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Digital

Submission + - J.K. Rowling bypasses Amazon, iTunes, etc. to offer an in-house solution (pottermore.com)

DJRumpy writes: J.K. Rowling may have just turned the digital book business on it's ear. They are offering the Harry Potter series via their website exclusively while foregoing the typical distribution channels like Amazon's Kindle, and iTunes. The formats are supported by every e-reader capable device out there according to their website. Is this the start of a new trend?

Submission + - City of Boston pays $170,000 to settle landmark case involving man arrested for (aclum.org) 1

Ian Lamont writes: "The City of Boston has reached a $170,000 settlement with Simon Glik who was arrested by Boston Police in 2007 after using his mobile phone to record police arresting another man on Boston Common. Police claimed that Glik had violated state wiretapping laws, but later dropped the charges and admitted the officers were wrong to arrest him. Glik had brought a lawsuit against the city (aided by the ACLU) because he claimed his civil rights were violated. According to today's ACLU statement:

As part of the settlement, Glik agreed to withdraw his appeal to the Community Ombudsman Oversight Panel. He had complained about the Internal Affairs Division's investigation of his complaint and the way they treated him. IAD officers made fun of Glik for filing the complaint, telling him his only remedy was filing a civil lawsuit. After the City spent years in court defending the officers' arrest of Glik as constitutional and reasonable, IAD reversed course after the First Circuit ruling and disciplined two of the officers for using "unreasonable judgment" in arresting Glik.

"

Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Hit By ID Fraud (foxnews.com)

Velcroman1 writes: An AWOL soldier's simple scheme to defraud one of the richest men in the world has landed him in federal custody, according to a criminal complaint. In the complaint unsealed Monday, federal investigators allege Brandon Lee Price changed the address on a bank account held by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, then had a debit card sent to his Pittsburgh home so he could use it for payments on a delinquent Armed Forces Bank account and personal expenses.

Submission + - Australian government takes Apple to court (news.com.au)

An anonymous reader writes: Apple has run afoul of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), by advertising its new iPad as having 4G connectivity. The ACCC is seeking "injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising and refunds to consumers affected''. In a statement the ACCC said the tablet under the "4G'' banner was "misleading'' as it suggested the tablet computer could, "with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case''.
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Borat's Swimsuit Cited as Prior Art in Patent Rejection (hollywoodreporter.com)

eldavojohn writes: Although Slashdot has been known to conjure up a lot of claims of prior art in software patents, Sacha Baron Cohen (or his alias "Borat") appears to be a pioneer in "scrotal support garments" featuring the latest technologies in his movies years before the patent applications flow. Another commentator points out that prior art can come from non-traditional sources but anyone familiar with old sci-fi knows that some of the worst fictional plots can be adorned with amazingly inventive tools and devices. Of course the applicant, Donald R. Quinn, has requested extra time before this rejection becomes final. Perhaps he will revise the design to additionally loop around the neck or simply sling around the ears instead of shoulders?

Comment Re:Alert W3C posting exploit code! (Score 1) 134

Please don't confuse the World Wide Web Consortium with the shitty spam farm known as W3Schools.

There is no confusion. The satire benefits from the brevity of the w3schools and jquery links rather than the firehose of information at http://www.w3.org/Submission/web-forms2/#for-javascript, for example.

Comment Alert W3C posting exploit code! (Score 3, Funny) 134

I visited this rogue site that posts hostile code exploits and learned how to circumvent user privacy....

http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/met_form_submit.asp

Even worse, this malware generating site makes exploit code even easier...

http://api.jquery.com/submit/

And yes, I used the most evil and corrupt search engine ever invented (past and future) to locate these hacker havens

User Journal

Journal Journal: The new mandate

I have found it helpful to develop my own simple philosophy of life. I call this philosophy The New Mandate. It is very short and sweet so read carefully in case you miss it:

I shall attempt to direct my efforts toward the betterment of those around me and to the benefit of humanity

I shall not disadvantage or otherwise cause harm to another

I shall take extraordinary steps to help those who are in need

Google

Submission + - French court frowns on Google autocomplete, issues (arstechnica.com)

Lexx Greatrex writes: Google had been sued by insurance company Lyonnaise de Garantie, which was offended by search results including the word "escroc," meaning crook, according to a story posted Tuesday by the Courthouse News Service. "Google had argued that it was not liable since the word, added under Google Suggest, was the result of an automatic algorithm and did not come from human thought," the article states. "A Paris court ruled against Google, however, pointing out that the search engine ignored requests to remove the offending word... In addition to the fine, Google must also remove the term from searches associated with Lyonnaise de Garantie."

Comment Re:Irony follows (Score 1) 373

What we need is to extend copyright, broader and stronger patents and generaly to beef up all IP laws. How about automatic injunctions for all accusations of patent infringement, like SOPA and PIPA gives copyright holders? That should spur on innovation!

Oh, and cut taxes and gov't spending!

The only unfortunate thing about your statement is that its brilliant irony will be lost on the masses. So I will frame it in a way even the politicians can understand... Once upon a time there was a boy who cried wolf. One evening the villagers heard a commotion over the Internet. They assembled in the town square around the body of a slain child. It was only then they realized there was no boy, it was the wolf all along.

Comment Re:Well that's funny, cos my country just (Score 1) 398

The founders' opinions are important because they inform us as to the meaning of the Constitution. And the Constitution is important because it defines the federal government. It has an amendment process that has been used 27 times, so it has been re-written to some degree. For the most part, the Constitution is not ambiguous. For example, the famous controversies in interpretation of the 2nd amendment and the privileges or immunities clause of the 14th amendment arose because certain people did not like the plain meaning of the text. The meanings were clear to the people who wrote and passed those sections. The intent can be unambiguously determined by examining the debates surrounding their passage. The 2nd amendment was intended to protect an individual right to own and carry military-grade weapons in public. The privileges or immunities clause was supposed to prevent states from violating rights enshrined in the Constitution. Both clauses have been twisted to entirely different and illogical meanings by judges who didn't like the original intent. That is why the original meaning is important. The purpose of the document lies in semantics. If you don't respect the original intent, then you're changing the semantics and you might as well re-write the document. That's why there is an amendment process. The Constitution is not perfect, but it is a very well thought-out document. There were several novel and ingenious aspects to the government it created. One particularly good idea was to enumerate all activities permitted to the government, rather than attempt to enumerate prohibitions. This was intended to preserve liberty by limiting the role of government. Unfortunately the narrow scope of enumerated powers has failed to limit the role of the federal government, but the failure was not necessarily in the Constitution itself; the boundaries have simply been ignored. That is why some Americans seem to worship the Constitution. The government has steadily usurped powers that it was not supposed to have, and whittled away at all manner of guaranteed individual rights. If we did things the "right" way by strictly following the Constitution, American society would be very different and some people might prefer that. (There would also be drawbacks. I tend to like this idea, but some amendments would be necessary.) Consider this: in the founders' time, there were no income taxes or professional police departments. The federal government was originally oriented toward matters of foreign policy, and revenue was provided by tariffs. The founders probably would have considered modern policing to be similar to the standing armies that they feared as instruments of oppression. And nobody would have thought the federal government could restrict the plants that people grow on their own land, the food they eat or sell locally, or the weapons they carry when traveling. George Washington's cabinet had what, 4 members? Contrast that with modern times.

Well spoken indeed.

Comment Re:Well that's funny, cos my country just (Score 1) 398

The sticking part of the Sedition Act is this: "shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal [...] language about the form of government of the United States". This is where it essentially makes any opinion against the government criminal, and that is unconstitutional. Where this was moderated in modern American law is that it was narrowed down to 'overthrowing'. It is quite a different and more specific matter than the broad word 'disloyal' which was used in that period to charge and imprison many persons who did not advocate anything more than "radical" (relative to the American mainstream) ideologies or systems of government. The legal prohibition of advocating the overthrow of the government is constitutional because such an overthrow would necessitate illegal means (violence, coercion), whereas the earlier prohibition of 'disloyal language' effectively bars otherwise constitutionally protected activities of organizing political movements and voting for change within the existing political framework. How's that for indefensible, condescending AC shitbag?

Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. — Abraham Lincoln

Comment Re:Well that's funny, cos my country just (Score 1) 398

"You have the right to speak regardless of which medium you choose to exercise this right." But their is no write to the access to that medium.

You can not just walk into a TV station and demand a half hour of time, you can not walk into a print shop and demand they print your document. You can not demand access to the internet.

The internet like tv, radio, paper, and ink are resources not rights.

What do you not understand about the statement? The right to speak is independent of how it is exercised.

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