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Communications

RIM Doesn't Want 200 Fart Apps 244

Posted by samzenpus from the do-not-want dept.
andylim writes "Just when you thought it was safe to dev a fart app for a BlackBerry, RIM's VP of platform product management, Alan Panezic, is making it clear that that's not want RIM is looking for. 'We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again. You're not looking at ads, clicking on ads or buying premium upgrades, and the app isn't adding any value to your device.' Turns out RIM wants 'SuperApps', ones that keep you coming back for more because they add something to your life — be it ongoing entertainment value or doing something for you. Most importantly for developers, these are the apps that will garner the most revenue; whether it comes from premium upgrades, in-app advertising, or additional-cost content."
The Courts

The Circus Widens In Aftermath of Pirate Bay Verdict 319

Posted by kdawson from the buy-me-some-peanuts-and-crackerjacks dept.
MaulerOfEmotards sends along an in-depth followup, from the Swedish press, of our discussion the other day about the biased trial judge in the Pirate Bay case. "The turmoil concerns Tomas Norström, the presiding judge of The Pirate Bay trial, who is suspected of bias after reports surfaced of affiliation with copyright protection organizations. For this he has been reported to the appeals court (in Swedish; translation here). The circus around the judge is currently focused on three points. First, his personal affiliation with at least four copyright protection organizations, a state the potential bias of which he himself fails to see and refuses to admit. Secondly, Swedish trials use a system of several lay assessors to supervise the presiding judge. One of these, a member of an artists' interest organization, was forced by Mr. Norström to resign from the trial for potential bias. The judge's failure to see the obvious contradiction in this (translation) casts doubts on his suitability and competence. Thirdly, according to professor of judicial sociology Håkan Hydén (translation), the judge has inappropriately 'duped and influenced the lay assessors' during the trial: 'a judge that has decided that "this is something we can't allow" has little problem finding legal arguments that are difficult for assisting lay assessors to counter.'" Click the link below to read further on Professor Hydén's enumeration of "at least three strange things in a strange trial." On a related note, reader Siker adds the factoid that membership in the Pirate Party exploded 150% in the week following the verdict. The Pirate Party now surpasses in size four smaller parties in Sweden, and is closing in on a fifth. Political fallout could ensue as soon as June, when an election for EU parliament will be held.
Games

Making a Horror Game Scary 129

Posted by Soulskill from the zombies-and-darkness dept.
GameSetWatch has put up an article about the characteristics that give games in the survival-horror genre the ability to unnerve, startle, and scare players in ways that most games don't. The genre has seen a resurgence lately, with titles like Dead Space, F.E.A.R. 2, and Left 4 Dead posting strong sales numbers. What triggers your fight-or-flight impulses in games like these? From the article: "Being visual creatures, humans are most comforted by sight because of our ability to discern objects, action and consequences based on a picture. As a result, cutting visual stimuli and sticking purely to audio or speech is one of the best ways to keep a player on their toes. Even with weapons, it's very hard to find what you cannot see, and what you do not know. Even if visual stimuli is used, limiting or obfuscating the player's view can enhance the horror in a game, especially if the player sees it for an incredible short time. This can hint both at the difficulty of an upcoming encounter, or even allude to matters earlier in the narrative that the player will soon have to face."
Anime

Keanu Reeves To Star In Cowboy Bebop 439

Posted by CmdrTaco from the mushroom-samba dept.
It excites me incredibly to know that a Cowboy Bebop movie is happening. But it makes me scared to think that Keanu is getting the lead in what might be my single favorite Anime series of all time. I'm very skeptical that he can pull off this role. For now we'll have to wait and speculate who the rest of the cast will be. I'm mostly curious who will get Faye Valentine. And we can only cross our fingers and hope that the soundtrack remains intact.
Power

Man Invents Alternative To Cooking Gas 553

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the human-invention-will-find-a-way dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Gazan resident Abed Ar-Rahman has revealed what he is claiming as an alternative to cooking gas that he developed since Israel has prevented deliveries of cooking gas to Gaza. He invented a device using chemical substances available in Gaza, which burn when mixed and brought into contact with oxygen. The first component is a metal filter that controls the interaction between 40% of the oxygen in the surrounding air, the inflammable substance and some other substances."

Comment This is something crypto is uniquely suited for (Score 1) 335

by aluminum_geek (#25891065) Attached to: Arranging Electronic Access For Your Survivors?

For the (more) paranoid, look up "Shamirs Secret Sharing Scheme." (apt-get install ssss)

It allows you to split up a "secret" into a number of "shadows." Then, only when X people get together, they can recover the secret. I've always meant to implement this where you can use ssss to split up a private key, then you can keep an-to-date list of certain passwords and email it out to them periodically. The burden isn't on them everytime you want to change a password, the private key will open the new file.

I'd like to pretty this up as a web app so people can handle this stuff automatically. The super-paranoid version is you can have 1 of the "shadows" only get released on a deadmans switch...

Comment Zuh? (Score 1) 344

by Yomer333 (#16368857) Attached to: The BBC's Honeypot PC
By utilizing the science of MATHEMATICS...we can see that this doesn't make any god damn sense.

"When we put this machine online it was, on average, hit by a potential security assault every 15 minutes....The fastest an attack struck was mere seconds and it was never longer than 15 minutes before the honeypot logged an attempt to subvert it."

How can the average be 15, but there was never any period LONGER than 15, and some periods less than 15.

1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, 2, 3
Average is....5? Bzzzt.

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