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Submission + - Crytek Open-Sources Their "Renderdoc" 3D Debugger (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Game studios now seem to be forming a habit out of opening up their debugger / development utilities. After Valve's notable VOGL debugger, Crytek has come out to open-source their Renderdoc debugger. Renderdoc had been available for free use since earlier in the year but now they have posted an MIT-licensed version of the code to GitHub. Renderdoc builds on both Windows and Linux but for now just targets the Direct3D 11 graphics API while OpenGL support is being expected later.

Submission + - Controlling fear by modifying DNA (scienceblog.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The fear of flying or of skittering spiders can for some mean more than just a momentary increase in heart rate and a pair of sweaty palms. A hard-core phobia can lead to crippling anxiety. Now an international team of researchers says it believes it has found a way to silence the gene that feeds phobic fear, via a novel mechanism of gene regulation associated with fear extinction. The notion appears to be that phobias arise from experiences that have left an outsized imprint on gene expression, and that undoing this can undo the anxiety itself. The study was published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Submission + - RightsCorp To Bring Its Controversial Copyright Protection Tactics To Europe (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by judgecorp
judgecorp writes: RightsCorp, the controversial copyright enforcer, is planning to begin operations in Europe. In the US, the company scans torrent sites for IP addresses, shares them with ISPs, forcing them to send lawyers' letters demanding money from the supposed copyright infringers. RightsCorp says Europe needs its help, in fighting piracy

Submission + - Autonomous Car Ethics: If a Crash is Unavoidable, What Does It Hit? (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Patrick Lin of California Polytechnic State University explores one of the ethical problems autonomous car developers are going to have to solve: crash prioritization. He posits this scenario: suppose an autonomous car determines a crash is unavoidable, but has the options of swerving right into a smaller car with few safety features or swerving left into a heavier car that's more structurally sound. Do the people programming the car have it intentionally crash into the vehicle less likely to crumple? It might make more sense, and lead to fewer fatalities — but it sure wouldn't feel that way to the people in the car that got hit. He says, '[W]hile human drivers may be forgiven for making a poor split-second reaction–for instance, crashing into a Pinto that’s prone to explode, instead of a more stable object–robot cars won’t enjoy that freedom. Programmers have all the time in the world to get it right. It’s the difference between premeditated murder and involuntary manslaughter.' We could somewhat randomize outcomes, but that would lead to similar problems. Lin adds, 'The larger challenge, though, isn’t thinking through ethical dilemmas. It’s also about setting accurate expectations with users and the general public who might find themselves surprised in bad ways by autonomous cars. Whatever answer to an ethical dilemma the car industry might lean towards will not be satisfying to everyone.'
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Submission + - File Sharing in the Post MegaUpload Era (deepfield.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A report released today looks at file sharing in the post MegaUpload era. The main finding — file sharing did not go away. It did not even decrease much in North America. Mainly, file sharing became staggeringly less efficient. Instead of terabytes of North America MegaUpload traffic going to US servers, most file sharing traffic now comes from Europe over far more expensive transatlantic links.

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