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Man on vacation confused for a Russian spy, almost restarts cold war
Threats of Russian espionage can come from the unlikeliest of sources, as Jim Mimlitz, owner of Navionics Research, a small integrator firm, knows only too well. Curran Gardner Public Water District, just outside of Springfield, Illinois, employed Mimlitz's firm to set up its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA), and the spy games began when Mimlitz went on vacation in Russia. While there, he logged into the SCADA system to check some data, then logged off and went back to enjoying Red Square and the finest vodka mother Russia has to offer. However, five months later a Curran Gardner water pump fails, and an IT contractor eyeballing the logs spots the Russian-based IP address. Fearing stolen credentials, he passes the info up the chain of command to the Environmental Protection Agency (as it governs the water district) without bothering to contact Mimlitz, whose name was in the logs next to the IP address. The EPA then passed along the paranoia to a joint state and federal terrorism intelligence center, which issued a report stating that SCADA had been hacked. Oh boy. A media frenzy followed bringing all the brouhaha to Mimlitz's attention. After speaking with the FBI, the massive oversight was identified, papers were shuffled, and everyone went about their day. So, next time you delete all your company's e-mail, or restart the wrong server, remember: at least you didn't almost start World War III. Tap the source link for the full story. [Image courtesy Northackton]
Teenager arrested for making suicide threat to Blizzard rep
In a sad bit of news to start the new year, it would appear that a teenager in Fairfield Township, Ohio, was taken into custody yesterday for falsely claiming that he would commit suicide if a Blizzard support representative did not give in to his request. The young man, who remains nameless due to being underage, was arrested for "inducing panic" which carries a first-degree misdemeanor charge according to the Middletown Journal. The young man was chatting with a Blizzard rep and made the statement that he was "suicidal and that the game was the only thing that he had to live for." Whether or not this was World of Warcraft or a Battle.net account was not disclosed, but even still, it has raised the question in a few circles if Blizzard was beyond the bounds in bringing the police into this situation - or why the police might arrest someone for it.
Video: Happy Tree Friends and buckets of blood
Yesterday came official word that Xbox Live Arcade game Happy Tree Friend: False Alarm is scheduled to release to the XBLA on June 25th (odd, seeing that we knew that a few weeks ago) and with said announcement comes a brand new trailer. It's a "Wacky Gameplay" trailer full of cute animals, dismemberment, screaming and enough animated blood to fill up all of Cliff's Gears of War 2 blood buckets. We're interested not only because we have a small chunk of our heart dedicated to those Happy Tree Friends, but also because we are suckers for video game violence. We always say, the more "icky" the better.
Happy Tree Friends: FA delayed into May
After questioning our own investigative work we can now brag that we were right all along. Ha! Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm not only slipped from a second week April release to April 21st, but has now slipped yet again to a general May release according to IGN. And we suspect the addition of a Japanese and Korean XBLA release is to blame. So, while we take a longer than expected wait, we figure what better time to watch an episode of Happy Tree Friends than now? Go ahead and give it a watch, though it may not be suitable for adolescent viewing. It's actually quite disturbing.
Rumor: Happy Tree Friends: FA delayed yet again
First, some rumor clarification. Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm for the XBLA was set to release the second week of April only to be pushed back a week to April 21st (Monday release?) Now, maybe, possibly, we aren't exactly positive that the title has been delayed yet another time.Our confusion stems from a "Latest News" post over on the official website for Happy Tree Friends which mentions that "due to the expansion of the game launch to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, the 'False Alarm' game will now push back to a later date." That's pretty cut and dry if it weren't for the fact that the the news post doesn't have a time stamp or any reference to when it was published. So, this delay news could be weeks old and refer back to the original delay from the second week of April to April 21st, or it's a brand new delay that pushes False Alarm back even further. Hence the mildly confusing "rumor" tag. Get it? Okay, good ...[Thanks, Marcin]
No false alarm, Happy Tree Friends headed to XBLA
The bloody, quirky, disgusting and mildly entertaining Happy Tree Friends cartoon is making its way from your television set onto the Xbox Live Arcade. Today, SEGA announced that Happy Tree Friends False Alarm will make an XBLA release sometime this Fall and should bring all the mischief and death any Happy Tree Friends fanboy would demand. Developer Stainless Games promises 10 levels and a handful of the franchises' characters where players take part in 3D physics and puzzle games. You know the drill, teaser trailer embedded above and really pinkified screenshots are available in the gallery below.%Gallery-17158%[Thanks, Chris]
Sega announces Happy Tree Friends game for XBLA, PC
The absurdly adorable animal cast of Happy Tree Friends is set to appear in a new digitally distributed PC and Xbox Live Arcade game, Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm. Of course, as fans of the internet series and television show are well aware, said appearance would likely be cut short by all manner of sharp and obscenely violent implements. Developed by Stainless Games and published by Sega, the cute critter-sploitation splatterfest is scheduled for a Fall 2007 release. Billed as an action-puzzle game, False Alarm will largely feature a "physics-based reactive environment" and "accidental mayhem." Players control one of three characters, namely Flippy (a bear), Lumpy (a moose) and Handy (an amputee beaver carpenter... it says here). Kenn Navarro, creator of the deeply demented property, notes that "Sega is a perfect partner for us because of their rich tradition of creating compelling, character-based games, and true to form they're developing a truly original game that we think our fans will love." Of course, said tradition is generally devoid of chainsaws mutilating cuddly creatures, so a Sonic the Hedgehog cameo seems unlikely. [Via Sega press release]
