Comment Alas... (Score 1) 477
I miss the days when everything wrong with children was Marilyn Manson's fault. Those were simpler times.
Submission + - Lester from Beakman's World passes away at 63 (nytimes.com)
Dominus Suus writes: Better late than never: on 7 December, Mark Ritts, who played the long-suffering, disgruntled actor-in-a-rat-suit Lester on Beakman's World succumbed to kidney cancer after battling the disease for two years. He was 63. Anyone born in the 1980s probably got their introduction to high school and university-level science from Beakman's World during its run from 1993 to 1998. Ritts' Lester was the comedic foil to Beakman's demonstrations and explanations, unwittingly becoming ridiculed himself as the scientist's experiments came to fruition. Those wishing to leave their condolences and thanks to this gifted performer's family may do so at Ritts' official website, www.markritts.com.
Submission + - AU Government Will Introduce Mandatory Filtering (itnews.com.au) 2
bennyboy64 writes: iTnews reports that the Australian Government has announced its intention to introduce legislation that will make ISP-level filtering mandatory for all refused classification material hosted overseas. The Government intends to amend the Broadcasting Services Act in August 2010 to enforce the filter, and expects the filter to be operational within a further twelve months. 'The report into the pilot trial of ISP-level filtering demonstrates that blocking RC-rated material can be done with 100 percent accuracy and negligible impact on internet speed' Senator Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy said.
Comment Re:My daughter is bummed (Score 1) 2
I'm 24 so I know how she feels. Beakman's World was like family and Lester the grumpy but loveable uncle in the corner :P
Submission + - 22 million missing Bush emails found! (yahoo.com)
ctmurray writes: Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush and the Obama administration is searching for dozens more days' worth of potentially lost e-mail from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system.
The article goes on to describe to say the tally of missing e-mails, the additional searches and the settlement are the latest development in a political controversy that stemmed from the Bush White House's failure to install a properly working electronic record keeping system.
Earlier /. had a discussion on the Obama White House opposing the lawsuit that lead to this discovery.
The article goes on to describe to say the tally of missing e-mails, the additional searches and the settlement are the latest development in a political controversy that stemmed from the Bush White House's failure to install a properly working electronic record keeping system.
Earlier
Submission + - Open source commemorative challenge coin minted (itwire.com)
davidmwilliams writes: Need something unique for the open source Linux-loving GNU-spouting Free Software Foundation member in your life? ThinkGeek has the answer in the form of commemorative open source challenge coins. They will contribute to the open source cause and might even get you a free drink.
Submission + - Lester of Beakman's World Passes Away at 63 (nytimes.com) 2
Dominus Suus writes: Better late than never: on 7 December, Mark Ritts, who played the long-suffering, disgruntled actor-in-a-rat-suit Lester on Beakman's World succumbed to kidney cancer after battling the disease for two years. He was 63. Anyone born in the 1980s probably got their introduction to high school and university-level science from Beakman's World during its run from 1993 to 1998. Ritts' Lester was the comedic foil to Beakman's demonstrations and explanations, unwittingly becoming ridiculed himself as the scientist's experiments came to fruition. Those wishing to leave their condolences and thanks to this gifted performer's family may do so at Ritts' official website, www.markritts.com.
Submission + - Microsoft steals code from top Asian microblog (nytimes.com) 1
TSHTF writes: Plurk reported today that Microsoft's new China MSN not only copied look and feel from its interface, but also copied raw code from Plurk's service. The story has been covered in multiple media sources. The software theft is more hypocritical, given Microsoft's past threats against Chinese software piracy.
Submission + - Poll: What would be the best gift ever for Xmas? 1
calebt3 writes: New Linux release
unlocked iPhone/iPod Touch
$$$
Pre-order of StarCraft 2
/. subscription
Natalie Portman
CowboyNeal's stocking.
unlocked iPhone/iPod Touch
$$$
Pre-order of StarCraft 2
Natalie Portman
CowboyNeal's stocking.
Submission + - OLPC Being Derailed by Microsoft and Intel 1
anti.myrmidon writes: According the the Wall Street Journal,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119586754115002717.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
Mr. Negroponte's ambitious plan has been derailed, in part, by the power of his idea. For-profit companies threatened by the projected $100 price tag set off at a sprint to develop their own dirt-cheap machines, plunging Mr. Negroponte into unexpected competition against well-known brands such as Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119586754115002717.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
Mr. Negroponte's ambitious plan has been derailed, in part, by the power of his idea. For-profit companies threatened by the projected $100 price tag set off at a sprint to develop their own dirt-cheap machines, plunging Mr. Negroponte into unexpected competition against well-known brands such as Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
Submission + - XO Laptop Despised by Intel and Microsoft (wsj.com)
gregsim writes: "The Wall Street Journal today reports that the new XO laptop, the brainchild of Mr. Nicholas Negroponte, a professor on leave from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is stimulating an active response from both Intel and Microsoft which evidently feel threatened by the little upstart, intended to help third world children. Microsoft has cut their software to $3 each and Intel has designed their own laptop called the Classmate to sell between $230 and $300, nearly double that of the XO. Rather than defend the relative merits of his creation, professor Negroponte is crying foul and (if the article is to be believed) not even arguing the technical merits. The initial demand for the XO has fallen well below Mr. Negroponte's projections as Intel and Microsoft have successfully argued that their entries are superior. 45,000 have been ordered through the Give One, Get One campaign. I am happy that I ordered mine — it will be a landmark model in any case."
Submission + - Hack me please
racerx509 writes: The school district of West Palm Beach Fl has recently finished upgrades to their computer security systems that supposedly total in the millions. Their head of Security has invited any and all crackers to try and compromise their security. The first person to do so will recieve a free wireless router.
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=61b7c526-308a-4837-8f81-122e16a583eb&rss=795
Submission + - Unsettling look inside MS development (msdn.com)
sbenj writes: Given the recent story on a DARPA challenge brought down by memory leaks, it's interesting to see this post from a former lead developer at MS on coding practices. The idea that something as central to many peoples development as C# or Visual Studio would be coded this way is more than a bit unsettling.
Submission + - How Thunderbird clutters your hard drive (mozillazine.org)
Dominus Suus writes: "Thunderbird users would probably guess that when they delete an e-mail and empty out their trash bin, Thunderbird expunges the e-mail from the related mbox file — a common mailbox storage format — and, for all practical purposes, the e-mail is gone. However, it was discovered whilst migrating from Thunderbird to another e-mail client that Thunderbird keeps deleted e-mails, with their attachments, in your profile. According to the Thunderbird support forums, this is what is supposed to happen."
