Category: Random Ramblings

Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.

Rumor: Assassin’s Creed coming to XBox360 and PC

(via Joystiq)
I’ve just finished reading the preview of Assassin’s Creed in a recent Game Informer magazine.  If the game works out to be as good as it sounds, this will be one of the best games in the coming year.  Of course, Trespasser sounded to be the same thing, and look how it turned out.  I hope this is available on the PC or XBox 360, since I never expect to buy a PS3 (or at least, not until the PS4 is released) – I can only afford one next gen box, and I guarantee it won’t be the most expensive one.

So, the Joystiq article in full:

A handful of European gaming sites (1, 2, 3), likely originating with French site Xbox-Gamer.net, have “confirmed” that the mystery of Assassin’s Creed’s exclusivity has been solved: it will be making it’s way to both the Xbox 360 and PC, as well as the previously announced PS3 …

… at least, according to an off the record comment (where’s the reps name?) made to Xbox-Gamer.net at the recent IDEF 2006 expo held in Cannes. There was no information regarding any timed exclusivity for Sony’s console. We all have our suspicions (hence the mystery) regarding Assassin’s Creed’s multi-platform prospects, but an unsourced comment made by a random Ubisoft representative is hardly confirmation (we’ve contacted Ubisoft for official confirmation). Until it shows up here (which it hasn’t) we’re enormously skeptical. And we dance …

I can’t track down good links for this game other than the final one listed above (dang firewall blocks lots of good stuff), but this is a game worth looking up on Google and reading about.
[tags]Assassin’s Creed, Consoles, PS3, XBox360, Gaming[/tags]

Senator Ted Stevens doesn’t get the ‘net

(via boingboing)

Any of you techies wondering who you have representing you? Have you thought about who it is kowtowing to the telecomm companies who are trying to make the Internet a communication structured controlled by big media and big business?

Sadly, it’s people like this who are “working for” citizens in this country.

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially…

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It’s not a truck.

It’s a series of tubes.

And if you don’t understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Yes, you read that right. Senator Stevens (R-Alaska) received an internet which took 5 days to travel via the Internet to him. And the reason for this, he thinks, is because the tubes that make up the Internet were blocked by other companies pushing through things not of interest to him. Because of this, cable internet providers, DSL providers, and other such companies should be allowed to charge the companies which send internets over the Internet so they can assure the senders that their internet will be received promptly.

I have no complaints about people not understanding the technology I deal with every day. But to explain something of which you have no concept and use that as the justification for dry-raping consumers while deep-throating big business is just not right. Learn about something before spewing this crap, and then at least support bad law because you understand the implications.

[tags]Net Neutrality, Big business, Raping consumers[/tags]

17 mistakes Microsoft made in the XBox security system

Sometimes, I don’t even know why I read these things. First, the XBox is kinda old news to most folks. Second, I don’t know many people in real life who care about security. Third, this write-up of XBox security system problems is old anyway (late 2005). But some how, I still find and read these kinds of articles, almost always finding them fascinating, even when I don’t understand what the heck is being said (far too often for my tastes). And if you are like me, you’ll want to at least peek at it, and see how much you understand about security system design and testing.

Motivation for the Security System

The Xbox being a PC, it should be trivial to install Linux on it in order to have a cheap and, for that time, powerful PC. Even today, a small and silent 733 MHz PC with TV connectivity for 149 USD/EUR is still attractive. But this is not the only thing Microsoft wanted to prevent. There are three uses that should not have been possible:

  • Linux: The hardware is subsidized and money is gained with the games, therefore people should not be able to buy an Xbox without the intent to buy any games. Microsoft apparently feels that allowing the Xbox to be used as a (Linux) computer would be too expensive for them.
  • Homebrew/Unlicensed: Microsoft wants the software monopoly on the Xbox platform. Nobody should be able to publish unlicensed software, because Microsoft wants to gain money with the games to amortize the hardware losses, and because they do not want anyone to release non-Internet Explorer browsers and non-Windows Media Player multimedia software.
  • Copies: Obviously it is important to Microsoft that it is not possible to run copied games on the Xbox.

Microsoft decided to design a single security system that was supposed to make Linux, homebrew/unlicensed software and copies impossible. The idea to accomplish this was by simply locking out all software that is either not on the intended (original) medium or not by Microsoft.

On the one hand, this idea makes the security system easier and there are less possible points off attack. But on the other hand, 3 times more attackers have a single security system to hack: Although Open Source and Linux people, homebrew developers, game companies as well as crackers have little common interests, they could unite in this case and jointly hack the Xbox security system.

Then falls all the gory details of how the XBox boot system works, what security systems were put in place to protect the boot, how the systems *could* fail, how work-arounds were found to take advantage of those failures, and so on.  It’s a great bit insight into how hardware hacking can be done, but it’s also fairly technical at times.

[tags]XBox, Security, Microsoft[/tags]

Today in history – July 7th

Here’s a smattering of information about memorable events which have occurred in years past on this day.

  • A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death (1456). — Sure, it’s a bit late, but I’ll bet her family was happy to know that she shouldn’t really have been executed…
  • United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $100 (1863) — Hey, now there’s a good idea.  Sure, having money being the reason you get out of the draft has always been the case – but in this instance, it’s more clearly understandable how someone skipped facing the draft without the need for the cowardly run to another country.
  • In Memphis, Tennessee, WHBQ becomes the first radio station to air an Elvis Presley record. (1954) — If that’s not history, I don’t know what is.  And being that I live in Memphis now, I figure I need to point out the accomplishments of this fine city (aside from the political scandals which seem to keep the FBI coming here a lot recently, that is).
  • Some cowardly maggots blew up bombs on three trains and a bus in London, killing 52 innocent people.

[tags]Today in history[/tags]

Papercraft Pirates of the Caribbean ship

(via boingboing)
To celebrate today’s release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, we’ll highlight a cool pirate themed papercraft project. I love looking at papercraft projects, but never have time to do them. This one, I’d really like to work on. After all, who doesn’t love a pirate?

wickedwenchpapercraft.jpg

[tags]Pirates of the Caribbean, papercraft, Pirate ship, Disney[/tags]

Flipper Critters DS video

(via 4ColorRebellion)
Flipper_Critters_picture_00.jpgI love pinball. I want a pinball machine for home, but haven’t found a decent one at a price I can/will pay. While searching for that pinball deal, I resign myself to PC based pinball simluators. While this provides entertainment, it’s missing the tactile experience one gets with real pinball. Going the other way, however, is Flipper Critters – a Nintendo DS game coming out in Europe later this year. Sure, it too is missing the whole actual experience of pinball, but dang it, at least we get portability. I’ll probably pick up this game if it makes it to the US (or if I can find an importer with the game at a reasonable price). Wondering why? Well, check out the video. Looks good to me.

p.s. Video link originally from and screenshot stolen from NintendoGal.

[tags]Nintendo DS, pinball[/tags]

Large parts of SCO lawsuit thrown out

(via Ars Technica)

In part of the ongoing lawsuit in which SCO claims it will prove something it has so far failed to prove in 3 years, Magistrate Brooke C. Wells of the US District Court in Salt Lake City has dismissed 182 of SCO’s 294 claims.

The dismissal is part of a 39-page ruling that comes down hard on SCO for continually refusing to provide specific details about which lines of code in SCO’s products were stolen by Linux programmers.

“SCO’s arguments are akin to SCO telling IBM, ‘Sorry we are not going to tell you what you did wrong because you already know,'” Wells wrote in the ruling. “Given the amount of code that SCO has received in discovery, the court finds it inexcusable that SCO is, in essence, still not placing all the details on the table.”

SCO’s reaction to the news was predictably unrevealing. “Our legal team is reviewing the judge’s ruling and will determine our next steps in the near future,” said SCO spokesperson Blake Stowell.

Yeah, this case just keeps looking worse and worse for SCO.  Of course, I think that’s probably expected by most after watching 3 years of nothing coming that SCO says it will deliver.

[tags]SCO, IBM, SCO vs. IBM, Linux lawsuit[/tags]

Nintendo sends President Bush a DS and Brain Age game for birthday

(via Engadget)

As a “Happy Birthday” gift, Nintendo has sent a Nintendo DS Lite to the President and the game Brain Age.  For those not familiar with the game, Brain Age is a game which supposedly helps improve mental function and delays age related memory loss.  This seems like an attempt at a humorous slap at President given the reputation he has in the media.  A bit bold for Nintendo, though, even if intended as a good-natured jab.
[tags]Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Brain Age[/tags]

Nintendo DS browser missing some “essentials”

(via DS Fanboy)

The latest bit of info from IGN concerning the Nintendo DS browser (based on Opera, by the way), indicates it will be missing some features considered essential by some.  Which essentials?  Well, the browser won’t support Flash media, viewing PDF or video files, nor playing back sound.  Also, you will not be able to save images for later viewing.  But you can save bookmarks.

I have to say, for me, the missing features are nowhere near essential to me.  I install a Flash blocker extension in every Mozilla install I do for myself anyway, and if I want to view PDF files, I’m more likely to try to get them in rocketbook format for viewing on my EBookwise ebook reader or look at them via my PC anyway.  I often browse with sound turned off, so I’ll not miss that, and most videos are not worth viewing anyway, so I doubt I’ll notice that missing, either.  So for me, nothing essential is missing.

[tags]Nintendo DS, Opera browser[/tags]

Why you should destroy your own hard drives

This Security Awareness article is old news now, but still required reading if you missed it the first go around. The basis of the story is simple – a couple paid for an upgraded hard drive on their system and received assurances from the Best Buy techs that the drive would be destroyed so no one could recover their information from the drive.

“They said rest assured. They drill holes in it so it’s useless,” said Gerbus.

A few months ago, Gerbus got a phone call from a man in Chicago.

“He said, ‘My name is Ed. I just bought your hard drive for $25 at a flea market in Chicago,” said Gerbus. “I thought my world was coming down.”

Hmmmmm. That’s doesn’t sound to me like the drive was destroyed with holes drilled in it. It does sound like Ed was decent and wasn’t going to steal the couples’ identities. But one can never be too careful.

“He said, ‘Do you want me to wipe it clean or send it to you?’ I told him to send it to me. I wanted it in my hands,” said Gerbus.

Gerbus received the hard drive a few weeks later.

As a precaution, the couple alerted the major credit bureaus to protect their information.

“I’m not leaving myself open to indentity theft,” said Gerbus.

Target 5’s Tom Sussi contacted Best Buy to figure out how the Gerbus’ hard drive wound up at a flea market outside Chicago.

In case you are wondering, Best Buy promises to investigate the matter.  I haven’t heard anything since this story first ran, so I don’t know what Best Buy found as the cause.

[tags]Security, Data destruction, Best Buy[/tags]

Sperm have a sense of smell

Here’s a little bit of news that I doubt many people knew. The fine folks at SEED magazine have published a short about the sense of smell that sperm have.

A new study published in the journal Analytical Chemistry shows that sperm have a sense of smell. Further, it’s so sophisticated that even an ovarian scent that’s diluted 100,000 times will cause the little gametes to turn tail and swim in its direction. The study’s authors note that sperm have olfactory receptor proteins—much like those in our noses—which reside over their outer membranes. The researchers used mouse sperm for their study, but they are confident their results apply to man-sperm as well. Apparently, sperm does not hold much of a species bias, as sperm from one mammal will respond to ovarian chemicals from another.

(source: Discovery News)

I just had to post this, as how often can one post about sperm, use the term man-sperm, and speak about SEED magazine all at the same time and not be discussing something dirty? I didn’t want to pass on the opportunity to educate and use funny words at the same time. I’ll avoid the offensive or suggestive jokes I could make at this time.

However, since we’re on the subject, here’s another sex-related article from the same page.

Hold the Screaming Orgasm

Norwegians like their nights long, their herring pickled and their sex sober. According to a survey of 1736 people by Arcus, the only wine distiller in Norway, 52% of Norwegian men and 59% of Norwegian women think sex is better without social lubricant. However, 27% of men and 20% of women responded that it’s preferable to have a few glasses of wine before doing the deed. This study is the first step in Arcus’s grand plan to find out exactly when and how Norway wants its booze.

(source: Aftenposten) Thanks to Seed‘s Deputy Art Director Adam Billyeald for his translation assistance.

[tags]SEED magazine, Science news[/tags]

Diaries of Columbine cowards released

Over at CNN, we find out that the diaries of the cowards responsible for the Columbine attack have been released to the public. We can learn a little about the jack-holes responsible for the attack from these, and maybe a little about their families, as well.

On a calendar entry dated the day of the attack, April 20, the time 11:10 is written across the top — an approximate reference to when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold pulled out their weapons inside the suburban high school and started firing.

The two killed 12 students and a teacher before taking their own lives in what remains one of the deadliest school attacks in U.S. history.

Elsewhere in the calendar are notations including “get nails” and “get propanes, fill my clips” and “finish fuses.”

Well, I’m already forming an opinion based on that last paragraph. Those of you that know me can guess what it is. Those of you that don’t know me will have to deduce it from what I have to say about the event and the diaries.

Continue reading “Diaries of Columbine cowards released”