Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Particularly bad for a surface (Score 1) 313

This is particularly bad for a surface because, while they are pretty and functional, they are also designed for horrible reliability. everything breaks. Particularly bad offender is the power adapters on these things. You can't fix it yourself, but hey, Microsoft will repair it for you at the low, low cost of ~$600+.
Bug

Are Complex Games Doomed To Have Buggy Releases? 362

An anonymous reader points out a recent article at Gamesradar discussing the frequency of major bugs and technical issues in freshly-released video games. While such issues are often fixed with updates, questions remain about the legality and ethics of rushing a game to launch. Quoting: "As angry as you may be about getting a buggy title, would you want the law to get involved? Meglena Kuneva, EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner, is putting forward legislation that would legally oblige digital game distributors to give refunds for games, putting games in the same category in consumer law as household appliances. ... This call to arms has been praised by tech expert Andy Tanenbaum, author of books like Operating Systems: Design and Implementation. 'I think the idea that commercial software be judged by the same standards as other commercial products is not so crazy,' he says. 'Cars, TVs, and telephones are all expected to work, and they are full of software. Why not standalone software? I think such legislation would put software makers under pressure to first make sure their software works, then worry about more bells and whistles.'"
Idle

Hand Written Clock 86

a3buster writes "This clock does not actually have a man inside, but a flatscreen that plays a 24-hour loop of this video by the artist watching his own clock somewhere and painstakingly erasing and re-writing each minute. This video was taken at Design Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009."
Businesses

Treading the Fuzzy Line Between Game Cloning and Theft 235

eldavojohn writes "Ars analyzes some knockoffs and near-knockoffs in the gaming world that led to problems with the original developers. Jenova Chen, creator of Flower and flOw, discusses how he feels about the clones made of his games. Chen reveals his true feelings about the takedown of Aquatica (a flOw knockoff): 'What bothers me the most is that because of my own overreaction, I might have created a lot of inconvenience to the creator of Aquatica and interrupted his game-making. He is clearly talented, and certainly a fan of flOw. I hope he can continue creating video games, but with his own design.' The article also notes the apparent similarities between Zynga's Cafe World and Playfish's Restaurant City (the two most popular Facebook games). Is that cloning or theft? Should clones be welcomed or abhorred?"

Comment Re:Why? (Score 1) 187

Why do articles always have to be referred to as "TFA," as in "The Fucking Article?" Why can't it just be "the article" most of the time?

Let me explain:
a) That's "The Fine Article", you insensitive clod!
b) You must be new here.
c) In light of b) Articles=bad. Summaries=good.

or just
a) "The Full Article"
b) Like most acronyms, it's shorter than typing it out. How hard is that to understand?

Comment Re:reason 1 down. reason 2 in que. (Score 5, Insightful) 187

This probably isn't so much for avoiding the eye of your ISP as it is for personal network management. I know I don't want bittorrent interfering with my internet usage, particularly when my wife is at the computer. Not having a router that can prioritize my internet traffic, this is a welcome feature to avoid either slow-downs or having someone else turn off my downloads so they can use the internet.

Slashdot Top Deals

The typical page layout program is nothing more than an electronic light table for cutting and pasting documents.

Working...