Pew! Pew! Preview!: The Witcher

14 comments by Reverend Anthony on 10.17.2007

 

I’ll admit, it’s been a heck of a long time since I’ve played and enjoyed a true action RPG. The last one I actually played to completion was Fable; the last one I really enjoyed was Diablo II.

It was with a great deal of hesistant interest, then, that I sank my teeth into the preview build for The Witcher — a game which, according to its press release, “return[s] to the roots of the role-playing genre with a fresh and modern approach” and seeks to implement real moral dilemmas into the story, rather than the shallow, black-and-white, good-or-evil choices available in every nonlinear RPG.

So, how does The Witcher deal with the conventions of the RPG genre? How ambiguous are your moral choices? What the hell is a “Witcher?” Hit the jump for answers.

14 comments

What on earth is a rootkit?

October 18 | Peter Daley

Stop giggling! This blog has nothing to do with a kit to improve your sex life – in fact, it would probably have the opposite effect!

So what are rootkits? They are super stealth hacks that are hidden from most virus checkers and spyware detectors.

Trouble is, large numbers of computers using the Windows operating systems are being infected with rootkits. I do a lot of computer troubleshooting and repairs, and in the last few weeks I have been finding an increasing number of computers infected with them.

So you’ve been diligent, and kept your virus, spyware and firewall protections up to date, but one of the family has decided to use one of the music-sharing systems, or visited a site, and your computer has been hacked through your web browser.

Hidden inside your supposedly safe computer is a super stealth rootkit.

You can run your virus checker or spyware removal tools till the cows come home, but you won’t find anything.

You need to run this special tool called rootkitrevealer which can be found here.

Most of you are going to find the information on the rootkitrevealer page gobbledegook. Read it if you feel you will understand some, or just cut to the chase and go to the bottom of the page and download the Rootkitrevealer.zip file.

It is a compress zip file, so save it onto your computer and unpack it. Then run the Rootkitrevealer.exe file on you computer.

If you have no understanding of the last two lines in the above paragraph, you’re in over your head, and should immediately stop all internet banking on your home or work computers.

Change your banking password immediately and stick to phone banking or physically go to the bank. This type of basic security knowledge is essential to your banking and business security on the internet.

Most people’s faith in computer security is unfounded, and based on poor information.

So, you run Rootkitrevealer on you computer (by the way, there are more steps involved to run rootkitrevealer on Vista at present), and you get discrepancy results. What do they mean?

The best I can tell you, in brief, is to look to the end of discrepancy lines, and you may need to widen the column to see them – items like SAC, SAI are normal, as are entries that may refer to your virus checker name (eg Symantecs, which is Norton’s anitvir, or Nero, a CD burning program).

Most clean computers will only have a few normal discrepancies as described above. The more discrepancies, the more likely the breach to your computer security. Most people will not have a clue what are normal discrepancies and what are abnormal, but anything over about four or five is suspicious.

All I can say is take a deep breath, and read this free book on stress management.

If you find any rootkits, getting rid of them is another story. Have you got all afternoon?

I really feel that most of you out there should stop internet banking and use phone banking or go physically to the bank. I have been demonstrating the use of Rootkitrevealer to Sunshine Coast Computer Club members.

 

 

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The Perfect Storm

October 16, 2007: The most powerful Internet weapon on the planet is hiding in plain sight, and no one can do anything about it. At least not yet, or not that anyone is talking about. The weapon in question is the Storm botnet. This is the largest botnet ever seen, and it is acting like something out of a science fiction story. The Storm network is now believed capable to shutting down any military or commercial site on the planet. Or, Storm could cripple hundreds of related sites temporarily. Or, Storm could do some major damage in ways that have not yet been experienced. There’s never been anything quite like Storm.

The Storm computer virus had been spreading since early in the year, grabbing control of PCs around the world. By now, Storm had infected nearly 5-10 million computers with a secret program that turned those PCs into unwilling slaves (or “zombies”) of those controlling this network (or botnet) of computers. Many of you may have noticed a lot of recent spam directing you to look at an online greeting card, or accompanied by pdf files. That was Storm, the largest single spam campaign ever. When you try to look at the PDF file, Storm secretly takes over your computer. But Storm tries very hard to hide itself. All it wants to do is use your Internet connection to send spam, or other types of malicious data.

What makes Storm the perfect Internet weapon is how it has been designed to survive. The Storm zombie does no damage to the PCs it infects, and simply sits there, waiting for an order. Those orders come via a peer-to-peer system (similar to things like Kazaa or Bittorrent). A small percent age of the zombies spend short periods of time trying to spread themselves, then turn off. This makes it more difficult to locate infected PCs. Commands from the Storm operators are sent through several layers of zombie PCs, again making it very difficult to identify where those commands come from. Moreover, Storm operates as a horde of clusters, each of two or three dozen zombie PCs. No existing methods can shut down Storm. In fact, all that will work to kill Storm is to find the people running it, arrest them, and seize their access data. The programmers who put Storm together know their stuff, and police in dozens of country would like to get their hands on them.

To avoid the police (especially the U.S. FBI), many botherders (those who operate botnets) are usually in countries without an extradition treaty with the United States (where nearly half the zombie PCs are). Criminal gangs are increasingly active in producing things like Storm, and, in the case of China, so are government Cyber War operations. It’s unclear who is controlling the millions of Storm zombies, but it’s becoming clear what Storm is up to. It has been launching attacks at web sites involved in stopping or investigating Storm. This involves transmitting huge quantities of bogus messages ,that shut down targeted web sites (this is a DDOS, or distributed denial or service attack). The Storm botherders are also advertising their botnet as available for the usual illegal activities (various types of spam). It’s believed that Storm is owned by a Russian criminal syndicate, but that’s only a guess based on what is known about Storm so far.

But the most alarming aspect of all this is the sheer size of the Storm botnet. It’s quite possible that it’s not all one, huge, multimillion PC botnet. There may be several owners, who simply used variations of the basic Storm virus (which showed up last February, using as a lure the promise of news about the huge Winter storms then lashing Europe, and thus got its name.)

Police and Cyber War organizations are certainly trying to track down who controls Storm, mainly in self-defense. A botnet that large could shut down major sites, or large chunks of the Internet itself. The Storm is the Internet equivalent of a nuclear weapon, and no one is sure who controls it, or for what purposes.

 

US retailer Target has 40GB PS3 information in its system

16 comments by Dale North on 10.16.2007

 

You know that 40GB PS3 that we all love/hate? Yeah, the one that the whole world has except for the Americans. Well, now some information leaked from US retailer Target shows an October 28th “in-stock date” for the $400 system.

Engadget has linked to some pictures from Target’s internal systems, showing that the 40GB PS3 system is indeed coming to America. One picture shows a bit of text that says:

DESC: PS3 40GB SPIDER…

This could have something to do with the rumored Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray disc pack-in that we’ve heard rumors about. Yeah, I know — big deal. But, it’s better than our last pack-in! If this is true, it would put one of Destructoid’s best running jokes to bed. What a shame.

As you may already know, the system will come with only two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and Wi-fi, no memory card ports, and no PS2 backwards compatibility, but should serve the American electronics-addicted holiday consumer well with its new lower price point.

Hit the jump for more pictures.

16 comments

Help Save the Environment With Your Computer

support.com Offers PC Users Energy Saving Tips

October 16, 2007: 08:02 AM EST

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program estimates that you can save up to $75 per year by activating the power management functions on your desktop computer(1). support.com, a remote tech support service which helps consumers get relief from frustrating computer problems, offers tips to consumers to help them save both energy and money by reducing the power consumption of their computer.

Whether you use a desktop computer or a laptop computer, the two things that you can do to save the most energy are:

1.  Turn your computer off completely when you know you will not be
    using it for more than several hours, such as overnight.
2.  You can still save energy when your computer is not shut down
    completely by setting the power management functions on your computer
    to put both your monitor and computer (CPU, hard drive, etc.) into
    "sleep" mode after a certain amount of time of non-use, which saves
    energy when you are not actively using your computer. Set your monitor
    to go into standby mode first, followed by your computer.

Keep in mind that even if you have set the power management functions on your computer, there are some things which will prevent your computer from going into sleep mode. Use the following guidelines to make sure your computer is properly sleeping:

1.  Certain applications, such as some games and third-party software,
    will run in the background and prevent your computer from going into
    sleep mode. Be sure to close these down completely.
2.  If you use a virtual private network (VPN), disconnect it when you're
    not actively using it, since VPNs can prevent your computer from
    entering into sleep mode.
3.  Some applications which continually scan can prevent your computer
    from going into standby mode. Shut off Wi-Fi antennas and infrared
    ports when you are not using them to prevent this from happening.
    Anti-virus software can be set to scan more periodically yet still
    be safe.
4.  Some Web sites will not allow your computer to enter into sleep mode
    because of active advertisements and banners. Close down all Web pages
    when you are not viewing them to allow your power management function
    to work properly.
5.  If you have set a screensaver (like that fish tank) for your monitor,
    you may not realize that it is actually wasting energy by preventing
    your computer from going to sleep. A blank screen is the best
    screensaver so let your computer go to sleep to save energy instead
    (it won't sleep with the fishes).
6.  Peripherals, which are plugged into your computer, can also prevent
    your computer from going into standby or "sleep" mode. Unplug your
    peripherals when they are not charging or synchronizing.

Don’t limit your energy savings to just your monitor and computer. Other things you can do to help save energy in your computing use include:

1.  Increase your memory (RAM) to reduce disk usage, which can be a power
    draw.
2.  If you have a desktop computer, upgrade to an LCD flat panel monitor
    instead of a CRT monitor, which can account for half the energy use of
    a desktop computer. According to the EPA, the use of an ENERGY STAR
    qualified monitor can save up to 85% of the electricity used by a
    standard model.
3.  Did you know that the power supplies for your peripherals (such as
    your mobile phone or iPod) still draw power even if the peripheral is
    not plugged in? If you plug all your electronics into one surge
    protector, you can easily switch them all off when you leave the room
    or go to sleep.
4.  Shut off that printer. Printers also have a sleep mode that still
    consumes a significant amount of power.
5.  Replace wireless mice and keyboards with wired mice. Wired mice and
    wired keyboards use relatively little energy and they avoid unnecessary
    wasting of batteries.

Finally… Apple To Ship Leopard On October 26th

It is official, Apple will launch their next version of Mac OS X called Leopard or 10.5 on October 26, 2007 at 6PM! Their store lists the information on pre-ordering Leopard with free shipping! Mac OS X 10.5 will come with over 300 new features such as Spaces, Time Machine, and BootCamp. Leopard will cost $129 and a Family Pack (5 Licenses) will cost $199 and the Academic Price will be $116. See AppleInsider for more details or Apple’s web site.

Here is information directly from Apple Hot News:

“Packed with more than 300 new features, Mac OS X Leopard goes on sale Friday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m. at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, Apple announced today. And, beginning today, customers can place pre-orders on Apple’s online store. “Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we’ve ever released,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And everyone gets the ‘Ultimate’ version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129.” [Oct 16, 2007]“

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Vista BSOD

October 16, 2007 at 3:19 am · in Windows Vista, Windows · Comments

Ya know, I’ve gotta be doing something wrong. Windows Vista can’t be this bad. Can it? Seriously, I’m not trying to pull punches when I point out radical design flaws and blatant usability oversights.

For those of you still wondering if Windows Vista is any better than Windows XP, claiming that it’s not problematic in the slightest, or thinking that XP was equally as troublesome in its infancy… I offer the following screen shots.

Apparently, my machine BSOD’ed earlier – with the chat room finding out about the crash hours before I did (as they saw it unfold live from afar while I was watching a movie with Ponzi). After clicking through the all-too-familiar “Windows has recovered from a serious error” dialog, I was passed directly to this one:

And I quote: “The problem was caused by Windows Vista.” I clicked the green link (why is it green and not blue like other hyperlinks throughout… oh, nevermind). A few seconds later, I was downloading and installing the patch as directed. Almost:

Might I suggest a few alternative responses to not being able to install something you prompted me to install?

1. No soup for you
2. Talk to the hand
3. Go play Hold ‘Em Instead
4. Someone set you up the bomb
5. Please don’t tell anyone
6. Hasta la Vista
7. This isn’t a COM Surrogate Error
8. PC LOAD LETTER
9. I’m pining for the fjords
10. But I was going into Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!

To add insult to injury, Windows Vista then connected to FBI.gov, downloaded an old family photo that should’ve been lost in a fire that never happened, and set it as my desktop wallpaper in tiled mode with the ‘Hot Dog’ color scheme:

Researchers help users control Second Life avatars via brain activity

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: October 15, 2007 – 10:45PM CT

Have you ever wished that you could live a life inside The Matrix, with your brain directly wired into a computer system that lets you go about life however you please in an imaginary world? Well, we’re not quite there yet, but some researchers at the Keio University Biomedical Engineering Laboratory are getting close. Led by professor Jun’ichi Ushiba, the researchers have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) that works directly with Second Life. Users can walk or fly their avatars throughout the virtual world, as well as move their limbs, change directions, and perform a variety of other tasks by merely thinking about it.

The technology is possible through the use of a headpiece equipped with electrodes attached to an electroencephalograph (EEG). The EEG then monitors for brain activity, particularly in the “cortical motor area” of the brain that controls bodily movement. It passes the signals through to the computer, which are then translated into commands within the game. Thus, thinking about walking forward, hopping on your giant, pink flamingo with your virtual girlfriend, and riding off into the sunset can all be possible within Second Life without having to lift a finger.

This is, of course, useful to people beyond those who would like to trade their office chairs for La-Z-Boys. The research team believes that its interface with Second Life could be used in the medical field as part of a rehabilitation program for people who have limited motor functions in their limbs.

The technology reflects some of the major advances being made in the field of BCI for the disabled; previously, BCI research has focused mostly on performing more traditional computer tasks, which scientists hope could eventually translate to controlling prosthetic limbs with nothing more than brain activity. In fact, Keio’s Biomedical Engineering Lab has partnered with the Keio University School of Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine to continue research on the Second Life BCI in the hope of improving brain-limb coordination in disabled patients.

The university has provided a video (.wmv or .mov) of the BCI in action. We must warn you, however, that since the user is merely thinking about his actions on screen, there is not much to see aside from someone playing Second Life without moving (it’s not as exciting to watch as it sounds, really). The researchers say that they hope to further the technology to include more complex movements within the virtual world, and eventually allow people to communicate and conduct business in Second Life. How cool would it be to merely think about what you want to say and have it appear on screen? Now, all they need to do is develop some way for us to see the virtual world without opening our eyes and develop some sort of liquid-filled preservation pod that we could live in…

 

Jericho Halloween Contest! Win the game, soundtrack, and more (9 winners)

62 comments by Niero on 10.15.2007

I’m proud to announce this week’s sponsor is the fruit of Codemasters and Clive Barker’s labor, the new horror game Jericho arriving next week on the 23rd. Since Halloween is around the corner, we thought we thought we’d put something in your goodie bag a little early: We’re giving away three copies of the game on each platform as well as the soundtrack and other swag to the top three winners — a total of nine winners! Here’s how to steal your free copy:

Contest rules:

(1) Post a photo of you in your costume holding up a sign that says “Citizen of Jericho” (preferably something scary, but any silly costume is fine). If you can pull off a Jericho cosplay, your odds of winning obviously go up. Some screen shots of the various characters are attached in the gallery below. Who needs working eyeballs, anyway? Go all out!

(2) Please specify your platform of choice and a backup choice (Choose from: PS3, Xbox 360, or Games for Windows) . The contest ends on October 31, so be sure to post your entry before you go out trick or treating.

Prizes:

My favorite three entries will win a copy of the game and the soundtrack. Six winners will be selected at random.

Other ways to win:

Not planning on dressing up this year? You can also participate as a “standby entry” by posting a found photo of a carved video-game related pumpkin. If we can’t contact the winners of the costume contest, one of the pumpkin comments will be selected at random instead. You can post as many costume entries and pumpkins as you’d like but you can only win once.

Good luck!

False starts in race to future of DVDs

The number of Blu-ray and HD DVD players and discs remains stubbornly miniscule. Should consumers pay any attention at all?

By Erica Ogg
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: October 15, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT

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Is all of this Blu-ray Disc versus HD DVD bickering much ado about nothing?

Many column inches and much screen space have been filled with discussions of a “war” between two rival next-generation DVD formats. On one hand, it’s understandable: the opposing camps are manned by the world’s leading technology companies and the biggest names in film and television: Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Dell, Intel, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM and many more.

High Impact

What’s new:

The format wars have been raging for 18 months, but there’s little sign regular consumers are picking sides.

Bottom line:

There is no guarantee either of these formats will still be viable 12 months from now, so it’s unclear why the casual movie fan would consider investing in either side at all.

More stories on this topic

But more than 18 months after the launch of both formats, the question remains, should the average consumer care? Most would say, “not yet.” Both sides are still engaged in a battle for consumer attention and dollars, while some are prematurely declaring victory. (Panasonic is the most recent to predict Blu-ray–which it is backing exclusively–will be the undisputed champion.)

There is no guarantee either of these formats will still be viable 12 months from now, so it’s unclear why the casual movie fan would consider investing in either side at all–particular because the price of the players and discs are still relatively high. More importantly, many consumers think regular old DVDs are perfectly fine.

The studios and hardware makers on both sides are betting heavily on launching a new format, of course. But all the bickering and public posturing over the last year looks patently ridiculous when one considers how few discs and players these industry giants are actually arguing over.

Case in point: 300 is the fastest-selling next-generation title so far, according to Warner Bros., which says it sold 250,000 high-definition copies of it in the first week. (How fitting that the most successful next-generation movie thus far is about a group of warriors waging an unwinnable battle).

At an industry conference last week, representatives from Microsoft (HD DVD), Sony and Pioneer (Blu-ray), sniped at each other over the number of copies of 300 sold on each format. Blu-ray claims its version of the disc outsold HD DVD’s by a margin of two to one in the first week. The breakdown was actually 65 percent Blu-ray, 35 percent HD DVD, according to a Warner Bros. representative.

But only when you consider that the studio sold more than 5 million copies of 300 on standard DVD does it become clear that all this posturing is over less than 5 percent of sales. On the hardware side, DisplaySearch said 5 percent of sales of standalone DVD players in September were either HD DVD or Blu-ray.

For now, both sides are priming the pump to create awareness for a technology that, currently, most consumers can’t necessarily even take advantage of because they need a full high-definition (1080p) television to get the maximum effect of an HD DVD or Blu-ray movie.

“It’s a different sell if you don’t have an HDTV set yet,” said Paul Erickson, director of DVD and HD market research for DisplaySearch. “Most of the appeal (of a next-generation player) will come from (having) 1080p. While that may be the standard in the future, 720p is still selling very strongly.”

“DVD is a victim of its own success. It’s a good technology.”

–Josh Martin, analyst, Yankee Group

Luckily for the backers of both formats, high-definition TV sets are selling well these days. Eight out of every 10 TVs sold in the month of August were HDTVs, according to the NPD Group. And 1080p adoption is on the upswing as well; sales of 40-inch and larger LCD TVs that output 1080p resolution have increased more than 40 percent in the last year, according to data from DisplaySearch.

But NPD uncovered a very telling statistic in its 2007 report on high-definition video: 73 percent of current HDTV owners “are satisfied with DVD and don’t feel the need to replace” their current players.

Ultimately, DVDs are good enough for most people. Most consumers probably already own a DVD player. If they don’t, the average price is certainly more attractive than those of either HD DVD or Blu-ray players. Though prices of both have come way down in the last nine months, the average price for next-generation DVD players is $390 more than standard DVD players.

“DVD is a victim of its own success. It’s a good technology,” said Josh Martin, an analyst with Yankee Group Research. Plus, the step up to DVD from VHS tapes is not analogous to the step up from DVD to high-definition discs. “Next-gen isn’t redefining, it’s more tweaking of the technology. Content owners think it’s a bigger leap, but consumers look at (a next-generation disc), and it’s a disc, and it’s not worth $600 or whatever” for the player to go with it.

Some would argue the biggest roadblock in Blu-ray and HD DVD’s aspirations of becoming the standard in home video actually isn’t the format competition–it’s inexpensive, so-called upconverting DVD players, or standard players that have the ability to take regular DVDs and translate them into 1080p, the same resolution as Blu-ray and HD DVD. Though the studios and hardware makers will argue that it’s just not the same as the movies recorded and played back in 1080p, it will be good enough for the average consumer.

CONTINUED: Warner Bros. plays it neutral…
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