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Comments: 14 +-   WIPO Commitee Presentations Show Nuanced View of Copyright on Saturday November 07, @07:14PM

Posted by timothy on Saturday November 07, @07:14PM
from the at-least-given-the-context dept.
court
AtomicJake writes "As the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in known for a very rigid course combating counterfeiting and piracy in general, it comes as a surprise that during a meeting of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement, several presenters have shown nuanced views on the economics of enforcing intellectual property rights. Combating clothing piracy might not be beneficial for the welfare of a developing country. Most surprising is the presentation (PDF) of WIPO Chief Economist Carsten Fink, which says that illegal copies of software may actually be beneficial even for consumers of the original goods. Also the piracy of audio-visual goods creates not only losses but also benefits for e.g. hardware manufacturers. Maybe this is because Mr. Fink wrote the presentation before joining WIPO?"
Read More... 14 comments story

Comments: 142 +-   Simple, Cost-Effective, Multiroom Audio? on Saturday November 07, @06:00PM

Posted by timothy on Saturday November 07, @06:00PM
from the powered-monitors-and-long-cables dept.
music
jimicus writes "I'd like a multiroom audio system but I'm thoroughly confused by the options available — and the difference in prices is huge. For instance, Philips have a wireless system which starts at around £280 — and Russound have a product which comes in around £1,000. I've already got all my music as MP3s and it lives on a NAS box — I don't really want to repeat that process. I also have a perfectly capable amp and speakers in my living room, so I don't really need anything else there. Whatever I go for has to pass the wife test — so something which requires a separate amp, speakers and PC in each room and requires a keyboard to control is right out. I don't mind spending a little money but I don't really want to find that every little extra thing adds up to £thousands. Has anyone else dealt with a similar problem? How did you solve it?"
Read More... 142 comments story

Comments: 55 +-   Comic Books Improve Early Childhood Literacy on Saturday November 07, @04:47PM

Posted by timothy on Saturday November 07, @04:47PM
from the shore-helped-mee dept.
books
Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that Professor Carol Tilley, a professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois, says that comics are just as sophisticated as other forms of reading, children benefit from reading them at least as much as they do from reading other kinds of books, and that there is evidence that comics increase children's vocabulary and instill a love of reading. 'A lot of the criticism of comics and comic books come from people who think that kids are just looking at the pictures and not putting them together with the words,' says Tilley. 'But you could easily make some of the same criticisms of picture books – that kids are just looking at pictures, and not at the words.' Tilley says that some of the condescension toward comics as a medium may come from the connotations that the name itself evokes but that the distinct comic book aesthetic — frames, thought and speech bubbles, motion lines, to name a few — has been co-opted by children's books, creating a hybrid format."
Read More... 55 comments story

Comments: 77 +-   How Google Uses Linux on Saturday November 07, @03:39PM

Posted by timothy on Saturday November 07, @03:39PM
from the rebasing-not-freebasing dept.
google
postfail writes 'lwn.net coverage of the 2009 Linux Kernel Summit includes a recap of a presentation by Google engineers on how they use Linux. According to the article, a team of 30 Google engineers is rebasing to the mainline kernel every 17 months, presently carrying 1208 patches to 2.6.26 and inserting almost 300,000 lines of code; roughly 25% of those patches are backports of newer features.'
Read More... 77 comments story

Comments: 85 +-   Paul Vixie On What DNS Is Not on Saturday November 07, @02:30PM

Posted by timothy on Saturday November 07, @02:30PM
from the this-could-be-a-long-book dept.
internet
CowboyRobot writes "Paul Vixie (AboveNet, ARIN, ISC, MAPS, PAIX) has a fresh rant titled What DNS Is Not about the abuses of the Domain Name Server system. 'What DNS is not is a mapping service or a mechanism for delivering policy-based information. DNS was designed to express facts, not policies. Because it works so well and is ubiquitous, however, it's all too common for entrepreneurs to see it as a greenfield opportunity ... a few years ago VeriSign, which operates the .COM domain under contract to ICANN, added a "wild card" to the top of the .COM zone (*.COM) so that its authoritative name servers would no longer generate NXDOMAIN responses. Instead they generated responses containing the address of SiteFinder's Web site — an advertising server.'"
Read More... 85 comments story

Comments: 158 +-   Babies Begin Learning Language In the Womb on Saturday November 07, @01:24PM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @01:24PM
from the no-time-like-the-present dept.
medicine
Hugh Pickens writes "Science Daily reports findings from a new study which suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, long before their first babble or coo, and are able to memorize sounds from the external world by the last trimester of pregnancy, with a particular sensitivity to melody contour in both music and language. Newborns prefer their mother's voice over other voices and perceive the emotional content of messages conveyed via intonation contours in maternal speech (a.k.a. 'motherese'). 'The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life, within the last trimester of gestation,' said Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzburg in Germany. Wermke's team recorded and analyzed the cries of 60 healthy newborns, 30 born into French-speaking families and 30 born into German-speaking families, when they were three to five days old. The recordings of 2,500 cries as mothers changed babies' diapers, readied babies for feeding or otherwise interacted with the youngsters show an extremely early impact of native language, with analysis revealing clear differences in the shape of the newborns' cry melodies, based on their mother tongue."
Read More... 158 comments story

Comments: 372 +-   Visually Impaired Gamer Sues Sony on Saturday November 07, @12:21PM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @12:21PM
from the blind-suing-the-blind dept.
sony
An anonymous reader writes "A visually impaired gamer has sued Sony because game products allegedly violate the Americans With Disabilities Act. 'According to the suit, Sony ignored repeated requests through postal mail and e-mail to come up with reasonable modifications to its games to make them more accessible.' This suit seems to be a combination of National Federation of the Blind v. Target, which complained of inaccessibility to the visually disabled (which settled for $6 million) and Martin v. PGA Tour, Inc., where the US Supreme Court ruled a disabled golfer was entitled to a golf cart where one was not already allowed as a reasonable accommodation. If the plaintiff wins, Sony will have to make 'reasonable accommodations' which are not an 'undue financial burden.' In my humble opinion, providing access for the disabled is not only the right thing to do but it will generate more profit for Sony."
Read More... 372 comments story

Comments: 338 +-   Did Microsoft Borrow GPL Code For a Windows 7 Utility? on Saturday November 07, @11:22AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @11:22AM
from the free-as-in-gimme dept.
windows
Goatbert writes "Rafael Rivera over at WithinWindows.com has found evidence that Microsoft has potentially stolen code from an open source/GPL'd project (ImageMaster) for a utility made available on the Microsoft Store to allow download customers to copy the Windows 7 setup files to a DVD or USB Flash Drive. If Rivera's evidence holds up, this could be some serious egg in the face for Microsoft at a time when they're getting mostly good press from the tech media."
Read More... 338 comments story

Comments: 31 +-   Cisco Security System Shuts Out Third-Party Tools on Saturday November 07, @10:19AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @10:19AM
from the trouble-versus-worth dept.
networking
alphadogg writes "Cisco has finally publicly acknowledged it won't add support for new third-party devices to its security information and event monitoring appliance, ending months of speculation about the future of its Monitoring, Analysis and Response System. Some claim it's the beginning of the end for MARS as a multi-vendor SIEM device. 'MARS customers can expect non-Cisco network device data and signature updates to continue for currently supported third-party systems, but no new third-party devices will be added,' Cisco declared in a statement, noting that 'Cisco MARS continues to focus on supporting Cisco devices for threat identification and mitigation.' Cisco's SIEM competitors this week have eagerly grabbed at the topic of Cisco MARS freezing third-party support because of a Gartner research memo published Oct. 29 in which analyst Mark Nicolett stated, 'Cisco has quietly begun informing its customers of a decision to freeze support for most non-Cisco event sources with its [MARS].'"
Read More... 31 comments story

Comments: 38 +-   NH Supreme Court Hears Case On Protections For Anonymous Sources Online on Saturday November 07, @09:16AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @09:16AM
from the in-a-statement-provided-by-xsephirothx dept.
privacy
fulldecent writes "The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that calls into question the legal protections available to independent Web sites that cover news. The case involves mortgage lender Implode-Explode, a Las Vegas-based site launched in 2007 that publishes stories about the meltdown of the mortgage industry. Associate Justice Carol Ann Conboy pressed the point with [defense lawyer Jeremy Eggleton], questioning, 'Can anyone who posts a blog be considered a reporter,' for the purposes of claiming protection of anonymous sources? Eggleton answered yes, within limits: 'The test is whether the person has an intention to gather, analyze and disseminate.'"
Read More... 38 comments story

Comments: 136 +-   Antimatter In Lightning on Saturday November 07, @08:15AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @08:15AM
from the doc-brown-can-now-power-his-warp-drive dept.
earth
AMESN writes "The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, launched last year, detects gamma rays from light years away, but recently it detected gamma rays from lightning on Earth. And the energy of the gamma rays is specific to the decay of positrons, which are the antimatter flavor of electrons. Finding antimatter in lightning surprised researchers and suggests the electric field of the lightning somehow got reversed."
Read More... 136 comments story

Comments: 323 +-   Radar Beats GPS In Court — Or Does It? on Saturday November 07, @05:14AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @05:14AM
from the technology-deathmatch dept.
transportation
TechnologyResource writes "More than two years ago in California, a police officer wrote Shaun Malone a ticket for going 62mph in a 45-mph zone. Malone was ordered to pay a $190 fine, but his parents appealed the decision, saying data from a GPS tracking system they installed in his car to monitor his driving proved he was not speeding. What ensued was the longest court battle over a speeding ticket in Sonoma county history. The case also represented the first time anyone locally had tried to beat a ticket using GPS. The teen's GPS pegged the car at 45 mph in virtually the same location. At issue was the distance from the stoplight — site of the first GPS 'ping' that showed Malone stopped — to the second ping 30 seconds later, when he was going 45 mph. Last week, Commissioner Carla Bonilla ruled the GPS data confirmed the prosecution's contention that Malone had to have exceeded the speed limit and would have to pay the $190 fine. 'This case ensures that other law enforcement agencies throughout the state aren't going to have to fight a case like this where GPS is used to cast doubt on radar,' said Sgt. Ken Savano, who oversees the traffic division. However, Commissioner Bonilla noted the accuracy of the GPS system was not challenged by either side in the dispute, but rather they had different interpretations of the data. Bonilla ruled the GPS data confirmed the prosecution's contention that Malone had to have exceeded the speed limit."
Read More... 323 comments story

Comments: 45 +-   Skype's Legal Situation Clears on Saturday November 07, @02:13AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @02:13AM
from the everybody-goes-home-happy dept.
business
chill writes "Skype's co-founders, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, have agreed to transfer ownership of the remaining Skype technology that eBay didn't own, paving the way for eBay to complete its sale of a majority stake in Skype to an investor consortium. In exchange, Friis and Zennstrom will join the investor consortium and obtain a 14 percent stake in Skype. The other consortium partners, led by Silver Lake, will own a 56 percent stake in Skype, and eBay will hold on to 30 percent, eBay said Friday."
Read More... 45 comments story

Comments: 139 +-   John Carmack Says No Dedicated Servers For Rage on Saturday November 07, @01:20AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @01:20AM
from the will-you-rage-over-rage dept.
fps
AndrewDBarker writes "Modern Warfare 2 will use a matchmaking setup powered by IWNet for online play (as we've discussed). It's too early to say what Rage will use, but Carmack indicated he believed the servers are something of a remnant of the early days of PC gaming. That said, he realizes the affinity many PC gamers have for them — and is glad Rage won't be leading the charge away from them. 'The great thing is we won't have to be a pioneer on that,' he says. 'We'll see how it works out for everyone else.'"
Read More... 139 comments story

Comments: 135 +-   Norwegian Court Rules ISP Doesn't Have To Block The Pirate Bay on Saturday November 07, @12:09AM

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 07, @12:09AM
from the arrr-me-hearties dept.
court
C4st13v4n14 writes "In a sudden outbreak of uncommon sense yesterday, a Norwegian District Court handed down the decision that Telenor, Norway's largest ISP, will not have to block access to The Pirate Bay. Telenor was sued earlier this year by the IFPI after being threatened and not backing down. 'The court ruled that Telenor is not contributing to any infringements of copyright law when its subscribers use The Pirate Bay, and therefore there is no legal basis for forcing the ISP to block access to the site. ... In making its decision, the court also had to examine the repercussions if it ruled that Telenor and other ISPs had to block access to certain websites.'"
Read More... 135 comments story

Comments: 123 +-   KDE Founder Receives Highest German Honor on Friday November 06, @10:07PM

Posted by Soulskill on Friday November 06, @10:07PM
from the other-than-beer dept.
kde
Jiilik Oiolosse writes "KDE founder Matthias Ettrich was decorated today with the German Federal Cross of Merit for his contributions to Free Software. The Federal Cross of Merit is both the most prestigious as well as the only general decoration awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany. It is awarded by the Federal President for outstanding achievements in the political, economic, cultural, and other fields. Matthias was awarded the medal in recognition of his work spurring innovation and spreading knowledge for the common good."
Read More... 123 comments story

Comments: 61 +-   Sony Demos Natal-Like Control System on Friday November 06, @08:03PM

Posted by Soulskill on Friday November 06, @08:03PM
from the wink-to-fire-the-cannon dept.
inputdev
An anonymous reader writes "It's not just Microsoft investigating full body, markerless motion capture. Sony has enlisted the help of Swiss firm Atracsys to develop similar technology. Sony has openly discussed the technology with New Scientist, and has realistic expectations for the new system — it can capture broad body gestures but not individual fingers. That's just one trade-off needed in order to develop a real-time system that anyone can use, according to a markerless motion-capture expert." It's still in the early stages of development, but the accompanying video shows the use of face-recognition software as well. The demo game has players moving their heads left or right to position their character, and then smiling to "catch" an object.
Read More... 61 comments story

Comments: 85 +-   AMD Graphics Chip Shortage Hits PC Vendors on Friday November 06, @07:10PM

Posted by Soulskill on Friday November 06, @07:10PM
from the at-least-tsmc-is-consistent dept.
amd
CWmike writes "An offshore AMD foundry is having trouble ramping up production of a new 40-nanometer GPU, forcing PC makers to delay shipments of desktop and laptop computers, AMD confirmed today. TSMC is struggling to get up to speed manufacturing AMD's 5800 series, 40-nm GPUs, according to Jim McGregor, an analyst at In-Stat. He added that the foundry is in full production, but so far yields are below expectation. Matt Davis, a spokesman for AMD, confirmed that TSMC is having issues with production of the chips. He added that it's not clear how far behind the foundry is on production expectations. 'The design is sound. It's just a matter of trying to get TSMC to a point where they can yield. They're feeling the manufacturing crunch,' said Davis. 'We're a little bit under yield but we're working back into a manufacturing schedule we want for these parts. TSMC can only kick them out so fast at this point.' He said that PC vendors are being affected but declined to say how many vendors are feeling the pinch or which ones. 'It's the end of the whip,' he added. '[The vendors] are going to have a hard time.'" A post at Anandtech suggests we'll see price hikes for the 5800-series Radeons until this situation sorts itself out.
Read More... 85 comments story

Comments: 131 +-   China Bans Physical Punishment For Net Addicts on Friday November 06, @06:17PM

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday November 06, @06:17PM
from the no-more-actually-kicking-the-habit dept.
government
gimmebeer writes to tell us that months after a teen was beaten to death in an Internet boot camp, China has banned the use of physical punishment to help teens kick their net addiction. "The death of 15-year-old Deng Senshan, just hours after he checked into an Internet bootcamp in the southwestern Guangxi region in early August, caused a media storm in China. Days later, another teenager, Pu Liang, was taken to hospital with water in the lungs and kidney failure after a similar attack in Sichuan Province. The government in July had already banned electroshock therapy as a treatment for Internet addiction, after media reports about a controversial psychiatrist who administered electric currents to nearly 3,000 teenagers. The latest guidelines suggest officials in Beijing do not think that those with unhealthy Internet habits should be forced offline permanently."
Read More... 131 comments story

Comments: 39 +-   Telecoms Announce "One Voice" Initiative To Promote LTE Wireless Broadband Stand on Friday November 06, @05:33PM

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday November 06, @05:33PM
from the wars-fought-with-dollars dept.
cellphones
suraj.sun writes to mention that Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks may have just gotten a boost over WiMax in the battle for wireless broadband dominance. A group of telecom companies has created the "One Voice" initiative, designed to promote a standard that will provide interoperability for broadband voice and SMS. "LTE has been fine at supporting data, which uses IP-based packet switching. But it's faced challenges trying to incorporate traditional circuit-based switching voice and SMS services onto IP-based networks. One Voice is the group's attempt to resolve that issue. The new specification will use existing functionality known as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which already defines how to provide data, voice, and other content over an IP-based network. IMS was established by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a group comprised of telecom industry associations trying to set standards for 3G mobile networks."
Read More... 39 comments story
 
What Does Google Suggest Suggest About Humanity?
Casino Denies Man $166 Million Jackpot
Louisville Ranks No. 1 In Online Porn Searches
Terrorists Ban Musical Ringtones
Poll Sci-Fi Shows and Movies Should Stop...
Trying To Ignore Science
Being Generic Action Movies In Space
Getting Canceled Early
Spending $50M On Effects and $50k On Writing
Bothering With the Major Networks
Poorly Interpreting Good Books
Inventing New Swear Words
Starring Will Smith
[ Results | Polls ]
Comments:118 | Votes:5270

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