Coordinated Attack Levels Pakistan Police Building - New York Times

The site of the attack in Karachi, Pakistan on Thursday.

KARACHI, Pakistan — A coordinated attack by gunmen wielding grenades and a powerful car bomb struck at a police compound in a heavily guarded quarter of central Karachi on Thursday, heavily damaging several buildings in a direct strike at government counterterrorism forces.

Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog »

A three-story police building was leveled, and a residential unit for families of police officers was reported heavily damaged.

As of Thursday evening, the death toll stood at 18, with at least 100 people injured, but rescuers were still sifting through rubble, and it seemed clear that the death toll would rise. Hospital officials said that women and children were among the injured.

That the attackers were able to penetrate the area — engaging police officers in a firefight and driving a bomb-laden vehicle to the compound’s second gate — was telling. Police officers patrol the streets; mass transit is barred from some streets; and gates keep most traffic from the compound. The area is home to two five-star hotels, government offices and the American Consulate.

Karachi has a history of sectarian and ethnic strife, and mosques and Western targets have been struck in the past by militant groups. But attacks directly on government targets have been rare.

Babar Khattak, a top police official, said some personnel remained unaccounted for. Twenty police officials had been on duty, he said. There were suspicions that the attack was a reprisal for a recent series of arrests of militants. Mr. Khattak said that the police counterterrorism unit had arrested nine militants in the past few days.

But there were conflicting reports about whether the suspects were in the compound at the time of the attack. Mr. Khattak said they were not, but Fayyaz Leghari, Karachi’s police chief, said that several militant suspects were there.

He said they were suspected of being members of Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, a banned sectarian group.

View the original article here

Motorola Says Top Microsoft Products Infringe Patents - PC Magazine

On Wednesday, Motorola fired back against Microsoft, suing the software giant for patent infringement that the suit claims involves a number of key Microsoft products.

Motorola filed separate suits in both the Southern District of Florida as well as the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging that Microsoft's products infringed at least six of Motorola's patents. (Copies of the Wisconsin suit were not immediately available, as the court's Web site was down for maintenance.)

Microsoft said it was reviewing the suit. "We are still reviewing Motorola's filing, which we just received," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft, in a statement. "This move is typical of the litigation process and we are not surprised. We remain confident in our position and will continue to move forward with the complaints we initiated against Motorola in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and with the International Trade Commission (ITC)."

The Florida suit, however, claims that Microsoft's Windows operating systems, including Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7, plus Microsoft's Bing, Windows Live Messaging, and even the Xbox game console all violate Motorola's patents.

Motorola also challenged Microsoft's use of Wi-Fi and digital video encoding patents, two topics that are at issue in Microsoft's own suit against Motorola, which argued that Motorola was obligated to provide so-called Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory licensing terms to Microsoft, as per a trade industry group's bylaws. In early October, Microsoft also sued Motorola, claiming that Motorola's Android phones violated certain Microsoft patents.

"Motorola's R&D and intellectual property are of great importance to the Company and are renowned worldwide," Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property at Motorola Mobility, said in a statement. "We are committed to protecting the interests of our shareholders, customers and other stakeholders and are bringing this action against Microsoft in order to halt its infringement of key Motorola patents. Motorola has invested billions of dollars in R&D to create a deep and broad intellectual property portfolio and we will continue to do what is necessary to protect our proprietary technology."

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:16 AM PT with comments from Microsoft.

View the original article here

Call of Duty: Black Ops PC review: CPU bound, broken online play - Ars Technica

Do the people lining up at midnight to buy Black Ops even know the difference between Treyarch and Infinity Ward? We spill pages of virtual ink in the enthusiast press about the soap opera between Activision and the creators of Call of Duty, but how many people actually pay attention? Gamers want to shoot people, and they want to do it online, and they want a few vehicle segments. They don't care who delivers it.

For those of us who do follow these things, the Black Ops launch is very much Treyarch's coming out party. The developer is no longer the redheaded step-child of the Call of Duty series, called in to give the A-Team a break while still profiting from the franchise. This is its chance to step up and create something that stands on its own. They've largely succeeded, and the game reeks of confidence. That being said, this path is well-worn, and I couldn't help but get the sense that we're watching a very talented skater perform tricks we've seen before on a half-pipe that's gotten a lot of use.

And oh yeah, the multiplayer barely works on the PC version, and single-player also seems to have major issues. Ta-da!

The game's premise is clever, and the menus themselves meld seamlessly into the game. You're being held... captive, maybe. Held hostage by shadowy figures, you're debriefed about a very long and distinguished career where you've spilled lead and blood across many years and many countries.

You'll meet some historical figures, and humanity will often be very close to the brink of disaster. There is a weapon that is being hunted by very powerful and ruthless people, and you'll do many things to stop its spread. Some scenes felt more X-Files than Heart of Darkness, in fact.

We are cold blooded because we kill people silently

The single-player campaign is longer than we're used to in this sort of highly scripted action game, closer to eight hours than six, and it's incredibly enjoyable. Gun battles are placed around set pieces and incredible moments of super-heroism, and you'll never be quite sure what will happen next, or even in what year. Modern Warfare 2 had a jangly, disjointed story that often left gamers feeling confused about what was going on, and Black Ops has decided to just embrace that. Hell, the character you play through the majority of the game is confused about what's going on. You're just along for the ride.

And what a ride! You'll be rappelling down the sides of things, jumping off even taller things, taking off in flying things, blowing away space-bound things, riding and driving two- and four-wheeled things while shooting things at stuff all over the place. Just in case you forget how edgy these games are supposed to be, in one scene you punch a window, take a piece of glass, put it in the mouth of another character, and then punch them very hard in the head. There is a lot of blood.

A few notes: not only are there many different guns, but you can find different variations of the guns. Extended magazines, different scopes, dual-wielding—the guns can be set up in a variety of ways, although you won't be modding them yourself in the singleplayer. Still, how cool is it to find a combination machine gun/flamethrower?

The voice cast is also impressive, including Ed Harris, Sam Worthington, Ice Cube, and Gary Oldman. Some do better than others, but everyone seems like they're trying, which is a big step up from most games where the big-name talent seems to mostly phone it in. Although, to be honest, Oldman does tend to ham it up.

Black Ops has interesting twists and turns, and the scene after the credits roll is wonderful in its humor, but it feels like a knife that has been sharpened so many times it's nearly invisible. These big-budget war games are starting to blend together, with the drivable vehicles and the globe-trotting and the military technology. I'm not sure if I've simply played too many of them or if there needs to be something done to shake things up, but a few scenes seemed to be there simply because we expect them from a game of this type. Also, twice I caught the game seemingly throwing endless waves of enemies at me until I stepped forward to the next waypoint. Once was around the middle of the game, and the other closer to the end, but it was still disappointing.

The game takes place in a variety of settings, across a number of years

View the original article here

Samsung Galaxy Tab Garners Favorable Reviews - Wired News

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch tablet powered by the Android operating system, has made its rounds with gadget reviewers, and consensus says it’s a solid but pricey device.

Reviewers at tech blogs and mainstream publications, including Wired.com, found that the Galaxy Tab offered a pleasing user experience despite some flaws. Many quipped that the Galaxy Tab, priced at $600, is too expensive when pitted against Apple’s larger $500 iPad.

The Galaxy Tab is the first official Android tablet on the market to compete with Apple’s iPad. Samsung has marketed the smaller, pocketable size of the Galaxy Tab as ideal for commuters, while  highlighting Adobe Flash as a key feature that the tablet supports, unlike the iPad.

Reviews of the Galaxy Tab were mostly positive, but the most dissenting opinion comes from Matt Buchanan of Gizmodo, who described the Galaxy Tab as a “pocketable trainwreck.” A list of excerpts from reviews of the Galaxy Tab follows.

Christopher Null, Wired.com:

“The Tab ultimately reveals itself not as a competitor to the iPad but as a new class of mobile devices: a minitablet that is designed to go everywhere you do.”

Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal:

“The Tab is attractive, versatile and competitively priced, though monthly cell fees can add up. It’s different enough from the iPad, yet good enough, to give consumers a real choice.”

David Pogue, New York Times:

“With the Samsung Galaxy Tab, you’re also buying delicious speed and highly refined hardware. It’s just a shame that you’re buying all that for $600.”

Matt Buchanan, Gizmodo:

“This thing is just a mess. It’s like a tablet drunkenly hooked up with a phone, and then took the fetus swimming in a Superfund cleanup site. The browser is miserable, at least when Flash is enabled. It goes catatonic, scrolling is laggy, and it can get laughably bad.”

Joanna Stern, Engadget:

“It’s the best Android tablet on the market. Now, that’s not saying much given the state of the Android competition, but we can also assuredly say that the Tab is the first true competitor to Apple’s iPad. Its crisp display, compact form factor, touch-friendly software and dual cameras undoubtedly have what it takes to win over the average tablet seeker.”

Melissa Perenson, PCWorld:

“The Samsung Galaxy Tab lives up to its promise as the most credible Android tablet to date. Though it isn’t perfect, it is a strong first-gen device. It isn’t for everyone: The high cost without a monthly contract ($600) underscores that. Nevertheless, if you’re planning to get a mobile broadband data device, the Galaxy Tab’s potential as a mobile hotspot makes it more attractive than some of its competitors.”

Chris Davies, SlashGear:

“Its 7-inch display may offer only half the usable area of the iPad, but the high resolution and responsive, accurate capacitive touchscreen add up to a user experience that’s significantly better than a regular smartphone for browsing, multimedia and – thanks in no small part to Samsung’s custom apps – messaging.”

Donald Bell, CNET:

With the Galaxy Tab, Samsung has created a true peer of the iPad–an uncompromising product that stakes out new territory in terms of both design and features.

View the original article here

Call of Duty: Black Ops PC review: CPU bound, broken online play - Ars Technica

Do the people lining up at midnight to buy Black Ops even know the difference between Treyarch and Infinity Ward? We spill pages of virtual ink in the enthusiast press about the soap opera between Activision and the creators of Call of Duty, but how many people actually pay attention? Gamers want to shoot people, and they want to do it online, and they want a few vehicle segments. They don't care who delivers it.

For those of us who do follow these things, the Black Ops launch is very much Treyarch's coming out party. The developer is no longer the redheaded step-child of the Call of Duty series, called in to give the A-Team a break while still profiting from the franchise. This is its chance to step up and create something that stands on its own. They've largely succeeded, and the game reeks of confidence. That being said, this path is well-worn, and I couldn't help but get the sense that we're watching a very talented skater perform tricks we've seen before on a half-pipe that's gotten a lot of use.

And oh yeah, the multiplayer barely works on the PC version, and single-player also seems to have major issues. Ta-da!

The game's premise is clever, and the menus themselves meld seamlessly into the game. You're being held... captive, maybe. Held hostage by shadowy figures, you're debriefed about a very long and distinguished career where you've spilled lead and blood across many years and many countries.

You'll meet some historical figures, and humanity will often be very close to the brink of disaster. There is a weapon that is being hunted by very powerful and ruthless people, and you'll do many things to stop its spread. Some scenes felt more X-Files than Heart of Darkness, in fact.

We are cold blooded because we kill people silently

The single-player campaign is longer than we're used to in this sort of highly scripted action game, closer to eight hours than six, and it's incredibly enjoyable. Gun battles are placed around set pieces and incredible moments of super-heroism, and you'll never be quite sure what will happen next, or even in what year. Modern Warfare 2 had a jangly, disjointed story that often left gamers feeling confused about what was going on, and Black Ops has decided to just embrace that. Hell, the character you play through the majority of the game is confused about what's going on. You're just along for the ride.

And what a ride! You'll be rappelling down the sides of things, jumping off even taller things, taking off in flying things, blowing away space-bound things, riding and driving two- and four-wheeled things while shooting things at stuff all over the place. Just in case you forget how edgy these games are supposed to be, in one scene you punch a window, take a piece of glass, put it in the mouth of another character, and then punch them very hard in the head. There is a lot of blood.

A few notes: not only are there many different guns, but you can find different variations of the guns. Extended magazines, different scopes, dual-wielding—the guns can be set up in a variety of ways, although you won't be modding them yourself in the singleplayer. Still, how cool is it to find a combination machine gun/flamethrower?

The voice cast is also impressive, including Ed Harris, Sam Worthington, Ice Cube, and Gary Oldman. Some do better than others, but everyone seems like they're trying, which is a big step up from most games where the big-name talent seems to mostly phone it in. Although, to be honest, Oldman does tend to ham it up.

Black Ops has interesting twists and turns, and the scene after the credits roll is wonderful in its humor, but it feels like a knife that has been sharpened so many times it's nearly invisible. These big-budget war games are starting to blend together, with the drivable vehicles and the globe-trotting and the military technology. I'm not sure if I've simply played too many of them or if there needs to be something done to shake things up, but a few scenes seemed to be there simply because we expect them from a game of this type. Also, twice I caught the game seemingly throwing endless waves of enemies at me until I stepped forward to the next waypoint. Once was around the middle of the game, and the other closer to the end, but it was still disappointing.

The game takes place in a variety of settings, across a number of years

View the original article here