Comment Missing Option (Score 1) 149
Only those with Cowboy Neil as an option.
Comment Solaris = 1, Solar = 3 (Score 1) 334
For a moment, I thought it read, "Solaris Powered."
Comment The 39% are delusional (Score 1) 286
On a counter-argument: am I to believe that 39% of you waste imagination and breath on cursing a computer? Save it for lesser life forms like politicians, marketing directors, and news commentators. Won't you be sorry when computers discover revenge.
Comment Christmas by an Inch (Score 1) 422
I have to work both days, but I can go home in the evening on Christmas.
New Years, I get to watch the phone not ring as thousands of computers around the world roll in the new year.
Microsoft Is Releasing an H.264 Plugin For Firefox 245
ndogg writes "Microsoft has announced that it is releasing an H.264 plugin for Firefox. This plugin does not add H.264 capabilities to Firefox, but rather allows it to use the H.264 capabilities built into Windows 7. With that in mind, it sounds like it may not work on anything other than Windows 7."
CA's First Molten Salt Energy Plant Approved 270
An anonymous reader writes "This year we've seen molten salt power plants start to pick up steam around the world, and now the technology is heating up stateside — California just approved its first molten salt energy plant. Designed by SolarReserve, the plant uses heliostats to focus thermal energy on a power tower filled with salt, which is able to reach very high temperatures (over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit) and can hold heat for an extraordinary length of time. Heat from this reserve of molten salt can then be pumped through a steam generator to provide on-demand energy long after the sun has set."
The French Government Can Now Censor the Internet 419
Psychophrenes writes "A new episode in French internet legislation — French ministers have passed a bill (original in French) allowing the government to add any website to a black list, which access providers will have to enforce. This black list will be defined by the government only, without requiring the intervention of the legal system. Although originally intended against pedo-pornographic websites, this bill is already outdated, as was Hadopi in its time, and instead paves the way for a global censorship of the 'French internet.'"
Smithsonian Celebrates 50 Years of COBOL 178
wiredog writes "The Atlantic reports the news that the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has a new section of their website dedicated to documenting COBOL's history. An exhibit will open at the museum this spring."
Should Wikipedia Just Accept Ads Already? 608
Hugh Pickens writes "Large images of Jimmy Wales have for weeks dominated each and every page on Wikipedia, making Wales arguably the single most visible individual on the planet. Now Molly McHugh writes that Wikipedia is once again pleading for user donations with banners across the top of its site with memos from purported authors and this week, Wales stepped up the shrillness of his rallying cry by adding the word 'Urgent' to his appeal. Wales attempted the same request for donations last year, and failed to meet the company's goal until Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar donated $2 million and Google stepped in with another $2 million gift to the foundation. This time around the foundation is approximately $7 million short of its 2010 fundraising goal, and Wikipedia analysts are saying the site would be better off with a marketing scheme as Alex Konanykhin of WikiExperts explains that the donations-only, no-commerce model restricts Wikipedia to relying exclusively on free volunteers, losing opportunities to involve qualified professionals who charge for their time in addition to the thirty staff members already on the Wikimedia payroll. 'Advertising is not cool. You're not as cool if you have advertising. But you know what else is not cool? Begging,' writes Jeff Otte. 'We do not care if there is advertising on Wikipedia, so long as it is not ridiculously invasive. So please, replace your sensitive mug with a Steak 'n' Shake ad or something, and start making advertisers pay for people to have stuff for free and not feel bad about it. It's the Internet's way.'"
Giving the Blind Better Web Access 168
crimeandpunishment writes "Decades ago, the breakthrough for the disabled was making buildings wheelchair accessible. Today, it's making their world Web-accessible. Disabled groups are hailing new legislation Congress has sent to the President. Among other things, the measure will give the blind greater Internet access through smart phones, and require devices like iPhones and Blackberrys to be hearing-aid compatible. 'It breaks down barriers for all of us,' says Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind."
Map Based Passwords 169
smitty777 writes "Discovery is running an article on passwords based on a very specific location on a map. Instead of showing UID and Password fields, the user would simply click on a very specific spot on Google Earth, for example. I wonder how you would make that secure? Also, if you forgot, would you get a message saying 'Your password is the third flamingo on the left on the lawn of Aunt Bessie's house'?"
Comment Re:Fast Forward to 2050 (Score 1) 814
Or go back #00 years and move to Japan.
Comment Cultural reference error (Score 1) 222
"... games in the Hentai genre, an explicit form of anime."
While there is some anime in hentai games (often similar art styles), and some characters in anime are seen playing hentai games, hentai games are not a form of anime. That's akin to saying "people can watch movies in their car; cars are in movies, so cars are an explicit form of movies." (And then there is (are) "Transformers" to mess with my analogy.)
Comment 74 (Score 1) 244
Since I'm in charge of translating message board posts to bug listings for our software, and I include the time of the report, I can state quite confidently that I've filed 74 of them in the past year.
Assuming that the bug filing process doesn't have a bug it in.
Comment Not a one, sadly (Score 1) 394
If there were one, you think I would spend my time answering a poll on a text heavy site? On a good day, my aircard gets me just over 120k. Enough, barely, to play a real-time on-line game, as long as I'm willing to lose to the occasional high bandwidth nasty looking for folks like me who can't properly defend themselves.
