Comment Re:They won't be satisfied until... (Score 1) 612
We already can. We have been able to do that since the 50's. Ever hear of the ICBM? There's no reason it has to have only a nuclear warhead on it.
Comment Re:three words: WORLD'S SMALLEST VIOLIN (Score 1) 435
Actually, Microsoft gets more on patent revenue for every Android phone sold than they make on Windows phones: link. I'm not sure how they approach this conflict of interest. They'd be better off, financially anyway, by losing sales to their competitor.
However, you do have a point about their inability to force vendors to sell their software for every piece of hardware. It's a business model they don't have any experience with and they appear incapable of getting any market penetration as a result.
Comment Re:In breaking news... (Score 2) 435
In other news, The Pope found to be Catholic. "I've always known I was Catholic since I was a child" declared the Pontiff in Rome. Also, bears found to defecate in the woods. "After a 5 year study, we came to the conclusion that bears did not leave the forest to 'take care of business'" declared Professor Gzint of the Wildlife Study Society.
Comment Re:Too fast ! (Score 1) 449
Now seriously: can anyone advise me a distro to try out? Ubuntu is losing it for me. Mandriva, my previous favourite, doesn't seem to have much of a future either as they're bankrupt again. So what'd be a good alternative? (no flame wars please).
I've been happy with Linux Mint 12 with the MATE interface. It's a Ubuntu clone with a fork of Gnome 2.3 I believe. Installation was very easy. I didn't have a burnable DVD or thumb drive handy so I burned a CD. On the welcome screen, there were a couple of buttons to load the rest of the DVD contents through the package manager without any user intervention. And loading all of the restricted codecs was just another button press.
What I like about it the most is that it's simple and uncluttered. My "start button" has a nice menu that's organized well and easy to use. I've got my "quick launch" icons in the task bar where they're easy to get to. I can actually get logged in and get work done without having to mess around with cartoonish interfaces that only get in the way.
Comment A solution looking for a problem (Score 5, Insightful) 183
I just don't see the big consumer demand for these smart TVs. Even among my gadget loving friends, the interest in smart TVs can be described as lukewarm at best. Sure, the integrated capability to stream content from providers other than the cable/satellite company does appeal to some. But I just don't see people banging down doors to get this integrated into the TV. If anything, I see more people using their TVs as big monitors for their PCs and game consoles.
Perhaps it's just the cynic in me but I see this more as a push by the advertisers as a means to get more of their content delivered. All of the providers will relish the opportunity to embed ads, either in their UI or in their content. Yet another business model being pushed on people who don't really want it, if they care at all.
Comment Re:Not a shill at all (Score 5, Insightful) 185
Shill or not, he has a point. Security within Windows and Internet Exploder have improved over the years. It may not be all wine and roses but it's not as bad as it once was.
Of course, there still is a long way to go...
Submission + - Drive to remove unused code in LibreOffice (i-programmer.info)
mikejuk writes: Thanks to the efforts of its volunteer taskforce, over half the unused code in LibreOffice has been removed over the past six months. It's good to see this clean-up operation but it does raise questions about the amount of dead code lurking out there in the wild.
The scale of the dead code in LibreOffice is shocking, and it probably isn't because the code base is especially bad. Can you imagine this in any other engineering discipline? Oh yes, we built the bridge but there are a few hundred unnecessary iron girders that we forgot to remove... Oh yes, we implemented the new chip but that area over there is just a few thousand transistors we no longer use... and so on.
The scale of the dead code in LibreOffice is shocking, and it probably isn't because the code base is especially bad. Can you imagine this in any other engineering discipline? Oh yes, we built the bridge but there are a few hundred unnecessary iron girders that we forgot to remove... Oh yes, we implemented the new chip but that area over there is just a few thousand transistors we no longer use... and so on.
Submission + - Can a company Charge Twice for Software? (smartlaunch.net)
An anonymous reader writes: Even in this age of advanced wireless technology, Cybercafes are still as popular as ever, especially with the gamers amongst us. Most LAN Gaming centers use a software package called Smartlaunch that previously used a License model (for each client computer, you had to have a one-time paid license) and most cafes were happy; save for maybe lack of timely support. However, it seems now that the developers of Smartlaunch have shut up shop and morphed into another company which is trying to charge existing customers with a subscription plan for the licenses they already own. Cafes around the world are furious. Dear Slashdot — where do they stand? Can this company charge these businesses twice for software that was bought years before?
Submission + - Is the number of Slashdotters on a steady decline? 1
An anonymous reader writes: If we look at some Google's stats on Google Trends and on Doubleclick, it looks like the number of Slashdotters has been dropping quite substantially for a while. What's happening?
Submission + - Apple sued for extortion (theregister.co.uk) 1
walterbyrd writes: "Tablet maker Nuevas Tecnologías y Energías Catalá, the company behind one of Apple's rare court defeats, is now taking the fruity tech titan to court for extortion. . . Apple alleged that the teeny-tiny company's tablet, sold in Spain under the NT-K brand, was a forged iPad, and on that basis convinced custom officials to impound shipments of the rival gear coming into Spain. Those shipments ended up sitting in a warehouse for a year, costing NT-K dearly, and now it wants to see Apple hauled up for extortion as well as recovering some damages"
Submission + - Choosing a data-recovery service that won't steal (infoworld.com)
tsamsoniw writes: "Among the 87 percent of organizations that have suffered a data breach in the past two years, 21 percent occurred when a drive was in the possession of a third-party data recovery service provider. The problem, according to a new study from Ponemon Institute, is that companies aren't vetting data recovery services for security."
Submission + - Bing Search Overtakes Yahoo (techcrunch.com)
SharkLaser writes: Microsoft's Bing search engine has overtaken Yahoo for the first time. While both Bing, Yahoo and a bunch of meta-search engines like the privacy-oriented DuckDuckGo use Bing's back-end, it clearly shows Yahoo's declining market share. comScore has also released its search data for 2011 — overally, Bing gained 3.1% of market share while Yahoo lost 1.5% and Google lost 0.7%. Yahoo's new CEO Scott Thompson has lots to work with.
Submission + - The Future of Auto Theft (autosec.org)
NicknamesAreStupid writes: Over the past twenty years, car theft has declined as new models incorporated electronic security methods that thwarted simple hot-wiring. The tide may now be turning, as cars become the next Windows PC. The Center for Automobile Embedded Systems Security has posted an interesting paper from UCSD and UW that describes how modern cars can be cracked. Unlike the old days of window jimmies, these exploits range from attacks through the CD or iPod port to cellular attacks that take inventory of thousands of cars and offer roaming thieves Yelp-like choices ("our favorite is mint green with leather") with unlocked doors and running engines.
Submission + - Ubuntu Tablet OS To Take On Android, iOS (infoworld.com)
snydeq writes: "Canonical CEO Jane Silber discusses the Ubuntu maker's ambitions in the mobile market, saying there is plenty of room for a new player in tablets, TVs, and maybe even smartphones. 'There is a real demand for an alternative platform. We believe Ubuntu has all the characteristics that are needed to become that platform,' Silber says, adding that she expects to see Ubuntu on tablets later this year. 'And we think we can do that effectively because of characteristics of Ubuntu as a platform, industry dynamics, and an increased wariness around the walled gardens of Apple and to some extent Google and even Amazon, as they are increasingly in this game as well.' Silber cites openness, open governance, collaboration, and a strong developer ecosystem as key for Ubuntu as a tablet platform, when compared with Android and iOS."
Submission + - Reddit turning SOPA 'blackout' into a 'learn-in' (itworld.com)
bdking writes: Reddit's planned 12-hour "blackout" on January 18 sounds like an ineffectual, if not self-defeating, strategy for opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act. But the social news site actually will use that time not to "go dark," but to educate visitors about the ramifications of the House legislation that many fear will lead to widespread shutdowns of Internet sites.
