Colorado lawmakers think that texting while driving is perfectly acceptable, so long as you aren’t doing it in “a careless or imprudent manner.” I don’t know what that actually means, or how cops will determine what is careless and what isn’t. The article reiterates the fact that cellphone use is still banned for drivers younger than 18, though some other guy in the state wants to ban kids entirely from using smartphones.



Tim Lane of the Colorado District Attorney’s Office confirmed the softening crackdown on all texting and driving. “The simple fact is that if you are texting while driving but not being careless, it’s no longer illegal,” he said. What constitutes “careless” driving is up to the discretion of each individual law enforcement officer. Cellphone use of any kind is still banned for drivers younger than 18. Teens caught with a phone in hand while driving will be slapped with a $50 fine.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Texting While Driving Now Legal in Colorado, in Some Cases

I thought this whining would concern Creation Club (an alternative to paid mods), but now people are angry at Bethesda for “milking” Skyrim: the company recently unveiled yet another version of the 2011 Elder Scrolls title, with VR support, but they are asking gamers to pay $59.99 for it. Did converting the game take more effort than one would think, or is Bethesda just being your typical greedy publisher?



This is a problem I’ve had with the gaming industry in general for years. Games seem to be constantly rereleased, drops of blood extracted from their bodies until they’re downright anemic. But Skyrim has been rereleased four times in six years, which is extreme even for this industry. Let me be clear (again) that I’m not bashing Skyrim because I dislike it or think it’s a bad game. I’ve logged hundreds of hours in it, and I enjoyed most of them. But it’s just one game. No game on the planet deserves this many bites at the apple, at least not without more meaningful overhauls than what it’s received.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Bethesda Accused of Bleeding Gamers Dry with Skyrim VR

America could soon have a new branch of the military protecting outer space: the US military is being asked to establish a dedicated fighting force for space by lawmakers. The Air Force – which already holds responsibility for national security space programs through “Space Command” – apparently hates the idea, claiming that resources are already very limited and this would just complicate Pentagon matters. Maybe they should hand it over to the Navy, just so we get the space marines we were promised from all that sci-fi.



…backers say the creation of a Space Corps would elevate the priority of space as a war-fighting environment, as countries like China and Russia develop weapons that could neutralize the advantage America now enjoys from its vast network of communications, targeting and navigation satellites. That network includes the Global Positioning System, or GPS, which is currently operated by the Air Force. Rogers said on Thursday that he was “outraged” by the pushback on the proposal from Air Force leadership.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – US House Pushes for Creation of Military “Space Corps”

Writers appear to be shocked at the upcoming Note’s price, but I could have sworn that Samsung’s last attempt was close to $900 as well. Evan Blass has revealed that the Note 8 will drop in September, and, contesting previous reports, the fingerprint reader placement will actually be similar to the Galaxy S8, which is a little disappointing. Samsung has also stepped down from the Note 7’s 3500 mAh battery to a 3300 mAh one: I wonder why they did that…



Internally, while the Note8 will utilize the same top-of-the-line Exynos 8895 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipsets as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, it will be paired with a more generous 6GB of RAM – making it only Samsung’s second handset, after the Galaxy C9 Pro, to exceed the 4GB threshold. It will also be Samsung’s first phone with dual cameras on the back, each of which features a 12-megapixel sensor and independent optical image stabilization for the lens. The lenses are said to be configured horizontally, situated to the left of the flash and heart rate sensor.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Galaxy Note 8 Will Launch in Late September for over 0

The Call of Duty channel has uploaded a new Modern Warfare Remastered trailer to celebrate the standalone release of their classic title, which is due for PS4 next week. Unfortunately, there seems to be no word on when the PC version is coming – though if you’re desperate enough, you can still get the Infinite Warfare Legacy Edition. I wonder how many years I will have to wait for it to drop to a reasonable price on Steam ( how is Black Ops II’s sale price still $29.99? ) .



Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Modern Warfare: Remastered Heads to PS4 on June 27th

Vigilantes, rejoice: the FCC intends to establish a national system that notifies the public of ongoing threats to law enforcement in their area through broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline video outlets. Basically, these will function like Amber Alerts, but for crime in your area: it’s great news for those who want to play Batman or Punisher.



The new alert was proposed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in May and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was released for the Commission to consider at today’s meeting. In a press release, the FCC said, “Blue Alerts can be used to warn the public when there is actionable information related to a law enforcement officer who is missing, seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, or when there is an imminent credible threat to an officer. As a result, a Blue Alert could quickly warn you if a violent suspect may be in your community, along with providing instructions on what to do if you spot the suspect and how to stay safe.”

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – FCC Proposes “Blue Alert” for Threats against Law Enforcement

Yet another story reducing Windows morale: heaps of Windows 10 internal builds and private source code have leaked online. The data was meant only for Microsoft, hardware manufacturers, and select customers, but now unscrupulous types have an excellent avenue for finding new security vulnerabilities and Windows exploits. While they are in the process of being removed, Microsoft has confirmed the files to be a portion of the source code from the Shared Source Initiative, used by OEMs and partners.



The data – some 32TB of official and non-public installation images and software blueprints that compress down to 8TB – were uploaded to betaarchive.com, the latest load of files provided just earlier this week. It is believed the confidential data in this dump was exfiltrated from Microsoft’s in-house systems around March this year. The leaked code is Microsoft’s Shared Source Kit: according to people who have seen its contents, it includes the source to the base Windows 10 hardware drivers plus Redmond’s PnP code, its USB and Wi-Fi stacks, its storage drivers, and ARM-specific OneCore kernel code.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Hackers Leak 32 Terabytes of Secret Windows 10 Code