Briefly: Windows Turns 30, PlayStation 4 Unboxing, Six Dumb Copyright Laws

Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers including: Internet celebrity ‘Francis’ unboxes the PlayStation 4, six commonplace activities that involve breaching copyright, the 30th anniversary of Windows 1.0.

• Has there ever been a product more iconic and significant to the evolution of personal computing than Windows? It’s now been 30 years since Bill Gates first introduced the operating system to the masses. Windows 1.0 came with many defining OS features, including a calendar, clock, Microsoft Paint, a text editor, terminal and clipboard. Head over to Gizmodo for a brief trip down memory lane, along with some vintage clips of Gates and Balmer in action.
• Francis is a minor YouTube celebrity famous for his rants about gaming and gamer culture. In the following video, he opens a parcel containing a PlayStation 4. A lot of joyous bouncing ensues. If you’re curious about what the PS4 retail box and contents look like, look no further!
• If you have friends or family members affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, here is a small solace: Telstra is offering calls and texts to the region free of charge. “All standard voice calls and SMS messages made to the Philippines between 6am on Monday 11 November and 6am on Monday 25 November from Telstra fixed or mobile services will be free of charge for our retail customers,” the company explained in a statement. You can find out more on Telstra’a website.
• Two papers were published recently, each independently revealing that a planet discovered by the Kepler mission is the closest thing we’ve found yet to another Earth. In this fascinating post, the Australian-based astronomer and astrobiologist Jonti Horner gives a rundown on exoplanets and the search for habitable worlds.
• The latest installment in the Metal Gear Solid series recently caused controversy when a scantily-clad female sniper character was (literally) unveiled. While many have decried her barely-there outfit as sexist, one cosplayer has decided to recreate it in the flesh. Click here for the pictures (at first we couldn’t tell which was the real version and which was the game character!)
• The Creationistas have released a new series of videos detailing some of the copyright laws in Australia that the average citizen might not even be aware of. For instance, did you know that posting content to aggregators like Reddit or sharing a YouTube clip on Facebook could constitute breaking the law? Whether any of these rules would ever be enforced is another matter, but it’s interesting food for thought nonetheless.
• There was a time when the Call of Duty franchise was one of the most exciting and technologically advanced in gaming. That time has since passed. This bleak Gizmodo opinion piece explains how Activision slowly killed its golden goose.