close
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20101126103236/http://arstechnica.com:80/

World of Warcraft's Cataclysm: Ars tours the new Azeroth

<em>World of Warcraft's</em> Cataclysm: Ars tours the new Azeroth
November 24, 2010 3:34 PM - by Casey Johnston | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

The last major patch before the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion shows an Azeroth about to be split wide open, with both sides preparing for the damage to come.

Read More
Comment (106)

Jury gives Oracle $1.3 billion in copyright damages from SAP

Jury gives Oracle $1.3 billion in copyright damages from SAP
November 24, 2010 1:01 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Law & Disorder

SAP AG already admitted that it posed as other companies in order to steal Oracle's software, but now a jury has decided to give Oracle $1.3 billion in damages. That's a little more than SAP bargained for, though.

Read More
Comment (83)

Direct2Drive attacks: 1 in 5 orders free, lowest prices matched

November 24, 2010 11:25 AM - by Ben Kuchera | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

The Holiday deals have begun, and Direct2Drive has gotten aggressive. You have a 20 percent chance of getting your order for free, and qualifying digital sales will be price-matched through December 31.

Read More
Comment (57)

All my friends are cartoons: Poker Night at the Inventory is great

November 24, 2010 10:40 AM - by Ben Kuchera | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

Poker Night at the Inventory is only $5, and the joy is mostly in listening to the characters interact with each other. That's fine, though: these characters are all classics, and they're written brilliantly.

Read More
Comment (31)

Nevada court hits copyright troll with Fair Use surprise

Nevada court hits copyright troll with Fair Use surprise
November 24, 2010 10:00 AM - by Matthew Lasar | Posted in: The Web

Another blow for copyright troll Righthaven. A Nevada judge wants proof that another one of its targets wasn't exercising Fair Use when it reprinting a piece from the Las Vegas Journal Review.

Read More
Comment (39)

iOS 4.3 rumored for mid-December with in-app subscriptions

November 24, 2010 9:33 AM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Infinite Loop

Apple rolled out iOS 4.2 a little later than planned, but is rumored to be prepping iOS 4.3 for a mid-December release to coincide with a new in-app subscription feature.

Read More
Comment (66)

Hands-on: Opera 11 tab stacking vs Firefox Panorama

Hands-on: Opera 11 tab stacking vs Firefox Panorama
November 24, 2010 9:02 AM - by Ryan Paul | Posted in: Software

Opera has released a beta of Opera 11, the next major version of its Web browser. Ars takes a hands-on look at Opera's new tab management system and how it compares with Firefox Panorama.

Read More
Comment (100)

Geek Love: a Holiday Wishlist of Gizmos, Gadgets, and Gear

Geek Love: a Holiday Wishlist of Gizmos, Gadgets, and Gear
November 24, 2010 8:00 AM - by Ars Staff | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets
feature

If you're looking for the perfect gift for that special someone in your... nah, who are we kidding. Geeks like to shop for themselves, because they're the only ones who can spot the perfect piece of gear that will scratch that one peculiar itch. Here's a list of the gadgets that hit the spot this year for the Ars staffers. Take a look—we guarantee you'll find something you love.

Read More (6 pages)
Comment (90)

New explosives get bigger bang for the buck with extra oxygen

New explosives get bigger bang for the buck with extra oxygen
November 24, 2010 7:32 AM - by Yun Xie | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Using a simple chemical reaction, chemists created a new class of explosives that could be an improvement over existing materials like TNT and RDX.

Read More
Comment (40)

Acoustic superlens a very cool proof-of-principle

Acoustic superlens a very cool proof-of-principle
November 24, 2010 6:40 AM - by Chris Lee | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Scientists demonstrate an acoustic superlens. Unfortunately, they used an acoustic frequency that makes it pretty useless, but development may make this useful for surface acoustic imaging.

Read More
Comment (13)

Understanding the Internet's insecure routing infrastructure

Understanding the Internet's insecure routing infrastructure
November 23, 2010 7:30 PM - by Iljitsch van Beijnum | Posted in: Law & Disorder

Last April, 15 percent of the world's Internet traffic was rerouted through China. Ars delves into the nuts and bolts of how traffic is sent around the 'Net, highlighting some very basic security issues, including one that may have been responsible for April's routing incident.

Read More
Comment (31)

FilmOn gets injunction; Ivi toes "secondary transmission" line

FilmOn gets injunction; Ivi toes "secondary transmission" line
November 23, 2010 6:06 PM - by Chris Foresman | Posted in: Media

The big four networks have won a temporary injunction against streaming service FilmOn, due in part to some legal laziness of its current counsel. Ivi—another online streaming service in the networks' cross hairs—is making every effort to distance itself from FilmOn's "circus-like" handling of serious copyright issues.

Read More
Comment (29)

Americans love to check work e-mail over holidays; will you?

November 23, 2010 4:39 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: The Web

Do you plan to check your work e-mail (and maybe even send a few) over Thanksgiving? According to a new survey, you're pretty likely to do so at least once, and you might even be annoyed that your coworkers are doing the same thing.

Read More
Comment (87)

Unlike rodents, primates can grow new spinal nerve connections

November 23, 2010 4:10 PM - by Diana Gitig | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Macaques recover from a partial spinal injury by growing new connections from the undamaged side, which doesn't happen in rodents (meaning they may not be a good model for spinal injury research).

Read More
Comment (10)

Acer jumping into Android tablet market with three models

Acer jumping into Android tablet market with three models
November 23, 2010 3:06 PM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets

Acer is diving headfirst into the tablet pool with not one, not two, but three offerings for 2011. The tablets don't have names or prices, nor is their OS ready yet—but Acer still thinks it has something for everyone.

Read More
Comment (93)

Entangling a pair of cantilevers with a Bose Einstein Condensate

Entangling a pair of cantilevers with a Bose Einstein Condensate
November 23, 2010 2:21 PM - by Chris Lee | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Scientists think that it may be possible to entangle two physical objects—cantilevers—using a Bose Einstein Condensate.

Read More
Comment (26)

Child's Play 2010: Walking Dead! Limbo! Powerful magnets!

Child's Play 2010: Walking Dead! <em>Limbo</em>! Powerful magnets!
November 23, 2010 1:00 PM - by Ben Kuchera | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

It's that time of year again! We'll be accepting donations for the Child's Play charity, and we have some great prizes to give away this year. Inside you'll find details on what you can win, how you can give, and why this is such an important cause.

Read More
Comment (31)

"Next Generation 9-1-1" would accept emergency text messages

"Next Generation 9-1-1" would accept emergency text messages
November 23, 2010 12:15 PM - by Matthew Lasar | Posted in: Law & Disorder

Most 911 first response centers can't accept texts, much less pictures and video. The FCC wants to fix that, but it will be difficult—and expensive.

Read More
Comment (61)

Unlimited data means more to smartphone users than savings

Unlimited data means more to smartphone users than savings
November 23, 2010 11:40 AM - by Jacqui Cheng | Posted in: Gear & Gadgets

Mobile users like following their favorite devices from carrier to carrier, but they apparently like unlimited data plans even more. A new survey says that users would rather pay more for the peace of mind than worry about crossing data caps.

Read More
Comment (73)

Black Friday video game deals round-up

November 23, 2010 11:10 AM - by Andrew Webster | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

It's Thanksgiving, which means just one thing: time for some great video game sales. We run down some of this year's best, including 'Splosion Man for just $2 and half-price Popcap games.

Read More
Comment (45)

Adam Savage: TSA saw my junk, missed 12" razor blades

November 23, 2010 10:44 AM - by Ben Kuchera | Posted in: Law & Disorder

Full-body scanners? They may see you naked, but they aren't seeing large, scary razor blades. Adam Savage of Mythbusters explains.

Read More
Comment (325)

The Witcher 2 devs threaten pirates with fines, legal action

November 23, 2010 9:46 AM - by Andrew Webster | Posted in: Opposable Thumbs

CD Projekt, the developer behind the upcoming RPG The Witcher 2 is planning on keeping the game free of DRM, but will take legal action against those players who decide to pirate the game.

Read More
Comment (328)

Neutron stars may go completely strange thanks to dark matter

Neutron stars may go completely strange thanks to dark matter
November 23, 2010 9:10 AM - by Chris Lee | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Collisions between up, down, and strange quarks can result in a form of matter that cannot decay to any other form. Physicists think that, in some circumstances, neutron stars may accrete dark matter that then seeds their transformation to strange matter stars.

Read More
Comment (48)

Female fish deal with fallout of seeing mate get beaten up

November 23, 2010 8:21 AM - by Kate Shaw | Posted in: Nobel Intent

Depending on whether her chosen mate wins or loses a fight, very different brain activity occurs in the brain of a female cichlid.

Read More
Comment (32)

FCC boss: net neutrality "will happen"... someday... really

FCC boss: net neutrality "will happen"... someday... really
November 23, 2010 6:47 AM - by Matthew Lasar | Posted in: Law & Disorder

FCC boss Julius Genachowski says some kind of open Internet rules "will happen," but one of his colleagues insists that "I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen—or when—or even if." We've got an update on the latest uncertainties.

Read More
Comment (36)