may the force be with you

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp.(INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), computer makers and distributors were raided by European Commission and local officials on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into possible antitrust violations, a spokesman for the European Union executive said.

"DG Competition officials, accompanied by officials from national competition authorities are conducting inspections of several premises of Intel Corp. in Europe as well as a number of IT firms manufacturing or selling computers," spokesman Jonathan Todd said.

"The investigations are being carried out within the framework of an ongoing competition case," he added.

In March the Commission said it was investigating Intel in cooperation with the Japanese authorities.

source:http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-07-12T113227Z_01_BRU003659_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-TECH-EU-INTEL-PROBE-DC.XML

"The BBC today launched their BBC Open Source website, providing a home for projects such as their video codec dirac , TV-Anytime Java API and Kamaelia network testbed."

source:http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/12/1615232&tid=185

Kieron Gillen went to Prague to speak to Bohemia Interactive, known best for Operation Flashpoint. He goes on to discuss the effects of bias on simulation games. 'In other words, a simulation is never just a simulation. Equally, freedom is rarely actually free of designer- imposed desires. Even in games with the most self-expressed mandates of "choice" for the gamer, it doesn't mean that there isn't a message. In Deus Ex, the generally politically liberal Ion Storm Austin created a world where you could choose between violence and pacifistic approaches, but the charismatic characters urged you towards peace while the monsters suggested violence.'" Some interesting stuff in there.

source:http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/12/159258&tid=10

"In AMD's recient anti-trust lawsuit AMD have examined the Intel compiler and found that it deliberatly runs code slower when it detects that the processor is an AMD. "To achieve this, Intel designed the compiler to compile code along several alternate code paths. ... By design, the code paths were not created equally. If the program detects a "Genuine Intel" microprocessor, it executes a fully optimized code path and operates with the maximum efficiency. However, if the program detects an "Authentic AMD" microprocessor, it executes a different code path that will degrade the program's performance or cause it to crash.""

source: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/12/1320202&tid=142&tid=118&tid=123

"The New York Times Op-Ed page has a piece entitled Worse Than Death (Obnoxious but free registration required) that calls for harsher 'hacker' penalties as a deterrent, quoting one academic as recommending even well, the death penalty - as a deterrent for the likes of Sasser author Sven Jaschan. Let's face it, businesses are becoming more dependent on their computers but they continue to be a point of failure, and subsequently, frustration through lost profits. Perpetrated breakdowns are now pushing that aggravation towards an edge. The author suggests commuting the idea of a death sentence into a lifetime of servitude doing viral cleanup. What role should enforcement play in such cases and is this too harsh, even considering the billions in damage that is sometimes caused?"

source:http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/12/134259&tid=172&tid=17

Before the net most hackers were phreakers

The in-house magazine of the digital underground, Phrack is closing after 20 years as its editorial team steps down.

As much manifesto as hacking handbook, the magazine was hugely influential in the early days of hacker culture.

It was very closely associated with legendary hacking groups such as the Legion of Doom that were the first serious explorers of cyberspace.

As hackers moved from dial-up bulletin boards on to the net, the magazine kept its place as a knowledgeable, and often

scurrilous, source of security information.

For instance, issue 62 of Phrack contained articles about getting round Windows buffer overflow protections, advances in Windows shellcode, attacking Apache and hijacking wireless base stations.

History lessons

"Phrack is still really well known," said Ollie, current editor of the magazine. "There are a lot of security magazines but no hacking magazines."

Stan, a regular Phrack contributor, said the fact that it had survived for 20 years gave it a great deal of influence.

"There are a lot of groups that put out their own magazines and they usually last about three issues," he said.

We explore and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge and you call us criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto The Mentor, Phrack 7, phile 3

Ollie said that Phrack had evolved as hacking had changed and said that the basic skill level hackers need to build up was rising all the time.

"It's much harder to get to a point where you can actually do stuff," he said. "You have to learn much more and read many more books. The entry level of skills has been raised."

The deadline for sending in articles for the last issue is 10 July.

To commemorate Phrack's final appearance, issue 63 will be a hardback edition available at the Defcon and WhatTheHack2005 hacker conventions.

The first issue of Phrack was published on 11 November 1985 and much of the information it detailed was about phreaking - essentially hacking the phone system.

This was because in 1985 the only place hackers talked to each other was via dial-up bulletin board systems. At that time the net was almost an entirely academic, governmental and military network. Commercial use of it was prohibited.

Legal challenge

Phrack originated on a bulletin board known as Metal Shop but its issues were held by any board that wanted to consider itself part of the digital underground.

Phrack's main contributors, Taran King and Knight Lightning, boosted its popularity by writing profiles of well-known hackers, such as Erik Bloodaxe and The Mentor, and searching out articles that expanded people's knowledge of how telephone and computer networks worked.

Whether you know it or not, if you are a hacker, you are a revolutionary. Don't worry, you're on the right side. Dr Crash, Phrack 6, phile 3

The magazine got caught up in the series of raids on hackers and hacker groups that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Phrack editor Knight Lightning, aka Craig Neidorf, was arrested, charged with fraud and tried before a grand jury for reprinting most of a confidential document, known as the E911 document, stolen from the Bell South telephone company. Bell South claimed that the confidential E911 document contained sensitive information and put its value at $80,000.

The case became a cause celebre for the digital underground and Mr Neidorf's defence was organised by the fledgling Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The case against Mr Neidorf collapsed when it was shown that the E911 paper could be ordered by phone from Bell South for only $13.

Bruce Sterling, author and digital lifestyle guru who wrote about Phrack in his 1992 book The Hacker Crackdown, thought it unlikely that the magazine would disappear for ever.

"I'd be surprised to see the thing stay dead," he told the BBC News website, "They've got no fixed address and anonymous contributors."

"Any set of unruly teenagers could start Phrack up because that's who started it in the first place."

Ollie from Phrack said that the team would be happy to hand it over to a new group that wanted to start it up again.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4657265.stm

uly 11, 2005 -- Washington, DC -- The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today hailed the work of U.S. and foreign law enforcement agents and prosecutors for their work in “Operation Site Down”, a recent global anti-piracy enforcement initiative that resulted in the dismantling of at least eight major online distribution servers offering millions of dollars worth of illegally pirated games and other works for download.

“We commend U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section, U.S. Attorneys’ offices nationwide, and participating foreign law enforcement officials for their tremendous efforts in targeting these online piracy groups, which represent major priorities for the interactive video game industry,” said Doug Lowenstein, president of ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “This kind of global enforcement action sends a clear message to the pirate community: when it comes to fighting piracy, there are no borders. Intellectual property theft will continue to be pursued aggressively through the combined efforts of foreign law enforcement officials the world over.”

The Department of Justice’s action, code-named “Operation Site Down,” targeted warez “release” groups, including “Myth,” “Vengeance,” and “Gamerz,” which specialized in the early distribution of pirated games throughout the world via the Internet. U.S. and foreign law enforcement officials conducted close to 100 searches worldwide within a 24-hour period. Searches occurred in the U.S., Canada, Israel, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, and Australia. The investigation has identified more than 120 individuals around the world, including many leaders or high-level members of piracy groups. The Department of Justice expects that additional targets will be identified and pursued during this ongoing investigation.

“Piracy costs the entertainment software industry billions of dollars each year, harming businesses and their employees who work on the development and distribution of game products, “said Ric Hirsch, ESA senior vice president for Intellectual Property Enforcement. “We believe that targeting warez pirates is a critical step in restricting the growth of game piracy on the Internet. The ESA will continue to support and assist all federal and foreign law enforcement efforts in this area.”

The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7.3 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2004, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.

source: http://www.theesa.com/archives/2005/07/video_game_indu.php

Digital Spy's Alan Jay analyses the medium-term development of HDTV in the UK.

At a recent Toshiba road show in the US they demonstrated their upcoming HD-DVD specification and a few more details became available as to what we can expect from the format when it launches in the US late (November) this year � it will launch with 89 titles available in HD. The audience reaction was very positive to the comparable images shown in both standard DVD and HD-DVD.

The most interesting thing for people buying TVs at the moment is that Toshiba have stated that their HD-DVD Player will ONLY output high Def on the player's HDMI output (plus other digital connections) the analogue output will be downrezed to 480 lines (in the US - expect the equivalent, no doubt, in Europe). The Toshiba player will also have a USB interface to allow connection to computers for enhanced content and interactive options direct off the disk. In addition mastering of the underlying DVD content will be based on 1080p - but there was no discussion on the resolution of the MPEG4 images.

The HD-DVD disk will come in 3 sizes when first launched. There will be 15Gb / 30Gb / 45Gb disks (single / dual / triple layer) and there will also be a fourth variety which will have a SD-DVD version on the reverse side of the disk, allowing retailers to have a single version of new films on the shelves and allow consumers to build a library before they have the equipment.

These disk sizes translate into 4, 8, 12 hrs using MPEG-4/AVC compression. The switch to MPEG4 of course means that the fight that is about to break out between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray is one about how much content can you offer on a disk. The reality is that for a basic movie in MPEG4/AVC the amount of disk space you need is very little more than you can get on a current generation DVD 9. How consumers will view this with a format war about to break out is going to be very interesting to see. The reality is that Blu-Ray will win the computer war because it offers greater volumes form day one and for computer manufacturers it is a great advantage. But for the consumer it will be dependent on other things and only once the machines are delivered will we find the answer as to what seems to be taking the lead.

As you can see Toshiba will be trying to ensure that studios are confident in the security that they are offering with HD output only being available on the secure digital outputs (HDMI and IEEE1394). So once again if you are thinking about buying a HD capable screen make sure it has HDMI.

source:http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds22406.html

In the time it takes to finish reading this sentence, you and 17 others could have rocketed from 0 to 120 miles per hour, turned at a 90-degree angle and headed straight to the top of a 42-story building, plummeted in a free fall, whipped through a 270-degree corkscrew and traveled almost one-half of a mile.

If you were riding on the Top Thrill Dragster, that is.

The Dragster, which overlooks Lake Erie at the Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, is worlds apart from the brain-dead roller coasters of old that relied on a greasy chain to clunk the car up a wooden hill. The Dragster's operators employ an array of modern technology to create an experience for riders that is the rough equivalent of being launched from an aircraft carrier deck, where jets accelerate from 0 to 165 mph in about 3 seconds.

Inner-workings

For starters, the Dragster is wired with 560,000 feet of copper cable to carry back performance data from 300 redundant pairs of sensors located throughout the track and engine room. The majority of the sensors are proximity switches that can measure the movement of the metal coaster car over the track. There are also thermal temperature and pneumatic sensors. If any one of the sensor pairs fails to match the readout of the other, the Dragster is shut down for a safety check.

But the data aren't just collected for safety. They also help produce the perfect ride on every launch. The parameters within which the Dragster has to operate are so finely tuned that variable load weights from people, wind speed and out-side temperature affect its performance.

So data ranging from the velocity of the roller coaster car at the top of the tower to wind speed and direction (taken from an anemometer atop the tower) are collected on every ride and analyzed using proprietary software developed for Cedar Point. After every third launch, the data are averaged and compared with historic launch data in an effort to create that perfect ride - the roller coaster must go fast enough to clear the top of the tower, but slow to between 7 and 15 mph in order to give riders the maximum lift effect at the top.

Based on the comparison of current and historical data, the Dragster corrects itself by adjusting the pressure of the engine and other parameters to produce as near perfect a ride as possible every time.

To create the Dragster, Monty Jasper, an engineer, roller coaster lover and, oh yeah, a vice president of Cedar Fair, L.P. (Cedar Point's parent) teamed up about five years ago with Intamin AG, a Swiss company that is one of the top roller coaster designers in the world.

The quest was to build a roller coaster that would top 400 feet for the first time, a feat some thought impossible. Jasper had just eclipsed the latest world's record by building a "giga-coaster," called the Millenium Force, which broke the 300-foot barrier. But was it really possible to pull off a 400-foot-high roller coaster in an area small enough and with technology affordable enough for an amusement park? Luckily for all roller coaster fans, the answer was yes. Price tag: $25 million.

Jasper and Intamin decided to use a hydraulic engine, which can achieve higher speeds than linear induction motors (superconducting magnets), the propulsion system that many steel roller coasters started using in the late '90s, according to Jasper. That means the roller coaster would require less track, and thus, less space and expense. But this wouldn't be just any engine; the Dragster would require a 10,000-horsepower unit (a real drag racer has a 6,500-horsepower engine).

Even with all that muscle, the cars on the Dragster sometimes fall below the minimum speed needed, and drop backwards down the same 42-story building and safely back into the station, where they are stopped by a long row of heavy-duty magnetic brakes. If this happens, the operators give chickens, uh, "tired" riders, the chance to get off.

Ready for takeoff

OK, so the technology is interesting, but what's it like to ride the Dragster? That's what I was wondering the first time I stepped into the front car and sat there with sweaty palms, waiting for what seemed like an eternity, for the launch. Because the process of pressurizing the engine and checking the safety sensors takes about 40 to 50 seconds, the Dragster makes you wait for the thrill. Riders were loaded simultaneously into two trains while the operators made sure the train just launched cleared the top of the tower. That means you sit with adrenaline pumping and heart racing for around a minute before the launch - about three times as long as the 22-second ride.

I had ridden great roller coasters before. Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., accelerates from 0 to 100 mph in 7 seconds, before turning 90 degrees up a tower, producing about 6 seconds of micro-gravity before dropping the car backwards to earth. So what if the Dragster accelerates twice as fast?

I was turning all this over in my mind when the car finally rolled into the launch position to await a series of lights on the gigantic tower in front of me to count down red, yellow green. . . . I didn't realize the first time I rode it (yes yes, I went back) that the telltale moment is a slight rollback of the train. That's when the catchcar (a locking device - a strong one I was hoping), attaches a 1-inch diameter launch cable that tows the one-ton car 262 feet down the track, where the car will hit 120 mph before the cable releases and the car is launched forward to "coast" up the tower.

Sound effects

At rollback, the operators turned on the sound effects - the blaring sound of a racing engine shortly followed by the screeching of tires as a jolt rocks you back hard against the seat and a blast of air hits you in the face.

Most of the fools who had been holding their hands above their heads firmly clutched the lap-restraint bar. I had just enough time to think to myself, "Gee that really wasn't so bad," when 2 seconds later, the catchcar stopped, and the car was detached and catapulted forward off the cable, producing a second, harder kick. We were about to make the 90-degree turn to race up the side of the 425-foot tower in front of me.

At the top, the car was suspended just long enough for riders to experience a Wile E. Coyote moment just before the . . . 90-degree drop.

At this point the front of the car was tucked under our chins. Just a few feet down, we entered the 270-degree corkscrew, which was a bit like going through the vortex of a tornado, and the train was positioned upright again to enter the station.

The only disappointment was that the ride is so fast your brain struggles to process the experience in real time. So there was only one thing to do: I took the ride again and again. It got better every time, and unlike some roller coasters, I can't imagine that a ride on the Dragster will seem boring.

After all, I got to find out what it feels like to be a human cannonball, or a Navy pilot, without the cannon, gunpowder, helmet or parachute.

source:http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/071105widernetcoaster.html

"MSNBC is reporting about a new radio filtering technology allows an ISP to use already-occupied frequencies to transmit and receive data. From the article: 'xMax, the latest innovation in broadband communications, is a very quiet radio system that uses radio channels already filled up with noisy pager or TV signals ...' and 'xMax is trespassing radio frequencies, although trespassing is not the right word, because we're allowed to transmit a signal if it doesn't interfere with other, stronger signals...' Too good to be true? Sounds like it would just raise the noise floor, to me."

source: http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/12/0023238&tid=193&tid=218

This is needed: gps-receiver, backpack with laptop(Tatonka Serverpack with Gateway Solo 2500), keyboard, trackball (from old broken laptop), helmet (giro switchblade) with display (old viewfinder)


The backpack crammed full with electronics


Keyboard, trackball and helmet connector


How everything is hooked up to the laptop. The keyboard uses RS232 to enable me to turn the laptop on (via RING) without removing it from the backpack. clever, eh?


Screenshot (via VNC with 256 colors, thus the colors are distorted).


Virtual Keyboard (for use with minikeyboard or trackball) open


Map tiles were spidered from (the old) www.stadtplan.karlruhe.de. Client and server programs written in delphi. Data is exchanged via XML. The server takes care of everything like collision checking, connection timeouts, cheating attempts (by stopping for longer than 60 seconds) and so on. The clients only display the tiles and render the lines the server told them to.


source: http://mnt.is-a-geek.org/tron/