Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon
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A new radiation weapon that produces the "Goodbye effect" -- making victims run like crazy -- has been certified for use in Iraq. It feels like the skin is being ripped from your face, but the military says it's perfectly safe. A special "Freedom of Information" report by David Hambling.
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The target keeps getting smaller, so take a shot while you still can.
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Some players spend too much time at the computer, but a new USB device freshens the atmosphere around your rig. Plus: Halo 3 button lets you mute whiney players. In Game|Life.
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LOUDON, N.H. -- This is his farewell farewell. No it isn't. Definitely. Definitely not. Well . . .
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ATHENSâGreece said goodbye to the XXVIII Olympiad last night, staging an uproarious farewell pageant under the glow of a full moon, replete with security blimps and a swarm of police helicopters swirling overhead.
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C arolyn McCarthy was a content homemaker and a nurse before gun violence blew up her life. Yesterday, she found a moment of peace when a promising piece of gun-control legislation cleared the House.
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Tycho: The recently conducted Xfire chat has now been collated into this easy to digest transcript. In case you wanted to digest it. In addition, the latest page of our insane Prey project has now gone online. Just click the link on the left, for "We Have Visitors."  Also! Your mom is trying to get a hold of you. You should give her a call.(CW)TB
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The expiration of the assault weapons ban was a depressing but potentially valuable lesson in the rancid politics of gun control. Honest debate on gun policy is impossible because of the cynical
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Luke Welling takes a humorous look at something he misses in PHP - register globals being set to on.    I am aware that there are some things so shocking that you are not supposed to say them in polite company [...] so confronting that they are best kept to yourself regardless of how strongly you believe them. I have a similarly shocking sentiment that I feel I have to share.   I really like register_globals in PHP.    He reminicies about the days gone by of being able to assume that register_globals is turned on, the days of simpler, lighter code that's even easier for the newbies to get into. Anyone for a tshirt?
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Tycho: Keek directed me to a radical (and potentially even "badical") article on BioShock over at Gamers Wif Jobs. I've been wondering about the recent PR shift the game has gone through, because I don't just keep hearing that it is a "shooter first," but I keep hearing specifically that it is a "kick-ass shooter," even though it's a game where you learn about Objectivism underwater while helping jealous composers get revenge. I've never doubted that the game will be great, by whatever road it reaches that greatness. The recent WWE slant just had me curious about whether I'll be able to perform a suplex in-game. You may not think that is important, but it is totally important.(CW)TB
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By Mark Harrington, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.  Sep.
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Gabe: So the big news today, in the world of web comics at least is that PvP is getting itself animated. Scott posted the news along with a little teaser over on his site. He"s actually writing the entire thing with the help of Kris Straub. I was a big fan of the old Blamimations they did together and I"ve told them both whenever possible that they needed to collaborate more. I make jokes when I"m uncomfortable and it just so happens I have issues with anxiety so I"m essentially uncomfortable all day. That means I spend a lot of my time making jokes. When Scott and Kris were up here visiting I hardly said a word. They"re just too funny and they"re always on. You just can"t compete with them, all you can do is laugh.
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The wristwatch was the original high-status mobile device, but it's time to say goodbye to that clock on your wrist and say hello to the new world of wrist gadgets.
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By Clint Cooper, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.  Dec. 19--Talk about getting up close and personal with your video game.
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Gabe: A few eagle eyed viewers noticed that I accidentally drew a Nebulon-B frigate in today's comic. Gabe mentions the Mon Calamari and the Corellians but the Nebulon-B is actually produced by the Kuat Drive Yards.I deeply regret the mistake and I have since corrected it in the comic by replacing the original drawing with one of the Mon Calamari Cruiser "Liberty", sadly lost in the Battle of Endor . I am in no way trying to diminish the Nebulon-B frigate or the fine craftsmanship of the dedicated workers employed by KDY. Again I apologize for any inconvenience or offence my carelessness may have caused.  -Gabe out
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Tycho:  Having played collectible card games since the original printing of Magic - taking my dishwasher's tips across the street to Dragon Tails to secure boosters for the coveted Arabian Nights - seeing Gabriel take up the pastime has warmed (but not thawed) my black heart.  It's always a portion of myself I've bridled in his presence, kept hidden, suppressed may be the word.  To have him take it up so freely makes me wonder which perversion of mine he'll take up next.    When he started talking about his "Firestarter" deck, whose dancing fires were stoked by a mysterious device known as "The Holon Engine," I began to worry.  The dangers of Netdecking are fairly substantial when it comes to friendly play, a corrosive force that turns friendly pick-up games into ostentatious displays of wealth on par with rap videos.  If you're playing in a competitive venue, building on prior art and making loads of precision purchases is probably your only recourse.  But if you're just playing at lunch, let me be clear:  you are consorting with devils.    I took time over the weekend to hit the level cap in Call of Duty 4, and then just to be sure that I understood what was going on I played for several more hours.  I'm not the most skilled player you will encounter, with a roughly equal number of kills and deaths, but I prefer to think of my work in an assassinative context - the removal of key players at key moments.  Please let me have this.  In the absence of the game's deeply integrated progression scheme, Infinity Ward would merely have created one of the best shooters available today.  It would have staunch proponents, and they would be right to praise it.  Is there a substance within cream that can rise to the top of itself?  This substance has been discovered.  As a distillation of the Infantry FPS, this is right down to it.  This is brutal, unrepentant, bathtub fucking hooch.  It is tight and smooth, it is lethal.  Unrelenting in its intensity, your first rounds - indeed, your first few levels - will be spent without the succor of CoD4's rich rewards for continued play.  But you'll see them on the killcam, every time you go down:  this one has increased health, of course that would help.  This one does more damage.  This one, after he's killed, pulls his sidearm and takes a few final shots.  This one's shots retain more of their damage after they pass through a wall.        You earn these for leveling up, with the experience you gain for every kill, for every round.  You also earn experience for Challenges, which are (collectively) "awesome things that you did."  I completed X-Ray challenges last night for killing people behind walls, which dished up bonus XP - this is displayed with exultant audio and video cues at the very moment of success.  Killing while crouched, killing while prone, taking down an enemy helicopter, this is all gravy.  There are challenges specific to your weapon, as well:  for kills and headshots with that firearm, you travel down an upgrade path unique to that weapon that reveals sights, camouflage patterns, and other tools to customize your equipment.    Watching videos of multiplayer play online, you'll get the impression that it looks better than it does.  It looks fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it's not completely photorealistic.  What it does have is an extremely reliable framerate and excellent level design, so that during the experience of play these fantastic visuals are transmuted into something sublime.  Here's what I mean:  if a friend is over, and they are watching you play, they'll be able to detect flaws here and there.  Level geometry isn't especially fanciful, and blown paper or leaves look a little strange.  But for the player, movement is just right, player models are just right, and the environments are right so that moment to moment everything gels.      As I said on Friday, to bring this thing into the house of Halo is pretty ballsy - but it'll carve out its proper due.  On the Playstation 3, what force could stand against it?  I have a high opinion of Haze, but I've never played it - that's based mostly on my gut.  Call of Duty 4 will fall hard on that system, like shrieking artillery.
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Saying goodbye (finally) to the rickshaw