Feed NYT: Venezuela E-Vote Connection (wired.com)
Inside Xbox Live's Operations Center 15
Cold Dawg writes "[H] Console takes an exclusive behind the scenes look at the Xbox Live Command Center with Jason Coon, Operations Program Manager for Xbox Live. Steve Lynch says, 'The Xbox Live Operations Center or "XOC" (pronounced zock) is where all the action is. The large room is literally wall to wall workstations and LCD monitors. There are several monitors attached to the wall at the front of the room that display all kinds of system information. There were also a lot of media carousels at one end of the room, each capable of holding 150 games. From what we saw, there was easily enough storage capacity to hold over 3,000 games.'"
The Many Ways To Die in Nethack 132
The GameSetWatch column '@Play' deals with the storied history of Rogue-like text adventures. This week, author John Harris discusses the many ways to die in Nethack. From the article: "The lowly cockatrice is perhaps the most dangerous monster in the game. There are plenty of monsters with more hit points, who do more damage, who have special attacks, and are just bigger, but cockatrices instantly kill anyone who touches them with their bare skin, and are thus very likely to kill players unwise in their dealings with them. Even Death up on Astral Plane has to succeed in an attack against a player to deliver an instakill, but a cockatrice can kill by being attacked. If the player attempts to fight a cockatrice without a weapon or wearing gloves and hits, he turns to stone. If he attempts to pick up a dead one with his bare hands, that will also turn him to stone. (It can also be wielded, however. Applications for a wielded cockatrice corpse are left for you to imagine, but I will say that it can be, hm, useful.)"
Submission + - Throwable Game Controllers
dptalia writes: "In trolling recent patents, Barry Fox found one for a throwable game controller. This controller would be shaped like a football or a frisbee and be connected wirelessly to a PSP. The user could then play digital games like catch, or have a distance throwing competition. The controllers have embedded GPS, an altimeter, and an accelerometer to be able to determine the accuracy of the throws."
Feed Kyoto Failing to Cool the Planet (wired.com)
Submission + - Microsoft Announces Major Xbox Live Update
simoniker writes: Microsoft has announced its sixth major update to the Xbox Live online service for Xbox 360, with 85 new features and enhancements, including support for native 1080p games and movies, faster Xbox Live Arcade game list display times, and more options for video playback. The company has announced that it will debut the update Tuesday, October 31, and the free download will be available to all Xbox Live Silver and Gold account holders, and will not require the use of the Xbox 360's hard drive.
Motorola Develops Bare-Bones Phone 293
tunabomber writes "Whenever a review of the latest cellphone/camera/MP3 player/GPS receiver/fish finder/tazer convergence gadget is posted on Slashdot, the first posters are usually quick to chime in by saying they just want something with decent battery life, reception, ergonomics, etc. Those posters' prayers may now be answered, because Motorola's new 'dumb' phone has been designed with these traits in mind. Notable features include an E Ink display and dual antennae to improve reception. The phone is slated to become available before the end of the year."
Submission + - Inside Xbox Live's Operations Center
Cold Dawg writes: "[H] Console takes an exclusive behind the scenes look at the Xbox Live Command Center with Jason Coon, Operations Program Manager for Xbox Live. Steve Lynch says, "[H] Console recently visited the lovely state of Washington for an exclusive tour of the Xbox Live Operations Center. This will be the first time since the Xbox 360 has launched that anyone has had a look behind the scenes at Microsoft's Xbox Live Operations Center (XOC).""
How MythTV Detects and Flags Commercials 403
peterdaly writes "Automatic commercial detection is the "killer app" feature that none of the commercial DVR's dare to include. MythTV's automatic commercial detection does a great job of properly separating commercials from content. Here's how the commercial flagging works."
Journal Journal: Risk of Laptop Seizure by Customs or Border Patrol Officers
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is warning its members that under U.S. law, government agents may seize and search a persons laptop computer, computer discs, and other electronic media when that person arrives in the U.S. from abroad or departs from the U.S for a foreign country. They claim that the law applies equally to U.S. passport holders and non-U.S. passport holders. This appears to be based on a
Submission + - USB Dongle Records Web, FM radio
rah1420 writes: "Gizmag just wrote about "Instant FM Music," a USB dongle that plugs into your computer's USB Port and records FM and Web Radio stations. You can record the playlist, tag the songs for easy playback, all without that nasty DRM."
Journal Journal: What's After Multi-Core? 1
As Moore's Law continues to hold, IC designers are finding that they have more and more silicon real estate to play with. In the next 10 years, it's likely that hardware designers are going to have more silicon real estate to play with than they know what to do with. David Chisnall hazards some guesses as to what they might do with it. As he notes: 'Throwing more cache onto chips worked for a little while. Throw
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