======================================================================
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next generation, highly-efficient BladeSystem platform ideal for Linux,
with the approach, experience, and customer commitment you can trust.
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======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Orion Nebula Gets New Milepost Marker, Now Closer
* Quantum Crypto in the Real World
* DARPA Testing Numenta's Brain Tech
* Touch-based Handhelds Turned Inside Out
* How the U.S. Became Switchboard to the World
* Hard Drive Imports to be Banned?
* Al Gore Shares Nobel Peace Prize with UN Panel
* Linux Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Red Hat/Novell
* Amended Internet Tax Ban Will Not Include VoIP
* 'Hybrid' HDD Technology To Allow Data Access Without Booting
* US Faces $100 Billion Fine For Web Gambling Ban
* First Actual CPU Energy Use Statistics Published
* NASA Spaceship Scouts Out Prime Mars Landing Spots
* Wii 'Popularity Bubble' to Burst?
* Rob Malda Answers Your Questions
* T-Mobile Phone Unlocking Lawsuit May Proceed
* Chinese Internet Censorship Operation Revealed
* Airlines Have to Ask Permission to Fly 72 Hours Early
* Dr. Bussard Passes Away, Polywell Fusion Continues
* Air Force to Get "Cyber Sidearms"
* The Making of System Shock 2
* Simon Pegg to Play Scotty
* Inside Nvidia's Testing Facilities
* Oracle's $6.7 Billion Bid for BEA Turned Down
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Orion Nebula Gets New Milepost Marker, Now Closer |
| from the objects-in-mirror-may-be-closer-than-they-appear dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday October 11, @21:12 (Space) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/224239
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
twilight30 writes "Discovery News is reporting that 'One of the most
famous and scrutinized heavenly objects is [0]10 to 20 percent closer
than we thought, say two teams of radio astronomers who have made some of
the most precise cosmic distance measurements ever, with a telescope
nearly as big as Earth. The Orion Nebula is the closest major stellar
nursery to Earth, so it has been heavily studied to learn about the lives
of stars. Its distance from Earth, however, has long been a matter of
uncertainty, with an estimate made about 25 years ago in need of
revision.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/11/224239
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Quantum Crypto in the Real World |
| from the people-really-use-this-stuff dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday October 11, @22:46 (Encryption) |
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/2211205
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]bednarz writes "Swiss officials are [1]using quantum cryptography
technology to protect voting ballots cast in the Geneva region of
Switzerland during parliamentary elections to be held Oct. 21, marking
the first time this type of advanced encryption will be used for election
protection purposes. "We would like to provide optimal security
conditions for the work of counting the ballots," said Robert Hensler,
the Geneva State Chancellor. "In this context, the value added by quantum
cryptography concerns not so much protection from outside attempts to
interfere as the ability to verify that the data have not been corrupted
in transit between entry and storage.""
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/11/2211205
Links:
0. http://abednarzampnwwcom/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/101007-quantum-cryptography-secure-ballots.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DARPA Testing Numenta's Brain Tech |
| from the scan-me dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday October 12, @00:12 (The Military) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/2214233
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
lousyd writes "CNN Money reports that DARPA and the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency [0]have given $4.9 million to Lockheed
Martin to develop an image recognition system that will be used to scan
satellite images and photographs for familiar objects. Called Object
Recognition via Brain-Inspired Technology (ORBIT), the system will fuse
commercial airborne EO and LIDAR sensor data into a three-dimensional,
photo-realistic model of the landscape. The brains of the system, so to
speak, will be Numenta's Hierarchical Temporal Memory technology, modeled
on the technology growing inside human heads. The system is expected to
increase image analysts' productivity by 100 times."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/11/2214233
Links:
0. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NETH01611102007-1.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Touch-based Handhelds Turned Inside Out |
| from the good-touch-bad-touch dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday October 12, @02:27 (Handhelds) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/2219242
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
holy_calamity writes "Mitsubishi and Microsoft have made [0]a prototype
PSP-like handheld operated using a touch interface on the back ��� the idea
is to give a firmer hold, prevent obscuring the screen and allow greater
accuracy than the iPhone and others. The users fingers are shown as
shadows on the screen so they can see what they're doing, making the
device look transparent. [1]As a video shows, it's far from market ready,
but the design principle seems sound."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/11/2219242
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aASuL7RHJHM
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How the U.S. Became Switchboard to the World |
| from the big-brother-is-listening dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday October 12, @05:11 (The Internet) |
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/0624218
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
slugo sent in this Wired story which opens, "A lucky coincidence of
economics is responsible for routing much of the world's internet and
telephone traffic through switching points in the United States, where,
under legislation introduced this week, the [0]U.S. National Security
Agency will be free to continue tapping it. ...International phone and
internet traffic flows through the United States largely because of
pricing models established more than 100 years ago... The United States,
where the internet was invented, was also home to the first internet
backbone. Combine that architectural advantage with the pricing disparity
inherited from the phone networks, and the United States quickly became
the center of cyberspace as the internet gained international penetration
in the 1990s."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/0624218
Links:
0. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/10/domestic_taps
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Hard Drive Imports to be Banned? |
| from the outlaw-drives dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday October 12, @07:35 (Data Storage) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/0628246
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Arathon writes "Apparently the International Trade Commission is
beginning [1]an investigation that could lead to the banning of hard
drive imports from Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba, among others,
on the grounds that they fundamentally violate patents held by Steven and
Mary Reiber of California. The patent apparently has to do with
"dissipative ceramic bonding tips", which are important components of the
drives themselves. Obviously, a ban would be unthinkable, and yet the ITC
has 45 days to settle on a fixed date for the end of the investigation.
If the patents are found to be violated, and the Reibers do not allow
those patents to be bought or otherwise dealt with, the importation of
almost all hard drives would actually be ceased."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/0628246
Links:
0. http://blog.petergaultney.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Al Gore Shares Nobel Peace Prize with UN Panel |
| from the who-woulda-thunk dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @08:42 (United States) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1221202
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]eldavojohn writes "Former US Vice President Al Gore has [1]been
announced as a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on
environmental awareness & climate change. He shares his award with the
the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 'Speaking in
Washington, Mr Gore praised the IPCC, "whose members have worked
tirelessly and selflessly for many years". "We face a true planetary
emergency," Mr Gore warned. "It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all
of humanity." He said he would donate his half of the $1.5m prize money
to the Alliance for Climate Protection, reported the news agency
Reuters.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1221202
Links:
0. mailto:my/.username@@@gmail.com
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7041082.stm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Linux Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Red Hat/Novell |
| from the same-dang-thing-over-and-over dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @09:26 (Linux Business) |
|
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1239205
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]walterbyrd writes "Just months after [1]the last nail in SCO's case,
and on the same day as [2]Red Hat's brave words about patent
intimidation, a company filed the first [3]patent suit against the Linux
operating system. IP Innovation LLC filed the claim against Red Hat and
Novell over [4]U.S. Patent No. 5,072,412. PJ points out there is prior
art here: 'You might recall the patent was used in litigation against
Apple in April 2007, and Beta News reported at the time that it's a 1991
Xerox PARC patent. But Ars Technica provided the detail that it
references [5]earlier patents going back to 1984.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1239205
Links:
0. mailto:walterbyrd@yahoo.com
1. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/10/2148253&tid=88
2. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/1934218&tid=163
3. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071011205044141
4. http://www.google.com/patents?id=3tUkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,072,412
5. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070424-apple-sued-over-vague-user-interface-patent.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Amended Internet Tax Ban Will Not Include VoIP |
| from the nickel-and-dime-you-to-death dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @10:04 (The Almighty Buck) |
|
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1223255
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Spritzer writes "Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved an
[0]amendment to the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 which would prevent
the tax ban from expiring. However, the amendment also eliminates tax
protection for VoIP services. 'The amendment, offered by committee
Chairman John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat, would extend the ban on
Internet access taxes until Nov. 1, 2011. ... The Conyers amendment would
allow nine states with Internet access taxes to continue them. It would
also narrow the definition of Internet access, excluding services such as
VoIP from the tax ban.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1223255
Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/10/11/House-panel-votes-to-extend-Net-tax-ban_1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 'Hybrid' HDD Technology To Allow Data Access Without Booting |
| from the wonders-of-the-mondern-age dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @10:41 (Data Storage) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/144258
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
jfruhlinger writes "You've got a file on your laptop that you need to
access ��� but you don't want to wait for your laptop to boot up to get at
it. New technology from the company Silicon Storage Technology will make
the contents of a hard drive accessible via a computer's USB port [0]even
when the computer is powered down. 'FlashMate combines hardware, firmware
and software in a system application subsystem that manages a notebook
computer's hard drive. It is based on SST's expertise in NAND flash
controllers and memory subsystem design with Insyde Software's expertise
in PC BIOS, system software and power management. FlashMate can work in
conjunction with features such as Windows Vista ReadyDrive and serve as
nonvolatile cache for the hard disk drive, thus enabling a standard hard
disk drive to function as a hybrid drive.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/144258
Links:
0. http://storage.itworld.com/4650/071011hybriddrive/page_1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| US Faces $100 Billion Fine For Web Gambling Ban |
| from the just-one-more-thing-we-can't-afford dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @11:21 (The Courts) |
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1411242
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stony Stevenson writes with the news that [0]the World Trade Organization
is seeking billions of dollars in compensation from the United States
from their [1]ban on internet gambling. The view of the WTO is that the
US has reneged on commitments to the organization. "The disputed
concessions arise from Antigua's victory earlier this year when the WTO
ruled that the US violated its treaty obligations by excluding online
Antiguan gaming operators, while allowing domestic operators to offer
various forms of online gaming. Instead of complying with the ruling, the
Bush administration withdrew the sizeable gambling industry from its free
trade commitments. As a result, all 151 WTO members are considering
seeking compensation for the withdrawal equal to the size of the entire
US land-based and online gaming market, estimated at nearly US$100
billion."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1411242
Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/62937,us-faces-us100-billion-fine-for-web-gaming-ban.aspx
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/02/1817259&tid=103
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| First Actual CPU Energy Use Statistics Published |
| from the stats-for-science dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @12:04 (Power) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1531216
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
BBCWatcher writes "CNN is reporting that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency in August [0]asked server manufacturers to develop
'miles per gallon' ratings for their equipment that would provide
accurate assessments of energy efficiency. IBM says it is now providing
'typical usage ratings' for its line of z9 mainframe computers, in
addition to previously available maximum power ratings. More than 1,000
z9s around the world started reporting (with the owners' permission) on
May 11th their actual installed power and cooling demands, so IBM can
publish statistics such as how much energy is required to turn on an
additional processor to run multiple Linux virtual servers. The answer?
About 20 total watts. 'Over time every vendor is going to be asked to
provide typical energy use numbers for their equipment. It's what the EPA
wants, and this allows us to move beyond simple performance benchmarking
to energy benchmarking.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1531216
Links:
0. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0313973.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NASA Spaceship Scouts Out Prime Mars Landing Spots |
| from the you-know-they-limit-the-good-ones-to-give-out-tickets de|
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @12:39 (Mars) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1534201
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]coondoggie writes "NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter this week sent
back high-resolution images of about [1]30 proposed landing sites for the
Mars Science Laboratory, a mission launching in 2009 to deploy a
long-distance rover carrying sophisticated science instruments on Mars.
The orbiter's high-resolution camera has taken more than 3,500 huge,
sharp images released in black-and-white since it began science
operations in November 2006. The images show features as small as a desk.
The orbiter has sent back some 26 terabytes of data, equivalent to about
5,000 CD-ROMs."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1534201
Links:
0. mailto:mcooney@nww.com
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20531
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wii 'Popularity Bubble' to Burst? |
| from the it's-a-big-one dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @13:17 (Wii (Games)) |
|
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/169203
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
A combination of industry and developer observations has prompted
Tech.co.uk to wonder if the [0]Wii's overwhelming popularity is due to
end sometime soon. This is based on a report from Japanese business
newspaper The Nikkei, which published an article recently entitled
'Software Houses Miscalculate Audience, Demand For Wii'. "The report goes
on to discuss the likelihood that many Wiis are gathering dust in owners'
cupboards, citing one software house president as saying, 'People bought
it out of curiosity, and it's likely a lot of them haven't used it.'
Given that September saw Wii sales fall sharply in Japan for the second
consecutive month, it seems reasonable to speculate that the bubble
inflated by the novelty factor is starting to deflate, but writing
Nintendo off at any stage is a perilous course to steer." Is this just
worrying, or is there validity to this?
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/169203
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Rob Malda Answers Your Questions |
| from the pants-are-still-optional-but-not-for-you dept. |
| posted by Roblimo on Friday October 12, @13:22 (Slashdot.org) |
|
http://meta.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/1527219
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Last week hundreds of you posted [0]questions for Slashdot's CmdrTaco,
AKA Rob Malda. Today we present his answers to 10 of the
highest-moderated questions. CT: You can continue to sign up for [1]10
year anniversary parties but we're already working on shipping shirts so
you won't be able to get a care package... but you can still try to run
for the big grand prize by just taking videos of pictures or just doing
something cool at your parties to prove that we should have been there.
This story continues at:
http://meta.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/1527219
Discuss this story at:
http://meta.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/11/1527219
Links:
0. http://meta.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/04/1319239&tid=124
1. http://slashdot.org/anniversary.pl
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| T-Mobile Phone Unlocking Lawsuit May Proceed |
| from the fight-for-your-right-to-unlock dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @14:02 (Communications) |
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1738240
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Billosaur writes "Wired is reporting that the California Supreme Court
has refused to review two lower court decisions involving a class-action
lawsuit against T-Mobile [1]over their policies regarding early
termination and phone unlocking. The Court rejected the reviews without
comment, opening the door to the lawsuit, which aims to block T-Mobile
from collecting a $200 early termination fee from users. Also on the
table: an order for T-Mobile to disclose the types of phone-locking
technology that may be in use on customer's phones. The ramifications if
the lawsuit is successful would be to allow phone users in California to
unlock their phones, and might lead to further lawsuits nationwide."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1738240
Links:
0. http://wgrotheratoptonlinedotnet/
1. http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/10/tmobile
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Chinese Internet Censorship Operation Revealed |
| from the lots-of-busy-bees dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @14:45 (The Internet) |
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1758218
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stony Stevenson passed on a link to an in-depth look at [0]the Chinese
government's massive censorship operation. Reporters Without Borders put
together a report on the activities of the operation, with a primary
focus on the censorship of internet access and participation. "Chinese
supervisory bodies often use instant messaging and text messages sent via
mobile phones to communicate quickly with commercial Web sites. The
purpose is to tell them which articles or comments are not to be
published, and which events or issues are taboo. The Beijing Internet
Information Administrative Bureau holds weekly meetings with 19 of the
leading Web sites based in the capital to evaluate the subjects that
Internet users find most interesting that week."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1758218
Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/62931,chinese-internet-censorship-machine-revealed.aspx
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Airlines Have to Ask Permission to Fly 72 Hours Early |
| from the papers-papers-please dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 12, @15:24 (United Stat|
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/186224
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
twitter wrote to mention that the TSA (Transport Security Administration)
has released a new set of proposed rules that is raising quite a stir
among groups ranging from the ACLU to the American Society of Travel
Agents. Under the new rules airlines would be required to [0]submit a
passenger manifest (including full name, sex, date of birth, and redress
number) for all flights departing, arriving, or flying over the United
States at least 72 hours prior to departure. Boarding passes will only be
issued to those passengers that have been cleared. "Hasbrouck submitted
that requiring clearance in order to travel violates the US First
Amendment right of assembly, the central claim in John Gilmore's case
against the US government over the requirement to show photo ID for
domestic travel. [...] ACLU's Barry Steinhardt quoted press reports of
500,000 to 750,000 people on the watch list (of which the no-fly list is
a subset). 'If there are that many terrorists in the US, we'd all be
dead.' TSA representative Kip Hawley noted that the list has been
carefully investigated and halved over the last year. 'Half of grossly
bloated is still bloated,' Steinhardt replied."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/186224
Links:
0. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/flying_into_data_hell/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dr. Bussard Passes Away, Polywell Fusion Continues |
| from the fighting-the-fight dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 12, @16:07 (Power) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1822256
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Vinz writes "[0]Dr Bussard, the man behind the [1]Bussard Collector and
inventor of the [2]Polywell fusion device, [3]passed [4]away last Sunday
in the morning. He leaves behind him a legacy of EM fusion devices, and a
team determined to continue his efforts. The news of funding extension
for the construction of his WB-7 fusion devices [5]made it to slashdot
months ago (as well as his [6]talk at google). They may be a serious
candidate in the run to bring commercial fusion, and may work at lower
scales than other projects. Let's hope the project continues in good
shape despite his departure."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1822256
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bussard
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polywell
4. http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2007/10/dr_robert_w_bus.html
5. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/22/2115249&tid=232
6. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/18/0616205&tid=232
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Air Force to Get "Cyber Sidearms" |
| from the buzzword-makers-just-getting-lazy dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 12, @16:49 (The Militar|
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1837258
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
mlbtaz writes to mention that techs working on Air Force networks will
soon be getting "[0]cyber sidearms" to help alert them to potential
security breaches. "The tool could be a small piece of software installed
on Air Force computers or it could be a simple mechanism for taking a
screenshot and relaying it to security experts, said Maj. Gen. William
Lord, who will soon take command of the Air Force's provisional Cyber
Command. In an interview this week, Lord said service officials have not
made a final decision about which technology they will use for the
program. "
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1837258
Links:
0. http://www.fcw.com/online/news/150483-1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Making of System Shock 2 |
| from the how-ya-doing-hacker dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @17:33 (PC Games (Games)) |
|
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1846217
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
The British gaming magazine Edge, which has teamed up with the website
Next Generation, offers up a piece [0]looking back at the creation of
System Shock 2 . The cult classic storytelling horror-themed FPS has
survived as a popular and often-referenced game despite the eight years
between now and its release. The piece covers the reasons behind that
popularity, as well as the 'horror' of an inexperienced team taking on a
dauntingly high-profile task: "The original System Shock was one of the
games that made Levine want to move into the videogame industry in the
first place. What made it so special? 'The feeling of being in a real
place,' he raves. 'The feeling of a mystery, of unraveling it - not in an
adventure game way, but in the context of an action game. You arrive
and... what happened? That's a really good storytelling mechanism.'
Austin Grossman and Doug Church's original idea from Shock was something
Irrational expanded in its sequel. 'In Shock 1 you were a specific guy,
you had a backstory,' Levine notes. 'With Shock 2, I started you out with
the classic 'wake up with amnesia'.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1846217
Links:
0. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7381&Itemid=2
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Simon Pegg to Play Scotty |
| from the take-ship-go-to-mum's-kill-phil-sorry dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 12, @18:15 (Sci-Fi) |
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/2016254
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
In response to [0]yesterday's casting news about Chris Pine possibly
taking the captain's chair for the new Star Trek movie, apparently
[1]Simon Pegg will be playing the role of Scotty. Simon Pegg is known for
his role as Shaun in Shaun of the dead and more recently for his leading
role in Hot Fuzz. "Pegg joins Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as
Chekov, John Cho as Sulu and Zachary Quinto as Spock in the film which
reportedly, and logically, 'chronicles the early days of the Enterprise
crew.' Leonard Nimoy will also put in an appearance, while Eric Bana
signed up this week as the movie's villain, Nero."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/2016254
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/1640238&tid=214
1. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/scotty_role/
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| Inside Nvidia's Testing Facilities |
| from the behind-the-pixels dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday October 12, @19:00 (Graphics) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/1751226
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "FiringSquad has up a [0]behind the scenes
look at NVIDIA's Santa Clara HQ. In addition to the usual shots of the
server farm, they spend several pages talking about the Silicon Failure
Analysis Lab which is the secret to NVIDIA's success as a fabless
semiconductor company. They also have shots of NVIDIA's thermal analysis
lab where they run the GPUs at 40 deg C and 0 deg C, and the Performance
analysis labs."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/1751226
Links:
0. http://www.firingsquad.com/features/nside_nvidia/
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| Oracle's $6.7 Billion Bid for BEA Turned Down |
| from the not-rich-enough dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 12, @19:46 (Businesses)|
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/2058208
|
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andy1307 writes to tell us that according to the Mercury News, Oracle has
made an unsolicited bid to [0]buy BEA Systems for about $6.7 billion. BEA
confirmed that it rejected the $17 a share bid as too low. "BEA told
Phillips that its board of directors believes BEA 'is worth substantially
more to Oracle, to others and, importantly, to our shareholders than the
price indicated in your letter.' Oracle's aggressive bid may be an
attempt to pre-empt an acquisition by others, Finley said. Those named in
the past as potential suitors include IBM, the German software company
SAP AG and Hewlett-Packard. Trip Chowdhry of Global Equity Research said
he expects a counterbid from SAP, which he said needs BEA to survive. 'If
they don't get BEA, probably in two years SAP will be on the block to
sell itself,' Chowdhry predicted. Oracle needs to keep BEA out of
competitors' hands, he said. Chowdhry said the offer currently 'is not
right. Probably at $21 the deal will get done.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/10/12/2058208
Links:
0. http://www.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_7158360
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