Comment Re: Does anyone even use old fashioned cameras? (Score 1) 111
Yes. I have a zoom lens with a constant 2.8f aperture. Won't get that on a measly phone camera.
Comment Re: More food for thought (Score 1) 161
That was my thought when I read the article. HTML and XML are both SGML grammars. HTML (sans XHTML) just doesn't make you end a relatively small number of elements with a closing or self-closing element. So the window between "better than XML" and "worse than HTML" seems incredibly small.
Comment So, like retweeting propaganda? (Score 1) 125
So their idea is to re-post propaganda videos? I thought their stated job was to help combat terrorism (when they aren't busy creating their own elsewhere).
Comment Re:Not being well reviewed ... (Score 1) 616
But Surface (and more so the second versions announced) isn't just marketed nor targeted at being a tablet. It makes a great laptop when you have the keyboard/cover. And the new docking station solidifies its place on your desktop.
I use a Surface Pro for development - even running Hyper-V with a couple of VMs at a time for testing - and am quite happy with it. The screen could be bigger, but that doesn't make for a good tablet and the docking station will help fill that void (not to mention multi-screen development is easier in various scenarios anyway).
And while I probably don't need a 512GB SSD (256GB should be plenty since I use cloud storage for a lot of stuff, much of which isn't cached locally), the 8GB option at $1300 is comparable to - and even better than some - laptops/ultrabooks that are reasonable for development.
Number of Federal Wiretaps Rose 71 Percent In 2012 84
cold fjord writes "Looks like last year was pretty busy. I wonder how many were leaks and media? From the Washington Post: 'The number of wiretaps secured in federal criminal investigations jumped 71 percent in 2012 over the previous year, according to newly released figures. Federal courts authorized 1,354 interception orders for wire, oral and electronic communications, up from 792 the previous year, ... There was a 5 percent increase in state and local use of wiretaps in the same period. ... There is no explanation of why the federal figures increased so much, and it is generally out of line with the number of wiretaps between 1997 and 2009, which averaged about 550 annually. There was also a large number of wiretaps in 2010, when 1,207 were secured. A single wiretap can sweep up thousands of communications. One 30-day local wiretap in California, for instance, generated 185,268 cellular telephone interceptions, of which 12 percent were incriminating, according to the report. The vast majority of the wiretaps in both federal and state cases were obtained as part of drug investigations, and they overwhelmingly were directed at cellphones ... Only 14 court orders were for personal residences. Most jurisdictions limit the period of surveillance to 30 days, but extensions can be obtained.'"
L.A. School District's 30,000 iPads May Come With Free Lock-In 232
lpress writes "The Los Angeles Unified School District will spend $30 million over the next two years on iPads for 30,000 students. Coverage of the announcement has focused on Apple winning over other tablets, but that is not the key point. The top three proposals each included an app to deliver Pearson's K-12 Common Core System of Courses along with other third-party educational apps. The Common Core curriculum is not yet established, but many states are committed to it, starting next year. The new tablets and the new commitment to the Common Core curriculum will arrive around the same time, and busy faculty (and those hired to train them) will adopt the Pearson material. The tablets will be obsolete in a few years and the hardware platform may change, but lock-in to Pearson's default curriculum may last for generations."
D-Wave Large-Scale Quantum Chip Validated, Says USC Team 141
An anonymous reader writes "A team of scientists says it has verified that quantum effects are indeed at work in the D-Wave processor, the first commercial quantum optimization computer processor. The team demonstrated that the D-Wave processor behaves in a manner that indicates that quantum mechanics has a functional role in the way it works. The demonstration involved a small subset of the chip's 128 qubits, but in other words, the device appears to be operating as a quantum processor."
Google Unable To Keep Paying App Developers In Argentina 169
An anonymous reader writes "Google has sent letters to app developers registered in Argentina saying they won't be able to accept payments on developers' behalf after June 27th. 'The change applies to both paid apps and apps that use in-app purchases. The move appears to be related to new, restrictive regulations the Argentine government has imposed on currency exchanges.' According to the Telegraph, 'The new regulations required anyone wanting to change Argentine pesos into another currency to submit an online request for permission to AFIP, the Argentine equivalent of HM Revenue & Customs. To submit the request, however, you first needed to get a PIN from AFIP, either online or in person. Having finally obtained your number, submitted your online request and printed out your permission slip, you could then present it at the bank or official cambio and buy your dollars. Well, that was the theory. In practice, the result was chaos. ... damming the flood has come at a huge cost to the economy, especially since the currency restrictions were coupled with another set of regulations that effectively imposed a near-total ban on any imported goods.'"
Comment Re:How to bypass wikipedia's "Blackout" page... (Score 2) 290
...or you'd be breaking the law by discussing ways to circumvent content blocks.
Have you forgotten about the oft-abused DMCA already?
Comment Re:One word: WHY? (Score 1) 951
Did you read the original post? There's actually more room for content now when compared to Explorer that's been around in Vista and Win7.
Comment Re:BURN THE WITCH!! (Score 1) 295
Use vim and you'll get better.
Comment They're reducing prices? (Score 1) 373
...while reducing the hassles of boarding a plane that deter some people from flying.
So they're reducing prices for luggage and fuel? The hiked ticket prices to cover the fuel hike in 2009, as well as tacked on additional fees for luggage, obesity, etc. Prices didn't drop back down much compared to the hike, and then they hike prices again for the 2011 oil scare.
That's pretty much what keeps me from flying.
Comment Re:Unusual turn of phrase (Score 1) 76
But the cultists probably froze to death...err, re-death.
Comment Re:DRM (Score 1) 1162
And your typical consumer neither understands DRM nor cares, as long as the mainstream scenarios work (and they most often do). DRM schemes are a technophile argument and, unfortunately, most consumers aren't technophiles.
Why Has Blu-ray Failed To Catch Hold? 1162
Velcroman1 writes "My VCR is stashed in a closet, right next to a couple of CD-ROM players, a laser disc player, and other forgotten electronics. Is my Blu-ray player about to join them? Blu-ray really hasn't caught on — and probably never will. 'I'm surprised DVDs have continued to hang on,' said King, referring to the fact that player sales of over 20 million units in the US last year were pretty much evenly split between DVD and Blu-ray models. Blu-ray discs and players are clearly superior to DVDs, offering more features and a better picture overall. So why haven't shoppers been impressed?"
