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Submission + - Feeling suicidal, so get help on an MMO?

Submitted by An Ominous Cow Erred
An Ominous Cow Erred writes: In an odd approach to reaching out to otherwise shut-in sufferers of mental distress, an organization called Anxiety Gaming is betting that online intervention is the best way to reach people with emotional difficulties. Their argument is that the social nature of modern gaming makes it a valid means of reaching people who might not otherwise seek help through more traditional channels. According to their Facebook page, their future intentions seem to include distributing consoles to homes for foster youth, to encourage them to look to games for positival interpersonal communication.

With much media attention focused on cyberbullying and the negative affects of online social interaction, could gaming turn out to be a path to positive mental health as well?

Submission + - Transgendered Folks Encounter Document/Database ID Hassles

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Most of us hear the equivalent of 'let me bring up your record' several times a week or month when dealing with businesses and government agencies; sometimes there's a problem, but clerks are accustomed to dealing with changes in street address, phone numbers, company affiliation, and even personal names (after marriage). But what about gender? Transgendered folks are encountering embarrassing moments when they have to explain that their gender has changed from 'M' to 'F' or vice versa. While there are many issues involved in discrimination against transgendered individuals, I have to confess that the first thing that came to my mind was the impact on database design and maintenance.

Submission + - Google Glass Teardown

Submitted by saccade.com
saccade.com writes: Ever wonder how Google packed all of the Google Glass functionality into a slender eyeglass frame? Find out by checking out this teardown by Scott Torborg and Star Simpson. Goodies found inside include proximity, light and inertial sensors, sound transducers, a TI OMAP CPU, flash, RAM, camera and tiny projection display.

Submission + - Greek government abruptly shuts down state broadcaster (yanisvaroufakis.eu)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Greek government shut down broadcasting of all tv and radio channels operated by the state-owned broadcaster ERT at midnight local time, with police ejecting journalists and other employees occupying the building. Link is a prominent Greek economics professor's (and Valve's in-house economist) analysis of the political motivations for the move.

Submission + - Google Asks Government for More Visible National Security Requests (slashdot.org)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: In an open letter addressed to U.S. attorney general Eric Holder and FBI director Robert Mueller, Google chief legal officer David Drummond again insisted that reports of his company freely offering user data to the NSA and other agencies were untrue. “However,” he wrote, “government nondisclosure obligations regarding the number of FISA national security requests that Google receives, as well as the number of accounts covered by those requests, fuel that speculation.” In light of that, Drummond had a request of the two men: “We therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures—in terms of both the number we receive and their scope.” Apparently Google’s numbers would show “that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made.” Google, Drummond added, “has nothing to hide.” As part of its regularly updated Transparency Report, Google posts information about the National Security Letters (NSLs) it receives from the federal government; however, the government requires Google to report NSLs as a numerical range rather than an exact number. But even if Google does end up displaying more information about government requests, it doesn’t seem as if many Americans are dismayed about their privacy being invaded: according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post (conducted after the Snowden story broke), concerns about terrorist threats outweigh the need for privacy. “Currently 62 [percent] say it is more important for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal privacy,” read the survey’s summary. “Just 34 [percent] say it is more important for the government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats.”

Submission + - Half A Billion PCs To Ship In 2013, As Desktops And Laptops Dip But Tablets Grow

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The PC market (desktops, notebooks, and tablets) is expected to see almost half a billion units ship this year, 493.1 million to be exact, representing 7 percent year-on-year growth. Unsurprisingly, the key driver behind this growth will be tablets, accounting for 37 percent of the overall market and seeing 59 percent growth to 182.5 million units. The latest estimates come from Canalys, an independent analyst firm which says it stakes its reputation "on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology, and our high level of customer service." Nevertheless, it's worth emphasizing that these are estimates, though they do line up with what the broader industry is seeing: desktops are down, laptops are down, but tablets are up.

Submission + - FAA wants all aircraft flying on unleaded fuel by 2018 (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week put out a call to fuel producers to offer options that would safely let general aviation aircraft stop using leaded fuel by 2018. The FAA says there are approximately 167,000 aircraft in the United States and a total of 230,000 worldwide that rely on the current 100 octane, low lead fuel for safe operation. It is the only remaining transportation fuel in the United States that contains the addition of tetraethyl lead (TEL), a toxic substance, to create the very high octane levels needed for high-performance aircraft engines. Operations with inadequate octane can result in engine failures, the FAA noted.

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