The UpStream (Page 430)

The users at 4chan, a popular image board responsible for many Internet memes such as the Rickroll, lolcats, and the "Anonymous" assault on the Church of Scientology, publicly announced a coordinated DDoS attack against the Motion Picture Association of America in retaliation for the hiring of an Indian-based software firm, which carried out similar attacks on The Pirate Bay and other file sharing sites.

Girish Kumar, managing director of Aiplex Software, the firm in India, said that his company, which works for the film industry, was being hired to pretty much be hitmen who would launch cyber attacks on pirate sites that were hosting illegal material if they didn't respond to copyright infringement notices sent to them by the film industry. This is a cyber crime under American and other countries' laws.

The attacks have been ongoing since early September, with major websites taking falls and experiencing huge downtime for up to 24 hours. Websites and companies affected are the Motion Picture Association of America, WebSheriff, DG Legal, Davenport Lyons and the British Phonographic Industry, to name a few. The most recent attack is the Ministry of Sound, a British music service.

However, the most important attack was on the company responsible for hiring Aiplex Software (as a note, their website is still down), the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, or ACS. The attack on their website has caused a massive security breach that contained a list of emails linked to illegal pornographic videos that was procured and then distributed all over torrent sites by the attackers.

To find out more on what's going on and why it won't stop until the attackers 'stop being angry', hit the break. (WARNING: NSFW. Contains explicit language from original documents. Discretion is advised.)

It is about time something happened in Congress that everyone can get behind. With the likes of healthcare reform and the flailing economy, Congress has finally come together and unanimously passed legislation to limit the volume of television commercials.

We know what a blight on society commercials are, especially when they are so much louder than the television programs that they interrupt. Thank goodness Congress has taken the first step in eliminating this national disaster.

Hit the break for the real story on what's going on.

Have you ever bought stuff online before? Maybe a shirt from OldNavy.com or jeans from eBay? How about a dress from YouTube? No, never from YouTube? Well, the French Connection would like to change that. They have launched the first online store through YouTube.

The new concept store allows you to watch fashion videos on YouTube, click annotation links and go right to the product listing on The French Connection's website. From there you can make a purchase, or not.

For more on the future of video shopping and one of the videos, hit the break.

I find myself on an airplane every now and again and I can't say the experience has ever been memorable since I got used to the fact I was some 20,000 feet higher than I was ever meant to be. Plus lets face it, over the past decade air travel for those of us who fly coach sure hasn't gotten any better. However, if the experience consisted of say some hot flight attendants dancing to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry I certainly would be excited about the usually mandatory and often ignored safety demonstration. Not because it could actually benefit me in the event of an emergency because I'm pretty sure when that flying projectile we call an airplane drops it like it's hot, because it's on fire, and I'm in it, I'm still screwed.

Hit the break to see these flight attendants do their thing.

As you probably know, Jon and I got the chance to play Final Fantasy XIV and today we will give our initial review of Square Enix's newest MMO. We will be evaluating the game using several criteria including: community, the learning curve, content and graphics. A little overview of FFXIV for you guys given by Wikipedia:

Final Fantasy XIV Online, is the fourteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series, due for release on September 30, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and March 2011 for PlayStation 3. The game is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game and is developed and published by Square Enix. The game takes place in a land called Hydaelyn, mainly in a region named Eorzea, which will have a contemporaneously aesthetic blend of science fiction and classic fantasy elements.

Lets get this party rolling, shall we?

Community: 3 Sick Chocobos out of 5

When I first logged into the game I was surrounded by people of all shapes and sizes, which actually got me excited because the game already had such a big community....or so I thought. Now while the game itself has a decent sized population I never really felt intrigued or compelled to engage with other players. The game was easily soloable so there really was no need for joining a group, unless you wanted to up the difficulty of your quests and get better loot. Usually, when you are playing an MMO you see groups running around everywhere completing quests together. This may be because they are playing with their friends or they actually NEED to work with others to accomplish a goal. While playing FFXIV however I saw no groups and outside of the tavern areas I saw no interaction or mingling between players. Now because this is a new MMO we will give it the benefit of the doubt and give the community 3 Sick Chocobos out of 5

Learning Curve: 2 Sick Chocobos out of 5

Back in the day MMOs would throw its new players into the world and hope that they adapt and survive (Star Wars Galaxies or EVE Online). The new MMOs however are very easy to just pick up and play. While FFXIV does have tutorials and in game guides (don't forget manuals either..but who reads those anyway?) I would still say that the game could be considered a hybrid of the old system and the new. The user interface or UI is pretty simplistic but it can be pretty confusing when it comes to interacting with your surroundings. In a traditional MMO you would interact with almost everything with the simple click of your mouse. For FFXIV however, the quickest way I could figure out to interact with quest givers or players in general was using the tilda key to bring up your options and then find the option you are looking for. The hotkey system can be just as confusing if you have never played a Final Fantasy Online game. Usually you would be able drag and drop abilities into your hotkey bar, but in FFXIV you have to open up your spell book, pick the appropriate spell, right click the spell, and choose to equip it to your off hand or main hand hotkey bar. Because of how confusing the system can be for new players we are gonna give this 2 Sick Chocbos out of 5.

Game Content: 3 Sick Chocobos out of 5

Content is so important to MMOs these days because the goal of developers in the genre is to have enough compelling content to keep subscribers interested in their game. Because when it comes down to it subscribers are what generate revenue so that the developers can continue to pump out patches and content updates, otherwise there is no hope. FFXIV, at least in my eyes, has a lack of content. One of the most annoying factors of your average MMO is the constant repetition players have to go through when questing. The basic formula for a quest in modern day MMO's is simply go collect x amount of this and go kill x amount of that. FFXIV has decided not to break from the established tradition and follow suit with its fellow MMOs. The other problem with the content is that IT IS SO REPETITIVE. You literally do the same quest over and over until you either die of boredom or move onto the next level tier of quests. So with all this considered I am going to give the content 3 Sick Chocobos out of 5

Graphics: 4 Sick Chocobos out of 5

Graphically speaking, if you have a computer that can run it, FFXIV on all high settings is visually stunning. The world itself is filled with vibrant colors and little details that truly make the game something to marvel at...graphically speaking at least. Now my computer wouldn't be considered a "high end" computer, but I can still run the game on medium settings and have the it run smoothly. That is what is most impressive about the graphics engine. My only pet peeve however is the lack of options for running the game on fullscreen. Depending on what resolution you want to play on will have the choice of playing fullscreen or in windowed mode, and for some of the resolutions windowed mode is your only option. But with that aside I would give the graphics of FFXIV 4 Sick Chocobos out of 5

Overall:3 Sick Chocobos out of 5

If you are a fan of the Final Fantasy series you would probably be content playing this game and have no problems whatsoever. But looking at it from a gamer's perspective this game is disappointingly average. While the graphics for the game are stunning (if you have the computer that can run it) overall we are going to give FFXIV: 3 Sick Chocobos out of 5.

Netflix launched in Canada this week, allowing all of our brethren in the Yukon (not the SUV) to enjoy streaming videos to their heart's content. Lumberjacks and Mounties everywhere have waited long enough to have this wonderful service dance along the maple trees and into their homes, so obviously Netflix wouldn't have had a problem drumming up interest for their launch event that took place, right? Well, Netflix thought they'd need some help, so they hired actors to stand in during the event to attract attention.

As it turns out, people aren't happy with this even though it happens all the time. To find out more and what exactly is going on, hit the break.