Comment You really think so? (Score 0, Redundant) 69
Are you kidding? I think the RIAA has proven they're incapable of learning.
Comment Re:Considering the Rush Job... (Score 2, Funny) 48
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/12/21/
Prophetic!
Comment Re:not surprising (Score 1) 559
I actually had a long argument with my park ranger about deer scat vs. rabbit scat. My main point was this: whenever he experiences any trouble he still complains to me, and for me it is much easier to deal with deer scat. So he gave it a try and it all tasted OK to his own surprise, he had no troubles eating partially digested berries, pine needles and pigeons.
Thanks alot folks! I'll be here all week!
(PS This wasn't in reference to parents comment, it just fit well here)
Submission + - First Person Shooter Used in Fire Drill Simulation
Hugh Pickens writes: "Researchers at Durham University have modified a video game and turned it into a fire drill simulator using "The Source Engine," the 3D game engine used to drive Half-Life 2 and created a virtual model of one of the university's departments. Dr Shamus Smith said that although 3D modeling software was available, modifying a video game was faster, more cost effective, and had better special effects. "We were interested in using game technology over a customized application and The Source Engine, from Half-Life, is very versatile," said Smith. "We used the simulation to see how people behaved in an actual fire situation and to train people in 'good practice' in a fire." The team says the virtual environment helped familiarize people with evacuation routines and could also help identify problems with a building's layout. One problem, however, was that while the simulation worked for most people, those who played a lot of video games did some unusual things when using the simulation. "If a door was on fire, they [gamers] would try and run through it, rather than look for a different exit," said Smith."
Making the "Free" Business Model Work In a Tough Economy 188
Randy Savage writes "With venture capital on hold and advertising revenue down, the WSJ discusses where online business models might go. 'Over the past decade, we have built a country-sized economy online where the default price is zero — nothing, nada, zip. Digital goods — from music and video to Wikipedia — can be produced and distributed at virtually no marginal cost, and so, by the laws of economics, price has gone the same way, to $0.00. For the Google Generation, the Internet is the land of the free. '"
Chu's Final Breakthrough Before Taking Office 233
KentuckyFC writes "While preparing for the job of US Secretary of Energy in the incoming Obama administration (and being director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Nobel Prize winner to boot), Steven Chu has somehow found time to make a major breakthrough in the world of atom interferometry. One measure of an interferometer's sensitivity is the area that its arms enclose. Chu and colleagues have found a way to increase this area by a factor of 2,500 by canceling out the noise introduced by lasers, which work as beam splitters sending atoms down different arms (abstract). One thing this makes possible is the use of different types of atoms in the same interferometer, allowing a new generation of tests of the equivalence principle. (This is the assumption that the m in F=ma and the m's in F= Gm1.m2/r^2 are the same thing). Let's hope he's got equally impressive breakthroughs planned for his encore as US Secretary of Energy."
Star Wars, Retold by Someone Who Hasn't Seen It
24
Gambrinus writes "Can someone that hasn't seen the original Star Wars trilogy retell it? This guy recorded his friend retelling him the plot of the original Star Wars trilogy. He then made some animations to go along with her narration."
Comment Online account != Residence (Score 2, Insightful) 296
The basic reason for the notice requirement on evictions is that evictions tend to leave a person without a home. When getting cut off from online access to relatively unimportant content has the same devastating repercussions, I guess the same requirements will begin to apply.
Comment HHGTTG v2 (Score 1) 340
How about the Guide v2, the one at the end of the series that makes reality collapse in on itself in the end and can manipulate time at any point :) Better than the silly Krikkit weapon :)
Submission + - Human exoskeleton suit helps paralyzed people walk
cb_is_cool writes: From Reuters via Yahoo! News: "http://news.yahoo.com/story/nm/technology_paralysis_dc"
"Something of a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by comic hero Iron Man, ReWalk helps paraplegics — people paralyzed below the waist — to stand, walk and climb stairs."
Pretty appealing alternative to the options paraplegics have now.
Submission + - Verizon is still bad at math (eyelesswriter.com)
mikesd81 writes: "Eyelesswriter reports has a report about a guy who called Verizon 56 times to test Verizon's rate policy. You can get some background information on this at verizonmath.com. Some may recall the whole .002 cents vs .002 dollars episode. The results of this informal survey shows only 2% of the Verizon operators are aware of the proper policy. From the article: While many operators did mistakenly quote cents instead of dollars, a large portion of the mistakes were simply wrong, regardless of where the decimal fell. This means that even if Verizon has since addressed the cents/dollars issue, that by itself wouldn't be enough.
By the end of the 56 calls, this guy still had to call a PR rep and ask for a printed quote of the rates. There's a video also."
By the end of the 56 calls, this guy still had to call a PR rep and ask for a printed quote of the rates. There's a video also."
Submission + - Leopard takes half of Japanese retail OS market (itworld.com)
hoagiecat writes: Is Apple like all those bands who claim to be "huge in Japan"? Leopard accounted for 53 percent of boxed operating systems sold in Japan in October — even though it was only on sale for the last six days of the month.
Submission + - Toys recalled after finding "date-rape drug
cb_is_cool writes: Another child became ill after ingesting toys containing so-called "date-rape drug" GHB. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22725709-5005961,00.html Manufacturer has since recalled the product.
Adobe to Unclutter Photoshop UI 403
spotplace writes "It's not common to see a company blast their own product for failing to adapt to times and people's necessities, unless they're trying to give you a reason to buy the latest and greatest of said product. That's exactly what Adobe has done. John Nack, senior product manager at Adobe, says the old Photoshop interface doesn't cut it anymore: "I sometimes joke that looking at some parts of the app is like counting the rings in a tree: you can gauge when certain features arrived by the dimensions & style of the dialog. No one wants to work with — or work on — some shambling, bloated monster of a program.""
Submission + - How Microsoft Knifed its CIO 1
theodp writes: "As the COO of the newly CIO-less Microsoft whoops it up in Dubai at the Microsoft Gulf 2007 CIO Summit, Valleywag hears rumors that Microsoft leaked news of CIO Stuart Scott's dismissal for an unspecified 'violation of company policies' as his family was grieving over his sister's death. An obituary notice seems to confirm that on the same day Scott's family attended a memorial service for his sister, Microsoft set an unusually public media blitz in motion in lieu of flowers. Could just be an unfortunate coincidence, although sympathy may not be a Microsoft core competency."
