Sweden's Frederick Ingblad is a specialized intellectual property prosecutor, and this morning he made a very specialized announcement: at the request of Belgian authorities, Ingbland and Swedish police had just made a series of coordinated raids on ISPs and universities. Their target: "The Scene."

For two years, Belgium has been looking into the online operations that obtain, crack, and distribute software, games, and media, operations collectively referred to as The Scene. Ingblad targeted several ISPs, Umeå University, and sites in Malmo and Eslöv. The ISP raids were to gain information on particular IP addresses (Sweden has a recent law requiring ISPs to retain more information on their users for just such cases), but some of the other raids were actually made to scoop up individuals. Four people have been detained, along with servers and personal computers.

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To the shock of absolutely no one, Sony has announced a new mandatory update for the PlayStation 3. Don't expect any new features, but if you have one of those new, fancy USB-based hacking devices you may want to hold off on updating. Just sayin'.

"Hi everyone! A minor update to your PS3 system is now available via system software update v3.42 that includes additional security features," Sony's Director of Hardware Marketing wrote on the official blog. "For more details and instructions on how to update the system software for the PS3 system, please visit the PS3 System Updates page."

Ah, the mandatory updates, who doesn't love them? This is Sony's way of blessing everyone who bought a PlayStation 3 with the gift of annoyance. We'll see how long it takes for another fix from the hacking community, which will be met with yet another firmware patch. This is like your parents fighting: you may not be involved, but you're still stuck in the middle and suffering for it.

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The Samsung Galaxy S is coming to Verizon's network this week in the form of the Samsung Fascinate. The latest in the Galaxy S smartphone line will be available Wednesday online and Thursday in Verizon Wireless retail stores nationwide. Unlike other Android phones from HTC and Motorola, though, the Fascinate doesn't carry Verizon's Droid branding.

The internal hardware of the Fascinate is identical to other Galaxy S smartphones, including a 1GHz Hummingbird ARM processor, 4" Super AMOLED touchscreen, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 5MP autofocus camera with 720p video recording. It's also powered by Android 2.1 and comes with the innovative Swype keyboard as the default.

The main difference between the Fascinate and other Galaxy S variants launched on AT&T and T-Mobile is the cosmetic appearance—which looks quite nice in the photos we have seen so far—and the bundled apps. VCAST will be featured over Amazon MP3 for OTA music downloads, along with a VCAST-branded music identification app. Verizon Navigator will also come preloaded; Google Navigation will need to be downloaded via Android Marketplace if you'd prefer that option. Other preloaded apps include the exclusives NFL Mobile and Blockbuster, as well as Skype Mobile and Amazon Kindle.

The Samsung Fascinate costs $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract. Plans including voice and data start at $70 per month.

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Google CEO Eric Schmidt has reiterated the company's plans to release its TV product in the US this fall. Schmidt made the comments during the IFA show in Berlin, noting that Google TV would go international next year. Additionally, he said the company would begin working with content providers to get movies and shows on the device, but that it was was "very unlikely" that Google would get into the content production business itself.

Google announced Google TV in May of this year during its own developer conference, touting the device as a more open alternative to the closed set-top boxes out there (particularly the Apple TV). Because it will be Android-based and search-driven, third-party developers are expected to hop on board with a plethora of TV offerings—companies like Netflix and Amazon have already created native apps to run on Google TV.

Since the announcement, Google promised the FCC that it "seeks to achieve the vast pro-consumer potential of video convergence," but first, the FCC must make the proposed "AllVid" video interface a reality. Hollywood, however, isn't so gung-ho about Google TV and AllVid (surprise!), arguing that their wares would be presented alongside illegal content. "In essence, this 'shopping mall' approach could enable the purveyor of counterfeit goods to set up shop alongside respected brand-name retailers, causing consumer confusion," the MPAA said of the proposal.

Still, Google is pressing on with its plans to roll out a set-top box from Logitech, a Google TV-enabled Blu-ray player from Sony, and a Sony HDTV with Google services built-in. The new $99 Apple TV is also set for release this fall (the end of September, to be exact); although it is still a very different product than what Google TV hopes to be, many TV-watching geeks will keep an eye on both.

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Even casual Internet users know that if you want to hold your privacy in check, it's good practice to clear out your browser cookies every once in a while. Our recent coverage about "zombie" Flash cookies has shown us, however, that simply clearing your browser cookies the old fashioned way isn't always enough. As highlighted by a study out of UC Berkeley, some companies have begun using Flash-based cookies that not only recreate themselves when deleted without the user's knowledge, they reach into the Flash storage bin for the just-deleted user info so that they can keep tracking you and your stored history instead of starting anew.

It's because of this behavior that some of our readers drew our attention to something called RLDGUID, a Safari database that has been popping up more and more on iOS devices. What is it, who put it there, and what purpose does it serve? The company behind this database, Ringleader Digital, is basically using some of the modern HTML5 capabilities of mobile browsers to perform the same tasks as a traditional cookie, but out of sight of most users. We decided to dig in and see what RLDGUID is all about, and what we found was sometimes confusing. More importantly, however, it highlights why users should be made more aware of what their browsers are storing about them. 

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Some weeks ago, after reading the Droid
X reviews on Ars Technica (here and here), I got myself one. Sure enough, I loved it, and like any good, patriotic smartphone consumer, I started downloading lots of Android apps. How did I find them? I clicked on the Market Store, of course, and typed in a search word.

What word did I use? Well, take a look at my last four longish Ars stories (German copyright laws in the 19th-century; Thomas Edison's bid to hijack the movies; the 1962 UHF TV mandate; and the censorship of comic books in the 1950s).

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Microsoft's Hohm energy efficiency and tracking service, still in beta, has a unique sense of style. Who expects a discussion about insulation R-values to involve pirate jokes?

"What do pirates look for in attic insulation?" Hohm asks. "The arrrr value! Insulation R-value measures how well a material stops heat flow, the higher the better."

This can be a bit jarring at first—are the sorts of people who write about "arrrr value!" really the ones you go to for home improvement questions?—but if you're going to use Hohm, you'd better get used to it.

"Read and follow the instructions that came with your new refrigerator. (This will not harm your street cred)," says a tip on buying more efficient iceboxes. You'll also want to keep the new fridge away "from anything hot like an oven, direct sunlight, or visiting supermodels." 

When it comes to lighting your room, consider task lighting; it can save money because, the site informs us, "you won't need to turn on the overhead light for your ironic cross-stitch." Advice from Bob Vila this is not.

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Belgians are probably most interested in knowing whether their country will survive its strife between the French and Flemish-Dutch speaking groups, or whether it will break apart into separate nations. Here at Ars, however, we’re more interested in the country's peculiarities with respect to copyright law and broadband technology (and, of course, Belgium's wide variety of beers and chocolate). We recently wrote about Belgian bandwidth hogs, and in the past on ISPs having to filter P2P and newspapers suing Google News. This week it’s Belgian broadcasters seeking to cripple Digital Video Recorders and get compensation for their introduction.

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It's hard to pin down exactly when Nerf started going for broke with its gun designs, but it may have been around this time last year when the Vulcan was released. That gun featured a 25-dart, belt-fed design that handled both full-auto and single-shot firing, but it also had some issues with jamming and was a little too heavy for child-sized warfare. This year, Nerf went back to the drawing board for the Stampede, and the $50 package features several steps in the right direction.

From office warfare to friendly dart battles in the backyard, this is a great addition to the arsenal.

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There are few examples of good writing in video games. The medium tends to tackle the same issues and genres, and only rarely steps outside of that comfort zone. At the recent Fan Expo in Toronto, a group of veteran writers and producers, with credits ranging from Too Human to Splinter Cell Conviction, discussed what makes a good writer and a well-written game.

The majority of the discussion centered on why games aren't yet at the same level as film or television.

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