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PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Experimental Video Game Evolves Its Own Content (ucf.edu)

Submitted by
Ken Stanley
Ken Stanley writes: "Just as interest in user-generated content in video games is heating up, a team of researchers at the University of Central Florida has released an experimental multiplayer game in which content items compete with each other in an evolutionary arms race to satisfy the players. As a result, particle system-based weapons, which are the evolving class of content, continually invent their own new behaviors based on what users liked in the past. Does the resulting experience in this game, called Galactic Arms Race, suggest that evolutionary algorithms may be the key to automated content generation in future multiplayer gaming and MMOs?"
Linux Business

Submission + - Torvalds on where Linux is headed in 2008

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: In this new interview, Linus Torvalds is excited about solid-state drives, expects progress in graphics and wireless networking, and says the operating system is strong in virtualisation despite his personal lack of interest in the area.

From the article: "To get some perspective on what lies ahead in 2008, we caught up with Linus Torvalds via email. His responses touched on the Linux development process, upcoming features, and whether he's concerned about potential patent litigation."

Torvalds on Linux biggest strength: "When you buy an OS from Microsoft, not only you can't fix it, but it has had years of being skewed by one single entity's sense of the market. It doesn't matter how competent Microsoft — or any individual company — is, it's going to reflect that fact. In contrast, look at where Linux is used. Everything from cellphones and other small embedded computers that people wouldn't even think of as computers, to the bulk of the biggest machines on the supercomputer Top-500 list. That is flexibility. And it stems directly from the fact that anybody who is interested can participate in the development, and no single entity ends up being in control of where it all goes.
Music

Submission + - Some predict Vinyl may be the end for CDs (wired.com)

Submitted by
PJ1216
PJ1216 writes: "From the article, "Portability is no longer any reason to stick with CDs, and neither is audio quality. Although vinyl purists are ripe for parody, they're right about one thing: Records can sound better than CDs." Without any reason to really buy a CD, vinyl may find a wider audience now. Of course, the RIAA is downplaying it and saying there is no rise. They probably don't want to admit a medium that can't carry DRM, can be on the rise."
The Internet

Submission + - Viacom yields to YouTuber who DMCA counteclaimed (theregister.com)

Submitted by
Jason the Weatherman
Jason the Weatherman writes: "Two weeks ago Viacom charged Christopher Knight with copyright infringement for posting on YouTube a clip from Web Junk 2.0 on VH1 that featured Knight's zany school board commercial. Here's the Slashdot article about it. Two days ago YouTube reported to Knight that his clip was back up and that his account wouldn't be punished. What happened? Knight filed a DMCA counter-notification claim with YouTube: something that happens "all too rarely" according to Fred von Lohmann at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this story at The Register. "Almost no one ever files a counter notice. That's the biggest problem we've encountered [with DMCA claims on sites like YouTube]. Most people have no idea that right exists." As a result Viacom caved and Knight has his video back. But instead of gloating about his victory, Chris Knight posted on his blog that he holds nothing against Viacom for what happened, wanting this to mean that he and Viacom get to "shake hands and move on and wishing each other well" and that he doesn't want anyone else holding this against Viacom either. What a great attitude!"
Operating Systems

Submission + - OpenSolaris will challenge Linux says Sun

Submitted by
E5Rebel
E5Rebel writes: "Sun Microsystems has ambitious plans for the commercial and open-source versions of its Solaris operating system, hoping to achieve for Solaris the kind of wide spread uptake already enjoyed by Java, which means challenging Linux. "There's an enormous momentum building behind Solaris," according to Ian Murdock, chief operating platforms officer at Sun, who was chief technology officer of the Linux Foundation and creator of the Debian Linux distribution. Isn't it all a bit late? http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/mobile-w ireless/mobile-wireless/news-analysis/index.cfm?ar ticleid=743"
IBM

Submission + - IBM stores data on an atom (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
InfoWorldMike
InfoWorldMike writes: "IBM has demonstrated how to perform computer functions on single atoms and molecules, a discovery that could someday lead to processors the size of a speck of dust, the company said Thursday. Researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center in California developed a technique for measuring magnetic anisotropy, a property of the magnetic field that gives it the ability to maintain a particular direction. Being able to measure magnetic anisotropy at the atomic level is a crucial step toward the magnet representing the ones or the zeroes used to store data in binary computer language. In a second report, researchers at IBM's lab in Zurich, Switzerland, said they had used an individual molecule as an electric switch that could potentially replace the transistors used in modern chips. The company published both research reports in Friday's edition of the journal Science."
Biotech

Submission + - Chinese develop remote controlled pigeons

Submitted by KDan
KDan writes: As seen on CNN and other places, "Scientists in eastern China say they have succeeded in controlling the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains". Whilst everyone focuses on the weird and fun aspects of remote-controlled pigeons and points out that "The report did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeons", a number of obvious uses jump out to me. Flocks of remote controlled pigeons could be used in warfare as very effective weapons delivery systems. They can take out low-flying planes and helicopters by being flown into their way. In fact they can probably be used to take out any target. Electronically controlled pigeons could lead to a new expansion of the concept of self-healing minefields... How about a patrolling flock of payloaded pigeons that target anyone identified as an "enemy"? The important factor is that whereas building a mechanical equivalent of a pigeon would be expensive, growing a pigeon and implanting some electrodes is comparatively cheap so that large numbers of RC pigeons could be "manufactured" and used for any purpose imaginable. A missile costs tens of thousands of dollars — why bother when you can raise a flock of pigeons and "upgrade" them for a fraction of that price, and proceed to send them to the target?

Perhaps most importantly, however, the remote-controlled pigeons will finally allow us to create an efficient implementation of RFC 1149 and RFC 2549.

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