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Comment Re:Uh... (Score 1) 308

Agreed. Did you know know allot of retailers track you through your given name? Duh. I don't want to use different names on every net thing. I do like to lie on my profiles. The trick is to remember the lies so that you can keep some consistency and mess up their records. So consistently use the same wrong birthday and such.

Submission + - Intel and the FTC (compilerreimbursementprogram.com)

patjhal writes: I received an email due to an old work purchase that confirmed something we knew already. The Intel C++ compiler optimized for intel but deoptimized for amd. At least thats what we saw in practice. I always complained that the compiler should be free since it did not work for other hardware right. If you compiled amd it did not optimize at all, I mean it acted like it was a 486 processor compatible so more generic compilers would compile much faster for the hardware. From the pdf that is linked at the site (there are many more things besides compilers on this).

"Intel’s Compiler may or may not optimize to the same degree for non-Intel microprocessors for optimizations that are not unique to Intel microprocessors. These optimizations include SSE2, SSE3, and SSSE3 instruction sets and other optimizations. Intel does not guarantee the availability, functionality, or effectiveness of any optimization on microprocessors not manufactured by Intel. Microprocessor-dependent optimizations in this product are intended for use with Intel microprocessors."

Java

Submission + - Java to be Rstricted to Enterprise Use Only? (infoworld.com) 1

turkeyfish writes: InfoWorld is reporting that analysts at Forrester Research are claiming that Oracle is planning to restrict Java to a specialty niche as a tool for commercial enterprise development. What do slashdot users predict will be the future of Java as a lingua universalis of multiple computing platforms? Is the concept of "Write once, run anywhere dead" or are there other languages that will take over after Java becomes a speciality language? If so, which ones?
Security

Submission + - Passenger not guilty despite annoying the TSA (papersplease.org)

ConfusedVorlon writes: A six-woman Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court jury has found Phil Mocek “NOT GUILTY” of all of the charges brought against him following his arrest in November 2009 at the TSA checkpoint at the Albuquerque airport.

Annoying the TSA is not a crime. Photography is not a crime. You have the right to fly without ID, and to photograph, film, and record what happens. Your best defense is your own camera and microphone. Ordinary jurors know, and are prepared to recognize with their verdict, that the TSA and police lie about what they are doing and why.

Google

Submission + - Google Awarded Patent on Porn Searches 1

theodp writes: At first glance, the patent issued to Google Tuesday for its System and methods for detecting images distracting to a user seems like just another run-of-the-mill frivolous intellectual property grab. But read on, and you'll see that this one is literally about "scoring" some porn. Here's how Google explained its Eureka! moment to the USPTO: "It is to be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, with relation to Internet search engines, the most selected links tend to be pornographic in nature. Just as with humorous images, the user tends to select pornographic images out of curiosity. Thus, the most distracting images tend to be pornographic in nature. Instead of measuring the selection rate across all independent queries or query classes, the selection rate across all non-pornographic queries can be used to measure distractiveness score. This takes into account that, when a pornographic query is used, pornographic images are sought. One skilled in the art can, within their own experience, surmise what a pornographic query is and explicit mention of such queries is omitted here. In an embodiment, keywords associated with pornographic queries are maintained. This may be within the storage module 444 of the behavior analyzer 334 or on a database 336 coupled to the search engine 218. For each query, it can be determined whether the query is pornographic based on a comparison to these maintained keywords. In such a case, a first determination as to the pornographic nature of the query is made and only if the query is non-pornographic will the selection rate across them be measured and used to calculate the distractiveness score." Can't imagine that this is what President Obama had in mind later in the day when he said the following in his State of the Union speech: "What we can do — what America does better than anyone — is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We are the nation...of Google...No country...grants more patents to inventors." BTW, the patent application was under wraps at the time, but back in 2007, Google closed its Congressional testimony by suggesting the work done by one of the listed porn search inventors (Olcan Sercinoglu) was instrumental in 'ensuring that the U.S. remains the world's high-tech leader.' Sounds like Sercinoglu is a bright guy, so presumably this patent wasn't his finest Google moment.
United States

Submission + - DOJ Seeks Mandatory Data Retention for ISP's 3

Hugh Pickens writes: "Computerworld reports that in testimony before Congress the US Department of Justice renewed its call for legislation mandating Internet Service Providers (ISP) retain customer usage data for up to two years because law enforcement authorities are coming up empty-handed in their efforts to go after online predators and other criminals because of the unavailability of data relating to their online activities. "There is no doubt among public safety officials that the gaps between providers' retention policies and law enforcement agencies' needs, can be extremely harmful to the agencies' investigations" says Jason Weinstein, deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department adding that data retention is crucial to fighting Internet crimes, especially online child pornography (PDF). Weinstein admits that a data retention policy raises valid privacy concerns however, such concerns need to be addressed and balanced against the need for law enforcement to have access to the data. "Denying law enforcement that evidence prevents law enforcement from identifying those who victimize others online," concludes Weinstein."

Comment Notion Ink Adam (Score 3, Interesting) 396

Seems like the best I have seen and they made it a point to improve the interface with their own homegrown, yet still allow you to install ubuntu if you like. Tegra2, pixelQI, hdmi out, good battery, weight, and size. I have seen nothing else beat it. Of course it is still only in preorder.

Comment Re:how about no (Score 3, Insightful) 487

I do not normally criticize but your comment is dumb. It specifically says this is to simplify and make more secure important transactions like using the bank. Too many people use 4 or 6 character passwords on their banking that they share with other sites because of password overload. This is supposed to give them something more secure like an ssh key for that type of thing. You can still post anonymously to slashdot or make some temp facebook account or whatever. Now I understand the slippery slope argument that in future laws could be passed requiring this id, much like people say with the social security number. I feel something like this is needed and it is our responsibility as the electorate to make sure it goes no further than securing transactions that need securing. Fact is if they required it for too many things then it becomes increasingly easy to get plucked in an identity theft type of way and it looses its power (like the way SSN's are so important now that you never really give it to anyone except in the most important occasions like bank accounts, national security clearance, after you are offered a job, etc.)

Comment Re:Yes it does. (Score 4, Insightful) 453

I agree. I was a science major and saw quite a willingness to fudge/manipulate data and I believe it has worked its way into general research. During a breif PhD stint I redid some experiments showed the opposite of what other students had done. Mine showed some significance why theirs had not. Funny thing was my data was ugly, while theirs was pretty. This was from an experiment where organisms where growing in media and had to be counted via microscope and measured with a spectrograph at set time periods. My guess is their data was pretty because they fudged it by saying they took the samples at exactly a particular time ratio. Since I recorded the actual elapsed time (the procedure was complicated and there was variability on how long it took me to complete the tasks sometimes being more than the next check point). I also guess that the student wanted pretty looking data because he thought that would look better to his boss (the professor who ran the lab). Even if the scientists are not doing this from pressure to go higher then their underlings might be doing it to be "impressive". Part of the problem is science is no longer something people do because they love it. It is too commoditized and has become just a job at the low end and a vicious battle for survival at the high end.

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