This Bastard Won't Leave the Mouse Alone

Ars Technica ran an article yesterday with IBM’s big announcement. They have developed a new processor they call a cortical simulator (Star Trek fans will still have to wait for the cortical stimulator), or the C2, which they claim has 4.5% the cerebral cortex capacity of a human brain, which is apparently way more powerful than a cat’s processing power. Wrote Jon Stokes for AT:

The simulator, which runs on the Dawn Blue Gene /P supercomputer with 147,456 CPUs and 144TB of main memory, simulates the activity of 1.617 billion neurons connected in a network of 8.87 trillion synapses. The model doesn’t yet run at real time, but it does simulate a number of aspects of real-world neuronal interactions, and the neurons are organized with the same kinds of groupings and specializations as a mammalian cortex. In other words, this is a virtual mammalian brain (or at least part of one) inside a computer, and the simulation is good enough that the team is already starting to bump up against some of the philosophical issues raised about such models by cognitive scientists over the past decades.

(Continued after the jump.)

Furthermore:

The problem described above doesn’t mean that accurate simulations are worthless, however. You can poke, prod, and dissect a brain simulation without any of the ethical or logistical challenges that arise from doing similar work on a real brain.

And also:

One of the major results from the paper is that C2 exhibits “weak scaling.” In other words, as the total amount of memory in the model scales, the number of neurons and synapses that can be simulated scales roughly linearly, also. This is important, because it means that a future version of Blue Gene with two or three orders of magnitude more memory (and associated bandwidth and processing power) will be able to simulate an entire human brain.

So what IBM is basically saying is that they have created a nice stand-in for Asimov’s positronic brain that is growing rather quickly and which presents philosophical (but apparently not moral) questions of existence and thought, and they’re glad they can pick it apart without getting their sticky little fingers moist with blood.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that human ambition, married to science and human stupidity is a terrible thing. The obvious military applications for a synthetic brain tied to such monstrosities as this thing are staggering.

EATR: Because Pentagon Contractors Have Never Heard of The Matrix or Terminator

Being a pragmatist (read: coward), I think I shall take this opportunity to swear allegiance to the impending robotic overlords that shall shortly rule this world. Seriously, Chip, can I call you Chip? Let me live and I shall bring you all the bio-fuel you need. Are Cheetos okay?

The Japanese games industry is in trouble. At least, that seems to be the consensus of a number of high-profile developers from that region, especially after this year’s Tokyo Game Show. But Square-Enix—the developer best known for role-playing series like Final Fantasy andDragon Quest—isn’t taking the news lying down. Instead, the company has done everything it can to appeal to a more global audience, from publishing and development deals to new acquisitions. Ars sat down with president and CEO Yoichi Wada at the Montreal International Game Summit to discuss the apparent turmoil in the Japanese game industry and what Square-Enix hopes to do about it.

Read the complete article at Ars Technica.

Cited by GamesIndustry.Biz and Kotaku.

Bangalore: Google’s Chromium group has announced an effort to replace the traditional Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) web browser language with a new protocol that supposedly boosts Internet browsing by up to 55 percent. HTTP currently is the protocol used by all web servers and browsers, hence the “http” in front of web addresses. But, as noted by Ars Technica, HTTP becomes inefficient when transferring many small files on many modern websites.

 By contrast, Google’s cleverly named SPDY protocol can compress and handle the individual requests via one connection that’s SSL-encrypted. That allows higher-priority files to slip through immediately without becoming backed up behind large files.

 SPDY has shown up to 55 percent web page loading when tested under lab conditions, and the Google team has released their source code for public feedback.

 But Ars Technica raises some points of caution about the mandatory SSL encryption requiring more processing power from small devices and computers alike. Requiring SSL could also worsen the problem where server operators neglect SSL encryption and unintentionally encourage people to ignore warnings about unsecured websites.

Still Google’s team recognizes these problems and has already proposed workaround solutions. An open approach has already proven a smashing success on Google’s Android operating system, but redesigning the Internet’s architecture will undoubtedly prove trickier in the days to come.

One of the lesser talked about developments this console generation has been the increase in the number—and size—of collector’s editions available. At times it seems that nearly every game has some sort of special version, and major blockbusters feature extravagant and expensive add-ons that range from night vision goggles to batarangs. But do these sets actually drive sales? Ars spoke David Riley from the NPD group to find out.

Read the complete article at Ars Technica.

Jeff Smykil at Art Technica (http://arstechnica.com/authors/jeff-smykil/), wites an article on the fact that “Nintendo’s president thinks Apple isn’t a competitor and people should stop saying so. Is this a bluff, denial, or just the beginning of another decline of a once-powerful video game company” (full article at http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/despite-nintendos-claims-apple-is-a-competitor.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss).

I think is only the last case of a company (or a person) telling the market that everybody didn’t understandwhat was happening.

Is the same reaction I had when Yahoo CEO said that Yahoo wasn’t a search company. And I add, only beacuse was still loosing market shares against Google.

Unfortunately for Nintendo’s CEO Mr.  Satoru Iwata, Apple is a player in gaming industry, and, in my opinion, wil be one of the three player that will remain in less that 5 years: Google (through Android), Microsoft (through Windows) and Apple (through Iphone).

This post as a comment also at http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=133002122041&r=222007422041#222007422041

Обвинение нью-йоркского подростка в ограблении было снято после того, как окружной прокурор когда происходило ограбление. У большинства историй, о которых мы рассказываем и которые связаны с работой человека в Интеренете дома, несчастливый конец. Однако в случае с жителем Нью-Йорка Родни Брандфордом, размещенная в Фейсбуке запись стала настоящим доказательством его невиновности в ограблении. Хотя история Брандфорда была встречена повсеместно Интернет-зависимыми подросками с ликованием как победа, встает вопрос, насколько правоохранительные органы должны верить выставленным в интеренете записям. Брадфорд, 19-летний житель Бруклина, был арестован месяц назад по обвинению в оргаблении с использованием огнестрельного оружия. Это событие не вызвало собого внимания у публики до тех пор, пока защищающий подростка адвокат не обнаружил, что его подзащитный сделал обновления в Фейсбуке во время, когда происходило ограбление. Брандфорд настаивал, что в это время он находился в квартире своего отца и обновления были сделаны именно от туда. Когда окружной прокурор проверил сведения, предоставленные отцом подростка и его приемной матерью, а также информацию из Фейсбука, обвинение с Брандфорда было снято. Представитель Окружной Прокуратуры г. Бруклин подтвердил газете Нью-Йорк Таймс, что обновление в Фейсбуке сыграло свою роль в снятии обвинения. «Нам сказали об этом алиби, мы контактировали с людьми, мы провели расследование и обнаружили, что данные оказались точными», сказала Джона Бруно. Эта история звучит как ситория с счастливым концом для Брадфорда, однако для всех, включая и адвоката подростка очевидно, что запись в Фейсбуке могла быть сделана кем-то другим, и невозможно будет доказать, кто же по-настоящему сидел в это время перед компьютером. Адвокат Брандфорда открещивается от технической стороны этого дела как от «высокого уровня преступной гениальности, которой нельзя ожидать от этого подростка», однако оставить свой профиль включенным на чужом компьютере не трубует большой гениальности. В сентябре писали о грабителе, который решил зайти на собственную страничку в Фейсбуке во время ограбления в доме своей жертвы и забыл закрыть аккаут, учитывая всю степень глупости, не сложно представить, что ты мог также забыть выйти из своего аккаунта в доме собственного отца. Коллега Джона Джея Джозеф Поллини выразил свое согласие в газете Таймс с тем, что прокурору нужно больше времени,ч тобы проверить свидетельства перед тем, как снимать обвинения, благодаря интернет записям. «Некоторыми из выдающихся людей в Интернете являются подростки. Они знают Интеренет лучше, чем многие другие люди. Почему? Да потому, что они пользуются им постоянно», сказал он. В настоящее время правоохранительные органы сталкиваются с этим вопросом все чаще и чаще. И речь больше не идет только о виновности собственного кота в скачивании детского порно, любой кто хочет поступить подобным образом, может создать для себя алиби онлайн с помощью друзей или семьи и не нужно быть опытным хакером, чтобы узнать, как это сделать.

It’s hard to get excited about a game based on a film. We’ve all been burned so many times before—remember Watchmen: The End is Nigh and X-Men Origins: Wolverine—that it’s often hard to believe a great movie-based game will ever be made. And while Avatar: The Game might not be the title to change all that, it’s certainly trying.

The game will be appearing on virtually all viable platforms, but different systems will receive different experiences. I was able to check out the game on both the Wii and the Xbox 360, and while both versions are very different beasts, they share at least one common thread: a love of new technology and peripherals.

Read the complete preview at Ars Technica.

“It doesn’t really feel like a sequel,” Ubisoft’s Charles Randall told me as I sat down to play Assassin’s Creed 2for the first time at a recent press event in Toronto. “It feels like a whole new game.”

And that should be welcome news. Because while it wasn’t a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination, the first Assassin’s Creed certainly had its problems. At times it felt like the game’s ambitions were far greater than what the developers were actually able to create, leaving gamers with an ambitious but somewhat disappointing experience. And that’s something Ubisoft has worked very hard to fix in the sequel.

Read the complete preview at Ars Technica.

Last week, some footage leaked from the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Though it has since been taken down—with Activision claiming “copyright infringement”—the short video left a lasting impression. It depicted Russian terrorists gunning down what appeared to be innocent civilians in an airport. What made this scenario so shocking was that it wasn’t a cut-scene, instead the player was actually controlling the carnage, forced to shoot civilians to proceed. You, as the player, will be given the opportunity to put noncombatants in the crosshairs and pull the trigger.

Unsurprisingly, the leak has garnered its fair share of controversy, with voices shouting out both for and against the scene in Infinity Ward’s game. Some say it’s a sign of the maturation of the medium. Others say it’s tasteless. Ars decided to get the opinion of someone with a unique perspective: a former US Marine.

Read the complete article at Ars Technica.

Some background information for you.

Amazon.com’s Call of Duty-est Town in America promotion features the towns that have the highest percentage of Release-Date Delivery COD:MW2 pre-orders. To calculate, we are using the most recent U.S. Census data for U.S. towns and cities with a population of more than 5,000 people, that have ordered enough copies for two squads (18 people) using Release-Date Delivery. Amazon.com will donate a $5,000 Amazon.com gift card to a charitable organization of our choice that serves the winning town. The winning town will be announced shortly before 12PM PDT on November 10, 2009.

The list of the Top 40 Call of Duty-est Towns in America will be updated on a daily basis allowing fans to track demand for the latest Call of Duty game at Amazon.com.

The list itself is full of interesting cities, ones you never thought of would have a high amount of buyers, but when you think about it, isn’t that surprising. An overwhelming majority of college towns with some military towns thrown in for good measure.

The Top 40 Towns Answering the Call of Duty on Day One

Last Updated: 11:00 AM PST 11/03/09

1. Grand Forks, North Dakota (Yesterday’s Rank: 1) 2. Urbana, Illinois (Yesterday’s Rank: 2) 3. Idaho Falls, Idaho (Yesterday’s Rank: 4) 4. Athens, Ohio (Yesterday’s Rank: 6) 5. Warwick, Rhode Island (Yesterday’s Rank: NA) 6. Norman, Oklahoma (Yesterday’s Rank: 5) 7. Normal, Illinois (Yesterday’s Rank: 8 ) 8. Morgantown, West Virginia (Yesterday’s Rank: 7) 9. Clovis, California (Yesterday’s Rank: 11) 10. Downey, California (Yesterday’s Rank: NA) 11. Puyallup, Washington (Yesterday’s Rank: 9) 12. Leesburg, Virginia (Yesterday’s Rank: 18) 13. Columbia, Missouri (Yesterday’s Rank: 10) 14. Boulder, Colorado (Yesterday’s Rank: 12) 15. Grove City, Ohio (Yesterday’s Rank: 30) 16. Provo, Utah (Yesterday’s Rank: 14) 17. Corvallis, Oregon (Yesterday’s Rank: 13) 18. Stillwater, Oklahoma (Yesterday’s Rank: 3) 19. McKinney, Texas (Yesterday’s Rank: 15) 20. Beaverton, Oregon (Yesterday’s Rank: 32)

21. Twentynine Palms, California (Yesterday’s Rank: 16) 22. Blacksburg, Virginia (Yesterday’s Rank: 33) 23. Waco, Texas (Yesterday’s Rank: 37) 24. Pensacola, Florida (Yesterday’s Rank: 34) 25. Reno, Nevada (Yesterday’s Rank: 25) 26. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Yesterday’s Rank: 24) 27. Santa Clarita, California (Yesterday’s Rank: 27) 28. Vero Beach, Florida (Yesterday’s Rank: 23) 29. Auburn, Alabama (Yesterday’s Rank: 31) 30. Clearwater, Florida (Yesterday’s Rank: 28) 31. Coral Gables, Florida (Yesterday’s Rank: 29) 32. College Station, Texas (Yesterday’s Rank: 20) 33. Des Moines, Iowa (Yesterday’s Rank: 21) 34. Oxnard, California (Yesterday’s Rank: 22) 35. Ames, Iowa (Yesterday’s Rank: 19) 36. San Rafael, California (Yesterday’s Rank: 17) 37. Naples, Florida (Yesterday’s Rank: NA) 38. Broomfield, Colorado (Yesterday’s Rank: NA) 39. Olathe, Kansas (Yesterday’s Rank: NA) 40. Temecula, California (Yesterday’s Rank: 40)

Quite a few Florida places show up on the list. Pensacola is no big shocker as it is the “Cradle of Naval Aviation” (the National Museum of Naval Aviation is located at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the legendary Blue Angels). I honestly don’t know why Clearwater is on the list other than a Coast Guard Air Station, so I am just going to guess all the Scientologists like Call of Duty. You heard it here first folks. Coral Gables is actually a surprise for me for only ranking 31. I figured more of the UM frat boys would be in on this. Rounding out the list is sleepy town Naples.

The Nightlife

Statistics like this make me wonder how the county would’ve ranked as a whole. Coral Gables is tiny compared to the vast swaths of Kendall, Hammocks, Miami proper and unincorporated Dade. Also fun to note is the system breakdown. Another no surprise is the 360 with 61% while the PS3 has 31% and PC trailing in the distance with 8%. I wish I could see a time line with sales data pre and post dedicated server gimping announcement. Would be nice to see if there was a cause and effect action there.

Ars Technica in another excellent OS review. It’s 15 pages and gets a bit dense towards the middle, but it lays out the current state of Microsoft’s crown jewel. (Well….it’s a cubic zerconia. It’s like a diamond….but cheap!)

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/reviews/2009/10/windows-7-the-review.ars/15

Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica publishes an article talking on the fact that “Lawsuits against anonymous bloggers are common, but the courts generally protect the right to speak unnamed. Now, one Tennessee blogger is about to be unmasked, reminding us that even Internet anonymity has its limits—and that making accusations of arson, drug abuse, and tax evasion can carry consequences.” (full article at http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/anonymous-real-estate-critic-on-the-verge-of-being-unmasked.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss).

As I said some other times, I don’t think internet anonymity is a right. Better: is not a right everywhere, because most of us, luckily, don’t live in a regime and so talking behind a nickname is not a protection, is just a difefrent way of communicating.

For those belonging to the minority living under a regime, anonimity should be a right to be defendend to the very last extent. For the other (the majority), internet is a media not to be abused.

And so if anyone offends or those something against laws, should be prosecuted like any other.

This post as a comment also at http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=346000991041&r=765003991041#765003991041

Chris Foresman at Ars Techinca writes an article telling us that  ” Though games are the biggest category on the App Store, the average price for a game is about $3. If the iPod touch begins supplanting the DS or PSP platforms, one analysts believes publishers may be adversely affected by the low pricing. ” (full article at http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/10/app-store-pricing-dangerous-for-game-publishers.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss).

I think that Apple store is an enabler in some cases and a disable in some others.

In case of gaming, is a differentiator, because adds a channel to “normal” selling channels. I don’t think that asking the question “why do I have to spend 60$ while I can pay 10$ for a game” is a right question, because people will spend, more likely, by impromptu rather than making deep thoughts.

This post as a comment also at http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/10/app-store-pricing-dangerous-for-game-publishers.ars?comments=2&comment_id=635003691041

So why do we entrust it to companies that try to prevent scrutiny of their work? Ars Technica has a disturbing report on the code used by one company peddling computerized voting systems, Sequoia:

The Election Defense Alliance (EDA), an election integrity watchdog group, has launched a public review of the accidentally leaked source code that powers Sequoia electronic voting machines. Though still in its initial stages, the review has already uncovered evidence indicating that the voting machines are programmed in a manner that falls afoul of rules and guidelines established by the Federal Election Commission.

Sequoia generally goes to great lengths to block independent review of its technology. For example, the company used legal threats last year in an effort to prevent New Jersey election officials from conducting a machine audit. The source disclosure that has enabled the EDA to conduct its review was entirely accidental. The program code was exacted from an MS-SQL database that was provided to the EDA by the election officials of Riverside County, California in response to a public records request. Sequoia insisted on redacting the database before allowing the data to be reviewed, but they botched the redaction job.

They couldn’t even get the redaction job right, how am I supposed to believe that they’re counting votes right?

This is the public’s most sacred business — what University of Notre Dame president Theodore Hesburgh called a “civic sacrament.” It has to be reviewable by the public.

There’s a great post up at Ars Technica (click) which should answer any nagging “What the heck is JC going on and on about with this Ubuntu thing lately?”  It makes for a good (quick) read if you’re even SLIGHTLY curious.

Still flying Microsoft-free, and still loving it.  You should too.  Seriously.

In a recent interview, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford—the developer behind the upcoming Borderlands—revealed some surprising opinions about Valve’s Steam digital distribution platform. While the common sentiment among both gamers and developers tends to be positive, Pitchford told Maximum PC that “I don’t trust Valve” and that he believes “a lot of the industry doesn’t” as well.

Pitchford’s main criticism is that with Valve being both a game developer and a platform holder, this situation creates “so much conflict of interest…that it’s horrid.” According to the Gearbox CEO, Valve’s position allows them to exploit developers who use Steam to distribute their games. Given the surprising nature of these comments, Ars contacted several game developers to see just how widespread these opinions are.

Read the complete article at Ars Technica.

Machinarium wastes no time at all getting you familiar with its world, dropping you directly into the action without any form of introduction. You’re a robot who has been trapped in some sort of prison-like facility and you need to escape. That’s all you know. There is no exposition at all—largely because there is no actual dialog in the game—so the bits of story you do pick up throughout the adventure are sparse but meaningful.

Though initially appearing to be nothing more than a cute adventure starring quirky robots, the game slowly reveals itself to be a touching tale of separated lovers and a crumbling society straining underneath an oppressive leadership. Think of it as Wall-E meets 1984 with a steampunk makeover.

Read the complete review at Ars Technica.

Bush covered up global warming, hid info from Dems from Raw Story

Carbon emissions must peak by 2015 from Common Dreams

At UN, US votes against Gaza war crimes report endorsement

Code Pink delivers Afghani women’s petition to end war to Obama

VIDEO- Ron Paul at 10/15 Congressional hearing on Afghanistan

Ariana Huffington: Joe Biden should resign to oppose Afghan escalation

Afghan election fraud investigation trims Karzai’s votes from AFP

House Republicans call for Muslim investigations by Glenn Greenwald

Goldman Sachs to double their bonuses by Cindy Sheehan

Liz Cheney launches pro-war pro-torture group from Air America Radio

Judge closes Blackwater trial to public from Raw Story

The Israeli Brand from Adbusters

The press needs to change the way it covers Fox News by Eric Boehlert

Surprise: Perils of open government by Lawrence Lessig

Special interests see copyright treaty, we can’t from Wired

Gore Vidal: America is rotting away, Obama can’t save it

Interview with furious Gore Vidal from The Independent UK

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow confronts Tim Phillips

Finland: 1st to make broadband access legal right from Tech Crunch

Telecom industry should tell the truth about billing by Megan Tady

Joel Kelsey from Consumers Union on telecom billing from WA Post

New FCC blog on open Internet

Blue Bell Dems ask FCC to tone down net neutrality from Wall St Journal

Dems do telecom’s net neutrality bidding in letter to FCC by Megan Tady

Communications Workers oppose net neutrality by Art Brodsky

Al Franken on net neutrality from The Rag Blog

Should incumbents or independents do broadband mapping? by Drew Clark

Huge developments in AP vs. Shepard Fairey case from Editor & Publisher

Lt. Dan Choi said no to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell by Amy Goodman

Lt. Ehren Watada out of the miliary from Courage to Resist

Nobel Peace Prize: Hope, hopelessness and change by Josh Stearns

Mainstream media is propaganda from Naked Capitalism

CNN will not air anti-Lou Dobbs commercial from Huffington Post

Senate Judiciary: AM/FM must pay more for music from Future of Music Coalition

Seattle NPR affiliate raises $1M in eleven days from Blather Watch

VIDEO- Target Women: Beauty contraptions by Sarah Haskins

Checking Facebook or Twitter the new after-sex smoke? from Ars Technica

VIDEO- The entire financial crisis in 7 minutes from Huffington Post

Namapahh Radio on Columbus Day Congressional apology

VIDEO- Bill Frist right, Bill Maher wrong on vaccines? from The Contrarian

Old Van Jones interview from Hollywood Clout on Air America Radio

Stoked – Gameover.gr
Η αλήθεια είναι ότι η πρόταση της Bongfish αφήνει μια μουδιασμένη αίσθηση. Σε ορισμένους τομείς ο τίτλος διαπρέπει, αλλά από την άλλη η ομάδα ανάπτυξης έχει ακολουθήσει μια υπερβολικά ασφυκτική οδό σε ό,τι αφορά την πρόοδό του, που σίγουρα θα απομακρύνει αρκετούς φίλους του αθλήματος. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι μέρος της διασκέδασης θυσιάστηκε για χάρη της εξομοίωσης, οπότε καλό θα ήταν οι επίδοξοι snowboarders να του ρίξουν πρώτα μια ματιά πριν το αποκτήσουν.[next]

UN: Millions will starve as rich nations cut food aid

Senate apology to native people a good first step by Sarah Van Gelder

Court denies government attempt to delay records, again from EFF

Geography of job loss

Henry Paulson’s revealing phone records from The Daily Beast

Tim Geithner’s phone records no better from The Daily Beast

US ammunition blamed for Iraqi cancer hike

Obama quietly sends 13,000 more troops to Afghanistan from The Guardian

How deep is DC corruption? by David Sirota

Sonic Warfare: Serious book by dubstep music producer kode9

30 companies control 1/3 of all Internet traffic from Benton

McCain’s anti-PTFP funding amendment defeated

How Netflix gets you movies so fast from Chicago Tribune

Netflix everywhere, sorry cable from Wired

Haven’t watched a DVD in 6 months, thanks Netflix from Ars Technica

More layoffs rumored at Current TV

Daily Kos founder sold on ad skins from Media Post

Willie Nelson’s new wireless broadband on tour from Wired

If there’s one thing missing from the majority of puzzle games on the market, it’s personality. And if there’s one thing that the recently released PlayStation Network title Critter Crunch from CapyBara Games has in spades, it’s personality. The adorable puzzler combines beautiful visuals and truly addictive gameplay to create one of the best games on the platform.

Read the complete review at Ars Technica.