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Politics

Submission + - Free Software & Internet Show Communism Possib (dailykos.com)

Submitted by CATINTHEHAT
CATINTHEHAT writes: Probably because he didn't get what he really wanted for Christmas, on January 5 1991, Finnish computer science graduate student Linus Torvalds went out and bought himself an IBM PC. He then proceeded to waste the next month playing Prince of Persia before he began in earnest the work that resulted in the first iteration of what became the Linux kernel. While this means that Linux is now entering it's 20th year, the Free Software Movement is significantly older. Rooted in the hacker culture of the 1970's, it dates its formal beginnings to Richard Stallman and the founding of the GNU Project in 1983. The development of the Free Software Movement has been inextricably intertwined with the development of the Internet. Free Software could never have obtained the force that it has, had it not been able to utilize the power of the Internet to unite developers from around the world in massive programming projects.

Submission + - Police Can Search Cell Phones Without Warrant

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the California Supreme Court has ruled 5 to 2 to allow police to search arrestees' cell phones without a warrant, saying defendants lose their privacy rights for any items they're carrying when taken into custody. Under US Supreme Court precedents, "this loss of privacy allows police not only to seize anything of importance they find on the arrestee's body ... but also to open and examine what they find," the state court said. The dissenting justices said those rulings shouldn't be extended to modern cell phones that can store huge amounts of data and that the decision allows police "to rummage at leisure through the wealth of personal and business information that can be carried on a mobile phone or handheld computer merely because the device was taken from an arrestee's person." Interestingly enough the Ohio Supreme Court reached an opposite conclusion in a December 2009 ruling that police had violated drug defendants' rights by searching their cell phones after their arrests. The Ohio-California split could prompt the US Supreme Court to take up the issue, says California Deputy Attorney General Victoria Wilson, who represented the prosecution in the case. "This has an impact on the day-to-day jobs of police officers, what kind of searches they can conduct without a warrant when they arrest someone," says Wilson. "It takes it into the realm of new technology.""
Hardware

Submission + - Kinect Creators To Make PC Controller

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The San Francisco Chronicle reports that PrimeSense, the privately held Israeli company that licensed core Kinect technology to Microsoft, is teaming up with PC and peripheral maker Asus to create a similar device for the PC that can be used for browsing multimedia content and accessing the Internet and social networks--basically, the main things consumers use their PCs for. Last month, a Korean game developer claimed that Microsoft was working on a version of Kinect for the PC, but Microsoft hasn't confirmed any such plans. However hackers figured out how to hook a Kinect up to a Windows PC almost immediately, and have already come up with some pretty interesting hacks including letting World of Warcraft players cast spells, fight opponents and maneuver their characters using simple hand gestures and body movements and combining the Kinect with a PC and a virtual reality headset to create a virtual reality experience that hints at what games may be like in the future."

Submission + - Rio Dead Body in StreetView

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
Iphone

Submission + - iPhone 4 scalpers shut down Apple Store in China (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The iPhone 4 launch in China this past weekend got off to an incredible start, but iPhone 4 scalpers recently prompted an Apple's flagship retail store in Beijing to shut down temporarily when iPhone 4 "scalpers" began walking out with dozens of iPhones and attempted to sell them to other customers waiting in line.
Hardware

Submission + - Is the Kindle 3 really better than an iPad? (daniweb.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Decent review explaining just why the new Kindle is a game changer and, at least when it comes to e-books, Apple has missed the boat.
Apple

Submission + - iPad: Dumb terminal of the 21st century? (infoworld.com)

Submitted by tsamsoniw
tsamsoniw writes: Potentially boosting the iPad's standing in the business world, StarNet — a 20-plus-year-old maker of X11 connectivity products — has unveiled an X11 client called iLiveX, designed to transform iPads into X terminals for mainframe-based Linux and Unix applications. Basically, it enables users to transfer server-based Linux application sessions between their desktops and their iPads. The client also lets users get at a hosted virtual Linux desktop to use Firefox (which means Flash on the iPad) and OpenOffice. Even with a new level of access to enterprise apps, just how productive can a user really be on the keyboardless, mouseless iPad?
Technology

Submission + - Samsung Galaxy Tablet Coming in September 1

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: The rumors are now reality, Samsung showed the world its first glimpse of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the company's new 7-inch tablet. Samsung Mobile will release more information about the Galaxy Tab on September 2 in advance of IFA Berlin 2010. Tab will run on Android 2.2 and feature full Web-browsing and video calling. The information given by the company implied that the Galaxy Tab will sport an HD screen for video, Flash support, support for e-books, possible GPS navigation, and PC linking.
Anime

Submission + - Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions - Game Trailer (spider-man-shattered-dimensions.com)

Submitted by transmediacomicbooks
transmediacomicbooks writes: Shattered Dimensions blends together four universes from the Marvel Comics multiverse, allowing the player to play as four different "Spider-Men". You, as Spider-Man must traverse across 4 different universes — the Amazing, Noir, 2099, and Ultimate universes — in order to Save the Multiverse.

Submission + - RIAA President Says Copyright Law "Isn't Working" (cnet.com)

Submitted by Kilrah_il
Kilrah_il writes: Apperantly not satisfied with the current scope of the DMCA, RIAA President Cary Sherman wants to broaden the scope of the law to have content providers such as YouTube and Rapidshare liable for illegal content found on their sites. "The RIAA would strongly prefer informal agreements inked with intermediaries... We're working on [discussions with broadband providers], and we'd like to extend that kind of relationship--not just to ISPs, but [also to] search engines, payment processors, advertisers...[But], if legislation is an appropriate way to facilitate that kind of cooperation, fine."
Notice the update at the end of the article pointing out that Sherman is seeking for voluntary agreements with said partners and not to enact broader laws without their cooperation.

Submission + - Toyota Prius: a little noisier = a lot safer? (skunkpost.com)

Submitted by crimeandpunishment
crimeandpunishment writes: If you hear the hybrid humming, you know it's coming....and you can get out of the way. Toyota is making the Prius a little noisier to try to make pedestrians a little safer. The automaker is answering complaints that pedestrians can't hear the hybrid auto approaching by adding a new electronic humming device. It will be available in Japan later this month...Toyota is still deciding whether to offer it overseas. The device costs about $150, plus installation charges.
Iphone

Submission + - Fix for Facebook 3.2 – “Unable to Load (bb-iphone-zone.com) 1

Submitted by freddyr
freddyr writes: Facebook 3.2 app for iPhone was released last night which supports the new location based service known as “Places” along with the feature of media uploading in background. But unfortunately this app didn’t allow you to log in. “Login Failed” & “Unable to load this page” are the errors that you might have got while using this app.

This Facebook 3.2 app for iPhone does not works on those jailbroken iPhone devices which have BiteSMS app installed. This might have created a compatibility issue. You would have to uninstall BiteSMS from your iPhone or you can follow the steps below to fix this problem:......
Graphics

Steam Prompts OS X Graphics Update 313

Posted by Soulskill from the like-opening-a-valve dept.
Stoobalou writes "Mac gamers got a massive boost when online gaming hub Steam started supporting the platform a few months ago. The arrival of the online service, which allowed Mac-toting gamers to play some of the same games as their PC brethren, in some cases cross-platform, created a great deal of debate between the two camps, with the PC crowd pillorying Mac fans for the relatively poor performance of their expensive hardware. Now it seems that Apple has gotten the message, as they have provided a graphics update for OS X Snow Leopard which will make progress toward closing the gap between the two platforms."
Patents

Submission + - Letter to abolish software patents in Australia (softwarefreedom.com.au)

Submitted by
Ben Sturmfels
Ben Sturmfels writes: "400 members of the Australian software industry have have signed an open letter, urging their government to abolish software patents. Signatories include free software luminaries Andrew Tridgell and Jonathan Oxer. In 2008 the Australian government began a Review of Patentable Subject Matter. While we missed the 2009 public consultation period, we hope to influence the government's response to the Review, due in February 2011. The letter will be presented to Minister Kim Carr in early August."

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