Not all books are equal, said the European Union this week, ruling that ebooks sold in Europe constitute an "electronically supplied service" and so are subject to a higher rate of value-added tax (VAT) than physical books. This means that buying ebooks is likely to become more expensive in some countries, as booksellers raise their prices to pass the cost of increased VAT rates onto customers.

Some countries — like the UK — will not be affected

This change will primarily affect France and Luxembourg — the two countries that prompted the ruling after petitioning the EU's Court of Justice (ECJ) to be allowed to sell ebooks at the VAT rate of paper books. In France, this means the VAT rate will increase from 5.5 percent to 20 percent, while in Luxembourg it will rise from 3.5 percent to 17 percent. Countries that already sell ebooks at the higher tax rate — such as the UK and Germany — will not be affected.

The ruling also won't affect US companies like Amazon, which previously sold ebooks via Luxembourg to take advantage of the country's lower VAT. Legislation that came into force earlier this year closed this loophole, ruling that VAT for digital goods should be levied at the rate of the country the customer is based in.

Both France and Luxembourg said they would campaign for an overhaul of digital VAT in Europe, with French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin saying: "We will continue to push for what is called technological neutrality, meaning the same taxation for books, irrespective if they are on paper or electronic." According to data from analytics firm Statisa, ebook sales are still growing in Europe. They accounted for 4.5 percent of total book sales in 2013 and are predicted to rise to just over a fifth of total sales by 2017.

In a crowded session at this year's Game Developers Conference, Brian Moriarty, author of the 1990 adventure game Loom, delivered a post mortem on the game to a packed audience in San Francisco. At the end, he said that he is eager to make a sequel and named the three studios he would be willing to collaborate with on the game.

Throughout the presentation, Moriarty became emotional many times about the time he spent on the Skywalker Ranch working with the Lucasfilm Games SCUMM engine, and with the audio engineers at Skywalker Ranch to create the unique and musical experience that became Loom. He went on to talk about the fan mail he still receives, to this day, from people in the industry or who hope to one day make games that were inspired to create by their experience with Loom.

From his talk today, it's clear he wants to do it again.

"It’s a very humbling experience to have touched so many people, and to have been given the absolute freedom to experiment with George Lucas’ money," Moriarty said, which was met with a chorus of laughter.

"It was a privilege I can never repay, and probably never repeat. However there are now three studios who I would entrust with the sequels: Telltale, Double Fine and Wadjet Eye. Talk to me. I’m on the make."

Moriarty's post mortem on Loom revealed many secrets behind the game, but none of them was more touching than hearing about his own experience of his creation just weeks before he delivered his talk, which, oddly enough, fell on the very day when, more than twenty years ago, the game went gold.

"While preparing for this speech, I played Loom from start to finish for the first time in over a quarter of a century. I had forgotten nearly half of it," Moriarty said. "I remember the general scheme and plot, but many little details, many lines were gone. So I had the extraordinary experience of playing my own game as if it were sort of someone else's. And through the pain of making it I have really not been able to see what I had done. You know, it really doesn't suck. Yeah, it’s shorter than normal and easier than normal, but that's what Telltale does every day now."

An on-duty, uniformed police officer was shopping in a Philadelphia GameStop when two men burst into the store to rob it, authorities said. The police officer was killed in an ensuing shootout inside the store.

Officer Robert Wilson III and the two suspects, believed to be brothers, "engaged in a fierce and violent gunbattle" Capt. Darrell Clark said on Friday. Wilson was shot multiple times and killed when he was shot in the head.

More than 50 rounds were fired in about 30 seconds by the three men Clark said, according to WCAU-TV of Philadelphia. Civilians were inside the store as the gun battle raged, though none were shot.

Wilson shot one of the suspects in the leg before he was killed. The two suspects were later identified by witnesses and arrested. They have been charged with first-degree murder. Police said both confessed and said they chose the GameStop for the robbery believing it to be an easy target.

GameStop franchises are routinely targeted by criminals, and robberies there have even involved hostage situations, with staff and customers sometimes bound or locked in back rooms. It is very rare, however, that one ends in a fatality, much less a fusillade of 50 shots fired.

In a statement posted to its Facebook page, GameStop offered its condolences to Wilson's family and its gratitude for his actions during the shootout.

"The Company is thankful that due to the brave actions of Officer Wilson and the Philadelphia Police Department, all of our employees and customers are safe an unharmed."

Police said Wilson was shopping at the GameStop for a gift for his 8-year-old son because the boy had done very well in school. Wilson has another son, who is 1 year old.

"What parent probably hasn't done that for a child in recognition of good work and he just happens to be there at the time that these two guys come in there for a robbery," Charles Ramsey, commissioner of the Philadelphia police, said on Friday.

Gather round, spacelings: it’s time for another EVE Online story that simultaneously leaves us wishing we played the game and comforted that we don’t.

(If you already play EVE I’m not looking to exclude you… I’m just fairly confident you’ll already be aware of this torrid tale.)

Evenews24.com ran a story earlier this week that a former member of the Vanguard Frontiers (VAF) corporation was the victim of a theft to the tune of around 600 billion ISK. When that sum is priced against the going rate for PLEX – an in-game item that represents 30 days of game time – it works out at about $13,000.

A player under the name Non Erata joined Vanguard Frontiers soon after beginning to play EVE, eager to improve his position and wealth within the game. Unfortunately for VAF, Non Erata had also recently read a Cracked.com article titled Top Seven Dick Moves in Online Gaming, which inspired him to plan his own corporate heist.

To that end he spent six months slowly gaining the trust and friendship of senior figures within VAF, leading and training teams of rookies and later setting up a new area of wormhole operations within the corporation. On the back of the latter he secured a position as a corporate director. This left him in a prime position to execute his plan, using the Non Erata character and five other alts to asset strip the corporation while its leadership was offline.

Evenews24 interviewed the current CEO of Vanguard Frontiers, ladygrey, and an ex-CEO, Tessa Yor. Both seemed understandably disappointed and betrayed by Non Erata’s actions, and called for consequences within the game for players like Non Erata. They stressed that not only had he stolen corporate assets, he had stolen assets from a large number of players, and that while the corporation would soldier on a lot of players had been hit hard. It seems unlikely that consequences for heists of this nature will be introduced to EVE, or significant safeguards against them, as the freedom to both co-operate as groups and betray as individuals is a large part of EVE’s enduring appeal. Still, one never knows.

600 billion ISK or $13,000 isn’t the biggest theft in EVE history. All the way back in 2005 the Guiding Hand Social Club executed an assassination and looted around $16,500 in ISK and original blueprints, and when the Mittani and Goonfleet presided over the destruction of Band of Brothers in 2009 a defector reportedly transferred trillions to the Goons. There was also a Ponzi scheme in which a few players walked away with over a trillion ISK collected from other players. But still, $600bn ISK, $13,000 – that’s an awful lot. Not to mention the feeling of betrayal, which you can’t put a price on.

For the full story, warts and all, hit up Evenews24.com. They’ll use all the right acronyms and everything. I tried to get into EVE a couple of times, but now I prefer to just read stories like this about it.

titotito:

provocatoria:

So what kind of women are the Salvation Army really concerned about? Definitely not all of them. 

Yup definitely learned more about this while interning at a LGBTQ anti-violence program’s crisis hotline

unite4humanity:

themilitantnegro:

Cop who killed unarmed 19-year-old Tony Robinson was cleared in a 2007 shooting death

WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS.

Microsoft is at the Games Developer Conference this week, and the company is trying to convince games makers that Windows 10 is the platform for all their titles. Part of that involves SDKs, demonstrations, and sessions to talk to developers directly. One such session was "new opportunities for independent developers" with a fascinating talk from Microsoft’s Chris Charla on Wednesday.

Charla explained the intricacies of game and app development for Windows 10 and the Xbox One, but one particular slide stood out from the rest: the one with the IBM XT depicting Windows 7. While Charla’s slide is clearly a subtle poke at Windows 7, it does speak somewhat to Microsoft’s position on its popular operating system. Windows 10 is where the company is heading, and it’s also what Microsoft really needs everyone to upgrade to and buy into. Windows 7 is already turning into another Windows XP as businesses shun Windows 8 and consumer feedback has been negative around Microsoft’s latest update.

There’s a reason Microsoft named it Windows 10 and not Windows 9. When consumers look at their machines over the next few years and eventually realize they have Windows 7 and can’t run cool universal Windows 10 apps, they’re going to feel a lot more behind than if it was named Windows 9. It’s a small and subtle bump that has the same effect as stores pricing items as 99 cents instead of $1. It’s a mind game, and let’s face it Windows 7 is really old. It will be six years old in July, and that’s a long time in this modern technology era. Microsoft will take any opportunity to remind everyone that Windows 7 is really old as Windows 10 approaches. That free upgrade will suddenly look mighty tempting to everyone running the ancient and old-fashioned Windows 7.

In the five years Joel Atyas spent disputing a $278 charge with T-Mobile, his credit score was impacted and a collection agency came after him. But after filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission and telling Ars his story, T-Mobile has finally made nice with the former North Carolina-based customer. For now.

"The issue seems to be technically resolved in that the outstanding balance has been removed, and I have been assured that T-Mobile will undertake to repair the damage done to my credit rating," Atyas wrote in an e-mail to Ars.

"I would not say that I’m ‘satisfied,'" he said. "Relieved is a better word. Having to spend hours upon hours over five years to untangle a mess of T-Mobile’s making does not lead to positive satisfaction."

Massachusetts' ban on the private possession of stun guns—an "electrical weapon" under the statute—does not violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the state's top court has ruled.

The decision says (PDF) that the US Constitution's framers never envisioned the modern stun-gun device, first patented in 1972. The top court said stun guns are not suitable for military use, and that it did not matter whether state lawmakers have approved the possession of handguns outside the home.

Nevertheless, we note that stun guns deliver a charge of up to 50,000 volts. They are designed to incapacitate a target by causing disabling pain, uncontrolled muscular contractions, and general disruption of the central nervous system.... It is difficult to detect clear signs of use and misuse of stun guns, unlike handguns. Stun guns can deliver repeated or prolonged shocks without leaving marks. ...The Legislature rationally could ban their use in the interest of public health, safety, or welfare. Removing from public access devices that can incapacitate, injure, or kill a person by disrupting the central nervous system with minimal detection is a classic legislative basis supporting rationality. It is immaterial that the Legislature has not banned weapons that are more lethal. Mathematical precision by the Legislature is not constitutionally required.

The court, ruling in the case of a Massachusetts woman caught with stun gun, said the stun gun is a "thoroughly modern invention" not protected by the Second Amendment, although handguns are protected.

Star Citizen turned a spacefighter into a charcoal briquette on YouTube to show you it's serious about the depth — and persistence — of its damage model. Hang out under hostile laserbeams too long and your vessel will look like someone fried hashbrowns on it.

It's not just the blistering or the burning from garden variety beam cannons or mass-driver weapons. Some armaments are powerful enough to shoot off chunks of a spaceship, too, as seen from 1:03 onward. Star Citizen sets up a couple dummy targets to show what this looks like — and how it affects a ship's movement (assuming it isn't under power.)

Star Citizen is still looking at a full commercial launch in 2016, with beta rollouts of components such as its FPS module between now and then. The game has surpassed $70 million in crowdfunding since it began taking donations in 2012, and expects to top $100 million in crowdfunding before it's all over.

For more, see Polygon's preview of an early access build of the space combat MMO from last month.

The current scandal roiling over the use of a private e-mail server by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is just the latest in a series of scandals surrounding government e-mails. And it’s not the first public airing of problems with the State Department’s IT operations—and executives’ efforts to bypass or work around them. At least she didn’t set up an office in a restroom just to bypass State Department network restrictions and do everything over Gmail.

However, another Obama administration appointee—the former ambassador to Kenya—did do that, essentially refusing to use any of the Nairobi embassy’s internal IT. He worked out of a bathroom because it was the only place in the embassy where he could use an unsecured network and his personal computer, using Gmail to conduct official business. And he did all this during a time when Chinese hackers were penetrating the personal Gmail inboxes of a number of US diplomats.

Why would such high-profile members of the administration’s foreign policy team so flagrantly bypass federal and agency regulations to use their own personal e-mail to conduct business? Was it that they had something they wanted to keep out of State’s servers and away from Congressional oversight? Was it that State’s IT was so bad that they needed to take matters into their own hands? Or was it because the department’s IT staff wasn’t responsive enough to what they saw as their personal needs, and they decided to show just how take-charge they were by ignoring all those stuffy policies?