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Author Topic: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3  (Read 12382 times)

KynloStephen66515

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Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« on: February 27, 2010, 12:37 PM »
Hey Guys, sorry its a little bit later than normal, been a busy few days.  Anyway, here's your weekly dose of tech news.  Hope you enjoy!

Hope You Enjoy!



Weekly Tech News

StephensMasthead (Rev01).gif

U.K. bill would 'outlaw open Wi-Fi'

The U.K. government will not exempt universities, libraries, and small businesses providing open Wi-Fi services from its Digital Economy Bill copyright crackdown, according to official advice released earlier this week.

This would leave many organizations open to the same penalties for copyright infringement as individual subscribers, potentially including disconnection from the Internet, leading legal experts to say it will become impossible for small businesses and the like to offer Wi-Fi access.

Lilian Edwards, professor of Internet law at Sheffield University, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the scenario described by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in an explanatory document would effectively "outlaw open Wi-Fi for small businesses" and would leave libraries and universities in an uncertain position....Read More...


Microsoft takes off gloves against Google

Microsoft left little doubt Friday that it was one of the companies leading the charge against Google worldwide.
 

In a blog post entitled "Competition Authorities and Search," Microsoft Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner said part of the motivation for Microsoft and Yahoo's search deal was "we are concerned...Read More...


Tools for Putting Web Apps to the Cross-Browser Test

Web-based applications and cloud computing have presented new challenges for software developers. Most software makers are by no means tone-deaf to user concerns about security and usability issues, but even those software writers who are receptive to these worries must contend with hard-to-plug holes that can open up in cross-platform programs such as Web browsers.

For Web app developers, the problems occur on...Read More...


New glasses-free 3D game for Nintendo DSi

Nintendo has released a new 3D game for the DSi in Japan which uses the devices in-built cameras to track the position of your eyes in relation to the two screens, and then delivers a 3D game world in line with the position of your head.

It sounds a little bit...Read More...


Sony: Don't hold your breath for PS4

The chances of seeing a PlayStation 4 underneath your television any time soon are receding, with the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America insisting that we are in the 'first 25 to 30 per cent' of the current generation.

With the battle against ...Read More...


The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

Much virtual ink has been spilled over Ubisoft's new, harsh DRM system for Assassin's Creed 2. You must have a constant internet connection, and, if your connection breaks, the game exits. While this has angered many (and justifiably so), most writers on the topic have made an error. They think that...Read More


Europe 'will not accept' three strikes in Acta treaty

The European Commission has pledged to make sure the Acta global treaty will not force countries to disconnect people for unlawfully downloading copyrighted music, movies and other material.

The assurance from the office of the trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht (pictured), is the strongest statement on Acta (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) to emerge from the new Commission since it took office earlier in February.

"We are not supporting...Read More...


Government departments allowed to use Firefox

The government has said its departments are free to consider any browser, and should consider open-source software including Firefox.

According to a parliamentary written answer from Cabinet Office minister Angela Smith, there is no rule that says government departments must use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, even though it is the browser most widely used within Whitehall.

When asked by Francis Maude MP what the government's policy on the installation of different web browsers is, Smith said: "Government policy regarding installation and use of web browsers is that all decisions must be in line with value-for-money requirements.

"In addition, the open source...Read More...


No Lie! Your Facebook Profile Is the Real You

On the Internet,” one dog tells another in a classic New Yorker cartoon, “nobody knows you’re a dog.”

The internet is notorious for its digital dens of deception. But on Facebook, what you see tends to be what you get — at least in one study of tailless, two-legged young adults.

College-age users of Facebook in the United States and a similar social networking site in Germany typically present...Read More...


Win A Free Ticket to Google IO 2010

Google’s premiere developer event is coming up in just a couple of months, and we’ve got two passes to give away.

Google I/O takes place on May 19 and 20 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. It’s the company’s largest developer event, with hundreds of sessions and demos of all the latest Google tech. Plus, there are the big keynotes like the launch of Wave, the first major public demo of Android and the HTML5 coming-out party where everyone in the room got a free Android phone....Read More...





Video of The Week

Note: This video is NSFW (not suitable for work) because of coarse language:






Well, Thats it for this week, hope you all enjoyed this week top news stories!

-Stephen
« Last Edit: March 01, 2010, 06:59 PM by Stephen66515 »

JavaJones

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2010, 09:42 PM »
Ahhh, Dr. Tran. One of my all-time favorites. Sorry for my only comment being on the video, I've read many of these stories already so don't have much to say. Curious to see if Ubisoft's new copyright protection really does foil hackers though. If so it'll basically be a first...

- Oshyan

40hz

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2010, 11:30 PM »
Every newsletter deserves its own masthead :Thmbsup:

StephensMasthead.gif



« Last Edit: February 28, 2010, 11:34 PM by 40hz »

SKesselman

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2010, 04:17 AM »
 :)  :)  :)
Nice, 40hz!!
-Sarah

40hz

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2010, 10:35 AM »
:)  :)  :)
Nice, 40hz!!

thanks Sarah!

(If he likes it enough to use it I'm gonna have to fix the kerning on the text however. Especially that gap between the E and the C in TECH. It's big enough to drive a truck through! But that's what happens when you put one of these together on a smartphone late at night. )   ;D

wraith808

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2010, 11:30 AM »
You put that together on a smartphone?!?  All the more impressive!

40hz

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2010, 12:53 PM »
***Warning - the following is OT :P***

You put that together on a smartphone?!?  All the more impressive!

Thanks, but not really. It's still just some free clip art and two blocks of text. :)

And doing it on the phone was mostly happenstance. I had the opportunity to try out a prototype smartphone that was running the newest mobile Flash beta package from Adobe. This was one of those "proof of concept" bits of fooling around that a developer friend of mine dragged me into.

So the phone and Flash combo just got me out onto the web. The actual drawing app I used is an amazing online art package called Aviary. You can find it at   http://aviary.com

Sign up for a free account and check it out if you get a chance. Well worth the time. :Thmbsup:

« Last Edit: March 01, 2010, 02:08 PM by 40hz »

KynloStephen66515

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2010, 05:17 PM »
Every newsletter deserves its own masthead :Thmbsup:
 (see attachment in previous post)

Thats awesome, nice1 for that, I will deffo use it :D

40hz

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2010, 06:54 PM »
Glad you liked it. It's all yours now - and thank you for sitting in for "Dr. E"!!!

This is a fixed up version. Still not completely correct. I'll do a better 'final' as soon as I get twenty minutes free to have at it on a vector drawing app. (Can't do kerning in a paint program.)

Until then, go with this version: :Thmbsup:

StephensMasthead (Rev01).gif

« Last Edit: March 01, 2010, 06:59 PM by 40hz »

KynloStephen66515

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2010, 07:00 PM »
Awesome & Logo of This news has been edited to make the logo, to that one, cause its just plain brill, tyvm for it :D

Edvard

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2010, 09:51 AM »
RE: The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

Ubisoft's notorious "uncrackable" unfair game DRM falls in less than 24h
http://www.boingboin...fts-notorious-u.html
 :-\

wraith808

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2010, 10:23 AM »
RE: The Awful Anti-Pirate System That Will Probably Work

Ubisoft's notorious "uncrackable" unfair game DRM falls in less than 24h
http://www.boingboin...fts-notorious-u.html
 :-\

Well, I personally agree with Tycho over at PA... nobody wins on this one, and it just leans towards the death of PC gaming. :(  I don't see why they don't just see that it's not pirate or purchase.  Most pirates wouldn't have purchased anyway, and most purchasers are going to purchase anyway.  The only way this changes is if the publisher's contract with the purchaser is unreasonable (i.e. publish crap, and I'm not going to pay, make me inconvenienced and I'm not going to pay, make a crappy port and I'm not going to pay, etc).  But for some reason this is beyond some publishers.  I wonder what their response is going to be.

EDIT: Didn't have to wait too long: http://kotaku.com/54...ks-drm-piracy-claims
« Last Edit: March 05, 2010, 10:25 AM by wraith808 »

JavaJones

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Re: Stephen's Weekly Tech News - Edition 3
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2010, 09:06 PM »
I can't help but taking greaaaat satisfaction in Ubi's wonderprotection being absolutely destroyed in such a short time. F^#@ YOU Ubi! *ahem* Sorry, um... I hope they learn a lesson from it, but I doubt they will. 10 years ago I worked at a game publisher in the IT department and I tried to convince them not to spend 100's of thousands of dollars a year on licensed DRM from Starforce or another company, or develop it in-house (for similar cost), and just rely on the simple, tried and true, always reliable serial # system. They didn't listen.

As for Ubi's response, well they may be right, but I certainly wouldn't take their word for it...

- Oshyan