Reg reader unlocks secrets of LHC restart

Exclusive As all the world knows, the Large Hadron Collider - the mightiest particle-punisher in the world and possible portal to other dimensions - is shortly to fire up again, following last year's catastrophic liquid helium superfluid explosion.

You can learn that much by following other media outlets like any ignorant drone. But you are a tech-savvy Register reader, which means that you can follow events at the LHC live as they happen on CERN's own web pages, which are mostly open for anyone to view - though rather hard to find.

Reg reader unlocks secrets of LHC restart

We should emphasise that this is in no way due to any effort or goodness at Vulture Central. Rather it's the result of public-spirited efforts by Reg reader Chris Stephens. Just as amateur stargazers are usually the best source of information on top-secret spy satellites, enthusiastic LHC-watcher Chris is the man to go to for all the latest supercold superpowered superconductor supercollider news.

It was a tip-off from Chris, in fact, who had noticed climbing temperatures on part of the Collider's mighty magnetic ring, which enabled us to break the story of the baguette-bombing bird which temporarily scuttled the colossal machine two weeks back.

Inspired by having first caused a story to break on the Reg and then seeing it go global as it was shamelessly lifted without attribution by mainstream media outlets worldwide, Chris has now created an "unofficial" LHC portal with links to all the various fascinating CERN webpages, which are at the moment so little known.

In a superb twist, Chris tells us that the main users of the LHC Portal so far are in fact CERN personnel, who evidently find it the handiest way of navigating around their own websites. The portal is now linked to from at least one of CERN's internal sites.

T-Mobile Customers Suffer Data Breach

T-Mobile is again giving its customers -- and prospective customers -- reason to be nervous.

Most U.S. Sidekick device users suffered severe data losses in October, when they permanently lost photos, contacts, and calendar entries. T-Mobile then suspended the sales of Sidekick devices, which has only been resumed this week. Earlier this month, T-Mobile U.S. customers also experienced widespread service disruption for both voice calls and text messages.

This time, staff at the U.K. operations of wireless carrier T-Mobile have sold personal data of thousands of customers. Millions of records from customers were brokered to third parties, who then approached customers whose contracts were soon to expire.

T-Mobile, the country's fourth largest mobile phone company, said that its customers' data was sold without the company's knowledge, a T-Mobile spokesperson told the BBC. The breach is the biggest of its kind so far, according to Christopher Graham, U.K.'s Information Commissioner, whose office is preparing to prosecute the T-Mobile staff responsible for selling the personal data.

T-Mobile Customers Suffer Data Breach

With a U.K. workforce of around 6500, T-Mobile has more than 16 million U.K. customers (a 15 percent market share) and announced recently its plan to merge with Orange, the country's third largest wireless carrier -- creating a market leader above O2 and Vodafone with more than 28 million customers (and responsibility for even more records).

Suspicions of the customers' data breach were raised when customers whose contracts were due to expire soon were contacted regarding switching to a different carrier. T-Mobile said that it has identified the source of the breach, which then alerted the U.K.'s Information Commissioner. The yet-unnamed offenders could face fines up to$9000 each, but no jail time.

Shigeru Miyamoto Discusses New Super Mario Bros. Wii

With New Super Mario Bros. Wii safely in stores and winning applause worldwide, Nintendo creative mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto sat down with Famitsu magazine this week to discuss some of the story behind the game's design.

According to Miyamoto, NSMB Wii (which he serves as general producer on) was the most closely he's been involved with a game for a while. "It's been a nostalgic time for me," he said. "I've been getting into the game and making the sort of fine-tuning adjustments that I made with Super Mario World and Mario 3."

Shigeru Miyamoto Discusses New Super Mario Bros. Wii

The way he puts it, the fact NSMB Wii exists at all is a testament to Nintendo's willingness to take risks. "It was a courageous choice for the developers," Miyamoto said. "We went with a very orthodox Mario despite the capabilities of modern game systems. With this game, though, our only really overall goal was multiplayer. I figured that as long as multi-play was fun, then simpler would be better for everything else, both to players and to us creators. To put it bluntly, I would've been just fine with basically making a multiplayer Super Mario World. That's not too terribly interesting, though, so our goal was to create a new and serious 2D Mario, insert multiplayer into that, and make it enjoyable for all walks of gamer."

As Miyamoto put it, multiplayer was the watchword for NSMB Wii from the start -- and it all plays into Nintendo's philosophy of making its games accessible by young and old. "The directors' main goal here was to make the one-player Mario playable by lots of people without having separate modes for everyone," he said. "If Dad is really good at the game, he can start to take his kids along in the stages, or the kids can take Mom and Dad along. That way, anyone can make it to the end of a level no matter how bad they are. Even if they can't beat the game themselves, it's fun for them to experience the entirety of the game. That's why what you could call the 'story mode' is completely playable in multiplayer, although there are other multiplayer modes like Coin Battle."

That accessibility pledge makes itself particularly noticeable with NSMB Wii's Super Guide, a feature that optionally plays a movie of someone playing through a stage if you get stuck. "Originally I wanted it to be viewable after failing at a level three times, but that was too few," Miyamoto commented. "You'd wind up summoning the Super Guide block even when you're playing normally, and the testers and I both thought that was just annoying! So after some trial and error, we settled on eight tries. That's about the point when people start to think 'Man, this stage is kind of hard' and get a little frustrated. If they watch the Super Guide, maybe then they realize it's easier than they thought. We want people to get though this on their own power first, so that's how we decided it in the end."

Despite the uproar this Super Guide feature caused in some corners of the Internet, Miyamoto claims that the idea behind it is nothing that new. "In Mario 3 there was an item, the P-Wing, that basically let you skip a single stage at any time," he recalled. "I figured that since that game has 80 levels or so anyway, it'd be nice to let gamers take a pass on at least one or two of them; then, once they beat the game, they could go back to those stages and try them again. In New SMB Wii, we took that to another level."

Still, as Miyamoto is quick to note, this line of thinking doesn't mean that NSMB Wii is a pushover. "I do think the game has a lot more oomph to it than the first New SMB," he concluded. "World 1 and 2 are pretty forgiving, things ramp up starting with World 3, and it gets even harder at World 6. I think by the time you master World 6 you'll have all the skills you need. You could say this game is a challenge to gamers, to see if they have the perseverence it takes."

Google To Reveal Early Version Of Chrome OS

Google (NSDQ:GOOG) Wednesday is preparing to pull the veil back a little bit further on its plans for its Chrome operating system.

The search engine giant will reportedly provide more information about the progress that is being made on its thin operating system. Google will also likely conduct a few demos of the OS while providing technical background, TechCrunch reports.

Rumors began to circulate late last week that Google was preparing to launch an early, open-source version of its Chrome operating system this week with a full version of the OS expected in the second half of 2010.

Google To Reveal Early Version Of Chrome OS

Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google, and Matthew Papakipos, engineering director for Google Chrome, will be speaking at the event -- scheduled to take place Wednesday at Google's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters, which will be followed by a question and answer session, according to TechCrunch.

Google revealed the Chrome OS in July, with the search engine company clearly setting its sights on Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT). According to the company, Chrome is designed to be lightweight, simple and secure. The OS was initially targeted at netbooks with Google slating Acer and Asus to be initial hardware partners for Chrome, but a desktop version will also be made available.

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 friend Facebook

NEW YORK — Users of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles can now brag about their achievements on Facebook.

Both systems are integrating the social network this week.

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 friend Facebook

Microsoft Corp. switched on a slew of new features for its Xbox Live online service, allowing owners of the Xbox 360 consoles to update Facebook and Twitter directly from their consoles.

The console can also stream music from the Internet radio service Last.fm.

Sony Corp., meanwhile, is letting PlayStation 3 users connect their systems to Facebook through its latest software upgrade.

Both companies have been looking to turn their consoles into entertainment hubs beyond gaming.

Switzerland to sue Google over Street View privacy

The Swiss government has lost patience with Google over what it sees as Street View's failure to ensure privacy.

The country's federal data protection commissioner, Hanspeter Thur, is now to sue Google in an attempt to force it to improve the blurring of faces and number plates. He is particularly concerned about locations such as outside hospitals, prisons or schools.

Other countries have raised similar concerns in the past, but Google has always argued that the present level of blurring is adequate, and that people are free to ask Google to remove pictures of their property.

The company says it worked hard to satisfy Switzerland's privacy requirements. "Before the launch in Switzerland, we made sure we spoke to privacy regulators and other interested groups to give them an opportunity to ask questions and raise any concerns they might have. So we were pleased when the Swiss DPA gave us the green light to launch the product, confirming our understanding that Street View is legal under Swiss law." says Peter Fleischer, the company's Global Privacy Counsel, in a blog post.

"We are disappointed that Herr Thuer has changed his position on Street View after launch, and that he has not considered sufficient our proposals for improvements to the product."

Google says it plans to defend itself in court.

Apple wins Psystar Mac clone case

A US court has ruled in favour of Apple at the close of a long-running legal battle with Mac clone maker Psystar.

Psystar was accused of violating Apple's copyright when it installed the Mac OS X operating system on Intel-based computers.

Apple took Psystar to court 18 months ago, accusing the manufacturer of infringing its copyright and breaking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

"Mac OS X on both Mac computers and the DVD are covered by software licence agreements that provide that the software is 'licensed, not sold, to [the user] by Apple Inc'," Apple said in court documents.

"Apple's licence agreements restricted the use of Mac OS X to Apple computers, and specifically prohibited customers from installing the operating system on non-Apple computers.

"In brief, customers were contractually precluded from utilising Mac OS X on any computer hardware system that was not an Apple computer system."

Psystar had been selling PCs with Apple's Snow Leopard pre-installed, along with software tools that let users run Mac OS on any machine.

However, a US District Court judge ruled that Psystar had infringed Apple's exclusive right to create derivative works of Mac OS X by replacing original files in Mac OS X with unauthorised software files.

"Specifically, it made three modifications: (1) replacing the Mac OS X bootloader with a different bootloader to enable an unauthorised copy of Mac OS X to run on Psystar's computers; (2) disabling and removing Apple kernel extension files; and (3) adding non-Apple kernel extensions," the judge said.

A hearing to determine the 'remedies' for the case will take place on 14 December.

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2: B-

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” made more than $300 million on its first day in North America and the United Kingdom. That’s more than the Yankees spent to win the World Series. It’s the highest-grossing launch in the history of entertainment, but it’s nothing compared to what defense contractors earned this decade. Real war is still the best business going.

It’s no surprise that “Modern Warfare 2” is as huge as “Mario,” “Grand Theft Auto” and “Halo.” Its predecessor, 2007’s “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare,” was massively popular with both players and critics. It bolstered an amazing single-player campaign with what might be the definitive online multiplayer shooting experience. It was the rare game that mostly deserved its hype.

“Modern Warfare 2” builds on those strengths. The Tom Clancy-esque story is knotted with even more tension and grandly nonsensical twists. The multiplayer is excellent, adding new perks and compulsive game modes with the same great controls. The new Special Ops mode adds two-player co-op missions to the mix.

Unfortunately, fantastic gameplay isn’t the most memorable part of “Modern Warfare 2.” The game’s defining moment is a gratuitous scene that forces you to witness and potentially participate in the massacre of innocent civilians. You play the role of a CIA agent undercover with Russian terrorists who open fire in a crowded airport. You’re forced to walk slowly through the carnage, absorbing the blood and cries of terror. It’s shocking, and guaranteed to cause controversy.

This scene purports to unsettle, to hammer home the horror of terrorism. It doesn’t do that because it fails as storytelling. There’s no build-up and no greater meaning, either emotionally or narratively, for you or your character. Even the villain is undeveloped and tangential to the third act. What could’ve been a bold step forward for game narrative is nothing more than a crass shock tactic.

Video games should mature along with their audience. Games should tackle morally ambiguous situations in a thoughtful manner, challenging players to think long and hard about the actions and decisions they make. That’s not what “Modern Warfare 2” does, though. It’s less interested in contemplating violence, either real or fictional, than in testing the boundaries of good taste. It might make headlines, but it doesn’t make a real statement. “Modern Warfare 2” is the opposite of mature, no matter what the rating on the box says.

Google Nips and Tucks Google Book Search Deal

Google, authors and publishers Nov. 13 narrowed the scope of their agreement to let Google sell access to millions of out-of-print books online, limiting it to include works registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or published in the U.K., Australia, or Canada. The revised deal also addresses concerns from Amazon, the Department of Justice and others that Google would have too much control over orphan works. The Open Book Alliance, formed in August with Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo to oppose the Google Book Search bid, blasted the revised settlement in a statement.

Google, authors and publishers Nov. 13 narrowed the scope of their agreement to let Google sell access to millions of out-of-print books online, limiting it to include works registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or published in the U.K., Australia, or Canada.

Financial terms of the Google Book Search deal, intended to settle a 2005 copyright suit with Author's Guild and Association of American Publishers, have not changed. Google will still pay $125 million to scan out-of-print works into its search engine and sell access to them to consumers and libraries, sharing revenue with the authors and publishers who owned the copyrights.

Amazon, the Department of Justice and others had expressed concern that Google would have too much control over orphan works under the original agreement filed in October 2008. The revised deal addresses these concerns.

The amended settlement requires the Book Rights Registry -- the group appointed to distribute digital book sales to Google, authors and publishers -- to have a court-approved trustee to represent rightsholders for orphaned works and license their works to third parties.

The trustee can grant licenses to other companies who also want to sell these books, and will oversee unclaimed money. Money that goes unclaimed for 10 years will be used to locate rights holders or granted to charities.

The revamped settlement also clarifies how Google's algorithm will work to price books it scan and sells. The algorithm used to set consumer purchase prices will simulate the prices in a competitive market, and prices for books will be established independently of each other. Moreover, the Registry cannot share pricing information with anyone but the book's rightsholder.

The new settlement also removes the non-discrimination clause that pertained to the Registry licensing of unclaimed works, enabling it to license works to other parties without ever extending the same terms to Google.

The Open Book Alliance, formed in August with Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo to oppose the Google Book Search bid, blasted the revised settlement in a statement. Calling the revision a "sleight of hand" by Google and its partners, OBA Co-chair Peter Brantley said:

None of the proposed changes appear to address the fundamental flaws illuminated by the Department of Justice and other critics that impact public interest. By performing surgical nip and tuck, Google, the AAP, and the AG are attempting to distract people from their continued efforts to establish a monopoly over digital content access and distribution; usurp Congress's role in setting copyright policy; lock writers into their unsought registry, stripping them of their individual contract rights; put library budgets and patron privacy at risk; and establish a dangerous precedent by abusing the class action process.

While the OBA believes the revised deal won't satisfy the DOJ, it is unclear how the regulator will receive the deal. The DOJ in September said that the original deal would violate class action, copyright and antitrust law and should not be approved without changes.

Officials for Google, the Author's Guild and the Association of American Publishers filed their deal only minutes before the New York District Court's deadline, capping months of revisions after opponents to the deal complained that Google would have too much power and control over the digital book market.

New York District Court Judge Denny Chin will set a timeline to study the deal, which will likely include a notice period, an objection period, and a final fairness hearing in January 2010.

See the modification overviews here and a FAQ here. Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan took notes during a conference call with Google and officials from the Author's Guild and AAP.

You Tube Looks To Offer Videos In High-Res

With an eye on improving the viewing experience of its users, YouTube from next week will start to support 1080p high resolution videos.

The move from YouTube is seen by many as a very significant move given the fact that it currently supports videos to the maximum of 780p only.

Commenting on the subject, Hunter Walk, Director of Product Management at You Tube, mentioned that more than half of the videos have already been re-encoded according to the new video format.

Although, there is still a limit of 10 minute maximum for a video being uploaded, the size limit will have to be increased from the existing 2GB.

Walk also said the high-resolution video had been tested with success and despite the cost of supporting huge files, the company was not worried. Most analysts believe that YouTube which is owned by Google has the capacity to foot the increased costs associated with displaying videos in full HD and it will allow YouTube to tie-up with established content providers and it may even look to offer premium content at a later stage.

It must be noted that mobile users figure amongst the biggest contributors when it came to adding content and the site experiencing a 2000% increase in mobile uploads this year.