Submission + - New poll please! (slashdot.org) 1
tsa writes: The /. poll What desktop web browser do you use? is now so old itâ(TM)s been archived. Do we ever get a new poll? And can the new poll be a bit more original please?
Submission Summary: 0 pending, 43 declined, 9 accepted (52 total, 17.31% accepted)
Submission + - iOS 14's Upcoming Anti-Tracking Prompt Sparks Antitrust Complaint in France (macrumors.com)
tsa writes: Starting early next year, iOS 14 will require apps to get opt-in permission from users to collect their random advertising identifier, which advertisers use to deliver personalized ads and track how effective their campaigns were. Ahead of this change, The Wall Street Journal reports that advertising companies and publishers have filed a complaint against Apple with France's competition authority, arguing that the enhanced privacy measures would be anticompetitive.
Submission + - Dutch court tells Grandmother to remove pics of her grandchildren fom FaceBook
tsa writes: Today a Dutch court has ruled that a grandmother must delete all pictures of her grandchildren from FaceBook and Pinterest. She placed the pictures of the underaged children there without consent of their mother, which is illegal in the EU. If she doesn't remove the pictures she will be fined €50,- ($55) per day with a maximum of €1000,- ($1100). The mother, who is the woman's daughter, had asked for a fine of €250,- ($275) a day if the pictures are not removed.
Submission + - Commercial Mars mission planned (mars-one.com) 1
tsa writes: "The Dutch entrepeneur Lars Benschop has started Mars-One. From his website:
"Mars One will take humanity to Mars in 2023, to establish the foundation of a permanent settlement from which we will prosper, learn, and grow. Before the first crew lands, Mars One will have established a habitable, sustainable settlement designed to receive new astronauts every two years. To accomplish this, Mars One has developed a precise, realistic plan based entirely upon existing technologies. It is both economically and logistically feasible, in motion through the integration of existing suppliers and experts in space exploration."
The idea is to form several groups of four space explorers, make a TV channel that follows them 24/7 while they prepare for the launch, and let the public choose the order in which the teams leave Earth."
"Mars One will take humanity to Mars in 2023, to establish the foundation of a permanent settlement from which we will prosper, learn, and grow. Before the first crew lands, Mars One will have established a habitable, sustainable settlement designed to receive new astronauts every two years. To accomplish this, Mars One has developed a precise, realistic plan based entirely upon existing technologies. It is both economically and logistically feasible, in motion through the integration of existing suppliers and experts in space exploration."
The idea is to form several groups of four space explorers, make a TV channel that follows them 24/7 while they prepare for the launch, and let the public choose the order in which the teams leave Earth."
Submission + - Apple admits severe irregularities (guardian.co.uk)
tsa writes: Apple's annual report says 91 children worked at its suppliers in 2010, and 137 workers were poisoned by n-hexane
Submission + - State of the climate: warming, no sign of waning (arstechnica.com)
tsa writes: Ars Technica has a nice and concise piece about the annual report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The 2009 report reveals that global average surface temperatures have risen 0.2C above the 1990s average and 0.3C above the 1980s average. Those values are large given the short time span, but seem mild considering that the report estimates 90 percent of the warming over the past 50 years has been absorbed by the oceans. I was also pretty shocked to hear on the news yesterday that the amount of plankton in the seas has almost halved in the last 60 years.
Submission + - Interview with Steve Ballmer on Dutch TV (omroep.nl)
tsa writes: Yesterday there was an interesting and very funny interview with Steve Ballmer on our national TV. The audience were 600 students of our Erasmus University, who were allowed to ask questions. There is a small part that is in Dutch because Steve happened to have a Belgian teacher for a while. She tells us what kind of a kid he was when he was 8 years old. During the interview Steve gets some tough questions that he answeres like a pro. Despite the fact that they don't ask him about the chair, it's worth watching!
Submission + - Google CEO to discuss his future as an Apple direc (appleinsider.com)
tsa writes: "AppleInsider tells us that Google chief executive Eric Schmidt's position at Apple's board of directors gets more and more precarious now that Andoid, Google Chrome, and Chrome OS are on, or coming to, the market. From the article: "Even before Google announced plans for the new Chrome OS based off its nine-month-old web browser, the Federal Trade Commission began looking into the whether the companies were in violation of the Section 8 provision of The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, which forbids "interlocking directorates." In addition to Schmidt, Genentech chief executive Arthur Levinson also sits on the board of both companies.""
Submission + - Experts warn of porn Mac attacks (bbc.co.uk)
tsa writes: "BBC News tells us that two novel forms of Mac OS X malware have been discovered. OSX/Tored-A — an updated version of the Mac OS Tored worm — and a Trojan called OSX/Jahlav-C were both found on popular pornographic websites. Users logging on to these sites are asked to download a "missing Video ActiveX Object" but are sent a virus payload instead."
Submission + - Heilein's house is for sale (mcginnis.com)
Submission + - Lego loses its unique right to make lego blocks (blikopnieuws.nl)
tsa writes: "The European Department of Justice has decided that the Danish company Lego does not have exclusive rights to the lego building block anymore (sorry, it's in Dutch). Lego went to court after a Canadian firm had made blocks that were so like lego blocks that they even fitted the real blocks made by Lego. The European judge decided that the design of the lego blocks is not protected by European trade marks and so anyone can make the blocks."
Submission + - Telco appeals city's fiber-optic win (arstechnica.com)
tsa writes: "In a predictable move, TDS Telecom filed an appeal after its complaint against Monticello, Minnesota's new fiber network was tossed by a county judge in early October. As you may remember, the city decided to build its own fibre optic network after the telco made it clear they wouldn't build it because it wouldn't be economically feasible for them. TDS Telecom then changed its mind and sued the city for unfair competition."
Submission + - Dutch court punishes theft of virtual property (pcworld.com)
tsa writes: "Last week, the Dutch court subjected two kids of ages 15 and 14 to 160 hours of unpaid work or 80 days in jail, because they stole virtual property from a 13 year old boy. The boy was kicked and beaten and threatened with a knife while forced to log into Runescape and giving his assets to the two perpetrators. This ruling is the first of its kind for the Netherlands. Ars Technica has som more background information."
Submission + - Excessive EULA for Disney's Sleeping Beauty (formatwarcentral.com)
tsa writes: "In order to watch the Sleeping Beauty Blu-Ray DVD, Disney requires you to first agree to 120 pages of legal nonsense. I guess your kids have grown up by the time you have finished reading."
Submission + - Judge tosses telco suit over city-owned network (arstechnica.com)
tsa writes: "The city of Monticello, Minnesota, was sued by their local telco Bridgewater Telephone Company because the city chose to build a fibre optics network of their own. The judge dismissed their complaint of competition by a governmental organization. From the article: The judge's ruling is noteworthy for two things: (1) the judge's complete dismissal of Bridgewater Telephone Company's complaint and (2) his obvious anger at the underfunding of Minnesota's state courts. Indeed, the longest footnote in the opinion is an extended jeremiad about how much work judges are under and why it took so long to decide this case."
