Comment Re:Saw an ad on ABC last night with my wife (Score 1) 513
What '"fanboy" bullshit' are you talking about exactly?
Comment Re:Saw an ad on ABC last night with my wife (Score 1) 513
Yeah, that's why I immediately knew it was MSFT, they always try to do that except for their Windows commercials.
Comment Re:And MSOOXML (Score 1) 513
Could you or someone else that is in the know elaborate?
Comment Re:MS is right, it *is* creepy (Score 1) 513
But who says that a government won't call MS two minutes after they get off the phone with Google?
Comment Re:Microsoft's solution to the problem? (Score 1) 513
A plus 2 troll? How did that happen
Submission + - If Xbox rumors are true, Microsoft may be making a huge mistake (networkworld.com)
colinneagle writes: EDGE Online has the rumored details and specs on the next-generation console, which some fans call the Xbox 720. The specs look great and rumors of a Blu-ray player are excellent news. But one thing gives me major pause: a persistent Internet connection is required and the console will not allow for users to play second-hand games. EDGE went on to say that all disc-based games for the new console will include one-time-use online activation codes.
As it is, activation codes are used on PC games, and gamers hate it. However, the PC market is small compared to consoles. This attempt at gaining control over buying and play habits of consoles is far more significant and needs to be pushed back.
From attempts by the record companies to tax blank tapes back in the 1980s to record labels attacking used record stores to Circuit City's epic failure with Divx, content owners have barely masked their greed and desire to control your consumption habits over the years. Generally speaking, when you buy something, you have a right to do what you want with it. The record industry tried to stop used CD sales and failed. Back in 1993, Garth Brooks (at the height of his popularity) attempted to refuse selling an album in stores that also sold used CDs, and it blew up in his face. Not only that, but the major labels wound up under an FTC antitrust investigation for their attempts to stunt used CD sales.
As it is, activation codes are used on PC games, and gamers hate it. However, the PC market is small compared to consoles. This attempt at gaining control over buying and play habits of consoles is far more significant and needs to be pushed back.
From attempts by the record companies to tax blank tapes back in the 1980s to record labels attacking used record stores to Circuit City's epic failure with Divx, content owners have barely masked their greed and desire to control your consumption habits over the years. Generally speaking, when you buy something, you have a right to do what you want with it. The record industry tried to stop used CD sales and failed. Back in 1993, Garth Brooks (at the height of his popularity) attempted to refuse selling an album in stores that also sold used CDs, and it blew up in his face. Not only that, but the major labels wound up under an FTC antitrust investigation for their attempts to stunt used CD sales.
Comment Saw an ad on ABC last night with my wife (Score 2) 513
They had the tagline of 'Don't get scroogled' then directed the viewer to go to outlook.com
The production values were atrocious.
Submission + - Children Turning Into Malicious Code Developers (net-security.org)
Orome1 writes: "In a world filled with laptops, tablets and smartphones, today’s children become digitally fluent far earlier than previous generations. Now, AVG has found evidence that pre-teens are writing malware designed to steal login details from online gamers, both young and old. While stealing someone’s game logins may at first seem a minor problem, online gaming accounts are often connected to credit card details to enable in-game purchases, and may also have virtual currency attached to them amounting to hundreds of dollars. Furthermore, many gamers unfortunately use the same login details for social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, potentially putting the victim at risk of cyber-bullying, in addition to identity theft and major inconvenience."
Submission + - Google speeds up Webstore with WebP (chromium.org)
An anonymous reader writes: By converting PNGs and JPEGs to WebP, the Chrome Web Store was able to reduce image sizes by about 30% on average. Given the number of requests Chrome Web Store serves, this adds up to several terabytes of savings every day. WebP should translate into faster page loads and lower mobile data transfer costs, too.
Submission + - Crowdsourced coders take on immunology Big Data (nature.com)
ewenc writes: Mercenary computer coders are helping scientists cope with the deluge of data pouring out of research labs. A contest to write software to analyse immune-system genes garnered more than 100 entries, including many that vastly outperformed existing programs. The US$6,000 contest was launched by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School, both in Boston, Massachusetts. TopCoder.com, a community of more than 400,000 coders who compete in programming competitions, hosted the contest. The results are described in a letter published this week in Nature Biotechnology.
Submission + - Microsoft rumored to be taking a 'meaningful look' at Office for Linux (engadget.com) 1
alancronin writes: Open source obsessive Michael Larabel says he has it on good authority that Microsoft is considering a native version of Office for Linux. Specifically, the company is taking a "meaningful look" at the idea, now that Linux is showing signs of becoming more of a player in the OS stakes. The information came to Larabel from an unnamed source during the Free Open-Source Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) in Brussels, and this voice in the shadows apparently also revealed the port could be ready in 2014.
Submission + - Cluster of 35 Ancient Pyramids and Graves Discovered in Sudan
An anonymous reader writes: About 2,000 years ago, a kingdom named Kush flourished in what is now known as Sudan. Sharing a border with Egypt, the people of Kush were highly influenced by the other civilization. The result was that they built pyramids: lots of them. At one particular site known as Sedeinga, pyramid building continued for centuries. Now archaeologists have unearthed at least 35 of these small pyramids along with graves.
Comment Pirates of Silicon Valley (Score 1) 1
Has the Woz ever publicly commented on the old TNT docudrama?
Comment Re: The answer is no, but for actual reasons (Score 1) 2
Perhaps it's not as FLOSS friendly as Google Play, but it's a hell of a lot better than the Apple AppStore
Submission + - Jonathan Coulton song used by "Glee" without permission (wired.com)
FunPika writes: Jonathan Coulton, who is known for songs such as "Code Monkey", is claiming that his cover of "Baby Got Back" was used without permission on "Glee", a television show aired by Fox Broadcasting Company. When the "Glee" version appeared on YouTube last week, Coulton suspected that it sounded similar to his cover, and several of his fans confirmed this by analyzing the two tracks. Despite Coulton contacting Fox, they continued with airing the episode and have placed the song on sale in iTunes.
