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589 results for file
Official Post your picture Post in General Discussion, including Off Topic, Current Affairs
ok this is the last picture of me on file
Posted by PYMUSi1 Sun Nov 08, 2015 9:03 pm
Runescape Tools: inc Auto Buyer,Auto Fighter,Auto Woodcutter in Gaming
login123 wrote:
okay i see most of yall have problem with auto woodcutting..ima tell u the step's
first wat u need:
1:any kind of axe..u got to wield
2:be near the tree's
3:not have anger isue goes this thing drope's ur log
4:and must be at runescape low detial world!
now the step's.
1:choose download.
2:then something will pop up..oh and wait for download to finish before u click anything else.
3:when pop up comes click run not save....goes cant be saved.
4:then u will have ur document's folder pop up
5:click on that autowoodcuter,fighter thing...so on and so on
6:then open auto woodcutter
7:then that thing that looks like a target symbol...yea drag it to runescape.if it dont work....then load that thing minerbase.if minerbase dont download good. redo the steps (MINER BASE IS A FILE THAT IS IN UR DOCUMENT AFTER U RUN THIS PROGRAM)and drag the target symbol to runesape.
8:if it does work for u then log into ur runescape acount.
9:BE LOGED IN WHILE DOING THIS!...DRAGON THE TREE COLER TUBE'S TO THE TREE.
10:THEN CLICK START.! BEFORE U START MAKE SURE U GOT UR AXE WILEDED NOT ON UR EVENTORY OR IT WILL BE DROPED.(AND MAKE SURE UR EVENTORY IS EMPTY BEFORE U START.)THEN SIT BACK WACTH UR FILE BOT..OR GO TO SLEEP...AND GET GOOD WOODCUTTING XP.TRUST ME ALL OF MY BOTS GOT 90WC OR OVER...!OH AND IF U HAVE ANYCOMPLIANTS EMAIL ME AT RAPHAEAL77@HOTMAIL.COM
Posted by login123 Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:05 am
Runescape Tools: inc Auto Buyer,Auto Fighter,Auto Woodcutter in Gaming
okay i see most of yall have problem with auto woodcutting..ima tell u the step's
first wat u need:
1:any kind of axe..u got to wield
2:be near the tree's
3:not have anger isue goes this thing drope's ur log
4:and must be at runescape low detial world!
now the step's.
1:choose download.
2:then something will pop up..oh and wait for download to finish before u click anything else.
3:when pop up comes click run not save....goes cant be saved.
4:then u will have ur document's folder pop up
5:click on that autowoodcuter,fighter thing...so on and so on
6:then open auto woodcutter
7:then that thing that looks like a target symbol...yea drag it to runescape.if it dont work....then load that thing minerbase.if minerbase dont download good. redo the steps (MINER BASE IS A FILE THAT IS IN UR DOCUMENT AFTER U RUN THIS PROGRAM)and drag the target symbol to runesape.
8:if it does work for u then log into ur runescape acount.
9:BE LOGED IN WHILE DOING THIS!...DRAGON THE TREE COLER TUBE'S TO THE TREE.
10:THEN CLICK START.! BEFORE U START MAKE SURE U GOT UR AXE WILEDED NOT ON UR EVENTORY OR IT WILL BE DROPED.(AND MAKE SURE UR EVENTORY IS EMPTY BEFORE U START.)THEN SIT BACK WACTH UR FILE BOT..OR GO TO SLEEP...AND GET GOOD WOODCUTTING XP.TRUST ME ALL OF MY BOTS GOT 90WC OR OVER...!OH AND IF U HAVE ANYCOMPLIANTS EMAIL ME AT RAPHAEAL77@HOTMAIL.COM
Posted by login123 Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:57 am
2010: the 5TB 3.5in HDD cometh in Hardware, Internet, Networking, Comms and Security
Good for Hitachi, maybe some day they'll do better than Seagate or WD.  I've never used a hitachi drive before but if they accomplish this I hope they get at least in 3rd place of best disk maker.  This will be such a convenience for file hosts.
Posted by schmidtbag Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:37 pm
'Why I Still Use Windows 95' - (and IE4...) ? in General Discussion, including Off Topic, Current Affairs
this is stupid, a lot of what that guy said is not true.  for example, win98 is NOT eyecandy, and w/e it does have that would be considered that can be turned off.  win95 is not good for everyday tasks.  is it suitable to do so?  sometimes, but a newer os would be much better, even if its 98.  and how is the whole "3d" look annoying?  not only would be insignificantly take up disk space and ram, but it helps you actually see whats the boarder of something.  and, from what i remember, win98 was under 700mb.  big whoop, 200+mb for a LOT more features, stability, and functionality.  if you're that cheap, go with linux and use a live cd every time you start up your computer - at least that way you take up no space at all.

as for his complaint about programs such as firefox working on a newer os, maybe he just needs to get into the new ages and just buy a new computer.  it would not surprise me that hes using a newer os on something that isn't even 1ghz.  this guy needs to learn to think - FIREFOX IS DESIGNED FOR MODERN COMPUTERS.  obviously it'll run slow if you run it on something that wasn't designed for something THAT new.

with his whole comment on security and stability, one of the greatest complaints about the first win95 that came out was it was very INSECURE, which results in instability.  win98 was considered so great because it was so much more stable and well designed.  win95 was the first os of its kind for MS, you HAVE to expect problems with it.  if this guy were to do as much tweaking and fixing with win98 or any other os as he did with 95, he'd get the exact amount of stability and security as he would with 95 but probably with less work, making his comments void.

i can understand his whole native feeling argument, but 1 thing that just plain makes no sense is why can't he just make the emulator fullscreen?  that way, its like he really IS running DOS.  Again, his point is void.

i couldn't tell if he was kidding or not in the next paragraph.  even in the NT based OSes, if you're running IE and type "c:\", a file browser in explorer will run and replace IE.  works the same way if you type in a website in explorer.  Again, this guy just doesn't think.  and who really gives a crap about those "essential tools".  ever heard of right clicking?  And how is forward, back, and favorites awkward?  first of all, they're optional.  secondly, its for a different type of organization, and apparently it worked well since the old fashioned tree idea (which i'm assuming is what he finds is better) is no longer used for regular file and website browsing whereas these buttons are.  to comment on the last sentence, win98 has columns as well as every other os with menus, so idk where hes getting that from.  instead of alphabetical order, its made in order of installed date, which is easier to navigate.  and unlike win95, you can edit the menus yourself so they are in alphabetical order.  also, the scroll arrows are NOT slow on a NORMAL computer DESIGNED for the os and they're for organization, which again, is proven effective since the idea is still being used today.

i'm completely fine with people using win95, but the reasons this guy gave are just plain wrong or stupid, or invalid.i don't mean to be this critical, but this is just ignorance.
Posted by schmidtbag Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:01 pm
Exposed Windows Minesweeper actually cheats in Microsoft / Windows
I wrote a very simple program to read Minesweeper's memory anddisplay a grid showing where the bombs are. I used OllyDbg fordisassembly and reversing and CheatEngine for quickly finding knownvalues in memory.
During this process, I found out that Minesweeper CHEATS, onlyspawns about half the bombs, and moves bombs mid-game. (Sometimes towhere you are clicking, sometimes it will move a bomb that you clickon.) Regardless, I consider this project a success.
During this process, I found that Minesweeper will sometimes assist youand move bombs away from where you are clicking on. Originally, Ithought that Minesweeper was only "spawning" about half of the bombs,but as it turns out I misunderstood the way minefield was representedin memory and all bombs are generated at the beginning of the game and not first click or any later clicks.
My error was in thinking that minefield was stored in a 2-dimensional array (ie: minefield[x][y] = FLAGS) where max(x) (and max(y)) are the size of the grid (ie: 9x9 on Beginner) but as xumiiz on Reddit pointed out:

His program is buggy. It's not reading the grid incorrectly - it's a constant width of 32 bytes, but a window from thetop left is taken for the actual size of the playing field.
So, first bugfix to his source:
  for(DWORD grid_loc = 0; grid_loc < grid_height * grid_width; grid_loc++) {
should be:
  for(DWORD grid_loc = 0; grid_loc < grid_height * 32; grid_loc += ((grid_loc%32)==(grid_width-1))?(32-grid_width+1):1) {
And:
    if((grid_loc % grid_width) == (grid_width - 1))
should be changed to:
    if((grid_loc % 32) == (grid_width - 1))
With these fixes, it reads all the bombs properly.

And also this comment from Anonymous:

Sorry but your program is reading the grid incorrectly.Minesweeper uses a grid with a fixed width of 32 bytes and the playingfield is takena s a window of that grid from the top left. e.g.beginner mode uses bytes 0 to 8 and skips bytes 9 to 31 per every 32byte row.* Fixing the program to read based on that patten shows thatMinesweeper only moves the mine if it happens to be the first squareyou click on. Apart from that, all mines are randomly placed at thestart of the game.
(* Actually it would use bytes 0 to 10, where bytes 0 and 10 are0x10 which is to indicate the border of the mine field, and bytes 1 to9 are the actual squares. but that's not really relevant to theanalysis if you're just &ing with 0x80 to find bombs.)

The source of this program is available here: (This is the original and still requires an update, my code will be fixed soon.)
http://www.room641a.net/files/projects/minehack/minehack.cpp
Sample program output:
Minehack - Reverse Engineering and Coding by Sub <sub@room641a.net&gt;
---
Fairly simple program to display already-placed bombs in minesweeper.
---
PID: 2836
Height: 9
Width: 9
---
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
And now, probably the most important comment block of my entire program (I have updated this information here to be current, but the source file still needs updated):
/* Did you know?
*
* Minesweeper stores its minefield in an array char-sized (1 byte) multi-dimensional array. Each byte
* in memory corresponds to a specific location on the grid. It appears to use
* simple bit masks. (This section needs updating, but the information below is current.)
*
* 0x10 "Border" - Appears to mark the beginning of a row, which means my offset is off by +1
* 0x40 Button has been pressed already
* 0x80 Bomb is in place. These can move mid-game if clicked on
* Bit-wise OR with:
* 0x00 The square is exposed
* 0x0X X is 1-8 -- # on square (number of mines neighboring this square)
* 0x0D Square is marked with question mark
* 0x0E Square is marked with flag
* 0x0F Blank squares are all 0x0F
*
* AND THEN THERE'S 0xCC WHICH MEANS YOU CLICKED A DAMN BOMB AND LOST!
*/
Posted by Editorial Team Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:05 am
Valve hacker of Steam Cyber cafes caught by police in Gaming
A man who hacked into a third partyValve file server and stole the credit card numbers of Steam Cyber Caféusers has been caught by Dutch police.


The hacker, who went by the onlinehandle MaddoxX, managed to break into a server containing credit cardinformation, transaction amounts, Valve's bank balance and data thatallowed the creation of counterfeit Cyber Café websites.

MaddoxX posted the information on a website, but didn't use the information for personal gain. According to ShackNews, he posted a message that said: "We also don't want money from VALVe, we want a simple message on their site."

Despite making a moral standing on that occasion, the Dutch Ministry ofthe Interior said that the 20 year old hacker had managed to "burn 13million Euros playing poker online and shopping for notebooks, flatscreens and MP3 players." Based on that, we're guessing he wasn't asmorally resolute every time he came across personal data.

Inaddition to the Valve incident, he is also being charged with hackinghis way into an Activision server and downloading an unfinished copy ofEnemy Territory: Quake Wars. Which, if nothing else, is not the gameyou want to get caught hacking for.
Posted by Editorial Team Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:06 am
New router prioritises bandwidth for games - lag-free tech in Hardware, Internet, Networking, Comms and Security
Sitecom has unveiled a router designed to provide a low latency and lag-free service online.
The router uses StreamEngine Technologythat separates incoming data into five categories: game, VoIP, Movie,File Sharing and email.

Bandwidth is rationed accordingly, so the services that need massive amounts - i.e. gaming - get the priority treatment.

To top it all off, the box contains preconfigured application levelgateways for the most recent games and supports up to 300Mbps.



The Gaming Adapter goes on sale in August 2008 and its recommend retail price is £109.99

Posted by Editorial Team Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:27 am
14-24 year olds keep £750-worth of copied music on iPods in Entertainment, Film and Music, Mobile devices and media
A survey by the music lobby groupBritish Music Rights shows that 95 per cent of teenagers and youngpeople copy music in some way, with half the average 1770 tracks on anMP3 player being stolen.
The researchers found that 58 per centof those surveyed have copied music from a friend’s hard drive to theirown, 63 per cent download music using P2P file sharing networks, and 42per cent allow P2P users to upload from their own computers.
However,60 per cent of respondents said they would carry on buying CDs, and thesurvey states that 80 per cent of current P2P users would be interestedin a legal file-sharing service, and would even be willing to pay forit.
Teenage kicks
Feargal Sharkey, BMR’schief executive and ex-lead singer of punk band The Undertones, said:“The music industry should draw great optimism from this groundbreakingsurvey. First and foremost, it is quite clear that this young andtech-savvy demographic is as crazy about and engaged with music as anyprevious generation.
“Contrary to popular belief, they are also prepared to pay for it too. But only if offered the services they want,” he added.
TechRadar has contacted the British Phonographic Industry for comment, and is currently awaiting a response.
Posted by Editorial Team Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:14 am
Civ 3 borrowed Monty Python audio in Gaming
While up at 3am in the morning watching random Monty Python clips on YouTubethe eponymous Linus found himself noticing a similarity between the scene wheretheBlackKnight is battling King Arthur and a Wav file in Civ 3here.
He was so excited that he nearly posted the news on his bog straight away,because that was his idiom. He didn't and instead waited until he was in abetter state of mind, well the morning anyway.
Having heard the two clips, we think they are similar, too. But we were upall night polishing our coconuts for a long ride in the morning.
Linus wonders if there are similar sound samplings in other games that areborrowed from Monty Python. Maybe they had been carried there by a migratoryAfrican swallow. µ

Linustechtips
Posted by Editorial Team Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:55 pm
WWDC 08: me.com mail, contacts, calendar like native apps in Apple
Apple hasunveiled MobileMe, which is a push method of controlling calendars,emails and contacts by sending the information from a remotely storedbase.
The service replaces the .Mac service which hasn’t really set the world alight so far.
The programme works with Mac, PC and iPhone, and works with Mail, iCal and Address book on the Mac, or Outlook on Windows.
Applehas also built a suite of web 2.0 applications for the MobileMe serviceusing Ajax, which provides a desktop-like experience on the web tointeract with the data, and can be accessed at me.com.
Send photos from the beach
Photoscan even be synched over the air, either from the iPhone or a Mac orPC, which means Apple is working to drop hard into the Web 2.0 spaceGoogle and Yahoo have been beavering away at over the last two years.
MobileMealso has over the air interaction; i.e. email is sent to the device, itinteracts with Google Maps, finds a restaurant mentioned in the email,and stores it as a contact for use on your computer.
Unveiled atWWDC, it was termed as a perfect application for the iPhone or iPodtouch for $99 per year with 20GB storage, but it comes with a free 60day trial.

MobileMe
Difference between .Mac and MobileMe
While mostly replacing .Mac (which was primarily centered aroundInternet services for Apple's desktop and notebook computers), MobileMeprovides Internet services for both Mac OS X and the iPhone OS as well as the iPod touch device and Microsoft Windowsusers. This means that now you are not restricted to a Mac runningsoftware like Mail and iCal, but can access your personal data from anycomputer connected to the internet.

Features
Storage
20GB of online storage featuring 200GB of monthly transfer. Thefamily pack includes this for the main user as well as 5GB of storageand 50GB of transfer for each sub user (up to four additional users)

Mail
Free Push Mail. Includes a @me.com email address. When a message is received it is sent directly to all the user's devices.

Address Book
Address Book (Push). When a contacted is added or amended it is updated immediately on all the user's devices.

Calendar
Calendar (Push). When a calendar appointment is added or amended it is updated immediately on all the user's devices.

Gallery
Public photo gallery. Photos can be uploaded in the web browser or synced by iPhoto on a mac

iDisk
iDisk, which is accessible via a web browser, the Finder on a Mac, or as a remote disk in Microsoft Windows.The iDisk can also share files by emailing a link to the intendedrecipient. Another feature is to set an expiration on the link. Thismeans access to file will stop after a set number of downloads or aftercertain time period.

Web 2.0
MobileMe uses web 2.0 technologies to provide the look and feel of desktop-class applications in the user's web browser.

Pricing
An Individual purchase of a MobileMe account for one-year is $99 USD (£59), while a Family Packsubscription (which includes one individual account and four familyaccounts with a specific email address for each one) is $149 USD (£89)for one year. The Individual account will have 20GB of combined emailand file storage and 200GB of monthly data transfer, while the FamilyPack will have, for each account in the Pack, 5GB of combined email andfile storage, and 50GB of monthly data transfer.

Competitors
MobileMe is supposed to comprise Microsoft Exchange-like features for consumers.

Browser Support
MobileMe's online services can be accessed in Desktop Applications.MobileMe also allows access to the user's data in desktop-likeenvironment in a web browser. Featured browsers are:

  • Safari 3 or later (Mac + PC)
  • Firefox 2 or later (Mac + PC)
  • Internet Explorer 7 (PC)
iPhone 2.0
Posted by Editorial Team Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:04 am
WWDC 08: iVirtua Official Topic, Analysis, Live Coverage in Apple
WWDC 2008 is currently taking place from June 9 to June 13 at Moscone West, San Francisco.

Applereported that, for the first time, this conference is sold out. Thereare three tracks for developers, iPhone, Mac, and IT.

Announcementsat the keynote included the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch, thestable version of the iPhone SDK, a subsidized 3G version of the iPhonefor Worldwide markets, version 2.0 of the iPhone OS, Mac OS X v10.6,and the replacement/rebranding of .Mac as MobileMe.
Mac OS X version 10.6 "Snow Leopard" is the presumptive designation of Apple's next major version of Mac OS X. It was announced by Apple  CEO Steve Jobs at  WWDC on June 9, 2008. It is scheduled to ship "about a year" from the announcement.
Mac OS X v10.6 will not introduce any major new features, ratherfocusing on improving performance, stability and reducing the footprintof Mac OS X. However, full support for Microsoft Exchange will be included.
Snow Leopard

MobileMe
Difference between .Mac and MobileMe
While mostly replacing .Mac (which was primarily centered aroundInternet services for Apple's desktop and notebook computers), MobileMeprovides Internet services for both Mac OS X and the iPhone OS as well as the iPod touch device and Microsoft Windowsusers. This means that now you are not restricted to a Mac runningsoftware like Mail and iCal, but can access your personal data from anycomputer connected to the internet.

Features
Storage
20GB of online storage featuring 200GB of monthly transfer. Thefamily pack includes this for the main user as well as 5GB of storageand 50GB of transfer for each sub user (up to four additional users)

Mail
Free Push Mail. Includes a @me.com email address. When a message is received it is sent directly to all the user's devices.

Address Book
Address Book (Push). When a contacted is added or amended it is updated immediately on all the user's devices.

Calendar
Calendar (Push). When a calendar appointment is added or amended it is updated immediately on all the user's devices.

Gallery
Public photo gallery. Photos can be uploaded in the web browser or synced by iPhoto on a mac

iDisk
iDisk, which is accessible via a web browser, the Finder on a Mac, or as a remote disk in Microsoft Windows.The iDisk can also share files by emailing a link to the intendedrecipient. Another feature is to set an expiration on the link. Thismeans access to file will stop after a set number of downloads or aftercertain time period.

Web 2.0
MobileMe uses web 2.0 technologies to provide the look and feel of desktop-class applications in the user's web browser.

Pricing
An Individual purchase of a MobileMe account for one-year is $99 USD (£59), while a Family Packsubscription (which includes one individual account and four familyaccounts with a specific email address for each one) is $149 USD (£89)for one year. The Individual account will have 20GB of combined emailand file storage and 200GB of monthly data transfer, while the FamilyPack will have, for each account in the Pack, 5GB of combined email andfile storage, and 50GB of monthly data transfer.

Competitors
MobileMe is supposed to comprise Microsoft Exchange-like features for consumers.

Browser Support
MobileMe's online services can be accessed in Desktop Applications.MobileMe also allows access to the user's data in desktop-likeenvironment in a web browser. Featured browsers are:

  • Safari 3 or later (Mac + PC)
  • Firefox 2 or later (Mac + PC)
  • Internet Explorer 7 (PC)
iPhone 2.0


  • Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support
  • Push email
  • Push contacts
  • Push calendar
  • Global Address List
  • Certificates and Identities
  • WPA2/802.1x
  • Enforced security policies
  • Extra keyboard languages including Chinese and Korean
  • Cisco IPsec VPN support
  • Device configuration
  • Remote wipe
  • Ability to view PowerPoint attachments
  • Mass email delete
  • Mass email move
  • Bonjour service discovery protocol
  • Support for SVG
  • Parental controls
  • Ability to search contacts
  • App Store (To manage third-party applications)
  • New "Calendar" menu in "Settings"
  • Updated calculator with extra features in portrait mode, a scientific calculator in landscape mode and an updated icon.
  • Updated iTunes with a new icon and reordered category icons within iTunes application.
  • Ability to save or open images from websites in Safari
  • Support for Traditional and Simplified Chinese handwriting recognition
  • Geotagging
  • Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Korean and Brazilian Portuguese language interface in iPhone, previously these languages were only in the iPod Touch since 1.1.1



Workers hang Apple's logo outside Moscone Center, where the Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)
Expect to hear new details about the future of Apple's Mac OS X andWeb business next week at the Worldwide Developers Conference--and wethink there might be a new iPhone, too.
On Monday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take the stage at the Moscone WestConvention Center in San Francisco to address a gathering of Apple'sdevelopers and the media. This year's WWDCis sold out to the development community, who will be hearing formalpresentations by Apple on both Mac and iPhone development during theweek's sessions and meetings.
Anyone with even a passing interest in consumer electronics is probably aware that Apple is expected to unveil the next generation of the iPhone in the near future. The older version has been sold out for weeks as we approach the anniversary of the first model's debut, and anticipation of a model that can connect to 3G cellular networks has been building almost since that date last year.
One of the primary drawbacks of the first iteration of the iPhone hasbeen its reliance on the slower EDGE network outside of Wi-Fi hotspots, which can make downloading a Web page an exercise in patience.Upgrading to a faster connection should encourage people to do more Webbrowsing outside of Wi-Fi connections and could open up a whole newclass of applications that need a faster pipe to work effectively.
Apple is also expected to include GPS technologyinside the latest version, another development that could pique thesoftware development community's interest in the iPhone. Location-awareservices are available on several phones that use GPS technology, andthe iPhone developers could soon be ready to join the party.
Will the new iPhone be available immediately following Jobs' keynote?It's not clear. There have been conflicting reports, but Brian Tong ofCNET TV is hearing from his sources that Apple Retail employees havenot yet been told whether they'll need to report early on Monday for aspecial training session, which the company has done in the past beforemajor announcements.

Next Monday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs could announce a new iPhone and a new operating system.
(Credit: Apple)
While the iPhone gets all the attention as the new kid on the block,WWDC is always, in large part, about the Mac. Apple chose a picture oftwo Golden Gate bridges branching off in different directions toillustrate its WWDC invitation, and while the iPhone branch mightaccount for the sold-out conference, the Mac branch is the bread andbutter of this conference.
The Unofficial Apple Weblogreported on Wednesday that Apple would be providing developers with anearly version of Mac OS X 10.6 during the conference. It's unclearwhether that means Apple is ready to start demonstrating features fromthat release, but the report said the new version is expected to focuson "stability and security."
Apple released Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5, last October after a delay needed to make sure the iPhone arrived on time. At the time, Jobs told The New York Times that he wants Apple to stick to an operating-system deployment cycle of 12 to 18 months.
TUAW's report says Apple could be eyeing a Macworld 2009 release forMac OS X 10.6, which would certainly nestle within that time frame.Microsoft recently said it wants to get the next version of Windows out by the end of 2009.
Another interesting part of that report is the notion that 10.6 will bean Intel-only release. Users of older Macs running PowerPC chips wereable to upgrade to Leopard, but the report suggests that Apple willdrop PowerPC support with the next release.
Apple will likely spend a healthy portion of Jobs' keynote discussingMac OS X, but it remains to be seen how much of a peek we'll get at thenext version. One question on the minds of many Apple users: afterwhich big cat will Apple choose to name the next release?
Ars Technica's Infinite Loopreported Wednesday that "Snow Leopard" was the name slated for the nextversion, which sounds like it could be somewhat confusing, given thefact that the current version is called Leopard. In a poll on TUAW'ssite, "Cougar" was in the lead, trailed by "Lynx" and "LOLcat," the last of which we can probably eliminate.
The third leg of the WWDC presentation could involve Apple's .Macservice. There have been a number of recent signs that Apple isrethinking its presence on the Internet, with new domain names beingsnapped up by the company and code strings in the iPhone SDK suggesting that a new name is on tap.
One interesting thing to watch for concerning any new version of .Macis how much of the service Apple keeps in-house, as opposed to bringinga Web-savvy partner like Google into the mix. The .Mac service is a good idea, but it isn't widely used among Mac users due to issues with its stability, feature list, and price tag.
Any or all of those objections could change, if Apple transfers theback end of the service to a huge Internet services provider likeGoogle, and uses the service to bring Macs and iPhones together ininteresting ways.
As usual, Apple is very tight-lipped about what may or may not bearriving during this year's WWDC. The latest iPhone may or may not beready for an actual release on the first day of the show, but expectthe topic to be the highlight of the day's announcements.

WWDC 2007 Keynote Live Coverage here at iVirtua Community
Posted by Editorial Team Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:23 pm
PC vs Console: Does no GTA IV on the PC mean consoles win? in Gaming
With news about PC version of GTA IV still unconfirmed, it's no surprise the old pc vs console has reappeared.
Everytime the 'PC vs console' question comes up, the pattern is the same: aconsole manufacturer releases its latest and greatest system, whichblows everyone away with its graphics and apparent power. The PC, asthe most powerful system on the block, looks weakened.
Butthere's a catch: consoles don't offer any scope for upgrades. Theyquickly start lagging behind what PC developers can do – to say nothingof the fact that, as console games are coded on PCs before going acrossto their destination, we have a certain amount of home advantage. Newgraphics cards and processors – most recently, dual/quad core – quickly make the PC the most appealing platform for developers who really want to stretch their technical muscles.
Willthe cycle repeat this time? Certainly. However, the threat this time isslightly more complicated, and publishers that fail to adapt are likelyto be left behind.
The end of the console exclusive
Commercialgames, particularly so-called triple-A games such as GTA IV, cost aphenomenal amount of money to create. The only way to recoup thatamount is to sell games – and most simply don’t. It’s a publisher’s bigsuccesses that really pay the bills, with many well-known developerssurviving project-by-project.
What this means is that the eraof the 'console exclusive' is effectively over. A handful of gamesaside (typically those owned by a console’s manufacturer, as happenedwith Halo on the Xbox), publishers can’t afford to exclude either Xbox360 or PlayStation 3 users – or, more specifically, their wallets.
Othermajor games, including GTA, are being targeted at both platforms, withthe only exclusivity coming in the exact details, such as Microsoftpaying a phenomenal $50million for dibs on its downloadable content.
Thisleads to a situation where, while the manufacturers and fans alike arequick to trumpet the technical benefits of their platform, in practiceit doesn’t mean much. The less powerful machine sets the level,preventing the game from being all that it could be if it wasspecifically written to make use of the hardware available to it. Onthe PC, a mix of hardware and scalability options offer much moreflexibility. You can’t play Crysis at its best on a £500 PC… but youcan play Crysis.
The PC dilemma
This begsthe obvious question: if cross-platform is such an important part ofthe industry, why are PCs left out of releases such as GTA IV?
Stand out:one major reason is simply that the PC doesn’t currently have the‘cool’ value of the consoles, or the more limited games selection thatgives almost any major release a better share of the limelight.
Technicalities:then there's the complete pain in the neck of every system beingdifferent, and the users (in general) being largely technicallyilliterate. For every person who’s built a machine from individualcomponents, there’s another 10 users that haven’t ever botheredupgrading their graphics drivers and will happily blame any resultingproblems on the developer.
Piracy: hasn’t helpedeither, but not just in the way you might think. In addition towhatever direct loss of income there might be, we’ve seen several gamesthat have been slammed on online forums for being buggy, broken andunfinished, only for it to come to light that the complainants wereusing dodgy code. In the case of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, the piratecopy was leaked to the net a couple of months before release.
Ona smaller scale, Iron Lore entertainment faced an uphill struggle toexplain that the sudden drops to the desktop were a result ofanti-piracy measures rather than a programming error.
The ironyis that all of this protection is really only aimed at so-called ‘0-day’ releases – games leaked to the pirate market before they actuallyappear in the shops.
This is typically seen as a PC-only issueby the market, but that’s not true. People were downloading and playingGTA IV the week before hundreds of people queued up for a midnightlaunch. The catch is that on a console, you have to get physicalmodifications done to your system before it can be used to play pirategames, which is a big technological jump from just running a file – andbrings the risk of losing online access.
The future now
Whilewaiting for the cycle to turn back to PCs, two major genres are soakingup much of the cash – casual games and MMOs. The most successful PCgames of all time aren’t the likes of Doom or Command and Conquer, butThe Sims (plus its sequel and million expansion packs) and World ofWarcraft (11 million players and counting).
The Sims offeredsomething both new and immediately appealing; World of Warcraft tookthe geekiest genre on the planet and made it mainstream through carefuldesign and the goodwill built up over a decade of its creator Blizzardmaking nothing but amazing games.
It’s this kind of expansionthat the PC is in a position to do right now – to spread the joy ofgames to a whole new audience. And when the technology turns, they’llstill be there.
Posted by Editorial Team Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:31 am
Rampage in Tokyo's Video Game District Kills 7 in General Discussion, including Off Topic, Current Affairs
Countdownto murder - the final posts
The knifeman who killed seven people in a rampage in central Tokyo yesterdaycharted the slayings on a weblog which he updated via his mobile phone evenas he drove to the murder scene.
Tomohiro Kato had hired a two-tonne truck to make the 100-km trip from Susono,in the foothills of Mount Fuji, to Akihabara – the capital's Electric Townwhich is famed as the cradle of modern Japanese youth culture.
In the days leading up to the spree, Mr Kato made several visits to "scopeout" Akihabara and establish its suitability for death. "I knew there wouldbe lots of people and I decided this some days ago," he told police afterhis arrest.
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Japan Times wrote:


"I came to Akihabara tokill people," investigative sources quoted Kato as telling the police."I am tired of the world. Anyone was OK. I came alone."
According to the police and hospital officials, six ofthe seven who died were males and aged 19, 20, 29, 33, 47 and 74. Theother was a 21-year-old female.
In addition to the seven, 11 people who were taken tohospital after the stabbing rampage. Of these, eight men and two womenwere injured, including a traffic police officer who was patrolling atthe time. The remaining male person had sustained no injury but simplyhad blood on his clothing.
The area was crowded with shoppers as Chuo-dori in theAkihabara district was vehicle-free for pedestrians. The scene was nearthe intersection of Chuo-dori and Kanda Myojin-dori streets, only astone's throw from JR Akihabara Station.


Japan Times
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At 5.21am he posted his message of the day on a "moblog" or mobile phone blog.It read: ‘‘I will kill people in Akihabara, have a vehicle crash and, if thevehicle becomes useless, I will use a knife."
Subsequent postings released by police today provide a gruesome runningcommentary of his drive to central Tokyo, including the promise that drizzlyweather would not deter him in his "mission". The messages end just minutesbefore the attacks were unleashed.
"It’s time; I’m going," read the final comment, which is believed to have beensent just before Mr Kato drove the heavy truck into the crowded,pedestrianised streets of Akihabara. After running down several people andsmashing into others, he jumped out and started slashing at the crowds witha hunting knife.
The selection of Akihabara appears to have been a central part of the killer'sdark scheme.
As other chilling details emerged about the life of the 25-year-old arrestedfor the multiple slayings, Japanese are collectively recoiling in disgust atwhat their supposedly law-abiding, controlled society has produced.
Until this fatal weekend, Mr Kato appears to have led the average life of ayoung Japanese man from a small, provincial town: a serious boy whograduated from a good local high school in the northern prefecture of Aomoriand headed south to work in a car parts factory in Shizuoka. He likeddriving cars too fast and would often, according to work colleagues, becomedeeply immersed in online forums.
Perhaps most strikingly, he appears to have shared with tens of thousands ofyoung Japanese men a passion for Akihabara and its maze of shops andboutiques that helped create Japan’s otaku stereotype.
Originally, the word otaku referred to a sub-class of youth culture whichfocused on the minutiae of various hobbies – everything from manga comicsand video games to model robots and animated pornography. More recently,however, the otaku phenomenon has gone mainstream and even financialanalysts track the spending habits of its participants.
But early on Sunday morning, the facade of normality around Mr Kato finallyslipped. At 7.14am he is alleged to have sent a text message to a workcolleague, waking him up and informing him that he had something to handover.
When Mr Kato arrived at the colleague’s house at around 8.45am, there seemedto be nothing abnormal – he was wearing the same expressionless "pokerface" that he maintained every day in the factory.
The only obvious difference was the pale suit that Mr Kato had on, which werea stark contrast from his usually very casual outfits of T-shirts and cheapjeans. Mr Kato gave his friend a bag of DVDs, video games and left him withthe enigmatic message: "I’m going to deliver this truck to Akihabara. I’mgoing to stop there briefly and then I’m flying east."
Three and a half hours after that conversation, Akihabara had become abloodbath.


The Associated Press reports that a 25-year-old man went on a rampage in downtown Tokyo today, killing at least seven people in the famed Akihabara district.
The killer apparently ran over several people with his truck before stabbing 18 more. According to the AP:

[Akihabarais] Tokyo's premier electronics and video game district... known asElectric Town, [it] is wildly popular with Japan's cyber-wise youth.

A CNN report adds:
TheAkihabara district, where the attack took place, specializes inelectronic gadgets and video games and is popular with peopleinterested in comic books and distinctive fashion.

BLOG POSTS:

Messages that Japanese police say were posted by Tomohiro Kato from his mobilephone on to an internet message board on the morning of the Akihabaramassacre just minutes before he went on his killing spree.
Quote:

05.21 Sleepy. Will drive into (the crowd), and after the car gets unusable,I’ll use the knife. Goodbye everyone
05:34 I can’t get over this headache
05:35 Rain is forecast. Bad

06:02 I’m used to playing the role of good man. Everybody is so easilydeceived
06:03 Am I incapable of having friends?
06:10 It seems the road I planned to take is blocked. After all, everything isagainst me
06:31 The time has come. Let’s go
06:39 It seems I’ll be battling against my headache
06:49 ...against rain
06:50 ...against time
07:30 What a dreadful rain...even though I prepared everything perfectly
07:47 Even though the scale [of the massacre] is small, I’ll do what I decidedto in the rain
09:48 Into Kanagawa and having a rest. Things are going well at the moment
10:53 Awful jam. Will I be in time?
11:07 Shibuya. It’s awful
11:45 Reached Akihabara. It’s the day of “pedestrians’ paradise”, isn’t it?Just minutes left now.
Posted by Editorial Team Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:13 am
Google Favicon: Small 'g' is the new brand? Previews [image] in General Discussion, including Off Topic, Current Affairs
Many people noticed a small change: Google has a new favicon.

Google changed their “Favicon.ico”, the 16x16 image file thatusually shows in the browser address bar or in bookmarks. The old icon used a square with red, green and blue edges, wrapping an upper-case“G”. The new logo is a bit more open, showing just the lower-case blue“g” from the Google logo, without borders, and a bit of shadow. To see this, visit Google.com (or images.google.com, Google Product Search and so on), empty your browser cache and reload the page.


Is Google undergoing a rebranding exercise...?

Maybe they’re going to be known as ’the little g’ rather than ’The BigG’ from now on...



Google's favicon is hosted at google.com/favicon.icoand it's a 16x16 pixels image, a standard size for favicons. Googlereplaced the upper-case "G" in blue border, green and red borders witha lower-case purple "g" in a rounded corner rectangle.

I could get used to this:




Reception has been mixed, commenting on the new grey background, usability and recognisability when multiple tabs are open, lack of transparency and differing brands. Some bloggers note the new favicon 'totally fails on white background and in the urlbar [sic] on FF3RC1'. It is also noted that the 'googol' by which Google is named after, is spelt with a lower-case 'g'.

A before and after can be seen here, thanks to our tech team.



Google code still sports the old logo as of today.

Effects and debate
. I spent a good couple of minutes trying to find the right tab–I couldn’t find it because of a change to a very small image from a section of the browser I hardly every look at. You never realize how much these small things really incorporate into your overall web image. I’m amazed that such a small detail can prove to be so important to such a huge audience.

So why the change? What’s the point? Is there something coming? I can’t imagine such a departure from the branding just being nothing. What do you think?
Posted by Editorial Team Fri May 30, 2008 2:44 pm
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