Month: July 2005

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FreeBSD ported to Xbox

“In an email to the FreeBSD Hackers mailing list, Rink P.W. Springer reports success in porting FreeBSD 5.4 and 6.0 to the XBox game platform:

Over the last 2 weeks, I have been working on a port of FreeBSD for the XBox. […] The port is fully functional. The framebuffer is fully supported, same goes for sound and USB devices (such as an USB keyboard for the console). Only ethernet is missing, currently […]. Also, a live CD has been created […].

Daemon News via /.

It says on the primary mirror that the CD should probably boot on almost any Xbox that “doesn’t block unsigned binaries”. It requires (and comes with) Cromwell, a bootloader BIOS for Xbox, originally used to make it boot Linux.

(Xbox-linux.org is not responding at the time of writing.)

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"Downloading myths" challenged

“Digital music research firm The Leading Question found that [people who illegally share music files online ] spent four and a half times more on paid-for music downloads than average fans. Rather than taking legal action against downloaders, the music industry needs to entice them to use legal alternatives, the report said.”

BBC

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EA Games slapped for ignoring Battlefield 2 server security holes

“Since EA didn’t take the time to respond (or maybe even read) our emails about various stats-server security holes, it clearly showed us how much they care. Therefore, we came to the conclusion that modifying 5 million accounts wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

That being said, accounts with ids from 40,000,000 to 45,000,000 now have all of their weapons unlocked.

What will be next week? Perhaps we’ll give everyone their Distinguished Service Medal, or maybe we’ll elevate everyone to the rank of Sergeant Major.

The ball’s in your court, EA. Time’s up at the buzzer, how well will you play?”

“The truth behind all of these “random” unlocks…”
EA Games via BlogsNow

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"Poliisi kokeilee hämäyslevyjä valvontakameroissa"

“Tekijänoikeuden tiedotus- ja valvontakeskus on lahjoittanut Itä-Suomen poliisille 200 cd-levyä, joita poliisi kokeilee automaattisessa liikennevalvonnassa. Cd-levyt ovat takavarikoituja piraatti-cd-levyjä. […]

Kameravalvonnan ongelma on ollut, että tarkkasilmäinen ja säännöllisesti tieosuudella ajava autoilija on pystynyt havaitsemaan, missä valvontapisteessä kamera on kulloinkin sijainnut, sillä kameran linssin suojakalvo on näkynyt oranssina heijastuksena. Itä-Suomen läänin kameravalvonnassa on lähdetty kokeiluun, jossa käsitelty cd-levy asennetaan toiseen valvontatolpan kahdesta aukosta[, jolloin vaikuttaa siltä] kuin valvontalaatikossa olisi kamera.”

Savon Sanomat

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LAPD Recruits Computer to Stop Rogue Cops

“Dogged by scandal, the Los Angeles Police Department is looking beyond human judgment to technology to identify bad cops. This month, the agency began using a $35 million computer system that tracks complaints and other telling data about officers – then alerts top supervisors to possible signs of misconduct.”

Associated Press via ITviikko

I guess this answers the ancient question of who will police the police.

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Pay-for-play costs Sony BMG $10m

“Sony BMG, the world’s second-biggest record label, has agreed to pay $10m (£5.7m) and stop paying radio station employees to play its artists’ songs. The settlement follows an investigation into “pay for play” practices in the music industry, conducted by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The probe found “air time is often determined by undisclosed payoffs,” said Mr Spitzer on Monday.”

BBC

And they blame P2P users for not buying the crap they try to cram down our throats like this… Jesus!

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Linux-pakettiauto nappasi voiton virityskisassa

“Vuoden 1992 Ford Club Wagon -jenkkipakettiauto loisti autojen virityskisassa Seinäjoella Linux-pohjaisella viihdekeskuksella ja Xbox-pelikonsolilla. Tekniikasta palkitussa autossa voi katsella ja nauhoittaa tietokoneella digi-tv:tä ja dvd-elokuvia, kuunnella mp3-musiikkia tai surffailla netissä. Pakettiautossa on langaton lähiverkko kannettaville tietokoneille.”

ITviikko

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rectifi – searching for a better world

“Every time you search, bid on ebay or compare prices with rectifi we are paid by our advertisers, just like Google, MSN or Dealtime… except unlike our competitors we donate 100% of our profits to charity!

To get started, select search, shopping or auctions above and type what you’re looking for into the search box.”

rectifi via BBC

They were experiencing some technical difficulties the day they launched the site (see Johnny’s comment below), but it’s now fixed and works just fine!