Some Sort of Tracking Data Injected Into World of Warcraft Graphics
September 12th, 2012Via: Tom’s Hardware:
One World of Warcraft gamer has discovered that his screenshots secretly contain user info like the current server IP address, and the time the shot was taken.
ZoomThere’s indication that Activision Blizzard has been watermarking screenshots captured with World of Warcraft’s in-game client application since at least 2008. There’s also indication that Digimarc is the company behind the client’s watermarking tech.
According to reports, these custom marks include user IDs, the time the in-game image was captured, and the IP address of the local World of Warcraft server. Why? Possibly to track down users that are violating Blizzard’s Terms of Service like hacking the game or running a private server.
More: Ownedcore
In Which Countries is Coca-Cola Not Sold?
September 12th, 2012Via: BBC:
After almost 60 years, Coca-Cola is on sale again in Burma. It’s one of the world’s most recognised brands, so are there any countries where the drinks giant still remains unsold?
Coca-Cola says it sells 1.8 billion servings of the drink every day. But for the last six decades, none has been in Burma.
That’s because of US trade sanctions on the military junta which ruled the country from 1962 to 2011.
Those sanctions were suspended a few months ago, as the country began to move towards democratic reforms.
But the company said on Monday its first delivery had arrived and local production would begin soon.
Coca-Cola’s entry into any country is a powerful symbol, says Tom Standage, author of A History of the World in Six Glasses.
“The moment Coca-Cola starts shipping is the moment you can say there might be real change going on here,” he says. “Coca-Cola is the nearest thing to capitalism in a bottle.”
There are now just two countries in the world where Coca-Cola cannot be bought or sold – at least, not officially. They are Cuba and North Korea, which are both under long-term US trade embargoes (Cuba since 1962 and North Korea since 1950).
Related: The American Culture Bomb
California Senator George Smathers Suggested False Flag Attack on Guantanamo Bay to JFK
September 12th, 2012Via: Guardian:
When the assassination idea was discarded Mr Smathers suggested provoking an incident at the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay on the eastern tip of Cuba as a pretext for a US invasion.
“I did talk to him about a plan of having a false attack made on Guantanamo Bay which would give us the excuse of actually fomenting a fight which would then give us the excuse to go in and do the job,” he said. “He asked me to write him something about it. And I think I did.”
Related: Senator Suggested False Flag Attack To Kennedy 2 Years Prior To Operation Northwoods Proposal
Research Credit: almaverdad2
‘What if Dickens Had Analytics?’
September 12th, 2012I’d still never finish reading Little Dorrit.
Via: FastCompany:
In addition to the Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Paperwhite, Amazon introduced a subscription book format at a press conference in Los Angeles Thursday. These books, called “Kindle Serials,” will be released in segments instead of in their entirety. Updates, or “episodes,” automatically appear at the back of the book as they’re created or released without extra charge.
Charles Dickens popularized a similar format more than 100 years ago when he famously published many of his works as segments in weekly publications. Bezos invoked the author’s works when announcing the new product, and some of them, including Oliver Twist, will be re-released as Kindle Serials.
Dickens, however, didn’t have the Internet. Or data about how readers responded to each of his chapters.
“[Kindle Series] Authors will be able to follow along with reader reaction and adapt the next installments based on the first ones,” Bezos said.
Amazon will provide discussion boards for each Kindle Serials book. Unlike most book discussion boards, they may influence the outcome of the books. Unlike in Dickens’ era, anyone reading can participate.
Research Credit: JRock
UK Banks Could be Shut Down or Forced Into Bail-Outs by Brussels
September 12th, 2012Via: Telegraph:
A panel of European officials would be given sweeping new powers to police the financial sector across the continent but also in the City of London.
They would be given “full decision making powers” to impose EU law and to arbitrate disputes between Britain and the eurozone over the risks posed by British banks, according to the proposals being tabled on Wednesday at the European Commission. Decisions taken by the powerful body would be automatically binding unless Britain was able to win the unlikely backing of a majority and overturn them.
Rulings by the panel could create huge costs for the British government and banks if they were ordered to bail out a struggling institution, contribute to cross-border bail-out funds, or allow the EU to rule over breaches of European law.
Cock Blown Off Serving the Empire? Lab-Grown Genitals, Spray-On Skin
September 12th, 2012Via: NBC:
A few years ago, Dr. Anthony Atala’s lab at Wake Forest University got good at making ears. They were growing new ears on a scaffold using patient’s cells, because so many soldiers were losing their ears in explosions. Now the Department of Defense has a project that’s closer to Atala’s heart: making new genitals for soldiers who have stepped on bombs.
Other labs are still moving forward with the ear project for the military. But Atala has special expertise dating back to his days as a pediatric urologist. He’s already grown bladders using a patient’s own cells, and he’s made penises that rabbits were able to put to their proper use, fathering litters of new little bunnies. He hopes to use this expertise to help rebuild the bodies of veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as men and boys injured in car accidents.
Atala is one of the pioneers of regenerative medicine. But the field has taken off in a big way, attracting biotechnology companies, the U.S. military and academic labs, which are working to literally make the blind see and the lame walk again. They’re perfecting spray-on skin and aim to mass-produce new body parts using bioprinters based on the jet printers attached to your home computer.
“Right now, the way these organs are made is creating them one by one. By bringing the bioprinting in, we can scale it up,” says Atala, whose lab has contracts with the four-year-old Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM), biotechnology companies and private foundations.
All of this technology is years away from the doctor’s office. The most advanced treatments have just begun the very earliest stages of human testing. But all evidence points to the tantalizing prospect of grow-your-own organs and possibly even limbs within a decade or so, and some approaches, such as muscle transplants and spray-on skin, are helping a lucky few now.
U.S. Official Dies in Libya Consulate Attack in Benghazi
September 12th, 2012Via: BBC:
A US state department official was killed and at least one other American was wounded when militiamen stormed the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
It is believed the protest was held over a US-produced film that is said to be insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.
The building was set on fire after armed men raided the compound with grenades.
Protests have also been held at the US embassy in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
In the attack in Benghazi, unidentified armed men stormed the grounds, shooting at buildings and throwing handmade bombs into the compound.
Security forces returned fire but Libyan officials say they were overwhelmed.
“One American official was killed and another injured in the hand. The other staff members were evacuated and are safe and sound,” Libya’s deputy interior minister Wanis al-Sharif told AFP.
The identity of the US official killed is not yet known. The consular worker was reported to have been shot.
Army Wants Tiny Suicidal Drone to Kill From 6 Miles Away
September 11th, 2012Via: Danger Room:
Killer drones just keep getting smaller. The Army wants to know how prepared its defense-industry partners are to build what it calls a “Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System.” It’s for when the Army needs someone dead from up to six miles away in 30 minutes or less.
Moody’s Says U.S. Faces Loss of Aaa Without Budget Deal in 2013
September 11th, 2012Mmm hmm.
Via: Bloomberg:
Moody’s Investors Service said it may join Standard & Poor’s in downgrading the U.S.’s credit rating unless Congress reduces the percentage of debt-to-gross- domestic product during budget negotiations next year.
Pentagon Buying Chevy Volts to ‘Green Up’ Military
September 11th, 2012In other news: Government Motors Losing As Much As $49,000 On Each Volt It Builds.
Via: The Washington Free Beacon:
The Pentagon is buying Chevrolet Volts to help “green up” the military—while propping up sales of the bailed-out automaker’s most politicized car.
The Department of Defense began purchasing the struggling luxury electric car, which retails at $40,000, this summer as part of its goal to purchase 1,500 such green vehicles. The Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif. purchased its first two Volts in July, and 18 more vehicles will come shortly to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where Air Force One is based, according to military magazine Stars and Stripes.
The Obama administration championed the production of the Volt. Along with the president’s pledge this year to “buy one and drive it myself … five years from now when I’m not president anymore,” the government offers a $7,500 tax break to encourage sales.
Research Credit: Druff
