Thrifty Nerd crams yet a few more gaming deals into 2010

The price-conscious folks over at Thrifty Nerd have picked up on a few more solid end-of-the-year gaming deals. If you somehow still haven't bought enough games to last you through 2011 (or at least until Dead Space 2 hits on January 25), here are a few more great titles to get on the cheap:

• Amazon's got that WoW deal back on again: Buy the original World of Warcraft and get Burning Crusade for free.
• Amazon also has Halo: Reach for just $39, Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY for $20 and Dance Central for $39.
• Newegg has NBA Jam for just $30 on PS3 and Xbox 360.
• Buy.com is selling arcade racer Blur for just over $17.
• And finally, Walmart has underrated shooter Metro 2033 for under $20.

There. Are you happy? Have enough games now? Sheesh!

Thrifty Nerd crams yet a few more gaming deals into 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blog Post: ?????????? ????????? ?????????? SQL Server Reporting Services 2008R2. ????? 1.

? ???? ?????????? ?????? "?????? ? ????????? ???????????? ????????????? ? SQL Server Analysis Services", ????? 1 ? 2, ?? ??????????? ?????????? KPI ? Analysis Services. ? ?????? ????? ????? ????????, ??? ????????? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ???????????.

??????, ???? ????? ?????????? Microsoft, ??????? ????????? ? KPI ????????????? ? ???????? PerformancePoint Server 2007, ?? ?? PerformancePoint Services ? SharePoint 2010. ?????? ??????, ?? ?????? ?? ??, ?? ?????????????? ?????? ????????.  PerformancePoint ????????? ?????????????? ????? KPI, ???????? ?? ?? ????????? ??????????. ??????, ??? ????? ? ??????? ???????, ?? ??????????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ????????????? ?????????, ? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????, ? KPI, ?? ???, ?????? ????????? ?? ?????? ???????????????? ???????. ? ???? ?????? SQL Server ??????????????. ??????, ??????, ????? ?????? ???? ?????????? ? ???????? ??????, ? ????? ?? ????????????????? ????????? ?????????? ?????-?????? Access, ???? ????????????? ????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ???????? KPI ?? ?????? ????? ?????? ??????, ??????? ? ????????? ? ???????????? Excele?. ????????? ???????? ??????, PerformancePoint ???????? ?????? ????????? ?????? KPI, ? ??? ?????????, ?? ?? ?????????? ?????????? ?? ?????. ???? ?? ????? ??????????? ??????????? ???? ???????????????? ???????? ? ?????????? ????????? ??????????? ? Visio, SQL Server ???????? ????????????? ?? ??????? KPI ? Analysis Services, ??????? ?? ??????????? ????, ? ?????????? ?? ??????????? ? ???? ??????? Reporting Services. ? ???????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ????????????? ????? ??????, ? ??????????? ???????? ?? ???????? ?????? ????? ????????? ??????????? ????????, ? ?????? - ?????????? ?? ?????? ??????????? ???????: ????? ????? ??????, ????????? ? ????????? ???????? ?? ???????????? ?????? ??????? ? ?????? ???????? ??? KPI Product Gross Profit Margin (?????????????? ??????? ??????? ?? ??????? ????????). ????????????? ??????????? ?????????? MDX ???????? ???????? ????????? ???????

with member Measures.ProductShare as (Product.[Product Categories].CurrentMember, Measures.[Sales Amount]) / (Product.[Product Categories].CurrentMember.Parent, Measures.[Sales Amount])

select

{Measures.[Sales Amount], Measures.ProductShare, KPIValue("Product Gross Profit Margin"), KPIStatus("Product Gross Profit Margin"), KPITrend("Product Gross Profit Margin")} on 0

, nonempty(Descendants(Product.[Product Categories].Category.Members, , SELF_AND_AFTER), Measures.[Sales Amount]) on 1

from [Adventure Works]

where [Date].Calendar.[Calendar Year].[CY 2008]

?????? 1

???.1

 

??-?????, ????????????. ?? ????? ????????? ???????????? ?????????.

????????? Report Builder 3.0 (Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Report Builder 3.0). ???? ?? ? ??? ??? ?? ?????, ????????? ??? ?????? ??????. ????????????? ?? ????????, ??????? ?? ????? ?????????? ??? ?????. ????????? ????? ???????????? ????? ??? ????????? ????????, ??????? ?????????? ??????? ????. ??????? ???????? ? ???????? ?????????, ?? ???? ??????????, ? ???????? ????? ??????? ???????????? ? ?????? ??????. ????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ??? ????????? Report Data. ???? ?? ?????-???? ???????? ??? ?? ????????????, ? ?????? ???? View ???????? ????? ? ???????? Report Data. ? ?????? Report Data ???????? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? Data Sources ? ??????? Add Data Source:

 

???.2

 

???????? ??????? ?????????? ? ??????? Analysis Services, ?? ??????? ? ??????? ? ??????????? ?????? ??????????????? KPI. Shared connection ?????????????, ??? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ??????? Reporting Services. ???????? ??????????, ??????? ????? ???????? ? ?????? ?????:

 

???.3

???????? ???????? Build ? ?????? ???????? ???????????? ??????????:

 

???.3

 

?????? ????? ??????????, ????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???????????? ?? ????????? ? ?????. ?????????? ???????? ????? Dataset (??????) ? Report Data.

 

???.4

 

??????? ?? ???????? Query Designer. ????????? ???? ??????????? ????????, ? ??????? ????? ??????????? ????????? ? ???? ?? ??????? ? ????????, ???????? ????????? ?????????? ? ?.?., ??? ? ??????? ??????? Excel.

 

???.5

 

????????? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ?? ??????????. ???????? ?????? Design Mode, ????? ??????? ? ????? ??????? ????? ?????? ???????. ? ??? ??? ??????? ??????????? ??????? ?????? (?????? 1), ???????????, ??? ????????? ??????? ???????? ??? ????????????? ? Reporting Serices:

 

with member Measures.ProductShare as (Product.[Product Categories].CurrentMember, Measures.[Sales Amount]) / (Product.[Product Categories].CurrentMember.Parent, Measures.[Sales Amount])

select

{Measures.[Sales Amount], Measures.ProductShare, KPIValue("Product Gross Profit Margin"), KPIStatus("Product Gross Profit Margin"), KPITrend("Product Gross Profit Margin")} on 0

, nonempty(Product.[Product Categories].Product.Members, Measures.[Sales Amount]) on 1

from [Adventure Works]

where [Date].Calendar.[Calendar Year].[CY 2008]

?????? 2

 

???.6

 

?????? ??????? Descendants, ??????? ???????? ?????????, ???????????? ? ???? ????????, ? ?????? ??????? ??? ???????? ? ????????? ?????? Product. ?? ??????? ????? OLE DB, ??????????? ?????? ?????????? ? ????????? ?????????????. Reporting Serices - ????? ????? ????? ? ????? ???? ???????????? ?? ????????????? ? ??????????. ? ?????? Descendants ???????????? ?????? ????? ????????? ?????? ??????? ? ?????? ????????.

?????? ??????? ??????? ???????? [Date].Calendar.[Calendar Year].[CY 2008] ?? ????????. ??? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ????? ????????? ??? ????????? ?????? ? ???????????? ?????????? ? ??????. ??????? ?? ?????? ????????? ??????? ? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? TimePeriod, ??????? ????? ??????? ?? ?????? ????????? Date, ???????? Calendar. ???????? ?? ????????? ???????? ???? [All Periods]:

 

???.7

 

??????? ?????????? ????? ??? ??. ? ?????? ???????? ???????? ?????? TimePeriod, ???????, ??? ????? ?????????? ? ??? ?????????, ??????? ?? ?????????? ???????? TimePeriod1, ?????? ???? ??????? ????????, ??? ???????, ????? ??????: ParameterValue, ?? ???????? ????? ????? ???????? ?????????, ? ParameterCaptionIndented, ??????? ????? ???????????? ??? ?????? ???????? ?????????.

 

 

???.8

 

????? ??????????, ??????, ???????.  ?????, ??? Report Builder ??? ?? ??????????. ?? ??????. ????????? ????? ? ???? ????? (?? ?? ?????? ??????????), ???????? ?????????????? rdl ????? ????????? ?????????? ? ??????? ? ??? ??????? TimePeriod1

 

???.9

 

?? ???????? ?? ?????? MDX-???????, ??????? ???????? ?????? ????????? Date, ? ????????????? ????? ??????????? ???? ParameterCaptionIndented, ? ??????? ????????? ?????? ????????? ?? ??????. ????? ?????? ????, ??????? ?????? ????? ?????. ?????? ??????? ???? ??????? ?? rdl, ???? ????? ??? ?? ????? ? ????????? ? ??????????? rdl:

 

???.10

 

???????? ????? ??????? DataSet2 ?????? ???? ?? ????????? DataSource1. ?????? ??? ???????? ????????? MDX:

 

with member [Measures].[ParameterCaption] as space([Measures].[ParameterLevel] * 2) + [Date].Calendar.CurrentMember.NAME

     member [Measures].[ParameterValue] as [Date].Calendar.CurrentMember.UNIQUENAME

     member [Measures].[ParameterLevel] as [Date].Calendar.CurrentMember.LEVEL.ORDINAL

select

{[Measures].[ParameterCaption], [Measures].[ParameterValue], [Measures].[ParameterLevel]} on 0,

except([Date].Calendar.members, [Date].Calendar.[Date].Members) on 1

from [Adventure Works]

?????? 3

 

???.11

?????? ??? ?? ?? ?????, ??? ?? ?????? ?? ???.9, ?????? ? ????? ??????????? ? ??????? ?????? ? ?????????? ?????? MDX. ???????? ?????????? ????? ?????? (CurrentMember.LEVEL.ORDINAL) ???????????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???????. ???????? CurrentMember.NAME ??? ???????? ??????????? ???????????? ??? ??????????? ????? ????????? ??? ?????? ??????? ? ?????????. ???????? CurrentMember.UNIQUENAME ???????? ????????? ????????? ? ????? ????????????? ? ?????? DataSet1 ? ??????? where. ? ?????? ??????? ??? ???????? ????????????, ??? ??????????? ?????????? ??????? ?????????????? ???????. ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ?? ???????????? ?????????? ??????????, ???? ??????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ???? Date/Time ? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ????????? Date ?? ?????????? ????????. ??????? ????? ???????? ? ??????????? ??????????? ?????? ??????? ? ???, ??? ??????? ???????? ?? ??????????? ??????????? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ??????, ??? ?? ????? ??? ????? ??? ????????, ????????, ? ??????? ??????, ????? ?? ???????? ????? ????? GET-??????. ?????????? ???????? ?????? ?? ????????????? ? ???????????? ??? ??????????? ???? ??????, ??? ? ?????? ??????. ??? ?????? ??????? ????? ?????? ???? ASP.NET ??? WinForms-??????????, ?????? ?? ???? ??????? ReportViewer, ? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????????????? ???????, ??????? ?? ????.

???????? ? ???????? ????????? ?????? TimePeriod, ??? ???????? ?? ???.8, ??????, ??? ???????? ????? ???????????? ?? ???????, ??? ???????? ??? ???? ????? DataSet2 (??. ?????? 3), ??? ???????? ????????? ????? ?????????? ?? ???? ParameterValue ??????? ????????, ? ??????????????? ???????, ??????? ????? ???????????? ??? ??????, ????? ??????? ?? ???? ParameterCaption:

 

 

???.12

 

???????? ?????? ???????? ?? ????????? ??? ??????? ?????????, ?.?. ? ??????? ????? ??????????? ?????, ???? ???????? ???????? ????????? ??? ??? ????????? ?? ????????????. ?? ???.7 ???????? ?? ????????? ?????????? ?????????? - [Date].Calendar.[Calendar Year].[CY 2008]. ??????? ????-????  ???????? ? ??????? ??? ?????? ?????????? ????????? ??????, ?.?. ?????????? ??????, ?? ???????  ???? ????????? ???? Measures.[Sales Amount]. ??????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ? ????? "?????? ? ????????? ???????????? ????????????? ? SQL Server Analysis Services. ????? 1", ?????? 7:

 

Tail(nonempty([Date].[Calendar].[Month].Members, Measures.[Sales Amount]), 1).Item(0).Item(0).UNIQUENAME

?????? 4

? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????? UNIQUENAME ?? ???????? ?? ???????? 3, ?.?. ???????? TimePeriod ????? ??? Text (???.12, ???????? General). ???? ?? ???.12 Default Values ????? ? ?????, ??? ???????? ?? ????????? ??? ????????? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ?????????? (Specify values), ???? ???? ??????? ?? ??????? (Get values from a query). ? ?????????, ??? ?????????? ?????????? ????????????? ?????????. ??? ?????? Specify values ????? ??????? ?????????? ???? ????????? ??? ??????? ? ??? ???-?????? ?? ????? ?????? ??????????, ?? ???????????? MDX-????????? (?????? 4) ??? ???????????? ? ?????? ???, ??? ???????? ???????? ?? ????????? ? ????????? TimePeriod ???. ???????? ???????? ? ????? ??? ???? ??????? DataSet3

 

with member Measures.aaa as Tail(nonempty([Date].[Calendar].[Month].Members, Measures.[Sales Amount]), 1).Item(0).Item(0).UNIQUENAME

select Measures.aaa on 0 from [Adventure Works]

?????? 5

 

???.13

 

?? ?????????? ?????? ?? ??????. ???????? ???? Adventure Works ????????, ??? ????????? ???????? (?? Sales Amount) ????? ????????????? ???? 2008 ?.

 

???.14

 

??????? DataSet3 ? ???????? Default Values ??? ????????? TimePeriod:

 

???.15

 

? ??? ???????? ???????? ???????? TimePeriod ? ??????? where ??????? DataSet1 (?????? 2, ???.6) ?????? ???????? [Date].Calendar.[Calendar Year].[CY 2008]:

 

with member Measures.ProductShare as (Product.[Product Categories].CurrentMember, Measures.[Sales Amount]) / (Product.[Product Categories].CurrentMember.Parent, Measures.[Sales Amount])

select

{Measures.[Sales Amount], Measures.ProductShare, KPIValue("Product Gross Profit Margin"), KPIStatus("Product Gross Profit Margin"), KPITrend("Product Gross Profit Margin")} on 0

, nonempty(Product.[Product Categories].Product.Members, Measures.[Sales Amount]) on 1

from [Adventure Works]

where StrToMember(@TimePeriod)

?????? 6

 

????????? MDX-??????? StrToMember, ?????? ??? Reporting Services ?? ????? ???? ????????? Member. ???????? ?????? TimePeriod ????? ??? Text; ????? ?????????? ?????? ? ????????? ????? ? ????, ???????????? ??? ???????.

 

???.16

 

???? ?? ?????? Run ????? ?????? ? ?????, ??? ??? ????????. ?? ????????? ?????????? ???? 2008 ?.

 

???.17

 

??-?????, ???????? ?????. ???? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ??????? ????? ??????????.

?????? ??????? ????????? ?????????, ??-???????? ???????? ????? ??? ? ?????????. ??????, ?? ????? ???????????? ?????????????? ?????????? ??????????? ????????????????? Microsoft ???? ? ????? ?????.

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Xbox indies band together for promotion, get Microsoft's attention

Microsoft does a great job of promoting Xbox Live Arcade games. There's the Summer of Arcade, which this year featured excellent titles like Limbo and Monday Night Combat, and more recently the company launched the Games for the Holidays promotion, featuring games like ilomilo and Raskulls. But Xbox Live Indie Games don't get the same kind of treatment. So a group of developers decided to take things into their own hands and do their own promotion, which led to the Indie Games Winter Uprising.

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Taryn Manning Nikki Cox Carla Gugino Ana Hickmann Mischa Barton

Blog Post: Unhappy New Year

Malware authors don’t miss any major event in their attempts to spread malware. Evidently, they see the upcoming New Year as yet another opportunity to get their creations into unsuspecting users' computers. We have already seen signs of malware misusing this happy event. In most cases, these are spammed emails that look like legitimate “Happy New Year” messages or “New Year”-themed greetings. 

Here is a recent example:

As you can see, the video can’t be played without, you guessed it, a fake version of Adobe’s Flash Player.  As you probably realized, this is just a trick to download something malicious, which in this case is a variant of the well-known password stealer Win32/Zbot (SHA1: 6C5B80A73B4B728D7DF8BFBB142E10A6A29A0950). Once executed, it will inject itself into the address space of explorer.exe in an attempt to bypass security. When it connects to the Internet, an alert similar to the one below may be triggered:

Another example of malware using the New Year is related to a blog post from earlier this week. One of the samples of Exploit:Win32/CVE-2010-3333 (00d9af54c5465c28b8c7a917c9a1b1c797b284ab) drops malware detected as TrojanDropper:Win32/Meciv.A and Backdoor:Win32/Meciv.A. To hide its malicious dropping activities, it also drops a clean DOC file with the following New Year's message:

The message is in Russian and means: "Dear colleagues and friends! Happy New Year!"

While the techniques are not new, the social engineering employed may actually dupe users into running these malicious programs, because the New Year passing is regarded as a happy event and people tend to see the good rather than the bad.

As usual, we suggest that you stay sharp and carefully check all links and e-mail messages containing greetings and holiday themed e-cards, especially those from strangers or entities you haven’t been in contact with.

Many thanks to our colleague Kai Yu from the Antispam team for providing us with the sample.

We warmly wish you a “Happy New Year!” and may it be malware-free!

 

Andrei Saygo && Patrik Vicol && Rodel Finones

 

Shannyn Sossamon Rachael Leigh Cook Elisha Cuthbert Ciara Rachel Hunter

Blog Post: Weekend Reading: New Year?s Eve Edition

With the end of 2010 right around the corner, this edition of Weekend Reading focuses on the year that was and the year that could be, along with an interesting story about how the fiber-optic market has finally come full circle a decade after the telecom depression of the early 2000s.

Without further ado, here is your New Year’s Eve edition of Weekend Reading:

Microsoft lauded as a top innovator. Microsoft was number one on TheStreet.com staff reporter Jason Notte’s “10 Top Innovative Companies” list, beating out hard-nosed competitors such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc. According to Notte, Microsoft overtook Nintendo and Sony in the video game market with hit products like the Kinect for Xbox 360.

Microsoft: The Year in Pictures. In this collection of 36 snapshots, SeattlePI.com highlights some of the more memorable images that told the Microsoft story in 2010. Highlights include shots of pop songstress Katy Perry performing at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City to help kick off the launch of Windows Phone 7, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi touring the Microsoft Home of the Future and the announcement of a sponsorship deal between Bing and the Seattle Storm of the WNBA.

Bing. In this installment of the Bing Search Blog, the Bing team looked back at the top New Year’s resolutions searches from last January. The most popular resolutions-related search terms? You guessed it – those associated with losing weight.

Tech predictions for 2011. New Year’s Eve just wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without someone making predictions concerning the year ahead. In this Wall Street Journal story, WSJ columnist Walt Mossberg writes about what’s in store for some of the biggest players in the tech industry in 2011, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter.

Dark fiber is no longer dark. Back in the early 2000s, Wall Street pundits everywhere predicted a world of lightning-fast fiber-optic networks carrying massive amounts of Internet traffic and video content was just a few years away. Needless to say, the bursting of the tech bubble and the resulting telecom depression threw a wet blanket on those predictions. For years, those fiber networks, which cost billions to build, lay dark. However, the advent of services such as online video streaming company Netflix and the adoption of data-heavy smartphones have finally rendered those predictions true – just a decade later than any of the experts ever thought would happen. Check out this story in the Wall Street Journal to read all about it.

With that, Happy New Year, everyone. See you in 2011!

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Senior Manager, Corporate Blogs

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Joystiq Top 10 of 2010: Limbo

Much like its sparsely populated namesake, Limbo is a game defined by what isn't there.

There's no color, no speech, no real prompting to speak of ... heck, the game doesn't even use that many buttons. It asks that you bring something of yourself to the experience, that you supply your own metaphorical color, ensuring that your journey through the bitter, monochrome world will be intensely personal.

In an industry that so often chokes itself with overabundance, Limbo separated itself from the pack by saying little, yet speaking volumes.

Continue reading Joystiq Top 10 of 2010: Limbo

Joystiq Top 10 of 2010: Limbo originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3rd Birthday Debuts in Sixth Place During Busy Christmas Week

Two high-profile PSP games made their debut during Christmas week in Japan but only one of them could come out on top. Of course, in the land where Monster Hunter Portable 3rd still rules, "on top" is second place in this week's Media Create sales figures (via Inside Games).

The victor was AKB 1/48, a dating game that features members of the J-pop supergroup AKB 48 (so named because there are 48 young women in the group). The game launched with four different retail SKUs, some including a special pink PSP, others just pink battery cases featuring kiss marks. All combined, these different versions sold 236,000 copies while The 3rd Birthday, the anticipated sequel to the Parasite Eve games, sold 140,000 copies and ended up in sixth place.

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Blog Post: Nyt�rskonkurrence-saml 6 Microsoft Valued Professionals (MVP) og vind en Kinect

Velkommen til den sidste dag I det gamle �r.

Hver dag kl. 9:00 fra mandag den 3. januar til og med fredag den 7. januar, vil jeg offentligg�re brikkerne til en profil p� hver af de 6 MVP'er, der �bnede l�gerne I vores Julekalender I December.

Brikkerne vil best� af information om MVP'er�, billeder, blog information, etc. Den f�rste dag, vil jeg udover nogle brikker ogs� poste en spilleplade.

Den f�rste der har samlet alle profilerne korrekt og sendt den fyldte spilleplade til mig kl. efter 10:00 fredag den 7. januar, vil blive den lykkelige ejer af en Kinect, det nye tilbeh�r til Xbox 360, der g�r spil og underholdning levende p� helt nye og fantastiske m�der - uden at der er brug for controller. Du kan l�se mere om Kinect her: http://www.xbox.com/da-DK/Xbox360/Accessories/kinect/Home

 

God forn�jelse og godt nyt�r!

Monica Bellucci Minki van der Westhuizen Katharine Towne Malia Jones Jennifer ODell

As Predicted: iPad Magazine Subscriber Numbers Plummeting

Right before the iPad launched, we warned media companies that expected iPad apps to be their savior that they were making a mistake. Specifically, it seemed that this was all wishful thinking from publishers, who were hoping to go back to a gated system that they had used for many years. They were betting on restrictions, which is never a good bet. Of course, the early numbers actually sounded good, with many magazines trumpeting how many iPad subscribers they got in the first few months. But, it appears that many people tested out iPad magazines, and then decided they just weren't worth it. Again, this is not a huge surprise. Just a few weeks ago, we again discussed how iPad magazines generally suck, and it was unlikely they were going to have lasting success.

Even so, it's still surprising to see just how dramatic the dropoff has been -- especially in a platform that is apparently still selling like hotcakes. Wired Magazine, which initially appeared to drink the Kool-Aid big time on using iPad apps, now sees less than a quarter the number of buyers that it had when it put out its first iPad issue. Vanity Fair, Glamour, GQ and some others have all seen big declines.

Hopefully this will kill off the dream of just recreating magazines for the iPad, and content providers can focus on creating tools that are actually useful, rather than just on replicating the structure of a magazine in a digital format.

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FBI raids Texas colocation facility in 4chan DDoS probe

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is targeting a Texas-based computer network that the government thinks was hijacked for the Anonymous group's Operation: Payback DDoS attack on PayPal.

"As part of the process of identifying the computer system that I seek to search, I may be forced to check each system belonging to the target customer until I have determined that it is the computer to be searched," the author of the FBI's Affidavit in Support of a Search Warrant of the facility explains.

The FBI's request was obtained by The Smoking Gun news site. It comes following Anonymous or 4chan's attempt to bring down various financial service companies that refused to do business with Wikileaks, most notably PayPal and the Swiss bank PostFinance.

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Taryn Manning Nikki Cox Carla Gugino Ana Hickmann Mischa Barton

PS3 hacked through poor cryptography implementation

A group of hackers called fail0verflow claim they've figured out a way to get better control over a PlayStation 3 than ever before. After they worked through a number of Sony's security measures, they found the keystone to gaining access to the system's innards was the PS3's poor use of public key cryptography.

At the Chaos Communication Conference 27C3, the team gave a 45-minute presentation on the methods they used to work through the PS3's various security levels, which include a chain of trust, a hypervisor, and signed executables. Their primary goal was to restore the capability to run Linux, something that was forcibly removed from the original PS3 and never possible on the PS3 Slim.

After beating several other security measures, the group was able to locate the PS3's ECDSA signature, a private cryptographic key needed to sign off on high-level operations. Normally, these kinds of keys are difficult to figure out, and require running many generations of keys to crack. 

But when fail0verflow worked backwards from generated keys, they found out that a parameter that should have been randomized for each key generation wasn't being randomized at all. Instead, the PS3 was using the same number for that variable, every single time, making it easy to work out acceptable keys.

If this really works, it's a big slip on Sony's part. While PS3s are no stranger to software updates, this seems like it might affect operation on too many levels to be an easy fix. Fail0verflow's presentation is available in three parts on YouTube, and they also plan to put up a demo of their methods on their website.

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Coco Lee Katy Perry Vinessa Shaw Rebecca Romijn Nadine Velazquez