplay evolved over time check out this video, split into three parts, which sparked the Tribes revival a few years back:
It's called Legends and it still gives someone who played it for so long goosebumps :) Especially considering the steep learning curve of the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV07MgjpoLE&annotation_id=annotation_233962&feature=iv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY6vZuCNX0Y&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ExmlQ1graw&feature=related
Comment Same? (Score 1) 237
I'm no expert on this, but I don't see a relation between sound and shape of our letters either. So the answer is to study as hard as you can and also: repetition!
Leak Shows US Lead Opponent of ACTA Transparency 164
An anonymous reader writes "Throughout the debate over ACTA transparency, the secret copyright
treaty, many countries have taken public positions that they support
release of the actual text, but that other countries do not.
Since full transparency requires consensus of all the ACTA partners,
the text simply can't be released until everyone is in agreement.
A new leak
from the Netherlands fingers who the chief opponents of transparency
are: the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and Denmark lead the
way, with Belgium, Germany, and Portugal not far behind as problem
countries."
Submission + - Samsung Enters Smartphone Wars With bada OS (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: "Samsung is betting there's room for more in the smartphone market and has unveiled its new bada OS. The name "bada," means "ocean" in Korean and was chosen to convey the "limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform." Samsung claims the OS is extremely simple for developers. bada was built to be extremely interactive with its users — including flash control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control and face detection. Samsung is hoping developers will take this user interface and create a variety of applications focused around it — and thus different types of apps than the iPhone and Android OS have. The bada OS has a variety of sensors, including accelerometers, tilt, weather, proximity and activity. Samsung will be hosting a series of Developer Days in Seoul, London and San Francisco, among other cities, throughout 2010."
Submission + - IBM's newest mainframe is all Linux (computerworld.com)
dcblogs writes: IBM has released a new mainframe server that doesn't include its z/OS operating system. This Enterprise Linux Server line supports supports Red Hat or Suse. The system is packaged with mainframe management and virtualization tools. Its minimum processor configuration are two specialty mainframe processors designed for Linux. IBM wants to go after large multicore x86 Linux servers and believes the $212,000 entry price can do it.
Comment Probably invested a lot in this (Score 1) 655
Time, AND money.
I don't understand the appeal of doing so many things over and over again.
And now that he's beaten it, what is he to do? My guess, start over.
Comment More like 39 days just to get to Mars.. (Score 3, Informative) 356
At least according to this Slashdot article http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/10/19/1324222/VASIMR-Ion-Engine-Could-Cut-Mars-Trip-To-39-Days
Submission + - Chicago lost Olympics due to US passport control?
An anonymous reader writes: Chicago lost its bid for the 2016 Olympics (which went to Rio de Janiero instead), and it's looking very likely that US border procedures were one of the main factors which knocked Chicago out of the race:
Among the toughest questions posed to the Chicago bid team this week in Copenhagen was one that raised the issue of what kind of welcome foreigners would get from airport officials when they arrived in this country to attend the Games. Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicagoâ(TM)s official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be "a rather harrowing experience."
... The exchange underscores what tourism officials here have been saying for years about the sometimes rigorous entry process for foreigners, which they see as a deterrent to tourism.
Submission + - In Africa, Lighting up the Darkness with LEDs
Peace Corps Online writes: "In a non-electrified society, life is defined by the sun and little is accomplished once it sets around 6 pm. Only 19 percent of rural areas in Ghana have electricity. The rest use foul-smelling kerosene lamps to light their huts, which pollute, provide little light and are major fire hazards. But now Philips has partnered with KITE, a not-for-profit Ghanaian organization, to bring artificial light to villages that have no electricity. The new Philips products include a portable lantern which provides bright white light where it is needed, the Dynamo Multi LED self-powered (wind-up) flashlight that provides 17 minutes of light from two minutes hand winding, and the "My Reading Light", which is a solar-powered reading light with built-in rechargeable battery. "People can now do things in the evening," says Harriette Amissah-Arthur, KITE's director. "If you could only see the joy these products bring the villagers. You look at their faces; you have to see it to believe it.""
Submission + - Solar Panels drop to $1 a Watt 1
ZosX writes: "An article over at Popular Mechanics has announced that for the first time, Solar Cells have reached the mythical $1/watt figure. They also talk about supply problems and a few other issues. I'm not the biggest fan of PM, but this article is actually pretty good."
Slashdot Top Deals
You're using a keyboard! How quaint!
