Martinis are the chosen drink of spies for a good reason. Spy scientists, or Spyentists, have proven that incrementally increased consumption of martinis results in a proportionate enhancement in one’s spying-related faculties. Here’s how it plays out:

1.5 Martinis: Glances become 30% more suspicious.

3.2 Martinis: Proficiency with exploding dart pen becomes consistently accurate, callous.

4 Martinis: Wrinkles in tuxedo are smoothed out as body begins to secrete highly viscous liquid confidence.

4.9 Martinis: The phrase “No man could have survived that” is bandied about so frequently it loses all impact.

6 Martinis: Enemies 25% more easily seduced, 100% more easily betrayed.

From “Groupon Says … ” (Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.)

http://www.groupon.com/deals/the-martini-bar?utm_campaign=the-martini-bar&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

Any business can be the target of covert eavesdropping; however, some are under greater risk than others i.e.; software development companies, high tech startups, defense contractors, companies awarded GSA or GPO contracts, or any highly competitive industry. What is the potential effect on you or your business if sensitive information is intercepted by an eavesdropper?

No business in today’s highly competitive marketplace is safe from the threat of corporate, economic or industrial espionage. Imagine the financial and strategic damage to your company should confidential plans, trade secrets or competition sensitive information is leaked… If the company’s security, trade secrets or confidential information is being breached by an insider who happens to be working for someone else, not only the top executives, but everyone in the company is at risk of having their livelihood taken away. In any given corporation, there could be hundreds or even thousands of employees that depend on that company for their income and security. How can you protect yourself? What signs should you be on the lookout for?

When possible, eavesdroppers or spies take the easiest route to a target or company’s assets. In those situations, for example, a spy may gain authorized access as an employee. In other cases, a spy might enter your home or organization as a member of the cleaning crew or gather information from employees by posing as a vendor, potential client, or headhunter. However, when these avenues have been compromised, spies will turn to electronic surveillance technology.

Electronic bugging devices are freely available over the web, through retail outlets and mail-order houses. They are used by competitors, disgruntled employees, professional investigators, journalists, or anyone with a reason for obtaining information about you or your company’s plans. The deployment of such equipment takes only seconds and they can be easily concealed. And, as electronic surveillance technology improves and becomes more readily available, executives, security professionals and private individuals must educate themselves about what counter surveillance methods and tools they can use to see that their interests remain safe.

A Counter Surveillance Sweep, or Technical Surveillance Countermeasure (TSCM) “Bug Sweep”, is one of the most effective means of protecting your valuable information. These highly specialized Counter Surveillance Specialist conduct sweeps or surveys that have become more effective in recent years as the counter surveillance technology used to find microphones, transmitters, and other eavesdropping devices has caught up to the sophistication level of covert surveillance equipment. The TSCM or “Bug Sweep” is designed to detect the presence of technical surveillance devices. It should also identify security hazards or weaknesses that could leave you or your company vulnerable to corporate, economic or industrial espionage.

What can you do to protect your Business from Electronic Espionage: 7 steps
1. Recognize the signs and that there is a real threat.
2. Identify and valuate trade secrets.
3. Implement a definable plan for safeguarding your assets.
4. Secure physical trade secrets and limit access.
5. Confine intellectual knowledge.
6. Provide ongoing security training to employees.
7. Contact a professional Counter Surveillance Specialist Today!

JDL
2009, © Copyright ComSec LLc All Rights Reserved

Counterespionage:

Any business can be the target of covert eavesdropping; however, some are under greater risk than others i.e.; software development companies, high tech startups, defense contractors, companies awarded GSA or GPO contracts, or any highly competitive industry. What is the potential effect on you or your business if sensitive information is intercepted by an eavesdropper?

No business in today’s highly competitive marketplace is safe from the threat of corporate, economic or industrial espionage. Imagine the financial and strategic damage to your company should confidential plans, trade secrets or competition sensitive information is leaked... If the company’s security, trade secrets or confidential information is being breached by an insider who happens to be working for someone else, not only the top executives, but everyone in the company is at risk of having their livelihood taken away. In any given corporation, there could be hundreds or even thousands of employees that depend on that company for their income and security. How can you protect yourself? What signs should you be on the lookout for?

When possible, eavesdroppers or spies take the easiest route to a target or company’s assets. In those situations, for example, a spy may gain authorized access as an employee. In other cases, a spy might enter your home or organization as a member of the cleaning crew or gather information from employees by posing as a vendor, potential client, or headhunter. However, when these avenues have been compromised, spies will turn to electronic surveillance technology. Electronic bugging devices are freely available over the web, through retail outlets and mail-order houses. They are used by competitors, disgruntled employees, professional investigators, journalists, or anyone with a reason for obtaining information about you or your company’s plans. The deployment of such equipment takes only seconds and they can be easily concealed. And, as electronic surveillance technology improves and becomes more readily available, executives, security professionals and private individuals must educate themselves about what counter surveillance methods and tools they can use to see that their interests remain safe.

A Counter Surveillance Sweep, or Technical Surveillance Countermeasure (TSCM) “Bug Sweep”, is one of the most effective means of protecting your valuable information. These highly specialized Counter Surveillance Specialist conduct sweeps or surveys that have become more effective in recent years as the counter surveillance technology used to find microphones, transmitters, and other eavesdropping devices has caught up to the sophistication level of covert surveillance equipment. The TSCM or “Bug Sweep” is designed to detect the presence of technical surveillance devices. It should also identify security hazards or weaknesses that could leave you or your company vulnerable to corporate, economic or industrial espionage.

What can you do to protect your Business from Electronic Espionage: 7 steps

1. Recognize the signs and that there is a real threat.

2. Identify and valuate trade secrets.

3. Implement a definable plan for safeguarding your assets.

4. Secure physical trade secrets and limit access.

5. Confine intellectual knowledge.

6. Provide ongoing security training to employees.

7. Contact a professional Counter Surveillance Specialist Today!

JDL

2009, © Copyright ComSec LLc All Rights Reserved

AFP
JERUSALEM — An apprentice spy for Israel’s once vaunted Mossad overseas intelligence service was arrested by rank and file police during an abortive training exercise in the country’s metropolis of Tel Aviv.

“Let’s hope the Mossad is more effective abroad,” commented Israel’s commercial Channel 10 television as reports of the incident swept an aghast Israeli media on Tuesday.

The want-to-be James Bond was spotted on Monday planting a dummy bomb under a vehicle in the bustling commercial capital by a woman passer-by who swiftly alerted a passing policeman, the media reports said.

It was only after questioning at the the local police station that the rumbled trainee assassin managed to convince his captors that he was indeed a member of the famous spy agency.

The Mossad never warns Israel’s uniformed security services in advance of its exercises in a bid to give the training an element of reality.

More…

ledger-enquirer.com

Not exactly horror fiction i realise (though The Mind Killers has potential), but the covers of the Nick Carter Tandem editions were entertaining enough to deserve a mention in dispatches.

1970, and after a century of adulthood spent in monastic celibacy, veteran crime buster and spy-catcher Nick Carter made a crucial discovery; women have other virtues beyond typing and being kidnapped on a regular basis. One instant makeover later, and sex-crazed babe-magnet Nick was going about his business with such enthusiasm that it infected even the most minor players in his adventures until they spilled over onto the covers of his 37, 000 Tandem paperbacks. Inevitably, this meant lots of dressing up in fancy costumes and it took them a while to get it right.

You can’t help but feel sorry for the bloke doing a runner. He’s got his pose spot on, the cameraman’s given him the thumbs up, he’s all set to seize the moment before cramp sets in ….. and a passing hitchhiker spots a van-load of passing peaceniks, sticks out a leg and completely ruins the shot.

Fair enough, she’s had the good grace to unbutton her shirt, but this young lady is otherwise far too unglamorously attired for a situation of this magnitude and if she’s not going to make an effort, she deserves everything that’s coming her way if you ask me. Unfortunately, that won’t be an awful lot by the looks of it as the evil boffins who scientifically programmed her captor clearly neglected to prepare for such an eventuality arising.

Miss Scruffbag could do worse than take tips from the impeccable AXE agent Tanya, heroine of The Mark Of The Costra Nostra. Tanya’s not merely a snappy dresser, either. Once she’s through showing this Mafia Suit where to get off, it’s away to help Nick escape his “inescapable death”! Actually, this may not be Tanya at all and maybe that’s Nick with his face squashed against the window? i can’t really help you because i’ve only read the blurb, but whoever she’s supposed to be, she’s OK in my book.

SPIEGEL ONLINE, Germany, Nov. 24, 2009-

German investigators on Tuesday morning searched the residences of four suspected Chinese spies. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE, the suspects had been spying on Munich’s Uighur community on orders from the Chinese government.

Unlike China’s imposing embassy in Berlin, the general consulate in Munich is no symbol of power. The representative office in the Bavarian capital is located in the upmarket district of Neuhausen in an inconspicouous corner building close to Nymphenburg Palace.

If you believe the consulate’s own PR, the institution deals with pleasant issues such as business and travel visas, the Olympic Games or German-Chinese trade relations. But if German investigators are to be believed, this idyll is merely a facade behind which the Chinese intelligence service is operating a network of spies.

On Tuesday morning, officers from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office and the Bavarian police searched the homes of four Chinese nationals in the Munich area, SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned. They are under suspicion of being intelligence service agents for the Chinese government tasked with spying on Munich’s large expatriate community of Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority in China that has been engaging in violent protests this year against perceived discrimination.

A Center for Expatriate Uighurs

Several hundred Uighurs live in exile in Munich, and many of them are politically active. Munich has one of the world’s largest exile communities of Uighurs and the World Uighur Congress is based there. The government in Beijing is interested in everything the Uighurs think, talk about or plan. The Uighurs are one of the “five poisons” the Communist government is fighting against with all the means at its disposal.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has discovered that the Chinese government has been recruiting a number of informants to spy on Munich’s Uighur community. Investigators believe that the suspected group of agents is controlled from within the Munich consulate by a consul who has been observed conducting conspirative meetings with the alleged agents. The consul himself has diplomatic immunity from prosecution in Germany but prosecutors are investigating four of his alleged informers.

The investigation presents yet another strain on the already tense relationship between China and Germany. The spying activities in Munich are closely coordinated with Beijing, with the consul reporting directly to the homeland. The Chinese government is following every step taken by the German government with interest.

The rigid countermeasures taken by German officials are new. Last year, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office established a procedure whereby all evidence regarding suspected Chinese spying activities was collated, but until Tuesday, no searches or arrests had been carried out. Officials largely limited themselves to keeping a close eye on hostile behavior on the part of the Chinese government and on the extreme interest showed by consulate employees in Munich’s community of Uighurs in exile.

Two years ago, the Chinese diplomat Ji Wumin, who also lived in Munich, had to leave the country after investigators observed him meeting around a dozen times with spies who provided him with information about the Uighur community. Ji left before he could be expelled.

Ji’s case remains a source of tension in diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Beijing would like to send Ji back to Munich, but Berlin fears that he would merely resume his previous spying activities. Tuesday’s searches, however, make Ji’s return unlikely — the consul now under investigation is Ji’s official successor.

- SPIEGEL ONLINE

This week marks the second anniversary of the first live internal demo of the intelligence community’s A-Space project, groundbreaking for the IC in its goal of collaborative use of social media across agency lines. Somewhere in Maryland, a remarkable government employee and friend named Mike Wertheimer should pause and quietly celebrate the fruition of his early evangelism for it.

I was still a government employee then, but wrote about the effort at the time here on Shepherd’s Pi (“A-Space: Top-secret social networking“). It makes me chuckle to remember back to those days when it was still mostly unheard-of for IC employees to blog openly on the public web about current technology projects. Now you can’t shut ‘em up!

It made sense, I thought, to set down a few notes at the time for several reasons:

1. A-Space was intended by Mike’s Analytic Transformation team of the Office of the DIrector of National Intelligence (ODNI) to take advantage of social-media advances then occuring rapidly on the internet, more rapidly than behind our firewalls. I had joined Twitter for example in March 2007, but few of my IC colleagues had Twitter accounts or access from work machines. Same for Facebook and LinkedIn. I blogged about A-Space because I felt we needed to socialize externally the path we were following internally, in order to attract good ideas and assistance from Silicon Valley and technologists who had little knowledge of intelligence work.
2. The time would come when A-Space would be all grown up and accepted as a success, I hoped – and at that point “paternity” could become an issue. We had seen the same thing happen with Intellipedia, which has had several bouts of being claimed as a CIA creation rather than its more community-minded actual roots – and I thought it might be best to set the record straight early on. As Winston Churchill said about World War II, he intended history to treat him fairly “because I intend to write it.”
3. I had announced my “retirement” from government service and was ready to go back to the private sector, and was frankly intent on setting a mark with A-Space so that later leadership might be less inclined to reverse course, against the use of social and collaborative tools.

So here we are, two years on.  I am relieved that A-Space lives! At this point in their lives Twitter and Facebook were themselves  not quite into their hockey-stick growth cycle as social-media phenomena. Think back to Facebook of early 2006 (it was launched in February 2004), or Twitter of March 2008 (it launched in its first alpha baby SMS steps in March 2007.  If you’re interested, Flickr holds some interesting screenshots of the very early Twitter beta screens by their designer).

This week Joab Jackson, senior technology editor at Government Computer News has an update titled “A-Space Melds Social Media and Intelligence Gathering,” quoting Ahmad Ishaq, who manages the project at DIA for the ODNI. I like giving him praise – not just because I hired him, but because he is doing  a bang-up job in difficult circumstances. Let’s just say that he and his team have been dealing with my third bullet point above during the last couple of years.

One of Ahmad’s smart tactics has been to enlist supportive users from multiple agencies as vocal advocates. The GCN article provides an example illustrating the cross-agency collaboration that was mandated by the 9/11 Commission and WMD Commission reports, and which A-Space and its sister tools are helping to realize:

A Homeland Security Department analyst needed to identify a person whose face was found posted on several street and stop signs in a region of the United States. So he posted a scan of the poster on A-Space and received information and photos from seven other agencies. With that information, he could run an image search of the face, which ultimately provided identification.” -Government Computer News

There’s been a lot of change in A-Space since I left – in the requirements, in the emerging business practices, in the software baseline used, and – perhaps explaining some of that – in the contractor team used. That’s all fodder for another article, perhaps.

Whither Analytic Collaboration?

What I prefer to focus on is the future potential of this tool and others in enabling progress for intelligence analysis and collaboration. Ahmad gives one window in the GCN article, and it’s a topic he and I have talked about recently:

[A]llowing analysts to share all this information is only the first step of A-Space. Ishaq and his team are exploring ways of making all the information that is being generated machine-readable. Ishaq would like to incorporate elements of the Semantic Web tools, which would allow them to draw inferences from existing material.

“Right now, the communication is between person and machine,” he said. “We’re trying to take it a step further, to machine-to-machine. So the end-user logs in to the computer, and everything he could possibly want would be there, without doing searches or clicking around.” -Government Computer News

But I’m sure that Ahmad would be among the first to agree that technology is perhaps among the lesser factors which will contribute to the success or failure of analytic collaboration (and “transformation” – an overused term but a worthy goal). Much more important are the social and cultural aspects of the workforce, the workplace, and the changing nature of intelligence work itself  – in response to and support of a dramatically changing foreign policy approach, driven as much by political transition as by societal shifts.

For the moment, let’s keep the focus on the tools though. As A-Space continues taking its own baby steps, it is worthwhile to consider the experience of its older sister Intellipedia – and that sytem’s progenitor Wikipedia. 

Early this year, GCN carried another Joab Jackson article claiming: “Intellipedia Suffers Midlife Crisis.” Much chatter ensued. Some of the challenges dealt with in the article are being addressed internally by the likes of the IC’s Chris Rasmussen, with new and complementary efforts such as Intellipublia (see Federal Computer Week, “Intelligence community wrestles with Web 2.0 tools for information sharing“).

The looming question rises about the overall significance of Web 2.0 style tools.  Dr. Mark Drapeau argued early this year in a widely read piece that “Government 2.0 has reached its midlife crsis.”  Now, more concrete and noteworthy stats are emerging about the hallmark Web 2.0 tools which inspired many of the IC’s efforts.

Could Crowd-Sourcing Max Out?

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported on new research  (“Volunteers Log Off as Wikipedia Ages“) showing that “unprecedented numbers of the millions of online volunteers who write, edit and police it are quitting.” They’re leaving Wikipedia and not being replaced by as many new volunteers, undercutting the “many-eyes” approach that crowd-sourcing relies upon. The numbers are striking: “In the first three months of 2009, Wikipedia lost more than 49,000 editors, compared to 4,900 a year earlier,” reports ZDNet based on the new research (more details here: “Is Wikipedia Maxed Out?”). An influential Econsultancy.com blog now asks in response: “Is free user-generated content dying?”

It is worth keeping an eye on the pulse of Intellipedia and A-Space, as their activity levels wax or wane. Unlike Wikipedia, they are work systems, not free web tools. So the issues there are the differential adoption and longevity of enterprise tools, as explored in Andrew McAfee’s excellent new book Enterprise 2.0.  

For the new intelligence tools, much will depend on their inclusion within agency official processes and analytic-tradecraft training programs. As Chris Rasmussen has pointed out about A-Space, it may still be true that “not a single agency recognizes A-Space content as official.” But social collaboration is more and more an accepted and critical requirement of all information technologies – we’re certainly reflecting that at Microsoft, and have been busy building such capabilities into the new Office 2010 suite (info and free beta sign-up here).

The wave is not going away (well, Google Wave might go away… see here and here and here and oh never mind…)

Who best reflects the pulse of A-Space and Intellipedia? There are many intel-watchers in my blogroll over on the margin, who chart the progress of the IC’s collaborative ways. I can also recommend Chris Dorobek’s reporting on the topic for FedNewsRadio; see his piece from July 2009 ”Intel on the government 2.0 front lines – and a new report assessing A-Space” and more recently his article “November’s Signal column: The Intelligence Community Writes the Book on Collaboration” – both have insight and supportive links as well.

There will be other ODNI and constituent agency efforts to provide cutting-edge collaborative and analytic software and techniques. A-Space will be improved upon, no doubt.

The real test of A-Space – while we have it – and its intelligence utility will come in secret moments of crisis, but also in less-flashy use of consistent collaborative processes which over time contribute to the uncovering of truth for our decision-makers and national leaders. Of necessity, most successes will be unseen by the outside world… and likely, most failures as well.  For now, a happy beta anniversary to the A-Space team and its users.

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net-security.org
The recession is creating camaraderie amongst workforces, at the expense of their employers, is the finding of a transatlantic survey. Carried out amongst 600 office workers in Canary Wharf London and Wall Street New York, 41% of workers have already taken sensitive data with them to their new position, whilst a third would pass on company information if it proved useful in getting friends or family a job.

Pilfering data has become endemic in our culture as 85% of people admit they know it’s illegal to download corporate information from their employer but almost half couldn’t stop themselves taking it with them with the majority admitting it could be useful in the future!

However, it would seem employers have only themselves to blame as they appear pretty lackadaisical when it comes to protecting their data from their employees with 57% of respondents stating that it’s become a lot easier to take sensitive information from under their bosses noses this year, up from 29% last year.

More…

philly.com
IN MARTINS FERRY, Ohio, the police chief is going to jail.

A jury yesterday found suspended chief Barry Carpenter guilty of receiving stolen property, theft in office and tampering with evidence relating to a break-in at the home of Michelle Ross, the surrogate mother who carried twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Carpenter was acquitted on charges of burglary and unauthorized use of property or services.

Carpenter put his head in his hands after the verdict was read.

Prosecutors alleged that Carpenter broke into Ross’ home in May, took items related to her pregnancy and the surrogacy and schemed with Police Chief Chad Dojack of neighboring Bridgeport to sell them to celebrity photographers.

Dojack faces trial in January.

Based on yesterday’s verdict, he may want to make a deal.

More…

thisislondon.co.uk
During his 25 years in the FBI, Joe Navarro did everything from running a SWAT team to flying a plane.

But it was his work monitoring foreign spies that launched him into his new career as an adviser to businesses on “non-verbal intelligence”.

He and his team would follow spies and try to infer from their behavior what they were up to.

How often did they gather? Which were their favorite restaurants? Were they walking differently one day to the next?

“When we’re relaxed, our body has a certain posture,” says Navarro. “But when we’re concerned about being followed, it changes.”

Spies were often taught to glance into shop windows to see if they were being followed. But Navarro could easily tell if someone was doing it to see what was inside the shop or to see who was behind him.

For all but the most diligent spies, he says, the habits and disciplines they learned before being sent into the field yielded quickly to ordinary human instincts.

More…

It’s been fairly hectic over the last few days, I disappeared to the mobile receptionless depths of east Sussex for our church’s Alpha weekend away.

It was largely a really positive time, God was clearly doing some exciting things in people’s lives and that was a real pleasure to see. On occasions though, I found it a little hard being a leader, it sometimes seemed I was slightly disconnected from what God was doing. Making sure other people were being prayed with and continuing my role of providing a little extra rhythm to the worship, left me feeling a little distant from just receiving from God. But a wise friend said that God sometimes seems to afford us a little extra ‘clarity’ when we’re in the role of ministering, so that we can keep an eye out and be alert. After events later that day, I think this proved to be true.

We made it home from the weekend in time for the evening service and I’m glad I didn’t bail in favour of an evening in front of Top Gear.

I came to a place of feeling quite empty during the service, but a truth dawned on me, I’ve been shopping at other Supermarkets. Obscure, yes, but hang in there. I began to realise that I had been lost in idol worship over the last few weeks, going to the telly, or a friend, or food for comfort and re-energising, rather than coming to JC Maxx. Yes, friends, telly and food are good things, but they aren’t the total solution and can never fully satisfy, God really is the best resource and when I finally realised that I’d been shopping elsewhere, He totally met me last night and it was rather inspirational.

Very exciting.

On a  side note, James Bond’s ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ is really much more amusing than you ever remembered. Innundated with innuendo I can’t quite believe this slipped under the radar for general PG viewing, but watched with a symbiotic comedy partner and with the freedom to add your own commentry, this film can definitely provide a hilarious night in.

Sometimes you have to take a step down to step up. That’s what Google should’ve done with its open source PC operating system Chrome OS, which the corporation demonstrated Thursday.

Instead, Google is positioning Chrome OS against Microsoft with a lightweight OS shipping with netbooks next year. Chrome OS will function as a modified browser, enabling netbooks to handle everyday computing with web-based applications. That’s right: No native software, just the web.

The philosophy behind Chrome OS is extreme: Go the web way, all the way. It’s a “paradigm shift to make the web synonymous with the computer,” as Mashable’s Ben Parr puts it. But it’s an idealistic vision that could take several years to actualize, given the currently limited state of wireless connectivity and web-based applications. Google is aware of that, and the company is merely massaging us with this radical idea of a web-only computing experience by suggesting we try it on netbooks first.

Looking ahead, the company said it plans to share Chrome OS with more-powerful devices, including notebooks and desktops. But we doubt consumers will show much interest in a Chrome OS netbook the way Google is currently packaging it.

With Chrome OS, the search giant is pushing an OS that enables us to do less — even less than already low-powered netbooks can do. Web apps can’t let us process Microsoft Word documents, sync our iTunes libraries, or edit photos with Photoshop, for example. Thanks to their crampy keyboards and small screens, netbooks aren’t ideal for productivity apps such as Photoshop or Microsoft Word — but you’d be surprised at the different uses for netbooks that made them last year’s hit product category. Watch what happens when Google offers an OS that doesn’t at least provide the option of using the aforementioned apps.

Of course, as Google’s pitch goes, there are web alternatives to everything. Cloud storage for backups, internet-streaming music and video services, and the Google Docs web suite for all your spreadsheet or word-processing needs. The list goes on.

The idea is such: Give up the computing experience you’ve grown accustomed to for over a decade. Come live in Google’s browser.

Why would anyone wish to do that today, tomorrow or even next year when the OS ships?

Michael Gartenberg, a tech analyst at Interpret, sums up the state of computer use today better than anyone else: “What we’ve seen is most users are looking for a combination of the two: rich applications on my desktop, and the apps where I want to be connected.”

“This idea that I’m somehow going to do away with rich app architectures and do everything through the browser is an old argument, and it’s never taken root,” he added.

The benefits of Chrome OS don’t seem to outweigh everything Google’s modified browser will do away with. The pluses: Tight security, thanks to Google’s careful monitoring for malware in Chrome OS apps; saving the money you’d spend on an external hard-disk drive thanks to cloud storage; ultimately, being able to “stop worrying about your computer,” as Google said in a promotional video shown at its Thursday event.

Stop worrying about our computers? We’re worried about you, Google. T-Mobile Sidekick customers should especially be disenchanted with the cloud. Microsoft, T-Mobile and Danger hosted the data of all of T-Mobile’s Sidekick users in the cloud, and recently the server crashed, losing everything.

Nobody’s perfect, so it’s conceivable that the same thing could happen with Chrome OS. After all, Google’s Gmail service crashed in February and again in September this year. While no data was lost, it did cause hours of angst for people who had grown dependent on the mail service.

And then there’s money. Aside from losing access to the native apps we’ve paid for on our PC, it’s certainly imaginable that using Chrome OS could get expensive in general. If we wished to put an always-connected, web-app-only computer to good use, we’d need to purchase a data plan from a carrier. This could come in the form of an EVDO card or a smartphone tethering plan — in other words, a monthly bill. Google said Chrome OS will have caching features, so you won’t need internet access to do everything, but caching won’t provide the same offline experience as a full native application.

(Of course, our wireless problems could be solved if we could find an open Wi-Fi connection just anywhere we go. But unless you live in Mountain View, California, where Google provides free Wi-Fi, ubiquitous, free hotspots are not part of your reality.)

With all that said, there’s a ton of potential here for Chrome OS to be vastly appealing, and I’m keeping an open mind. To succeed with Chrome OS, Google should take a step down. To start, Google should modify Chrome OS into a “mini OS” of sorts that can live alongside another OS, such as Windows, on a netbook.

For comparison, Phoenix Technologies offers a mini OS called HyperSpace, which some netbooks are already shipping with. HyperSpace runs parallel to Windows as an instant-on environment, allowing netbooks to perform internet-centric functions without actually booting into Windows. Functions include multimedia players, browsers, internet telephony, e-mail and IM.

Sounds a lot like what Chrome OS is going to be, doesn’t it? That’s because it’s almost the same idea, only Phoenix Technologies is a lesser-known company (which developed the BIOS that boots many Windows computers today, by the way) and is taking a humbler approach — offering HyperSpace as an optional, complementary (but not complimentary) OS rather than a full-blown substitute for Windows. It’s an approach that could lead to greater results if embraced by an incredibly powerful brand like Google.

By offering Chrome OS as a free, downloadable mini OS that runs parallel to a full one, Google can still continue to expand its presence onto hardware — without having to sell the OS with netbooks. Consumers could still try out the benefits of Chrome OS and cloud computing when it’s convenient for them. Then, if users wished to boot into their primary OS to back up their data or do document processing with Microsoft Word, for example, they could — a hybrid, more feature-rich experience.

Unfortunately, not everything we want is on the web just yet. That’s not going to radically change in one year, and not even Google can change that.

By Brian X. Chen

found @ www.wired.com

Dear Doctor Query:

Peter Grant had the good sense to retire from his stint as a Marine on permanent loan to the CIA while all his parts were still in working order. Fifteen years as the pointy end of Uncle Sam’s big stick earned Grant the right to a quiet life.

Then an old friend calls in a chit, asks a simple favor. Since Grant already has plans to visit Tibet, all he has to do is deliver a letter when he gets there. The recipient? A mole. A high-ranking officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army, commander of a top-secret military facility outside Lhasa.

Based on an intelligence officer’s assessment, Grant expects to find a self-important, avaricious traitor who’s lost his nerve. Instead, he meets Colonel Sun, a determined, principled man caught in the closing jaws of a State Security investigation. Sun requests exfiltration, a move that would threaten the existence of the Tibetan network.

Grant finds himself sucked into the vortex that swirls around clandestine operations gone bad. A State Security officer dogs the colonel’s steps, half a world away Chinese spies relentlessly dig for the truth, and the carefully woven shroud of subterfuge that protects the Tibetan underground begins to unravel. In the scramble to protect networks, operatives, and secrets, the interests of nations threaten to grind the Chinese agent under the wheel of necessity.

But, Grant doesn’t have to let it happen. He doesn’t work for the CIA anymore.

Deep in hostile territory, operating naked on the remote Tibetan plateau, Grant takes a risky gamble. He plots Colonel Sun’s escape, a hell-for-leather race to freedom.

The simple favor just got complicated.

I am seeking representation for SKY FUNERAL, a completed 90,000 word spy thriller, the first in a planned series. I have a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and a fourteen-year career in the defense industry. I’ve been a member of Pikes Peak Writers, Colorado Springs Fiction Writer’s Group, and Valencia Critique Group, and have attended numerous writing seminars, conferences, and classes.

This is very good.

You have given us a sense of urgency, and your voice has authority.  The query and the subject matter fit together, and your life experience makes a convincing argument that you could tell this story.  As a reader, I feel as though I would be in good hands with you.

The only thing I would do is tighten it up.  Take your seven paragraphs and try to turn them into three or four. Brevity is strength.

Then send it out!

That is all.

Doctor Query

Certificate – U; 102mins

Released – 1979 (UK)

Directed – Tony Maylam

Starring – Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Simon MacCorkindale

Set in 1901, in an atmospheric and intriguing adaptation of Erskine Childers’ 1903 classic novel of the same name, The Riddle of the Sands posits York and MacCorkindale as old university friends Charles Carruthers and Arthur Davies, respectively.

When Davies – who is updating navigational charts off the coast of Germany – becomes suspicious of a mysterious German man named Dollmann, he enlists the help of Carruthers (a low-level Foreign Office clerk) to unearth the curious actions of Dollmann’s supposed marine salvage operation. Unbeknownst to the would-be amateur sleuths do they stumble upon a plot by the Kaiser, to storm the unprotected east coast of England with a fleet of custom-made barges.

In an impressively stiff, thoroughly English fashion, York is the perfect binary to MacCorkindale’s enthusiastic, laconic and often reckless persona. Though Carruthers’ flagrant admiration of his old cohort is brazen at best, it goes astonishingly unnoticed throughout.

Childers’ novel may have been the original modern spy novel of its era, but director Tony Maylam has envisioned the work in such an authentic and simple, though engaging piece of underrated joy. Though the film received a relatively lukewarm response with its original release, it recently appeared on television again and I was privy to catch its unannounced airing and on a high definition television.

It’s hard to believe that such a wonderful story – from the beginning of the century – was not hoisted into a celluloid format much earlier than 1979, but needless to say, York and MacCorkindale work perfectly together. Agutter’s appearance was also a joy to experience in a film I previously had not had the pleasure of experiencing.

The Orange Box es un pack de videojuegos creados por Valve para las plataformas Xbox 360, PS3 y PC. Incluye Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal y Team Fortress 2. The Orange Box en PC también trae Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast y Peggle Extreme. La versión que he jugado es la de PlayStation 3, por lo que estos últimos juegos no pueden ser analizados (excepto Lost Coast), pero después de haber probado Half-Life 2 y Team Fortress 2 en PC, puedo compararlas. El videojuego más diferente entre las versiones es, sin duda, Team Fortress 2. El resto solo cambian pocas cosas. Analizaré los cinco videojuegos y la nota final será la media de éstas puntuaciones.

Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 es la secuela de uno de los FPS más exitosos de la historia de los videojuegos. Ésta vez, con nuevo motor gráfico (Source) y físico (Havoc) con niveles rediseñados. Salió a la venta en DVD el 16 de Noviembre de 2004, semanas más tarde de su lanzamiento en Steam.

Requisitos: 1.2 GHz de procesador, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 7

¡AVISO! Posibles spoilers.

Todo comienza después de los acontecimientos del primer Half-Life. Nuestro protagonista, Gordon Freeman, tras haber derrotado a Nihilant y aceptar el trabajo de G-Man, fue puesto en un estado de hibernación, congelado en el tiempo, y transcurrieron diez años. En ese entonces, se creía que por la muerte de Nihilant cesaría la Tormenta de Portales, pero no fue así, sino que se creó una nueva e inestable tormenta de portales que se extendió por el planeta, y criaturas de Xen se teletransportaban a la Tierra. Los Xenianos ya fueron conquistados anteriormente por una nueva raza alienígena, denominada el Imperio Combine (La Alianza según el doblaje español). Son una fuerza interdimensional formada por razas modificadas de todos los planetas que conquistan, es decir, una multi-raza que ha conquistado infinidad de mundos y universos, y crean ejércitos controlados por un administrador (en el caso de la anterior entrega, el ejército sería los Alien Grunt liderados por Nihilant) para conquistar un planeta. Cuando lo conquistan completamente, los Combine originales lo ocupan.

Nihilant controlaba mentalmente a los Vortigaunt, que son criaturas pensantes y racionales, a diferencia del resto de los Xenianos y los humanos. Eran controlados mediante brazaletes en el primer juego. Cuando Freeman destruyó al líder, fueron liberados, y junto con el resto de los Xenianos fueron teletransportados a la Tierra. El Imperio Combine, al enterarse del incidente, mandan un ejército a la Tierra, ya que hasta el momento no lo tenían en cuenta, pero viendo el gran potencial entre los habitantes, suponía una amenaza para ellos. Y así conquistan tanto a la raza humana como al resto de Xenianos.

Los Combine vencen a las fuerzas terrestres en la denominada “Guerra de las Siete Horas” que, como bien indica el nombre, tan solo duró siete horas antes de que los humanos se rindieran. La causa de su rendición fue gracias al Dr. Wallace Breen, antiguo director de Black Mesa (complejo donde se desarrolla la primera entrega), que tras realizar esta acción y consultar con los Advisors, es nombrado por los Combine como el administrador del planeta Tierra, y nombra a Ciudad 17 (la ciudad donde se desarrollará este juego) su sede principal. En esas ciudades se hayan gigantescas y kilométricas torres sobre la mayoría de los centros urbanos, y cada una de ellas se les conocen como ciudadelas. Desde allí, Breen y los “Advisors” o “Consejeros” (seres con forma de gusano que representan a los verdaderos Combine) dirigen las operaciones.

Algunos humanos han sido capturados y mutados para conformar el ejército de despliegue rápido Combine del planeta Tierra, fuerza conocida como Combine Overwatch (Fuerza Transhumana). Otros humanos no aptos para el combate fueron convertidos en Stalkers (Acechadores). También se encontrará la fuerza Synth, que son robots como los Striders (Zancudos), Gunships (Naves de batalla) y Dropships (Naves de transporte Combine). En las ciudades se encuentran Combines que actúan a modo de guardias, conocidos como Metrocops (Protección Civil).

Aunque, para defenderse, los humanos restantes se unieron y formaron la “Resistencia” para combatir contra los Combine. Y justo en medio de toda esa batalla, G-Man descongela a Gordon Freeman y le deja en un tren de llegada a la Ciudad 17. Su misión será ayudar a la Resistencia a detener al Imperio Combine. En el camino se encontrará con personajes que ya salieron en el primer Half-Life, como Barney Calhoun (protagonista de Half-Life: Blue Shift) y el Dr. Eli Vance, uno de los supervisores del experimento del Laboratorio de Materiales Anómalos del Centro de Investigación Black Mesa.

Finaliza el spoiler

El videojuego es largo. No es demasiado intenso como por ejemplo un Call of Duty, pero es muy bueno. Todo el juego se ve en primera persona, no hay ningún momento donde se ve el modelo de Gordon ni apenas ningún momento donde no puedas moverte; siempre tendrás el control del personaje. La dificultad ajustada del juego lo hace más desafiante, ya que en este juego raras veces tendrás la vida y el escudo al máximo. En todo momento debes sobrevivir a todos los peligros. El videojuego incluye niveles de conducción, donde controlaremos un Hovercraft para el nivel de canal, y un Buggy para el de la carretera.

El repertorio de armas es extenso. Desde tu clásica palanca, pasando por pistolas, metralletas, revólveres, bazookas… La que más destaca en éste videojuego es la pistola de gravedad, con la posibilidad de coger cualquier objeto, atraerlo y repelerlo. Es útil cuando, por ejemplo, devuelves una granada lanzada por el enemigo.

La variedad de enemigos está bien. No es muy impresionante ni muy extenso, pero es aceptable. Tres tipos de Headcrabs, con sus correspondientes zombies humanos, los cuatro tipos de Combine, Antilions y naves de despliegue enemiga, que normalmente derrotas con lanzacohetes. Cabe destacar que los lanzacohetes los puedes controlar una vez lanzados.

En algunos momentos puedes liderar un grupo de la Resistencia. Están los ciudadanos, los que de verdad trabajan para la Resistencia y los médicos. Éstos últimos, como es obvio, pueden curarte si estas herido. Puedes darles órdenes básicas como avanzar o esperar.

Gráficos

El motor Source está muy bien diseñado, sin apenas fallos en la física y los movimientos. Es perfecto para la Pistola de Gravedad y para los vehículos. La calidad de los detalles es muy bueno, está a la altura de lo que un videojuego de 2005 puede dar. La ambientación, sublime; la metálica Ciudad 17, los canales, las carreteras nublosas, las costas, la escalofriante Ravenholm, la futurista ciudadela… Mucha variedad en el escenario, no te cansas de ver el mismo paisaje una y otra vez, ya que cada capítulo puede cambiar de lugar, tanto de día como de noche. Los efectos están muy logrados, pero el humo podría mejorar tras las explosiones de las granadas o cohetes. En ningún momento del videojuego verás algún vídeo que no sea ingame. Todo lo ves en directo y los acontecimientos los vives tú mismo, aunque algunas veces tus aliados u otros individuos te contarán cosas interesantes con respecto a la historia. Ésto sería un punto en contra para las versiones de consolas, ya que están en completo inglés.

Sonido
Nos encontramos con un apartado difícil de analizar. El sonido en sí, lo que se oye, está currado. Los efectos, el sonido ambiente… No hay demasiado que contar, todo está al nivel esperado. El doblaje es excelente, tanto en inglés como en español, sin ningún tipo de fallos ni salidas de tono, además que están bien elegidas. La música del juego ha cambiado con respecto al Half-Life original. Ahora su banda sonora es de género música electrónica, y suele sonar en los momentos más intensos y emocionantes, normalmente gran parte del juego la juegas sin música de fondo, algo que también puede considerarse positivo si deseas una experiencia más realista.

Opinión personal
Sin miedo a equivocarme, es uno de los mejores juegos de la historia. No es perfecto, y tiene cosas extrañas como la mudez del protagonista, algo que para mí, personalmente, le queda bien tal y como está. No me gustaría que el personaje soltara varios comentarios en éste tipo de juego, pero la gracia es que no se con certeza porqué prefiero eso, si soy de los que me molan los personajes carismáticos. Aunque en éste juego, la sensación es diferente… Eres tú, eres Freeman, no le das órdenes a un personaje, es que eres el personaje. Esa es una de las cosas que hacen especial este juego en mi opinión.

Lo Mejor:

• El motor Source.
• La forma de desarrollar la historia.
• La duración, se te hace largo.
• La ajustada dificultad.
• La banda sonora, a veces te motiva en los peores momentos.
• El misterioso G-Man.
• Tener el control del personaje desde el principio hasta el final, sin ninguna pausa.
• El nivel de Ravenholm.

Lo Peor:

• Una historia demasiado simple.
• Ausencia de jefes finales.
• Te puede acabar frustrando.

Nota: 9´6

Half-Life 2: Episode One

Half-Life 2: Episode One es la primera entrega de una trilogía de expansiones que continúan la historia de Half-Life 2. Éste videojuego es independiente y no requiere el Half-Life 2 original para jugar. Los requisitos son los mismos que Half-Life 2.

Ésta vez Gordon y Alyx deben escapar de Ciudad 17 antes de que explote, y para ello deben atravesar parte de la ciudadela y los edificios destruidos para salir. El argumento es más sencillo que Half-Life 2, centrándose solo en escapar de la ciudad. Es un juego muy corto, por lo que se le puede considerar como un puente para Half-Life 2 y Half-Life 2: Episode Two. A pesar de eso sigue teniendo el mismo reto que cualquier otro Half-Life; sobrevivir. La única novedad llamativa de ésta expansión es que casi siempre vas con Alyx Vance (menos ciertos momentos donde os separáis momentáneamente). La compañía de Alyx y Dog en algunos momentos da un toque de variedad al videojuego, ya que, por ejemplo, Alyx puede usar torretas y neutralizar esa especie de pelotas que te persiguen de los Combine, y Dog a veces ayuda a abrir caminos y eliminar enemigos.

Gráficos

Una pequeña expansión y tan poco tiempo no han permitido a Valve desarrollarlo mejor, por tanto se mantiene igual que Half-Life 2 pero con mejoras, como las expresiones faciales o las animaciones, que en este videojuego hay más concentradas al ser más corto. Dispones de menos escenarios que el original, ya que solo se basa en huir de Ciudad 17, y solo volverás a ver la ciudadela, una derruida Ciudad 17 con un tono anaranjado (por el gigantesco portal que se ha creado en el cielo), y pasadizos subterráneos. Las texturas han mejorado de forma notable.

Sonido

Como en el original, los sonidos del motor Source se repiten, con algunas novedades. La banda sonora es completamente nueva, aunque escucharás menos voces, ya que casi todo el juego solo aparecen Gordon y Alyx, y como Gordon no habla… Eso sí, aparecen Barney, Kleiner y Eli en algún momento, pero muy breve.

Opinión personal

Una expansión pasable, no es para tirar cohetes, pero es imprescindible si quieres continuar las aventuras de Freeman. Es algo barato, y en un pack de calidad como The Orange Box, es imposible que te arrepientas aunque te decepcione algo la expansión, por no incluir demasiadas novedades. Personalmente lo considero el peor de los cinco videojuegos que forman el pack, pero eso no quiere decir que sea malo. Es simplemente una continuación, ni más ni menos.

Lo Mejor

• Estar acompañado de Alyx y Dog.
• La imagen de la Ciudad 17.
• Pequeñas mejoras gráficas.

Lo Peor

• Muy corto.
• Sin fases de conducción.
• Menos variedad en el ambiente.
• Si el anterior tenía una historia demasiado simple, éste ni la tiene.

Nota: 7´5

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Half-Life 2: Episode Two es la segunda entrega de la trilogía de episodios de Half-Life 2. Al igual que Episode One, éste videojuego es independiente y no requiere el Half-Life 2 original para jugar.

Requisitos: 1.7 GHz de procesador, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 8

¡AVISO! Posibles spoilers.

La historia se reanuda tras los sucesos de Half-Life: Episode One. Gordon y Alyx despiertan tras el accidente de tren, cuando intentaron abandonar la ya destruida Ciudad 17. Donde estaba la ciudadela ahora se encuentra un haz de energía gigante, proveniente de un enorme círculo resplandeciente en el cielo, que emana explosiones espontáneas cada cierto tiempo. Tras un corto camino, consiguen comunicarse con Eli y Kleiner, que les explica los detalles de su nueva misión, y es conseguir traspasar White Forest para llegar a la base de la Resistencia y traer la información que dejó la doctora Mossman en la ciudadela de Ciudad 17, ya que en esos datos se encuentra el código de apertura y cierre del portal, la principal razón de porqué los Combine perseguían a Alyx y Gordon. En éste episodio hace su aparición un nuevo personaje; el doctor Magnusson, del que dispone de un cohete cuyo objetivo consiste en cerrar el gigantesco portal. Por esa razón necesita la información de la doctora Mossman.

Finaliza el spoiler

Éste episodio supera todo lo visto hasta ahora en la saga, incluyendo escenarios abiertos y muy dinámicos. A diferencia del Episode One, ésta expansión tuvo más tiempo de desarrollo, y es más larga, aunque no tanto como Half-Life 2. Sin embargo, no incluye demasiadas novedades jugables, pero técnicamente llega a un nivel superior. Puedes controlar un nuevo vehículo, y el número de enemigos en pantalla ha incrementado. El lanzamiento de éste episodio fue la principal razón para la salida de The Orange Box.

Gráficos

Como ya dije, el nivel técnico ha alcanzado un nuevo nivel. Las texturas se visualizan a mayor resolución, las animaciones han sido rediseñadas, escenarios abiertos y dinámicos, con muchísimos elementos destruibles, tales como cabañas o árboles. Por todo lo demás, igual que sus predecesores, aunque existe todavía menos variedad en el escenario. Solo uno o dos capítulos en las minas y el resto es en el camino a White Forest, todo campo menos algunos pueblos o ciudades.

Sonidos

No existen novedades en éste apartado. Tan solo las nuevas conversaciones y una nueva banda sonora, más extensa que la de Episode One.

Opinión personal

A diferencia de Episode One, ésta expansión si es imprescindible. La idea de campos abiertos y de objetos destructibles ha sido buena, aunque no aporte demasiadas novedades con respecto a Half-Life 2. No se le puede pedir demasiado a las expansiones, ademas de que lo que realmente interesa es ver como acaba todo y descubrir al menos algo del misterioso G-Man. Sobretodo los últimos capítulos son los más intensos.

Lo Mejor

• Escenarios abiertos, con libertad para explorar.
• Mejoras gráficas notables.
• Física rediseñada y más dinámica.
• Se desvelan más detalles de la historia, además de continuar de forma más interesante la actual.

Lo Peor

• Es algo corto.
• Extremadamente poca variedad en el ambiente.
• No hay apenas novedades jugables.

Nota: 8,5

Portal

Portal es un videojuego de puzzles y desafíos. Estás en un experimento desarrollado en Aperture Science, la empresa rival de Black Mesa, cuyo experimento se basa completamente en el Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (ASHPD), una especie de arma que crea portales en superficies planas, permitiendo realizar viajes instantáneos y una conexión visual y física entre dos puntos cualquiera. Sólo se pueden mantener dos portales del mismo color abiertos al mismo tiempo. El jugador debe superar obstáculos y sortear torretas y abismos para avanzar, usando la lógica de la Portal Gun.

Gráficos

Gráficamente llega al nivel de Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Con un estilo futurista y científico, nos da la sensación de estar atrapados en los experimentos de un robot demente. Un diseño bastante limpio y elegante, cómodo para la vista y perfecto para un juego de puzzles. En éste videojuego, la física es importante, ya que la necesitas para pulsar botones con otros objetos, lanzar cajas encima de las torretas para destruirlas, o tu propio movimiento.

Sonidos

Al ser un estilo minimalista, los sonidos se mantienen en un segundo plano. Lo más destacado son los comentarios de GlaDOS, la IA que controla todo Aperture Science en el momento. Su banda sonora es muy buena y pega bastante con el estilo del juego, recuerda mucho al primer Half-Life. Pero de entre todas las canciones del juego, la que más destaca sin lugar a dudas es Still Alive, la canción de los créditos, cantada por GlaDOS. La canción es muy original y con una letra hilarante, ha sido condecorada como una de las canciones más emblemáticas de la historia de los videojuegos. Aunque, si no habéis jugado al videojuego, no os recomiendo que la escuchéis, ya que, aparte de explicar cosas sobre su posible secuela, esa canción puede considerarse como “premio” al completar el videojuego.

Opinión personal

No es un juego demasiado complejo, pero sin duda es una gran experiencia. La Portal Gun abre muchas posibilidades y has de ser rápido y preciso para superar todos los obstáculos. Por supuesto, al terminar la historia principal, te dan la posibilidad de rejugar los niveles con diferentes objetivos, tales como el modo Avanzado (mapas rediseñados para dar mayor dificultad), menos pasos y menos portales. Un buen juego, sin dudas, muy original.

Lo Mejor

• La Portal Gun en sí, el sistema de portales y su control.
• Gráficos a la altura.
• Ambiente futurista y limpio.
• Historia buena que, sin ser demasiada compleja, tiene principio y tiene final. Además, tiene un “ligero” vínculo con el universo de Half-Life 2.
• Still Alive, un tema a recordar.

Lo Peor

• Demasiado corto.

Nota: 9

Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 es la secuela del videojuego para PC Team Fortress, actualmente conocido como Team Fortress Classic. Se trata de un videojuego Online con toques de estrategia, donde el jugador puede elegir entre dos equipos y controlar una de las nueve clases del videojuego, cada una con diferentes armas y habilidades.

Actualmente, con las últimas actualizaciones, el juego dispone de 7 tipos de juego en total:

-Control Point (CP): Un equipo debe defender sus puntos de control y evitar que el otro equipo los conquiste. Si el tiempo se acaba, el equipo defensor gana, y si antes de que se acabe el tiempo el equipo atacante conquista todos los puntos de control, ganan ellos.
-Capture The Flag (CTF): Cada equipo dispone de un dossier que deben proteger y evitar que el equipo contrario se los lleve a su base. El equipo con más capturas gana.
-Payload (PL): Igual que CP, un equipo debe evitar que el otro empuje la carga explosiva hasta su base. Si la carga llega, el equipo atacante gana.
-Arena: Los equipos simplemente se enfrentan entre sí, y no se puede regenerar hasta que la ronda la ganen uno de los dos equipos.
-Payload Race (PLR): Variante de PL, con la única diferencia de que los dos equipos disponen de cargas explosivas. El primero que llegue, gana.
-Territory Control (TC): Se basa en capturar el punto de control enemigo mientras que defiendes los tuyos. El que conquiste todo el mapa, gana.
-King Of The Hill (KOTH): Los dos equipos deben conquistar un punto central, cada equipo dispone de una cuenta atrás que solo se activa cuando el punto está en su poder. El primer equipo que consiga que su cuenta atrás llegue a 0 gana.

En los mapas tipo CP, CTF y TC, en caso de que ninguno de los dos equipos ganen al finalizar el tiempo, la ronda se convertirá en Arena.

El videojuego dispone de más de 50 mapas oficiales, y de muchos mapas creados por usuarios, con la posibilidad de descargarlos desde el mismo juego para jugarlos.

Clases

Existen 9 clases en total, y a su vez en tres categorías: Ofensiva, Defensa y Apoyo.

Ofensiva

-Scout (Explorador): Es la clase más rápida del juego y permite hacer doble saltos, aunque es la más débil. Tiene una escopeta, una pistola y un bate de béisbol.

-Soldier (Soldado): Su punto fuerte reside en su lanzacohetes, y es capaz de hacer saltos cohete con él. Es algo lento y es fácil de usar. También tiene una escopeta y una pala.

-Pyro (Pirómano): Su arma es un lanzallamas, y ésta clase es la única que no se le queda prendido el fuego, aunque no es del todo inmune. También tiene una escopeta y un hacha.

Defensiva

-Demoman (Hombre Demolición): Dispone de dos lanzagranadas. Una lanza granadas que puedes chocar con paredes y cambiar los ángulos del lanzamiento, y otra lanza bombas lapa que se quedan pegadas en la superficie y explotan pulsando disparo secundario. También dispone de una botella de whisky.

-Heavy (Infante Pesado): Es la clase más resistente del juego, y la más lenta. Dispone de una ametralladora Gatling que suelta grandes ráfagas de balas, y puede recoger munición de otras armas. También dispone de una escopeta y sus propios puños.

-Engineer (Ingeniero): Su habilidad especial es la de construir. Puede construir centinelas, dispensadores y teletransportadores de entrada y salida, solo uno de cada. Cada una se puede mejorar hasta el nivel tres, ofreciendo mejor rendimiento. Dispone de una escopeta, de una pistola, de su llave inglesa, del panel de construcción y del panel de demolición.

Apoyo

-Sniper (Francotirador): Su rifle francotirador es su especialidad. Con disparo secundario miras por la mira, y esperas a que la barra se rellene para obtener un disparo mortal en la víctima. También dispone de un subfusíl y un machete.

-Medic (Médico): Es capaz de curar a sus compañeros, y rellenar su barra hasta llegar al 100%. Con esto podrá ser el médico y su paciente invulnerables durante un corto periodo de tiempo, se activa con el botón de disparo secundario. La vida del médico se regenera. También dispone de una pistola de jeringuillas y de una sierra de huesos.

-Spy (Espía): Puede infiltrarse en la base enemiga. Se puede volver invisible por un corto periodo de tiempo y de disfrazarse de cualquier clase de cualquier equipo, e incluso se le cambia la voz. Tiene un revólver, un zapador para eliminar construcciones de los ingenieros, un cuchillo que es letal para cuando se ataque en la espalda y su kit de disfraces. Al atacar se quita el disfraz que llevas puesto, menos con el zapador.

Se han lanzado actualizaciones para el videojuego que añaden contenidos extras gratuitos, tales como sombreros desbloqueables, armas desbloqueables (como el fraskungfú del Sniper, el bocata del Heavy y el Bonk del Scout) y nuevos modos de juego, y piensan seguir sacando más actualizaciones por el momento.

Gráficos

Es curioso el cambio gráfico entre Team Fortress Classic y Team Fortress 2. El original tenia un estilo gráfico tipo Counter Strike, y en 1999 ya se tenía planteado que su secuela tendría un estilo aún más militar y más realista. El resultado final acabó por una estética caricaturesca de dibujos animados. Todo un cambio drástico. Los colores son muy vivos y coloridos, con movimientos hilarantes y cómicos, y con buenos efectos especiales. La resolución de texturas es un poco pequeña, para igualar el posible lag.

Cabe destacar que existen videos en YouTube hechos con el motor del juego para presentar a las clases. Todavía quedan el Medic y el Pyro, aunque no se descarta alguno más. A continuación, algunos ejemplos.



Y más que podrás encontrar en YouTube.

Sonido
Uno de los puntos fuertes de este videojuego es su gran doblaje. Cada clase tiene su propio estilo e idiomas, y más de 100 lineas de diálogo cada una, cargadas con mucho humor y carisma. La banda sonora está bien, normalmente se usan más en los “Meet The” que en el propio videojuego, con la posibilidad de oírla solo en el menú principal. Los efectos son muy variados, cada sonido tiene tres o más versiones diferentes que se ejecutan de la misma manera.

Opinión personal
Que no te engañe su aspecto. Team Fortress 2 es un videojuego muy original y divertido, para mí, el mejor juego Online que he jugado, un respiro entre tanto contenido descargable de pago y tanto soldado militar en los shooters. Imprescindible para todo aficionado a los FPS y al juego en red.

Lo Mejor

• Su variedad en las 9 clases.
• Su increíble cantidad de mapas.
• Contenido oficial gratuito.
• Cargado de humor.
• Muy original entre tantos shooters bélicos.

Lo Peor

• La traducción en español es mejorable e incompleta.
• Honestamente, nada más.

Nota: 9,5

Diferencia entre versiones

Las versiones analizadas han sido para la versión de PC. Las versiones de Xbox 360 y PS3 son inferiores en ciertos aspectos. Éstas son las diferencias:

-Ambas versiones están al completo inglés.
-Ninguna de las dos están actualizadas, algo grave sobre todo para Team Fortress 2, cuyas versiones de consolas solo disponen de 6 mapas y sin desbloqueables.

Pocas, pero graves.

Conclusión final

Un excelente pack, recomendado para amantes de FPS, con buena variedad de videojuego; una aventura con dos expansiones, un puzzle de desafíos y un online multijugador. Además, su precio es irresistible (20€), y te llevará mucho tiempo completarlo al 100%.

Nota: 8,8

Saludos

LeviathanDominator

It occurred to me recently that my line of work has prepared me for undercover spy operations in the world’s most secret of secret organizations because I can understand language that is so foreign it belongs to no known country and so unique it is developed instantly as one speaks. (ex: “I dood it last tomorrow.”) In addition to that, I have the unique ability to decipher the most complex of codes. How? You ask. I’ll tell you how…

My young students have learned the sounds of the alphabet. They are now writing phonetically and I have no difficulty deciphering their prose. Therefore, if I can read their tiny yet significant communiqués, I am certain I can decode the meaning of any super secret spy correspondence.

I think I’ll be a double naught spy.

If you can read the following, you can become a spy. Just like me.

Secret code sample 1.
dr moly cn u b at mi prty ncxt tim

Secret code sample 2.
i wot tu b lin ledr tuda

Secret code sample 3.
hrl n drl wnt arowd th sprl strcas

Hint:
The first secret code is not written to Dr. Moly nor is it written to Molly.

If you decipher the messages, especially #1, please leave your answers in the comment link below.

Over and Out.

Copyright © (2009) Diane

My first spy book. Interesting plot. I had enjoyed reading it, but personally I have difficulty knowing who’s the good guys and who’s the bad. But I suppose that happened in all spy story.

Author: John le Carre

Number of pages: 256

From the back cover:

Leamas is finished. Every agent he ran in the field has been remorselessly hunted and killed. It is time to come home, to come in from the cold.

But in the moral ambiguities of the Cold War, nothing is ever as it seems particularly where George Smiley is involved. With its thrillingly effective atmosphere and lean, brilliant prose, John le Carre’s breakthrough novel is a suspenseful masterpiece, and a gripping insight into the unforgiving ethics of espionage. With it, he changed the rules of the game, and was rocketed to worldwide fame.

Hey now! Just because the NSA helped Microsoft hone the security of Windows 7 doesn’t mean Microsoft designed special backdoors for the organization to spy on us…right?

In a response to Computerworld’s article on NSA involvement in Windows 7 development, Microsoft stated: “Microsoft has not and will not put ‘backdoors’ into Windows.”

Not to nitpick here, but doesn’t this denial leave another “door” open? As in, couldn’t the NSA have stuck their own backdoor into Windows 7 while official Microsoft employees turned a blind eye? Or—and this may come as really shocking—could Microsoft have simply lied to us in the interest of national security??

Of course, but if you freak out over this potential lack of digital autonomy, you’re clearly a terrorist. [Computerworld via Digg]

Send an email to Mark Wilson, the author of this post, at mark@gizmodo.com.

news.bbc.co.uk

Chinese spies are aggressively stealing secrets to build up China’s military and economic power, a US advisory panel on US-China relations has warned.

Its members urged the US Congress to ensure the country was adequately protected against Chinese spying.

The report was published in the same week that US President Barack Obama made his first official visit to China.

A Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington dismissed the allegations as baseless and irresponsible.

The report – which says China’s spying is becoming more intense and sophisticated – was produced by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“China is changing the way that espionage is being done,” said Carolyn Bartholomew, who chaired the commission.

More…

abc-7.com
CHARLOTTE COUNTY: A Charlotte County worker is in trouble after serious allegations surfaced regarding him allegedly spying on his wife during their divorce.

It was a letter that sparked an investigation into Donny Bernhagen, the 24-year veteran who works in the Charlotte County Environmental and Extension Services Department.

“Allegations were made that he used county resources on county time for personal business,” said Bernhagen’s boss Jim Thompson.

The letter, signed by employees, claims that Bernhagen used a county system to track his wife – including her finances and whereabouts.

It then goes on to say that Bernhagen used his “position of authority to have two of his employees check up on his wife.”

According to the letter, some of the employees accused Bernhagen of forcing them to follow his wife around town to see if she’s at work or the doctor’s office.

More…