Comment This was a communication exercise (Score 1) 32
Just for the record: This was purely a communication exercise. The scenario was just an excuse to get people to talk to each other. Technical realism was not a goal in this exercise.
One can argue whether the assumptions on the availability of the PSTN was warranted or not, but given the fact that a good number of the involved teams had no direct contact prior to this exercise, this exercise was a worthwhile first step.
Skype Releases Open SDK 108
An anonymous reader writes "SkypeKit gives Linux developers access to core functionality, allowing Linux developers to add video, calling, and instant messaging features to desktop applications. The SDK also comes with the freshly royalty-free SILK codec for high-end audio. Skype is hoping that the inclusion of SILK will popularize the codec, extending its reach. Currently, the SkypeKit beta is only available for Linux on an invite-only basis, with Windows and Mac versions planned in coming weeks. The SDK does not cover Android or Mac, an odd choice considering the announcement of SkypeKit championed itself for extending the functionality of Skype to multiple platforms and devices. Including smartphones in the SDK seems like an obvious move." Ars Technica has a rundown, too.
Game Distribution Platforms Becoming Annoyingly Common 349
The Escapist's Shamus Young recently posted an article complaining about the proliferation of distribution platforms and social networks for video games. None of the companies who make these are "quite sure how games will be sold and played ten years from now," he writes, "but they all know they want to be the ones running the community or selling the titles." Young continues,
"Remember how these systems usually work: The program sets itself up to run when Windows starts, and it must be running if you want to play the game. If you follow this scheme to its logical conclusion, you'll see that the system tray of every gaming PC would eventually end up clogged with loaders, patchers, helpers, and monitors. Every publisher would have a program for serving up content, connecting players, managing digital licenses, performing patches, and (most importantly) selling stuff. Some people don't mind having 'just one more' program running in the background. But what happens when you have programs from Valve, Stardock, Activision, 2k Games, Take-Two, Codemasters, Microsoft, Eidos, and Ubisoft? Sure, you could disable them. But then when you fire the thing up to play a game, it will want to spend fifteen minutes patching itself and the game before it will let you in. And imagine how fun it would be juggling accounts for all of them."
Comment Nukes for the Panama Canal (Score 1) 432
That was one of the premises of an early German SF book: Hans Dominik's Atlantis.
Barely readable by today's standards, but maybe an interesting glimpse on the thinking 80 years ago.
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"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid" -- the artificial person, from _Aliens_
