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SlappingOysters writes "In the lead up to the World Cyber Games finals in Germany, Gameplayer has an incredible interview with Tournament Director Alex Walker in which he freely admits knowledge of participants taking illegal drugs to enhance their performance. The interview came in response to a previous article by the site in which they examined whether there was a need to bring drug testing into professional gaming events to ensure a level playing field. Walker said, 'I've seen a number of players at national tournaments who came in "baked" (that's stoned for the uninformed) purely so they could play better. In most cases they did, although obviously they couldn't just pull out another joint midway through. In one WCG, a player I knew took amphetamines an hour before his match to boost his reflexes.'"

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Ben Rothke writes "Zero Day Threat: the Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity is an interesting and eye-opening look at how banks and credit card companies make ID theft and fraud rather elementary. But with all that, this book must be read in the larger context of how today's society deals with, and is often oblivious to, risk. When is comes to risk, American society tolerates tens of thousands of drunk-driving deaths, gives millions in federal tobacco subsidies, and is oblivious about near-epidemics such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. With all that, it is doubtful that the myriad horror stories Zero Day Threat details will persuade Congress or the other players to do anything to curtail the problem with identity theft and internet fraud." Keep reading for the rest of Ben's review.

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At DEFCON, Tony Kapela and Alex Pilosov demonstrated a drastic weakness in the Internet's infrastructure that had long been rumored, but wasn't believed practical. They showed how to hijack BGP (the border gateway protocol) in order to eavesdrop on Net traffic in a way that wouldn't be simple to detect. Quoting: "'It's at least as big an issue as the DNS issue, if not bigger,' said Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko, noted computer security expert and former member of the L0pht hacking group, who testified to Congress in 1998 that he could bring down the internet in 30 minutes using a similar BGP attack, and disclosed privately to government agents how BGP could also be exploited to eavesdrop. 'I went around screaming my head about this about ten or twelve years ago... We described this to intelligence agencies and to the National Security Council, in detail.' The man-in-the-middle attack exploits BGP to fool routers into re-directing data to an eavesdropper's network." Here's the PDF of Kapela and Pilosov's presentation.

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You may have heard about the recent controversy at the Leipzig Games Conference over a modification of Space Invaders in which the invaders are slowly demolishing the World Trade Center. The creator intended it as an artistic expression, but has since removed the game, saying, "it was never created to merely provoke controversy for controversy's sake." Kotaku took this occasion to ask whether "statements" can and should be made via video games, and how it affects the ongoing question of whether video games should be considered art. "The entire issue begs comparisons to Danny Ledonne's Super Colombine Massacre RPG!, an unsettling and involved title that tasks players on the most basic level with acting out the 1999 Littleton, Colorado school shooting in the role of killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Ledonne told the Washington Post that his intention with the title was never to glorify the tragedy, but to 'confront their actions and the consequences those actions had.' Like Stanley's Invaders!, Ledonne and his title stopped short of providing a direct interpretation - neither artist has been especially specific about 'what it means,' or in instructing players on how they should interpret their work or what 'message' should be taken away."

bucketoftruth writes "If you browse to the Democratic Convention website and attempt to check out any of their upcoming streams, you bump into the following limitation: 'We're sorry, but the Democratic Convention video web site isn't compatible with your operating system and/or browser. Please try again on a computer with the following Compatible operating systems: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, or a Mac with Tiger (OS 10.4) or Leopard (OS 10.5). Compatible browsers: Internet Explorer (version 6 or later), Firefox (version 2), or, if you are on a Mac, Safari (version 3.1) also works.'"

Jeff Michael Deck and Benjamin Douglas Herson travel the nation removing typos from public signs. As you can imagine, nobody cared, that is until they 'fixed' a historic marker at the Grand Canyon. The pair were charged with vandalism, sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park, and ordered to pay restitution. Deck, a Dartmouth graduate, told reporters he became passionate about grammar after winning junior-high spelling bees. It's a shame that you can't spell your way into a life.

On August 18 and 19, you submitted questions for NewsTrust founder Fabrice Florin about his (non-profit) site's ability to live up to its claim, "Your guide to good journalism." We sent selected questions to Fabrice on August 19. Here are his answers.

Death Metal Maniac writes "The study, which was conducted by affordable-broadband advocacy group Speed Matters, found that the nine states with the fastest median download connections are all located on the East Coast. Rhode Island (6.8Mbps) and Delaware (6.7Mbps) have the fastest, and nearly triple the national median download speed of 2.3Mbps. Rounding out the Top 5 states are New Jersey (5.8Mbps), Virginia (5Mbps) and Massachusetts (4.6Mbps)."

photonic writes "After three years of study, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finally released its report on the collapse of World Trade Center building 7. The main conclusion is that the building came down due to fire, not due to debris damage or some conspiracy demolition team. The fire started pretty small after the collapse of WTC 1, but was left to burn several floors out completely. The important finding is that the collapse was triggered by thermal expansion of beams, which could detach asymmetrically loaded girders from the main columns. Some limited pancaking of floors then caused a lack of lateral support and buckling of a single column. This triggered the failure of the entire core of the building, which finally fell down as a single piece. Crackpot theories can be discussed elsewhere; please limit the discussion to the science here. All documents can be found at NIST's WTC page, which read like a porn magazine for finite element junkies. Simulation movies are also available. And yes, they used Beowulf clusters to do the simulations, some of which lasted for several months."

The New York Times is running a story about how political blogging has arrived as a widely-accepted form of reporting during this election year. In addition to the nationwide TV and radio audiences, the candidates are making efforts to get their message onto the increasingly popular blog network. In doing so, they've elevated bloggers to the level of traditional media reporters at the national conventions. "The major political parties first gave credentials to bloggers in 2004. The Republicans allowed a dozen bloggers to attend their convention in New York, while the Democrats gave bloggers 35 seats in the nosebleed section of the Fleet Center in Boston. This year, the R.N.C. gave credentials to 200 bloggers as a means to 'get Senator McCain's message out to more people,' said Joanna Burgos, the press secretary of the convention. For bloggers attending the Democratic convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, two types of credentials are offered. The first is a national credential, which offers the same access granted to members of traditional news media organizations. The second, more coveted credential is the state blogger credential. It allows one blogger per state to cover the convention alongside its state delegation, with unlimited floor access." Of course, political blogs are abuzz today with the news of Obama's selection of Senator Joe Biden as a running mate.

Official site provides a FAQ, news, history and information for delegates and volunteers. Minneapolis-Saint Paul, September 1-4, 2008.

2008 Republican National Convention Official Website - www.GOPConvention2008.com ... In just a matter of days, the Republican Party will again make history as we come together in ...

... convention - and we are certain that it will be our best ever. In compliance with The Rules of the Republican Party adopted by the 2004 Republican National Convention on August 30 ...

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Republican National Convention ... In September 2008, the eyes of the world will be focused on Minnesota. Saint Paul's RiverCentre / Xcel Energy Center Complex will welcome 45,000 ...

The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated ...

The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at ...

... convention - and we are certain that it will be our best ever. In compliance with The Rules of the Republican Party adopted by the 2004 Republican National Convention on August 30 ...

Republican National Committee News & Articles on washingtonpost.com ... 100s Hard At Work Transforming Xcel For RNC (CBS4 WCCO Top Stories Video) 8/10/2008 2:09:30 PM

By SUSAN SCHROCK ARLINGTON — Police will get some additional experience dealing with major crowds next week at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Thirty-five Arlington police officers will work the event, which is expected to have about 8,000 volunteers and draw more than 45,000 attendees, according to the convention Web site. It is not costing the city anything to ...

Workers and cleaning crews are going the extra mile to spruce up downtown St. Paul for the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Tropical Storm Gustav could force a delay in the Republican National Convention next week.

While the Xcel Energy Center is going to be packed to the rafters next week, in all actuality not very many people have the chance to attend the Republican National Convention (RNC).

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's presidential campaign said it is keeping watch on the path of Tropical Storm Gustav after a report that Republican officials are considering delaying the party's national convention next week.

Music star John Rich today announced he will perform "Raisin' McCain" -- his original song in support of Republican presidential candidate John McCain -- at the Republican National Convention in St.

Well-known columnists from Mpls.St.Paul Magazine will provide color and commentary via their blogs during the 2008 Republican National Convention. Beginning September 1, the writers will be "Live from the Liffey" -- an Irish pub located across from the Xcel Energy Center in downtown Saint Paul, which will house the Convention.

If you're planning on being in Minneapolis/St. Paul next week for the Republican National Convention -- do you know where the best restaurants are?

WASHINGTON----The Hispanic Leadership Fund today announced that it will hold a concert during the Republican National Convention featuring Latin recording artist and Reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee.

The Republican National Convention starts Monday in St. Paul, Minnesota.