This has nothing to do with Quantum Phrenology: Links for 1/25/2012 January 25, 2012

Via BoingBoing – Official B.P.R.D. Training Camp (AKA, Hellboy Camp):

Find out if you have what it takes to join an elite team of paranormal investigators combating the forces of darkness from all across the globe. We immerse you in tactical training of all forms, including survival skills in any environment (both earthly and non), martial arts and self-defense specific to praeternatural entities, hand to hand weaponry (we train foam swords, bows and more) and forensic investigation. All these key skills that every agent must have, plus you are steeped in the history of our Bureau and legacy of paranormal research.

Wired – Why ‘Xbox 720’ Might Reject Used Games:

“I’ve heard from one reliable industry source that Microsoft intends to incorporate some sort of anti-used game system as part of their so-called Xbox 720,” Kotaku’s Steven Totilo wrote on Wednesday morning. I have no reason to doubt that he heard that. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening — at this point, Microsoft is probably considering all sorts of features for its next Xbox console and floating them by game developers to see what the reaction is. But I’m sure it’s something that’s being very strongly considered. Also, the death of used games is inevitable.

xoJane – Kirk Loves Spock, and I Love Fan Fiction:

In a world where default pairings are heterosexual and kink is relegated to Very Special Episodes About Tolerance or whatever, fan fic that "slashes" (i.e., sexually and/or romantically pairs) two men or two women or any number of other combinations are a huge and necessary relief for marginalized identities. There’s something deliciously transgressive and transformative about taking figures from popular media and repurposing them in the image of relationships Hollywood doesn’t want to show us because they are afraid of offending the paying viewership.

Note: FUCK YEAH MARIANNE. Also, if shirtless toys getting in a big pile freak you out, then I’m pointing and laughing at you you shouldn’t click through. And I’m still pointing and laughing at you.

The Bay Citizen – Judge Strips Power from Oakland Police:

“The Court remains in disbelief that Defendants have yet – nine years later – to achieve what they themselves agreed was doable in no more than five years,” Henderson wrote. He canceled a hearing on the case that had been scheduled for Thursday. “As both Plaintiffs and Defendants recognize, something must change if full compliance is to be achieved.” The order comes just one week after the monitors wrote in their quarterly report that the police response to Occupy Oakland protests this fall raised "serious concerns" about the department's ability to "hold true to the best practices in American policing." The monitors promised a thorough investigation of the matter.

Ars Technica – Symantec: Anonymous stole source code, users should disable pcAnywhere:

Symantec pointed customers to a white paper that recommends disabling pcAnywhere, unless it is needed for business-critical use, because malicious users with access to the source code could identify vulnerabilities and launch new exploits. "At this time, Symantec recommends disabling the product until Symantec releases a final set of software updates that resolve currently known vulnerability risks," the company said. "For customers that require pcAnywhere for business critical purposes, it is recommended that customers understand the current risks, ensure pcAnywhere 12.5 is installed, apply all relevant patches as they are released, and follow the general security best practices discussed herein."

The Border House – Review: Star Trek Online:

Unfortunately, things started to go sour from as early on as character creation. Many of the classic Star Trek races were available: humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Bajorans, Trill, and so on. I chose to play as a female Ferengi science officer called Queeg (virtual cookies to anyone who gets the reference). In many respects, character creation was pretty standard. I got to choose how tall my character was, and what design of uniform she wore, for instance. Some of the other character creation decisions were truly baffling, though. I didn’t have any options for changing my basic facial features, for instance. All female Ferengi apparently have exactly the same eyes, nose, mouth and ears, excepting only lipstick or tattoos across the nose. This lack is made all the more conspicuous by some of the things that I could customise. For instance, I was free to change the size of my breasts, which could vary from “fairly small” to “disproportionately huge for the slim frame carrying them and guaranteed to cause back problems”. Quite how a franchise that brought us an inter-racial kiss in 1968 and a lesbian kiss in 1995 has descended to the point where breast size is considered a more important customisation than facial features, I do not know.

ThinkBroadband – O2 shares your mobile number with every site you visit:

If you're reading this news article using your O2 mobile phone, you'll be pleased to know that O2 have already sent us your mobile phone number within the HTTP headers which normally contain information about how content can be displayed on your device. These headers are not normally seen by users, and usually not logged by most websites, but the flaw allows malicious sites to get more personal information about you than you may be willing to share. For example, if you open an e-mail which includes references to external images, the mere action of opening the e-mail would divulge your phone number. This could be used by anyone undertaking a phishing attack or other scam to get more information from you. The opportunity to abuse this is potentially endless.