Crazy Karts is the closest board games have ever come to Mario Kart

Start your engines… and crash into a wall.

Enlarge (credit: Owen Duffy)

I was eight years old when I first played Super Mario Kart. The Super Nintendo title was fast-paced and chaotic, and I spent untold hours racing around the Mushroom Kingdom, dodging banana skins and koopa shells in frantic split-screen battles against my friends.

Over the years, the Mario Kart series has revved its way across generations of consoles. While it has inspired a string of knock-offs and imitators, no video game has come close to matching its furious, frenetic, and gloriously slapstick approach to racing.

Now, a recently released board game attempts to recreate Mario Kart’s high-octane excitement on your tabletop. Can it succeed?

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Samsung: Galaxy Note 7 bei ersten Airlines komplett verboten

Samsungs Galaxy Note 7 darf nicht mehr auf Air-Berlin-Flüge mitgenommen werden. Auch in den USA ist das Gerät an Bord von Flugzeugen ab sofort komplett verboten – Ausschalten ist nicht mehr genug. (Galaxy Note 7, Samsung)

Samsungs Galaxy Note 7 darf nicht mehr auf Air-Berlin-Flüge mitgenommen werden. Auch in den USA ist das Gerät an Bord von Flugzeugen ab sofort komplett verboten - Ausschalten ist nicht mehr genug. (Galaxy Note 7, Samsung)

Turning plants into better fat factories

Plants make useful lipids, and, when genetically engineered, they’ll make more.

(credit: Ron Amadeo)

People on low-fat diets generally think they can eat unlimited vegetables because plants are relatively low in fats. Yet plants actually produce lipids in abundance. In addition to providing us with calories, these lipids are the basis for soaps, lotions, lubricants, biodiesel and other fuel, insecticides, plastics, and paints.

Lipids have typically been difficult to study since they are not as stable in the lab as other, more popular biomolecules like proteins and DNA. But recent technical advances have started to reveal the breadth of their current and potential uses. This increased usefulness will only boost our demand for plant-based lipids.

Many commercially desirable lipids are produced by plants that are challenging to cultivate. Yet through the miracle of genetic modification, some of these lipids can now be generated in the seeds and leaves of domesticated crop species. Recently, a review of what has been accomplished was published in Science.

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Spionage: USA erwägen offenbar Hackerangriff auf Russland

Kurz vor Wiederaufnahme der Syrien-Gespräche zwischen Russland und den USA verbreitet ein Medienbericht Unruhe: Die CIA soll eine Attacke auf russische Computernetzwerke vorbereiten. Angebliches Ziel ist dabei, Kremlchef Putin zu diskreditieren. (Spionage, Wikileaks)

Kurz vor Wiederaufnahme der Syrien-Gespräche zwischen Russland und den USA verbreitet ein Medienbericht Unruhe: Die CIA soll eine Attacke auf russische Computernetzwerke vorbereiten. Angebliches Ziel ist dabei, Kremlchef Putin zu diskreditieren. (Spionage, Wikileaks)

Blackberry DTEK50: Das “sicherste Android-Smartphone” hat Patch-Probleme

Das DTEK50 wird von Blackberry als das weltweit sicherste Android-Smartphone angepriesen, doch einige Nutzer warten seit Wochen auf aktuelle Sicherheits-Patches von Google. Dem Hersteller zufolge soll das Problem mittlerweile gelöst sein. (Blackberry, Smartphone)

Das DTEK50 wird von Blackberry als das weltweit sicherste Android-Smartphone angepriesen, doch einige Nutzer warten seit Wochen auf aktuelle Sicherheits-Patches von Google. Dem Hersteller zufolge soll das Problem mittlerweile gelöst sein. (Blackberry, Smartphone)

Digitale Bildung: Bitte nicht runterspülen!

Der Bund will fünf Milliarden Euro in die Modernisierung der digitalen Infrastruktur an Schulen investieren. Kritiker finden, dieses Geld wäre in der Sanierung von maroden Schulen oder in Leseförderung besser angelegt. Doch es wäre fatal, die Summe nicht in digitale Bildung zu investieren. (Digitalisierung, Computer)

Der Bund will fünf Milliarden Euro in die Modernisierung der digitalen Infrastruktur an Schulen investieren. Kritiker finden, dieses Geld wäre in der Sanierung von maroden Schulen oder in Leseförderung besser angelegt. Doch es wäre fatal, die Summe nicht in digitale Bildung zu investieren. (Digitalisierung, Computer)

Company Offers “Fraudulent” and Deceptive Copyright Registrations

A ring of misleading websites is charging people to pay for copyright registrations in the UK, Australia and elsewhere, even though it’s a free and automatic right. In India, where there’s also an official registration office, the authorities are taking legal action to stop the “fraudulent” operation.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

copyright-bloodIn pretty much every part in the world creators can claim copyright on their work without having to register anything.

In fact, most countries don’t even have an official copyright registration office. The United States does, as registrations are a requirement for court cases, but that’s one of the exceptions.

The same is true for India. While registration is voluntary, an official registration at the Government’s Copyright Office can help to solve legal disputes.

Interestingly the Indian Copyright Office has now become the center of a rights dispute itself. As it turns out, the website copyright.in is offering ‘unofficial’ copyright registrations to Indians as well.

The website in question offer users “anteriority proof for their copyrights” in 164 countries, charging roughly $10 for a copyright registration.

India’s (unofficial) “Copyright Registration Office”

incopyrightoffice

The Indian Government is not happy with the unofficial registration site. In a press statement it describes the service as fraudulent, because users can confuse it with the official copyright office.

“This claim is totally fraudulent and creating confusion among the general public,” the Government’s press bureau notes.

The Government clarifies that it has nothing to do with the site and advises copyright holders not to register their works there or make any payments. In addition, it has taken legal action and hopes to get the website blocked.

“The matter has already been referred to the concerned Ministries to block the fake website (i.e. www.copyright.in) and initiate legal action,” the Government statement adds.

The misleading Indian copyright registration site is just one of many. The same outfit is also connected to similar sites that target copyright holders in other countries, many of which don’t have an official registration service.

In Australia, Italy and the Netherlands, similar sites are operational, all offering paid registrations. The UK even has two separate domains, Copyright.uk and Copyright.co.uk, listing popular brands such as BT and Marks and Spencer to add legitimacy.

UK’s (unofficial) “Copyright Registration Office”

ukcopyrightoffice

We reached out to the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) which clarified that copyright holders don’t have to register anything.

“Copyright is an automatic right in the UK – you do not need to register or pay a fee. If you create a work of art, from literature to music, you own the rights to that work free of charge,” an IPO spokesperson told TF.

The IPO stresses that the websites have nothing to do with the Government and cautions rightsholders to think carefully before handing over any money.

“A number of private companies can be found on the internet that offer a form of registration service for a fee. None of these are official or are connected in any way to the Intellectual Property Office.

“We advise that people check very carefully before opting to use any paid-for services such as these,” IPO’s spokesperson adds.

While it’s absolutely not required to register copyright in the UK, the websites in question are not necessarily breaking the law, since there’s no law forbidding private companies from keeping a copyright register.

That said, the registration sites conveniently fail to mention their voluntary nature and are highly misleading to many creators who are not up-to-date on their rights and obligations.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Simatic IoT2020: Siemens stellt linuxfähigen Arduino-Klon vor

Im Rahmen der Maker Faire Rom 2016 haben Siemens und RS Components ein Arduino-kompatibles Steuermodul für Industrieanlagen vorgestellt. Im Gehäuse steckt ein alter Bekannter. (Arduino, Technologie)

Im Rahmen der Maker Faire Rom 2016 haben Siemens und RS Components ein Arduino-kompatibles Steuermodul für Industrieanlagen vorgestellt. Im Gehäuse steckt ein alter Bekannter. (Arduino, Technologie)

Die Woche im Video: Feuer und Flamme für Mafia 3, Moto und Note 7

Wir erobern die Südstaaten und machen Fotos mit Smartphones. Währenddessen nimmt Samsung das Note 7 vom Markt. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Internet)

Wir erobern die Südstaaten und machen Fotos mit Smartphones. Währenddessen nimmt Samsung das Note 7 vom Markt. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Internet)

Meet the Samsung Chromebook Pro: A convertible Chromebook with pen support and a high-res display (leaks)

Meet the Samsung Chromebook Pro: A convertible Chromebook with pen support and a high-res display (leaks)

Samsung’s next Chromebook may be a premium model with a 12.3 inch, 2400 x 1600 pixel touchscreen display and a 360-degree hinge that allows the notebook to become a tablet when the screen is tilted back.

But that’s just one of the things that makes the Samsung Chromebook Pro unusual. It may also be one of the first Chromebooks to feature support for digital pen input, and the convertible tablet is surprisingly compact for a model with a 12.3 inch screen: it measures 11″ x 8.7″ x 0.55″ and weighs 2.38 pounds.

Continue reading Meet the Samsung Chromebook Pro: A convertible Chromebook with pen support and a high-res display (leaks) at Liliputing.

Meet the Samsung Chromebook Pro: A convertible Chromebook with pen support and a high-res display (leaks)

Samsung’s next Chromebook may be a premium model with a 12.3 inch, 2400 x 1600 pixel touchscreen display and a 360-degree hinge that allows the notebook to become a tablet when the screen is tilted back.

But that’s just one of the things that makes the Samsung Chromebook Pro unusual. It may also be one of the first Chromebooks to feature support for digital pen input, and the convertible tablet is surprisingly compact for a model with a 12.3 inch screen: it measures 11″ x 8.7″ x 0.55″ and weighs 2.38 pounds.

Continue reading Meet the Samsung Chromebook Pro: A convertible Chromebook with pen support and a high-res display (leaks) at Liliputing.