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Bruce Schneier would be proud of this security issues …

Lately I ordered two games in UK, like everyone does as they are much cheaper for us Austrian than buying them around here in a store . The store of my choice has already promptly delivered a first package, so I was quite sure that this won’t pose a problem this time. BUT: After placing my order I got a “security mail”:

[...] Due to increased security for online orders, we ask for proof of address to be sent to us before we can dispatch your order.

This is a standard request on international orders, to protect us and our customers from fraud.

Please forward a copy of your bank statement or a utility bill (gas, water, electricity etc.) by email to info@xx-xx-xx-xx.co.uk or alternatively by fax to +44 xxxxxxxx39. [...]

My answer was short and sharp: I don’t have any bills as this is my work address and I wouldn’t send one if I had one. First of all they already got the money (via paypal) and secondly this was already the second order. I also sent them a link to my homepage

[...] Thank you for your email and your attachment.

I can now confirm that your order has been taken off hold and was
dispatched on 13/08/2009 ,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and
understanding in this matter.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any further enquiries [...]

So it worked even without the scanned identity proofs To have an additional good laugh on internet security check out the Bruce Schneier Facts (A good one: “P = NP in Bruce Schneier’s very presence.”).

Appendix: Of course I will not tell you which shop this is. I’m not even allowed to do this. It says so in the email signature. Have a look yourself:

The unauthorised disclosure, copying, alteration or other use of this
message and/or any attachment(s) is strictly prohibited. The originator
does not guarantee the security of this message and will not be
responsible for any damages arising from any alteration of this message
and/or any attachment(s) by a third party or as a result of any virus
being passed on.

Registered Address: MyMemory Limited, FREEPOST 500, St Helier, Jersey,
Channel Islands, JE1 1FH. The information transmitted is intended only
for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
confidential and/or privileged material.

Hally Poter Goblet of Fire or “why I like ordering things in Asia …”

Just checking back on the dealextreme website once in a while to see if there were any new and interesting gadgets I found two really funny (at least to me ) things. First of all I found a very interesting game on a 44 games in 1 cartridge named “Hally Poter Goblet of Fire“. I wonder if that game resembles a rather well known kids story Just click on the image on the right hand side and note the first game in the list . The product the image belongs to is here.

Secondly I found an interested on an image belonging to this product: “The export, commercial use or leasing of this product are prohibited“. *LOL* Find the image here.

‘Futurama’ given a new future

Oge Marques pointed out that there will be a new season of Futurama [I expect you now jumping up and running wild in pure pleasure and satisfaction ]. It will apparently be aired in 2010. Can’t wait!

via ‘Futurama’ given a new future on Comedy Central | Company Town | Los Angeles Times.

Worst day since yesterday …

Besides “Bugger Off” from the Real McKenzies simply the best song for expressing moods “Worst Day Since Yesterday“, Flogging Molly

Computer Games Course Presentations Today!

Today the final presentations for the Computer Games course at Klagenfurt University are due. Here is the program:

• 10:00-11:30 Block 1
  • Lettmayer & Münzer – Zelda Clone
  • Pairitsch, Rainer & Winkler – Chromatophobia
  • Dieber, Grassauer & Mayring – GPS Bashing
• 11:30-13:00 Break
• 13:00-14:30 Block 2
  • Nagele, Warum & Moser – Switchboy
  • Blackert, Liebenberger & Reidlinger – Magneto
  • Dittrich, Mihelcic & Telsnig – Kontiki
• 14:30-15:00 Break
• 15:00-16:30 Block 3
  • Granitzer, Harder & Unterkreuter – Darth Invaders
  • Katzian & Primus – Dangerous Worms

We are in lecture room HS 2. If you want to see some great student developments: you are cordially invited! The design documents on the games are given here.

Links

• Course web page

Weekend Post on Team Fortress 2: Meet the Spy

The TF2 team has prepared another great video on the gameplay characters. Now the spy is the one every looks (or tries to look) at

You’ve met the Scout, the Soldier, the Demoman, the Heavy, the Engineer, and the Sniper. Then, for some reason, a sandwich. But now it’s time to meet the stealthiest, shiftiest, most secretive, suit-wearing TF team member of all…

…again…

That’s right, it’s finally time to Meet the Suit-Wearing Secret Sandwich!

No, it’s Meet the Spy.

via Team Fortress 2.

Links

• Meet the Spy (Video)
  
• Team Fortress Blog

Report from the Games Convention :: Day 1

Today in the morning I came back from Leipzig, where I visited the Games Convention (GC). I was there to find find potential industry partners and people interested in cooperation with the university. Unfortunately at the Games Convention (GC) you need to have an appointment to meet someone as most interesting people are fully booked. However at some places I was lucky. I talked to a very helpful product manager of RTL-Games, a very interested technical account manager of Emergent Game Technologies and a PR assistant of NCSOFT. Also the sales manager of Techland was open to a short talk. Most negative experience was Crytek, where on the one hand someone had time to talk to me, but on the other expressed that they were only interested if I either came from a really big college with a lot of students or I had a lot of money to give them. Perhaps I just spoke to the wrong person … or they need the money for their development gear as Cryengine is known to take a lot of resources. For many of the approached companies the right people had no time, but people at the reception gave me contact information or took my business card to think about my efforts. All in all I am pleased with the first day leaving aside Crytek and Koch Media.

And now for the fun part: I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky in the pre-release version and let it crash several times. The game looks just like the old S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – just a little better. I’m looking forward to the release. I played Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (Ubisoft) with my butt on the Wii with the creative director of the game throwing snowballs at me. That was real fun I also watched some Spore (EA) and tested it myself for the DS. I played the new Street Fighter 4 game (Capcom) and lost 2:0 in button smashing to a stranger. I tried the new Need for Speed Undercover and I was impressed by the visual damage the car took in crashes. My Audi look kaputt after my 5 minutes test. However behavior of the car is not changed by crashes, just the look of it. Another new racing game is MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. It’s interesting how the developers combined monster trucks and motor bikes in the same game, racing at the same time. Obviously motor bikes are more fun than monster trucks.

A special experience was to play a preview of Sonic Unleashed (Sega) on a HDTV plasma screen. With such a resolution the speed of Sonic is actually fun. Age of Conan was also here with a kind of LARP battle camp with computers inside. Interesting part was the option to play Conan with three TFTs: I call this “3D cave for the poor”. It should transports the feeling of “being inside” better than with a single screen. The feeling is somewhat limited, but its actually there. At EA I tried the preview of the new Harry Potter for the Wii and battled one EA merchandising guy with my wand. It’s now in the same class of games everyone does for the Wii: Instead of button smashing its more like controller swinging. It’s interesting how fast a new input concept can look old.

The new Call of Duty game and Fallout 3 where completely overloaded although only trade visitors were allowed, so I didn’t get a glimpse of those. However those “most prominent” 3D ego shooters where not the critical mass of the GC. Most people played Guitar Hero World Tour (Activision) featuring a band of 4 people with singing, drums, bass and lead guitar. There was a huge lot of sets on at least 4 locations within the GC. Never seen so great many people fooling around with plastic instruments. All in all I was impressed by the big fuss everyone is making about their own games. Most publishers obviously have enough money for PR.

Compiler Construction & Lord of the Rings

Recently I had an idea on compilers and code generation. Generating assembler code (I’m talking about MIPS code) and with it labels I thought: Why not using cool names for labels? Instead of

LB_WH002_001G:
beq $a1, $v1,  LB_WH002_002G
add $a1, $a1, $v1
j  LB_WH002_001G
LB_WH002_002G:
...

One could be more creative and use for instance Names from Lord of the Rings like:

THE_SHIRE:
beq $a1, $v1,  MORDOR
add $a1, $a1, $v1
j  THE_SHIRE
MORDOR:
...

While this definitely does not increase readability of assembler code I still think it doesn’t lessen it much. Instead it introduces “geekiness” to assembler

For those who are not creative themselves and need a lot of labels I recommend the numerous fanrtasy fantasy name generators available on the internet like this, this or this one.

XKCD: purity of research fields

XKCD has been in my blogroll for quite a while, but this is – in my humble opinion – the most cool cartoon of XKCD ever . I especially like because of the fact that I studied maths Behold the “purity of fields“.

Slogan Generator …

Sometimes we just need to be pushed into creativity for marketing. A nice tool is the slogan generator. For the semanticmetadata.net blog it generated

“If You Can’t Beat Semanticmetadata.net, Join Semanticmetadata.net.”

and

“You Too Can Have a Semanticmetadata.net Like Mine.”

However I think I won’t use those slogans