Thanks to an anonymous reader pointing to this Reuters/Yahoo story with more details on the newly announced Metallica-licensed videogame. Apparently, the 2005-due title, which other sources mention is a vehicular combat game, "has the ideas and the inspiration and the identity of the band behind it", and will, oddly, also feature art input from Geof Darrow of The Matrix/Hard Boiled/Big Guy And Rusty fame. Let's hope the title can improve on band-licensed games from Aerosmith , Journey, or even Iron Maiden?

Makarand writes "Patients who have implants containing any kind of metal cannot be MRI scanned as the powerful electromagnetic radio waves can induce currents large enough to heat the metal in implants to over 70 C and damage surrounding tissue. Now, Biophan, a biomedical devices company, has developed a nano-coating material that can protect implants by preventing most of the radio waves from reaching the internal components of the implant by reflecting them. It's high electrical resistance also prevents currents from flowing around the implant's surface and heating any nearby body tissue. Biophan's coating is a mixture of poorly conducting nanoparticles held in an insulating matrix. The coating is a mere three micrometres thick and can cut the energy induced in an implant by 89 per cent."

An anonymous reader writes "As linked to in this post, Matrix: Online has been announced. The official site for the game describes it as a MMORPG of epic proportions as people will get to feel what it's like to be a part of the matrix realm. Although the details list lots of interesting information, the most important piece I found was in the FAQ section... where they state that the game takes place after Matrix Revolutions... Are they trying to hint at something?"

goombah99 writes "Nick Bostrom discusses the computational requirements needed to simulate human existence. He offers a proof based on the anthropic principle, that you are almost certainly a computer simulation and not "real". The idea is that given that humans don't go extinct in geologically short time then eventually computer capability will allow complete simulation of the human cortex. Consequently, there must be far more simulations running in future millennia than seconds since you were born. Thus its astronomically more likely you are a simulation than real ... if humans don't go extinct shortly. Recalling the 13th floor, Robin Hanson discusses how one should try to live in a simulation. David Wolpert also weighs in on the physical limits of Turing machines for simulation of the universe. This also may explain why time travel seems impossible: we dont meet visitors from the future since only the present is being simulated."

You asked nmap creator Fyodor many excellent questions, and his answers (below) are just as excellent. You'll want to set aside significant time to read and digest this interview, because Fyodor didn't just toss off a few words, but put some real time and energy into his answers.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Gamespy's new guide to the hacking section of Enter The Matrix. This extra section of the game brings up a DOS-style interface, even on Playstation 2/Xbox/Gamecube, and lets you 'hack' to get pictures, movies, and extras from the million-selling but still controversial Atari-published title. Reminds us a little of the low-profile but excellent PC/Mac hacking game, Uplink?

MartyJG writes "The BBC are running a story on how Matrix Reloaded is available via P2P. This time BitTorrent is taking the heat for the distribution - even though there's no company behind it to drag over the coals. The story speculates about the source of the copy, suggesting it's from a film or digital source rather than a cinema-screen-leech." Despite this piracy, the flick has made over $365M already. Including my tickets. Twice.

securitas writes "The NYT discusses The Matrix as a reflection of American society, the 'war on terror', political allegory and the impact of The Matrix on contemporary philosophy. NPR provides streaming audio conversations with Matrix thinkers, including Jake Horsley, author of 'Matrix Warrior: Being the One'; Prof. Frances Flannery Dailey on violence in the Matrix; and Prof. Greg Garrett, co-author of 'The Gospels Reloaded' and why he doesn't like the kind of hero that Neo has become. Finally, the CSM follows up its The Gospel According to Neo with an online chat transcript with Josh Burek, the author of the essay." As if that's not enough Matrix Philosophy, Here's more and Still more. And just a warning, clicking on any of those links might spoil the movie for you.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamesindustry.biz report discussing the financial terms of the deal made with the Wachowski Brothers for the Matrix games. It's rare that anyone gets to see the kind of financial terms granted to creators of big licenses like The Matrix. But divorce documents for one of the brothers, made available via The Smoking Gun, have revealed a total of 2.75 million dollars will be paid to them with regard to Atari's Enter The Matrix game (and another 2.75 million going direct to Warner Bros), plus an eventual total of 2.5 million dollars going to the Wachowskis for Ubi Soft's The Matrix Online through 2007. More proof, if needed, that games are seriously big business.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to this CNN report mentioning that Washington state is the first in the US to regulate the sale of videogames to minors. The bill, passed Monday, "..forbids selling minors any video or computer game depicting violence against law enforcement officials.". Interestingly, the law (as mentioned at Slashdot a while back) seems to ignore the fairly well-respected voluntary ESRB ratings for games, with the article suggesting that Enter The Matrix might be banned for purchase by those under 17, due to the player battling cops, despite EtM only being rated 'Teen' by the ESRB.

rajiv was among dozens to report that unlike most "Hacks" in film, The Matrix reloaded actually has an ounce of reality where other films would rely on fancy 3D graphics. You can see more at Insecure.org where they have screenshots. It's only on screen for a split second, but Tritnity uses Nmap to find a vulnerable SSH server, and then exploits it using the SSH1 CRC32 exploit from 2001.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out a patch for the PC version of Enter The Matrix, just a couple of days after its release, and a FAQ which rather horrifyingly orders you that "The Vampires should be dispatched in the rooms you find them in" to stop the game from crashing completely. If you add to this the almost complete lack of official reviews, do we get a still-decent game that simply happened to stealthily launch in the week of E3 (when nobody was around to review it), or a rushed license that's deliberately trying to take advantage of gamers who buy based on subject matter? Spoiler-free opinions welcome, especially from those who've bought the game.

Dante Alighieri writes "Box Office Mojo, the Washington Post, E!, and others reports that The Matrix Reloaded opened with a record of $42.5 million in ticket sales." I saw it yesterday and have a variety of opinions on it, but the short review is that it isn't the original, but it's pretty damn cool, and I'm first in line for Revolution.

PsndCsrV writes in with a review of the new Matrix movie, below. Rottentomatoes says that the reviews overall are more favorable than un-. Ebert likes it well enough.

Thanks to Blue's News for pointing to the new official website for The Matrix Online. This massively multiplayer PC title, where you get to live, explore and fight within the machine construct of The Matrix, is courtesy Warner Brothers and Ubi Soft, and is being developed by Monolith (of No-One Lives Forever and Tron 2.0 fame) for a 2004 release. IGN.com has more details, and a healthy, if sensible, skepticism until they see the game playable. Finally, this project is completely separate from Shiny/Atari's Enter The Matrix game that we covered a little while back, and which is shipping into stores about now.

Xel writes "Josh Burek, writer for The Christian Science Monitor and A.K.A. the guy who sits 4 cubicles from me, has written an excellent essay on religion in The Matrix: The Gospel According to Neo. Sure, this topic has been covered ad nauseum, but it's refreshing to see such a thoughful examination aimed not at geeks alone but a broader, more traditional, and more traditionally religious audience. It also has a nice little glossary at the end where even pasty-faced and vinyl-clad Matrix worshippers may find some easter eggs they didnt know."

EpsCylonB writes "The IMDB is reporting that the London Daily mirror has the first review of the Matrix Reloaded. Sounds like the Wachowski borthers have gone for an all out action movie which is a shame if true. What I liked most about the original was the way it blended stunning action with a subtle philosphical theme about how we percieve reality." I'll hold judgement until the closing credits myself.

bergie writes "There is an interesting article on Advogato on why it is so difficult for Open Source projects to interoperate or support common standards. Often cultural differences between projects, egoes, and many other issues stand in the way. The article outlines some practical ways for improving the situation, based on experiences from OSCOM efforts to get support WebDAV, SlideML and other standards into Open Source CMSs. Examples of successful interop projects include freedesktop.org, the cooperative effort between GNOME and KDE."

martyn s writes "The latest animatrix short, The Second Renaissance, Part 2 is finally out. This short is the continuation of The Second Renaissance Part 1. Taken together, these shorts document how, in the matrix universe, 'Man was the architect of his own demise.'" And here's the BitTorrent link.

Several readers point out the new preview of Enter The Matrix over at Gamespy. The staff there got a chance to play a near-final version of the Shiny-developed game, minus the hour of new movie footage that'll be included when it ships on May 15th for PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PC. Other previews (such as this one at Gamespot) have been positive, if slightly guarded. Do you know kung fu?