12 ways consoles are hurting PC gaming It's happened to everyone at one point or another. You're playing your favorite FPS and minding your own business when your character finally succumbs to that pesky stream of bullets that's been bouncing off his face for the past two minutes. "Aw man," you say aloud while a big, ominous Game Over screen stares you down. "Well, at least I can jump right back in and..." But you can't. Maximum PC
Kroger notifies customers of data breach stemming from third-party email vendor Grocery giant, The Kroger Co., notified customers today that the database storing its customers' names and email addresses had been breached. The company said incident occurred at Epsilon, the third-party vendor Kroger uses to manage its customer email database and communications. Kroger stressed to its customers that the only information obtained was names and email addresses of customers. SecurityWeek
The weak password problem: chaos, criticality, and encrypted p-CAPTCHAs Vulnerabilities related to weak passwords are a pressing global economic and security issue. We report a novel, simple, and effective approach to address the weak password problem. Building upon chaotic dynamics, criticality at phase transitions, CAPTCHA recognition, and computational round-off errors we design an algorithm that strengthens security of passwords. arXiv
Osborne! The machine, the man, and the dawn of the portable computing revolution Notebooks. Netbooks. Smartphones. Tablets. In 2011, the default state of personal computing is mobile – traditional desktop PCs are still with us, but they've become the outliers. It wasn't always so. In their earliest days, in fact, PCs weren't primarily deskbound; they were entirely deskbound. Technologizer
FCC official says AT&T-T-Mobile deal faces steep climb From the moment AT&T announced a $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile almost two weeks ago, many industry watchers agreed that the deal would face close scrutiny from federal regulators. The deal would, after all, lump an estimated 130 million subscribers under one carrier and make AT&T the only major GSM provider in the country. CNET
Microsoft stands by decision to ban IE9 from XP Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) again lost ground to Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome last month, even as the company launched its newest browser, Web metrics data showed today. But Microsoft stands behind its decision to limit IE9 to users running Windows Vista and Windows 7. PCWorld
Six new Skyrim screens show role, playing, game Bethesda's sent out six new shots of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim today. They were originally posted in an IGN interview with game director Todd Howard last night, but here they are. Take a look at them below. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim releases on November 11 worldwide for PS3, 360 and PC. VG247