Death Star spotted near Saturn

Cassini has spotted the Death Star just off Saturn.

I, for one, welcome our new Imperial overlords.

Sounds like an M$ product

Microsoft admits Xbox has reliability problems

Spinsters say that few have complained

By Nick Farrell: Thursday 24 November 2005, 07:46

SOFTWARE giant Microsoft which also "makes mice" has admitted that it has had a few complaints about the stability of its super soaraway Xbox 360.

Yesterday we reported that the Xbox360 was causing some games to hang.

Volish spinner Molly O'Donnell admitted to Reuters that some Xbox 360 owners have reported problems but claims that the complaints were widespread and the Xbox was too buggy were over stated.

However, her claims that Xbox hangings were few and far between does not seem to be the experience of some of the gamer sites such as www.engadget.com and www.xbox-scene.com, as well as Microsoft's own Xbox Web forum. There are loads of "postings" from Xbox 360 owners on reporting that some systems had crashed during regular play as well as during online game play using the Xbox Live service.

O'Donnell, did not say how many reports Microsoft had received but said that the calls represent a "very, very small fraction" of units sold.

However, she did say that Microsoft had been expecting problems with the new Xbox. With any launch of this magnitude, you're bound to see something happening, she said.

She recommended that people should call the Volish helpdesk 1-800-4MY-XBOX. However, be prepared for a long wait. Other "postings" complain that the helpdesk takes so long to answer that the Playstation Three will be delivered before someone picks up the blower.

Isn't that what we've come to know and love about Microsoft products?

Late Night Drinking

Police welcome drinkers to the "Lock 'Em Inn"
Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:32 PM GMT12

LONDON (Reuters) - Drunks are being offered a weekend break with a difference by police in eastern England -- "convenient accommodation with lots of bars" at the "Lock'Em Inn."

A spoof brochure is being distributed by Ipswich police in an effort to remind revellers of the effects of drinking too much during the first festive season under new open-all-hours drinking laws.

Police have produced more than 30,000 leaflets proclaiming the dubious attractions of the "Lock'em Inn", an establishment "conveniently located within easy reach of Ipswich pubs, clubs and criminal courts".

"Built in the 1960s, the atmosphere is truly unique," the leaflet says of the local police station. The accommodation is "minimalist chic with economy in mind."

A picture of a microwave meal promises: "Warm food lovingly reheated in seconds".

Minimum stays are available of between four to six hours, but the leaflet suggests "Why not make it a long weekend? Get arrested on a Saturday and stay with us until court on Monday."

New licensing laws come into effect across England and Wales on Thursday, which will allow pubs and bars to open for longer. Senior judges and police have warned the new rules could make the country's already serious drinking problems worse.

The plod do have a sense of humor.

It's about time that they got rid of the 23:00 closing time rule. Although I'm probably still going to leave around then if I'm not at my local in order to get the last tube.

Bollocks!

Youth’s Death Linked to Game

Blizzard faces a lawsuit from Chinese parents, who say World of Warcraft caused the death of their son.
November 18, 2005

In the latest saga over online gaming addiction in China, the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy are suing the makers of World of Warcraft, blaming the game for the death of their son, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The parents filed a suit against Blizzard Entertainment on Wednesday, saying their son jumped to his death while reenacting a scene from the game, the report said. The parents are backed by the anti-Internet addiction advocate Zhang Chunliang.

Full article here.

Jesus on pot.

Islanders pray to Jesus image on plant pot
Sun Nov 20, 2005 5:42 PM GMT163

COZUMEL, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexicans have set up a shrine at a plant pot on the grounds of a beach resort on the Caribbean island of Cozumel after an image said to depict Jesus appeared on it following Hurricane Wilma a month ago,

A receptionist at the Occidental Grand resort noticed the image likened to Jesus' face as shaken guests emerged from a storm shelter after huddling for three days while the hurricane hurled rain and debris.

Local media are calling it a miracle and draw a link between the apparition and the fact that none of the 200 guests had suffered so much as a bruise during the storm, which tore up other beach resorts on Cozumel, bit holes in concrete buildings, ripped up sections of highway and flattened trees.

The image stands out clearly as a Jesus-like face on the side of the enameled terra cotta planter -- whose plants also survived the storm despite being outside for its duration.

Full story here.

I wonder how long it will take for the plant pot to appear on e-bay? (...and then sold to Golden Palace.)

...

It was even worse this morning.

Winter is here.

I can tell by the frost covering my seat in the mornings.

Well... at least it's not raining.

Sucker for Punishment

So my broadband service was running fine for a few weeks at the reduced speed.

I had just about gotten over the trauma of sitting on hold for hours while waiting for tech support and surfing at close to dial-up speeds when in a moment of weakness I decided to take advantage of UK Online's upgrade to 22Mb...

This has resulted in me spending more time playing spider solitaire while waiting for tech support to sort out my line again after the same symptoms that were bothering me with the "8Mb" line.

On the positive side though, I think I might have mastered the black art of setting up the Netgear Router now.

Travel Tips

OK... so if you're going to be spending a few hours in Paris in search of a decent loaf of bread and don't speak French:

1. Get a map of Paris before leaving Waterloo Station.
2. Research what's the French word for Bakery ("Boulangerie", I would never have guessed it. Not as simple as finding a tobacconist, I now have enough tobacco to last me well into the new year.)


So anyway, I decided to head off aimlessly and find the Eiffel Tower but went off in the wrong direction and had to settle for the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur before running out of time.

Next time Germany.

Germany has good bread and I speak German so I can't go wrong.

Saturday Morning.... Nothing to do.

I really don't feel like cleaning up my room or going grocery shopping today... I can't get out of doing the shopping and I'll find an excuse to put off cleaning my room once I'm fully awake.

Hmmm... Perhaps I should go to France. I wonder if they have decent bread.

RoboLawyers?

Robot Lawyers Set for Trial Against Humans


Business Day (Johannesburg)
November 10, 2005
Lesley Stones
Johannesburg

NEXT year the Buys legal firm will find out just how popular or unpopular its lawyers actually are, when it introduces robotic rivals to its human staff.

The company is developing three robots, Stacy, Dave and Nathan, to see if artificial intelligence can be as successful as the real thing. The robots will provide online legal opinions and advice to its customers early next year, says Reinhardt Buys.

"Although the public will initially be rather hesitant to fully engage with virtual legal intelligence, there are so many benefits.

"The robots never sleep, they have virtually limitless memories and they get smarter every day," Buys said.

The robots will initially be used to answer basic questions from the public and to present electronic training material.

"Although their duties would be limited and very much controlled at first, we consider them an important strategic investment for the future," Buys said.

According to AI Expert Systems at the University of Texas, artificial intelligence (AI) technology will let computers autonomously reason with the law to draw legal conclusions.

The head of that team, Selmer Bringsjort, says: "Our intuition is that people won't mind in the least if their lawyers are empowered by artificial colleagues -- quite the contrary, if they are the beneficiaries of quicker turnaround time, lower legal fees and higher quality work.

"If the case is won, if the deal is done, complaints will be few and far between."

Have you been injured in an accident in the last two years that wasn't your fault?
Y(es)/N(o)/A(bort)

...and so it begins.

First Trojan using Sony DRM spotted
Roots you, Sir
By John Leyden
Published Thursday 10th November 2005 13:25 GMT

Virus writers have begun taking advantage of Sony-BMG's use of rootkit technology in DRM software bundled with its music CDs.

Sony-BMG's rootkit DRM technology masks files whose filenames start with "$sys$". A newly-discovered variant of the Breplibot Trojan takes advantage of this to drop the file "$sys$drv.exe" in the Windows system directory.

"This means, that for systems infected by the Sony DRM rootkit technology, the dropped file is entirely invisible to the user. It will not be found in any process and file listing. Only rootkit scanners, such as the free utility RootkitRevealer, can unmask the culprit," warns Ivan Macalintal, a senior threat analyst at security firm Trend Micro

Full article here.

That actually took longer than I expected...

Hmmm... I think it might be safer to download music instead of potentially infecting my PC by playing dodgey Sony CDs.

RootkitRevealer can be downloaded from Sysinternals if you're worried.

Sony's Rootkit

Sony sued over copy-protected CDs

Sony BMG is facing three lawsuits over its controversial anti-piracy software.

Revealed in late October by Windows expert Mark Russinovich, the software copy protection system hides using virus-like techniques.

One class-action lawsuit has already been filed in California and another is expected in New York.

Digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), is also gathering information from users to see if a case can be brought...

Full article here.

Who would want to pirate Ricky Martin & Celine Dion CD's anyway?

...Now with Smellovision.

Philips pushes ambient gaming

Including heat, light and air currents… an indoor outdoors

By Marc McEntegart: Monday 07 November 2005, 11:37

Due for release in May 2006, Philips new environmental gaming device will be amBX. The aim of amBX is to allow games to control the environment in which they are played to an unprecedented degree, including general lighting, heat and airflow around players.

Full article here

Bold Claims By M$

No Job Too Big For Windows Anymore, Ballmer Says
Nov. 7, 2005
By Aaron Ricadela
InformationWeek

Microsoft on Monday released new versions of its database software and development tools, along with test results intended to prove the software has improved ability to run the largest computer programs at corporations. During a keynote address in San Francisco to launch the products, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made the claim that no job is too big for Windows anymore.

Microsoft and SAP AG ran a benchmark test that allowed 93,000 concurrent users of SAP's software with Microsoft's SQL Server 2005 database, which became generally available Monday. That's 10 times more users than can be supported in the largest SAP installation today, Ballmer said. Ballmer also said SQL Server 2005 running Microsoft's .Net middleware has beaten an IBM benchmark result using its WebSphere middleware running on Oracle's database.

Full article here...

Perhaps now they can spend some time on making their website little more user friendly.

GTA:LCS

At last. My Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories finally arrived.

Is it as good as the hype made it out to be? Well... I haven't decided yet but I'm pretty impressed so far. So far it seems pretty close to the PC version which is impressive in itself for a handheld.

Christmas Is Coming

You can tell by the Christmas stress that's already starting. Hindus upset about badly chosen Christmas stamps and Christians upset about winter lights.

Personally, I think we should trade in the lot for standard long weekends.

In fact, I'm a contractor and don't get paid for bank holidays... I say bin them all together!


...and in response to Irene Von Treskow's quote:

She does not believe the picture is offensive. "How can it be?" she asked. "It is 17th-century art."

It's not the art that's offensive, it's the subject matter.

Insomnia

I purposefully went to bed early last night so that I could get an early start in the morning, only to be woken up by my housemates having a conversation in the passage outside my door.

Perhaps some Spider Solitair will put me back to sleep or a few chapters of "SQL Server Administration" if that doesn't work.

Tai Chi

I think I've found my next case... well... perhaps if they have one in black.